SECOND HELPINGS / MAX JACOBSON : Service Faster, Yankee Food Is More American

NEWPORT BEACH —  Hans Prager’s Yankee Tavern has drawn a large, steady stream of patrons since the day it opened last year, just plain folks who come for all-American fare like pot roast, succotash and blueberry cobbler. Now I’m happy to say that any of the restaurant’s opening wrinkles have been totally ironed out.

I enjoyed a delightful dinner there this week; the service was speedier than I remembered, and the food tasted more American than ever. Maine lobster bisque is one of the best I’ve ever tasted--rich, ruddy and velvety smooth, with chunks of lobster like sunken treasure on the bottom. A large, tender T-bone steak comes with perfect onion straws, lightly dredged in flour and crispy as can be.

There is an excellent stuffed chicken that will remind you of the holiday season, complete with cranberry relish and a medley of julienned vegetables. And Monday nights even feature a clambake, with steamers, fresh lobster, boiled potatoes and corn.

Don’t forget about the excellent desserts. The restaurant’s strawberry shortcake, a superbly flaky sweet biscuit with a mountain of berries and fresh whipped cream, has no equal in the area. Cobblers and cakes are exemplary, too.

The restaurant retains its harbor-side Cape Cod look. The enormous windows and high-beamed ceiling give the room a lofty, spacious look, and the framed watercolors of ships and nautical scenes recall a small-town art gallery. Now Prager has added a champagne brunch on Sundays, featuring such down-home dishes as silver dollar-size blueberry pancakes with Vermont maple syrup, poached eggs with grilled ham and cheddar cheese rarebit, and skillet-browned roast beef hash. The price includes fruit, fresh breads and muffins, and domestic champagne. I can’t wait for Sunday.

* YANKEE TAVERN

* 333 Bayside Drive, Newport Beach

* (714) 675-5333

* Open daily from 5 p.m. to midnight, and Sundays for brunch from 11 a.m.

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