DineLA 08: Circa 55

Running out of options, we decided to try Circa55 since you can't really go wrong with 10 oz new york steak for dinner. I just got back from the dentist, so I wasn't really eating that night, but I'll report on what my friends had.

The starter was a crab cake with garlic aioli.

The crab cake was pretty big, and had a lot of crab in it. The garlic aioli was really good.

Then comes the New York steak.

The steak was well prepared, cooked just the way we asked. The blue cheese was really good and a really nice touch for the steak. The only thing was that the mashed potato was cold ...

For dessert one friend has the Journey to Chocolate.

Chocolate sponge cake, which we thought was infused with sage. Good, and unique.
The others were an opera cake (good, like normal), and a chocolate shot thing, which she didn't comment on.

All in all the food was pretty good, and it was a pretty good value for $34.

Circa 55
The Beverly Hilton Hotel
9876 Wilshire Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90210

DineLA 08: Asia de Cuba

We went to Asia de Cuba for lunch today for the dineLA event. 11:30 reservation. The restaurant was empty when we arrived. All in all the food was good, but service sucked.

I got the pulled pork empanadas for starters, which was excellent.

The pulled pork was tasty, and the empanada skin was flavorful and crunchy.

My friend got the lemongrass skewered chicken.

This was not bad but I liked the empanadas much better. The chicken was a bit tough IMO. So I can't eat spicy and this dish was pretty spicy. I ran out of water, but my waitress never came. I raised my hand etc etc finally got the attention of a bus boy. I asked him for water, but he didn't come back with the water for a while while my mouth was burning.

I had the butterfish as the entree.

This was good, fish was tender. Black bean and edamame salad was also very good. I also liked the shishito pepper. (It was like any other miso butterfish, and it was one of the better ones).


My friend got the BBQ chicken and I had a bite.

Chicken was tender and sauce was good. The sticky rice though, my friend claimed was soggy and no good at all.

We had the carrot cake and cuban opera for dessert (no one wanted to get the sorbet so we had 2 opera cakes). We watched as other tables that came after us and finished entrees after us get served desserts first. It seems like they screwed up the order - afterwards they brought us desserts but didn't get the right orders. Either that or our server was just not as attentive as other servers.

Desserts were good, although nothing particularly special.

Asia de Cuba
MONDRIAN LOS ANGELES
8440 Sunset Blvd.
West Hollywood, California 90069

DineLA 08: Grace

One word: Excellent.

The dineLA experience at Grace does not disappoint. Made reservation for 3 at 7:15 but only 2 of us could make it. They gave us no fuss, seated us immediately. The hostess took my coat for me.
They served us complementary sparkling water. They had additional options available for extra $10 charge such as hamachi for appetizer and wild boar for the entree.

I ordered one Grace Gimlet, which was okay. It got better at the bottom of the glass, not too sure if it's because it wasn't well mixed or just because I was more intoxicated towards the bottom.

I got the spinach and arugula salad bcs I needed some greens. The salad was simple, yet very well done. Goat cheese was yummy.

The other person got the Shrimp Cavatelli, which was very yummy, but the portion was much smaller than the salad.

I didn't dig the peas too much but everything else in the dish was excellent.

I opted to pay $10 extra to get the wild boar with spaetzle and baby bok choy. The waiter informed us it was recommended medium rare which was just perfect for me anyway.

An amazing dish. Meat was very tender and flavorful, the sauce was excellent and so was the spaetzle. The fresh mint leaves just added a great "kick" to it.

The other person ordered the king salmon. The first bite prompted him to say "wow", which does not often happen.

The salmon was medium rare and was just cooked to perfection. Very tender, not dry. One of the best salmon we've ever had. The quinoa and the artichokes go perfectly well with the salmon - the artichokes especially for me. Too bad I was stuffed.

The desserts, of course, was doughnuts (no other choice).

Doughnuts were good, although I didn't think it was really that special. The hot chocolate that came with it was really yummy. Had a bit of spice to it which was excellent. Unfortunately though it came with too much cream and I just mixed it all in, which I regretted later on.

All in all, it was an excellent meal and well worth $34 (well, plus $10 for the boar). The entree portions were regular size, they definitely did not skimp just because of the prix-fixe deal.

Food: 9/10
Service: 9/10

GRACE
7360 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036-2501
gracerestaurant.com