THE GOSSIPING GOURMET:Beautiful coastal view negates a long wait

Going to the Beachcomber is a little adventure into a time warp.

You park your car at the Los Trancos lot (on the inland side) of Coast Highway. There, you pay a dollar and board the colorful converted 1930s school bus that transports you down to the Crystal Cove cottages, now a part of the state park.

Then, you are transported again, this time to the early days of Laguna Beach. Walk down the path to the gorgeous beach and leave your name with the host.

Then prepare for a wait, as there are no reservations at this converted beach cottage restaurant. They are busiest around sunset, but you couldn’t find a nicer spot to linger while waiting for a table. Step around to the rear and visit Eddie at the bar or take a stroll down the three miles of sandy beach and check out the renovated rental cottages or perhaps, sit at one of the picnic tables and just delight in the view.

Owned by the same corporation that created Ruby’s, they have indulged their passion for retro to create an eatery that’s reminiscent of the little old restaurants in small towns, off the beaten track, found on road trips: knotty pine walls, pleather booths, copper pans and old photographs hanging on the wall.

The striking difference is the large umbrella-shaded dining patio that winds around the restaurant. This is the main seating area and unless the weather is inclement — and we mean really terrible — this is the place to sit even after sunset when a bit of chill may set in. Not to worry, you will find a brightly colored blanket on the back of every chair.

The Beachcomber is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. At sunset, the staff gathers to raise the flag; no, not the American flag, the martini flag, accompanied by a bugle playing taps. We arrived near sundown on a weeknight and waited a surprisingly pleasant hour. Also, knowing ahead of time that we would have to wait made it somehow easier.

We began our meal with the tiny ahi tacos, which were excellent. The mini deep-fried wonton shells provided a delicate and crispy contrast to the buttery sushi grade ahi drizzled with a creamy, sweet and spicy sauce.

The combined flavors made a happy party in the mouth. However, in the center of the plate was a bed of shredded iceberg lettuce with a lump of wasabi in the middle.

Lit only by candle, it was quite dark and the wasabi was discovered by chance just in the nick of time. Crab cakes, though not particularly crunchy, were pleasantly crabby. They are served with a mild, fresh corn salsa and a perky lemon flavored sauce.

The delicious chilled gazpacho soup had the texture of a vegetable puree. Garnished with diced avocado and homemade croutons, it was nicely spicy and complexly seasoned with strong hints of cumin and garlic. Their version of nachos is Mediterranean style with pita chips, kalamata olives, feta and mozzarella cheeses, served with roasted red pepper tapenade, hummus and tzatziki.

There are four entrée salads. The seared ahi is definitely the star because it features that beautiful hi-grade tuna in a remarkably generous portion. Crusted with sesame seeds and quickly seared, it’s served over a classic Asian salad mixture, distinguished by a zestier than usual dressing which is also on the China Cove salad.

This chicken salad has a similar cabbage, red bell pepper, carrot base with the addition of cashew nuts, wonton strips and sugar snap peas. The chicken had no flavor but the vegetables were nice and crunchy.

The Mykonos salad was not a particularly good version of a Greek salad. The dressing was uninteresting, the feta cheese wasn’t very good and the tomatoes; you know how bad tomatoes have been this summer.

The only indication that this restaurant is related to Ruby’s is the half-pound burger with bacon and cheese on a large onion roll.

Like Ruby’s, the Beachcomber serves a really good burger and fries. Unlike Ruby’s, you can get a flatiron steak with Bearnaise sauce or herb-roasted chicken. Spinach and feta cheese pillows are wrapped in buttery puff pastry atop a light shallot cream sauce.

Our fellow tram riders raved about chili-maple glazed salmon and when we tried it, we were glad that we did because it was very fresh and perfectly cooked.

Shrimp El Morro features two generous skewers of grilled shrimp, accompanied by orzo pasta and seasonal vegetables. The shrimp were properly cooked and tasty but not particularly sweet or juicy. The seasonal vegetables included sugar snap peas, yellow squash, red bells and zucchini. They were crunchy and delicious. (The people on the tram were also waxing poetic about the vegetables!)

However, we thought that the buttery orzo (rice-shaped pasta) was especially delicious on one occasion but on another, quite boring.

Boysenberry pie had a thin and flaky crust and a filling that was at once sweet and tart. The disappointment was the accompanying Dr. Bob’s ice cream. If you not familiar with Dr. Bob’s it can be arguably the best ice cream you have ever tasted. We tried the dark chocolate and the blood orange sorbet. Both tasted old (too long in the freezer).

The restaurant has been open since August and with no advertising except word of mouth, it’s already very busy. So, while you wait, just relax and immerse yourself in the whole experience. Eventually, you will get to have dinner.

Elle Harrow and Terry Markowitz owned a la Carte for 20 years and can be reached at [email protected].