Camelia

Review summary

1. T

   Trisha

   Los Angeles

   2 reviews

   5.0

   2 reviews

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Fantastic food, fantastic service, the portions were perfect.
   

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2. C

   Claudia

   VIP

   Los Angeles

   2 reviews

   5.0

   2 reviews

   Dined 3 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Food and service was great. Bit pricey for portion size
   

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3. T

   Terri

   VIP

   Los Angeles

   59 reviews

   4.0

   59 reviews

   Dined 4 days ago

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 3

   We arrived a few minutes early for our reservation and waited about 25 minutes for our table. They were super busy and we understood they couldn't force people out of their seats (especially saturday night during holiday season). We could have been seated sooner had we been willing to sit outside under heat lamps. We had a long list of items we wanted to try and with guidance from our server chose six plates, and would have been completely satiated with only five... and still a little room for dessert. All the dishes had layers of complexity and flavor. Loved the seasoning on the Dungeness crab with ikura on purple yam blini, but it's all a matter of personal preference since I thought the Kabocha squash with burrata and curry leaf was terrific and my BF liked it but didn't love. I really liked that the server who brought the dishes to our table, described each dish as he placed it in front of us so we didn't have to go back to the menu to remind ourselves of what we ordered. I couldn't wait to try their Soufflé Tart Chocolate, passionfruit, coconut ice and it was perfect, not overly sweet, lots of flavor and an exclamation point to the end of a delicious dinner. Would absolutely go back here again!!
   

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4. A

   Alisha

   VIP

   Los Angeles

   11 reviews

   2.0

   11 reviews

   Dined 4 days ago

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 4

   Yuck!! This place is so pretentious and the food was downright gross. Very rich with overwhelming flavors that just were not good at all. Service was humorless, serious and pretentious. A skip
   

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5. T

   Tim

   Palm Springs

   10 reviews

   4.0

   10 reviews

   Dined 5 days ago

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 4

   Overall, we enjoyed our dinner at Camelia. The staff was very friendly and welcoming. As it was a chilly night, we requested an indoor table which became available soon after arrival. We ordered several dishes to share which is their style of service. The server gently implied that we may not have ordered enough. When the first dish arrived we realized that the serving sizes were quite small so we did order another dish. I have to say that iIve seen menus featuring beef from Flannery Farms. It is always expensive. We ordred the NY Strip from Flannery Farms. It was mostly inedible due to a lot of gristle all the way through the steak. We were asked if we wanted to box up the remaining meat but told the server that it was all waste and we were not interested in taking it. Server said they would report that to the chef, which I assume she did but we still paid the $80 for it.
   

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6. C

   Cody

   VIP

   Orange County

   4 reviews

   4.0

   4 reviews

   Dined 7 days ago

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 4

   Camelia provided an interesting take on Asian fusion, with experimental dishes I haven't seen before. The restaurant is quite pretty with the exterior reminiscent of a bistro you would find along a street in New York. Our servers explained each dish as it was brought out and provided good recommendations. The night started off strong with the Uni Otoro Toast. It was only a single bite, but that one bite held so much impact. The uni and otoro together was rich, fatty, and buttery, absolutely melting in your mouth. The seafood tasted fresh as well - uni can be a little hit or miss, but in this case it was a hit. I was also impressed by the Croque Madame. It was definitely creative - I had never seen Asian fusion with a Croque Madame before. The bread was shokupan and the ham was breaded and fried in a katsu style. The sandwich was pressed, similar to a panini. This made the bread crispy, which texturally worked very well with the fried ham katsu. For being a ham sandwich, I thought the sandwich was quite meaty and substantial. And the melted Gruyère cheese on top was absolutely delicious. The meal kinda dips a little when the bigger entrees came out. I did not think they were as good as their precedents. The spaghetti bolognese, for example, was fine. It was good, lighter than your typical bolognese with an interesting aftertaste, but nothing special in my opinion. Definitely not a showstopper like the first two dishes. And the beef cheek was a miss for me. It was tender - everything on that plate was tender from the meat to the pearl onions to the bok choy. But the wasabi chutney thing on top was overpowering. On my first bite, I was ambushed by the wasabi and recoiled. On my second, third, and fourth bites, although I was prepared for it, I just could not enjoy the beef with the wasabi on top. The meal was saved by the good graces of the Daifuku Mochi dessert. It was absolutely delicious. Every flavor and texture blended together so harmoniously.
   

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7. J

   Julie

   VIP

   Los Angeles

   2 reviews

   5.0

   2 reviews

   Dined 7 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Food, service ambience awesome but the counter is not what you expect 
   

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8. L

   Luke

   Los Angeles

   4 reviews

   5.0

   4 reviews

   Dined on December 18, 2024

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Beautiful interior and very attentive staff, everything was delicious and i left so comfortably full i was thinking about it all night, lol.
   

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9. D

   David

   VIP

   New York City

   3 reviews

   4.0

   3 reviews

   Dined on December 17, 2024

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 5

   I love this restaurant but they have made us wait to be seated (not honoring our reservation start time) both times we visited (they obviously need to extend the table turn time in opentable by at least 15 minutes) and I feel that the price of main-courses are a bit exorbitant in terms of what is on the plate. in terms of realistic menu pricing -- Duck Frites is $10 fries plus $15 carrots plus $35 duck breast ($60 total) but they charge $70 which feels unfair. Similarly, Scallops is $15 for mushrooms and $30 for scallops ($45 total) but they charge $55 which feels unfair. We've ordered more than a dozen dishes in our two visits (thus far) but would have ordered a couple more each visit if it didn't feel like breaking the bank. Otherwise, only one complaint about the cooking, our Loup de Mer (the meat itself) was dry and chewy (but the dish as a whole was gorgeous) but we couldn't get a replacement because the kitchen had already closed yet of course we were expected to pay for the dish anyway...
   

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10. l

    lexi

    Los Angeles

    2 reviews

    5.0

    2 reviews

    Dined on December 14, 2024

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 4

    Long wait even with a reservation, but the food made up for it!
    

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