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Okay, so remember how a couple months ago, I wrote that I wouldn’t be doing any fine dining reviews for a long while? Yeah, that’s not going to last. It all started with my uncle. He mailed over some gift certificates for The Ritz Carlton, and it just so happens, Jerne, which is located at The Ritz, accepts them. This is the perfect excuse to go to their Sunday brunch.

So I was initially disappointed when I found out the brunch was no longer a buffet set up. I had been rather looking forward to that. If I recall correctly, the buffet brunch was priced at $50 per person. The current menu is a 3-course meal for $40, which includes refillable mimosas (or champagne and orange juice separated if you prefer) and coffee or tea. You can also choose to pass on the 3-course meal and order a la carte, but it’s really more of a bargain if you just go with the brunch menu.

I chose to start with the Shrimp Cocktail and to follow that up with the traditional Eggs Benedict for my main course. While I enjoyed the prawns with the smear of cocktail sauce and dollop of horseradish on the side, there wasn’t really anything special about this dish. It was the same thing with the Eggs Benedict. The entree was delicious, but there wasn’t anything unique or outstanding about how Jerne prepared it. I also sampled a bit of lox from someone else’s plate. The smoked salmon was definitely of high quality, and Jerne was quite generous with the portion. Even though everything was overall good, I just couldn’t get excited about this dining experience. On some level, I felt a little disappointed. I had a great table with a gorgeous view of the marina. The staff was attentive and considerate. What it came down to was the fact that even though the food was quite good, the menu was rather plain and not impressive, which really contrasted the environment. I think this is why I was feeling a little let down.

Just when I thought that this adventure to Jerne would be somewhat of a bust then came the third course. For this one, we did not pick any one item. Jerne told us to check out their pastry and dessert table. Oh. My. Goodness. First of all, this gave me the buffet style set up that I kind of had been missing. Secondly, everything at the table looked good, and since my appetizer and main course were well proportioned, I had quite a bit of room for dessert. However, despite my sweet tooth, even I could not sample every single dessert available. It was just too much. I did try probably a little less than half of the various options on the table, including peach cobbler, apple crumble, fruit tart, vanilla almond creme brulee, cappuccino marscapone, and strawberry lemon tart. I could go on more, but I think you get my point. One of my favorites was the chocolate pear tart pictured here. The chocolate was pretty heavy, but the whole pieces of pear helped balance that out.

If not for the pastry and dessert table, I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed my visit at Jerne as much. I have to admit, the staff’s attention to refilling of mimosa didn’t hurt either. In general, everything was good, but I still believe the appetizer and main course options fail to meet expectations for a place like The Ritz. If you can get past the mediocre menu, then you might enjoy a visit to Jerne.

Jerne
4375 Admiralty Way
Marina Del Rey, CA 90292
(310) 574-4333

By Pauline (see more of her posts).