Anniversary Dinner Part Two

Coastal Kitchen

34091 Pacific Coast Highway

Dana Point, CA 92629

It was a few days after my parents took Katie and me out to celebrate our third wedding anniversary, and after a night of having leftovers from that dinner, Katie's parents wanted us to grace them with our presence to celebrate the big three-year mark. I think they were just surprised that Katie was able to put up with me for this long. As is the custom when we are going out to dinner, I give her mom and dad a list of four restaurants to try, and they decide where we are going to meet. This time they chose Coastal Kitchen in Dana Point.

Coastal Kitchen has been around for close to two years now. Owned by a husband and wife team, Micahel and Christina Grant, both of whom met and worked at Hillstone Restaurant Group, which locally runs Bandera, R + D Kitchen, Gulfstream, and others.  The Hillstone Group runs some of my favorite restaurants, and you can see the subtle touches that the owners have picked up from their former employer in the menu layout, a sleek, yet casual restaurant environment, and even a few menu items, (I'm looking at you trout dip).

Located in a nearly hundred-year-old building on the corner of Blue Lantern and PCH, they did a great job of retooling this restaurant, which dates from the 1920's. Back then it was a cafe and service station for weary travelers that were shuttling between San Diego and Los Angeles. The redone dining space is beautifully decorated in blue and white, with plenty of booths, a rambunctious bar scene, and a tinge of a nautical theme. Also, if you do visit Coastal Kitchen, make sure to take the short walk a block south to the gazebo that overlooks Dana Point Harbor. One of the best views in OC.

The menu at Coastal Kitchen is separated into starters, salads, sandwiches, entrees, and sides. Sandwiches hover around the $17 dollar mark, while bigger entrees range between $18 to $43. Each section of the menu features more than a handful of options for your dining pleasure. I have read some positive and some negative reviews about this place in print, and I was ready to form my own opinion. Let's see which way I was going to come down on the food at Coastal Kitchen.

When we are out with Katie's family, they always order appetizers and on this evening we had three, starting with this Roasted Red Pepper Hummus ($9). This big mound of hummus was topped with an olive tapenade, which I'm not really a fan of, but it helped balance things out here. I did not really get too much spice from the red pepper hummus, but the consistency was spot on, firm but easily scooped with the provided tortilla chips. The ratio of chips to hummus was off by a lot, but we asked for more chips and they obliged us. 

Confession time. This was my first time ever having Parker House Rolls ($5). At Coastal Kitchen they come to the table in a cast iron skillet with an herbed butter plopped in the middle of the four rolls. Since there were four of us, I only had one but I enjoyed it very much. A nice, slightly crunchy outer layer and pillowy soft inside. The outside was studded with specs of salt which went well with the slightly sweet bread. The herbed butter did not add too much to these, and I would have liked to have tried this with just regular butter instead. Glad I can finally say that I've had Parker House rolls.

Pork Belly Bites ($12) were a favorite of Edwin from the OC Weekly when he ate here, so I knew I'd be trying them. The only problem was that they come four to an order and I know Katie and her parents are probably not going to have any, and I know that I shouldn't eat this much pork belly all by myself. I convinced Dennis to have one and Katie committed to a half, so I decided that was good enough and we got them. Pork belly is always delicious, and these were no exception. These big cubes are like bacon on steroids. Fried nicely on the outside with a thin batter, while the inside is soft and has all the flavor that you enjoy about bacon, but in a more solid form. I also liked the use of the ginger glaze, which sweetened things up a bit and helped to cut the saltiness. Nicely done, but make sure you have some help with these. Even I know that all this pork belly is not good for you.

Both Katie and her mom got the same Chicken BLT Sandwich ($17) but with different sides. When this sandwich came to the table it took me back to what Katie had when we visited R + D Kitchen over a year ago. It appears that they use the same bread, and the chicken is breaded and pounded thin just like the Ding's Crispy Chicken sandwich at R + D.  At Coastal they differentiate this sandwich from that one by adding bacon, swiss cheese, mayo, and arugula to it. Katie liked this sandwich as it was not too heavy, but still had nice textures and flavors going for it. The arugula and crispy chicken had some nice crunch, while the bacon added smokiness. The menu states that you can get either slaw or fries for your side, but our server told us any of the sides were an option. Katie took advantage of this loophole by trying their Fried Cauliflower. She should have stuck with the fries or slaw. The cauliflower was very boring, over fried, and really needed some sort of sauce to pizzaz it up a bit. I liked the red cabbage slaw a lot. A nice mix of shredded carrots and red and green cabbage gave this a nice crunch, and the liberal use of a delicious dressing made this side a winner in my book.

Katie's dad Dennis loves to have soup for dinner, and that was his plan when he heard that they were serving one of his favorites on this evening, New England Clam Chowder ($9). This bowl came out piping hot and added to the chowder was some crumbled bacon and croutons. He must have loved this as it did not last too long.

After checking out the menu at home before stepping foot in here, I had narrowed my dinner options to about half a dozen before our night out at Coastal Kitchen. When I finally was sitting at the table, at the moment of truth, I ordered the Cuban Sandwich ($17). This Cuban utilized braised pork shoulder, black forest ham, Swiss and Muenster cheeses, and plenty of pickles and mustard seeds. I thought this sandwich was just okay. I noticed that it was missing something when I ate it, and it was mustard. The mustard seeds on this were just odd, and too many pickles kind of overpowered here. The meats and cheeses were good, the bread nicely toasted but this sandwich needed yellow mustard to round it out. I also took our server's suggestion to try another side item rather than the suggested slaw or fries and went with the Roasted Brussels Sprouts. Not so good. The sprouts were way over roasted, with some being burnt. The kitchen staff must love mustard seeds, as they were on the sprouts as well and did little to help these poor things out. These Brussels sprouts have sent the sprout movement back a few decades.

Our server really talked up the desserts here, but we only had room for one. He suggested that we definitely had to try the S'Mores Pie ($9). A graham cracker crust supports the chocolate custard and the slightly torched marshmallow meringue above it. I liked this dessert but was not in love with it. The graham cracker crust and the rich chocolate custard were good, but the merigue was wasted on me, as I'm not really into either marshmallows or meringue. I moved it off to the side and just ate the rest. I know I'm weird not liking one of the key components of a s'more, but I've been that way ever since I was a kid. We'd go camping and I'd be the only one eating just the chocolate and graham crackers.

I can now understand the mixed reviews for Coastal Kitchen, even though I do not support the harshness of one of the reviewers that did not have a positive experience here at all. There were some hits for me on this visit, the pork belly, clam chowder, parker house rolls, and the coleslaw. These give me hope that there are some hidden gems on this menu, maybe one of the other five items I should have had instead of the Cuban sandwich that I eventually went with. I'm intrigued by the trout dip, the burger, the ribeye, and the ice cream sundae for my next visit. Service was excellent, as our server was not worried about turning over tables quickly, as he was making sure that our dinner went at our desired pace. Very comforting, just like the feel of Coastal Kitchen. It has the feel of a great restaurant, and it might be, but not based on what we had on this one visit. 

Out of five pilgrims, (because Dana Point is named after Richard Henery Dana, a lawyer from Massachussets, who came to California aboard the Pilgrim in 1834), five being best to zero being worst, Coastal Kitchen gets 3 pilgrims.

For more information about Coastal Kitchen, head to their website here: http://www.coastalkitchendanapoint.com/

Anniversary Dinner Part One - CLOSED

La Bettola

18504 Yorba Linda Blvd. 

Yorba Linda, CA 92886

It's anniversary time, which means both sets of our parents want to take Katie and me out to celebrate our three years of wedded bliss. Between our parents, they have 97 years of marriage combined. There is some pretty impressive stuff there, and it is something to aspire towards. I'm always up for dinner with our parents. Not only will we get a free meal out of the situation, but we might also be able to glean a little insight into a lasting marriage. First up was dinner with my parents, a visit back to my hometown of Yorba Linda, and a restaurant I've wanted to try for years, La Bettola.

La Bettola is situated on the corner of Lakeview and Yorba Linda Boulevard, in the middle of the tiny Firestone Village shopping center, including a 7-Eleven, Auto Zone, and Round Table Pizza. They have been here for over 15 years, and this would be my and my parent's first visit, even though my parents have lived in the Land of Gracious Living for over 40 years.

Very dim but brightened up a bit with stringed lighting hanging from the ceiling. There are maybe 15 tables in this Italian bistro, but even in this relatively small space, I did not feel we were right on top of other diners. The menu here was different from what appears online. The online menu features many items that are not listed on the restaurant menu we were given, but we were assured by our server that they could make whatever we were craving. Prices range from $15 to $28 for the pasta entrees, and the more substantial chicken, veal, and steak entrees are priced at $20 up to $34 for their New York steak. Even though my parents were generous enough to pay the bill this evening, I would not take advantage and have the steak. Let's take a look at what we did have, though.

Bread service was up first for us, and we all really enjoyed this Foccacia sliced in strips. It went well when we dipped it in the olive oil and balsamic. Our server was very generous about refilling this as we went through three baskets of this fresh bread without even blinking an eye.

I love it when Italian restaurants include a salad in the price of an entree. It's a nice touch, as is the case at La Bettola. The salad in the top picture is their House Salad, which included an excellent selection of mixed greens, shaved carrots, and tomato with a house dressing that was a very solid creamy vinaigrette. I'm usually partial to Caesar Salads ($4.50 upcharge), but here I thought it was just average and not worth the extra money for the more superior house salad. The Caesar, which included hearts of romaine, garlic croutons, and dressing, needed something added. It might have required a more substantial hand when applying the dressing, or some large parmesan squares would have livened up this drab Caesar.

My mom was pretty heartbroken to see that spaghetti was not on the menu like she had seen when she had perused the online version before coming here, but true to their word, La Bettola made her something that was not listed on their menu. This Spaghetti Bolognese ($17.95) was a very generous serving, and my mom allowed me to take her uneaten portion home for lunch the next day. I enjoyed the bolognese sauce, which had some excellent hunks of meat, and the pasta was done nicely. If this had been my entree, I would have added some sausage to this dish to make it even better.

When I looked at the pictures of the food at La Bettola on Yelp, I knew I would have this Fettuccine Meatball ($24.95). Yes, that is a softball-sized meatball sitting on top of a plate of fettuccine. The meatball included some cheese inside and was very dense. I was underwhelmed when I ate this in the restaurant, but my leftovers tasted awesome. The sauce, noodles, and meatballs may have had time to meld together. Italian leftovers always taste better the next day. Still trying to figure out why that is. I got this for the wow factor it would cause on Instagram, and I'd probably not get it again on future visits, but it ended up being a solid meatball and pasta dish.

My dad picked out something I also had my eye on, the Linguine Mala Femina ($21.95). This linguine is joined on the plate with chicken, sausage, sundried tomatoes, cajun spices, and a mellow white wine sauce. This dish had a slightly spicy tinge to it. The sausage was less prominent than I would have liked, but it was another solid dish. My dad, whose appetite is not as voracious as it once was, had no problem finishing this plate off, which was a good sign that he enjoyed this meal.

Last but not least, Katie will be having this Ravioli Special ($34.95 with chicken added). Inside the ravioli are mushrooms and cheese, with a wine-based sauce covering the well-made ravioli. She found the sauce to be delicious, while the ravioli themselves were good but did not knock her socks off. She'll try another dish the next time she visits La Bettola.

After leaving La Bettola, I had mixed feelings about this experience. First, I wish they would update their menu to include everything they offer. The online menu shows way more than the stripped-down menu presented to you tableside, and pictures on Yelp show even more items not listed on either the online or hard copy menu. Very confusing. I also do not usually comment on the pricing at the restaurants we eat at, but La Bettola's price point is a little out of whack, especially Katie's ravioli. Without the ten-dollar chicken topping her ravioli, her meal would still cost $25 for five ravioli containing only mushrooms and cheese. A little excessive. The food was okay here but needed to be better to warrant a return visit from us. Nothing really wowed us, but La Bettola is suitable for the people of Yorba Linda. This city needs more independent, locally-owned restaurants within its borders, especially regarding Italian food. Very happy my parents took us out to dinner, and even happier if we can live up to their outstanding example of what a marriage should be like. 

Out of five taverns (because bettola translates to a tavern in Italian, another thing that people from Yorba Linda have to do without), five being best to zero being worst, La Bettola gets 3 taverns.

La Bettola does not have a website, but you can find out more information about them on their Yelp page here: https://www.yelp.com/biz/la-bettola-yorba-linda

Heading to Hayashi in Our Neck of the Woods - CLOSED

Hayashi

27531 Puerta Real

Mission Viejo, CA 92691

I can finally report that Katie got a new job, which was much needed after the rather adventurous year and a half she spent at her old one. Even better than getting away from that place, she now only has a block and a half away commute. No more toll road fees, filling up with gas every few days, and the usual wear and tear on her car. As an added bonus, she even got a restaurant tip near where we live, as they brought food into the office during her first week. She was so impressed we had it for dinner that evening.

Hayashi has been here a lot longer than we have lived here. Their first Yelp review is dated from 2008, but they only get a little love from Yelpers because they only have 156 reviews in those ten years. It's not surprising since they are in a shopping center hidden behind the Kaleidoscope, and there needs to be a bigger anchor store to bring people into this shopping plaza. There is some construction at the vacated Sports Chalet spot, which I've heard is going to be a Mini Target, but it was not listed on the Target website, and I have nothing to confirm this other than a bit of hearsay that I've picked up on.

Whatever goes in here will hopefully increase foot traffic, although based on our visit, Hayashi does not appear to really need it. On the recent Wednesday evening when Katie and I visited Hayashi, the two-man culinary team behind this restaurant handled numerous to-go orders and a handful of orders for dining in with ease.

The low-key dining room is small and has about ten tables of two, which probably fills up with the numerous working professionals who inhabit the plethora of office buildings nearby. The menu at Hayashi is surprisingly extensive. They offer teriyaki plates and bowls, bento specials, over 20 varieties of sushi, noodles, and combo meals. 84 numbered things to choose from, direct from a tiny kitchen. Very impressive. We quickly made our choices at the register, and about ten minutes later, we were digging in. Let's see if I had the same love of this restaurant that Katie had when she had it at work.

It's not really too cold outside, but Katie started things off with this Chicken Ramen ($6.50). She loved this soup that came out lava hot in a metal bowl, which did little to cool it down too quickly. She claims that this had a tinge of spiciness, the chicken was flavored well, and she loved the rest of this bowl enough to come here two other times after this visit to have this for lunch. You can say she's addicted.

Not content with the soup, Katie also feasted on this Philadelphia Roll ($7.50). This Philly roll comes with, you guessed it, cream cheese, along with some salmon, cucumber, and avocado. I'm not too big of a fan of cream cheese, so Katie had this all to herself. She also enjoyed this. She called the fish very fresh and found it the perfect accompaniment to the chicken ramen.

On my first visit to Hayashi, I used the same strategy I use when eating in a barbecue or Mexican restaurant, getting a combo meal, and at Hayashi, that equivalent would be this BBQ Beef Bento Special ($9.25). I like doing this so you can try more of their menu all in one shot. This Bento special included 4 pieces of a California roll, a scoop of rice, miso soup, mixed green salad, 2 gyoza, and a choice of salmon, tempura, or what I got the BBQ beef. The beef was excellent and tender, but it would have been better if it was served a little warmer than it was and with more teriyaki sauce on it. Unlike a few Yelp reviewers, I found my California roll freshly made with plenty of crab and avocado inside the outer rice casing. I remember liking the gyoza, but they were not overly stuffed, which left the insides forgettable. The salad was good, with a very flavorful ginger dressing, where a little of it went a long way. The weak link of this plate was the miso soup, but I've never been blown away by any miso soup I've ever had, and that held true here.

Katie ended up loving her visit to Hayashi, while I liked it enough, but would come back again since it is so close to our place and will be convenient for dinners when we want to stay close to home. Hayashi is not really destination dining, but it is good enough if you are in the area craving quick and affordable Japanese cuisine. Service was rushed because they were busy with only two people running this place and a steady stream of customers filtering in. Still, they were polite and in control, promptly getting the food out. I'm so happy that Katie finally has a great work environment, and it has already led us to another spot in our heavy restaurant rotation when we want to stay close to home.

Out of five cabins (because Hayashi is a Japanese surname that translates to forest or woods, and there are tons of cabins in forested areas), five being best to zero being worst, Hayashi gets three cabins.

Hayashi has a very bare-bones website, but you can find their address and a menu on it here: http://famoushayashi.com/menu.html

Hoping La Choza Will Be a Good Choice - CLOSED

La Choza

7402 Edinger Ave.

Huntington Beach, CA 92647

I love restaurant lists. Half of the bookmarks I save on my web browser are restaurant lists. I can't resist the best Chinese food in OC or a list of the top ten most romantic restaurants. I quickly save these and use them for later. This brought us and our good friends Scott and Cynthia to La Choza in Huntington Beach.

In the middle of last year, OC Register restaurant critic Brad A. Johnson published his list of OC's 20 best full-service Mexican restaurants. I had been to fifteen of the restaurants on his list, and some I agreed with (Gabbi's Solita and Sol Agave), while others I was not so keen on (Puesto, Carmelita's, and one of the most overrated, Javier's). Lists are subjective, so I gave Mr. Johnson a pass on the clunkers that populated his list and decided to give some of the ones I had yet to eat a try. La Choza was one of those.

La Choza comes to us from Enrique Haro, who opened the original La Choza in West Los Angeles 1976. After a remodel, he renamed his Olympic Boulevard restaurant Tia Juana's and updated the menu by adding some seafood dishes. It stood until 2007 when they had to move to make way for Walgreens. Enrique brought back the La Choza name for the move to Huntington Beach. Still, he kept the Tia Juana's menu and many of the employees, including his mother, Alicia, who has run the kitchen since the first inception of La Chozza all those years ago.

Sitting across the street from an apartment complex and a block west of the always-busy Bella Terra Shopping Center, La Choza brings to mind the old-school Mexican restaurants I'd sometimes visit with my family. When walking into La Choza, a lady making tortillas behind a glass partition counts out the number of your party, and then the server sends over the freshly made tortillas. The whole restaurant feels old-school with its brightly painted walls and an extensive menu that features plenty of combo plates, seafood, burritos, and regional specialties from around Mexico. We could only talk for so long to Scott, who is always charismatic, so let's find out if La Choza belongs on the list of best Mexican restaurants in OC.

As always, I like to share what the Chips and Salsa look like when dining at a Mexican restaurant. These were run-of-the-mill tortilla chips, but I did enjoy the choice of having the red and green salsa. Both were solid flavorwise, with the green being a tad spicier, but I missed having some chunks included in these salsas. Some chopped-up tomatoes and onions would have made these a bit better.

I usually do not partake in alcohol when we are out; I usually try to focus on the food instead, but since Scott was going on and on about his love for his future bride, Cynthia, I felt the need to dull the pain of listening to this lovesick puppy by partaking in a Margarita on the Rocks ($8.75). Cynthia must have felt the same, as she had the Blended Margarita ($8.75). Both were solid, with a good balance of margarita mix and tequila, which was evenly distributed once I stirred it up with my straw. This was a little more tart than I usually like, but it did the trick of helping me forget what Scott was talking about. Man, that guy can be a real chatterbox.

Katie and I have gotten into Queso Fundidio ($7.75) since we started this restaurant blog, and with the fresh tortillas served here, we felt we needed to try this one. This was not the best version of this delicious starter that we have ever had. The menu claims this had chorizo, but if it did, it was just a tiny bit, and I did not detect any. I got some shredded chile strips but needed more to make this average. Not only was the flavor lacking, but the consistency of this needed to be corrected, and it was very oily. Not even La Choza's delicious tortillas could have helped this out.

As is her usual tradition in a Mexican restaurant, Katie always gets an appetizer of Guacamole ($7.95). She learned this from her dad, who I have seen do this many times in the almost decade I have known him. This was average guacamole. A little on the runny side, I like my guac the same way I like my salsa, with some chunks to it. This runny green puddle was splashed with a little tomato sauce (why?) and sprinkled with a few shreds of cheese, which did little to save this from being anything other than mediocre guacamole.

Most meals at La Choza include your choice of soup or salad, which I always appreciate. We all picked the salad, which fit in with the theme of our meal so far but was very lackluster in looks and taste. The iceberg lettuce was very pale and only garnished with a tiny amount of shredded carrots and very thin salad dressing. Until this point, La Choza was consistent with their food; bland, thin sauces, and not very photogenic. I would like a turnaround once our entrees come out for us.

The first plate to make its way out to us was Katie's, and she had the Two Taco Combination Plate ($14.95). The menu states that these are hard-shelled tacos, but they let her have one soft-shell chicken taco with their hard-shelled version. She felt this was an okay plate, nothing special. The tortillas highlighted her meal, but they could not hide the fact that the chicken was dry and bland. Not one of her favorites.

Mr. Personality, AKA Scott, selected this Carne Asada Burrito ($9.95) as his evening meal. This wet burrito was topped with red enchilada sauce and cheese, while the inside contained broiled steak, beans, and salsa ranchera. This was a large burrito, but our good friend Scott finished it like a champ. However, he was not too impressed with it, as the beef inside was a little bland. He'd probably get something else the next time he was here.

Scott's way better half opted for the simple Carne Asada Taco Combo Plate ($10.95). Cynthia chose to have this taco soft instead of crispy. She agreed with both Katie and Scott that this taco was nothing special and that she'd try something else next time she was here.

When I'm new to a Mexican restaurant, I usually gravitate towards Carnitas ($14.95) on my maiden visit. The carnitas at La Choza were listed under their menu's regional section, with Michoacan as their area of origin. I had heard that this was where this pork dish was created, but I had never had the pork prepared this way in little cubes. They were okay, but I missed the crispy ends when the carnitas were shredded. The beans and rice were adequate, but more guacamole would have been better. Kind of an awkward plate, and I'm in agreement that I'd probably get something different on another visit here.

I should have snapped a picture of the tortillas earlier, but I got this one before Katie snapped it up. The tortillas are the best thing about this restaurant, and to their credit, they were not shy about getting you some more when you scarfed down each round they'd bring.

It baffled me how La Choza could end up in the top 20 Mexican restaurants in the OC Register. Our experience was far from top list material, but as is the case with all of these lists, they are subjective, and restaurant reviewers have different tastes depending on their visits. Even though the food we ordered failed to impress, the tortillas were tremendous and made us wish that more Mexican restaurants would offer freshly made tortillas, even though it was time-consuming. None of us would return to La Choza, but please let us know if you have a different experience.

Out of five pizzas (because choza translates to hut in Spanish, and the most famous hut is probably Pizza Hut), five being best to zero being worst, La Choza gets 2 pizzas.

For more information about La Choza, head to their website here: https://www.lachozaoc.com/