Ghoulish Delight
08-05-2005, 10:15 AM
A couple weeks ago we noticed a new restaurant at the Tustin/Irvine Marketplace called Opah. I assumed it was Greek, but apparantly that would be "Opa". Opah is a fish, also called the "Moonfish". It's a slightly up-scale fish and steak place with a hip and happening bar. This one is the third location, the original being in Aliso Viejo. It got some good reviews, so we decided to try it out for our anniversary.
The first impression was good. The first thing you see is an outdoor patio. It's not the most amazing of patios, enclosed in rather uninteresting glass partitions and with a stunning view of 20 square feet of mown grass and Marketplace stucco buildings. But there is kind of a nifty glass bar that caught my eye. Inside, you are immediately greeted by a very large and stunning blue-lit bar. Definitely a hip touch. Another pleasant surprise, live music...on a Thursday! A trio with a range of jazz, classic rock, modern pop. They were fair to good, but just the touch of live music on a Thursday was nice.
The place was jumping, despite being a Thursday. We were glad we took the website's advice and got a reservation, we were seated immediately.
The overall decor was so-so. Some nice woods and a couple interesting architectural elements, but overall it fell sort of flat. The biggest drawback was the accoustics. The place was noisy and though we were seated in a back corner, all of the noise from the crowded bar area was bouncing around the exposed ductwork ceiling above our heads. It made conversation difficult.
My one other complaint was the service. At the end of the meal, it ocurred to me that we never received bread (glancing at other tables I saw that the bread is brought out as a long loaf in paper bag). I was never offered a refill on my cocktail. And there was far to long of a gap between us finishing our main course and our wiater returning to check on us and get our dessert order. I'm not one to want to be rushed by a waiter, but I do like to be checked on on occasion. We got our food and almost never saw him again.
Now, all of that out of the way, I can get to the star of the show. The food. I ordered Grilled Mahi-Mahi with Artichokes, oven-dried tomatoes, baby arugula, lump crab meat, lemon basil butter and a starter caesar salad. CP had Wild Mushroom and Ricotta Ravioli with arugula, butternut squash, sage butter and toasted pepitas with a starter mixed green salad. The starter salads were generously sized, and CP enjoyed the house vinagrette. While I was a bit put off by the chopped tomatoes on my caesar salad (tomato on a caeser?), I was stunned to find that the croutons were made fresh, actual bits of fried bread. And they were heavenly, like little bignets without the powdered sugar. Absolutely sinful.
The main courses were quite good, and perfectly sized, neither skimpy nor gargantuan. I thought mine lacked a little in flavor, but it was still excellent, CP's ravioli was delightful.
But then came dessert. I had seen a review that mentioned their Chocolate croissant bread pudding with bourbon crème anglaise and vanilla bean ice cream that called it "worthy of an Oh-my-God-I-could-eat-this-for-the-rest-of-my-life exclamation." CP usually doesn't like bread pudding, but with a recommendatino like that, we couldn't say no. And we were not misled. It was out of this world fantastic, worth going to the restaurant for that alone.
One big disappointment was that their signature dish, which is, as you might guess, the namesake fish, Opah, is not consitently available. It's only offered as a special because they just can't get enough Opah, so they only offer it when they have it. Unfortunate, I was looking forward to trying it.
Summary:
Decor/Atmosphere: On the plus side, it's lively, and had live music on a Thursday. On the downside, the decor falls a bit flat, it's too loud for conversation, and the crowd seems to be on the "trendy" side. 6 out of 10
Food: Fantastic food, pleasing presentation. 8 out of 10
Service: Slow and inattentive. 5 out of 10
Price: The nice thing I noticed is that they have a good selection of sandwiches in the $10 range, or you can go for their main dishes in the $20-$30 range. $$-$$$
http://www.opahrestaurant.com/
The first impression was good. The first thing you see is an outdoor patio. It's not the most amazing of patios, enclosed in rather uninteresting glass partitions and with a stunning view of 20 square feet of mown grass and Marketplace stucco buildings. But there is kind of a nifty glass bar that caught my eye. Inside, you are immediately greeted by a very large and stunning blue-lit bar. Definitely a hip touch. Another pleasant surprise, live music...on a Thursday! A trio with a range of jazz, classic rock, modern pop. They were fair to good, but just the touch of live music on a Thursday was nice.
The place was jumping, despite being a Thursday. We were glad we took the website's advice and got a reservation, we were seated immediately.
The overall decor was so-so. Some nice woods and a couple interesting architectural elements, but overall it fell sort of flat. The biggest drawback was the accoustics. The place was noisy and though we were seated in a back corner, all of the noise from the crowded bar area was bouncing around the exposed ductwork ceiling above our heads. It made conversation difficult.
My one other complaint was the service. At the end of the meal, it ocurred to me that we never received bread (glancing at other tables I saw that the bread is brought out as a long loaf in paper bag). I was never offered a refill on my cocktail. And there was far to long of a gap between us finishing our main course and our wiater returning to check on us and get our dessert order. I'm not one to want to be rushed by a waiter, but I do like to be checked on on occasion. We got our food and almost never saw him again.
Now, all of that out of the way, I can get to the star of the show. The food. I ordered Grilled Mahi-Mahi with Artichokes, oven-dried tomatoes, baby arugula, lump crab meat, lemon basil butter and a starter caesar salad. CP had Wild Mushroom and Ricotta Ravioli with arugula, butternut squash, sage butter and toasted pepitas with a starter mixed green salad. The starter salads were generously sized, and CP enjoyed the house vinagrette. While I was a bit put off by the chopped tomatoes on my caesar salad (tomato on a caeser?), I was stunned to find that the croutons were made fresh, actual bits of fried bread. And they were heavenly, like little bignets without the powdered sugar. Absolutely sinful.
The main courses were quite good, and perfectly sized, neither skimpy nor gargantuan. I thought mine lacked a little in flavor, but it was still excellent, CP's ravioli was delightful.
But then came dessert. I had seen a review that mentioned their Chocolate croissant bread pudding with bourbon crème anglaise and vanilla bean ice cream that called it "worthy of an Oh-my-God-I-could-eat-this-for-the-rest-of-my-life exclamation." CP usually doesn't like bread pudding, but with a recommendatino like that, we couldn't say no. And we were not misled. It was out of this world fantastic, worth going to the restaurant for that alone.
One big disappointment was that their signature dish, which is, as you might guess, the namesake fish, Opah, is not consitently available. It's only offered as a special because they just can't get enough Opah, so they only offer it when they have it. Unfortunate, I was looking forward to trying it.
Summary:
Decor/Atmosphere: On the plus side, it's lively, and had live music on a Thursday. On the downside, the decor falls a bit flat, it's too loud for conversation, and the crowd seems to be on the "trendy" side. 6 out of 10
Food: Fantastic food, pleasing presentation. 8 out of 10
Service: Slow and inattentive. 5 out of 10
Price: The nice thing I noticed is that they have a good selection of sandwiches in the $10 range, or you can go for their main dishes in the $20-$30 range. $$-$$$
http://www.opahrestaurant.com/