Mesmerizing menu options that are anything but ordinary. Bone marrow, balsamic ribs, quail, pork belly, pig's ear, fried rabbit, veal tongue and so many more. Chefs are very creative with tastes and presentation. Definitely worth an evening with friends or couple's night out!

Great food, good wine. A bit crowded and loud, but otherwise an excellent place for an animal type meal!

Finding good restaurants is a big hobby of mine and I always ask people their favorite restaurants in LA. In last few weeks, three people randomly recommended me about Animal and I thought I got to check it out.



The restaurant opens at 6 p.m. nightly and we made a reservation at 6 p.m. on Sunday. We got there early to find a free street parking (they don't have restaurant parking but do have a valet) and walked around the neighborhood. The neighborhood made me a bit uncomfortable and out of place (there were many street kids hanging out and some homeless guys). The restaurant was hard to find since the restaurant doesn't have any sign; it's just all black in the front. The restaurant is very simple but nice and very small; so reservation is a must.



Since this place is a tapas style restaurant, Including desserts, two of us ordered 7 dishes and here is the order of my favorites:



1. pig ear, chili, lime, fried egg

This was our favorite of the night! All my friends recommended pig ear and I'm glad that we tried it. I think what makes this dish so delicious is the sauce; the combination between the spiciness of chili and lime was amazing.



2. flat iron, sunchoke hash, truffle parmesan fondue

This was the most expensive dish ($28) on their menu but it's so worth it! The steak was so soft and I loved it. This is more like entree size than appetizer.



3. chicken liver toast

I heard that foie gras dishes were their signature dishes and I wish I tried them before the foie gras ban. Not as good as foie gras, but this still tasted good.



4. marrow bone, chimichurri, caramelized onions

This was my first time eating bone marrow and it wasn't my favorite. Chimichurri was good though.



5. melted petit basque, chorizo, grilled bread

I love cheese so I had to try this dish. It was good but not as creative dish as others; nothing was particularly special.



6. huckleberry pavlova, lemon verbena ice cream, toasted meringue

It wasn't bad but nothing was special.



7. bacon chocolate crunch bar, s&p ice cream

I've tired bacon chocolate at other restaurants before and I normally like it but this one was not good. It was too salty. They sprinkled lots of salts on the plate but bacon already has the saltiness so the extra salts are unnecessary.



Also, I thought wine list was over-priced. The cheapest glass of wine was $11 and tasted like $5 bottle of wine from grocery store. Next time, I might bring my own bottle of wine and just pay $20 corkage fee.



Overall, it was a good restaurant and I will definitely come back to try other dishes.