I didn’t even realize that dal dishes were made with butter, but I see that Dal Makhani literally means buttery dal. Is all dal made with butter or just this particular version? Here I thought I was eating something relatively healthy when ordering dal. Sigh.
P.S. @PeonyWarrior - I greatly enjoy your delivery chronicles, although sadly many of the places are outside of my delivery zone.
Warrior: thank you both for the good words! Sorry to break the bad news about the use of ghee in daal dishes. From what I’ve read, Indians traditionally think of ghee as healthy.
Wait is ghee not healthy?
Half kidding but subscribe to the belief fats we’ve been eating since domestication are probably better than many industrial seed oils.
Tangent aside, appreciate the info and energy y’all bring.
Harold and Belle’s
Peony: 6/10. Decent food. Good ingredients. Some of the dishes are more well-prepared than the others. Good enough for delivery.
Warrior: 4.5/10. This food showed solid effort, but it just wasn’t consistent with my palate’s expectations. I found both the gumbo and the etouffee overly sweet and lacking depth of flavor. The potatoes, even though they had chunks, reminded me of horrible childhood memories of instant mashed potatoes. The macaroni and cheese was too mushy. The catfish was undersalted and needed more blackening on the outside. Sorry, I cannot recommend this food. I’ll also note this meal cost $100+, around the same price level as Kismet.
Warrior: It’s disappointing that we can put a man on the moon and create silicon chips with billions of nanoscale transistors, but health scientists still aren’t sure about basic things like whether butter is healthy.
Bludso’s
Warrior: 6/10. I thought the BBQ whole chicken was excellent. Great flavor and tenderness. Everything else, including the BBQ chicken links and jackfruit, was just okay. It’s a nice gesture to have jackfruit on the menu, but I think the seasoning was too strong. I would have preferred no seasoning at all. I found it difficult to chew through the very tough casing for the links. The sides were basic and uninspired. Still, the chicken was so good that I give the restaurant a passing grade.
Peony: 5.5/10. I feel this is what I would expect from barbecue food. Maybe I’m fussy. I was not impressed.
You, I never would’ve thought to order chicken there. I’m such a beef and pork fiend when it comes to BBQ. 
Warrior: With rare exceptions, we only eat red meat (pork included) when it is unavoidable as part of a tasting menu or used in small amounts for seasoning.
The first time I tried Bludso’s it was a couple of rib tips from the Compton locale. 
I love pork but try to keep my consumption to a minimum, so haven’t had them at the La Brea locale. Are they as good? The Bloody Mary with the rib tip garnish looked insane… insanely good.
Yep. I actually think they’re better at the new location than what they were doing at the Compton location. Like a lot of legit BBQ places, there can be variability from batch to batch, but when they’re on top of their game, those rib tips are amazing.
“Temporarily Closed” 
Colori Kitchen
Warrior: 7/10. As I recall, Colori Kitchen opened in DTLA around the same time as Yxta and Wood Spoon, about 13 years ago. It’s great that this trio of restaurants has survived all this time, and it’s well-deserved, because they all do a good job. The food at Colori Kitchen is basic but enjoyable. I wish the spaghetti were more al dente, but it’s passable, and the pesto sauce was delicious. I wish the salmon were cooked more rare, but it was tasty nonetheless. I really liked the mixed grilled vegetables—my favorite dish of the night. The minestrone was a bit too sweet and not savory enough for my taste. My controversial statement of the night: I like this restaurant slightly more than Maccheroni Republic.
Peony: 7/10. I enjoyed this food a lot. Good Italian food for delivery. My favorite actually was the soup. It had the perfect combination of vegetables and was just very tasty and comforting. The pesto sauce was outstanding.
Hatin’ aside, I got delivery from Kogi the other day. Surprised to see it on the app, think they set it up based on wherever the truck parks that day. Still owns. 10/10.
what did you order? Tacos are great. Last time I got a burrito and it was pretty terrible.
Tacos, quesadilla, and I love that Blue Moon Mulita. So much ginger in their salsa azul. Learned that the hard way about burritos myself once too - there’s bits of egg in there for some reason? Very strange.
Natraliart (Jamaican)
Warrior: 7/10. I’m really starting to dig Jamaican food. We’ve ordered from Natraliart before, but I don’t remember it being this good. I liked every dish tonight. I think it is the liberal use of coconut oil that makes everything so tasty. The ackee with saltfish was not quite the best I’ve ever had, but it was very good. The curry shrimp was also better than average. Yummy food!
Peony: 7.5/10. Loved the food. Very tasty. Another wonderful experience with Jamaican food!
Holds up shockingly well in delivery!
