Oct 16, 2010

Amandine Cafe

Amandine Cafe is a charming cafe on Wilshire that has various homemade tarts and pastries.
Exterior/Patio. I love that the whole wall is covered in greens.
Cute sign with fruits.
Tart & Cake display. This reminds me of the cake displays in Japan.
I ordered this Pear Tart, which was nothing extraordinary but not bad either. (Kinda picky about tarts) My sister ordered a raisin pastry, which I didn't touch, but she said it was bad. It's a cute cafe to grab a cup of coffee and chat. Their quiches looked good though.

Oct 9, 2010

The Foundry on Melrose

Last Sunday, we celebrated a friend's birthday and dineLA Restaurant Week at The Founry on Melrose.
It was a prefix dinner course for $44 per person (the menu is on their website).
Appetizer: Butternut Squash Soup with Maple Black Pepper Bacon & Three Cheese Hazelnut Crepe
This was more of a main dish rather than an appetizer. The soup was good, but only for the first three scoops because it was super creamy and heavy. The size could have been easily cut in half (or even less). Not to mention the rich crepes that the soup is poured on to.
Mid Course: Celery Risotto with Orange & Gruyere Cheese
This was also good and the Risotto had great texutre, but this was also very rich and the portion was large.
Entree: Miso Honey Glazed Duck with Pears, Eggplants & Red Peppers
This was really tasty and the portion was perfect. The duck was very tender with a hint of sweetness from the honey.
Dessert: Apple Raisin Cobbler with Mascarpone/Honey Ice Cream
I really liked this dessert, the apples were tart which went really well with the ice cream. The crumbles were crunchy too!

We were seated on the nicely heated patio which was dimly lit and the atmosphere was amazing (sorry for the lack of pictures). The food.. a little heavy but good, but the quantity was way too much. I must mention though, their service was superb. Never once had to ask for more water, coffee, wine pours... super friendly waiters. Oh! and most importantly, they have free corkage (& free cutting fee for cake) which is amazing, especially in LA. They also brought out a cake for the birthday girl which was nice of them. Overall a great dining experience.