SUSHI
Sushi bars exist at every corner mini-mall nowadays, serving what most Japanese would consider an abomination of their most treasured and iconic food. (As you might have suspected, California rolls aren’t Japanese.) Shibutani-san, the master itamae at Sushi Shibucho doesn’t do it. His art is nigiri, an expression of tradition at its barest: surgically cut slices of fish sitting on perfectly hand-formed, bite-sized bullets of rice. Just say, “Omakase” and expect anything but teriyaki chicken. (EG) 590 W. 19th St, Costa Mesa, (949) 642-2677.
Location Info
Map
Iva Lee's
555 N. El Camino Real
San Clemente, CA 92672
Category: Restaurant > Cajun
Region: San Clemente
|
0 user reviews
|
Write A Review |
| Save to foursquare |
|
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
Related Content
More About
*** KOREA ***
BAR
Underestimate The Past Memories’ yogurt soju at your peril. The cocktail of Calpico and rice liquor is weak but inordinately easy to drink and dangerous precisely because of it. Also offered: Ice-cold Hite beer gets you drunk the old fashioned way. Both are poured liberally in the kind of establishment that opens when the offices close and doesn’t shutter until the wee hours of the morning. Drinking and eating, as it turns out, are also the Korean ways of relaxing after a hard day on the job. (EG) 9252 Garden Grove Blvd., Ste. 29, Garden Grove, (714) 638-7818.
BARBECUE
Everyone’s heard of Korean barbecue, but Shi Do Rak is purported to be the first to pair it with thin slices of rice-noodle sheet called dduk bo sam. You wrap the coaster-sized white squares around the meats you pluck sizzling from the griddle. Then, swirl the rice paper taco around either chili paste or salted sesame oil before stuffing the whole thing in your mouth. Shots of soju and bites of kimchi are required in between. Conversation and good times follow. (EG) 14805 Jeffrey Rd., Ste. H, Irvine, (949) 653-7668; 9691 Garden Grove Blvd., Garden Grove, (714) 534-7668.
FRIED CHICKEN
They don’t have a catchy motto or a cartoon mascot. What Kyochon does have is adulation from the press, food geeks and actual Koreans. But on the record, the fried chicken here is more finger-lickin’ than the Colonel’s, with spicy kimchi hints and just a suggestion of batter. The rest of its crispness is owed to the exacting way in which they fry the birds—a method that renders off all subcutaneous fat and transforms chicken skin into a thin, shimmering shell that crackles like burnt sugar. (EG) 12840 Beach Blvd., Stanton, (714) 891-2449.
SOFT TOFU
Soondubu comforts all during the chill of winter. How could it not? A boiling pot of soup is brought to your table still roiling like a witch’s cauldron. Within gurgles a chile-spiked broth that is hot in both definitions of the word. But the main draw is the floating globs of silken tofu, bringer of warmth and nourishment. Kaju Tofu Restaurant is where this dish is at its best.(EG) 8895 Garden Grove Blvd., Garden Grove, (714) 636-2849.
SULLUNGTANG
Sullungtang gets its name from its appearance (it literally means “snowy-thick soup”), but the brew owes its flavor to the boiling of an ox’s leg bones. In the old country, it was meant to stretch meager supplies of protein, extracting every bit of nutrition from the beast. These days, the soup is well-known as a hangover cure. Like all restaurants specializing in sullungtang, Jang Mo Gip supplies a tableside container of salt, with which you can control its seasoning—control you wished you had the night before. (EG) 9711 Garden Grove Blvd., Garden Grove, (714) 534-1340; jangmogip.synthasite.com.
*** MEXICO ***
GUERRERO
El Fogón makes a green pozole that cures cancer. Okay, not cancer . . . but a bad day, for sure. (GA) 1228 E. Edinger Ave., Santa Ana, (714) 972-8995.
JALISCO
The birthplace of mariachi, tequila and the prettiest fair-skinned señoritas not from Zacatecas loves its birria, goat stewed until it slips off bone like water going over glass. Cheap, huge portions can be found at El Cabrito, complete with its juices in a cup for sipping. (GA) 1604 W. First St., Santa Ana, (714) 543-8461.
MEXICAN-AMERICAN
The sign at Taco Factory looks like a relic from the days when the county’s Mexicans stuck to three cities near the tracks; the menu also dates from those days. But the food? Green chile, taco salads and other antiquated favorites? Eternal. (GA) 14455 Newport Ave., Tustin, (714) 731-1111.
MEXICO CITY
Mexico’s capital eats masa in dozens of ways, and you’ll find most of them at El Rincón Chilango. Quesadillas with huitlacoche, thick mulitas, cheesy tlacoyos and the pambazo, a type of torta created with a red salsa-soaked bolillo griddled and studded with potatoes. Mmm . . . griddled, salsa-soaked bolillo. (GA) 1133 W. 17th St., Santa Ana, (714) 836-5096.
MICHOACÁN
Las Brisas de Apatzingan offers all the Mexican meals of your Southern California experience—ignore them all. Pick those Spanish words you don’t know yet—aporrillado, a type of machaca, or the rice stew morisqueta. And the small tamales called huchepos? Sweet, made from fresh sweet corn—the best in Orange County. (GA) 1524 S. Flower St., Santa Ana, (714) 545-5584.
OAXACA
El Fortín offersMexican food as you’ve never experienced it. Tortillas? Called tlayudas, as large as a child’s Hula-Hoop. Moles? Fiery, sweet, savory—six of them. Dried crickets as appetizers, fruit-spiked horchata, and brick-sized tamales cooked in banana leaves and stuffed with bitter chocolate. Feast here, and you’ll wonder why the Reconquista can’t send more Oaxacans our way. (GA) 700 E. Commonwealth Ave., Fullerton, (714) 773-4290; 10444 Dale Ave., Stanton, (714) 252-9120; www.restaurantelfortin.com.
-
Voice Places
Find everything you're looking for in your city
-
Happy Hour App
Find the best happy hour deals in your city
-
Daily Deals
Get today's exclusive deals at savings of anywhere from 50-90%
-
Best Of...
Check out the hottest list of places and things to do around your city
- Profile
- Newsletters
- Mobile
- Logout
-
Publishing:
ONOFF
