Message: | Justed lunched at the Polo Lounge in the Beverly Hills Hotel. First time I had returned since the remodeling. The Lounge used to look like an ordinary coffee shop but now, with the redecorating, it is very attractive. We sat in a banquette and had a lovely view of the patio that contained a specimen tree that was gorgeous.
The food was good...what I call generic hotel food...nothing inovative or startling. Between us we had smoked salmon, artichoke tart, blue-crab crab cakes (always iffy away from Maryland), tortilla soup (quite good), cold citrus smoked salmon, steak tartare (prepared table-side) and lamb chops served with haricots vert scattered around and on top of a bed of white beans with a garnish of shitake mushrooms covered with some sort of sauce. Every dish was good, but nothing outstanding. I was surprised that no French or Italian wines were offered by the glass. Everything was from Napa or Sonoma, except for one white from Australia.
The service was very good, except that the busboy cleared the table when one of us was still eating. I was going to asked beforehand that they wait until we were all finished, but we were talking so much that I forgot...hopefully next time.
It being the start of a holiday weekend, the restaurant was only half full. It's an attractive place but, in my opinion, not worth the price for just average food. |