A Hot and Steamy Dinner at Ritter's - CLSOED

Ritter's Steam Kettle Cooking

1421 MacArthur Blvd.

Santa Ana, CA 92704

I have heard good things about Ritter's Steam Kettle Cooking lately. Every time I get my new issue of Orange Coast Magazine or read the OC Weekly, there's some mention of Ritter's in almost every issue. The reviews have been glowing, so I put this on my list of places to try immediately.

I knew I wanted to go with my good friend Angel and his wonderful girlfriend, Rebekah. They consider themselves excellent judges of Cajun cuisine, and Rebekah even makes a delicious version of gumbo. Orange County used to be devoid of Cajun restaurants. There was a place in downtown Santa Ana that I had been to growing up, and there was also a place in this weird food court-type place by my dad's work in Irvine, but other than that, we only had a few Cajun options here. That is until Boiling Crab and other similar restaurants exploded onto the scene.

Ritter's has become so popular that they now have a second location in Huntington Beach. This first one, in Santa Ana, is located right near the intersection of Bristol and MacArthur, in the same shopping center as Wienerschnitzel, and across the street from their competition, the Boiling Crab. We got here just before 6PM on a recent Friday. We were lucky enough to grab a table before Angel and Rebekah showed up, but this restaurant filled up quickly and stayed that way during our entire stay.

The restaurant is small, with 20 tables and a long bar that overlooks the cooking process. The reviews I have read suggest that the bar is the best place to sit and soak in all the action here, but it's not conducive when you are talking and catching up with your friends. Be aware this is a loud restaurant. Even with only twenty tables, the high ceilings do little to mute the conversations and blues and jazz playing over the dining room speakers. Be prepared for the chairs here, which are some of the most uncomfortable ones we have sat in during the five-year run of this blog. They could have these to keep the tables turning over and avoid long wait times. Let's hope the food was a little more comfortable than the chairs.

While we were waiting for Angel to finish getting himself restaurant ready, we were served this Bread Basket. These rolls were pretty crusty, suitable for dipping and what they serve here. We went through two baskets of these during our meal.

Yelp was all abuzz with its love for the New England Clam Chowder ($4) at Ritter's, and for once, the Yelp kids got it right. They have both New England style and Manhattan here, but do yourself a favor and try the creamier New England version. This will sound like a diss, but the version here reminded me of the clam chowder I had at Polly's. I used to love getting it every Friday night, and this version was just as creamy, more full of clams, and had a great flavor to it. It is one of the best chowders we have had during the run of this blog.

As much as we were looking forward to having the Bacon Wrapped Shrimp ($12), they were a letdown. The description made them sound so good. They are molasses-marinated shrimp and mozzarella deep-fried, then wrapped in bacon, which sounds incredible, right? These were boring, though. All of the components were here, but they lacked that wow factor. These might have been better if not paired with a molasses mustard sauce. I don't know what sauce should have been used here, but this sauce relied too much on mustard to add flavor.

When ordering the Red Beans and Rice ($5), they ask you how hot you would like it, using a numerical scale. We asked for a seven out of ten, and the heat here was pretty tame. Angel and Rebekah ordered theirs at an eight, which were about the same. A little inconsistent, but when we told our waiter we would like these more spicy, he brought us some habaneros, which cranked up the heat and made this dish a winner. Besides the beans and rice, andouille pork sausage was included. I liked this appetizer and would ask for the habaneros on the side so that Katie and I could enjoy this with our desired heat levels.

Shrimp does funny things to Katie, so the Cilantro Chicken ($14) caught her eye immediately. This really had a pho vibe going for it. Chicken breast, Andouille sausage, and linguini noodles joined the tomatoes and cilantro in the lemon garlic broth. Katie felt this was an excellent option for people who want to eat a little lighter at Ritter's. She was thrilled with this dish.

Rebekah went with Cajun staple Jambalaya ($18) for her dinner tonight. This version was traditional, with shrimp, chicken, Andouille sausage, and rice in a tomato-based sauce. She liked this version but has had better. The picture does not show it, but this was a good-sized serving of jambalaya.

When he walked in here, Angel knew what he would be getting, the Ritter's Famous Gumbo ($20 with shrimp added). I believe he wanted to see if this version was better than his girlfriend's, and being a good boyfriend, he said hers was better. Angel did enjoy this, though. He liked that the okra was not slimy, which is usually a significant contention for him with other gumbos. This also featured the trinity of Cajun cooking: cut-up bell peppers, onion, and celery, along with pork Andouille sausage and a mound of rice in a dark roux sauce. Angel definitely made sure to clean his plate tonight.

Like Angel, I knew what I would have at Ritter's even before walking in the door. The Ritter's Famous Pan Roast ($23 for the house version) was excellent. This was the best dish to hit the table on that night, and I was glad I was the one who had ordered it. The pan roast is a tomato cream sauce, with the trinity included, a big mound of rice in the middle, and the house version comes with shrimp, clams, crab, and lobster. Plenty of seafood was in here, but the tomato cream sauce stole this show. Even writing this now, I still look back fondly on this meal, especially that sauce. You rarely come to a restaurant for the first time and get the best thing on the menu, but I can't see myself getting anything else on future visits here.

Ritter's is worthy of all the press they have received recently. Both Katie and I enjoyed our meals, and even Angel and Rebekah had to admit that their meals were pretty good. We had excellent service on this night, even though they were pretty busy during our stay. We even got a visit from Chef Ritter while eating here. He took the time to visit each table, which was a nice touch. We will definitely be back. Glad to see that there are now more Cajun options in OC, and Ritter's is near the top of those options.

Out of five knights (because ritter in German means knight), five being best to zero being worst, Ritter's Steam Kettle Cooking gets 3.5 knights.

For more information about Ritter's Steam Kettle Cooking, go to their website here: http://rittersskc.com/