The Vox Kitchen has taken over the spot vacated by “Asian-Latin Street Food” restaurant Pango in Fountain Valley. The Vox offers small plates such as spicy shrimp wonton in spicy sauce, Taiwanese tofu with preserved egg, and sautéed Brussel sprouts with bacon and a sous-vide egg. Entrees include garlic noodles and Hainan chicken rice.
16161 Brookhurst St., Fountain Valley, CA 92708
Stacks Pancake House, the Hawaiian breakfast specialist that has locations in Dana Point, Mission Viejo and Irvine, has now opened a new restaurant called Plumeria Cafe in Laguna Niguel. Along with pancakes and eggs, Plumeria also serves fried rice, loco moco, and kalbi.
23811 Aliso Creek Rd., Laguna Niguel, CA 92677
Uroko Cafe Has opened it’s second store in Costa Mesa. Though both offer assembly line-made poke bowls, the 17th Street location has a self-serve condiment bar where you can add as little or as much toppings such as masago, garlic chips, and jalapeño as you like. The restaurant is also planning another restaurant in Cypress.
103 E. 17th Street, Suite 3, Costa Mesa, CA 92627
A Mongolian BBQ restaurant called Howl Wok Mongolian BBQ has opened in Garden Grove. It currently offers a $7.99 lunch special and a grand opening discount of 10% off the all-you-can-eat dinner.
13225 Harbor Blvd., Garden Grove, CA 92843
Sawleaf Cafe has opened in Irvine at The Marketplace. The Vietnamese restaurant offers pho, banh mi, and some non-traditional items such as lemongrass chicken fries.
13786 Jamboree Rd., Irvine, CA 92602
Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.