Ilan Hall Scores Two Stars For The Gorbals

Another review that was bound to happen, two stars for The Gorbals. Today SIV tackles Top Chef season two winner Ilan Hall's "global immigrant cuisine," but first a word on the space. Tucked away inside the Alexandria Hotel, "The Gorbals space is makeshift and rude, put together obviously with very little money. A white door is grubby. Waiters dash in and out of a flap of black curtain. Customers at the bar sit on upended wooden crates. Beverly Hills it isn't." We know SIV l-o-v-e-s Beverly Hills. Despite strike one on the decor and overall look of The Gorbals, she's taken with the general eccentricity:

"It's weird and fun and a little rough around the edges, but definitely from the heart. Prices are on the low side, portions small. But everything has real flavor...[a] very personal restaurant from a chef with a point of view."

Dishes include offal and "plenty of bacon" especially in the SIV fave, bacon-wrapped matzo balls. The wine list is short, beers are standard, and while some of Hall's "food may challenge the limits of diners' palates...it probably won't impress those looking for another notch in their foodie belt, but the Gorbals is fresh and fun." [LAT]

The Elsewhere: The Find dines at Thien An Bo Bay Mon in Rosemead, Food, She Thought revisits Rivera, Gastronomy hits up La Casita Mexicana, LA and OC Foodventures eats grilled cheese at Blue Palms Brewhouse, and QuarryGirl checks out Number Nine in Long Beach.