FIG Restaurant at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel

Located at the swanky Fairmont hotel in Santa Monica, FIG serves up seasonal ingredients on daily basis. 

If you can, ask to be seated in the sunny indoor patio area, with a nice view of the pool. 

Also, keep in mind that the menu is seasonal so if you see something you like, you should order it!

With that being said, the pork banh mi sandwich was quite delicious and juicy. It also came with a huge pile of grilled shishito peppers that were awesome. I love how they didn't skimp on the peppers. 

The steak and fries were just ok. Hanger steak isn't my favorite cut, but it's decent enough for what it is. The fries were mediocre as well. I would probably pass on this dish and go for one of the more eclectic entrees. 

It took a while to get our food, so we asked for some bread. The waiter said they only had rolls which were $5 for 3. Kinda disappointing that they charge for bread, but to fair, the rolls were really yummy! And, they even brought us fancy butter in a jar. 

I would recommend this place if you're in the mood for some fresh, seasonal ingredients.

FIG

101 Wilshire Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 319-3111

West Restaurant and Lounge - 17th Floor Dining

I booked reservations at West last weekend for a birthday celebration and was so looking forward to good food and service, but alas, it did not deliver.

My first visit at West was for a CMYE event where we were treated to a 10 course tasting menu. It was pretty damn amazing and the crispy egg was off the charts. 

However, last Saturday, the food was short of impressive. 

I had been raving about the crispy egg forever to my friends and was so disappointed to find out that it was no longer on the menu! WHAT?! Apparently, they switched chefs, and I guess the egg was his signature dish. *sad face*

So, we asked the waitress what she recommended and she said the loup de mer was bomb, which is European seabass. 

It sounded good, so 4 of us ordered it. 

And what a letdown!

Loup de mer with ratte potato and truflle: Presentation was boring, skin was on, and it just looked like it was slapped on there without care. I didn't think it had much flavor, so I switched my dish with my bf's. 

loup de mer

Beef fillet with red wine onions, gem lettuce, and short rib ravioli: This is the dish I swapped my fish for. It wasn't much better, but at least it had more flavor. Beef was too chewy for me. Presentation was whatevers. 

beef fillet

Hanger steak with English peas, tamworth bacon, and twice baked potato: Best dish out of the 3. Beef was cooked well, and the peas were a nice touch. Presentation looked more appealing than the others. 

hanger steak

My friends had mixed reviews on their dishes, but the overall consensus at the table was blah. No flavor, cold cheese for the cheddar cheese brûlée, and too expensive. 

On a positive note, the pear-tinis are delicious! Sweet with a nice pear flavor. At $12 a pop, they are totally worth it, albeit a tad small. 

pear-tini

In terms of service, it seemed our waitress was lacking in experience. She was nice enough, but she kept forgetting people's drinks, not filling water glasses, and she charged us for the "free" popcorn that we got for checking in on Foursquare and Yelp. 

Considering each popcorn was $8, and we got 4 of them for the table, that's $32 extra that we had to pay. 

Also, she mentioned valet parking would be free for everyone in the group since I had a "preferred" diners card, but it wasn't. 

In fact, the valet guy was pretty rude about it and wouldn't even give me my card back until they pulled my car up. Wtf. So, everyone else in the party had to pay the $7 charge. 

Please have the valet and the servers coordinate to make sure this does not happen again. 

We did get a 15% discount off the food bill (not alcohol) because of said card, but it was still pretty expensive for the quality of food we received. 

I wish Chef Matt was still working here! Had I known he left, I probably wouldn't have dined here. 

3 stars overall for decent service, good views, tasty drinks, and subpar food.

3***

West Restaurant and Lounge at Hotel Angeleno
170 N Church Ln
Los Angeles, CA 90049
(310) 481-7878