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???