[Santa Ana] [Italian] Antonello Ristorante

Antonello Ristorante
3800 S Plaza Drive
Santa Ana, CA 92704
(714) 751-7153
http://www.antonello.com

平常很少到OC，前陣子South Coast購物中心的幾家餐廳舉辦了美食周，晚餐四道菜$40，我們選了Antonello Ristorante這家義大利餐廳，兩個人的四道菜都選不一樣的，所以一共嚐了八道菜，居然每一樣都令人非常滿意，餐廳的服務非常周到，布置也很有情調，我們非常喜歡這家餐廳，以後去South Coast逛街一定要再來這家吃。

I don't really venture down to Orange County too much because I don't know what's good to eat down there.  When I saw the 4 course for $40 event at South Coast Plaza resturants, I thought it would be a great opportunity to try a new restaurant in a new area.  At first we made a reservation at Charlie Palmer because it was such an expensive restaurant and $40 seemed like a great deal.  But after reading some negative reviews on Chowhound, we decided to change it.  Dr. Park and I both liked the special menu at Antonello Ristorante.  So we came here at our 7pm reservation on Saturday night.



The plaza looked empty.  But the restaurant was quite busy.  We waited for about 5 minutes for the hostess to seat us.




She seated us on the upstair dining room.  It's smaller than the downstair huge dining area, and it felt a lot more intimate.  I felt in love with the decor immediately.  Beautiful painted ceiling, dim lighting, rose on the table.  Awww.... Romantic!


French Martini ($9.25)

Dr. Park ordered a French Martini for me.  The rose color looked as pretty as the taste. 


Bread

Our polite and friendly waiter brought a basket of bread after we ordered.  Three different types of bread were seraved.  Warm sourdough, flat bread and bread stick.



We used the balsamic vinegar and olive oil on the table to dip the bread in.


Italian Red Wine

We both ordered the 4 course for $40 special.  Dr. Park also had wine pairing for an extra $20.  The first wine was red.  I don't remember the name nor the taste.  But I remember Dr. Park liked all the wine. 


Bruschetta al Pomodoro

Each course had two different choices.  We opted for one selection each.  The watier knew we wanted to share so everything was served in the center of the table. 

The first appetizer was bruschetta.  Slices of crunchy Italian bread, topped with diced tomato, garlic, basil, chopped green onion, extra virgin olive oil and shaved Parmigiano cheese.  We didn't know what was the seasoning they used, but Dr. Park mentioned this was the best bruschetta he's ever had.


Mozzarella in Carrozza

The second appetizer was Italian Bufala Mozzarella cheese lightly fried, served with fresh marinara sauce.



The mozzarella cheese was really fresh.  I like their marinara sauce a lot.  Both appetizer dishes were great.


Penne all' Arrabbiata

I forgot to take a picture for the second wine.  But it was also a red wine and looked just like the first one. 

Second course was pasta.  The plate was messy because the waiter offered to divide the pasta into our plates, but I stopped him quickly because I wanted to take a picture first.  This dish was penne pasta sauteed with extra virgin olive oil, garlic, basil and spicy tomato sauce.  We love the spicy and tangy tomato sauce.


Ravioletti di Mamma Pina

Homemade miniature ravioli with veal bolognese sauce.  This pasta dish was rich and hearty.  Very "http://www.eileenlikestoeat.commade" style and very good.  Again, love the sauce.  This restaurant really did a great job making all their sauces.


Italian Red Wine

Another Italian red wine to go with the main course.  It looked just like the first and the second wine.  But Dr. Park tried to explain the different complexity of all three wines to me and I pretended I knew what he was talking about.


Grasato di Manzo

Moving on to main course.  The meat dish was a slowly braised boneless short rib with assorted vegetables, red wine, new potato and mushroom.  The short rib was very tender and flavorful.  Love the braised mushroom.  Spinach was great with the sauce as well.


Sogliola alla Milanese

The seafood dish was grilled filet of sole coated with bread crumbs, parsley, Parmasan cheese and Italian seasonings served with seasoned vegetables and fresh lemon.  Another great dish.  The seasoned curst of the fish filet was delicious.


Dessert Wine

Dessert white wine.  Sweet, and I love it.


Profiteroles

Finally, dessert time!  At this point, Dr. Park's stomach was about to burst.  Yes!  My evil plan worked!  For the last three courses, I kept on giving Dr. Park a bigger portion.  My plan was to get him so full that I could have all the dessert.  So it worked!  Puhahaha.... (that was the evil laugh).

Small cream puffs filled with a delicate mocha custard cream served with warm chocolate sauce.  My god!  The cream puffs were so yummy.  There were 5 of them in the plate and I only allowed Dr. Park to have 1.  Haha....


Panna Cotta

Vanilla egg-less flan "Italian style" served with caramel sauce and seasoned berries.  If the cream puffs were OMG, the panna cotta was OMFG.  The panna cotta was so good that I felt like screaming out "Oh yes oh yes" while eating it.


Coffee ($2.50)

Since Dr. Park couldn't have any dessert, he sipped on a cup of hot coffee while watching me eat.  He said the coffee was great.  But I was sure it wasn't as good as the dessert.



What a great find!  We had a beautiful dinner at Antonello Ristorante.  Wonderful service, superb food, nice decor, everything a great restaurant needs.  We will definately come back here again, and again.

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