Dining
The dish on Asian Tapas
11.10.09
The name of the restaurant pretty much says it all: Asian Tapas. The new eatery in Irvine offers pan-Asian takes on the Spanish name for small plates. Choose from nearly 40 different small dishes, ranging from popcorn chicken and dumplings to salt and pepper pork ribs and scallion pancakes, all ranging from $2 to $9 each. The house special is Beijing’s most famous dish, Peking Duck ($35), which takes 24 hours to prepare. The finished product is a beautifully roasted duck with crispy and flavorfully marinaded skin.
Look for weekday $2 to $3.50 Happy Hour specials from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., and for a limited time, go online to nab a buy one tapa and get one free coupon.
Asian Tapas is located at 6380 Irvine Blvd. (in the Woodbury shopping center) in Irvine.
949.651.8999
Hours:
11:30 am to 3 p.m.; 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Friday
11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Sandwiches and more at Mil Jugos
11.03.09
Stuck in your usual lunchtime rut? Liven up your taste buds with some arepas and fresh fruit juices at Mil Jugos. As Orange County’s only Venezuelan restaurant, the small shop in downtown Santa Ana has been delighting locals with its humble but delicious arepas—a cornmeal pancake that’s stuffed with any number of savory meat fillings or cheese.
The palm-sized pancakes are cooked on a griddle—sweet, fluffy and slightly crisp, and then split to create a little pocket sandwich. Try the pollo or chicken arepa: it’s stuffed with moist and flavorful shredded chicken, or the house special, the Pabellon, which is filled with shredded beef, black beans, grated white cheese and juicy and tart plantains for a lovely mix of savory and sweet. Best yet, the arepas are just $3 to $4 each.
For dessert, consider the cachapa con queso, a sweet corn pancake that’s cooked like an omelette and filled with white cheese and fresh cream. It’s the perfect marriage of salty and sweet, all tucked inside a warm, golden cake. Sold! Don’t leave without trying the restaurant’s namesake offering, fruit juices. Mil Jugos, which translates to “a thousand juices” actually offers a dizzying variety of beverages made with fresh fruits like apples, guanabana, guava, papaya, pineapples, plums and the most popular, the passionfruit. All you have to do is decide whether you want it straight or as a thick shake or smoothie.
Mil Jugos is located at 318 W. Fifth St. in Santa Ana.
714.836.4601
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