On yet another recent trip to the Orange County area, we found ourselves in Fashion Island hoping to eat yet again at one of our favorites, True Food Kitchen. However, it, as well as other notable options in Fashion Island, happened to be full. Not desiring to wait, we went to Great Maple instead, seeing happy customers enjoying giant noodle-sized bowls of salad and being satisfied with the menu options. As the outside of Great Maple alludes, the interior was likewise rustic, with dark wood tones and minimal light. It was in fact, extremely difficult to take the pictures, and all of the pictures have been post processed so that you can actually see the food-- in person, this would be pretty dark, and very yellow hued. Dinner began with an appetizer of crispy calamari (12 USD), accented with chili flakes, fresh olives, and lemon caper mayo. (No bread and butter was provided-- perhaps this is only on request.) We enjoyed the freshness and creativity with the dish-- the chili f...
Based in Southern California, Eat. Travel. Eat! is a blog about food and travel.