T's Restaurant reviews

Southern California

La Rive Gauche
320 Tejon Place, Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274 MAP
310-378-0267
http://www.chowbaby.com/LaRiveGauche
Casual and nice at the same time. Great for special events. Full bar.
Plenty of free parking in lot and structure in front of the restaurant.

Cuisine: High End French

Visited: February 2011, Dinner, Dine-in

There were a few misses, and the service was odd, but overall, the food was excellent.

About the service...our host/waiter was a bit gruff and didn't really explain things when we asked, and the timing seemed a little off, but the mojo could have turned south when I accidentally shifted the table upon seating and knocked over the vase and spilled water everywhere...

Besides, that, the entrées and dessert were quite lovely.

All entrées come with warm crusty French rolls, soup, salad, and vegetables . They also have some additional soups available for the menu price instead of the house soup. The house soup that night was Tomato Basil, although it tasted neither like tomato nor basil, it was a pleasant pink colored opaque brothy soup.

We also tried La Soupe à l'oignon Lyonnaise ($6) - a lovely little crock of onion soup with croutons and melted Gruyère. While overall very nice, the onions could have been a little more caramelized to enhance the sweetness. And La Bisque de Homard ($8) which was supposed to have brandy, but we couldn't taste it. The bisque definitely had a lobster shell / seashell broth flavor to it, however it didn't have that slight creamy richness that puts a bisque over the top. Both were tasty and glad that we tried them once, but not sure that we would order them again.

The salad was a mix of baby spinach and mesclun dressed with a cross between an herb vinaigrette and a creamy dressing.

We ordered from the menu, although there were several specials. Some of the specials confused me for a traditional French restaurant...osso buco, blackened swordfish?

First was Le Feuilleté de Petoncles au citron vert ($28) featuring several sautéed fresh scallops tucked over a bed of spinach that is tossed and covered in a fresh lime butter sauce all of which is placed on a piece of puff pasty and is also topped with a cute little rectangle of golden puff pastry. The scallops were cooked very nicely, and the lime butter sauce was just the perfect touch with the spinach. The house vegetables tonight were julienned carrots wrapped in a bundle, fanned roasted beet (which had a very lovely naturally light sweet flavor), decoratively arranged and trimmed snow peas, and some roasted potatoes.

We also tried Le Canard à l'Orange ($27) which was very tender, well cooked, and the best part, boneless! The orange sauce was actually orangey and not cloyingly sweet. The duck was served with the house vegetables.

And we had Le Filet Mignon Georges PV ($30), a very tender and very well cooked filet served with a slice of brie and a wonderful Bordelaise sauce. The brie and the Bordelaise combined together to produce a most luxurious sauce. The Bordelaise also went very well with the roasted potatoes in the house vegetables.

We ran into some confusion when ordering dessert. As usual, when ordering a soufflé, they take time, and you order it when you order your meal. We wanted one Grand Marnier Soufflé and one Chocolate Soufflé. Yeah, apparently not; you must order two Soufflés at a time, and they must be of the same flavor, otherwise one will sink in the oven, et voilà, no soufflé. I'm not so sure on the science of that (will have to try it in my own oven), but we went with the flow and ended up with two Soufflés au Grand Marnier ($11.50 each). And there were quite lovely and worth it. (Next time, we'll order two of the chocolate). The soufflés were beatifully dusted with powdered sugar, and the second server attempted to provide table service by cracking open the soufflé in the center to pour the raspberry coulis. We stopped him because we wanted to taste the souffle on it own, and he was very polite about it. On the side was also whipped cream. The soufflés did not need either accompaniment. Some bites were more orangey, some were more eggy, and some were more liquor-y, however in all, it was a delight.

We really enjoyed our entrées and dessert, and would be happy to return.