Recently, Field Trip Grandpa and I had the pleasure of experiencing a delicious evening at Saint Marc USA in Huntington Beach, California. Saint Marc USA is a newbie to the Orange County restaurant scene, opening its doors to the public last November. Located in the posh, modernly styled Pacific Center off of Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach, the restaurant is easy to find. There is ample parking underground with an elevator that takes you directly to your destination. Guests also receive 2-hours of validated parking when you visiting the restaurant.
Saint Marc USA brings 5-star fine cuisine and a refreshingly marvelous approach to casual dining. It’s pet-friendly and around half of the restaurant is under a covered patio with a finely appointed bar at its center, allowing you the comfort of sitting on a patio while watching the sunset on the beach.
The food itself is nostalgic American cuisine with a New Orleans, creole spin to it. They offer a plethora of great selections, being a pub-café, fantastic bakery and cheese shop all in one.
Furthermore, Saint Marc USA has a tremendous bar offering the finest wines and a great selection of beers and cocktails. Plus some of the finest trained chiefs in the country, coming together and thoughtfully creating a concept that the whole family will go crazy for!
Let’s start with the Bacon Bar! That’s right. Saint Marc USA has a finely appointed bacon bar and on it’s menu it states, “You Had Me At Bacon!” The menu touts 11 delicious selections of bacon. You can either buy strips by the slice to share with a friend or create custom flights.
The next station of decadence in this fine establishment is the Cheese Affiance. Here you can get extraordinary cheese on the go or dine in and order a variety of cheeseboards. You can create your own board from their innovative eTouch menu or choose from one of their 5 selections, all of which come beautifully prepared and served with sweet and savory accouterments.
After savoring a few samples from the bacon and cheese stations, a couple of wonderful hosts showed Field Trip Grandpa and I to our table. Then they walked us through how to order using their new eTouch menu. The eTouch menu is basically a “free flowing” order system, meaning you can order whatever you want, in whatever order you want it. The chefs prepare your dish right away and immediately deliver it to your table.
Saint Marc USA Menu
We decided to start the night off with some hors d’oeuvres. First on the list, was an assortment of bacon and fresh meats along with pickled vegetables on a pig shaped platter. We enjoyed various slices of ham, spiced salami, ham and a few slices of bacon flavors, paired with sliced carrots, asparagus, a chunk of honey on the comb and almonds.
Then came the cheeses. We paired our meat platter with “The Froggy” – a sumptuous wood slate filled with the finest cheeses, such as Stilton Bleu Cheese and English cheese, along with sweet and sour sauce, almonds and honey on the comb.
We also ordered their Wisconsin Cheese Curds with a ranch style dipping sauce…absolutely delicious. It was hard not to eat through the whole basket!
Then we experienced their bacon wrapped dates, made with chive cream cheese and maple syrup! Need I say more? These bacon gems where out of this world and you would be remiss if you didn’t get yourself some!
Per our waiter’s suggestion, I paired the appetizers with a hollowed out grapefruit mixed with some sort of gin concoctiit, which was quite tasty and refreshing. You need to order one of these on their patio during a warm a summer day!
Saint Marc USA Beer Selections
For you beer aficionados, they have some great canned micro-brew. I tried and suggest the Baba Black Lager. However, for those that like a lighter beer, I recommend the Ballast Point Grapefruit Scalping.
You can’t go wrong with any of the libations with your food selections. Especially if you order one of their Shrimp Po Boy’s. This sandwich comes on wonderful toast roll with sautéed shrimp, celery root slaw and Andouille Sausage. Take a bit out of some Marti Gra, delicious!
Next up on the main course train was another fine suggestion by our wonderful waiter, the HI Tuna Hot Stone. This dish, or I should say slab, comes with the best sushi grade tuna you can find along with a heated stone slab at 400 degrees. Take the tuna and place it on the stone for however long you like and douse it with the accompanying ginger soy sauce.
We wrapped the main courses off with a slice of Quiche Lorraine, coming with caramelized leeks, bacon and Gruyere. It was rich and decadent.
Saint Marc USA Desert Menu
Now for some desert action! We dove right into some of Saint Marc’s fabulous treats, ordering their Beignets, which are made with sweet ricotta filling topped off with powdered sugar and honey. On the other hand, Field Trip Grandpa ordered the Bread and Butter Pudding a la Mode. Enjoy either of these treats with a fine cup of coffee and you are good to go.
Saint Marc USA is a warm and casual restaurant that is perfect for all occasions, reasonably priced and has something for every diner. Whether on a date night or out with the whole family, you can’t go wrong with Saint Marc USA in Huntington Beach.
Happy Dining!
Mr. SoCal Field Trips
Jennifer
Wednesday 30th of March 2016
Wow, the food looks delicious! I wish I lived closer to Huntington Beach. The next time we are out in that direction, I'll have to try it with my family.