6/09/2006

Dusty's - Silverlake


dusty's crab burger
Originally uploaded by illewminator.
After hearing so much about Dusty's, when I finally went I was very pleasantly surprised that it did indeed live up to its hype for being a cool, laid-back, yet highly presentable (meaning date-, parent-, and/or in-law-worthy), neighborhood bistro. And I can vouch for this quality for both daytime brunch and for evening dinner.

Dusty's features a French-inspired menu with several omelet and crepe options for brunch. On the day I went with 3 friends from brunch, I opted for lunch and selected the crab burger pictured above. What it was was a giant crab cake in an oversize toasted bun, served with tartar sauce, lettuce and tomato and a humongo serving of excellent french fries. The crab burger was probably 1.5x the size of a hamburger. On a really hungry day, I could probably finish it, but would then be comatose afterward. (On this day, I cut it in half and took the other half -- along w/ half of the fries -- home. It was even pretty good the next day.)

dusty's frisee salad

We also ordered a frisee salad, topped with a generous portion of lardons and a poached egg, with a vinaigrette dressing. The lardons are like chunks of bacon cubes, not too salty and cooked to a dense, chewy consistency. When you pierce the egg and let the yolk combine with the vinaigrette, what you get is a yummy, creamy, rich dressing all over your slightly bitter frisee and lardons... mmm.... Those French people know how to eat their salad.

For dinner, I've had an excellent escolar special, which was a delicious white fish topped it with a mango salsa. I've also tried the lamb chops with a balsamic reduction... quite delicious. For dessert, I've only had room to try the chocolate souffle, which requires a 20 min. wait time, but it's so worth the extra wait. It comes out piping hot, light and fluffy, so good you'll probably burn your mouth trying to eat it as fast as possible.

Located on busy Sunset Blvd. in Silverlake, Dusty's offers valet parking, which I only used when I was there on a particularly rainy night. Otherwise, being as opposed to valet parking as I am, I usually just try to find a spot on the north side of Sunset.

2 Comments:

Blogger DYY said...

Mmm. I can't wait to have brunch here!

Btw, I like the flowing egg yolk description. I love it when a cooked egg yolk is liquidy and becomes a sauce, esp. over corned beef hash. Yum!

6/10/2006 11:54 AM  
Blogger illewminator said...

i forgot one little detail: the brunch menu and the dinner menu are totally different -- and apparently the cooks are different, too. because i tried to order the frisee salad at dinnertime and was (politely) denied. when i asked why they couldn't just make one, the waiter said the dinner cooks don't even know how to make it... ???

6/10/2006 11:26 PM  

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