Rumbi made their Southern California debut today with their soft-opening 1 week ahead of their official opening on Monday, September 21. Rumbi brings a taste of the Islands in the form of burgers, rice bowls, entrees and salads. While most think of Hawaii when they think of the Islands, Rumbi goes to the Caribbean, South Seas, Bali and Jamaican Islands as well.

I went during a late lunch break and found Rumbi open with a few diners in the outside patio and only 1 other inside. I was greeted by one of the new employees and asked if I had ever eaten at a Rumbi’s before. At first I thought it was an odd question being that this is the first Rumbi’s in the Southland – but I let it go and said it was my first time. He offered to walk me thru the menu, but I was fixated on the Volcano-Blackened Salmon. I was in the mood for something spicy. He asked me what kind of rice I wanted and asked for half brown, half white. I then saw they had something called Rumbi Rice on the menu. I asked what it was and if I could get a sample of it. It’s rice with red beans and coconut. It’s different, but not sure I’d want to eat lots of it.

I was handed my cup and my number and sat down. A few minutes later, my order arrived. From first impressions, the dish looked ok. First reaction is that there was way too much rice compared the amount of protien on the plate. I was distracted by the Caesar salad that was on my plate. Why was I distracted? It looked like the Caesar dressing had been on the leaves for a bit and the leaves looked a bit wilted. However, I took my fork and dove right into the salad. NOthing special here except to say that the croutons were the most flavorful part of the salad.

Now I have to say that the salmon was cooked well. It wasn’t overcook, and if I may be so bold, it was just slightly underdone, which was just fine for me. The outside was charred but not as charred as I had thought once I took my first bite.  I was distracted by a pineapple salsa that was on top of the salmon with a mango-passion fruit aioli that was on the plate. Now…when I order something that is supposed to be blackened, I expect some spice and some heat. I didn’t get that at all. The sweetness of the pineapple salsa and the mango-passion aioli overwhelmed the salmon. Too much sweet and not enough heat. I think if my salmon had the heat and spice it was supposed to have, the sweetness would have played nicely against it.

It was their first day and I will be back at the end of the week to have the same dish and see if there are any differences. So let’s call this review part one. More to come later this week. To be fair, I’l reserve a star rating until later this week or next week after grand opening day. As for today, service was good and my server came be twice to check up on my experience. It was first day the grills were open to the public and this is their shake-down week.

I haven’t seen any local advertising for the opening, so I hope they have a good soft-week and open to good crowds next week. They are located in the Gateway Shopping Center located on Alicia Parkway and Jeronimo. They occupy the space that once housed Mustard’s Café in the center of the shopping center

Rumbi Island Grill
24000 Alicia Parkway #23
Mission Viejo, CA 92691
949-206-1002