ABC Pony

[lotus125]

Erik Bruner-Yang's new Italian/Asian mashup.  With an exciting menu and some good initial review-ettes, I decided to try it one week into service.  While our meal was perfectly fine, I'll give it some time and keep an eye on further reviews before I go back.  So far, not as good as his other places. But it may get there. 

-Service was solid.  The hostess was efficient and, in contrast to many places this day, willing to seat our reservation before the party was complete. The waitress was nice, albeit not able to describe some of the complex cocktails in much detail. 

-I'll start with the drinks.  The cocktail list has three classics and three fusion-y options.  From the classics list, a New York sour was solid.  From the modern list, our favorite was lemongrass gin, togarashi-sesame syrup, and yuzu.  The texture is surprisingly thick.  But the sesame, togarashi spice, and yuzu meld well together.  A clarified whiskey, OJ, and miso was fine; a bit too much OJ flavor for my taste but well clarified.  Tequila with lime and gochujung tasted like a spicy margarita: perfectly good but no obvious difference from other spicy margaritas.  A few mocktails were quite good. 

-As for food, the collective favorite was Artichoke with Broken Pesto and Wild Greens. Not very Asian, but a well constructed, tasty artichoke salad.  Our second favorite was Spaghetti with XO Sauce and Gemolata.  It's very salty and fishy (think tons of anchovies), and therefore is likely to be polarizing. But we enjoyed it.  The next rung down was Egg Drop Soup with Celery Root, Pecorino, and Jalapeno (some found it dull, others thought it was a homey chicken soup with spice); Eggplant, Straciatella and Fried Capers (just a bit bland but not bad); and Mochi Fried Shrimp Fried Diavolo (Fried shrimp covered in mochi. I really liked the use of mochi but wanted a better fra diavolo sauce.  Others disliked the mochi. I wonder if a better sauce and pasta would improve it).  There was unanimous dislike of Lumpia with Burrata and Meatball (inherent to cooking with burrata is that it gets watery), and Sweet Potato Agnolotti with Taleggio Fonduta and Apple (heavy sauce, covered in dried shavings that taste like Terra chips).  

I'm a fan of the chef, and I like the concept. The place is only a week old.  Fingers crossed that the food improves.

 

[DPop]

I gotta say, I look at the menu again every time I read a good comment or review about the place, and none of the food appeals to me.  Seems like people are trying to mimic the success that Orsa & Winston has had in LA, but when I ate there it felt much more like a Japanese restaurant that simply borrowed some Italian ingredients, as opposed to here where they are really trying to mash things up and it just doesn't sound right. 

[Kibbee Nayee]

Well first, let's start with a website, so we can understand more about this place.

Second, the menu doesn't draw me in. I don't think that I would enjoy egg drop soup with Pecorino Romano, with a Gochujang Margarita. But if someone invites me there to have some fun, I'm game.

Part of me is thrilled that our area can be culinarily playful enough to accommodate such a concept.

 

[meatwad]

The developer needed to fill a space after planned operator had finished build out as they were ridden out of town on a #metoo rail. Y’all are sensing that.

[eatruneat]

Went to ABC Pony for lunch amid the coronavirus pandemic and it was nearly empty. One person at the bar, my friend and I, and a table of four that walked in after us. They were grateful for our business, but I feel terrible for all affected by this disease. This is just the beginning and I fear the next few months are going to be a bloodbath for our fave restaurants and bars among other small businesses. 

Onto the food, my friend and I split the artichoke salad with broken pesto, and wild greens. I am an artichoke fiend and LOVED this salad. Despite having some pasta for dinner the previous night, I couldn't resist ordering the spaghetti with XO sauce and gremolata. I have nothing to add to @lotus125 description and review. So weird but so tasty. This is a fun place and I would definitely go back for lunch or a casual dinner.