Mozambique - Africa meets Portugal

Courtesy of OC Restaurant Week, the husband and I ventured out to town to try several new restaurants. We tried three restaurants: Taps in Brea, Kimera in Irvine and Mozambique in Laguna Beach. Our favorite:

Mozambique Steakhouse and Coastal Lounge

1740 South Coast Highway

Laguna Beach, CA 92651

Mozambique (pronounced Moe-zahm-beek) is situated on PCH in Laguna Beach. Driving down this stretch of PCH, you will discover the delightful fragrance of the sea mixed with floral. On this particular evening - the scent I identified in the air was tuberose. Aside from what is the air, there is much to see. Art galleries can be found on both sides of the street as local artists proudly display their work. Sometimes, Laguna Beach reminds me of SoHo. Anyway, enough about Laguna Beach. If you have time, do venture down to Laguna Beach one of these days. Just be patience as with any beach city - parking can be a pain and the streets can get crowded.

Back to Mozambique - As you walk up to the entrance, the right side displays a patio with an inviting outside fireplace. To your left, you will be pleasantly greeted by three exotic friends. They will peek at you curiously and bid you an enjoyable evening and resume back to what they were doing before.
Stepping into the restaurant, you will brought to a Spanish influence fixed with African art dining area. The cusine is Africa meets Portugal. The husband ordered a mojito drink. I don't remember the specific name. I was pleasantly surprised by this drink. Not much of an alcoholic, I have occasional taken a few sips here and there of other mojitos and have always disliked the drink with its strong mint and rum taste. This motijo had a hint of mint and rum.
The husband and I had the $ 30 dinner menu. That included a starter, entree and dessert. The husband and I both ordered the Mediterranean salad. By far, out of the three restaurants we tried during OC Restaurant Week, this was our favorite salad! Calamata olives, grape tomatoes, feta cheese, artichoke hearts, sundried tomato croutons, half a boiled egg over mixed greens draped with Grecian dressing. Just enough salad to call it a starter and enough to leave you looking forward to your entree. The husband ordered the Peri Peri Rotisserie Chicken and Garlic Prawns with toasted basmatic rice and tropical mango salsa. He really enjoyed his dinner, finished the chicken, prawns and mango salsa.

I ordered the Durban Lamb Curry. Let me just say one word, "YUMMY!" Add some chutney to the piece of lamb and taste the sweet and savory in your mouth. The husband ordered Signature Warm Bread Pudding for dessert.

I ordered warm potted chocolate cake with coconut ice cream. I couldn't really taste the coconut but that is fine with me. As we walked to our car, this is what we saw on a corner street: