The Hunt is On For Great Steaks in Laguna Niguel! - CLOSED

Hunter Steakhouse

30100 Town and Country Dr.

Laguna Niguel, CA 92677

It was a boys night out for my friends and I, so we went to the restaurant equivalent of a, "man cave", a steak restaurant. Luckily, I had my steak expert, Matt along with me. This guy has been to almost every steak place in OC. When we heard that a new steakhouse had opened up, we were there. He even brought his brother along to sample the beef. Let's check it out.

Hunter Steakhouse has been around since 1970. That is quite a long time to be in business. They have two other location, both in San Diego county. This is their first foray into OC. They opened this Laguna Niguel location late in 2011. This location used to be an Acapulco a long time ago, but they completely gutted the restaurant, and  it is unrecognizable from those old days. The ambiance was unassuming, and the dining area was dark. Let's see if the food will brighten things up here.

The first of our two appetizers was this Ahi. At Hunter's the ahi is served with Cajun spices and seasonings, and paired with a wasabi cream sauce. This meaty fish had a great flavor and presentation. I did not really get a strong wasabi flavor from the sauce, but the spices that were crusted on the outside portion of this added lots of flavor.

It was guy's night out, so of course we had to have an Appetizer Sampler. Here the sampler includes potato skins, calamari, and lump crab meat mushrooms. The best out of these three was the calamari. It was heavily breaded, but the ancho chili sauce that was drizzled over it added a little kick. The crab stuffed mushrooms were okay. It was very hard to taste any of the crab in these. The potato skins were not at all good. Very plain tasting, we have better ones at Friday's.

Entrees at Hunter Steakhouse include Soup, Caesar Salad, or the Tableside Salad Bar pictured above. I have seen this one time before at the Chart House. Our waiter Jay rotated the lazy Susan around, and added the items that we wanted onto our plate. Matt and Reno both opted for this salad. They felt the salad ingredients were fresh, but the dressings were nothing special.

I have been on a real Caesar Salad kick lately, so opted to go that route. The Caesar here featured fresh produce and a good dressing, but there was not enough dressing on this for my taste.

Whenever I go to a steak place with Matt, I can be sure of two things. One, we will have great conversation through the night, and two, he will always get a Filet Mignon. This is the Hunter Cut, which is a little bigger than their standard cut. He got his meat topped with Neil Sauce, which consisted of mushrooms, onions, bacon, and blue cheese. With all of these big flavors, it was no wonder that he felt the sauce over powered the filet. The steak he felt was not the best he has had, but was still solid. Entrees come with two sides, and he had the Onion Rings and Steamed Broccoli. According to Matt, the broccoli was average, and the onion rings were nothing special. I had the onion rings as well, and would have to concur with his opinion. Bland breading, and nothing out of the ordinary.

Hunter's Steakhouse proclaims that they have the best Prime Rib in Town. Not really a crazy stretch in Laguna Niguel, but it was solid. Both Reno and I got the Standard Cut here, which was a three quarters of a pound of meat. He had his medium well, and mine was medium rare. Both were cooked the way we requested them. Reno felt his prime rib was marbled well, without being too fatty. He thought the Baked Potato and the Seasonal Vegetables were average. My prime rib was good, but lacked the wow factor. Again, the onion rings were okay, and the mashed potatoes came out dry, not light and fluffy.

Our Waiter brought out the dessert tray, and we all chose a different one. Matt, who hates chocolate, (even though he admits this, he is still my friend), went with a slice of Carrot Cake. The cake part was moist, but lacked sweetness. There also needed to be more icing here. Matt said he would forgo this dessert next time.

The best dessert out of three was this Mocha Mud Pie. It had a very good chocolate cookie crust and not the best ice cream, but it did the trick. I am not much of a coffee person, so the mocha ice cream did not help endear me to this dessert.

My choice for dessert was this Turtle Cheesecake. It is a little out of character for me to order cheesecake for dessert. Cheesecakes are so hard to get right, and this one was just okay. It was very rich, but not memorable in any other way. They needed more caramel sauce and nuts on this to truly call it a turtle cheesecake.

After eating at Hunter Steakhouse I have come to a realization. that when it comes to steak, you get what you pay for. The steaks and prime rib were not bad here, but they will never be on par with Morton's and Ruth Chris. Of course you do not have to take out a second on your home to eat here either. The entrees are in the  $20 to $30 range, and include soup or salad and two sides. The high end steakhouses make you order everything ala carte, and at Hunter's you get a full meal for less than the price of a single steak there. The side items here need some help. All of them were pretty pedestrian. The ahi, salads, and prime rib were the highlights of the night for me. I would sum up Hunter Steakhouse as better than Black Angus, and on par, or slightly better than Lone Star Steakhouse. Our waiter Jay was very personable, kept things moving and gave us great service. Unlike Lone Star Steakhouse, he did not have to dance every forty five minutes. I am sure he appreciates that.

Out of five hockey pucks, (because Hunter Steakhouse was established in 1970, the same year as Anaheim Ducks star, Teemu Selanne was born), five being best to zero being worst, Hunter Steakhouse gets 2.5 hockey pucks.

For more information on Hunter Steakhouse, click here: http://huntersteakhouse.com/home.html

King's Fish House to the Tower or the Throne?

King's Fish House

24001 Avenida De La Carlota

Laguna Hills, CA 92653

In Katie's family I kind of have a reputation. They take me to one of their favorite restaurants, I blog about it, and they are never satisfied with the results. They think that I am very picky, and a very tough critic. I think the reason they should be upset is that they have been eating at average places all this time. I am of course kidding, (I am not really, but I want to still be invited out with them!).

So, on this outing with the family we headed to King's Fish House. King's is a casual fish restaurant. They operate twelve locations, and three of them are located in our fair county, (the other two in OC are Orange and Huntington Beach). The vibe here at King's reminds me of a Lucille's BBQ restaurant. Although King's is a chain restaurant, you do not get that kind of vibe here. Let's check out what came out of the kitchen.

No bread basket here, but we were served this bread plate. This sourdough loaf was served warm, and had a great flavor. I could have eaten the whole loaf by myself.

I snapped this picture, just before Dennis dug in. He always goes for a cup of New England Clam Chowder when he comes here. He described this chowder as good, with just the right amount of spice. Plenty of potatoes and clams for his taste, and he liked the fact this was not as creamy as other chowders he has had.

The dinner salads were basic, but fresh. They are not going to wow you, but the blue cheese dressing for some reason this night caught my attention. It had more blue cheese flavor than most, and held on to the lettuce well.

Now on to the main entrees. We will start it off with Katie's selection, the Mediterranean Swordfish. This fish, caught off the California coast, was paired with a tomato fennel relish and Greek yogurt.sauce. This fish was very meaty, almost like a steak. The yogurt sauce was creamy and complimented the fish nicely. Also served with this was a sauteed orzo, which according to Katie, really balanced this meal out perfectly.

The patriarch of the family had the Mexican Shrimp and Wild Alaskan Scallops on a Skewer. Dennis enjoyed the portion size of this plate, and felt the shrimp and scallops were cooked well. For his two side items he went with Steamed Jasmine Rice and Macaroni and Cheese. The rice was average in his opinion, and the mac and cheese was a little on the dry side. Not the cheesiest macaroni we have had.

Not too different of a plate was Lynn's dinner, the Farm Raised Mexican Shrimp. Lynn echoed Dennis' comments about the portion size being good, and the shrimp being cooked well. She went with the Macaroni and Cheese as well, but also had the Sauteed Fresh Spinach. The spinach was the best side of the night for us. It was maybe sauteed with garlic, which really gave it a nice flavor.

After much deliberation I had the Parmesan Crusted Rockfish. I was very happy with the serving size of this entree. Four very well cooked pieces of fish, more than satisfied my appetite. My one complaint would be the lack of lemon butter on this. For some reason it was poured on the plate, rather than having it placed atop the fish. I should have just asked for more sauce, but I just made due. The Cole Slaw was decent here, but the mashed potatoes were flavor challenged. Next time I will opt for the baked potato.

King's Fish House is a pretty safe bet for a chain seafood restaurant. They are definitely better than Red Lobster, and on par with Bluewater Grill. The prices were a little on the high side, but the portion sizes make up for that a little bit. The sides here need some help. Besides the spinach, and maybe the Cole slaw, we were not too crazy about them. Service was straight forward and good. We sat out on the heated patio this night, and were quite comfortable. King's Fish House puts a halt to the run of mediocre restaurants that Katie's family has taken me to. I guess I will be invited to at least one more dinner, (I hope!).

Out of five Elvis's, (because of course you can not hear the name king, and not think of him), five being best to zero being worst, King's Fish House gets 3 Elvis's.

For more information on King's Fish House, click here: http://www.kingsfishhouse.com/index.html

California Dreaming at CPK?

California Pizza Kitchen

321 W. Katella Ave.

Anaheim, CA 92802

Our good friend Adrienne was staying in the Disneyland area, for her birthday for a couple days. She and her family were going to be spending two, fun filled days at the happiest place on earth. We decided to skip the theme park, but we still wanted to help her celebrate her big day. We decided to meet her and Chris at the Garden Walk in Anaheim, which is Disneyland adjacent. I let them choose where to eat, and they came up with California Pizza Kitchen.

I know CPK is a chain restaurant, and as a food blogger I should thumb my nose at it for this reason alone. But I write this food blog, not only for the foodie in me, but as an every man's food blog. Places where lots of people eat, and lots of people eat at California Pizza Kitchen. Started in 1985, they operate over 260 restaurants worldwide. 12 of those restaurants are based in our very own corner of the world, OC. Their brand is in stadiums, airports, and even sold in grocery stores. I have eaten here occasionally over the two plus years I have written this blog, but this is the first time I have reviewed them, so let's see how it goes.

Chris considers himself to be an avocado egg roll connoisseur, so of course we had to order the Avocado Club Egg Rolls. These were filled with tomatoes, chicken, bacon, Monterrey jack cheese, and of course avocado. These egg rolls came with an herb ranch dressing and a Ranchito sauce. Chris believed that these egg rolls were just average, and I would tend to agree with that assessment. The bacon was not prominent enough for my liking, and the chicken was kind of lost here. On the positive side, the egg roll was fried nicely,  and came out hot.

Not content with just one appetizer, Katie also had the Mediterranean Plate. This dish came with white bean humus, a Greek salad, feta cheese covered with olive oil, and pizza-pita bread. I had some of the humus, and it was good, not great. Katie liked the Greek salad and feta cheese, but I did not have any of that. Not really my thing.

Located, not on their salad portion of their menu, but in the "Small Bites" part, they had this Wedge Salad. I love wedge salads, and this one was the perfect size. I did order this without tomatoes and chopped egg, ( I know I am weird, but I have a thing against hard boiled egg),  but it did come with bacon and a very flavorful blue cheese dressing. I liked this enough that I would get this again for sure.

Of course with a name like California Pizza Kitchen, the pizzas are definitely in the spotlight here. At our table, three of the four of us opted to get a pizza. Starting us off is the BBQ Chicken + Applewood Smoked Bacon.  This is probably their most popular pizza, and the one that really put them on the map. Toppings on this included red onion, BBQ sauce, a Gouda and mozzarella blend, cilantro, chicken, and bacon. Chris had no complaints about this pizza, and had no trouble clearing his plate.

The birthday girl, Adrienne went the South Pacific route with her selection, the Hawaiian Pizza. She felt this pizza was balanced perfectly. The sweetness from the pineapple, and the the saltiness of the ham, along with a crunchy outside crust, with a chewy inside portion. She could not have been more pleased with this pie, calling it, "Yummy".

The pizza parade continues with the White Pizza. This hue deficient pie contained a plethora of cheeses, (Fontina, Mozzarella, Ricotta, Parmesan, and Pecorino Romano), along with sauteed garlic spinach, and chicken substituted for bacon. Katie liked this pizza well enough, but thought that cheeses needed to be sharper.

Of course I am not one to conform to the masses, so I had to be different and shy away from the pizza, with this Jambalaya. This spicy dish came with blackened chicken, shrimp, Andouille sausage, ham, and scallions, served on top of linguini. This dish was full of flavor and really punched back. I was a little disappointed with the amount of shrimp and meats in this. Four shrimp in this bowl, a few pieces of sausage, and a few bite sized morsels of chicken was not enough to warrant the $16 price tag here.

Our experience at California Pizza Kitchen can be summed up by one word, safe. I thought everything was alright here, but they are not going to take too many chances in the kitchen, and the food is not going to blow you away. It is fine enough though. A lot better than most restaurants around Disneyland. The service on this trip was great. The restaurant was very busy, and everything seemed to be running smoothly. In the end, the birthday girl seemed to enjoy her dinner, and we enjoyed spending the night with her.

Out of five cops, (because the first CPK was located in Beverly Hills, and I liked the movie Beverly Hills Cop when I was a kid), five being best to zero being worst, California Pizza Kitchen gets 2.5 cops.

For more information on California Pizza Kitchen, click here: http://www.cpk.com/

Our Best and Worst of 2011!

Happy New Year to you and your loved ones. We here at Eating My Way Through OC have decided to wrap up this year with the obligatory best and worst list. We went to a record 123 restaurants this year. That is a lot of eating! Nearly three restaurants reviewed a week. We went on two east coast trips, to New York and Boston. The food there was phenomenal! Culinary highlights of those trips included the Lobster Roll from Neptune Oyster House in Boston, authentic New York pizza from Grimalidi's, the Tres Leches Donut from the Doughnut Plant on the lower east side, and the Chocolate Chip and Banana Pancakes from Mike's City Diner in Boston.

We also added new foods to our eating adventures. We reviewed Indian, Japanese, Lebanese, Peruvian, and Vietnamese. We are looking forward to adding even more diverse foods to our list in 2012. We may have tried different foods this year, but we could not stray too far from hamburgers, Mexican food, and barbecue. We of course are still in search for our best breakfast burrito in OC. We have had some really good ones, but nothing that has knocked our socks off, like the one we had in Pasadena, at Lucky Boy.

Let's see what made our best and worst list for the year 2011. Starting us off will be the worst restaurants of the year, in no particular order.

The night we came to Chelas Mexican Grill, they failed to impress. The meats were not prominent in any of the tacos or burritos that we had. They used way too much lettuce on everything, and that caused the food to become cold too quickly. If I had wanted bland Mexican food, I would have just gone to Chipotle.

We did not get to too many places this year to find the perfect place to watch football on Sunday mornings, but we unfortunately made it to Rudy's Pub and Grill in Foothill Ranch. Not only did my football team stink it up this year, but the food here did as well. My southwestern scramble put my taste buds in a coma. The rest of the food proved to be no better than mediocre, which is what I wish for my Jaguar's next year. Mediocre would be a step up for them.

Not to pick on Foothill Ranch, but it is home to two of the five worst restaurants on our list this year. After our visit to Mustard Cafe, we are sure that Togo's is not sweating competition from them. My Reuben sandwich was served with the least amount of meat I have seen on a Reuben, and they were out of rye, so they served it on wheat. Failure on both counts.

The one plus we got by eating at Florentine's Downtown Grill was we had buy one, get one free coupons. The bad part was we had to pay for any of this food at all. All of our food came out tasteless, overly breaded, and just plain average. There are so many good restaurants in Downtown Fullerton, we will pass on this one in the future.

Another area that has a plethora of great restaurants is Laguna, but sadly, C'est La Vie is not one of these great food spots. The food we had here this year was sub par, but would have been made better had it been served hot. We were one of two couples here on a Friday night, and the kitchen still got our food out to us cold.

Enough of the negative, let's find out what the best five restaurants of the year have been. In no particular order, here they are.

It is finding restaurants like El Farolito, that makes this blog worth writing. I would have never been to this local institution if I did not write this blog. The Mexican food here is great. The best carnitas I have had yet, and the prices can not be beat. I can not wait to go back for more in 2012.

If you had made me a bet at the start of the year that I would be including a sushi restaurant on my best restaurant of the year list, I would have taken it, and owed you money. I am not much of a sushi guy, but Sushi Wasabi could convert me. The fish here was fresh, and filled me up. I never thought I would write that about a sushi place. A little pricey, but you get what you pay for here.

We go from a crazy priced sushi restaurant to one of the cheapest meals we had this year, at John's Philly Grill. Usually a place just hangs some Phillie's or Eagles pennants, and calls itself a Philly Cheesesteak shop. The pennants are here, but so are the great sandwiches. These sandwiches come out molten hot, and once they achieve an edible temperature, you will be transported to a meaty/cheesy nirvana. Saves on the plane tickets to Philadelphia.

The menu might be limited, but the food at Gulfstream, was really good the night we were here for my birthday dinner. The rib eye was one of the best hunks of meat I had all year, and the crab cakes Katie went with were rich, with thick cuts of crab. A great way to mark another birth year.

My best of list would not be complete without Slater's 50/50. They make the list for the Breakfast Burger that is above alone. Yes, that is a donut for a bun, along with a fried egg, two strips of bacon, cheese, and a 50 percent ground beef and 50 percent ground bacon patty. I just gained a pound by typing what was on this breakfast burger. We have been back to Slater's a number of times through the year, and it has been a delicious adventure every time.

So there you have it. The best and worst of 2011. I would like to thank each and every one of you that has read the blog, sent in a suggestions, written a comment, or even sent in a criticism. I think I replied to each and every one of the responses I have gotten. To my fellow diners that have accompanied us on our dining adventures, thanks for waiting to eat, while I snap some pictures, and giving me your opinions on the food you just consumed. I would also like to thank my fellow food bloggers that I read religiously everyday. You all inspire me to be a better writer and reviewer of restaurants. Once again, thank you all very much, and here's to a great 2012!

Beautiful Cuban Food at Bella Cuba

Bella Cuba

3930 S. Bristol Ave. #114

Santa Ana, CA 92704

The corner of Bristol and Sunflower is quickly becoming the United Nations of eateries. This corner, directly across from South Coast Plaza, features Peruvian, Vietnamese, Mexican, Greek, and Japanese restaurants. Now you can add a Cuban place to that long list of cuisines that can be found on that corner. As soon as we heard there was a new Cuban place here, we could not wait to try it.

Bella Cuba opened about a month ago, and the food blogs have already given some glowing reviews. There is also some mystery surrounding this place. It is rumored that the owner and manager of Bella Cuba are defectors from the most famous Cuban restaurant in LA, Versailles. I have never been to Versailles, but it gets an 88% approval rating on Urbanspoon, four stars on Yelp, and gets rave reviews from others that love Cuban food. So needless to say, I had very high hopes for this place.

We arrived at about 2 on a Sunday afternoon. Kind of the limbo time before dinner and after lunch. A time when most restaurants are slower than normal. That was not the case at Bella Cuba. Almost all of the twenty tables were filled with parties large and small. There seemed to be lots of large families eating here. The decor was warm and inviting. Even with the crowd, we did not feel cramped. With the crowd here, I guess the secret was out about this place. Let's see if the food can match the hype.

After being seated we were brought this Bread Basket. The bread had a nice crunch to it, and was buttered nicely.

Whenever we are in a Cuban restaurant I always have to try the Cubano Sandwich. This might be one of the best ones we have had outside of Miami. This sandwich features pork, ham, pickles, cheese, and mustard, all on Cuban bread. This sandwich was greasy, but that just made it full of flavor. I would have liked this with a little more mustard or pickles on it to break up the saltiness from the meats, but it was a very good start to the meal. The bread had a nice crunch to it. I was a little surprised that they did not offer a media noche sandwich, which is one of my favorite sandwiches of all time.

Katie had heard great things about the Pollo al Ajillo or Garlic Chicken. This half chicken is marinated in mojo sauce and served with black beans, rice, and plantains. The sauce was a little too citrusy for our taste. The citrus taste really overwhelmed the garlic here, but the onions helped to cut the citrus taste.. The chicken was as advertised, as being very tender, and fell off the bone easily. She would have liked a little less bone and more meat,  but she would definitely get this again.

It has taken sometime for me to find my go to meal in a Cuban restaurant, but I may have found it with the Macitas de Puerco Fritas, Fried Pork Chunks. This delicious plate had fried and marinated pieces of pork. The pork tasted great, and had a wonderful simple flavor. Reminded me of a sweet and sour pork chunk, without the sweetness. Really tasty, but I thought the portion size here was a little weak. Only about six or seven pork chunks on the plate. The black beans and rice were great when mixed together, and the plantains added a sweetness to the meal, almost like dessert. I would for sure get this meal again.

No trip to a Cuban restaurant would be complete for us, unless we had a Tres Leches slice of cake. Bella Cuba was no exception. The cake here was not as damp as some of the others we have had. The icing was not as sweet either. Still with all of these factors going for it, this was still a great item to finish our meal off with. The tres leches at Felix's is still better, but that will be the only part of the meal that is better.

I am sure you can tell by this glowing review, we really liked our trip to Bella Cuba. The food here was very good, and I was very happy to have found my new favorite meal in a Cuban restaurant. The vibe here was very casual, but the restaurant when full, like it was when we were here is very loud. The service on this day was pretty good. I thought the portions were a little on the small side, but what they lacked in mass, they more than made up for in quality. Bella Cuba is for sure going to be on our heavy rotation list.

Out of five boxing gloves, (one of Cuba's favorite sports), five being best to zero being worst, Bella Cuba gets 3.5 boxing gloves.

For more information on Bella Cuba, click here: http://www.bellacubarestaurant.com/index.html

Arresting Pizza at New York Pizza Department?

New York Pizza Department

2279 Eagle Glen Parkway #105

Corona, CA 92883

After I posted my last blog about a Cuban restaurant in Corona, I got a comment from Mikehu about a pizza place in Crown Town. Mike had not been there himself, but his boss had raved about it. That was good enough endorsement for me. It just so happened that we were going to be in the area visiting Sabrina and Anthony, so that is where we decided to head.

Actually, I should clarify this. We got the food here to go. So, I have still technically not been to the restaurant, but I was really excited to blog about it. I was in the mood for a really good New York pizza, and if I was going to sit through all of Sabrina's awful stories, then I should at least have a great food experience to show for it, right? Also, if the food was not good I can at least plug my ears with it. Of course I am just kidding PPG, (sorry, inside joke).

New York Pizza Department opened its doors in 2004. Like most restaurants this one has a story to go along with it. A group of friends from NYC moved to Southern California, and missed the great food of the Big Apple. They had been in the bagel business back home, and now wanted to venture out into the world of Italian cooking and pizza. They used their families recipes to help shape the menu, so lets see how it all turned out for them.

We have been on a real Garlic Knots kick lately, and here was no exception. At NYPD these knots were definitely topped with enough garlic to keep any vampire away, but they were not as soft as we would have liked. I would have liked these better, if the garlic had been baked in as well, instead of having the garlic presented on top of the knot.

Our second appetizer choice for the evening was the Fried Mozzarella. This dense, triangle of cheese was very good. The breading was seasoned well, and the cheese inside had a thickness to it, that added to the heaviness of this starter. The marinara sauce that accompanied this was a good companion to this cheese wedge.

When it came time to order the pizza we opted for the N.Y.P.D. Special. This Neapolitan style pizza came with pepperoni, sausage, onions, meatballs, mushrooms, and bell peppers. We omitted the olives that usually come on this pizza. True to New York form, the pizza slices were cut very large. This was the Bigga size which featured eight slices. The toppings here did not wow me. I really expected more flavor from them, but they yielded little. The crust was a little soggy in the middle, but the ends and outer portions were nice and crisp. The cheese was okay here, nothing to get excited about. When it was all said and done, this was a very average tasting pizza.

Unlike the pizza, the Fettuccini Ala NYPD got rave reviews at our table. This pasta dish came with pine nuts, tomatoes, chicken, broccoli, all served with pesto sauce. The flavors in this pasta dish melded well together. The pesto sauce was good, along with the perfectly cooked pasta. The pine nuts added an unexpected earthiness to this dish. The only complaint I could make about this was they kind of skimped on the chicken, or maybe Sabrina hogged it all. Good, solid pasta dish though.

I know that the P in the name of this place stands for pizza, but maybe they should change it to pasta. The pizza here failed to live up to our expectations. The pasta however was really pretty good. We have had pizza in New York this year, and this one does not compare. It was not awful, but just lacked the wow factor. The starters were hit and miss this night. The fried cheese we would get again, but we would skip the garlic knots. If I were in the area again, I would come back and give them another try.

So out of five boroughs, (because that is how many boroughs make up New York City), five being best to zero being worst, New York Pizza Department gets 2.5 boroughs.

For more information regarding New York Pizza Department, click here: http://nypdcorona.com/