Foodventure #12: Red Pearl Kitchen (Huntington Beach)

Alas, the reason why I didn't eat more at Duke's from my last mini-foodventure was because I ate at Red Pearl Kitchen instead - though now that I've been here I wish I stayed at Duke's the whole meal through.



Red Pearl Kitchen is a Pan-Asian-Pacific-Fusion (or something like that) restaurant started up by the owners of the now-closed Meson G., with ambitions of spreading this nationwide. So far they have only three locations: this one in Huntington Beach, one in San Diego and Hollywood (all with slightly different menus.)

The Hollywood one seems to be packed a lot, so I opted to go to the one in Huntington Beach.

The place was smaller than I thought and I really don't know what to make of the red and black interior - definitely not authentic Chinese decor, yet I thought it looked too old-world Asian to be a hip fusion restaurant (which looks especially out-of-place in the pretty casual and relaxed downtown Huntington Beach neighborhood.)


My dining companion and I started off with two cocktails with kooky Pan-Asian names like Indofusion-- served in interesting stemless martini glasses. The drinks themselves were unimpressive at best - tart, fruity alcohols but w/o the sweetness to balance it out, leaving a kind of weird aftertaste. Oh well - hopefully the food is better.

I had the special of the day salmon in a red curry sauce with vermcelli salad on the side. The portion was kinda small, especially given its price tag, the salmon is slightly larger than a deck of cards (and its size compared to the baby corn should be some sort of indicator.) It tasted pretty good, the red curry was just spicy enough for me (though I'm sure it's a toned down version from real red curries,) and the salmon cooked just right - but nothing to write home about.

My friend had the "Shaking" Kobe beef with onion & tomatoes. The dish tasted good - nice beefy pieces of meat mingling with grape tomatoes and sauteed onions in a savory sauce - but doesn't strike me as something that I couldn't have gotten at a Chinese place or Hong Kong style cafe (for much less.) Of course, what makes this feeling even more of a rip was charging for white rice. Also I'm pretty sure that's not Kobe beef (or even Wagyu a.k.a. "Kobe-style".)

The money spent for this affair:
Cocktails: ~ $7.50 each x 2 = $15
Beef: $15
Salmon: $18
Bowl of Rice: $1
Pre tax & tip total: $49

Ratings:
Ambience: 2.5/5 (Definitely an identity crisis going on in there, and out-of-place amongst the other downtown Huntington Beach eats and shops)
Value: 1/5 (Definitely overpriced!)
Service: 7/10 (Nothing much to say, for better or for worse)
Food: 11/20 (Overall good, but it's nothing impressive - there are better Pan-Asian to be had, and their cocktails are weird tasting ~ not in a good way...)
Total: 21.5/40 (fairly hard-pressed for me to return; even to their other branches with their different menus)

Other Notes:
- Street parking is available, but the meters are comparatively pricey & spaces are hard to find (it is, afterall, only blocks away from the beach) - public parking lot is available at $1/30 minutes ($9 max).
- As noted above, only blocks away form the beach & in middle of the beach shopping district.

I honestly wish I could say better about this place, especially given the positive buzz the Hollywood branch has received*, but alas - I only wished I spent that time at Dukes for another round of drinks and good & cheap eats.

Red Pearl Kitchen
412 Walnut Ave
Huntington Beach, CA 92648
(714) 969-0224
www.redpearlkitchen.com

*To give the new Hollywood branch some credit - their menu definitely has more interesting offerings than the one in H.B. ~ but still not something I'm eager to check out now.

Frozen Shumais & Gyozas

I'm sure true dim sum fanatics will have my head for this, but I've taken a liking to Ajinomoto's frozen Shumai (the "gourmet" variety, $2.99 for a 15-pack at Mitsuwa Marketplace) & Osaka-style gyoza ($4.99 for 30-pack). Of course, I had other brands too -- which tends to be a hit or miss -- this one is pretty consistent. Their frozen donburi aren't bad too, albeit a bit overpriced for my preference (unless it's on sale)-- I can easily have larger portions at around the same price in the neighborhood.



I wouldn't say they taste worse than the "real" shu mais and Asian dumplings at Chinese/Japanese restaurants, just different. But for something that's fairly cheap & without the hassle of waiting in a long line, they're good. I usually steam/microwave a couple of those up some veggies and drop them together in a bowl of brothy soup or ramen - juicy, meaty, slightly oniony jiaozi for whenever I feel like it (and without having to make a colossal batch from scratch, something I'll save for potlucks and entertaining.)

Of course, that delicious meaty taste could be just MSG (according to wiki, Ajinomoto produces about a third of the world's supply and literal translation of the company name is "taste essence" -- umami I presume?) as a sidenote, "taste essence" is the literal common name Chinese use for MSG - but I digress.

Their English commercials are also pretty funny (in a corny kind of way.)

Mini Foodventure #11: Duke's (Huntington Beach)

Two drinks & a hula pie makes for very happy Huntington Beach goers . . .

(Alas, forgot to take photos of the molten hot fudge, macadamia nut ice cream, choco-mint cookie goodness that is the hula pie - but pictures, and instructions to eat it, are available on Duke's Web site here.)

Mai Tai on left & Tropical Itch on right (about $7 each) -- tasty yet potent, not to mention fond memories of wandering the beach buzzed through half the night after drinking three of these. (On Friday nights they even have a happy hour for these drinks -- $3-4 each!)

On previous visits I've had light eats here as well and it's pretty good stuff for bar food (esp. when a little sloshed), which includes crabmeat/macnut wontons, baja fish tacos, and "poke rolls" (ahi tuna with onions in rice sheets). Paired with a waterfront view -- absolute paradise!

They also have a restaurant in Malibu and 2 in Hawai'i, with slightly different menus.

Look forward to saying Aloha to you there . . .

Duke's
317 Pacific Coast Hwy.
Huntington Beach
(714) 374-6446
www.dukeshuntington.com

Foodventure #10: Chat Noir (Costa Mesa)

My first foodventure in the O.C. -- and grim foreshadowing: this restaurant is a perfect case study about how poor service can ruin an otherwise fine experience. I also wonder if it's just that I have bad luck with first foodventures?

Anyways, Chat Noir is part of David Wilhelm's Culinary Adventures restaurant group (which also includes Chimayo on the coast of Huntington Beach, Sorrento in Laguna Beach & their flagship French 75s in the LA & OC area.) I've been to Chat Noir before, so was doubly stunned by this meal.

It started all pretty good in the beginning: having arrived a bit early for my reservation and noticing it's still their "Bubbly Hour" (4-7pm on weeknights), I hopped to the bar for a drink. Champagne drinks are half-priced, and carafes of wine (2-3 glasses) are the price of a glass. I ordered the Kir Imperial (champagne + creme de cassis + Absolut Kurrant, left) and at the bartend's suggestion, the Chanel (champagne + strawberry liqueur + cointreau + cognac). Both were good overall -- the champagne was obviously nothing fancy, but the fizzling cocktails made from them are delicious, not too sweet, not too fruity and just strong enough.

Topping it off was a free cone of freshly-fried potato chips, still warm and full of crispity goodness. And if I hadn't already planned on dinner there, I would've chomped on some bar food, which included their "French slider" burgers with roquefort cheese on brioche, short ribs in red wine sauce and of course, Belgian-style pommes frites.

After finishing my drinks, I ask for a few dinner recs from my bartend, closed my tab and took my table--where things start going for the worse.

Strike #1: For a nearly completely empty dining floor (3 tables/boothes occupied out of about 25), I got sat next to an obviously tipsy & very conversational couple (which I found out later, from their loud talks with each other and our shared waiter, are business colleagues who apparently likes to talk about relationship and sex a lot!) -- not particularly comfortable for a solo diner with a book but something I can overlook.

Shortly after came strike #2 -- when the waiter did not tell me what today's specials are (after raving on and on about how great they were to the next table.) Thank goodness I overheard since the appetizer did appeal to me . . .

Seared foie gras on toast with plum gastrique and balsamic vinegar. Absolutely delicious -- after the crispy exterior, the foie gras bursts into warm buttery goodness -- with just a hint of duck and no liver (which is great for me, since I hate organs as a rule.) The gastrique & vinegar mixture was a nice balance to the richness of the foie gras on toast. I savored every bite and used the bread to lap up the remains . . .

Then came the entree - suggested by the bartend . . .

Chicken and Forest Mushroom Crepes in Truffle Cream Sauce plus REAL vegetables that didn't look like they came out of a frozen bag and oversteamed (i.e. that broccoli-cauliflower-zucchini-carrot coin combo.) This dish wound up looking better than it tasted. The crepes were too soggy from the get-go & the chicken and 'shroom filling didn't have much flavor on their own. The sauce (which seemed to be a mixture of herbed cream & truffle oil) could have been good except it wasn't mixed well enough--one bite I'd get an intense blast of truffle flavor, and another it'd just be sweet cream. The vegetables were perfectly cooked.

During my meal came strike #3 - when the waiter talked fairly extensively about his personal life to the other table (relationships, other jobs, etc.) -- loud enough, again, for me to hear practically every word. Even though he's not directing this towards me, it's highly unprofessional especially for a finer dining place such as this (when I used to work at a pub, even I wouldn't go at lengths about this.) Could be different standards, but I definitely felt it's something the waiter could be more discreet about, should he choose to engage in it at all.

After my meal, I was weighing whether to get dessert, except -- strike #4 -- it has already been decided for me, by the waiter who served me with a bill. I thought, "Oh well, their loss" and paid the approximately $44 bill with a $50 gift card I got from a friend. Then came the very major strike #5 ... no card back! Did he just assume that the extra $5-6 would be his tip or that I would have no future use for it?! And so... I docked my actual cash tip as appropriate. (and decided to sleep the night off before actually writing this, so you can imagine how POed I was then.)

The bill:
Kir Imperial & Chanel ($5.50 each) = $11 (paid for separately @ bar)
Potato chips = gratis (yay!)
Foie gras = $17.95
Crepes = $19.95
Coffee = $3
"Supposed" Pre-tax & tip total = $51.90

The rating:
Ambience/Decor: 4.5/5 (really nice for a place with no exterior views -- dark woods and burgundy, live pianist on a weeknight, dimmed lighting with candles and lamps)
Value: 3.5/5 (happy hour prices & bar food is decent -- dinner stuff definitely felt overpriced)
Service: 2.5/10 (bar service is great; the waiter is nice but very unprofessional on several levels)
Food: 13.5/20 (ranged from mediocre (the crepes) to excellent (the foie gras), so I guess it's a mixed bag)
Bonus/Demerit: -1 (see above about the gift card)
TOTAL: 23/40

Other notes:
~ Valet & self-parking available - free for at least 2 hours (duration of my stay) if validated for self-
~ They also offer a prix-fixe "Theater dinner" option for $40/pp, includes a drink, an app, an entree & post-show coffee & dessert for OCPAC going crowd. More info here.


So yes, major disappointment (even more so considering my higher expectations from previous dining experience here.) If I do return (and that's a really big if), I probably would stick dining at the bar. I still have another $50 gift card for this restaurant group, but would most likely use it now at Chimayo or Sorrento--where I hope the service would be better.

Chat Noir
655 Anton Blvd.
Costa Mesa
(714) 557-6647

Best $5 bottle of wine I've ever had...

*drumroll*

Covey Run Gewurztraminer 2005! ~ on sale for 4.99 @ BevMo!

Slightly sweet (partly attributed to Moscato blended in) but without being sticky and syrupy (i.e. I can drink a glass' worth, rather than a shot) ~ very fragrant violet and lychee flavors, and very crisp finish. Of course, a natural good match for white foods (as well as not-too-sweet desserts), and of course, perfect for affordable everyday drinking.

I should stock up on these while they're still on sale.

Here's the Webpage on their 2004 version, which is highly similar.