Melisse Restaurant
(310) 395-0881
1104 Wilshire Blvd
Santa Monica,
CA
90401
34.0245
-118.4914
Neighborhoods: West LA, Mid-City
What People Are Saying About Melisse Restaurant
The Editor
Contributor
Citysearch
The Scene
Between the dark green-suited waiters and the hosts, the staff's food knowledge is staggering. Perhaps this is because Chef Josiah Citrin makes frequent appearances in the dining room to chat. Every meal is carefully administered and adroitly explained--equally welcome if you're a couple seeking romance or a larger party paying homage to the kitchen.
The Food
Surfer-dude-turned-uberchef Citrin has an uncanny way with vegetables and bright, herb-inflected flavors. The Santa Monica restaurant, named for the French word for lemon balm, brings local farm-fresh produce to center stage. Mandarin tomato soup floats a tiny brunoise of summer vegetables and a sweet garlic flan; a ragout of summer pole beans is gussied up with toasted almonds and orange tomatoes, and is paired with a crisp basmati rice cake; and supple white-corn ravioli is infused with the earthy flavor of summer truffles.
User Reviews
msmerymac
March 16, 2009
I had been looking forward to trying Melisse for months. I mean, they have 2 Michelin stars AND a vegetarian tasting menu. That’s my kind of place! Sadly, Melisse really didn’t meet my expectations. Reading the reviews and seeing people complain about the price at first made me somewhat annoyed. You can look up the menu and see how much it will be. Plus, it’s a Michelin-starred French restaurant, so we aren’t talking Applebees prices, here. However, I can now say that they are spot on – the food just isn’t worth what they are charging for it. First, we were seated in a small room in the back with about 4 other tables rather than the main dining room. The atmosphere was stark and sort of lonely. I felt like I was waiting in a doctor’s office rather than a restaurant. We ordered a cocktail and a glass of champagne to start. Okay, but not great. The cocktails at Cut and Providence are much, much better. We got the tasting menus, of course. I like the idea of sort of choosing your own tasting menu. You can pick one starter, one appetizer, one main course, and one desert. You can also supplement cheese before dessert for an extra charge. The vegetarian menu, unfortunately, had only one choice for each, but you can substitute any other dish from the rest of the menu. The vegetarian menu is also $10 cheaper and comes with a cheese course without the supplement. Since it was black truffle season and I noticed they had a vegetarian pasta dish listed under their truffle specials, I decided to substitute that for my regular pasta. The rest of my menu was artichoke soup and gnocci. Well, they brought the truffle pasta first. Then they tried to give me the regular pasta dish as well… Um, I don’t want 2 pastas and a gnocci. It’s nice that they are trying, but there’s more to vegetarian cuisine than that. They did eventually bring the soup as my second course, though. The truffle dish was the best of the night. My boyfriend had the fois gras two ways, and liked one but not the other. His lobster was way too salty, as was my gnocci. We got wine pairings, which were just okay. The sommelier was really not that good, nor that plesant. The cheese course was great. Our server gave us about 10 choices. But it was a $30 supplement, I think, for my boyfriend to get the cheese course. Then the bill came. We don’t mind paying for good food, or paying for wine pairings, obviously. But we realized that, in addition to the $50 supplement for a truffle dish, they charged me the regular price for the tasting menu. Our server explained that when you substitute a dish, it reverts to a regular tasting menu. Even though I substituted a vegetarian dish with another vegetarian dish – and paid $50 extra to boot? Okay. I can kind of see that, but it wasn’t mentioned to us before the bill came. I know it’s $10 out of a $500+ meal, but it just seemed really petty. Basically, I’ve been to better restaurants. We didn't have anything horrible happen to us, but our time and money is worth more than this.Try Providence, with great service, a great sommelier, and great cocktails. I won’t make a point to go back to Melisse.
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WineAndFoodCritic
December 04, 2008
Melisse is the most amazing restaurant I have ever walked into! The atmosphere is comfortable, the service is exceptional the food presentation is just as amazing as good as it looks... I have worked in restaurants and I have had tasted food from all over the world, but Melisse is a cut above the rest. I was able to relax and take my time to enjoy each course without feeling rushed. If anyone wants to impress someone with exquisite cuisine, I highly recommend Melisse. Try anything with truffles!!!
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sorrocoprexus
November 06, 2008
We arrived for dinner at Melisse after hearing about the 2 star michelin rating. We had the Maine Lobster Thermidor, rib eye, duck breast, wild mushroom ravioli, duo of foie grais and Jamon Iberico Pata Negra. That's 2 appetizers, 2 first courses and 2 entrees. It took them 30 minutes to plate the next course. I work in the restaurant industry, and my god, if it took more then 10 minutes, 15 top for one course to the next, it'd be catching hell. If it had been 1 course late, i'd have been fine, 2 maybe but all 3 were late. My date's water glass went empty 3 times during the meal, i had to grab a bottle myself to prevent her from dying of thirst. The staff is slow, unattentive and complacent, downright lazy. They rather talk amongst themselves about their weekends then play attention to the costumers. These are bad economical times, restaurants are slow and competing for your business. Go to Jiraffe instead, it's in the same area.
read full reviewThe Details on Melisse Restaurant
Parking:
If you don't want to valet, residential parking north of Wilshire or metered parking on Wilshire are the best bets.
Save Money:
A tasting menu allows you to sample two or three items per course for $95 per person.
Category:
Payment Methods:
American Express, Diners Club, Visa, MasterCard
Restaurant Special Features:
Romantic Dining, Quiet, Special Occasion Dining, Private Rooms, Online Reservations
Cuisine:
Notable Chef:
Josiah Citrin
