Newly built & recently opened is Water Grill South Coast Plaza. Situated in the former Scott’s Seafood located directly across the street from Bloomingdales. The architecture and design of Water Grill is just amazing, the details of every aspect of the restaurant is impeccable. The restaurant has a very open concept and is so spacious creating the perfect ambiance. Valet parking is the only option and it is not complimentary, but no worries as they do accept major credit cards.

You will walk past the restaurant and see different parts of the restaurant. They offer a large private room for private parties, they have a private wine room, from there they have an oyster bar, and the restaurant itself. We had reservations, given how new this restaurant is although it was a Sunday evening, they were very busy. We were greeted and seated almost immediately. The staff was great, very attentive and friendly, they were on top of refilling my water and offered a still or sparkling option. The menu is quite large offering all types of seafood cooked in many different ways, raw oysters, to crudo’s, to even some steak. We were given complimentary sourdough rolls along with butter and coarse sea salt. The bread came out fresh and steaming. I ordered a few dishes having it family style. Started off with the Uni Toast, three petite size pieces of toast, each topped with a sliver of Uni and dresses differently. There one one served with pickled jicama and this was my least favorite of the three as it brought out a fishier taste. The second was topped with green tobiko, aka fish eggs, this was nice and added a good texture to the dish. The last was green onions dressed in a light soy sauce, needless to say this was my favorite of the three as the texture and flavor complimented the Uni very well without masking the flavor. We then went with the seafood fritters, which had crab, shrimp, and cod stuffed inside, then placed on top of a romesco sauce and pickles. The flavor of the dish was not bad, however it was too rich and the batter on the seafood did not have a nice crunch to it. The romesco sauce was nice, but there was no pickling in the peppers and the sauce lacked acidity causing too much richness. Chilean Sea Bass served with a cauliflower puree, lemon chutney, hazelnuts, and brown butter. The Chilean sea bass was superb, the texture had a beautiful crisp on top as the inside was so smooth like butter. They were a bit frugal on the hazelnuts. This could’ve used a bit more of the lemon sauce as I really don’t consider it a chutney btw. I would order this dish again. Roasted beet salad was nice and refreshing. The arugula was not overdressed, the beast were roasted just right, and the tandoori spice really made this. Last dish we shared was the side of French fries and to be honest I would never order this again. Fries were over fairly overcooked and nothing special, would not order again. For dessert we shared the coconut panna cotta with passion fruit. The texture was very smooth, silky, while creamy. I loved the flavors of the coconut with passion fruit, a must order along with their maple cheesecake. Give this place a try and let me know what you think of the new water grill by leaving a comment below!

Restaurant – Water Grill South Coast Plaza
Location – 3300 Bristol St, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Contact – (949) 208-7060
Cuisine – Seafood