Something to Crow About, Rooster and Rice Comes to OC

 

Rooster and Rice 

15354 Alton Parkway

Irvine, CA 92618

The email arrived, and I almost deleted it. I saw the name Rooster and Rice and thought I could not write about another chicken sandwich. Then I paused because it said rooster instead of chicken, and I thought that was strange. Who's cooking up roosters in 2024? Just when I thought this chicken phenomenon couldn't get any more crazy. Luckily, I read a few lines down the page and realized it was just a restaurant named Rooster and Rice, and they were expanding to Southern California and wanted me to see what they were all about. 

After more research, I discovered they are a famous Bay Area chain specializing in Thai-style poached chicken. Of course, I needed to dive deeper because I still needed to figure out what Thai-style poached chicken was. I learned it's a street food sold throughout Thailand known as Khao Mun Gai or Hainanese chicken rice. It's poached, served with seasoned rice, and has a chili sauce over the pale white chicken. 

This signature dish must have resonated with the people of Northern California, as Rooster and Rice now have ten locations, and this Irvine location is their first foray into Southern California. Not bad for a restaurant concept that has only been around for 9 years. It was started by two guys who wanted to showcase Asian cuisine simply, healthily, and cleanly. The business began to take off, and in 2019, the guys partnered with Aroi Hospitality Group, which is pushing for nationwide expansion. 

Back in November, we were invited to try Rooster and Rice out. They opened just across the freeway from the always jam-packed Irvine Spectrum, at the corner of Alton and Tecnology Drive, in a small shopping center that also houses a 7-Eleven, Bruegger's Bagels, and a Friar Tux. They are open Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7:45 p.m. We were here for their grand opening event, packed with people getting their first taste of this unique chicken spot.  

The menu here is not going to bowl you over with its diversity. Rooster and Rice offers four versions of the poached chicken dish that made them successful, the original with breast and thigh meat and jasmine rice, the macro has only breast meat and brown rice, the vegetarian substitutes tofu for the chicken, and a version called the riceless, which, you guessed it, forgoes the rice in favor of vegetables. These all include khao mun gai sauce, chili, ginger, and garlic-based sauce and served with a side of chicken broth. There's also a cutlet, a few specials, Thai fried chicken legs, popcorn chicken, and fried chicken skins. We were given their top 3 selling items to try. They might have seen the overwhelmed look on our faces and decided to throw us a lifeline. 

We were given the Original Poached Chicken Plate ($14.95), the Cutlet ($14.95), and the Larb Popcorn Chicken ($13.95). There's no seating in the restaurant, but there are some tables in front of Rooster and Rice and a large patio with plenty of tables in front of Bruegger's Bagels. We found a table, unwrapped our well-packaged food, and prepared to feast. Let's take a closer look at each plate.  

Up first was the Original ($14.95), which is thigh and breast meat. When we opened this one, seeing the pale chicken in the tray was a little shocking. I tried a piece of the chicken before adding the house sauce, and it was fine on its own but made even better after I added the sauce. The sauce's chili, ginger, and garlic woke this dish up. The chicken was tender and juicy enough, but the sauce was the star of this plate for me. I'll definitely ask for an extra sauce the next time I have this. I did not love the rice, as I thought it lacked flavor. I added some sauce to it, which made it much better. This also came with chicken broth, which I found odd as I was unsure what to do with it. I took a few spoonfuls of it but decided it served no purpose and forgot about it as I ate the rest of my meal. 

Much more in my wheelhouse, the Cutlet ($14.95) was delicious. The chicken thigh is coated in panko and gently fried. Some pieces of the breading pulled away from the chicken too easily, but this was a delicious plate and reminded me of a delightful katsu I had a few years ago. It was not overly greasy and paired nicely with the Thai sriracha and an exciting creamy lime sauce, which resembled ranch in looks but had a different flavor profile. I alternated between the two sauces, which made this even more enjoyable. This came with another container of chicken broth and some pickled veggies. I picked at the vegetables but ignored the chicken broth again. 

I've always considered popcorn chicken more of a snack than a meal, but when I had the Larb Popcorn Chicken ($13.95) at Rooster and Rice, I might have to reassess my position on that matter. The thigh meat was coated in a crunchy breading, which was way better than what you can get at your local KFC. It lacked the greasiness I expected, and the thigh meat was tender and juicy. I primarily used the creamy lime sauce for this, and next time, I'll get an extra sauce, as there was more chicken than sauce, but I'm also known to use more sauce than the average person. 

I'm glad I tried Rooster and Rice, even though I've already reached my chicken threshold for the year, and we're only in April. This was not just another hot chicken sandwich place or wing spot. It's different and worth exploring. I'll give the poached chicken another try or try it somewhere else to have something to compare this one to. I'd be surprised if I have a better cutlet for the rest of this year, and the popcorn chicken could become addictive. Thanks to everyone at Rooster and Rice for the opportunity to try this Northern California favorite. Welcome to OC. 

For more information about Rooster and Rice, head to their website by clicking here: https://www.roosterandrice.com/

** We were provided this meal for free in exchange for an honest review of their service/food. No other compensation was received.

Tis the Season for Thai Food

Season Thai

30486 Avenida de las Banderas

Rancho Santa Margartia, Ca 92688

Thai food is always something that I enjoy, but don't have nearly enough.  A quick check of the type of cuisines I have reviewed on this blog reveals that I have only reviewed seven Thai restaurants out of the 938 different restaurants that I have reviewed. That's pretty unacceptable, and I will try to rectify that right now, and in the future with a review of Season Thai in Rancho Santa Margarita. 

I was taking my good friend and self-proclaimed Thai food expert, David out for his birthday. He mentioned that he'd like me to try this spot. It's located a little off the beaten track, on the corner of Alma Aldea and Banderas, in a little strip of shops that include a Subway, dentist's office, cleaners, and a now-departed IHOP, where I had a forgettable breakfast once or twice when Katie lived nearby. 

Season Thai has been in operation for over four years now and replaced another Thai restaurant at this same location. They have a very respectable four and a half star rating on Yelp, but with only 200 plus reviews. Most people rave about their crying tiger, pad Thai, and curries. No entree is going to cost you more than $20, and most hover around the $15 mark, which is kind of rare these days. David is definitely worth $20, but $22 might be pushing it, so this was the perfect spot to treat him to a belated birthday dinner. Let's see if this spot will get us excited for more Thai food in the future. 

We started off the birthday dinner with some Chicken Satay ($11.95). This was seriously the biggest version of this starter that I have ever had. Plenty of chicken on each skewer, but unfortunately it was just okay. The chicken needed a bit more seasoning and was a tad over-grilled. I was hoping that the provided peanut sauce that accompanied this was going to help things out, but it was off a bit as well. Not awful, but we have both had better. 

We had asked for chicken eggrolls, but were given, and charged for, Vegetable Egg Rolls ($8.95) instead. Probably just a misunderstanding, so not really that big of a deal. These five eggrolls came out scalding hot, fresh from the fryer. After letting them cool a bit, we could tell that they were kind of bland, as most vegetable eggrolls tend to be. They were filled with glass noodles, cabbage, and a few carrots. The sweet and sour sauce helped these out, but after my first one, I realized I'd let David have the rest to take home to his mom. 

This is where Season Thai shined brightly. I've had Crying Tiger ($19.95) at other Thai restaurants, but have never really been too impressed with this very popular dish, but this one was the best I have had so far. The prime-cut beef was very tender, and the marinade they use here kept my attention throughout the meal. I would have liked a little tinge of sweetness to the marinade, but it was still really good. This came with a rather large salad which I ate sparingly because I was not really a fan of the way too sour dressing that this was served with. 

The birthday boy picked Thai BBQ Chicken ($14.95) as his meal this evening. I'm not the biggest fan of chicken, but this was nicely marinated, tender, and came with a Thai chili sauce which was pretty good for dipping. This came out to our table scalding hot as well, and we needed to wait a few minutes before digging in. This was something that I'd normally not order but was a very pleasant surprise. 

Things started out slow for us at Season Thai, but the entrees that we encountered here more than made up for the lackluster starters that we got. If I were to come back, I'd have a hard time straying from the crying tiger, but I'd be tempted to try their soups and maybe their pad Thai. The service was very warm and welcoming. I thought the price point was a good deal based on the serving size of our two entrees. This visit has got me excited to try more Thai spots around OC, so if you have any that you love, please don't hesitate to reach out. 

Out of five cinnamon rolls, (because the most used spice in Thai cooking is cinnamon, and the largest cinnamon roll ever made was over 1,100 pounds, which probably used quite a lot of cinnamon), five being best to zero being worst, Season Thai gets 3 cinnamon rolls.  

For more information about Season Thai, head to their website by clicking here: https://www.seasonthairsm.com/

A Return Thai Trip to Lotus of Siam

Lotus of Siam

953 East Sahara Ave. #A5

Las Vegas, NV 89104

I usually do not like revisiting a restaurant that we have been to before while on vacation, especially in a city like Las Vegas, where there are so many places that are on my wish list, that there is no way that I'd be able to hit them all. I came back here for two reasons though. One being that I have been in a real Thai food phase since the first of the year. The second, and probably most important reason is because Katie wanted to come back to Lotus of Siam. She doesn't really ask for much, so when she request a return trip to a place, I'll usually oblige.

Also joining us on our Thai food adventure is my longtime friend Steve, and his friend, Jason. They both just happened to be in Vegas attending their yearly conference, so we decided to have dinner with them before they had to fly out the next morning. I could kind of sense that they were both new to Thai food, but they seemed pretty excited to give it a try. Maybe they just loved our company.

For someones first time having Thai food, eating at Lotus of Siam is kind of like going from being a high school football player, and going straight to the pros, playing your first game in Cowboy Stadium in front of 80,000 people. Of course if you're on the Cowboys, most people expect you to lose anyways, so there's probably not that much pressure. Sorry about that Steve, I had to slip that in there.

Lotus of Siam has been on tons of TV shows, been written about numerous times, and has a steady stream of taxi cabs coming from the strip dropping off hungry tourists. Owner and Chef Saipin Chutima has owned this place since 1999, and won a James Beard Award in 2011 as best chef in the Southwest. As if all of this was not enough, there are tons of pictures all over the restaurant of all the famous celebrities that have eaten here over the years.

We arrived here on a Thursday evening at about 7:30, and were met with a 45 minute wait. No worries for us though, because we found a dive bar in this desolate shopping center, enjoyed a few cocktails, and listened to a know it all bartender telling some tall tales. Both Steve and Jason really enjoyed this guys company, but we finally got the call on Katie's phone that our table was ready, so we settled up with our new friend.

Lotus of Siam features food from Northern Thailand. I'm by no means an expert on Thai food, but I can tell you that the food of Northern Thailand is generally a little more mild than that from the south. The menu here is pretty hefty, and whether you are into seafood, curries, noodles, fried rice, or one of the northern specialties, you will most likely find something to your liking here. Let's see if that was the case for the four of us on this evening.

Starting things off for us were two appetizers, the first of which were these Fried Wontons ($7.95). These fried pockets were filled with ground chicken, and served with a house made sweet and sour sauce. These were fried well, with the absence of grease, but they needed to be filled a little more than they were. The ground chicken did not shine here. We'd probably forgo these on future visits.

One of my favorite things to try in Thai restaurants is satay, so we definitely needed to try the Chicken Satay ($10.95) at Lotus of Siam. This was an excellent version. The chicken was tender, and flavored nicely, and the peanut sauce here is out of this world. If I could have, I would have asked that this sauce be packed up to go, and I'd use it sparingly when I got it home to make it last as long as possible. This was also served with a cucumber salad, which kind of got neglected at our table.

The real reason I think Katie wanted to make a return visit to this restaurant was because of this Tom Kah Kai Soup ($4.95). She has been trying to find a local replacement for the one served here, with no luck. This Bangkok style soup comes with sliced chicken, mushrooms, galanga, which I learned is a root that resembles ginger, lemongrass, coconut milk, and a touch of fresh lime. A complex soup, but simple in taste, she of course enjoyed this immensely, and is still on the lookout for another version that can equal this one.

Entrees were up next, and we'll start things off with my good friend Steve's meal. He kept things pretty basic here with his choice of Sweet and Sour Chicken ($9.95). This had everything you would expect from this dish, pineapple, tomatoes, cucumber, red and green bell peppers, green and white onion, and it was topped with cilantro. He felt this was a good version, but it did not dazzle him. He'd definitely try something else if he were to come here again.

Katie's meal was probably the best of the night. She could not be happier with this Pad Se-Ew ($8.95), even claiming that this was the best version of this dish she has ever had. Very high praise indeed for this noodle dish that also had eggs, Chinese broccoli, black soy sauce, and some very tender beef. After two trips to Lotus of Siam, she has now found her perfect meal here, and will probably not deviate from it.

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When I knew we would be coming here for a return dinner, I checked out Yelp for their most popular items, and the one that kept popping up were these Garlic Prawns ($27.95). They were mentioned in over 300 reviews, so I had to give them a try. The prawn portion of these was great, with a very good burst of garlic in each bite. Good sized, and they were cooked well. I did not really like the shell portion of these, which was attached to the prawn. The menu states that these are like potato chips, but after eating a few of them, I decided they weren't for me. A very good dish though, and I'm glad I had the chance to try it, even though this did not fill me up too much.

Probably not the best choice for someone having their first Thai food experience, Jason went with the Seafood Pad Ped ($17.95). This seafood combination dish was filled with crab, octopus, shrimp, and other seafood, along with a roasted curry paste, mushrooms, lemon grass, lime juice, and mint leaves. Jason was very game with this dish, which was not what he was expecting. He enjoyed the flavor of the sauce, but found the seafood here not to be of his liking. Maybe he should have started with one of their very good curry dishes, or maybe a pad Thai. He does get points for at least trying everything in his bowl. I have a sneaky suspicion that he and Steve went by In-N-Out on their way back to their hotel after this meal.

Even though I would have liked to have tried a new restaurant on our last night in Vegas, I was more than happy to make Katie happy with a return meal to Lotus of Siam. The Thai food here is pretty legendary, and I really would not mind another trip here when we are back in Vegas. The menu is so large, it almost rivals Cheesecake Factory, and it would take numerous times to try a good cross section of it. For this restaurant being as popular as it is, the prices are more than fair. Service was pretty good on this night, until we straggled after our dinner talking, and it was clear that they wanted to close up shop and wanted us to leave, which is understandable. It's always good getting together with our good friend Steve, and our new friend Jason. Next time you guys can pick the restaurant.

Out of five water lilies, (because lotus is another name for these aquatic plants), five being best to zero being worst, Lotus of Siam gets 4 water lilies.

For more information about Lotus of Siam, go to their website here: http://lotusofsiamlv.com/

Another Year Older and Another Thai Restaurant

Bhan Baitong Thai Cuisine

23808 Mercury Road

Lake Forest, CA 92630

I guess we now have a tradition with David, my friend at work. His birthday rolls around right after the holidays, and the last three years we have taken him out for his birthday. David is a great worker, and he makes my job infinitely easier than it would be without him being there. I always ask him where he wants to go for his birthday dinner, and he always makes me pick. The life of a food blogger, I guess. This year I picked a place none of us had been to, Bhan Baitong Thai Cuisine in Lake Forest.

This restaurant is located in the same shopping complex as quite a few other restaurants. Sammy's Original, Nory's Peruvian, and Tutto Famigilia are some of the food places that have piqued my interest in this out of the way shopping center. For those of you that are still lost, it's in the same shopping center as Boot Barn, and where the Black Angus used to be off of the 5 Freeway.

I picked this restaurant because I know that David likes Thai food, and they get a pretty high rating on Yelp, 4 stars with over 300 reviews. At first, I thought I had made a mistake with my pick, as when we walked in at 6, the place was deserted. As the night wore on though, the phone rang non stop with to go orders, and when we left at 7:30, the restaurant was packed with hungry customers.

The menu at Bhan Baitong is pretty much what you would expect from a Thai restaurant. There are a good number of appetizers, curries, noodle dishes, soups, chicken and beef entrees. I had a hard time deciding what to order here, as I do not really have a go-to favorite at Thai restaurants. I kind of just let what I'm feeling on a particular night kind of guide me. Let's see if this would be the night that I found my all-time favorite Thai food item.

Over the three years that we have gone out for David's birthday, he always starts with a Thai Iced Tea ($2.75). He enjoyed this one and made it last all throughout his meal. He's not really much into being too descriptive about his food, so I assume this was to his liking.

David's a pretty big eater, so two appetizers were definitely in order, the first of which were these Fried Wontons ($5.95). These were not very remarkable. They were fried nicely, with a decent crunch to them, but there was nothing to the insides. There was a small amount of chicken inside, about the size of a dime, and it, of course, did not make an impression. The best part of this was the provided sweet and sour sauce, which added some flavor to the fried wontons. This appetizer was a miss for us this evening.

What wasn't a miss for us, was this Chicken Satay ($8.95). This chicken was flavored wonderfully, grilled, and placed on a stick, the way that all food tastes better. It was served with one of the better peanut sauces I have had. They did not skimp on the amount of chicken here like they did with the wontons. A much better appetizer choice.

Katie wanted something to warm her up on this rather chilly evening, so she tried the Tom Yum Soup ($5.95). I have a sneaky suspicion that this was not the soup she had wanted to order. After our trip to Lotus of Siam in Vegas, she has been searching for an equally great OC version of their Tom Kha Soup. This soup was good, came out volcano hot, and had some chicken included in this slightly sour soup. Good, but she'll probably get the Tom Kha here next time.

We might as well start our entrees off with the birthday boy's selection, the Mussamun ($8.95). David had this curry which contained potatoes, onion, carrot, beef, and peanuts. He really enjoyed this but would get this spicier next time. He had this medium spiced, and it contained no kick to it at all. It's always a crap shoot when you are eating in a Thai restaurant for the first time, and they ask how spicy you want things. Some places are really tentative about adding spice, while others really overdo it. I'd say Bhan Baitong is like the former, where they add spice sparingly, so you can feel safe going up a spice level, and still enjoy your meal.  Lesson learned David.

A lot of people on Yelp were talking about this Pumpkin Curry ($8.95 plus $2 for a cup of Brown Rice), so it was not too hard for me to choose what to have on this evening. The most difficult part was deciding on having chicken or beef in it, and the beef won out after seeking the advice of the waitress. This pumpkin curry was delicious, with real smooth texture, slight pumpkin tinge to it, and some pretty tender beef. I asked for this spicy, and it came with the perfect amount of heat. Not overwhelming, but still enough spice to have you notice it. A very delicate balance to achieve. A balance they did not achieve here was the amount of rice to the pumpkin curry. I would have asked for more rice but did not feel like paying four dollars for two cups of rice. A little outrageous in my opinion. Probably the best entree of the night that we had.

Last but not least is Katie's dinner, the Pad See Ewe ($9.95). This beef and flat noodle dish came with a brown sauce which Katie thought was a little on the thin side, as compared to the ones she has had in the past. I liked this dish but had hoped she would have gotten this with more spice than her requested mild spice designation. A good sized portion for under ten dollars though.

David's birthday dinner was a complete success. We got together outside of work and had some pretty good Thai food. Bhan Baitong is not the best Thai food we have had, but it's definitely worth a visit if you are near the area. The dining room is well lit, has a modern feel to it, and makes the patrons feel comfortable inside of it. Service was a little spotty on this evening, as they were pretty busy with just two servers, so drinks did sit empty for stretches at a time. I still have not found my perfect Thai food item to eat, but I look forward to exploring more Thai food in the future, and not just on David's birthdays.

Out of five elephants, (because this large animal is one of the national symbols of the country of Thailand), five being best to zero being worst, Bhan Baitong Thai Cuisine gets 3 elephants.

For more information about Bhan Baitong Thai Cuisine, go to their website here: http://www.bhanbaitongthaicuisine.com/

Cornering the Market on Thai Food?

Thai Corner

22371 El Toro Road

Lake Forest, CA 92630

All of a sudden, we have been in a Thai mood lately. Maybe it's the colder weather, or perhaps we just have really enjoyed it, but Katie and I found ourselves craving Thai food on a Friday night. Not wanting to frequent the same old place we have hit up three times in the last two weeks, we ventured onto Yelp to find another highly rated spot around us. Up popped Thai Corner, with its 250-plus reviews and a four-star rating, so we headed out to see if Thai Corner could quench our Thai cravings.

Thai Corner is located at the far end of the Stater Bros. shopping center, at the corner of Trabuco and El Toro in Lake Forest. There's some sort of facelift going on in this center, but from what we could tell, all the construction was limited to the facade of the building.

This is not a huge restaurant, with maybe twelve or so tables. When we arrived at about 6pm, about seven of those tables were occupied, with only one lady serving everyone. We learned near the end of our visit that she's the owner, and her son also has another Thai Corner in Chino Hills. At our very conservative count, she must have said the word sorry about 150 times. She was sorry that she was short-staffed, that the food took longer than usual, and that it took a long time for a refill on drinks. We weren't in a hurry or anything, so we did not even notice it taking a long time, except for all the sorry's being thrown around. We were just hoping the food wouldn't be sorry, so let's see how it all turned out for us on this night.

I've been trying to find an OC equivalent to the excellent Thai soup I had at Lotus of Siam in Vegas, so it was natural that I would try their version of Tom Kah Gai ($9.95). This coconut-based soup came with sliced chicken, mushrooms, cilantro, and galanga root, like ginger. I had wished this was a little spicier. The chicken was tender, but not nearly enough of it for the serving size here, which was generous. The broth-to-chicken ratio was way off. Thus, we had lots of bites without any chicken. The base of the soup was flavorful, with the smooth coconut bursting through.

Katie selected these Deep Fried Wontons ($6.95) as an appetizer. These were filled with chicken, potato, and carrots. A pretty basic won ton. The filling did not really speak to me here. It was rather bland but livened up a bit when I used the sweet sauce that came with this. Not greasy at all. I left most of these for Katie.

I almost always stick to the curries at a Thai spot, which held true to form here. I opted for the Panang ($9.95). This was actually pretty tasty. The curry portion was right on point. A mild heat was provided by the red chili curry, which was instantly cooled down by the smooth coconut milk. I like the contrasts of Thai curries. You also have your choice of meat, and I went with the pork, which was just okay. Some of the more significant pieces were on the dry side, so I'd opt for a different protein on my next visit to Thai Corner.

I'd probably be shocked if Katie ever ordered anything but Chicken Pad Thai ($9.95) in a Thai restaurant. This popular dish comprises stir-fried Thai rice noodles, chicken tofu, and egg, then garnished with crushed peanuts and bean sprouts. Katie liked this well enough, but she would probably get another item on her next visit. She claims that it had a red chili sauce, which in her opinion, did not belong in a pad Thai. The bite I had was good, just not excellent.

Thai Corner definitely quenched our Thai cravings on this night. Is this destination dining? Not at all, but if you are in the area and want to have some inexpensive Thai food, this might be the place for you. Even though the lady said sorry a hundred times this night, we did not experience any awful service. The food came out promptly, and our drinks were refilled with regularity. I thought the prices were more than fair for a sit-down restaurant. Luckily we now have an alternative spot for our Thai cravings near our house.

Out of five babies (because no one puts baby in a corner, a Dirty Dancing reference,) five being best to zero being worst, Thai Corner gets 2.5 babies.

For more information about Thai Corner, go to their website here: http://thaicorneroc.com/Home.html