RECON: LIBRARY ALEHOUSE (Again)

Santa Monica, CA


The Canuck and I were down on Main Street, and being creatures of habit, when faced with where to eat, we settled on Library Alehouse.  We continued being creatures of habit by ordering our usual beers, a Bitburger for the Canuck and a Lost Coast apricot for me.  I was in a healthy mood, so I ordered the Ahi burger with wasabi coleslaw, daikon sprouts and a side salad, but the Canuck chose the Blue & Bacon (again) which as you might guess has bacon, and stilton bleu cheese with fries of course.


Burgers came out looking good as always, and we took our first bites. The ahi burger tasted very plain, so I stole the mustard off the Canuck's plate and then suddenly the ahi burger was delicious.  I don't know why something that supposedly had wasabi in it was so bland, but the mustard made the burg. Side salad tasted way too healthy and boring, it was more like a little pile of rabbit food than a salad.

This time the Blue & Bacon burg was cooked properly - medium - and the flavor combination is delicious as you'd expect for Kobe beef. The sweetness of the onions balanced the salty-ness of the bacon and cheese.  

The Canuck complained about the fries, but I like them bite size and crisp, tossed with parsley.  I concede that they were well done, but what's not to love?  Overall, the food at Library Alehouse is consistently good, but the service not so much.  I don't know if its because we are usually on the back patio, or if its the same up at the bar, but the bus-ers have better game than the servers. Let's be real though, it won't stop me from returning... 

Mini-Recon: LIBRARY ALEHOUSE

Santa Monica, CA


The Canuck and I continued our burger feast at Library Alehouse on Main. I wanted the tuna tartare as an entree, so I chose to have a slider appetizer with Niman Ranch beef, lettuce, tomato, onion, Tillamook cheddar and their Alehouse thousand island. The onion was diced, which I thought was odd, and I got the slice of tomato that has the little circle where the stem grows which I didn't approve of, however these are aesthetic issues, not taste issues. The slider was satisfying and I would order it again, especially with the amazing Apricot Wheat beer I was drinking from Lost Coast. I do appreciate when a restaurant shreds its lettuce, and the thousand island was a good addition.

The Canuck went all out and had the Blue N Bacon burger with Kobe, double bacon, stilton blue and caramelized onions. Fries too of course and they were natural cut with solid flavor, a perfect compliment to our beers.

The bacon was excellent, and the stilton and caramelized onions were a great flavor combination. That's a side of dijon, which almost had to fight the stilton for flavor power. Sadly, the Canuck ordered this burg medium and it came out well done. Now, I don't know how that chef was raised, but in my world, overcooking kobe beef is a big no-no. Regardless, the flavor was satisfying- better than the Umami Port and Stilton burger? No, but maybe it was just an off day for that chef. There are many other burgers on the menu and you can build your own, so I will come back and give the place another try.

Mini- Recon: THE PEARL

San Diego, CA


For my Dad's birthday my step mom and I planned a surprise dinner at The Pearl, a recently restored 1960's motel in Point Loma.  The atmosphere is fantastic and we dined right by the pool while Goldfinger was projected on a large screen above the pool.  We tried some lavender cocktails, which were a little sweet for my taste, then settled into some red wine.  Most of us ordered the braised short ribs, but my brother was true to his upbringing and opted for the burger.  

With Meyer Ranch Chuck, Smoked Gouda and carmelized onions, (which he picked off and I happily ate with my short ribs) the burger was solid.  Classic with a few gourmet tweaks, the butter toasted bun brought it home. Not the best burger ever, but a safe choice.  Fries were delicious!

Recon: UMAMI La Brea

Los Angeles, CA


Last week a friend of mine had a show at the Comedy Union, and I jumped at the opportunity to hit up the Umami on La Brea- because each menu is a little different, and every time I have a different burg. The Canuck and I were in a rush though, and told our server we had half an hour, was it doable?  And great success, more than doable.  

The Canuck ordered the Triple Pork Burger which consists of pork, chorizo, and applewood smoked bacon all ground together in the patty, with manchego cheese, pimento aioli, lettuce and tomato. I opted for the Port & Stilton burg which has bleu cheese and port-caramelized onions, and nothing else. I was about to ask for skinny fries when the server told me they had truffle fries with a truffle cheese on top, I said stop, you had me at the word truffle. Now I'd like to point out that there is a truffle burger on the menu, but for some mysterious reason I hadn't ordered it, and with the truffle fries it would have been overload anyway.  

Food came out quick as requested, and it was heavenly. Some of you weaklings might be saying, 'port, bleu cheese and truffles? too rich!' but no, my friends, it was fantastic and the saltiness of the truffles complimented the sweet port onions. I really enjoyed the simplicity of this burger. (Above) The Canuck's burger tasted like a spoonful of hearty chili, I kid you not. [Note to self: use pimento peppers next time you make chili.] It was the oddest thing to take a bite of burg, but then be chewing straight chili. (Below) We both liked my burg a little better so we cut them in half and shared, because we're nice people like that. What I also love about Umami is that the buns are just a little sweet, which counteracts the savory elements of the burg. Bleu cheese wasn't overwhelming, the meat is high quality- soft and filled with juicy flavor, but sog factor is still an issue. The bottom bun soaks up all the burger juice, which in theory is tasty, but a little gooey. Oh, and the branded bun was a nice, new touch.

The truffle fries with truffle cheese can only be described as rich, buttery goodness.  (Served with Umami ketchup)

As far as setting goes, I liked their operation. Valet was only $2.50, and a hostess greeted us as we stepped out of the car. She sat us on the back patio which had heat lamps and lights strung above us. It was a little crowded out there, but I imagine the crowd only builds the energy on a busy night.


Every time I visit Umami, I like it a little more. Damn, I'm starving... I really need to stop writing reviews at 9am....

Recon: DADDY-O'S

San Diego, CA


The Friday after Thanksgiving, instead of eating turkey leftovers, my dad and I visited San Diego's newest burger joint, Daddy-O's, over on Point Loma Blvd.  He had recently gone with a friend, so I knew when I came down for the holiday I'd be sampling the new fare.  

The decor is red, black and white with diamond plate on the walls and rat fink pieces all around. It reminded me of that song in Grease when they build the grease lightening car. I stole this phrase from the Daddy-O's website, because its accurate and I always enjoy an excessive use of adjectives, its a "hot rod, honky tonk, rockabilly, retro diner."  Thank you for summing it up so well. They have booths, regular tables, and a few bar tables.  Various TV's had football, and Fuel TV on, while the kids section had cartoons.  Don't let the thought of a kids section scare you off. I can assure you the nosier and more crowded this place is, the better an  atmosphere it will have.


We started with a chocolate malt, because why the hell not? You could taste the malt flavor nicely, but I wish they had made it with chocolate ice cream, not vanilla with chocolate syrup. (Is that common in restaurants?)  We ordered the Frings to get started. I loved the onion rings, they were crisp with good flavor. Fries were crinkle cut, and both had a lemon pepper seasoning sprinkled on. The onion rings were definitely better than the fries due to the salt/crisp factor. They bring out dip cups, but the condiments are on the table so you get to make your own sauce, which I love. They also have a ROLL of paper towels on the table.  These people KNOW the mess a big juicy burger can cause and they are prepared.  

I ordered the Honky Tonk burger, which is angus beef, caramelized onions, fried onions, american cheese, lettuce, tomato and bacon.  The two onion textures were perfection.  The fried onions and bacon gave just enough crunch and salt to balance out the tomato and caramelized onions. It's a big patty with great flavor, and it got messy mostly because of the size of the thing, not because it fell apart. They stacked their ingredients well to minimize sog from the caramelized onions. My dad ordered The Hemi, which is two 1/4lb angus beef patties, red onion, bacon, swiss cheese, cheddar cheese, lettuce and tomato.  Appropriately named. He enjoyed it immensely. Previously he had the Gonzo, which has caramelized onions and gorgonzola cheese, but when I went to order that one he told me the cheese was a little on the strong side, so if you're not into a manly cheese on your burg, I'd go another route. I couldn't finish my burger, but I ate the rest of it when I came home from bars at 2am and it held up well.  So have part of it for lunch, the rest of it for second dinner.  

I want to try The Greaser. And then I want to build my own. Customer service was fantastic; very attentive. And I was pleased to discover they offer a 'uniform discount' which applies to military servicemen and women, among others.  So, if you have a busy morning, you're hard at work and you wear yourself out and are in desperate need of a solid meal (or you're not hungry, but you're an emotional eater and just feel like gorging) head over to Daddy-O's and fill up!

Recon: UPPER WEST

West LA, CA


I want to take a moment to talk about a place called Upper West. We (my posse and I) first went here on my birthday (post brunch, urgent care and el cholo) and then again for Andrea’s birthday (when happy hour goes from 5-10!) and it really is a fantastic joint that very few people seem to know about. First off, their happy hour menu has great prices and delicious drinks and food. And the staff is very generous with their birthday shots. They like to celebrate and care that you’re having a good time, which Brooke, our resident bartender befriender, whole-heartedly approved of. There are a few items in particular I want to touch on…


BACON BLEU CHEESE FRENCH FRIES. I really shouldn’t need to type anything after that because that noun-phrase up there is completely stand-alone, but for those of you who like information, details and reassurances, let me just tell you, these were amazing. I’m pretty sure they take the fries, hot out of the fryer, and toss them in a large bowl with blue cheese and bacon and let it melt all up in there and then they add some diced tomatoes for flavor balance. The bleu cheese is not overwhelming and the flavor is spot on for only $6. To quote Starsky and Hutch, “Do it. DO IT!”

Their bar burger, only $7, is a nice, doable size, made with a dry aged beef blend, balsamic caramelized onions, arugula and pasilla goat cheese spread on a toasted bun. It has a distinct gourmet flavor that I will credit the goat cheese and arugula with. Arugula is undervalued in my opinion. If you want to try a bunch of their other bar hors d’oeuvres, share the burg and have the lamb nacho bites, or the mac n cheese off the regular menu.

Let’s talk booze. Upper West has a great cocktail list, each cocktail only $6 during happy hour. I am particularly partial to the Cucumber Martini with vodka. It’s refreshing, makes you feel fancy, (even though, let’s be honest, when am I not fancy?) and it counters well with the heavier flavored menu items I mentioned above. They also do a beer sampler that can be fun with a group of people, I personally love the Tangerine Wheat beer, but there was a chocolatey beer we had that was quite interesting as well.

And finally, the bread pudding. I am not a person that looks at a dessert menu and says, “YES! Bread pudding!” However, they brought it out with a fabulous candle on my birthday and it was one of the best things I have ever eaten in my entire life. It was like cinnamon, vanilla, gooey, heavenly yum. Go for it. Step outside your comfort zone and say in your best English accent, “I’m feeling British and I think I’ll order the bread pudding.” But be careful, once you’ve had it some things in your life will pale in comparison.


It’s a restaurant/bar, so dudes, this is a great place to wow a lady you want to take on a proper date, and it’s great at accommodating group gatherings. Anyway, go enjoy!