Cafe Grill, Fountain Valley CA

I found out about Café Grill because the food critics from OC Register raved about it and wanted to try it for myself.  I have to say that my feelings are a little more mixed than I like them to be.  Don’t let the scrumptious looking pictures fool you, there were some really high points and are worth checking out and then were some dishes that had great potential but fell short.

  

Butternut squash ravioli:  It does not help that this was served first because this set the bar high.  You can just tell the the ravioli was assembled that day simply because the ravioli did not look perfect and that the squash and the ravioli itself tasted so fresh.  It comes topped with a balsamic sauce, chives and tarragon and everything went together so well.

Potato pancakes:  Unfortunately this was one of those that fell flat.  I don’t know if it was because I was there at 2 in the afternoon and was getting the last of the servings, but that shouldn’t be an excuse.  You could tell that these were not freshly fried and had been sitting under a warmer.  You know that dry potato texture you get when fries have been sitting out a little too long.  Yeah, kind of like that.  Plus I found the flavor lacking, I had to add quite a bit of salt.

Wild Boar Sausage sandwich:  Back to our high point, this also contained grilled onions and whole grain mustard.  Everything about this sandwich was very good and especially the sausage itself packed so much flavor with a perfect amount of grilled char to go with it.  Unfortunately this was not my lunch so I only had a couple, but man I wished I had ordered this.

  

Parsnip Soup:  I found this interesting because I’ve never had parsnip before and have nothing to compare it to.  I would not rate this bad, just interesting.  The best way I can describe it is a cross between and turnip and a potato soup.

Chicken and Brie sandwich: I don’t have brie often on a sandwich but I liked how it went with the chicken and plus it was nice to have a sandwich with a cheese I’m not used to having on there.  Unfortunately the chicken was bland and lacking in flavor once again.  If it would have had more seasoning, even maybe a splash of lemon, I would have liked this more.  Plus the mayo was very stingy.  Being generous on the mayo could have helped this out too.

Chocolate Profiteroles: Basically cream puffs covered in chocolate sauce.  I’m so glad I ordered this because this did help make up for other blahs.  It seemed like the chocolate sauce was a dark chocolate because it had that slight bitterness, which was great because I love dark chocolate.  I think it was good to make the chocolate dark because the sweetness of the cream needed to be contrasted with that tiny bit of bitterness from the chocolate.  Whatever the chef did here, did an excellent job.  If there weren’t other people in the restaurant, I would have gladly licked the sauce off the plate.

Rating: 3.5/5 Forks

Cost: $$, about $20-25 per person.

I would have rated this place higher had I happen to only ordered the things that were great.  However, I did have to rate it lower than I would have liked to because it’s always a goal of mine to try a new place and sample as many dishes as possible, which was what I did.  As I said, the high points were very high but unfortunately 2/5 dishes fell short which made me bring the score down.  The dishes that were done well are worth checking out.

Dining In with Dessert First: Hawaiian Bread Pudding

So what do you do when you’ve bought a Costco pack of King’s Hawaiian rolls and realized you actually don’t need 100 rolls for your ham sandwiches and are in the process of turning rock hard… bread pudding!


8-10 stale Hawaiian rolls
2 tablespoons melted butter
3 eggs beaten
1 1/4 cup vanilla soy milk
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon: cinnamon and vanilla extract
Pinch of nutmeg
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Break Hawaiian rolls in to pieces into a loaf pan.  Drizzle melted butter over bread and sprinkle chocolate chips.  Mix eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg in a bowl and beat well until sugar dissolves.  Pour egg mixture over bread and allow to soak for a few minutes.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly tapped.
ENJOY

Slaters 50/50, Anaheim Hills CA

Now what does the 50/50 stand for in Slater’s 50/50 you ask?  Why I’ll tell you. It’s burger patties that are 50% ground beef and 50% ground bacon.  You heard me, 50% BACON!  You might say, now that’s just wrong, but that’s what makes it even more exciting.  Come prepared with an appetite, because you will definitely need it.  You can order burgers here two ways, either try one of their signature burgers or create your own off of the “design it” menu.  The Design it menu consists of seven different burger patties, including veggie and turkey, in three sizes and your choice of over 60 different toppings.  Unfortunately we didn’t go for appetizers as we knew that we wouldn’t be able to handle it if we weren’t starving.  This visit, we went the signature route and wanted try what they are known for first.

This is the Flamin’ Hot burger with a spicy beef patty, pepper jack cheese, fried onion strings, chipotle mayo, and a roasted green chili.  The burger is a 50/50 patty at 2/3 lbs AFTER cooking.  I personally, can tolerate it if more heat were added, but it still has a kick that even the more capsaicin (the active ingredient in peppers) sensitive ones can handle.  I really love the flavor the roasted green chili adds, because it made the burger feel more organic, although it probably isn’t.  Quite frankly I don’t know why I haven’t seen more burger places add roasted chilies on their burgers but they should.

The burger that Slater’s is best known for besides the 50/50 patty itself, the peanut butter and jelly burger on a  1/3 lb. 50/50 patty topped with bacon.  Oh yes my friend, you read this right.  I was so happy I did my internet research because it paid off.  As odd as it sounds, the salty and sweet flavors are very complimentary.  The salty and sweet comes from the the bacon and jelly obviously, and the rich and creaminess of the peanut butter help bring everything together.  The two boys sitting with me thought I was crazy when I ordered this but I assure you, I converted them into believers.  My only regret is that I didn’t order this with a glass of milk. 

Rating: 5/5 Napkins

Budget: $-$$, Can be as inexpensive as under $10 if you just stick to a burger, and believe me you’ll be satisfied, to up to $20 if you get appetizers and/or how complex you want your “design it” burger to be.

www.slaters5050.com