Review The Curious Palate - Los Angeles

We were there with kids for lunch and loved it so much that we came back for dinner! Excellent selection of various appetizers and entrees! Everything was so fresh and delicious. Linkan was our super friendly waitress and her recommendations were spot on! She is very kind and helpful. Will definitely go back every time we visit Santa Monica!

Lovely place, delicious food. I ordered the seefood coconut curry pasta and it exceeded my expectations. The strawberry cream pie dessert is amazing, sugar bao, just what I wanted. Very good attention, great job. thank you so much.

This is my first time eating at this place, and I'm glad I decided to give it a try. Albeit my review is only based on the dish I ordered, it's really worth a try. I ordered the grilled peach burata salad with a side of swordfish, and it was delicious. Their coffee is not bad at all, and I will also be back for another cup of coffee.

My fiancee and I were visiting the LA area for vacation, and while going to visit the Santa Monica Pier, we parked at the nearby mall and noticed an ad in the garage for The Curious Palate. Something in particular called out to me about this place, and so I googled it, noticed it had a very unique and diverse menu, and thought the story of their founding was charming and heartfelt. For lunch, we tried the broccolini with kumquats and a light chili oil marinade, along with swordfish tacos with sweet mango salsa. Both were delicious - the kumquats pared surprisingly well with the broccolini, and I really appreciate that the food had a bit of spicy kick to it. Everything tasted very fresh, made to order, using high-quality produce. When you're in a place like LA, delicious food abounds. So, to go back the next day for a late lunch/early dinner before driving down to San Diego, says something about how much we enjoyed it. That day, we tried the satay tacos and the Kung Pao Chicken bowl. While the Kung Pao Chicken bowl is a bit different from what you may be used to with takeout American Chinese, this particular dish was still absolutely incredible. Flavorful, crispy, with the cilantro and peanuts giving it a refreshing taste. It came with numerous dipping sauces, like a spicy harissa and a hoisin sauce, both I believe home-made. Even the ketchup for the (cripsy and delicious) fries we had as a side was home-made. The Curious Palate also carries a varied selection of mostly-local craft beer, too. As a beer enthusiast, this is very appreciated. The wait staff was very friendly and attentive (talking to us about our trip), decor was charming and casual, with paintings and posters adorning the walls. Don't let the fact that it's in a shopping mall deceive you, this definitely is a unique, homespun restaurant, with an expansive and creative menu. I just wish they'd open up a satellite branch over here in NY...

Found this place randomly while looking for a place to meet up with my daughter for lunch. This place did not disappoint, everything on the menu looked amazing but we went with something simple and we were very pleasantly surprised. They had a beautiful assortment of pickled veggies that were a delicious pop on each dish. We ordered the satay steak salad and the satay chicken tacos. Really delish, we will definitely be returning to try more.

If you've never been to THE Curious PALATE, you should give them a try. The menu has a good variety of food options. The price is reasonable for the quality of food. The open air atmosphere is relaxing and refreshing.

I had a great dinner here! I stopped in for dinner on a whim and really LOVED the food! We were a party of 3 and we all loved what we got. I got the Thai Satay Salad with chicken, and it was so delicious. The homemade peanut sauce was amazing, and the chicken skewers were so perfectly cooked. We also loved the cajun fries. I'm guessing the man & woman who were working were the owners or managers, and they were also so friendly and lovely. Would recommend!

Location is the only thing that let's down this outstanding restaurant. On the 3rd floor of the mall, it feels a little out of the way, and I nearly turned away on location alone. However, very pleased we didn't, as the food and drinks are some of the best I've had in LA! Extremely friendly welcome and the food is made fresh and delicious, I would go back in a heartbeat. I ordered chilli swordfish which was cooked perfectly and tasted great with mango salsa, but the chargrilled cauliflower stole the show, made even better with creamy cilantro dip. Great choice of local craft beers to go alongside. Highly recommended.

Great place! Went there with the kids and it was great for all of us. It is a little hard to find on the top/3rd floor at the North end, but worth it for sure. We had a great meal, the owner is there hands on working and came out to chat with us. We had a variety of dishes and they were all delicious. It is normal inside and is a great place to take the kids and a friendly relaxing environment, and was the BEST meal we have had in a long time.

This was such a pleasant experience! The food is above and beyond and the costumer service is a 5- stars!! This is one of the best please in sat at Monica and the surrounding area. They have so many things that are home made and so delicious! The curios PALATE is 5 stars in all area of business!

If you want are looking for great food in the area, this is the place to come. Good menu with a variety of dishes at reasonable prices. All well cooked and super tasty. Service is spot on too - highly recommend this place. Nacho plate and Squash Blossom Tacos were both excellent!

Wow! Seriously one of the best plates I ate. The quality of the food is amazing. I had the curry roasted Cauliflower and the Spicy miso pasta which I would HIGHLY recommend. Very pleasantly surprised with the wonderful birthday brunch I had 🥰🍷

Wow! My husband, toddler and I were hungry after a day of sight-seeing in Santa Monica, we saw the Cheesecake Factory and thought great an easy, not so healthy or tasty option. There was a 20-minute wait and we walked further down to stumble into an amazing, farm-to-table experience. The owner curates the meals to create a deliciously seasonal menu! Everything is tasty, try it all! I highly recommend it and so does my picky eater son! This place is across the walkway from Cayton’s Children Museum. Although, this place is kid-friendly, it is also a great date night spot, the cocktail/drink menu is so tasty too! Go, enjoy and leave with a full belly! Best place in Santa Monica!

My family and I were on vacation and bought a city pass. This restaurant happened to be included with a $20 voucher for each meal. The restaurant kindly allowed us to use 1 for each of us(a total of 4). We ordered under the amount and the owner graciously asked if we would like anything else(to get the full amount worth). Both he and his son(our waiter) were both very nice and personable. The food was very good and the service was speedy. I would definitely eat here again even without a pass.

My wife and I stumbled over the Curious Palette late one evening and were pleasantly surprised by the delicious food they served. So much, that we returned a few days later. Being October, the family-run place was not packed, giving the team (Alex and Elliot) time for a little chat now and then. The Mexican-style corn-on-the-cob (fresh from the local farmers market) was one of my favorites. This restaurant definitely deserves a better location than a mall.

The Curious Palate easily takes our top spot for best food in Santa Monica. It's located at a sunny, breezy spot at the top of the Santa Monica Place shopping center - and the restaurant's open design makes you feel like you're in a summer villa by the beach. The staff from the servers to the chefs to the owners are all extremely friendly and knowledgeable - you can feel how tight-knit and passionate they are about the food they serve. Now, about the food. It's hard to put a single label on what cusine they serve, spanning from the safe veggie wrap the the southern shrimp po'boy to the east Asian Banh Mi, the menu at once has it all and yet is quite short, with each item clearly crafted by an expert chef with love. I'm told that every ingredient is locally sourced and then made in-house, which would be an incredible feat. We ourselves started with the "nachos," and I can say that, for the first time, I can honestly say I found nachos "tasty." House-made chips were light with a satisfying crunch, incredibly fresh pico de gallo and guac lighten up the pork chili, and the combination of havarti and aged-cheddar just wrapped everything together perfectly (needless to say, we finished every bite). We then moved on to the entree, where we had the baja style fish tacos and the squash blossom. The fish tacos were, as you would expect, fresh and perfectly fried. However, the squash blossoms were particularly interesting. This consisted of light, flavorful goat cheese stuffed into squash blossoms (something I've never had before), lightly breaded, and fried. The result is this decadent, fun, and a little messy taco that we won't soon forget. For dessert, they have a variety of ice creams that they make in-house every day with fresh ingredients. We also got to try a number of their beers, hard ciders, and hard/soft kombuchas on tap. These were all locally sourced from California and amazing complements to the meal. We particularly liked the Local Roots hard kombucha, made from organic strawberry mint mojito, which had a light and refreshing body with only a small sour aftertaste from the fermentation. There is so much more we wish we could have tried at the Curious Palate, but, alas, our stomaches could only fit so much (we considered extending our trip an extra day just to eat here more!) If you've read to this point, what are you waiting for? Make your way over to The Curious Palate - you won't be disappointed.

All of the food was delicious and they have yummy beers on tap!! Great service! Homemade salted caramel ice cream 🤤🤤🤤 Wish I would have started dinning here when they opened. We will definitely be coming back soon.

We were tired after a long day at the boardwalk and beach, and looked for something different to eat, on our way "home". We found The Curious Palate sort of accidentally, and we were NOT sad. It was SO yummy! Our server was excellent and she took good care of us. Friendly people all around and hip atmosphere. Would definitely return.