24351 Avenida De La Carlota
Laguna Hills, CA 92653
(949) 587-9418
http://breakofdawnrestaurant.com
I did research on good restaurants to eat around Aliso Viejo when we first moved down here. Break of Dawn was on top 10 of my list. It's been about six months since we moved down here. Finally got to try the place last Saturday.
Break of Dawn only opens for breakfast and lunch. They close at 2:30pm because the owner/chef wants to spend more time with his family. You can read about his story on the restaurant's website. It's a little sad. I hope the best for his six year old son.
The chef is Vietnamese. Although I categorized this restaurant as "fusion" in the title, I think this restaurant should be called "creative". There were definitely some Asian influences in some of the dishes. But majority of the dishes just seemed "interesting", and not necessarily "Asian influenced". This was not your typical breakfast joint. Their dishes are more gourmet-like.
Mac and Cheese ($13.00)
Sicilian Sausage and Short Rib, Bacon Fried Eggs, Smoked Gouda
They have Vietnamese coffee($3.50) on the menu, but we opted for two cups of regular coffee ($2.50/cup). I ordered Mac and Cheese because I love mac and cheese. From the description, I was expecting regular looking mac and cheese with sausage and short rib mixing in with the pasta, and topped with fried eggs. Hmmm.... this didn't look like what I expected.
The Mac and Cheese came as a baked "brick". On top was two perfect fried eggs, then bacon, then the baked cheesy pasta with some sausages and meats mixing in between, on the bottom I think it was some tomato sauce (?), and the whole thing was sitting in melted cheese. This definitely wasn't your typical mac and cheese. It was different, but tasted different in a really good way. The sausages and meat didn't really have strong flavor, but it added some texture to the pasta. Who doesn't love melted cheese? Who doesn't love running yolk? How about melted cheese AND running yolk at the same time? I really enjoyed my mac and cheese.
Skillet ($12.00)
New Potato, Bacon, Cheddar Poached Eggs, Guacamole, Chipotle Sour Cream
Dr. P ordered Skillet. Lots of country fried potatoes with onion and bacon, cheese, poached egg, topped with guacamole and sour cream and sprinkled with some scallion. This was more of a "traditional" breakfast dish, and it tasted very gourmet. The flavor was stronger than the mac and cheese. I had my mac and cheese then tried this dish, and thought it was delicious. Dr. P tried my mac and cheese after eating the skillet, and thought he couldn't taste anything. In my opinion, both dishes were good. But Dr. P only liked the skillet.
I spotted a look-alike lady while eating our breakfast. Can you tell who I thought she looks like? I know she's not, but she looks so much like Betty White! I think I got the skill to be a paparazzi!
Since the taste was more gourmet like, the portion was also gourmet like. We easily finished everything. With no leftover, this breakfast cost about $38 with tips. Sorta expensive for breakfast. But we really really like the food. Definitely will go back again. Maybe once a month or so?
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Eileen:
ReplyDeleteI am glad you like it. He had pho in the manu before but took it off about 3-4 years ago. He was chef in high end hotel.
by the way, I like that big dinning table.
I read about his story on their website of how he used to be sous chef at high end hotel.
The big wooden dining table was nice for big group.
I wish to return there again real soon. Thank you for the recommendation, Jessica!