dinner - wednesday, march 17th, 6.30pm

pizza and chicken love letter - korean (fusion)
12238 artesia blvd, artesia 90701
suggested: bulgogi pizza, sweet potato gold pizza

po folk restaurant - southern
7701 beach blvd, buena park 90621
suggested: kunty (chicken) fried steak, hush puppies

roy's restaurant

Roy’s is a self-proclaimed Hawaiian fusion restaurant. Hawaii, itself a melting pot of pacific island culture and food, was nicely represented in both their dishes and decor. While wholly irrelevant, the choice of location was to honor my arduous, but temporary, return to the west coast.

The establishment was pleasant, though there was more Hawaii in the food than in the restaurant. Not at all a negative, unless you were planning on going there to feel immersed. And if that’s what you are going there for, you’re going to the wrong place. Volume was just fine, but the restaurant was fairly empty while we were there. I hesitate to judge too harshly based on that, since the holidays should be considered unique conditions. Otherwise, the dim lighting and comfortably spaced place settings were fine.

As one would expect, there are several seafood choices. But there is your standard fare as well (of various farm creatures) for those of you with stomachs or palates unsuited for the former. In terms of the “fusion,” dishes generally fell into two categories: Hawaiian ingredients used to flavor food of other cultures or other cultural preparations of Hawaiian products. The Hawaiian taste didn’t feel forced on you, though in the end, our food choices didn’t differ enough to give us all a more thorough assessment of their menu.

Three of us went with their Fall Pre Fixe menu. A decently priced ($35) appetizer, entrée, and dessert meal. Our fourth’s choice was a sushi roll that had the emphatic support of our waiter. All together, the group shared Thai Shumai Meatballs, Kobe Beef Carpaccio, Braised Beef Short Ribs, a “Pulehu” Sirloin, and the Lakanilau Roll. The meatballs came served on sugar cane sticks and from far away looked like frog’s legs. It had a nice tangy and subtly spicy flavor. The Kobe beef was divine, coming served with sliced pears, arugula, and a dab of horseradish sauce. The texture of the short ribs was wonderful, easily pulled apart by the fork alone. The sauce it was served with was too strong, but somehow I finished it anyway. The sirloin ended up being a bit of a miss. The outside was seared a bit too much and the flavor seemed weak. I had wondered if the sauce from my own short ribs affected how the sirloin tasted, but no one seemed to enjoy it that much. My personal favorite of the evening was the sushi roll (Seared Kobe Beef wrapped around Snow Crab, Tempura Asparagus and Avocado). It was as delicious as it sounds.

For dessert, the pumpkin mousse was a subtle sweet, fluffy and light, like pumpkin pie squeezed out of a whipped cream can. And then there was the wonderfully executed chocolate soufflé. The chocolate was smooth and rich. Not being a sweets guy, it tended to be a bit heavy on its own, but eaten with the ice cream that came on the side made it perfect. And should any more evidence is needed, one of our party members completely cleaned off the plates (of all three people who picked the soufflé), stopping just short of picking them up and licking them.

What I was most happy with was the service. It wasn’t flawless, but it was remarkably pleasant. All members of the staff were so cheerful and polite. Even the designated water guy, who is typically as mute as his water is bland, was courteous and vocal about being helpful. And on top of that, our appetizer choices started off as “running a little behind”, which, apparently, warranted a free gift of their delicious Crunchy Golden Lobster Potstickers to tide us over until they arrived.

All in all, Roy’s is a good choice for delicious food with a slightly different flavor, even better service, and an environment that is easy to enjoy your evening in. Don’t expect to spend any less than $15 for a full meal, though.

5/5 for service.
4/5 for food.
4/5 for environment.

(review courtesy of robert t)

dinner - tuesday, december 22th, 7.30 or 8pm

we might be having a guest from santa monica, so the time won't be set until we decide on the restaurant.

roy's restaurant - hawaiian fusion (8pm?)
321 west katella ave, anaheim 92802
suggested: beef short ribs, chocolate souffle, pineapple upside-down cake

president thai cafe - thai (7.30pm?)
9340 whittier blvd, pico rivera 90660
suggested: green tea ice cream, pad see ew

the original pancake house

Typically, I’m not looking to eat much food two days after Thanksgiving. In fact, the thought of plowing through another gorging meal sounded like a dangerous venture for my already overinflated spare tire. But as soon as we pulled up to the Original Pancake House in Anaheim (1418 East Lincoln Avenue), those thoughts quickly melted away.

If you’re in a rush this isn’t the place to go, but the line is always out the door for a reason. Our table of eight was seated rather quickly given the crowd and there are plenty of places to sit around while waiting.

The menu offers a wide selection that would please even the most distinguished of breakfast connoisseurs. The restaurant specializes in pancakes, as the name implies, but they also have some omelets and waffles for those that aren’t feeling the pancakes.

The service was quick. Given how crowded the restaurant was I fully expected to wait a bit for the food, but the operation seems well run. In no time at all we had hot plates of Swedish, potato, pecan, and blueberry pancakes sitting in front of us.

I got the Swedish pancakes, which are essentially crepes with nothing wrapped inside of them. It came with a side of exotic imported berries. I quickly dumped them on top of the hotcakes with the two basted eggs that I ordered separately. Two popped yolks and a gallon of syrup later, I was in heavenly bliss.

I also tried the pecan, potato, and blueberry pancakes, which were all delicious. I thought the pecan pancakes were the real stand out of the crowd, however. There was also a “Dutch Baby”— an oven baked pancake that comes with lots of lemon – and a very impressive omelet ordered. I didn’t get a chance to partake in those impressive masterpieces, but they looked great and those that did eat them looked very pleased.

All of this great food sat amongst the interior of the building, which is full of hideous wood paneling and orange benches, what a perfect setting for a Saturday morning breakfast.

In sum, you shouldn’t go to the OG Pancake House if you are in a hurry, but the food truly is worth any wait. And, you can get a party of eight out the door for under a hundred bucks, which is an impressive feat these days (even for breakfast).

4.5/5 Stars…

(review courtesy of kevin e)

brunch - saturday, november 28th, 10.30am

original pancake house - homemade breakfast (german/scandinavian background)
1418 e lincoln ave, anaheim 92805
suggested: apple pancake, dutch baby, corned beef hash

break of dawn - semi-gourmet breakfast (vietnemese fusion)

24351 avenida de la carlota, laguna hills 92653
suggested: creme brulee french toast, poached eggs

costa mesa omelette parlor - full menu (mid-west american)
179 e 17th street ste a, costa mesa 92627
suggested: omelets (ehringer's irish answer, south coast finest)

senor big ed

Senor Ed is a happy combination of both Puerto Rican and Mexican food. Looks like most patrons come here for to-go entrees, but there's a spacious dining room to the left of the entrance.

Our server was friendly and gracious about making recommendations. We tried bistec encebollado (stir-fried flank steak and onions), pollo en fricase (chicken fricasee-stewed), carne gulsada (stewed beef Puerto Rican-style), and canoa de platano maduro (open yellow plantain filled with ground beef, topped with melted cheese).

Most of the dishes came with heaps of rice and deep fried plantains, both yellow and green. The yellow ones were sweet, the green ones had the texture of dry hash browns and required some ketchup. ;)

Even though we expected the pollo en fricase to be the star of the show, parts of it ended up being dry. The bistec was decent steak, especially with onions. The stewed beef was tasty and the sauce made the rice easier to down. My favorite dish was the plantain with beef and cheese, although it leaves you feeling heavy with no room for the rice.

I thought their horchata was especially yummy, or maybe I was just really thirsty. They even have fun sodas like sparkling apple juice. An overall good experience if you're into meat and rice dishes. A pretty solid restaurant for a fairly competitive area for Mexican food!

3.5/5 stars

(review courtesy of annie)

dinner - wednesday, october 21st, 6.30pm

eating on the cheap, and in your own backyard!

senor big ed - puerto rican
5490 lincoln ave, cypress 90630
suggested: mofongo, pollo en fricase

steam city grill - american fast food
16480 norwalk blvd, cerritos 90703
suggested: steamies" (steamed hot dogs) for 69 cents each, gyros