Breadbar - Century City, California

Address: 10250 Santa Monica Blvd, Century City, CA 90067

Items Ordered:

• Chicken noodle soup
• French onion soup with emmenthal cheese
• Wild halibut pico de gallo, carrots, spinach
• Catch of the day (bass?) with capers, brussels sprouts, and potatoes
• Happy hour: pepperoni pizza, burger and fries
• Bread pudding

Would I go back to Breadbar? Yes! In fact I've already revisited for the amazingly warm and toothsome bread pudding more than once. It's not overly sweet, and is probably the best version I've tried to date. I'm glad that "Breadbar" can live up to its name with the fantastic bread pudding. I'm also a sucker for cheese, especially when it's warm and melty like in French onion soup. If you're a fan, try this dish as well; I couldn't stop drinking it. If that wasn't enough to convince you to give Breadbar a try, both fish entrees we ordered were flaky and well-seasoned. They were also relatively light enough to leave stomach space for dessert. I would recommend visiting during regular hours as the happy hour dishes are just mediocre and probably not the restaurant's best showing. If you visit, let me know if you agree with me about the delicious bread pudding!

--y

Meet - Culver City, California

Address: 9727 Culver Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232

Items Ordered:

• All-you-can-eat Mussels Wednesday
• DIJONNAISE - Garlic, shallots, tomato confit, house mustard, tarragon and cream
• MARINIERE - Garlic, shallots, chablis, herbed croutons
• MEET - Crab, shallot, saffron, tomato confit, celeri, bacon, basil, chablis
• THAI - Indian curry, garlic, cumin, lemongrass, coconut milk , cream
• MARINARA - Merlot, garlic, shallots, spicy marinara
• Fries

Meet is a cute French bistro in Downtown Culver City. We came one day for the all you can eat mussels and it was DELICIOUS. I love mussels and I loved the variety of about 10 different types of mussels we could choose from. The fries came a little later than I would have liked, but once they came, they were perfect for dipping with the sauces. Each of the bowls of mussels (1 pound each bowl) had great sauces and I wanted to just drink all of it. Yummy!

--v

La Provence Patisserie & Cafe - Brentwood, California

Address: 11677 San Vicente Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90049

Items Ordered:

• Smoked salmon omelette
  
• Egg whites, bacon, and cheddar sandwich
• Raspberry, rose, caramel fleur de sel, and chocolate macarons

I first visited the La Provence location in Beverly Hills, and after my first taste of a salted caramel macaron I instantly decided this was my new favorite macaron place. The macaron filling is sweet and has the perfect gooey consistency, while the cookie outside is not too sweet and tastes distinctly of the flavor advertised. I've tried every flavor here since then, and my favorites are raspberry, lemon, vanilla, and salted caramel, and my least favorites are rose and pistachio. At $1.95 for a large macaron compared to $1.60 for a small macaron at Paulette's, La Provence really beats out the competition in taste, location(s), and price. If you receive a box of La Provence macarons from me, then just know that I think you're really special! :)

Oh yea, their breakfast foods were average at best, but the fresh-baked baguette and raspberry jam on the side are really delicious. Give it a try.

--y

Bouchon Bistro - Las Vegas, Nevada

Address: Inside the Venetian at 3355 Las Vegas Blvd S, Las Vegas, NV 89109

Items Ordered:

• Croque Madame: toasted ham & cheese on brioche, fried egg, mornay sauce
  
• Eggs Hussard: ham, tomato, poached egg atop bread with Marchand de vin sauce
  
• Omelette du Jour: crab, cherry tomato, and cheddar 3-egg omelette
  
• Bouchon French Toast: warm layers of brioche, custard, & apples with syrup
  

What better way to end an all-girls Vegas outing than a fancy schmancy brunch at Bouchon Bistro? The Croque Madame was well-prepared, except possibly too much fried goodness, and the crab omelette while good was nothing spectacular. The french toast though was warm and sugary, and delicious, but the Eggs Hussard was the clear winner, with runny egg yolk, ham, and tomato in each bite--like an eggs benedict but not as heavy.

Since girls always get their way, we also received an off-the-menu dessert of raspberry/vanilla push pops compliments of pastry chef Chris Herrin. Even better IMO was the free tour of the Bouchon Bistro kitchen where the magic happens! I left stuffed and satisfied and will definitely return to Bouchon Bistro to try the chicken and waffles and probably dinner too.

--y

LudoBites 5.0 at Gram & Papa's - Los Angeles, California

Address: 227 E 9th St, Los Angeles, CA 90015 (variable)

Items Ordered:

• Vadouvan Naan Bread with Salted Coconut Butter
  
• Poached Egg, Potato Mousseline, Chorizo Condiment
  
• Confit Pork Belly, Raw Choucroute Thai Style, Mustard Ice Cream
  
• Steamed Duck Lemon Verbena, Crispy Skin Puree, White Peach, Radish & Balsamic
• Campfire Smoked S'mores, Guacamole Sorbet
• Caramel Souffle, Blanco Grapefruit, Fleur de Sel Ice Cream
  

Everything was delicious. Now you don't even have to continue reading except if you're interested in my descriptions.

The Naan Bread was even tastier than naan I've had at some of my favorite Indian restaurants, although the texture was more like pita bread than flaky naan. The salted coconut butter was delicious, and I wish I could buy a whole jar of that to keep at home. Our next dish was the poached egg, potato mousseline, which tasted like really creamy mashed potatoes with smoky chorizo flavor. 2 thumbs up! The confit pork belly was fatty and delicious, but I was not a huge fan of the raw vegetables or mustard ice cream. I can't eat ice cream that's not sweet--think garlic ice cream (bleh). My favorite dish of the night had to be the steamed duck. I can't even describe it, but the combination of balsamic, duck, and white peach really worked, and I think I ate more than my fair share of this dish.

I was super excited about the desserts, but the entrees edged out the desserts IMO. The s'mores were a cute concept, but difficult to eat, and again with the guacamole ice cream made this dessert my least favorite plate of the night (albeit still okay). The caramel souffle with Fleur de Sel ice cream was fantastic, but towards the end got a little too sweet.

Overall, Chef Ludo is an amazing chef and also quite nice as he took pictures with us (2 girls, 6 dishes?!) after the meal and didn't seem to mind too much that I kept taking pictures of him preparing dishes :D. The atmosphere was lively, all the servers were great at explaining the dishes and refilling glasses. I'm ready to make reservations for LudoBites 6.0 already!!!

--y

Ivan Kane's Cafe Was - Los Angeles, California

Address: 1521 Vine Street, Los Angeles, CA 90028

Items Ordered:

• Onion Soup
• Bouillabaisse
• Beignet

Cafe Was is a French bistro inspired restaurant. I LOVED the ambiance here. We were seated in the Piano Room, where there was a performance by an artist that sang while playing the piano. Not only that, but the piano and the circular floor piece that it was on rotated slowly as we enjoyed our meal in the dimly lit room. We went for LA Restaurant Week and the set menu was delicious.

--v