The Stinking Rose

 Ben and I have our dating anniversary today, but since we live too far to really celebrate on a Monday he surprised me with reservations at a restaurant I’ve wanted to try for a long time: The Stinking Rose 

It’s a kitchy restaurant in Beverly Hills that is all about garlic!

 

The decor is over the top, with nods to garlic everywhere. The walls are covered in pictures of celebrities, signs, pictures and garlic bulbs!

This is in the women’s restroom:

As soon as we sat down the waiter filled our glasses with water & said, “Here’s some garlic water for you.” I believed him, but it turns out he was kidding!

Ben got a mojito – that I helped him drink 🙂

They also brought us garlic bread and had some very garlic-y pesto on the table to enjoy with it. I had one and half – I’m a sucker for bread. It was hard to stop there! I <3 carbs.

We ordered the Garlic Swiss Chard Fontina fondue to start. Definitely not a healthy option, but Ben’s idea, and I do love me some melty cheese!

My entree was salmon with a spicy tomato conserva with black olives. It was served with acini di pepe pasta in a spicy tomato sauce (special order instead of the lemon butter sauce). I loved this pasta because it was just like my favorite Israeli Couscous in size/texture.

But the garlic doesn’t end there! We couldn’t leave without trying the infamous Garlic Ice Cream. Yes folks, we ordered Garlic Ice Cream with a carmel mole sauce.  The entire time we were eating it I was trying to figure out how to describe it on the blog. It’s like a lightly sweet/buttery  ice cream with a major garlic aftertaste. 

It was a very fun and tasty experience! But, I’m afraid I reek of garlic now. I’m think my co-workers can smell it from my pores. Isn’t that sick? Well, a lot of brushing and gargling is all I can do for now!

I leave you with a sign from the women’s restroom that I heartily agreed with while dining at The Stinking Rose: