A new level of pub fare

If you're under the impression that bar food can't taste good then think again. Haven Gastropub has some decent food to accompany its array of beers -- and when you come here, you have to have a beer -- and a selection of Californian wines. The chicken drumettes are a bit dry and the chorizo flat bread wasn't too appealing to me, but try the corned beef sliders -- served with some yummy fries -- or truffle-infused mac and cheese -- and it's not your kiddie style mac and cheese either. Service is always attentive and friendly. Lunch is less busy than dinner, but the dinner menu offers some items not available at lunch. For dessert, do not miss out on the bacon ice cream served atop of a brownie.
Haven Gastropub, 190 S Glassell Street, Orange, CA 92866. Tel: 714-221-0680

Noodles of a different kind

Came here with my friend for their specialty hu tieu my tho kho. These aren't like any of the regular Vietnamese noodles such as pho, mi or bun, but rather, transparent and chewy in texture. We opted for the dry version which is served with bits of cha siu (bbq pork), shrimp, a quail egg, and bean sprouts and chrysanthemum leaves if you wish. A bowl of tomato-based sauce is provided for you to flavor your noodles with. Another bowl of piping hot broth can be used on its own or added to your noodles for easily pliability. I thought it was a different and unique change to the usual Vietnamese noodles I'm accustomed to, but I still prefer the mi (egg noodles) noodles over these hu tieu noodles. Service was swift and a bowl of noodles was only 5 bucks! What a bargain!

Phuong's, 10722 Westminster Ave, Garden Grove, CA 92843. Tel: 714-543-3339

Have your cake and eat it

Second visit to Extraordinary Desserts proved much better than the first. This time, ordered blood orange ricotta torte which not only was moist, not overly sweet, nice tart finish, but in the ED tradition, the extremely generous slice arrived beautifully presented atop a colorful raspberry, mango and blood orange coulis. I'd tried many of their other cakes before and wasn't too impressed but this time, the blood orange torte definitely won me over. Unfortunately, the service did nothing but to dampen my spirits. If you're in the service industry, then do what is expected! Service your customers with a smile and efficiency!

Extraordinary Desserts, 1430 Union Street, San Diego, CA 92101. Tel: 619-294-7001

casual comfort at Coupa

Met up with some girlfriends for a quick brunch during my stopover in San Francisco. Coupa has outdoor patio seating as well as indoor seating. They also offer free wifi which is probably why the place is always packed. Seating is first come first serve so watch out for pitbull-ish behavior when people are trying to fight for a table. I had the Serrano ham panini and my friends had other paninis -- a tomato and mozarella one and another had turkey. All the paninis were pretty good! I was rather happy with it. The bread was nicely toasted and the filling was ample and generous. I also had some fruit infused black tea -- they have a good array of teas and coffees to choose from. Parking is available underground across the street if you are early. Closer to lunch time, it is very hard to find parking anywhere. I suggest if you want to come try out Coupa, come early or later, after the lunch rush. I would definitely come back here again! Very relaxing and casual atmosphere for a girls' luncheon!

Coupa Cafe, 538 Ramona Street, Palo Alto, CA 94301. Tel: 650-332-6872

salivating seafood

What's better than picking out your own seafood at a seafood market? Well, picking it out and then having them cook it for you right on the spot and then devouring it immediately. How much better can life get when you get the freshest of seafood from tank to your lips? We got a tray of steamed clams and a dungeness crab steamed au naturel. Clams were attacked first, hence the photo, since by the time I got to the crab, I was in no mood to fish out my camera to take a snapshot of it. I was too busy spooning the crab butter out if the shell and enjoying its rich creamy oozy texture coating the insides of my mouth. Unfortunately on the day of our visit, they didn't have any uni, but according to the guy there, uni arrives on Thursdays and is usually gone by Sunday. I'll definitely be making a trip out here for that -- one of these days!!

Quality Seafood, 130 International Boardwalk, Redondo Beach, CA 90277. Tel: 310-372-6408

Thai that leaves you out in the cold

Why is it so difficult to find good Thai food in Irvine? I was too lazy to drive far so ended up grabbing a bowl of boat noodles form Thai Cafe and boy do I wish I had just taken the hit and driven to Santa Ana instead. The noodles were overcooked, the broth way too sweet, and just very mediocre at best. I do have to admit though, they are very attentive and check up on you often, but that doesn't make up for sub par food in my book. I've given this place several tries -- curries are okay, they don't use the best cuts of beef so that suffers too in my opinion when ordering beef salad. Either way, I wouldn't recommend this place if you're a true Thai food aficionado. You'll be disappointed.

Thai Cafe, 14715 Jeffrey Road, Irvine, CA 92618. Tel: 949-559-5382

sassy sashimi

I'm always excited about fresh, tasty sashimi so when I tried the deluxe chirashi bowl here, I was pleasantly surprised at how top grade the fish was here. The deluxe chirashi bowl is not cheap at $21 on the lunch menu but the cuts are generous and the rice is beautifully seasoned. Service is pretty attentive here. The restaurant itself is rather small but they make you feel very welcome giving you bowls of miso soup and complimentary dessert at the end of the meal. I highly recommend you give this place a try if you like good Japanese fare!

Oshimi, 1956 N Tustin, Orange, CA 92865. Tel: 714-998-0098