Sunday Brunch Food Adventure for the Tastebuds – Paul Martin’s American Grill

This afternoon my friend and I decided to check out the summer weekend brunch that is currently being offered at Paul Martin’s American Grill in the Irvine Spectrum.  I have been itching to get over there to check out this brunch for awhile as I have been advertising the $19 brunch special they are offering on my facebook page quite a bit lately.  Stacia was nice enough to set up a 12:30 reservation for us at a nice booth in the center of the dining room.  My friend, Peggy and I were pleasantly surprised by the fabulous food, ambiance, and service from the staff at Paul Martin’s American Grill.  After previously sampling food from the restaurant at the OC Weekly Decadence party a few weeks ago at the Fairmont in Newport Beach, I knew we were in for a treat.

The brunch menu at Paul Martin’s is a Prix Fix menu for $19 and comes with several different options.  We were greeted by our waitress, Heidi.  Heidi made our meal a fabulous experience and explained all of the menu items to us thoroughly.  All brunch meals come with fresh baked bread made with fresh fennel and raisins from the Sadie Rose Bakery in San Diego, California and a bowl of fresh fruit. The bread was very fresh and was served with melty butter and the fruit bowl was a nice combination of grapes, cantaloupe, honeydew, and watermelon.  The

fruit was definitely refreshing with the crazy 100 degree weather we have going on in California with this never ending summer right now.  Welcome to global warming. In addition to the fruit and bread, the prix fix brunch comes with one beverage and a choice of entrée. I must say this was a great deal for the fabulous quality of food and yummy unique beverage choices.

The beverages offered with the Sunday brunch had some old time favorites, as well as some unique concoctions that had a Paul Martin’s twist of individuality.  Drinks offered included; Oak Roasted Fair Trade Organic Coffee, Fresh orange or grapefruit juice, Mimosa (freshly squeezed orange juice with Piper Sonoma sparkling wine), Lemosa(Ventura County Limoncello and Piper Sonoma sparkling wine), Bloody Mary (housemade mary mix, bacon, and olives), Bellini (essence of peach with honey syrup and sparkling wine), and last but definitely not least…one of my favorites… Bistro Champagne Lemonade (house infused meyer lemon vodka, lemon juice and basil, topped with Piper Sonoma bubbles.  There is also an option to add a second beverage for only $4. Great deal!!!

Out of all of the beverages, we tried the Lemosa, Bloody Mary, Bellini, and Bistro Champagne Lemonade.  Our two favorites were the Bloody Mary and the Bistro champagne lemonade.  I am not one that usually enjoys a bloody mary, but this one was unique. There was a

fabulous piece of celery, olives arranged perfectly, and a long meaty strip of bacon erecting itself from the top of the glass that had a distinct rim of salt. The herbs within the beverage were blended just perfectly and the bloody mary was like a burst of flavor in my mouth that pleased my tastebuds.  It was really hard to put that drink down.  The Bistro champagne lemonade was the type of drink to have on a super hot summer day. It was quite refreshing with the basil blended in nicely to the beverage.  The Meyer lemon vodka in the lemonade drink is actually handmade and Paul Martin’s infuses the vodka with the meyer lemons in the kitchen themselves.  The bellini was a bit tart to our pallete, but was still quite refreshing and the lemosa was something different we had never tried.  While we liked all of the drinks, the bloody mary and the bistro champagne lemonade definitely stood out and won the best in show.

The entrée choices included French Toast with vanilla bean infused cream, cinnamon, nutmeg and the most awesome ingredient of all…maple-bourbon syrup…mmmm and some strawberries on the side gave it a nice touch, Eggs benedict (poached eggs, Canadian bacon, and housemade hollandaise sauce), Applewood Smoked Bacon Omelet (eggs, bacon, mushrooms, tomato, Tillamook cheddar, and sour cream), Fresh Bay shrimp omelet with roasted peppers and sundried tomatoes, white cheddar, avocados, and hollandaise sauce, and the last item choice was Organic spinach mushroom and tomato omelet with two eggs, white cheddar and chili aioli.  The items that we tried were the French toast and the Applewood smoked bacon omelet.  The French toast was cooked just perfectly with a light golden brown color and the maple bourbon syrup and strawberries complimented it perfectly.  We got

these two dishes to share so we could have a good blend of salty and sweet.  The omelet was done perfectly and had fabulous favor in that each individual ingredient stood out. When it comes to omelets, I can be pretty picky when there is not enough cheese or ample amounts of ingredients, but this one was portioned perfectly and the dollop of cool sour cream on top tingled my taste buds!  The omelet was served with some of the most amazing potatoes ever!  They were cooked in olive oil, rosemary, parsley, and kosher salt and pepper.  Ketchup was not needed for these potatoes to instantly melt in your mouth.  In one phrase, these potatoes were a small slice of heaven!!

Upon completing our entrees, Chef Jorge Estrada prepared us a special slice of their banana cream pie made with a homemade flaky pastry crust that is made at the restaurant on the house. The banana cream pie had a perfect layer of bananas, as well as a delicate ribbon of decadent chocolate and vanilla bean pastry cream on top drizzled with 35% cocoa and 65% chocolate shavings.  This piece of pie was to die for.  There were a fabulous multitude of flavors that brought serious pleasure to my senses.

Another fabulous staff member, I would like to give mention to is the Guest Services Manager, Sten Green. He was very friendly and was eager to please. He made us feel welcome and at home in Paul Martin’s American Grill.  This was truly a fabulous experience. Once again thank you to all of the staff at Paul Martin’s, especially Stacia, Sten, Heidi, and Chef Jorge Estrada.  You guys are awesome and your food speaks volumes.  Fabulous food and friendly staff…This is the place to go to enjoy a Sunday brunch for a phenomenal price and great service.

Dani in front of Paul Martin’s

Summer weekend brunch menu

Yummy Sadie Rose bread and fresh fruit

Bloody Mary & Lemosa

Dani with Bistro Champagne Lemonade:)

Peggy with the yummy bloody mary

French Toast with vanilla bean infused cream,cinnamon, nutmeg, maple-bourbon syrup

Applewood Smoked Bacon Omelet with 3 eggs, bacon, mushrooms, tomato, cheddar, and sour cream

Banana Cream Pie

Dani & Chef Jorge Estrada of Paul Martin’s American Grill Irvine Spectrum

Dani & Peggy full and content after a fabulous Paul Martin’s Meal:)

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