Reviews for THE Curious PALATE in Santa Monica, CA
Traveling through Santa Monica on our family fall trip from a different state. I found this nice little place through a Google... search looking for the best rated places. The Curious PALATE had the most amazing food. Locally sourced, fresh ingredientscurated into the most flavorful dishes. The swordfish, cauliflower and broccolini nearly broke my mind they were so good. Mydaughter wanted to order a second helping of Mexican street corn. My husband's order of steak frites was cooked to perfection. Ihave a 9 and 10 year old and they devoured the pea pesto pasta. The owner is engaged and stopped by to chat with us severaltimes. Our server was kind, quick, and had great recommendations. GO HERE. I want to be able to come back here next time I cantravel to this state. Read more
Lincoln was so nice! She out up with me asking for like 4 different samples so I could make sure I enjoyed the beer I chose. I... got the Inclined IPA by Santa Monica Brew Works. I highly recommend this lovely establishment as you will likely get greatservice! Read more
Edit 8/8/22: Wow! Go here! I stopped by with 3 friends and family to have a nice get together meal. Everyone was super impressed... with their food and had a great time. The atmosphere was great, the food was amazing, and the server and owner were friendly aswell. The owner stopped by again to tell us about where he gets all his ingredients and how everything is prepared. Super sweetpeople working there, and an awesome experience overall. I'll be stopping here every time I'm in Santa Monica. We stopped bywithout looking into the reviews on our visit to the pier - and wow, am I glad we did! The atmosphere is cozy and it wasn'tbusy or crowded at all (around 7pm on a weekday). The server was friendly and attentive, and the owner (I think he was the ownerat least) also stopped by to check in on us, and was clearly involved with the everyday running of the restaurant. The menu wasunique without being too over the top, and everything we ordered was delicious. I ordered a kids meal PBJ to get a smallerportion size and it was perfect for me and only $9, and they cut the crust off which I thought was adorable. The full sizeportions are reasonable (not too much and not too little) and the prices are more than fair for how tasty everything was. Thekids meal comes with standard heinz ketchup, but if you order the "adult" meal they give you ketchup that they make in-house. Iwas offered the homemade ketchup to swap if I wanted, since I am not a kid, which was nice of them to consider. I got ablackberry basil spritzer, which was a bit on the pricey side (I think $4 or $5) but it was delicious and a good non-alcoholicdrink choice, which is often hard to find. Attached a few photos of my dinner (Blackberry PBJ kids meal and Blackberry BasilSpritzer) so you can get an idea of the portions. Read more
The Curious Palate easily takes our top spot for best food in Santa Monica. It's located at a sunny, breezy spot at the top of... the Santa Monica Place shopping center - and the restaurant's open design makes you feel like you're in a summer villa by thebeach. The staff from the servers to the chefs to the owners are all extremely friendly and knowledgeable - you can feel howtight-knit and passionate they are about the food they serve. Now, about the food. It's hard to put a single label on whatcusine they serve, spanning from the safe veggie wrap the the southern shrimp po'boy to the east Asian Banh Mi, the menu at oncehas it all and yet is quite short, with each item clearly crafted by an expert chef with love. I'm told that every ingredient islocally sourced and then made in-house, which would be an incredible feat. We ourselves started with the "nachos," and I can saythat, for the first time, I can honestly say I found nachos "tasty." House-made chips were light with a satisfying crunch,incredibly fresh pico de gallo and guac lighten up the pork chili, and the combination of havarti and aged-cheddar just wrappedeverything together perfectly (needless to say, we finished every bite). We then moved on to the entree, where we had the bajastyle fish tacos and the squash blossom. The fish tacos were, as you would expect, fresh and perfectly fried. However, thesquash blossoms were particularly interesting. This consisted of light, flavorful goat cheese stuffed into squash blossoms(something I've never had before), lightly breaded, and fried. The result is this decadent, fun, and a little messy taco that wewon't soon forget. For dessert, they have a variety of ice creams that they make in-house every day with fresh ingredients. Wealso got to try a number of their beers, hard ciders, and hard/soft kombuchas on tap. These were all locally sourced fromCalifornia and amazing complements to the meal. We particularly liked the Local Roots hard kombucha, made fro Read more
The food was fresh and tasty - Asian pub fare with a twist. I had the miso braised short rib wrap and diablo fries. My kids... enjoyed their handmade pasta dishes with a side of fruit salad. If I was a local I’d come back here for a craft beer aftertaking my kids to the nearby Children’s Museum! Read more
This is a great place and checked all boxes for us. Great local beer options helped start things off right. We had a BLT and a... Bahn Mi, which were both outstanding. The service was very good, timing the check ins perfectly. I think this place is hiddena little based on location, but do yourself a favor and stop here to enjoy a fantastic lunch or dinner. Read more
The food and service at The Curious Palate are excellent! Definitely a hidden gem within Santa Monica place. Honestly, it’s... absolutely the best place to eat when visiting Santa Monica place. Curried Cauliflower is amazing. That sauce ????. We also hadthe chopped salad with chicken and steak satay salad. Both were super fresh and delicious. Our sever was so kind and amazingtoo. Can’t wait to come back!! Read more
A diverse and creative menu. Ingredients are sourced locally and the food is so fresh! I had THE best salad - the Nectarine and... Burrata salad is a must! This place will make your evening. And the owner is so friendly and proud to share their excitementabout food. Read more