The Steak Library — Restaurant in Lomita

Great News that Lomita has a fine dining destination. A friend highly recommended it, I but it was hard to find. It is located on the north side of PCH and west of Eshelman in the same parking lot as Subway Sandwiches.

Before we were even seated, the owner showed us the "library" part of the restaurant. Right by the entrance are four temperature-controlled meat displays and beef aging lockers. Inside were all the elements for an elevated gourmet meal including the finest Wagyu and USDA Prime steaks with porterhouse steaks aged 30 days.

The imported Wagyu steaks includes Olive Fed, Miyazaki, Kobe and Hida beef. These refrigerators hold the jewels of the Japanese steak house experience, and the restaurant serves all the accompaniments of a classic American steak house fine dining experience.

We ordered our drinks and were immediately served garlic bread (not always the case nowadays) . We asked for sparkling water to start and were presented with an excellently curated wine list.

There were many great appetizers, and we ordered the broiled shrimp cocktail, but I was intrigued by the oxtail soup which you don't see often on menus anymore. The shrimp were large and delicious, but the soup was a revelation, rich and comforting on a cold spring night. I can't remember the last time I had such a great start to a meal. we ordered the house salad lightly dressed in oil and vinegar and the Tomahawk steak, medium rare (we requested medium rare a "little over" because the bone in steak can cook unevenly, but we shouldn't have worried because the steak for two was perfectly done). Our accompaniments included truffle butter and peppercorn sauce for the steaks, roasted wild mushrooms and grilled asparagus. They all complemented our steak perfectly with the mushrooms as a highlight.

Finally, the chef came out to greet us. We complimented him on the fine dinner we had experienced, and he brought a piece of flourless chocolate cake with a sparkler on top for my husband's birthday celebration. I am so glad I chose this luxurious "hideaway' for his birthday meal. It was everything I could want.

This restaurant also has a lot of shellfish and seafood options, and I will return soon to sample those. I would encourage you to try this fine dining experience before everyone else...

New Steak House in the South Bay

We had a very, very nice meal. The meat is definitely the star of the show, seasoned and cooked perfectly. Service was fast, servers were friendly, ambiance was warm and elegant with soft lighting and gentle music, a comfortable environment. Approximately 10 tables and one large semi private table for parties of 8-10. We met the owner Makoto who stopped by our table to check on our experience and thanked us for coming. Makoto also owns the Japanese BBQ restaurant next door in the same strip mall. We wished him much success on his new restaurant.

With that being said, the reason I gave 4 instead of 5 stars, is there are still some kinks that need to be ironed out, in my opinion.

Grand Opening was Nov 29, 2023 Sign outside still shows “Opening Soon” The doors are blacked out and almost looks like it’s closed. It was beautifully decorated once inside.

They advertise a cocktail bar, but unfortunately they do not have a liquor license and serve “mocktails” Makoto, the owner said that they probably will not be getting one, only serving wine and beer at this time.

Our reservation was at 7pm on a Saturday night and they were already out the Caesar’s salad. They also had a table of 6 walk out because they were out of the seafood tower.

All side dishes are made to share except the mashed potatoes, we ended ordering a second side of potatoes, our first batch was so good and the second order was not so good. Lacking consistency there, that was disappointing.

Over all a good experience, the owner did say he was going to be adding more wines to the menu (they have a $35 corkage fee) and changing featured menu, we definitely need some fine dining in the South Bay, hopefully they smooth out...

Heard great things about steak library and finally decided to give it a shot and was not disappointed. The area is located at a small secluded plaza that really should get more shine. Plenty of parking and not a difficult place to find. The food is absolutely phenomenal, with the exception of the Caesar Salad. The salad was our first experience with the food at Steak Library and it was a complete let down especially when it's 18 dollars. The salad should receive just as much care as the rest of the dishes. The pricing at the restaurant in my opinion, is just a bit too high. It really needs to come down 10-15 percent down across the board especially for the area that it's at. I suspect if prices were to come down, business would occupancy would improve more. If the restaurant were by the ocean with a beautiful view and music, then I'd understand the pricing.

We ordered mushrooms, asparagus, and truffle fries and they were all excellent. Fries got a little cold quickly but the rest of the meals stayed warm. Filet mignon was cooked perfectly with a nice sear and the salmon was as well. The desserts were amazing just like the rest of the food was. The quality here speaks for itself. I definitely would come more often if the pricing came down a tad but as it stands, i'll stick to coming here on special...