RESTAURANT REVIEW:

The reputation of the French is that they are snooty.

The reputation of Fashion Island is not far off from that. I have found both stereotypes to be incorrect.

Our waiter at French 75 tried to live up to the misnomer. My two friends Brian and Damian are in public relations and were much more diplomatic.

I was not so quick to forgive, though the discussion at dinner was about trying to find a reason for our waiter’s attitude.

Maybe it was because we were not in suits, as were some of the patrons. The dress can be businesslike, especially at lunch, when businessmen tend to invade the establishment.

We were there at dinner, and weren’t dressed like slobs. We had slacks and collared shirts. There was some vibe the waiter picked up on, apparently, because he spent his time with us trying to be as condescending as possible, which obviously took away from an otherwise enjoyable meal.

The food at French 75 is not French, but more American and pan-European.

The bistro atmosphere is relaxed, and the décor adds to the comfort level. It is patterned after a traditional French brasserie with its red-leather booths, stamped-tin ceiling and soft lighting.

We began with surf and turf skewers, which could have been our favorite food. Large shrimp with a chunk of filet mignon tucked in the body of the crustacean and grilled.

The béarnaise sauce was the perfect accompaniment, though the appetizer was strong enough to stand on its own.

Damian ordered an endive salad, and was somewhat shocked when the waiter corrected his pronunciation in such a smarmy tone.

It was a bit off-putting for someone who was obviously corrected himself on the word to act like Alex Trebek scolding a contestant, who can’t put the proper inflection on Arc de Triomphe.

It was shortly after that I asked our waiter what type of bread we were served. He told me it was ciabatta bread, though it was more of a squaw. I remembered a past meal there that had ciabatta bread, but this wasn’t it. It was brown and didn’t bring out the excellent olive pesto spread nearly as well.

He tried to convince me this was the same bread, again with an attitude of arrogance. When another basket was brought by the busboy, who seemed more competent and far more polite, it was the ciabatta I remembered.

Brian had the French onion soup and enjoyed it, though it was a bit too sweet from the caramelized onions. A couple of shakes of pepper corrected that.

His entrée was rack of lamb, which pleased him immensely. It was tender, flavorful and plentiful. Because it was not overcooked, the smokiness of the meat was really brought out.

Damian had filet stroganoff — filet mignon, large noodles and Dijon sauce with cremini mushrooms. The sauce was a bit bland and the large noodles were a bit undercooked.

I was in the mood for seafood, but the selections did little to entice me. I settled on the seared day boat scallops.

I was taken aback when three scallops showed up. For $26 I figured I would get at least half a dozen. They were atop a potato puree and corn niblets, with nice pieces of asparagus, but it was hard to enjoy when I kept trying to figure out how much I was spending per scallop.

A better choice would have been the seabass or barbecue-spiced salmon. They are comparable in price, and at least you know you are getting a reasonable size of fish for the money.

French 75 is a serviceable restaurant, but nothing outstanding and if you are as unfortunate to get the waiter we did, it will be hard to recommend it to other people.

French 75

Address: 327 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach

Phone: (949) 640-2700

Cuisine: American and pan-European bistro

Specialty dish: One of eight bistro favorites

Alcohol served: full bar

Dress: dressy

Family friendly: not so much

Credit cards accepted: Visa, MasterCard and American Express

Rating: ** 1/2

JOHN REGER is the Pilot’s restaurant critic. His reviews run Thursdays.