June 3: Taco Rosa Brunch Buffet

Today was the day... our very first visit to Taco Rosa in Newport Beach! We were originally planning on going to the one in the Tustin/Irvine marketplace but they aren't offering Sunday brunch just yet (supposedly, they will be starting brunch soon). So we drove to Newport and enjoyed a wonderful brunch at Taco Rosa. We started off with an omelette, some fruit, different entrees ranging from enchiladas to tamales. Their freshly cooked tortillas were good and so were their freshly cooked churros! ( i think I ate like 5 of them). I loved the chocolate covered strawberries and everything was just so good!

Taco Rosa on a beautiful June Sunday morning

Our first plate of all of the entrees. Sorry, not quite sure what was what...
but there were tamales, enchiladas, a beef dish, a pork dish...

Cooked-to-order tortillas (both corn and flour), some salad, freshly cooked churros and fruit!

Ray's first omlette.. with avocados, chicken, ham, onions, peppers, etc

Second plate of fruit and churros. Lots of chocolate covered strawberries this time!

Ray's second omelette! This time with avocado sauce and beans on top

I loved this buffet - its not something we'd do EVERY Sunday (especially because with tax, it came out to about $40+.) I did find it a little bit strange that they charged for freshly squeezed orange juice but the champagne was complimentary.. hrmm.....
Overall, super duper, would definitely go again!

June 2, 2007: Taiko and Yogurtland

Ray was craving sushi so we decided to go to Taiko in Irvine. Ray stopped by around 6:30 to put his name down on the list and was told that the wait was around 45 minutes. So he put his name down and left to come meet up with me.

Here's the sign at the entrance to Taiko. Sorry its a little dark.

It had been right around 45 minutes once we got back to Taiko and what do you know, that had actually already called our names! But, the let us know that we would be next and what do you know - in like two minutes, our name was called and we were led to a table in the back.
After looking over the longer sushi menu and the regular menu, we decided to start off with the sesame chicken appetizer (which is SO not an appetizer portion), get some fried calamari (one of my favorites!) and a variety of sushi.

Does this look like an appetizer portion of sesame chicken to you? =) What a fabulous deal!

Here's my favorite fried calamari. Crispy calamari on top a bed of cucumbers
with a light ponzu sauce. Yum!

Our order of a variety of sushi -

salmon, egg, yellowtail, sweet shrimp, california rolls and eel.

And here's the fried sweet shrimp head.
Taiko is the only place that I know of that does this!

We always like the sushi and other stuff at Taiko although we don't quite know why the line is always SO incredibly long. Maybe its because everything is good and pretty reasonably priced. Plus all of the portions are HUGE!


So, we left Taiko and were met with the sight of a brand new yogurt store next door. We peaked in and there was a HUGE line! We got in line and tried to figure out how this store works.
Its actually a pretty simple concept - its basically "Create your own yogurt." You first pick a container (plastic-smaller or styrofoam-bigger). Then you put as much frozen yogurt you want into your container - whats so exciting is the number of flavors! I think there were about 12 last night - strawberry, vanilla, mango, peach, blueberry, raspberry cheesecake, green tea, sugarless vanilla, chocolate.... i can't remember the others. And then you move over to the "toppings" area where you can choose your toppings. Here again, there are TONS of choices. Fresh strawberries, fresh mangos, fresh kiwi, black bean paste, mochi, chocolate, candy bars, cereals, etc etc!
Then you give your container with yogurt to the cashier, who weighs it and you pay. It is 30cents per ounce.

The store is bright and nicely decorated with glass partitions everywhere.
There's about maybe seats enough for maybe 30-40 people?

Here is our creation - mango, strawberry, raspberry cheesecake, blueberry
and chocolate yogurt on the bottom. Fresh strawberries and mangoes on the top!

Taco Mesa and Mrs. Knotts Chicken

May 31, 2007: Thursday

So Thursdays are my favorite Taco Mesa days now because a few weeks ago I found the best item on the menu! It was on the specials of the day board and it sounded so appealing that I could not resist... they are the Tacos de Cangrejos $9.99 - five crispy tacos filled with crab meat and tropical (mango I think) salsa! Just thinking about it again makes my mouth water!

So here is the Taco Mesa in Ladera Ranch where I usually go.

This is my favorite item on the menu. Carne asada torta (no beans and no peppers!).
Soft bread with juicy carne asada with the right amount
of avocado, tomato and lettuce.. what more could a girl ask for?

These are the tacos de cangrejos - ONLY AVAILABLE ON THURSDAYS!
Super crispy shells... crab meat in every single bite.. laid out on a bed of rice..

Then after a day of wandering around Orange and Anaheim, Ray and I got a craving for Knotts chicken! So we drove up the 5 freeway, into Buena Park and went to go get some chicken. The line for the restaurant was kinda long and Ray was really hungry so we decided to take the chicken to go from the store/bakery next door. Although they forgot to include a piece of chicken and gave us extra potatoes, corn and bread, it was a great dinner! By the time we started eating, both of us were so hungry that we forgot to take pictures of the food! By the way, I got a double chocolate cookie from the bakery and it was the best cookie I have had in a LONG time! Super cravable!

Chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, soup, corn, and soft bread. Such a great dinner!