Destroyer — Restaurant in Culver City

This location popped up as an interesting place to visit. We called a little earlier to see if they would take reservations the day of, but found out that it was primarily a walk-in. When we arrived near the location, parking was relatively easy to find. We got pretty lucky, and I can see how parking would be tough though for this location. When we arrived at the front of the restaurant, there was literally a line out the front door and barely any seating available. I’d say we waited probably 15-20 minutes in line before we were able to order any food. Fortunately, it gave us enough time to figure out what exactly we wanted.

Inside the restaurant, at the front, there was a bakery where they were serving a couple of different items. They were also selling additional items like coffee, honey, and some specialty items like Oishii strawberries that I ended up grabbing. We were both hungry for lunch so we didn’t grab anything from the bakery. We ended up ordering a Heirloom Potato Waffle, Koshihikari Rice Porridge, and Forestberry Bavarian. One thing to be aware of is that they had an additional up charge for employee benefits (5%) over the standard tax.

Once we ordered our items, we left the front to find that there was no seating available. We stood for around 20 minutes when a waiter came up to us to see if she could find us a table to start eating. Fortunately, two tables opened up around the time the Heirloom Potato Waffle was being served. Shortly after, the Forestberry Bavarian (dessert) was served. When the server came by again, I asked where the rice porridge was and from my understanding she indicated (in Spanish) that she would check on it. I was grateful that the person I came with understood some Spanish because I don’t speak it. Another 25-30 minutes went by and I still hadn’t heard anything. I ended up going and asking the employee at the cash register; they mentioned that there was a delay where they were missing an ingredient so they were in the process of making 12 Rice Porridges. I received my food probably 10-15 minutes after that (1 hour total after ordering). I was disappointed to say the least that I’d waited that long (why I’m giving a 4), but the food was pretty good.

I’m not a huge fan of kale in any form but the mix of greens + potato waffle + egg + kale was quite nice. The Forestberry Bavarian was delicious; I couldn’t stop eating it and the frangipane was delightful. I couldn’t really figure out what all the ingredients were, but the ingredients went incredibly well together. Not only was this dish sweet, but it was also a little tart. Lastly, the rice porridge was surprising. I felt like I encountered a couple of different surprises each time I had a bite. I didn’t expect the hidden poached egg underneath the bed of rice porridge. The onions were incredibly tasty. Overall, the aesthetic and visual experience of every item was quite amazing. I’d recommend everyone come here and give...

First off, a restaurant that stands out for its innovation in L.A. is special and deserving of praise. This restaurant certainly possesses an eclectic menu with eye popping colorful plates which makes it stand out. The dish I had, however, missed the mark in several ways as did the experience.

Disclaimer: I just tried this place today so this review does not reflect a varied dining experience.

Dish: Sweet Potato Waffle

I arrived to a long line of guests awaiting the upscale cafe experience offered, which was frankly no more or less unique than any other cafe experience. There was certainly some chaos in the kitchen (which is surprising for a cafe—this is not fine dining). There is a row of unique items for purchase on the right immediately upon entry including homemade dog treats and oats, however, again this is nothing special.

The interesting aspect is the menu with a variety of unique dishes that are a fresh take on a variety of foods.

I ordered the Sweet Potato Waffle and hot coffee and proceeded with my number to my semi-small banquet round table in front—again, nothing special or unique.

The waffle arrived stacked with kale, prosciutto (I believe) an egg and roasted tomatoes/bell peppers. The coffee was presented in a gourd with a rope wrapping to protect a hand injury.

Presentation: This waffle was beautiful. The green, yellow, and red were all nice to look at, and the coffee gourd unique in its own right.

Consumption: This is where the large deduction comes. The waffle itself is very difficult to eat, packed with material that does not quite “cut” like roasted kale, prosciutto, and egg, and seems to spill everywhere “destroying” the beauty, though that I’m sure was not the intent on choosing the name, The Destroyer.

Flavor: To be concise, underwhelming and unappealing. The roasted kale and red peppers overpowers the Prosciutto, the egg, and the waffle burying the gentle airy and salty flavors with bitter. This was not a good experience. The recipe missed the part of the pallet it was aiming for (savory) and ended up with bitter which, with this concoction was quite disappointing.

Price: To be fair, a trendy restaurant like this is almost always going to be on the upper end of the spectrum, but in order to satisfy a desire to pay that price, the food or ambiance has to match, neither of which occurred for my $24.00 waffle.

I respect innovation and ingenuity, but most prominent aspect of any dining experience is taste, and this experience delivered...

This place does not live up to its reputation for cool chic or food artistry. We arrived about 15 mins after opening the first week of January, with only one other table of two already seated. The snippy dude at the register let us know that a couple things on the breakfast menu were unavailable, so we each went for our second choices: I had the blueberry dish, my friend chose the sweet potato waffle. The blueberry dish came out in about 15 minutes, but a solid 20 minutes before the waffle, which the kitchen had clearly forgotten about. Benefit of the doubt, because I'm sure they were worrying about carryout orders and such – restaurant work is hard work, and credit where credit is due – but the dude at the register was, um, not very cordial, even after I politely waited in line a second time to see whether our food was ever going to arrive.

Some things are worth the wait, this sure wasn't: the blueberry dish was entirely flavorless, with beautiful-looking deep purple blueberries on top of a slurry of strangely flavorless coconut yogurt. The waffle was better: salty and rich, but not any better than standard diner fare aside from the presentation and so small, considering its nearly $25 price.

The ambience of the place is just lame: it's the same cold, tired stark white box with the same exact played-out clinical minimalism you see everywhere that thinks it's cooler than it is. This place takes it a step farther, though, with its illegible projected menu on the wall, silly high prices, and cutesy merch (branded condiments + some hip itty bitty ceramics) on a random shelf. This place lacks all the warmth of actually enjoyable LA breakfast-centric spots like Gjusta, République, Clark Street Diner, or Tartine, but is even more pretentious. There's no indoor seating, and its grim, grey, shabby outdoor seating with uneven chairs and wet tables just sucks. Serves me right for going to a spot whose entire reputation is derived from Instagram cred: $75+ including tip for two paltry dishes and two coffees at this spot is just absurd.

The one bright spot was the barista, who was super chill and smiley and really seemed to really be enjoying his work in a way that was nice to see. The black sesame latte and cappuccino he made were pretty good. The three stars for the food are mostly for the barista's friendliness...