La Cachette Bistro

Not the least bit surprised this place closed. I live up the street and stopped by when they opened to say hello. The owner or manager whoever it was was not friendly at all, even though I told him I was glad they were opening in the neighborhood.
I went by to eat at the bar and was ignored for 20 minutes, so I left.
Strange people.

I came here for an anniversary dinner a few months back. A real anniversary? No, come on. I’m fancier than that. I think it was our six monther. Big stuff! I was really fiending for escargot so I figured I’d give them a shot.
I was very disappointed, the snails came in a little bowl, covered in sauce (and croutons?), but without the shell. That’s the best part! Not that I eat the shell, that is. I don’t. But, I like fishing them out of there. So, they lost a point there.
The ambiance was nice, romantic, yada yada. I had the special and I can’t even remember what it was, but it was decent. All in all, it was a fine place, but I probably won’t be back. Maybe it’s not their fault. I was in Paris the week before, so I was a little spoiled and with high expectations.
Valet parking was kind of a joke, they took the keys and moved up about 15 feet into the first open metered spot. Thanks, here’s my seven dollars, I couldn’t figure out how to keep propelling forward.

Been meaning to try this place for a while. The expiration of my Travelzoo deal pushed me to visit before the holidays. Pleasantly surprised by the food (good) & service (excellent) after reading the mixed Unilocal reviews. Everyone – host, busboy, & waiter – was genuinely nice & attentive. No snobby, non-​chalant service other Unilocalers have experienced. Guess we got lucky.
We had:
*Swordfish belly — seared until crispy. Tasty.
*Foie gras w/​apple flan — interesting, but wouldn’t order again. Too sweet for me.
*Braised pork shank — fall off the bone tender meat w/​reduction. Only negative: it came with a spoonful of polenta. Would order again if they served it w/​more polenta.(I like carbs!)
*Cassoulet — hearty & well-​seasoned. Would order again.
*Strawberry rubarb tart — nice, basic tart
*Homemade ice cream — generous scoops of coffee, salted caramel, & vanilla. Not too rich or overly sweet.
Overall, food was good (and seasoned); nice-​sized portions (except for polenta). I’d return again.

Not enough of these French bistros around town, but I might be biased cuz I’m a huge fan of french food. My summary points:
+ Terrine was on point
+ Excellent take on the Manhattan cocktail
+ Pork Shank was done right with tons of flavor and taste, but not overly sweet (like some pork dishes tend to be)
Look forward to coming back and trying more dishes. Also! no cork fees on Sundays, various specials through the week, and 30% off dinner after 9 pm if you’re the late night bite type.
Happy hour looked delish too, but we all know how much of an adventure it is to cross the 405 in the afternoon :(

Blown away by the delicious food!
Group of girls came here for a birthday. They sat us in a private room with lots of space.
Food rocked, service was great and conversation flowed.
Looking forward to coming back!

***The food I had at the French spot LA Cachette Bistro was mostly decent, but I think given the nice sounding menu and the talented chef, this restaurant is capable of much more***
La Cachette Bistro is an upscale French bistro that is located several blocks south of Third Street Promenade. La Cachette Bistro is from chef Jean Francois Meteigner. Jean Francois used to run La Cachette as a fine dining French spot in Century City. As the economy changed, he moved locations and switched to a more casual Bistro menu.
The menu at La Cachette Bistro is still pretty upscale though (with some high priced dishes). The menu is quite vast and includes a collection of small plates as well as salads, soups, starters, and several main courses. There is a wide range of proteins from several fish and shellfish options to lamb, beef, veal sweetbreads, bone marrow, chicken, and so on.
The bread at La Cachette Bistro is a standard (though fresh out of the oven) white roll. The outside of the roll was crunchy while the inside was very light and airy. The roll was a little bland. The roll was served with butter.
I opted for the steak frites as my entrée. They switched out the typical French bistro rustic and cheaper cut (like a flat iron) with a grass fed beef filet. The steak was topped with a garlic butter and pepper sauce (some of it was quite peppery).
The used a decent piece of meat because the steak was quite tender even though it was very overcooked. It was supposed to be medium rare, but it came out medium well. The meat was still tender and had a good flavor (it was also not dry), but it did not have that great juiciness I was expecting.
The fries were good. They were hot and crispy. A lot of French fries I have had at good French bistros have reminded me of McDonald’s French fries and that was the case here. I would not necessarily say that is a bad thing since McDonald’s French fries are popular.
For dessert, I had their profiteroles, which featured good and fresh choux pastry (light but also slightly crispy on the outside), vanilla ice cream, a dark chocolate sauce, and sliced almonds. The dark chocolate sauce was good. It had a good consistency (not too thin or watery but also not too fudge like). The dark chocolate flavor was also rich and tasty.
The only thing that could have been better was the vanilla ice cream. It was not as smooth or as creamy as I would have liked. It had an icier frozen malt-​like consistency. Still, the profiteroles here were a satisfying dessert and a very addictive combination of classic flavors.
La Cachette Bistro forgoes the more traditional French brasserie décor of Bouchon as well as the now closed Anisette Brasserie. Instead, the décor is much more sleek and modern (as well as incredibly dark in the main dining room). The outside patio is comfortable and it overlooks some hotels as well as a somewhat busy street.
Prices vary depending on what you get. The small plates go for $ 10-​$ 12 each while their entrees are in the $ 25 range (some less expensive options like their burger are also available). The portions seemed generous; my entrée was quite filling.
Service was good. The staff was pleasant and attentive. The steak frites took a little longer than it should have (which may have played a part in the overcooking of the meat), but the dessert was delivered promptly.
La Cachette Bistro has a really nice sounding menu. Given the chef’s reputation and the way the menu reads, I think this restaurant has the potential to probably put out some of the best French bistro dishes in the city. Unfortunately, I have not experienced that here yet. And given that Anisette closed and other French bistros have struggled in Los Angeles, I wonder if La Cachette Bistro is going to be around long enough for me to find out.
Valet parking is available. Street parking is also available.

We liked the stuffed piquillo pepper, fois gras with terrine, and lobster bisque soup.
It’s fun to go with a group and share the small tapas. If you go on Wednesdays, there are fresh homemade crepes (the smell of which fills the restaurant, in a good way).
Worth trying once, but I probably won’t go there again.

Affordable French Cuisine?! Pinch me I’m dreaming!
Tired of emptying out your bank account when you think about delicious French food? French fries don’t satisfy that fix for that Parisian hunger? You want to take out your significant other to something that has more taste than cardboard with cheese on top? Then fasten your seat belts and prepare yourself for a course in great french food!
I highly recommend any of the appetizers to satiate you hunger for escargot or a country style paté. Then transition to the eclectic mix of both delicate and hearty food that is presented. The lamb is one of my new favorites, moist and full flavored, but you can still taste the hints and pockets of herbs and seasonings that bring it all together.
The look and feel of the place is intimate but the volume is in the upper levels so unless you get there early, this place gets busy so save this for the second or third date. Also, expect a wait time to be seated, however the excellent service counters balances that.

Awww La Cachette, what happened?
I decided to try this place because the reviews are so mixed. People either loved it or not so.
The «martini bar» is pretty cool, relaxing, and has a jazzy feel. The bartender was wonderful. He had great energy, friendly, and knew what he was talking about. I definitely will go back and sit at the lounge and have him make me drinks. I enjoyed him.
The main dining room’s ambiance was nice and quaint. Our waitress was friendly and efficient however she lacked such personality that I didn’t want to talk to her, I wasn’t excited to order more than I usually do since they offered tapas on their menu. For me, what makes a restaurant exceptional is of course the food but also when you sit down and you have that great interaction with your waitstaff. Make me excited to eat, to drink, to stay. She was quite dry.
The food. The bread they brought was simple and odd for a place like La Cachette, you’d think you’d get fresh french bread or fresh sour dough or anything else than these grocery dinner rolls.
We ordered several items and they were:
Mixed Olives — Good
Assortment of Cheeses — Good though small portions.
Half shell oysters — They didn’t seem as fresh as they should be. We didn’t finish them cause they just seemed «off»
Foie Gras — My friends were disappointed. They didn’t understand why it was served w/​the brulee, it just didn’t seem to go together. They felt it was too sweet and under cooked.
Burger w/​Blue cheese — Good but nothing really to be excited about.
Steamed mussels w/​spiced wine sauce — Bland :(I didn’t even finish it and I love to order this dish when I see it.
Braised beef short ribs — This I was told was delicious and tender.
Plus the two desserts we ordered, the bread pudding & profiteroles these were good.
For the price of La Cachette I kind of expected great service, delicious tasty food, that makes me want to come back or never leave.
So all in all I gave them 2 stars because yah I have experienced better.

The first time was good. The second time was ok. And the third time was not even ok. What the heck happened to a good restaurant? He had the $ 14 burger (which ended up being $ 17 because we wanted to substitute sweet potato fries) and I had the $ 26 pork shank. The burger reminded me of something you’d get at TGI Fridays. The pork shank was not as tender and juicy as I had hoped and the polenta that accompanied it was sad.
The waiter also tried to explain to us that the meal was taking forever to make because it’s time consuming to cook a well-​done burger. Really? Was that the best excuse he could come up with? And we didn’t even ask for a well-​done burger, we wanted medium-​well.
Even with my $ 25 for $ 50 Opentable Spotlight deal, the total cost with tax, tip and valet was still $ 50. For a mediocre burger and a mediocre pork shank, $ 50 was too much.
No thanks. Goodbye, La Cachette.

I’d rate 15%
This one of the worst dining disappointments I’ve had in the last few years, especially considering the old La Cachette was great place.
The whole operation is just sloppy and the dining experience painful, to say the least.
***Short Review
I can completely confirm with some of the other recent negative reviews.
The whole establishment is a mess.
Food here runs from okay to no better than slop.
Avoid the Bouillabaisse, fish soup (with or without Rouille)
Service is disorganized, among the most unfriendly I’ve encountered, and incompetent.
Ambiance is just outdated and generic.
Acoustics (for inside dining) is horrendously loud, and difficult to hold a conversation.
Clientele consists of many older, loud heavy drinkers
Overall, this was one of my least enjoyable dining experience in years.
***Detailed Review
My dining companion and I came for La Cachette Bistro’s ‘Dine in LA’ menu for $ 44 on a weeknight. We ordered a single order of the menu, as my dining companion preferred their tapas instead.
With the Dine in LA menu, I opted for their salmon tartar appetizer, and the Bouillabaisse. I skipped the dessert entirely, as by that point I was thoroughly fed up with the place. My companion ordered the burger sliders, and a fish soup with rouille.
The salmon tartar was decent and fresh dish that started our dinner well. I was satisfied with the dish, and thought it to be the best course of our dinner. However, it’s not something I haven’t had prior, and it wasn’t an improvement over a more traditional smoked salmon appetizer. I don’t think I would have derived more enjoyment on this over eating a home-​made lox.
Burger sliders weren’t terrible either, and were a reasonable value for the $ 8 (or $ 6 during happy hour @ their bar). The meat quality wasn’t bad, and it was cooked to a nice medium rare to medium. As a burger/​slider dish it isn’t bad. Perhaps we would have had a better evening sitting by the bar, and opting for smaller plates.
Fish soup with Roulle was pretty awful. Soup was thick, heavy, and bland. To make things worse, the Roulle (which would have added some much needed flavor) was missing. Flagging down a waiter for it proved to be more trouble than it was worth. To make things worse, it was served lukewarm. This was the worst fish slop I’ve had yet.
Bouillabaisse was the worst disappointment of the evening. The broth, like the fish soup, was heavy, bland, and just uninteresting. They might as well have poured some canned ‘Chef Boyardee’ marina sauce, and it would have been an improvement. Seafood was just overcooked, and very salty. This is just cafeteria food, and certainly not the best I’ve had either.
Service the whole evening was just bad from start to finish. We get our table 25 mins after our reservation. We get 4 separate waiters. One of the male waiters has a scowl etched to his face, communicates by crude grunts, and practically throws the food at you. One of the female waiters is totally clueless, and the other appears terribly depressed.
Ambiance is bad. The interior decoration seems to be a strange compromise between a gaudy 90’s fusion restaurant and that of a bistro. Like the rest of the restaurant, there seems to be a lack of focus. We were seated in a rear dining room section that had very poor acoustics, and amplified the volume of loud drunks around us. It was difficult to hold a conversation & terribly uncomfortable.
I’ve never left a restaurant before finishing a dessert I already paid for, but this is the first place I’ll make that exception.
It’s not such a great dining experience as is, but what made it unforgivable was that the owner had in the past owned a very good restaurant. It was disappointing that he had stooped to such lows. It’s also very strange to mix tapas with bistro fare. I don’t think that concept works and it further goes to show the place somehow hasn’t sorted itself out very well.
My least favorite restaurant in Los Angeles thus far.

So I came back to La Cachette for January 2011 Dine LA. The food was definitely not as good as the last time I came. Maybe there’s a different chef? Or because it was Sunday?
The first thing different that I noticed once I sat down was there were no table cloths. Maybe because it was Sunday and they try to go for a more casual Sunday feel. But once the food came, I definitely noticed a difference in the quality, presentation and taste as compared to the last time I visited this establishment.
Overall, I will really need to reconsider if I would come back again.
The food was so-​so. For the appetizer, the FOIE GRAS TERRINE is definitely not comparable to the one at RH. The foie gras was ice cold. I know it is suppose to be cold, but it didn’t have to be rock solid ice cold. The so-​called «brioche» was just regular toast, like two slices of wonder bread that came straight from the toaster. The presentation was definitely not on-​par.
We also got the SALMON TARTAR. This was the best dish of the night. The salmon was fatty and fresh. The taste was perfect.
For entrée, the CASSOULET WITH DUCK LEG, PORK SAUSAGE, AND PORK SHOULDER was ok. I know a cassoulet is a bean stew, but there were A LOT of beans. I was expecting more meat than beans.
The BOULLIABAISSE is definitely not as good as the one at RH. First of all, the «soup» part of the dish was soooo salty. The flavors were wayyy too concentrated for such a delicate dish. We couldn’t even taste any flavors of the seafood in it. Next, the seafood was overcooked. The portions were small too. There was only 1 mussel, 1 scallop, 1 clam, 2 pieces of fish. There wasn’t even a shrimp. I’m not sure why they bothered to give such a big bowl for the shells when there were only 2 pieces of shellfish. This was terrible.
The VEAL SKIRT STEAK was the best out of all the entrees. The steak was cooked to a good medium. The mashed potatoes were delicious. The only problem were the string beans at the bottom that were overcooked and a bit on the mushy side.
For dessert, it was an assortment of dessert: VANILLA ORANGE BLOSSOM CREME BRULEE, CHOCOLATE CHIP CAKE, and RUM BABA. The best was the crème brûlée, even though I didn’t taste any orange blossom. The rum baba was terrible, there was wayyyyy to much rum soaked in there. It tasted like one of those desserts where they poured the alcohol but forgot to light it on fire to burn away all the alcohol.
Service: Our waiter was great. Super friendly. There was an extra charge on our bill and he quickly fixed it once we told him.
Parking: Valet for $ 6.50. But if you are lucky enough, there are two hour metered parking on Ocean Ave. Meters are free after 6pm. We were lucky to grab a spot right in front of the restaurant from someone leaving.

I went here for dinela before. Hidden near the residential area of Santa Monica, La Cachette is kind of hard to find! Once you do find it, you will spot a small restaurant with not-​so-​impressive interior.
The service is not bad, but definitely experienced much better services at most other places…
On to the food! Solid food that’s pretty good, but not to leave a lasting impression for the price you are paying.
Smoked salmon — simple. Exactly what you would expect from smoked salmon. so try to make it yourself at home–
Roasted bartlett pear with melted gorgonzola and baby arugula — my favorite. Pear went amazing with arugula and gorgonzola cheese! Pear was cooked perfectly too!
Braised lamb shank — Good lamb. Well cooked. Good portion
Desserts — not bad, but once again, will not leave a lasting impression
Wine pairing, on the other hand, was excellent. It went very well with our dishes & I enjoyed them very much!

Really really like the food here!
I had the «Maple Farm Duck Breast with Ginger Rub, Braised Red Cabbage, Apple, Orange Chips and Candied Orange Sauce» It was awesome, the duck meat was super tender, rich and flavorful. There was no bones of any kind. It actually kind of look like steak, but has so much duck favor. It was not at all dry or over cooked. It was just amazing how they could make duck so good. (and I know duck, I’m Chinese and have duck all the time haha)
My husband had the «Buffalo Short Ribs with Coffee Rub, Potato Gratin and Cabernet Jus» I personally didn’t like it that much, but that’s just because I don’t like the gamey taste. My husband loved it. It was really big portion, especially for a French gourmet restaurant. The Potato Gratin was absolutely delicious. It just melt in your mouth good with all that cheese and butter favor down to the last bit.
All the food looked beautifully placed (like most gourmet restaurant), but it also tasted amazing and we were both really full and satisfied at the end of our meal.
The dessert however did not live up to the expectation. We order «Burning Baked Alaska Flambé With Gran Gala Orange Liquor And Brandy“because we thought it would be cool to see a burning dessert. Well to make it burn up in flame they pour this liquor over it and the after taste was so strong and yucky. It tasted like rubbing alcohol. The inside was good, but not great. It was a let down after our amazing entrée.
Also another reason they didn’t get 5 stars was because of the service. Our waiter didn’t really give us much attention. We didn’t even know they give bread and butter until I was almost done with my Lobster bisque soup. The only reason we realize they have bread and butter was because the table next to us asked for it. The service was slow and they didn’t pay attention to our needs at all. We only saw the waiter twice during our whole dinner, to take our order and to give us the check. The assistant waiter helps us out with the rest.
But the food kind of made up for the lack of service.
Ambiance was awesome, super romantic, intimate, and warming.

Jean-​Francois has done it again. Another scrumptious dinner at LCB last night was the perfect end to a hectic week. Service and ambiance was top notch and the food was delicious. Got some comfort food and kept it simple– moules frites for me with a nice bottle of La Fin Du Monde and the Organic Grass Fed Burger and fries for the boy along with a local California IPA, which I can’t remember the name of. For dessert, the Cinnamon Dusted Apple Tart with caramel sauce and crème fraise. DEEEEEELISH! Everything from the presentation to the taste were just what I needed. Tons of black mussels, too. Definitely doesn’t skimp on the good stuff.
Looking forward to my next visit– hopefully a lunch time visit to take advantage of their insanely good $ 15 3-​course prix fixe.

OMG! I love this place!
they have the best food and wine plus the happy hour is the best.
They even have specials for ladies night on wednesday!
the bartender on Wed is french, super nice.
the duck Rillettes are awesome!

Valet is not 5 dollars — at least not on Saturday evenings. It’s $ 6.75 now.
Where did they valet my car? 20 ft. in front of where I had dropped it off — where the curb was also painted red!
The restaurant itself is cozy. Their dining room, patio and bar/​lounge is pretty big. There is no real need to make reservations if you ask me.
We sat around the bar and we were given the option of selecting our food from both the Bar Menu and Dinner Menu. We got there just as the late night Happy Hour was starting so we opted to go that route. Their late night Happy Hour, by the way, runs from 8:30-close.
We had 3 drinks. The Cachette Sangria, Cilantro/​Chile Caipirinha (
) & The Coronado Trace (
). The Caipirinha was good and spicy. The Sangria was also good and came filled to the brim in a tall wine glass but lacked any chunks of wine soaked fruits that I love in my Sangria. The third cocktail we tried was The Coronado Trace (
). It didn’t do it for me. It was too sweet and artificial looking/​tasting. Overall, for the drinks…3.5 stars.
The food had potential but most of it was a little flat. Our first plates consisted of a Crab and Avocado Tower and Gambas (
). The Gambas we enjoyed. The Crab/​Guacamole was good as well, but it lacked some texture. It could have been better had it been acompanied with chips, bread, crackers, etc. We also tried their Sweet Potato Fries and enjoyed them as well. They weren’t greasy and they were crisp.
Our last 3 plates were a beef slider, tuna slider (
) and Bread Pudding (
). Both of the sliders lacked seasoning — salt at the very least. And at $ 5 per slider, I’d suggest passing on these, if I were you. It would have been an absolute crime to have ordered these if it weren’t Happy Hour. Normally, you’d get 1 tiny slider for $ 8! The bread pudding was nothing remarkable either. I’d pass on that too. For the food that I tried — 2 stars.
The one bright spot about La Cachette, is the service. From the host, to the server, to the bartenders… they were all super friendly. — 5 stars
Will I return? Too many «better seasoned» fish in the sea.

So traveled down this incredibly rich neighborhood at around 7−8pm for our dinner. We actually did a lot of research before we chose this restaurant (much like any other restaurants we go to). Let me just say the location for this restaurant was very nice. Very nice and busy ambiance, crowded but with a good amount of crowd, everyone was dressed to impress. If you’re rich and prefer the high class atmosphere, this is your place to dine.
Came in with 3 other girls, the line was long if you wanted to sit inside the restaurant. Maitre’D told us that it was around a 45 minute wait to get a seat inside and offered us to get a drink at the bar while waiting. We asked if we could take a seat outside. They were skeptical at first but offered it to us anyway. Compared with the waiters inside the restaurant, ours was dressed a bit too casually. Might be a co-​manager serving us or something.
I had the Homemade Foie Gras Terrine with Rhubarb Pearls and Geleeas as appetizer and shared it with a friend. Came in with two slices of toast and strawberry rhubarb. Fois Gras was nice and «buttery» paired with the bread and jam was heavenly. Ashamed to say, but my first experience of fois gras was pretty darn good.
For entrée I had the Roasted Organic Australian Rack of Lamb, with Thyme Garlic Jus and Flageolet Beans. The Thyme Garlic Jus on the lamb added a really special kick to it. Wasn’t a fan of the beans on the side. But overall it was really just a regular ol’ lambchop with special sauce. My friend had the House Cured Smoked Trout,“Herring Style”, with Warm Potatoes, Frisee and Shallot Dressing. The trout was seasoned to perfection. Only comparison I can make was the tuna tartare I had at Lure’s Fishbar back at NYC. Incredible flavor. My friend also had the smoked salmon prepared in a can? Don’t remember the name of it. It was decent. Our waiter made it seem like they prepared this gruelling process on the salmon to make it taste the way it did. Tasted like regular old smoked salmon to me. Nothing spectacular. Came with toast.
Overall, my evening would be decent if it wasn’t for the service. Had a really hostile vibe from the waiter and treated us as if we never fine dined in our lives. I like to eat my fois gras the way I wanted to eat it thank you very much. Left the restaurant fairly quickly because we didn’t appreciate his attitude of checking up on us every few minutes as if we’ll steal a candle from the table.

2 for waiter service, entrees and mixed drinks (bar service was okay)
4 for decadent deserts and apps
I came here for restaurant week with some friends and had Citrus Swing and a taste of the Kind Sake. (meh, despite using fresh ingredients)
Tried the Beef Tartar (over-​seasoned), Smoked trout appetizer (great!), Housemade Boudin Blanc Sausage (casing did not «snap,» sausage was flavorless and over– processed).
Deserts were delectable! I had ice cream in a freshly made sugar-​cone bowl and a couple bites of their Floating Island Desert. Great presentation, balance of flavors and textures!
Final note: Our waiter asked us if we wanted bread plates and mentioned that people «just use the paper tablecloth to hold their bread.» After I insisted we’ll just do what others do (not mockingly, I swear… heck, maybe that’s their thing), he brought plates — for nearly everyone (were the dishwashers behind perhaps?). Although our water carafe (simple) was refiled promptly, the food was not consistently hot for our table of 6 and it took a while for us to get the waiter’s attention to settle our bill for the night.

Oh Cachette! What on earth are you doing at this new location? Two words for ya: Sell. Out.
This is what happens when small restaurants sell out and move to venues with no personality. The patio is loud as hell with all the traffic from Ocean Ave. Nothing quaint or romantic about it. And the inside looks like every other bistro in the city. Every single piece of food I put in my mouth was underwhelming, including the soft nasty pear with the stinky cheese, my over cooked ahi steak on top of cold bell peppers that had to be returned, and the tuna tartar tower that frankly could be found anywhere. Sadly, this restaurant has no identity anymore.
100 bucks later I left Cachette and guess what? I was hungry. This is going to become a hub for tourists who are staying in the local hotels who will come and go with no problems after spending a pretty penny for an unmemorable meal. As a local with many options, I certainly won’t be returning.