News-Pilot from San Pedro, California • 53

RcstaurantsNiglit life Reviews FROM PAGE E28 1 ik-vBV'ff CATCH OUR FRESHEST DEAL Early Bird Specials 5 pm -7 pm PRIME RIB OR CATCH OF THE DAT $995 STEAK LOBSTER $1 295 All Dinners Served with Homemade Clam Chowder or Garden Salad Baked Potato or Rice Pilaf Rolls Butter Plus Coffee Cheesecake Mon Tue A Delightful Solution to Your Short Lunch Problem: The Proud Bird All-You-Can-Eat Luncheon Quick Lunch Buffet and Salad Bar $85 $695 A OVERLOOKING THE LAX RUNWAY Call for Reservations: 670-3093 1 1 022 Aviation Blvd Los Angeles LAX Area iCTfie CPfi dVyvd sinuses and any other sluices that happen to be clogged Hot as it tastes its hard to resist in fact its impossible They make wonderful dumplings here a dish popular both in Korea and in the northern reaches of China In this case they arrive pan fried steamed and boiled with a hot dipping sauce that takes the dumplings from the mundane to the remarkable Hot sauce and dumplings are a combination from the upper levels of food heaven A spicy menu Youll find a good deal of spice on this menu in the fried chicken with red chili sauce a good dish that could have benefited from a slightly less chewy bird and in the kung pao seafood a finely balanced dish with the hot peppers bringing out the essential goodness of the usually dull overly chewy squid Or in the very enjoyable three-flavor gai chiang mein a noodle dish that wasnt at all what I expected it to be Instead of a sauce in which the flavors were discreetly separated in this case the shrimp pork and sea cucumber had been cooked into a brown mass that mixed perfectly with the noodles but gave no hint at all of the presence of any ingredients other than something brown The Honey China is a curious restaurant a rather worn-looking place with an exceedingly friendly staff and a menu filled with unexpected dishes (what for instance could they mean by Hawaiian duck?) Its a real ethnic twister a bit of this and a bit of that situated in the front of a motel and a long way from Koreatown No wonder the panda on its business cards is sitting down its all too much to absorb at one time Go Island Hopping This Sunday required Cards: alt major 8489 DC-1 at the Santa Monica Airport 2800 Donald Douglas Loop Santa Monica 399 2323 Brand new and humorously unselfcon-scious this breathtakmgly beautiful example of stark modem architecture and design employs lavish use of stainless steel real and fake marble and works of art by hip pop-culture LA artists Food is stylishly American with references to the past such as Detmonico steak mixed gnll Best bets are half-charred tuna steak tartare a wide range of a la carte vegetables (high marks for the sweet asparagus and al dente artichoke bottoms) Excellent desserts such as fhed bananas with rum sauce lemon curd tart hot pear tart Full dinners approximately $50 per person Big draw on weekends: dancing under the stars the banquet room $15 cover charge Lunch Mon-Frl dinner nightly Sunday brunch Full bar heavy action especially on weekends when the crowd is seven-deep Valet parking Cards: AX 21789 GLADSTONE'S 4 FISH 17300 Pacific Coast Highway Pacific Palisades 454-3474 A permanent llxture on the waterfront this quintessential American seafood restaurant is the veiy essence of California style Customers show up In everything Rom T-shirts and shorts to silk ftnery Sashimi and cold platters are excellent so is the New England clam chowder Fresh fish is abundantly available: good cioppmo Casual dining spacious wooden booths Heavy action from all age groups reservations absolutely necessary on weekends but you may wait nonetheless Full dinners $10-20 per person a la carte $295-1595 Breakfast lunch and dinner daily Full bar Valet parking Cards: all major 41489 HAL'S BAR AND GRILL 1349 Washington Blvd Venice 396-3105 A hip hangout for well-heeled local artists Hal's is a cross between no-nonsense gnll and an innovative Califomia-style restaurant Chef Greg Gevurtt Is a man for all seasonings so expect some intngumg herbs and spices Dinner entrees including soup or salad $14 $20 Dinner daily lunch Mon-Frl and brunch Sat -Sun Full bar Valet parking Cards AX 42189 THE HERITAGE 2640 Mam St Santa Monica 392-4956 Occupying the same 1890s Victon-an mansion that used to house the Chronicle the Hentage bnngs the same tum-of-the century elegance and combines it with an eclectic menu of spa-cuisine-be-damned cream sauces oid-fashioned comfort food such as pork chops and fries and excursion into lighter contemporary fare Entrees $16 to $25 appetizers around $7 to 10 Breakfast lunch and afternoon high tea weekdays dinner daily Full bar Valet parking Cards: MVAX 7789 LA MARINA INN 1 19 Culver Blvd Raya del Rey 823-9535 As new culinary bends fty by this venerable restaurant has been putting out solid well-prepared dinners for 32 years The standard surf 'n' turf items are all here plus veal dishes with an Italian accent and pasta The ambience is cozy as a fireplace of which there are two Dinners with soup or salad $10 to $18 Lunch and dinner Mon -Sat brunch Sun Full bar Valet parking Cards all major 61689 ME PETRELLI'S 5614 Sepulveda Blvd Culver City 397-1438 Lunch Mon-Sat dinner nightly Pebeili's has specialized steaks and gnlled meat for 58 years and there's not much jxwit in going unless that's what you want Ample portions good quality Race has changed little since the 50s and that makes it fun to visit after all these years Dinners 17 pastas less Fut bar Parking lot Cards: an major 33189 PIE 'N BURGER 124 Manhattan Beach Blvd Manhattan Beach 372-2488 American diner Surprisingly good sumptuous fun American diner cuisine featunng temflc hamburgers excellent ftench fries and onion nngs and of course fine pie Go for the itiubarb pie If available Functional coffee shop ambience with few Rills Sandwiches $350 Breakfast lunch and dinner everyday No Self-parking nearby city lots No reservations No credit cards 1590 PJ BRETTS 2701 Pacific Coast Highway Her-mosa Beach 318-2545 One of the Bretts Is a star for the Kansas City Royals and another Is a former player and now sportscaster and that should ten you the atmosphere here Large collection of memorabilia on the walls and every conceivable game on TV Food is simple but surprisingly good considering the plentiful portions and price Stuff kke mixed grill corned beef and cabbage hot dogs Dinners Rom $8 to $13 sandwiches around $5 Open Rom 7 a to 2 a daily Fun bar Off-street parking Reservations for large parties Cards: AX 63089 STONES Doubletree Hotel 4100 Admiralty Way Manna del Rey 301-6868 The flawlessly pampering service here could turn a sow's ear Into a Silken tenderloin but the dishes shine on their own The progressive American cuisine applies some Interesting taste couplings to seafood chicken and beef A supremely romantic special-occasion place Fui dinners entrees SI8-S27 Lunch weekdays and dinner defy Fu Validated valet or self-parking Cards all major 52689 SUNSETS 117 Manhattan Beach Blvd Man- REVIEWSE30 dere between boring and blistering In this case it was hot enough but the chicken chunks were a bit gristly as if the chicken had been hacked rather than chopped Then there was the whole shrimp in seasoned salt a real crowd pleaser of a dish in which the unshelled shrimp are quickly wokked then served in a multispiced seasoning salt that the heart association must hate but the rest of us love The point of the dish is for it to crunch with wild abandon in this case it crunched a little but not enough On the other hand the portion was more than generous you get your moneys worth for $1095 Splurging on lobster There was a herd of big lobsters visible in their tank which led us to splurge on a hot braised number The waiter chose one and brought it to the table still wriggling for us to inspect He was good enough to announce the price which was more than the whole rest of the meal put together but still not out of line The lobster made its second appearance in due course dripping a garlicky sauce as tender as could be It was the best dish we had by far It was a dish that made me feel like a Mandarin with a bib around my neck and my fingers adrip with lobster and garlic There are 219 dishes on the menu and some of them are something special the kitchen can do good work when its willing to put the blands in the past and make food spicy enough it could Szechwan fire You dont have to be especially observant to notice that theres something different about the pleasantly named Honey China Restaurant which sits in the front of the Proud Parrot Motel There are two sets of ideographs used all over the restaurant one of them the familiar asymmetry of Chinese letters the other the more chaotic characters of the Korean alphabet As with many of the Chinese restaurants in Koreatown many miles due north on Western Avenue this is a Korean-run Chinese restaurant But you dont need to recognize the alphabet to know that theres a Korean sense to much of the menu which means things can be hot And they can be even hotter still if you want them to be Before your first dish arrives youre presented with a stinging bowl of cabbage kimchee a wonderful- concoction of fer mented cabbage that cleans the Merrill Shindler is a leading area dining critic and broadcasts restaurant commentary on KABC radio at 5 pm At Reubens Sunday Brunch Discover savory treasures on seven buffet islands this Sunday Enjoy hot pastas fresh seafood and made-to-order omelettes Sip on champagne as you hop over for hot Belgian Waffles And stop by for freshly carved prime rib Take as many trips as you like Just make the Dessert Isle your final destination where youll find our famous Bananas Foster hanging around in bunches Served Sundays from 10 am Bon Voyage! AMERICAN I BRENTWOOD BAR I GRIU 11647 San Vicente Btvd Brentwood 820-2121 Contemporary American cuisine gnHed items inventive gar-rashes presented a splendid ambience of understated elegance Decent noise level Food sometime overdone too many herbs too much butter Exceptional wine list Service ranges Rom effective to officious Not inexpensive: entrees Rom $16 to $26 starters around $8 and desserts about $5 Lunch Mon-Fit: dinner nightly Fun bar Valet parking Cards: all major 51989 CALIFORNIA HORNBLOWER WortdPort LA Cruise Terminal off Harbor Boulevard San Pedro 519-9400 The CaMomia-based Homblower yacht company has given berth to Its newest ship modeled after a 1900s steamer An evening cruise passes Ports O' Call Village and the Queen Mary and bans the Long Beach shoreline Into a gitter-ing jewelry box Although the (bur-course dinner ranks above average the prices may gvt your wallet a sinking (eeticg At $59 per person plus bp and drinks you may have to either float aone or float a loan Ful bar Free parking Reservations Steakhcuse Fresh Seafood Grill Marina del Rey 4211 Admiralty Way 823-5341 Redondo Beach 230 Portofmo Way 379-8363 San Pedro 28326 Western 832-8397 Westchester 6531 Sepulveda Blvd 776-1300 TKq Daily lr fbrvory 16 1990 179.