Made into a makeshift restaurant, the far left wing of Mesa Court’s Anteatery dining hall was transformed Tuesday night into Cupid’s heaven. Adorned with balloons, streamers, and photobooth stations, pink and red truly exuded the Valentine’s day vibe. As a single gal, I naturally took my best friend/roommate with me as my date, practically spending most of the evening fawning over other couples or discussing our future wedding dress inspiration boards on Pinterest. The majority of the attendees were in fact women. A lot of girls went in groups with their friends although there was a fair amount of actual couples present.
Despite my single status, the real reason we all reserved seats for this special night was the food. Boasting a five-course meal and a special mocktail, as a freshmen who usually only eats dining hall food some upscale chow sounded worth the cheesiness of the event.
The first course was an amuse-bouche, or in common terms, a fancy mini appetizer. Being described as a “pea shooter with bacon and goat cheese mousse,” I did not have high expectations on how delicious it would actually be. Sadly, my expectations were not exceeded, as myself and others only seemed to eat the bacon off the top. Because let’s be real, who really wants to drink a shot of pureed peas? However, I appreciated the attempt of trying to make the dining experience feel more gourmet.
On the other hand, the first true appetizer was delicious, a crab cake with a citrus salad. I was actually shocked at how yummy the crab cake was, being light and flakey and topped with a slightly tangy dipping sauce. In addition, the portion was huge. I have never seen a crab cake that takes up almost a majority of the plate. The citrus salad was a nice palate cleanser after eating such a large fried item.The next course was mushroom and cheese pasta. While it was pretty tasty, I was a little disappointed as the dish has frequently been on the menu in the vegetarian saute/featured item counter of the Anteatery. Despite not being something specially made for the dinner, anything with cheese and mushrooms is always up my alley. The mushrooms were the best part, providing freshness to combat the richness of the cheese filled tortellini
What I did not expect out of this experience was how much food I would actually be consuming. While I knew that it was going to be a five-course meal, I figured the portions would be reduced. But boy was I wrong. Each course was an entree in itself, with the pea shooter as the only exception. I was already feeling full after the pasta course, having to drink the specialty mocktail, a Shirley Temple with a blood orange garnish, to help me continue eating. I wish the portions were smaller as I saw a lot of waste from people unable to finish every item served. However, the immense amount of food did make the meal feel more legit and special.
Now onto what I consider the main entree, the chicken dish. To be honest, the best part about the dish was the mashed potatoes and what I like to call “artisan” carrots, the ones that come in a variety of colors and still have the stem sprouting from the top. The mashed potatoes had bits of the potato skin still in it which really made my tummy happy, but the chicken was simply okay. There was not much special about it, although it was better than the dried out grilled chicken I would normally recieve on a typical night at the Anteatery. It kind of reminded me of the stereotypical chicken entree you would receive at a wedding reception: a little boring but still good enough to finish.
Before dessert was served, a UCI acapella group performed two love ballads for us. They sounded amazing and my friend and I could not helping giggling as it felt as if we were being serenaded at a romantic restaurant. Everyone was clapping and cheering them on as they sang their hearts out to some popular tunes. By the time they finished their set, my stomach was rested just enough to be able to make me room for dessert
The dessert was my favorite part of the entire meal as my sweet tooth was happily satisfied. I am a sucker for anything strawberry, so the minute the cream puff was served it was an automatic win in my book. The cream was not too sweet and completed the fruit nicely. It was great idea to end the meal on such a light note after eating so much food.
Overall, the Valentine’s Day dinner was a success in my book. I really enjoyed getting to dress up and spend a night catching up with my roommate after finishing all of our midterms. It was a fun way to de-stress and acted as a pick-me up to keep me motivated for the rest of winter quarter. Plus the little goodie box full of candy, which I may or may not have completely finished on my walk back to the dorm, definitely added some bonus points. Even though my Valentine’s Day plans include going to In-n-Out and proceeding to watch Netflix in my bedroom, I can at least say that I had somewhat of a Valentine’s Day experience thanks to Mesa Court.