Cobi's

Like the place and food. Atmosphere is great. Their policies are insane, we had a full table of guests and waiting on 2 more - they were 16 minutes late and the host threatened to throw us out because the party was incomplete. Totally crazy for such an upscale and expensive place.

Food and atmosphere are so good. Service is great, recommend the dumplings, sauce sampler, shaved ice just to name a few!

Came here for a friends birthday and had a mixed experience due to multiple server mistakes. The decor and vibe a stunning - we sat in the garden and it was lovely. At first our server (I think her name was Chica) was super friendly. 3 of our table got the set menu and the other 2 (me included) have dietary restrictions so we just got an entree each. She confirmed with us (twice!!) that I was vegetarian and my friend gluten free. My entree came and seemed fishy. I asked her if there was oyster sauce in it and she said shrimp paste. we said I was vegetarian twice, why is there fish paste? She then blamed it on us for not specifically ordering the dish vegetarian, even though we had confirmed with her at least twice that I was veggie and my friend GF. So that ruined the vibe. Then they forgot to give my friends the last dish of their menu ( the branzino) and that’s the dish they were most excited about. They took it off the bill and then my entree too which was nice of the manager. I would give this place another try (maybe brunch) but if the service is the same then I won’t come back sadly. Vegetarian options: Their vegetarian labelling is confusing and problematic. ‘Can be vegetarian’ but then when you say you’re vegetarian it shows up with shrimp paste??

One of those LA places I just don’t get. The food is ok but nowhere near worth the price tag. It’s cute, the staff feels like they’re working somewhere cool, and it’s a well manicured space. I can tell the owners have a good eye and an interesting concept, but the whole thing just doesn’t add up. It’s fusion Asian based on really delicious and cheap street dishes that are now smaller, less tasty, and far more expensive. The seats in the restaurant are too close together and sadly, the outdoor seating is a total waste as Santa Monica has been ceded to the homeless. This place would be phenomenal if it was able to pull off its concept at street food prices without the pretense.

A friend and I came here for dinner yesterday evening (Monday). We had a reservation and were sat 10min after; place was packed! Decor is cute and earnest and generally the vibes were good. Good for couples or smaller groups, every table was very lively. That said, it was raining that evening and there weren’t umbrellas for patio seating (had heaters instead). Not sure about that move. We opted for the “Classics” set menu for $58pp, which included: * Ora King Salmon * Pork Dumplings * Nasi Goreng * Butter Chicken * Dry Aged Branzino * Jasmine Rice & Roti * Thai Tea Pudding Food was good, but not excellent and none of the dishes particularly stood out, except for the dessert which we really enjoyed and the branzino which was very dry. Additionally, ordering the set menu for 2 was no better value than simply ordering dishes individually and I wish we had done that. Worth noting that there are no hard spirits on the drink menu — only wine and 2 wine-based cocktails. Food came out quickly, but we felt rushed by the pacing of each course and had the effect of feeling like an assembly line and preparation not being totally fresh; rice was dry, roti stiff, fish dry like it had been sitting a while. This was compounded by being approached by our server to pay for our meal (“my manager asked that you close out your tab before I leave”) before dessert had been served; server should instead say he’s leaving us in the hands of his manager. Also, weirdly we were not offered any knives in our flatware and dishes came without serving spoons every time. No offers to replace the small plates between the curry and saucy fish either. We spilled some rice early on in the meal (oops), but it was never cleaned off the table despite new courses coming and going. I’ll chalk this up to management needing to tighten up training and work out the kinks in ops. Maybe it was an off night, but I think more attention to the details would go a long way and make Cobi’s a real winner. We had a fun evening, and may swing by to try other dishes, but wouldn’t rush to return.