Dropping In On the Surfin Cowboy = CLOSED

The Surfin Cowboy

34245 Doheny Park Way

Dana Point, CA 92624

Okay, so this is the second straight review that features hamburgers. I had mentioned in the review before that I was a little obsessed. A lot of it stems from the fact that if there is a great burger in OC, and I have not had it yet, I feel a little cheated. When the OC Register came out with their top ten list of burgers, there were four places on that list that I had not been to yet. After our trip to The Corner in Huntington Beach, I am now down to three, and after our visit to the Surfin Cowboy, I will only have a mere two more hamburger Mecca to hit up. With dreams of great burgers in our eyes, we headed south on the day before the Fourth of July to beat the heat and try one of the reported ten best burgers in OC.

The Surfin Cowboy is located in the Dana Point area known as Capo Beach. I am not that familiar with the south OC beaches, so I have never been to Capo Beach before. Looking at the map now, I can see that we were about three to four blocks away from the beach. This used to be the location of a bar and grill called Coconuts. Looking at that Yelp page, the reviews were all over the place. The Surfin Cowboy took over the place in the Fall of last year. The reviews have been on the more positive side since, and they of course were recognized as having one of the best burgers in OC.

We got to the Surfin Cowboy at about 6PM. They really had a good dinner crowd on this night. The bar area was jammed, but the hostess lead us to a table, right near where there appeared to be a stage, sectioned off by a low wall. This is not a huge place, maybe fifteen or so tables, with some very nice high definition TVs surrounding the room. Half the TVs were playing assorted baseball games, while the other half were playing music videos from the past and present. The group of customers was a little on the older side, and when we sat down it seemed every table was waiting for their food. After our order was taken, we would soon be right with these people, but it did not take too long for the food to hit our table. Let's check out how everything looked.

I was pretty hungry, so we needed to get an appetizer, stat. I have always liked Fried Mac and Cheese ($4.95 at the happy hour price), so it was natural that we would give the one at the Surfin Cowboy a try. This one was a little different, as it was served in a roasted tomato beurre blanc sauce. The breading on the outside of these was good and crisp, but the rest of this appetizer really let us down. The inside of the mac and cheese ball was devoid of cheese, while the sauce really did not add much flavor. I am not sure if the happy hour portion of this is smaller than the normal $8 price, but I would have been a little miffed if we had only received two of these for $8. On to the entrees.

Specials on Wednesday feature a pasta dish from the mind of Executive Chef, Sima Ganaba. On this particular Wednesday, she offered a Short Rib Pasta ($15) that Katie could not resist. I am a big fan of short rib, and this one was right on point. The meat was fork tender, the flavor was spot on, and there were plenty of short ribs included in this dish. Katie felt the sauce overwhelmed a bit, and that the inclusion of a vegetable here would have been nice. She did feel that the pasta was cooked well. If this was offered on our future visits here, she would not hesitate to get this again.

Now of course the real reason I came to the Surfin Cowboy, is the O.G. Burger ($10). What I first noticed about this burger when it was sat in front of me, was the good-looking pretzel bun it came on. It was soft, but still carried all of the contents without breaking. The thick patty was topped with a house-made rub, caramelized onions, pepper jack cheese, and chipotle aioli. With all of these big flavors, I had expected more of a pop of flavor. The cheese and the chipotle aioli really kind of got lost here, maybe they were neutralized by the sweetness from the caramelized onions. The meat itself was very juicy, with a good hearty taste to it. The seasoning that they used on the burger was more evident than on most other burgers. The fries were pretty basic, even though I paid an extra $2 to make them Parmesan Garlic Fries. The fries were not helped by the fact that they came out lukewarm at best, not that it probably would have mattered anyways.

I was pretty happy with the entrees that we had at the Surfin Cowboy, but the other items did not really shine on the night we were here. I can see why the burger gets people in the door though. On future visits, I would probably go for a burger, like their Black and Blue Burger, in which the condiments and toppings will more than likely pop with more flavor than the O.G. Burger that I had. The base of the burger, the meat, and the bun, provided a very solid foundation, that a lot of other burgers fail to execute properly. The night we were here, service was spotty in some parts of our visit. Maybe an added waiter or two would help, during the dinner rush. I'm glad we could get down to Capo Beach to cross this burger off our burger wishlist. Now only two more to try, until someone else puts out the best burger in the OC list.

Out of five seahorses, (because it is natural that a surfing cowboy would ride a seahorse), five being best to zero being worst, The Surfin Cowboy gets 3 seahorses.

For more information about The Surfin Cowboy, click here: http://www.thesurfincowboy.com/

Cornering the Market on Good Burgers?

The Corner

8961 Adams Ave. 

Huntington Beach, CA 92646

I have to admit, I have become pretty obsessed. I recently got a copy of the Orange County Register's Burger Guide, and I was shocked to see that I had not been to some of the places on their top ten burgers list. I feel like I have a pretty good handle on the ever-changing OC restaurant scene, but there were a few of these places that I had never even heard of. At that moment, it made me question my whole quest about eating at the best places in OC and show them to you to make some good choices on where to spend your hard-earned dollars when going out to eat. So I have now made it my mission to hit up all the burger restaurants listed on the top ten that we have not been to yet, starting with The Corner.

We were up this way for a beach outing with some great food. I probably had about ten ribs, salad, and other assorted barbecue treats, but I saved enough room to try the burger at The Corner. We were driving right by it on the way back home, so this was a golden opportunity to try out one of the ten best burgers in the county. Coming from the beach, I was a little worried that we would be underdressed for this restaurant, but the dark restaurant really hid the wear and tear the beach had on us.

We got to The Corner at about 8PM on a Saturday night and were lucky enough to get a table immediately. This restaurant is located in an older strip mall with a bustling Italian market and takeout place next door. Unlike the strip mall, the inside decor of the Corner was sleek and dark. Part hipster vibe, but without the pretentiousness, we came in here with our flip-flops and shorts but did not feel uncomfortable. Two rooms make up The Corner. One side is the busy and loud dining room, while the bar area takes up the other half and shows off a painted ceiling mural left over from when this establishment was a Chinese restaurant. The restaurant really had a good mix of customers. Small groups of young women out for a bite to eat before hitting the clubs, middle-aged couples out on a rare night away from the kids, and multiple generations of the same family enjoying dinner together. The Corner also kind of felt like the neighborhood kind of place where a lot of people know each other.

The menu here is kind of all over the place. I guess I would characterize the cuisine as new American. The menu is sectioned off by appetizers, salads, small plates, and entrees. The menu notes that many of their items are prepared without gluten, and for vegetarians out there, there are quite a few options for you here. The menu's cocktail portion also looked promising, but I did not get a chance to try anything from the bar. Let's take a look at what we did order, though.

I was not in the mood for an appetizer because I had eaten at the beach, but Katie wanted one, so I deferred to her and let her pick which starter we would share. She settled on the Pickled Seasoned Vegetables ($7). This odd appetizer came with pickled veggies, grilled sourdough bread, house-made butter, and white cheddar cheese. The components were all executed well here. The bread was nice and grilled, the vegetables were pickled well, and the butter was very creamy, but I do not see how all of these items fit together. The cheese and butter were not easily spreadable on the bread, and the veggies seemed out of place here. After this selection, Katie has now had her appetizer ordering privileges revoked for a long while.

Hopefully, Katie had better luck with her dinner selection at The Corner. She went with the House Made Spaghetti ($10). This is an eggless carbonara-style pasta dish with English peas. Since no eggs were used here, it was not as heavy as other carbonaras we have had. The lightness of this dish did not sacrifice flavor, though. The sauce was seasoned well, the pasta was fresh, and this meal helped return some of the food creds that Katie had lost by ordering that appetizer. This was not a large serving size, but it was more than fair for the ten-dollar price tag. Katie would definitely get this again.

Now the real reason we made the stop here, the 7oz. Hand Formed Burger ($12). This burger came with many toppings, including white cheddar cheese, bacon-stuffed jalapenos, grilled onion, tomato, and salsa mayo. The meat here resembled a backyard-style burger. Delicious flavor, seasoned well and cooked to a perfect medium. The jalapeno provided a slow burn that escalated as time went on. The bacon inside the jalapeno was pushed to the background, but it still lingered. The cheese and salsa mayo provided moisture to the burger but not much else. Both seemed to get a little lost here. The bun kept everything together but was a little on the bready side. This was a good burger and would be worthy of being either on the top ten burgers list or close to just missing the list. For just $2 more, you could add their 48 Hour Fries to your meal. These fries were some of our best and kind of overshadowed the burger. They are soaked overnight, dried, frozen, and deep fried. Whatever this does to the fries really made them taste good. They had a decent crunch outside, and the potato inside was pillowy and soft. These were served with house-made ketchup and a secret sauce that resembled a less tangy thousand island type sauce. The dipping sauces were good but not needed with these great fries.

I liked our visit to The Corner, but the next time I eat here, I will not be eating at the beach beforehand. I look forward to exploring more of their menu in the future. The Lobster Shepard's Pie, the Sweet and Sour Pork Belly, and the Bacon Wrapped Dates all look very promising and will be on our table during our next visit, which will hopefully be soon. I did not think the prices were too out of control here. They seem to cut down on the serving sizes a bit to shave some dollars off the prices. Not necessarily a bad thing. During our visit, the service was a little on the spotty side, maybe due to the busy Saturday night crowd, but it did not detract from our experience here. I'm glad I could cross another burger off the OC Register's best burger list, and now I am down to three that I have yet to try. Better get going.

Out of five soccer balls (because you can not have a corner kick without one), five being best to zero being worst, The Corner gets 3.5 soccer balls.

For more information on The Corner, click here: http://www.thecornerhb.com/

More New Items to Try From Slater's 50/50 - CLOSED

Slater's 50/50

17071 Beach Blvd. 

Huntington Beach, CA 92647

Besides my love of bacon, one of the things that keeps bringing me back to Slater's is that there is always something going on. It has been a busy time for the guys over at Slaters. On July 1st, they opened their sixth Southern California location in Rancho Cucamonga. Now, people in the Inland Empire can reduce their driving time to experience all the bacon bliss at Slaters. The team at Slater's is tight-lipped regarding where they are opening next, but I have heard whispers about a possible out-of-state venture in the works. Stay tuned for more info on that.

Slater's is very open about its new food items, which debuted on the first day of July. We were lucky to try these out before they hit the menus. We went to the Huntington Beach Slater's for a preview party with other bloggers and some of Slater's most ardent supporters. We got a chance to talk with many of their PR people, but of course, the highlight was talking to the man behind all the Slater's madness, the man himself, Scott Slater.

Scott is a very nice but unassuming guy. Before meeting him, I assumed his personality would be over the top, just like the burgers he creates with Executive Chef Brad Lyons. He is entirely the opposite of what I had imagined, though. He is more subdued than I imagined and lets his burgers do the talking for him. Slater's hit the marketplace at the right time. They opened in 2009 when people were going crazy for anything bacon. After numerous awards, TV appearances, and magazine articles, Slater's is not resting on their laurels. Almost as soon as we were seated at this preview event, the food started coming and did not stop until nearly everyone in the room had been put in a bacon-induced food coma. Let's see what Slater's has up their sleeves for us now.

It might surprise some people that Slater's has salads on their menus. I am sure many of the customers who find themselves at Slater's bypass the salad portion of the menu, but this section proves that you can come to Slater's and eat healthy. A case in point is this new salad, the Kale Quinoa Salad. This salad combines two of the hottest trends in vegetables right now, kale and quinoa. I have seen so many restaurants feature these two items recently, and now Slater's hops are on the bandwagon. Joining the kale and the quinoa in the bowl is red onion, roasted sunflower seeds, and a lemon-garlic tahini dressing. I will let you in on a little secret that I am sure most of you will be shocked at. Okay, that was sarcasm, by the way. I am not a big fan of either kale or quinoa. I know they are healthy for me, but I almost automatically run for the hills when I hear something is healthy. Katie really liked this salad, though. It had a robust citrus dressing with a great texture profile from the crunchy kale and sunflower seeds. The red onion added a good flavor boost as well. Katie looks forward to trying this salad in future visits to Slater's.

Even though it is summer and time for warmer weather, this was one of my favorite night items, the Twice Grilled Cheese Sandwich. Not just content with having a plain old grilled cheese on the menu, the guys at Slater's took it up a notch with this sandwich. Stuffed with two kinds of cheese, they add cheddar cheese to the outside of the sandwich instead of just buttering the bread and grilling it. The result is crispy cheese on the outside and a very rich but oh-so-satisfying sandwich. Served alongside a tomato basil house-made soup, this will be handy on those southern California winter nights when it dips into the low 60s.

It's not new to their menu, but I think they wanted to show off a bit. It is Slater's classic burger, the Old-Timey. This burger recently got a perfect 10 from OC Register food critic Brad Johnson. He is a notoriously harsh food critic, so this is a significant accomplishment and something that Slater's 50/50 should be proud of. This burger starts with a Sterling Silver ground beef patty and is layered with American cheese, thick bacon, lettuce, tomato, grilled onions, and Thousand Island dressing. This is then sandwiched between a white brioche bun that does an admirable job of keeping the burger together. The result is a delicious bacon cheeseburger. Another new item, the Almond Joy Milkshake, came out with the burger. Slater's released a new line of signature Milkshakes that can be made with or without alcohol. This one came with Three Olives Chocolate Vodka, Bols Amaretto, chocolate syrup, toasted coconut, and almond syrup. This one really did taste like the famous candy bar. The alcohol taste was hidden by the ice cream and chocolate here, so be careful when consuming these. These could become dangerous.

Last July, the Burger of the Month at Slater's made headlines nationwide for being one of the craziest bacon items ever seen on a menu. I definitely got caught up in the hoopla when I was dared by a waiter to eat the one-pound version of it. I finished it and have lived to tell the tale of vanquishing this ultimate bacon lovers burger, the 'Merica Burger. The core of this burger is a 100 percent bacon patty, yes you read that correctly, all bacon patty. It is then topped with a bacon-infused Thousand Island dressing, bacon cheddar cheese, a sunny-side-up egg, two strips of bacon, and, for good measure, a bacon pretzel bun. The bacon on this burger was definitely overpowering, to say the least. Many people took only a few bites of this, but true bacon lovers will love this burger, at least in moderation. You can read about my visit where I ate the pound version of this burger here. Coming out with this burger was the Milk Chocolate Guinness Signature Shake. Of course, this shake starts with Guinness Irish Stout and then is taken to shake form by adding vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, and Andes Mints. If you like mint, this is the shake for you.

The last course we were given was a double dose of dessert, which is always good if you are already full. The signature shake for this go-around was the S'Mores Shake. This campfire treat transforms to shake form with ice cream, toasted marshmallow syrup, crumbled graham crackers, chocolate syrup, and Three Olives Chocolate Vodka. This was my favorite shake of the night. The graham cracker really brought the s'mores taste out for me. Known for their over-the-top desserts, Slater's outdid themselves with introducing the 50/50 Bacon Blondie. For those unfamiliar with blondies, like me, they are brownies, but instead of chocolate, they are made with brown sugar and vanilla instead. This version came with a creamy peanut butter frosting and candied bacon and was served a la mode. This was so good but oh so rich. It is best to split this between two or more people. A very lovely but filling end to our night at Slater's.

By the time we left Slater's 50/50, we needed to be wheeled out in a wheelbarrow. Man, were we stuffed. Most of the new items are a welcome addition to the ever-changing Slater's menu. I am always excited to see what the culinary team from Slater's has up their sleeve next. I will definitely be back for that grilled cheese and the bacon blondie. I'll probably skip the Merica Burger this time, though, because I am just recovering from eating it last year.

We thank the Slater's 50/50 Huntington Beach staff for making our night so great. They kept the food coming and enjoyed clearing plates and filling drinks while answering our questions. I would also like to thank all of the PR staff at Slater's, especially Heather Pimentel, who reached out to us with the invite. Thanks so much for thinking of us, Heather. Lastly, we would like to thank Scott Slater, who provided excellent food and was so nice to us when we saw him and gush all over his restaurants. We look forward to seeing you again soon, Scott.

For more information on the newest items at Slater's 50/50 or any other Slater's related information, click here: https://slaters5050.com/

A Meal Fit for a Monarch at King's Fish House?

King's Fish House

1521 W. Katella Ave.

Orange, CA 92867

I love when my parents anniversary rolls around. Not because of the reasons you may think though. Sure, I am happy and proud that they have been together for over 46 years, and are a stones throw away from 50 years of wedded bliss together. Yes, I am also happy for them because if there wasn't a "them" as a couple, I would not be here writing this food blog right now. I get it, I am proud of having them as my role models. I really like seeing the calender turn to their anniversary because it means that the long two month streak of having family holidays is coming to an end. No more presents to buy, at least until Fall, when all three of my nieces have birthdays. For at least two months there is nothing on our calender, other than the Fourth of July.

I decided to combo my parents anniversary and Father's Day into one dinner. I had a King's Fish House gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket for awhile now, so this would be a great opportunity to use it. We decided to meet up at King's at 6pm on a Friday night. The Angels were playing the Yankees, and there was lots of activity in the Stadium Promenade shopping center. The restaurant was packed, but my parents are notoriously early all the time, so they got us a table. Both Katie and I had been to King's Fish house before, but this would be my parents first time eating here. We reviewed King's early last year, and you can reminisce by looking at that review here.

King's Fish House is part of the King's Seafood Company which operates five other restaurants. There are now 11 King's Fish House locations, and three of those are located in Orange County, (Laguna Hills and Huntington Beach are the others). Started in 1945 by Lou and Mickey King, the company is now headed by their sons, Sam and Jeff King. The focus of all their restaurants is seafood, and that is what we were here to eat, so let's see how it all turned out for us.

If seafood is the most popular item on people's minds when they come into King's, the Sourdough Bread that you get at the start of each meal might be a close second. This half loaf of bread was served warm, and with plenty of butter. I could have probably hoarded this, but I decided I would share with my parents since it was their anniversary. See, I can be a giving person some of the time.

During our visit it was the Maine Lobster Festival, and Katie took full advantage of this by getting the New England Lobster Roll ($23.75). This sandwich is offered either Classic style or Connecticut style. The classic sandwich comes with mayo and is served cold. Katie selected this sandwich Connecticut style, which is served warm, with only butter and a few green onions on top for some color. This is my preferred version of this sandwich also. The bun was a toasted hot dog bun, which is top split, so the lobster and butter do not slide out. This sandwich is of course was very rich. The lobster was prepared well, and the bun had a good crunch to it. I was a little disappointed with the amount of lobster in this sandwich though. For an over twenty dollar sandwich I thought it should have been stuffed with more lobster, but that was my only complaint with this sandwich. Even though the menu at King's did not mention anything about side items, Katie did get to choose two of their Sidekicks. She opted for the Red Potato Salad and the Coleslaw. The potato salad was the better of the two. It had a very good dressing over the potatoes, which were cooked well. A very solid potato salad. The coleslaw was a little on the bland side. The cabbage was crunchy, but that might have been due to the lack of dressing used in this. Not the side item to choose here.

I would consider my Mom to be a fish and chips connoisseur. Almost anytime we have been to a seafood restaurant, this is her "go to" dish. This was the case at King's Fish House as well. These Beer Battered Fish and Chips ($15.75) really made my Mom happy. She exclaimed that she could not think of one bad thing to say about this meal. She was very happy with the batter and the fish inside of it. This was served with coleslaw and french fries. She thought that the fries were very good, as she is partial to smaller fries. She thought the coleslaw was just okay.

My Dad really took some time perusing the menu at King's. After a lengthy deliberation he selected the Hazelnut Crusted Farm Raised Salmon ($21.95). This salmon was served with a lemon butter sauce. My Dad was very pleased with his meal also. He thought the fish was cooked well, and that the hazelnut crust did not overpower the fish, but rather complimented it. He would not hesitate to get this dish again. For his side items he got the Garlic Mashed Potatoes and the Cheesy Grits. The mashed potatoes were okay, but the grits really blew them out of the water. I have had these before, and they are a must get side item when coming to King's Fish House. They have a great texture and the cheesiness that accompanies them adds a great flavor. My Dad cleared his plate pretty quickly.

I got a similar meal to my Dad's choice, the Macadamia Nut Crusted Wild Alaskan Halibut ($29.95). I almost always get the sand dabs when I am here, so I decided to change it up a bit. This was a very well prepared fish. The macadamia nuts kind of overshadowed the fish's natural flavor, and they could have used a little more of the orange ginger butter sauce that was poured over this, but I did end up enjoying my meal. For my two side items I got the Sauteed Spinach and the Macaroni and Cheese. The spinach was cooked nicely, just enough to say it was not soggy. The macaroni and cheese was okay. It had a very nice bread crumb topping, but it really lacked a cheesiness that you want to have when consuming macaroni and cheese. Should have got the cheesy grits instead.

By this time we were all pretty stuffed, but we decided we would split a dessert four ways. We all decided on their seasonal dessert offering, the Salted Caramel Ice Cream Sandwich ($7.75). This ice cream sandwich started with what I believe to be the same bun used on the lobster roll, then two scoops of caramel flavored ice cream are placed inside, and sprinkled with Alaea red salt. The last part of the dessert is a healthy pour of caramel sauce. We all really liked this rich dessert. The bread resembled a french toast type of feel to it, and the salt helped to cut the sweetness of the other items. Pretty well balanced dessert, and something we would all get again.

King's Fish House was a good choice to celebrate my parents anniversary and Father's Day. Both of my parents were really happy with their first time experience at King's. As we were walking out, my Mom told me that she could not find anything wrong with her meal and the experience that we had at King's. It's true, we had great service from start to finish during this meal. Our server, Andrew, really kept great tabs on us all night, even though the restaurant was full from the time we sat down, until the time we left. I feel that King's is definitely one of the better chain seafood restaurants around. Way better than that colored lobster place, and worlds better than one of my worst restaurants ever, Bubba Gump's. Sorry Forrest. I do kind of feel that the prices are a tad too high for the amount of seafood that you get, but King's is a solid choice for fish. I believe my parents have found a new favorite seafood restaurant. Now I am going to enjoy the next few months with no family birthdays or celebrations.

Out of five tridents, (because King Neptune, is the Roman God of the sea, and he holds a trident in his hand), five being best to zero being worst, King's Fish House gets 3 tridents.

For more information on King's Fish house, go to their web site here: http://www.kingsfishhouse.com/

Finding Anything But Common Food at 370 Common - CLOSED

Three Seventy Common Kitchen + Drink

370 Glenneyre St. 

Laguna Beach, CA 92651

It must be difficult for Katie to pick where to take me for my birthday. She knows that I am pretty picky when it comes to restaurants. Not that I would be totally upset with her if we went to a bad place, or even a mediocre one. I try to view it as just part of the journey of this restaurant blog. This year Katie just asked to see our restaurant wish list. She picked one off of the list, made reservations, and then we were off, with me being more clueless than usual. I had it narrowed down to two places when we arrived in Laguna, and I was very excited when we arrived at 370 Common.

370 Common is on almost every OC foodies wish list of places to eat. It has been on my list since I read an article about it in Orange Coast magazine. That was more than a year ago when that article piqued my interest, and 370 Common has been open for two years this September. If you remember where Sorrento Grille was, 370 Common now occupies that same space. In fact, Chef Ryan Adams used to be the Executive Chef at Sorrento, but after that restaurant group faced money problems, Chef Adams jumped in and bought the place. I never went to Sorrento Grille, but from what I have been able to gather in other reviews, the restaurant has not changed too much.

We got to 370 Common at about 5:30 on a Sunday night. Unknown to Katie, Sundays at 370 Common are called, "Sunday Social Dinners", where they do away with their regular menu, and have one set menu for the evening. From what our waiter told us, they rotate the protein type, but the one mainstay per month is the fried chicken dinner, which has almost achieved cult status at this point. We missed out on that, but we decided the menu that was offered on this particular Sunday night was definitely worth staying for, so we grabbed a seat in the open and airy dining room. When we sat down they were not particularly busy, but as our meal progressed, the tables filled up around us. Our waiter came over and took our drink orders, and since it was a set menu, there was no ordering to do. The cost of this Sunday Social dinner was $30 per person, and does not include drinks, tax, or gratuity. Not a bad price for a three course meal with side items. The parade of food gradually made its way to our table. This is how it came out.

Before we get to the Sunday Social part of the meal, when we sat down we were presented with this bread plate. Pretty standard fair here. The bread had a good chew to it, the butter was soft, and the three pieces of this disappeared very quickly. I'm not sure what it is, but every time a bread basket is placed in front of us at a restaurant, we act like we have just crossed the desert, and this is the first food we have eaten in weeks. It could be that we don't have bread baskets when we eat at home, so maybe it's just the novelty of it.

The Sunday Social menu is all served family style, so Katie and I had plenty of salad to split between the two of us. Starting things off was this Marinated Vegetable Salad. When this first hit the table I was a little skeptical that I would enjoy this salad, but I was wrong. I generally enjoy creamy dressings, such as ranch or blue cheese, but this herb vinaigrette was delicious. The produce used in this salad, along with all the vegetables used during this dinner, were hand picked by the chef at local farmer's markets. You could definitely taste the freshness. This salad contained mixed greens, red and yellow peppers, pearl onions, Parmesan cheese, tomatoes, and croutons. My favorite parts of this very well made salad were the grilled pearl onions and the croutons, which really grew on me as I consumed this salad. A very strong start to our Sunday dinner.

Okay, so I guess that I did lie to you when I said that there was no other options for the Sunday dinners, because they do offer a vegetarian option, which is what Katie went with. The vegetarian option the night we were here was a Vegetable Pappardelle Pasta. This had a plethora of veggies included in this; watermelon radishes, pearl onions, mushrooms, peas, and others that I did not catch. The sauce was a wonderfully made pesto. Katie really enjoyed this dish, with the house made pasta, the flavorful pesto, and the fresh vegetables. She made very quick work of this meal, which was a larger serving size than it appears in these pictures.

Unlike Katie, I was very excited for the meat portion of the Sunday dinner, which just happened to be this glorious Pork Chop in a spicy wash. Quite simply, this is the best pork chop I have had to date. The pork was tender, and the flavor was fantastic. My only minor complaint is that there could have been more sauce served with this, but I tend to like a heavy hand when it comes to sauces. The chop was moist enough without an excess of sauce though. The bones were picked clean after I got done with this pork chop. This was served on a bed of Garlic Herbed Mashed Potatoes that had a great texture, very smooth, and the flavor was good, even without a lot of detectable garlic flavor. Very well made mashed potato. This plate really had my head spinning, as I fell in love with it. I felt like a 14 year old kid getting the chance to sit next to his high school crush in class. Yes, it was that good.

Even though there was no way that the side dishes could compete with that pork chop, they were still pretty good. As my Mom could tell you, I am not a big fan of green beans, but the Green Beans here are not like the ones that she would serve us out of the can. These were fresh, and topped with crispy shallots, chile, and lemon. Good enough to make me change my mind about green beans, at least ones that are not from a can. The other side dish was Bacon Roasted Summer Squash. The squash was grilled perfectly, with just the right combination of pepper and smokiness from the bacon. This was the clear winner in my opinion of the two side items. Even with just the two of us, we had no problem finishing the squash.

Again, I was a little apprehensive when we were given our dessert at the end of this meal. I am probably one of the few people you know that does not enjoy fresh berries, but this Berry Pound Cake really surprised me. The berries and pound cake were joined on the plate by mascarpone and vanilla bean ice cream. The best part of this for me was the pound cake and the ice cream. The pound cake was a much better option than that spongy shortcake that most places use. This had a great sweetness to it, and did not get soggy even with the toppings. The mascarpone was not as sweet as whipped cream, which helped to balance out this dessert a bit. Another winner.

If you just looked at the pictures of this review, and did not read what I wrote, I can sum 370 Common up in one word, "great". I'm not saying this Sunday Social menu is for everyone though. Some people like to make their own choices when they are in a restaurant, so those people should come to 370 Common on any night but Sunday. It is kind of scary being at the whim of the chef, but this Sunday dinner really proves that you can not go wrong with Chef Adams. Even though there were some things on this menu that I am not too fond of, he presented them in a way that made me like them, which is the goal of any great chef. I really thought this Sunday dinner was a great value. $30 per person for all of this food, and we even had some leftovers to take home for lunch the next day. The service was very good on the night we were here, our waiter, and everyone else we came in contact with really talked this restaurant up quite a bit. It's awesome to see so many people proud of where they work. We look forward to coming back again and trying their regular menu, but we will not hesitate to come back on a Sunday either. Good choice for my birthday dinner Katie. Job well done.

Out of five lemons, (no, not because I am sour about getting older, but because one of the sister cities for Laguna Beach is Menton, France, home of a Lemon Festival held every February), five being best to zero being worst, 370 Common gets 4 lemons.

For more information about 370 Common, click here: http://www.370common.com/