My wife and I had brunch with a friend of ours and his girlfriend yesterday morning at The Fig which is located at the Fairmont Mirimar Hotel in Santa Monica. I did an Open Table reservation and I'm glad I did since it was fairly crowded with a mix of hotel guests, locals and tourists alike. We've always wanted to eat there since the restaurant got a complete overhaul a few years ago and it always seemed like a charming spot to dine.
All four of us were seated at the back of the restaurant closest to the pool with a view of the famous bungalows and some lawn chairs being set up for guests to use for the day. Too bad it was an overcast morning but on a beautiful sunny SoCal day it would have been even better. The sliding doors were open and just comfortable enough to relax with our friends and have brunch.
We ordered the following ; 2 orders of the Frittata Verde ($17 each) , 1 order of the Lemon-Ricotta Pancakes ( $14) and I ordered the Corn Beef Hash ($16). Understandably, hotel food is always on the pricier side but in terms of portion size we were all dissapointed with how small the food portions were. I, for one, was surprised that I didn't get any bread or toast with my Corn Beef Hash nor was there any bread or butter made available for the table. That's inexcusable and for that much money the least we can get is bread and butter for the price they are charging patrons. My wife thought the Frittata Verde was bland and didn't really taste like anything while my other friend thought the Lemon Ricotta Pancakes, although delicious, didn't warrant the price they charged for them. It's pancakes with almond butter folks it should be more than a three-stack.
Find out what's happening in Santa Monicawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Again, guests are paying for the "experience" of being in a beautiful setting and a SoCal atmosphere but the food needs to match this on every level and for us it just didn't. It's too bad because the service was exceptional and the location just right. The only thing we did agree on was to come back for their Happy Hour which is on Tues/Wed/Thur from 5pm-6pm (called 5@TheFig) where the ENTIRE menu is half-price. Now, that's something worth checking out.
