Next stop on our quest to hit the best eateries in Los Angeles was Dune. All four of us enjoyed our food at Dune, plain and simple. One vegetarian and three meat eaters, celebrating a birthday and going to an eatery that came highly recommended from a very reliable source. The food at Dune we would consider to be fresh Middle Eastern cuisine. It has distinct flavors that aren’t afraid to be bold.
Up next on our Must-Visit LA Restaurants of 2018 is actually a dessert spot! Surely, if you’re reading this review, you’ve checked Holy Roly out on Yelp. If you haven’t, we’ll summarize the criticism on Yelp in two words: overpriced and parking. Nearly all of the complaints come from a lack of familiarity of the LA food scene, especially Koreatown. So, to debunk those myths… any dessert under $10 is normal and never think you’ll find parking in K-town.
Maybe we have an unfair advantage, having lived a few blocks away. We knew where to park and when to go. As a result, we didn’t spend thirty minutes parking and wait in any line here, so we weren’t in a bad mood before we started eating. We found out about Holy Roly from Maneet Chauhan, since it didn’t actually exist yet when we lived here. We actually discovered our love for rolled ice cream, in all places, at a Thai-owned and operated location in Montgomery, Alabama.
When we started this project (Must-Visit Restaurants in LA), we knew there would be challenges depending on our schedules, but we vowed to keep the wheels on the wagon and here we are for our third installment. While we didn’t order our top 40 list, The Ponte definitely would’ve fallen into the top 10. With Food Network celebrity chef Scott Conant behind this high-end Italian restaurant and considering his reputation for pasta mastery, our expectations were high.
But then, we were thrown a curveball. When researching The Ponte, it seemed as if they had a slew of entrees in the $28-32 dollar range, which is in our $$$ range. However, I didn’t consider that my Valentine’s Day reservations might have come with a third wheel on our date: a fixed, four-course meal. Still, as we valeted our car and walked through their enchanting entrance at the back of the restaurant, we decided that our entire focus would be on enjoying this experience.
And. we. did.
Second stop on our 2018 “Must Visit Before We Move Out of LA” Food Tour (last stop was Sqirl and next week is… well, we’re not sure yet, but we’re going to have a nice, romantic meal at The Ponte on Valentine’s Day) is Connie & Ted’s. Connie & Ted’s is a restaurant based on a New England love story featuring, well, Connie & Ted who are this restaurant owner’s grandparents. When you think New England, you perhaps think lobster or clam chowder or some kind of seafood–and that’s what Connie & Ted’s is all about! The restaurant is huge with plenty of staff and it is everything seafood. Obviously, expectations are high based on their reputation, perennial presence on Mr. Gold’s 101 Best List, etc.
