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Growing up in Spain, British food was often the butt of the joke. Most people associate British food with poor presentation: cans of slimy beans, sausages, stodgy puddings and dull white bread.
However, if it’s done right, British food is incredibly delicious, like a delightful crisp batter from fish and chips, or a complex-tasting sausage with grilled tomatoes on the side. The UK has top-notch produce and a thriving farm-to-table scene, but its food’s bad reputation stems from World War I, industrialization, and food rationing.
I visited London for the first time 10 years ago, and I couldn’t get enough of English breakfasts before starting my jam-packed day.
Los Angeles is one of the few places in the world where you can turn a cuisine deemed unpolished and unsophisticated, like British cuisine, into a culinary sensation. By merging California’s bountiful farm-fresh produce and British fare in a cozy, dimly lit room that awakens your wanderlust, Wilde’s co-founders, Natasha Price and Tatiana Ettensberger have created an unexpected gold mine.
Since its opening on October 30, Angelenos have flocked to Wilde’s in droves, enduring up to three-hour wait times due to its no-reservation policy. This past month, Los Angeles experienced heavy downpours, but even in rainy weather, online publications reported a long line of diners outside the restaurant.
Natasha was born in England but moved to Los Angeles with her family when she was only two years old. Despite growing up in the States and traveling back to the UK to visit her relatives, British culture was ever-present in her household.
Shortly after moving to the States, Natasha and Tatiana met and became lifelong friends. Even though they took two different paths, they and their families remained close. Natasha worked as a chef in NYC, in restaurants like El Rey and Mina’s. Tatiana, who was born and raised in LA, found her love of wine while working at a marketing job right after college. Tatiana’s experience includes working as a brand consultant, and before opening Wilde’s, she was the manager and wine buyer in Chinatown’s Cafe Triste.
When dreaming up the perfect restaurant, Natasha kept coming back to her British roots: simple and rustic cuisine. Both also wanted a cozy, daytime cafe and the opportunity to showcase Tatiana’s wealth of knowledge of natural wines.
The restaurant sits on Hillhurst Avenue, the busy stretch of Los Feliz that is dotted with cafes, restaurants and other neighborhood favorites. In the daytime, Wilde’s doubles as a cafe/bakery until 1PM, serving up scones, sausage rolls and quiche.
Interestingly enough, Wilde’s was supposed to be a daytime restaurant! Tatiana shared on Instagram: “When Wilde’s was first envisioned, it was an entirely daytime restaurant. LA light pouring through the big windows, breakfast and coffee and books and newspapers at every table. Then I got more involved and forced Natasha to add wine to the mix, which quickly spiraled into opening for dinner service.”
Going to Wilde’s for dinner during the week will be your best bet. Since I had to brave the traffic from West Hollywood, I got there very early – around 4:20. The host inside kindly let me know that the opening time was at 5:30. After waiting in my car, I stood at the door at 5pm. With such an awe-inspiring sunset like the one from that day, you could say the wait time was entirely worth it.
Around 5:05, two girls stood behind me and we started to chit-chat. They both lived within walking distance from Wilde’s and went on a Saturday but, as you read above, they were told they could come back in three hours. “We decided to try today instead,” one of them said.
By 5:20, a long line had already formed behind us. A few people skipped the line and marched purposefully to the door, which was locked. “There’s a line”, one of the girls said.
Once the host opened the door, I was finally welcomed into Wilde’s. The space was small and intimate, with rich mahogany accents, flickering candles, and a leaded glass window, very reminiscent of a British countryside pub.
I was directed to “the lounge”. This separate area featured a set of two inviting vintage hand carved chairs and low tables, an espresso machine for their daytime hours, and the kitchen pass-through.
Here’s what I ordered:
Battered skate and mint
The star of the show was the spectacular batter. It was golden perfection: ultra-crispy with a melt-in-your-mouth texture. The mint chutney sauce on the side was the perfect complement — adding a tangy, bright flavor and a touch of freshness to the steaming fish. The fillet was so tender there was no need to use a knife!
I was actually surprised by how big the fish was! Since I wanted to make sure I had enough room for the Bangers and Mash, I had the other half the following day. Delicious!
If you want to round out your fish and chips experience, Wilde’s offers a side of homemade salt and vinegar thick-cut fries.
Bangers and Mash
If there’s one dish that is an absolute must-order at Wilde’s, this is it. The succulent pork sausage with the robust, caramelized mostarda was an absolute match in heaven. Then you had the mashed potatoes – smooth and mild in flavor to help counteract the peppery warmth of the sausage — and the rich gravy at the bottom to mop it up. The latter is made with pork bone stock and Guinness. My taste buds sang with joy in every bite. 10/10.
Desserts
Eton Mess
With the amount of research I do on restaurant menus, I couldn’t believe I didn’t look up the Eton Mess prior to visiting Wilde’s!
Copious amounts of cream on a dessert is a turnoff for me, let alone meringues. The latter is something I’ve grown to despise since a bad experience at a French-inspired restaurant last year. Somehow, the chef decided it would be a good idea to make a salad with endives, rock-hard bits of meringue and a thick, cloyingly sweet sauce. But I digress…
The Eton Mess is a concoction of cream, meringue, berries, and it is typically served on a cup. It’s a quintessential dessert in the UK, very popular in the summertime.
Wilde’s version has its own twist, with lightly spiced pears and pear jam encased in an oval meringue — finished off with a generous dollop of cream. I liked the slices of pears, but it was hard to appreciate them in the messy concoction. The cream was surprisingly very light, but this dessert wasn’t my cup of tea.
Since I left half of it, I decided to order the sticky toffee pudding, which, according to the server, was absolutely delicious.
Sticky toffee pudding
The sticky toffee pudding was a much better choice – but texture-wise, the inside was very dense and needed more moisture.
Nonetheless, the biggest downside was the faint flavor of the sticky yellow pudding. From my first impressions, I was expecting the sticky pudding to taste like natillas – an egg custard flavored with vanilla and sometimes sprinkled with cinnamon. As visually striking as it was, the yellow pudding failed to enhance the sponge cake other than adding a sticky texture.
This is how the sticky toffee pudding looked like when LA Times‘ food reporter Stephanie Breijo visited the restaurant. The texture looks a lot different, doesn’t it?
Overall, as memorable as the main dishes were, the desserts were not. However, from the pictures I’ve seen of their daytime pastries, the scones look temptingly delicious.
Eating experience
Wilde’s seating process is very efficient for solo diners, but having to hunch my back to eat the food on the low table was not the most comfortable experience. The server said that due to occupancy, solo diners were usually seated there but that he could accommodate me in the main dining room. With the amount of people coming in and after seeing how small the space actually was, I said I didn’t mind. “I appreciate it”, replied the server.
Just know that if you’re planning on going solo, you will be seated much faster but you won’t be automatically seated in the main dining room.
Ambiance Music
Since the lounge was much quieter, I was expecting to enjoy my delicious British fare to ambient cottagecore music that transported me to the British countryside. Instead, it was alternative Rock and Pop. Although this type of music clashed with the rustic atmosphere, Nastasha and Tatiana committed to the British theme by playing mostly British and Irish artists, like Suicide, Operating Theatre and Cocteau Twins.
When I left the restaurant, the room was full, with people standing at the skinny counter by the window sipping drinks, longingly waiting to experience the restaurant that has become the talk of the town. Despite the underwhelming desserts, the value alone for such a buzzy restaurant — my total was less than $100 — makes Wilde’s absolutely worthy of a second visit.
While researching the owners for this post, I realized the host and one of my servers that night was actually Tatiana!
Wilde’s: Website and Instagram
Address: 1850 Hillhurst Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027
Hours: Wednesday – Saturday 8 AM – 1PM and 5:30 PM – 10:30PM
