Ledlow

Ledlow is one of Chef Josef Centeno's restaurants in downtown L.A. and the second one I’ve tried (the other is Bar Ama which I reviewed last year). Ledlow was supposed to be our Dine LA Restaurant Week finale but instead turned out to be a visit for brunch. We found out when we arrived they don’t have lunch on Saturdays so the Dine LA lunch menu wasn't available. Since we’ve been wanting to try it anyway, we decided to brunch it instead of lunch it.

Of course, I had the burger and fries. I’m sure this comes as no surprise although I'm starting to worry I’m becoming predictable. The Ledlow Griddled Cheeseburger has American, cheddar, red onions, Dijon and garlic aioli. Since I wanted to save room for dessert, I got the single patty. When it arrived, I was worried even that would be too much until I noticed it had an abundance of lettuce that misleadingly made it look insurmountable. It was too much lettuce for me so I removed most of it. The burger was good and I enjoyed it. The Dijon had a nice little kick to it and played well with the garlic aioli. The fries were lightly seasoned and seemed to enjoy taking a dunk in my ketchup.

The Ledlow Griddled Cheeseburger & Fries. Nice.

House-made root beer & chocolate soda. Interesting.

My dining companion got the turkey and Swiss sandwich with slow cooked turkey breast, avocado, bacon and Swiss cheese. She thought it was excellent. The turkey was moist and very flavorful and the bread was good. Like me, she wished there was a smaller amount of lettuce but liked it enough that she would get it again. I tasted the bacon and it was amazing. Some of the best I’ve had.

Turkey & Swiss sandwich with the Best. Bacon. Ever.

Our friend joined us and had the croissan’wich. It’s their version of a breakfast sandwich and has bacon, cheese, and eggs on a house-made croissant. This is what I wished I had gotten. It looked wonderful. My friend loved it. She said the eggs were nice and fluffy, and also loved the bacon. And like me and my other friend, she wished there wasn't so much lettuce. Maybe Saturday brunch is their crazy lettuce day.

Croissan'wich. See picture above about
the bacon.

By the time we finished our meals, they were out of pastries for dessert. Luckily, someone ordered an extra croissant by mistake and didn’t want it so our server was kind enough to give it to us (and, yes, it was untouched). It came with a side of regular butter and apple butter. The croissant was incredible. I was so anxious to devour it, I forgot to take a picture. It was light, fluffy and buttery. It gives the croissants at Proof a run for their money. And if you’ve ever had the croissants there, you know how bold a statement that is. The apple butter was delectable. I could’ve eaten it on its own as a dessert.

Okay, I was impatient to eat the croissant and forgot to take a
picture of it. How about a close-up of the French fries instead?

I have to admit we did have a few minor disappointments. We wished since Dine LA is only two weeks (this was its final weekend until it returns in July), that they would’ve served the Dine LA menu during brunch. They had a fried chicken club sandwich that all three of us were eagerly looking forward to getting all week. Needless to say, we were disappointed to find out it wasn't available. Furthermore, the brunch menu on their website did have the chicken club sandwich listed and more pastries than they offered in the restaurant. It's annoying when a restaurant’s in-house menu doesn’t match the one on their website.

However, these things definitely would not keep me from going back. All in all, it was a great experience. The food was delicious and I really want to try their fried chicken that is available during dinner. The pictures I’ve seen look mind-blowing. The service was top notch. Our server was great. She was friendly and attentive and definitely earned extra points (and tip) for that croissant.

The atmosphere is nice and relaxing. Music plays in the background at a pleasant volume so there's no need to scream at your dining companions. It’s the type of place where you can grab a table, and read your newspaper (or iPad if you’re not old school like me) with a nice, warm cup of coffee and chill. There are so many things on the menu that sound appetizing, Ledlow is definitely going on our list of frequented restaurants.

(ledlowla.com/home/)