When I visit the Los Angeles area one of my favorite places to go is Manhattan Beach. There are so many restaurants to choose from. Many of them have a great view of the pier and the Pacific Ocean. The Strand House is one of those restaurants.
Unfortunately the day I visited the weather was not the greatest. It was really foggy over the water.
I started off with a Moscow mule as I looked over the menu. They served it in a copper cup so it stayed nice and cold.
There was one appetizer that they are known for called Hamachi Crudo.
It was thinly sliced yellow fin tuna with avocado and drizzled with a tomato seed vinaigrette and red alaea sea salt. The tuna was extremely fresh and melted as I took a bite. The avocado added a creaminess.
The table shared the squid ink campanelle pasta. I never had squid ink pasta before. It is a little shocking when you see this jet black pasta but it only color. The taste of the pasta was like any other regular pasta.
This pasta dish came with chopped up Maine lobster and English peas ( just like regular peas just very large in size) and garnished with herbs and a lemon sauce. The lobster was tender and the lemon sauce made the dish light and refreshing.
A meal would not be complete without some sort of bread. We ordered the buttermilk Parker House rolls. These were mini size rolls that came in a cute wooden box. This was definitely a first for me. These rolls were a cross between a traditional bread roll and a biscuit. It was a little crispy on top and had a sweet taste.
For dinner I ordered the Hokkaido scallops, which are Japanese scallops. They came with sunchokes, salsify (similar to parsnip), beet beurne blanc, and pink pepper. The scallops were very large; they were extremely tender, sweet, and slightly creamy in texture. The sunchokes (which have a similar texture to artichokes) did not add much to the flavor of the dish but they did add some crunch.
The side dishes were meant to be shared among the table. The first one we ordered was the wood fired Brussels sprouts. They came with a black garlic aioli drizzled on top. I love Brussels sprouts, especially when they are charred on the outside. The aioli really did not add a lot of extra flavor to them. I tasted more of the smokiness from the fire oven they were cooked in.
The second side we ordered was the mac and cheese. You can never go wrong with this classic comfort food. It was served in a cast iron pot which kept it nice and warm. The mac and cheese was good but it was not creamy. They used more gourmet cheeses that do not melt the same way as creamier cheeses.
I enjoyed my dinner at The Strand House. It is a very popular place so if you are interested in going, make sure you have reservations. Check them out at http://www.thestrandhousemb.com/
Enjoy!
T
