Restaurant O Italian & French Cuisine — Restaurant in Coos Bay

My wife and I finally decided to give this place a try. We've heard mixed reviews about the restaurant, and were apprehensive about the high costs, but our curiosity got the best of us and we decided to give it a try for the new year.

The decor is okay. It's sort of a sterile look and didn't stand out as an upscale interior. The dining room was mostly empty with one other couple. I'd describe it simply as "uneventful." But hey, I'm here for the food!

One quick mention of the service - it was great. We were attended to by what appeared to be the only waiter, and she was very polite. She attended to us very well and answered all of our questions with no hesitation. I couldn't have asked for better service.

We ordered a cheese plate as an appetizer. But first, we were given an amuse-boucher, which composed of a halved cherry tomato drizzled in balsamic vinegar, paired a gazpacho shooter, garnished with a sprig of basil. An excellent start to our dinner!

Our cheese plate came next. It was plated excellently, on a cut round of wood, and priced just as well. Various cheeses, meats, nuts, crackers, and some strawberries circled a tiny bowl of quick pickled veggies and another containing red pepper infused honey. If you end up at this restaurant and purchase nothing else, this plate is worth the inexpensive indulgence.

We also ordered bread and olive oil. It was a very small serving of bread (see in the background of the cheese plate image), and nothing to write home about. There was an overwhelmingly large amount of balsalmic vinegar on the bottom that was sort of a surprise with the last piece of bread. The bowl was too dark for us to know that there was vinegar in it, and I wish it were served in a white bowl instead for this fact alone. Black or red pepper on top would have been a good gesture as well.

Then our entrees came. My wife ordered the spiced crispy pork belly, and she was very unimpressed as it had very little flavor. I ordered some sort of fish (I believe steelhead or salmon), which was presented on top of "jasmine" rice. Did I upload a photo of either entrees for this review? No. The plating for both entrees was bland and unappetizing, but let me describe what mine looked like; a piece of grilled fish on rice with grey sauce. And that's exactly how it tasted like. Not only did it have no flavor, but I could have gone to 7 Devils Waterfront Alehouse and gotten a much better fish entree with a better atmosphere and a smaller bill. This was one of the worst fish entrees I've ever had in my life, like someone in the kitchen just gave up. It was disappointing to say the least, and made us wonder how someone would have thought this was acceptable for the price.

To end the meal, we opted for the churros with cacao chocolate sauce, and were not impressed. The churro had a weird consistency to it, as though it was not fried, and the whole dessert was simply not appetizing. I recommend frozen churros from the grocery store instead.

We ended up paying around $130 for the both of us, mind you this included some mixed drinks that were pretty good, but overshadowed by our disappointing entrees. I've been to restaurants in the same price range (and higher), but this place pales in comparison to all of them. I've had much better food with a more welcoming atmosphere at a fraction of the price. We told a pair of our friends about our dinner and they said that they had the same experience - great appetizers with extremely disappointing entrees. It's as though one person who puts together the entrees simply doesn't realize they're working at what's supposed to be an upscale restaurant. It completely broke the experience.

As we were leaving, we noticed that a large group of people came in and appeared to have ordered mostly pasta. If we go back again, that's the route we're going to take, especially since it's more moderately priced and harder to screw up. In all, I would not recommend Restaurant O. Whoever is putting these entrees together...

In short: Fantastic: a unexpected gem if you are into well executed dishes. Chef O’Neill is clearly very talented & passionate. I would highly recommend one of the tasting menus. If you want more: My husband and I are long retired and on a fixed income. One of the things that comes with this is frugal living, made possible by my love for cooking, a small farmstead, and travel for cooking classes. It is always a disappointment to leave a restaurant after a meal feeling as if it is simply on par with what we routinely prepare at home or not measure up to the quality or execution of our occasional fine dining home cooked meals. That said, one of our indulgences, especially when traveling, is seeking out highly rated restaurants, typically in the Michelin Guide, Google, Yelp, or from various cooking & travel magazines, to experience, get ideas, and compare quality. A wonderful restaurant is one where we walk away after a meal so well executed, we question whether I could replicate it at home. While there are plenty of chefs who can do this, it is not coming from an average restaurant. Restaurant O is one such restaurant. Please do not get me wrong, there are nice restaurants in the area, many of which we have not yet tried. We love this area and have been coming here for years. We simply did not expect this after spending several days in the LA area eating at some of their finer establishments. My husband found the restaurant through open table and started reading when he came across a note about their tasting menu, with wine pairings. Most of the reviews were good, so off we went with some pretty high expectations. Unfortunately, this tends to set the bar high and sets us up for disappointment. The restaurant was well appointed, clean, and easy to find. The staff was prompt, attentive, and courteous. Chef O’Neill was personable and accommodating. We were a bit early and ultimately ushered upstairs with a view of the water. The look on our waiter’s face was priceless, when we told him we were interested in the 9-course tasting menu with wine pairing. You could see him think about it then gently suggest they normally recommend about 30 minutes per course. Given it was almost 7pm by then, the dilemma was apparent, even to me. He excused himself for a moment, returning with a smile, and told us they could compress the courses, if we were amenable. Let the eating begin! Our first tip: Book early and sit early. Allow approximately 30 minutes per course for the tasting menu. If you are interested in the tasting menu, put it in the reservation as it will affect your seating. The wine was served in respectable pours, which was a nice surprise, but which brings me to our second tip: Have a designated driver if you plan on choosing one of the larger tasting menus with a wine pairing, which I also recommend. Each course flowed easily, from one to the next, and at a steady pace. However, we were never pushed or rushed. This is a bid deal for us and something we are sensitive to. We hate feeling rushed or having the next course delivered, while we are still eating the previous one. But this was not the case at Restaurant O. The timing was impeccable, and the presentation of each course was visually amazing. The flavor profiles were bold, clean, and vibrant. Time flew as courses came and went, with Chef making several appearances to explain a dish and check in. Before we knew it, Shawn was asking us if there was anything else. Our favorite dishes? It would be the scallop and the halibut, for each of us. Both were executed beautifully: moist & tender with bold, clean, flavors. Please don’t get me wrong, all courses were truly exceptional, which is why I would recommend the tasting menu the first time you go. We will undoubtedly return to this little gem the next time we travel to the area.

Chef O’Neill is clearly as talented as he is passionate: two wonderful qualities when...

DO NOT RECOMMEND Note: Pictures all included

We called ahead of time and they said they had a special vegan menu. Everything that was listed over the call sounded very good in concept but the execution on the other hand was nonexistent.

To start from the very top: ⁃ When the appetizers came out we were very confused because half of the ingredients under the items listed on the menu were not there. For example, the signature appetizer, Zupetta, was supposed to be a focaccia and vegetable plate. It was missing the focaccia and bits of the vegan cheese were ice cold. The local wild mushrooms & duo of orange salad was supposed to come with wild mushroom, oranges, and orange jelly. The wild mushrooms (the literal main ingredient) and orange jelly were not present and the flavors in the dish did not go well together at all. We asked the server and she brought over the mushrooms and focaccia however the focaccia was extremely crumbly and didn’t taste fresh. Note: The sauce for the dish did in fact taste very good. ⁃ For the main dish we had ordered two signature dishes, nano risotto that was supposed to be flavored with truffle, and apple wood smoked vegetables with a mint and pea purée . Once again the risotto was missing the truffle (which the waitress acknowledged was a mistake on the chef’s part). For the apple wood smoke dish, instead of mint and pea puree it just had torn mint and peas on the top. This simple doesn’t work when the vegetables don’t have any flavor of their own. The dish was also extremely oily as seen in the pictures which was surprising considering the vegetables were grilled. The potatoes were burnt and the squash was overcooked and falling apart, the zucchini had grill marks on it but somehow wasn’t cooked all the way through. For what it’s worth, the risotto did taste good even without the truffle. ⁃ For dessert, we ordered a chilled duo of strawberry and jasmine soup, that was supposed to come with a strawberry sorbet. Instead we received ice water with melted sorbet, with chopped mint and a teaspoon of sorbet. No jasmine to be found. It was so gross we didn’t finish it.

To give credit where credit is due, the complimentary pre appetizer with beetroot hummus with tomato and balsamic drizzle, and shot of gazpacho was very good.

When it came to service, we were attempting to wave the waitresses down to get our orders fixed but they were too busy chatting amongst themselves. When it came to the bill, there was a mistake on the bill where they charged us for an extra order of our mains.

I’m not one to critique ambiance however given this was listed as fine dining and the high prices I have to comment the decor was extremely tacky. It looked like the table cloths came from tj maxx, there were random Christmas ornaments and ribbons taped to the wall (we came late August) and the iced soup was served on a sparkly napkin.

To top it off, the chef has put a picture of himself on the wall in which he refers to himself as “master chef O’Neill”. How embarrassing.

Please keep in mind this restaurant is listed and the prices reflect “fine dining” hence why we thought this review was worthwhile.

Save your money and receive higher quality food at Taco Bell. You’ll get less of a stomachache (our stomaches were killing us after all that grease) and your wallets...