Review & Guest list: Tonka Bean* . Bistro LQ Review

Today we have a guest list from Tonka Bean - our fellow foodie and good friend from Los Angeles. Tonka Bean has powered through more that one tasting menu with us and our first tasting menu was together at Bistro K in South Pasadena. The chef at Bistro K seemed to disappear for a while, but Tonka and wife were able to hunt the chef down recently at his new digs, Bistro LQ. I am pleased to present the review of Bistro LQ by our newest guest, who managed to get 3 lists into one entry, not too shabby...

We successfully located the original chef from South Pasadena’s former Bistro K and found out he’s (finally) opened up a new restaurant in West LA on Beverly Blvd. called Bistro LQ . We had the 6-course tasting menu dinner there on Saturday. Here’s the verdict:

Without a doubt, this was THE RICHEST MEAL I'VE EVER EATEN, trumping anything else in memory, even meals with twice or three times the courses. I feel like I increased my chance of heart failure over the next 30 days by at least 50%. Everything was incredibly decadent, with each course serving something increasingly dense, buttery, salty, saucy, savory, spicy, and so on.

I have to say that the meal was the MOST ADVENTUROUS I’ve ever had as well, which is a significant statement considering I’ve eaten at some pretty interesting places in various parts of the world. Each course had at least one ingredient or part that I had never had before, with some courses offering an entirely un-experienced collection. A few of the notables:

• Veal sweetbreads, which actually tasted good and didn’t gross me out, despite being slightly spongy for meat.
• Sea urchin and tapioca pudding.
• Live mussel and seaweed gelatin shot.
• Pigeon (dark meat, similar to duck, apparently not “squab”, which I learned is a baby pigeon, sort of like mutton vs. lamb).
• Gizzards (not sure where from).
• Butternut squash mousse (among so many other really interesting “fall vegetable” inspired desert petits fours.
• And, the ultimate for me: sautéed duck hearts.

All in all, I think the meal ranked up there with one of the MOST MEMORABLE, but I also think it could have USED SOME IMPROVEMENTS. It was “only” 6 courses, but by course 2 or 3, we were feeling really fatigued, and almost guiltily wishing we didn’t have so many more to go. It took quite some time for each course to come out, and that allowed the food to settle, which usually diminishes your appetite. For example, at Saam, we had something like 22 courses and I didn’t feel anywhere nearly as exhausted as I did 2/3 of the way into the LQ tasting. The other thing I really missed was one or two fresh, crisp, or light courses that would have provided a nice rest from the ultra-richness of everything else. Saam did this really well also, where several of the courses were actually vegetarian, or very light fish.

WILL I GO BACK? Yes, probably, but most likely with guests who are in to adventurous food and looking for the “craziest” meal they’ve ever had on novelty alone. I may also try to track the chef’s choices for the tasting menus and go when a lighter selection is in rotation. Or, I may go just to order one of the plates instead of the entire tasting battery. There was some really cool and unique single-plate stuff on the menu that I think would have been great on its own with a nice bottle of wine, and maybe the cheese course as a finisher. I have to say it wouldn’t be a place we go to on a whim again though – we’d need a good reason (such as those I mention above) to go back.

ONE FINAL NOTE is that the pricing, like at Bistro K, was ridiculously reasonable for what you were getting. I think this chef’s approach is to never alienate people from the food based on cost, but rather separate the rock stars from the groupies via hyper-eclectic cuisine that not everyone can handle.

SCORES:
Ambiance: 4.5 stars
Food Technique: 5 stars
Food Appeal: 4 stars
Wait Staff: 5 stars
Wine Service: 5 stars
Cheese Service: 3.5 stars
Unique Experience: 5 stars
Repeatability: 3 stars

*Names have been altered to protect the identity of those involved.