by Bernice Mcdill on WHAT? How have I lived my life without trying a fish taco for so long? FAIL. I had one pescado and one camarones taco. Both Nick's way and I was in HEAVEN. I can't really explain just how delicious they are. The guac is full of chunks of avocado- the ONLY way I like it. It's like the La Taqueria guac. RidIC GO. NOW. There will probably be a line, so bring a snacky. Oh and try to avoid on taco tuesday. It's a madhouse.
by Dulcie Beley on Upon viewing the interior, my friend (who is quite knowledgeable when it comes to food and restaurants) remarked on how the dining room wasn't what she expected after seeing the very minimalist exterior. The exterior of the restaurant has a strong visual impact because everything feels deliberate. The front of the restaurant is very sleek and clean...so sleek and clean that you may even have trouble finding the front door. The imposing XIV hedge could come off as pretentious...but for me, it hit just the right note. Once inside though, it is a mess. They mix old-fashioned decor (chandeliers, bookshelves, pillars) with modern, and it just does not work. Many mismatched chairs are used as if to say "fine dining but casual, hip and approachable." In the end, it just feels like they are trying too hard. We went for dineLA week. We reserved our table long before menus were released. I was happy to discover that they were featuring regular choices from their menu so you could really get a sense of what XIV is about at reduced prices. We started with complimentary toasted pita points. They were quite nice and somewhat sweet, which I liked. They were paired with a sour yogurt sauce. Mixing contrasting ingredients/flavors seemed to be a theme for the entire meal. When it works, it can be a revelation with new taste buds seeming to come to life for the first time. When it does not work, it usually leaves you wondering what the chef was thinking. I felt it was more of the latter tonight. I started with the tataki of American Wagyu skirt steak. It was a generous portion and properly cooked. Sweet, tender and flavorful. I enjoyed it very much. It was paired with a medley of cold vegetables. Though I would have preferred the vegetables warm, they were nice and fresh--a mix of cherry tomatoes, pickled onions, carrots, and mushrooms. I tried a little bit of my friend's pork belly and corn soup. I could not taste much of the corn, but I enjoyed the pork belly. She said the corn soup was nothing special. For my entree, I went with the asparagus risotto. The asparagus risotto was served in a little pot. It was accompanied by thinly sliced asparagus and squash blossoms (which had gone cold). The asparagus risotto was very disappointing. The rice was overcooked to a mush. It was kind of bland, and the flavor that was there was not that good. The flavor of the cheese would present itself every now and again, but I did not really care for the cheese's flavor. If you are looking for a really good risotto, head over to Sona for the Maine Lobster Risotto starter. I tried my friend's Tai Snapper entree. Fish was quite moist with a sweet crust. It was served with some bitter greens and a sweet rice. I liked it better than my risotto, but I would hope that their dineLA chicken entree is the best of the three. Finally, it was onto dessert. I had been looking forward to the brandied bananas, but it was not on the menu tonight. It was replaced with the Nutella custard, which I ordered. What I liked about the dessert was that they topped the custard with ice cream (most places never give you ice cream with custard). Served in a glass, the nutella custard was at the bottom, and it was great. I also enjoyed the ice cream. There was something crunchy in it, which was also good. The toast streusel was okay, but it did not really fit the dessert; it just felt like everything they had on hand was getting throw in. There was also foam on top. Usually, foam tastes of nothing, but this was actually a bitter fruit foam. It did not go with the chocolate/nuttiness flavor of everything else. Trying a little bit too hard to be different. They should have let the very nice custard and ice cream speak for themselves. I also tried my friend's dark chocolate cake. There was a lot of stuff in there--cake, coconut sorbet, crunchy peanut brittle, meringue, and even fresh herbs (don't know about that). My friend could not identify the reduced blackish-green sauce. She thought it was licorice. After a few tastes, I could tell what it was because I cook with it all the time--basil. Overall, there were some really great things about the food tonight even though many of the flavor combinations did not work. For $44, it was a decent value. We had a reservation at 8:15pm, but we didn't get seated until 8:50pm. That does not really bother me that much. But once seated, the service was not the quickest or most attentive. I would not say it was bad service, but it was average at best. The place was very loud. There is an terrace dining room. I did not get much of a look at it. We wanted to order the black truffle popcorn (both at the bar and at our table), but it was only allowed on the terrace. In terms of parking, XIV is at a very busy part of Sunset so you pretty much have to valet. Valet parking is $10.
by Sarah P. on I was surprised, but I really liked Tao. I took a friend who was in town from Texas, kind of as a joke because it looked like a huge, over-priced PF Chang's to me. Imagine my surprise when every drink and every item we ordered was good - really good. I had the lychee martini (which was wonderful), we tried two different types of dumplings (the pork and the lobster & shrimp (get them steamed, not fried) - awesome), then I had the red dragon martini (ruby red grapefruit based - delicious), then the sea bass (yummy) - my friend had some sake that he said was really good and the tuna, which he also liked a lot. It wasn't particularlly cheap (I think the whole bill, drinks included, was around $200), but it wasn't over the top expensive either. And the actual space is pretty cool - instead of being tacky or overdone, I thought the giant buddha actually kind of worked in the restaurant and the lighting was dim, but not too dim. The service was totally on point. I just can't think of anything really negative to say about Tao. One tip: if you have to wait for your table, go to the bar upstairs. Everyone heads directly to the bar downstairs, near the hostess stand, and it is jam packed and nearly impossible to get a drink. The upstairs bar is much less populated and has all the same options.
