3 Thirty 3 Waterfront

I have been living in Orange County for 19 years and eat out about once a week. I tried this place with a friend a couple weeks ago. The service was atrocious and the food was inedible. We paid the $73 bill for the couple bites required to reach the aforementioned assessment of the food and went elsewhere for some pizza. The best thing I can say is that neither of us got sick. Not recommended.

My husband and I had dinner here with another friend and all of us really enjoyed it. We sat in the newly opened patio, overlooking the bay. The view was very nice and relaxing, great for any social gathering.

We ordered the trio plate as appetizer and it was delicious! My husband normally doesn’t eat lamb, but he absolutely loved it! It was very juicy and tender. I loved the shrimp tempura because it was not greasy like most tempuras and the shrimp was very soft and tender. The Japanese sauce that came with it had a light wasabi flavor and it was the perfect combination. All of us shared the Gourmet Slider Combination Platter, which included filet mignon, ground angus beef, cheese, grilled chicken, blackened ahi, pork, and crab cake. The filet mignon slider also had sautéed mushrooms in it. All of them tasted good and the presentation was great. My favorites were the crab cake, filet mignon slider, and especially angus beef slider. The onion straws in the angus beef slider was very tasty. It’s very unique, I’ve never been to a restaurant that serves crispy onion straws with their slider. The crab cake slider tasted so juicy and soft that I mistakened it for fish at first. My husband really liked their blackened ahi because of the seasoning. Get the cheese slider if you’re a cheese person because it’s loaded with cheese. The combo platter also came with sweet potato fries, which we all agreed tasted better than Veggie Grill, they’re not too salty or greasy. We also ordered a side of calamari and it was the best calamari I’ve ever had! It was crispy on the outside but soft on the inside and the sauce was superb! It tasted like an exotic Thai dish. I highly recommend their calamari.

Overall, the food was fantastic because you could taste the freshness in the food they serve. Our waiter was really friendly and recommended some of their most popular items on the menu and the specials. The price range seemed reasonable to us. It’s actually very affordable and less expensive than some of the restaurants that I’ve been to in Newport Beach. The ambiance is great, right on the bay, and the interior is beautiful. It’s a really fun place to have lunch or dinner with friends and family.

I now drive up from San Diego just to go to this restaurant. I was taken to the restaurant several years ago by one of my O.C. business clients, and have been going back continually at least once a month since.

The interior is warm and inviting with a great view of the water and boats. The atmosphere is ALIVE and feels great with lots of people laughing and having a good time. The bar is long and is set up in such a way that both sides face each other making it fantastic people watching.

Last and most importantly, the food is “THE BEST” I have eaten in the O.C. area, that didn’t cost me the price of my rent. The menu is diverse and has something I want each time I come up because they are always adding “specials”; definitely give it a try if you like heavy appetizers and strong drinks at a fair price!