Cast & Plow

Lovely breakfast and view here.
Service so nice.

Surprisingly mediocre! Was looking forward to a nice meal at the conclusion of a great trip and felt I couldn’t go wrong at a Ritz restaurant… I was wrong. The steak was Ponderosa quality, the sweet potato gnocchi and Salmon were tasteless as was the herb brioche with truffle butter… to make truffle tasteless is a skill!
To top it off, the wine list had almost a 4X markup… avoid!

We made reservations online weeks before New Years Eve. No mention of a set $ 120 per person menu was anywhere on the website. I didn’t even realize this restaurant is in the Ritz Carlton. We were a bit shocked to be presented that menu. Our server Stuart was great though. He was able to offer us an a la carte price for the items and ultimately hooked us up with EVERYTHING that was offered even though we didn’t pay the full $ 120 (we shared most items). This really made our night.
Review of the food:
— - Rolls: The sour dough little roll was good. Other rolls were a bit mealy… kind of boring. The whipped butter was too fluffy. Stuart was great and offered us more rolls. I like that.
— - Some kind of carrot/​cucumber/​truffle cream cheese roll up thing… fantastic! 5 stars for this starter. The flavors all went so well together and the cut of the vegetables was perfect — not too thick or thin.
— - –Pumpkin Soup: It was decent but I’ve had amazing pumpkin soup in the past. Too much truffle oil… didn’t really work with the pumpkin flavor. And I didn’t care for the little crackers in the soup. I would have liked a sweeter soup.
— - Waldorf Salad: This was decent as well. But once again, the chef added truffle oil which changed the overall flavor. I couldn’t even taste the apples.
— - Ricotta Gnocchi: OMG. This was sooooooooooooo good. I am a gnocchi fan and have had a lot of different gnocchi dishes. This is on my list of top 5 gnocchi dishes I have EVER had. The gnocchi was pan seared and made from cheese instead of potatoes. All of the flavors were in balance and the sauce was perfect with tons of flavor. LOVED THIS!
— - Chocolate/​coconut dessert. This was okay. Good flavor but I think it just needs a bigger punch… more to sink your teeth into and say «WOW» with each bit. Hard to explain.
Because the carrot roll up and gnocchi were perfect items, I was okay with the others items being decent to good. The chef just needs to be very careful about using too much truffle oil. Did I mention how good the gnocchi was? ;-)
The patio setting was charming looking out over the marina. The tabletop-​fire was a excellent touch… nice to look at and kept me warm. Felt romantic.
The décor in the restaurant is interesting, modern, and sophisticated. Very inviting. Nice live music. All of the employees were welcoming and kind without being sappy or fake.
First experience at this restaurant — we will be back!

Update to my previous review. They have made some major improvements in service and food quality at Cast & Plow. Came back for breakfast pre-​thanksgiving and also Thanksgiving dinner with a large group in our party, and everything was enjoyable. Food selections and quality definitely improved and tasted good. Really happy with the changes and will definitely bring more guests here in the future.

I ate lunch here on the patio overlooking the marina. Stunning view.
I enjoyed the Burrata cheese & tomato salad and the steak tartare crostini. All of the ingredients were very fresh which is no surprise as they are locally sourced.
Highly recommend. Prices are exactly what you’d expect for a higher end lunch.

Okay I know the price is up there. Well you know the saying «you get what you pay for», it’s exactly what you get here. The food and service was awesome. They bake there bread and pastry every morning IN HOUSE. to top it off the view was just perfect (check my shots, it’s pretty amazing), I recommend the outdoor seating.
Tip: their choice of toast is not your typical white or wheat you get to choose from blueberry muffins to croissants. Choose wisely
Type: Breakfast
Day: Sunday

While I wanted to like this place, and the food is quite good, the service was horrendous! I don’t know if they were just short staffed, or the waitress just didn’t like us, but they treated us terribly. We were staying at the Ritz-​Carlton (the hotel in which the restaurant resides), so we brought our own bottle of champagne assuming we would pay a corkage fee. The waitress came and told us that it was absolutely forbidden for us to do so, but she was polite about it and offered a bucket to keep the champagne chilled. However, it then took forever for us to get any further orders put in, and when we did they took forever them to come out.
We ordered several appetizers and several drinks, but the waitress kept apologizing to the table next to us (?). Then the really aloof and rude hostess came over, violently fluffed the pillows, and tried to seat someone at our table (the outside seating is communal, but we had 6 people, two had just gone to the bathroom). I told her that we had people sitting there, she glared at me, and apologized to the other guest — I couldn’t believe the attitude — she was a monster from the 7^th level of hell. I had guests with me that had flown all the way from Shanghai, and they were shocked that we were being treated like that. We got up and left, and went down the road to a restaurant called Salt to continue dining — of course only after we had spent a couple hundred dollars on drinks and appetizers.

The staff are very accommodating. Wonderful wine recommendations from a very knowledgable sommelier. I had been here multiple times. The pork, ricotta gnocchi, frites are my all time favs. If you are in Marina Del Rey I recommend you come here! The cocktails are tasty as well!

Excellent place!
This is definitely the best lounge in LA, with a comfy setup on the inside, and a large patio, overlooking the water. There are heaters, literally, everywhere outside, so you’ll never get cold, even on cold nights.
The food is excellent — farm to table and of high quality. Of note, they serve a bar menu from 10 PM to midnight that has their burger and fries on it, which is one of the best meals in all of LA.
Lastly, it is very laptop friendly, with free wifi and outlets everywhere. Highly recommended for all types of occasions or work-​related activites!

This place is located in the Ritz Carlton hotel and its selling point is the view of the marina while you sit outside on a firepit table. It’s cute, very posh looking and pretty, great to bring your date here. However, for breakfast, it’s a bit pricey. The breakfast buffet isn’t extensive so opt to order something individual instead, but if you’re an indecisive person, by all means, go for the buffet.
Have you ever paid over $ 100 for breakfast for 4 people before? If not, here’s the place to do it. Food isn’t anything special, but the prices are insane. It’s not why I’m removing a star, it’s just that the food isn’t anything special than the presentation. The taste itself is like any other continental breakfast.

AWESOME! We were at Venice Beach and wanted to find some place to have dinner. Then I came across Cast & Plow. The place is so nice, the environment, the service and especially the food. Well cooked fresh local bass is so tender with a bit of acid from zucchini pistou. And the cake is the best. Vanilla ice cream goes so well with warm cake and caramel syrup. It’s hot and ice. Love this place!

Excellent mahi mahi my friends. Not the most amazing location but if you sit on the outdoor patio you get a nice view of mothers beach. Limited menu and it could use a deeper wine list as its attached to the hotel but a very good option if staying nearby or living in one of those fancy towers. Solid recommendation to check out but measure expectations.

This is the third time I have had an extraordinary dinner at this restaurant. Treat yourself to an excellent meal inspired by the local farmers. These are three of the BEST meals I’ve had in the L.A. area. The pastry chef is also extremely talented. Twice, I had the great good fortune to be attended to by Samantha. She is the epitome of the finest of servers. She is knowlegable, nice and with impeccable timing. The ambiance, inside and out is varied from gorgeous to gorgeous. it’s a win-​win. Also, the bar looks like a wonderful place. A lot of care, attention and good taste, in the kitchen, in the dining areas and in the design.
This place is a gem.

Stayed at the hotel over the weekend. As you enter, the view of the marina is just so beautiful especially when the sun’s setting so I made it my mission to have at least a meal sitting out on the patio.
The morning we were checking out, stopped by for brunch. The host was polite but not exactly nice. She promised us menus and a server, neither of which happened. We watched 3 other groups sit down and get menus before anyone realized we were completely ignored. After we got menus. It wasn’t another 10 – 15 minutes did our server serve us. The menu given to us had about 5 drinks, he seemed really annoyed we didn’t order a drink with our meal. (They should have given us their full drinks menu if they wanted us to drink something besides hot coffee on a hot day)
— Crab cakes– pretty amazingly good. Asparagus wasn’t stripped properly so the stems were unchewable. Perfect eggs.
–yoghurt parfait — dense and gorgeous.
All in all, a really average experience with an exceptional view. Perhaps one should come here for drinks at night.

Local produce served with a terrific view of the marina. Dinner for two at 7:45 sat night. Easy to get reservations at the last minute. It was a chilly night so we asked for a table with an overhead header and that did the trick. You can also get a table with fire pits and heaters outside. We had French onion soup — very salty with meaty broth and crispy onions on top. The kale salad and the Quinoa bowl with farm veggies (it’s very dark outside so it’s hard to appreciate the presentation). Both Pinot Gris were good (we preferred the wash state one to the Italian one — but a steep $ 22 per glass)

The food is really whatevers. What’s great is the server. I forget her name (blonde, works at night), but she’s great.
There’s live music at night which is cool.

I dined here during the very first week they had opened so there wasn’t a Unilocal page yet so unfortunately I can’t remember details of the food…
But! I do remember the décor and furniture inside was so beautiful. Lush couches, clean colors, sleek tables, so fab.
We ate outside with the firepit on the table. As I said we went when they were fresh so the first table we were seated at had difficulties lighting up the fire and I thought the table was going to blow because we smelled the fumes but not fire. They moved us to a different table and got us set up. The glass table was gorgeous and romanticle.
The salad we had was delicious. I think it was kale… Had a chicken sandwich of some sort and it was fine. Not much I remember except it was good, it was fine.
Staff was really nice and pleasant. Next time I’ll eat inside on the fab furniture and take lots of pics for home inspiration

Overpriced! I was staying here and was too lazy to go out for breakfast so opted to just eat in the hotel. It’s expensive! I opted for the LA Wrap which is actually a breakfast burrito. A monster breakfast burrito. It wasn’t horrible by any means but given that it was $ 20, I was expecting a lot more. There was barely any chorizo and mostly scrambled eggs. It came with avocado which was about two tablespoons dolloped on top. I was hoping for fat slices of avocado. It was tasty enough but not worth the $ 20.
The cappuccino was $ 6. The milk was not freshly steamed and was floating on top of the coffee like a marshmallow.
Service was great though. The food just wasn’t worth the price.

The Traveling Foodie strikes again!!! She told me about Vaka Burgers and I had a great experience. Now she told me about Cast & Plow, and I have to let everyone else know about it. Cast & Plow is located in the Ritz Carlton in Marina del Rey. The restaurant sources all of its ingredients from local suppliers: Beef from Buena Park; Cheese from Ontario; Kale from Agoura Hills, et al.
Four of us started off on kale chips w/​sumac & sea salt; herb brioche bread, and bacon almonds. I arrived early, and while I was watching the game in the bar, I had the cheese: (purple haze, salted date bread crisps, and market condiments — $ 14). One person also ordered a salad at dinner: The CA tomatoes & burrata salad w/​green olives & basil vinaigrette (no pic). All of the items were really outstanding, especially the kale chips.
For our entrees, we had the 32 day aged ribeye (no pic — asiago cheese potato purée, herb salsa verde); halibut (caramelized cauliflower, romanesco sauce & hazelnut butter) and tagliatelle (no pic — spinach, preserved meyer lemon, parmesan cream). I ordered the fish and it was excellent. I thought it was better than the Chilean Sea Bass at Mastros at ²⁄₃ the cost. The sauce added a nice touch, and the cauliflower was fresh & crunchy. My other dining companions shared their dishes and really enjoyed them.
I also tried a craft cocktail, The Perfect Storm ($ 20 — Casamigos reposado tequila, cassis & lime juice), It came in a large mason jar, and was also excellent. The drink wasn’t overly sweet from the blackcurrant liqueur (cassis), and went nicely with the fish and other items.
For dessert ($ 12/​each), we had the white pomelo pie (Italian meringue w/​port reduction); greek yogurt custard (chamomile honey, blueberry, and pistachio brittle); chocolate cake (chocolate cream, orange marmalade, carmelia ganache); brown sugar cake (medjool dates & salted caramel ice cream), and the ice cream of the day, rocky road. All of the desserts were outstanding, super creative, and also incorporated local ingredients. But my fave was the greek yogurt custard, w/​the pistachio brittle being the fave ingredient.
Our waiter, James was really knowledgable of the menu and super nice. The food came out very quickly, and used plates and utensils were cleared in a timely manner. While I was at the bar, Seth and his female colleague took excellent care of me. Lastly, the entire staff were super friendly and service-​oriented: A sign of the Ritz-​Carlton experience.
The ambiance is really nice, and what you would expect at a Ritz Carlton. The bar area is very snazzy (Louis XIII is available), as well as many fine tequilas, scotches and whiskeys, In addition, the tables have heaters.
Thanks to the Traveling Foodie for telling me about this place! I wouldn’t normally go to a restaurant in a hotel, but Cast & Plow has it «going on» w/​the local ingredients concept. Plus you receive the «Ritz Carlton experience», as all aspects of the service were excellent. Lastly, you have to try the pistachio brittle — the item that made me offer to marry the pastry chef (much to the chagrin of the Traveling Foodie — jk!) — LOL!!!

Has a meal ever hurt your feelings?
I didn’t think that was even possible but I actually walked out of Cast & Plow feeling like I just heard my best friend talk trash about me. I guess that’s the feeling of being duped bc I came in for a great meal and stellar service (hello, it’s the Ritz, right?) and ended up paying way too much + required gratuity for an extraordinarily lackluster meal.
The setting: Party of 7. 7pm reservations on Thursday evening. Apparently, 1 week into their restaurant re-​opening as Cast & Plow. Small-​ish menu focused on the community farm to table concept.
Well let’s just get into it: Started off on the wrong foot when we had to flag down our waiter to order — it was pretty ridiculous really. We were the largest party there right smack in the middle of their fairly small dining area and somehow there were zero waiters around to give us any attention. Was it bc your gratuity was guaranteed or bc you’re just plain rude? We finally order (btw don’t even ask to adjust your overpriced entrée. apparently it comes as it comes. deal with it) and our appetizers come at a decent speed (although $ 14 for some kale dressed up as a caesar salad was mind blowing).
Between the apps and the entrees though is where we must have gotten sucked into the black hole. It was at least an hour for our entrees to come. While we waited we got no water service until we flagged someone down and attempted 3 times to order drinks from the bar. Each time we were told «I’ll go get your waiter…» I get it — each person has their station/​function but COME ON! Our waiter is nowhere to be found, hasn’t checked on us at all and you’re now the 3^rd person we’ve asked for a drink who can’t provide it? Just take the damn drink order! Eventually, our waiter emerges, takes the drink order and disappears somewhere.
Finally our food comes out and our table is soon filled with half-​hearted and passive aggressive remarks: «Wow…should we get In N Out after this… how are those 3 scallops an entrée?» «The salmon is ok… that’s what I have to say when we’re paying $ 33 right? Otherwise I’m just an idiot.» Suffices to say, we were not satisfied — food was 100% not worth the wait or $$$.
Since finding our waiter is like sighting a rainbow colored unicorn we flagged him down the moment we saw him, before we even finished, to get our check and get going (funny how he was so fast to get my credit card).
$ 400 + valet fees + 2 hours later… yup, duped. Totally duped.
Never again.