i have never written a review but the reviews on this site are so off that i feel compelled to. first there's the service, which was non existent. showed up on time for our 930 reservation. literally did not see the hostess for 10 minutes. when we finally saw her and got her attention she told us that it ""shouldn't be too long, maybe 20 or 30 minutes."" no apology, no explanation. about 45 minutes later they finally sat us. sat no less than another ten minutes before our waitress, ms. sunshine, finally made it to our table. the way she spoke to us you would've thought i ran over her dog on the way over. this isn't le bernardin, it's la cave . . . in costa mesa . . . under a blockbuster. you can drop the euro-trash we're better than you shtick. the one bright spot was that the food came pretty fast. of course it's not that hard to pour chopped lettuce from a bag and throw watery dressing on it. i was hopeful that the steak would redeem the place. it was just alright. definitely overcooked (ordered it rare). it wasn't the worst steak i've had at a restaurant, but it was definitely the worst $35 steak i've ever had. my girlfriend's fish was dry. i don't get how people can say this is one of the better steak places in oc. finally there's the crowd. when i read some of the reviews i got the impression that this was somewhat insulated from the oc-newport ""scene,"" but this place is just as much a d-bag magnet as any around town. granted, part of my disappointment is that i had high expectations, but this place is just not worth it. bottom line: food is very average (and thus overpriced), and the staff just does not care about you in the least. won't be back.
Pros: ambience gave the restaurant promise--very unique for oc
Cons: everything else
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