FoodB

We were very saddened to find out that one of our favorite Italian restaurant's closed recently. Rombi's in Huntington Beach was a very unique place because it was in the middle of a strip mall that you wouldn't expect to find great food in. Once you got past the door though it was a different world. All of their pasta's were homemade and the food was just amazing. We found out later that the owner/chef also had a daytime job and he was getting burned out. Can't blame him for wanting time off, yet this left a pretty big void for us because we didn't have a suitable replacement.

On a hunch, Jenn decided she wanted to drive by another Italian place that she noticed one day. It was called Mangia Mangia and was also in an unusual location. As we were driving by we noticed it was packed and that is about all the recommendation I need to stop at a place.

The first time we stopped we waited awhile for a table and noticed that the kitchen was right next to the serving area. I was able to watch the cooks for awhile and got a good feeling that this was a good place to eat. They were hand cooking everything and I saw that they were using a lot of fresh ingredients. Our first dinner there I had ravioli's and Jenn had gnocchi. She really enjoyed her's and I thought mine was good. The problem I had with the ravioli's was that I was comparing them to Rombi's and that is just not fair.

We went back another week and this time I had the gnocchi and Jenn tried their cannelloni. I enjoyed the gnocchi a lot and the only thing I would have done differently was to order it with meat sauce. The marinara sauce they used was basically crushed tomatoes and I prefer a thick sauce on my pasta.

So I think we found our new Italian haunt. It's not far from our place and the prices are reasonable. Good stuff.

Posted by Gordon at 08:00 AM | Permalink

We had some sad news last week. Jenn's uncle, Dick, passed away in his sleep. I only met the guy a few times but he was one of those people that you can just tell loves life.

One thing that Dick loved to do was to participate in Chili cookoff's. He died a week before he was set to cook in this years Tustin Chili Cookoff and one of his sons, Bill, decided to compete in his place. So Jenn and I decided to head over to offer help and support as well as celebrating her uncles memory.

Personally, I have never eaten chili. I watched a lot of cartoons as a child and always associated chili with smoke coming out of your ears about 5 seconds before your head explodes. That's a pretty lasting memory and since it wasn't really on my families dinner rotation, I just never had it. When I started to expand the foods that I would eat, chili still remained one of those things that I just tended to avoid because I really needed to try good chili and I just didn't have any good recommendations on what to try.

What better place to try that a chili cookoff? You only get a sample and if you don't like it, you can always just move on to the next booth. Of all the chili that I tasted, I really enjoyed the sample from Roderick's restaurant in Tustin. They made theirs with black beans and tri-tip and the flavor was really good. We are going to have to try out the rest of the restaurant one of these days.

On a happy note, Billy's chili ended up winning the main event. That's a pretty impressive feat considering that it was his first cookoff and the beer was flowing pretty heavily. They also took second place in the fan's choice which you would win by getting the most people to sample your chili. All in all we had a great time and I'm sure that Dick would have been proud of the outcome.

Posted by Gordon at 09:10 AM | Permalink

Just a quick posting about a couple of cool restaurants that we have enjoyed in the last few weeks.

The first is Seoul Oak in Garden Grove. Jenn and I were craving Korean food one night and we live right next to the Korean district of Garden Grove. So we decided to go driving and see if we could find a place our friends in Oregon recommended to us and ended up finding something else entirely. Seoul Oak is a huge restaurant (two stories and bigger than most peoples houses) and we noticed right away that we were the only white people there. If you have never been to Korean BBQ before it can get pricy but the last time Jenn and I went with some friends (yes that means you Lee) that they added and all you can eat special. So now for the price of what one plate generally costs you can get three different varieties and it just keeps coming.

Just watch out for the kimchi though because it sneaks up on you.

The other place I found out about when I was trying to find a good Greek place near where we work. The OC Weekly did a review about the Greek Town Grill in Costa Mesa and I got Jenn to go along with trying it on our lunch break. We found out the hard way though that this place took a little to long to get to so we didn't get a chance to eat there that day but promised that we would try on the weekend. I'm glad we came back because this place isn't your typical greek fast food place (Daphne's) where the only thing they actually do is just assemble everything there. They make their own pita bread and the sauces feel homemade as well.

Posted by Gordon at 04:18 PM | Permalink

We've been getting pretty lazy the last few weeks and eating out a lot more than usual. Lucky for me though because I am the one that does the dishes.

One of our new favorite sushi eateries is a small little place called Maru Sushi. Jenn and I have driven by it on several occasions being as it is only a few lights away from our house and every time we tried to eat there, they were closed. We heard from other people in the area that the place was really good and finally decided to go there on a Friday before we went to a Throwrag concert that we went to.

Ever since we moved from Oregon we have been trying to find a good sushi place. Our favorite before we left was right down the street from Jennifer's parents house, Sagami Tai's. It is a Tepan and Sushi place that is kinda hard to find and is always packed with folks from the surrounding neighborhood. We went there a couple of times a month and really missed it once we left (until we found I love sushi in Beaverton). After we moved back we went back and I guess the original owner sold the place. They still had the tepan and sushi but it had become an all you can eat place and they had changed the menu and gotten rid of a lot of my favorite rolls. So for the last year we have been trying other places but haven't been overwhelmed with our options.

Maru is like a mix of I love Sushi in Oregon and the Sagami Tai that I remember. The rolls are enormous and the prices are reasonable. Most of the rolls come out to 10 or 12 pieces each, which if you know sushi you are lucky if you get 8 at most places. They have a deep fried California roll as well as a really good unagi (freshwater eel) roll which are my favorite rolls to get and most places don't serve. When we ordered sashimi we literally got a pile of about 16 pieces, again most places your lucky to get 6. Both times we have been there we have walked out stuffed and only paid around $40 which is a miracle if you not at an all you can eat place like Todai. We are very happy that we found this place and finally can tell people that we know of a good sushi place in Orange County again.

Also we decided to get out of the house another day because it was just to beautiful to waste. Since I hadn't eaten I got to choose where we got to eat and settled on Smokin' Mo's BBQ in Huntington Beach because I knew of it and had heard good things. Generally when I go to BBQ place I judge them on their brisket because I know what it takes to make a good brisket (also how to mess one up) and most every other meat on a BBQ joints menu are pretty easy to fake. Brisket when done right is a thing of beauty and you can really tell the skill of the cook behind it. That being said Smokin' Mo's is more of a St Louis style BBQ place so there is more emphasis on pork and all they had for beef was a shredded beef sandwich. I settled on the sampler plate which was a crapload of food but I figured that was the second best way to test how well the cook knew his BBQ. The sampler consisted of Shredded Pork, Chicken and Spare Ribs.

The ribs were pretty good but someone needs to tell them that if they are going to be a St Louis style BBQ place that they need to cut the ribs St Louis style. Spare ribs have a flap of meat that hangs over the bone that contains a lot of bone bits as well as chunks of gristle which is never good to bite down on. The St Louis style cuts that portion off and usually is thrown in with the beans to add flavor. They were cooked really we and slid right off the bone when I ate them. The chicken was okay but I have never really been much of a fan of smoked chicken. The meat on smoked chicken seems not to cook all the way through and feels mushy to me. I think they smoked it half way and grilled it the other half which eliminates a little of that but I still prefer straight grilled chicken. The shredded pork was good as well but I wasn't saying wow when I finished it. There seemed to be a lot of water in the meat so I think they were keeping the meat in a heating dish. Not bad BBQ, but for the prices they were charging I was expecting more. Also their side dishes were really lacking. With all of the meat I didn't have much room for side dishes but an eight of a cup of beans and coleslaw made me feel like I was getting ripped off.

So next time I am craving BBQ I'm just going to have to head out to Lake Forrest to Texas Pit Bar-B-Que because I can get good brisket there and I feel like I am getting my money's worth. Not that Smoki' Mo's was bad, just disappointing.

Posted by Gordon at 02:55 PM | Permalink

Well yesterday marked the second year of my marriage to my amazing wife. We celebrated by going to Vegas over the weekend and then going out to dinner last night.

In Vegas we dined at several places but only one is worth mentioning. The Crown and Anchor was a place that was recommended to me by a friend at work and we went there for lunch on Saturday. Apparently this is the place to see soccer matches when you are in Vegas and we got lucky and were able to avoid that spectacle.

The food is authentic English food and according to the locals, they have the best fish and chips around. Jenn and I have had a few bad experiences making our own fish and chips so we have been leery of ordering it. Jenn ordered Bangers and Mash (sausage and mashed potatoes for you Americanized folks) and I got the Lankenshire Hot Pot. The hot pot was pretty much a stew with gravy in it to thicken the broth along with beef, carrot, potatoes and celery. Looking back now, it might not have been such a good idea to order a hot stew when the temperature was over 110 degrees out but I really enjoyed it. I was able to eat a lot of Jenn's leftovers as well and hers was really good as well. The sausage was real sausage made from intestines and the beans were homemade as well. Really good stuff and I would suggest it if you ever find yourself in Vegas.

Monday we got dressed up and headed to 555 East in Long Beach. Jennifer really wanted Lobster and neither of us wanted to go somewhere like Red Lobster. I found this place through CitySearch and they got really good reviews and seemed to be the most reasonable priced place with lobster. Jennifer ordered the Australian Lobster tail and I got the Filet Mignon. My steak was amazing. It was really soft and practically melted in my mouth. I had a little of Jenn's lobster and it was really good as well. I'm not a big fan of shellfish so I wouldn't have ordered it myself and am happy I had the steak.

For dessert we had the chocolate soufflé. It was really good and I am going to have to find out how to make one. When I was eating it I told Jenn it was like the most kickass brownie I had ever had. Good stuff and I will keep you all informed on my progress in tracking down a recipe for something similar.

Jennifer surprised me after dinner with tickets to the Green Bay Packers when they play the Chargers in August. Really good tickets as well. So all in all I had a really good anniversary. After Comic-Con we should be able to get back to having a normal menu and we will try some new recipes.

Posted by Gordon at 12:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Friday Jenn and I decided to go out to eat. Just coming off going to The Taste of Anaheim (see last post) we had a few new choices on places we could dine at. The only one that really stood out was Catal Restaurant in Downtown Disney, so off to the land of mouse we went.

We got there after seeing Superman and the place was pretty much empty, yet they still asked us to wait. We got to our seat and had to wait another 7 minutes for a waiter to take our drink orders. We weren't in a rush so neither of us really cared. The menu selection was pretty good. There were at least 5 things I was thinking about ordering. I settled on the lamb shank with moroccan spices. Oddly enough, so did Jenn. We don't really get to eat lamb much so I think that is why we both settled on that choice.

The meal came and it was a pretty good chunk of meat. It was very tender and I think it was braised. The moroccan spices seemed to be nutmeg and cinnamon which I always find odd things to put on meat. But having said that I really enjoyed it. It was very tender and neither of us really needed knives.

All in all I like Catal but I was hoping for something a little more Mediterranean. The price was a little on the expensive side so it might be a special occasion thing. Also if you go, try to get there at 9 and sit outside. The firework show goes on at 9:30 and it was really nice to watch it while we were eating.

So if anybody knows any good greek or arabic places in Orange County please write a comment. I haven't had good falafel in awhile and Daphne's just isn't doing it for me in the greek department.

Today I played some subliminal mind games on Jenn. I really wanted to eat BBQ today and I had a couple of BBQ cookoff shows taped on my tivo, so when Jenn woke up she watched them with me. A couple of hours later she was suggesting to me that we go get some BBQ. Yes I'm evil but I did confess everything to her.

We had just seen a commercial for The Tulsa Rib Company in Orange and we went there. I was thinking about cooking myself but it's been so dang hot that I figured since I've been suffering from heat exhaustion the last few weeks that I had better lay off the open flames for at least another week.

As a rule, if a place has the name of one of the items that they serve in there restaurant name, I have to order that item. Example: If I went to a place called the World Greatest Bagels, I'm not going to order doughnuts. So I got the rib combo splitting between the spicy and smoked ribs. The ribs were really good and fell off the bone, the sign of good BBQ. I couldn't really differentiate between the spicy and smoked ribs though. I think I was supposed to add the sauce on the side that they gave me and that would make the ribs spicy (which it didn't). This has been the first place I have been to that has had really good ribs and I will be heading back there if I am ever to tired to BBQ again.

Posted by Gordon at 08:35 PM | Permalink

Surprisingly Anaheim doesn't taste like mouse. Who would have thought...

A few weeks ago, Jenn and I were driving along the 55 and I noticed that the Arrowhead Pond had erected a new giant advertising-tron thing (do those big tv's have a name?). One of the ads that came up was something called The Taste of Anaheim. That really caught my interest because we had gone to a similar event in Oregon called the Bite of Oregon to see They Might Be Giants play and really enjoyed the food. At the Bite of Oregon (kudos to these event planners btw, they are pretty original with the names here) Jenn was able to sample some elk and I of course chowed down on all the BBQ I could find. We had a really good time and hoped that the Anaheim event would be the same.

Well once we got there we had to wait in line to get our will call tickets. Usually that wouldn't be much of a hassle, but there was only 2 windows to get your tickets and I'd say somewhere around 75% of the people bought their tickets through the website, which only offered will call. That too wouldn't have been a problem if I weren't so dang hot and the sun was right on us. Well we powered through the line pushing old ladies and children aside, and finally made it into the event which was also outside. Another note to the event planners, if you are going to do something outside, don't do it in a parking lot! And if you do, don't charge me $3 for water. I almost went Woodstock 99 and tried to get everyone together in a riot but I'm too old for that.

Well let's get back to why we were there, the food. The way it was set up was there were about 40 restaurants with booths and you walk from booth to booth and sample their food. It is a really good way to find restaurants that you haven't tried yet but don't feel like shelling out the $500 to try them all at once. The list of restaurants varied from fancy to Hooters, and someone should have told them to serve beer because no one goes to hooters for the food. Some of the food was really good and some of it was pretty bad. The odd thing I found was that a lot of these places decided not to serve their food hot. One example was JT Schmidt's. I've been there and the food is okay but to serve me a cold rib at this event was just a mistake.

Here are three of the places that Jenn and I really liked:

Catal Restaurant & Uva Bar
ESPN Zone
Orange Hill Restaurant

Catal served something called "Pastilla of Braised Lamb with Harissa Scented Tomatoes" and it was really good. It was a little piece of phyllo bread with a little bit of lamb dabbed on top with herbs and tomatoes. It looked really odd and I thought I was going to hate it but ended up thinking it was the best thing there. ESPN had hoisin ribs and they changed my thinking about BBQ sauce and ribs. They gave Catal a good run for the best thing I had. Orange Hill was giving out braised pork and even though got a really fatty piece, I really enjoyed it.

So of the 3 restaurants serving that I liked, the only one I had not ever been to was Catal. It is a mediterranean cuisine located in Downtown Disney and we will be checking it out soon because we both love mediterranean food (greek or arabic).

Even with the extreme heat and having to pay for water we both really enjoyed ourselves. I would have enjoyed Super Diamond a little more if I hadn't been felling the effects of the sun so much. But I guess that is the cost of living in Southern California again or just me getting old.

Posted by Gordon at 11:53 AM | Permalink