MESSHALL.

after a day of moving big furniture items from my apartment into storage, as well as taking some of it back to my parents's house for my brother, we were very exhausted, and in need of a good meal. we decided to try messhall, a recent addition to the los feliz hillhurst food scene that we've been driving past for the past few months.

we kind of loved everything about the place. the cocktail menu is pretty great, and james was especially happy as they seem to focus on, and have a very excellent selection of, bourbons and ryes. i liked that they had both cachaca and aperol.

we went relatively simple with the food. a dozen oysters to start, an entree each and a dessert. i had their pork chop which despite being served medium when i asked for medium rare, was super juicy and tender because it was pre-brined. the superstar of the meal though was the tabasco butter that came on top, especially as it melted into the vermont cheddar grits underneath. heavenly! james had the slow braised short ribs, which came with this great horseradish creme fraiche, brussel sprouts, and a celery root puree i think. super tasty.

toward the end of the meal, james ordered a sazerac, which they made with a 130-proof sazerac. i didn't touch the stuff, but james seemed quite blown away by its potency. and finally, the banana cream pie. which was more like a pudding in a jar, but had these homemade vanilla wafers inside and on top to make up for the crust. it was really freaking amazing. i think we each could have easily eaten two orders of them, so the fact that we split one was pretty impressive (and a little sad for both of us).