SON OF A GUN, WEST HOLLYWOOD

I was warned that I would find it too noisy at 'Son of a Gun'. At my first visit yesterday, I not only found it too loud, but annoyingly loud. I was simply impossible to have a conversation with my dining partner. Not that I have the desire of eating out in a church-like atmosphere, I like lively, but too much is too much. What's the point of having dinner with a friend if you cannot communicate and end up screaming at each other? I should have counted how many times I shouted 'what did you say?'. Unfortunately, we had lost our reserved table and had to sit at the communal table, because we were twenty minutes late. But I doubt, that it would have been much better at a smaller table.

I could have been appeased by great food, and was excited to be at seafood place, a rare thing in L.A. But unfortunately, the culinary mastery was limited. I felt like having been served home-cooked dishes by a bachelor who tries to impress a girl, but lacks experience and technique. We both went for the citrus salad, avocado, fennel, arugula, as a starter. There were lots of sliced citrus fruits like grapefruit and oranges, but so little avocado and arugula that I felt tempted to ask for a magnifying glass, and the fennel was completely missing. Too much citrus, guys! Way out of balance. This is not supposed to be fruit salad dessert. At least the seasoning was subtle and enhanced the flavors nicely.

After that we had mussels, Pernod, tarragon, fennel, toast. Those poor mussels were drowning in a thick, creamy, uniform tasting sauce. Where was the lemony-licory scent of tarragon? The anise-like taste of Pernod? Was there any starch mixed into the sauce for it too be so thick? And why salt the sauce generously when mussels have a natural salt content? And please don't make that toast so greasy! I would have liked the menu to mention the cream sauce, since I expected a light, mediterranean wine sauce. Ok, I could have asked, but it did not occur to me. It's always good to be given a lot of information to be able to make the right choice.

We also tried the Idaho trout, carrot, potato, caper dill butter. It was dry, boring and tasteless. Did they mention a caper dill butter on the menu? What can I say? Uninspired? Lazy? Do-not-care?

We gave the desserts a try and went for the frozen lime yogurt, graham crumble, toasted meringue. The yogurt lacked creaminess and was too sweet, but otherwise the dessert was ok and perfectly sized, the toasted meringue even very good.

As for beverages, I had a glass of 'Crémant du Jura' a sparkling wine from the French Jura region. I usually like the light Crémant, but the one served at 'Son of a Gun' was bad, real bad. Flat and tasting like cheap cider. And this for 18 Dollars a glass! My friend's Pinot Noir was good, but the 17 Dollars a glass were also quite steep. 

I liked the concept of serving small portions, for guests to playfully taste different dishes.

Still, my final verdict: the cuisine is too amateurish to be taken seriously.

Nice maritime-theme decor, though.