Irvine Spectrum, 71 Fortune Dr, Irvine, CA 92618
Pricing - $$/$$$ | Dining - Casual | Cuisine - American | Reservations - Available
www.yardhouse.com

A chain restaurant, yes; however, it's mostly in Southern California for the locations in this state. Other locations are in AZ, CO, FL, HI, IL, KS, MA, NV, and TX. Of all the times I've been to Yard House, I think I've only had their regular fare once. I basically just go for their Happy Hour specials where you get half off select appetizers and certain drinks are cheaply priced. What's impressive about Yard House is the 100+ beers they have on tap and the large variety you can get of their blends. When you walk into their place, you can see all the kegs and taps; it's quite amazing.


I chose to go with the Youngberry Chocolate which was their unique blend of Lindeman's Framboise & Young's Double Chocolate Stout. It tasted like a liquid raspberry truffle to me. I love raspberry truffles! The stout was smooth and quite tasty. When I got to the bottom of my glass though, I realized that I should've mixed them a little bit as I got closer to the end because when I was left with the Framboise at the bottom, my jaw was clenching from how tart it was (even thinking about it now made me salivate). Great drink though. I'm interested in trying out more. I took my younger brother, Edison, with me when we went and as a growing teenage boy would, he made hefty choices that made us feel quite full at the end. We opted to go with the spinach cheese dip, chicken nachos, and Chinese garlic noodles.


The spinach cheese dip has been one of our favorites. I believe we get it every time we go. It has Feta, Jack, and Parmesan cheeses melted into it. The flatbread used to get the dip is quite crispy and has Parmesan sprinkled on it. It's a little salty but gets balanced out with how savory the spinach dip is. While the bowl is shallow, it certainly is enough dip considering how rich and cheesy it is.


When we were reading the menu, the Chinese garlic noodles jumped out at us. We decided to give it a shot, and it was a good choice save for the saltiness. Butter and garlic tossed with Shiitake mushrooms and sprinkled with grated Parmesan, this dish was flavorful but a bit small. It had a bit more salt than I would have liked but the noodles' texture was good. Though good, I probably wouldn't order again because it wasn't superbly out of the ordinary or anything. It was merely just good for then.


What made us bloated was having ordered the enormous chicken nachos with their spicy pinto beans, Cheddar and Jack, red and green sauce, tomato, cilantro, onions, guacamole and sour cream on tortilla chips. It was quite the sizable portion. However, the amount of chicken on the nachos was sparse and nothing stood out for me on this dish.


Here are two fabulous pictures that my fellow diner and friend took of the food that was ordered. The first picture is of the Hawaiian Poke Stack my friends got (which was delicious!), and the second is of my brother's and my order. Thanks for taking such awesome pictures Justin Misa! I'm considering trying a hand at food photography because pictures like these make me oh-so-happy. Food is a wonderful thing!

12661 Beach Blvd, Stanton, CA 90680
Pricing - $/$$ | Dining - Casual, To-Go | Cuisine - Sushi, Japanese
http://yukisushi.tumblr.com/


Oh good sushi, how I have missed thee! California is the place to be. After some fun at Dave & Buster's for my friend's birthday, we headed over to Yuki Sushi which is one of the favorite sushi places of one of my friends. We got some of the free edamame and miso soup to start off the evening. The miso soup was pretty good with actual soft tofu bits.


The first roll we grabbed was the Hot Night Roll which was shrimp tempura, cucumber, and crabmeat on the inside with spicy tuna and crunch on the outside. It was pretty dang good. The spiciness caught me a little off-guard there because I wasn't expecting it to be so quick to heat. However, it worked quite well for the roll, and the tuna was very fresh. The crunch was scrumptious! I enjoyed this roll a lot more than the other one we got (though it was good too).


The second roll was the Crunch Dragon Roll which actually had the same inside as the Hot Night Roll but the outside was fresh water eel. I think I only didn't like this roll as much as the first because the generous chunks of eel overpowered the other tastes. Whereas the Hot Night Roll had a bit of zing to it from the spiciness that gave way to the inside, the Crunch Dragon Roll was mainly eel-y. Nothing against eel - it was a good roll too. I'd recommend it to those who like large chunks of eel!


Dessert was a must here. The tempura ice cream at Yuki is phenomenal! We snagged ourselves a green tea tempura ice cream; I always must commend them on presentation of their dessert. I also have to give a thumbs up to how they get the right balance between a crunchy hot tempura shell and superbly frozen ice cream. I mean, the ice cream is not melty from the shell's heat nor is it frozen solid as an "easy way out" for the making of the dessert. The ice cream is very creamy and smooth as well. Another satisfied dinner at Yuki!

[This recipe has been updated - if you'd like to see the newest version, click here.]

I made this dipping sauce for the graduation party to go with the Italian meatballs that were to be a platter. It's pretty simple and puts a nice tangy spin on just putting meatballs in ketchup or tomato sauce.

Step 1: Ingredients (serving size: 10 ounces)

• salt, to taste
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• 1 cup ketchup
• 2 tbsps white vinegar
• 2 tbsps Worchestershire sauce

Step 2: Making the sauce
In a saucepan on medium heat, mix everything together! Hah...I'm sorry that the directions are just that but it just is that simple!

1242 University Ave, Ste 5, Riverside, CA 92507
Pricing - $ | Dining - Casual, To-Go | Cuisine - American Chinese

I headed over to Life Cafe with a huge group of other people after a long Circle K banquet tonight. We had all had food a few hours before but it was about 11:30pm before we hit up this place. It was great to see that it was open late night because we were quite hungry. I snagged a menu and though I thought I should only get an appetizer, I ended up getting a meal without any drink. I regretted not getting a drink after I saw that the boba drinks came out in beer steins (huge ones at that) and tasted my friend's drink - the tapioca was pretty good!


The starter for my combo was a small side salad and a tad bit of soup. I liked the dressing for the salad but iceberg lettuce is not my thing. The soup needed a bit more cornstarch and probably some more vinegar as it was a hot and sour soup (from what I surmised) but was lacking in some areas. It also wasn't all that hot in temperature.


My entree was a combination plate of walnut shrimp and beef & broccoli with steamed rice. I'm not quite sure what the logic was in pairing these two together though. The flavors did not quite mesh if you wanted to eat a bite of one and then immediately have a bite of the other afterward. The walnut shrimp was quite sweet; there were even pieces of cut-up Asian pear mixed in. The walnuts were too soft for my liking and the shrimp's breading had a queer texture to it. It made my mouth feel...powdery? The beef and broccoli was decent; my main complaint was that it was too saucy/salty. The meal was okay overall - not bad but not phenomenal. Props on presentation though!

I've always been a fan of scalloped potatoes. There's just something so delicious about the texture of the potatoes when they come out. For the graduation party my roommate and I threw, I realized a bit last minute that I didn't plan any vegetarian dishes. We had some potatoes in the fridge though so I knew we had to throw together something really quick. My mistake was using vanilla soymilk which made the dish sweet. Luckily everyone seemed to like it though. Regardless, use regular soymilk! If you don't necessarily need to make this dish vegan, you can go with regular milk and replace the olive oil with butter.

Step 1: Ingredients (serving size: 4)

• olive oil
• paprika, for garnish
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 cup soy milk
• 3 tbsps flour
• 3 medium red potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

Step 2: Preparing the ingredients
Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Put some oil in a 9-inch pie tin to grease it. Mix together your salt, pepper, and flour. Chop the onion and slice the potatoes after peeling.


Step 3: Layering the ingredients
Put 1/2 of the potatoes you have sliced in the tin in a neat layer. Put down 1/2 of the onion as a second layer and drizzle on some olive oil. Sprinkle 1/2 half of the flour on. Then, repeat! Slowly fill the tin with the soymilk until it barely covers the top. Put paprika on top.



Step 4: Finishing
Stick your dish in the oven for about 90 minutes until the milk has thickened and the potatoes are slightly soft. I put mine back in the oven after a little bit to keep it warm, and it got a little burnt on top which actually made the texture on top quite nice.

What does one do when one has a lot of ingredients around the house that need to be eaten? STIR-FRY! Really, making a stir-fry has got to be one of the easiest things to do and should be known to everyone who wants to cook at all. I hadn't had tofu in a while so needed to make something with it. This dish goes well with white rice.

Step 1: Ingredients (serving size: 4-5)

• vegetable oil, for pan
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 can baby corn, halved
• 1 carrot, peeled and sliced
• 1 broccoli crown, in small pieces
• 1 tsp ground ginger (or 1 tbsp freshly chopped ginger)
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp garlic chili sauce (or to taste)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsps white vinegar
• 2 tbsps honey
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 6 oz. bamboo shoots, sliced
• 14 oz. extra firm tofu, cubed

Step 2: Making the sauce
Combine the water, soy sauce, vinegar, and honey together. Mix well until the honey has dissolved. Taste it to make sure it's got the right amount of tang to it.



Step 3: Preparing the ingredients
Slice/dice your vegetables and cube the tofu now. They should be in about 1/2 inch cubes. With a little bit of oil in a pan, fry your tofu so that it is a golden yellow on some sides. You may also start making rice now if you're eating the stir-fry with this.


Step 4: Cooking the vegetables
Remove the tofu. Put some more oil on the pan and add your vegetables to it. I added a bit of water to the bottom after about a minute or two and put the lid over it to steam the vegetables a little. I wanted to make sure the carrots wouldn't end up very hard. After a few minutes, add the sauce to your pan and the chili sauce. Sprinkle on your ginger too.


Step 5: Adding the tofu and finishing
Once the vegetables are well-coated with the sauce, add your tofu. Stir it around for a little bit. Mix your cornstarch in a separate dish with a bit of warm water. Add this mixture to your pan and stir around a bit. Taste it first to make sure it's where you want it - adjust as necessary. At this time, your rice should have finished, and you should be done! I garnished my rice with a little bit of rice seasoning (as soon in the picture up top) for presentation's purposes.

There are several ways I would've adjusted this dish to make it better from the first time I did, and I'll make sure to note them here in the recipe itself. This is quite a simple and quick fix-in if you can leave your meat marinated for a while.

Step 1: Ingredients (serving size: 4)

• black pepper, to taste
• salt, to taste
• vegetable oil, for pan
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 yellow onion, sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
• 1 lb flank steak, sliced
• 2 tbsps olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced

Step 2: Marinating the meat
I was a little rushed when I started making this so I didn't let the marinade sit in for too long. You should marinade the meat for about an hour before you start cooking. I sliced my steak prior to marinating because I actually wasn't sure that I was making this beforehand. You may leave the entire steak intact and slice after if you'd like. Mince your garlic and add it to a bowl with the beef, lime juice, olive oil, and cumin. Let marinate for approximately an hour.


Step 3: Cooking the vegetables
Slice up your vegetables. Put a little vegetable oil into a pan and sear the vegetables for about a minute before stirring every so often. You want to give them a bit of crisp along the edges. Add pepper to taste.

Step 4: Cooking the meat
Use a cast-iron pan/griddle for this one. My friend had bought me a fajita maker set for Christmas so I had a hefty fajita pan to cook my steak on. Let it heat up for a bit before adding some oil. Fry your beef on there to desired doneness. I personally like a bit of char on my steak fajitas so I let some sides get quite crisp. Be careful of the pan/griddle smoking up the place; turn on your overhead fan, open some windows, and reduce the heat if it does.


Step 5: Finishing
I added the steak to the vegetables afterward to make sure both were heated and the flavors mixed a little. You can serve this in warm flour tortillas with your choice of toppings. Eat up!

9625 Bolsa Ave, Westminster, CA 92684
Pricing - $ | Dining - Casual | Cuisine - Vietnamese


My family and I went here after we got back from Duke because it was one of the 24 hour pho places around. It was priced just where I like seeing my pho - at $6 for a large bowl. The few Asian places I've seen around Duke have always charged $9+ for a small bowl but we were finally back in the land of Asians. For a 24 hour place, the food was pretty decent. I ordered the bowl with everything. I really liked the noodles because they were cooked to the right firmness. The broth was good after a long day but not too memorable. They put a good amount of meat in the bowl for which I was grateful (my only complaint was that there wasn't enough tripe) and the vegetables were quite fresh. I'd come back another late night when I'm craving pho in the wee hours.

Parker & Otis - 112 S. Duke St., Durham, NC 27701
Pricing - $/$$ | Dining - Casual, To-Go | Cuisine - American
www.parkerandotis.com

I said I wanted to go back in my previous post so I did! I decided that it'd be a yummy place to go to for my graduation meal so off we went. It was just as quaint as I had remembered it with the addition of other families there for graduation. I picked the dishes for my parents because they preferred not to have to deal with ordering.


My mom got a bowl of the soup of the day which was Hungarian mushroom. I thought it was quite delicious actually and had plenty of mushrooms. I also got her a cup of their cheesy grits because the family's never had grits before. The restaurant made them quite well and everyone liked it!


My dad got one of the sandwiches of the week which had roast beef, Muenster cheese, tomato, lettuce, red onion, and horseradish mayo on wheat. The side was their house slaw which I hadn't liked before; apparently no one else in the family did either! The sandwich was packed with meat and good though quite ordinary in my opinion.


My little brother got their buffalo chicken with green herb dip, sprouts, red onion, and Muenster cheese on sourdough. He also got their pesto salad as a side. I liked the sandwich that I got to try because the sprouts gave it a "fresh" taste. The buffalo chicken was definitely not the doused-in-sauce type that I expected (or he for that matter) but was still good. The pesto salad was great.


I ordered one of their sandwiches of the week which was turkey with Stonewall Kitchen red pepper jelly, white cheddar, green herb dip, and red onion on wheat. The pepper jelly made the whole sandwich quite sweet. What tempered it was the herb dip but overall, it was on the sweeter side. I liked it a lot actually because it wasn't overbearing in its sweetness. The white cheddar worked well in the sandwich and naturally, I got deviled eggs for the side because they make them so well here!

2001 Campus Dr, Durham, NC 27705
Pricing - $$/$$$ | Dining - Casual | Cuisine - American
www.nasher.duke.edu/museum_cafe.php

A delicious place to eat, particularly for a Duke student who is looking to get rid of FoodPoints! My parents and younger brother came to Duke for graduation weekend, and I took them here to snag a nice relaxed lunch. The facility is great because it is set inside the Nasher Museum with plenty of skylights and tall windows to give ample natural lighting. The establishment is chic and the service friendly. We decided to splurge on an appetizer and individual drinks on top of our entrees. It was a fabulous meal.


The appetizer was the smoked salmon with red onion, egg, capers, dill cream, and cucumber on flatbread crackers. Talk about presentation. Leave it to a museum cafe to have artsy tableware. The salmon was indeed quite smoky and thinly sliced. It was great on top of the crackers. The capers were a nice touch of bursting sourness, and the dill cream complemented the whole appetizer well. I'm not sure how I felt about the eggs - I could've taken them or left them. Everyone enjoyed it though.


My mom and brother ordered the Italian cream soda for their drinks. Their pleasant surprise was that the soda actually had cream on top that had to be mixed in. It was a great vanilla flavor. My dad got a large cup of Joe Van Gogh drip coffee with cream and raw sugar crystals on the side to add in. He liked it too.


As for the entrees, my brother got the classic club sandwich composed of hand sliced chicken breast, bacon, sharp cheddar, tomato, Romaine lettuce, and mayonnaise on sourdough. His side was a potato salad that none of us particularly liked because of the abundance of mustard seed. My mom got the Asian chicken salad which was mixed greens, red cabbage, carrots, oranges, cashews, and shredded chicken dressed with a ginger miso vinaigrette. It was tastefully tangy. My dad got the Nasher burger which was a large beef patty, sharp cheddar, fried onion threads, tomato, and roasted garlic aioli on a Brioche bun. He really liked the beef used and we all did too!


My lunch was their red, white, & green panini which had smoked mozzarella, garlic pesto aioli, oven-roasted tomato, and baby spinach on rustic house bread. It was a bit too buttery on the bread but was overall quite tasty. Definitely better hot than cold/warm (I had leftovers). I added chicken breast to mine and realized that it could've been had without because the other ingredients were quite hearty and heavy. My side was quinoa with a tangy, citrus sauce - I enjoyed it immensely. What a delicious lunch. Nasher never disappoints me.