La Vie French Restaurant — Restaurant in Rosemead

I'd like to take a moment to thank all of the loyal customers (some as long as we've been open) who patronize and appreciate all the hard work that the Tang family and the rest of the staff put into running the restaurant and keeping your memories going with the consistent flavours of old-world-style haute cuisine. Recently, Pop (Chef Steve) has had to stay away from the kitchen due to health problems, but Sous Chef Uncle Long has stepped up as chef de cuisine after training for many many years under his brother-in-law. His duck and poultry dishes are particular standouts, but he can manage most everything on the menu when we have product in stock.

As for myself, I'm no longer regularly serving in the dining room (although I still can in a pinch), you might see me helping with bussing near the end of the night, or opening wine for guests (everyone else is scared to be sommelier, so I guess I'm it), and occasionally bringing out desserts for you after having made them (lots of experience there). Mostly I'm in the back helping to prep as the commis (junior) chef, and being the all-important chef-de-plongeur during service on Thursday and Friday nights primarily. You can always ask Denise or Jenny if you want me to emerge from my pit to say hello.

The sea bass special has become a permanent addition to the menu by now, and Uncle has learned to prepare it very well in the lemon caper sauce. And note that it's hard to find places that do veal well these days. At La Vie you get a choice of Marsala (mushroom and wine) sauce or Piccata sauce (lemon juice, capers, shallots, white wine and brown sauce) to go with your scallopini of veal.

Appetizers: everyone loves the escargots; you're welcome, but please do try the pate and smoked trout for the cold apps, and don't sleep on the tortellini for a hot app. Yes, not everyone likes cheesy creamy sauce and pasta, but all the kids that eat our tortellini (and some adults) are pleasantly surprised by how tasty that dish is. While we've been asked a few times if the tortellini is made in house, it's actually just a good frozen product found at Costco. Trust me, if we made those in house, I would be shouting it out from the rooftops. But we can't make that claim due to being a budget-conscious small business.

Wines: limited selection, but some gems to be had. Standout Cabernets include Post and Beam (Far Niente vineyard) and Louis Martini. Bordeauxs aren't always available, but when they are they are usually great options. One non-Bordeaux French that's particularly interesting (and a good price) is the Cotes-du-Rhône Delas, and they even have one bottle left of a special reserve if you ask for it. There's also a Kirkland Signature version of Chateauneuf du Pape for about half the price of the genuine article. Definitely worth trying if you're froggy and not too budget-conscious.

On behalf of Chef Steve, his wife (Mama), his daughter Denise and son Michael, Jenny, Amanda, and myself, we all want to thank you for your loyal and warm patronage in support of this family business with deep ties to the community. Please keep visiting whenever you can while we remain in the same iteration as you've always known: a great hole-in-the-wall spot for dinner. Hopefully we can continue into the near-future, possibly under a new format, but with many of the same flavors and offerings that you've become accustomed to. Something like maybe... Bistro La Vie, or more of a wine bar/cocktail pairing focus. The more interest expressed to Denise about such possibilities, the more likely they are to actually happen someday. To...

I haven't been this disappointed in a restaurant in a long time. I ordered the rabbit in wine and I didn't taste any wine at all; the sauce that covered it was extremely salty and briny and reminded me of that gravy sauce I used to have for school lunch that no one ever finished and no amount of water could quench my thirst. The escargot was also very salty and it tasted like briny clams. Overall, just SALT SALT SALT.

And while I appreciate the gestures they threw in like the bread, soup, and salad, I would rather they increase the portion size b/c I also ordered the chilean sea bass and it was way too small for the price (36.99); if I had known about the price, I would not have ordered it. I also don't understand what they were going for with the "salad;" it was 3 huge pieces of lettuce leaves smothered in sauce and a random tomato. I tried googling French salads to see if maybe I made a mistake but I saw nothing like that anywhere and that chunk of bread became as hard as a rock and dry as sand after like 30 minutes.

And the restaurant is about as lively as a corpse. The lights were off the whole time and I thought the place was closed at first and after eating here, I wish they had been. Judging by the clientele, I think this place is best suited for retired folks. The ceiling also has pretty bad water stains and the ceiling tiles were very old and worn and need to be replaced. I nearly got a heart attack seeing the bill and I gave a tip because the staff are not at fault for the poor food and dingy settings but this is a place I would rather forget that I ever went to. I came here to celebrate my mother's birthday and even she was speechless afterwards and not...

The service is terrible. First, we ordered the the entrees that specifically said that they come with a soup, salad, and coffee. We also ordered soufflés. The server said that they would time it for us to ensure the soufflé comes out in time. The soup and salad came out later than we expected but still a reasonable time. After that, we waited like 30 minutes for the entree to come. After we finished the entrees, we waited 10 minutes to see if the coffee or soufflés would come out. Nothing was out. The plates were not even cleared. We asked one of the servers. Being annoyed, she said that we need to ask them for the coffee. And the soufflés would take a bit longer. We waited another 5 minutes for the coffee to come out. Around this time three new customers came in and sat down. After the coffee, we waited another 15 minutes for the soufflés. We finally saw three soufflés coming out but the servers gave them to the new customers first and one to the table next to us. We asked the server what happened to the ones we ordered. They said the three new customers ordered them beforehand by phone so they got them sooner than us. It makes no sense because we ordered the soufflé like 1.5 hours ago. Then the server told us to wait another five minutes. We waited 10. Still nothing. During that 10 minutes, we heard the kitchen mixing something, possibly the soufflé batter. Finally we gave up and asked for the check. But the servers were avoiding us until we firmly said we wanted the check and cancel the soufflés. After another 5 minutes, they finally grudgingly gave us the check. No...