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I must have walked by Morels at The Grove countless times and barely gave it a second look. I mean, just look at its name: Morels French Steakhouse & Bistro. It just sounds so hoity toity and not exactly my cup of tea. So when Morels invited a bunch of food bloggers (including Esther of e*starLA and Matt of Dig Lounge) and writers for a tasting meal, I figured I might as well try it since I haven’t been in the seven or so years since The Grove opened. And I was right; the restaurant is fancy but not prohibitively so, though some of the prices are pretty high.

We started off with four cocktails, of all which were too sweet for my taste, though the vanilla mango mojito wasn’t so bad. But you don’t go to a place like Morels for the cocktails; you go for the food and the wine, which I don’t know much about though I understand the restaurant has an impressive selection. We had wine pairings with all of our courses, but I can’t knowledgeably talk about them, so I won’t. Onward.

Vanilla mango mojito (left), gala apple martini (right)

Nectar margarita (left), something with raspberry that I didn't write down (right)

We sat down to start our meal with a cheese and charcuterie plate, which was so tasty and satisfying that I could have made it my entire meal. My favorite cheese on the plate was the petit basque sheep’s milk cheese, which was soft and reminded me of brie. I would have eaten the whole plate, which was piled high with all kinds of goodies, if I didn’t know to save room for the next three courses.

We then moved on to a Caesar salad made table side, complete with made-to-order dressing. You want more garlic or anchovy? No problem. I liked how it turned out the first time, though, so that’s what we went with. It was tasty, though it was just a basic Caesar without any kind of protein.

Next up was the steak tasting with filet, New York and rib eye varieties. There were also four kinds of salt you can use to accompany your meat, something I’ve never seen before. I’m not a big red meat person, but if I had to choose, my favorite combination would be the filet with the smoked salt. Use the salts sparingly, though. It’s easy to go overboard.

Filet (left), New York (center), rib eye (right)

Salts

Here’s my favorite part of the meal: the root vegetables that were served with our steak. Or, more precisely, the brussels sprouts that were part of the root vegetable side. These are by far the best brussels sprouts I have had yet. I hear the ones at Village Idiot are amazing, but I haven’t tried those. So Morels brussels sprouts are my amazing brussels sprouts. Served with pancetta, which is similar to bacon, these were perfectly cooked — tender on the inside and crispy on the outside — and had so much flavor that I was literally eating them off other people’s plates. The parsnips were good, too, but mostly because I don’t think I’ve ever had them before. They were new to me!

The lovely brussels sprouts in the center

Last on the menu were the desserts: a strawberry rhubarb cobbler and a pumpkin souffle. I preferred the cobbler to the souffle but mostly because I don’t like souffles much. I find the texture strange. I’m also not sure pumpkin lends itself to this medium; the flavor didn’t mix well with all those eggs. But I think this is a matter of personal preference here.

Strawberry rhubarb cobbler

Pumpkin souffle

Back to the fanciness of the restaurant. As the name indicates, it’s a steakhouse and a bistro, which means there are two menus. The steakhouse menu is obviously more expensive — there’s a $42 New York Angus sirloin on the menu — but a side of brussels sprouts is only $7. The bistro menu isn’t cheap, but it’s not too pricey, either. I’d go back just for the brussels sprouts and to try the mussels, which I hear are good, too.