Meizhou Dongpo - Irvine

Another upscale Chinese restaurant, a branch of Century City's most popular (and probably only) Chinese cuisine. 

The service is polite and smiley so you know what kind of upscale experience you're in for, and the dining room is sparkling clean and pretty. Almost as pretty as a platter of half Roast Duck, with those glistening slices waiting to be packed into pancakes. 

I always get Mung Bean Jelly if I can. Mala sauce with sesame and garlic notes slides down slithery slices of gelatin noodle for a lighter appetizer that's more like a salad. 

Bang Bang Chicken sits in a sweet sesame-chili broth with savory peanuts and wood ear mushrooms to add some crunch. Tender chicken, great sauce, even better the morning after when the meat has time to marinate. 

Wok Fried Bamboo Shoots have plenty of flavor in the brown sauce, but some of the shoots are tough and thick. I love bamboo, but this one could be better.  

Be prepared to feast on a deep tureen of Hot Chili Oil Poached Sole Fillet. The slices are fish so tender and covered in that numbing spice that creeps up so subtlety. The fillets are silky and they slide right down, perfect over a side of rice for the sauce to seep over and soak. 

A banquet of a meal, with a huge menu full of food both beautiful and delicately delish. The execution is clean and refined, and they keep the spiciness level approachable so not to overwhelm the lightweights. Great meal, best for special occasions with a bigger party, but good food like this is fit for any party. 

Junbi - Irvine

There's mucha good matcha to be had at Junbi, and nothing is more refreshing than this classic Matcha Latte when you need a cold drink with a caffeine boost. 

The matcha is blended well so it has a smooth finish, not sandy like some of the less refined mixes others make. 

Satisfy your sweet tooth with the Matcha Soft Serve. They keep the bitter finish out without mellowing the matcha too much. Taro vanilla puree makes a great though not entirely necessary topping, no bad choices here. 

Good stuff all around; drinks, snacks, desserts etc. Pretty place for opening a laptop or just having a casual chill. 

Delicious Food Corner - Irvine, CA

Cantonese comfort food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner...and everything in between. 

Brusque service but also polite. Some flagging down required but only a reasonable amount. 

Start with a Fresh Beef Congee (or any congee you like). Smooth porridge, literally no lumps, a viscous concoction clinging to savory slices of beef. 

Wonton Noodle Soup is a clear broth highlighting wontons filled with super tender porky bits. Love the chewy, hard texture of the noodles as well. 

Pan Fried Rice Noodle Rolls with XO Sauce are all about the texture. Sweet, soft, and chewy beneath a wok-seared crust, with some umami from the sauce. 

HK Style Pineapple Bun with Butter is your classic pastry, and they are serious about the BUTTER. There's a slab so big you think it's a brick of cheese, and melts and soaks into every crevice. I've had better pineapple buns elsewhere, but this one is good enough. 

Why can't they have this closer to LA? I'll take one of these casual cafes where I can pop in with my family any time of day instead of another fancy-schmancy overrated, overpriced, ritzy restaurant any day. 

PhoTasia - Irvine

 

Vietnamese food in Irvine, not Garden Grove. Close enough?

Close enough! Menu meets authenticity criteria; it's all numbers and has photos to match the food. The Pho is a pho-filling broth, P9 is pho-loating with juicy rare steak, soft tendon, and fall-apart brisket bits. 

Despite my poor pho-tagraphy, this stir fried veggie dish is well-made. Toddler loved the tofu, wouldn't touch anything else. Would recommend for vegetarians over 18 months, especially with the garlic butter rice. 

B12 Bun is noodle goodness, good noodle-ness. The shrimp on a stick is alright, the roast pork is sweet and pretty tender, love the egg rolls with the juicy ground filling. Fill with fish sauce, stir it all silly, and feast. Pho is better though, FYI.

The pho is just better when you go south of South Bay. Good broth, great steak, lots of choices. What's not to like?

Everyday Eatery - Irvine

It's exactly what they say it is. An eatery where you go for your everyday eats. 

The Nutella French Toast is a choco-nut butter sandwich with syrup and a garnish of fruit. 

There's a Green Brekkie Bowl if you're looking for filling but light. A gooey egg drizzled with pesto and a flourish of feta bleeds into the only quinoa outside of Peru I was willing to eat. 

It's good, this eatery. Good for your every needs, good for your every day eats.

Speculating on Sanaya – Irvine

You know the ethnic food is good when people of that ethnicity eat there. You know the ethnic food is great when people of that ethnicity bring their friends to eat there. Judging by the table of multiple Indian families and another of married men having a boys’ night, clearly I’ve come to the right place.

The only thing better than breaking good bread is breaking bread with good company. I had the company, and we had the Garlic Naan. Thin and slightly fluffy, with a coat of killer-breath, this naan is exactly as naan should be.

I think I love naan enough to make it the main event sometimes, but what’s bread without a good sauce to dip? Nothing like creamy-smooth tomatoey Paneer Tikka Masala to put butter and jam to shame. Oh, and it comes with rice too…does anyone else think rice is royalty and Basmati is their king?

My Bindhi Masala didn’t have much for dipping, but it’s been a while since I found an Indian restaurant brave enough to make okra. It’s been even longer since I found an Indian restaurant good enough to make okra well. This bindhi was a perfectly spiced mix of okra with slime-removing tomato for a chewy concoction with a kick.

To be perfectly honest, I had pretty low, if any expectations for a restaurant in a commercial shopping center off the highway on my way back from the Del Mar Racetrack. But I was craving Indian, and that’s what Sanaya had. Turns out, I’m as bad at predicting restaurants as horse races, if not winning a single bet in 6 races is any indication. But after a whole afternoon of losing, Sanaya was the only bet I made that paid off. Lesson learned, put your money where your mouth is.