Brogger's Menu: Orange County Food Quest

I'm home in Orange County for the holidays and since I'm an active foodie I'm going to find all the best eats in the area. My goal is to hit up as many cuisines as I can in a month and hopefully find some favorites.

Here's my hitlist: Chinese, Coffee, Deli, Dessert, Fish Tacos (cuisine?), French, Greek, Indian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Mexican, Taiwanese, Thai, Vietnamese.

American food is sorta bland around here, maybe save for Sage Restaurant, so I'm hitting up other places for good price and good food.

Some previews of some places I'm going to after the break.


I'm gonna tackle these in no particular order so here's some of the places I'm looking at.

Kean Coffee
I'm not really a coffee junkie (tea harro), but I can learn to appreciate a good cup of brew someday. I think I'm more into the aesthetics of baristas' ability to make cool designs... damn. I'll be bringing my coffee friend. She'll know.

Susie Cakes
So I kinda already went here to get these boutique cupcakes for a friend, but I actually never ate them. They look delicious though. I need a friend to come with me so I don't feel so guilty. Coincidentally, this place is right next to Kean Coffee. DOUBLE KILL?

Baja Fish Tacos
Mmmm I love a good Wahoo's fish taco sometimes, but these are supposed to better. Beer-battered Ensenada style tacos with plenty of slaw. I used to love taco tuesdays because I always go to these types of fish taco joints and get them for $1 each. Bad news bears for me.

Marche Moderne
Located in the notorious South Coast Plaza on the 3rd floor, this place probably demands a high elite class of citizen to dine at, but actually after looking at the prices it's not too shabby. There's a 3-course lunch for $20 which I think is a slammin' good deal for some refined French food in an upscale ambiance.

Whole Pita Greek Island Grill
Supposedly this is the most authentic place I can go to in Orange County and beyond. I'm fine of some good gyros, falafel, and hummus so I hope this place does not disappoint. Located in a strip mall near South Coast Plaza so maybe I can stop before I do some New Years Sale shopping...

PIGHTA shout-out to victor.

Naan and Kabob
We have Naan and Curry in Berkeley, so I guess I have Naan and Kabob in Orange County? Well, they have curry too, but I suppose I'm supposed to eat their kabobs first and foremost. I'm not a Chicken Tikka Masala guy (CTM), but I might be willing to give it a go to report back on how it tasted.

Fukada Restaurant
I frickin love Japanese food. Not just sushi and stuff, but everything in the cuisine. This place is supposed to be bomb for their donburis, udon, and soba so I'm super excited. To the right is a picture of their spicy tuna don.

Sorry kiyoshi, no good curry to be found here, but I will definitely try it if they have the option.





El Toro Bravo Tortilleria
Hell yeah, SoCal. Mexican food is the shit here, and I'm gonna find where the good places are in Costa Mesa/Santa Ana where all the tortillerias and taco shops are. These are the best places to get Mexican food because they make the tortillas fresh ,and the meat is made throughout the day. They're generous with the portions, and the prices are cheap to boot! My arteries are prepared for blockage.

Earthen Restaurant
I'm craving some Taiwanese food, and this place looks bomb for Garlic Chicken (pictured), Green Onion Pancakes, Beef Noodle Soup, and more. It's a little bit out there in Hacienda Heights (so more like near LA), but I'm pretty tempted to get some of this stuff. A&J Restaurant is supposed to be nearer to me, but this place just looks better. Taiwanese food is about the small plates with a huge variety.

Too bad I don't have the broggers here to come chow down with me.

Siam Taste of Asia
Orange County doesn't have alot of offerings for Thai, or really any at all. It sucks because I really like Thai food, and I've been trying my hand at cooking it. I can pretty much duplicate Pad Thai and Eggplant Basil Chicken now (so I'll never eat Thai Basil's). There's only two places that showed up for any sort of credit to try, and this one was recommended higher than the others on Yelp. Looks pretty good just from pix-or-it-didnt-happen point of view.

Well, there we go for my preview of some OC eateries. If I head to the LA area for some good eats I will mos-def be calling up efung and eleung to see if they want to join me for some shenanigans. Happy Holidays!