I ♥ having foodie friends 🙂

Our original plan was to go to Bottega Louie, but we weren’t down to wait a long time for a table so we opted for Lazy Ox Canteen instead. Definitely wasn’t an issue for me since Lazy Ox has been on my list of restaurants to try for a few months now. We called before we left to get the scoop on the place and the hostess promised us a table outside in the patio area, but when we arrived, she couldn’t come through and even though I should have been pissed at the situation, I was actually glad we didn’t get that table since it was freezing COLD outside! The four of us took up the offer to sit at the communal table, which we basically had all to ourselves for almost the entire dinner.

In addition to the items on the printed menu, there were also dishes listed on a blackboard that you could order. I have bad eyesight to begin with and I’ve worn my two week disposable contacts for about a month now so it was a little difficult to read the board. For our first round, we decided to order three dishes: yellowtail, ravioli and mussels.

The white soy marinated yellowtail was my favorite dish of the night. I usually don’t like avocado, but paired with the yellowtail, it added a creamy element to the texture of the fish. The brown wedges in the picture were delicious, crispy hash browns. Since all of us at the table love mussels, we just had to order some. We chose the ever-so-popular brick roasted mussels and they certainly did not disappoint. The sauce was fantastic, the mussels were plump and best of all, there was bread to soak up the excess sauce. BTW, I think it should be MANDATORY to serve mussels with pieces of bread since drinking the sauce straight up can seem kind of ridiculous and desperate, but I understand, desperate times call for desperate measures. As for the ravioli, I’m ashamed for not being able to remember what was in it, but trust, it was good!

Unfortunately, we didn’t have the same luck with our second round order: roasted cauliflower, soft shell crab with okra, grilled squid and abalone. According to the waitress, the roasted cauliflower was a popular choice, but I felt like it was something I could have made at home, easily. The soft shell crab had a nice batter, but other than that, it was plain and ordinary. And don’t even get me started on the grilled squid – yuck. The abalone was ok, the capers were a nice touch.

We were anticipating on ordering tapioca brulee for dessert since we saw a picture of it on Yelp, but we were denied! 😦 It wasn’t available. Our waitress suggested the chilled rice pudding in place of it. Good call, lady!

Nom nom nom!!!

Verdict: 3/5
Lazy Ox Canteen
241 South San Pedro
Los Angeles, CA 90012