Mary, Orange County, Irvine

101 noodles express / irvine – orange county, ca

I had a quick trip up to Orange County recently and my dad let me pick a place for us to have lunch at. I love when people let me pick the place (and the food) and I wanted to try something that we couldn’t get a whole lot of down here in San Diego – namely, delicious dumplings! I scouted around on Yelp and on a few other food blogger’s sites and ended up reading Kirbie’s post about 101 Noodles Express and decided that’s where I wanted to go for lunch.

This place is pretty conveniently located right off of I-5. The restaurant is small and tucked into the corner of a pretty packed shopping center with a few other Asian restaurants and shops. There’s a clipboard outside that serves as the waiting list and you just write your name in and wait to be called. We didn’t have to wait too long before being seated.

[beef roll – $7.45]

I made sure to order the beef roll that Kirbie had so raved about in her post. You get two pretty hefty looking rolls that sort of look like a burrito but cut into manageable, quartered pieces. It’s got slices of beef with tons of onion, cilantro and other goodies tucked into it and all wrapped together to form a pretty pinwheel-like package. This tasted very fresh and bright from all of the seasonings packed into it and the beef had a nice flavor to it as well. I dug it!

[cilantro-jalapeno side condiment]

This little jar of stuff is on all of the tables. It’s a condiment made with cilantro and jalapeno. I put a little daub onto my beef roll and it did kind of kick up the flavor a bit. I consider it to be for “oomphing” purposes. Did I really just say “oomphing purposes?

Yeah, I guess I did.

I didn’t think the beef roll really needed the condiment and while I didn’t dislike it, I did kind of prefer it without. To each their own!

[dan dan (minced pork) with hand torn noodles $6.99 / regular noodles – $5.99]

My dad and I were sitting at a long table shared by another group and my dad noticed this dish and he asked them what it was. We decided it was tasty looking enough that we ought to order it, too. You can get either regular noodles or hand torn noodles for a dollar more. I’ve never seen “hard torn noodles” on a menu before so I had to try it!

[hand torn noodles closeup]

These noodles had a very distinctive chew that I really, really enjoyed. The minced pork was delicious. My dad thought it needed a dollop of soy sauce but I liked it as-is. It was so simple but so delicious. The pork covered the noodles and coated them really well – I think I could eat this all of the time.

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San Diego County, Mary, Little Italy, Downtown

isola pizza bar / little italy – san diego, ca

Isola Pizza Bar is a new joint that’s joined the little community of Little Italy. Chef Massimo Tenino is the owner, the restaurant named after his grandmother. His heart and soul has been put into this place as he told us about how he build and designed the place from the ground up.

[hanging lights]

These kick ass lights hanging above us was one of the first things I noticed when we entered and sat down in the restaurant. Chef Tenino told us that they were asparagus canning jars that he turned into lights for the restaurant. It felt so much more personal to know he had a hand in all aspects of the restaurant – it really is his baby.

[wood fire oven]

The restaurant also only featuring one cooking device – the wood fire oven. Everything is cooked in that oven, from appetizers and pizzas, and it serves as the heart and cornerstone of the restaurant.

Jake and I were also very impressed with our service and with our waiter, Alex. Alex was so on top of everything and very good at recommending dishes to us. He really sold us a lot of the dishes and was so passionate about the restaurant and it’s food – it was so refreshing to see! Attention to detail and service really makes your visit feel so much more welcoming and enjoyable.

Here’s a smiling Jake starting to enjoy one of our appetizers.

[focaccia with spicy olive oil]

This is the dish you get started off with – some simple focaccia bread with a flavored olive oil. The olive oil is flavored and seeped with chilies – they constantly are making new bottles and storing them away week after week to ensure they have a batch for their patrons. This olive oil had been working it’s magic for about 8 weeks. The spiciness of it kind of snuck up and hit me. I didn’t taste it at first, but after a few moments the rush of heat and flavor came through – surprising but very tasty.

[prosciutto wrapped tuscan melon]

Jake is in love with Tuscan Cantelope. He spotted this on the menu and just had to order it. The prosciutto was thin and draped over the melon instead of wrapped. Taking one bite gives you the sweetness from the perfectly ripe melon with the slight saltiness from the prosciutto. A perfect bite!

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Recipes, Mary

fresh corn salad

For the Fourth of July this year, I made a few things – including my standby, go-to potluck side dish, the pesto pasta salad. With summer in full swing, I wanted to do a fresh salad with one of summer’s best vegetables – corn on the cob! I whipped up this fresh corn salad in a jiffy – doesn’t take too much to put it together and the taste of fresh, crunchy corn is always a welcome to my tastebuds.

Before I give you this magically delicious recipe, want some tips on how to cut off that corn from the cob?

Sure you do!

I’m pretty sure I saw this on an episode of 30 Minute Meals, back when I used to watch that show all of the time.

Basically, you put a smaller bowl upside inside of a bigger bowl. You stand the cob on top of the little bowl.

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Mary, Mission Valley, San Diego County

dave and buster’s – mission valley / san diego, ca

I hadn’t been to a Dave & Buster’s in years, but I was recently invited to swing on by and to check it out again. I was looking forward to taking Jake, Chris and T for a night out to try out Dave & Buster’s newest menu items and to try out some of their fun, new games this summer!

Let’s get crackin’. There’s a lot of food to cover.

Looking at all of these photos makes me feel the fullness again. Oof.

We were greeted by some of the assistant managers who took very good care of us that evening. He had everything under control – ordering the food and drinks for us, asking if there was anything else we wanted and catering to our needs. I wish I could dine like this all of the time. Totally, totally spoiled. Oy.

[The Lawnmower Salad – layered using fresh romaine and green leaf lettuces, grilled chicken, diced garden vegetables, boiled eggs, bacon bits and bleu cheese crumbles]

We started the dinner off with a salad – a salad unlike any other I have seen before. They call it the “Lawnmower Salad” and it comes on a huge plate with all of the veggies and greens layered out in pretty little rows. The nice part about this is you get to kind of build the salad the way you want it – grabbing the veggies you like and scooping them onto your own plate. The lettuces are underneath all of the toppings, so as you grab some, you also get the lettuce underneath.

By the time you scoop what you want onto your own little plate, it manages to get all tossed and mixed up and ready for your waiting mouth… don’t read into that.

You get your choice of dressing on the side to pour over your own mini salad. Perfect for sharing with a crowd!

[The 5:15 – Comes with 5 Buffalo Wings with your choice of Ranch or Bleu Cheese dressing; 5 Chicken Quesadilla Wedges with salsa; 5 Pretzel Dogs; and 5 Crispy Fried Shrimp with spicy habanero sauce; complete with a stack of fresh BBQ potato chips]

Next we had the “5:15” appetizer platter brought out to us – this is geared towards the “after work” crowd who’s ready to get the evening started after a long day at work. It comes with a little mix of everything – wings, quesadilla wedges, pretzel dogs, fried shrimp and plenty of freshly made BBQ potato chips.

I got to eat all of the shrimp, because boys are weird.

Well, at least the ones I know are. Who cares though – more shrimp for ME!

The shrimp is a basic fried shrimp, but the spicy habanero sauce gives it a hefty kick to the seat of your pants, if you like that kind of thing. The pretzel dogs were my next favorite item – they were encased in a soft pretzel dough which paired nicely with the dogs. The boys were all seriously digging the potato chips which had Dave & Buster’s own BBQ seasoning dusted over all of the chips. They had a good crunch and flavor – though not my favorite, simply because I don’t dig BBQ chips all that much.

Maybe I’m just a weird girl.

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Mary, Travel, Las Vegas

max brenner – las vegas, nv

I went on vacation last week! For the whole week! Man, it was awesome. Getting back to work and reality is kind of a bummer this week. But I get to relive it a little bit with my food recap posts. Score. For our Vegas trip we had four of us tagging along – myself, Jake, Chris and Laura.

I had read a few other blogger’s posts about visiting Max Brenner in Las Vegas – a restaurant that also has a chocolate shop within it and a separate “Chocolate Menu”. I couldn’t resist.

[Really Cheesy-Really Crunchy Mac & Cheese – 5 cheese blend with tomatoes and smoked applewood bacon – $15.25]

I got to pick a couple of dishes because my friends are cool like that and trust my judgement. I got consensus though. We shared all of our dishes so it was like we all shared a mini buffet together – but this way the food was fresh and a bit more interesting that the items you’d get at the buffet.

One of the dishes we started off with was this Mac & Cheese dish – it is true to its name in that it was pretty crunchy. It’s not really a very saucy or creamy mac and cheese but still quite good on it’s own. The top got very crisp and crunchy, lending a nice texture to the dish. I prefer a little creamier mac and cheese, but I still loved the crunch on this one and the blend of cheeses was quite nice.

[Asian Chicken and Soba Noodle Salad – veggies, wontons and sesame peanut dressing – $14.50]

I also picked a salad to lighten up the meal since mac & cheese can be heavy at times. This Asian Chicken and Soba Noodle Salad really hit the spot and surprised all of us at how good it was. It was a nice, light, refreshing salad that had a lot of textures and flavors going on – the mint gave it a good flavor, the soba noodles were delicious and the crunch from the veggies, peanuts and wonton noodles really made this salad come together. We cleaned up that dish pretty quickly and it ended up being one of our favorite items.

[Molly’s White Corn Croquettes – white corn & manchego cheese ball in panko bread crumbs – individual portion – $6.95]

I was intrigued by the description of these white corn croquettes and decided on getting the smaller sized portion. It turned out to be perfect since it came with four little croquettes – one for each of us! These croquettes are lightly fried with a creamy, cheesy inside. The white corn adds a bit of sweetness to the bite while the cheese oozes out. It’s a flavorful, crunchy little bite!

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San Diego County, Mary, Del Mar

san diego fair treats

I love the fair.

The start of the fair in June is the start of summer. It’s also the start of corn on the cob, fresh basil and tomatoes in the garden, and totally fried totally bad for you fair food. I love it!

This year I got to enjoy the fair with Jake, our friend from Tampa, Chris, and Jake’s son, T. We visited the fair last week to catch one of our favorite comedians, Gabriel Iglesias, on stage. He was hilarious and well worth the price of admission. And of course, I can’t go to the fair without trying out and eating a bunch of crazy fair foods. Here’s my recap for this year!

[Deep Fried Snickers / Deep Fried Reese’s]

Christopher (I like to call him by his full name since it amuses me) wanted to try out some deep fried candy bars since he’d never had one before. We got a deep fried snickers and a deep fried reese’s.

This is the innards of a deep fried Reese’s. I preferred this one, just because I like peanut butter that much more than Snickers. Both are coated in a sweet batter. It kinda looks like this Reese’s was undercooked from that goo there, but I didn’t notice it at all. The candy just melts and gets all gooey inside. It’s pretty darn good.

[Orange Julius]

Jake and Chris both got Orange Julius.

I might be one of the only people who doesn’t really like Orange Julius.

I don’t know why. I don’t really care for any orange flavored drink – except for orange juice. No pulp, please.

[Chocolate Covered Bacon]
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San Diego County, Mira Mesa, Mary

fuze restaurant and lounge / mira mesa – san diego, ca

Mira Mesa has gotten a new addition to the neighborhood: Fuze, a Korean restaurant located where “Mr. Wasabi” used to be. They haven’t changed the name on the signage yet, but you still spot the restaurant when you’re driving west on Mira Mesa Blvd. I was invited to come in and try out the restaurant not too long ago. I actually went in early to do a “sneak peek” on one of my lunch breaks before I came in. For this trip, my cohort was my dad.

We there about 5PM on a Wednesday evening. No other guests to speak of. Our hostess/waitress showed us to a table and we sat and started to peruse the menu. Sadly she wasn’t totally well versed on the menu so I felt it was a little lacking there since she gave us half-hearted suggestions. No matter, we ordered a few things and were off!

[pajun – korean style scallion pancake]

I’m not well versed in Korean food at all. This was described to us as sort of a “seafood pancake”.

It’s a large pancake-like appetizer with lots of scallions and little shrimps. The outer edge was a bit crisp (though not too crunchy) and the inside was very doughy. Our waitress said “it’s supposed to be like that” but it sort of tasted like the inside wasn’t cooked all of the way. I did not really like the consistency of the inside of the pajun and mostly just nibbled on the outer edges and a few pieces of the shrimp.

[fried calamari with wasabi ranch and house tarter sauce]

The fried calamari was a more familiar dish that we tried – I was mostly curious to see what kind of twist (if any) they would put on one of my favorite dishes. The calamari are cut into rings and then fried in a coating of batter, resulting in a light, crispy calamari. I love that they’re served on those noodle things (I can’t remember what they are called! argh) giving them a fun, visual appearance. The wasabi ranch wasn’t too god-awful hot and the tarter sauce was just okay. I kept nibbling on these babies sans sauce, cause that’s how I roll. They were tender with a very slight chew and a nice, crisp outer texture.

[bulgogi – sauteed sliced rib eye, onion, asparagus, bell pepper, mushroom and basil]

My dad ordered the bulgogi – or Korean barbequed beef – for his meal. I tried this previously for lunch and my dad and I both agree that this is a very good dish. My dad said that this reminded him of “something your mom would make” – a meat and mostly veggie dish in a nice sauce with some rice on the side. The bulgogi has a nice seasoned flavor and I love the veggies that come with it (especially the mushrooms – I lub you, mushrooms). The bulgogi is tender and the marinade/sauce is slightly sweet and delicious. They also serve bulgogi philly cheese steaks and bulgogi sliders, two items I surely want to come back and try in the future.

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Del Mar, San Diego County, Mary

shimbashi izakaya / del mar – san diego, ca

Shimbashi Izakaya is a Japanese restaurant located in the heart of downtown Del Mar, CA. They serve a variety of “tapas” style menu items as well as sushi, noodles, and other Japanese dishes and seafood. I recently had the opportunity to try Shimbashi Izakaya for myself and was happily treated to a wonderful line up of delicious Japanese foods.

Shimbashi Izakaya is in such a pretty spot with a nice outdoor patio.

There’s an ocean view and if you’re lucky (ie: not dining in May or June), you’ll be treated to a sunny, ocean view. Our sunset was a little cloudy that evening and it was a bit chilly by the coast, but Laura and I were not deterred in the slightest! Also: heat lamps are a wonderful invention.

This is their menu – it looks like a picture book! I loved this idea, especially for cuisine that I’m not very familiar with. It’s so helpful to see photos of the items you want to order.

[Lychee Martini]

Our hostess pretty much convinced me to try this drink. I wasn’t going to have any alcohol, but with a little pushing and prodding you can get me to try a lot of things.

I admit, it didn’t really take much prodding. But, she did have them split our 1 Lychee martini into two glasses. This was very sweet – and I detected no alcohol, which is a crazy combination. The flavor of the lychee comes shining through on this martini. While I thought the drink was good, it would have been better if it was a little less sweet.

I loved the wooden skewers with the wooden flower bead – so cute!

[Baked Mussels]

After perusing through their large menu, Laura and I decided to get a few appetizers to start. One was this: the Baked Mussels. The mussels come back in their shells, grilled and topped with cheese and onions. Almost like a mini baked casserole in a shell.

I liked the flavors of the mussels but I wasn’t too crazy about the type of cheese paired with it. It wasn’t bad, but I didn’t think the flavor of the mussel went that great with the cheese.

[Pri-pri Ebiten]

I first saw this on Leanne’s post about Shimbashi and I already knew I would order it. Gigantic shrimp? In a honey glaze? FRIED?! Well damn, sign me up!
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Hillcrest, San Diego County, Mary

urban eats / hillcrest – san diego, ca

Urban Eats is a new little restaurant in Hillcrest that’s been open for about three months now under the helm of Chef Christopher B. Sayre. The spot started out earlier this year as Taco Banh before Sayre decided to switch gears and instead open up Urban Eats, a locally sourced restaurant serving up a mix of American dishes. My cohorts and I had noticed on the bottom of our bill it has said “Taco Banh” and curiosity got me to Google searching. It seems Taco Banh didn’t quite work out and Urban Eats was able to rise up out of that. Jake and I are certainly glad that it came to this as we dined here twice within one week – once as a guest and another time on our own with our friend, Laura.

The space is small, but cozy. The bar is the first thing to catch your eye with its colorful Asian lanterns. The simple seats are all set up with place settings and menus and your greeted in a most friendly manner to “sit anywhere you’d like!”

Kyle, our host, server, and waiter extraordinaire, was there to take care of us on both visits. His warm and friendly personalities just exudes charm. I loved him immediately, especially when he recognized us on our second visit and already knew we were going to order the macaroni and cheese again.

mashed potato pizza & meatballs at urbn coal fired pizza / north park – san diego, ca

Awhile ago I saw that CC of Pink Candles at Ridgemont High went to URBN in North Park and had some Mashed Potato Pizza.

I remember being terribly intrigued by it – pizza… with mashed potatoes on it? Sounds totally crazy and weird, but I just had to try it.

Fast forward to a few months later and Jake and I finally made our way around to URBN.

URBN is a much larger space than I first thought. We sat in one of the booths on a Saturday afternoon. Both of the garage doors were open creating a nice cross breeze. It almost felt like we were sitting outdoors.

I kinda dug that our waitress brought us our own little carafe of water and little glasses. I like things like that.

After we placed our order, we also got this little condiment tray of extra spices. From left to right, salt, pepper, oregano, red pepper flakes and shredded Parmesan cheese.

[Housemade Meatballs – $9]

Jake and I shared this order of Housemade Meatballs. I usually like to get meatballs on my pizza, so I felt I had to make up for it another way by getting meatballs on the side. It comes served in a little cast iron pan with marinara sauce, a big dollop of sweet ricotta, Parmesan on top and a baguette on the side.

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Miscellaneous, Mary, Recipes, Cooking with Jake

peanut butter and chocolate potato chips

I’m sorry, what does this post title say?

Peanut Butter and Chocolate covered what?

Potato Chips.

Yep.

Totally Jake’s idea. I just executed it. (Jake helped, too).

He got the idea after a recent trip to Trader Joe’s. I had bought a bag of milk chocolate covered potato chips, which I really liked. Jake put together the idea of my love of peanut butter + chocolate with the potato chips and viola!

A delicious idea was born.

You don’t need a whole lot for this recipe. It’s mostly just melting and waiting. Also, I used about twice as much chocolate as shown (of each kind).

First things first: melt your peanut butter. Just scoop out a few spoonfuls and nuke it for a about a minute.

And then do this:

Dip it! I liked a few that weren’t dipped all of the way, but Jake liked to cover them up.

It’ll look really weird at first. Just trust me.
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San Diego County, Mary, Multiple Locations, Hillcrest

lotus cafe and juice bar / hillcrest – san diego, ca

Lotus Cafe and Juice Bar is a local restaurant with two locations in Hillcrest and Encinitas. They serve fresh, healthy, natural food and have a lot of dietary options for people who have gluten restrictions, are vegetarian or vegan. Many items can be made vegan and there are a few meaty dishes for those who prefer a bit more protein with their meal.

[Lotus Cafe and Juice Bar Menu]

[Menu Key – The menu is marked with various symbols indicating what the different options are. ]

When I found out I was being invited here and looked at the menu, I decided that I would bring Stacey along with me on this outing as she’s the closest to a vegetarian friend that I have, without actually being vegetarian. What can I say? The girl really likes her salads but can’t bear to give up bacon (bacon smells really good, you must admit).

[Hummus & Pita Bread – spread made of ground garbanzo, sesame seeds, olive oil, lemon & garlic, served with wedges of whole wheat pita bread]

We started off with an appetizer of hummus after we spent an obscenely long amount of time trying to figure out exactly what we wanted. The hummus comes in a big scoop. It’s very solid so not as creamy as other hummus that I’ve had, but the flavor of garlic and lemon shines through and gives this a nice texture and flavor. It comes with a mess of carrots and sprouts along with whole wheat pita bread for spreading and eating.

[Lotus Caesar Salad – Mixed organic greens with tomato, avocado, croutons, Parmesan cheese and vegetarian Caesar dressing]

We also shared this very large Lotus Caesar Salad between the two of us (half salad is also available). This comes with a vegetarian Caesar dressing on the side. The Caesar still has all of the flavor and kick of a regular Caesar so you’re not missing out when you get this. The tomatoes were so fresh and bright and the Parmesan shavings added a nice salty flavor to the salad. Half of a perfectly ripe avocado is placed on top for you to devour (which we did). So refreshing and crisp – the addition of the avocado here really made this shine for me.

[Stuffed Veggie Quesadilla – Whole wheat chapati stuffed with sauteed veggies and cheese, topped with guacamole, salsa and sour cream]

Stacey was between two items for quite some time but finally decided on this Stuffed Veggie Quesadilla. This one can be made vegan, if you so desire. It’s stuffed with with sauteed veggies – including big chunks of broccoli (something we both found really weird at first but it tasted so good that we decided it was a brilliant idea). The veggies are still a bit crisp with a little bite for extra texture. Covered in delicious cheese and topped with a spot of guacamole and sour cream, this is a very delicious and healthy version of a quesadilla.

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