[Laguna Hills] [Asian Fusion] Elephant Bar Restaurant

Elephant Bar Restaurant
24155 Laguna Hills Mall
Laguna Hills,CA 92653
(949) 454-9530
http://www.elephantbar.com

We received a $20 Dinner for 2 email coupon from Elephant Bar.


Wok-Fired Chicken and Lettuce Wrap ($8.50)

Chicken and Lettuce Wrap is one of our favorite appetizers from Elephant Bar.

[Alhambra] [Asian Fusion] Cafe Spot

Cafe Spot
咖啡點
500 W Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91803
(626) 308-3233

I pass by Cafe Spot every time when I go visit my sister. This restaurant is always full. I've never tried it, but very curious why they are always packed. Finally we went to try this place out.



Most of the HK cafes are filled with Asian gangsters young & hip Asians. But this cafe was filled with family and children. I find it more relaxing that way so I don't have to worry about accidentally meeting eyes with people next table and getting questions like "what the f are you looking at" then it turns into a gun fight outside in the parking lot.

[San Gabriel] [Asian Fusion] Green Zone

Green Zone
綠之地帶
534 E Valley Blvd #4-5
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 288-9300

Mom just came back from Taiwan. We wanted to take her out to eat, but she caught a cold. So instead of going out, we brought food to her. She has been wanting to try Green Zone for a long time. Green Zone is an Asian fusion restaurant that serves dishes made with organic products. They are most famous for their Hainan chicken rice. Unfortunately, the chicken rice was sold out at 2pm.


咖哩雞飯 Curry Chicken Rice

Mom loves curry. And she likes Green Zone's Curry Chicken Rice a lot. There were a lot of vegetables in it.

[Lake Forest] [Asian Fusion] Pei Wei Asian Diner

Pei Wei Asian Diner
23632 El Toro Rd #E
Lake Forest, CA 92630
(949) 860-2001
http://www.peiwei.com

We had buy one get one free coupon from Pei Wei.


Spicy Korean Steak ($8.50)
Korean hot pepper sauce, garlic, white mushrooms, onions, carrots, long beans, toasted sesame seeds

Dr. P's favorite dish from Pei Wei.

[Aliso Viejo] [Asian Fusion] East Avenue Bistro

East Asian Bistro
26921 Aliso Creek Rd #E
Aliso Viejo, CA 92656
(949) 360-7666

This place used to be Jade Palace. We went there once for lunch, and didn't like it at all. I guess they went out business soon after. Now a new restaurant called East Avenue Bistro took over the space. From looking at their menu, this new restaurant seems to be a Vietnamese influenced Chinese restaurant.


Chicken Egg Roll (Cha Gio) ($6.50)
Chicken rolled in a golden crispy shell served with fresh herbs, lettuce and accompanied with the house special dipping sauce.

We ordered the Vietnamese Chicken Egg Roll for appetizer. The egg roll was done well, but it came with just one piece of lettuce? We asked our server, who seemed to be a Vietnamese lady. She said that since majority of their customers are non-Asian, and they don't eat the egg roll with herbs and lettuce, so if we want it we should tell her beforehand next time. Later she brought a plate of lettuce, but still no herb. Their fish sauce was not overly sweet and very good.

[Laguna Hills] [Asian Fusion] Elephant Bar Restaurant

Elephant Bar Restaurant
24155 Laguna Hills Mall
Laguna Hills,CA 92653
(949) 454-9530
http://www.elephantbar.com

Do we go to Elephant Bar's happy hour a bit too much? Maybe. But it's good! Not only we keep on going to the same place, we Dr. P also keeps on ordering the same thing. X-D


Classic Mojito with Cruzan Estate Rum ($4.00)

He almost always gets the mojito. And I almost always drink 1/2 of his mojito.

[Laguna Hills] [Asian Fusion] Elephant Bar Restaurant

Elephant Bar Restaurant
24155 Laguna Hills Mall
Laguna Hills,CA 92653
(949) 454-9530
http://www.elephantbar.com

Back at Elephant Bar again. This time we didn't go for happy hour, but dinner instead.



It was a weeknight, and this place was completely packed. We had to wait for 20 minutes to get a table.

[Laguna Hills] [Asian Fusion] Elephant Bar Restaurant

Elephant Bar Restaurant
24155 Laguna Hills Mall
Laguna Hills,CA 92653
(949) 454-9530
http://www.elephantbar.com

We went back to Elephant Bar for their late night happy hour.



It was almost 10pm on a weekday, and there were still a lot of people at happy hour. The earlier happy hour customers were mostly older adults. The late night happy hour customers were mostly young people.

[Laguna Niguel] [Asian Fusion] Pick Up Stix

Pick Up Stix
27000 Alicia Pkwy #D
Laguna Niguel, CA 92677
(949) 643-0779
http://www.pickupstix.com

Sister-in-law gave me a Pick Up Stix gift card a while back. It had been sitting in my wallet for a long time, and I almost forgot about it. I was deciding on a place to get takeout because I was feeling lazy and didn't want to cook. Good I found the gift card. I called ahead to place my order, and they told me it would be ready in about 15 minutes.


Firecracker Chicken ($7.69)
Our brand new dish Firecracker Chicken starts sweet and finishes with a spicy kick! You'll love it!

Firecracker Chicken was supposed to be spicy, but not really spicy. I guess nothing taste spicy to us anymore after eating so much Szechuan Chinese food. The chicken was tender, and slightly sweet. Portion was on the smaller side for this item for some reason.

[Lake Forest] [Asian Fusion] Pei Wei Asian Diner

Pei Wei Asian Diner
23632 El Toro Rd #E
Lake Forest, CA 92630
(949) 860-2001
http://www.peiwei.com

We were on Pei Wei's email list, and received coupons to try their new Caramel Chicken for free with the purchase of one entree. We headed to Pei Wei on a Saturday night. The restaurant was packed. While we were waiting in line to place our order, a server helped us reserved a table. That was nice service.


Spicy Korean Steak ($8.50)
Korean hot pepper sauce, garlic, white mushrooms, onions, carrots, long beans, toasted sesame seeds

We decided to get two entrees and two free caramel chicken. Yeah, it was A LOT of food. But leftover Asian food is always good. For my entree, I picked Spicy Korean with Steak. When I had my first bite, I thought the dish was a bit salty. But I guess it was meant to be eaten with rice. When I ate it with rice, then it was alright. The beef was really tender. I liked the green beans and mushroom. The dish had good flavor, although it wasn't spicy nor Korean, but I enjoyed it. I asked for brown rice with the entree, but somehow got fried rice. No complaint here. The fried rice was great.

[Lake Forest] [Asian Fusion] Pei Wei Asian Diner

Pei Wei Asian Diner
23632 El Toro Rd
Lake Forest, CA 92630
(949) 860-2001
http://www.peiwei.com

I received a buy one entree get one free coupon from Pei Wei's email. Signing up for restaurants' email list is a great way to save money because they often send customers exclusive coupons. We've always like Pei Wei. I like how the food is prepared and cooked fresh after you order.



Don't forget to ask for a free Pei Wei's reward card when you place your order. You can get 1 free entree after purchasing 10. We placed our order at the counter, then found a booth to sit down. A few minutes later, a waiter brought us our food.

[Laguna Hills] [Asian Fusion] Elephant Bar Restaurant

Elephant Bar Restaurant
24155 Laguna Hills Mall
Laguna Hills, CA 92653
(949) 454-9530
http://www.elephantbar.com

We love Elephant Bar's happy hour between 4pm to 7pm. We just have to make sure to get there early enough to get a table. This place is always filled with senior citizens ready to party. It just makes us smile when we see so many happy old people. Dr. P made a promise to me that he'll still take me to Elephant Bar for happy hour when I'm 80. haha....


House Margarita ($3.00) / Classic Mojito with Cruzan Estate Rum ($4.00)

I ordered House Margarita, and Dr. P ordered Classic Mojito. We ended up switching drinks because I thought the Margarita was too strong, and Dr. P thought the Mojito wasn't strong enough.

[Alhambra] [Asian Fusion] Pick Up Stix

Pick Up Stix
1129 S. Fremont St.
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 281-2233
http://www.pickupstix.com

在我們家附近新開了這家中國菜快餐店，這天我也不知道爲什麼會想要吃這家，不過去過這一次應該不會再上門了吧！


招牌雞特價午餐 House Special Chicken Lunch Combo (US$6.99)

照片裡可是完全沒吃過的喔！看起來很像剩菜吧？這招牌雞給的份量很少，而且超油的，肉也都像是碎肉一樣很小塊，然後附上沒有味道的炒飯，也是份量很小，春捲兩個倒是蠻好吃的，裡面包的是蔬菜，另外附上飲料一杯，這樣就要US$6.99，也未免太坑人了吧！我去我們家旁邊的隨便中餐館買的特價午餐都比這裡便宜好吃又道地多了，但是這家店居然還生意很好，來的都是外國人，後我再也不要去這家給外國人吃的中國菜了啦！

[Alhambra] [Asian Fusion] Savoy Kitchen

Savoy Kitchen
夏蕙西餐
138 E Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91801-5130
(626) 308-9535



在洛杉磯，只要提到海南雞飯，大家第一想到的就是Savoy，其實Savoy除了海南雞飯以外，還有賣比薩、義大利麵、咖哩飯等其他料理，但是這家大概只能坐得下20個人不到的小店，就是靠著海南雞飯每天生意絡繹不絕。

[West Covina] [Asian Fusion] Elephant Bar Restaurant

Elephant Bar Restaurant
200 S. Vincent Avenue West
West Covina, CA 91790
(626) 918-3400
http://www.elephantbar.com

這家美式餐廳的主題是safari，就是有種非洲探險的感覺那樣，他們標榜的是有異國風味的料理、平實的價格、和嚇死人的「大象」份量，除了有一般美式餐廳都有的美式料理外，這家餐廳特別的是有很多東方口味的菜，中國、泰國、日本、越南都有，不過還是那種經過改良後的美國口味。


開胃菜拼盤 The Steamer Trunk (US$12.95)

我跟妹妹今天先點了一道開胃菜，因為每一道都看起來很好吃，完全決定不下要點哪一道，所幸點了一道超級拼盤 The Steamer Trunk "Super Sampler"，裡面有烤馬鈴薯皮、辣雞翅、香蒜麵包、炸雞肉條、和墨西哥玉米片。

烤馬鈴薯皮上面有著溶化的起司，灑上培根末跟青蔥，好香好好吃。辣雞翅有著厚厚的一層辣醬果在外頭，沾上ranch口味沙拉醬，真是很開胃。香蒜麵包烤的很棒，外面脆脆的，麵包卻是香香軟軟的，有著濃濃的蒜味跟起司味，非常好吃。炸雞肉條外面炸的脆脆的，裡面的雞肉很嫩很多汁，蜂蜜芥末沾醬尤其好吃。墨西哥玉米片很香很脆，上面灑有豆子醬、番茄、青蔥、還有我超愛的墨西哥辣椒 jalapeno，配上莎莎醬，完全讓人一口接一口的欲罷不能。

其實這一盤吃下來，我跟妹妹差不多就已經很飽了，而且我們兩個人連半盤都吃不到，他們的量果然驚人，這樣一大盤也只要US$12.25元，果真是超級經濟又實惠。