Bruxie Gourmet Waffle Sandwiches

Bruxie Gourmet Waffle Sandwiches
 Rancho Santa Margarita 22205 El Paseo, Suite A RSM, CA 92688 Open Daily Breakfast - Lunch - Dinner 949.207.6570

Brea Downtown 215 W. Birch Street Brea, CA 92821 9am - 9pm Sun - Wed 9am - 10pm Thur - Sat 714.255.1188

Old Towne Orange 292 North Glassell Street Orange, CA 92866 9am - 9pm Sun - Wed 9am - 10pm Thur - Sat 714.633.3900

www.bruxie.com  If you live in Orange County and you haven't yet heard of Bruxie Waffles, you're probably living under a rock.  Bruxie opened their first shop near the Orange Circle about 18 months ago.  Since then, they have expanded to three locations due to their extreme popularity.  In addition to their original location in Orange, they now have locations in Brea and Rancho Santa Margarita.

For those of you that are uninitiated to the waffle sandwich, the concept may sound a little weird, but I assure you that it is good.  Bruxie offers a variety of gourmet sandwiches, but uses freshly made waffles instead of the standard bread.  The sandwiches are inspired by the common street food in Brussels.  The light, airy, crispy waffles take a boring old sandwich and turn it into a culinary delight. 

I was recently able to attend that grand opening celebration of the Bruxie Waffles in Rancho Santa Margarita.  I was able to sample a wide variety of their sandwiches including:





Chicken and Waffles with Maple Syrup $7.95

Hot Pastrami $7.95

Turkey Avocado Club $8.95

Philly Cheesesteak

Roasted Mushroom and Goat Cheese $7.95

Green Eggs and Ham $6.95

Patty Melt

Lemon Cream and Berries (Very Tart! $6.50)

S'mores ($5.95)

Seasonal Creme Brulee ($6.50)


Overall, the fan favorite for the night seemed to be the Hot Pastrami. Shaved Boar's Head pastrami is served hot with Gruyere cheese, cider slaw, spicy brown mustard and half-sour pickles. The flavors all work together well to bring forth an amazing hot pastrami sandwich. Bruxie also offers a selection of frozen custards and old fashioned cane-sugar sodas. You won't find and Pepsi or Coke here. The next time you're out looking for a sandwich, I highly recommend that you stop by your closest Bruxie for a taste experience that you won't soon forget.

Taps Fish House & Brewery Brunch - Brea

Taps Fish House and Brewery
101 E. Imperial Hwy
Brea, CA 92821
Reservations: 714-257-0101
www.tapsfishhouse.com

I was lucky enough to recently try the Sunday brunch at Taps Fish House and Brewery in Brea. This was one of those brunches that I had always meant to try, but never got around to. I don't know what took me so long. Taps Fish House has an enormous buffet style Sunday brunch. The price for brunch is $35.99 and it is served from 9:30 AM-2:30 PM. On an average Sunday, the restaurant serves about 750 people for brunch. On a holiday, they serve around 1,000. The brunch spread boasts over 100 items and includes your choice of two beers or unlimited champagne and mimosas. In addition to the buffet, there are also some made-to-order items included with the brunch that you can get from the kitchen, such as omelettes and breakfast burritos. Below are some photos I took of the buffet. "Chilled" Seafood Mediterranean Station Roast Beef Carving Station Eggs Benedict House Made Cinnamon Rolls House Special Omelette Beignets $1 extra for 7 My First Plate Overall I was very impressed with the variety and selection of food items offered. You will find a variety of breakfast and lunch favorites, cold and hot seafood, soups, salads, desserts and more. My only concern was that the "chilled" seafood wasn't really that cold. I would call it more "room temperature" seafood. Also, in my opinion, you're better off skipping the extra $1 beignets and opting for the included dessert buffet. Overall, it was a fantastic brunch spread. I look forward to visiting again soon.

La Vie En Rose - Brea

240 S. State College Blvd.
Brea, CA 92821

714-529-8333

www.lavnrose.com

I was looking for a place to go for dinner on New Year's Eve. I wanted to go to a place I had never been before. I was looking around the internet and stumbled upon La Vie en Rose in Brea. I had been wanting to try this place for years. Since I'm also a big fan of French food, this seemed like the perfect choice. I booked a reservation for 5 people at 7:00 PM a few weeks in advance with no problem.

We arrived at La Vie en Rose and it looked beautiful. The restaurant was built to resemble an old fashioned French farmhouse. The restaurant was elegantly decorated with tons of Christmas decorations. I was a little sad that there wasn't a single "New Year's" decoration though. We arrived about 30 minutes early since there wasn't any traffic. Luckily they were still able to seat us a few minutes after we arrived.

We looked over the menu and saw that they offer both a 3 course Prix Fixe (Price Fixed) menu for $39.75 as well as an a la carte menu. They also have a very reasonably priced wine list. Myself, S and R decided to go with the Prix Fixe meal while V and J ordered a la carte. V ordered one of the nightly specials which was Mahi Mahi covered in an orange beurre blanc sauce (Sorry, can't remember the price). J decided on the Medaillons de Veau Sautés, Sauce Crème aux Cepes (sauteed veal tenderloin $28.75). She also ordered a Soufflé au Grand Marnier ($11.00) at the same time because they need to be ordered 40 minutes in advance.

For the first course of our prix fixe meal, S ordered the caesar salad, R ordered the French onion soup and I ordered the gnocchi with basil and brie cream sauce. I gave my gnocchi to V though because I wasn't that hungry. V said that the gnocchi was pretty good but that it was lacking a little in flavor. J and S also tried the gnocchi and agreed that it didn't taste like much. V put some salt on it and said that it was a little better. She also said that the gnocchi was really light and fluffy. She really liked the consistency. R said that his soup was good but nothing special. He said it's about what he would expect of French onion soup. It wasn't bursting with flavor, he said, but he still enjoyed it. S said about the same thing of her caesar salad.

Caesar Salad

French Onion Soup

Gnocchi with Basil and Brie Cream Sauce

Next up were our entrees. S and I both ordered the Sautéed Beef Tournedos & Lobster Tail with Béarnaise Sauce. I was really excited because I really like lobster. I decided to take a bite of my lobster first. I tried to gingerly cut a piece off with my steak knife but quickly realized that I was going to have to actually saw through the lobster meat with a lot of force. I looked up and saw S having a hard time cutting through her lobster as well. S looks up and says to me, "This is only the second time I've ever ordered lobster. Is it usually this hard to cut through?" I assured her that it was not. The lobster was extremely overcooked so it was dense, dry and as tough as leather. It was so dry that I tried spreading some butter from the bread basket on to it in hopes that it would make it better. It didn't. I was also disappointed because the menu said "beef tounadoes," as in multiple pieces, but S and I only received one small beef tournado on our plate. The beef was surprisingly hard to cut through as well. However, when we ate the steak it was pretty tender, so that was odd.
Keep in mind that the plates at this restaurant were pretty small. Therefore, the pictures make the food look bigger than it actually was. I would estimate that the lobster tail was 2 to 3 ounces and the steak was probably no more than 3 ounces as well.

R picked the Duck Breast Sauteed with Orange Sauce as his entree choice. He thought the duck was pretty good but felt that the sauce was a little too sweet. J tried his sauce and disagreed. She thought that the sauce wasn't sweet enough. So I guess there must be another category of people that think the sweetness is just right.

V liked her fish but seemed to get sick of the sauce pretty quickly. She said that the fish was moist and tender. About halfway through the dish though, she stopped eating and said she just didn't feel like eating any more of it.

J thought that her veal tenderloin was tender and juicy. she said that the sauce that came on it was also very good. She said that the meal was very much in the traditional French style.

One of the things that I didn't like too much about this place was that every single entree served here comes with the same side dishes. They may or may not change, I'm not sure. On this particular night, the side dishes were potatoes au gratin and sauteed vegetables. Neither one of them were very good. I like it when a restaurant offers side dishes that are unique to each dish. When every dish comes with the same side dishes, it makes me envision a cafeteria style kitchen in the back where someone is just scooping out portions from a large buffet of chafing dishes.

For dessert I chose the chocolate mousse with white chocolate shavings. R decided upon the cheesecake and S chose the creme brulee with fresh berries. I thought the chocolate mousse was pretty good. It was nice and rich and had a velvety consistency. I thought there was a little too much white chocolate on top though so I dumped it out. S said that her creme brulee was good. It came with three blackberries on the bottom of it. R seemed to like his cheesecake as well. The dessert portions were pretty small as well. The creme brulee was probably 3 ounces and R just got a sliver of cheesecake.

Chocolate Mousse

Cheesecake with Raspberry Sauce

Creme Brulee

J's souffle came out and looked fantastic. The waiter punched a hole in the top and poured some sauce into it. J really liked her souffle. V tried some of the souffle as well. The portion that she got didn't have any sauce on it so she said it just tasted like hot, whipped egg whites. She got a little more with some sauce and said that it tasted a little better, but was still really eggy.

Overall, I really liked the feel and atmosphere of this place. It has a really warm, inviting feel to it. The owner was seen walking around and greeting people. He even stopped at one table and had a conversation with them in French. The food I had just wasn't that great though. I really want to like this place, because I love French food. I think I'm going to give this place another chance and hope that whatever I order is better than the lobster I had on this occassion.

Masala Bowl - Tustin

Masala Bowl® - Tustin
14311 Newport Ave.,
Tustin, CA 92780
Ph: (714) 505 BOWL

Additional Locations:

Masala Bowl® - Irvine
6628 Irvine Center Dr.
Irvine, CA 92618
Ph: (949) 453 0088

Masala Bowl® - Brea
600 S. Brea Blvd.
Brea, CA 92821
Ph: (714) 529 BOWL

www.masalabowl.com

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER!! I have now visited the Irvine location of Masala Bowl for the first time. The prices at this location are about 50% higher than the Tustin location. You also get less food and it doesn't taste as good. Their naan was overbaked to the point that it was like a cracker. Avoid this location! I will only go to the Tustin location from now on!


Masala Bowl is one of the few fast food Indian places in Orange County. I also believe it is one of the best. Masala bowl makes fresh fast Indian food at an incredibly affordable price.

I visited Masala Bowl in Tustin a few nights ago with my standard party of four. This was not a first for any of us. All of us actually eat at Masala Bowl quite often and we all love the food there.

At Masala Bowl you order at the counter and they will either bring the food to your table or package it up to go. The Tustin location is very small with only three or four tables. I heard that the Irvine location is bigger, but I haven't been to that location. For the main meals on the menu, you choose your main ingredient and then you choose your style of cooking. Main ingredients include vegetable, potatoes, paneer (Indian cheese), chicken, lamb and shrimp. They have 7 different signature curry flavors ranging from mild to spicy.

I decided to order the Chicken Tikka Masala ($5.99). This was my first time trying this dish here, I usually get the Andhra Masala. I asked them to make my Tikka Masala extra spicy. My wife got the Paneer Andhra Masala ($5.99), Isabel got the Potato Andhra Masala ($5.99) and Tim decided to get the Chicken Tikka Masala as well. Tim decided to be a pansy though and just ordered his food "medium spicy."

Since we were using another Restaurant.com gift certificate and needed to order more food to meet the minimum, we decided to feast like kings. We ordered three orders of Samosa Bites ($0.99 each), an order of Raita ($0.99) and six orders of Naan ($1.49 each).

After we placed our order, we moseyed on over to their "salsa bar." Yes, I know that "salsa" is Mexican, but I don't know what else to call it. Condiment bar maybe.... Anyway... They have various sauces, onion, cilantro (I think) and lemons. I don't really know all the sauces are called. We all seemed to like the green sauce though. It's spicy and I think it tastes like there is cilantro in it.

We sat down at the table and waited for our feast to be prepared. Since everything at Masala Bowl is made fresh and to order, not scooped out of a chafing dish, it takes a little while to prepare. After about ten minutes our food was ready.

The Samosa Bites were four little fried triangles of yumminess per order. They are stuffed with a slightly spicy mixture of potato and seasonings. The Raita, a yogurt made with spices, onion and cucumber was also very good. It's good for cooling down your mouth if you've eaten too much spicy food.


Our Naan was served fresh and hot. Even though Naan is a basic really plain flatbread, it always seems to be our favorite part of the meal.

I tried my Chicken Tikka Masala. Chicken Tikka Masala is chicken in a creamy tomato based sauce seasoned with Indian herbs and spices. Since Tikka Masala is not usually a spicy dish, I ordered mine extra spicy, but sadly it was still not that spicy. The tomato flavor was the dominant flavor in this dish to the point that I think it was underseasoned. It kinda just tasted like chicken in tomato soup. I should have stuck with the Andhra Masala that I usually get here. The meals here are served with basmati rice and salad. The salad here is really good. It's kind of like an Indian coleslaw that is slightly spicy.

My wife and Isabel, as always, really enjoyed their Andhra Masala. Andhra Masala is Masala Bowl's spiciest dish. It's made with hot chiles and Indian herbs and spices. It's full of flavor and usually spicy enough to make you sweat a little.

I really enjoy eating at Masala Bowl and I hope they continue to expand. The food here is fantastic for the price and it makes it so much easier to get Indian food on a whim.

Tacos & Co. Irvine

www.tacosnco.com

University Park Center
Culver & Michelson
949-653-8081

Alternate Locations

Tacos & Co. Brea
Brea Mall Food Court
714-255-8301

Tacos & Co. Santa Ana
Across the street from South Coast Plaza
714-549-9974

Tacos & Co. Westminster
Westminster Mall Food Court
Bolsa & Goldenwest
714-373-2257

Tacos & Co. Newport Beach
Bristol & Jamboree
949-955-1136


The mastermind behind the Orange County Mexican Food blog got an invitation to sample some of the culinary delights down at the Tacos & Co. in Irvine. They told him he could bring a guest. I was that lucky guest.

Tacos & Co. is not your typical fast foot Mexican joint. The owner, Francisco, started as a cook at La Salsa. He quickly moved up the ranks and was eventually the district manager for the entire region. He wanted more though. He wanted a place that he could call his own. Thus, Tacos & Co. was born. The first Tacos & Co. opened up in the food court of Westminster mall. Over the years, Francisco has built his business up to 5 great locations. One of the keys to Francisco's success is his involvement in the needs and wants of his customers. He is always listening to customer comments and evolving his restaurant to make sure that it pleases as many people as possible. Francisco is also very involved in the communities in which he operates. He runs a variety of local promotions and fundraisers. One of his most popular promotions is the student discount. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, college students with a student ID can get meals at any Tacos & Co. location for 50% off with the purchase of a drink. High School students get the same treatment on Fridays. (High school kids must be accompanied by an adult) Lastly, everything is made fresh here except the tortillas. The meat, the beans, the salsa, the chips and more are all prepared fresh everyday. This makes a huge difference. You can definitely taste the freshness in the food.

Now on to the food....

We arrived at the restaurant around 1:00. Francisco welcomed us and told us to grab a seat. He told us that the chef would take care of us. The chef came out to greet us and offered us a drink. I decided to go for an horchata. After we received our drinks, we were presented with plate after plate of beautifully prepared food.

The first to arrive was their chips and salsa. They have five different kinds of salsa here (We only got 4 on the plate), ranging from mild to super hot. They even have a green tomatillo based salsa. They were all very good, however I didn't think the "super hot" was very hot at all.

Next to arrive was their ceviche. They have both shrimp and fish ceviche here. They were both very good, though my favorite was the shrimp. The lemony flavor in the shrimp ceviche was very strong. I added a little bit of Tapatio to cut the strength of the lemon a little bit and it was absolutely fantastic. I could have eaten an entire lunch of this.

Next to arrive were the tacos. 2 plates of tacos were placed before us. One plate contained a carnitas and an al pastor taco. The other plate had a chicken and a carne asada taco. My fellow food blogger chose the plate with the carnitas and al pastor, so I had the chicken and the steak. The meat on both tacos tasted fresh and lean and seemed to be grilled perfectly. They were served "California" style with cheese, lettuce and tomatoes. However, for those of you that prefer a more traditional Mexican style, they will be happy to prepare your tacos for you with cilantro and onion instead. This goes back to Francisco trying to make sure that everyone is happy and can get what they want in his restaurant.

Up next were enchiladas. A plate with a red and green enchilada was placed before us. A drizzle of delicious sour cream on top of each one. We received cheese enchiladas and I know that they also offer chicken enchiladas. I'm not sure if enchiladas are available with any other meat, but I'm sure they wouldn't have a problem making it for you upon request.

Up next were two different burritos. One with steak and one with chicken. They offer a variety of burritos here. Their largest burrito, the "Bad Boy" comes with half a pound of meat, lettuce avocado cheese and salsa. Their various burrito are stuffed with such items as guacamole, sour cream, piquin sauce, tomatillio sauce and more.

Next we were served a plate of rice and beans. They offer both black and pinto beans here. They also offer white rice in addition to their mexican rice for those of you looking to eat a little healthier.

By this time, our bellies were more than full. The focus of this place seems to be fresh food, made daily. The food here is so popular, they offer giant family packs as well as catering. Francisco tells me that they do lots of weddings. To finish up this post, I will add a few more photos of the restaurant.


The Menu Board-Look for the "hidden" menu on the left for the authentic Mexican items


The Salsa Bar


Daily Specials