cobras & matadors

it's taken lisa and i MONTHS, and i seriously mean MONTHS, to meet up. i mean, countless emails trying to figure out good dates and good times, coffee/lunch/dinner, only to fail utterly and completely. i always wonder: "how hard could this possibly BE?!" only to realize: "REALLY HARD!" *sigh*

well, FINALLY, before winter quarter even ended, we set a date for the beginning of spring quarter (before things got hectic) and we did it! i seriously was about to give up at one point and write it off as impossible, but i'm so so so glad we didn't. b/c it was the funnest time! as i told lisa, the funnest, chattiest, girls night out in a while. i mean, we were SO CHATTY. (my friend em and i used to have nights out like that back in jersey, and i totally miss them! god, i'm such a cheese doodle.)

at any rate, after a small freak-out over a possible lost wallet, we finally made it inside the restaurant! i'd made an early reservation for several reasons: 1) b/c i like to eat early (the more time to process my food the better) 2) b/c i was available early (who likes to wait around?) and we were both coming from campus and 3) b/c i get a whopping 1000 points on opentable.com (brilliant!). before i move on, i advise EVERYONE to check out 1000 point times & places, b/c they're pretty much just off-peak times when restaurants are trying to draw in more people. and they're not yucky places! on the contrary, most of them are pretty yummy. i'm guessing they just want EVEN more customers. and i'm all for that -- as long as it doesn't keep me from getting a seat!

we actually ended up at cobras & matadors b/c, after ALL that work scheduling and re-scheduling, violet (http://www.violetrestaurant.com/) was closed on mondays! how sad! especially since lisa had been wanting to go and i'd totally given the place my two thumbs up! well, this just means that we already have our next dinner location, right? right.

so we go into an empty restaurant (which really doesn't bother me at all) and we get seated right away at a little table by the window. which is perfect at any time, especially when the restaurant is UBER crowded. b/c if you're sitting on the banquette, you're bound to bump elbows with people on both sides of you. so anything away from the fray is a good thing. i've been here once or twice before and i don't think i've ever had the joy (a.k.a. misery) of having to deal w/that. whew!

off a menu of delightful tapas options, we decided to try four dishes (and keep one menu for add'l selections as needed -- always a good route to take!): the wood oven fired flat bread w/white figs & cabrales cheese & shaved fennel (doesn't that just SOUND decadent?!), the socca cakes w/honey & goat cheese (we actually had no idea what socca cakes were until we asked the waittress, but anything w/honey & goat cheese couldn't be bad, right?), the wood oven roasted mushrooms w/hazelnut basil picada (b/c you know how i adore mushrooms!), and the bacon wrapped prawns w/garlic cream sauce (bacon, prawns, garlic, cream -- HELLO?!).

as we waited for our food, we chattered on about anything and everything. even about how we wished we had more people around us who we could chatter on with. to be honest, conversations are great, but sometimes you just need folks who can keep up with your thoughts and words going at lightning speed. it ain't easy, people. many have tried and failed. but sometimes you find a few kindred spirits out there and you just need to hold on tight -- or else you'll lose their train of thought.

when the food finally came, i thought the portions were a bit small for the prices. thankfully, the flavors (almost) made up for that shortcoming. the flatbread was AMAZING. the sweetness of the figs cut by the savoriness of the cheese & the fennel. YUM. the socca cakes were actually little panckakes made from chickpea flour -- and those topped w/honey & goat cheese was NO JOKE. again, OMG, so good. the prawns, as our only real source of protein, were DELICIOUS. and the sauce was so incredible that i had to sop it up with the bread. (and yes, we all know how i hate bread. ick!) unfortunately, the mushrooms totally didn't live up to their name. (and yes, we all know how i love mushrooms. *sigh*) and even though the waittress indicated that they were normally used as a side dish, i didn't think that was a good enough excuse for them being so flavorless. sadness.

to be honest, i could've ordered more food, but seeing as how lisa was already full (and the check total was just about right), i decided to just push for dessert. and out of the options provided by the waitress, we decided on the french toast. even though french toast is usually offered as a breakfast food, why shouldn't it be offered as a dessert? especially when it's sweeter than a whole lot of other sweets! and when it came to the table, we were able to polish it off -- despite our fullness.

needless to say, the meal was quite good (except for our poor mushrooms). and the menu was pretty lengthy, which makes this the perfect place to come back to! especially w/jerry, who's been hearing me rave about it for years and has YET to be able to go.

cobras & matadors
7615 beverly blvd
los angeles, ca 90036
323.932.6178