Orange County – Page 7

Anna’s Mondu – Garden Grove(OC)

January 28, 2008 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants, Orange County, Road Trip

**** Anna's Mondu has closed

This ever happen to you? I'm having dinner at Sammy's, and in keeping with the neighborly atmosphere I start up conversation with a nice young fellow, whom I've never seen before. And of course, the conversation drifts to food…..and to Orange County(where this young man is from), with sights directly set on Garden Grove(where this fellow lives). During the conversation, he mentions a little hole in the wall that makes hand made Mandu(aka Korean Dumplings). Talk about getting my attention…not having paper handy, I quickly scribble the name down on the back of my hand near my wrist. Oookay, I get home, grab some paper, and as I'm ready to write down the name of the place….and I notice that part of it is smeared…so it looks like "Ahn's Mandu" or maybe "Ann's Mandu". No problemo, the Internet is such a great tool, so I start typing this stuff in, and several combinations, and nada! So I check all my favorite Orange County Food Blogs; Chubbypanda, Monster Munching, Wandering Chopsticks…but again, nothing! Egad…what to do?? I'm left crying over smeared ink, or lost mandu….like two dumplings passing in the night….. After stewing for a few weeks, I finally had to make a trip down to Orange County, and vaguely recalling the directions; "22 freeway West, exit Brookhurst, it's on Garden Grove", I arrived in the area I call "Koreatown South", the Korean Business District that runs along Garden Grove Boulevard. Boy, is this place growing like crazy….looks like at least 2 new "gallerias", as they call 'em, are under construction.

After a short drive on Garden Grove Boulevard, I see this sign:

Geeez no wonder…..it's spelled Mondu, not Mandu like I'm used too. And right in the front window was a large laminated copy of Gustavo Arrellano's OC Weekly Article…… I entered the tiny hole-in-the wall, the dining area consists of 4 tables, 3 four tops(I'm being very generous with the term "four"), and one sorta, kinda communal table. There was one young man reading a magazine, and an older woman with a warm smile who greeted me in Korean….to which my response was a fumbling, "sorry, I don't speak Korean", etc, etc, etc….. The woman smiled and pointed to the "menu" posted on the wall:

I recognized a few items like Dduk Bo Ki and Kimbap(think Korean futomaki), but I had come here for Mandu, or if you prefer Mondu. So I asked the lady, who half answered, half pointed to the "combo A"($7.95), as well as the nice photo on the opposite wall. Which looked great to me.

I had a seat, and a battered old tea pot with a tea bag tag sticking out arrived. And after a while, the young man's Dduk Bo Ki arrived, as well a a couple of dishes of panchan. A few minutes later a large steamer arrived at my table:

As I removed the steamer lid, the smoky-woodsy smell of a well seasoned bamboo steamer met my nose…a scent so warm and comforting, that I wanted to give that 'ol steamer a bear hug. The steamer contained 5 pork and vegetable steamed mandu, and 4 large rustic looking mandu that I've never had before. Later I would learn that these are called Wang Mandu.

Along with the steamer, 3 plates of panchan arrived:

The best of the lot was the Water Radish Kimchi, which was so very refreshing.

The wang mandu is sort of like Baozi, the filling was a pretty tasty combination of various vegetables and pork. I'd have preferred my dough a bit more light and fluffy. The steamed mando was also pretty good, nice wrappers were a bit on the dry side, but there was nice home made feel to it. These were fine with a light dip in soy-vinegar-chili powder.

For me the best item was this:

Once, a friend of mine back home in Hawaii, made some home made Fried Mandu for my Birthday, the likes of which I'd never had before. This was the closest I've ever had in terms of texture; initially crunchy, with a good chew, and well flavored filling to boot. Not the most photogenic mandu, but I loved the rustic and home made look. The woman, who I'm assuming is "Anna" enjoyed watching me eat….and asked me how the food was several times. When I mentioned that everything tastes good, and hand made, she stuck her hands out palms down and said with a proud smile, "yes, everything made with this…."

While I continued eating, "Anna" sat down with what looked like some Japchae, and started eating. A minute later she, asked me, "you eat squash?", and proceeded to pass me a little bowl of panchan. Sticking her hand out and putting her index finger and thumb parallel with a space of about an inch-and-a-half between them, squinting one eye, she told me, "this small squash".

This was actually squid, and it was delici-yoso, spicy, sweet, umami…..surprised that I enjoyed it, my bowl was refilled twice…..just like Mom would!

The damage….a grand total of $8.50. I left Anna's stuffed and satisfied. For me, decent hand made mandu is a rarity. And I thoroughly enjoyed the homestyle service. This was a one man, or more accurately one woman show, at least on my visit. Things may take some time…..but you wouldn't rush Mom, would you?

Anna's Mondu
9972 Garden Grove Blvd
Garden Grove, CA 92844

Road Trip: Sakura Saku – Huntington Beach(OC)

December 5, 2007 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Orange County, Road Trip

**** Sakura Saku has closed

On a recent trip to Orange County, I was beset by hunger. Not really quite sure if I should make the trip over the 405 freeway to Westminster, or just keep driving in what seemed to be fast food and chain restaurant hell. When out of the corner of my eye, I spied a little restaurant next to a Michael's.

My curiosity piqued, I decided to pull over into a parking space in this vast strip mall parking lot, and check the place out. I was still wondering what drew me into this little restaurant….it sure wasn't the Hello Kitty motif, but there was a kind of charm and a quaint kind of vibe to the place. Looking over the large menu, it became clear that this was a little mom-and-pop Japanese Fast Food joint, with items like Salmon Onigiri, Vegetable Curry rice, and Oyako Donburi on the menu.

The really nice older Gentleman, took my order, and I had a seat. Meanwhile two groups of young people entered, they ordered quickly….they had obviously been here before and knew what they wanted.

I started(yes, started….I was starving) with Pork Cutlet Combo(Tonkatsu Combo $7.00). When the food arrived I was a bit disappointed with the portion size, which seemed on the small side(except for the rice).

The small pork cutlet was nicely breaded though on the tough side. It was covered with a good amount of katsu sauce. The "salad" was shredded iceberg lettuce, with a mild mayo based dressing…I've had this salad many times, mainly from Bento-ya's back home in Hawaii. The yakisoba was a stroll down memory lane…..it tasted almost like my Mom's! Mildy salty, with just a touch of sweetness, not the most amazing Yakisoba, but it brought back nice memories.

I had also placed an order for a side of Chicken Karaage($3.50). Compared to the Tonkatsu, this was quite a bit of food for a side order….three large pieces of chicken thigh, marinated, dusted with a corn starch-flour coat, and deep fried.

This really tasted home made…like it came from the kitchen of someone's Mom. The flavor was sweeter than most versions of chicken karaage, but it was still pretty good. In fact, I would have done well with a couple of onigiri and a side order of this….or even a Chicken Karaage Combo($6.00).

Meanwhile one of the young men on a nearby table was eating the strangest bowl…..it smelled like taco meat…..and when I inquired, I was told, it was something called "Taco Rice", which was taco meat topped with cheese, tomato, and lettuce on a bowl of rice! I was told that the "young people like it." Now why didn't I think of that??? The menu also features versions of shaved ice, Udon, Curry Rice, and other items……all created with a home made touch.

The food at Sakura Saku won't set the culinary world on fire, in fact based on the tonkatsu I'd say YMMV(Your mileage may vary), but in the vein of fast food, it is a more than worthy alternative to all those chain fast food places. Nice folks as well. Heck, I wish we had a Sakura Saku in our neighborhood….I know I'd be eating there often.

Sakura Saku
7572 Edinger Ave
Huntington Beach, CA 92647

Hours: Mon-Sat 11am-9pm

Postscript: Food blogger extraordinaire Elmo of Monster Munching, went ahead and had the Taco Rice. You can read his post here.

Road Trip: Ha Noi Restaurant – Westminster(OC)

August 23, 2007 mmm-yoso Orange County, Road Trip, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Ha Noi has closed

A few months back, the one and only Wandering Chopsticks was nice enough to share a list of restaurant recommendations with me. Needless to say, it is quite an exhaustive list. One of the restaurants on that list was Ha Noi Restaurant located on…where else? Bolsa Avenue. On a recent weekend the Missus had to drop off a gift for a friend who moved back to the OC. I immediately saw a large "window of opportunity" open up in front of me. Leaving a bit "early" we arrived at the strip mall that houses Ha Noi at about 1015am. It was quite obvious that the strip mall was going over an extensive face-lift.

The parking lot was also packed.

Luckily, I noticed that there was some parking available in the back of the strip mall. We made our way to the fairly small restaurant, which was almost full. But the thing that caught my attention where the Servers, there were at least 6 of them, where walking very, very, quickly dropping off food, busing tables, taking orders. They all seemed to be going in a circular pattern…..like they were trying to qualify for pole position at the Indy 500.

For some reason watching these Guys move, made us feel kinda pressured to do things quickly….

We placed our order, and a few minutes later, all our "stuff" started to arrive.

Need an inventory? 2 plates Bun(rice vermicelli), 3 plates of various greens, 1 plate of sliced onions, lime, and jalapenos, 1 plate with sesame crackers and peanuts, 1 bowl of Nuoc Mam, 1 bowl of fermented shrimp paste, 1 bowl of fermented shrimp sauce…this was just the "garnishes" if you will!

The Missus just had to order the Bun Rieu($5.50):

Per the Missus, mushy noodles, not enough savory seafood flavor, and too much tomato……

As for me….well I had been craving Bun Cha Hanoi($6), so I made sure to order that.

This was good, better than anything in San Diego, that's for sure. The sauce had a nice balanced sweet-salty flavor. The pork meatballs, and the grilled pork both were well flavored, and not too tough. Dropped into a bowl with Bun, lettuce and various herbs and some pickles, and have at it.

Not nearly as good, as what we ate at Beach's, but it did "scratch that food itch".

A few months back, I had the great pleasure of having dinner with a friend's(2 of them actually) family. Their Mom invited the Missus and I to dinner, and when I saw what they were making I was quite happy! She made Cha Ca Thang Long, and was quite surprised when I knew what it was! since that time, I've been itching to have it again. So I was so glad when I clearly read "Cha Ca Thang Long" on the banner. Of course we ordered it(Cha Ca Thang Long for 2, $13.95):

This is a turmeric flavored fish served with dill, served on a bed of onions, on a sizzling plate. Eating is basically the same drill as the Bun Cha Hanoi. All topped off with a nice spoonful of savory fermented shrimp sauce. I thought the amount of dill was sufficient for the dish, and the caramelized onions, with the addition of more onions, had a nice flavor. The fish was very soft and tender, and the mild flavor was balanced out by the dill which also served to cut the oil. If we still lived in LA, we'd be here on a pretty regular basis. Again, this was not quite as good as the home made version we had, but was still enough to cure my craving.

We noticed that almost every single table(except the one where everybody was eating what looked like Chow Mein) had either, or both, the Bun Cha Hanoi or Cha Ca. So I guess we did ok. Feeling the pressure of the hustle and bustle, we finished everything within 45 minutes…that includes ordering and waiting for our food! As we left, people were starting to line up outside……….I wouldn't worry, they'd get a table soon enough!

Ha Noi Restaurant
9082 Bolsa Ave
Westminster, CA 92683

Road Trip: Inka Mama’s Peruvian Cuisine – Foothill Ranch (OC)

August 12, 2007 mmm-yoso Orange County, Peruvian Restaurants, Road Trip

Recently, we had to attend to some business in the Lake Forest/Foothill Ranch area, and went looking for some sustenance. The sign and the words "Peruvian Cuisine" stood out as a better alternative to the various chain restaurants in the area. And since the Missus is now addicted to Cebiche, we just had to stop here.

Inka Mama’s interior is very well adorned in rich browns, and the two Servers, who appeared to be the Owners were very warm and friendly…practically oozing warmth. They literally couldn’t help themselves but dance to the music.

Of course the Missus started with the Ceviche (Cebiche Pescado – $11.95):

We had kinda wondered about the prices, since they seemed a bit high for the location, but the the portion sizes were quite large, and the Cebiche was no exception. I found the fish to be overly tough and stringy, and the Leche de Tigre ("Tiger’s Milk" – the Cebiche Marinade) to be extremely sour. I prefer more balance between the sour-salty-spicy flavors. I’m glad the dish was studded with Cancha (fried corn kernels). After a bite, I needed a big sip of Inca Cola($2) to clear my palate. The Missus enjoyed this more than I, though when She tried to drink the Leche de Tigre, Her face turned into a sour pucker, not seen since I told Her that I couldn’t tell the difference between Her Chanel handbag, and a similar knockoff…….

I had ordered the Chicharon De Pollo ($8.95):

This was an immensely tasty and satisfying dish on many levels. Boneless, skinless chicken thighs had been marinated in a garlic-lime mixture, than deep fried until the exterior was a beautiful brown color. The chicken was topped with a mildly biting, but refreshing Salza Criolla (Salsa Criolla/Zarsa Criolla), a simple relish of thinly sliced red onion, lime, cilantro, and some chilies. The flavor of the moist dark meat chicken and the relish was excellent. The various textures complemented the flavors well. So good, it’s worth another look!

The Missus ordered the Cabrito Norteno ($14.45):

This stew was made with lamb instead of kid, and is also known as Seco De Cordero, and Cabrito(or Cordero) al a Nortena. The thickened sauce is flavored with cilantro and garlic, and in this case the flavors were balanced out with the Sarza Criolla.

Served with a large portion of beans and rice, the Missus wasn’t able to finish….so I took over, and wiped the plate clean.

What about my entree? Well, totally against character(and possibly in response to the, "sheesh you’re so boring and predictable" comments from the Missus), I ordered something a bit different from what I’ll usually try the first time(aka Lomo…). I went with the Ajiaco de Pescado($13.45):

Described as Cod Filet seasoned in a spicy garlic chili sauce, this was not very spicy, and though I could taste some onions and cilantro, there wasn’t much garlic flavor. It was a very thin tomato based sauce studded with diced potatoes. The Cod was very dry, and tasted very fishy…even for me. I guess I had expected more powerful flavors.

Still, based on the Chicharon de Pollo, I’d say this was a good meal. If we visit again, we’ll definitely order that, and I’d go with some basic dishes…and maybe some fried ones. As I mentioned before, the service was warm and friendly…oh yes, and the Lucuma(Egg Fruit) Ice Cream was nice and refreshing. Funny thing is…..Egg Fruit grows in Hawaii! I had never had it, and would never have known, until I did a bit of research. I’ve seen these trees before, but never thought the fruit was edible!

Inka Mama’s Peruvian Cuisine
26676 Portola Pkwy, Suite B
Foothill Ranch, CA 92610
(949) 951-6262

Hours – Mon-Thurs 11am-3pm, 5pm-9pm
Fri 11am-3pm, 5pm-10pm
Sat-Sun 1130am-9pm

Road Trip: Miyabi Tei – Costa Mesa(OC)

April 3, 2007 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Orange County, Road Trip

On the way back to San Diego on a recent shopping trip in Orange County, we decided to drop by Mitsuwa Marketplace for a late lunch. Winding away through the cramped and snaking parking lot with very small stalls, we thought that we’d be okay since it was nearly 2 pm, and figured that most people would be shopping and not eating. Boy were we wrong, the food court was a madhouse, and every seat was taken, with people in the aisles waiting to pounce on any open table!

The picture above was taken as we were leaving……

We had thought about doing an "about face" and marching directly back to the car, and fight our way out of the parking lot, but we gave in to hunger. Especially after checking out what everyone else was eating…..and all of the plastic food.

We first thought of Santouka, but the lines were outrageous. So we settled on the place that had the best looking plastic food in the house; Miyabi Tei, which had a line of it’s own.

I know there’s something witty to say about the girl with the snow cone red hair and plastic food….but I’m really not able to think of anything right now.

While I waited for our food, the Missus started circling looking for an open table. She was still circling when I picked up our food. I felt very uncomfortable circling around and standing between tables, our tray of food in hand. Hovering over a couple having lunch provokes a strong feeling of guilt. I couldn’t help but feel like a vulture….circling for my prey. And a very unlucky vulture at that. I noticed three basic ways that people reacted when they see someone waiting for a table they are occupying. The first, "the wolfers" always makes me really feel guilty, they start wolfing their food down like there’s no tomorrow, and I feel really bad about disrupting their lunch. Another set, the "zen masters" are able to block everything out, and act if you are not there…such concentration! The third set, which I have a name for, but am not able to write about without a massive use of profanity, will purposely s-l-o-w down, and look up at you, and move as if eating underwater, and perhaps start a conversation among themselves about Einstein’s theory of relativity….

After all of that, we finally found some room at one of the large communal counters. By this time we were ravenous. The Missus had ordered the Zaru Soba and Una Don(Eel Rice Bowl) combination($6.75):

She managed to suck this down in an instant. Between bites, she gave me Her critique. Good Unagi(fresh water eel), no muddy flavor, the sauce was good, not overly salty, and rice….you can’t go wrong with rice. The Zaru Soba was not so good, the noodles overcooked and the sauce tasted watered down. In Her mind this was worth $6.75!

The sample of the special of the day, the Chicken Katsu Curry($5.75) totally sucked me in.

This was a very generous amount of food for the price. I liked the curry, it wasn’t overly sweet, and had a very nice flavor, if a bit on the "thin" side. Great on rice! The chicken katsu had not been cooked properly, the breading was on the oily side, and the (dark meat) chicken really tough.

Don’t ask me about that boiled egg, it belonged to the Missus. I’ll definitely be back for the Curry!

We managed to finish everything in less than 15 minutes. In fact, it took us longer to find seats than to eat! I still wonder what the people sharing the counter with us thought; the two of us eating like Longshoremen, describing the taste of the food between bites…..we must’ve appeared quite odd.

The prices at Miyabi Tei are very reasonable, and we thought we got our money’s worth. Though I think we’ll try to eat at either a very early, or very late time in the future. On our way back to the freeway we passed a McDonalds, and the Missus said, "you know, a lunch at McDonalds equivalent in size to what we had would cost about the same…"(leave it to the mathematician) Which would you rather have?

Miyabi Tei(in the Mitsuwa Marketplace Food Court)
665 Paularino Ave
Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Engrish Lesson for the Day….

"What kind of name is that for a place is that?"

"Huh?"

"Roach-chi Bo-Bo’s"

I almost drove off the road!!!!

Road Trip: A & J Restaurant – Irvine(OC)

March 19, 2007 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Niu Rou Mian, Orange County, Road Trip

Don't you just hate it when you drive 80 miles to your destination, and find that the restaurant is unable to serve you because of a water pipe break? Well, it's no one's fault, just one of those things….but here we were in Irvine, trying to think of a plan B. The only place that came to mind was A & J, right off the Jeffrey Road offramp.

I thought it was going to be my lucky day when I immediately found a parking stall in the packed to the gills mall.

When we got to A & J, I knew my luck had run out…there was a wait, which lasted about 20 minutes…

When our number was called we were hustled to our table, and a paper "order sheet" was flung on the table…I guess we weren't that far from San Gabriel after all! The Missus was looking over the sheet, and the Server came by again, and impatiently asked the Missus if she understood Chinese…while the Missus was reading the Chinese order sheet. By this time we'd been waiting for a while, and really didn't feel very hungry any longer, so we just ordered a few things.

We started with the Si Xi Kaufu(aka Szu Hsien Kaw Fu – Four Happiness Wheat Gluten – $1.95)

Unlike a few people we know, we don't mind the spongy texture of wheat gluten, which has the ability to absorb flavor, well, like a sponge. The four items included lily buds, soy beans, tofu, and carrots. We both thought this was fairly good, nice sweet-soy flavor. But I don't think it was much better than this stuff:

The Jiang Niu Rou($3.75):

This wasn't quite as dry as it looked, but fell far short in flavor…except for the over-powering flavor of sesame oil that was drizzled on it.

Deciding to share a noodle soup, we got the combination Beef and Tendon Noodles Soup($5.75):

First the good, the tendon was perfect, soft, and full of flavor. The Beef was okay, soft, but with a bit less flavor. We opted for the thin noodles(you have a choice of the thin or thin noodles), which were pretty good, with a decent pull, and slight chewiness. Where this bowl fell really short was the soup, it was super oily. Now if you've read other posts of mine, you know that I like a decent amount of oil in my broth, but this layer of oil must've been a half inch deep. You can see the sheen of oil covering the noodles in this photo:

The broth lacked depth with only the bit of spiciness, and almost no beef flavor. We finished the meat, tendon, and noodles, and left all of the broth.

I dunno about this place…..check out the crowd as we left.

While writing this, I kept wondering what ChubbyPanda thought about the Beef Noodle Soup at A & J. I didn't recall seeing a post. So I did a quick google search, and found a mention of the NRM at A & J on another post, which you can read here. To quote; "I've eaten niu rou mian at every Chinese place in Irvine that serves it. I know whereof I speak. The only contenders that are close are A&J across the street, their's is too oily and thick…." Good ol' CP got it right….though I didn't think it was that thick. So remember to trust your inner Panda!

A & J Restaurant
14805 Jeffrey Rd Ste D
Irvine, CA 92618

Road Trip: Chabuton Ramen Noodles – Costa Mesa(OC)

March 6, 2007 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Orange County, Road Trip

*** Chabuton has since closed.

Boy, did the hunger pangs really set in during a recent shopping trip to Marukai Costa Mesa. So I decided that I needed something to eat…and fast! Which was a great opportunity to try out the ramen at Chabuton, which opened last year in the Marukai Food Court.

From what I understand Chabuton is the brainchild of Chef Yasuji Morizumi, and is another link in the Chabuya "chain" that has restaurants in Tokyo, Osaka, Yokohama, and Los Angeles. There also seems to be a rather strong marketing campaign behind the restaurants. I had gone looking for a good bowl of ramen, and ended up reading phrases like, "ramen is arguably the lifeblood of today’s Japan." "Ramen is an open dialogue…" "When Chabuton introduced Tokyo’s urban style ramen to Los Angeles it sparked a conversation." "Our food is meant to feed the soul." "Chabuton is where Americans are becoming fluent in the spiritual language of gourmet ramen……" I can feel that glazed-over look coming on.

And to think, all I wanted was a bowl of decent ramen…and now I’d be attaining ramen Nirvana…the home of perfect, harmonious, slurping…of endless noodles, and eternal chashu bliss! BTW, I do think the "spiritual language" of ramen is the slurp…..

Dizzy from reading all the signs and mission statements, I was glad that the menu at Chabuton is mercifully short, 9 variations on ramen, some rice bowls, and that was it. So how much for a slice of ramen heaven?

I ordered The Classic with Pork Chashu ($8.25).

So let’s pick over this ramen of the gods….. I thought the soup was a thick, though weak tonkotsu style broth. I also thought the oil content was on the medium low side. Funny thing, because I’ve read that many people think the broth at Chabuya is too salty, but I just thought it was missing that bit of umami that would make it taste really good. As it was, I thought the broth to be on the "flat" side. Basically, rich in texture, not in taste. The bitter fried garlic didn’t do a thing for this bowl of ramen, and I’m a garlic lover. The bamboo shoots were fine, and the thin sliced Chashu pork was excellent, soft, moist, and tender.

The thin noodles had a nice crunchy texture, but was missing that nice springy pull that I enjoy. I still prefer the noodles at Santouka. Overall, a decent, bowl, but not a favorite of mine. But still if you’re shopping at Marukai Costa Mesa, and are "Jonesing" for a bowl of ramen you could do much worse.

Still, I never thought I’d come face to face with the "spiritual soul" of ramen in the food court at Marukai!

Chabuton Ramen Noodles
2975 Harbor Blvd. (In the Marukai Food Court)
Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Open – Mon-Sat 11am – 730pm
Sundays 11am – 630pm

Road Trip: Little Saigon & Meeting the OC Food Bloggers…..

March 2, 2007 mmm-yoso Dim Sum, Orange County, Road Trip

Last Saturday, I had an appointment with a group of very important people. The meeting place had been predetermined…the location of this chowdown?

Yes, the destination; Little Saigon, Westminster, California. Luckily, I arrived an hour and a half early. I enjoy arriving a bit early as it gives me time to check out the locale, get myself oriented, and breathe in the atmosphere. More importantly, I was able to find a parking spot in Asian Village Center with relative ease.

In Little Saigon you never know what you’ll run into….like a Lion Dance!

Maybe not the most artistic Lion Dance I’ve ever seen; but what was lacking in technique was made up in enthusiasm.

And of course you need a little noise to go with the Lion Dance:

Whoa, that’s my car nearby……….

Having some spare time I was able to take a stroll across the street to the Asian Garden Mall across the street. Well, not exactly a stroll, man does that traffic light change fast…..

I didn’t expect much since it was 9am on a Saturday morning. But of course Asian Garden Mall is no regular mall! The Food Court was alive and buzzing.

From this view, this could almost be any food court in any mall.

You won’t find your local Sbarro’s Pizza here…but if you’re in the mood for a Banh Mi(Vietnamese Sandwich), you’ll find Lee’s Sandwiches.

And instead of the usual stands selling the same chicken with a different sauce, you’ll find dishes such as Bun Mam, Bo Kho(Vietnamese Beef Stew), and Banh Canh.

I was tempted, but stayed the course, and did not give in to temptation……

An entire wing of Asian Garden Mall consists of jewelry stores! I walked to the end of the wing and took this photo:

At the very end is a security kiosk. One of the security guards noticed I was taking photos, and started following me around….thinking perhaps that I was "casing the joint????" At that point I decided to leave. After all I didn’t want to irritate security personnel, and I especially didn’t want to anger these fellows.

Asian Garden Mall
9200 Bolsa Avenue
Westminster, California 92683

I crossed back over to Asian Village Center which was now becoming a never ending circling stream of automobiles. There was an almost constant cacophony of horns blaring….I figured it was just a matter of time until I saw the latest installment of Battle of the SUV’s…… In spite of the mass of metal and humanity in this mall, I knew there was a little oasis of peace in this mall. Having read Wandering Chopsticks fantastic Virtual Tour of Little Saigon, I knew that there existed a Cultural Court in the back of Asian Village Center with statues of Confucius and His Disciples.

Which gave me a nice break. Soon enough it was time to meet the OC Food Bloggers so I walked over, past Duong Son BBQ:

Where I made a mental note to pick up a little something for Da’ Boyz…which I then immediately forgot.

Maybe next time!

I made my way to Dragon Phoenix Palace Chinese Seafood Restaurant, sheesh talk about a mouthful. When the Missus heard the name of this restaurant, She cracked up and said, "all you need is to add, New Golden, to the front, and include Panda after Phoenix, and you’d have the ultimate Chinese restaurant name!"

There’s always a bit of nervousness when meeting a "new" group of people, but all apprehension melted away after meeting everyone; the one and only Chubby Panda, the Epicurious Wanderer, Christian Z of Orange County Mexican Restaurants, Wandering Chopsticks, Deb from Dinner at Six, Elmo of Monster Munching, and Elonweiss who posts on OC Food Blogs, and Her Brother. Joy also made an appearance, but unfortunately Her SO, was caught in one of the inner circles of Dante’s parking hell, endlessly circling the parking lot, and had to leave.

The restaurant itself was the usual bustling Dim Sum restaurant.

I only took two photos of the food. Wandering Chopsticks did a more comprehensive post, which you can read here.

Much of my attention was diverted to the conversation, which ranged from food(what else do you think we’d talk about), to Chubby Panda’s "cheek technique" for taking photos(it’s not what you think). In what was a somewhat novel event, we had most of our language bases covered, from Cantonese(Elonweiss), to Mandarin(CP), to Vietnamese(WC)…I don’t think my Pidgin would have been of much use here.

And two hours went by in a flash. As I got into my car, and somehow made it back to Bolsa Avenue, I couldn’t help but think what a nice group of people these OC Food Bloggers are…..

Thanks again for including me, I am both touched and so appreciative.

And don’t forget to read OC Food Blogs!

Road Trip: Viendong Restaurant – Garden Grove(OC)

January 30, 2007 mmm-yoso Orange County, Road Trip, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Vien Dong has closed

The day after our aborted vacation, we decided to take a drive up to Garden Grove and check out a restaurant that was included on a list that the ever knowledgeable Wandering Chopsticks so very kindly provided for us. The name of the restaurant is Viendong, and is located on busy Brookhurst street.

The restaurant was fairly large, very bright, clean and roomy. With many large parties having a late lunch.

The menu was full of various dishes that I longed to try, from the Goi Mit(Jack fruit salad) to the Bun Bung.

We ordered some hot tea while we tried to decided what to order…now this is what I call a teapot!

We started with the Banh Tom($5.50):

We ordered this mainly because it was on almost every table…plus it looked really good. Some quick research showed that Banh Tom is "Deep Fried Sweet Potato and Shrimp Patties". Strips of sweet potato(think sweet potato fries) and shrimp are deep fried in a lacquer like batter, and served up with Nuoc Mam Cham and a generous amount of Lettuce, Mint, and Cilantro. We noticed that there were two different "schools" of eating; one set placed everything in a bowl, and ate the Banh Tom out of the bowl, another group did the "wrap" thing…so we tried a little of each. We found that the sweet potato had a very nice and delicate sweet flavor, so delicate, that it was lost when mixed or wrapped with herbs and dipped into the Nuoc Mam…though the textures were interesting. So we kinda just ate them like fries…..

The shrimp had a good crunch and flavor, though there really weren't many of them in the dish. the portion size was quite substantial…and the leftovers were still pretty good!

The Missus went according to character and ordered the Bun Rieu($4.95):

This was a nice looking bowl of Bun Rieu. The first thing we noticed was that the instead of a Crab/Shrimp "cake", the crab and shrimp were scattered about the soup. The Missus prefers the condensed flavor of a cake. The broth was very balanced, though quite mild in flavor, and needed the addition of lime and shrimp paste to bring it up. Not a bad bowl, but lacking in the depth of flavor that the Missus desired.

I ordered something I don't ever remember seeing before, Bun Gia Cay (Northern style Pig's Feet Stew – $5.50):

You can tell can't you? Man this was delici-yoso!!! Thick and rich, full of flavor, such a hearty stew. There was a generous amount of Pork Hock, and a plate of "Bun" (Vermicelli) was provided, along with a bowl on the side.

There was a mild curry flavor, and well…..it was just plain good stuff! I'll leave to someone else to describe. Let me just say, it made my day!

The service at Viendong was very good, friendly and helpful. I'm hoping to try some other items on the menu soon.

Thanks for the recommendation WC!

Viendong Restaurant
14271 Brookhurst St
Garden Grove, CA 92843

(714) 531-8253

Road Trip – S Vietnamese Fine Dining – Westminster(OC)

January 16, 2007 mmm-yoso Orange County, Road Trip, Vietnamese Restaurants

*** S Vietnamese has closed

On our recent quick trip to Marukai in Gardena, we thought that perhaps a stop in Westminster would be in order…and maybe we'd try something different. So after hearing about S Vietnamese Fine Dining, and noticing it was right off the 405 freeway, we thought it would be an interesting alternative to the Brodard's, Quan Hy, etc……..

S Vietnamese is located right at the edge of Westminster Mall, in what looks like a highly retrofitted chain restaurant facade.

'S' bills itself as a higher end modern and stylish Vietnamese restaurant, and when you enter and notice all the wood paneling, the grand piano, and the art work lining the walls, it sure does look like the right place.

Strangely enough the restaurant was totally empty, at 1230 on a Saturday! The complete stark lack of customers made us feel a bit uncomfortable, and made the large, airy, spaciousness of the restaurant seem a bit "cold".

This was all remedied by our wonderful, warm, and friendly Server, Linda. As we were seated and handed our menus, we were asked, "have you ever eaten Vietnamese food before?" The Missus and I traded puzzled looks, and the thought "uh-oh, was this a mistake" entered our minds. We managed to choke out, "yes, we've had Vietnamese food before…..", and ended up having a nice conversation regarding the various dishes, and got some recommendations.

Based on the recommendations we started with the 'S' Skewers($12):

6 skewers arrived accompanied with 3 dipping sauces. The skewers were a mixed bag, the Garlic Shrimp Skewers barely had any garlic flavor, though the shrimp were of good quality and cooked perfectly. The Soy and Sesame Beef skewers had the most flavor, and mild sweet-soy flavor, but the meat was on the tough and chewy side. The Curry Infused Chicken was the best overall, with moist dark meat chicken. But again, the flavors were really muted; there was barely any curry flavor, in fact, the chicken tasted like a very mild lemongrass chicken. The sauces were so-so, the supposed "peanut sauce" tasted almost like 100% coconut milk, the sweet chili sauce tasted like bottled stuff, the best of the group was the soy-scallion sauce, which we ended up using on everything.

We wanted something with a little "punch" so we ordered the Bun Rieu($8) as our soup:

Supposedly the most "savory" soup on the menu, we thought of it as Bun Rieu Shadow soup…a mere shadow of the pungent Bun Rieu. It didn't help that the soup was served lukewarm, and that the vermicelli noodles were overcooked and mushy. On the positive side, the crab-shrimp "cake" was the absolute best I've ever tasted, sweet and so very soft. The fried tofu was fine, but the soup was very mild in flavor. The garnishes were on the skimpy side, but I must admit that the julienned banana blossom served was the freshest I've ever tasted, slightly tangy and refreshing. Requesting extra garnishes is a must.

The Missus ordered the Banh Mi Ca($8):

This was a breaded catfish Banh Mi. First off the baguette was excellent, perfectly crusty without being hard and dry. The panko breaded fish did not fare as well. The fish strips were dry and flavorless, and we thought that the use of Honey Panko was not the best choice, making the fish too sweet.

I ordered the Bun Cha($10), a dish of grilled pork and pork meatballs that are meant to be wrapped in lettuce leaves with various herbs and eaten:

This was by far the best dish of the day; the pork meatballs had great flavor and the grilled pork served in a sweet-garlic-soy sauce was very soft and tender. In keeping with the use of high quality ingredients butter lettuce was served for wrapping, along with a very large portion of vermicelli, which I ended up pouring sauce over to finish up….we also dipped the leftover baguette in the sauce, it was that good.

For us S Vietnamese Fine Dining was a real mixed bag; on one end many of the ingredients were of good quality, the restaurant decor is very stylish, and the service was excellent. On the other end, we thought that some of the dishes were not prepared well, the presentation of the dishes are not quite at that "fine dining" level, and that many of the flavors that we consider to be the heart and soul of Vietnamese cuisine were severely muted. We didn't think the prices were really too bad; our entire meal cost $45. It seems that S Vietnamese Fine Dining would be a great pick for someone who is perhaps a bit intimidated by Vietnamese food. The dinner menu is much larger with many interesting almost fusion style dishes like Lamb Nuong Xa, a lemongrass and peppercorn crusted lamb dish.

I think the Missus had a very interesting observation; as we were leaving She turned to me and said, "Why do I get the feeling that we just ate at Vietnamese PF Chang's?"

S Vietnamese Fine Dining
545 Westminster Mall Drive
Westminster, CA 92683

Open Sun-Thurs 11am-9pm
Fri-Sat 11am-10pm