I have a whole thing about only really eating seafood when you’re near the water. I’m not sure what ‘near’ looks like in reality, but I didn’t tend to go to many seafood restaurants while I was living in London. Now I’m in LA, there is no shortage of seafood options.
My first proper test has been Connie & Teds in Weho. I saw this place while I was living in Melrose and thought it looked pretty cute and it had a decent menu. So with Al & I looking for somewhere to celebrate getting new jobs (and by default getting our shit together) AND winning an OpenTable gift voucher it was time! Connie & Teds was the place. I think they have a great happy hour option but it felt like we hadn’t been out to a proper restaurant in ages so we were going all in.
We opted for sharing everything so we could try more stuff, which I thoroughly recommend. The restaurant will give you side plates so you don’t make a mess of it as well.
Tip: make sure you check the daily menu- this is where most of the stuff we ordered came from.
Oysters: I think it’s safe to say, if these are on the menu & not extortionate, we always get them. I opted for a the chef’s selection half dozen which had a mix of Washington, California & Baja ones. I think I’ve learnt that Californian oysters are small ones but I’ll really have to investigate more.
Grilled octopus: this was beautifully done. It was with some kind of couscous style grain in a beautiful marinara sauce. The occy was cooked well & a good mix of tubes & tentacles.
Scallops: teeny tiny, super sweet scallops. I’ve never actually seen them this small and had been confused why the waitress had suggested a spoon (made sense when they arrived, kind of) but these scallops were not going to let their physical size determine their impact. Delicious. For me, I was glad we were sharing though. This level of sweetness would probably have been too much for a full meal for me. The caramelised crunch worked amazingly with this dish.
Yellowtail snapper: like any good fish place, the daily fish options are abundant. We decided to narrow down to a Californian fish (which I think still gave us 4 options) and then employed google to help. Must learn more American fish names, stat! Being Aussies, we love snapper, so that’s how we got to our choice. I went for pan fried with herb oil and it was perfection
Add in a salad & bowl of chips and we were stuffed, but in a good way.
Price-wise, I’d say reasonable. I think with a glass of wine, beer, tip & tax the 2 course dinner for 2 would be about $140. Pretty LA standard really. The service is lovely, they aren’t going to rush you out, and it has a really comfortable atmosphere.
I am definitely going back to try the chowder- I’m still not sure if I like chowder, but this feels like a place to try it.
Jilltopia 