Good Basix

I am always happy to find a place that serves good food in a trendy neighborhood. Basix on Santa Monica Blvd is just down the street from all the action on Sunset and a few blocks east of West Hollywood's hotspots.

I walked around the area looking at restaurants looking for a casual atmosphere and a nice people watching terrace, finally settling on Basix because their menu looked the most promising. With a mix of omelettes, salads, sandwiches, mesquite grilled pizzas, pastas, and desserts, I could have a little of everything. Sorry my pictures didn't come out, but my new camera phone didn't want to take any photos in the low light.

I chose the the Apple Cobb, made with chopped radicchio & romaine lettuces, fresh roasted turkey, crisp apple, candied pecans, applewood bacon, sundried cranberries & crumbled bleu cheese in a creamy apple cider dressing ($7 or $10). I chose the smaller version so I could try more than one thing on the menu and was pleasantly surprised by the tasty chunks of freshly roasted turkey and the wonderfully crunchy sweet candied pecans in this salad. It was a lighter choice than a traditional Cobb because the apple slices replaced the heavier egg, and they had a light hand with the bleu cheese. This salad inspired me to make my own lighter version. The salad was so tasty that I didn't even add the apple cider dressing, which was slightly sweet, but not cloying.

I saved room for the Slider Combo, made with Certified Angus Beef® on house-made brioche, w/purple onion marmalade ($8). I was amazed that this small cafe made their own brioche. The sliders with the onion marmalade were very good, but the brioche was amazing! I could not stop eating the buns even though I usually avoid any burger buns and I could have easily eaten a basket of the tiny eggy tender morsels.

They have a Happy Hour from 4-7pm Monday through Friday that includes the appetizers like the Sliders, a pizzette, and martinis for only $5, so if you are in the area stuck in traffic, this is a wonderful place to take a break.

My break here ended with an espresso ($2) since I had no room for dessert. I had to be content to let my eyes feast on the huge slice of Red Velvet Cake served to a nearby table. Darn, I guess that means I will have to come back.