Sasaki Time: Review of itriya cafe

Hello Sasaki Time fans! This is my first restaurant review in a long time and it feels like coming home! I went to itriya cafe in Irvine for lunch today and it was a great experience!

Part of the gorgeous interior of the cafe!

This is the brainchild of Howard Gordon of Cheesecake Factory fame. He wanted to bring a casual dining experience with food that would be attractive to everyone. He succeeded! Plus, Howard is there at his restaurant and was kind enough to stop by and talk with us. The hands on approach is greatly appreciated and he guided us through the menu with ease!

Itriya is believed to be the earliest word meaning pasta. They serve spaghetti in its usual forms (meatballs, beef bolognese, etc.) but also serve it as Korean black bean, Memphis chicken bbq or even white clam chowder. Their other big item is a small item but it's called ssam which is a Korean word meaning "wrapped". Think of it as a taco but lettuce instead of a tortilla and filled with rice, Korean vegetables and spices, and your choice of korean style meats, fried tofu or shrimp. They also have soups and salads.

To start, the water is infused with lemon which was a nice refreshing change.

They even brought us out some garlic bread to start.

I ordered a triple berry lemonade which said it was their signature handmade non-alcoholic cocktail! I can see why it's their signature drink! The sourness of the lemonade matched perfectly with the sweetness of the triple berry blend! I would order this again and again!

My friend ordered the watermelon cilantro and it was just like a watermelon cucumber infused drink. Nice and refreshing! The cilantro surprised me by having that cucumber taste.

We started with two orders of ssam. The first was the sizzling tofu which was fantastic. Even though the tofu was fried, it was still soft. The amount of rice and vegetables was just right. Perfect sized appetizer course.

The second ssam was the bbq rib eye. Even better than the sizzling tofu! The rib eye was nice and tender and tasted like short ribs at any Korean bbq place! Just delicious!

I had the white clam chowder pasta. It was amazing! It was like a variation on white clam sauce but with all the bacon and chunks of potato like a great white clam chowder should have!