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Taste Buds
Rating Details »
- Hours:
Mon-Fri. 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
8 reviews for Taste Buds
I have heard so much about this cafe and finally came today! Alright, first things first, do yourself a favor and just park on the street. It would be astounding if you got a spot on the first try in the center. Just don't try.
The cafe is very cute and surprisingly large. A nice menu of salads and sandwiches. Most of which were in the $10-15 range. I had the rice salad that was very flavorful. I would get it again but there are so many choices, I need to try some other things. The service was pretty good and very friendly.
Can't wait to go back!!!
Really cute place tucked away at the end of an unassuming strip mall. There's an adjacent covered patio that would be perfect for a baby shower or gal's gathering. Onto the food roundup:
- Truffle fries: Nice and crispy shoestring fries, kinda reminds me of the ones from Eat Chow. Very tasty.
- Shrimp bisque: 4 huge grilled shrimp swimming in a murky and flavorful shrimpy broth. I was surprised this was as good as it was, broth kinda had a cajun/creole flair.
- Brie and apple sandwich: This was ok, baguette with brie and apples doused in some balsamic. Would've have been fantastic if it was grilled or warm. Came with a side of greens in vinaigrette.
- Summer salad: Mixed greens with raisins, mango, chicken and some herbs. Very light and fresh with just the right amount of vinaigrette.
Lowdown: Solid 3.5 for food (but pricey) rounded up to 4 stars considering ambiance. Really cute place for lunch with some gals. Decor that reminds me of a cute tea place or something out of the "Parisian" page of a scrapbook. I think the guys who were here with their gf's were dragged there, lol. Food tasty with some more imaginative fare than your usual sandwich/salad lunch place. Prices are a bit high, everything runs from $12-$15. Get a http://restaurant.com certificate to save a few bucks.
This place is very, very cute, and a total aberration from the other businesses in the strip mall where it sits behind The Harp. It almost seems out of place, but after eating there today, I really don't care where it is so long as they keep turning out good food. The French-country decor was adorable, and both my friend and I agreed that this would be the perfect place for a shower or birthday party, particularly the little outside patio.
The food was very solid, and the menu creative. I had a tough time deciding, but opted for shrimp sauteed in brown butter served atop a sun-dried tomato waffle. The fresh fruit on the side was picture perfect, and the food was fresh and terrific. It's a little pricey, but you can buy a gift certificate on http://www.restaurant.com to offset the cost. We were able to take $10 off of our bill that way-- the $10 gift certificate cost me $3.
It's too bad this place isn't open on weekends because it would be the perfect place for weekend brunch. We will undoubtedly be back to Taste Buds very soon, and you should do the same!
I had seen this place last week when I visited Five Sweets bakery and wanted to try it. We came for lunch and opted to sit on the patio. It was lovely and the natural light made it perfect for me to snap photos of everything including the food.
Flavored iced teas ($2.25) of the day -- today being orange -- arrived in little tall glasses. I downed mine in a few seconds flat. Water glasses were filled with apple-infused water. All the clientele on the patio were 'women who lunch' types, namely, the REAL housewives of OC. Hubby and I sat in the corner people watching as we waited for our food to arrive.
The wait for food was slightly long, but there was a large group sitting inside in the dining room so I'm guessing things took longer than expected. We shared our entire meal: Crispy marinated feta & arugula salad ($11.95) was a nice refreshing bed of greens supposedly with roasted red and yellow bells (as its description reads on the menu) but there were none to be found. Instead there were hearts of palm, olives, artichoke hearts and roasted garlic cloves. Lemon zest added a lovely touch as well as the balsamic reduction drizzled around the plate. The menu says served with a herb lemon dressing, but that wasn't as evident as the obvious balsamic flavors. On top of that, because the dish was called "crunchy" marinated feta, I was expecting the feta to be, well, CRUNCHY. Instead, it was soft and soggy. There was no crunch to every single chunk of feta -- quite disappointing.
The panini ($11.95) was described as grilled cilantro lime chicken, smoked gouda, caramelised onions, sun dried tomato pesto on a rustic chibata [sic] served with escabesh [sic] on the menu. While I did not detect any gouda in the sandwich, the sun dried tomato pesto was quite flavorful. I felt that you had to pretty much eat that sandwich FAST because otherwise, by the time we got to the 2nd half of the sandwich, the ciabatta had gone very wet and soggy. The escabeshe here was not the traditional fish dish, but rather, the way they marinated the salad served on the side comprised of cucumber, green, yellow and red peppers and red onions. This accompanying salad was better than the main salad dish we ordered in flavor.
The star of the meal came in the form of Truffle Fries ($5.95). When I first decided to order it, hubby said he would eat a few only. However, once he had a taste, he had more than 'just a few'. In fact, I could find no fault with these fries at all. The thin fries were crispy and had the distinctively aromatic flavors of truffles. Some fried parsley was also sprinkled on top to give it not only color, but also, a lovely contrast. Very nice!
The restaurant and its adjoining patio are lovely especially on a beautiful day like today. I would think this serves as a lovely girls out lunch place. However, I wasn't blown away by the food.
Taste Buds open only 2 nights a week for dinner. Perhaps a visit on one of those nights might give me a different perspective as to its menu, but for now, 3 stars for the food and one extra star for the lovely setting in which to eat this food.
I had the chicken panini sandwich. Very good. Ambiance is good, service was ok. For lunch, it was very good but no the best value. I would consider going back if in the area if I wanted a quiet place to get a bite to eat.
Good fries, though the truffle flavor was more subtle than I expected. The decor was lovely, but the hours are terrible. Also, I left a message to make reservations which was never returned. If you can catch them for lunch, it's great, but I feel they are really unreliable.
Woohoo! As good as it gets!
Small restaurant with beautiful side patio with arbor and little water fountain. It's amazing how the owner turned a little spot at the end of a strip mall, behind Aaron Brothers, into a sun dappled gem. We had a great panini (well grilled bread, good meat), a wonderful caesar salad with grilled romaine and juicy shrimp, and truffle fries. A quiet, unpretentious place with gourmet touches run by a small family -- doesn't get any better than that. Too bad it doesn't open every day for lunch.
