Finally Listening to Mom

The Empanada Maker

26131 La Paz Road

Mission Viejo, CA 92691

I've never understood why empanadas have not had their moment in the sun. Filipino food is the wildly trendy thing right now, and rainbow-colored foods, poke, avocado toast, cupcakes, bacon, and even the equally awful kale and quinoa have had their time to shine. So why not empanadas? They are versatile, relatively easy to eat while driving and are way better than their inferior, Hot Pocket cousins that you can find in the freezer section at your local grocery store.

Lucky for the people of South OC, there's a chance to experience empanadas before they make it big. The Empanada Maker has been around for coming up on four years now. To be honest, my mom had eaten here about three years ago and wanted me to try it out. Being the son that I am, I, of course, put it off until now. I had their menu on my desk for all those years and decided that I would finally make my mom happy on a recent Friday night and visit the Empanada Maker. She, of course, will never know this, as she stopped reading my blog long ago, but that's a story for another day.

The Empanada Maker came to be when the Owner, Cameron Davis, lived in Argentina during his late teens. He fell in love with the handheld empanada, and once he returned to the US, he made them for parties, and friends and family would tell him to make them for a living. Finally, after some time in real estate, he made his empanada dream a reality when he opened up this restaurant. Not only is he serving up traditional, South American empanadas, but the product line also includes more non-traditional empanada options from different areas of the world. Needless to say, I was intrigued.

We arrived on a Friday evening, and they were doing a steady takeout business. I was surprised that there were not more people eating here, as there was a football game at Mission Viejo High School across the street. This small restaurant was very comforting, with its purple walls, red trim, and the warm glow of the empanada case, which houses the 12 varieties of empanadas available. The guy manning the register was very patient, explaining the menu to us and what some of the favorites of other customers happened to be. We observed him doing this over and over again with first-timers like us. We made our selections, and our food was brought to our table within a few minutes.

When Katie's Combo #2 ($7.99) was sitting in front of her, I was surprised at the size of these empanadas. They stretched from one side of the basket to the other. Way bigger than others I have had, by almost double the size. I did not snap pictures of the inside of Katie's empanadas, as I was trying to be respectful and wanted her to enjoy her meal. I know, first time for everything. She had the Chicken and the Chicken Florentine. She thought these were good and gave the nod to the chicken one as being her favorite. It was stuffed with tender chicken, peas, potatoes, onions, peppers, and a touch of garlic. It surprised her how filling these empanadas were. She also enjoyed the Deviled Egg Potato Salad, which she picked as her side item. This was a different take on a potato salad, which pushed the egg to the forefront. The menu claims that this is better than grandma's recipe; in my case, that's true, but my grandma was not that good of a cook.

I also went the combo route at the Empanada Maker with this Combo #3 ($9.99). I had ordered the Spinach and Cheese, the Diablo, and the Philly Cheesesteak. Unfortunately, there was a mix-up in the kitchen, as I got a Chicken Florentine instead of the Philly. As for my side item, I opted for the Chimichurri Rice. The chimichurri rice was a good option, with its diced onions, peas, red peppers, and chimichurri sauce. This will sound like a backhanded compliment, but this tasted like a more flavorful version of Rice A Roni, which I have no problem with. I grew up on the San Fransisco treat, and it always reminds me of my childhood, which is not bad for me. Let's take a look at the insides of these empanadas.

Since you can't really judge an empanada by its outer shell, here are a few shots of the inside of each of the ones I had. Yes, I got to try the Philly Cheesesteak when I returned and ordered one for myself and a ham and cheese one for Katie. I was pretty impressed with all of these, as they were all very flavorful, tasted like they were described, and had a good amount of fillings. The spinach and cheese version was better than I anticipated. It had a creamed spinach feel, as the cheese was an excellent binding agent for the leafy spinach. The chicken florentine was OK but probably my least favorite out of the four that I consumed. It was kind of drab, and even though this one had the most ingredients included inside of it, this empanada was the only one I would not consider getting again. That can not be said for my evening favorite, the Diablo. This spicy pulled pork, cheddar cheese, onion, and cilantro concoction woke my taste buds with a not overbearing but slow burn, making me very happy. The cheesesteak version was dead on and probably my second favorite of the evening. They got the essence of the cheesesteak right, and this will be one of my go-to's on future visits to The Empanada Maker.

A word about the Sauces ($.49). I liked them but felt they were secondary to the empanadas. They had five to offer, and we tried them all. The Chimichurri was too oily and did not add too much in the way of flavor. The Tomato Salsa was fine, but it did not seem to jive with any of the empanadas I had. The Cilantro Avocado was a favorite of Katie's, and she used it generously with her two empanadas. My two favorites were the Salsa Verde and the Chipotle Ranch. I'm always a sucker for anything ranch, and this one had a nice tinge of spice at the end of each bite. The salsa verde was the same, mellow at first, and then you get a gentle burst of heat near the end. Again I did not feel the sauces were necessary other than adding another flavor profile to the already delicious empanadas. 

There are also dessert empanadas. We ordered the Coconut Cream Pie ($2.89) and the Cinnamon Apple ($2.89). The apple version reminded me too much of an upgraded McDonald's pie we all had when we were kids. I enjoyed the chilled coconut cream version better, with its toasted shaved coconut and a generous amount of coconut-tinged cream inside the outer casing of the empanada. Very good and a definite must when craving dessert here. Next time I have the chocolate creme brulee empanada in my sight.

After leaving The Empanada Maker, I felt terrible that we had not made the time to come here sooner. It's so close to our house, and I can see this restaurant becoming one of our usual haunts when we just want to stay close to home and don't want to drive anywhere to explore new restaurants. The menu is varied enough, with 12 kinds of empanadas and five dessert options, and they even offer breakfast versions until 11 am. The sides were fine, but I'll try the fries and the jalapeno black beans next time. Service was very cordial, and the kids behind the counter explained what empanadas are, what some of the favorites are, and getting the food out quickly. We will be back, and empanadas will be the next big thing with any luck. But, of course, I'm usually pretty bad at predicting the next big thing. I just hope kale and quinoa don't make a return to glory.

Out of five golden chalices (because the empanada originated in Galicia, the northwest portion of Spain, and that area's symbol is a golden chalice), five being best to zero being worst, The Empanada Maker gets 3 golden chalices.

For more information about The Empanada Maker, head to their website here: http://theempanadamaker.com/

Something Missing at Pasta Connection - CLOSED

Pasta Connection

2145 W. Chapman Ave. 

Orange, CA 92868

I love when good things happen to my friends. My buddy Richard has pretty much hit the life lottery in the last two years. He probably does not want me to broadcast this, but two years ago he had just gotten out of a horrible relationship. In the short two years since, he has met a wonderful woman, gotten engaged to her, bought a house, and has a child on the way. Basically, he wrapped up the American dream in two years, and has a bright future to look forward to. Needless to say I am very happy for both him and Lindsay. I am also happy because since Richard has moved yet again, there is a whole new set of restaurants to explore in his new neighborhood, starting with Pasta Connection.

This was not the first I had heard of Pasta Connection. A reader of the blog had mentioned it, and I had put it on our long list of places to hit up. Pasta Connection has this location, and another one located in Costa Mesa. They have been around since 1984, using Italian family recipes, along with Argentinian cuisine. This might seem like an odd duo, but one stat I read on-line, (so take it for what its worth), was that 60 percent of the Argentine population has Italian origins. This was mainly due to the open immigration policies of the Argentine government during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, along with a temperate climate, that Italians were already acclimated to. These factors, along with others that I will not bore you to death about, lead to the fusion of Italian and Argentine restaurants.

We got to the restaurant at about 6:45 on a recent Thursday evening. When we arrived there was no other customers in the restaurant. Kind of an eerie feeling, but as the night went on there were about four tables filled, out of the twenty or so that are inside the restaurant. The restaurant is adorned with many Italian and Argentine flags displayed proudly. Spanish music was playing from the speakers a bit loudly, while the TV was tuned to on of the Spanish language stations. The decor here is a bit dated, which helped lend to a laid back vibe. After waiting for Richard and his family to arrive, Katie and I had plenty of time to peruse the pretty large menu. Let's see if we had a love connection with the food here.

Before we get to the food that we ordered, let's take a quick peek at the bread that was served before the meal. This bread was served warm, with a nice crunch to the crust, while the inside was fairly soft. Of course since this is a half Argentine restaurant, the bread was served with a very good chimichurri. A little on the oily side, this added some good flavor to the bread.

You can tell what is Argentine on the menu at Pasta Connection, by the tiny Argentine flags placed by each item. No food item is probably more recognized as being from the second largest South American country  as an Empanada. ($1.95). Here they have five different varieties to choose from, beef, ham and cheese, spinach, corn, and chicken. Katie and I ordered the beef and the chicken. Both were very doughy. The insides were full of stuff, but they really lacked that punch of flavor that I was expecting. A little on the bland side. I did think these were a great value though. You could easily make a meal off of three of these, and get out of here for right around six dollars. Of course we had more food coming out for us.

Most of our entrees included salads, so here's a quick look at the Di Cena Salad at Pasta Connection. This dinner salad came with mixed greens, tomatoes, and carrots, along with your choice of dressing. Pretty standard dinner salad, but I did like the good amount of dressing used here.

Starting our entree portion off is Katie's selection for the evening, The Pasta Connection Speciale ($13.95). These tortellini were filled with meat and covered in white sauce, with a small dollop of their meat sauce. Katie was pleased with her dish. It came out of the kitchen scalding hot, the pasta was cooked well, and the flavor was just enough to keep Katie's taste buds interested. She would not hesitate to get this dish again, but would ask for more red sauce next time.

Richard's soon to be Mother in Law, the wonderful Jolene could not resist the special that they were offering on this night, the Grilled Salmon ($16.95). I really thought the grill marks here made this 8 ounce fillet look real good, but unfortunately her salmon was overcooked, so only the center section of this rather large piece of fish was done right. The ends were very dry and rubbery. The spaghetti this was served with was very heavy on the garlic, which can almost never be a bad thing. Jolene would opt to get something else when eating here again.

Lindsay's Dad, Greg got something that I have never ordered in a restaurant, Angleotti Romano ($13.95). I even had to look up what angleotti was. It's a kind of ravioli from the Piedmont region of Italy, which is in the northwest corner of the country, and shares a border with France and Switzerland, (who knew you would learn some geography on a food blog). Anyways, back to the angleotti. This angleotti was filled with meat, then sauteed with mushrooms and Parmesan cheese, and then topped with marinara sauce. Greg felt this was a good sized portion, he liked the taste of the red sauce, and the mushrooms really stood out for him. He made no mention of the angleotti, so I would assume it kind of got lost here. He did say that he would go a different direction when dining here again.

It too picky Richard a little while to come up with what he wanted to eat, but he finally settled on the Cannelloni Di Carne ($12.95). Here the tubular pasta was filled with ricotta cheese, meat, onion, and Parmesan cheese, then topped with white and meat sauce, and baked. Richard felt the fillings inside of this cannelloni were a little on the watery side, but he did think the pasta was cooked fine, and the combo of the red and white sauces worked well together. Take Richard's opinion for what its worth though, because he is a big fan of awful Chipotle. Sorry, Rich just had to get my anti-Chipotle rant in there.

Sorry for the faraway shot of Tricia's dinner, the Eggplant Parmigiana ($12.95), this was Katie's attempt at food photography. Good work babe, we will work on it. The eggplant parmigiana is baked with both white and marinara sauce, then covered with mozzarella cheese. Tricia was a little disappointed that there was no pasta served with this. She did however think that the serving size of this was more than generous. She liked the sauces used here, but had one slice of eggplant that was not cooked all the way through. Even with this minor hiccup, she could see herself getting this again.

I really struggled with my pick for dinner, but like Lindsay, I finally decided on the Tetrazzini ($14.95). This is usually something I would not order, so I was a little out of my comfort zone here. This dish was made up of chopped up chicken pieces, noodles, mushrooms, and white cream sauce, then was topped with a mound of mozzarella cheese. Neither Lindsay nor I were very pleased with this dish. It was very plain tasting, and was only made better when we asked for some meat sauce to help boost the flavor a bit. I will probably think twice before ordering tetrazzini again. Luckily, I had ordered another sandwich to fall back on.

I was not going to come here, and not try one of my favorite sandwiches, the Argentina specialty, the Sandwich de Entrana ($8.95). Argentina is known for their skirt steak, so I had no choice but to order this sandwich that comes with skirt steak, mayonnaise, lettuce, and tomato. This sandwich was good. The steak was cooked to a perfect medium rare. It was tender, and had a decent flavor profile. I used some of the left over chimichurri to add some flavor and moisture to the sandwich, which made the sandwich even better.

Dessert was up next, and the seven of us split two desserts. You could probably guess that we were already full by this point of the evening. This Tiramisu ($5.95) is a pretty solid version of this now household known dessert, that is on hundreds of menus across OC. This tiramisu had just the hint of espresso, which I enjoy more because I am not really a coffee fiend. This one was not as drenched as others either. The Mil Hojas Cake ($5.95) was a little more adventurous. Translated, this means a thousand leaves. This dessert really struck me as a sister dessert to baklava, but with dulce de leche used on it. Some parts of the cake were dryer than others, but the dulce de leche helped to relive some of that dryness. I also really found the presentation of the desserts here pleasing to the eye. I liked the fork marks used in the design on the plate. Really nice touch.

Out of the seven of us, only two of us would order the same thing that we got on this visit the next time we were here. That is not saying a lot about the food that we had on this night. We were kind of all in agreement that the food was fine, but nothing really knocked our socks off here. My dish was the worst, and was also the only one that did not feature red sauce. It was made better when red sauce was added, so my advice is to order something with red sauce. We had some pretty good service during our visit, which is understandable since there were only four tables of people throughout our visit. The lack of customers at Pasta Connection was kind of unnerving as well. We are all looking forward to exploring more of the restaurants near Richard's new house, but with a baby on the way, we are going to have to make more room at the table. Very happy for Richard and his new family.

Out of five soccer balls, (because they serve Italian and Argentine food here, and both of these countries are soccer powerhouses that have combined to win 6 World Cups), five being best to zero being worst, Pasta Connection gets 2 soccer balls.

For more information about Pasta Connection, go to their website here: http://pastaconnection.net/wp/

No Need to Cry for Us, We are Having Argentine Food

Villa Roma

25254 La Paz Road

Laguna Hills, CA 92653

It always seems to be the case. When it is restaurant week, that is always the week we are the busiest. Whether it be Ducks games, family dinners, or get together with friends, or as was the case for this year's Orange County restaurant week, we had all three of these things to do on this very jam-packed week. With so much going on it left us with just one night to enjoy the prix fixe meals from some of the top restaurants in OC. With just one night to ourselves, we wanted to experience restaurant week, but we didn't want to travel far from home. So we went to the closest participating restaurant to us, which just happened to be Villa Roma.

Villa Roma is located in Laguna Hills, behind the Hot Off the Grill, and in the same shopping center that has that empty restaurant on the corner that has been many different eateries including Elephant Bar and Yamato. Both of those restaurants are now long gone, but Villa Roma has survived in that same shopping center for close to eight years now. Villa Roma was originally located in Lake Forest back in 1993, but due to the remodeling and closure of the shopping center it was in, it necessitated a move. Also when Villa Roma opened it was strictly an Italian restaurant. Now after several trips to his native Argentina, the owner has incorporated Argentine food, as well as Italian.

We got to Villa Roma a little after six on a Thursday night. Coming from the outside, this restaurant is deceptively large. There are about twenty tables in the spacious dining room. A long bar off to one side, and they even have a market selling Argentine items, sandwiches, and wine. While we were eating here they switched from 80's music coming through the speakers, to live music standards played by a guitar-wielding singer. During our visit, the restaurant got to be busier but was never more than half full. Most tables were here to try the OC Restaurant Week menu, so let's see if this dinner was worth sacrificing a rare night at home for us.

Before we even ordered, this bread basket was placed before us. When it was placed in front of us my first thought was that this could have fed five people, not just Katie and me. Of course, we took this as a challenge and ate the whole basket. The bread was soft on the inside, with a sturdy crust on the outside. In lieu of butter, we used the oil and vinegar provided on the table.

The restaurant week menu at Villa Roma featured four courses for $30. A really great deal. It started with our choice of appetizers. Of the three that were offered, I knew it was never in doubt that Katie would choose the Insalata Caprese. This appetizer started out with sliced tomatoes topped with buffalo mozzarella, basil, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. Katie was pretty impressed by the serving size of this starter. The thick cuts of tomato and mozzarella were both very fresh and started Katie's meal off perfectly.

Much like how Katie's appetizer choice was never in doubt, mine never was either. The Empanada and Bruschetta were calling my name from the moment I saw this menu. The empanada was one of the best I have had. They come with either chicken, beef, or spinach, and of course, I selected the beef. The whole empanada was so well made from the great crust to the not overly seasoned beef inside. These lacked the greasiness that I have had with other run-ins with other empanadas. I usually hesitate to get bruschetta, because my Mom always makes a big deal over me having something with tomatoes, since she knows my disdain for the fruit. I guess I will have to live with the gentle ribbing once again. This bruschetta featured lots of garlic, while not focusing too much on the tomatoes. Also making this even better, was the nice crunch that the bread had. I may never be a tomato guy, but this was a good bruschetta.

Onto course number two, the soup and salad portion of the evening. Katie had the Ensalada Mixta. This mixed green salad also included tomatoes, red onion, Kalamata olives, Parmesan cheese, and a vinaigrette dressing. The garlic flavor in the dressing really gave this salad a boost. It was also was helped by the fact that the produce was very fresh here. Katie went as far as calling this salad, "scrumptious". I think that means she liked it.

Lately, I have turned into a soup kind of guy. At Villa Roma, the same held true when I ordered the Minestrone Soup. This Italian vegetable soup was a little on the mellow side. I was asked if I wanted Parmesan cheese with this, and who would ever say no to cheese, definitely not me. The cheese brought the soup a needed flavor boost. The soup would have been okay on its own, but the cheese made this even better. This minestrone soup had a lot of veggies in this large bowl.

I have been with Katie for four years, and this is the first time I have seen her order eggplant. This Melanzane ala Parmigiana had a real eggplant lasagna feel to it. The eggplant was sauteed with ricotta cheese, herbs, and onions, then topped with mozzarella and marinara sauce. Katie was not too fond of this plate. She thought that this was a very bland eggplant, and the sauce needed more spice. This was served with a penne marinara, which Katie described as cooked well, but the sauce was very watery.

Since Villa Roma is an Italian/Argentine restaurant, and because Katie already got something off of the Italian portion of the menu, I had the Entrana Villa Roma. When I think of Argentine food, I always think of skirt steak and chimichurri. For those of you that are unsure what chimichurri is, it is a sauce traditionally made up of finely chopped parsley, garlic, olive oil, oregano, and red or white wine vinegar. It really goes well with steak. The chimichurri was very well made here, but the steak is what I had issues with. I know that skirt steak is not the best cut of beef, but this one did have some good parts to it. The middle part of the meat was very good and tender, but the ends were riddled with fat, and not cooked well at all. The serving size was very generous, but if it was not for the chimichurri sauce, the meat would have had a hard time standing on its own. This was paired with roasted potatoes and vegetables. The veggies were in big hunks and cooked nicely, while the potatoes needed to be a little crisper, and brought to the table warmer.

We finally made it to course number four, dessert. The Housemade Flan Tiramisu sounded interesting, but we did not detect any hint of flan with this. The tiramisu was light, and not overly drenched in espresso. The mascarpone was just right, and this was not as wet as some tiramisus can be. A very solid dessert.

I of course saw chocolate as a dessert option, so I took the opportunity to order the Chocolate Mousse. I was surprised when this chocolate mousse came out as a slice, as I was expecting a cup of mousse for some reason. This mousse was accompanied by a raspberry sauce, which helped cut the sweetness of the rich chocolate. I would have liked this a little more if it would have had more of a cookie crust.

I guess after seeing all the food that we got during our visit to Villa Roma, you can say that this OC Restaurant Week deal was well worth the visit. We got all of this food for thirty dollars each, and when I added the individual prices up on the menu, it came to over $40 for each of us. A savings of $20 between us. The food here at Villa Roma was a little hit-and-miss. We both liked our starters and some other parts of the meal, but the entrees failed us. They were not awful, but both of us would probably get something else on future visits here. Dinners on their regular menu hover right around the $20 mark, which might be a tad high for this restaurant. The service we had on this night was very good. Even as the restaurant got busier as the night went on, our waiter and bussers took great care of us. Wish we had more time to visit other restaurants during OC Restaurant Week, but like I have said for almost three straight years, there is always next year.

Out of five horses, (because the national sport of Argentina is not soccer, but a sport called, "pato", which is played on horseback, and is a mix between polo and basketball), five being best to zero being worst, Villa Roma gets 3 horses.

For more information on Villa Roma, click here: https://www.villaromamenu.com/