Andrea

22800 Pelican Hill Rd S
Newport Beach, CA 92657
www.pelicanhill.com

Another one of a handful of meals to celebrate D's 29th birthday. Andrea is located within the Pelican Hill resort in Orange County. A beautiful location on the hills overlooking the Newport coast. We had high expectations from this Northern-Italian eatery.

We arrived a few minutes early for our 7:00pm reservations and had a chance to walk around the grounds. There were some beautiful outdoor pools and the entire place was well manicured. When we went to check in for our dinner, the Maitre d' and hostess were in mid-converstation about the seating arrangements for a large party coming in that night. Not wanting to interrupt, we promptly stood there for a good minute or so before being acknowledged. Although not a huge deal, it was somewhat annoying. A restaurant is in the business of customer service and the customers needing immediate service should probably be the ones getting taken care of first. A simple, "good evening, we'll be right with you" would have more than sufficed. It wasn't a good way to start our dining experience.

1. amuse bouche - beet terrine - The essence of beet really came through. The earthly sweetness of the root was nice and refreshing.


2. beef carpaccio, wild rocket, parmigiano reggiano - The beef was cut very thin and paired well with the slightly bitter greens. The cheese added aroma, texture and a depth of flavor. Another nice summer dish.


3. seared maine lobster, tomato, bread - The worst part about eating lobster is getting to the edible part. Here, the work was all done for you! Lobster is one of those few things things that are delicious on their own. The accompanying balsamic added another layer of welcomed sweetness.


4. tagliatelle, veal bolognese - We've had an obsession with bolognese since discovering Emeril's recipe, which we've recreated over a dozen times now. We like our take on that recipe so much, that ever other bolognese we eat gets compared against it. And when the flavor profiles don't match, we usually give it the thumbs down. Which is what happened here. The tagliatelle was cooked to a perfect al dente. The lamb was complex and weighty, but didn't live up to what we've come to expect from bolognese. Had we never tried Emeril's recipe, this probably would have been a very good dish.

Prepared tableside: Risotto with summer white truffles, chantrelles, shitake and crimini mushrooms


Wheel of Parm!


Summer Truffle!




5. truffled risotto with wild mushrooms - Generous portions of summer black truffles were shaved on top. But we've come to realize that summer truffles are fairly lackluster in comparison to their stinky and oh-so-yummy winter cousins. Had we not seen the actual truffles in our dish, we wouldn't have had the slightest notion of their presense. The risotto itself tasted a bit undercooked, though the parmesean cheese was excellent. An exciting presentation that was disappointing to the palate.


6. osso bucco, polenta - I'm always a sucker for braised foor and D's always the opposite. But this dish was disappointing to the both of us. The polenta lacked it's typical texture, having more of a melted cheese consistency. The marrow was luke warm when we received it, although luke warm marrow is still quite delicious. The flavors of the lamb shank didn't resonate with either of us. Probably the worst dish of the night.


7. fig tart, pistachio gelato, warm manjari chocolate fig - Decent pistachio ice cream, otherwise "bleh".


8. espresso tirmisu, organic coffee gelato - We were so stuffed at this point that not much else could taste good. Therefore, nothing about this dish stood out. Neither good nor bad.


9. mignardises

The location of the restaurant was beautiful. We had a chance to watch the sun set over the Pacific Ocean as we started our dinner. The wait staff was very attentive and very helpful. The food, overall, was a big disappointment. If we do return, we'd likely take more pictures of the resort and skip Andrea altogether.