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in Santa Monica has recently been rated the number one
restaurant in the Los Angeles area, replacing Patina which
has been rated number one in LA for the past several years. Recently
I have had the opportunity to dine at Valentino's, once for lunch
and once for dinner. It is good, it is expensive (probably a
little overpriced), but I am not sure that it deserves the number
one rating. On my first visit (for lunch) I had the fillet of
beef, I ordered it well done as usual, yes I know, I know, that
meat tastes better when it is a little rare.....well I am Irish...so
I will have it well done ,thank you very much.
It arrived cooked as ordered....well done all the way through,
without being cremated. It was very tender and flavourful in
a wine sauce and accompanied by some small roast potato's and
green beans. If you like beef I would certainly recommend that
you try it. Dessert was a very passable tiramisu and the wine
(I cannot remember the label) was a very palatable chianti. All
in all a very enjoyable meal, the food was B++ and service was
B to B+.
Two weeks later I had dinner there. My partner and I decided
to split an order of soup, it was served on one plate and not
two as some restaurants tend to do these days. The soup was supposed
to be barley, potato and mushroom, but it had an overbearing
mushroom flavour so it got the thumbs down from my companion.
For the main course my partner (on my recommendation) selected
the beef and I choose roast loin of lamb. Both were ordered...yes,
you guessed it....well done. The beef was cooked perfectly, but
the lamb was a little pink on the inside (not enough to elicit
a complaint though), otherwise it was very good. Again the meat
was accompanied by roast potato and green beans. Dessert was
a very nice chocolate cake and the wine was a palatable merlot.
The restaurant was very busy, but I got the impression that some
tables were getting more attention than others. There was a large
party dining close to us who seemed to be having a very good
time, but they were extremely noisy and loud, this made it more
difficult to have a relaxing meal. Not my most enjoyable dinner,
food was B+ and service was B-. If you want to try Valentino's,
I would suggest lunch (only served Fridays I'm afraid), and make
sure that you bring your gold card.
My opinion.....Patina is still number one (but please note
that it has been a while since I have been there).
More reviews to come, please
stay tuned. |