Picture Perfect at Piccolino?

Piccolino

28731 Los Alisos Blvd. #B3

Mission Viejo, CA 92692

Piccolino seems a little out of place. It is tucked away in a shopping center most people do not even know exists. Right up Los Alisos, almost to the 241 toll road, right next to a Vons grocery store. This is the kind of restaurant that seems like it should be vying for customers dollars in the Newport  area, but has been jettisoned to the foothills of Mission Viejo.

In Italian, Piccolino means small, and this place is not large by any means, so the name fits. Opened in 2007, this restaurant has a very loyal following, and has gotten good reviews. We arrived at seven on a Saturday night, and the place was moderately crowded, with what seemed like middle aged to older families, coming here after leaving Saddleback church. We were seated quickly and after perusing the menu, this is what arrived at our table.

Here is a quick shot of the bread basket that was served to us. The bread was just okay, but the sauce above was interesting. Katie and I both tried to identify it, but were unable to do so. I think it was an avocado/pesto/yogurt blend, but I am still not too sure about it.

For an appetizer, we went with the Focaccia Farcita al Forno. This is just a fancy way of saying cheese bread. This cheese bread was stuffed with fontina and mozzarella cheese, and when I say stuffed, I mean stuffed, as you can see from the bottom picture. I thought this was okay, but was not in love with it. The fontina cheese seemed a little over-powering to me. When the red sauce was added, it did mellow out the cheese a bit. The bread part of this dish was good, but kind of got pushed to the side by the big cheese taste.

Katie's choice for dinner was the Fettucine Panna, Pollo & Piselli. This dish combined the pasta with chicken, peas, and parmesan sauce. We both felt that the chicken was tender, and the pasta was cooked perfectly. You could tell that they took great pride in their pasta's. The sauce was just average, and did not stand out.

I went with a pasta dish as well, the Fusilli Salsiccia & Funghi. This dish featured Italian sausage ragout, onion, mushrooms, tomato sauce, and pecorino. I liked all of these big flavors coming together. The sausage was cooked well, but the big spot light was shining on the pasta. The corkscrew shape held on to the sauce well, and the denseness of the noodle held my interest. A very good dish, but I would have wished for more sausage.

Piccolino is a good restaurant to try if you are in the area, and are looking for good Italian food. Is it destination dining? Probably not. I can not see people coming all the way from Newport Beach to eat here, but it is good enough that maybe some people who live in the Mission Viejo area may not have to drive to Newport, or another area to get their Italian fix. The service was very good the night we were here. The wait staff and bussers were right on top of everything. The atmosphere was business casual, and we felt that the prices were competitive.

Out of five top hats, (because in the 1935 movie Top Hat, Ginger Rogers sang and danced to a song called Piccolino), five being best to zero being worst, Piccolino gets 3 top hats.

For more information on Piccolino, click here: http://www.piccolinomv.com/index.html

Swinging By Side Street Cafe

Side Street Cafe

1799 Newport Blvd. Suite A105

Costa Mesa, CA 92627

It was the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and frankly we were tired of turkey sandwiches. Not being big shoppers, we needed to get out of the house and get our blood flowing. We decided to get up early, eat a good breakfast and walk the Back Bay Trail. So Katie left it up to me where to eat, and I chose Side Street Cafe.

Side Street is located right on Newport Boulavard. It has a homey/local feel to it. You can sense that a lot of the people who eat here are regulars. On busy weekends, I can imagine that you would have to wait for a table, since there are only fifteen tables inside this tiny cafe. This weekend most people were battling it out at the mall, so we got a table as soon as we walked in. Here is what we got.

I started with a Cinnamon Roll. We liked this big and dense roll. The frosting was very good and plentiful. We tore through this very quickly.

Katie had the Sampler. This consisted of one piece of French toast, one pancake, eggs, and potatoes. Katie felt that the French toast was cooked well, but she would opt for the stuffed French toast next time. The pancake was okay, it soaked up a lot of syrup. The eggs and potato were solid according to Katie, and she liked that the potaoes were cooked crispy.

What we have here is the S.O.S. I am not sure how it got it's name, maybe someone got lost in this massive helping of food. This big portion started with biscuit, covered with ground beef and onion, and then topped with gravy. This was also served with potaoes and eggs. I liked the size of this plate for the $9.50 price tag. I did have to add a bunch of Gringo sauce to make this taste like anything. Before I added the sauce, the plate had a mild, almost bland flavor. Not the best gravy I have ever had.

Side Sreet Cafe is fine for breakfast. If you are in the area, it is a nice choice. I liked the laid back feel of the place, but the food that we had did not really standout. Maybe we got the wrong items, but I would still be open to trying other things on their menu. Service was good, and the value for the money was good as well, because of the sizes of the plates.

Out of five parking meters, (because some side streets have meters, and I could not think of anything else), five being best, to zero being worst, Side Street Cafe gets 3 parking meters.

For information on Side Street Cafe, click here: http://sidestreetcafe.tripod.com/index.html

Celebrity Sighting at Burger Town U.S.A!

Burger Town U.S.A

24418 Muirlands

Lake Forest, CA 92630

Lake Forest does not have a shortage of hometown celebrities. Ginger Reyes, (bassist with the band Smashing Pumpkins), Christine Woods, (actress who was in the now canceled Flash Forward), and beach volleyball player, Elaine Youngs, have all called Lake Forest home sometime in their lives. But now we can add one more name to that list. The Asian lady that works at Burger Town U.S.A.

After reading the reviews of Burger Town, I was a little nervous about walking in there. Everyone kept mentioning the woman that works here, and giving tips on how to avoid her ire. The advice ranged from, "Do not look her in the eye", "Do not ask any questions about how the food is prepared", "Have exact change and do not stutter when ordering", and lastly, "whatever you do, don't ask for more than two sides of ranch dressings". Armed with this knowledge I was ready to take on Lake Forest's version of the Soup Nazi.

We walked in and the place was bigger than it looks from the outside. If you have ever been to the Mad Greek on your way to Vegas, it kind of has that vibe to it, but no Greek statues here. As we got to the counter, I spotted our adversary. I made the mistake of telling Katie about her legend, and she was totally nervous. I ordered first, and took two steps to the side. No problem.

Now it was Katie's turn to order. But she was taking to long to decide. I was getting nervous, I went over the rules with her, and she was breaking rule number four. Come on Katie you can do this, was all I was thinking. She finally ordered, money was exchanged, and we hurried to our seats to wait for our food, so far un-scathed. Here is what appeared at our table.

First off was Katie's burger. She ordered the Garden Burger with cheese. I am not one to try Garden Burgers, but she said it was average, and did not set itself apart from others she has had. I did try her fries though. They were fried perfectly. I do not know who the fry chef is here, but these had a great crunch to them, without being to over done, and not greasy at all. Not a bad french fry in the bunch!

I chose to get the Colossal Burger and Fried Zucchini. First the burger. This burger came with a very generous serving of pastrami on it. The patty was thin in girth, but was round enough to encompass the whole bun. This burger would have been made better by adding some cheese to it, but I did not want to press my luck when I was ordering. The zucchini was fair, not as good as the fries. I should have salted them a bit to make them better.

So we made it out of Burger Town alive. We must have hit the Asian woman on a good night. She probably just freaks out if it gets really busy, or if high school kids get out of line. She was not friendly to us, but we got our food and did not have any problems. I still would be afraid to look her in the eyes though.

Out of five Mayor McCheese's, (because if I had to vote for anyone to be the mayor of Burger Town, it would be him), five being best to zero being worst, Burger Town U.S.A receives 2.5 Mayor McCheese's.

Burger Town does not have a web site, but you can read the reviews of the restaurant and the Asian woman here: http://www.yelp.com/biz/burger-town-usa-lake-forest

Prime Cut Cafe a Cut Above the Rest?

Prime Cut Cafe

1547 W. Katella Ave.

Orange, CA 92867

Hockey season is back! Katie and I usually meet near the arena and get something to eat beforehand. For this game, we headed to Prime Cut Cafe. Prime Cut Cafe is ideally located within a short walking distance of the Honda Center, and the best part is there is no charge for parking.

This is Prime Cut Cafe's only location. According to their website, they "strive to achieve affordable luxury with modern American Flavor." They have a wine bar that offers over seventy-five wines by taste, flight, glass, or bottle. But on this night, we are here to sample the food. Let's see what we got.

While waiting for Katie to show up, I was seated and had about ten minutes to kill before she made it to the restaurant, so I ordered a cup of the Clam Chowder. The menu said that they make this soup in-house, along with a lot of the rest of the menu. I liked the creaminess of this soup, but it was devoid of clams, and the bacon overpowered the clam taste, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but just not what I expected from a clam chowder. I should have gotten the bowl of soup since it was just a dollar more, and I knew Katie would be late anyway.

Once Katie did arrive, she went the salad route and got the Cafe Club Salad with ranch dressing on the side. This is their version of a Cobb salad but with organic greens. This also featured bacon, tender chicken, tomatoes, avocado, chopped eggs, and blue cheese. I am not much of a salad guy, but even I picked at this after finishing my meal. Katie felt this salad was "fresh tasting, and the chicken was solid."

I went off of the beaten track with my pick for dinner. At Prime Cut Cafe, I should have gotten a steak or prime rib, but I settled on something else. I got the Chicken Burgundy. Thinly sliced chicken breast is perched on whipped potatoes and covered in a mushroom burgundy sauce. I was disappointed by the size of this portion, and the mashed potatoes were not as good as I had hoped. The sauce had a good flavor and complimented the almost forgettable chicken. Note to self: get the beef next time.

The desserts at Prime Cut are all made from scratch and baked or cooked at the time you order. We were already going to be late for the game, so we decided to try a dessert. But what should we get? They have cookies and milk, jelly doughnuts, and fruit cobblers, but we went with the Flourless Hot Chocolate Cake, served with vanilla bean ice cream. Katie thought the ice cream overshadowed the cake, and I felt that the cake was too soupy. It had more of a souffle vibe to it, but it did have a rich chocolate flavor.

Prime Cut Cafe was okay. Like I said earlier, I should have gotten a beef dish. The atmosphere here reminded me of Lazy Dog Cafe, just not as good. Nothing on the menu really got me too excited, especially the starters, where they had marinated olives, deviled eggs, and prosciutto and apples. It's different from my kind of appetizer. The service was good, and the prices did not seem too out of control.

Out of five mobsters (because the 1972 film Prime Cut, which starred Lee Marvin, was about mobsters), five being best to zero being worst, Prime Cut Cafe gets 2.5 mobsters.

For more information on Prime Cut Cafe, click here: http://primecutcafe.com/

Setting the Table at Taco Mesa

Taco Mesa

22922 Los Alisos Blvd.

Mission Viejo, CA 92691

Taco Mesa is a place that kind of gets lost in the shuffle for me. Maybe it is because it is hidden in a shopping center, who's big tenants are a Kragen Auto Parts, and a Baskin Robbins, two places I rarely hangout. It could also be because we have so many choices when it comes to Mexican food in Orange county. The latter is probably the real reason I never think about Taco Mesa, but we recently made two trips to the awkward strip mall, to see what they had cooking.

Taco Mesa has been in business for just short of twenty years now. Opened by the Calderon brothers, Taco Mesa has grown to four locations, (this one plus, Costa Mesa, Orange, and Ladera Ranch). They have even opened up two full service restaurants, Taco Rosa, (in Newport and Irvine).

Each time we have been to this location they have been busy, so people can definitely find them. The brightly colored tables and chairs keep the place lively, and the music over the speakers helps to fill in the silence. They have counter service here, so when they call out our name, this is what came out.

We started off with the Taquitos. We ordered the beef the first time we were here, and chicken the next. The beef were better than the chicken. I liked the presentation of the taqitos, but the taste was just average. They were not greasy at all, and they did give out a generous dollop of guacamole with these.

Katie got the same salad on both trips to Taco Mesa, so I guess you can say that she liked it. She got the King Nacho Salad with chicken added. This salad was comprised of crispy tortillas, topped with beans, cheese, lettuce, pico de gallo, sour cream, and avocado. Katie calls this a cross between a plate of nachos and a taco salad, and she was impressed by the freshness of the produce. I liked the chicken in this, but this seemed too healthy for me. 

It was Burrito Wednesday when we visited, and on Wednesday's you can get a burrito, soft drink, rice and beans for $5, a great deal! I went with the carnitas burrito. I again liked the presentation, and their sauce was really good. I would have liked more meat, and less beans in the burrito, but the meat that it had in there was very tender.

The carnitas were so good my first trip I decided to get the Carnitas Pibil the second time. These carnitas were topped with Yucatan pibil sauce. Pibil is a Mayan word meaning buried, and this dish was traditionally buried in the ground to cook it. I am sure they are not burying this in the ground now, but I definitely dug it, (okay way too bad of a joke, but I had to try). The carnitas were fork tender, and the sauce was good. Not really chunky like a salsa, but had a mild flavor to it. This was also served with flour tortillas, and the beans and rice.

Next up was another item I had never seen on a menu before, the Taco Alambre. This caught my eye because it is steak grilled with peppers, onions and BACON! The menu said this was topped with cheese, but they must have forgotten it. The flavors on this were big, but it would have been better if the steak was a little more tender. I would give this taco another shot though.

We will have to get Taco Mesa more into our repertoire. It is so close to our house, and the food does seem really fresh and reasonably priced. After reading the reviews, I will have to give the lobster burrito a try next time, and the Mesa Burrito is also high on my list of things to try.

Out of five Grand Mesa's, (the largest mesa in the world, located in Colorado), five being best to zero being worst, Taco Mesa receives three Grand Mesa's.

For more information on Taco Mesa, click here: http://www.tacomesa.net/

Football Frenzy #5 - Oggi's Pizza - CLOSED

Oggi's Pizza

23641 Via Linda

Mission Viejo, CA 92691

It is now November and the football playoff picture is slowly coming into focus. A few teams have established themselves as supreme teams, even more have kept themselves in the playoff hunt, and then there are the teams that have given up on this year, and are looking towards next. My team, the Jaguars, fit into the middle group, and this is quite a surprise to me and to other football people. Usually by this time I am looking at who they are going to be drafting next June.

Since there are so many teams still in the hunt for the ultimate prize, a spot in the big game in January, we are still trying to find our ultimate football hangout spot. A reader of our blog, has asked me to check out Oggi's in Mission Viejo. So that is where we are headed.

Oggi's is a franchise restaurant that operates 17 stores in southern California and Arizona. They started selling pizzas in Del Mar close to twenty years ago. Back then they focused on pizzas, but they eventually started brewing their own beer, and converted their concept from a pizzeria to a sports themed restaurant. That sports theme is evident on this Sunday as we are seated, and can easily see abut ten TVs in our general area. The crowd is pretty spirited here. Everyone seemed to be into their games. I wanted to get into some food, so let's check it out.

To start us off we had the Garlic Knots. These were the most garlicky thing this side of the Gilroy Garlic Festival. These were made with their dough, tied in a knot and brushed with garlic and butter. We got eight in this order, and they were very good. Very filling for the $3.99 price tag.

Katie was in the mood for breakfast, so she had the unusual Breakfast Pizza. This is served only during football mornings. Katie felt that this was unexpectedly good, but also felt that it needed some kind of sauce. She opted for spinach on this, but I would have liked this more if it had some bacon, or another breakfast meat on it, to give it a little more flavor.

I was not in the mood for breakfast, so I went off of the regular menu. I got the Italian Stallion Pizza. This consisted of alfredo sauce, bacon, red onion, mushrooms, garlic and parmesan cheese. The big flavors of this pizza, combined with the sweetness of the dough, really balanced this out. If I had one complaint about this pizza, it would be that I should have gotten a bigger one.

What's a better way to wake up, than having a Bloody Mary? Nothing. This one was just okay. I know that this is supposed to feature tomatoes, but this one seemed too have too much tomato taste to me, and that can only mean that they skimped on the alcohol. I did enjoy the $3 price for this though.

I would say that this was one of the best places we have been for football. The service was decent, the crowd was definitely into the games and the food was pretty good. Oggi's even features free wifi for those of you that bring your laptops to check your fantasy football teams.

So out of five racetracks, (because the first Oggi's was founded in Del Mar, where my favorite racetracks is located), five being best to zero being worst, Oggi's get 3 solid racetracks.

For information on Oggi's, click here: http://www.oggis.com/

Phil Shane Night at Harpoon Henry's!

Harpoon Henry's

34555 Golden Lantern

Dana Point, CA 92629

I just got back from vacation and had the weekend off to get back into the groove of things. So what was on the agenda for a rare weekend off? We were meeting our families at Harpoon Henry's for food, drinks, and Phil Shane.

Phil Shane has been around for as long as I can remember. He has played almost everywhere in the OC. He has played the House of Blues, La Cave, The Fling, and Original Mike's, among countless others. He performs covers of Roy Orbison, Elvis, Tom Jones, and Neil Diamond.  His audience ranges in age from 21 to 81, and his vibrant energy and great personality keep people coming back for more. This night he is at Harpoon Henry's, so I took this opportunity to blog about the food. Let's see if it will be music to our ears, or create a sour note.

We were sitting in the bar, so we ordered all of the following items off of the bar menu. First up we had the Nachos Grande. This was a big mound of tortilla chips, with guacamole, cheese, refried beans, sour cream, and salsa. They were your basic nachos, but they tasted pretty good. I wish they had the option of adding meat to these because that would have made these better. The $9.95 price tag for this seems a little steep at first, but this could easily feed three to four adults, (or one of me).

Sorry I did not get a picture of this plate before we started digging into it. This is the Calamari Strips. I thought that this was a different way of preparing calamari, it almost did not seem like calamari. Pounded thin, and rolled out in strips. The taste? Nothing to write home about.

Crab and Shrimp Wontons were next up for us. These were also filled with cream cheese, green onion, and ginger. I liked the sweet sauce that was served with this. The wontons themselves were kind of tasteless. I would think with all of the big flavors included in this dish, it would burst with flavor, but it was more of a flavor dud.

Dennis, the health nut among us, chose to get the Seafood Salad. This salad featured shrimp, calamari, scallops, tomatoes, and avocados. I did not get a chance to try this salad, but it got no complaints from Dennis. It was a fresh-looking salad, but the $16.95 price tag for this seemed a bit excessive.

Lynn went the soup route for her choice, she had a cup of Clam Chowder. It was a cold night out, and the soup tasted fine. I thought that it was a little saltier than I would have liked, and the clams were not in abundance here.

I ordered the Coconut Shrimp. This came with five very big shrimp. They were heavily breaded, and that detracted from the shrimp flavor. The orange mango sauce was very sweet and helped counteract the breading. These reminded me of the mediocre coconut shrimp that I had at the Jolly Roger awhile back, not too impressed.

Harpoon Henry's has an old school feel to it. It is a restaurant that has seen better days. The decor seems dated, and the clientele is heavily populated by gray hairs. The food was okay, but nothing really stood out as fantastic. Phil was his usual energetic self. He started his show at seven and was not done yet as we headed for the door at 11:30, (all this with no break mind you).  If you get a chance to see him play, you will not be disappointed. To see where he is playing next, click here to get to his website: http://www.philshane.com/

Out of five whales, five being best to zero being worst, Harpoon Henry's gets 2 whales.

For more information on Harpoon Henry's, click here: http://harpoonhenrys.com/