The Location

If you haven’t been to Orange County, CA in a while, and you’re looking at the address of the Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach and thinking, wait, didn’t there used to be a St. Regis hotel there? And isn’t that where Michael Mina’s Stonehill Tavern used to be? You’d be right on both counts. 

Orange County’s St. Regis hotel was located in Dana Point until 2016, and the property was later acquired by the Hilton Hotel group, whose luxury imprint is the Waldorf Astoria. 

The good news is that Michael Mina’s Stonehill Tavern menu and the Bourbon Steak menu each include Chef Mina’s signature dishes. More on those below.

The dining room is stylish and modern. As we can attest, Bourbon Steak Orange County is popular with locals and tourists alike, which means the inside dining room can be pretty lively. If you’re looking for a slightly more relaxed vibe, request the patio. Not only do you have a quintessentially Orange County ocean view, but the restaurant provides cozy lap blankets and heat lamps to ensure guests are comfortable if the temperature dips. 

We timed our reservation to enjoy the reliably spectacular Dana Point sunset. Depending on the time of year you visit, this could be anywhere between 5 pm and 8 pm. If you’ve got some flexibility on your timing, always opt for sunset dining on the California coast.

Chef Michael Mina

Chef Michael Mina has been regarded as one of the best chefs in the United States for over a decade. Mina, whose family emigrated from Egypt when he was ten years old, attended the prestigious Culinary Institute of America and began working at Michelin-star restaurant Aureole (since closed) and Robert DeNiro’s Tribeca Grill shortly thereafter. 

Today, his restaurant group owns over 40 restaurants worldwide in cosmopolitan cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Miami, and Dubai. He has had the distinct honor of cooking for three US Presidents, written numerous cookbooks, and been nominated for multiple James Beard awards.

An interesting fun fact about Chef Michael Mina: tennis great Andre Agassi was Mina’s first business partner and was responsible for investing in and helping the chef create The Mina Group.

The Experience

Our evening at Bourbon Steak, Monarch Beach, began with a palate cleanser of fresh tomato and mozzarella. From there, what better way to truly start a night than with caviar? The Caviar Royal Osetra has an elegant presentation on a bed of ice in a silver bowl and, unsurprisingly, was heavenly with glasses of chilled Dom Perignon. In addition to Dom Perignon, Bourbon Steak offers a Ruinart Blanc de Blanc pairing with their caviar service. Regardless of which you choose, you can’t go wrong with either of those Champagne producers. 

Bourbon Steak Orange County offers two types of steak: grass-fed Angus and Wagyu. They’re even one of the few lucky restaurants that carry authentic A5 Wagyu, the best of the best when it comes to Wagyu steak. We opted for a little surf and turf when we dined at the restaurant and chose a Snake River Farms Ribeye with King Crab Oscar. Snake River Farms is one of the country’s most respected beef producers, and their American Wagyu is absolutely exquisite.

The meat was richly marbled, and the King Crab Oscar served atop the steak was about as decadent an accompaniment as you can get. We also ordered Chef Michael Mina’s signature Black Truffle Mac & Cheese and the umami-forward Mushrooms with Sesame Mirin-Soy Glaze.

The menu at Bourbon Steak is overflowing with good choices. If you find yourself unsure what to order with so many delightful options in front of you, go with a signature dish. Mina’s Black Truffle Mac & Cheese is made with heavy cream, three kinds of cheese, and black truffle oil. It’s sensationally luxurious.

We can’t talk about Michael Mina without mentioning his famous Lobster Pot Pie. This is the dish that helped put Chef Mina on the map when he was gaining recognition at San Francisco’s famed Aqua restaurant. Like everything Michael Mina does, his lobster pot pie defies expectations. The lobster cream sauce is so good that it’s hard to put into words. The chefs prepare the dish in a copper pot and start baking the pie crust on top once it’s ordered. 

Presentation is everything when it comes to high-end restaurants, and the lobster pot pie at Bourbon Steak is served tableside and plated before your very eyes! We didn’t order the Lobster Pot Pie on this occasion, but if you haven’t experienced it, do order it.

Now onto the wine! While the Bourbon Steak has an extensive wine list, we opted to bring a bottle of 2017 Gandona Winery Cabernet Franc from our private collection. Wines from Gandona are made to enjoy with dishes like grass-fed steak. So the wine would be ready to pour after the caviar course, we asked the restaurant to begin decanting it two hours prior to our reservation.

Corkage was a reasonable $55. If you have a bottle in your cellar that you’ve been dying to open, this menu has great pairing possibilities. Gandona Winery at Pritchard Hills is a hidden gem in Napa Valley, and its production is limited. If you haven’t heard of this producer, check out our post for more information on their must-try Napa Valley wines. 

When the entrees were cleared, complimentary dark chocolate truffles were brought to finish off the evening. A bow-on-top gesture to a dinner that was already wildly good.

Summing Things Up

Our experience at Bourbon Steak at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Monarch Beach was a five-star experience. The entire evening exceeded our expectations. Everything from the setting on the Pacific Ocean to the beautifully plated food and the service were just perfect. If you want to dine at the best steakhouse in Orange County, Michael Mina’s Bourbon Steak is the restaurant for you.