We were all impressed as we walked in the restaurant at 3:30 p.m. It was quite empty which could be a good sign or bad. We were offered our choice of Champagne or Sherry. A menu was passed along with different kinds of tea. Everything was served on very nice china as should be. After 15 minutes or so, the plates arrived. Mini sandwiches of salmon, cucumber, cheese and ham arrived. I lucked out because I got a few more salmon sandwiches the others did not want. They were my favorite; it's just some of us don't eat salmon.
Time went by and we were all hungry waiting for more. I finally flagged one of the servers to ask if something else was coming. He announced that the scones were on it's way. The scones (plural) were for all of us....we got one each served with Devonshire cream and raspberry jam. After a long wait, a plate of desserts came. The only thing I liked was the chocolate covered strawberry. We all figured that this was the finale. Service was very slow. We were there for 2 hours! The conversation went on to see which restaurant was nearby that we could have some food. We decided to go to OBICÀ in Santa Monica.
Mertz, our designated driver happily drove us there. Majority did not really want to order a full dinner. They were all happy with appetizers. I was very tempted to have the dineLA menu which I've been craving since I've seen their menu online. My guardian angel first nudged me to let me know that this would be too much food. I still kept reading the menu when she finally poked me to say "Don't Do it.", so I obediently put that menu aside and agreed to split a pizza with Sandi. The pizza was delicious, just plain good old sauce,wonderful crust and the best Mozzarella di Bufala Campania DOP (Denominazione di origine proteta/protected designation of origin), which is from Campania in Southern Italy.
I was so engrossed with my pizza that I almost passed on the other appetizer that was ordered. The Patate al Tartufo. Potatoes, black truffle Parmigiano fondue. I had one potato dipped in the fondue. That was amazing. I could have eaten all of it! I did restrain myself and just had one.
It was nice to see Alessandra, Director of Marketing and Events whom I previously met at wine event last year. She got me in touch with Paolo, the distributor of the wonderful Franciacorta wines.
The birthday celebration at least ended on a happier note. I would not recommend the afternoon tea at the Pacific Dining Car. I would recommend going to OBICÀ and take advantage of their dineLA menu.
I would agree with what Candy has shared about these 2 restaurants. I think the tea would have been better with more of the little savory sandwiches and less of the sweets.
ReplyDeleteI expected more scones, but the company I was with made up for the slow service.
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