Bamboo Izakaya

The Giddy Geisha $6

I love living near the ocean, sure the traffic sucks and parking is nonexistent, but a cocktail on a sun soaked patio by the beach never gets old. So I was looking forward to checking out Bamboo Izakaya. The restaurant opened earlier this year on Ocean Ave in Santa Monica and owned by the same management group as Ocean 41, the members only restaurant/bar next door.

The space itself is very well done, with a mix of black and light bamboo for a clean, cool interior. There's outdoor and indoor seating, a main dining room, sushi bar and a private seating area in the back.

Walking in, we were greeted by a friendly host-- unfortunately service took a huge nose dive to rock bottom from there.

It's been a long time since I've experienced such horrible service. The server never came by, never brought menus to our table, or share plates, napkins or utensils. Normally these are already setup at every table prior to the guests' arrival but not in my case. I had to flag the waitress down every time I needed something and usually she would forget. I've experienced better service at Norms.

Sake "Yuzu Shu" $6

She also spilled another person's cocktail into our share plates, didn't notice and walked away before I could say anything. Take note that we got there at 3:30pm, it wasn't a near a dinner or lunch rush by any means. The busser was the only saving grace and we began requesting items directly from him.

I wrote the restaurant about my experience a week ago but have yet to hear back. (Presumably inundated with emails about bad service. Because it was really that bad... I can't even remember the last time I wrote an establishment about something like this.) 

Besides the poor service, the happy hour is solid. $4 / $5 / $6 dishes. Which include an array of dishes including various rolls, a kimchee burger, wasabi fries and popcorn shrimp.The food and drinks came out at a good pace. And again, it's located on Ocean Blvd, you're here for the cocktails, happy hour specials, comfortable seating and proximity to the beach.

Unfortunately a good happy hour, comfortable seating, and proximity to the beach doesn't make up for such bad service. There are many other places in Santa Monica with all of these and great service.

Happy Hour dishes

Happy Hour Drinks

Garlic Edamame $4

Popcorn Shrimp $5

Kimchi Burger $6

Chicken Skewers $5

~~~~ Reviewed by Jenni ~~~~

Bamboo Izakya
1541 Ocean Ave. Ste 120
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 566-3860
www.bambooizakaya.com

Happy Hour: 2:30pm-6:30pm daily

Parking: street meters or valet

Ray's & Stark Bar

photo via LACMA

Do you suffer from lunaediesophobia? Do you feel anxious or worried every time Monday rears its ugly head?

Well fear not friends because Ray's & Stark Bar now has Staff Meal Mondays!

Sundance: mezcal, grapefruit juice, honey $8

If you live in LA or you're just visiting, LACMA is definitely a go-to place while in the City of Angels. From the well-curated retrospectives, art classes to the Friday night Jazz - it's a great place to discover a culture beyond Hollywood sets and surfboards.

Staff Meal Mondays (as the name suggests) consists of dishes that executive chef, Kris Morningstar would serve to his team. The menu changes weekly and theres a limited selection of specially priced craft-cocktails created by Brad Stewart.

The menu consists of small share plates which included smoked pork & habanero tacos, mole chips to chorizo quesadillas. The chicken tacos and pig ears were the stand out dishes for the night. Plus the craft cocktails are well prepared, balanced and perfect for a summer meal dining al fresco.

As an added bonus, admission to the museum is free for LA country residents after 3pm. Parking is also free with validation after 5pm. So make your way to Ray's & Stark Bar, mosey past the couples taking engagement photoshoots at the Urban Lights, grab a seat in the outdoor patio and shake off those Monday blues.

Sophie Denante, Cotes de Provence Rose, Chateau L'Afrique $6

Aguachile: Yellow tail tuna, spicy tomato salsa $9

Guacamole & Chips $7 (I would pass on this dish)

Pulled chicken tacos with pipian verde $8

Chips with Mole: peanut-chile sauce, cotija cheese, onions, cilantro $8

Smoked pork tacos, fermented habanero, citrus onions $8 (order comes with 3)

Quesadilla - house made duck fat tortilla, chorizo, queso Oaxaca $13

Pig Ears - creamed hominy, arbol salsa, sunny egg $12 (My favorite dish of the night)

~~~Visited by Jenni~~~

Ray & Stark's Bar at LACMA 

rayandstarksbar.com

lacma.com

5905 Wilshire Blvd. 

Los Angeles 90036

Admission to the museum is free to LA county residents Mon-Fri.

Parking in the LACMA garage is free after 5pm with validation. 

The Belmont

I've always been a fan of The Belmont, but I just recently found out from Social Media Guru, Phil Merkow, that they are under new ownership (Ray Garcia of The Little Bear and Blue Dog Tavern and Dylan Leong of Michael Mina Aqua and Sunset Trocadero). So we recently stopped by to check it out.

The new design is much nicer than it used to be. Very hip yet still with that casual feel. The old Belmont used to have these really low tables that didn't seat too many people to a table, but those have been replaced with long, tall communal tables. Love those! Though if you are looking for something more intimate, there are booths along two of the walls. The bar top is also new and no longer seems to overwhelm the place. It's now sleek and savvy. We definitely dig the remodel.

And with new ownership comes new things. This frightened me. But to my dismay, the happy hour menu was seriously awesome when it came to the food. When I look for a good happy hour, my number one thing is the food. I consider happy hour a replacement for dinner, so the food better be good. The Belmont was spot on in this category. We loved every dish we had and were beyond full at the end.

 What we had...

Brussel Sprouts $6
with goat cheese, shallots, balsamic reduction, & applewood bacon
Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum. So good!
And great price for what you get.

Original Mac and Cheese $10
Loved this dish as well, but I think $8 would be a better price for happy hour.
Just my two cents. :)











Pork Belly Skewers $7
with a balsamic honey glaze.
Great price, great dish.
Loved.

 Close up of the Pork Belly.














Grilled Artichoke $7
with gruyere and a cilantro ailoli.
Another winner. Seriously. We loved it all.

Happy hour drinks were $5 wells, $6 wine, and $2 off selected beers. Nice prices, but I was a tad disappointed there wasn't a cocktail (or two) offered during happy hour. We had wine with our food, but we started with two cocktails not on the happy hour menu. A girl hasta' splurge sometimes, ya know!

Not on happy hour

Wine list at regular prices

Sazerac and Old Fashioned, $12 each

I also love that they have a patio. Perfect for summer! Happy hour is available inside and on the patio.

So if you are looking to mack down on some really good grub, go to The Belmont. 

Happy Hour Mon-Fri 4-7pm

~~~Visited by Victoria~~~

The Belmont

747 North La Cienega Blvd.

West Hollywood, CA 

310.659.8871

belmontla.com

facebook.com/thebelmontlosangeles

Thanks to Phil Merkow for the invite!

The Spitting Chicken Cantina

Mexican Massage Parlor  and Watermelon Basil Margarita
reg. $10.50, $6.50 during HH

If you live in the Valley like me, then you know that finding a good happy hour spot WITH a patio is a rare find. Well, I have a good one for you, so you are welcome ahead of time. ;)

Spitting Chicken Cantina is the sister-restaurant to Mad Bull's Tavern and is literally about four doors down.  Happy hour is daily from 4-7pm in the cantina and out on the patio.

They also have some crazy 

awesome nightly specials. Click here to see them on their website.

click to enlarge

As far as food and drinks go, the Spitting Chicken gets a big two thumbs up from me. All their margaritas are 16 oz. and only $6.50 during happy hour. LOVE! So far I have tried the two shown above and their Famous Spicy Cucumber, and I have loved all three.









They also have a nice selection of beers which are $2 off during happy hour.

















I was definitely pleased with food selection, too! At first we thought about going for the sampler platter at the bottom of the menu, but the waitress said the servings were kind of small for me and my two friends. So we opted with ordering the ribs, the nachos, and the lobster tacos which was a good amount of food. That's just $6 each! And three items were really good! My friend and fellow blogger, Shaun-Mathieu (aka The Feng Shui Foodie) also ordered the Street Tacos for himself and was happy with those.

Ribs $5.99

Street Tacos $5.99

Nachos $5.99

Inside look at Lobster Ball

Lobster Balls $5.99

So if you are in the Valley, the Spitting Chicken is definitely a good happy hour spot.  For my portion of food and my big margarita only cost me $12.50 plus tax and tip.
Winner, winner, (spitting) chicken dinner!!!!


The Spitting Chicken Cantina
14633 Ventura Blvd
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
818.377.6777

Happy Hour: Daily 4-7pm
Parking: Free lot in back & metered parking until 6pm

spittingchickencantina.com/
facebook.com/TheWorldFamousSpittingChicken

Cliff's Edge

Cliff's Edge is one of my favorite restaurants. It has amazing food, one of LA's most beautiful patios, and NOW great drink deals. Head back to the bar and you'll find "Nightly Specials" which include a $7 Bartender's Special, $6 wine, and $3 beer. The Bartender's Special is a wonderful hand-crafted cocktail which periodically changes. The best part is that the specials are EVERY night, ALL night!!!

The last night we were there, the Bartender's Special was a Hibiscus Whiskey Sour and it was delicious!

Bartender's Special - $6

Along with the Bartender's Special, we thought we'd try some drinks off the regular cocktail menu. We were very impressed. All the drinks were well balanced and superbly made.

Cocktail Menu

Glasgow Mule

Gold Rush

Bitter Pill

Cliff's Edge doesn't have food specials, but you gotta have dinner before you leave. Seriously! Chef Ben Bailly is now chef at Cliff's and the food is even better than it was before. I loved the Skate Wing (a type of ray fish). It was amazing. Our appetizers were great, too, but the Skate Wing stole the show. The foam surrounding it threw us off for a sec, but it all worked together nicely. Check out the pics below to see my favorite plates.

Skate Wing

Seared Scallops

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Albacore Ceviche

And dessert, of course!

So seriously... go to Cliff's Edge, grab a few of their nightly specials and then grab some dinner. You won't be disappointed.

Cliff's Edge
3626 W. Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026
323.666.6116

www.cliffsedgecafe.com
twitter.com/cliffsedgela 
facebook.com/CliffsEdgeCafe