Swinging by Old Vine Cafe for Brunch - CLOSED

Old Vine Cafe

2937 Bristol Street A102

Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Brunch is a magical time. Some might even argue that it's the best time of the week. A time to gather your thoughts about what you have going on in the upcoming seven days. A chance to reflect on the past week and rethink your decision to have that extra gin and tonic the night before. For me, brunch is a good time for all these, but mostly, it's a great time to combine breakfast and lunch, and being a fan of sweet and savory in the morning hours, this is definitely a meal I'm always excited for.

Old Vine Cafe is a place I have followed forever on Instagram and a restaurant that most of my food friends have been to many times over. I have salivated from afar over their hunger-inducing photos online. They have gotten some great press, have favorable Yelp ratings, and their dinners look amazing. We got up bright and early for brunch, as I heard this small restaurant gets very busy, and wait times can be pretty long.

Getting to The Camp at 9:30 AM, where OVC is located, marks the first time I have not had any problem finding a parking spot at this popular shopping center. Of course, when we left an hour later, we saw numerous cars circling the lot, searching for that elusive open space. Once parked at The Camp, head to the back of this retail center, past Taco Asylum and East Borough, and you will eventually run into this wooded area, which almost immediately transports you to a place more reminiscent of the Northwest instead of Costa Mesa.

Old Vine is brought to the good people of OC by Chef Mark McDonald, who not only helms the kitchen here but is also the owner and wine director. A graduate of Laguna Culinary Arts, he also holds the lofty title of California Director for Aregala & Cooks Without Borders, and he also partners with the Italian Culinary Institue to lead their Splendors of South Italy and Splendors of North Italy culinary trips every year. A busy man who also takes great care of Old Vine, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, a significant accomplishment in the restaurant industry. After being seated right away, Old Vine filled up quickly with hungry customers, so Katie and I made our selections rapidly, and this is how it all came out for us.

First was Katie's entree, the Southern Brunch ($16), which comprised two eggs, a freshly made biscuit drenched with pancetta gravy, scrapple, and a panko-crusted fried green tomato. When this was placed in front of her, she was slightly intimidated by its sheer size. It was massive. The focal point of this plate was the great-tasting gravy and biscuit, which melted away wonderfully when consumed. This was one of the better gravies we have had. Rich and creamy, but not overpowering the rest of the plate. We were unsure what scrapple was but learned that it's a pork product combined with cornmeal and flour and then fried to create a kind of pork loaf. I'd like to try it as a sandwich, which would be delicious. In honesty, the eggs did get a little lost here, but with all of this deliciousness, it was not a big deal. Katie boxed up half of this and had it for dinner the same evening. It held up then, too.

Man, I had a rough time deciding here, but I finally decided on this Open Faced ($15.85). After my first bite, I knew I made the right choice. Amazing is how I would describe this plate. This was basically an omelet with a biscuit inside and plenty of chicken sausage, and then it was topped with chipotle gravy and queso fresco. The gravy on this one was just as good as the version used on the southern brunch, but even better because it had a spicy kick. A biscuit inside an omelet was a genius idea, and it was done perfectly. I subbed out the potatoes for the Cheesy Grits for an extra $2.50. Best two and a half dollars I have spent in a while. These cheesy grits have dethroned my favorites at the temporarily closed Lillie's Q in Brea, the best I have had in OC. A great meal to start off my day.

We were expecting this Cinnamon Roll ($5.25) to come out before our meal, but it came with our entrees. As time wore on, this cinnamon roll grew on me. At first, I was put off because the icing was not as prominent as I would have liked, and it was not as sweet as I thought it should be. Because I was not distracted by the sweetness of this cinnamon roll, it allowed the buttery roll to shine. It's still not my favorite cinnamon roll, but it's very formidable.

Katie and I disagreed with this Baked Caramel Apple French Toast ($15). She loved it, and I was a little more tempered in my assessment of this almost dessert dish at Old Vine Cafe. To make up this dish, two pieces of apple french toast are drizzled with caramel and chocolate. I thought this bread portion resembled a less moist bread pudding, which bored me. I would have liked some extra moisture and sweetness here to add excitement. On the other hand, Katie loved this, and she happily finished it for us.

Even with the miss on the French toast, Old Vine was really impressed. Chef Mark has done something that is hard to do for many brunch spots: make brunch their own. The creativity and big-time flavors made our morning; we have thought back over this brunch many times since coming here. This is definitely a brunch spot that we want to explore more. The rabbit mole, Reuben omelet, peanut butter, and banana crepe are on my list of things to try out on our next visit to OVC. Service here was warm and friendly, even at this early morning hour. They did try to turn over tables quickly to help alleviate the wait times, but we did not feel rushed. You can move Old Vine Cafe to one of the top spots to experience brunch in OC. Whatever your reason for loving brunch, you will like it even more after eating at Old Vine Cafe.

Out of five dragons (because this is the official animal for the country of Armenia, which also happens to be home to the first winery, dating from around 4,000 BC), five being best to zero being worst, Old Vine Cafe gets 4 dragons.

For more information about Old Vine Cafe, check out their website here: http://www.oldvinecafe.com/

Taqueros Media Day - CLOSED

Taqueros

31401 Camino Capistrano

San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675

It has got to be an uphill battle for a Mexican restaurant to make a name for itself in San Juan Capistrano. A quick online search of Mexican restaurants in this small south OC city, bisected by the 5 Freeway, yields 14 Mexican restaurants, not counting Del Taco and Taco Bell. But, of course, most people probably wouldn't count those two fast-food places anyway. My point is that in a Mexican food-rich city like this one, you have to get your name out there, and that's what Taqueros did recently when they invited a group of food bloggers, including us, to try their food.

I had heard of Taqueros before when they used to be located across the street from Mission Viejo City Hall. I had eaten there once and remembered liking it, but it was long ago. I also remember that they had an eating challenge, which I do not recall at this moment. My friends from work and I had planned on doing it, but we must have forgotten about it before attempting it.

Taqueros is a family-run business, which is owned by the Lezama family. They have had successes and some tough times in the restaurant business, but they feel they have finally found a home in San Juan Capistrano. The locals have embraced them since they opened here over two years ago. Taqueros describes their food as a nod to Mexico's past, emphasizing modern flavors. They want you to feel like partaking in a home-cooked meal with no dishes to clean up afterward.

Located a few blocks north of the mission and across from Junipero Serra High School, Taqueros was pretty busy this late Saturday afternoon. Not only was this place crawling with food media, but they also had a steady stream of people coming in to partake of their extensive menu. I was impressed that this small restaurant had a varied menu, including an extensive juice menu, which Katie took advantage of. She had this Jamaica ($2.29), a hibiscus-tinged tea. It was fruity but not overly sweet, which is how she likes her beverages.

While Katie enjoyed her tea, I was excited to try the Tacos de Trompo, which Taqueros offers on Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. These pork tacos originated in Central Mexico and are cooked on a vertical rotisserie called a Trompo. The pork is marinated in dried chilis and spices, then cut off the Trompo, placed in some delicious house-made tortillas, and garnished with cilantro, onion, coriander, and a slice of pineapple. The pork was juicy and flavorful after being cooked on the Trompo. I look forward to returning here to eat about a dozen more of these pastor tacos soon.

Katie and I are big mole fans, so we wanted to try Taqueros Mole Poblano Enchilada ($3.49). We are glad that we did. The mole here is complex, with a richness that can not be described. It's sweet and savory at the same time, but not overwhelmingly. This enchilada was filled with plenty of chicken and queso fresco and drizzled with sour cream. I enjoyed dipping my chips in the excess mole.

I guess my Chilaquiles ($6.99) obsession of late has spread to Katie, as she tried it here. This is one of ten breakfast items on the menu at Taqueros, and all of them are served all day long. Breakfast for dinner is always a good choice. The chilaquiles were solid, but I would not have gotten my eggs over easy like Katie. I prefer the runny yolk to coat the chips and the red or green sauce. This portion size was very generous, and Katie had difficulty finishing this plate.

I wanted to try as much of their food as possible and continued my tour around their menu with this Hard Shelled Potato Taco ($1.89) and a Carne Asada Taco ($2.79). The carne asada taco was delicious. I've been burned too many times by under-seasoned, tough-as-sandpaper beef in Mexican restaurants, but that wasn't the case with this carne asada. The meat was excellent and tender; you could tell it was marinated well. Again, they were very generous with the beef in this taco, which is a plus in my book. Katie is all about potato tacos, which can be a little boring, but that wasn't true at Taqueros. The crunchy outer shell was a nice contrast to the tender spud inside.

By this time, I was getting pretty full, but I had heard some good things about the Cubana Torta ($7.49), so I had to try it. This sandwich was stuffed with a well-done breaded beef, ham, sliced sausage, tomatoes, jalapenos, guacamole, onion, cheese, and beans. With all this included, the bread was the real hero, keeping everything together. I liked this torta but was not too keen on the sliced hot dog used in this, but it was easily discarded. I also used some of Katie's leftover refried beans to improve this. I'd probably get the carnitas torta on my next visit.

I'm glad the folks at Taqueros reached out to us and had us come down for a visit. Since we live so close, Taqueros will definitely be in our restaurant repertoire of places we eat when we want to stay close to home. We will also make it our mission to visit on nights they feature their Tacos de Trompo. They were delicious. I also wanted to make note that this is a pretty comfortable restaurant to eat at. It was well-lit and very clean. It's easy to see why the good people of San Juan have really embraced them.

For more information about Taqueros, head to their website here: http://taquerosmexicanfood.com/

Hoping to Slam the Gates of Hunger

India Gate Restaurant

2512 Walnut Ave. 

Tustin, CA 92780

Indian buffets are very enticing, but most are only available during weekdays during lunchtime, and after having four plates of delicious Indian food, the last thing I want to do is go back to work for four hours with a stomach full of tikka masala. I'd be pretty useless at work, okay, more useless than a normal day after eating all that Indian food. I bring this up because I always feel a little gipped when I see signs that promote Indian buffets when I'm at a restaurant for dinner. It doesn't diminish my love for Indian food, but I wanted to get this off of my chest.

Our good friends Angel and Rebekah have been talking about India Gate for a long while now, and we finally set up a double date night to try it out. When I looked up this place before coming here, almost all of the comments were about their $9.99 lunch buffet, and how great the food was. Even though we were going to be meeting here well after lunchtime, all the positive praise really got me excited to give this place a try.

India Gate has been around for a year and a half now. They are located in a very out of the way shopping plaza just off Tustin Ranch Road and Walnut. This small, five-unit strip mall also includes a Korean restaurant, chiropractor, beauty salon, and a tiny sandwich shop. We arrived here at 6 pm on a rather chilly Saturday, but the restaurant had a steady stream of customers coming through the door. The inside of this restaurant is spacious, with nicely spaced tables, and bright lighting. Not being too well versed in Indian cuisine, I appreciated that the rather large menu was easy to navigate, and had good descriptions of each item. It really made it easy to order, and speaking of ordering, let's see what we ended up getting and if Angel and Rebekah's praise for this restaurant was justified.

We were pretty hungry, so we got a couple of dosas to start our meal with. This was our first time having dosas, which I'd describe as part crepe and part quesadilla. Our first foray into dosa-hood was the Cheese Masala Dosa ($11.95). The menu said that the crepe, which is made of lentils and rice flour, was to be filled with cheese and potatoes, but it was devoid of potatoes. Nonetheless, this was good, with a crunchy outer shell, and the not overly stuffed cheese filling inside. This came with two chutneys, one of which had coconut in it and it was the better of the two. Our second dosa was the Masala Dosa ($9.95) and it was partially filled with peas and spiced potatoes. This was a little hard to eat, as the fillings fell out rather easily. It had the same crunchy outer shell, but the insides were kind of boring and did not add too much to this, as the chutneys did a lot of the flavor work here.

Entrees made their way out pretty fast at India Gate, and we each picked a dish and decided to eat family style. Angel's selection was the Chicken Tikka Masala ($12.95). This is undoubtedly the most popular of all Indian dishes, and this version was wonderfully full of rich flavor, the chicken was tender, and it was hard to stop dipping my naan into the sauce. Delicious. My favorite Indian dish is Butter Chicken ($12.95) and this one rivaled the best one I have had to date at the now-shuttered Tamarind in Newport Coast. Much like the tikka, this also featured some very tender chicken and a delicious sauce, which was a tad more subtle than the one used for the tikka masala. Another winner. I actually picked the Lamb Korma ($14.95) partly because I love lamb, and also because I knew that both Angel and Katie would not want any. Yes, I'm very selfish. Most bites of the lamb were tender, with only a few clunkers in the bunch. The sauce for this was both sweet and spicy and had a tinge of cardamom hanging around each bite. As for Katie's choice, the Chicken Biryani ($12.95), I made the cardinal error of any food blogger by forgetting to take a picture of it because I was so focused on eating. Rookie mistake. Anyways, Katie is always on the hunt for a biryani that matches the one she had in New York and this one was pretty close. The chicken is cooked with rice and then garnished with a little bit of cilantro and fried onions. She really liked the authenticity of this dish, but I was a little bummed that the chicken came with bones in it. It made it more difficult to eat. No complaints from Katie though, as she assured me she would get this again.

Of course, some naan needed to be ordered to go along with our meals. The Plain Naan ($2.45) and the Garlic Naan ($2.95) came out nice and warm, but I thought it was pretty average. The garlic version needed to have more garlic included. Nevertheless, this was a great vessel for sopping up the excess sauces, which is definitely a trademark of Indian cuisine and one of the best parts of the meal.

I've come to the realization that Indian desserts just might not be for me. I tried all three of these and was not really wowed by any of them. Out of the three that we had, I probably liked the Kheer ($2.95) the best. It's made of rice in sweetened milk. Kind of like a less sweet version of rice pudding. I forget what Angel had wanted to order, but they were out, so he got the Kulfi ($3.95) instead. This was simply a scoop of mango ice cream, which had a good texture to it, but I'm not really a big fan of mango. The last of our three dessert options was the Falooda Kulfi ($3.95), which the menu described as being rose-flavored ice cream, but I did not get too much rose here. Again, these are not really my ideal types of desserts, but the rest of my dining partners enjoyed them well enough.

If you get a chance to try the lunch buffet at India Gate, do it. Although I was not in love with the dosas or the desserts, all of the entrees that we had on this evening were exceptional and from what I hear they are all available at their noontime ten-dollar buffet. The entrees that we had here were some of the best Indian food we have experienced thus far, although I am by no means an expert in Indian cuisine. The service was a little inattentive, especially as the night went on and they became busier. Thanks so much to Angel and Rebekah for introducing us to this restaurant, we enjoyed our double date and the delicious Indian food. Not necessarily in that order.

Out of five running shoes, (because the India Gate monument in New Dehli was the starting and ending point for Robert Garside's 35,000 miles run around the world, and I can imagine he went through a lot of running shoes), five being best to zero being worst, India Gate Restaurant gets 3 running shoes.

For more information about India Gate Restaurant, head to their website here: https://www.indiagateca.com/

It's Pizzapalooza Time at Oggi's

Oggi's Pizza and Brewing Co. 

12362 Chapman Avenue

Garden Grove, CA 92840

It had been some time since I had last thought about Oggi's. We had some good times at the one in Mission Viejo, but it closed some time ago. We used to eat there pretty regularly watching football on Sunday mornings. Oggi's was one of our favorite places to watch our beloved Jaguars fall out of playoff contention three games into the season. The garlic knots, breakfast pizza, and of course their award-winning beers helped ease the pain of watching our team flounder around aimlessly on and off the field.

Even farther back in my memory, I remember listening to XTRA Sports Radio, hearing the Loose Cannon's host, Steve Hartman and Chet Forte wax on almost poetically about their love for Oggi's. I knew it was a commercial, but you could tell that they genuinely loved this restaurant. All these years later, and they still have their own pizza still on the menu.

Oggi's has been around for over 25 years now. This pizza concept was started by two brothers, who were tired of their work in the technology field, and decided a change was in order. They created Oggi's, which has transformed into a sports themed restaurant, which does not just rely on the games on TV to bring people through their doors, they also have some real solid food here. Oggi's was also one of the first restaurants, back in 1995 to incorporate micro-brewed beer into the fold, one of the first to do so, and well ahead of the trend that is commonplace today.

Today there are 15 Oggi's locations, with a majority of those operating in the San Diego area. OC has two spots where you can grab some pizza and catch a game, Fullerton, and this location, which is just a few steps away from Disneyland, in nearby Garden Grove. Located in the same lot as a Mariott and the Wyndham Hotel, Oggi's has been a favorite of people visiting the Magic Kingdom and conventioneers for close to ten years now at this location.

Not ones to rest on their laurels, Oggi's recently invited us in to try some of their new items off of their Pizzapalooza menu, which is around for just a limited time. Estella Ferrera, Vice President of Oggi's has said about this featured specials menu that, "We are going back to our roots and focusing on creative and quality pizzas for our first featured specials menu of the year. Our Pizzapalooza menu is our way of having fun with unique toppings and flavor combinations while staying true to our commitment to high quality and fresh ingredients."  I grabbed my friend George, an Oggi's virgin, and we quickly accepted the invitation to try out some of their new items.

Definitely not new, but the Garlic Knots ($8.99) are a must get when eating at any Oggi's. They tie off their famous dough, bake it to a beautiful golden brown, and then dust them with plenty of parmesan, oregano, and basil. Served with both ranch and marinara, this is a comforting start to your meal at Oggi's. Both George and I scarfed these down.

I promise we will get to the new pizzas, but we also started with this Half Sized California Cobb Salad ($11.99). I'm glad we both decided on the half sized, as this was more than enough for one person. This salad starts off with a fresh spring mix of greens, and then adds plenty of grilled chicken breast, gorgonzola cheese, mushrooms, hard boiled egg, tomatoes, green onion, bacon, and sliced avocado. A very good tweak on a classic cobb salad. I'm always a little squeamish about getting chicken in restaurants because it's almost always overcooked, but this one was tender, and they were very generous with the amount included here. There could have been a little more bacon for my taste, but the overabundance of the sliced avocado more than made up for it. If you're not feeling like pizza, the full version of this salad would be a great alternative, just make sure you clear some space in your refrigerator because you'll definitely have leftovers.

See, I told you we would finally get to the pizzas. The first of the two new pizzas that we tried from the Pizzapalooza menu was this pork lovers dream, the Hog Wild Pizza ($13.99). This pizza was topped with pepperoni, prosciutto, crumbled bacon, garlic, olive oil, spinach, mozzarella and parmesan cheese, and then finished off with some green onion. Pork nirvana. It was a tad on the rich side, but the spinach and mozzarella helped to even this out. A very filling pizza, which tasted great the next day for lunch.

It's really hard to believe that this has never really caught on. What you see above is the Fully Loaded Baked Potato Pizza ($12.99) and it was delicious. They take slices of baked potato and then top the pizza with plenty of crumbled bacon, cheddar and mozzarella cheeses, green onion, and then it's finished with a sour cream drizzle. Think of this one as a giant potato skin. This was a lighter alternative to the much heavier Hog Wild Pizza. There was lots of cheese involved here, and I thought sliced potato on pizza dough was going to be odd, but it was very comforting. This is a definite winner from Oggi's and needs to be included on their regular menu ASAP.

I let George pick what dessert we were going to split, and when he picked this Blackberry Yogurt Mousse Cake ($5.99) I knew we were not compatible in the kinds of desserts that we like. I'm way more into sweet and chocolaty, while he wants lighter and a more fruity dessert. Even though this was not in my wheelhouse, it was pretty good. Definitely, on the lighter side, it had an understated sweetness, which I know George appreciated. Next time I'll have to try their Peanut Butter Crunch Bar, old fashioned sundae, or their Cinnaknots.

Oggi's really hit the spot on this evening. Even two weeks later George still remarks about how much he really enjoyed this place and looks forward to watching his beloved Bruins, Dodger, and Cowboy games here in the coming season. Oggi's is really a sports lovers paradise, but with some really solid food, and a fun, relaxing atmosphere. The menu is varied, so even if you're not in the mood for pizza, you can choose to have a sandwich, burger, and a smattering of entrees. Our server Marissa could not have been nicer and more helpful, as she really let her love for this restaurant show, and offered some really good recommendations. We would also like to thank everyone at Oggi's for inviting us to come in and give their new Pizzapalooza menu a try. It's only available for a limited time, so make sure to try the Baked Potato Pizza before it's gone.

For more information about Oggi's, or to find your nearest location, head to their website by clicking here: http://oggis.com/