The Black Trumpet Bistro

Good service and great tapas. Everything is made in house. Sangria is also very good. Wine selection is great as well.

Dark ambiance/​intimate setting
Bar and table dining
Tasting the wine before pour 4
Although their red wine list needs improvement 2
Brussel sprouts– overcooked, dark brown mess 1
Lamb shank too fatty but good flavor 3.5 Served with a brown sauce and figs, grilled squash & salty white basmati rice? topped with dark raisins. Not a fan of too salty or raisins as a topping. Cooked in the rice– yes. My suggestion saffron with blonde raisins and toasted pine nuts.
Panna cotta– light & creamy, interesting spice used 3.5
Limoncello cake– waitress described as light and overall it was dense. The cake & pastry cream was heavy. Not what I expected. 2.5
Waitress was new and not very knowledgeable as she had only tried a few things on the menu. Imperative part of her training! 1
Attentiveness 4

I am here on business and my coworker and I were heading to the brewery right down the street when we stumbled upon this lovely gem. Best food I have EVER had! The atmosphere is incredible and the food is divine, you can’t go wrong here.

Stumbled across this place. Got a seat at the Bar
Bc I was solo. Love the environment. Loved the food. I got 2 tapas… Stuffed dates and pizza with figs. Just had to wait a bit for my food but cook was very apologetic

Perfect! Food and service is amazing! The ambiance is inviting and cozy. Great menu! My favorites were the roasted cauliflower and Mediterranean tacos. I tried their special tapa, which was tempura fried asparagus. Wow! Delicious! So good! I’m trying the main menu next time too. Looks great! All the staff are very friendly and knowledgeable and very hard working! Pretty cool how busy this place is and EVERYONE has a smile on their face with seemingly positive attitudes. Even the chefs! Love it!

Everytime I go here the food is on point! Taken quite a few friends and they all love it. Keep it up and bring back the coconut shrimp, one of the best specials I have had yet!

I really went into this thinking this place would be that good but the food is pretty decent good energy good vibes nothing spectacular but pretty solid to be honest

Not often you can go tapas and truly love every dish, not sure if it was choice or luck but every plate was amazing. Recommend the Sicilian Mushrooms and was the lavender crème brûlée. Well done, the wait was with it!!!

We Unilocaled this restaurant and we were not disappointed!
David was our waiter and he didn’t miss a beat! We ordered based on his recommendations and were happy by the choices we made.
We started with sangria and ordered a few tapas. The duck is amazing! The stuffed mushrooms were delicious (I could’ve drank the sauce that came with the dish) and the bruschetta was perfect! Chef Henry cooked everything to perfection! We will definitely return now that we found this hidden gem!

Come here. Take the people you love. Maybe some people you like, too, but definitely people you love. You will want to share this with them.
I came here with friends at their recommendation. Yeah, it’s tapas. Little plates for splitting among multiple people so’s that everyone can get a taste, each plate composed of things that range from bite-​sized to… several bites-​sized.
Lemme see. We had the lamb lollipops, baked brie, cauliflower, chicken croquettes, empanadas, stuffed dates, German chocolate cake, lemon cheesecake, lavender crème brulee, and hazelnut ganache. Ah, and sangria. Two pitchers’ worth.
All of it, every little bit, was delightful. Seriously, I stuffed myself on these offerings, regretting nothing until I was totally full up and unable to eat any more. Curse my stomach’s inevitable betrayal.
I opened with this comment, but: come here. Seriously. It’s a gem, and you better believe it’s worth every penny spent.

Great find in HB!
Come early so you don’t wait too long. Nice vibe. The tapas are very good. Great variety. Loved the specials and regular items. We enjoyed the Brussels sprouts, empanadas, ox tail, calamari, rigatoni and cheese, chicken skewers, etc. wanted to try more but full after several dishes. Also the pricing was right on. Enjoy!

3.5 rounded up to 4
Food — Not bad.
Ambience — Romantic. Very low lighting. An older couple next to us had to use their phone light to read the menu.
Service — Very nice but gets annoying after a while cuz it felt so robotic and fake.
Price — Average
What my stars mean:
5 Must try. not necessarily perfection cuz there isn’t such a thing right?
4 Recommended
3 Ehhh. Try it if it’s convenient
2 Not recommended
1 Stay far far away

This is defiantly a hidden gem! I live a block away from here and it took me an entire year to finally give it a try, and I’ve been hook since!
The location is in a small outdated shopping center, which is why you would not expect its located here. Parking is great, I never seem to have any trouble finding one.
I usually come Friday night, and there is ALWAYS a wait. Which averages to about 30 minutes, but it is so worth it. Typically, I would request to sit at the bar area, because I like to see the chef cook. The restaurant itself is very small, so if you come with a big group, be sure to arrive early to put your name on the list.
Food: AMAZING! The first thing I do when I arrive, I would look at the board for their daily specials. I have not seen anything on there twice, and there has been numerous times, I have ordered all 3! Why not right?
Service is so so, more so on the good side, depends who you get and where you are seated.

You’re simply the best, better than all the rest.
If you forced me to find a fault with Black Trumpet Bistro, I’d be hard pressed. Perhaps the strip mall location? The restaurant is too small? I want a second location closer to me! I can find a few negatives, even with some of the food, but it would be really nit-​picky, so I will not. Five stars full ahead…
The Best: Sangria (red wine, fruit & brandy) —
Chicken Kabob Platter (moist and flavorful chicken breast kabobs) —
Truffle Fries, crispy and delicious with a sprinkling of pecorino
Complimentary homemade pita bread and a dip served of olive oil, spices & feta cheese
Duck Breast with pomegranate reduction, tender, delicious and no «gamey» taste
While I didn’t have any (allergy issue), Rohlin’s to die for fave was the Sicilian Style Stuffed Mushrooms.
Overall Experience: The food is fantastic, the prices are reasonable for quantity/​quality, it’s loud and close quarters, but still a romantic type of atmosphere. They have a really good wine selection, although I’d definitely get the Sangria again. Waiters/​Waitresses were friendly, helpful, mostly efficient, and appeared knowledgeable of the fairly vast menu.
The Black Trumpet Bistro is a real mix in food tastes from a general Mediterranean and European region, think Spain, France, Greece and Italy.
Shout-​out of Unilocal love to Nick H., Gigi M., Joe P., Lica N., and Dan H. for their terrific and well-​written reviews of support… I bookmarked thanks to your recommends.

Whitney the waitress was amazing! She was friendly, informative and really patient as we studied the menu. Enrique the chef was so friendly and when Whitney was busy with other tables he engaged with us and shared his menu favorites upon our request. My boyfriend and I absolutely loved the French onion soup, cheese platter and falafel! We can’t wait to come back and try some more!
5+ stars for excellent food and service.

Located in same parking lot as Play It Again Sports and an Animal Emergency Center.
Service is good. I loved the ambiance. It’s got a French Jazzy classy yet unpretentious feel. Casual or dressy dress code. It’s up to you. It also has a wine bar. Seemed like almost everyone had a glass of wine in their hand except us. In general, we thought the food was good and decent amount, but pricey. Can get similar quality dishes elsewhere. I would come mostly for the ambiance.
1. We’ve had better Truffle Fries. The fries were nice and crisp, but could barely taste the truffle.
2. Bland French Onion soup. I’ve had better. Nothing in the soup tasted like the broth. It wasn’t until I drank the broth at the end did I get some flavor.
Both entrees below were pretty big and filling. They came with delicious side of rice with raisins and grilled vegetables. Meats were tender.
3. Chicken Shish Kabob
4. Lamb Shank with figs.
5. German Chocolate Cake– It had lot more mousse like cream (though tasted like chocolate whip cream) than cake which was good for sharing with 2 – 3 people. We were stuffed.

I am going to preference this review by saying I am not a huge fan of tapas in general, because it seems most restaurants use «tapas» as an excuse to charge taller prices for shorter portions! So let us just say my expectations were tempered when it came to The Black Trumpet Bistro.
Rohlinism: When Robert Browning wrote «less is more,» he had never tried tapas!
The restaurant (
) is located in a strip mall and the shades were down hiding a nice entrance because of the sun was setting upon our arrival. The inside (
) is very cozy, but the acoustics are awful making it difficult to carry on a normal conversation. The background music and theme is big band /​jazz and there is a romantic ambience if you can overlook not being able to hear yourself think.
Upon arrival, we were informed it would be about 25 minutes for a table unless we wanted to sit at the chef’s bar table (
) in front of the open kitchen. Bar stools really don’t work for Laina, so we sat at the back of the restaurant and she enjoyed a Brandy and Red Wine Sangria while we waited. I think it was closer to 35 minutes, but a booth table became available and we were seated.
The menu is broken down into Tapas, Soups, Mains, Shish Kebobs and Sides.
Our server Skyler came over, asked us if it was our first time and made some recommendations for first time diners. We decided to start with their bench mark Truffle Fries (
) and were also given some complimentary Pita Bread (
) to sample as well. My better half decided to go with the Chicken Shish Kebobs which come on a bed of Basmati Rice and Raisins, with Grilled Veggies, Tabouleh and Tzatziki.
I decided to get a variety of items off the tapas menu after seeing the reasonable prices. I chose Veal Meatballs (
), Pan Roasted Duck (
) and Sicilian Style Stuffed Mushrooms (
) and Skyler warned us the tapas come out when they are ready instead of sitting at the pass while the kebobs are being cooked.
The truffle fries were probably the best we were have ever eaten. The ketchup was nothing special, but who needs ketchup when you have great flavors coming from the truffle and garlic. The fries were also perfectly fried, crisp on the outside and soft potato on the inside. You could taste the freshness of the toasted bread and the olive oil mixture was a very interesting accompaniment.
The meatballs were the first of the tapas out of the kitchen. The meatballs were tender and flavorful with a good combination of seasoning and the marinara was a nice sauce.
The duck and kebobs were out next and both dishes were excellent. Laina really liked the fact the chicken was tender, juicy and flavorful … a huge compliment from someone who is very picky about chicken and will only eat breast meat. Yeah … Laina is picky about a lot of things. She didn’t like the rice and raisins together (not her thing), but she did enjoy the basmati rice on its own. The tzatziki could use a little less mint to balance it out, but it still went very well with the chicken. The only real loser was the tabouleh, which wasn’t really tabouleh in the traditional sense. It was mixed in with a form of shiraz, but the worst part was the strong acidic taste. I think the chef used a lot of uncut lemon juice which sent the acidic level into the Stratosphere!
My duck was slightly more cooked than I like it, but it was still tender and not gamey in the least. But the real hit was the reduction which was absolutely fantastic! Had the duck been taken out of the pan two minutes early, this would have been a perfect dish for me.
Saving the best for the last (the chef did this on purpose?), the ‘shrooms were nothing short of awesome. Laina is allergic, so there was no need to share this with her and I am not sure I would have shared even if she hadn’t been allergic. I am greedy craven mushroom eater! All the elements went fantastic together and you could smell the reduction the moment the plate hit the table.
The service was good and very friendly overall, with some minor lapses. There were plenty of items on the menu I would love to try and with the reasonable pricing, I can see a return in the future.

At first glance, this restaurant’s interior doesn’t say much but once you enter you’ll be surprised by how busy it is.
I was casually looking for a place to eat for date night and found this restaurant black trumpet bistro.
Interior décor looks nice. Very much like a nice bistro. We were seated on chef’s table because it was so busy. Chef’s table — there you can see them at work making your meal. They were fast in getting our appetizers and entrees out.
I don’t think the truffle fries were worth it. There was no flavor in the fries and tasted more like garlic fries. Duck breast appetizer was totally worth it. The right amount of fat and protein. Tasty!
Had lamb shank and it was ok. I thought it was a little too salty but otherwise it was very tender. Figs were a nice touch. I’ve never had figs with my entrée before.
Fiancé had kabob. At first he was worried one stick of steak kabob was not enough but actually it worked with w the veggie kabob and the meat chunks was pretty big.
Overall it’s a nice place to check out. Will recommend people to come a little early for better seating.

Overall: When I hear tapas, I usually expect interesting takes on different styles of food. This bistro doesn’t serve anything too inventive, but their food is solid. The service is great and the ambiance is good. I’d take my friends here for some good food. It’s a 3.5 rounded up to a 4.
Food: 4
Complimentary Pita Bread comes with a dip of olive oil, garlic, parmesan cheese, and parsley. The bread is light and fluffy with the perfect crunch, and the dip is great. Perfection.
Lamb Lollipop, Couscous, Mint Pesto: The lamb was well cooked and seasoned deliciously. The couscous was also well cooked but it was strangely cold. The pesto went nicely with it. I enjoyed how the flavors made for a very Mediterranean dish, but it wasn’t anything mind blowing or new.
Mushrooms are stuffed with sausage. It was cooked well, the sausage wasn’t dry, and there was a nice little crunch from a crumble on top. The Madeira wine reduction was delicious and it went well with the stuffed mushrooms.
Note
— My 2 tapas were on the smaller size of the choices, but you definitely need to order at least 3 tapas (around $ 30) to be sufficiently full.
— The menu is full of solid vegetarian choices… yay!
Service: 5
The waitress was attentive and patient despite the fact that our table trickled in within a span of thirty minutes and we took some time to figure out our order. She was really great about helping us split the check. We simply wrote our card number next to what we ordered on the receipt, and she figured out tax and everything for us. When she came back with our cards and checks, she carefully explained whose was whose and what she charged on each.
Ambiance: 4
It’s located in a fairly empty plaza, so parking is plentiful, at least for lunch. The restaurant adhered to its jazz theme well with great jazz music (at a decent volume) and cute wall decorations. There’s table seating and some counter seating along the open kitchen. It’s a great place for food with friends, but it’s definitely more on the chill side, despite the upbeat jazz theme.

Finally! The boyfriend and I attempted to dine here once before, however the wait and our commitment to pick someone up at the airport didn’t gel. Glad we came back this evening! Black Trumpet is a gem in the Huntington Beach dining scene.
We were quoted a 40 minute wait time, but after about 20 minutes we were offered seating at the wine bar while we waited.
After nice conversation with another couple, and some trading of Chardonnay/​Cote du Rhone, we were seated in Whitney’s section. She was able to talk easily about menu options and was quick, friendly and efficient.
We had the following, all very good but rated with stars:
Truffle Fries ⁴⁄₅
Baked Brie ⁵⁄₅
Calamari ⁴⁄₅
Beef Carpaccio ⁴⁄₅
Corn Nachos ³⁄₅
I must say that the presentation of the server shaving the corn off the cob for the «corn nachos» is nice, however they ask if you’d like them to do it. I don’t think many patrons would volunteer to do it themselves, so I would suggest they just do it as good service.
Another note on that special, it was more of a corn salad as opposed to anything «nacho» other than the cheese. The expectation was a little confused.
I look forward to visiting this location again. The notoriously impatient boyfriend actually said that the wait was worth it once we were eating. Shocker! We’ll see you again soon, Black Trumpet! I look forward to sitting at the Chef’s bar sometime!