Banh Mi Cho Cu Bakery

I'm not out in the Westminster area very often, so I had to find a quality Banh Mi. Cho Cu Bakery was the place.

We ordered the #9, #3 and there most popular #1. The #9 was the egg banh mi, I loved this one. The egg was rich and well seasoned, in combination with the fresh vegetables and crusty bread, it was perfect. The #3 was the bbq pork, which is a classic, was also delicious. The pork had a nice char siu flavor. The most popular banh mi was #1 which is a combination of pork and ham. Not sure why this was the favorite, it was good, but I just didn't like the meat as much as the other choices.



The best things about this place, is the bread. It is amazingly light and crusty. Another highlight is the friendly staff, I never got her name, but the girl that helped me was so nice and informative. If I'm ever back in Westminster and I'm looking for banh mi, I'll be here.

Five Guys Burgers

Heard about them and read about them, but never had a chance to try out Five Guys. I heard they were the number one contender to the fast food burger crown out here on the left coast, that crown owned by In n Out.

Their main menu consists of hamburgers and "little" hamburgers. The hamburgers have two four ounce patties and the "little" hamburgers have just one. The key difference is at Five Guys is they have BACON! That is a great option that In n Out doesn't offer.

There are also burger topping options and they are all free. So if you're feeling simple, you can have just ketchup. Or you can be creative and get grilled mushrooms, bbq sauce and jalapenos.

I went with the classic combination of lettuce, tomato, grilled onions and mayo. All of that on a "little" bacon cheeseburger. The fries are fresh and fried in peanut oil, salted or cajun style. I went with salted and a side of cajun seasoning.

I like the fries much better than In n Out, thicker and fluffy on the inside. I also liked them salted versus cajun. The burger was good, but not better then In n Out, something about the flavors of the beef from In n Out just make it better. To compare apples to apples, next time I'll need to get my burger without bacon. The Five Guys beef lacked flavor and the cheese was pretty bland. The bun was soft with sesame seeds and nicely toasted. The grilled onions were nothing like In n Out, there was no carmelization.

As Jelp mentioned in his review, it is a bit noisy. But I didn't find it to be that big of a deal. The topping options are nice and the prices are comparable, but the burgers just aren't as good as In n Out, IMO. Looking forward to another visit to try out other combinations.

J&J Jin Jian Restaurant

With Mei Long Village being next door, I've never thought about going to J&J. But my last few visits to MLV, I noticed lines at J&J, so I decided to try it out.

The place seats about 35 people and specializes in Shanghainese food like it's neighbor MLV. The Xiao Long Bao (Soup Dumplings), have been getting a lot of fanfare recently, as well as other steamed dumplings. They have a pretty lengthy menu, with Chef specialties, noodles, dumplings and rice.

We ordered a lot of dishes, our meal started with the following:

Sauteed Spinach
Marinated Smoked Fish (Cold Plate)
Chinese Mustard Greens with Bean Curd (Cold Plate)

The spinach was not the freshest, but it was sauteed nicely with a hint of garlic. Both cold plates were good, but the fish was really delicious. It had a similar flavor to Chinese red braised beef, a little sweetness and some saltiness. The next set of dishes were:

XLB
Scallion Pancakes
Shanghai Noodles
Steamed Vegetable Dumplings
Shengjian mantou

I thought the XLB was good, but not better than MLV next door. The dumpling skins were too thin and broke on contact, letting all of the delicious broth leak out. The Shanghai Noodles looked promising, but lacked seasoning. The Scallion pancakes, were crispy but also lacked salt. I did enjoy the vegetable dumplings and shengjian mantou.

Typical service for a Chinese restaurant in SGV and he prices a comparable. This is another decent Shanghainese restaurant, but there are so many, each with strengths. At the end it just comes down to your preference.

Bottega Louie

Great space. Great Service. Good food.

Showed up around 11:30 on Memorial Day. We had a party of three and no reservations, we were seated immediately. None of us had been here before, so we browsed the menu thoroughly. The top half of the menu broken down by salads, soups, pizzas, entrees, sandwiches and pasta. The bottom half has small plates, poultry, meat and seafood.
It's kinda confusing how it's broken up, but in the end it all works out.



We ordered the following, Mache Salad, Gazpacho, Aranchini, Yellowtail Crudo, Cauliflower Gratinee, Chicken Carcioffi and the Kobe Beef Burger.



The salad and soup started off our meal, both were delicious. The salad was light and refreshing, it included shredded chicken, avocado, green onions. celery, mache, lemon and olive oil . Just a really clean and simple salad, the chicken was seasoned perfectly.



The gazpacho was poured at the table, with the vegetable condiments prepared in the bowl. It was a well made gazpacho, but would have been better with a little heat.



The small plates were good, the arancini and crudo were a bit pricey for what they were. I thought cauliflower was a bit under cooked and could have been a bit cheesier.



The chicken carcioffi was nice, but because it is served a la carte, there was no starch to help the saltiness of the dish. With capers and artichoke hearts, the sauce was just too salty. The dish had a lot of potential but just wasn't well executed.



I didn't taste the burger, but it looked pretty good. The fries were average. Last but not least, were the desserts. We had the lemon tart and budino, I don't have a sweet tooth, so I skipped this course. But I was told they were both delicious.

Kanda Sushi

I'd been reading reviews on Chowhound about this place. Could it be true? A traditional sushi restaurant in the Conejo Valley that doesn't make all kinds of specialty rolls with ridiculous sauces?



It's true! We sat at the sushi bar on a Saturday night, it was 7pm. The sushi bar which seats about 15 people was empty. Two sushi chefs worked behind the bar and a server took our drink orders. The owner and head sushi chef is named Mitsu, he was the previous chef at Sushi Tei in Oak Park several years ago. His focus is on fresh fish with several varieties flown in from Japan.



We our meal consisted of the following:

Ankimo appetizer - Monk fish liver steamed in sake with grated spicy radish and yuzu ponzu
Albacore Nigiri
Wlid Alaskan Salmon Nigiri
Kohada Nigiri
Amberjack Nigiri
Tuna Tataki Sashimi
Raw Octopus Nigiri
Hamachi Nigiri
Japanese Uni
Shishito Peppers
Spicy Scallop Handroll
Toro Handroll

Everything was fresh and simply prepared. All of the nigiri was seasoned or sauced by Mitsu-san, so there was no need for any dipping. The Kohada, Amberjack, Albacore and Octopus were excellent.



The handrolls are not what you normally see, instead of the "sno-cone" rolls you see at most sushi restaurants. Kanda's handrolls are more like cigars, a uniform tube shape. They also don't use mayonaise for their sauce. So the Spicy Scallop Handroll was a bit strange for me, the sauce was too sweet and seemed like it had miso in it.

We sat at the bar for about two hours and the bar never got full. As the their websites states Kanda does not offer any soy paper or "unauthentic" items. Their decision not to offer the typical sushi experience may hurt their business.

The service was excellent, the prices were on the high end. But if you're looking for a wider variety of fish that is fresh as can be, then Kanda is a great option. I'm looking forward to Kanda being my local sushi spot.

More photos here

AOC

Photo courtesy of 90PlusWines

It's been awhile since I'd been back to AOC. I was looking forward to the casual atmosphere, great wine selection and simple but well executed menu.

We had reservations for party of two, Saturday night at 9pm. We arrived about ten minutes late, but we were seated immediately. The restaurant was pretty quite but most tables were full. We were seated at a nice table next to the wine bar.

AOC has an extensive wine menu and I left the decision making to my dining companion. We ordered a carafe of a Syrah, sorry I don't remember the winery or the year. Each carafe contains a little more than two glasses of wine. For food we kept it simple and pretty light.

grilled leeks, burrata, salbitxada
avocado, cara cara oranges, little gems
clams, sherry, wild mushrooms and garlic
arroz negro with squid and saffron aïoli
chocolate "french toast" with crushed hazelnuts and coffee ice cream

My favorite of the night was the arroz negro with squid and saffron aïoli. The rice is very hearty with a deep savoriness, a very satisfying dish. The avocado salad was also a nice combination with the oranges, very simple but well executed. For dessert we paired the Chocolate French Toast with a very nice Madeira. It was recommended by our server and it a great way to finish the meal.

AOC is a great option for fine dining in LA. With their small plates you are able to try many of the menu items, nice casual dining atmosphere and great service.

Don Diego's

Are you looking for a casual place to have dinner within walking distance of the Palm Desert Best Western? Well Don Diego's, is not a bad choice. Especially if you're looking for ginormus margaritas!

We sat outside in patio area it was a beautiful spring evening. The menu has the typical American-Mexican dishes, but it was all centered around the cocktail menu, literally, it's dead center in the menu. I ordered a Tres Generations margarita, then I was asked what size. Size? These things come in sizes? I figured I would play it safe and go with the medium.

The chips and salsa were delivered and they were mediocre at best. We also had a side of guac, it was also so-so. Then our drinks were delivered, with a fork lift. J/K But it was quite a surprise, the medium margarita was probably equal to three "normal" size margaritas. Definitely not a sad site to see. It was well made and I knew I had mission ahead of me to finish it.

I ordered the Ensenada Fish tacos with a side of rice and beans. The fish tacos were okay, I had the fish charbroiled and it seemed to be pretty fresh. It comes with a mayonnaise based "chipotle" sauce, which I ordered on the side. That was a good decision, the sauce was very bland and did not add any hint of heat.

The service was excellent, the location is perfect if you're looking for a short stroll. The food is what you would find at most Americanized Mexican restaurants, no inspiration or originality.

And yes I did finish the margarita.