Rustling up Dinner at the Ranch Enchilada

Ranch Enchilada

4965 Valley View Ave. 

Yorba Linda, CA 92886

The first part of this year has been highlighted by a lot of family time for Katie and me. We went to her sister's house for Superbowl, we went to my niece's high school play, and now we were headed back up to Yorba Linda to watch my other niece cheer at her high school basketball game. We had plenty of time to grab some food with the family, so of course, it was my duty to choose the restaurant. I decided it was time to head to the Ranch Enchilada.

Ranch Enchilada has been around for a long time, just not at this location. Up until 2014, they used to be situated in East Yorba Linda but moved right across from the Veteran's Park Little League fields, right near the intersection of Yorba Linda Boulevard and Valley View. A lot of my really good high school friends worked at the old location back in the day, so it was kind of a hangout for us.

I asked our waiter if it was the same owners from way back then, and he answered in the affirmative. This location is pretty comfortable, with ceiling fans circulating the air from up above, some decorative pieces dotting the walls, and for the warmer months, a patio out back. The menu here is dotted with exactly what you'd expect to see in every Mexican restaurant. There are plenty of starters, tostadas, enchiladas, burritos, fajitas, and combo plates to choose from. What I'd term very safe Mexcian food options. If you are looking for more exotic stuff, you need to move along now. Let's see if Ranch Enchilada is as good as I remember when my friends worked here in the early '90s.

Here's a quick shot of the Chips and Salsa that were given out to each table while ordering at the Ranch Enchilada. Pretty basic stuff here. The chips were fine, the salsa was pedestrian with very little in the way of flavor, but it did add some moisture, so I guess that's a plus.

Since the salsa was a little weak on flavor here, a Side of Guacamole ($3.95) definitely needed to be ordered. Unfortunately, this guacamole also suffered from the same calamity as the salsa, it was bland. It also needed to be mashed up a little better than it was when it came out to us. There were big chunks of avocado that were not incorporated into the rest of this pretty good sized portion.

Since we were up this way to watch my niece Kaylie cheer at the basketball game, we appreciated how quickly the food came out for all of us. It seemed like it was way less than ten minutes after ordering that we were digging in. My mom got this Beef Enchilada ($9.75) as her meal on this evening This was the perfect sized meal for my mom, as she ate all of her enchilada and almost all of the rice and beans on her plate. The beef enchilada was covered with Colorado sauce and plenty of melted cheese. I did not try any of this, but my mom seemed to like it plenty.

Katie had a threesome on this evening when she ordered this Pepe's Trio ($9.95). This consisted of three mini crispy tostada shells which were topped with melted cheese, pico de gallo, a scoop of guacamole, and fajita chicken. Red and green sauce was served on the side. She felt this was a pretty solid meal. The tostadas were a little messy to eat, but the chicken was moist and she was pleased with both the red and green sauces. She'd get this again.

When I was growing up, if we went to a Mexican restaurant I would always get a hamburger. Some of the worst burgers I have ever had, but I did not like Mexcian food before I was ten. I guess my niece Lillie inherited this quirk from me, or she just wanted to be different. Whatever the case, she had these Chicken Strips ($6.55) from the kid's side of the menu. The three pieces of chicken looked pretty boring from across the table, but they seemed to do the trick as she ate two out of three, which is a pretty good night for her. Maybe if they had some barbecue sauce to go along with these she might have finished them all. Sorry, that's an inside joke between me and her.

It's always a crap shoot as to what my dad will order, and on this evening he went with the unusual choice of the San Felipe Omlete ($13.95). This breakfast for dinner option featured a two egg omelet filled with crab, shrimp, tomatoes, mushrooms, and green onions.  It was then finished off with the red Colorado sauce and melted cheese. My dad really enjoyed this dish and would not hesitate to get it again. As is his usual, he did not offer me a bite of this. Very selfish.

Our little cheerleader Kaylie did not want something really heavy before she was going to be doing some flips, handstands and whatever else cheerleaders do, so she kept it very light with these Chicken Soft Tacos ($7.00). These soft tacos came simply dressed with lettuce, cheese, and chicken per Kaylie's request. She had no problem finishing these up, and they must have given her some luck as the basketball team won their game with a last-second basket. Way to go Aztecs.

An interesting plate for my sister Kristin on this evening. She had the menu item known as Guanajuato ($11.50). I'm not sure if that's the state in Mexico where the flauta was invented, but that's what the people at Ranch Enchilada call this plate. The flautas are rolled with chicken and fried, then have a green sauce poured on top of them with melted cheese.  My sister was pretty happy with this, and even more happy that they allowed her to have french fries with this instead of beans and rice. Are we even related?

I seem to remember really enjoying the Panchos Favorites ($11.95) when I used to come here decades ago. It's basically a wet chimichanga cut into pieces. This comes with refried beans inside and your choice of either beef or chicken, I went the beef route. It was pretty average. The Spanish sauce covering this lacked any kind of excitement, the beef was not very flavorful, and the highlight of this for me was the plentiful amount of cheese that they used on this. Maybe my food preferences have evolved a bit since the early '90s.

No dessert for us, as we were off to the basketball game, but these Cinamon Crisps came with our check. They were fine, but the sugar and cinnamon did not stay on the tortilla chips very long. Still, a nice touch getting these as a thank you for coming in.

Even though everyone else on this evening seemed to like their food, I was not so sure that the food at the Ranch Enchilada hasn't passed me by. I felt that my meal was very drab, and lacked any real pop of flavor. Everyone else's plates kind of looked boring to me as well. I'd term this very humdrum Mexican food. It's adequate, but nothing that I'd drive out of the way for. I don't even think my parents, who live just over three miles away, will come out of their way to return. The positives? I thought the prices were more than fair and the service we had on this evening was great. Our server, sorry I did not get his name was on top of our every need and kept things moving so we could get Kaylie to her basketball game way before tip-off. Even though the Ranch Enchilada failed to impress it was still a great night of family time.

Out of five headstones, (because the city of Yorba Linda is home to the second oldest private cemetery in OC, the Yorba Cemetery, which offers tours one day each month), five being best to zero being worst, the Ranch Enchilada gets 2.5 headstones.

The Ranch Enchilada does not have a website, but you can find more information about them on their Yelp page here: https://www.yelp.com/biz/ranch-enchilada-restaurant-yorba-linda

Far from Classic Chinese Fare

Classic Chinese Restaurant

23565 Moulton Parkway #C

Laguna Hills, CA 92653

There are few things in life that I look forward to more than the end of the holiday season. Yes, I know, bah humbug and all that. I used to like holidays, but that was before I got a job, paid my own way, and had to do a bunch of running around from one family function to another. Once the new year begins, it's like a big weight is lifted off of me.

One of the things I totally look forward to is getting back into my regular groove of venturing out to restaurants again, and this time we were taking my good friend David out for his birthday. He had just recently visited Classic Chinese in Laguna Hills and claims that they serve some really good food. We decided this is where we'd have his birthday dinner this year, and also celebrate another year of making it through the difficult holiday season.

Classic Chinese is situated on Moulton, in the same shopping plaza as the DMV, Polly's Pie's, Big Lots, and Kosher Bite Deli, which I definitely need to hit up soon to get my pastrami fix. Classic Chinese has been around for three and a half years now. They replaced Long River Restaurant, which was another restaurant that served Chinese food in this spot for a good many years.

We arrived at Classic Chinese at just before 6pm on a recent Thursday. This part of the shopping center was pretty quiet outside, but that was a stark contrast to the bustling energy inside this crowded restaurant. Even with a nearly full restaurant, we were seated right away near the back of the restaurant. The menu here is pretty overwhelming with 183 items listed, but thankfully they are separated by sections. All of your favorite Chinese-American dishes are present here, but there are some more exotic offerings for those of you that like to get a little more adventurous. Think squid, jellyfish head, duck jaw, and six varieties of porridge, which I did not even realize was a thing in Chinese restaurants. We stuck to pretty much the basics, so let's see how David's birthday dinner turned out for us.

I guess I did not get the memo when Katie and David agreed that we were going to get these Crispy Fried Wontons ($6.95) to start out with. These came six to an order and came filled with cream cheese. Both David and Katie assumed this when the order was placed, but it came as a jolt to me when I bit into one when it came out. I'm not a big fan of cream cheese, so I finished that one and let them have the rest. Some meat filled wontons or a better name for this on the menu would have made me happier.

Photo credit goes to the birthday boy for this picture of the Sizzling Filet Mignon ($15.95). He got the better shot because the steam coming from this flew right into my direction. This fajita inspired plate was the best beef dish I have ever had in a Chinese restaurant, hands down. It came out on an iron plate, filled with chopped onion, a couple of mushrooms, red and green bell pepper, and some melt in your mouth filet mignon. As other dishes came to our table, this is the one that I found myself coming back to over and over again. It did not have an overpowering sauce, so the beef and veggies were the stars of the show. A very good start to our meal.

This is when it had started to turn for us at Classic Chinese though. We had wanted the Shredded Pork in Garlic Sauce, but they brought out this BBQ Pork with Pan Fried Noodles ($11.95) instead. This was probably my least favorite entree of the evening. Too many veggies, pork that was very tough and resembled beef jerky, and the crispy noodles added an awkward feel to this plate. We should have asked for our original selection to be brought out instead.

This Chicken Pan Fried Noodle ($12.95) was better, but not by much. It was colorfully presented with plenty of red and green peppers, a better-fried noodle, and plenty of strips of the chicken running through it. The sauce was a little better here but did not wow any of us.

Rounding things out for us on this evening was some Chicken Fried Rice ($11,95). We had wanted to try the house special fried rice, but it has shrimp in it, and Katie does not handle shrimp too well, so we went with this version instead. It was one of the most boring fried rice dishes I have had. Very bland and after my initial scoop, I kept my distance.

I guess it's safe to say that David's birthday dinner was kind of a bust when it came to the food on this evening. With the exception of that awesome sizzling beef dish, the selections that we made failed to impress. Maybe if you stick with the traditional dishes like beef and broccoli, sweet and sour pork, or orange chicken you might have a better experience than we did on this evening. The wait staff was not very friendly. They seemed like they were just there to move things along and get people in an out of the place. No checking up on us, no drink refills until we asked for them, and no smiles from any of them. Even though this restaurant failed to live up to our expectations, I'm still excited that the holiday season is over and that we can get back into a regular routine again.

Out of five eye charts, (because this restaurant is situated in the same shopping center as the DMV, and eye charts are an important part of getting your drivers license), five being best to zero being worst, Classic Chinese Restaurant gets 2 eye charts.

Classic Chinese Restaurant does not have a website, but you can find plenty of information about them on their Yelp page here: https://www.yelp.com/biz/classic-chinese-restaurant-laguna-hills

Rollin' to Restaurant Mary for Some Chilaquiles

Restaurant Mary

1819 South Main St. 

Santa Ana, CA 92707

My boss must have made a mistake. For some unexplained reason, he gave me New Years Day off. This is a guy that is not really too fond of me for some reason. I know that seems crazy since I come across as so lovable writing this blog, but I definitely get that sense from him. Since he has arrived on the scene a year and a half ago, my schedule has changed from early mornings to a mid shift, and my beloved Sundays off have been replaced with a boring Wednesday off.

Okay, enough venting from me, you didn't come here for that, you came here for a restaurant review, and that's what I'm going to do for you. It was the morning of New Years Day, and after a night where I fell asleep by 9:30, I had awoken to a pang of hunger for one of my favorite breakfast dishes, Chilaquiles. I quickly checked my restaurant wishlist and found near the top was a place in Santa Ana, Restaurant Mary.

Restaurant Mary landed on my list due to the fact that the OC Weekly had written about them numerous times. The former Editor in Chief, Gustavo Arellano has called this one of the most underappreciated restaurants in OC, has praised their soups, and more importantly to me, included them on his best chilaquiles list. High praise from someone that definitely knows great Mexcian food.

We arrived at Restaurant Mary with our good friends and Santa Ana residents Angel and Rebekah for a late morning breakfast right around 11am. They have passed by here plenty of times but had never visited until now. If you blinked when you'd pass Restaurant Mary, you'd totally miss it. It's a very unassuming place, situated between Edinger and Warner on Main Street, with just a single sign above the door. It really blends into the neighborhood.

Once inside the door though, the vibrant orange walls, heavy wooden tables, the decorative hand painted chairs, and pictures and knickknacks adorning the walls bring a sense of home that you could probably expect from any one of the neighborhood houses that are within walking distance of Restaurant Mary.

The one-page breakfast menu includes all of your Mexican breakfast favorites, plus omelets and what I was here for chilaquiles. The regular menu has plenty to offer in the way of starters, burritos, tacos, sopes, tortas, quesadillas, seafood, and fajitas. One thing on this menu that I had never seen before was the option of having morning dove or cornish hen as one of the meat options for your enchiladas. Maybe next time I'd try that, but for me on this first day of the new year, I already knew what I'd be having. Let's see how everyone's first meal of the year turned out.

As we were waiting for Angel and his much better half Rebekah to arrive, this Chips and Salsa was sat in front of us as we perused the menu. The chips were pretty standard, and I liked both salsas, but neither was very spicy. They basically kept me busy until our food arrived.

This picture of the Queso Fundido Con Chorizo ($7.99) does not do it justice. It looks a little boring as all the chorizo was layered on the bottom of the thick and stingy cheese. I should have taken the picture after I had mixed it up a bit. This ended up being a very solid version of one of my favorite appetizers to try in a Mexican restaurant. The menu says that the chorizo here is homemade, and it did taste great. The cheese was nice and stringy and the flour tortillas were very sturdy and a great vessel for this fundido. A must try.

True to form, Katie always has to order a Side of Guacamole ($4.99) when it's available. She liked this a lot more than I did. The fresh avocados were overrun by too much cilantro and tomato. I also like the avocado to be a little creamier, as this version was more on the chunky side. Not a bad price for such a large side though.

The last of our appetizers before our entrees came out was this selection by Angel. He wanted to give their Frijoles Puercos ($8.99) a spin. The menu was very secretive about this, as they listed it as a bean dip with special house ingredients. Hmmm, I'm guessing that since puercos was in the name, it might have had either bacon or chorizo in this. Whatever was in this dip was very rich and satisfying. I found myself dipping tortilla chips in this over and over throughout our time at Restaurant Mary.

Katie almost always gets a Breakfast Burrito ($8.99) when we go out for the first meal of the day. At Restaurant Mary they offer it with either ham or bacon, and she went with the latter. The burrito also included scrambled egg, rice, potatoes, and cheese. She admitted she made an error when ordering this by not adding some refried beans or avocado to make this a little less dry. She did add plenty of salsa to help as a solution. She loved the way everything was cooked in here, the light rice, the bacon was crisp, and the eggs were nicely seasoned, She'd still probably get the huevos rancheros next time she comes here though.

Here's the plate that got us to drive twenty miles, the Chilaquiles. You can get either red or green sauce, as you will see below. I went with the Red Chilaquiles with Carnitas ($11.99). This was an excellent plate of chilaquiles. The chips were nice and crisp, with plenty of sour cream and cotija cheese. The red sauce was pretty mild, which kind of held this back from being my number one spot for chilaquiles. The carnitas were nice and tender with some nicely crisped ends. Just the way I like them. The rice was some of the lightest I have had, but the beans are where it's at. There's nothing like fresh refried beans. So good.

When Rebekah's plate was placed in front of her, all of us let out an audible gasp. This Chilaquiles Con Asada ($9.99) was one big plate of food. More like a platter really. Rebekah made the wise decision to get the green chilaquiles and they were better than the red ones I had. There was a depth of flavor to the green that the other just didn't have. I also enjoyed the slight tinge of spice that was at the tail end of each bite. I did not get a chance to try her Asada, but it kind of looked overcooked to me. No complaints from Rebekah though, so maybe it was alright.

Angel finished out our late morning meal at Restaurant Mary with his selection, Chorizo and Eggs ($7.99). He was pretty pleased with this simple meal. The eggs were done well and he really enjoyed the chorizo. He asked for double beans instead of rice because he's high maintenance like that. So demanding, I don't know how Rebekah puts up with him.

Restaurant Mary was an excellent choice for our first meal of 2019. This little unassuming gem felt like you were eating in someone's house. The food was crafted well with a pinch of love thrown in. It's up there with some of the best Mexican I've had in Santa Ana, but I think that crown still belongs to El Pico De Gallo, but Restaurant Mary was close. Service was very warm and friendly, and our food came out quickly. A very nice start to our culinary year and I look forward to crossing off more restaurants from my list in 2019.

Out of five gavels, (because the city of Santa Ana is home to the largest courthouse in OC, and their judges probably go through plenty of gavels), five being best to zero being worst, Restaurant Mary gets 3.5 gavels.

Restaurant Mary does not have a website, but you can find out more information about them on their Yelp page, which you can access here: https://www.yelp.com/biz/mary-restaurant-santa-ana

Finally a Trip to Din Tai Fung

Din Tai Fung

3333 Bristol Street #2071

Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Okay, get ready to judge me. This was the first time I had ever visited Din Tai Fung. On Yelp it is the eighth most reviewed restaurant in Orange County. Wait times have been documented of three hours or more, and almost everyone that eats here really enjoys it. It's one of those restaurants that has just languished on my restaurant wishlist forever because let's be real here, it's not the most convenient of restaurants to eat at. There's way too much waiting involved, especially when we ate here a week before Christmas.

Well, the time was finally at hand that I would be trying the famous Din Tai Fung, thanks to an assist from my aunt and uncle. My aunt works at South Coast Plaza and it's a tradition that my uncle and cousin visit her at work every year during the holidays. I had mentioned numerous times that I had wanted to eat at this world famous dumpling and noodle restaurant, so as they got to this busy mall, they put our name on the two-hour waitlist as I finished off my work day and drove up to Costa Mesa to have a much-needed catch up with my extended family, and finally try what so many people rave about.

Din Tai Fung is a Taiwanese restaurant that has won a legion of fans for their Shanghai style dumplings and noodles. Originally started as a cooking oil company in 1958, they rebranded in 1972 as a restaurant and the rest is history. They now run outposts in many Asian countries, Australia, and at 13 spots dotting the Western US. This Costa Mesa location is their only OC establishment.

High praise for Din Tai Fung is well documented. In 1993 the New York Times rated them as one of the top ten gourmet restaurants to visit in the world. They rose to further prominence when their Hong Kong branch received a Michelin star in 2010, the highest honor a restaurant can receive. Our own OC Register restaurant reviewer, Brad Johnson has had Din Tai Fung on his annual top 75 restaurant list multiple times since they opened for business in OC in 2014. The pedigree was definitely there, and I had a sense I was going to be in for quite the treat on this evening.

The timing of Katie and I arriving at South Coast Plaza on this evening could not have been more perfect, thanks to my aunt and uncle. Because they had put us on the list two hours earlier, we got here just as we were being seated. The restaurant was packed, with plenty of hungry guests milling around the hostess stand, the waiting area, and in front of the restaurants. It was organized chaos though. There definitely seemed to be an order to this madness.

As we were walking through the dining room to our table, every employee we passed by welcomed us and seemed genuinely happy that we were there. Thanks to a recent expansion, Din Tai Fung now can host 250 guests in their sleek looking dining room, and they seem to do so with ease. The dining area also features a glassed-in area of their kitchen where the masked kitchen staff is filling, folding, and weighing dumplings with incredible accuracy and speed.

The menu features appetizers, soups, noodles, fried rice, a few veggie dishes, and of course steamed dumplings and buns. I was taken a little by surprise that the prices here were pretty reasonable, or at least more reasonable than I was expecting. Most items listed hover right around the $10 to $15 mark, with only the truffle and pork dumpling listed at $23 for five of them. I let my aunt lead us as to what we should try, and this is what she came up with for this long-awaited dinner.

First up, was this beautifully presented Cucumber Salad ($5.25). This is the first thing listed on their menu, and as not the biggest cucumber fan out there, I actually enjoyed this. Not really what I'd consider a salad, but sliced cucumbers are dressed in sesame oil and rice vinegar. Each cucumber slice was nice and crunchy and the sauce provided a flavor boost from the drabness that usually comes with cucumbers. Refreshing and it went well with the other items we had coming our way.

The first of our entrees to hit the table were these Shanghai Rice Cakes with Chicken ($11). For novices of Taiwanese cuisine, like me, this was a great easy introduction to the food, which was not that far from the Chinese food I grew up with. The rice cakes tasted like gnocchi to me, with a pleasingly chewy texture to them. This dish was not as heavy as the Americanized Chinese food that I grew up with. They used a light-flavored sauce instead of the heavy, sugary sauces that I was used to.  The chicken could have been more prominent if it was in bigger chunks, but this allowed the rice cakes to be the star of the show.

The plates started coming out rather quickly now. This Noodles with Kurobuta Pork Sauce ($10) kind of got pushed to the side by our party of seven, but I found myself always coming back for it. The noodles were some of the freshest I have ever had, and minced pork is never a bad thing. A little more sauce on this might have made this one of my favorite dishes of the evening.

Pork Chop Fried Rice ($13) was not exactly what I was expecting when we ordered it. I always just assume that the rice and pork would have been incorporated with each other, but the way it was plated it was more like a main course and a side. The fried rice was nice and light, without the greasiness I expected. The pork chop was nicely breaded with a touch of garlic and very tender on the inside. A really comforting dish.

I'm definitely no fan of green beans, but it's easy to see why these Sauteed String Beans with Garlic ($10.75) get so much love online. Each bean had a nice crunch to it and the garlic and salt boosted the flavor of the usually humdrum string bean. Way better than the awful green beans out of the can that we had when I was growing up. 

The menu states that these Sweet and Sour Sticky Baby Back Ribs ($8.25) are a new menu item. Originally tested in the Seattle branch, they have now made the menu at this location. Not surprising, since they were pretty solid. I'd describe these as small but mighty. They were definitely on the smaller side but had plenty of meat on them based on their size. The sauce covering these was more on the sweet side, but with hints of sour poking through in short bursts. 

Now for the main event, the item that brings most people through the door, the famous Din Tai Fung dumplings. We tried both the Kurobata Pork Dumplings ($11.50)  and the Chicken Dumplings ($11.25). I had a fear that these were going to be real rubbery, but the skin was lighter than I was expecting. It took a while before I got the hang of eating them, you have to dress them the way that you like, place them on your spoon, puncture the dumpling, slurp the soup out first, and then eat them. They were good but did not blow me away with how awesome they were.

A kind of variation of the dumplings above were these Vegetable and Pork Wontons with a Spicy Sauce ($10.75). These had a slightly thicker skin, but not obtrusively so. They were filled with plenty in the way of veggies, but not enough pork for my taste. These were better than the dumplings to me because they came in a very good sauce, which was not really spicy but did add flavor. I'd get these sans veggies next time for sure.

One last thing before we'd throw in the towel for the evening. These Chicken Fried Noodles ($11) would be our last hurrah at Din Tai Fung. I liked this dish but it was a little too similar to the rice cakes and chicken that we had earlier. The noodles were fresh with a good chew to them, but there was not enough chicken on this for me.

I'm very happy to have eaten at Din Tai Fung finally. I'm by no means a Taiwanese food expert, (this is my first Taiwanese spot), and I'm sure there are better dumpling and noodle places out there, but I can definitely see why there is a hype surrounding this restaurant. It's not churned out Chinese food that I grew up with. This is fresh and lighter than that, and you get the sense that they take great care in picking their ingredients and preparing them in an exact way so that all of their restaurants have the same consistency. Now that I've got the lay of the land here, I'd for sure like to explore more Taiwanese restaurants and more of the menu here at Din Tai Fung. The service on this evening was polished and very professional. I was pretty impressed with how in control the restaurant was for it being as busy as it always seems to be. A great nod to all of the employees and management at this branch of this famous restaurant. Now if they could just add another location in OC to help alleviate the wait for a table here.

Out of five garbage trucks, (because I recently learned that garbage trucks in Taiwan play music to let people know it's time to bring their trash to the truck), five being best to zero being worst, Din Tai Fung gets 3.5 garbage trucks.

For more information about Din Tai Fung, head to their well-designed website here: https://dintaifungusa.com/

Our Quest for Good Carnitas Brings Us to Q Tortas

Q Tortas

220 South Bradford

Placentia, CA 92870

People are not too keen on going to the dentist. I get it. It's uncomfortable having somebody poking around in there, leaning back in the chair, and heaven forbid the guy has to break out the needle or pull out some teeth. Yikes. I've been lucky up until this point, knock on wood, I haven't had any big teeth issues. That's probably why I'm always pretty happy to head to my dentist twice every year. Another reason I'm not bothered about going to the dentist is that I usually treat myself to a meal directly after my appointment. This time I headed to Q Tortas in Placentia.

Okay, I did not head directly there, because Old Town Placentia was preparing for the 24th annual Tamale Festival and several of the streets around Q Tortas were closed. I worked my way around the street closures, found a place to park about three blocks away, and made a brisk beeline for Q Tortas.

If you are unfamiliar with this part of town, Q Tortas is situated just south of  Chapman and Bradford Avenues, in what I like to think is one of the best Mexcian food corridors in all of OC. All in one square block resides El Farolito, El Cantarito, and Tlaquepaque. Some of the most prolific Mexican restaurants I have been to. Talk about a hard decision for dinner when you are in Old Town Placentia. I was hoping that my first visit to Q Tortas would rank right up there with these Mexican restaurant heavyweights.

Q Tortas has been around forever. I could not find out precisely how long, but most of the accounts I have found online say they are right around 30 to 35 years of being a family-owned business. The previous owner of the building had been Q Burgers, and instead of changing everything, they kept the Q part of the name and added tortas to it.

There's not much in the way of atmosphere here. The building and booths are definitely dated, I hear the drive-thru speaker doesn't work, the menu board is more reminiscent of an NCAA basketball tournament sheet you'd fill out for March Madness, with its brackets pointing to grouped menu items that are the same prices, and ordering is not done at the walk-up windows facing the street, but just inside the doorway.

The menu is what you'd expect to find at a lot of other places. Tacos, burritos, tostadas, combo meals, and even burgers are offered here. Nothing on the menu breaks the $8 barrier, with most items going for about $3. Definitely one of the most affordable spots I have been to in a while. I ordered a few things to go but took my pictures real quick before making my way back down the 5 Freeway to eat my selections at home.

When torta is in the name of the restaurant, I felt it might be a good idea to give one a try. They offer six varieties, and I picked the one that I found to be the most exotic, the Adovada Torta ($4.95). I learned online that adovada, also known as adobada is cubed pork marinated in a red chili sauce that also uses vinegar and other herbs. This torta then had onions and plenty of cilantro added to it. The telera roll used here was nice and crunchy due to a slight grilling it received. I expected the pork to be in little bigger pieces and a little more tender than it actually was. The adovada sauce was very good, with a tinge of spice, but nothing that made this anything more than mildly spicy. I ate only half of this and had the rest the next day, and maybe because it had even more time to marinate, it tasted better the day after.

Since the sign out in front of Q Tortas shows a man in a chefs hat shoving a pig into a big pot, it's a big hint that carnitas rule here. Numerous reviews on Yelp state that these are the best carnitas in town, which is a big statement to make with El Farolito situated mere steps away. So, a Carnitas Combination Plate ($7.50) was a natural choice for me. They forgot my flour tortillas, which is fine since I did not really plan on using them anyways.  The carnitas were fine, but not better than the ones at El Farloito. A few pieces were on the dry side and I missed the crispy tips that you get at other places when you order carnitas. They could have been a little more flavorful as well. The rice was okay, but the refried beans were delicious, rich and flavorful. Double beans for sure next time.

Even though I was not overwhelmed with the food that I had on this visit to Q Tortas, I'd definitely come back if I didn't have time for a sit-down meal at El Farolito or El Cantarito, and just wanted to grab some food to go. Their hard-shelled tacos look delicious and I'd probably get a different torta on my next trip, along with an extra side of refried beans to add to it. Service was fine on this early afternoon, as the lady took my order and the food was out within five minutes. I'm already looking forward to my next dental visit, but more importantly, where I'll be eating right after it.

Out of five martinis, (because the most famous "Q"  I could think of is from the James Bond movies, and 007's favorite cocktail is a martini, shaken not stirred), five being best to zero being worst, Q Tortas gets 3 martinis.

Q Tortas does not have a website, but you can see pictures of their food and find out more information on their Yelp page by clicking here: https://www.yelp.com/biz/q-tortas-placentia

Getting Away from It All at EATS Kitchen and Bar - CLOSED

EATS Kitchen and Bar

Hotel Irvine

17900 Jamboree Road

Irvine, CA 92614

I always feel bad for chefs at restaurants inside hotels. They often get overlooked by locals. The general public considers hotel food safe and not worth stopping for. In the nearly ten years of doing this blog, we have experienced some pretty good hotel meals. Dinners at the Hotel Fullerton, The Silver Trumpet at the Wyndham in Costa Mesa, and Splashes at the iconic Surf and Sand in picturesque Laguna definitely make the list as some of the best. You can add another to that list, EATS Kitchen and Bar at the Irvine Hotel.

I had not been to the Hotel Irvine in a long while, and pulling up to this vibrant property, I could sense that this was a different kind of hotel from when I had been here when Hyatt managed this. There was a liveliness that you just don't get at other hotels. The eye-popping orange hues dominating the lobby, lounges, and other common areas are very welcoming. The layout and color scheme seem to encourage guests to leave their comfy rooms and mingle among other guests and be part of the many activities the Hotel Irvine offers.

We arrived at EATS on a rainy Wednesday night before 7pm and were met with a pretty raucous scene at the bar in front of EATS. It seems the Hotel Irvine was hosting a corporate event for an IT company, and their employees had just been released from their meetings before we got here and had made a beeline for the bar. I was impressed with the speed of the bartenders and service staff as they hustled to provide much-needed libations to their guests after what I'm sure was a long day of meetings.

We were greeted warmly at the hostess stand and shown to our table. The dining room was quieter than the bar area, which was ideal for this date night with Katie. I was happy to see the upbeat decor that we experienced as we walked into the Hotel Irvine extended to the dining room. Comfy tables and chairs were nicely spaced, and wood flooring and citrus-colored accents immediately put us in a relaxed vacation mode after our rain-soaked drive up the 405 Freeway.

The man in the kitchen at EATS Kitchen and Bar is Executive Chef Jeff Moore, who is closing in on his second anniversary at EATS this month. Chef Jeff had previously worked at Hopscotch in Fullerton and The Loft at the Montage in Laguna Beach and was employed by the ever-expanding Lounge Group, which has numerous properties in and around Newport Beach, such as Dory Deli, Stag Bar, Country Club, and Playa Mesa, to name a few.

Chef Jeff's menu at EATS is self-described as modern California cooking, which is a fair description for this compact but crowd-pleasing selection of offerings. Even though the menu is limited to seven entrees, two burgers, three salads, a couple of pizzas, and seven starters, anyone coming here for a bite could easily find something to pique their culinary cravings. As we were sitting at the table with menus in hand, I found myself having a significant debate inside my head as to what I would try. Let's see how all this inner conflict worked out for me.

No debate that I needed a cocktail after Katie's harrowing driving in the rain this evening, and I zeroed right in on this Blackberry Mule ($12). This fruity but not overly sweet beverage was precisely what I needed to help calm my nerves and prepare me for the ride back home with Katie. This was a more flavorful take on a Moscow mule, with its blackberry-infused vodka, ginger, and a kiss of lemon to cut the sweetness. It was very refreshing and mellowing. It is easy to envision myself sipping on one of these by the firepit on the EATS patio when it gets much warmer outside.

Frequent readers of this blog know that I'm not fond of hard-boiled eggs, but these Freid Deviled Eggs ($9) are the exception to my rule now. The fact that they are breaded and fried has helped with the textural element that has blocked me from enjoying regular deviled eggs. These also came with Italian chorizo and manchego cheese, which helped me overcome my deviled egg phobia.

Truffle Mac and Cheese ($12) can be hit-and-miss in restaurants. It's usually a balancing act for chefs to get just the right amount of truffle oil so it is manageable while keeping this comfort food staple from becoming dull. Chef Jeff achieved this rare balance with his version. It was both mellow and rich at the same time. Yes, it could have used more cheese blend, but I liked the textural element that the parmesan bread crumbs added. It was just what we needed on this rainy evening.

Katie rolled the comfort food train with her entree selection, the Garganelli Bolognese ($18). The garganelli pasta was perfectly cooked and topped with a very well-done ragu made of beef and veal, which was finished with a dollop of ricotta cheese. This plate of pasta also had the added surprise of a thick cut of pork belly, which added a fantastic smokiness to the dish. Katie had planned to eat only half of this and take the rest of lunch the next day, but she could not control herself and ate every last bite before she knew it.

My inner dilemma when deciding what to get when perusing the menu at EATS was between my love of a good burger and the satisfaction of savoring a well-crafted steak. As you can see from above, the Cast Iron New York Steak ($34) won out. The steak was tender and seasoned well, but what made this for me was the unusual chili bearnaise sauce that came with it. It added an excellent component to the beef, but I wished it covered the entire steak. I should have asked for more. The meal was rounded out by some red potatoes and some excellent spinach, with some kind of spice added to it, making it pop.

A sweet ending to our evening at EATS would end with two of their three selections from the dessert menu. Katie has always been fond of bread pudding ($6), and this seasonal version of our visit was coconut orange with a blueberry compote. It sounded odd when I first thought about the combination of flavors with this. It worked, but the flavor of my bites was coconut, which brought to mind the old Mother's Cookies macaroons of my childhood. The blueberry compote was used sparingly, which was fine with me because it allowed the fresh whipped cream and ice cream to showcase the coconut.

I'm always drawn to cookies and had to select the Warm Chocolate Chip Cookie ($6) as my dessert to cap off this evening. This was different from the skillet cookie I was expecting. Still, a thick and perfectly textured chocolate chip cookie topped with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream, salted cookie crumbs, and house-made marshmallows scattered about and then finished off with a hot fudge drizzle. I liked the slight crunch of the outer edge of the cookie and the softer inside. The salt helped cut the sweetness, and there was plenty in the way of ice cream. I'm not a fan of marshmallows, so they got ignored.

Both Katie and I really enjoyed our time at EATS Kitchen and Bar. As I wrote earlier, it's easy for locals to overlook hotel restaurants, but this is one that you should keep in mind. Chef Jeff has got a crowd-pleasing menu, and the execution of the food he prepares is on point. Much like the atmosphere when we walked in the Hotel Irvine, there's always something happening here, whether it's $3 tacos and $5 margaritas on Tuesdays, all-you-can-eat mussels on Wednesdays, specially priced tapas on Fridays, or the over-the-top brunch on weekends, which also features build your own mimosas and bloody marys. When locals visit, you get that pleasant little tinge of being on vacation, which is one of the best feelings in the world. This was just the date night we needed to recharge our batteries for the rest of the week.

The meal in this post was generously provided by EATS Kitchen and Bar, but the opinions expressed here are solely my own. I would like to thank everyone we encountered at EATS for a great experience, including our very personable server, Jacquelyn, who took great care of us during our stay and was always more than ready to answer our questions.

For more information about EATS Kitchen and Bar, head to their website here: http://www.eatskitchen.com/#home