Taste Buds

Very nice. Quaint, charming and tucked away from the roar of traffic on Newport Blvd. You have to know it’s there, and the day I went, several people (mostly Newport locals) knew it was there.
The steak sandwich was surprisingly good. Thin slices of Prime Rib, brie and lightly fried onions, perfect.
I’ll be back (please don’t confuse that statement with a former CA Governator)

OK. I bought the restaurant coupon for this place. Otherwise, I would not have known about it at all. It’s tucked away so not visible on Newport Blvd or 17^th St. I had lunch there with my foodie partner and I must say, we were both pleasantly surprised. The food is very good. We started with the fondue baguette appetizer… very good! Very flavorful and cheesy! We split the lime chicken panini with veggie chow chow and the summer chicken salad. Both were very good. The salad had too much dressing, so I would ask for the dressing on the side next time. The lime chicken panini was delicious and veggies were a perfect accent to the dish. Then the best part came… stuff cupcake. We had to wait 30 min. for it to be delivered to the table but it WAS worth it. Very yummy! So… food is great.
The service was good. When we got there, we were the only party there. (This place had better do some serious advertising if they want people to eat lunch at their restaurant). At the end of our meal, there were several other parties in the place. We did have to wait 30 min. for the cupcake, but the waiter warned us when we ordered it would be approx. 20 min. as they had not yet started baking the cupcakes…(it was about 1pm at this time).
OK, so now for the negatives. The restaurant needs a serious updating. This could be a really cute place, but it seemed outdated and in need of a totally new décor. They are trying to be «cute and quaint», it just looked old and worn. One part of the restaurant has approx. 10 tables for seating, one part is a shop with vases and nik-​nak items with candy jars for sale, and the other part is an outdoor patio area. We sat right next to the outdoor patio and it looked like it was totally abandoned. This could be great outdoor patio seating if cleaned up and made more presentable, instead it was an eye sore looking at it during lunch. Secondly, they need to update their technology. The bill was handwritten and when I handed them my Amex, the waiter came back and told me machine wasn’t able to connect to credit card company and ask if we could pay in cash… a bit irritating. Luckily, my faithful foodie partner always thinking ahead had cash on hand and paid the bill in cash.
Overall, I would come back, food was great, service was good. With just a few changes, this place could be a real gem in Costa Mesa.

Tried the salad, and the grilled cheese and tomato shooter at a Unilocal event. Amazing. Truly amazing delicious, creative food.

I purchased a gift certificate of $ 10 from
and decided to redeem it with my wife. The certificate could be used only for lunch with 20 min order.
Each of us ordered $ 12.50 item and total cost was $ 22.50 after $ 10 certificate.
Mine (Steak frites Sandwitch) was pretty good, but my wife’s order (Caramelized shrimp and roasted belll pepper on waffle?) was not impressive.
Without the certificate, total was $ 33.50 for lunch w/​o any drink. It is a bit expensive. By the way, the restaurant does not have heating system. It was very cold regardless a few space heater was running.
Do I come back? No, even with the certificate.

I got a gift certificate from
so my bf and I decided to make it a date lunch here one day.
The décor inside is superrr cute. This place is a little small however and it’s kind of hard to find, which makes it easily overlooked.
I wouldn’t say the food is really great, but it is interesting and unique. My bf and I ordered the truffle fries, chicken pesto sandwich, and caramelized shrimp & roasted red pepper pesto.
The caramelized shrimp and red pepper pesto was actually served with two waffles as the «bread» which I thought was a fun little twist.
I think this place is cute for lunch with a few close girlfriends, or to have sort of a casual date.
I don’t think I would be back here again, but it’s definitely worth a try if you’re tired of Corner Bakery or something.

So my rating is more in the 3.5 mark.
Once again, my trusty
GC brought me here.
Cute little place, quiet and relaxing. Pretty roomy too. Love the décor!!!
I had the Nicoise sandwhich, which is basically salmon on a bread w/​some green beans, lettuce, a hard boiled egg, red onions. Served w/​some roasted potatoes. I give it a 3. The salmon was tasty, but there was a weird zing to it. The potatoes were kinda hard and I wasn’t a fan of the garlic cloves mixed in. But the sandwich was good, I almost ate the entire thing. I wouldn’t say for the price. A diet coke & a sandwich ran me $ 19 w/​out tip!
I may be back.

I had been wanting to try Taste Buds for a few months, but after looking at the pictures of the ambiance, I felt it would probably be best for me to visit with a girlfriend instead of my husband. Armed with my trusty and ever-​present Entertainment Book, a good friend and I recently tried it out!
It was just ok. Very overpriced for what it is, and I didn’t think the food was that great. My friend and I split the wild rice salad and the chicken pesto sandwich. I don’t know what the fuss is about over the wild rice salad. The combination of ingredients was not pleasing or even appetizing to me. I absolutely adore wild rice salads normally, so this was surprising. The sandwich was also just ok, though much better than the salad. The quality of chicken wasn’t that great, nor was the sandwich hearty.
With a buy one get one free coupon we still each spent almost $ 15. I would never think of spending full price here… and I wasn’t thrilled with paying half price either for the taste.
I wouldn’t go back. The food wasn’t great and neither was the service. Our server did not visit our table to refill our drinks or check in while we are eating… and as the restaurant was empty except for one other table, I expected more. The only reason it even earned a three is because the décor is really cute and because our waiter did let us try the soup of the day (he actually brought a bowl!) before we made final decisions.

I have heard so much about this café and finally came today! Alright, first things first, do yourself a favor and just park on the street. It would be astounding if you got a spot on the first try in the center. Just don’t try.
The café is very cute and surprisingly large. A nice menu of salads and sandwiches. Most of which were in the $ 10 – 15 range. I had the rice salad that was very flavorful. I would get it again but there are so many choices, I need to try some other things. The service was pretty good and very friendly.
Can’t wait to go back!!!

Really cute place tucked away at the end of an unassuming strip mall. There’s an adjacent covered patio that would be perfect for a baby shower or gal’s gathering. Onto the food roundup:
— Truffle fries: Nice and crispy shoestring fries, kinda reminds me of the ones from Eat Chow. Very tasty.
— Shrimp bisque: 4 huge grilled shrimp swimming in a murky and flavorful shrimpy broth. I was surprised this was as good as it was, broth kinda had a cajun/​creole flair.
— Brie and apple sandwich: This was ok, baguette with brie and apples doused in some balsamic. Would’ve have been fantastic if it was grilled or warm. Came with a side of greens in vinaigrette.
— Summer salad: Mixed greens with raisins, mango, chicken and some herbs. Very light and fresh with just the right amount of vinaigrette.
Lowdown: Solid 3.5 for food (but pricey) rounded up to 4 stars considering ambiance. Really cute place for lunch with some gals. Décor that reminds me of a cute tea place or something out of the «Parisian» page of a scrapbook. I think the guys who were here with their gf’s were dragged there, lol. Food tasty with some more imaginative fare than your usual sandwich/​salad lunch place. Prices are a bit high, everything runs from $ 12-​$ 15. Get a
certificate to save a few bucks.

This place is very, very cute, and a total aberration from the other businesses in the strip mall where it sits behind The Harp. It almost seems out of place, but after eating there today, I really don’t care where it is so long as they keep turning out good food. The French-​country décor was adorable, and both my friend and I agreed that this would be the perfect place for a shower or birthday party, particularly the little outside patio.
The food was very solid, and the menu creative. I had a tough time deciding, but opted for shrimp sauteed in brown butter served atop a sun-​dried tomato waffle. The fresh fruit on the side was picture perfect, and the food was fresh and terrific. It’s a little pricey, but you can buy a gift certificate on
to offset the cost. We were able to take $ 10 off of our bill that way– the $ 10 gift certificate cost me $ 3.
It’s too bad this place isn’t open on weekends because it would be the perfect place for weekend brunch. We will undoubtedly be back to Taste Buds very soon, and you should do the same!

I had the chicken panini sandwich. Very good. Ambiance is good, service was ok. For lunch, it was very good but no the best value. I would consider going back if in the area if I wanted a quiet place to get a bite to eat.

Good fries, though the truffle flavor was more subtle than I expected. The décor was lovely, but the hours are terrible. Also, I left a message to make reservations which was never returned. If you can catch them for lunch, it’s great, but I feel they are really unreliable.

Small restaurant with beautiful side patio with arbor and little water fountain. It’s amazing how the owner turned a little spot at the end of a strip mall, behind Aaron Brothers, into a sun dappled gem. We had a great panini (well grilled bread, good meat), a wonderful caesar salad with grilled romaine and juicy shrimp, and truffle fries. A quiet, unpretentious place with gourmet touches run by a small family — doesn’t get any better than that. Too bad it doesn’t open every day for lunch.

I had seen this place last week when I visited Five Sweets bakery and wanted to try it. We came for lunch and opted to sit on the patio. It was lovely and the natural light made it perfect for me to snap photos of everything including the food.
Flavored iced teas ($ 2.25) of the day — today being orange — arrived in little tall glasses. I downed mine in a few seconds flat. Water glasses were filled with apple-​infused water. All the clientele on the patio were ‘women who lunch’ types, namely, the REAL housewives of OC. Hubby and I sat in the corner people watching as we waited for our food to arrive.
The wait for food was slightly long, but there was a large group sitting inside in the dining room so I’m guessing things took longer than expected. We shared our entire meal: Crispy marinated feta & arugula salad ($ 11.95) was a nice refreshing bed of greens supposedly with roasted red and yellow bells (as its description reads on the menu) but there were none to be found. Instead there were hearts of palm, olives, artichoke hearts and roasted garlic cloves. Lemon zest added a lovely touch as well as the balsamic reduction drizzled around the plate. The menu says served with a herb lemon dressing, but that wasn’t as evident as the obvious balsamic flavors. On top of that, because the dish was called «crunchy» marinated feta, I was expecting the feta to be, well, CRUNCHY. Instead, it was soft and soggy. There was no crunch to every single chunk of feta — quite disappointing.
The panini ($ 11.95) was described as grilled cilantro lime chicken, smoked gouda, caramelised onions, sun dried tomato pesto on a rustic chibata [sic] served with escabesh [sic] on the menu. While I did not detect any gouda in the sandwich, the sun dried tomato pesto was quite flavorful. I felt that you had to pretty much eat that sandwich FAST because otherwise, by the time we got to the 2^nd half of the sandwich, the ciabatta had gone very wet and soggy. The escabeshe here was not the traditional fish dish, but rather, the way they marinated the salad served on the side comprised of cucumber, green, yellow and red peppers and red onions. This accompanying salad was better than the main salad dish we ordered in flavor.
The star of the meal came in the form of Truffle Fries ($ 5.95). When I first decided to order it, hubby said he would eat a few only. However, once he had a taste, he had more than ‘just a few’. In fact, I could find no fault with these fries at all. The thin fries were crispy and had the distinctively aromatic flavors of truffles. Some fried parsley was also sprinkled on top to give it not only color, but also, a lovely contrast. Very nice!
The restaurant and its adjoining patio are lovely especially on a beautiful day like today. I would think this serves as a lovely girls out lunch place. However, I wasn’t blown away by the food.
Taste Buds open only 2 nights a week for dinner. Perhaps a visit on one of those nights might give me a different perspective as to its menu, but for now, 3 stars for the food and one extra star for the lovely setting in which to eat this food.