Darya (Persian) - Orange, CA

Darya has been around for quite some time. When I was working in Orange, my boss would sometimes take the office out to this place. Back then it was quite good. So I decided to take out a couple of my friends out to here.

The best deal is actually during the weekday lunch and their lunch special ($6.95 to 10.95) Since we went on a Saturday, we didn't have that luxury and had to order from the dinner menu.

Bread and 'Dough'

We were served their warm bread which appeared like wafers but actually warm and soft. The bread was freshly made has a feel of a Lavash. The drink you see here is the Dough (doogh). Darya makes their own from scratch and it's pretty refreshing and unusual, if you are not familar with it. It's a yogurt drink with dried mint. Their home-made version is non carbonated, and they also offer a carbonated version.

Did someone say meat?

Our order for today was Barg, Chicken Koobiden, and Lamb Shish Kabob. Surrounded were Tomatoes, onions, and green pepers. All the meat were very moist and cooked to perfection.

MMmmmm Mmmm rice..

The rice they served with the meat was quite good. They call it plain rice but there's nothing plain about it. The Chelow persian rice was very fluffy and not sticky at the same time.

If you do try Darya, I recommend taking advantage of their weekday lunch specials. It does get pricey on the dinner side menu, but it was a good meal over all.

Darya - Orange
1998 North Tustin Avenue
Orange, CA 92865
714-921-2773
http://www.daryarestaurant.com/index_or.html

When In Rome

I have a "When in Rome" mentality when it comes to food. When in Rome, do as the Romans do, eat Roman food, and there better well be Romans there. Meaning, if I go to a Thai Restaurant, there better be Thai patrons in that place. Zero Thai patrons = not a high quality of food, which is about 85% correct in my experience. Also, when i am in Rome, I am having Roman food. This means, I will not be getting fish at a steak house. I go to the specialty place to have their specialty item. Ordering anything else would be a waste of time, imo (in my opinion).

Now, there are exceptions to the rule: 1. I have had their specialty before and not impressed and wish to try other things. 2. even if the Romans aren't there, it's still very good food in it's own right.

Jake's Wing Company - Long Beach, CA

My Brother and I went to watch 300, and as always, we were pressed for time. So to save time, we went to the closest place for food, Jake's Wing Company. While the thought of downing wings as a meal didn't appeal to me, I decided to try it out on the persuasions of my Brother. Upon entering and scanning thru the menu, i was pleased to see that they had more than just wings:I they also had sandwiches and salads. We both ordered the Chicken Cuban Panini Sandwiches combo w/ a drink and Fries.

They are battered~and more than the usual Tabasco.

Fries came out first and it held us over until the sandwiches came out. The battered fries were quite good. But as we got the condiments out, we noticed something strange. The ketchup didn't taste quite right. Yes, the basic condiment of all burger/cafe/diners. It had a slight 'wine' taste to it. Thankfully they had the Heinz Ketchup in the little packages and we dove right in. (After asking the lady if there was something special about the ketchup, she said it should have been your regular Heinz variety. The oddness of the taste was later confirmed by the store's manager and they replaced all of them w/ a new retaurant can of the Heinz.)

What's in here?

Our sandwiches came later, served w/ the side of pickle spear.

Panininininini~

Ok, now, I had Panini's in some awesome places and had it quite alot. By now, while I am not an expert on them, have a preference to them. The bread should be crunchy. The sandwich should not fall apart. After all, that was the purpose of the press: no mess, no fragmentated pieces. The bread they used was a sweet Hawaiian bread. While that sweetness did the lovely contrast to the salty black forest ham, it was limp and not crunchy at all. The limpiness was a bit disappointing. I also prefer my bacon on the near-burning-yet-cruncy side. It too, however, was limp and far from cruncy. The only thing that saved the sandwich was the chicken. Yes, this is a wings place that specialize in chicken. I should have fallen on my 'when in rome theory', but I was in a rush and didn't expect their sandwich to be this much of a failure. But the chicken was very moist, and flavorful (a bit Cajon-ish). That in itself made the sandwich worth while.

I would definately come back and try their wings next time. When in Rome.. ah.. Rome..

Jake's Wing Company
The Pike at Rainbow Harbor
160 Bay Street
Long Beach, CA 90802
(562) 590-5544

http://www.jakeswings.com/