Break of Dawn Restaurant

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24351 Avenida De La Carlota Mission Viejo, CA 92653

949-587-9418

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Best Restaurant
Award Winner 2010

Cuisine(s): Breakfast, Brunch, Eclectic, French, Vietnamese

Hours: Sun,Wed,Thu,Fri,Sat 8am-2:30pm

Price: $$
Payment Types: All Major Credit Cards

Features: Kid Friendly, Patio/Sidewalk Dining, Takeout

Serving: Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch
Alcohol: Beer/Wine

Reservations: Not Necessary

Parking: Lot Available

Description

Breakfast and lunch only at South County's institution for Viet- and French-inspired brunch in a casual atmosphere. Smoked salmon and pots of pté are the way to go here.

2010 | Best Restaurant

Foodies have long loved Break of Dawn for its extraordinary breakfasts and lunches--including this paper, which deemed it Best Breakfast last year. But let's call Break of Dawn what it is--an extraordinary restaurant, period, a culinary treasure with few peers. It's not just the food--chef/owner Dee Nguyen uses his ethnicity (Vietnamese) and experience at the Ritz-Carlton equally, offering everything from abstract chilaquiles to a Hawaiian-style breakfast combining... More »
2008 | Best Breakfast

Bowls of steaming-hot pho Check. Poached eggs encased in tempura Check. Créme brûlée French toast A chef/owner from the Ritz Carlton A 90-minute wait for brunch Check. Check. Check. This is Break of Dawn, one of the sweetest Cinderella stories on the OC food scene and now a bona-fide local phenom. To think it only took a few determined food bloggers and a dozen print articles to spread the word that chef Dee Nguyen's little Laguna Hills eatery does breakfasts... More »

Foie+Short Rib at Break of Dawn=Breakfast of Champions

By Niyaz Pirani | Tue, May 15, 2012

Haven Gastropub Chef Greg Daniels is undoubtedly Orange County's champion of foie gras, hosting a "Fight for Foie" dinner last night in the face of protestors and even heading to Sacramento to lobby l... More »
Break of Dawn's First, First-Friday-Night Dinner

By Shuji Sakai | Mon, January 9, 2012

Last year, we broke the news that Chef Dee Nguyen was opening Break of Dawn Restaurant for dinner in 2012. And by dinner, we don't mean dinner every day, or even every week. This dinner pops up on the... More »
Break of Dawn After Dark: More Details Revealed!

By Shuji Sakai | Mon, November 7, 2011

Dave broke the news back in September that chef Dee Nguyen would open his Laguna Hills restaurant, Break of Dawn, for dinner seatings starting in 2012. Nguyen just announced more details via Faceboo... More »
Party of Six Leaves $2.21 Tip on $177 Meal

By Gustavo Arellano | Wed, October 19, 2011

I admit it: I'm not the best tipper. I try to adhere to Mr. Gold's standard of 20%, I really do--but it's usually more around 15%. I karmically make it up by tipping 100, even 200 percent at my favori... More »
WINNER'S CIRCLE: Dee Nguyen

By EDWIN GOEI | Thu, October 13, 2011

Ask former Ritz-Carlton chef and Break of Dawn owner Dee Nguyen what he considers the best meal he's ever had, and he'll tell you it was a bowl of rice he ate with sea salt in 1984. It was the first bite of food given to the then-10-year-old refug... More »
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sixstringsofsoul | 1 Reviews

| Thu, December 15, 2011

I called this restaurant to apply for a job, wrong idea! I was treated horribly on the phone. When i asked to speak to the manager the employee told me he wasn't there. Then hung up! I called back to ask again, because I was sure the manager would like to know how his employees were treating people who called. The guy who answered the phone told me the manager's name was Z, and when i asked to talk to him he hung up on me again. Now I was determined to let the manager know that his employees were terrible. I called again and again and again I was hung up on. I called one last time to tell them I was coming to the restaurant to talk to the manager and the head cook. I came to the restaurant and was confronted by two men at the door who would tell me nothing except to leave. I grabbed a card on the way out. DEE NGUYEN is the chef and turns out he is who I was talking to! I couldn't believe it. He proceeded to chase me through the parking lot, call the police, and threaten me swearing at me that he was going to lock my punk a$$ up! He even went so far as to say he "Eat's pieces of sh$t like me for breakfast. I had to reply, "You eat sh$t for breakfast?" He said he did. This is a breakfast place, so, i just wonder how sh$tty their food tastes. I could not let this go unreported because someone who owns a restaurant shouldn't be allowed to treat people like this. I hope nobody give their hard earned money to this crazy guy, and no one wastes their time eating at Break of Dawn. There's a nice way to handle things and theres the DEE NGUYEN way. Take my advice, don't waste your time being associated with this loser!
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ocweeklybestof | Costa Mesa, CA | 160 Reviews

| Wed, May 6, 2009

Bowls of steaming-hot pho? Check. Poached eggs encased in tempura? Check. Cr�me br�l�e French toast? A chef/owner from the Ritz Carlton? A 90-minute wait for brunch? Check. Check. Check. This is Break of Dawn, one of the sweetest Cinderella stories on the OC food scene and now a bona-fide local phenom. To think it only took a few determined food bloggers and a dozen print articles to spread the word that chef Dee Nguyen's little Laguna Hills eatery does breakfasts like breakfasts have never been done before. Short-order cooks beware: There's a classically trained epicurean on your turf.

Main Menu

Appetizer

$5.00

Crispy Lobster And Shrimp Roll

$5.00

Portuguese Hawaiian Sausage

$11.00

Pate Mousse And Pickled Egg
pistachio butter and bread

$6.00

Hog’s Trotters
kimchi vegetable

Fishes And Salads

$7.00
Mahi $15.00
Salmon $15.00

Caesar
heart of romaine, parmesan crostini, tijuana-cilantro dressing

$10.00
Mahi $15.00
Salmon $15.00

Organic Baby Green
hawaiian heart of palm, cucumber, tomato, ginger-lime vinaigrette

Sandwiches
Sandwiches Are Prepared Using Baguette Roll, House Dressing, Jalapeno, Tomato, Pickled Onion, Cabbage And Carrot

$7.00

Meatloaf

$7.50

Club
marinated chicken thigh, smoked bacon and romaine lettuce

Side Dishes

$4.00

Fruit Cup

$3.00

Two Eggs

$4.50

Two Eggs Tempura

$4.00

Butternut Squash Soup

$5.00

Portuguese-hawaiian Sausage

$5.00

Smoked Bacon

$4.00

Roasted Potato

$5.00

Crispy Lobster-shrimp Rolls

$5.00

Short Stack

$3.00

Mini Chocolate Creme Brulee

$2.00

Buttered Toast

Savory

$13.00

Mac And Cheese
sicilian sausage and short rib, bacon fried eggs, smoked gouda-tomato carbonara

$15.00

Lamb Sausage
scrambled with sun-dried tomato, spinach, peanut and vietnamese mint, onyx sticky rice

$12.00

Foodie
stew of beef tongue, tripe, gizzard, turnip, potato, carrot and hominy

$12.00

Smoked Salmon
coriander cured, oatmeal galette, herb poached egg, fennel seed-tomato, preserved kumquat

$11.00

Kabocha Squash
creamy soup, crispy lobster and shrimp rolls

$17.00

Beef Short Rib
merlot poached eggs, mushroom ragu, prickly ash pepper jus

$14.50

Duck
braised leg, scallion omelet and toast, butternut-creamed corn, goji berry gastrique

$15.00

Seafood Seasonal
jambalaya style, rice, pineapple, creole-shellfish sauce

$11.00

Chicken Stew
lightly curried, carrot and edamame, lemongrass brothq

$11.00

Bbq Pork
pulled pork, jalapeno corn cake, tropical slaw, egg tempura, essence of five spices

Traditional

$7.00

Oatmeal
choice of blueberry, guava-coconut, banana, chocolate chips, pecan or almond (add 2.)

$11.00

Fruit Plate
seasonal picks, coffee-nut muffin

$11.00

Skillet
roasted new potato, bacon, cheddar poached eggs, guacamole, chipotle sour cream

$10.50

Sausage And Rice
portuguese-hawaiian sausage, green papaya and sesame salad, scallion puree, two fried eggs

$11.00

Omelet
three fresh eggs with your choice of three items: onion, tomato, spinach, mushroom, scallion, ham, chicken, bacon, sausage, cheddar, mozzarella or feta cheese each additional item (add 1.) egg white substitute (add 2.) fresh fruit substitute (add 2.)

$11.00

Mi Ranchero
chorizo-queso fresco scrambled eggs, baked black bean and zesty guacamole, sauce epazote

$12.00

Corned Beef
sweet potato hash, poached eggs, tarragon cabbage, mustard sauce

$11.00

Casserole
kaffir lime-tomato braised eggs, new potato, tofu and winter vegetable, swiss cheese

$10.50

Meatloaf
vietnamese style meatloaf, buttermilk-cheddar biscuit, two fried eggs, espresso gravy

$11.00

Benedict
two soft-poached eggs, grilled potato bread, tender smoked ham, asian pesto hollandaise

$10.00

White Corn Pancake
served with your choice of two eggs choice of blueberry, guava-coconut, banana, chocolate chips, pecan or almond (add 2.)

Three-course Menu
$17.00

First-kabocha Squash Soup

Second
choice of entree

Second-sausage And Rice

Second-chicken Stew

Second-casserole

Second-bbq Pork Or Meatloaf

$17.00

Third-chocolate Creme Brulee

Our Homemade Hot Sauce

1.5 Oz Bottle $5.00
10 Oz Bottle $20.00

Vietnamese Dragon Chili

Sweet

$3.00

Mini Coconut-chocolate Creme Brulee

$7.50

Cinnamon Bun
baked in cast iron pan, coffee and almond glaze, whipped cream

$12.00

French Toast Creme Brulee
mexican chocolate and coconut custard, raisin and cinnamon brioche, caramel-chocolate sauce

Looking for another city?

Break of Dawn Restaurant

24351 Avenida De La Carlota Mission Viejo, CA 92653

949-587-9418

Description

2010 | Best Restaurant

2008 | Best Breakfast

By Niyaz Pirani | Tue, May 15, 2012

By Shuji Sakai | Mon, January 9, 2012

By Shuji Sakai | Mon, November 7, 2011

By Gustavo Arellano | Wed, October 19, 2011

By EDWIN GOEI | Thu, October 13, 2011

sixstringsofsoul | 1 Reviews

ocweeklybestof | Costa Mesa, CA | 160 Reviews