Mei Zhou Dongpo Coming to Irvine

I was slightly upset that the Marie Callendar Restaurant in Culver Plaza, Irvine was closed down.  We loved to get the dessert pies from there during their pie-month sale (Feb and Oct).  Unfortunately, they had to go.

The other day, as I was going to have lunch at Little Sheep, I walked past the empty shop.  Quickly, my eyes noticed a poster on the front door.  From it I found out there is a new restaurant coming to Irvine - Mei Zhou Dongpo!



It is all covered up, I am assuming they have having renovation inside the shop.  As I visited the website listed on the poster, I found that it has another location in Santa Monica Century City Westfield Mall.  There is not much information about it on the website beside the menu and the location.

Farther researching online, Yelp reviewers rated the restaurant in Santa Monica with an average of 3 stars.  From the name of the restaurant, probably their signature dish would be Dongpo meat.  This restaurant may have only 2 locations (including Irvine) in US but has 110 locations across China since 1996.  They serve Sichuan / Szechuan cuisine.  

Guess you all have to wait till its opening to find out more about this place.  I am interested to find out how this restaurant will do with the ever high competition among the many restaurants in Irvine.

Honey & Butter Macarons Coming Soon to Irvine Spectrum

It has been a long while since I visited Irvine Spectrum.  But there was a surprise for me.  I was excited to find out that Honey & Butter macarons is coming to Irvine Spectrum.   It says to be open in spring 2016, should be before June, I guess.  I can't wait! 

Honey & Butter started at The LAB in Costa Mesa.  I especially like their character macarons because they are just too cute, to a point that you just want to keep them rather than eating them.  You can view some of their creations at their Yelp Page.

Saks Off Fifth Coming to Metro Pointe at South Coast

Saks Off Fifth is coming to Metro Pointe at South Coast. It is located in the same plaza as Nordstrom Rack and Edward Theater, right next to Marshall.  Don't confuse this with the Saks Fifth Avenue at South Coast Plaza.  Saks Off Fifth is where you want to go to get a good deal. 

This will be the nearest outlet for us living in Irvine.  Currently, for the nearest Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th, I have to drive up to Orange Outlet (previously known as The Block of Orange), which is about 15 minutes drive.  Now that it will be opening soon at South Coast, it will be less than 10 minutes drive.

UNIQLO Coming Soon to South Coast Plaza

I was at South Coast Plaza this morning for shopping. As I was walking into the mall from the structure parking, I saw this big sign:

    From Tokyo to LA, UNIQLO will be joining the West Coast. They are opening several locations in LA area including at Glendale Galleria, Beverly Center and Northridge Fashion Center.

South Coast Plaza will be their only location in Orange County for now.  The anticipated opening date is September 5th, 2014.  The store at South Coast Plaza is located in front of Sears (near the Lego store).  That location used to be a hair salon, Mrs. Field's Cookie and another clothing store. 

Their online websites already selling items with sales and for now, they offer free shipping for orders $50 and up.

Old Malaya Grill in Huntington Beach

Go guess the acronym for Old Malaya Grill and you will find yourself saying, "O-M-G!" I just love the creativity of the owner. 


Her name is Nur and she is 100% Malaysian and she prepares all the food from scratch with no MSG added.  She gave me a quick tour of her kitchen.  If you do see her when you are at O-M-G, please say,  "Hello!"  She is very friendly and she loves to share her passion about cooking with you.


The restaurant had just opened about a month ago.  O-M-G is located in the small plaza on the southeast corner of Garfield and Beach in the City of Huntington Beach. You can find the address at the bottom of this post.  The interior of the restaurant is very simple but pleasant.  It has seating for up to 30 customers.   


Just because this is still a very new restaurant, their menu may be limited but they are trying to expand with more dishes.  The above picture show you the items they served here.  Most of the dishes here are under $10. 

Are you ready for the food pictures?  Let me start with the appetizer we ordered today.

Chicken Satay  
Roti Jala with curry  
Roti Canai with curry
Next three pictures were our main course.  We had Nasi Lemak with Chicken Berempah (spice chicken), Char Koay Teow and Mee Goreng Mamak.

 Nasi Lemak The sambal is sweet and spicy.  It is very authentic to our local Malaysian sambal for this dish.
The chicken has just the right amount of spice in it.    Char Koay Teow The deal with this dish is you need to right way to stir fry it with hot wok. You also need the right sauce. You get both deals here.  This is not a spicy dish.  You can ask the owner for sambal on the side.    Mee Goreng Mamak The right sauce, the right wok heat. Again, this is a non-spicy dish, but sambal is provided on the side.
Now we go to our last two pictures. The dessert!

 Pisang Goreng (Banana fritters)     Ice Kacang with Rose syrup (shaved ice)
Old Malaya Grill

19072 Beach Blvd #F, Huntington Beach, California 92648

Phone: (714) 963-7319

Tue to Fri: 11:00 am - 2:00 pm; 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Sat to Sun: 11:00 am - 9:00 pm
Monday: Closed

**HALAL**
**NO MSG**

Scoop Fest at Baskin Robbins

Swing by your nearest Baskin Robbins today and tomorrow for their Scoop Fest Amazing Deal. You can get the kid's scoop for $1, 2 scoops for $2 and 3 scoops for $3.

What is your favorite Baskin Robbins flavor?  My personal favorite is the Love Potion #31.  I will definitely stop by tomorrow to get a scoop of this deal.  Don't wait too long, this deal will end tomorrow, April 24th, 2014.

Malaysian in Orange County, Southern California

We have a growing number of members for our Malaysian in Orange County group.  Currently we have about 40 members.

It all started when I met another Penang mom at Pretend City.  We both were attending Parenting Skill program offered by KIDA.  The program was seven weeks long and I only met her on the last week when I heard her talking to her son in Hokkien dialect. We exchanged phone numbers.  At that time she was still living in Costa Mesa and was moving to Irvine in another month.

I still remember vividly on the first week, my husband and I were sitting in the same table as her.  She has fair complexion and never in my mind would ever thought she's from Malaysia.  When she spoke in English, we could tell she is not native speaker.  My first thought was that she's a Taiwanese.  Later, I also met her husband whom is also from Penang.

Second mom I met whom also from Penang was from my son's summer school at Eastshore Elementary.  He was attending Jumpstart to Kindergarten and the other boy was also in the same program.  His mom and a friend of mine were friends.  So we would be standing and waiting together for the kids at pick up time.  We all conversed in Cantonese and initially I thought she was from Hong Kong but not long after that, I found out she is from Bukit Mertajam.  Well, by then I already knew three people from Malaysia and all from Penang.

The next person I met was Bee from Rasa Malaysia.  Another Malaysian friend who lives in Pasadena told me the author for Rasa Malaysia also lives in Irvine.  So out of curiosity, I emailed her to ask if she would love to join us, the three Penang ladies for lunch.  Surprising, she replied and said Yes. 

And from Bee, I also met another two friends, one from Penang and the other from Johor.  And our list grew longer and longer. 

Now we have gathering once every few months.  The purpose is to get together, eat and talk.  Just like back home, we always have conversation over food.  It is fun to be able to see so many Malaysians in Orange County.  If you are reading this post and you would like to join our gathering, kindly leave me a comment here.
 

Bruxie in Irvine

We now have a Bruxie in Irvine at Heritage Plaza off Culver and Walnut (same plaza as Mitzuwa & Daiso). The outlet just opened last week when I was still in Malaysia. I returned to Irvine last weekend and the first thing I did this week was to pay a visit to this restaurant.




My first impression on this new Bruxie location was, "Wow! They have a lot of seating!" The original Bruxie at Old Town Orange, if you ever been there, the seating space is very limited. I know they do have other locations, but we only visited the one at Old Town Orange. I am glad they have one now in Irvine as it is much nearer to our home and with more tables.






The interior design is very simple and clean. There are two ordering cashiers where you place your order and a condiment island towards your right side. They noted down my name after I paid for my order and then passed me a pager with a number, like one of those pager you get while waiting for a table at a restaurant. They said they will deliver the food to my table when it is ready.

We ordered the Bruxie Angus Beef (savoury) and Crème Brulee (sweet). I also ordered a P&J kid's meal for my son.


Kid's Meal - Peanut Butter & Strawberry Preserve, waffle fries and strawberry lemonade

Sweet Waffle - Seasonal Crème Brulee

Savoury Waffle - Bruxie Burger
We will definitely go back again to try the other waffles on the menu. I am really glad they have the kids' menu that comes with lemonade because my son just happen to like their lemonade a lot. Do check out their weekly special. This week is the Carolina BBQ Pulled Pork and Country Sausage & Egg.








Bruxie Irvine
14376 Culver Drive,
Irvine, CA 92604
(949) 556-4894

Circus Vargas Westminster

As a child, I love going to circus with my family.  Why?  Not because of the performances, but because of all the food I could enjoy at the circus - cotton candies, roasted corns, slushies and more.  I remember how the circus had animals performances but not anymore now.  At least not at Circus Vargas.


A friend had invited our family to join hers for an outing to Circus Vargas recently.  We bought our tickets online.  I surprised my family the next day that we'd be heading to Circus Vargas on Sunday.  My son was ecstatic.  He has heard about circus from a tv show but hasn't been to one.  He kept asking us everyday about the circus and on the day of the event, he asked us how long more before heading out to the circus. 

I didn't have any expectation going to the circus for this new generation.  However, Circus Vargas surprised me with its uplifting performers and shows.  It brings circus to a new level.  I really enjoyed when they invited kids and parents to sit around the ring and let the kids to have first hand being a performers in the center stage.  The kids played the hula hoops, balancing with a peacock feather and juggling with handkerchief.  What can be more fun than for the kids to have first hand experience than this.

The show was a little under 2 hours long with an approximately 10 minutes intermission.  Overall experience was magnificent.  Well worth the price we paid for the tickets ($25 for arena bleacher seating).


Entrance to the arena

The seating in the arena

The ring in the center

View from our seats

Circus Vargas
May 24th to June 4th - Westminster at Westminster Mall
June 7th to 11th - Santa Ana at Westfield Main Place
June 14th to 25th - Irvine at Irvine Spectrum

Circus Vargas FAQ

Temecula Berry Company

Temecula Berry Company is the closest blueberry farm in the vicinity of Los Angeles and Orange County.  That's why we drove all the way from Irvine to Temecula this morning - to pick blueberries with our little boy.

It was suppose to be about an hour drive (one way) without traffic.  Unfortunately for us, we hit a little traffic at Corona before the 15 freeway, adding another 20 minutes to our trip.  The farm is very easy to find once you were on the 15 freeway.  We came from the the north, so we got off at Winchester exit and headed East. We made a right at Nicolas Road, and went straight forward.  The road's name changes to Girasol after Calle Medusa intersection.  We went forward and made a left at Cantrell.  A sign with an arrow is right at the junction.  The farm is what you will see when you descend a small hill after turning into Cantrell.

There is plenty of parking at the farm.  There is a big red barn house and a small little chicken coop right next to the parking area.  When we arrived, there was a long line at the red barn house.  The line was actually for people who were done picking and to make payment for their blueberries. 

We picked up 3 empty buckets and were told each full bucket would be 2 pints and they are charging $5/pint.  Our goal is to fill up 1 bucket!  We got a tip that the blueberries right behind the barn were the best so we headed to that direction.  And how do we know which blueberry to pick?  Well, pick the berry that is BLUE in color, not the partial red or the green. 

The blueberry bushes were planted neatly in rows.  The farm is very accesible and clean.  The blueberry bushes are low and well-trimmed.  No puddle on the path or wild bushes blocking the way.  Blueberry bush has no torns, unlike the wild blackberry bush.  They are very kids friendly. 

When we got to the aisle we decided for our blueberries picking, the first thing I did was to pick any BLUE color berry and put it in my mouth.  Kinda like taste testing.  WOW!  It was really good.  A tangy bit of sour but mostly sweet and plum.  We ate some, put some in our buckets.  My son was sure having lots of fun.  We taught him to choose the biggest and juiciest blueberries.  It was like a hunting game for him, hunting the biggest blueberries. 

It took us a little over 30 minutes to fill up 1 bucket.  We did it slowly and we only walked 3 short rows.  The farm wasn't that crowded so we usually didn't have to share the rows with any other visitors.  We saw people, but they were at other area of the farm.  We also only picked to walk in the vacant rows. 

The farm has a big red tractor for kids to play and take picture.  We did it on our way out to pay for our delicious blueberries.

Besides the blueberries, they also sell raw honey and farm fresh chicken eggs (on Mon and Thurs only).  I think sometimes if you are there at the right time, you may able to buy blueberry breads too.  Their new daily chicken show begins at 3pm. 

Blueberry season is short, so get out there to pick your own blueberries before the season ends.  It may get hot out there, so be prepare for your trip.  Bring lots of water, sunscreen and a hat.  It is definitely a fun experience for all ages! 
  
Temecula Berry Company
39700 Cantrell Road,
Temecula, CA 92591 

Farm hours: 8am to 6pm (7 days a week)
FAQ about the farm.

Daiso Irvine Opening Hours

You have to love Daiso so much. They offers items as low as $1.50 and these items are so cute and adorable. Most of these items are imported from Japan. You can find household items, ceramic dishes, storage, bento kits, stationery, snacks and more. Daiso Irvine is located in Heritage Plaza, Walnut and Culver.
 

Opening hours:

Mon - Sat: 10am to 9pm

Sun: 10am to 8pm

On their opening day, they gave out raffle tickets for the first 250 customers. My number didn't come up as a winner, may be yours did. Check out the list here for the winning raffle tickets.

Grand Opening Daiso Irvine

Arrived at Heritage Plaza at 9:45am and there was a long line along the sidewalk up to the CVS Pharmacy. I joined the line at the end, but I wasn't the last because no longer than 1 minute later, more people came to join the que.



This was the line to enter Daiso Japan new store in Irvine. There were 200 giveaways available for the first 200 customers who bought something. And there was a raffle as well, prizes include a bit 40" TV, iPad2 and more. A couple of customers in front of me asked a security guard how long the line was. He replied that they were probably between the 240-250 customers. I think I will have a chance to grab a giveaway. My tactic would be going in, grab 1 item and go line up to pay.

By the time I got in to the store, it wasn't crowded at all. I couldn't imagine there was more than 200 people inside. There was a long line to pay. Quickly, I grabbed a two compartment container and went to the line to pay. After paying, I walked out the store and a girl passed me a bag filled with food goodies after she scribbled my receipt. It felt like Halloween in spring. Here are the stuff found in the bag.
 

Will have to return to the store tomorrow to find out the winner for the raffle.

French's Pastry Bakery @ Walnut Village Center

This is the place I go when I have a sudden craving for a sweet goodies. It is the French's Pastry Bakery @ Walnut Village Center in Irvine.

Firstly I like to visit this bakery because they have special deals from Mon to Thurs. Their bakery items are delicious too. I love their rich buttery flavored cookies and I only get them on Thursday when they are discounted $2 per dozen.

Here are their Daily Specials:

Monday
$10 off our famous real whipped cream cakes.
Choose from Fresh Strawberry, Fresh Banana, Cherry Rum and Fudge!

Tuesday
$1 off any loaf of our freshly baked breads.
Choose from a large selection.

Wednesday
Our own recipe bread pudding and traditional round cinnamon coffee cakes for only $4.98

Thursday
COOKIE SPECIAL
$2 off any dozen cookies

French's Pastry Bakery @ Walnut Village Center
14443 Culver Drive Unit C
Irvine, CA
Phone Number: (949) 262-9270
Hours: Monday - Friday: 7 to 6; Sat: 7 to 5; Sun: Closed

Trader Joe's Irvine @ Walnut Village Center

I love shopping at Trader Joe's. It is very convenient to me as there are two stores located in Irvine, not too far from my home. What do I buy from Trader Joe's? All kind of food items including but not limited to - pasta, milk, eggs, some fruits, packaged salad, peanut butter, granola bars, dried fruits/nuts, and more.

This is not a regular grocery place, they have limited choices and most of them are their store brand. They do carry many varieties of local wine and their prices are very reasonable too. If you haven't been to or shop at Trader Joe's, you should drop in at least once to check them out. They have stores all over United States now.

Trader Joe's @ Walnut Village Center
14443 Culver Drive
Irvine, CA 92604
Phone Number: (949) 857-8108
Trading Hours: 8:00 am - 9:00 pm