Anita's New Mexico Style Mexican Food

Located a few blocks south of Downton Fullerton sits Anita’s New Mexico Style Mexican Food. Situated in a converted house, it has both a walk up counter and a sit down area complete with waiter service. I have never been to New Mexico so I cannot vouch for the authenticity of it being cuisine that can be found in New Mexico. Most of the dishes are what you find at most Mexican restaurants with the addition of some that are probably native to New Mexico. Starting with the standard chips and salsa is a nice way to begin any meal. The tortilla chips are nice and light, while the salsa has a little bit of a kick to it. The Carne Adovada are large chunks of slow braised pork topped with a red chile sauce, a very light sprinkling of cheese and green onions. They are accompanied by rice and beans. The pork is fork tender, moist and juicy while the red chile sauce adds a nice amount of heat. The beans and rice are your standard fare, although the rice was particularly salty. The Stuffy Dinner comes with slow cooked pork stuffed into a large sopapilla, topped with green chiles, cheese and green onions. The sopapilla is a form of Indian fry bread. These are pillowy soft and, on their own, taste like a donut aching for some sugar. Although the pork is very tender, it was a little dry. The Stuffy Dinner come with two sopapillas on the side. The sopapilla are served with honey, if you choose to top them with it turning it into a simple dessert. For a little change of pace compared to your standard Mexican restaurant, Anita’s is not a bad option, but certainly not worth a special trip. Anita’s New Mexico Style Mexican Food 600 S. Harbor Blvd. Fullerton, CA 92832 (714) 525-0977

Beverly's Best Bakery

Tucked in among a non-descript little strip mall lies perhaps Fullerton’s best bakery. Known best for their wedding cakes, this bakery has expanded their repertoire of baked goods as years pass by. Owned by two sisters who struggled to make ends meat when first starting out the bakery has expanded into what is essentially a “locals” bakery. Almost like Cheers, where everybody knows your name. The Chocolate Chip Scone is unlike any other I’ve had. Crusty and flaky on the outside, it is light and delicate on the inside, almost muffin like. The mini chocolate chips melt almost instantaneously and are very subtle in flavor. In fact, if you had your eyes closed, you probably wouldn’t even know they were there. The Mini Tiramisu comes in its own self contained dark chocolate cup. On top of a round disc of sponge cake, brushed with espresso and alcohol, lies a creamy mix of tangy mascarpone cheese. Whipped cream dusted with cocoa powder finish the presentation. This is a nice little dessert and certainly lives up to its literal translation, “pick me up”. The only complaint I have about this decadent dessert is that the dark chocolate on the bottom of the cup is rather thick and dominates the palate if bitten into. The Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake is a New York style cheesecake that is very dense, creamy and a little tangy. The crust is a nice thick graham cracker crust on the bottom and much thinner on the sides. What seemed odd about the dessert is that it had a gelatinous texture and taste on the top, like many Asian desserts, which distracted from the rest of the cheesecake. The Mexican Wedding Cookie, or Russian Tea Cookie, looks like the Barry Bonds of this type of cookie, i.e., it looks likes it gone through a cycle of steroid. The thing is huge. It’s about the size of a Hostess Snowball. This classic cookie is akin to a shortbread cookie. It’s buttery and vanilla flavor explodes on the palate. There are also ground almonds, which are actually much larger than the cookies that I have had in the past. The larger sized almond pieces was a pleasant surprised because it gave the cookie a nuttier taste. The only thing that I did not like about this cookie was that it was heavily sprinkled with powdered sugar which made it a little too sweet. The Brownie has a nice thick, crunchy crust. Underneath lies a rich chocolatey concoction that is both cakey and fudgy at the same time. The outer parts of the brownie are more cakey, while the center is nicely sticky and fudgy. The brownie is topped in what tastes like a light carmel glaze with walnuts and mini chocolate chips. The Coconut Raspberry Crumble is a nice combination of flavors and textures. The bottom consists a crumbly pastry with oatmeal in it. The filling is a thick, raspberry jam that contains seeds for added texture. There is a crumble topping that is slightly sweet. Toasted coconut tops everything and gives it a nice nutty flavor. This is a nice light dessert that is not overly sweet. The Lemon Bar has a flaky and buttery crust and is filled with a sweet, yet tangy lemon curd. The entire bar is dusted with powdered sugar. This sort of tastes like an enclosed Lemon Meringue Pie without the meringue. The tartness from the lemons is refreshing while not being overly sweet. The Pumpkin Coffee Cake tastes like an ordinary coffee cake on the top, but underneath lies a thin layer of spiced pumpkin filling. The crumble topping is dusted with powdered sugar, but does not make the dessert overly sweet. This is a new take on the classic Pumpkin Pie. Beverly’s Best Bakery 3020 N. Brea Blvd. Fullerton, CA 92835 (714) 529-3989

Tony's Little Italy Pizza

Having just won the 2007 AOL City Guide Dining Out Contest for the Best Pizza in Orange County I really wasn’t sure what to think. Many times, when a restaurant wins an award as voted by the “locals” it usually screams out mediocre at best, but I was willing to give Tony’s Little Italy Pizza a try. Hotly debated about the authenticity of their deep dish pizza on Chowhound, was there any debate about what to get? I have read mixed things about Tony’s but mostly positive. The restaurant is very small and is adorned with wall to wall Chicago sports team memorabilia. There is even a hand painted overhead picture of Wrigley Field to help get you into that Wrigleyville state of mind. I ordered a Canadian Bacon and Mushroom Stuffed Pizza. This is the classic Chicago style deep dish pizza. The crust was a nice golden brown and had a nice crunch on both the bottom and sides. There was also a distinct buttery flavor to the crust. When I asked the owner if they used butter in their dough, my query was quickly cast aside. The bottom crust is a fairly thick layer upon which mounds of cheese are layered. The toppings are then placed on the top of cheese. I was sort of dismayed by the amount of toppings that were placed on the pizza. For a pizza of this magnitude, with its thick crust and huge amounts of cheese, a fairly substantial amount of toppings should be added to balance out the pizza. Sadly this was not the case. The Canadian Bacon was sliced pretty thing and was hit and miss on the pizza, some slices had a good amount of it while others had barely of whisper of any. The use of fresh mushrooms was nice to see. I am not particularly fond of the canned mushrooms that some places use. Again, the rather meager amount of toppings seemed to get lost in the huge pool of cheese. The toppings are then layered with tomato sauce and once the pizza is finished cooking a light sprinkling of parmesan finishes everything off. The tomato sauce had a nice acidic kick to it and the perfect amount of sauce was placed atop the pizza. I could taste both oregano and basil mixed into the sauce which added a nice herbal punch. This pizza must be eaten in small bites. With the huge amounts of cheese on it, I almost choked several times when big melted cheese balls got stuck in my throat. Now I know what a cat feels like when hacking up hair balls. I think the addition of more toppings would help alleviate this problem. The large pizza is pretty substantial. You could probably make 3-4 meals out of pretty easily. Overall this is a pretty good pizza. I’m not sure if I would go out of my way to eat here, but if I was in the neighborhood and felt like having pizza this would be a great option. Tony’s Little Italy Pizza 1808 N. Placentia Avenue, Unit B Placentia, CA 92870 (714) 528-5159

Ohana Hawaiian Island BBQ

Hey Brah! Howzit You like go grind? Fo sure Every time I enter a Hawaiian restaurant, pidgin English starts running through my head. It brings me back to spending a few summers during my childhood in Hawaii visiting my relatives. Even when I go back to Hawaii now, it just takes a few minutes to pick up on the familiar sing song rhythm and inflections that is pidgin English. Unbeknownest to me upon entering, Ohana Hawaiian Island BBQ is a small chain of restaurants, not nearly as well known as L&L BBQ or Zippy’s. Upon a little research, most of their restaurants are either in Central California or Northern California with a few locations sprinkled throughout the southland. The chain originated on the Big Island in the city of Waimea in 1973. They have slowly franchised into California using those same recipes. The menu is fairly small but has all of the usual suspects: Kalua pork, Mahi Mahi, chicken katsu, spam musubi and kalbi ribs. I can usually judge the quality and authenticity of a Hawaiian restaurant by their kalua pork. The main staple at any luau, it should be smoky and salty in flavor, juicy and fork tender in texture. Placed upon a bed of cabbage, it is a local plate icon. The look of the kalua pork is appealing as it looks juicy and shreds very nicely. The familiar scent of smoke was missing though. Tasting it was even worse. There was absolutely no salt and no hint of smoke anywhere to be found. Smokey the Bear would gladly pronounce this dish as a non-fire hazard. It tastes like it was just boiled or braised in water, shredded and served. The mac salad was drenched in mayo, although the rice was cooked well. Another staple of Hawaiian cuisine is saimin. I ordered the chicken katsu saimin. I was pleasantly surprised when the dish came in two containers; one for the saimin, and another container for the chicken katsu. This separation of ingredients prevented the chicken katsu from becoming soggy from being immerged into the soup. Unfortuantely, the noodles were terribly overcooked and very soggy. What’s even worse, is that it tasted like packaged S&S Saimin that you can buy at Marukai. The soup base tasted like a combination of the seasoning packets of S&S Saimin and Top Ramen. The chicken katsu was very cruncy on the outside, and the chicken was tender and moist on the inside. It was a little greasy, but right when I thought things had been salvaged my bubble burst. The oil that the katsu was deep fried in tasted very old and stale. Hoping to bring back a childhood memory, Ohana Hawaiian Island BBQ was unable to do that. Instead, it felt like I had just arrived to the islands, headed straight to the beach and got hit by Jaws in Maui landing me in the hospital for the remainder of my vacation. As I was leaving, I thought to myself this isn't "Ono" it's more like "OH-NO"! Ohana Hawaiian Island BBQ 2170 E. Lincoln Ave. Anaheim, CA 92806 (714) 778-9889