Land Ocean Restaurant Roseville — Restaurant in Roseville

Well just a background about me, my family loves to cook and takes pride in it, my brother even became a chef, before creating a startup with my other brother which they eventually sold and retired. So when I go to restaurants that claim to be classy, elegant and unique; well I judge them hard, because I've been to dive places that had better food and services than $50-$100 plate places.

So to start, I was excited about the story of the owners which is showcased on the restaurant's website. So I made a reservation for a Sunday dinner, plus I've never been to the Roseville Galleria.

So my wife and I showed up for our reservation, entrance inside the Galleria opposite a jewelry store, high end salon, and a fake high end antiquity Asian culture store. Oooh, and corner to Nordstrom. So we stated we had a reservation, which they verified, then we were told to wait 15 to 20 minutes. I don't think they know what reservation means, a reserved table, no waiting.

So 20 minutes later we got a booth near the bar. The place is called Ocean Land, which as the owners imply is a sea food based menu with other cuts of meat. The decor was more remnant of a neo-log cabin, with the highlight definitely being the bar. There was definitely a lot of thought put in to highlight the bar and the menu reflects that as well.

The menu, a single page, not a large selection considering the front page covered everything from entre to dessert and the back page was all alcoholic beverages. There were only about 20 main dishes including plated specialties to sandwiches and salads, as I said not a large selection.

Ordering, I'm epileptic and can't drink alcohol and no other drinks were listed on the menu, so I asked the server, dressed as a high class server, if the bar served any dry drinks, which he responded, what? If you don't know, a dry drink is non-alcoholic, I explain to the uneducated server the term, his response was; ooh you mean like Pepsi, yeah I guess so! I asked how about lemonade? He responded; yeah I can hook you up I guess. I proceeded to order the cheesy garlic bread as the starter, the salmon blt as my main and my wife ordered the teriyaki wagyu top sirloin.

Food arrives: after about 10 minutes of placing our order, the cheesy garlic bread, about 6 inches of half a sourdough baguette. Small portion, kind of plain in taste, not rich in cheese or garlic ($8 disappointment) I've had better unlimited free bread at place like the Olive Garden, Texas Roadhouse, etc. BTW, no lemonade yet. About 10 minutes later, the main dishes arrive. Server hasn't checked in on us BTW.

Plates are small, my salmon blt with fries. The fries are brown and shriveled like an old man, pretty tasteless. Salmon blt a 2×2 inch cut of salmon centered on full slice of sourdough bread toasted with listed ingredients. Not a sandwich by any means, imagine eating a hotdog with two pieces of bread, it is mostly bread, I will admit the aoli was tasty, but didn't makeup for the shortcomings of the sandwich. My wife's teriyaki sirloin, she stated the mashed potatoes tasted like a powdered mix that had too much mix so the mash was thick and pasty and lacked flavor. She had to request butter, but decided it didn't help and didn't eat it, plus it was served in a side dish bowl the size of an ice cream scoop. Then there was the grilled asparagus, no flavor, looked charred, and they were gigantic, 2 of them, the size of a man's thumb about 9 inches long, really...

The restaurant is very pretty. We liked the privacy that all the booths created. We came in a group of 5 people to celebrate a job promotion. After hearing all the hype about this place we decided to give it a try.

Food overall: 4 stars Starters 5 stars: Tenderloin welligtons were superb, Ahi poke tacos were delicious as well.

Main courses 4 stars: The Lavish burger with guacamole and habanero aoli was very good; the Ribeye steak was cooked to the temp asked but was oversalted. Kids meal came with cheeseburger that was surprisingly big for a kid (not knocking down a point for that because the kid ate a half and seemed to like it), seasoned fries, and an ice cream sundae (the price for kids meal was very reasonable actually). Fries that came with burger meals were OK, just because they kind of got steamed in the cups they were served and got all limpy and hard/starchy and those who got them with their meals only ate half of them. The macadamia crusted Chilean sea bass was very promising and was one of the reasons we came to this restaurant (one of us had this dish in Folsom and it was fantastic). But, she said this Sea bass was nothing like in Folsom, the crust was mushy, and though the sea bass underneath was moist and cooked perfectly, it was the aggressive oversalted soy-ginger glaze that killed the dish. It was drizzled all over and was hard to avoid. Also, the fish portions were inconsistent - we had two of the same dishes at our table with differently sized portions of fish filets. The rice didn't taste of coconut at all, so to me, for $36 the dish was underwhelming and I can't say I would order it again.

Desserts: we tried all of them but cheesecake and they were all very good and it was hard to pick a winner. Banana cream pie and chocolate lava cake were fighting for the 1st place.

Service: service was fast, attentive, a bit rushed but we could tell they were a bit understaffed.

Atmosphere: 3 stars - though upscale price wise, there were several very large parties that were very loud and at times it was hard for us to even hear each other speak. Dress code was all over the place - we saw some people dressed in their best and we also saw people in yoga pants and hoodies. Ok, I won't be so harsh on the restaurant trying to live through a pandemic and give it a pass on dress code enforcement - people in yoga pants like to eat as well and if they are willing to pay $50+ for dinner, I can't blame the restaurant for feeding them. The biggest issue with atmosphere was the strong fishy odor that would get pulled from the kitchen and get carried through the restaurant by draft of air from opening patio doors. If you are at the end of your dinner eating your cremé brule and all of a sudden you get hit with very pungent fishy smell, let's just say it's not the best way to leave a pleasant memory about the place. Perhaps better air filtration would help. I get it, they serve seafood, but I've been to many seafood restaurants without that problem. Overall experience was positive and perhaps we would come...

Tonight I'm glad someone else chose where to go for dinner, because I would have never decide on a restaurant in the mall. That's where you'll find Land Ocean. It's located inside Westfield's Galleria in Roseville next to Nordstrom's.

This evenings reservations were for 6 adults and a toddler. Our group was promptly seated upon our arrival in the upscale dining room. The candle lit table was elegantly set with nice stemware. Land Ocean has a full bar with a small lounge. They offer a nice selection of adult beverages.

Serving us tonight was Holly who is professional and informative which was helpful in making our menu selections for the evening. She kept our glasses full and catered to all our needs. It felt like we were her only table.

For starters we ordered calamari $13 served with crispy peppers onions and spicy aioli. Our second shared choice was grilled artichoke $12 served with lemon basil remoulade (Lemon Basil Mayo). Some in our group felt the artichoke was over-salted. I did not.

The entrees for our group this evening are as follows (2) 14 ounce ribeyes serve with mashed potatoes sauteed mushrooms and asparagus $39 (2) Surf and Turf 9 ounce Wagyu teriyaki top sirloin, 3 tempura shrimp, coconut sauce and mashed potatoes $28 (1) Blackened salmon sauteed spinach, cilantro rice, chipotle mango sauce and pineapple salsa $25 (1) The Dip slow roasted prime rib sliced thin with melted gruyere cheese, served with hand-cut fries $17 For our toddler we ordered bacon jalapeno mac and cheese, four cheese mac served with crispy jalapenos $8 Of coarse we left off the jalapenos.

I also ordered a side house salad $8. You have a choice of dressings. I highly recommend the wasabi vinaigrette. It was delicious with just the right amount of zing. We opted for 3 shared desserts. The chocolate lava cake $9.5, banana cream pie $8.5, and of course creme brulee $8.5.

This evenings pluses: Wasabi vinaigrette.The service was spot on. Everything was delicious. All orders served at there appropriate times. Appetizers, followed by salads, followed by our entrees, then of course dessert. All entrees were served at the same time, ladies first. A++

The minuses: No kids menu. Over salted artichoke (maybe). Difference of opinion between medium and medium-rare steaks. I ordered mine medium I feel it was served medium-rare, but it was delicious. Only two asparagus spears served with steaks.

I highly recommend Land Ocean, whether you're walking the mall, or looking for an upscale place to eat. A romantic dinner for two or a group of friends getting together, it's a great place to eat. Plus you can walk off those calories window shopping after dinner.

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