Simon L.A.‘s infamous junk food platter was the first time I saw cotton candy on a dessert menu, and now this carnival confection is on just about every dessert menu from Pico Union to Santa Monica. Why? Is it because it’s neat how it melts on your tongue? Because you get lightheaded when you dose on large quantities? Or is it simply because it makes you flashback to when you were an 8-year-old who didn’t have to worry about a girlish figure? Whatever the reason, one thing’s for sure, a huge cloud of this stuff is a fun thing for a group of friends to share as well as an effective way to kickstart you for after hours. Cocktails and cotton candy. Hm. I wonder what a simultaneous buzz and a sugar high feels like.
Aphrodisiac: Marketed as a restaurant dedicated to pleasure with sensuous food meant to be shared on a date, it’s kinda funny that cotton candy has a place here. Feeding poofs of cotton candy to each other is sexy, huh? In any case you’ll find a different cotton candy flavor every week ($7).
10351 Santa Monica Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90025
(310) 282-8870
Boa Steakhouse: Cotton candy at this fancy steakhouse is priced at $9 a puff. Perhaps after gorging yourself on a $40 New York Strip, all you’ll have room for is a light dessert of spun sugar.
101 Santa Monica Boulevard
Santa Monica, California 90401
(310) 899-4466
Porterhouse Bistro: Haven’t seen this in person but published reports say a cotton candy tower is a special dessert for birthdays, and comes with a candle lit within. The prix fixe menu doesn’t list cotton candy in its dessert section but it is listed on the kids’ menu. BTW, the restaurant just reopened a couple of weeks ago after closing down for post-fire repairs.
8635 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90211
(310) 659-1099
Royale on Wilshire: Listed on the menu as a “Huge Bowl of Cotton Candy” ($6), this big blue sugar cloud is touted by staff as a “fun thing to order with a bunch of friends.” And I can imagine sitting around that 30-person booth with tuffs of this stuff everywhere. On nights when there’s a dj, the sugar high you get from this will get you up and dancing.
2619 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, California 90189
(213) 388-8488
Saddle Ranch Chop House: When I went to brunch at the Saddle Ranch this past Sunday, I saw the waiter come out of the kitchen with a foot-and-a-half-tall bale of cotton candy atop a metal martini glass. All my childhood dreams flashed before my eyes. Called the Cotton Carnival and meant to be split among 10 friends, this $19.99 dessert platter also comes with a tray of brownies and cookies for sufficient sugar overload.
8371 W Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90069
(323) 656-2007
Don’t forget to bring some Wet Naps!