At the Back Bay Cafe, Relaxation Is Always on the Menu

So, you’re slaving away in your closet-like office with no windows, fantasizing about an escape to a sunny island resort. But the size of your work space is a reflection of the size of your salary.

Discover the Back Bay Cafe, where lunch on the patio is the perfect midday getaway, guaranteed to rejuvenate the work-weary soul.

Situated in the Newport Dunes Aquatic Park in Newport Beach, the Back Bay Cafe is a lovely waterfront eatery that offers delicious, fresh food at affordable prices.

Light coastal breezes cool you as you sit at one of about a dozen tables on the sunny patio that overlooks the bay and boat-launch ramp near Shellmaker Island. (There is also additional seating for about 100 people inside the restaurant.) It is the kind of place where your glass of iced tea is refilled often, and wine or beer go with just about anything.

Eyes shielded by your sunglasses, glance around at the other diners and you’ll find everything from suits and ties to shorts and T-shirts. High-society-type women, dressed in colorful sun dresses and with perfectly manicured fingernails, nibble delicately on yummy salads.

The Chinese chicken salad for $6.95 is a favorite here, with thick strips of grilled chicken topping a huge bed of Napa cabbage, peppers, snow peas and sesame seeds tossed in a slightly sweet, ginger dressing.

Another hit is the Back Bay chowder, a creamy concoction chock full of large, meaty pieces of seafood. A bowl of this hearty yet somehow refreshing soup, which has won awards in local chowder cook-offs, is $2.75.

The lunch-dinner menu also offers a good homemade chili and a long list of cold and hot sandwiches served with potato salad, potato chips or french fries on the side. Besides the standard fare (hamburgers, club and tuna salad sandwiches), the cafe offers some great alternatives, such as quesadilla with tomato and roasted peppers, a grilled Reuben and a fresh swordfish sandwich that is particularly good.

The moist swordfish steak is grilled--much tastier and healthier than any battered, deep-fried fish--and comes with a creamy but light tartar sauce flavored with a touch of dill and large chunks of pickle. At $7.75, it’s the most expensive sandwich on the menu, but well worth the price.

The other sandwiches range from $4.50 to $6.75, and portions are substantial; the roast beef in the French dip, for instance, is piled several inches high.

Back Bay Cafe also serves breakfast, which can be an ideal way to start the day. The menu includes omelets, pancakes, corned beef hash and biscuits and gravy, offered at reasonable prices in a perfect setting for enjoying the sunrise.

The waiters and waitresses here are cheerful and helpful, though service can be slow at times. Still, you’re probably not in any hurry to get back to your cramped office, so why not linger?

The Back Bay Cafe at Newport Dunes, 1131 Backbay Drive. Summer hours are 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. (714) 729-3863.