Partaking in Piles of Pastrami at The Hat

The Hat

23641 Rockfield Blvd.

Lake Forest, CA 92630

Four years into this blog, there are still some restaurants that I am surprised we have not been to yet. I do have my reasons for forgetting about The Hat. They are right across the street from my favorite fast food-style Mexican restaurant, Albatros. That is another restaurant that we have not blogged about. I kind of feel like I am slacking here. When I reach the corner of Rockfield and Center Drive, I almost always veer into the Albatros parking lot, lured by the thoughts of carne asada fries. The Hat usually goes ignored by us, not because it is terrible, but because the carne asada fries are too powerful to overcome.

This trip was different, though. I had a new purpose. As I often do, I was talking about food places with some of my coworkers. One of the beer reps was walking by when we spoke and mentioned The Hat. He told me that I had to try their chili cheese fries with pastrami on top of them. For the rest of that day, I could think of nothing else but the work I needed to get done. I pretty much just let the place burn down that day. It seemed like forever until Katie got off work, so we could head over to  The Hat for dinner, even though it was only about an hour and a half. I was really excited.

The Hat has been around since 1951. That is 62 years for you math-deficient people like me. I had to get a calculator to ensure I got the math right on this one. That is a very long time in the restaurant business. Almost ancient. For some perspective, back in 1951, Truman was President, I Love Lucy debuted on TV, and the United Nations opened its doors in New York. That was a crazy long time ago.

My parents grew up in Southern California, and my Mom had some of her younger years in Alhambra, near where the original Hat still operates. Today there are 10 locations of The Hat restaurants, with two OC locations. The other OC outpost is in Brea, right near the Brea Mall.

We got to this South OC restaurant at about 6PM on a Wednesday evening. Throughout our visit, a steady stream of customers walked through the door. The restaurant is very well lit, and they keep it cleaner than I imagined. Oldies music plays over the speakers, and your order is taken at the counter. When your number is called, your food is ready. On visits here, I am always amazed by all the condiment packets they offer. Not too often do you see thousand island dressing coming out of ketchup-style packets? They have tons of them, just like Chick-fil-A, another restaurant I have not eaten at in a long time.

Our food came out rather quickly, and before we get to what brought us here, let's take a look at Katie's sandwich, the Pastrami Dip ($8.59 with cheese). This is the sandwich that made The Hat world famous. Okay, maybe not world famous, but semi-famous. I can't imagine kids in the Gambia dreaming about the day they can come to the US and have this pastrami sandwich, but you get the point. Back to this sandwich, though. It is dipped in what I guess to be the pastrami au jus, but I am not sure. It is not dunked like the French dips at Philippe's, but it does get a little moisture on the bun and meat. It comes with light mustard and pickles, but I am sure you could get this without if you asked for it that way. The pastrami is really piled onto the sandwich. Katie took a good deal of it off to make the sandwich more manageable. She liked the pastrami here, but so much that the salt became the dominant force here. The pastrami was not too fatty or greasy, which Katie was thankful for. She would definitely get this sandwich again.

Yes, there actually is a burger patty buried under all that pastrami. This Pastrami Burger ($7.99) was my choice for dinner this night. Keep in mind that we still have more to come at this point. This pastrami burger was overwhelming, even for me. This burger comes with a single patty, sliced cheese, lettuce, tomato, and enough pastrami to feed a small country. The beef and cheese really got lost here. I almost could not taste it. I really liked the pastrami that was on this. It was sliced on the thinner side, with a pleasant meaty taste. I would probably skip the burger portion of this sandwich on my next trip to The Hat. It really became unnecessary with the overwhelming flavor of the pastrami.

The real reason we came to The Hat is the Chili Cheese Fries with Pastrami ($7.99). This is really the only thing we should have ordered. If you have ever been to The Hat, they give you an abundance of fries. Even a small order of fries can feed three people. The two pictures above do not even show the massiveness of this order of fries. Placed on a drink tray, we had enough for both of us and then brought half home for my roommate Rob. Unfortunately, he could only manage to eat another fourth of the fries. The fries are topped with a meaty and well-spiced chili, grated cheese, and shredded pastrami. Something about the pastrami elevated this from standard chili cheese fries on top of this mound. The fries' thickness helped by holding more of the toppings. It has been two weeks since we came here, and I have thought of these fries often.

Our trip to The Hat was indeed a gut-busting experience. We should have just split the chili cheese fries and been done with it. The rest of the meal was good, but the serving sizes are so big here that it really overwhelmed us. This is not the best pastrami you will have, but it is better than average and about on par with Togo's, in my opinion. The prices are a tad on the high side, but with the amount of food you get, you will have enough for two meals. I'm happy that we finally blogged about The Hat, and I look forward to going back again for those chili cheese fries.

Out of five thermometers (because thermometers have mercury in them, and mercury was used by hat makers back in the day, thus making the hatters crazy or mad), five being best to zero being worst, The Hat gets three thermometers.

For more information about The Hat, click here to go to their website: https://thehat.com/

Hurry Up, Small Plates, Big Pours Ends June 30th

Fleming's Prime Steakhouse

455 Newport Center Dr.

Newport Beach, CA 92660

One of the things I love about Fleming's is that there is always something going on. Sure their food is great, but they do no rest on that alone, even though they could. They always have some new promotion happening here. Something that gets people in the door, and trying new things on their menu. They have one of the best happy hours around, with the 5 for $6 til 7 promotion. With this happy hour they offer five appetizers, five cocktails, and five wines by the glass for $6, until 7PM. Also offered for $6 during happy hour is one of the best burgers you will have, the Prime Burger, which comes with cheese and bacon. I still look back fondly on that burger, which I had nearly a year ago. This trip to Fleming's is for another promotion, the Small Plates, Big Pours. 

When we arrived at this media event for Small Plates, Big Pours, we were ushered into the Wine Cellar, which is a private dining room capable of hosting up to 54 people. I had been to Fleming's a number of times, and have never even known this room existed until this past Saturday. This room is part of a million dollar renovation project that has taken place at the restaurant not so long ago. The room is ringed by mosaics of winemakers, and other Fleming's influenced people. The mosaics are made up of tiles that feature the labels of the winemakers wines. Very creative. 

Before we get to the Small Plates, Big Pours portion of the afternoon, we had a special treat come out for us, off of the 5 for $6 til 7 menu, the Pan Crisped Pork Belly. One tidbit of advice I have been prone to throw around to anyone that wants to listen to me is, "if you see pork belly on any menu, order it. You will never be disappointed". The pork belly at Fleming's definitely backed up my statement. This pork belly was served with a very nice cherry chutney sauce and a cheesy polenta that reminded me of a very well made cheesy girts. This is usually served with three pieces on the happy hour menu. I could have eaten about three plates of this for sure. The pork was crisped wonderfully, had just enough fat to add flavor, and went well with the other items on the plate. Pretty much a must get item when coming here for happy hour. 

While we were waiting for our next plate of food to come out, we were introduced to the new Winepad that is new at Fleming's. Think of this as an interactive wine list, with a twist. Sure all of the wines are listed here, but you can also select what you are having for dinner, and the Winepad will let you know what wine will go good with your entree. For a wine novice such as myself, this would be a very useful tool. The Winepad gives lots of information about the wines, and even has a Spin the Bottle feature that randomly chooses wines off of their 218 bottle wine list. A very progressive way of selecting wines, and a great way to get more people into wines, like myself. It took a long time before I got my shot of trying this Winepad, because Katie was so involved with it. 

Now onto the Small Plates, Big Pours section of the afternoon. There are seven different options available, with a suggested pairing for the wine. If however you would like to have a different wine, with your small plate, you may choose another one off of the list. The Small Plates, Big Pours are available all night in the bar area, and come at a cost of $24.95. The small plate is described as a serving size that is in between an appetizer and an entree. The big pour is a glass of wine that is filled to one and a half times the standard wine pour. By this time I was getting very excited to see what was headed our way from the kitchen.  

When asked what I wanted to try of the seven options listed on the Small Plates, Big Pours menu, I was immediately drawn to the Braised Short Rib with B.R. Cohn Silver Label Cabernet 2010. When I first saw the short rib I thought it might have been overcooked, but it was fork tender, with lots of big flavor. The au jus was a nice compliment to the meat, and the spinach and arugula served alongside of this was cooked well. I am not going to try and fool you into thinking I know a lot about wine, but I do know that this Cabernet went well alongside this short rib. The wine was pretty smooth, with a little hint of fruitiness in the background. 

With a little prodding, I steered Katie towards ordering the Fleming's Lobster Tempura with Franciscan Estate Chardonnay, from Napa Valley. Who could ever say anything bad about lobster? Even though the lobster had a tempura batter around it, it did not overpower the dish, and let the lobster shine through. It was served alongside a very well made soy-ginger dipping sauce. I am usually against dipping lobster in anything but butter, but this went very well here. Along with the lobster tempura was an arugula-jicama salad, which provided a nice spice. Katie did not say much about her wine, but the sip that I had was very good, with a nice crispness. 

As our meal was wrapping up, there was an opportunity to snap a picture of the great people that made this event possible. From left to right, Chef Partner and all around great guy, Chris Hutten provided us with all of this great food that was provided to us. In the center was our ever gracious hostess for the afternoon, the always hospitable Lee Healy. Then on the right, is the latest addition to the Fleming's Newport Beach family, Jose Jimenez. Jose has some big shoes to fill with the departing of the former Operating Partner, Russ Bendel, but just from talking to him briefly on this afternoon, we would say that Fleming's is in very capable hands. Thanks to all of you, and everyone that helped make this a very enjoyable afternoon at Fleming's. 

Jose used to work at the Rancho Cucamonga Fleming's location, where they serve brunch. Now that brunch has followed him to this Newport location. With great brunch entrees like a Filet Mignon Eggs Benedict, Baked Brioche French Toast with a Walnut Crisp, and a Prime Burger with Fried Egg, I can not wait to come back and try their brunch that is available Sundays, from 10 to 2PM. Just another way that Fleming's is always evolving, and getting new people through the door. 

The Small Plates, Big Pours promotion runs through the last day of June, and is available during their operating hours in the bar area. For more information on all the great happenings going on at Fleming's, click here to go to their web site: http://www.flemingssteakhouse.com/

Digging Up Some Good Grub at the Golden Truffle? - CLOSED

The Golden Truffle

1767 Newport Blvd. 

Costa Mesa, CA 92627

I have been doing an excellent job of getting to some of the restaurants on our "must-try" list. We have almost got our list down to two total instead of three full pages; it was nearly two months ago. Katie and I were going to be celebrating our fourth anniversary, so I went to our trusty list to see if there was another restaurant to cross off. I finally decided on the restaurant that was second from the top, The Golden Truffle.

I can remember when I put this restaurant on our list. I had just started my blog, and Katie's sister and brother-in-law had given me a copy of the Zagat Guide for Southern California. A really thoughtful gift that I still have to this day. I will give Kevin credit for this great gift because Sara has given some clunker gifts in the past. However, this was not a clunker gift at all.

The Golden Truffle has been around forever. Okay, not forever, but for over thirty years, a lifetime in the restaurant business. Started as a catering business, this chef-driven restaurant is owned and operated by Alan Greely. We had made reservations on a recent Saturday night. Roman Cucina next door was packed, but when we entered the Golden Truffle, only a smattering of tables was occupied. We had our tables, so we chose to sit in the "Wine Cellar" room, which was just a room with large wine racks and maps hanging from the walls. There were about six tables in this room, which was more relaxed than the rest of the restaurant, which was very nice.

Almost all of the reviews I have read about this restaurant make mention of the dated decor here. It is a little dated, but nothing deterred us from eating here. The menu at the Golden Truffle changes daily. So the menu items we are about to share with you might not be available when you visit. How to explain the menu here? It is safe to say that it's whatever the chef's whim is on any particular day. I have heard that this restaurant has some Caribbean influence, but that was not evident during our night's visit. A hodgepodge of Asian, Mexican, European, American, and Creole dotted the menu on our visit. Let's see what corner of the world we decided to tackle during this meal.

After being seated, we were given slices of bread. I was, of course, starving, so I was grateful for anything to start. This was a pretty solid French bread. It had a hard crust, while the inside had a nice chew. Unfortunately, the butter here tasted like margarine, but Katie thought I was wrong. This has been our most considerable disagreement four years into our relationship.

We received the bread basket, and the chef also sent out an amuse-bouche of Antipasti. This tiny salad consisted of thick salami, celery, tomato, and cheese cuts. This was very tangy due to the very citrusy dressing used here. I always like getting an amuse-bouche from a chef. It makes me feel like it is more of a private tasting than being in a restaurant. Plus, everyone wants free stuff, especially food.

Lately, we have been eating a lot of onion rings, and when I saw that they had Vidalia Onion Rings with Caribbean Ketchup ($7), I knew we had to try them. These rings were giant. The breading really broke away too easily, which is a pet peeve of mine when it comes to onion rings. The onion itself was very mild, with a pleasant subtle onion taste. The breading was not too over the top, allowing the onion to be front and center. The Caribbean ketchup was nice, sweet, and a compliment to the onion rings. We got these at the same time as our salads, so they sat awhile and cooled rather quickly.

Katie mildly surprised me when she ordered the Petite Iceberg with Tomato, Sweet Onion, and House Buttermilk ($9). This version of a wedge salad sans bacon really had Katie raving. She liked the freshness of the produce, while the dressing drew praise from her by having a great texture and a wonderful flavor. She detected the use of pepper in the dressing. Her only semi-complaint was the overuse of tomatoes here. That's the only part of this salad that she did not finish.

No surprise with my choice of salad for avid readers of the blog. True to form, I ordered the Golden Truffle Caesar Salad ($9). When this was placed in front of me, I was immediately drawn to the purple hard-boiled eggs that accompanied this salad. They were dyed in beet juice, just like the ones we had at Provisions Market in Orange two weeks later. Crazy coincidence. This Caesar did not use a creamy dressing but more of an oil-based dressing. It included chopped romaine, capers, Parmesan cheese, and the eggs mentioned above. This salad was a perfect serving size, and I liked it well enough. The large toasted crouton was very good on this salad.

The menu on this particular Saturday was a little playful. Under the heading "Utility Foods with Economic Certainty" was Katie's dinner for this evening, the Lemon Fusilli with Parmesan Cream ($10, but with chicken added, it came out to $20).  We both really enjoyed this plate. This was my first time having lemon fusilli, which really worked for me. The lemon did not overpower, and the Parmesan cream had a nice tang. The ten-dollar chicken was tender and seasoned well but had too much skin for Katie. A very nice plate.

After much contemplation over the menu at the Golden Truffle, I finally decided to get the Braised Prime Nebraskan Short Rib with Natural Horseradish Jus ($26). I had some mixed thoughts about this short rib. The meat was not as tender as my short rib dishes. The meat could not have stood independently because it was a little dry. The sauce was a tad salty but helped by moistening the meat. I did not detect much in the way of horseradish with this jus. Some bites were okay, while others really needed the sauce. The carrot was very crisp, and the potato was very smooth. I felt the serving size for this was pretty generous.

Dessert time and we settled on the Cuban Dark Chocolate Pot de Creme ($8). For chocolate lovers, this will definitely do the trick. This was very rich chocolate cut by the fresh berries placed on top of this dessert. I had more than my fair share of this dessert.

We casually told our waiter that we were celebrating an anniversary, and he brought us this slice of Cheesecake. This is a heavier cheesecake than I usually like. It was very dense. I did like the flavor of it, though, and the torching of the top gave it a creme brulee-type feel to this dessert. Again, plenty of fresh berries were added to this to help round it out.

It is safe to say that we enjoyed our meal at the Golden Truffle, but I was not over the moon about it. From what I have read online about this place, it really matters who's in the kitchen on the night you are here. When Chef Alan works, the food is much more creative and done better. Nonetheless, our food on Saturday night was all pretty good but pedestrian. I really liked the atmosphere here at the Golden Truffle. It was not too stuffy, even with the older clientele. Our server Blaine was fantastic on this night. He had a great personality and took great care of us during our visit. Also, I thought the prices were not too crazy out of control for your serving sizes. I'm glad we could finally cross the Golden Truffle off our list, but we look forward to returning when Chef Alan is in the kitchen.

Out of five poker chips (the most expensive truffle ever purchased by a Hong Kong casino tycoon, who paid a whopping $330,000 for a 3.3-pound truffle), five is best to zero being worst; the Golden Truffle gets 3 poker chips.

For more information regarding The Golden Truffle, click here t go to their website: http://www.goldentruffle.com/index.html

Trying Burrissimo, and a Giveaway Too! CLOSED

Burrissimo

1534 Adams Ave. #D

Costa Mesa, CA 92626

The restaurant business is a funny business. Someone has an idea, it becomes successful, then there are a bunch of copycats. Now that I think of it, I guess that is the way it works in lots of other industries as well. I mean there is one hit teen vampire movie, and all of the sudden there are ten shows about teen vampires on TV. Okay, I am kind of rambling here, but my point will be made shortly.

We were recently contacted by the folks over at Burrissimo to come in and see what they were all about. I immediately went to their website to check out the menu. Within three seconds of looking at it, I immediately knew what it reminded me of, an Italian version of Chipotle. It was as plain as day. You choose a style, a protein, a sauce, and then finish it off with veggies and cheeses. For all of you that know me, or have read the blog for an extended period of time, you know my distaste for Chipotle, but that is based on their serious lack of flavor, not their ordering process, so Katie and I made plans to head out to Burrissimo.

Burrissimo is located at Harbor and Adams in Costa Mesa. The same shopping center as Haus of Pizza and The Habit. This little shopping center was really packed when we showed up at 6pm on a recent Wednesday night. After walking in the door of Burrissimo, the first thing I noticed was the nice open feel to this restaurant. The high ceilings, and the separation between tables really made us feel comfortable right away. Let's take a look at the ordering process first.

The first step in the process is to determine what kind of meal you want. Burrissimo offers three options for you. You can have a Salad, a Pasta Bowl, or the namesake of the restaurant, the Burrissimo, which is an Italian Burrito. Yes, you read that correctly, an Italian burrito. After choosing what kind of meal you are going to have, it's time to choose a grill item. Here they offer six kinds. Vegetarian ($6.49), Chicken ($6.49), Crispy Chicken ($6.49), Meatballs ($6.79), Steak ($6.79), and Salmon ($7.99). As you can see, your choice of grill item determines the price that you pay. The next step is to select a sauce. There are three warm signature sauces, (Pomodoro, Diavolo, and Alfredo), and eight cold signature dressings that are used primarily in the salads, (Red Pepper Pesto, Zesty Parmesan, Balsamic Vinaigrette, Blue Cheese, Ranch, Italian Herb Vinaigrette, and Oil and Vinegar). The final step is to top it off with veggies and cheeses of your choice. They offer three kinds of cheeses and multitude. of vegetables. The tagline for Burrissimo is, "Served fast and fresh", and it was definitely fast. We had our food on our tray as soon as we paid, and we were on our way to our table. Let's see how everything turned out for us.

Katie went a very traditional route at Burrissimo, by getting a Pasta Bowl. She added lots of stuff to this large bowl. Starting with the Angel Hair Pasta and the Lemon, Rosemary and Garlic Chicken, then the cavalcade of items started. She selected the Pomodoro sauce, sauteed mushrooms and zucchini, sauteed onions and peppers, Italian corn, artichokes, spicy beans, roasted garlic, and mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. See, I told you she went nuts here. She was very happy with her choices. She felt that the pasta was cooked well, was not sticky, and was a great vehicle for the rest of the ingredients. Not only was the pasta good, but the serving size for this was more than Katie could handle. She had more than enough left over for lunch the next day.

Of course I hear the word Italian burrito, so I had to try one for sure. The Burrissimo is started with an organic Italian flatbread, which is lightly brushed with oil, and is then put on a warming surface for a few seconds on each side. I kind of went for a traditional Italian feel with my picks here. I selected meatballs to join the angel hair pasta in the Burrissimo, then I added sauteed onions and peppers, Diavolo sauce, Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses. I would have liked a little more of the spicy Diavolo sauce, but even without this, the Burrissimo was not dry. The produce was fresh, the angel hair acted like rice, and the meatballs had a nice meatiness to them. I thought the serving size for this was a very good value. Not quite as big as a Chipotle burrito, but it had way more flavor. I look forward to coming back and perfecting my ultimate Burrissimo experience.

Burrissimo has a few side items on their menu as well. Just in case we did not have enough to eat, we also ordered a half order of Pepperoni Rolls ($3.29). This Italian bread is brushed with butter and stuffed with some thicker than usual pepperoni. It is then dusted with Parmesan cheese. Ours was a little under cooked, but it still was good. There was plenty of pepperoni, and the cheese did not overpower this side item. This is served with your choice of three dipping sauces. We went with ranch, but pomodoro will be our next selection with this.

Just as we were about done with our dinner, one of the friendly employees of Burrissimo was handing out samples of their Tuscan Sausage Potato Soup. I was surprised they did not offer sausage as one of their grill items, but the sausage was definitely evident in this soup. It was very full of flavor, extremely creamy, and really got me psyched to have this soup on my next visit here.

No trip to Burrissimo would be complete without having the Zeppole's ($2.99). These Italian doughnuts are fantastic. These came out warm, had plenty of cinnamon and sugar, and lacked the greasiness that I had expected. You have your choice of having these with a raspberry dipping sauce or a vanilla icing. We went with the icing choice, and could not have been happier. If you do not get these when you are here, you have made a grave mistake.

We really enjoyed our visit to Burrissimo, even more than we thought we were going to. All of the items we had on this night really satisfied, and we left very full. I really thought this place is a great value. Nothing on their menu is over $8, so a family of four can easily eat here for under $40 including dessert. I'm really happy that Burrissimo took an existing idea, tweaked it just enough, and out did the original concept. Okay that will be my last dig at Chipotle, at least for this review.

Would you like to try Burrissimo for yourself? The great folks at Burrissimo have given me ten ($10) gift cards to give away to readers of my blog, plus one grand prize winner will receive a Happy Birthday Costa Mesa Prize pack, which includes, a pair of 60th anniversary concert tickets for June 28th, a $25 Burrissimo gift card, a Burrissimo logo cap, a bottle of BSting Signature Hot Sauce and an order of Zeppoles, which are not to be missed. The city of Costa Mesa is holding some great events for their 60th anniversary, and you can find out more detail here: http://www.travelcostamesa.com/costa-mesa-60/index.html. Enter the contest below, and good luck.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Even if you do not win one of the eleven prizes, you can still get something for free. From June 24th to June 30th, Burrissimo will be giving away a free order of Zeppoles with a minimum $7 purchase. This is a great deal, because I am still thinking about those Italian doughnuts. So good. For more information on Burrissimo, go to their web site, http://www.burrissimo.com/.