Many moons ago, the Manchester was the local Loyola Marymount haunt, the Fireside. It’s where fake ID’s were honored and where staggering drunkards whittled their time away. Since then, the location has been reinvented into a few other iterations, but it wasn’t until it morphed into The Manchester that I finally decided to return. Long gone are the dark, dank walls where I walked between for my 21st birthday and was nearly forced to drink a disgusting shot of Jagermeister. What emerged was a contemporary, dimly lit, very popular spot with the locals and millennials alike.
Fortunately, I was able to get a last minute dinner reservation on Resy on a Friday night. When we came in, the place was packed. We were a few minutes early so we had an opportunity to look around. The space is not that large, but it didn’t feel oppressive. It took a few minutes for our table to become available but once that freed up, we were taken care of the rest of the evening.
Fernando, one of the owners, had set us up with our cocktails before our table was ready, which arrived just as soon as we were being whisked to our table.
After reviewing the menu, we opted for the burger and fries to start and the chicken and salmon from the large entree menu. Our appetizer was quite savory.
The burger patty was slightly salty and the meat was fairly tender. The fries were crispy, per my request and the aioli dip hit the spot.
Our entrees also were quite good. The salmon was moist and flaky. The accompanying vegetables, the eggplant and baby bok choy, were lightly seasoned and perfectly cooked.
The chicken had a surprisingly crispy skin and moist, tender meat with a savory and a slightly crispy broccolini as its accompaniment.
We ended our meal with a very chocolatey pot de creme. It was quite creamy and could possibly cause one to stay up all night.
All in all, the food and service were quite good. Truth be told though, the prices were high for what we ordered. I’ve eaten at other restaurants like Prospect Gourmand on La Cienega or Lunetta All Day on Pico where comparable entrees are closer to the $18-$22 range so we felt the prices were a bit inflated. Other than that, the service, ambiance, vibe and the food were quite enjoyable. Though we would likely not return as there are better values for the experience, the Manchester would definitely be one to try.
The Manchester
8522 Lincoln Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90045
https://themanchester.la
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I’ve been wanting to try out Ramen Joint for quite some time. It’s not too far from home, the prices are reasonable and it’s casual. With me suffering from a cold for the past 3 months and with my husband finally succumbing to the vicious cold and flu season, I chose tonight to finally check out this hidden gem. It’s not easy to find as it’s off of Truxton in a small street in a Westchester strip mall area. There’s plenty of parking in the lot close by so that’s not an issue.
The restaurant is quite small with a 6 top, a 4 top, around 4 deuces and a wraparound counter seating which can seat about 16 people. However, thanks to the handy Yelp app, one can be added to the waitlist prior to arrival which is what we utilized, minimizing our on-site wait time. When we arrived, 2 parties of 2 were ahead of us. We likely waited about 10-15 minutes and once seated, we ordered and the food came out fast and furious.
The first items which to be served were the steaming hot edamame and the very tasty seaweed salad.
Next up were the 4 shrimp spring rolls which had a light and crispy wrapper accompanied with a tasty spicy mayo and the chicken karaage which were thick chunks of chicken with a somewhat crispy batter and a savory garlic aioli.
The main event of this dinner were the shoyu tonkotsu and shoyu chicken ramen entrees which were both ordered with a seasoned soft boiled egg and crispy garlic chips. My tonkotsu had an array of ingredients but was light on the tasty and savory broth. My husband’s spicy chicken ramen had quite a bit of noodles and spinach but was sparse on the chicken.
Our total bill was around $46 so with tip, it was $28 per person and I still have half of my ramen and half of the chicken leftover. For those who have had ramen in Tokyo as we have of late, I should warn you that this is not that. Nothing can compare to the technique utilized by the Japanese in preparing their broth and the quality of their noodles. However, considering the efficiency and effectiveness of the Yelp waitlist, the super attentive service combined with the fast turnaround of the food and the reasonable prices, The Ramen Joint will definitely be on our shortlist of favorite local haunts in the days, weeks, months and years to come.
The Ramen Joint
6220 W. 87th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90045
http://www.theramenjoint.com/menu
Grace Gambin
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