LA Eats: Lawry's The Prime Rib

And now we've reached the end of my LA series.  No worries, I saved the best for last.  For our last night in LA, Dad wanted to go somewhere special.  Our parents had traveled to LA last year, and a friend had treated them to dinner at Lawry's.  Must have been some dinner because my Dad doesn't usually crave for steak.  We were only too happy to comply when he said he wanted to dine in Lawry's.  Score!  I myself have never tried Lawry's before, but I've heard great things about them.  Fond memories of steak in the US were always associated with The House of Prime Rib in San Francisco, because we almost always go to SFO whenever we travel to the US.  But hey, I'm always open to trying other restaurants!  Let's see how Lawry's compare with The House of Prime Rib, shall we?

  

Salad mixed in front of you

 The server will mix the salad in front of you.  Watching her do the spinning and tossing was fun!

The Famous Original Spinning Bowl Salad

...and here's the finished product.  Crisp lettuce and superb Lawry's exclusive vintage dressing.  Not a salad person but this left me wanting for more!

Prime Rib!

Lawry's Prime Rib, is also cut in front of you.  The chef will wheel in the huge portable cart which contains your prime rib and all the sides.  Just look at that.  Mouth-watering!

The Lawry Cut

We each ordered the Prime Rib dinner, in different cuts.  I had the Lawry Cut, which is their traditional and most popular cut, in medium well doneness.  The plate includes mashed potatoes, creamed corn and Yorkshire pudding.   And how was it?  Fantastic.  Took me back to the good 'ol House of Prime Rib days.  The prime rib was tender, but I guess I got spoiled by too many good prime rib that I found the aroma a bit lacking.  It was good nonetheless; just look at those juices!  Yum!  The sides were something too.  The creamed corn was sweet and really creamy, and the Yorkshire pudding was crispy on the outside and oh so soft on the inside.  4 out of 5 stars!

Lawry's The Prime Rib is at 100 N La Cienega Blvd, Beverly Hills, California, United States of America

Le Montrose Suite Hotel

From my previous post, I mentioned that we were going to stay 4 nights at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach, and then move to another hotel downtown for the remaining nights.  And this was it.  Le Montrose Suite Hotel.  Truthfully speaking, the reason why we chose Le Montrose was because of the pictures we saw on the site.  The space is huge!  The interiors are also quite modern, and that's how I like my hotels to be.  So the day after my cousin's wedding, we packed our bags, said goodbye to the Hyatt Regency, and set off for Le Montrose. 

Le Montrose is situated downtown in West Hollywood.  It's not located on the main street.  But if you like a quiet neighborhood, then you'd appreciate it.  It's also quite near to The Grove, Beverly Center and Universal Studios, which is a huge plus.  

Curious about the room?  Here's what it looks like:

The Room

Working Area

Lounge Area

Bathroom

So how was it?  I breathed a sigh of relief when we saw that the room looks exactly like the ones on the site photo.  You know how sometimes you see really nice room photos and get the disappointment of your life when you see that the actual room looks nothing like it?  Not in this case.  Plus points too for the extremely friendly and helpful staff.  They helped us make the booking for the car rental, gave us a tip on the Uber car service, and also pointed out some places where we can go.  The rooms are a bit pricey but it's well worth it!  4.5 out of 5 stars!

Le Montrose Suite Hotel is at 900 Hammond St, West Hollywood, California, United States of America

LA Eats: The Cheesecake Factory

Ever since I tried The Cheesecake Factory a few years ago, I always make a point to go back every time I visit the US.  This time was no exception.  While shopping at Fashion Island, Brother, Hubby, and I were looking for someplace to eat, and we chanced upon The Cheesecake Factory.  Bingo!  There is no chance in this world that we're not going to go in.  Here's what we had:

Cream of Potato Soup

This was pretty filling, but tasted great.  I loved that they put in bits of bacon and cheese in it, as opposed to the usual boring plain cream soup.

Crabcakes

Authentic crab meat in every single bite.  Awesome!

Chinese Chicken Salad

Sliced chicken breast, rice noodles, lettuce, green onions, almonds, crisp wontons, beansprouts, orange and sesame seeds, tossed in our special chinese plum dressing

This was surprisingly refreshing.  Could do without the rice noodles though, it was way to much.

Smokehouse BBQ Burger

Smoked bacon and melted cheddar with crispy onion rings and BBQ ranch sauce

The Smokehouse BBQ Burger is pretty yummy too.  Except that you won't be able to eat the whole thing in one bite.  Best to have it deconstructed.

Steak Diane and Herb Crusted Salmon

Fresh salmon with a delicious lemon sauce and medallions of certified angus beef steak covered with black peppercorns and a rich mushroom wine sauce

This was my order.  We had to send the salmon back because they overcooked it.  The Steak Diane, although stated in the menu that it was certified angus beef, was a bit tough to chew.

Ultimate Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake

Layers of red velvet cake cheesecake covered in cream cheese frosting, finished with white chocolate

And the best part of it all...  The Ultimate Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake!  Confession:  this was the very reason why we loved The Cheesecake Factory so much.  The layers of red velvet combined with the cheesecake is just party in your mouth.  This will forever be a favorite!

All in all, I could say that The Cheesecake Factory has really maintained their standards well.  We've already eaten in several branches in different places and they were all good.  4 out of 5 stars!

The Cheesecake Factory is at Fashion Island, 401 Newport Center Dr, Newport Beach, California, United States of America

LA Eats: Claim Jumper

The very first impression I had when I entered Claim Jumper was that they had the look and feel of Chili's.  And upon scanning the menu, it looks like I'm right.  They had almost the same offerings that Chili's had.  The inner me gave out a small cheer:  Chili's was and will always be a favorite.  But the more important question is, how will it compare?  Let's see.  Here's what we had:  

Mozzarella Sticks

The breading was a bit tough and thick.

French Onion Soup

Meh.  I've had better French Onion Soups in my life.  Here in Manila, nonetheless!

New England Clam Chowder

Also quite disappointing.  It lacked the distinct clam taste.

BBQ Baby Back Pork Ribs

The ribs was a mix of tender and tough ones.  Oh well.

Rotisserie Chicken

And just when you thought that it's impossible to murder chicken thighs... Yup, they managed to do just that.  It was tender alright, but it was also overcooked to the point that the meat was "cottony".

Cream Cheese Pie (Original with Lorna Doone Crust)

Finally, for dessert, we had the cream cheese pie.  One thing I can say is that the one slice that we had was really huge!  Good enough for 3 or 4 people.  And it was quite good except that you'd tire of it easily because it's really heavy.

Overall, we weren't impressed with Claim Jumper.  There were more misses that hits, and that's definitely not a good thing.  Our very own Chili's in Manila is much, much better, I must say.  2 out of 5 stars.

Claim Jumper is at South Coast Plaza, 3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa, California, United States of America

LA Eats: Pete's Sunset Grille

We touched down LA late at night, so right after we checked in at the Hyatt, we decided to eat somewhere nearby.  We walked around the hotel property, and found a bar that was open.  Not much other restaurants were open at that time, so the choices were pretty limited.  Grumbling stomachs told us to just go in, so we did.  Sadly, since it was really late at night, the only food that they were serving was the bar chow.  Oh well, guess we had to make do with it.  

Here's what we had: 

Yucca Fries

Spicy Lime Sea Salt, Mojo Mayo

At first thought, I really thought that these were fries. Huge cut ones.  But after tasting it and researching about it, I found out that yucca is actually 'a type of plant that grows in dry regions and has hard pointed leaves at the base and a long stem with white flowers'.  Tasted very similar to potatoes.  Pretty good!

Korean BBQ Hot Wings

Kimchi Slaw, Scallions, Sesame Seeds

Was disappointed to find out that this was a dry-rub and not your typical wings with BBQ sauce.  And since it's dry-rub, it was indeed... dry.

Nachos

Cheddar & jack Cheese, Tomatoes, Japalenos, Green Onions, Guacamole, Sour Cream

Loved the combination, hated the nachos itself.  Some were crunchy while some were not.

The 2x2 All American Double Cheeseburger

Lettuce, Tomato, House Special Sauce, Sesame Bun, Pickle, Fries

The burger was ok, but it was nothing special.  

Kalua Pork Sliders

Hawaiian Sweet Rolls, Guava BBQ Sauce, Shaves Cabbage, Pickles Red Onions

Now these, were pretty good.  A combination of sweet BBQ sauce and tender pork meat makes it one of the better dishes of the night. 

Overall, we weren't very impressed by the food in Pete's Sunset Grille.  But since this is just their bar chow, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.  Based on what we had though, I'd have to give it 1.5 out of 5 stars.

Pete's Sunset Grille is at Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa, 21500 Pacific Coast Highway, Huntington Beach, California, United States of America