Jul 31

The Vox Kitchen – Fountain Valley CA

16161 Brookhurst St

Fountain Valley, CA 92708

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Located in the same shopping center as Project Poke, the Vox Kitchen serves up Asian fusion dishes to the masses with potentially long wait times. Before visiting, be sure to check on Yelp for their wait times, as you are able to check in on the app. If you were to arrive without checking in, you would check in on their Yelp tablet anyways. When we arrived, we were still early for our check in time, so we had to wait. When we were called, we were quickly seated at a table and provided with menus. We also scored a free drink by checking in on Yelp. Servers were attentive during this process as we prepared to order.

Today, we decided to order the elote (corn on the cob), house garlic noodles with rib-eye steak, and the “SALTADO” shaken fries with filet mignon. We also ordered a watermelon lemonade, which was quite refreshing but tasted more like fresh watermelon juice and came with free refills. The free drink was a lychee lemonade, which was also refreshing and came with a bunch of shredded real lychee at the bottom. The elote came first, and was very fresh and juicy. There were hints of spices and many sauces. The house garlic noodles came with plenty of garlic, and the medium-rare rib-eye added some delicious protein to the dish. Each piece of beef was tender and full of beefy flavor. The extra green sauce was not needed to add flavor to the meat. The shaken fries with filet mignon came with a side of rice and optional egg on top. The beef here was not as tender, but was still very flavorful, which went well with the eggs and rice. The fries were tasty, but at this point, we were pretty full.

Overall, the Vox Kitchen serves up some innovative menu items including some delicious garlic noodles. Service was very good at the beginning of the service, but there was a decline after we received all of our food. Prices lean towards the higher side for the entrees, but you are getting high quality food with fairly large portion sizes. If you are in Fountain Valley and want to eat something tasty, you cannot really go wrong with the Vox Kitchen.

Jul 28

Project Poke – Fountain Valley CA

16051 Brookhurst St C

Fountain Valley, CA 92708

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Located in a busy shopping center in Fountain Valley, Project Poke serves up various types of poke in bowls or rolled in a burrito. Since we were not in the mood for poke, we opted for a chicken katsu burrito and some special spam fries. After placing our order and making payment, we had a short wait before our food was ready. There is limited seating inside, and some limited seating outside. The chicken katsu burrito was pretty big and also contained veggies, egg, and jalapenos. The burrito itself had many ingredients, but even with the katsu sauce inside, the burrito was not very flavorful. The spam fries were quite interesting and went well with various dipping sauces provided, but after eating a few pieces, the saltiness of the spam starts to get to you. Overall, Project Poke serves up a nice variety items with rotating specials. Prices are reasonable and the staff are nice, but the flavors of the items we tried we quite mediocre. If you are feeling like a burrito or want something different, then Project Poke may fit that criteria.

Jul 24

Butaton Japanese Ramen – Garden Grove CA

10130 Garden Grove Blvd Ste 107

Garden Grove, CA 92844

Rating: ★★★★½ 

Located right off of Garden Grove Boulevard near the Korean district, Butaton Japanese Ramen serves up fresh Japanese ramen to noodle lovers. As we entered the fairly busy restaurant, we were seated quickly by a server and provided with waters. After a quick review of the menu, we were ready to order.

Today, we decided to order the Kurobuta sausage appetizer, spicy miso ramen, tonkotsu ramen, extra noodles, and extra premium pork.  The Kurobuta sausage was nice and savory, which went well with the provided dipping sauce and side salad. Each bite was tasty and crunchy. The spicy miso ramen had a good amount of kick, especially when you add more pepper flakes. The miso flavor was prevalent and delicious. The tonkotsu ramen was also very rich and included the same tender and delicious pork slices as in the spicy miso ramen. Each piece of pork was meaty and fatty while having just amount of flavor to compliment the soup. The tonkotsu soup was very rich and you can taste the pork flavor. Both soups arrived piping hot and came with a nice boiled egg. The extra noodles were a great deal at just $1.50 for plenty of noodles. After putting it in my soup, I practically had a new bowl of ramen. The extra premium pork was a nice addition to go with the additional noodles. Some pieces of meat were leaner and had a lot more meat than fat.

Overall, Butaton did an amazing job on their ramen and has great soup bases. Service was on point, and prices are reasonable, especially for the extra noodles and meat. If you happen to be in the are and have a craving for ramen, then you cannot go wrong with Butaton.

Jul 21

Giovanni’s Old World New York Pizzeria

6200 Folsom Blvd

Sacramento, CA 95819

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Located off of Folsom Boulevard near Sacramento State University, Giovanni’s serves up an excellent lunch special for those interested in a quick lunch.  For $7.99, you get a choice of either two slices and a drink or one slice with a side salad and a drink. There are a list of available slices next to the register, and you can also choose a Sicilian square instead of a slice, which are displayed in a case to the right of the register. On this visit, I opted for a slice of pepperoni and a sausage Sicilian square. The cashier takes your name order and they bring the pizza to you when it’s ready. After a brief wait, the pizza was delivered on a plate. The pepperoni slice was very cheesy and had just the right amount of sauce. The crust was not overly thick and stands true to a thinner New York style slice. The Sicilian sausage slice had a much thicker crust, but was actually very airy and fluffy. The sausage tasted OK, and the square was fulfilling, but given a choice, I should have just got another regular slice since that tasted more flavorful and was larger. Overall, I would definitely recommend you visit Giovanni’s for lunch to get their lunch special. Service was great and the food was pretty good.

Jul 17

Main Street Bagel – San Jose CA

1708 Oakland Rd #600

San Jose, CA 95131

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Located in the busy H-Mart shopping center off of Oakland Road and Brokaw Road in San Jose, Main Street Bagel serves up a large variety of tasty bagels and sandwich options. On this visit, we decided to order some breakfast bagels. We ordered the egg, cheese, and sausage on a scored garlic bagel; and the egg, bacon, avocado, tomato, and cheese on a cheese bagel. After placing our bagel order, we went to the register to pay for the two bagels and ordered a cappuccino. After a short wait, our bagels and coffee were ready. The egg, cheese and sausage bagel tasted OK, but the bagel itself was the real flavor provider in the meal. The egg was very fluffy, but it was disappointing to see the eggs being cooked in a microwave. The egg, bacon, avocado, tomato, and cheese was also tasty on the cheese bagel, with the bacon providing most of the flavor, but this bagel sandwich was extremely hard to hold due to the number of toppings included. The avocado and cheese kept falling out. The inclusion of the tomato and avocado made the bagel seem healthier than it was. The cappuccino tasted a bit bitter, so I had to add a bunch of sugar and chocolate to sweeten it up, and pretty much made a mocha out of it. Overall, Main Street Bagel serves up tasty bagels. The breakfast bagels are OK, but it would be nice to have fresh eggs on the griddle. Service is OK here, and prices are reasonable. If you want to avoid going to large chain bagel shops, then Main Street Bagel would be the way to go for a good bagel.

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