dineLA: Circa 55

The last of the three restaurants, Circa 55 falls short when it comes to quality and price.

Here is the dineLA menu.


The crab cake appetizer was small, with a hint of Asian flavor. I did not order this appetizer.


Instead, I got the dumpling soup--not good. The soup was too salty, and there was only one dumpling.



The main course, a 10 oz New York Steak, did not contain much flavor. The Bleu cheese dressing did not serve as a nice compliment to the steak.


For dessert, Jev got Journey into Chocolate. It came with three different chocolate desserts to try.


I tried the housemade sorbets, which was nothing special.


I would give Circa 55 a 1.5 out of 5 rating. The decorations of the restaurant gave off a feeling that it was trying too hard. The food was not good. The worst of the three dineLA restaurants I tried. I would NEVER come back here again.

dineLA: Ruth Chris Steakhouse

Ruth Chris was my favorite dineLA restaurant. It had a very upscale feel in the atmosphere which coincides with their upscale prices. Best of all, the food was superb!

This is the dineLA menu we ordered from.


The appetizer was HUGE! I ordered the Seared Ahi Tuna thinking it would only give me 2-3 pieces, but it came with 7!!! It was like a main course!! Not only did it deliver in quantity, but in quality as well.


For the main course, I had the Petit Filet. Unlike L.A. Prime's 6 oz., Ruth Chris offered 8 oz for their dineLA steak with a choice of a side: creamed spinach or garlic mashed potatoes. I ordered the steak medium rare, but there was one edge that ended up being well done. Even though it was slightly on the buttery side, it was still delicious. Adrian heavily recommends the creamed spinach.


For dessert, I ordered the Bread Pudding. It was really big. It was a full sized dessert, which took up most of the plate. Being a dessert, it was really balanced, since it wasn't too sweet nor was it bland. Even though I LOVE dessert, I had to take most of it home because I was sooooooooo full!


Adrian got the Chocolate Sin cake for dessert. It had a strong espresso flavor which went really well with the chocolate mousse. It was to die for. If anyone wants to try, there is still some left in Adrian's fridge (circa 2/5/08).


The dineLA menu at Ruth Chris was definitely worth the money. Good portions, good food, great value! I would definitely go back again. Altogether, I would rate this establishment a 4 out of 5. If I were to dine at another steakhouse soon, I would want to try Mastro's.

dineLA: L.A. Prime

The next few posts are going to reflect my dineLA experiences this year.

The first restaurant we tried was L.A. Prime at the Bonaventure hotel.

This is the dineLA menu.


I got the Lobster Bisque for appetizer. It was weird. It had a weird aftertaste. Not good!


For the main course I got the 6 oz Petit Filet. It tasted alright... a little on the dry side. It was ok.


The dessert was really good! I ordered the Tiramisu. It wasn't too sweet, and had just the right texture.


Overall, I would give L.A. Prime 2.5 stars (out of 5). The restaurant decor was lackluster, not to mention the mediocre food. Considering the price of the food at this restaurant, I would not come back here. There are much nicer places that give more bang for your buck.

Crepes in Santa Barbara

I took a day trip to Santa Barbara recently because I had a floating holiday from working New Year's Day I needed to use. Anyway, we stopped by this crepe place that had authentic French crepes. Well, it was the most authentic crepe I've ever had.

This was the place we went to, Pacific Crepes. It's not directly on State street, but about a block away. This place is great! It has a nice cozy, homey atmosphere.


I <3 nutella! I had a strawberry nutella crepe. SO YUM! It was delicious!


I've never had a crepe that was salty before. Or like a lunch or dinner crepe. This one had Salmon and mushrooms. It was.. different. Not bad, actually. I also tried some Ratatouille!


If you are ever in SB, check this place out! YUMMY!! NUTELLA!!!

Library Alehouse

So I finally got a chance to upload the pictures that were taken on my phone to the computer. About two weeks ago we went to check out Library Alehouse. I really liked that place. Even though we had to wait awhile for seats, the atmosphere of the place was really nice. They have a nice selection of beer too.



This is the beer I tried called Bitburger. It was not bad at all. Nice finish. Reminded me of a lot of the beers I had in Germany.


We tried the kobe beef burger. I didn't like the kobe beef actually. It felt loose. All in all, not a bad burger, but couldn't really tell the difference between kobe beef and regular ground beef. Next time, I'll just stick with a regular burger.



I do want to go back and try some of the other food on the menu. Mike got an Ahi Burger and he said that was really good.

Sorry the pictures are so bad. They were taken on my phone since I did not bring my camera that night.