Follow Us On
Search Site
Since 1969, restaurant, hotel, travel & other witty reviews by a handpicked, worldwide team of discerning professionals—and your views, too.

Cuisine

Open

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner daily

Features

* Click here for rating key
Dining room at First Cabin, Newport Beach, CA

First Cabin Restaurant Review

: The renovated Balboa Bay Resort’s First Cabin restaurant sits right on scenic Newport Harbor and has a comfortable, classy interior and a sunny patio. The menu features Cal-Euro fare, as well as some traditional dishes from chef Josef Lageder's native Austria. Breakfast has lots of healthy options, and traditional American favorites like eggs Benedict and buttermilk pancakes. At lunch, you can order up the creamy lobster bisque with its big bites of lobster, or opt for a sandwich, entrée salad, steak or seafood. Dinner is a more formal affair, so start with the house-cured gravlax carpaccio, escargots bourguignon or seared ahi with lemon grass-scented avocadoes and a delicate seaweed salad. For mains, try the seasonal specialties or signature dishes such as butter seared sand dabs, Châteaubriand for two, juicy Colorado lamb rack or the Austrian-style paprika rahm schnitzel (veal scaloppine in a mushroom Cognac sauce accompanied by homemade spätzle). Dessert is worth the wait, especially the carrot cake and warm chocolate torte. The wine list is full of well-known bottles, mostly from California and France.

User Ratings & Reviews for First Cabin
Average rating    1
Reviews 1 - 1 of 11
Terrible
by mx71 on Fri Dec 17, 2010 5:51 pm
 
As a professional chef, I have certain expectations when it comes to a restaurant, food and service independent of each other. If the service is below expectations, the food can make up for it, and vice versa. In the case of The First Cabin, both fell short.

It started with an arrogant server, who looked down upon our table being that some of my fellow diners needed some menu items explained. It followed with a minimum 45 minute wait for our 2nd course, 3 other tables having come after us being served first, Not to mention it tasted like it had been under heat lamps for half an hour once it was finally received. The final course was on time and delicious.

Upon voicing our concerns to the FOH manager, all we got was a sorry. The manager implied that we were in the wrong for bringing it to his attention. Upon checking my bank account the next day, I noticed an amount charged to me greater than I had signed for. The FOH manager on duty on that day assured me that they charge a 20% authorization charge until the payment clears. In all my years of experience, I've never once dined at or worked for a restaurant that necessitated such a charge. That being so, I was charged more than the guaranteed 20% hold regardless. The last straw for me was after calling and voicing my concern to what I was told was the service manager, he told me he was too busy to talk to me and the restaurant needed his attention.

Needless to say, neither I or any of my acquaintances will ever return to this establishment. Nevertheless, I welcome them to try and rectify this.
 
Reviews 1 - 1 of 11



RESTAURANT AWARDS 2013

Check out the 2013 edition of GAYOT's Annual Restaurant Issue, which features the Top 40 Restaurants in the U.S., Rising Chefs and more.

TRENDING TOPICS



 

 

Press | About Us | Site News | Rating System | Sitemap | Advertising | Content Licensing

Copyright © 1996-2013 GAYOT ®       All Rights Reserved      Privacy Policy      Disclaimer      Terms of Use      GAYOT (pronounced guy-OH)   The Guide To The Good Life