Strand House in Manhattan Beach: Fantastic Food with a View

I've been on so many dinela duds that I didn't have high expectations for the Strand House in Manhattan Beach, a restaurant with a fantastic view that I expected would rely on that alone to get customers. I knew it had undergone a facelift with Neal Fraser of Grace and BLD fame at the helm but what we got was a veritable revelation.

  

The space upon entering is open and airy with an amazing view of the ocean. We had the dinela menu that featured many of the regular menu items. We had the kale salad with pomegranate, candied pumpkin seeds, goat cheese and farro, which was excellent. The kale was crunchy and the goat cheese cut into little cubes with a flavor that wasn't too overpowering. There was, of course, a great mix of textures that included crunchy from the seeds and jewel-popping tanginess from the pomegranate seeds. The salad didn't look too shabby on the plate either. 

The cauliflower soup with seared scallops was light with a touch of hearty scallop chunks that were perfectly browned on the edges and soft while not being overcooked on the inside. Another wow.

The starters were solid but the piece de resistance and star of the day was the branzino (or loup de mer in French) filet roasted just so, sitting atop a bed of cauliflower "couscous" with pine nuts and currants, spiced with something called vadouvan, a variation of masala with French influences. Fresh cilantro and scallions were sprinkled over the fish with a side of salsa verde and served as a mild kick to the delicious fish. This was a very well thought out dish. 

The egg tagliatelle with sunchokes, asparagus, piquillo peppers and baby broccoli was light but packed a flavor punch as the dish let the natural flavors of the veggies do the talking. There was hardly any seasoning except for pepper and shredded Parmesan cheese. The smokiness of the peppers was a great combination with the nuttiness of the asparagus and softness of the sunchokes. It was the perfect accompaniment to the fish dish. 

As if we hadn't been amazed enough up until now, the desserts were just as excellent. The ice cream selection was fascinating and we chose passion fruit and salted caramel. Oh my, the salted caramel. I don't even remember what the passion fruit one tasted like. I'm sure it was serviceable but the salted caramel was worthy of a moment. 

What came next was the porniest of food porn. One sugar-glazed donut and a salted caramel-glazed one. I mean, look at that caramel glaze! I must say, there were good, and then I remembered the ones I had at Grace a few dinela's ago. Those were better but these were pretty darn close. I wolfed them down. They were warm. They were soft. They weren't overly sweet and went so well with the ice cream. 

Sorry, had to give you an even closer shot of the salted caramel donut. I'm officially a fan of the sweet and savory dessert, er, donut.

Check out those views! I assure I wasn't commissioned by the restaurant to write this glowing review. 

I'm definitely sold and will be coming back for more. One thing they could do better is service. Service was spotty and not as attentive as we would have liked. But overall a big thumbs up. I'll be returning for sure. I can't wait to try their dinners. Glad I went with my partner in crime VT to check it out.