Cobras & Matadors

One of Chase & my favorite spots when we first moved to LA was Flora Kitchen, connected to Rita Flora Florists on La Brea. Sadly, Flora Kitchen closed last year and reopened to be Happi Songs, a Korean restaurant and sake bar. About 3 weeks later, Happi Songs turned into Goat, a restaurant focusing largely on the meat, cheese, and milk of that animal. Chase and I wanted to try Goat and joked that we should hurry before it turned into something else. Last night we finally made it over there, and apparently we were too late. From the front you won't notice much change except the writing on the door, and we walked in from the parking lot in the back, so it wasn't until we were there and really started looking around while we waited for a table that we even noticed the change to Cobras & Matadors. I asked the waiter how long it'd been since Goat closed and they opened and he said about 2 weeks, but this was their first really busy night. And busy it was, but luckily we didn't have to wait long until a seat at the bar opened up. The interior was really cool with brass buckled to some of the walls and dark wood with interesting and varying textures on others. Over the kitchen is a big multi-colored glass window and several old signs hung up throughout. Our waiter was really great in recommending wines and we were both happy with what we were given, though the glasses are really small, probably around 3-4 ounces. His food recommendations were on par as well. Above all he suggested the skirt steak with peppers. Both the steak and the peppers were a little bit sweet, almost like Korean bbq, and served medium rare it was definitely the best dish of the night. Since it came first, it made the event a little anti-climatic. After that came the warmed drunken goat cheese, not a dish that the waiter recommended but one of our own choosing. It was basically a huge block of warmed up goat cheese with crumbs and sherry soaked cherries on top. It was incredibly rich, even for someone who loves goat cheese, and could be balanced out a little better if eaten on a piece of toasted bread. Next up was the gazpacho verde with corn. This was something I really wanted to try, but I was disappointed when we got it, not to mention getting full. We also tried the tortilla espanola with truffle oil and if you've had the real thing in Spain, it was another disappointment. The salted cod cakes with fried capers were our last tapa and one that the waiter had recommended. They were really great and I don't normally care for capers. I guess when you fry anything it's only going to make it better. For whatever reason, this dish had been delayed so the waiter was nice enough to give us a glass of wine on the house. After the cod cakes, we were both full, but churros con chocolate is not only one of my favorite Spanish dishes, but enjoying it in Madrid with friends is one of my favorite memories and I really wanted to share that now with Chase. That being said, I suppose the churros con chocolate had a lot to live up to, and frankly it just didn't deliver. The churros were really doughy, when they should be pretty fried solid, and the chocolate should be more liquidy than it was, along the consistency of chocolate fondue, not like a paste. I think having tasted the real thing in Spain may have jaded a good portion of the meal for me. I wanted to have it just as I remember it, but nothing lived up to my expectations. I think if you've never been to Spain, you'll most likely really enjoy the food here. At the end of the meal we owed the place $75, which I feel was a little high, but the service was really good and we enjoyed ourselves while we were there. Will we go back? That I'm not too sure of.

http://losangeles.citysearch.com/profile/11525802#

Note: There are at least 3 locations now, and I am not sure how much the menu varies by location. I do know that the menu last night somewhat resembled the one on Citysearch.