CHINATOWN
If you ever find yourself at a Chinese restaurant and an iceberg salad starts your meal and a fortune cookie ends it, you’re probably sitting in a dining subphylum best described as Chinese-American, the kind of place that predates the ubiquitous takeout chains with cute pandas as mascots. We’re talking kung pao chicken and sweet-and-sour everything. May Garden is a throwback to those times, with a dining room that looks more like a country home in Nantucket than Nanking. (EG) 1400 Bristol St., Costa Mesa, (714) 751-9229.
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Iva Lee's
555 N. El Camino Real
San Clemente, CA 92672
Category: Restaurant > Cajun
Region: San Clemente
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Katella Deli
4470 Katella Ave.
Rossmoor, CA 90720
Category: Restaurant > Breakfast
Region: Los Alamitos
Anita's New Mexico Style Mexican Food
600 S. Harbor Blvd.
Fullerton, CA 92832
Category: Restaurant > Southwestern
Region: Fullerton
Plum's Café and Catering
369 E. 17th St.
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
Category: Restaurant > Breakfast
Region: Costa Mesa
Memphis Soul Cafe
2920 Bristol St.
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Category: Restaurant > Southern
Region: Costa Mesa
Philly's Best
26612 Towne Center Drive
Foothill Ranch, CA 92610
Category: Restaurant > American
Region: Foothill Ranch
King Lobster Palace
2045 N. Tustin St.
Orange, CA 92865
Category: Restaurant > Chinese
Region: Orange
May Garden Restaurant
1400 Bristol St.
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Category: Restaurant > Asian
Region: Costa Mesa
Chong Qing Mei Wei Szechwan Restaurant
5406 Walnut Ave.
Irvine, CA 92604
Category: Restaurant > Chinese
Region: Irvine
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ISLAMIC
Jamillah Ma introduced Orange County to Chinese Muslim cuisine more than a decade ago, and she continues the craft at Ma’s Islamic Restaurant,a spacious lot just past the railroad tracks. Her pedigree doesn’t mean this place rests on its laurels, however. Far from it: Standards are higher than the distinctive dome outside. The scallion flatbread, as large and thick as deep-dish pizza, is legendary, while the orange chicken, characterized by just the right amount of sweetness, elicits “oohs” and “aahs” from those who have succumbed to it. And FYI: Muslims know lamb the way Vietnamese know pho.(LM) 601 E. Orangethorpe Ave., Anaheim, (714) 446-9553.
NORTHERN
The bright, popular, child-friendly Tri-Village café showcases Chinese cuisine and northern dim sum, with the rest of the menu devoted to massively portioned dishes. Too many specialties to single out, although can’t-go-wrong choices include the pan-fried pot stickers: eight envelopes of charred, doughy casing filled with pork and vegetables. And if you’re undecided about what else to order, simply scan the room for something you like the look of and utter the magic words, “We’ll have what they’re having.” It worked for us! (LM) 14121 Jeffrey Rd., Irvine, (949) 857-8833.
SZECHUAN
If you desire a little spice in your Chinese food, it has to be Szechuan fare. The two outposts of Chong Qing Mei Wei specialize in the region’s hellish cuisine, bent on eroding your stomach lining—these places love chile oil like Italians love olive oil. Fistfuls of dried, gnarled red chiles over some dishes will make it look like a red party popper exploded, igniting an unquenchable fire in your mouth that continues to smolder in your gut. “Please aware of the spiciness for the spicy food,” the menu warns. Duh! (EG) 5406 Walnut Ave., Ste. C, Irvine, (949) 651-8886; 22371 El Toro Rd., Ste. A, Lake Forest, (949) 380-8869.
TAIWAN
We fully support Taiwan’s autonomy, Chuck DeVore, but bear with us for the sake of this article, will ya? The island’s food can be as simple as rice topped with soy-sauce-cooked ground pork, as dastardly complex as the Taipei night-market specialty, stinky tofu. The latter is an infamous, fetid-smelling treat, which is probably best left to outdoor eating; yet they serve it at Nice Time Deli, indoors, at arguably the longest-running, most-consistent Taiwanese restaurant in OC. (EG) 5408 Walnut Ave., Ste. A, Irvine, (949) 654-8542.
*** INDIA ***
GUJARAT
Rasthal Vegetarian Cuisine is dedicated to the meat-free cuisine of southern India, as well as to how they eat: the thali, a kind of subcontinental TV-dinner tray with slots for whatever veggie stews the kitchen is turning out. Add unlimited roti, soft basmati rice or khichdi—rice with lentils—and top with chutneys and garnishes (beware the nuclear-powered pickled carrots!). The adjacent room is a Gujarati chaat shop, the Indian equivalent of a candy store, stocked with salted and spiced rice, lentils, beans, nuts, chiles and noodles. (LM) 2751-2755 W. Lincoln Ave., Anaheim, (714) 527-3800.
INDIAN-CHINESE
Chinese food goes where the diaspora takes it, even in India. Don’t expect a dumbing down of flavors, though. The Indians go the other way with it. What you get in the fusion is doubly spicy and unforgiving in its heat. Annapoorna has a dish called chili chicken, as explosive as a Chinese firecracker and as sweat-inducing as a Mumbai summer. They even have Chinese-style fried rice, even though their own culture already has an indigenous one-pot rice dish called biryani. (EG) 14450 Culver Dr., Ste. A, Irvine, (949) 651-1144; www.myannapoorna.com.
NORTHERN
It’s worth a visit to Haveli for the luxurious interior (almost) as much as its food. The food is largely stuff you’ve seen, but done better. The spicing is spot-on—tandoori chicken literally sizzles, while curry redeems the dish from the dozens of bad buffets in the county. Combine with a garlic naan, and no Twilight fan will talk to you again. (LM) 13882 Newport Ave., Ste. G, Tustin, (714) 669-1011; www.havelifineindiancuisine.com.
SOUTHERN
Dosa Place is one of the precious few Southern California restaurants specializing in the cuisine of Andhra Pradesh, a state renowned for scorching tamarind-based platters and, of course, dosas—a pancake-cum-crepe-cum-waffle cone with a savory center. Its behemoth size needs an outstretched arm to describe. Often rolled to bazooka-long cylinders, its wingspan is meant to elicit awe, shooting past the width of its plate by at least a foot. (EG) 13812 Red Hill Ave., Tustin, (714) 505-7777; www.dosaplace.com.
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