Yu Chun Bunsik

Yuchun Bunsik

10031 Garden Grove Blvd.

Garden Grove, CA 92844

yuchun.site.mobi/en

Yelp

I wasn't much of a foodie back in college.  Probably because any meal over $10 was kind of a lot of money back then.  I didn't really seek out the best of the best as I do now.  I think I was just discovering different kinds of cuisines and building my own palate.  One cuisine that was really new to me back then was Korean food.  My mom does not like spicy food and my dad disliked the "strange" flavors of Korean food.  Thus, it wasn't until I struck out on my own as a college kid and/or dated a Korean guy that I discovered what Korean food was really about.  It probably also helped living next to the biggest and best destination for Korean food outside of Korea, LA's very own Koreatown.  One of my very favorite Korean dishes is naengmyun, cold spicy noodles.  The best naengmyun can be found at Yu Chun Chic Naengmyun.  Nowhere else are the noodles as chewy, the sauce as perfectly balanced between salty, sweet, tangy, funky, and the pickled accoutrements as flavorful and crunchy.  My favorite part might actually be the icy chilled broth.  So I was literally over the moon when I heard there was an outpost opened in Garden Grove.  LoMa Linda and Big Head Talks-A-Lot are also Yu Chun fans so were happy to come along.

Banchan

Pretty standard fare.

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The Playground

The Playground

220 E 4th St.

Santa Ana, CA 92701

playgrounddtsa.com

Yelp

Jungle Fever has been fighting the good fight against the most unfortunate of things...cancer.  It super sucks of course, but he has been exuding a positive attitude and living life to the fullest these days.  A full life for anyone who is really living, of course, involves eating well.  Before his taste buds went all awry from chemotherapy, he planned a lovely dinner to celebrate a fun tennis season together.  We went family style at The Playground for their weekly "Sunday Supper."  The "Sunday Supper" at The Playground is an awesome deal.  For $55 (inclusive of tax and tip), you get 13 (14 if you include the cornbread) courses of anything goes food.  By the end of the night you're totally stuffed with food you're not gonna find anywhere else.  They're constantly pushing the boundaries here.  The Playground is definitely my top recommendation for any OC visitor.  Of course our team captain, Mama-Cracks-That-Whip, and Potty Pie were in attendance, as well as some others who will probably never make another appearance on this blog, so my laziness is trumping my creative nicknaming at the moment.

Fried Brussels Sprouts jalapeño caesar dressing, cotija cheese 

The Brussels sprouts at The Playground never fail to disappoint me.  They are perfect everytime.  Crispy and golden fried on the outside, still firm on the inside.  I can't stand a mushy sprout.  Their take on a Mexican caesar was very nice.  Seriously, most things on a fried brussels sprout is hard to mess up.  Great way to start the meal.

Mixed Green Salad hatch chili buttermilk dressing, walnuts, tomatoes, red onions
Mixed green salad?  Really?  Well it was a tasty one, with lots of different textures, which I always appreciate.  It was surprisingly VERY spicy.  Never had a mixed green salad so spicy.

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Juliette Kitchen & Bar

I'm always excited to find good eats in Orange County.  Non chain deliciousness can be hard to come by, so Juliette Kitchen really hit the spot.  The restaurant is in the neighboring strip mall of Nana San, so if the wait there is too long and you can switch epicurean gears from Japanese/sushi to New American/comfort food then keep this place in mind.  Fishing Zebra Man and I treated Rock Dweller and her man, Can't Hang, to their birthday dinner here.

Not sure if I'm just getting old, or work is getting too stressful sometimes, but I really look forward to a nice relaxing drink after one of those rough days.  We all have them.  Don't lie to yourself.  I'm not an alcoholic or anything, but how can this not put a smile on your face?  Moscow mules might be my new favorite go-to drink.  I'm actually wouldn't complain if this drink is made on the light side.  I enjoy the simplicity of a fizzy ginger beer served in a shiny cold cup.  If someone knows where I can find me a set of cups like this, let me know!

Roasted Brussels Sprouts fried pork belly, shallots, parsley, pomegranate molasses gastrique
Fishing Zebra Man kept bemoaning the overdoneness of these veggies.  Granted they were a tad over, I still found them to be tasty.  Maybe they were better the first time I had them, but the char, sweet, sour, salty flavors still came together nicely.

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Hakata Ikkousha

I think it's safe to say Costa Mesa is up there with Torrance and Little Tokyo as ramen house hotbeds.  Santouka, Kitakata, Ramen Yamadaya are at the top.  I'll throw Shin Sen Gumi in there, but it's technically in Fountain Valley.  Now Hakata Ikkousha can be added to that list. But at a starting price of $9 a bowl, it is sure to be the most expensive bowl in town.  Like any good Japanese restaurant, the place is frickin' small and you can expect to wait for a table.  It's not a horrendous wait (at least for me that night it wasn't), but I've heard there can be a line out the door even before the place opens for lunch.

Hakata like all the other aforementioned joints specialize in tonkotsu ramen.  Like Shin Sen Gumi, you can customize your broth and noodles.  You can also add extra toppings for few bucks here and there.  If you went to town, you could easily end up with a bowl over $30!  Lo-Ma Linda with Big Head TalksAlot's mini me in tow joined me for a first time visit here.

Table side accoutrements.  Can I say that in a Japanese restaurant?  I'm sure there's a better word for it, multiple syllables and probably ends in a vowel.  

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Pueblo

I discovered some great eats in OC while celebrating my birthday this year.  My memory card was full so I was not able to capture my experience at Juliette Kitchen, which was pretty darn good.  I was pretty bummed about that, so I made sure to be ready for Pueblo.  They are serving up modern tapas here.  Generally, I have not been impressed with Spanish cuisine, but Pueblo does it right.  Teety, Soprano Man, Can't Hang, Rock Dweller, Solarphobic, Auto Geek and his wife joined me for the second birthday dinner for 2015.

We was plenty hungry, so we hurriedly enjoyed the free bruschetta/toast appetizer.

Cheese & Charcuterie
Really great selection, which I can't really recall but its hard to dislike anything served on a wood board, slate board, cast iron skillet, or mason jar.  Am I right??

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4th Street Market

Growing up in Orange County, Santa Ana was NEVER the place to be.  In fact, it was the place you wanted to avoid if you valued your money, valuables, and safety.  My how the world, has changed.  Santa Ana is now like one of the many small pockets of hipster-dom in Orange County.  It's one of the few places you can go to eat something interesting and tasty.

The 4th Street Market, which is literally across the street from The Playground, my all-time favorite OC restaurant, is sort of like a grunge fancy food court.  What an oxymoron right?  The setting is semi-grunge, paper plates, plastic silverware, simple stalls and decor.  The food is semi-fancy as you will see.  It delivers similar food concepts as the Packing District in Anaheim, in much more manageable and intimate setting.  The same damn hipsters are teeming both locales.  Wait, I'm one of those damn hipsters!  Crap...

 

I think most of the eateries were equipped with iPads and Square receipt apps.  Bye bye are the days of cash registers.

What I love more than anything when it comes to eating is variety.  So we came well prepared, our party of 3, 4 if you include Baby Talks A Lot but she didn't really eat anything but downed some milk.  We ordered enough dishes to get a decent sampling of 4th Street Market's offerings.

Noodle Tramp
Khao Soi wagyu brisket
My time in Portland exposed me to a whole other side of Thai food.  That side includes this dish, a form of curry noodles.  It's not a dish you will find very commonly at most Thai restaurants stateside, and when you do it's probably not that good.  Excellent Thai food strikes a perfect harmony between salty, sweet, sour, spicy, and funky.  Fortunately, Jason Quinn and his Playground crew do this dish some justice, but I've had better.  Heck even the version I make is better.  I'd prefer if they amped up the funk and tempered the sweet.  I might not sure if you really can get this in Orange Country so Noodle Tramp might be your new go to spot.  While traditionally served with chicken, Noodle Tramp gives you the option for brisket which was actually a tasty twist.  The wagyu is nice but not really necessary.

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Nana San

Nana San keeps company with Ohshima, San Shi Go, and Ikko as Orange County's best sushi spots.  I've been here before for dinner omakase and was thoroughly impressed with the offering.  It's definitely the most bang for your buck compared to the other 3 places.  Lunch was no exception. Fishing Zebra Man has become my sushi compadre and will never turn me down when it comes to sushi.

Kanpachi (left)

Blue Fin Tuna (right)

Kanpachi was clean, but I've had better blue fin tuna.  I did not like the shiso of course.

Trio of Snappers red, black, goldeneye
Really great sampling.  Goldeneye was my favorite, probably because it was served with a bit of charred skin.

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North Left

Orange County is hurting for quality food that is NOT Asian and not part of a chain.  Food in OC can sometimes lack the imagination and quality that LA restaurants demonstrate.  There are exceptions of course, The Playground being my ultimate favorite spot in OC.  Maybe it's no coincidence that North Left is just a block away from The Playground.  I don't think the places are related, but the food they are churning out here is quite reminiscent of The Playground.  It is seasonal, interesting, and imaginative.  Is it the MOST interesting and imaginative food I've eaten or in OC?  Probably not, but I applaud what they are doing here.  Rock Dweller, Can't Hang, Fishing Zebra Man, and Banh Mi were down to check out this relatively new establishment to hit the Downtown Santa Ana dining scene.

Brussel Sprouts san joaquin gold, hazelnut
For once, these little guys weren't fried!  I think I might try sauteeing them in butter like they were prepared here.  The pile of white stuff is cheese, which added a sharp savory note.  Nuts and raisins added nice texture and sweetness.  Yum.

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Twenty Eight

So I first tried Top Chef finalist Shirley Chung's cooking at her pop up at The Playground 2.0.  I liked most of the food we had there, especially her hand cut noodles.  It was a pricey meal to say the least, but I like to support new talent and understand that sometimes you are paying, not just for the food, but the experience as well.  We all, Teety and Soprano Man included, have been patiently awaiting the opening of her very own restaurant in the strangest of locations, Irvine, California.  It's not in the hippest or happening part of Irvine either.  It's surrounded by offices and businesses.  I guess Shirley is trying to cater to the working crowd?  We convened here on a Friday night, but the restaurant was frankly dead.  BAD sign right?

Twice Cooked Pork Belly Buns steamed then fried, red braised pork belly, condensed milk
Soprano Man and I started out at the bar while we waited for Teety.  I was imagining the open faced white steamed buns with some thick yummy slabs of pork belly sandwiched in between, Momofuku style.  These were the actually buns like at dim sum, but deep fried which was a different twist.  The filling had an anise aroma which was another twist.  I also was not familiar with dipping these savory buns in condensed milk so I passed.  I think when dough is fried, the result should be something light and fluffy but these were too dense.  They weren't bad, but not good enough to order again.

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San Shi Go

I've said it before and I'll say it again.  Orange County has some pretty good sushi.  When Pushy & Stubborn told me his go-to sushi joint is San Shi Go, I sorta scoffed.  I had been to the location in Laguna Beach and was totally underwhelmed by their large selection of rolls and other sushi options doused in sauces.  I own up to being a snob about many things.  Don't hate.  I just like sushi in its purest form.  At this Newport outpost of San Shi Go, which is super far down the Balboa penninsula, Fishing Zebra Man and I opted for the everything omakase meaning hot dishes and sushi.

Golden Snapper yuzu kosho, lemon juice
Beautiful presentation eh?  Clean taste and clean complementary flavors.

Yagara Trumpet Fish
The chef's response to the puzzled look on my face when I was told about our next dish.

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Capital Noodle Bar

The Irvine Asian food scene continues to grow with each passing year.  New eateries are popping up here and there.  A notable addition to the Chinese offerings here is Capital Noodle Bar, which is related to Capital Seafood.  The latter is Irvine's mediocre attempt at dim sum.  Sadly, I've been here many times because, frankly there ain't much else as far as dim sum is concerned.  I've never eaten the dinner food here, but I've not heard great things.  So my expectations for the noodle bar weren't that high.  However, after a couple visits, I think it's a good little addition to Irvine if you ignore the price tag.

Fried Fish Cake

Your standard fried fish cake.  Nicely served with pickled cabbage and carrots

Juicy Pork Dumplings

Not sure why Big Head Talks-A-Lot would order this here, of all places.  Not the best, but decent.

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Ohshima

I'm coming realize that Orange Country has some pretty darn good sushi at an amazing price point.  While I've never been to LA's high end sushi places like Sushi Zo or the bang-for-your-buck joints like Hama Sushi, I have been to the ever popular Sushi Gen.  I was quite impressed with the omakase at Sushi Gen, but I was a bit miffed by the price tag.  I was kinda hungry after $75 worth of sushi.  So I've been pretty happy to find a place like Ohshima, where $50 gets you about 8 pieces of high quality sushi.  It's key to sit at the bar to enjoy the best fish because I was unimpressed with my dining room experience.  This applies to ALL sushi restaurants.  If you haven't been sitting at the bar when you eat sushi, you are doing it all wrong.  I liked that Ohshima serves many of their pieces as-is meaning, no extra soy sauce for dipping is needed.   Some people might find the put off by the nazi-like style, but I don't mind being told how to eat my food.  I guess they embody the true meaning of omakase, "to entrust."  Keep in mind, the following is a mix of 2 separate meals at Ohshima so it's more pieces than $50 will buy you.

Sea Bream
Light.  Clean.  Always a good way to start.

Blue Fin Tuna chu toro
Particularly delicious without being overly fatty and lingering on the tastebuds.

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Afters Ice Cream

I'm all over anything ice cream in OC.  I'm trying to scope out the competition for my one-day-some-day-maybe ice cream joint the in the future/in my dreams, haha.  The Yelp reviews were numerous.  Personal friends gave singing endorsements.  One night, my coworker who I'll call Fishing Zebra Man, had a rough shift at work.  So I suggested we go for some ice cream to cheer him up, killing 2 birds with one stone.  I needed someone to go here with me!  Afters merrys 2 beloved American sweets, donuts and ice cream into something they call "milky buns."  Sounds like an ingenious idea!  Why didn't anyone think of this before?

I had to stare at this crap for 30 minutes while I waited in line.  Let's just say the place doesn't win points for a sharp storefront and professional presentation.  It also didn't help being surrounded by swarms of tweeters.  God, I felt SO OLD!

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Angotei

So the next few posts are gonna be all sushi.  I guess I ate a lot of it in the month of April.  The one good thing about Orange County is the pretty decent Japanese food.  Costa Mesa has a number of good sushi restaurants.  I had been to Angotei once before and I was pretty impressed by the omakase so I took Mama H.o.P. here for her birthday.  We actually sat in front of the same sushi chef, so I dunno what was up.  Maybe the novelty wore off?  But Mama H.o.P. didn't seem all that impressed either and it was her first time.

Toro

It was a bit heavy to be starting off with toro, but it was delectable.  Not the best, but at least not that oily fishiness I've had with not so good toro.

Kanpachi
Clean and refreshing.  Probably shoulda started with this one.

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Top Chef Shirley Chung Pop Up @ The Playground 2.0

I love Top Chef.  I love watching the food, the drama, the judges and contestants talking smack.  Unlike many of the other reality shows that churn out winners that don't amount to much after the ephemeral hoopla of the win passes through the minds of fans and viewers, many Top Chef winners have gone on to establish a strong presence in the culinary world, opening their own restaurants and garnering many awards. Shirley Chung did not win this last season of Top Chef, though many, including myself, thought she was a very strong contender and maybe should have won.  She herself even admitted that she "messed up" in the finale, but overall she was very thankful for the experience on the show because it really helped her "find herself."

In any case, it set her down a path to opening her own restaurant in little ole Irvine, California called "Twenty Eight" (the age she started cooking).  Why Irvine? I wouldn't really call this city an up and coming foodie town, so I'm just as confused as you.  It would have been a good question to ask Shirley, but between showing up late (like 5-10 minutes, apparently the rest of the diners who were white and had at least 20-30 years+ on me, didn't get the memo about Asian time) and Shirley's effusive excitement, it was just a flurry of eating, snapping pictures, and trying to catch every word of her explanations and background stories for each dish.

For the whopping price of $200, we were offered a 9 course tasting menu paired with drinks and inclusive of tip.  The hefty price tag might explain why the crowd was a bit more geriatric than one would expect for such a foodie event.  Really, who could throw down that kinda change?  Apparently Teety, myself, and 15 other old people!  Soprano Man had to work, *tear face*

So we didn't get the prime seats in the middle of the counter, but we still got plenty of love and attention from Shirley and and Jason Quinn (far right, chef/owner of The Playground).

Crispy Chicken Skin + Knee devil egg aioli

I'm not a huge fan of eggs, usually in breakfast format, and I'm gonna have to throw deviled eggs in that bag too.  Cooked egg yolks has such an unpalatable flavor to me since childhood.  I'll eat deviled eggs but I'll never fully love them.  Surprisingly this wasn't too yolky and was a nice complement to the crispy skin and cartilaginous knee.  A solid way to start, even for the anti-eggies.

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Ramen Yamadaya

My quest to find a more awesome ramen joint than Santouka always disappoints.  I swear Santouka must use MSG in their broth.  It's just way too tasty.  Somehow that's where every other places seems to fall short.  The Rock Dweller accompanied me here.  Usually when we dine together, it's difficult to pay attention to the food because we are usually talking each other's heads off and get so distracted.  So it was quite out of the ordinary, when it was the food itself that was distracting me from the conversation, and not in a good way!  

Yamadaya Ramen 3 kinds of chashu, dried seaweed, egg

So the ramen here isn't actually that bad.  The noodles were pretty standard.  The broth was fatty, salty, the usual.  Definitely not as tasty as Santouka.  But man oh man, they served me old ass chasu!  Like it had that old refrigerated made who knows how many days ago "aged" taste.  It was not pleasant.

Kara-Age Chicken
The chicken wasn't old tasting fortunately.  It was actually juicy, seasoned and fried well.  Was it the best kara-age I've ever had?  No, not really, but it hit the spot.

Would I go back to Ramen Yamadaya after they served me "too many days old chasu?"  I am a forgiving eater, so probably yes, but only if someone wanted to go here.  Heck, I've been back to places where I've had food poisoning.  For the time being, let's just say good ole food court ramen at Santouka still has my heart.

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The Playground

Welcome to the first post of 2013!  I apologize for my long absence from the blogosphere.  It's not that I have lost interest in blogging or am no longer into food documentation.  I've simply NOT eaten out at any new interesting places, nor have I cooked anything new or notable.  I guess I've been in a food rut. I have also learned that when you're in a food rut, it's really easy to lose weight!  All that poppycock about diet and exercise being the key to weight loss?  No friends, just DON'T EAT and you'll lose weight.  Americans eat too much and we have no self control, plain and simple, but this is a whole other conversation for a whole other type of blog.  I'll get off my soap box now.

The holidays brought me back home to The OC, and back to some old friends Soprano Man and Teety.    Soprano Man was so kind enough to drive down from Riverside to meet up with Teety, Dumpling Man, and I in Santa Ana.  Boy was dinner such an amazing surprise since New American cuisine in OC is pretty unimpressive if not nonexistent.  I had heard they have secret foie dishes here, but after being interrogated and asked if I was a cop, the waiter told us they had no more "special bread" that night.  Maybe next time?

Brussels Sprouts baby potatoes, honey mustard vinaigrette
This was a fantastic way to start off.  Although it looks like a glistening pile of dead weeds, this was actually an intensely flavored almost warm salad of charred brussels and luscious potatoes.  The vinaigrette was so spot on.  The table was hands down in love with this dish.

Citrus Salad di steffano buratta
Everyone loves buratta, and it was fresh and creamy here.  It was an interesting pairing with the varying citrus fruits but it was no match for the deliciousness of the brussels.

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Bruxie

People are getting pretty creative with waffles these days.  Gone are the days of waffles with a drizzle of Aunt Jemima.   Bruxie in OC is one of these places reimagining this classic breakfast food into something the savory or sweet to be had at any time of the day.  The Germaphobe suggested Bruxie for lunch during our weekend-long celebration of April birthdays for The Mom and me.  It would be hard to follow up the previous night's dinner at Gjelina (no post because the lighting was terrible but the food was amazing!).   We were worried the line would be around the block for this not-quite-a-restaurant-or-food-truck/cart outpost.  It's an order-and-call-your-name place with a smattering of outdoor seating.  It was perfect for a casual lunch on a hot and sunny Sunday.

Roasted Mushroom & Goat Cheese fresh basil, arugula, balsamic reduction
HemaSh, being a vegetarian, is quite limited when she dines out.  Fortunately, Bruxie had some meat- free offerings.  The Germaphobe went 50/50 with her, as she commonly does.  They seemed to like their 2 waffle sandwiches.


Club avocado, tomato, gruyere, pesto aioli
I actually think this was supposed to be a "turkey club" that had bacon, but HemaSh and The Germaphobe must have gotten it sans.

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Shabu Shabu Bar

Orange County seems to have more tasty food options these days.  We decided to try a different shabu shabu place because we usually just go to California Shabu Shabu which typically has quite a wait, but this other spot in Santa Ana seemed pretty popular on Yelp.  It was a Saturday night but there wasn't much of a wait for a spot at the shabu shabu bar.  What we had to wait a long time for was our meat!  Apparently, they had a newbie back in the kitchen slicing the meat.

Goma Sauce
It's kinda cool that you get a bowl with an array of toasted sesame seeds that you grind yourself.

After that, they add the sauce and give you the option of a drop or two of capsaicin oil.  I've never had this before so I lightly dipped my chopstick in the middle of that oil spot to taste it.  FUUUUUUUUUUDDDDGGGE!!!!!!  I wanted to DIE after that.  A smarter person would have MIXED in the oil before tasting it.

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101 Noodle Express (Lu Wei Ju)

We all know Irvine is missing a solid dumpling and noodle house.  A&J makes a decent attempt, but it still leaves a big void.  I mean, if I knew how to make awesome dumplings, I would totally open up a joint in Irvine because I knew it would win big.  I'm talking lines out the door folks!!  Let's step outside my imagination for now, and talk about Irvine's newest dumpling and noodle house, 101 Noodle Express.

101 Noodle Express' original location in Alhambra has been on the SGV dumpling scene for a long time.  Unfortunately, Dumpling Man and I were not particularly impressed with anything there when we tried it many moons ago.  Somehow, transplanting the restaurant to Irvine has changed my opinion.  Maybe because there's just not many options in Irvine when it comes to noodles and dumplings.

Cold Mix of Cucumbers
We all know I love a good pickled vegetable, and cucumbers are no exception.  These were a tad on the sugary side but it was refreshing for a warm summer lunch. 

De Zhou Chicken
Apparently this dish is quite special at 101 Noodle Express.  De Zhou chicken is a special dish from the Shandong region of China.  The bird is first deep fried before it is braised in spices, soy sauce, and sugar.  The dish here was served cold with a soy dipping sauce.  It was pretty darn flavorful and moist.  Surely something I would order again.

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