asia de cuba

in honor of our 30th birthdays, viv & i decided to celebrate at asia de cuba in west hollywood.

to be honest, west hollywood isn't really my scene. even though i've loved the majority of my foodie experiences out there, i often wonder whether it's worth it dealing with the attitude that pervades that side of town. nevertheless, the show (and the blog) must go on, so i suppose i'll just have to sacrifice for my readership!

when we arrived in the area, we had a hard time figuring out which building was the mondrian hotel. after circling the hotel a few times, we rolled up to the valet in viv's snazzy BMW and were escorted out by two nice gentleman in white.

as soon as we walked into the mondrian, we stepped into wonderland. we went to the left and we ran into all the wannabeseens lounging about with all the other wannabeseens. (i felt a little like wretching, but i stopped myself.) we decided to turn around and check out the other side.

when we went to the right, we saw the restaurant before us. and i have to say that i was utterly impressed with the view -- a sea of white with a view of LA at the far end. i was also impressed with the fact that there were two quite normal women serving as the hostesses for the evening. when viv asked for a table w/a view, the hostess seating us was quick to offer us a table right by the window. and when i complimented the decor, the hostess showing us to our table was quite gracious and thanked me genuinely for my comment.

as soon as we were seated, i took a mental note of the view. needless to say, i've never been very impressed with the LA landscape. i mean, there's just not much to it, y'know? however, w/all its twinkling lights, even LA looked good from that window.

the evening started off great, considering that our server was tall, dark, and handsome, and quite amiable as well. he was quick w/our drinks (non-alcoholic as they were) and w/our menus, even offering several suggestions that we chose to partake of.

i'll be honest and say that i wasn't too intrigued by the options when i'd looked them up online earlier. however, since viv had suggested this place several times, i thought it was high time i gave it a try. thankfully, i was as impressed by the food as by our waiter!

to start, we chose the asian spiced pork spare ribs. these were utterly delicious, especially with a bit of sesame seed to garnish the dish. i dare say that this, coupled with the dessert, were the highlights of the meal. i would've been pleased to have a couple more ribs for the road.

for the entrees, viv chose a nice flaky fish (i want to say butterfish) while i went for the tofu (since i wasn't looking to eat heavy). we also went w/the plaintain fried rice w/avocado salad (which most people, including our waiter, refer to as the "avocado fried rice"). while the plating presentation was en pointe for everything we ordered, i must admit that i wasn't as thrilled by the entrees. the fish was OK but it seemed a little *too* flaky. (and i tend to be more of a sea bass sort of girl.) the tofu was quite good, especially when dipped in the sauce. the rice was good too, but it was pretty much just avocado plopped over a bowl of fried rice. don't get me wrong -- it was delicious. but it wasn't anything so spectactular. i just didn't get the hype.

which was totally unlike the DESSERT we ordered. now, granted, i don't remember the exact name of the amazing piece of decadence we plunged our forks into, but what i do remember is that it came out as two HUGE pieces of super moist cake w/luscious layers of cream, coconut, and caramel. after all the aforementioned eating, i could barely get more than a few bites down. and seeing as how i'd never survive having it at home, i gave viv my half of the leftovers (i mean, SOMEONE should enjoy this, right?).

i felt pretty good after the meal, but viv must've had way more than me (or she's working w/a smaller stomach), b/c she was stuffed -- and promptly fell asleep during our AFI fest film!

overall, i thought the food was quite excellent. viv, however, said she wouldn't be back. not b/c of the food, but b/c of the progressively increasing level of noise and the progressively decreasing level of service throughout the night. it was quite unfortunate, but we could barely hear ourselves think after a while, what with the folks at the adjacent table talking as if the whole world needed to hear what they had to say. the worst thing was that, at some point, our tall, dark, and handsome waiter disappeared (probably on break or to the front of the room), and we were left with a random dude who never checked on us (particularly when we were dying for dessert) and required excessive waving before he came over to our table.

viv & i talked about this at dinner. when we go out to eat, we don't go out just for the food. we go out for everything else that comes with the food. and when service is sub-par, we notice. and when we notice, that's not good.

my best advice: make an early dinner reservation. otherwise, you run the risk of getting lost in the wannabeseen crowds.

asia de cuba
http://www.chinagrillmgt.com/adecLA/main.cfm?pp=0