La Dijonaise - Culver City

I visited Delta Coffee Roasters last week after taking my kids to Downtown Disney, and I picked up two pounds of their French roast. Oh my gosh, I missed that amazing roast so much! If you enjoyed this coffee as much as I did, I highly recommend ordering from them online to support this fantastic small business!

Free parking across the pedestrian walkway is almost always full, and the street meters are likewise occupied due to the popularity of nearby restaurants. We checked the hours of operation on Yelp for Monday, and it indicated they were open until 9 PM. We drove all the way from Century City, only to find the restaurant closed at 8 PM. I called the owner, and she mentioned that they don't update their hours on Yelp because they receive more negative reviews there than on Google!

Terrible service. I came with a party of four well after lunch rush so there were only a few people seated. It took nearly an hour for our food to come out. It was extremely disheartening to see people who came way after us get their food first. We ordered some pastries from behind the counter while waiting and even those took an unjustifiably long time to come out. All you have to do is put them in the box, I really don't understand why we were made to wait so long when there wasn't a line. The quality of the food is difficult to rate when you're waiting for something you know should not take that long. The french onion soup was good, but my croque monsseur was forgettable and disgustingly overpriced for what it is. The worst part is that they made my grandparents wait. My elderly grandfather, who had just gotten a checkup for an extremely stressful health condition, was made to wait there in an equally depressing cafe. Never coming here again, I'll eat at Father's Office since it's next door and the food is actually worth the price.

Quaint, quiet and quintessential to the current incarnation of the massive Helm's Bakery District, this delightful French cafe and patisserie offers classic French, Continental and American styles to please almost everyone. I, however, liked the modern take on French cuisine since I craved a sandwich. I walked past the patio as I browsed nearby furniture stores, which appears to be the centerpiece for the area, and decided to give them a try. I like the modern interior design, and the swinging doors leading to the restrooms was my first move. Clean and maintained! A good start. There's dining inside and a modest counter seating option too, but on a gorgeous sunny day why dine in? While not busy the atmosphere was relaxing and casual. I perused the menu and decided on a sandwich called Croque Monsieur that features ham and bechamel inside thick slices of bread with Swiss cheese melted on top. The spring mix salad and vinaigrette also sounded like a good balance of carbs and fat. Sant, my French waiter, proved to be quite a character and I liked him immediately! We ripped on the pretentiousness of wine tasting (after I informed him of my evening plans and carried on like guys do (sorry girls . He assured me that the sandwich was rich and I'd be full enough for many hours. Sparkling water seemed appropriate for a European style café, and it was. The breeze made for the perfect climate outside, although I'd advise wearing a jacket or sweater in the evening. The food arrived quickly and I dived right in. See pics. The taste was marvelous! The ham was of good pedigree (not cheap **** ; , and the bread was fresh and flavorful. Eat it with a knife and fork to maintain an air of class and European chic. The menu overall is impressive and the seafood Cobb Salad almost got the pick, plus there are steaks, chicken and fish choices as entrées for dinner. The pastries looked nice too. While I need to explore Culver City more, this restaurant is worth visiting again.

This was my first visit to the restaurant, and I decided to try the lobster risotto. It was creamy and flavorful, featuring several generous pieces of lobster. While it was indeed creamy, I found it a bit on the dry side—though I admit, I'm comparing it to the risotto I've enjoyed in Italy. Don't get me wrong, it was tasty, but once you’ve experienced authentic risotto, it’s tough not to make that comparison. The large chunks of lobster were a definite highlight, especially since many dishes come with smaller pieces; here, you really get to savor the lobster. The photo doesn’t do it justice, and as I write this review a day later, I wish I had some right now!