DaVinci's

Friday, April 6, 2007

Finally went to DaVinci's in Long Beach. I have heard pro's and con's about DaVinci's since it was first opened, so I was interested to see what my take would be. I met up with a couple of friends there for cocktails and appetizer's. My first impression is the place is big. Several different dining areas along with the bar and outside patio. The main dining area is impressive with the view of the airport.

Since I arrived early I had 20 minutes to order a drink - the bartender did know how to make a "Sidecar", altho he did not use fresh lemon juice, just a sweet/sour mix. It was a decent drink, much better than a lot of them I've had. The bartenders were pleasant, but seemed to be a little clumsy that evening. They had a case of the "dropsies". (Maybe they were over whelmed with my voluptuous looks). LOL

When my friends arrived, we went to the outside patio. If you like the noise of the small planes, jets and helicopters, it is an interesting place to sit. The noise was not as loud as some of the local establishments that have music. At least we could have conversation without yelling.

We ordered two appetizers. One was a Ahi Tuna finely diced, similar to tartare and with a hint of wasbi/mayonnaise mixed in. It was very good. Almost a buttery taste. I would order this again in a heartbeat. The amount on the plate I would estimate to be around 3/4 of of a cup, lightly packed.

The second appetizer was fried rounds of polenta with a mushroom sauce. The had added a few shrimp to the equation but I really don't know why. The polenta with the mushrooms was tasty enough without anything extra. Maybe it was to jack up the price. There were about 7 or 8 rounds of polenta on the plate and they were approximately the size of a quarter.

Both of these appetizers were served on large plates, very impressive but took up a lot of room on the table. They were in the $14 to $16 range. I little pricey. I would say about $ 2 to $4 too much. They gave us large square plates to eat off of. We asked for smaller plates but were told they did not have any.

One of my companions ordered a Martini that was supposed to come with a jalapeno stuffed olive. When they first brought the drink it had a cherry in it When this was pointed out to the server he came back with two very large stuffed olives. But they were stuffed with cheese, not jalapeno's.

Since I did not eat dinner there I can only comment about the appetizers and drinks. I would go back there but not on a regular basis. Just a tad too pricey for what you get. The wait staff was very cordial and they did seem to be trying to accommodate you. I will have dinner there just to see what the dining menu food is like. This apparently is an expensive place to run and you will pay a premium for it.