What a Dish Café and Catering—What a Meal

A friend recommended What A Dish Café and Catering to me a long time ago, but I had never been. Recently, while looking for a caterer, I realized that this was probably a great place to eat, that I had completely overlooked!

We headed there during a recent crisp, spring afternoon for a late lunch. The café is tucked back in the far corner of the center where Golden Lantern meets Dana Point Harbor Drive. It is charming from the outside with shingled siding, and a cheerful patio, with umbrellas and potted plants, surrounded by a low white wooden enclosure.

The day we visited, the patio was full, so we chose a sunny window table inside. All of the light wood tables were decorated with vases of yellow mums and the counter had an enormous container of daisies. These went perfectly with the gold walls and white painted tin ceiling.

In the center of the room is a large case full of desserts and amazing cakes are displayed all around the café. There are cakes that look like weathered baskets full of flowers, cakes that look like Harry Potter’s books and hat, gorgeous wedding cakes, and cakes that look like chocolate sculptures. That is because this restaurant is also the All About the Cake bakery. Seeing all of its exquisite desserts just made us look forward to the meal even more.

We checked out the menu: They do serve beer and wine, but we opted for iced tea, which was served with a wedge of lemon. Lunch options include two pasta choices, including clam linguini, made with local sustainable clams. There are entrée salads, such as the Nicoise, a wedge salad with bacon, and chicken salad made with berries and goat cheese. They also serve several tempting sandwiches, including burgers, paninis, and a pita.

After getting some ideas from our waitress, my husband chose the shaved prime rib sandwich. It is prepared with carmelized onions, provolone cheese, horseradish crème sauce and served on a La Brea brioche bun. I selected the chicken salad sandwich, made with chicken, diced apples, celery and dried cranberries, and served on toasted cinnamon raisin bread with lettuce and tomato. Both sandwiches come with soup or salad. I chose the chicken noodle soup and my husband ordered the Caesar salad.

Our food was delivered quickly by the friendly staff. It was attractively presented on square plates. The chicken noodle soup was packed with vegetables, mainly zucchini and spinach with chicken and elbow macaroni. It was delicious and certainly not just a standard chicken noodle soup. I loved my sandwich. It had so much stuff on it that I had to eat it with a knife and fork. I wasn’t sure that I would like all of those flavors together, but the sweet cinnamon bread toast and the cranberries, and other fruits went beautifully with the huge slices of tomato.

My husband really enjoyed his meal also. He thought the horseradish crème sauce was excellent and was very happy with his sandwich and salad.

We saw several delighted customers choosing desserts from the display case and enjoying them after their lunches. We were afraid of the calories after our fairly large sandwiches, but were also a little jealous of those lucky dessert eaters.

What A Dish Café and Catering at 24921 Dana Point Harbor Drive serves wonderful food in a pretty setting. This is a lovely spot for a lunch or brunch with the girls or the family. They serve lunch 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesday-Thursday and offer a plated brunch 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays.

I give What a Dish 4 ½ Patches out of 5.