If it wasn’t for the fact that my friend had gotten a special deal through Travelzoo, I probably would not have tried this particular restaurant.

To tell the truth, I was a bit hesitant and anxious about the food not being as good as the deal sounded, since just the Prime Filet on the regular the menu cost $45 already, and the deal was $69 for two people, with choices of two appetizers and two entrées, and a dessert.

The restaurant is located in the lobby area inside the JW Marriotts in downtown Los Angeles, just a few steps from the Staples Center.  I was concerned about the parking, but being that it was a Sunday, l decided that I should just circle the surrounding blocks for street parking. Reluctantly, I gave up after three times around the blocks, and pulled into the hotel driveway for the valet.

We were seated right at the corner with huge windows all around, which provided a busy view of passersby. I did not realize that this area was so popular with so many tourists.

The décor of the restaurant, being a part of the hotel lobby, was comfortably modern, with very airy and open spaces, which enabled me to truly relax. I almost felt like I was on vacation elsewhere.

Out of the three varieties of bread that were served, I thought the Pretzel roll had the most flavor and was still warm and soft.

The Tuna Dynamite – raw tuna sandwiched between two layers of sushi rice, with a generous amount of real crab meat on top was a good size appetizer. The real crab meat tasted fresh and was especially welcoming with the little bit of tobiko (flying fish roe). It virtually seemed as if I was eating a gigantic sushi.

The Prime Filet arrived with slices of cepes mushroom, and the sweetest sugar snap peas. I asked for medium, and it was perfectly so. The meat surprised me. It was amazingly and remarkably tender and juicy. It rivalled, if not exceeded some of the best steakhouses in LA.

The dessert “The Junk Food Platter”, indisputably lived up to its name. It was a giant platter filled with “Junk Food” such as baby churros, red velvet whoopie pies, snickers cake, banana Nutella macaroons, brownies, cookies, and a humongous, jaw-dropping blue color cotton candy sitting in a jar of caramel popcorn.

The other patrons around us were staring and marvelling at this “Unnatural Wonder”. Needless to say we could not and did not want to finish the masterpiece. We were only too happy to give away the cotton candy and the caramel corn to the table next to us, and to watch with contentment as they blissfully finished every morsel.

LA Market by Kerry Simon: 900 West Olympic Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90015  Phone: 213-765-8630