Finally, time for the food!
But first, a little 1500 Ocean history...
The restaurant is the Hotel del's signature dining establishment, originally under the name of Prince of Wales Grill, named after Prince Edward, one of the hotel's guests and supporters during the 1920s. I think it was around 2006 that they changed the name to 1500 Ocean. Nonetheless, countless celebrities and notable athletes have dined there, including John Wayne (I thought this was pretty cool), many Presidents and royalty, as well as, of course, lots of Hollywood stars including the Ricardos! The restaurant has changed over the years but still featuers California coastal cuisine, and has been under the post of Chef Meredith Manee now for a few years.
We were beyond star struck to be expected here ourselves this particular evening.
We were greeted warmly when we arrived, and we requested a seat on the patio. Here we could see the beach and ocean, the herb garden, as well as walkways of the grounds of the hotel.
Our server and his assistant treated us like royalty from start to finish.
The menu frequently changes, and so I'm not entirely clear on the lengthy descriptions of some of our items. For most I only have names.
We both started with sparkling wine and did not photograph that.
For our starting course, DW chose the sashimi:
Yellow tail and Hamachi Sashimi
This was quite nice, with the quality of the fish a real stand-out for me. It was fresh and delightful, and she quite enjoyed it.
I chose a salad:
I really have no idea what this was!
Sorry, but I did note how much I enjoyed it, as well as the creamy citrus foam and the toasted macadamia nuts on the side. The greens came from the hotel's garden. You can't get much fresher than that.
For the next course, DP broke character and ordered this:
Split pea soup!
She really dislikes soup in general. It's this weird thing she has about not wanting to eat solid food floating in liquid.
I don't know why, but that really cracks me up.
The soup was pristine, with the taste of sweet summer peas really shining. This is normally served with some form of pork plopped on top, but we were able to confirm that they could do it for us without, and this actually turned it into a vegan dish.
I loved that about our server. Even though we clearly ate seafood and were not vegans, he was well versed in all ingredients and made the distinctions between dishes that were vegetarian, vegan and pescatarian.
For my second, I chose this:
Poached White Prawns with Romesco Sauce
Of all the food we enjoyed this evening, this was my least favorite. There was nothing wrong with it; the flavors just weren't as inventive or fresh as those in the other dishes. The romesco sauce was probably the best thing on this plate.
For our main choices, DP chose fish:
Peppered sea bass with veggies
I believe there were some mushrooms underneath, as well as cherry tomatoes and new potatoes. That's about all I've got. DP and I both enjoyed this. The fish was fresh and light, cooked well and the veggies were bursting with natural flavor.
I chose something I can almost never resist on a menu, the scallops:
Seared Diver Scallops with Risotto
I realize this picture is too dark to really give you an idea. There was nothing wrong with these! Everything was rich and creamy. I enjoyed it, but again surprisingly, not as exciting as some of the fresher veggie tastes we enjoyed in the other dishes.
By dessert, we were beginning to get fatigued from all the eating.
We chose to split a coffee drink that was loaded with varying decadent spirits. I don't recall much about that.
Because we were so full already, we decided to choose a couple of the lighter dessert options.
We split this:
Ice Cream Trio
This is house made ice cream and I don't recall the flavors. I know one was chocolate and that is it. The white was not vanilla. It was something exciting and interesting. I have no concept what the caramel colored mound on top was.
This was yummy, nice and light and cool. A couple nearby us ordered the ice cream which is made at the table. Watching that process was fun! There was some liquid nitrogen involved I believe, and what started out as liquid turned into ice cream in a matter of seconds (90 or so I think).
Our next dessert was this:
Vanilla Bean Crème Brulee
Holy moly was this perfect! There were praline candied nuts on top, as well as a nice little madeleine cookie. I could have passed on the cookie. It was probably mostly for show. It was too heavy for the dish itself and I think we both just had a small taste. The brulee on top was well executed, and the depth of the cream was just perfect so that none of it was too cool, even beneath the burn.
This fine dining experience did not disappoint, and with our bellies delightfully full, we headed back to our room where we photographed (and elevated) my swollen feet, which had emerged larger and larger throughout the meal. (Don't worry; by morning they were back to normal!)