Wednesday, April 1, 2015

PAIN DU MONDE (NEWPORT BEACH, CA)

Pain du Monde
Fashion Island
561 Newport Center Drive
Newport Beach, CA 92660
www.pdmcafe.com
Tel: 949.644.4835
$$ ($15-$30)
Sun, 03/15/2015, 11:30am walk-in
    (4 Piglets)





Scott McVean is the man behind Pain du Monde. His love of baking is depicted through his flaky croissants, crusty breads and sweet pastries. Most of the ingredients come from locally sourced farms and everything is made from scratch. McVean believes that using high quality, fresh ingredients will make the difference in taste and flavor.

Pain du Monde offers both breakfast and lunch with a modern twist. For example, Scott's Benedict utilizes a Parmesan croissant as the base rather than an English muffin for the traditional benedict. With multiple locations in Orange County, these creations can now be tasted among breakfast and food seekers alike. 



CHOCOLATE CROISSANT ($3.50): This is probably one of the better chocolate croissants I've had. Rich, butter flavor woven into flaky goodness. The amount of chocolate was substantial. The chocolate croissant definitely had the perfect chocolate to croissant ratio that I was looking for. 



SANTE FE OMELETTE ($11.45): Three eggs, natural bacon, tillamook cheddar, tri-color bell peppers topped with sauteed cherry tomatoes in a chipotle sauce. The omelette was light and airy. The accompaniments provided the needed texture and the chipotle sauce gave the dish a nice kick. Overall, a good dish.


Mango Salad ($9.95): Organic mixed greens, mango, red and green cabbage, carrots, jicama, cucumber, scallions, mint leaves, noodles, tossed in a Thai peanut dressing. The mango salad was crisp, light and refreshing. The soba noodles added substance while the Thai peanut dressing was the perfect amount of acidity.




ROSEMARY POTATOES ($4.95): The rosemary potatoes was a dish that consisted of mushrooms, brussel sprouts and onions. The dish was well seasoned. Potatoes were crisp on the outside.



MY FAVORITE DISH: SCOTT'S BENEDICT ($11.45): Parmesan croissant, goat cheese, bacon, grilled tomato, arugula, poached eggs. This dish was a hearty breakfast and went perfectly well with my piglet tummy. I appreciated the crisp bacon and the twist on the traditional benedict. The goat cheese was creamy and luscious. One of the poached eggs was slightly overcooked, but I didn't care. The other egg was still runny enough that I could run my croissant along my plate to get every little bit of egg yolk.



Overall, Pain du Monde is a great place to gather friends for a simple meal. The restaurant delivers a comfortable atmosphere where diners queue in line first, order, and seat yourself. The variation in pastries is what lured me into Pain du Monde in the first place. The Fashion Island location is quite small with an outdoor patio if you decide to bring your dogs over to join you for breakfast. Pain du Monde is comprehensively an ideal, casual breakfast spot for the hungry.  


Notable Dishes: Scott's Benedict and Chocolate Croissant

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