BLOG: Raya's 6-Course V-day's Dinner Is a Love-ly Way to Celebrate

Have you ever wanted to try one of those fancy dinners with a prix fixe menu to celebrate a special occasion, but you weren’t sure if it was worth the money, or if it would be too much food? We have thought the same thing, but this year we decided to splurge, and celebrate Valentine’s Day at Raya in the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel.

This year they offered a six-course dinner menu to their Valentine diners. For an additional forty dollars per person, each course could be paired with an appropriate wine. We knew that for us, that would be way too many calories and just way too much, so we stuck with just the dinner.

When we arrived for our reservation, we were greeted by two hostesses, and one handed me a perfect, very long-stemmed red rose. We were seated at a lovely table, close to the enormous windows that overlook the Pacific.

Of course, it was too dark to see the ocean at that time, but we knew it was out there. Instead of the wine pairings, I selected a glass of Champagne and Jim ordered a cocktail. 

A gentleman brought us a ceramic pot full of different kinds of tiny bread rolls along with three different spreads. I thought is it was nice that one of the bread varieties was gluten free. I tried one of the regular rolls and it was delicious, light and airy. 

Our waitress introduced herself and pointed out the menu at each place, which outlined all six courses. She asked us if we were ready to begin and we said yes, and so the first course arrived.

We were served two single oysters on the half shell on a beautiful glass dish with three sections. In between the two oysters was pink peppercorn white soy mignonette with a silver spoon. We each spooned some of the mignonette onto our oysters. The combination of flavors was truly amazing and a wonderful way to begin our meal.

The second course was salmon tiradito, which was served on a white rectangle plate. In the center was salmon sashimi with wasabi aioli, pomegranate seeds, tiny bits of mango, and white soy ponzu. The fish was so tender and flavorful and the dish was really delightful.

We moved on to course number three, which was beet carpaccio, which was prepared with thin slices of red and yellow beets, a bit of blood orange, pomegranate seeds, pistachio, hearts of palm and queso fresco. I loved this dish because it was simple, and the beets were delicious. My husband, not a beet fan, did not enjoy it as much.

Luckily, the next course, was right up his alley. It was a Dungeness crab queso fundido with sweet fig chile salsa. It came in a dish to share. On one side were freshly made, warm tortilla chips and on the other were tiny warm corn tortillas. The fundido did not have a strong crab flavor, but was tasty on the chips and tortillas, and the fig salsa was quite a sweet and spicy addition.

The entrée was pan seared sea scallops, served with a bit of crispy pork belly, veracruzana sauce, boniato puree and saffron emulsion, garnished with red, yellow and green julienned peppers. At first, we did not know what the pork belly was, but our waitress came by and recommended we take a bite of the pork along with a bite of the scallop, which was an amazing combination. It was beautifully presented and original.

By now, we had had quite a fantastic meal, but dessert was still to come. I thought maybe I was too full to be excited about the dessert, but I was wrong. It was called Duo of Chocolate and Passion. On the left of the plate was a cupcake-sized dome of chocolate, which was filled with a heavenly chocolate and raspberry filling. On top of the dome was a curl of chocolate with pink hearts printed on it.  On the other side of the plate was a tart filled with a creamy passion fruit mixture and topped with a delicious and delicate, warm meringue. This was possibly the best dessert I have ever had at a restaurant.

We loved our Valentine’s dinner at Raya. It was very fun to travel through a six-course meal together, eating foods that we would never have ordered on our own. The restaurant itself is gorgeous, the service is wonderful and the food is spectacular. We appreciated the creative menu, presentation and attention to detail.

I give Raya 5 Patches out of 5.