Kat's 9 Lives

After hearing so much about a fellow blogger, FoodGPS, we decided to meat for a day of food exploration. He had a few places in mind in Fountain Valley/Westminster and I am always willing to try new foods. We started things off by going to Cream Pan for their addictive Strawberry Croissant! The night before, I had just met the owner of Tutto Amore Gelato and invited him along for the adventure. Lucky for me that I bought myself a new GPS to guide me around the area to help find Đinh Thiêng. It's a very indiscreet place without any big signs so be sure to look for the label with the general plaza label.
One reason I was intrigued about this place was the adventurous food it offers. They have a dish that is made with RAW Duck Blood. I have never heard duck blood being served in the US, is it even legal?? lol Turns out none of us were adventurous enough to test it out, maybe next time when Ms. Lin is around and has had a good run of living... so that she will brave trying it out. For the dishes we ordered they gave us nước mắm, fish sauce. This special stinky smelly sauce is made from Fermented Fish so it has a rancid smell but this does not translate to taste. It is not too bad if you get over the smell. They also gave your typical Sweet & Spicy Garlic Sauce and a Salt & Pepper with Lime Sauce.
Even though we aren't adventurous enough to try the raw duck blood, we somehow compromised and got the cooked Duck Blood & Intestinal Blood Sausages. TL said that it did not taste like duck's blood but not quite pig's blood. The texture was more gelatinous like a very very soft tofu. Did I try this you might ask? HECK NO! If someone paid me, sure we can negotiate. From the discussion, I know I didn't miss out. I stuck with eating my Fried Quail! This is what caught my attention because of Craftsteak and Alize I have been in love with quail. The flavor was pretty good and the meat was tender. It was a great mixture of saltiness with a sweet tangy kick.
FoodGPS also wanted to try the Sizzling Venison. The preparation must be the same as how they normally season/marinate their barbecue. There wasn't a lot of meat on the plate and they were the ribs so not much meat. I thought it was very tender and flavorful, sort of like a Vietnamese Curry seasoning. It is almost indistinguishable that it is venison because there was no gamey flavor since the seasoning was much stronger. This can be a good and a bad thing because you never know what the flavor is masking... say the freshness of the meat? Also, it could hide the true identity of the meat! lol
All in all the food was not too bad. It was definitely and interesting adventure. The best part was to share this new experience with new friends. When we asked for water, they automatically gave us bottled water... this was a bit frightening.... I tried to turn a blind eye to the choppy English, the inability to communicate, the questionability of the food, and more... still I lived! That is an accomplishment in itself. I think I would feel safer if I had some Vietnamese friends take me here because they will probably get better service and better food. Another reason why I think the food wasn't too bad was because I had very very low expectations after arriving at my destination. As I have mentioned many times before, the first step to failure is trying... the first step to bad food is thinking that it will be good! The lower the expectation... the better it will seem by default... this applies to all aspects of life ^_-
I have enclosed the check for anyone who can decipher and tell me which item is which. **besides the drinks** I did look up some of the translations but they are not very helpful, so any insight would be great!

Đinh Thiêng

There are like 3 Niko Niko Sushi places within Costa Mesa and Irvine. Can we say overflow? TP mentioned that she really like this place but I guess the one near her. I found this location closer to South Coast Mall since it was close to where dinner will be at, the Hidden Kitchen. Thank goodness I came here for lunner or I would be even more disappointed with dinner! Niko Niko Sushi is located in a strip mall right across from the Vitamin Shoppe. They had your typical sushi decor with wooden tables.
As soon as I sat down, they brought over some free Edamame that were run down and spewed from the shells a little. Miso soup also came with my meal. It was your typical bland soup and nothing special. I ordered some Hamachi Sushi to start but for some reason she heard Sashimi.... it's $1 more so I just overlooked it. Don't be tricked by my photo touch up! It was not this pretty of a color! I thought it didn't look too fresh because the coloring was off and dark... but after tasting it... the way it looked did not reflect its freshness. The Hamachi was decent and a fat odd slice. I don't know if you can tell, but it's pretty obvious that they have not mastered their knife skills. For the price, $5, I could have went to Mitsuwa and get a much better cut/chunk.
I ordered their Bento box set because I was hungry and I didn't want to be too starving for 2nd dinner, just in case... which ended up being a smart plan! I got the 3 item for $12.50 but a lot of the choices were extra charge! Of course I had to choose Sashimi, Beef Teriyaki, and Crunch Roll. The Sashimi was an extra $1.50 and I asked if could substitute the Maguro out for more Sake, Salmon. They didn't charge me an extra fee on top of that for the switch, which was nice or I wouldn't have chosen it. So I got 6 pieces of Salmon that was pretty fresh and had a soft texture, which is pretty easy to come by. I liked the Crunch Roll and the portion was pretty generous. There is not much rice around it. Instead it's filled with Imitation Crab *same as California Rolls*, Avocado, and Shrimp Tempura then rolled in Tempura Flakes.
What I had issues with was the Beef Teriyaki.... if you saw the photos up close you would see the mother of pearl color glisten on the beef.... which is never a good sign of quality. They don't even use a chunk of beef, but skimp and thinly slice shreds of meat that I would like to THINK is beef! lol The flavor was decent but meat quality... not so much. TP only ordered one thing, the Idaho Roll. To clarify, I never say that word... it's "U-da-ho!" lol O=9 Being that she is not adventurous in sushi, of course the only reason why she recommended this place was for a Veggie Roll!!!! It's Sweet Potato and Avocado. That roll was all her and she was full off of just that.... Weirdo! lol For some odd reason, she said the roll was fishy and she doesn't like that this location rolls the rice on the inside. Picky Picky! lol
All in all this place is just another Americanized chain that I would think about going to when I need something to tide me over until I can get some good sushi when I have enough money. O=9 You pay for what you get! Still, this place is not cheap for their rolls and they have a plethora to choose from on the menu. Hence, why I chose the Bento box to tide me over until real dinner! If I do come back... I'd only get the Bento box and nothing else... everything else is not worth the value.

Niko Niko Sushi

I will be the first to admit that I lead a somewhat sheltered life and have never eaten or really seen a taco truck! Shocking! I know... so I had to rectify this by following the group to The Brig on Abbot Kinney. For precise times look up their schedule on their website because... it's a taco truck... hence... vroom vroom... moving! lol I hear it's mostly at UCLA in the day time. We were able to talk to the people behind the idea and it was a very interesting conversation. Three friends who all have day time jobs at nice hotels came together with this idea that has been growing in popularity. They have already been asked to franchise, but currently don't want to rapidly expand and let their baby grow up without their special care & guidance.
The people seemed very nice and there is a bowl of Kimchi placed right where you order for you to grab and eat or put in your taco. There usually are cans of cold soda for $2 shoved inside the ice near the Kimchi for purchase. It is a brilliant idea to be near a bar late at night because there are a lot of people drunk and looking for munchies... or hungry after partying and want a late night snack. Either way, it's a smart move ^_^
We had a full meal and Scoops before we came, so of course I was very full. I could only save room for 2 tacos, the Spicy Pork and the Short Ribs. They are $2 each. The winner of the night for me is the Spicy Pork, which had a tangy sweetness mixed with the spice. It provided a much stronger pow wow than the other tacos. They use a sweet citrus vinaigrette atop the shredded lettuce laid in the taco that brought out the natural flavor of the Spicy Pork. Don't forget to squeeze the lime to give it that extra kick!
To be fair... they are not very consistent because the 2nd Spicy Pork Taco I had was nowhere near as good... and that was only a 10 minute difference in time of order... Yes, I said I could only fit 2 tacos but I liked the pork enough for a 3rd... but I just got greedy and was disappointed. The Short Ribs Taco was very chewy and not very flavorful. I think mine had a tendon and hurt my tooth a little.
I called Burumun to come join and so she did. She tried the Salad and Chicken Taco. The salad had a very strong citrus flavor that was almost overpowering, which I did not like. As for the Chicken Taco was much spicier than the Spicy Pork and not as flavorful. The taste was very one-dimensional. I say stick with the Spicy Pork Tacos, but beware of inconsistency. Still, it's a cool and fun idea! Now I can proudly say that I have eaten from a Taco Truck and to top it off... it is a Korean BBQ Taco Truck ^_-