I’m a West Hollywood hood gal. However, since I’ve been working in Manhattan Beach once a week, I’ve started to try new restaurants in the beach towns, my lastest being The Rockefeller gastropub. They have 2 locations close to each other, one in Manhattan Beach and one in Hermosa Beach, so if you happen to be meeting someone at one of the 2 spots, make sure you clarify which one first. If choose the wrong like I did, don't stress out. It should take you less than 10 minutes to re-locate to the Hermosa Beach spot.
Both Rockefeller locations look very similar and each one has an inviting patio, usually packed right at 5pm for their happy hour. I’ll tell you one thing, it’s hard to beat that perfect ocean breeze on an otherwise 90 degree plus day near the city.
I met up with The Food Pervert on a Thursday evening for a girl’s night out of fun and food. We started out at the Rockefeller in Hermosa Beach and once I hurriedly made it to my seat (late from going to the wrong one, remember?), we dove into ordering, starting with some wine and happy hour snacks. Two immediate standouts were the Red Snapper Ceviche and the Allagash Queso.
The ceviche was piled high with Pacific Northwest Snapper, vegetable confetti, avocado, pineapple, and a sweet thai chili drizzle. The fish was light, fresh, plentiful and accompanied with the right amount of citrus and veggie crunch. I would definitely come back for it!
The Queso, basically a rich cheese dish, is made with Allagash Craft Beer and is served with hot tortilla chips. I’m not normally a huge fan of cheese dips, but this one in thicker and the texture and has a slightly smoky undertone, plus it’s made with one of my favorite brews – bonus.
Another appetizer we enjoyed was the Truffle Mac and Chesse, and if you can believe it, it’s on happy hour menu ($6) and topped with large shavings of black truffle. Truffles at happy hour?? Swoon! The combo of queso and truffle mac and cheese may be too much for some, but we didn’t care. Go big or go home.
For entrees, we ordered the Lobster Stuffed Avocado Salad, Street Tacos, and the Ahi Tuna Tacos. The Lobster Salad was stuffed into a halved avocado and served with olive oil-brushed toasts and lettuce. A single wedge of lemon queezed over the top, for a splash of fresh citrus spritz would have made this lighter dish even better, but I still enjoyed it none the less. The street tacos were filled with tender and juicy marinated short rib, avocado, onion, and cilantro (also available on the happy hour menu).
The Ahi Tuna Tacos (3) were served with seared rare Ahi tuna in flour tortillas and topped with wasabi crema, sesame ginger cabbage slaw, crispy wonton stips, avocado, and pico de gallo. They were also accompanied with a side salad garnished with blue cheese crumbles, which I thought was an interesting choice of cheese to serve with the tuna. We definitely opted for some lighter entrees, since we had splurged on heavier appetizers.
XXOO,
Maren
Happy Hour at The Rockefeller: Monday thru Friday 5pm – 7pm.
The Rockefeller Gastropub
422 Pier Ave, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254
Phone: (310) 372-8467