Top Asian Fusion Restaurant in Santa Monica
BIBIBOP Asian Grill
1401 3rd Street Promenade, Santa Monica, CA 90401, United States
Really enjoy the food, but the 2 times we have gone, we seem to get the short end of the stick portion wise. The kid was frugal with his scoops. Another employee helped the people behind us, and he got a nice bowl full of food. Are food was below the height of the bowl. I was still hungry after eating the large size bowl.The flavors are great. I love the noodles. The chicken is okay but lacks flavor, in my opinion. But thankfully, all the add-ons make up for it. Also tried the purple rice, which was good, but noodles all the way!Sadly, there isnt one of these anywhere near us in the 818. Also sad is what the city of Santa Monica has turned into. It used to be so beautiful. Now their are transients everywhere and the smell of urine outsode, in the parking structures etc. A transient walked in while we were eating and asked an employee for a spoon to eat his ice cream, then took someones cup that was left on a table and started filling it up with fountain soda, the employee went to the dinning area and told him he needed to leave. The transient drank his soda and then turned around and splashed the rest of the drink into the workers faces.Welcome to the new America. No punishment for petty crimes anymore. We live in an anything goes society. The voters are getting exactly what they wanted, I guess. There is no accountability for your actions. If you want something just take it. Police no longer enforce petty crimes or theft. Very sad times. God, I sound like an old person now.Anyways, def try this place. Its like the Asian version of Chipotle. Giving it a 4 out of 5 simply because the portions were not the same as everyone else who ordered after me.
Galanga Thai Fusion
7440 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90046, United States
I read the reviews, everyone says this place is delicious, what did I do wrong? I couldn't rate this any higher than average. I think a magic wok or happy wok vibe is present here. I don't like any of those places by the way. I'd definitely like to return and try something else. My go-tos didn't pan out here.A+ for timing (she said 10min, set timer 10min, as it went off she's approaching) and meal temp.Firecracker shrimp: tempura batter wasted. In between the sauce and food temp enclosed in a styrofoam container (imagine a meter), 5 of out 100 bites were crispy. The rest of the meal felt as if I was eating a funnel cake.Fried Wonton (minced chicken): clearly I misread this, I was hoping for a bit of cream cheese, so the error was on my part there. I wasn't impressed even a little bit. Nothing to be desired, for me. Chicken felt dry to the tongue and the sauce was more like what the firecracker shrimp should have had; as it had a better zest to it.
Cassia
1314 7th St, Santa Monica, CA 90401, United States
Im always wary of places that call themselves Asian Fusion. To me, thats just a cop out for saying, I want to make Asian food but mute the flavors so I can be more palatable to more people.To my surprise, Cassia had some pretty good food! Well, I will say they had A pretty good dish.- F O O D -The first dish we ordered was the Grilled Pork Belly Vermicelli. Now this dish is exactly what I expected from an Asian Fusion place. Now, Traditional Vietnamese Vermicelli can go either two ways:1. Pho2. Vermicelli bowl with fish sauce on the side.What we got was some weird mix in between. Pork belly was a little dry and a bit tough. Nothing spectacular like you would find at maybe a ramen place. Noodles are standard. Broth/sauce?! Now this is where I was confused, I wasnt sure if I should eat it like pho or pour a little like a traditional vermicelli bowl that I can get a pho restaurant. We opted to take the servers advice and dumped all the soup/sauce/broth thing into the noodles. Folks, I wouldnt recommend doing that. Maybe pour a little into your noodle and see if you like it. To me, the broth and the overall dish was heavy on the salt. Perhaps it was the pork? Either way, it had some interesting flavors but its a pass for me.The Laksa, however, was amazing! I was a little scared to try this dish as I had just come back from Singapore, which instantly makes me an expert, obviously. ;)The large portion of laksa was very spicy and is not for the faint of heart. if you cant handle heat, I recommend you try a different dish. To me, it was packed full of flavor and probably one of the best broths Ive tasted. Anywhere!My advice for this dish is use the fork, if youre not too great with chopsticks. The noodles are extremely slippery and can be a challenge picking up with chopsticks. (Major splash zone so be careful if youre wearing white!)The seafood was tasty and was a hardy portion. Overall, this is a must try if you want to take the dive into Southeast Asian food!- D R I N K S -I accompanied my food with a Scheidam Sling. An interesting twist on what Im guessing is a Singapore Sling. It wasnt too strong of a drink but it was still pretty tasty. I would have preferred it pack a little more of a punch but overall, it was extremely refreshing and the presentation was beautiful.- S E R V I C E -Can I say that the service was exceptional?We arrived on a nice Saturday evening and it was jam packed! No reservations and the wait was about 30 minutes to an hour. The host asked if we were okay with sitting at the bar, in which we said we didnt mind. Instead of waiting for an hour, we waited for about 15 minutes and were seated in front of the oyster bar, next to the entrance to the patio.Water was refilled prompt and the order was taken quickly. The server made great suggestions (minus the pouring the soup over the noodles, but I wont ding him for that).Everyone who walked by had a smile and greeted you as if you were the most important person in that restaurant. It was a very warm feeling and one that I enjoyed. Yes, the restaurant was loud, but it seemed like everyone was simply enjoying the food and their company; myself included.Im still a little wary of Fusion restaurants, but Cassia is slowly changing my mind.
Queen Violet WeHo
8543 Santa Monica Blvd Suite 5, West Hollywood, CA 90069, United States
Queen Violet WeHo is a stunning Asian fusion restaurant that offers a unique and flavorful dining experience. The restaurant is beautifully decorated with vibrant purple hues and a touch of Thai influence, making it the perfect spot for a special occasion or a trendy night out.The menu features a variety of dishes from across Asia, including Thai curries, Chinese dumplings, and Vietnamese pho. I especially loved the magic noodles, which was bursting with flavor and looked gorgeous.The staff at Queen Violet WeHo is friendly and attentive, and they are always happy to make recommendations. They also have a great selection of cocktails and mocktails, perfect for sipping on while you enjoy your meal.I would definitely recommend Queen Violet WeHo to anyone looking for a delicious and stylish dining experience in West Hollywood.
True Food Kitchen
395 Santa Monica Pl Suite 172, Santa Monica, CA 90401, United States
I went to True Foods in Santa Monica for lunch and ordered a side of grilled chicken with Mexican street corn and Unami potatoes. Unfortunately, my experience was marred by the service provided by Rosa, who was my server.Rosa appeared inexperienced and was quite rude to me from the start. Despite being a regular customer, she insisted that my food couldnt be prepared the way I requested, causing unnecessary delays in the kitchen. When I asked for a more experienced server, Rosas behavior only worsened, and she involved the manager, who was preoccupied on a phone call.After a significant wait, I had to approach another server for assistance, and they were polite and efficient in taking my order. When the manager finally intervened, my order was delayed and arrived with the seasoning on the side, which was not my preference. Although the order was remade, the managers attitude lacked accommodation.Throughout the wait, Rosa neglected to bring the water I had requested, further contributing to the poor service experience. While the food was acceptable, the Unami potatoes were drenched in an excessive amount of sauce, which I found unappetizing. Despite bringing this issue to the managers attention, no corrective action was taken, leaving me disappointed with both the meal and service that day.I believe True Foods service, particularly from servers like Rosa, requires improvement. Rosas lack of politeness and friendliness greatly affected my dining experience, and I hope to see better training and coaching for her in the future.
Estate Restaurant Bar
1519 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90403, United States
Very nice place, dim lit, romantic. Has good drinks. Great customer service. Really nice bartenders. One thing I would love it if they fixed it is they need a better air circulation fan in the kitchen because all the smell from the food being cooked especially the fish smell goes into the restaurant and it creates a very potent fishy smell. So fishy it hurt my nose. It became very distracting when trying to enjoy my experience there being that it was my first time coming to this restaurant. I still gave it 5-stars because I really liked this place and I would definitely come back.
Thai Dishes Wilshire
2628 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90404, United States
Thai restaurant on Wilshire with generous portions for reasonable prices. There's also happy hour from 3-6 with cheap beers and select apps. Came here on a Sunday at 6pm for dinner with a group of four and was seated immediately. There were a couple other tables and it's indoor seating. The waiter was prompt in getting our drink orders and there's also a free Thai iced tea if you check in on yelp. We got the sampler for the appetizer which came with veggie spring rolls, shrimp wrapped in fried noodles, and this fried curry thing that I liked the best. The sweet chili sauce that came on the side was good as well - sweet, not spicy at all, with an almost syrupy texture. The dishes we ordered were all sub-$20 but were very large. The pad Thai was yummy as was the pad see ew. You have the option of meat so this can certainly be made vegetarian. The fried rice has different levels of slickness that you can customize and was also plentiful. The honey ribs came in three and were large. Those were alright, but I'd get the pad thai and pad see ew again. The Thai tea was also deliciously creamy and sweet, and you could share it between two people. We left with doggie bags for all our food so I feel like we got a really good deal for the portion sizes. They do take card and bathrooms are available in the back. Overall a good spot for some Thai food in Santa Monica where you can get your money's worth.
True Food Kitchen
10250 Santa Monica Blvd Ste 1400, Los Angeles, CA 90067, United States
Beautiful space. Food was fine. Service was terrible.Apparently on the weekends bottles of wine are half off. Unfortunately our server didn't tell us until after we had ordered a few individual glasses.We were also told if we left a review on google that we'd get 50% off. I'm not sure if we misheard the server or if the server was confused about the offer, but we found out later that it was 15% off. (Either way, take that into account when you see the positive reviews)Service was also incredibly slow. I think we waited at least 30 minutes from ordering until our food arrived and we didn't see our sever much in between and there were no apologies when it arrived.When the bill finally arrived I showed the server my review (I've since updated it, it was less harsh before) and she went to get the discount added. Again, we waited forever. We were running very late for our movie so I went in to try and pay. This is when things got really frustrating.The server finally printed the new bill but the total came out to MORE than the original amount. She went back to the manager, again I waited. She came back with a new bill and it was about $2 less even though the bill showed we should have had over $20 off. The server was very confused but couldn't figure it out. When I told her I had to go she offered to get her manager to put the $20 onto a gift card, which I thought was a good solution all things considered.When the server came back again, she tells me her manager “REFUSED” to do the gift card.Honestly the whole experience made me never want to go back. Maybe it's growing pains of the new location and staff, which I can forgive. But the response from manager and the fact they never came out of the kitchen to try and help the server is pretty inexcusable.
Formosa Cafe
7156 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90046, United States
I recently talked to restauranteur Adam Fleischman about the Formosa Cafe. He said they are revamping the menu.Inspired by Beverly Hill's Red Medicine's Vietnamese-themed menu and bar bites, Red Med at Formosa Café features some of the most popular dishes, including dumplings, spring rolls, bahn-mi, brisket and whole fish to share.My eyes had to adjust quickly as I walked into the dark restaurant to meet a group of foodies. We frequently used our iPhone flashlights to read the menu and snap photos.The walls are still lined with over 250 black and white headshots of some of the most famous actors in the world. There is still a display case showcasing a collection of Elvis Presley decanters and statues above his old booth.One of the head bartenders, Billy Ray arrived at our table with some of the classic cocktails that have been added to the cocktail menu. Bartender Matthew Boddie created a ginger daiquiri a la Central, pisco apricot Tropicale and the Singapore Sling for us to enjoy.We were told that gangster Mickey Cohen ruled the underground of liquor, women and cash at Formosa Café. His safe was built into the flooring between the two front booths to the left of the front door.Interesting dishes include the entirely green Rock shrimp dish with layers of avocado. The marinated eggplant offers vivid flavors of garlic, sesame, and celery that almost vibrated in my palate.I enjoyed the ethereal Shanghai rice cakes that tasted like little chewy dough pillows dusted with bacon, shishito and Thai basil.The chicken wings are a Red Medicine recipe rolled in flavorful crumbs, fish sauce lime and Thai chile, that spices the wings with aromatic flavors.The crispy spring rolls are deep fried and stuffed with a healthy dose of crab and Asian herbs.Everyone at the table enjoyed the oyster mushrooms with crisp haricot vert beans, and a French chili pepper from Espelette mixed in with the oyster sauce.Large parities may want to go straight to The Group Effort column on the menu for plates of tender Wagyu Beef Brisker braised in a secret plum sauce for 36 hours or a deep fried whole black bass that arrives whole. The server filets it to reveal light colored and moist fish with a crispy crust. These dishes easily feed three to four guests.The Formosa Café is open for dinner at 4 p.m. until the 2 a.m. “last call.” Parking is available in the West Hollywood Gateway parking garage.
Sweetfin Santa Monica
829 Broadway, Santa Monica, CA 90401, United States
This is a cute little Poke restaurant in the 800 block of Broadway in Santa Monica. The decor inside fits with the product, although having the lamps hang right in front of the menu boards was not a good idea.I came for a late dinner, around 8:30pm on a Sunday. There wasnt much of a line, but the couple in front of me must have been asking about every possible combination to the guy taking orders on the iPad. After about 15 minutes waiting, and seeing that everyone behind the counter was waiting for an order to come in, the girl at the register finally waived us over to order directly with her. Once we placed our order, it came out quickly.I got the Sriracha Tuna bowl with bamboo rice, and added crispy onions plus pickled ginger. I was disappointed with the portion size for the price, compared to other Poke restaurants Ive been too. (Poke Bar in West Hollywood, for example, serves HUGE portions and is also very generous with the side orders.)The flavor of the Tuna was good, there just wasnt very much of it (and I ordered the large!). The bowl was mostly rice & crispy onions. Overall, Im glad I tried this place, but I probably wont be back.