Taps Meal Deal

A friend did me a huge favor, so I offered to take him out to dinner, and he chose Taps. So off we went. The pictures didn't turn out too well because the place was dimly lit. You can either sit in the main dining area, the oyster bar, or the bar area. We chose the bar.


Warm, crusty sourdough bread with some olive oil/balsamic vinegar came out quickly


as did my order of liquid bread, the Porter.


I had seen them advertising their 3 course meal for 25 buckeroos and decided to go for that.


For my appetizer, I chose seafood ceviche that came with some thin tortilla chips. It had pieces of fish, shrimp, scallops. I didn't like it too much because it was too sweet. I prefer plain lime...no ketchup please.


My friend ordered the Seafood on Ice, which came with two crab legs, two shrimp, and two oysters? But they actually hooked him up with another crab leg.


Although it's a seafood place, I had come from the gym and wanted a , so I ordered their petite New York steak Oscar style, which I found out was asparagus, crab cakes and bearnaise sauce topped on the steak. I didn't like it too much because it ended up being way too heavy and overpowered the steak. I ordered it medium rare, and it came out a little bit more cooked than I would have liked it to be. . It was served with a generous portion of mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables (squash, zucchini, carrots, green beans).


The biggest surprise of the meal was that the deal came w/ a 10 oz of their signature cream ale. Winna! If I had only read the fine print...I wouldn't have ordered that porter! Nah, I still would have =)


Creme brulee topped with some strawberries and garnished with mint. Damn, did I choose the wrong dessert to go with such a heavy meal. By the time I was done with this, I was bursting at the seams. I let out a groan of content to the dismay of our neighbors, loosened my belt, and somehow carried myself out of there.

Even though we were at the bar area, our service was attentive, and everything came out in a nice and orderly fashion. The food may not have wowed me(at least what I ordered), but I still thought it was a pretty good deal for everything we got.

Taps Fish House & Brewery
101 E Imperial Hwy
Brea, CA 92821

*A note about parking. While they do offer valet parking, I like to park behind the Yardhouse or the parking structure next to the movie theatres a couple blocks down.

Liked what you saw and read and want more? Read here for apast visit in which I puke my guts out after a night of oysters and good old fashioned debauchery.

Can't believe it's going to be Thanksgiving soon. Going to bake a pie today as a test run =) Have a nice and peaceful Sunday!

gimme some soup

Sweet Jeebus. 1/3 way into November already and hot dog! 5 more weeks of school! Apologies to my few readers for the lack of updates. Along with working more hours because money makes the world go round, the start of the NBA season aka fantasy madness has put my productivity/motivation for the blog straight in the toliet. Go Clippers! That's right. I said it.

The semi cold weather (this is socal after all) has gotten me thinking about those summer nights. One particular night, leaving the Anthill's Pub drunk and hungry, I desperately wanted something else besides the usual fried and heavy bar food. My cousin suggested Gen Grill, a favorite past high school hangout of his that was right across campus. So off we went.


Sukiyaki Bowl around 7 or 8 bucks. I know this isn't really soup, but it sure hit the spot. Noodles, large blocks of tofu, thinly sliced beef, and some random bits of spinach(?) over a generous bed of rice drowning in a sweet, warm broth/sauce. I wished that they had given me a bit more than the sad thin layer of beef that meakly covered large amount of rice given. I always do appreciate extra rice, but not at the expense of the other goodies on my plate.

4143 Campus Dr
Suite C-196
Irvine, CA 92612

We wanted some dessert afterwards, so on the suggestion of Elmo Monster, we checked out Strickland's, which specializes in frozen custard. Having frozen custard is rare, and I can't really think of a place that offers it. The last (and possibly only) time I remember having it was about 2 years ago in Philly.

When we went, we were taken aback that they only four flavors were being offered: vanilla, chocolate, mocha, and ? I forget. We were sad as we were hoping for some more exciting and interesting offerings.

I also saw that they offered pineapple and strawberry (?!!) Dole Whip. I remember some of my friends who all had Disneyland Passes would go on some days just to get this treat at the stand near Adventure Land (I think...wherever the Jungle Cruise is located). I opted for the good ol pineapple.

A beautiful tower of the soft serve, which I had no problem devouring.

Read about Paestry's experience with the whip, in which she one ups me by getting the float at Dland.

On a partially related note, I finally found out what "ghost riding the whip" means. Hilarious.

4523 Campus Dr.
Irvine, CA 92612

Been craving some floats and ice cream lately, so time to look around the area for some good eats. Hope you had a good weekend!

Revisit to Foo Foo Tei

One of the many posts that is long overdue. A couple months back I went back to Foo Foo Tei in Hacienda to get a bowl of ramen before class.


The usual suspects.


Nasu miso to start. It was a little too salty for me. I'm no expert though on this dish, only having it at one other place, which made it more on the sweet side. Anyone have a recipe for this?


Yasai Shio Ramen with Chasu. Lots of veggies in a good sized bowl. Personally, I am a miso fan, but I decided to take a risk and to go for the shio. I didn't like the consistency of the broth because it was kinda thick. If you ever cooked those non freeze dried / "fresh" noodles in the soup base instead of cooking them separately, you'll know what I'm talking about. Not sure what was going on that day. While I did enjoy the taste, I still like miso better =)


Oodles of noodles.


Friend ordered the Shin Shin ramen. It was supposed to be very spicy, but he said it wasn't too bad.

I finally experienced the horrendous wait here, so it's best to come during the off hours. Service was quick and efficient despite the growing crowd.

Foo Foo Tei
15018 Clark Ave
Hacienda Heights, CA 91745

Have a nice Sunday!

K-town to J-town

Location: Los Angeles, Koreatown, The Corner Place.

Objective: To take grandpappy out for lunch.


The menu.


Banchan to the right of the gas grill: Some sweet black beans, vinegary radish and carrots, and some cool radish kimchi chilling in a light salty broth. Also some sesame oil and some scallions in a light oil dressing and lightly dusted with red pepper for the meat.


Banchan to the left of the grill: Kimchi, sprouts, some nonspicy cabbage kimchi, spicy squash, and I forget what the last dish was. It looks like ginger, but it wasn't...Overall a decent selection of sides.


The bulgogi. One thing you immediately notice is that they give you a lot of meat. We just put in one order, and this was about half of the serving. I'd say 1 order of bulgogi is good for 2-4 people, depending on how hungry you are.

*Caveat: I was a bit wary this time around when we ordered. On a past visit, I bit into a piece of meat that tasted horribly off, like it had been wallowing around on the dirty floor and then decided to jump back into the tub with the rest of its doomed brethren. It didn't happen this time, and I thank the sweet lord above for that. My cousin also said this had happened to her once. =/
Otherwise, the bulgogi was good. The meat was tender and marinated nicely with a good ratio of sweet and salty.


If you read the menu and were wondering what in the world was "Cold Noodles in Soup," it is dong chimi gooksu, a dish that Gil Mok/The Corner Place is known for. Above is the regular size. A very minimal dish made up of noodles, green onions, and a slice of tomato for garnish in a cool radish soup...the same salty brine that the white cabbage/radish kimchi, but slightly modified. It was a bit sweet, which made me wonder if they used sugar or even 7 up. I remember when I was younger and visited Korea, we visited this nengmyun place that used Chilsung Cider (think 7up/Sprite) in their broth. Some may find it plain, but I enjoyed it with the banchan and found it to be a nice remedy for the hot weather.

Service was prompt and friendly, and no real complaints besides that one time w/ the meat. My grandpa seems to like the place, and although he is a bit demanding to say the least, the staff was patient with him.


2819 James M Wood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90006

*Parking can be quite a hassle since everyone in the tiny plaza decided to each put "Parking only for ___" on a few spots in an already small parking lot. I hate that! So, if you park in the wrong spot, you may be chastised by the local parking security officer and shooed away. So far though, I've been lucky*

We also stopped by Little Tokyo to pick up some manjoo. I ended up dropping my grandpa off to get the goods while I aimlessly circled around trying to find parking.


These were freshly made and still steaming...


and filled with red beans that had been sweetened with honey.

Simple and delicious.

I never did find out where he got it, but he told me it was from a little street vendor in the plaza between 1st and 2nd. Perhaps you readers have a better idea of where it is than I do.