restaurant review: cassia in santa monica, california

When Chef Bryan Ng shutdown his downtown Los Angeles restaurant called, Spice Table, due to a subway extension, I was a bit sad. That restaurant had plenty of Singaporean / Malaysian / Vietnamese dishes on offer that I really enjoyed, and missed. Luckily, he decided to open in Santa Monica. The recently opened Cassia has some of the old menu items found at Spice Table and some brand new ones. 

The Scene

The Scene.

When Mr. Sazy Rock and I arrived around 7:30 pm and the place was packed. The big, open room also meant that it was loud. Luckily, older persons that we were, the host showed us to a table in the back room that had a wall, which shielded us from a lot of the noise. The tables were also arranged quite close together so we ended up making friends with a group seated next to our table. Beware about sharing confidences as your table neighbors will likely be able to hear you.


The Food
Mr. SR and I absolutely adored the cocktails at Cassia. Mr. SR loved his martinis and found it well balanced. I found my Hemingway daiquiri to have the perfect sweetness and sourness. They were very enjoyable.

Hemingway Daiquiri.

On to the food.

• Fried Cauliflower - The batter was light, and resulted in a nice crisp layer to the cauliflower. It was also a bit spicy. The fish sauce dip was fantastically lemony, garlicky, spicy and a bit sweet. I very much enjoyed this dish.

Fried Cauliflower.

• Small Charcuterie Plate - On our plate, we had bacon (sweet), lamb ham (I don't remember this dish), Vietnamese pate (nondescript but spicy), bread with lardo topped with anchovy flakes (the standout due to the richness), and red sausage (nondescript).

Small Charcuterie Platter.

• Chino Valley Egg Custard - I loved this dish. Imagine mushrooms topped with egg custard and sea urchin or uni. All those flavors came together to provide sweetness, saltiness and creaminess. Definitely lots of umami.

Chino Valley Egg Custard.

• Whole Singaporean White Pepper Crab - I must admit that I expected pepper crabs prepared the way I had them in Singapore - that is to say, the dry kind. Cassia's version was the wet kind and more gingery than I expected. Although the crab meat was sweet and spicy (from the peppers), the wet preparation left me disappointed. To be fair, Mr. SR adored the sauce.

Whole Singaporean White Pepper Crab.

• Pig's Tail - I found this dish disappointing primarily because the skin lacked any crunch. The only crunchiness I felt was from the lettuce. That, unfortunately, was insufficient. 

Pig's Tail.

• Vietnamese Coffee Pudding - We had no intention of ordering dessert because Mr. SR and I were already very full. But, Mr. SR has met the chef a couple of times and the chef was very kind to send out a complimentary dessert. Mr. SR didn't taste the dish because he was allergic to coffee. So, it fell on me to taste the dish (despite giving up coffee decades ago). While I only had a taste (for fear I would be up all night), I found it creamy. I must admit, however, that I did not like the way it made my heart race (likely due to my coffee-free existence). My life is now back to its non-coffee existence.

Vietnamese Coffee Pudding.

The Service
Everyone on staff were very nice and friendly. But, there was an initial delay between getting our drink order and getting our food order. Also, our appetizers all came at once despite the fact that we were seated at a tiny two top table. Needless to say, our table was very crowded and we were afraid we might knock something off the table. We did ask the server to slow down the delivery of the food, and our dining experience got a lot better.

The Price
It was not a cheap meal although, to be fair, the whole crab was $60 so we knew it was not going to be cheap. Excluding the dessert - which the chef kindly sent out - taxes, a health care surcharge and tip, our bill was $174 (we had a few cocktails).

The menu.

Dessert menu.

The Verdict
I did enjoy the cocktails. While the food was tasty, I preferred the appetizers over the mains. I'm still unsure whether I will go back. 




Where do you like to eat Vietnamese / Singaporean / Malaysian food in your home town?