Madera Kitchen, Hollywood California

Madera Kitchen is serving up new American fare in a relaxing atmosphere at the corner of Cahuenga and Franklin in Hollywood. The outdoor and indoor areas offer a casual laid back dining experience with a touch of elegance. 

The menu offers a variety of appetizers, pastas and entrees as well as cocktails and wines. On my recent visited hosted by the restaurant I had the opportunity to try several dishes and these were my favorites. 

The meal started with complimentary flatbread served with chimichurri sauce. The grilled flatbread was semi-crispy and went very well with the tangy sauce.

Four shared plates followed and they were all delicious. The hamachi had a nice subtle heat from the spicy sesame oil that was well balanced by the arugula and thinly sliced radish. 

All the starters were great, but the brussels sprouts were amazing! Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside covered in a sweet and spicy glaze with crunchy roasted almond slivers, romesco and crispy salty pecorino. 

Then the spicy honey carrots arrived tossed in pumpkin seeds and humbolt fog cheese. The yellow carrots were soft and sweet mixed with firmer purple carrots all coated in the deliciously addicting spicy honey glaze.

The appetizer round ended with tender grilled octopus served with sweet grilled spring onions and tangy picked red onions over a lemon aioli. The octopus was really good, but the sweet grilled spring onions covered with lemon aioli stole the show.

My favorite entree of the evening was the goat cheese ravioli. Each ravioli was bursting with goat cheese swimming in a delicious broth topped with sweet grilled corn, wild mushrooms and crispy kale. Delicious!

While these were my favorite dishes (and if I had only ordered these, I would definitely give it two thumbs up), I can't overlook the dishes that fell short. The Rocky Mountain oysters had a great batter, but most of them were very tough and impossible to chew through. The ribs were tender, but the fries were soggy and the slaw was overly sweet for my taste. After the meal, I had a chance to sit down with the weekend manager and give him my overall feedback and thanked him for hosting me. I look forward to having the brussels sprouts and goat cheese ravioli again.

Madera Kitchen
1835 Cahuenga Blvd 
Los Angeles, CA 90028

NOTE: Starting May 2, 2015, the restaurant will offer a happy hour menu Tuesday - Friday and Sunday from 5:30-8pm as well as weekend brunch on Saturdays and Sundays with live DJ and bottomless mimosas.