GIVEAWAY: $50 Gift Card for The Hollywood Corner

This Giveaway is Now Closed. Congrats to Lynda! :)

Last June, I was invited to the Hollywood Corner Restaurant and hosted for dinner by Christina Manzur, who is doing freelance PR for this neighborhood restaurant. Before Christina's invitation, I had never even heard of the Hollwood Corner, so I was interested in giving it a try.

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After arriving, checking out the menu and asking for Christina's opinion since she's dined there quite a few times, we ended up sharing 6 dishes. Our starter was Deep Fried Dill Pickles. I remember having this once before at another restaurant and I didn't care for it that much. They just didn't taste right. Well, either my tastebuds have changed or they just do Deep Fried Dill Pickles better at the Hollywood Corner. Their version was light and crispy on the outside with the pickles having just the right amount of tang and sourness so that you weren't squinting your eyes and/or puckering up your lips while eating them.

Following the pickles, our Half Manouche Herb and Half La Falta Pizza arrived. The first thing I have to say is that I really loved the crust, which is more like a crispy flatbread than pizza dough. I really enjoyed the fact that it was light, crispy and even a little crunchy. No dough-y, bread-y crust for me.

The Manouche Herb half is referred to as a "Brain Booster" on their menu, although I'm not sure why, and its ingredients include wild thyme, roasted sesame seeds, sumac and olive oil. Sumac, for those of you who didn't know, is a Middle Eastern spice, that adds a lemony taste to the food it's added to. I liked the Manouche Herb pizza, but felt like it needed some fresh vegginess to it and that's what the La Falta half gave to me.

The La Falta half of this pizza has an interesting story. It's actually the Mancouche Herb Pizza, but with the addition of mozzarella, tomatoes and basil. Apparently, one of their new cooks got the recipe wrong, but it actually turned out to be a pretty tasty pizza with these toppings. However, don't look for it on the menu. It's an off-menu item that you'll have to ask for if you want it. I have to say that I was really digging the La Falta. The combination of nutty, lemon-y, aromatic flavors along with the acidity of the tomatoes and the mildness of the cheese was a definite hit with me. I was happy that Christina shared the tidbit about this secret dish.

Along with the pizza, we ordered their Flat Iron Steak Salad with grilled flat iron steak, grilled onions, sauteed mushrooms, goat cheese, roasted tomatoes and served on a bed of mixed baby greens topped with potato chips and herb balsamic dressing. I wasn't feeling this salad too much. The steak could have been a little more tender and perhaps cut in smaller strips. It just seemed a little ungainly on top of the salad. I did like the dressing and thought the house made potato chips were light and crispy. I could easily eat a bowl of those potato chips, especially if they were seasoned with a little chili powder or paprika or something spicy.

The salad was followed by their Smac and Cheese, which had shrimp, applewood smoked bacon, grilled corn, roma tomatoes, scallions and an in-house made velvet three cheese sauce. I really enjoyed the flavors. The corn added a nice hit of sweetness which complimented the shrimp. Of course, bacon is always good in my book. My only nit pick is that I would have liked more cheese sauce and instead of the dried cheese topping, I would have preferred if additional cheese was melted over the macaroni. I also have to say that I'm a cheesehead and when it comes to macaroni and cheese, more cheese is always better to me.

As for dessert, we shared two mini cakes. One was their Red Velvet Cake and the other was their Hummingbird Cake, which was a banana cake with cream cheese frosting. Both cakes were more on the dense side; yet, were still moist. I also liked that the cream cheese frosting on both cakes weren't too overly sweet. All in all, a good way to end the meal.

Just based on 6 dishes, I would make a return trip to the Hollywood Corner. If nothing else, I'd want more of that La Falta Pizza and would love to try some of the other pizzas they have on the menu as well. That crust really did it for me.

The Hollywood Corner
1156 N Highland Ave
Hollywood, CA 90038
(323) 463-2220


PRIZE GIVEAWAY!

Now it's time to enter for a chance to get a $50 Gift Card to The Hollywood Corner and to check it out for yourself.

Here are the ways to enter!

Mandatory 1: First, check out the Menu at the The Hollywood Corner. Then leave a comment and tell me what dish you'd order if you won the $50 Gift Card. (Please leave your email or some kind of information on how I can contact you. Spell your email address like abby at pleasurepalate dot com). If I can't find a way to get a hold of you, I'll choose another winner.

Optional 2: Tweet: Win a $50 Gift Card for @hollywoodcorner via @pleasurepalate http://bit.ly/cRz4QU

Optional 3: Follow The Hollywood Corner on Twitter

Optional 4: Join The Hollywood Corner on Facebook

You can have up to 4 total entries each; however, please note that you have to comment back and let me know which of the actions you took, so that I can keep track of them. This is especially true for 2 through 4. If you don’t let me know which actions you took, then I won’t count them as entries.

Contest ends Monday, September 6 at 11:59 AM, PST and one winner will be randomly chosen from all entries. Good Luck!

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