Photo by Corina Mun
Located in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, the Blue Cow Kitchen, which recently opened its doors, offers burgers and sandwiches as its specialties.
Though my friend and I went without reservations on a bustling Friday evening, we were seated almost immediately. We opted to eat indoors, which allowed our eyes to take in the atmosphere: dim lighting, a see-through kitchen, bold lettering on the walls, hanging light bulbs and, of course, a statue of a little blue cow — along with a lit-up, eye-catching sign that reads “Eat Happy” — next to the cash register that pays tribute to the name of the restaurant. The restaurant’s overall aura coincides with the trendiness of the crowds of LA hipsters that infiltrated the venue. The conversations were loud and a baseball game was on, but somehow it all meshed with the tranquil interior design of the restaurant.
Upon receiving our menus and asking a few questions, we decided to order grilled corn ($8) as an appetizer and a steak sandwich ($14) and a pork belly banh mi ($13) as our main courses. The corn seasoned with chili aioli and cheese was clearly inspired by Mexican-style corn-on-the-cob.
As SoCal natives, my friend and I had both previously had our shares of similarly cooked corn, and so perhaps the fact that we were not too impressed has more to do with our biases.
Nevertheless, the seasoning was too bland for my taste; there was minimal spice, butter and cheese, which is supposed to stand as the highlight of this dish. The corn did, however, come off the cob very easily and made for an eating experience free of messiness and sloppiness.
Unfortunately, the blandness seemed to stand its ground as the steak sandwich lacked the zing that we had been expecting. This was just your standard sandwich on white bread, accompanied by roasted tomatoes, bacon and red onions.
The Kurobuta pork belly banh mi, which we later found out is probably the most popular dish they offer, thankfully reconciled the battle with blandness. For those less familiar with Vietnamese cuisine, the banh mi is a Vietnamese-style baguette sandwich served with pickled vegetables (daikon and carrots) and cilantro. Pork is usually the most typical meat in a banh mi, so the braised and caramelized pork belly complimented the rest of the sandwich. Blue Cow also subtly incorporates a unique element with a fried egg, which added a noticeably delectable difference in the overall taste. The mixture of all of these ingredients made for an explosion of taste, which came as a pleasant surprise.
Though we weren’t on time for their Happy Hour, they offer cheaper versions of their menu options (including pork belly banh mi sliders for under ten bucks) on weekdays between the hours of 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Without any traffic, Blue Cow Kitchen is approximately half an hour away, though obviously the craziness that is the I-10 will make this time estimation vary depending on the time of day. There are both parking structures and street parking available. It is located in the California Plaza on 350 Grand Ave. in LA.
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As published in the Sept. 19 issue of the Pepperdine Graphic.
