Will Travel For Food

Marche Moderne, OC-CA

Filed under: Babble — admin at 12:33 am on Friday, May 23, 2008

For Todd’s birthday a few of us went to dinner at Marche Moderne. The service was fantastic, the food was equally as good and our friends brought a fine selection of wines to pair with the meal. This is a rare find for Orange County.

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wt4f v2.0, Trish and Yelp

Filed under: Babble — admin at 3:03 pm on Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Ok. I’m bad at keeping up with our blog site. Until I get around to making some software changes, you can find most of my reviews on yelp. http://tchung.yelp.com
willtravel4food.com v2.0 will be soon and hopefully easier for Todd to use. It will be nice to see some of his food as well as reviews on the places we love to eat.

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Gesshin, Huntington Beach, CA

Filed under: Babble — admin at 2:56 pm on Wednesday, May 14, 2008

We discovered Gesshin when we first moved to Orange County. It has to be one of the best discoveries we’ve made for the OC area. The restaurant is small and personal, service is friendly, and the food is fairly priced. The real reason to go is the sushi chef, Hatchi.

Gesshin feels like home. Hatchi remembers what we like and don’t like. He remembers little bits of our last visit. Even at a crowded and demanding bar, he manages to make you feel like he’s focused on your meal alone.

Hatchi’s food is good, consistent and never lets you down. The first time you go, his Omakase is fun and unexpected. The next time you go, some things are familiar but it’s always changing. After about the 10th time, it might be predictable but like any drug you CRAVE it. He showcases the sushi but manages to have bold beautiful flavors. I’m always eager with anticipation watching him create each dish. When it’s finally in front of me it always seems like there isn’t enough even though it was the perfect amount. It always takes me somewhere beautiful. Hatchi clearly loves what he does and we appreciate his ability to do it.
Gesshin Restaurant
16492 Beach Blvd
Westminster, CA 92647
(714) 842-5581

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Why don’t we ever talk about the places we like?

Filed under: Babble — admin at 9:55 am on Friday, April 18, 2008

I realized after last night’s blog entry that I only ever manage to write about places on one end of the spectrum or the other. I promise to write about all the places we love locally and we wouldn’t know what to do without.

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Genkai Sushi, Dana Point, CA

Filed under: Babble — admin at 1:55 am on Friday, April 18, 2008

Have to say the meal was fine. Definitely not mind blowing or even remotely inspirational. The greatest disappointment of the night was the check. Omakase for 4 of us was over 320 dollars. They provided us with an array of items. However, everything they gave us was straight off their standard menu and definitely not worth the money.

I was embarrassed by the price since we invited some friends that were new to sushi. They did not know any better, but we knew that it was 2x more than we should have paid for the meal. We both agreed we will be driving to Huntington Beach for Sushi Gesshin than return to Genkai again.

If you don’t mind spending the money for something close, the food was ok. I think the food lacked finesse and the thoughtful balance of seasoning that compliments the fish instead of overpowering it. I suppose I’ve been pampered the last several years here, but that’s just my opinion.

For the level of sushi restaurant I have experienced, I say they are average. I would give them a C+ in flavors, B in presentation and B+/A- in service.

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Tricia’s Birthday Dinner @ Providence

Filed under: Babble — admin at 12:46 am on Thursday, November 8, 2007

chef’s tasting menu
november 6, 2007

greyhound & mojito
kanpachi - american caviar, cucumber
maine lobster - persimmon, fennel, granny smith apple, late harvest riesling vinegar
big eye tuna a la plancha - sauce piperade
scallop raviolo - ginger, champagne, petit pois
halibut - cranberry beans, applewood smoked bacon, baby artichokes
wild king salmon belly - salt-roasted weiser farms parsnips, wasabi, black trumpets
bell pepper sorbet - fresh passionfruit, cantoloupe
foie gras a la plancha - asian pears, lemongrass, mizuna
saddle of lamb - burgundy truffles, aromatics, crushed potatoes
artisinal cheeses
peanut butter, banana, tamarind, thai chili
carrots in three forms
chocolate cremeaux - pineapple, chipotle, avocado
white chocolate lollipop - mirabelle, candied ginger
truffles

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greyhound & mojito

kanpachi - american caviar, cucumber

maine lobster - persimmon, fennel, granny smith apple, late harvest riesling vinegar

big eye tuna a la plancha - sauce piperade

scallop raviolo - ginger, champagne, petit pois
halibut - cranberry beans, applewood smoked bacon, baby artichokes

wild king salmon belly - salt-roasted weiser farms parsnips, wasabi, black trumpets

bell pepper sorbet - fresh passionfruit, cantoloupe

foie gras a la plancha - asian pears, lemongrass, mizuna

saddle of lamb - burgundy truffles, aromatics, crushed potatoes

artisinal cheeses

peanut butter, banana, tamarind, thai chili

carrots in three forms

chocolate cremeaux-pineapple, chipotle, avocado

white chocolate lollipop - mirabelle, candied ginger

truffles

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Toronto - Summerlicious

Filed under: Babble — admin at 10:35 am on Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Update: I’ve been in Toronto for the past two weeks for work. Todd’s had a great food day this week, but I will have to blog that later when I get all the details.

I arrived in Toronto at the start of their Summerlicious event and it’s been running my entire stay. I was supposed to be on a diet, but how can you pass up the opportunity to eat all around downtown for no more than $35 a prefix menu?

Toba

Steamed Mussels with Fine Herbs and Crostini
Rigatoni with Pheasant, Stewed Peppers, Gaeta Olives and Tomato Sauce
Sorbet of Today

Starfish Oyster Bed & Grill

Shucker Paddy’s shellfish plate – shucked fresh, on the half shell
Crisp skinned Nova Scotia char fillet on a summer vegetable ragout and lemon beurre blanc
Chocolate brownie with chantilly cream and rhubarb jam

CFOOD

Tuna Tartare on Crispy Rice
Florida Snapper and Green Salad
Local Peach atop of puff pastry with vanilla icecream

Eggplant

Heirloom tomato salad & tomato sorbet
Wild Mushroom & Pesto Linguine
Bowl of Local Berries

Thuet Bistro

Parfait au foie de volaille, Thuet walnut & dry cherry brioche
Berkshire pork loin chop, hand rolled potato gnocchi, sauce vièrge
Tahitian vanilla and ginger panna cotta, strawberry and rhubarb compote

I know this all sounds fantastic, but read more and let me know what you think.

Toba. It was not a mind blowing menu but what they offer is a simple italian influenced menu in a small (36 seats) intimate restaurant with great service. What they do, they do well. Everything was cooked to perfection. My server was attentive. The interior was simple, but well done. Great colors, good lighting, bright flavors, classic presentations. It was a complete package for a restaurant as far as I was concerned. Toba stays fondly in my memories leaving me to wonder why I did go back a second time while I had the opportunity.

Starfish Oyster Bed and Grill. Not exactly my atmosphere but fresh seafood and classic presentation.

I wish I had places like this back home.

The other restaurants… they were either not memorable. Its disappointing what highly acclaimed restaurants tried to pass off as food. Thuete being the perfect example for a place with too much hype. Dumbed down menus for summerlicious, no care or effort put into cooking, and service was laughable. I was given the dryest porkchop I’ve ever had, the waitress didn’t even show up at my table until 15mins after I was seated, then she decided to bring me my wine after my entree was served (after I reminded them that I had not received my glass of wine and to just cancel it). The was absolutely no pride in their work.
My favorite dinner I had, had nothing to do with Summerlicious, I went to Lee’s for dinner. I know it’s the lower end of his two restaurants, but it still blew me away. It was a fantastic meal. Service, food, presentation, atmosphere were all tops and some of the best food I’ve had in a LONG LONG time. Next time, I drag Todd with me and we eat at Susurs! and then Lees..and then Susurs…

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Stonehill Tavern

Filed under: Babble — admin at 12:02 pm on Friday, March 9, 2007

Today is our anniversary. Since it is a Friday and Todd always has to work on the weekends, we celebrated last night. We went to Stonehill Tavern & the Improv to see Dave Attell.

Stonehill Taverns decor is beautiful. The restaurant took a page out of a 1950’s modern contemporary home & office space and not in a bad way. Long clean lines, leather couches, and natural wood finish were very inviting. The music range was fantastic, from Ringside to Cash. Presentation of food was nice, simple. The plates were amaizing and custom made for Michael Mina. Our wait staff was charming. Clearly a lot of thought went into producing this experience. My only pet peeve with the wait staff was that during the clearing of each plate, they never swept the table. It was not the end of the world, just that there were a fair amount of bread crumbs in my arm throughout the meal.

The amuse was a beautiful. Trout & Fiji Apple. This might have been the best thing they brought us. (However not spectacular. The application did not realy highlight any item on the plate in particular.)
We ordered three trios: Tuna, Liberty Farms Duck and Kobe Beef. Unfortunately, there was not one thing worth writing about. The novelty is in the trio plate itself, not the individual items on the plate. Each was lacking imagination and did not inspire me. For the most part, flavors were good but not new. Some dishes were flat and could use seasoning. Others were so heavily salted, I’m surprised they even made it out of the kitchen. At least one item on every trio was disappointing, but the Kobe Beef Trio was by far the worst. My last item was so salted that it ruined my palette for the rest of the night. It saddens me when someone makes Kobe Beef taste like a salt lick.
To finish, they presented us 2 bite sized chocolate dipped icecream treats. One was dark chocolate and taragon icecream the other was milk chocolate with orange. The icecream was crystalize and the chocolate was cheap or mishandled.

All in all, I would say this was definitely not worth the money, but if someone wanted to try the restaurant I might return for the atmosphere and a burger. I definitely wouldn’t go back for their tasting menu or trio items. I left full but not satisfied.

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WASA, Newport CA

Filed under: Babble — admin at 6:15 pm on Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Before you read this review, I want you to know that I took a 48hour cool down period before I blogged this restaurant review.

Todd and I had the evening off together. Since it was going to be a long week for him, we decided to enjoy the night and go out to dinner instead of eating in. I chose WASA since I had sushi in mind. We’ve been to WASA once before, when they had just opened. Although their service was lacking, the food was exciting. We are normally loyal to a small sushi restaurant in Huntington Beach but sometimes the closer restaurant wins.

I wish we had stayed loyal and driven the distance.

WASA is the type of restaurant that gets away with poor service and mediocre food because they are in Newport area and have a funky-hip decor. It’s amazing how much money you can throw into something and it still turn up crap. This one seems to have survived 2-3 yrs this way. Anyways, let’s get to the review.

They were packed at the sushi bar, so we were given a table. I did try to ask the host how long the wait would be for the sushi bar, but they clearly did not hear me (or just didn’t care). Of roughly 8 tables in the restaurant, 4 were within earshot (including ours) that I could hear people complain. “Orders were taking forever”, “food was cold”, “where is the waitress,” were among the many complaints. My major gripe was that my hot tea ran from cold to empty. When our food arrived, I was excited to have food in front of me.

About the service: We waited at least 15-20 mins before anyone checked on us. This only happened because they had to bring us our food. She placed our food down and started to walk away. I quickly asked the waitress for a refill. We were never asked if we needed anything or how our food was.
Sadly, I was disappointed. Part of me died that night, the part that chose WASA.

First of all, if you ever decide to have a high-end sushi restaurant, please remember to serve fresh fish. Everything else could be wrong, but just don’t serve me bad fish. They could have been clever and masked the flavor with the extremely salty ponzu salad dressing they put on the rest of my sashimi salad, but they didn’t. It was a clear sign that the chef didn’t care what I thought. I would eat what they gave me, and like it.

Second thing you need to know when preparing sushi, the rice is critical. Sushi rice is relatively tricky to make but anyone who takes the time should be able to accomplish decent texture and flavor. The remainder of our meal was a few pieces of nigiri, a spicy tuna and spicy yellow tail roll. Grocery store sushi would have been better.

It was so disappointing that I had tricked myself to eat it. When I turn down sushi, you know something is wrong! This was the first meal I had, that I wanted to rush home and wash my mouth out. I know this sounds all a bit extreme. It is, after all, only dinner. Please understand though, that I never wish that meal on anyone.

I was starving. I wanted to take my husband out to have a nice dinner. I chose wrong. For the next couple weeks I get to hear, “Hey, want to go get some sushi?” This is my punishment for picking WASA.

Where he lacks being vocal, he makes up for with sarcasm.

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Why our dog hates me.

Filed under: Babble — admin at 1:23 am on Saturday, September 30, 2006

I don’t think there is really a lot more to say. George hates me. I blame Old Navy for having these costumes right at the register. I really should sign him up for some sort of halloween contest! BTW, his fat head already broke the antennae. It’s held on by safety pins now.

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Will Travel For Food

Marche Moderne, OC-CA

wt4f v2.0, Trish and Yelp

Gesshin, Huntington Beach, CA

Why don’t we ever talk about the places we like?

Genkai Sushi, Dana Point, CA

Tricia’s Birthday Dinner @ Providence

Toronto - Summerlicious

Stonehill Tavern

WASA, Newport CA

Why our dog hates me.

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