Lot 1 a Lotta Disappointment

As a mommy of an infant it takes me a while to get around to eating at the "new" hot spots like Lot 1 in Echo Park. What a dining failure that was, contrary to hyped reviews in the LA Times et al. We got a steak sandwich, which upon the waitress' recommendation we ordered medium rare. It came overcooked to the point of tasting like the soles of my trainers. The bread was an insipid huge sponge, akin to something you get at Ralphs. The cheese: American Velveeta; the onions oddly sour; the fries mealy wedges of carb. Really, it was a sad interpretation of a Philly Cheese Steak. We should have known from the tasty sounding mint lemonade, which arrived watery with flakes of sad dried mint and just a hint of lemon, dishwater really. Service was attentive and great and Milan had a blast mashing a piece of bready sponge. We have since heard that the original chef, Josef Centeno, has already departed, and he cooked at Opus, a restaurant that was always weirdly empty but very good. They even managed to make a more than passable spätzle.


Ergo: fries better at McDonalds; sandwiches better at Denny's; not that I would eat at either one.