Brulee

Only been here once… yet! So I’m going to wait to give it five stars until having been again. The food here is astoundingly good… lovingly prepared by the chef/​owner. The only less-​than-​perfect thing was a rather limp salad. Other than that… Beverly Hills has nothing on us here in LB. The night I came, the place was practically deserted, and it made me worry… will this gem last? It *should* be packed with a waiting line every night. It’s that good!
I’ll definitely be back.

So delish! The food was amazing! The service could have been better but the food is so amazing that it makes up for the mediocre waiting staff. We had to ask three waiters four different times if we could get some more bread… eventually we got it and we were in such good spirits it turned into a game rather than irritation. I got the salmon pasta. Oh. My. Gosh. So good! The salads are also amazing… yum, yum, yummy :)

What a local suprise! Terrific service, friendly atmosphere and amazing food. The best white salmon ever! My husband was speechless over his lamb shank. Indulge yourself with the chocolate volcano — OMG — the 3 extra miles you’ll have to put in will be well worth it.

WOW such a great new restraunt! Went for Father’s Day and was so IMPRESSED. The atmosphere is very open, relaxing. The food was great! Service was outstanding. Prices are resonable for the amazing food and drinks. Very classy place. Suprised it wasn’t busier, but it is a really new, and definately not cmplaining; we got a lot of attention :) This place is the new go to dinner out for my family now!

Lovely atmosphere for a Tuesday night. They had a live Jazz band that were not overpowering but very enjoyable. Appetizer was a potato leek soup that was seasoned perfectly. One of the other specials was Lamb shank with roasted veggies. The meat was so tender it fell off the bone. It was served with a mint sauce. Service was great Michelle was attentive without being obtrusive. I had brulee for dessert.
Great experience I will be back!

We loved our experience at Brulee tonight: the food is so delicious and very well priced for the amount of TLC that goes into it (quality ingredients, large portions and lovely presentation), the atmosphere is cute and unpretentious, and the service (from our waiter Billy) was just perfect – attentive, informative and kind, but not overbearing. Chef Francisco also visited our table twice, bringing us an amuse bouche and then a wonderful tiramisu-​like dessert. Very cool.
Here’s what we had:
Wine: Dry Creek Zinfandel — surprisingly good for the price & large pour
Appetizers: 1) Gruyère Creampuffs, 2) Roast Beef Sliders — both very tasty
Entrees: 1) Short Rib Ossobucco — yummy, but not amazing; 2) Chilean Sea Bass — totally delicious & amazing; I would definitely come back for this dish alone
Can’t wait to try brunch and dessert.

Unfortunately I have to update my review. The last 2 times I went of weekends for breakfast we could not have had worse service. Really slow, wrong food, wrong bill!
Good food, but for god’s sake get more waitresses or waiters.

This is my first review in quite some time (I know, I know… I’m a bad Unilocaler) but that just goes to show you how great my experience at Brulee was.
My husband and I were taken there by our families as a celebratory dinner in honor of our recent nuptials, and I couldn’t have had a better experience/​meal. I was a little apprehensive at first but I really shouldn’t have been, my new in-​laws are total ‘foodies’ and know good food.
The hubz and I both ordered the osso bucco and let me tell you, I’ve been craving it ever since! The short ribs were cooked perfectly (they fell right off the bone), mashed potatoes had the perfect amount of garlic and the grilled veggies were crazy delicious. I also had a bit of my mom’s french onion soup (which I’m not always a fan of)…it did not disappoint. Our osso bucco dishes were $ 22 a piece, which is extremely reasonable. Come to think of it, everything on the menu seemed reasonable. It’s not cheap but it definitely won’t break the bank.
Chef Francisco came out to greet us a few times (my in-​laws are frequent patrons of this restaurant) and he even made a special dessert for the hubz and I – a huge dish with chocolate lava cake, some kind of raspberry hazelnut thing (no idea what it was – all I know is it was amazing), chocolate covered strawberries and he wrote ‘congratulations’ on it! Because we’re gluttons, we also ordered a few of the apple tatins… O M G. Get this when you dine here. Do it. You won’t regret it.
I highly recommend this place and will be back! :)

Me and my wife went for lunch, but neither of us can wait to go back for dinner or a breakfast. We went in on a weekend during off-​hours and the place was deserted. I have to guess it’s somewhat due to the placement of the restaraunt, hidden behind another building in the lot. We only knew about it because we kept hearing such great things from locals.
We sat on comfy couch seats, got complimentary bread, herb butter, bruschetta & olives. We then ordered pom/​lemonades and a house Chardonnay (that was half-​off due to their afternoon happy hour specials) Both were great, and although the pom was a little sweet for my tastes, the wife loved it.
We both ordered the onion soup (also half-​off as all appetizers are during happy hour). It was really strong, but in a good way, seemed made in-​house, and the cheese was tasty, plentiful and not too stringy as it is at some places.
For meals I ordered the curry walnut cranberry salad sandwich and the wife ordered the Cesar wrap, both came with fresh fruit (fresh cut, not canned). Everything, from the herbs in their butter, to the tortilla for the wrap, appeared and tasted fresh. Both of us enjoyed our meals, although my wife was a bit jealous because the curry salad sandwich was amazing.
We finished by eating their vanilla bean namesake as a dessert. I’m not a Brulee master, but we were both very pleased with it and look forward to trying their other unique desserts in the future.
The music was nice and relaxing, the service was equally so. The seating was comfy and the meal doesn’t look huge, but we both had enough left over for a meal that night. The soup in itself is a meal after the bread and bruschetta. Give them a shot, I think they’ll win most over.

How does one expect to find these diamonds in the rough if the fatso blocks the street view? A.K.A. How would you ever find this place if another building is blocking its street view?
I’m talking about Brulée, a French Californian Cuisine and Bakery tucked away in a small strip mall, hidden behind a bank on the street corner. Though it may be possible to see this from PCH, I wager 99% of anyone who drives down PCH will never see Brulée, but instead will either see the Chinese restaurant or the bank. But boy am I glad I decided to stop by here to eat.
Brulée is a small little restaurant, but the interior may surprise you. At the back is an espresso bar. An espresso bar?! I’m sold. Anyways, the lights that hang from the ceiling look like paper lanterns, adding to the homely ambiance. On the left side of the dining areas are tables with sofas. These aren’t normal sofas that you would expect at a restaurant — these are cloth/​plush sofas complete with small pillows.
On Sundays, they offer a champagne brunch, which is a mix of their breakfast and lunch menus. The servers offered us free mimosas and champagne. Score!
The chef/​owner says that he goes to the farmers’ market every week to get ingredients. It clearly shows in the food here, as the food is definitely unlike anything else I’ve tried. I am never disappointed with the food here. Speaking of which, since the chef does go to the farmers’ market for ingredients every week, obviously the ingredients offered are not the same. As such, the menu at Brulée changes weekly. The customer favorites stay on the menu a bit longer, while everything else cycles out after a week. In other words, don’t expect to see the same dishes on the menu if you come here occasionally.
The Belmont Shore Mobile Estates dish is a typical breakfast dish — eggs, hash browns, sausage, bacon, and pancakes. The sausage tastes homemade because it is too juicy for its tenderness, unlike normal store-​bought sausages. The bacon is not normal bacon — it has the consistency and flavor of pastrami. That’s not a bad thing, because it isn’t heavily fried, so you get the flavor of bacon without the grease. The pancakes are made with whole wheat and has pecans in it. The pecans add an extra bit of crunchiness that gives it extra justice.
The Salmon Penne Pasta is an ultimate health dish. Pasta, salmon, veggies, EV olive oil… Yeah, it’s terrific. The sun-​dried tomatoes make this dish worth it.
Duck Two Ways — seared duck breast and shredded duck confit. Wow is this an amazing entrée. The duck breast is topped with an orange and cranberry sauce, so the first bite is sweet and tart. Then you get the succulent texture of the duck. At last, you get the smoky flavor from the searing. It’s bliss I tell you. The duck confit has the flavors cooked into it, making it just as good. Clearly, this is one of my favorite entrees.
I never make it to the dessert menu, because I’m too busy downing all my food from appetizers to my entrée, although their Apple Tatin sounds too good to skip…
Okay where to go from here… Right, let’s cut to the chase.
Food: High quality ingredients, and high quality entrees
Drinks: Mint lemonade is addicting. Wine offerings are nice. No other alcohol though.
Service: Family-​owned place, they all came out to greet and talk to us. Servers are attentive to all our needs
Other: The love sofas are great for couples coming here for dinner
It’s these mom & pop restaurants that remind me why I love food so much! Kudos to the chef for starting up this business, because I will definitely be telling EVERYONE I know about Brulée!

I took my family here for Easter Brunch on the recommendation of my favorite Aunt and I was very impressed with the warm inviting atmosphere of the dining room and the delicious food. The chef and owner, Francisco, came around to all the tables to see how everything was and our waiter, Chris, was most attentive. We will definitely return.

Such a memorable experience at Brulee! Ossobucco short rib was fall off the bone amazing and the veggies were perfectly crisp.
My dinner mates had the Chilean sea bass and another had the duck combo. Read Mary M’s review– her enthusiasm and description speaks for both of us!
Loved the crème brûlée– freshly torched so you get a caramelized crunch. LOTS of flecks of vanilla bean– can’t beat that!
Service was slow but not lagging (I think they were short staffed). I think it’s the kind of place where you can go to have a leisurely meal to catch up and talk with friends.
I want to go back and try their breakfast. Wanna go, Mary?

Mixed reviews on Unilocal so I was afraid, but I was surprisingly satisfied! I want to go back again!
Service was a bit slow, but the staff was diligent. We had the chef come out to greet us and then another staff/​chef person inform us that our food was on the way. They served us with complimentary amuse-​bouche (small bite size serving) of potato with salmon caviar. I thought it was a bit fishy but my friends thought it was delightful.
Ok here is the best part:
1) CHILEAN SEA BASS IN LEMON SAUCE WITH MASHED POTATOES. –it was soo good and definitely the favorite at this restaurant. the sea bass was perfectly seared and moist with flakes falling right off. Extremely moist and the sauce was light but had a powerful zest to it. I LOVED IT! we ordered 2 for our table.
2) Two ducks — confit and seared? I thought it was just alright. I think my taste buds were overpowered by the sea bass (yumm…).
3) Osso Bucco was very tender. The meat was falling off the bone and perfectly seasoned. I enjoyed that tasting very much thank you.
For dessert we ordered vanilla bean crème brûlée (generous serving that we shared among us four) I like all crème brûlée! Second dessert dish was a tiramisu. It had more crème/​mascarpone then it did lady fingers, but it was quite tasty — slightly smaller serving overall. I like sharing desserts, because you just want to try everything.
We also got coffee and a complimentary madeleine cookie. I liked my whole experience. Yes, there was a bit of a wait, but my friends and I were in no rush. Hopefully they get more wait staff to help with the overload for future evenings out.
Next time I go, pan roasted halibut AND chilean sea bass (again!)

My two trips to Brulee have been a mixed bag, and at the prices, I am pretty sure that I won’t be back. Just two many things for them to iron out for me to spend so much.
It’s not the I am unwilling to part with my cash for an exceptional dinner and I generally know what I am getting into price-​wise when I enter a restaurant with a certain ambiance. I am also not generally considered high maintenance by those who know me well, and I spent twenty years as a server, so I know that the restaurant business can be a hard go.
But, if I am paying $ 22 for an entrée on an ala carte menu, I expect a lot more attention to detail than I have experienced at Brulee.
My dinner wasn’t a disaster service-​wise and my server was friendly and kind; very welcoming. I was dining alone and she offered me the same level of attention that she offered the couple seated near me, which I know can sometimes be an issue for single diners.
I ordered the Osso Bucco, which wasn’t made with oxtail as is traditional, but with short ribs and it was truly delicious. Vegetables were nicely prepared, rather than treated as an oversight. But the bread was horrible. It was as if they had bought that frozen bread dough that used to be sold at the supermarket and used it to attempt to make baguette shaped loaves from it. Flavorless and I could have done better by buying baguettes at Trader Joes and eaten them at home on the cheap than this crud. Herbed butter is a nice idea, but why use unsalted butter, which rendered it somewhat flavorless as well?
My table had no salt and pepper, and although a young man came by the change the tea light on my table, it was never lit. Just because I am eating alone doesn’t mean I don’t want my table pretty as well as anyone else. What is the deal with that? If a single person goes out to eat somewhere fancy, can’t it be presumed that they want to pamper themselves a bit?
The caesar salad was ok, not spectacular, but it did have an intriguing presentation: the chef had melted the cheese into a sort of large cheese wafer, rather than mixing it into the salad itself. Dressing was not up to snuff compared to the amazingly delicious osso bucco. I was given a yummy Madeleine with my coffee and check, which was a nice touch, as well as complementary slice of potato with crèche fraiche and salmon caviar while I waited for my salad, another nice touch. I left with mixed feelings — while I had enjoyed the osso bucco, I felt that I had paid too much given how uneven the rest of the meal was.
Wanting to be fair, I thought I would give it another try for brunch. I think they need more help on the floor or better organization, because there were a number of clothless tables and several that had missing salt and pepper shakers, etc. I don’t mind sharing condiments at a diner; I do expect a bit more at a fairly pricey restaurant.
My server, although pleasant, never got back to check on my meal. The owner offered me salt and pepper (I wanted to salt my avocado) and he never returned with it. A number of tables near me were advised by their servers that complementary champagne or mimosas were included with brunch and I was never told this. My omelette, though tasty, was not spectacular and had hardly any cheese on it. And it seems to me that a French restaurant should make French-​style omelettes, not puffy whipped American style ones. And c’mon guys, you are shooting for gourmet status — can’t you really think of more imaginative cheeses for omelettes than American, Swiss, provolone and cheddar? The omelette came with baby potatoes that were heavily herbed and while the herbs were delicious the potatoes did not taste like they were fully cooked.
Overall, while I enjoyed certain aspects of Brulee, I can’t really say that I will be back anytime soon.

I like this place — a lot. I had dinner here the other night and it was great. I had the tuna appetizer and the cheese puffs. The puffs were incredible. Perfect. The little spread they give you with the bread is subtle and delicious.
I also had the French onion soup which was incredible but did not have the pastry puff shell. I need that please. ;)
I also just had brunch there and it was so busy and understaffed that we had to wait a bit but I was understanding. The table of 4 of THE most irate, old women at the table next to me just complained the whole time about their meal. After wolfing down their food they conceded (I overheard) that it was «really quite good».
I ordered the Bel Shore Mobile Estates meal which had eggs, turkey bacon, beef sausage (herbed and to DIE for!!) and pecan pancakes.
The hashbrowns were regular frozen type shredded which disappointed me. I was hoping for herbed potatoes or something? The pecan pancakes were dry and trumped totally by the scones and homemade jam the waiter brought us. IT MADE MY ENTIRE DAY!!!
I will be back for those scones, dear GOD!
The bathroom needs to have the trashcan near the door so I can wipe my hands and use the towel to open the door then throw it away. Currently the wastebin is near the sink and that leaves me to endure have to use my sleeve to open the door. :(Please move the trashcan?
So why 5 stars if all these things? Well, the food is GREAT in those aspects. I don’t feel like giving it less stars as they are still relatively new. I am happy to see them work out the kinks as long as the food stays quality.
Summary:
needs better hashbrowns
needs to move bathroom trashcan near door
taste test the pecan pancakes a bit more.
OH! How could I forget. I got the banana tart dessert and lost my mind! It is both rich and delicate in the same bit and blew my mind. I love that the chef interacts and I want to see this place stay and improve. Hopefully they read Unilocal.I love em!

I dedicate my 600^th review to my mom.
To celebrate my mom’s birthday, she decided she wanted to have dinner at Brulee, which seems to be her new favorite restaurant. I think my parents have been there several times because they seemed to be very familiar with the menu.
While they raved about the fish selections, I decided to order the chef’s set menu instead since everything on it was made from ingredients found at the local farmer’s market.
First we were given an amuse bouche of potato topped with crème fraîche and salmon caviar. It was a pleasant surprise.
My starter was a frisee salad topped with candied pecans, blood orange, oro blanco grapefruit, and dried cranberries in a lemon vinaigrette. This salad was absolutely delicious! I tried my parents crab cakes and tuna tartar, which were also good. But I’m telling you, this salad blew me away.
My entrée was chicken with assorted mushrooms served with carrots, asparagus, some other vegetable (baby turnips?) and Yukon Gold mashed potatoes. The chicken was a tad dry, but overall I liked the dish. BF and my parents all had the Chilean sea bass. The piece of fish was huge and was accompanied by a ton of veggies, too.
Then came dessert, which was a warm rosemary-​apple tart. Amazing! The tart was puffed pastry on the bottom with fresh, crisp apples baked with rosemary. It was a delightful combination.
When the bill came we were brought a plate of complimentary brown-​sugar madeleines. Delicious!
I give Brulee a solid 4.5 stars. Definitely worth going back and trying again.

Breakfast at Brûlée! 5 Star Food!
The Breakfast menu has mostly eggs and omelets. I ordered the La Rochelle Benedict, which came with basil, tomatoes, two beautifully prepared eggs atop a muffin and petite red potatoes which were deliciously prepared.
I also ordered fresh squeezed orange juice and espresso with milk. My dessert was Homemade Pomegranate Lemonade with Mint (DELICIOUS).

Total Damage…
La Rochelle Benedict: $ 14.00
Espresso $ 2.00
Fresh Squeezed OJ: 2.50
Pomegranate Lemonade: $ 3.50
-$ 4.40 for special 20% deal.
Total: 19.32
~Desserts
This place bakes its own pastries, so I went ahead and took a look at the dessert menu. Most notable desserts included Vanilla Bean Crème Brûlée, Lemon Meringue Tart, AND CARAMELIZED BANANA TART w/​DULCE DE LECHE SAUCE AND ICE CREAM (mm sounds so yummy)! I figured I did enough damage and opted to finish my meal.
~ Other Items
The Lunch menu includes Salads, Sandwiches, Pasta, Organic Eggplant and Veggies. The Dinner menu includes such things as pizzas, steaks, Sea bass, Half Roasted Chicken and even Lamb.
This place is new and only has been around for about a month.
~Ambiance
Very open and airy. My hostess, Laura, was terrific and made sure I was taken care of.
*Bonus, this place has free wifi!
****Overall, my food was definitely 5 Stars, but very expensive for a
breakfast. I took one star off for cost, which would have been over
$ 24.00 for breakfast without the special. BUT, folks, this is the
REAL DEAL… Terrific, flavorful, and tasty breakfast!

Avoid breakfast. Exceptionally slow service, very limited menu. How can you screw up yogurt and granola?
This place needs fine tuning, for sure.

A mixed review on Brulee. I kinda like that they are attempting to serve upscale food in a strip mall setting. I liked the windows and light. Good service and a ton of staff running around.
Started with a little fig stuffed with all kinds of things drizzled with chocolate. They bill it as an starter but it tasted like a desert. Rich and maybe a little too so. We also had a puff pastry stuffed with cheese and herbs. Very nice but again, more like a dessert.
The salads were all $ 10 and up and way too small (basically side salads) so we skipped them. The bread is billed as made on the premises but all of us thought it tasted off — maybe a little sweet? We couldn’t figure that one out. I’m a bread freak. Give me some warm, soft sourdough!
The three dishes we tried (the dinner menu only has about 6 choices) were: Short Ribs (only one but amazingly good), Halibut with smashed taters and a pasta dish with salmon. I had the fish and the portion was adequate but the fish was just OK. It was surrounded with underdone brussel sprouts and bok choy and an interesting kinda spinach/​onion thing. I like bok choy and BS so I would wish they would get them a little softer so I could eat them.
The pasa dish was very average. And the salmon in it did not taste super fresh to me. No big flavors on that one.
The short rib was outstanding. Fall-​off-​the-​bone tender and juicy. Again, only one on the plate and it was gone before the hunger was.
All these dishes are $ 16 to $ 22 each.
They gave us a free chocolate cake dessert that had a crunchy part that reminded my of the carmelized sugar on top of crème brûlée. It was delish. But again, 1″ square! PLEASE, I’m hungry!
They have only been open a few weeks so I will give them another chance. I’m sure they are experimenting with the menu and dishes. They are trying hard and I feel like they might be able to pull it off if they listen to feedback (and make the portions bigger ;-)
I’m giving it a four star rating even though it felt like three because they are thinking outside the box and trying to create a memorable experience. More restaurants should be doing that!

was in there yesterday (Sunday – 2009, 9 August) – nice people & place but seem to be still getting their act together – only been there a week, so guess that’s to be expected. place and people seem to have a good vibe about them – confidence is high they will be up to speed in no time. prices are really fair – more on the low side than the high – which in my book, is good.
with a name like ‘brulee’, i was surprised at how ‘unfrench’ the menu items were – seemed more like california cuisine to me. lunch menu is pretty limited – only a couple sandwiches and i think three entrees. dinner menu looked little more extensive, but doesn’t begin serving until 5:30 pm. i think lunch is served 1100 — 1430.
offered me bread/​butter between when i ordered and chow came – bread was good, i guess they bake it daily on premisis, but would have been better if it was warm – server also mentioned veggies are all organic and they make everything else from scratch. I was pleased/​surprised how quickly they prepared my food and brought it, piping hot, out to me.
had the hamburger w/​terriaki (sp?) on the side, pineapple & cheese good, but messy – also came with fries, which were okay but it’s tough to make fries stand out. pickle was pretty good too.
wait staff was attentive, not completely knowledgeable about the menu, but to my server’s credit, she got all the information i was asking – rather than trying to bluff her way through. both the owner and my server told me their beer/​wine license is pending – but in the interim, there’s no corkage fee – told’em i’m not a drinker, but my observation’s been: people like to see a ‘no corkage’ policy.
burger and fries is a good value at $ 10 but was not enough food for me, so I [uncharacteristically] ordered dessert too – chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and a strawberry. cake took 10 minutes to prepare, but was warm & had oozey chocolate in the middle – was rich – again, not much food, but really good nonetheless.
since they were in their first week – everything on the menu was 25% off – something I found out after ordering my burger – but before ordering the choc cake – which was good, but not worth the $ 8 pricetag – splurged and paid $ 6 (with the 25% off) but normally would only paid $ 5 tops. not a big dessert guy here.
they seem to be fine-​tuning their menu and have specials in the evening, but not during the day – at least not yet. will definitely go back – i pass that strip mall all the time, and am glad this place is here – gutsy move opening a new business in this economy, but like ‘at last café’ has proven – a winner is a winner in any economy. i think this place will make it – ‘least i hope so. would have normally given it maybe 3 or 3.5 stars, but given they’re new – decided to err on side of optimism and giv’em 4.