The Highs and Lows at Landmark CLOSED

Landmark Steakhouse

3520 E. Coast Highway

Corona Del Mar, CA 92625

I have been craving a big steak lately. So when my buddy Matt wanted some guy time, he suggested we head to Landmark to try one of their slabs of meat.

Neither of us had been to this beach area steakhouse before. Most of the reviews on Yelp are all about the night club. Landmark opens at five, and the DJ starts spinning at ten. According to their website they have recently renovated their dining rooms. They kind of have a retro kind of feel to it. High leather booths, dark lighting, and wood tables.

On this rainy Wednesday night there were only four tables being used in the dining room. Most of the action was going on in the very crowded bar area. Our server was nice, but we kind of felt that she forgot about us for long periods of time. Let's see if the food can make up for this.

First up is the bread basket. The bread was good, but had a harder than normal crust around it. I was very hungry and devoured two pieces of this rather quickly.

Both Matt and I decided to split two appetizers. His choice is above, the Blackend Seared Ahi. This was served with a seaweed salad and a wasabi red onion sauce. Matt called this the best ahi he has ever had. I liked the meatiness of the ahi, and the sauce was sweet, even though it had a wasabi base. Both the sauce and the ahi complimented each other well.

For my appetizer I went with the Filet Mignon Tacos. The meat on these were very tender and plentiful. Made even better with the guacamole. This would definitely be my go to appetizer when coming back here.

Next up is the healthy portion of the night, the salads. My option for a salad was the Chopped Iceberg. This salad included bacon, blue cheese crumbles, tomatoes, hearts of palm, and blue cheese dressing. Okay, mine was not so healthy, but it was a good tasting salad. It had the right amount of dressing on it, and the bacon added a lot of flavor.

Matt paying homage to Popeye ordered the Spinach Salad. Popeye, I mean Matt, felt that this salad was just average. He is used to a warmer spinach salad, and he thought this needed more blue cheese in it. This salad also came with dried cranberries and candied pecans, all tossed with a bacon vinaigrette.

This drab looking plate was Matt's entree, the Blackened Rib Eye. Matt said he would rate this steak about a B+. He liked the taste of this steak, and found little fat on this juicy hunk of meat. He was not a fan of the mashed potatoes, but liked the mushrooms. He also got a side order of Broccolini, but did not mention his thoughts on it. I tried the broccolini and felt it was just okay, it needed more seasoning on it.

After a long debate I decided on the LM Filet Mignon. The first bites of this ten ounce, medium rare steak were pretty good, but this steak cooled quickly, and became just an average filet. If the steak was average, the side items served with this were well below that. The mashed potatoes were bland and lumpy. The sauteed spinach was some of the worst I have ever had. The sauce, (either lemon or vinegar), was awful, and should be retired.

Trying to finish on a high note, we ordered dessert. Matt went with the Creme Brulee topped with fresh berries. He thought this was okay, but was not wowed by this. I liked this also, but felt that it could have been richer. I ordered  the Melted Chocolate Chip Cookie, which is served with vanilla bean ice cream. This dessert was better than the Creme Brulee, but it was not as good as the Pizookie served at BJ's. It needed to be served warmer and the cookie was not as good as it could be.

How to rate Landmark? As the meal went on my opinion of this place wained. The appetizers were real good, the salads were slightly above average, but the entrees failed to impress, and the desserts were just okay. I kind of felt that I was paying for their location, because the prices were too high for the quality of food that we received. I also got the vibe that this is a night club first and a restaurant second. I would come back here, but will stick to appetizers.

Out of five pyramids, (because they are some of the most popular landmarks in the world), five being best to zero being worst,. Landmark Steakhouse gets 2.5 pyramids.

For more information on Landmark Steakhouse, click here: http://www.landmarknewport.com/index.html