The Grand Buffet, Hong Kong

On a recent trip to Hong Kong, Theresa’s research turned up a must go to buffet called The Grand Buffet(TGB), which is run by the same folks that run the buffet at the Grand Lisboa in Macau. TGB is located in Hopewell Center in Wan Chai and occupies the top floor with sweeping views of the HK skyline… and it rotates! So your view changes every few minutes. There is a single seating for lunch and two seatings for dinner.

Making a reservation:


TGB is newly open and technically still in the soft opening phase when we were there in early March with an official opening in the April time frame. The restaurant was not answering email inquiries on their website, so we were not able to confirm a reservation online, so the plan was to check when we go to HK. We decided to drop by on our first night on the off chance that we could secure a spot. We spoke with the receptionist and she found a spot for us for lunch.  We came to learn that the restaurant get tens of thousands of emails a day requesting info and/or reservations and hundreds of phone calls a day, so the best way to secure a spot is walking in and checking with the desk person.  In case you are wondering, it’s sold out for the April and May. They were accepting reservations as far out as June and July and we had not even gotten past mid March yet.

We secured a 12 noon reservation, but were advised to get there at 11:30 when it opened.

The Food: 
As with any buffet, TGB has various areas/stations with a variety of food: cold seafood bar; Cantonese with Dim Sum and bbq meats;  Japanese with yakitori, noodles, and tempura; warm food station with select Chinese, Indian, and Western dishes; salad with cold meats and cheeses; sushi/sashimi; and dessert.

Sign reads “Only serve for dinner”

Dinner includes a station where they take live shrimp from a tank  and cook it for you on demand, and abalone dishes. We went there for lunch, so we were out of luck, but the trade off was lunch was cheaper.

The outer ring of the restaurant where the seating lies rotates every so slowly while the interior remains stationary, similar to a merry go round, except much slower. This means you could lose your way when visiting the stations on the interior area of the restaurant. Fortunately, there are stations located in the rotating part, so make a note of your location relative to those stations before you leave your seat, or leave a marker of some sort (jacket on the chair, shopping bag of some sort, or other piece of clothing).  Else you might not remember your table after getting your first round of food.  We were seated next to the dessert station (woo hoo).

One way TGB likes to differentiate itself is the freshness of the food, often firing things a la minute when possible/practical rather than batch cooking and then putting food into steam trays or on ice. This means their sashimi is hand cut by staff to order. Diners could choose from 4 selections. The day we went it was tuna, salmon, surf clam (hokkigai), and hamachi.

The Japanese station featured fresh grilled fish, tempura, and a noodle station

The Cantonese station featured dim sum and sliced to order BBQ/roasted meats

 

There is cold seafood on ice

Salad, cold cuts and cold appetizers

Hot cooked items

And of course, the best station – DESSERT.

With a chocolate fountain!

We each had at least 5 macroons in addition to sampling all the other desserts.

The quality of the food was excellent with a freshness not found in your typical mega buffet, matching and perhaps even surpassing the quality of the Bacchanel Buffet at Caesar’s Palace Las Vegas.  Food was properly seasoned without being overly salty (in fact I drank very little water during the meal). Some of the surprise hits for me were the Indian curries, the beetroot soup, and the cold crab cake. Refined and very tasty.

For the quality of food, lunch pricing was a very reasonable at around $35 USD per person (on par or even cheaper than some Vegas buffets), with dinner being more than double that because of the availability of more seafood and steak.  I would suggest skipping dinner if you are not interested in live shrimp and abalone and saving the cash for some shopping in Causeway Bay or Kowloon.  And you really can not beat the view of HK while dining, and lunch is ideal for daytime viewing. Since there is only one seating for lunch, we lingered from around noon until 2:30 when it closed and enjoyed the view of Victoria Harbor and the HK skyline.

Rating: 
Shove all-in for lunch. Raise for dinner, but evaluate based on your vacation bankroll. Just make sure you secure a reservation by walking in. Oh, and skip breakfast so you will have more room.

Bouchon, Yountville, CA

Continuing our tour of Thomas Keller restaurants, we decided to lunch at Bouchon, which is Keller’s take on the French bistro.  We had reservations for a late lunch and were promptly greeted and seated. Decor was typical bistro, with round marble top tables and Parisian style chairs. A small patio offers outdoor dining, although during the hot summer days, I would advise an inside seat.  Evenings would probably present a better outdoor dining experience.

The menu featured typical bistro fare, including salads, small bites, and simple entrees. We decided to order some traditional fare: Salmon Rillettes, French Onion soup, roasted bone marrow, and Croque Madame.

Rillettes with smoked and fresh salmon

Rilettes is spread meant to be eaten with toast. Similar to pates, they are made by slowing cooking a type of meat slowly in fat, which in this case was butter (I admit, I had to look this up on Wikipedia to know exactly what rillettes was, but how figured, how can I go wrong with something that is like pate and basically loaded with butter?).  Bouchon’s version includes both smoked and fresh salmon and comes in a small mason jar. When presenting the jar at the table, the server opened mason jar and used a knife to remove the large disc of solidified butter on top (see top left hand side of picture above).  Our server asked if we wanted to keep the disk, and I figured, keeping it would give us some butter to spread on the toast or house bread.

The rillettes were a bit salty for my taste, probably as a result of smoked salmon, so using a little bit goes a long way. Mixing a bit of the butter from the disk helped dilute the saltiness a bit, but overall would probably skip this in the future.

French Onion Soup

A true test of a French bistro is its French Onion soup, and Bouchon’s does not disappoint. Served in a proper vessel. Yes. Baked cheese on top. Yes. Uses runny, stringy cheese (gruyere or emmental is my guess??). Check.  Crouton in the soup. Check.  Soup base not a salt bomb. Check.

The flavor of the soup base was very rich, and almost had a syrup like consistency, which leads me to believe it had been heavily reduced from a beef or even veal stock. Not overly sweet either. Portion was perfect too with all the elements working well together.

Roasted Bone Marrow with garlic, shallots, and sherry vinegar

We have had roasted bone marrow at other places, most recently at The Beast and The Hare. Bouchon’s version is by far the best we have had. Nicely balanced, rich, fatty, and silky smooth, with just a hit of acid to cut the richness of the marrow.  This is a dish i would travel back for over and over again.  Perfectly cooked and seasoned.  In fact, we were tempted to over a second plate, but decided against it, as we had already ordered a lot of food.

Croque Madame  with Pomme Frites

The bread used is a brioche (house made I assume) and the sandwich is topped with a soft fried egg and Mornay sauce.  While I appreciate the high quality ingredients and skilled preparation, the dish fell into the “nothing special” category for me and was missing a wow factor, although Bouchon’s version did stay pretty close to the spirit of a proper Croque Madame.

Summary: 

If you are looking for an authentic French bistro experience, then Bouchon delivers. Food is high quality and is reasonable (for the Napa area that is). Great for a couple or small groups. The rillettes and Croque Madame were a bit disappointing to me, but not enough to damper my desire to return and try different items on their menu, after I order the bone marrow of course.

Rating:

Easy call. Must visit if you are in the Napa Area.  Raise if you are a fan of French bistro food.

Bouchon Bakery, Yountville, CA

No trip to Yountville would be complete without a visit to Bouchon Bakery, and would complete our Thomas Keller themed tour of Napa after Ad Hoc and Bouchon.  The bakery is known for its macarons but also has some other french style pastries and baked goods.

The individual macarons are about 2 inches in diameter, and we decided to get two, pistachio and “no-tellum” flavor, which was described as hazelnut with home made nutella spread.  Both were light and flaky and while sweet, was not candy sweet as some other ones that I have tried.  We also got a nutter butter cookie (peanut buttercream sandwiched between two peanut butter cookies)  and chocolate almond croissant to eat later in the day. Cookies were on par with others I have had, and the croissant was above average, being very flaky with the right amount of almond paste and chocolate.

Rating: 

Easy Call if you are in the Yountville area or if you are a fan of macarons
Marginal call if you have to travel some distance like we did or are not that crazy about macarons.

Ad Hoc, Yountville, Ca

The Concept

Ad Hoc is a more casual and more affordable counterpart to Thomas Keller’s high end French Laundry, showcasing contemporary American/Californian cuisine. The concept is the same as Wakuriya, with a daily prix fixe menu (in the case of Ad Hoc 4 courses: an appetizer/ salad, main protein dish, fruit/cheese, and dessert) that rotates daily depending on what ingredients are freshly available and the executive chef’s whim.  An optional add-on small course is the only other decision diners have to make besides wines and drinks. The overall vibe is whimsical and fun.

All dishes are served family style at the table. This immensely simplifies the operations and allows the restaurant to concentrate on doing a few thing well rather than splitting its attention on several different dishes, flexes the creativity of the executive chef, and allows last minute adjustments based on what ever ingredients happen to be in season (or other circumstances, as I will outline below).  Diners, have to be equally flexible, though, being willing to accept anything that is thrown at them with little notice. This makes Ad Hoc unsuitable for picky eaters or those with dietary restrictions. The restaurant is willing to accommodate some  dietary requests (like omitting an ingredient because of allergies), as dishes are made to order, but making wholesale changes (e.g.  swapping the evening’s protein dish because you don’t like it) might not be possible.

Our experience: 

Checking the web site the day of our reservations, it looked like the main course was going to be osso busco, but when we arrived the menu stated grilled hanger steak. We found out from our server that the chefs had to make the last minute change because in his words “the osso busco was not cooked enough”. My guess was it left braising overnight and the “taste test” in the morning was not up to par. I guess the beauty of the format is that you literally can change the menu at the last minute and not disappoint your diners.

First course:

Caesar Salad with boquorines, torn garlic croutons, kalamata olives and Parmesan dressing

While it may seem simple, dressing a salad is a fine balance, and often a matter of personal taste. Besides a small amount of dressing on the bottom acting as “glue” to preserve the presentation on the plate, the salad was not pre-dressed,  arriving at the table with the dressing on the side.  Theresa and I appreciated this, as  we like salads lightly dressed, and this allows each of us to adjust according to taste. The dressing itself was not your typical Caesar dressing, having just a hint of Parmesan and not overly salty, instead allowing the salt and acidity from the anchovies and olives to provide the sodium and acid components.  A nice way to start a meal.

Second Course:
Grilled Hanger Steak with forest mushrooms, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, lemon polenta, and natural beef au jus 

The hanger steak came pre-sliced in small medallions atop the polenta. The steak was well seasoned and cooked to medium in the center.  The accompanying roasted vegetables providing a nice bit of acid and texture contrast.  The polenta was extremely rich and creamy, with no hit of grit, which makes me suspect it was cooked long and slow with lots of butter and cream. The au jus was drizzled on top of the veggies imparting additional flavor, and allowing us to dip the steak into as needed.  All the elements worked well together.

Optional Add in:
Seared Scallops with beets, bacon, and fried leeks

Per the suggestion of our server, we ordered 1 portion of the optional add-on, although we could have ordered 2 portions and I would have been happy.  This was the highlight of the evening.  Scallops tend to be a bit of a blank canvas, which can work in favor of a dish or work against it. The minimum requirement, in my mind, is a well cooked scallop, which implies a nice sear on the outside, tender innards, and proper seasoning.  The second element is the the pairing of the other ingredients. This dish delivered. The scallop was nicely seared and tender on the inside. The bacon flavor penetrated the beets (I suspect they were cooked together). The leeks provided a nice texture contrast to the softer scallop and beets, and the saltiness of the bacon matched well with the slight sweetness and acidity of the beets, lending a nice balance to the entire dish.

 

Third Course:
Shelburne Cheddar with pickled vegetables and dijon mustard

I am a bit puzzled by our third course. I looked at some other daily menus and it seems the third course is cheese or fruit based, so I guess it’s meant to be the first part of a 2 course dessert. I have never been a big fan of cheese as a dessert course, and cheese did not seem to fit into the overall progression of the meal.  As an appetizer course, this would work well, but its placement after the protein seemed like an odd choice. The cheddar did have a nice sharpness, but the pickled vegetables were bit too acidic for this point in the meal. Perhaps a softer cheese with dried fruit or other sweet element would have worked better. Theresa is not a big fan of some cheeses and with both us of being pretty full from the previous courses, we left most of this alone.

 Fourth Course:
Apple Spice Cake with Burnt Sugar Ice Cream and Vanilla Caramel

The burnt sugar ice cream’s flavor was described to us as similar to the burnt sugar on top of a creme brulee, and it was the best element in this course. Nice balance without being overly sweet, which was my concern when I heard the description. The cake itself was decent, with the flavors of mulling spice and subtle apple flavors with proper moisture level. Nothing super memorable or noteworthy compared to other desserts that I have had, but provided an adequate ending to the meal.

Service:
Service was attentive and staff very friendly. Pacing of the dishes was good and contributed to a very pleasant and welcoming dining experience. Ad Hoc has gotten this part of the dining experience equation correct and is a large reason why I would come back for a return trip.

Summary: 

Ad Hoc has a fun atmosphere and culinarily has a surprise/mystery element going for it.  For someone like me that enjoys trying different things, having a daily rotating menu and discovering what the “mad scientist” cooks will come up with is a big draw. While you won’t get exotic or expensive ingredients such as chilean sea bass or caviar, the ingredients are of high quality and farm fresh (they source ingredients from their  on site garden). The prix five menu (@$52/person) provides a reasonably priced alternative to more expensive restaurants of similar quality that populate the Napa/Sonoma area. Our visit had some minor misses here and there which may or may not have been caused by the last minute swap out of the main entree. My minor quibbles are more a result of personal taste and perhaps not seeing what the chef had envisioned with that particular night’s course pairings rather than a lack of quality or poor execution. I’m a believer in the concept and hope to return in the future to experience what new creations the chefs will come up with it.

Rating:

Easy Call, but Raise if you find yourself around Yountville or Napa.  Fold if you do not like surprises or if you are particular in your food choices. .

Oysters at the Marshall Store, Marshall, CA

Tomales Bay near Point Reyes on California’s Pacific Coast highway (Hwy 1) is known for its oyster farms and The Marshall Store (TMS) sells fresh shucked oysters, chowder, and some BBQ items out of a building by the seashore. You order food at the counter and then sit outside on long hardwood tables set out along the shore with Highway 1 directly behind you. We had decided to take a Thursday/Friday off for a local road trip/staycation in the Bay Area, and Marshall Store was our first stop.

Marshall’s Remote Location

Marshall, CA is fairly remote, at least by most city dwellers’ standards, requiring an hour+ long drive from San Francisco  on some winding roads to reach. If you have the time, I would suggest taking the more scenic route along CA 1 from the Marin headlands at the foot of the Golden Gate up north past Muir Woods and Point Reyes. This route can get busy during peak travel times, so if you are in more of a hurry take US 101 and cut over on some of the smaller roads passing through the hills (Google Maps can direct you). But once there, you will be rewarded with a nice dining experience, especially on warmer days.

The Marshall Store “dining room”

Because of TMS’s remote location along the coast there is no cell service at all. In addition to not being able to immediately Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat your Marshall Store experience, you will not be able to connect to Google Maps to figure your exit route.  I would suggest printing out directions,  memorizing your exit route,  retracing your steps, or using your “old school” navigation system. And it goes without saying that you will be cut off from the outside world a bit, so if you are expecting calls or texts, be forewarned, you will not get them.   Restroom facilities are of the portable variety, and If you have a natural aversion to these, I suggest limiting liquid intake before the trip.

Parking is along Hwy 1 on both sides of the store with capacity for about 2 dozen cars.  Since it was a Thursday, parking was not an issue, but during busy times, you might have to park farther away along Hwy 1.

Ordering and Service

Oysters are the signature dish, so that was a must. In addition to raw oysters, TMS offers cooked varieties, namely BBQ, with Chorizo butter, Rockefeller, with bacon and Worchester sauce.  Regular prices are fairly pricey at $15/6 raw oysters and up to $18/6 oysters for the cooked varieties, but we happen to visit on a Thursday, which is $1/raw oyster day. They do not advertise this, but we talked to a couple of regulars who come fairly often and they had been running the Thursday deal for a while.   They also have some sandwiches, clam chowder, fish, and crab dishes.  Bottled drinks can be found in large glass door fridges, and include beer, wine, sodas, and juices.

You  order at the counter, pay for your drinks,  leave your name for the order, and take a seat. While there are seats inside, unless it is raining or totally fogged in, you should sit outside at the long hardwood tables.  A server brings out the trays  from the shucking/grill room  shouting out your name at which point you flag them down to claim your order.

The Food:

We decided on ordering a dozen raw oysters, 1 order of  BBQ-ed oysters, the house smoked tri-tip sandwich, and clam chowder.

Quality ingredients stand on their own, and the oysters delivered.  Freshly plucked from Tomales Bay and shucked, they were satisfyingly briny and tender with the right amount of oyster liquor remaining in the shell to finish.  For those that prefer, the oysters came with lemon wedges and  migonette sauce, which had cilantro in it. Tabasco can be found on the table as well. We actually ordered a second dozen,taking full advantage of the $1/oyster special.

The BBQ oysters are  grilled to order,  topped with housemade BBQ and accompanied by a couple pieces of herb seasoned bread. For those weary of raw oysters, this is a good option.  Worth trying, but I have had better cooked oysters else where.

Let’s face it, going on oysters alone, we would be hungry in a couple of hours.  So every oyster bar has some “filler” items to accompany their bivalves, and TMS is no exception.  The chowder comes in 2 sizes, cup and bowl, at $6 and $8 and you serve yourself at the end of the counter. TMS’s chowder is not the paste like, cream dominated chowder found in most places, but thinner like a hearty stew, filled with potatoes and clams.  Flavor was good and pairs well with oysters.

The tri-tip sandwich with house smoked beef was a decent size and had a nice balance of meat to bread to toppings and ranking in the middle of the pack in terms of my sandwich rankings. Sure beats packaged lunch meat slapped between two pieces of bread.

Overall Thoughts:

The decision to go to TMS is a fairly extreme case of having to choose between a relatively high overall cost in both time and dollars spent at the restaurant verses the quality of the food and dining experience.  While it is tough to beat the freshness of Tomales Bay oysters plucked directly from the water and the pretty decent “filler” items that TMS serves,  the fact remains that food transportation is pretty efficient these days, and you can get Tomales Bay oysters the day after (and sometimes day of) harvest around the SF Bay area fairly easily (e.g. Hogg island Oyster Farm’s restaurant locations).

TMS’s regular prices for oysters are comparable to other restaurants offering super fresh shucked oysters.  This makes the drive out there a significant component in the overall cost equation when considering both time and gas. Visiting The Marshall Store would be a great stop if you happen to be going to Point Reyes or up north on CA 1 as part of a road trip like we did, and the  $1 oysters  were definitely a bonus in the cost calculation. However, how often will the typical person have a free Thursday to drive out to the coast before the 4pm closing time? We happen to just luck out when we went, else we would probably have fewer oysters and more fillers.  If you are the sort that prefers to pay a small premium to have things shipped to you, then I would pass on TMS.

Rating:

Easy, No Brainer Call, IF  you are geared up for a road trip, like outdoor coastal dining,  and are a fan of oysters.  Otherwise,  if you prefer to let others do the driving or are not a raw oyster aficionado, folding is the wise course of action.

Rating Restaurants Like I Do Poker Hands

Rating Restaurants like Poker Hands

To date, my restaurant reviews have not contained any weightings to differentiate what place are worth a special trip versus places that merely register as decent and so on.  I could replicate the Michelin Guide and assign star ratings or the five star scale that Yelp and other services use. But then I would be constrained by a similar rating schema and not be able to define my exact feelings about a restaurant. So that got me thinking and Theresa said why don’t you rate restaurants the same way you rate poker hands? Now that is a great idea.  Visiting a restaurant, you can rely on Yelp reviews, recommendations, etc, but like a poker hand, you will not know anything concrete until the hand plays out.  So my ratings will be based on how I as a poker player would act if I were to play the hand the restaurant dealt to me and if it is worth putting any or more money out there.

My System  (low to high)

Fold- Like a poker hand that has little to no potential to win the pot, this place should not be counted on for much. Even if it may look good, circumstances require that I release the hand, as it would require a lot of help to improve. Pass on this. It’s not worth the investment.

Call – Experience delivered good and/or reliable results, with no real surprises. There maybe an occasional miss here and there, but worth investing again.

Raise – All indications are a positive expected value is on the horizon. Any player should be willing to put more money in the pot when given the opportunity

Shove all-in – Willing to put money down time and time again without much hesitation expecting the experience to hold up under a vast majority if not all situations

I will be instituting these ratings in future restaurant blogs. As a reference, I have rated all the restaurants I have blogged about and categorized them below.

Shove All-in

Wakuriya
Raku (Las Vegas)

Raise

The Restaurant at Wente
Napa Rose
Smashburger
The Walrus and the Carpenter (Seattle)
Smoking Pig
The Girl and the Fig
Anchor Oyster Bar
Bacchanal Buffet @ Caesar’s Palace Las Vegas
Hash House a GoGo (Plaza Hotel, Las Vegas)
Belgo (London, England)
Hogg Island Oyster (Ferry Building, San Francisco)

Call

Grub Shack
Pacific Catch
Snow-Zen
Beast and the Hare
The Table
Blue Line Pizza
Kicking Crab
Bazille (at Nordstrom)
Hash House
Bruxie’s
Norton’s Pastrami and Deli (Santa Barbara)
San Pedro Square
Super Duper Burger
Max Brenner
BonChon Chicken (Sunnyvale)
The Counter (Mountain View)
Pastis
Sauced (Livermore)
BiBimBowl
Umi Sake House (Belltown, Seattle, WA)
Palace Kitchen
Lola (Seattle)
Mango Garden (Cupertino)
Jang Su Jang
La Boedguita Del Medio (Palo Alto)
Bill of Fare
The Boiling Crab
Habana Cuba
Alotta’s Deli, Los Altos
Asteria Grill
TGI Sushi (San Jose)
Anh Hong (7 courses of beef)
Pho 24
Sweet Cup (Milpitas)
Tong Soon Garden
Little Lucca (S. San Francisco)
Cocola
Holstein’s  Shakes and Buns (Las Vegas)
Pho Bosa (Las Vegas)
Earl of Sandwich (Las Vegas)
Mesa Grill @Casesar’s Palace Las Vegas
Sendai Sushi (Milpitas)

Fold 

The Melt
Clay Oven (Vacaville)
Steins Beer Garden
Red Crawfish
Raising Cane’s
Capital Grille (Las Vegas, Fashion Show Mall)

 

Napa Rose – Disneyland Grand California Hotel, Anaheim

Napa Rose is an upscale Californian style that uses seasonal ingredients in its offerings. The menu is changed every week based on seasonal ingredients and is targeted toward adults who need a break from the typical amusement park and chain restaurants.

The restaurant located in the Grand Californian Hotel which is accessed from the Downtown Disney district. There are two seating options: the traditional table and the counter. At the counter, you can give the chef your preferences and he will create a custom tasting menu for you. Since we made the reservation late, we had to settle for the traditional seating option. Service was prompt and our waiter Al gave us a good run down of the menu and daily specials. You  can also opt for the 4 course tasting menu paired with a flight of 4 wines. We had read that portions are fairly large, so we passed on the tasting menu and opted to share an appetizer, salad, entree, and dessert. We told our server we would be sharing everything, and without prompting, each of our courses were split into two portions when served at the table.  So the salad and entree pictures below are actually haf portions.

Bread was brought to the table after our order. The basket contained crisp flatbread, foccacia, and “white” dinner rolls. If the quality of bread is an indicator of the overall quality of the restaurant, we were in for a good experience.

For an appetizer, we ordered the Sizzling Beach Rock. A modern take on the pu pu platter, it consists of  Garlic Seared Shrimp, Soy Glazed spare ribs, Lemongrass Chicken skewers with Thai Chili and Ponzu dipping sauces.

The lava rock is heated, put onto a bed of rock salt, and put in the center of the platter. You then use the rock as a heat source to warm/sear the shrimp, skewers, and ribs before dipping them in the sauce of your choice.

For the salad course, we chose the Smiling Tiger Salad. A base of  Spicy Asian Beef is topped with Asian greens surrounded by a coconut-lime vinaigrette and accompanied by Tempura fried lobster, with small dallops of cilantro pesto and sriracha.  With so many elements on the plate, I expected a collision, but all the flavors complimented each other, with the coconut milk based vinaigrette providing a nice flaovr contrast to the salty sweetness of the beef. The crisp greens also provided textural contrast  to the rest of the salad. While the lobster tempura is a nice luxurious touch, I felt that it was an addition that could be skipped, as it was mostly batter, a bit on soggy side, the lobster itself was a bit overcooked.

For our entree, we ordered the Slowly Braised Short Rib, which was braised overnight in a  a zinfindel braising liquid, then braised quickly before serving.  It came accompanied with a Sweet Potato Tater Tot, Orange Gremolata and Pomegrante-Zinfindel Jus reduction. The short rib was very melt in your mouth tender with good penetration of flavor with hints of citrus.  The jus added a nice glaze and brought a nice concentrated flavor punch when cutting and moving the meat around the plate.

For dessert, Al recommended the Chocolate Crunch cake with salted caramel ice cream.  While the cake was good, it wasn’t outstanding, relative to other chocolate cakes we have had in the past. Surprisingly, the ice cream was the tastiest element of the plate, with a nice balance of sweetness and cream, without being overpowering.  You can order scoops of ice cream for dessert, and I would recommend doing this based on our tasting.

Napa Rose fits in nicely to the California motif/theme Disney wanted to create with the Grand Californian.  While a great place to visit if are visiting Disneyland, Napa Rose would be worth a trip if you just happen to be in the Anaheim area. Next time, we will definitely try the counter and let the chef create something custom.


 

Bruxie’s – Gourmet Waffle Sandwiches

Our friends suggested we try Bruxie’s while on our road trip to Southern California. Bruxie’s serves up waffle sandwiches, which replaces the bread with Belgian style waffles.   We went to the one in downtown Brea.

The menu consists of savory and sweet sandwiches, with daily specials that differ by location (currently Bruxie’s has 6 locations in the Orange County area). Prices are on par with other sandwich offerings from the likes of Togo’s, Five Guys, etc. The setup is fast casual, with counter service, and seating at several small tables and bar height stools and tables both indoors and out.  You order at the counter and then are issued a coaster with a number on it.  When your order is ready, they bring it to you.

Sides include waffle fries and Irish Nachos.  After pondering for a while, we decided to order the Bruxie Burger, Proscuitto with Gruyere, and the Irish Nachos.

Each sandwich consists of a single waffle folded over to create a pocket for the filling you choose. The waffle itself is less sweet and seasoned to taste more like bread than the waffles you would typically get at breakfast places (like at Hash House a GoGo or Bill of Fare). It is also thinner, with an overall thickness of around a half inch. This makes the waffle pretty crisp and rigid enough to hold the fillings. I was expecting the waffle to be a bit denser, but it was pretty airy with the texture/mouth feel of toasted bread.

The Bruxie Burger comes with cheddar cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, pickle and mayo.  We chose this based on the recommendation of the cashier because he said it was the most satisfying and it definitely was.

The Proscuitto and Gruyere sandwich was smaller and lighter than the burger. Nothing spectacular or noteworthy, but not a bad sandwich either. Good if you are looking for something on the lighter side.

The Irish nachos are waffle fries topped with Bruxie’s homemade cheese sauce, bacon, sour cream and chives. Achieving the correct balance of toppings to fries is always tricky. Too little and you have to struggle to get all the flavors in each bite. Too much and you are essentially fishing the fries out of a soupy mess.  The Irish nachos got the ratio correct and Bruxie’s homemade cheese sauce is very tasty.  I would recommend getting this as a side to accompany your sandwich, and the portion is definitely large enough to share with someone else.

We talked with the cashier for a bit and he potential expansions could come to  Northern California, Arizona, and Texas, as Orange County is getting a bit saturated.  The waffle sandwiches are definitely a novel take on the standard sandwich, and based on our first experience, I would be willing to eat here again and/or seek it out if they opened a location close to us.

Norton’s Pastrami and Deli – Santa Barbara

On a recent road trip to LA, we decided to take the longer scenic route along US 101 and stop in Santa Barbara for lunch. Norton’s Pastrami and Deli came up in our internet search of good lunch places to try and we decided to go to the original downtown location (there are now 2 in Santa Barbara).

The restaurant is fairly small with a counter and kitchen on the right and 4 small tables on the left. It can be tough to get a seat during busy times, so most people will order their sandwiches to go and find a spot outside. People are also encouraged to share tables.

As the name suggests, Norton’s makes its own pastrami and offers a variety of pastrami based sandwiches.  Other options include Philly Cheesesteaks, melts (tuna and cheese), cold sub sandwiches, and hot dogs. Sides includes chips, fries and onion rings.  You can order whole or half sandwiches as well.

For dine in orders, the staff brings a small plate of housemade pickles to your table. Something nice to munch on while you wait for your sandwich or with your sandwich.

We decided to order the PLT, which contained a nice amount of their signature pastrami, thin cut, and piled between two slices of toasted sourdough with chipotle aioli The pastrami has a nice cured flavor without being overly salty or weighted down with nitrite, and developed a nice crisp texture after being put on the griddle before serving.

If you are a fan of pastrami and hot deli sandwiches and are in Santa Barbara area, Norton’s is worth a stop.

Max Brenner, Las Vegas – Chocolate by the Bald Man

If you love chocolate and are in Las Vegas, you should try Max Brenner, Chocolate by the Bald Man, located in the Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace.

We did not try them for dinner, only for dessert, ordering the “Fondue for Sharing”. We opted for the dark chocolate fondue (you can also choose milk or white).

The order comes out on two platters, the first of which has a bowl of banana, strawberries, and marshmallows and a little hibachi grill (the same type as Pu Pu platters of yesteryear) for roasting those marshmallows.

The second platter consisted of a waffle topped with fruit and ice cream, banana bread, homemade chocolate bark, banana tempura, chocolate pearls, and chocolate ganache in a vial for pouring over everything.

If you love chocolate, Max Brenner is a great place to satisfy that craving. The banana tempura was the highlight,  with the shell being closer to a hush puppy texture and less like a fritter. Roasting the marshmallow is a fun activity as well, trying to achieve a nice browning without letting it ignite into a flaming mess.  This dessert bonanza will definitely raise your blood sugar levels a couple hundred points after consuming, so the long walk back to your hotel room is a good way to burn off all that energy.