Dining out During Newport Beach Restaurant Week

Bungalow

2441 East Coast Highway

 Corona Del Mar, CA 92625

Okay, so before I start this entry, I must apologize for the pictures. We did not have reservations at Bungalow, so we sat out on the heated patio, and there was no light out there. It was such a lovely place. I was trying to not use a flash, so the pictures suffered. My apologies.

Newport Beach restaurant week is held twice yearly, once in January and then again in October. Restaurants offer Prix-fixed meals for a substantially reduced price. It is a great chance to experience a place that may be out of your budget. For this reason, Katie and I decided to try Bungalow in Corona Del Mar.

The Bungalow is located on PCH and MacArthur, about two blocks from Fashion Island. The menu comprises steaks and seafood in the $30 to $40 range. Our special Newport Beach Restaurant Week menu had three course meals for just $25, so let's see what we got.

Here was my first course, the Steakhouse Wedge salad. This salad featured red onion, tomatoes, lardons, and Roquefort dressing. First off, I had to look up what lardons are. According to the dictionary, they are strips of fat used in larding. They looked like pecans and tasted like bacon bits, though. Very tasty. Also tasty was the dressing. It really tasted homemade and very creamy. The salad was not too big and made me wonder if I was getting a more petite version because I ordered off the Prix-fixed menu. This salad is regularly $11. I would expect a more enormous salad for that much.

This is Katie's salad; again, sorry about the picture. She loved this salad so much that I included it even with the sub-par pic. She got the Bungalow salad, which consists of greens, red onion, bay shrimp, and feta cheese. She loved the vinaigrette dressing that came on this salad. This salad was more significant than mine and is usually priced at $10.

Here is my filet mignon served with cooked spinach and polenta cake. The spinach was just okay, and the polenta cake was a pleasant surprise, but the steak was the best part of this plate. They serve only prime-grade steaks here, and this was the prime-time player. The filet was so tender that I cut it with my fork, and the taste was terrific. Well worth the usual $34 price tag.

I did not think my choice could be topped, but Katie managed it with her fish and chips selection. The fish was tender and almost buttery and lacked the greasiness of many other places fish and chips. Probably the best-fried fish that I have ever had. The tartar sauce was also delicious. The fries were okay, but I was thrilled when Katie offered me one of her fish pieces because she was full and wanted to save room for dessert. Thanks, babe!

This was my choice for dessert, the Chocolate Souffle Cake. Very rich and decadent, this was the perfect way to end this fantastic meal. I could not finish this quick enough.

Vanilla Crème Brulee was Katie's choice. This was very smooth and had just the right sweetness to it. Katie remarked that this was the best creme brulee she had ever had. I cannot disagree with her on that.

I felt The Bungalow is one of the best restaurants I have ever eaten at. It will definitely be on my list when there is a special occasion or in October when restaurant week returns. The Bungalow feels like being in the Florida Keys, not that I have been there, but it is what I imagine it to be.

So in the spirit of the Florida Keys, out of five palm trees, five being best to zero being worst, Bungalow gets four palm trees.

You can learn more about Bungalow from their website right here: http://www.thebungalowrestaurant.com/index.htm