Eddie V's Prime Seafood — Restaurant in Palm Desert

To celebrate our anniversary, we came to Eddie V's Prime Seafood on El Paseo in Palm Desert. This is a pricy but very upscale restaurant servicing top notch seafood and steaks. It's a great place to celebrate special occasions. Reservations required; business casual attire expected. We arrived right on time for our reservation. The interior appears to be split into a bar with live music on on side and quiet dining on the other. Although they have outside seating, it's far too hot during the summertime to sit there. After a few moments, we were seated in a nice booth in the dining room for two. The interior provided an elegant, refined, no-rush atmosphere. After being seated, our waiter, Benjamin, arrived to welcome us, congratulate us on our anniversary, and take our drink orders. After a few moments, our beverages and bread and butter arrived and Benjamin asked if we wanted to order appetizers or sit and relax for a while. We opted to wait a few more minutes before ordering - no rush, just a relaxing dinner. The menu had a huge wine selection. There was a generous selection of all types of seafood and shellfish, including shellfish, sashimi and fish or beef tartar. They have a nice assortment of appetizers, soup, and salads, in addition to a great selection of main courses of seafood and meats. Various options for surf and turf available also. We ordered an appetizer of sashimi and crab cakes. Our main course was the 8 oz filet with lobster tail. In addition, we ordered the grilled asparagus and lobster, cheese potatoes. Shortly, our appetizers arrived. The sashimi was delicious but had a little too much soy sauce. It came with some finely sliced red peppers but no Wasabi or ginger, which was OK. The crispy crabcake was absolutely great. Big chunks of crab formed into a crispy 4" cake with no filler mush. The sauce was delicious. Overall, this was very worthy of also being a main course. After finishing our appetizers, a few minutes later our main courses arrived. Very beautiful presentation. The lobster was cooked to perfection and was juicy and sweet. The filet was cooked to a perfect medium. It was thick, juicy, and delicious. The grilled asparagus was perfectly grilled with the right amount of seasoning. The huge serving of lobster cheese potatoes was amazing. We ended up taking home the remaining potatoes and asparagus because we were stuffed! Finally, from the nice selection of desserts, we chose the chocolate cake with chocolate sauce, berries, and ice cream. Absolutely delicious. A very great meal. Definitely a place to come again on a special occasion. However, you'll note that I rated lower for Service and Atmosphere. That was due to an overextended wait staff. Drink refills and checking the tables was not very prompt due to too many tables and too few wait staff. But, it was understandable considering today's current employment environment. As for the Atmosphere, there was a table of three beside us - a couple and another man - nothing unusual. As the dinner progressed, more and more and more people, obviously from the bar, pulled chairs from other tables, and joined the table. Lots of drinks, loud talking and laughing, and normal boisterous partying. Nothing wrong if they were seating at the bar and having a great time, but not so great in the middle of the dining room where everyone else was eating dinner and relaxing over soft conversation. Trust me, I have nothing against partying and bars and have enjoyed them very much many times. But, tonight was not one of those times. Upon leaving, my friend mentioned this to the hostess. She said she would let the manager know. However, we didn't choose to sit in a happy, boisterous bar but opted instead for a nice, peaceful dinner in the dining room. We were disappointed that one table was allowed to spoil the quiet dinner for everyone in the dining room that night - a Tuesday, weekday night. Probably, next time we'll go back to Morton's or LG's where we'll know what to...

I had a really incredible birthday dinner here.

My partner and I had reservations for a Monday night and we weren't sure what to expect. It's COVID times, it's a Monday night at a restaurant, a couple of other places had already canceled our reservations, etc.

This place has that classic, old-school steak house vibe. Our server was well dressed and gave absolutely top-notch service. There was TONS of space between tables, and while there were fans and misters, they were set up towards individual tables so they weren't blowing germs from one table to another.

One thing that was awesome? My partner and I wanted to share a half dozen oysters, and then I was craving chilled seafood for my entree. There's a seafood tower on the menu that comes with oysters... so I asked the server if we could start with the oysters, then do the rest of the tower later on as my entree. He didn't even blink an eye and said of course!

We chose East Coast oysters and they were fantastic. Super fresh and succulent, not at all briny or salty, and perfectly shucked. We also shared an heirloom tomato and burrata salad, which they split onto two plates for us (such a nice touch). This dish was just amazing, gorgeously plated and full of summer flavors. There was no BS here, just a couple of ripe heirloom tomatoes and creamy burrata, topped with basil micro greens and really high quality olive oil and balsamic. It was perfect.

The rest of the seafood tower was good, nothing special. The star of the show, and obviously so, was the bone-in New York my partner ordered. It was incredible. It had a perfect crusty sear on the top and bottom, and was literally bursting with juicy flavor. It was served exactly rare, and every bite was better than the one before it.

We were too full for dessert, but we each had a glass of dessert wine / port for a little something at the end. And the bill? Not cheap, but way more reasonable than some of the high-end steakhouses I'm used to in the Bay Area.

Next time we're in the area, we'll definitely return...

I’ve had two good experiences and now four bad ones at this restaurant. Let’s get right to the heart of the matter. So on my last two visits I was served steaks that were cooked at temperatures other than what was ordered. After sending back and multiple discussions with management I gave up. Unfortunately this weekend we had guests that wanted to give them another try so we tried yet again. So as to not tempt fate my wife and I decided to stay away from steak which is in itself a statement in a steakhouse. We ordered the steak tartare. It was good and we had hope. My wife’s lobster tacos were very good but that’s where good departed. I ordered a Caesar salad (should have been a classic simple enough in a steakhouse) and the minute I took a bite I noticed an odd taste. It turned out to be an Olive Tapanade that was their not so delightful take on the traditional version. I returned it to the rightful place in the kitchen that it deserved. My lobster bisque (usually quite good) was over salted and although edible not one I’d order again. So much for staying away from steak. But alas our guests did order steaks that were delivered……wait for it….cooked at temperatures other than what was ordered. The scalloped potatoes were overcooked and the green beans were the highlight of their meal. The service was good and attentive but the alleged dress code enforcement was visibly abandoned throughout the restaurant. At what level are sweat pants, a hoodie, and baseball cap considered acceptable attire? Clearly what this restaurant cares about is green and not much about their reputation. Oh well this was their last chance for me. I rate this a total culinary miss to be avoided. Of course because of their location and the many snowbirds that will soon return they will be able to continue their run of mediocrity. For those of us that appreciate quality, service, and ambiance...