Consistently hailed by critics as home to the best seafood in LA, Water Grill boasts an exposed kitchen, elegant, high-back booths in the dining room and modern art on the walls. Soft lighting and an intimate table arrangement give out a warm and inviting vibe, and the crowd reflects its business district location. Start your dining experience with oysters on the half shell (six varieties to choose from), and white chowder with Manila clams or Maryland prime soft-shell crabs with salsify puree, which both rear their head on the menu from time to time. Lunch courses include an herb-crusted mahi mahi, a pan-fried Atlantic spotted skate wing and a pan-roasted New York strip steak with pomme frittes and Bordelaise sauce. Dinner introduces four types of caviar, bouillabaisse with monkfish, sculpin and rouget in a fennel-tomato broth and Maine lobster served with root vegetables. Dessert brings a chocolate banana tart and honeydew melon soup. The menus change daily, but for $85 a guest you can have a seven-course tasting menu prepared by the chef which lets one sample all the highlights. -- Victoria Namkung (Photo: Courtesy of Water Grill)