Valley Girl - New Posts on Studio City!

With family on that side of the hill, it's not that unusual for me to eat dinner in Studio City. Here's some of my family's favorites that I've had recently:

Suzanne's Country Deli:

My mom is so proud that she found this place on a visit out here once, and with good reason. It's a great little lunch spot with loads of salads and sandwiches, not to mention their popular chicken torta. The portions are huge, so we 4 of us shared the chopped salad, the turkey cranberry artichoke sandwich, and the chicken torta. Everything was good, but the panini was by far the best for me. It's so much more than Thanksgiving on a French roll with cranberry mayo and one of my all-time favorite ingredients, artichokes. I was almost sad I had to share this one because it was so good. The salad was good as far as chopped salads go, but I wouldn't say it stood out among others. The chicken torta was good, but different than what I expected. I always picture tortas as being kind of like a taco salad on a big crispy chip, but this wasn't crispy at all, and rather on a French roll. Otherwise it was pretty similar to a taco salad with chicken, tomato, onions, lettuce, salsa, avocado, and Jack cheese. Still, I'd probably prefer a crispy taco salad any day. 

http://www.suzannescountrydeli.com

Cedar House:

I've never been that into Mediterranean food, but this shiz was great! We had a couple of sampler platters to split between 6 or so people and we still had food left. The complete feast comes complete with hummus, babaghannouj, grape leaves, tabouli, falafel, beef kabob, chicken kabob, kafta, and kibbeh. The tabouli and falafel were phenomenal. And all this time I didn't think I liked falafel. What a shame! the meats were really tender and the whole meal was an overall great experience. I will definitely be going back next time I'm in the valley.

http://losangeles.citysearch.com/profile/41357060/north_hollywood_ca/cedar_house_cafe.html#

Papoo's Hot Dog Show:

The corner of Riverside and Rose Ave. in Toluca Lake seems like it mustn't have changed much since 1949 when Papoo's Hot Dog Show opened. With a Bob's Big Boy drive-in across the street that often hosts classic car shows, it's really like taking a step back in time. Regardless, this corner is cholesterol mecca. I read the less than stellar reviews of Papoo's before going with my niece and nephew, but once you get past the initial heart attack, it's really not that bad. It's especially great for kids as there are a few arcade games that are only $0.25 a pop. The hot selection will remind you of the world-famous Pink's (Papoo's 10-year senior). I decided to go all out and have the bacon avocado dog that comes smothered in partially melted cheese. There was way too much avocado, almost like they just cut up one entire avocado and put it on top. The cheese could have been more melted too, but the bacon saved the day. Who doesn't love bacon? Thick cut fries are always nice too!

http://www.yelp.com/biz/papoos-hot-dog-show-burbank

Father's Office

Ever since I moved here people have been talking about restaurant and pub Father's Office. With a second location now open in Culver City (original location in Santa Monica), we finally gave it a try with a couple of our friends. While there were a lot of great things about Father's Office (i.e. ample free parking, tons of beers, I'll get to the rest later), the biggest inconvenience is the way you get in/get a table. Only a certain number of people are let in at a time, even though the place never seemed that crowded to me, and when they are at capacity, you have to wait in line outside to get in. Once inside, there is still no hostess, but rather community seating and you have to hover over people until they leave. Even if your friends have already gone inside and save a seat at a table for you, you still can't hop to the front of the line, but rather have to wait your turn with everyone else. And when you do get a table, be sure not to leave it unguarded because there are no waiters either, everything is ordered at the bar. The beer menu far outweighs the food menu here, but the food is pretty great for gourmet bar food. We all had the Office burger with the carmalized onion, applewood bacon compote, gruyere, blue cheese, and arugula, and of course, a side of sweet potato fries. Normally I feel like blue cheese overpowers whatever it's paired with, but apparently at FO it's mixed into the meat before they cook it, so it's pretty mild. Overall, the burger was fabulous and definitely worth the $12 or so that it costs (eat your heart out Carls Jr.). The bar has about 20 beers on tap and that's only the beginning. There is an entire selection of rare beers that come at rare prices (up to $75 for 750mL!). The strange thing is that a good portion of these pricey beers are described as "grassy." Yeah, not sure about that, and certainly not willing to spend $75 to find out. My advice for this place is to come early and don't come in a big group unless you intend to rent out the private space, otherwise, you'll never all be able to sit together.

http://fathersoffice.com/
http://losangeles.citysearch.com/profile/11416036#
(menu is only available on Citysearch)

Quality Food & Beverage

Quality Food & Beverage had quietly been on my radar of places in my area to try, but I believe they close pretty early, so Chase and I recently went for breakfast and it was a bit of a mixed review. I had the German pancake, which is pretty much a gigantic baked pancake with lemon juice and powered sugar, and Chase had the breakfast burrito. I was really happy with both, and I ate off of his while we waited for mine (it takes about 20 minutes to make). I'm not sure what he didn't like about the breakfast burrito, but I thought the salsa verde on top was just the way I like it, a little sweet and a little tart. I'd also never had a German pancake before and he had a German guy live with him for a while that used to make them for all of their roommates. Chase didn't seem to think there was much of a comparison, but I really liked it. There was a high crust kind of thing around the outside, which was the best part. The interior got a little soggy and I have a weird thing about soggy bread. Nevertheless, the interior had the most lemon taste to it, with was the other sparkling feature. Other than our entrees, we really didn't try much else. They do have a pretty big menu though, and I think it was certainly worth going back. It wasn't terribly expensive either, about $15 a person with a drink (the homemade lemonade was great). We were lucky that we didn't have to wait more than about 10 minutes, but I can see how this place would get as crowded as Doughboys or Toast and with equally as mediocre parking.

http://losangeles.citysearch.com/profile/81678/

Hatfields

Hatfields is another one of the restaurants in LA that I've been trying to get to for over a year now and last night Chase and I finally went. The setting is very serene with creamy white walls and tables and cabin-looking wood accents surrounding. Once at our table, we were delivered a little treat from the chef consisting of deviled quail eggs and a cold corn soup. Deviled eggs are not usually something I like, but the deviled quail eggs were superb. The corn soup was served in a shot glass and while it was good, I really couldn't of handled more than the 3 or 4 sips that we were given as it tasted so strongly of corn. Beyond that we tried another corn dish, the house made corn agnolloti with Dungeness crab, sherry beurre fondue and shaved summer truflle. The pasta was extremely rich (even without the truffle) but the crab was still really mild and overall a well balanced dish served in a really interesting plate with a bowl cut out of the middle. For entrees, I had the buttermilk steamed organic chicken breast on top of brown buttered sunchokes with julianned squash and zucchini basil coulis. I can't say that I've had steamed chicken too often in my life, but I'm not sure I prefer it that way. The chicken was so tender, but it didn't have any overwhelming taste. Maybe baking the chicken would be give it a little more flavor? The sunchokes were great and the zucchini basil sauce was interesting and an unexpected flavor. Chase was really excited about the date and mint crusted lamb with potato chive puree, and a mixed vegetable sautee. I tried a bite of his and the lamb, cooked pink in the center, was really great. The crust of date and mint on the outside was probably the best part. The potato chive puree was another unexpected flavor that worked really well, though you definitely don't feel like you are eating potatoes since they are so light and fluffy. Mid-way through the meal we decided we needed to try the rhubarb bellini, which was better than most bellinis I've ever had. After finishing all of that off, we took the waiter's desert suggestion and went for the beignets and chocolate fondue with a shotglass of vanilla milkshake. Probably the best milkshake I've ever had and we would have loved to have more than 2 sips each. The chocolate with the beignets was just right and this dish reminded me of what churros con chocolate is really supposed to taste like. Que bueno! Take heed though, this is a very fancy place, with high prices and small portions. They are really going for quality over quantity. At the end of the night, our meal for two was $120 and Chase was making jokes that he needed to grab some fast food on the way home. While it was really delicious, I don't think I'll find myself craving anything we had or wanting to come back anytime soon. Especially not with so many other places on my to try list.

http://www.hatfieldsrestaurant.com/menus.html