Romance for two?

After attending the Democratic Rally on the USC campus at the end of October, Corina and I decided to have dinner up in LA rather than return back to the OC, and not one of our regulars - we needed to try something new (to make up for the 4-5 years of not really trying anything new while we were living there I suppose). So we chose to go to La Boheme, located on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood.

The recommendation for there is to go to happy hour. It is worth it. So we arrived within the happy hour time slot, but the happy hour is limited to the first come, first served seating area at the front of the restaurant and on the patio. It's not a big restaurant so the bar area was already filled, and it was chilly out so we opted to go ahead and get seated for dinner.

Since we had arrived pretty early, there was still plenty of free street parking available. Once inside, it was... wow. Quite romantic. Really. We got seated at a nice little corner booth for 2 (super romantic!) and looked around.

Dramatic lighting, giant fireplace, high ceiling with exposed roof rafters, lots of chandeliers and mirrors... there was even a second floor gallery, with booths tucked in against the wall in a row. How many times can I say "Romantic"?

We were then informed that since we were seated in the dining area, we wouldn't be getting the happy hour menu pricing (special drink pricing and half off of all appetizers and sandwiches). Oh well. It wasn't like we were going to order a lot, so it was fine.

The complimentary bread and dip for the table (there were more pieces). The bread was quite tasty on it's own (was it garlic cheese or just butter and herbs? I can't remember, but it was yummy) and the dip was... not quite sure what it was. The closest thing we could think of was hummus, but it didn't quite taste like hummus we were used to.

Our thirst-quenching drinks. I really wanted the Sangria but got the Shirley Temple (why not) and Corina got the... I believe Mango Mojito (lucky girl). And water for the both of us.

Corina's dinner was the Barbeque Duck Quesadilla ($12, would have been 6 if we were in the bar area) and it was really tasty. Subtle duck flavor when you ate the meat, but it wasn't overwhelmingly duck (for those who don't like duck like me... except for Peking Duck). I ordered the Japanese Pumpkin Ravioli (with brown butter sage sauce and candied pumpkin seeds... $13 and was a dinner entree so didn't qualify for happy hour menu anyway) and it was really super delicious. It wasn't too creamy or too sweet and definitely not cheesy. Though 5 pieces may seem like being ripped off, I think I finished off 3-1/2. I also had to (just had to!) order a side of shoestring fries - spicy ($6, so would have been 3 in the bar) and that did not disappoint either!

Although the wait staff was a tad bit on the slower side (which is probably because it's such a romantic restaurant, not being constantly interrupted would probably be appreciated), it was a nice setting and the food was pretty good. I look forward to maybe going back during happy hour and ordering a whole bunch of appetizers to try. Half off - why not???