RESTAURANT REVIEW : Turkey Basket: Gobbling the Traditional, the Trendy

As the statement “I’ll have a T-bone charred rare” becomes less common in everyday speech, the versatile turkey seems eager and willing to fill the void. In addition to the age-old turkey dinner, there are turkey franks, turkey sausage, even turkey ham.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg.

On the overhead menu at the Turkey Basket in downtown Los Angeles, there is a new expanded lexicon of gobble-mania: turkey tacos (hard or soft), turkey chili, turkey dirty rice, turkey pot pie, turkey pasta primavera, turkey picatta, turkey pita, lemon turkey, turkey quesadilla.

Turkey, it seems, spans the gamut from the traditional to the trendy, from a carved turkey platter with all the trimmings to a grilled turkey salad with goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes.

You order at the front counter, fast-food style, then take a tray and a number. The result--turkey in whatever form you desire--is brought to your table.

I can imagine the soft-shell turkey taco becoming ubiquitous--if the tacos themselves are as good-tasting and well-sauced as those at the Turkey Basket. Or rather, even less so: The Turkey Basket’s soft-shells are a bit overstuffed and over-juicy, and the tortillas, even doubled as they are, tend to disintegrate.

The turkey picatta is also a good idea. The lightly floured and sauteed meat is tender and moist and goes well with its sauce of butter, lemon and capers. A grilled turkey salad is also quite acceptable.

In other cases, a good idea gets squashed beneath a less-than-inspiring plate of food. You can tell, for example, that turkey in pasta primavera has potential, but when the primavera, or fresh vegetable component, is made up entirely of broccoli and a few snow peas, you might not be as thrilled as can be.

Other turkey items seem unlikely to catch on. Lemon turkey--fried and breaded turkey chunks in a Chinese-American style sweet-and-sour sauce served over rice--probably won’t take hold of the public palate. The same goes, I think, for turkey chili. The Turkey Basket’s version, conventionally spiced and thick with beans, is no better or worse than any other version I’ve had with ground turkey, which has all the taste and texture of little knots of yarn.

Turkey pot pie, already long-established in the public domain, here is piping hot, stewy and comforting: If I worked at a nearby downtown office and had a mean boss, I’d probably eat one daily.

The carved turkey, while curiously a bit boiled in texture, is turkey in its old familiar celebrational mode. The carved turkey platter with all the trimmings (big yam, good cornbread-and-wild-rice stuffing, weak cranberry sauce) is a huge amount of food at a reasonable $6.99.

Some of the non-turkey items are also intriguing. I kept getting distracted by the yam fries, which are crunchy outside, creamy and sweet inside. And a $1.99 bowl of black beans and rice is a meal in itself.

The Turkey Basket’s big cafeteria-like dining room has its own post-modern, fast-food version of the homey touch. Painted-on ivy meanders along the rubbed yellow walls. High shelves display a jumble of baskets; an antiqued wooden mantle doesn’t even pretend to frame a fire. Under the glass table tops are bright floral vinyl tabletops. Of course, outside the windows is downtown’s steel-and-glass jungle, a knee- to waist-level view of surrounding skyscrapers.

Turkey Basket, 444 S. Flower St., Concourse Level, Los Angeles, (213) 892-9500. Open Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Beer and wine. MasterCard and Visa. Catering and takeout available. Dinner for two, food only, $12 to $25.