Saeyoung and I should perhaps consider competitive eating as a plan B...

chicken nachos and mixed seafood ceviche

mahi mahi salad

blackened swordfish nachos

lobster taco, fish taco

done and done

saeyoung and eli

There's just no excuse for the quantities of food saeyoung and I eat when we're together. It's pretty disgraceful actually.

We went to Taco Loco with Eli for dinner today and while Eli ordered like a normal human being and had one tofu mushroom burger, Saeyoung and I thought we'd share a sampling of more or less the entire menu. Between the two of us we ordered a mahi mahi salad, mixed seafood ceviche, a lobster taco, a fish taco, blackened swordfish nachos, and chicken nachos. Right, one type of nachos was not enough for us. We basically ordered a meal for 4-5 people for the two of us.

...and we cleaned house. We ate everything.

But wait, let's put this into context. This is after having an enormous Chinese dim sum brunch a mere 4 hours prior. And after having snacked on sour patch kids and gummy worms at the movie theater. Also there was a popsicle and fruit somewhere in there.

Here's the truly disgusting part: right after Taco Loco, we walked down the street and had a white chocolate covered caramel apple.

No wait, there's more. There is talk of frozen yogurt later...

China Garden Dim Sum

duck

shrimp shumai

broth filled shumai

almond souffle

bbq pork bun

here is a question: where is the best place for dim sum in southern california? I am willing to drive wide and far for good dim sum. My family went to China Garden in Irvine today, which is decent but is nothing compared to the dim sum we've had up in the Bay area.

Also, Chinese food is a mystery. It's so greasy and heavy but I usually don't feel like I'm going to keel over after having eaten it.

Thai Bros

seafood salad

chicken stuffed chicken 

steamed orange roughy

pad thai

 I have two favorite Thai restaurants in Orange County.  One is Siamese Express for pure comfort.  Affordable, convenient, no fancy pants garnish, and tamarind paste all over the place.  The other is Thai Bros in Laguna Beach.  And while Thai Bros is probably too pricey to make me a regular, I have to say I've never had a bad dish there.  

My cousin Patricia and I had dinner at Thai Bros the other night.  She's visiting from New York and we've only just realized that we've never had a meal together, just the two of us.  We're usually swamped between aunts and uncles and cousins at enormous productions of family dinners, so it was quite pleasant to have an intimate dinner together.  

My favorite of the evening was the seafood salad with glass noodles.  It's the lime dressing.  I'm  a sucker for limes (ha!).  I think Patricia might have liked the chicken the best.  I've had these chicken stuffed chickens at other Thai restaurants and I've always thought there was something slightly grotesque about them.  First, ground chicken is not the texture that I like my chicken to be.  And also, it seems a little comical to reconstitute them by stuffing them back into their skins.  Oh! I've just realized why I find them grotesque.  It's like Frankenstein's monster!  Kind of.  Well, I guess not really. But a little bit.  

It tasted good.  It's just something I find a bit perplexing.

I ordered the Orange Roughy because I needed something clean, something simple tasting.  The steamed Orange Roughy accomplished that. I was satisfied. 

I have to say though, the best Thai food I've had has been at Jitlada, just around the corner from my apartment in Hollywood.  Patricia, Saeyoung, and our cousin Whun plan on having dinner there next week.  It will be fun.  I already know this.

Thai Bros

238 Laguna Ave

Laguna Beach, CA 92651

949.376.9979

Charlie Palmer's

Old fashioned Chocolate 7-Layer Cake from SusieCakes

caramelized banana tarte tatin

cheesecake with apricot sorbet

smoky cinnamon zeppoles with espresso hot chocolate

blue cheese crusted filet mignon

Aged New York Strip Steak

Pork Chop with Apricots and Red Onions

Scallops with Daikon

Steamed Halibut with Shrimp Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms

Watermelon and Watercress Salad with Marinated Feta

Avocado Gazpacho with Crab 

Caponata Amuse Bouche

Starting off with a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon

For Doc's 48th birthday we went to Charlie Palmer's in Costa Mesa.  It's the kind of place that has a sommelier on hand, which is simultaneously intimidating and impressive.  Maybe it's because I'm on the low end of the economic scale, but I just don't know that food should be this expensive.  It isn't that I'm not willing to spend money on good food.  It is actually one of things I don't have a problem splurging on.  If the food is good, it is shocking how much I am willing to stretch my wallet.  It's just that at $35 per entree, I need things to be amazing.  

Was Charlie Palmer's amazing? Hm.  Well, to be fair, some items were amazing.  Some were not.  

Like the watermelon watercress salad: very good.  The marinated feta in the salad was tart and wonderful.  Oh, and the golden watermelon!

My steamed halibut in bouillabaisse sauce: decidedly not very good.  My fish arrived cold.  Like sitting out for an hour cold.  And the bouillabaisse was run of the mill.  However, I did like the zucchini blossom that was on top of the fish.

Saeyoung's diver scallops: fair.  Excellent sauce.  Topped with what I think was rice crackers.  The scallops could have afforded to be a little less salty but overall a very nice dish.

Farro risotto: good

Truffled Mac & Cheese: also good

Fries: rather limp

Pork Chop: okay, the sauce was more memorable than the meat

Steak: I'm not a steak person so maybe I'm the wrong person to gauge this

Lyonnaise Potatoes: Quite good

Smoky Cinnamon Zeppoles with Espresso Hot Chocolate: Amazing! House made marshmellows on top of cinnamon whipping cream with really thick hot chocolate.  The zeppoles were delicious.  Very reminiscent of churros con chocolate.  

other brownie points: A parade of free things.  A great amuse bouche of eggplant caponata that had, I think dates or maybe raisins or maybe both.  Also blueberry cookies.  Also  dark chocolate truffles, cherry shortcake, and other confections.  

The wine was good as well.  A memorable Amarone and pleasant Cabernet Sauvignon.  

Note* they offer a prix-fixe menu that is a much more affordable option.  $39 for a first course, an entree, and a dessert. not bad.  

Note ** terrible for vegetarians/vegans.  Kristina ended up having to order a few sides but no meatless entrees.  Unfortunate.  

242 Cafe Sushi

my favorite people

salmon and tuna sashimi with lotus root

sushi soup

swiss chard on a roll

45 minute wait. okay.

Today was unexpected. I was at a writer's retreat when I got a series of texts from my sister considering a nice dinner with just my mom, my sister, and me. Maybe this was impractical--to drive to Orange County unexpectedly but nothing seemed as comfortable and lovely as having dinner with them, just them.

We went to 242 Cafe Sushi in Laguna Beach, which is one of our favorite sushi places. I can say with a good amount of confidence that I couldn't live without Japanese food, it's just a life not worth living in my opinion. Authentic, 242 Cafe Sushi is not, but the quality of their fish is excellent and where else can you get your roll wrapped in Swiss chard? They don't serve soy sauce because all of their sushi comes with its own specifically complementary sauce. I believe the owner was the former sous chef for Nobu, but I could be wrong about this.

It's a very small restaurant, just a sushi bar and 3 tables. They only have one server. We had to wait 45 minutes to get in, which was a little excruciating because I was beginning to have hunger pains but in the end, everything was worth it. My favorite of the evening was the sashimi with lotus roots and garlic chips. Lotus root is amazing. I want to put lotus root in everything. I think it would be great in sandwiches (note to self).

242 Cafe Sushi

242 N coast highway

Laguna Beach, Ca 92651

949.494.2444

Habana

vegetarian tamale pie

ropa vieja

smoked halibut

paella

osso buco

point reyes blue, a red wine goat cheese, and cheese of the month

spanish flatbread

fried avocado

empanadas  

There's nothing that gives the birthday feeling quite like having my birthday dinner with my family.  Certain things have become ritual: we will overdress (intentionally), we will order cheese, doc will order wine and brian and kristina will sneak some, i will wear flowers in my hair, my family will loudly pass around their plates so that everyone can get a taste. 

This year we went to Habana.  I've been there once before and more than their food, was really taken with their patio area with canvas umbrellas and purple trees and christmas lights.  The food is good but I think the patio is perhaps more interesting.

Not to say that their food isn't solidly good.  Something odd though is that their ropa vieja tasted curiously Korean.