Bad Roman is L.A.'s hot new sceney Italian restaurant, a Beverly Hills outpost of a popular New York joint. It's a mildly difficult reservation to land, though I was able to get a last-minute table for four last month, for a Saturday double date night with Carol A. and Kevin W.
We showed up on time for our 8:00 reservation and had to wait at the bar for fifteen minutes before we were shown to our table. I know this stupid play, Mother Wolf did the same shit when it was the hot new sceney Italian restaurant. Bartender was nice, but we did have to pay for our drinks.
The dining room was attractive, expensively built and decorated. Tons of cool light fixtures, plush furnishings in bold patterns and colors. Everything decadent and over the top. The vibe was fun and buzzy, maximally Saturday night. Service was okay. Our waiter was pretty indifferent, but she more or less did what she had to do. Annoyingly, our food came out in kind of a rush. I don't know why, as I doubt they were turning our table. Maybe just the general disregard of a restaurant at the height of its popularity.
Drinks were great, starting with that round of cocktails. I loved my Martini Pepperoncini, a cold, salty martini with Grey Goose, pepperoncini brine, and lemon zest. Honestly the best thing I had at Bad Roman. The Bad Ombré was nice too, with Maker's Mark, lemon, a Barolo float, and a Chinato sinker. The Strawberry Sbagliato was an easy sparkling drink with strawberry-infused Aperlo, bianco vermouth, and Prosecco. The Tequila Granita was a sort of frozen margarita, with Dobel Diamante Cristalino, Cointreau, Calabrian honey, and habanero shaved Ice. We shared a bottle of red wine, and possibly two, with our meal--something Italian, I believe, though I don't remember what.
The food was good and satisfying, if not in the top tier of Italian restaurants in L.A. We ordered a bunch of dishes to share, and they arrived in two large clumps. All at once, we had shrimp cocktail, salmon crudo, pepperoni cups, calamari, and a salad. The shrimp cocktail were excellent, big and snappy, served on ice with lemon, cocktail sauce, and some kind of aioli. The Faroe Island salmon crudo was nice, with honeydew, pickled serrano, and fresh basil. The 'Roni Cups & Ranch seem to be a Bad Roman signature, and I enjoyed them for what they were: giant pepperonis with a side of ranch. My favorite of the starters was the crispy calamari casino, excellent calamari tossed with bacon, pepperoncini, scallion, and plenty of seasoning. The arugula and pears made a tasty salad with candied hazelnuts and shaved pecorino.
We ordered two pastas and a steak, which again, did not need to hit the table all at once. The agnolotti bistecca was filled with filet mignon and drizzled with balsamic dolce. Pretty good, though I've had better versions around town. The spicy lobster was a showpiece dish, flambéed tableside. Sweet, meaty lobster with campanelle and Calabrian chili, definitely a winner. The Snake River wagyu strip was a solid steak. We also enjoyed sides of spicy brussels sprouts and sidewinder fries tossed with rosemary and sage.
For dessert, we had an affogato and a slice of tiramisu ice cream cake, both sure things that did indeed hit the spot. We also got a dessert cocktail--the Vesuvius Bowl, with Zacapa rum, pinoli orgeat, lime, and fire. This was, disappointingly, served in a normal-sized glass and not a bowl, but it did come flaming with multiple candy-striped straws sticking out of the ice. It was sugary and tropical, though I am now realizing it might have contained pine nuts (looked up "pinoli orgeat"), the one deathly allergy we told our server about at the beginning of dinner. Yikes! Turns out Carol sat out the Vesuvius Bowl just because she'd had enough to drink, but we narrowly evaded an actual emergency.
Anyway, we had a great time at Bad Roman, and I'm glad the perfunctory service didn't send my friend to the hospital. I don't know that I'll be back in the near future, but it was definitely worth checking out. read more