BOA Steakhouse - West Hollywood, CA

I was in the area and remembered work wife told me to try Boa during lunch since it would be cheaper and she heard good things about the food. I usually don't turn down recommendations so here I was checking it out.

There was a parking garage under the restaurant, but no where said it would be validated by the restaurant. I happened to find a street parking right across from the parking garage entrance, so I guess I would never find out.

The restaurant was beautifully designed. The dinning area was fully packed and I was offered to be seated at either lounge area or outside. It was a cold day and I didn't want my food to get cold so I settled for the lounge area. Little do I know, the door from the lounge to outside was never closed so it didn't make any difference.

On the lunch menu, I was pretty torn from choosing the wagyu flat iron kabob or skirt steak with fries. Since I was at a steakhouse, I went with skirt steak with fries. I also ordered crab cake to start.

For $15, I didn't expect to see just one single crab cake that wasn't even that big. The taste was ok but I didn't fully understand the caper on top of the crab cake. It was overpowering and I found it unnecessary. The side salad was refreshing and served as a good palate cleanser.

With the steak, I made a mistake by ordering it medium rare. For skirt steak, it had more tendons and if it didn't cook a little more, the meat became chewy and hard to digest. Well that was what happened to my steak. It was otherwise cooked correctly and the part that didn't have tendons were very good. The fries sadly was under seasoned. I asked for salt but they only had crystal sea salt so it didn't really do anything for the fries.

Cooked as requested, but chewy :(

The service was good at the beginning since there was no one at the bar. As the bar got a little busier, the service disappeared as well. No water refill and I had to ask different server for salt since I was not checked anymore. It was really a shame because I had higher expectations for a place like this. The food was good but I don't think it was worth what I paid for. Still, try it at least once.