Twenty Eight

Love this place. It's located next to the Google office building in Irvine. The restaurant is beautifully decorated and the staff are extremely professional and friendly. I made reservations; however it wasn't busy. There wasn't a crowd so at first, we were a little skeptical. However, the dishes were very tasty and flavorful. To start, we ordered their Spanish Octopus.For main dish, got their NY Strip and Shrimp & Crab Linguine. Both came out perfect.Will definitely come again.

Solid bar with great selection of whiskey and good for date night!My fiance and i came here to grab a drink after eating dinner.We had a reservation so we got a table seat.Our server brought us a whiskey book that listed over 100+ whiskeys.We got a flight of 1/2 oz pours (4). fries, and the black sesame matcha bread pudding.The presentation of the flight is on point! they got a wooden board for each of us with labels.Fries were pretty standard but loved the spicy ketchup!Black sesame matcha bread pudding was fire! not too sweet and the matcha and sesame flavor is authentic.A little pricy but overall a fancy experience with great service and drinks.Would love to sit at the bar my next visit!

I came here with my boyfriend for our anniversary! To start off, the hostess was very welcoming and checks if you have any dietary restrictions right away. We were seated right away and greeted by our waitress, Alessandra. She gave us some really great suggestions on the menu and we ended up getting all the ones she recommended! We got the Grilled Scallion Pao, Ricotta and Tomato, American Wagyu Zabuton with Salsa Verde sauce, Mixed Mushrooms, and Parpadelle. 5/5 Grilled Scallion Pao paired with the Ricotta and Tomato... Amazing overall! I loved how fluffy, fresh, and flavorful the Pao tasted. It's such a unique bread and really surprised me with the crispy outer texture and soft inner part. The flavor paired so nicely with the ricotta and tomato, which was light, flavorful, and brilliantly presented. I really loved this dish! 5/5 American Wagyu Zabuton with Salsa verde sauce... this steak was delicious! Perfectly cooked and medium rare. I loved how soft the meat was and how pronounced the flavor of the salsa verde was.4.5/5 Mixed Mushrooms... the mixed mushrooms had a very clean presentation. I really liked the consistency of the dish and how soft and well cooked the mushrooms were. The flavor was great especially with the lemon. 3.5/5 Parpadelle... I liked this dish overall but I think it could have used more flavor. The chili adds a soft kick which helped the noodles but it felt like it was missing something. Overall I still enjoyed it but I don't think I'd get it again. In summary, I enjoyed twenty eight. The customer service is phenomenal and I really appreciated the entire team's attentiveness and welcoming demeanor. Alessandra was an especially awesome waitress and I'm very grateful for her suggestions, kindness, and friendliness. Thanks Twenty Eight for a great anniversary meal!

This was a surprise for me - I had never heard of this restaurant. Upon arrival the seating seemed a bit too open for my taste but I adjusted and it was fine . They have a great whisky list and the wine list is pretty good as well. I do need to take a moment to silence for the Wagyu steak. It was so good! They give you a soy egg sauce for dipping if you'd like and it's pretty tasty. Staff was very informative and attentive throughout the meal. I can't wait to go back.

If you're looking to find THE ONE (or at least a date for your family Xmas party) Twenty Eight might just have what you need. My bestie and I were on a mission--our pact this year is NO SINGLE LADIES for the holidays. But after one bite of "CDR by Chef Jay Lacuesta" and his 8-course tasting menu, I was so caught up in my relationship with food, I might've forgotten our girly pact. The ambiance? Picture a speakeasy... but for foodies. It's cozy, chic, and the kind of place where you'd expect to meet someone who's really into wine pairings, or someone who likes to act bougie and pretend to be really into wine pairings. The food? A whole vibe.Let's talk highlights. The brie with lap xuong and cranberries was basically a love affair on a plate--creamy, savory, sweet, flaky, crunchy... it was like the perfect first date. 10/10 would date again. And the yard-long green beans? I didn't even know beans could be so tasty. These bad boys were crispy, tart, and salted just right. This ain't your grandma's green beans for sure. 10/10... these babes would definitely get a text back the next morning. Then came the sea bass--paired with brussel sprouts, sesame, and pomegranate. I hate using the word "moist" but dear lord... I literally can't think of a better adjective because it just knocked the vocabulary outta my head. The sea bass was moist, flavorful, tender, and flakey (the good kind of flakey. Not like my ex) I don't know who Chef Jay Lacuesta is personally, but I'm considering a lifelong commitment. The dish was like a magical elixir for my taste buds. 100/10. If I could marry it, I would.But here's the kicker--I was so busy savoring each course and making googley eyes with the wine pairings (shoutout to sommelier Kevin Ho for keeping my glass full and my heart happy), I completely forgot about my "Find a Husband" mission. I'm sure there were some dudes there that night, but my senses were delightfully preoccupied by other means. I'm sure they didn't hold a candle to the sea bass. I guess I'll have to come back, reframe my priorities, and maybe, just maybe, keep an eye out for the future Mr. Right... I guess I'll see y'all next week then. The hunt continues.

Just realized I didn't have a chance to post the pics from the October 8-course tasting menu. It was another fantastic and memorable monthly event at Twenty Eight. Innovative and super delish line up that included: * Corn with pork floss and Parmesan* Raw salmon with calamansi* Quail egg, rice vinegar mignonette* Shrimp wonton* Hargao with chili oil and peaches* Siu Mai with kaffir lime and tamari* Sponge gourd, shitaake, misua and pork dashi* Seabass with dill , turmeric* Crab crispy noodle in coconut cream * Pork coppa w smoked hoisin* Braised angus beef with bokchoy and peanut sauce - This was Chef Jay's take on the Filipino Beef Kare Kare* Mango, coconut, sweet rice pudding * Jackfruit, pandan, panna cotta and wafers

We wanted a great steak experience for my son's birthday and we chose Twenty Eight for it's sophisticated vibe and creative menu. The ambiance was dark, sleek and modern. The service was ultra cool and demure, very professional overall. The steaks were out of this world, the flavors were bold and unique. The meat was absolutely cooked to perfection and just divine. The pasta and vegetables were flavorful but so surprising, overwhelmingly salty. They specialize in whisky as a top shelf whisky bar and their cocktails were eceptional:Thymed Square - scotch, gran mainier, maniera, chile sweet vermouth, chocolate bitters and thyme smoke.Ricotta and Tomato with champagne vinegar, almonds fried basil, saba and paprikaolive oilBone Marrow Chive Pancakes with roasted onion jam, pickled shallots and sabaAmerican Wagyu Hangar 10oz Snake River Farm "Black Grade"Angus Beef Chateaubriand 16 oz Creekstone Farm Double Cut Pork Chop 16oz Salmon Creek Farm Duroc Pork with sesamo, endive, lemongrass and pork jusMixed Mushrooms in lemon-thyme butter, sweet soy, sesamo nori and lemonLobster Mac and Cheese, 6oz tail with gemelli pasta, Hook's Cheddar, Monterey cheese and scallionWarm Chocolate CakeTwo reservations about service downgrades what would have been our 5-star review down to 4....There was a slight portion left in the serving container of the Thymed Square whisky and it was taken away without asking. Additionally, although the restaurant was practically empty at 8.30, we were asked if we wanted to box up any portions although my son was still in mid-meal.Surely this was a faux paux as it definitely felt like a disappointment in level of experience.

活在自己的熱愛裡，而不是別人的眼裡， 生活一定要盡興，而不是慶幸～Twenty Eight 這家超級浪漫又好吃的餐廳，牛排跟蔥花麵包，讓人意猶未盡， 第三次來了， 每次都很喜歡, 太浪漫的地方， 趕快帶阿娜答來吧！

The low rating is due to the taste of food NOT the service. Our waiter was wonderful and the hostess greeted as enthusiastically. I set reservations to celebrate my birthday with my girlfriends and we were able to sit outside by the fire pit. It was pretty empty when we came and the location is a bit odd as it's between business complexes. You'll have to park in the structure but the restaurant will validate your ticket! The dishes we got were mostly misses which is quite unfortunate. It went kinda downhill after the appetizers. Appetizers were pretty solid but we were not fans of the entrees we ordered.Scallop crudo (4/5): personally my favorite of the night as it was citrusy and refreshing. One of my friends did not enjoy it as much as I did bc it was too citrusy for her.Salmon crudo (3/5): salmon was fresh and tastes like salmon poke but I didn't think it paired well with the sweet potato chips bc the chips weren't crispy enough. Crab and shrimp linguine (4/5): standard linguine pasta, thought it was good but nothing mind blowing.Wagyu crispy noodle (1/5): tooooo salty that it was not enjoyable even if the meat used was wagyu. Kind of reminded me of Vietnamese crispy birdnest noodles but gentrified... and no veggies just edible flowers that didn't really add anything to the dish. Unfortunately don't think I will be back for the food taste.

The restaurant kind a hidden spot. But the service and food were great. The ambiance perfect to having a nice conversation during the dinner. Also they're having self and valet parking.