A&J Restaurant (Ban Mu Yuan) - Irvine, CA

(Pictures for this review taken with my Canon PowerShot SD100 and Canon PowerShot SD800is.)

The clink of chopsticks against plastic bowls. The sweet sizzle of frying dough. Happy chatter. The dull grind of rickety chairs being pulled up to tables. The muffled roar of passing traffic. Gossip. Excited laughter.



Street dining in Asia is unlike anything that can be experienced in the West. Whole families of hawkers devote generations to creating, refining, and protecting secret recipes dished up on demand from yoke-carried braziers, hand-drawn carts, and portable outdoor restaurants that can be set up and broken down in mere minutes. You see them everywhere, drawing commuters and travelers with alluring trails of fragrant smoke.



No Asian county is without them; not Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, or Korea. Boundless China, with over 27 ethnic tribes and 8 Treasured Cuisines is practically bursting with glorious regional street fare few Americans have ever sampled. Fortunately for Orange County residents, Irvine is home to A&J Restaurant (Ban Mu Yuan), a branch of an internationally popular Taiwanese chain specializing in Northern Chinese street food. Within the walls of this humble cafe, authentic dishes are served up in a no frills, no fuss atmosphere.


Niu Rou Shao Bing (Chinese Sesame Bread with Five Spice Braised Beef)

China's Northern provinces are too arid and cold for rice cultivation. As such, their cuisine is characterized by a focus on hardier grains, such as wheat, millet, barley, and sorghum. Without rice, different types of bread, dumplings, noodles, and porridges evolved. The by-products of these grains, such as hay, were well-suited to feeding goats and cattle, which could also survive by grazing. Beef and mutton became the central sources of protein, and are found in most Northern Chinese dishes. The food at A&J Restaurant reflects these regional characteristics.



Wood is less than abundant in Northern China, so ovens are virtually unknown. Instead of baking, Northern Chinese breads and dumplings are fried in woks, effectively utilizing brief cooking times over intense direct heat. The results are stunning. Flaky breads with amazing textures. Juicy dumplings with resilient, yet crispy wrappers. A&J's Xian Rou Guo Tie (Pan Fried Pork Dumplings) are superb examples of the fried starch arts. You'd be hard pressed to find more perfect pot stickers.



Instead of rice, which is the universal starch in most parts of China, noodles are the staple food of the North. The Chinese have as many forms of pasta as the Italians, the most popular of which is Niu Rou Mian (Beef Noodle Soup), a dish that originated in the northern province of Sichuan. A&J's Hong Shao Ge Ban Mian (Sichuan Beef & Tendon Noodle Soup) comes with tender chunks of braised beef and tendon bobbing in a fiery stock. Diners have their choice between thin, machine-made noodles and thick, hand-cut noodles. Always go with the hand cut noodles. You can't beat the taste and texture folded into each slippery strand.



For those who miss it, A&J Restaurant offers several entrees that are served with rice. However, their Xiao Mi Zhou (Plain Millet & Corn Congee) is a more traditional accompaniment.


Hong You Du Si (Sliced Beef Tripe with Red Sauce)

Congee is a thick porridge of stewed grains normally eaten with tapas-like dishes of cold cuts that are another of A&J's specialties. Chewy curls of beef tripe drizzled with fiery chili oil. Meltingly soft beef tendon is a pungent garlic sauce. Braised pigs' feet, unctuous knobs of meat and fat clinging tenuously to bone. Cheap and flavorful, each of A&J's many small plates adds depth to their comforting millet porridge.


Kao Fu (Vegetarian Delight)

Like rice, most vegetables also have limited survivability in the harsh northern climes, which is why the cuisine features starch and meat. Fortunately for vegetarians, soy beans are tough little buggers. Vegan meat substitutes made from soy or wheat abound. A&J offers a variety of small plates suitable for strict Buddhists, earth children, and other meat eschewers. Cucumber salad in a mustard sauce guaranteed to melt every hair in your nostrils. Delicately braised wheat gluten, soybean, and mushrooms in a rich sauce. Springy sheets of bean curd skin punched up with tangy pickled mustard greens. A gentle salad of smoked tofu, slices celery, and shredded carrot. It's all authentic and delicious.


A&J Restaurant - Bringing the flavors of Northern Chinese street fare to Orange County. Close your eyes and imagine the hustle and bustle of Beijing.


Bill:

Niu Rou Shao Bing (Chinese Sesame Bread with Five Spice Braised Beef) - 2.50
Xian Rou Guo Tie (Pan Fried Pork Dumplings) - 5.75
Hong Shao Ge Ban Mian (Sichuan Beef & Tendon Noodle Soup) - 5.75
Xiao Mi Zhou (Plain Millet & Corn Congee) - 0.75
Hong You Du Si (Sliced Beef Tripe with Red Sauce) - 1.95
Kao Fu (Vegetarian Delight) - 1.95


Flavor: A
Ambience: B
Service: B
ROI: A+

Overall: A-


A&J Restaurant
14805 Jeffrey Rd., Ste. D
Irvine, CA 92618
1-949-786-3585

Other locations:
A&J has branches scattered across Taiwan, China, and the US, including locations in Cupertino (CA), Rockville (MD), and Annandale (VA).


Read my friend JoanH's review, chinese/mall food: i strongly recommend BAN MU YUAN, on A Hungry Girl's Guide to Taipei.


My good buddy Kirk from mmm-yoso!!! hit up the Irvine A&J last year. Check out his review, Road Trip: A & J Restaurant - Irvine(OC).

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Nice Mention on Blogher - [Crazies]

Woot! What a weekend! This bad panda partied a bit too hard and needed a few days to recover. The week just keeps getting better too. Cat and Chubbypanda.com just got a nice mention in an article on BlogHer for my post about our wedding banquet.


(I love my wife!)

Tributes to Remarkable Women by Alanna Kellog.

Thanks for the mention, Alanna! We love BlogHer!

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Soprano's - Costa Mesa, CA

(Pictures for this review taken with my Canon PowerShot SD800is.

Apologies for the image quality of my later photos. Several members of our party got lost and arrived over an hour late. By time our food arrived, the light had completely faded. Out of respect for other diners, I don't use a flash, so I did the best I could with a nearby candle.

My little brother has submitted a t-shirt design to Threadless.com. If you can give him a hand and vote for him, I'd appreciate it. I wanna wear that tee!)



I love mom & pop restaurants. There's something about a family owned and operated eatery that expresses a warmth chain restaurants just can't convey. When the family in question takes pride in their establishment, it's a palpable emotion you can see in every place setting, feel in the air, and taste in your food.



Soprano's in Costa Mesa is an upscale Italian restaurant that somehow manages to combine the elegance and class of a fine dining establishment with the casual charm of a mom & pop operation. Tucked in the corner of a quiet residential neighborhood, it's incongruously placed next to a coin-operated laundromat. Once again, good food can be found in surprising locations.



The interior is a cozy affair, almost exclusively filled with locals in everyday attire. You don't see advertisements for it and it's not visible from any major thoroughfare. If you know about Soprano's, chances are you live nearby, you heard about it from someone who lives nearby, or both.


(Complimentary focaccia with an olive aioli spread.)

The obscurity is probably for the best. The food is so good, and Soprano's is so small, I don't want to make it any harder than it already is to get a table. This is one of my secret happy spots, and my favorite restaurant for Italian-American fare.


(BBlade, our own Chicago gangsta.)

In fact, the desperate pleas of an old iaido friend (second picture in the link, upper right) for a spot to host a last-minute reunion dinner was the only reason I shared Soprano's with him. I don't even tell friends about it. That's how much I love this place.



Can you blame me, with such luscious offerings as this Penne ala Vodka? Plump shrimp peep up through a springy forest of cylindrical noodles coated in a creamy vodka marinara. The pastas at Soprano's are always perfectly al dente and coated in robustly flavored, ethereal sauces.



Then there's the Lamb Shank, a ruggedly simple name for a simple and rugged dish. Two large, bone-in lamb shanks are braised in red wine and spices until the meat coyly slips apart at the brush of a fork. Each bite is coated with the gelatin-thickened gravy. Sides of sautéed fresh vegetables and fettuccini in marinara sauce are almost an afterthought, yet the vegetables are tender and the pasta is skillfully prepared. It's a wonderful dish when you're in a meat and potatoes mood.



However, the undisputed champion is Soprano's Cioppino, a massive tureen of fresh fish, shrimp, scallops, mussels, and other seafood frolicking in a savory sea of white wine, tomatoes, and herbs. Hiding just underneath the rippling surface, like the coiled tentacles of the mythic kraken, lies a generous mound of linguine cooked right in the flavorful stew. It's large enough for two people or one hungry panda.


(Balsamic vinegar and olive oil smiley face.)

So why am I choosing now to reveal to you the path to this palace of gastronomic delight? Because we're in a recession and our small businesses need all the help they can get. Now that I've made this supreme sacrifice, you're all honor-bound to eat at Soprano's. ... What, you're still here? Get moving!


Soprano's - A mom & pop Italian restaurant with the class of a high-end eatery and the soul of a neighborhood joint. I can't believe I told you guys about it!


Bill:

Penne ala Vodka - 1595
Lamb Shank - 17.95
Cioppino - 21.95


Flavor: A
Ambience: A
Service: A
ROI: A

Overall: A


Soprano's
2400 Newport Blvd.
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
1-949-645-8515

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Gen Kai Japanese Cuisine - Irvine, CA [CLOSED]

(Pictures for this review taken with my Canon PowerShot SD800is.

Read Elmomonster's review of Gen Kai here.

Edit 08/24/2013: This restaurant has closed.)

Kitty-corner from Irvine Valley College lies a small, darkened strip mall mostly abandoned once the sun has set. Home to an eclectic gathering of businesses that draw little foot traffic and shutter their doors early, the lifeblood of the center's surprisingly numerous eateries is a thin trickle of car-less students desperate to get away from the campus cafeteria. With such anemic support, it's no wonder that this area of Irvine has a less than stellar reputation for food.



If there's one important piece of knowledge that I've gained from my gastronomic explorations, it's that great food is seldom where you expect to find it. Some of the best meals that I've ever had were ones that took me completely by surprise. Hunkered within the shadows of this sad strip mall, Gen Kai Japanese Cuisine, a restaurant for which I had nothing but low expectations, taught me this maxim yet again.


(Juuji)

In operation for close to 15 years, Gen Kai has a less than stellar reputation amongst Irvine's sushi lovers. During my decade in the city, what little I'd heard about the place had been enough to prevent me from ever setting foot within its walls. However, unbeknownst to myself and most other Irvine-ites, the restaurant has undergone a Renaissance in recent years; New remodeling, new staff, new menu, and, most importantly, new chefs.


(Lightly pickled cucumber - A signature palate cleanser.)

My first visit was entirely accidental. Cat was teaching a class at Irvine Valley College that didn't end until 10pm. I'd had a late night at the office and had less than half an hour to eat before I needed to pick her up. Like the desperate students drawn to it during the day, I ended up at the strip mall across the street in search of something fast and still open. Sushi at Gen Kai seemed to be my only choice.


(Edamame - Boiled and lightly salted soybeans in their pods.)

The meal that followed was so startling that I found myself emailing my friend and fellow OC Food Blogs contributor Elmomonster the following week to suggest we try Gen Kai again together. It's a mark of our mutual respect that he agreed, even after an unpleasant dining experience at Gen Kai some years earlier.


(Squid and Kelp Salad)

Serving us that night was Juuji (pictured near the top), a cherubic Japanese itamae who cheerfully informed me that both of Gen Kai's sushi chefs were named "Juuji". However, this chef was one who'd prepared my first delightful meal at Gen Kai. When Elmomonster decided to leave the ordering to me, I was confident in asking Juuji, "Omakase onegai-shimasu," which meant he would have free reign to serve us whatever he considered to be the best and freshest that day. I'd placed us entirely in the itamae's hands


(Tako-Su)

Flattered by our trust in him, Juuji was on a mission to impress. He succeeded admirably. Our first course was a pair of pickled seafood dishes to be shared between the two of us. The Tako-Su was a bold, mouth-puckering heap of sliced octopus with a sweetly tempered finish. The vivid orange color came from the marinade, which had also given each piece a meaty and tender texture. The dish's counterpart (pictured above) was a crunchy mix of squid, kelp, ginger, and bell peppers that brushed over our tongues like a gentle breeze.



A giant snail followed, poached and still in its own shell. Its twisted armor offered little protection as we wrested the chewy contents free and enjoyed their unctuous earthiness. The few drops of briny liquor left behind were eagerly sucked into our ravening maws.


(Serving for one.)

Juuji's strategy that night was evidently shock and awe, and he set out to overwhelm us with our next course. Reigning over a gorgeous plate of sashimi, its antennae still thrashing about, was the head of a giant prawn that had been whole and alive mere moments ago. Its gleaming black eyes surveyed a realm that glittered with the jewel-like flesh of the fallen. At Juuji's suggestion, I performed a Shinto prayer for the crustacean's spirit, waiting for it to depart the body before partaking.



Its freshness evident with each bite, the Amaebi (Sweet Shrimp) lived up to its name. I honored its passing by consuming every delectable morsel.


(Spanish Mackerel - center, Orange Clam - bottom)

Overshadowed by the centerpiece, yet equally sublime, wafer-thin slices of Aoyagi (Orange Clam) conveyed the aroma of the ocean. Strips of Aji (Spanish Mackerel) coated with grated ginger spread their rich oil throughout our mouths.



Finishing off the selection were two luxurious slices of Toro (Fatty Tuna). While not the highest grade of toro available, their quality was unmistakable. Each tender piece was redolent with the essence of the fish, melting away like the fine filet mignon.



Still reeling from the delicacies on our sashimi plates, we were unprepared for the appearance of our third course. With a mischievous grin, Juuji presented us each with a piece of Jellied Skate Wing. Served chilled and enveloped by golden aspic made from a combination of natural gelatin and the braising liquid used to cook it, the skate's finely textured meat required care to separate from its many bones.



The fourth course was a detour from the pure to the abstract. An imaginative roll of asparagus, salmon, shrimp tempura, avocado, radish sprouts, and soy paper was presented to us on plates that would not have been out of place in a gallery of modern art. The display was both beautiful and delicious.



At this point, we were both about ready to wave our napkins as flags. Our shock was nearly palpable when we were each served a hefty portion of Ankimo (Monkfish Liver), the foie gras of the sea. Despite the grated chili and daikon, sliced green onions, and ponzu sauce added to cut the practically pure fat, this dish nearly finished us. Yet, we were unable to stop ourselves from laboriously devouring each lump of lipid love.



The sixth course was the return on an old friend. After the sashimi course, the heads of our giant shrimp had been removed by the kitchen for further treatment. They returned to us now, twisted but still recognizable. A brief swim in a sizzling oil hot spring with only the scant protection of tempura batter had transformed each shrimp's once fearsome helm into a fragile facade of crispy goodness.

I attacked the spiky legs, feelers, and antennae first, carefully shattering each sharp shard between my teeth. Once denuded, the shrimp's now-helpless skull yielded to me its flavorful fat and brains as I devoured it whole. Not a single speck of chitin failed to make its way into my belly.



Sensing our flagging resolve, Juuji wisely chose to have us share our seventh course. I don't think we could have survived it otherwise. The amusingly named Japanese Pizza roll was a tempura fried cylinder of salmon, rice, and nori. Each slice was topped with sweetened mayonnaise and was broiled until the mayonnaise caramelized. Generous pinches of Tobiko (Flying Fish Roe) and sliced green onions were added, along with a drizzle of teriyaki sauce. It was decadent. It was obscene. It was damn tasty stuff.



Mercifully, our eighth course was a simple plate of Hakusai (Lightly Pickled Napa Cabbage) that served to cleanse our palates and sooth stomachs troubled by the heaviness of the last two dishes. Its mild bite was just what we needed to reawaken our senses.



Our ninth and final course was a shared sashimi plate of Shiro-Maguro Tataki (Water-Search Albacore) served with thinly sliced onion, grated daikon, and ponzu. The mild fish and tart ponzu left us refreshed and utterly satisfied.



(Green Tea Ice Cream Mochi - Gen Kai's Omakase includes dessert!)

Gen Kai Japanese Cuisine - In the restaurant world, it's rare when an existing, mediocre establishment is able to remake itself into something noteworthy. With the addition of Juuji to its staff, Gen Kai has managed to profoundly elevate the quality of both its food and customer experience. His mastery of traditional flavors and modern Californian sushi cuisine has made Gen Kai a contender in Orange County's highly competitive sushi market.


Bill (per person, including tax & tip):

Omakase - 53.10


Flavor: A+ (averaged over two visits)
Ambience: A
Service: A
ROI: A+

Overall: A


Gen Kai Japanese Cuisine
15435 Jeffrey Rd., #119
Irvine, CA 92618
1-949-786-3420


Read Elmomonster's review of our meal at Gen Kai here.

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