Mar 13

Bengal Barbecue – Anaheim, CA

Disneyland Park

1313 S. Harbor Blvd.

Anaheim, CA 92802

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 

Located in Adventureland, Bengal Barbecue flavors waft in the breeze as you go towards the Indiana Jones ride. Since the line was short, we decided to give this popular spot a try. We decided to order the Banyan Beef Skewer, Bengal Beef Skewer. and Safari Skewer. The Banyan Beef Skewer, has a light-brown coat of spicy sauce that reminded me more of funky Cajun taste that just wasn’t very tasty. The meat was not tender, and the sauce was mild and unpleasant.  The Bengal Beef Skewer had a much tastier sweet glaze with the same non-tender beef. Although the glaze tasted better, each bite was salty and overly savory. The highlight of the meal was actually the Safari Skewer, which is bacon-wrapped asparagus. The bacon was crispy and asparagus was tender. Each bite was flavorful and delicious.

Overall, as with most food in Disneyland, the food is overpriced and overrated. If it was not for the delicious bacon-wrapped asparagus, I would have given only 1 star to this establishment. If you are going to give Bengal Barbecue a try, do yourself a favor and try their Safari Skewer. AP discounts are accepted.

Mar 09

Pho 79 Restaurant – Garden Grove, CA

9941 Hazard Ave

Garden Grove, CA 92844

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Located in Little Saigon in Garden Grove, CA, Pho 79 serves up authentic Vietnamese Pho along with other Vietnamese dishes. Accessing the parking lot for this restaurant requires you to go over a pothole-filled drive to reach the rear parking lot. After we entered, a server promptly seated us and took our drink order. A short while later, he returned with a tablet to take our order. This facility is cash only.

Today, we decided to order the pork vermicelli dry noodle and the rare steak pho. The dry noodle came in a nice presentation with each component of the dish visible in separate regions of the bowl. They also included bean sprouts and cabbage under the noodle. Once mixed with the provided sauce, you taste a good balance of meat to noodle to vegetable. Unfortunately, the dish did taste different from other restaurants we tried mostly due to the large amount of fried garlic in the dish. The pho came with an ample amount of rare tender steak. I opted not to use the provided vegetables and sprouts because they did not look fresh. The broth is light, yet extremely savory. I can sense excessive MSG usage in this dish. The broth does have body and seems to have been created from lots of boiling beef. The noodles were standard and went well with the thinly-sliced beef. I did wish that the both was less savory and have more flavor instead.

Overall, Pho 79 serves up decent food, but falls short or tastes very different from other Vietnamese restaurants. Even with all the Zagat plaques on the wall, I cannot find a good reason to give a glowing review for this place. If you want a good deal on the food and be provided with great portion sizes, then Pho 79 will fit the bill, but I am sure there are other places in the area that can do better.

Mar 06

T4 Tea for U

4660 Natomas Blvd #120

Sacramento, CA 95835

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

A brand new tea/boba shop opened in North Natomas in the Raleys shopping center. T4 focuses their menu on tea-based drinks along with some other so-called Taiwan Classics. As we entered, the shop, there were quite a few people at the various tables chatting or playing provided board games. We approached the ordering counter where plenty of staff were working behind preparing orders.

Today, we decided to order the honey peach royal tea and the lychee black tea with aloe. The honey peach royal tea tasted delicious. Each sip contained a refreshing honey flavor with peach undertones and was mildly sweet. The lychee black tea with aloe was sweeter than the honey peach royal tea, buy tasted a lot more fruity. The aloe chunks took in a lot of the lychee flavor and added to the deliciousness of the drink.

Overall, T4 serves up fresh drinks at reasonable prices. Service was great, but they ran out of stamp cards, so the cashier just stamped the receipt. In addition to the drinks, T4 serves up various snack items that we also want to try on a return trip. If you are in Natomas and want to try a refreshing tea spot, T4 would be a wise choice.

Mar 02

Tako Korean BBQ

3030 T St

Sacramento, CA 95816

Rating: ★½☆☆☆ 

Located on the corner of T street and Alhambra, Tako Korean BBQ serves up Korean-Mexican fusion in a car repair shop environment. When we entered the restaurant, we saw seating on both the inside and outside of the building. Large TV screens are mounted above the front of the restaurant displaying the variety of Korean-Mexican menu choices available to order. The restaurant was fairly busy and many tables were already in use.

Today, we decided to order three tacos with bulgogi, pulled pork, and dae ji bulgogi (spicy pork bulgogi); a bao; and a bulgogi burrito. The tray arrived with all of our food on it, so we decided to try out the bao first. The bao comes with a large chunk of pork belly in a traditional bun. The pork itself was pretty flavorless, but was not overly fatty. The sauce did not add much flavor, but the cilantro did make it more refreshing. The three tacos came in one large tray, but it was pretty hard to remove each taco. The bulgogi didn’t taste really fresh, and the beef itself did not taste that flavorful. The pulled pork was very tender and the BBQ sauce went well with the taco. The spicy pork bulgogi did not taste good at all. The meat did not taste fresh and the sauce tasted like someone dumped in way too much red bean paste. I did like how they were generous on the meat portion sizes, but the flavors were not all there. The bulgogi burrito tasted a bit bland at first, but then just didn’t taste good at all anymore. Just like the taco, the beef did not taste fresh, and the combination of rice, tortilla, old beef, and sour cream just did not mix. I ended up opening up the burrito to pick at the meat and rice.

Overall, Tako Korean BBQ uses an interesting and duplicated concept, but the flavor and quality was not there. I looked behind the counter and saw a large wok-like pan filled to the brim with red sauce and pork. This is by no means Korean BBQ and explains why each piece of meat lacked any good flavor or texture. On the prep counter, I also saw a stainless steel bowl of prepared bulgogi covered in shrink-wrap. Prices were high for the quality of food received, but do accurately represent the quantity of food received. Given another chance, I would not be back to try out anything else on their menu.

Feb 28

Noodles & Company

7405 Laguna Blvd #170

Elk Grove, CA 95758

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

Unsure about what to eat, we ventured to Noodles & Company due to their vast selection of noodle dishes. We decided to visit their Elk Grove location inside the Target shopping center. As you enter, a large menu is visible on the wall to the left as you walk towards the cashier. Plenty of tables were available and a Coca Cola Freestyle machine is available for tasting.

Today, we decided to order the Thai hot pot, steak stroganoff, and Korean meatballs. The Thai hot pot was presented very beautifully and colorfully, but the portion size was a bit small. There was plenty of spinach and not much noodle. The soup was very light, but not spicy. The ingredients including the meat were all very fresh and tasty. The provided bread was very hard, but was seasoned with some spices. The steak stroganoff came with plenty of pasta and pieces of tender steak mixed with a pesto-like sauce and topped with Parmesan cheese. Each piece of steak tasted amazing and the pasta tasted fresh. The whole dish came together well. The Korean meatballs was very tender and juicy, but the sauce was extremely salty. Unfortunately, each piece of meatball was drenched in the sauce, so you kind of need to bear with it while drinking soda or water. The sauce was savory and reminded me of teriyaki sauce, but the saltiness really overpowers everything.

Overall, Noodles & Company serves up a large variety of pasta dishes to suit many tastes. Prices are a bit high, but do represent the quality of food received even if portions are small. Most of the dishes tasted great, except for the extremely salty meatballs. The convenience of the variety of options make Noodles & Company a decent option to grab something tasty to eat. I would say that I would come back to try out more menu items, but I would avoid the meatballs.

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