As everyone already knows, I’m a sucker for anything that is aesthetically pleasing, tastes delicious, and is fun! This past Saturday, Akshay and I were invited to enjoy brunch at Playa Mesa, a new and trendy Mexican restaurant in Costa Mesa. And let me tell you – our experience was phenomenal!First off, Playa Mesa deserves a standing ovation on its decor and styling. As soon as you enter, the first thing that will catch your eye is the beautiful bar centered in the middle of the restaurant, outlined with the prettiest blue barstools. Additionally, there’s a large window that allows a lot of natural light to flood in. I really appreciate how the restaurant was separated into sections with its own furniture/color palette/style, but when looking at it as a whole, everything meshed so well together. They also have a very nice outdoor seating area with fire pits.
We arrived around 10AM, which is when the restaurant first opens. Rey, the bar manager of Playa Mesa, introduced himself and made us feel at home right away. He asked us if there was anything specific we wanted, but since we were unsure, we left it up to him to choose the most popular items. He first brought out a couple of the more popular cocktails from the menu: “Oaxac” This Way and ¿Qué es esto? Both were good, and most importantly, pretty strong. I loved the presentation of the drinks, especially the clay mug that the ¿Qué es esto? comes out in. (Akshay’s note: even I liked the clay cup, and that’s saying something.) You will discover very quickly that not only are quality and ingredients important, but also aesthetics. And I appreciated all of that!
Playa Mesa allowed us to taste several of their popular dishes. We could not stop eating, it was that good! Here is a link to the Playa Mesa website and menu where you can get an actual description of the food I’m about to list out below.
Mollete: This reminded me of a Mexican flatbread pizza. It was toasted bread with delicious, creamy refried beans, and topped with melted cheese. I love how the bread was crunchy on the outside, but soft on the inside. I would definitely order this one again!
Huevos Rancheros: Hands down, mine and Akshay’s favorite dish. We would have definitely been fighting over this one if it was the only item we had ordered. Lucky for him, I had my eyes on the French Toast. This dish is mainly fried eggs on top of refried beans and corn tortillas. I swear their beans are magical.
Chilaquiles: These are crispy tortilla chips tossed in a delicious chile puya (a.k.a enchilada) sauce. The chips were still so crunchy even with the runny egg and chile puya sauce drizzled over them. While the flavors were rich, I would recommend adding either the chicken or steak option.
French Toast: My friend had mentioned that she had heard wonders about Playa Mesa’s French Toast, so I had to ask if I could try it. No regrets. I devoured 75% of this by myself. The sweet cream and dulce de leche were such a good combination. It literally melts in your mouth, and before you know it you’ve shoveled the whole thing down!
Menudo: This dish is only offered on the weekends, so Rey brought it out so we could try it. Once you add the lemon, onions, and spices, the flavors are out of this world! Akshay tricked me into trying the beef tripe claiming its just another type of meat. While stomach lining may be an acquired taste for some, it’s not my cup of tea! The soup was still good though!
Rey came out with two more drinks for us to try: Smokin Piña and The Mayan. Both were smoky mezcal drinks that were strong and absolutely delicious!
Playa Mesa opens around 10AM, which is when we arrived. We started noticing more people trickling in around 11AM. I would recommend making reservations if you plan to check out their brunch after 11AM. It gets crowded!
All in all, our experience was fantastic! Thank you so much Playa Mesa for letting us try your amazing drinks and dishes. We will definitely be back!
