Grape Night at Tannins?

Tannins Wine Bar and Lounge

27211 Ortega Highway, Unit C

San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675

Tannins has never really been on my radar. I had bought a Groupon, and had almost forgotten to use it. I got the email telling me my deal was about to expire, and I did not want to waste the money, so I told Katie we had to get down there. She agreed readily, and like the swallows, we were returning to Capistrano.

Tannins is located on the opposite side of the freeway from the mission in San Juan. The menu is straight forward Italian. The vibe here is comfortable, without being too much like a dive. We arrived at seven on a Wednesday night. The restaurant was busy and loud. Let's hope all of these people were here for the great food.

First stop on our food tour of Tannins is the bread basket that was presented to our table. I always like when they serve more than one kind of bread in a basket, as was the case here. They gave us a plain Italian bread, which was accompanied by some sort of olive spread. I am not much into olives, but the spread had a subtle olive flavor and it was very creamy. They also supplied us with a garlic/cheese bread which was very flavorful. If the bread on this one would have been a little more fresher, this would have been a home run, but we will rule it a stand up double. Not bad for a bread basket.

Katie spotted the Tannins Salad on the menu and immediately gravitated towards it. This salad combined mixed greens with tomatoes, garbanzo beans, capers, green onions, and avocado, all with a poppy seed dressing. She felt the capers and avocado added a different texture to the salad, and she was pretty happy with the poppy seed dressing.

Like Katie almost always trying a shrimp dish, I almost always go with a Caesar Salad, and that was the case here. This is your basic Caesar, but the part of this salad that stood out for me was the coarsely chopped Parmesan cheese served with this. It was grated thicker than usual, and that was a good thing. This had just the right amount of dressing for my taste, but the salad could have been served a little colder.

Of course, after I call out Katie for always getting shrimp, she throws us a curve ball and gets the Lobster Ravioli. Katie called this dish, "fresh and delicious". She felt there was abundant lobster here, without being too over powering. The ravioli I had was pretty good, the pasta was cooked well. Katie also praised the spinach that was served as a side item with this.

I veered from my norm as well, when I had the Veal Marsala. The veal was served in a Marsala wine sauce, with mushrooms, and topped with basil. I felt this $18 dish should have been a little bit bigger. Also the veal was not as tender as I think it should have been. Unfortunately, the sauce and veggies out shined the veal here.

Katie and I split two desserts at Tannins. My choice was the Carrot Cake. This cake had a very good icing, but the cake portion of this was more on the dry side. Katie chose the Cannoli. We both agreed that this was not the best cannoli we had ever had. The chocolate sauce was good over this, but the outer shell of the cannoli was very tough, and the inside was not much better.

Tannins was an okay choice for dinner. I don't think we would seek this place out, but if they offered another Groupon I might consider getting one. The service the night we were here was spotty at best. Our waitress was very slow, not just with our table, but with others as well. Drink refills were pretty close to non-existent. The food was okay, not great. The meal peaked with the bread basket and salads, and went down from there.

Out of five wineries, (not only because tannins are found in wine, but also because the first winery in California was in San Juan Capistrano), five being best to zero being worst, Tannins gets 2.5 wineries.

For more information on Tannins, click here: http://tanninsrestaurant.com/index.html

Can Philly's Best Overtake John's?

Philly's Best

30461 Avenida De Las Flores

Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688

About two months ago we reviewed John's Philly Grille. You can read that review here. Not wanting to ruin it for you, but we really liked John's. It was the first cheese steak we had reviewed, and it might be the best one that our county has to offer. In the comment section, one of our readers, MikeHu, had asked about Philly's Best. He wanted to know our take on Philly's Best and how it compared to John's. Since this involved me eating another cheese steak, I was more than happy to oblige him.

Philly's Best is a southern California based chain, which has 22 units, and half of those are in OC. They not only specialize in cheese steaks and hoagies, they also sell other Philadelphia food staples, like Wise Chips,  Tastykakes, and Frank's Soda. I am not here for any of this, I am here to see if Philly's Best can take down John's Philly Grill. Let's see how it all turns out.

Of course I am going to tease you a little before we get to the cheese steaks. Katie was not in the mood for the famous Philadelphia sandwich, so she went with the Philly Turkey Breast Hoagie. The hoagies, as well as the cheese steaks are made on Amoroso rolls. Amoroso rolls are as authentic to Philadelphia, as the Liberty Bell itself. They also use Boar's Head meats here. Katie really liked her sandwich, but felt there was way too much mayonnaise on this. The bite I had was good, but even I felt the mayo really was over done here.

Now on to to the cheese steaks. First, this cheese steak hybrid, the Philly's Best Chicken. This chicken cheese steak, which would probably be frowned upon in the city of brotherly love, had mushrooms and sweet peppers added to it. Sara could not finish this sandwich, so I gallantly stepped in. The sandwich was good, but lacked the bite because of the classic cheese steak. If you are not a big beef eater, this might be the sandwich for you.

Now, the reason we are all here, the Philly's Best Cheese Steak.  The first thing I noticed, when compared to John's was the core temperature of the sandwich. At John's the sandwich contents were molten hot. Here, the sandwich was more on the warm side, so it was easy to dive right in without any chance of burning your mouth. The meat was good and the bun held up, but this sandwich lost me because there was no burst of flavor. The sweet peppers and mushrooms added nothing here, and the cheese was barely noticeable. All of this combined to make this an average cheese steak. An average cheese steak is still better than most of the sandwiches out there though.

Philly's Best is no John's Philly Grille. Philly's Best does serve its purpose though. If you are nowhere close to Huntington Beach, and want a cheese steak, chances are there is a Philly's Best close to you, and this place will probably quench your cheese steak craving. The store was clean and the service was good when we were here. The prices are what you would expect for a sandwich shop. Just under $10 will get you a large cheese steak. We are still looking for someone to dethrone John's Philly Grille, so if you know of a place, please let us know.

Out of five boxing gloves, (in homage to the Rocky movies set in Philadelphia), five being best to zero being worst, Philly's Best gets 2.5 boxing gloves.

For more information on Philly's Best, click here: http://www.eatphillysbest.com/

The Secret Is Out About Burger Parlor - CLOSED

Burger Parlor 

108 W. Wilshire Ave.

Fullerton, CA 92832

When I heard of Burger Parlor, I knew I had to go. When I read the reviews from other blogs, Burger Parlor immediately moved up my restaurant wish list. If you have ever read my blog before, you know that I love hamburgers. They are such a diverse yet simple food. Our county has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to great burgers here. I was just hoping that Burger Parlor could live up to the hype I had built up in my mind.

Burger Parlor comes to us from Joesph Mahon, a classically trained chef. From La Habra, he left to learn his craft, but now he is back in OC, building burgers four nights a week. Oh yeah, did I mention that Burger Parlor is a pop-up restaurant? They share space with Rialto Cafe Wednesday through Saturday nights. The pop-up aspect of Burger Parlor added to my excitement. It was like a secret spot, even though it had already been written up in numerous places. Enough chit-chat, though; let's take a look at the food.

Before our dining partners arrived, we ordered the Snack Shack to start us off. This is not your standard chili cheese fries. At Burger Parlor, they serve Belgian fries with a short rib chili and a cheese sauce. I am not usually one to like cheese sauces, but this one was very smooth and not crazy cheesy. The potatoes were different from what I had expected, too. They came cut larger than I would have liked, but it worked here. They were cooked all the way through and were a great compliment to the chili. My one complaint about this would be that I would have liked more chili served with this. Otherwise, it was a delicious starter.

I will start the burger portion of our show with my choice for the evening, the Mahon Burger. This burger features pastrami, Swiss cheese, caramelized onions, pickles, and a mustard sauce. Once again, this burger was different from what I had expected, but it was terrific. The pastrami was not sliced. It was cubed. This allowed for more pronounced bites of the meat. The burger was very juicy, and the cheese was good as well. The mustard did get lost here, but that can usually be a good thing because mustard tends to overpower foods. I would definitely get this burger again, but first, I have others that I need to try on future visits.

Some people like putting potato chips on their sandwiches; that is what Katie's burger reminded me of. The Chip Shot combines fontina cheese, chipotle aioli, mushrooms, and tomato confit, with potato chips added to the top. Katie felt the burger tasted fresh, but she would have liked a more robust cheese. The fontina was too mellow for her, so all she could taste was beef and potato chips. She did mention that the bun was incredible. Mahon worked with a small bakery to perfect his bun recipe, and the buns really stood out from the items inside the burgers.

The health nut of our group, Heather, ordered the OC Burger. This one featured a turkey patty with sprouts, avocado, carrots, provolone, and an herb sauce. I usually stay away from turkey burgers, but the bite I had might change my mind about the holiday fowl being used in a burger. The patty was very moist, and the condiments used here were fresh. They melded together nicely. She also had some fries, which were sliced thicker than I would have liked, but they were crisp and cooked all the way through, so they turned out to be all right. Heather was pretty happy with her choice.

Trevor had one of the more unusual burger offerings at Burger Parlor, the Lasorda Burger. With a name like that, you would expect it to be a bloated burger featuring blue cheese (Get it? Because the Dodgers wear blue, and because he is a big guy!). This burger came with a sausage patty, a fried mozzarella patty, oregano, and roasted peppers. Trevor enjoyed this burger but was not overly impressed. He felt that the fried cheese here was a little over the top. He would opt for a more traditional burger the next time he was here.

We also ordered Beer-Battered Onion Rings. These had a great outer coating that overshadowed the onion inside, but that is easy to do with onion rings. They came out scalding hot. We ordered feta sauce to go along with them, which went very nicely with them.

Burger Parlor was all it was advertised to be. The burgers were fresh, and the combinations worked well. The menu is small compared to other burger spots, but you will find a burger you like. They offer ten different burgers, three sides items, and three salads. Next time, we will have to save room for desserts. The Ice Cream Sandwich and Banana Bread Pudding really caught our eye.

The prices were a little on the high side, but these are gourmet burgers, and it is okay to splurge occasionally. They run in the $8 to $11 range, and with fries and a drink, it will run you about $16. A little higher than that combo meal at Carl's Jr., but way more satisfying. This place really reminded me of Umami Burger. Smaller burgers that really hit the spot. We were glad to be part of the, "in crowd", on this particular night.

Out of five glasses of Hawaiian Punch (because it is a little-known fact that Hawaiian Punch was invented in a converted garage in Fullerton), five being best to zero being worst, Burger Parlor gets a solid 3.5 glasses of Hawaiian Punch.

For more information on Burger Parlor, click here: http://www.burgerparlor.com/

Keeping Cool at La Sirena Grill

La Sirena Grill

30862 Coast Highway

Laguna Beach, CA 92651

This has been one of the hottest weeks of the summer by far. So I have been looking for any reason to escape the heat and head to the coast for a few hours. I was reading restaurant reviews in Laguna and came across a place I had never heard of, but a joint that has gotten its fair share of positive reviews. So as soon as Katie got off of work, we made a bee line for the cooler temperatures of the beach and decided to try La Sirena Grill.

La Sirena Grill is a mini chain of Mexican restaurants. They have three locations in Orange County and one in El Segundo. Established in 1999, they are a restaurant that prides itself by serving local, sustainable, and organic products. The meat here comes from animals that are fed all vegetarian diets, without the use of hormones. They also use earth friendly, biodegradable to go containers. I hope they can do all of this and still have the food come out good. Let's take a look at it now.

To start us off we could not resist the Guacamole and Tortilla Chips. The chips were average, but the guacamole was some of the best we have had in awhile. Very chunky, seasoned well, and obviously fresh, we would get this next time we were here for sure.

My meal started off with a Blackened Ahi Taco. The fish here was very good, and spiced well. I definitely liked the flavor of the taco. You can not tell from the picture, but there was plenty of fish in this taco. I added their spicy salsa to this for an added kick, and it really popped with flavor. Usually when a salsa says that it is hot, it is really medium, but this one definitely got my attention. The handmade tortilla stood up to insides of the taco as well.

Of course one taco is not going to satisfy me, so I also opted to try the Carnitas Burrito. This burrito was filled with cabbage, jack cheese, guacamole, beans and rice. The hot salsa saved the day here for this burrito. The carnitas were a little on the dry side when I ate a piece on its own. The flavor of the burrito did not pop until I added the hot salsa to it. The burrito was big, and definitely filled me up.

Katie deviated from her usual order of shrimp fajitas, to try a completely different item, the Blackened Ahi Fajita Plate. Okay, maybe it is not so different after all. The Ahi Fajitas came with herb marinated peppers, onions, pico de gallo, and a grilled pasilla chile stuffed with herb cheese. Katie liked this unusual fajita plate. She felt the fish was cooked well and was very tender. The pepper with the cheese really added a pop that she was not expecting. She claims that she would definitely get this again.

Just for good measure, and because it is very hard for me to resist cookies, I also got two cookies. These are brought in from a local bakery, and they were very good cookies. The first cookie had raisins, chocolate chips, and oatmeal. The second cookie was just as good. It was an oatmeal cookie with butterscotch chips. Both cookies were very earthy, and really hit the spot.

If I were asked how to describe La Sirena Grill, I would say it was a cross between Taco Mesa and Wahoo's. The service at the counter was very good, and they were really efficient in bringing out our food. The prices were a little on the high side. Tacos were close to $4, and enchiladas were near the $10 mark. Nothing on their menu was over $13 however. La Sirena really did the job this night. Being at the beach really cooled us down, and the food was pretty good as well.

So out of five mermaids, (because sirena is Spanish for mermaid), five being best to zero being worst, La Sirena Grill gets 3 mermaids.

For more information on La Sirena Grill, click here: http://www.lasirenagrill.com/

Lebanese Food Night in the IE!

Alina's Lebanese Cuisine

2250 S. Archibald

Ontario, CA 91761

If Katie does not know how I feel about her after this, she never will. She managed to get me to agree to go with her to a work event, on my day off. That is no big deal, because I actually like the people that she works with. The big deal was that this event was all the way out in Rancho Cucamonga, in August, during a heat wave in the Inland Empire. It must be true love.

True love, or maybe it was the fact that she agreed to take me to one of her favorite restaurants in Ontario, Alina's. She might have learned my secret. Just bribe me with food, and I will do pretty much anything, even go out to Rancho Cucamonga. So we grabbed two of Katie's friends, Julie and Laura, and headed to their favorite lunch spot, Alina's.

Alina's is located in a small shopping center, in an industrial area. We arrived at about six on a Thursday night, and there was a steady stream of people picking up orders and eating in the ten table restaurant. The menu at Alina's was pretty good sized, but not too intimidating for a novice Lebanese eater like myself. Everything was  described well, so I felt comfortable in what I was ordering. Let's see how it came out.

I deferred to the girls when ordering the appetizer. They went with the Fatayer, which they lovingly described as a cheese hot pocket. The dough was very good, and the inside was not overly stuffed with cheese, so we did not need the extra plates that Julie had asked for. I would definitely get this appetizer again.

The girls really made writing this review easy for me, because all three of them ordered the same thing, the Chicken Kebab. They all really seemed to enjoy the chicken, and called it tender and flavorful. Laura described it this way, "the chicken was more chicken". Okay, not sure what that meant, but it added comedy to the meal, and I told her I would for sure make that part of my post. Your welcome Laura. The chicken was also served with humus, rice, fattoush, pita bread and garlic spread. They liked the rice, and used it more as a condiment, rather than on its own. Katie liked the tangy dressing used on the fattoush. They all seemed very pleased with their choice of entree.

So of course I did not just want to have a kebab, so I ordered the Beef Shawarma. The beef was not so tender here, but what made this dish was the garlic spread. You might be able to put that spread on an old tire and make it taste good. It really saved this dish from being average and elevating it up the flavor scale. I was also pretty impressed with the humus, very smooth with decent flavor. I was less impressed with the rice and fattoush. The rice was okay, but I was not a big fan of the fattoush. Unlike Katie, I did not find the tangy dressing to my liking.

This was a very good introduction to Lebanese food. The food was definitely fresh, the serving sizes were very generous, and the prices were not bad at all. Almost all of their items are under the $10 mark. The service here was good, and unobtrusive. Julie did want me to point out that they were all out of lemons for her iced tea, so take that for what it's worth. Man, some people are so hard to please. Eating here has made me want to find other Lebanese places that are closer to home, so if you know of any, please let me know of good ones.

Out of five cedar trees, (because that tree appears on the Lebanese flag, and is an emblem of Lebanon), five being best to zero being worst, Alina's Lebanese Cuisine gets 3 cedar trees.

For more information on Alina's, click here: http://www.alinaslebanesecuisine.com/default.html

Will This Place Cut the Mustard?

Mustard Cafe

41 Auto Center Drive

Foothill Ranch, CA 92610

I admit it, I like using coupons to save on food. I mean, I eat out about 150 times a year, so any savings I can get I am all for. To increase my coupon collection I buy the Entertainment Book every year. I know the restaurants in the Entertainment Book are usually not the best, but there are some coupons and offers that I make sure to use every year. Mr. Stox, Five Crowns, and La Cave come to mind. I even use the Entertainment Book to find new restaurants that we have not yet tried. This was how we arrived at Mustard Cafe.

Mustard Cafe is kind of on its own island in Foothill Ranch. It's located in the desolate remains of the Foothill Ranch Auto Center. Separated from the much more popular Foothill Ranch Towne Center by Bake Parkway, I imagine that foot traffic for this shopping area has diminished with the loss of all the car dealerships in the area. Surprisingly, when we arrived there were about ten people that had stumbled upon this restaurant, or maybe they had sought out this place for the food.

Mustard Cafe is a casual sandwich place. Think upscale sandwich shop. The menu features a variety of sandwiches, panini's, soups, and salads. They have also just started serving dinners, which is what Katie took advantage of. There used to be two locations, but the Orange location is no more. Let's see how the food turned out.

I was pretty hungry, and not sure how big my sandwich was going to be, so I started with a Caesar salad. Here the Caesar was kind of plain tasting. The salad definitely needed more dressing, and the asiago was not very flavorful. The salad was not awful, but very average.

I had been thinking about Reuben sandwiches all day at work, so I already knew what I would be getting when I came here. One small problem, they were out of rye bread. The counter lady asked if I would mind having it on another bread, so I went that route. When it came out it was on whole grain bread. I should have gone for a different sandwich. Not only was the bread wrong, but the rest of the sandwich failed to satisfy as well. The corned beef was cut too thin, and they really skimped on the amount of meat, as you can see from the picture. The house-made Reuben sauce was good, but the sauerkraut pushed both the meat and cheese to the side, so I did not notice either. I would not get this again.

Katie did not feel like a sandwich, so she tried one of their new dinner options. The Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo was her choice. She described the Alfredo sauce as, "laid back and light". I would describe it as flavor challenged, but that is just me. The shrimp and pasta were cooked fine, but this dish really did not pop or make us want to order this again. The bread served with this was soggy, with a faint garlic flavor. The one bright spot of the dinner was that it was served with a free glass of wine. Katie went with the white wine, and almost finished the glass. Not a big wine drinker, that girlfriend of mine.

The food here was not awful, but it was not anything we would come back for. They do have a wide variety of sandwiches, so there might be something worth having if you want to explore their menu a little more. A few items I have read say that the Roast Beef and Bleu sandwich is a decent bet. The service was fair, and I felt the value was just okay. My sandwich was $7.95, and Katie's dinner was $13. So, once again the Entertainment Card has led me astray, but at least we did not pay full price.

Out of five-game pieces, (because one of my favorite board games, Clue, features the character Colonel Mustard), five being best to zero being worst, Mustard Cafe gets 2 game pieces.

For more information on Mustard Cafe, click here: http://www.mustardcafeandgrill.com/

Sweet Carolina's?

Carolina's Italian Restaurant

12045 Chapman Ave.

Garden Grove, CA 92840

Sometimes you have to be flexible when you go out to eat. It was Saturday night and we were headed to a restaurant that I have been dying to try. Unfortunately, we got to that restaurant and were faced with an hour and a half wait. Not wanting to wait that long, we scrambled to find somewhere else to eat in the area. Enter Carolina's.

Carolina's is located in a run-down strip mall on Chapman. The outside of this 33-year-old eatery looks a little dodgy. Once inside the cramped restaurant though, you can see that they have tried to transform this restaurant into a nice, local joint. Thanks to a very loud birthday party, the place was very noisy. We arrived at six and were seated right away by a very hurried waiter. After we were given a few minutes to peruse the menu, this is what we ended up with.

The best way to judge a place that you have never been to before is to go for a sampler platter, so it was natural that we ordered the aptly named, Carolina's Sampler Platter. This platter featured buffalo wings, calamari, fried mozzarella, and fried zucchini. The best of the bunch was the zucchini. The breading was decent, and not overbearing. The fried cheese and buffalo wings were average to good. The outer coating of the calamari was very heavy, and the squid was too thickly cut for our taste.

With our pasta dinners, we were served the Cheese Bread and Dinner Salads above. The cheese bread appeared to be their pizza dough, with cheese on top. Very good bread and we ate two plates of this. The salads were just okay. I was not too big of a fan of the salad dressing. It was very tangy Italian. I will opt for the Ranch dressing next time.

Starting off the entree portion of the show is the Meat Calzone. This featured a plethora of meats; sausage, meatballs, and ham, then topped with meat sauce and cheese. The picture of this does not do this calzone justice, because it was huge. Anthony loved the sausage and portion size of this, but he wished there was more cheese served with this calzone.

Sabrina could not make up her mind after looking at the huge menu, so she deferred to the waiter for his choice. She ended up with the Chicken Pesto. The chicken pesto here combines the chicken with a creamy pesto sauce, virgin olive oil, basil, garlic, and pine nuts. The result was a delicious plate. Sabrina was very enthusiastic about this meal. She felt the pasta was cooked well, the pine nuts were a great addition, and the sauce tied everything together. She exclaimed that she would definitely get this again.

If you are a devoted reader to the blog, you will not be surprised that Katie ordered a shrimp dish here. True to form she went with the Scampi Griglia. This dish consisted of bell peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes and onions in a butter, garlic, and white wine sauce. She loved the flavorful shrimp and felt the veggies were cooked to perfection. I tried this dish and would have liked a thicker sauce, but that is just my taste.

Much like my reasoning about ordering a sampler platter for an appetizer, I went with the same thinking when choosing my dinner. Above is the Taste of Italy. This sampling of three different pasta dishes is supposed to resemble the Italian flag. Chicken Penne Pesto, Shrimp Fettuccini Alfredo, and Spaghetti and Meatballs make up the three colors of the flag. Like Sabrina, my favorite part of this meal was the Chicken Pesto. The sauce was very good, and the chicken was very tender. I liked the spaghetti next but would have liked another meatball here. The marinara sauce was pretty good though. The shrimp alfredo was not bad, but the sauce needed to be thickened. Overall, this mound of food really satisfied me.

I am not usually a big fan of Tiramisu, but Carolina's claims to have a good one that is homemade. This tiramisu is very light, and not heavy like others I have had. It is also less damp than others. I might even get this again next time.

We were all full from dinner, but of course, we could not resist another dessert. The Chocolate Mousse Cake was another one of our choices. The mousse was very light, but the crust could have been richer. A chocolate mousse is never a bad option for me though.

Okay, this is the last dessert, I promise. All dinners come with Spumoni Ice Cream for dessert. Spumoni, if you have never had it, is an Italian ice cream consisting usually of three different flavors with candied fruit and nuts added. Very refreshing and light to contrast heavy Italian meals. The spumoni here was refreshing and cool. A great way to end an Italian meal.

Going to Carolina's was a very happy accident. We had not meant to come here, but it was a very pleasant surprise. The menu is varied, so you will definitely find something to satisfy you. The prices are a little on the high side, for the area that they are in, but the portions are huge. In fact, I have a big appetite, and even I had leftovers for the next two days for lunch. The service was a little on the gruff side, but that might have been because they were so busy with that large party. We would definitely make a return visit to Carolina's.

So out of five palmettos, (The state tree of South Carolina, and the reason that state is nicknamed the Palmetto state. See, you do not have to watch Jeopardy to learn things!), five being best to zero being worst, Carolina's gets 3 solid palmettos.

For more information on Carolina's, click here: https://www.carolinasitalianrestaurant.com/