Dining Around Orange County

For many years, Orange County, California, has been the unknown space in between Los Angeles and San Diego. But TV shows like "The OC" and "Real Housewives of Orange County" and the MTV show "Laguna Beach: The Real OC," have helped to highlight Orange County. Sporting events such as the Anaheim Angels winning the 2002 World Series and the Mighty Ducks, and the ever popular beach volleyball and surfing in the area.

Orange County has really grown up, and so has the property value and income level. Accordingly, Orange County residents' tastes have become more sophisticated.

Orange County has also become a destination in itself. It is a business hub, with Irvine being billed as the "Silicon Valley of the south" and many automakers locating their design centers here to tap into the Southern California car culture. It's an entertainment hub, with Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, as well as other venues and resorts, such as Laguna Beach and Newport Beach! Such sophisticated tastes lead to great dining at great restaurants!

One of my favorite things to do is try out new places to eat with my friends Andrew and Thomas! (It helps that my best friend used to work at Orange County Environmental Health and has inspected pretty much every place that serves any type of food in Orange County!) These are the chronicles of our journey dining around Orange County. Hopefully you will find these dining reviews useful, whether you live in Orange County, or whether you are visiting the area. After all, everybody likes a good meal at a nice place!

Quick Tips:

Orange County is ethnically diverse, and you can find genuine ethnic restaurants in these areas. There are plenty of Vietnamese restaurants in Westminster and parts of Garden Grove. There are Korean restaurants in Garden Grove. Genuine Mexican restaurants can be found in Santa Ana and Anaheim. There are Persian restaurants in Irvine and Newport Beach.

Just remember, because there are LOTS of restaurants in an area, it doesn't mean they are necessarily GOOD restaurants. It seems like a lot of people that immigrate to the area from abroad think they can open a restaurant serving food from their old country.

Best Way To Get Around:

Orange County has planes, trains, and automobiles. The local commercial airport is located next to Irvine and Newport Beach. Orange County Airport is also named John Wayne Airport with the identifier SNA.

There is the Metrolink and Amtrak, which runs between Los Angeles and San Diego. But by far, pretty much the only way to really get around is by private automobile. Because Orange County isn't a centralized area like New York or Chicago, and there is no real downtown, everything is spread out. Orange County has an extensive (even if somewhat crowded) freeway system, and plenty of roads to utilize.

The Surf & Sand Resort is a luxury resort located on the ocean side of South Coast Highway in Laguna Beach.

Upon arrival, we noticed the parking lot is quite small, so we used the valet parking. The exterior of the 165 room hotel building looks to be an older building, with exterior hallways. There are a series of newer buildings just to the right of the hotel which house meeting and conference rooms, the gift shop, spa, and other amenities. The pool deck is below the hotel, just steps away from the beach.

We checked in and received room 259. Interestingly enough, the 2nd floor is the main entrance level. Our room was all the way on the leftmost side of the hotel. We had a King-A room. The room is described as 500 SQ Ft. with a king bed, small seating area with a sofa sleeper. It has a nice private balcony overlooking the beach and Pacific Ocean. The room also has a large LCD panel TV/monitor, DVD/CD player/clock/alarm/MP3/iPod docking station. There were also nice robes and towels with the resort's name and logo embroidered on. Very nice.

The rooms that face away from the ocean are meeting rooms. We peeked inside one of these rooms. They feature their own bathroom and a wetbar. They are nicely adorned with crown moulding, which hide the florescent lighting fixtures.

There is a gift shop and spa to the right of the hotel tower. The upstairs portion of the spa has a nice deck overlooking the ocean. Down the stairs from here is the pool area, which also has a small, staffed bar/towel area. There is direct access to the beach from the pool area.

Also just to the right of the hotel tower is their on-site restaurant, Splashes, which we dined at (separate review).

We witnessed a wedding coordinator at the hotel take a engaged couple for a tour of the facilities. As we wandered on, we also actually saw a photographer taking photos for wedding and reception taking place at the Surf & Sand that day.

Our room was very nice and quiet. There is the occasional sound of waves crashing onto the beach, but that beats the sound of airplanes taking off, or freeway traffic anyday. The view is spectacular, especially when you stand at the patio and gaze out at a nice Pacific sunset. The rooms were clean, staff were courteous, very attentive and prompt to our needs.

The room was $340 for a weekend night. If you want a nice luxurious, romantic getaway, (or facilities for a wedding and reception) I highly recommend the Surf & Sand Resort.

Many of my friends have told me good things about Wood Ranch BBQ & Grill, so I decided to give it a try. It's located south of the 91 Freeway by the Wier Canyon off-ramp and Santa Ana Canyon Road. It sits directly across the parking lot from the Edwards movie theatre.

I arrived around dinnertime with a friend, and found a long line out the door of Wood Ranch. Wood Ranch doesn't take reservations unfortunately, but we were seated rather quickly. The decor is quite nice, with highly polished wood tables and a modern feel to it. There was plenty of people-watching to be had, as many of the people dressed and looked quite nice here. I'd consider Wood Ranch BBQ to be a moderately upscale restaurant.

Our server was quick to get us drinks (we both had lemonades) and a basket of warm moist rolls covered in a butter/pesto glaze. After tasting the rolls, I wondered if we even needed to order.

The waiter recommended the tri-tip steak, as it is the most popular selection. He said the tri-tip is so tender, it is served as a solid steak, and doesn't need to be cut into thin strips. I ordered the tri-tip with sides of peanut coleslaw and mashed sweet potatoes. My friend ordered the baby back ribs and sides of coleslaw as well, and corn on the cob.

When our food arrived, we were quite impressed at the presentation on the plate. The food was colorful and looked quite delectable. My tri-tip was quite tender and very moist and juicy. It was good by itself and didn't need to be drowned in sauces. The peanut coleslaw had a slightly sour tangy taste to it and the texture of the peanuts was quite pleasant. I found the mashed sweet potatoes a bit too sweet for my tastes, but that's just my opinion. The mashed sweet potatoes were made with marshmallows, so that explained the sweetness.

My friend's baby back ribs were quite tender and didn't require a lot of effort to remove the meat from the bone. He tried eating the ribs with a fork and knife, and was moderately successful, but later resorted to using his hands. He didn't need any extra sauce for the ribs either. He said the grilled corn on the cob was quite good.

We both finished everything on our plates! The waiter came over to tell us about dessert, but unfortunately we were both too full. I wish I had some room, as the desserts at the other tables looked totally delicious. There was cheesecake, and an Oreo ice-cream cookie concoction I really wanted to try.

Our bill was about $60 for the both of us. The food was well worth the price. I would definitely recommend this to everybody. The service was great, and the food was phenomenal!

When one thinks of an Irish pub in Orange County, Skosh Monahans should come to mind. It's owned and operated by Gary Monahan, currently a Costa Mesa council member.

From the outside, it looks like a typical bar, but once inside, the atmosphere is surprisingly kid-friendly. (Most of the kids do filter out around 9pm, so it really does becomes an Irish pub… ) The booths were comfortable and the waitresses were young and friendly.

The menu wasn't overly large, but it had plenty. There were steaks, seafood, Irish specialties such as bangers and mash and Irish coddle. For appetizers, we shared a lobster bisque, fried calamari, bruschetta, and shrimp cocktail. All of the appetizers were good, the shrimp were especially huge, but alas, there were only four shrimp and three of us… (we had to fight over the last shrimp). My only disappointment was the bruschetta. Apparently Skosh Monahans must have a panini machine, since the bread appeared to have been squashed in such a machine, which gave it an odd barbecued taste I wasn't accustomed to. But your taste may be different. The brushetta topping was excellent though.

For our main course, I had fish, shrimp, and chips, my friends had seared ahi, and the special of the day, sirloin and shrimp skewer. All of these were excellent. The presentation was good, the veggies were crisp, and so were my fries!

For dessert, we shared an apple cobbler, which was just absolutely delicious. Every now and then, I would end up with a lump of brown sugar on my fork, which ended up being a really tasty treat! Imagine that.

Overall, the atmosphere was casual, even kid-friendly earlier in the day. They have specials every day, and children's specials during Sunday.

I spoke briefly with the owner, Gary Monahan. They are doing a TACA promotional night sometime in May 2006. TACA is Talk About Curing Autism. One of Gary Monahan's children has autism, so this is quite close and personal to him. I think the personal touches, atmosphere, and phenomenal food make this the best Irish pub in O.C.!

When I think of barbecue, I think of Lucille's Smokehouse. The one in Brea is located on Imperial Highway at the 57 Freeway northbound off ramp. The long lines out the door and the blue smoke coming out the chimney give you a not so subtle hint where it's located.

It's a very casual place, probably best described what I'd think of as a casual Louisiana rib joint. We had reservations, but ended up having to wait a short while anyway. Once we were led into the dining area, there's this odd stainless steel smoker sitting in the middle of it. It's definitely not a prop, as a cook was loading dozens of racks of ribs into it. The aroma of the barbecue wafting out of the machine drove us nuts!

We ordered the backyard family feast, which consists of two racks of ribs, and two half chickens, plus four sides. We chose a baby back and St. Louis rack, Honey Roasted Peanut Slaw, macaroni and cheese, Flame Roasted Sweet Corn, and the Southern Sweet Potatoes as sides.

While we waited, we were served warm biscuits with apple butter. They were delicious, but only due to the apple butter. I probably would have preferred rolls, but that's just my preference.

The main course came out and all talking stopped as we concentrated on eating. Everything was absolutely delicious. I think these are the best baby back ribs I've had at any barbecue restaurant in the area!

We had no room for dessert, in fact, we had to take several boxes home. There were four of us, and the backyard family feast was $75, so with a few drinks, it ended up being between $20-30 per person. Highly recommended.

There's a location in Torrance and the Long Beach Town Centrer in Los Angeles County. Plus there's a Lucille's being built in Tustin at The District (still under construction) at Jamboree and Barranca in Tustin. It's supposed to open in Spring 2007, I can't wait! Heh… it's just 2 miles from me!

I found out there is a live blues band playing there on Saturday and Sundays!

Tia Juana's is a lively Mexican restaurant in Old Town Irvine (corner of Burt and Sand Canyon Road) that doubles as a nightclub in the evening. Tia Juana's is located inside a set of refurbished grain silos(?) visible from the 5 Freeway. Inside, it looks like a barn, with half of it sectioned off as a bar and the other half as the restaurant.My friend and I stopped by early Tuesday for dinner. Tia Juana's was having Taco Tuesday in the bar section, so we chose that. (Apparently the $0.50 tacos aren't available in the dining section.) You can choose either $0.50 chicken or beef tacos. A "taco server" with a stainless steel tray of tacos and plates came out to see if we wanted tacos. We ordered 6 tacos each. I chose all beef while my friend Dave chose all chicken. The server gave us our tacos and we had to pay him cash at that time. The tacos were deep fried, but had fresh cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes. They were actually quite good for 50 cent tacos. After we wolfed them down, we ordered a steak quesadilla from the menu, which came out quickly. It was quite good as well. My only reservation was that a side of sour cream is an extra charge.As we ate, more people kept pouring in for drinks after work. A live mariachi band started playing. We talked to the waitress, and there are usually Salsa dancing lessons later in the evening, but there is an entry fee if you wish to dance. As we left, we noticed that quite a few families with children were happily dining in the restaurant side.All in all, the food was good, the atmosphere was lively. It's a pretty good Tex/Mex restaurant with some sort of entertainment every night.Our bill with 12 tacos, 1 steak quesadilla (under the appetizer section of the menu,) and 2 soft drinks came out to $15, including tip! (I later found out that appetizers are half off during Taco Tuesday!) I'd definitely go back for Taco Tuesday at Tia Juana's.

** Note, the photos I took aren't that good due to the low lighting in the restaurant. I didn't use flash because it made the photo too bright.

I went to the Orange Hill Restaurant as a guest for a birthday dinner. It's supposed to be one for the premier banquet/restaurant facilities in central OC. The entrance to the restaurant is a windy private road just off Chapman Avenue just east of Crawford Canyon. It's located at the top of a hill in Orange, hence the name Orange Hill Restaurant. It's east of the Orange County Mining Company, also off of Chapman Avenue. Only valet parking is available, there's NO self parking. We waited in the lobby for the rest of our party. The lobby features a wide and interesting display of cigars for sale.

There were only three of us in our party, so we were seated quickly. The dining room views gaze west/southwest over Orange County. They say you can see out to Catalina Island on a good day. Unfortunately we couldn't see squat due to the haze. We did make out 17th Street and the 55 Freeway due to the car lights, but that was about it. There are seats with fire pits lining the outside patio area, and a few couples were taking advantage of this. The bar area is pretty basic, but since it was Sunday evening, there weren't too many people there.

The bread basket had three different types, a regular french bread, a tasty raisin type bread, and a savory bread with a pesto spread on the outside. We ordered the crab stuffed mushrooms and jumbo shrimp cocktail appetizers. I ordered the Filet Oscar, which are 2 filet mignon medallions with a king crab meat topping and bearnaise sauce. My friend Mike also ordered the Filet Oscar, and the birthday girl ordered the Broiled Australian Lobster Tail.

The jumbo shrimp cocktail had 5 huge shrimp and were gobbled up quickly. The crab stuffed mushrooms were exceptionally good too. When our main courses arrived, we quickly dug in. The Filet Oscar was excellent. The filet mignon was so tender, a knife was barely required. The veggies (asparagus and carrots) were crisp and tasty. The birthday girl loved the lobster, naturally.

I snuck out back to ask the waitress for a birthday cake. She showed me dessert platter, which included cheesecakes, small round chocolate cakes, and a key lime cake! I chose the chocolate cake.

A bit later, the waitress came over the remove our dinner plates and brought over the chocolate cake. It was extremely rich and thick, the way I like it. Unfortunately it was too sweet for the birthday girl, so I ate the rest!

The birthday girl had $200 worth of Orange Hill gift certificates. That covered our three meals, two appetizers, one soft drink, four cocktails, and tip! I would definitely bring somebody special here again, but it is a bit expensive.

First off, there are two sides to the Sam Woo Restaurant. There is Sam Woo BBQ Restaurant and a Sam Woo Seafood Restaurant, located next to each other. This is a review of the BBQ side only.

Once you enter, there is a large take out section with all sorts of roasted and Bbqed meats hanging in a display case. They have roasted duck, roasted pig, BBQ pork, sausage, roasted squid, (?) and just about all sorts of things available in addition to the standard fare of fried rice and traditional Chinese dishes. To the left of that is the seated dining area. During lunch and dinner, there is usually a small wait.

Once seated, the waiter plops down a kettle of tea and our menus. The menu is typical of any Cantonese Chinese restaurant. They all seem to serve the same food. The front of the menu did offer some of the Asian "boba" tapioca drinks in it.

My friend ordered a roast duck and rice plate, I ordered Beef Chow Mien (crispy noodles with beef and veggies in sauce.) In a short while, our food arrived. There isn't much to describe the food. It tastes as it's supposed to, so that makes it good. My beef noodles were nice and saucy, the beef was a slight bit tough though, but that's expected. In total, our total bill was $14. We don't tip much because that's expected for the level of "service" we received.

I've eaten at similar Chinese restaurants before, so don't expect much from the atmosphere or service attitude. This is no exception. There is no atmosphere, and the servers rarely say anything to you. In fact, the servers usually frown upon being bothered for such things other than to take your order and bring you your food. They say that if the waiters are nice and attentive, then it's NOT authentic Chinese food!

Sam Woo BBQ Restaurant is one of the few authentic Chinese restaurants in Irvine, so if you want good, authentic dine-in Chinese food, you're held hostage to the bad service. That's the ONLY reason I say it's recommended. Remember that when you wonder why the waiters don't smile or talk to you. Oh yeah, they take CASH ONLY, no credit cards or checks.

The Sam Woo Seafood side is different, and I'll write a review on that later.

The Original Pancake House is a chain of specialty breakfast restaurants with a focus on pancakes, naturally. I went to the one in Aliso Viejo with two friends on Sunday Morning. There are other location in Orange County in Yorba Linda and Anaheim.

There is always a line and a wait. We waited about 25 minutes outside until they called our name. Once inside and seated, the decor is very plain, simply a breakfast/coffee house with no real decoration. But we're not here to stare at the walls, we're here for the breakfast.

We were served our coffee and juice quickly. My friends ordered the strawberry pancakes with a side of bacon, and the eggs benedict. I ordered the eggs and links. As we waited and chatted, we saw The Original Pancake House specialties come out of the kitchen, the Dutch Baby and the Apple Pancake. The Dutch Baby appears to be a sweet souffle that deflates when you put a fork into it. The Apple Pancake looks like a huge apple fritter donut.

Our orders finally came out. The strawberry pancakes were a collection of 8 smaller pancakes, arranged in a circular overlapping pattern with plenty of strawberries and whipped cream on top. My friend said they were totally delicious. The eggs benedict came out with four potato pancakes, and were pretty good. My friend said the only thing she would have liked were gooier egg yolks, but that's her personal preference. My eggs and sausage came out over easy and I gobbled them up rather quickly.

Our bill came out to about $41 for two coffees, one large orange juice, eggs benedict, side of bacon, strawberry pancakes, eggs and links, including tax and tip. The food is pricier than at most other breakfast restaurants, but it's worth the difference.

Duke’s is a higher end small chain restaurant originally from Hawaii, serving American cuisine with a Hawaiian flair. Duke’s is located next to the pier in Huntington Beach at the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and the dead end of Main Street. While we waited, we went over to the pier and people watched. After a 40 minute wait, we were seated at a nice table with a view of the beach. There is a restaurant called Chimayo located on the floor under Duke’s. We didn’t wander there, but maybe sometime in the future we will.

Duke’s décor is Hawaiian, with lots of wooden construction and plenty of tropical plants in the lobby. There is also a balcony section outside on the beach side. The servers all wore Hawaiian print shirts and a girl in a Hawaiian dress made the rounds selling leis. We ordered soft drinks and were served them rather quickly, with a nice basket of warm sourdough rolls and butter. My friends chose fried calamari appetizer, the teriyaki sirloin steak, the Huli Huli chicken, and I chose the prime rib. The entrees come with garlic mashed potatoes, but anything other sides or substitutions, including a baked potato, are a la carte. The waiter who took out order memorized the whole order without writing anything down.

The fried calamari arrived quickly, and we could immediately tell it came from a box. The plate of calamari wasn’t big at all, and the pieces of calamari are obviously processed, as they look more like steak fries than squid. The flavor was pretty fair, but it was served in the cocktail sauce. I would have preferred the cocktail sauce on the side, and a side of tartar sauce too.

Our dinners came out shortly thereafter. My friend’s teriyaki sirloin came out with a grilled fresh pineapple slice and mushrooms for garnish and looked quite good. I tried some of my friend’s Huli Huli chicken breast and found it tasty, but a slight bit dry inside. My prime rib came with au jus sauce already poured all over it. I didn’t mind it that much as I did with the calamari’s sauce. The prime rib and the garlic mashed potatoes that came with it were good too. Although the prime rib was good, there wasn’t much that distinguished it from any other good prime rib I’ve had.

After clearing off our empty dinner plates, our waiter recited the desserts us and described each of them from memory. All of the dessert items sounded quite good, from the fresh key lime pie to the hula pie. Unfortunately we were all full and passed on the dessert. In total, our bill came to $69, not including tip or tax.

In summary, Duke’s is a nice upper scale restaurant to go to once in a while for the Hawaiian and beach atmosphere to people watch, as there are some nicely dressed and good looking people dining there. It’s slightly pricey, but still fairly good.

It's interesting going to Roy's one day after going to Duke's, as they are both higher-end Hawaiian themed restaurants. Roy's is located in Fashion Island in Newport Beach. It's adjacent to Flemings, and the entrance is at the opposite side of the building that houses both.

Roy's is a Hawaiian themed restaurant with more of an Asian feel than Duke's. It's definitely feels more formal too. They just happened to have a table ready for us, so there was no wait. The waitresses and servers wore Chinese style blouses, not Hawaiian shirts like they do at Duke's. We noticed quite a large number of dressed up young prom-goers dining there. Ahh...those ol'days...heh...

There were a lot of items on the menu, as well as a sushi section. (they have a sushi bar too.) Both of us ordered the Prix Fixe (Price Fixed menu) which is $33 for an appetizer, entree, and dessert. The appetizer is Roy's Hawaiian Fusion Sampler, which consists of a Shrimp on a Stick with Wasabi Cocktail Sauce, Wood Grilled Szechuan Spiced Baby Back Pork Ribs, and a Chef's special creation, which was a tasty crispy seafood potsticker. We had our choice of entrees, from Slow Braised and Charbroiled Shortribs of Beef, Hibachi Style Grilled Salmon or Macadamia Nut Crusted Mahi Mahi with Lobster Butter Sauce. I chose the shortribs and my friend chose the Mahi Mahi. We had our choice of two desserts, Roy's Melting Hot Chocolate Soufflé or Caramel Macadamia Nut Almond Tart with Vanilla Bean ice cream. We each chose one of the desserts.

A server came out and personally served us fresh rolls with butter, rather than leaving a bread basket on the table. Our appetizer came out moments later. The portions weren't large, but tasty. The shrimp on a stick was literally that with a unique sesame taste. The rib and potsticker were quite good too.

Our dinner came out, and I was very happy with my short ribs. If I ate nothing else but the short ribs, I'd still be happy. My friend noticed her Mahi Mahi was a bit raw, so she had it sent back. The Mahi Mahi was returned to her by the manager, who took great care to make sure she was happy with it, and she was.

Our dessert came out after we were done with the main course. The chocolate souffle was extremely rich, and served with raspberry sauce and vanilla bean ice cream. My caramel macadamia nut tart was good and nutty, but I did tire of it after a few bites, preferring to munch on my friend's chocolate souffle.

Our bill, with two prix fixe meals and two soft drinks, came out to $80 before tip. I'd recommend Roy's, it's a bit pricey, but still good nonetheless if you like Hawaiian/Asian fusion cuisine.

Stuart Anderson's Black Angus Steakhouse is a US West Coast steak restaurant chain. I normally don't go to Black Angus, but my friend had a gift certificate plus received a mailer coupon. We went to the closest one, which is in the Tustin Marketplace. The Tustin Marketplace is located in Orange County on Jamboree Road just one block north of Interstate 5. The Black Angus is located at the corner of Jamboree and El Camino Real on the Tustin side of the Marketplace, next to In-N-Out and Best Buy.

From what I know, Black Angus' menu has been updated, revamped, and the menu changed to re-attract customers. The inside has been changed with an updated look with neon lights and a modern appearance. When I went to Black Angus years ago, all of the restaurants had heavy logs incorporated into the design, and lots of 1970s style decor. Obviously that has been changed to attract a younger crowd.

We went on a Friday, so there were quite a few people waiting in the restaurant lobby. We were seated after a 15 minute wait. We were seated in a comfortable booth, no more heavy cloth seat backs, but nice cushy vinyl (I'm sure they weren't leather) booths.

Our server greeted us quickly after we took our seats and went off with our drink orders. We both ordered soft drinks. The menu is very typical of a chain steakhouse.

Since we had the local mailer coupon, which advertised a steak dinner for two with appetizer and dessert. The choices were two sirloin dinners for $34, two prime rib for $36, or two filet mignon for $38. We chose the prime rib dinner for two.

Our waiter brought us the warm bread and butter moments later. It's a loaf of whole grain bread with oats on top.

Our "wagon wheel" appetizer and our salads came out. It consists of buffalo strips and accompanying garnish, potato skins, shrimp cocktail, fried zucchini. The salads were both garden salads, and pretty basic, but tasted as expected and were good.

Our prime rib dinners came out. We both ordered ours medium rare, and they came out correctly. There was a small metal ramekin with au jus sauce and another with horseradish. In trying to stay health conscious (ahem...yeah right...) we both ordered the vegetable medley as a side dish. That consisted of zuchini, squash, brocoli, and baby carrots. The dinner tasted pretty good.

Our dessert was the chocolate lava cake. It's a chocolate cake with fudge in the center, and topped with chocolate shavings and ice cream. It's a very rich cake.

Our total bill with the packaged $36 coupon meal and two soft drinks came out to $41.48 with tax. My friend had a $25 gift card, so we paid and left quite satisfied.

Stuart Anderson's Black Angus is a fairly good steakhouse for a chain. You get good bang for your buck here. Normally this would cost 50-70% more elsewhere. I'd recommend it.

Gulliver's is an 18th-century English restaurant specializing in prime rib. It's located directly across from the front of John Wayne Airport in Orange County. I hadn't been to Gulliver's before and I had a gift certificate, so I decided to treat a friend to a nice lunch there. It's located off MacArthur and the 405 freeway behind El Torito and near the International House of Pancakes.

We were seated rather quickly, since we arrived just as they opened up at 11:30am for lunch. Our waitress seated us at a booth. The booths are made of dark wood with a padded seat. The waitress moved the table a bit diagonally for us to slide into the booth. As we looked around the restaurant, it suddenly dawned on me that the name referred to Gulliver of Jonathan Swift's book, Gulliver's Travels. It was quite dimly lit in the restaurant, and had old sailing ship models and other Olde English paraphernalia handing on the walls. We even saw a picture of Gulliver being tied down by the Liliputians. All of the waitresses were dressed up as Olde English barmaids too.

The lunch menu featured steaks, sandwiches, salads, and seafood. It was somewhat pricey, as a sandwich went for around $10 while a lunch steak goes for $15. I ordered the chicken cordon bleu lunch special while my friend ordered the filet medallions.

A basket of warm sourdough bread and cheesy bread sticks came out along with a ramekin of butter. The sourdough bread was good, but the cheesy bread sticks were actually a bit dry and tasteless.

Our orders came out rather quickly. My friend's filet medallions looked quite good, and there were three medallions of filet mignon, along with sauce, veggies, and mashed potatoes. My chicken cordon bleu came looked good, with white sauce, veggies, and mashed potatoes. (I tried taking photos, but the lighting was quite dim and I was borrowing a camera and didn't figure out how to set the flash, sorry.)

The portions were quite large and the food tasted great! I tried my friend's filet medallions and was surprised at how tender they were.

By the time we were done, the restaurant was almost completely full. I would say 90% of the customers were business diners, as some had out papers and were discussing work matters while waiting for their lunches.

Due to my own personal tastes, I didn't care for the hard wooden backs of the booth seating, nor the dark environment. It was slightly pricey, but you get what you pay for. Our bill came out to $40.21 with two lunches, a coffee, salad, and soft drink. Slightly pricey for lunch, but the portions were fairly large. The food and service were good.

Millie's is a small local chain restaurant and bakery restaurants. It's similar in type to Coco's and Carrows and Hof's Hut. There are two in Orange County, one in Anaheim and the other in Brea. I went with two friends to the Brea location for dinner. The Brea Millie's is at the intersection of Imperial and Randolph, just across from the Brea Mall. This was my first time at Millie's.

We arrived and were seated immediately. The restaurant wasn't full during dinner, probably because the nearby Brea Mall has all sorts of other restaurants available. The decor and layout at Millie's is similar to a coffee shop like Denny's, no frills and quite conservative. The front counter display has all sorts of delicious looking strawberry pies and other baked goods.

Our waiter brought us waters and took our drink orders. The menu has the standard coffee shop fare such as breakfast, sandwiches, burgers, salads, and typical dinner entrees such as meatloaf and spaghetti and meatballs.

Our waiter returned and took our orders. I ordered the triple decker club sandwich and substituted fries for onion rings for a few cents more. My friend Andrew ordered the macaroni and cheese dinner, which comes with a salad, and he chose Caesar. My other friend Thomas ordered the albacore tuna melt with fries. Our waiter asked if we wanted an appetizer and suggested the spinach artichoke dip. That sounded good and we ordered the spinach artichoke dip.

All three of us got busy in a conversation and realized the spinach artichoke dip was never brought out. We saw our waiter come to our table with our dinner entrees and Andrew's salad. We asked the waiter about the dip, and he admitted he forgot to place the order. He apologized and asked us if we still wanted it. We told him we didn't, since dinner was already before us. Our waiter said he would provide us with a free dessert if we wished. We told him we might take him up on the free dessert.

Our dinners looked pretty good. Thomas enjoyed his albacore tuna melt. I liked my triple decker club sandwich. Andrew liked his Caesar salad. He said his macaroni and cheese was a bit bland and the sauce was a tad bit watery. During dinner, the restaurant manager came out to check on us and to apologize for forgetting the appetizer and told us we could have whatever dessert we would like when we were ready.

We finished dinner and decided on the Triple Layer Ghirardelli Chocolate Cake. The waiter brought our cake with a scoop of ice-cream. The cake was pretty good.

Overall, the food was less than fair, two out of three tasted as they should. The macaroni and cheese wasn't so good. The service wasn't terrible, the waiter simply forgot to order our appetizer, so we got a free dessert out of that incident. But I'm not planning on returning soon. Total bill was $36 with tax and tip.

Islands is a casual sit-down burger chain with a Hawaiian/surfer theme. I went with three friends to the location in Fullerton by Amerige Heights. There are many other locations in and around Orange County, including Irvine, Foothill Ranch, Mission Viejo, Huntington Beach, Orange, Anaheim Hills, and more.

We were seated fairly quickly. The decor attempts to simulate a hut made of thatch and bamboo, with surfboards and other surf related memorabilia around. Even the employees are all dressed in Hawaiian print shirts! Our table was fashioned to resemble a surfboard. The atmosphere is light and lively and has a generally happy feel to it.

The menus are tucked in the corner of the table. The menu basically has burgers, chicken sandwiches, salads, appetizers, and other inexpensive fare. Most all of the items are under $10 each. My friends ordered the North Shore fish tacos (Three flour tortillas stuffed with spicy chicken, cheddar, lettuce, and tomatoes with salsa on the side,) a Sandpiper grilled chicken sandwich with choice of wholewheat bun (comes with sauteed mushrooms, lettuce, tomato, swiss, and mayo,) and I ordered the Big Wave burger with bacon (burger with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, and mustard.) We also ordered a side of island fries (basically french fries.)

Our orders came out within 10 minutes. They all looked good and tasted even better. Sometimes there's nothing like sinking your teeth into a good burger, and Islands definitely fulfilled that desire. The fries were nice and crisp too. We were all quite happy during and after our meal.

Our waitress asked if we wanted dessert, and we chose the New York Style Cheesecake and Kona Pie (Mocha almond fudge ice-cream and cookie crust topped with chocolate fudge, roasted almonds, and whipped cream) The Kona Pie is basically the same as a Mud Pie. The desserts came out looking totally delectable (see the pictures, you'll understand.) The Kona Pie was drizzled with ribbons of chocolate sauce, and the cheesecake was topped with strawberry sauce. I sampled both and they were terrific. Being a chocolate lover, I preferred the Kona Pie, but I would have gone for either one!

After all was said and done, our total bill came out to about $45 before tip. That included the tacos and two burgers, fries, one soft drink, and two desserts. Not bad at all! I'd consider this one of my semi-regular places to visit every month or so!

Some can say that Islands is just an expensive sit down burger joint, so why go here when you can go to a drive-thru burger stand? Well, I think the quality and taste of the food at Islands justifies the cost. You do get what you pay for, and we still didn't pay that much!

Russell's Seafood Palace was a nice surprise. It's a Chinese restaurant located near John Wayne Airport (S