Downtown Culver City has seen quite the surge of eateries pop up in the past few years, and even the non-downtown parts of Culver City seems to be going though some sort of restaurant resurgence. The recent openings of Earl's Gourmet Grub, Chego, Curious Palate, and now Waterloo & City have my coworkers and I very excited since we work in Culver City, albeit near the Westchester borderline.
Waterloo & City takes over the space once occupied by Crest House, a restaurant that I never tried so I can't comment on how it fared. I can just tell you can that I pass this location frequently and had been anticipating Waterloo & City's opening for some time. Executive chef and owner Brendan Collins heads up the kitchen and brings with him experience from piloting the kitchens at Melisse and Palihouse. By his side is Carlos Tomazos who has done time at Per Se and Le Bernardin. The resumes of these two are very impressive and so you can see why I was very excited for this outing.
I arrived just after 5pm and met up with my coworkers. Though the interior has been completely and tastefully redone, the exterior is largely in-tact including the nostalgic sign floating above the roof. One thing I want to point out here is the presence of a parking lot. Parking lot? In the west side? Sorry but you'll just have to see it for yourself.
I start my night this the Julep with Maker's Mark, agave nectar, fresh mint leaves (top). This bourbon and agave cocktail had my interest from when I first saw it on the menu, especially since Manhattans are my favorite drink. It was very refreshing and I loved the aroma and flavor from the mint leaves. A little less agave nectar would have made it perfect, but otherwise this was a hit for me. Below that is a Samuel Smith organic lager. About 40 beers--mostly from England, Belgium, and US--adorn the drink menu which also listed a few dozen wines. This organic lager was nice and it paired well with the pizzas to come.
Bread service. Waterloo & City bakes its own bread and it shows. Two varieties were served--baguette and an egg bread with poppy seeds. Both were very good and consumed quickly by all. A second basket quickly arrived and was emptied in short order.
Roasted beets, St. Maure cheese, avocado, sherry emulsion. When I read this on the menu I figured the roasted beets would take center stage, but instead they were hiding behind a surplus of mixed greens, including a few sprigs of my arch enemy frisée. That's not necessarily a fault, but I was hoping to see a heaping mound of roasted beets which I have recently become very fond of. Nonetheless, the thick red and orange beets were plentiful enough to make this enjoyable, and the ice-cream scoops of tangy St. Maure added a level of sophistication. A light sherry dressing evenly coated the greens making them very palatable, and a few hunks of avocado were a nice finishing touch.
Chicken liver and foie gras mousse. Served pate style with what tasted like fig jam atop, and with a few pieces of toasted baguette. At first glance I knew we would need another serving or two of baguette and so I quickly asked for more, which our waiter brought out free of charge (as expected). The richness of the liver and mouse was perfectly balanced by the sweet jam. Spread over the hot toasted bread made for a fantastic combination of sweet-savory-soft-crunchy flavors and textures. The consistency is similar to room-temperature butter, and about just as rich. Dare I say that this is better than the version at Pizzeria Mozza? It's light enough to share between two person, though probably too heavy to be eaten by one.
Moroccan pizza with lamb, arugula. Waterloo & City boasts a few interesting pizza selections, certainly some that I've never seen. A good crust is the most crucial part of a good pizza, and I'm happy to say this crust was quite commendable, especially for a place that claims no fame to great pizzas (not yet at least). It was chewy, yeasty, and had a good amount of charred pockets of air. That said, a slightly thicker crust would have better balanced the heaviness of the meatballs, as a few of the spicy balls found their way back on to my plate. Side note: My wife and I went to Morocco for our honeymoon, and I remember eating some very good pizza at a tiny shop in Essaouira (hey the shop was packed with locals!) The spices on this pizza and texture of the meat definitely brought back memories of dining in Morocco.
My coworkers ordered the Murgh makhani, Greek yogurt, cucumber pizza. A pizza with Greek yogurt and Indian-spiced chicken? Yes! And it was delicious! I enjoyed this more so than the Moroccan pizza, mainly of the bright and refreshing flavors brought by the cool yogurt. This was such a winning combination for me.
Triple-cooked fries with truffle butter. I only devoured a few pieces but honestly there were some of the better fries I've had in a while. Triple-cooked typically involves the fries being deep-fried three separate times in progressively hotter oil, with the end result being light and fluffy fry with a very crisp exterior. Exquisite. And far more sophisticated than the homogeneous fries you can get any any burger stand. The truffle butter added to the gluttony factor, though I would have preferred a nice, tangy house-made ketchup.
Manchester tart, lemon curd, coconut macaroon, sorbet. For dessert my coworker and I decided to split this lemon tart. Lemon curd on its own is delicious enough, and served in a flaky pastry shell with a serving of sorbet made for an extravagant dessert creation. I didn't care so much for the melted sugar art and I simply pushed this aside (out of my way!). The coconut presence was strong and added an interesting texture. A little more sorbet would have been welcomed to help balance the sweetness, though this is a dessert.
Overall I was very pleased with Waterloo & City. By 7pm the place was completely full and the bar was beginning to overflow into parts of the dining room, though I never felt it was too crowded. Our server was attentive and very courteous; he did his best to accommodate our large group. A few kinks need to be worked out such the long delay with some plates being served, as well as some plating issues like the erroneous sugar sculpture and the lone three pieces of baguette. Keep in mind this place just opened the week prior and so these soft-opening quirks are very much expected. I'm entirely confident that Waterloo & City will work these out quickly. We'll be back and I highly recommended you pay this place a visit.
Waterloo & City12517 West Washington Blvd.
Culver City CA
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