Waterloo and City: Amazing Chicken Liver Mousse on Perfectly Toasted Bread

I'd been looking for good pate for the longest time in LA and was ecstatic when I serendipitously crossed paths with some ridiculously good chicken liver mousse at Waterloo & City. I say serendipitous because I almost walked out without trying this butter lined deliciousness. We ordered a bunch of terrines including rabbit pistachio and smoked salmon terrines (more on those later) and the chicken liver one came on the house. My dining partner and the restaurant are managed by the same management company so the chefs extended the courtesy.

I can't stop thinking about that chicken liver mousse, which spread like buttah on these excellent slices of crusty bread that were perfectly toasted, complete with charred edges. Thank you, chef, for sending this complimentary plate. The salmon terrine was no slouch either. It was like a napoleon where they alternated with a layer of smoked salmon, cream and then potato. On top of that sat a daintily fried egg. It's true I'm partial to anything with a fried egg on top but this was truly genius. How had I not appreciated the beauty and sheer awesomeness of terrines before?

The rabbit and pistachio terrine came with a mango sauce that I wasn't sure worked together too well. I enjoyed the terrine as is but not nearly as amazing as the chicken liver mousse -- and I don't even like chicken liver! This terrine's texture was more like a regular pate so it wasn't as creamy as the mousse but I still enjoyed it because it was an unusual mix of flavors and textures with the pistachios that I liked. And that bread -- couldn't get enough of it. I wonder if they make it in-house or get it supplied. If the latter, I'd like to get my hands on that bread.

Having a cute little cornichon and giant caper along with some pickled pearl onions made for a nice balance from the uber fatty mousses and things we were consuming, not to mention the carb overload. I had the rabbit terrine for breakfast the next day and enjoyed it just as much.

The hamachi was pretty fresh and flavorful. It came with pieces of avocado, a Thai sauce called Nam Jin, yuzu, fennel and basil. All this was topped with a refreshing lime-ish sorbet. A great summer dish.

The tuna tartare was not as good but the tuna sat on a bed of avocado mousse that had been placed underneath as a sheet. I'm guessing some gadgets were involved in making this look this way. I do prefer real pieces of avocado but it's interesting to see deconstructed food that's a different take from the expected.

Now for the mains. The short rib ravioli sounded more promising than it delivered. I was expecting super moist (ie., fatty), piping hot short rib trapped in a tiny ravioli shell. It ended up being more like a densely packed meat that was rather dry and didn't work in a large ravioli that looked more like a round dumpling. I didn't care for the onion, spinach and truffle sauce they came with. I think this dish would work better if: 1) there were more fat inside the dumpling/ravioli and 2) the ravioli were smaller so it doesn't taste as dense. Great concept but shaky in practice.

The roasted monkfish was nothing special but the fish was fresh and it was topped with fennel and gremolata, a mix of parsley, lime zest and garlic. The fish sat atop saffron risotto.

Ah dessert. We had the donuts that already had caramel drizzled on them, not to mention a ton of sugar. But they also came with three sauces in case we wanted to be naughtier, including an orange curd, bourbon glaze and vanilla ice cream sauces. I liked the donuts solo the best as I am a purist -- most of the time -- but I liked the orange curd one for some variation in flavor. The ice cream didn't work as it was too cold for me in the winter.

The toffee pudding that came with salted caramel and vanilla ice cream was not bad but we were too full to fully appreciate any of it. At that point, it tastes too sweet, too dense, too cold, too this or too that.

But I would definitely like to return to try other terrines and its famed burger, of course, that is only served during happy hour, which we missed.