Restaurant Review #202: Sushi Roku, Santa Monica

I've been to Sushi Roku, a small chain with locations in Santa Monica, Pasadena, West Hollywood, and Las Vegas, more times than I can count. I suppose I always choose it in an attempt to fulfill a sushi craving when I'm in downtown Santa Monica and don't feel like fighting rush hour traffic to Brentwood or West LA or the Santa Monica Airport, where there are considerably better options (but it

Restaurant Review #200: Jaipur Cuisine of India, Westwood/West LA

Mattar Paneer

Though I have eaten at Jaipur many times, I have only had their food delivered (a much simpler option, given their chaotic location--not that this is a unique problem in LA). However, thanks to a $25 Restaurant.com certificate, I decided to dine in for a change. Unlike many of these certificates, which have restrictions on when you can eat, you can use a certificate to Jaipur

Restaurant Review #199: Darya Fine Persian Cuisine, West LA

From the outside, you'd never think Darya was anything special. It sits on a slightly seedy-looking stretch of Santa Monica Boulevard in West LA, just west of Bundy. Its storefront, along with those of most of its neighbors, is a bit dingy looking, and the drab yellowish light near the entrance doesn't help. Inside, however, you'll find high ornamental ceilings, crystal chandeliers, live

Restaurant Review #198: Pecorino, Brentwood

Tortelloni di Melanzane

Pecorino, a hard-to-spot restaurant in Brentwood’s Little Italy, serves traditional rustic Italian fare plus a few innovative creations in a cozy setting. Unlike the Italian restaurants of the suburbs, Brentwood’s eateries are small and cozy and serve smaller portions of less-Americanized dishes, and Pecorino is no exception.

The clientele also reflect the expensive

Restaurant Review #197: Gladstone's of Malibu

Indoor dining room

I only went to Gladstone's because I dragged my family out to Malibu to visit Cholada Thai and it was closed (they're closed on Mondays--I forgot). There aren't a ton of dining options in the area, so we forced my mom to deal with her bird phobia so we could all deal with our raging hunger. I can't accurately say that I regret the choice, since we didn't really have any other

Restaurant Review #195: Il Moro's Fall Harvest Menu, West LA

Salsiccia Casareccia in Umido con Polenta Fresca

Being invited to try Il Moro's Fall Harvest menu was a unique opportunity for me in that I have never previously had a comped meal at a restaurant which I am already familiar with. I was looking forward to seeing how my previous two experiences at Il Moro as an average diner would compare to my experience as someone who needed to be impressed.

Restaurant Review #185: Meditrina Cafe, Venice

Meditrina sandwich

Recently, I was invited by the owners to try Meditrina, a new, family-owned cafe at the somewhat neglected end of trendy Abbot Kinney near Main Street in Venice. Unlike the furniture stores that line both sides of the street, Meditrina is very affordable. They serve breakfast and lunch and offer take out and local delivery.

Meditrina offers such a wide variety of dishes that

Restaurant Review #181: El Super Taco, West LA

Al pastor tacos

El Super Taco occupies the former Mama Voula's space on Santa Monica Blvd. at Brockton. Unfortunately, the peaceful pastel color scheme of the former restaurant doesn't really go with tacos, so the walls have been redone in red, orange, and purple. The restaurant is still small and quiet, with diners focused on the flatscreen TV showing futbol games in Spanish. The restaurant is

Restaurant Review #177: Indo Cafe, Palms

Dendeng balado

Have you ever tried Indonesian food? Indonesian restaurants can be hard to come by, especially on the Westside, but if you like Thai food, there's a good chance you'll enjoy this cuisine as well. For a great introduction to the cuisine via a sampling of many dishes, try Indo Cafe's rijsttafel on Wednesday nights (call ahead for reservations).

I am not very familiar with

Restaurant Review #175, Tacos Worth Begging For: Tacos Por Favor, Santa Monica

Al pastor and asada tacos

You plunge your hand into the paper bag and fumble amidst the tortilla chips for your foil packet prize. The metal scorches your fingertips, and you know it will be worse on the inside, where steam and grease will add to the pain. But this is no time for self-restraint.

You huddle in your car, which you've parked on a dark freeway bridge because there is no parking

Restaurant Review #174: Maker Nights at Cube

Lamb shanks with port wine reduction and crispy pan-seared Wisconsin Sheep Dairy mona polenta

Cube is part gourmet shop and part restaurant. In addition to an extensive cheese collection, they also sell all sorts of gourmet honeys, crackers, olive oils, and other delicacies, as well as the full line of Divine Pasta Company products (which you may have seen at Whole Foods). Cube's mission is to

Restaurant Review #173: Punch Grill, Santa Monica - CLOSED

Filet mignon in pinot noir sauce

This review is a little different from my others in that I was invited to try Punch Grill by their PR firm and they paid for my meal. Despite this, you can still count on Foodie Universe to stand by our policy of providing unbiased reviews.

Punch Grill opened in June 2006 with the mission of offering "the finest American cuisine on the Westside." They bill

Restaurant Review #171: Boule - CLOSED

Fromage blanc cheesecake

Boule is an upscale bakery, chocolatier, and gelateria with an unassuming, even drab brown exterior that gives way to an incredibly sunny, high-ceilinged light blue paradise. It's the perfect place for some pampering: after your car dies in the middle of a major intersection during rush hour and you have to spend $360 to get it fixed, on top of the $650 you've already

Restaurant Review #148: Lucques, West Hollywood

Almonds, olives, butter and fleur de sel (an expensive French sea salt)

Few food lovers in LA haven't heard of Lucques, run by Suzanne Goin (recent winner of two James Beard awards--a massive honor in the culinary universe) and Caroline Styne. Lucques (pronounced "Luke") serves what I refer to as "upscale restaurant food." In Los Angeles, that often means Cal-Italian or in this case,

Restaurant Review #1: ZaZen, Marina Del Rey (now closed)

ZaZen's sleek decor, creative (sort of) dishes with raw fish, and very red interior lend it the trappings of trendiness, but its not-happening-enough location on the Venice pier and the large TV screen prevent it from being truly so. This is the type of place that the hopelessly hip go for a nice date, where the boy barely disguises his greater interest in the game while the girl wonders why her