Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Doughboys Bakery & Cafe


After Eat, Drink & Be Merry took us all to SNL's Taco Town, I got to thinking: What Los Angeles restaurants truly embody the Taco Town mentality of more is better? Let's see, we have Cheesecake Factory. C&O's Trattoria. But even those stay on the side of regular dishes in big portions. I was looking for a restaurant that makes truly outrageous dishes in big portions. Something where I read through the menu and think, "wait, are they serious?"


In terms of portions and ingredients, you can't get more Taco Town than Doughboys Bakery & Cafe. A peek at the Doughboys Menu reveals such gems as The Monster, a big gooey mess of meat, cheese, onions, mushrooms and bread (they even suggest you eat it... like a taco!) or the PBC&B, a french toast, peanut butter, banana, chocolate dipped thing (that gets even more awesome when they wrap it in an authentic Parisian crepe and DEEP FRY IT!).

Geesh, I was getting a stomach ache just looking at the menu.

A wanted to try a range of dishes, so between the two of us, we decided to get three items - a salad and two of the "lighter" (ha!) entrees.

The goat cheese, tomato, walnut salad...

Which came with some yummy focacia toast points topped with an olive tapenade. Add a little goat cheese and walnuts, and voila! A complete meal.

So pretty...

We were pretty full after sharing the salad. But wait, there's more!

Brian had Scrapple with Dirty Eggs. I don't even want to go into the number of ingredients in this dish...

First, we take shredded pork and make it into a PORK PANCAKE! Then, we scrape up all the EGGS in the entire restaurant and scramble them with SAUSAGE and POTATOES and ONIONS! And it gets even awesomer when we throw in not 1, not 2, but 4 HUGE SLICES of parmesean FOCCACIA BREAD! Then we soak it all in BUTTER and smother it in CHEESE! And serve it to you on a plate the size of a coffee table with TONS OF HEALTHY SALAD!

I had the After-School Special, which is a grilled cheese and tomato soup. I was expecting a dainty little sandwich and a medium-sized bowl of soup. I mean, how big can a cheese sandwich and a bowl of soup be? Silly me...

First, we take a quarter-pound each of FIVE KINDS OF CHEESE! Then we put the cheese between TWO WHOLE LOAVES OF BREAD! But wait until we smother it in BUTTER and PAN FRY it! Then we take a giant mixing bowl and pour in tons of TOMATO SAUCE! You'll love it when we dump in a GALLON OF HEAVY CREAM!
(just a little perspective - that's a four-inch serving spoon in the photo, not a regular spoon)

The first bite was good, but after that it was just too much. Too much cheese, too much butter, too much soup.

See, look at me... I'm drowning in butter and tomato soup...


Ugggh. We each ate about a 1/3 of our entrees and could barely stand up.
I was surprised they didn't try to put our leftovers in a bag and pour three gallons of chili on top of it.

Doughboys Bakery & Cafe
8136 W Third St
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 651-4202

7 comments:

KirkK said...

Hi Colleen - I just hear the name "Doughboys" and I automatically gain ten pounds! Say it three times fast, and I'm unable to walk......

Oishii Eats said...

Reading this post makes me feel frumpy. Thanks Colleen.

Colleen Cuisine said...

I think if you eat at this place regularly, you start to look like the stay-puffed marshmallow man ;)

e d b m said...

Colleen, tacooooooooo toooooowwwwwwwwwwnnnnn. Funny post. You hit one of my weak points - I love doughboy's to death. Everything just tastes so fresh and delicious. I know it's a lil' sceney to sit outside with a dog and stare at other ppl. I've seen Rose McGowan there - she's only 4'13". Anyway, I always get the warm, portabello salad and steak soup. Seriously, the soup/salad combo is a killer deal. Thanks for reminding me to pay a visit to my fat friend on 3rd street.

By the way, when I need a quick laugh in the morning at work... I'll watch Taco Town. It's timeless.

Brian Gage Los Angeles said...

It was like eating a very delicious cinder block.

But I might go back on eatdrink's steak soup recommendation. That sounds pretty good.

Kevin said...

the steak soup is crazy good... for a little something different but excellent, try the doughboys club on a baguette (instead of 17 layers of bread) and for some extra nummyness ask to add honey mustard.

soooo gooood...

sara leib said...

the steak soup is good, but if you don't like green onions ask for it without (they put some on top as a garnish). but the very BEST thing on the menu, ney, the very best sandwich on the PLANET, is the doughboys french dip. enough to feed three small people, this thing comes with a nice light au jus and a horsradish mayo and pickles, all of which are delish on the sandwhich, but in combination are unbelievable. Forget the mushroom and peppers, just get the plain french dip with melted fontica cheese. you'll thank me every week when you go back for more!