Greer's OC

Dining

Fresh Fish Frenzy

02.20.13

Craving fresh seafood where you can customize your order in a casual relaxed setting? At Fish Camp in Huntington Beach on the Pacific Coast Highway you can choose from hundreds of customizable combinations at the counter and get exactly what you want.

You start with your choice in seafood, then decide how you want it (sandwich, salad, plate or taco) and next how you want it prepared (grilled, a la plancha, bbq spiced rubbed, crusted with lemon butter or blackened). Fish Camp is under the King Seafood Company’s umbrella of restaurants; it prides itself on its affordable prices since the company exclusively supplies all of its seafood, easy-to-follow menu concept, and its range of fresh catch-of-the-day seafood. There’s even more options than fresh grilled fish, you can enjoy fresh oysters, live lobster, wild Alaskan Dungeness Crab, peel and eat Mexican shrimp, and crab cakes.

You can also choose from tasty sides like cheesy grits, organic brown rice, grilled spinach, French fries and Jasmine rice. We recommend saving room for the banana pudding, even if you’re not a banana pudding fan. It’s a billowy mixture of whipped cream and pudding, sweet and heavenly.

Open air patio or casual beach inspired dining room seating options.

Open 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Fish Camp is at 166000 Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach. 562.592.2267

Pizza Your Way!

02.20.13

When it comes to eating out in a hurry, it’s not too often that we’re wowed by value, quality, and our delicious order arrives in five minutes or less. So now that we’ve discovered the new Pieology at Irvine Spectrum (and also Fullerton) we’re thrilled to share the good news of this fast casual pizzeria.

The concept, in the same vein as Chipotle gives you the chance to custom create your own 12-inch pizza in an assembly line for a mere $7.50, or a classic cheese pie for just $6. You can be the designer of your pizza; the only thing that’s non-negotiable is the pizza dough (unless you request gluten-free).

Pieology starts with an ultra thin pizza crust, then you can go to town and pile as many toppings as you please (hint, less is more) or go for one of their seven tried and true pizzas like our favorite, the #3 with mozzarella, gorgonzola, chicken, red onion, fresh cilantro, BBQ sauce, olive oil at $7.50. Toppings range from meatballs, artichokes, ham, bacon, red onions, jalapenos and fresh basil. Your pizza will go in an open-flame oven at 675 to 800 degrees and bake in less than 2 minutes.

Owner and founder Carl Chang says that the deliciousness of the crust is a proprietary recipe and blend that’s confidential. “The blend we have worked hard on, is years of fine tuning a recipe so that we can deliver a consistent taste profile that allows it to have just the right amount of chew yet flavor profile for successful thin crust taste,” Chang says.

You can also order one of their tasty salads, a Caesar, or our favorite, the Classic with organic greens, chicken, gorgonzola, craisins, candied walnuts and raspberry vinaigrette.

And for something sweet, we loved the cinnamon sugar strips, made from the pizza dough. They’re a new dessert obsession.

We love that Pieology is giving back to the community and also choosing a Pielogist of the Month who will be able to create his or her own pizza with a portion of their pizza creation on the menu going to their favorite charity. You can submit your story online at Pieology.

Open 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday; open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.

516 N State College Blvd. in Fullerton. 714.447.4064

Irvine Spectrum at 81 Fortune Drive, Suite 157 in Irvine. 949.450.1000.