The Kickin' Crab

20120629:
We wanted crawfish and we were originally going to go to The Boiling Crab, but my mom said my aunt said The Kickin' Crab was at least as good as The Boiling Crab. My mom also mentioned my aunt is pretty knowledgeable in the quality of various restaurants, so we decided to go to The Kickin' Crab. Overall I'd agree with my aunt and say The Kickin' Crab is better than, if not the same as, The Boiling Crab.

I wrote: "The shrimp crisp is best described as a shrimp wrapped in an egg roll (fried shell). Good fries. Choice of spice for crawfish: Kickin' mild. Same small and medium-sized crawfish as The Boiling Crab. The shrimp is easier to eat than the crawfish, but the crawfish tastes better. I like the clam better." 10:20 PM PDT

Four meats: shrimp (top left), sausage (top right), crawfish (bottom left), clam (bottom right)

I wrote: "The sausage is best. I had a Corona Extra with lime to wash all the food down. Refreshing. The corn is just alright. Soaked in sauce. We figured next time we should get more potatoes." 10:25 PM PDT

Done.

Most, if not all the clam shells were empty. The clam itself to be sought after in the bag. My pile of crawfish and beer are also pictured. Oh and my bib lies to the left.

We ordered shrimp crisp and fries (that is there's a menu item that lists shrimp crisps which come with fries). Our waiter confused our order as including fries and came out with both shrimp crisp and fries. We clarified that we didn't actually order the extra fries. He took it away from us, but didn't take it off the check. So we had to get that corrected when the check came out. The person who handled our check nicely corrected the bill.

Playing with my food.

Several days later, my aunt asked me if my friends and I tried the garlic noodles. I told her we didn't and she said we should have, because it's good. I'll put it on my list of things to eat.

[20120709]

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The Kickin' Crab

Relevant Links:
The Kickin' Crab Website
The Kickin' Crab - Westminster, CA (Yelp.com)

Shrimp crisps and fries.

Sonic Drive-In

20120629:
We primarily came to Sonic for their happy hour drinks. I got a small green apple slush, a small Ocean Water, and a whole lot of brain freeze.

I wrote: "The Green Apple Slush tastes okay. Josh's pineapple coconut slush tastes good. Seems like there's a slight hint of coconut in the Ocean Water. Hmm... Nice." 5:07 PM PDT

Green Apple Slush

Menu Description:
Ocean Water® Despite its name, it tastes nothing like the ocean. Which is probably a good thing. But it is blue, with a tangy flavor and a hint of coconut.

I wrote: "This Wholly Guacamole Dog is good for a simple bite. I never thought to put guacamole on a hot dog. The cheese and sauce (some kind of Thousand Island dressing) was nice too." 5:15 PM PDT

Wholly Guacamole Dog

Menu Description:
Wholly Guacamole® Dog Who says you can't teach a classic dog new tricks? We've topped our premium beef hot dog with Wholly Guacamole®, pepper jack cheese, tomatoes, jalapeños, onion and zesty cheese sauce, and served it up on a warm poppy seed bun.

My friend's hot dog.

[20120707]

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Sonic Drive-In

Relevant Links:
Sonic Drive-In - Santa Ana, CA (Yelp.com)

Taqueria Mexico

20120628:
We came here after watching a late night showing of Pixar's Brave (2012).

(20120628)

I can't believe I haven't eaten here yet! Especially considering how much one of my friends absolutely loves this place. Now that I've been here, I'd have to say I love it too.

Chorizo (20120628)

I wrote: "The carnitas taco is good. Pic 2. The BBQ pork taco is better. Pic 3. The chorizo taco is best. Pic 1." 1:20 AM PDT

Carnitas (20120628)

Since it was my first time coming to Taqueria, I decided to just stick with the basics. I got two of each, each with everything on it, some with green sauce and some with red sauce.

BBQ pork (20120628)

[20120707]

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Taqueria Mexico

(20140110)

Relevant Links:
Taqueria Mexico - Westminster, CA (Yelp.com)

Stonefire Grill

20120626:
Stonefire Grill is one of those places where you get your own drinks from the soda fountain and your own utensils. You order at the front and they give you a number so they know where to bring your food when its ready. Other places like this are Corner Bakery and California Fish Grill.

I wrote: "To start there is your average salad and average bread sticks. We had the meat ordered medium rare: BBQ tri tip and garlic onion tri tip. I didn't like the onion much. The BBQ tri tip seems to be a little more cooked than the garlic onion tip. While I like the BBQ flavor more, I like the texture of the rarer meat better." 8:51 PM PDT

Menu Description:
TRI TIP Your choice of Mesquite BBQ or Cracked Pepper Garlic topped with Gorgonzola butter.

At the time we (my family and I) didn't know what was in the butter besides butter. My sister said it was just whipped butter. But to me it certainly didn't taste like whipped butter. I recalled whipped butter being fluffy. Of course, I so strongly didn't think it was butter that I didn't even taste the butter in it. I was focusing on the other flavors in it. In any case, the website menu has revealed the mystery butter was Gorgonzola butter. One recipe for 4 servings of Gorgonzola butter is blending 4 ounces Gorgonzola cheese and 4 tablespoons unsalted butter until smooth.

The pizza was good too.

[20120706]

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Stonefire Grill

Relevant Links:
Stonefire Grill Website
Stonefire Grill - Fountain Valley, CA (Yelp.com)
Gorgonzola Butter Recipe (Allrecipes.com)
Gorgonzola (cheese) (Wikipedia.org)

Alertos Mexican Food

20120623:
I wrote: "Wow. The bottom of the carnitas plate is so juicy and delicious (carnitas together with lettuce, tomato, lime, and avocado). I don't really like how the rice and beans taste so next time I won't get the combination plate." 8:16 PM PDT

Menu Description:
Combination Plates Includes Rice & Beans
Carnitas Plate (Shredded Pork) W/ Lettuce, Guacamole & Pico de Gallo* $8.40
*Pico de Gallo = Onion, Tomato, Cilantro

[20120706]

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20120625:
Today my sister ran out and bought some Alertos. She asked me what I wanted and I ordered the carne asada nachos. I think she ordered the same. In any case, I like the carne asada nachos better than the carnitas combination plate I got the other day (20120623).

Menu Description:
Super Nachos W/ Carne Asada, Guacamole, Beans, Cheese, Sour Cream & Pico de Gallo* $8.45
Half Nachos W/ Carne Asada, Guacamole, Beans, Cheese, Sour Cream & Pico de Gallo* $6.15
*Pico de Gallo = Onion, Tomato, Cilantro

[20120706]

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20141225:
Today I ordered a carne asada burrito and a fish taco. However, I ordered more than I can eat and saved the taco for tomorrow.

In any case, the burrito was tightly wrapped and I think that really helped. I also thought the pico de gallo tasted delicious. Overall, I definitely enjoyed the burrito. 8:46PM PT

(20141225)

Menu Description:
Carne Asada (Burrito) W/ Guacamole & Pico de Gallo

I should also mention that I also had some Angry Orchard Iceman and thought the cider went well with the carne asada and salsa.

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Alertos Mexican Food

(20141225)

Relevant Links:
Alertos Mexican Food Website
Alertos Mexican Food - Westminster, CA (Yelp.com)
Alertos Mexican Food - Fountain Valley, CA (Yelp.com)
I've eaten here several times before. Good place to get Mexican fast food. I know people like the carne asada fries here.

Korea House Barbecue Buffet

20120620:
I wrote: "First, the pork chop. It's okay. To be fair, I don't like the texture of it in general. Spicy pork, spicy bacon. Baby octopus. Yum, it seems better overcooked than undercooked. Squid (body portion). Same comment as the octopus." 12:52 PM PDT

I had a lot of the rice noodle rolls/sheets together with my food. Perhaps two plates worth of it! I recall they were a little cool, and in hindsight I should have placed them on the grill to warm them up.

Our server would come every so often and cut up the meat on our grill for us.

We fried a bunch of garlic. I later had some squid tentacles, chicken, and got second helpings of the meats I liked most.

Overall the food tasted good and I more or less got my money's worth. I don't go to Korean BBQ places enough to know how good this place in comparison to other Korean BBQ places, but if my friends wanted to go here again I would.

[20120706]

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Korea House Barbecue Buffet

Relevant Links:
Korea House Barbecue Buffet - Garden Grove, CA (Yelp.com)

Umami Burger

Truffle fries.

20120618:
Yum, the sweet potato fries have cinnamon sugar and salt on them.

The truffle fries taste good.

Sweet potato fries.

The ahi in the Ahi Tuna Burger gets pushed out from under the buns upon every bite. It's messy eating, but still tastes good.

I had a taste of the Umami burger." 6:21 PM PDT

Ahi Tuna Burger.

[20120702]

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Umami Burger

Logo on the bun.

Relevant Links:
Umami Burger Website
Umami Burger - Costa Mesa, CA (Yelp.com)

Elephant Bar Restaurant

-- CLOSED --

20120616:
As an appetizer we got the garlic bread with marinara sauce. They were delicious.

I'm pretty sure I got the shrimp and chicken jambalaya for my entree.

I think I liked the dish at the time, but thinking about it now it wasn't anything special. From a positive point of view, at least my dish was average tasting. My friend ordered a noodle soup whose broth tasted quite terrible. It reminded me of when I experimented and put too much sweet relish in a bowl of noodle soup.

Upon being handed the check, some of us paid by cash and some of us paid by credit card. For those paying by card, we wrote in the amount we wanted put on each card on the receipt. When our waiter comes back, he clarifies the amount of whatever we write down gets charged the automatic tip on top. This is dumb, because the automatic tip already appears on the receipt and should be something we're taking into account. Anyways, we work out the math and fix the amount we want to give him. So this credit card issue I can overlook. However, we had about $7 extra in cash that we were expecting to get back in change, but didn't. The server should have definitely asked before taking the change. We contemplated fixing the issue, but some of us were lazy, some of us were timid, and some of us didn't care. As such, we left the issue alone and simply decided to not return.

I wrote: "The garlic bread tastes awesome. I like the celery in the jambalaya. Yay. Bad service (see receipt for day we went to Elephant Bar)." 20120623 1:05 AM PDT

[20120706]

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Elephant Bar Restaurant

Relevant Links:
Elephant Bar Website
Elephant Bar Restaurant - Irvine, CA (Yelp.com)*

*As of June/July 2014, this location has closed.

Mochilato

20121214:
This is my first trip to Mochilato and was overwhelmed by all the flavors to choose from. I recall ordering two or three and having one or two more, because my friend didn't eat all the ones he bought. But it seems I only commented on two of the flavors.
I wrote: "The mango is alright. Actually I really like the mango. The pistachio is not as good as the mango. Mochilato." 9:27 PM PDT

[20120629]

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20120612:
Now Mochilato is also a Beard Papa's (I've never heard of this chain before, but apparently it's popular). Or technically, "[Beard Papa's Irvine is] located just off the 5 Freeway in the Mochilato store." Frankly, I don't care what the deal is, I'm going to Mochilato for the mochi. In contrast, trying cream puffs is a nonessential option, but one I'm willing to take.

I wrote: "I like the almond (the brown one). Simple and light almond taste, but good. The creme brulee is also good, but the flavor kicks in a little late." 9:03 PM PDT

I wrote: "The creme puff with vanilla custard is just okay." 9:06 PM PDT

[20120629]

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20120620:
I wrote: "At first I thought the hazelnut was almond. Then I was reminded of the chocolate candy Toffifay. I liked the roasted almond flavor better. The cocoa powder of cream puff shell was distracting. The banana cream tasted good." 4:56 PM PDT

[20120629]

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Mochilato

Relevant Links:
Beard Papa's Irvine Website
Mochilato - Irvine, CA (Yelp.com)
Beard Papa's - Irvine, CA (Yelp.com)
Beard Papa's (Wikipedia.org)

Ebisu Ramen

20120611:
Before coming here, my friends considered some alternatives: driving all the way to Curry House, which my friend Josh loves, but I can only order non-curry dishes, and going to Genghis Khan Mongolian BBQ nearby, where I think the food is just average.

Chris never ate at Genghis Khan before, but Josh and I never ate at Ebisu Ramen before. Josh doesn't like noodles, but Chris said there are some curry dishes available. With all factors under consideration, we decided to go to Ebisu Ramen.

Unfortunately, we were dissatisfied with the place. I recall my ramen being average and thinking I could whip up a similar quality bowl of (instant) ramen at home. Note that both Genghis Khan and Ebisu Ramen currently have approximately the same 3.5 rating on Yelp.

I recalled my friends liking their dishes even less than I liked my ramen. As a result, I don't think any of us are coming back to Ebisu Ramen.

At some point we told our tale to a friend and she agreed (either from experience or from what she's heard) that our decision to go to Ebisu was a mistake.

[20120628][20141130 Edit]

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Ebisu Ramen

Relevant Links:
Ebisu Ramen Website
Ebisu Ramen - Fountain Valley, CA (Yelp.com)

Huong Giang Restaurant

20120610:
I wrote: "The banh uot BBQ is good. I'm usually cautious with the oils used. It might have helped that I had a Claritin this morning. Maybe that made it okay. The spicy fish sauce helps too." 1:36 PM PDT

Bánh ướt BBQ. I didn't dare try the sauce, but my parents suggested I include it in the picture. (20120610)

I wrote: "Huong Giang near Stater Bros. Bun bo hue. I like it. Nice smell. But my dad said something about it not having the red and something called ruoc." 1:53 PM PDT

Bún bò Huế (20120610)

After some searching, I determined that bun bo hue typically needs mắm ruốc, which is Vietnamese fermented shrimp paste. This one blog post I came across summarizes the essentials to a bowl of bun bo hue, and how it contrasts with a bowl of pho. The post says the soup gets its red from annatto seeds. Within that post I found a separate page dedicated entirely to mắm ruốc. Now I know a little more about bun bo hue.

My dad ordered the combination platter which has a little of everything. Perhaps next time I'll get that.

Combination platter. Includes bánh nậm, bánh bèo, and bánh bột lọc. (20120610)

[20120628]

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20121222:
Today my dad and I went here for lunch. We each had a large bowl of bun bo hue. It was really good. The broth was flavorful and had a lovely smell. Either I was hungry or the noodle soup was good, because I even consumed all the broth. 11:44AM PT

(20121222)

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Huong Giang Restaurant

Bún bò Huế (20140107)

Relevant Links:
Huong Giang Restarant - Westminster, CA (Yelp.com)
Shrimp paste (Wikipedia.org)
Bun bo Hue (Wikipedia.org)

The Loft

20120608:
I wrote: "I ordered the Korean BBQ beef plate. The beef is good. The ramen salad is good. I didn't really like the macaroni salad. They give a good amount of food. Loft Hawaii." 8:55 PM PDT

This is my first time eating here and their upstairs dining section was closed so I ate outside. My friend had already eaten, so he just kept me company.

Menu Description:
Korean BBQ Beef Thin strips of tri-tip marinated in a flavorful sweet and slightly spicy sauce then grilled over an open flame.

[20120627]

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The Loft

Relevant Links:
The Loft Website
The Loft - Huntington Beach, CA (Yelp.com)

Buffalo Wild Wings

Sweet BBQ

20120605:
One reason to come to Buffalo Wild Wings is to watch a sports game on the big screen. They have a lot of televisions spread around and a couple of projectors running also. Another reason is that traditional wings are only 55 cents on Tuesdays.

I ordered 5 of each of the three mildest flavors: Sweet BBQ, Teriyaki, and Parmesan Garlic. But I let my friend try some in exchange for trying some of his.

I wrote: "Sweet BBQ is good. However, I probably prefer a more traditional BBQ flavor. This isn't too flavorful. Oh my gosh, Teriyaki is great. Wow, this Parmesan Garlic is great. Tastes like creamy pasta sauce." 6:20 PM PDT

Teriyaki

I wrote: "Chipotle BBQ dry rub isn't interesting to me. Jammin' Jalepeno is good. Really tasty. It's tangy and spicy. Hot BBQ tastes plain. Though to be fair, my taste buds are already jumping full of spicy wing goodness." 6:35 PM PDT

Menu Description:
SAUCES:
Sweet BBQ Traditional BBQ sauce: Satisfyingly sweet
Teriyaki Terrifically tasty teriyaki sauce.
Parmesan Garlic Roasted garlic and Parmesan sauce with Italian herbs.
Jammin' Jalapeno Spicy jalapenos, blended with a touch of tequila and hint of lime. Sweet heat. LIMITED TIME
Hot BBQ Rich BBQ sauce with a touch of heat.

Parmesan Garlic

SEASONINGS:
Chipotle BBQ Fire roasted chipotle pepper and BBQ flavors.

The only bad part was one of my friends wasn't having a good time, because he came thinking we were going bowling and unfortunately he already ate. Such is the consequence of miscommunication.

[20120626]

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20120612:
I started off ordering 5 of the next three flavors down the list: Honey BBQ, Spicy Garlic, and Jammin' Jalapeno. Of course I knew I would like the Jammin' Jalapeno, because I tried one or two of them last time we came here.

I wrote: "Honey BBQ is okay. Slight sweetness, but not too flavorful. Spicy Garlic is nice and tangy. Garlic is subtle. Jammin' Jalapeno: Yeah!! I like the wings better than the legs." 7:22 PM PDT

Honey BBQ, Spicy Garlic, Jammin' Jalapeno

After finishing them, I ordered 5 of the Asian Zing.

I wrote: "Asian Zing is tasty. I might like it better than Jammin' Jalapeno." 7:44 PM PDT

Menu Description:
SAUCES:
Honey BBQ A sweet, sassy sauce: Savor the flavor.
Spicy Garlic A tasty, spicy, garlicky good sauce.
Asian Zing Sweet meets heat: A chili pepper, soy and ginger sauce.

Asian Zing

[20120626]

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Buffalo Wild Wings

Relevant Links:
Buffalo Wild Wings Website
Buffalo Wild Wings - Irvine, CA (Yelp.com)

Claim Jumper

20120603:
Today I ordered a regular bowl of steak chili. To my surprise it arrived in a sourdough bowl. While I was content with receiving sourdough bowl, I made sure with the waiter that I wouldn't be charged for the difference.

I wrote: "The steak in the chili was good. I shouldn't have eaten the cheese bread, it's good, but oily." 9:03 PM PDT

Menu Description:
Steak Chili Tender pieces of top sirloin, black beans and tomatoes. Topped with onions and cheddar cheese Cup 5.99 Bowl 7.79

To drink I had an Irish Sunset Martini.

[20120626][20151003 Edit]

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Claim Jumper

Relevant Links:
Claim Jumper Website
Chili con carne (Wikipedia.org)
Chili con carne > Controversy over ingredients (Wikipedia.org)