BLACKBURN AND SWEETZER

House made chocolate chip cookies and vanilla ice cream at BLD

The husband and I try to get around to all the local restaurants, but we often fall in a (delicious and fairly reasonable) rut and end up at Hirozen’s sushi bar. After hearing plenty of mixed reviews of BLD—one friend’s reaction was literally ‘blah’ with a scrunched up expression to match, while a local retailer said it’s her favorite neighborhood haunt—we finally ventured over to Beverly Boulevard to see and eat for ourselves.

We were immediately happy with the ambiance, which was bustling and energetic; it felt populated with regulars and people from the area. We were also pleased with the wine list, which had many $7 and $8 options.

We usually don’t do appetizers (generally adds to what will already be a full belly and the bill needlessly), but are more likely to order an app the first time we go someplace. So, here, we ordered from an extensive cheese and charcuterie menu. We ordered Camembert (sorry, don’t remember the exact brand) and what came was the tiniest wedge of cheese, I think I’ve ever received at a restaurant when there weren’t multiple cheeses on the plate. But the cheese was good, served with quince, baguette toasts and a walnut-raisin bread.

For the main dish, we both ordered the grilled lamb burger, topped with feta cheese, tsatsiki sauce, and grilled marinated red onions, and a mountain of fries. Unlike the cheese, the burger was very substantial. In fact, I ate half of it that night, and ate the rest over two days to give you an idea. Though a bit unwieldy to eat (paper to hold it together would’ve been helpful), it was tasty and did not skimp on the feta or grilled onions. Tsatsiki was served on the side in a little tub. The ketchup was also served in a little tub, which I have to say, I find annoying. I just spent $18 on a burger, can I have more than a tablespoon of ketchup?

That being said, the burger was a positive experience, and the entree price range at $15-$29 (most of which is $20 and under) also made us more likely to return. We went all out and ordered dessert, the house made chocolate cookies with vanilla ice cream ($8, shown above). We were disappointed by this, not because the cookies and ice cream weren’t good, but because the cookies were not warm. We both expected the cookies to be warm and were perplexed when they weren’t. Wouldn’t this only take a few seconds to microwave, and make the dessert exponentially better?

Just outside the restaurant, a group having dinner came out, also waiting for their cars, and asked us how our dinner was. We told them good. Their experience also seemed to have been positive, though one guy chimed in that he had pasta: “I’ve had pasta here twice and it wasn’t great.” We told him to try the lamb burger.