Palomino - restaurant review

We had occasion to be in the Westwood area last weekend for a show, and normally when we go to a show, we usually have dinner reservations somewhere nearby, but for some reason, this time we just decided to wing it. I had been to Palomino a couple of times for lunch and really enjoyed it and had mentioned it to the husband, so we decided to go by and see if they might have a table available even without a reservation. It was about 6pm, a bit earlier in the dinner rush, so we figured there might be a better chance.

The biggest issue that I have with Palomino is that it's located in a part of Westwood where finding parking is indeed a challenge. They do have their own valet parking, but I'm not a fan of valet parking, so we drove around a bit looking for a metered space on the street, which proved to be difficult. We did pass a parking lot that had a flat rate, which I would probably have done if we were spending the evening in the Village, but since it was just going to be for dinner for a little over an hour, I wasn't as willing to do that. Fortunately, after driving around a bit, we did find a metered space several blocks away. There was almost an hour left where the meters were still being enforced, so we put enough in the meter to cover the hour and then walked the several blocks to the restaurant.

There weren't a lot of people waiting, and we were told that it would be about a 15 minute wait for a table, which wasn't too bad, except that we were in a bit of a hurry. A 15 minute wait for a table would mean we would seriously have to rush through dinner, but the husband figured it would be ok. Luckily, the host mentioned that we could wait in the bar area, and that the bar served a bar menu consisting of appetizers but they also served the full menu available in the restaurant, so we thanked him and decided to just sit at the bar.

There were about 8 small tables with regular chairs in the bar area, and in addition to the long bar where the bartender is, they had a few other stretches of countertops with bar stools. All the tables were full, so we settled ourselves at one part of the countertops. I am generally not a fan of bar stools that have no backing, but with our time constraint, I just decided to deal with it.

Our server brought our menus and got our drink order, and then we perused the menu. I had remembered that the menu was fairly extensive and had a number of items that looked really good but a lot of them were things I generally find too heavy for lunch so I'd not had them before.

Our server came back and took our orders and then our bread ended up coming with our appetizers. The bread was very soft and tasty and was cut almost bruschetta-style, and it came with a tomato-based spread - very yummy all around.

The husband had ordered an appetizer of grilled asparagus and prosciutto bruschetta with garlic herb crostini, basil pesto and shaved parmesan. There were three pieces with a good helping of asparagus and prosciutto piled on top of each. I tried one of them, and oh my goodness, delicious! It occurred to me for a second to wonder how some people could possibly not like asparagus, but then I got distracted by how yummy the prosciutto was.

My appetizer was calamari fritto with marinara sauce and garlic-lemon aioli. I happen to love fried calamari, and the batter was very light, and the calamari was very crispy and tasty. And in addition to rings, they had a lot of tentacles too, which I also like. Both the marinara sauce and aioli were tasty dips for the calamari. It was a pretty generous serving, and we were still periodically having bits of the calamari while we were enjoying our entrees, which I had kind of been expecting.

The husband's entree was baked sea bass in clay pot with kalamata, Greek green and oil cured black olives, artichoke hearts and tomato confit. That had looked good on the menu to me and had been one of the things I was considering, so I was glad the husband got it so I could at least see what it looked like. The entree was brought in a round brown deep-dish that reminded me of what I've seen paella served in, but the dish was covered with this high funnel-looking top - really impressive, and the food underneath was no disappointment from the presentation. The husband really enjoyed the dish.

My choice was the cedar wrapped salmon with roasted asparagus and orzo with herb and mushroom duxelle. Did I mention that I love asparagus? I was kinda wondering how the salmon was going to be "cedar wrapped" as I was picturing a two-by-four being bent around a filet of salmon. I've heard of and had cedar-plank salmon, so I was curious about this. It turned out to be two filets of salmon cooked on a sort of thin cedar mat. The husband asked if I could taste the cedar, and I said I didn't know, but the salmon was just incredibly yummy. It was very tender and juicy, and the asparagus and orzo were nice accompaniments.

The husband had told the server that we were in a bit of a hurry and what time we had to leave to get to the show in time so that we would be served a bit faster. Normally, at restaurants like that, they bring your dishes at a more leisurely rate, which I normally like, but which we didn't have time for that night. The timing of the arrival of the various dishes worked out well, so without the extra 15 minute wait for a table, we were actually able to have a nice dinner without rushing and still be able to get to our show in time.

I do like the dining room area, but I'd never known or paid attention to the fact that the bar served the full menu as well. I like the decor and ambiance, especially since one side of the restaurant is just glass, so you get a nice view outside. The food was absolutely delicious, and our server was very good. Palomino has been somewhere I like for lunch, but now, I'd definitely go back for more dinners if given the opportunity.




Palomino
10877 Wilshire Blvd., #150
Los Angeles, CA 90024
310-208-1960