baleen kitchen

baleen kitchen is part of the portofino hotel & marina inredondobeach. as was mentioned in a previous post and visit, it was voted top 10 best restaurants for waterside dining in la by the zagat.now it can be truly interesting what you can learn and experience just by trying new places and things. did you know that baleen is a filter-feeder system inside the mouths of baleen whales.  baleen is similar to bristles and is made of keratin, the same substance found in human fingernails and hair. baleen is often called whalebone and was once used to make backscratchers, parasol ribs and in corsets. now baleen is used to make great food! 😉

i seldom venture outside of orange county for media tasting.  but when eating around socal and baleen kitchen partnered up to host a media tasting for bk’s valentine’s day menu, i couldn’t pass it up.  how could i resist a beautiful location right next to the marina? baleen kitchen is part of the portofino hotel & marina inredondobeach.  it was voted top 10 best restaurants for waterside dining in la by the zagat.  read on and you will understand why. the restaurant recently gone through a renovation.  the nautical theme dining area next to the chef’s kitchen and the outdoor seating are perfect for a more relaxing and casual gathering with friends.    once we checked in with our hostess, annelise, we sat next to the baleen lounge while waiting for other media guests to arrive.  the lounge offers ”small-plates fare with bold flavors and a little latin spice, accompanied by a serious mixology program of ‘classic reinvented cocktails’.”  we got to sample (pictured above from left to rig

while baleen kitchen, hidden inside the portofino hotel, is relatively unknown to those not living in the south bay, it tends to be to go-to special occasion restaurant forredondobeach locals. i personally had only been for lunch more than 2 years ago but remembered liking it.

outside patio seating overlooks marina. baleen is located across from the hotel portofino's entrance. there's an outside patio dining area overlooking theredondobeach marina. i had lunch here out on the patio. the salad i had for lunch was god and everything was very fresh. the server was attentive, the view superb. although the food was okay, what i had was not outstanding and i felt it was kind of pricey.