Horrible Food at HT Grill, Fantastic at Zazou

I felt like Gordon Ramsey last night. Have you seen him on Kitchen Nightmares? The ones when he is gagging and running off to the bathroom?

We went to HT Grill in Redondo Beach because we knew they had outdoor seating and it seemed like a good place for a Friday night happy hour drink. My first turn off was pulling into the parking lot, not realizing it was for valet only. I swear they took our car 8 feet from where we got out. And its not just tip, they charge $3.75 for that. There's plenty of free parking in the village so we felt stupid and ripped off - I can't believe they can get away with that.

Next we go in and the bar is is pretty lively. We wished the crowd was a little younger though. It seemed to be the over-50 beach crowd. Maybe you have to hit Hermosa for the younger set. We ordered wine and waited for an outdoor table. When we got seated outside the table was wobbly and the hostess said she's get it fixed. A busser came over, told us to hold our glasses, shoved the table really hard into the wall it was adjacent to, and said "there."

Ok, that was weird.

Next, I opened the menu and it was filthy. I hate eating in restaurants that have dirty menus. Come on, who hasn't heard of a first impression? At this point I told hubby that I was fine with drinks and a snack and then we'd have to skeedaddle. So we ordered an appetizer -- a crab tower. When it came, almost too quickly I might add, it was repulsive looking. It sat on a black plate that was dirty, it was topped with alfalfa sprouts that looked 2-weeks old and the giant layer of crab was clearly from a can.

Oh my gosh, do I have to taste this?! I stared at it for a few minutes wondering. I wished I was drinking hard alcohol so it would hopefully kill anything I might get.

I took off the sprouts. I picked at the crab, found some over-ripe avocado, under-ripe tomatoes and a very weird cream sauce that it was swimming in. The waitress asked us how it was. We said not very good. She practically insisted on bringing us something else and pretty much admitted that the crab tower isn't good. She even asked us if we'd be staying for dinner phrasing it more like she knew we would not be, "you're not staying to eat are you?."

How did she know???

I watched another customer pick apart the same appetizer and send it back. How could a restaurant be so dumb?! I swear I was so repulsed I thought I'd be sick today.

I kept thinking about the restaurant review in this past week's LA Times Food Section. It was on Gladstones in Malibu. They got no stars and a review saying the food is actually "bad." It was described as off-color and off-taste and way overpriced. It's so sad that people go to these places thinking they are going to get a good meal. Of course Gladstones is a tourist trap so they probably are just taking advantage of people who don't know any better.

So back to last night. After taking a walk on the beach we picked up our car, and drove it to a free parking spot on the street a block away and went to Zazou for a real dinner.

Oh my gosh, it's like night and day. It's such a fantastic place! You walk in and it smells so good.

The hostess is excited about the day's specials, the waiter doesn't tell us his name (I hate knowing my waiter's name), has a cute smile, seems genuinely happy to be working at Zazou, and doesn't hover at all during the evening (I hate hovering waiters).

Ahhhhhh. Sweet relief to be in a decent restaurant!

The menu is spotless. The tableclothes are white. The bread is the best in town. The wine is excellent. And for some reason I was in the mood for boring chicken. But instead of the potatoes it comes with I am in the mood for some pasta. The waiter even suggested that I have it with olive oil and garlic. It's so nice when a waiter knows something about food!

Yeah for Zazou -- our evening wasn't a bust after all! Thank you! Thank you!