KATHY MADER -- Dining review

We finally got one! One of the great chow houses has come to Newport

Beach. The Shorehouse Cafe has arrived, with a menu as hefty as “War and

Peace” and a list of items that looks like the what’s what on the

American Medical Assn.’s most-wanted list.

And watch out, Cappy’s Cafe -- there’s a new kid on the block for the

Sunday morning Bloody Mary crowd.

Shorehouse Cafe, on the corner of Balboa Boulevard and Main Street on the

peninsula, replaces the once-popular Dillman’s. It features seafaring

decor, and its fish tanks and red-leather booths remind you of Dillman’s

all lightened up.

In fact, it is Dillman’s lightened up, but it seems better served as this

type of dining establishment than the original cosmopolitan drinking

spot.

It is, however, still dark enough for that illicit speak-easy feel. And

the full bar will still serve any drink you choose.

Long Beach, San Clemente and Seal Beach have had Shorehouse Cafes for

years, and it’s our turn to enjoy a casual diner/restaurant that boasts a

reputation for enormous portions, which is an understatement.

The menu is, in a word, eclectic. Some of the food is truly good and some

is average, but what can you expect from a menu with about 208 items? (I

know; I counted.) And this number does not include sides or variations or

the large number of item additions. My college education did not prepare

me well enough to factor all those in.

The surprise is the sheer volume.

Back to the food. For example, the patty melt ($5.95) is great, the

Philly cheese steak, average. The breakfast burrito? Great. The Chinese

chicken salad? Average. The thick and creamy clam chowder is delicious,

but I have yet to have a pastrami sandwich there that I like.

Every single person you’ve ever known could find something to order here.

Flipping through the 10-page, magazine-like menu guarantees that.

The first page of this tasty tome is appetizer heaven, with steamers,

quesadillas, onion rings, bruschetta, garlic bread and chicken strips,

each under $6.

The burger section includes every variation you have ever dreamed of,

including all the regulars. The sandwich section features a Monte Cristo

($6.95), an all-time favorite cardiac-arrest special of ham and Swiss

cheese stuffed between slices of deep-fried French toast and served with

jam.

There’s also the Reuben ($6.95), pastrami sandwiches with sauerkraut and

Russian dressing, and grinders of all types.

Or order your favorite in the pizza section -- everything ever put atop a

pizza is available.

As you thumb through the menu, stopping at your childhood favorites and

present-day comfort foods, you pause in a sort of awed confusion at the

house specialties.

Chicken and biscuits ($8.95) alongside local lobster ($28.95), chicken

Cordon Bleu ($13.95) next to prime rib, or halibut and lobster raviolis.

How can they do this?

However they do it, and people keep coming back for more.

The entire menu, except for some select dinner entrees, is available all

day. The Newport location has yet to earn the all-night honors; this one

is open only until 10 p.m.

The breakfast menu seems to be the main local draw, with giant croissants

stuffed with your choice of eggs and most anything else as the main

event. The list of add-ins is incredible. Omelets, biscuits and gravy,

eggs ranchero and pecan pancakes round out the breakfast options and make

for some agonizing decision-making.

Don’t expect anything served too quickly.

If you’re in a hurry, this may not be the place. The layout makes for

wait staff collisions near the kitchen, and it is not always clear who is

in charge. But that doesn’t seem to bother anyone.

People come to Shorehouse Cafe to set up shop for awhile and maybe catch

some weekend golf tournaments or basketball games on one of several

televisions. If you have a Sunday morning to laze away, enjoy the breeze

and people watch, accompanied by a two-pound sandwich, this is just the

place.

SHOREHOUSE CAFE

801 E. Balboa Blvd. (corner of Balboa and Main Street)

* Hours: 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays; 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekends * Phone: (949) 673-7726

* How much: Very fair