Thanks for the info. I didn't know who she was so I did a quick search on her. Does this mean I should stay away from the moles? Or is the food in general not that good anymore?

I am going to La Huasteca for the first time tonight. The ceviche sounds like something I'll be ordering. The chile en nogada sounds interesting as I love chiles rellenos, but I don't see it on their online menu. I like moles but they can be very hit and miss. Love seafood too.

Any recommendations for what to order other than what's been previously mentioned?

Thanks for your reply.

Just to make it clear, I'm not limiting my choice to the restaurants I mentioned. Any suggestions are very welcome.

I'm looking for help choosing a romantic restaurant for an anniversary dinner for two. The budget is $60 per person before tax and tip. We're not big drinkers, but if there's room there for two glasses of wine, that would be nice, but not a must. I'm looking for something that feels like a special occasion restaurant with high quality food.

Wiling to drive anywhere in LA and North Orange Counties. For reference, we're in the South Bay and we like places like The Bazaar, Little Next Door, Rivera, Providence (who doesn't), Water Grill, Angeli. Looking to try a new place.

I've looked around this site and a few places have caught my eye:
Eva
Bouchon
Valentino
Il Cielo
AOC
Lucques
Hatfield's
Little Door (though it seems it gets mixed reviews here)

The dinner would most likely be Sunday night, though it could also be Saturday.

Would any of these fit the romantic/special occasion, great food and price requirements?

I welcome any and all suggestions. Thank you!

-----
AOC
8022 W 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90048

Water Grill
544 South Grand, Los Angeles, CA 90071

Lucques
8474 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90069

The Little Door
8164 West 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90048

Thanks for the recommendations!

We did Seafood Village for lunch and dinner. The crab, which is fried with a garlic seasoning, is great. House special fried rice, green beans with minced meat, kung pao scallops and chui chou shrimp were all delicious. Only the house special noodles were not good. Very slimy and tasteless. There is a Seafood Village in Rowland Heights which has to be related as the menu items and business cards are identical. I was there a month back and it's just as good as the Temple City location.

Sea Harbour for dinner. Not as good as Seafood Village, but very close. Had prawn balls, cod, scallops, crispy noodles and fried rice (both with seafood). Would go back.

But my favorite was Din Tai Fung for lunch. Delicious vegetarian and shrimp and pork dumplings, as well as shrimp fried rice and shrimp noodles (we do love shrimp). Very nice, clean, modern dining area. Great service. Will have to go back to try the soup dumplings, as they had run out (not that I need an excuse to go back).

I'll chime in here as I'm in a similar situation. Will be in Baldwin Park Thursday-Saturday, and have 1 meal each day which I'd like to use trying three different Chinese restaurants. Willing to drive 20 minutes. Will be near the 10. One meal will definitely be for lunch, the other two can be lunch or dinner.
-No one speaks or reads any Chinese
-About $20 per person
-Decor doesn't matter. Looking for good food.
-Prefer seafood over any other meat
-Love dim sum, noodles, soups and rice
-Seafood is the preferred meat
-A little adventurous, but want to know what we're eating

Good to know. Thanks! Looking forward to it.

Thanks for the info. So I assume they're single diner friendly?

I know I want to try dumplings and the pancake. Can anyone recommend a good noodle dish? I like my noodles thin and fairly simple.

Are the dumplings, buns and green onion pancake (looks delicious) served in portions small enough for 1 person to order multiple items? I will be in the area tomorrow and would love to try several items.

I know there are various special menus on Sundays, and I'd like to start trying them. There are two of us, we don't drink alcohol and since I drive from Palos Verdes to Los Angeles every Sunday, I'm open to anywhere between Hollywood and Palos Verdes, west of the 110.

I prefer trying some of the nicer places that offer special menus on Sunday where you wouldn't normally be able to eat for under $30 per person.

We like american, italian, french, any asian, seafood, mexican, and are open to other cuisines.

I second Border Grill. You should be able to get by on $20pp. You might want to make a reservation though, especially on Father's Day.