[Corona Del Mar] [American] Port Restaurant & Bar

Port Restaurant & Bar
440 Heliotrope Ave
Corona Del Mar, CA 92625
(949) 723-9685
http://www.portcdm.com

Dr. P was out in LA for the day.  I went over to my friend Wen's place for afternoon tea.  I had one of the Groupon from Port Restaurant & Bar, which was going to expire on that same day.  I gave it to Wen and her hubby to have dinner there that night.  But they insisted that I go with them and be the third wheel of the night.  They said that I wouldn't be the third wheel because their 12 year old son would be my date.  Yeah, I always wanted to see how it would feel to date a younger man.  haha....



Port is a cute little place.  The dining room was elegant, but still feel pretty casual.  There were guests in shorts and sandals.  There were also guests with suits and cocktail dresses.  Our waiter had bandage on one of his hand.  I asked him if he was ok.  He told me the whole story of how he burned his hand just earlier, and how he had to wrap it for sanitary reason so the oozes from his wound wouldn't contaminate our food.  Uhhhhh.... exactly the things I wanted to hear from our waiter before the meal.



Bread

Bread was soft and warm.  Love the pesto spread.


Middle Eastern / Mediterranean Combo ($16.00)
Hummus, eggplant dip, shirazi (cucumber, tomatoes, onions, mint), tzatziki, warm Greek pita wedges

For starter, we got Middle Eastern/Mediterranean Combo.  I really liked the eggplant dip.  But the most popular one was the shirazi, a cucumber, tomato, and onion salad.



Tzatziki and hummus were both really good as well.  I could easily have this appetizer combo as my main entree.


Curry Filet Pasta ($23.00)
Filet mignon tips, oven-dried tomatoes, shitake mushrooms, yellow curry, spices, fettuccini, mild or spicy

Since none of us were that hungry, we decided to order two main entrees to share among the 4 of us.  I picked Curry Filet Pasta because it seemed like a very interesting dish on the menu.  I wanted to taste the "American" style curry pasta.  This dish won me over.  It was pungent, rich, creamy, spicy, so very flavorful, and good in every way.  The curry tasted more Indian than Japanese.  We all just love the curry sauce.  Some pieces of the filet mignon tips were a bit tough, but overall still pretty good.  This was a heavy dish though.  I don't think I could finish the whole plate by myself.


Flat Iron Steak Plate ($24.00)
Choice flat iron (8 oz), mashed potatoes, vegetables, brandy peppercorn or red wine stilton sauce

I prefer dating man who knows about food.  Jonathan, even though he's 12, proved that he's worthy.  He picked Flat Iron Steak Plate.  The meat was cooked perfectly.  I'm not too crazy about the brandy peppercorn sauce.  It didn't really have any flavor.  But the meat itself was flavorful enough so it didn't need the sauce.  Even though the meat was good, portion was a bit small for the price in my opinion.



I liked this restaurant (but maybe not our waiter).  We all enjoyed the food, although we all thought this restaurant is overpriced.  I don't think I'll come back here if I have to pay full price.  But with another Groupon deal, definitely!

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