Joe’s Restaurant: If I HAD to live in Los Angeles

(Feel the viiiiiiiibe)

To elaborate on the title of this post, if I really HAD to live in Los Angeles, I would be looking up apartment listings in Venice. It’s such a laid-back and unpretentious neighborhood…I could honestly picture myself living there. It’s the type of place where everyone owns a dog and rides a bike and though I do neither of those two activities, I like being around people who do :D

(Complimentary bread: a Banana-nut-esque loaf and toast)

To celebrate the completion of our Shakespeare (also known as “Shakey”) midterm, Reno and I drove out to grab brunch at Joe’s Restaurant on Abbot Kinney. Thank God I made reservations because the place was packed to the brim. Definitely a good sign. The vibe at Joe’s is infectious – just seeing all the people enjoying their food and whatever company they happened to be with is enough to make me break into a giant smile.

(Crazy Reno isn't in love with cinnamon. Maybe I should've ordered this.)

(I saved the Bananas for Last)

But what’s even MORE smile-inducing? Le food at Joe’s. The brunch menu (an entrée + appetizer) is a steal. I ordered the Rösti Potato with Scrambled Eggs & Smoked Salmon, Crème Fraiche, Caviar with the Seasonal Fruit Plate with Honeyed Yogurt Sauce starter ($18.00) while Reno took a stab at the Lobster (it’s usually Crab but they ran out so had to substitute in Lobster) Hash with Poached Egg, Red And Yellow Peppers, Potatoes, Mustard Rosemary Sauce with the Granola with Dried Fruit, Toasted Almonds With Spiced Milk appetizer ($16.00). What the hell? Just LOOK at what we ordered and then look at the prices! Joe’s is a COMPLETE undermining of the phrase: “it’s too good to be true.”

(Blegh, shaking hands do the Lobster Hash injustice)

I LOVED my smoked salmon dish. It was basically a giant, perfectly-crisp hash brown topped with a layer of scrambled eggs, a generous pile of smoked salmon and a dollop of caviar. Wow. It’s one of those dishes where all the components, individually, are forgettable but, combined as one, is a Godsent gift. The salmon by itself was a little too bland for my taste (I’m used to smoked salmon cured NY-style) but balanced out the other components of the dish to a T. The one thing that was better on its own though, was the “caviar” which was probably herring roe or the likes of. By itself, it had that gorgeous “sea-taste” but, because it’s not top-notch stuff (come on, the dish is $18 in total), it was easily overshadowed when combined with the other components of the dish. I also stole a bite of Reno’s lobster hash and mmmmmmm…it was so good. The lobster was so fluffily soft without being mushy (ugh). I think I’ll be ordering that the next time I go to Joe’s.

(Fantastic-ness on a plate)

And, as if life wasn’t fantastic enough, I got Reno to drop me off at Shareen’s a coupla blocks down from Joe’s. Yep, today was SUPER SELF-INDULGENT day: amazing food + three absolutely beautiful vintage finds.

I’m happy.

FOOD: 4.5/5
SERVICE: 4/5
ATMOSPHERE: 5/5

JOE'S RESTAURANT ($$)
1023 Abbot Kinney Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90291
(310) 399-5811
http://www.joesrestaurant.com