Merois at the Pendry by Wolfgang Puck

RESTAURANT INFORMATION:

Merois by Wolfgang Puck

The Pendry

8430 Sunset Blvd

West Hollywood, CA 90069

Phone: (323) 918-3410

Average cost: $$$

Parking: valet parking with validation ($20)

Notes: gorgeous design of the restaurant and bar, stunning views, fine ingredients, beautiful presentation, and wonderful service. Reservations are available online; when I couldn't book via OpenTable, I tried the restaurant's site and got more availability.

Recommended: whenever you crave upscale Asian fusion (Japanese, Southeast Asian and French/California) and want to enjoy expansive LA rooftop views. Highly recommend booking a sunset reservation.

Ever since visiting CUT by Wolfgang Puck, we've been looking for more opportunities to visit more of Wolfgang Puck's restaurants! A day trip to LA presented the perfect opportunity to gather with our friends Sarah and Ryan and enjoy some great food.

Our cocktail orders from left to right:

Espresso Martini - this was a hit with our table of 4. Coffee lovers rejoice!

Xiang Li ("Fragrant Pear"): Absolut Juice Vodka, pear, ginger, lime, and lemongrass. I tried to order this at CUT in Las Vegas, but it was unavailable at the time. So glad to finally get a chance to try this cocktail! It had plenty of pear fragrance, balanced sweetness, and still had some complexity (in a delicious way) thanks to the ginger and lemongrass. Would definitely order this again!

Tintero Moscato D'Asti - Tim and I split a glass, since we were so excited to see this on the menu (after not seeing this in stock at BevMo and the like in recent years).

Samurai Sword: Suntori Toki Whiskey, Cointreau, lemon, ginger, and honey. Well balanced and delicious.

Thank you, Ryan, for snapping this photo of Sarah and me right before sunset!

We started our evening with some delicious appetizers for the table.

Hamachi Tartare: so fresh and flavorful thanks to the chili aioli! The addition of the rice crisp added texture and visual interest to this beautiful dish.

Salmon Sashimi: dry-aged Ora King Salmon served with pickled plum and radish. Top notch!

Char Grilled Octopus: a must order - so phenomenally tender with fantastic flavor. I've had grilled octopus before, but this was next level; I didn't realize that octopus could be seasoned and prepared in such a way! This was served with cranberry beans, fresno chilies, and lemon aioli.

With these amazing appetizers, the stage was set for some excellent dinner entrées.

Kurobuta Pork Shank ("Bo Ssam"): a flavor explosion and fun to put together, since you can customize the amount of pork, kimchi, gochujang, and crispy pork chicharrone to wrap within your lettuce leaf. 10/10 would order this again.

An assembled portion of the pork shank:

Grilled Mongolian Lamb Chops: served with baked sweet potato, pomegranate, and a pistachio-mint vinaigrette. Delicious, but not the best we've ever had.

Crab Fried Rice - chunks of delicious crab and flavorful peking duck wrapped in a fluffy egg dashi omelette with garlic chives:

Each bite was delicious and bursting with flavor:

Japanese Eggplant: slightly crispy edges in a delicious Hunan glaze.

Wok Seared Broccolini: the garlic-chili sauce and the crispy shallots really made this dish pop.

Even though we were so full, we definitely wanted to try some dessert!

Dark Chocolate Soufflé: decadent and definitely worth the wait! Served with vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream.

Spikey Lemon: Kalamansi cake with delightful yuzu curd that oozes out when you dig in, "spikes" of crunchy meringue for added texture and sweetness, all adorned with some delicate gold leaves. Such a unique crowd pleaser!