Marmalade Cafe

Food is ok but the service was ridiculous. We came in today around 2pm. We were seated and I swear we were siting there almost 15 minutes and no one came over to take our drink order or anything! Mind you our movie was starting soon and we would have missed it if we waited any further. My child and I ended up walking out and no one even noticed. Don’t think I will be dining there again. Work on your service Marmalade Café!!!

Pasta I had was absolutely terrible (sorry I don’t remember it’s name). It tasted the same as a frozen trader joes pasta that hadn’t been stirred after heating. The restaurant had a nice atmosphere but food was bland and tasted frozen.

I come here almost every week because I simply love marmalade café. While it’s not exactly a gourmet restaurant, prices are fairly lofty — that’s about the only negative. I really like that they have my french onion and delicious steaks. The red wine «Madeira» glacé took about a trip and a half to get used to but now I love it and ask for extra all the time. It is a gravy, red wine and pepper combination that is just mouthwatering (especially if you combine it with a little mash and a slice of steak together). This location is never crowded and makes for a great dinner/​movie date spot if you go next door to the cinemas.

Decided to drive up to Palos Verdes mall for dinner on a Friday evening. Found Marmaldes and decided to try it. I’d been to the one In El Segundo & had a nice dining experience there but this one was not so nice.
We decided to sit outside by the fireplace. The ambiance was very nice but it was pretty dark. We were served bread & water quickly by the busboy but our waitress was slow the entire night.
We had to wait quite awhile for her to take our food order while the other tables were being served by other waitresses who completely ignored our table.
I ordered the special pork ribs. They were tasty but nothing I’d go back for. My husband had the shrimp scampi linguine which was swimming in oil.
We had to wait awhile to get our check and then had to flag down another waitress to take our credit card.
I assume it was because we were sitting outside which is the reason our waitress kept forgetting about us.
If we ever go back it will probably be got brunch or if on a slow night, sit inside.

The food is ok. I had the smoked salmon benedict and it did not taste fresh and lacked flavor. I tried a little of my wife’s Gilson’s Scramble and it did not impress. The blueberry pancakes were overcooked and too chewy.
The service was slow and short-​staffed.
On a positive note, the outdoor seating is very picturesque and inviting.

After a LONG hot morning of soccer we hit Marmalade Café. As always, I appreciate the décor and general design of the location, very nice. The airconditioning. was running on full, which felt great since it was 90+ outside.
We were served by Tara who did a nice job = A
— Lemonade = A
— Filet Gorgonzola sandwich = B (just lacked zest?)
— BLTA sandwich = B (the toast was too well done, my mouth was ripped to shreds!)
With the addition of two kids meals the final bill was $ 53.92, so certainly not a cheap lunch, our overall experience was a tad above average.

What a nice little hidden gem of a brunch spot. Great breakfast, lunch, and brunch. I’ve never been for dinner. The walled, partially covered, outside patio is nice all year round. French toast, chiliquiles, huevos rancheros are all excellent brunch items. They also have pitchers of mimosas and bellinis priced very well for brunch too.
The service has been hit or miss for us but since we’ve been going regularly, we just request the server we want now.
Parking is easy in the giant mall structure.

We haven’t been here for awhile because we had a bad experience. We couldn’t decide where to eat and didn’t want to go far do I suggested we give them another try. Unfortunately we were disappointed yet again. We were greeted promptly and seated. The restaurant was not busy by any standard. We were seated at a booth where the «leather» was cracked and it felt like you were sitting in a hole (photo posted).
We were promptly greeted by our server who delivered our drinks and that’s when it went down hill. We placed our orders, it took 20 minutes to get our soup and salad. I will say that we were both satisfied with the Navy Bean/​Kale soup and the Roasted Beet Salad (½ size was huge). Then it took another 25 minutes to receive our entrée.
Mark ordered the free range chicken special with «scalloped potatoes» and green beans. We asked what was taking so long and the server said they were waiting for the chicken to be done. I had the Chicken Fettucini and it was «warm» when it was served. It was good and a very generous portion, again an interesting recipe which included walnuts which I’m not sure belonged in the dish. Mark’s green beans were way under cooked and neither of us had ever seen a rendition of «scalloped potatoes» like was presented to us, these too were under cooked. He sent his entrée back and I continued to eat. By the time his entrée returned I was done with my meal and the green beans were still under cooked as were the potatoes. He ate the chicken which he said was good.
The server did make the manager aware of our disappointment, he apologized, and took Mark’s dinner off the bill.
Our server was good, not great; and for being so slow we should of received better attention all the way around.
We want to like this place but two strikes and we’re out!

Had breakfast here with grandma yesterday. All the food came out perfect to our specifications. The corned beef hash and eggs I ordered was delicious. Eggs poached as perfectly as could be. Had some of grandma’s bacon.
Seriously. I am not joking. Best. Bacon. Of. My. Life.
I even called and asked for the vendor information and how they cooked it. Grandma ordered it crispy (I prefer medium), but it was absolutely stunning bacon. Crystallized almost. Perfect crunch. Perfect appearance. Perfect mouthfeel. Perfect taste. Not too salty.
I can’t stop thinking about this bacon. What a day to be Jewish :-/

Hmmm to be honest, the food is just average, with the Chicken Pot Pie and the French Onion Soup as the standout for me. Pancakes are pretty good too, although I feel that I can go to Norm’s and have pancakes that are just as good!
It’s more about the feel of the place. It’s located at the mall and there’s an outdoor seating area so on a nice day, this place is good for brunch & lunch. It’s pretty nice inside as well, with nice dim lighting for the mood.
The thing that this location really lacks in is the service and the lack of consistency in the quality. The ladies there are pretty sharp with the service, but have to shake my head at the guys. They are slow to come around to check on you and there’s been a few times where the same waiter on different visits forget what I asked for. The kitchen messed up on our orders on two separate occasions. Never do they really go above and beyond. Even BJ’s Pizza will comp something, but not at Marmalade, unless you complain.
Marmalade Café remains a viable option for the people on the hill if they don’t really want to go too far.

This place is one of the few remaining decent restaurants in the hill.
The waiters and bartenders are always friendly and accommodating and the food is always pretty good without being overpriced.
I usually have the Filet Minion chili which is inexpensive and filling but all the menu items are great!

Great food, great ambiance, great prices. What more can you ask for?

This was our first time here and we really enjoyed the ambiance of sitting outside on a sunnt day. I ordered the blackened chicken sandwich with a salad and my boyfriend ordered the turkey burger with avocado, fried jalapeño and swiss. The fried jalapenos were hotttt but that just made him happier. Overall really great flavors for everything except the actual turkey patty which was dry and lacked flavor. Would definitely come back if I was shopping around here.

Love this place.
I’ve been coming here for over 10 years. I’ve never been disappointed. Everything I’ve had here is wonderful. I really love their filet mignon steak sandwich, champagne dressing, and their Chicken Parmesan.
The bread and butter are worth driving here!!!
This spot is also very good for an event because outside they have outdoor seating with a gorgeous fireplace.
P. S. Get a mimosa.

So I came here with my parents for their christmas gift dinner. My mother suggested it because she had a gift card. The ambiance seems classy. Dim lighting, clean atmosphere, suited waiters, etc. The service was very prompt. The waiter was pretty attentive.
I ordered the seared ahi tuna with coleslaw, my mother ordered the spicy shrimp pasta, and mother father ordered the Grilled ahi tuna with broccolini and spinach.
I wasn’t expecting mine to be 6 slices of tuna over a large bed of napa coleslaw and a cup of fried chip/​tortilla bowl. My seared tuna looked exactly like my fathers grilled tuna only that mine was cut like sashimi and only had 5 – 6 pieces (I forgot) and my father had pineapple salsa over it. I was disappointed with my dish. My mother liked my fathers grilled tuna version. The pasta was decent, but nothing exciting.
My mother unexpectantly had a friend go also that day and ordered Tiramisu and vanilla ice cream for our table (very sweet woman). The Tiramisu was okay, it had too much cream cheese/​mascarpone. They only drizzled specks of chocolate powder on top. But for cheese lovers, it is nice to try. I prefer more pronounced lady fingers with nice even layers of mascarpone and coffee liquor.
Finally I ordered a Hot Totty. It has been my mission to try Hot Totty of any restaurant I go to if they are allowed to make it. I still think the Hot Totty at PF Chang in Delamo mall I had 3 years ago still topped it, lol. What I felt missing was some honey and a squeeze of lemon. But they did have the stick of cinnamon which I give it a B+.
Overall it was okay, Not sure I am interested in trying anything else. The 3 star was for the service and hot totty. ^_^

This place reminds me of Mimi’s Café — mostly older people, lots of space and mediocre service. Also, for some reason, I feel like it’s dusty in there since there’s a lot of carpet and upholstery in low lighting.
I had the blackened chicken sandwich and it was pretty good. My strawberry lemonade was ridiculously sweet, which is how I like it. The waiter was pretty attentive and accommodated us pretty well. This is a good place to take your parents and family members.

Such a cute place! I had dinner here once long ago, and finally came back for desserts and gossip with friends on a Friday afternoon. We had tiramasu, bread pudding, and a fudge sundae, and coffee.
The coffee was awful, it was lukewarm, and although the waitress brought a cute kettle with more, THAT was lukewarm too. :(We joked that we should ask for a shaker and ice to make iced coffee.
The desserts were GORGEOUS, however, which made up for it. I had the bread pudding which was okay, my friends said their desserts, brownie sundae and tiramusu were yummy. The waitress was nice, but a little… too attentive… how is that so? Well the place was pretty empty we told her we were just ordering desserts, and after we we ate and we sat there talking she kept coming back and she’d stand there and say, «Soooo…is everything ok?». lIKE 5 TIMES! Its not a crime, but just annoying when you’re trying to have a conversation and the previous 4 times we said, no we didn’t need anything. I mean come by and check if water is empty and if it is fill it up, but stop bugging us! I guess its better than being ignored though… but not by much.
I took one star away for the service (it wasn’t bad, like I said she was nice, but a bit interruptive) and one star for the almost cold coffee.
The place was so cute, and I would like to come back for brunch, and hopefully they have hot coffee, and only needed interruptions… if not I’ll be Unilocaling about it.

I know having a table with 25 people on it can be a lot to deal with and I understand that! When coming to Marmalade I loved how cute it was and it seemed just like some café that was nice and pretty. I liked the inside decorations with the color, we also got sated pretty quickly.
Since we had a special meal menu made out for us I ordered the salmon, mashed potatoes and green beans. The Salmon had a very thick sauce which tasted very teriyaki. I wasn’t really feeling it. The mashed potatoes were pretty decent and the green beans were alright.
Didn’t really get any refills on my drink and felt slightly ignored on the table. But at least we got our meals and it did take a lot of time but it is ok. We still had a fun time. Just the food doesn’t have a wow factor of amazing. But it is alright to eat!
I also had dessert which was crème brûlée which had a pretty hard shell filled with sugar and the custard was slightly on the warm side but did have an alright flavor.

This is one of my favorite lunch places to go to when I’m out with my mom.
Atmosphere: Cozy and spacious, there is a lot of seating and it’s never too busy.
Food: Their House Salad is DELICIOUS — candied walnuts and cranberries, and vinaigrette over lettuce. I usually get their sandwiches, which are always satisfying. A recent discovery is the blackened chicken sandwich; it’s full of flavor and spices. I also really like their sweet potato fries. Also, FRESH BAKED SOURDOUGH for starters — so great.
Service/​Price: The last time I went, service was unfortunately slow and the waiter messed up my mom’s order (luckily we weren’t in any hurry). Prices are a little above average, but doable for the quality of food you get.
I’d recommend it!

I’m torn giving this place two stars but it’s what I have to do.
I’m going to start with service. Our server was great! Attentive but not bothersome, good personality and prompt.
Food was average. Their special promotion turned out to be a bust and unfortunately Mark went for it and got hosed /​: He started off with the lobster bisque though and was quite impressed with the amount of lobster in the soup so that was good.
Now to the hosed part… He ordered the king crab legs and steak (steak was over coked) and got what looked like hermit crab legs (they were snow crab legs). King crab legs are huge and these were teeny tiny. And what was more sad than the advertised special was that the staff (manager included) had no clue that they were serving the wrong type of crab. There is no way you can pass off snow crab legs for king crab legs. Haven’t they seen deadliest Catch? King crabs that aren’t «king» enough are sent back and not even caught!
Although the manager did say that she thought they looked small and that she would tell the director of operations.
My sandwich (blackened chicken) and sweet potato fries were good. I liked the chipotle aioli that was served with the spf a lot. I started with split pea soup and that was tasty. Mom got some seafood thing that was a huge portion and she seemed to enjoy it. She will have leftovers for days.
I would definitely go back for the service but not the food. And I don’t really know how that is possible so I’m sad to say that I will probably not return):