Is the Catch a Hit or an Error? - CLOSED

The Catch

2100 E. Katella Ave., Ste 104

Anaheim, CA 92806

The Catch has been across from Angel Stadium for as long as I can remember. I remember my parents telling me that the Catch is where the Angel players go after the games, so it always had this cool aura around it. When I was finally old enough to go there, I remember it being dark and crowded after games. There were some player sightings and some good times at the bar.

The Catch recently moved into their new building, a few blocks from the old one. This whole area of Anaheim is trying to get that big city vibe with high-rise apartments, concert venues, and restaurants. The Catch is located on the ground floor of one of these high rises, the AvalorBay building. This version of the Catch restaurant is anything but dark. The bar area is wide open, and there are windows everywhere. We arrived on a Sunday at 5, and there was still a good-sized crowd left over from the baseball game in the bar area. There was even a baseball player sighting Angel's first baseman, Mike Napoli. But enough with baseball player stalking. How about the food.

Here are some random pictures of the dining room, the iced tea, and the bread they serve. The dining room was nice and cozy. Lots of windows in here as well. It was empty on this night. All of the action was in the bar. I was wondering how busy this place would be on a non-game day. The iced teas we ordered were accompanied by their carafes for each of us. I liked this touch because you never had to ask for more tea. The rolls that they had were sourdough rolls, and they were adequate.

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Now on to the salads. Above is Katie's salad, the Caprese. Tomatoes, basil, mozzarella, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar made this salad. I liked this presentation, and my parents and Katie raved about the flavor of this salad. I did not try this, though.

For my salad, I got the Slice of Ice. This cool salad (ahh, get it, because of the name, wow I am so sorry, my sense of humor is awful), anyways, this salad was half an iceberg lettuce, with Point Reyes blue cheese, red onions, grape tomatoes, bacon, and blue cheese dressing. I liked this salad, the flavors were big, and it came out cold.  The dressing-to-salad ratio on this was good as well.

The winner of the salad portion of this meal has to go to this one, the Vermont Maple Salad. Mixed greens with maple vinaigrette dressing, Cotija cheese, sliced apples, candied black pepper bacon, and toasted pecans. Yes, I said candied bacon! Also, the unusual maple dressing was killer on this. I am not big on salads with fruit in them, but this one worked. I would for sure get this salad next time.

Our appetizer arrived at the same time as our salads, so the Teriyaki Dragon Rolls were made to wait. The dragon roll consisted of marinated pork and shrimp, with vegetables in a spring roll and flash fried. These were served with a black bean sauce with a little kick. They were delicious, and we all liked these.

Now we move on to the entree portion of the meal. Katie got the Shrimp, Christopher. Large shrimp are butterflied and stuffed with crab, scallops, and fish. It was like a mini crab cake on top of a shrimp, not what I had pictured when she ordered this. It was okay, not excellent. With all of these killer items in this dish, I would have thought it would have tasted better. The garlic mashed potatoes that came with this were pretty good, though. The rainbow chard was sauteed perfectly but got lost under all the potatoes.

My Mom chose to get Victor's Fish and Chips. Cod dipped in beer batter, then fried and served with a tarter sauce. This is served with garlic fries, which did not seem too garlicky, and Louisiana hot slaw, which definitely had a kick. I liked the fish but again was not wowed by it. It was not oily and was flaky on the inside. I usually like more dressing for my slaw, but this was good slaw.

The winner in the main dish category was again chosen by my Dad. He opted for the Drunken Mahi-Mahi. Blackened fish, splashed with tequila, over tomato risotto. The fish was done perfectly, and it was hard for me to get a bite from my Dad because he liked this so much. The fish was presented well and paired with crab tostadas (which were more the size of a nacho). The tostadas were topped with tomatillo-avocado salsa and Cotija cheese. Delicious, solid dish here.

I was the only one that did not go for fish at the table. I saw the Double Header on the menu and knew that was what I would have. Two filets, one with shrimp scampi over it, and the other were prepared Oscar style, with hollandaise sauce and crab. I loved that they offered this on the menu, but that is where my love ended for this dish. The hollandaise sauce was too thick, and the crab was unnoticeable. One of the filets was overcooked (the other was cooked perfectly the way I ordered it, medium rare). The scampi steak was okay, and they did not shortchange you on the shrimp with this one. The flavor just did not pop out at me.

I had mixed feelings about the Catch. I really liked the salads and appetizers. I felt the entrees were not the best, but they seemed to be trying hard. The service was good, but there were only two tables in the dining room, so it might be different on busier nights. The bar seemed like the place to be, and I am looking forward to trying their huge, four-pound burger (with friends, of course) and some of their different appetizers.

Out of five Willie Mays gold gloves, (because he was the one who had, "The Catch"), five being best to zero being worst, The Catch  gets 3 gold gloves.

For more information on The Catch, check them out here: http://www.catchanaheim.com/

A Quick Trip to BJ's

BJ's Restaurant and Brewery

24032 El Toro Road

Laguna Hills, CA 92651

My buddy Clay made a surprise visit down to our area, so Katie and I decided we would take him to BJ's. He is usually pretty picky when it come to eating places, and I had remembered him eating here before, so I knew he would be down to head over to BJ's Laguna Hills location.

BJ's has 97 locations throughout the United States. They started in Santa Ana, and wowed people with their deep dish Chicago pizza. In 1997, they started making their own beer in their Brea store. I like BJ's, but I never really think about going there. It  is always crowded every time I go, and this trip was no exception. We got there at 7:30 on a Wednesday, and still had to wait for ten minutes. This is the food we got once we were seated.

To start our meal, we got the Crisp Potato Skins Platter. These potato skins are filled with jack and cheddar cheese, bacon and green onions. Served with an awesome sour cream dip. This is probably one of my top 10 appetizers. I know they are simple, but they are always good. They are not too oily, and always crisp. Usually I am more of a Ranch dressing guy, but these call for sour cream.

Clay got the Sweet Pig Pizza. This personal pizza included ham, pineapple and seasoned tomatoes. Clay liked this pizza, but took the tomatoes off of this. He felt the pizza was just average. They did not really load up on the toppings on this one.

Here is Katie's Spinach and Artichoke Pizza. This of course had those two items, as well as cream cheese, mozzarella, parmesan, and tomatoes. I am not going to lie to you, this is definitely not my type of pizza, and I did not try it. I will defer to her opinion on this pizza. She said that there was too much white sauce on this. She likes their veggie pizzas better.

I have really been craving a good Cuban sandwich lately, and when I saw that BJ's had a Cuban Burger, that is what I summoned. This half pound burger came with ham, swiss cheese, pickles, dijonnaise, and mustard. It had the ingredients of a Cuban sandwich, but did not quench my desire for one. The burger was good, but a little bland tasting. The fries were good with ranch.

For dessert we got the Pizookie Trio. Three mini pizookie's, we chose a Triple Chocolate cookie, Peanut Butter cookie and a Chocolate Chunk cookie, all topped with a scoop of ice cream. The peanut butter was our favorite and the chocolate chunk was close behind. The triple chocolate was just too much for me. For the indecisive, this was the dessert to get.

To be honest this blog entry was very hard to write. I was not inspired by the food on this trip to BJ's. Nothing was really too bad, but nothing really knocked my socks off either. It's funny, I remember liking BJ's a lot more before I started this blog, and before I started going out a lot more. It could have been my choices on this night, or maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it. I will go back in the future, but for now there are way too many places on my list to try.

Out of five raindrops, (from the famous BJ Thomas song), five being best to zero being worst, BJ's receives 2.5 raindrops.

For more information on BJ's, click here: http://www.bjsbrewhouse.com/

A Few Good Men(u) Options at Paul's

Paul's Coffee Shop

16947 Bushard St.

Fountain Valley, CA 92708

I had heard Paul's was going to be on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on July 26th, so I wanted to beat the rush and get up to Fountain Valley to try it before the place got really busy. Katie and I have been to a handful of places that have been featured on DDD, some great, some good, and one bad, (I am talking about you Four Kegs in Vegas!).

Anyways, we got up at nine and took the drive up the 405 freeway on a Sunday morning. Paul's is located in a sleepy little strip mall, across from a Sizzler. This place is really a no-frills diner. They are proud to show off their spirit for the Marines, there are flags everywhere. On the back of their menu is even a history of the Marines. We were immediately sat, and brought over drinks. We had just beat the rush, there was a wait when we left.

The menu is your basic breakfast food. As other blogs and people have told me, the real finds at Paul's are on the specials board, by the front door. On our visit, they had a pot roast and eggs that sounded really good, and about four other specials. This is what Katie and I ordered up.

Katie got the French Toast Combo. This was two eggs, and bacon, with four pieces of French toast. She thought that the eggs and bacon were nothing to write home about, but she really liked the French toast. I tried a bite and thought that they were good also. They seemed light and fluffy.

I got the Hawaiian Loco Moco. And what is that you ask, it is a bed of white rice, topped with a hamburger patty, two eggs, and then gravy poured over it. I liked this hearty dish but did not love it. I would have liked to have had a sausage patty, instead of the burger. It would have made this dish more flavorful. The burger was just too plain here.

The real star of this breakfast place is the Chicken Fried Steak. This was the size of a man's shoe. The steak itself was light and flavorful, and mixed with their perfect gravy, made this dish a winner. I ordered this ala carte, just because I had heard such good things about it, and I was not disappointed. This made the drive up here worth it.

I liked Paul's, and I would come back to try some of their specials, and if I had a craving for a really good chicken fried steak. The service was really good, and you can definitely tell that a good number of their customers are regulars. After the Triple D show airs, this won't be the case though, they will have a new crop of customers. I am just glad I beat the rush.

Out of five Mameluke swords, (the official sword of the Marines since 1826, and because of all the Marine paraphernalia here), Paul's Coffee Shop gets 3 Mameluke swords.

For more information check out their web site here: https://paulscoffeeshopfountainvalley.com/

Does Flamingo's Have a Leg Up?

Flamingo's

25342 McIntyre

Laguna Hills, CA 92653

Mike and Dawn have been campaigning for us to go to Flamingo's ever since I started this blog. I finally ran out of excuses to give them and decided to give their favorite neighborhood Mexican restaurant a shot.

Flamingo's has been around for a long time. They are in the same parking lot as Claim Jumper, and every time I go to CJ's, Flamingo's is always busy. This is usually a good sign, or it can mean that a lot of people have horrible tastes. Katie and I were thinking positive and hoped it was because of their good food. Let's see if this is the case

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Reading the reviews on Yelp, almost every person raved about the chips and salsa. They were good, but not the best ever. They did make sure they were full at all times though. The salsa was nice and had a little spice to it, but it was not outright hot.

This was Dawn's dinner for tonight. She went with the Chicken Chimichanga. She thought that this dish was delicious. I did not get a chance to try it, because she hogged this all to herself, (something that her great husband has had to deal with for a lot of years!),  so we will have to take her word for it. Just from looking at it though, there did not appear to be enough red sauce on it, but she asked for more to remedy that situation.

This colorful plate belonged to Katie. She ordered up the Shrimp Tacos. Katie said, "these were the best shrimp tacos that I have ever had!". I am not ready to crown these the best, but they were good. She got one breaded shrimp taco and one grilled shrimp taco. She liked the grilled one the best, and also liked the cabbage and white sauce that came on these. Katie said that next time she would forget the beans and rice and just get two shrimp tacos ala carte.

The Big Juan with Chile Verde was the burrito that Mike attempted to tackle. The burrito looked a lot better in person. Sorry for the bad pictures, the lighting was too dark where we were sitting. Mike did not finish this, so I did get to try it, unlike his wife's dish, again thanks, Dawn! Anyways, this burrito came with meat, beans, rice, cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes, in a tortilla and then topped with more cheese. Mike loved this burrito, I thought it was just a little bit above average. I thought that it could have had more meat, and being named Big Juan, I thought it was going to be huge, but I could have easily put this away quickly.

Another well-presented plate was my selection, Carnitas Jalisco. Pork garnished with onions, cilantro, salsa, and guacamole, served on corn tortillas. I liked the taste of the pork, it was not boring, and not dry at all. These are the equivalent of street tacos. The beans and rice were just average. Overall, a decent plate of food.

For dessert, we shared a Fried Ice Cream. I liked this well enough, but by this time, I was feeling pretty full. Flamingo's version of fried ice cream was pretty standard among Mexican restaurants though.

Mike said that when he entertains clients from the Midwest, and they want Mexican food, he always takes them here. I would say that is a good safe bet. The food is good, but what a lot of people would call, "white-washed Mexican food". I do not want to get into a debate about authentic Mexican food versus Mexican food made for the masses. I think there is room for both kinds of places in the OC. I actually like both kinds of Mexican food, based on what I am craving. 

The service here was pretty good. I thought that the prices were right where you would expect them to be. Katie's shrimp tacos were $10.95, and Mike's Big Juan Burrito was $9. That is about the price you would pay at a sit down Mexican restaurant in South county.  

Out of five lawn ornaments, (because that is what I think of when I think Flamingos), five being best to zero being worst, Flamingo's just gets three lawn ornaments.

Flamingo's does not have a web site but you can find their menu here: http://flamingosmexicangrill.com/

Am I Going to Make The Habit a Habit?

The Habit

23632 El Toro Road #A

Lake Forest, CA 92630

I have been hearing about The Habit for some time now and decided to give them a try. They have three locations in Orange County (the others are in Santa Ana and Fullerton). I love trying new hamburger places. The Habit seems to be in direct competition with In-N-Out. Let's see what burger will come out on top.

First, a little back-story on The Habit. The Habit started in 1969 in Santa Barbara and has now grown to 36 locations in California. The business was started by two brothers committed to a quality burger. They hand cut the lettuce and tomato daily, have their buns custom made by a local bakery, and charbroil their patties over an open flame. Let's see if this trouble is rewarded with a great-tasting burger.

I am not going to lie, this hamburger looked really good, and these pictures did not even do it justice. This is the Double Charburger with bacon added. The burger usually comes with mayo, lettuce, caramelized onions, pickle, and tomato. I got all but the tomato and pickles on this one. If I had to gripe about this burger, I would say the bacon was unnoticeable. The burger had the right amount of mayo, and the meat tasted good. The lettuce did taste fresh, and the cheese was melted to the right texture. Excellent burger.

To complete my meal at the Habit, I got some fries. These fries were also delicious and came out piping hot. I must confess that I am not a big fan of In-N-Out fries, and these are not their fries. These were crisp without being greasy. Also, to top it off, they have ranch dressing, which In-N-Out does not have.

My buddy Richard got a Tri-Tip Sandwich. This comes with mayo, tomato, lettuce, onion, and teriyaki or barbeque sauce. Richard opted for the barbeque sauce on this one. He could not be happier with this sandwich. You can also get this on a French roll or toasted sourdough. Definitely go with the sourdough. I got this same sandwich at the Habit in Santa Ana, and it came out looking like this...

The sandwich tasted good, but it did not fill up the bun. Not sure if this is normal when you get a French roll, but it made me not want to order it again. However, after seeing Richard's sandwich, I would consider giving this sandwich another shot.

Richard also got Onion Rings to go along with his sandwich. These were good also, without any grease. They also come with ranch, which is a lovely touch without even asking for it.

Carissa could not contain her excitement for this Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad. She exclaimed, "this is the best caesar salad I have ever had from a fast food restaurant!". I did not try this, but there was a whole chicken breast on this salad, and the lettuce did seem very fresh. They asked her if she wanted teriyaki sauce on the side of this, which I thought was pretty odd. I have never had a caesar salad with teriyaki. Maybe it is a Santa Barbara thing.

For dessert, I got a Chocolate Malt. I can not remember the last time I ordered a malt, but this one was good. This had just a hint of malt flavor. I think next time, I would just get a shake. The malt really filled me up.

So, what to make of the Habit? I think it is a good burger place, and in case you are with someone not in a burger mood, they have other options as well. The prices are very competitive also. The double cheeseburger goes for under four dollars. The steak sandwich also goes for an unheard-of $5.95, a steal. The service was excellent, and they got the food out quickly, as busy as they were. It was controlled chaos. I think that the Habit will not dent In-N-Out's profits too much because people are very loyal to them, but at least you do not have to know about any secret menus here.

Out of five Katy Perry's (she, like this restaurant, is from Santa Barbara), five being best to zero being worst, The Habit gets 3 solid Katy Perry's.

For more information on The Habit, click here: http://www.habitburger.com/