Searchers of a Great Burrito at Duke's Cafe - CLOSED

Duke's Cafe

23030 Eastpark Dr. 

Yorba Linda, CA 92887

It's been a while since we've had breakfast out anywhere. There are a couple of reasons for this. We have been busy with family functions lately, and I have had to work on Sundays since my day job is short-staffed. I have yet to have time to watch my beloved Jacksonville Jaguars play this year. It's a blessing since they have started 2 and 5, but they are only one game out of first place in their dreadful division.

Anyway, I want to return to my search for the best breakfast burrito OC offers. It worked out perfectly because we would be up this way for my niece's birthday party, and they would just have pizza from Domino's. We opted out of that business and instead tried a reader's suggestion to try Duke's Cafe in my hometown of Yorba Linda.

Duke's was not here when I lived up this way. Located right near the TGI Fridays and Wahoo's Fish Tacos, this is off the beaten track, but it was still pretty busy on this particular Sunday, just before noon. Duke's reminded me of all those restaurants every neighborhood seems to have. You know, the spots with many items on their menu, like Tom's Place in Anaheim, Ted's down in Laguna Niguel, and Troy's in Orange. These restaurants all have breakfast as the focus of their menus, but there are many other options.

I was surprised walking into Duke's and finding such a big dining room. Ordering is done at the counter, and the food is brought to you. Even at this late breakfast hour, we had trouble finding a seat in the dining room. There's an attached private room that would have added more than enough seating, but it was closed off and only used for parties. The decor here, like the TVs, has an auto-racing theme. Even though it was football Sunday, all the TVs were turned to some motor sports. This could be a nod to famed Yorba Linda resident and drag racer John Force, who has headquarters about a block away. Like John Force in his races, I was excited to see if Duke's was worth burning rubber to try the food here. Let's check it out.

Katie is not usually one to have a breakfast burrito, but she succumbed to the pressure and tried their Egg Burrito ($4.79). This burrito lacked breakfast meats but contained hash browns, cheese, and salsa, which she opted for on the side. She felt this was a very manageable size for a breakfast burrito, as if they were not trying to shock you by serving a massive burrito. She enjoyed what she called "a solid breakfast burrito effort."

Since Katie tried the basic burrito model, I went with the all-out Ultimate Breakfast Burrito ($6.49). This one contained all three breakfast types of meat; ham, bacon, sausage, hash browns, cheese, and salsa. I agree with Katie that this was a very manageable burrito. I had no problem finishing it, but it did have its flaws. I like the meats in bigger chunks than here, and the grease poured out of this burrito. I did enjoy the hash browns, and there was plenty of cheese included in this, which was on the plus side. As I ate this breakfast burrito, I liked it less with each bite. It's not awful, but it's not my favorite breakfast burrito in OC to date by a long shot.

I knew these Buttermilk Pancakes ($5.49) would push me to the limit of my eating, but sometimes, I just crave pancakes. These three pancakes soaked up the syrup but were still dry, no matter how much I poured on them. They were like sponges. The buttermilk flavor was spot on, but I was not too big of a fan of these.

Duke's failed to live up to the hype of having one of the best breakfast burritos in OC. This restaurant is very average when it comes to breakfast. Maybe their omelets are the way to go here or something else we did not get to try during this visit. We had no qualms with the prices here or the service we encountered. They could have relieved the congestion in the dining room by clearing tables a little quicker, but that's just our casual observation on this particular Sunday afternoon. I hope to get some more Sundays off to continue my search for great breakfast burritos in OC.

Out of five stagecoaches (because my favorite John Wayne movie is Stagecoach, and of course, his nickname was Duke), five being best to zero being worst, Duke's Cafe gets 2.5 stagecoaches.

You can see their menu and get more information about Duke's Cafe by clicking here: http://www.dukescafeyl.com/#home

Dropping In On the Beach Barrel - CLOSED

Beach Barrel

3305 Newport Blvd. 

Newport Beach, CA 92663

Back when I started this blog six years ago, one of the first people that I met in real life was Niyaz Pirani. For those of you that read the popular OC Register Food Frenzy Blog, or know his work from the OC Weekly, or his past blog, Fat Dude on a Diet, you know about his great food writing. About a year or so ago, he moved up to Northern California to start a PR company, and those of us left in OC had lost a great champion for all things food in Orange County. The good news is he's now back based in OC, with his PR company, Knife and Spork Public Relations, and even better news, he's back writing again on his company's blog, which you can see here. He's now got quite the impressive lineup of restaurants in his portfolio, and I was thrilled when he invited me and my friend Ryan to try one of them, Beach Barrel in Newport Beach.

Beach Barrel is located on Newport Boulevard, right as you cross over the bridge going over PCH. It's on the right hand side of the street, across from the old Newport Beach City Hall. There's plenty of metered parking on the street, and also a small parking lot just past the restaurant on the right hand side.

Beach Barrel is owned by two friends, Jared Jones and Mac Carlson. Mac Carlson is one of the former owners of the highly rated Social in Costa Mesa. Jared is the founder of Midnight Muncheez, a late night delivery company, which suspended operation last year to focus on Beach Barrel. Beach Barrel is their take on a rustic, surfer style restaurant concept.

Even though the storefront is small, with tables adorned with pennies, surfing images hanging on the wall, and practically an open kitchen, the menu at Beach Barrel is pretty sizable. They have 7 varieties of flatbread pizzas, including a build your own option. There's nine different sandwiches to choose from, along with four unique hot dogs. There's also some salads for people who want a lighter meal, and of course some sides. The guys at Beach Barrel were generous enough to let us order a wide array of their greatest hits from their menu. I was excited to see what was going to be coming out for us from this small kitchen.

If you've read this blog for any amount of time, you probably know that my favorite sandwich in the world is a Cuban sandwich. It's the most balanced sandwich out there. There's the savory pork, the tang from the pickles, the creaminess of the cheese, and the crunch of the pressed bread. Unfortunately, Orange County does not have a lot of choices when it comes to authentic Cuban sandwiches, but now we have this wonderful option from Beach Barrel, the Playa Cubano ($12). This impressive sandwich starts with a very tasty citrus glazed shredded pork, smoked ham, Swiss cheese, Dijonnaise, and house made pickles, all of which is then pressed on the grill. The result is one of the better Cuban sandwiches in OC. It rivals my favorite one at De Simonne's in Huntington Beach. It's that good, and a fantastic start to our meal on this evening.

When I heard that this Shredder Sandwich ($10) was their version of a pulled pork sandwich, I had no doubt it was going to be good. The pork in the Cuban was tasty, so it reasoned that the pork in this sandwich would be good as well. The brioche bun was filled with the delicious pulled pork, slaw, and just enough BBQ sauce to not overwhelm the pork, but compliment it. The crunch from the slaw, along with the very well made bun rounded out this sandwich wonderfully. Not sure who their bread supplier is, but all the bread was great on this evening.

The entrees started to hit the table fast and furiously now, and this was our flatbread pizza choice on this evening, the Buff Chick ($11). I've been in the mood for buffalo wings lately, and this pizza quenched my cravings, for at least this night. This pizza was topped with mozzarella cheese, spicy chicken, buffalo sauce, blue cheese crumbles, celery, and a blue cheese dressing. This could have been a little spicier for my taste, but they got the essence of the buffalo style pizza down at Beach Barrel. I'm looking forward to trying their Jamaican style Jerk Pizza on my next visit here. We were able to sample their jerk seasoning , and it was very flavorful, with lots of spice. Right up my alley.

There's four varieties of quarter pound hot dogs on the Beach Barrel menu as well. We tried two of them, and my favorite one was the Street Dog ($8). This is not like any street dog you could get outside of Staples Center. This was way more complex. It starts with a very good toasted bun, which is topped with bacon, grilled jalapenos, caramelized red onions, Dijon mustard, cheddar and mozzarella cheeses. As you would probably expect, this one was filling and so good. The mozzarella surprisingly worked well here, and the jalapenos added a nice pop to this hot dog. The BBQ Bacon Cheddar Dog ($7) was a lot simpler, but pretty solid as well. An abundance of cheddar cheese was paired with a smattering of the mild barbecue sauce, and bacon crumbles. The hot dogs here taste like the meaty ones they have at Costco, which is one of my favorites.

Not on their printed menu, these Garlic Herb Fries were fried correctly, and flavored with just the right amount of garlic. They also had an awesome ranch dressing paired with them. The sauces at Beach Barrel are all made in house, with the exception of the jerk sauce, which is brought in from Jamaica. This ranch was phenomenal, and really had me craving a salad, which is rare for me. I also tried the blue cheese dressing, which was stellar as well. I'd get these fries again, just so I could try that delectable ranch.

Back to the sandwiches, and this Hawaiian inspired, Da-Kine Chicken Sandwich ($12). Shredded chicken, bacon, provolone, caramelized red onion, grilled pineapple, and a house made Sriracha teriyaki sauce, was piled high between the brioche bun. I'm kind of anti-pineapple on pizza for sure, and to a lesser extent sandwiches, but the unusual Sriracha teriyaki sauce, along with the bacon, helped to mask the pineapple here. A good sandwich that hit all the right notes. This was my buddy Ryan's favorite sandwich of the night.

Just when I started thinking that the only thing Beach Barrel was missing was a great burger, this Barrel Burger ($10) came out for us. Visually appealing, and just as delicious, this burger can rival almost any burger in OC. All the essentials are included on this burger. Melted cheddar cheese, romaine lettuce, tomato, red onion, a wonderful house made thousand island dressing, avocado, and grilled bell peppers, are all piled on the brioche bun to create this fantastic burger. I can admit I was a little leery about the bell peppers on this, but they actually worked to provide a good flavor profile to the burger. I'd probably add some bacon when ordering this the next time I'm here, just to make this burger even better.

By this time Ryan and I were getting pretty full, but Niyaz had insisted that we needed to try these Hawaiian Sticky Buns ($8). This dessert was just featured on the KTLA Morning News, and the guys at news desk loved this dessert, as evidenced by their eyes rolling back in their heads while sampling this. A four pack of Hawaiian rolls are topped with marshmallows, a homemade caramel pecan sauce, and a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream. Simple, but so delicious. Niyaz is astonished that during the heyday of food trucks, and everyone using Hawaiian rolls for everything, that no one's come up with this before. I'd have to agree with his sentiments. A very good finale to our time at Beach Barrel.

Beach Barrel is proof that great things come in small packages. They are really churning out some great food out of this tiny spot. Everything we tried on this night was a winner, and their is only two problems I see with Beach Barrel. One is that their location is very easy to miss, especially with all of the construction going on these days on Newport Boulevard, but this restaurant is definitely worth hunting down. The other thing Ryan and I discussed on our way home was that we would be unsure as to what to have on our next trip here. The Cubano would be my must have here, and with their great dressings that we tried, I'd probably get one of their salads, so I could save room for the Hawaiian Sticky Buns. Be advised that they have some funky hours. They are closed Monday and Tuesdays during the winter months, and only open for lunch Friday through Sunday. They are open late for you guys that are out in the bars, with a closing time of 3am on weekends. So now there's another option besides Laventina's for your late night hunger in Newport. Really impressive little place, but I should not be surprised since this place is being represented by Niyaz, and his great taste in food. Welcome home buddy.

If you would like to experience Beach Barrel for yourself, get all the details about them, their food, and location by heading to their website here: http://www.thebeachbarrel.com/

Back To Our List in Catalina

Maggie's Blue Rose

417 Crescent Ave. 

Avalon, CA 90704

Okay, so if you have been following along with this blog, you know that our last restaurant review was also from Catalina Island. We were on the island for a mini-vacation with Katie's family. They had me write out a bunch of places to dine at, then as soon as we got off the boat, they threw away my list and ate at one of their favorite spots, Mi Casita. You can see how that visit was by clicking here.

Not wanting to rehash an old wound, Katie and I set out on our own for lunch after spending some good quality family time at the beach. I was looking forward to getting out of the sun for a while, and we headed towards town. There were six places on my restaurant wish list, but we decided to have Mexican food again, hoping that Maggie's Blue Rose was going to be better than our last visit to a Mexican restaurant in Avalon. 

Maggie's Blue Rose is located directly across from the beach, directly below their sister restaurant, Steve's Steakhouse. There was plenty of foot traffic passing by this place, but we got right in at just before 1pm on a Saturday. Opened for just about a year and a half, Maggie's is one of the highest-rated restaurants on the island, receiving four stars on Yelp, and they also won an award at the Taste of Avalon in their first year in business. 

The menu here could definitely best be described as modern Mexican. Not heavy on combination plates, instead they offer Mexican favorites with a twist. Mole and duck seem to be a big draw at Maggie's, and maybe coming from the same kitchen as the restaurant above, their lunch menu has three different steaks on it, along with crab, lobster, and something that you always see in a Mexican restaurant, pasta alfredo. After lounging around in the sun all morning, I was definitely ready for some food, let's see what came out for us. 

First things first, I want to apologize in advance for these not so great pictures that I took at Maggie's. I had left my usual camera back at the beach house and shot these with my phone, which I hate doing, but I had to make do with what I had. Again, I'm sorry. Anyways, let's take a look at the Chips and Salsa that they brought out after we had ordered. These chips were pretty solid. They were thicker than most and had a great crunch to them. They tasted freshly made. I liked that they offered two salsas. The chunkier of the two was good, with a very good texture to it. It was mild and was definitely Katie's favorite. The habanero salsa had a great kick to it and is one of the spicier that I have had in a restaurant recently. 

No big table side mixing of the guacamole here at Maggie's, but it did not matter, because this Guacamole ($6) went very well with the chips and salsas. Not overly seasoned, it had a good texture to it, with just the right amount of chunk. It could have used some jalapenos to spice things up, but otherwise a much better version than what we had at our first Mexican restaurant on Catalina.

Entrees made their way out of the kitchen rather fast at Maggie's, and within 5 minutes we were eating. Katie selected the Chicken Verde Tacos ($11), which contained shredded chicken, pickled onion, a little jicama slaw, and cilantro crema, all wrapped in a homemade tortilla. She threw out adjectives like delicious, tender, and flavorful to describe these tacos. She really enjoyed whatever the chicken was sauteed with. The tacos come with your choice of rice and beans, Katie got the cilantro rice with the vegetarian black beans, which she said rounded out the meal nicely. She'd definitely get this again.

Visually appealing for sure, I was pretty excited to try these Mole Braised Duck Enchiladas ($16). I really enjoy duck, but it kind of got overwhelmed by the mole. This mole was a good version, with plenty of complexity to it. Maybe if there was a little more of the duck meat in these enchiladas, it would have stood out more. The refried beans and Mexican rice were lighter than expected, but also could have used a little more seasoning. Still a very good lunch though.

Maggie's Blue Rose blew away our first restaurant experience on Catalina. Not really much of a contest though. The food at Maggie's at least tasted like something, which is sometimes a challenge in touristy areas. I really liked their take on modern Mexican food, and I did not think the prices were too crazy out of whack, as they can be in Avalon. Our server was right on top of things during our stay, and like I said, the food came out rather quick. We'd definitely eat here again on future visits to Catalina. It's easy to see how this place made it on our list of restaurants to eat at this weekend.

Out of five crowns, (because in some cultures the blue rose symbolizes royalty), five being best to zero being worst, Maggie's Blue Rose gets 3 crowns.

Maggie's Blue Rose does not have a website, but you can find out more info about them on their Yelp page here: https://www.yelp.com/biz/maggies-blue-rose-avalon?sort_by=date_desc

Another Stellar Year at the Newport Beach Wine and Food Festival

Newport Beach Wine and Food Festival

Newport Beach Civic Center

100 Civic Center Drive

Newport Beach, CA 92660

In only it's second year, the Newport Beach Wine and Food Festival is the one event that I look forward to every year. This is like my Christmas morning. Eating, drinking, mingling with chefs, having a great time with my food writer friends, great people watching, and enjoying the beautiful Southern California sunshine. What could be better? The answer is, not much. This year was extra special as Katie and I bought our parents tickets to this premiere event to thank them for everything they have done for us this year.

Just like last years event, the Newport Beach Wine and Food Festival returned to the beautiful grounds of the Newport Beach Civic Center. This two day event is not just about great food and wine, it's also about helping end the cycle of homelessness, one child at a time. Some of the proceeds from this wonderful event benefit Project Hope Alliance, a great organization that strives to provide housing, education, and most importantly, hope to Orange County's homeless population. So since you are doing something good for the community, there's an added bonus to enjoying yourself on a wonderful fall afternoon in one of the best cities in the United States.

Even though this is a two day event, due to craziness at my real job, I could only attend one day unfortunately, but that one day was enough to wear me out. I left this event full, and feeling pretty good. It might be pleasure overload if I attended both the Saturday and Sunday sessions. This year there were two different lineups of chefs under the two white tents of the Grand Tasting Pavilions. There are also chef demos with some pretty big names in the cooking world going on at this festival. Hubert Keller, Rick Bayless, Rick Moonen, and others made their way to Newport Beach to share some of their cooking secrets. There were more wineries pouring here than I could count, and they were sampling their best wines to festival goers. There was also wine seminars given by Master Sommelier's, which were both informative and fun. All of this was great, but I was here to eat as much as I wanted, and was really impressed with the fantastic lineup of restaurants on the second day of this event. Let's see what they had in store for us.

Before we get to the food, I had to try one of these Newport Swizzle Drinks from the good folks at Cruzan Rum. Checking out my Instagram feed from the first day of the Newport Beach Wine and Food Festival, these were a real hit with people that attended the first day. Using a half a watermelon as a glass, this cocktail included Cruzan white rum, lime, mint and bitters. Sweetened by the watermelon, this was a very refreshing drink, and brought to mind the kind of drink you might find on Gilligan's Island, complete with paper umbrella.

Our first food stop was at Andrea at Pelican Hill booth. I knew this afternoon was going to be a success with my parents when they were willing to try this Ricotta Cavatelli with Wild Boar Ragout and Porcini Mushrooms. My parents are pretty straight forward eaters, and not usually comfortable eating something they have never tried before, like boar. They not only ate this, but had an extra one. I knew after this, we were going to be in for a great day.

Roy's is one of those restaurants I never think about going to, even though I had a pretty great dinner there once. Chef Vega had Ahi Poke served on top of Yucca Chips for us. This poke was very fresh, and seasoned well. Not too surprised that a Hawaiian restaurant like Roy's knows how to do poke. Delicious.

Fig and Olive has been on my radar for awhile now, and this Fall Sea Scallop has nudged me into moving them higher on our list of restaurants to hit up. Scallops are one of my favorites, and this one had quite a lot going on with it. It was served with a wonderful cauliflower puree, a cauliflower semolina, lime juice, slivered almonds, parsley, cilantro, roasted almond oil, and citrus dressing. The scallop was done perfectly, not rubbery, tender, and the items on the side really enhanced the scallop. Really well done, and we can't wait to try this restaurant.

I was a little bummed that Del Frisco's was not sampling their famous ahi tacos, but they quickly made up for it with these offerings. Both the Pork Taco with jicama slaw and the Pulled Pork with Chips proves that Del Frisco's does swine very well. Their offerings were rounded out with a smooth and lighter than you'd expect Butterscotch Pudding.

The very talented Chef at Five Crowns, Steven Kling broke with tradition, when instead of serving their restaurant's signature prime rib, opting instead for this very well made Minced Duck. This was served on a crispy won ton, which kind of gave the impression of an upscale nacho. Duck is always a favorite of mine, and this was no exception. I came back here numerous times during my visit to snag more of these.

More ahi was in store when visiting the Stonehill Tavern at St. Regis Monarch Beach booth. Their version of ahi was served on a salted seaweed chip. This was my first time having a seaweed chip, and I have to admit that it was a great vessel for the tuna.

Not just because I'm a Ducks fan, but one of my favorite OC chefs is Jo Jo Doyle from the Honda Center. The two times I have met him, he's always been so personable, and answers all of my dorky questions. He also makes some awesome food as well, like this Espresso Beef Cheek. This little bite had a lot going on with it. Along with the coffee tinted beef there was some vanilla and a little bourbon flavor going on here, along with a sweet potato pudding. Very tasty. We are looking forward to eating many meals at honda Center during this hockey season.

No stranger to food festivals, Andrew Gruel's Slapfish was here with one of the longer lines for their Clobster Roll. This 50/50 mix of crab and lobster had people swinging back into line after they finished their first one. Seasoned simply to allow the true taste of the crab and lobster to shine through, this was my parents favorite bite of the event.

The guys over at Boathouse Collective were offering a cocktail to guests visiting their booth, the Good Eye Mighty. This citrus based beverage used lime and pineapple juice, along with vodka and yellow chartreuse. Equal parts sweet and sour, this was a very well balanced cocktail. For their food offering, Boathouse had a Japanese Potato Puree Cake. A very comforting bite of food.

The chefs at the Newport Beach Wine and Food Festival must have all been inspired by lemons, because we were not done having lemon based foods yet. Laguna Beach's own Montage Resort had a Meyer Lemon and Tangerine Meringue, and also some very tasty Lemon Macarons with olive oil and vanilla. I'm not much into lemon, but these macaroons were nice, with an outer crunch to them, and their trademark softer inside.

Not the best looking dish at the festival, but this Lemongrass and Maryland Crab Wonton had big time flavor. Not something I would normally associate with Anqi, which is located at South Coast Plaza, this had a very nice sauce to go along with it.

Studio, which is located at the Montage Resort in Laguna, had Octopus served atop eggplant and a cauliflower cacciatore. My parents shied away from this because of the octopus, but I love octopus, and loved this plate. Really tasty, and I liked the detail they used in presenting this.

Speaking of presentation, A and O Kitchen at the Balboa Bay Resort had boxes of bones that they used to plate their Bone Marrow with tomato confit and micro greens. Bone marrow is always a winner in my book, and this bone marrow cream was delicious. Also a little out of the box was their Foie Gras Cream Cones topped with Washington state huckleberries. I've never had foie in this form before, but this was the first of two times I would have it this way on this afternoon.

I saved my favorite booth for last, and what a production that was going on at Selanne Steak Tavern. Never one to take the easy route, Chef Joshua Severson offered four items for the festival attendees. Who says you can't have dessert first? Macaroons were big at this years event, and the two offered here were the Hazelnut Nougat and a Reese's Pieces Macaroon. No surprise to anyone, but I loved the Reese's version, and smuggled a few out in Katie's purse. Unfortunately they did not make it all the way home before I finished them off. No willpower. I also had no willpower when it came to the Brandt Beef Prime Short Rib braised in Cabernet and topped Crater Lake blue foam. I had this at last years event, and it just doesn't get old. They definitely do beef right at Selanne's. Not sure what was going on, but Selanne's had the exact same Foie Gras Cream Cone with huckleberry that was served at A and O Kitchen. Maybe one of them needed to borrow an item or something. Lastly, even though it has been so hot around these parts, I still enjoyed two helpings of this Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with a hazelnut marshmallow. Real tasty with a touch of sweetness.

This year's Newport Beach Wine and Food Festival was even better than last years, and that's saying something. Even now, weeks past this event, my parents are still raving about it, and making plans to attend next years, which in case you were wondering is going to take place October 1st and 2nd, with the launch party happening on September 30th. I'll pass along more details as I get them, and I look forward to seeing how they are going to top themselves, if that's even possible. I really enjoyed that there were two lineups of restaurants per day, and even though the wine selection was phenomenal, they also featured plenty of cocktails and beer for us non-wine drinkers. My only wish is that I didn't have to wait another 11 months to do it all over again.

If you want to keep up with all of the happenings going on with the Newport Beach Wine and Food Festival, head over to their website here: http://www.newportwineandfood.com/