It has been a while since I have posted a restaurant review.  Last weekend we were in the mood to try something new.  We decided on Paper Lantern Dumpling House in the Diamond Jamboree shopping center.

First off, I like the clean, modern decor of this restaurant.

Their menu is simple (left is in Chinese, right is in English) and you order at the counter.

Here is what we ordered:

Chinese broccoli ($4.50).  This is a simple dish, but the garlic and the accompanying sauce made it so good!  The kids liked it too!

Two orders of Pork Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings) ($4.75 each).  We first had these at Din Tai Fung, the gold standard of XLB.  The wrappers here were not quite as delicate, and the dumplings were not quite as juicy but they are less expensive and there are no insanely long wait times to contend with.  Worth a try!

k, the soup dumpling master!

Two orders of “beef wrap” ($5.50 for 3 pieces). This was SO delicious!  It is a flaky green onion pancake stuffed with beef, along with cucumber and a flavorful sauce.  This is a “must” order.

Soup dumplings, that is!

Paper Lantern Dumpling House

2730 Alton Parkway, #101 Irvine, CA 92606

Open Daily, 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.

We have been up and down I-5 countless times, but had never stopped in at Pea Soup Andersens.  This past summer, we finally tried the food at this iconic road stop.

Not many restaurants can say that they have been around for close to 100 years!

Of course, we had to try the famous pea soup in a bread bowl.  I liked how the toppings came separately so you could customize your own bowl.  We all enjoyed this.

I also wanted to try the Monte Cristo sandwich.  I think the only other place that I have ordered this is at Disneyland.  I would definitely suggest splitting this entrée with others, as it is decadent.  The raspberry jam provides a nice sweet counterpoint to the ham/cheese.

D ordered the club sandwich, was pretty good as club sandwiches go.  Even though D was skeptical about only ordering two entrees and a soup, it turned out that it was plenty to sustain the four of us on the rest of our trip up the I-5.

Last week, we scored on free sandwiches. The first was from the grand opening event at The Bronx Sandwich Company, in Tustin. The pastrami sandwiches were really good! I also liked the bread, which is from OC Baking Co., I believe. The regular deli sandwiches were okay, but we’ll be back for the pastrami.

The second free sandwich was from the Corner Bakery. They had sign-ups for their Asian pork sandwich. It was pretty good, if you are not expecting an authentic bank mi. I really liked the flavorful dipping sauce that came with it, since the pork did not have much flavor on its own. The canned jalapeño peppers were not a nice touch–reminded me of nachos at a baseball game. However, the rest of the vegetables were nice and fresh and crunchy. They provided a nice contrast to the soft meat and bread.

D was eager to add to the San Diego section of his restaurant list. One gap was was “hot dogs”, so we went to Daddy’s Hot Dogs in the Hillcrest neighborhood.

It is literally a storefront, with no seating. We used a Groupon and ordered 3 El Cubano hot dogs and 1 “O” hot dog for $12.

The owner is a friendly character. Each hot dog was made with care. We ended up doing dashboard dining in our car. I am happy to report that Daddy’s Hotdogs earned a coveted place on D’s restaurant list!