Best Contemporary French Restaurants in El Sereno

We have been coming to Shiro's for many years and, once again, they reminded us why this is our favorite "special occasion" restaurant. The food is always excellent -- tasty and beautifully presented. Last night we enjoyed 2 favorites, the salmon tartar tacos and the catfish. The staff is very friendly and attentive and the atmosphere is lovely including the soft jazz piano playing on the sound system.

This was our first time to see a performance of the LA OPERA. I wanted to have dinner before the performance and felt that something at the Music Center itself would be best because of the traffic. Good call. Viewing the menu in advance of our evening, it seemed good but frankly, I had only moderate expectations. Boy, was I pleasantly surprised! We started dinner out with a shared Caesar Salad which was excellent and the bread was fantastic. For dinner, my wife had the Steak Frites and I had the Brick1/2 Chicken. They were both superb. Our server was extremely polite and attentive. The noise level was low. You can talk and actually hear what the other person is saying. This is going to be our new go-to restaurant prior to attending performances.

I’ve been to Bar Chelou a few times but they have really hit their stride. The service was on point, the drinks were fun and delicious, and the food was incredible. Every dish had an unexpected twist, from the mini peperoncinis in the salad to the tang of peanut butter in the carrots to the umami in the tempura mushrooms, lovely surprises all around! And they coursed everything out beautifully and got us to the show at the Playhouse right on time, chef’s kiss!

Wonderful meal. Decibel Martini and Army Navy cocktail were both delicious. Black sesame Parker house rolls with butter and house cured ikura were so good! Abalone and shrimp pot pie was very good, and Koji-roasted chicken was juicy and wonderful. Very attentive service.

Fantastic, beautiful venue. Service was top notch! We asked why they didn't have an item this year on the buffet as they had in the past, and they went and made that special dish for my wife.