An enchanting spot and welcome addition to the Arts District. Camelia has made a splash in the LA dining scene and for good reason. Elevated Japanese fusion dishes, amazing service, and a solid wine/cocktail program in a charming bistro-like space. We had dinner here on a weeknight and were seated on the outdoor patio with plenty of heat lamps. We ordered quite a few things from the menu, so here's the full breakdown: Black sesame Parker house rolls - 9/10. Loved the use of black sesame here not only for the striking color but added the slightest nuttiness. Dungeness Crab blini - 8/10. An amuse bouche-sized starter. Very buttery and paired nicely with the generous mound of flaky crab. This bite was over too soon. Spaghetti bolognese - 9/10. I might be biased because I love Japanese fusion pasta dishes but this was a hit. The sauce was deeply savory and meaty. We were left wondering what the secret ingredient was, possibly soy sauce? Koji-roasted Green Circle Chicken - 10/10. This was the star of the night for sure and the one dish that I would come back for again and again. The chicken was so succulent and flavorful and paired well with the seaweed cream and cabbage. Sweet potato gratin - 9/10. We nearly didn't order this but were convinced by the wait staff and glad we were! The restaurant is located in the prior Caboco space in the Biscuit Company building and love what they have done with the place. There is street parking, valet, and a few paid lots nearby. The restaurant was packed that night and highly recommend making a reservation. read more

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Lovedddd everything we ordered, especially the uni and tuna toast. The cocktails were good and server was great.

Camelia provided an interesting take on Asian fusion, with experimental dishes I haven't seen before. The restaurant is quite pretty with the exterior reminiscent of a bistro you would find along a street in New York. Our servers explained each dish as it was brought out and provided good recommendations. The night started off strong with the Uni Otoro Toast. It was only a single bite, but that one bite held so much impact. The uni and otoro together was rich, fatty, and buttery, absolutely melting in your mouth. The seafood tasted fresh as well - uni can be a little hit or miss, but in this case it was a hit. I was also impressed by the Croque Madame. It was definitely creative - I had never seen Asian fusion with a Croque Madame before. The bread was shokupan and the ham was breaded and fried in a katsu style. The sandwich was pressed, similar to a panini. This made the bread crispy, which texturally worked very well with the fried ham katsu. For being a ham sandwich, I thought the sandwich was quite meaty and substantial. And the melted Gruyère cheese on top was absolutely delicious. The meal kinda dips a little when the bigger entrees came out. I did not think they were as good as their precedents. The spaghetti bolognese, for example, was fine. It was good, lighter than your typical bolognese with an interesting aftertaste, but nothing special in my opinion. Definitely not a showstopper like the first two dishes. And the beef cheek was a miss for me. It was tender - everything on that plate was tender from the meat to the pearl onions to the bok choy. But the wasabi chutney thing on top was overpowering. On my first bite, I was ambushed by the wasabi and recoiled. On my second, third, and fourth bites, although I was prepared for it, I just could not enjoy the beef with the wasabi on top. The meal was saved by the good graces of the Daifuku Mochi dessert. It was absolutely delicious. Every flavor and texture blended together so harmoniously. It did take a while to come out, but I forgave it immediately on the first bite. A chewy mochi skin, dusted in matcha, blanketed a nest of spiced pears. The pears held a surprisingly mature flavor and contrasted beautifully with the brightness of the tart yuzu marscapone. On top of that, it was not too sweet and quite light. I could not get enough. Overall, I think that Camelia had some interesting dishes. The evening was quite pleasant. The space is gorgeous. The food is innovative and fresh. It is definitely worth a visit. read more

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Friend wanted to stop by here because she knew one of the servers. Made a reservation and was promptly seated. We ordered a few dishes to share as each was delicious. The uni tar tar bite was amazing. The uni was soft and creamy and melted in my mouth. Definition of the perfect bite. The cheese in the bolognese was sharp and added a nice dimension to the dish. The chicken was soft although could have been a little more moist. Even though the dishes were yummy it seem seem a bit over priced for what you get. Either way still a solid spot to try out. Food: 7.5/10 Service: 7/10 Ambience: 6/10 (Sat outside, cold. Inside is beautiful though) TIP: The interior is pretty large but there are outdoor seats as well. We were seated outside so it was pretty cold so I reckoned asking to be seated inside if preferred. read more

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Vibes here are indeed immaculate. We decided to come here on a whim and put our names down while we walked around the neighborhood. I already had dinner so I came here for drinks and apps and boy did they deliver! I ordered the abalone pot pie and their speciality martini and they were both delicious. Drinks are made strong yet balanced. I am not a martini drinker by any means but this one was very pleasant. Service is great. Our server was so kind and knowledgeable about the menu. The wait took about 1.5 hours on a Thursday night. The abalone was perfectly cooked. It had a good bite to it and reminded of escargot in a crispy pie crust. I would say the negative part about coming here would be the high prices and the long wait. In addition to waiting for our table, we also had to wait probably 30 minutes for the check after we asked for it. Camellia is a new restaurant so hopefully they'll work out the kinks as time goes by. I would come here again in a heartbeat for the vibes alone. read more

Camelia - Abalone pie - French Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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What used to be Church & State back in the day is now Camelia, a great French-Asian restaurant on Industrial Street in the Arts District. Beautiful dining space, great service, and delicious food. read more

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This place is really really good. The vibes are great and the service is even better; they're super friendly and make it seem like a conversation, like you're all just friends. We started with the black sesame Parker rolls, which were good but not essential. The bluefin tuna toast was a small yet satisfying bite. My favorite item, unexpectedly, was the salad with market lettuces, Comte, and mango. So refreshing and addicting! The spaghetti bolognese a la japonaise was good, as was the koji-roasted chicken and sweet potato gratin. I usually don't think much of French food, but I was really impressed with this place. Drinks were great as well. read more

Camelia - bolognese a la japonaise - French Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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Great meal - grilled loup de mer, snap peas, and the pork chop were favorites across the table. Service was great for our party

Japanese and French fusion, had to give this gastronomical work of art a try Came here the other evening as a could dishes on the menu sounded like they needed to be in my face. We sat outside on the patio, and though it was getting cold, they have heat lamps to turn on to keep you nice and warm We started out with cocktails, the Milk Punch with cacao and matcha, that was so well balanced and flavorful, very surprising. The Daiquiri was also very nice with the rum and mango brandy pairing well with pineapple. For starters, we tried the clams with seeded country bread and lobster butter. The broth the clams were in was very tasty. The lobster butter definitely wasn't what I expected, but it was interesting and great to dip into the broth. We shall tried the sweet potato gratin which, while good with the sweetness of the potatoes being contacted with the saltiness in the gruyere and fontina cheese, but it just want as good as I hoped. The clams though, very good For entrees, we tried the beef cheek and the burger. The beef cheek was so tender, just melted in your mouth, in that red wine sauce. Very good. The burger looks phenomenal with a great slice of melted provolone on top. The burger patty itself is not what you expect or to be. It isn't like a normal burger patty as this one felt like it falls apart in your mouth. I can't say it was the best burger, I think I expected more from it Overall, a very nice restaurant with our server being very attentive and great with recommendations. The food, overall, was a hit, though I don't think I would recommend the burger nor the sweet potato gratin read more

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Great selection of wines, food and ambiance are just right :) Love the yuzu custard tart and Catskills read more

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The food was decent but it doesn't make up for the bad service we had here last night. After our order was taken we never saw our server again and were not checked on again once to either refill our drinks or order additional dessert, we had to flag someone down to even get our check. The bolognese was the highlight dish of the night while the pekin duck was just not bad but not mind blowing either. The khombu rice with ikura was mid as heck. This was such a disappointment as they knew it was my birthday dinner too. Oh well. I hope they do better, but I likely won't be back. read more

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Solid Japanese-French fusion spot in the Arts District. Overall the food was solid. The spaghetti bolognese japonaise and chicken were the standouts to me. The spaghetti bolognese was outstanding and taste different from a traditional bolognese, but in the best way possible. The chicken was well seasoned and moist. Def one of the better chickens I've had in LA. The Parkerhouse roll with the butter was also amazing. I also really liked the Croque Madame and sweet potato gratin although they both have a lot of cream and can be a little heavy. The Peking duck and Branzino were solid but nothing mind blowing. Overall the food was very good but pricey and portions a little on the smaller side esp the spaghetti and Parkerhouse rolls. Ambiance-wise, it's a nice space with an old-fashioned bar vibe. Service could be better though. For some reason, our waitress disappeared on us throughout most of the dinner. But that could be a one-off thing. Overall I think this place is worth a try! read more

Great food and ambiance just sucks that the quantity per plate is sooooo tiny and probably can find something similar and cheaper Overall Food was tasty, but quantity was disappointing The unni pasta and pot pie was phenomenal but slightly salty or else I would def go back! read more

UNFORGETTABLE NIGHT Out of all the gems tucked away in DTLA, we chose this Japanese Italian spot to celebrate my bday. We made a reservation and waited for about 15 mins to get seated inside. The interior was so gorg with wooden accents! Good vibes and good music. I love their Spitz cocktail, well made. It was refreshing, slightly sweet, and so tasty! We ordered seven dishes and the ones that stood out were the oysters, uni toast, and abalone pot pie. Oysters were fire, and the albalone pot pie was chefs kiss, seasoned well with a buttery flakey crust. Highly recommend. We also ordered both the beef cheek and the koji chicken. The beef cheek was so tender, just melted in our mouth. They're known for their chicken, but it didn't really stand out to us. Least liked dish was the ravioli.. very salt forward. We also loved that they serve half bottles of seasonal wine! Very thankful that I was able to celebrate my bday here! read more

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We'll be back. Overall, we think this place hit the main points of taste and ambience and missed the mark on service. I'm someone who likes to say that I'm a person who doesn't care about service or ambience as long as my water is filled. And oddly, this place did fill my water regularly but the service still wasn't quite right and made me feel like something was missing. We unfortunately didn't see our waitress after we ordered once she delivered our first dish. Thankfully, other people tended to us (various people including someone who looked like a manager and a few people who didn't seem to be the primary waiters/waitresses but seemed to be primarily table cleaners). This is okay if this is intended, but we weren't informed about this being the case. As such, I kept trying to wave our server down to order additional items but failed to capture her attention despite seeing her cross the room a few times. I ideally don't like bothering people who aren't the designated waiter/waitress with additional items to order as I'm sure they're busy with their own work. Needless to say, if service at Camelia operates in the way that most restaurants operate, it was unfortunately and frankly: very bad. And I say this as someone who does not need much besides water refills (and the ability to order more food if hungry). If Camelia operates in a way where you should wave down any random person to take your order, I'd love to be informed of this so that I can shamelessly ask any waiter/waitress for help. We'll be back! The wine list was fairly extensive and well priced, and the food was great :) read more

Unique offerings that were plated beautifully. Service was good and it was a good experience. The food was just okay. The pot pie was just okay. The uni toast was great but small. The chicken liver was good. The beef cheek was just alright. The sweet potatoes were just alright. The purin was strange and not entirely sure what flavors I was eating. The entire course were different and special looking, but small in portion and tasted just okay. With a $200+ bill with drinks, it was a cute date spot, but wish the food was better, and not just unique. read more

Camelia - French Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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Camelia recently opened earlier this month. I think on the day we went there were a few hiccups which I'll attribute to construction and newness. I visited with friends that are huge fans of Tsubaki and love great food. When we arrived it was clear that the restaurant was still in construction. The restaurant was very beautiful inside but still a work in progress. We ended up ordering a ton of dishes and had way too much but it was honestly so much fun to try different things. The menu is pricey and on par with comparable restaurants. Uni toro appetizer (3/5) I don't really like uni but it was just ok. The toro was fatty but the overall dish was just ok. Vegetable plate (4/5) probably the most beautiful vegetable plate I've ever had. The tempura shiso was my favorite! Scallop and shrimp (4/5) was yummy. The scallop was sweet and tasty Steak and watercress (3/5) the steak was somewhat dry and lacked flavor. The watercress salad was superb, perfectly seasoned, and my favorite dish of the evening Japanese pasta (3/5) when we asked what made it Japanese, it was the tomatoes. A solid dish but nothing special Konbu rice (3/5) just ok. I tasted shiso which was a nice touch Abalone pot pie (4/5) the abalone was soft and tasty. The puff pastry top was ok. Sesame chocolate gateaux (3/5) I love sesame and it was good with chocolate. It was not too sweet and well made While we were waiting for our food, and even as food arrived, there were so many flies in the restaurant. It was not only annoying but very disgusting. The flies were large and aggressive. They landed on plates, my hands, and we kept swatting them away. Yuk. I think it was Hecate doors towards the back were removed. Whatever the reason, it distracted from what would've been a much better dining experience. Service was great and everyone we encountered was well trained. The service definitely matched to mood and ambiance of the swanky looking restaurant. When we first arrived it was mostly empty. But by the time we left it was packed! As we left I had a star sighting, Henry Golding and his wife were waiting to be seated. I'd definitely give them another try maybe after all the kinks and construction are worked out. A very pretty restaurant for special occasions. LOCATION: 4/5 FOOD: 3.5/5 SERVICE: 4/5 VALUE: 4/5 AMBIANCE: 4/5 PET FRIENDLY: not sure CLEANLINESS: 3/5 PARKING:3/5 read more

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This space has been home to several spots all of which were snake bit and died young. This new Resto has been brought back to life, but be advised, it is so loud it could wake the dead. The joint is jumpin' from the jump a 5:00 PM and the Hip Hop loop bounces off the walls and brick floor. The Decor: Unfinished construction project chic, despite it being several restos since it's birth. Open high industrial ceiling with exposed build out guts. The current investors killed some 2-Tops to add a padded bench along one wall otherwise it's still Church and State. Be advised the tables are so close that the runner had to drag his beefy cheeks across my Beef Cheeks to serve the neighboring diners. The Staff: Good for a laugh as they are pretty much green and unpolished. They are willing but it's "Flip the table if you're able" is the mantra in Staff Prep. Interaction was minimal, but then I came for the food not to make new friends. (Although I did make friends with the next table. You can't help that if you pick food off a stranger's plate with a smile). Who's here? Apparently, everyone. Family and Friends? Industry fringe players? Those who find Pasjoli and Amour too sedate. I mean who really wants to hear your date or companion is saying, anyway? The Bar: Ambitious with lots of Sake choices which is predictable as Camelia's roots spring from Ototo Sake & Tapas Bar. The Wine List is as deep as Crater Lake and the Signature Cocktails are well thought out. My Martini was really two Martinis. (Or was I seeing double after the first one?). You get a Coupe and a mini Carafe both full of joy juice, however, it was a touch too sweet for me or a Martini. A Daiquiri had Rum, Rhum, Mango Brandy, Pear Liqueur, Calpice (a Japanese Soda), and Peychaud (Gentian) Bitters. Now, this was sweet, pretty damn good and the whole Chemistry Set dumped into a VitaMix with Ice would have made a perfect Slushie. The Food: The Menu reads like an eHarmony Profile that's too good to be true. (Like that picture was taken 12 years ago?) The descriptions are so luscious you'll salivate just reading about what's coming. It's Japanese/French kinda, sorta, which means it's really neither. The 5 Black Sesame Rolls masquerade as Pumpernickel Bread. The ground Nigella Seeds get lost in the dough. No matter, the Rolls are warm and slathered with Cultured Butter they are decent enough although they do take up valuable real estate. The Uni Toast featured yesterday's Bread rounds was merely a meet and greet pass around at a Time Share pitch Lunch. The Duck Confit Croquette wasn't fit to eat. Sorry, Camelia. It was nothing more than some breaded Mashed Spuds and bits of Lap Cheong (Chinese Sausage). The Duck must've ducked out the back. The Confit had been defeated. Not even the tasty coins of Pickled Daikon and Tartare Sauce could save this. 6 Oysters were served with jarred (?) Cocktail Sauce and a Yuzu/Ponzu Mignonette (Syrup) both of which added little. The Oysters were properly cold and as large as Shaq's hand (or foot). 3 Would have filled a T-Rex. I asked 4 servers what the is Oysters were and the best and same answer I got was "Pacific Shelf" which could mean anything from Tierra del Fuego, Chile to the Arctic Circle. (WTF?) Everybody texting during Staff Prep? The Market Lettuce was a bowl of Greens that were fresh...last Tuesday. It had a few slice of squishy Mango, some shreds of Comte Cheese, which isn't a cheese to bolster a Salad like a bolder and older Parmesan/Reggiano and a Calamansi Vinaigrette. This was nothing much beyond Bunny Food. The Abalone and Shrimp Pot Pie. Now, we're talkin', right? Wrong. What do you think of when someone says Pot Pie? Something that screams Garden Peas, Carrots, Baby Pearl Onions, and Celery all settled into a rich creamy gravy topped with a Double Butter Pie Crust. This version simply just screamed. It was a mini Ramekin with a hat of Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry which was the best part of this mess. Underneath the dome there were bits of farmed Abalone and Bay Shrimps submerged in the last of the Exxon Valdez oil slick. I had to leave this abalone all alone-y. The Golden Eye Snapper with Greens (?), a few chewy Manilla Clams, indicating they'd been in their bath until the water was cold and their skin was pruny. The fish was sitting in an insipid Dashi Broth which never made it to the menu description. The skin was mushy and had to be surgically removed, but in all fairness the small piece of Fish itself was nice and nicely cooked. Let's call this dish a "Bait and Switch". Dessert: This was a sprinkling of Black Sesame Seeds that looked like Billy Bob teeth on a soulless slice of dry tasteless fake cake or perhaps something lurking under the foil peel in Economy Class. I get opening jitters, but someone has to pick up the reins and spur the pony. Camelia, time to get real, ya? read more

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As others mentioned, this restaurant is sitting all Asians towards the back row of the restaurants, and only sitting non-Asian customer by the windows. read more

Newest restaurant in this kinda cursed location. However, it continues the tradition of being a tasty restaurant. Service wasn't as warm as previous tenants, but the food was good. We weren't overwhelmed by anything, but it was a pleasant meal. read more

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Some delicious eats, but very small portions for the price. Interior nice. Service was great, but we didn't have a reservation so we were added to the waitlist & waited about an hour. We sat at the bar (for walk-ins) & the seats were uncomfortable for shorter legs (feet dangling unless you sit on the edge which is uncomfortable). But our server & the bartender were friendly & professional. Recommend: Chicken liver mousse $14, uni bluefin tuna toast $28, cheesecake (comes w/ ice cream) $15 Do not recommend: uni pasta $39 & duck frites $61 - - So if you're trying to impress a date, but you didn't plan ahead with no reservations, what you do is put your name down on the waitlist. Then head over to marugame udon in little tokyo for their uni udon (will taste 1000x better than camelia's flavorless uni spaghetti). Then go to the parking where Ave 26 slings tacos (get your fill in). Then make it back to your camelia's waitlist & you splurge for the chicken liver mousse & uni bluefin tuna toast (which are 2 tiny crackers each). And finish with their cheesecake. That should fill both you & your date pretty well & you would save some $$$. You're welcome. Free street parking a block or two away/behind the building. It's a little dark, but not unsafe if you're not an idiot. read more

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I went here recently as it was all over social media. For drinks I got the yuzu sake cocktail- really yummy! Its pretty sour but tasty. I know yuzu is a sour taste already but if you don't know what that is imagine like calamansi or lemon-y taste. We ordered most of the popular plates Sesame bread 3/10- you could probably skip this Mini Uni toast 6/10- mainly ordered cause it's cute but that's it it's just cute lol Tomato Salad 5/10 - not bad Spaghetti 5/10 -not bad but not amazing for being their most popular item Katsu croque 9/10- surprisingly was really good & I don't like the croque in France so I was really skeptical about this one! Sweet potatoes 10/10 I would not go out of my way to come back here. But if you're in the area & stumble upon it, i guess it's worth a try! They have valet or you can find free street parking. There's also a lot down the street usually cheap also. We had a reservation at 9 got seated like 20 mins later read more

Camelia - Uni toast, cute but not amazing! Burrata tomato salad, was good! - French Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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Great vibes and service. They are known for their crafted drinks but unfortunately I don't drink alcohol. I wanted love this spot but I think my expectations were just too high because in the description, dishes are Japanese inspired. I felt the dishes were on the salty side and I know this is gonna sound odd but I enjoyed that Salmon Cold App and the 3 vegetable dishes than the main courses. The oyster mushrooms, cauliflower sprouts with fondue cheese and broccoli w/ burrata I was over the moon. Japanese spaghetti was tasty but too salty. Beef Cheeks, it was tender but didn't like what was on the plate and the fresh wasabi was overpowering, Croque monsieur sounded great but to be drenched in cheese was too rich and not balanced and the burger was good because its a burger. lol dessert felt short and i would not taste my time. we got the chocolate tart or something and this berry thing that texture wise was missing. everything felt soggy. read more

We had a 6:30 PM reservation and were seated around 6:40. Unfortunately, service was disorganized from the start. Our waiter didn't take our order until 7:00 PM, and only after we flagged down another staff member. We ordered five dishes. The first three came out roughly 10 minutes apart with no flow or coordination. After the third dish, we sat for about 30 minutes with no food. At 8:00 PM, we had to flag down the waiter again to ask about the remaining two dishes. He seemed unaware they were still pending and thought we were finished. After checking in the back, the final two dishes eventually came out. Throughout the meal, the waiter was largely inattentive. To make matters worse, the table next to us also had to flag someone down just to get water after being seated. Overall, it felt like either poor training or understaffing. Very disappointing service. We won't be returning. read more

Had a fun time at Camelia! Like many of the other reviewers, my boyfriend and I are huge Ototo and Tsubaki fans so we knew Camelia was going to be a cool addition to the fam. Everything about the space is thoughtful from the cute snail adorned utensil stands to the immaculate playlist. We were also blown away by the in-house sake sommelier who helped walk us through the sake menu and pair with our meal. Overall the food was bright and unique however I think we both mentioned we still preferred the food over at Ototo. Nevertheless we ordered the below: 7/10: Uni toro toast - fun and a pop of flavor but super small portion, think the size of a Ritz cracker 8/10: Croque Madame - a little soggy for my liking but I appreciate the layering of the French technique with Japanese inspired ingredients 4/10: Soft Shell Crab - it might've been us but we didnt really get the sauce which was a bit too tangy and sour for the light and delicate crab. There were also these pickled jalapenos that just weren't doing it for us 9/10 Abalone pot pie - probably our favorite dish of the night! A fun and creative combination of little morsels of bouncy abalone combined in a delicious bechamel sauce careful covered in that divine puffed pastry read more

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First, the ambiance was great. Warm, cozy with some 90s hip hop in the back. Other than a biker gang revving their loud engines making every customer stop and stare, but that was more entertaining then annoying as the bikes were miniature and not Harley's. The service was also very attentive and fantastic. I really wanted to like the food, but my friend's steak was very salty. The Kombu rice was bland even with the Japanese flare and French butter and the Croque Madame was just alright. More heavy than anything. The Parker rolls were fine but nothing interesting other than being black sesame. The one thing that was very good was the sweet potato gratin. Maybe it was an off night as I have seen great reviews. So I will be back with a bigger group to try more things. I really wanted to try the bolognese but was told to first try the Madame. So that for sure is my choice next time. read more

Camelia - Croque Madame - French Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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Taste: 4 Creativity/Authenticity: 4 Atmosphere: 5 Service: 5 Bang for your buck: 4 3 words Chicken liver mousse!! Thank me later! Came here with some friends, to start off the place is nice, very mid century ambiance great for dates for sure. Now to the food, the French Japanese fusion has an array of dishes started with oysters, bluefin toast and the chicken liver toast all were amazing but that chicken liver.. Homer Simpson drool, if you don't like liver you will still enjoy this because it doesn't taste like liver especially with paired with that lemon guava jam, simply delicious! Next we got the duck, spaghetti, Bolognese, tiger prawns, celebrity tomatoes,burrata cheese with shiso, grilled oyster mushrooms, dragon tongue beans and of course French fries! All were spectacular however nothing topped the liver toast, so take it as it is. The service here can't get any better, our server was very attentive and brought our drinks back for the table with haste oh the Suntory Pilsner beer worth it especially when I don't drink that much. Lastly price here, I think is generous, for the service, ambiance and selection of food. Overall great experience and would def recommend this spot, thank you read more

Food leaned on the saltier side Liked the salad and the croque madame was ok The duck was alright but not particularly memorable Would not recommend the abalone pot pie; looks fancy but doesn't taste special at all read more

"4+". French Japanese Restaurant. Order Uni & Bluefin Tuna Toast , Koji-Roasted Green Circle Half Chicken , Grilled Loup De Mer , Grilled Pekin Duck Breast , Hanger Steak Au Poivre. Overall A Good Dinner. read more

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One of the worst dining experiences I've had. Despite a 5:00 pm reservation and the restaurant being half empty, all six Asian guests were seated side by side near the entrance--tables packed closely together with no privacy. When a table cleared, another Asian couple was seated in the same area, while non-Asian diners were placed in booths or further inside the restaurant. Draw your own conclusions. Food pacing was chaotic. Courses either arrived all at once or there was a wait of over 35 minutes with nothing served. The kitchen clearly appeared overwhelmed. Service was virtually nonexistent. Our table wasn't cleaned in a timely manner, servers were confused about which dishes were still missing, and the overall atmosphere felt tense and frustrated rather than calm or professional. Most shocking was an incident at the service counter: a waiter repeatedly dropped utensils, and on the final occasion--visibly upset--kicked them into a corner. This created an uncomfortable and inappropriate scene for nearby diners. This experience lacked consistency, basic courtesy, and professionalism. How did they make it to America's Best New Restaurants of 2025 by Bon Appétit? read more

Located in the Biscuit Company Lofts, Camelia is a charming Japanese French dinner spot. It's also a sister restaurant to Tsubaki, so you'll enjoy this spot with similar vibes. It's a bigger place than Tsubaki, so suitable for birthday parties and easy to make reservations too. Definitely recommend booking ahead. If you're want a nice drink or delicious meal in the Arts District, go here. You'll find creative dishes such as a white asparagus spring roll / egg roll support by grapefruit, salmon blini and seafood pot pie. But I assume the menu changes often based on seasonal ingredients, so that means you'll need to make multiple visits throughout the year to try them all. Ambience is relaxed if you come for an early dinner around 5pm, later than that the place gets packed even on week nights. No surprise though, the food and drinks are solid. There's a close patio seating with heaters on cooler nights, tables inside and delightful options for bar seats too. Looking forward to coming back soon. read more

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Beautiful from beginning to end. We were able to walk in at open and snagged bar seats. Immediately I was in awe at the beautiful interior - think dark woods, warm glow, well-stocked liquor shelves with bottles glimmering like jewels on the walls...all coming together to produce a polished retro allure. We tried: - blood moon (N/A): a little tart/very citrus forward, slightly sweet from calpico - playful and refreshing, and just plain cute (it's pink) - uni and otoro toast: clean fresh uni (melted in my mouth) and otoro taste, amped up by the wasabi, shiso, tare, and creme fraiche - kabocha and chantarelle mushroom agebitashi: earthiness balanced out by the creamy bouncy burrata - beef cheek: falling apart tender - koshihikari risotto with squid: AND uni butter?! A stunning, comforting dish - abalone and Florida wild pink shrimp pot pie with king trumpet mushrooms and "snail butter": I'm actually still unclear about the "snail butter" (why is that lowkey ominous?!) but the pot pie was so tasty - covered by a thick puffy flaky crust was a treasure trove of delicious umami - profiteroles: the earthy tone continued with sweet potato ice cream, red bean, and kinako. I just wish they were able to offer odd numbers as it was hard to share between three of us! - orange-scented purin: (as I write this, I only just now realize that purin is pudding in Japanese and it all makes sense now) a delicate silky flan with a deep caramel and toasty soba-cha (buckwheat tea) flavor made more lovely with vibrant cara cara oranges and sweet cream - one of the best/most interesting desserts I've had in a long time This was the best intro to French-Japanese fusion I could ask for! read more

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I loved everything we got here. Drinks - the bar program was amazing! every drink was delish and well balanced - Decibel martini came with a sidecar, strong but well balanced - Spritz my bf loved it, he ordered a second Food - - Parker house rolls: soft and so buttery. Pro tip: we saved a few rolls to pair with our next dishes. - Celebrity tomatoes and burata: we both were obsessed to say the least. I might have to start making the ponzu jelly at home! - Croque madame: everything you read about her is true. get it! - Koji-roasted chicken: delicious! it came out the same time as the kombu rice. pair well together. We waited for a long time for this dish and unfortunately, it came out still VERY pink in the middle. We had to send it back (something we don't usually do, but it was inedible). Our server was apologetic and rushed the next one for us. - Japanese flan for dessert! I am a self proclaimed flan connoisseur lol and this definitely hit the spot. The only thing was... the caramel was burned and a tad too bitter. Ambience - we loved the retro vibe of the whole place. I'd like to give compliments to whoever put together the playlist! I am happy that Camelia joined the neighborhood! I believe that the little hiccups during our visit will be fixed as the restaurant finetunes the operation. Looking forward to my next visit. read more

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Went on a Sunday not too long after they opened. We were seated outside and the heaters were turned on so it was still comfortable. Looks like it's a good idea to get a reservation because if you don't you could be waiting for a while. We ordered 1/2 a dozen oysters, uni pasta, the abalone puff pastry, duck, and sweet potato. One star off because they forgot the oysters for a while and it took a while in between dishes. Another star off because the food was okay. Service was decent. Plate changes, warm welcome, and pleasant staff. The best thing was the abalone dish. It was so good. I wish we just ordered 5 of those lol every thing else was not memorable and okay. Disappointed about the uni pasta. Felt like it wasn't creamy or very well done. Duck was good but not memorable. Sweet potato was decent but maybe something else would have been a more interesting choice. read more

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Great food and service. Really like the martini that came with an extra cafe iced with flowers. Felt like I got 2 drinks instead of one. Well balanced martini with hints of citrus yuzu. The sesame rolls with French butter are a must order. Crisp crust and soft a fluffy inside. Croque Madame was cheesy and savory. Market lettuce with mango was large enough that be stared with 3 people. I personally did not love the spaghetti Bolognese but others at the table enjoyed it. Sweet potatoes gratin was well made. They have valet, self park near the market across the street or if you go early self parking on the street. read more

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The idea of French cuisine meets Japanese is doubtlessly intriguing. Yes, the reason why my attention is tickled to give Camelia a try, despite the fact that as much as possible I always try to stay away from DTLA knowing the traffic around it as well as the parking space are almost always tricky. If you're planning to pay a visit to this place, highly recommend you to make reservations beforehand especially if it's on weekend. I did my 'homework' by doing so, but made a mistake by coming earlier than the reservation time. So my booking was for 7pm and I arrived there 6.10pm thinking they might have available table but they said they unfortunately didn't and we're asked to wait in front. We could order drinks from the bar, but had to bring it outside and still had to wait in front. What frustrated me was the fact that our table was even only ready by 7.15pm although at 7 sharp I tried asking and the attendant by the reception desk just said the prior guest still camped out. It was unfortunate that my first experience in this cutely designed space with classic French theme touch had to start unpleasant. So there I was, really wishing the foods blew my mind to at least balanced the early disappointment. Starting with the Black Sesame Roll paired with French Butter, I would say it's okay but not special. I opted for additional Ikura, which was pretty steep IMHO costing $12, and it surely gave additional taste to enjoy but wouldn't say it worth the cost. Their other specialty was the toast with Otoro sourced from Japan and Uni from Santa Barbara. Coming in two petite pieces, this one was luscious as the sweet uni well balanced the super fresh otoro as well as the extra kick from the wasabi. For the main course, we followed most other guests, going for their Beef Cheek cooked in red wine sauce. Among all our orders, I would say this one nailed its best with the beef being so tender and served at perfect doneness level. The sauce and the kizami wasabi on top certainly were game-changer for this dish, elevating the overall flavor. I did love the idea serving it with turnips, burdock root, and pearl onions; all of which came as great complements and surely not stealing the thunder from the protein. Curious with the dessert, we closed our dinner with their Pistachio Tart with berries, which made its duet with yuzu cremeux, combining sweet and crunchy texture with refreshing sour and smooth cream. It came as pleasant ending to the dinner set. Overall I would say the place served decent food, though the price might be bit high for the portion and the taste. Not to mention, service would be the area they might wanna pay more attention to assure guests keep coming back. read more

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I was really looking forward to dinner at Camelia last night, but unfortunately, it ended up being a major disappointment. The ambiance was warm and the restaurant was bustling, so I had high hopes going in. However, the service was quite slow--we weren't even able to put in a drink order until 15 minutes after being seated. We ordered everything at once, and I chose the halibut, oyster mushrooms, sea bass, and sweet potato gratin. When the halibut arrived, I took one bite and had to send it back--it tasted extremely fishy and just off. I replaced it with the salmon appetizer, which honestly felt more like a passed hors d'oeuvre than a restaurant dish--it lacked sauce and flavor. After that, we waited almost 25 minutes for the rest of the food to come out, and by then, we were kind of over it. The service didn't improve--our server barely communicated with us and didn't update us about the delay in courses. The final course was actually really tasty, but at that point, the experience had already fallen flat. For the price, it just wasn't worth it. I had high expectations based on the vibe and energy of the place, but I wouldn't return. read more

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Thankfully, we found parking on the street. Came here on a Wednesday night, for an 8 pm reservation. Was seated right away The ambiance is quite nice and feels cozy. Feels french Sat close to the open kitchen. The richness of French cuisine and the Japanese pairing is awesome. They have a lot of raw seafood options. They messed up on our order so we were waiting for a while. They gave us an extra dish of our choice. The mushroom was better than some of the other dishes we chose. The Pot pie Puff Pastry- Love this! the sauce was a bit on the salty side, but paired with the puff pastry helped. The Sweet Potato Gratin-decent but took a while Beef Cheek- wasn't a huge fan Clams- wasn't a huge fan Chocolate tart Dessert - love this! was also delicious!! Mushroom was good Cauliflower was whatever, maybe too al dente read more

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It can be cursed to open up in the Arts District. I remember who occupied this space before. It takes a lot more to compete here than in the Westside since the rich folk have to purposefully drive to eat out here. Camelia is solid. The service was top notch and attentive. The food came out quickly and was well explained. They're doing a great job. My critique is on the food. When you are doing fusion, there's math that goes into how French or how Japanese a dish is and whether they are the right portion. I felt that some dishes were classically French with 1 minor addition of a Japanese element like the duck pate with yuzu or beef cheeks with a little horseradish. They're solid French dishes but don't do enough to go into the true creative territory of what mixing these 2 cultures could be. The desserts (black sesame chocolate cake and caramel pudding) did a better job representing the 2 cultures. I hope this restaurant has a better future than the Brazilian spot that came before. This area is tough. I don't think it has the vision to last as long as Bavel/Bestia/Girl&the Goat but wish it luck. Free parking is painful. I went on a Saturday before 6:30pm and was so very lucky to find 1 spot a block away. Valet is $16. I hate all the new housing ruining the parking in this area. The Arts District hasn't changed for the better sadly. read more

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I usually don't write my reviews right after having the meal, but we had such an amazing time at Camelia last night I couldn't wait to share my thoughts. The restaurant is newly opened in the a beautifully remodeled space that used to be Church & State, by the people behind Tsubaki. I wasn't sure how I would enjoy the food as I'm not usually a fan of fusion, and the food was billed as a blend of French & Japanese cuisine, but it ended up being a perfect match. They took some classic French dishes and infused them with japanese elements, somehow making the richness of that cuisine lighter. The flavors paired so nicely and created something I had never tried before or imagined possible. We enjoyed all of the dishes we got but the standouts were the momotaro tomatoes (with buratta, shiso, ponzu jelly and pickled ramps), the salad of lettuces, mango, comte cheese, and calamansi vinaigrette, and the beef cheek (with red wine wasabi sauce, hinona turnips, and crispy burdock root). We will definitely be back for more! read more