It all started when my friend LB forwarded me an article from Chowhound about AnQi, a restaurant in Costa Mesa that has a chef's table offering an exclusive molecular gastronomy menu. The private room requires a minimum of eight guests. Unfortunately, I don't have eight friends that would be willing to partake of a 16-course tasting menu. But thankfully kevineats was planning a similar dinner so he was kind enough to let us tag along. I'll let him fill you in on the background of the restaurant and chef here.
AnQi is a restaurant located in the South Coast Plaza mall. I don't do malls. It's overwhelming and massive. It's a time and money suck. The food is mostly bad. But the private dining room at AnQi isn't mall dining. In fact, it has a completely separate kitchen, waitstaff and a mostly separate menu from the regular restaurant.
The private room shares a window with the kitchen so guests can catch a glimpse of the kitchen at work. Chef Ryan Carson presented the courses and gave us a bit of background on how he conceptualized the dishes.
The Molecular menu features 16 Courses for $160.
Wine Pairing was available for an additional $80. LB and I were aghast when we saw the short list of wines but in fact, the same wine was paired with multiple courses and the waiters did come by pretty often to refill the glasses.
1) Champagne & Caviar ~ nicolas feuillatte champagne gelee, american sturgeon caviar, white chocolate fizzyAn elegant and playful way to start the meal, this was a great representation of what the menu and night would pan out to be. The sweetness of the Champagne gelee and the salty caviar was a nice pairing. The white chocolate disc ended the bite on a fizzy note.
2) AnQi Beet ~ sweet & sour saltThe shredded beet was deep fried and molded into the representation of the AnQi logo. The beet strands were delicate with a sweet and sour flavor.
3) Kumamoto Oyster~ soy mignonette, yuzu lemonade 'cloud', citrus pop rocksThe fresh and briny oyster was enhanced by the citrus lemon and tart yuzu. All the flavors really came together to form a very intense bite. Once again, the kitchen added a playfulness through a lingering sensation from the pop rock foam.
4) Hiramasa Crudo ~ avocado silk, sweet & sour tangerine veil, jalapeno-cucumber emulsion, frozen beetThis was the first dish that Carson created for the progressive menu. It was almost too pretty to eat. The crudo was fresh but almost bland, until you combined it with the tangerine gelee and jalapeño emulsion. The lemon oil powder and frozen beet added a tang to the dish.
5) Lobster Summer Roll ~ compressed mango, Vietnamese herbs, elderflower gelee, pickled rose petalWhen the plate was first brought to the table, I was confused. The lobster roll seemed ordinary, very AnQi-like. But Chef Carson enhanced the dish by instructing us to pour the cup of hot water into the bowl of petals which created a floral aroma. The lobster roll was dipped in a spicy chili rose emulsion sauce. The pickled rose was picked from a friends garden. We were asked to taste the petal, which seemed to have an essence of fish sauce, as a palate cleanser.
6) Ahi Tuna Nicoise ~ white anchovy romesco, crispy haricot vert, 64*C quail egg, olive 'gushers'This was a deconstructed nicoise salad with duck-fat fried potato at bottom of the tuna. The quail egg was cooked at three different temperatures for three hours. The olive component, in the form of a sphere, and the smokey tomato ball lent an intense flavoring to the dish. To the side was pickled shallots and a well seasoned artichoke. Lastly, the briny anchovy sauce really bound everything together.
7) "Looks Like Tartare" ~ compressed watermelon, mango 'egg yolk', dehydrated capersAnother deconstructed version of a classic, the tartare was made with compressed watermelon which had a pulpy texture and crumbled, almost like the minced beef of a traditional tartare. It was topped with capers, microgreens and a "yolk" made of mango which had similar consistency of a half boiled egg. Initially I had wished that this was fish or beef based but after the first bite, I really came to enjoy and appreciate this version.
8) Kurabota Pork Belly~ kimchi consommé, freeze dried banana, wasabi peanut butter powder, yuzu-truffleThe salt & pepper pork belly was not as tender as I had hoped, but I really enjoyed the broth. I thought it was ingenious to extract the intense kimchee flavor without adding any chunkiness to the broth. I was also impressed with the truffle, banana and peanut butter combinations. Who knew that peanut butter would work so well with kimchee?
9) Foie Gras Torchon ~ cherry-yuzu gel, 'instant' ginger-pineapple brioche, bacon dust, chinese celeryThe rich foie was served with aerated brioche and a touch of savory bacon dust.
10) Misoyaki Black Cod ~ furikake rice cake, pickled garden vegetables, encapsulated foie gras miso soupThis was a healthy portion of cod and at this point, I was starting to get really full. But I can never say no to miso cod. The cod was delicious but something you could get at most Japanese izakayas. What really elevated this dish was the crunchy risotto rice cake and foie spherification. Lastly, we cleansed our palate by sucking on a pickled ginger root.
IntermezzoConcord grape jelly with thyme jelly and lemonade foam. It was salty and zesty.
11) Jidori Chicken Roulade ~ himalayan black truffles, oyster mushrooms, ginger, chinese mustard jus, hazelnut brittleThe sizable sous -vide Jidori chicken had truffle essence rolled into it and was tender and juicy. I was apprehensive about the hazelnut brittle but I liked the sweet and salty combination that it added to the dish. The butternut squash puree had an intense flavoring of ginger and indian spice.
12)Filet Mignon Confit ~ burnt carrot, shiitake mushroom demi-glaze, savoy cabbage, wasabi 'tater tots'The filet was cooked nicely and served with stewed cabbage and mushrooms. The flavors reminded me of a rich Chinese stew that my mom used to make. The carrot was burnt to caramelization so it had a rich bittersweet taste. The gnocchi tots were battered in potato crumbs and was flavored with spicy wasabi. The tots were a favorite at our table.
13) Heirloom Melon Gazpacho ~ compressed heirloom melons, orange 'soup', yuzu salted mango sherbetThe pre dessert was light and citrus, and was an unofficial palate cleanser for the upcoming desserts.
14) Elderflower Parfait ~ pink rose meringue, flowering thyme gel, pomegranate 'caviar', jasmine frozen yogurtI enjoyed the creaminess of the semi freddo parfait. The floral dessert was enhanced with intense dots of thyme gelee, sweet pomegranate tapioca caviar, a tart jasmine yogurt and lemon powder.
15) "Not Your Average" Carrot Cake ~ raisin coulis, curry crème anglaise, saffron meringue, cream cheese ice creamThis dessert was a play on everything you would find in carrot cake. I enjoyed combining the dots of curry anglais, sweet raisin coulis, pineapple chunks and crunchy sweet meringue with the moist cake. The cream cheese ice cream was brilliant.
16) Chocolate Twist ~ hazelnut praline, star anise-orange gel, popcorn ice creamChocolate is always the perfect end to an amazing meal. This was my favorite of the three desserts because of its seemingly normal components but the dessert was in fact comprised of a rich chocolate-y flexible ganache and aerated brioche.
After our meal, we were given a tour of the kitchen and were able to check out some of the heavy duty equipment.I was pleased and impressed with our marathon meal at AnQi (which lasted over 5 hours). I liked Carson's use of molecular techniques. It was subtle and done with refinement. Some restaurants promise to show you techniques and preparations that you've never seen but yet they do not deliver (ahem TFL). But AnQi does succeed in bringing something unique to the table. The Champagne & Caviar and tartare dishes were both playful and something I've never experienced before. The food was solid but I thought some of the portions might have been a bit too large given that this was a 16-course menu. But if anyone can get me to drive 120 miles to and from the OC for food, AnQi can most definitely do it.
Hits: caviar, tartare, chicken, oyster, ambiance
Misses: pork belly could have been more tender, could be portioned smaller
Rating: ****
Anqi
3333 S Bristol St.,
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 557-5679
http://www.anqibistro.com/
Mimosas
Crispy coconut shrimp (skewered and quick fried, sweet and spicy Thai Chili sauce)
Island fish and chips (beer battered, island style tartare sauce, crisscross fries)
The nine-day event not only showcases surf contests but BMX and Skate. It's a pretty cool event as they also have art exhibitions, fashion shows and live music events, and we're not talking small fry- Weezer, Cold War Kids, Hot Hot Heat Switchfoot and Cobra Starship performed on various nights. The winner of the surf competition walked away with $100K. Not too shabby for a surf bum.
Back to back winner and local, Brett Simpson
Prices are awesome! Banh Mi sandwiches are $2.50 each for the french roll (not applicable to the baguette which is actually 25 cents cheaper), and it's buy-2-get-1-free. They also offer 50% off pho ga (chicken pho). I figured at that price, the portions must be pretty small so I asked the lady at the counter. She showed us the size of the french loaves that she uses for the sammies and boy, those things are huge! Their selection included an interesting variety including their traditional BBQ pork, chicken, meatloaf, meatball, sardines and veggie. Unfortunately they ran out of the shredded pork skin. sadness.
When I saw pate and pastry together, I couldn't resist.
Chicken pate chaud
BBQ pork banh mi was my favorite of the sandwiches. The pork was flavorful, juicy and still had some fatty pieces attached to the meat that absorbed into the fresh crusty bread. My only complaint was that there wasn't enough pickled vegetables, and in fact the pickled veggies that they used didn't pack a punch. There was also only one jalapeno in my half of the sandwich.
BBQ beef banh mi was also tasty and had a sweet marinade. The beef was dense and tasted more like a burger patty, I would have preferred thinner slices of beef. But the flavoring was good.
Ham and meatloaf banh mi was lighter than the other two. When we ordered our sammies, we asked for no mayo. It appeared that they also omitted the pate. Dude, that's the best part of any banh mi, IMO. But when we asked about the missing pate, our waitress brought by a bowl of pate which we eagerly spread on the bread. It made a big difference because the pate moistened the bread and added a creaminess to the sandwich. I was impressed that the ham they used was thick, good quality ham instead of packaged ham from the grocery store. The meatloaf wasn't what I expected. It was thinly sliced and looked like cold cut instead of something thicker.
The lunch menu was pretty simple and comprised mainly of sandwiches and pastas. Prices were also reasonable at around $10 per plate.
Even though mimosas are my weekend drink of choice, I couldn't pass up on the huge glass of sangia. It was stronger than the one at Bar Pintxo two nights prior, and a great deal at $5, so good that I ended up ordering two of these. Darren ordered a Spaten.
Since I was ordering pasta, I had to get garlic bread as well. Garlic and buttery goodness on ciabatta bread. Always a good starter to pasta.
Chicken Romano sandwich with sun dried tomatoes, artichokes and melted cheese. The chicken was cooked well and the sun dried tomatoes were a nice addition.
The sandwich was served with chips which was actually a bag of kettle chips. Lame. Wish they served it with fries instead.
My pasta, what I was craving for all morning. Spaghetti with meat sauce, which the menu described as the "meatiest sauce in town". You think? It was rather lame. Firstly the sauce was runny, not thick and rich as I had hoped. Secondly there wasn't that much meat to it. I was expecting a hearty meal based on the menu description. You might think I am exaggerating but I would compare this to Lean Cuisine's pasta with meat sauce. Don't get me wrong, I like that stuff (have a couple boxes in my freezer), but this isn't what I would expect from a restaurant. I suppose I wouldn't have been disappointed if the menu hadn't talked up the sauce. A bit of a let down.
No Ka Oi, which means "the best" in Hawaiian, is located right beside the popular Sugar Shack that had a line of people waiting to be seated. We opted for something different: Hawaiian over the line. The restaurant has sidewalk seating up front but with a 15 minute wait so we decided to sit at the back patio. It was about 9am so the back patio was empty.
Mimosa for $2.50? That's cheaper than coffee at $2.75.
Hawaiian French toast made with King's Hawaiian sweet bread with pure maple syrup and potatoes
Tahitian Frittata with fresh spinach, Portuguese sausage, feta cheese, tomatoes, broccoli and zucchini with hollandaise sauce and potatoes
I decided to order a side of Portuguese sausage to see what it tasted like. It had a little sweetness and tasted like a cross between Chinese sausage and chorizo. I liked it because it was grilled, was flavorful and wasn't as greasy as pan-fried chorizo.