The Bungalow Restaurant — Restaurant in Newport Beach

9/14/2024

What a fantastic dining experience this evening at The Bungalow in Corona Del Mar. The hostesses were very friendly and professional as was the Valet attendant. We were seated at a lovely booth in the dining room. Derrick was our server extraordinare. What an amazing person, professional and kind. We started with drinks and my wife had her favorite, Don Julio Blanco with Topo Chico and three limes muddled with mint and I had bottled water and a soft drink. We both started with salads and my wife had the Cesar salad and I had the wedge. Both salads were presented well and very tasty. Oscar, another fine individual came by and brought us fresh bread and also attended to our table. We so enjoyed the evening with great conversation and fantastic food. Derrick took our entree order as well and my wife had the seabass entree, butterfield and I had the filet mignon entree with melted blue cheese and a side of sautéed spinach. The meals came out beautifully prepared and presented and the taste of both meals were excellent. I finished with an Americano and some additional conversation and then Kevin, one of the managers, stopped by to thank us for coming in while asking how everything was. We thanked Kevin and praised the staff, food and overall experience. Highly recommended 👌

7/21/2024 What an amazing dining experience at the Bungalow in Corona Del Mar this evening. We had reservations and were seated promptly upon arrival at a wonderful booth near the front window in the dining room. The restaurant has several dining areas with your choice of the front or rear patios, the bar area and the dining room. All of the staff members were welcoming and friendly as well as professional. Sarah our amazing server was nothing short of spectacular and her assistant Sammy was stellar as well. We started with drinks and my wife had the Don Julio Blanco with pelligrino and three limes muddled with mint and I had The Prisoner red blend. For appetizers my wife had the grilled artichoke and I had a wonderful romaine salad. Everything was stellar and the service is top shelf. Great people, the ambiance is so pleasant and peaceful as well as romantic. Sarah too our entree orders and my wife had the Sea Bass dish and I had the Filet mignon with mashed potatoes and sautéed spinach. Everything was 5 star plus. To cap off the evening I had an Americano which was perfect. The Bungalow is clearly at the top of our list when it comes to local dining. Thanks for a wonderful evening.

Previous visit What an amazing dining experience tonight at the Bungalow in Newport Beach. We had reservations for 5pm and arrived a bit early, and the hostess was so kind and took us to a cozy booth near the window. Bob was our amazing server and introduced himself while taking our drink and appetizer order. We started with the grilled artichoke and the short rib ravioli appetizers. My wife ordered a Don Julio Blanco with pelligrino and three limes muddled with mint, and I had a few glasses of "The Prisoner" blend by Prisoner Wine Co. The drinks and appetizers were amazing. Ashley, Linda, Oscar, Rogelio, and Sammy made the evening special with their amazing customer service. It's an amazing team! For our entrees, my wife ordered the fresh seabass, and I had the filet mignon with blue cheese crumbles, prawns, and mashed potatoes. Both entrees were heavenly, and the presentation, taste, and temperature superb. The conversation and ambiance were simply Devine. This restaurant establishment is top shelf, and we will certainly be back as this was our first visit. We capped off the evening with an Americano coffee and the Tollhouse Pie dessert with added berries. The overall experience was nothing short of fantastic, and I commend all of the staff for making it such a memorable visit. Highly...

My recent visit to The Bungalow CDM presented a mix of delightful service and an unfortunate incident that ensures it will be both my first and last time dining there, despite living less than two miles away in Newport Beach for over 20 years!

Upon arrival, I was immediately greeted by my waitress, Ashley, who was truly wonderful throughout my meal. She was attentive and proactive; when I mentioned what I was considering ordering, she quickly checked and informed me about a summer special, allowing me to enjoy a more advantageous price than ordering à la carte.

Initially, I planned to sit inside, but the lobby area was quite loud due to conversations. Given the beautiful day, I decided to move to the patio, which was noticeably quieter and more peaceful.

I opted for the corn chowder and the Bungalow salad, which features mixed greens, artichoke hearts, and shrimp. The corn chowder was exceptionally good, with a perfect texture and flavor profile, though the portion, as expected, was on the smaller side. When I requested bread or crackers with my chowder, the gentleman who delivered it promptly returned with two hot rolls and garlic butter, which were a fantastic accompaniment.

During my meal, I received a FaceTime call from my cousin. Unfortunately, I forgot that my volume might have been too loud. Instead of a staff member addressing the issue, another patron walked by my table, stating loudly that she was leaving because she didn't want to hear my conversation, and mumbled something under her breath as she departed.

Shortly after, a man dressed in black, who never introduced himself or identified his role, approached my table. He simply stood there looking at me before aggressively instructing me to turn off my speaker. I explained that I would turn the volume down, but he stated that wasn't sufficient and told me I needed to leave, offering to comp my bill. I declined, as I had only finished my corn chowder and had not yet received my salad.

My salad was then brought out. This same individual returned to my table later to drop off salt and pepper but did not speak to me or inquire about my food, despite stopping to chat with other tables nearby. I thanked him, but he did not acknowledge it.

While I understand that my call may have been disruptive, I was on the patio, and I would have immediately lowered the volume had a staff member politely informed me of the issue. The unidentified manager's direct and confrontational approach, following the public complaint from another customer, was disappointing and overshadowed an otherwise pleasant dining experience with excellent food and service from Ashley.

On a separate note, it's worth mentioning that The Bungalow CDM does not offer any military discounts. Considering the overall experience, this combined with the handling of the incident leaves me with no...

Tuesday August 6th, my Girlfriend makes a reservation at the Bungalow in Corona Del Mar for 9:15 on the date of August 12th. This was for our anniversary dinner.

I work events and Bungalow had (at the time of this booking) a closing time listed of 10pm, enough time to go there after one of my events. 

After she makes the reservation, she calls the restaurant and spoke to the manager on duty that day. She confirmed with them that despite the restaurant closing at 10pm and the Kitchen normally closing at 9pm…we were ensured that if we have a reservation, the kitchen will stay open.

The day of the reservation, the restaurant calls, this time a manager named Kevin. Kevin proceeds to tell us “I see you have a reservation at 9:15…Our kitchen closes at 9.” My girlfriend replies stating how she spoke to someone last week that said “Sometimes they close the kitchen at 8:30 if there is no one there, but if there is a reservation they would stay open for us.” Ultimately, she just tells the individual we’ll try to get there before the kitchen closes to appease him.

Once I am finished with my event, we are on our way with an eta of 9:21. It is 8:55 at this point and we call Kevin back. We tell Kevin we are on our way with an eta of 9:21 and he cut us off right there to say “I’m not keeping the kitchen open that late” we tell him we don’t want the kitchen to stay open…rather we can put in orders now and we’ll eat them when we get there. Kevin agrees and proceeds to go over menu items, and we end up going with the Filet Mignon Burger and Beef Dip Sandwich. He said he will put the order in. 

Traffic settles in and eta is pushed to 9:23. At 9:22, when we are in eyeshot of the restaurant, Kevin calls us to say “Yeah, I have people just sittin’ around so I’m not gonna stay open.” Basically his way of telling us to pound sand.

I do not know where or how Kevin was trained, but all this reeked of “I don’t care”. For all we know, he took the food that we ordered and probably wrote it off as people stiffing the check.

This was such a basement level experience that I was left shocked over such a lack of regard for other human beings. If he didn’t want to stay open we wish he would’ve told us he 1st called us the day of the reservation to make his intent clear of “I don’t want today”. Instead it felt more of a “I’ll put this order in and if they don’t show up by 9:22 I’m just gonna take it home myself.”

I think this guy got trained by the Soup Nazi From Seinfeld. Because NO...