The poke craze isn’t over. Cubed, the latest poke shop, opened yesterday inside Union Market in Tustin’s The District. In addition to the usual build-your-own poke bowl set-up we are all now familiar, Cubed will also soon start serving musubis, including a deep fried one. But just as one food trend is sizzling, there are signs of another one fizzling: across the parking lot, Pinkberry’s store at The District has now closed.
2493 Park Ave., Tustin, CA 92782
Tipster Melissa has informed me that Dat Thanh—the little restaurant that dared to compete with Brodard serving nem nuong cuon and that The Weekly has lauded multiple times—has closed for good. It has been replaced by a new restaurant called Betta House, a Vietnamese-tea-shop-fusion restaurant which serves pho burgers, pho baguettes, and something described as “stir-fried macaroni and beef”.
10032 W McFadden Ave. Westminster, CA 92683
In Stanton, a tipster and friend who goes by the moniker WeFlipBurgers told me that Irrawaddi Taste of Burma has opened. It is currently the only restaurant in Orange County to specialize in Burmese food. On the menu is a tea leaf salad and moh hinga, a lemongrass catfish soup with thin noodles, boiled egg, topped with crispy split pea and cilantro.
7076 Katella Ave., Stanton, CA 90680
A new vendor debuted at the Saturday Irvine Farmers Market at Mariner’s Church. Shanghai La Foods makes homemade potstickers and xiao long bao, serving it with their own brand of jarred chili sauce.
5001 Newport Coast Dr., Irvine, CA 92603
Watson’s Drug Store has reopened at the Orange Circle with huge crowds and long waits. Otina Monary, a long-time Orange resident and Watson’s customer, says that the food has improved (there’s an “I Love Lucy Burger” stuffed with mac-and-cheese). “The milkshakes are as good as they ever were,” she said.
116 E Chapman Ave., Orange, CA 92866
