Devouring Newport Beach, California - Balboa Island, Fun Zone, Top Restaurants + Food Tour
Our semi-nomadic family has been eating our way around the world for the past 2 years and after countless international trips, our 35th city is stateside, here in beautiful Newport Beach, California (don’t miss our Pelican Hill Resort review and tour)! We’re checking out some favorite outdoor activities while eating and drinking the top recommendations of the locals. So if you’re planning a trip to this stretch of the Pacific coast, just do what we do.
Contents:
0:00 Intro
0:22 Farmhouse at Rogers Gardens
4:33 Balboa Island
4:45 Frozen Banana at Sugar and Spice
5:44 Balboa Candy
6:28 Balboa Boardwalk and Ferry
7:00 Fun Zone at Balboa Peninsula
7:34 Balboa Pier
7:45 Royal Hen
9:04 Beachcomber at Crystal Cove
11:09 Lido Bottle Works
15:01 Ice Cream at Malibu Farm
Full Transcript:
Phil (00:00):
Our semi nomadic family's been eating our way around the world for the past two years. And after countless international trips, our 35th city is stateside here in beautiful Newport beach, California. We're checking out some favorite outdoor activities while eating and drinking the top recommendations of the locals. So if you're planning a trip to this stretch of the Pacific coast, just do what we do. Let's start devouring.
Dinner at Farmhouse on Rogers Gardens
So we're kicking things off with a little farm-to-fork dining here at farmhouse on Rogers Gardens. Rogers Gardens is actually a seven-acre home and garden center where you can shop for everything that you want to plant an amazing garden or yard for your home. But we are here to have some really good food.
Erin (00:38):
You know, we already know what we love about this restaurant is that they're very charitable. They pick a different charity, a local charity every week, and they donate 50% of the proceeds from their cocktail list. And if you buy a blanket, if you get a little chilly, you can keep it or you can donate it. And it goes to a charity as well. Feels good to give.
Phil (01:01):
That's tasty. I can drink that all night. So, I will. 4,000 square feet of Alfresco dining here. So there is no true indoor seating and there are heaters all over the place, the ceiling up here, the other umbrella kind of heaters out on the patio area, but it's really cool how they've separated everything into these little areas, just by using plants and trees and different structures like the pergola and the rooftop. It's like a whole little Oasis.
Erin (01:26):
We just got our bread service and it's Rosemary and Parmesan-crusted crackers with a white bean hummus, both the cracker and the hummus was really good. The hummus is super light and airy and very cold. Actually, I could totally fill up on this. I got the panko Curry and coconut-crusted Icelandic cod. I wasn't sure what to get at first. So I looked them up on their Instagram and I found the photo and the photo sold it for me. Ooh, that fish is so flaky. Mmm. So tender so flaky. And this grain here, it's a Sonora grain and it's kind of like a small, short farro, cuz it's kind of meaty and tough and just full of body. And these veggies are so pressed. I love how much character they all have. They're right out of the ground. And honestly the curry flavor is really mild. It's subtle and it's perfect. It's just like this underlining taste. And the fish is really like the most flavorful thing about it.
Phil (02:33):
And I got chicken, but not any chicken. I got the dijon panko time, crusted chicken palard. And this crust sounds delicious, but these vegetables we've got these very crunchy sugar snap peas. We've got radish. We have celery. We have asparagus. I've gotta try this because I love sugar snap bees. It's one of the crunch sugar snap bees I've ever had, but we also have cannelloni beans. We have this asparagus and this is all in a meyer lemon vinaigrette. And we have this whole green mustard jous on here as well. And I know look at these little pickled red onions for a little bit of tang. So let's try this chicken. Mmm. I love that crust. It's a chicken breast by the way. And it's fantastic. Cooked perfectly. Hits the spot.
Brooklyn (03:15):
More please.
Phil (03:17):
Brooklyn's going to town on one of her favorite comfort foods, cheese pizza, but this one's gourmet enough and big enough to serve to discerning adults. Colt ordered the farmhand burger, but we won't even show him eating it since he said he was too full to touch it.
Erin (03:30):
These are cold Brooklyn's boxes of shame. Shame on you. Shame on you. We'll take 'em home.
Phil (03:38)
Apparently none of the kids are too full to look at that other menu. And since we're still enjoying the hell out of this wine, we're in a good enough mood to let them.
Dessert time.
Erin (03:47):
That is good. That is a mascarpone cheese cake. That's very mascarpone-ey. And this is a cherry olive oil cake with a marshmallow a puff on the side. That is incredible. That is what an olive cake needs to taste like. Olive oil cake. It is moist and dense all at once. And the marshmallow little foamy thing, just like little icing on the cake.
Phil (04:16):
That's marshmallow? Holy moly.
Erin (04:19):
This is delicious.
Phil (04:21):
Holy, this is one of my favorite desserts ever. Yeah. So simple. And just the flavors are incredible.
Erin (04:27):
We ended on a really good note and it's time to get out of here and move on to the next.
Frozen Bananas at Sugar and Spice on Balboa Island
We just got dropped off at one of the most iconic areas in Newport beach: Balboa island. So we are gonna stroll down here on Marina avenue and go into some of the shops and check out the island. We absolutely must stop and get a frozen banana. Although there are two kind of right next door to each other that claim to be the original. Sugar and Spice is where we're gonna go and it's been here since 1945.
Phil (04:58):
Can I please get a banana. Dark chocolate. Mixed nuts.
Erin (05:02):
If you do anything on Balboa island, you have to have a frozen banana. Pretty classic.
I have sensitive teeth.
The banana being frozen kind of tastes like ice cream. It feels like ice cream. It’s messy.
Phil (05:18):
I don’t know about this. I'd like to try the banana one. That sounds delicious.
Erin (05:24):
It is a banana.
Phil (05:25):
I'd like to try the peanut butter one. <laugh> that sounds delicious.
Colt (05:31):
It's too cold.
Erin (05:32):
It's pretty cold. Yeah. It's not for sensitive teeth. That's for sure.
Phil (5:36):
Colt somehow managed to sweet talk Reagan out of her dark chocolate tiramisu, but the options for these sweet creations are almost endless.
Balboa Candy
Erin (05:43):
We're gonna keep making the kids happy and we're going into Balboa Candy. It has been around for 16 years, family owned and it has one of the world's biggest selections of saltwater taffy.
Phil (05:56):
This shop has a massive collection, including plenty of nostalgic candies from my childhood. Apparently our kids have very limited exposure to a lot of them.
Brooklyn (06:05):
Are those cinnamon gummy bears. Those are actually cinnamon bears.
Phil (06:11):
But there are some that we're happy. They don't recognize this reminds me of childhood. Have you ever heard of these candy cigarettes with everyone's bounties in hand, they can start digging in while we head out.
What flavor?
Brooklyn (06:23):
Cotton candy.
Erin (06:25):
Now they're really gonna go nuts when they see where we're taking 'em next.
Taking the Balboa Ferry from Balboa Island to the Balboa Peninsula Fun Zone
Phil (06:27):
We might as well let the kids burn off some of their sugar rush with a mile long walk down the boardwalk, along the marina. We're on our way to catch a short ferry from Balboa island to Balboa peninsula. And there's plenty of beautiful watercraft and real estate to admire along the way.
Erin (06:42):
Check out Colt's mouth after eating all that candy.
Phil (06:48):
These ferries pull up every few minutes and are also a popular way for residents to shuttle their cars back and forth instead of making the long drive around the peninsula. It's cheap too, about a buck-fifty per person, if you're on foot. And it doesn't take long for the kids to figure out what we have in store.
First order of business, Reagan's gonna get a corn dog. And now the kids get to have a little bit of fun riding on some of these rides.
Erin (07:11):
We had the kids $20 each to do whatever they wanted here with it. So they're all doing something different.
Phil (07:16):
The history of the fun zone goes back to the late 18 hundreds, but today visitors can enjoy rides like the waterfront Ferris wheel play games in the arcade or tour the nautical museum while munching on quintessential beach trees. It's definitely a tourist trap, but one that's great for kids.
Okay. That's enough of that. Now let's go see the pier.
Dinner at The Royal Hen on Balboa Island
Erin (07:37):
I think the kids have had enough junk food and enough Fun Zone time, so we are gonna head to our dinner reservations.
For dinner, we're going to the Royal Hen. It is a gastro pub and it's only open for dinner and it's taking us right back to where we started on Balboa island out in the hot sun all day, so white wine was called for, and this is a burgundy blend. They actually don't have a full bar. It's just beer and wine.
Phil (08:03):
Got white wine too, but sparkling, this is a Spanish Cava.
Erin (08:06):
Well, they're known for their chicken pot pie and their burger, like Reagan got. I went for their special. It is a lemon risotto and I chose my protein: scallops.
Perfect proportions, too, right? It's not like a huge plate of rice. This is exactly the size that you want to eat for dinner. I'm gonna smell this first. Oh yeah. Love that lemon smell. The scallops are really good. I'm so glad I got this. Honestly, this is really good food. Everything we've seen walking by looks incredible, smells incredible. And you can tell that they really used fresh ingredients.
Phil (08:47):
In addition to sharing Brooklyn's burger and having to share this with her. We've got this filet mignon, medium rare of course. Peppercorn sauce is really good.
That's all she wrote for tonight, but we just talked to the owner here and she hooked us up with a really cool place for dinner tomorrow night. So stick around.
Erin (09:04):
The resort we're staying at is just above Crystal Cove beach and everybody recommended going to the Beachcomber. They say that it's got great food and it's a fantastic location with all these little houses and shacks and right on the beach.
Phil (09:19):
Do they say it has good cocktails by chance?
Erin (09:22):
I bet they do. Cuz we walk past and it has a really cool looking bar.
Phil (09:26):
Turns out they do have cocktails here. In fact, we've got two of 'em. So for Erin, we've got an Endless Summer, which is vodka. Muddled, strawberries and cucumber and freshly squeezed lemonade. Let me try it for you. Mmm. And then I got the Baja Breeze, which is Casamigos tequila, aperol, fresh lime juice, agave nectar, and fresh watermelon juice. And it's got this Tajin rim right here with some lime. Oh, it's strong too. Love it. Try both of these, babe. Tell me what you think.
Erin (10:00):
I was hoping for something light and refreshing and it is. The lemonade in there. Not too sweet. It's just light and it's just refreshing. Oh my God. It's strong. It tastes like a shot. I bet Phil really likes that. We're just here for a little cocktail and a little beachside snack. We're gonna get their signature appetizer, the tiny ahi tacos.
Phil (10:21):
And here they are. Oh, take a look at that. Yep. Yep. That's a whole lot of tuna. That's “ahi-puv” tuna. I'll let that sink in for a little bit. Allright, I can tell they're gonna be crispy crunchy, no mess at all. Look at that.
Erin (10:38):
Mm uh…
Phil (10:39):
Yeah, you're messier.
Erin (10:41):
I’m way messier.
Phil (10:42):
It's a skill.
Erin (10:43):
Oh, but it is good and the slaw on the bottom is really, I mean, and the tuna is fresh and great. My favorite: the wanton taco. I can’t help it. I'm just messy. Perfect little snack.
Phil (10:55):
Reagan's devouring a penne pasta with shrimp and greens, but B and C kept it simple with grilled cheese off the kids' menu because…
Brooklyn (11:04):
S’mores came with our kids meals.
Phil (11:07):
Alight, giddy-up!
Erin2 (11:09):
We are at a really cute area of Newport beach. We're at Lido marina and it is a great place to walk around, shop a little bit and it has great restaurants and we're going to, one of them. We're headed to Lito Bottle Works. It is a hyperlocal cuisine and farm to table. They do craft cocktails. It's checking off all the boxes and they hear it super trendy, highly recommended. So we're gonna see if it lives up to its expectations.
I have a little correction. I said they have craft cocktails, which they do, but they don't have a full liquor license. So it's not, uh, what is it? Full alcohol. Yeah, alcohol <laugh>. Is that a thing? So they have a really great craft beer list and great wine selection. And, um, would it like a, just a lower percentage alcohol cocktails?
Phil (12:02):
Yeah. Specifically. They were saying that these are like unique kinds of their variations on spirit. So here is fermented tequila, fermented vodka. He described it as more like a wine-based kind of cocktail, but I don't know what that would have to do with vodka or tequila, but it sounds very interesting. I'm going with bubbly though. Oh, that's good.
Erin(12:24):
This is an albacore ceviche and it looks beautiful. Look, I got an edible flower in my bite. Really fresh, really good tuna. That's a solid ceviche.
Phil (12:33):
I'm gonna make one for Coltie <laugh> can see it coming a mile away. That sauce is actually pretty unique. It looks like exactly what you would see on any ceviche. I don't know what's different about it. Maybe more mint. It's really good. Unique. The best part, love it. Everybody tastes better than the last. It’s like candy. I’m serious. That's how good that is. It's insane.
Erin (12:57):
I got one of their popular dishes. It is a leak and potato ravioli. It has a rested garlic Ash, potato jus, and some capers. Really good pasta. You can tell it's homemade. And the sauce is really light and brothy. And um, it's really kind of a delicate leek flavor. It's not very strong and it's nice light dish. It's not heavy at all. Like a lot of ravioli might be. Farm fresh.
Phil (13:25):
That broth is phenomenal.
Can you eat this and tell me if you like it?
Brooklyn (13:32):
It's spicy.
Phil (13:36):
Wine? Yeah. Maybe. By the way, this is a bison tenderloin. So a bison steak, a bison filet. And you may notice that half of my steak is already gone because I always share my steak with Brooklyn. It's her favorite thing in the world. But look at this, we've got crispy leeks. We have green chickpeas, which look just like green peas. So we've got the cherry sauce right in here, probably a cherry wine reduction. And then we have these baby artichokes and charred leek. That's really good. I love filet because it's so lean. And with bison it's even more lean. So it's not like you're gonna miss the fat because you wouldn't have that even in the beef filet as a general rule. But this is fantastic. I love bison. I love Buffalo. I just love lean meats like this. I really enjoy it.
Erin (14:26):
Wow. That's got some kick. I love spicy food and that's really yummy. This food did live up to its reputation. Everything was so good. Starting with the ceviche down to our entrees, so fresh, so good. And it's such a casual atmosphere too. I love it when you can find good food, priced well in a casual atmosphere.
Phil (14:45):
And the marina views don't hurt. They actually have some phenomenal desserts here. At least it sounds like it. We haven't tried them, but listen to this, uh, chocolate honey truffle bar with honeycomb yum, and a rhubarb custard with black current granita and fois gras. But dessert’s for the kids tonight, they wanna go down the boardwalk for some ice cream. So that's what we're gonna do. The place does look good. Our kids are pretty good at picking desserts. Look, not just ice creams and sorbets, but look at these cookies, scones, brownies.
Erin (15:18):
I may actually get something… oatmeal, cranberry cookie, and the brownies looks pretty good.
Colt:
I got apple cookie.
Brooklyn:
I got marshmallow ice cream with sprinkles. Delicious.
Erin (15:33):
I got an oatmeal cookie.
Well, we're done with our meal with our dessert, our tour, even. So we're gonna head back to our villa. And if you wanna see a tour of that and the resort we're staying at, then just click up here. Did I get it? Why is it always the opposite of what I try? What the heck. But then if I use this hand, I think I have to cross. Anyways, click up here and subscribe, follow us along. We're going to many other adventure and we're gonna devour as we go along to come with us.
