Lost and Foundry

Giggles, Bax, Prim, and I tried The Foundry on Melrose last night.

The vibe was lounge-y cool meets art-deco flapper.

My dinner tonight got canceled [insert sad face here], so this concludes my dineLA foray this year. These sets were $44 for starter, entree, and dessert.

Complimentary stuff. All bad. So sad.



Giggles and Prim started with the spicy albacore tartare with pears, honey, and soy vinaigrette. Light, refreshing, and quite good.

Bax's crispy pork belly with grapes, almond, and eggplant was a tasty start, as well. It didn't hold a candle to Animal's legendary pork belly, but few things do.

My calamari "a la plancha" with olive tapenade, grapefruit, and piquillo peppers was the loser appetizer. Very forgettable and meh. Looooooooser.

Prim seemed to like her chorizo-crusted Jidori chicken with mashed plantains, and avocado citrus salad. The bite I had was fine but nothing special.

Bax and I opted for the hangar steak with crispy fingerlings, mushrooms, and anchovy butter. The steak was nice and tender, and the anchovy butter was surprisingly yummy with its smooth saltiness.

Giggles' entree was the best -- crispy skin salmon with crushed potato and orange fennel. The crunch of the skin contrasted well against the lightness of the medium-rare fish. Thumbs up for this one.

Bax and Prim ended with chocolate banana bread pudding with rum raisin ice cream. It was only lukewarm and just not that yummy, which is a travesty because all bread pudding should be yummy.

Giggles was the big winner again with her dessert. Of all the doughnuts I've had during dineLA this year, these spiced doughnuts with pineapple saffron sauce and chocolate hazelnut sauce were the best! Hot! Light! Sugary! Perfect with sauce!

I got the flop of the bunch again. My honey crème brûlée with candied fruit and orange sherbet may have been colorful, but it was a sad specimen of a dessert.

Everyone had a little, and we agreed. The consistency was off. The temperature was off. The fruit was gross. I ate the sherbet and called it a night.

Special thanks to my co-workers for their thumbs.

If I'd had Giggles' set, I think I'd probably recommend The Foundry on Melrose. Based on my dishes, however, I'm hesitant to do so. I guess the best characterization of our experience was that it was a mixed bag.

Now I need to begin fasting to counteract all the gorging I've done these past two weeks. I hope you've enjoyed reading these entries as much as I've enjoyed posting them.