I've visited a lot of restaurants in and around Santa Monica over the last few months. Herewith some notes. Shambala Cafe: 607 Colorado Ave, Santa Monica bet. 6th and 7th ---------------------------------------------------------------- Small healthy-food restaurant serving vegetarian and non-vegetarian food. Lunch menus consist of 3- and 4- item combination plates with different options every day or pizzas, burritos, and noodle dishes. The burritos are filling and wrapped in a dense whole-wheat tortilla. I like the tempeh-based stuffings a great deal. Combination plate options include a minimum of one noodle dish, rice, mixed vegetable and tofu preparations, and a couple of chicken dishes. They also do a tasty curried potato. My dining partners spoke well of the chicken dishes. Spices are set for the average palate with an assortment of salsas and tabascos available on the side. Items a la carte are about $2-$3 with combination plates and burritos topping out at $6 to $8 with tax. Fritto Misto Cafe: Next door to Shambala ---------------------------------------- A self-described "Neighborhood Restaurant" with table service and a wide selection of customizable pasta dishes, soups, and salads. They offer a number of standard items and specials but will also customize noodle/sauce combinations. Their meat lasagna has gotten good comments and I have enjoyed the noodles. A recent spinach linguine with basil pesto was particularly good: Dense pasta and a sauce that was pleasant but not overpowering. $8-$12 per person for lunch, pleasant wait staff, and prompt service. Gaucho Grill: On the 3rd Street Promenade ----------------------------------------- Awful. Took a visiting colleague there. Seated by a zombie, served by a surly waitress who looked very unhappy to be working in a service capacity. Colleage ordered a steak described as having Argentine spicing. He could not discern anything special about it. The cut of meat was acceptable to him but it was, to him, an average experience. There was one vegetarian dish on the menu (roasted vegetables on a skewer.) I asked if there were any other options, the waitress simply said "No." In other similar situations, there have usually been offers to make an attempt at something. So, that's what I ordered. Two skewers of tired squash chunks, onion, and bellpepper. Flavorless rice on the side and judging by my upset stomach afterward, I guess it may have been prepared with chicken stock. The other vegetable containing dish explicitly stated that its rice was made with meat stock so I assumed that the other was made with plain water. Neither my omnivorous friend nor I could figure out why this place gets good notices for its food. I won't be back and will advise others to avoid it. A food-savvy colleague simply said, "Suckers!" when told of our experience. We did leave the standard tip on the strength of the courteous bus-guys. Bangkok West: 606 Santa Monica Blvd. ------------------------------------- Brightly lit Thai restaurant with tasteful decorations, linens, and good service. I have no idea whether it is authentic or not. Their lunch menus offer a number of noodle dishes, hot-wok specials, and soups with quite a bit for herbivores. The vegetable pad thai is consistently good with fresh vegetables and a peanutty sauce. The hot wok dishes are not quite filling enough for me. I liked their spicy eggplant version and only wish there was more of it. Their spicy chicken dishes have gone over well with my friends and they will adjust the heat to preference. Reasonable prices, about $8-$12 per person for lunch as with Fritto Misto depending on sodas, teas,... ordered with the meal. Drago Ristorante e Bar: 2628 Wilshire -------------------------------------- Was hosted to a dinner there. Very nice room with tables placed fairly close together. Surprisingly not much of a crowd there on a Friday night; my host suspected the basketball playoff game had something to do with it. Waitstaff were attentive and pleasant but not overpowering. My colleagues had a veal chop and a fish after their shared pasta appetizer. The veal was rated as excellent; tender and cooked as requested. The fish was presented for approval with the covering still on and then chopped, shredded, diced, and sliced finally presenting only the innards for consumption. My vegetable soup was flavorful with a light, delicate broth. The meatless menu was not too inspiring so I asked about other options and asked specifically about mushroom dishes. The waiter offered a special; pasta with porcini mushrooms and fava beans and also gnocchi variations not on the menu. Having had much noodles in recent days, I requested the mushroom dish but as a risotto. The chef was happy to oblige and it was very good. I thought the pasta at Melisse was a little more adventurous in its use of different kinds of mushrooms. The Drago risotto was well-presented and the fava beans were cooked just right; neither hard nor mushy. The mushrooms were slightly overcooked as far as consistency but retained their flavor. The portions were large enough that we all skipped dessert. The coffees; regular and espresso varieties were intense and much appreciated. Don't know what the exact cost was since someone else treated. I think this place is better than Tanino's (Celestino Drago's son's Westwood joint.) I don't think the food was better than La Bruschetta, however and LB is more reasonably priced. Drago has more in the way of ambience for times when that matters, similar to Il Moro in that regard. (I have eaten at Il Moro once and thought the appetizer and entree suffered from too much saltiness.) Drago also has a full bar and our experience was enhanced by some drop-dead gorgeous women having a drink there before moving on to other matters elsewhere. --- Ravi
Los Angeles, CA