Shilo's

Sept. 15, 2006.
The décor is very nice. While the lights were a bit bright, and the weeping wall a bit noisy, they really did a great job with what they had to work with. The tables are super close to each other (think Le Marais downstairs) but it’s understandable as they are going to need to squeeze every cent out of that place to cover their costs. There is definitely a French touch involved as seen by the little things like rocks in the urinal, rose petals on the tables, etc.
The service was okay considering it was opening night. They certainly have a lot to work on. Some of the issues like menu knowledge will come with time however there is no excuse for bullshit answers that we received from our waiter - if you don’t know the answer to a question ask someone who does (more on this to follow).
The food was excellent and the prices were surprisingly reasonable. We ordered 4 appetizers and all were delicious. My mushroom ragout (I’m still not sure what a ragout is) was a delectable medley of wild mushrooms sautéed in a veal stock. If you are a fungi lover this is for you. Dalia got the foie gras (of course she had to order the most expensive thing), which is served, with mini toasts and fig. She loved it however she wished they had given her some more of those mini toasts. If you order it, either conserve some of the warm on the outside, cold on the inside La Brea bakery baguettes that they serve the table or ask for some more of the toast pieces. By the way, the bread was served with the usual herbed margarine and a really good olive spread (mild in flavor not harsh like the one at Pat’s). Shana got the “vegetable napoleon” basically a stack of roasted vegis - good but nothing special. Mordechai’s heirloom tomato dish was spectacular. There were four large slices of yellow and red heirloom tomato surrounding a half avocado filled with some sort of bell pepper thing marinated in balsamic vinaigrette. The whole dish was amazingly simple yet soooo tasty.
At this point our meal was going very smoothly - much smoother then the meal of the Persian couple sitting 2 inches away from us. They had ordered the Chef’s prix fixe menu, which at $47 is a real bargain. You get a soup, salad, appetizer, entrée and desert - pretty good deal. When the kitchen sent out their steak prior to their salad and appetizer, they were a bit confused. (Mordechai later discovered that the reason the kitchen got so messed up was because the coupled ordered only 1 meal figuring they could share it and save the money…). When our entrees were brought out, they had no idea which plate belonged to which person. This was a problem as 3 of us ordered the 28-day dry aged ribeye, each at a different level of doneness (on a side note, we were wondering how a new restaurant could serve steak aged on the premises for 28 days on opening night. When asked about this, our genius waiter assured us that everything is kosher and that the rabbi was there every day - huh? I know, doesn’t make any sense). Furthermore, they put the sauce directly on the steak even though our waiter assured us that it would come on the side. I got lucky and ended up with my medium steak - broiled perfectly (dark brown crust on the outside, soft and pink on the inside) albeit with the wild mushrooms sauce on the meat instead of on the side. Unfortunately, Shana’s rare steak with the wine sauce went to Dalia and her medium steak with truffle sauce went to Shana. Mordechai’s sliced flank steak (there is a French name on the menu but it escapes me) was replaced by another ribeye, served with the peppercorn sauce. There is a choice of 4 types of potatoes - twice baked, roasted fingerling, garlic mashed or fries that come with your entree. Our waiter assured us that the fries were homemade - not the frozen type you get at Jeff’s but alas, he was wrong again. Dalia enjoyed the twice baked and Mordechai’s fingerlings were quite good. My fast-food fries were certainly a disappointment. In summary, there is a new best steak in town!
We should have finished our meal here and been on our way but we made the costly mistake of ordering dessert. All the desserts are prepared fresh by Le Palais bakery - need I say more? My espresso was okay (I make a better one in my office).
Overall, we had an extremely satisfying meal. The costs are on par with Pat ’s and LaGondola but the food and dining experience is similar to eating at the winery restaurant. I am certainly going back to try some more of the menu - the rack of lamb in particular looked really good. Shiloh’s has brought the first real fine dining steakhouse to LA. It’s about freaking time!