Here’s my secret for finding the new restaurant eats: I subscribe to Eater and Infatuation and I regularly receive emails of openings and reviews. However, and no offense to my fellow foodies, but I have a different standard, and I don’t always agree with their recos. On the Xuntos front, I’m 100% “aligned” which by the way is ad agency/marketing speak, now that I’m professionally back in that sphere.
Xuntos is located in Downtown Santa Monica which, in my teens and 20s, was one of my favorite hangouts. Now part of the area has been surrendered to and relegated to the homeless encampments while the oceanside still caters to the elite. Walking to Xuntos with my Lady Dior from the public parking garage on 4th made me reevaluate my luxury bag choice for the night. However, upon arriving at the restaurant, I was very pleasantly surprised at the upscale environment.
My husband was already seated as I dropped him off to locate parking.
When I arrived, my husband’s wine choice for me was promptly served. It was their driest white wine offering which had a bit of zest and grapefruit tartness.
The complimentary olive starter served with the drinks had a bit of kick with a peppercini flavor.
We started off with the ham and grilled cheese sandwich. The “bikini jamon” was phenomenal! Cheesy, gooey, slightly sweet, with shaved sweet slices of jamon in the center. We ended up ordering two because it was that good!
Next up was the gazpacho which was delicious, refreshing, creamy, tart, a bit sour with hints of the freshness of cucumber, truly unique and perfect for a hot summer day.
Our first main dish was the garlic shrimp which was beautifully presented, steaming hot with sliced baguette on the side. The shrimp had a bit of heat and the oil from the pan served as a nice dipping sauce for the bread. The shrimp was small but plump and tender.
Next up was the squid ink pasta which was creamy, tart from the lemon juice and tomato purée.
The patatas bravas were served piping hot, crispy with a drizzle of sour cream, chives and tomato purée.
The finale was the steak which was lightly salted, tender and juicy, with a bit of chimichurri herbs, caper sauce and rock salt on top.
All the menu items from start to finish were exceptional. It’s been a while since all the notes, from the service to the quality of the food, hit all the right marks. As my childhood piano teacher would say after an excellent performance, three gold stars to Xuntos!
I have been to Fig many times over the past few years for work functions and parties held at their venue. The food was always exemplary and I expected the same from our outing for their Poolside Cinema events. Sadly, my recent experience was quite the opposite. Service was a bit slow which was understandable as I believe the pool area only had one server attending to all the customers. The alcoholic drinks were very meager in portion. What was worse than the light pour was the quality of the food.
To say that the $29 foraged mushroom pizza tasted like cardboard with arugula on it would be an understatement and kind.
I’m a french fry connoisseur but the $14 plate of supposed rosemary fries resulted in only 3 fries being eaten from the batch. It was as if potatoes were cut and fried but the kitchen forgot to season it.
The $28 rockfish was barely passable as the fish was tender but the fish, squash, eggplant and peppers had no distinguishing flavors.
The only saving grace was the $26 cacio e pepe. It’s as if it was cooked in a different kitchen than the prior three orders. The pasta was perfectly cooked, al dente. The cheese packed a punch of flavor and the black pepper added a bit of heat to the dish. If we were ever to return, we would likely order just that dish, which would satisfy the $25 minimum.
I honestly am appalled by what Fig was allowed to serve us. I asked the family who sat in front of us, and they thought everything they ate was horrible as well and they ordered other items from the menu. I cannot ever recommend Fig to my friends or even to my worst enemy. It’s a hard pass on their food and drinks on a go forward basis.
Fig Restaurant
101 Wilshire Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Our first introduction to Astro Doughnuts was at an outdoor movie screening of Top Gun last summer at Veterans Park in Culver City. It was one of the food trucks at the event. I was in line for another food truck with a friend so I sent my husband to get in line at their truck to get me fried chicken. Everybody in front of him was ordering the PB&J doughnut. Although he ordinarily wouldn’t eat a doughnut, he did enjoy an occasional PB&J sandwich so he ordered one of those. To say that on first bite, the obsession was born would be a severe understatement.
A former coworker was working at Deutsch and she posted a photo on Instagram that Satan had pulled up, showing the photo of the Astro Doughnuts food truck. I immediately tagged my husband on her post and mentioned that he had been craving those doughnuts and for him to head over before they left. My husband luckily made it over right before the end of the lunch rush and was lucky to get the last two PB&J doughnuts.
When I mentioned that a Santa Monica storefront was opening up, he kept checking their Instagram page for updates on opening day. They finally opened last Thursday but we were both busy with work so we made a plan to pick up dessert before our Saturday night dinner reservation. Sadly, the business hours on the site and even on the door were not accurate. We arrived at 7:18 p.m. and though my husband begged the guy in the store to let him in just so he could buy his PB&J doughnuts, his efforts were foiled because they had none left. He looked sad and dejected as he walked away empty handed.
On this beautiful sunny Sunday, I decided it time for a proper and successful do-over. This time I called the downtown Los Angeles location and asked for the Santa Monica phone number. The woman on the phone claimed to not have their number but she was told they would be closing at 3 p.m. today. At the time of the call, it was 1:45 p.m. so we immediately headed out.
I dropped my husband off at the corner and asked him to order me 2 fried chicken thighs and tater tots. I drove around the block and saw a guy in a Prius getting ready to leave on the same block as Astro. I immediately made a sharp U-turn and pulled into the spot. Thank you Parking Fairy.
When I walked into the shop, my husband had just ordered 8 pieces of chicken which was 6 more than I wanted though he correctly assumed I would want leftovers so points scored for him. He also ordered my tater tots extra crispy. For his lunch, the cashier offered him a make your own combo consisting of a fried chicken breast sandwich with a farm fresh egg in between a cheddar biscuit and for dessert/breakfast/snack for the week, he ordered 3 PB&J doughnuts and 3 coconut almond doughnuts. While we were waiting, we noticed a kid chomping down on the most popular offering which was the chocolate chip cookie dough. I decided to buy the second to the last one since clearly the day’s diet was blown.
The food arrived and boy it was a sight to see. Talk about abundance of happiness!! I immediately started munching on the tater tots which were perfectly crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. The fried chicken was cooked simply. It had a light tight crispy batter with juicy moist meat underneath, lightly peppered but not overly seasoned. It was also surprisingly not greasy or oily like the fried chicken at other establishments.
The decadence and indulgence obviously came in the form of their doughnuts. The chocolate chip cookie dough had a dense chocolate cake for its main portion with a thick layer of iced sugar and chocolate chips on top with a scoop of actual cookie dough filling the hole in the middle. The key is to parse off a bite of the main doughnut and take a piece of the cookie dough and set it on top of the bite to get the full effect of this doughnut. The seasonal vegan coconut almond doughnut is much lighter, more subtle but definitely is still a contender. With that said, both pale in comparison to the PB&J doughnut. The combo of the peanut butter icing and chopped peanuts on top with the jelly oozing out of the middle is what foodies call a foodgasm. Hail to the king of all doughnuts!!
The true sign of a successful paring/merger of flavors is the ability of each layer to complement and yet be able to stand on its own. Astro Doughnuts is just beginning its winning streak and we cannot wait to enjoy their offerings over and over. We are customers for life! Thank you for coming to California and thank you for coming to the Westside!!
Astro Doughnuts & Fried Chicken
2309 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90405
(424) 280-4414
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