HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Why yes, we certainly DID go through all those types of beers/cider/wines and several bottles of them too about a week ago! My friends and I originally were going to have a board game night with my friends against Duc's friends but his bailed (out of cowardice, I'm sure) so we ended up having just a casual get-together with food and drink. The drinks for the evening were pumpkin beers! He tried to snag as many as he could from work so that we'd have a large variety from which to choose. We even used the awesome blue glasses we bought while shopping in antique stores. So basically everyone got to taste a little bit of all of the following brews (pictured in order):

• Coney Island Freaktoberfest (not pictured)
• Uinta Four+ Punk'N 
• Dogfish Head Punkin Ale
• Lakefront Pumpkin Lager
• Karl Strauss Octoberfest
• Kona Pipeline Porter
• Bootlegger's Pumpkin Ale
• Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin
• Julian's Hard Cider
• La Difference Viognier-Muscat
• Courtney Benham Gewurztraminer

The wines and cider were for the people who weren't the greatest fans of beer, and the Kona Pipeline Porter (a coffee porter) was sort of a dessert. We all had plenty of good food to share with the beers too and sat around making ratings on each beer by a democratic vote. The best beer of the evening voted with hearty cheers and "hear hear"s by everyone was the Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin. Well done, you flavorful wonderful pumpkin beer. Next up was probably the Bootlegger's Pumpkin Ale but only with pumpkin pie, which we had. The Lakefront was good too. The Uinta was a smidgen too heavy on the spices so it wasn't a crowd favorite. The Freaktoberfest was decent but not all too memorable, and the Karl Strauss Octoberfest was fairly basic. As for the cider, very delicious and of the wines, the Gewurztraminer was the better of the two. Overall, a fantastic night and another success to cherish and use as proof to have more tasting nights!

190 S Glassell St, Orange, CA 92866
Pricing - $$/$$$ | Dining - Casual | Cuisine - American, Gastropub
www.havengastropub.com

[You can read my first review of this place here.] Haven has become "that" place that my friends and I default to when we want to hang out for good drinks. Honestly though, it's not the cheapest of places to hang out at but luckily we don't go out every night. Anyhow, there was a special occasion for our particular visit this one evening - in celebration of LA Beer Week, Haven was having a Stone Brewery night and *drum roll* was offering Stone's cherry chocolate stout ON TAP! Uh, I'm a stout lover and the cherry chocolate is my favorite. The fact that it was a limited release collaboration also makes it much more desirable. This would be my only chance to have it on tap EVER.


My friends and I all snagged one pint each. The cool thing for the evening was that anyone who got the cherry chocolate stout also got to keep the glass. It was heavenly...or dare I repeat something said that night - HAVENLY? It's one of those beers that you have to let sit a little while for all the complex flavors to show themselves. The chocolate is very apparent from the first ice-cold sip to the last but the richness of the cherries comes out as the stout gets closer to a little colder than room temperature. It was so beautiful on tap and very smooth. Quite the blissful experience.


We were there around dinner time too so we wanted to get some eats in. I ordered their house cured salmon which consisted of cured & cold smoked salmon, shaved breakfast radish, radish sprouts, dill crème fraiche, and dill pollen. It was pretty good but the freshness of all the ingredients aside from the salmon gave a peculiar taste that I couldn't say whether I liked or not. I described it to my friends as eating a salmon that was in a meadow; it tasted like a meadow in my mouth and made me feel like frolicking amongst bunnies and tall grass. The texture of the salmon was quite soft. I guess I hadn't known what to expect to cold smoked salmon - my thought was that it was going to be just like smoked salmon but it wasn't. I finished this first before trying bits and pieces of my friends' orders.


The mac and cheese at Haven is always good. It is probably the best mac and cheese I've had in a restaurant in California with its black truffles, Gruyere cheese, Fontina cheese, and Parmesan cheese. I am seriously a sucker for black truffles. What Haven does well with this American staple is prevent it from becoming an overwhelmingly heavy dish. The flavors are very rich but I didn't feel like laying down in a coma after having some of the mac and cheese. Normally this dish makes me feel like that in other restaurants. The crunchy top added a nice crisp to each bite too.


One of my friends got the beef cheek poutine which had red wine braised beef cheek, Port Salut cheese, and pomme frites. All of our first thoughts when we saw the dish was that it was definitely a beefy dish. The greasiness stuck out next because some of the fries were becoming translucent from all the oils coming from both the beef and the melted cheese curds. It was a flavorful dish with wonderfully soft pieces of beef cheek. I liked the cheese that was used because it didn't take away from the beef's flavor even though it was quite savory itself. The pomme frites were Haven's typical pomme frites so of course, delicious.


My other friend got the Haven burger which had pickled red onions, roasted red bell peppers, wild arugula, and St. Agur cheese. That came with pomme frites and housemade ketchup. I can't say too much on this because I didn't really have it except for a small bite of the medium rare patty. It was delicious. Maybe I'll get this burger next time when I'm not so bloated from beer and other food tastings. I really love how Haven is not only a great place to drink but also a fantastic place to eat.

81 Fortune Dr, Irvine, CA 92618
Pricing - $/$$ | Dining - Casual, To-Go | Cuisine - Vegetarian, American
www.veggiegrill.com

Duc kept pushing about going to Veggie Grill so when we finally had a day where we would spend some time at Irvine Spectrum, I decided that it would be our dinner. I guess I was sort of expecting more of a sit-down type of restaurant since he had kept talking about going there; it was a lot more casual than that but I liked the atmosphere overall. It was very clean in terms of design and color. I forced him to surprise me with an order since he was the one who had raved about the place.


The drink selection was great. Aside from the regular soda fountain drinks, they had fresh lemonade, strawberry lemonade, pomegranate green tea, unsweetened black tea, and peach black tea. I went with the peach and he went with the pomegranate. Both were fantastic choices. Unlimited refills? Awesome. I wish I had the stomach to have more!


We started out with the sweetheart fries that he claimed were to die for. They were sweet potato fries and nicely fried. Paired with Chipotle ranch dipping sauce, they were pretty good but honestly not the very best I've had. They are high up there on my list though! Solid side.


My entree was the Bayou Chickin' which was their version of chicken blackened with Cajun spices. He got it for me kale style which meant no bun but just a bed of kale, and I had a side of their chili instead of a slaw. To be honest, I didn't really enjoy my entree because it was "blackened" too much. I mean, I understand that the point was to make it seem similar to actual chicken but I personally know that the veggie-protein mix didn't have to be charred to be cooked thoroughly. The charred areas overwhelmed the whole taste of the burger so that I couldn't distinguish the Cajun spices all too well. Sadness. The chili was good though.


Duc got the All American Stack which was their veggie steak with thousand island dressing stacked with onion rings. The onion rings were nice, and the little bit of the steak I tasted was tasty. I hope the rest of the burger was good - he enjoyed it from what I could tell! Overall, an okay experience for me but it is a tad pricey for what it is.

Some may call these nachos but since I usually stack up tons of lettuce, it's technically a salad. This is a pretty easy meal to make that gets you a lot of every food group; I started making this taco salad in college whenever I craved freshness and ground beef. It's a pretty loose recipe in terms of ingredients and size so adjust as you see fit. I decided that I'd make it for Duc, my friend, and myself after we saw a ground beef sale at Whole Foods.

Step 1: Ingredients (serving size: 3-4)

• tortilla chips
• salsa (see my 5-color salsa recipe here)
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• 1 head of red leaf lettuce
• 1 lb ground beef
• 4 oz sour cream
• 8 oz shredded Monterey Jack & Cheddar cheeses

Step 2: Preparing the beef
Heat up a skillet and cook your beef. Drain the fat before you add anything to it. Season with your packet of taco seasoning and make sure to follow its instructions. For the most part, they will require you to add water to the skillet so that the seasoning isn't overwhelming.

Step 3: Plating and finishing
Taco salad is easy peasy. After washing your lettuce, rip a few leaves off and in manageable pieces. Lay on a plate and then put tortilla chips on. After that, spoon your beef on and immediately sprinkle with cheese to melt. Dollop on some sour cream on top and salsa it up around the sides. Dig in!


Photos courtesy of Duc Duong.

It's FOOD DAY! What's that? Well, in a push to emphasize the health benefits and the great habit of appreciating food, Food Day was determined to be October 24 for this year and hopefully years to come. It is supported by a large number of advocates and "an impressive advisory board that includes anti-hunger advocates, physicians, authors, politicians, and leaders of groups focused on everything from farmers markets to animal welfare to public health." The main focus, however, is to get the average Joe involved by various Food Day events around the nation.

What are the Food Day principles?

• Reduce diet-related disease by promoting safe, healthy foods
• Support sustainable farms & limit subsidies to big agribusiness
• Expand access to food and alleviate hunger
• Protect the environment & animals by reforming factory farms
• Promote health by curbing junk-food marketing to kids 
• Support fair conditions for food and farm workers

So the big push is to "transform the American diet" by emphasizing the value and benefits of healthy, affordable, and sustainable food. It is a day to celebrate real food, cooking, fruits & vegetables, and overall healthy food lifestyles. It's also a day to be acutely aware of what your food is and where it's coming from. For a list of events that are happening today and to check if any are in your area to attend, click here. For more information about Food Day, go to www.foodday.org. How're you going to celebrate Food Day?

902 W McFadden Ave, Santa Ana, CA 92707
Pricing - $/$$ | Dining - To Go | Cuisine - Mexican
www.sohotaco.com

Before I start the review, you ought to keep in mind that this is for a catering company and its food cart so it isn't exactly a place that you can go visit any day of the week. I tell you that because you might be disappointed after reading a good review that you can't snag a taco anytime. Okay so I had my experience with Soho Taco when I went to the studio opening of Alice Hu Photography which was a nice shindig. Soho Taco was there as the event's caterers and seeing that the line was quite long when I arrived, it was the first place I went.


As I was standing and slowly moving in line, I wondered what was taking so long. Does it really take a while to serve people tacos? As I got closer, however, I realized why - they make their tortillas fresh on-the-spot (see the big bowl of masa and the tortilla press?) and grilled the taco fillings to order. That's pretty awesome.


Can I also mention that they had such a wide assortment of toppings and sauces? I mean, who normally has mango salsa available to eat as you please? I don't know how much the actual pricing for the catering company was but I put up an estimate anyhow.


There were choices of asada, chicken, shrimp, or veggie that evening. I went with the first three options and proceeded to top each as appropriately as I felt. The chicken got some nice, fresh guacamole. The asada was complemented with salsa and chopped red onions. The shrimp already had shredded cabbage and a sauce on it but I felt that mango salsa, cilantro, and lime would accentuate the seafood taco flavor. There was also some rice that I plopped on my plate. Overwhelming? A little bit. It was certainly a lot of food even though I wasn't expecting to eat there. It was all pretty great but the shrimp taco was by far the shining star. The shrimp was superb and whatever sauce they squeeze on top hits the spot. I also liked how succulent the asada was. The fresh tortillas made everything all the much better. Great food and great, caring attention to the food served; thumbs up to Soho Taco!

 

30 S Anaheim Blvd, Anaheim, CA 92805
Pricing - $$/$$$ | Dining - Casual, Nicer than Casual | Cuisine - Indian
www.tandoorigarden.com

Y'know, I think all the daily deal sites have really helped improved the social interactions that people have with each other. They lead to more date nights and more experimenting with new places. Duc and I went to Tandoori Garden because he had purchased a Groupon and knew that I loved Indian food. It was also going to be fun because he had never had Indian food before so I got to educate him as I put in all the orders for us that night.


So we went on a weeknight and were pretty much the only patrons there at the time. There was one man sitting near the wall who was eating along but that was it. It was cool to choose wherever we wanted to sit so we chose a fairly central table. I say that the atmosphere was casual but also a little nicer than casual in some areas because the interior was pretty nice and had low, "romantic" lighting. The wait staff was quite mindful and polished.


Drinks came first so I snagged a glass of their mango lassi (specialty Indian drink of homemade yogurt, milk, mango pulp, and crushed ice). It was very smooth and delicious. I had to resist from finishing it before all the food came out. Duc got one of the Indian beers but it ended up not really being his thing.


We started off with their vegetable samosas. I wanted him to get a chance to taste what a good samosa was like (we had had a sample one at OC Decadence that I didn't like nor did I like any of the other Indian food samples that were offered). Tandoori Garden's version was chock-full of potato and spiced peas. It was very good and flavorful.


Based off of Yelp reviews, we decided that we would do three entrees since people said the portions were small. We got the basics of Indian food - chicken tikka masala, saag paneer, and lamb saag. They came out in traditional Indian food serving-ware (neat!) and were deceptively small looking in volume. As we found out throughout the night though, the portions were actually quite large considering the richness of flavor. The chicken tikka masala was pretty good; it was a lot sweeter than I typically have had it but in a good way. I actually liked it for its sweet savoriness over being too spice-heavy. The saag paneer was also not what I was accustomed to because the spinach was very blended and they had the real Indian cheese in it. Delicious (I had it often for leftover meals the days after)! The lamb saag was my least favorite of the three but it wasn't bad. I just felt like the spinach overpowered the lamb. Overall, fantastic entrees with so many spices as is fit of Indian food!


Of course, because we were forewarned by Yelp reviews that there wasn't rice with the entrees, we also got a full portion of their Basmati rice. It was well-done and quite colorful actually. The cilantro was a nice fresh touch. We also had an order of their regular naan and their garlic naan. The garlic naan was superb. It was warm and fresh with a nice crispy skin. It was seasoned well and definitely done properly. Great naan!

7261 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046
Pricing - $ | Dining - Casual, To-Go | Cuisine - Pizza

My friend from North Carolina was in the West Hollywood area for a weekend and wanted to hang out/do lunch, so I used the handy-dandy powers of Yelp to figure out places near her to eat. After compiling a list of places, I offered the choices and her immediate answer was "pizza" so off we went to this 4-star dig and meet up with some of my friends who were on standby for a lunch location. The first thing we noticed was that it was a nice hole-in-the-wall type of place. Then we noticed the CASH ONLY sign and the well-priced pizzas. So we opted to go with a mix of the Marco and the Hawaiian pizzas (one half being ham & pineapple while the other half being mozzarella & ricotta cheese with meatballs). 


Before the pizza came out, one of my friends ordered the garlic bread to share with everyone. It was fantastic and nicely toasted. The garlic was rich and definitely not scanty. In fact, in addition to the garlic butter, there were pieces of garlic on the bread. Delish.


The pizza came out, and it was huge! As my friend correctly pointed out, it was pretty much $1 per inch ($20 for a 20-incher). It had a thin crispy crust that everyone agreed was great. 


The slices were pretty huge (as you can see from my picture of it compared to the size of my unattractive-eating-face). The Marco pizza tasted very much like a lasagna pizza because of all the ricotta cheese. I have to give it to them for getting together great ingredients with which to top the pizza. Everything was fresh too.


I only had half of a normal slice of the Hawaiian because I was feeling the weight of my first slice in my stomach. It was pretty good but actually nothing spectacular. What really made the pizza shine overall was the crust.


Just for kicks, here's a picture that my friend took of me hard at work for this here blog =P. See what I do for y'all?

 
 

13030 Harbor Blvd, Garden Grove, CA 92843
Pricing - $$/$$$ | Dining - Casual | Cuisine - Cajun, Seafood
www.dangcrabs.com

After getting a Groupon deal, Duc and I decided that we'd hit up this place that was pretty close to my house. We got there about 6pm on a Friday night and were told our wait would be able 45 minutes. Though the line wasn't long in terms of people, it made sense that the wait time was so long considering that the restaurant only had a maximum occupancy of 49 (and people take forever to eat at one of these places - keep that in mind before you start complaining and then take an hour to eat yourself!). We were fine with it and decided to read some Yelp reviews as we waited. The reviews proved to be quite negative (for the most part) to our dismay but we also began to notice a pattern in the negative reviews; the people were going in expecting the restaurant to be some other type of establishment, constantly comparing it to Boiling Crab and that like, instead of taking it for what it is - a New Orleans inspired restaurant.


Where does this restaurant flaunt that type of style? It's a small place with a fairly small kitchen that just tries to provide good food. It didn't seem presumptuous in any way but rather a humble small restaurant. I found that going into a place with a good attitude makes a big difference. The wait staff was pretty friendly, and I saw the chef/owner going around to check how people were enjoying his food. Pretty neat stuff. Our waitress was quite cool too. The food came out in good time and nicely presented.


We got bread to start with some roasted garlic. I wish that the bread had come out warm and toasty but it was okay. The garlic was good. We also had some beer typical of NOLA area (Abita); the Purple Haze one was great.


The first thing to come out was our two pounds of shrimp boil with the "all of it" sauce at medium level. I'm usually a wimp when it comes to spiciness but this one was manageable. As a sauce itself, it was nice and subtly spicy but for a Cajun sauce, it didn't stand up to par with flavor. The shrimp definitely needed more time soaking in the sauce because most of the flavor was lost when I peeled it. However, I'm not hard to please and since the serving came in a bowl, I just happily dipped my shrimp into the sauce at the bottom and squeezed some lemon on it too. Andouille sausage was great as was the corn & potatoes.


We also got the Dungeness crab boil but when we got our plate of it, we both realized that we didn't know how to properly take a crab apart. You should figure that out before you decide to go crazy and get a whole crab. You could also ask the chef; I heard that he goes around and shows customers occasionally. Awesome. So the crab meat was very sweet. I thoroughly enjoyed it and after we both picked out all the meat we could (and brutishly tore apart the crab), we felt satisfied with the order. Great crab.


Per Yelp reviews, we also snagged a half dozen order of the charbroiled oysters. So delicious. They had a good smoky taste to them amidst the garlic and Parmesan. I loved the taste of the oysters and would definitely get some more again.


Though we thought that we were going to be done, we saw that the couple on the table near us were practically in ecstasy while eating the bread pudding so we flagged down our waitress for the dessert. It came out in its glory and was delicious. Sometimes when I have bread pudding, it isn't consistent throughout with some pieces of bread or crust distinguishable from the whole. This one was not like that at all - it was moist and smooth throughout. The white sauce on top and the walnuts added tremendously to the experience so we paid our compliments to the chef; apparently his wife is the one who bakes it every morning and brings it in. Very nice.


Also, a random cool note about this place: they don't waste paper on receipts! The billing is done via electronic tablet so you get emailed your receipt within a few minutes of signing/accepting. It was pretty awesome and a great way not to waste paper.