Dining out During Newport Beach Restaurant Week

Bungalow

2441 East Coast Highway

 Corona Del Mar, CA 92625

Okay, so before I start this entry, I must apologize for the pictures. We did not have reservations at Bungalow, so we sat out on the heated patio, and there was no light out there. It was such a lovely place. I was trying to not use a flash, so the pictures suffered. My apologies.

Newport Beach restaurant week is held twice yearly, once in January and then again in October. Restaurants offer Prix-fixed meals for a substantially reduced price. It is a great chance to experience a place that may be out of your budget. For this reason, Katie and I decided to try Bungalow in Corona Del Mar.

The Bungalow is located on PCH and MacArthur, about two blocks from Fashion Island. The menu comprises steaks and seafood in the $30 to $40 range. Our special Newport Beach Restaurant Week menu had three course meals for just $25, so let's see what we got.

Here was my first course, the Steakhouse Wedge salad. This salad featured red onion, tomatoes, lardons, and Roquefort dressing. First off, I had to look up what lardons are. According to the dictionary, they are strips of fat used in larding. They looked like pecans and tasted like bacon bits, though. Very tasty. Also tasty was the dressing. It really tasted homemade and very creamy. The salad was not too big and made me wonder if I was getting a more petite version because I ordered off the Prix-fixed menu. This salad is regularly $11. I would expect a more enormous salad for that much.

This is Katie's salad; again, sorry about the picture. She loved this salad so much that I included it even with the sub-par pic. She got the Bungalow salad, which consists of greens, red onion, bay shrimp, and feta cheese. She loved the vinaigrette dressing that came on this salad. This salad was more significant than mine and is usually priced at $10.

Here is my filet mignon served with cooked spinach and polenta cake. The spinach was just okay, and the polenta cake was a pleasant surprise, but the steak was the best part of this plate. They serve only prime-grade steaks here, and this was the prime-time player. The filet was so tender that I cut it with my fork, and the taste was terrific. Well worth the usual $34 price tag.

I did not think my choice could be topped, but Katie managed it with her fish and chips selection. The fish was tender and almost buttery and lacked the greasiness of many other places fish and chips. Probably the best-fried fish that I have ever had. The tartar sauce was also delicious. The fries were okay, but I was thrilled when Katie offered me one of her fish pieces because she was full and wanted to save room for dessert. Thanks, babe!

This was my choice for dessert, the Chocolate Souffle Cake. Very rich and decadent, this was the perfect way to end this fantastic meal. I could not finish this quick enough.

Vanilla Crème Brulee was Katie's choice. This was very smooth and had just the right sweetness to it. Katie remarked that this was the best creme brulee she had ever had. I cannot disagree with her on that.

I felt The Bungalow is one of the best restaurants I have ever eaten at. It will definitely be on my list when there is a special occasion or in October when restaurant week returns. The Bungalow feels like being in the Florida Keys, not that I have been there, but it is what I imagine it to be.

So in the spirit of the Florida Keys, out of five palm trees, five being best to zero being worst, Bungalow gets four palm trees.

You can learn more about Bungalow from their website right here: http://www.thebungalowrestaurant.com/index.htm

Is Casa Franco like striking oro?

Casa Franco

24395 Alicia Parkway

Mission Viejo, CA 92691

Mission Viejo had turned into Waterworld this past week, so that is why Katie and I did not want to stray far from home and why we have had so many posts on the blog from Mission Viejo. Sorry about that, but we will get out of MV to review some restaurants as soon as the floodwaters subside.

For this culinary adventure, we trekked to Casa Franco in the old Mervyn's shopping center at Alicia and the 5 freeway. Casa Franco is a hole in the wall place, and it seems like they like it this way. On this rainy Thursday night, there was a five-minute wait. With so many people in this small place, let's see if they are brought here by the food...

Here is the Casa Franco salsa. This salsa was smooth and had a little spice to it, just what you need on a cold rainy night. Very good start, but the chips were just okay.

Here is a picture of our cheese quesadilla, served with guacamole and sour cream. Pretty basic, but tasty and not greasy at all.

Here is Katie's combination plate. A chicken tamale and a chicken taco served with beans and rice. I liked this plate, but I felt the chicken was a little dry. I am also not a real fan of tamales. I think that a lot of them are too dry. This one was also. The taco had a good shell and plenty of cheese. Beans and rice were good though.

My Red Chili Colorado burrito is the one above. This was the real deal. Very good sauce and the beef was jam-packed in here. The sauce had a great spicy flavor and really made this dish enjoyable. Once again the beans and rice were good.

So Casa Franco is not the best Mexican food that I have ever had, but it is on par with Don Jose's, and I really like Don Jose's. They are both reliable options when it comes to Mexican food. They are both very good values for the money. Also a little tip for all of you taco Tuesday fans out there, they do have dollar tacos on Tuesdays, and they are just like the one that Katie had, not any smaller. 

Out of five sombrero's, five being best to zero being worst, this place gets three solid sombrero's. Sorry could not think of anything clever here, so went with something off the top of my head, like a sombrero. Ah, get it?

Casa Franco does not have a web site but you can find info for them here: https://www.yelp.com/biz/casa-franco-mission-viejo

Will Red Robin Lay an Egg? - CLOSED

Red Robin

3015 El Camino Real

Tustin, CA 92782

We were going to Cirque de Solei, so I was left in charge of finding a place to eat, that was close by. After doing a quick search, I saw that Red Robin was in the general area. I never think of Red Robin. They always seem to get left off of my radar, not that they are bad, but I always get sidetracked into going somewhere different.

Red Robin is a bright, family-themed restaurant that always seems to have people eating there. They are never slow. They just opened there 400th restaurant in 2008, so maybe they are doing something right, let's find out if it is the food.

Here is Katie's Twisted Caesar Salad. This item is no longer on the menu, but you can still order it. It is basically a chicken caesar salad with tube pasta in it. I do not understand why she liked this, it tasted pretty boring to me, but she raved about this salad and was really excited she could still order it.

Here is my Mom's Chicken Tortilla Soup. This vegetable and chicken soup was a hit with my Mom, who said that she enjoyed that it did not have chunks of tomato in it, like at Chili's. This soup seemed okay, but what makes it a tortilla soup? The tortilla strips? I guess, but it seemed like a basic chicken and vegetable soup. Not my cup of tea, or in this case soup! Ugh, sorry about that!

Now here was my burger. Red Robin is known for their classic gourmet burgers, and here is their Guacamole Bacon Burger. I substituted cheddar for swiss. The burger was cooked medium, just the way that I like it. Very tasty burger, I was pretty hungry and devoured this quick. The guacamole was good and the bacon was tasty. Even the fries, sorry not pictured, were good, and I am usually not a fan of big steak fries. Really a good meal.

My Dad's burger is above. The Royal Red Robin Burger is a bacon cheeseburger topped with a fried egg. This heart attack on a bun had my Dad very happy. He really liked the burger, and we all enjoyed the peace and quiet while he ate it. Just kidding Pop!

Red Robin is known for their burgers and this is why you should go there. The other things on their menu are just filler. They are decent but nothing to get all excited about. The burgers, on the other hand, were really good and will be the reason that I would go back.

Out of five robin eggs, five being best to zero being worst, Red Robin gets 2.5 robin eggs. 

For more information on Red Robin, fly on over here: https://www.redrobin.com/#specials

Cicero's a Hidden Gem?

                                                                   Cicero's Pizzeria

                                                          26861 Trabuco Road, Suite B

                                                             Mission Viejo, CA 92691

This week in Mission Viejo has been one of the wettest that I can remember, and I know for some of you that do not live in southern California, you think we are a bunch of babies, but it has been down to like 50 degrees lately. Time to break out the parkas! So on one of these cold rainy nights my girlfriend and I did not want to stray far from home, so we headed to Cicero's about two blocks from my house.

I had always heard about this place, and we always get coupons for them, but I had yet to make it in until now. So lets see if I had been missing something.

On this Wednesday night the place was deserted except for the two of us brave souls fighting the elements for the two blocks it took us to get here. The restaurant is in the corner of the Ralph's shopping center, at Trabuco and Alicia. Pretty tucked away if you are not looking for it. They have four booths and a painted wall, with I am sure some of their loyal customers depicted in the picture. The place seems pretty down to earth, and has me curious about the food.

We both got entree's, and these are the salads that are served with them. Pretty good size and really tasty. I really liked the garbanzo beans and beets that came on this very cold salad.

Katie went with the cheese ravioli. The meat sauce was really good, and the ravioli, stuffed with ricotta and Romano cheeses was also good. This plate and mine really came out hot, very nice on a rainy night.

Here is my cheesy lasagna. Once again the meat sauce on this dish was very good. At first I thought that this was not going to be enough to fill me up, but the serving size for this dish was a very good value for the ten dollar price tag. I would  definitely get this meal again when we come back.

Cicero's was a pleasant surprise in our own backyard. Both Katie and I are very eager to try the pizza next time. As we were there, at least ten people came in to pick up their pizzas, so if these brave citizens were willing to brave the elements to try Cicero's pizza, it must be a decent pie.

In honor of the rainy weather, out of five umbrellas, five being best to zero being worst, Cicero's receives three umbrellas.

If you would like, you can find information on Cicero's here: http://www.cicerospizzeria.com/

ESPN Zone, a Hit or an Error? - CLOSED

ESPN Zone

1545 Disneyland Dr.

Anaheim, CA 92802

For Christmas, I got my girlfriend a pass to Disneyland, and after the holiday crowds left D-land, we decided to go renew our passes. So we did not have to add parking to our passes, we had to eat dinner at the Disneyland resort to get our parking validated for an extra two hours. Now the only decision to make was where to eat. We decided to eat outside of Disneyland and eat in the Downtown Disney area. After walking through the area, we decided on the ESPN Zone. I had eaten here once about five years ago and thought that it was okay, so we gave them another shot.

The place was pretty busy for a cold Friday night. We had to wait for about ten minutes. They have about fifty TV's in the dining room, all but three turned to the Lakers/Clippers. You would think that the "Worldwide leader in sports", would have more variety than this to choose from, but this is probably what most of the customers wanted to see. I was hoping for a hockey game or maybe some curling. No luck, so let's see some of the food.

This is Katie's dish, the Shrimp Scampi, and Penne. First the good, this dish had lots of shrimp on it, at least ten. At some places, they really skimp on the shrimp, but not here. Now the bad, the sauce was just a little off for me. It tasted a lot like bottled Italian dressing, not very good. The penne was cooked okay, but I just could not get past the wine sauce.

Here is her garlic bread that was served with her entree. Pretty mediocre, and very dry. The garlic was pretty un-noticeable. They might have well just called this toasted bread.

Here is my burger, the Black and Blue Burger, with bacon added. The burger comes with gorgonzola cheese and blackening spice on it. The meat was okay but was a little overdone for my taste. The bun was too spongy. The fries tasted good, but the side of the ranch I ordered with them almost tasted to me like it was about ready to turn sour pretty quick. I feel that the $16 that you pay for this burger, it should be better than it is. The bacon did kick the taste of the burger up, really a good piece of swine, very peppery.

So ESPN Zone was just okay. I knew going in that it was going to be over-priced, just because you are at Disney, but the food was just so-so. Not too much to gloat about. So out of five ESPY awards, five being best to zero being worst, ESPN Zone receives 2 ESPY awards. If any of you know where we should eat in the Disney resort area, please leave me a comment. Thanks in advance.

If you would like more information about them, check them out here: http://www.espnzone.com/

Cafe Rio vs. Chipotle

Cafe Rio

24312 Rockfield Blvd.

Lake Forest, CA 92630

I have to admit something, I do not like Chipotle. There I said it. I think it is bland tasting Mexican food. Mexican food is all about the flavors, and in my opinion, Chipotle is pretty sterile Mexican food. I have many friends who do not feel the same way as me, though. They love Chipotle, to the point of ridiculing me for not liking it. So when I heard there was going to be a new, "Chipotle" style restaurant opening up, I was not too excited. Still, I wanted to prove to my Chipotle friends that their beloved restaurant could be easily duplicated and thus proven to be just an average place to eat.

So I got six of my most ardent Chipotle fans together on two separate trips, and this is what they came up with.

Here is Richard's dish. Richard is probably the biggest fan of Chipotle that I know. He would take only Chipotle on a deserted island for the rest of his life. He opted for the fire-grilled steak burrito, served enchilada style. The burrito was two dollars more than Chipotle's because it was served wet. He liked the option of getting it with cheese on it but was not into the enchilada sauce. He thought it was too over-powering. However, he felt that the burrito was just as good as Chipotle. He also noted the excellent drink selection that they have. They have twelve beverage options at their fountain.

Now here is Luis's fire-grilled steak burrito. He felt this burrito was more enormous than Chipotle's but was disappointed that chips and guacamole were an extra $4.25. So he decided against the chips and guacamole. He liked the burrito okay, but did not think it was as good as Chipotle. Luis and Richard commented that Chipotle's rice is way better than Cafe Rio's rice.

I decided on the two enchilada plate with pinto beans and rice on this trip. I got one beef and one pork barbacoa enchilada. The meat was bland, but the barbacoa was sweet, almost like a tinge of chocolate. Delicious flavor, but it was not what I was expecting. The boys were right, the rice was just average, and the beans were mediocre. They also used a lot of enchilada sauce on this dish, so it was hard to taste anything but the sauce.

 

Here is Emily's cheese quesadilla and a side of rice. Emily is on her quest to find the best cheese quesadilla in all of Orange county, so if you could help her out in this, she will be eternally in your debt. Unfortunately, this was not her best quesadilla, but she thought it was good. Emily especially liked the tortilla and could tell that they were made fresh. She felt the rice was okay but not as good as Chipotle's.

Besides myself, Marcy is the only one with us who is not a big fan of Chipotle. She is from the San Diego area, so she likes real Mexican food and thinks that Chipotle is too Americanized. She ordered the chicken tostada. At $5.25, this could be the best value on the menu. The tostada includes a corn tortilla, beans, cheese, rice, sour cream, tortilla strips, a choice of dressing, and your choice of meat. Really more of a taco salad than tostada. She liked the dish and was happy that Cafe Rio had a broader menu and was a little more authentic than Chipotle.

 

Sara settled on this chicken burrito she described as good, not incredible. She thought it had a plain taste, and after she let me sample it, I decided she was dead on with that account, which was very bland. She did comment that the tortilla was good, but she still likes the Chipotle burrito better.

Kevin got the pork barbacoa burrito. He described the meat as being sugary but flavorful. He did not like that you could not pick the burrito up because there was too much liquid. This is true of many of their dishes, which are very runny. He also thought the overall operation was not as smooth as Chipotle's. The assembly line at Cafe Rio does not run as smoothly as Chipotle's, but we were there at peak lunch hour. There was chaos behind the glass; too many people were back there, and food quickly got lost.

This time I got the two tacos, one barbacoa and the other chile roast beef. The beef was as plain tasting as it looks and very dry, but the pork barbacoa had that sweet, mole-like taste that got raves from Richard and Luis on our first Cafe Rio. I also got black beans and rice, but they were just okay. The salsa they have here tasted like cut-up tomatoes. There is no heat or spice to speak of.

So how did this experiment work out? Well, Richard, Luis, Emily, and Marcy all said they would come back to try it again. Luis especially liked that they have a card that you get one free after you buy ten meals. Richard said that Cafe Rio could work into his rotation of restaurants, but he is still a Chipotle man. He said he was excited to try the coconut shrimp taco special on Tuesdays. Sara and Kevin can not be swayed away from Chipotle. They thought it was okay, but not enough to merit a return trip. Thank you to my guinea pigs, pictured below. Thanks for all of your opinions. You guys rock!

I have been to Cafe Rio three times now. I have seven more times to get my free meal. I think it will be long before I get that elusive meal. Not that it is terrible food, but it is just not my kind of Mexican food, just like Chipotle is not my kind of Mexican food. So I will stop bashing Chipotle and just take it for what it is, not my cup of sangria.

Out of five multi-colored chairs, five being best to zero being worst, Cafe Rio receives 2.5 multi-colored chairs.

For more information on Cafe Rio, you can check them out here; http://www.caferio.com/

Happy Hour/Happy Times at RA Sushi!

RA Sushi

2401 Park Ave.

Tustin, CA. 92782

So, the couple above is my sister and brother-in-law, and they love sushi. I, on the other hand, will eat it, but it is not my favorite thing in the world. They had been to RA Sushi in Corona, and rave about the happy hour. Now, I do love happy hour, so we decided to check it out.

When you walk into RA, it has the feel of a P.F. Changs, but much hipper and fast paced. Decorated in lots of red and black, we made our way to the bar for the happy hour. The bartender, Drew was on top of everything for us on this busy Saturday night. Yes, they do have happy hour Monday through Saturday 3-7. As the night went on, more and more hipsters arrived and were scouting out for prime spots on the patio, or at the bar. So lets get to the food, before they try to snag our seats.

Here is your standard California roll. It was good, and at $3, for eight pieces, it was well worth the price. Pretty decent flavor also, but it was brought to life with the wasabi.

Next we have the spicy sesame chicken wings. These nicely presented wings were not nearly as spicy, as they were sweet. The chicken was a little fatty, and the sauce was okay, but again at $3.50 for six wings, you can not complain too much.

Here are the pineapple cheese wontons, with roasted pineapple dipping sauce. I have to admit that I am not a big fan of cream cheese wontons, so I will not add my two cents here, but everyone else really enjoyed this. And again, this is under four dollars.

Here is one of my favorites of the night, the "RA"ckin Shrimp. The shrimp may not have been huge in size, but they were flavored well, and the creamy ginger teriyaki sauce was an added bonus. Very good dish, and it was a real hit with all of us.

Sorry the picture is so blurry, still trying to figure out my new camera. If you can see through the haze, what we have here is the blue claw crab cakes, served with ginger mayo. The mayo actually made the dish, because the crab cakes alone were a little dry. Still a decent dish, just not great.

Here is another one of my favorites, the Viva Las Vegas Roll. It is crab and cream cheese wrapped in seaweed, then lightly tempura battered, then topped with spicy tuna, more crab, lotus root and eel sauce. A lot of items that create a lot of flavor. These were really tasty and had all of us raving, so we ordered another plate of them.

The lobster spring rolls above, were just okay. The rolls were filled with cream cheese, mango and lobster. I do not recall now, even tasting any lobster, so they totally skimped on that. The mango sauce was pretty good, and helped out with the bland taste of the roll.

This is the Crispy Spicy Tuna. This was another big hit for us. It was big on flavor, and had a great texture. The soy chili sauce again went really well with this.

As for drink specials during happy hour, there were plenty to choose from. A partial list includes, $1 sake, $2 domestic beers, $3 well drinks, and  $4 wines and martinis. Katie got a Sake Sangria that she really enjoyed.

So how would I sum up my time at RA? I think of it as the Fridays of sushi places. Just like Fridays they try to get you in with great prices on happy hour items, and then they hope that you try something off of their regular menu, to get you hooked. Mission accomplished RA, I will be back, but I think only for happy hour, I am not a sushi convert yet.

So, out of five spicy tuna rolls, five being best to zero being worst, I give RA Sushi 3 spicy tuna rolls.

For more locations of RA, and more info about there happy hour check them out here: http://www.rasushi.com/

Happy New Year and Happy Trails to the Clubhouse! - CLOSED

Clubhouse Restaurant

3333 Bristol Street, Suite 2802

 Costa Mesa, CA 92626

I tried to get this up before they closed, but I ran out of time with the holidays and all the running around. When I heard that the Clubhouse was closing, I could not believe it. I had been over the years, and it always had a decent crowd. I managed to make it over there twice in the last two weeks. Here, for nostalgia's sake, is what I had to eat.

This is the Flaming Spinach & Artichoke Dip. It is very cheesy and lit on fire tableside. It has a very good taste, but the artichoke is a little too light. But it is a great way to start the meal.

Here is our second appetizer, the Firecracker Jumbo Lump Crab Cake. The presentation on this was good, as was all the food at the Clubhouse. This crab cake is served with Sriracha mayonnaise and a tropical fruit relish. The accompaniments went very nicely with the crab cake. The crab cake alone had a mild taste but was enhanced with the fruit and mayo. A little pricey at $16, but it was half-price during our happy hour visit.

This is Katie's colorful Clubhouse Garbage Salad. This salad seemed to have a little bit of everything in it, including chicken, eggs, cheddar cheese, Roma tomatoes, artichoke hearts, green onion, bacon, green and black olives, and balsamic vinaigrette. If I had my choice, I would have asked for blue cheese or ranch as a dressing, but she liked this salad and had enough to take to work the next day.

Blackened Chicken and Shrimp Jambalaya was my choice. I was a little disappointed with this item, though. The chicken was in big hunks; it would have been better if it had been shredded. Also, they were really skimpy on the sausage and shrimp. I counted three shrimp on the entire $21 dish. Lastly, there was no liquid in this dish—nothing to mop up with bread. It's not a good scene.

Next, we have one of the house favorites, the Meatloaf and Mashed Potato Sundae. Their killer meatloaf is served over a scoop of mashed potatoes, with another scoop placed on top and doused in a brown gravy. It's a very well-presented dish and also tasty. When they first opened, they used to serve it in a sundae schooner.

Here, we have the Tilapia in a lemon-caper sauce, with a substitution of red-skin mashed potatoes for the rice pilaf. The tilapia was cooked just right, a little flaky without being dry. The potatoes had a good texture, but the spinach was overdone. This was a very sturdy dish.

Here is the Bacon Ranch Chicken Wrap. Once again, wraps are not my thing, so I may not be the person to judge, but this was lacking in ranch and chicken. It was a lot of lettuce and tomato. No complaints from the person who ordered this, though, so it could just be me. Damn health nuts!

Lastly, here is why I kept returning to the Clubhouse, the Shaved Prime Rib Dip. Always a winner with me, this $18 sandwich was prepared well and always had a great flavor. On this trip, though, they could have used more horseradish sauce, but the meat tasted great, and the bread was excellent. This was easily one of my top five sandwiches in the OC; I will miss you, old girl!

So now the Clubhouse can ride off into the sunset. It has been a great ten years, and many good times have been had. Hopefully, the two new places that will be occupying the space will continue the great tradition of service that the Clubhouse provided. The people at the Clubhouse were always very pleased to have you and showed it every time you walked through their door. Once again, you will be missed.

So, out of five golf clubs, five being the best and zero being the worst, I give the Clubhouse 3.5 golf clubs.

For more information about the Clubhouse, and if you are ever in the Chicago area, they still operate a restaurant there, check them out here: http://www.theclubhouse.com/