Tucked away in the middle of a nondescript DP shopping center, What a Dish does not jump out at you. Â However, if you can make your way over to it, you'll be appreciative. Â It's a perfect place for brunch, and it has a quaint cafe vibe. Â The cafe is actually also a cake place, so a couple was doing a wedding cake consultation behind us as we ate, which was cute and also contains the possibility to scavenge any cake samples they leave behind. Â I of course have shame and would never consider such a thing, but I know plenty of you out there were thinking this. Â There is every kind of sweet or savory brunch item you could want, and I believe they are farm-to-table, or at least close to it. Â So that is reflected in the dishes, by which I mean the quality is high and every element is simple and dainty (such as mini fingerling breakfast potatoes). Â I can only not give a 5th star because nothing I ate lingered on my mind or my palate after I left. Â Everything was good, but I did not experience greatness.
Review Source:Date of visit 2/1/13 Â Â Â 3.5 really. Â We found this place on Yelp and wanted something small and cozy.We wanted to have a little getaway on our lunch before vacation. The reviews on Yelp seemed to be pretty legit and the pictures led something to be desired.
We arrived  and were greeted promptly by the hostess. She indicated we could sit wherever we desired, due to the loud noise we decided to sit in the patio area. We were greeted by a waitress in training, who brought us menus and took our drink order. Later we were greeted by a different waitress to take our food order. I got the sliders and the wife got the veggie sandwich with zucchini soup. Sliders were delish, and the sweet potatoes fries were nice, warm, and crispy. My wife loved her sandwich, but was disappointed when she found out to my surprise and hers, it's a cold soup... Once we were done, we order two cupcakes togo and promptly paid.
Why the 3 stars? Well we used a yelp discount and the server needed to verify with her boss if she could use it (why???? I have no idea). When we confirmed we wanted to use the coupon the timer started, and it took a whole 28 minutes to bring us our food?! Why, still have no idea, they werent that busy, there was a large party but I don't see how that occupied them beyond normal. When we arrived a second couple was sat next to us, ordered AFTER us, and received  their food 17 minutes BEFORE us. Last thing is the location, it's tucked away which isn't a bad thing, but maybe some more signs and directions indicating where it's at would be helpful.
Food 4.5
Service 1.5
Ambiance 3
Location 4.5
Decent and hit the spot. Had the buckwheat blueberry pancakes, eggs and 2 chicken apple sausages. I actually ordered the buttermilk pancakes but the buckwheats were good enough not to return. The portions were healthy and the hit for me had to be the chicken apple sausages. Service was friendly and apologized for not getting my order right. Did not have a big line outside but worth at least one visit.
Review Source:Orange County lacks the beauty of a good brunch like San Diego and L.A. Â Luckily Jordan Rickey's What a Dish cafe brings an all organic menu with the best ingredients possible from local farmers. Â The service is exceptional and it's all family run, you can't get a better vibe and place to bring your friends and family. Â Their eggs Benedict is hands Down amazing and the omelets are incredible. Â No place compares to what a dish. Â the best kept secret in orange county. Â You will find a lot of celebrities going to this place. Â Pro football players, the busses (owners of lakers) are a common site, house wives of orange county film theree regularly. Â Beware, a sunn sunday expect a wait of about an hour. Â It's botique but every bite is worth the wait.
5 out of 5!
I don't understand why this place has such high rating. Would that be a lot of them done by "friends"?
I have come here with my friends one Sunday. It's quite empty - might be it is hard to find. The environment and atmosphere is okay - nothing impressive. Service is so so. The food is not impressive either. I've ordered the pasta. I don't understand why they have made it so greasy. Even though the oil may be good oil (olive oil), it is still way too much.
It is average on the whole.
This place is terrible! Went here for brunch and was so disappointed. Â First of all they don't have waffles- what breakfast place doesn't have waffles on their menu? They were also out of the french toast so we decided to go for the buckwheat pancakes with bananas and oranges and the quiche.
The quiche was so bland. It was supposed to have peppers but it was just egg with no salt or flavor what so ever. We expected the pancakes to be made with the bananas and oranges but instead we got 4 plain pancakes with the bananas and oranges on top as decoration! It was such a disappointment considering the great reviews. Will definitely not be going back here again.
I had about 7 guys to feed nearby. Â I called the day before to see what I could get as a platter to feed them. Â Being that is was short notice and they had a lot of catering orders I had to go off the menu. Â That wasn't a problem because I wanted to get sliders and they were showing on the menu at that time. Â I got 10 orders and they were a hit. Â The mini-burgers had a thick piece of bacon, ortega chili, cheese, and chipotle aioli. Â I thought maybe we ordered too many but after a couple of other people showed up the burgers didn't last long. Â Even people who had just eaten found room for one or two. Â
The location is a bit hidden but worth looking for. I would love to sit down on a sunny day and enjoy a meal in one of their outdoor tables. Â Looking forward to coming here again.
Delicious food, great service. We went on a Saturday for brunch. It wasn't crowded at all, which was nice since we had little ones with us. The service was attentive without rushing us. The food portions were generous and were served piping hot. My husband is a coffee snob and he said their coffee was delicious. I had a cappuccino. It was yummy. We will definitely be going back!
Review Source:Why is it so hard to find a really good breakfast place? Â Well we had exhausted the options in the Mission Viejo area so decided to head south to Dana Point. Â We did a Yelp search and found this little place tucked inside a shopping center. Â I MEAN TUCKED....hard to find, but WORTH IT! Â Great outdoor seating, dog friendly (big plus) and of course a fantastic breakfast. Â The house potatoes are killer!
Review Source:What a dish!
This place is so adorable and cozy! I love the outdoor seating and the intimacy of this place. It is absolutely beautiful here. Came here for a wedding reception and had so much fun. Usually wedding food is so-so and very basic. However, this place knows how to make wedding food amazing! The food was really good. I got the steak and got to try the salmon. Both were very juicy and not over cooked. I loved the roasted vegetables that came with it. The appetizers were really good. I got to try the ahi tuna on a crispy wanton and chicken. SO delicious! The wine they served was also really good. I do not recall what it was....it was white wine from what I remember. The salad they served before our main course was great! I am not a fan of radishes but the radish and the sweet tomatoes they put in the salad was to die for. Not sure what the dressing was, but I felt that the salad did not need the dressing. The tomato and radish provided enough flavor. The best part was the cake! I loved the lemon and vanilla cake combination! So, tasty and very delicious.
The staff was very friendly and helpful. They are very informed of the meals, wine, alcohol and appetizers they were serving. Very customer service oriented, except for one server. He put the appetizer plate at our table, which I thought was random, but then made sense because 1.) our table was awesome 2.) we were new and they wanted us to try their food  3.) our table was awesome! They need more servers for wedding parties because it was hard finding someone to refill our water pitcher.  Oh and there was only one bathroom, meaning everyone had to wait before going back onto the "dance floor".
I will need to come back and try the "non" catered food one day. I hear they have good brunch...
Food is wonderful! Had a Nicoise salad with seared ahi that was just delicious!!! The thing you need to be prepared for is the dreadfully slow service. Bad service is such a downer when trying to enjoy a foodie experience. Would still go back though! Just wish they would get the "service" part down. Craving their nicoise salad already!
Review Source:Wow ! Two words CRABBY BENEDICT !! Took a long time for food and server to great us , but the food is great I Definitley recommend it , tip: as you walk up just sit where ever so your not walking thru the place like my girlfriend and I did and everyone else I observed like " where do we go to the front ? The back ? The cashier ? Lol .. Nice place tho ..
Review Source:I was staying in Dana Point for a business weekend and was tired of the hotel food so I ventured out on Sunday morning. Â I was glad I did. Â I got here about 10 minutes before they opened and sat down on the patio to wait. Â A waitress inside saw me there and opened the door early to ask me what I wanted to drink and that the kitchen would open at nine. Â It was nice of her to do that even though I was willing to wait.
I ordered the Crabby Benedict. Which is eggs benedict with crab cakes and asparagus. Â The dish was delicious a great savory breakfast. Â The eggs were poached to perfection which is the most important part of Eggs Benedict in my opinion. Â The only thing that some people may not like is that they serve canned soda so you don't get refills.
we decided to try this place based on good yelp reviews and it being close to our hotel for a weekend getaway. Â i loved the ambiance and garden outside it was so cute! the food itself was a-ok. Â i got the special.. peach french toast i think? it was good but way too sweet for my palate. i couldn't finish all of it. Â my fiancee got the vegetarian omelet which was okay but he did not care for the potatoes on the side and the english muffin he requested looked like one of those 100 calorie extra thin one. Â although the potatoes and muffin may have been healthier he didn't care for it. Â the service from what i remember was excellent and our water was always full. Â perhaps we just didn't pick the right dishes that day..
Review Source:Great food, reasonable portions, good Mimosa's. Â The food was fresh and seemed to be made from farmers market ingredients. Â Wait staff was very friendly and helpful. Â Kind of a tough place to find cause it's tucked up in what looks like a small business park. Â Be careful not to end up at this other breakfast place right across the courtyard.
Review Source:I was pleasantly surprised to find some good food in Dana Point! I would definitely give up the view to eat in a restaurant serving better food. This place is in a nice, well-landscaped little mall area across the street from the water, but with plenty of parking, so it ranks way higher in my book than the ho-hum restaurants on the water.
Service was just mediocre (2.5 stars), but the food was very tasty. I had the prime rib sandwich with melt-in-your-mouth, thinly sliced meat on yummy bread. Yes, it was a little greasy (maybe from the grilled onions?), but it had really good flavor. My mom had the eggs Benedict with crab cakes and those crab cakes were awesome. Their orange juice is freshly-squeezed. The one thing I wasn't crazy about was the carrot ginger soup - the flavor was good, but the texture was like baby food.
The servers seemed to have a hard time getting or keeping orders straight (I saw a lot of dishes returned to the kitchen) and once our food was on the table, no one ever came back to check on us. Still, I would come back here if I have to eat in this area.
Ordered the Panini au Poulet to-go and was impressed with their presentation. Although I would have liked more arugula and the fig spread was overpoweringly sweet. The goat cheese is delicious. The candied walnuts and cranberries were very sweet as well and the mango honey dressing didn't work well with the salad. Maybe I'll be back to try something else!
Review Source:My family and I ate here during our week long vacation to Dana Point. Â I figured we'd give it a try it got pretty good reviews. When we got there we were greeted & given menus. Â Being our first time there we checked it out. Â There are menus for lunch & weekend brunch. Â When the server came around we asked about the kids menu items. There were only a few on there and they were breakfast items, which we were told they only serve on weekends. Needless to say it felt like we were inconveniencing her by asking. Â We never got any refills on our drinks or asked if we wanted any which was also a disappointment.
The food was good and it deserves 4 stars. Â Most of my family enjoyed there meal. Â Everything was fresh and tasty. Â Although, my husband was very disappointed in his wedge salad. For a $14 salad it was fresh but not much at all. Â He ended up eating the other half of my sandwich.
Came here for the first time for a quick lunch. Cute decor, cakes look really good too. Had the pear/chicken/blue cheese salad which was really really good. The blue cheese was excellent. Hubby had the egg sandwich was good, nothing fantastic but good. Will check this place out again for brunch on the weekends. The menu looked really good.
Review Source:I had the most amazing linguini with clams here. I would have never thought of ordering pasta at this place but good thing I did. The white wine sauce was perfectly flavored with garlic and a touch of butter. There were plenty of clams in every bite. The D.P. sunrise sandwich was so-so but it came with these fantastically roasted baby potatoes.
I would have given this place 5 stars but the service was super slow. After being seated, we waited over 15 minutes for our waitress to come over to our table.
The "What a Dish" crew came through for us by catering my father in laws memorial service. Chef Cathy and Jordan handled everything from the menu to the rentals. Â Shaved prime rib, chicken salad and turkey sandwiches along with some incredible salad dishes.
The guests gobbled up the bite size brownies before I could get to them!
I want to thank them for making a tough time less stressful due to their care and professionalism.
All I'm saying is that 6 dollar and god knows how many calories brownie was worth every last bite. I felt like the little boy in Matilda who was forced to eat that giant cake. He was so happy in the beginning, that is before the teacher went all "Mother Dearest" on him.
I'm obviously going to have to come back and try all the other desserts on the menu.
As for the actual food, it too was sublime. I went to a party a few months that What a Dish catered and it was ridiculously good. I still rave to people about the mussels with fennel vinaigrette. God those were good... The chefs were totally cool and really knowledgeable and that only furthered my interest in going to their base camp. So I went the other day and I had the chicken brie pest sandwich and tomato soup. It was delicious and I can't wait to go back and try everything else on the menu.
The place is adorable. It's a little bakery/cafe kinda thing. They also have a cake shop too I guess. Quaint and good service. But it is a little pricey so just be prepared. Your money is well worth it though.
I love this place!! I have been here multiple times and have yet to be disappointed. The food is always fresh and delicious and the service is friendly and welcoming. Today my husband and I went for lunch. We love that this place has a patio and is dog friendly. Our waiter greeted us with a bowl of cold water for our dog! What a great start! My husband ordered the hot chicken sandwich. Once he added a little more chipotle mayo it was perfection!! An the chowder was great too! I had the berry salad. The dressing along blew me away! The salad was crisp, fresh and flavorful! Overall great lunch with a fabulous server!!
This place is also a bakery called All About the Cakes. Their treats are great and their cakes are out o this world, both in flavor and decor. They even did our wedding cake! I highly recommend them!
Shares it's location with the excellent wedding cake bakery "It's All About The Cake". Â All the items I had and tasted were wonderful. Â 9a-3p Tues-Sun. Closed Monday
Must have a cupcake or cookie from the bakery for desert!!!
Family owned & operated. Â This spot is just minutes from the 5 Freeway and makes a great stopping point when driving between LA and San Diego.
Initially I had planned on hiring What a Dish to cater my wedding reception which was to be held at a different location. Then I met with the owner at the bistro and knew it was the ideal location for my small reception. I called Jordan every couple of days with questions and he always made me feel as if every little detail was just as important to him as it was to me. The times I went into the bistro before the big day, the staff was always super friendly.
Ultimately, Jordan created the most beautiful intimate atmosphere for the reception. He went above and beyond the details we had discussed and added some very nice touches. And the food was so good. It was juicy and fresh and creative. The menu had been created just for my event, which just goes to show that they value providing very personal service.
I couldn't have asked for better product or experience than what I received from everyone at What a Dish.
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