Saluting Bear Flag Fish Company

Bear Flag Fish Company

3421 Via Lido

Newport Beach, CA 92663

I told my friend Richard I would try a new fish restaurant. As Richard can sometimes be, he sarcastically shot back, "Wow, another fish restaurant. I'm sure it's going to be just like all the rest". For once, my fickle friend has a point. In recent years, numerous fast-casual fish restaurants have come on the scene. There are a few standouts, but they are all the same. With Richard's negative vibe, I was not looking forward to trying Bear Flag Fish Company, but I was excited to meet up with my friend Megan and introduce her to Katie.

Bear Flag Fish Company was started in 2007, and not only does it have a location on the peninsula in Newport, but it also has a storefront in the much more upscale area of Newport Coast. My tux was at the cleaners, so I was happy that Megan wanted to meet at the 31st Street location on the peninsula. For those unfamiliar with this area, Bear Flag is next to Rudy's and across the street from Italian favorite Mama D's. It's an easy-to-miss spot because it's off the main drag.

We arrived at Bear Flag at 7 p.m. on a recent Thursday night. I love Newport on slower nights. Easy parking, not having to deal with drunken college guys, and your pick of restaurants with little to no wait. This was all true on this night, except that Bear Flag was quite busy during our visit. This restaurant caters to a young, hip clientele, so I fit right in (kidding, of course).

Bear Flag is in a tiny building, and they have five tables inside, with two tables outside on their patio. The tables are large, so they are more like communal tables. Even on this slower night in Newport, we had to wait for a part of the table to fit the three of us nicely. Bear Flag has an excellent fish market, where if you don't want them to make you a meal, you could easily take home some fish and prepare it yourself. It's too much work for us, though. The menu behind the counter is in tiny type, which made it hard for us to read. Guess these youngsters have no problem reading small type, like us old guys. Gosh, I sound like my Dad; sorry about that. Anyway, we placed our order with the guy behind the counter and went outside to our spot on the patio. This is how it turned out for us.

After reading the Yelp reviews, almost everyone agreed that the New England Clam Chowder ($3.50) was the thing to get at Bear Flag, so I had to try it. I have to admit, the Yelp kids got this one right. The chowder was creamy, had many clams, was not too salty, and had a nice kick from some pepper. Excellent chowder here. It's not overloaded with potatoes; like others, it adds to their chowder. The bread served on the side of this was excellent for dipping. A must-get when eating here.

Katie has recently become interested in Poke ($12.95), so when she saw this on the Bear Flag menu, she had to have it. This was some well-seasoned ahi. It was very fresh, with just enough seasoning to not mask the natural flavor of the tuna. Served with very sturdy tortilla chips from El Toro Bravo, this was a winning combination.

Not wanting to be left off of the poke train, Megan had the Poke Salad ($10.95). This is your basic green salad with the rich poke on top of it. Megan almost always orders this refreshing dish whenever she comes to Bear Flag. She loves the portion size and claims this is some of the best poke she has ever had.

Sorry for the washed out appearance of my meal, it was really dark out on that patio. How about putting some lights out on the patio? We were eating in almost pitch black, which probably helped the other diners so they did not have to look at me. Anyways, back to the food. They offered these Bacon Wrapped Scallops ($11.95) as a special the night we were here. At first, I was disappointed by only three scallops here, but these were pretty good-sized and filled me up. The bacon was nice and crisp, while the scallop was cooked perfectly, with just enough give when you bit into it. I used some of their signature sauce, the Tommy Sauce, on the veggies, which went well together. I don't know what the Tommy sauce is made of, but it reminded me of a ranch dressing with some Siracha in it. I could be wrong about that, but that's what came to mind when I tried it. The brown rice went well with the Tommy sauce.

I cringed when Katie ordered this Specialty Burrito with Lemon Butter Yellowtail ($9.95). Not because I thought it would be wrong, but because if there's one thing I have learned while writing this blog, it's that burritos are delicious but do not photograph well. At Bear Flag, you can choose the fish you want in your burrito. Katie felt she picked right by going with the yellowtail. It was tender and flaky and a great compliment to all that was in this burrito, which included rice, black beans, lettuce, pico de gallo, Tommy sauce, and avocado. Katie enjoyed the freshness of this burrito; she was also impressed that they took the time to grill it, as evidenced by its grill marks.

Bear Flag Fish Company impressed me, and I could not wait to tell my cynical friend Richard that Bear Flag was not like all the other fast-casual fish restaurants out there. Being a seafood restaurant, their menu is diverse, changing with what is available daily. On future visits, I look forward to trying their fish tacos, which I hear are fantastic and have been dubbed by some as the best in OC. I did not think that their prices were too crazy for the amount of food that you receive. The service was very casual, but that's to be expected down near the beach. At peak meal times, finding a seat here could be a challenge, but you're already down at the beach, so just take your food to go, enjoy the fresh air, and eat somewhere outside. It's not like we live in Michigan.

Out of five monarchs (because the bear on the California state flag is modeled after the last wild California grizzly bear in captivity, and his name was Monarch), five being best to zero being worst, Bear Flag Fish company gets 3.5 monarchs.

For more information about Bear Flag Fish Company, go to their website here: https://bearflagfishco.com/

Having a Groovy Time at Sue Ann's Kitchen - CLOSED

Sue Ann's American Kitchen

1450 North Kramer Blvd.

Placentia, CA 92870

Katie and I have a pretty set routine. I play poker on Tuesdays with the guys, as she usually goes to her parents house to catch up with the family gossip. Wednesdays we usually have a hockey game or a food event, and on Saturdays we try to meet up with friends. Mondays we head up to Yorba Linda to my parents house  for dinner, and then we bowl. This year, the bowling league took a three week hiatus during the holidays. This meant we did not come up to my parents for our usual Monday dinner. Don't tell them this, but I actually kind of missed seeing them, so we made plans to have dinner at a restaurant that was near their house on a recent Saturday night.

The restaurant we headed to was Sue Ann's American Kitchen. I had read about this place on my good friend Minerva's blog, Much Ado About Fooding. You can click here to see her review of Sue Ann's Kitchen. We arrived here at about 6 PM, and the restaurant had a only a few tables occupied. They are in a kind of awkward shopping center, where it's hard to get into coming from Yorba Linda. The shopping center is anchored by an El Torito, a credit union, and a couple of smaller restaurants.

We walked in and were instantly transformed back in time to the 70's. The decor here is great. I almost half expected to see Marcia and Greg doing their homework at one of the tables, while Mike and Carol dispensed some great advice to the other Brady kids. The kitchen at Sue Ann's is not run by Alice, but the very talented, Gillian Clark. Her resume is quite impressive. She won a fried chicken battle on the TV show, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, her restaurants have been highlighted on numerous other TV shows, she is an accomplished author, she also contributes to the Huffington Post from time to time, and she is a graduate of L' Academie de Cuisine in Maryland. With a resume like that, I came into Sue Ann's with very high expectations. Let's see if the food could live up to them.

Right after we ordered, we were presented with these Scones, in lieu of a bread basket. I am usually not that fond of scones. I find them to be too dense and pretty flavorless. These were not like that at all. These were light, with maybe a subtle hint of cinnamon running through them. This is definitely not like any scone I have had. 

When I got home and looked at my pictures, I realized my error. I did not get a good shot of the insides of these Crab Cakes ($14). You will have to trust me when I tell you that these were some of the best we have had. Not full of filler, just stuffed with fresh crab. Not sure how these even stayed together. The crab cakes were small, but packed with flavor. These were paired with a mango salsa that was a little on the sweet side. I would have liked a sauce on these, but in reality these did not need a sauce. It's easy to see why restaurant reviewer, Brad A. Johnsonr of the Orange County Register has called these, "the best crab cakes on the planet". Very high praise from one of my favorite food writers. 

When the Buttermilk Battered Fried Chicken Strips ($8) hit the table, I was a little taken aback. These are not like the overly breaded things that dominate bar menus all across the country. These reminded me more of a naked piece of sweet and sour chicken. The breading had just enough crunch to it, revealing the tender chicken inside. These came with a Thai sweet chili sauce, which was more on the sweeter side, which probably conjured up my thoughts of sweet and sour chicken. My lighter eating Mom says that this will probably be her entree the next time she comes here.  

I guess two appetizers were not enough for Katie, as she also ordered the Small Salad ($4). They have a bigger version of this same salad that's called, you guessed it, the Big Big Salad. This house salad came with lettuce, tomatoes, olives, feta cheese, chicken, avocado, and an Italian style dressing. Katie really enjoyed this salad. The produce was fresh, the chicken was good, and the light dressing had a little tang to it. This was really a hybrid salad, part Greek and part chicken salad. 

Entree time, and we'll start off with Katie's dish, the Shrimp Soaked Gnocchi ($23). Katie has been shying away from shrimp lately, but she could not resist this dish. The shrimp and gnocchi are served with a garlic herb butter, yellow peppers, and green onion. She felt the gnocchi was cooked perfectly, which helped make this a great comfort dish. 

My Mom swears that this is the first time she has ever ordered Meatloaf ($13) in a restaurant, and I actually believe her. This simply plated offering is from the grill option side of the menu. There are four items to choose from, you choose a sauce, and then you pick two sides. My Mom had the Cognac and Peppercorn sauce served on the side with this. She was pretty pleased with this moist meatloaf. The mashed potatoes also dazzled here, as they were real potatoes, and definitely not from a box. I enjoyed the peppercorn sauce with the piece of meatloaf that I tried. 

I let another opportunity pass me by when I did not snap a picture of the inside of my Dad's dinner, the Beef Wellington ($23). If I had taken the picture, you would have seen that the beef inside was cooked to a perfect medium rare, which is usually not to my Dad's liking, but I heard no complaints from the big guy on this occasion. He also had the cognac peppercorn sauce, which he thought paired well with the wellington. For his two side items he went with the green beans and the highly recommended scalloped potatoes. These were creamy and cheesy, without getting in the way of the natural flavor of the potato. A very difficult balance to achieve. 

So now we finally get to my dinner, the the Citrus Glazed Pork Loin ($16). I am always a little skittish about ordering pork in restaurants, because a lot of places tend to overcook it, and then you are left with a dry piece of pork on your plate that you have to try to get through. This was not the case at Sue Ann's. This pork was juicy, tender, and with the citrus glaze, it really brought this swine to life. This was paired with a citrus salsa and sopapillas. I like sopapillas, and these were just like the ones I had in Arizona, but I think they were kind of out of place here. 

Katie and I did not want to be left out when it came to trying some sides, so we got the Baked Macaroni and Cheese ($5) and Bermuda Onion Rings ($5). This mac and cheese was pretty good. Not overly cheesy, the noodles were cooked to a nice, pliable-firm, and the crumb topping provided a nice crunch. The onion rings were good, made with the mild Bermuda onion. These were really more like onion strings, than rings though. Very light breading was used on these.

The desserts are made by Robin Smith daily, and the night we were here they had five different options available. We only had room for two between the four of us. I did not quite catch the name of the Slice of Pie ($5) that we had on this night, but it was delicious. It kind of reminded me of the Tollhouse pie that they have at Coco's, but with a much better crust, and better insides. We believe the pie was Chocolate Almond, with the base of the pie being chocolate, with almonds running through it. The other dessert we went with was a classic Pineapple Upside Down Cake ($5). This one was the tables favorite, as they liked the presentation, and the moistness of the cake. I thought this one was okay, as I am more partial to chocolate desserts, than fruit desserts. 

We all left Sue Ann's Kitchen being very excited about our time here. This restaurant is serving up good, scratch cooking from their kitchen, that should not be overlooked. In fact, 98% of their food is scratch made, and you can definitely taste the difference. Some might be bothered by the menu that is a little on the thin side, but there is definitely enough diversity on it, that you will find something to your liking here. I thought the prices were pretty fair for the amount of food you get. The way the food is plated is a little deceptive. The sparse plating would make you think that you are getting shorted when it comes to the food, but trust me, you will be full after eating here. I had more than enough pork loin on my plate, that I was able to take some home for the next day. According to Robin, the menu is still kind of a work in progress. They are still tweaking it by taking slow moving items off of it, and adding other items they feel might be better sellers. Everyone we encountered on this night were very friendly, and offered great service. Sue Ann's Kitchen might be hidden in a Placentia shopping center, but they are definitely worth looking for. We look forward to coming back soon to try their breakfast. Glad we were able to make it up to Sue Ann's and spend some much needed time with my parents. 

Out of five Veal Orloff's, (the specialty of Sue Ann Nivens on the Mary Tyler Moore Show, and with all of this 70's decor, it made me think of this fictional Happy Homemaker), five being best to zero being worst, Sue Ann's American Kitchen gets 4 veal orloff's. 

Sue Ann's has a very limited website, which you can find by clicking here: http://sueannsamericankitchen.com/#

Getting Our Culinary Passport Stamped at Doner G

Doner G Turkish and Mediterranean Grill

3800 Barranca Parkway Suite N

Irvine, CA 92606

When we were invited to a media tasting at Doner G, I asked almost everyone I ran into before it if they had ever had Turkish food. Out of the twenty or so people I had asked, none of them had said yes. This is not surprising since only 9 restaurants in OC appear Turkish on Urbanspoon, and Yelp yields about the same results. Most people could not point out Turkey on a map unless they jokingly pointed to Washington, DC, which is full of turkeys.

Anyways, one man is trying to introduce Turkish food to the people of OC. That man is the very personable Yalcin Aslan, owner of Doner G. Yalcin has recently opened up his second location of Doner G (his first is in Anaheim). Yalcin's family has been in the restaurant business for over 25 years, and he has opened up Doner G to showcase Turkey's unique culture and delicious food. Turkey is a unique country because it separates Europe from Asia. With its proximity to the Middle East, Turkish food has a different flavor profile from any other food.

At first glance at the menu, most Americans will see exotic-sounding items that do not register with anything they have eaten before. But look a little harder; you will see many similarities to the more popular Greek cuisine. They have gyros-like sandwiches, which they call doner kebab sandwiches. There's also the popular Middle Eastern staple, the falafel. The menu is separated into plates, sandwiches, salads, and sides.

Doner G's location is in the busy Crossroads Shopping Center in Irvine, anchored by Target, Stonefire Grill, and Creamistry. This is an order at the counter place, and then the food is brought out to you. During our visit, there was a steady stream of customers, so people have found out about this place since it opened in September. The customers demographic was interesting. There was a good cross-section of all people, proving that the doner kebab is everywhere, as is stated on their wall, which names cities with a strong doner kebab presence. We sat and talked for a while, but then the food started leaving the open kitchen. Let's see how we liked our first foray into Turkish food.

Starting things off were the Dolmas ($2.99 for four pieces). These are grape leaves stuffed with rice, parsley, onions, and herbs sprinkled with olive oil and lemon juice. I had a bad experience as a kid with stuffed grape leaves at a Greek restaurant once, and this was my first time having them again here. This version was much better. The rice was very tender, and the flavors created an earthy vibe. It's not overpowering, but just enough flavor to not overwhelm the taste buds. Glad I could overcome my grape leaves phobia here at Doner G.

A little more in the comfort zone of most Americans is Hummus ($3.49). You can find hummus on grocery store shelves and in many Mediterranean restaurants nationwide. The hummus here is served with fresh pita bread, and drizzled with olive oil. Very smooth but still with enough texture. The natural flavor of the mashed-up chickpeas really came through here. A little more exotic but just as delicious was the Baba Ghanoush ($3.49). This had more denseness to it than the humus. Made up of roasted eggplant mixed with garlic, lemon juice, and tahini sauce, this is sprinkled with sumac and olive oil. I liked this better than the hummus. It had a big pop of flavor, and I definitely got more of a garlic feel with this. If you're feeling more adventurous than hummus, I recommend this baba ghanoush.

Salads are not to be overlooked at Doner G. We got to try the Fettush Salad ($5.49), which consists of romaine lettuce, red onions, cucumbers, and tomatoes and is dressed in an unusual combination of lemon juice, vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil. I am usually more of a creamy dressing kind of guy, but this had a nice lemony flavor, which really showcased the freshness of the produce that they use here. Katie ended up being very happy with this salad.

Now, I was waiting for this: to bring on the protein. The Doner G Grill ($16.99) covers all the meats on their menu. This fed four of us easily. The meats here are Chicken and Beef Kebab (tender meats seasoned with special herbs and spices cooked on a vertical broiler), Chicken and Beef Shish Kebab (boneless meats, marinated and then grilled), and lastly, Adana Kebab (ground lamb which is seasoned and grilled). All the meats were very tender and flavorful, but my favorite was the lamb. A great taste to it, without being too gamey like a lamb can sometimes be. It was more like a tender meatloaf with significant flavor. The meats went very well with the sauces at Doner G. I would liken their Doner G sauce to a Turkish Thousand Island. It's a combo of mayonnaise, ketchup, mystery herbs, and spices. It was less thick than expected but added a lot to the meats here. The Jajik sauce is a subtler sauce, made of cucumbers, yogurt, garlic and mint. It reminded me more of a Middle Eastern sauce. A little too mild for me, but this was Katie's favorite.

I usually shy away from vegetables, but these Falafel ($3.49 for four pieces) were fried, so since they were fried vegetables, I made an exception. They were made of a mix of green vegetables and chick peas, then served with the jajik sauce. They were not too greasy, but I liked mine with the Doner G sauce instead of the jajik.

I had no idea, but the Turkish have their own version of Baklava ($2.99 for two pieces). This version is much less sweet than the Greek version and is dusted generously with bits of pistachio. I liked that this was not as rich either because that allowed me to have two pieces.

After having our first Turkish food experience at Doner G, I think Yalcin will achieve his goal of bringing Turkish food to many of OC's people. Everything we had was good, with flavor profiles that were new to us, but it provided a great dining experience. The food differs slightly from Greek food, so if you are a fan of Greek food, you will like what Doner G offers. We for sure will be back often. Thanks to Yalcin for the invitation to try his restaurant. We enjoyed meeting you, enjoying your food, and seeing your passion for Turkey.

For more information about Doner G, go to their website here: http://www.donerg.com/

Last Meal of the Year at ECCO - CLOSED

ECCO Pizzeria and Bar

2937 Bristol St. #A103

Costa Mesa, CA 92626

There's a lot of pressure when picking a restaurant on New Year's Eve, even for a semi-informed food blogger. You never want a meal to be awful, but you especially do not want your last meal of the year to be mediocre or terrible. Luckily, I have a list of restaurants that are five pages long, and I am trying to get through. Not that these are guaranteed hits, but they have been recommendations from readers of the blog and food writers that I read regularly, so I had good reason to be optimistic.

I went to my list and picked ECCO as the restaurant for our last meal in 2013. I went to Open Table to see if they had any openings for 8PM on New Year's Eve. Yes, that's a little late for dinner, but Katie wanted to get her nails done, and for some reason, this takes about two hours. I will never understand why it takes this long, but it would keep us up later and give us more chances to be fully awake at midnight when the ball drops. We have not been awake for a while when the calendar changes to the new year (yes, we are getting old).

We were in luck. ECCO had openings for the time we wanted, so after Katie was done with her nail appointment, we made the trek up to The Camp in Costa Mesa. If you have been to this shopping center, you probably know the horrible parking situation here, but we were lucky and found quite a few spots available. We may be ending 2013 on a high note.

ECCO has been around for nearly three years and has won much praise from the OC food community. They were named one of the top 10 restaurants by Orange Coast Magazine. ECCO got its name when the owners of this restaurant were touring Italy and frequently heard the chef say the word ecco when they presented the food to the table. Ecco means, "Here it is, " and shows the chef's confidence.

We sat on the patio in the back of the restaurant, but luckily, thanks to the strategically placed heaters, the cold night air would not be an issue for us. Being on the patio also allowed us to talk with each other, as the inside of ECCO was pretty loud, with lots of activity going on. Lending to the hip, but not so over the top vibe here, was the young staff manning the restaurant. They had a special New Year's Eve menu offering, but they also had their regular menu to choose from, which is how we went. The menu is dominated by many pizzas, with a few starters, pasta dishes, entrees, and sides. After some perusing of the menu, we came up with this.

Wanting something warm to start us off, we selected the Homemade Meatballs ($6). These came three to an order and were served with marinara and grana padano, the cheese perched atop each meatball. Both Katie and I really enjoyed these. The meatball was fork tender without being too mushy, a tough balance to achieve. The marinara was very solid here as well. It was not too tangy and allowed the meatball to shine while adding a mild flavor.

Katie is crazy about Caprese Salad ($10), so it was no surprise that she got it. She also probably knows I'm not a fan, so she can have this all to herself. This is a traditional version of this salad. Big slices of tomato, fresh mozzarella, basil, olive oil, and sea salt. This was a generous size for just one person. According to Katie, the tomatoes had a beefy flavor, the salt and pepper helped cut some of the acidity, and the ingredients here were pretty fresh.

As much as Katie is into Caprese salads, I am likely more into Caesars ($9). This version at ECCO was good but could have been better. The salad was a classic Caesar, but they used an olive tapenade spread on top of a crostini. I would have liked the tapenade to have been mixed into the salad to make the saltiness a little more even. The dressing was good here, but I needed more of it. Just like the Caprese, this Caesar was good-sized.

Katie took what I was going to order, but it was New Year's Eve, so I did not put up too much of a fuss about it. She snagged the Orecchiette Salsiccia ($15) from me. This dish used orecchiette pasta, sausage, Swiss chard, crimini mushrooms, basil, and olive oil. This had some positives: the basil was fresh but did not overpower, the sausage had a nice, subtle spiciness to it, and the pasta was cooked to a lovely tenderness. What Katie did not like was that this was dry. It needed a sauce, more than what the olive oil could have supplied. It's okay, but this needed to be tweaked a little more.

It was my last meal of the year, so I went with steak. This Skirt Steak ($25) was cooked to a beautiful medium rare. The beef was tender, so it was no problem that I did not receive a steak knife with my meal. The sauce used on the basil pesto potatoes was heavenly. Luckily, there was enough of it here that I could use the excess to compliment the steak. Besides the basil pesto sauce, the sides were just okay. The asparagus was unreliable, being too bitter in some spots, and the potatoes needed to be cooked a little longer, as it was tough trying to cut them with my fork. Great steak and sauce, though.

We also took a chance on the Mac' n cheese ($7). Thanks to the cast iron skillet, it came out hot and stayed that way. The mac and cheese was light, with some nice pancetta hiding among the noodles. I am not too keen on shell pasta, which lends to an uneven coating, but this warmed us up on this chilly night.

A special dessert on their New Year's Eve menu was this Chocolate Budino ($7). Whenever we order budino, there is never enough for the both of us. This one had a nice smoothness to it, which was a little more sturdy than a traditional pudding. The whipped cream and chocolate flakes were a nice added touch.

We both really liked our time at ECCO. We look forward to returning soon and trying more of their menu, including their Neapolitan pizzas, with ingredients sourced directly from Italy. Their menu constantly changes with the seasons, so we look forward to what Executive Chef Carlos Abarca has in store for us on future visits. The service was spotty for us on this busy night. Our waiter took a while to check on us, but the food was ready promptly. ECCO was a great place to have our last meal of the year.

Out of five dolphins (because there's a video from the 90s about a time-traveling dolphin who battled aliens in the oceans, and the dolphin's name was Ecco), five being best and zero being worst, ECCO Pizzeria and Bar gets 3.5 dolphins.

For more information about ECCO Pizzeria and Bar, check out their website here: http://www.eccopizza.com/