First Cabin [Balboa Bay Club & Resort - Newport Beach, CA] - Restaurant Review

Holding host to the Newport Beach Film Festival, the Balboa Bay Club & Resort, sitting on the long intercoastal waterway bordering Balboa Island, reverberates in its structure of old world luxury. Mostly a private club catering to its yacht slip owners and residence patrons, a small part of the resort including some high end rooms plus the First Cabin restaurant remain open to the public.The resort rooms, lush and bright with wraparound open air balconies that give a spectacular view of the harbor, are mixed with a balance of soft lighting and a luxurious but down home quality with a sparkle of sheik.Downstairs at First Cabin with both inside and outside possibilities, the calm collected vision of lunch, both as business and pleasure, melds with a smooth lightness.As a soon-to-be bride gushes with her bridesmaids and friends about her nuptials less than 24 hours away (and the all together sweet but clumsy romanticism of the groom), the light but savory beginnings by Chef Krisztian Karkus begins.Although his background balances in Hungary, which reflects in the traditionalism of some of his dishes versus a new structure of fusion, the inflection of their Southern California basis as well as the influences of seafood impacts the balance of the menu.The starter salad  infuses tuna over sliced avocado and a bed of cucumber, which offers a solid and vivid taste, progressing into a crab cake, undeniably a beach staple, that provides comfort within the ranks.The lobster bisque, considered by many to be one of the restaurant's best qualities, does not disappoint with its ample chunks of meat without overwhelming the taste.Highlighting a bit of ethnic reality, the weinersnitchel, made in a crispy flour base, gives a slice of home, especially with a little jelly side marinated with lemon, promoting a hearty and intense bite.It was the encrusted salmon with a luscious glaze and prosciutto-wrapped mango however that elevated the meal with a sense of worldly keneticism that provided an essence of new fusion.Offering again beautiful desert in tandem, the Pavlova, inspired by the effortless artistry of a ballet dancer, filled with strawberries and cream in between a light, melt-in-your-mouth pastry, encapsulates the experience with a wisp of knowing.First Cabin, like the Balboa Bay Club, offers an effortless mix of style and old school coolness mixing notions of comfort with progression of the good life.