Eat. Travel. Eat!

  Having read Edwin Goei of Monster Munching's positive review of California Fish Grill and a recent feature on its poke on Stick a Fork In It of OC Weekly and being in the mood for poke and cooked fish while in Irvine, we finally visited California Fish Grill, a fast-casual seafood joint. During our weekday visit at lunchtime, it was packed, with local employees and families coming in for lunch. Both indoor and outdoor seating were packed except for the bar near the kitchen, people were ordering both take in and take out, and the kitchen's grill was completely filled with fish filets. Talk about good business! We began our meal with the New England Clam Chowder Bowl (4.49 USD) , a large bowl for a very reasonable price. It was not jam packed with clams, nor was it very heavy on the clam flavor (instead favoring the cream instead), but it was freshly made, with the potatoes cut into sharp cubes, and veggies cut into small pieces. We also liked that it came with oys...

We heard about Santa Monica Seafood as a reputable place to not just buy fish, but also to eat, and thus visited Santa Monica Seafood during a trip to Orange County. During our first visit, the cafe had just opened (11 AM), and being one of the first customers, they were very attentive, immediately requesting drink orders and introducing us to their daily specials. Bread and butter were available on request after ordering, and it was quite delicious-- fresh, crusty sourdough bread with a tender interior coupled with soft, unsalted butter! We had plenty of this. We wanted a smaller lunch, and so we went for soup and oysters. First, we ordered the large New England Clam Chowder (8 USD), a highly recommended item according to our waitress.

Our last visit to Sagami went so well that we recently visited it again. This time, we were just as satisfied, and ran into a great special item!

Recently, we were looking for another restaurant to try out near South Coast Plaza, and stumbled upon Bella Cuba. It happened to receive positive reviews from social media as well as from Gustavo Arellano from the OC Weekly , so we decided to check it out. Conveniently, it was just across the street, and housed in the same plaza as Inka Mama's, a restaurant we had just recently visited. What a coincidence! Inside, we were met with a festive interior and plenty of hungry lunchgoers, even though it was already approaching 2 in the afternoon. Though we were first immersed in the large-printed lunch menu , a specials board was also boasted on a nearby wall. I found the addition of lomo saltado to be interesting; besides it, however, Bella Cuba does have some other Peruvian influenced items.

Sagami is "beloved among actual Japanese people" and is "quite possibly the only place in Orange County" that serves hitsumabushi , said Edwin Goei of Monster Munching . It didn't take much after that for me to add Sagami, a 24 year old Japanese restaurant located in the Crossroads Shopping Center in Irvine, CA, to my Orange County restaurants to visit list. Thoughts to try the hitsumabushi that Goei raved about in his review, however, were slightly complicated after we were seated in the cozy interior. For, a weekend lunch special page presented an additional appealing option: uni and ikura bowl. Furthermore, additional dishes to try out were posted on menu boards as seen in the above photo. Luckily, after some thought, we ordered both of those appealing dishes, and some more. In the meantime, we enjoyed the complimentary hot green tea, whose flavor was especially apparent thanks to the use of reverse osmosis water .

Oh that delicious aji sauce --a " spicy, green puree of herbs and chili ,"said Edwin Goei of Monster Munching ; good enough to eat pretty much anything Peruvian, " once again, with that wonderful aji ," said Kevin of KevinEats . That "Chinese influenced" lomo saltado --a beef stir fry with "onions, tomatoes, and french fries! Golden-tinged Inca Kola ? Suffice to say, Peruvian food has certainly been a cuisine of interest since I started reading food blogs. Yet, it happened to be chance when I actually decided to visit one. During another recent trip to the Orange County, I stumbled upon Inka Mama's when looking up restaurants nearby South Coast Plaza. Then I read a glowing review of it from Goei. It was definitely settled-- I had to fulfill this 5+ year old desire that day! Inka Mama's is a small, Orange County family operated chain of Peruvian restaurants. Located right across South Coast Plaza from Magiannos in a large strip mall,...

It happened to be Easter on a recent trip to Irvine (coincidentally, we did this also three years ago ), so was it the time to take chances and drive to an unexplored area of town for lunch? Not really. So, we headed to a familiar location -- Fashion Island -- and finally tried out True Food Kitchen, which was under construction back when we visited its next door neighbor, Flemings .

Back in May, I attended the UC Irvine Undergraduate Research Symposium , an annual symposium featuring undergraduate research. Although I only attended the afternoon session, there was still much to see and to learn--I was unable to visit all the presenters' posters or oral presentations! This research symposium featured undergraduate research from the entire university, meaning that one could find research in computer science, engineering, humanities, biological sciences, and more in the same spot! There were also two parts: oral sessions, where presenters discussed their projects with projected presentation slides to a small audience in one room, and poster displays, where presenters discussed their projects next to their posters outside. The research was quite diverse; a few of these topics discussed at the symposium include home automation, car security, dorm design, autism, solar stove, literature, autism, chemically powered modeled cars, solar airplanes, and rockets...

Originally I had planned to visit California Fish Grill or Bear Flag Fish Company , but a friend's recommendation for Sushi Imari swayed my initial decision. Complimentary surprises plus a closer location to UC Irvine made this place more attractive to the other restaurants, and it also happened to be that Sushi Imari was positively reviewed on Monster Munching . Plus one indeed! Inside, waiters friendly greeted us and brought us to a table. We sat in an atmosphere heavily decorated with Japanese (and some Korean) ornaments, with elements of light and dark woods. A fusion menu was also in sight; besides the fresh fish, there was a whiteboard with various fusion rolls, of which some were already on the regular menu while others were new creations. Sushi Imari's complimentary miso soup, provided to us after ordering, was different compared to some other miso soups as there were a few enoki mushroom pieces in the soup along with the usual tofu and seaweed pieces. The ...

During Celebrate UCI my friend and I visited California Teriyaki Grill, a relatively new addition to University Town Center. It is a small restaurant with only about eight closely packed tables; however, one can easily order take out and just eat outdoors, where there is plentiful seating. All food is packaged in take-out containers. Being a fast food/take out place, California Teriyaki Grill's prices are quite reasonable (especially for University Town Center), and what makes it really different from the competition are two aspects: condiments and its teriyaki sauce. Green onions, jalepenos, and a variety of sauces are available as toppings, and the teriyaki sauce is made in house. Unlike teriyaki sauces from some teriyaki outlets, California Teriyaki Grill's teriyaki sauce is not saccharine, but rather somewhat savory and fruity. In addition, the proteins and veggies on the menu only get a light squiggle of sauce, allowing for greater customization with condiments. ...

In November we stayed at the St Regis Monarch Beach to compare and contrast it to our experience at Pelican Hill . Unlike Pelican Hill, we had gone to the St Regis in person previously, enjoying brunch at the Motif almost 10 years ago. This visit, not only did we visit Motif again , but also we made sure to tour most of the facility.

A recent trip brought us to the St Regis Monarch Beach, where the room rate included a voucher for breakfast. After a night's rest, we went downstairs to check out the offerings. Reaching Motif requires a stroll down a flight of stairs. During our visit, the staircase, as well as the rest of the property, was adorned with decorations for the holiday seasons. Motif's interior likewise was adorned with the holiday decorations. Like the rest of the hotel, the decorations added a pleasant touch of color. I find the blue glasses a nice touch to the restaurant. Motif, being located in the center of the hotel, offers a great view of the pool, golf course, and ocean. This view is great to begin the day.

One of my first introductions to the Irvine outside of UC Irvine was a conference that I attended two years ago. You can see some of the posts I wrote about it by clicking HERE . Well this year, I attended the same conference again, and we had to find a place for breakfast. After looking at the dismal options at the Cafe inside the Hyatt Regency (a good thing: a small cup of coffee is 1.50 USD there), we headed out mindlessly to find some restaurant. It did not take long for us to find Boudin SF, which was just right across the street from the hotel's main entrance. There, it was like a smaller version of Boudin at San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf ; there was yet again another window display of a baker at work, a line to purchase food, a large display of various breads, and a large sitting area to enjoy the food. Since it wasn't sunny indoors, I could capture the baker working without getting much glare from the window. The Boudin SF concept is similar to that of...

Although we have stepped into Cha for Tea a couple of times, we have never actually eaten there until recently, after (finally) visiting the weekend farmers market at the University Center (see Monster Munching's blog post for more information). The employees though have enthusiastically greeted us and familiarized us with their line of products, which come from Ten Ren, as the Cha for Tea chain is a subsidiary of Ten Ren. Cha for Tea lures customers into their stores by taking a Tevana-eqsue sales tactic: offering small samples of their products. This time, we were offered cups of hot almond black milk tea, of which we enjoyed so much that we ordered a large portion, coupled with pearls. (3.89USD + 0.60USD for large size + 0.47USD for pearls). Cha for Tea is open to adjustments, so we asked for no sugar in the tea; this led to a creamy tea that was barely sweet, with depth provided by the black tea and fragrance from the almond powder used in the making of the tea. The ...

We were shopping around one day at Costa Mesa's South Coast Plaza and Metro Pointe and wanted to eat somewhere. However, Metro Pointe had barely interesting to us, and so my Irvine friend recommended us to visit Mitsuwa Marketplace's food court for a meal. No, it was no Charlie Palmer , but I had heard quite a lot of positive comments on Mitsuwa's food courts, so along we went.  (Santouka- with food displays and water/seasonings to the side) This was certainly the largest Mitsuwa I had ever seen- there was a food court section, a full market, and a smaller area with lots of small vendors selling various foods (like mochi and cookies) as well as other items. At the food court, there were also plenty of options- traditional Japanese food was served by three vendors, there was one vendor selling Chinese food, and lastly Italian Tomato who sold cakes and desserts. Although we were enticed with all these options, we stuck to what we knew. I remembered reading ab...