A Fusion of Italy and Saltwater Beaches

Smack-dab in the middle of Venice Beach, there lies a little Italian restaurant called C&O Trattoria. This place is right next to the beach and has a very nice view of the ocean. My girlfriend and I took a trip to Venice Beach for fun and wanted to explore the food places around there. We then went on yelp and searched "Italian". To our demise, this place has 4 stars with around 1500 reviews; now THAT'S amazing!

When we arrived we were seated right away because the time was 4pm and not many people like to eat dinner in the afternoon. The waiter came up to us and gave a pretty unusual attitude. He was nice but mean at the same time, kind of like your best friend who like to act like an ass but you know is extremely generous. He took our food and drink orders and brought out their "bread and butter", but this place is apparently known for the garlic balls that they give out. These are literally just balls of dough baked to perfection with loads of garlic chunks and butters all over them. Also, we heard that many of their customers like to bring these garlic balls home. Anyways, I ordered a pasta dish with super soft beef short ribs and my girlfriend got the rigatoni with chicken. Both of our dishes were amazing! As we left, the waiter gave us a box of freshly baked garlic balls without us even asking. Overall, the service was excellent and the food was even better. Definitely a good place to eat because after being so full, there's a beach literally at your feet to walk it off.

YELP

The Capital Grille

For my birthday, my girlfriend surprised me with a dinner at The Capital Grille.

I have never heard of the restaurant so i was curious on what they had to offer. it is located on a corner of South Coast Plaza mall. At first i thought it would be cheap and tacky since it was located at the mall but i was wrong. We both walked in and were asked to go upstairs. There is an elevator if you are unable to use the stairs. The restaurant was not super busy but it is required to have a reservation to be seated. As we walked to our table i notice how everyone was dressed in a formal matter except for me. So remember to dress accordingly! We got seated and i notice they had a birthday card and very subtle decorations on the table. I thought i was very nice of them to do so for my birthday. The decor of the overall restaurant is very classy, and i felt like i was eating at a fine dining restaurant. Our waiter Brian, was awesome and showed us recommendation he had. We then got the menu and a plate of a variety of breads. As i looked at the menu, i can tell that this place is PRICEY. They are known for their steaks which vary from 40-60$. I then ordered the Delmonico steak which is a 22 oz. and my girlfriend ordered the wagyu filet witch was 50$ each plate. We also ordered the Lobster Mac n cheese, which was a 17$ appetizer. As we got our appetizer, it came on a decently size hot plate. The serving was perfectly enough for 2 people. The Lobster did not taste fresh but was very tasty. I really do recommend getting this as an appetizer. We then got our main course dishes and my steak was huge and my girlfriend’s plate was tiny (7 oz.). We both ordered our steaks medium rare, and it came out rarer as intended. Typically i order my steaks rare so it was perfect. My girlfriend's plate was to red for her so we had to ask to recook it. The steaks only come with the steaks itself. i thought for the price of the steaks, would include a side but it does not. My steak was very juicy and the rub and season of the steak was very unique. The Wagyu plate was very tender and cuts like butter. I actually prefer the Wagyu more, although it cost 50$ for a small steak. My steak was too much for one guy to eat so I had to take it home. They generously took my plate to the back to package my food Togo themselves. Before the waiter gave our check he surprises us with a birthday desert. It consisted of cheesecake, and a brownie with a candle. The Bill came out to be $150 after tax and tip. All in all, the restaurant wasn't too bad. The service was great, but for the money, I wouldn't recommend this place. I guess if you can afford it, then by all means give it a try.

YELP

Delmonico Steak 

Lobster Mac n Cheese

Local Watering Hole

The Balcony Grill and Bar in Diamond Jamboree plaza in Irvine features a lax environment to sit back and relax.  The dim lighting and plush couches in parts of the restaurant.  There is a nearly full bar to the right of the establishment.  This is one of the only decent bars in Irvine and is very popular with the young Asian American crowd.  The owner of the place, Paul, can be found pretty much every day there.  He usually goes around to help out the servers as well as talk to the customers.  Very friendly guy.  On the weekends, he pushes around his special drink cart.  It features several bottles, some quality beer, mixers and different sized cups.  It is usually $5-$7 dollars for any drink on there, depending on quality.

Usually when I come here for a drink after work with the coworkers, the calamari is always a must.  During their happy hour which is from 9PM-Closing on Sunday - Thursday, the Magic Calamari is only $5.  The Golden Mushrooms are also very good if you're the mushroom type of person.  Careful though, they come out very hot.  So sit back and relax while they cool down with the Buddha Beer.

Service here is not always the best.  It all boils down to the server that you get.  Some are very good and friendly, others seem like they hate their job.  Besides that, the food is good, alcohol is cheap, and great atmosphere.  Good job Paul.  

YELP

Breakfast Club

Many people forget that breakfast is the most important meal of day! I feel that when people think of the breakfast, they think of Denny’s. Well on a warm Sunday morning, a friend and I wanted to get breakfast, but we didn't want to do a normal Denny's type of restaurant but at the same time i did not want to break the bank. my friend recommended Omelette House in garden grove. I took a quick peak at it on yelp and it had pretty good reviews. It was around 11:00 which was barley morning but still perfect for breakfast food. We eventually find the place, which was a little hard to find thanks to the Saters bros' kind of blocking it. The parking is limited but there is additional packing on the side. The moment i got seated, the restaurant's theme caught my eye. The environment has an

 old breakfast inn feel which is a good change is coming from a Denny's breakfast eater. The atmosphere here is great because you see many families come to get breakfast which makes you feel you're at home when eating here. The friend and i both ordered orange juice and was presented with menus. The orange juice is like your typical OJ in the carton. The menu was interesting because it had no pictures, which made it hard for me to choose. Our server had no problem describing the menu items and he even told us some recommendations he had. I then decided to get one the more popular dishes which was the, "Hobo" omelette. It is an omelette stuffed with smoked bacon, sausage, ham, bell peppers, green onion, with cheddar cheese. With a purchase of an omelette you are given a side of home fries or hash browns, and your choice of toast. I went with the hash browns and white toast. My friend ordered the berry good French toast which sounded delicious as well. It took around 30 minutes to get our food which in my honest opinion on the slower side to get our dishes. The dishes looked great. My large plate had a decently sized omelette with hash browns and toast with a spread of butter on it. My friends dish had 6 half sliced pieces of French toast with a generous serving of mixed berries with whipped cream. The omelette tasted nice and fluffy and you can taste all of the goodies inside of the omelette. The toast and the hash browns were pretty normal and for $8.25, it felt like it was worth the cost. i had a taste of my friend's plate and it was really good. The toast was really moist and the perfect amount of sweetness. All of the berries felt ripe and in season and the whip cream tasted as if it was made in house. I would like to also add that the presentation of the plate was very pretty. i highly recommend getting the french toast! Overall my visit to omelette house was pretty satisfactory, but it won’t be my last. I really do think this a very good alternative to your typical Denny's restaurant. I feel that this restaurant has a lot to offer and is your perfect way to start your day. 

YELP

Warming Up to Hotpot

On an aimless Thursday night, my friends and I hit up Mokkoji Shabu Shabu Bar in Irvine.  For those unfamiliar with it, Shabu Shabu is hotpot.  You’re given a choice of seasoned broth which is placed before you on your individual electric burner.  You order your choice of meat, which comes with a selection of veggies, and then you get cooking.

Our group of six was seated after a bit of a wait, but the servers were very courteous.  We got a seat at the bar and got to see the owner and head chef hard at work.

Chef and owner with Mokkoji branded tofu.

     

Ponzu on the left and Goma on the right.

Shabu shabu also typically comes with two dipping sauces for your meat and vegetables.  There is the ponzu sauce, which is a little salty and sour.  The other is the goma sauce, which is peanut based and a bit on the sweet and spicy side.  One of the neat little gimmicks at Mokkoji is the opportunity to grind your own sesame seeds for the goma sauce.  It’s always a fun little activity while waiting for the broth to boil.  

Mokkoji stamped tofu with the veggies.

I ordered the original broth and managed to get a dollop of their spicy soup base in it.  For meat, beef belly is super delicious.  It’s sometimes a hard choice between their ribeye and their beef belly, both of which are good quality and very tasty.  Beef belly offers a little bit more bang for buck with nearly the same amount of meat for slightly fewer dollars.  They also have a fantastic new presentation for it that includes slivered green onions and mashed garlic with carrots.

Delicious beef belly.

Hotpot in progress.

They also had a deal for two dollar Sapporo beers, to which a few of our friends just could not say no.

After eating most of the meat and veggies, there was a small pile of udon noodles left on the plate.  Once we were mostly finished with our hotpot, we asked our server for the soup base.  It comes in another small bowl.  Heating up the noodles in the hotpot, we spooned the noodles and some of the hotpot broth into the soup base, and we had a yummy noodle dish.

   

Yummy squid ink.

As we were there for dinner, Mokkoji offers a complimentary porridge to finish the meal.  It is rice cooked in the left over broth of the individual hotpots, and it comes in three flavors: squid ink, vegetable, and kimchi.

The overall meal was filling and delicious, and ran about twenty dollars a person after tax and tip.  For those wishing to try hotpot for a bit cheaper, Mokkoji has a wonderful lunch selection at a great price as well, roughly twelve dollars before tax and tip.

 All in all, cozying up to hotpot at Mokkoji was a great way to spend the evening.

Better Than Korean BBQ? Much Better..

In a tiny little plaza about half a mile from the infamous mall called South Coast Plaza, there is a hidden jewel that only a few of us were fortunate to experience. This heaven sent restaurant is called Anjin. This place is a classier and more organized twist to a Korean BBQ. It was a Tuesday night and my girlfriend and I had arrived around 7:30pm. The wait was only 30 minutes, which was very surprising because my mother and I had waited 2 hours on a Monday night before. As we sat down, the waiter greeted us with much hospitality and asked us what we wanted to drink. I got the Iced Green Tea while my girlfriend just had some hot tea. We looked around and noticed a few things that they provided for us. There is a grill for you to cook your meat and a sauce tray that has two distinct sauces in them. One is a sweet sesame sauce, and the other is a light yet sweet soy sauce. As we looked through the menu, the item names were already making our mouths water. To start off, we got one order of the beef tongue and the short rib soup. The beef tongue was served with a side sauce of lemon juice that paired it perfectly. The short rib soup came out and the waiter was kind enough to separate it into two bowls for us. We then decided to order more meat: the marbled prime rib eye, and the prime outside skirt. Both were EXTREMELY rich in flavor and tenderness. Rice was not included so we had to order that extra. Also, their Japanese kimchi was perfectly made, and if you're asking me, I think the taste is better than Korean kimchi. Once the meat arrived, we were in awe as to how marbled the meat really was. Every piece of meat seemed like it was cut with precision in order to have such structured fat within the meat. After we were done eating, we ordered some red bean and green tea ice cream. Although the meal was a bit pricey, the quality level of this place was OVER 9000!! I can guarantee anybody who tries this place for the first time will end up saying, "Forget Korean BBQ! Let's go here from now on!" Well, assuming they have the money.

Seafood Bliss

Seafood lovers rejoice!  For inside the busy Diamond Jamboree plaza located in the City of Irvine right on the corner of Jamboree and Alton is a little gem of a restaurant.  On weekends and nights, this quiet plaza comes to life from all the shops that people frequent here from 85° Bakery which is never without a line to Tokyo Table for fine Japanese cuisine, as well as the famous Kickin Crab.  A restaurant renowned in Orange County for its own twist on Cajun style seafood.  Having been featured on Fox 11 "Food Secrets of OC", this restaurant lives up to the name it has acquired.

My girlfriend and I came here on a Friday evening at around 6:00PM.  The parking was not as bad as we thought it would be.  Upon entering the double door entrance, you are promptly greeted by one of the many friendly servers working, not before the wonderful Cajun scent fills your noses.  You are then asked if you'd like to sit out on the patio or inside the cozy store.  This is the only Cajun style restaurant in the OC that has outdoor seating that I know of.  I opted for indoor seating to enjoy the atmosphere the upbeat restaurant creates.  After the 15 minute wait we were seated in the back of the restaurants by the bar.  Back there is a wall with wood planks bolted on the walls where patrons can put their mark with sharpies on the wall.  On the adjacent wall is an aquarium looking recessed area that has color changing lights, which was very cool.  Our server was quick to welcome us after we had sat down and asked us for drinks.  This was when I looked through the menu at the extensive beer selection, all bottles unfortunately.  I ordered the Blue Moon beer and my girlfriend got a Coke.  The server came back much quicker than we had expected and we had not have had enough time to review the menu.  She had asked us if we had any questions but we didn't so she told us to take our time, even though they had a wait outside.  After a few minutes she had come back and we were ready to order.

We decided to go with the Combo #1 $30.99 which includes two pounds of shrimp or crawfish, one pound of clams, two corns, two potatoes, and four pieces of sausages.  We went with the two pounds of shrimp and a pound of clams. She then asked us which kind of seasoning (sauce) we would like.  We chose the Kickin style sauce in medium.  The other sauces were Cajun, Louisiana, Lemon Pepper and Garlic Butter.  The spice levels include mild, medium, spicy, and spicy spicy.  I would have gotten the spicy spicy but my girlfriend cannot handle that much heat.  We also got the Cajun Calamari and of course Cajun fries.  You cannot go to one of these places and not eat some Cajun fries with the seafood.  After ordering, our server came back to give us some limes, salt and pepper, and a bib for both of us.

Our food came out after about 15 minutes, which was quite quick considering how busy they were.  The bag came steaming with the Cajun spices and smell of seafood.  The appetizers also came out at the same time.

We then dumped the bag of seafood and its sides out onto the wax paper on the table because I think it looks the most appetizing in this form.  Other people like to just pull the seafood from the bag.  The shrimp was cooked perfectly.  Nice and plump and not overcooked at all.  The sauce was delicious as expected.  It was just the right amount of saltiness, spice, and sweetness.  Some of the other places similar to this tend to over season their sauce with too much salt.  Some of the clams had fallen out of their shell and resided in the sauce outside of their shell covered in the delicious sauce.  If it was not unhealthy to drink this stuff, I would.  The sausages were a great as well.  The corn had soaked in the juices and were a little spicier than the sauce normally is.  I didn't care too much for the potatoes since I didn't want all those carbs in my body.  You can see the hypocrisy in that statement considering I just came to eat food that isn't all that healthy.  The Cajun fries and calamari dipped in the Kickin sauce is my little piece of heaven.  During this entire time, the server was very attentive to us.  She asked us if we had needed anything several times but we were too busy stuffing our face with the food.  Our waters were also refilled whenever needed.  It felt like she was right there eating with us.

All in all the intimate feel and delicious seafood that this place provides is definitely worth trying out.  The atmosphere, service, and food gives this place a 9/10 in my books.  Would return again (probably in the next few days!)