Santouka Ramen does not want to be found. It’s buried inside the food court in the back of Mitsuwa market. Mitsuwa itself is hidden just off Bristol, but hidden behind a 7-Eleven and the plaza with Angotei (which I still need to try!). Neighboring plazas and buildings look pretty dated and are currently getting new [...]

Specialty’s Cafe and Bakery is on the 1st floor of an office building located in a business park–clearly meant for the surrounding business towers. They even have little Point of Sales screens inside where you can punch in your massive order for takeout. These guys seem to be big on catering.
This place is ridiculously Irvine-clean, [...]

Knowlwood, now 5 restaurants strong, is scattered throughout Orange County. About fifty years ago, husband and wife Roy and Fay Knowlton, with Gene Wood started Knowlwood. The original Knowlwood, and the first one I visited, resides in Anaheim Hills.
My most recent visit was the Fullerton location with David Ronquillo and John Wu. It was of [...]

Here’s a dish I enjoyed a lot growing up at home. Back in the day, food was pretty mysterious to me.
My parents or grandma would just throw some knives and knock some pans around and like magicians, they made delicious food appear.
Everyone in the family was lucky to have good food all the [...]