Two Days in Santa Monica: Valentino's, Upper West and Santa Monica Yacht Club

Hello Chowhounds,

Here is my review of two restaurants in Santa Monica.

SMYC
My husband and I ate at the Santa Monica Yacht Club on a Wednesday night in early August. We called the restaurant to ask about parking and we were instructed to park the library/public garage across the street. There is also valet and street parking. The restaurant is on the corner and easy to miss because the signs read SMYC. My husband found it because of the nautical decorations.

The place was packed but we had a reservation and were seated immediately. We waited for water and for our drink order. There was no bread and we did not ask for bread during the meal. Please note that there were a few differences between the online Yelp menu and the restaurant menu.

We shared the sardine/avocado/cilantro crostini for our starter. It was excellent. The bread was firm without being crunchy. There was abundant avocado and perfectly prepared sardine.

For the main course, my husband choose the scallops with pea puree, tomato and morels. I believe that there were four scallops. It came unaccompanied so if you are hungry, you will need to order something else to have with your main course. He said that it was magnificent.

I choose the lamb kebabs and the grilled corn (without tomato). The corn was simple but flavorful and flawless. The kebabs were well cooked, non-greasy and went well with the sauces. I typically only eat banana in their natural state but the banana raita was clean and contrasted well with the harissa.

For dessert, we both ate brownies with caramel ice cream. It was good but not extraordinary. I would definitely return to this restaurant. I saw two tables order the grilled (enormous) whole snapper to share and I hope to try that the next time!
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Upper West
We had dinner at Upper West on a Thursday evening.
Jam packed and noisy with what appeared to be the after work crowd. Stood near the bar while waiting for our table.
Service was a little slow but friendly. It seems that both of these restaurants are understaffed for the time of year.

I wanted the lamb crepes but decided on the chicken because I had eaten lamb the night before. The crispy glazed chicken was okay. There was not enough mango. It was my appetizer but I saved half of it (the portion was large) to eat with my main dish. I don't know when macaroni and cheese became a main dish but this is the second time that I have ordered it this summer. It tasted like mac and cheese. It was good but not spectacular. I had it without ham so perhaps this omission affected the flavor significantly.

My husband had the carpaccio and said that it was excellent. He raved about this starter.

We passed on dessert because we were full but ended up walking to Valentino's a few blocks away because hubby wanted espresso.
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Valentino's

I didn't have anything besides water.
He had a limoncello and a molten chocolate cake. I tasted the cake and thought that it was very flavorful yet light.

I would definitely return for a meal one day to see what they have to order. We ate in the bar area/anteroom so I cannot comment on the restaurant. It seemed quiet/empty. The bar area was empty save for one guest and one server. This was Thursday night about 9:30. The neighborhood is fine for walking so you can easily have a meal in one restaurant and dessert and/or drinks somewhere else. We did not drive but I saw that Valentino's has a parking lot. There is also street parking available.

Enjoy!