Red O
in Newport Beach has only been open for a few months.
Located at Fashion Island is the perfect
setting for this trendy restaurant.
Although
Red O is “Mexican Cuisine by
Rick Bayless” of Frontera Grill, Topolobampo and
Top Chef Masters fame, other than the menu Rick has little do to with the
menu.
He has no ownership interest in
the restaurant.
In fact, Red O is owned
by Mike Dobson and Rick Teasta, founders and owners of EZ Lube.
Walking
into Red O is little walking into an episode of the Housewives of Orange
County. There are Bentleys and Ferraris
in the valet area, and more plastic surgery patients than could be found at a
plastic surgeons convention.
The
reception area is rather small, with Mexican tiled floors and bottles of
tequila adorning the walls, each with its own little cubby hole.
 |
| Complimentary Chamgpagne |
Although
I had a reservation at 9:00 PM they were running rather late. Offerings of a complimentary glass of
champagne for were gladly accepted.
Once
my table was ready, you must almost bull rush your way through the bar area
packed with cougars and millionaires.
It’s like watching an episode of Marlin Perkins Wild Kingdom if the
episode featured homosapiens.
There
are two parts to the dining area, the larger main dining room which is rather
loud and energetic and a smaller dining room which is quieter and more
conservatively decorated.
After
being seated and presented with menus, it took a while for our server to
arrive. She was apologetic as the
restaurant was packed. A complimentary
appetizer was offered due to our being seated much later than our reservation
time.
 |
| Chips & Salsa |
Chips
and two types of salsas were presented.
The red salsa was reminiscent of ancho chiles, while the green salsa had
the acidic notes of tomatillos. Although
good, the salsas were muted in flavor and lacking in salt.
 |
| Amuse Bouche |
An
amuse bouche of jicama, mangoes and pineapples was presented. Sweet, acidic and starchy the small bit did
little to whet my appetite.
 |
| Guacamole Tasting |
The
Tasting of Guacamole ($14) consists of four small samplings of classic, pomegranate-walnut,
yuzu and macha guacamoles. The classic
included large chunks of guacamole and was a decent rendition but lacking in
salt. I did not care for the
pomegranate-walnut as it was too sweet for my taste. The yuzu also included shishito peppers and
was rather acidic and somewhat sour. The
macha includes arbol chiles and peanuts, but there was little heat from the
arbols and the peanuts added a heaviness and could have used some acid to
brighten up the flavors.
 |
| Chicken Tortilla soup |
The
Tortilla Soup ($9) was a huge disappointment.
Although presentation is fantastic as you are presented with a bowl that
includes tortilla strips, avocado and sour cream while the servers pours the
soup into the bowl the taste was just off.
Although the menu indicates that the soup is tomato based, it is very
dark in color and tasted like French Onion soup and was riddled with carmelized
onions. It was a fusion soup gone wrong.
 |
| Lamb Mole Negro |
The
Lamb Mole Negro ($29) consists of two double cut lamb chops which are rather
thick atop a black mole that was very sweet for my taste. The lamb was expertly cooked but since I am
not a fan of sweet things in savory dishes this was not my favorite.
 |
| Tinga Poblana |
The
Tinga Poblana ($25) contains very tender pieces of pork shoulder and pork belly
which has been slowly braised. It is
adorned with a smoky and slightly spicy chipotle sauce, which was very
flavorful. Unfortunately the amount of
sauce was negligible and the pork was somewhat bland on its own. Although there were fried garlic chips, the
dish could have used another textural component as everything was sort of soft
and mushy.
 |
| Cotija Mashed Potatoes |
The
Cotija Mashed Potatoes ($6) was soft and creamy. The cotija added little punches of salt. A definite winner.
 |
| Street Corn |
The
Mexican Street Corn ($7) was a deconstructed version of the usual corn
smothered in mayo with cheese and chile.
The corn was grilled on the cob and then sliced off. The corn milk added a touch of
sweetness. This dish was not too spicy,
and the crema was sort of lost flavorwise.
This was a very good dish however.
 |
| Tres Leches |
The Tres
Leches Cake ($10) is a glammed up version of the Mexican classic. Adorned with caramel and a semi-freddo type
concoction nestled between two pieces of cake sprinkled with pomegranates and
overflowing with milk this is a pretty substantial dessert.
Service
was almost non-existent but was pleasant when we were actually helped.
After
receiving our appetizer, nobody came by to check on us. Empty dishes sat on the table for the better
of 25 minutes, while hardly any employees came into the dining room. The ones that did were setting up for the
next day’s service.
After
dishes were finally cleared, our server was nowhere to be found. Another server did notice that we had been
sitting there for quite some time with nothing in front of us after our
appetizer dishes had been cleared. She
asked us if we wanted to see the dessert menu, but we informed her that we had
not received our entrees yet. After an
uncomfortable silence she said that she would check on our food, as well as our
server.
My
dinner experience at Red O was quite disappointing. I was really looking forward to dining here
as I have been a fan of Rick Bayless for many years. Unfortunately, service was very poor and the
food was mediocre and rather bland. I
was expecting big, bold flavors but the food did not deliver. I have heard the same thing from several
people. Despite all its misgivings it
appears that Red O will continue to flourish thanks to it Housewives of Orange
County atmosphere.
