Restaurants in Manhattan Beach

At Kah Asian Restaurant & Lounge, Chef Vit Suttichanond blends Thai, Japanese, and Chinese flavors into pan-regional cuisine that Easy Reader News has praised for its presentation and its approachable flavor combinations. Familiar Thai curries and noodle dishes fill most of the menu, although wok-fried orders of kung pao chicken and meaty fried rice lend distinctly Chinese touches as well. The sushi chefs also breathe new life into sushi-bar staples with inventive aesthetic details, such as the crimson slivers that explode from the center of the dynamite roll.

Sconce-lit walls and exposed ceiling beams surround the dining room's gleaming wooden tables. Separated by a line of high-backed booths, the lounge area's backlit bar brims with potent spirits and a collection of bottled sakes that diners can knock over in hopes of winning an enormous stuffed animal.

Friends and business partners Oscar Chavez, Mario Ordoñez, and Jose Ciro Aguilar mine their collective experience to curate 12 Washington Restaurant’s sophisticated cuisine and ambiance. The dining room’s crisp, white table cloths and soft lighting provide the perfect backdrop for plates of escargot or oysters on the half shell, and glasses of wine and champagne tempt the thirsty grey gargoyles perched above and around the front outdoor patio. Elegant dinner entrees such as filet mignon, osso bucco, and rack of lamb sate evening appetites, while benedicts, omelets, and salads ease diners out of their dinner jackets and into their brunch pantsuits.

Grilled over charcoal, smoked with hickory and oak, and smothered with an artful balance of homemade sauce and seasoning. When it comes to barbecuing Kansas-style spareribs and half-chickens, the pit masters at Brothers Barbeque draw on more than 30 years of experience to infuse each slab of meat with smooth, smoky flavors. Beef, hot links, and tri tips undergo a similarly thorough treatment before filling sandwich rolls, and the cooks slather pork ribs from Farmer John in a blend of spices more secret than the robot that does all of the president’s biddings.

Southern-style sides, including potato salad and baked beans round out Brothers Barbeque's menu, and can be enjoyed as carry-out or shipped to homes in vacuum-sealed, dry-iced packaging. The barbecuing team also caters small parties and large events, including numerous smooth-jazz festivals every year.

Before taking center stage in Star Chicken's menu of fresh tossed salads, flatbread wraps, and steaming rice bowls, whole chickens sizzle and slow cook inside the eatery's rotisserie ovens. The kitchen staff accents their meat with a signature citrus and herb marinade and half or whole pints of hearty sides, including homemade chicken noodle soup and steamed Cuban black beans and rice. Savory aromas waft through the casual diner's interior, or escape their cages to tickle the nose-buds of loungers relaxing in the shade beneath the outdoor tables' umbrellas. Catering services transport the whole culinary cast to parties, meetings, or general get-togethers.

Hummus House's chefs elevate their signature side to headliner status with a variety of flavors that complement a menu of meaty or vegetarian entrees. Hummus flavors such as jalapeño cilantro, fiery chili, and kalamata olive coat pita bread, and the selection of flavors rotates regularly. Broasted chicken, the eatery's twist on fried chicken, takes about 30 minutes to materialize, during which poultry steeps in a pressurized broaster to seal in juices. While diners munch, their eyes can feast on regal accents in Hummus House’s colorful dining rooms, one of which flaunts scarlet and gold cloth spiraling out from a chandelier like rays from the sun.