Citron

Decent service, great cocktails (Desert Jewel– yum), good prices. Food was okay– I had the crispy chicken salad, which could have used some chili or spice, but well prepared and felt fresh.

Wonderful meal. The pork dish is worth a return visit. The jidori chicken was flavorful and the corn salad was small bit extra tasty. Top it off with great service actually top notch service and you have the quintessential Palm Springs restaurant. We will be back.

I was working a three-​day event at the Viceroy so had lunch at Citron three days in a row. Because of the time of day we were ordering off of the «Pool Menu» which was limited in options but I easily found something different to eat each day and everything was full of flavor and was clearly made with high quality ingredients.
The first day I ordered the Yam Salad which I loved but was a little on the light side for lunch. It would be a good thing to order if you are also getting the chips and quac (spicy and delicious!) for the table. The next two days I had the wraps. The quinoa wrap was really good and paired well with the sweet potato fries. The fried chicken wrap on day three wasn’t too heavy but very filling. I was pleased with everything I tried. Also, great that even with a small menu it is easy to eat at Citron a few days in a row.
Be careful ordering to your room, the charge includes at $ 3 delivery fee and a 20% tip is already included but the line is still there for you to add a tip so it is easy to double tip.

Went during the day for a snack. The THREE valet guys just stared at me and asked me what I might possibly want. I asked them if they wouldn’t mind parking my car. My car is a brand new ILX about four hours old but the scruffy valet said he needed to inspect my car before he could park it. I told him that was fine. He said there was a scratch on the car which made me laugh. It was a seed from a tree that was easily brushed off. WIERD. Then a horrible 17 dollar niblet. I tipped 20 percent anyway. By the by I asked if they had validated the Valet ticket. The server answered, «You’re fine.» I attempted to tip the valet three bucks when he moved my car three feet forward to the door but he said I owed five dollars. I paid it and will never return. Buh-​bye. If you’re a masochist, you’ll LOVE Citron at the Viceroy.

My wife and I had a relaxed evening eating tasty food. I am confused about the negative reviews. While it was not a grand slam, there were some home runs. We felt that the chef cared about our food and our waiter cared about us. Overall clean balanced flavors and an indulging dessert. It was Sunday and the restaurant was not busy.

We had a most wonderful lunch poolside. Perfect venue for two old friends to dine and catch up socially. Recommend highly.

When in Palm Springs, my husband and I always stop by the Viceroy… beautiful grounds and we enjoy dining at Citron. This past Valentine’s dinner was very special thanks to Executive Chef Patrice Martineau, his 4-​course special menu was magnificent and a lovely introduction to his international cuisine talent! You can see his passion on the plate!

The venue and atmosphere at Citron are superb — hip, warm, inviting, festive and unique. The food is exceptional, beautifully presented and delicious. The wine list is good, and surprisingly well-​priced.
Unfortunately, all of these nice things were ruined by service that was so very, very, very bad that it turned a 5-​star experience into a 2, or even 1, star disaster. It wasn’t just our waiter, either. Every «front of house» person, from the manager to the bus people, was completely untrained and clueless.
We went to Citron for a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner and they offered a Prix fix menu with a choice of 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, a single desert and an optional starting appetizer of caviar, foie gras and other goodies. It couldn’t be simpler, right?
— We were offered bread, but it never arrived.
— We had to BEG to see a wine list, then beg again to order a bottle. After it arrived, we had to pour it ourselves.
— The wait between courses was a minimum of 30 minutes. (Our meal took 2 ½ hours). And, on top of that, we had to beg again for them to clear the dirty dishes after each course. Eventually, we gave up and started busing our own plates, setting the dirty dishes in the service area. (You’d think someone would have noticed customers wandering around with dirty dishes). Our used pre-​dinner cocktail glasses never did go away. And, all of this happened while a cadre of glazed-​eyed bus people wandered the restaurant aimlessly, with water pitchers in hand, not really doing ANYTHING.
— We had to beg for silverware, as each new course was served. How on earth can you set down a plate of food and not notice that there is no silverware on the table?
— When our steaks, ordered medium-​rare, finally arrived, they were burnt to a crisp and ice-​cold. We very politely asked for a re-​fire, and when the waiter returned he said «cut into those to make sure they’re good.» Our response? «Sure. May we have some silverware?»
— Here’s the coup de grace. We asked to take the small remaining portions of our steak home for our puppy. Our waiter placed these small pieces in a shoe-​box sized cardboard box, placed the box inside a plastic bag the size of one you’d use at the supermarket, and then placed this huge package in the very middle of our table. (We hadn’t even finished our meal.) When desert came, he placed the plates right on top of the bag, so they weren’t even lying flat. I removed the box, placed it under my chair, and asked him to take the plastic bag away. His response? «It’s not my job to clear the table.»
— Finally, we had to beg to order espresso to go with our desert.
We did very politely call the short-​comings to the attention of the manager. He didn’t apologize but said something like «I’ll make an adjustment to your bill.» He brought the bill himself, (we never saw our waiter again), but never did make that adjustment, unless you count the fact we weren’t charged for one espresso. We didn’t really care about an adjustment anyway.
Our entire experience was actually so bad that we found it rather humorous. I have never, ever left a $ 0 tip. We did last night. Such a shame.
BTW, the valet parking guys got a $ 20. They were great.

Came here for a milestone birthday dinner. There’s a reason the reviews are so mixed here… First thing I noticed, no one at the host stand for quite a long time. Then, my husband had to point out that perhaps they should clear our wine glasses, since nobody was getting wine (we had cocktails). I noticed that the silverware had water spots all over them, which having had the privilege of dining at many fine restaurants, is something the staff typically takes care of. Our food was also incredibly mediocre to poor. The hamachi ceviche was just weird — hamachi and potatoes? Bizarre combo, but it looked the best of the limited options. The grilled shrimp was also strange too, with the cauliflower (which I typically like). The entrees of swordfish (dry and tasteless) and black cod were also very bland and boring for the price and level that this restaurant purports to be. What’s worse is that our entrees were served to the table next to us, by mistake, (we know this because the woman next to us didn’t order fish) and we also saw two waiters with two dishes each (we had a party of 4). Two dishes were set down at the wrong table (a party who came in after us) and then the second waiter turned around brought his 2 dishes back to the kitchen. Then they wouldn’t admit that this happened. When the table next to us stated that they didn’t receive the right entrees, the server’s response was, «That wasn’t me. That was the other guy.» REALLY??? When our server came over next, we asked if we would get fresh food and whether our food would just be reheated and he insisted that the mix-​up never occurred. We stated that we had observed this with our own eyes and then he backpedaled and said that our food was being prepared at that moment and the dish that was inadvertently served to the other table was thrown away by the staff, then corrected himself and said that he threw it away himself. When our dishes came, one of the plates was scalding hot (because it was under the heat lamp, presumably) and one of the others had really hot food (because it was one of the only ones newly prepared because the original was given to the other table). Zero apologies were made, no concessions were made, and there was just a lot of covering up and defensiveness. Crappy service, crappy food. Don’t come here.

I always want to love this restaurant more than I do but can’t disrespect it enough to lower the rating. The menu looks amazing but the execution falls short. Medium rare lamb chops ordered came out like seared ahi — cold in the middle and raw. Tried the restaurant 3x and always something just not right. Minor: but dimming the lights a bit inside would help set the mood better.
Service good. Can’t complain there. Portions small which I greatly appreciate! Enables one to order an appetizer and a main without hesitation.

Had dinner here last Friday night after discovering this jewel on the Christmas Hotel tour. The setting by the pool was perfect! Since it was a cool evening the heaters made it toasty. Had drinks which were expertly crafted and miso soup to start out with. Dinner consisted of swordfish (and lamb chops for my partner) everything was excellent and cooked to perfection. We went for a birthday dinner as this is the perfect romantic restaurant! We’re glad to have discovered it!

This restaurant was mediocre. Nothing amazing. It is located inside the viceroy hotel (see review). Check In for reservations was quick. We were greeted by the same manager from the pool and taken to our table outside.
I ordered bison burger. It was ok. Nothing’s great. I thought I had a hair on my plate but since it was dark outside I couldn’t see if it was mine or someone else’s. The French fries were good and crunchy. My friends ordered the special of the night, New York strip. They asked for medium rare and it came out medium well. One of them asked to have it redone which they happily complied to do. My other friend got the mushroom ravioli. The noodles from the ravioli were under cooked and hard. Other than that her dish was ok.
Our server, David, was very nice. Service again was sort of slow. It took awhile for our dinners to come out but that could be because they were over cooking the steaks. There are many restaurants close within driving distance. I’d probably try one of those first.
Be sure to use your voucher from the front desk to get a discount on your meal

It looks a out-​dated in the pool are, but dining poolside is always fun. Our waiter went out of his way to make my sister’s birthday a special one. His recommendations were spot on.

I had the pleasure of dining here recently and wow what a great time. I would highly recommend to those visiting this area to check out this place. Also was able to purchase a Travel Zoo voucher for dinner.
Atmosphere — very good. Modern, clean, inviting. The entry way is basically hidden — would have driven right by if it wasn’t for the valet station. Made you feel like you were a member of an exclusive club! The restaurant is part of the Viceroy Hotel. It’s intimate. I would recommend reservations to ensure a table.
Service — attentive, warm, welcoming. Nothing to fault here.
Menu — I like it — several nice choices, made it hard to decide what to order. I don’t need a menu with 100 items on it. There is something for everyone on this one. I had the duck breast entrée with Israeli couscous– very good. Had the farmers garden salad — fresh and light. The lobster pasta dish was good, but not as good as the duck.
Wine menu — a bit more limited, but options both by the glass and bottle. Some really nice options to complement the meal.
Dog friendly dining is available on the patio, by the pool. Very nice to have this. Our pooch enjoyed a nice water bowl and then left over steak from the table next to us! How lucky and generous!
Great place — will certainly come again!

Did not realize this was in the Viceroy Hotel! Very small, so small you might call it a café not a restaurant. It seemed as if it was an afterthought crammed into a lobby converted into a all purpose space. Weird very weird. Anyway we had a party of 10ppl so we took up the entire place. one server, one busboy. The décor was outstanding, the place was hollywood through and through. Food was excellent. Crab appetizer was cooked perfectly and plenty of crab. Salmon main course was out of this world, flavorful and cooked just right.

We always eat at Citron when we are in the desert and have never been disappointed. We stayed at the hotel quite often a couple of years ago when our condo was being renovated, and while there we ate almost every meal at the hotel. The staff is attentive and friendly. We know most of them by name and they always greet us when we dine. We usually take guests there and they always want to return when they are in town.
They have a good cocktail menu with a bar that attracts the locals. I love their beet salad and all the appetizers. In fact, we often make a meal of appetizers. The entrees are a good size, not huge. Everything is well prepared and nicely presented.
I am surprised by some of the negative reviews, as we have never found anything to complain about at this restaurant.

Service was a little off (I’m not fond of repeating myself three times, sorry) but I’m giving an extra star for the salmon. I like my salmon rare and nobody ever does it right. They did. It was perfect. The whole dish was made perfect because they cooked my salmon amazing. The ambiance was nice and we had a great lunch.

Citron is a TINY restaurant inside the Viceroy overlooking the pool and right off the lobby. We were considering going there for dinner but I’m glad we didn’t because it is so tiny I think it would have been weird… there are like 8 tables. We decided to stop by for lunch and get a break from our hotel and it was more than great for lunch. Bright yellow walls and white laminate décor, trendy, very «resort».
I had a large cobb salad that had a nice dijon vinegar based dressing so it wasn’t too heavy and there were peas in it which was unusual but delicious. T had the Viceroy burger which had bacon, blue cheese, and came with truffle fries and it really hit the spot! Lunch for 2 with iced teas was about $ 54, so you’re definitely paying a premium but the food was good and you’re in the Viceroy…

Unilocal INSIDER TIP FROM DOREEN (AKA AZN PERSUASION): 3.5 stars — Good, but nothing spectacular. Inside the Viceroy Hotel. They have outdoor seating.
*****
Had the beet salad $ 15, soup of the day $ 12, tuna tartare $ 15, SD mushrooms $ 9. A glass of wine is $ 12, small coffee press $ 5 — so a bit pricey for food that is fine. It’s a cute place, so maybe more fun for drinks.

This past weekend we visited this restaurant many times because we had travel zoo vouchers. We had the chance to try many items on the menu, here are a few of my favorites:
— Crab Cakes
— Kobe Burger
— Prawns
— Apple Tart
— Mushroom Ravioli
— Beef Carpaccio
— Cookies and Whip Cream
Overall, I was very happy with this restaurant. It’s a very small restaurant but very cute and well designed. They have a back room for larger parties and outside seating by the pool. The dinner staff seemed to be a little better than the morning staff in terms of service.