Angela "Pierydys" L.'s Profile
DateFountain Valley, CA 92708
(714) 775-7000
Spinner's Turkish Kebab - CLOSED
Categories:
Turkish,
Middle Eastern
1 Previous Review:
-
9/27/2009
The boy has been bemoaning the lack of proper kebab places in Orange County for years -- pretty much since he first arrived on our shores. We do have a few, but they're spread sparsely and often of a very fast-foody quality. Just about the only other alternatives are fancy Persian restaurants, which are more plentiful and very good, but with equally higher price tags. I didn't really understand what the fuss was about until I started going home with him on the holidays and went to the Turkish kebab place that his family frequented. I was completely puzzled by how something like that could manage to not show up back home in such a purportedly ethnically diverse area. Then earlier this year, one did!
Literally just one block away from us. I was just driving down the street one day and had to do a double take because the sign was brand new and I couldn't really believe what I was seeing. It was like they were psychic. We went into Spinner's Turkish Kebab shortly thereafter (okay, practically the first weekend we saw it) and have been regulars since.
The first time we walked in, they were weeks away from having their grand opening and were in the middle of taking pictures of their plates for the menu while we ordered. The place had served kebab in its previous incarnation as well, but had undergone a change in ownership with the newly arrived Turkish chef manning the kitchen. The boy happily recited what few Turkish phrases he knew and got a glowing reception from the pair behind the counter.
We've met many members of the extended family that staffs it over the months, and everybody has been immensely kind and welcoming -- far more than you'd expect at any restaurant, let alone one with a lighted menu posted above your head. The place is sparkling clean and has surprisingly classy and accommodating seating for a corner fast food retail slot. We are unfailingly offered yummy cardamom scented hot tea whenever we visit. When you eat in, they arrange everything on pretty plateware, a nice change from styrofoam picnic platters at the mall. We were very delighted and immediately worried for their survival in such a mediocre location, especially since their prices were a little higher than fast food fare.
Happily, they have been around for several months now with no lowering of quality and an increasingly larger stream of customers coming and going. There's even a review from a guy who drove up from San Diego on Yelp. Pretty darn cool. What we typically order, behind the cut.
The boy almost always orders the iskender kebab, a layer of thinly sliced lamb or beef smothered in tomato sauce, served over chopped up pieces of pita and covered in melted butter and yogurt. It's just as messy and greasy as it sounds, but utterly awesome. This picture actually does it no justice, because it can look really pretty when arrayed properly on a dish like they do at the restaurant. The white yogurt is drizzled artistically over the dark red sauce and you see tawny bits of bread peeking out under the meat. The only reason they even let us carry out with it (it becomes inedible when it cools down) is because we've repeatedly reassured them we live within walking distance and will most certainly eat it before it congeals.
He starts getting cranky these days if he doesn't get it every week, an apparent throwback to his university days when it was the typical Friday night dinner out he'd have with his buddies before hitting the parties. Sigh.
I usually order the lamb döner kebab (mmm, lamb) platter, because large amounts of butter and yogurt in the other dish have consistently proven in the past to make my lactose-intolerant self less than happy. It comes with a very generous portion of sliced lamb over some of the best buttered rice ever. No, really, I've been tempted to go in there and just order rice. It also comes with a big dollop of hummus and some tangy cucumber salad, easily enough food that I end up with leftovers for the next meal as well. Unlike the boy's favorite, simple meat and rice does refrigerate nicely and reheat decently.
I've tried a few other items as well, and have been consistently impressed with the quality of their offerings -- I often fear dry meat when grilling is involved, but their chicken and beef skewers were done perfectly tender in a fashion I haven't seen outside of a high-end restaurant. They do take a bit longer to prepare dishes than a typical order-up-front place as a result, but it's very much worth it. It just means you get a bit of time to kick back, drink your tea, and chat with the friendly staff about the best boating tours to take outside of Istanbul :-)
Full blog entry with pictures here:
http://www.velvet...
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
(949) 645-0740
The Costa Mesa Omelette Parlor - CLOSED
Category:
Breakfast & Brunch
On the bottom, in great profusion, you have the mediocre chain pancake places that serve dependable-if-slightly-rubbery plates of fried batter coated in flavored corn syrup. My friends and I mostly found ourselves at these places during finals week, for example. These places serve their purpose, but never venture off the breakfast menu unless you want reheated, reconstituted pain on a plate.
Somewhere in the middle, you've got independent waffle houses. These are great for going to with a group of friends, usually to celebrate the end of finals and the return of laundered clothing. They are fewer in population but you've probably passed a few in your locality, if you just stop and think about it. It's worth the small drive to find a place that can poach eggs without delivering you a fresh bowl of salmonella.
Then, on the top of the heap, you've got the glorious omelette parlor. This is a destination breakfast. People go to omelette parlors for Sunday brunches, often wearing pretty little chiffon tops that bespeak a weekend free of cares. They are usually decorated with homey, rustic touches like metal pitchers and crafted wooden roosters. They usually offer you free coffee if you have to wait for a table. I have only come across three omelette parlors in my wanderings across California, and had to do a fairly extensive Google to turn up the one we now frequent. It requires a 20 minute drive and the occasional pileup in the waiting room, but neither we nor the sometimes large groups queueing to be seated are there because there's only year-old mustard left in the fridge. You only take people you genuinely like and enjoy the company of to an omelette parlor.
This is the Costa Mesa Omelette Parlor. You have to stop and look closer to see the colorful lettering in the windows that point you towards one-stop breakfasty goodness. And with friendly service, generous plates, and reasonable prices, you can kind of see why they've been around since the early 80's being as inconspicuous as they are.
The inside is equally baffling, in some ways. The seats are these carved wooden benches made for an era when people were obviously smaller. Which is fine for those of us falling in the 5 foot 6 and under category, but the poor boy (most definitely over 6 foot and of fairly average build to suit that height) found himself feeling rather crammed in just about every seating arrangement we tried. The best way to put it is that if you can't see your feet when you shower, you will probably have issues with the seating. As it was, T probably could have used some help unwedging himself after chowing on the ample plates that we ordered.
Pardon the cell phone quality, I forgot my Canon Elph that day. This is our typical order, the "South Coast Finest" (avocado, bacon, cheddar cheese) with ham instead of bacon. The filling is in a heap on the plate, covered by the very sizable fluffy egg portion (three eggs, I believe). The plate always comes with very fresh cut fruit, your choice of toast/muffin, and a large side of hash browns. The apple butter they use is fantastic, and they sell jars of it at the counter probably because enough people asked about it. They also have great fresh-squeezed orange juice, which you can't go wrong with. The hash browns are apparently quite good, as far as fried potatoes go. I usually try to stop eating before we get to that part, however, to make room for...
Belgian waffles! I became addicted to these things back at the UCLA dorms, where they had a Belgian waffle bar as a standard part of our morning cafeteria experience. I still bemoan the loss of instant waffle access, and that was one of the main things that led to my insistence on finding a decent local breakfast place. The Parlor does a beautiful, fluffy waffle with just the perfect amount of springiness. I don't think I've ever encountered a bad fruit at that place, and they are very generous with the whipped cream (which we ask for on the side due to lactose issues). Pour some of that lovely real maple syrup over it all and you're looking at sugary, calorie-laden happiness.
I get the feeling the place is family-owned, because we've seen some rather youngish individuals doing hosting duty and running the cashier on several occasions. Then again, there are worse ways to spend your weekend mornings than getting a hands-on lesson in business management and responsibility. And speaking of fiscal responsibility, our tab usually is in the $20 range -- a real bargain considering the amount of food the boy can tuck away.
Full blog entry with pictures here:
http://www.velvetkerfu...
The unassuming but increasingly well-known Sushi Murasaki of Santa Ana. Housed on the bottom floor of a nondescript business center in a quiet and not-too-inhabited part of the city. Unrelated to any chain places by the same name, owned by the chefs behind the counter and managed by a very nice lady who now can afford to hire hostesses to do the job we'd gotten to know her from. We usually drop in every other week or so, almost always sit at a table for two across from the bar (so we can wave to the chefs), and most of the staff knows our "regular" order before we have to say it. It's like the local diner, only much less greasy. If there's one thing that can be said for our dining habits, it's that we're quite loyal.
Recently, we saw something new pop up on the menu. While we typically order a pre-set selection of sushi, we do occasionally order omakase when we can afford it. It's always fun to see what the chef comes up with and I'm willing to believe that they have a better ideal of what's good that day than anybody else. So now they've started doing a five-course meal option for $35ish that's best termed as "beginner's omakase" -- it's not as pricey as the real version, features a lineup of the "greatest hits" and still gets mixed up a bit depending on what's in stock. We've done this twice and are quite fond the variety it presents. Some piccies behind the cut of our latest trip there ordering this item.
First course was a salad of baby greens and sprouts with crispy salmon skin. Mmmm, salmon skin. Their ginger soy dressing is light, generous with the ginger, and not as overly salty as some places do.
To the upper right is a bowl of light broth with cute little meatball-stuffed shiitake mushrooms. Front and center is braised black cod in a yuzu sauce. A piece of tamagoyaki (sweet fried egg) on the side. This dish was so fantastically soft and flavorful, we'll probably have to order it on its own next time. Previously, we'd gotten a couple pieces of cooked tuna steak that were kinda meh because they ran out of cod earlier in the day. I can see why.
Some fried shrimp heads came out soon thereafter, customarily made available when you've ordered a shrimp sushi that utilizes the rest of the body. Crunchy goodness! Just don't look them in the eyes or you'll feel slightly guilty.
The main sushi platter. We've got tuna, halibut, unagi, scallop, arabian shrimp (fire-seared sweet shrimp that's smokey on the top, firmly jelly-like on the bottom. yum.), uni, salmon, red snapper and toro tonight. Pardon my camera phone picture quality -- I forgot to bring my digital Canon so these pictures aren't as spectacular as the fish really was. The reason we keep coming back, of course, is that their fish has always been some of the best we've found out of the many places we've tried. Everything is buttery, fresh and has perfect flavor. It wasn't until we went here that the boy really started to become a sushi snob -- he realized afterward just how mediocre some of the fish in other places were.
Red bean ice cream for dessert. Red bean has been one of my favorite dessert flavors since I was in diapers, so I of course went for it the moment it was mentioned. The other option was green tea ice cream, which I like fine but you can get that in tubs at the supermarket these days.
I had green tea and the boy had some hot sake, bringing the final bill to $75ish before tax and tip. Considering the amount and quality of food we tucked away (I usually walk away with a little to-go box of leftovers), this was a great deal. It's really no wonder that this place is always busy in the evenings and you have to fight off a small crowd on weekend nights. Based on the countless reviews it has amassed from various food critics and sites over the years, it's also no surprise that people are starting to drive around here from different counties to try it out. All in all, we're quite proud of our little local sushi place, and are amused to think back to the times when we were afraid that it wouldn't stay open for long because of its inconspicuous location.
Full blog entry with pictures here:
http://www.velvetkerfu...
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"Just another OC diner."
- 19 Friends
- 3 Reviews
- 1 Review Update
- 2 Fans
Review votes:
6 Useful, 2 Funny, and 4 Cool
Santa Ana, CA
Yelping SinceMay 2009
Things I LoveBeautiful things, fuzzy animals, snark and seaspray.
Find Me InMost of SoCal
My HometownOrange County, CA
My Blog Or Website When I'm Not Yelping...I dress sometimes reluctant actors in funny clothes.
Why You Should Read My ReviewsI know how to spell.
My First ConcertEither Placebo or NSYNC. Something glittery.
(http://food.velvetkerf...)
Apologies for the partially eaten appetizer photo -- some hungry tablemates got to the dish before I could whip the camera out in time! :-D More often times than not, when you sit down to eat, the kitchen sends out free sample appetizers for you to pick at. I'm a huge fan of their baba ghanoush (eggplant dip) in the foreground there -- which is saying a lot since I usually hate eggplant in my food. I forgot what that finely-chopped spicy tomato dip is called (I think it has nuts in it), but it was really good as well, though a bit too hot for me to have more than a few dips.
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The boy's sister got this big ol' doner roll-up.
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This was my lamb doner plate, which comes over rice with pita. It always comes with a side of their wonderful hummus and some acili ezme (that salsa-like salad which is perfectly refreshing on summer days). If you're down to have some of the best lamb doner in the area, seriously, come to this place. They were just telling us earlier this year that -- despite already being known for having great lamb -- they had started driving out directly to the suppliers themselves on a regular basis to pick out their meats, since they were tired of third parties having a say in what they should use. These guys are hard core about their lamb.
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A shish kebab plate that the boy's mother ordered.
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A lonely piece of complimentary dessert, saved for a photo op before it was devoured like the rest of its siblings. It was some sort of coconut-coated chewy thing with nuts and I feel bad for not knowing the names of all these things but I can't seem to find their online menu anymore. Although they do change things up so often that they've likely replaced it with new stuff by now anyways. There isn't a dessert in there that I wouldn't take home, though. Mrrr.
Full blog entry with pictures here:
http://food.velvetkerf...