We had read/heard a lot about Five Guys and had high expectations. However, after reading the Yelp reviews for the new Tustin location, my expectations were lowered a bit.

A regular hamburger has two patties. We ordered one regular hamburger, two little hamburgers and one order of regular size fries. No drinks, and the total was $17. Now, I know Five Guys doesn’t like to be compared to In n Out, but I’m pretty sure that same meal would cost under $10 there. D and I both had our burgers “all the way” which included a handful of toppings unavailable at In n Out, including mushrooms, pickles, etc. Although I appreciated the numbered stickers put on each hamburger corresponding to the receipt, I did not appreciate how each hamburger was wrapped in foil. It made the bun too mushy, especially with all of the extra toppings. The patty feels more handmade, and it is not as salty as In n Out, which could be good or bad. k’s comment was that the fries tasted “burned”.

Overall, I say we’re sticking to In n Out, but I’m glad we tried Five Guys. Maybe if we’re ever on the East Coast, we’ll give them another try to see what all the hype is about.

Random conversation heard between k & n all weekend:

k: We’re friends, right?

n: Yeah.

k: And Daddy’s bad?

n: Yeah. Dada ba. (n’s word for “bad”).

Wow…July came and went. k finished up her swim lessons, and even went down the slide on her last day (didn’t think she would do it…I should have more confidence her, I guess).

I purchased a restaurant.com certificate to Gyro N Kabob in Tustin. It is part of a aging strip mall on Red Hill that is anchored by a Stater Brothers. There is a quite a variety of food there…L to R, a Korean-owned liquor store that sells homemade Korean food (bought a bag of frozen beef dumplings, will report back soon); pho restaurant ($3.99 bowls of pho on weekends), Tustin Pizza Shack; Gyro N Kabob (Afghani restaurant); Mexican bakery; Traditions (Indian restaurant).

As for Gyro N Kabob, we thought it opened at 11 a.m. on Saturday, but didn’t open until noon, so we had to kill half an hour. We started with an appetizer called bolani. It was stuffed with potato and lightly pan fried. It comes with four pieces, but the kids couldn’t wait for me to take a picture.

It was really good with the green sauce that comes in a squeeze bottle at all the tables. (The sauce went really well with the meats, as well).

Chicken kabob, reminded us of tandoori chicken.

Gyro plate, (beef and lamb)

The food was delicious, and came with a salad. The owner was very friendly with the kids and brought us out a pitcher of water so we could do our own refills, a nice touch. It was pretty empty when we were there, so hopefully it gets better business during other times of the week. It is fun to expose the kids to different types of food.

For OC Restaurant Week this year, we went to House of Big Fish & Ice Cold Beer in Laguna. It is run by the same people as K’ya Bistro, so we had high expectations. Unfortunately, we made reservations for Saturday lunch, and apparently there was a parade going on. Now, it’s not fun to find parking in Laguna. Add in beautiful weather, a weekend and a parade, and it was just a disaster. We almost gave up, but fortunately, we were able to make our way to the underground parking lot (look for the blue and white “Connection” parking sign) and they validate for 1.5 hours. Plus, the guy that was there was like the friendliest parking attendant I have ever encountered.

We shared tilapia and fish & chips. The tilapia also came with a cup of clam chowder.

We were debating whether to order a kid’s meal too, but these two entrees were plenty for our entire family. (n barely counts, though, since he was mostly interested in the butter packets and fries). Surprisingly, k liked the tilapia. Who knew? The fish and chips were not greasy, but very filling. We did not parktake in the “ice cold beer” but I’ve read that this place gets pretty lively at night. Daytime was perfectly fine for kids, though.

The restaurant is on the second floor, and overlooks PCH and the ocean. k and n had fun looking down at the street.

Totally felt like summer.

For some reason, n wanted to walk around with his hands in his pockets.

I’ve been wanting to try Belacan Grill in Tustin, so when I saw a Groupon ($20 for $40 of food), I decided to take advantage of the deal. D’s dad grew up in Malaysia, so maybe we should take D’s parents here the next time they visit. Malaysian restaurants aren’t that common.

Roti Canai ($3)

k’s favorite. She even liked the curry dipping sauce that came on the side.

Nasi Lemak ($10)

“steamed rice with coconut milk and frangrant screwpine (pandan) leaves served with anchovies, boiled egg, cucumber, vegetables, roasted peanuts and our famous beef rendang” A little too authentic for our tastes. I guess I could have known from the description that it wouldn’t be our favorite, but I was curious. The meat was kind of jerky-like. We will skip this one next time.

Char Kway Teow ($9)

Kind of like pad see ew, but I think I like pad see ew better. Not bad, though.
BTW, D was underdressed, and can I just say again that I really can’t wait until November is over? (Although he did just receive a $76 donation, so that is really nice!)

Hainan Chicken ($12)

D’s favorite. Personally, I can’t get over the fact that it is served at room temperature, but it tastes good with the sauces and rice.

So, it turns out that Groupons apply to the tax, but not tip, so we needed to order one more roti to go to spend our full $40. We ate it for breakfast the next day! It heats up well in the toaster oven. I also put some of the leftover chicken in the leftover curry dipping sauce and it tasted pretty good! We would have probably liked some of the more Chinese-sounding dishes better, but then what it the point of going to a Malaysian restaurant?

Last night we went to Irvine Spectrum to redeem our two free birthday meal coupons at Veggie Grill (sometimes it is nice having birthdays 11 days apart). It was our first time, so we weren’t quite sure what to expect. (We smuggled in a Chick Fil A sandwich for the kids, which we also received for free by posting a “My first Chick Fil A story on facebook). Anyway, the texture of the “meat” was a little off, but it tasted good, so we were happy. It is kind of expensive without a coupon, so I can’t quite recommend it.

Thai “chik’n” salad and Santa Fe crispy chicken sandwich.

Afterward we walked around and came across these cute play houses that are up for sale for charity:

The “UP” house

I would love to have a place like this to relax in on a nice cool morning or evening.

My favorite of the bunch. I wonder how much these things go for??