Steakhouse 55 at Disneyland Resort

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Review of “The Bungalow” in Corona Del Mar – Does this revered restaurant still live up to it’s name?

Our group buying adventure led us to The Bungalow restaurant in Corona Del Mar, a revered South OC establishment.  The Bungalow is known for aged prime steaks and a quaint setting on PCH. The entrance of the Bungalow is a dimly lit bar area which is decorated with dark wood and leather. The bar area was obviously the local watering hole, as I noticed many sophisticated ladies giving me the lioness eye as I walked in the door. This front bar area is relatively noisy, as it is packed full of people mingling and socializing over one of the Bungalow’s signature martinis. I did not have the opportunity to order one of their Martini’s, although the word on the street is that they are really amazing in flavor and kick.

The restaurant has both a main dining room and a covered patio space. The patio featured an elegant patio cover, fireplace and candles, as well as a cozy outdoor setting.  Once we were settled in, the waitress greeted us and guided us through the menu offerings. This restaurant employs a professional wait staff that is well versed on the menu and a variety of cooking techniques. Our drinks and appetizer came out promptly and our water glasses were always full.  We were never looking for the waitress, she somehow had E.S.P.  and knew when we needed something. We ordered a bottle of wine, a cheese plate,  the chef’s special, which consisted of a 22 ounce porterhouse, a 10 ounce filet and the double pork chop.

The Cheese Plate – The Cheese plate featured five types of cheeses and five condiments. The cheeses included a cheddar, manchego, brie, camembert, and Humboldt Fog. The sides were pretty amazing in their own right and consisted of unleavened fig bread, oozing honeycomb, dried cranberries, and toasted bread points. All the cheeses were amazing, especially when paired with the sides. The cheese plate was actually one of the high points of the meal and nicely complimented the wine we ordered.

The Porterhouse – This was a 22-oz behemoth of a steak that came with baby asparagus  and  garlic mashed potatoes. The steak was a little intimidating in size when it arrived at my seat and the waitress joked around that this was the Fred Flintstone Cut and it was suitable for sharing.  A porterhouse steak is a composite steak with two different cuts of meat (tenderloin and  New York) separated by a T-bone. In fact, the porterhouse is the over-sized brother of the T-Bone, just thicker and has a much larger section of tenderloin. The steak had very nice grill lines across the steak and had a nice color from the char. I started on the tenderloin side of the steak (smaller side) and easily cut my knife through the flesh to reveal that the steak was pink throughout and full of juices, cooked medium per my order. The tenderloin side of the steak was extremely juicy and full of natural prime steak flavors from cooking on the bone, which was an amazing experience. Although, as I cut into the New York side of the porterhouse, the results were disappointing and my plate became the tale of two cities. The New York side was tough to cut with the steak knife and the knife actually became snagged several times as I cut through. I inspected the steak for evidence of being overcooked, but the flesh was nearly pink throughout, but not juicy. As I bit into the steak, I noticed that the meat was stringy and I had to chew through excessive connective tissue. The New York side of the steak was also a lot tougher than similar cuts that I have previously eaten.  I wanted to ensure that I was not spoiled and overly critical after eating the tenderloin sides, so I had the other members of my party try the steak. Their reactions to the steak were identical, with reactions like “that’s a little stringy” or “it is a bit tough for a loin cut, there must be something wrong there.” I am not sure if the steak was a bad cut of meat or potentially overcooked, but it was not up to the standards of a restaurant who claims to specialize in aged prime steaks. In addition at a $55 price tag, I was expecting a steak that was tender on both sides of the T-Bone. Based on the composite quality of both sides, I would expect to have paid much less for this porterhouse, perhaps $30-$35. Based on both sides of the steak and the price point, this dish got a 2.5. If I had not eaten the entire tenderloin side first, I would have sent it back to the kitchen.

The Filet Mignon – The 10 ounce filet was served with a garlic mashed potatoes and broccolini. The steak had a nice appearance with even char lines and glistening brown color. When the steak was cut open it was pink throughout and slightly runny with juices, and was very nicely cooked a medium rare. This steak had a good natural beef flavor and was for the most part tender and juicy.  Daniele indicated that it was a very good steak, although not one of the best filet mignon she had ever tasted. Daniele noted that for the price point, this dish received 4 out of 5.

The Double Pork Chop– The double pork chop was served on the bone and served with parsnip mashed potatoes , grilled pineapple and broccolini.  Due to the size of the double pork chop, the plating of this dish was impressive. The pork chop had a nice char and caramelization from the sugars used in the marinade.  The pork chop rested on a thick cut of grilled pineapple, which added even more sweetness to the pork chop.  On the side was a gently cooked serving of broccolini which retained its crunch and bright green color. The pork chop was cooked nicely and was extremely juicy when cut open. Peggy’s main issue with this dish was that the pork chop was too sweet. She indicated that the sweet flavor infused into the pork chop had overpowered  her palate, thereby reducing her ability to taste the natural flavors of the pork. This was a shame, especially since pork already has a sweet and savory flavor that should be enjoyed naturally. Peggy gave this dish 3.5 out of 5 because the sweetness was a distraction. This dish should have been 4 out of 5 if it were prepared differently.

My Final Thoughts

The Bungalow has it’s share of extremely positive ratings on a variety of websites, such as yelp.com and urbanspoon.com, although my investigation was confirmed by some of the negative reviews read from less than fully satisfied customers. The main issue I have with the Bungalow is their high price point for imperfect dishes. For example, I would not expect to pay $55 for a stringy steak.   In addition, the wine we selected from the menu was sold out and we had to pick a wine at a higher price point than we were originally willing to spend.  Phenomenal service would have provided us another bottle of wine at the same price point as the one we originally requested. Also the wine list lacked middle tier priced wines. I am usually willing to spend $25-45 on a bottle of wine, although the Bungalow had very few wines within this price range. They only carried $40 wines and above and the $40 bottles were what most restaurants would call their house wines. The Bungalow did many things right including impeccable service, great ambiance, an extensive menu, a great execution of the filet mignon and the cheese plate.  Based on our mixed feelings of the overall experience, I  am giving The Bungalow an overall score of 3 out of 5. This is not a bad score, although for this caliber of a restaurant a 3 is lackluster and indicates opportunities for improvement. At the price point, I would more likely go to Banderas or Five Crowns just down the street to ensure a quality meal. I am willing to give this restaurant another chance, as it is possible we encountered a series of uncharacteristic issues. I will be posting an addendum to this review when I return.

Link to The Bungalow Website: http://www.thebungalowrestaurant.com/
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Review of “The Vintage Steakhouse”

The Vintage Steakhouse

26701 Verdugo Street, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675-3146 (949) 661-3400 ‎

Located in the historic downtown of San Juan Capistrano, adjacent to the train station and a short stroll to the Mission San Juan Capistrano. The Vintage Steakhouse is nestled in a thriving restaurant district on this historic railway stop. The Vintage can be found just off Verdugo street, right next to the AMTRAK station. When you look at the Vintage Steakhouse from the outside, it looks like a line of vintage Pullman Train Cars. Part of the restaurant dinning area is actually in the train car and the other portion is the original train station building. The interior decor is upscale turn-of-the-century railroad baron theme. The ambiance is  dark with red curtains , dark woods and gold accents like an upscale cowboy brothel. When you looked out the window you could see and hear the train passing, it almost made me feel like I was in a moving train!

When we arrived, the restaurant was extremely busy and even with a 8:00 reservation, we still had to wait 30 minutes in the bar. The bar itself  was very ornate, with the same dark woods and dim lighting. The bar was very loud with lots of merriment coming from the dinning room, the bartender told us that there was two engagement parties there that night. The parties were very loud but added something to the overall vibe of the bar.

After 30 minutes, we were seated in the railcar room. The room was cozy and almost reminded me of the Napa Valley Wine Train. We sat waiting at our table for 10 minutes for service. It was a very busy night and it was obvious that the restaurant staff was stretched thin. I couldn’t blame the waiter has he was obviously working hard to satisfy all his guests needs. When the waiter arrived, he greeted us with individualized attention and took his time. He explained the menu and answered our questions about the wine list. It was obvious he was a professional waiter, as he was extremely knowledgeable about the menu. He explained in detail how the food was prepared and what ingredients used in each of the dishes. Based on this conversation, we learned that the Head Chef was classically trained French Chef and has an affinity for mushrooms. You can see on the menu that there is a “Mushroom of the Day” featured on the menu. The menu also  features a selection of fine-cut steaks, seafood and pork chops.

We  first ordered the mushroom special, a  long-stemmed Japanese mushroom called Enokita in a white wine sauce.  I have never tried this type of mushroom, nor have I tried mushrooms prepared in a traditional French technique. The mushrooms had a creamy rich flavor that exploded with a nuttiness when I chewed on the firm flesh. We paid $12 for the mushroom of the day, but I am very happy i tried it.

We also ordered the halibut special and the prime rib eye steak, which was listed as one of their specialties.   While we were waiting, the hot bread came out. I have read that a restaurant’s  bread can foreshadow the overall quality of the meal, because if a Chef neglects the bread, he will most likely neglect other details. I love restaurant bread and The Vintage Steakhouse has some of the best.  The bread was very hot, with a thin crunchy shell and a soft and fluffy interior, in true French Bakery style. It was as if I stumbled into a  Parisian Bakery at 5:30 in the morning and the bread had just come out of the oven.  

The Halibut was firm, moist and was a respectable sized portion. The beurre blanc sauce was rich, sweet and had a whole mouth flavor.. The lemon and wine broke through the richness of the cream and butter in the sauce to give it a little turbo to the taste buds.  It looks like the fish was pan seared with butter, locking in the juices and providing a very slight crispiness to the exterior.    Overall, a very well thought through dish in terms of flavor and texture layers,  excellent flavors and a pleasure to eat.   It was served with a twice- baked potato what was soft and creamy on the inside and crusted over on the outside.

The grill prime rib eye was a beautiful 16-ounce cut of meat cooked over a mesquite grill. The steak had a large basis of solid meat and fat clouds around the perimeter just like an oven roasted prime rib. The steak was grilled to perfection and I could smell a gentle waft of mesquite. When we ordered, the waiter suggested the steak cooked medium. He explained that medium is the right temperature to bring the flavors out of the meat and fat, but hot enough to drain out the natural juices. The waiter was on the mark, the exterior of the steak was slightly crusted over and had ornate grill lines. When the steak was cut open, it was beautiful pink throughout with lots of juices pouring out. When I bit into the steak,  it was tender, flavorful and the juices rushed out of the meat and into my teeth. It was a glorious experience. The side selected was sweet potato fries, they were fantastic, but after eating the steak I had a hard time filling up on more carbs.

The meals were served with a trio of sauces, a demi-glaze, a mushroom and wine sauce and a béarnaise. The sauces were all fantastic in flavor and it was obvious that they were fresh. We tried all the sauces on the steak, but the mushroom wine sauce was the clear winner.

Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed my visit to this restaurant. The Vintage has a great atmosphere, remarkable food and a professional wait staff making you feel like you are the most important guest in the restaurant. Stepping into restaurant you feel like you are stepping into a by-gone era and transported away from your daily life for a couple of hours.  My experience was excellent give this restaurant a rating of a 4 out of 5, meaning I would come here often and recommend it to friends and family. I highly suggest you try the mushroom of the day!

Visit the Restaurants Website: http://www.thevintagesteakhouse.com

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