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???