Reviews for Tar & Roses in Santa Monica, CA
The name of the restaurant is derived (allegedly) from „the smell when opening a bottle of Nebbiolo“. To be honest, I... haven’t had this association, but the food was still good. The menu of T&R is structured along the size of each dish, but alldishes are made to be shared. We decided for the WOOD ROASTED SUNCHOKES, the RICOTTA GNOCCHI and the VENISON LOIN. The first twowere good, but the venison was amazing. Perfectly cooked, great taste and smooth but still intense flavors. Like a goodNebbiolo. The service was okay, the waiter seemed a bit overly cheerful and ever-present. All in all, a good place, but giventhe price level not an everyday restaurant. Read more
First time dining in tonight, but it will not be my last. I love the design on the inside, it’s moodily lit with a lot of... indoor seating, a back room (where we sat), and would prefer, and an outdoor eating area. We are finally getting a taste of somefall weather, so it was nice to eat inside away from the cold. As mentioned, we sat in the very far back room, and it was thebest seating in the house in my opinion. Way less noisy and not as busy as the front room and warmer than the outside area. Iwas able to find street parking a block away for a 7PM Saturday dinner, however, they offer parking at the library across thestreet until 11PM on the weekends. The menu is really eclectic and has a lot of great options. We started off with theYellowtail Crudo, and it was very light, refreshing and a great start to the meal. Next came the Bone Marrow and it was a bitfattier then I prefer and have eaten recently (I order this dish often all over town), but the flavors were still great. The seasalt on top really made a great addition to it. Next came the Sunchokes, and they were fantastic. I could have eaten a largerportion and the goat cheese with it was truly heavenly. I highly recommend it. Finally for the entrée, we chose the Black Codand it was truly wonderful. I am a fish addict and it was definitely worth the price and something I would happily order again.It was rich in flavor and the combination of lemongrass risotto really made it perfect. For dessert we finished the meal with aSticky Toffee Pudding and although it was small in size it was still packed with flavor. Overall every dish we ordered wasfantastic. The service was the only part of the meal that feel short of expectations. Our server was not very polite, she didnot engage with us at all, and seemed to be in a rush even though our section was smaller than the other areas. Aside from theservice, it was a great experience and a delicious meal, and I will certainly be back in the near future. I wou Read more
One of the best restaurants in town! Hubby made reservations on a Saturday. Upon arrival we opted to be seated inside. Then I... ordered the Moscato and hubby got their organic orange soda. For an appetizer we had the bruschetta, crab cake and oxtaildumplings-sooo delicious! Then we ordered the roasted corn, squid ink fettuccine and half chicken(a lil salty). We couldn'tresist ordering their delicious snapper but ended up taking it home. All in all this is one of my favorite restaurants in LosAngeles. The portions are small but we had no problem ordering a variety of dishes. The customer service was great. Willdefinitely be back! Read more
International Tapas style dining. All items are well thought through & delicious. Cannot go wrong with any selection. Highly... recommended. Wine paring is a must & save room for coffee and dessert. Read more
Allright where do I start. Well first off. Every employee there was friendly and helpful. We has the oxtail dumplings for a... starter. It was my first time and we are hooked. Delicious . Then the black cod and duck breast. Both were excellent. Pleasesave room for dessert. They have this honey ice cream with strawberries on this pastry. Delicious again. Check this place out.We'll be back on are next trip for sure. Read more
Happy that they were able to accommodate us as walk-in’s on a Sat night! I thought the taste of the food overall was okay,... but my friend really enjoyed every dish. We got the fried snapper, king trumpet mushroom, bone marrow, Sun chokes, and thegrilled mussels. Red Snapper: Personally, I thought the fried snapper lacked taste in itself - and needed to rely on the sidedipping sauce, which was too sweet for me (and the fish sauce flavor in the sauce was pretty strong, usually I don’t mind fishsauce at all). Was hoping the fish itself had more flavor without relying completely on the side sauce. King trumpetmushrooms: Was okay, didn’t really stand out. Grilled mussels: Wasn’t a fan and I’m usually a huge fan of mussels. Someof the mussels didn’t seem to be completely cooked. The sauce came on a side - I prefer my mussels soaked in sauce. BoneMarrow: Not a personal fan of the seasoning used. Sun chokes: This was probably my favorite dish of the night - they werecooked so nicely with a lovely citrusy hint of flavor. I’d like to note that our server was great, and provided fantasticservice throughout the night. Read more
Came here with a reservation on a Saturday night and really loved how romantic it felt! Good: The food here is all very high... quality and even though portion sizes are smaller, it’s very worth every bite and I savored every bite. The standouts werethe oxtail dumplings, the bone marrow, and the shellfish pot. We got unlimited bread refills on the shellfish pot which was sogreat and filling. Bad: I thought the wagyu beef was fun to wrap in lettuce but it wasn’t my favorite. The dessert was prettysweet too, maybe a bit too much for my tastes. The chili crab cakes were also underwhelming. Overall I had a blast - thewaiters were super nice and we even got the dessert at the end free! Read more
AMAZING!! My hubby and I celebrated our 30th Anniversary in Santa Monica and went to Tar & Roses for our anniversary dinner and... it was the absolute best! Highly recommend the cauliflower, mushroom toast and of course the Snapper all dishes deserved a*chef’s kiss. Service was SUPERB and we received a beautiful anniversary dessert with compliments from the Tar & Roses team.Thank you for making us feel so special on our special day. Read more