Palate-Closed

Palate
933 S Brand Blvd
Glendale
818-662-9463

What is The New Diner doing at a pretentious place like Palate? Not enjoying an evening of dining that's what. Not far from Granville Cafe Palate is a wine bar that serves small plate items and full dinner.

Every Tuesday they off a wine and cheese pairing. I looked at their menu, which changes every week, and at the other people and I wasn't impressed with what I was seeing. High prices and small portion sizes. So I looked at their small plate menu and found something they call mason jars. So I ordered the potted sea trout, potted smoked prawns, and potted berkshire pork, $6 each. All the mason jars are served on

Now I'll be honest I was impressed by the portion size for these mason jars. I was very impressed with the potted smoke prawns, though I'm pretty sure they were just shrimp. They did have a nice smoke flavor that was enchance by some dill and other seasonings. There were good sized pieces of shrimp.

The potted sea trout was also very good. The sea trout was plentiful and mixed with some mayo and parsley and green onions.

The potted berkshire pork was terrible. Just way too salty for my tastes. I only took a few bites.

Service was below average. Granted I was with a large group and the place was pretty busy, but there were times we didn't see our server for long periods of time. And just in case you're wondering, only one person in my group is pretentious and she is pretentious with a capitol P!!!

I would not go back to Palate to eat. They do have a good wine selection so if I was in the area, I would pick up a bottle of wine.

Pesce-Moved

Pesce
2227 Polk Street
SF
415-928-8025

Pesce is a seafood tapas restaurant. We ordered the Capasante, $13, pan seared day boat scallops and lobster mushroom cream. This was an amazing dish. The lobster mushroom cream sauce was so tasty and wonderful. The scallops were so fresh, I'm pretty sure they were in the water earlier that morning. The

The Granchio, $9, dungeness crab risotto cake and rasted pepper vinaigrette, wasn't as good. First of all there was little to no crab at all, mostly fillers. For a kid from Baltimore that's not a good thing. The vinaigrette was pretty good but I'm not paying $9 for a dipping sauce.

Service was OK. The server was very friendly and helpful, when we saw her. There were long stretches of time when she wasn't anywhere to be found. What she was doing, I have no idea.

I wasn't aware this was a tapas restuarant, I had expectations of bigger portions. But the scallops, were worth the price, even if it was a small plate. I would go back to Pesce but I would not order the crab cake. The oysters on the half shell look fresh and I may give those a try. But I will either sit at the bar or get another server because our server just wasn't around enough.

Sevilla-Long Beach

Sevilla
140 Pine Ave
Long Beach
562-495-1111

Tapas. I have to review a couple other tapa bars but I'm not too keen on this concept. You're paying $3-$5 for small, almost bite sized pieces and to get filled up you have to get about 3-5 per person. Not that the food isn't good but I just don't think it's worth the price.

Sevilla is on Pine Ave in Long Beach. If you go on a Friday or Saturday night be careful as there it will be very busy and parking will be tough and/or expensive to find.

Pictured is the grilled marinated chicken skewer, $7 and the shrimp croquetas, $6. The shrimp croquetas was nicely deeped fried. But they have very little shrimp and more fillers, like potatoes. Not worth the $6 price. I would say it was a bit spicy but nothing too hot.

The grilled chicken skewers were white meat chicken, with a nice marinate. I tasted some tangyness to the marinate. The chicken was moist and juicy. But for $7 I would think you would get more chicken. The chicken was very good but wasn't worth the $7 price.

Service was good. Our server was attentive, friendly and helpful. One thing, they must not believe in ice water. The water I got was chilled but there was no ice. I kept having to ask for a cup of ice. Maybe somebody forgot the recipe??

Sevilla has a Tapa's happy hour seven days a week, where all tapas are half priced. That would be a great deal. But full priced tapas at Sevilla are a bit high and the portions aren't that big, though the quality of the food is very high. I would only go back to Sevilla during their tapas happy hour.

Bar Celona-Closed

Bar Celona 46 E Colorado Blvd Pasadena 626-405-1000 Bar Celona is a tapas bar, that also serves sushi, in Old Town Pasadena. I'm not a big fan of a place that trys to do something other than what they are known for. Tapas and sushi? The first picture is the yellowtail sushi, $5.50. It's ok, nothing special, though one of the bigger yellowtail sushi I've had. It was fairly fresh but nothing outstanding. Jackpot roll, $7.95, has shrimp tempura and tuna. But again it's nothing special but it's a big portion. Now onto what they are known for, tapas. Veriras con salsa de Maiz dulce, $10. Pan seared scallops with sweet corn sauce and mushrooms and jamon serrano salad. This was a great tapa. The scallops were nice and fresh, and tasty. The searing was gave it a nice outside. The sweet corn sauce added a nice flavor to the scallops. I can't really describe or compare the flavor. Albondigas en Salsa de Champinones, $7. Beef and pork meatballs in a Spanish Rioka wine-mushroom sauce. The meatballs were too dry and lacked any flavor. You can get better meatballs from a can of Chef Boyardee. Croquettas de Cangre o, $9, crab and potato croquette breaded and fried with red mojo. This should be renamed the potato croquette. That's what this was. There wasn't a lot of crab, mostly potato. Not worth the $9 price tag. Gambas al A illo, $7. Black tiger shrimp sauteed in garlic and red pepper flakes. The tiger shrimp was well worth the price. It was big, full of flavor and very tender. What a treat and for $7 a great steal. Service is OK here. One time my girlfriend and I went to here, sat down and nobody came to our table for about ten minutes. We walked out. This was later at night when this place turns into a more club like atmosphere. But we went back and the service was OK. Our server was helpful, explaining the tapas and how big the portions are. But she was slow in refilling drinks, she never asked if we wanted other orders, we called her over and ordered the crab cakes. The place wasn't busy, so I'm guessing she's just really slow or talking to other people working at the restaurant. This is a hit and miss type of place. Some of the tapas are great. Other tapas are terrible. I would stay away from the sushi. I would go back and just order the tiger shrimp and the scallops. I would not try anything else or give the crab cakes or meatballs another try.

El Toro-Closed

El Toro Cantina
5368 Wilshire Blvd.
LA
323-525-2618

El Toro Cantina offers a wide variety of tapas at pretty reasonable prices. The portions are a bit small, I know, I know, tapas are small plates. But even small plates can be small.

The first picture has three tacos, carne asada, $4.50, lump crab, $5.50, and Mahi mahi, $4.50, all with corn tortilla. The carne asada was pretty bland and not as flavorful as I would like. This was just Ok. I loved the lump crab, lots of crab, in a pineapple salsa. The mahi mahi was fried, an interesting way to cook it and topped with avocado. A nice dish.

Service is good at El Toro. We were seated quickly and the server took our drink order right away. Our server was nice, friendly and helpful.

I would go back to El Toro anytime. Matter of fact, I have been back and the now have a special combo, any three tacos for $15. That means I can get the lobster, $6.50 and Yucatan shrimp, $5.50. I think this is one of the best tapas places around.