Basilic in Balboa Island

Basilic is a tiny 24-seater Swiss-French restaurant on Balboa Island off of Newport Beach in Orange County. I have been a fan of this restaurant since my hubby took me there about 3 years ago for my birthday. The place has a very cute ambiance because it is situated on the cutest street ever, on the cute island of Balboa. Just driving onto this island and walking along this quaint seaside high street makes you feel different than being elsewhere in southern California. It makes you feel like you are on vacation.

The restaurant is a family-run operation that is closed on both Sunday and Monday. The owners are from Switzerland, and hence the menus reflect some classic Swiss dishes such as Raclette and Veal Zurich-style. Raclette is a type of Swiss cheese and it also refers to a special preparation of this cheese, which is melted by a broiler and served with fingerling potatoes, cornichon, and pickled onions. If you have never tried this, you must try it. Either at this restaurant, or just purchase Swiss Raclette cheese from Whole Foods and broil it in an ovensafe dish and serve with little potatoes. Pure bliss. Better at the restaurant made by the pros, but darn good even in your own home.

Anyway, I have gone to this restaurant a few times before, but this last week, went with my inlaws and husband and the four of us squeezed in for a 8pm seating. There was an amuse bouche of a goat cheese spread on crostini. For appetizers, two of us had the fish soup which was done Provencal style with pastis. The other two of us had the seared foie gras. For mains, two of us had the veal Zurich-style, while the other two had Cassoulet, a traditional French dish of lamb, sausage, duck confit and beans - needless to say, this is a very rich dish and not for the faint of heart.

For dessert, we had the special which contained meringues and chocolate ice cream, surrounded by a homemade and very tasty strawberry sauce.

Everything was good, except those who had the veal Zurich were less than impressed. It was sliced veal and sliced potatoes and did not look that appetizing, so that was less than expected.

Service was attentive.

Overall, this is a fun classic French-styled restaurant, if you are looking for that sort of thing. All in a cute setting.