4 Seas

Hello all. As most of you have been able to tell, I have let the mantle of responsibility slip from my grasp yet again. I apologize for this. Recently, the Krapp-Liu family has frequented a Chinese breakfast/brunch place called 4 Seas, which is near the Jeffrey and Walnut Asian shopping mall that I have posted about before. It is with great reluctance that I post a Yelp link to my page, but I guess it is a must do. So click here for exact directions and comments and criticism of 4 Seas.

    But now to the critique. It is a very authentic Taiwanese brunch place. One of the stars of the menu is a Taiwanese dish called Dou Jiang Yotiao, which is essentially sweet or normal soy milk, with a fried stick of dough that one can dip in the soymilk. It is a very big part of Chinese breakfasts, and I would be shocked if it isn't on 4 out of 5 Chinese breakfast places. It is very good here, and just might be a must eat. Sticky Rice also gets an honorable mention, and is also one very authentic, very popular, and very good dish in Chinese cuisine. My personal favorite is something called "Scallion Pancakes", which is basically what it sounds like. It is also fried, so f you are looking to lose weight, this might not be the place for you. At this particular restaurant, they serve it with a fried egg on top, and a little can of hot sauce which one can dole out onto this dish with generosity or stingyness. To me, the hot sauce is a holds a key spot in making this dish what it is.

      There is a main menu, like all the restaurants you know, as well as a sort of pastry bar, filled with little fried delights. They also "serve" take out very well, so it is very good for lazy weekend breakfast runs, or lazy weekend morning brunches. They have a very normal, relaxed atmosphere, with a wonderful, almost Miyazaki-like painting on one of the walls. They have a water bar, which is unusual, but is actually quite efficient. Over all, this is very good place, with authentic, homey food, and a pleasant atmosphere. To some, it may be a little too authentic, but others may appreciate it. 

P.S Keep in mind, that it is not a dim sum place, so if you are looking for Chinese brunch, but don't want to spend more calories waving down carts than you get from eating your meal, this is an ideal place. It only takes cash!

Umami, Udadi!

Umami Burger, located in Costa Mesa in The Camp on Bristol street takes a new look at the classic burger joint. Opening just recently in Orange County, Umami Burger is very popular in L.A.  When we arrived at 5:30 on a Monday, the place was chaos. Our waiter told us that there would be a 20 minute wait to get seated. I felt cold, so we decided on take out.

We ordered an Umami Burger, the original, and a Manly Burger plus some sweet potato fries and a ginger beer. The Umami Burger contained parmesan crisp, tomatoes, caramelized onions, mushroom, and umami ketchup. My dad thought the mushroom added a contrasting texture. The Manly burger  came with bacon, onion crisps, melted cheese, and umami ketchup. I thought it was smokier and a touch more balanced than my dad's.

Of course, by the time we got home to eat it, nothing was hot - and the buns, while fresher than at most burger places, started to look a little soggy. They had also mislabeled our burgers. But the waiting would have been something to complain about as well. Even a to-go order at a new place has its issues: as we watched the kitchen process, we saw things packed and then unpacked, orders rejected by the waiters, and our order came about 10 minutes later than the almost identical order placed by the person after us.

Is it worth the wait? You decide. Is it worth the money? Umami Burger is pricey for what you get. Will you go for it?

currywurst! in LA!

pizzeria ortica

We went to this pizzeria in Costa Mesa with friends, which is the best way to sample several options. They have excellent appetizers, like the carciofi, the crispy brussels sprouts, the roast vegetable plate, or a plate of prosciutto. The salads look good and healthy. Pizza is obviously one of the attractions - we tasted the Guanciale, the Amalfi, and a Prosciutto pizza that is baked before the toppings go on; this one actually was our favorite. Their pasta is pretty good too, whether you like ravioli or pappardelle, but the sauces are less interesting than the pizza toppings. All in all, recommended for good Italian meals.

Gatten Sushi

"Customer coming"! Every day you enter, or leave Gatten Sushi,  you are energetically welcome and dismissed. The waiters cheerfully greet every new thing that presents its self, including new sushi! Gatten Sushi is a sushi train that in its unique way, raises it above other sushi trains. It is a rather small place in the Albertsons lot near Happy nails and Stricklands. Gatten Sushi's train winds its way through the whole room at a steady pace that allows you to decide what dish to get, but prevents a long wait if you missed a dish. Unfortunately, it does not have its own website, so Yelp, my close competitor will have to do for getting more info on Gatten Sushi. If you get tired of fancy fish and have a craving for something less classy, but just as good, try Gatten Sushi. My personal favorites are the crispy shrimp rolls, the unagi, and the eel. They provide you with strawberry drinks coming around, but if that isn't right for you, you can always order something else. If you desire something not on the train, it is a very simple task to order it from one of the waiters. After eating your fill of the sushi, you can either enjoy their desserts, almond tofu, mango pudding, fresh fruit in jello, or plain fresh fruit. If you are into the almond tofu, make sure to grab it early because it disappears in a jiffy. Make sure not to get rid of your empty dishes (or you can if you want to "save" some money) because that is what your final check is based on. The waiters tally up how many yellow dishes you have on your table, each costing two dollars. Yellow dishes are usually sushi or one of the desserts. The they count up the red dishes, which are three dollars each. Red dishes are the drinks that they serve or the fancier desserts. Then they count how many things you ordered straight form the kitchen, and they create your check. If you don't have a taste for chinese desserts, step into Stricklands to have some great ice cream if you are still determined to have a sweet. All in all Gatten Sushi has a great attitude, a great atmosphere (but don't get freaked out by the energetic greetings), and a really great sushi train with all the sushi you could dream of and more.

101 Noodle Express

on Jeffrey and Walnut offers comfort food for those from the colder climes of china. succulent little dumplings filled with lamp, shrimp, pork and fish. Don't skip the beef rolls. Marinated beef wrapped in a fried pancake stuffed with cilantro.  The five spice should transport you to remote sichuan province: one of the spices in the five spice combo has a famous numbing effect. It coats thin sliced tendon. sublime. the dumplings are filled with everything from lamb to squash (they call it pumpkin on the menu). our favorites are the classic pork and cabbage dumplings. each delicious morsel slides down your throat with ease. it's better if you speak bad chinese, and pay cash. if you can't do either,  you will still be able to take home made chinese food with some attitude to boot.

mizuki

Sometimes when I feel like having sushi, we go to this little place on Michelson between a Wahoo and a sporting goods store, called Mizuki. They always have great miso soup, and my dad and I split a couple of rolls - our favorites include the tiger and the spider roll, but there are many options. You can sit at the bar and watch the sushi chef and some games on TV at the same time. Try the fresh water eel nigiri, or the ocean eel too - it's fattier but very delicious.

great park farmer's market - food truck heaven

Everyone in the OC knows about food trucks, and we have some great ones some people might even know from TV. I should have blogged some, like the LIme Truck, and the Barcelona truck, and of course the Kogi truck - but just go find them at your neighborhood spots (check their plans on twitter).

A great spot is the farmer's market in the Great Park every Sunday (where we actually took Buster the dog up in the Orange Balloon - he liked it...); and if you don't find a food truck that makes what you like, you should definitely try this tent called STREET FOODS Co. - order the Tempura Shrimp and the Blue Crab Burrito, they are awesome!

La Rocco's and Phan 55

La Rocco's Pizzeria is the only place in Orange County that satisfied my mom's craving for New York style thin crust pizza. It has a variety of different pizzas, vegetarian and VERY meaty. Last time we were there we had the classic white pizza that is really great! We were very hungry when we arrived at La Roccos (and they had very slow service), so to satisfy our hunger, we ordered these things called garlic knots. They were a combination of bread, garlic, olive oil, and cheese. They were great with the tomato sauce they served. It was very cheap and had some outdoor seating! A small T.V provides entertainment to people in line, and to kids alike. It is a great place to support! The pizza is out of this world.

       Speaking of great places to support, Phan 55 is a small place out of the way near Jamboree and Campus It is a Vietnamese place that has a huge bar and great pho. Their food is healthy, fresh, and tasty. For Pho lovers who want to find the real thing near UCI, this is the place to come for a healthy and delicious lunch. Their waiters are very nice, asking for help to spread the word of their restaurant.

taco asylum

Taco Asylum is a great little restaurant in Costa Mesa. They serve (great) non-traditional tacos from 11 am to 11pm. The link shows what is in each taco if you scroll down. They have 9 tacos and a flight of 8. The Ghost Chili Pork is the one not in the flight. They have Grilled Octopus, Pork Belly, Short Rib, Curried Paneer, Wild Mushroom, Lamb, Duck, Corazon (beef heart confit), and Ghost Chili Pork. They have 3 hot sauces, one of them the hottest chili in the world (Ghost Chili), one second hottest chili in the world, and the last one a mild chili. My dad rated the tacos in this order: 1-Duck and Lamb, 2-Beef Heart and Short Rib, 3-Pork Belly and Ghost Chili Pork, 4-Wild Mushroom and Curried Paneer, 5-Grilled Octopus. I Rated them like this: 1-Lamb, 2-Ghost Chili Pork, 3-Beef Heart and Curried Paneer and Duck, 4-Pork Belly, 5-Short Rib, 6-Grilled Octopus and Wild Mushroom (didn't have either). My mom liked the Beef Heart the best. I think the lamb was the best mostly because of the olive tapenade. It had the perfect texture and oomph to balance out the lamb and ratatouille. The Ghost Chili Pork had strands of ghost chili and the waitress said that it was going to be hot but I didn't mind the chili strands that much. The small spice was excellent in combo with the pork. My mom says the hot sauce that had ghost chili in it was much hotter. They had many beers and non-alcohalic drinks and sodas, in particular, tea and soda. It is in The Camp and has nice outdoor seating and a heat lamp and a counter/bar with only a few seating options. A nice atmosphere and waiting, with a screen that shows live tweets that mention @tacoasylum, this place is a great new place that you should help support as it is only 4 months old.

Happy Family

Happy Family does make families happy, everybody that goes to them and knows them that is. Happy Family is a very new restaurant located in what was once known as May Garden at 1400 Bristol St. Costa Mesa (telephone 714-668-9288). They serve a Buddhist, vegetarian, taiwanese fusion version of Chinese food. My dad said after going for the first time "it was almost good enough to make me vegetarian." The first time we went we avoided the fake tofu substitute meats like mock duck and mock chicken, but the second time we had to give in and we were pleasantly surprised. If you have been to Taipei, you know about Buddhist vegetarian Chinese cuisine, but if you haven't, this style of Chinese cooking is very delicious, based on Northern Chinese cuisine, with its hearty mantou or or steamed breads. Mantou are called Fried Bread on the menu is a a Northern Chinese classic and it is very good. Home style tofu was my personal favorite. My mom liked the deep fried oyster mushrooms and chicken with mushrooms. If you like Kung Pao Chicken, you'll enjoy the veggie version. The two greens we had were very good. Snow pea tops are our favorite, but they ran out the second time we were there so we had stir fried chinese romaine lettuce. It's called "A-cai" AY TSAI. if you want to order it. In other reviews that aren't as good as this one, they claim that the lotus flowers are great, but me and my parents did not like them. However, if you are a newcomer to this restaurant, they are a must try. The food is well spiced, light and balanced. According to Buddhist cuisine, garlic and onions make people quick to anger, so they are not used. You wouldn't know it though, because the dishes are so varied and savory. We ordered hot and sour soup on our first visit and tofu and glass noodle soup on our second visit. If you want to eat like the Chinese, never skip soup with your meal. You won't be disappointed by Happy Family's selection. This restaurant is also a GREAT deal. Everything is very reasonably priced. The two problems that we encountered were -- very slow service and not very special atmosphere. They are renovating the restaurant, so we hope for improvements soon. They don't serve alcohol, but my mom asked if we could bring our own, and the owners said that wouldn't be a problem. Excellent dumplings! Please give them your business. They are close to Irvine and really serve a very distinctive and authentic not to mention healthy Chinese food.

The counter

Make your own burger at the counter! The counter serves burgers or should i say you make make the burger and they serve it. When your waiter comes you get a little pamphlet that allows you to make your burger. You can chose the size,the sides, the sauce, the cheese, and the bun. We had parmesan fries with garlic, parsley, rosemary, and parmesan. I had red onions, red peppers, sharp provalone, and corn and beans with honey mustard sauce. We both had the smallest sized burgers which were not to small. My dad had tomatoes, grilled pineapple, and coleslaw with sweet barbeque sauce(yes i know, he got the best sides and sauce and i didn't want to copy him). The fries were good but not the best. They were a big portion so we had to take them home and when we heated them up they were still very good. The burger was good but not better than any other one but i guess its nice to pick your sides. A nice outdoor seating area allowed me and my new dog (:D!) to sit outside. It has a nice atmosphere and nice indoor seating area with what do you expect?... Counters! In all this is a nice sit down burger place that allows you to make your own unique burger.

Hot! Peruvian

Today we went to DX Peruvian Restaurant (what is that name for?). It opened just this January. I'm also proud to say that someone at my dad's work asked me to review this restaurant! It is in this block of weird shopping malls near South Coast Plaza (see the link for more info). It was dark when we first entered but turned out to have a nice and quiet atmosphere. It was also nice to see just the right amount of people there. Our two guests were from Puerto Rico and knew a lot about authentic Peruvian dishes and spoke Spanish so the waiters (who also spoke Spanish) immediately accepted us.
         For appetizers the four of us shared the Papa a la Huancaina, potatoes with a spicy cheese sauce that tasted good but to me had a better after-taste; and the Cebiche Mixto, seafood with a fresh lime juice mariniation. That was good, cold but a bit too sour and limey.
          I had the Picante de Camarones as my main course, spicy shrimp soup. It came in a kind of shallow plate with not too much broth. Everything was spicy in my dish and hot, so I had to wait a little before it cooled down. The potatoes were great, the shrimp a little hard for my taste. The broth was nice but spicy and smooth. The rice was surprisingly soft but was still better than normal because of its texture. My dad had the Seco de Cordero, lamb stew which he said was a little bony but very flavorful. To me it tasted like very authentic lamb (though I still can't get into the taste) but quite good. Our two guests had Lomo Saltado - steak and potatoes - and Parihuela, a vegetable and seafood soup; we learned that it is influenced by European recipes. The steak was nice and crisp and tender at the same time. It also came with potatoes that were like french fries but less crisp. The potatoes were way too hot for way too long and were kind of too floppy. It was the least spicy dish of the meal but still pretty hot. The Parihuela was good in a way I have never tasted before; seafoody and normal broth combined. The seafood was kind of the same mix as in the appetizer but warm. All dishes including the appetizers were hot, spicy, and good!
        Their desserts were special. We had the Alfajores and Arroz Con Leche: Peruvian cookies with dulce de leche and Peruvian rice pudding. The cookies were very light, the dulce de leche very good. Those cookies were the best dessert I have blogged yet. The Arroz Con Leche is normal rice pudding with cinnamon and raisins, light and fluffy. This is a great new place to give some support to, with great atmosphere and food but a non idyllic and forgettable location.

Reuben round-up

As I posted earlier, any time there is a Reuben on a menu my dad has to have it. Sometimes we share one. So I got to liking the taste of a good Reuben sandwich too.

But it is not so easy to find a good one in Orange County. We have been going to a few places, and here is my ranking of them. There is the Derby, a deli in a big building by the freeway where I sometimes go to play LaserQuest. The Derby is big, has grand pianos and entertainers. We went there with my friend Liam who lives in New York. They have other stuff my dad likes, including beef tongue! But for some reasons, none of us liked their sandwiches that much, we took more than half of each to go. I think it was the meat. The fries were a bit underdone, too. And they just gave me the children's menu which does not have the good food on it.

Then there is Champagne's which also calls itself a deli. They have a shop corner, you can get stuff to go from the kitchen, and there are two seating areas - inside or outside. We shared a Reuben and just to make sure we would have enough we ordered a tomato-basil soup. This Reuben was good, not too big, proportions of sauce and sauerkraut and meat and bread were good, but it was dripping dressing and the bread was a bit disappointing - toasted but a bit stale. The soup was definitely the best part of the meal, perhaps my favorite soup ever!

A few weekends ago we went to Benjies, a really old-fashioned place (the sign says since 1967). Their menu is huge. They have these old-fashioned booths to sit in, and the waitresses are kind of grumpy in a good way. (Like at one of my favorites, the Crab Cooker, by the way). Benjies is defiitely worth the drive to Santa Ana. They make amazing deserts, too. But we had no room for any! Because the Reuben and the Tongue sandwich we had there were great.

However, I think the best Reuben in the OC might be the one at the lunch counter at Bristol Farms near the Newport Beach public library. My dad says I should think twice about blogging this, because it is our best-kept secret. But I say people who read my blog should know. The meat is good, the sauce is right, the kraut is nice, the bread is good, you can sit outside or inside, and they have a lot of good other options. When we go to the library, we like to share a Reuben here. It's awesome. And the waitress is totally great, too.

My dad says we'll keep looking, he likes another place that I haven't been to yet. Please let me know in the comments if you know of a good Reuben somewhere!

BBQ NOISE

On the weekend when my mom is gone me and my dad had some fun. We went to Lucille's BBQ.
 When we went in there was an entering/sales/waiting room with couches and a counter. We went to the front desk and asked get a table. The first thing they asked us was what my dads phone number was and type it was.The noise level at that time was so loud already, and why do you have to tell them your phone number and company(it was already hard enough to hear them) ? We went to the waiting room and in 5 minutes they texted us that our table was ready. A few minutes after we were seated the noise level went up to the shouting way of communication. The waiter had a strange way of accented soft way of talking so there were many time when it was really hard to hear her. The food was good. We ordered a full rack of baby back ribs for us to share. The sauce was good. The meat was easy to eat, not to wet or dry. There was about a paragraph of different sides. We ordered the beans and cole slaw, and a fried okra appetizer. The cole slaw was the best I have ever had. The beans were good but weren't that bbq like. They had a different sauce and were too wet. The noise was way to high and the service was kind of awkward but the food was really good.

wahoo! wahoo's fish tacos

This resturant has been a favorite for a long time. Just recently we realized we hadn't blogged it.

At first when we started eating at it from a recommendation i would have the normal cheese quesadillas. They were the normal kids wonder dish and I enjoyed it. My dad had been ordering different things since the start but when he tried the wet fish burrito he stuck with it. I started to try it and I slowly got into its rhythm. I would have the wet burrito w/ green sauce and chicken and he would have the same with fish. That was definitely the best food we could have for that amount of money. They also have fresh chips and good salsa.

Crab Cooker Update!

My family and my friends recently went to crab cooker. Thanks to a great recommendation from one of my comments we ordered the salmon wings. Boy were those things good. Its a lucky thing that my friends didn't have as safisticated taste buds as mine because their mom ordered the clam chowder for them. I might not dare to say but that i think that was even better. My dad ordered the soft shell crab to try out something. I'm now beginning to think that our 4th trip was better than the other three. Soft shell crab is what I'm going to order next! My friends dad ordered the dungness crab. A tiny bit to cold but pretty good. The female parents ordered the combo plate. I didn't see all of it because they were sitting on the other side of the 7 people but i heard it was good, just good i bet because they say it to much enthusiasm. I was unfortunate in our stroke of luck and ordered the same (the scallop and shrimp on a skewer with potatoes and slaw) but its always good to stay with something good. In all try to hit all the things i mentioned in the next trip to The Crab Cooker. I'm telling you, you wont regret it!

Italy delay

Sorry for the delay. I was in italy with my uncles family and my parents. My uncles hired a chef so we had fresh italian every day. Pasta, gnocchi, and rabbit -yum!-. We would have a light lunch and a four course dinner. I will try to get back on reviewing soon! See you soon!

World famous pastrami

Today i just came home from a burger-sandwich place called The Hat. My dad told me that it's like an old style fast food place. I had already heard from my dad's friend that it was pretty good so that didn't worry me to much. When we got there i recognized a sort of deli. It was pretty empty so there wasn't a line. I hoped they would have a corned beef sandwhich-my favorite.They didn't. So i did the natural thing any American would do. Get a cheese burger. My dad got a pastrami sandwich. It came pretty pretty quickly. We also ordered a small fry serving and a onion ring serving. When our food came the first thing we noticed was that there were three bags. I thought that it was normal each meal getting it own bag and the sides sharing the other. But after we opened them up i realized it was the other way around! The sides were huge. The small fries took up half a bag and the onion rings a whole one! That was the only problem though. Everything else was really good adding the fact that it was fast food. My dads pastrami had just enough spice and flavor combined to make it really good. The burger was nice and juicy to with a whole lot of greens. The atmosphere was nice and talkative to. Oh yeah and by the way don't tell this to anyone who you know who ate at The Hat: my dad says (because of the huge sides) he felt like the skinniest person there! So in the end if yo are looking for a fast good place on the go, come to The Hat!

other stops

Well, my dad is giving me a hard time for not keeping up with all restaurants where I ate. So, I should mention Versailles, a Cuban place in Los Angeles; Korea House in Irvine; and the Mexican place La Sirena in Laguna Beach.

Of these three, my favorite is La Sirena, a great hole-in-the-wall place with fresh food and a great atmosphere, although you have to sit outside. There are only two tables.

Korea House is a traditional place. You grill your own food at the table, including meats and vegetables, and they give you lots of spicy side dishes. It was okay but expensive! Versailles is large and loud and does well with traditional pork dishes. We loved the plantains! They serve nice shakes, too.