lunch excursion: irv's burgers and european deli tatiana and traktir
did a solo lunch adventure as my coworkers were either working at their desks or eating pf changs.
checked out irv's burgers for the first time. classic 50's burger stand burger with a beefy tasting, thin, LA style patty. pickles, onions, mayo, "special sauce" american cheese. wrapped in paper and a smiley face and the note "just for you" scribbled on the paper plate. the bun was toasted, and overall it was a nice experience with lots of regulars coming in that the proprieter knew on a first name basis. super friendly service.
decided to take a walk heading east on santa monica and saw "european deli tatiana" in the elbow of a two story mini mall. decided to check it out. the two ladies were talking in russian and i felt like i was interrupting them but they told me what some of the stuff was. i ended up buying some sort of meat bun which was average tasting. sort of a fluffy white bread roll with a thin spread of ground meat in it ($1.25) i also bought one piece each of some cooked sturgeon suspended in jelly and a really nice cows tongue flavored with some oil and dill.($2.20 sold by the pound) this was really good. the texture was great and springy instead of mushy as cow tongue can get when overcooked. the sturgeon tasted okay. they also gave me a taste of their chopped chicken liver. it was smooth and livery, i never eat this stuff so i cant really critique it. they also had this great looking homemade cheese cake that i will try very soon. it looked like a small cheese round about 3 inches in diameter.
i kept walking and checked out royal deli i think it was called and checked the menu of traktir which i will eat at very soon. they have a 9.99 lunch special which i believe comes with a soup a kebab and maybe a dessert. anyone had this?
European Deli Tatiana
Neighborhood: West Hollywood
8205 Santa Monica Blvd
W Hollywood, CA 90046
(323) 656-7500
Irv's burgers
8289 Santa Monica Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90046
(323) 650-2456
www.irvsburgers.com/
modernist
Mar 15, 2007 02:40PM
I am a big fan of Tatiana's. I get german salami, spanish cheese, russian veg salads, rye bread, pastry. Last time was an excellent trout salad. The quality has stayed the same for many years.
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ate at Traktir a while back with friends and had a great time, great meal. am going to reply to Abby/pleasurepalate's review above, but basically... the Central Asian dumplings really stood out (one more than the other, but I forget), and also this creamy, dilly salad. others have commented that the "entrees" are pretty generic and not worthwhile. the flavored vodka sampler is fun.
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went to the deli next door cuz traktir was packed last friday at lunch with a huge lunch party. i ordered like 12 containers of stuff and a bag of dark rye bread, (i think the lady was pretty annoyed that i was just getting half or third full containers) then a table opened up and i asked if i could sit at the table if i ordered something. i got the small combo dumplings. they were good. it was embarassing eating all those to go containers of food in the restaurant but they were cool about it! the russian "punch" is a little sweet for my taste.
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The kabobs are fine but the dumplings, soup, herring, salmon, and salads are better.
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