The number one question that I am always asked is: “What is
your favorite restaurant?” I think that is a question that every food writer
and food blogger is asked. It is both the simplest and most difficult question
to answer. In a year, we try so many restaurants, new and existing, and there are
so many variables from seasonality to cuisine to the passion of each chef as
they bring each dish to life. Each year I write blog posts and film YouTube
videos so you, my readers and viewers, can experience what I experience. I hope
that you will take in the experience and be adventurous on your next dining/travel
experience. I still can’t definitively answer THE QUESTION, but I can tell you
that there are SO many great places out in the world to experience.
Here are my TOP 10 Best Bites of 2017 (click on the link to
see the original blog post):
This post was sponsored by OC Bus but the opinions expressed here
are my own.
Although I’ve
been a Southern California resident for over 40 years, I have never ridden on
our local transportation system (except for the Monorail and the Disneyland
Railroad). OC Bus has made the way we commute around Orange County so much
better. They have made so many resources, like an easy-to-navigate website
offering real-time arrivals, different pass options, and now a mobile app.
Whether you are commuting to work, running errands, or planning a day of fun,
OC Bus is a great transportation option.
Never been on
the OC Bus? Enter to receive 2 free day passes from OC Bus.
Already
riding the OC Bus? Enter to win a 30-day pass!
The nearest route for me is 38, which runs from Anaheim Hills Festival (a center
with lots of shopping and restaurant options) to Lakewood (Del Amo Boulevard
and Pioneer Boulevard). For Orange County, this route travels along La Palma
Avenue. For those of us who drive, we sometime miss places that we pass on a
freeway or while just concentrating on the traffic around you. But, if you are
riding on the OC Bus, you see places that are new or just forgot about since it
is not on your normal route. La Palma Avenue is one of these streets that has a
lot of hidden adventures waiting to be had.
We planned our route to start on one of the earliest buses heading
west. Our first stop was on Beach Boulevard and La Palma Avenue. Can you guess
where we are going? There are actually many places to go near that
intersection: Knott’s Berry Farm, Soak City, Medieval Times Dinner &
Tournament, Pirates Dinner Adventure, Rock and Brews, and Teatro Martini. If
you guessed Knott’s Berry Farm, you are correct but we were not going into the
park. On the weekends, Mrs.
Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant is open for breakfast. When the
hubby and I were dating back in the 1990s, one of our favorite restaurants was
Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant. The restaurant has been recently
renovated and looks like a rustic home in the country. And yes, there is
chicken on the menu for breakfast. Fried Chicken Filet and Eggs in Nest is
definitely a breakfast food find. And it was absolutely amazing! The chicken
filet was fried to perfection like chicken katsu, crispy on the outside and
juicy and tender on the inside. My sunny side up eggs were served up “toad in
the whole”-style. The breakfast comes with their famous buttermilk biscuits,
butter, and boysenberry jam.
After breakfast, it was time to start heading back east towards
Buena Park Downtown (formerly the Buena Park Mall). You can wait for the next
bus or you can leisurely walk a couple blocks along La Palma Avenue. On the
southeast corner of La Palma and Stanton Avenue is Buena Park Downtown. On
Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Buena Park
Farmers’ Market has a variety of farm-fresh Certified California
Grown fruits and vegetables, local food artisans, arts, crafts, jewelry, and
live music. I love strolling through a farmers’ market to see what fresh
produce is in season and check out new food vendors. The food find here was Parmigiano
Reggiano Spread. Their cheese spread was amazing, but the amazing
different accoutrements like olive tapenades and other Mediterranean-inspired
flavors just blew my mind. They would be great as a dip, added to salads,
spreading on sandwiches, etc.
Buena Park Downtown has a great selection of restaurants. One of
them in particular brings back food memories for me. Portillo’s is an
iconic-Chicago eatery with only two locations in California, one in Buena Park
and the other in Moreno Valley. But, if you love Chicago eats like I do, you’ll
love Portillo’s. Chicago’s iconic foods are deep-dish pizzas, Italian beef
sandwiches, and hot dogs. Portillo’s has two of them. Italian Beef Sandwich is
made with slow-roasted beef served on freshly baked Turano French bread. Best,
and messiest, way to have it is “dipped”. The whole sandwich, bread and all, is
dipped into their famous gravy. Add peppers and/or hot giardiniera peppers for
acidic and spicy notes. Portillo’s is also known for their hot dogs. We call
them Chicago dogs, but they just call them Jumbo Hot Dogs served on a poppy
seed bun and topped with mustard, relish, celery salt, chopped onions, sliced
tomatoes, kosher pickle, and sport peppers. It may seem like a wacky creation, but
it’s iconic flavor has people coming in droves just for a bite of one.
After filling our tummies with yummies, it was time to catch a
ride on the OC Bus to our next stop in Anaheim. Craft breweries have been
popping up all around the country. Beer connoisseurs will plan their vacations
around visiting breweries and locals flock to their favorites for happy hour or
a fun time on the weekend. Bottle
Logic Brewing is one of these fan favorites! You’ll see in the video
how busy they are on Saturdays. A great way to try a brewery’s beer is with a
flight. Bottle Logic has a flight called “The Constants” which profiles 5 beers
that are pretty much available year-round. They have a lot of seasonal and
hyper-seasonal beers as well. The Autumn 2017 flight includes (714) Blond
(Blond Ale), Lagerithm (American Dark Lager), Cobaltic Porter (Baltic Style
Porter), Odyssey of Oddities (Chai Porter), and Haze Maze Cave (East Coast
Style IPA).
This is just one food+drink adventure that you can partake in at
your leisure or make up your own while using the route maps on ocbus.com.
Choose your next adventure! OC Bus is also an easy and budget-friendly way to
make your daily commute. Let OC Bus doing the driving for a relaxing commute.
The cookbook in this post was provided by Derek Kurisu but the
opinions expressed here are my own.
I am very
lucky to have parents who know how to cook. For my grandparents’ generation, it
was very different. Women took care of the household duties like cooking,
laundry, chores, taking care of the kids, and such. Men went to work and
expected a meal on the table when they came home from work. When my grandma
passed away, my grandpa was lost on what to do on the household side and most
of all, how to cook for himself. Yes, you can go out and pick up food, but it’s
always good to know some basics.
When Derek
Kurisu gave me his cookbook, No-Sweat
Cooking!, I immediately thought of my grandpa. He would have loved this
cookbook because the recipes are simple, not a lot of ingredients, and you
don’t have to have any culinary skills or techniques to make them. Derek and
George Yoshida are culinary stars from KTA Super Store’s Seniors Living in Paradiseon Ocean Time
Warner Cable channel 27.
Corn Flake Chicken is a baked dish and has only 4 ingredients:
chicken thighs, garlic salt, mayonnaise, and Kellogg’s Corn Flakes Crumbs. This
recipe is so easy and the chicken is tender and juicy. The outside is crispy and
so tasty. Here on the mainland, I couldn’t find Kellogg’s Corn Flakes Crumbs in
our local stores, but you can easily make your own by putting corn flakes in a
resealable bag. Seal it tight and use a rolling pin or food mallet and pound
away to make the crumbs. Rating: 5/5
Spam and Chinese Peas is a quick and easy stir-fry dish that only
has 5 ingredients: Spam, Chinese sweet peas, shoyu, sugar, and salt. Most of
the prep time is cutting up the Spam and taking the strings off the peas. Once
all the prep is done, it cooks in minutes. Just get a pot of sticky rice going
first so it’s ready at the same time. Rating: 5/5
No-Sweat Miso Salmon is another quick dish that only has 5
ingredients: salmon or butterfish fillet, ginger, sugar, sake, and miso. This
is a good one to prepare the night before or morning of so the marinade really
gets into the fish, but an hour works too. Fry da buggah up and eat with sticky
rice! Rating: 5/5
Local Hawaiian food can be quick and easy with No-Sweat Cooking!
For more information:
No-Sweat
Cooking by George Yoshida and Derek Kurisu
