Food fun ventures part 2

MOH and I just celebrated our 9 year anniversary - 9 years. Time flies.

Whenever an anniversary rolls around, MOH and I like to reminisce about how we used to be. You think back and realize just how far you've come on a physical, mental, or in this instance, foodie standpoint. We remember back when we first met - our go-to surviving college student meals consisted of packing sandwiches with all the fixings (wheat bread with cheese slices, romaine or cabbage, and ham) and dinners with either ramen or baked goods (fish sticks, pizza rolls, chicken nuggets). A "healthy" meal to us was stir frying green cabbage with eggs and topping off this healthy mix with thai chili sauce. Serve over white rice, and dinner was served! Now, we're making better attempts to eat healthier and have sworn off using the thai chili sauce on all occasions except as a dipping sauce for samosas or eggrolls.

As a throw back to our younger days, MOH and I decided to venture into the Anaheim Packing House, a collection of more than 20 old school meets modern food vendors and restaurants all located conveniently inside a giant warehouse. Many of these restaurants take food classics and put a twist on the favorites. Each restaurant has its own autonomy with decor and range from old parlor feel to the up scale bar scene.

Inside decor of the packing house - beautifully lit, lots of spaces to eat and hang out

Little vendors strewn throughout the district including this "springtime stand" featuring easter eggs, bath towels, and specialty floral soaps

Of the 20+ restaurants located in this food district, where do MOH and I beeline to? Perhaps the gourmet dark chocolate shop? Or the tea vendor with the monkey picked oolong sampler? Nah, neither of those places catch our eye this time.

The restaurants all vary with some specializing in just ice cream bars, or dark chocolate mixes, or Japanese hot-pot

We decide to keep stay true to our classy selves and head straight to the grilled cheese bar of course.

The Black Sheep Grilled Cheese Bar (GBC) is this cute little mini-diner that specializes exclusively in grilled cheese delights. The menu lists about 10 items, everything grilled dairy.

MOH and I tried their signature #1, which consisted of fromage blanc cheese (super creamy and nutty), caramelized onions, roasted tomatoes and pesto. 

This place will creep up on you. We ordered one sandwich to share and wished that we ordered two. The sandwich is surprisingly creamy but not heavy. The cheese proportion was perfect with the bread. I normally don't like cheese too creamy (sharp cheddar is my favorite), but this cheese was so soft against the crunchy bread that it just worked. The onions and pesto were really good contrasts to the otherwise nutty bread as well.

As if our arteries weren't already shot from eating cheesy goodness, we decided to do more damage by ordering a side of fish and chips from good 'ol Chippy's.

For some reason, ordering fish and chips is something that I'm always drawn to whenever I see it on a menu. I didn't eat it much as a kid but the fried flaky, white fish and tartar sauce combo is one of my favorite things to eat. I think it's the guilty pleasure of eating deep-fried goodness because I have a similar love-hate relationship with french fries (something I always order, even if it's at a fancy restaurant where it goes by the name "pommes frites").

We ordered their sampler of fish, calamari and fries and the size was pretty decent for the price.

I sometimes encounter fish 'n chips having too much batter compared to fish, but the fish to fried dough ratio was really good. The fish was a good size and the calamari had a good bite to it (not too soft or chewy). The fries were sadly, just fries, but the fish was really delicious.

We tried to sample more places, but our tummies just couldn't handle it (although we were seriously considering getting more grilled cheese). Instead of getting dessert, MOH and I opted to just save dessert for next time. There's a cute little popsicle bar that does creamy/fruity variations of ice cream bars that I think we'll try for next time.

The trip to the Packing House was a great success - MOH even walked out with a cute little friend and we spent our special day happily eating grilled cheesy goodness. Fried fish didn't hurt either.

Until next time, happy eating all!

Fun food ventures part I

Every so often, you just need to take a few breaths and just relax. And having good food doesn't hurt.

Restaurant week rolled around last week for Costa Mesa, and MOH and I went with a friend to try a great little tavern called the Wild Goose.

This little hole in the wall serves up delicious bar food for a great price. You can relax with your favorite starters with a twist, against the backdrop of sports blaring in a western, hunting background (picture staff in flannel, animal headmounts with hanging decorations). The place can get super cramped, so get comfy and be cool with the friendly, not-so-occasional human contact. This bar is a no-fuss, get in, get comfy, and eat good kind of place. And the food is FANTASTIC.

My favorite starter? Sweet potato and goat cheese fritters atop a cilantro glaze. It's like the perfect marriage between sweet potato fries and fried goat cheese. I'm super biased because I'm a sucker for any fried starch, but these little fritters were little bites of heaven. Creamy, savory, spicy pieces of heaven.

Photo courtesy of Mai N. from Yelp

And what trip to a cavern would be complete without a mouth-watering, perfectly mouth-proportioned burger? 

Photo courtesy of Jeff K from Yelp

I'm always on the look-out for good tuna burgers, and this one did not disappoint. For me, a really good burger has just the right amount of toppings that doesn't sacrifice in size. Another thing that really gets to me is if a burger is too large to fit in the average mouth (I mean, no one likes to cut their burger into pieces, or eat it in half-bites). This burger had a great flavor, with a great asian cole-slaw and sweet hot mustard sauce. So delicious and no need for extra condiments.

By the time we were done eating, our bellies were stuffed. No room needed for dessert (although MOH and I did come across a great dessert place later in the week - more on this in the next post: quick eats and sweets).

Until next time, happy eating all!