A Good Lashing at Lasher's
It's DineLA Week again, which means prix fixe meals on a budget! One of my friends and I picked Lasher's as our first stop. We had been looking forward to this dinner for weeks. We had never been here before and had no idea what to expect. It turned out to be a night we won't forget for a while.
I arrived first at Lasher's, and despite the huge signs, I almost drove right by it. The reason is this restaurant actually looks like someone's home from the outside. It turns out, this was once a home, built back in 1920. It really creates a cozy, inviting atmosphere. I was led to one of the small dining rooms, which was comfortable, but also didn't leave too much privacy. I was very close to another table with three ladies. So when my dinner companion showed up 40 minutes late, it did not go unnoticed by anyone in the room. I got as far as telling him he was in the doghouse before the ladies at the next table lashed out at him for his tardiness. Truthfully, I was fuming quite a bit when he walked in, as I had been starving for 40 minutes, but those ladies took care of it all. They scolded him harsher, louder, and tougher than I ever could have. The server, who had circled me a few times earlier like a worried father his daughter was stood up by her prom date, even chimed in, "Can I get in on this too?" My companion apologized to me and everyone else, and then told me, "Of course, dinner's on me." While I appreciate the free dinner, I would have gladly paid for my own because the food was really quite delicious.
First up, we had the hearts of romaine salad and miniature baked brie. I have been eating rather decadently lately, so all I wanted was a simple salad. The salad was fairly light, but it was hardly simple. All the ingredients were fresh, the dressing wasn't heavy, the blue cheese was just the right amount. The brie was quite lovely, too, but since I made my own baked brie just the night before, I was less excited about this one. Lasher's did a wonderful job at pairing it with grilled pear, cranberry, and toasted almond. (FYI, I complemented my brie with baked pears, toasted walnuts, peach pecan jam, and a bit of honey.) The amount was just right, too. It was just enough to whet our appetite and not too filling.
We both loved our entrees, braised beef short rib and Cajun seafood linguini. The beef was so tender it literally fell off the bone. It didn't look like that much food, but I was only able to finish half of it and had to take the rest home. The Cajun seafood linguini was also excellent. The cream sauce is rather rich, but an enjoyable indulgence. It's hard to say what was my favorite part of this dish - the spicy Andouille sausage, the large succulent shrimp, or the tender scallops. Again, this was a generous portion, so we had to pack up the rest of this dish, too.
So it's not that we're just lightweights when it comes to eating, but we did have our eyes set on dessert. We knew we wanted the bananas foster bread pudding for sure. Even if we hadn't picked that one out ahead of time, we would have anyway in the end, as both our server and our busboy separately came to our table and recommended it. With one bite, it's easy to understand why it's so popular, not just with patrons but also with the staff. It is a little dense after a heavy dinner, but it is so good and worth the hour workout you'll have to do the next day to make up for eating this. I could barely make out the bananas flavor, but it was there. The more obvious flavor was the caramel (with perhaps a hint of rum?) and some vanilla creme to balance everything out. We also got the chocolate molten cake. This is not a huge portion, but because of how rich it is, even after you pour in some vanilla creme, the cake is just the right size.
Again, while I didn't pick up the tab for this meal, the DineLA menu made this quite an affordable meal. Not including beverages, tax, and tip, our three-course meal was $34. I believe the linguini on their dinner menu is usually $29 by itself. Take advantage of DineLA, and if you don't know which of the participating restaurants to try, go to Lasher's! All in all, I had a great time at dinner. My companion, a little less so, especially since as we were leaving, the ladies at the next table reminded me not to let him off the hook so easily and roughed him a little more for me.
Lasher's American Restaurant
3441 E. Broadway
Long Beach, CA 90803
Phone: (562) 433-0153
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, opens at 5pm; Sunday brunch 10:30am-3pm
I arrived first at Lasher's, and despite the huge signs, I almost drove right by it. The reason is this restaurant actually looks like someone's home from the outside. It turns out, this was once a home, built back in 1920. It really creates a cozy, inviting atmosphere. I was led to one of the small dining rooms, which was comfortable, but also didn't leave too much privacy. I was very close to another table with three ladies. So when my dinner companion showed up 40 minutes late, it did not go unnoticed by anyone in the room. I got as far as telling him he was in the doghouse before the ladies at the next table lashed out at him for his tardiness. Truthfully, I was fuming quite a bit when he walked in, as I had been starving for 40 minutes, but those ladies took care of it all. They scolded him harsher, louder, and tougher than I ever could have. The server, who had circled me a few times earlier like a worried father his daughter was stood up by her prom date, even chimed in, "Can I get in on this too?" My companion apologized to me and everyone else, and then told me, "Of course, dinner's on me." While I appreciate the free dinner, I would have gladly paid for my own because the food was really quite delicious.
First up, we had the hearts of romaine salad and miniature baked brie. I have been eating rather decadently lately, so all I wanted was a simple salad. The salad was fairly light, but it was hardly simple. All the ingredients were fresh, the dressing wasn't heavy, the blue cheese was just the right amount. The brie was quite lovely, too, but since I made my own baked brie just the night before, I was less excited about this one. Lasher's did a wonderful job at pairing it with grilled pear, cranberry, and toasted almond. (FYI, I complemented my brie with baked pears, toasted walnuts, peach pecan jam, and a bit of honey.) The amount was just right, too. It was just enough to whet our appetite and not too filling.
We both loved our entrees, braised beef short rib and Cajun seafood linguini. The beef was so tender it literally fell off the bone. It didn't look like that much food, but I was only able to finish half of it and had to take the rest home. The Cajun seafood linguini was also excellent. The cream sauce is rather rich, but an enjoyable indulgence. It's hard to say what was my favorite part of this dish - the spicy Andouille sausage, the large succulent shrimp, or the tender scallops. Again, this was a generous portion, so we had to pack up the rest of this dish, too.
So it's not that we're just lightweights when it comes to eating, but we did have our eyes set on dessert. We knew we wanted the bananas foster bread pudding for sure. Even if we hadn't picked that one out ahead of time, we would have anyway in the end, as both our server and our busboy separately came to our table and recommended it. With one bite, it's easy to understand why it's so popular, not just with patrons but also with the staff. It is a little dense after a heavy dinner, but it is so good and worth the hour workout you'll have to do the next day to make up for eating this. I could barely make out the bananas flavor, but it was there. The more obvious flavor was the caramel (with perhaps a hint of rum?) and some vanilla creme to balance everything out. We also got the chocolate molten cake. This is not a huge portion, but because of how rich it is, even after you pour in some vanilla creme, the cake is just the right size.
Again, while I didn't pick up the tab for this meal, the DineLA menu made this quite an affordable meal. Not including beverages, tax, and tip, our three-course meal was $34. I believe the linguini on their dinner menu is usually $29 by itself. Take advantage of DineLA, and if you don't know which of the participating restaurants to try, go to Lasher's! All in all, I had a great time at dinner. My companion, a little less so, especially since as we were leaving, the ladies at the next table reminded me not to let him off the hook so easily and roughed him a little more for me.
Lasher's American Restaurant
3441 E. Broadway
Long Beach, CA 90803
Phone: (562) 433-0153
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, opens at 5pm; Sunday brunch 10:30am-3pm