Vaca

June 17 Fathers Day is probably no the best evening to go out for dinner.
The great experience started when I was greeted by the valet, then the hostess who greeted me and took me to the table.
Of course this was followed by a waiter that was very polite and knew about all the dishes.
Well now the fun began. We sampled 6 different Tapas splitting them. Absolute amazing. Presentation, all were hot when served and the flavors were absolutely amazing. BTW the servings were very ample. Thinking we had some room still we ordered a seafood Paella. Once again amazing flavors. Clams, muscles, shrimp, and lobster (small).
Well by now we were not just full we were stuffed, however a bit of sorbet sounded good. Once again amazing. One flavor had a hint of jalapeño in it.
All said we were there for 3 hours and enjoyed every bit of our meals.
Thank you Amar Santana for creating another wonderful restaurant. I am looking for a opportunity to return soon.

I ate a $ 42 Paella last night…
I’ve been wanting to come to Vaca since I first heard about it. I’m a huge Top Chef fan so that added a little more excitement, especially when I was greeted by Amar Santana at the door-(not personally lol but he was standing right outside the entrance)
Needless to say, expectations are high.
You absolutely need a reservation. Spots at the bar are sparse and quickly swooped up as soon as a seat opens up.
Wed night… earliest reservation was 8pm. No biggie, found one chair at the bar so I sat and my friend stood up.
:side bar: They have valet $ 7 or self parking (said $ 10 but there was a performance at Segerstrom) The gates were open after 9pm so it ended up being free.
So here’s what we had:
Vaca Tonic-​signature drink
This was really good! The lush in me was disappointed when my $ 13 drink arrived half full, but it was well made. Similar flavor to maybe a Tom Collins, citrusy & clean.
My friend ordered La Familia. I didnt try it but he mentioned it had a little kick to it.
Paella de Mariscos-​$ 42
Seafood paella, clams, mussels, shrimp, octopus, saffron bomba rice
After dinner, we discussed the meal… it was agreed that if you’re going to make something like paella, risotto, gnocchi-​those very particular type of foods-​you should only do it if you do it well.
The Paella was good. Not $ 42 good though.
It was missing something & we couldn’t figure out what. The flavors were all balanced, but so balanced that none stood out. It wasnt as salty as I was worried it would be (per other Unilocalers).
It is enough to serve 2 people. I wish it had 4 prawns instead of 2.
This is just one of those dishes you have to try, so you’re not always wondering what if?
Bruselas $ 10
Brussels sprouts, chorizo, sherry gastrique
I love Brussels sprouts. Whenever they’re paired with pork-​even better.
They were ok. I’ve had better. They were over sherried and salty.
I let my friend have the last few that had been marinating in the gastrique.
The guy next to us had the Oxtail & Calamari. He said both were very rich.
Overall, I’d say B-​/​B+
A for the experience. I love when the Chef is in the house. You know the food has to be on point if he’s present.
Perhaps our expectations were too high. Perhaps a $ 42 Paella should be orgasmic in your mouth good.
Try it out for yourself. I’m happy I went. Would I return? Perhaps.

The occasion was my BF’s birthday. Rsvp on a Tuesday w/​prior notice was easy. They even called ahead to confirm. Great ambiance and décor. We had the :
Daily special of chicken liver pâté w/​truffle and crostinis, La bola (so tasty), small ensemble of chorizo and manchego plate, meatballs (great), bikini sandwich, and sea urchin w/​eggs and tamago.
We played around and made our own combinations w the pickles and compotes. It was fun and the flavor combinations were great. Waitress was friendly even bringing extra bread and olive oil at our request. Included was a complimentary scoop of pistachio and strawberry ice cream.
Cons: $ 1 charge for water and $ 7 valet parking.
Worth a try for any tapas aficionado.

Definitely a great date night place! I’ve been here a few times and I’ll be back more. The Spanish blue cheese (cabarles) is out of this world! I literally get cravings for it every now and then.
Plan on spending $ 100-​$ 200 for dinner and drinks for 2.
They would get that extra star but that whole charging for water that I didn’t order thing kinda bothers me

Comer, Beber, Jugar, I love how their whole menu is in Spanish. Fancy and nice, modern and well thought, great for local offices and «outsiders» (just follow the «red cow» to find parking!)
Had the Bikini Sandwich, small but good, definitely try it. Since it wasn’t enough I got La Bola too, mmmmm sooo good! Since it still wasn’t enough I got some Croquetas De Pollo, awww, sooo good! I’ll so be back here for dinner to try more of their tapas and wash them down with a beer or something. Nicest service, in 5 min we were friends with half of the people working there, starting from the bar (the other half weren’t enemies, we just didn’t get to talk to them!)

I was so inspired by Broadway by Amar Santana that the next evening I had to see what Vaca was all about!
I had my eye on the beef rib steak. The Unilocal pics looked amazing. When I placed the order with our terrific server Bryant, he informed us that the smallest cut was 1 lb and 10 oz… that’s a whole lotta meat, so we decided against that and instead got:
ERIZOS CON HUEVO. Sea urchin with scrambled eggs, served with miso toast. The urchin shell was baked. I don’t know. I liked the idea of it more than I liked the actual dish. I have learned in the past few experiences that I don’t love cooked/​hot uni. It’s sorta nauseating. I’m really glad I tried it though.
GAMBAS A LA PARRILLA. Large grilled prawns with romesco and salsa verde. They were large, flavorful, and good. Coulda been less mushy. But I enjoyed it.
FIDEUA. A seductive toasted noodle paella with squid ink, calamari, toasted marcona almonds, ginger lime. It smelled alluring, and was a delicious and gorgeous dish. Served conventionally in a large paella pan
A glass of cabernet blend to accompany this beautiful meal. I exhilarated in my second Amar Santana meal of the weekend. He was standing at the bar at the entrance when we walked in fully aware of the attention, and was dining at one of the patio tables when we exited. I would have preferred seeing him be a little more grounded, donning a chef’s apron or actively engaging with his guests rather than hobnobbing with his compadres in the corner, but it was nice seeing him be present at his restaurant.

Stopped by for dinner across hotel we are staying at… got recommended by some locals to come here… this is a little tapas place with a long trendy row of tables and we were fortunate to get a corner table! Started with their grilled calamari which was excellent! Their beef tartare could compare with most high end places… their bone marrow was to die for… the patatas bravas or spicy potatoes was incredible! The fideau which is a squid ink noodle paella was spot on! Loved it! Ended with a very solid flan and tres leches!!! Their vaca tonic was really tasty…

I would give the service a 5. But the food would probably be a 3.
Me and my husband were really looking forward to going to Vaca for awhile now and decided to go there to celebrate an early anniversary dinner. The ambience is very nice, good for dinner for 2. I wouldn’t really recommend this place for big groups. They give u these mix of nuts to munch on that tasted like a mix of corn nuts. It was really good!
Here’s what we had:
Rabin de toro: oxtail — good, tender but not exceptional
Hueso al horno: bone marrow. Again, good but not exceptional
Ensalada de romolacha: beet salad– it was ok
Pulpo a la gallega: octopus, it was pretty good, but not as good as I thought it would be from what I had heard from people
Paella de carne: meat paella — we ordered this because the waitress said that the seafood paella tends to be more saltier. However, we found this meat paella to be really salty. I usually don’t mind salty foods, but this definitely was really salty even for me. We only ate like a ¹⁄₃ of it and we really tried to eat it since we didn’t want to waste the food, but couldn’t do it. The waitress had told the manager and the manager didn’t charge us for it, which was nice. Service here really was great and they were really attentive to us.
Dessert: tres leches cake — pretty good
Their drinks are good though. I can’t remember what I ordered but it had a pretty flower in it.
I probably won’t go back to Vaca for the food though. I had high expectations for it and it was not as good as I had expected to be. I didn’t really love any of the dishes we tried. But the service is great! I definitely won’t take that away from them. I do know a lot of people who like the food at Vaca and maybe the food just didn’t fit my taste buds the same way (or my husbands).

Novel concept for the area: Orange County gets a big boy restaurant. When it comes to higher-​priced restaurants, we in OC don’t usually lend ourselves to innovative, interesting concepts. Usually a fine dining menu in OC consists of the staples: some kind of salmon, a grilled steak, and if we really want to live on the wild side, then perhaps some braised short ribs (aka fancy pot roast). That’s not a gripe but just a lay of the OC land.
When Vaca was first introduced, I was very excited by the concept and menu. Real Spanish tapas, items you can really find in a tapas shop in Madrid and not the fake «small plates/​tapas» style that has been hitting the restaurant scene starting 5 or so years ago.
We stopped by on a weekday with co-​workers and clients after a planning session earlier in the day. By noon, this place was packed.
Their lunch dishes all sounded tasty. But what I feared about Vaca’s extensive lunch and dinner menu was materialized: they try to do too much. Tapas, steaks, other grilled meats, cheese, charcuterie, etc. The extensiveness of the menu can be comparable to the extensive menu at Bazaar Meats (the meatier sibling of Bazaar) but unfortunately without the masterful execution that we’ve all witnessed so many times at Bazaar Meats.
The Spanish-​themed burger is a popular item but mine turned out to have very dry buns (hey oh!) and the patty seemed to be pre-​cooked and sitting in some warming device. You get the feeling they tried to get away with it because if you wanted say, a medium-​cooked burger, then they cook it to a medium rare, and as it sits in some warming device, it heats up to medium. The devil’s advocate may say that I am a jackass and inconsiderate since that’s done for timing purposes– to get your party’s dishes all out at the same time. The jackass in me will say that is an excuse and that they could do better. The chips it came with were incredibly soggy and limp. They came dosed with spices– why not just get the basic blocking and tackling right and properly make some crispy chips? After a couple pieces, you’d yearn for a can of Pringles instead.
The carrot and ginger soup turned out to be tasty.
We ordered the tres leches and a coconut crème brûlée. Both were decent but hardly inspiring or justifiable of their high priced tags comparable to other high-​end restaurants. You could find equivalent or better quality tres leches at North Gate market.
Vaca is one of those restaurants that will charge you $ 1/​person for water, its disclaimer likely buried somewhere on the menu. This concept is big in Western Europe and gaining traction in the U.S. but for a majority of American diners, we feel it’s very un-​American. Vaca has a $ 55/​lb rib-​eye on the menu but charges $ 1/​person for water. Interesting concept. What are your thoughts?

I decided to make 9:30pm reservations for dinner here since we were going to be watching a 6:30pm musical at Segerstrom. Honestly, before even getting here, I was irritated. I received a confirmation call the day prior, and I received another confirmation call the day of. Then I received another call a couple of hours before my musical started, asking if I wanted to change my reservation time to 9:00pm. I said that was fine, as I figured they wanted to move their times up. Then they called me again right before the musical started, asking me if I wanted to change my reservation to 7:00pm or something. NO. No, I do not want to keep changing my reservation time. If I did, I wouldn’t have made my reservations for 9:30pm! Geez.
Anyways, we ordered 7 dishes to share. Everything was good. Nothing spectacular. My favorites were probably the La Bola and the Patatas Bravas. We really did not like the Paella de Mariscos. This seafood paella was so «fishy» and just so… unappetizing. We literally ate a couple of bites and left the rest. What a waste of $ 42.
I probably won’t be back. For OC, it’s a pretty decent place, but my overall experience with Vaca was just a pain.

Never knew there is such a «hot» restaurant hidden in these business buildings in Costa Mesa next to South coast plaza. Of course there was a rush of excitement after knowing it is owned by Chef Amar santana from top Chef. And indeed with the hype and excitement, it comes with high expectations.
I came here for a friend’s birthday lunch and we had ordered there express lunch and some tapas, so we could try out the most that we could consume. To start off, it is quite a small restaurant for this type of cuisine that served tapas, and steak, especially with a big name behind it. And I can see why it is hard to get a reservation for dinner.
Back to the dishes, I really appreciated each plate was slightly to moderately heated to keep every dish warm or hot to maintain perfect served temperature of each dish. Listed from favourite to least favourite:
Higado de pato (Seared foie gras) — My favourite dish of all, I was surprised how little it was mentioned. I love the thick cut of it and yet the whole piece maintained the buttery texture consistently, accompanied by the tartness apple sauce and the toasted pistachios. Each bite was heavenly.
Coconut crème Brulee (from the express lunch menu) — it’s is a good solid crème Brulee with toasty coconut flavor. I like that it wasn’t trying hard to add in coconut flavor in the crème Brulee itself but with the flavor coming from the topping. But the citrus part was a bit too sour for me. Yet I would come back just for the dessert.
Ginger carrot soup– a slight bit too salty, but I like the hint of ginger and mix of crème on top. Great creamy soup.
Erizos con huevo (sea urchin with scramble eggs) — it’s a picture perfect dish, but I think the sea urchin flavors is a bit lacking with the scramble eggs after the first couple bites when most of the sea urchin is taken out. And the toast was overly soaked with butter.
Canelon de Pollo ahunmado (smoke chicken with cannellonni with foie gras sauce) — thought I couldn’t taste much of the foie gras from the sauce, probably not after having a real slice of the actual thing. But chicken inside was a bit on the dry side.
Butfarra– grilled pork sausage, that was not memorable.
Grilled halibut with risotto (from lunch menu) — risotto was great flavored, but the fish was dry.
For birthday girl, we get a mango sobert which was also delicious. But over all, it is a solid 4 star for me. Service was just ok, and they do charge for water.
Tip: there is self parking avaliable across the restaurant and they do validate your parking, even though if you pull in the restaurant it says «valet only, no self parking»

We definitely enjoyed our meal here! The dishes are beautifully presented and very creative.
Came here on a weekday for lunch. Parked our cars in the structure across the street and the restaurant validated parking which is always a plus. When we entered the restaurant the hostess was no where to be seen and we had to wait a bit before she showed up. We got a nice table on the outdoor patio so we could get some sun. The lunch menu had a special 3 course for $ 28 which we decided to order and share. We also ordered the Sea Urchin dish and the steak tartare to supplement our lunch and both were very tasty. The dishes definitely had a distinct Spanish flavor to them but with a slight twist. The presentation is beautiful and the flavors are very strong and a unique blend.
Service was nice, food came out pretty fast. Overall a good experience.

Vaca is an impressive space, but I could see right away why the reservations are so hard to get. They have very few tables, with much of the space taken up by the bar counter. The fun thing about sitting in the back is the walk past the MEAT case. Beautious things reside in said case. We were a group of five, so were geared up for tasting a variety of things.
Vaca Tonics– Naturally we had to try these. Very refreshing and light. I had two of them. Everyone liked these. We had some other cocktails too, but the Tonics were better…
Patatas Bravas– Fried potato chunks. Yup. That’s pretty much it. $ 8 and not terribly exciting.
Esparragos Verde– $ 12. $ 12. Yes. $ 12. Asparagus. Big fat spears, and I mean fat. There were seven or eight half spears that tasted, well, like, like asparagus. Yes they were tasty for asparagus, but I’d skip this.
Coliflor– Another pass. Yes it was good, but insanely small. This is more of a single side dish, not a shareable plate, although that can be said for much of Vaca’s menu items.
Bikini Sandwich– Salty, tasty, well crisped bread. This was good, but not something I would order again for the price. It’s very small, and at $ 13 I was thinking nope. At $ 4 I might consider it, but that would still be a lot for the portion.
Cinco Jotas Iberico Ham– Not all of us were terribly impressed with this. I was not one of the us that wasn’t. The portion was, again, very small, but it was sold by the ounce, and we just wanted to try it. I enjoyed two thin, small slices, and found it to be glorious. I just love discovering new things that force my eyes shut and my brain shut down. Melty, fatty, acorny fantasticness. I could eat this like a pepperoni stick.
Manchego cheese– Really too tiny of a portion to even consider. Tiny, lardon-​sized strips, and not many of them. We all discussed the literally comical use of tiny portions. Initially we thought the cheese came with the ham as a side accompaniment, but nope, that was it.
Hueso Al Horno– The bone marrow with beef cheek toast sounded like a really good idea, but it was too much. Everything on this dish was too much. Now I love good bone marrow, and this was by all means good bone marrow, but I didn’t get the radish and citrus on it thing, and the cheek toast robbed the marrow of its beef-​buttery deliciousness. I ate the cheek toast on its own, and did the same for the marrow, after trying them together. In this case simple was better.
Higado Pato– They did this right by keeping it simple. I love foie gras, and this hit the spot.
Kobe Ribeye A5– Of course this is really good. A perfect ingredient with no fuss. Nice and rare, and mouth watering, but at $ 22 an ounce? Worth trying once. It just isn’t that much better than other prime steaks I’ve had. I felt the same about a Louis the XIII cognac once.
2.13 lb aged bone-​in prime rib– Excellent in the middle. Too rare for half of us, but I like it trying to get away. We ordered it medium rare, and it was on the rare side of that in the middle portion, but well done on the sides, transitioning to medium rare. The well done parts were also deep, so maybe a third was nice and red, the rest medium to well. They must have cooked it standing on the edges over the grill. This wasn’t a problem, as two in our group didn’t mind the overcooked meat. Still tasted good. If everyone in the group wanted medium rare, then this preparation would probably be a disappointment. A nice thing to try, but again, it’s a novelty thing. As for the aging, I didn’t get any funky cheese flavors, so I guess I will have to seek out something older. Still a damned good steak.
Chocolate Churros– Small and overpriced, and just okay.
Ice Cream– Tiny amount, but tasted interesting.
Wine– We ordered a $ 160 bottle of Muga Torre. It was okay but we all pretty much raised a questioning eyebrow. The later $ 100 bottle of pinot was way, way better. I later checked the wine on The Google, and found they gave us a different Muga, one that retailed for around $ 20. The one we were billed for was around $ 90 retail. I contacted the management, and they confirmed their error. Luckily I took a picture of the bottle, the Unilocal nerd that I am. They were very apologetic, issued me a full refund for the bottle, its tax, its portion of the tip, and we ended up getting that other bottle free of charge, the other Muga. To boot we got a $ 25 gift card. Honest mistake I assume, but great customer service after the fact.
Vaca is going to put a dent in your wallet, and you might even feel like stopping at del taco afterward to fill the rest of your belly, but it’s still a fun place with some pretty darn good food items. Stick to the meats, and do try their craft cocktails.

Did Vaca bring a bit of Spain to Orange County… Si, y mas
We came for the 50 day dry aged Beef Rib Steak ($ 55/pound)…the meat comes precut in various weights and takes 30 to 45 minutes to prepare… the waitress gave us some weight options. We got 1.6 pounds, cooked medium. Remember the steak is bone-​in. The flavor was amazing. 5 stars.
We ordered some tapas before the showcase beef rib steak.
Pulpo a la Gallega $ 12. Medium sized octopus legs, sliced, with potatoes, hint of smoke, but still retained some brim taste from sea. Not chewy but not tender either. Good portion size. 4 stars.
Ensalada de Berro $ 11. Watercress salad with diced butter squash, citrus vinaigrette, suppose to have some manchego but I didn’t taste it. 3 stars.
Seared foie gras $ 15, got this because they didn’t get their delivery of Erizo (scrambled eggs with uni). Buttery but not saturated buttery. 4 stars.
Rabo del Toro. Oxtail is fall off the bone tender, rich marinate… get this one for sure. 5 stars.
Washed the food down with Cimarron Reposado in the form of «don’t fear the repo» $ 13…get it if you like Tequila like my husband. 5 stars
Outstanding service. 5 stars.
Parking in lot free with validation or valet.
(Written by husband)

I am a fan of Top Chef and try to get to as many Top Chef owned/​operated restaurants as my budget and schedule allows. I tried to come here on a Friday but there were no Friday reservations available (unless I wanted to eat at 10pm). While I would love to do the full Spanish experience by starting dinner at 10, I had to pick a non-​high volume day to try out Vaca.
I knew I was in for a treat and I was NOT disappointed. Parking was a little confusing due to two garages but I was able to get to the right one. Once at the restaurant, I was led to our table. The space is narrow and on the smaller side. Definitely a hit with the pre-​theater crowd.
Once my party arrived, we started with our choice of water. We didn’t want to pay the $ 1 per person for triple filtered water, so we stuck to unfiltered water. Our waters were not refilled regularly which was a bit disappointing. I chose to grab a drink, the Bedouin, which had svedka vodka, lime, coconut and bitters. One of the diners at my table chose the Arabesque, which was a gin drink with grapefruit. My bf had a vodka soda. I can say the cocktails are STRONG! But super tasty!
It was recommended that we get a couple tapas each to share. Since we weren’t going to the show, we were able to take our time and enjoy our food (it probably gave the kitchen a break as well to not have to turn out everything so fast). The menu is really large, so I suggest checking out the website for all choices. We chose:
–Bikini Sandwich (ham, manchego, truffles, in a panini shape)
–Albondigas (Lamb meatballs with lemon yogurt and small cucumbers on top)
–Ensalada de berro (watercress salad with butternut squash, manchego, almonds and a vermouth vinagrette)
–Datiles con jamon serrano (serrano ham wrapped dates with honey)
The plates were small and definitely a one-​two bite quantity. I wish I could say one was better than the other, but they were all FANTASTIC! Our table really enjoyed the bikini sandwich the most. The albondigas have a little kick as an FYI. You get the biggest quantity of food with the dates.
For our main meals, we chose to share again. We got:
–Vegetable Paella (comes with saffron aioli)
–Bison Striploin
–Flat Iron Steak
–Patatas Carnarias (salt potatos with salsa verde)
–Roasted Cauliflower
–Brussels Sprouts
I know it’s not popular, but those salt potatoes – wow! Just like back home (Central New York is known for salt potatoes). I could eat another batch of those instantly. The sauce it comes with works well too. The hit for the sides was the brussels sprouts. These were just amazing. Big sprouts with chorizo (don’t mistake it for a tomato as we did) and a nice sherry gastrique. These went fast and were definitely enough to share. The cauliflower was good too but not as great as the other dishes, imo.
The bison was perfectly cooked so I am so happy we ordered it. I had only had bison as a burger and it reminded the table of steak. Yum! I didn’t share the flat iron steak but the table liked it a lot. The veggie paella was pretty on point too.
We ended the night with no leftovers, but half-​caf coffees and the chocolate churros. This was the only miss of the night. They were on the dry side and were just okay. We probably could have done without.
We left full and happy, 3 hours later. The restaurant lived up to the hype and surpassed it. I want to come back again because I know I’ll be satisfied and enlightened. Great job Amar and team!

400^th review! I’ve been waiting to review because I wanted my 400^th review to be a restaurant that I love and Vaca is it!
One Saturday night my friends and I decided to get together for dinner and I made the suggestion for Vaca because it has been on my Unilocal bookmark for way too long. I was able to score a last-​minute reservation for 6:30pm when I called them at 5pm. Upon arrival, parking was fairly easy. You can opt for valet, which is cash only, or you can self park at the structure right across for a free 2 hour w/​validation.
AMBIANCE ⁵⁄₅
This place is ideal for anyone and anything. In the front they have a bar section for those who just want to grab a quick drink. Towards the middle of the restaurant are tables for groups or couples. For me, tapas is all about sharing with a group of friends so the more the merrier, but the setting here is also perfect for dates/​couples. The music isn’t too loud so you can still hear each other talk and they had the perfect amount of dimly-​lit lights. Lastly, they have an outdoor patio seating in the back which can be awesome for those warm, summer nights.
FOOD ⁵⁄₅
For the most part, I really enjoyed all of our dishes. The following are what we ordered:
Sea urchin ³⁄₅ — I love uni so I had to get this dish to try. While I enjoyed it, I feel they were lacking on the uni part. It was small slice of uni with scrambled eggs. After that small slice of uni is gone, it basically tasted just like scrambled eggs on toast that came with it. It left me a little disappointed. If they didn’t skimp out on the uni, this would have been a higher rated dish.
Spanish octopus — ⁴⁄₅ Let it be known that I am not an octopus fan but since both my coworkers who has been here before and the server recommended it, I decided to order it for our table. It surely did not disappoint. It did not have that weird chewy octopus texture but instead it was very soft and tender. You can actually taste the octopus. Very good.
Seafood paella ⁵⁄₅ — Let it also be known that I am normally not a paella person either but we decided to order this and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It had a nice blend of different flavors and they did not skimp out on the seafood. My whole table really like this dish as well.
Foie Gras ⁵⁄₅ — Buttery foie gras with a hint of sweetness drizzled on top. Explosion of heavenly flavors in my mouth. Recommended with the steak.
50 day old aged steak ⁵⁄₅ — They don’t ask you how you want your steak cook and it comes out pretty rare so if you do not eat rare meat, you might not enjoy this. I LOVE this. You can definitely tell the difference between a regular steak and one that has been aged. The outer layer was perfectly charred while the inner layer has a hint of red to it. Soft, tender, and tasty.
Flan ⁵⁄₅ — To my whole party and myself, the dessert was probably the best dessert we’ve ever had. We are big fans of flan but the flan here is different and probably one of the best ever.
Tres leaches ⁵⁄₅ — Another one of our favorites. Creamy, rich, and fluffy goodness that just melts in your mouth. To be honest I would come back just for the desserts alone.
Old Fashion ⁵⁄₅ — Old Fashion can be a little strong for me but I really like the one here as it has just the right amount of sweetness to it so that I can still enjoy it and not feel like I will grow hair after I take a sip.
Amper & Sand ⁴⁄₅ — Recommended to me by the server after I asked for a whiskey drink. It has the perfect blend of charred and smokey to it. I do wish I could’ve tasted a little more of the whiskey but overall it’s just a great drink.
Bluegray Cab ⁴⁄₅ — My friend asked for a recommendation on a red wine to pair with our steak and this was what the server suggested. It was a nice blend and paired well with our steak.
Service ⁴⁄₅
This is where I docked a point. Our server was nice but not very attentive and lacked a bit of professionalism, if you will, when he was asking us what we would like to order. He seemed a little awkward, maybe because he’s new. But he was very soft spoken while going through the menu it was extremely hard to hear him under his breath. We had to flag him down everytime we wanted something. There’s room to improve with that.
For all our orders our bill was around $ 320, with tax and tip included for our party of 4. Not bad at all. I would definitely return!

As a fan of Top Chef, I was excited to try this new restaurant of Chef Amar Santana. Upon entering, the restaurant was bustling. Yes, it’s true that tables are spaced close together, but it was not bothersome. Service was very friendly and helpful. We decided to try multiple appetizers instead of ordering entrees. We were advised to order 4 – 5 apps for 2 people.
APPETIZER
PULPO A LA GALLEGA $ 15
Sliced Spanish octopus with fingerling potatoes. The octopus was tender and the Spanish olive oil added a nice flavor.
BIKINI SANDWICH $ 13
Iberico ham, manchego, truffles served panini style. This was my favorite app of the night — so full of flavor. It was a small portion though.
ATUN CRUDO $ 14
Tuna tartare served with balsamic nori purée, tomato and avocado. The tuna was melt-​in-​your-​mouth and the balsamic and avocado were lovely accompaniments and really elevated the dish.
BUTIFARRA $ 10
Grilled pork sausage with white bean purée. The sausage was smoky, juicy and flavorful. The purée added another dimension to the flavor profile.
BRUSELAS $ 10
Some of the best, carmelized brussels sprouts I’ve had. The chorizo did not really add anything for me.
HUESO AL HORNO 1 $ 6
Roasted bone marrow with beef cheek toast. The bone marrow was a bit too fatty. It needed some acid to cut the fat. The toast was lightly spread with flavorful beef cheek. I liked the toast but the bone marrow was a miss.
The food here is solid overall and there are a nice variety of options from which to choose. I didn’t miss not ordering an entrée, as it was nice to try a number of appetizers instead. Service was also on point.
parking — South Coast garage parking for a fee, but free after 9PM

Vaca was a great idea for dinner
I came here with one other person on a Wednesday night. We made reservations and surprisingly they were pretty booked up on a week night. The restaurant was easy to miss when driving because it’s down town center drive on the right side. But if you zoom by you can miss the sign. I knew to look for valet but I drove right passed it. Luckily who I came with took care of mine before hand so the valet guys were looking for me and ran out to escort me. They were just so nice. Once I got inside, we were instantly impressed by their menu. They had a large variety of tapas, aged and cured meats, top notch variety of steaks, and a huge wine list. We ordered the following to share and its description.
Erizos Con Huevos ($ 16) — This was fresh sea urchin with scramble eggs served with a miso flavor butter toast. It came out beautifully presented in the uni shell. It had lots of flavors and is a good start if you love uni like I do.
Japanese Kobe Rib Eye (MKT price) — on the Wednesday we came it was $ 22 for 3 oz. We got 12 oz for $ 88. This dish was served with a sprout salad and a roasted lemon for flavor. The actual rib eye was insane. We got it medium rare. It came out like butter in our mouth. It was so rich and super fatty.
Hueso Al Horno ($ 16) — This came out with two roasted bone marrows topped with radish and some greens. It was served with two slices of toast that had beef cheek spread on top. The marrows were super rich and were cooked perfectly. The beef cheek toast were filling.
Higado De Pato ($ 15) — This was a piece of seared foie gras. It was a simple dish that was topped with a sauce. It was extremely flavorful and melt in your mouth. Insane. Probably one of the better foie gras I’ve had in awhile.
Coliflor ($ 9) — It’s roasted cauliflower that was topped with a white sauce. It contained some red and yellow raisins for a sweet taste. I enjoyed it.
Our dinner was about $ 160 for 5 dishes. I thought for quality and service it was reasonable. We both left full. Our service was awesome. The guy who served us gave great recommendations and was knowledgeable. The food came out fast and our drinks were constantly being refilled. The inside of this place is super cute. It’s small though so make reservations if you want table seating. Inside they have an insane meat fridge that’s worth gawking over. Where they keep their aged cheeses are also something that you should check out. There is valet parking right in front of the restaurant and I think self parking in the structure across the street.

If you’re meat lover this is the place to be. I came before a show at the Segerstrom they were packed at 5 pm. So probably best to get a reservation.
The service was excellent, our server was really knowledgeable about the menu and recommendations. For me personally I enjoyed the tapas dishes better than the paella.
My favorite dishes were the BIKINI SANDWICH — Paleta iberica, manchego, truffles, Panini $ 13 great truffle taste with the paleta iberica very savory. The BRUSELAS — Brussels sprouts, chorizo, sherry gastrique $ 10 the chorizo really made this dish.
The RABO DE TORO –Red wine braised beef oxtail, wild mushrooms $ 14 was good but it tastes like oxtail at alot of other places.
I wanted to try the uni however, others at the table don’t like uni. :(
We ordered the PAELLA DE MARISCOS — Seafood paella, clams, mussels, shrimp, octopus, saffron bomba rice $ 42 which was good in my opinion some at the table felt it was too fishy. But I personally didn’t taste that. The rice wasn’t crispy at the bottom either which some people also enjoy.
For dessert we had the CREMA CATALANA — orange crème brûlée $ 10 this was very good as well not too sweet.
I definitely want to come back to try more tapas dishes there is so many wonderful options.
Stars 4 ¹⁄₂

We came here to celebrate a friend’s birthday on a Saturday evening in late March of 2016. Reservation was made over phone a month prior. We’ve tried so many times with online it kept saying not available. So to book weekends you just gotta call in.
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/​-: OVERALL RATING : — \
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/​4.0÷5: Venue/​Décor \
\ 4.0÷5: Service /​
/​4.5÷5: Ambiance \
\ 4.0÷5: Food/​Variety /​
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-: — VENUE/​DÉCOR -: —
The restaurant has a pleasant hip, warm & vibrant atmosphere. Not a huge venue. Upon entry there is a very inviting looking bar and dining tables to the right and back. Nice art visuals & light fixtures. High ceiling setting in the front ¾ of the restaurant. Open kitchen. Cute outdoor patio seating. I really liked where we sat — in the only booth towards the back — where it was roomy & not super loud. We were able to hear each other converse among-​st ourselves.
-: — SERVICE -: —
The hostess & the servers were pleasant. Our server provided adequate service but it wasn’t like amazingly outstanding. Didn’t quite feel the «care» there. But he did do his job.
-: — FOOD/​VARIETY -: —
Lots of choices here! I’ll definitely be back to try out other items & steaks. Food came out in a pretty timely manner. The items from the tapas section came out really fast. With several people sharing the food goes by quickly! So I suggest order a few things at a time to enjoy the food & dining experience. For the 5 of us (w/​alcohol & tip) we spent about $ 600. A bit steep…
We were a somewhat disappointed in the highly acclaimed «Erizos con Huevo» (the creamy scrambled egg seems to have masked away the uni which makes it not worth $ 16 but pretty presentation tho) & «Paella de Mariscos» (over-​priced at $ 42 & taste was a bit bland).
Complimentary Corn Nuts [4/​5]
— infused w/​truffle oil!
Croquetas de Pollo [2/​5]
Bikini Sandwich [3/​5]
Erizos con Huevo [3/​5]
Higado Pato [4/​5]
La Bola [4/​5]
Rabo de Toro [5/​5]
Cheeses: [5/​5]
Caña de Cabra, Idiazabal
Charcuterie: [4.5/5]
Paleta Ibérico Fermin, Jamón de Pato
Paella de Mariscos [3/​5]
Patatas Bravas [4/​5]
Bruselas [5/​5]
Beef Rib Steak (38oz) [4/​5]
Bizcocho Tres Leches [4/​5]
Housemade Olive Oil Ice cream [4/​5]
-: — DRINKS -: —
Sherry Cobbler #1 $ 13 [1/​5]
Tyrconnell $ 16 [4/​5]
Sanskrit $ 6 [4/​5]
Bottle of Tridente $ 38 [4/​5]
-: — NOTES -: —
1) Ladies restroom has 2 stalls
2) Parked in structure across from Vaca. Was not given parking tix upon entry & was instructed to park on 2^nd floor. So no validation required & no parking fee.
3) Only 1 booth seating towards back of the restaurant by the restrooms. Cozy, roomy (even for purses too), comfortable, & noise level was just right. Great for a small group of 6.
4) If u like some heat, ask for their habanero sauce.