06/23/09

By far the worst restaurant I've been to in 40 years

by NJS

We decided to have dinner at Patina because it was close to Dorothy Chandler. The manager upon noticing the very expensive Prada bag my friend was carrying made it his mission to dote on her the entire evening. He was arrogant, shallow and rude. Beyond his behavior, the food was not worth the price----tasteless, bland, forgettable. I ordered the New York Strip Pave---again forgettable. I'm conviced any good reviews on this restaurant must be written by the staff. I've made it a point to mention my experience at Patina to as many people as I can. My friends intend to write their own reviews as well. Stay away...stay very far away!!!!

• Pros: None
• Cons: Arrogant manager, drab, bland overpriced menu

06/14/09

Horrible Service

by labz

The appetizer we ordered they were out of, so they brought a substitution without even making us aware beforehand.

We ordered several different bottles of wine, and the waiter poured a new bottle over a different glass of wine.

No apologies, just utterly rude and incompetent service.

• Pros: None that I can think of
• Cons: Read below

12/28/08

Great Dining Experience

by toloko

Went to Patina last night for a special occasion. We were a little concerned because of the recent poor reviews about the wait staff. Shouldn't have worried, our waiter Kevin was excellent. Very knowledgeable and accommodating. My wife wanted the tasting menu and I wanted to order off the regular menu. We have had problems with this in the past at other restaurants. Not a problem for Kevin. Not only did he accommodate the request and pace the meals well, but he also substituted a course (cheese course) in the tasting menu with a second dessert at our request.

Now to the food. Our meals started with an amuse bouche of salmon sashimi, fennel and creme fraiche. I ordered the roasted veal chop with sweetbreads in a maple syrup glaze with chanterelles and cipolini onions. My wife had the tasting menu with green pepper crusted tuna belly, sauteed foie gras with bartlett pear, alaskan king salmon with white truffle infused parsnip crust, kobe beef, pear sorbet with a sponge cake and chestnut nougat (in place of cheese course) and a chocolate parfait with marshmallow ice cream. My meal was very good and my wife enjoyed the tasting menu (good but not out of this world). However, the service was impeccable (although not very busy) and really made the dining experience.

The wine list was excellent, but since I was the only one drinking wine, I opted for wines by the glass. I had a couple of glasses of the chateauneuf du pape which was good. When I wanted a third glass of wine with my meal and received a stern look from my wife, again Kevin came to the rescue and offered up a wonderful half glass option. I ordered a half glass of volnay premier cru to polish off the night (probably should have started with this, it was very good).

Meal was pricey (expect to spend $100+ pp), but good special occasion dining. Not crazy about the new venue, would have probably preferred their previous location on Melrose, but service was impeccable. Will definitely be back.

12/17/08

Well OK

by lois1234

Had a business dinner in the downtown location at the recommendation of my client. All in all it was a pleasent dinner. Friendly staff. The food was really tasty although a few dishes were too odd for me. Great room. Enjoyed the downtown vibe. I'm going to try another downtown restaurant called Engine something or other since I dug the city environment.

• Pros: most dishes are excellent
• Cons: some are not

11/21/08

Michelin, Please Take Away Their Star!

by kayinla

I was really excited to go to Patina, as it has a Michelin star, and had been well-written about in reviews. I was so disappointed by the experience, and now understand the controversy of the Michelin rating system.

The worst offense was my main, which was the halibut. It was very overdone and dry. One of my friends could also tell how overcooked it was from looking at it. If we could tell, why couldn't the chefs? This is basic cooking technique -- this sort of error is not acceptable at a well-rated establishment.

My friends ordered the tasting menu, which included a dish that had a weird cylinder of squash that was so hard (like a raw carrot), that I thought that it was going to go flying each time they cut into it. Also, one of them ordered the wine pairings, and the server repeatedly forgot to bring the wine with each course. We had to keep waving her down to remind her. By the dessert course, she was completely absent, so my friend didn't receive the wine at all for that course. There was no acknowledgement or apology regarding this horrible lapse in service.

The saving grace was the amazing desserts and cheese cart. However, that was hardly enough to redeem all the negatives. If you want to go to a Michelin restaurant, go to Gordon Ramsay's or Osteria Mozza instead!

11/13/08

Great place for Italian food!

by KO

Romantic, good service, good food.

Good Italian cuisine and they seems to have good chief!

They also have Valet parking!

• Pros: romantic, good service, good food
• Cons: can not think of any

06/25/08

incompetent and draconian catering

by ezrhino

i was at the bowl for the opening night not too long ago and there were two things that stood out. first, they served their red wine warm, extremely warm. did the management there not realize that it was 100 degrees outside? terrible. The other thing that I realize is the way they treat their employees. there must have been hundreds of them, but this does not mean that you scream at them like animals. I have seen this happen before and it really puts a bad taste in my mouth. the management there seem very ridiculous in their stress level and yet they still overlook things like warm red wine. the food was good but patina itself is another story.

they should be very careful of how they behave lest damaging video gets leaked, showing them for their true colors. the next time i see this kind of behavior from management, they will know where their business went...

05/19/08

Good Tasting Menu Followed by AMAZING DESSERT

by Foodie1025

Went into Patina a few days ago for a birthday celebration. Each one of us got the tasting menu, which was quite pleasing. Started off with a seaweed salad with a santa barbara spot prawn, which did not look too great, but tasted pretty good. As the menu went on a few of the highlights were the foie gras with champagne sauce, and the tender tasty rabbit with tomatoes, olives, and caper berries. We all were feeling good about the menu, and decided to add on the cheese cart. The cheese server did not really know what he was talking about, but it did not matter because all the cheeses we chose were all enojyable in their own way. From there we all got our desserts, and gosh was it good. It started off with a homemade yogurt with apricot bubbles (you have to see it in person to see what great work of art this is), and it was followed by a chocolate cylinder with espresso cream and vanilla gelato (this was heaven in my mouth).

Don't get me wrong there were some negatives too. The sommelier basically rushed us in choosing our wine and the servers who were non-existent when it came time to describe our dishes. Overall, though, Patina is a great place to dine and even greater if you just come in for cheese and dessert.

• Pros: Cheese Cart and Dessert
• Cons: Service

12/07/07

First time excellent, Second time terrible

by grillo2

When I pay as much for a meal as I do at Patina, I expect excellence. The first time I went last year, the food and service were exemplary. Everything was tasty and the service, impeccable. Last month, I went again and was astoundingly, mind-bogglingly disappointed. The food was horrible-- odd-tasting, too warm, too cold, too fishy, undercooked. I actually believe that the undercooked fish gave me intestinal distress the next day. Even the service was sub par. The waiter was overbearing, checking to make sure we were happy at all the wrong times and too often. We had ordered the chef's tasting menu with the wine pairing and the sommelier was frequently late in delivering the wine-- twice I had finished my course before he showed up with the wine. I will give them one more try, but if it isn't excellent, I'm done. I had much better food last time I went to Social Hollywood and it was 1/2 the price. Please clean-up your act, Patina. It was early on a Sunday evening and not too busy, so there are no excuses.

• Pros: Disney Hall location
• Cons: Inconsistent kitchen and service

10/15/07

Prefered the old location over this one

by caljacqui29

While the food is still high quality, I liked the decor and atmosphere of the old restaurant much more than the new location. The service is still one of the best and I love the cheese plate here.