Wednesday, September 01, 2010

GIVEAWAY: $50 Gift Card for The Hollywood Corner

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

Dinner at the Hollywood Corner

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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Dinner at the Hollywood Corner

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.

Dinner at the Hollywood Corner

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.

Dinner at the Hollywood Corner

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.

Dinner at the Hollywood Corner

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.

Dinner at the Hollywood Corner

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.

Dinner at the Hollywood Corner
Dinner at the Hollywood Corner

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.

Dinner at the Hollywood Corner

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.

Dinner at the Hollywood Corner

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
The Hollywood Corner on Urbanspoon

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!

^

22 comments:

Steve Fiechter, MDiv, LCSW said...

The Hollywood Corner is a terrific place...and if I were to win the gift card, I'd definitely have those deep fried pickles....AND the Tex Mex Pizza....and a Whoopie Pie for dessert! And if I should happen to be the lucky winner, you can reach me at therevsteve@yahoo.com.

Glad the Hollywood Corner is in the neighborhood...it makes our world better!

CJ said...

I want to have a run at the veggie burger. And I'd definitely try fried pickles--I've never had them before! I suppose I'd have to try get in some salad too, maybe the quinoa. (My email address is cjcwmc at yahoo dot com). Thank you--great contest!

CJ

Amber said...

Love love love the pics! That Smac and cheese with shrimp sounds to die for (and I'm down with crunchy dried cheese toppings)...I would also go for the Manouche pizza with feta, basil, avo, tomato extras and then the Pom/Spinach Salad w/the Salmon add on. Mmmm.

I just completed #2-4 as well (@Ambiggity, amber dot bechtel at gmail dot com)

Anonymous said...

I would start with fried pickles, Then the House Smoked Pulled Pork Sadwich and then maybe some Red Velvet Cake :)
Maryann
summerwyne@gmail.com

Lynda said...

What an awesome giveaway!! I would want to try the Flat Iron Steak Salad that you featured.

[lyndagp at gmail dot com]

Lynda said...

I tweeted about the giveaway [http://twitter.com/oshkoshbosh123]

Lynda said...

I am now following The Hollywood Corner on Twitter. [http://twitter.com/oshkoshbgosh123]

Paula's Ponderings said...

Hi, this is Paula. Intriguing menu! If I won the $50 gift card I'd order the crab cakes, roasted tomato fennel soup, the quinoa salad, or the pommegrante spinach salad to start with. For an entree, I'd have the Manouche herb pizza with avocado, basil, and tomato, or the Spinach pizza.

Anonymous said...

I'd love to try the crab cakes benedict! Also, maybe the hollywod omelet as well! (My email: suechang52 at gmail dot com).

Anonymous said...

I am people, and that's my burger! Didn't the intro pic look yummy?!

But because my year's mantra is to try something new, I'd do the fried dill pickles that remind me of fried zucchini. For lunch, I'd do the 50/50 so I could try the butternut squash soup and the flat iron steak salad. If dinner, I'd go for the salmon (okay, not quite true to the dining mantra) and sweet potato fries/asparagus/spinach. This would be enjoyed with tea as I got back to the mantra with Hummingbird Cake.

caramelcocoa at gmail dot com

sophia said...

The fried pickles. Definitely. And the Harvest burger. Love the combo of sweet + savory.

sophia said...

I tweeted.

sophia said...

I follow them on Facebook...

sophia said...

....and twitter. :-)

phew!

email: burp.excuzme@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

i would order the filet stroganoff -- i was sold at the mention of wild mushrooms!

orangedictionary at yahoo dot com



i also entered via options 2-4 (tweeted, follow hollywood corner on twitter, and joined the facebook group). @jetstopinas

annalene said...

I would love to try the Manouche Herb Pizza, the veggie offerings look/sound so amazing!

Thank you so much for the giveaway!

annalene
thewideworldof (at) gmail (dot) com

annalene said...

following on twitter @woozlewozzle

annalene said...

liked on facebook (anna lene)

thanks again, keeping my fingers crossed!

Anonymous said...

I did all four things! I am commenting here, I tweeted, followed on twitter and liked on facebook!

The manouche herb pizza and the veggie sandwich both sound amazing as I'm vegetarian and love interesting takes on food staples like pizza!

Thanks for the opportunity!

sjrww said...

ooh! It's a perfect lunch spot for me because I work just around the corner! Yum! I'm hungry just thinking about it.

Since it's a little bit of a chilly day in LA today, I would start off with some chicken Chili. I would also have to try the Tex Mex Pizza, Pulled Pork Sandwich, The bistro Burger, The Sage Chicken Salad... hmm, I may have to bring a friend along!!

Hope I win the giftcard! Thanks in advance! sonjarwright at gmail dot com!

SW

sjrww said...

I followed on twitter!! @Rororobin

sjrww said...

I tweeted it out! @rororobin
THANKS!