Eat Me!: The Gorbals

Hello lovely Wonderers, and welcome to the first edition of Eat Me!  In this blog segment (column? thing?) I'll be taking on the role of amateur food critic, and sharing with you my opinions on the food I have the good (or not-so-good) fortune to shovel into my belly.  Like a lady, of course.

For my first restaurant, I'll be reviewing The Gorbals in Downtown, LA.  I am lucky to have such a wonderful boyfriend who takes me on "secret dinners" to really great eateries.  This was our first secret dinner, and it was all the way back in November.  Cue the low lights, white cloth napkins, and a candle... perfection.

I really wish I had a more "romantic-looking" picture of the table.

A little bit about the restaurant:
The Gorbals is the brain child of chef, Ilan Hall.  He was the winner of the second season of Bravo's Top Chef.  He uses various international cuisines and makes some of the most delicious "mash-up" creations you may never imagine.  Like, for example, bacon-wrapped matzo balls.

The menu is frequently updated with seasonal delights and new dishes.  It is also organized by the main type of ingredient (Pig, Cow, Bird, etc.).  They have a selection of wines, and the staff can usually give you advice on nice pairings with your meal, however, Boyfriend brought a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon (my favorite) and paid a corkage fee.  Everything is served in tapas size, and is likely meant to be shared, so that the diner can taste from several sections of the menu.  Even if that's not the case, and I'm making it up... that's what we did.  We also ordered everything at the top of the meal, so the courses came out as soon as they were ready.  Luckily, everything we ate on our excursion is still on the menu, so I can tell you all about all of it.  A word to the wise: several of the creations on The Gorbals' menu are very rich, so it's really easy to over-order and feel like you might explode if you eat just one more drool-worthy bite.  It is, however, totally worth that over-full feeling.

We started our meal with Bacon-wrapped matzo balls, found under the "Pig" section.  As a Jew, this dish blew my mind.  Not that I keep Kosher, but this is definitely some sort of blasphemy in the Jewish religion.  Bacon is a definite no-no for good Jews, but to then wrap it around a dense matzo ball (what would be known as a "sinker" when immersed in soup) and then set them in a pile over horseradish cream sauce?  Mixing meat and milk on the same plate? Unheard of!!  Nevertheless, it was quite the taste explosion, and I very much enjoyed being the best-worst Jew I could possibly be.  There is a picture on the website here, but just so you know, when we had it the horseradish sauce was white, and they didn't have as much of the garnish on them.  De-lish, (or as my boyfriend might say. "Yum-mo!").

Next came Broccoli, soy, chilies & vinegar from the "Herbivore" section of the menu.  I'll admit, even after years of living in San Diego and all the spicy Mexican cuisine it has to offer, I'm still very wary of "chilies" as an ingredient.  I was a little nervous that it might be too spicy for me (I was still trying to impress the boy), but actually, this dish had just the right amount of heat.  It came to the table in a simple white bowl, overflowing with broccoli that was sitting in a pool of the soy-chili-vinegar sauce.  The broccoli was crispy, and it drank in the marinade beautifully.  I could have eaten several bowls of this, alone.

After that, we ate the Burger, onion six ways from the "Cow" section of the menu.  Despite onions usually being a "no-go" on dates, this was too intriguing to pass up.  The burger itself was cooked to medium, pink perfection.  When paired with all the different onions (including grilled, caramelized, raw, and fried), juicy doesn't even begin to cover it.  The bun starts to get soggy toward the end, and the juices are impossible to keep from dripping down your arm, but it's delicious to the very last bite.

Following the burger, we had Barley risotto with fall squash, also from the "Herbivore" section.  I don't remember it including feta and pepitas, as it is currently featured on the menu, but since it was back in November, who's to say those things weren't there.  Anyway.  I must say I'm a fan of just about any risotto out there, but it does have a tendency to be a rich, stick-to-your-ribs kind of dish, so on this outing, it may have been overkill.  The fall squash (which might have been acorn squash, if I'm not mistaken) is a nice addition to the risotto, providing a different mouth-feel to the rich, creamy texture of the barley itself.  If you're going to order a dish like this, I would do so toward the beginning of your meal, so you may be able to prevent yourself from ordering too much.

After the risotto (or maybe even after the burger), we added the Gribenes, lettuce, tomato sandwich from the "Bird" section to our long list of goodies.  For those of you who don't know what gribenes is, it's chicken skin fried to a crisp, and it's very yummy.  This sandwich is HUGE.  It was served on what appeared to be maybe sourdough and pumpernickel or squaw swirl bread.  It also had a very horseradish-y spread, which was a nice, sharp flavor contrast to the rich gribenes.  Unfortunately, these are the only pictures of food I have from that night.  Fortunately, it looks pretty spectacular!

We finished our meal with Sticky toffee pudding, ice cream, maldon salt for dessert.  It's in a section titled "Sweet" on the menu, but it's the only offering in it's category.  It's a baked pudding, so when it comes to the table in it's little rectangular ramekin, it looks more like a tiny loaf cake, or a large brownie.  It was served with chocolate ice cream (chocolate is, after all, a lovely, and classic compliment to toffee) in a small scoop to the side.  By this time, I was feeling pretty full, but I managed to swallow a few bites of pudding before I officially put down my fork for the evening.  It was chewy, gooey, and delicious.  The salt also cuts into the richness, and sweetness of the pudding, preventing an otherwise overwhelming bite.

All in all, I would absolutely recommend eating at The Gorbals.  Judging by this particular meal, I have absolute confidence in all of Hall's creative dishes.  The music, the food, and even the staff combine to make a great atmosphere for a nice evening out without being too dressy.  I will definitely be returning!


 *ADDENDUM*

 The Gorbals can be found at:

501 South Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
213.488.3408

 *Thanks for the tip, Ash. ;) *