I took a brisk walk from Beverly Hills to visit this restaurant, thinking I could kill two birds with one stone, exercising combined with lunch. Perfect. Upon arrival, I sat by the window intending to watch the world go by. Son Of A Gun is on a nice-looking street surrounded by boutique shops and bakeries, it did not look like a bad area to pass the time away. The restaurant is nautical in feel, casual and relaxed. I was hoping the food would not be a disappointment especially after my long walk to get here.
Health was on my agenda today, so I decided to take the Trout Amandine- Snap peas, Jasmine rice, lemon brown butter, dill. And on the side some healthy, hearty goodness- Roasted broccoli, carrots, red quinoa, peanuts, honey date vinaigrette. I am familiar with the huge portion sizes so much so that it was not a surprise when the food arrived at the table. Just looking at the plates made me feel full already.
The cookery was good here, the trout cooked perfectly but it was just so big, you could easily share this with others. I did like the addition of the almonds on top, the rice flavourful and the skin of the fish nice and crisp with just the right amount of acidity coming from the brown butter. It was well accomplished. The roasted broccoli with everything else together showed good texture and flavours, but once again far too large for one person.
The unwanted surprise came with the bill, not only was the service charge already included, (This according to them is not a tip) Then you must tip as well on top because this is standard practise in America. I do not care what you say to try to justify this, it is greedy, sneaky, and comes across as dishonest. I sat down with the manager and had a chat about this, and he recommended that I email him outlining my concerns from today. I did this but nothing has changed from what I can see. So just decide if you want to eat here or not and pay more than what you should be doing. I choose NOT, see you later Son Of A Gun.
