Wonginator's Profile
Flavor Flav's House of Flavor
I just read about Flavor Flav's House of Flavor opening up yesterday. I would love to hear reviews from anyone who tries it, as I don't know of any places for good fried chicken. I have tried Kathy's Southern Cuisine which is pretty good, but that is way out in Henderson.
If you do know of other good places for fried chicken, please mention them.
Best BBQ in Las Vegas - Is there such a thing?
If you saw my BBQ post a few weeks ago, I reported about some fantastic BBQ beef back ribs at the PBR Bar & Grill inside the Planet Hollywood shops. They were very soft and tender like brisket. I don't know if they have brisket on the menu, though.
I haven't been to the Lucille's in Green Valley, but have been to some local to me, and I rate it the same as you, good but not great.
TC's Rib Crib had gotten some positive reviews in the past, and I had been there once shortly after it opened. I've been meaning to go back again, as I thought it was pretty good, but not fantastic. It looks they have a 2nd location or may have moved to another location. There is an 8470 W Desert Inn address, which I think is the old address, and a 3655 S Durango address, which looks current as it matches what is on their website, if it is up to date.
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Planet Hollywood
3667 Las Vegas Blvd S, Las Vegas, NV 89109
KJ Kitchen Dim Sum at the Rio
Thanks for the wonderful review, Janet. In the neighboring Gold Coast, Ping Pang Pong seems to do really well as a Chinese dim sum restaurant, so there is a good chance that KJ Dim Sum could thrive as soon as more people find out about it. The other three main dim sum places in Vegas all seem to be fairly busy during the weekends, and get especially crazy on certain holidays, so I think there's enough demand.
I'll definitely check it out on my next visit.
KJ Kitchen Dim Sum at the Rio
Thanks for the review. Your weekday visit sounds like how most dim sum places are, where the selection of food is smaller than what might be available on a weekend.
KJ Kitchen Dim Sum at the Rio
Has anyone tried KJ Kitchen Dim Sum at the Rio yet? It was still under construction when I was there during Christmas, but I read that it opened for Chinese New Year last week. Any reviews would be great.
I did try East Ocean Dim Sum in Henderson on my last trip, and it was just OK, but it was on a Friday when it wasn't crowded and there wasn't heavy turnover of the food. If I go again, it'll likely be on a Saturday or Sunday when it's likely busier with more turnover of the food.
BBQ in Vegas
On my most recent trip during Christmas, I found excellent beef back ribs at the PBR Bar & Grill inside the Planet Hollywood shops. Lots of meat that was almost falling off the bone, very tender yet extremely tasty, I was shocked that this was some of the best BBQ I'd found in Vegas so far.
I've had BBQ in Vegas in the past few years, at the now closed RUB BBQ at the Rio, the also closed K's BBQ across from South Point, Memphis Championship, TC's Rib Crib, M&M Soul Food Cafe, the now close Fireside at the top floor of the Imperial Palace..
As I walked up and down the Strip, I noticed a few places that had BBQ, and I wonder if anyone's tried these and have any opinions:
Gilley's in Treasure Island
Harley Davidson Cafe, which has a sign saying "voted best BBQ in Vegas"
Lynyrd Skynyrd BBQ, newly opened in Excailibur
Also, if there are any other new places that people have noticed or stubled across, it would be great to hear about. I'm hoping to try another place or two for my next trip, hopefully on President's weekend next month.
Beef Noodle Soup Restaurant From Taiwan To Open In Irvine
There is a 4 or 5 story parking structure behind all of the buildings. Very few people seem to know about it and use it, but I park there whenever the main lot fills up.
Breakfast & late dinner near John Wayne Airport
Not sure about late night dinner, as most places I know close around 9:30-10PM.
For breakfast, you might consider Rick's Atomic Cafe. It's on the north side of the airport, a little hard to find because it's in a business area.
I usually eat lunch here, but two of our local food reviewers wrote rave reviews on their breakfast.
http://elmomonster.blogspot.com/2010/12/ricks-atomic-cafe-costa-mesa.html
http://www.ocweekly.com/2010-09-16/food/hole-in-the-wall-ricks-atomic-cafe-costa-mesa/
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Rick's Atomic Cafe
3100 Airway Ave #113, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
My favorite nachos in Los Angeles are at (wait for it) ... Tinga! And yours?
Any OC recs for favorite nachos? My favorite is at Los Sanchez in Garden Grove. What makes their nachos so good, besides the generous portions of meat and the extra plate for the sour cream and guacamole, is the mix of enchilada sauce with the cheese.
I've tried other recommendations, like the Albertos/Alertos/Alejandros clones, but it doesn't even come close.
I'd really like to find another good nachos place in OC. I'd love to hear where others think have the best nachos.
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Los Sanchez Restaurant
11906 Garden Grove Blvd, Garden Grove, CA 92843
Tender, Juicy and Crisp? Roast Chicken Battle - Melisse, Costco, Pollo Ala Brasa, Rustic Canyon, Zankou, A Frame, Gjelina, Marouch, Lola's, and more! [Review] w/ Pics!
Great read, exilekiss. Glad to see you back.
Roast chicken is indeed so hard to get perfectly right, and it's so subjective as people love it for differing reasons as you point out.
If you selected something like broasted chicken or roast duck, I would've joined you, and the battle would've been a raging success. :-)
Steamed Chinese dumplings in OC
Chef Chen's does indeed have it. I'm no expert on the soup dumplings, but I've found those at Chef Chen's to be pretty good.
Across the freeway, Tri Village also has them and are pretty good too.
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Chef Chen's Restaurant
5408 Walnut Ave, Irvine, CA 92604
Tri Village
14121 Jeffrey Rd, Irvine, CA 92620
Transplanted from LA looking for Best Cheap Eats in Irvine: aka save me from the irvine corp.
At SW Seafood, I tend to stick to the basics, like won ton soup, chicken chow mein Hong-Kong style, and beef chow fun. They use some big shrimp in the won tons.
At Franco's, I look at their daily specials list first. Went today and had the rigatoni with Italian sausages. Very tasty. They do lasagna every Tuesday, and I tried to get that today, but they were already sold out. A few weeks ago, when we went, a co-worker ordered the spaghetti and meatballs. The meatballs were almost the size of baseballs. Two were served with the dish, and they looked like too much meat for the meal.
I don't think I've ever ordered off the regular menu at Franco's. Some of the daily special items are on the regular menu, but I always find something on the daily specials menu, which usually has 6-8 things listed each day.
Transplanted from LA looking for Best Cheap Eats in Irvine: aka save me from the irvine corp.
I go to Franco's regularly, maybe twice a month, and the woman chef is there all the time now. For almost every time I've been there, the food is fantastic. Maybe only once in 20 visits was the food just OK.
On my last visit, I had the linguini combo, which was served with 2 types of fish (salmon and seabass, I think), and it was fabulous. Great deal for $9 as a lunch combo, that could easily be $18-25 at any sitdown Italian restaurant.
For the OP, SW Seafood is one of my favorites for Cantonese food, and is in the same shopping center as Chef Chen and Chong Qing Mei Wei.
The Chippy fish & chips place is in the same food court. I just alternate between those two places every week.
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Chef Chen's Restaurant
5408 Walnut Ave, Irvine, CA 92604
S W Seafood & BBQ Restaurant
5406 Walnut Ave Ste A, Irvine, CA 92604
Obscure Joints for Lunch
The lines can sometimes be crazy long at Aloha Specialties, as they are that popular. My new favorite place to go to for Hawaiian is Aloha Kitchen, at the S Maryland location.
One new place I liked on my last trip is Dad's Grilled Cheese.
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Aloha Kitchen
4745 S Maryland Pkwy, Las Vegas, NV 89119
Aloha Kitchen
4466 E Charleston Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89104
Breakfast Off The Strip
My recs are Egg and I, and Egg Works. 50's Diner Omelet House on E Desert Inn is another good place that has 3- and 6-egg omelets..
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Egg Works
9355 W Flamingo Rd Ste 3, Las Vegas, NV 89147
Egg & I
4533 W Sahara Ave Ste 5, Las Vegas, NV 89102
Omelet House & More
3050 E Desert Inn Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89121
Do you have a Chinese food guilty-pleasure?
Oooh, your description sounds eerily similar to my favorite Chinese guilty-pleasure food, braised pork shank, or pork pump, as it is known on some menus of Shanghainese restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley, like Mei Long Village and Lake Spring Shanghai.
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Mei Long Village
301 W Valley Blvd Ste 112, San Gabriel, CA 91776
Lake Spring Shanghai Rstrnts
219 E Garvey Ave, Monterey Park, CA 91755
Just moved to Costa Mesa near the Fair...
Chicken Coop for broasted chicken.
Chicago's Best for Italian beef sandwiches and great baby back ribs.
Onotria for northern Italian.
Plums Cafe for the Dutch Baby.
S W Seafood for authentic Cantonese food.
Chef Chen's for the braised pork shank.
Philly's Best, Frank's Philadelphia, and John's Philly Grill for Philly cheesesteaks.
Jerry's Dogs for the Jalapeno hot links and bratwursts, and homemade potato chips.
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Jerry's Dogs
2276 E 17th St, Santa Ana, CA 92705
Chicago's Best
2540 Main St, Irvine, CA 92614
Chicken Coop
414 Old Newport Blvd, Newport Beach, CA 92663
Chef Chen's Restaurant
5408 Walnut Ave, Irvine, CA 92604
Plums Cafe
369 E 17th St, Costa Mesa, CA 92627
S W Seafood & BBQ Restaurant
5406 Walnut Ave Ste A, Irvine, CA 92604
Frank's Philadelphia
2244 Fairview Rd, Costa Mesa, CA 92627
John's Philly Grille
16061 Goldenwest St, Huntington Beach, CA 92647
Onotria Restaurant
2831 Bristol St Ste A, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Chinese between Costa Mesa and HB (or thereabouts)
It's been maybe at least a year since I went to Wei's, so I don't know if there's been an ownership change recently.
Just remember about Fu Wing Low in Fountain Valley also, another excellent choice.
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Fu Wing Low
16545 Brookhurst St, Fountain Valley, CA 92708
Chinese between Costa Mesa and HB (or thereabouts)
May Garden closed sometime during the summer. There's now some sort of vegetarian place, called Happy Palace or something like that.
Follow Das Ubergeek's advice. For a good variety of Chinese food, that Jeffrey/Walnut plaza in Irvine has Cantonese at SW Seafood, Shanghainese at Chef Chen, and Szechuan at Chong Qing, all in one plaza. China Garden is across the street for good dim sum, and Tri-Village is across the 5 freeway.
Only decent Chinese I like in Costa Mesa is Golden Dragon, off Harbor Blvd, pretty close to Triangle Square.
One good option that is very popular between CM and HB is Wei's, in Fountain Valley.
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China Garden
4790 Irvine Blvd, Irvine, CA 92620
Chef Chen's Restaurant
5408 Walnut Ave, Irvine, CA 92604
Wei's Chinese Restaurant
17046 Magnolia St, Fountain Valley, CA 92708
Tri Village
14121 Jeffrey Rd, Irvine, CA 92620
S W Seafood & B B Q Restaurant
5404 Walnut Ave, Irvine, CA 92604
Pork pump... opinions please?
I love eating pork pump whenever I see it on the menu. I've had it 3 times at Mei Long Village, but only once at Lake Spring. I can't say I've eaten it enough to tell the differences between them, though.
For those in OC, you can get it at Chef Chen in Irvine. Only OC location I've found, and it's on the menu as "braised pork shank" or something close to that description.
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Chef Chen's Restaurant
5408 Walnut Ave, Irvine, CA 92604
#1 Sea Harbour, #2 Elite, #3 ______ ?
I don't get the hype about 888. I've gone here 3 times in the last 3 years, and each time has been an average or underwhelming experience. I went just 2 weeks ago, hoping my previous experiences were out of the norm. Nope, same as before.
To me, Empress Harbor and Ocean Star are easily superior, with other good choices like New Capital, Blue Ocean Seafood, and East Gourmet Seafood. Capital Seafood and NBC have fallen down my ranking list.
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Capital Seafood Restaurant
755 W Garvey Ave, Monterey Park, CA 91754
New Capital
8823 Garvey Ave, Rosemead, CA
East Gourmet Seafood Restaurant
8118 Garvey Ave, Rosemead, CA 91770
Blue Ocean Seafood Restaurant
1412 S Garfield Ave, Alhambra, CA 91801
You would have a hard time finding _________ IF YOU LEFT Los Angeles...
French Dips. Went to a sandwich shop in Vegas and asked if they served one. The owner never heard of it, so I had to describe it to him.
Best Chinese in LV NOT in hotels
Sounds great. I've added it to my list, and may check it out over the 4th of July holiday.
Best Chinese in LV NOT in hotels
Sounds good. First time I've read about it. Do you have an address? What were the standout dishes that you had there?
Best Chinese in LV NOT in hotels
Sockster, glad to hear you enjoyed Orchids Garden. I've been there a few time, and I've had mixed experiences, sometime good, sometimes just average. It's been a couple of years since I've been there, so I might check it out again on my next visit.
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Orchids Garden
5485 W Sahara Ave, Las Vegas, NV 89146
Best Chinese in LV NOT in hotels
Dim sum is typically a morning-to-lunch occasion, usually running from 10am-3pm, so I wouldn't expect to order it during dinner time.
XLB is a Shanghainese dish, and I don't know if there are any Shanghainese restaurants in Vegas. Perhaps someone else can chime in if they've run across them in Vegas somewhere.
Best Chinese in LV NOT in hotels
For Cantonese-style food, two of my favs are Joyful House and Food Express.
For dim sum, my top 2 choices are Chang's of Hong Kong and Ping Pang Pong. Ping Pang Pong is inside the Gold Coast casino, west of the Strip, so you might exclude it from your choices, but it has remained my top choice for quality dim sum in Vegas.
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Chang's Hong Kong Cuisine
4670 S Decatur Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89103
Ping Pang Pong
4000 W Flamingo Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89103
Joyful House Chinese Cuisine
4601 Spring Mountain Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89102
Food Express Chinese Restaurant
2003 S Decatur Blvd Ste B, Las Vegas, NV 89102
Review: Egg & I - Las Vegas
Meant to say open-faced croissant in the description for the Sunrise Mountain.
Review: Egg & I - Las Vegas
The menus do seem to be different. On my last visit to Egg Works, I had something called a Sunrise Mountain, an open-faced omelette with eggs on top and ham, sausage, cheese. The one at Egg & I seems to be a stuffed croissant. There are probably other different items, too.
I've added links to their menus on the Chowhound links.
Review: Egg & I - Las Vegas
I've enjoyed both Egg & I and its sister restaurant, Egg Works. Lines can sometimes be crazy, as it seems to be very popular whenever I visit. Was there any wait during your most recent visit?
Adding links.
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Egg & I
4533 W Sahara Ave Ste 5, Las Vegas, NV 89102
Egg Works
9355 W Flamingo Rd Ste 3, Las Vegas, NV 89147
