The Stocking Frame Review

Arrived in LA and this trendy restaurant was 2 minutes from our Airbnb . Had avocado tacos, pulled pork and the BEST OCTOPUS EVER Our server was great !

I had to catch a super early flight the next morning so my friend suggested an early dinner at The Stocking Frame and made reservations for 5:45pm on a Sunday. We arrived and were seated quickly. The decor is great and service is good but not very attentive. I had to ask another server to get our server so I could order another cocktail at a few points. My friend had been there before and it was said it was a tapas style/small plates sharing kind of place however when we went this time the menu didn't really reflect that. It seemed that if you ordered an a main and a vegetable side you'd have a complete meal for yourself. However we still ordered quite a few things to share. The pastrami tacos were good, the fried avocado tacos were a miss, but the two highlights were the octopus and the black cod. Both proteins were done perfectly, in fact I think that was one of the best pieces of octopus I've ever had and the cod just melted in your mouth. The octopus also came with a side of potatoes au gratin which was very tasty and the cod came with a very creamy, slightly sweet red curry risotto which I liked with the cod but others found too rich and sweet. All in all it was a great dinner. Our server mentioned that the menu changes each month and some older dishes, even if they were favorites might not be coming back.

Met friends for dinner there last night, on one's recommendation given her previous meal there when she had the "fantastic octopus dish." We were a party of four and reserved in advance. Before heading to the reserved table, we first had drinks in the bar. Those of us who were driving, were disappointed that they did not offer any non-alcoholic beers. I instead tried to order a soda water with Rose's lime cordial. The bartender was keen to improvise on my order by offering me his own lime concoction. It was good, but it was not the drink I had requested. When I thanked him and told him that, in fact, I wanted the actual Rose's, he informed me rather snootily that they only used fresh ingredients and the lime cordial I was after did not fit the bill (not fresh). He implied that he tried to instead enlighten me with a "fresh" drink, and seemed to feel a little sorry for me that I was not able to recognize his educative gesture. I did see Coke on the mixers list, and I was wondering why there was not fresh alternative being offered for this ingredient... Anyway, sadly, out table experience contributed to the deterioration of the evening. Our waitress (Rochelle) seemed disappointed most of us (party of four) wanted pizza, not a selection of the small dishes on the menu. This seemed to have disappointed our server, and she tried to dissuade us from the pizza given that it would "be a long wait, because everyone was ordering pizza and (our) ovens can not accommodate the demand." Our octopus lover did order that again and said again that it was delicious. The pizzas were just ok (mushroom, Hawaiian, meat). Red wines by the glass we choose were excellent. Bread and butter pudding was also delicious. We ordered three Americano coffees at the end. Our error, as we incorrectly (from the UK) used the term interchangeably to mean just filter or percolated coffee. When we asked for refills, this error was pointed out to us. This time our education came from our server. And we wer