Inn of the Seventh Ray

11/10/09

Overpriced woo-woo magic

by cjporkchop at Citysearch

For prices like this, I'd expect the food to 'wow' me. At least a little. And it doesn't at all. Underseasoned, overcooked, bland bland bland.

They seem to focus more on the food's woo-woo-magic than its taste. A quote from their website--

"We, at the Inn, believe in giving you the purest of Nature’s foods, energized as a gift from the sun with a dash of esoteric food knowledge and ancient mystery school wisdom tossed in for your seasoning and pleasure. It may just raise your body’s light vibration and the extra work may cost you a few pennies more, but we believe in the long run, this way of living and eating may prove less expensive."

Well, I've tried spending those few extra pennies, er, *twenty dollar bills*, but I guess those light vibrations don't add anything in the way of flavor.

I cannot recommend this place for a meal, but go for just dessert and enjoy the outdoor setting. You'll have a better time that way.

• Pros: Pretty outdoor atmosphere
• Cons: Insane prices for mediocre food

10/29/09

Getaway from the City?

by Sheauen at Citysearch

My boyfriend brought me here for a little "getaway" one weekend. We went for their brunch and I must say brunch was a great experience. Except for the bugs, which i know kinda comes with the package. There were a lot of bees. It didn't seem to be bothering other diners but I seemed to be drawing every bee from the restaurant to my plate. not to me, but my plate of food. Being allergic, i realized probably not the best idea for me.

A few months later we took my mom and sister here for a dinner, thinking that once the sun went down it would be better. Same situation, bees, lots of them, this time on all of our plates. The waiter brought out a dish of ground cloves and swore up and down that it would drive the bees away and proceeded to scatter clove powder all over the table. He also told us we were making too big of a deal of it and to ignore them and they would go away. Hard to ignore a bee thats planted itself on your 15 dollar salad making it impossible to eat.

We asked if we could move into a room and was moved there between our salad course and the main entree. They brought us the entrees and then we didn't see anyone for over an hour. We refilled our water on our own. We weren't offered dessert but was given our bill directly, when we stated we wanted dessert, another 30 minutes passed before we saw anyone again.

I like the atmosphere of this place, it is wonderfully romantic (if you can get over the bees and bugs) the food is good if not a little pricey. The service is questionable. I woudln't recommend going here for a special occasion. Maybe in the winter time to minimalize on the bugs.

• Pros: beautiful outdoor atmosphere
• Cons: bugs (a lot of them), barely there service

08/22/09

Save your money

by jvs9932 at Citysearch

This place is a Topanga Cyn legend. It's been here for decades, nestled into one of the loveliest little spots in the hills. But that's where the magic ends.

I am definitely a foodie but I only expect a few things when I go out to eat. Namely - good food and good service. Price is negotiable, depending on the level of the food and the service. Ambiance is last on my list.

The Inn of the Seventh Ray offers extremely overpriced food served in unimpressive fashion. My wife had a miniscule piece of overcooked salmon for $25 and I had the rib eye cap for $29. It was about the size of a can of tuna, and was nearly 1/3 fat. Not a nicely marbled piece of meat, but chunks of fat you would never eat in your life. It was served over a handful of sliced potatoes and topped with a creamy-ish concoction and a few fresh greens.

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind paying for a quality steak, or a quality anything for that matter, and I understand the importance of a nice location in which to eat dinner. But if you're gonna overcharge me for a tiny piece of fatty beef because your restaurant is in a charming spot, at least have a solid wait staff. Our waitress was very nice, but considering our party's bill was $400 for 8 people (2 kids), I was underwhelmed, to say the least.

I know we'll never go back there and recommend you go anywhere else for dinner as well.

• Pros: Ambiance
• Cons: Overpriced mediocre food and not so great service