Warrior: Water Grill hasn’t changed that much since I arrived to LA 14 years ago. I remember it was considered a fancy, high-end restaurant back then. The two fancy places downtown were Patina and Water Grill. I think Water Grill’s food has remained similar over the years, but the food all around them has gotten better. As you might expect, Water Grill’s strengths are fish and oysters. For example, they do a great job with browning the skins on fillets, which is somewhat reflected in the picture below. Their weakness is everything else. The main dish preparations are boring, and the side dishes are even more uninspired. Everything is at a consistently decent level, but that provides little reason to go with all the superior options around.
Peony: Water Grill is not in my top list of places to go in LA, but it is always a safe option if I don’t have any places planned. The food there isn’t super exciting, but it is always consistent and never disappointing. My favorite thing about Water Grill is the big selection of oysters which you can see close to the entrance. Very fun to get 6 types of oysters and compare their flavors side by side. Our conclusions so far are that east coast oysters are more mineral and oceany, while the oysters on the western coast have more flavors like cucumber, watermelon, etc.
