Sean Besser

Review of Crossroads Kitchen

I really wanted to love this place. Despite being ...

I really wanted to love this place. Despite being an avid omnivore, I have really been enjoying a lot of the new vegan and vegetarian restaurants popping up around LA. And the space is stunning!

Unfortunately, the food was far from stunning, though there were a few amazing dishes that I'll highlight first:

ARTICHOKE OYSTERS: This was the first thing to hit the table and got us insanely excited for what was to come...unfortunately the restaurant shot its wad out of the gate...oops! Seriously though, this was a special dish was an amazing array and balance of flavors. I wanted more of them!

PUMPKIN TIRAMISU : Wonderfully moist and flavorful pumpkin spice cake topped with a tasty pumpkin cream.

CREPE TORTE : Peanut butter cream, banana and dark chocolate heaven!

Unfortunately, the list of misses is much longer:

"CRAB CAKES": tasted like fried apples and they seemed to go heavy on the fried part to mask the rest. Why try to re-create a forbidden dish instead of just doing something original???

SPICY MOROCCAN HEIRLOOM CARROTS: Loved the flavor, but I felt pick pocketed having to pay $11 for 6-7 3 inch carrots.

TRUFFLE LEEK FLATBREAD: Rather plain tasting and suffering from a severe misbalance of too many mushrooms drowning out the truffles.

OVEN ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS: Tasted more boiled than roasted. Reminded me too much of how bad brussels tasted as a kid when mom tossed them in a pot to boil until they were mushy and nasty.

WOOD-FIRED MEATY LASAGNA: Speaking of mediocre childhood food, we all agreed that while this tasted surprisingly cheesy, it reminded us all of those frozen Stauffers lasagna's we had as kids. Not the comparison the chef probably wanted.

CHOCOLATE INDULGENCE: So dry and flavorless that we sent it back even when the server said we could keep it for free.

Speaking of our server, we had an ALL TIME FAVORITE talk with our her about her diet!! It started when we asked her if she was vegan and she replied that she was a "vegan sympathizer." WTF is that?!? We asked her what she meant and the highlight from her mostly incoherent response was she is a "strict vegetarian" who doesn't eat any cheese or other milk product. Had that been the end of her response, I wouldn't be ranting about what she said, but it got incredible when she added "except that I do eat fish sometimes...but absolutely no shell fish." SERIOUSLY? I don't even know where to begin tearing into that response. My wife said she literally had to bite her tongue to avoid laughing out loud at her. I felt like I was Steve Martin in LA Story...truly epic!! Thank you for making my night and making a forgettable meal truly memorable!

I don't expect I'll be back anytime soon and I recommend you instead check out M.A.K.E in Santa Monica or Cafe Gratitude in Venice and WeHo for top notch Vegan fare.