Little Beast

The air quality in Pasadena is much improved today, happily.  Even yesterday, it was better than it had been.  That said, the smell of smoke was still in the air.  The three of us were of a mind to go out for dinner, and we decided it would be a treat to get out of our fair city and get out of the field of the worst air pollution.  West we went, over to Eagle Rock.  Destination:  Little Beast.

Little Beast is a nice little place housed in what looks like was once someone's home on Colorado Boulevard.  Van had been there in the past, and recalled that the burgers were good.  Conrad and I had never been, so we were up for trying some place new.

The first thing we liked was that we could hear each other.  I don't comment (much) on this, but Conrad has had some hearing loss over the years and finally started wearing hearing aids.  The good thing about hearing aids is that they amplify for him the sounds he wants to hear (conversation, television or movies).  The bad thing is that they amplify other sounds as well.  In many restaurants now, there is quick negotiation when we are shown to our table as to where to seat him so that he isn't suffering from whatever music is blasting and the nearby conversations that are necessarily loud to be heard over the music.  It makes me wish that reservation sites had a "look for quiet dining" option, and I will sometimes add a note to reservations that we have a person with hearing loss so could we please have a quiet part of the dining room if such a thing exists.  So, kudos to Little Beast, which had music playing in the enclosed outdoor space at a level where we could all talk normally and easily.

The second thing I liked was my mocktail.  Y

es, dry January continues for me (and Van, but not for Conrad).  I had an elderflower drink that was pretty tasty.  One was enough.  Man, am I drinking a lot of water these days!

The third thing I liked was my burger. 

Excellent burger - good patty and bun and toppings.  The fries were terrific as well - hot out of the fryer, crisp and lightly salty on the outside, fluffy inside.

I thought the biscuits and ham were fine but only just fine. 

I have had better biscuits, and I've certainly had bigger ones!  Not much biscuit for the amount of stuff to go with the biscuits.  I also thought the little gems wedge salad was fine - tasty but a little over dressed.

We skipped dessert - what we had was enough - and came back to Pasadena.  When we got out of the car, the smell of smoke hit us again.  Ah well.  It was nice to get away from it for one evening!  And it has been much better today - we could see the mountains this morning!