A colleague of mine, who is an avid wine drinker, mentioned this place in the Santa Monica mall as a place with good drinks and good eats. I’m not a wine purist since I usually drink wine like beer. But he’s on a quest to educate me.
This is restaurant #3 on my 2014 LA food expedition.
Note for 2022 migration: this is an old post from my other defunct blog.
Ambiance
We left work around 7 PM and got here relatively quickly for a Friday night. It was busy, but we were seated immediately without any problems. In fact, we sat next to the glass in the above picture and had a nice view of the outside area.
Food
We started off with a oysters on the half shell. This was paired with a very light white wine, that I can’t remember the name of if my life depended on it. The oysters themselves were definitely not as good as L&E in Silver Lake, and they were pricey too @ ~$3 per oyster. Also the shucker didn’t do as good of a job as there were shell pieces randomly on the side.
This was the Artichoke and Spinach Dip with baby baguette. Paired with the same wine as the oysters, it was quite tasty. Everything mixed well together without being salty. The one caveat was there were not enough baby baguette pieces to clean the bowl, but fortunately the server brought some more.
Moving onto shared meat portions, this was the Crispy Pressed Pork Belly with grilled seasonal fruit. The fruit was actually was a pear. The pork belly was nicely done with lots of crisp. I’m not sure what the pork belly was sitting on, but it seemed like it was a medley of diced veggies.
Not pictured, we also ordered a Truffled Frites and Sweet Potato Cheese Fries. The truffle fries were a decent tasty snack. The truffle flavor wasn’t particularly strong, so if you are expecting a bang of truffles hold back your expectations. The sweet potato cheese fries were also pretty good as a snack. Both complemented a red wine strangely.
Lastly, an apple pie was served. This was ordered alongside a dessert wine. The apple pie crust was nice and flaky, and the apples were very delicious. All in all, a good dessert.
Final Verdict
Total damage for the night was $80 per person (for 3). I really enjoyed this place because the crowds are all very relaxed and somber. People are just chatting and enjoying their time after work under the moon lit sky next to the ocean. I definitely will come back to this place in the future.
Revisions
- Nov 6, 2022 - Migrated post from other blog.
- Jan 25, 2014 - Initial revision.