Sunday, December 12, 2010

it's offally delicious at animal!



nine inch nails might want to "f**k you like an animal," but all i want to do is eat the entire beast one offalicious part at a time. methinks it's less messy that way and definitely way tastier. what better way to do so than at animal.

to eat the beast, one should have a glass of something something to moisten the lips. i chose to wet mine with a glass of silvaner 2009 ($12) which was delicately sweet to my tastebuds and soothed it just right for the intense savory violation of my tongue that was to follow.



our ordering frenzy quickly commenced as all parts of the beast(s) were considered for ultimate mastication. we started with the pig ear ($12) seasoned with chili and lime and topped with a fried egg. the slivers of deep fried porky ears peeked from underneath a blanket of soft, fried egg. once popped, the egg yolk coated the bold limey flavors that made my tongue spasm in a most delicious way. omg.



the sweetbreads ($14) with pickled crosnes and spicy sweet & sour sauce were slightly less successful. the heavily battered, fried thymus lost its naturally creamy texture and the overpowering sweetness of the sauce absolutely masked its flavors. sweetbreads, when treated with a delicate touch are absolutely creamy and sinful.


one taste of the chicken liver toast ($3) may possibly compel you to reach into a live chicken to rip out its raw liver for your immediate consumption. OR, you can head straight to animal and taste their artful preparation of it. this.was.divine.and.i.require.a.dozen.stat.


the bone marrow ($10) with chimichurri sauce and caramelized onions is probably one of the tastiest renditions of this animal vaseline to date. the heavily buttered toast made me speed dial jenny craig to report to her my sins.


the foie gras loco moco ($35) with its slippery piece of foie, thin sheet of spam, a petite round of hamburger meat, and small fried quail egg was a definite crowd pleaser. we continued to pluck the rice off the plate though the main star of this one plate show was long gone.


the poutine ($15) with oxtail gravy and cheddar was heavy and salty. though vastly adored by many food enthusiasts, this dressed up french fry dish was slightly too salty for me.



the one and only green dish of the night, the baby kale ($9) with pecorino, lemon and chili vinaigrette was hearty foliage for our mouth. deliciously prepared and crunchy, i could have eaten another mound of this...and another, and another.


the bbq pork belly sandwiches ($12) with slaw had a heavy hand of sweet bbq sauce. this order was probably the weakest of the night and could have been skipped without much protest.


the hamachi tostada ($14) with herbs, fish sauce vinaigrette, and peanut was weak as well. the delicate hamachi lost its essence as it absorbed the fish sauce.



the night ended sweetly with the sticky toffee pudding ($7) with mascarpone and orange zest. sticky and sweet indeed these jenga-like blocks were dense and moist and were enthusiastically scraped off the plate.



but the best dessert between the two was the panna cotta ($7) for sure. the texture was a cross between whipped frosting and smooth almond jello. delicate and creamy, this was easily the best and smoothest way to end the night.



omg, i may not want to f**k you like an animal, but i give you permission to violate my tongue. without a doubt, animal is a great place to celebrate the beast, one offalicious part at a time. i SHALL return.

Animal
435 N. Fairfax Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 782-9225
www.animalrestaurant.com

price: $$$
verdict: omg, i love it!
Animal on Urbanspoon
Animal Restaurant in Los Angeles on Fooddigger

9 comments:

  1. Holla at me when you return to Animal. I want IN :-) I haven't eaten here in over a year. That's just not right!

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  2. Nice work! I haven't been back in a long time. Was the bacon chocolate bar available that night?

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  3. I love Animal so much. I need Animal now.

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  4. Sticky toffee pudding?! OMG. Does that mean they took out their tres leches though?

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  5. cathy- woman, we need to go stat. tell me when you get the urge to eat offal things. :0

    danny- the bacon choco bar was available, but nobody wanted it! i felt weird ordering it just for me when we were all eating family style, kwim?

    sharon- i love a good animal too. especially the tongue and heart and liver with fava beans....rawrrrr.

    tsz- no fear, they had the tres leches. we ordered 2 of the 4 desserts available that night. sounds like i missed out again...well, another reason to GO BACK muhahhahaha.

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  6. It's a bummer that they took the pork belly with kimchi off the menu and kept the pork belly sliders! That was my favorite dish when I went. Really want to try that poutine though - bring on the salt!!!

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  7. i haven't been to Animal in ALMOST a year! let me know when you and cathy go! I WANT IN!!!

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  8. love everything that you ordered! Good job on the offal. Animal is one of the few places that I keep wanting to go back and never get sick of it.

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  9. diana- they will just have to bring out an extra glass of water for you when you eat the poutine :P

    helen- sounds like we need to plan this offal party! woot!

    stuffy- i was def pleasantly surprised by this place. i can sense a budding love affair with it. so dang yummy!

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