Hopefully Tito's Will Be Very Special

Tito's La Especial

503 W. 17th St.

Santa Ana, CA 92706

Lindsay was adamant that we must try these tacos. She said they were so good. There were only two problems with trying these tacos. One was that she was going to have to bring her boyfriend, my food nemesis along for the meal, and the other problem was that I had no idea what a taco al-vapor was.

I guess I should explain the first part of the problem first. Lindsay is my good, friend Richard's much better half. They have been seeing each other for a while, and she makes Richard very happy. I am very happy with this part of Richard's life. The part that drives me nuts about Richard is that he has awful taste in food. He loves Chipotle and hates almost all other Mexican restaurants. He also loathes the Cheesecake Factory, while I think it is not the worst restaurant in the world, and I could easily get something decent there. We are good friends, but when it comes to food we are polar opposites. So I was a little apprehensive when he told me he liked this taco place in Santa Ana that specializes in tacos al-vapor.

With my limited high school Spanish, I did know that these are wet tacos, or in this case, steamed tacos. That was about all I knew, so I went online and found out more. There are several different kinds of tacos al-vapor, depending on the region. From what I can gather, the tacos at Tito's are stuffed with fillings and then steamed, until they are sweating. thus the orange chili stain on the tortilla. The best resource I found about vapor tacos is at the Chowhound website which you can find here.

Tito's is really a no-frills restaurant. Located on busy 17th street, this eatery had a very steady stream of customers during our recent early, evening visit on a Sunday. If the decor at this restaurant is minimal, the menu only matches it. Their menu does not feature any carnitas, enchiladas, or chimichangas. They do have a small number of burritos, sopes, chile Rellenos, and of course the item they are most famous for, the tacos al vapor. Enough talk, let's see if Richard can get back some of his food cred with me.

Okay, I think the first thing I noticed about the Tacos al Vapor ($1.89 apiece, or $5.78 served with beans and rice), is that they do not photograph particularly well. Okay, it is probably not the tacos, it is the photographer, but I will blame the tacos anyways! At Tito's, they have four varieties of tacos al-vapor, each with different fillings. I tried all four; chicken, beef, potato, and bean. These are very simple tacos. Basically, you just have the tortilla, the filling of your choice, and a little iceberg lettuce. You do have the option of adding their hot sauce and some jalapenos if you like spice. Not overly large, but these tacos will get you stuffed as the greasiness hits your stomach. I was not too big of a fan of the bean or the potato taco al-vapor. I felt both of these were very plain tasting. The chicken was okay, with a little more flavor, but the beef is the way to go here. Not the best ingredients in a taco, but the way they are steamed really brings all the flavors together, and then when you add the hot sauce, it really makes these tacos addictive. We even ordered another round of these after we finished our first four tacos.   

Since we were here, we should maybe try some of the other items they offered. I got a Sope de Asada ($2.50). This was not a bad sope. Just like the taco, this was not made with the best ingredients, but the tastes worked well together. The meat was tender enough to be bitten into easily, and the fried base of the sope had a nice little crunch to it. This was made even better with the addition of the hot sauce.  

I am not really a big fan of chile Rellenos, but Katie saw this Chile Relleno Burrito ($5.89), and could not resist trying it. She was not too impressed. She thought that this burrito was very average. The chili was fine but was void of taste. The lack of cheese did not help out matters here either. She would not get this burrito again here.

Here's a quick shot of the hot sauce that they offer at Tito's. It did have a nice little kick to it and really added to the items offered here.

Tito's is not going to blow you away with their awesomeness. If you stick with what they are famous for, the tacos al vapor with beef, you will leave satisfied. There is something kind of magical with those wet, greasy tacos, that bring all of the tastes together in a nice little package. The rest of the menu is kind of bland and only brought to life by the addition of the hot sauce on each table. We had decent service on this night. They made us feel welcome. Be advised that they do not offer free refills on drinks. Richard's food cred went up a few notches with him introducing these tacos to us. Of course, most of that credit should go to his wonderful girlfriend, so no credit for you Richard! Thanks for introducing us to tacos al vapor Lindsay.

Out of five timbales, (the drums that legendary Latin performer, Tito Puente made famous during the '50s), five being best to zero being worst, Tito's La Especial gets 3 timbales.

For more information about Tito's La Especial, head to their website by clicking here: https://titoslaespecial.menu/

Finding a Hidden Jewel in Villa Park? - CLOSED

China Panda

17853 Santiago Blvd.

Villa Park, CA 92861

For ardent readers of my blog, you know why I am here. For the rest of you, I will explain. I have a self-imposed December 31st deadline for myself to have blogged about a restaurant in all 34 cities in our great county. I want this blog to be about all of OC, not just places convenient for me. So, after this review, we will have five more cities to hit before we reach our goal. Right now, we are headed to Villa Park.

Villa Park is one of the smallest cities in OC. They have the smallest population, and they are the second smallest in area, just behind the city of La Palma. No one ever thinks of heading to Villa Park for a bite. A quick search of restaurants in Villa Park on Yelp reveals six restaurants in the city. All of them are in the same shopping center, the only shopping center in the town. Wow, this city is small! Our options are scarce, with only six choices, one being a Subway. We head to the highest-rated place on the list, China Panda.

China Panda fits into the vibe of Villa Park perfectly. Much like the city, the restaurant is tiny as well. They have seven tables to choose from, and when we got here at 5 on a Saturday night, only two were occupied. We were greeted warmly and given our choice of any of the empty tables. The decor is dominated by light purple walls and numerous pictures hanging on the walls. The one that struck my eye all night was a pencil drawing of Princess Diana. After checking out the extensive menu, we decided on five entrees, so let's look at what we came here for, the food.

After being seated, we were brought these fried Wontons with a fruit sauce for dipping. I might have been really hungry, or these were really good because I could not stop eating them. The fruit sauce was made out of apple, peach, and pineapple and was really a great compliment to the wontons. It was kind of a Chinese equivalent to the chips and salsa served in Mexican restaurants.

The food came out really quick here. There are some family dinner specials, where you get soup and appetizers to accompany your meal, but we all decided to pick one entree each and then order an extra one, just for good measure. Not sure who chose this one, but it is the Hunan Spicy Beef ($8.65). This consisted of sliced, stir-fried beef with onions, bell peppers, and carrots in a spicy Hunan sauce. The meat was really sliced thin but in more significant pieces. It was very tender, with some good pockets of spiciness. The veggies were cooked well and were a solid plate of food.

I do know who selected this vegetable low mein ($6.85); it was Katie. This dish did not impress us. Honestly, though, neither my parents nor I are really into low mein, especially one without any kind of meat in it. This was not awful but plain tasting. The low mein noodles are joined by broccoli and mushrooms in this dish, which resembles Asian spaghetti.

Back to some dishes with meat, the Orange Flavored Chicken ($9.15). This generous portion of orange chicken was not overly sweet but still retained the citrus taste of the sauce. The chicken was fried nicely, with a nice crunch when bitten into. It's way better than the stuff they serve at Panda Express.

I always loved Sweet and Sour Pork ($8.05), and it was no different at China Panda. The chicken is mixed with the sauce, pineapple, onions, and bell peppers. Like the orange chicken, the pork pieces were fried well, but the sauce made this dish. It indeed was two tastes in one. You get the sweet at first, then the sour hits you later. The result was a very balanced sauce, which was a little on the thicker side.

When I read the reviews on Yelp, almost everyone mentioned the Honey Shrimp with Walnuts ($13.55). When this was placed in front of us, I was taken aback by the presentation of this dish. It was served in a taco salad shell, which was unique. They may be trying to present this as an ice cream sundae since they topped it with a cherry. I don't know if they wanted that, but this dish was almost as sweet as a sundae. The shrimp and walnuts were covered in a lovely cream sauce, which went well with the natural saltiness of the shrimp. Not the most enormous serving here, but this was a very rich plate, or bowl?

So you can now officially cross this tiny OC enclave off our list of cities we have not been to. Of the six restaurants in Villa Park, we made the right choice as to which one to visit. The Chinese food here is old-school. This is basically the kind of Chinese food our parents thought was so exotic, but it turns out it is really mainstream. I like mainstream sometimes, and I did like China Panda. The food was good and came out quick and hot. It was also very fresh tasting; you can see why they have been in business for 20 years. The menu is dotted with plenty of items we can all enjoy eating. They feature over 50 beef, chicken, pork, and seafood entrees. Be warned that this place is tiny, and on the day we were here, it was warm outside, and they did not have any air conditioning. Also, the chairs were uncomfortable. They could be the original chairs they opened up with 20 years ago. So now it is on to the other five cities we have left to try. We are headed your way Seal Beach, Cypress, La Palma, Stanton, and Westminster!

Out of five hummingbirds (because the hummingbird is the official bird of Villa Park, probably because they are both tiny), five being best, to zero being worst, China Panda gets 3 hummingbirds.

For more information about China Panda, head to their website here: https://www.villaparkchinapanda.com/

Wandering Down to Woody's

Woody's Diner

24321 Avenida De La Carlota

Laguna Hills, CA 92653

We reviewed this place a long time ago. In fact, it was the third review I ever wrote. The first two places we went to in this blog are both out of business, (Bob's Big Boy and Tijuana Gillies). Not a good omen for Woody's Diner. Will the trend continue, or will this restaurant survive?

The first time we came here in 2009, we were here for dinner. It was okay, nothing too great. You can read that review here. At the time I had heard that they were more known for their breakfast, so we decided to make a return trip to try it.

Woody's Diner has been in business since 1987. They opened their first restaurant in Huntington Beach, and since that time they have opened five more. All of them but this Laguna Hills location are located in beach cities. Woody's tries to convey a fifties diner theme, but the Laguna Hills location really hasn't changed much in appearance since they took it over from Islands back in 2009. They did remove the surfing pictures though.

We got to Woody's for breakfast at about ten o'clock on a recent Sunday. There was about a fifteen-minute wait for a table. Due to the proximity of nearby Laguna Woods, the restaurant's customers are of very advanced age. We finally got seated and perused the menu. This is what we came up with.

After a long, laborious reading of the menu, Katie selected the Popeye Skillet ($8.49). This breakfast skillet came with Polish sausage, spinach mushrooms, jack cheese, and eggs, and was served over hash browns. Katie thought this dish was very average. She was not too big of a fan of the Polish sausage. The rest of this plate left Katie wanting more. Everything just kind of ran together, and nothing really popped out for her with this. With the purchase of this, you also get a choice of bread. She went with rye. I always think it is funny she goes for rye bread, but it goes very well with breakfast foods. It could not take this breakfast over the average mark though.

When reading the menu at Woody's, nothing really popped out at me as a must-order item. The Baja Omelet ($9.49) seemed to be a good safe bet. This omelet was composed of spicy ground beef, sour cream, avocado, and jack cheese. The ground beef was spiced with what I believed to be a taco seasoning mix. Not too spicy, but I did add some Chuola to this plate to bring a little more flavor out. The omelet itself was okay, not great. Very average tasting. The best part about this egg dish was the fresh avocado served with this. The hash browns were average as well and needed to be seasoned a lot more than they were. I selected sourdough toast to go along with my breakfast, and it was decent bread.

Sad to report, but Woody's was not much better for breakfast than it was for dinner. The breakfasts that we had were nothing special. Service was good, considering how busy they were. The food came out quick as well. The prices here were okay. Breakfasts average from $6 to $10. Not exactly a bargain, but no price gouging going on here either. Now we have been here for breakfast and dinner, and have not been impressed by either.

Out of five pull-string toys, (because in the movie Toy Story, Sheriff Woody is a pull-string toy), five being best to zero being worst, Woody's Diner gets 2 pull-string toys.

For more information on Woody's Diner, click here: http://www.woodysdiners.com/

Making Katie Happy at Zenko Sushi

Zenko Sushi

28892 Marguerite Pkwy.

Mission Viejo, CA 92692

So Katie came home on a Friday night and told me that she wanted sushi for dinner. Not that I dislike sushi, but I was really in the mood for a big meal. Something with a lot of substance behind it. That is when inspiration struck, and I looked up all-you-can-eat sushi places around us. One that sounded promising was this place, Zenko Sushi.

We live in Mission Viejo, but this is a part of MV that we rarely go to, just because it is out of the way and because we have had no reason to come down this far on Marguerite Parkway until now. This sushi restaurant looks like it has been around for a long time. It is really off the beaten track, sitting below Capistrano Valley High School and alongside the rushing traffic, depending on the time of day, of the northbound lanes of the 5 Freeway.

Many people must know about this secluded spot because plenty of people were here at six on a Friday night. We quickly got a table, but by the time we left at 7:30, there was a long wait. The restaurant is not big by any means. They have about fifteen to twenty tables, with a sushi bar accommodating about eight customers. The tables were placed together snugly, but we did not feel too cramped. After being seated, we are presented with a menu and a pencil, and you mark what you would like. Appetizers, Sushi, and Rolls are included in the All You Can Eat Option ($24.95). That, of course, is the option we went with, and this is how it turned out for us.

For round one, we ordered three different specialty rolls. Lobster Roll, Crunch Roll, and a Mexican Roll. The lobster roll was very rich tasting. The lobster was placed on top of four California Rolls. Good, but very decadent. The crunch roll had a lot of items that I liked, shrimp tempura, crab, avocado, and cucumber, but it really steered me wrong. I think there was just too much going on here to enjoy this. The best of this bunch for me was the simply prepared Mexican Roll. This is just a California roll with maybe Siracha added. These really had a good kick to them. I could have eaten another round of these, but there was more to try. On to round two!

In round two, we went with all appetizers. With this quartet, I liked the Teriyaki Chicken the best. The chicken was not overdone, and the teriyaki sauce had a nice sweetness. The Baked Green Mussels were good, but I have had better. They seemed to be missing something. The Edamame was pretty basic and needed to be seasoned a little more than they were. The Calamari came out of the kitchen sizzling hot, but the taste was boring to my taste buds. All of the appetizers we had here were good, but nothing to get all that excited about. We went back to the sushi menu for round three.

This was our big round of the night when we ordered four different rolls. They were the Jalapeno Roll, a Philly Crunch Roll, a Fire Cracker Roll, and a Spider Roll. The Jalapeno Roll was one of the hottest things I have had in a long while. They stuff a jalapeno with spicy tuna and cream cheese, then deep fry it. The jalapeno turned Katie's face bright red. We must have gotten a really spicy jalapeno. The cream cheese cut the heat a little, but this thing was scorching! I really enjoyed it, though. The spider roll was an excellent counterpart to the heat of the jalapeno roll. The crab, avocado, and cucumber put the fire in our mouths. Very rich, but oh so good. I did not get a good shot of the firecracker roll, which had spicy tuna and scallops on a California roll. This one was very fresh tasting. The last of our rolls was the Philly crunch roll, filled with cream cheese, salmon, avocado, and cucumber, then deep fried. Another very rich roll. All of these basically had the same ingredients but in different combinations. Not a bad one in the bunch.

 
By this time, I was full, but Katie wanted to do one more round. So I went with something that would only get me two pieces, the Spicy Scallops. These were just okay. Not something I would get again, but they did have a nice little kick to them, but the texture of these was a little off for me. Katie made the mistake of ordering a California Roll with 8 pieces. By this point, my stomach was nearing total capacity, so I could only help her with two pieces of this. She was a trooper, though, and finished the other five. I liked this very basic piece of sushi. Very light and fresh, this was a subtle end to our dining adventure at Zenko Sushi.

I must admit that I left Zenko very full and completely satisfied. I know that many people turn their noses up at all-you-can-eat sushi places, but this is the way to go for me. I do not enjoy sushi as much as I should. I know what good fresh sushi is, but I don't want to pay an arm and a leg for it. At Zenko, you get fresh sushi and large rolls with pops of flavors for one fixed price. I added up all of the stuff we ate on this night based on the prices on the sushi sheets, and it came to just under $40 per person without the four appetizers we ate. That is a savings of at least $30 between us. Not too bad. I got a meal that made me very full, and Katie fulfilled her sushi craving, at least for another week.

Out of five Olympians (because the city of Mission Viejo's Nadadores swimming and diving teams have produced many Olympians throughout the years), five being best to zero being worst, Zenko Sushi gets 3 Olympians.

For more information about Zenko Sushi, click here: http://www.zenkosushi.com/images/allyoucaneat.pdf

Will We Be Making Chronic Tacos a Habit? CLOSED

Chronic Tacos

26131 La Paz Road

Mission Viejo, CA 92691

If you have blinked you might have missed all of the Chronic Tacos popping up all over. It seems like this chain of casual Mexican food has been reproducing at a very rapid rate that would get many rabbits jealous. I looked at their web site and they have 43 locations listed as coming soon or open for business now. They even have numerous outposts in Mexican food mecca, British Columbia! Crazy.

I definitely felt like it was time for me to try Chronic Tacos. They have been on my list of places to try for so long, they were two spots away from the top of my list. Don't worry Wild Artichoke, your position on the top of our list is still solid. We will make it to your place one day, but this was our day for Chronic Tacos.

We were done walking the track at a nearby junior high school, and wanted something close by. Chronic Tacos filled the bill perfectly. We got to this location, which is in a sleepy strip mall anchored by a Taco Bell and a Comerica Bank, at about seven o'clock on a Thursday night. We were the only two customers in the place when we arrived, but they would have a steady stream of customers throughout our visit here.

The atmosphere of this Chronic Tacos really reminded me of a Wahoo's, with the ordering process of a Chipotle. There is lots of sheet metal all over the place, and the walls are dominated by surfing and music stickers. The two guys working behind the counter were odd and had a hard time interacting with us. When we walked in they acted like we had caught them doing something wrong. Not sure what that was all about, but we ordered and this how the food came out for us.

I started with an Al Pastor Taco ($2.99) on a flour tortilla. After the tortilla was grilled for a few seconds, I was asked what I wanted on this taco. I selected their salsa and cheese. I went simple with the toppings here, because I thought the meat would be big on flavor. It wasn't. The al pastor was very bland, with no hint of spice whatsoever. The salsa was not a big flavor enhancer either. Basically it was just cut up tomatoes and onions with no hint of seasoning.  A very bland start to my meal.

Much better was this Carnitas Burrito ($5.99). The carnitas were average, but had more flavor than the al pastor. I liked the meatiness of the carnitas, and the red sauce was much better than the salsa. I had beans, rice, cheese, and guacamole put into this burrito. This burrito was pretty good sized, but I had no problem putting it away.

Katie also selected two items to try off of the Chronic Tacos menu, starting with this Fish Taco ($3.49). She felt this taco was, "average". The predominate taste of this taco came from the green salsa. The fish was not noticeable, and really got lost here. Really needed more seasoning. Not something that Katie would get again.

The last item we got was the Chicken Taquitos with Guacamole ($5.99). I am not a real big fan of chicken taquitos. I always think that the chicken gets dried out by the frying, but this is always Katie's choice when it comes to taquitos. These really tasted like nothing to me. I was hoping that the cheese or guacamole would help these, but they really just tasted like grocery store taquitos.  Nothing special.

Chronic Tacos was not as good as I thought it would be. With these build your own burrito type places, it might take more than a few trips to find the perfect combinations of items to make your perfect meal. We were not overly excited by any of the items we had on this visit. They mostly tasted very bland, and nothing we ate would entice us to come back. I would choose other locations to return to, because as with all franchised places the quality can be quite different from location to location. The prices were pretty fair for the serving sizes, although I thought that the tacos were about a dollar too expensive. Glad we could cross this place off of our list.

Out of five surfboards, (because Chronic Tacos sponsors several surfers), five being best to zero being worst, Chronic Tacos gets 2 surfboards.

For more information about Chronic Tacos, click here: http://eatchronictacos.com/index.php/home

Moo Dae Po Friends and Family Event - CLOSED

Moo Dae Po

1841 Orangethorpe Ave.

Fullerton, CA 92833

Okay, I admit it to all of you that read this blog, I have never had Korean BBQ before. I am not sure why this is. I love to eat BBQ. I like trying new and adventurous food, but I have yet to try Korean BBQ, until now. Both Katie and I were recently invited to the new Moo Dae Po restaurant in Fullerton for their 1st Annual Friends and Family BBQ.

Before the food came out, I wandered around Moo Dae Po a bit. I was struck by how large this restaurant actually is. The restaurant does not seem big from the outside, but once inside you can see how cavernous this 13,000 square foot restaurant is. To match the big restaurant, they also have a large display of all the wines that they offer. I was also struck by how clean the tabletop grills were.

After being seated we were treated to a slicing exhibition by the chef at Moo Dae Po, along with Moo Dae Po founder and owner, Brian Chong. They cut all of their meats here by hand, and this chef cut this meat with surgical precision.

The city of Fullerton, along with Fullerton City Council Member, Bruce Whitaker presented Brian Chong and Cindy Chong with a Certificate of Welcome from the city. With all of the presentations done, it was now time to focus on the food.

Before getting to the main course we got these appetizers, which are known as, Banchan. These included the Korean staple, kimchee, a green salad, macaroni salad, fish cake, a yam, and tomatoes. I really enjoyed the macaroni salad and the fish cake the best. The macaroni salad had some apple cut up in it, which I thought was different and worked out quite well. The fish cake was actually cut into strips and had a nice mellow fish flavor. It was a major accomplishment for me to eat all of this with my chopsticks. I was very proud of myself.

Now it is time to bring on the meat! At Moo Dae Po they are an "all you can eat restaurant", which features different menus and prices. Prices start at $16.99 for a menu that features 19 different kinds of meat, and the menu that features 31 varieties of meat, is an incredible value at $24.99. Everything we ate here was so good. I must thank our, "table chef", the fantastic Kat, from Kat's 9 Lives, without whom we would have been lost as to how to eat any of this stuff. She doled out the meat with great authority. She even taught us the correct way to eat the meats. You need to place the meats in the provided rice paper, then add any of the sauces you would like. It was a messy process for me, but one I look forward to refining in future visits. See Kat, I can actually be really nice sometimes! My favorite meats here were the Beef Brisket and the Pork Belly. Really good pieces of meat.

Round two of the meat was the assorted marinated selections. We got chicken and short ribs. These were marinated in a sauce that did not overpower the taste of the meat but enhanced it. Here again, Kat did a great job of cooking the meats to the right doneness. You know this is killing me being so nice to you Kat, just don't get used to it!

This Bulgogi is only served at lunch, but they gave us this steaming hot bowl of it to try. I think it is finally cooled down enough to eat. Man, it came out roaring hot! This was my favorite thing of the night. It was like a comfortable beef stew with scallions and noodles. Really tasty, with a great flavor. I was very happy with this and kept eating this in between bites of the meat from the grill.

After eating, and while our food settled, we were entertained by a young group of performers out of Los Angeles. They entertained us by rapping, singing, and playing music for us. A very pleasurable way to end a wonderful night.

I was very happy that Moo Dae Po introduced me to Korean BBQ. We really enjoyed our time here, and I look forward to eating here and other Korean BBQ places soon. Moo Dae Po is opening in a few weeks in Rowland Heights, it will be their fourth location. I am sure that the restaurant will be a hit as well. We would really like to thank Brian Chong and Mary Chong of Moo Dae Po for this special event. Also, special thanks to the staff, including the waiters, bussers, and hostess staff for the wonderful service they offered us this night. One last group of thanks goes out to Jennifer Chung, Michael Wong, and Mary Park at Kollaboration Creative and Marketing for the invitation to this great event. Thank you very much.

Moo Dae Po does not have a website, but you can find directions and info about them here: http://www.facebook.com/mdpfull