Mozambique

the birthday girl

cold avocado soup

gnocchi

vegetable curry

For my dearest of dears, Grace's 24th birthday we went to Mozambique in Laguna Beach.  I won't get into what a nightmare it was to find this place, it's suffice to say I was almost 45 minutes late.  I tend not to eat in Laguna Beach because it's overpriced and not really that great (except for Thai Bros and 242 Cafe Sushi), and Mozambique didn't really change my mind.  The food was expensive to the point of silliness.  I mean, I am willing to pay a heavy dollar for an excellent meal but $18 for a bowl of brown rice and vegetables is definitely pushing it.  Steaks seemed to comprise the bulk of the menu, hovering around $33.  Maybe it's because I'm not really a steak person, but I just don't get it.  So they've grilled a slab of beef.  okay.  $33? I also had their avocado soup which was pretty bland, and would have been just plain bad if not for the jumbo lump crabmeat.  Thomas described it as "blended guacamole".  On the plus side, the soup was a beautiful color. Observe above. I ordered the vegetable curry, which was decent-but, once again, not worth $18.  Thomas ordered the gnocchi in a heavy curry sauce.  I hadn't ever thought of combining pasta and curry but I suppose it makes a lot of sense.  Separate from the meal, it was really lovely seeing all of my old friends to celebrate Grace's birthday (we've been buddies for 16 years!).  After dinner we went to the connected bar upstairs, which was hilarious-there were couples doing the jitterbug.  

Happy Birthday Grace!

1740 S. Pacific Coast Hwy.

Laguna Beach, CA 92651