Scott Sternberg

Review of Mastro's Beverly Hills

I had a very nice experience at Mastro's. Granted,...

I had a very nice experience at Mastro's. Granted, the company was paying since we were celebrating the end of a long, frustrating case, so that probably added to my excitement.

In any case, the food was delicious. We started with huge seafood sampler towers that included oysters on the half shell, jumbo shrimp, crab legs, and lobster. Everything was very fresh and very tasty. I hadn't tried oysters before and I probably won't again. I'm not a fan, but my coworker friend said they were more than up to par. We also ordered escargot, another item I'd never eaten. It was buttery and garlicky and served with buttery brioche, and it was very delicious. I think the concept of escargot is odd, but the flavor is certainly not offensive in any way. One of our higher-ups said it was the second best he'd ever eaten in a restaurant, so I guess it was pretty damn good.

On to the meat! They had a special wagyu-style steak (unfortunately, I can't remember the exact details because I'd already had a few glasses of wine by the time we ordered our meals) that three of us ordered because the waitress convinced us to (and, hey, we weren't paying, so yeah). I ordered it medium rare and it was delicious! It almost melted in my mouth. Yum!

For sides, the table ordered lobster mashed potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes, sweet potato fries, shoestring potatoes, brussels sprouts with pancetta, sauteed mushrooms, and sauteed sugar snap peas. (Damn, that's a lot of potatoes!) My favorites were the mushrooms and sugar snap peas. The other stuff was good (and the brussels sprouts were almost good as the other vegetables), but I very much appreciated the deliciousness and simplicity of the mushrooms and sugar snap peas. They were both very flavorful.

That's about it. Oh, Pinot Noir! I don't normally like red wine, but what they were serving us was very tasty.

In sum, this is a great place for a special occasion or celebration of some sort. Including gratuity, our bill for a party of 10 was around $2,000.