It’s really here! An actual review of Haven Gastropub in Orange. The restaurant that I declared the best new restaurant of 2009 that we visited has officially been given the Eat in OC restaurant review treatment. Fortunately no Special OPs covert sneaking was needed to do the review. I’ve wanted to do a review for a while but I wanted to be as discreet as possible with my visit, and since one of the owners (Jeff) was there every time I’d visited, I had held off of doing an actual review till I wasn’t recognized! Not that it’s a bad thing to be recognized, but I’m not looking for special treatment or extra special food when I do a review, I’m just looking for the food that everyone should be getting. With our visit tonight I was able to kill two birds with one stone by getting the review done, and also participating in Orange County Restaurant Week!
Being that it was not 5:00 PM yet when we arrived we were able to choose from items off the lunch menu (score!) which meant less money for the OCRW Prix Fixe meal ($20 instead of $30). Of course I’m sure you are yelling at me for spending twenty bucks for lunch, but as you will see this isn’t just a normal everyday lunch. For twenty bucks I got the following.
Soaked in beer and served with fresh herbs sprinkled on top, along with a side of garlic aioli to dip them into. The chips are very habit-forming, remember the old Lay’s commercials saying “Bet you can’t have, just one”? Well when it comes to these chips I guarantee you that you can’t. One thing to keep in mind, a little goes a long way, the huge serving can easily entertain a group of 4 if not more.
Served with pickled onions, roasted bell peppers, wild arugula, and St. Agur cheese. I’m going to say it now, because I’ve told a lot of people I know this already… In my opinion this is the best burger I’ve ever had. The patty is flavorful and juicy and all the produce contribute to the amazingness of it all. It can get a bit messy as you are eating it. The Pommes Frites (French Fries) served along with it, are seasoned much like the chips, so I didn’t have too many today, but as you can tell they gave me a huge portion. Two slight issues and this is just from my observation. The homemade ketchup that they serve with the fries has a much different flavor than what you get from a bottle, and might not be to your liking. Second slight issue and this comes from Mrs. DanGarion, she finds the St. Agur cheese to be a bit overpowering. So we are hoping that when she orders the burger in the future she will be able to order it without the cheese, which would make it perfect for her.
Served as, Brioche, rum-soaked golden raisins, salted-butter caramel ice cream. I have at least a handful of people who will laugh that I’ve now had bread pudding two nights in a row, last night for a get together dinner, and now tonight out at dinner. But as Mrs. DanGarion would tell you I have this affinity for bread puddings. This bread pudding was exceptional, and I liked the use of golden raisins which tend to have a lighter taste than your standard raisin. The scoop of salted-butter caramel ice cream goes great with the hot bread pudding and rum sauce of the raisins.
My wife decided against the Prix Fixe and ordered two appetizers for dinner. She ordered two items we have had in the past (everything other than the bread pudding has been ordered in the past).
Served with Gruyère on top of a crostini, with more Gruyère cheese inside. It’s filled with a good amount of onions and a solid not to salty broth.
Jumbo drummettes, orange-habanero BBQ sauce. She likes them as an appetizer, but they didn’t wow her as a main dish. She really enjoyed the dipping sauce that goes along with them and was dipping some of my pommes frittes in it as well. I agree that the chicken is good, but it is better served as it’s meant to be, to share with others.
Here are some more pictures of out meal.
Overall the meal was great, service was good with a nice attentive waiter, and the atmosphere is also a plus. They always have good music playing over the speakers and whatever sport of the day is on the TVs.
Our only issues with Haven Gastropub is that it’s a little more expensive than we normally dine, but we understand that for good quality food you normally pay a premium, so it’s a trade-off for good food. The only other question is what happened to the amazing Corned Beef Sliders! They had them when they first opened and they were something we both loved, they changed the corned beef recipe (I think they started making in-house) and it was good but not as good as it originally was, and then the last couple visits they are nowhere to be found. We both really hope that they bring them back, and keep them on the menu, it would give them a great one two punch in the “between bread” section of their menu.
Visit on 03/01/10 for lunch / dinner in the afternoon.
[xrr rating=4.5/5]
