Ocean Prime

Ocean Prime opened late last year in Beverly Hills.  It's location is the old El Torito on Wilshire and Camden.  I read about it a couple of months ago and the food sounded promising and the ambiance was inviting.

They have a nice bar; actually 2 bars on each side of the building. One has an outdoor area that faces Wilshire Blvd. They have an impressive display of their wine collection and inside is an equally impressive dining room.

Seafood and Steak seemed to be their specialty. They have a raw bar with oysters, crab, shrimps as well as an array of sushi. Since my friend was not fond of oysters, we settled for the White Truffle Caviar Deviled Eggs and the Jumbo Lump Crab Cake with sweet corn cream. Our server, Shawniqua informed us that she would ask the kitchen to make little crab cakes instead of 1 large one so it would be easier for us to share. I liked her attitude! She was thinking of the customer and it was obvious she aimed to please unlike some establishments wherein the servers are trained to take your order and answers your questions and everything stops there.  We also thought we would split a Caesar salad with anchovies.

The deviled eggs were creamy and smooth; best deviled eggs I have had. The crab cakes were delicious with the sweet corn cream.  I loved the Caesar salad with large pieces of anchovies. The anchovies were not too salty; it reminded me of the anchovies from the Cinque Terre region in Italy where the anchovies didn't really taste like regular anchovies; they were mellower and just wonderful.

For our entree, we split the  King Salmon with lobster, gnocchi & peas and a Filet Mignon with Bearnaise sauce.  Instead of a side of vegetables, I went for it and ordered the Loaded Sea Salt Baked Potato. The salmon was nice and fresh but I preferred the Filet cooked perfectly with the ever so lovely Bearnaise. The picture of the baked potato below speaks for itself! (wonderful)

Dessert was a the 10 layer Carrot Cake with pineapple syrup. This was unlike any carrot cake I have had. It even had coconut which I normally do not care for. I must admit it was delicious.

I didn't leave without saying hello to my old friend Stephen Cook, an English chap (just have to say that since I'll be leaving for London soon) who is the general manager of Ocean Prime and who came from Bouchon and managed the Thomas Keller restaurant group.

Ocean Prime started in Columbus, Ohio in 2006 and has expanded to numerous locations: Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Indianapolis, Orlando, Philadelphia, Tampa and one scheduled to open in New York soon.