Getty Villa
Cafe at the Getty Villa location

This is a long overdue posting - I went to the Getty Villa a few months ago...so yes! I know, I'm cheating a little...but I'm also catching up, as I've taken pictures of food for longer than I've had this blog. I'm surprised at the size of Getty Villa - Getty on the hill is much bigger. However, Villa's got the crazy good view of the Pacific Ocean. I've been to Getty on the hill's restaurant before - I felt really out of place, not dressed up enough and the food was just...okay, as I remember. Really expensive. How did Getty Villa's Cafe hold up on comparison?
In general I feel that Getty Villa's setup is much more suited to the art museum-goer than Getty on the Hill. Getty villa has a pay at the register first setup. The queue was quick, we mused over the selections (all very reasonably priced, for the most part), and paid at the register. We were then handed a slip, which we gave to a waiter as we sat down.The bread, olive oil and balsamic vinegar that was set on the table was excellent - the strongest balsamic vinegar I've ever had - one drop was extremely aromatic and was enough to flavor numerous hunks of bread that were drunked into it. The waitstaff was very attentive, and kept our water glasses and drinks filled. The waiter then brought us our food - very quickly.
This was Owen's dad's chicken salad. Everything seemed very fresh, and he cleaned his plate quickly.
I got a grilled eggplant panini (panino?) with a mixed greens salad and balsamic vinagrette. It was delicious. The eggplant was breaded, with a red bell pepper pairing underneath. The bread was grilled and fluffy. The mixed greens salad used that great balsamic vingear. It was surprisingly filling and I was quite satisified with my choice.
Owen got the Roman Burger - a burger with carmelized onions and a onion relish (I think), provolone cheese and fries. The burger itself was very juicy and flavorful, but I didn't like the onion relish. Too sweet, and it offset the good meaty taste of the rest of the burger. Next time, I'd say to order it without the weird onion stuff - in this case, I'd rather have my burger plain.
Of course we couldn't leave without dessert. A flourless chocolate cake, with a big dollop of freshly whipped cream rounded out our meal. There also were soaked in something sweet cherries, which was a perfect offset to the denseness of the cake. This was a decadent end to our lunch. Getty Villa Cafe was a great ending to our visit to the Villa, if you can manage to go I highly reccommend it.