oh-so-popular STK Los Angeles

Hello world!

Another sleepless night here in LA, so I thought I would write another blog about food. For my roommie's 22nd birthday, we went to STK (http://www.onelittlewest12.com/stkla/). It is one of the hot spots in Los Angeles/West Hollywood where you can easily see celebrities dining there. It's located on La Cienaga Blvd (755 N La Cienaga Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069). There are other popular restaurants there such as Nobu (Japanese) and Koi (Japanese). I haven't tried those two yet, but I will before my fall quarter starts!

If you haven't tried this place, things to know: 1. dress up! I don't think they will kick you out or refuse to give you a table but like the description from Los Angeles Citysearch says, "When the waitstaff is wearing Nicole Miller, do you really want to show up in sneakers and a ball cap?"; 2. the inside (and outside) really does not give the typical steak house vibe either. It feels more like a bar/lounge that happens to serve food very late; 3. make a reservation!! they did not take my reservation a few days before my roommie's birthday for some reason... I had to give them a call at 10am the day we wanted to go, and our time was at 9:30pm. STK opens til 1 or 2am so if you don't mind eating late, you will probably get a table; 4. you can try to find a parking by yourself on La Cienaga, but just do valet parking. There is no reason to raise your blood pressure before your dinner while trying to park. Don't forget to tip the valet!

Ok, now the food! Like I described earlier, this place feels like a bar/lounge that serves food after 11pm. I had jumbo lump crab (salad) as appetizer, 10oz filet (medium rare) with broccolini and red wine sauce as entree, while my roommie had 10oz filet (rare) with red wine sauce, and mixed mushroom. The salad was pretty nice. However, to my taste, the broccolini side was very overpowering. I ordered my steak medium rare, but it was definitely medium by the time I sliced the meat (it was still juicy though). My roommie's rare filet was actually cooked medium rare. So based on that experience, if you are like me and like your meat quite underdone, order it rare and you will get medium rare! Maybe I had too much expectations from STK since I saw this place A LOT from TMZ and other hollywood gossip sources (all the most talked about celebrities have their pictures taken either walking in or out of STK at some point). I honestly thought the steaks were good, but not mind blowing good (although how different can a 10oz filet be from STK compare to some other nice steak house?). It really wasn't all that impressive to me. Having said that, though, my roommie's mushroom side dish was probably the most memorable dish from my STK experience. In my opinion, it was the single most delicious and time + money worth dish I had. You have to try it even if you aren't a huge fan of mushrooms!!! It was absolutely delicious, AND it is good for you as well!

Overall, I liked the vibe, service, and the overall experience of STK. The food wasn't exceptionally delicious, but it was great. The mushroom side dish was amazing though. I would recommend you to definitely try this place if you haven't. I would most certainly go there again AFTER I try other restaurants.

My list of places I want to try before this summer ends: Koi, Nobu, Mastro's, Madeo, Beso, Sushi Roku, BOA, Pizzeria Mozza, Ivy, Cafe med, Sona, Cut, and Craft Los Angeles. There probably is more, but those are ones I can think of now.