Pescadou Bistro

I had been here once before and on a return visit to my sister, asked her if we could go back as I remembered their excellent food. I had forgotten how charming the place is. I had the Escolar special — it was fantastic, cooked and seasoned to perfection. I could not have been more pleased with the food, the ambiance, the service. This is French cuisine as it should be, classic but simple, fresh, delicious. If you are in Newport Beach, don’t miss this gem. You will not regret it!

Have you ever had this dream?
You are landing at the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris for a quick trip. You take an expensive taxi to your hotel, check into your tiny room on the left bank, rush to your favorite bistro, order a glass of no-​name red wine, perhaps order the bistro’s famous entrecôte avec frites, and finish with a plate of runny French cheese and another glass or two of vin rouge. Even suffering from jet lag it’s the best meal you’ve had in a year!
If you happen to wake up from this lovely dream in O.C. California — you are in luck. Hop over to Pescadou Bistro, Newport Beach, for a total immersion into bistro cuisine without the LAX hassle, and you don’t need a passport.
We’ve been loyal patrons of Pescadou Bistro for 20 years — actually more if you count the time Jacques was a co-​owner of another French restaurant in Corona del Mar. For all these years Jacques, his wife Olga, and previously Olga’s brother Danielle, have been serving the most satisfying bistro dishes anywhere in O.C. Entrecôte is always on the menu along with Coq au Vin, and many other bistro staples. French fries should be considered an entrée at Pescadou!
Forget about attitude — you will never find a Parisian restaurateur treat you as well as they do.
It’s a wonderful experience, costs a lot less than a trip to Paris, and you’ll save 80 Euro on the cab fare!
5 stars — more if I could!

Went for a Mother’s Day prix fixe menu dinner. Service was fantastic, the food was delightful.
The courses came out perfectly timed so that we could enjoy talking between them. Presentation was lovely.
The sauces were proportional and the meat done to perfection. I really enjoyed the duck.
The cheese course was a wonderful surprise of sheep’s milk cheese.
The dessert was mouth wateringly delicious (I considered getting another to take home).
Staff made the evening exceptional. Friendly and warm. I can’t wait to go back.

Found this place through Unilocal and we were not disappointed.
Was nice to be greeted with «Bön soir» when we walked in. Excellent ambience and great service all night.
Started out with complimentary duck pâté that was excellent.
After reading the reviews, we went with;
Sancerre
Escargot
Mussels
Lamb shank and fries
Crème Brûlée
Café au Lait
Dinner was excellent, reasonably priced and service was great. Will definitely come back and would highly recommend.

Authentic continental food served by hosts who treat you like family. Had a party of 8 seated promptly at reservation time (always a good sign). Wine and water were always refilled smartly as were our bread baskets. Half the table had Duck l’orange and the other has enjoyed the Coq Au Vin (sp?) Both were magnificent. Desserts here must be sampled– do not skip this treat! Looking forward to a second visit soon. Perhaps we will see you, the reader, there as well?

A perfect French escape in Orange County. Having moved away from our beloved long time French bistro in San Francisco, we were on a mission to find a new familiar place near our new home. We’ve tried many a French restaurant and were so pleased to have finally found our new «go to» spot. The food was wonderful. The ambience is a comfortable romantic vibe and the service is so warm and friendly. We felt immediately at home. And they make a killer kir royale to boot! Can’t wait to return to this lovely restaurant.

The best kept secret in Orange County. This cute, French provincial bistro offers the best French food I have tried in about a dozen restaurants all over the OC. The mussels are a «must try». The service is flawless and friendly. The only negative is the difficulty in parking unless you know that there is free parking in a garage a few doors north of Pescadou (on the corner). I go there as often as I can. If you appreciate continental food, don’t miss this place.

Lovely atmosphere and ambiance, prompt service and varied menu! I felt like I was in Europe.
Then the food came. As promised, the fish special was lovely and mild and other diners gave rave reviews as they enjoyed their meal.
Definitely a return visit is in order. Thanks chef for bring culture and variety to NB.

After dining at Pescadou 2 times previously, I held my mom’s 60^th birthday party here, and this is a new family favorite. The restaurant appears to be family owned, which is a large part of its charm. The fish of the day was flaky and tender, and the sauce was smooth and light. I’ve previously had the duck, which was also cooked just right (some places overcook it to dryness). The service is casual/​friendly and professional. I’ll be back for other occasions, for sure!

Cute place.
Great service.
Delicious traditional food (escargot, butternut soup, duck l’orange, rabbit stew).
Excellent prices.
Good wine list.
Romantic setting, but very welcoming to our 2 little kids.
Tough parking!

A cute little French restaurant. Very quaint and romantic. Great for intimate get togethers.
Escargot is really good here. I had the lamb and it was cooked to perfection.

Pescadou a small family business that opened in 1998 and is the perfect romantic spot to take your wife or girlfriend out for some heavenly French cuisine. This place is kind of a hidden gem that only the Newport locals know about. I am glad i jumped on Unilocal and found them.
I made a reservation for Valentines Day at Pescadou Bistro. The wife was excited because she loves French cuisine. This was my first time eating French so I was excited as well. We showed up around 6 pm and were greeted by this older gentleman who may very well been the owner. We chatted with him for a few minutes about the parking and then he showed us to our table. Such a great first impression we got for this gentleman.
The restaurant was buzzing with energy and full of hungry patron dying to try this Valentines Day special menu. The décor has bright colors and ruffly fabric on the walls and picture everywhere. It’s a small restaurant but cozy.
Valentines Day Menu. Here is what we ordered.
C h a m p i g n o n f a r c i a l ’ e a s c a r g o t
It was baked escargot in a mushroom cup with garlic. Now just the thought of eating snails makes me queasy but my wife said be open minded. The dish had a cute little presentation. It was a little chewy but it went really well with the mushroom. If they didn’t tell you it was a snail you wouldn’t even know. It had a wonderful garlic butter flavor. I really like it and so did my wife. I could have ate more of the little guys. Bring out the snails and I will eat them all!
T e r r i n e d e F o i e g r a s
Duck «foie gras» terrine, apple-​beetroot walnut relish, toasted brioche. My wife ordered this dish and I had a little sample and it was pretty good. The foie gras was smooth and delicious. My wife loves Duck liver.
V e l o u t e d e C h o u — f l u er a u c r a b e
Cream of potato and cauliflower, curry, Dungeness crab salad crostini. This soup had a very mild flavor and now knowing the ingredients, potato and cauliflower have no flavor. I couldn’t detect any curry flavor nor cold i taste the crab on the crostini. This soup was just okay but it could have been great if they had added onions or leeks. As Emeril Lagasse would say «Lets Kick it up an Notch!»
S o u r i s d ’ a g e a u b r a i s e P r o v e n c a l e
Braised lamb shank in thyme and rosemary aromatic wine stock merguez, Nicoise vegetables ratatouille, mashed potatoes. My wife ordered this dish and it looked delicious. Beautiful presentation and the portion size was pretty large which was nice. The lamb was tender and had a great tasting wine sauce. Again i only had a little bit or her dish but she loved it and had no complaints.
F i l e t d e b e o u f a u p o i v r e
Beef filet Mignon 8oz. three peppercorn crust, red Burgundy wine reduction, confit shallots, au gratin potatoes, sauteed spinach. I ordered this dish and after reading the description again I don’t recall seeing any crust on my filet. That’s okay if they left it off cause I don’t really prefer peppercorns anyways. My filet was cooked perfectly at a beautiful pink medium rare which was very tender and delicious. Honestly I rarely eat the tenderloin but it was pretty good. The shallot had amazing flavor. As for the sauteed spinach. I felt like Popeye when i was eating it. I’m strong to the finish, ’cause I eats me Spinach, I’m Popeye the sailor man! (toot, toot). It was good and makes me strong. The potato gratin was heavenly but i did notice there was a lot of potato in all the dishes. Overall the dish was really good though and i was happy. I literally cleaned the plate and the server was like wow that plate is clean!
D o u d e D e s s e r t
Red berry mini mousse in a shot glass with homemade whip cream on the side and a fondant chocolate cake. The dessert was really good and a perfect palate cleanser. The mousse was lite but flavorful with hints or raspberry. The Chocolate cake was just the right consistency and was wonderful.
Overall the diner was better then I expected. The Valentines day special menu was wonderful, staff was on point. No complaints and I would definitely come back again. Thank you Pescadou for the wonderful evening and making my wife Happy. Another Valentines day success and a happy wife equals a happy life!
Thanks again,
Matthew Y.

Came here last night with my boyfriend for Valentine’s Day. This review is strictly for the Valentine’s menu. I read a lot of good reviews so i was very excited and called and made a reservation. Little did I know, they have a fixed menu for Valentine’s Day. I do NOT like that at all. When we arrived and they told us that, I almost got up and left. I do not eat very much and I did not want an appetizer or my own desert. My boyfriend and I share everything. So when I found out that we have to pay $ 79 per person for a good amount of food we didn’t even want, that rubbed me very wrong.
To start, we had to order separate appetizers. You get TWO different options. Annoying. The appetizers were pretty good, but it was food I’m not familiar with so I wish I could’ve ordered off the regular menu. For dinner, I came there to get rabbit. One of my favorite delicacies. SURPRISE! Rabbit was not on the Valentine’s Day menu. So my boyfriend and I both ordered the filet. It came with a red wine reduction, spinach and potatoes au gratin. The filet was damn near perfect. That is why this review gets two stars. Unfortunately, the sauce left a little to be desired. The spinach was very good. The potatoes were good. A little bit bland, and cold in the center.
For desert, I was very much looking forward to a crème brûlée. Favorite desert hands down. And from an authentic French restaurant?! Yes please! Unfortunately, the Valentine’s Day menu comes with one desert. And it isn’t crème brûlée. Sigh. It was some chocolate molten type cake with a raspberry crème something. It was fine, but not memorable at all. I’m pretty pissed that my boyfriend and I had to pay $ 200 for some overpriced cold food and lame service. Such a bust.

Charming French restaurant located in Newport Beach just right over the bridge. Came here with some friends. We were lucky to get a reservation at such short notice.
Most of us got the prix fix dinner as you can’t beat the price. It included an appetizer, entrée and dessert. I started with the mixed greens salad. It was delicious and served tossed in a light vinaigrette. The greens were fresh and crisp. I tried my boyfriends butternut squash soup and thought it was bland. It could have used more seasoning for my taste. Then I had the duck a la orange. The skin was not as crispy as I had hoped for, however, the duck was tender and flavorful. I then had the Belgian chocolate mousse. It is rich, smooth and creamy. I enjoyed every spoonful and would get again. My boyfriend got the Lake Superior whitefish. He enjoyed it and said he would get again. I tried his floating Island he got for dessert. It is very light and just melts in your mouth. The vanilla cream sauce is so yummy and really makes that dessert.
The service was friendly and allowed us to take our time while we enjoyed our meal. Our waiter enjoyed all our wines and Champagne, so we were a bit disappointed that one corkage was not waived. Corkage is $ 20. However, we still will be back, as we really enjoyed the meal and service.

My friend and I came here after a work event because we were really craving French food, and I am really glad we ended up here because the food, the service, and the atmosphere were all 5 stars!
Stepping into this restaurant was like stepping out of Newport Beach and stepping into a whole new world. Our waittress was so nice and was quick to bring us water for the table. She also brought amouse-​bouche of crispy bread with eggplant spread. They were so delicious, and the eggplant was infused with this amazing garlic flavor. Superb!
For my entrée, I ordered the steak frites, and they came out perfectly medium rare with perfectly cooked frites. The sauce… oh the sauce… so savory and flavorful. My friend ordered rabbit, and I ended up trying rabbit for the first time, and it kind of tasted like chicken. It was very juicy, and the creamy sauce was perfection. I might be adventurous enough to order the braised rabbit next time.
For dessert, I ordered the vanilla bourbon crème brûlée, while my friend ordered the apple tart. We both enjoyed the desserts a lot. You could see the vanilla flecks in the crème brûlée, and the flavor was very apparent. The crust was extremely crackly. It was one of the best crème brulees I’ve ever had. The apple tart was served a la mode, and I really enjoyed it too.
I loved the dining experience here. This is my favorite french restaurant that I’ve visited in orange county.

Just absolutely amazing!!! If I could give them 100 stars, I would.
Everything here from food… service…drinks…were unbelievable. I can not believe it took me this long to visit such a rare gem in Newport.
You get a five-​star, fine dining food and service experience here with a relaxing ambience that is just cute and pleasant.
Great dinner spot for everyone, A MUST HAVE if you are in Newport.

This place is awesome! Great service; it’s a very intimate bistro, so a server or the host would walk by our table every couple minutes and we could always flag them down if we needed anything. Great food; my party ordered the Scallop special, lamb chops, endive salad, and tarte tatin and all were delicious. The endive salad was creamy, sweet, crunchy, and very fresh. They cut the pears into tiny little cubes so each bite would have a tiny bit of sweet-​such a unique preparation of a relatively commonplace salad. The scallop special was outstanding-​scallops were seared nicely and the mushrooms they came with were juicy and tender. The lamb chops tasted spectacular, and were cooked to perfection (ordered them medium rare). Finally, the tarte tatin was just terrific. It was sweet with hints of liquor used to cook the apples and the tarte dough was very flaky-​reminded me of when I vacationed in Paris and ate tarte tatin there.
It is on the pricier side, but the food is so good that going here once in a while (if cost is a worry for you) is completely worth it.

I was craving foie gras, so after some hunting, I came across Pescadou Bistro. I called and easily made a reservation for that evening.
This restaurant can be easy to miss if you are not looking closely, as it is nestled among a bunch of small miscellanious stores on Newport Blvd. Luckily, there is a nice little parking lot, or metered parking all within walking distance.
The restaurant itself is small, but nice. Tastefully decorated in French inspired décor with both booths and tables.
We were seated right away and given menus. Their menu offers a nice selection that has something for almost everyone’s taste. Below is what we had
–Foie Gras– Slightly seared with brioche, pear, and a jam. I died and went to heaven. I love foie gras, and this dish did not disappoint. Perfectly prepared, and tasted amazing.
–Lamb Mix– This dish was a mix of lamb and sausage with ratatouille. I am not the biggest fan of lamb (this was not my entrée) but I did have a bite. It was very good. My favorite part of this dish was the veggies. My friend however, loved the lamb and sausage.
They do not have a full bar, but offer a nice selection of wine and beer.
Our waitress was very nice and attentive. The owner was also present and table touched, which was nice.
Overall we had a great experience and will definitely return.

Let me preface my review by saying that this is a review for their Valentine’s Day menu. I don’t know what their regular is menu is like, this is specifically Valentine’s as previously mentioned.
Alright, so having heard that the ban on foie gras was recently lifted my husband and I had been itching to have some. I turned to my handy dandy Unilocal app. and began doing some research, but then I realized Valentine’s was right around the corner and I figured many restaurants would surely be serving this delectable delicacy.
So, while doing my research I came across the prix fixed Valentine’s Day menu for Pescadou, and this is what they offered:
Apéritif: goat cheese & carrot muffin baked in a puff pastry w/​balsamic coulis, then you had the option of duck foie gras terrine on a brioche toast OR Canadian snow crab cake
Main course: you could choose between a roasted fillet of Alaskan halibut OR beef filet mignon OR NZ rack of lamb
Dessert: was a combination of 3 which included a mini mousse au chocolate & a sugar cookie & mini vanilla bean crème brûlée.
My husband and I have earlier reservations for 6:30pm. When we arrived there were already a few tables seated but at least 2/3^rd’s of the restaurant was still empty. When we walked in the hostess (who I think might be part owner but not sure) did not great us. She stared at my husband and I with the deer in the headlights look. I told her we had a reservation and gave her our name. She sat us immediately but still no greeting, nothing. I did not realize it at that time but this would be an omen of things to come.
After being seated it took approximately 15 – 20 minutes before anyone came to us and that was just to take our drink order. I was pretty annoyed at this point so I decided I was not going to get a bottle of wine and settle on sparkling water only.
Another 15 – 20 minutes passed before the server returned to take our order. He was very matter of fact and again no attempted at a friendly greeting was made.
We sat there for perhaps another 10−15minutes before a basket of bread was brought out to us.
Another 15 – 20 minutes before the foie gras was brought out to us and I was not impressed. The appetizer comprised of two slices of foie gras, with two slices of toasted brioche with some greens. I literally felt like we were eating cat food. Clearly it did not take much effort to put this together and the presentation itself was a fail for me.
Again we waited about 15 – 20 minutes for our main course. My husband decided to go with the Alaskan halibut and I went with the NZ rack of lamb. Once it was bought out to our table we did a switcheroo and my husband took my rack of lamb and I had the filet.
For starters the food was warm borderline cold. My filet was meeeh ok, rather bland; certainly no WOW factor. My husband’s lamb was a bit gamey. It too lacked flavor and wasn’t overly impressive. Given that French cuisine is known for their intricate and complex flavors and use of rich sauces (which is what were expecting) this meal fell waaaaaaaay short of that. Like I said the flavors were lacking and they made no use of sauces to enhance the natural flavors of the meat and fish.
Finally after yet another 15 – 20 minutes after finishing our main course; came the desert. Again nothing to rave about it was good but the flavors, textures and sauces we have come to expect of French food/​desserts were absent yet again.
During our entire meal a man (who was possibly the owner/​manager) went around to every single table (even those seated after us) and greeted everyone. He acknowledged everyone but us, we were the only table he never bothered to come around to and ask how things were going.
Finally to add insult to injury we waited about 30 minutes for our bill to come to us.
I must add that we were not the only table to wait forever and a day between each course. All other tables around us waited an equally excessive amount of time for their food as well. Quite frankly this to me was unacceptable. They had a fixed menu and reservations (since walk-​ins were being accepted) so you would think that given the known variables the staff would have better prepared for the service, clearly this did not happen.
Honestly, this was the worst Valentine’s Day meal I’ve ever had. I should have stuck with my original idea of going to the Cellar in Fullerton but decided to try something new. The food was lacking in flavor and presentation and the service; well I’ve received better service at fast food restaurants.
I can not recommend this place at all… at least not for Valentine’s, but given my experience I won’t’ bother giving their regular menu a try… not to mention that $ 200 dollars later we ended up at Wendy’s later on that night.

Bonsoir Mademoiselle Yu! *giggles*
It’s been quite some time since I’ve dined at a fancy-​shamancy French restaurant, but an opportunity to became available and I surely could not say not to snails :)
Upon entering the humble establishment guests are escorted by the friendly owners to their seat. The atmosphere is quite cozy and perfect for an intimate night. We started off with escargots, baked in garlic, shallots, parsley butter — absolutely delectable. Our server also commented that the remaining butter be used for dipping the dinner roll that was presented prior to the appetizer, and the advice could do no wrong. Mmm… as one of the most popular items on the menu, ordering escargot is a must for any Pescadou Bistro diner.
My entrée arrived not too long after and my initial reaction was of surprise. I was given a large white dish with a small pile of vegetables in the middle. Is that it? What have I done?! Thankfully, the server also brought a small pot and hand scoped up my protein to my dish. It was so incredibly tender. The meat just melted in my mouth and the zucchini-​mash medley was a perfect accompaniment. Highly recommended and more filling that I initially imagined.
If you’re looking for a delicious French cuisine that could easily pass as an awesome parisian home cooked meal, this is a great option. Bön Appétit!