South Coast Winery Restaurant

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Went with friends to this restaurant in Costa Mesa. I did not know it existed. They are members of South Coast's wine club and had been to this restaurant before. Right now they have a 4 course dinner with 4 wines for $35 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. In today's climate that's a bargain. Of course they are pouring their own wines with this dinner. At least South Coast wines are drinkable. Most of Temecula's wines are "suspect".

First course was "Corn Bisque" , garnished with sauteed Maitake mushrooms, smoked bacon, basil and paired with a South Coast 2007 Reserve Chardonnay. The Chardonnay was oaky but did go well with the the creamy, sweet taste of the bisque. They two countered each other a made for a good pairing

Second course was "Goncchi di Patate", fluffy potato gnocchi sauteed with forest mushrooms, sweet corn, baby tomatoes, sage butter and paired with South Coast 2005 Collaboration. I did like this wine and it paired beautifully with the dish. The vegetables were still very crisp and slightly warm. I felt this was the best wine of the night.

Main course was "Rack of Lamb", two ribs of lamb with warm Farro salad, scallion, pomegranate seeds, Italian Saba and served with South Coast 2005 Wild Horse Peak-4 Block Cabernet Sauvignon. The lamb was cooked the way I liked it. (just this side of dead) and the Farro (Italian grain) was very good. This wine was the weakest of the evening. I did not finish my glass. It had a very weak back finish. Fell off so you could not remember what you were just drinking.

Dessert was "Coconut Flan" with Muscat braised Vanilla Apricots, fresh berries and paired with a South Coast 2008 Muscat Canelli. This was a good pairing.

The food was good and the wines were decent. It was well worth the $35. I looked at their regular menu and the prices seemed reasonable and their wine list was extensive. Mainly California wines but the prices were in line. Not over the hill like a lot of restaurants. Service was good. Did have a small problem with the glasses. After we drank the Chardonnay the serves was going to pour the red wine into the same glass. We had a problem with that and asked for clean red wine glasses. We were told that because the dinner was so inexpensive that he was told to use the same glasses for every wine. This was a management decision not the servers. We did protest and he brought a large red wine glass and did bring a small glass for the Muscat Cannelli. I could handle the 2 reds using the same glass but not a red into white wine residue. I think that management needs to be woken up a bit. This was not their best idea.

If I am in the area I would go back to this restaurant.