Located on Beverly Blvd close to the Grove, they serve up one of the best brunches in town with no pretentiousness. The wait for a table is usually around 30 minutes – I don’t think they take reservations for small parties but it is always worth it. I had the strawberry cream cheese french toast (graham cracker crumbs, whipped vanilla cream cheese, fresh strawberries) and my lovely date had the breakfast hash (fried eggs, bacon, shaved yukon gold potatoes,
bell peppers, onions, hollandaise.)

I thought the french toast would be too sweet for me – but it was so delicious I got through a good 3/4s of the it before giving up. They have 4 types of bloody marys, my drink of choice was the original “granny mary.”

I think I need to go back there today.

Connie Tran is the chef (Zov’s in Tustin, Cafe D’Orient in Orange) and she serves up 8-course bi-weekly brunches at Franco on Melrose. It’s BYOB and there was a wine pairing list sent over yesterday to go with our meal.

My favorite dishes were the soup (bun rieu: minced crab & egg dumplings, tofu cafe, vermicelli in tamarand tomato broth served with threaded water spinach, bean sprouts, red cabbage, lemon balm) and the ice cream sandwich (ca rem dua: coconut lime ice cream, chili sesame cookies). There was also a spam sandwich (don’t hate- it was delish!), bo la lot: grilled beef wrapped in betel leaf, and cha ca thanh long: turmeric catfish, wilted dill, scallions.

Reservations are made via email and if you’re late you’ll miss any food that has already been served – so don’t be! They also have a little “market” that has Pho ingredients, Viet Ice Coffee ingredients and t-shirts that say Hon the cook (kiss the cook!).

ps: hey guys, i’m back after an accidental vacation.

You’re greeted in their reception/spa shop area (where they call you Ms. {insert last name here} for the entire stay) and they escort you back to the gorgeous locker rooms that have all the amenities. The place was empty and I got the locker rooms/steam room/sanctuary (as they call it) to myself.

The steam room is gigantic and clean (!). They leave cucumbers and iced washcloths out for when you use the steam room. So lovely.

My facial was relaxing and my skin feels as good as new! The only painful part is the necessary extractions. Ouch. I will definitely be back and highly recommend this spa.

Is it too messy?

All photos from Pinterest

It was absolutely worth the money and I am not quite sure how I made it through the seventh sushi course. Just barely.

I highly recommend this Omakase – my favorite dishes were the live shrimp, sashimi and the octopus.