La Cachette Bistro

French, Sure.

by pburstyn

OK foodies, here goes. You may not know this about me, but in a past life I worked as a professional chef in NYC. That being said I do know a thing or two about food, even though I have been known to frequent fast food dives.

We were promptly seated in a nice table at the back of the restaurant, just shy of the room in the back that probably gets used as a private party room, but looks like an afterthought.

I will agree with all about the decor and the accoustics, which were blah to say the least. The table beside us was so loud I thought they were sitting at mine.

The decore is sparse with a few French themed posters and a giant chalk bobard full of things on it that were hard to see through the disorganized way they were put on there. Apparently there are interesting things on it if you can actually read them.

To be honest I kept feeling like I got old before my time and was sitting in an old age home cafeteria. Sorry, but yes, most if not all of the patrons were well over 65.

We had a lovely server who really knew her stuff and was a great help in ordering our meal, albeit disappointing to say the least, but more on that in a minute.

The tip off was when we came in and I saw that the chef was at the bar (For whatever reason) and not in the kitchen. You know it is a slow night if the chef is out of the kitchen at 8:00, which is supposed to be rush hour.

Now, the food... In a word, blah to blah plus. What self respecting French Bistro will have salt and pepper on the table? I'll tell you... none. French cuisine is supposed to be cooked so well that the patron will not need anything else. And the salt was in it's original container. Made me feel like I was in some run down dump.

The table ordered as follows: Warm goat cheese salad, turkey meatballs, 2 lobster bisques. The goat cheese was so soft it barely held up and was overwhelming. The turkey meatballs were gummy, and the lobster bisque was not what you would expect. It was very briney, not so creamy (As instructed by our wate person) and no lobster in it to mention, something I would expect for the price.

Next course, lamb stew with couscous and root vegetables, veal picata, hamburger, and seafood chiopino. The chiopino had the same liquid form the lobster bisque, hmmm. Veal picata was spicey... since when? The burger was OK and then there was gnocci ala bolognses. So in a word... blah.

Sorry folks, but there is no way I am going to go back to this place. It just didn't hold up to what I heard about it.

Peter Burstyn is a former chef from NY and is now an insurance agent with Farmers Insurance. Visit farmersagent dot com/pburstyn

Good, could be better

by jgeissinger

First, the pros: romantic atmosphere, loungy bar, fun, flirty Frenchmen. The "mixologist" is hilariously energetic and his concoctions are probably the best thing about the place. Try the mango mohito with red pepper flakes. YUM! The cons: the food is solid but uninspired. Presentation is better than the actual quality of the dish. I had the scallops, which were slightly overcooked, and served with an avocado puree that tasted good but had browned and was visually unappealing. Service is friendly, but inattentive. Our waiter brought the wrong credit card back to our table THREE TIMES. Very apologetic, but this is colossally bad service.

Food was okay, tables were unclean

by Gilly78

My boyfriend and I went to La Cachette for lunch. Both of us were unimpressed with the mixed mushroom soup, which tasted like pureed dirt. The mixed market seafood gratin was good; the sauce complemented and enhanced the flavors of the seafood. The cassoulet, on the other hand, was surprisingly bland given the array of splendid, usually flavorful meats included in it.

While the food was decent, the ambiance was pretty unpleasant. We were seated at a table with dirty paper sheets. When we asked that the sheets be replaced, the server reluctantly changed only the sheet directly in between us (there were two covering the table). The tablecloth under the sheets were wine- and grease-stained. The water brought to our table had food particles in it.

The place seems to have potential, but my personal experience there was extremely disappointing.

• Pros: Lots of street parking
• Cons: Unclean

Happy hour with La Cachette Bistro

by Jackiee031

Hey, my name is Jackie and I am working with LCB. If you are in the Santa Monica area stop by for our great happy hour specials from 4:30 to 6:30, M-F. You can get some great dishes like Hawaiian Ahi Burger on Brioche or Organic Grass Fed Beef Burger with Fig Chutney for $6. See you soon!

• Pros: Great Specials

She ain't what she used to be

by saxifrages

It had been years since my beau and his friends had been to La Cachette but they had some fond memories. My beau craved French for his bday so I arranged a celebration with the friends there. While waiting for our pals, the friendly chef/owner told us that the location will be closing and they will reopen in Santa Monica as more of a bistro. He said that the hard to find location had been hurting their biz. We noticed mostly white hair loyalists in the faded dining room.

The service was great and we had no complaints about service. The food, however, was absolutely flavorless. there was a tremendous lack of salting. I had the special foie gras and it was bland. I ordered cassoulet, the most French of all dishes, and it tasted like Refried Beans. We sent the cassoulet back and the chef apologized, agreed with our finding and sent back a substitute that was not much better. Nothing that the four of us ate was enjoyable, including lackluster desserts. It appears that not only is the chef delegating too much prep to the unskilled but he, himself, has lost all sense of taste.

It is not the location which has diminished their business.

Everything we had was not good. Yet the bill was crazy high. We could have eaten at Melisse for the same amount and had a world class meal in an elegant environment.

• Pros: good service
• Cons: really bad food, very expensive