Cuisine:

• Asian
• Others
• Pan-Asian

Typhoon Description:
Celebs like John Travolta have been known to fly their own planes to this hip dining venue at the Santa Monica Airport, where the walls showcase customers' pilot licenses like the caricatures of movie star clients at The Palm. The restaurant is a sleek, high-tech affair with a mirrored weather map behind the always-packed bar that is a stunning piece of aeronautical art. The exhibition kitchen executes an endless menu of dishes from every corner of Asia: Japanese gyoza, Indian samosas, Chinese dim sum, Thai coconut-chicken curry, Filipino fried squid, Indonesian stir-fried noodles and much more. The deep-fried whole catfish is one of the restaurant's specialties. For the more adventuresome, there are Taiwanese stir-fried crickets, Manchurian mountain ants, 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.