Carasau Ristorante — Restaurant in Culver City

We had a wonderful experience dining here and I do emphasize '"dining" as we felt like we were in Europe enjoying the perfect meal. We sat outside in the cozy patio on a chilly night but we noticed the inside dining room was very well appointed and comfortable as well. The four of us had the price fix dinner which was spectacular and so reasonably priced for the the number of courses. I had the meat set menu and my partner had the fish. Both sets started with a wonderful cauliflower soup with no cream that was hot and tasty. After that we were served a wonderful and generous dish of four meatballs that were out of this world. The fish set was served an amazing burrata that was to die for and we shared both dishes which could have been enough for dinner but more was to come. Next the meat folks were served a pasta dish with pork in the best sauce with freshly made pasta that was crazy good. And that was followed with a roasted suckling pork dish which is a Sardinian specialty and a first for me. A huge portion and plated with a very special bread/cracker from Sardinia and the best raw carrots I have ever had ( i am a real carrot person and these were certainly farm to table). The fish folks at a seafood fast on pearl pasta that was also perfect. I also want to give a shout out to the owner and our server who was so flexible. Often on a price fix meal they won't really substitute but one of our group is gluten free and they easily accommodated. And the attention to detail was just incredible. Almost like a fine dining experience but I loved the Sardinian informality of the place. Our server pared our meals perfectly with great wine suggestions. The last course was delicious light lemon pastry in a wonderful sauce that wasn't too sweet or tart and our gluten free friend was treated to some gelato that was kindly substituted. Be sure to park in the City structure across the street as Culver City is quite busy or ask the restaurant in advance where to park so you don't waste time. We noticed so many guests were sharing the most delicious pizzas which must be a Sardinian specialty as well and we are going to try to get back there in the next week to try...

I had dinner with a friend at Carasau this last Tuesday and Jesús what a bizarre experience.

They have a nice patio and it’s sort of tucked away in downtown Culver City but I will advise- you can use the valet parking across the street at the hotel because parking in the area was horrible (not that it’s not most places in LA but just a heads up- it is here too). We ordered the Caesar salad and fritto misto to start. The salad was fine enough but the seafood tasted like it had been cooked five minutes too long- calamari was rubbery snd the breading was crumbling back to well...breadcrumbs. The sauces served with it didn’t add enough to save it but man was that free bread good 😅

For our entrees we ordered the filet, the salmon, and the spaghetti alle vongole to share. I’ll start with the good- spaghetti alle vongole was a pretty darn big plate of pasta and had a decent flavor to it. Meanwhile, this became one of the saddest days of my life by finding out there is a way that I could not enjoy mashed potatoes. I feel ashamed even saying that out loud but man these things were BLAND. And oddly chunky? The spinach served with tasted like if someone also legitimately just boiled a bag of spinach; not even sautéed but BOILED. Whatever sauce was with the salmon added no flavor and I feel like it’s the first time in my life I’ve eaten an olive and it tasted like nothing. Not being, just nothing which is somewhat impressive. The salmon was over cooked to the point that it was chewy and sort of burnt on the ends and man did that steak need salt.

Since we couldn’t finish either of our dishes we decided to give it one last try and eat our feelings in dessert. This is where they redeemed themselves. That pastry with honey? GET IT. It’s so good! How! After such a bad meal! HOW! Who cares. It’s delicious. The parfait was also pretty appetizing. More so than the rest of the meal.

Oh, meanwhile this whole thing happening, the woman I’m guessing was the owner (?) was coming around to the table to check in. A LOT. To the point that it got a little awkward. Maybe step it back a little? 🤷🏽‍♀️

TLDR; if you’re coming here just come...

Honestly… I’m so bummed. First time going out to dinner all year (I work a lot) and this just made me so upset. We ordered the chef’s tasting menu, trusting the recommendations would be nice. While I take responsibility in not asking questions, it would have been nice if the server let us know how large the portions are. It was a BIG surprise. I would’ve also liked to know that the “roasted pork” main dish was going to be served in the way it was. I realize it was probably traditional Sardinian presentation and preparation. However, a warning would have been nice and it seems like the restaurant’s and our server’s responsibility to give us a heads up (no pun intended). What came out was a pig’s face, cut in half vertically. The pig’s eye, teeth, nose, ear and inside of its skull were sitting there in front of me. Neither of us received steak knives so we did our best to make sense of this which turned out to be impossible. The skin was so thick and so well done that it was impossible to imagine the texture without feeling sick. The meat was over cooked and incredibly gamey. It was the strongest “pig” flavor with nothing else to go with it. We did not send it back as I know they would have just thrown it in the garbage; this poor animal deserved better. I have it in a box, don’t know what to do with it. Feel extremely disappointed and even angry that we didn’t receive any information from the staff. The hostess was the only one who did give us information, she was lovely. I would never do this again despite the tasty and fresh first two courses and the incredible...