OCFB Review - The Taco Time - Orange

June 26, 2008 · Filed Under OC Food News · Comment

Hello as a contributor to the Orange County Food Blogs I wanted to the fans of Eat in OC know that I posted a new review exclusively over there for a hole in the wall Mexican Restaurant by the name of The Taco Time that is located in Orange.

Go check out my review!

The Taco Time
3209 N. Glassell St.
Orange, CA 92865
714-685-0051

Tags: Friends of EOC, Mexican, OCFB, Orange

The Crab Cooker - Tustin

June 26, 2008 · Filed Under OC Food Reviews · 1 Comment

After we finished running some errands on Tuesday we decided to go and get some dinner. We were on our way to Charo Chicken in Tustin, but as we were driving down 17th street to get there I suggested we check out The Crab Cooker instead. Mrs. DanGarion had a knack to have more shrimp after the shrimp she had at Koji’s the previous night so my suggestion paid off.

: The Crab Cooker, Combination Plate

: Inside The Crab Cooker

: The Crab Cooker entrance

: The Crab Cooker Shrimp on a Skewer

The Crab Cooker in Tustin is pretty much the same as the one in Newport Beach, except it’s not near the beach and I’m assuming probably isn’t as popular. But they seem to have pretty much the same menu, although checking their website it does say that there are some things not available at the Newport Beach location. The restaurant also has a small fish market that one could purchase food to go as well as fresh fish. The restaurant is decorated with paintings and maritime items over all the walls, as well as a large shark hanging from the skylights in the main dining area. The kitchen is open and you can watch the cooks through windows placed right in front of their grill.

My wife ordered the Shrimp on a Skewer (10 medium sized shrimp) along with Romano Potatoes and sliced tomatoes (diner plate $14.95). I ordered the Combination Plate (4 medium sized shrimp, two cuts of fish, and 2 scallops) with Romano Potatoes and cole slaw (dinner plate $14.50). The food is all prepared the same way, it’s broiled on the grill and lightly seasoned with some oil, salt, pepper, and I think some paprika. Because of the broiling the fish sometimes has a little burnt flavor to it, but it’s not something that detracts from the flavor of the fresh fish. We both agreed that the shrimp was good; I even got extra since my wife got full! The fish was perfectly cooked and flaked a bit as I picked it off my fork and fingers. I didn’t know they scallops could be broiled but they were pretty good as well. Overall the Romano Potatoes stole the show; we each got 1 delicious ice cream sized scope of the Romano seasoned mashed potatoes. I think we would have both enjoyed a meal of just the potatoes. Unfortunately the cole slaw left much to be desired, it was very bland and somewhat bitter, but I’ve come to terms that cole slaw is hit or miss from restaurant to restaurant. Both our meals were good, and they weren’t too big to overwhelm us.

The service was good. It was sort of funny that their placemats say they will serve water upon request when our waitress just gave us cups of water without asking. They serve their soft drinks in biodegradable corn cups, which I thought was neat, but then they give you plastic forks, knives, paper plates, and a paper cup for the water. I’m not sure if they are trying to save the environment or if they just are using whatever they can instead of having real silverware and dishes.

The Crab Cooker is a Orange County staple and they didn’t disappoint, they gave us a solid meal with good service, nothing stood out, but nothing detracted from our dinner.

Visit 06/25/08 for dinner

Rating:

Crab Cooker Restaurant
17260 17th St
Tustin, CA 92780
(714) 573-1077

Tags: American, Seafood, Tustin

OC Food History - Pup’N'Taco

June 24, 2008 · Filed Under OC Food News · Comment

Talk about a blast from the past. I can’t remember the food at all, but I always loved the name of Pup’n'Taco when I was a kid.

Tags: Fast Food, OC Food History

Koji’s Sushi and Shabu Shabu - Orange

June 24, 2008 · Filed Under OC Food Reviews · 5 Comments

Alright between the poll and a special request from my friend Mike, I decided to review some Japanese food!

Up until last night I had never had Shabu Shabu, I’d always wanted to try it since the first time I heard about it a couple years ago, but I’d never had the opportunity. Then came yesterday when Mrs. DanGarion, my parents and myself went out to Koji’s Sushi and Shabu Shabu. We were first seated at the Shabu Shabu bar, I was somewhat disappointed that they sat us at the bar since there were 5 tables that were open. My parents and I both have Entertainment cards so we were hoping to both get a discounted meal along with the normal price one, but unfortunately they have very strict rules that they won’t allow people in the same party to use more then one discount, and they wouldn’t even allow us to have separate checks, they wouldn’t agree that we are separate parties because of us coming in together. It was a little goofy that they wouldn’t do it, since we were at the bar, other then us talking to each other there is no other proof that we came in together. After about 15 minutes at the bar it was determined that the burner my dad was seated at was broke so they ended up moving us to a table. It was nice we ended up at a table but because of this we had to wait another 15 minutes for our water to heat up. $I\'m Going Around the World!$

Here is what we ordered. My wife and mom both ordered a Chicken and Shrimp Shabu Plate, my dad ordered the trio plate with Beef, Chicken, and Shrimp, and I ordered the around the world plate that had Beef, Chicken, Shrimp, and Salmon. The meats came on their own plate; it’s thinly sliced so as to be able to cook quickly in the pot. My plate came with about 8 slices of chicken and beef, along with 4 cuts of Salmon and 3 shrimp. Along with the meat we each got our individual veggie plate which included 1 white mushroom, 1 shitake mushroom, a slice of onion, 1 piece of broccoli, 2 cuts of carrots, 2 cuts of tofu, a bunch of cabbage, some spinach, and a bit of udon and glass noodles. On top of that they also give you two types of sauce to dip your items in after cooking them, and a bowl of rice. It’s a bunch of food, and since you are cooking it yourself you really take your time. My first meat of choice was the salmon, it dipped in it in the bowl for only about 10-15 seconds (I love sushi so I wasn’t worried about it not being under cooked) took it out and dipped it in the light sauce for the meat and tossed in it my mouth; it was so delicious! I think I could have just had a whole plate of salmon it was that good tasting. I proceeded to dip in some of my cabbage, dipped it and then placed it on my rice. I continued to do this till I was pretty much done. This left me with some deliciously seasoned rice that I finished my meal off with. The only item I had an issue with was the noodles, how are you supposed to be able to heat those and get them out of the pot?! Everyone else also enjoyed their meal. Mrs. DanGarion was a big fan of the shrimp. My mom said she could have just don’t the vegetables alone and been happy. My dad liked just about everything too.

Overall it’s a fun experience and a great meal to have with a large group of family or friends. Even though it is a lot of foods you don’t get a stuffed feeling probably because you aren’t really stuffing yourself with a ton of meat like most people do when they go out to dinner. Service was a little slow at times but considering it’s a slow meal process it wasn’t a big deal. Our waitress came by from time to time and checked on our drinks and she also fully explained how much time was needed to cook our food when we told he we had never had Shabu Shabu before. Koji’s was great for a first time Shabu Shabu experience and I’m really looking forward to trying some other places now to see how they compare to it.