Lulu’s Creperie Cafe
24781 Alicia Parkway #E
Laguna Hills, CA 92653
(949) 855-2222
http://www.lulus-cafe.com
We didn’t get to go out for our Wednesday date night because Dr. P had to work late. But he made it up to me by taking me out last night. We went to Lulu’s Creperie Cafe for the $20 OC Restaurant Week dinner special.
Lulu’s is not a big place. Just a few tables inside, and they have a cute outdoor patio area.
Aloha Hawaiian BBQ
2336 Park Ave
Tustin, CA 92782
(714) 258-1888
Dr. P had to stay late for work. So instead of date night, I had to eat by myself. So sad…. On my drive home, I kept on thinking about what should I eat. We went to Aloha Hawaiian BBQ once before. The food was pretty good. As soon as I thought of the restaurant, I started craving for Hawaiian BBQ chicken. I guess I’ll get takeout from Aloha then.
Chicken Combo ($7.19)
A combination of our favorite BBQ chicken and chicken katsu. A delight for chicken lovers!
Aloha is located in The District on the back of Target. The little place was packed on a Tuesday night. Their portion is enormous. I ordered a Chicken Combo with BBQ chicken and chicken katsu. The chicken katsu was so crispy on the outside, and juicy on the inside. It wasn’t oily at all. Love it. Their BBQ chicken is flavorful and tender. I like eating it with the tangy katsu sauce and sriracha hot sauce. It came with macaroni salad, lots of cabbage, and rice.
Carl’s Jr.
1100 N Grand Ave
Walnut, CA 91789
(909) 594-5611 #2909
http://www.carlsjr.com
I had classes for the entire day yesterday without any break. I ran down to the campus cafe to grab a quick lunch to bring back to the classroom. We have a Starbucks, a school cafeteria, and a Carl’s Jr. on campus. The cafeteria has really pricey sandwiches, pricey burritos, and pricey daily special like spaghetti or pizza or fried chicken. So I went to Carl’s Jr.
Cranberry, Apple, Walnut Grilled Chicken Salad ($4.99)
I wanted something healthier and picked a salad. Cranberry, Apple, Walnut Grilled Chicken Salad pretty much had everything I like in there. Cranbrry added sweetness, walnut added crunch, apple added both sweetness and crunch, and my favorite cheese, FETA! I really really like this salad!
Lucca Cafe
6507 Quail Hill Parkway
Irvine, CA 92603
(949) 725-1773
http://www.luccacafe.net
A few restaurants has extended their OC Restaurant Week special to March 13. After looking over the lunch menus of these restaurants, Dr. P and I both liked Lucca Cafe’s $15 three course lunch menu. Off we went for a relaxing Sunday Italian lunch!
Why are all the shopping plazas in Irvine so big? We found Lucca Cafe inside this giant plaza after circling around it. It was a gloomy Sunday. It was supposed to rain I think.
Daphne’s Greek Cafe
2360 Park Ave #9H
Tustin, CA 92782
(714) 258-8867
http://www.daphnesgreekcafe.com
We got takeout from Daphne’s Greek Cafe for lunch. Dr. P wanted to get the $9.99 3 course special like last time, but they told us that special is only available after 4pm. How funny! Most place have cheaper lunch special, but this place has a cheaper dinner special. I guess their business is better during lunch hour than night time.
Pita Burger & Fries ($3.99)
I got a pita burger with spicy feta and a side of fries. This combo is only $3.99 with coupon. What a great deal!
K’ya Bistro & Bar
1287 S Coast Hwy
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
(949) 376-9718
http:/www.kyarestaurant.com/laguna/index_laguna.html
On Wednesday, I finish my class around 6:20pm. I am usually tired and hungry by the time I get home around 7pm. So we decided to make Wednesday our going out to eat date night. Since it is OC Restaurant Week, I went online to find a participating restaurant. I started by looking at the cheapest option, $20 for dinner. I saw K’ya Bistro & Bar’s menu, and immediately made a reservation.
K’ya Bistro & Bar is located inside La Casa del Camino Hotel. It’s on Coast Highway right by the beach. We found free street parking without any problem.
Cafe Terrace
20651 Golden Springs Dr
Walnut, CA 91789
(909) 598-1333
http://www.visitcafeterrace.com
I was somewhat disappointed about the dining options near my school, and thought I would explore around the area a little more for some better choices. I did a quick search on Yelp, typing in restaurant and the city Walnut. Cafe Terrace came up as #1 on the list. I had about 2 hour break between my classes yesterday. Perfect time to try this sandwich place.
Cafe Terrace is tucked away in a little plaza at the corner. The cafe is owned by a Korean family, with the mom as the cook, and the son works at the counter. Both of them are super nice and friendly. The son, Andrew, introduced himself when I was ordering. When I was sitting there, I noticed that he knew all the customers’ names. That was pretty amazing. I gave them 100 points for excellent service!
Upper House Boba Tea Shop
1263 N Grand Ave
Walnut, CA 91789
(909) 595-2827
Tuesday is now my least favorite day of the week. I tried to cram all my classes into 2 days so I only have to drive to school twice a week. But that also means I have full day classes for 2 days. I have two classes with labs on Tuesday that go from 9am to 9pm. Yesterday for my morning class, we had 5 hours lecture with 10 minutes break, then we had lab for 2 hours. It was a super long class. By the time I got out, I was starving, and only had 1 hour to eat before my next class started. So I went across street to search for something fast to eat.
I passed by Upper House and saw that they offered a daily special bento with a drink for $4.99. Sounds like a good deal to me. Upper House is boba tea shop that also offers simple Taiwanese food. I placed my order at the counter. This is a cash only place. I thought most boba tea house offers free wi-fi, but not at this place. But they have a bookshelf filled with Chinese comic books and magazine.
Yongsusan
龍水山
950 S Vermont Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90006
(213) 388-3042
http://www.yongsusan.co.kr/default_en.asp
It was Dr. P’s mom’s birthday, and Dr. P was thinking about taking Mrs. P out for a nice dinner. I immediately thought of Yongsusan. Dr. P and I went there about two years ago. We really enjoyed the food at this high-end Korean restaurant. Dr. P thought it was a great idea. Last night we went with Mrs. P, Dr. P’s brother and his girlfriend to Yongsusan for a birthday dinner.
Soft Creamy Porridge
Last time Dr. P and I ordered the $45.99 Royal court Table D’Hote (The price has gone up to $48.99 now). It was way too much food. This time we ordered the Special Table D’Hote for $39.99/person. The dinner set has 16 courses! The meal started with soft creamy porridge. I think this was either made with pumpkin or squash. The creamy porridge was made with sticky rice, and it tasted like slightly sweet warm sticky mochi soup. I like it!
Souplantation
2825 Main St
Irvine, CA 92614-5901
(949) 474-8682
http://www.souplantation.com
On my way driving home after class, I was craving for salad. Guess I had too much all you can eat Korean BBQ meat during lunch. I thought about stopping by Corner Bakery Cafe to get a salad and a cup of coffee. That would cost about $10. Then I remember I had Souplantation coupons at home. All you can eat salad for 2 plus 2 drinks would be about $15 with the coupon. So I called up Dr. P and asked him out for a salad date.
Salad
I got a big plate of salad. I read in a book that when eating vegetables, always go for “colors”. So I tried to add all the vegetables with different colors. Green, red, white, yellow, orange, and black. I think I got all colors. Yum! Love the fresh veggies at Souplantation.
