WP24 - downtown LA, ritz carlton 24th floor

WP24

what does $100 chinese food taste like? it taste like $10 chinese food x 10, i would know, i'm number's guy. and yes, i'm aware you can get cheap chinese food virtually everywhere, but if you're willing to go for the adventure, the view, and the experience of how good chinese food can be then i recommend it. and if you have somebody willing to treat you there for your birthday, i recommend you suggest it.

price: 3 courses/$80 or 4 courses/$110

courses include app, entree (or two), dessert

prawn toast

this is on the lounge menu, but was given to us as an amuse-bouche and it was quite possibly one of the best single bite apps ive ever eaten, i would know, im also shrimp guy. a tiny little bite from bread and shrimp heaven, two of my favorite things in this world served with a sweet and spicy garlic chili sauce. 10/10

peking duck rolls

basically takes a peking duck breast, wrapped up in an eggroll and fried to perfection while maintaining the flavor and juiciness of the duck. served with a hoisin sauce. duck, fried, crispy, hoisin. nuff said. 9.5/10

black cod broiled with chinese ginseng honey

if youve ever had black cod (butterfish) you basically know youre in for a treat. melt in your mouth fish that you could basically eat without teeth. marinated with a sweet sauce? yes please. i dare say better than roy's misoyaki butterfish. 9/10

unfortunately i dont remember the menu description of the scallops - however i do remember that they were the biggest scallops ive ever eaten. they were deep fried and almost the size of tennis balls. normally if you told me they were deep fried i would first smile because anything short of bleu cheese and mayo deep fried is amazing. then i would start to think that it would hide the flavor of the scallop, and basically turn into a fish stick. wrong. another home run. crispy outside but kept the integrity of the scallop itself. 9/10 (the sides on the dish were eh)

marjolasian

its really hard to describe this dessert. it had layers of dark chocolate, with white expresso mousse in between, served with a coffee ice cream. it was almost like a candy bar from the future. it also had some nuts to give it an extra crunch and was a nice finish to the meal. 9.5/10

we were able to have a few other items that were definitely solid but these were the highlights. the ambiance alone is breathtaking and if you have some extra time before laker games and wanna feel like a baller go to the ritz and take the elevator up to the 24th floor - the lounge menu features both of the two appetizers i talked about. basically my expectations of this place were: familiar chinese style flavors with expensive ingredients and executed perfectly. foodwise it delivered. the service had a little airball when they forgot a fried rice side we ordered and then got it wrong, but the management was courteous, and comped off the rice, and all our drinks and we got two extra desserts and even invited us to notify her before we dine again with them so they could style and dial us. not sure what dial us means, but im down to find out.

the report card

food: 9.5/10

presentation: 9.5/10

service: 8.5/10

ambiance: 10/10

overall: 9.4/10