Bestia, a modern Italian restaurant, is one of the hottest restaurants in Los Angeles and one of the hardest to snag a weekend reservation. Thanks to a very, very nice friend of mine, he was able to get us a Saturday reservation without having to try months in advance. We dined there a few months ago, but I’m only getting around to writing up about it now.
One thing that surprised me when we entered the restaurant was how loud it was. We nearly had to shout all throughout dinner to be heard.
Grilled Calamari heirloom beans, avocado cream, orange zest, tumeric cucumbers, cherry tomato
This was a beautiful way to start off our meal. The dish had a lightness and freshness to it, like eating from a garden.
Spaghetti Rustichella lobster, sea urchin, garlic, calabrian chilies, squid ink bottarga, breadcrumbs
The restaurant is probably best known for its pasta dishes, so we had to try a few. This was my favorite dish of the night, incorporating so many rich seafood elements like lobster, sea urchin and squid ink into the sauce. The fresh noodles were perfectly al dente.
Cavatelli alla Norcina ricotta dumplings, housemade pork sausage, black truffles, grana padano
This was nearly equally as pleasing. The pasta was excellent, maintaining a little bit of chew in each bite.
Tomahawk Pork Chop grilled chinese spinach, fennel pollen, sea salt
It’s hard to tell from the photo, but this was massive. This was a special of the night and since we had a fairly large group, it was a great opportunity to try the enormous pork chop. It was last to arrive and worth the wait. The pork had so much flavor packed in and I really loved the use of Chinese spinach, which was unexpected but paired surprisingly well.
Since we had been eating all day, we unfortunately, didn’t leave too much room for dinner. It’s too bad because we enjoyed what we tried and would have loved to explore more of the menu, especially the other pastas. Overall, we had a really nice meal here and the pasta dishes were some of the best pasta dishes I ate in 2015.
If you enjoyed this review you might like to read my review of Siamo Napoli which is a San Diego restaurant that specializes in Neopolitan-style pizza, pasta, and seafood.
Bestia
2121 E 7th Pl, Los Angeles, CA 90021
https://bestiala.com/
