A beautiful day in downtown Brea on the weekend makes one want to be able to try multiple eateries that line the main street. After all, everything does sound delicious. One restaurant that has constantly piqued my interest was Cha Cha's Latin Kitchen, a structure of bold black and yellow that always told me that I needed tacos that day. With Orange County Restaurant Week winding down, I had one more lunch to take and this place was the chosen one. My lunchmate for the day was a fellow Yelper and his son.


Whilst waiting for them to arrive as I had arrived a few moment early, I was treated to their complimentary chips and salsa (two types!). Salty, I must say. I did prefer the red over the green, and later on, my lunch companions concurred.



Though the Restaurant Week lunch menu was $15 and the dinner one $20, there weren't many differences. The addition of another choice of appetizers was one apparent one as well as the inclusion of dessert. We opted for the full experience route. For starters, there were choices of Caesar salad, a traditional tortilla soup, and chicken flautas. The last two were most appealing so we put our orders in for that (his son ate off of the kids' menu). The Traditional Tortilla Soup (fresh chicken, tortillas, roasted tomato and chile simmered in homemade broth served with crema fresca) came out in a sizeable bowl that was wide albeit shallow. While I enjoyed the chicken inside, the soup itself was saltier than I would have preferred. Perhaps the nature of a tortilla soup is like that seeing as I've always had very salty soups. Anyhow, he went for the Chicken Flautas (fresh chicken, roasted corn, guajillo chile, and Oaxacan cheese in crisp flour tortillas, served with mango-habanero salsa) which I had a mere bite of. The salsa on top certainly had a kick but it almost hid any other flavor that could have been present.


Moving on to the entrees, we had quite the spread to pick from: three tacos, crab & shrimp enchiladas, fresh grilled salmon, "wood-oven" carnitas, or roasted chicken. The decision was hard to make but ultimately I settled on the Crab & Shrimp Enchiladas (crab & shrimp sautéed with garlic, white wine, and poblano peppers, served with creamy habanero pesto sauce) and he the Fresh Grilled Salmon (chipotle-honey glazed on a bed of roasted potatoes, fresh corn and pasilla chilis). The enchiladas were not merely served with a creamy pesto sauce but rather smothered in them; sounds like enchiladas to me! Unfortunately, there really wasn't a strong habanero flavor to it though it really could have done with some extra spice. It came off salty as well - darn. The crab & shrimp was well cooked and tasted lovely in garlic. I also had sides of their salsa rice and their epazote beans, of which I preferred the beans between the two. As for the salmon, it looked to me to be liked as the plate was nearly completely cleaned. I did admire the presentation prior to it being eaten.


Desserts had three options: flan, tres leches cake, or chocolate taquitos. I went for some flan and he the taquitos which were chocolate with banana. The flan was actually very rescuing for the meal as it was very creamy and rich in flavor; I would definitely have multiple gos at it. I really liked the light caramel on top as well. The chocolate taquitos left something to be desired as the wrapper was much thicker than necessary. For a dessert, don't skimp on the filling!

Photography by Minerva Thai.

Looking for other bloggers chowing down during OC Restaurant Week 2013? See who's writing at http://www.orangecountyrestaurantweek.com/OC_Food_Blogs_That_Rock.html!

A sunny day in southern California makes for a good hankering for spending time at the beach...or remembering that you need to trim down for the imminent beach trips. If you're worried, don't fret; Seasons 52 has got your back. I've been meaning to drop by here for a while now but it wasn't until OC Restaurant Week that I made it to this seasonally fresh and health-conscious restaurant. Our courteous waitress Natalia informed us that each order was 475 calories or less. That sounds like a good place to be! I dined with the ever-awesome Ryan, Yelp OC Community Manager, and we had a blast tasting different parts of the prix fixe menu ($20/person for lunch).


We begun with one of each offered starter; they were the Ripe Plum Tomato Flatbread (roasted garlic, fresh basil, and melted Parmesan cheese) and the Chilled Lobster & Shrimp Spring Rolls (crisp vegetables, fresh mint, cilantro, bean thread noodles, and trio of dipping sauces: cool salsa verde, aromatic lemongrass, & sweet-hot-red chile). The flatbread, though so large that I couldn't even capture its whole size in my camera frame, was only a slender 275 calories despite being powerful in flavor. Attribute it to the thinness of the bread itself if you will - the crisp bread portion was more cracker-like than doughy. The ingredients on top were very fresh and was a good crunchy starter. The spring rolls were easily both of our favorites as each half that we ate was bursting with flavor from the sauces internally (a little sweet, a little spiced) and well-complemented with each of three available sauces. My favorite was the "cool salsa verde" for its heavily and heavenly included ratio of cilantro to everything else.


Though we had the option of choosing their Rocky Mountain Buffalo Burger during our prix fixe menu, we both opted for the two salad options: the BBQ Chicken Salad (organic field lettuce, fresh corn, grilled red pepper, jicama, pumpkin seeds, and crumbled Bleu cheese) and the Lemongrass King Salmon Salad (organic greens, cucumber, pineapple, mango, jicama, and toasted sesame dressing). The salads came out in a partially interactive way, housed in a transparent cylinder that was promptly removed once the plate was on the table and shaken gently to allow all the beautiful ingredients to fall together perfectly. How is that you say? Well I didn't move anything in the pictures I took of the salads so that's how good it looked once served. Of the two, I preferred my order of the chicken salad as it was a bit more of my style. The chicken was aromatic and covered in just the right amount of sauce - not too salty and not too sweet. It was also slightly blackened which lent a good flavor amongst all the bright vegetables. The salmon salad featured a juicy, grilled hunk of salmon which had been skewered by a thick stalk of lemongrass. How perfect is that? It allowed for the essence to seep through into the fish itself. Tasty stuff!


Lastly, we got to pick from their Mini Indulgence Desserts list which consisted the likes of mocha macchiato, chocolate peanut butter mousse, tropical fruit cheesecake, pecan pie with vanilla mousse, Meyer lemon pound cake, Ghirardelli chocolate Rocky Road, raspberry chocolate chip cannoli, and market fresh fruit. Whew, that's a doozy of a list! Luckily, they were all more like dessert shooters than any intimidatingly large portions. After all, it has to be under 475 calories right? I opted for the tropical fruit cheesecake and he the pecan pie. The cheesecake was presented a little unexpectedly for me as it looked like a miniature slice had been inserted sideways into the cup. As you can see in the picture, one full side was the crust! Therefore, I had to eat the thing at an angle to make sure I got cheesecake filling and crust while also trying to ration out my delightful baby chunks of tropical fruits. It was a lovely light dessert albeit oddly cupped. The pecan pie was very nice as well as its filling was not overly sweet. There were plenty of pecans and a healthy dollop of vanilla mousse to balance out any potential saturation of brown-sugariness. Overall, a fantastic meal and definitely a nice preview of what deliciousness to look forward to. I'll be back Season 52...I'll be back.

Photography by Minerva Thai.

Looking for other bloggers chowing down during OC Restaurant Week 2013? See who's writing at http://www.orangecountyrestaurantweek.com/OC_Food_Blogs_That_Rock.html!

The full name is actually Andrei's Conscious Cuisine and Cocktails but to avoid having an extremely long title for the post, I'm just shortening it to Andrei's. Sounds more neighborhood-friendly, no? Then again, this place is set among office buildings and has a very business-class air about it. I came here for OC Restaurant Week, something they even publicize well by having the OCRW menus be the landing page pop-up when you go to their website.


So there were three choices for starters off of this $20 prix fixe menu but we happened to choose the same starter. Of the spinach cigars, California field greens, and seasonal soup, we both picked the Spinach Cigars (roasted Feuille de Brick stuffed with spinach and Feta cheese & served with cucumber tzatziki). Crisp along the edges, perhaps we had waited a little too long with my taking of pictures because it wasn't as crisp in the middle for the wrapper. The filling was pleasant with enough spinach to offset any strong Feta. The cucumber tzatziki was a little more on the sour side than preferred but otherwise, had a good mix between saucy and chunky. I also ate the greens upon which the "cigars" sat.


We didn't overlap on our entrees though so it was great to see what differences there were in style and cuisine. On the Restaurant Week menu were three choices: greek lamb pita, Andrei's chop salad, and shrimp fettuccine. We opted for the Greek Lamb Pita (Superior Farms natural ground lamb, cucumber, tomato, iceberg lettuce, red onion confit, Halloumi cheese, mint, pita bread, roasted basmati rice) and the Shrimp Fettuccine (Moroccan-spiced Mexican shrimp, fresh fettuccine, zucchini, tomato, cream reduction, pea tendrils). The amassed amount of food on top of my pita and the finely chopped nature of each ingredient made me opt for using my knife and fork on this beast. Every piece was fresh and vibrant but it was difficult to tell that the lamb was lamb by how finely ground it was. I greatly appreciated the sweetness the confit brought to the otherwise potential salsa-like vegetable arrangement. Unfortunately the side of rice was quite forgettable. My lunchmate's shrimp fettuccine was lovely with its spicy kick once the creaminess wore off. The pasta was a tad harder than expected but not distracting. The shrimp was cooked in just the right amount of time to give it its solidness and yet juiciness. An enjoyable entree!


With two options for dessert, it was easy to pick just one of each. My Lemon Tart (California Farms organic lemon tart with Italian meringue) came in a thick tart shell and what could have been mistaken for toasted marshmallow on top but was really meringue. It was tart enough that I finished the whole thing without worrying about there being too much sweetness was in my dessert (don't have much of a sweet tooth!). I thoroughly enjoyed it. The other dessert on the table was the Butterscotch Pudding (butterscotch pudding, Chantilly cream, bourbon & pecan cookie) which we both agreed was underwhelming on the butterscotch side. It was much more like a vanilla pudding than anything. The cookie's flavors were lost as well and probably distracted from due to how hard the thing was. Nevertheless, as a pudding itself, it was very tasty and especially so if you weren't expecting a heavy butterscotch taste.

Photography by Minerva Thai.

Looking for other bloggers chowing down during OC Restaurant Week 2013? See who's writing at http://www.orangecountyrestaurantweek.com/OC_Food_Blogs_That_Rock.html!

I have always passed by Ecco whenever I'm walking around The Camp, constantly peering at the menus displayed on stands right outside the door. Everything always sounded delicious but rarely did I pass by with the intention to eat anywhere. However, I got the chance to finally try out this place which had always looked so appealing once it was Orange County Restaurant Week. So, yesterday, after spending quite a time looking for parking, I had lunch there with the awesome ladies of Moxxe PR.


As tempting as it looks from the outside, you don't really get the vibe of the place until you take a step inside and check out the wooden, cozy feel that they are able to portray despite having a wall of ceiling-to-floor windows. Brightly lit yet intimate, it reminded me of some restaurants I had been to in Italy and with good reason - its cuisine is Italian. I've known the word "ecco" to be an exclamation of "HERE!" in an excited, joyous way, a "check this out!" or a "behold!" (the Latin root is more of the "behold" variety). Random fun fact: I've studied both languages.


So while the menu was very much tempting and the smells tantalizing, we still decided that we would stick to the Restaurant Week menu as planned; it was for a $20 per person lunch. With the three of us, almost every option was tried. The starter choices were the Eggplant Caviar (Fontina, Grana Padano, and roasted eggplant served alongside wood-fired flatbread) and Bruschetta (Burrata, tomatoes, and basil). I have noticed that I tend to have a tinge of an allergic reaction when I eat too much eggplant (at least, I think that's what it is - what's an itchy tongue, lips, and throat mean?) so I just tried a smidgeon on the flatbread. The cheesiness helped balance out any overwhelming vegetal taste resulting from a whole roasted eggplant, and the flatbread had just the perfect amount of savory from the garlic and salty from the seasoning. Lovely. As for the bruschetta, it was quite the daunting piece as the soft toast, crisp around the edges, was piled high with slighty-melted cheese and freshly diced tomatoes. The flavors were so bright, and the burrata shone through with its subtle and light flavor - an appetizer not to miss.


For Restaurant Week, there were four choices for entrees of which we chose three. The outlier was their baked rigatoni which I honestly had wished we had a fourth person there for; yes, just to order the pasta. So anyhow, we got the Guido Pizza (smoked Mozzarella, wood-roasted peppers, caramelized onions, garlic, fennel sausage, and olive oil), Chopped Chicken Salad (garbanzo beans, red onions, salami, tomatoes, olives, pepperoncinis, and Mozzarella in a white wine vinaigrette), and the Ecco Burger (Fontina, pancetta, arugula, pickled onions, basil aioli, pickle, and house fries). With so much in the first course, it was hard for us to finish our entrees! Nevertheless, we powered on and had our tastes of each. The pizza had a pleasantly smoky feel highlighted by the fenneled meat and roasted peppers; the aroma just about filled our stomachs itself! Their salad had everything you needed in a salad and was executed well. We all really liked it. Lastly, the large burger had a slightly dry patty (blame us for saying medium on its doneness) but all the rest helped smooth out that kink as the aioli coated each bite in umami. As for the house fries, I can't stop putting the leftover ones in my mouth straight from the to-go box because they are that delicious. Think well-done fries with plenty of salty, garlicky, and herby goodness.


While we thought that no more could be had, the pretty third course came out and was finished easily. Ecco's tiramisu with espresso sauce and chocolate shavings was drenched enough in its own sauces but separated by dry enough layers that a perfection of forkfuls was achieved. Heavy in flavor but light in feeling, it was a good end to the meal, especially if you're a fan of the pleasant buzz following some alcohol-soaked ladyfingers. Yum!

Photography by Minerva Thai.

Looking for other bloggers chowing down during OC Restaurant Week 2013? See who's writing at http://www.orangecountyrestaurantweek.com/OC_Food_Blogs_That_Rock.html!

My Tuesday tackling of Orange County Restaurant Week (OCRW) yielded no lunchmates, so I opted for a lonely lunching at zCafe which had a menu in my price range ($10 lunch!) and a generally close location to where I needed to be later that day. It certainly was not too busy once I got there but they did strongly promote their participation in OCRW (the picture above is an older picture I took of the storefront). There were three different ways which you could decide to get your $10 lunch:

1. Sandwich combo - Turkey, Barbecued Chicken, Italian, Meatball or Roasted Veggie Sandwich; Cafe Salad, Caesar Salad, or Cup of Soup; & Fountain Drink or Fresh Baked Cookie
2. Pizza combo - Any Small Pizza & Fountain Drink or Fresh Baked Cookie
3. Vegan combo - Fresh Hummus or House-made Guacamole with zBread & Bowl of Vegan Veggie Soup or California Salad

 
My favorite pizza there is the Tuscan (roasted garlic sauce, Mozzarella, Crimini and Shiitake mushrooms, caramelized onions, Feta, truffle oil, and fresh thyme), so it was an easy decision for me. Considering it was just me eating, it was a personal pizza challenge! The dough was just the right mix of crispy and soft, and the toppings made for a very savory meal. There is no shortage of mushrooms so I would highly recommend this for any mushroom lovers.


While overall it was a good meal, I was slightly disappointed to see that the price between the OCRW options and what it would have cost on a normal day was hardly different. I basically got a free drink yesterday seeing as the pizza would have been $9.95 any other day. However, if you're interested in getting your nom on, perhaps the sandwich combo would be the better deal. Check out their menu here.

Photography by Minerva Thai.

Looking for other bloggers chowing down during OC Restaurant Week 2013? See who's writing at http://www.orangecountyrestaurantweek.com/OC_Food_Blogs_That_Rock.html!

Cheated a little bit! One OC Restaurant Week menu at Tommy Bahama's Island Grille but two people making completely different choices. What's this yield? Just about a little bit of everything. I promise I didn't eat ALL of this by myself...just tasted all of it. Oh the woes of being a foodie, right? This is for their $15 lunch menu.


In the choices of starting off from the prix fixe menu with coconut shrimp, chicken tortilla soup, or heirloom tomato soup, we picked the first two of the three. The World Famous Coconut Shrimp came with a bright and colorful papaya-mango chutney and a smidgeon of their Asian slaw. Fabulously battered and fried, the shrimp was cooked perfectly through and sat on top of the great citrus sauce. There was also the Chicken Tortilla Soup made in Tommy Bahama's case with puréed torillas and vegetables and topped with a bit of corn salsa. I personally found it a little too salty for my taste but the texture was pretty good and creamy.


Three choices - two decisions: from the sliders, salad, and tacos, we opted for the sliders and tacos (go healthy choices!). Alongside our American Kobe Beef and Scallop Sliders, we had crunchy fries seasoned lightly with some cracked pepper and salt. The beef patty was medium rare and a little forgettable despite being Wagyu beef (perhaps the way it was prepared?) but it did come as a total package with aged Jack cheese, tomato jam, and guacamole. Those added nice touches. What stood out from that dish was actually the large Maine Sea Scallop with touches of their chiptole aioli - delish! Then our Blackened Fish Tacos made me create a mess as my portion dripped out the one side as I took huge bites out of the other. You know that happens to you too! The tomato relish paired with more chipotle aioli was fantastic but could not have been complete without some lime sour cream. Good taco!


At this point, we were already getting fairly stuffed despite sharing. Also, being seated outside meant that the sun and shadow play from the greenery was fickle so my pictures weren't as clean as they were in the beginning. That can't take away from our desserts however. A slice of Key Lime Pie topped with white chocolate mousse is just about the perfect way to end a meal - you have your creaminess from the body of it and the tartness from the lime. Talk about zings! We also had a hefty slice of their Piña Colada Cake, a layered and toasted coconut-covered beast with the same white chocolate mousse but also made with Tahitian vanilla bean. Yum and yum. Unfortunately for that cake, I'm more of a pie person myself, haha.

UPDATE: Talk about excellent service - I had made a reservation with them through OpenTable so my phone number was under the reservation. I received a phone call the day after my visit to just see if everything went well. How nice is that? Thumbs up Tommy Bahama's! 

Photography by Minerva Thai.

Looking for other bloggers chowing down during OC Restaurant Week 2013? See who's writing at http://www.orangecountyrestaurantweek.com/OC_Food_Blogs_That_Rock.html!

How appropriate that on "Meatless Monday," I would post about 118 Degrees! Anyhow, this was the first of my restaurants to hit up for OC Restaurant Week, and it was a great first experience. My goal is to make my visits only to restaurants that I have not dined at before. That restaurant list is long by the way - I feel like I've barely tapped into the restaurant scene around here! Okay so enough of my rambling. Let's get to the important stuff: the food.


If you don't know anything about 118 Degrees,  here's the down-low. Their philosophy is to "serve nothing but the freshest gourmet living cuisine" with all "menu items are lovingly prepared, by hand, daily using local organic produce wherever possible." That's not it though. They are also a raw foods restaurant and the name comes from that fact that their items are "entirely plant-based made from fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds & sprouted grains-all prepared at 118 Degrees or lower to preserve valuable nutrients." Sound healthy enough for you? It was a good way to begin a week full of, let's be honest here, gorging. To start, my lunchmate had their berry iced tea and I their Apple, Lemon, Ginger juice. What a waker-upper! I think I'll need some of that juice every morning to get me pumped up just right.


Their first course on the $10 lunch menu for OC Restaurant Week was a citrus salad dressed in a sweet mustard vinaigrette. Cute Ojai pixie tangerine slices had been placed on top along with shredded beet. It was a nice refreshing starter with very crisp greens (despite the sauce) and a good sweet spiciness from the mustard. The bursts of citrus flavor added well to the natural sugariness of beets.


Our second course was their Sobeca flatbread, something I had read but didn't remember once the plate came into view. In the back of my mind, I had thought that there was some sort of bread associated with the entree but when I saw it, I didn't recall what it was. That was because the housemade buckwheat flatbread was buried under mounds of crunchy raw broccoli, thinly sliced red onion, and roasted red bell pepper. There was also their award winning tahini cheese between the vegetables and flatbread as well as a red fajita sauce smothering it all. Think of nachos except healthier. Because I had realized that there was flatbread underneath, I think I had let it get too soggy. Oh well - the broccoli kept me busy and amused as each loudly cracked and crunched in my mouth.


The fun part about having these more health-oriented foods is the lack of a heavy, languid feeling at the end of a meal. It came time for our third course which was their toffee brownie bite made with walnut and cacao and topped with an "espresso crunch." This too did not illicit a lazy feeling which was certainly surprising as chocolate desserts this rich can put turn one into a sloth. No, this was, instead, very rich in flavor but light in feeling. I enjoyed the crunch on top of each and the misleadingly thick sauce drizzled on top. The service was great; another reason to come back aside from the awesome food!

Photography by Minerva Thai.

Looking for other bloggers chowing down during OC Restaurant Week 2013? See who's writing at http://www.orangecountyrestaurantweek.com/OC_Food_Blogs_That_Rock.html!