Theatergoers in Culver City

Annapurna Cuisine is tucked into a shopping center corner, so it’s a bit hard to find it unless you already know where you’re going. They have a website, but it’s also hard to navigate. My friend couldn’t find it. I saw it only because I was on the other side of the street. The restaurant shares the shopping center with a Laundromat and a Thai restaurant called Eastwind IV. As I waited for my friend, I watched Bollywood music videos on a plasma television set. There are also special tables with computers if you need to be hooked up to the Internet. I was surprised to see the place so empty on a Friday night. I think most of their business is from take-out or delivery orders.

Once my friend arrived, we immediately ordered and received our food within a few minutes time. At first I was worried because we were trying to make the theater at 8pm, and we didn’t order until 7 pm. My friend ordered the Annapurna Special—cheese dosa—which is a crepe stuffed with mozzarella cheese. I tasted it, and it was very good. Being a fan of coconut, I ordered the vegetable khorma, which is a coconut curry cooked with fresh vegetables. This dish was also excellent. It came with curry, white rice, chutney, raita, and a couple of breads. Oh, did I mention that this is a vegetarian restaurant? We also ordered the garlic naan, which is the best I have ever tasted. It is unbelievably good. Unfortunately, I had also ordered a rose lassi, which is a yogurt drink infused with rose flavoring, that never arrived. I didn’t really care that I didn’t receive it since I was STUFFED. When we received the check, though, it was on the bill. I requested for it to be removed without any problems. This restaurant knows customer service.

We were out of the restaurant by 7:40pm and were early for our show for once. This restaurant is an excellent choice for theater dining. We ended up spending less than $25 for the two of us and received quick and efficient service. Several more patrons arrived when we were leaving. I suppose we beat the dinner crowd. The restaurant also has a lunch buffet during the week. We will definitely be back.

My friends and I eat out a lot since we have a subscription to the theater. This time we decided to try out La Dijonaise, a French bistro. We decided to eat outside, but the tables were not prepared yet. It took quite a while for the table settings to be set for us, while other tables were set quickly. I cannot understand why some people were seated ahead of us when we were there before them.

The first thing I wanted to order was escargot since we were at a French restaurant. It came back six little pieces of rubber soaking in garlic butter, but the garlic was imperceptible. I couldn’t even taste a teeny bit of garlic. I ordered the duck in raspberry sauce. It was fantastique! One friend ordered beef stroganoff, and the other ordered the salade nicoise. We all tasted each other’s dishes, but I really felt the duck was the best of the lot. Unfortunately, service wasn’t that great. It took a very long time to get our escargot. It arrived at the same time as our entrées. Since it was a bit nippy outside, we asked for the lamp to be lit, but it took a while, and then the one closest to our table was neglected. If you go, don’t expect spectacular service, but you do get a good meal for a decent price. I think that it’s good value for French food.

We did not have time for dessert, so we quickly paid for the check and left. Apparently, life exists inside the restaurant, but if you are outside, you are an afterthought. Where we sat in oblivion was quiet and a bit cold due to the neglect of the wait staff. Inside was extremely loud and crowded. Make your choice according to your preference of atmosphere and service.

Well, my friend and I went to San Gennaro Cafe for dinner after our Douglas show. On Friday nights, it’s a dinner/supper club with music and dancing. Since it was so loud, we decided to sit outside. There was also a wait for a table inside, while there was no wait for a table outside. It was a really cold night, but the heaters helped. We were only one of three tables who sat outside. The rest were inside with all the loud music.

Service was very, very slow because of the supper club atmosphere inside. We were very neglected. We also noted that regular customers were served before we were. I wasn’t pleased with that custom. Yes, it’s important to make your regulars feel as if they are being well-taken care of, but don’t you want to turn new customers into regular customers, too?

My friend ordered a pasta dish by asking the waiter what he prefers. He recommended a dish off the special menu. I ended up ordering Veal Alla Cognac, which was sauteed with porcini mushrooms. It came as a pasta dish with veal on the side. I was expecting to see veal as the main item in the dish. The taste was very pedestrian. My friend was not happy with her pasta dish either.

The regular customers received bread and quick service. We ended up getting nothing but our actual orders. We had to ask for bread. I asked for a glass of Chianti, and my friend asked for lemonade. No wine list was given to us.

After getting our mediocre meals, I wanted to at least see if they were better at dessert. My friend ordered a piece of chocolate cake. I ordered a tiramisu, which wasn’t on the dessert tray. He brought us our desserts, and my friend claimed that hers was nothing special. I thought mine tasted like it was thawed right out of the freezer. I crunched into some ice chips.

We left, thinking that we would never go back again. Later that night, I had to make several trips to the bathroom. Let’s just say that the food upset my stomach. I don’t know if it was food poisoning or not, but stay away from this place. What a nightmare! I’d rather eat at Bucca di Beppo than here. It’s about as tasty as the Olive Garden—maybe the Olive Garden even tastes a bit better.

We decided to try out Bistro de l’Hermitage before our show at the Douglas Theatre. It’s a French country bistro. I was running late, so my two friends were sharing a Pâté Maison appetizer when I walked in. After perusing the menu, I ordered the Duck Confit with a glass of Bordeaux. One friend decided on Chicken Pasta Primavera. The other friend ordered off the special menu, but I believe it was some sort of steak. My friends were pleased with their dishes, but I found the duck rather ordinary. I made allowances that it was a country cafe rather than a posh place.

The restaurant was really cramped. The tables were crowded with chairs. I found it uncomfortable, but one friend thought it was very European. I was sitting in the cramped area, so I think it really depends on your perspective. I also found the service extremely slow. While waiting for our waitress, I was reading the mixed drink menu. It featured soju in their drinks, which I found extremely odd. If you are going for a French country-style restaurant, why in the world would you put a Korean alcoholic beverage into your drink menu? Even stranger, the soju was mixed into a mojito, so it was Korean alcohol mixed into a Cuban beverage at a French country bistro. Weird. I guess the person who is running the restaurant didn’t really think about the theme.

I had a postcard that allowed us a free dessert with the purchase of an entree, so we ordered the special chocolate tower with strawberry sauce and a passion fruit. We expected to be paying for one dessert, but I guess it was a free dessert per entree because they removed the charge for both desserts. Plus, one friend had a card that gave us 10% off our bill. We saved a bit of money, thanks to that postcard.

Although we arrived around 6pm, we ended up finishing our dinner at 7:45pm, and our show started at 8pm. It’s a good thing that the bistro was only steps away from the Douglas Theatre. This place is not somewhere to get a quick bite to eat. Expect slow service. Go with someone and have a great conversation. There will be lots of time to kill. Our total came out to close to $100 for three people. Not too bad for a three course meal and wine.

The Music Center is Los Angeles’ theater central. If you want to see a play, you get a ticket from either the Ahmanson Theatre (usually Broadway musicals) or the Mark Taper Forum (new plays). The Kirk Douglas Theatre is the new theater in town. Like the Mark Taper Forum, this theater also develops new works, but unlike the Taper, it also develops plays for the youth. (The Music Center has a subscription for parents and their children.) This is the Kirk Douglas Theatre’s premier season, with four plays and two additional plays specifically created for children. My friend and I decided to subscribe to the previews to save. We ended up seeing some great shows so far - A Perfect Wedding was a modern-day version of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Our second show was The Paris Letter, with a great cast: Neil Patrick Harris, Lawrence Pressman, Josh Radnor, Ron Rifkin, and Patricia Wettig.

This play is not suited for children or those who do not want to see nudity. I saw "Doogie Howser" in the flesh (Neil Patrick Harris). What a very different role for him than Rent! Several people left because of the intense content of the play. I have to say that of the plays that I have seen this season at the Music Center, this had real bite. Too many plays are filled with nothing but fluffy song and dance, with no actual content. This play was about how one man threw himself in the closet, and eventually, the closet was no longer able to hold him or his homosexuality.

I noticed that in two of the four plays that I have seen, homosexuality was a theme in both. I wonder if that is the theme for this season—exploring the idea of what is gay. I have to say that the acting in The Paris Letter is wonderful. All the actors did a great job. Since it was the previews, I expected a mishap or two. I only saw one—during their curtain calls, they seemed a little befuddled on when to simultaneously bow. I suppose they did not get any sort of instructions on how to do them. Then one actor almost left before the final bow and missed it. He then bowed awkwardly by himself a moment afterwards. If that’s the only mishap, then they should have a great run. I expect great reviews of this play in The LA Times.

Afterwards, when my friend and I were walking to the parking lot, Neil Patrick Harris came storming by us. We wondered why he was in such a hurry. He looked kind of angry. I wondered if he was mad at missing the bow. Or maybe he had heard our conversation about seeing the two actors (Harris and Josh Radnor) completely nude? I suppose we need to be careful of our conversation since the patrons and the actors park in the same lot. Or park elsewhere.