Mozambique — Restaurant in Laguna Beach

TERRIBLE, unprofessional, unacceptable, poor service. Do yourself a favor, and save your time by avoiding this restaurant. My husband & I enjoy eating out and have been very fortunate to not run into any negative experiences at any restaurant thus far, until we came here. We came midday, parked our car around 2:45ish, and to be frank, the restaurant was dead. So dead, while parked, they were all looking over from the top of the restaurant religiously into my car the entire time. I waived at one of them, and they even waived back haha. Kind of weird, but I guess that’s what they do when bored? Anyway, after giving my husband his birthday gift in the car, we walked out the door around 3:02. Instantly, before a hello, or welcome— “Yo you guys have to pay for vallet”. Mind you, they had a sign up that day saying if your car is parked before 3, it’s free parking. & this is one of the guys looking into my car from on top of the restaurant, so I know this guy knows I was parked before 3. I nicely explained to him that we parked before 3. The guy is rudely cutting me off & telling me he “doesn’t care, the car was here before 3 but I caught you guys after”. I didn’t know this was a game of tag(?!), so I kindly asked to speak to the manager. Again, he cut me off like he had somewhere to be (which clearly he didn’t bc the restaurant was so dead that I saw some workers even talking to themselves) & told me he was the manager when 2 seconds ago he said he just was a worker for valet. So this guy is trying to bamboozle me. At this point, I’m trying to not laugh in this guy’s face bc I was questioning if he even worked there. After about 5 minutes, he confesses he’s not the manager & will bring her down. It’s ok, I’m giving this guy the pass, bc I hate when I forget my job title at work too. The manager after wrapping up her conversation comes down stairs and we’re talking & she even agrees that if I have my car parked before 3pm, I should be fine. Then proceeds w “it’s only $7”. Truthfully, I don’t care if it’s $7, $70, 7 cents at this point, it’s the principle. Meanwhile I’m trying to have a civil conversation w the manager, this valet guy is catching an attitude w me, when I’m not even talking to him. I asked him to wait his turn & I’m not sure if he walks around w his ears shut but continues to whine. The manager is completely nonchalant towards the whole situation, laughing at this guy’s reaction without stepping in and telling him to stop. I’ve never experienced such horrible second hand embarrassment. The guy at this point is harassing me, telling me to watch myself and just acting like a goofball. I just simply removed myself from the situation & told them I’m leaving & thanked the manager for her time although it was equivalent to talking to a wall. I told her I was displeased & she said there’s nothing she can do for me and to find a better restaurant. I told the manager that I will be leaving a review, & they both said they didn’t care. She had someone record the situation from afar, and when I questioned it, she said she didn’t care. Honestly, I didn’t mind, I looked good that day. But sheesh, we’re looking into people’s cars and recording them? Pick one or the other. Also, when I’m right next to my car walking back, two men told us “the drinks probably suck more than their service, good thing you guys didn’t go”. Sigh. Being someone who has worked in hospitality my whole life, this restaurant is very disoriented and a real life laughing stock. How could you tell someone in others words “you’re right, but I can’t do anything” with a simple fix and being the one managing the restaurant. Upper management should really reevaluate this team. Fyi, there are far more beautiful restaurants in the area. I guess everything happens for a reason. I wish growth for this company, leader ship classes for the manager lady on site, & anger management classes for the valet guy. With that being said, have a blessed...

MOZAMBIQUE ROCKS ! When I celebrate my birthday on July 4th each year we choose this incredible restaurant / live music venue every time. WHY ? The outstanding food, great craft beer, super friendly service...and we love the ROOFTOP OCEAN VIEW ! So I had a chat with my good friend Jose the GM...Fri July 4th ( public holiday ) or Sat July 5th and Jose replied Sat....great band at Ivan'z House Live ! My wife and I arrived in the Valet Parking Lot just before 6.30pm on Saturday for our dinner reservation...the only way to go. WOW ! Bilal the thoughtful valet attendant took charge of our Tesla Y and said he would plug it in for free charging while we enjoyed our evening. Adam the friendly host greeted us at the host / hostess desk on the ground floor. I said hi to Jose the incredible GM who said he would catch up with us later upstairs. LOVE THIS ! We ran into our good friend Greg the super server....got a selfie of course. And then we took the elevator to the top level. WHAT A GREAT OCEAN VIEW ! We love dining on the rooftop...it's a slice of Heaven. Luna the very charming hostess escorted us to our 4 seat table at the leading edge of the rooftop. Juan our server from our visit last year was quick to come by and say hello. We asked for iced waters and a Black Plague 'Open Mind" Hazy IPA. AND THEN ! I headed down a level to Ivan'z House Live to check on the band playing on the night....90's ROCKSHOW. I had a quiet chat with Charlie the beautiful hostess who said they were great. FOOD ! The menu selection is nothing short of extraordinary. Over the years we have tried many things on the menu such as the SEAFOOD PLATTER FOR 2, FILET MIGON, STEAK & LOBSTER, SAMOOSAS, MOZAMBIQUE SHRIMP SCAMPI, ATLANTIC LOBSTER TAIL, PERI-PERI TIGER PRAWNS, CALAMARI to name just a few. We love to try something new every time so my wife ordered PROSCIUTTO WRAPPED SCALLOPS ( 5 seared scallops wrapped in prosciutto served over Mozambique rice, tri color baby carrots, sugar snap peas and grape tomatoes, topped with ponzu sauce ). I had to have the CAPE MALAY SEAFOOD CURRY ( steamed shrimp, lobster, scallops and calamari curried in a vegetable bouillon, served over Mozambique rice with a side of sambals ). Meanwhile my ice cold hazy IPA tasted fabulous ! Needless to say the rooftop was packed out and so was downstairs. The band was due to start at 9pm. FAST SERVICE ! Our delectable looking dinner orders arrived around 7pm courtesy of Griffin the smiling food runner. OMG my wife couldn't stop raving about her amazing seared scallops...I tried one and it was super delicious. OVER THE MOON ! I love a kicked up curry and when you throw in shrimp, lobster, scallops & calamari...my tastebuds were blown into the stratosphere. SPECIAL VISIT ! Ivan Spiers the inspirational owner made his way through the crowded rooftop to greet us as he does every year on my birthday. We took a selfie of course. ANOTHER CRAFT BEER ! Juan our server suggested a Thousand Steps IPA ( Laguna beach Beer Co ) so that's what I chose...a very enjoyable IPA. BIRTHDAY DESSERT ! Before I knew it Jose the cheerful GM and Juan our kind server were setting up our COMPLIMENTARY birthday desserts. WHAT FUN ! Delicious Bread Pudding and decadent Flourless Chocolate Ganache are very hard to beat. SUPER SERVICE ! Jose told us a front row table for 2 was waiting for us in Ivan'z House Live. I thanked Luna the hostess and Juan our server for looking after us. We headed downstairs around 8.30pm and watched the 90's ROCKSHOW members get ready to commence at 9pm. FABULOUS SHOW ! And these guys and girls knew how to rock with fabulous covers of NIRVANA, PEARL JAM, OASIS, SMASHING PUMPKINS, THE CRANBERRIES to name a few. We called it a night just before 10pm. WE HAD AN...

KING OF THE COAST ! What a totally fabulous celebration dinner on Saturday to celebrate my 4th of July birthday. My wife and I cruised up the very busy S Coast Hwy looking for Mozambique and then OMG it's now painted white. We pulled into the valet parking lot where Ivan the valet attendant & his crew took care of everything. WOW ! We took the elevator to the 3rd floor and immediately saw the brand new IVAN'Z HOUSE. Named after the the mercurial owner & live music lover Ivan Spiers. TOTALLY SPECTACULAR ! The stage is much larger and the whole area has been opened up. I walked over and had a nice chat with the lead singer of the night's entertainment...WHO'S ZEPPELIN. Then we headed up the staircase to the rooftop where we were looked after by lovely Tatum the manager who showed us to our reserved table in the corner at the front. AS GOOD AS IT GETS ! The rooftop with it's panoramic ocean view was totally packed out. Our sweet server Julia dropped by to say hi and see what we wanted. Some iced waters and a good hazy IPA would be great ! And Julia delivered with a Black Plague "Open Mind" Hazy IPA...I loved it. SURPRISE ! And then we spotted our good friend Jose the GM heading our way...we wouldn't have a table on the rooftop with Jose's input. We had a lovely chat....Jose is a top guy. THERE'S MORE ! It was a real thrill to see Ivan Spiers the owner arrive at our table to wish me HAPPY BIRTHDAY as he does every year we are here. We told him we loved all the new colors and the fabulous Ivan'z House & huge bar downstairs...we had tickets for the 9pm show of Who's Zeppelin. JUST DO IT ! We had decided beforehand that we would order the SEAFOOD PLATTER FOR TWO ( 2 wood grilled Atlantic lobster tails, wood grilled prawns, sautéed prawns scampi, seared scallops, fried calamari and wood grilled mahi mahi served with Mozambique rice, Peri-Peri sauce, garlic butter and saffron white wine sauce ). And we did....it's the best you will get anywhere. FAST SERVICE ! Before we knew it a smiling food runner named William delivered our incredible looking Seafood Platter for 2 to our table. OMG ! We totally enjoyed everything....the lobster tails tasted amazing. ANOTHER CRAFT BEER ! I asked Julia our server for another Black Plague "Open Mind" Hazy IPA...this was a very good beer. DESSERT ! Keeping it simple but delicious we requested the FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE GANACHE ( Vanilla ice cream and mixed berry coulis ). Our new friends at the adjacent table joined in singing me HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Of course our decadent dessert tasted fabulous. IVAN'Z HOUSE ! Around 9pm we walked downstairs to take in the Who's Zeppelin concert. Our good friend Jose the GM escorted us to a cocktail table and barstools with a great view of the huge stage. WHATTA SHOW ! Gee whiz these guys knew how to do Led Zeppelin covers. We had an amazing time. THE BEST...