Starting off the Year at Basil Mediterranean Grill

Basil Mediterranean Grill

1907 Harbor Blvd. 

Costa Mesa, CA 92627

On the first day of the year, it has become our tradition to sleep in a bit from the previous night's festivities, ( which is basically me barely making it to 9pm for east coast new years), going for a walk of about two miles, and then crossing a restaurant off of my restaurant wishlist. This year we slept in until 8, walked the Newport Back Bay trail on New Years Day, and then went to a spot that I heard about from the OC Weekly a few years ago, Basil Mediterranean Grill.   

It was in November of 2017 when one of my favorite OC food writers, Edwin Goei, formerly of OC Weekly and now of the Los Angeles Times, reviewed Basil Mediterranian. In that article, he made mention of the blink and you'd miss its location and tiny parking lot. He also raved about the food, and the modest price of everything compared to other Persian spots. The prices have crept up a bit from when he visited three years ago, but that's to be expected with all that's been going on with restaurants these last 11 months. 

Edwin was not kidding when he mentioned the hidden location of Basil. It's close to the corner of 19th Street and Harbor, set back from Harbor Boulevard just enough that it might require a few times around the block to finally make it in one of the four parking spots in front of the restaurant. We had called in our order after finishing our strenuous walk, and it was ready at our quoted 20 minute wait time. 

The menu at Basil, like a lot of other Persian restaurants, is kabab focused, with beef, lamb, chicken, salmon, veggies, falafel, and even cornish hen skewered and ready to go. There are some stew plates for the more adventurous, and specialty rice dishes, appetizers, and salads round things out here. Prices for entrees hover right around the $14 mark, with the most expensive being a combination beef plate, which you will see in a moment. With the aroma of our first meal of the year wafting in the neatly packaged bag from the backseat of our car, I could not make it home quickly enough to eat. 

First up was Katie's selection for this early afternoon. The Boneless Chicken ($12) is made up of marinated thigh meat, and the bite I had was crazy flavorful and very juicy, which is not always the case when eating chicken. Katie also chose to get an extra side of their Yogurt Shallot Sauce ($1.50), which was better than their very good tzatziki sauce that comes with each meal. She requested no rice, as she's deep into the keto thing, and it seemed that they gave her extra of the greek salad, as it was bigger than my salad, which I forgot to take a photo of. This greek salad came with mixed greens, olives, feta cheese, shredded carrots, tomato, cucumber, and a balsamic dressing to go over it. The salad was good, but she did not even come close to finishing it and she wished there were some onions included to wake it up a bit.  

Being the carnivore that I am, I went with the Beef Combination Plate ($23). This included one strip of ground beef sirloin and another of filet mignon, a big mound of white basmati rice, and a roasted tomato. The ground beef skewer was big on flavor but lacked the tenderness that I was looking for. It was like a very sturdy meatloaf in texture. The winner on this plate was definitely the filet. It was melt in your mouth medium rare and went well with the provided tzatziki sauce and spicy hummus that you will see coming up next. Even though this was the most expensive item on the Basil menu, this steak made it worth it. I could not include all of the rice that they gave me on this plate, so imagine this picture with about three times what is shown here. 

Our meal was tied together with this appetizer-sized Spicy Hummus ($6.25). When they say spicy, they meant spicy. I can tolerate spicy things, but this bordered on almost being too spicy for me. This chickpea puree came with an abundance of cayenne that kept Katie from hogging it all, which she usually does when we order hummus from other places. The pita bread was a sturdy, yet unmemorable vehicle for dipping. I'd get this version again, but maybe just the two-ounce side of it. 

Basil Mediterranian was a good spot to open our year of eating. The proteins here are the rightful stars of the show. I really enjoyed the steak and the chicken, and look forward to trying the lamb and salmon on future visits. I did not really think the prices were too crazy outrageous, as a lot of other Persian restaurants are easily at least a couple of dollars or more than what Basil charges. Even after our twenty-minute ride home, the food was still warm and fresh. Glad we have this tradition of walking two miles and crossing restaurants off of my wishlist on new years day. Now if we can just be as productive the other 364 days of the year.   

Out of five pom-poms, (because singer Toni Basil played a cheerleader in her video for her one and only hit, Mickey, and cheerleaders always have pom-poms), five being best to zero being worst, Basil Mediterranean Grill gets 3 pom poms. 

For more information about Basil Mediterranean Grill, head to their website by clicking here: https://www.basilmediterraneangrill.com/

Woodfire Kabob Grill Breaks the Curse of the Old Elephant Bar Spot - CLOSED

Woodfire Kabob Grill

24155 Laguna Hills Mall #1055

Laguna Hills, CA 92653

I never thought I would be walking through this restaurant door again. The restaurant that houses Woodfire Kabob Grill in Laguna Hills used to be home to one of the worst restaurants I have ever been to, the Elephant Bar. The food there was so awful that I rated it as one of the ten worst restaurants two years in a row. I'm wondering how they still have seven locations in operation, but I'm just happy that OC has none left so we can be spared their awful cuisine. Sorry Torrance, you still have to avoid Elephant Bar. Good luck.

Another reason I was not sure I would be coming back to this address is the simple fact that the Laguna Hills Mall is all but a shell of its former self, and its existence is very much in doubt. It was going to be torn down and rebranded as the Five Lagunas, but that project has been suspended. They have recently been holding public meetings to decide what to do with this space, so everything is still pretty much up in the air.  Luckily, the restaurants surrounding the abandoned mall are still operating, for now, so we headed to Woodfire Kabob Grill to give them a try.

Woodfire Kabob has been in operation for close to half a year now, and with the uncertainty of their space, I'm not sure how long they will be here. Even with all of this uncertainty, Woodfire has garnered some very good reviews both online and in print media. Their Yelp rating is a mighty impressive four and a half stars with over 200 reviews. They have been featured in both the OC Weekly and the OC Register with glowing reviews for their Mediterranean cuisine. With praise like this, we quickly grabbed our new friends Mazi and Marita and headed to Woodfire on a recent Wednesday evening.

They have not done too much to the dining space of the old Elephant Bar. The restaurant is huge, with a tinge of a jungle theme running through it. There's a big bar in the front portion of the house, but with no liquor license, it's just wasted space now. The menu at Woodfire Kabob is full of kabobs predictably, but there are also other lesser-known Mediterranian specialties and appetizers, and for people that are not into this kind of food, there are even burgers, hot dogs, and chicken strip options. Prices for entrees range from $14 to $28 with some suggesting that plates are able to be shared between two people. No sharing for me this evening since I was pretty hungry, so let's see how everything turned out for the four of us.

Before we had even ordered, this plate and basket of bread were brought out to the table. From reading Edwin's always excellent restaurant reviews, I learned that this plate is called Noon Panir Sabzi, which translates to Bread Cheese Herbs, and is commonly eaten for breakfast in Iran. It is paired with a basket of lavash, which is thinner than pita, but still a great vessel to help you build your perfect wrap from the feta cheese, sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and walnuts. Be sure to check out Edwin's more comprehensive review in the OC Weekly by clicking here.

Whenever we are in a Mediterranian restaurant, Hummus ($5.99) is a must-order. This was a very solid version of one of our favorite dips. It was very smooth, with a slick of olive oil floating on top of it. It was not the most flavorful we have had, but I liked the subtleness of it. This also came with plenty of lavash to dip with.

Let's start the entree portion of the night with what I had, the Koobideh Combo Plate ($14.99). This came with one skewer of ground chicken and another one of ground beef. Think of it like a seasoned meatloaf in strip form. This was a good-sized plate that also came with roasted tomato, onion, and a big scoop of basmati rice. The meats were tender and the seasonings were on point. I actually saved half of this for lunch the next day and it was just as good. The rice was excellent and I liked mixing it with a little bit of the hummus in alternating forkfuls. I would have liked a little more in the way of the roasted veggies, but this ended up being one of the better Mediterranian plates I've had.

Mazi went with the Barg Kabob Plate ($21.99) for his main meal on this evening. At Woodfire they use tender filet mignon to create this delicious strip of meat, which Mazi was generous enough to share a slice of this with all of us. I'm going to be getting this on my next trip here. I was a little surprised it was not in chunks, but it did not affect the taste at all. Mazi has pretty much grown up on Mediterranean food, and he was pretty impressed with the meal he had here. High praise.

Katie kept the kabob train rolling with this Chicken Soltani Kabob Plate ($20.99). This combo plate included a ground chicken koobideh and a chicken kabob. Katie, much to her surprise enjoyed the ground chicken better than the regular chicken kabob. The seasoning on both was good, but the chunks of chicken were not as tender as she would have liked. The koobideh was moist and flavorful throughout. She loved the rice and roasted veggies as well. She would have liked a garlic sauce to go along with this, but it was not offered here.

Last but not least was Marita's selection this evening, the Fesenjoon Plate ($18.99). This was a walnut and pomegranate sauce with chicken breast. Kind of like a stew to me. The sauce was a little nuttier than I thought it would be, but it worked well with the chicken. Our major gripe with this, especially from Marita was that there was not too much in the way of chicken in this. Unlike the other meals we had up until this point, this one was skimpy in comparison. After she shared with the three of us, she was left with a couple of bites and then had to resort to picking off Mazi's plate. This ended up being the only hiccup of our evening at Woodfire.

I was pretty happy leaving Woodfire, something that I'm sure rarely happened when this used to be home to the Elephant Bar. It definitely never happened when I left this building before Woodfire opened up here. These were some of the best kabobs I have had in recent memory and I look forward to many more visits to Woodfire to explore more of their menu. Service was fine, as there were not a lot of people here, but our server was a little slow in checking back on us and with refills. Prices seemed more than fair, especially when you consider how much food you actually get, except for Marita's selection this evening. Even though their location is in peril, to say the least, we look forward to many more trips to Woodfire in the very near future.

Out of five mint juleps, (because it's the official cocktail of the Kentucky Derby and when the Laguna Hills Mall opened in 1973, Secretariat had the most dominant win in that race's long history, winning by 31 lengths) five being best to zero being worst, Woodfire Kabob Grill gets 3.5 mint juleps.

For more information about Woodfire Kabob Grill, head to their website here: https://woodfirekabob.com/

Grilling the Grill Hut

Grill Hut

27755 Santa Margarita Parkway

Mission Viejo, CA 92692

It was Katie's turn to choose what we were having for dinner. We both wanted to stay somewhat local since it was a lazy Sunday night, so she decided to get Grill Hut in Mission Viejo to go. Grill Hut is in a shopping center, which I just found out existed when we found ourselves there. They have two locations (the other is in Laguna Niguel). Grill Hut has been in business since 1999.

I am in no way an authority on Middle Eastern food, so I was not sure what to expect. The menu here is pretty limited: They have five types of kabobs, salads, wraps, and sides. Let's see what we came up with.

Katie opted for the Chicken Kabob Dinner. This is served with your choice of grilled tomatoes, green salad, or rice. She chose the latter two. I was a little disappointed that you only get one kabob with four pieces of chicken on it. Adding to our disappointment was the fact that the counter guy forgot our salad dressing, Katie had raved about the dressing, and she was visibly bummed to be without it. After adding some dressing from home, it tasted like your average salad. The chicken was okay, not spiced like anything, not bad, not good, just plain.

I had the Steak Kabob dinner. This was better than Katie's. The steak was seasoned well, and cooked perfectly. Very tender pieces of meat on this one. Of course, you still only got four bite-sized pieces of beef with this kabob. The vegetables were grilled well on this too. They really load you up on the rice. I could not even come close to finishing the amount of rice they gave us. The rice tasted fine, but how much can a person really eat? Also the salad was nothing special.

Lastly, we got a side of Humus with Pita Bread. I have never been formally introduced to Humus before, but this was very good when dipped with the pita bread. I am now looking forward to trying some different flavored hummus I have seen in the markets, so thank you, Grill Hut, for getting me on my hummus kick.

Grill Hut as a whole was okay. It was overpriced for what you get. The chicken kabob was $8.99, and the steak kabob was a buck more. I wish they had a combo plate, where you could try more than one kabob at a time. The sides were nothing special and they added extra sides to the plates to distract you from the lack of main course that they serve you. Probably will not go out of my way to go back, but I am looking forward to trying other Middle Eastern restaurants.

So, out of five belly dancers, five being best to zero being worst, Grill Hut gets two belly dancers.

For more information on Grill Hut, click here: http://www.grillhut.com/