230 Forest Avenue

I'd read 230 Forest Avenue's menu a year earlier and made a mental note
that it was high priority to stop here the next time we were in Laguna. This
was my kind of food!

It was exciting to finally make it here. We felt lucky to get a table at the
front of the restaurant where it was open to the sidewalk traffic. The place
is narrow, but long with the bar off to one side, the semi-open kitchen next
to it and tables divided into two rows running down the length of the
restaurant. Oh this was going to be bliss!

Who could have guessed the bad taste Kyle, our waiter, would have left in
our mouth. This guy was so bothered it was practically a show, if you had a
couple of drinks and were in the mood to mess with him. He took his time
greeting us and taking our drink order. He was one of those guys that thinks
he's too good to be a waiter, THEN LEAVE! He barely looked at us, seeming
so annoyed. After taking our order we didn't see him or our food for nearly
an hour. No reassurance or concern on his part. We finally flagged down a
waitress to find out what happened. If we weren't so hungry we'd have left.
The food finally arrived without apology.

It was a disappointing start, barely able to eat our money's worth of their
bland Butternut Squash Soup "with cinnamon apples and clover honey
creme fraiche." Somebody's an awfully good menu writer cause it would
have been good if it really tasted like that. The Homemade Seafood
Sausage was paired wrong with a Mustard Sauce that didn't compliment the
extremely mild sausage. It was nothing like it sounded either. The
Buttermilk Calamari with Lemon Beurre Blanc and Cocktail Sauce was good,
but the Proscuitto Wrapped Shrimp was our favorite appetizer accompanied
with baby mozzarella and bi-colored tear drop tomato salad drizzled with
pesto. Now goat cheese can be tricky, it's definitely an acquired taste, one
which took me many, many years to attain, but I'm so there now. So the
Chevre Goat Cheese, Roasted Garlic & Sun-dried Tomato Fried Wontons with
Blackberry Vinegar wasn't to be ignored. Oh my was this a strong
combination, too strong for us to overcome, we gave up on it. Hmmm...so
much for the appetizers.

For entrees it was the same roller coaster ride. The Herb & Ricotta Ravioli
with butternut squash, sage brown butter and roasted pepitas was again
bland, while the Spicy Lemon Caper Shrimp Scampi Penne with Roma
tomatoes and capers was fresh, light and tasty. I just don't know!

I've got to say, it's quite a consolation leaving behind a business card at the
end of a bad experience, letting offenders know their BUSTED! I always
imagine the panic that sets in realizing they blew it. We'll I got to see it first
hand when I had to go back to 230 Forest Avenue to make Kyle aware that
he'd charged us for an item he failed to deliver. Of course he'd already got
the shock of knowing he'd been tested and failed, miserably at that, but
wow!....he was a changed man now! He was jumping through hoops like I
couldn't believe to be pleasant. I just thanked him for my food, smiled to
myself and thought "yeah whatever".

Though this was a turbulent start, I'm hoping it was an off day with a really
bad waiter, because there were so many things that still sound alluring. I'm
telling you they are some really good writers, listen to this... "Ahi tuna
tartar in wafer cones with wasabi caviar, served with a shot of chilled
saki"...."Grilled portabella mushroom BLT with roasted garlic aioli". I don't
know, I am blonde, would I be naive falling for this place again?

Located at 230 Forest Avenue in Laguna Beach

Telephone (949) 494-2545