Old Vine Cafe

Prepare to be wowed.
...by the various tastes and sensations brought about by your imagination while viewing the following pictures, of course. Not my weak, uninspired writing.

Crispy Blue Salad
Organic Greens, Crispy Proscuitto, Fried Onions & Maytag Blue Cheese Dressing.
-Paired with a 2007 Reuscher-Haart Piesporter Riesling

Pairing this salad with a dry white wine is a very good idea if you intend to order it. The saltiness of the proscuitto and fried onions mandates it. Curiously enough, the dressing was not that heavy on the blue cheese taste. Thick, creamy dressing combined with all the fried goodies really kick-starts your appetite and wakes up your taste buds. It's a big bold salad. I dig it!

Veggie Quinoa Jambalaya
Cajun Quinoa & Seasonal Vegetables garnished with Fresh Cilantro

This was pretty interesting. My brother ordered it just for fun since we both wondered how a jambalaya could be tasty without meat. The usual jambalaya taste of spices is still there, but there's also quinoa's characteristic nuttiness. Even without the different meats you'd usually find in a jambalaya, this dish still holds its own and tastes "clean-n-simple". Solid alternative to a salad starter if you don't like to munch on rabbit food.

Sauteed Sea Scallops
Three Jumbo Scallops on a nest of Crispy Leeks finished with Tarragon Chardonnay Sauce

They were freakin' huge. Don't they look delicious? Beautifully seared...super juicy...these scallops are perfectly fine on their own but dipping each bite into the subtle tarragon chardonnay sauce somehow makes it even better. Order this.

Hand Made Ravioli
Filled with Smoked Duck, Goat Cheese & Porcini Mushrooms Sauteed in Brown Butter with Sage

This dish comes out as one giant 'roided up ravioli (use the cherry tomatoes as a scale). It kinda reminds me of the ravioli that came with my brother's duck at Pastis, but the flavors in this one is bolder and yells for your attention. Good dish to order as a starter if you are a light eater.

Beef Tenderloin Stroganoff
All Natural Beef Tenderloin Medallions & Shitake Mushrooms, served over Hand Made Fettuccini drizzled with Creamed Demi Glace

What can a restaurant do to make stroganoff taste 100x better than what we do at home? Oh I know: throw in the juiciest, meatiest beef tenderloins you can find and mix it up with the house's egg noodles and velvety sauce. G'damn this was so good. They make some damned fine pasta at Old Vine so make sure you give any one of them a try.

Lamb Meatloaf
Certified All Natural Lamb Meatloaf, on a bed of Caramelized Onions, garnished with Wilted Arugula & a Rich Syrah Demi
-Paired with a 2007 Tortoise Creek Shiraz, Languedoc France.

Very very fluffy meatloaf. I was surprised that they came as individual slices as opposed to a crumpled pile. No idea how it is being held together. These guys at Olive Tree are very skilled. Last two times I had restaurant 'loaf were at the Prado in Balboa Park and Hash House. Man they got nothing on Old Vine Cafe. The demi glace is made with the same syrah paired with the dish and adds more depth to an already smashin' meat loaf. Another must-order.

Fettuccini Pomodoro
Handmade Fettuccini Pomodoro garnished with Aged Pecorino Romano Cheese

Sure it looks just like spaghetti, but trust me on this one...the pomodoro sauce is mind-blowing. Pomodoro is pretty much a non-chunky marinara sauce but I am at a loss as to how a tomato sauce could taste so vibrant, bright, and alive on the palate. You gotta try this to see what I mean. The sauce is so light but packs so much great flavor.

Chocolate Cake
With Merlot–Port-Wine Dark Chocolate Sauce, garnished with Fresh Whipped Cream.
- Paired with a NV Ferreira Ruby Port.

This choco cake isn't a thick heavy beast like a fudge cake. It is a lot finer and delicate but still packs a good whollop of dark chocolate flavor. Bite of cake + the port made for a heavenly dessert experience. The two were so made for each other.

Grandma’s Cheesecake
Cream Cheesecake garnished with a Wild Berry Puree.
-Paired with a NV Ferreira Ruby Port.

Not your run-of-the-mill cheesecake. This rendition is sweeter, thicker, and for the lack of a better description, kinda has a honey/condensed milk taste to it. I like it a helluva lot better than the more traditional recipe.




Old Vine Cafe is one of the very few restaurants that make me go ":O wow..." and is very much worth the trip. I highly recommend you make reservations because it is a popular restaurant and there aren't many tables. Also, they currently offer "early bird" dinner specials at a phenominal price: $40 for three courses and three wine pairings on Tues/Wed/Thurs if you reserve a table between 5-5:30pm. This is now one of my favorite restaurants in Orange County.




Old Vine Cafe
2937 Bristol St. Suite A-102
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
714-545-1411

*note: the restaurant is hard to find. it is actually inside the CAMP retail center instead of in it's own building.

South Beach Bar and Grill

Been feeling a bit down lately, so I decided to go out for a night of drinking with some friends. Happy hour at South Beach Bar and Grill = awesome $2 tacos. To top it off, Monday nights = all-night happy hour! Eat up!

A pal started off with some fried clam strips, Jose cocktail, and shrimp cocktail. Cocktails were okay. I mean for two bucks it's a real bargain. I especially liked how they give you a dab of real horseradish in the cocktail sauce.

Fried Clam Strips

Don't get these. Rubbery and too much batter. Opt for the fried calamari or baby octopus instead. Also, skip the carne asada fries, which are unremarkable save for the guacamole.

I'm sure there are some good appetizer items on the menu for me to discover or hear about, but the real reason to come to South Beach Bar and Grill is for the tacos.

Oh my god the tacos...

Mini-taco platter: Mahi, Wahoo, Grilled Shrimp, Calamari, and Baja

For $5.48 you can treat yourself out to one great gastronomic experience. These tacos are anything but mini. Compare the limes in the background and fried pollock in the foreground and you can see how big these 'mini' tacos are. Despite all those condiments piled on, the meats come to you piping hot and the fried ones are still crispy! I only had a taste of the Mahi and Baja, and both were really fresh quality fish.

Baja and Mahi Tacos

Same as the mini-taco platter but bigger. No wait, I mean huger. These are freakin' GINORMOUS. I was full after chowing on these and washing it all down with a beer. I had only two eggs and a piece of toast that day too... You'd figure I'd be stuffing myself with three more of these babies. Oh yeah nearly forgot: I think you can tack on rice/beans for a teeny bit more money if you'd like.


Amazing. And to top it all off, the service is surprisingly good and attentive. I'm making the trip to Ocean Beach every other Monday now. Maybe I'll mix it up a bit with 3rd Corner too. See ya guys there!





South Beach Bar and Grill
5059 Newport Ave.
Ocean Beach, CA
619.226-4577

Cafe Sevilla

I've had my eye on Cafe Sevilla for quite awhile now and today was the perfect excuse to go: a buddy's birthday. And as many of you readers are well aware, birthday bashes in college ain't nothin' without plentiful alcohol. While the usual go-to plan is to eat out before coming back to the house for some good drunken fun, I took charge this time and suggested we do something different: tapas + drinks followed by wine and cheese after an interlude.

Happy Hour (weeknights only) at Cafe Sevilla ends at 6:30pm. Drinks are half off, though it depends on the day's special. Tonight was mojitos night. In addition, tapas are also half off. Please note that these prices are only valid in the tapas bar section of the restaurant. You'll be standing right in it when you walk into Cafe Sevilla.

And as many of you already know, tapas are small dishes of Spanish appetizers. Folks usually eat 'em along with drinks.

My party of six ordered so many tapas and drinks that I had no room to set up my photography equipment, much less aesthetic shots. Forgive the use of flash...

One of three available mojito variants: pomegranate

Freshly Baked Bread and Alioli:

Homemade Alioli & Andalusian tomato sauce w/ Kalamata olive loaf or traditional French loaf (serves 2)

This picture features the ever-boring French loaf. We also got the olive loaf (so much better.), but the entire serving was pretty much all gone before I could snap a good photo. Hungry people don't wait for anything. Hell, I couldn't wait to dig in either. Both sauces were very good.


Tortilla Espanola:

Savory egg, onion and potato tart.

I remember reading a post by Charlie about how much his girlfriend enjoyed the tortilla espanola here. Apparently, Cafe Sevilla's rendition is comparable to what you'd find in Spain! I really enjoyed this appetizer. The tart was nice and fluffy with thin layers of potato inside. The accompanying mushrooms were cooked in a tangyand really fragrant broth? sauce? Who cares? They were great. I usually try something new when I revisit a restaurant, but I'll make an exception for this tart. It's that good.


Empanada Barcelona:

Salmon mousse, shrimp, sautéed spinach, rice, raisins and pine nuts baked in a puff pastry, topped with cranberry port sauce.

To be honest, I've never had an empanada before. Shocking, I know. I've just never got around to trying it! Really! Due to my lack of exposure, I'm not sure if the empanada is supposed to be flaky or doughy... Just from looking at the surface, I assumed it would be flaky like those BBQ pork pastries you find from dim sum, but actually it was kinda doughy. Maybe my empanada sat on the plate for too long? After all, its filling is hot, which might contribute to condensation and result in a damp empanada. I don't know. Anyway, though the empanada boasts of many ingredients in the filling, I found the dominant flavor to be the salmon mousse and a hint of shrimp. The cranberry port sauce can be overwhelming if you get overzealous like I did. Use it sparingly in each bite or else you'll taste nothing but berries. All in all, a pretty fun dish.


Grilled Spanish Sausages:

-Chorizo Bilbao, Morcilla & Chistorra with red onion-

Yes I have a picture. And no, I won't post it. I didn't realize how unappetizing it looked until I started processing the RAWs from tonight. I blame the sauteed red onions for ruining the picture. In any case, the sausages were pretty salty. No surprise there I guess, so it was a good thing we had ordered bread. Honestly, I found them to be much more enjoyable when eaten with bread. I'm not really a sausage kinda guy, so I didn't find these to be particularly interesting. There's really nothing remarkable about them. Go ahead and try them if you'd like. It's only $4!


Seafood Paellla:

This isn't formally on the tapas bar menu. Our server told us about it and I assume it's just a scaled down version of the paella they usually serve. For $12.95 I sure got a lot of seafood. This shot is only of half the portion. Pretty good deal I guess. The rice was nice and toothy, very well flavored from the juices of the seafood. This was SO much better than the paella I had at The Prado two years ago, which was extremely salty. Cafe Sevilla's seafood paella relies more on the shellfish, shrimp, and calamari to flavor this dish. Shame on you, Prado. As good as the paella was, I wouldn't recommend getting it unless you'll be sharing it with at least three other people. Having just a few drinks, three tapas, some bread, and a few bites here and there from friends' orders was already more than enough to fill me up. I practically took the entire paella home.


My party also ordered:

Fried calamari, which was top notch. Crispy, light batter fried to a golden brown, calamari here is the best I've ever had. The best part about the calamari was that you could actually TASTE the calamari. Too many times have I had fried calamari that tasted of nothing but batter and oil. Also, though the calamari is fried, I was very surprised to see that each piece wasn't greasy at all! Kickass.

Cheese Fundito (with sausages): "Spain meets Mexico again! Baked Manchego & goat cheese With Chorizo sausage". This plate actually came with toasted bread to scoop up the melted cheese. If you like grilled cheese sandwiches, this is a must-get. Adding sausages is an option ($1), but really though, they didn't make much of a difference.

Manchego Cheese Mashed Potatoes with Roasted Garlic: This was a really creamy and rich mashed potato. The flavor of roasted garlic was more than I'd like, however. Good, nonetheless.

There were also other items I did not get to taste, such as the meat paella (also $12.95) which was very well received. Sevilla was extremely generous with the meats, which consisted of sausages, a small grilled chop, grilled beef, and pork. Meat was so tender that a fork was enough to cut 'em. I gotta make room and order this next time.

The chicken ajillo was recommended by our server, and four people ordered it. Only two came (we didn't get charged for the other two), but those who did get a taste said it was really good.


There you have it folks. Happy Hour at Cafe Sevilla. Sure beats the hell out of PB Bar and Grill. But how dare I compare the two? Sevilla is way out of PBB&G's league.

***NOTE: I think it would be nice to mention in each of my posts how vegetarian-friendly a restaurant is. After all, though most people are carnivores, I'm sure we all have friends who are vegetarians and they'd like to hang out too! Vegetarians have many options at Cafe Sevilla. Check out the tapas menu (first page).***

Cafe Sevilla
555 4th Ave.
San Diego, CA 92101
619.233.5979

Pacific Beach Bar and Grill

I finally caved and joined my friends on their bi-weekly visit to PB Bar and Grill where there are weekly specials and discounts for food-n-drink. On Thursdays, drinks are half off (most expensive beer runs up to only $2.50!), pizzas are $5, and appetizers are either $3 off or half off. I suppose that's a good enough reason to scope out the place?

There are some pretty damn negative reviews and comments concerning PB Bar and Grill online voiced by a majority of the nice folks who bothered to post their opinion. Most of these complaints revolve around the unsanitary environment, sh*tty crowd, mediocre food, and bad service. Reading all these complaints were what initially discouraged me from going...but curiosity still got the better of me. I had to see for myself just how bad it really was.

As expected, most of the "dining" area is dark. But not dark enough to hide the wet, sticky floor, sticky tables, and greasy chairs. Okay...I can live with that. After all, I grew up eating from street vendors in Taiwan. Now our waitress....wow what a piece of work she was. Vulgar, sarcastic, and even had the gall to call me a "son of a bitch". Whatever, hoe. Maybe that's how service is like in establishments where nearly all the patrons are various forms of 'bags. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I'm sure most are nice people (some were, I admit). So we have our uneducated douchebags, old 'bags, sleezebags, and hoebags.

Okay fine. I shouldn't judge people like that...but this really will be your fist impression of the crowd if you go at night. What did bother me, however, were these creepy old dudes trying to score some drunk college-cutie ass. It was gross. These old 'bags weren't even from the same party. They were just individual PoS slithering around trying to find a crunk girl wasted enough to lose 150% of her judgment.

Not my kind of crowd. Don't get me wrong, I'm not badmouthing or looking down at the patrons...I'm just saying...it sure ain't the type of people I associate with.

Funny how some guys brought what seemed like their dates here last night...of all places. The ladies looked just miserable eating Thursday night's Pasta Special.

Enough of that. Let's check out the food here.

Garbage Pizza:

Pepperoni, sausage, peppers, mushrooms, onions, olives, and tomatoes.

Looks okay, right? Not too shabby for $5. Sure the cheese was somehow inconsistently burnt, and the dough was extremely bland and plain, but the ingredients are fresh, sauce is decent, and you really can't complain when it costs a meager $5 for a small/medium pizza. Best item of the night.


Spinach Dip:


The dip was served with a basket of unremarkable and slightly stale tortilla chips. It's kind of neat how a sourdough bowl is used to contain the spinach dip. This appetizer actually tasted better using bread instead of chips. But, the dip is nothing noteworthy and was a bit sour for my taste. Could be that I just miss the great dip from ESPN Zone (my high school hangout!).


Irish Nachos:

The original price for these "nachos" (and all the items mentioned above, for that matter) is quite unreasonable. $8? Puh-leez. It's just potato chips with melted cheese and a scant 1.5 tablespoons of bacon bits. The discounted price seems a bit more appropriate. How's it taste? Well...it's potato chips with melted cheddar. Nothing to write home about. It's just something to snack on absentmindedly as you drink with pals.


The myriad of bad reviews/comments directed at PB Bar and Grill all have valid points, and were very accurate. If you are in your early 20s, bored, craving greasy mediocre food, willing to put up with annoying waitresses, able to stand unsanitary dining conditions, and open minded enough to accept the various types of 'bags that make up the crowd, well...this is your place.



Surprisingly, this place is actually decent for brunch. (According to some fellow SD Bloggers)



Pacific Beach Bar and Grill
860 Garnet Ave.
San Diego, CA 92109
858.272.4745

Honda Ya

Apparently Honda Ya has been much blogged about by the Orange County food blogging community and has received some raving reviews. After dropping by on a Saturday night, I can totally see why.

I went with some pals at 9:30pm to find eight parties ahead of us waiting for a table. "Shit. Sorry guys," I said. Well, the wait was actually not all that bad and we were promptly seated (on a tatami!) after about 40 minutes. Normally I would have been in a foul mood after waiting for so long, but time really flies when you're with good company. Eating and hanging out with friends is such a great pleasure in life.

Honda Ya has quite an extensive list of items to order from and I was completely overwhelmed. Hell, if I could, I'd order every damn item on the menu. While my buddies and I were still deciding what to order, we had a pitcher of Sapporo brought over to help us think. I settled with Fried Oysters, Crab & Cheese Croquettes, Takoyaki, and some items from their yakitori menu (not pictured). These items ranged from $4-6. Keegan "The Generous" bought our party two premium bottles of sake. Thanks a lot bud!

Sorry for the crappy pictures. My excuses?
1) I was getting pretty fkin' hungry. I have little patience when I'm hungry.
2) Dim lighting and no room to use a (mini)tripod.
3) Well...I was kinda buzzed. So buzzed that I forgot to get photos of the yakitori items.
4) IT'S KYLE'S FAULT, YOU GUYS!


Fried Oysters:
Came with tartar sauce and what tasted like tonkatsu sauce. I enjoyed them a whole lot more with the tartar sauce and a squeeze of lemon juice. I'm not a fan of oysters because of what I describe as the "rotten+sea taste," but these oysters had no trace of that. The batter was light and fried to a gorgeous golden brown. Delicious! I'd definitely order them again.


Crab & Cheese Croquette:
I love how flash photography makes the oil in fried foods glisten as it does here. The croquettes didn't feel very oily, though. I ordered these to compare them with Cafe Hiro's croquettes (which they call crab cakes). This was the downer of the evening. The croquettes were unremarkable in flavor. Plain. Uneventful. Very boring. Cafe Hiro makes better ones, but at more than double the price.


Takoyaki:
Hot damn this plate was a real winner. I've only had takoyaki here California so my exposure is quite limited, but I gotta say...these are terrific! Honda Ya's takoyaki is a tad larger than what I'm used to, but that's because a generous hunk of squid is wrapped up inside. Other than the sauce you see drizzled on top, there is also a dab of mayo on the right side. ....tasted so fkin' good with the mayo... Takoyaki here is better than at Genki Living. I'm ordering two sets of these next time.


Sake, courtesy of Keegan:
The bottles (300mL each, enough for 1.33 drinks for 4 people) were served cold. Apparently, you only serve lower quality sake warm as to mask undesirable traits. I was too buzzed to remember the names, but I do remember how each tasted. The one on the left was fruity and slightly sweet. I really really really hate sweet alcohol. The one on the right was dry, aromatic, and very smooth. I'm a sake newbie, so I really can't say much more, but I like the bottle on the right a whole lot better then the left one. Thanks again, Keegan!


Yakitori items:
We ordered from the Yakitori menu pretty late into our visit, so needless to say we had a nice buzz going by now. Well...I had a good buzz going cuz I'm a lightweight, I'm not sure about the other guys. I tried a "Specialty" item (steak + mushrooms) and a skewer of pork belly. As good as the skewers of meat were, I can't justify paying $3-4 for 2.5 bites per skewer. I just can't. In any case, the steak was some fine quality beef. Salt was all the seasoning it needed. But $4 for it? I don't know...
Keegan and James ordered some Eel, which looked really good. Honda Ya was very generous with the Eel. I think each order required four skewers to hold it together?


What a great night. Honda Ya is without a doubt worthy of many revisits. There are still so many items I want to try. Of course, having a DD is essential! Thank you Kyle for the ride...sorry we kept you up so late.