Akiko "I'm a female Gordon Ramsay to fix your restaurant" I.'s Profile

- Locale Destination -
It's in the same shopping plaza as my new favorite place "iPho" on W Orangethorpe Ave and S Brookhurst Rd in Fullerton. I'm kinda surprised that Vietnamese foods in Fullerton are quite good. You can get very decent, better than decent foods, though a bit pricier than Little Saigon. Decor is simple with a bit outdated Asian decors.. It's like an every other pop and mom Vietnamese place. Service is quite fast.

- Gluttony Expedition -
#51vermicelli : BBQ pork is solid like everyone else's. Bit hard. Grilled shrimp is stinky. Egg rolls is OK. Not bad.

Rare beef steak pho: Broth is heavy, stinky and sweet a bit. Not bad!! Put lots of limes! Good pho. I like it.

#90 shrimp & pork rolls: lots of noodles, little meats. Not bad but small - it's very cheap.

- Conqueror's Deduction -
Big menu, inexpensive pricing, decent quality. I like the pho most. I'm all about the broth when it comes to pho. I'll try more. Definitely go-to place for pho!

- Locale Destination -
It's on a tiny shopping plaza on E 17th St and N Main St in Santa Ana.
Right next to "Subway". It's tiny but a few chairs inside. Parking is behind the restaurant. Friendly service. Decor is nothing special.

**Amazing deals they offer**
- 15 inch unlimited topping pizza - $9.99!! Cool!
- 15 inch x-large pizza is $6 everyday!
- Churrostix is $1.50. Nice to have a dessert.

- Gluttony Expedition -
They also got snacks like wings etc.
Dipping sauce : $.50 each. That's the way for them to keep the prices low, baby!

Spinach Alfredo: it's a bit buttery but alright. You get what you paid for. Pizza crust is kinda like a toast - bread like. But not bad for the price. It's kind of light and you can finish 1 Medium size for 2 adults.

- Conqueror's Deduction -
It's a damn cheap to-go pizza place. It's great for sports fans and people who need to be cheap ;p

- Locale Destination -
It's on E Broadway and S Anaheim Blvd in Anaheim. You got benches outside and simple bar inside. Decor is just plain simple. No TV. It's pretty laid back bar that is only open for weekends. All the staff included the owner is helpful and friendly. The owner called it "tasting room", not a bar - I see the reason why. His intention was for customers to enjoy his beers with their friends without loud music nor sport games. It's refreshing.

- Gluttony Expedition -
All the beers were pretty low in alcohol. You can enjoy beers without being too drunk ;p

hefeweizen: Sweet like a banana. Very light and fruity - chicks will like it.

- Conqueror's Deduction -
I'm not a beer drinker - I'm a sommelier. But I come to realize beer is deep and interesting like wine. There're so many varieties and even each beer in the same style has different taste and flavors. Since I'm exploring which type of beer I like, so this sampler set was pretty interesting to try and compare 5 different kinds at the same time. If you were like me - beer newbie - or beer lover, come here. You simply enjoy drinking beer with conversations without TVs ;p

- Locale Destination -
It's on Baker St and Bear St in Costa Mesa, in the little shopping center right on the streets. I passed it by first because you won't be able to see the sign well.. The shopping center is very tiny and looks not so fabulous. Unlike the outlook, inside is pretty modern, simple, and clean with kinda nice fake cherry blossoms. Parking might be tough since the shopping center is pretty small. They got tables with a grill in the middle - you cook by yourself! They also got a tatami seating with a hole underneath of the table - it looks like you're sitting on the traditional mat but actually sit on like a chair. Nice that they open late! (till 1 am). Very friendly service. Most of the staff were Japanese. Both English and Japanese menu.

There's a happy hour from 5 to 630pm. Weekdays only. $19.95/person - appetizers/salad, soup and meats.

- Gluttony Expedition -
They got so many good stuff - Kobe beef, spicy miso harami etc... So I opt for the Premium course. $70 for 2 people. It's a lot of foods.

Premium Course : edamame, assorted kimchi, cabbage salad, assorted meats, shrimp, scallop, vegetables, soup, garlic rice, ice cream for 2 people - $70. Great!

Cabbage salad: Cabbage was very thinly sliced, and it was almost like an iceberg lettuce. Light and airly. The dressing was soooo Japanese - light and tasty. Great.

Assorted homemade kimchi: Good! Not too spicy, tasty! It comes with cucumbers (big cut and crunchy - good!), turnip (tasty), and nappa cabbage (this was just OK).  

Soup: OK but not great. You might not like it if you didn't like a "Meaty" smell... Meh.

Ishiyaki Garlic rice: It comes in a hot stone bowl and is mixed in front of you. "Ishi" means stones and "Yaki" means "Grill" in Japanese. It got tons of garlic and shiba-zuke (purple Japanese pickles) added a nice kick and crunchy texture. It's stinky if you care. Very small portion. You can eat it all by yourself. Interesting but just OK. It didn't blow me away unlike the kimchi fried rice at "Tsuruhashi".

Shrimp & scallop: They use good quality scallops but they were cut a bit too thin. Watch out not to burn them! Shrimps are cut for a butterfly. Good.

Beefs: 3 kinds
Kalbi: Very light - it's so Japanese. Not like the Korean one. Good.
Jo-rosu: Good.
Jo-harami: Good.

Beef salted tongue: It's very thick and tender. It's seasoned a bit too much. Good but I prefer the one at Tsuruhashi in Fountain valley.

Vegetables: Red & green bell peppers, onions, carrots, pumpkins, egg plants, corns, zucchini. They were cut very very thinly. Great varieties but very small portions, which you really don't mind. (It comes with tons of foods!)

Ice cream: Good lychee. Boring vanilla.

Calpico: They also got a Calpico sour (Sour: it's a barley wine like Korean Shoju) etc.

- Conqueror's Deduction -
It's better than "Anjin" in Costa Mesa - a lot more reasonable $$ and similar or slightly better quality. I still prefer "Tsuruhashi" in Fountain Valley overall. But this price range, varieties of foods that come with the course, and the portion - this is pretty good. Skip "Anjin". You don't need to wait here unlike "Anjin".

********* This is the review for the bar.  ************

- Locale Destination -
It's on Lincoln Blvd and W Manchester Ave in LA.
It's inside of the bowling ally. The decor - super outdated. Nothing special but old.
The restaurant next to it is worse. You feel tripping to the 70s - old and dingy like a granny's favorite hangout place... Where's the bartender??

- Gluttony Expedition -
Bar and restaurant are separate, though menu is only one... If you were at the bar, you can't even order non alcohol drinks.. No hot chocolate at the bar ;(

I had a beer that you see everywhere else..

- Conqueror's Deduction -
We just came here to get a drink right before the flight from LAX.
Unless you wanna play a bowling, you wouldn't try here.

- Locale Destination -
It's on Santa Ana Ave & Santa Ana Ave in Costa Mesa - on the gas station "Shell" side (Santa Ana Ave will become Red Hill Ave if you went toward Airport side). It's in the tiny strip mall by "seven eleven"!

The outside doesn't look promising. Inside is kinda outdated, as well. They got a sushi bar and tables. Service is not great. Just so so. The owner Japanese guy seemed grumpy but was OK to me. All the staff are Japanese. The menu are mostly Japanese. They also got an English menu, but the items on menu are pretty tuned to Japanese customers. You might need to bring your Japanese friend to enjoy here so that you know what you get.

- Gluttony Expedition -
Sushi: I think the quality is less than average. If you want a great sushi, go to "Nana San" in Newport Beach. It's very close from here. I wouldn't order sushi here.

Sushi: Spanish mackerel and halibut were just OK. Careless.

Sauteed garlic clam: It looked like a "Saka-mushi" (steamed with sake) with tons of soup. The soup-like sauce got tons of sake and garlic. Good.  

Spinach salad: Spinach, bacon, kaiware and mushroom with a soy sauce based dressing. It's one of the popular menu for Japanese people, but this is just meh since I'm Japanese and so familiar with it. Over-hyped.

Roasted Aigamo (duck) with salt: Duck was cooked well (Medium Rare) and tasty.

Rice balls: Mentai / salmon inside of the rice ball. Each rice ball costs $2.50, which is a total rip off. The rice ball wasn't made tight enough and fell apart, so I had to use chopsticks.

Sauteed mentai rotus roots: The rotus roots were crunchy and seasoned well with mentai-ko (spicy trout eggs). I do like it.

Gindara miso: Butterfish with miso. The fish was marinated well with sake. Miso on top of the fish was a bit too sweet side. The flavor for adults. Not the best one I've ever had but good.

Shrimp shinjyo: Grated shrimp was deep fried. Hot and fluffy with decent flavors.  

- Conqueror's Deduction -
3.5 stars. Over-hyped.

Where were Japanese customers?? I was the only Japanese there. The menu totally caters to strictly Japanese customers. They might go to "Sushi Kappo Suzumaru" in Tustin for tapas - the place is packed by Japanese people unexpectedly.

I think it's a bit too expensive for the food quality and Japanese tapas. $2.50 for just ONE rice ball??? Yeah, they got a decent quality but nothing WOW to me. I'm Japanese from Japan. If you think this is the greatest "Kappo" (tapas restaurant in Japanese), you're totally wrong. If you went to kappos in Japan, they'll blow your mind. The level of goodness (taste wise) is beyond comparison to this.

Hondaya's "jidori Mentai mayo salad" wows me (in Tustin), but not this plain spinach salad. I liked the "roasted aigamo" (duck) with salt, but as a whole, it was not so much of the level to make me think "I WANNA GO BACK". I might come back if I did crave for typical traditional Japanese foods, but for the price, you should expect more. They failed me in many ways...

- Locale Destination -
It's in the South Coast Plaza. You can see the sign from the 405 freeway. Once you park by the freeway, you see it right front.

The restaurant is huge. Bar is sort of big, too. It is sort of dark. Simple and modern decor. The bar looked nice.

Service: They got many staff including managements in suits but obviously it doesn't help at all for your advantage. Terrible service, I mean NO SERVICE - at least at the bar. You'll notice it RIGHT AWAY - right after you were trapped in the place of chaos. You can feel you get a service at McDonald's, but not here.

First customer touch within 3 minute of your arrival? That's the very BASIC restaurant service. FORGET IT. Headless chickens were running around not noticing customers at all.  YOU grab your seat, YOU grab any server available, YOU have the server take your orders, and YOU bring the check to him/her. If you want more drinks or foods, YOU go to the bar and YOU grab any server there. Expect many trips to the bar even if you sat at the table... How many times did my buddy need to stand up for our orders, needs and check? This is worse than the level of service you get at the typical Asian pop & mom shops in Little Saigon - you get foods and drink - that's about it. But I go to those places for foods, not for the service. I'm careless about it and totally don't mind it at all so long as I get my orders. I mention it just because many Yelpers seem to care. You wouldn't like here if you were the customers who cared about services.

- Gluttony Expedition -
Nice bar but $15 range for drink (this is OC, not LA) ??? Overpriced, for sure.

Pear fusion(cocktail) : It's very light and sissy. I'm super economical when it comes to booz. This is like the cocktails you get in Japan. Very little alcohol (though I did ask not too strong - usually people here make too strong for me) for people here, which I did like.

They got extensive sake and wine lists. Interesting.

Appetizers : I'm not sure about this "fusion" here. Little sushi, wagyu (Japanese beef), Vietnamese/Thai foods with modern presentations. That's about it. Nothing special about the tastes. The price is like $15 to $20 for very small portion. You get more portion than "Bazaar" in Beverly Hills but you're dumping your money for sure (in bad ways).

Calamari (app): deep fried calamari was seasoned like Thai style - jalapeno, basil etc. Meh. The calamari was bland and mushy. It lacked in punch.

Wagyu beef calpaccho: One big piece of thin meat. I liked the sesame oil seasoned salad on the top, but it's just OK and too overpriced.

- Conqueror's Deduction -
Overpriced modern Vietnamese/Thai foods. I expected more. People should expect more for the "Fine Dining" price tags. Another let down.

I'm Japanese. But I eat tons of Vietnamese and Thai foods. I know how amazing their foods are. I feel sorry for you who gave here over 3 stars - you don't know anything about good foods nor restaurants. Please stop yelping in vain - your opinions won't help anyone but the restaurant. You shouldn't help a bad business like this. You can get better foods for a lot cheaper price at Little Saigon than here.

I think they call it "fusion" because they can't cook good Vietnamese/Thai foods.
The use of word "Fusion" gives them the tolerance for not delivering fine "Asian foods". They call it "fine dining" just because they just want to make $$$ from you easily. "Asian" foods are simply amazing - this is far from the true representation of "Asian" cuisine.

These foods make even "Umami burger" look better than what it is. "Umami burger" is far from the best food ever for me. Now I realized "Umami burger" got a better value than foods here. Not that I would go back to "Umami burger", but I'm just saying....

- Locale Destination -
It's on Bristol St and Baker St in Costa Mesa.
This is located in the CAMP (cool small shopping mall), not LAB!!! Someone posted a wrong information on Yelp ;( So it took me a bit while to find the place - it took over the location of "Valhalla table" in the CAMP ;(  

They just changed the paintings on the wall but basically it's same as "Valhalla table". Simple and hip. Some paintings of sakura, samurai, and DRAGON.. (it's sort of Chinese, not so Japanese. Decor by ignorant people here who don't know the differences between Chinese and Japanese even in the 21 century...) Some words from Edo or something old era at the bar. I'm Japanese born in Japan and didn't know what the sign said ;p Some sort of samurai era sentences...

Service: Many people complained about it. Let me discuss:
- Yah, this is one of the places that takes names for the waiting list on ipad... Is it cool??? I don't know. Many seats were open but the hostess told me "oh it's reserved"... Really??? There was no line. But she gave us and another customer behind us the tables at the counter in the moments. Clearly she doesn't know what she's doing..
- My server was friendly. But no refill on drinks. Water?? Our drinks were empty. I was thirsty and eating ice cubes. Even if my lemonade was nonrefillable, you could have given me water, no? You stand at the bar!!!! - water is right there!  
Also he asked me whether if I wanted everything on my burger or not when he took my orders. I said yes. I assumed it was for lettuce, tomato etc.. But nothing on the burger. He could have told me it didn't come with any vegetables... That's the service, no??? This isn't $1 burger - people expect you more, no?

- Gluttony Expedition -
All the burgers are like $12. Its cost doesn't include anything but the burger - no drink, no fries. It's not cheap but got a quality on burgers. Very short on condiments for the price - I mean NOTHING on my truffle burger??? Come on!! Am I supposed to ask?! Or do they charge extra for lettuce and tomatoes???? I'm just curious...

Truffle burger: Good/decent but a bit greasy and too heavy. The meat was very juicy. But NO condiments (lettuce, tomato etc) on the burger??? This got only truffle cheese on the top of the meat. I think this would be better with lettuce, tomato, and onions because the meat is so juicy and greasy. But for the pate, you should ask at least medium well. I love rare or medium rare in general, but medium rare here was very pink/raw - it's dangerous to eat uncooked meats - especially for ground beefs - unless you wanted to suffer from a NASTY food poison or knew the beef was super fresh (which is impossible for us to tell). I'm not kidding. I do understand the food safety - with a certification from CA. I never eat pink ground beef - period. I never risk my health over unsafe foods. Some people say "oh, pink medium rare burger is for gourmet!" - I'm pretty much gourmet and the statement seems very ignorant to me for the food safety reasons. If I made a ground meat by myself from the good resource, I might go a bit medium rare side. But NEVER at the restaurants. I asked my server to cook more. It turned out a lot better. Burger is fairly small but this burger is heavy. The buns cooked well and got a good quality.

Strawberry lemonade: Very thick in flavors. Not bad. $3

Green burger: The turkey pate was cooked well and light. But lacked in flavors. Meh.

Truffle fries: Truffles are in the cheese on top of the fries. Shoestring fries. Meh. The one at "Eat Chow" is lot better than this.

Side sauces: Everything sounded fancy, but tasted just meh.

- Conqueror's Deduction -
I don't like a burger. I just wanted to try the hype.

"Umami" is the word for flavors (goodness of flavors - hard to describe) in Japanese. Japanese do take foods very seriously - they do care about foods. This place really racked in flavors. Yeah, I can see they try to offer good quality. But you call yourself "Umami", and shouldn't lack in flavors... I know you wanna copy "Japanese" stuff. I get it. But this is nothing like the foods you get in Japan.

Good quality - yes. Good taste - not bad but not so exciting. Expensive - yes. Truffle fries - no. Better than the one at "The Playground" in Santa Ana - yes.  

I miss Valhalla table... ;( They got very good hot dogs ;( This?! One time is good enough for me :p

- Locale Destination -
It's on S Hoover St and W Jefferson Blvd in LA.
It's in the USC Village's international food court (they got all kind of cuisines - Mexican, Thai, Japanese - you name it!). It's very old as a whole. I hope they keep it clean at least. It's a small stand. Plenty of parking in front of the building (free parking for 3 hours!). Open at 10am ! Very quick and friendly service.

- Gluttony Expedition -
Yogurt peach smoothie: $2.25! It's very cheap. It's very "yogurt" if you care. Not bad!

- Conqueror's Deduction -
Very inexpensive but decent quality drink.

I came here to get something to drink before my dentist appointment at USC dental school. And at the next visit, I wanted to try the salad but it wasn't open till 10 am ;(
Next time!

- Locale Destination -
It's on Baker St and Fairview Rd in Costa Mesa.
It's in the shopping center - the same as a supermarket "Stater Brother's".
Decor is simple and casual. Nice art on the ceiling.
Busy but the restaurant is sort of big with lots of seating. They got a counter but I don't recommend it unless you don't mind the busy activities around there with kitchen and servers. I'll tell you the reason why later.

Great service - especially the owner!!!
I was alone, so it was sort of natural to sit at the counter. Most kitchen staff were Japanese, but most of the servers were Asian but non-Japanese. I was seated at the counter right next to the window where the servers grabbed the foods and side stuffs. But oh boy, I knew they were busy setting up the orders there, but those servers kept grabbing stuffs right over my head non-stop without saying excuse me. I understood it wasn't a fine dinning but quick service, but I was sort of ducking not to get hit by them... lol. The owner quickly realized my situation and told them to pay attention to my space (to avoid working over my head ;p)!! Thank you ;)
Then I wanted to eat a bit more after the ramen. I wanted to know which side menu was good. I asked a few non-Japanese servers for recommendations but unfortunately I knew Japanese foods a lot more than them. I wanted to ask the Japanese staff, then the owner (Japanese) promptly answered my questions. I told him the ramen was pretty impressive and I did enjoy it but wanted to eat a bit more. He recommended a few items and I ordered "gyoza" among them. He paid attention to my order till I got it and even let me try some curry for tasting (free)!!! He even offered me a mochi ice cream on the house!!! I was impressed. I wish all the restaurant workers could pay attention to customers like that. Not only he fixed the bad situation quickly, but also paid attention to details for the recovery. Unlike servers, he totally understands customer services. I was very impressed.
You earned me as a loyal customer. I'll be back for sure regularly.

Other servers were a bit too quick. It's good to clean up the dirty dish fast but not too fast ;p The check came out too quickly, too. They need to understand the services as their boss ;p  

- Gluttony Expedition -
There're tons of tips you should know about:

** Toppings **
- Regular ramen toppings are menma (kinda like bamboo shoots - typical ramen topping), half egg (boiled), seaweeds, and a piece of chashu (bit salty side). Ramens without special toppings cost like $8 to 9. I wish they got red gingers that normally come with this type of Tonkotsu ramen. You usually add grated garlic, red ginger (pickles) and Ichimi/Shichimi (red hot chili peppers)... You can ask for the garlic, they got chili peppers but not sure about the red ginger...

- Yamadaya toppings is extra $2. I don't know what comes with.
You can add various toppings as extras.

** Noodles **
- Portion is small. Free noodle with a student ID!

- Large portion noodle +$1, extra noodle +$1.45 (you can add it after - usually after but sure you can add it before, too - you can buy the noodle by itself so that you can avoid buying an entire order again ;) ) if you wanna eat more, it totally worth it!

- Noodle here is a bit different from other Kyushu style ramen places like "Santoka". It's a bit heavier side (hardness) and looked like soba noodle. I prefer the noodle from "Santoka" but ramen is all about the broth. I don't mind it.

** Combos **
Ramen portion is sort of smaller size. I do recommend to go "Combo". Great deals!!! 3 items come with it:

Ramen + fried chicken or gyoza +
1) steam rice ($3 extra) or 2) rice bowls ($4.80) !!!

** Side orders **
Very Japanese - Tako yaki (rounded pancake. Octopus is inside! It tastes like "Okonomi-yaki" - Japanese pancake), Kara-age (fried chicken. Very Japanese style. It's one of the popular side menu like gyoza!), gyoza (pot stickers).

Rice bowls: Mentai (spicy trout eggs), Mabo-dofu (Chinese tofu dish), Corokke (deep fried mushed potato), curry (Japanese style) etc. Great varieties.

** Actual foods I had **
Curry bowl: it's very Japanese style curry. A bit spicy, not bad at all! The rice is pretty good, too!

Gyoza: it's not as good as my mom's gyoza ;p, but a lot better than most places! Not bad.

Tonkotsu kotteri: Very heavy but very tasty broth. "Kotteri" means sort of like "heavy" on "umami" in Japanese. It might be a bit oily but this type of "Tonkotsu" (pork born in Japanese used for the stock) soup is supposed to be like this. They also added the garlic oil for the flavor. Impressive soup!! Lot better than "Santoka"!!! Great!! I wish they had red ginger pickles that most usual topping for Tonkotsu ramen...

Dessert : mochi ice creams and Japanese flan (pucchin pudding - Aww.. you know it, if you were Japanese!!! :p)

- Conqueror's Deduction -
Best ramen in CA - finally good one in CA!!! "Santoka"?! Forget about it. This is a lot better!