E.P. & L.P. — Restaurant in West Hollywood

Horrible Service and Below Average Food at EP Restaurant

Awkward and impersonal entry process where you need to show ID to a bouncer, then check in with a hostess, then climb the stairs and then check in with another hostess. They won't seat you until the whole party is there (usually understandable), even if there are many open tables (greater than 8). We tried to find a spot at the bar to wait the 5 minutes for the rest of our party but couldn't get the bartender's attention for a drink (nor could any of the other people sitting at the bar).

After being seated we spend a long an awkward amount of time waiting for out waitress to arrive to take drink orders(15-20 minutes) despite the fact the restaurant isn't busy yet. Since the wait was so long we were ready to order food at the same time we ordered drinks but she had us hold on and said she would come back later to take our food orders. After another surprisingly long wait to get our drinks (probably another 10-15 minutes) we finally were able to get our food orders in which was simply the chef's choice for the table.

After putting in our order for food we didn't see our waitress the rest of the night until she delivered the check. We had several problems with dishes: the steamed mussels didn't have any mussels in them as they had all fallen out in the cooking pot before being plated into the serving bowl. They delivered a single serving of crab soup that was not included in the chef's choice (meant for another table) and wasn't explained and the sticky short ribs came out cold). The awkward service continued as one of the bus boys came to the table and wanted us to point out the food runner who delivered the crab soup that wasn't supposed to be delivered (we still hadn't been able to talk to our waitress or anyone else about it so I'm not sure how or when they figured it out).

After finishing up the slow and terrible service, the waitress shows up to deliver the check at the same time dessert is being served. We put our cards down immediately as everyone was eager to leave at this point but the waitress had already walked away obliviously. After finishing dessert we continued to wait for the check and cards to be picked up to be processed. When they were finally returned to us, the hostess came by literally as the credit cards were still being put back in the wallet to tell us we had exceeded the 2-hour maximum time per reservation and they would need the table. This was incredible to us given the tremendous amount of time we had spent waiting on the staff at the table only to have the hostess kick us off the table, essentially blaming us for the delays.

I found this restaurant on the eater38 and this is the first time that list has led me astray. I was truly shocked at how bad the service was, how poor the food was yet how highly ranked the restaurant was on yelp and...

Some friends suggested we try this place as it's being called the hottest new restaurant in WEHO. The name (E.P. & L.P.) refers to old vinyl records (Extended Play & Long Play), but other than a few old vinyl albums stacked by the menus, I don't get the correlation. There is nothing about the menu or decor of the place that goes with the name.

Plenty of street parking at the meters if you don't want to valet in the underground lot. From the street it looks pretty cool, especially looknig up at the roof top bar.

The girls at the door -- I wasn't sure if they were pretentious, or just overwhelmed. I wasn't getting a "Hello, welcome. How can I help you?" vibe, which is what should be happening. There was also a woman in all black at the door who was like a "gatekeeper", but really served no purpose other than to ask if guests have a reservation... which is what the girls at the front desk were doing anyway.

The first stop was the rooftop bar. Amazing views of the city, lots of tables, especially in the area furthest from the bar. By the time we ordered drinks our table was ready (6:45pm on a Thursday, the place was still pretty empty).

The menu is a mix of Asian styles & flavors, and everything is served family-style, and portions are tapas-style (small). We opted to go for the $60 per person tasting menue (they also have an $80 and $100 option). Here's what it inlcuded:

1. "Kokoda" Fijian Ceviche w/ baja rock shrimp - great dish, amazing flavors. The shrimp was very fresh. Note that the shrimp is not cooked, but the acidic sauce sort of "cooks" it.
2. Baby green lip abalone - not the best abalone I've had. This was dry and overcooked, but it tasted better when dipped in the Ceviche sauce. Presentation was nice.
3. Hot & Sour Kobi Beef Tartare - not very spicy or flavorful at all, probably my least favorite dish.
4. Spiced Salmon Lettuce Wraps - good flavor and the salmon was cooked perfectly. Not very spicy though.
5. Crispy Sweet & Sour Pork - this dish was overcooked, the meat was like jerky
6. Crisply Skin Chicken - Nothing special, just slightly overcooked/dry chicken. The sauce helps to overcome the dryness
7. Dessert was Mango Tapioca Pudding, which was really good.

Our waiter was GREAT by the way. Very patient & attentive, with great suggestions and information about thei various dishes being served.

This is the type of restaurant that you are paying more for the ambiance than for the quality of the food. If you are looking for a place to "see and be seen" with young Hollywood hipsters then you'll love it here. If you are looking for a good meal at reasonable prices, you'll be...

Exceptionally pricey & lacklustre production - E.P & L.P. stands at the epicentre of Melrose with decent atmosphere and barely passes the mark on service. The hype has some foundation, the place is beautifully appointed with dim lights and attempts at modern fresh make it pass, until you sit down and order what has to be the most mediocre food I’ve had in Melrose. At $24, we had a kids size portion of fluffy gnocchi that unfortunately were accompanied by overcooked lobster and what felt like an under-seasoned canned tomato sauce. The markup on this dish is evident - as if the owner himself is laughing while he slaps you in the face with a concept that works when read on the menu, but fails when executed on the plate. We followed with the wagyu steak, hyped by the young and overly enthusiastic waitress, only to be disappointed and realize we were served chewy overcooked strip loin with a brown sauce that broke immediately with how fatty it was. At $46, this is Melrose prices at cheap cantina execution level. In a last effort to rescue our original perception of the place, we ended our night ordering the chicken, which also turned out to be a disappointment but granted, the best of all three. The chicken was also overcooked, seasoned only on top of the skin, but dry and flavourless when you bite into the actual meat. The kitchen seemed to have 6-8 team members on staff that night, convincing me that understaffing was not the issue but rather lack of training. Finally, what did it for us was the angrily inspired, lassez-faire attitude of the young man that anxiously kept pacing around the tables without actually doing anything and occasionally joked with his colleagues to make the night pass along faster. Would I come here again? Reluctantly, but I’d likely just do drinks at the rooftop if it’s not saturated with overly-perfumed millennials. Would I eat here again? Certainly not...