W: Good. Just didn’t rise to the level of Bavel and Saffy’s, which I think very highly of. Best dishes we tried: Greek yogurt dessert and rock cod. I cannot compare to DC, been too long.
P: Interesting flavors. The flavors are more exotic than Bavel to me.
Thanks for the preview. I was going to take the office there for holiday lunch today but they’re not serving lunch during this soft opening. Plan to take them there for their Dine LA lunch instead, although I was hoping for a Muhammara on the menu. Love that shizz. Anyone have a favorite for that in LA? Been meaning to go to Ladyhawke just for that.
I do have a favorite for muhammara: Marouch. By far my favorite. Peony doesn’t like it though, so go figure.
A little more on Marouch: It’s on Santa Monica Blvd. between East Hollywood and Silver Lake. Old school Lebanese Armenian, not at all like Zaytinya, Ladyhawke, etc. It was a perennial on Jonathan Gold’s list. Since he died, it hasn’t gotten any media attention from any source that I can recall. I think it’s declined a little. But overall, I think it’s still good. I would estimate I’ve eaten there or ordered delivery from there over 50 times over the years.
Haven’t been to the one here yet, but hit the one in NY this summer. It was “ok.” Flavors were fine, everything was tasty, not surprisingly it was pricy for what you got, but the bigger issue I had was the menu was just boring. There simply wasn’t very much that sounded all that exciting to me. Will be curious to see how this does in LA.
Muhammara was my favorite dip on the mezze combo at Ladyhawke. I can’t say how it compares to others, but it was memorable amongst many great things in the combo. Ladyhawke doesn’t get a lot of love on the board, but I’ve enjoyed both meals I’ve had there.
Carousel in Glendale.
Had an enjoyable dinner here. Constant warm blimp pita refresh was a plus.
For four, we got the hummus, fattoush, mujadara, seared halloumi, bantijian bil laban, octopus santorini, rock cod, chicken youvetsi, shish taouk, kofte, and olive oil cake.
Highlights were the bantijian bil laban (love fried eggplant in general) and the mujadara. Will probably skip the chicken youvetsi (not the biggest fan the sheepsmilk cheese funk in the dish + eats heavy for my liking), kofte (overspiced for my tastes), and olive oil cake (felt underdeveloped?) next time.
Better cost performance than expected. Came out to about 190 pre-tax (no drinks) but could’ve omitted the personal skips and brought it down to about 150 and left full.
*All coming from someone who doesn’t eat much Mediterranean, though.
Welcome.
shirako slurper haha
i remember my first shirako experience. apologies for the flex: it was sushi saito in tokyo, back when it was in a parking garage. i remember the polite japanese woman next to me calling it “male fish eggs” with a slight hint of embarrassment.
Also Carousel in Hollywood!
Welcome to FTC!!!
Name’s a total lie 
. I’ve passed on all the milt munching opportunities so far, though I think I’d fold at Saito if I ever get so lucky…
Thanks for having me! (paranoidgarliclover, too)
I got my entire meal here comped because they sat us outside when we requested standard seating on a very cold night lol.
We got:
HOMMUS
BABA GHANNOUGE
CHEESE PIDE
CRISPY BRUSSELS AFELIA
BANTIJIAN BIL LABAN
SEA SCALLOPS
SOUTZOUKAKIA
GRILLED LAMB CHOPS - my personal favorite
WHOLE FISH
KEBAB PLATTER
TURKISH COFFEE CHOCOLATE CAKE
OLIVE OIL CAKE
welcome
Welcome to FTC!!!
How was the meal in general? 
It was good all around.
went here last night and enjoyed it.
infinite pita was great and delightful.
kebab platter is very properly executed and quite solid QPR tbh
imam baylidi (an eggplant stew) was so good. I kept finding myself spooning it off the plate, lol.
my dining companion liked the smoked beet salad more than I did, but we both really enjoyed the avgolemono.
the zero proof milk punch is a banger, and it always makes me happy when a spot treats their zero-proof offerings with proper care, instead of just making it “expensive juice”
the hommus ma lahm was fine, because I think the lamb was a bit too mild (this might just be a “me” thing?). this was probably the one dish where I was like “I miss bavel”
the za’atar pide was fun but felt superfluous when we just kept getting so much hot/fresh pita delivered to the table. to each their own, but I’d rather skip the flatbreads here entirely in the future and grab something else. it ain’t bad, but I really enjoyed everything else more! I also know that cinnamon is a traditional thing in savory greek dishes, but I didn’t really like the chicken youvetsi either. it was the cinnamon. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
dessert: we tried the galatopita and the Turkish coffee chocolate cake, the former was such a damn good contrasts of textures and flavors. like an apple pie but greek. the semolina in the custard shot the whole dish through with some nuttiness, the phyllo was light and crunchy w/o being overly sweet, and both expressions of apple (cooked down in the filling, and as sorbet on top) were very well done.
the Turkish coffee chocolate cake was the best riff on a lava cake I’ve had all year (and I’ve had many lol). the pairing with mastic gum(!) sorbet was soooo good: a pine-like accent that boosted the savoriness of the chocolate. as someone who imports tons of mastic gum every year, it’s always fun to see it pop up in food.
with that said, I liked both of the sorbets SO much… if you gotta have one dessert, grab some sorbet.
service was attentive, solid and well-done. it was nice to hear so many of the staff members being held over from etra and the other concepts that this location has seen over the years.
excited to go back at some point
Wanted to love it, but unfortunately did not.
First, the room is very nice, but be warned that if you are a two-top, you get a very uncomfortable high table in the bar area – the kind of table where you would expect to stand and drink – and where there isn’t enough room to put everything if you order a number of things.
We had:
Baba ganoush - meh
MUJADARA – it was okay; my dining companion liked it better than I did
BANTIJIAN BIL LABAN - this was little pieces of fried eggplant in a garlic yogurt sauce and was my favorite dish of the night, but not something I would feel a need to return for
Smoked beet salad - meh
Whole branzino for $85 - meh
Olive oil cake - I really liked this
Some pitas delivered to the table as soon as we sat down and they were meh. Maybe better out of the oven.
I asked the somm what he was really excited about on the wine menu and we got a bottle of Greek red that was rather meh.
The whole meal made me long for the sublime meal I had in January at Ladino in San Antonio Texas. This meal felt very chain-like.
