Lazy Dog Cafe

The Lazy Dog Cafe recently opened up in the former spot of French 75 at the Irvine Marketplace. The restaurant is a concept from the son of the founder of Mimi's Cafe (Chris Simms, son of Tom) and, like Mimi's the menu has a huge array of options (from lamb shanks to pizza to burgers to chicken and hummus salad).

The decor is a sort of Western ski lodge with dog pictures and themes everywhere. From the menu out front which is posted in the middle of an oversized fire hydrant to the beer taps which are dog bones hanging off of a fire hydrant.

I went on a Sunday morning with a friend, my wife, and our son. I was very tempted to order something from the brunch list, but in the name of academic honesty, decided to try the fish tacos.

The menu reads: AHI FISH TACOS
Seared Ahi tuna in warm corn tortillas with shredded cabbage, Island Salsa, and Horseradish Tartar Sauce. Served with steamed rice and black beans $9.95.

When the tacos arrived, they appeared rather large. Two big tacos with grilled ahi cubes, with the sauce, a healthy serving of shredded cabbage, and the salsa on the side. The steamed rice was just that and the black beans had grilled onions mixed in with them.

The tacos were relatively bland. The ahi was good, but rather bland. Rather than seared, it was fairly cooked through and there was no spice or detectable seasoning on the fish. The tartar sauce was very mild for having horseradish in it and with the amount of cabbage served in the tortilla, the taco was pretty boring. Not bad, just boring. The amount of "island salsa" given was barely enough to cover one of the tacos. I suppose that I could have asked for more, but I was caught up in the conversation and trying to take mental notes of the tacos.

A good salsa with some kick would definitely improve the tacos. After reading an industry news article about the menu, it appears that the tacos are a way to get more use out of the ahi which they buy for the Hawaiian ahi poke appetizer and Asian ahi tuna burger. While that is good food economics, it doesn't mean that the ahi cubes shouldn't be dressed up with some seasoning.

I will probably go back with the family because it is a solid, family-friendly, slightly upscale, casual dining place, but I will not be ordering the fish tacos again.

The Lazy Dog Cafe
Six locations in California with a Seventh coming soon to The Promenade in Temecula.
Website
13290 Jamboree Rd
Irvine CA 92602

Discovery

My experience today at Papa's Tacos in South Laguna Beach was the type of experience I imagined I would have when we started this blog. For me, this blog is as much about discovering new places to eat, as much as it is to find the perfect FT. And I feel like I found a great little "discovery" in Papa's Tacos.

For my entire life , I have driven through South Laguna and passed by Papa's Tacos, located along the eastern side of PCH. It has a very small and unassuming storefront, marked only by a relatively small rectangular sign. I noticed for the last 10 years or so, which I interpret to mean that it must be doing something right. Especially since it is not located along a heavy pedestrian portion of PCH and survived with only metered street parking. Many times have I wanted to stop to peek in and sample, but I had never done so...until today. With my daughter in hand I adventured in to Papa's for a Saturday lunch.

The first thing you notice when you walk in is how small it is. The entire place was about the size of a NYC hotel room (read: small). The counter and kitchen make up 2/3 of the entire store with enough room for 4 worn, wooden stools that were positioned along the large windows facing PCH. The menu offered the standard mexican faire: burritos, enchiladas, tacos, tortas, etc. So I ordered a fish taco, a carne asada taco and rice & beans and settled in with my daughter on one of the stools go wait for our order.

The FTs arrived in a strofoam to-go container. They were healthy in size and consisted of sliced mahi-mahi fish wrapped in 2 medium sized corn tortillas. Melted cheese, cabbage and a small amount of chopped onions (which likely made their way from the carne asada taco) topped off my FT. It was fantastic! The melted cheese on the mahi-mahi along with the errant chooped onions made for a great taste. The fish was very light and flakey but hearty, if that is possible. I saved the hot salsa to the second half of my FT which turned out to complement the FT quite well. The rice and beans (and carne asada taco) rounded out what was a great lunch.

After lunch, I chatted up the owner. He told me that Papa's Tacos has been there for 19 years but he had recently taken over ownership and management. It must have been very recent given that when I was there the cook was "training" him on using the register.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience, from the food to the dining experience in the restuarant (my daughter even behaved well eating lunch on my lap!). I highly recommend Papa's Tacos and I know I will be back.

Papa's Tacos

31622 Coast Highway

Laguna Beach, CA 92651

(949) 499-9822

www.papastacos.com

Vegas Roadtrip Report

Road Trip. Las Vegas.

Enough to strike fear into the hearts of most mortals, however, an opportunity to experience new things. When those things are of the fish taco variety, you can come home to your spouse with a clear conscience.

I traveled along with a group of about twenty for a Bachelor Party in Las Vegas. I will spare you (and me) stories of the rest of the weekend and focus solely on Friday night's dinner at the Pink Taco in the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. You've heard of it, you've laughed at the name, how was the food?

The fish tacos were very good for Las Vegas. Nothing earth shattering compared to SoCal, but a solid effort nonetheless. Fresh tortillas, battered and fried fish (it only says fish on the menu and the drinking blocked any memory I may have had of the type of fish), a great serrano-cilantro salsa, cabbage, and pico de gallo. A solid effort and no disappointment considering the environment.

I am glad that the table doesn't show the number of empty beer, margarita, and tequila shot glasses on the table so that this entry is not completely ignored. Next time you are in Vegas and want a fish taco, you won't go wrong with the Pink Taco.


Website
Pink Taco
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, NV

A great fish taco story and recipe...

The OC Weekly blog has a great story (and recipe) about catching endangered species for fish tacos.

Read the article (and recipe) here...