Oak Street Ranch

Comme and Visit

Time for another review:
Comme Ca
8479 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90048

What should you know:
Atmosphere: A-/B+
Service: A
Food: A
Overall - Definitely should try

Now, for the details:
If you've entered the blogosphere, you'll find that there are two, VERY strongly held schools of thought about this restaurant - Either people love it, and want to name their children after it, or they hate it and want to burn it to the ground.

After reading all the reviews, I showed up ready for a fight. I had read the horror stories about long waits for tables, rude service, terrible (salty) food, etc.
So, arriving with a larger party (6), I was shocked to be immediately seated, and then immediately visited by our server, menus and winelist available, asking if we wanted wine, cocktails, etc.
Our busbuy arrived, asking whether we wanted water - Having read the reviews about folks being charged for 7.00 bottles of water every time they got refills, we went with "tap."
Well, water showed up quickly, bread, cocktails, and we were well on our way.

Food -
The cheese assortment was selected by their in-house cheesemonger. A set of goat, sheep and cow's milk cheeses, paired with various nuts, fruits, or spreads. Very tasty, great assortment. Everyone at the table found something they liked.

The Onion Soup - Everything that French Onion Soup should be - Cheesy, salty, good broth, lots of onion. Delicious. Several folks at the table said that they could get that and nothing else, and be satisfied.
The Market Vegetable salad made a worthy appearance as well.
The Beef Tartare was prepared well, tart and an edge of vinegar. The "small" portion was enough for two to share. The shrimp cocktail was also a healthy-size, and from what was passing by, the Fruits Di Mare platters were also attractive.

The Steak with Pomme Frites was of good quality, though of course, in Los Angeles, there are a lot of places for steak. Reviews still coming in on the fish dishes (grilled, with an assortment of sides), so as we hear more, we'll let you know.

A great wine list, assortment of bottled beers, and innovative cocktails round out the list.

We were so stuffed from the meal, that no dessert was had, though several walked by that were very tempting.

The down side -
First, listen to every review that says that this place is loud. Imagine a loud restaurant, then multiply that by three.
The modern, glossy finishes that make the decor so attractive, also do NOTHING to mute sound. add in hardwood floors, and a narrow main dining room setup, and you have the equivalent of trying to converse at a train station. The other challenge is the setup, which led to a couple of our folks getting bumped almost off their chairs, like the aisle seats on a crowded airplane.

The decor is attractive. A nice touch is the chalkboard wall leadin to the restrooms - for your artistic side.

The other recommendation - MAKE RESERVATIONS!!
The bar area is very small, and leaves little room for lounging. The dining area is fairly compressed, and unless you're hitting it at the precisely right time, I doubt you'll want to linger waiting for tables to open up.

So - like anything - your miles may vary. Our experience was a good one. Good enough to give it another go.

Enjoy!

posted by Mitch @ 10:17 AM