Located on the second floor of the Pacific City Outdoor mall is Bluegold. The restaurant is situated upstairs across from the Equinox gym facing the beautiful beach. I love the concept of their farm to table culture, everything you’re eating is fresh. The restaurant is very warm and welcoming with an open kitchen, I’ve always loved the open kitchen concept as I love to watch the chefs create their work of art. The staff is very friendly and inviting and very eager to recommend their favorites.

For their appetizers we started off with their Pork Jowl & Black rice. As you can tell from the previous posts I’m a huge fan of pork, and pork jowl is just the most succulent and fatty piece of meat you can imagine. The jowl was cooked perfect and so tender, however the hoisin flavoring overpowered the meat. Everything else about the dish was great, and I really enjoyed the crispy texture of the rice and Chinese sausage pairing. If the pork jowl were just seasoned with some pink salt I would’ve been thrilled about this dish.

Keep in mind this dish can be very rich, so if you want something lighter I would probably suggest their yellowtail sashimi. For our entrees we went with their special which they offer every day of the week. For Wednesday it was their Gnocchi & Duck. The duck was cooked very tender, the sausage surrounding it was overcooked and a bit dry, however the gnocci was cooked just right. A nice creamy texture with a little coating of the reduction from the duck. The dish was good, however it was a little one noted and missing some lightness to the dish since it was surrounded with potatoes, braised carrots, and gnocchi. The next entrée we ordered was the Pan Roast which is a thicker seafood stew served over rice. This may sound heavy but it was a lot lighter than pan roast I’ve had in the past.

This was good, just needed a little more spice but that’s just a personal preference. The seafood was all cooked just right, every piece was tender. It looked like it came with scallop, shrimp, mussels, and clams. I was a little bummed that we had 3 dead clams in the batch as they weren’t opened, the only thing I would’ve added to this dish would be some sausage, overall I enjoyed the lightness of this dish. We ordered two sides to go along with our meal and the first was their double dutch fries which was served with a roasted garlic aioli, mornay sauce, & ketchup. Honestly I could’ve probably had four servings of this and have been really happy.

The fries had a perfect crisp outside, while still having a creamy texture inside. Roasted garlic bulbs served with this and to do it with their garlic aioli, I could not have been happier. I personally didn’t care for the the mornay sauce and would’ve been fine with ketchup and garlic aioli since the mornay sauce does not hold up very well and overly thickens. The last side we ordered was the cavatappi pasta, which is basically their mac & cheese. I enjoyed this side as well, the pasta was cooked al dente and the choice of aged cheddar was delicious.

By this time we had more than enough to eat so we passed on dessert. I would probably give this place another try and this time go for their wood & charcoal burning items such as their steaks. They also offer true Japanese Wagyu Beef as well which is a choice you could never go wrong with. They also have a secret restaurant inside their restaurant which seats up to 25. However a completely different menu, basically what the chef would serve you in his home, he serves you here with a different ambiance, they play rap music in this portion only. Give this place a try and let me know what you think =).

Restaurant – Bluegold

Location – New American Fusion

Address 21016 Pacific Coast Hwy – Suite D200, Huntington Beach CA 92648

Contact – 714.374.0038

Website – http://dinebluegold.com/