L'Hirondelle Restaurant

Really enjoyed my first visit! We celebrated a family birthday where the birthday girl specifically wanted French cuisine and I am so glad we came here. All of us enjoyed the meal. The ambiance was cozy and staff were very attentive throughout dinner. Parking is available directly behind the restaurant, but may be limited. It's adjacent to a larger paid lot ($2/hour up to 4 hours) where we were able to find a spot. Appetizers:- Mushroom with crab- creamy and cheesy, perfect to share, my favorite! - Pate with crackers- good, but probably wouldn't get again- Escargot- tasty, buttery, garlicky, exactly what I was hoping for- Warm bacon spinach salad- so good that my child said he now likes spinach Entrees:- Beef bourguignon- tender meat with delicious sauce- Filet mignon- artichoke sauce made it extra tasty- Rack of lamb- also had a great sauce! - Roast duck (orange)- super generous portion with light orange sauce flavor that wasn't overpowering Dessert:- Crème brûlée- well balanced, creamy, and refreshing with fresh fruit- Tiramisu- well done, not too rich- Cherries jubilee- family favorite great for sharing We had a great meal and it was memorable for everyone. Will definitely be back again!

The BEST French Onion SoupBeautiful setting and delicious food!.................................................I have been going here for many many years.Always consistent

Spent an afternoon touring the San Juan Capistrano Mission & Gardens, and stopped for a delicious lunch across the street at L'Hirondelle.Ali provided us with excellent service!Ordered the Orange Roughy special with Artichokes and Tarragon Chicken - both were excellent!They have a lovely outdoor patio and and beautiful vintage style indoor space. Will definitely be back!

Food was just ok. The land shank was tough. Upon brining it to the servers attention, they blamed it on the quality of the lamb and asked me to pick something else from the menu but did not comp the dish. The escargot were served with no shells, which is not right. I would not recommend

I had heard really good things about this restaurant, so I was curious to try it. First thing, there is parking near the restaurant which I did not realize because I thought it was paid parking, but it seems you can park there! With that, the entrance is not obvious if you parked on the street and are walking to the restaurant as there are several doors but only one of them is their main door. The interior gives a very old school small restaurant feel. I wouldn't call it romantic in my personal opinion because it is pretty bright and not a whole lot of candlelight. The tables are rather small as well, so I am sure you will want to call ahead if you have a big party. I will say-- the outdoor seating looked so beautiful with all the flowers and the fountain, so that would be a great place for lunch! They do close that earlier than the inside so keep that in mind. As for the food, I am not the biggest pate fan, so that is definitely on me. I tried it and it's not for me. I do have opinions on the bread rolls served. They're just dense and not super tasty in my opinion. I wouldn't go for them, personally. I did, however, think my petite fillet mignon was tasty because I am a big artichoke fan and the artichoke sauce hits. It was cooked well and I enjoyed it with my roasted potatoes. My party ordered some dessert as well and I thought the crème brûlée was pretty tasty. I did not try the chocolate torte, but it looked good from what I can tell!Service was okay? They were not super prompt or particularly friendly, maybe it was a rough day though. Bottom line-- I think the food is good, but it's not quite at the "fine dining" level to me. I'd say it's "nicer casual."

We recently came for a weekday dinner, and we enjoyed the experience from beginning to end. The restaurant is not big, cozy, but not packed. The servers were all casual, our waiter was wearing shorts so felt a little too relaxed for this type of dining, but we didn't mind much. Unfortunately, it was a special event for us, and when we arrived, no one was there to greet us. We had to walk to the back of the restaurant just to let them know we were waiting, which was for about 5 or so minutes, but we just assumed they are so small, and seemed that the host also served food and took care of other things. The food itself was not what we expected, we've had different French cuisine before and didn't expect the food to be so salty. We ordered the Beef bourguignon and the filet of Sole and it just seemed like too much salt was put in both dishes, it made it difficult to eat parts of each dish. Still, the staff made an effort to make our special night memorable so despite some of the negatives I mentioned, the positives (good service and atmosphere) outweigh them, making for a good experience, so much so that we would consider coming back and ordering something else just to see if it was that particular night.

Living in San Juan Capistrano, I have wanted to try this place for years. Finally got around to it yesterday. Having perused the menu online and read the reviews, I was expecting more, much more. Entering, the ambience is cozy and quaint, it's a romantic setting, and you can converse easily in the restaurant. At the same time, our table for example was fairly close to our neighbors', and I could see the gentleman seated nearby discreetly eavesdropping on our conversation. But I digress...Our server was polite, attentive, and very friendly. The service overall was very good and I won't fault them for that. Food was definitely not on point for what I was expecting. First, the bad news. Where did they get those mashed potatoes? Absolutely weird, and not in a great sort of way. Some people might eat them, but we did not. I suspect but can neither confirm nor deny that those may have been from a box or elsewhere, but they sure didn't taste like potatoes and butter. The spinach salad, while tasty, was soaked in vinaigrette just a bit too much. The frogs' legs were fine, but nothing special, with a lemon and garlic butter sauce. The French Onion Soup was rich, but thick onion slices that were far from caramelized left it lacking in flavor, and the cognac or liquor that was used overpowered it a bit. There was plenty of gooey cheese on top and a thick crouton of bread. My petite rack of lamb with rosemary sauce was good, but not outstanding. I truly expected something on a higher plane. The meat and the rack itself was tasty, the sauce (like all the other sauces, just did not feel like a true demi-glace). The filet mignon cut was quite good, but the sauce (and all the other sauces), again, did not feel home-cooked. The only thing I can say was tasty on the plate were the roasted potatoes.On the good side, the desserts were quite good. We had a fruit tart, a warm chocolate cake, and a tiramisu. All were well-presented and the portions were adequate. For the price and quality, it would be a stretch for me to call this fine dining. It's the details and nuances and presentation that bring food from ok to really good, and extra details that make it really great. It was overall a disappointment and I would not return. After having spent time cooking throughout the US and eating at many high-end establishments, spending time in Europe and Latin America eating in fine dining establishments, I was seriously let down for the cost. The portions were reasonable and the food was ok, but it was just overall a letdown. Meh...

Have been to this restaurant many times for dinner, but never for lunch. Our club decided to have our Christmas lunch there and many of them had never been here. The food was delicious. Presentation was fabulous and of course service was great. The only minor criticism was that they don't serve their French onion soup at lunchtime. Definitely one of my favorite places to go for a nice meal and quiet conversation.

Beautiful outside garden setting with fantastic view of the San Juan basilica. White table cloths and great wine list. Food fantastic. Very personable staff. Recommend as I will be going back.

Another lovely dinner! The first time we ate there my husband thought I was crazy for ordering the house salad, but I was feeling a salad. The house salad comes with this dressing I would love to put on everything. It's a creamy herby lemony dressing that would be good on a flip flop. The mushroom app was stupid good and the butter garlic sauce was the star. We had the duck in cherry sauce and the fish in a lemon caper butter sauce. Both were fantastic. The fish was slightly better than the duck. We are creatures of habit so next time we will probably swap the duck for somthing else. The service was impeccable as always, they are on top of everything without being intrusive. The vibe is a cultivated old school family French restaurant filled with historic mementos. I have two complaints, the first is that they close at 8pm and 90% of the time we can't get down there during the week for dinner. The second is parking is an adventure in the area because Ita extremely popular, a feature and a flaw.