Fritto Misto
Restaurant: Fritto MistoLocation: 601 Colorado Ave, Santa Monica, CAThis place is really very good. I was suggested this place by one of my bosses when my mom was in town, but she wanted mexican that night, so I took Jessica here when her parents came into town just before we moved into our apartment. This is a really excellent italian place, they do all sorts of stuff. I had some kind of lamb dish, that I don't remember. It wasn't amazing and I was slightly disappointed with it. It was one of the specials. However, I did get to taste Jessica's meal before she devoured it and it was really good. She had salmon over squid-ink linguine with chopped tomatoes in it. It was tasty. We also had wine with dinner (I only had half a glass--I was driving), and it was good. They do serve alchohol, but i think only beer & wine. They also offer corkage.
Cafe Crepe
Restaurant: Cafe Crepe
Location: 1460 Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica, CAPhone: 310-576-0499
I really love this place. I've been there several times, though not in a while. The offer standards like salads and whatnot, but you go for crepes. And I don't mean a stack like what you get at an IHOP. These are traditional, filled, and folded crepes, just like you can get on the streets of Paris. They're completely delish. The first one I ever had from there was the first time I ever went to Santa Monica. Steve and I had gone down there to hang out one night and I had the munchies as I ever do, so I got a Dark Chocolate crepe. It was incredible. Since then I've gotten ones with spinach, egg, ham & cheese that are really good. The lemon one is tasty when you want something mostly plain. The egg and cheese is tasty but you have to like emmenthal (kinda like baby swiss). They're not amazingly cheap. The lemon one is about $4.50 I think (they don't have a website for me to double check). But the stuffed one with egg, ham, cheese & spinach was only like $8, maybe $9 at most. So, you really can't complain, because it's Oh, So Tasty!
Natalee Thai
Restaurant: Natalee ThaiLocation: 10101 Venice Blvd. Los Angeles, CA (Their website says they're in Venice, but it's really Culver City, though I guess technically Los Angeles.)We found this place about 2 days after I moved to Culver City. (I know, I know, that was almost 2 months ago, gimme a break, I didn't have internet then!) The reason we ordered from there is that they did free delivery. Which was great because at that point we didn't have a stove and we had only just gotten a fridge. But we found these guys through a phone book ad (advertising dollars at work!). I can't tell you haw the place looks on the inside although driving past it on the outside, it looks very trendy. The food, when it got here, was good. I will give it that. We got Beef Massaman and Pad Thai. The only problem was that the portion were kinda small, and the prices while not outrageous, were a little higher than I would have liked for the portion size. Especially for a place that delivers.
I'd go back, but not unless I start getting paid a little more.
Daphne's Greek Cafe
Restaurant: Daphne's Greek CafeLocation: 9516 Culver Blvd, Culver City, CAJessica & I stopped at Daphne's before going to see
The Da Vinci Code. The food is good. I can't say it's wonderful, but it's pretty standard. I had one of their combo plate of gyros with spanakopita. Their gyros were pretty good, but they were almost too spiced, overwhelming the flavor of the meat. The spanakopita had excellent filling, but the phyllo had so much butter that it was greasy (either that or they had fried it, but I don't think so). The rice was very good and the salad was standard. I got a piece of baklava as well, because I couldn't resist my sweet tooth (it's become more insistent lately), and it was probably the best baklava I've ever had commercially. It was oozing honey, and the nuts were full of cinnamin and the phyllo was perfect. It was incredible. I paid more than I would have liked for a meal you order at a counter and then is brought to you, but it is Greek food, not Chinese.
Giovanni's Trattoria & Pizzeria
Restaurant: Giovanni's Trattoria & PizzeriaLocation: 10026 Venice Blvd, Culver City, CA
Giovanni's was quite nice. Jessica and I actually went there about 2 weeks ago, but I've been so bad at maintaning this blog, I felt guilty, so I figured I should update this one. I knew the website, so I figured I should take care of that. We both had the same thing and it was very good. Their website is the same as the menu: RAVIOLI DI POLLO PICCANTI.......$10.50 Freshly Made Ravioli filled with Chicken and Ricotta topped with Light, Spicy Tomato Sauce and Roasted Garlic. It wasn't the most attractive dish, as it's just ravioli in a tomato sauce, and they don't garnish it, but it was very very tasty. The sauce was extremely flavorful. The filling delicious not heavy. I actually ate my entire meal, and that's unusual (I normally have leftovers). It was very enjoyable. We finished the meal with Tiramisu which was one of the best I've ever had. It was light and fluffy, rather than heavy and the flavor was incredible. Just the right amount of sweet and coffee liquer. I felt like a pig afterward, but it was so yummy. I think we paid $32 including tip for the two of us (we both had water).
They don't serve alchohol, although they do offer a corkage.
