We were there on a weekday for an 8 o'clock reservation and the restaurant is almost empty - only two other tables in the front dining room, which had these really nice white booths. After my dinner that night I was undecided about their service, and I'll tell you why...
We were seated immediately and were asked if we would like any wine or champagne. We don't really drink so we declined and just asked to tap water. It seems like after this we were ignored ... For about 15 minutes in such a practically empty place, we were not given any menu. After 15 minutes someone came by and asked if we were ready for order. "I'd like to see the menu" was, naturally, my only response. (I wanted to add "Uhm, helloooo???!" to that).
Anyway, after that, the menu came immediately. We ordered crispy langoustine and seared foie gras for appetizers. Maybe because these were big ticket items, maybe because the guy could see that I was *unhappy*, or maybe because I were taking photos of the food and they figured out I'm a blogger - whatever it was, the service from then on was impeccable.
![](http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z306/burumun/more%20LA/Ortolan/DSC02666.jpg)
The orange one was a carrot soup - good (I don't like carrot soups ...).
The red one was a tomato soup, and I don't remember what the green foam was. This was delicious!
The second amuse bouche was different than most other places - a pretty big bowl of eggplant caviar, to share for the whole table.
![](http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z306/burumun/more%20LA/Ortolan/eggplantcaviar.jpg)
The crispy langoustine appetizer was supposed to be one of their signature dishes:
![](http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z306/burumun/more%20LA/Ortolan/crispylangoustine.jpg)
So moving on to my seared foie gras:
![](http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z306/burumun/more%20LA/Ortolan/foiegrascherry.jpg)
So the chef (Eme) comes out to each table to explain all the main entrees to everyone. I thought it was nice to maintain some personal interaction like that.
One of the entrees we got was the Cod with Paella:
![](http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z306/burumun/more%20LA/Ortolan/seabasspaella.jpg)
So, 100/100 points for the cod, but the dish in its entirety needs to be tied together better.
For my entree I got the Pork "Maine-et-Loire" three-way.
![](http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z306/burumun/more%20LA/Ortolan/porkthreeway.jpg)
I got the "Lime Gelee, Coconut Emulsion" dessert because it sounded interesting.
![](http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z306/burumun/more%20LA/Ortolan/coconut.jpg)
We also got the chocolate tart (with raspberry and vanilla ice cream)
![](http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z306/burumun/more%20LA/Ortolan/chocotart.jpg)
Oh, and I didn't take pictures, but one of the highlights of our meal was the chocolate truffles that they gave us at (near) the end (before the petit-fours)!! They brought a tray with jars of chocolate truffles with different flavors: coconut, lime, earl grey, praline .. mm what else...
Anyway, these chocolate truffles were very2 good. I didn't know how many we can have, so we just asked for two flavors each. They were so good that I asked them if I can buy some to take home!! After asking the pastry chef, they agreed. I chose the flavors I wanted and brought home a box of about 8-10 truffles. They charged me for an additional dessert, which was $12. It ended up being a great deal! Cheaper than, say, Chuao (or Leonida's, even?) and much better truffles!
Chef Eme held the door open for us as we left the restaurant! This made us leave the restaurant feeling happy and important and that the restaurant gives amazing service (but then I remembered their initial blunder - which left me undecided ... I guess overall they do give really good service).
8338 W. 3rd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90048.
(323) 653-3300
www.ortolanrestaurant.com
![Ortolan on Urbanspoon](http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/72418/minilink.gif)
veddy nice! Love your blog, will be adding it to my roll!
ReplyDeleteYour thoughts about Ortolan seem pretty inline with what I encountered. I see potential in the place but there are some things that need to be fixed.
ReplyDelete"I like foie gras but not terrine." - I used to like seared better but now I definitely prefer the terrine version. Maybe after having that terrine at French Laundry...
Thanks food,she thought!! :D
ReplyDeleteAnd kevineats: Hmmm French Laundry ... lucky you. I can imagine how good foie gras terrine there may be :P
Looks lovely! A Great blog you have here!
ReplyDeleteI'm inclined to agree that they might be giving you special attention once they saw you taking pictures. It's hard not to abuse that power as a blogger. I always wonder how objective my service is when I have my notepad out and camera in hand.
ReplyDeleteThe soup combinations were pretty. Do you think serving it in a test tube really made a difference?
Hmm I think the test tubes help in the way that you can see the combinations and the colors in that layer ... it makes the presentation pretty. Other than that it's just "cute" but I don't think it would've made a difference whether it was a test tube or, say, a tall lean glass? (like a really tall shooter glass?)
ReplyDeleteHi burumun,
ReplyDeleteNice review of Ortolan. I still haven't made it out to this place because of the mixed reviews. I'm glad the restaurant straightened up its service after the initial gaffe you described (which was unfortunate).