Sankai - Costa Mesa

Sankai
3940 S. Bristol St.
Santa Ana, CA 92704
714-241-7115
Map



Sankai is my girlfriend's favorite local spot. It's located a block or so from the South Coast Plaza in a little shopping area where there's a Marshall's or Ross. If you don't know where to look, you might not find the place, but it's there. Anyways, she lives in Newport Coast, and she makes the little drive to this sushi place, sometimes just to order take out.



Sankai's menu is very small and simple. I didn't see any baked dynamite appetizers or a list of crazy baked rolls that I love.... Uh oh. I'm in trouble. Luckily, I've been honing my sushi tastebuds, so I can now survive these kinds of places without much complaint-- if the food is good.

For the raw stuff, we ordered the salmon skin hand roll ($3.50). On my notes here, I wrote "whatevers" for this order. This means that I didn't think much of it; I probably won't order it again; and I don't have an extensive vocabulary of describing my food. Moving on, there's the spicy yellowtail hand roll also $3.50. I don't have any trusty notes for this one, but I'm sure it was better than the salmon skin. We also got an order of salmon sushi ($3.20). Again, I failed to put any notes about it, but I think it was good. I mean, this is why my girl goes to this place. For the sushi.

salmon sushi, spicy yellowtail hand roll, salmon skin hand roll


I realized I can't have a full, satisfying meal if I just eat sushi. Since their rolls are pretty basic with not much to choose from, I had to go with my first love-- Crunchy Roll ($7.50). That one I put "good" on my notes. I can't describe it any other way. It surprises me after all the crazy fusion rolls I've tasted, a well made Crunchy/Crunch Roll can still hang with the big boys. Sankai has a well-made, basic Crunch Roll.

my first love... Crunch Roll


I saved the best dish of the day for last. You won't find this one on the regular sushi menu. Only us regulars know it (I've been here twice). It's their volcano roll. I don't even know the price and I was too lazy to figure it out when we got the bill. I believe it's just a plain California Roll, topped with scallops, some cream sauce, and asparagus. Two things first: I'm not a fan of scallops and it didn't look as great as I was told. I was coming at it with hesistance. My girl said it was good, but I'm like, "I've been around the block baby." So I tried it, and it was very good. *Note to self: add "very good" to notes vocab* It was so good, I wanted to eat it all at once. Too bad my girl was there to take some of it away from me... just kidding honey. I didn't think a relatively basic roll like this could satisfy my high expectations.

Volcano Roll. LOCALS ONLY!!!!! just kidding


So would I go back to Sankai? Even if I didn't like it, I think I'd have to come back cuz my girl would drag me here anyways. But fortunately for her, I did like the place. It's a good place for basic sushi and rolls. The price to quality ratio is very appealing. She said one time she saw Dennis Rodman eating here. Now you know there's something to this place, when such a crazy or interesting guy as he is, goes to a basic, simple restaurant as this.

Oh yeah, this place gets packed during peak lunch and dinner times. So either come early, or eat here during the slower hours.

George's Thai Bistro, Santa Ana

George's Thai Bistro
3732 S Bristol St
Santa Ana, CA 92704
Phone: (714) 979-8366
Type: Thai food
Map



I came upon George's Thai Bistro after a long day of snowboard shopping. Just from driving around, my girlfriend and I couldn't find any other place around the area that was open. It wasn't that late though. This place is located down the street from the South Coast Plaza hidden in some shopping plaza with a grocery store (maybe Vons) and an ice cream shop.

To be brief, the food was okay, the prices were kinda high, and the portions pretty much sucked. I mean $10 for a scoop of crab fried rice that wasn't even "to die for!" If I can recall, we ordered steamed rice cuz there was so little of it. I think the pompano was pretty good cuz it was crispy, but look how small that was. I forgot how much that cost, but it cost more than the rice.

Pompano


crab fried rice mole hill


This place received a mix bag of reviews at the AOL Citysearch website-- from shitty as hell, to "Best authentic Thai food in town!." Two reviewers say the owner (George) argues with the customers. I don't remember the service being horrible, just the price to quantity to quality ratio was. So it all comes down to would I go here again? If you read the whole review, you know the answer. It's a definite "NO." Portions and price are the deciding factors for this bad review. Plus, I don't even live around here. The only time I'll eat here again is if they'll give the meal on the house to redeem themselves, and I have to be in the area for some other reason. Hit me up Georgie boy.

Favori Restaurant, Santa Ana

Favori Restaurant
3502 W 1ST St
Santa Ana, CA 92703-3302
Phone: (714) 531-6838
Type: Vietnamese food / French food
Website
Map



Wanna impress your date? Does your date have an open mind when it comes to food? Got 50 to 70 bucks to spend on a meal? Then Favori in Santa Ana might score you some points-- *wink* *wink*.

My date took me here, and you better believe she got lucky (or unlucky) that night. Heheheh. Favori is a French-Vietnamese restaurant that's received great reviews from many critics. The atmosphere is romantic-- I guess, because of the darker atmosphere. When you come here, expect to be smelling like fish sauce by the time you leave, so come prepared if you're going out after. This place is known for their baked catfish. It gets pretty pricey too. The smallest catfish can feed from 2-4 people depending on your appetites, and it cost $35 I think. The baked catfish comes seasoned with a crispy skin. You're supposed to take some of the rice paper which you're supposed to dip in the water to soften it up. Then you take some of the lettuce and other veggies and combine it with pieces of fish on top of the rice paper. Then you roll it all up and choose one of two dipping sauces. Those are what makes the place smell. But despite that, both of the dipping sauces are bomb, and I alternated between the two.

Baked Catfish


We also ordered the calamari, which is different from most calamari, but it was really good. I'd say it's one of my top 5 calamaris that I've tried.

Calamari


Obviously I love this place. If it weren't for the price, I'd be here maybe once a month. But alas, fate has me broke and starving. Luckily, my girlfriend loves french fries.