Today, amidst our errands, Chris and I decided to ring in the 3-day weekend by checking out Brü Grill & Market in Lake Forest, CA. Chris’ friend, Anderson, recommended this restaurant to us a while back. We had previously tried to go here one Saturday evening not too long ago, but the hour-long wait was too much for us. We had tried to call in advance, but sorry no reservations during prime dinner hours. We found the restaurant in an otherwise normal outdoor shopping area, as many are in orange county. We were initially a bit skeptical, as the outside of the building matches the cookie cutter look of the surrounding shops, making it look more like a chain than a unique dining experience. We arrived at 4 pm today for lunner (I assert that this is superior to dinner because it gives lunch a fair share of the word), figuring that we’d have a better shot at being sat immediately. We were right! The place was near empty and perfectly intimate at this time.
The menu and prices looked typical enough for Californian fresh fare in the area. We were immediately greeted and directed to a chalkboard for the available hand-crafted beers. Chris chose the Big Eye IPA (right) to go with his meal choice, and I chose Brother Thelonious by North Coast Brewing Company, a dark belgian style beer (left). Both were quite delicious and unique, although I missed the spiced taste of my favorite beer, Schneider Aventinus Weizen-Eisbock.
While sipping on our beers, Chris ordered the Spicy Sausage Hoagie, and I ordered the Albacore entrée. I ordered my Albacore medium, and they cooked it perfectly. As I sampled my fish, greens, potatoes, as well as Chris’ french fries and hoagie, I thought everything is delicious but unfortunately just slightly too salty for me. My salt-fiend friend, Hannie, would absolutely love this place. Chris enjoyed the small bite of my dish that I forked over to him, and attempted to get more thrown his way by talking about how much he liked it, but I selfishly demolished my tasty plate.
Albacore
Chris enjoyed his hoagie, but he complained that the bread was a bit soggy and cold and that the peppers and onions were just slightly two sweet. That aside, the sausage on his sandwich was yummy and the mustard gave it a delightful kick. All in all, we enjoyed our meals and would definitely consider coming back for more nibbles in the future.
Spicy Sausage Hoagie
Excited to try more, I asked the server for a dessert list. The desserts were typical fare from the looks of the menu: bread pudding, gelato, doughnut cake pops…wait what? Doughnut cake pops as a dessert at a restaurant – ok I have to check this out. The 6 pops came out on a chalkboard like dish with three dipping sauces (grape, chocolate, and crème anglaise). They wrote the names of the sauces in chalk on the board, and to Chris’ delight they served the pops on a bed of cotton candy. In a moment, his eyes lit up like a kid at a county fair, and he quickly started noming on the dessert. He and I giggled as we indulged in the sweets, and reminisced about the last time we ate cotton candy. This was hands down the most whimsical, creative dessert I’ve had in a long while.
Chris and I enjoyed our experience at Brü, and loved that there was no sticker shock when the bill arrived. Perhaps I’ll come back here on a weeknight for some friendship nurturing. There’s a Napa chardonnay that caught my eye on their crü menu.
C Squared Culinary Adventures 
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