Patrick Strader's Profile
Is there a decent NY style deli in OC?
Arnies. The Junior size is more than enough.
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Arnie's Manhattan Restaurant
1660 Dove St, B Newport Beach, CA
Critiqua of Ortica
I agree with OC Mutt. I talked my whole family into going there before a Performing Arts Center performance and we were all underwhelmed. The portions were tiny on everything except the pizzas, the service was mediocre, and the overall ambiance was lacking. No need to make this a priority.
Dinner in Laguna Beach recs?
I second Sapphire, plus you can jump on the shuttle from there to the Laguna Bowl. Dizz's is totally unique, Mastros is a bit North, but awesome, the Royal Hawaiian is kitschy, and Kya has an incredible view. I have heard good things about Lumberyard, but haven't been.
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Sapphire Laguna
1200 South Coast Hwy, Laguna Beach, CA 92651
Mastro's Ocean Club
8112 E Coast Hwy, Newport Coast, CA 92657
Dizz's As Is
2794 S Coast Hwy, Laguna Beach, CA 92651
Royal Hawaiian
331 N. Coast Hwy., Laguna Beach, CA 92651
Kya Restaurant and Bar
1289 S Coast Hwy, Laguna Beach, CA 92651
Lumber Yard
384 Forest Ave, Laguna Beach, CA
Monte Cristo Sandwich...in search of (in OC or close)
I saw it on the lunch menu at The Winery at The District in Tustin (which by the way is an incredible place that I highly recommend), but I didn't try it, because the Niman Ranch Pork Sandwich looked so good (and was).
http://www.thewineryrestaurant.net/ The online menu shows it as Croque Monsieur - Smoked Ham, Vine Ripened Tomato, Cave Aged Gruyere. YMMV.
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The Winery Restaurant
2647 Park Ave, Tustin, CA 92782
How to Clean Griddle (GE Monogram)
Hello,
I searched the boards and couldn't find anything directly on topic. I have a GE Monogram four burner range with a griddle in the middle. I was looking for more information on cleaning it (and actually, whether I should clean it at all or if I should be allowing it to "season"). The last few weekends, I have cooked bacon on it and it is clearly more brown than steel colored now. When I was in College, our fraternity house had a commercial griddle that was about 4 times the size and one of the worst jobsfor pledges was to use grill blocks to scrape the grill clean.
I have just been using a bench scraper to scrape off any of the uneven bits on the griddle after cooking, but the big question is whether I should be trying to clean the surface back to its pristine steel color or if the goal is to season it like one of my cast iron skillets.
If I am to clean it to the pristine state, should I use the grill bricks and then finish it with oil like back in the fraternity house? Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Lunch in OC with my dogs.
Pacific Whey in Crystal Cove always has lots of dogs our front and pretty good food. If the weather is nice expecta long wait. If you just can't wait, ZPizza next door has good pizza and a few outdoor tables.
http://www.pacificwhey.com
http://www.pacificwhey.com/maps/pwccmap.jpg
Best in "Little Gaza"
I will let you decide if Zankou Chicken on Ball Road qualifies as "Little Gaza" or not. I will just say that the food is incedible (especially the garlic sauce...on everything). Just search this board for Zankou and you will see the number of postings and the rave reviews. Having just recently been, I will say that it is a good starter place for a white boy from Irvine and I look forward to my next trip deeper into the heart of the ethnic cuisine in "Little Gaza." To that end, any other tips on this thread will be helpful.
I will try Sahara Falafel next since I have been taking elmomonster's recos for years now and have never been disappointed.
http://www.zankouchicken.com
California Noodle Factory - New Restaurant in Fountain Valley
Okay, lesson learned, jpegs not pdfs...
California Noodle Factory - New Restaurant in Fountain Valley
For some reason, the menu didn't attach above. Here it is.
California Noodle Factory - New Restaurant in Fountain Valley
I just tried CNF yesterday for lunch with a friend and can report that the food was outstanding. As others have mentioned, the restaurant is more "California" than "Asia" meaning that it is not "gringo-izing" Asian noodle dishes as SLB stated, but rather taking a new approach to all pasta and noodle based dishes.
I tasted "The Mardi Gras" (penne noodles, chicken andouille sausage, red bell peppers, onions, and green onions mixed in a spicy creole tomato sauce) which was excellent and very healthy. I also tasted "The Mac-a-licious" (macaroni blended with rich velvety wisconsin cheeses, a touch of cream, and topped with fresh parmesan and herbs). Not so healthy, but incredible. Better than the Mac and Chesse that I have had at Mastros, Wildfish, and Flemings to name a few.
My friend had "The Capital" (torchio noodles, sun-dried tomatoes, baby arugala, and toasted pine nuts mixed in sweet basil and pesto sauce) which was extremely tasty. I had "The OC" (fresh golden noodles glazed in a light peanut sauce tossed with english peas, sugar snaps, onions, and red peppers) party because of elmomonster's comment and partly because I love peanut sauce. It quickly became a favorite dish of mine and I will go back for it again soon. Both my friend and I added double orders of chicken to our meals ($3.00 extra for the double chicken) and found it to be a good addition to the carb-rich meals but still quite affordable.
I grabbed a menu and scanned and attached it here. I also took two cell phone pictures of the Mardi Gras and Mac-a-licious. They don't do the food justice. I highly recommend this place to anyone looking for high-quality, fresh "faster" food.
***The owner and head chef is also opening up a new restaurant in the space next door which will be a Brazilian-style rotisserie concept called Henrietta's Rotisserie. I can't wait to try that one when it opens. When I do, I will try to do a similar post here.
A real German Bakery, A real German pretzel
Old World Village in Huntington Beach. In looking over the menu, they aren't listed, but I had a party there and they served them for me, so they must either make them or know where to get them. Good luck.
http://www.oldworld.ws/restaurant.html
http://www.oldworld.ws/sc_bread.html
Quiet, not ultra expensive lunch, near UC Irvine campus
I second Britta's for breakfast or lunch. Britta could not be nicer, the food could not be better, and good for us, but bad for her, it is never hard to get in.
Best spots open late - Orange County
Jerry's Famous Deli near South Coast Plaza is 24-7.
3210 Park Center Drive
Costa Mesa, Ca 92626
Tel: 714-662-3354
Review of Leatherby's Cafe Rouge in Segerstrom Hall
For my money and time, Chat Noir can't be beat for the Pre-Theater menu. http://www.culinaryadventures.com/restaurants/chat_noir/theatre.html $40 per person for champagne, their awesome Parmesan-Garlic Potato Chips, Escargots, Short Ribs, and Creme Brulee makes for quite an evening. Of course we always add another glass of wine, or two, or cocktails...
Great for Pops or Broadway shows, but don't try eating and drinking this much before a slow symphony or it will be good night...
Quiet, not ultra expensive lunch, near UC Irvine campus
No problem. Despite all of the choices above, I went to Champagnes Market (Bison and MacArthur) for their Turkey Meatball sandwich. I am constantly amazed by all of the good food they have there. BTW - I work with CB on the brokerage side all the time. Say Hi to Snell & Schneider for me.
Time to add an Orange County Board or refine the categories
Sorry, I have been duly chastized. But it still felt good to post...
Quiet, not ultra expensive lunch, near UC Irvine campus
I think that my office must be next door to yours. Let me begn by saying that none of the reccomendations below are going to knock your socks off culinarily speaking. These are the best, non-chain, restaurants for lunch in our area (IMO).
My go-to for a quick lunch is Arnie's Manhattan Deli on Birch Street because you can always get in and the corned beef is great. (1660 Dove Street).
I just went to a newish Asian buffett called Hokkaido (4220 Scott Drive) for lunch yesterday. For $9.99 it was not bad, but I am not going to say that it was good. http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/327937. I say Asian because there is marginal sushi and marginal Chinese food all mixed up into one gigantic buffett. For $9.99 it is at least interesting and non-expensive.
Clayton Shirley's BBQ up MacArthur is a nice quick lunch when you are in the mood for BBQ. (4341 MacArthur)
Next door to that center, the Radisson Hotel's restaurant Tiffany's http://www.radissonnewportbeach.com/dining.html does a good job and tries hard to vary the menu.
Both Cafe Panini and Ten have really good food and aren't impossible to get it for lunch.
I haven't tried the new Indian place Saagar (4248 Martingale) yet.
I took a client to lunch at Hamburger Mary's (4221 Dolphin Striker Way) and it was unique and above-average bar food, but not particularly quiet. Be advised that since it changed from Trophies, it has taken on a much more "flamboyant" theme. It is not a bad thing, it is just something to be aware of should you take a business associate there. When our bill was presented in a red, high-heeled pump, my client looked at me a little bit funny.
Mezzanine Restauarnt on the first floor in the Newport Gateway towers (next door to you?) has some interesting dishes and specials and is rarely crowded. They also do Murder Mystery dinners called the Gourmet Detective http://www.gourmetdetective.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16&Itemid=30".
The food court at Jamboree Promenade (Jamboree and Dupont) has good Mexican and Gyros and the Food Court at Main and Cartwright (mentioned above with Chicago's Best) has lots of good choices for a quick lunch.
If you have more time and money to spend, Bistango is probably my top reco for this area. http://www.bistango.com/ The $17.75 two-course lunch is a favorite of mine with garlic soup to start and California Chicken Salad, Seared Diver Scallops, Crab and Lobster Cake, Pizzas, Calzone, Fettuccine, Fusilli, Potato Gnocchi or Penne as choices for main entree. I like the California Chicken Salad. Bistango's owners will be opening up a new restaurant called Kimera in the center where Equinox Fitness just went in.
Two more and then I need to go to lunch because all of this talk is making me hungry:
Vessia Ristorante http://www.vessia.com/ at the center at Barranca and Culver for upscale Italian can't be beat.
Stonefire Grill (next door) http://www.stonefiregrill.com/SF.html for decidedly more downscale but good and cheap food. Their small BBQ Chopped salad feeds my wife and I for two meals each.
Good Luck!
Time to add an Orange County Board or refine the categories
I have read through past postings calling for a San Diego Board as well as the reasons for and against further dividing the boards into smaller geographic regions and that combined with my frustration at trying to find a good cassoulet in Orange County have prompted me to write this diatribe.
First Some Metrics:
*Orange County has over 3 Million people making it the second largest County (by population) in California (behind LA and just ahead of San Diego).
*If Orange County were a country, its gross metro product (GMP) in 2003 would rank 42nd in the world – ahead of such nations as Ireland, Iran, and Thailand. Orange County has the 11th largest gross product, behind Los Angeles (2nd) and Boston (4th) and ahead of
Minneapolis-St. Paul (12th), Phoenix (13th), and San Diego (14th).
*Tourism is one of the leading industries in Orange County, accounting for 9% of the county’s employment in 2004.
*In 2003, Orange County’s per capita income of $39,268 was higher
than the California and the United States pci. When compared to economic peers, it was higher than all except for Boston and Santa Clara County. This is the per capita income only. The median income is over $84,000.
*Citysearch lists 8,109 restaurants for Orange County (I couldn't find a better metric or source than this). (San Diego was 6,000+ and Los Angeles was over 34,000).
What is the point of all of this? The point is that it is extremely hard to find postings relevant to Orange County. In fact, one must usually search both the "Los Angeles" and "California" boards to make sure that the OC is covered. I know that OC postings are supposed to be on the LA Board. The problem with this is that between LA, SD, and OC, there is just too much information to have on one board. I saw some suggestions on the San Diego thread earlier with the concept of limiting a search to a geographic area rather than adding a whole new board. If that can be accomplished, I think that it would help to make sure that no single board dies from lack of interest, but would assist in finding information. I wouldn't mind an extra step in my posting to check boxes on a post saying, "Relevant to: California, Southern California, Orange County, (Maybe Even City?)" That way, people could base their searches on more specific categories.
Please help me Chowhound staff. I wish that I had enough time to search through all of the LA postings to find OC gems, but usually I am forcing my wife to hold while I frantically try to find an alternative to the numerous chains in the area.
Do it because we have not one but two TV shows dedicated to the OC (The OC and Laguna Beach, three if Arrested Development counts and four if the Real Housewives of the OC counts).
Do it so my wife doesn't ban me from Chowhound.
Do it for the good of my personal culinary experiences.
Please?
