I've been to Moulin, loved the French products for sale and took home a baguette and some pastries, but their sister restaurant Moulin Bouillon next door kept beckoning me to come sit and eat, so I succumbed and was delighted with my surrender:)
I met with friends who live in Orange County, so it was an easy drive for them, and they had never tried Moulin Bouillon. We started with a tartine of chevre chaud drizzled with honey and walnuts to share. It came with a nice green salad lightly dressed in a classic vinaigrette for $12.
I chose the steak frites for $25 done bleu. It was so wonderful to order my steak very rare and have the waitress reply, "Bleu"? OUI!!!! The entire plate was typically French except for the slightly larger portion which just meant I got to take some home:) My other friends chose the Boeuf Bourguignon ($22) and oeufs bénédicte ($16) and enjoyed their dishes enough to finish them and want to come back. We all drank glasses of either red or rosé for $12 each, but as we lingered, and more glasses, we would have been better off ordering a carafe or bottle.
We decided to adjourn to the Balboa Bay Resort for drinks and we enjoyed the air conditioning in the beautiful lobby, rather than suffer the humidity with a view of the boats ;) As a nice bonus, they were offering sample bites of their sweets, so we snagged a few bites since we didn't have dessert at Moulin Bouillon.
A perfectly sweet day spent with friends is a priceless gift.
