100 Favorite OC Dishes, #31: Pizza Omelet at Old Vine Cafe
Due to life, I don't get to Old Vine Cafe in Costa Mesa as often as I used to. So every time I do go, I splurge—like, buy a 12-pack of wine splurge. And dessert. And sausage. And appetizers. Gotta make...
View Article100 Favorite OC Dishes, #30: Pork Belly Bites at Coastal Kitchen
The best thing you can order at Coastal Kitchen is also the unhealthiest thing: the pork belly bites. What is it? Well, it's pork belly, covered in a corndog-like batter, deep fried to a crunchy golden...
View Article100 Favorite OC Dishes, #29: Bentos at Tenkatori
The chefs at Tenkatori are masters of karaage, Michelangelos of the chicken-fry arts. The Costa Mesa location is new to OC, opened about a month ago, but the chain landed in Gardena earlier this year...
View Article100 Favorite OC Dishes, #28: Bo Ssam at Mountain
As I said in my review, eating at Mountain is like being fed by an army of Korean mothers and aunts who who want nothing else but to see you well-fed and happy. Upon seeing that we finished the first...
View Article100 Favorite OC Dishes, #27: Uncle Lou's Fried Chicken at Playground
If you haven't had it, Playground's Uncle Lou's Fried Chicken is a different species of bird than any other fried chicken you may have had...unless you've been to Memphis. The menu actually issues this...
View Article100 Favorite OC Dishes, #26: Sauteed Shrimp at Cafe Hiro
A few months ago, Cafe Hiro had a special called "Garlic Shrimp", a plate of a dozen shrimp that's 10 times better than anything I've had from Oahu's much ballyhooed shrimp trucks. Not only are butter...
View Article100 Favorite OC Dishes, #25: Fish Tacos at Anepalco
Anepalco Cafe and Restaurant, continuously provide anxious epicureans with Chef Danny Godinez’ beloved dishes as we all patiently anticipate the grand opening of El Mercado, Godinez’ newest culinary...
View Article100 Favorite Dishes, #24: Garlic Noodles at the Kickin' Crab
The Boiling Crab may have spearheaded the Viet-Cajun crawfish craze in Orange County but the Kickin' Crab was an early adopter (with Edwin first writing about it in 2010). The lines here are usually...
View Article100 Favorite Dishes #23: Lobster Elote at Dos Chinos
Hop Phan, hot damn! Leave it to Phan and the crew at Dos Chinos to create a majestic marriage of Asian and Mexican cuisine time after time. Their latest offering has taken Instagram by storm: Lobster...
View Article100 Favorite OC Dishes, #22: Stuffed Croissants at Blackmarket Bakery DTSA
Rachel Klemek of Blackmarket Bakery masters anything baked, from rare German sourdough loaves to insane pastries to sandwiches, cookies—everything. Yet what I've loved most about her work, dating back...
View Article100 Favorite OC Dishes, #21: Spicy Raw Shrimp at Royal King Elephant
From my review earlier this year of Garden Grove Laotian spot Royal King Elephant: "...raw, chilled shrimp served alongside tomatoes and cucumbers, and it's spicy. But whereas aguachile is cold and...
View Article100 Favorite OC Dishes, #20: Jajangmyeon at Beijing Wok & Grill
I have no idea why I love the Korean-Chinese dish jajangmyeon so much. All it is is noodles, black bean paste, and your choice of meat. Yet I'm obsessed with the meal, trying it at all of OC's...
View Article100 Favorite OC Dishes, #19: Causa (Peruvian Chicken Salad) at Inka Cantina
Is there any non-Peruvian in the world who truly, honestly loves chicken salad? It's two of the most easily spoilable foodstuffs in modern food—chicken and mayo—tossed with veggies that can't stand on...
View Article100 Favorite OC Dishes, #18: Msabaha at Ishtar Mediterranean Grill
There is hummus, and then there’s the dish at Ishtar Mediterranean Grill—one of Little Arabia’s newer restaurants—called msabaha. It has hummus, yes, but topping it is cooked chickpeas. And yogurt. And...
View Article100 Favorite OC Dishes, #17: Chihuahua at Mercado Modern Cuisine
Mercado Modern Cuisine, Danny Godinez's bold, successful attempt to take on all the states of Mexico in just one restaurant, is already such a part of my regular eating schedule that I'm going to pick...
View Article100 Favorite OC Dishes, #16: Shrimp Quesadilla at Taco Maria
Out of all of Taco Maria's extraordinary dishes, how does something as seemingly prole as a shrimp quesadilla so high? As always when it comes to chef-owner Carlos Salgado and his right-hand man,...
View Article100 Favorite OC Dishes, #15: Banh Cuon Thit Nuong at Banh Cuon Luu Luyen
You know pho, bánh mì, crawfish, and Asian Garden Night Market, but do you know bánh cuon? It's like a spring roll meets an omelet, with steamed rice sheets enveloping all sorts of stuffing—just a...
View Article100 Favorite OC Dishes, #14: Lunch Special at Two Brothers Pizza
We're living in the age of wood-fired, custom-made, artisanal pizza. While bougie pizza parlors are popping up around the county at the rate of new poke restaurants, there will always be room in our...
View Article100 Favorite OC Dishes, #13: Meatloaf En Croute at Grits Fullerton
While a solid breakfast was always a reason for us to check out a joint, Grits Fullerton happened to have a few other endearing qualities: Seriously good collaboration beer dinners, a parking lot in...
View Article100 Favorite OC Dishes, #12: Chicken Schnitzel at Ironwood
I did a double-take when the Jidori chicken schnitzel at Ironwood landed on our table with a thud. It's covered end-to-end in golden-brown breading and has a surface area so large you could pick it up...
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