Camelia - Los Angeles, California

eriklenh

I thought long how to rate the restaurant as we had a really bad start. Although we had a reservation no table was free and we had to wait long, not being served. Only after I complained twice, and quite directly, we got a round of complimentary drinks and after 25 minutes a table. It seems like they give out reservations but do not limit the table times, so basically with a reservation you get a next free table but not at a guaranteed time. They need to change this to meet expectations.

However, as soon as we were seated and tempers had cooled it was a great experience. We ordered almost everything on the menu and it sum it was a great food experience. I love the sharing/ tapas style. Sometimes very innovative (try the burrito for sure) sometimes just plain good. Only the chicken I’d not recommend, it was just OK. I’d recommend to come here with more people to be able to select a lot.

Service was good from then on, timing of the dishes perfect and the wine menu is fair and balanced.

Not sure if I’d come again but I’d definitely recommend to go there at least once.

gabriela parra

Thoroughly enjoyed this place. The French-Japanese fusion is delightful - every dish we had I would order again. Same with the cocktails. Our server was super helpful in pointing us in the right direction on favorites and flavor profiles, she took her time with us. And again, there wasn’t a single dish that disappointed! Can’t wait to go back and try the rest of the menu!

Elaine W

Camelia is a charming restaurant with photo-worthy interiors and wonderful food. As a bonus, they did not chase us out for their second seating during our three hours there.

What was EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING was that they don't take allergies seriously. As noted in our reservation, one of the diners was allergic to shrimp, crab and lobster. We even informed the server when poring over the menu and told him to let us know if any of the food we ordered has the mentioned allergens so the diner could avoid it.

One of the dishes we ordered (abalone and mussel pot pie) did not have any of the items listed. We were dining family style and everyone helped themselves to a portion of the pot pie. Unfortunately the diner took a bite before the shrimp was discovered at the bottom of the pie.

We promptly informed the server who checked with the kitchen. Apparently they substituted mussels with shrimp. That vital piece of information was NOT listed on the menu NOR communicated to service staff. Putting the allergy case aside, you do not substitute things without informing your diners and more so, let your staff know!

Back to allergy case, they found an older pie with no shrimp and served that. BUT NO APOLOGY, no manager checking in, zero attempts to make us think that they would handle this any differently next time.

So while the ambience is great, food is pretty good except desserts, service was a HUGE letdown. Anyone with allergies, be more careful.

Zan Lee

We had a great dinner at Camellia this past Saturday. Located in the Arts District just east of DTLA, not only is the ambience great for a date or dinner with friends, but the pricing is extremely fair, you get a lot more bang for your buck here than other places, especially over in West LA. It is French and Asian fusion so not your traditional French restaurant. Most dishes have an Asian twist to classic French dishes. They don’t have a parking lot but offer valet for $16 however we were able to find a parking spot in the parking lot right across the street for $5 an hour. The other option will be street parking which is very hard to find in this part of town. We arrived at 6:50 PM for a 7 PM dinner but we weren’t seated till 7:15. That was the only issue we had in our dining experience. Our server was very polite and attentive the entire meal.

Not only is it Asian and French fusion, but most of the dishes are more bistro style so much more casual, and less involved than a traditional French restaurant. They have a fairly large menu with all sorts of great options, sadly the dish I was most excited to try, the softshell crab, was out of stock , the night we dined. We decided to start the meal off with a Black Sesame Parker House Rolls and thought it was an interesting take on the classic Parker House roll. I have never had a black sesame version before, but really enjoyed it, especially with the salted French butter. Next came the Tuna Sashimi, and this was extremely fresh and light and a great end of summer dish. For our entrées, we chose the Croque Madame, which I thought was fabulous, especially with the amber yolk egg on top, and the Dry Aged Burger, which was truly fantastic. I rarely order burgers at dinner restaurants so was very happy that I did this time and would highly recommended.

Overall, we were very impressed with the meal, the service, and especially the overall bill. We were expecting it to be a lot more expensive than it was so for that fact alone, I would highly recommend it and plan to be back in the near future.

T G

Really hope this spot stays awhile. Are here twice in the same weekend and can’t wait to go again to continue eating through the menu. I think the menu rotates by the way because we wanted to try their mushroom dish and two days after it was gone. Maybe they’ll bring it back.

We tried:
- soft shell crab
- gem salad
- croque madame
- beef cheek
- spaghetti
- kombu rice
- fries

Everything we would get again except the kombu rice and we actually had the Croque Madame both times. We agreed this is one of the best ones we’ve had in LA. The rice was just ok and if anything I wish they served it in a hot stone pot to make the rice a little crispy. I had a similar dish in Nara that was served in a hot stone that came to mind.

Of their three restaurants, this one is definitely my fave, but check out Ototo and Tsubaki in Echo Park too!

Valet is $16 or you can your luck with street parking or the public lot a block down.

Jessica Murata

i normally avoid trying new restaurants - it takes time for them to get the kinks out - but i couldn't help myself given how much i love tsubaki. when i heard the owners recently opened a new restaurant, i booked it immediately.

camelia is a tokyo-style french bistro in the dtla arts district. the menu is large so i HIGHLY recommend going with a group to try multiple things together. my standouts were:

- the croque madame of ham katsu. crunchy from the katsu panko, cheesy from the gruyere.

- spaghetti bolognese a la japonaise. reminded me of pasta e pasta by allegro in little tokyo, in all the best ways.

- gateau: chocolate, black sesame, & orange creme anglaise. three flavors i love in one place, a dream.

sadly, their momotaro tomatoes sold out and was one dish i was really looking forward to! i'll come back for it.

@roaming.eater

Stefania Aronin

this place is sooo good! i absolutely loved the oysters, and the uni ototo toast. the croque madame was mind blowing. every dish was so good and the cocktails too!

Natasha Merchant

For a restaurant that’s 5 days old, we were blown away by the level of service at Camelia. Food was excellent, standouts were the tuna avocado raw bar plate, market lettuces (the calamansi vinaigrette was delish), momotaro tomatoes/burrata, the burger and fries, and the pistachio tarte. Ambience is equal parts charming French bistro + lively arts district joint with energy radiating from the open kitchen. Can’t wait to go back!