02/06/09

GREAT

by seaecotton

I've been going to LaCave for 25 yrs, and the atmosphere is the first thing you notice, It is a great place to take a date, or your s/o for a romantic evening. I have been hung up on the Halibut, which is outastanding, the garlic breac will bring you back again, and anytime I have gone, the service is great. It's very small, creating a nice friendly atmosphere. It is costly, which isn't bad. to me, you get what you pay for.

I will continue to go, because the place cannot be duplicated in any other restaurant anywhere.

Thanks..

• Pros: Ambience, food, service are the best of the best
• Cons: i don't have any complaints

01/10/09

overrated

by jek13

i have never written a review but the reviews on this site are so off that i feel compelled to. first there's the service, which was non existent. showed up on time for our 930 reservation. literally did not see the hostess for 10 minutes. when we finally saw her and got her attention she told us that it "shouldn't be too long, maybe 20 or 30 minutes." no apology, no explanation. about 45 minutes later they finally sat us. sat no less than another ten minutes before our waitress, ms. sunshine, finally made it to our table. the way she spoke to us you would've thought i ran over her dog on the way over. this isn't le bernardin, it's la cave . . . in costa mesa . . . under a blockbuster. you can drop the euro-trash we're better than you shtick. the one bright spot was that the food came pretty fast. of course it's not that hard to pour chopped lettuce from a bag and throw watery dressing on it. i was hopeful that the steak would redeem the place. it was just alright. definitely overcooked (ordered it rare). it wasn't the worst steak i've had at a restaurant, but it was definitely the worst $35 steak i've ever had. my girlfriend's fish was dry. i don't get how people can say this is one of the better steak places in oc. finally there's the crowd. when i read some of the reviews i got the impression that this was somewhat insulated from the oc-newport "scene," but this place is just as much a d-bag magnet as any around town. granted, part of my disappointment is that i had high expectations, but this place is just not worth it. bottom line: food is very average (and thus overpriced), and the staff just does not care about you in the least. won't be back.

• Pros: ambience gave the restaurant promise--very unique for oc
• Cons: everything else

12/10/06

Would not recommend - Plan Be is like a bad "B" movie

by suzannetroyer

Went here last night (12-09-06) for our 28th anniversary. The hostess was very good as was the bartenders. After sitting down for dinner our waitress came up to the table and was curt- no smile, how are you tonight, etc. Just I see you have your drinks,here is our menu (in the chilled cart, which I thought was nicely put together). At the table next to us she was friendly, smiled and talkative. I wanted to ask for another waiter/waitress as this was a special occasion, but my husband and brother in law talked me out of it. I think she must have heard me talking about her because she was smiley and friendly when she took our dinner order. We had shrimp cocktails first (delicious with a lot of horseradish), and ordered our dinner, I had combo porterhouse and lobster (1/2 tail) for around $59, my husband ordered full porterhouse, brother in law had steak and sister in law had swordfish. She said the fish was dry. My steak and lobster was good as was the other 2 steaks. The waitress never came and asked us during dinner if everything was alright, etc. She did offer us dessert, but I had to remind her that it was our anniversary and I was told dessert came with our dinner. She said yes it did so we got that and the others got a chocolate cake. Dessert was good. As for the entertainment, Plan Be was like the background music to a 60's bad "B" movie. Not good at all. I was so looking forward to going here after reading all the reviews. I was very disappointed. We go to places like Flemings, Summit House, Montage, Chat Noir (where our company Christmas party is this year) etc. (have been to most of the places on this website's list) and would not recommend this place. Just having decent food is not enough when you pay these prices. At the end when our bill was brought, my husband asked what he would have to do if he wanted another glass of wine and she said get it at the bar. He asked her to do it and then refigure the bill. Fine Dining? NO, NO

• Pros: Decent food, easy parking, good bartenders
• Cons: Bad service, pricey for the service, bad "jazz"