Take-Out Review: Stonefire Grill - Irvine

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A post shared by MonsterMunching (@monstermunching_oc) on Aug 16, 2020 at 10:10pm PDT

I’ve done a lot of take-out over the past couple of months. This chicken and ribs meal from Stonefire Grill is one of my favorites. It’s something I’ve ordered more than a few times for two reasons.

First reason: it’s good. The roast chicken is moist and tender, soaked in a tangy sort of vinaigrette packed with garlic; the BBQ ribs are textbook; and the breadsticks are addictive. I also love that the salad is teeming with roasted corn and cheese and other things that make it like a meal on its own.

But the second and perhaps most important reason: all of this retails for $20 right now, which is a great deal for something that can easily feed a family of four (even though the menu says it’s designed for two). And if I’m being honest, I’d much rather spend $20 on this than 4 footlongs at Subway, which if I’m really being honest, I’ve also done more than a few times too.

Stonefire Grill
3966 Barranca Pkwy
Irvine, CA 92606

Take-Out Review: Tendon at Sushi Damu - Tustin

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A post shared by MonsterMunching (@monstermunching_oc) on Aug 9, 2020 at 3:47pm PDT

Do you miss gorging on all the deep-fried foods at the OC Fair? The tendon, or tempura rice bowl, at Sushi Damu is your ticket to reliving that indulgence.

It is a decadent bowl of oily, crispy goodness that lodges itself in your gut and your heart—a dish that simultaneously reminds you of those tangled battered zucchini curls and onion rings at Chicken Charlie, but also makes you feel better about consuming it since this deep-fried feast at least comes on a bed of rice to counteract all the grease.

You can even try to kid yourself that you’re eating your vegetables. The bowl is packed with two pieces each of onion, broccoli, carrot, green beans, and sweet potato, except that, you know, they’re all covered in batter and plunged in hot oil until everything is uniformly golden brown and crispy.

Eating this bowl, however, is going to make you realize that you’re only paying a fraction of what you would have been charged for a similar pile of junky fried food at the fair, had it not been cancelled.

In fact, right now, since it’s half price for take-out, this bowl is one of OC’s best bargains, especially when you consider that it also includes two shrimp and a whole soft shell crab, which also get the deep-fried treatment.

And if you’re still missing the queasy feeling you get at the end of the night after being tossed around in a creaky carnival ride, just turn on the news.

Sushi Damu
13962 Newport Ave D
Tustin, CA 92780