Jiraffe Restaurant

01/20/09

Great Food, Great Service, Great Atmosphere

by Lirod88 at Citysearch

Jiraffe is a great place to go for several occasions. I have had the most amazing food there and have enjoyed different, yet all pleasurable dining experiences. The ambiance is relaxed and not at all suffocating like other fine dining places. The service is friendly, and very attentive. Overall, however, what wins you over is the food. Generous portions and fresh seasonal products offered in various creative dishes makes you want to go back again and again. Monday Bistro menus are based on Farmers Market finds and are new each week- a steal at a prix fixe price of $38!!

• Pros: Close to the Promenade
• Cons: Parking

05/12/08

Great Steak, Fantastic Lemon Souffle

by cydeALL at Citysearch

For Mother's Day, I took mine to JiRaffe Restaurant in Santa Monica. We sat by the window overlooking Santa Monica Blvd early enough to catch the sunset. The corn puree I had as my appetizer was delicious and creamy, yet light. My mother engaged in the special poached asparagus salad: enormous, fresh--not at all bitter--asparagus served with pumpernickel toast. She then had the almond crusted trout, a beautiful and generous portion of fish served with greens and a caper sauce. I went for the steak, charred to perfection. Our server was sweet and unobtrusive, following through to dessert. She recommended their lemon souffle that was worth the ten minute wait, simply fantastic!

I look forward to visiting JiRaffe soon simply for their ambiance. A great date spot.

• Pros: Great food, ambience
• Cons: slight wait, but worth it

02/17/08

ONE OF THE WORST PLACES TO DINE PERIOD.

by noelcore at Citysearch

We came into tonight with a party of 6 and waited about 5 minutes to sit down, which isn't bad. However, It was a good 15 minutes before anyone even approached our table to offer water, let alone say hello. Our waiter, Greg, was absent minded and may have had his hands full with a fairly empty restaurant. We ordered a $100 bottle of wine and waited another 10 minutes before we even got it. Keep in mind, we were ready to order as soon as we had gotten there. The food was copacetic and I would rate it a solid 6.5 - 7 out of 10. But the service was just awful. Our server, Greg didn't even check on our first course. On top of his atrocious service, he left halfway through the meal without telling us and we got a last minute replacement server who wasn't that much better than her space cadet counterpart.

We were ready to order another bottle of wine, dessert, and some after-dinner ports (which would have helped their lacking check average) but waited another 15 minutes to take an order. I usually as a standard leave a 20% tip as I have waited tables before (even with bad service), but I left a 10% tip for a lackluster dining experience. I don't think I ever left a tip that poor.

If I could leave a half star for this place, I would. Save your money and most importantly your time by checking out Whist, Rustic Canyon, or Penthouse at the Huntley Hotel. They all have a better wine list and servers who actually care about you having a decent time, not about what audition they have next.

• Pros: Seared Foie Gras
• Cons: Service was just terrible