pasjoli — Restaurant in Santa Monica

My wife and I had a terrible experience at Pasjoli last night. First, I had called the restaurant ahead of time to reserve a duck dinner for two and asked for a better seat to celebrate my wife's birthday. When we arrived, I asked for a nice table and the host sat us next to the bathroom which had a cold breeze and we had to keep our jackets on because it was cold, which was uncomfortable. There were tables in the front with windows and many other tables available, but they didn't sit us there.

I asked the waitress at the beginning of dinner that we wanted to enjoy each course and take our time. We first ordered a glass of champagne and a cocktail to enjoy with the hors d'oeuvres, but the drinks came way after the hors d'oeuvres arrived. We just sat there with the hors d'oeuvres, and the restaurant was pretty slow with a lot of empty seats at the time.

Then we ordered a bottle of Gevrey-Chambertin wine that was over $250 and after the beverage director opened it, nobody came to pour us a glass, not even the waitress, we had to ask her to pour our first glass. However, the guy who insisted to be called the beverage director came by at the end of our dinner to take the bottle away, trying to force us to leave even though we still had some wine in our glasses. He didn't even pour our first glass of wine. He seemed pretty much useless. Does he know anything about wine? So, his role is to only take the bottle away and kick people out?

The duck dinner for two came out pretty late and it all came out at the same time - one duck salad, one duck pudding, and two duck breast plates. We were confused and told the girl from the kitchen who brought it out that we wanted to enjoy the salad first. She said with a condescending voice, "what do you mean, this is a rich French plate and this is how it comes out". We've been to restaurants in France, and we were never asked to share a salad plate. Does that mean we have to use the same utensil with all courses and share one salad plate? At least she could have explained nicely, so we ended up asking for small plates for the salad. The duck breasts were rubbery and subpar. The only food we enjoyed was the quenelles hors d'oeuvre.

When my wife was going to the bathroom, a young girl from the kitchen who delivers food to the tables, bumped in to her pretty hard. It wasn't crowded at all, she proceeded forcefully, pushing my wife with her shoulder. So, we asked one of the wait-staff to talk to the girl. Then the beverage director came out and my wife explained what happened and he said, "no, it's just a mistake". My wife said, how do you know without even talking to her. He said, "she's not that kind of person", and my wife said, "if she's a nice person, she should have acknowledged it and apologized for such an aggressive behavior". Then the beverage director said it's time for you to leave and started clearing the table. He then brought us the bill with an automatic 18% tip. Then I said I don't think you deserve an 18% tip tonight, can you please take it off so we can give what we feel is best for us. He said that's a Santa Monica rule and can't be taken off. We said we don't agree with the tip and then he said you need to leave, pointing at the door, saying he's going to call the police, repeatedly. My wife said put your hand down, he said, if I put my hand down, will you leave? My wife said, we'll see. He got upset and walked away. Then I got the hosts attention and asked for the manager. Then later the same host came out claiming to be the manager. He eventually took the 18% tip off and we left a 10% tip and said it is only for the kitchen staff. Then we left. We spent $720 that night and they treated us like criminals.

We have never experienced such a humiliating and threatening situation. It's hard to believe that a one-star Michelin restaurant hires bullies and allows such aggression and threatening behavior like this to their customers. If you still end up coming to Pasjoli, be careful, you may be harassed and bullied if you voice your concerns about...

I hate writing bad reviews. I am an entrepreneur and know how hard it is to be self-employed and responsible for others. My husband and I own our own food establishment and also know how hard it is to please everyone, but this experience was so distressing, I cannot NOT write a review. We went to Pasjoli our last night together in LA. Our friends had brought two bottles of exquisite wine and had called in advance to see what the corkage policy was for the restaurant. They were told it was $70/bottle and that we could bring two bottles. When we arrived, we were informed by the waitress that the actual policy was one bottle but that she would check. After a long wait, the manager (we assume that is who he was as he didn't introduce himself) came to our table and very rudely told us that the policy was for one bottle. That's it. At which point, I decided I'd had enough. The hostess had been rude, and now the manger. As part of a very expensive package that my husband and I had bought at a charity auction, we were given a $150 gift certificate at the restaurant (which would have been the corkage fee for the two bottles). So, I told my husband, let's order a few things, have them pack it to go and let's get out of here. At which point, our friend felt really bad - as he felt it was his fault that there was a misunderstanding. It also happened to be the anniversary of my father's death and I had just said let's toast my dad before the waitress informed us that we couldn't open both bottles. So he went to the manager to explain and was treated with contempt and was accused of lying. He was told that no one told him we could bring two bottles.To add insult to injury, we then had a woman come up to the table - again without saying who she was - we believe it was the owner - hand us the bill, not including a salad I had ordered, who knows why because we would have paid for it - and told us "Let's be done with this and move on." So they accused us of lying and then basically said, "get lost". All of this because we had been told we could bring two bottles of wine, but they only allowed one. If they were an astute business, they would have courteously told us they were sorry but there must have been a misunderstanding (and we would have been fine with only opening one bottle), or allowed us to open both bottles. In either case, we would have stayed and probably spent an additional $500+ at their restaurant. Instead, we sat there for an hour, used up their much coveted table waiting for our food and left. And here I am writing a review. Based on the culture - and owning my own food establishment, I know this is their culture - it clearly starts at the top, I would be surprised if they last. I don't care how good their food is - it wasn't that great, btw - but their attitude is disgraceful. If I could give them zero...

A very huge let down for my Bday. What we'd read about the dishes and service in other reviews and the Michelin guide was not at all what we experienced. Pictures of dishes on open table looked nothing like what we served.

Our server was polite and ok, but the level of service was nowhere near on par with the prices or even far less expensive locations. (I.e. Put a to go box on the table versus boxing food and holding it refrigerated in the back.) Manager acted inappropriately and embarrassed us. Several dishes were so delicious, others not fresh and inedible. I also ended up getting ill and vomiting that night.

We dined on Monday and I honestly suspect we were served leftover food prepared for the weekend rush that didn’t sell. Tony Bourdain said you should never order the fish on Monday because of this reason. We wish we’d heeded his advice!

Beef tartare- ONION, onion, onion. No visible beef. Mixed with very ground up beef, but you couldn’t see any or taste it at all.

Gnocchi - rich, yummy, silky, sauce. Gnocchi doughy, raw. I like that but it's incorrect and others wouldn't like it.

Potato gratin- cheesy, decadence! Crumb topping- crunchy salty goodness!

Scallops - rich, buttery, salty, sweet. Nest of crispy potatoes added texture and balance.

Sturgeon - Inedible. Foul flavor, dry, overcooked, and just BAD. Cauliflower cooked beyond recognition. My husband seriously didn't know what it was.

Sea bass- DRY, VERY overcooked. Flavor was bad despite the yummy sauce. Inedible. Veggies and sauce with it were very delicious but no arugula salad as menu stated and I didn’t want to eat them because of the bad fish.

(Tony Bourdain said, "Never order the fish on Mondays." I really wish we'd heeded his advice.)

After sending both fish back, the manager came to argue, (not apologize) and tried convincing us why the sous chef said the fish was cooked properly. It was SO uncomfortable I said, "Look, we're not asking you to comp it, we just thought your kitchen should know." That satisfied her. (SERIOUSLY?! Btw, our bill was over $700. They did charge us for both fish dishes that we could not eat.) We also hadn’t sent any previous dishes back so her response was really inappropriate and embarrassing.

Pressed duck dinner- NOT FRESH!!! Clearly this had been cooked DAYS before. Duck had NO juice. Salad overdressed and all acid- inedible. Bread pudding was yummy, like good thanksgiving leftovers. Key word- LEFTOVERS.

Persimmon sorbet profiteroles and Chocolate soufflé -DESSERTS WERE THE BEST! I wish we’d skipped right to them. Sorbet, creamy. Soufflés HEAVENLY!

Server didn't offer tea or coffee until after we finished dessert so that was disappointing and I really wanted the Armagnac flight but after waiting to have my tea after dessert, we didn't want to stay any longer, especially with it not being a...