Café del Rey offers diners a trip to the Mediterranean coast without leaving Los Angeles. The restaurant’s refreshing and robust flavors and romantic atmosphere offer a memorable dining experience—you may just have to remind yourself that the restaurant’s amazing waterfront view looks onto Marina del Rey, not the Mediterranean.

At one end of the spacious dining room filled with white cloth-covered tables sits the restaurant’s raw bar, serving a rich selection of oysters, salmon and yellowfin tuna. The starters, whether the tomato bisque with basil oil and parmesan, or beef carpaccio with golden beets and lemon caper vinaigrette, offer the simple but delicious taste. You can also order a plate of oysters with seared Hudson Valley foie gras which seems like an odd match but actually balances perfectly and tastes to-die-for delicious.

The main dishes offer heartier twists on the region’s cuisine. In addition to standards like the seared ahi tuna (with artichoke and potato) or pan-roasted mahi mahi, the menu includes a delicious duck breast, served with cipollini onions, arugula and blueberry gastrique. The chateau steak, with porcini and truffle mushroom gratin, asparagus and carrot puree is also not to be missed.

The dishes at Café del Rey are best accompanied by a glass of wine or cocktail fromt the restaurant’s extensive menu. Themed wine flights such as “Your Cab Has Arrived,” and “Tour de Mediterranean,” make an ideal companion to a meal.

The restaurant is overseen by executive chef Daniel Roberts, most recently of Portofino Hotel and Yacht Club’s Baleen restaurant, as well as the Mondrian Hotel’s Asia de Cuba, Sky Bar and Sea Bar. Roberts puts a focus on local ingredients in devising his menus, as well as made-from-scratch items like sauces, breads and pasta.

The meal can be finished with one of Café del Rey’s signature desserts, such as the raspberry mousse complete with pistachio crust, or the banana tiramisu. A dessert wine flight (three one-ounce pours) makes for the perfect way to round out the evening.

Café del Rey 4451 Admiralty Way Marina Del Rey, CA 90292 (310) 823-6395