Tavern Bowl Yelp Event

Last night, D and I had the opportunity to go to a Yelp for a Cause event at Tavern Bowl in Costa Mesa.  There was a suggested donation of $10 per person for the Make a Wish Foundation.  It was a really fun event, and I hope we are able to go to more in the future.

The night started out a bit confusing due to the parking situation.  There was free valet parking, but we must have entered the parking garage the wrong way, because we ended up at the valet station for the 24 Hour Fitness club at the bottom of the building.  (Can you imagine using a valet just to work out??)  We eventually found our way and stood in line with fellow Yelpers before the event opened up.

The venue was nice…definitely not your typical bowling alley.

We didn’t bowl, but we found a nice private booth for the two of us.  We each received two drink tickets, but I stuck with my diet Coke.  I think D made someone’s night when he gave a couple of our tickets away.  There were passed appetizers throughout the night, including:

Chicken wings—nice and meaty, including Buffalo and Korean-style.

Macaroni and cheese with pulled pork.  Really good, but filling.

Lobster roll, also good.  There were also various sliders, all of which were good with the exception of the vegetarian one made of beets.  That one was just too mushy for our taste.

Fish taco.  We missed out on the beef taco, but we were too full at that point anyway.  There was also flatbread pizza, not pictured. 

For dessert there were chocolate dipped strawberries and various cookies.  We almost missed out on the butterscotch crème brulee, but I asked a waitress if there were anymore, and she kindly found the last one back in the kitchen and brought it out to us. 

D and I probably wouldn’t go bowling here with the kids, but the venue would be perfect for a corporate event.  We were quite impressed by the quality of the food, which is something you do not typically expect when bowling. 

Date Night @ SOCO

On Tuesday night, D and I were able to have date night on a weeknight, which is a rare occurrence for us.

No, we were not furniture shopping.  As a kickoff to its outdoor movie series, SOCO offered tickets for a free pizza from Urban Pie. 

D chose the Merguez sausage and I tried the Banh mi.  The crust on both was so good, and the toppings were definitely interesting.

It was a nice night to be out and about.

We skipped Portola and instead stopped by at 85 degrees for a post-dinner treat of sea salt iced coffee and some pastries.

Pauley Pavilion

D and I have not had “date night” in a while, so when D was offered tickets to the Cal v. UCLA game, we jumped at the opportunity.  The game started at 5 p.m., so we left early to beat the traffic and ate an early dinner.  One of D’s colleagues who knows we like “cheap eats” recommended that we eat at Gushi, so that is what we did. 

It is definitely a hole-in-the-wall place.  The patio is basically on Galey Ave., and it is super-loud with motorcycles revving their engines, and screeching tires. 

We shared a Combo Plate, which comes with a drink for $11.  It was quite a lot of food!  We reminisced about Steve’s Place in Berkeley, which was also known for large quantities of Korean BBQ.  Being around colleges always reminds me of my own college experience. 

We gobbled down our food and walked quickly to Pauley Pavilion.  It is a very nice facility and so convenient since it is in the middle of the campus.  The game was a disappointment since Cal lost, and actually was never in the lead.  At times, UCLA was up by a lot, but Cal did make a mini-comeback which at least made it somewhat interesting.  One highlight of the half-time show is that we saw a guy win a free Kaplan course by shooting a lay-up, free throw shot, three point shot and a half-court shot all within thirty seconds!  I like how basketball games are so short in comparison to football games.  We were home by 8 p.m., just in time for me to record the Grammy’s (since I forgot to set our Tivo). 

Mediterranean Food Date Nights

My sister and I swap babysitting duties once a month so we can have date night every other month.  This past weekend was our turn to go out, so we ended up at Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill.  Believe it or not, we did not have a coupon, but we shared an entrée (steak shwarma, side of falafel and drink for $11, and it was enough.

People liken it to Chipotle, since you pick a protein, and then whether you want it in a wrap, salad or plate.  I liked how it comes with all of the sides—hummus, baba ganoush, tabbouleh, plus a garlic sauce, tzatziki, etc.  Everything tasted fresh and the flavors all melded well.  We tried to go to the Solar Decathlon afterwards, but they had already closed the gates so we ended up shopping at Trader Joe’s.

Going there reminded me of our undocumented date night back in August, when we also chose a Mediterranean/Greek place, Luna Grill.  I guess we lean towards Mediterranean because it is not the kids’ favorite type of food.  Luna Grill is in the Spectrum.

That’s one full parking lot!

At this restaurant, we had a BOGO coupon from a booklet provided by the Irvine Company.  This place is also quite good.  The atmosphere is a notch above Garbanzo Grill, too.

Afterward, my curiosity got the best of me and wanted to try a piece of Dragon’s Beard candy from a cart by the merry-go-round.  There’s a young Asian guy listening to music with his ear buds that makes this delicate candy to order for $1 a piece. 

This is the Oreo flavor.  Not very appetizing, I know.  Kind of looks like bug larvae or something.  It was interesting, but will probably be one of those “one time things” for us.

Yelp Monster Mash

Last week, D and I went to our first Yelp event.  The Halloween-themed event was held at the Anaheim Garden Walk.  I think the last time we were there was for Taste of Anaheim.  Kids were not allowed, so they slept over at Baba and Zaza’s house!

The event was supposed to start at 7 p.m., but we arrived by 6:30.  This turned out to be a good thing, because we were able to go to all of the booths within about 45 minutes.  By 7:45, the lines were WAY longer. 

I know, my pictures of that night are pretty bad.  Let’s just say it is not easy to take pictures in the dark while handling multiple plates of small food.  Some highlights were the Avocado burger from Slater’s 50/50, Reese’s Italian ice/frozen custard from Confetti’s and lobster mac and cheese from House of Big Fish and Cold Beer.  There was a good amount of food—we were full, but did not feel overly stuffed/gross at the end.  The event was free with an option to donate to Make a Wish Foundation.  Good food for a good cause.  I’m glad we had the opportunity to participate.     

Wolf and Sub-Zero Showroom Demo

Last week D and I enjoyed a date night at the Wolf and Sub-Zero demonstration kitchen in Costa Mesa.  You can sign up online for a lunch or dinner demo, and the best part, it is free!  I was tipped off on this experience by one of k’s friend’s mom. 

Chef Chris was very talented and quite knowledgeable about everything from food (of course) to English to literature to history to science.  D and I sat in the front so we had a nice view of all of the appliances at work. 

We learned about the convection/steam oven, induction stove, French cooktop and griddle.  On to the food…

Fresh Heirloom Tomato Pasta:

This tasted so light and fresh.  D loved the heirloom tomatoes.  The bread was homemade in the steam oven—perfect crust.

Wild King Salmon With Champagne Vinaigrette and Chives with Summer Vegetable Sofrito:

Also quite delicious! 

Dessert was Yellow Peaches in Lavender.  This one didn’t photograph too well (the cream just melted into a puddle due to the hot peaches) but the lavender was an interesting flavor combination.  We also had coffee to go with our dessert.

The showroom itself is also quite impressive. 

This refrigerator was crazy huge!

D liked this one, but I think it would only look nice if you only stored drinks in it! 

Date Night @ The Lost Bean

Last week I got sick and it really wiped me out.  That partially explains the lack of blogging ‘round these parts. 

One outing I meant to blog about a while back was when D and I went to The Lost Bean in Tustin.  Back in our dating days, we hung out at cafes/bookstores a LOT.  Back then, we usually had studying to do.  I cannot even tell you how nice it is to just be able to read books/magazines without worrying about studying. 

This was our first time visiting this café.  The seating area was smaller than I imagined, I think because they recently cordoned off half of the space to The Lost Vine, a wine bar. 

We ordered a raspberry mocha, which you can’t really see due to the whipped cream.  It was a Valentine’s Day special, and not overly sweet.  It was a nice space for conversation, a little dim for reading.

Outside, there was a cute display of the shopping center, including the Lost Bean!  D really wants to try Christakis, a Greek restaurant in the center, someday. 

Cheerios & Les Miserables

You may be wondering what one has to do with the other.  Specially marked boxes of General Mills cereal are now offering free movie tickets with purchase of two boxes.  That is a pretty good deal considering the cost of movies these days.  D and I rarely see movies in the theater.  The last movie we saw in the theater was The Lorax, through Mazda, and the one before that was Moneyball, I believe.  When I was provided with movie tickets through MyBlogSpark by General Mills, I knew I wanted to use them to see Les Miserables.  D wasn’t as keen on the idea, (mostly because it is so long, and he doesn’t do long movies in the theater) but he ended up enjoying it too.  It is such a haunting, epic movie…I still think about it sometimes.  It definitely left an impression on me, even more than the stage production. 

But, back to the cereal.  Cheerios has been a staple in our house since before k and n were babies.  It is the perfect easy go-to breakfast and take along snack. Sometimes I mix them up with other flavors, such as Honey Nut, so there is just a touch of sweetness.

Disclosure: The information, products and General Mills gift pack were provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.

Date Night @ The Boiling Crab

D and I are very strategic when deciding where to go for our date nights.  We try to eat go to restaurants the kids would not necessarily enjoy and/or would be less enjoyable if they were with us.  I would say The Boiling Crab meets both of these criteria.  We went to the one in the South Coast/Santa Ana area which is new and spacious—no wait at 5 p.m. (I’ve heard there are really long waits at the Garden Grove locations).

We ordered 1 lb. of shrimp (whole shebang-style, medium) for $8.99.  I thought that was a really good deal considering that shrimp is so expensive at the supermarket.  The waitress plops a plastic bag on your butcher paper-covered table and you can go to town—no plates or cutlery here.  Peel the shrimp, give it a squeeze of lime juice, dip it back in the bag to soak up more sauce—yum!

The messy aftermath.

We also ordered a basket of fried catfish and fries.  It is a large portion—this picture was taken after we had already eaten two pieces.  We ended up taking some leftovers home.  I liked the light cornmeal batter.  This was $9.99, in case anyone is interested.

We also ordered a cob of corn to add to our shrimp bag—we need our veggies, right?
As you can see in the background, the atmosphere is Bubba-Gumpish.  A nice big sink in the middle of the restaurant would be nice.  The tiny wet naps they gave us at the end just didn’t cut it.  Since we had leftovers, we didn’t want to extend our date night too much longer.  We made a quick stop into Barnes & Noble to look for some sort of Olympics guide/magazine, but they weren’t in stock yet!  Meanwhile, we’ve been preparing for our Olympics-watching festivities, but more on that later. 

Captain America @ The Great Park

This past Saturday D and I had date night to watch Captain America at The Great Park.  In preparation for watching The Avengers, we have watched Ironman, Thor, and now Captain America.  I believe the park has hosted summer movies for the past couple of years, but this was our first time, so we did not know what to expect.  The website said the movie started at “dusk” which I was not sure about.  Turns out it was about 8:20 p.m.  Since the movie was two hours, this put us way past our regular bedtime, but it was a lot of fun and I would do it again.
We brought takeout from Zon Baguettes.  We haven’t been there in a while, but I think they changed owners (they are also expanding into the space next door).  I thought the grilled chicken sandwiches were better than before (more veggies, less weird mayo).  The spring rolls were also really good (with peanut sauce, since the kids weren’t with us) and the Vietnamese iced coffee was strong!  We arrived at 5:30 p.m., and there were only a few people there.  We set up our Tommy Bahama chairs in the back of the first section. 

The screen is inflatable.  We watched them set it up.



There were signs that said that the middle front section is reserved for those on blankets and low-backed chairs.
    
I guess someone did not get the memo.