The Anaheim Whitehouse


a review of a wonderful restaurant that my wife and I attended for her birthday

As I mentioned in my other post (Praise God for food), Janet and I went out tonight for her birthday. The food at the Anaheim Whitehouse was so good, that I wanted to write a quick review for the blog and to let any of you locals in on this. Who knows, maybe restaurant reviews will end up a regular feature here (I wish I was blogging when we went to Napa for our honeymoon; we ate our fill at so many wonderful places up there)

First, we'll start with the bad:
- The location: The house that it is built in is amazing and definitely one of the plusses, but it used to be located in the middle of a lush orange field. Now its in a not so great section of Anaheim. It's not the worst location, but it definitely seems out of place for such a wonderful house and restaurant.
- Valet parking: I don't know about everyone else, but I don't even let my friends drive my car, so when it comes to giving the keys to a total stranger, I always feel like I'm the one who should be getting paid. Thankfully, the valet is only 3 bucks (plus tip) so thats pretty reasonable.
- It's expensive: As with all great restaurants, they charge accordingly. Luckily, we had a discount from the Entertainment book, which is how we found out about this restaurant in the first place, but that only gets you $20 off. For our budget, this place is much more of an only-on-a-special-occasion type restaurant.
- Surprise: I don't know why, but its common amongst nice restaurants to not publish the price of stuff. It's this attitude that sort of says, "if you have to ask, you shouldn't dine here. show up with a credit card, and leave with a receipt, thats all you need to know." It's not that they have a snobby attitude at the Whitehouse (quite the contrary), but they don't tell you that salad is not included and they don't have any prices on their menu other than the main dishes. So when the bill came, it was a little more of a surprise.

But enough of the negatives, I only include them to give the illusion of being fair and balanced because we were totally won over by the Whitehouse. So here's the plusses:
- Beautiful building: The restaurant is housed in an old house built in 1909. My wife and I are huge fans of old architecture, and so its always cool to eat in such a lovely house. Everything you'd expect in a stylish old house is there - cool architecture, awesome patio deck, crown molding, etc.
- Warm atmosphere: Not only is the building very cool, but the inside is decorated nicely. It's also lit with lights, but candlelit at each table. It provides a nice, romantic atmosphere perfect for a nice dinner date with your wife.
- Great service: They are all dressed nice, are curteous and take good care of you. I even asked our waiter for help deciding on a dish, and he explained both dishes well and recommended the Filet mignon - which was very good.
- Amazing food: Of course, this is the most important point. Nothing can help a restaurant if its food sucks, and thankfully the food is the best part of the Whitehouse. It is not only really great tasting food, but it is beautifully prepared. Each dish is a work of art, with little edible sculptures - my mashed potatoes were shaped like a flower on top and surrounded by a leaning Tower of Piza. I've seen plenty of cool stuff like this on Food Network, but this was my first time actually eating something so artistic (we've been to nice restaurants before with great presentation, but none with such detailed sculptures).

All in all, its a great restaurant that has definitely found a place in our "once in a while for a special occasion" file. If you can afford it, its worth the splurge for a special occasion.

Posted: Sat - January 29, 2005 at 11:01 PM | | | | | | |

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