Well Done, Asada

Asada

610 North Coast Highway #108

Laguna Beach, CA 92651

Laguna is one of my favorite towns in OC to visit. I guess I should amend this statement. I love Laguna, but only after the summer tourist season has ended. It gets even quieter after the Sawdust Festival and Pagent of the Masters have shuttered for the season. Parking is a lot easier, the slow moving free shuttles leave the roadways, freeing up some space on PCH, and it's a lot easier to get to all of our favorite Laguna Beach restaurants. After this first trip to Asada, we can definitely add this new restaurant to our favorites in this seaside community.

Asada is not really new though. They opened in the space which is now is inhabited by Tortilla Republic in late 2011, but closed two years later. The man behind Asada is Scott McIntosh, who was so sure of a return to Laguna, that he retained all of the rights to the Asada name, and sure enough, he's returned triumphantly with the opening of the new, more casual Asada just over a year ago.

The success of Asada is not really a big surprise when you consider Mr. McIntosh's restaurant track record. He was instrumental in running Claim Jumper restaurants, which he worked at for 26 years, back when they used to be good. He's also helped run the now shuttered French 75 and assisted his old boss at Claim Jumper, Craig Nickoloff in opening the very successful Nick's chain of restaurants. Asada is a bit of departure for him, as he usually oversees restaurants that focus on American comfort food with big portions. Katie and I were excited to see his take on Mexican cuisine.

Located in the Boat Canyon Shopping Center, which is just mere blocks away from the hustle and bustle of Downtown Laguna, Asada has found a home in the old Senor Fish location, in this shopping plaza anchored by a Pavillions grocery store. We were pleased to find plenty of parking here, even after fighting our way down jam packed PCH on this warm early evening commute. Not having to plug a meter, or maneuver the crowded downtown streets of Laguna is reason enough to give Asada a try.

As I mentioned earlier, this a more casual, laid back version of Asada. Ordering is done at the counter, and then the food is brought out to you. Gone off of the menu is the delicious looking burger that they had before, but what's left is a wide array of Mexican favorites, along with plenty of starters, salads, and combo plates. They also serve breakfast all day, and the chilaquiles are calling my name on my next visit. Prices seem very fair, with nothing coming close to approaching the $15 mark. There's also a beer and wine offered, along with margaritas, which you can get in pitchers. No drinks for us on this evening, but we were definitely ready to eat.

I'm crazy about tater tots all of a sudden and was pretty excited to see them offered at Asada. These are not like the tots you had in your school cafeteria. These Carne Asada Tots ($9.95) came with plenty of sliced citrus marinated steak, chipotle ranch, cheese sauce, pico de gallo, and a dollop of both guacamole and sour cream. Tater tots turned up a notch, I was excited to scarf these down. The tater tots stayed remarkably crisp even with everything piled up on top of them. I'm usually not much into cheese sauces, but this was a very mellow one, and it worked here.

After a hard day at work, Katie wasted no time in digging into this #6 Combo ($12.95). The number six combo consists of a short rib enchilada and a crispy taco of your choice, which Katie opted for her customary pick, chicken. The short rib came highly recommended from Hannah, who took our order. Hannah did not lead us astray. The tender and flavorful short rib came wrapped in a tortilla which was topped with a delicious and dark salsa ranchero sauce, which almost had the feel of a comforting mole, without the hint of chocolate.  The chicken taco was encased in a lightly fried tortilla and came filled with jack cheese, pico de gallo, queso fresco, and a very well done poblano cream. The combo was rounded out by black beans and cilantro buttered rice, which was a nice diversion from the usual Spanish rice that is served in most restaurants.

My benchmark for Mexican restaurants is carnitas, so it was not a surprise that I found myself ordering the Crispy Carnitas ($13.95) at Asada. The serving size of this was what I noticed first, four large chunks of pork covered in a tomatillo salsa. I usually prefer red sauce, but the green went well with the well marinated and lightly fried carnitas. These were lighter than most but did not sacrifice in the flavor department. I had plenty of meat leftover after using the three tortillas that came out with this. I enjoyed the rice and the refried beans here as well. A very solid meal and one that I will probably repeat on future visits to Asada.

I enjoy flan well enough, but it's always kind of tasted the same to me. Now that I've had this Flan Butter Cake ($7.25), I don't think I'll be able to go back to having regular old flan again. It should be no surprise that this was good when you consider that Asada's sister restaurant, Reunion,  has one of the better butter cakes around and this mashup between traditional flan and butter cake is the perfect marriage between the two. The cake portion was nice and moist and the caramel covering this pushed it up a few notches.

I did not really know what to expect from Asada when walking in here, but leaving this establishment I was pretty pleased with the food here. Asada makes more sense as a fast casual concept, but the Mexican food here doesn't taste like most fast casual concepts. It tastes better. We found the dishes here to be flavorful and fresh. I really look forward to tackling more of their pretty expansive menu in the very near future. Service was very friendly and prompt. Glad it's getting closer to autumn, which makes it a lot easier to make our way down to Laguna and Asada.

For more information about Asada, head to their website here: http://asadatacos.net/

Reacquainting at Colleary's in Orange - CLOSED

Colleary's

2143 North Tustin St.

Orange, CA 92865

Time's moving so fast. I remember when I was a kid, and it seemed like the holidays would not roll around forever. Now older, they feel like they roll around almost every three months or so, and when I blink, it's Christmas again. When I wanted to make plans with my best friend and his family, we realized the last time we saw them was Halloween, and ten months is an unacceptable amount of time to visit our good friends Chris and Adrienne. We decided to meet in Orange, and of course, it was my job to pick a restaurant. After a quick search, I decided we'd rendezvous at Colleary's.

Colleary's is hard to find if you didn't know it was there. It's located right across from the Orange Mall (sorry, even after all these years, I can't bring myself to call it the Village at Orange), in the Target Shopping Center, but closer to the Meats Avenue side of the shopping plaza. The name Colleary may seem familiar to you. In that case, it might be because you were a customer of the famous Rockwell's Bakery in Villa Park and remember Owner Marty Colleary, who now runs this place along with his business partner Jen.

Colleary's has been open for over three years and has gotten much love from locals for their breakfasts, sandwiches, and Italian cuisine. They have also added a brunch and a full bar, which they utilize to celebrate happy hour Tuesday through Saturday, and they also recently added a late night happy hour from 9 to 10 pm on Friday and Saturday nights.

We arrived at Colleary's, with a reservation made on Open Table, on a recent Friday evening and were met by a friendly hostess who showed us to our reserved table, which was set off to the side of the main dining area. This used to be where they had their bakery case a while back. This more intimate spot, away from the pretty crowded dining room and bar, allowed us to catch up with Chris and Adrienne. With two kids in tow, we quickly made our selections from their menu, which was fine since I was hungry.

We were brought a lovely basket of freshly baked Foccacia and a tomato dipping sauce just after ordering. Both were good and addictive. I had to use some willpower to fight my urge to eat as much of this as possible since I had food coming.

Soups and salads came out rather quickly. Most entrees at Colleary's come with your choice of soup or salad. Chris and Katie were the lone Bistro Salad eaters this evening. This elevated house salad came with fresh greens, red onion, tomatoes, cucumber, carrots, and a choice of dressing. Katie selected the lemon poppy seed dressing and could not have been more pleased. It added a little zip to the fresh produce and really helped to keep her interested while consuming this salad. Chris's daughter Lilly and I both had a Cup of Clam Chowder. This was a very thin chowder, but it made up for it in flavor and creaminess. It's a good chowder, but nothing really notable about it.

We don't often eat out with kids, so I was interested to see this Kid's Spaghetti ($6). They give you the option of what sauce for this, and while Lochlan went with the ho-hum butter and parmesan, his sister Lilly had the way more grown-up marinara sauce. She had no complaints about this spaghetti, but of course, she did not finish this rather small portion. Kids!

Katie's always a little skeptical about having seafood in restaurants far from the ocean, but it didn't stop her from getting the Pasta Special ($18) offered this evening. It featured a lot of sliced salmon, some sauteed spinach, a muted lemon-based garlic sauce, and some pappardelle pasta. Katie was pleased that the salmon was very fresh, and they were very generous about the amount they added to this plate. The sauce was good but did not overpower the salmon, while the pasta was done nicely al dente. A special that Katie would get again if it was available on her next visit to Colleary's.

Adrienne started digging into this Classic Lasagna ($14) before I could get over there and snap a quick picture. Amateur. They fill their lasagna with four kinds of cheese, a meaty Bolognese sauce, and a good amount of crumbled sausage. I did not get to try this, but it looked wonderful from across the table. Adrienne is a pretty picky eater and had no complaints about this meal, which is a good sign.

Chris felt the seafood vibe at Colleary's when he got this Seafood Special ($28). I did not write down what this was, but from where I was sitting, shrimp and scallops appeared to be served on a bed of linguine. Always a ravenous eater, Chris gobbled this up rather quickly and seemed to enjoy it well enough. He stated that the seafood was fresh and prepared nicely.

I would call this Slow Roasted Osso Bucco ($28) the star entree of the evening.  This veal shank had a real homey quality to it. Very tender, with all the veggies, it gave this more of a stew feel. This was on par with the one I had at the Anaheim White House a year or two ago, and I loved that meal. I licked this plate, and the bones cleaned. This also came with some mashed potatoes underneath the meat, which went well with the delicious sauce. A winning meal, and something it would be hard for me to deviate from on future visits to Colleary's.

We kind of went a little crazy with the desserts at Colleary's, but we kind of had an inkling that they were all going to be great, what with the Rockwell's connection they have going for them. The best of these three was the Coconut Cake ($3.95). It was very moist and had an excellent coconut frosting topping it. It's not as sweet as I expected, a plus in my book. I was also pleased with the Chocolate Mousse Cheese Cake ($3.95), a must for chocolate lovers. It was not chalky like a lot of cheesecake tends to be. The chocolate was very present but did not overpower it. The Tiramisu ($3.95) was my least favorite out of these three, but in all truthfulness, I'm not really a big tiramisu fan. This one was heavy on the coffee flavor, which is also a big turnoff for me. The rest of our table liked this well enough, though.

Colleary's was a great place to meet up with friends and have a solid meal. I was thankful that this was more of a family restaurant than I believed it to be before stepping in here. It's the kind of place you can feel comfortable bringing the kids, having an adult beverage, and enjoying well-prepared food that tastes great. I look forward to trying more of their pasta dishes and prime rib, which I hear is excellent and only available on Friday and Saturday nights. Service this evening was wonderful, as our server, Jill, met every need during our stay. She and the rest of the staff at Colleary's made us feel at home from the minute we walked in the front door. Glad we finally met up with Chris and Adrienne for the first time in months and made some new friends at Colleary's.

Out of five Emmy awards (because the most famous person I could find with the last name of Colleary was R.J. Colleary, who won television's highest award for writing a Barney Miller episode in the late 70s), five being best to zero being worst, Colleary's gets 3.5 Emmy awards.

For more information about Colleary's, head to their website here: http://www.collearysbistroandbakery.com/

Tackle Box Has Us Hook, Line, and Sinker - CLOSED

Tackle Box

3029 East Shore Dr. 

Corona Del Mar, CA 92625

There used to be a time when just a couple of celebrity chefs were around. Julia Child, Wolfgang Puck, and Graham Kerr, among a select few others, were household names. Now that we have hundreds of channels to choose from, it would be inevitable that some of those networks would be focused on food, which has led to celebrity chefs sprouting up just about everywhere. Food-focused shows have even replaced soap operas, which I never thought I'd see in my lifetime. Yes, I grew up during the Luke and Laura era, when soaps were all the rage.

There are restaurant shows, cooking competitions, and restaurant makeover shows, and luckily, the cupcake craze has subsided. Anyway, there's never been an overabundance of celebrity chefs out there, and I like to see where they end up after the cameras stop rolling. It's always interesting to see if their fame helps them achieve their dream of owning their own restaurant or if they parlay their exposure into another gig. This curiosity has brought us to Tackle Box at Corona Del Mar State Beach on a recent Sunday afternoon.

Tackle Box is the home of Chef-Owner Brian Huskey, who you might remember from Top Chef Season 11 New Orleans. He made the top 5 that season, and in each episode he appeared in until he had to pack up his knives, he showcased his talents and won heaps of praise from the judges. It's unsurprising since he had quite the resume before getting on Top Chef. After graduating from culinary school, Brian worked in a long list of LA restaurants and was even a sous chef at Leatherby's at the Segerstrom Center in Costa Mesa when they first opened.

So what's a fine-dining chef doing running a concession stand at the beach? He approached the city two years ago about taking over the concessions with a chef-driven menu, and they countered that it would be fine, but he also had to run a more traditional concession. He acquiesced, and Tackle Box was born.

We arrived here on a relatively warm mid-July Sunday evening. We hoped to miss most of the beach crowd, but the beach was still pretty jam-packed with families, sunbathers, and many people trying to escape the heat inland. We managed to get a sweet parking spot near Tackle Box, though. The menu here is different from the hot dogs, snow cones, and chili cheese strips that we had when coming to the beach when I was a kid. This menu is dotted with some upscale sandwiches, clam chowder, and other assorted snacks you would not expect to see served within inches of the sand. There are even breakfast options for those here before 11 am. Let's see Chef Brian's take on a grub shack at the beach.

After ordering at the counter, we grabbed one of the picnic tables reserved for customers of Tackle Box, and our food slowly made its way out to us, starting with this Quesadilla ($9.50). This was a great way to start. This quesadilla had a great crunch and came with a three-cheese blend, caramelized onion, and roasted poblanos. The poblano was mild enough so Katie could handle it, but I would have liked a little more heat included. At over $9, I thought it would have some protein involved here, but no such luck. Still a high-quality quesadilla.

Katie's sandwich selection came out first. This was a pretty impressive-looking Chicken Club ($11). It included chicken, of course, and a couple strips of applewood-smoked bacon, lettuce, tomato, and an unexpectedly mellow lemon garlic sauce. She liked the tender chicken and the sturdy New England-style hot dog bun, which were at the forefront of her mind when remembering this sandwich. She also enjoyed the house chips, which came with this sandwich. They were fried nicely, and most of them were very crisp.

The one time our paths crossed with Brian Huskey and the Tackle Box crew was at a Newport Beach Restaurant Week launch party. They were sampling this Buffalo Cauliflower ($9) and quickly ran out of it. I knew then and there that we would get this when we came to Tackle Box. Cauliflower is all the rage right now, dethroning kale, which is good. This was fantastic. The buffalo sauce covering this had a little kick, and the cauliflower was fried lightly enough to avoid being too heavy. I wish they had given us a little more blue cheese dressing with this, but you should not miss the chicken wings when ordering a starter at Tackle Box. It's easy to see why this was a hit at the kickoff party.

I had my choices narrowed down to about four when I got to Tackle Box and was still debating when I was in line. I eventually ordered this Cali Cheesesteak ($13). A good choice. This sandwich might have been smaller than I expected, but it had a nice flavor punch. The lightly toasted New England-style hot dog bun was filled with thinly sliced beef, white cheddar, crispy onions, and fried peppers. This was a very light cheesesteak. It was not heavy on the meat or cheese, but the fried peppers added some nice texture and unexpected heat pops.

Tackle Box is a definite upgrade to what you have come to expect from a concession stand at your local beach. Without even knowing who is helming this kitchen, the food here is pretty high quality, and much thought and care goes into it. I would have liked the portion sizes to have been more significant for what you are shelling out here. Most items were a couple dollars too much for the amount you get, but that might be because of the area. However, the prices will not deter us from a return visit. I look forward to trying their Pork Belly Bahn Mi, Tackle Box Burger, and Lobster Roll, which are available only on weekends. Of course, the Buffalo Cauliflower is a must as well. I'm glad OC is home to several celebrity/TV chefs, so we can try what looks great when it's shown in our living rooms on almost every channel.

Out of five roses (because Chef Brian Huskey is a native of Pasadena, and from what I hear, they have some sort of parade and football game that has something to do with roses), five being best to zero being worst, Tackle Box gets 3.5 roses.

For information about Tackle Box, head to their website here: http://tackleboxoc.com/

Rollin' down to Proud Mary's

Proud Mary's

34689 Golden Lantern 

Dana Point, CA 92629

Now that I have been getting Sundays off from work with a little bit of regularity, I've become pretty lazy on the last day of the week, or the first day depending on how you look at it. We usually don't start moving around until 9 am and then we throw about ideas on what we are going to do with our day. Most of the time Katie goes to see her nephew and I get some work done on this restaurant blog. This particular weekend she had no plans with her family, so we decided to take a jaunt around Dana Point Harbor, and while down there, of course, get some breakfast. We tried Proud Mary's for the first time.

It's pretty amazing that this was our first time at Proud Mary's when you consider how often we have walked this picturesque harbor, and how long Proud Mary's has been around. Mary Merrill opened this place up in 1977 and then sold it to the Zdrakas family in 2005. After a 2007 fire destroyed the original restaurant, the family vowed to come back to the community that showed them so much support while they were closed, with a new and improved version of Proud Mary's. They enlarged their patio, taking advantage of the great year round Dana Point weather, they reimagined their dining room and added a banquet space with a new menu so they can hold special events at the restaurant.

We got here just before 11 on a very busy Sunday morning in Dana Point. We parked quite a ways away, but walking was part of the reason we came down here. Proud Mary's is situated between Turk's and the Wind and Sea Restaurant, right near where you catch the Catalina Express for your trip 26 miles across the sea. We had a close to 10-minute wait, which wasn't too bad, but it was a much longer wait for a table on their happening patio.

The breakfast menu at Mary's says that they only serve breakfast until noon, which has been a bone of contention among customers since the old Proud Mary's used to serve breakfast all day. The breakfast menu has all the items you would expect to see on it. There are breakfast sandwiches, egg dishes, breakfast burritos, griddled items, and a decent selection of combination plates. We couldn't wait to dig in and continue our walk after breakfast.

This good-looking California Scramble ($13) was Katie's selection. When this was placed in front of her, the colors just seemed to emanate from the plate. This scramble was made up of turkey, bacon, tomatoes, and avocado. This was a pretty good-sized portion, and one that Katie felt was good, but it didn't really pack the flavor punch she was expecting. Maybe some cheese on this would have helped push this up a notch.

I was also feeling the scramble vibe at Proud Mary's, where I ordered the Meaty Scramble ($12.50). I'm always in when I see the holy trinity of breakfast meats on one plate on a breakfast menu. This scramble included ham, bacon, and sausage, and was bound together with some cheddar cheese. I kind of had the same feelings about my breakfast as Katie had about hers, it was fine, but kind of average. The home fries were decent, but needed more seasoning and maybe a little more crunch to them. No, I'm not into wheat toast, but that's what came with this, and it didn't seem like they had any other bread options available.

As is my usual need when eating my first meal of the day, I need a sweet item to go along with my savory breakfast option. On this morning I tried this Short Stack of Pancakes ($7.50 with chocolate chips added). I was pretty impressed with these. Not too doughy, full of chocolatey goodness, and not dry either. A pretty impressive plate of pancakes. Still heavy, but I have kind of come to expect that from pancakes.

Proud Mary's ended up being a decent option for breakfast in Dana Point Harbor area. It's not as good as What A Dish Cafe, but it's not as bad as the overly hyped RJ's Cafe. Proud Mary's is kind of situated in the middle of the restaurants we've tried down there. Service was a little spotty during our stay, maybe because we were sitting in an out of the way corner of the restaurant which was easy to miss. We'd still come back here again if we can shake off the laziness that we always seem to have on Sundays.

Out of five Vulcans, (because everyone knows the CCR or Tina Turner version of the song Proud Mary, but you probably don't know that Star Trek's Leonard Nimoy also sang the song), five being best to zero being worst, Proud Mary's gets 3 Vulcans.

For more information about Proud Mary's, head to their website by clicking here: http://www.proudmarysdp.com/

Mixed Review of Crocker's

Crocker's The Well Dressed Frank

211 Marine Ave. 

Newport Beach, CA 92662

I never feel like we take enough advantage of our coastline. Katie and I might be nicknamed the pasty posse because we burn within minutes of being exposed to the sun, but we seriously love being down at the beach. Taking advantage of the cool ocean breezes, getting a little exercise, and the general feeling of a mini getaway that the seashore can inspire makes us grateful for being able to call OC home. One of our favorite seaside strolls is around Balboa Island, which also gave us an opportunity to cross Crockers off of our restaurant wishlist.

Crocker's earned their way on to our list when they got a glowing review from who I believe was OC Register Restaurant Critic Brad Johnson for their Chili Burger and their Chicago Dog. I quickly made a note and it sat on our list for a while.

Crocker's has been open for three and a half years now and is owned by Victoria and John De Frenza, who named their restaurant after Victoria's grandfather, who just happened to be the first paid Fire Chief on Balboa Island. It's this nostalgia that has inspired their menu of pure American comfort food. Burgers and hot dogs headline here, but there are a few sandwiches, sausages, and a couple of seafood options as well. We also hear that they make a pretty decent clam chowder, which we didn't try on this trip, but maybe will in the future when it cools down a bit.

To be honest, this is not the most comfortable of restaurants. Not good for large groups for sure, there's one table for four, one that sits two, and some counter seating facing a wall. If things do get a little tight here, we've heard that you can also order and sit at their restaurant next door, the slightly larger Croker's Abundant Table. Other than those options, it might be wise for locals to do what we saw a lot of people doing, getting their food for takeout. We got lucky and got one of the two tables, so let's see if our luck would hold with a great meal at Crockers.

I must admit that I was a little taken aback when Katie got the Chief's Chicken Sausage ($9). Not the most photogenic of sausages, this albino looking sausage came with Swiss cheese, thousand island dressing, warmed kraut, and a poppy seed bun. Katie liked the snap of this mellow chicken sausage, which went well with the Rueben feel of this. She also mentioned the bun as a standout.

I was all set to try the Chicago dog before arriving here but switched it up at the last minute to this Wild and Wet Chili Dog ($9). This steamed skinless frank came with chili, shredded cheddar cheese, diced onions, and a strip of bacon perched on top. This was a very good version of a chili dog. It starts with the bun, which was freshly baked, soft, but pliable, and I have a sneaky suspicion that they might come from Blackmarket Bakery, but I don't have any official confirmation on this. Whoever makes them, they are excellent. The chili is pretty good, not of a spicy variety, but still flavorful. I had wished that the bacon would have been tucked into the bun so I could have it included in each bite, but still satisfying.

As much as I enjoyed the chili dog, I was underwhelmed by George's Patty Melt ($11.50). This half-pound burger was seriously underseasoned, and the Swiss, onions and thousand island dressing could not salvage this. The bread was very sturdy, but that's about as memorable as this sandwich gets. Should have gotten the chili burger instead.

Rounding out our meal was these Fries ($5). I rather enjoyed these fries seasoned with parsley and sea salt. They had a great crunch to them, while the potato inside was pillowy soft.

Looking back over this visit, I should have probably stuck with the items that I was gonna try when I first came here, the chili burger and the Chicago dog. Even though the chili dog shined, I'm not sure it was a $9 chili dog. In fact, I think most of the prices were a few dollars too much for the amount of food you get, but you have to consider the high rents in this touristy area. Service was pretty solid, and the food came out in a pretty timely manner. Even though Crocker's did not blow us away, it was great getting out and enjoying Balboa Island, one of our favorite beach spots.

Out of five boxes of cake mix, (because whenever I hear the name Crocker, it always brings to mind the advertising icon, Betty Crocker of General Mills fame), five being best to zero being worst, Crocker's The Well Dressed Frank gets 2.5 boxes of cake mix.

For more information about Crocker's The Well Dressed Frank, head to their website here: http://crockersfranks.com/