Uoko Japanese Cuisine - Lake Forest

Twice in the last week I've been to Uoko Japanese Cuisine in Lake Forest.  All the credit for discovering this place goes to my parents.  This is the REAL DEAL people!  This is TRADITIONAL sushi.  You won't find any "bullshit rolls" (what I call trendy rolls invented here in the US) here on the menu (although they'll make you whatever you want if you tell them what is in it)  They do have signature rolls, but not nearly as trendy as a lot of other Southern California sushi bars.  If I get a roll I prefer the roll I've been ordering since I was a small child, Futomaki.  Theirs was excellent by the way, next time I'll take a picture.  Family owned and operated for 26 years at this location, I don't know how it's remained a secret to me.  There are 3 locations, Lake Forest, Tustin, and Tokyo.  The Lake Forest location is owned by one of the sushi chefs, Masa and managed by his son Chris.  The Tustin location is run by his wife, and the Tokyo location by his older brother.  I really like the fact that it's a family business that has been going strong for over 3 decades with Masa's father in Tokyo.  I've been here two times in the last week, so here is a summary.

Let's start off with the maguro (tuna) sashimi.  This is usually the first thing I order at a new sushi bar.  In my experience it gives you a good feel for the quality of the food served at the restaurant.  The redder and the more tender the better.  If I order maguro sashimi and it comes out pink, I AM OUT!  Uoko did not disappoint.  The maguro was both very red and very tender.  Not to mention delicious!  It was so tender in fact that you barely had to chew it.

One of the unique things about Uoko that not many sushi bars have is their live tank.  The tank sits behind the sushi bar on display and holds live abalone, oysters, and live Spot Prawns (sweet shrimp).  When you order one of these the sushi chef fishes them out of the tank with a net.  VERY cool to watch!

It doesn't get fresher than this people!  Live in front of us and back in a few minutes prepared to eat!

One of my favorite sushi dishes is sweet shrimp.  It's one of the dishes I order at every sushi bar I try.  Uoko has both live (seasonal) and frozen sweet shrimp.  I'll always go with live when given the option.  The live sweet shrimp at Uoko is hands down the BEST sweet shrimp I have EVER HAD!  I won't talk anymore about its freshness for obvious reasons ;)  The tails come out raw sushi style and are VERY tender and flavorful.  They have just a hint of sweet flavor (hence the name), but I would not call the dish sweet at all.  The best part of the dish is the tempura fried shrimp heads.  These are AMAZING!!!  They are lightly breaded in tempura batter and quickly fried.  Too many sushi bars over-fry the shrimp heads, but Uoko has it down to a science!  If you've never tried these you need to!  They taste like crunchy fried chicken, but better than fried chicken!  The shell of the head is pried up before being fried and is like a Japanese potato chip.  Crunchy but not overly crunchy, and very easy to bite through.  This is a MUST to try here!

 Next up we have the live abalone.  This was a first for me, so naturally I was excited to try it!  It is served sashimi style over a bed of ice to keep it chilled.  As you can see above, the presentation of this dish is excellent!  I really enjoyed this dish.  I would describe abalone sashimi as a semi-crunchy clam on the half shell.  The flavor is very light.  It's a very cooling and refreshing dish.

Uoko has now officially become my favorite sushi bar.  There are a lot of good sushi bars out there, but in my opinion, Uoko is the BEST!  Not only is the food great, but so is the service.  The staff is very accommodating and customer service driven.  Both times I was here this week was on week nights for dinner.  I am told that it gets crowded for lunch on weekdays and for dinner on Friday/Saturday night.  FYI, like many "mom & pop" restaurants, Uoko is not open every day.  They are closed for lunch on Saturday and are closed all day Sunday.  I cannot recommend this place enough.  If you like sushi you need to try this place.  You won't regret it!

Have YOU been here before?  Know of any other AWESOME sushi bars in OC that I should try???

Chapter One: the modern local - Santa Ana

Yesterday a buddy and I went to brunch at Chapter One: the modern local, located in the Artists Village in Santa Ana.  They call it their "Sinatra Sunday Brunch" Sounded good to me!  This was my first time here and I had been looking forward to it after hearing a lot of good things about it.  I would describe Chapter One as a hip and modern gastro pub with an Old-World/European feel.  They have a large VERY well stocked bar as well as a dining room side to the restaurant.  We sat on the dining room side next to a window looking out to the street.  One of the things I immediately liked about this place was their drink menu.  They have A LOT of specialty cocktails that they make listed in it, but what made me really like it was that they list all the different types of alcohol that they have.  I wish more restaurant and bars would do this that way you know what your choices are.  They have a very large selection of alcohol to choose from :)

To drink I went with their Moscow Mule.  This drink is served in a traditional copper cup and made with spicy house made ginger beer, Russian Standard vodka, and lime juice.  As many of you know, I am a big fan of classic drinks from years past, so when I found out that one of their specialty drinks was a Moscow Mule (which I've wanted to try for years), made famous in the 50's and actually responsible for America's vodka craze in the 50's, I WAS IN!  I would describe this drink as both refreshing and spicy (ginger spicy, not hot spicy)  The combination of the ginger and lime creates a taste that develops in your mouth after you take a sip.  It was good, but since I'm not a ginger fan I don't think I'll be ordering one again.  Nothing against the drink or the bartender, it just wasn't for me. 

My buddy decided to get their Sinatra Mimosa Flight.  Now this isn't your usual brunch mimosa.  At Chapter One you get endless champagne and several different types of juices all for $5!  Pretty cool!

To start with we went with the scones.  Seemed like a good brunch starter.  The scones have almonds and cranberries in them and are served with strawberry preserves.  These were very good.  The scones were just the right amount of flakey, fresh, and lightly dusted with powdered sugar.  The strawberry preserves seemed house made and were the perfect thing to compliment the scones.

For our main courses we both went with their dish called the S.O.S.  This dish is filet mignon tips, au jus gravy, Texas toast, a fried egg, and just a small amount of hollandaise sauce.  This dish is excellent!  The filet tips and the brown gravy go very well together as does the hollandaise and fried egg, but when you combine all of these over the Texas toast, you have a GREAT combination of flavors.  Both gravy and hollandaise are traditionally heavy sauces, but somehow Chapter One has managed to make these sauces not quite as heavy as you'd normally expect them to be and still make them delicious!  I highly recommend this dish.

I really enjoyed my first visit to Chapter One and hope to return soon to try it out at night. This place is known to be a hot spot at night and I can't wait to check it out!

House of BIG FISH and Ice Cold Beer - Laguna Beach

I went to House of BIG FISH and Ice Cold Beer  in Laguna Beach the other day for lunch.  I saw that it had great Yelp reviews and its large and diverse menu sparked my interest.  I got there at 11:30am when they opened to get a good seat with a view of the ocean.  I was pleased and surprised that I was the first customer of the day, although after I was seated it got semi-busy.  The hostess told me to have any table that I wanted, so I picked a nice one next to the window with a view over PCH looking at the ocean.  The decor of the restaurant is very casual and beachy.  I love the fish that are mounted all over the restaurant! 

To drink I went with a large Stella (had to with a name like this place has ;)  although they do have a full bar if beer isn't your thing.  To start with I went with the Coconut Shrimp served with a sweet chili sauce.  The above picture is missing a few shrimp since I forgot to take a picture when it first came out LOL!  I would describe the shrimp as 'OK'.  The batter they were dipped in didn't have that much flavor and the shrimp were kind of greasy. 

Next I went with a Combo Hawaiian Plate with Teriyaki Chicken Breast and Kalua Pork with cabbage mixed in with the pork.  The Hawaiian Plate comes with white rice and macaroni salad.  There is A LOT of food on this plate.  A good choice if you are hungry for sure!  The Hawaiian Plate was 'OK'.  The quality of the food was good, it just lacked flavor.  The teriyaki chicken was average tasting.  The pork was VERY tender, but very bland also.  The cabbage helped add some personality to the pork.  The macaroni salad was also lacking in flavor.  If I had to describe this dish in one word it would be "bland".

House of BIG FISH and Ice Cold Beer has a very cool atmosphere and feel to it.  Very casual and comfortable.  I won't come back here in the future just for food, but I would come back with a group of friends and have drinks and appetizers at happy hour since it's such a cool place to just relax at.  They have an AWESOME happy hour!  Happy Hour starts at 2:30pm with appetizers at $2.30 and gets one dollar more expensive every hour up to 6:30pm.  $1 off all beers, $5 well drinks, $5 margaritas, $5 house wines, $6 martinis, $.25 shrimp, $.25 wings, and $1 oysters.  PRETTY COOL!!!

Have you been here?  What was YOUR experience???

The Harbor Grill - Dana Point

Saturday night Cayla and I met up with my parents for dinner at The Harbor Grill in Dana Point Harbor.  I've been eating here for most of my life and it's always a great experience!  This night was no exception. 

We had reservations at 7:00 that I made on Open Table and checked in right on time.  We wound up having to wait and weren't seated until 7:20 because several tables were sitting and not getting up after paying.  The restaurant had no control over this and we didn't blame them at all, but the manager INSISTED on buying the four of us a round of drinks while we waited and two appetizers once we were seated.  This is a great example of their commitment to EXCELLENT service!  Well done Harbor Grill!

To start we had the Fried Calamari and the Smoked Halibut with tarragon mustard mayonnaise.  The fried calamari was very good.  It was fried to a crisp, but not too crispy golden brown and seasoned with the perfect amount of salt.  Very good!  I am not much of a fish person, but everyone said the smoked halibut was very good, I didn't try it. 

For dinner I went with their 3 Course Prix-Fixe menu.  For the first course I went with their New England Clam Chowder.  Very good creamy chowder with a healthy portion of both clams and potatoes.  One of my favorite clam chowders out there!  For the main course I went with the Louisiana Style Barbequed Shrimp, my 'Usual' here.  These shrimp are AMAZING!  They are cooked on their mesquite grills, which are visible to the dining room through 3 large glass windows to the kitchen.  It's fun to be able to see them cooking back there!  The barbeque sauce is an amazing slightly sweet and slightly tangy barbeque sauce.  This is one of my favorite shrimp dishes of all time ANYWHERE!  For my side dish I went with the rice pilaf.  I always go with the rice pilaf here.  It's hard to describe what it tastes like.  It's light in flavor and VERY good.  Let me put it this way, this is the ONLY restaurant where I get the rice pilaf.  For the third course I went with the HOMEMADE Bread Pudding with Kentucky Bourbon Sauce.  WOW!!!  The desert comes out cut in a large cube covered in the sauce.  The bread pudding itself is a firm, yet soft mixture of the warm gooey pastry and raisins.  The sauce is what makes this dish without a doubt though!  It is sweet and has a slight kick from the flavor of the bourbon in it.  A big plus if you're a bourbon drinker like I am!  

Cayla had the fish special last night, Mongchong.  Mongchong is a Hawaiian white fish.  She said it was excellent.  Full of flavor and very tender.

My dad had the salmon.  He said it was very good.  I don't remember anything else about it.

My mom had the cheese burger.  I have had their cheeseburger in the past and can tell you from experience that this is a GREAT cheeseburger!  Always juicy and tender!  The mesquite grilling really comes out in the dish. 

The Harbor Grill is a restaurant with GREAT food and service.  I highly recommend it.  Also the fact that it's located in the harbor means that you can go to other places before or after that you can walk to.  Yesterday before dinner we all hit up Harpoon Henry's for drinks.  Two other good places in the harbor for drinks before dinner are Turks and Wind & Sea.

Has anyone been here before?  What was your experience?

San Giovanni Ristorante Italiano - Rancho Santa Margarita

Yesterday was a big day in the life of my girlfriend Cayla.  She learned that you leave the gun and take the cannoli.  That if you hold all the judges and politicians in your pocket, that you must let others draw from the well.  Yesterday was Cayla's first time watching the Godfather :)  Since during the whole movie the characters eat Italian food, it was no surprise that when it ended, we were both in the mood for Italian food!  We decided to try San Giovanni's since it was close, has been there for years, and heard that their cream puff dessert was excellent.  We would find out later that this was a BIG MISTAKE.

We walked in and immediately the atmosphere and decor was not at all what I was expecting.  It looked almost like a pizzeria where you order at the counter instead of a full service restaurant, which it is.  Before we reached the hostess podium I started looking around for the bar and couldn't find one.  I asked the hostess, "Do you have a bar?”  She answered, "No."  This was the first big disappointment of the evening.  Once Cayla and I were seated we looked around and it was mostly families with small kids and older couples.  Not a good sign in my experience.  We both looked at each other with nervousness and I said to Cayla, "This should be interesting."  If I had to do it over again we would have went with our gut-feelings and walked out at this point. 

The waiter comes over and asks us what we would like to drink.  Cayla orders red wine.  I ask him if they have any hard alcohol or if it's just wine and beer.  He answers with wine and beer.  Another disappointment.  I went with a tall Stella, which by the way wasn't even that cold when he brought it out.  The best way to describe our waiter is an old grump man with no personality.  We decided to order their cheese garlic bread to start with.  I wish I had taken pictures of everything we ordered to show how sad every dish looked.  The bread was the SAME bread that came to the table for free, with an INREDIBLY SMALL amount of some sort of garlic butter spread painted on, and a thick layer of mozzarella cheese on top of it with NO seasoning of any kind.  The bread looked like it had been microwave since it had ZERO browning on top.  This dish had ZERO flavor.  I could have done a better job at home on my own, and I'm not a good cook. 

For my entrée I ordered the Chicken Parmigiano.  The dish came with penne pasta as a side dish.  When I ordered it I asked for spaghetti instead of penne.  You would have thought that was an outrageous request from the facial expression and eye rolling of the grumpy old waiter.  In keeping with the trend of the evening, this dish was horrible.  The chicken was VERY small and had barely any mozzarella cheese on it.  The taste was VERY PLAIN. The spaghetti was a small amount with a horrible meat sauce on top of it.  There was a pile of ground meat lying on top of it while an almost red water spilled out through the pasta on to the entire dish.  Horrible.

Cayla ordered the Chicken Fiorentina.  This was a dish of fettuccini with chopped chicken, spinach, and prosciutto in a white wine cream sauce.  She barley ate any of it and said it was terrible. 

This brings us to dessert, which we were hoping would be the meal’s saving grace.  We were WRONG.  We ordered the Cream Puffs.  The menu says that this is “grandma’s old recipe”.  If grandma’s old recipe is serving defrosted store bought cream puffs, then yes, this is grandma’s cream puffs.  Two large, very ‘OK’ tasting cream puffs came on a plate alone, no sauce, no ice cream, no garnish of any kind.  Actually, that was the case with every dish we ordered.  None of the dishes had any garnish.  It was almost like presentation was something they don’t concern themselves with.  Anyways, back to the cream puffs.  The pastry portion of the cream puff seemed almost wet.  My guess is because they are DEFROSTED.  Just a guess.

When the check finally came it was $64.97 before tip.  REALLY???  When I went to look for the itemized receipt there was NONE.  There was an old style food ticket (the type a server is supposed to handwrite) with JUST a total with and after tax written on it.  Attached to it was an accountant style calculator print out with math on it but NO WORDS at all, making it impossible to check the bill.  I was so frustrated with this and the whole experience that I just said “screw it” and paid.  I didn’t want to have any more contact with the grumpy old waiter so I just paid and we ran out of there. 

I do not know how this place has stayed in business for so long.  It looks very plain, has a lot of screaming kids and inattentive parents that could care a less, horrible service, and HORRIBLE FOOD.  Their website advertises that they serve “authentic Italian Cuisine”.  As someone who was raised Italian, eating good homemade Italian food since birth, and someone who had been a seasoned fine-diner since infancy, I can tell you that there is nothing “authentic” about this establishment.  My guess, and this is only a guess, is that this place stays in business by the patronage of large families with little kids who eat very cheaply here, and patrons who don’t know what good “authentic” Italian food is.  Cayla and I both agreed that we would rather go and eat at a Sbarro in a mall food court.  The food would have been better and MUCH cheaper with the same amount of, or less screaming kids.  My advice to you: Steer clear. 

Have you been here?  Did you have a similar or different experience???  I'd love to hear about it!!!

Antonello Ristorante - Santa Ana

Saturday night after Cayla and I got back from Santa Monica, we met my parents for dinner at Antonello Ristorante. It's located across the street from South Coast Plaza.  I've been coming here with my family since I was born, although I hadn't been there in years.  The best way to describe it would be an old world fancy Italian restaurant where a lot of the waiters are from Italy.

(Photo from web site)

To drink it was Makers Mark on the rocks for me, and the rest of the party went with red wine.  We started out by sharing the Prosciutto.  It's a good portion of Imported Italian Prosciutto served with Parmigiano Reggiano and Cerignola Olives.  Italian Prosciutto is the best in my opinion and it was very good.  Much less salty that Canadian or American Prosciutto.  The cheese was also very good, not too over powering in the parmigiano flavor.

Next it was a Caesar Salad.  The salad was good, nothing too special about it.  I liked the crunchy homemade croutons, they were very good!  The Caesar dressing was good, not too over powering like some restaurants are.

For my main course I went with one of their specials, the Ossobuco.  This was EXCELLENT!  The veal was so tender you didn't even need a knife.  It was slow cooked in a light red sauce and served with pasta as a side.  I can't say enough how tender this dish was.  It melted in my mouth!  The best part of course is the marrow in the center of the bone.  Ask for a cocktail fork to get it out of the bone more easily. So good!

For desert it was the Crostata di Mele, which is fresh slices of Granny Smith apples and homemade vanilla custard baked in a pasta frolla shell served warm with vanilla gelato.  This was an EXCELLENT dish.  It was almost like an Italian take on apple pie.  It had the perfect cinnamon and sugar ratio in the spiced apples.  On top of the pastry there was a hard candy that was made out of sugar and was like an art piece on it.  VERY GOOD!!!
 

      

(My dad is smelling it since he can't eat it due to a diary allergy)

We also shared the Grand Marnier Soufflé for dessert.  This was a very good soufflé, but not the best I’ve ever had.  It had a good Grand Marnier flavor to it, but it was nothing spectacular.  The texture could have also been a little more flaky.

All in all this is a great restaurant and a good place to go if you want a fancy Italian meal.  I would return. 

JW Marriott Santa Monica Le Merigot - Santa Monica

We stayed overnight in Santa Monica and stayed at the JW Marriott Santa Monica Le Merigot. The hotel is located right on the beach at the Santa Monica Pier.

The room had a nice partial ocean view looking over most of the hotel property.  The bathroom was nice with the toilet in a separate room from the bathroom.  The best part about this room was the bed though!  It was like sleeping on a cloud!  The pillows were also great.  Not flat like most hotel pillows. 

(Photo taken from web site)

We began and ended the evening at the hotel lobby bar.  Before heading to The Misfit we had a drink at the bar and got the suggestion for Viceroy from the bartender, John, which wound up being a great idea!  At the end of the night we wound up back at the lobby bar outside at the fire pit.  John made me a GREAT Old Fashioned.  We wound up closing the bar :)  This is a nice hotel with VERY comfortable beds!  We would recommend this hotel! 

Viceroy - Santa Monica

Next stop was Viceroy.  Located one block from Shutters on the Beach, we walked over.  We were told that this place had a cool outdoor lounge, so we decided to check it out.  Walking into the lobby you get a very "Modern California" feel.  The very cool vibe.  Lots of black and white decorating including large white chairs in the lobby (pictured above). 

We made our way out to the pool area which at night is turned into a lounge.  There are cabanas, chairs, and couches.  We settled on a couch and table next to a wall that had china lit up on it.  Very cool modern vibe!  Very dimly lit with candle chandeliers.

      

To drink Cayla went with red wine and I went with an Old Fashioned.  It was what I would call a good standard Old Fashioned.  Enough said.

We were both feeling like dessert but were told that the kitchen was closed (by this time it was very late).  The server did however offer a cookie plate with warm assorted cookies.  It was very good.  It came with chocolate chip, chocolate, lemon sugar, snicker doodle, and oatmeal.  Our favorite was the lemon sugar cookies.  Very moist and chewy, with a slight hit of lemon.  Great cookies!

This is a very cool and mellow lounge for hanging out late at night.  The hotel as a whole looks very cool with its modern decor.  We both agree that when we return to Santa Monica that we should stay at this hotel!

Coast at Shutters on the Beach - Santa Monica

(picture taken from Coast web site)

It was a nice night, so after dinner at The Misfit we walked to Coast located at the beach side hotel, Shutters on the Beach.  Coast has a very "airy" and "beachy" feel to it which compliments its location on the sands of Santa Monica Beach.  We sat in their enclosed patio (pictured above).  We came here for after dinner drinks. 

Cayla went with red wine as usual.  As many of you know I am a big fan of the cocktail, the Old Fashioned.  So needless to say when I saw a "New Fashioned" on their specialty cocktail menu I HAD TO try it!  It was very good, much lighter in taste than an Old Fashioned.  Dare I use the word, REFRESHING!  This of course is due to the St. Germain Elderflower, a Parisian liqueur made from elderberry flowers. 

Cayla and I both enjoyed Coast's atmosphere and good service.  We didn't order any food, but we enjoyed our drinks.

The Misfit Restaurant + Bar - Santa Monica

So on Friday Cayla and I headed up to LA County on a trip that she had planned for us.  First stop, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.  Soooo cool!!!!  So much cool stuff to see there, including the plane that he used as Air Force One!!!  Anyways, this is a food blog, SO LETS GET TO THE FOOD!!!  After some research we decided to go to The Misfit located a few blocks in from Ocean Ave near the Santa Monica Pier. We had high hopes for this place!

As soon as we walked up to the front of this place we immediately got a "cool" vibe.  Older brick building, large red neon sign outside, and dim lighting inside.  We walked in, both looked at each other and said "This is so cool!"  The bar was packed, but lucky for us the restaurant side still had some tables open. *This restaurant does not take reservations*  We got there a little after 6 o'clock which was perfect because not long after we were seated the restaurant side got packed too!  This place has a very cool hipster type vibe with out being pretentious at all.  The music is played moderately loud, and with all the people inside it was moderately noisy, but not to the point where we couldn't hear each other talk ;) 

We got there during happy hour so we took advantage of that.  They have happy hour EVERYDAY from noon to 7:00pm!  1/2 off well drinks, signature cocktails, sangria, and $5 draft beer and glasses of wine. AWESOME!!!  To start with I got a few Old Fashions (pictured left) during happy hour ($4) and after that I switched to Knob Creek on the rocks (pictured right).  The old fashions were good with an orange twist and some sort of berries in it.  Cayla went with a glass of red wine.

All their dishes are small entrees that are perfect size for sharing so you can sample a few!  To start with Cayla and I shared the Prime Rib French Dip Sliders.  Two come in an order with au jus for dipping.  These are GREAT!  Each little sandwich is piled high with shaved to order prime rib, a small amount of creamy horseradish, and served on a Hawaiian sweet roll.  There's something about the sweetness and softness of the sweet roll that compliments the perfectly seasoned prime rib that makes this sandwich OUTSTANDING!

Next up for me was their soup of the day, the Mushroom Soup.  I can say without a doubt that this was the best mushroom soup I have EVER had.  PERIOD.  Unlike most mushroom soups there is no cream in theirs, which makes it very light where you can taste the mushrooms more.  As far as mushrooms, the soup is packed with them!  Mostly oyster and crimini.  I think that mushroom soup should be just a little bit on the salty side and they NAILED it!  Perfect amount of seasoning!

For dinner I ordered the Fruit de Mer.  It's meant for two people (or one as your main course) and has shrimp cocktail and snow crab claws served over a bed of ice.  This dish is GREAT!  The cocktail sauce it comes with is made in house and has just the right amount of freshly shaved horseradish on top of it.  It also comes with drawn butter, but for chilled shellfish I'm more of a cocktail sauce guy, so I stuck to that.  Both the shrimp and snow crab claws were very good and very fresh.  Word of advice: they don't bring a cocktail fork out with this dish, so be sure to ask for one so you can dig out the hidden crab from the claws ;)

For dinner Cayla ordered the Backed Mac + Cheese and had pancetta added to it.  She thought it was out of this world, and I agreed!  This is definitely not a "watery" mac and cheese like so many restaurants serve today.  Their dish is a hearty dish filled with several different types of cheese, green chile, and brown rice pasta.  It is so melty that when you take a bight there are strings of melted cheese coming from your mouth :)  I think what really separates this dish from the rest is the flavor they get by adding the green chile.  It is such a unique flavor that you can not miss out on this dish if you go there!

The food and atmosphere at The Misfit is AMAZING and not to be missed.  As far as how they treat their customers, a lot of restaurants could take a lesson!  After I finished my seafood platter Cayla offered me the rest of her mac and cheese.  I gladly accepted the offer, but Cayla asked the waitress to have the kitchen put it in the oven for a minute to get it melty again.  Sounded good to me!  The waitress came back and told us that the chef had accidentally left it in the oven too long and had burnt it.  She immediately followed this by telling us that he was making us a brand new order of mac and cheese for us and to apologize that the restaurant wanted to buy both of us a round of drinks.  Well done Misfits, everyone makes mistakes sometimes, but you know how to make up for it!  Cayla and I loved this place and can not recommend it enough for anyone who might be in the Santa Monica area.  We can't wait to return!

P.S. After dinner we walked outside the restaurant and found an awesome street performer set up right near the restaurant's patio on the sidewalk.  I wish I had gotten a picture or video.  Picture a black gentleman in his 50's singing Barry White's "Can't Get Enough" and then Billy Paul's "Me and Mrs. Jones".  He sang with a microphone while the melody of the song played on a speaker.  He even had Barry White's deep voice down for the talking parts of the song.  TOO COOL!!!

Hanna's - Rancho Santa Margarita

Monday night Cayla and I went to Hanna’s in Rancho Santa Margarita to celebrate our one year anniversary.  We eat here a lot, but I’ve never blogged about it.  It never disappoints, and Monday night was no exception! 

To start we shared the Tiger Shrimp Cocktail.  It’s a traditional shrimp cocktail served with an AMAZING spicy cocktail sauce.  LOTS of horseradish in it!  This is one of the few spicy things my stomach can handle, so I always go with a lot of it.  The shrimp are large and FRESH, and served over a bed of shaved ice.  Six come in an order, so it perfect for sharing.

For dinner I went with my “usual”, the Asian Braised Short Ribs.  This dish is AMAZING!  The short ribs are so tender you almost don’t even need a knife.  It is prepared in its own natural juices and almost tastes semi sweet.   It is served with sweet corn mashed potatoes and tempura baby zucchini.  The mashed potatoes are probably some of the best I’ve ever had.  The potatoes are mashed well so that there are not really any chunks of potato, and with a good amount of white sweet corn in them.  This combination is incredible!  The tempura baby zucchini is also great.  The batter on it is very light and the zucchini very tender.  I HIGHLY recommend this dish!

Cayla had the Beef Stroganov.  This dish uses filet mignon, Portobello mushrooms, a merlot reduction, egg noodles, and crème fratche.  This dish is GREAT!  It’s what Cayla gets every time we have dinner here!  The merlot reduction with the crème fratche is what really makes this dish.  It’s the perfect Stroganov sauce!

For dessert we had their in-house-made donuts.  These are INCREDIBLE!  The donuts themselves have a hint of lemon flavor and come with a traditional donut glaze on the side for dipping.  These things are so soft they melt in your mouth.  If you’re in the mood for dessert, give them a try, you won’t be disappointed!  I wish I had got a photo, they look amazing too!

It was a great way to celebrate our anniversary and we will definitely be back!

P.S.  The Asian Braised Short Ribs are my go-to choice here for dinner, but for lunch it’s always the Prime Rib Dip!  This is one of the best beef dip sandwiches out there.  It has caramelized onions and melted Monterey jack cheese on a perfectly toasted grinder roll served with au jus and creamy horseradish.  I always get mine with no horseradish.  The thing that makes this sandwich so good is probably the bread.  It is crusty on the outside and so soft on the inside that it perfectly complements the grilled onions and melted cheese.  Also, it’s a large serving of shaved prime rib on the sandwich

Has anyone else been here?  What did you think???

Canaletto Ristorante Veneto - Newport Beach

Sunday night Cayla’s parents invited us to Canaletto Ristorante Veneto, an Italian restaurant located in Fashion Island.  This was my first time at Canaletto, but after hearing a lot about it I was really looking forward to it.  This restaurant is what I would describe as a “nicer” or “fancy” Italian restaurant.  Sunday the restaurant was celebrating Carnevale, so many of the servers had their faces painted and they also had a pirate walking around, which was random, but fun.  That explains the photo above :)

To start we shared the Fried Calamari which were rings and tentacles lightly floured and fried and served with marinara sauce.  The calamari was ‘OK’.  I should have gone with my gut feeling when we ordered it.  In my experience whenever you order fried calamari in a “nicer” restaurant it is usually lightly fried.  I personally prefer mine fried more than that, so often times I will tell these types of restaurants to make it “extra crispy”.  Don’t get me wrong, the dish was fine, just not cooked to my personal liking. 

For dinner I went with the Tagliatelle alla Bolognese which was pasta ribbons in a meat sauce with aged parmesan cheese.  Cayla and her mom went with the same.  A simple dish, but VERY good.  I loved everything about this dish.  First, the noodles were cooked perfectly al dente.  I hate it when noodles are over cooked and mushy, so BRAVO Canaletto!  Second, the meat sauce.  The meat sauce can be described as more of a paste really that a sauce.  It has ground up meat and sausage in it and is THICK.  The rich tomato and meat flavors make it OUTSTANDING!  It was so good that once I finished all the noodles, I had to mop up the rest of the sauce with some bread!  Third, the aged parmesan.  It was shredded and on the thicker side, which I like.  I also thought that it was a good amount that came on it, not too much as to overpower the rest of the dish, and not too little as to not be able to taste it.  Cayla’s mom, Cayla, and I all thought this was an EXCELLENT dish, and I would highly recommend it.

Cayla’s dad had a risotto dish with sausage in it, but I can’t remember anything else about it other than that he liked it. 

For dessert the table shared Crespelle di Mele, which where Crepes filled with apples and grappa infused pastry cream served with vanilla gelato and caramel sauce.  I’m not much of a dessert person in general, but even I thought that this dish was very good.  The crepes were made thin and had “apple pie style” apples and cinnamon inside of them, almost making them like apple dumplings, but with a much lighter pastry.  The vanilla seemed like it was made in house, think and FULL of flavor.  Something about the combination of the flavors when the crepe, apple, vanilla gelato, and caramel sauce all made its way onto one spoonful at a time to make the perfect bite.  These flavors combined make one great dessert dish!

The four of us enjoyed dinner here very much and will be back to sample more of the dishes on the menu!

Has anyone been here before?  What did you think???