Message: | Much less if we're talking a strict Michelin-to-camel scale.
Chameau is a little Moroccan-esque restaurant on Hyperion that's had me curious for awhile, not least because it boasts a green camel flag on the exterior -- I'm posting now in case any other Silver Lake-ians have been curious too. Anyway, I went last night and my review is this: not worth a trek across the desert, but maybe worth checking out if you're in the nabe.
The only starter I tried was excellent: an organic vegetable salad, that included gold beets and asparagus topped by what looked like purple alfalfa sprouts and flavored with a tangy vinaigrette. Entrees at my table included chicken (very sweet, accompanied by a cranberry studded coucous), halibut (nice, not dry, but not a knockout), and tuna-kebobs (herb-crusted and sitting in a spicy tomato sauce, a tasty but somewhat tacky dish that for some reason I chose...). Dessert: a decent tart advertised as fig and raspberry but more redolent of its lemon custard base.
With entrees in the $15-19 range, Chameu is pricier than its neighboring restaurants. (You can save on drinks -- it's BYOB.) And the small room is pretty charmless -- except for a few kitschy Moroccan touches. Most of the customers were obviously on dates, which weirded out me and my dinner companions a little. Still, I'd go back. As far as I know, they've got a lock on couscous in the area. |