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No Hassle, but No Frills

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SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

If you’ve ever tried to find a Sunday brunch spot with an ocean view without having to wait an hour for a table, you know how difficult this task can be. And if you’re also looking for convenient parking, this task becomes almost impossible.

Yes, something about a cool ocean breeze and tranquil Pacific views makes brunch a whole lot nicer. But the sheer annoyance of the beach-side bustle, especially during the summer, turns what should be a universal right for Orange County residents into a teeth-grinding nightmare.

Most of the time, it’s not worth the effort.

But I’ve found a place across the street from the Huntington Beach Pier where the parking is easy and a second-story patio table with the beach panorama is almost always available. And the buffet brunch here is $14.95.

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Louise’s Trattoria is a stylish Italian restaurant in the Pierside Pavilion building. Now, you don’t usually equate Italian food with brunch, but Louise’s offers a buffet spread to capitalize on its “most excellent” location.

But there is a catch--don’t expect a regal spread with fresh shellfish, a prime rib carving station and 14 types of salad as you would find at the Ritz-Carlton. Louise’s humble buffet features the bedrock basics--potatoes, scrambled eggs, bacon and an omelet station--with a few additional culinary touches to separate its offerings from, say, those at a Holiday Inn in Ontario.

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My brunch group arrived at noon, finding the restaurant nearly empty inside but bustling on the wind-swept patio. Luckily, there were a couple of patio tables available.

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Our server detailed the brunch rules and took our drink orders, and we spent the next 15 minutes reveling in watching the beach scene below us--prop planes flying by festooned with advertisements, a powerboat race roaring north, scores of surfers catching breakers by the pier. It was Surf City in all its summer glory.

Then we hit the buffet. Like most dish-and-dash buffets, the one at Louise’s suffered from neglect. The link sausages were dry, the bacon limp. The potatoes were a bit too gooey, and the scrambled eggs--despite being served in festive red tortilla cups and topped with salsa--were cold and bland. And the blueberry and cheese blintzes were burned.

But the omelet station offered the promise of fresh fare, and while the ingredients were pretty basic--ham, onion and the like--the omelet maker expertly whipped up his specialty with an extra sprinkling of grated cheese.

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Moving beyond these breakfast basics, things do get better. At one station were grilled chicken medallions in a cacciatore sauce, carne asada in a tomatoey salsa, salmon in rosemary cream sauce and grilled swordfish in a pesto cream sauce. These dishes represented the culinary high point.

The chicken cacciatore was subtle in flavor and accompanied by white beans, but the carne asada was nearly jerky-tough, despite having a flavorful salsa dressing. I really liked the swordfish and the salmon, both cooked nicely and featuring tasty sauces.

Included in the price is free-flowing orange juice and champagne. And as we sipped fresh OJ after our main-course feasting, we contemplated dessert. The pickings are a bit thin, with scones, Danishes, cookies and fresh fruit.

I loaded up on the wonderful cheese Danishes and sliced melons and started to list what Louise’s buffet lacked: carving stations of prime rib, roast beef or turkey; a wide and interesting salad selection (they featured only one basic salad and a nice Italian beef salad); and an array of desserts, such as flan, creme bru^lee or even ice cream. And because this is an Italian restaurant, why not frittatas?

Based on the ease of finding a patio seat overlooking the ocean, Louise’s seems to be somewhat of an unknown brunch destination. Though they can never go wrong with such a perfect beach view, Louise’s may want to consider improving its brunch offerings, both in quality and diversity, because a view like this deserves food of distinction.

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Louise’s Trattoria, 300 Pacific Coast Highway, No. 202, in the Pierside Pavilion Building, Huntington Beach. (714) 960-0996. Sunday brunch is served from 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Cost: $14.95; $5.95 for children under 6.

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