If You Like Pick Up Stix, You'll Like. . .

Bamboo Bamboo is good fast Chinese food. The idea behind their food is similar to Pick Up Stix. In fact, someone told me that this company was owned by the founder of Pick Up Stix (let me know if you can verify that).

Anyway, we go there for lunch often. I really llke the house beef lunch special. You can get it with or without vegetables. It is a little on the sweet side though, so be warned. Like an earlier reviewer said, the lunch special includes salad, rice (steamed or fried) and a deep fried cream cheese won ton. It is a good amount of food and I am always happy with it.

The restaurant itself is a bit small and can be difficult to get in around lunch time. Take out however is very quick and efficient.

Bamboo Bamboo
1021 Avenida Pico Suite B
San Clemente, CA 92673
Tel: 949.492.1732
Fax: 949.492.1752

Technorati Tags: chinese food, restaurant review, san clemente

Polly's Pies - One of Our Favorite Breakfast Spots

Polly's Pies is a small chain restaurant. We like to go to the location near us in Yorba Linda, CA. The restaurant is built in a historic train station, now painted bright yellow, near downtown Yorba Linda. They bake their bread, pies, etc. right on property and the smells that come from there are remarkable.

My wife, Jennifer, introduced me to the restaurant after going there for dinner one time with her mom.

I am a big breakfast fan and they do breakfast right. I really love their Coach's Oats Pumpkin Pancakes. They have oatmeal, raisins and pumpkin in them are are really yummy. Jennifer also likes their chicken fried steak and eggs. All of their egg dishes, come with the option of having one of their REALLY BIG cinnamon rolls. These cinnamon rolls are big enough for two people.

I have also tried their Country Tater breakfast. I am a big fan of Bowl breakfasts, with everything in one bowl and you can work through layer by layer or mix it up. This one has a hefty portion of golden grilled hash browns topped with country sausage gravy, two farm fresh eggs cooked anyway you want, green onions, and melted cheese. Plus your choice of freshly baked breakfast bakery item. It was ok, but certainly not worth ordering again in my opinion.

Service here is always great, but you can wait in line for a table if you come on the weekends. 30 to 40 minutes is not unusual, but it is well worth the wait.

Claim Jumper Makes Me Want to Jump Ship

We went to Claim Jumper in Fountain Valley for my brother-in-law's birthday dinner. While the food was good, the service here was among the worst I have ever received. That is the reason for my poor review.

There were 12 of us and when we got there, we were told it was going to be about 40 minutes, So we went to the bar to get drinks while we waited. It took us about 15 minutes before someone finally came over to take our drink order. The prices were normal for a restaurant and they had a good drink selection. 40 minutes quickly turned into 60 minutes and we still didn't have a table. We were wishing we had picked somewhere else about this time.

Finally about 1 hour and 15 minutes into the wait, we were taken to our table. They tried to fit 13 of us around a table made for 10, especially with their very large chairs. In order to fit everyone in, several of us had to take smaller banquet style chairs. When we asked our waiter, Ryan, for these chairs, he acted like he was being put out. This should have been our warning that we weren't going to be happy with our experience at this restaurant. After 5 minutes of shifting everyone around, we finally were ready for drink orders. Several people at the table only wanted water - Ryan rolled his eyes at this each time. While regular drink orders were received promptly at the table, water didn't arrive until about 15 minutes after everyone else.

The food portions here are so big that my wife and I decided to share on entree, but get our own salads. This drew another eye rolling from Ryan, although we weren't the only ones doing it. The food was ok, not amazing. But overall for a birthday dinner experience, I have to say it missed the target entirely.

I have to say that if we had a choice between coming back here and going to McDonald's I would choose Mickey D's (and I really am not a fan of McDonald's).

The No-Duh File: Real Food Beats Energy Products

Courtesy of Lifehacker, can you believe it? It is better to eat real food, not so-called Recovery products after exercising.

I hope no serious athlete needed to be told this. There is nothing better for your body than the nutrition found in whole foods. Water will beat out Gatorade for hydration any day, except in a few rare occasions. A banana is great post workout snack to replace potassium and get needed fuel.

Technorati Tags: food, exercise