Dining Room at Shangri-La

I’m torn about what to write; we were served the most foul smelling piece of fish (Chilean sea bass) we’ve ever experienced, even though it looked fine. (See picture)
The waitress was great about taking it back and offering us an alternative, though she didn’t seem to understand how bad it smelled — waiting for her to pick it up and take it away, both of us lost our appetites even for the otherwise excellent culotte cut pork chop.
She also offered an extra crème brûlée as a token gesture (much appreciated) though the caramelized top was not at all crunchy or crispy and the texture was wrong — more like jello or pudding in a cup from the grocery store.
The replacement subsitute pork chop took so long, my dining companion got so upset we didn’t speak to each other for the rest of the meal, the rest of the night. .
The kitchen had potential; I hope it survives long enough to achieve that potential.
It seemed there was only one person responsible for the entire dining room. .it was slow, business wise, so service wasn’t bad. But I felt bad for the server cum bartender cum busser cum hostess… which is not how a dining guest should feel.

We had Easter brunch here. We should have known we were in for a poor experience given how many different reservations were available the day before (whereas Loew’s and Duke’s were completely full and had waiting lists). The options were very sparse compared to other brunches in the area. There were no soups, a very limited dessert table (desserts tasted spongy), no actual salad. The carving station had only lamb and they were out of it within 15 minutes of our being seated (we were seated at 1 pm). Service was terrible — it took me 15 minutes to get a glass of water. Worst of all the cost of the brunch was $ 60 per person with a mandatory 18% gratuity.
We will absolutely NEVER eat here again.

Pretty good. The staff is kind of weird here, but whatever. the food was good, the eggs were great. the service was kind of slow which is why im taking a star away.
the hotel itself its fantastic, right on the corner of the block and across the street from the most gorgeous beach ever.

I wanted to come here when the sun was still out because I can only imagine how beautiful the view is, but I was a few hours too late lol. Got here around 8 & the place was empty except for one couple & someone at the bar. Our waitress was very friendly & she did a wonderful job at making us comfortable, making us laugh, & making sure everything was perfect.
Their soup of the night was tomato bisque & their other option was french onion. I was recommended the tomato since the two are my favorites & I couldn’t decide which to get. Delicious soup! My only issue with it was that it was way too salty but the flavor was creamy & delightful.
For my entrée I ordered the rib eye medium well & it came out more on the medium side but still yummy! Flavorful & my knife went through it like melted butter. You know a steak is delicious when it just melts in your mouth. It also comes with asparagus, fingerling potatoes, & it’s topped with a chimichurri sauce. I was also pleasantly surprised with the size of the dish. A lot of nicer restaurants serve tiny little steaks that leave me hungry for more but this one I had to box & take a little less than half home. You can’t imagine how happy I am that I get to relive the deliciousness of that steak tomorrow for lunch lol !
If you’ve been considering this restaurant then definitely check it out! Try & get yourself a nice window seat to watch the sunset. I’ll be back for one of their steaks real soon :)

Went for a dinner. We got a table with an ocean view.
I got the pre fix dinner for $ 50
Everything was amazing. From service to food.
I really enjoy the time spent.

Mediocre at best.
It took 25 minutes to receive our appetizer and another 20 for our entrée.
The escargot is served in a bowl swimming in a light white sauce. The actual escargot tastes like it came from a can. Not fresh at all. Had to send it back.
The beef carpaccio was good. Missing parmesan though and served with capers? Weird.
I had the filet. I asked for medium and they overcooked to medium-​well. Brown with a pink center. No blood. Disappointing.
For dessert they have chocolate bread pudding which was delicious but they ran out of ice cream.
This place is only great for drinks. At least they got one thing right.

Our 37^th wedding anniversary dinner did not disappoint. Our server, Kevin was topnotch
giving us great attentive service without being overly intrusive. We asked who cooked the
food. He mentioned Karim was the chef (not sure if the spelling should be Kareem).
Anyway, we had the scallops, crab cakes & beet salad. All were delicious and very nicely
presented.
REALLY ENJOYED OUR EVENING THANKS TO THE LOCATION AND OUR SERVER KEVIN.
The food tastes better if you have friendly service!!!

Most of my reviews usually are on extreme opposite side of the poles when it comes to star ratings. And that’s because I really do my research. Why would I waste my time and money on s#it places to eat. Well luckily I found this great place for brunch. From the ambiance to the food presentation and friendly staff — this place is a well deserved 5 STARS. So satisfied after coming here that I will be returning for more.
One of the best bloody mary’s I’ve ever had. Really good on flavor. Delicious EggsBenedict. Friendly people.
Try it.

Loved this place when Chef Dakota was creating her amazing and delicious food. Definitely pricey as it is located in Santa Monica right on Ocean Ave, but beautiful restaurant and a very swanky atmosphere. Loved coming here when I lived on San Vicente.
Come here, but have someone else pay. :)

The food here was spectacular and the martinis were to die for. I’m still dreaming of having another tamitini and berry apropos. I had the lamb which was by far one of the best lambs I’ve had. My husband had the pork chops and he loved his. My mother-​in-​law had the salmon and we were all very impressed. Cannot wait to go back. Our server/​bartender Troy was excellent. So glad we found this gem of a place :)

Happy hour was awesome! The view was incredible and the food tasted really good. I couldn’t see coming here for something formal or for after happy hour. $ 9 for a microbrew is not appealing to me. Oysters were very good and I really enjoyed the tacos.

My whole family loves the food here. We are local to the area and so when ever we want to eat out on the weekend we end up here.
Everything is fresh and yummy. Try the buffalo burger and the sticky toffee pudding. Yummy!
In the day time you can see the ocean out the window and then walk to the promenade when you’re done.

This restaurant actually has really great food — the Chilean Sea Bass, imho, is better than the Chilean Sea Bass at Water Grill a couple blocks down (and Water Grill is famous for its fish)! Also, my wife ordered the risotto and it’s also very good and it was only $ 16! They also have really great service and probably even more staff than they need — and they’re all very kind.

My Husband and I enjoyed a beautiful evening here in true ‘Mad Men’ fashion. The décor was awesome (authentic Art Deco)
and so was the food. We had the salmon and the rib-​eye
The cool part is; I purchased a $ 25 gift coupon from
for a few bucks, so it reduced our overall bill nicely.
The menu was great, one of the best salads I’ve ever had– (poached pear), and the prices were really good for this side of town.
Did I mention the full ocean view!!!

Chef Kareem!!! My man and I went to this place with another couple for my birthday… Location and presentation are everything and this place has both. Located on Ocean right across the street from the beach, we went at night but I’m sure the view during the day is amazing… It was an honor to eat at the Chefs table and the 5 course meal was AWESOME!!! Talk about taste buds on 10!!! Words cannot express the experience. If you are ever able to sit at the Chefs table you will understand and your tummy will thank you.

Non-​traditional lunch at Shangri-​La courtesy of some gift certificates that we had:
The appetizers were the big hit :
Sofrito flatbread
Broccolini
Lobster Louie was a typical (1pc) lobster salad, and the Korean BBQ Beef Sliders were also good

Great place to watch the sunset. Came here after going to the Bungalow at 8pm and the line was already ridiculous.
They told us we had to wait 15 min to go to the rooftop — fine… it’s better than a 30 min wait. There’s a bar downstairs with a loungey old school feel to it with a view of the ocean. The host came to look for us 5 min later (PERFECT!) in the bar as soon as they weren’t at capacity. They let you bring your drinks up to the roof too.
Wasn’t hear for happy hour this time but have been to their happy hour before and it’s fantabulous.

I came here bc I bought a brunch deal on travelzoo. Bottomless day drinking? Sign me up!
They offer several options for their bottomless drinks — they have mimosas made with oj and watermelon juice, bloody marys, and arnold palmer schwarzeneggers, which are basically arnold palmers with whiskey and a hint of mint.
My friend got the oj mimosa and I got the APS. Their mimosas here are good and strong (but I found the watermelon one a little too sweet), and the APS was very tasty (albeit not that strong for a whiskey drink… which is probably well advised given that you do drink it during the daytime!)
The travelzoo deal included a baked good, an entrée, and a coffee drink. Seeing as how we were both enjoying our bottomless drinks so much, though, we did not get coffee drinks.
I got a banana muffin and my friend had a croissant. The croissant was warm and flaky and the banana muffin was dense and moist. Tasty!
The entrees, however, were a bit disappointing. My friend got the chicken and fried egg sandwich, which was a bit greasy overall. I got the steak and eggs (the eggs come as a Spanish style tortilla) and the tortilla was pretty dry and tasteless. The steak was fine — I asked for medium rare and it came out more medium but it wasn’t as bad as other reviews suggested (I was a bit wary of ordering it for that reason).
Another really odd thing about this place is the bathrooms. The women’s bathroom is located outside of the dining room, which is fine, but I don’t think they regularly maintain them. There are 3 stalls and two were practically out of toilet paper. The third had full rolls of toilet paper — but do you know WHY? Because it has GIANT WINDOWS right next to the toilet that are completely open to the street. WTF?
This place is kind of funny. I may return for the bottomless drinks in the future but I’d probably skip the entrees.

Came here after buying a deal online: $ 60 for one side, two entrees, two drinks and a dessert. Looked like a fancy/​classy place so thought it’d be nice to get all dressed up and give it a try. The Dining Room is on the first floor of the Shangri-​La hotel (which is walking distance to the Santa Monica pier) it’s pretty cozy.
Here’s the summary of the meal:
Drinks: I got a glass of Pinot Grigio (nice and dry as it should be but nothing exciting). My friend got whatever the server recommended, can’t recall the name but am posting a picture. It was delicious and you couldn’t even taste the alcohol, the best part was when he added something it smoked up (pretty cool).
Side: We got the Dates, it’s simply stuffed with roasted grapes and smoked almond pesto. Was a little to sweet and didn’t go well with my wine.
Entre: As a vegetarian I only had one option, the Pesto Pizza. It was cold, soggy and bland. Skip it. My friend got the Sea Bass and seemed to enjoy it.
Dessert: A plate of fresh cookies. For some reason since I thought the place appeared fancier then other places that the cookies would be unique. Nope, it was your basic home cooked cookies. Should have went with something else.
Outside from the romantic ambiance, friendly and attentive staff and beautiful location there’s not much else to go for. The best part of my meal was the AMAZING WATER! I drank 5 glasses and could not get enough. When I asked the server what kind it was, he didn’t know and said they specially order some mineral water.
I wouldn’t come here for a meal but would def come back to try out their various drinks and enjoy the environment, oh yeah and get a cup of water to go!

I’ve had a
coupon for this place hidden under a bunch of papers on my cluttered desk for a while now. I think I bought the thing in October of 2010. Wow. Thank god for long expiration dates. I remember I bought the coupon solely because of the Dining Room’s location. There’s nothing better than a nice dinner on Ocean Avenue during sunset.
I came here with a friend for a casual dinner after some shopping on the Promenade. We were seated right by a window the second the sun started setting. Not bad if I do say so myself. We sipped our drinks and relaxed before we even looked at the menu.
After the sun was down I skimmed the menu and my eyes immediately landed on the mac and cheese. Done deal. There’s my appetizer. The serving was absolutely enormous in a huge oval bowl. The top was covered in crunchy bread crumbs while the inside was melted, cheesy, gooey, awesomeness.
For my entrée I went with the chicken pot pie (red wine braised chicken, puffed pastry, and vegetables). The top pastry was nice and fluffy with a small crunch. The vegetables were steamed but weren’t mushy. The chicken was really dry though. I actually had to drink water in order to finish each bite. Again, this dish was huge. It was an entire pot pie about the size of a regular dinner plate. There was so much that I could only finish about half of it.
The food here is tasty, with huge servings and not outrageously expensive. Most places with a great view charge you for the view and the food lacks in quality. The Dining Room offers a relaxed setting in a dimly lit restaurant (that looks more like a high-​end lounge), quality food at a decent price.
I didn’t see how much the valet was here (or if they even have one), but most lots in the area are $ 5 flat rate after 6pm. After just a short walk you’ll be right at the entrance to the Shangri-​La. A walk on the beach on a warm summer night is the perfect ending, too.