Kat's 9 Lives

Growing up in So Cal all my life has given me the wonderful opportunity to have delicious and as close to as authentic Mexican food outside of Mexico as possible. I don't know if Cafe Río would really be considered super authentic and definitely not a mom and pop shop, but to my surprise I actually really liked what I got. For the longest time I saw the corner of Rockfield and El Toro of a store under construction and bright vans with the Cafe Río logo parked there. It finally opened up recently and I had wanted to check it out since it seems like a pretty big space with vibrant colors. They had been in the back of my mind for a while but I haven't been in a Mexican food mood until recently when the age old question of where to eat came up again with MBA. I gave her the choices of Thai or Mexican and she chose to try out Cafe Río since it was new.

When I walked in, I was a little hesitant to find that it is a chain restaurant and resembled Chipotle. The food is mostly already prepared and the food is made in an assembly line. I felt like I was in Rubios almost with a few touches of other chain restaurants for the decor. Still, I was already there and had to try out the food. While we were in line I saw that they offered fresh made tortillas and there was a lady making them right in front of us. I had to video tape this down. The fresh tortillas looked yummy and were pretty tasty, but I am jumping ahead.
There were signs posted everywhere talking about the supposed famous Cafe Río Salad with Pork Barbacoa. I was taking a big risk since I just had salad for lunch and I am not easy to please when I have to ingest healthy food. O=9 To my surprise the salad was actually full of flavor and had a lot of bite to it. The salad comes in a large fresh Flour Tortilla that's toasted with Mexican Cheeses. They start off by putting Rice in. Then they start adding Pork Barbacoa, followed by tons of Crisp Romaine Lettuce, a few scoops of Pico de Gallo, a small scoop of Guacamole, Tortilla Strips, sprinkles a little bit of Cotija Cheese, Cilantro, and finished off by adding a slice of lime in. I opted out of the beans because I detest beans, but asked for it on the side so that MBA could enjoy them. You get a choice between Pinto and Black Beans. For the dressing you can choose between Creamy Tomatillo or Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette. The lady recommended the creamy tomatillo, which was very rich and flavorful. I would only recommend those who like sweet dishes to try the pork barbacoa because it is pretty sweet but full of flavor. It is like your typical carnita but sweet. All the components come together like a party in your mouth. There is a touch of citrus with a huge chunk of sweet, but all of it is balanced and toned down by the lettuce. The crispy tortilla chips and lettuce add a crunch and bite to the palate along with the soft tortilla that is flavorful by itself. Everything in the dish worked together. Even without the dressing they all exploded in flavor, but adding the creamy tomatillo helped take it to a new level. I am sure that dressing is super unhealthy because it was tasty by itself.
My only qualm is that the salad was so huge that I found it hard to mix all the components together without making a huge mess. Luckily all the components are good by themselves. I even brought the leftover salad home and shared it with my aunt the next night. She is now a fan and I think we will probably be going there for dinner tonight. They gave me a stamp card where you get a free meal after 10 stamps. If my family gets addicted, I am sure it won't be hard to get that free meal. O=P
While I was paying, I saw that they offered Fresh Fruit Frescas, Agua Frescas. I was so excited by the prospect because I had the best Strawberry Fresca in SF recently, which I will post soon. Ever since then I had been dreaming and thinking about when I can get something that good again and cheap too! Here it wasn't cheap nor pricey, $2.50 a cup. That day they had Papaya Mango Fresca so I thought to myself that you can't go wrong with that mix of flavors. Alas it was not what I had imagined it to be. The drink was fine but I didn't think it tasted anything like papaya or barely had any mango flavor. It tasted like a sour lemonade mixed with pineapple juice. I even left it out for the night and it went even more sour which really brought out the pineapple flavor. Even though I wasn't impressed by the drink this time around, I will probably try them again if they have another appealing flavor.
Another item that caught my eye was Cafe Río's Famous Tres Leches. One of my favorite new desserts these days is tres leches. I have been eating it from CA to FL these days. Mmm Mmm Good! How is it here? Mehhh. Not bad but nothing to write home about. The outer layer was moist but the inner layer was a bit flavorless and a lot drier. For $3.50 I can get better cake elsewhere, but if you are here already for the meal it would not be bad to add this on. They asked if I wanted whipped cream and I said yes, but then they said they were out... lame!

All in all I was quite surprised at how good that salad was and MBA really enjoyed it too. My biggest issue with this place is that it is poorly run. The people were friendly but some seemed like they didn't know what they were doing. Also, the food is served pretty fast because everything is pre-made. So why the long line?? Well, they only have one slow person working the cash register when they have TWO registers. All their people are busy doing the food but no one is there to take the money! Even when pick-up orders come they are rung up by the same register, which pushes back the customers waiting in line already. Not a very solid plan, but hopefully they will fix that snafu and run more smoothly. Still, I liked the salad enough to overlook all this and will be back soon to take the family.

Cafe Río
24312 Rockfield Blvd
El Toro, CA 92630
(949) 334-9292

So upsetting! Upon someone's recommendation I was excited to try this new place that opened up in El Toro. It's called Taste of Asia and it's suppose to be a very spicy place like YunChuan Garden, but it can NOT hold a candle to it. YunChuan Garden is 10 million times better and the prices are much more reasonable! We went late in the afternoon today so it wasn't as crowded, but there were still some people there. It's a very small place in a strip mall. Since it's new, it is actually very clean. The decor is very vibrant and colorful with a modern twist. It almost doesn't feel like a Chinese restaurant! lol Note: The pictures look a lot better than how the food tastes.
The servers seemed very friendly, but the guy behind the counter... probably the owner... was a little bit impatient. If you walk up to the counter you can get the cold side dishes. They are 3 for $5.50 but we only got the Fu Chi Fei Pian that I love at YunChuan Garden. Here they have a lot less choices in side dishes so we opted in only getting one item. Note: The portions for the side dishes are a LOT smaller than the ones you get at YunChuan Garden. Now onto the taste... WAY TOO SPICY! It's nowhere as good as YunChuan Garden! There wasn't much flavor except spiciness. It should never be too overpowering that you taste nothing else. My Aunt who loves spicy and can take it ate the dish said that she tasted almost nothing. It was too bland for her and it needed more salt. One of my favorite favorite things at YunChuan Garden is their Wontons in Hot Chili Sauce. So of course I had to try that here for myself. Boy was I wrong! This place missed the mark by far! It was flavorless and not spicy at all. The wontons were not flavorful and had an extreme ginger flavor, but nothing else. It was too one-dimensional. They need to beg for the secret recipe from YunChuan Garden. If they could make dishes or sauces like them, their business would be booming! I would also be here almost every other day to get my daily fix.
Since I read some reviews online about their lamb dishes, I decided to get the Mongolian Lamb. After trying the Fu Chi Fei Pian, we realized that their spicy dishes would be way too spicy for us so we were trying to find a dish that's not spicy. Believe it or not, it was actually very hard to find one! They do have some normal Americanized dishes, but we wanted real Chinese food. This dish was actually very good and the portion was not bad. Since there are a lot of onions, it becomes a very sweet, flavorful, and aromatic dish. This ended up being the only dish we actually ate.
Unfortunately I didn't think what we ordered was enough so we added one extra dish. I ordered the Fish Fillet with Garlic and Brown Sauce. The portion was actually very generous, but I must say... BLECH! It had no flavor at all! I wish there was salt by the table to add into the dish. If you know me, I normally don't like to add extra flavor to most dishes... but this one was bland and flavorless. I was hopping that there would be a strong garlic flavor because I love garlic and fish. How could I go wrong? Apparently VERY WRONG.

All in all I will NOT be back. I don't even care if Ms. Lin comes back and wants to try. I am NOT going again. This place has no lunch specials or any deals. It's pretty pricey and the food is not that good. Why would I want to come back? We basically ate NOTHING today. I only managed to eat a little of everything, but that was it. The only dish we finished was the lamb. My Mom eats almost EVERYTHING, but she didn't even want to eat anything else here. What does that tell you when a woman who consumes almost any and everything refuses to eat it?

Last time I was at Lucille's Bar-B-Que with A&J and Coconut the pictures were lost and I had been trying to get the photos again. In reality I went the next weekend and I have been back again since then too. Hopefully I will be going back soon. As you know in my previous review that I mentioned that I tried this place when it first opened and haven't been back since because I didn't really enjoy it. Now I am changed anew. I often think about their BBQ Chicken! Yet I never order it because it's never worth the price to order chicken over ribs! O=9
Their decor is very homely and reminiscent of an upscale backyard BBQ. They are usually busy so be sure to come early or you might have to wait a little for a seat. There is a bar to the immediate left as you enter and a pretty big dining area to the right.
To start the meal off they will always bring their Biscuit and Apple Butter to the table. I don't know if it is just me but I don't really care for the biscuits. I wish they served corn bread! So much better! The biscuits are a little dry for my taste, but the apple butter is a nice touch. Oreo ordered the BBQ Chicken Salad. It's grilled Chicken breast tossed in BBQ Ranch dressing with fresh Greens, diced Tomatoes, grilled Sweet Corn, Cucumbers, Black Beans, Cheddar Cheese, and topped with spicy Onion. The portion was very generous and presentation was very nice. If it were my salad I'd ask for no beans, but other than that it was a very refreshing and light meal. Definitely the lightest choice among all the meats. =P
Lil Jalapeño ordered a Shrimp Po' Boy Sandwich. It's fried Shrimp served on a fresh Sourdough Baguette with shredded Lettuce, Vine-Riped Tomatoes, Smoked Jalapeño Tartar Sauce, and Spicy Remoulade. They actually gave a ton of shrimp. It was literally falling out of the sandwich! That's just the way I like it! ^_- Their sandwich looked good, but I don't think anyone can beat my favorite Shrimp Po' Boy at Harold & Belle's in LA.
Tofu ordered the Lucille's BBQ Combo Platter, which is a choice of 2 BBQ items. He chose the Beef Ribs upon my recommendation and the Pulled Pork. I highly recommended the Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes to him. So he chose that and Shoestring Fries. He really enjoyed the mashed potatoes, as I knew he would. The beef ribs were huge. They are tender, big & meaty ribs, Spice-Rubbed, slowly Smoked, then glazed with their BBQ Sauce. The pulled pork is roasted, slow smoked, shredded, and tossed in their special sauce. It was very tender, juicy, and flavorful.
For my dinner, I had to get the Baby Back Ribs and Beef Ribs. From my last experience, I knew the beef ribs were great and that it's more worthwhile to get the 2 item combo versus the 3. The more options you get, the smaller the portions! =*( BOO! lol So this time I went with a smaller choice, but a better quantity! For my sides I had to get the Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes and I got the Baked Potato to take home for my Mom. They serve a lot of food so there is always going to be food leftover. The baby back ribs are the tenderest & meatiest little pork ribs that's slow-cooked with sweet hickory smoke, then grilled, and basted with their special BBQ sauce. Both ribs were meaty and delicious. Pour on some extra Original Lucille's BBQ Sauce and you will be set.
All in all the service was friendly. We sat there for a very long time, almost until closing, and we were not bothered by anyone. It's a very laid back place. The food was good and plentiful. Only Oreo was able to finish his meal. We all had to get boxes for home. It's still a little bit on the pricey side for me, but it's worth it if you are in the mood for BBQ.

Lucille's Bar-B-Que
23760 El Toro Rd
Lake Forest, CA 92630
(949) 581-7427

I had to do a rush blog of Coffee Bean. On Sunday I went to Coffee Bean with Apple Jacks after dinner and saw that they were advertising for a free drink. Today, TUESDAY 6/24/08, they are giving away a small size of their New Yogurt Drink. I personally don't think it will be that big of a hit, but it's FREE so why not give it a try. My favorite drink there is of course the Ice Blended Vanilla. It's a very refreshing drink on a HOT HOT HOT day. I like Coffee Bean A LOT more than Starbucks because I am not a huge fan of strong coffee. I like my drinks light and smooth.
So if you are by a Coffee Bean today around 4-5PM then be sure to stop in for your free Yogurt Smoothie. It might be better than you think and why not get one when it's free. They have a variety of flavors and the small cup is 16oz. I believe. ^_^ ENJOY!

MBA and I went to El Torito after a long discussion on where to eat. She was looking at Italian restaurants, but suddenly we decided to go to El Torito. All my talk about their yummy sweet corn cake made MBA want Mexican food. So we drove over to Laguna Hills Mall and went to the El Torito near by. Too bad we didn't decide earlier that we wanted El Torito because they have a pretty nice brunch buffet on Sundays. I am curious how much it is nowadays and if it's as nice as I remember. Lets just say I haven't been back since my teens or even earlier.
They brought fresh chips and salsa to the table. It's a little bit different from El Torito Grill, where they give fresh tortillas with butter and salsa. I really love the tortillas, but the chips here are good too. MBA had to come to this place to get her all time favorite dish there, Chicken & Sour Cream Enchiladas. It's tender chicken simmered & smothered in a savory sour cream sauce with melted jack cheese and served with refried beans & rice.
MBA recommended that I get the Macho Combo so I could try it all. It comes with the four most popular items: Chile Relleno, Chicken & Sour Cream Enchilada, Shredded Beef Crispy Taco, and Handmade Carnitas Tamale. The chicken enchilada was the best out of the four. It was light and flavorful. The carnitas tamale were WAY TOO SALTY! I only took a few bites and took the rest home for my parents. I guess I didn't know what a chile relleno was and now that I know, I won't ever get it again. The beef tacos were decent, but nothing special. I think I should have gotten the same as MBA or the chicken flautas. Afterwards I told MBA it wasn't that great and how come she recommended it. She said that it would give me more to blog about >=P. What I suffer through for my website!
The best thing of the night was of course the SWEET CORN CAKE!! WHEEE! I love it! Although they were drenched in oil that night. Normally I think the more fattening an item is, the better it tastes. This was almost borderline. Nonetheless, I love the sweet corn cake. I could order a whole meal of it and I should really do that some day! All in all the place was good, nothing spectacular but a solid chain I guess. I will definitely be back for sweet corn cake. MBA and I will be back around that area so she can try Lonestar Steakhouse, which I have been. We also have a coupon! O=)

I went to Lucille's BBQ when it first opened up on El Toro. It was always packed and people lined up outside. Of course I had to try it. I didn't really think it was that great when I went back a few years ago. So when people ask me to go, I am quite hesitant. Apple Jacks came down to visit so I asked them what they would like and they actually decided on BBQ. I was thinking about the choices down here and I didn't want to make them drive even more South, so I thought why not go back and try it again. Of course I had to invite Coconut because she has been wanting to go there. It was busy as usual, but it did not take long to get our table. The service was friendly and UNFORTUNATELY this was part of Saturday. Needless to say, all the pictures are GONE! So Sad!

There aren't any to even work with this time, so I will keep this short and sweet. We all ordered BBQ combos. I really like their BBQ Chicken because it's always a huge portion and the meat was very tender. The Baby Back Ribs were good, but I was surprised at how delicious the Beef Ribs were. They were huge and meaty. I liked the caramelized crust on all of the ribs. This time around I liked the sauce. It was a great hearty meal filled with MEAT! How can you go wrong with that?

I really enjoyed the meal because it was a very nice night with Apple Jacks and Coconut. The prices were still not cheap, but what is nowadays?!? I think based on this second experience, I might actually go back again sometime soon versus after last time I haven't been back since they first opened. They have changed a little bit in the bread given, but still tastes good with the apple butter. If I could only share the pictures with everyone out there! =*(

Sorry to say, I am so over the Vietnamese sandwiches at Lee's. At first they were good because the bread was crisp and flavorful. For the price, I'd rather go to Bolsa and get sandwiches from my favorite place. They have the buy 2 get 1 free deal daily and it's just as good, but slightly different. Now Lee's are popping up everywhere, the one on El Toro is only okay. I like the one in Irvine by UCI a little bit more.
I got the Chicken Sandwich, which was freshly sautéed chicken. It's fresh and hot, one of the pluses compared to the sandwich places in Bolsa. The flavors often vary from day to day, but overall it's tasty. Be sure to eat this sandwich fresh, because it's best when hot. If you plan to take the sandwiches home to eat later or the next day, be sure to ask them to separate the vegetables so the bread won't get soggy.
My favorite thing to get was the Pork & Shrimp Egg Rolls. They are cheap and good. Five for $2.50, which was not bad. Flavorful and crispy. It's nothing special that would wow you to death, but just a great snack to pick up. Try their manju too, but only if it's fresh & hot!

All in all they are decent, but now that I have went to Le Diplomate Cafe by UCI I will NOT go back to Lee's Sandwiches. The Irvine Lee's is only a hop, skip, & jump away from Le Diplomate. So do yourself a favor by trying something new and BETTER! Trust me! Le Diplomate Cafe is MUCH BETTER! Go garlic sauce!