The Curious Palate

Don’t let the simple mall look stop you from going into this amazing restaurant. Best food I’ve had all year. Seriously

5 stars again. This place does not disappoint.
They didn’t have my short rib tacos on the menu which made me really sad so I tried a couple different things and it turned out OK.
The SWORDFISH TACOS are NOT fried but the fish was slightly dry. The pickled veggies and soft tortilla were the saving grace ⁴⁄₅
CHICKEN BAHN MI is something special. I really love the classic Lee’s to everything with pickled veggies. This sandwich has a kick of real fish sauce and the flavors are just wow. It’s creamy with a perfect bread to filling ratio and its just nice and bright but savory and rich at the same time ⁵⁄₅
CHILI CHEESE FRIES made with havarti cheese tastes like a childhood favorite, upgraded. Really mature flavors developed in the chili, slightly sweet like caramelized onions sweet and the cheese goes on top of the fries, rather than on top of the chili so the cheese sticks to the potato. Very heavy but what do you expect, worth the calories ⁵⁄₅

This place is hidden inside Santa Monica mall at the very top and back. Although my friends and I were greeted enthusiastically, I’d have to give the place a 3 star mainly because the waiters took forever to bring us our waters and to take our orders. On numerous occasions, I’d ask for more water and ketchup, however they seem to always forget. On the other hand, I ordered a bacon blue burger with fries on the side. It was greatly cooked and delicious. I would highly recommend as I recommended to a neighboring dining customer. My friends ordered pastas and was let down. I believe the biggest hype are the burgers here as I see many others ordering burgers. So briefly, I’d definitely recommend coming here for the burgers and no other.

I love this place! It’s a hidden gem in Santa Monica. Not only is the food incredible but the service is outstanding. Tony was our waiter and his service was top notch! I will definitely be back soon. And btw, their outdoor patio is gorgeous! Worth checking out :)

I came here a few times now and I do like this place.
Staff is sweet and friendly
You order ur food and find a seat and they bring the food to you.
I ordered the Chinese style Fried Chicken with 1 side. Hands down for the price so good and yummy. The comes out hot and flavorful.
If you want to jazz it up u can tell them you want it Kung pao style and they add peanuts and a nice sauce.
I definitely would come back. The only complain it is pricey but it’s good and worth going.

Note: I’ve never eaten the food here, so this is based on 2 brief visits.
Saturday afternoon, was searching for a quiet spot to grab a glass of wine, away from all the ruckus on the Promenade. Remembered grabbing a coffee here, years ago, and made my way back up to the top floor of Santa Monica Place. They have since changed their location since my last visit, and are now located next to the Arclight.
I noticed the wine shop next door, but husband wanted a Root Beer Sundae, so the Curious Palate it is. You place your order at the register and they bring you your items.
The best part is the quiet patio. Not much to see, but certainly quiet for talking. While seated, I noticed that the wine shop next door has patio seating, too (they clearly mark which tables are theirs).
Had a glass Tolosa No-​Oak Chardonnay; it hit the spot.
Husband said his Root Beer Sundae was average and nothing special (meaning, he could make at home).
So when it was time to go, we decided to grab a couple coffees for the road (they use Intelligentsia coffee), since on my last visit, I had enjoyed my cappuccino. Husband was trying to surprise me and tried to order a flavored latte. The reaction? We’re «COFFEE PURISTS. If you’d like flavoring, go to the Starbucks.» Ummm, you could just say you don’t carry syrups or flavored creamer; no need for the attitude or «helpful» Starbucks guidance. Husband ordered me a Masala Chai. It was good, BUT, that kind of attitude hampered our experience.
Next time, I’ll just go next door for a glass of wine.

SURPRISE! I never knew you were here. Thank goodness for a trip to the new Arclight in Santa Monica Place since that is how I found you. So we were coming from movies (Brooklyn — awesome by the way) and now we were so, so hungry. Few steps to right of the entrance there was a restaurant that I had never seen. Granted I had never been on third level of the mall or at least not on that end. We decided to just go in and order. No checking Unilocal,nothing. Just old fashioned, «look there is a place» and walk in. And we did. It is a fun, rustic place and the menu is big with salads, sandwiches, burgers, pastas etc. Something for everyone. I chose Mushroom Tagliatelle and my, my that was yummy. The pasta is house made and it had delicious mushrooms, and kale and butternut squash (or one of those orange yumminess root veggies) etc. It was REALLY good. My daughter had fried chicken sandwich and she liked that as well. We didn’t care for the desserts (hence the drop of the one star. We had bread pudding and butterscotch pot of cream) that much, so next time I will skip them, but I will be back for the food!

Found this place just roaming around the mall looking for a quick bite. Ended up getting the Fish and Chips and the Jumbo Crab cake. All of it was yummy. The fish was super fresh. Fast service and very friendly staff.

Great hidden gem near the edge of the Promenade adjacent to the food court undergoing renovations. The dishes are innovative and delicious and I highly recommend the pork belly Banh Mi and the Thai satay chicken sandwich, which is served on a toasty, nutty 5-​grain. Great blend of fusion flavors with a Western bistro flair. Most sandwich and salad items are about $ 12 – 15, so it’s slightly pricier but the food is definitely worth it and the ambiance is akin to a gourmet open kitchen. Definitely worth a visit!

Crazy good farm to table restaurant! I had the Baja Fish tacos and Diablo Garlic fries. Both were perfectly cooked and soo delicious. I also highly recommend the Chai tea ice cream. Wow. Wow. Must cone back.

Hidden gem!
Been here a few times with the wife, the wife and kid, and my co-​workers. We have a great time every time. The patio is never crowded and offers a great view of 4^th St streaming below.
But the view isn’t the draw– its the food and small, but well-​curated beer selection. For happy hours, beers with the thin-​cut frites tossed with parsley and sea salt are wonderful. For meals, you can’t go wrong with the miso short rib wrap, the satay tacos, or the angler wrap. All were delicious and the satay tacos have a nice spicy kick.
Love this hidden little spot. Glad to see that they’re standing strong despite the renovations going on around it.

Wow!
I was walking around Santa Monica, thinking about pasta for dinner but I wasn’t sure where I should go. I remembered there was a restaurant tucked away on the 3^rd floor of Santa Monica Place (mall). It’s near Bloomingdales and where they are building the new Arclight Theaters.
I walked over, noticed that it was called The Curious Palate, looked at the menu outside the restaurant, noticed a few pasta options and went inside.
A sign inside said «please seat yourself.» I was about to sit down when I noticed the outdoor patio. I walked over and found a nice table overlooking 4^th Street.
Service was great and helped me decide what to order and described a few things for me. I ordered the Meatball Fritto & Tagliatelle Pasta (pork, beef, and veal meatballs, spinach, tomato sauce & Vella aged monterey jack cheese) with a St. Archer White Ale.
The pasta was excellent. I was surprised that the meatballs were crispy outside. I don’t believe that I have had meatballs like this before and they were wonderful. I asked about them and they are briefly fried just before serving.
I’m not big on deserts but I do love beer. The Pale Chocolate Heaven by Santa Monica Brew Works caught my attention on the menu. I was told it was good and given a brief description so I ordered that. It has such a nice chocolate aroma and dark chocolate taste.
Everything about my meal and my time spent at The Curious Palate was wonderful.
Thanks so much!

We are so glad we found this place. It’s
Tucked away in the very back, on the third floor of the mall. Well worth everything we ate. This place is amazing. Homemade everything. Loved every bit of the place. The ice cream sandwich was to die for.

There’s a reason why most menus aren’t that big nor are they that varied. You cannot expect to cook Thai curries, Vietnamese banh mis, Italian pastas, American sandwiches, and I think some Japanese foods in such a way that it tastes good.
You do not have the flavor profile down at all for those cuisines.
Like seriously, adding peanut sauce does not automatically make it a Thai dish. Plus miso? This is more American fusion food if anything and it’s not good.
The pasta was all around ehh. It had too much bite to it and the sauce almost tasted like ketchup.
What was surpassingly good was the calamari appetizer. The sauces were on point and it was just overall good. It would be awesome if they were cut into bigger pieces though. Gives it more of a chew other than one-​two chomp and it’s already in bits.
Now for service it seems that the owners son or something along those lines was doing that. He was dressed very informal and never did check in on anything. Never offered any kind of condiments like salt or pepper, which I had to walk over to a different table and get myself. The person who did seem to be in charge was wearing cargo shorts and a button down. Very casual restaurant and expensive for what it is to boot.
A good 2.5 stars but I’ll round up. It seems more like a takeout restaurant than a place for a sit down meal. Maybe a meal on the counter/​bar.

So happy to have given this place a second chance, even if it was four years later. I was looking for a casual dinner place for my picky-​eater sister, someone who also enjoys the hip, gourmet, healthy joints that are all the rage. I was hesitant to take her here because of my lackluster experience last time, but I took a chance…
And boy am I glad I did. All three of us loved our meals (chili, burger, club sandwich). The chili was expensive at $ 15, but it was soooo hearty and tasty. It had a sweat, honey, bourbon flavor that was very unique but so delicious. It was much thicker and heavier than I’m used to, so the bowl order was more than enough. I ended up taking half home. I also ordered the roasted shishito peppers to share that were really good.
My sister enjoyed her club sandwich and my friend enjoyed her burger. Theirs came with chipotle aoili that was really good, especially for dipping the fries, and housemade ketchup, which was a little too sweet for us. My sister and her friend had various requests on their dishes when ordering, requests that the waiter took without writing down. We were doubtful that he would remember and were convinced the final dishes wouldn’t come out right. We were pleasantly surprised and extremely impressed when he got everything right! Our waiter was awesome.

This place is mediocre, at best! First of all the employees have no idea what is going on. We asked what the happy hour was and no one knew. Then I ordered the caprese which was on their Unilocal menu and honestly the reason I decided to go there. When I ordered, they all looked confused and eventually made up some BULLS**T response… «Oh it’s seasonal.» Please enlighten me. Which item in a caprese is seasonal? The cheese, the tomato, or the basil? Anyways, whatever. Moving on…
Eventually, I ordered the prosciutto tortellini. Pause… I absolutely love anything Italian so I don’t know what the F this was. I asked if it was cheese tortellini before ordering and the lost puppy waitress confirmed that «ofcourse» it was. Let me describe to you what was presented to me… A plate of Huge tortellini noodles stuffed with a smörgåsbord of stuff. None of which tasted like prosciutto. Perhaps someone’s leftovers chopped up? Whatever it was it was definitely not worth the calories or the price.
My fiancé got the short rib miso wrap. The sandwich wasn’t what it was described to be but it was good nonetheless. More of a barbecue southern style sandwich, not miso. What they really need to work on is their sauces. First of all cut it out with the ketchup alternatives. All you are doing is creating more extra stuff for your staff to do. No one likes your crappy ketchup alternative. What was even better was what was brought to us when we asked for hot sauce. A pale yellow mayonnaise looking NOT spicy sauce. If it wasn’t for my life saving Sriracha packet I had in my purse the food wouldn’t even be palatable.
When we were leaving, Our waitress wasn’t even aware that we had not paid. The chef had to inform her. Seriously… Get your shit together. Never again.

Meh! food was mediocre and overpriced! The service is subpar and there aren’t enough good menu items. If you find yourself in the promenade and looking for a place to eat, I suggest going elsewhere!

My fiancé and I were in the area and wanted to find a sit-​down restaurant where we could grab a quick bite to eat. We decided to try out this place. Luckily, it was in the middle of the afternoon so there was no line. The place isn’t very big, but they have a nice outdoor patio area for people to sit.
My fiancé ordered the The Curious Palate Grass-​Fed Beef Burger and I ordered the Grilled Swordfish Sandwich. The burger was tasty, but the size of the patty was pretty small. We liked the dipping sauce (mix of miso with sweet & sour) that came with his side of fries. I liked the swordfish, but it wasn’t good as a sandwich. I did not see the need for all that bread with a light flavored fish. The small kale salad was fresh and tasty.
Overall, the food wasn’t bad, but it didn’t seem worth the price. The next time we’re in the area, we’d try out other restaurants before coming back to this one.

Located on top of Santa Monica Place. If you aren’t in the mood to eat something at the food court, The Curious Palate is a great alternative. Delicious sandwiches, phenomenal fries, and a great selection of wines.
You have to seat yourself here but the service does not lack. And the food was surprisingly delicious.
FOOD:
I’m not really sure what’s so «curious» about the menu… However, it’s good. They have a huge selection of sandwiches.
We ordered the Pastrueben sandwich sandwich which came with your choice of a side of fries or a salad. Of course, we got the fries. The pastrueben sandwich is served with caramelized onions and gruyère cheese. The sandwich isn’t as heavy as I anticipated but the caramelized onions were amazing. It was cooked down as much as the onions of a French onion soup — and not too sweet/​caramelized. Absolute perfection. ⁴⁄₅
The fries though were bomb! A little on the saltier side but I loved the sauces it came with. I also ate it with the onions that fell onto the plate. ⁴⁄₅
I also got the chicken salad salad. Yes, two «salads» in the name. And it is pretty filling. The chicken salad is yummy and not over sauced. The salad is made with mixed greens and comes with cranberries, almonds, roasted red peppers, and cucumbers. I love the cranberries and almonds in the salad that gave the salad a great texture. Also, the sweet and savory flavors made the salad that much better! I highly recommend it. ⁴⁄₅ Best of all, you will absolutely have leftovers to take home.
SERVICE:
I had a cute little French server with an adorable accent! She was kind enough to move all of our items from an outdoor to indoor table when it got cold. She constantly kept asking how our experience was.
I will be back. There aren’t many options to choose from around 3^rd street and I’m glad I came across this place.

Located on the top level of Santa Monica Place, the Curious Palate is a great alternative to standard «food court» or mall food, but at a price. I wouldn’t necessarily go out of my way to eat at the Curious Palate, but if I was already at the mall, I’d definitely eat here again. There are a lot of options on the menu, from sandwiches to burgers to salads to pastas to steaks. I probably would stick to sandwiches and burgers at a place like this, but I say that not having tried any of the pastas or steaks. It just seems like a place that has specializes in sandwiches and has a lot of interesting ones at that.
I had the Truffled Mushroom «Burger» — portobello mushroom «patty», wild mushroom ragu, trule salt, pecorino cheese, butter lettuce, tomato, pickled red onion, chimichurri aioli — which while good, and the server boasted over it, was not as quite as good as it sounds. I didn’t really taste the truffle, and it was served cold, which I wasn’t expecting. I probably would get something else next time although it definitely tasted like it was made with fresh, quality ingredients, and was healthy. My bf had the thai satay sandwich with chicken, and the same thing was true of his sandwich — fresh, quality ingredients. I opted for the kale salad on the side to stick with the healthy theme, and it was a generous side salad that I enjoyed. I did eye the fries of my neighbor with a bit of envy. they appear to be thicker cut, the way that I like them — I might just have to get them next time.
On the expensive side when it comes to sandwiches, but you’re paying for healthy, quality ingredients.