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.

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!

Ruth's Chris steakhouse

My dad and I went to a steakhouse, Ruth's Chris in Irvine (2961 Michelson Drive), because I was curious to try it once, and my mom was out of town. I love to eat steak! We chose a ribeye steak and barbecued jumbo shrimp, with baby spinach and potato gratin, all to share. My dad got a glass of wine, and I had two shirley temples.

I noticed immediately that they specialize in steaks. The ribeye was perfectly salted, cooked medium rare just as we ordered it, and the plates were very hot! The server said don't touch, it's like 500 degrees!

The jumbo shrimp was okay. I couldn't taste any special flavor in them; they just tasted like plain shrimp. But the shrimp came with an awesome sauce. The steak was perfectly marbled and super tender and had some butter on it. The baby spinach was delicious, fresh and soft, but we forgot to ask for garlic on it. However, the potato gratin was too cheesy for me. It filled my stomach too quickly! I took home some leftovers.

At the end, we were surprised by a desert we had not ordered. They thought it had to be my birthday! I guess that is child-friendly. I could hardly eat any more, but the raspberry ice cream in a chocolate cup was fantastic, and the fruit cup came with fresh mint leaves and sweat cream sauce.

Crab Cooker

The Crab Cooker is an old-fashioned place in Newport Beach (2200 Newport Boulevard). It has crabs, fresh caught fish, scallops, shrimp, and clam chowder, and it serves seafood with a choice of coleslaw or tomato salad, with mashed potato.

I could not decide between scallops or shrimp, so the waitress recommended that I try a skewer with both! My dad had the catch of the day. Both came out super fresh, and the wait staff are super competent, calling you "honey" in a kind of grumpy but friendly way. The place was busy, but the service was fast.

All their decorations are super funny, with signs like "solid gold rib from a solid gold whale" or "the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." We sat under a full-size stuffed shark! Maybe it was plastic. 

There's a counter up front where you can buy fresh seafood, and even the chowder, to go.

I think this place is outstanding! It's affordable, fresh and healthy, and delivers awesome simple food with great service.

California Fish Grill

California Fish Grill

If you want quick good food come here. The fast service is wonderous. The food is all appropriately spiced and cooked. Nothing over done and nothing under done. The tacos may be a little bit to “green” if you know what I mean if I ask for shrimp tacos I want more shrimp not so much greens (which was delish!) Every thing else is wonderful!

The atmosphere is indistinct except it is very kid friendly.There is also a lot of kids. My mama was very satisfied with her ahi tuna salad and my baba thought that the spice and butter obscured the taste so he could not tell if it was high quality swordfish or not. In all this is a moderately good restaurant. Open from 11:00 am to 9:00 pm from monday to sunday.

The outdoor seating area has a great view -- of a parking lot!

3988 Barranca Park Way
Phone 949-654-3838
Irvine CA 92606
Fax 949-654-3858

Kid friendly☺☺☺☺

quality ψψψψ

Author: Leo Krapp