Koast, the new seafood-focused restaurant from the folk behind Kali is a good addition to the area. The place is just across Citrus from Meteora and is quite small but very attractively designed. The scallop cake is an interesting and tasty variation on the traditional crab cake, though will not replace crab cakes in my affections. The grilled prawns were simple but delicious. Just five entrees on the menu when I went (3 seafood, 2 meat), but several interesting starter choices.
12 Likes
I enjoyed my meal there. The prawns were tasty. So was the clam chowder with fries.
Caveat - they use our caviar and do a pretty amazing caviar dish
4 Likes
I ate here.
2 Likes
Same… assuming nothing stood out for you as well? I was actually disappointed because I usually like his food but some dishes were way too salty and others were lackluster, including the desserts. Perhaps I ordered all of the wrong dishes…
3 Likes
what did you order? I went last week and liked it a lot. Not everything was incredible but most things were at least solid/high-quality. I think it’s got a nice potential to be a kind of Providence-lite.
good neighborhood spot was my thought.
1 Like
yeah I think great for the neighborhood, if they actually showed up! hopefully they do.
1 Like
I think it’s hard on Melrose if you are not a destination restaurant but I wish them luck!
I dined last night at Koast. My overall impression is very good, well executed and very well serviced. The wine program is outstanding as one would expect from Drew (quite a collection of mature Burgundy for you ballers). No pics but we had, Mussels with a tomatillo, habanero sauce. A nice play on the classic Belgian dish. This was excellent and surprisingly delicious. Never had tomatillo with mussels, but it worked quite well, and just enough heat to notice but not detract. Smoked Trout Dip was another delicious dish. As with the mussles, the crusty, grilled bread was perfect. Cesar Salad was good, if not a bit over dressed. Another special, Halibut Fish and Chips, was perfectly cooked with the lightest batter. Chips have Old Bay seasoning. All in all, a delicious meal and I would return, especially on Mondays when corkage is free.
9 Likes
No longer able to book on opentable or Resy. Think it might be closed already 
2 Likes
Koast did postings on Facebook and Instagram on July 26 touting its DineLA menu so not clear if something happened since then or this is just a glitch.
Interestingly enough, there is a Koast in Maui that just recently opened up and it was one of our favorite meals we’ve had this year. Really excellent prices and local catches. They have zero affiliation with this Koast (I asked).
Confirmed closed 
7 Likes
Holy moly.
I hope they can find someone to buy them out of their lease or this is going to be a very painful however many years.
That part of town is brutal, locals want value restaurants and mostly won’t go the good restaurants like this in any kind of numbers. So you are reliant on attracting customers from the greater LA are & it’s not easy to get to if you don’t live nearby (not close to a freeway). Street parking is almost impossibe so you are adding valet to your cost of a night out.
The other side of the coin is that the high end diner going to that area is more likely going to go to Metora or Providence. So restaurants in the middle get squeezed
3 Likes
Pizzeria/(regular) Mozza is also across the street. It’s probably 20-30% more expensive but I feel like it’s money better spent.
1 Like
Mostly very true but Ronan is a bit of an outlier - assuming they are not about to fail. But they seem fairly busy.
2 Likes
Very different type of restaurant but The Benjamin is always packed. That place is super interesting. Not very good on any level (in my opinion), really expensive for what it is, but seems to have really found a lane as a kind of vibes Hillstone.
It was packed on my only visit, which I expected on a weekend night. Only notable because I’m pretty sure I saw Giorgio Chiellini here. Maybe del Piero’s N10 was closed?
2 Likes
And Tatel!