Local Hang Out with San Clemente Flair

Sonny's Pizza and Pasta is a local hang out in San Clemente, CA. When I first moved to the area friends took me here. It is in a difficult location to get, off of Palizada and El Camino, and making a left into the place can be very challenging. They also have very limited parking space. The restaurant has both indoor and outdoor seating. Be prepared to wait for outdoor seating if it is nice out.

You get excellent garlic bread with your order and their salads are great.

They make excellent pizza, and are especially known for their White Pizza. The crust is very thin and crispy and the base is a white sauce with three different cheeses added. A must try.

Last time I was in, I tried the Chicken Christina. The dish is a chicken breast stuffed with fresh spinach, mushrooms, garlic and pine nuts and baked in a marsala cream sauce. It is served with penne pasta. The portion was huge. My chicken was a little overcooked and the sauce was a bit on the bland side, but I did enjoy the combination chicken, stuffing and sauce. Overall I'd rate the dish a three out of five though.

Portions are large and very tasty.

Sonny's Pizza & Pasta
429 N El Camino Real
San Clemente, CA 92672
(949) 498-2540

Technorati Tags: restaurant review, san clemente, italian, pizza

Burgermaster, More Like Burger"Average"

On our recent vacation, I read a review in a local Seattle magazine saying that Burgermaster was the place to go for burgers in the Seattle area. So my wife and I visited the one in Bellevue near where we were staying on our last trip. I was very underwhelmed I must say.

The cool thing about it was it had the old 50's drive in feel to it with car hops. You turn your lights on when you want service, and all. The menu was short and sweet - usually a good thing (think In-n-Out Burger). However, we weren't impressed.

Jen and I both ordered the Burgermaster with cheese, onion rings in place of fries and blackberry shake. Our verdict was that Carl's Jr. had much better hamburgers, the onion rings were average at best, but what saved them in this review was the very good blackberry shake.

You may want to go there to experience the eat in your car, car hop service, but don't expect great food.

Burgermaster
10606 Northup Way
Bellevue, WA 98004
(425) 827-9566

Technorati Tags: seattle, restaurant review, hamburger

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).

March Over to Marche Restaurante - Eugene, OR

Recently, I was in Eugene, OR for business. When I asked the people at the hotel which restaurant they would recommend, besides their own (the obvious answer), they recommended Marche in Eugene's 5th Street Market.

The restaurant was great. The ambiance was relaxing and similar to a hip bistro in any big city. The service was great. The food excellent.

The Marche menu focuses on local ingredients with exceptional preparation. Here is a quote from their web site

We support local farmers, ranchers and forages and are dedicated to using organic, chemical free and genetically unaltered products whenever possible.

The quality of their food was exceptional.

I had the romaine leaf salad to start with. It was their take on the more traditional Caeser salad. I truly enjoyed it. The dressing was lighter than a normal Caesar, but with much more flavor and instead of using Parmesan, they use large shavings of Pecorino Romano. I could have enjoyed a large version of this salad for my entire dinner.

On to my entree. I had the seared Oregon Black Cod with spring pea puree, roasted vegetables and fingerling potatoes. This was my first time trying Oregon Black Cod, so I did not know what to expect. What I can tell you is that I wish I could have this fish every time I wanted fish. The fish was the best prepared I have ever had. It was very moist and fell apart in perfect layers. The vegetables were under the fish and were a perfect medley to let the fish take center stage.

On to dessert. I am constantly in search of the ultimate bread pudding. I have to say that the Warm Chocolate Bread Pudding at Marche was right near the top of my list. Bread pudding can be heavy and overly sweet, but pastry chef at Marche found the perfect balance. It was absolutely sinful and I loved every bite.

In short, I'll be back next time I visit Eugene. The restaurant had a great bar with a knowledgable staff and featured local wines. They even have outdoor seating, but it was a little cold for that.

Technorati Tags: Oregon, Review