RA Sushi-Tustin

RA Sushi
2401 Park Ave
Tustin
714-566-1700

I went to the RA Sushi in Scottsdale, AZ and was very impressed with the quality of the sushi. So when I heard that RA opened a location in Tustion, I decided to try their happy hour. You can find their happy hour menu here. http://www.rasushi.com/ra2006.4xm.swf

I had the spicy tuna roll, $3.75 and the shrimp tempura roll, $4.75. The spicy tuna was very spicy, I needed lots of water after eating this. It was very fresh and tasty.

The shrimp tempura roll was also very fresh. But I thought the shrimp was a bit small. I know it's happy hour prices and they gotta make their money somehow.

Service was very good. Happy Hour is served in the bar area. The server was very nice and friendly and helpful.

I would go back to RA Sushi again. But they are on the pricey side for dinner. But I think it's worth it because they have very good quality sushi.

Yunnan Garden- Hacienda Heights

Yunnan Garden
1229 S Hacienda Blvd
Hacienda Heights
626-330-8145

Yunnan Garden has been opened for four months. What's interesting is that before they did some renovations to the building, the same location used to house a restaurant, China Garden. But what's interesting is that Yunnan Garden has the same phone number as China Garen. Maybe the same owners using a different name?

Anyways I ordered the shrimp fried rice, $6.96, chicken and mushrooms, $7.95, and the shrimp with garlic sauce, $9.95. The shrimp fried rice came straight from the wok to our table, it was so hot. There were scrambled eggs, green onions, carrots and of course shrimp, which were a good size and there were plenty of them. This dish overall was good but I thought it was a bit too greasy. They could have used less oil.

The chicken and mushroom was a bit of a downer. They chicken was tender and thinly sliced but this was very bland. Not much flavor to this dish. I would not order this again.

I would order the shrimp with garlic sauce. This was a great dish. It's marked as hot but it wasn't that hot at all. They used some kind of red sauce and lots of garlic, bamboo shoots, green onions, red pepper and seaweed. It had so much flavor, just bursting with it. A steal at $9.95.

Service was pretty good. The place wasn't that crowded and there were three servers who came to our table. They were friendly and helpful.

I would go back to Yunnan Garden. The food and the prices are good. I think this place matches up to many of the Chinese restaurants in Rowland Heights.

Grub-Closed

Grub 911 Seward St Los Angeles, CA 90038 323-461-3663 On one side of the side are movie studios and sound stages. The other side of the street are houses with the corner house a restaurant!!! A popular restaurant too. On Sundays they open at 9am. We got that about 8:50 am and within five minutes there were 10-12 people in line with us. The first time we came, we got there at 11am and they told us the wait would be 90 minutes long!!!! We did not stay. We saw this on the Food Network. I think Rachel Ray. Now she's a great cook. Her 30 minute meals are great. But as for her choice of restaurants, they leave a lot to be desired. I ordered the Mamacita Breakfast Burrito. $8.95, scrambled eggs, chorizo, cheddar cheese, and potatoes wrapped in a flour tortilla. Our order took a bit longer than I thought it would. There were at least 20 people in the restaurant but I thought they could have been faster with our order. When it finally arrived, I was tricked into believing that burrito was huge. It is huge but only because of the way they cut the potatoes, very large pieces. There isn't that much chorizo or eggs. What little egg and chorizo was very good. The chorizo had a nice spicy flavor. The scrambled eggs were fully cooked and fluffy. Service was good, except for the longer than expected wait for our food to be cooked. The server was friendly and attentive to our needs. I would not go back to Grub. I think the food is good but nothing great. But most of all I think it's on the pricey side. They have a three egg breakfast for $7.95 but what about bacon or sausage? That would put you back $4.95. $12.90 for a three eggs and bacon breakfast? Not worth it.

The Castaway

The Castaway
1250 Harvard Rd.
Burbank
818-848-6691

I went here for a birthday party. They offered a limited menu choice for our big party of about 16 people.

I ordered the NY steak, topped with blue cheese, shiitake mushrooms with a red wine demi-glaze with seasonal veggies. For our group we got a trip to their salad bar and NY cheesecake for dessert, all for $40 tax and tip included. The regular price of the NY steak is $29.99. So with a salad and dessert that $40 was a good deal.

The salad bar was OK but they had either a spinach salad or mixed green salad, both of which I do not like at all. So I put together some tomatoes, mushrooms, carrots and some ranch dressing. All the items I had were fresh. But I wish they would just have iceberg lettuce.

The steak came out pretty quickly. I ordred mine medium rare and got medium rare. The steak was tender and juicy. But it wasn't as flavorful as other steaks I've had. I would say they use USDA choice beef. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great and I don't feel it was worth the price. I mean I could go to the market and get a steak and BBQ it myself for much less.

The dessert was NY cheesecake, which was nice, creamy and tasty. Their menu lists dessert startings at $5.95.

Service during dinner was great. The servers were attentive, friendly and helpful. But what isn't great is the parking situation. The restaurant sits atop a hill in Burbank. When you turn into the place you think you're going to drive up the hill to the restaurant. But with so many Christmas parties going on this time of year, the valet parking was closed. So there was a parking attendent that had us turn into a very small parking lot and a shuttle was going to take us to the restaurant. Well after we park and get out, two shuttles leave. Also the attendant who directed us to the lot, left and all the cars were driving up the hill. I said screw this and got back into the car and drove further up the hill. There was another attendant directing us to a larger parking lot. We parked and while the first two shuttles were filled quickly, two more shuttles came within ten minutes and we got to the restaurant with no problems. After dinner the shuttles were right there waiting for us in front of the restaurant. We didn't have to pay for parking or the shuttle. But it makes more sense to fill the larger parking lot, that is closer to the restaurant than that tiny parking lot.

I would only go back to Castaway for drinks and the view. What a great view!!! I feel that the food is very average and overpriced. I don't think the food is worth the high prices they charge and the view, while great, doesn't make up for the very average food.

Catalina Fish Kitchen-Closed

Catalina Fish Kitchen
19171 Magnolia
Huntington Beach, CA 92646
714-963-9921

Catalina Fish Kitchen is a damn good place to get any type of seafood taco. Every Tuesday is Taco Tuesday and tacos are anywhere from half off to 25 cents off.

I ordered the tiger shrimp, scallops, and lobster taco. The tiger and scallops taco were $4, regular price, $4.29 and the lobster was the regular price $4.29. All tacos come on flour tortilla, with cabbage, cheddar and jack cheese and cliantro. For no additional charge you can get corn tortilla. Then you have a full salsa bar selection to add to your taco. All tacos are chargrilled but you can also ask for seven other seasonings including tomato herb and white wine sauce, olive oil and thyme, soy oil and lemon, and lemon garlic. I had all three tacos chargrilled and only added salsa.

I loved the tiger shrimp taco. There were about three huge tiger shrimps, chargrilled to perfection. The cabbage and cheese were fresh. With just a little salsa this is one of the best tacos I've had in a long time.

The scallops weren't so good. They were fresh and everything but somethings just don't belong in a taco and scallops are it. Maybe it's the texture or flavor but whatever it is, scallops don't work well with tacos.

The lobster taco was OK. Nothing special about it. The lobster was the slippery lobster version. They are a bit tougher and not as sweet as the Maine lobster. Again this is the case where this type of seafood doesn't belong in a taco. I didn't like the combination.

Service was OK. The people are nice and friendly but they orders can take longer than they should. I ordered the lobster taco after I ordered the tiger shrimp and scallops tacos, and they completely forgot about the order. Then it took another ten minutes before I got the taco. Now the people were nice about things but I think service needs to be faster.

I would go back to Catalina Fish Kitchen and try some of their other seafood, salmon, mahi mahi, and their seasonings. I would not order the scallops or lobster. But their tiger shrimp tacos are a winner.

Pita Pita-Closed

Pita Pita 

927 E. Colorado Blvd #101 

Pasadena 

626-356-3099 

 

Have you ever driven along a major street and seen a restaurant but never stopped in and have dinner? Well I drive along Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena many times. I've passed by Pita Pita at least 50 times but never stopped in and ate. So I decide it was time to eat at Pita Pita. This is an order at the counter and they bring your dinner to your table. This is the first Middle Eastern food place that is own by a Mexican, that I've been to. The owner was sitting down and having dinner and speaking Spanish on the phone. I got the chicken kabob plate for $8.95. All dinners include salad, rice, beans and pita bread. After a few minutes the chicken kabob arrives. It smells very good. When I cut a piece of chicken it notice how moist the white meat chicken is. When I have a bite, it is very moist and flavorful. It was a bit on the tangy side for me though. I don't know what seasonings they use but it just too tangy for me. But I do think the chicken is very moist. The salad was very fresh but the dressing the put on top was just too sour for me. The rice and beans were hot and fresh. Service is pretty good. The lady taking the order was nice and helpful. I wouldn't go back to Pita Pita for the chicken kabobs. The kabob isn't bad but it's just not for me. I would be open to try other things on the menu like the chicken shawerma or the garlic chicken. I also think it's a bit pricey. $8.95 for one kabob? Many places for about the same price give you two kabobs. But they do serve good sized portions.

Gaslamp

Gaslamp
6251 E Pacific Coast Highway
Long Beach
562-596-4718

Gaslamp is a huge restaurant on PCH and Loynes in Long Beach. They have live bands most weekends. But their main draw for me was a $5 beer and burger Wednesday.

You don't have much choice, the beer is Tecate beer in a can and they burger is just half pound burger with lettuce, onions and tomato on a potato bun. Cheese is 50 cents extra and if you want fries instead of the potato chips it's $1 extra. I got cheddar cheese on my burger. The burger is huge. It reminds me of Carl's Jr $6 burgers. The meat though is very dry, they charred the hell out of my burger. The server didn't ask how I would like my burger cooked and I simply forgot. But this burger was just too well done for me. Another thing I didn't like was that the burger wasn't especially hot. It was lukewarm. They also didn't toast the bun.

The server was nice and friendly enough but she should have asked me how I would like the burger cooked. When I got there, it wasn't that crowded so she came around often to refill water and ask if I needed anything.

The regular price of a burger at Gaslamp is $11. It's not worth that price. For $5.50 a cheeseburger is a fair price. But make sure you ask how you would like to have your burger cooked.

Overall I kept getting the feeling I was eating a Carl's Jr $6 burger and why would I go out to Long Beach for that? There is nothing special about this burger but for special it's a good deal. If I was in the area I could go back to Gaslamp for their $5 beer and burger special. But I wouldn't make an extra trip out there.

Barn Burner BBQ-Closed

Barn Burner BBQ
1000 S. Fair Oaks Ave
Pasadena
626-403-7427

I've read so many things about Barn Burner Texas BBQ in Pasadena. Some sang it's praises, others thought it was among the worst BBQ around. I'll tell you where I stand later in this review. But without questions this is one of the most expensive BBQ around. Barn Burner is actually owned by the people who own the El Cholo chain of Mexican restaurants.

I took a look at their huge menu and they have Choice combos or Signature Combos. Choice Combos are where you choose between four different meats and two sides.

Signature Combos are basically racks of ribs, beef, baby backs and St. Louis style pork ribs and larger combos.

What surprised me was that they didn't list the St.Louis style pork ribs on the Choice Combo menu. If they had I would have ordered a two meat combo for $15.40. But instead I ordered the half a pound of baby backs, $12.75 and half a pound of beef ribs. $6.25.

The baby backs are terrible. They lack any smoke flavor and had lots of fat, too much for baby backs. I could have bought a rack of ribs and cooked them in the oven and done a better job.

Their only saving grace is the beef ribs. They were very meaty and tender with a nice flavor, not real smoked but a good flavor. They were among the better beef ribs I've had.

Service is good. I ordered this to go and I got service quickly.

So where do I stand on Barn Burner? For the baby back ribs, I agree it's among the worst ribs I've ever had and makes me think they should still to cooking Mexican food. But the beef ribs are not only cheaper but taste much better and are worth the $6.25 price. Like I mentioned before they are a very expensive BBQ place and the quality of BBQ you get, isn't worth the very high prices.

I want to try their St. Louis style pork ribs and see how they are. I wish they So that maybe the only reason why I go back to Barn Barner, otherwise there is no reason to go back.