Garlic Jo's - Things to Do in Orange County 61

I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather in OC these days!

My post today is for those who are suffering a bit from the summer heat in need of an extra boost of energy.

If you're feeling like you need to get revitalized, here is a nice place to go: Garlic Jo's in Newport Beach.

This place specializes in garlic food, and it said that they get their all of their garlic from the world famous garlic town, Gilroy, CA.

I was able to visit this place for a little celebration dinner since I finished a long overdue project. When we went, we decided to go with the 4 course, $58 meal for two. So here comes the fun.

First course is a Tuna Carpaccio appetizer with a lot of garlic. The two sauces compliment the tuna and the fried garlic very well. The tuna is fresh enough for people that doesn't usually eat raw fish to enjoy without any problems. Really good stuff.

The second course is the garlic pizza. The pizza was square, and it was very thin. It had small shreds of garlic on it, and was very good second course. Throughout all of this, we went on Monday where they have 50% off wine bottles, so we got a nice bottle of Riesling to go with all of our food for about $12~14 for the bottle.

The main course is both the rib eye and the garlic fried rice. You get one portion of the rib eye, and was enough for us to share. It came seared on a hot plate, with their original garlic sauce. You get a very well made garlic mashed potato and roasted garlic along with the steak. The garlic fried rice came in a bamboo shoot, and was extremely well made. Both were awesome.

And of course, you can't miss out on the dessert. We were pretty full by the time we finished our steak, but we saw something on the menu we couldn't resist. Garlic ice cream.

Have to try it.

The garlic ice cream has bits of garlic in a vanilla flavored ice cream. It came with a nicely made cinnamon, fried wonton like container with lots of fruits. Nice way to finish off the dinner with a lot of garlic.

So that was the entire 5 course dinner we enjoyed at Garlic Jo's in Newport Beach. The food is great here, but I do have to warn that after you dine, you will feel like you've had a Red Bull and Monster Energy drink. It kept me up all night long. Garlic power!

Garlic Jo's

http://www.garlic-jos.us/

2332 W Coast Hwy

Newport Beach, CA 92663

The Beachcomber - Things to Do in Orange County 59

Boy, it is getting hot these days in Orange County. Nice beach day everyday here in OC. So for those of you enjoying your summer here, I wanted to post about one of my favorite spots in Orange County.

The Beachcomber restaurant in Crystal Cove is by far, one of the most unique, and beautiful restaurants in Orange County. I will go far as to say this place is one of the most unique places in the world.

The Beachcomber restaurant, is right on the sands of the beach at Crystal Cove. It is secluded from all of the corporate, planned influences of Orange County. Absolutely unique in that it feels like it is the only establishment on a private beach.

We were lucky enough to get the best seats in the house since we went a little late for lunch. You will need to sit in the patio area, and obviously, the best seat is in the front, right by the entrance. You will have an unobstructed view of the entire pacific ocean here while you dine.

The food here is good with large portions considering you're dining beach front. With such a spectacular view, your food will taste twices as good.

Although we dined here for lunch, this would be an excellent place for a romantic dinner. And they do have set courses for sunset dinners.

One thing to note is that parking is hard to find. Why? Because it is on the other side of the restaurant across the street. You will need to go through a tunnel to get over to the restaurant. They will likely validate your parking ticket, although when we went, there was nobody attending the parking lot. They actually have a little bus that can also take you back and forth if you don't feel like walking.

All in all, this is one of the most unique, romantic places to dine in Orange County. When you go, don't forget to bring your cameras!

The Beachcomber

15 Crystal Cove

Newport Coast, CA 92657

949-376-6900（Reservation recommended）

Basilico's Pasta E Vino - Things to Do in Orange County 52

Looking for a nice intimate setting for an Italian dinner?  Well, a nice place to visit is Basilico's Pasta E Vino in Huntington Beach.  I got to visit this place for Valentine's Day.

Basilico's has been around for quite some time in Huntington Beach.  I would guess around 10 years at the same location.  I live real close by the place, and have visited them several times, but this was finally the time I got to dine there.

Why was it so difficult to dine here?  Well, first of all the wait.  They are an extremely popular Italian restaurant in Huntington Beach, and their place is tiny.  It may seat only about 15-20 people max at a time, and its always packed.  The wait to dine is usually about an hour, and they take no reservations.  Hence, the difficulty dining at this wonderful restaurant.

This year, we went prepared.  We expected the wait to be about an hour (in actuality it was 50 minutes) and brought our blankets, newspaper, magazine, books, and a Nintendo DS so that we can keep ourselves occupied while we wait in the car.

And finally, after the hour wait, we were able to get in to dine.  It was sure worth our wait.  

By the way, sorry about the pictures.  Since its really dark inside, my pictures didn't turn out very well.  But hope you get an idea of the place.

Okay, so about the dining experience.  First of all, Basilico's is pretty famous for its bottle wine practice.  Since a bottle of wine here is relatively inexpensive ($15-$20 a bottle) it is recommended that you get a bottle with your date, and dine slowly at the restaurant.  That's exactly what we did, and we got a bottle of Mondavi Chardonnay for $20, and dined like we were Parisians.

We first got the Fried Risotto Ball for appetizer which was delicious.  It complemented our Chardonnay very well.  You of course get your bread and butter, so we enjoyed our appetizer, bread, and wine as we waited for our entrees to arrive.

For entree we got the Seafood Linguine and the Fettuccine Alfredo Milanese.  The Seafood Linguine was good, but it was a bit overwhelmingly "Herb-y" for me.  I think they put in too much Italian parsley, and it wasn't the usual Seafood Linguine that you get at Italian restaurant.  But who knows, maybe this is the authentic version.  

The Fettuccine Alfredo Milanese was superb.  I usually don't like Alfredo sauces too much since they are usually very heavy in cream, and after a few bites, I get a little bored of the flavor.  Not here.  The Alfredo Milanese here was just superb.  Mmmm...  The sauce was creamy, yet for some reason not too heavy.  The pork in the Milanese was cooked perfectly.  Very thin, and tender.  You eat the pork and the pasta together, you are just in heaven.  And drink some of your Chardonnay afterwards, you will fly again to heaven.

So the meal was wonderful.  We got Tiramisu for dessert, and life was good.  I had a wonderful Valentine's Day thanks to Basilico this year.  Hope you can go visit them too.

Oh, I forgot to mention this, but if you don't like to wait an hour before being able to sit down, you can actually write your name down, and go on over to the Irish Pub in the same mall for some drinks.  The pub is called Fitzgerald's and they will actually give you a call at Fitzgerald's when your seat is ready.  That way, you can keep yourself busy and entertained before your romantic dinner.

We didn't know about this, so we waited  for an hour in the car.  Next time, we'll be drinking at Fitzgerald's before.

Basilico's Pasta E Vino
19171 Magnolia St Ste 1
Huntington Beach, CA 92646

Santa Monica Seafood - Things to Do in Orange County 42

Santa Monica Seafood

Santa Monica Seafood is one of the best seafood joints in Orange County. It is located on the trendy 17th Street in Costa Mesa.

They are famous for carrying "sashimi-quality" seafood at the store. You'll practically find almost any kind of fish or crustation that you are looking for at the Santa Monica Seafood. Each fillet of fish is nice and cleaned so that you can go home and cook it right away.


Compared to your local Ralph's or Albertson's the prices may be a little higher. Its probably because they carry the freshest seafood around in Orange County.

When we've visited, there were customer after customer coming in to buy their sashimi-quality fish. I think it's also good for the health conscious customers around town.

Aside from the fresh seafood, Santa Monica Seafood also has within it, a nice little cafe. Since I love Clam Chowder, I had to get a cup here ($2.95). And of course, once I order, I need to get just a little more, so I decided to get the Fisherman's Platter ($8.95) and the Grilled Fish Sandwich ($8.95).

Since this year, Santa Monica Seafood is included in the Orange County version of the Entertainment Book, we got all this food for under $15.

The clam chowder that I got was the New England style, but they also offer the Manhattan style here as well. I heard from a friend of mine that the Fish Soup is also very good.

Anyway, my clam chowder was filled with flavor, and just loved the fresh clams in it. Since it is getting a bit chilly these days, a nice hot cup of clam chowder is a big treat to warm me up. The cup that the chowder was served in was also very cute.


The Fisherman's Platter was a combination of Fish & Chips with some Fried Shrimps. Add a little Cole Slaw and tartar sauce, you're in fish heaven. I loved how it was nice and crispy.

The Grilled Fish Sandwich is cool because you can pick your own fish for it. I decided to go with the Halibut since it was the most expensive on the menu if ordered it in itself. (Grilled Fish Sandwich is the same price regardless of what type of fish you choose.) The Halibut is a white fish and had a nice fresh flavor to it. Next time I go, I may want to try the salmon or the tuna.


Well, if you're ever craving for fresh seafood in Orange County, Santa Monica Seafood is definitely the place to visit!










Santa Monica Seafood
154 E. 17th St.
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
(949)574-2685
Mon-Sat 9AM - 7PM
Sun 10AM -7PM
http://smseafood.com/

Swap Meet at Orange Coast College - Things to Do in Orange County 3

The OCC Swap Meet - Latino Power!

In Orange County, you tend to see a lot of community colleges use its parking lot to conduct swap meet during the weekend. Here we are reporting on the swap meet at Orange Coast College today!

This swap meet is a very close neighbor to the Orange County Market Place. Its being conducted in a very close proximity, but you'll be surprised to see the differences between the two!

This swap meet is free to get in with plenty of free parking. Once you're in, you may be surprised by the number of Latino people coming to this swap meet. Latino power to its fullest here! You'd be surprised to see any Asians or Caucasian people here!

You'll be greeted by all of the Latino vendors here with their great attitudes. At this swap meet you can find a variety of goods, ranging from TV, toys, shoes, bags, watches, produce, CDs, snacks, and everything else in between. You can find everything here, new or used!

I personally love to get the authentic Mexican food when I go to this swap meet. Taco Bell? No way, you'll get the real stuff here! Last time we were here, we got some fish & scallop tacos, ceviche like thing, and a horchata. For good reason, the ceviches are very popular here, so be sure you grab one for yourself to try. Its super hot, but you can enjoy the nice fresh seafood in it.

The tacos are authentic, and they are like the ones you find in Mexico. Get some horchata to go with your food, and you are set. To finish off, you can get a churro for a buck. What a deal!

Be sure to check it out this swap meet on your next free weekend!

Orange Coast College Swap Meet

Orange Coast College (Adams Avenue, Parking Lot)

Saturday & Sunday 8 AM to 3 PM

http://www.orangecoastcollege.edu/about_occ/communityprog/swap_meet.htm

Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen - Things to Do in Orange County 1

JAZZ Kitchen: Cajun Food at Downtown Disneyland!

The Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen is an extremely popular Cajun Food restaurant in Downtown Disney.


What is Cajun Food?

Well Cajun Food is a Southern local food using three main ingredients - onions, celery, and green peppers. Sometimes referred as the "Holy Trinity." The "Holy Trinity" has some associations with the French Mirepoix, subsituting the carrots for the green peppers.

Cajun food will often cook using the three ingredients (onions, celery, and green peppers) with rice to cook up very delicious dishes. Some of the most representative Cajun food are the Jambalaya and the Andouille. Jambalaya is made using the Holy Trinity with some meat and chili power cooked in rice. The Adnouille is usually made with sliced vegetables, meat, and sausages to make a truly delicious dish. Gumbo is also another famous dish and its standout ingredient is the OKRA.

Originally, Cajun food have used local ingredients that were abundant, and hence you see many Cajun food being cooked with Crayfish and other uncommon ingredients. In the past, Cajun food was cooked using frogs and alligators as well! Nowadays, you will enjoy Cajun food alongside a variety of seafood and cornbread.

Well, back to the restaurant. The Jazz Kitchen has all sorts of great food, and I enjoyed everything that I ordered there. Its got a live jazz band playing after 6:30PM everyday, and you can listen while sipping a nice cocktail at the bar.

The best part about this restaurant? You can even see fireworks there too! The fireworks show starts at around 9PM everyday, so if you have plans to visit this restaurant, make sure to get reservations around that time. And ask for the terrace seats so that you'll have a great view of the fireworks. 

Good food, good music, and fireworks. Located at Downtown Disney in Orange County.  You really can't go wrong at the Jazz Kitchen!

Jazz Kitchen
1590 South Disneyland Drive
Downtown DisneyR DistrictAnaheim, California 92802
http://www.rbjazzkitchen.com/