Tim H.'s Profile

Ginza Kyubey ruined my life. That was THE best sushi that I have ever had and ever will have aside from Sukiyabashi Jiro or Mizutani. But being back in the States, I need to find something that'll appease this bloodlust. Finally came to Ikko and I must say that it was quite delicious. Brought a bottle of Kuromatsu Hakushika Junmai Ginjo sake to accompany the omakase, $18 corkage. Omakase started with the "non-traditional" portions: Salmon carpaccio (rolls of salmon containing shark fin), radish salad (three kinds of radish with a nice zesty dressing, acted as the palate cleanser), Kumamoto oysters with a ponzu mousse (crazy delicious), seared foie gras on top of wafer with avocado and cherry peppers (very good), and baby lobster in a garlic, miso, butter sauce (good, but I thought that the presentation of the dish could have been better). That concluded the first half then onto the nigiri portion: Wild amberjack, gizzard fish, mackerel, whelk, swordfish toro (damn! too good), uni (very good), and one more that I'm forgetting. Finished with the black sesame ice cream dessert, which really hit the spot after all that fish. All in all, the meal was amazing to say the least. Can't really compare this place with a more traditional Edo style sushi restaurant because of all the other dishes that have been invented, but what they do they do it well. Can't wait to come back and try the beef tongue carpaccio, the spicy tuna, o-toro, and the kobe beef.

FYI: Don't make a fool of yourself, no soy sauce here, eat the nigiri with your fingers within a few seconds after he gives it to you.

For now, best sushi in Orange County. Don't think I need to try Sushi Wasabi any time soon. Next step: Urasawa. Step before that: Sell my body for a night to pay for the meal.

The search for decent Korean food near Irvine led us here, to this seemingly cookie cutter storefront to a Tustin Marketplace food court. Heard about this place from the brother-in-law, and about the most genius idea known to man since the half mul naengmyun, half bibim naengmyun combo at Keungama in L.A . They have this thing called the kaljaebee, half kalgooksoo (cut noodles), half soojaebee (gnocchi style). And since I can never choose which one I want I get to have both. Not only is the idea genius, but it's bomb. Like I want to adopt this lady as my mom because she makes better kalgooksoo than my mom...sorry mom. Looking through the menu they have a lot of things that I haven't seen in these parts of town that I have been super craving. Soondae (blood sausage) and rabbokgee (ddukbbokgee and ramen noodles). Friend got the jjajangmyun and it seemed whatevers, got to go to Peking Gourmet in Garden Grove for that shizz. Oh yeah, free soda!

Surprised about the low rating and with further reading, you find that these people are ordering salmon fried rice, popcorn chicken, ramen, etc... Yes, it's called Dumpling and Noodle House and no, their dumplings aren't really that good. You'd imagine that all their noodle dishes would be good too, but just get the kaljaebee, it's probably the only thing that they do well, but they do it pretty frickin well, good enough for 4 stars.

RECAP: KALJAEBEE, THAT'S ABOUT IT, CUZ THAT'S WHAT THIS PLACE IS KNOWN FOR.

When I found out that Hooter's was no longer airing the PPV for the UFC fights, I called around to find the closest sports bar that was and happened to stumble onto this one. From the outside, it looks pretty lame and it's in a pretty lame area. Once you step inside though, there's a bunch of TV's and plenty of seating for the big fight. Showed up right on time and it wasn't super packed which was nice. Waitresses are nice. Ordered a few pitchers, complimentary chips and salsa and an order of the Irish Nachos and we were good to go. Food was meh. But can't really complain, since there was no cover to watch the PPV. Will definitely be coming back for as long as they keep showing the fights.

Oh man, I love Hakata Ramen!!!
I had the best ramen in Tokyo from a place called Ippudo. They have one location outside of Japan in New York. I'm seriously considering flying over to NY, just so I can get some, that's literally how good it is. But for now, Shin Sen Gumi will have to do. Usually when you're drunk or hungover, the drill was to head to Westminster for some delicious Pho. Not anymore. Ramen is so much better and good ramen really hits the spot. I think they're open until 11:30 on the weekdays so get your drinking done early. Probably one of the best ramens you can get in Orange County, along with Santouka.

Oh man, what a bad idea.
Woke up around 4am due to beer shits, woke up again at 8am to take a minute long, continuous pee, woke up again at noon feeling like crap. Haven't had a hangover this bad since that time that I thought that I could still do keg stands after college.

My experiences as an Asian at Oktoberfest at One World:
There were probably 10 of us max, us and one other group. I bet half of these people aren't even German. There's a lot of beer. Print out that $5 off entrance coupon. Get the grilled chicken, trust. Get a bunch of those little German donuts (so delicious). Old lady gymnasts = freaky. Shot girls = money trap. Always maintain eye contact to avoid trap, no wandering eyes. Drink lots of beer. Talk to random strangers about beer. Drink more beer.
Probably be back next year to celebrate the invention of beer.

I finally came to the realization that I needed to start eating healthier and to not shove everything down my throat (that's what she said). But, no, seriously... I used to eat pork rinds with a mayo/Tabasco dipping sauce as a midnight snack. Anyways, came to Whole Foods to pick up some healthy food. The breakdown: it's a hippie market for rich, white mom's. I grew up on pesticide enriched vegetables and hormone injected beef and I turned out alright, I think. I mean seriously, who needs organic vegan friendly lip balm? I spent a good twenty bucks on unsalted roasted nuts and trail mix. What the hell!? A few aisles down and all of this bitterness suddenly disappeared and was replaced with delicious beer bitterness. The beer selection here is simply amazing. Chimay, Allagash, Blind Pig, Pliny The Elder, Oak Casked Arrogant Bastard, etc... drool. And there's even a bar in the middle where you try some beers that they have on tap. 4 stars!!!... for the beer alone.

Upscale Korean restaurant on Wilshire and Alexandria, across the street from Alexandria Plaza and next to Zion Market. Just valet at the underground garage. Ordered the special that they're offering with a bunch of different kinds of traditional Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) foods that you really don't normally see. One of the more interesting things was the sweet rice mixed with that "purple" rice that came steamed in a leaf with chestnuts. Food was pretty delicious and very filling. Only complaints...they brought out everything at once. We're sitting there with like a million dishes of food and banchan trying to eat everything in a hurry so that it didn't get cold. Service was whatevers. Don't know if I'd come here for the KBBQ. Come here if you want to try some traditional Korean holiday food, but besides that, nothing really going on for this place. I'd rather just get hammered and head over to Hodori at 3 am for some Omelette rice. Meh, just me.

Great place to train. It's by no means fancy or state of the art, but that's not what you're looking for if you're trying to train to become an "underground no holds barred, fighting for pink slips, pride and just to get rid of that beer belly cage fighter". Place is small, but they're moving to their new, larger location within the month. BJJ is taught by a top notch instructor, Giva, who despite his poor English skills has a surprisingly good memory (remembered me after a year hiatus at this place). His shoulder is broken and in a sling, but I wouldn't be surprised if he could still tap most people with only one good arm. Coach Oyama is one of the best in the business, and the other trainers are great as well. If you're just looking to get back in shape, cardio kickboxing will kick anyone's ass, no matter how tough you think you are. All in all, grass roots training facility with a ton of talent in the fight team. Friendly people and a good place to just sit back and talk after class.

Located where El Canejo used to stand, Thai Café is an unassuming restaurant that serves up probably the best Thai food in Irvine. Don't really have much to compare it to, since the extent of my Thai food experiences ranges from Tasty Thai in Lake Forest to Thai Spice to Spice Thai, that's about it. But I do know good food when I taste it and this was definitely very, very satisfying. Not sure if you've experienced the same problem, but whenever I order something that has different levels of anything, I HAVE to go extreme, one of the reasons why Thai Spice has been no good to me. My taste buds have been obliterated on numerous occasions. Thai Café is very reasonable on spiciness and it's nice that they offer you the chili peppers on the side to customize to your liking. Pad Thai was amazing, Singha beer was cold, and the Pad See Ewe was perfect. Service was attentive and had an overall good experience. Definitely coming here again.

I'm food friendly, I like EVERYTHING, but this place was terrible. Wouldn't even let Kanye eat here, even AFTER the whole Taylor Swift incident.