When Grab and Go Food Done Right - Lemonade Newport Beach (Inside Fashion Island Mall)

A friend suggested meeting up at Lemonade for a quick and healthy lunch the other day. This grab and go/cafeteria style restaurant is located inside Fashion Island, on the second floor close to the fountain. 

Outdoor seating area -

Entrance -

High ceiling with soft yellow and green color design give a casual/relaxing tone to the space -

Indeed it was a great choice. The restaurant has a wide selection of multi-cultural cuisine ranging from red curry salmon to double Decker grilled cheese sandwich. 

On top of all the savory dishes, Lemonade also carries various salads, dessert, and my favorite thing during this visit - lemonade. 

Never a big fan of lemonade, then later realized that I was just never met the right one. The restaurant carries seven different kinds of lemonade for $3/cup: old fashioned, cucumber mint, blackberry thyme, watermelon rosemary, ginger peach, blood orange, and Arnold Palmer. 

My oh my, the cucumber mint flavor I had immediately converted me to a lemonade lover. It was refreshing with just the right amount of mint used to give you a slight tingling sensation. There are also tiny bits of cucumber pulps on the bottom, no doubt a perfect summer drink (non-alcoholic wise). 

The dessert on the side is coconut layer cake $5. Very coconuty with generous amount of coconut flakes. The cake itself is light and airy.

The savory dishes all look so fresh and delicious -

Some lighter choices -

Array of salad -

Sandwich samples including buttermilk baked chicken, ham/manchego/quince, turkey, Masala green apple curry chicken, SW turkey club, herb grilled chicken, and grilled cheese -

For sweet-tooth diners -

Moroccan chicken with olives $7, one portion of beet and orange salad, one portion of radish/tuna/sesame salad, side of basmati rice $1.5 -

The chicken was highly seasoned with herbs, but the minty sensation prevails. Olives has a texture similar to grapes, which can burst in your mouth when biting into it. Unfortunately for the salad, the beet wasn't cooked long enough for my taste, didn't really care for the inconsistent texture and taste inside and out. 

The watermelon radish was so pretty that I just had to grab some to my plate -

They even added black sesame seeds, I'm sure partly for the flavor; partly for the look of real watermelon. Asian style vinaigrette dressing. 

Quinoa, tuna, and avocado wrap -

Kale salad, carrot salad, fish -

Mac'n cheese $3.75 -

The mac'n cheese here is more leaning towards a soft texture instead of al dente. Very cheesy, creamy - gooey goodness. 

Food was decent, and the service was great too. The server was explaining to first comers about how the restaurant works and how to order their food. Always smiling, the whole staff has a friendly vibe which can be felt especially when talking to customers. There are also other servers cleaning the tables constantly, keeping the dining area tidy at all times.

If only all grab and go can be this good.


Cindy's rating: 7


Lemonade - Orange County Newport Beach
987 Newport Center Drive (inside Fashion Island Mall)
Newport Beach, CA 92660
(949) 717-7525
http://www.lemonadela.com/

Operating hours: Daily 11 a.m. - 9:05 p.m.

The Only Burger I've Ever Dreamed of - Umami Burger (Costa Mesa)

Hands down my favorite burger in the world (at least till the date this blog was published). I would love to give you a big squeezy hug Mr. Adam Fleischman, the creator behind this sexy burger. But most likely seeing you in person will not be happening anytime soon - here I present my highest gratitude instead. 

Umami Burger Costa Mesa Branch - 

Believe it or not, my very first bite of umami burger was from a cold take out bag, along with other fried items such as sweet potato fries and tempura onion rings. Skeptical at first, however, all the flavors from that perfectly toasted buns, umami ketchup, sautéed shitake mushrooms, even cold ground beef still can't stop bursting in my mouth. That was the first time when I finally met the burger in my dream. 

Menu - 

Umami burger $11 - 

"Shitake mushrooms, caramelized onions, roasted tomato, parmesan crisp, umami ketchup."

Umami is the fifth taste originally discovered by a Japanese guy. Sour, sweet, salt, bitter, and umami. It is basically the deliciousness taste from all kinds of food. Remember the gratified senses when you bite into something unbelievable followed by a big WOW or OMG? That's umami. And this is the burger that truly holds its name.

Medium rare is the right way to enjoy this burger. Don't worry, the restaurant grinds steak quality beef daily. The patty is seared over very high heat in order to get that crisp edges while still keeping the center moist and tender.

Parmesan crisp also adds a crunchy bite to the burger. Along with their signature homemade ketchup and a secret sauce, this is my perfect bite of heaven.

Manly burger $11 -

"Beer-cheddar cheese, smoked salt onion strings, bacon lardons."

Truffle burger $12 -

"House made truffle cheese, truffle glaze."

The greenbird $12 -

"Shelton farms natural turkey, crushed avocado, green cheese, butter lettuce, sprouts."

Iced green tea $2.5 - 

Condiments -

Umami ketchup is my favorite followed by relish. Usually I would love to slap some relishes onto my food but the burger itself just too good for me to change anything that might alter the heavenly flavoring combo.

Sweet potato fries $4 and tempura onion rings $3 -

You've got to have Umami's tempura onion rings. It comes with a sweet taste, not sure from the onion or from the batter, perhaps both? The texture of the onion rings get even crunchier toward the end of the meal, to die for.

This place also offers a good selection of alcoholic beverages ranging from beer to reds/whites. Beer is about $7 per bottle and wine is about $9 per glass on average.

I would love to take some more interior pictures of the restaurant but this is all I've got -

Pardon me, I can't take more photos without pointing my camera toward customers with their mouths wide open devouring the burgers. Maybe next time when Umami is not as busy, but I wonder when would that be, this place is always packed!

Cindy's Rating: 9

Umami Burger (Costa Mesa Branch/The Camp)
2981 Bristol Street
Suite B-2
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
http://www.umami.com/

Sun - Thu: 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.

Fri - Sat: 11 a.m. - 12 midnight
*Open during afternoon hours

Not Your Everyday McDonald's, This one in Downey, CA is Ooold!

I'll just assume that everyone has been to McDonald's at least once in their life time.

This fast food giant is everywhere,
Started out from America and gradually ventured to every single continents,
It's on TV commercials, printed advertisements, radio stations, internet and more,
Now there are at least 30,000 McDonald's in the world,
But this one located in Downey, California is different,
It's old, very old; in fact, it's the oldest operating McDonald's on earth! 

The mascot is different from the familiar clown,
Back then, it was more like a "bun boy!"-

The letters are too small to see from this picture,

But it was saying something like served over 500 million hamburgers!

The golden arch-

The golden arch sign was different back then too,
It got a line across the golden arch-

I read it somewhere that the arch shape was originally designed for supporting the building.

Menu-

This place didn't change much over time,

The menu is about the same with several original items,
You can't find new stuff like McFlurry or McCafe here.

Another view-

French fries-

I also had filet-o-fish, chicken nuggets and other stuff,
But you all know how these food looks like right? No need to post more food pictures here.

Small museum entrance-

This door was used for the first McDonald's University.

Inside the small museum-

Started out with a big sign telling the history of this place.

The multi-mixer-

McDonald's used to make many milkshakes all at once with this machine.

Some oldies-

This is what I called the "bun boy" mascot-

Very first guy dressed up at the clown (still looks kinda creepy to me)-

One of the wall displays-

I like this clown mascot, looks chubbier-

Swing by if you every happen to be around the area,
Just fun to see the oldest McDonald's still operates here with little changes.
By the way, there's a new McDonald's just about 2 blocks away,
Guess people still need their fix for McCafe and McFlurry stuff huh?

Cindy's rating: 7 (what a historical site)

McDonald's
10207 Lakewood Blvd
Downey, CA 90240
(562) 622-9248

Some reference sites:
http://www.downeyca.org/visitor_mcdonalds.php
http://www.mcdonalds.com/

Pink's Hot Dogs

What is it?

People lining up like a Chinese Great Wall for hot dogs?

Are you insane?

Not mentioning the end of the line is like way over there in the back of the parking lot.

One hour and ten minutes was the exact time where I first sat my foot on the parking lot, till my growling stomach received the first bite of heaven.

It might sound crazy, but Pink's Hot Dog is something that definitely worth waiting for.

Maybe I'm not persuasive enough, how can you trust a little food monger who said the hot dogs here are awesome,

So I found some back-ups on the wall to serve as my spokesperson-

Let me show you the food so you can get a better idea of what I'm talking about-

Mullholland Drive Dog

(10 inches hot dog topped with grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, nacho cheese and bacon),

The Planet Hollywood Dog

(Polish dog topped with grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, bacon and cheese),

Chili Cheese Fries,

Onion Rings with homemade Bar B Q Sauce.

I don't think any ordinary dogs can beat that!

Especially the Polish dog, you can choose between regular or spicy, of course I picked the spicy one.

Man it was spicy, if Food Monger says it's spicy, it's fiery!

Pink's Hot Dogs has been in the business since 1939,

I wasn't even born yet,

Despite the time has changed, I believe the flavor just getting better and better,

Come try it yourself!

What? You don't wanna stand in the line for hot dogs?

Just stop by either early in the morning (after 9:30 a.m.) or late at night (around 2 or 3 a.m.),

You might be lucky finding yourself waiting for less than 30 minutes for these goodies.

Overall Rating: 8

Pink's Hot Dogs

709 N. La Brea Blvd (Intersection: Melrose and N. La Brea Blvd)

Los Angeles, CA 90038

(323) 931-4223

http://www.pinkshollywood.com/