Hoping El Camino Does Chilaquiles the Right Way

El Camino Cafe

195 El Camino Real

Tustin, CA 92780

Mexican breakfast is one of my favorites, and one of my favorite Mexican breakfast items is chilaquiles. So when one of my favorite food writers in OC, and probably the most knowledgeable person on Mexican cuisine in Orange County, Gustavo Arellano wrote a top 10 list of the best chilaquiles in our great county, I quickly added about seven of his picks to our restaurant wish list. After you are done reading this review, you should definitely read his article here.

For those of you that are unaware, chilaquiles is a traditional Mexican dish, which has a lot of variations, but the base of this dish is some cut up tortillas, which are lightly fried, then they are topped with the salsa of your choice, and garnished almost any way that you like. Most common garnishes are crema and avocado, but eggs, chicken, beef, and cheese are commonly added to enhance this dish. Even looking at the pictures in Gustavo's article, you can see that every restaurant has a different spin on this diverse breakfast item.

El Camino Cafe was ranked number four on his list, but the picture made me want to try this place out first. Katie and I have been trying to find time to go on two-mile walks, and I noticed that Peter's Canyon Trail was near Tustin, so after our walk, we headed to the Old Town area of Tustin. This sleepy little area was pretty quiet, except for the people eating outside, and waiting for their food at El Camino Cafe.

Open for two years now, this cafe is only operating between the hours of 8 til 2:30 in the afternoon, and they are closed on Mondays. Pretty small inside, we arrived here at close to noon on a recent Sunday and were relegated to sitting along the window bar, which overlooked the other patrons sitting outside underneath the canopy. Ordering is done at the counter, you are given a number, and then the food is brought out to you. After our two-mile hike, I was ready for my first El Camino experience. Let's see if this chilaquiles makes my top ten list like it did Gustavo's.

Before we get to the main event, I wanted to give these Cinnamon and Sugar Besos ($4) a try. While eating breakfast, I always like to balance my first meal of the day with sweet and savory items, and these and flan were my only two options to do this here. These besos were good, but not great. As I've learned with almost every other cultures food, most desserts are not as sweet as their American counterparts. These were freshly made, a little dry on the inside, but you get plenty for four dollars. The sugar and cinnamon added just enough sweetness to help me balance the savoriness of my upcoming meal.

My order got completely screwed up here, as I had wanted the red chilaquiles with carne asada added, but this green version came out with no meat, but I was so hungry I ate this anyway, and it was still great. This version of Chilaquiles "Hector" Verdes ($9) was topped with a slightly spicy green salsa, queso fresco, onion, cilantro, and a sunny side up egg. What made this for me was that the chips were not soggy, They stayed crisp, even though there was plenty of salsa used here. The green salsa was good, with a slight sourness to it, which was counteracted by the very good refried beans and rice. A stellar plate and I do look forward to coming back and having my red chilaquiles with meat next time.

When Katie's plate came out, I thought it really popped with color. Her choice was the Huevos Rancheros ($8). Two tostadas with two over-easy eggs, and bathed in red salsa. I've never really been a big fan of this dish, but she seems to get this every time it is offered on a breakfast menu. She proclaimed that this would be her go-to breakfast item every time she returns here. She loved the freshness of the salsa and other ingredients. She thought the salsa had a good flavor, which did not overpower the eggs but rather complimented them. She left El Camino Cafe very satisfied.

Even with the snafu with my meal, I could totally see why El Camino Cafe was on Gustavo's list of top chilaquiles in OC. The food here was very clean, not heavy, and really seemed like you were eating in someone's home, instead of a busy restaurant. This restaurant gets a lot of praise for their breakfast items, but they do offer tacos, burritos, quesadillas, and other Mexican specialties, but again, get here before they close at 2:30. We also noticed a lot of people coming here expressly for coffee drinks. Service was pretty good, as the lady that dropped off our food made sure everything was all right for us, and they were very quick to clear plates, to assure that the never-ending line of people coming in had a place to sit once their food was ready. With breakfast this good, the lines are not going to get any shorter, anytime soon.

Out of five butterflies, (because this flying insect is the mascot of this restaurant, as it adorns the menus, signs, and merchandise), five being best to zero being worst, El Camino Cafe gets 3.5 butterflies.

El Camino Cafe does not have a website, so check out their Yelp page for more information: https://www.yelp.com/biz/el-camino-cafe-tustin-2

Living La Vida Cantina

La Vida Cantina

1870 Harbor Boulevard

Costa Mesa, CA 92627

It's got to be a little nerve-racking opening a restaurant in a spot where the former tenant failed so miserably. Even more tense when you are opening the same kind of restaurant in this maybe cursed location. I never had the pleasure, or displeasure of eating at El Corozon when it was around for not even a year and a half. I did hear plenty about it though.

El Corozon got one of the nastiest restaurant reviews I have ever read from the OC Register's Brad Johnson. They barely got two and a half stars on Yelp, and probably the main reason I steered clear of El Corozon was that I learned that they were owned by the same people that run Saddle Ranch, which is right across the way from this spot. I've given Saddle Ranch three tries, and have regretted it all three visits. I guess if you're the owners of La Vida Cantina, you have to hope that people can distinguish that you are a different Mexican restaurant, and that you have nowhere to go but up from here.

La Vida Cantina is owned by Identity Management Group, which also owns the very successful Sutra, which has helped bring new life into this shopping complex that has been re-branded as The Triangle, but will always be Triangle Square to me. It seems that the bad taste left by El Corozon has become a faded memory. Yelp reviews for La Vida are overwhelmingly positive, and they have a four star rating with over 500 reviews. There has also been some very good word of mouth among the food community in OC about this restaurant, so this had me very hopeful on this evening.

It not only had me hopeful, but judging from the crowd at La Vida Cantina on a recent Saturday, a lot of people are also pretty excited about this place. We were here for the OC Restaurant Week menu on this evening, and sat on the darkened patio out in front of the restaurant, which had an unmistakable resort feel to it. With the frivolity of this shopping center, it is quite easy to imagine yourself out, not in Costa Mesa, but maybe Cabo San Lucas. Let's see if the food lives up to the vacation vibe here.

As is our custom when eating in Mexican restaurants, we always want to give you a look at the Chips and Salsa that are provided at the start of the meal. Both of these were pretty stellar. The salsa had some good chunk to it, while adding a little spark of spice. The chips were fresh, and fried nicely. They were also not shy about refilling either of these once they got low.

One thing Katie definitely inherited from her family is a love of Guacamole ($7.25), and there's definitely worse things she could have gotten from that bunch. Anyways, this was a very solid version of this classic appetizer. The avocados were mixed with the tomatoes, cilantro, onion, and Serrano pepper, which they used sparingly so the avocado would be front and center. A good consistency to this, my only complaint would be that they could have maybe added a little more spice, to make it pop a little more.  

I usually do not drink when we are out eating, so I can save room for more food, but their $30 OC Restaurant Week menu included either a shot of tequila or this Karma Palapa Margarita. Not wanting to get too out of hand, as it usually does when I start doing shots, I went with the margarita. This margarita had a little bit of everything going on with it. This started with a base of Karma Silver Tequila, then had some St. Germain liqueur added, along with agave nectar, lime juice, jalapeno, cucumber, pineapple, and pomegranate. What I liked about this was that every sip of this drink was different. In some gulps I got the sweet from the pineapple, which then turned to the spice of the jalapeno. It really kept me interested the whole time.

As is the case when we are dining out for restaurant week, Katie and I divide the prix fixe menu between us, and then share what we want. I knew she'd love these Ahi Poke Tostadita, so I only took one bite of it. You would not expect a Mexican restaurant to have good ahi, but this was tasty. A small tortilla is topped with a good mount of ahi, then crowned with avocado, mango, red onion, Serrano pepper, chipotle sauce, cilantro, and a poke sauce. Just like the margarita, this had a lot going on with it, but that just kept us guessing as to which bite we were going to be getting. I also liked the different textures going on here. The crunch from the tortilla, the rich ahi, and the smooth avocado slice all worked well together to make this a great start to our meal.

Something a little more like you'd expect in a Mexican restaurant, these Taquitos were top notch. The restaurant week menu said that these would be chicken, but our waiter offered me a choice, so I definitely took him up on the shredded beef version. These rolled tacos came out plated nicely with plenty of salsa fresca, Mexican crema, guacamole, and sprinkled with cotija cheese. Not greasy at all, the beef was tender and flavored well, and the condiments here really added to these taquitos.

First things first, it was really dark on the patio, so that's why my pictures look a little washed out. Up first for the entrees was Katie's pick, the Mahi Tacos. These tacos started with a flour tortilla base, then piled high with some mahi mahi, salsa fresca, corn, shredded cabbage, chipotle cream, and cotija cheese. Dressed almost exactly like the taquitos, these were just as good. Katie was surprised by how much she enjoyed this. The fish was moist, and the other parts of this melded well with the fish. She'd definitely be hard pressed not to get this again on future visits.

My go to at Mexican restaurants is to always lean towards carnitas, and lucky for me, these Carnitas Tacos were offered on the restaurant week menu. On these they used a corn tortilla, and placed a boatload of pork on them, guacamole, cotija cheese, shredded cabbage, and salsa quemada, which I learned is a burnt, or smokey salsa. I'm usually more of a red salsa person, but this green version had a depth of flavor thanks to the roasting, it really went well with the tender pork also. They were a little difficult to eat because the tacos were filled with a lot of stuff, but that's a good problem to have. The beans and rice was good, with me liking the beans a tad more than the rice, but that's almost always the case for me.

A sweet ending was awaiting us when it was time to have dessert. Both Katie and I split both of the selections off of the restaurant week menu. The clear winner for me were these freshly made Churros. They came with a caramel dipping sauce, which was not overly sweet, and almost seemed to be spiked with something to tone down the sweetness. The churros were served warm, and had a great crunch on the outer shell, and soft insides. The Flan was good, but it kind of fell flat when it came to the sauce, which was a bit runny. Good creamy texture though.

I have to say I was pretty surprised with our visit to La Vida Cantina. Maybe subconsciously I was thinking about the awful reviews the old tenant had, but everything we had on this night was very solid. It was made even better because this was restaurant week, and after a quick tally of the things we consumed on this night, it would have cost us $40 a person during a regular week, but this particular week it was just $30 per person. Proof that most restaurant week menus are a real bargain. Service on this evening was exceptional with everyone we encountered, including Manager Diedre Stary. We will definitely be back, and maybe the restaurant across the way can take a lesson on how food is supposed to prepared, instead of coming out of a bag from the freezer.

Out of five turkey legs, (because Costa Mesa is home to the OC Fair, which happens every July, and they must sell a ton of turkey legs), five being best to zero being worst, La Vida Cantina gets 3.5 turkey legs.

For more information about La Vida Cantina, head to their website here: http://lavidacantina.com/

Reeling In A Good Lunch at Waterman's Harbor for OC Restaurant Week - CLOSED

Waterman's Harbor

34661 Golden Lantern 

Dana Point, CA 92629

OC Restaurant Week always seems to go by way too fast, and it always seems like we have a bunch of other commitments when this restaurant bloggers' dream week finally gets here. This year we made it to two restaurants out of the over 140 restaurants that participate in restaurant week. Not a very good ratio, but there are only so many meals one can consume.

Since we only had two opportunities to dine at these fine restaurants, I limited where we would be going, with what was on my now-growing restaurant wish list. I had jotted Waterman's Harbor down when I read that the OC Register's Restaurant Reviewer, Brad Johnson raved about a great burger he had here, and when I saw the great review this restaurant received from Orange Coast Magazine, it made me take notice. What cinched our visit here was when I saw their pretty impressive restaurant week menu. I immediately made reservations, so we wouldn't miss out on our opportunity to experience restaurant week at Waterman's Harbor.

Waterman's Harbor has been open for a year and a half, and they took over the old Jolly Roger spot right in the heart of the Dana Point Harbor, right where people board the Catalina Express to take the 26-mile trip across the deep blue sea. Their Executive Chef, Mike Doctulero is formerly of Scott's Seafood in Costa Mesa, so he definitely knows his way around this seafood-focused restaurant.

I was a little skeptical when arriving here, because usually when views are this nice, restaurants sometimes skimp on food, expecting people to be distracted by the ocean breezes and views. We sat on the partially covered patio this Sunday afternoon. There was a singer in front of the restaurant because the Festival of Whales was going on this particular weekend. There was a wait time of about thirty minutes for a table, which I assume is the result of the increased crowds during this popular festival in the city of Dana Point. There were lots of people enjoying the weather, and enjoying their Sunday Funday.

The menu at Waterman's is predictably seafood-focused, but there are also a few steaks, chicken, and salad options for non-seafood lovers. We of course were here for their $20 three course menu, which also included a specialty cocktail. A very good deal, and one that showcases some of their regular menu items. I like when restaurants use their regular menu items on their restaurant week menus, as it's a truer interpretation of what the restaurant is truly like. Let's see what Waterman's Harbor is truly like by checking out their food.

Since Katie does not drink more than a sip of alcohol at a time, both of these specialty cocktails were mine to guzzle during our stay here. No idea who Mr. C is, but I enjoyed this Mr. C's Old School Mai Thai very much. Made with Cruzan rum, mint, lime, orgeat syrup, Lahina dark rum, and garnished with a cherry, this version was a little less sweet than usual. The orange flavor was toned down a bit, and this went down rather easily. Usually, with a mai thai I get tired of them rather quickly, but I could see myself having quite a few of these at a time. The other drink I had here was the Waterman's Punch. This fruity cocktail was comprised of Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum, Malibu Rum, blackberry schnapps, flor de Cana dark rum, pineapple, and orange juices. This was a very lively beverage that if you are not too careful with it, could really sneak up on you. A drink that I could easily imagine having before boarding the nearby Catalina Express to start off a great weekend in Catalina. After these two cocktails, I definitely needed something in my stomach, and luckily the appetizers were coming up next.

Each section of the restaurant week menu had two selections to choose from, so I knew Katie would be getting the Ahi Poke Lettuce Wraps. The ahi was seasoned with sesame, scallions, and a soy chili sauce. This gave the tuna a slight spice to it, and the fresh avocado slice helped cool this down a bit. Lettuce wraps are always a little awkward to eat out of, and this was true at Waterman's as well. I eventually just forgot about the lettuce and ate the very fresh ahi with my fork, which did not diminish this appetizer at all.

Since Katie had the ahi, this freed me up to have these Crab Beignets. These little balls of crab were very tasty. The outer pastry was not as heavy as I thought, which allowed the crab inside to be the star of the show. There was plenty of crab in these, but they needed more of the old bay aioli to go along with them. Another good appetizer though.

When these Trap Caught Cod Fish and Chips came out, I was pretty impressed with the portion size of this entree. Both Katie and I got this entree, and we both really enjoyed the four pieces of cod that were placed on this plate. The batter used had a nice crunch to it, while not being overly heavy and oily. The cod was very moist, and in some parts, almost too moist. Not sure if they make their own tartar sauce, but it was good, and added to this plate. The fries were good and crisp, and like the fish, there was plenty of them.

There were two desserts offered, the first of which was this Homemade Kit Kat. I'm usually not into deconstructed desserts, but this one was pretty solid, and I could see where they were going with this. Plenty of hazelnut and brown sugar graham crackers did kind of resemble a Kit Kat Bar, but mainly because of the texture, more than the taste. This came with a generous serving of vanilla ice cream, which did not seem to jive with the Kit Kat theme, but I'm never one to dismiss ice cream coming with dessert.

When I see Butter Cake on a menu, I almost always order it. One of my favorite desserts ever, and this one was just okay. On the positive side, I really liked that this had a lot of ice cream topping it, but the cake portion of this was off. It was not as moist as it should be, and its sweetness was lacking. Not an awful dessert, but we've had way better versions of this cake before.

Even with the lackluster butter cake closing out our meal, our visit to Waterman's Harbor was still pretty impressive. Even if we did not get this meal for $20 a person, we still would have left here very satisfied. A quick check of their regular menu puts this meal at closer to $40, so be on the lookout for this restaurant the next time that OC Restaurant Week rolls around. Restaurant week definitely had the desired effect on both Katie and me, as we look forward to coming back here to try more of their menu on future visits. Service was shaky at first, as it took a long time for our waiter to greet us, but then the service picked up throughout the rest of our meal. Glad we made Waterman's Harbor one of our two OC Restaurant Week stops.

Out of five fountain pens, (because one of the most famous makers of fountain pens is Waterman, which was founded in New York City in 1884), five being best to zero being worst, Waterman's Harbor gets 3.5 fountain pens.

For more information about Waterman's Harbor, head to their website here: http://watermandp.com/