The Ritz Prime Seafood Restaurant Re-Opens 10/12!

The Ritz Prime Seafood Restaurant will re-open it's doors on the Newport Beach Waterfront to the public on the evening of Monday October 12, 2015 to reveal the revamped, "Ritz" with an evolved fine dining experience, while still honoring the history and the original Ritz. Guests can enjoy an artfully curated menu including fresh selections from the raw bar, including oysters, seafood, and a large scale cocktail bar.

While dining during a rehearsal dinner service at the Ritz Prime with Vincent last week, we were taken back by the impeccable plating as well as the marriage of flavors in each dish. We also were enraptured with the design elements of the restaurant and harbor view; the bossa nova-style music playing in the background created an almost romantic and mysterious ambiance. We heard that the new design and dining experience is quite the departure from the previous 'Ritz Restaurant' which offered a traditional supper-club feel. We really enjoyed taken every bit of the restaurant in, and had the best time.

My suggestions would be the Pork Belly Confit (it literally melts in your mouth), Red Miso Cod, and the Perfect Storm Cocktail. The restaurant will also offer a Champagne Bar, Bloody Mary Bar Cart manned by a master mixologist during weekend brunch service, therefore, I most definitely have to come back to experience brunch. Come into the The Ritz Prime Seafood to experience a elegant and modern place, where innovative and classic food gastronomy and drink and cocktail mixology converge.

The Ritz Prime Seafood Grand Opens October 12, 2015:
Dinner nightly Sunday-Wednesday 5pm-10pm, Thursday-Saturday 5pm-11pm
Weekend Brunch on Saturday-Sunday 10am-3pm
Happy Hour will be offered Monday-Friday 5pm-7pm
The Ritz Prime Seafood 2801 West Coast Highway, Newport Beach CA 92663
Make Reservations: 949-720-1800
Valet Only (Cash, $6 as of 10/7 and is subject to change) You can try to find street (metered) parking on the street

Custom Poki Bowls in Orange County - Pokinometry, Anahiem

If you love poke/poki, you're going to love this restaurant concept. My friend Jen took me to Pokinometry in Downtown Anaheim for the first time the other day. Poki originates from Hawaii and means to "section" or "to slice or cut", hence the cut cubes and slices of seafood. Poki is made from a variety of fish such as Tuna, Salmon, Shrimp, and Octopus; Pokinometry allows you to customize your very own bowl of poki. With an assembly line, the customer selects the size and type of bowl/base (white or brown rice, salad, chips, or wrap), the first layer (crab meat, avocado, cucumber or onion), type of fish, sauce (many levels of spicyness), and the last layer of garnish (masago, green onion, ginger, wasabi, sesame seeds, seaweed).
The server was generous with the masago on my bowl (one scoop was enough for me), but Jen wanted a bit more, or a larger scoop, and they got a little uptight for it; it's just an extra charge, but they made it seem like she couldn't get more masago. Regardless, our bowls tasted delicious. I had albacore tuna over white rice because I wanted to get full, Jen got a salad bowl which tends to not fill you up as fast. I definitely want to try a poki over chips next time!

Anaheim Location
184 South Harbor Blvd
Anaheim, CA 92805
(657) 208-3488

Hours:
Monday-Friday 11:30 am - 9:00 pm
Saturday-Sunday 11:30 am - 8:30 pm

Parking: Street, Structure Garage, City Lots; it's a bit tough depending on the day/time you go. We went on a Sunday around 6:30pm and we barely got a street spot a couple blocks away. There are also structure garages in the area, but you most likely need to pay by the hour or ever 15 minutes. Check out the Downtown Anaheim website for more info on parking.

Slapfish Now OPEN in Irvine, CA

When I thought it couldn't get any better with the Slapfish Laguna Beach location, they opened a spot in Irvine at the town center across from my alma mater, UC Irvine. I attended a media tasting before their grand opening and tasted menu staples as well as items specific to the location. This location has the 'Anteater Burger', an Angus beef patty, fried sweet shrimp, and a chunky lobster sauce; as well as the 'Hot Pop Fish Bites', fried fish nuggets with a sweet and sour kind of sauce. Check it out for yourself:

Slapfish
4249 Campus Drive Irvine, CA 92612
Phone: 949.737.2090
Hours: Monday - Sunday 11:00 am - 11:00 pm

Slapfish, Laguna Beach

It's lunch time and I am starving, good thing these photos of food from Slapfish can hold me over until I can grab food. I've heard the name Slapfish a few times, and was under the impression that it was a sushi restaurant, but when stopping by their Laguna location, I was pleasantly surprised at the innovative seafood menu. Although the location has just enough room to walk in, order, and grab utensils; there's an open outside seating area.
After a day at the beach, my friend Trang and I stopped by and we ordered Chowder fries to share and one Ultimate Fish Taco each. I thought we weren't going to be full by sharing the fries and having just one taco, but boy was I wrong. The Chowder fries are on another level, I was thinking the chowder might cause the fries to be soggy, but it was more like a gravy and topped with tons (and I mean tons) of bacon bits which offset but complemented the creaminess of the chowder. The ultimate fish taco is definitely ultimate, in both taste, freshness, and size. I was not expecting to receive such a big piece of fish; the size of the fish within the tortilla made it look daunting to eat, but I simply cut down the middle, added some hot sauce and folded up the taco. Check out more on Slapfish here as well as their locations here.