Chef Melba's Bistro

Great food and service in these tough times , hope it survives today’s challenges

Our server had an attitude. Food was great! Server may need to find another occupation.

Personalized service great cuisine. Best restaurant in Hermosa Bech.

Continued excellence in cuisine and service! Overall dining experience is better outside, frankly, with more comfortable and quieter setting.

Wonderful gourmet food, very prompt and helpful service, nice outside tables.

Always great tasting and well presented food.

Amazing lamb shank...so delicious it just melted off the bone. John the waiter help pair this was an excellent glass of red wine. My favorite restaurant in Hermosa Beach. Chef Melba and her wait staff are the BEST!! 5 Stars!!

What a gem! This quaint little bistro, which corners the residential portion of Hermosa Beach, is delightfully low-key. It is along Hermosa Ave, across from the new boutique hotel- H20- and directly up from the beach. Perfect location. The “new normal” outdoor set up is very romantic, since this area is on the quieter side of Hermosa, and with the ocean a stone throw away, it makes for a memorable evening. But, ambiance is not the only reason to dine here, the cuisine is impeccable! Chef Melba is a true artiste, with well studied culinary skills from the late, great, Julia Child, as displayed by a huge poster on the wall of the outside seating. She even comes personally to each table to greet her guests, and find out how your experience is. That just simply isn’t done these days, and should be what every owner should do for a successful restaurant! The display of food to the table is very well presented and taste even better than it looks. Gourmet anyone? The waiter- John- is a true professional, and caters to your dining experience. Can’t wait to go back!!!

Celebrated my aunts birthday who was visiting the area for the first time.
Chef Melba and the staff made us feel right at home.
Very special place. Definitely a must try in the South Bay.

Cioppino was delicious! Service was fast and efficient. Highly recommend giving this place a try!

lovely experience great good service

Wonderful! The food was absolutely Delicious. From the wine to our appetizers and the main entrees, we were so happy. It was a terrific experience.

Food all seemed to have a bit too much salt...otherwise, outstanding.

After living in the beach cities forever and mainly dinning in LA because I think the restaurants are better there Covid drove to dine locally at a restaurant I have been wanting to try forever. I loved Melba's Bistro. Menu varied to suit everyone and food was creative and delicious. It won't be forever until I go back.

Chef Melba’s is always awesome in every way. Denise

The food was different but not that great for the price.

Chef Melba is delightful and she cares about her patrons who visit her restaurant.
The food was delicious!

As always, the food was amazing at Chef Melba’s. We enjoyed the eggplant appetizer and our meals. We had the Chilean Seabass which was cooked to perfection and the amazing Seafood Adobo. (Pictured).
The flavors and presentation were perfect. Dinner was fabulous.

We were, however, quite disappointed with the service as they were very understaffed. The Chef Owner, Chef Melba came to the table and she was delightful. I didn’t want to say anything to her about the service at that time. Perhaps it was an off- night?

I highly recommend the food, and hope to return with better service.

The food is outstanding. The ambiance is romantic and the service is top notch.

We went for brunch and the Frittata was amazing--perfectly cooked.
The glass of champagne delicious
and the chocolate box fabulous.

I recommend Sunday brunch there!!!

We love Chef Melba's. It's always delicious and freshly made.

The food is outstanding although they were understaffed for the service.

Excellent seafood and wine list. It is festive eating outside.

Nice spot by the beach, food was Delilsh! The Chef is lovely. Just keep an eye on the specials: specia turned out to be pricey

I’m staying at the beach for a couple of weeks and my friend and I wanted to celebrate our birthdays by treating each other to a special meal. Boy, did we find the right place. Chef Melba’s had been recommended to us by another dear friend who says it’s her favorite restaurant in Hermosa Beach and I can see why. Not only was the food magnificent and the wine list superb, but we received such a gracious and hospitable welcome from the waiter AND from Chef Melba herself. Delightful! Highly recommended and reservations a must.

I have been a Hermosa resident for 20 years and I can't believe this was my first time dining here. It will NOT be my last. Lovely service... Chef Melba herself, sat us! Our waiter was fantastic! The food was really delicious... best Chicken Piccata I've ever had. Truly homemade and amazing. The Chef came out at the end and she is absolutely delightful. Thank you for a wonderful dining experience. Looking forward to coming back again soon!

I've eaten at Melba's several times before - it is out go-to for special occasions. This time was not "fantastic" which is what I want it to be, when I am spending $200 for two for dinner, a bottle of wine, dessert and a shared salad.

This could be a "pandemic" thing, but it was less than stellar.

Lovely place and amazing food. Chelf Melba was present to answer any questions!

The food is outstanding, best in the South Bay!

The food is terrific. The octopus starter. The sole filet. The Persian salad. The bouillabaisse-like stew. The chocolate box dessert. All these items are excellent. And the service is very good too. A pleasure always.

My husband got the tomato basil bisque which was delicious. I got the beet salad which was also great. We both then had the Sea Bass special and it was absolutely amazing. A huge slice of Seabass with sautéed vegetables. I’ve been thinking about it ever since!! NY cheesecake with fruit to finish. Yum! Another wonderful dining experience at Chef Melbas. I do miss the cozy atmosphere of being inside the restaurant but I am also loving the sidewalk dining.

Great friendly service. The wild Alaskan Salmon special was fantastic

Great food & service
Octopus app was superb.
Corkage $25

Love Chef Melba!! Please make a reservation , we need to support this little gem in Hermosa Beach.

Chef Melba's is by far the best Beach City restaurant I've had the pleasure to experience! I highly recommend the lunch and the dinner menu.

Good food but bad attitude. We keep going back thinking the attitude and service will improve however it does not. That was our last visit.

I loved chef melbas in the past. I feel others were enjoying it. But our food was drenched in sauce and not enjoyable. We would not go back. We ordered the sole and it was supposed to be lemon capers and butter. We could not taste any lemon and when we bit in, butter squirted our if my mouth. The flank steak was so so and should really not be on the menu. At least a filet. Beer and wine only. Veggies were so so.

I have heard if Chef Melba, and rode my bike past her restaurant many times, glimpsing at the photograph of her with Julia Child. I am a local patron at all of the most expensive and trendy restaurants in the South Bah and cannot believe I had waited 7 years to taste Chef Melba’s food and be greeted by her warm personality and passion for food!

We ordered the octopus as an appetizer that melted in your mouth. Most restaurants char and over cook octopus leaving it rubbery and unpleasant to eat. I do it know how she created the tenderness and flavor, but I have a new benchmark for any future octopus dishes! For the main course we ordered the special; salmon and scallops. I have never experienced the crunchy texture she created with the fish skin without over cooking the fillet. Again, new standard!

I could go on and on about the food, but what made the evening most special was the greeting from Chef Melba at our table. He warm and passionate personality brought to life her food. I understand why the food was so different and elevated from the other restaurants in town. She goes to the farmers market and the fish markets to select her foods for the day and she diligently protects her dishes by prepping and cooking them herself.

If you want a truly unique and unforgettable culinary experience in the South Bay, find Chef Melba’s. You won’t be disappointed!

Amazing food super friendly service

Always superb!