Looking for a Burger Hookup

Hook Burger

1731 N. Victory Pl. 

Burbank, CA 91502

Sometimes the best laid plans kind of go a little haywire. We were up this way for the wedding of Katie's cousin, which kind of went a little long into the night, and then of course we headed to her Uncle Tom's famous garage, for the after party. We did not end up getting back to our hotel until about 2:30 in the morning.

Too tired to go to any of the restaurants we wanted to hit up in this neck of the woods, we looked for one of the highest rated on Yelp, that was nearest our hotel. Something that would sustain us for the 2 hour plus drive that we had ahead of us getting back to OC. That's how we ended up at Hook Burger in Burbank.

Hook Burger is a mini chain, with five locations open, all in LA County. They started in Oxnard five years ago, and are run by the original team behind one of my favorite burger places, The Habit. The ordering process is the same here. You order at the counter, then the food is brought to your table. They characterize their burgers as upscale, in a fast and casual environment.

They are also pretty big into doing things the right way. They use humanely raised beef for their burgers. They also use locally sourced produce and bread from local bakers. Even their decor in the dining room comes from reclaimed wood. This is all great, but I was really excited to see how their food would taste, and if it would help soak up some of the libations I had the night before. Let's see what we thought about Hook Burger.

Much like the Habit menu, there's more to this place than just burgers, as Katie can attest to. She selected their Fresh Tuna Albacore Melt ($7.75) from their five kinds of sandwiches on the Hook Burger menu. This sandwich usually comes with cheddar cheese, but Katie subbed out Swiss to go along with the lettuce, tomato, and mayo that also came on this sandwich.  Served on a toasted sourdough bread, Katie really enjoyed the freshness of the tuna here, and was happy she went the Swiss route instead of the cheddar. She also remarked that the toasted bread helped make this sandwich, by adding a crunchy texture to it. She definitely would get this again.

Of course if you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you know I was going to try a burger here. None of the pre-made burger options really spoke to me on this afternoon, so I got their Prime Burger ($8.25 with all the enhancements that I added). The prime burger comes with caramelized bourbon onions, lettuce, tomato, and honey Dijon mayo. I also added bacon, cheddar cheese, and avocado. This was a pretty solid burger, and definitely what the doctor ordered on this afternoon. I liked that there was plenty of avocado on this, and the bun was very sturdy, but still soft. The hamburger patty was pretty tasty, but the bacon kind of got lost here. I wish they were as generous with the bacon as they were with the avocado. The Dijon mayo was actually pretty good, and I had my doubts about it before having it. The Dijon was downplayed just enough for me to really enjoy this condiment. Not just a pretty looking burger, but a good tasting one as well.

I always love when places offer a sampler platter of some of their side items, and at Hook Burger they call it The Trio ($5.95). This hat trick of fried food included french fries, sweet potato fries, and crispy onion rings. My favorite one of the three was the onion rings. A very good breading, which crunched when bitten into, and most importantly it did not break apart from the onion. The fries were good, but a little on the small side for me. I would have liked them better if they were the same size as the sweet potato fries. I'm not really a big fan of sweet potato fries, but Katie liked these well enough, and I thought they were okay. All of these items were fried nicely, and not overly greasy.

Job well done Hook Burger. You sustained us until we got home, helped clear my head from a night of adult beverages, and I'll even give you credit for the mostly clear sailing that we experienced on the freeways of Southern California. The burgers here are pretty good, but I'd like to see maybe a basic bacon cheese burger on their menu of the already made burgers. The burger did not blow me away, but you can tell that it was made with quality ingredients, and that goes a long way in my opinion of this restaurant. The quality is definitely on par with The Habit. The price point is also a big plus for this place as well. They only have one item, a steak sandwich, which is over ten dollars, and even that's only over that mark by two quarters. Service at the register was very good, and they answered all of our questions. The table side service was fine as well, and I even saw a manager going from table to table making sure everything was going all right. A very nice touch. Hook Burger was not what we had planned on having this day, but we are glad that we ended up eating here.

Out of five hockey sticks, (because hockey season is right around the corner, and some of the players will be called for hooking using their sticks), five being best to zero being worst, Hook Burger gets 3 solid hockey sticks.

For more information about Hook Burger, go to their website here: http://hookburger.com/

A Hot and Steamy Night at Kettlebar - CLOSED

Kettlebar

2493 Park Avenue #41

Tustin, CA 92782

It finally seems like the Union Market in Tustin is getting on track. It's been a prolonged process, but this much-anticipated retail and restaurant space in the old Borders Book area of the District at Tustin Legacy is finally getting some life. We walked around the space earlier this year, and it was almost sad. There was lots of construction and empty booths, but little action was happening. The few booths that were open were not really drawing customers, from what we could tell.

Flash forward to earlier this month, and the area seems much more alive. There are many more retail booths open, and what I was eagerly waiting for is that more food places are now open. Taking up residency at the Union Market are Front Porch Pops, cookie shot vendors, The Dirty Cookie, Crepe Coop, Portola Coffee Lab, Hatch, a sliders and craft beer space, and a place that's moving up my list of restaurants to try, The Kroft. That place will have to wait another time, as we were meeting our good friends Alex and Jaszlyn and having dinner at Kettlebar.

Kettlebar is a Cajun/Creole restaurant that uses steam kettle cookery to make their dishes. I'm not going to sit here and lie to you that I understand how they use steam to make these dishes, as I'm not an advanced cook or anything, but this kind of restaurant is one of the hottest things right now. Okay, sorry for the bad pun. Anyway, this is our second time eating at a restaurant like this. Our first was a place called Ritter's Steam Kettle Cooking, and we really enjoyed the food there and hoped Kettlebar would be just as good.

The menu is the same here as at Ritter's. They have some appetizers, a couple of salads, a shrimp or oyster po boy sandwich, and the main event, the bowls. There are a couple of ways that you can go here. They have Cajun standards like etouffee, gumbo, cioppino, and probably their most famous dish, the pan roast. There also seems to be more emphasis on alcohol than at Ritter's. Many craft cocktails, wines, and beer are available at Kettlebar. Our waitress was aloof regarding what was on tap, as she had to keep making runs to the bar to find out what they had available.

We got to Kettlebar at about 6pm on a Friday night. The restaurant was pretty busy, but they did a great job keeping the tables turning over, so we got in immediately. I don't know if it was from the steam cooking or just the heat outside, but this restaurant was relatively warm, and we were sitting near the back of the place. No big deal, as I was ready to see if this place would be as good as our first experience at a steam kettle joint. Let's see how it went.

I usually do not highlight my beers when we are out, but I enjoyed this Mr. Pineapple from SanTan Brewing Company. I'm partial to lighter beers, and Hefeweizens are right in my wheelhouse. I liked this beer because it was a little different, with the added fresh pineapple juice and the wheaty aftertaste. It was very refreshing and went well with what I hoped would be my spicy meal.

Not one to be swayed by what's popular, Alex did not go with a pan roast like the rest of us but instead had this Cajun Garlic Noodle ($18 with clams added). He could not have been happier with his decision. This came out way before our meals, and he had almost already finished half of this before we had gotten our meals. Alex felt this dish had the perfect amount of garlic included, loved the clams, and would not say a bad thing about his dinner. For once, the big guy was speechless, and we all enjoyed the silence, at least for the few minutes he was quietly eating.

Jaszlyn, Katie, and I all got the pan roasts, which all look the same in the pictures, but each of these was different. Katie opted for the Chicken and Sausage Pan Roast ($16), Jaszlyn had the Shrimp Pan Roast ($19), and I had the Kettlebar Pan Roast ($23), which came with the same creamy tomato base as the others, but with snow crab, lobster, shrimp, chicken, and rice swimming in the bowl. Jaszlyn and I had asked for ours to be spicy, but the heat in these was very manageable. I liked the creaminess of the tomato base; the shrimp was prevalent, but the rest of the other proteins got lost here. The rice-to-pan roast ratio was a little off. I had way more pan roast when I finished my rice. It's not a big problem, and I could have just ordered a side of rice for another two dollars.

Pan roasts are filling, but we decided to try two desserts, the first of which was this Hummingbird Parfait ($8). This dessert is a variation of the southern dessert staple, the hummingbird cake. I had just heard of it this night, but it is a banana pineapple spice cake. I did not detect a banana or pineapple flavor in the one bite Alex allowed me to have, but they loved this dessert. It even inspired Jaszlyn to claim that she would make this shortly. I hope to get invited over to try it when she does.

Mine and Katie's dessert was not as good as the hummingbird parfait. This Cinnamon Bread Pudding ($8) sounded much better when the waitress described it, but it fell flat, like with many bread puddings I have had. I liked that this had ice cream served on top of it, but the bread pudding was a little on the dry side and could have been made better by adding more ice cream. There was a definite cinnamon tinge here, but even that could not save this dessert.

We all left Kettlebar liking it, and we'll be back, but I liked Ritter's a tad better. I liked Ritter's appetizer variety more, and they made their pan roasts with a little more kick to them. Kettlebar is worth visiting and is much more convenient than Ritter's. The evening service was pretty good, as we did not have too many problems, except Alex's food came out five minutes before the rest of us hit the table. Glad to see that Kettlebar has brought some much-needed life to the Union Market.

Out of five walleye fish (because the city of Kettle Falls, Washington, hosts several walleye fishing tournaments throughout the year), five being best to zero being worst, Kettlebar gets 3 walleye.

Kettlebar has a minimal website, and that's putting it mildly, but hopefully, it will be updated soon. Click here to see it: http://www.kettlebar.com/
 

CPK, Way More Than Just Pizza

California Pizza Kitchen

2800 N. Main Street #872

Santa Ana, CA 92701

Of course when you think of California Pizza Kitchen, you think of their iconic BBQ Chicken Pizza, but CPK is rolling out a new menu and a new look. CPK restaurants across Orange County have been going through the conversion of expanding their menu to include lots of new dishes that are featuring seasonal and locally sourced foods. They not only have retooled their menu, but their cocktail program and decor as well. In other words, if you haven't been to CPK for a while, you have been missing out. We were recently invited by CPK to experience all that is new here.

Not only have we not been to CPK for a long time, but we hadn't been to Main Place for a few years. There's quite a lot happening here. This shopping mall is going through a pretty radical makeover, with lots of new shops and enhancements to the mall taking place. Of course I'm pretty intrigued by the restaurant side of things, and there's plenty new here, or at least on the way. Wokcano and Lucille's will be joining the newly opened Panini Cafe, Blaze Pizza, and Dog Haus very soon. Even CPK is expanding their patio, which is still under construction, but will be great for dining outdoors.

Not only is a makeover going on outside the restaurant, but a new look for CPK has happened inside as well. They say they are going for a rustic, modern look, utilizing sustainable materials, and I'd say they nailed it. The restaurant features a wide open feel, thanks to the large glass window near the front of the restaurant, the spacing of the tables, and the open kitchen, where you can catch the chefs doing their best to feed their hungry patrons. All this was pleasing to the eye, but I was ready for my stomach to be pleased, so let's take a look at some of the new menu items at CPK.

As quickly as we sat down, we were given two of their latest cocktails to try, the California Ginger Crush and the Blueberry Ginger Smash, (both $8.79). We had a disagreement at our table as to which one of these we preferred, but both vanished rather quickly, so it's safe to say our party of three liked them both. These labor intensive cocktails utilize fresh juices and herbs in them. My favorite was the Crush, which included Absolut Mandarin and Citron, muddled mint, and fresh lemon and orange. I loved the combination of the citrus with the mint in this one. Katie and George were more partial to the Blueberry Ginger Smash, mostly because this reminded them of their younger days consuming whiskey. Joining the Jack Daniel's in the glass was an organic agave nectar, ginger, fresh blueberries, lime, and cranberry juice to finish it off with. George told our waiter that these kinds of drinks would entice him to bring a date to CPK. Better update that EHarmony profile George.

What do you do when you can't decide on just one kind of soup? Well if you're at CPK you get their Two In A Bowl ($7.99). I don't think I've seen this on any other menu, but you can choose two of their signature soups served side by side, in the same bowl. Perfect for people who are indecisive. I really enjoyed both of these, the Baked Potato Soup and the Farmers Market Soup. The baked potato soup used a thick potato base, and utilized bacon and scallions in it. The farmers market soup used squash as a base, then they threw in some veggies, added some cream, and then drizzled some olive oil over it. The result was another nice, thicker soup, which satisfied me more than a normal vegetable soup would. This will be very good when it finally cools down around here.

Next up they brought us out two flatbreads for us to try. The Smoked Ham and Swiss Flatbread ($8.29) is off their new menu at CPK. The very sturdy flatbread was layered with Emmentaler and goat cheeses, smashed garlic croutons, caramelized onions, and plenty of ham. I thought this was going to be a little too overwhelming, but the flavors played nicely with each other. I was definitely more partial to the seasonally inspired flatbread that they brought out for us, the Maine Lobster Flatbread ($11.29). They do not use the bad parts of the lobster here. No, they use the very good tasting claw meat, which they generously used to top the flatbread, along with light mayo, herbs, shaved red onion, and arugula. Exactly like a lobster roll, but in flatbread form. Now you don't have to go all the way to Boston for your lobster fix.

It had been about ten minutes, so it was definitely time for another cocktail, and our wonderful host obliged with this California Roots ($8.79) beverage. Appropriately, this was a drink that featured fresh avocado, along with mint, Svedka Vodka, agave sour, and a unique fennel salt rim. This drink came across as fresh and clean, and I really liked the creaminess that the avocado brought to the table.

Yeah, this doesn't look like your grandmothers California Pizza Kitchen. When this Fire Grilled Ribeye ($25.99) hit the table, there was an audible gasp of excitement. This twelve ounce choice ribeye was prepared with a Pinot Noir sea salt and a blue cheese butter. It was cooked to a perfect medium rare, with eye pleasing grill marks on both sides. Very tender, with lots of flavor coming from the meat. This had us quiet for a good long while as we were busy getting our fair share. This was accompanied by roasted fingerling potatoes and a lemon and garlic arugula salad. I was way more partial to the potatoes, as I've never really been a fan of arugula. I found this lemon-garlic dressing to be more lemon than garlic, and that made it too sour for my tastes, but the potatoes were fork tender and made up for the arugula salad.

Probably my favorite entree of the three that we tried on this evening was this Roasted Garlic Chicken with Roasted Vegetables ($18.99). The chicken breast came in a lemon and garlic sauce, with crispy skin on it. I liked the moistness of the chicken, and they got the garlic and lemon sauce right on this one. The poultry was placed on top of some very good veggies, which included tender carrots, cauliflower, potatoes, and Mediterranean herbs. Even though this looked like a hefty, more Fall feeling meal, this was surprisingly light. Very well done.

Probably my least favorite of the three entrees, but George and Katie's favorite was this Hearth Roasted Halibut ($23.79). Guess I did not have the same tastes as Katie and George on this night. They really loved the halibut, but I felt it needed a sauce or something. It was however placed on top of some very good butternut squash faro and baby kale, which was delicious. I was also a fan of the grilled asparagus, which was done nicely.

Thankfully our last drink of the night made it's way over, since we all had to drive home after this. I'd call this Coconut Blossom ($8.79) CPK's updated version of a pina colada. They use a mandarin blossom vodka, white tequila, agave sour, coconut puree, and fresh pineapple. Not overly sweet like a pina colada, you could taste all the elements of this drink as it passed through your lips, and down the hatch. Tasty, and it brought to mind the drinks we have had in the tropics, but made better.

By this time of the night we were all pretty full, but this S'mores dessert really intrigued me. It had a budino feel to it. This layered dessert came with kettle cooked chocolate pudding, chocolate chunks, crushed graham crackers, and toasted marshmallows on top. I really liked the insides of this dessert, but felt that there needed to be more pudding in here. The graham cracker crumbs and the marshmallow got in the way of my beloved chocolate. I'm trying their Salted Caramel Pudding next time for sure.

I left CPK with a new respect for them. As I've been writing this blog for six years now, I've found myself having changing tastes. I used to like eating in chain restaurants, but those days are becoming fewer and farther between. For the most part now when I eat in those kinds of restaurants everything kind of feels prepackaged, and not very fresh or good. I'm not being snobby, but that's how I perceive chain restaurants to be. I did not have that feeling as we were leaving California Pizza Kitchen. I loved the freshness of the food, I like that they are branching out of their comfort zone of pizzas, and that they have stepped up their bar program. Yes, I still saw lots of pizzas being ordered, but there were plenty of people trying these new items. It's pretty impressive for a restaurant that's been around for 30 plus years to want to keep things fresh, and give their customers greater options. We will definitely be back, and so will George, once his EHarmony mojo starts to work.

We would like to thank everyone at CPK for the invite to come in and experience their new menu items. We could sense that everyone we encountered is really proud of their food, and excited to share it with all of their guests.

If you want to experience the new CPK for yourself, head to their website for the location nearest you, by clicking here: http://www.cpk.com/

Raising My Social Status In Costa Mesa

SOCIAL

512 West 19th Street 

Costa Mesa, CA 92627

I'm going to lead with my opinion of this restaurant. I loved this place. Now, I will have to preface this statement by letting you know that SOCIAL is not a restaurant for everyone. I could not see my parents eating here, but foodies will definitely be pretty impressed with this restaurant.

Some might find this place a little too hipster. Others might find their no substitutions policy to be a little arrogant. Some even might not like the neighborhood, or the feel of the menu. Whatever your preconceived feelings are before walking in, clear your head, and go in with a clean slate. Let the experience and the food guide you as to whether you will enjoy this restaurant or not.

SOCIAL can best be described as contemporary American food with an emphasis on southern cuisine, which is made with California ingredients. Got all that? The menu is not overly huge, with 22 options available on the night we were here, many of which encourage sharing. There were maybe 7 offerings that I'd classify as entree style meals. The southern flair of this menu can be attributed to Executive Chef Jeffrey Boullt, who worked in New Orleans for many years, before working at Jason Quinn's Playground in Santa Ana.

Located across the street from Triangle Square, SOCIAL is in a small strip plaza that houses a pool hall and a dollar store. Parking is valet, as I guess other tenants of this shopping center do not want you taking up the spaces in front of their establishments. We got here at about 6pm, and the restaurant was hopping already. Luckily, we had made reservations, and were seated immediately.

The dining room is dominated by dark woods and a lit up SOCIAL sign on the far wall. Seating is a little on the cramped side, and not entirely comfortable. There are high top tables, communal tables, and picnic tables, which are kind of too close together. It must have felt that way to other people as well, because the table to our left sat empty for the rest of our stay, even though the hostess tried to seat two other parties there, who decided they would rather wait for another spot. I'm glad I did not have to wait as I was getting hungry, and could not wait to try out a number of things.

Katie's not much of a drinker, and Ryan was still about 15 minutes away from getting here, so I was going to be drinking alone for a bit. I have heard great things about their cocktails at SOCIAL, and this Dementa #2 ($12.50) did not disappoint. I loved the presentation of this, with the curled cucumber, and the beautiful emerald green color of this beverage. This refreshing cocktail utilized Ford's Gin, lemon, ginger, honey, cucumber soda, the minty liqueur fernet menta, and chareau, which is an aloe liqueur. I did not even know there was such a thing as aloe liqueur, but I looked it up when I got home. With each drink of this, it started off sweet, and then you got a very slow spice that came over the top. It was like two drinks in one. The cucumber was very prevalent in this one. This cocktail got me excited to try others on their menu the next time I'm here.

Since we were waiting for our good friend Ryan for so long, we decided to start things off with a quartet of shareable plates from SOCIAL's menu. The first one was the Blue Crab Toast ($16). I know from the pictures that you would not be able to guess that this was crab toast, and I definitely had to take some of the watercress off of this, but it ended up being one of my favorite bites of the evening. The base of this was a very sturdy fried crab cake, and it had to be because this had lots of layers to it. Of course it had some very good blue crab, and then ginger, avocado, jalapeno, watermelon radish, and a large amount of watercress was hoisted on top of this. There was also a grapefruit slice and some cilantro leaves left on the side of the toast. Very good, but the fried crab kind of took away from the natural flavor I was expecting from the crab. Even with all of these items on here, I loved how the flavors interacted with each other. Really good start to our meal.

This Ahi Tuna Crudo ($16) was probably one of our four appetizers that I was least looking forward to, but it turned out to be pretty solid, and a lot more unusual than other ahi dishes we have had. Here they use yellow watermelon to pair with the tuna, then add yuzu, extra virgin olive oil, and benne seeds, which were popular during colonial times, and add a richer flavor profile than that of sesame seeds. Not sure if it was because of the seeds or not, but this turned out to be alright. I really liked the pairing of the fruit with the ahi, and the olive oil kind of cut the sweetness. A light and refreshing take on the usual ahi presentation.

Anytime we see Fried Cauliflower ($13) on a menu, we need to order it. We had this Middle Eastern dish for the first time at a Lebanese restaurant in Orange, and have been hooked ever since. This was a great version at SOCIAL. The cauliflower was fried perfectly, with little grease remaining, just a nice crunch. It came with a black eyed pea humus, which was smooth, and flavorful. The cauliflower was topped with feta and pepper to round out this dish. Katie described this as craveable, and she's correct, as usual.

Kind of like everything we had here at SOCIAL, this Queso Fundido ($15) was not like any other we have had. With this version cheese was not the focus, it was mushrooms, and lots of them. Joining the very mild cheese, which was used mainly as a binding agent, was wood fired mushrooms, corn, jalapenos, and their handmade tortillas. With the emphasis not on the cheese, this took on a lighter, less greasy version, which allowed the mushrooms to be the star of the show. A tasty, albeit milder version of a fundido.

Entree time, and even though we were getting pretty full by this time of the night, I could not resist trying their version of Chicken and Waffles ($16). The menu said that they use Mary's chicken oysters, which is really just a nice way of saying organic chicken nuggets. The chicken was clean tasting, with a hint of hot sauce to it. The waffles were sturdy, and could have used a lot more of the bourbon sugar cane syrup on them. With the amount of syrup used, these kind of came out a little dry. Not the best chicken and waffles ever, but if you're in the mood for this dish, give it a try.

Both Katie and Ryan got the Drive Thru Burger ($18), but served two different ways. Ryan added a bacon marmalade, while Katie selected an egg to top her burger. They use akaushi beef here, which is a Japanese breed of wagyu cattle. The beef was very juicy, even though Katie requested her burger well done. These burgers came with two patties, cheese, pickles, and and red onion. The bun held things together admirably, and this was one of the better burgers we have had in awhile. Lighter than most, and I think that could be attributed to the very good ingredients used at SOCIAL.

As I said in the first paragraph of this review, I really enjoyed our time at SOCIAL. All the food that we had kind of had a little twist to it, and was made the right way. There's definitely more that I would like to try here, like their Pork Belly, Wagyu Tri Tip, and my latest obsession, Shrimp and Grits, which I hear is amazing. Yes, there were a few things that could have been a little better, but I liked the uniqueness of the food here. I did not find SOCIAL to be over the top hipster, like I have read in a few other places. We had some pretty good service on this night, and our waitress was very helpful answering our questions. Can't wait to come back again real soon.

Out of five Hamburglar toys, (because former Costa Mesa resident, and front man for the punk group Social Distortion, Mike Ness is rumored to collect toys featuring everyone's favorite hamburger thief from McDonald's), five being best to zero being worst, SOCIAL gets 3.5 Hamburglar toys.  

For more information about SOCIAL, go to their website here: http://www.socialcostamesa.com/