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http://www.venissimo.com/

2710 Via de la Valle #B138, Del Mar, CA 92014. (858) 847-9616

754 West Washington, San Diego, CA 92103. (619) 491-0708

Cheese, please! This little store is one of San Diego’s best kept secrets for cheese lovers. Upon entering the store, you are greeted with the most horrendous stench. The phrase “Who cut the cheese?” now makes sense. They offer numerous cheeses from around the world. They have cheeses made from the milk of cows, buffaloes, sheep, and goats.

The employee was very knowledgeable and offered me different samples. I’m not very adventurous and wanted to try a creamy cheese. She recommended Fromager D’Affinois from France ($14.50 per pound). It was definitely creamy. It’s made from cow’s milk and double cream. It’s like spreading soft butter on bread.

I also tried Ossau-Iraty from the French Pyrenees ($20 per pound). It is a hard cheese made from ewe’s milk. It tastes like a very strong Mozzarella.

Here are some of their refrigerated cheeses, including Cashel Blue from Ireland, Grayson from Virginia, and Tete de Moine from Switzerland.

They also offer a selection of hard cheeses, including Mona from Wisconsin, Serena from California, and Roncal from Spain.

The cheeses are sold by weight. Of the cheeses that I saw, the range was $14.50 to over $30 per pound, but according to their website, they also have cheeses that start from under $10 per half pound.

Give them your name when you buy a cheese and they’ll store the name of which cheese you bought in their database, which is a good thing if you go back to buy some more, but you can’t remember what the name of the cheese is.

They also offer a small selection of accoutrements, such as salami, crackers, baguettes, and chocolate. Visit one of their two locations if you want to sample a few cheeses or you need to order a party tray. You can also visit their online store and join the Cheese of the Month Club. They also offer classes and tastings.

Join them this Saturday, October 27, 2007 from 2 - 4 pm in the Flower Hill Mall for a Happy Halloween Cheese Tasting for only $8.

2000 Newport Blvd. Costa Mesa, CA 92627. (949) 548-0099

Since we were in an Irish bar, we decided that we’d go along with the Irish Theme.

Dennis ordered the Steak of Lamb ($19.00). At first we thought that there were regular mashed potatoes underneath the steak but we were wrong! Instead, there were flaky potatoes underneath, something I haven’t really eaten before at any restaurant! The flaky potatoes had a tiny bit of firmness but were tender to eat. Dennis mentioned that there was a slight butter taste in each layer. The green beans were standard, though a little bit undercooked and somewhat oily. I find that green beans at most places are usually a bit oily. As for the main course, our order was actually burnt on the outside. The lamb wasn’t that tender inside either, probably due to the outside being burnt. The sauce on the lamb was overly sweet, kind of like the sweet onion teriyaki sauce. The potatoes were our favorite, or perhaps the only, part of the dish. It wasn’t too good of a choice, at least the way it was made that night.

I ordered the Irish Lamb Stew ($11.00). I thought the sauce of the stew had a rich saucy tomato flavor and went well with the lamb. The meat itself was probably average to good, although I don’t eat it often enough to know more. The mashed potatoes were absolutely delicious and the gravy was also excellent and unlike any I’ve eaten! It complimented the potatoes well. I’ve never liked cole slaw so Dennis got to review that; he said it was average.

Since it was a sports bar, we could hear the football game in the background but that didn’t bother us. The lighting was a little dim which made it harder to read the menu. Our waitress was friendly enough but we didn’t see much of her. The food also took an excessive amount of time to reach us.

Before we got our bill, we mentioned that the lamb was burnt but that we didn’t reorder because we didn’t want to wait. We passed a $20 off coupon from here to the waitress. When our bill came, we were surprised that gratuity was already added! For a $30 meal with a $20 off coupon, we paid over $15, which meant an included gratuity of 18%. I have never seen that done for a mere party of 2! Is it because we were in a bar? Is it due to the use of the coupon? (though we know to properly tip with a coupon). Was the waitress worried about her tip because the lamb was burnt? I believe we should have been able to decide on our own tip, between 10-20%. Has anyone had this happen to them before?

Taste: 6/10
Service: 3/5
Enviromnent:3/5
Total: 12/20

118 degrees
2981 Bristol Suite B5, Costa Mesa, 92626.

I’ve always been interested in trying out more foods that are meatless and this was a good place to explore! 118 is purely vegetarian, and online I read that they don’t even need to cook the food(?). It was relatively easy to find, in the plaza right off the corner of Baker and Bristol.

I ordered the Panini ($9.00), which has spinach, mushroom, and tomato placed between two large yet strong crackers. The sandwich contents had a nice blend of flavors, and the mushrooms tasted as if they were lightly brushed with olive oil. The only turnoff of the sandwich was that the crackers were very hard. I figured out that biting into only one cracker at a time kept the contents of the sandwich from sliding out the other end. If not eaten in this fashion, this type of ‘bread’ has no barriers to keep the contents from shifting around.

Dennis ordered the Mole Enchilada ($11.00), which I liked even more than my dish. It helped that it was a lot more effortless to eat than my meal. I loved how it had an exotic taste. The few kernels of corn sprinkled around the dish added a subtle sweetness to every bite.

I also ordered the signature drink, the Pomegranate Passion (8), which is pomegranate juice and sake. It wasn’t anything too special.

The environment was very chill, and the other customers seemed to enjoy eating at this place. I definitely liked the contemporary decor of the restaurant. The service was nice enough, but not extraordinary. The prices are a little bit higher considering the size of the dish but I would definitely come back to this place. There are very few places, if any, that have something like that Mole Enchilada!

Taste: 8
Presentation: 4
Service: 3
Total: 15/20

9211 Bolsa Ave Westminster, CA 92683. (714) 893-1976

My mom actually chose this restaurant to host the luncheon after my Tea Ceremony.  The restaurant was packed!  There was quite a line out the door even though there was a large amount of seating space inside.   I had been to this place a few times before and remembered it as being quite good.

We had two tables at the restaurant and about 22 people.  So, not all the food featured below was something I tasted.

This dish was a fried sushi dish.  It was nice and crispy on the outside but it bit too bland on the inside.  In fact, I’m not sure what was on the inside.  Possibly shrimp?

 I didn’t order this!

 Hmm, again, I think this was at the other table.

 Ah!  Something I recognize!  This is the standard Chinese broccoli typically seen most Chinese restaurants.  It has an oyster sauce on top.  This one was pretty average although as far as I’m concerned even the average ones a very good.

 This is my favorite!  Shrimp dim sum with some kind of rice noodle shell.  Very tasty.

 I didn’t get to try this one but it is a rice noodle wrapped around either pork or shrimp.

 I didn’t try this one either but it looks good!

 Bleh!  Looks like eggplant.

 Man, this looks good too!

 Aha, I did have some fried rice.  It was VERY good.  Not too oily like some Chinese restaurants.  t was nice and fluffy and flavorful, but not too dry or overspiced.

This dish was good too.  More salty than spicy but I enjoyed it.

 Overall, the restaurant was very good.  The service was just so-so and the ambiance was typical of a fast paced restaurant in that area.  It isn’t a place I would go to for a romantic evening but if you want good food and don’t mind waiting a little bit, this place is worth it.

Taste: 9/10
Service: 3/5
Atmosphere: 2/5
Total: 14/20

901-C South Coast Drive. Costa Mesa, CA 92626. (714) 641-3000.
www.finbars.com

Linguine alla Romana (14.99) - chicken breast, pancetta, and artichoke sauteed then tossed in a light parmesan cream sauce with spinach linguine

The flavor of the linguine was very nice for the first bite but after a while, the pasta felt like it was drowning in the sauce. I’m not used to eating italian dishes so it tasted too saucy but Dennis also agreed about the heaviness of the sauce. I would have liked for it to have more artichoke but there was a reasonable amount in the dish. The chicken was tender and delicious though. Overall it was a decent menu selection and more-so if the sauce were a little bit less overpowering.

Ginger-Garlic Black Bean Capellini (12.99) - sauteed chicken breast with broccoli and scallions in a sweet ginger, garlic, black bean sauce with soy and sherry.

As for Dennis’s dish, the broccoli was cooked to a nice softness but the sauce was very oily, reminding me of a chinese dish. The noodles were plentiful, in fact bordering on too much, because the oiliness filled you up faster than you would normally expect a dish would do. The chicken in this one was likewise decent enough but did not stick out enough to remember more, despite us having eaten there just yesterday.

The environment of the restaurant was indeed casual. This place has the white paper tablecloths that you can draw on with crayons. On the way to the bathroom, I noted the colorful drawings posted on the walls, sketched by previous guests of the restaurant! The restaurant seating was a little bit tight due to the way the tables shared a long booth but we had enough space from the customers surrounding our middle table. Ongoing talking was louder due to proximity of others but this restaurant is casual dining after all. It took a while for the waiter to come take our order but at least we had more time to decide what to eat. Otherwise, he was very attentive, despite having to cover a large number of tables that evening.

Taste: 7/10
Service: 4/5
Atmosphere: 4/5
Total: 15/20