The Gorbals
½ Pig head including eye, Beef Tongue, Lamb Neck, Bone Marrow, meaty amazing indulgence, I believe so.
I’ve wanted to go to The Gorbals for a very long time. This restaurant and its Chef Ilan Hall have always intrigued my mind and interested my senses with its unique take on a verity of world cuisines. As a chef of mixed heritage I like seeing how it all comes together in other peoples minds.
The Gorbals is located in down town Los Angeles in a lower level of a private homes high rise. The setting is kind of speakeasy esk style with a low lighting and strange eeriness to its air. As we waited for our party, my dining partner in crime made her way about a couple of levels of the building, exploring the strange theater exhibits along with a small tour of a lower level ball room. As we road down the elevator a strange man was talking about his current love crisis and another man with a hat and a cane decided to tell Nathalie all about the buildings amenities including a private bar for residents.
Our party arrived about 12 people of whom I wasn’t acquainted but felt a level of comfortably in being amongst people who cared for food. The menus were presented in small pieces of paper, easy to navigate and broken down by animal, herbivore, and sweets. Over all there are 19 food items for you to choose from and one 10 dollar item for you to buy the kitchen a round of beers. Um for future reference if or when I open my restaurant this will be an option on my menu. Place settings were simple and set with a white napkin, small bread plate, fork, and knife, the tables which were of darker wood with small candles lighting the majority of the room and large backed wooden chairs were comforting but not too comfortable and on the other side booth style seating with mid back brown leather. The bar and open kitchen are focal points in the restaurant along with a large farm style dining table bench style for larger parties.
We were greeted by our waiter and served large bottles of sparkling and flat water to the tables which were promptly filled when empty.
Our table started with drinks I ordered a Gin Lift which was gin, lemon, IPA, and grapefruit bitters. The bitters were lovely and the combination of citrus and gin is always a winning combo a sleek smooth cocktail.
Our side of the table ordered in a group and lucky for us we were in a group of awesome foodies who decided they were going to order the roasted ½ pig head. The pig would take about an hour to crisp up so they ordered it as soon as we got our menus along with a plethora of other options. So here we go
Nathalie and I ordered
Latkes with smoked applesauce
The latkes were extremely crunchy on the outside but still light and smooth in the middle. They had a lovely flavor of onion and black pepper and the accompanying smoky sage apple almost butter like apple sauce was a wonderful interesting play of flavors. My pallet was searching for all the little spices it could pin point but still the mystery of something so simple but so complex made me continue to eat.
Fresh matzoh, spring peas, garbanzos, and horseradish
Matzoh came to the table on this gorgeous little wood plate with freshly pressed warm crispy matzoh adorned with lightly cooked peas and garbanzos which is very important to me because I hate over cooked beans and legumes. The horse radish was faint but the smell was very strong because there was freshly grated horseradish root over the top as well as in the cream spread over the matzoh, which made it taste like Matzoh and butter but fancy and I liked that a lot.
Broccoli, soy, chilies, and vinegar
This was our 1st dish sent to the table and I’m glad it was because it’s something so simple but done well. The tops of the broccoli were almost dry, extremely crunchy roasted pieces of floret along with the sopping vinegary soy spiciness in the stems. I’ll eat this all the time.
And welsh rarebit, soft egg
What the fucks a welsh rarebit? Well I’ll tell you so I’ve known rarebit to be a piece of toast with a gravy cheddar cheese sauce and a poached egg but this is not bread with cheese here. The flavor of this gravy is that of deep rich bitter jelly topped with a soft egg that just shatters at the lightest touch. The toast is simple and flavorful but the gravy is what kept me thinking. And I’ll probably continue to think about that flavor for a long time. Who knew toast would be so thought provoking?
We also had
Roasted Beef Marrow, oyster mushrooms, walnuts, and malt vinegar
This came with little pieces of panini pressed white bread the marrow was perfectly gelatinous the bone was roasted, normally I like a good sear on the marrow this one was light but it still had very good flavor. I thought the mushrooms and fat from the walnuts was very rich with the marrow but that the vinegar did its job well. Yum
Burger onion six ways
I had a bite I couldn’t help it. I would never order a burger at a restaurant like this but this was good onion 6 ways is awesome. The onion jam on the bottom of the bun was to die for.
Confit Santa Barbara grass fed tongue, romesco, and croutons
Beef tongue… sign me up. This was super tender because of all that fat this was cooked in confit style. The Romesco sauce is some of the better that I’ve had very bright with nice acid to cut through the fat. The small croutons gave a textural difference to the plate. A very smart delicious dish
½ roasted pig head
This thing is massive. A chef comes out with the pig and describes that the big is done over a three day span it’s brined for two days and then slow cooked for 12 hours and after just before its served its roasted in the oven till crispy and served with herb oyster mushrooms and garlic chips. And so we devoured some pig head, the skin was so crunchy and the meat succulent and tender. We even ate the eye, I’ve never had pig eye before and I think I’m pretty good on the pig eye for a long time. It tasted gelatinous and extremely salty with little crunchy bits. Not really my thing. The meat fine the eye no that’s okay. Oyster mushrooms awesome and chips delicious, this pig is highly recommended if you go here. I’ve seen and eaten pig head before but there’s something about it that no matter how many times I see it it’s still so interesting to eat.
My favorite dish of the night, Roasted Lamb Neck with creamy oats
Lamb neck is pretty graphic if you think about it but the most delicious tender lamb I’ve ever eaten. This came after I had ordered the mussels but they had run out so I ordered lamb instead late but god am I happy I did. No one could really eat any because they were all too stuffed with everything else including sweet buttery sticky toffee pudding with ice cream and maldon salt. But I really could have cleaned the plate. The meat was braised so well with such a dark crispy outer layer from cooking for a long period of time. The top of the meat had basil over it which was an interesting combination. The oats were creamy and cheesy but thing and not sticky. Fantastic. Go here eat this immediately!
Over all I think the food here is so smart. It’s kind of tricky and it doesn’t really make sense but once you eat it, it does. My mind was searching for answers all over the place and that’s the kind of food I like to eat, food that makes you think about things you wouldn’t necessarily do yourself. I think that this was an amazing experience and I would definitely go again in a smaller group. 12 people, a lot of them foodies at one table can be a bit of a pain in the ass (I know I worked in a big kitchen) but the kitchen did an amazing job with a packed dining room and from what I could see a really small kitchen staff when I peeked into the open kitchen. Such a beautiful experience, what a wonderful night.
