Sliding Door Cafè

Had an excellent meal here tonight. The wait staff was friendly and attentive, the food was very good. I had the winter vegetable risotto and my other half had the brick chicken. Chicken can be boring but he said this was very flavorful, not greasy and the vegetables were excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed the risotto and vegetables as well. The chocolate walnut spice tart was divine. So nice to have a homemade dessert. Will definite be back, maybe even tomorrow. Pictures posted.

Went by… looks completely closed. Went to another place (paty macs) and had a wonderful light lunch.

I had the pleasure of eating lunch at the sliding door café. I had the lobster roll with homemade potato chips and Apple slaw. Absolutely perfect, i would highly recommend this quaint café near the beach. i also tried the bread pudding to go it was better than any I’ve ever had before! I really hope this place gets a lot of business as it is hard sometimes to find a place with quality food and service.

This place has a pretty limited menu, but the food is delicious. The best thing about Sliding Door Café is it’s adorable ambiance. From its cute window seating to its mini café nook for coffee runs, Sliding Door Café has a very homey, quaint vibe.
I’m not sure how many people would find this place as it’s pretty smack dab in the middle of Balboa Island, where there are many other options to consider. I think it’s definitely a spot that locals love. Since Nik M. lives just around the corner, it’s fun to frequently split a meal here or grab a latte when My Galley, located a few blocks away, is closed.
They have some decent vegetarian breakfast options, like the «California Style Egg Whites» with pesto, sundried tomatoes & avocado. I’ve had that and it’s really good and not too filling.

Was recommended for a lunch date. Cute and cozy café. Wait staff was great. Had a white bean vegetable soup as an appetizer. It was off the charts. Tons of vegetables and a great broth with a hint of pesto.
Wife had a veggie burger that she loved, and I had a great Reuben. Not dry and perfectly cooked. Both of these came with a vegetable slaw that was great. Slight bits of Apple in a very light dressing. Highly recommended.

I was really excited to eat here but everything was just blah. I ordered the reuben sandwich and found it really disappointing. The corned beef was dry and lacked flavor and the sandwich had way too much mustard. Fries that were served with my sandwich were cold.
My husband got the veggie burger and wasn’t impressed. He too found his veggie patty to be dry and kept on adding ketchup to make it edible. For all of the great reviews, we were really expecting more.

We stopped in for dessert after dinner. The place is cute and the service was stellar. But the desserts were not great. I had the Choc walnut tart. I didn’t like it at all. Hubby had the coffee cake it was really dry. Oh well seemed like a cute place.

Just going too summarize because no one likes to read a novel via Unilocal.
Service: rude. Imagine being served by your sassy older mother in law, basically what it felt like. The fakeness oozes from this ladies face. I ordered what I didn’t even want to keep her from having a mental break down from asking too many questions of their menu.
Food: I believe I could’ve made better food with some sticks and a fire.
First and last time here.
I will say the one thing I did enjoy was the lemonade. Has a minty taste to it.

Skip the tourist traps on the waterfront and get ready to be blown away by the staggering deliciousness, cool vibe, and generous portions at this local favorite! The «small plate» lobster mac and cheese is great to share, I followed that with the cauliflower and truffle purée (amazing!). Wash it down with an Alova and, if you can take the overload, top it off with a piece of German chocolate cake! You’ll love yourself, afterwards!

What a quaint and quirky little restaurant with yummy eats! For breakfast, I enjoyed the egg-​white omelet with sun-​dried tomatoes and basil and topped with fresh avocado slices. The entrée also came with sourdough toast, country-​style potatoes and fresh berries. $ 10. Coffee was hot. Service was efficient and friendly.

The lemonade is the star. Order the lemonade. Steeped with basil and mint? Brilliant and so perfectly balanced.
Good food. Our table had burgers and grilled cheese and everyone was happy. Or server was cute and funny. Nice guy and patient with the kids.
I wanna go back and try all the Cakes.

What a great find this place is. We had a party of 12 that they served with ease. The service was great and the food is even better. They have a wide variety of great beers. I recommend the lobster-​corn chowder and the «itty bitty ribs.» The lobster BLT is great as well. The Cuban sandwich was incredible according to those in my party.
Great for a day after the beach. They also make lunches to go so you can take the food with you to the beach.
Enjoy…

If you’re in the neighborhood of the Balboa Village, then the Sliding Door Café is a relatively new place that opened within the last year that is gaining momentum by word of mouth for it’s great food and casual vibe whether you go for a sit-​down meal or just for coffee and dessert. The place feels a bit more bistro than café and there’s no sliding door that I can see…
We came in recently as a foursome to celebrate a friend’s birthday and also to see what the hubbub was about. The local beat likes the dishes chef and co-​owner Kevin Cahalan is putting out from his little kitchen and after dining there, I think we all concurred. The menu was not super extensive to begin with, and is a bit spontaneous and seasonal as it changes up so that it’s never boring; between the four of us, we managed to like mostly everything that we ate…
In addition to the curry popcorn and NB water that was courteously provided, I would mention the olive bread that was splendid; we would have eaten their entire cache of it if we could. We did open with their take of Lobster Macaroni and Cheese, chef uses cavatappi pasta which is a nice twist (badabing…) and if that wasn’t cheesy enough, then the bottom will be with a gooey cheese layer topped with a crustier herb layer on top. The lobster meat seemed scarce which may sound jaded since I’ve been spoiled by the East coast where the lobster is more plentiful and the meat is briny sweet. This was paired with a Spinach and Brie Salad which was a welcome sight next to all the carbs that we’ve had up to this point. The prosciutto and generous slices of cheese went well with the common pairing of spinach and dried cranberries, tossed with a light sherry vinaigrette. All in all, nice starter course shared by all…
Rivaling the mac n cheese in creaminess, the Carrot Ginger Risotto was not to be outdone, it had that marvelous texture that all great arborio rice can blossom into. The flavor derived from exotic mushrooms didn’t surprise, but the rest of the main ingredients did. I didn’t think that I would like the diced carrots in the absence of squash but it worked, and there was a definite Asian influence in the bok choy and ginger which was thankfully subdued and subtle…
The Asian influence would extend into the Pan Roasted Salmon, Scottish farmed from Loch Duart. I’m more accustomed to seeing pineapple and the more bitter green bell pepper with sweet and sour sauce, so a (grape) tomato is kind of acidic but I thought it was a bit of a stretch to see it served with cauliflower. The sticky ginger rice is an interesting choice too, but the risotto I thought was better. The salmon was well prepared with a beautifully patient unfettered sear on one side while maintaining its moistness and gentle flakiness…
What would a bistro be if Steak and Fries were left off the menu? The grilled NY Strip was seared juicy and sitting on a bed of roasted onion marmalade and broccolini and onions. The fries were house-​cut and had that In-​N-​Out kind of quality to them, which is a good thing…
I had the Grilled Lamb Ribeye, a boneless tenderloin cut that had a light seared crust on the outside, and a medium-​rare pink on the inside, I don’t recall seeing any holes so I can’t tell if it was roasted on a spit. I appreciate that the gremolata was tastefully applied and as a purist, I never appreciated the mint jelly thing, even if it was laced with cabernet. I really enjoyed the nuttiness of the bed of basil-​almond wild rice, which was interspersed with thin snappy haricot vert. Nothing was spared on the plate…
At this point we were stuffed, but we couldn’t let the birthday girl leave without a dessert; we a slice of the Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake and four forks although I would mention that it wasn’t an easy decision choosing between all the various desserts under the glass…
Service was sublime, street (or lot) parking is atrocious; come and enjoy it nevertheless. 4.5 stars but not for lack of imagination…

I had no idea this place was even here until some friends told me about it. Then, I was even more surprised that they were just a couple of doors down from one of my favorite Thai places, Mint Leaf. It’s only March but I’ve found two places this year that has really impressed me and one of them is The Sliding Door (the other is Dominique’s Kitchen in Redondo Beach).
The restaurant is small but very quaint. It is a family-​run business, but the chef who is also the owner. Found out the chef is a graduate of the CIA (Culinary Institute of America) and hails from NY and that he has worked with Wolfgang Puck and Bradley Ogden. I guess once I tasted the food, it didn’t surprise me that this guy has some skills!
I came with a bunch of friends and we were able to try a wide variety off the menu. Here’s a run-​down of what we had:
Lobster Mac n Cheese: very thick and creamy with good chunks of lobster. The color of the cheese threw me off a bit but it was a mix of aged cheddar, provolone, smoked gouda and Jack cheeses.
Seared Sea Scallops: thoroughly enjoyed this dish. The scallops were perfectly cooked and beautifully seasoned. They came with Israeli couscous which goes great with scallops.
I ordinarily do not order salmon when I’m at a restaurant unless my friends order it, but this one was seriously delicious. The crispy skin was amazing and the fish was really medium rare and melts in the mouth. The wild rice accompaniment is a really good choice for this plate.
Braised Short Ribs is prepared spot on with the meat fork tender and the flavors bold and robust.
If you have room for dessert, definitely get the cheesecake! It is one of the best I’ve had in a long time. It is not dense and not too airy, just the right mouthfeel of a perfect cheesecake!
This is one of those gems which serves food from the heart. Nothing schmancy fancy, but really great tasting cuisine served in a non-​pretentious setting.

Came here for lunch during Restaurant Week. Small little place right on Balboa street. Parking is horrible, but that is everywhere around here so expect a walk if you don’t want to pay for parking. Walked in and was greeted and you pick where you want to sit.
What we got:
Lobster Roll: comes with a side of chips and coleslaw. Lobster roll was a little too dry for me. You can taste the lobster though! Chips and coleslaw was good, but I wouldn’t get this again.
Ricotta Gnoochi: when she brought it out, the first thing I noticed was a piece of hair right smack in the middle on one of the gnoochi. The waitress saw it right when she placed it down, picked it up, and said that she needed to take it back to the kitchen for something. I saw it! So don’t try to pretend that they forgot something… So when she brought it back, I noticed everything looked exactly the same except that the piece of hair was gone… I ended up not eating the piece where I saw the hair, but I was still disgusted… The rest of it was good though… soft pieces of gnocchi, but the cheese sauce was lacking in flavor.
Chocolate Mousse Cake: I tried a piece of this and it is way too chocolate-​y for my taste, but if you like chocolate then get it!
Nutella Crème Brûlée: they didn’t have cheesecake or carrot cake… it’s on your menu so why don’t you have it? They said they wouldn’t have it until 5PM… I was pretty upset since I’m not a fan of chocolate at all and she told me she will see what she could do. Nutella Crème Brulee? That’s chocolate! I accepted it anyway and she told me that she hopes that I like it since it is one of their popular desserts… I took one bite and well… the burnt sugar on top was good. But it really tasted a lot like nutella so nutella lovers should definitely get it.
Service:
They gave me a rude-​ish kind of vibe. They did come by often though to see if we needed more water or anything. But everything seemed really slow. We would sit there for a good 5 minutes after our entrée and dessert before they would come. Thank you for the effort of getting me a different dessert even though on your menu it says cheesecake and carrot cake… but I said I didn’t like chocolate so why even offer nutella…

I can’t believe this place has 4.5 stars… I came here for restaurant week with my family and we were horribly disappointed.
First off, I don’t know if our waitress was just having an off day or what, but it really seemed like she didn’t want to be there. When taking our orders she was speaking so softly I had to ask «what?» maybe 3 times before I could make out what she was saying. I don’t think I ever saw her smile, not even once. She had bored eyes like that of dead fish. That was annoying but it wasn’t a big deal.
Things got worse once our food started to arrive, which by the way, was a really really long time. When she was about to place my grandpa’s pulled pork sandwich in front of him, she tripped and the top bun and almost all the chips slid off the plate and landed all over him. She apologized so it was fine, but she only replaced the top bun. We didn’t get extra chips. Kinda lame since that was probably the best thing on the table. He also asked for the slaw to be put on the side and they left it in the sandwich.
I ordered the lobster mac and cheese. It was mediocre at best. The cheese sauce was liquidy, NOT creamy in the least. Reminded me of a box of Kraft mac and cheese. As for the lobster… I counted 4 small pieces of lobster claw. I think it was the equivalent to half a claw. And I hate claw meat to begin with.
I tried my sisters lobster roll and it was pretty ok. The bread was soggy but at least there was an acceptable amount of lobster meat. Mind you it’s not a good amount, but it was acceptable. This dish also came with slaw in the side. I tried it and it was the worst slaw I’ve ever had. I don’t know how to describe it other than weird.
When we were ready to order our desserts, our waiter told us they ran out of their triple chocolate fudge cake. I looked at the menu and I saw:
Chocolate truffle fudge cake
Triple chocolate mousse cake
So which was it?
As we were waiting for our desserts to come, our waiter walked by and asked us how our desserts were. … We told her they haven’t arrived yet and she went into the kitchen and brought them out. The desserts were just as bad as the entrees, maybe even worse. My grandma asked me what the restaurant name was. When I asked why, she said, so we know never to come back again.

Wandering on the peninsula tonight happened to stumble upon this cozy spot after dinner. The desserts in the window instantly caught our eyes after having Thai food next door at Mint Leaf Thai Cuisine. Wonderful assortment of mouth watering goodness… how could anyone resist!
Disclosure: Rating is based solely upon dessert and wine selection.
We enjoyed the bread pudding drizzled with warm caramel. covered in blackberries while sipping on glasses of Oregon Pinot Noir.
What a find. Perfect spot for a date night. Basically had the place to ourselves, but I’m sure this won’t keep up for long. A little on the pricey side for dinner, but brunch and lunch are reasonable from looking at the menu.
Elite Tip: Almost forgot to mention they also offer complete box lunches to take on the boat for $ 10, just pick up and sail away!