What do you do if you want to go to a good restaurant on a Saturday night in LA, but you don’t have a reservations? As with most major cities, you need advance reservations to dine out on the weekends in LA. My friend and I were desperately searching for a last-minute Saturday night reservation when I suggested that we check out Bucato. I had been to Bucato for brunch before and enjoyed it, so I figured dinner was no different. Luckily for us, Bucato recently changed their reservation system so that they only take same-day reservations over the phone each day, starting at 9:30am. We were able to score an early-ish dinner reservation when we called mid-day — not too shabby.

We were seated outside on the patio. The sun hadn’t set yet, so the patio atmosphere was exactly what we were looking for, with a laidback, serene vibe. We enjoyed several small plates over a bottle of crisp white wine:

Burrata. Peaches, cherry tomatoes. This salad was a wonderful way to start off the meal. The burrata was just as good as expected, and both the peaches and cherry tomatoes were sweet and refreshing. I wouldn’t have been surprised had Chef Evan Funke gone to the farmer’s market that day and hauled back the fresh produce that we were enjoying. In any case, I fully support it.

Fried cauliflower. ‘Sicilian’ style. This is some of the best cauliflower I have ever tasted. The frying of the cauliflower was light enough that I didn’t feel greasy after eating it. The spices provided the cauliflower with warming flavor and mixed incredibly well with the olive oil at the bottom of the dish. The oil was so tasty that I went back and dipped the cauliflower in it several times to make sure that it was coated with it.

Spicy pork meatballs. Roasted tomato, parmigiano reggianno, wild arugula. Meatballs seem to be standard fare at most tapas-style restaurants, but the ones here definitely stood out. The meatballs were tender and really soaked up the spicy tomato sauce.

Octopus. Chickpeas, escarole, roasted tomato, nduja. This was certainly my least favorite dish of the meal, as the octopus was unpleasantly chewy and tasted like if it hadn’t been cooked long enough.

Crispy polenta. Wild mushrooms, sunny side egg, parmigiano reggiano. This dish was a compliment from the chef, and we really appreciated both the gesture and the dish itself. I’m not normally one to order a polenta dish, but the polenta here was delicious when dipped in the mild mushroom-based sauce. The sunny side egg was a nice touch on top.

Strascinato. Ragu toscano, pecorino staggionato. I’m really glad we ordered this pasta dish. The strascinato pasta had a remarkable balance of soft yet chewy texture, and the ragu was savory and meaty, just the way I like my pasta sauces. The sprinkle of pecorino on top quickly melted into the pasta and added extra creaminess.

Flat iron steak. At this point, I was definitely feeling full, so I only had a few bites of the steak. There was not a lot of seasoning other than salt and pepper, so the result was rather blander than I prefer my steak.

Overall, my dinner experience at Bucato was just as impressive as my brunch experience had been. Bucato’s menu is not large, but I enjoyed almost everything I sampled, which is quite a feat for any restaurant to accomplish. The casual and quiet atmosphere, combined with the brilliant food, are reason enough to return for future meals.

Bucato, 3280 Helms Ave, Culver City, CA 90034