Come for the ambiance over the food!
I first dined at La Cave for my BFF's birthday party. And by party I mean the birthday girl, myself and our third musketeer. We were keen on a more upscale experience. Somewhere around casual fine dining without breaking the bank. We also wanted to do a girl's night where we could actually talk to each other without a voicebox / stereo system throwdown. La Cave maintains a reasonable volume level and never gets very loud regardless of how full it is.
AMBIANCE | It definitely has the low-light, sultry feel going for it with a few very intimate dining areas. In my experience, the further away from the entrance you are the better. The main dining room is alright, but the garden room is a little more luxurious with the indoor/outdoor sliding doors. You get the cozy seating and low ceilings but you get to check out the Lake of Dreams-inspired garden.
FOOD | The veal short rib deserves a solid 5 stars. It's always perfectly cooked and really well marinated. At $20, portions are surprisingly bigger than expected. At the same cost, they have the sliced sirloin which is 100% pass. The mushroom fondue is more salt than flavor and on one occasion, it was served cold. Honorable mentions are the warm beets w/ goat cheese and the pepper/artichoke flatbread.
WINE & SERVICE | I've been to La Cave on a few different occasions and service seems to be consistently mediocre. You'll see your server a couple times in the beginning but don't expect them to check up on you very much. For my friend's birthday we got a relatively inexpensive bottle of chianti ($70). But the second time I went, my other friend purchased a nearly $300 cab and even then, our server rarely came by to top off our wine glasses. The wine selection is extensive and organized in a way where a wine lover of any calibre can pick something they like. La Cave also being a swanky wine bar also has a pretty decent selection of wines on tap on those fancy Enomatic systems.
Nice choice for a date spot or a GNO!