La Balena - Carmel

Great service and food. The gnocchi was so light and was beautifully complemented by the mushrooms. A little splurgical, but worth it. Note that the inside seat is very limited.

This place was very recommended by many, but ultimately fell flat. We have a wine bottle recommendation from the server that wasn't really what I wanted, but it was good. Sardella and bread cups were okay. Entrees were the Ossobuco and Rigatoni, but under salt, lack of complexity and simply okay. The ambience was original, but I had many Italian meals of higher quality.

Very disappointing? tiny portions, oily food and very unpleasant service. I have the wrong pasta as what we ordered, we didn't say anything, and they didn't charge us $20 for any reason. I recommend not to come back.

Delicious Italian restaurant. Very recommended! The dishes were all great, although we hoped that the portions were a little bigger.

My husband was really looking forward to eating at La Balena. Service was wonderful, and food was okay. The tomato sauce for the kid?s pasta and meatballs was under seasoned?salt was needed. The warm bread was undesirably pale looking. The fried cauliflower was a favorite at the table?after salt was added. The crispy potatoes were also a nice addition although the aioli was underwhelming. The strawberry salad was flavorful. The vegetable soup had copious amounts of fresh vegetables, after salt was added it was delicious. I think I was shocked by the price point of most things on the menu ?the kid?s pasta was $18 and didn?t come with a meatball. Crazy.