Spring opened at the corner of Third and Spring in February after a long, long, wait. The restaurant is from the team behind the Arts District’s Church & State with a fairly similar concept. Whereas Church & State is traditional French bistro, Spring expands its scope to a little more of the Mediterranean.
I first dined at Simbal in February but recently returned for this second visit. Coincidentally, the restaurant celebrated its first anniversary this past week. The restaurant is still going strong serving up its modern southeast Asian-inspired cuisine.
We got seats at the kitchen counter again providing a view of the action. In terms of ordering, we opted to order entirely different things this time just to try more of the menu.
I’m not the only one that has been frequenting Little Sister, it has been one of the hot restaurants downtown drawing crowds for its modern Asian cuisine. This post recaps two of my most recent meals – a breakfast and a dinner, as I’ve explored more of what the restaurant has to offer.
Little Sister 523 W 7th St Los Angeles, CA 90017 Dining date: 12/6/15, 12/31/15 and 2/20/16 Little Sister first opened in Manhattan Beach in 2013, becoming a popular neighborhood spot for southeast Asian flavors in the South Bay. I’d heard good things, but never made the trip out to visit. However, Little Sister came closer…
Simbal 319 E 2nd St Los Angeles, CA 90012 Dining date: 2/13/16 Little Tokyo’s Simbal opened in April and it’s been on my radar ever since. Reviews have been a little mixed so far, but it was time to give the restaurant a try. The food is described as a modern, refined take on southeast…
Kinjiro opened at the end of 2014, replacing the meat-centric b.o.s. concept. I was sad to see b.o.s. go, though Kinjiro has been a strong follow-up effort with a little more comforting and familiar fare. Situated right next door to the ever-popular Sushi Gen, the restaurant has garnered a following of its own for its take on a Japanese izakaya. There is no sushi here, though the menu is pretty varied from raw dishes to steamed, fried, grilled, noodles and more. A large selection of sake is on hand to consume with the food, as well as a small but well-curated beer and wine list.
This was my third time dining at Q. I visited twice when the restaurant opened in 2014 but didn’t get a chance in 2015. Both of my first two meals were great and I was looking forward to seeing if this third meal would still live up to expectations. Pricing for a meal here is still the same at around $165 for the omakase-only meal.
Broken Spanish opened in June replacing Rivera in the South Park neighborhood of downtown LA. While Rivera had a notable chef (John Rivera Sedlar), notable partner (Bill Chait) and notable mixologist (Julian Cox), the restaurant never seemed to catch on. Chait partnered up this time with Ray Garcia (Fig) to open Broken Spanish, a modern Mexican restaurant.