The Penthouse

This gorgeous restaurant on the top floor of the Huntley Hotel in Santa Monica is a great place to have Sunday Brunch. I had purchased a voucher from Gilt City for brunch for 4 recently.  I decided to use the voucher to celebrate my friend, Nako's 87th birthday. His wife Amy was also invited. This couple look great for their age as they go to the gym everyday and work tirelessly in their garden; I guess this is their secret.

We got to the Penthouse 15 minutes early so the manager told us we could wait in their lounge and will call us when they start seating at 11:00 a.m.  As Nako and Amy admired the view, I asked the manager if we could have the nice table with the curtains and the fantastic view as we were celebrating a birthday and I wanted it to be special. She was very nice and said: " Oh, I'm sure we can do that as you are early enough". There was only 1 person at the bar at this time.  People came streaming in steadily and waited at the bar. The manager approached us at 11 a.m. and told us we could be seated. She asked if we had any vouchers and I said yes. So she excused herself and said she would get the special menu. When she returned, she led us to a different area. I reminded her about the table which she agreed to earlier. Her reply was the other lady (bartender or server) told the people in the bar they could have the table. There were about 3 of these tables, we were the first party to arrive, the manager told us we could have the table. She was the manager and yet could not do anything for us. My suspicion is we had "a voucher". I guess $125 precludes people from getting the best seats; like we did not pay full fare! I think this is VERY unprofessional and I myself would not want anyone working at my restaurant who makes people feel like 2nd class citizens. There is absolutely no excuse for this.

Now, on to the food. Our server, Antonio made up for the manager's lack of professionalism. Since there were only 3 of us and I paid for brunch for 4, we all ordered our entree plus an extra one to share. Antonio was very attentive and kept the Mimosa coming. The birthday boy ordered the Eggs Benedict with classic Hollandaise. Amy had the Corned Beef Hash and I had the Sirloin Burger with the fried egg and steak fries. The entree we wanted to share was the Scottish Salmon with baby artichokes, olives and fingerling potatoes and piquillo confit. Everything was delicious. We all loved the crispy skin of the salmon.

We were all too full but desserts were included so we had to suffer through the Milk Chocolate Molten Cake with Caramelized Banana Hazelnuts with Bourbon Ice Cream. More suffering came in the form of multiple Profiteroles which were excellent especially after pouring the hot fudge all over them.

The Penthouse is located at the Huntley Hotel at 1111 2nd St. in Santa Monica, California. I can only imagine how crazy this place can get in the evening. If you want to enjoy yourself, go during the day. If you get there early and you are promised a nice table, have them sign on the dotted line!