Eat Chow - Costa Mesa

1802 Newport Blvd
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
949.650.CHOW
www.eatchownow.com

Orange County is a place with many, many chain restaurants so it's nice to find little gems here and there.  Eat Chow is a quaint and hip little restaurant that doesn't serve your typical fries, but serve you truffle Parmesan garlic fries; or it doesn't have just regular hamburgers with ketchup and mustard, but burgers with housemade sauce, crispy onions, bacon, gouda cheese on a brioche bun.  There were many interesting items on the menu and I would probably just have to come back again to try them out.

Truffle Parmesan Fries
These fries were wonderfully crispy with minced roasted garlic and Parmesan cheese with, of course, bold hints of the truffle oil. Yum!

Spanish Style Roasted Chicken Salad (7.50 for a small) - Romaine, Shredded Cabbage, Avocado, Sweet Corn, Goat Cheese, Marcona Almonds, Medjool Dates, Peanuts with Smokey Tomato Vinaigrette
This was a nice fresh salad with all the ingredients I wanted. Minus the sweet corn. They forgot to add in the corn! And I knew the salad wouldn't be complete without the taste of that sweetness. All the components went well with each other, making this not your usual order of green salad. 

Chow BBQ Burger (10)  - Housemade BBQ sauce, smoked gouda, crispy onions and bacon on a toasted brioche bun
The height of this tasty burger can be intimidating at first, but just pressed it down and take one big bite to indulge in all the wonderful flavors at once. Call me crazy but whenever I see a burger with bbq sauce, crispy onions, and bacon, I always compare it to my beloved Western Bacon Cheeseburger from Carl's Jr. Yes, you heard me right. One of my favorite fast food burgers next to In-N-Out. This burger could have been excellent but the bbq sauce wasn't bbqey enough. I wanted more of that boldness that comes from bbq sauce. 

After dining, we ventured into the connected hipster clothing store, The Closet. There seems to be a hipster-ish theme at the restaurant so it makes sense for the two to be connected. And I think there's a discount at the clothing store if you dine at Eat Chow.

Marche Moderne #2

South Coast Plaza
3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa
(714) 434-7900
www.marchemoderne.net
Chefs: Florent and Amelia Marneau

One of our favorite restaurants in Orange County is Marche Moderne located in South Coast Plaza. Not your typical mall food at the husband and wife run French restaurant. This quaint and charming restaurant serves up some of the best French food in Orange County and has one of the best prix fixe lunch specials around. For $20 or $25 depending on what's on the menu, you get an excellent 3 course meal that could easily cost $40 to $50+ elsewhere.

Charcuterie: homemade duck terrine, salame rosa, la quericia prosciutto, chorizo sarta, saucisson sec, tast, pickled vegetables, mustard cream - 13
Love the presentation of this beautiful charcuterie plate. An excellent assortment of hams, saucissons, and a terrine. This plate has it all with cornichons, wonderful meats, and nice little baguettes. Always a great way to start off a meal.

Selection of breads for the day.

Pencil asparagus and shaved zucchini salad, wild argula, buttermilk-mustard vinaigrette and shaved parmesan.
Reading the description of the salad, everything sounded wonderful and I was sure this would be another excellent salad.  This could have been and would have been if not for the saltiness of the salad. The buttermilk-mustard vinaigrette with the combination of the shaved parmesan, made this salad too salty for me.

Braised Korubuta pork shanks, couscous, mint emulsion, cilantro, almond, garbanzo beans
Pefectly braised and fork tender korubuta pork shanks. The shank was so flavorful, moist, and delicious. Normally not a huge fan of couscous or garbanzo beans, I really enjoyed how the perfectly cooked couscous complemented the pork here. The mint emulsion did a fantastic job of cooling and lightening up the stronger flavor of the pork and the jus. Great dish.

Roasted seared albacore, ponzu, enoki mushrooms, crispy yams, cilantro and scallions salad.
This dish was definitely an Asian accented dish. A bit of a surprise coming from a French restaurant. This dish displays the skills of Chef Florent into other cuisines. The seared albacore was perfectly seared with just the outer layer being cooked and the inner still raw. I enjoyed the use of the cilantro and scallions in the dish to add a herbiness and brightness to this dish. The ponzu was perfectly executed with just the right of flavoring, not too salty, acidic, or sweet. I really enjoyed the freshness of this dish.

Lemon semolina cake, strawberry mousseline, vanilla stewed blueberries
The presentation of this dish was simple yet masterfully done. Desserts at Marche Moderne are created by Amelia Marneau. Loved the light flavors of this dessert. Slight but present flavor of lemon on the semolina cake with the concentrated flavor of vanilla stewed blueberries and the light airy strawberry mousseline. Great way to end the meal.

Another great meal at Marche Moderne. I would not hesitate to return and never do hesitate. There is a reason why Marche Moderne is considered one of the best in Orange County.

Old Vine Cafe - Costa Mesa

2937 Bristol St # A102
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
714-545-1411
www.oldvinecafe.com

Located in the eco-friendly, hip, and cool CAMP retail center in Costa Mesa, Old Vine Cafe focuses on seasonal ingredients and an international cuisine style. Highly rated by OC Weekly, Yelp, and Chowhound polls, I wanted to eat here for quite some time. For some reason or another, I just never got around to eating here. Until now that is. My wife surprised me with a "happy hour" at OVC. This happy hour is a steal at $15 per person for 4 courses. Keep in mind the 4 courses as you read the post.

Included in the happy hour are complimentary chips and salsa. These crunchy chips were quite greasy and oily. Salsa was fresh and had a nice heat to it. 

Eggplant Buratta -Mozzarella, Panko Crusted Eggplant, Grape Tomatoes and Basil Pesto

Our first official course was the eggplant burrata. This was my favorite course of the night. Although the panko crusted eggplant itself was oily like the chips, I still enjoyed this dish. Enjoyed the texture and flavor of the burrata and when everything was eaten together, it was a nice contrast in textures and flavors.

Seafood croquetas with Cajun jambalaya sauce
The seafood croquetas were nicely fried and the accompanying Cajun jambalaya sauce added a welcoming heat to this dish. 

Vegan Quinoa Jambalaya

Cajun Quinoa and Seasonal Vegetables garnished with Fresh Cilantro
Since I don't eat seafood, the chef was kind enough to prepare for me a non-seafood dish. Instead of the seafood croquetas, he replaced it with a vegan quinoa. Included in the quinoa were shitake mushrooms, zucchini, and onions. The sauce was similar to that of the spicy Cajun jambalaya sauce. Not having eaten much quinoa in my culinary life, I thought this dish was OK. I would say that I am not a big fan of quinoa. 

Beef Tenderloin Stroganoff
All natural beef tenderloins medallions and shitake mushrooms served over rice w/ cream demi glace
The beef tenderloins were indeed tender. I can't recall much about the cream demi glace. This dish was an overall good dish, but nothing too exciting since it had a very one note in its flavor.

Vermont Cheddar with dried figs, apricot, and cranberries
This is where things got a little strange on the service side. Having been told that there were 4 courses involved in our meal, we waited patiently for our last cheese course. Eventually, the waiter came by and dropped off the check to our table. My wife and I kind of looked at each other, telepathically saying "Didn't he say there were 4 courses?"  I eventually got the waiter's attention and asked if there were 4 courses involved, to which he replied "yes." So, now we were thinking.. O.....K.....What the heck is going on here? The waiter then asks us if we were interested in it. Of course we are!!!! Why wouldn't we be???? Didn't actually say this to him. Just politely asked for the 4th course.

Having been really looking forward to eating at OVC and hearing great things about it, OVC did not meet my expectations. The food itself being OK and the service being OK to bad with the 4th course snafu. I don't know if can attribute it to the $15 happy hour and the courses served, but looking at the menu online, most of these dishes are ones that are served on the menu anyway. I might return one day to try out the one of the tasting menus.  But I am definitely not in any rush.

Hamamori (Costa Mesa, CA)

3333 Bear St. Suite 320
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
714-850-0880
Chefs: James Hamamori and Takumi Murase
hamamori.com

South Coast Plaza was holding its seasonal dinner promotion - 4 courses for $40 from participating restaurants. The menu at Hamamori looked most interesting, especially for the price. Hamamori is located on the 3rd floor on the Crystal Court side (which is now called South Coast Plaza West) where the Thai restaurant used to be.

The high ceilings, posh seats and natural sunlight gave this restaurant an airy and metropolitan atmosphere. We were separated from the mall by the black walls and turquoise glass paneling, but I could still hear the typical mall music. Our server was very attentive and explained each dish as it was served (though in an soft voice and had to be repeated by those close to her). She also explained their sake list and even let us sample one of their sakes. Each person had their own blue moon-shaped chopstick holders...

Kobe carpaccio with steak soy and kanzuri miso sauce with sides of mixed greens and slices of tangy kumquat - The kobe beef was very soft, yet a bit chewy, but still melted in my mouth. Appetizer trio: kobe rissole with foie gras, crabmeat harumaki and asparagus okaki - I think this was everyone's favorite. The rissole had a small size of foie gras in the middle surrounded by minced kobe meat. The harumaki is a crispy Japanese-style spring roll served with some miso sauce. The third of the trio is cooked asparagus rolled in a batter of crushed Japanese rice cracker, butter and olive oil, which I enjoyed most. Chef's choice sushi: salmon with daikon radish and roe, scallop with lemon juice and salt and pepper, tuna with seaweed paste and basil, and albacore with crisp onion and ponzu. Each of the pieces had a nice flavor and didn't really need soy sauce either (though it wouldn't hurt if I had just a little bit). And I'm not a huge fan on scallop because it's usually on the mushy side, especially this one.
For the last course, each person had a choice of either Lamb Chops or Black Cod.

Lamb chops with saikyo miso and 5 pods of mash potatoes and edamame - The chops were served on the border of warm and room temperature. Not good. The meat was tender, but I've tasted much better lamb chops elsewhere.
Black cod tamrai marinated - The cod was pretty flavorful and tasty and found it in comparison with the Vietnamese "ca kho." Although I enjoyed the fish, I felt there was too many flavors melding in one dish. From the top, there was crunchy, pickled carrots, sour kumquats, Japanese "salsa," and lotus root.

Onotria Wine Country Cuisine (Costa Mesa)

2831 Bristol Street
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Phone: (714) 641-5952
http://www.onotria.com/
Master Chef Massimo Navarretta

For Father's Day, we went to Onotria on Friday evening to avoid all the weekend crowds. The restaurant is located where the 55 and 73 freeways meet. One critic said the area is a "heartless dead zone." But the rustic ambience took me out of the normalcy lifestyle of Orange County and into a semi-experience of an Italian villa. Artichoke and lavender plants lined the sidewalk. Grapevines intertwined the trellises and hung over our heads as we approached the front door. They also had their own herb and vegetable garden. As you walk in, you will see a charming spiral staircase, stored wine bottles and archways to match its rustic decor.

The servers talk to its patrons like old friends. I was a taken aback when our server came and said in a bit sarcastic, yet friendly tone, "So, I guess you're stuck with me tonight." She was very helpful though and explained everything to us.

The menu, however, was a bit confusing. Instead of the usual organization by types of food (pasta, seafood, chicken, etc), they grouped their entrees around 6 types of wines & complementary food selections recommended by the chef. This is a great way if you know which type of wine you would like, and then flip to the page and choose a dish that way. But if you are the type of eater who thinks..."ok, I would like seafood today..." you would have to flip through several pages to read about each seafood dish they serve.

Taglierini Pasta with a Scampi, Scallop & King Crab Sauce - The seafood fragrance was very robust when the server brought this dish out. Each of our dishes had sprigs of lavender from their garden, which was a nice touch. The crab sauce here was sweet and buttery. And the scampi was pretty good and had a generous amount of meat for its size. Veal Scaloppini topped with Zucchine Blossoms & Fontina Cheese - There's the lavender sprig again. Portions were a bit smaller for this entree, but the sauce was creamy and had several layers of flavor.

The food was pretty good and the atmosphere was relaxed, but I think I will try other Italian restaurants in the OC area before coming back here again.

Marche Moderne (Costa Mesa)

South Coast Plaza
3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa
(714) 434-7900
www.marchemoderne.net
Chefs: Florent and Amelia Marneau

Eating at the mall just doesn't seem so special but now with Marche Moderne, people can escape into the serenity this restaurant has to offer. The French bistro can be easily missed at South Coast Plaza. It's on the 3rd Floor in the Nordstrom wing where Troquet used to be. We sat in the patio, adjacent to the cabanas, next to fragrant lemon trees with sunlight pouring through. Ahh! I felt as if we were miles away from the mall. We had the lunch prix fixe menu, Marche Moderne's Spontanée ($25). Available only during lunch, the Spontanée includes a salad, main course and dessert.

Our first course was the hearts of palm salad, with cucumbers, arugula. This was my favorite!
I tried the skate wing fish, on top of carmelized onions, served with celery root puree.
The rest of my family chose the lamb chops with mashed potatoes topped with foie gras.

My mother decided to venture off the prix fixe menu and ordered fresh salmon with green beans, carrots and endive and sunny side egg.

For dessert, we had an almond crusted cookie with whipped cream and chocolate cream.