Muddy Leek - CLOSED
/Muddy Leek is probably an appropriate name for this restaurant in this ill fated location on Washington in Culver City, but not the cool Culver City with wall to wall food and drink options. Muddy Leek sits by itself a block and a half from Helm's Bakery and Lukshon, but that's evidently just far enough to make it an unsuccessful location. Time will tell, but over the last 4 years, there have been exactly 4 different restaurants at this spot - Wilson's, Sublime, Batch and now the double named Muddy Leek, which you can only hope will bring them twice the success.
Walking in at 7:30pm on a Thursday night, there were people sitting at just 4 tables - 2 of which included small children. A friendly waitress with neon green hair delivered crumpled, paper menus and told us about a few specials on the chalk board. They do the organic thing as you expect in most restaurants you eat in now, but they also list some of the local farms that they support so it's not just smoke and mirrors.
The menu is small with starters and shared plates mostly priced under $20, minus a wild caught salmon for $27 and grass fed flat iron for $28, which seemed a bit out of a place in a neighborhood restaurant like this.
I had to get the chicken liver mousse in an attempt to bring back some memories of my long lost friend, foie gras. The mousse was dense and meaty, but the sweet mustarda on top lightened the load for a decent bite.
Sauteed shrimp arrived next, and was nestled into a creamy mound of polenta with kale tossed in. Nice home cooking.
We ordered the duck confit off the specials board. They got a little carried away on the confit as it was overcooked, but the presentation was interesting in a popover with a frisee mushroom vinaigrette and a poached duck egg on top.
icely cooked broccolini with walnuts rounded out our meal.
I'm not sure if Muddy Leek is going to go the distance, but it is a nice, casual restaurant away from the commotion of Culver City where you can get a perfectly fine meal for a decent price.
