#76 - Chicken Wings at Hashigo Korean Kitchen

On a cool, overcast day, I had the same debate with myself that I usually do - should I get a ramen or pho or go somewhere new and try something different? As I drove by Mitsuwa marketplace to Hashigo, every piece of me wanted that ramen. But I stayed the course, crossed a single street, and arrived at Hashigo. A Korean kitchen with mostly fusion dishes and a few traditional, this small gem is hidden away in a strip mall behind heavily tinted windows. Stepping in, the darkness persisted a bit, but I was warmly greeted, offered a seat in a booth or at the bar (I opted bar) and quickly helped. As I am still on my kick without soda or caffeine, I opted for water and perused the menu.

Even though I knew exactly what I was going to get (wings), I wanted to see what else they had. As I had looked them up on Yelp and Google Places earlier, I had a general idea of what was good (well, pretty much everything), so while browsing, the kalbi tacos caught my eye. I ordered those with the spicy wings (regular or spicy? the answer is always spicy).

While waiting for the food to arrive, I was handed banchan, consisting of potatoes in a sweet sauce, cucumber and daikon radish kimchi, and regular kimchi¹. The potatoes and radish kimchi really stood out and made a perfect pre-meal appetizer of sorts. In fact, I found myself constantly going back to the banchan throughout the meal.

The first item I received was the trio of kalbi tacos. On top of a corn tortilla there was cabbage, ciantro, kimchi, and radish with the kalbi meat of course. The meat itself was cooked fine, had a nice sauce to it, and, surprisingly enough, finished with a hint of heat. Nothing too strong, but a nice little bonus thrown in at the end there where you'd expect sweetness. I only ate one as I knew the wings were coming and didn't really know what to expect. The other two will make a nice snack or dinner tonight.

The wings though...the wings. Wow. As I mentioned before, I opted for the spicy version. They are presented atop a bed of cabbage with a spicy sauce drizzled atop and even more spice baked right into the batter. Instead of your usual wing, these are dredged in a tempura-style batter and then fried to perfection. Upon biting into one, you will get tons of heat as the tempura keeps them wrapped up nicely along with the natural juices of the chicken. Not grease or fat, but just a juicy, perfectly battered wing.

Served with the wings are two dipping sauces and a little tray of seasoned salt. The first sauce was the same slightly spicy, yet somewhat sweet sauce that they drizzled on the wings. The second is a buttery hot sauce (I know the sauce and it was killing me the whole lunch as I couldn't place exactly what it was - it's not tabasco, not frank's...WHAT IS IT?) which added just a bit of extra heat to the later bites once I had gotten through the tempura. My only minor complaint is the square dishes they serve the sauces in are hard to actually dip the wings in - the drumettes do fine, but the wings struggle to fit in and pick up sauce.

In the end, there's no doubt I'll be making this a regular lunch stop. I still need to try the curry fries, the korrito, and so much more that sounded great on the menu. Kudos to the Hashigo staff. Very tasty and reasonably priced for the amount of food you get (the wings were $9.95 and the tacos $7.95).

#3 - Pizza di Salsiccia e Friarielli at Fuoco Pizzeria Napoletana

Last Saturday, with nothing to do, I ventured out to the Bruery to try some of the newer beers they had on tap and while there, checked my map of OC Weekly's 100 Favorite Dishes and stumbled upon Fuoco Pizzeria Napoletana. Tucked away on Harbor, I missed it the first time by. I circled back around and, despite being a Saturday night, I was able to find parking in back. Entering through the lesser-used side entrance, I was greeted by a host stand in the middle of the restaurant (odd), a large brick oven, and a small bar where I sat down and was promptly greeted by the bartender / one of the owners (I think).

I knew what I was going to get, so we just got down to it when he came over to take my order. It was to be the Pizza di Salsiccia e Fiarielli. He asked if I've ever had rapini before (I have a few times) - in fact just the week prior I had made some to top a pulled pork sandwich - and then I asked which beer would pair well with the pizza. He recommended something darker (Arrogant Bastard), but after seeing they had about 5 different Italian beers stocked, I opted for the darkest they had - a Bock Chiara 5 Luppoli (a poor choice - the beer was bland and tasted old).

The pizza was delivered in a surprisingly quick manner after ordering - which I guess I should have expected from a neapolitan pizza joint. The pizza was delivered with the usual pepper flakes, but this time the bartender said that the pizza would greatly benefit from a liberal application of flakes. So I happily obliged. I will put them on any pizza if offered up, so when told to do so, I added quite a few shakes to each slice.

Regarding the "slice" - the pizza comes whole - not sliced at all. A week or two ago, my parents visited a neapolitan pizza place (can't recall which one), and there they were told to eat the pizza with a fork and knife - not by slicing it and picking it up. I didn't remember this piece of advice while I was at Fuoco, and the other patrons around me were going the "cut your slice and pick it up" route, so I followed suit.

Right off the bat, the pizza looked great. Little lumps of mozzarella, ample sausage (though oddly enough, it appears that they've changed their sausage since OC Weekly visited - mine were sausage crumbles while OC Weekly had sausage slices), and the rapini, oh, the rapini. It added a perfect bitterness to complement the heat of the pepper flakes and the absence of tomato sauce (olive oil is used as a "sauce"). The sausage was tasty, though tough to keep in place on the pizza itself.

Overall, the pizza was quite good. I'm eagerly anticipating a return visit to try something different, maybe a bit more traditional. I do like a good tomato sauce on my pizza (or BBQ when the stomach demands some chicken), so I might tend to choose a different pizza in the future. In all, I really enjoyed my visit. Prices weren't outrageous, and with the prodding of others, I did finish the whole pizza (it was tough, but doable). The owners were discussing possible expansion plans (I believe they will be one year old this weekend) and I do hope they expand closer to my work as they were discussing (Irvine area). If they do, I'll be visiting many more times. As it stands, next time I hit up Bootlegger's Brewery (just down the street a few blocks), my go-to pizza option will be Fuoco. Quick, attentive service and some awesome pizza add up to a winning recipe. (woo, restaurant review pun!)

P.S. They do have some good beer in bottles outside of the generic Italian beers. Racer 5 is always a good option and it seems they rotate through them.

#38 - Grilled Brie With Apples And Fig Jam

My apologies for the poor lighting, it was just such a beautiful day in Southern California, I had to eat outside, and facing towards the sun, I tried to shade the sandwich to the best of my ability, but it did come out a little dark. However, while the picture may disappoint, the sandwich did not.

What we have here is a grilled cheese from Boudin. Usually when I go to Boudin, it's for their iconic sourdough bread bowl filled with clam chowder. It's perfect for cold days and the sourdough they make there is always top-notch. But on a warmer day like this, you can opt for a cold sandwich (in which case I usually choose the turkey cranberry), or you can get a grilled cheese. And if you're trying to get through OC Weekly's list of 100 Favorites, it's the grilled cheese.

At first glance, I was impressed, there was a bit of cheese oozing out of each half and the bread wasn't just grilled, it was Parmesan grilled. Adding that extra bit of cheese and crispiness to the bread, it made a huge difference. Inside, in addition to the brie you have a perfect complement of fresh, tart, sweet green apples and the perfect amount of fig jam. The brie itself though proves to be the star with the apples. If you've never tried the combination at home, just do it. Brie and apples, maybe on top of a wheat thin, and you're in heaven.

In all, the flavors come together perfectly, a blend of two cheeses, lots of crispy apples and the crispy outer bread, all with a thin layer of the fig jam which adds just a bit of sweetness where the apples don't reach. The OC Weekly article says to go with the chips if you've gotten this far. I recommend the salad. It's minimalist, but crisp and tossed with the right amount of dressing. After a few bites of the sandwich, it's nice to have a little lightness to even it all out and the salad does it well.