THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Typhoon Awards

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Typhoon Restaurant Review:

Typhoon sits in a prime location right next to the runway of the Santa Monica Airport. The restaurant's sleek design with aviation and weather motifs is courtesy of Stephen Francis Jones, whose firm SFJones Architects has worked on many Southern California establishments including Daily Grill, M.B. Post and Spago Beverly Hills (when Wolfgang Puck's restaurant moved from West Hollywood to its current location in the 1990s). The mirrored weather map behind the bar is a stunning piece of aeronautical art. There are also a few TVs often tuned in to sporting events. Customers' pilot licenses are showcased on the pillars like the caricatures of movie star clients on the walls at The Palm. The exhibition kitchen executes dishes from every corner of Asia: Japanese gyoza, Indian samosas, Chinese dim sum, Thai coconut-chicken curry, Filipino fried squid, Indonesian crispy noodles and much more. Soft-shell crab may appear as a seasonal special. Deep-fried whole catfish is one of the restaurant's specialties, but if you're looking for something lighter, opt for the whole steamed pink snapper with soy-ginger sauce. For the more adventuresome, there are Taiwanese stir-fried crickets and even crunchy scorpions. If the exotic fare isn't enough to keep your attention, you can enjoy panoramic city views and the arrivals and departures of multimillion-dollar Gulfstreams. Another perk if you're flying in to dine at Typhoon --- transient parking for single engine and light twin aircraft is available right in front of the restaurant. Live jazz bands perform on most Monday, Tuesday and Saturday nights; cover charges may apply.