When you walk into Doma Kitchen, you truly feel right at home. With natural light illuminating the sleek dining room and highlighting the gallery on the walls, this restaurant is the perfect location to enjoy an intimate meal with friends and family. Since they just made their debut from Redondo Beach, they deserve the warmest welcome, so try these mind blowing cheese boards at Doma Kitchen in Marina Del Rey.
Until they have their liquor license, they allow customers to bring in their own wine or beer with no corkage fee. So you bring the wine and they’ll provide the cheese, what could be more perfect?
The menu is uniquely inspired by cuisine of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and the result is spectacular. You will see so many dishes that you probably haven’t even heard of before, but take a chance and order something new (you won’t be disappointed).
Sharing Boards
Doma Kitchen offers the most massive and delicious cheese boards you will ever have. They had to push two small, charming wooden tables together just to fit their charcuterie board in front of my dear friend and I. Not only will this cheese board be aesthetically pleasing for your own eye and social media, but it will make your tummy happy as well.
The charcuterie board is among 3 different sharing boards that Doma offers. With cured meats and salamis, a wonderful array of endless cheeses such as blue cheese and parmesan, the flavor combinations are endless. Not to mention, the cheeses and meats are served with pickled veggies, fig jam, herb butter, horseradish and two different kinds of bread.
With perfectly crisp crustini and crunchy Bavarian garlic bread, you won’t hesitate to dig into the biggest board you will ever enjoy. Even though we would all be happy enjoying cheese, sausage and charcuterie boards the rest of our lives, Doma offers up delicious Eastern European classics I’d never seen before. So plan your visit, and see why you need to try these mind-blowing cheese boards at Doma Kitchen in Marina Del Rey (as well as everything else on the menu).
Small Plates
While it was difficult to choose which small plate to try while still saving room for the cheese board, our knowledgable and accommodating waiter highly recommended the Lamb “Shashlik”, which is basically a way of preparing cubed meat on a skewer, popular in Eastern and Central Europe.
The recommendation surely delivered as the lamb is so tender and juicy. The small cubes of meat hold so much flavor and pair beautifully with the raw, relished red onion and crustini that are perfectly crisp on the outer edges and soft in the middle. This dish is truly a delicious start, especially if you are a fan of lamb.
Dumplings & Entrées
Having never heard of Ukrainian or Lithuanian dumplings before, I ordered the Spinach “Vareniki” Dumplings, which is traditionally a Ukrainian Dumpling where an unleavened dough is wrapped around savory or sweet filling.
These dumplings are filled with warm spinach and feta cheese, very reminiscent of a traditional ravioli, yet there is a sweetness from cinnamon and sugar in the bright tomato sauce. They are topped with even more feta cheese and crisped spinach and are delicious and filling.
#SpoonTip: A lot of dishes at Doma Kitchen’s can be shared due to their healthy portions, so be prepared to take the deliciousness home with you at the end of your meal.
A dish on the specials menu was also recommended and is insanely delicious. Shiraz Braised Beef is now one of my favorite beef preparations as the short ribs are so tender they can be sliced with a spoon. The flavor of the meat is full of herbs and salty, and it is served over beautiful ribbons of al dente pappardelle pasta with asparagus. The juices and garlic from the meat season the pasta, and each bite is better than the next.
You might catch me visiting Doma frequently to insist this amazing dish is put on their permanent menu, everyone needs to try this.
Dessert
Even though my friend and I were already so satisfied and full (we also had three to go boxes made at this point), we had to order dessert. With all of the amazing, delicious and new dishes we had for our meal, how could we pass up the sweet stuff? Amongst choices such as Zeppole and Tiramisu, we chose the 8 Layer Russian “Honey Cake”.
The waiter described the dessert as a play on cheesecake, and we were not disappointed. A sour cream based filling sits in between 8 thinly sliced sheets of moist cake, and the entire cake (and plate) is dressed in gorgeous honey. This dessert is a must-try as we kept going for spoonful after spoonful, and it wasn’t too heavy despite our already happy bellies.
Doma Kitchen is now one of my favorite spots, and I cannot wait to return for breakfast, Brunch accompanied by Bossa music, lunch, Thursday dinners accompanied by Jazz, and all of the other wonderful things they have to offer. So next time you want to dine out for a heart-warming and belly-filling meal, try these mind blowing cheese boards at Doma Kitchen in Marina Del Rey and everything else this wonderful location has to offer. Cheers.