jschyun

For lots of diff dishes, but mediocre service, try Broda.

Green Papaya has changed hands and names. I forget the name, and I haven't tried it.

You know what's interesting is I've seen people do it both ways. Either squirt sauces in, or put sauces in the little saucer and swab meat in it, leaving soup pristine. I admit I was kind of relieved to see Andrea's post because for once it validated the style I liked. I've always thought that those sauces ruined the taste of really good pho broth.

There are probably a zillion different answers to these questions.

Pan fried chicken is the kind that you have about and inch or two of grease in a cast iron pan, and you have to turn over, not the kind that you deep fry in a fryer. I think he even describes it somewhere.

fifi, that does sound really cool. However, I have spent way too much time babying those damn seedlings, and I saw papermart's site and said "Hallelujah!" They're only 50 cents a bag! And I need a lot. I got the black cherry tom seeds in trade, but you can get black cherry from some reputable mail order sites. All the good stuff is mail order, except maybe those ReneesGarden seeds. I like those. Black tomatoes I'm looking forward to my favorite, SunGold tomatoes. These are orange cherry tomatoes that are the sweetest ever. They're pretty commonplace to find as plants in the bigger stores now. This year, I'm growing some interesting varieties and saving seed, so perhaps I'll be sharing some on egullet come fall, if there's interest. I usually share them on the gardening forums.

Actually, I'm also growing out a cherry tomato called "Black Cherry". You can get green cherry tomatoes too. The heirloom craze has left us with all manner of weird looking tomatoes. There's even a red and yellow striped one called "Roman Candle" if I remember correctly. I basically grow for quick tomato sauces, eat out of hand, and such. I know the organza bag thing is over the top, but last year, out of 14 plants I got nothing. Zilch. Nada. Rats took it all.

Wow, very nice site, Andrea. Over the years, I have eaten a lot of pho in various areas of CA, a lot in Westminster, L.A. and the Bay Area, and to be honest, I have never seen anything but jalapenos. Would you know of a place in say, the U.S. that serves Thai bird peppers? I grow Thai chilies, so I suppose I could bring my own, but I'm still interested in knowing where such a place might exist, and why I never found out about it. I agree that a good pho broth is so wonderful and rich, it doesn't need anything. But a bad, thin, tasteless pho broth needs everything you can throw at it. I've had some bad pho, particulary in the all night Korean pho joints in L.A. But at certain really good places, I used to do tastings of pho without any meat in it, to judge how good the broth was, for myself. I have to say, Vietnamese sure do know how to make a good beef broth. --correction, I am growing a different variety, not the bird chili. my bad. I should get some seed!

Rich Kane did a review on Chick-fil-A in OC Weekly this week Chick-fil-A Review He didn't seem to like it as much as I did, but I thought it was funny.

I'm seriously thinking of using organza bags to protect my big tomatoes. Also, I bought a lot of row cover to basically swath all my cherry tomato plants. Yeah, I could just buy a pint of tomatoes at the store, but this is so much more fun somehow. I'm growing some white cherry tomatoes (snow something) and I will get to eat some if it kills me (whereupon someone will pop cherry tomato in my slack, cold mouth).

there's one in Westminster of course. I don't know about any in l.a. proper. --I prefer fresh coconut juice to the canned stuff, but only when I'm in a restaurant. At the market I buy the canned stuff all the time. I really like it when it's served in a coconut, like at one pho place in Westminster (forgot the name) but that's just a gimmick. --I'm sorry there isn't one in Westminster. It's Bale Sandwiches, not Ba-Le. I'll ask if they're related.

Wow, thanks FoodZealot! I have never seen Oysters Rockefeller with mozzarella cheese. --oysters Rockefeller is supposed to have a green (usually spinach) sauce. I hope it's not leftovers from the creamed spinach! Sometimes, you also get some white sauce as well, but I think classically, it's a green sauce and I think originally might have been another green not spinach.

After passing a certification test, I treated myself to a SunCherry Extra Sweet cherry tomato plant and put it in my garden along with a big stake and lots of compost. 2 days later, leaves are all stripped. Damn rodents! AAAGGGHH! Grrr! luckily, I have 7 more tomato plants. This time I'm going to cover them with a tent of row cover. I have dreams of cherry tomatoes in every color. Red, orange, white, black cherries. My dream is starting to piss me off. Nothing touches the turnips though. I have 2 heirloom varieties growing: Golden Ball and White Egg. Not one leaf has been nibbled, while whole tracts of beets, carrots and lettuce were mobbed before I had the sense to swath everything row cover. I also have some squash started in the garden which is also doing well under row cover. Starting cukes and some melons now.

You can drive down the Pacific Coast Highway (preferably on a sunny day with the top down) and stop by the Date Shack, which I think is between Newport and Laguna, but I forget. On the way down from Newport, you'll pass by Crystal Cove, where Beaches was filmed long ago (ooh ahh). I'm sure other things have been filmed too. You might see some little bungalows close to the water, or not, I think they've been kicked out. Pac Coast Highway is a really nice drive on a sunny day. You definitely want a lot of shots of you on the beach, preferably smiling and in shorts. I checked the weather and unfortunately, it's going to be partially cloudy next week for the most part. Oh well. What kind of seafood are you interested in? I think Laguna has better views, somehow the restaurants there have the view thing down. If you want a dining partner for some lunches, Newport Beach is right next to me. Maison Rustique and others might be in the area as well. Of course, sometimes solitude is the best way to appreciate that lush view. On the other hand, you need someone to take pics.

Yes, this thread has been done. EDIT by JHP: Yes, and I've merged it into this one. --crap, someone beat me to it, missed that. I miss David Rosengarten and the Two Fat Ladies.

Apparently, the Irvine location is the biggest in CA, according to the countergal at least. My chicken nuggets were small, but fresh from the fryer, all white meat with a crunchy coating that stuck to the chicken and didn't fall off. My lemon meringue pie was pretty damn good, sweet, yet lemony, with a decent meringue that wasn't weeping or anything. My fries were stale, but it was early in the morning, so maybe people just don't order fries at that hour. They usually don't serve chicken sandwiches either, but they let us do it anyway. --Now that I know about them being in CA, I'll try to go to the various locations and see how the food compares. I'm all over the place anyway.

Was the highfalutin place Las Brisas? Great view, I've never really gone there for the food, but yeah there's seafood and it's Mexican. Did I mention great view? A lot of people have their wedding receptions here. You can see the entire coastline, and it's absolutely a great place to take a pic for use in bragging to friends at home. --it's not so expensive at lunch, and the parking is not so bad. The parking lot is a steep incline from the street, so be careful.

Hehe, yes, come back to the dark side...

Yeah, that seems to be the consensus opinion.

Well, I just had a gander at the less-than-a-month old Chick-fil-a outlet here in Irvine, CA and I was impressed and scared at the possibility of yet another chain crowding the landscape. They also have one in Chino Hills, and another somewhere in CA, I forget, maybe Corona? They're planning 2 in San Diego, and a bunch of other places in the Southland. I forgot to ask about Northern CA. Chick-fil-A I have to say, I like their lemon meringue pie, esp for $1.50 a slice. The Irvine branch had 17 4 seater booths, and 19 4 seater tables, so it's a big restaurant. Plus they have alittle junge gym thingie for kids. It's times like these that make me realize I need a digital camera. I should ahve gotten the sandwich, but I had a small appetite this morning and only got nuggets, fries and a drink. I'll go there a couple times more and tell you what I think. Maybe I'll even go to the Encino one. Everyone was exceptionally friendly, almost too friendly. "Hi, welcome to Chick-fil-a! It will be my pleasure to serve you today!" It took a couple seconds for me to react to this, but then I remembered something or other about Southern hospitality and then had no problems. Anyhow, FYI.

There's a place in Vancouver you can get this also. I also had pickle ice cream ( better than I thought), there was gorgonzola and pear, and curry.

You'd travel for a burger? That's dedication. I myself only travel for dim sum, and that's only on frequent flier miles.

I have to agree with Stupid_American. Sometimes the Chowhound crowd does hit though. Esp if it's a well known, long term establishment. They got it right with Inchon Won in Garden Grove, however, now that it has new management, maybe it won't be as good as it used to be. They got it right with China Garden in Irvine, and even mentioned the egg custard tarts, which surprised the hell out of me. However, I wouldn't post on Chowhound, because I hate it when the management is a pain in the ass about stuff like "rules". Greasy spoon diner dives rule!

Me too!

I second Han's rec of Lee's Sandwiches, a large chain growing by the minute, but still some decent sandwiches. Good for a beginner. Also Dynasty Mall, I keep hearing about. Recently, my friend's co-worker, who is Vietnamese, said this is the best place for fish, I forget the restaurant but probably the one Han mentioned.