[Irvine] [Hot Pot] Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot

Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot
小肥羊
15361 Culver Dr
Irvine, CA 92606
(949) 651-0201
http://www.littlesheephotpot.com

We visited Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot on a Friday night. It was 8:30pm and they were packed. Luckily since there were only 2 of us, we got seated quickly while the bigger parties all had to wait.



We ordered half spicy and half regular soup base. We love the flavor of their soup base. Lots of garlic and herbs.

Flavors of Laguna Tour (Part 2 of 2)

Flavors of Laguna
Laguna Beach, CA 92652
(949) 464-8830
http://www.flavorsoflaguna.com

Continuing our Laguna Beach tour....

Cafe Zinc
350 Ocean Ave
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
(949) 494-6302
http://www.zinccafe.com



Cafe Zinc is a vegetarian cafe/bakery. We visited the market side, and everything inside the display case looked yummy.

Flavors of Laguna Tour (Part 1 of 2)

Flavors of Laguna
Laguna Beach, CA 92652
(949) 464-8830
http://www.flavorsoflaguna.com

Last weekend Dr. P and I went on the Flavors of Laguna tour in Laguna Beach. We go to Laguna Beach often, but always go to the same places. We were hoping to discover more neighborhood gems and learn more about this beautiful beach city from the tour. And we sure did!

Here are the places we visited:

La Sirena Grill
347 Mermaid St
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
(949) 497-8226
http://www.lasirenagrill.com


Chips / Guacamole / Salsa

La Sirena Grill was our starting point. We started with homemade chips, salsa and guacamole. Their guacamole is seriously good!

[Huntington Beach] [Italian] Luna Rossa Ristorante

Luna Rossa
7821 Edinger Ave #110
Huntington Beach, CA 92647
(714) 890-9118
http://www.lunarossaristorante.com

We went on a double date with friends last weekend. My friend suggested we meet at Bella Terra for dinner, and she felt like having Italian. The choices were Macaroni Grill, Buca di Beppo, and Luna Rossa. I picked Luna Rossa because it is a smaller family owned restaurant. I always like those better than big chained restaurants.

Our waiter asked if it was our first time there, and gave us a brief introduction of the restaurant. The chef moved here from Rome about 5 years ago. Half of their pasta was made fresh daily, and if it's not freshly made, it was imported from Italy. Sounds good already!

I had too much fun talking and enjoying the night with friends, and didn't take much pictures. But I really want to write about this place because it is simply amazing!


Luna Rossa Le Pizza
Tomato sauce, mozzarella, mushrooms, olives and mixed vegetables

We opened a bottle of chanti and ordered a wood oven pizza as our starter. If you like vegetables, it is THE pizza to get! Lots of fresh and yummy vegetables on top of the delicious thin crust pizza. It was a huge pizza, and I believe it was $14. What a steal! The 4 of us only finished 1/2 pizza because we want to leave room for more food.

[Cook] Potato Frittata

This recipe is from I Love Trader Joe's College Cookbook. I'm long gone from college years, but that doesn't mean I don't still love cheap, easy and fast recipes and meal ideas catering for the young busy crowds. This cookbook has 150 super easy and fast recipes using products from Trader Joe's. I made the Potato Frittata for breakfast. It was super easy to make. It's pretty tasty with the addition of some ketchup and Tabasco sauce on top.

A frittata is akin to an omelet, except the ingredients are mixed with the eggs instead of folded inside of them - and it's a heck of a lot easier to make.


Potato Frittata

4 hashbrowns from frozen Trader Joe's Hashbrowns
1 tablespoon canola oil <---- I didn't use it since the hashbrowns are already oily
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt <---- I used 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup Trader Joe's Shredded Pepper Jack Cheese Blend <---- I used Soy-Sation Shredded Cheese Blend 

[Cook] Sake to Mayonnaisu (Broiled Salmon with Mayonnaise)

I've had Sake to Mayonnaisu (Broiled Salmon with Mayonnaise) in restaurants before. Didn't know it was that simple to make. Salmon, salt, and mayo. That's pretty much all you need. I probably didn't leave the salmon in the oven long enough because the mayonnaise wasn't browned. But the fish smelt too good and we were too hungry. I am sure it'll look better and probably taste even better if the mayo is browned a bit more.


Sake to Mayonnaisu (Broiled Salmon with Mayonnaise)

[Cook] Nasu no Agebitashi (Spicy Sweet-and-Sour Eggplant)

This recipe called for Japanese or Chinese eggplants. But I didn't find these at my local supermarket so I just used regular eggplants. Also I didn't deep fry the eggplants as instructed in the recipe. Instead I just used less oil and sauteed them in a wok. This dish tastes good even when it's cold. I didn't think this dish is spicy at all. But it was savory, sweet, and sour all at the same time. The flavor is quite addicting.


Nasu no Agebitashi (Spicy Sweet-and-Sour Eggplant)