Hal's Bar and Grill

Hal's bar and grill during DineLA week a few years back.  Daphne and I met here to grab some dinner.

First impressions about the place - half the restaurant is dedicated to tables, the rest to the bar - I think this place is pretty well known for their drinks - an after work spot.  We were there earlier for dinner, and were like one of two groups dining, most people were at the bar.   

A bread roll.  Decent crust on this. 

Tempura shrimp with cucumber salad in the middle.  Nicely and perfectly fried.  

Daphne got the stuffed squid as her appetizer.  She seemed to like it - again not overdone so not too chewy. 

We both got the duck breast - with pureed root vegetables and a really nice cranberry sauce to liven up the richness of the duck.  It was very nice and generous serving. 

Dessert - chocolate cake slice with ice cream

I think this was bread pudding.  I liked the presentation, pretty tasty, although very sweet.  

Good service, I'd go again if I was in the area, although there's a lot of competition for my dinner dollars on Abbot Kinney. 

Ocean Avenue Seafood

Another DineLA dinner from a couple years back.  I'm embarrassed, and resolve to catch up with posting some highlights from the last couple (!) of years that I've been away.  They'll probably be quick posts to share some photos of the food, but I really am resolving to 1.  post more.  2.  finally post the redesign of the blog.  Please bear with me.

Ocean Ave Seafood, located in Santa Monica, special Dine LA dinner -

Bread and butter, very good

Clam Chowder - with Applewood smoked bacon.  Very rich and creamy.

Oyster Sampler, 1/2 Dozen - Chef’s selection of fresh oysters.

A close up.  I don't have raw oysters too often as Owen does not like them, but I think I will admit that I prefer their preparation either fried or Rockefeller'd.  These were decent though, very briny and fresh tasting.

Mixed Seafood Pasta - Handmade linguine pasta tossed with clams, mussels, shrimp, scallop and calamari in fresh marinara sauce.  Daphne got this and she seemed to like this a lot.

I think it was some sort of dessert wine, a muscato.  Daphne loves this kind of dessert wine.

Grilled Salmon - with mashed potatoes, asparagus, and pinot noir reduction.  I love me some salmon, and mashed potatoes were excellent.  The skin was nice and crispy on this preparation, and thankfully not overdone.  Very good.

Traditional Crème Brulee - Caramelized and served with raspberry.  Rich, sweet, although could have used more crunchy caramelized topping.

Warm Chocolate Bread Pudding - Served with Vanilla Bean Sauce.  I think Owen would love loved this, as these are two things he loves the most.

Ocean Ave Seafood
1401 Ocean Ave.
Santa Monica CA 90401
310-394-5669
www.oceanave.com

Jer-ne (DineLA dinner menu)

Happy New Year everyone! I hope this year brings you good fortune, good times and good food :) I am so behind on posts, and am currently trying to catch up like crazy. I hope you will enjoy what I've got to share!

Dine LA! I look forward to these special two times of the year, with specially priced menus and a great way to try out restaurants that I wouldn't have necessarily tried out before, but give me a set menu and price, I'm always down to try new things in that kind of environment.

Jer-ne is inside the Ritz Carlton in Marina del Rey, so the place is already very high end. (forced valet, which I dislike, but at least there was a small validation for eating at the restaurant.) I liked the seating and ambiance, very relaxed romantic style. Daphne, Eric and I met up for a late dinner, and it happened to be Eric's birthday as well, so it was a nice treat for him. We all ordered from the Dine LA menu.

My usual drink order, the arnold palmer. A good one, I think. Not much else to say about it, but I remember I didn't get a refill...I stuck with water after I finished this.

Eric and I chose the prawn appetizer- grilled ocean prawns, lime, chiles, cilantro. Huge, huge prawns, atop a grilled piece of french bread, with soft roasted sweet tomatoes, microgreens, and a delicious sauce. I really enjoyed this, and each prawn was massive, which was a joy to eat. This was great, but after seeing/tasting what Daphne got...

...which was the soup - butternut squash, frangelico, pumpkin oil, I wish I had gotten that instead. The taste of her soup was so flavorful, so fragrant - just something special.

Eric got the lamb - t-bone, spinach, feta, kalamata, lemon. The server had suggested it, and it was a great choice. I tried a piece and it was super juicy. Eric seemed very happy with this, I think he finished everything, down to the painted artful sauce on the plate.

I remember craving beef that day, so I ordered the filet - chanterelles, brussel sprouts, zinfandel jus. I remember it being good, but not as juicy as Eric's lamb. Actually, maybe it was more on the dry side than what I would have preferred, but everything was still pretty good. The chanterelles and brussel sprouts were delicious, and everything was very artfully presented.

Daphne ordered the bass. I'm actually not sure what was with it, some spinach and veggies? This differed from what they said was going to be online for DINELA. This was very nice, Daphne gets giddy when she has some awesome fish, and this was some awesome fish.

Daph was really on a roll with her ordering...she ordered the brulee - pumpkin with maple walnut ice cream. The taste I had was so amazing that I ordered one of these to go for Owen to try at home. This was one of the best creme brulees I've had, definitely on the top 5.

Eric and I decided to go with the cheese plate- cypress grove truffle tremor, midnight moon and lamb chopper. I can't remember exactly how each one tasted, but I remember almost all of them were super strong and I almost wanted the cheese to keep going.

A super excellent meal. I will come back sometime for a special occasion.

Jer-ne (inside the Ritz Carlton)
4375 Admiralty Way
Marina del Rey, CA 90292
310-574-4333
www.ritzcarlton.com