Dine LA Review: The Gorbals

Dine LA has come and gone (perhaps my last in LA?), and I only made it to two restaurants. But I thoroughly enjoyed my choices and my meals. So I guess quality won out over quantity this time around.

The first place I went was The Gorbals. I have been wanting to go here for ages, but it is a hard sell for prospective dining companions. They say, "What kind of food is it?" I say, "Scottish Jewish." They say, "I'll see if I'm free," but they mean, "Uuuum no." The Yelp reviews don't help to sell the place either. You either love it or you hate it, apparently, so there are a substantial number of 1 and 2 star reviews mixed in with the 4 and 5 stars. But it was just my luck that I connected with 2 adventurous, downtown-dwelling dining companions, and I finally got to go for restaurant week.

The verdict? I can see how people love it and how people hate it. Our appetizers were total crap. They were supposed to be some sort of lobster bisque (you could only taste the bullion cube or whatever they were using for a base) and a frisee salad with bacon custard and an egg (it was ok flavor-wise but there was way too much heavy custard/square millimeter of frisee). So it is a really good thing that we ordered the bacon wrapped matzo balls off the regular menu as an extra appetizer to split. Those were lovely. In addition, the entrees were FANTASTIC! At least the fish was, which is what I had. I think the chicken might have only been good, but I was too distracted by the flavors melting in my mouth to investigate. Then came dessert, which was not too crazy, thank goodness, as I had my fill of crazy with the bacon custard. It was mostly chocolately goodness, just what I like. Bonus points for The Gorbals, though, because you get a free glass of wine with the Dine LA menu. And not just the house wine! Any of the wines on the wine list are up for grabs. So despite the unappetizing appetizers, the free $14 glass of wine and amazing entrees makes The Gorbals a solid bet for Dine LA.

The Gorbals

501 S. Spring St.

(Inside the Alexandria Hotel, in the back of the lobby)

Los Angeles, CA 90013