Angler - Beverly Center

rlw · June 19, 2021, 1:02am

Angler was one of my last indoor 2020 meals, and having the banana pancake with caviar then, I knew it would need to be one of my first meals back indoors.

(also pre-reopening)

Angler Reserve Caviar & Banana Pancakes

I know Angler isn’t exclusively an LA restaurant, but damnit if this isn’t a dish that is worthy coming here for.

Oysters

I admit, oysters aren’t usually something I order, but these could change my mind.

Radicchio with Radicchio X.O.

This is the best dish on the menu.

And just for fun (this is from my previous visit) my favorite part of eating it is the spectacle of the cleared plate.

Ceviche

Not a lot here, but flavorful.

Antelope Tartare

Meaty.

Beet

Not meat but tasted meaty.

Box Crab

Really enjoyed cracking into this, even if my dining companions had issues controlling their crab splatter

Parker House Rolls

The bread is one thing, but the butter is next level.

Whole Sea Bream

Nice and simple. I really loved plucking out the eyes (side bar: is it weird to eat the eyes? None of my dining companions said they usually eat them. Oh well, more for me ).

Striped Bass

It’s hard to pick which of the two fish preparations I liked best. The sea bream was impeccably cooked, but I really enjoyed the lingering spice here on the bass.

Potato

The best potato in the city. I liked how they kept it whole this time, though there wasn’t enough cheese sauce.

Soft Serve Sundae

No other way to end it.

I know it was pre-reopening, but I was a bit disheartened to still see quite a number of tables open. Angler is one of the strongest restaurants we have wire to wire.

PorkyBelly · June 19, 2021, 1:16am

the restaurant isn’t exclusive to la but I believe the banana pancake is.

rlw · June 19, 2021, 1:19am

I checked the SF menu and it only has caviar service, but doesn’t mention the pancake. So I think you’re right.

Another reason I’m never moving back to the bay.

robert · June 19, 2021, 1:25am

The SF branch has served banana pancakes, but maybe they didn’t go over as well as they did in LA.

paranoidgarliclover · June 19, 2021, 1:55am

I love how primal that looks.

Clayfu · June 21, 2021, 5:42am

SF has banana pancakes, just had it last week.

hungryhungryhippos · June 21, 2021, 4:16pm

Went to angler this weekend. Service was impeccable as always, present and considerate but not overbearing. In terms of service this is by far the best for a restaurant that I regularly dine at in LA by a mile.

Unlike other reports our food was less even.

Caviar and banana pancake w butter amazing. We had long necks and kushis they were both delicious although I got a bite of shell in one of my kushis. Parker house rolls and prawns were awesome.

Whole fish was ok, was well cooked flavor could have been better. Did not feel like the citrus complemented the sea bream.

The not so good. Our beet was tough and chewy not like the ones we had previously. I understand that they dehydrate and then rehydrate/slow cook, but I don’t think it was cooked long enough previously weve had it it was beeflike but very tender. Raddichio xo did not have the usual pop. The potato while good was not very crispy on the outside. In the past it’s been crispy outside tender inside. The artichokes were just ok.

Sad because their “veggie” type courses have been our faves.

Glad they are back up to full speed but we were a little less satisfied this time compared to previous visits.

TheCookie · June 21, 2021, 7:04pm

Eye eating - you & PorkyBelly are definitely kindred spirits.

P.S. Good report!

TheCookie · June 21, 2021, 7:18pm

True, your potato doesn’t look as crispy as @rlw. B-team?

rlw · June 21, 2021, 11:11pm

I don’t know what night of the week @hungryhungryhippos went, but I was there on a Wednesday. Maybe they’re still trying to dial in how it’s cooked whole now instead of in 4 parts with more surface area to crisp up?

hungryhungryhippos · June 22, 2021, 3:40am

The crisp skin was the best part of the fish. We went on Saturday. Typically anglers proteins provide a “wow” factor either in taste and/or presentation unfortunately this one was just ok.

hungryhungryhippos · June 22, 2021, 6:58pm

Possibly but it was Saturday night should be bringing their heavy hitters

butteredwaffles · June 22, 2021, 7:26pm

robert · June 22, 2021, 7:41pm

They’re currently open only five nights a week, so there should be no B-team. They have a lot of open positions.

https://www.seasoned.co/jobs/all_restaurant-jobs_in-los-angeles-ca?search_text=angler

T3t · June 24, 2021, 8:10pm

I had dinner here on Friday with family. No pictures, but we ate:
Raddichio
Rolls
Live Lobster
Beet
Potato
Bass
Sea Bream
Wagyu
Chicken
Soft Serve (x2)

I thought everything was good to very good, mostly on the very good end of the spectrum. Easily comparable in quality of execution to my dinner at The French Laundry two nights ago. Service was surprisingly awkward, though, particularly the pacing - we had a huge pileup of courses in the middle; practically everything after the lobster and before the chicken came in a 10-minute window. Outside of that, it was a pretty fantastic dinner. Could’ve easily skipped the second soft serve; I didn’t realize how gigantic it was (since I hadn’t ordered it the first time I was there).

tailbacku · June 25, 2021, 5:02pm

Surprisingly easy reservation to get. Will be celebrating my birthday next month here. Excited to try it after all the praise here! Hayato and Sushi Kaneyoshi on the other hand…who do I need to bribe to get a reservation there?

Ns1 · June 25, 2021, 5:28pm

@lafoodie

matthewkang · June 25, 2021, 6:49pm

went last night and the new dry-aged NY strip is really good. I prefer it over wagyu. My only wish is that it came with a sauce of some kind? The golden mushrooms in a tea cup were brilliant. Overall, Angler was terrific.

lafoodie · June 25, 2021, 6:52pm

Try to get a bunch of your friends to snag a reservation for you as soon as more dates become available.

If I can do it by myself with my own fingers (and so many FTCers here), you can do it too.

I’m hoping for any of my friends to really want to go to those restaurants so I can put my fingers to work to get those reservations. It has been so long since I dined out.

tailbacku · July 10, 2021, 7:15pm

Brilliant dinner last night. We had 6:45pm reservations and until we left just before 9pm, the restaurant was never more than 60% full. Why isn’t this place more popular? The bar area was completely empty the whole night.

Started off with a glass of Cremant and some oysters and little neck clams. The clams were the standout. Perfectly sweet and briny. Where can one source clams this fresh for home consumption? I also LOVED that they use Zalto glasses for the bubblies. Unfortunately they didn’t for the wine service.

Tuna was a highlight. So many layers of flavors.

Wine for the night. I LOVED this wine. Perfect balance of mineral, fruit and acid for me. Can’t seem to find it anywhere.

I thought the house rolls were going to be life changing given all the praise here but we both thought they were just OK. Was much more dense than we expected. Probably wouldn’t order again unless we came with a bigger group. One piece was enough for me.

Radicchio lived up to all expectations

Beets was the only miss for us. Didn’t like the texture, felt like it was overcooked. Flavors weren’t that interesting either and didn’t particularly go well with either fish.