Dining details: The Ritz-Carlton, Huntington Hotel & Spa

The Dining Room

Rating: ***

Location: The Ritz-Carlton, Huntington Hotel & Spa, 1401 S. Oak Knoll Ave., Pasadena; (626) 568-3900.

Ambience: A formal and just a bit stuffy hotel dining room, but with a lovely outdoor terrace with stone balustrade overlooking the gardens. Pasadena’s most serious restaurant, the place to take relatives in from out of town or host a business dinner.

Service: Varies from impersonal to highly informed and professional.

Price: Appetizers, $15 to $21; main courses, $32 to $39; desserts, $10 to $14; chef’s tasting menu, $85 a person, with wine pairing, $140 a person.

Best dishes: Baby calamari stuffed with Swiss chard and preserved lemon, zucchini squash blossom stuffed with brandade, sauteed foie gras and Maine lobster with creamy vanilla bean polenta, roasted “Catalan” cod, wild king salmon with warm potato salad, roasted veal rib-eye, “Spanish Virgin” yogurt sponge cake, “bananas Foster” warm banana cake.

Wine list: More than 30 wines by the glass, a decent number of half bottles too, from a middle of the road collection. Corkage, $25.

Best table: One on the outdoor terrace.

Details: Open for dinner 6 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Full bar. Valet parking.

Rating is based on food, service and ambience, with price taken into account in relation to quality. ****: Outstanding on every level. ***: Excellent. **: Very good. *: Good. No star: Poor to satisfactory.