There's no wrong time to eat at Oc & Lau. You can eat at Oc under the OC sun or have your Lau for dinner in the dark, but you’ll find that there’s not a single hour where Oc & Lac isn’t awesome.
Cool off or start cold with a Mango Squid Salad. A must-try, must-buy, with sweet, firm mango in long, shredded sticks, a texture so supportive yet so similar to a sweet-soy squid cooked so tender.
Get shellfish to share, but don’t be selfish. Get plenty of plates so you have shellfish to spare.
Start with Steamed Clams with Tom Yum. Briny little chewies swimming in a sweet n' sour soup.
Grilled Scallops with Quail Egg and Shredded Pork are interestings, an Asian omelet on the half-shell.
Escargot is a requirement, and the Grilled Garlic Butter is probably the best. I haven’t had the rest but I can’t imagine anything better. Spiral shells sizzle on a skillet as sweet little wells of garlicky goodness simmer like pools of lava.
Their specialty is their shellfish, but a simple Shaken Beef with Egg Noodles is a show-stealer. Chunks of juicy steak-beef, as tender as a filet, stir-fried with bell pepper on a bed of egg noodles with the most perfect texture, length, and egginess I've ever seen.
Dessert is Mung Bean Pudding and I swear it tastes even sweeter because it's on the house. A simple slurry of starchy chunks under a magic layer of milk. It's concentrated sugar that somehow makes you feel less stuffed.
I love Oc & Lau, that is all. A warm and buzzing ambiance, a little pocket of joy in the middle of a punishing pandemic. I'll take happiness where I can find it, and it's well worth a drive to Garden Grove to find.
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