Review of AnQi Gourmet Bistro during OC Wine Week

This was my most anticipated outing during OC Wine Week! I couldn't wait to go! I went with my friend Rachelle and we have had really great luck picking some exceptional restaurants! AnQi offered a four course dinner each paired with a different wine or sake. The items we enjoyed were from their molecular gastronomy menu and made for a truly unique culinary experience.

The first course was a lobster summer roll that comes from their molecular gastronomy menu. It was a beautifully light and delicious tasting blend of compressed mango, vietnamese herbs, elderflower gelee and rose vapor. It came paired with Hou Hou Shu, a sparkling pink sake. I have found a new favorite sake. This was light and sweet and bubbly and paired perfectly with the lobster summer roll. From this first course, Rachelle and I knew we were in for a culinary treat!

The second course was ahi tuna tacos. The ahi tuna was mixed just the same way as a spicy tuna roll with avocado silk, asian pear, yuzu-kosho and black tobiko. The taco shell was a reconstructed wonton shell. The flavors here once again played perfectly with one another. The asian pear provided a nice crispness along with the taco shell. This was paired with a '09 P2, Schloss Wallhausen, Reisling, Nahe. The Reisling was dry and went well with the ahi tuna.

The next course was the filet mignon confit.Truly this was the highlight of the meal for me. The filet was perfectly cooked to a lovely medium and was almost as soft as butter. The flavor of the meat and the earthly flavor of the shitake mushroom on top went expertly with the savory cabbage. The wasabi tater tots were gnocchi and deep fried and just delicious.  Once again it was expertly paired with a '06 Chateau Reignac, Bordeaux Superieur. The heavy red wine was the perfect compliment to the filet.

We also ordered their famous garlic noodles on the side. The best part of this dish is in it's simplicity. The intense garlic flavor and the wonderful noodles are just perfect to enjoy by themselves. I could eat these all day.

The last course was dessert and it was a chocolate twist. It's a chocolate ganache and is well balanced with sweet corn pudding, smoked chili salt and thai basil ice cream that sits on top of a powdered version of itself. It was paired with an Alcyone Uruguyan Tannat. This soon-to-not-be-shipped to the United States port was perfectly sweet and you could taste the oak barrel that it sat in perfecting itself. A perfect drink with the dessert.

An amazing meal and the first one I have ever had in the molecular gastronomy world. Rachelle and I will be back.

I also want to thank our incredible waiter Michael for his expertise with the menu and the wines we were having. He was able to thoroughly explain every dish and wine to help us "rookies". Also, I want to thank assistant general manager Matt for stopping by and talking with us and taking us through the Molecular Mondays. We greatly appreciate it and hope to bring a group of 8 or more back to experience that tasting menu!

Click below to check out the website:
http://www.anqibistro.com/

South Coast Plaza
3333 S Bristol St
Costa Mesa, CA 92626

(714) 557-5679

Hours:

Mon-Thu, Sun 11:30 am - 10 pm

Fri-Sat 11:30 am - 11 pm

Free Cookie at Great American Cookies on 10/1

Great American Cookies is offering FREE Original Chocolate Chip Cookies on 10/1/11 from 10AM to 2 PM. This offer is good at participating locations only. Click here to find a location near you.

Review of Red Table during OC Wine Week

I returned to one of my favorite new restaurants, Red Table in Huntington Beach. This time the occasion was for OC Wine Week. I went with my friends Stephanie and Julie and we had a wonderful time!

Sorry for the dark photo of the Wine Week menu! It was $40 for three courses. You could choose from three different appetizers, three different entrees and two different desserts. There was a wine pairing for each course. The first two courses had two wines to choose from and the dessert course had one wine paired with it.

For our first course, Julie and I both went with the ahi tuna poke and Stephanie went with the Triple Dip.
I can't get over how much I love this dish! The ahi tuna poke is fresh and has a slight kick to it and goes fantastic with the warm crispy eggplant chips! I paired it with a Taft Street Pinot Noir. It had a nice balance and finish to it. It went well with the appetizer! Sorry there is no picture of Stephanie's appetizer which was hummus, roasted red pepper and avocado mash to spread on grilled flatbread. It was delicious!

For my entree I went with the salmon a la plancha. It was grilled and served with a incredible mustard vinaigrette, asparagus, fingerling potatoes and thinly sliced radishes. Forget the spaghetti and giant meatball that I had last time, I will have this dish over and over again. The salmon was perfectly grilled and lightly seasoned. The asparagus was crisp, just the way I like it. I paired it with a Williamette Valley Reisling. It was smooth with a nice sweet taste.

For dessert I went with my favorite, the Red Table Cupcake! The cake in the cup comes out nice and warm and topped with a delicious sweet vanilla bean cream cheese frosting! It was expertly paired with a Taylor 10 Year Tawny. I am a huge fan of port and this combined with the cake was just a little bit of heaven!

Another great meal at one of my favorite new restaurants! Thank you for participating in OC Wine Week! I think you made fans for life!

Click on the link below to check out the website:
http://redtablerestaurants.com

Red Table

16821 Algonquin St
Huntington Beach, CA 92649

(714) 846-4700

Hours:

Mon-Thu 11 am - 10 pm

Fri-Sat 11 am - 11 pm

Review of Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles

 
One of my favorite places to always get a great meal is Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles. There are several locations in Southern California but I keep coming back to the one in Long Beach. I went to school at Long Beach State and coming here makes me feel like being at home.

I always order the same thing, the Herb's number 3, half a chicken and two massive waffles with tons of butter and maple syrup! The meal is so big they have to serve it to me on two plates! The fried chicken is my favorite ever! It is always fresh and hot! The meat is moist and tender! The skin is not too salty but nice and crispy! Then you add some of the Red Rooster Hot Sauce on the table and that is just some of the best fried chicken ever! Then you go to the waffles that are hot, yet soft! The butter just melts instantly! They use some vanilla and cinnamon in the waffle formula I believe. Then you pour the warm maple syrup all over the waffles and it's just perfect! So, the combination of the salty fried chicken and the sweetness of the waffles is absolutely perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner!

If you have never had the combination of chicken and waffles you should definitely try it! I've been eating here for over 16 years and it is still one of my favorite places of all-time!

Click below to check out the website:
http://www.roscoeschickenandwaffles.com/

Locations:

• Hollywood 1514 N. Gower St
• West Los Angeles 5006 W. Pico Blvd
• Los Angeles 106 W. Manchester Ave
• Long Beach 730 E. Broadway Blvd
• Pasadena 830 N. Lake Ave

My Most Anticipated Video Games for the rest of 2011!

I am not a huge gamer but there are two games that I cannot wait to get my hands on! Batman: Arkham City and Uncharted 3 are the two must have games in my opinion!

Check out the teaser trailer for Batman: Arkham City:

Up next is the gameplay trailer:

This game is the sequel to one of the best selling video games of all-time Batman:Arkham Asylum! The game also holds a Guinness World Record for 'Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game Ever', with an average score of 91.67 from reviewers. Several awards were given to Arkham Asylum, including a Spike Video Game Award and the Best Game BAFTA Award.

Batman:Arkham Asylum will be available in North America October 18, 2011 for the XBOX, PS3, Wii U, Microsoft Windows and OnLive.

The second game is Uncharted 3, the latest in the Uncharted franchise!

Check out the trailer:

Here is the gameplay trailer:

Uncharted is another one of the best selling video games of all-time! Nathan Drake, the hero in the franchise is the new Indiana Jones with all of the skills and smarts to make Indy proud! The franchise is listed amongst the top critically acclaimed games ever! It is a PS3 exclusive! It is set for release November 1, 2011!

My Top Five Films (so far) in 2011!

Check out the trailers to my Top Five Films of 2011 (so far):

13 Assassins

Attack The Block:

Super 8

Tucker and Dale VS Evil

Winnie The Pooh

Review of Cham Soot Gol Korean BBQ

I was really craving Korean BBQ around midnight a few nights ago! I found a place called Cham Soot Gol Korean BBQ in Buena Park! This place is open until 130am on Fridays and Saturdays. The rest of the week they are open until midnight! This restaurant is a new favorite! There is a sister restaurant in Garden Grove but they close at 10pm every night!

They offer a full menu as well as two all-you-can-eat options! My friend and I opted for the $16.99 option! You get all the banchan, side dishes you can eat! You also get your choice of five different meat options. You can order as much of the sliced pork belly, thin sliced beef brisket, marinated spicy pork, bulgogi, and marinated chicken!

Take a look at the banchan! We made our way through two or more bowls of each banchan! You have to ask for rice but it's also included in the cost!

Here is the first order of meat! The bulgogi was tender and flavorful! Very similar to Japanese beef teriyaki in terms of flavor and texture! One of my favorite meats!

We also ordered the thin sliced beef brisket! I had my reservations since it was freeze dried like mongolian bbq but this meat cooked up fast and had a lot of taste by itself.

You also get your choice of a soup to go with your meal! You can choose from an egg pot, bean paste stew or tofu soup! I went with the tofu soup! Lots of tofu in a spicy soup base! I would gladly eat this all day long!

For dessert, there is hand scooped ice cream! You can scoop as much ice cream as you want and this is all-you-can-eat as well!

Great food, great service, great hours and low cost make this a wonderful place for Korean BBQ! I can't wait to return with more friends to take care of that late night Korean BBQ craving!

Cham Soot Gol Korean BBQ

8552 Beach Blvd
Buena Park, CA 90620

(714) 828-1363

Hours:

Mon-Thu 5 pm - 12 am

Fri 5 pm - 1:30 am

Sat 12 pm - 1:30 am

Sun 12 pm - 12 am

Summer Movies 2012!

I know it's not even Oscar Season yet but what movies are you most looking forward to next summer?

I am looking forward to Brave:

I am also looking forward the epic conclusion of Chris Nolan's Dark Knight series, The Dark Knight Rises:

And of course I am looking forward to The Avengers:

Summer 2012 is shaping up to be an epic movie going experience! More news and information to follow in the coming months!

Disney Cars AppMATes make me want an iPad2!

Check this out! what a great idea for an app! It uses the iPad screen as a virtual play mat! I hate to say it but it makes me want and iPad 2 even more now!

The Muppets Trailers!

One of my most anticipated Fall movies is The Muppets! I'm sure most if not all of you have seen the trailers but in case you haven't - here they are to check out!

The first trailer was this brilliant parody for a romantic comedy film called Green With Envy:

Then came this parody of The Hangover 2 trailer:

The next one was this parody of the Green Lantern trailer:

Then came the first full length trailer:

The latest trailer is a parody of The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo:

All of these trailers have been brilliant and truly show off the genius that is The Muppets! I hope you are looking forward to this movie as much as I am!

The new home of Sasaki Food Time!

Thanks for finding me Food Time Fans or those of you new to my site! Here you find all the latest in restaurants in the Orange County area! The latest movies and blu-rays! The latest in gaming, apps, and other tech!

This site is slowly coming online! I will still run Sasaki Food Time for the indefinite future! The email, twitter, and fan page will probably still remain open after Sasaki Food Time the blog closes to send people to Sasaki Time!

Thank you for your continued support! This is an exciting time for me and I hope you stay and encourage others to join!

DEAL: Pizza Hut: Any size pizza with any toppings for $10

For carryout only, Pizza Hut offers any size pizza with any combination of toppings for $10 each. That's the best such offer we've seen since July. This offer excludes double toppings, and an additional charge applies to Stuffed Crust Pizza and double cheese.

Click the link below to get started on your order:

http://www.pizzahut.com/

OC Wine Week 9/25-10/1

The first ever OC wine Week begins on September 25th and lasts until October 1st! This is a wonderful opportunity to experience some great menus matched with incredible wines!

I am planning to go to:
AnQi
Ra Sushi
Red Table Restaurant

Please let me know if you are interested in going with me to any of these great restaurants!

To see the complete list of restaurants click the link below:
OC Wine Week

Pogi Boy Truck: FOBuloso French Toast Burger Review!

Hey Food Time Fans! I'm back with another review of The Pogi Boy Truck!

I started with a Mexican coke! If you've never had one before, it is made with pure cane sugar and not processed sugar for a different tasting Coca-cola experience and one of my favorites!

But the real reason that I came back to The Pogi Boy Truck was for the FOBuloso French Toast Burger!

The combination of the burger, the lettuce, tomatoes, special sauce, pickles and bacon is just perfect! It also comes with a side of maple syrup to dip your burger into and man it changes the entire flavor profile! It's like breakfast for anytime of the day or night! Then you add their seasoned fries and I think I found my new favorite burger!

Thanks again for some great food you guys! Keep up the great work!

Check out The Pogi Boy Truck at their website below:
http://www.thepogiboytruck.com

Star Wars Blu-Rays will be my weekend focus!

There won't be any new Sasaki Food Time reviews or news until I get through as much of the Star Wars Blu-Rays as I can! Besides being a huge foodie I also love movies! So I'll see you in a few days! Back to my blue milk and wookie cookies!

My Review of Hawaiian Kettle Style Potato Chips

Hey Food Time Fans! Today I have an awesome snack product to share with all of you courtesy of Hawaiian Kettle Style Potato Chips! Now I love kettle style chips! I think they are far superior than plain old regular potato chips! Why do I think that? Well, kettle chips are made in smaller batches and use fewer artificial ingredients! This allows for the true flavor of the potato to really stand out! Also, the kettle process really gives the chip a distinctive crisp taste! With that being said, on to the review!

I was given two bags to review! I received both the Sweet Maui Onion and the Luau BBQ!

First, the bags are very eye catching! Second, I have a tendency to look at things that have the word "Hawaiian" in them since both of my parents are from Oahu! Call it a bias!

The first bag I opened was the Luau BBQ! These chips were perfect for me! The BBQ flavor did not overpower the chip which I loved! Also, the chip had probably the biggest kick out of any BBQ chip that I know of! I love spicy so that made it a big winner for me!

The second bag was the Sweet Maui Onion! I looked forward to eating these and I have a tendency to eat ,my favorite or what I think will be my favorite thing last! I have fond memories of my aunts cooking up Maui onions in several of my favorite dishes when we go to Oahu. The Maui onion known for it's sweetness made me a fan of onions even as a young child! These chips brought back these wonderful memories and made me feel like a kid again!

I did my best to try and savor these chips but I couldn't stop eating them!

Clearly the Sweet Maui Onion chips are my favorite but I would get the Luau BBQ chips again as well! Great flavors combined with a great crispy chip make for some of the best potato chips around! I definitely recommend them to you! Enjoy!

Click on the link below to go to their website!
 http://www.hawaiianbrandsnacks.com


Disclaimer: I received no monetary compensation for this review. I received 2 bags of Hawaiian Kettle Chips for review purposes only. All thought and opinions are 100% my own.

Review of Berkeley Dog

A suggestion sent in from reader and fan Garry Hobday! Berkeley Dog is located in the Birch Street Promenade in Brea, one of the new hot spots for foodies in Orange County! Bruxie and Farrell's will soon be opening up new locations here!

They have daily specials offered on a sandwich board out in front of their store!

My friend with their frankfurter and an order of fries! The grilled onions are extra! The frankfurter had a great snap to it! Just a great tasting hot dog!

They also have a large fixin's bar to add peppers and different mustards and such!

I went with the bacon hash dog! Crispy hash browns combined with shredded bacon on top of a hot dog sold me! If I had added an egg it would have been a perfect breakfast or anytime dish!

And I also ordered some chili cheese fries! I threw on chopped onions as well as some yellow peppers and jalapenos! Some of the best chili cheese fries ever!

A definitely return to spot to try out those alligator dogs the next time!

Berkeley Dog

215 W Birch St
Ste 2
Brea, CA 92821

(714) 257-0988

Hours:

Mon-Thu, Sun 11:30 am - 9 pm

Fri-Sat 11:30 am - 11 pm

Click on the link below to check out their website!
http://www.berkeleydogs.com/

Review of Scotties Smokehouse

Check out my latest BBQ find, Scottie's Smokehouse! The funny thing is that I've driven past this place hundreds of times without even noticing it! So my apologies to Scottie's but what a find this place is!

They have a pretty extensive menu!

They also have an extensive beer menu and a good selection of mixed drinks!

Each meals starts off with their homemade potato chips! They were warm but not oily or greasy but you could still tell they were freshly made! They could keep bringing this with that dipping sauce for the rest of the night!

My friend ordered the St. Louie's ribs and chicken combo with cole slaw and beans!

I went with the baby backs and brisket with potato salad and beans! The baby backs were almost as large as the St. Louie's! They were moist and tender! The brisket was the same! Just a perfect combo!

I also love that they warm up their bbq sauce for you and it is so easy to pour! My favorite is the spicy bbq sauce in the yellow bottle! I even took some home with me!

Another great BBQ spot in the OC!

Scottie's Smokehouse

220 E Katella
Orange, CA 92867

(714) 997-3804

Hours:

Mon, Wed-Thu 11 am - 10 pm

Fri-Sat 11 am - 11 pm

Sun 10 am - 10 pm

Click the link below to check out the website!
http://scottiessmokehouse.com/