NineThirty

I have always had impeccable service dining at NineThirty. I usually get the scallops which are delish. Their bittersweet molten chocolate lava cake is just to die for! I am
Not typically a dessert girl but their dish is just outstanding. Lovely restaurant!

Great recommendations from Roquell and Tommy. Cool atmosphere and good drinks. Didn’t order food but might later

Came here with a friend from out of town on a weekday. It was surprisingly empty, so we got pretty good service. We ordered the scallops and the white cheddar burger, which were both delicious! It’s definitely not a cheap place though, but you’re paying for the ambience as well as its location in the W hotel. Currently it’s undergoing renovations so it’s not open. The other restaurant that is is the Backyard, which is outside by the pool.

Service — 4 stars
Food — 3 & 4 stars
Grilled calamari w/​beans and lentils — 4 stars
Rocket, pomegranate, & burrata salad — 3 stars
Beef bourguignon — 3.5 stars
Bittersweet warm chocolate cake — 4 stars

The server was really nice, the setting was really beautiful. But at the end of the day, the food was very mediocre. IHOP-​level mediocre. I just wasn’t really blown away by anything, and it was expensive for what we got.
I loved the aesthetic and the service was spot-​on… but at the end of the day, when the food is ho-​hum you don’t really want to return…

I have to say I was very skeptical of the food here because I’ve had brunch at the pool before and that meal was overpriced, with mediocre food and poor service. Lots of lukewarm reviews too.
HOWEVER! We had dinner here last night because we were staying at the hotel and I was pleasantly surprised! Everything we had was quote tasty and the service was much better this time around.
Apps
Lamb chops were legit!!! Medium sized (not small) and well seasoned. Perfectly cooked. I was gnawing on the bones — not joking.
Apple salad was tasty with fennel and radish and wasn’t overdressed. Refreshing.
Main courses
Burger was quite excellent! While in principle, it’s totally ludicrous to charge $ 18 for a burger, this burger had a fried pickle that stayed crunchy on the outside and inside til the last bite! The pretzel roll was soft but was sturdy enough to keep the burger together the whole meal but didn’t add too much girth. The waffle sweet potato fried were some of the best we’ve had!
Scallops with sausage and pasta was also very, very tasty. Definitely rich but the sauce wasn’t too salty or too creamy. The scallops, which were perfectly cooked, were the star and their delicate flavor wasn’t overpowered by the pasta.
After a nice meal, I have to stop sippin’ on that hate-​orade!

Overpriced Bad
Service Bad
Restrooms Bad
No Dancing w/​a dance DJ Bad
Food Cold, Bad
We were the only large party the entire evening which offered them many opportunities to shine.
Water 15 minutes
Empty glasses 15 – 20 minutes
Asking people if they are done while they have food in their mouths…

So there we were, Thursday night in Westwood, me and two friends, enjoying an incredible tasting menu of new dishes created by Top Chef contestant Dakota Weiss. When all of a sudden in walked my other good friends Amy Poehler, Jane Lynch, Adam Scott, Jessica Alba, Clark Duke, and all the guys from the show Castle. Hugs, kisses, and handshakes were exchanged, they all took a seat. They told us they were there for a big movie premier party, A.C.O.D. Knowing they’d missed our dinner, they started asking what we had eaten.
We told them all about the amazing appetizer of fresh baked sourdough loaf with a wheel of deliciously tangy goat cheese covered in truffle butter.
Then we moved to the salad course: sauteed calamari with chick pea, carrot and cauliflower salad, the roasted brussels sprouts with poached egg and avocado mash, and the heirloom tomato and stone fruit salad with burrata cream
Then another short round of appetizers: house made terrine with house made whole grain and honey mustard and fruit mostarda, and the stewed clams with chorizo, carrots, onions, and white wine.
Then for dinner: the miso glazed sea bass, potato croquettes in truffled fonduta, grilled bacon with apple chimichurri, the house made pasta with farmers market mushrooms, pea shoots, and freshly shaved truffles.
Then for second dinner: pan seared scallops and italian sausag with shell pasta in a creamy sauce and the pork loin stuffed with sage and served with roasted figs and ciopollini onions.
And just when we thought we couldn’t eat anymore, dessert: Oops I dropped my ice cream cone, sticky figgy pudding with house made caramel corn, bread pudding, a molten lava cake with bruleed banana, and a house made «push pop» with mint sorbet and caramelized fruit.
And if that wasn’t enough, we finished off with a sampler of the entire line of Dakota’s Pop Parlor gourmet popcorns. Try the Mole and the Ghost Pepper ones. DELICIOUS.
After we settled up, Amy and Jane walked us into the party at the bar next door. We had a few stellas and vodka cocktails (sponsor plug ;)) hung for a while, said our goodbyes and then went home. After all, it was a school night, but what an incredible way to spend it!
TRUTH: The only celebrity I actually had a chance to meet was Chef Dakota. She’s a a rockstar in the kitchen, and everything she brought out was delicious and interesting. We did share her fantastic restaurant with the celebs named in the review, and my friend actually bumped into Amy Poehler in the bathroom. We were not invited to the party, but we did find our way in and it was a blast!

I was came in for a business breakfast on a weekday. The ambiance is great since there are not many sit down, waiter service restaurants that serve breakfast in this area.
I had the brioche with an egg in the hole. This was very delicious and I am absolutely not a fan of egg yoke, but I gobbled this up. Fresh and tasty.
Valet parking is $ 5 but you can find plenty of street parking for breakfast or lunch.

First of all, the W Hotel is beautiful.
That being said, the food is even better. We came for the @DineLa menu, and the selection was amazing. @DakotaWeiss has great vision. The everything from the squash carpaccio to the ganache tart not only had a very appealing presentation, but the taste was superb.
As far as the price, it’s very reasonable for the meal.
Also, as far as service, I saw some comment that the service was slow. Well, the sign outside does not say McDonalds. We enjoyed the set ice as well. We didn’t come for a 15 minute meal. It was an event, and a great one at that.
Thank you once again!

The food was decent, especially the Sea Salt Fries and Sweet Potato Fries (yes we ordered both!). The Grilled Chicken Paillard was nice, but certainly nothing extraordinary for the price.
The service was slow, especially considering the restaurant wasn’t too busy. Overall, I had an okay experience.

Late Review but went to the Dinela prixe fix menu here. For being pretty empty that night, it took forever for a waiter to come by and take our order. Even after ordering, we had to ask for bread at our table and water. I mean come on really? I thought this was the W hotel.
The food was kinda avg. I really wanted to like to bone marrow but found my piece to lack any marrow and over salted. The mussels were in an overly spicy sauce that made tasting any mussel kinda impossible. Everything else like the summer squash carpaccio was more witty in its presentation then memorable for its taste.
The only highlight were the sweet breads which had 3 dipping sauces. It even came with some toys like a happy meal.
For 35 bucks for what we got was a lil over priced. Most likely won’t be coming back for a full price meal.

Had our dinela dinner here. $ 35 prefix, each person 5 dishes.
I kinda like this kind of tapa menu, which you can try different dishes. But this is also sometimes a problem: I don’t remember any of the dish, and feel uncomfortalbe with all the food mixed together.
I just remember the chicken liver mousse was good, but compared with the one in Bouchon, I prefer latter. Bacon was really salty, just had one bite. And the sorbet, one of them is basil jalapeño, very strong flavor, unforgettable… Grilled peach with burrata, burrata is always delicious, i agree, but the peach was not. I don’t like the oyster either, not fresh enough to me.
The wine menu was really expensive, so we skipped it that night.

Came here for dinner. The atmosphere was ok, a bit too quiet and dark for my taste. I didn’t make a reservation, but the restaurant was almost empty (weekday). I had their 3 courses pre-​fixe. Had their lobster slider for appetizer, no it wasn’t tasty, lobster a bit overcooked… Main course I had the scallop, it wasn’t tasty neither. @_@” The scallop was not very fresh, it lacks the sweetness of seafood, and also a bit overcooked. However, their dessert was VERY GOOD!!! Can’t remember the name, but I remember there were caramelized banana and ice cream on the plate, super DELICIOUS.
I wouldn’t come back unless friends want to go or just for the dessert. I would rate it 2.5 stars if I can because the food was way overpriced for the quality, and not tasty!

I took my best friend to NineThirty for her 21^st birthday, and after our experience there, I feel that we couldn’t have chosen a better location for the occasion. In addition to a scrumptious meal with the DineLA deal and the phenomenal service we received, the ambiance of the restaurant was also exquisite and delightful.
I’m not sure whether the bread and butter served prior to our meal was part of the dineLA package, but the sour dough was more than satisfactory.
For appetizers, my friend called Hamachi Crudo, and I ordered the Hearts of Butter Lettuce. The birthday girl was pleased with the sliced hamachi served with a side of seaweed salad, and I thought the amount of vinaigrette and cottage cheese in my salad was just right.
For entrée, my friend had the Slow Braised Pork Belly while I went for the Spaghetti Squash «Lasagna». Once again, we were both very happy with our choices. However, I can only provide the details for my Spaghetti Squash «Lasagna.» Like any lasagna, the cheese is essential, but this item contains shreds of squash underneath the ricotta, which add a special touch to the overall texture and flavor. The Spaghetti Squash «Lasagna» isn’t drenched in marinara, but the drizzle of charred tomato coulis is right on. I definitely recommend this dish to vegetarians, and I suggest extracting the Portobello if you dislike mushrooms like I do.
There weren’t that many options for desserts on the DineLA menu, so my friend I decided to share the Plum and Tarragon Crumble and the Artisanal Spanish Cheese Plate. I warn you now do NOT order the cheese plate UNLESS you know what the various kinds of cheese from Spain taste like. The plate contains Manchego, Spanish Brie, Goat Cheese «BoDacious», and Bohemian Creamery. As much as I love cheese, some of them turned out to be too strong for me. The Plum and Tarragon Crumble is a tad too sweet, but you are gonna be thankful to have it after biting into a piece of goat cheese.
At NineThirty, we received the most genuine and quality service. When I inquired about the different types of cheese on the platter, our waiter took the trouble to ask a chef and even wrote it down on my notebook for me. He took out the dessert with a lit candle on top, sang happy birthday to my friend with me, and even paid for our cocktail as his birthday present to my friend.
Located inside the «W» hotel, the restaurant’s overall setting is classy and comfortable. With its rather dim lighting, I would say it’s a perfect place to go for a date as well.
The ONLY reason I did not give NineThirty 5 stars is because of its high price. Money is probably not even an issue for those staying at the W Hotel, and as for the less affluent UCLA students nearby, it’s a great place to go if you ever decide to splurge a little.

Came here for happy hour (5 – 6 pm) and was really pleasantly surprised that a trendy, upscale place like this exists in Westwood.
First and foremost – $ 1 oyster happy hour! How did I not know this place existed before? I’ve been searching high and low and have found some okay places, but somehow this W tucked away behind Westwood Village has possibly the best oyster happy hour in all of LA. Only one type of oyster is available, but they were exceedingly fresh, sweet, succulent and just all around delicious. We were overjoyed.
We also tried the sliders and sushi roll off the happy hour menu. The sliders were great, but a little pricey at 1 small slider for $ 3. The roll was okay – shiitake mushroom and asparagus – not bad but I would probably rather get another 4 oysters for those $ 4. Nothing else on the happy hour menu looked really appealing, so I would recommend just coming to gorge yourself on oysters and getting a couple sliders on the side. 50% off alcohol too!
Service was a little snooty when we mentioned the happy hour menu, but get over yourself dude. You’re in Westwood. And with those oysters, we didn’t even care.

We had a very relaxed and enjoyable breakfast here. The omelet was prepared perfectly and was filled with an ample portion of goat cheese, tomatoes and roasted artichokes. Also ordered oatmeal which came with a sprinkling of blueberries. A large bowl of tasty blueberries swiftly appeared at our table when we asked for a few more.
Service was excellent, as it was throughout our stay here. Moses, our server, made our dining experience memorable. He was personable without being obtrusive. When I mentioned that we use a french press to prepare our daily coffee, he volunteered to do the same. We were disappointed that he had the day off the following day because we were looking forward to his smiling welcome.
The menu items were pricey but to be expected in our surroundings. You get what you pay for and this dining experience was worthwhile.

Great service. The spicy huevos rancheros, however, were not spicy and the runny eggs were a bit of a surprise. On a second round of breakfast going with a simple order of scrambled eggs gained much better results.
Someone else at the table had the fluffy buttermilk pancakes with blueberries and they were simply awesome.

tres chic!
came here for the wine tasting during their Wine Down event. sat in the outdoor patio which was absolutely gorgeous. you can sit at the comfy sofas near the fireplace or by the corridor hidden in the dark if you want more privacy. they had a couple of tables set up as well. there are two flat screens so you dont have to worry about missing any games. the restaurant is very open spaced with comfy sofas throughout. its business meets romance. there are even private cabanas in the outdoor patio which i’m sure you can rent for private parties.
the wine tasting was very nice. had a selection of 6 different wines from a winery in the sonoma area. we included our experience here by indulging in their 3 for 2 happy hour menu, offered daily 5−7pm. each item in the HH menu is $ 9.30, and if you order three, you only pay for two. the best drink was the lemongrass gimlet was which made to our specific taste by the bartender who was also serving us that night. if you like your drink lightly sweetened with some spice then this is it! from the nibbler menu, we had:
–edamames with lime and sea salt
–loaded fingerling potato skins
–tomato and castelventro grilled bruschetta
–ninethirty sliders
every dish we had was delicious and plentiful! we came on a weeknight and was lucky to find metered parking and paid $ 2.00. pay during 6am-​8pm, monday thru saturday. there is hotel valet and parking structures nearby as well if you’d rather go that route.

I used to envy my friend’s fiancée who travels and eats on the Robb Report’s dime, but after taking advantage of 7 dineLA-​featured restaurants during the two weeks before they extended the offer till the end of the month, I want to stay in and cook some easy home food. I went to:
1. Gordon Ramsey — Jan 28, Dinner, $ 44: i enjoyed it
2. Patina — Jan 29, Lunch, $ 28: i loved it
3. Flemings — Jan 31, Dinner, $ 34: so-​so
4. Nine Thirty — Feb 2, Dinner, $ 44: i enjoyed it
5. STK — Feb 3, Dinner, $ 44: so-​so
6. Water Grill — Feb 6, Lunch, $ 28: i loved it
7. Nick+Stef’s, Feb 6, Dinner, $ 34: i loved it
I was impressed by the low-​key yet modern atmosphere and plainly — delicious food. I’ll inevitably eat at the downtown ones again (Patina, Water Grill and N+S’s), but Nine Thirty in Westwood is definitely on my redo list someday.
From the Unilocal World, I met Thelma W., Felicity N. and Eboni S. (not sure if she’s a Unilocaler) at the bar and we all had the St. Germain cocktail (St. Germain liqueur, champagne, soda). I’ve had an non-​alcoholic Elderflower beverage in London before and was pleased by the light fruitlike smell, so this cocktail sounded pretty good. The bartender lady sold it by offering us a whiff of the bottle: sweet, light lychee smell. Once dunked in champagne and soda, all was lost though. Thanks to Thelma W. for hosting the round.
It was not a busy Monday night so the restaurant held the table open for us while we were at the bar. Felicity N. sponsored a bottle for the table and the selection was the Poppy, Monterey County, 2007. Easy to drink and paired well with the meal.
My prix fixe menu:
1) Roasted Kabocha Squash and Leek Bisque — Pumpkinseed Oil Crème Fraiche, Crispy Duck Confit. There might have been duck confit in the hearty soup but there was no crispy anywhere. I wish they saved the crispy skin and served it on the side. Just wondering — aren’t bisques usually made with crustaceans? Despite the question marks above my head, this soup was delicious.
2) Grilled, Double Cut Pork Chop — Sweet Potato-​Rutabaga Purée, Green Beans, Dried Fig-​Cranberry Chutney, Bourbon-​Sage-​Mustard Sauce. I usually eat pork in the form of char siu or chashu, but this one tonight was quite satisfying in taste and volume.
3) Pineapple Upside-​Down Cake, rum raisin ice cream, pineapple gastique. The pastry chef switched out both items on the online menu (pear upside down with the pineapple upside down, and the Black and Tan butterscotch pudding with a panna cotta tart. The portion was just right. One more bite and the button on my fly would have shot and killed rounds of people (reference the new Subway commercial).
I had a great time with the girls, chatting and listening to their stories and perspectives. the dineLA deal was definitely worth it here.
See pics: