Restaurant Preview: Ballast Point in Downtown Disney Anaheim

I was able to attend a taste and adjust of the brand new Ballast Point Brewery & Kitchen at Downtown Disney Anaheim. This large 4,000 square-foot glass-enclosed bar and restaurant space has seating for 220. There is also a 3,000 square-foot outdoor beer garden with cabana-style seating.

With the official opening set for January 16th, let's take a look at what we were able to eat and drink!

The restaurant is located on the second level and you pass all of these tap handles on the way up the stairs.

This location will not only offer more than 50 styles of Ballast Point's beers across 100 tap lines but also its own exclusive brews. While my friend decided on the Wahoo White, I went with one of their R&D selections that may or may not make it past the R&D phase.

This amazing bowl of "Wahoo" Beer Steamed Mussels was our Plate to Share. This massive order of mussels sits in garlic, ginger, shallots, serrano chili, shishito peppers, Spanish chorizo and a baguette. The mussels were briny and the broth is perfect. We loved using the bread to soak up the broth. They even brought us extra bread!

My friend went with The Ballast Point Burger. The chuck and brisket blend patty is moist and flavorful. The BBQ sauce also really adds to the flavor and takes it to another level. I also loved their fries being nice and crisp!

I went with the California "Kolsch" Steak Burrito. This massive burrito is stuffed with tender Santa Maria style steak, guacamole, fries, pico de gallo, cheddar cheese and wrapped in a flour tortilla. On the side is a smoky housemade salsa that elevated the already great taste burrito!

The meal was amazing and we were both totally full that we didn't make it to dessert! But we did try some more of the beer offerings. We learned that you can ask to have beer combined to add to even more unique flavor combinations! Above we combined the Pumpkin Spice Scottish Ale and the Victory At Sea to create a Smashing Pumpkin and we also combined the Peanut Butter Victory At Sea with the Blackberry Ale to make a version of PB&J! So take a look at their entire beer list and see what flavor combination you can come up with!

To learn more, check out their site at: Ballast Point Anaheim

Top 10 Food and Drink Options at the Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival 2018

The 2018 Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival is currently underway until April 12th. Here are my Top 10 food and drink recommendations:

10. The Tropical IPA Shandy from The Brewhouse. Sculpin IPA, which already has the taste of grapefruit, is combined with guava and pineapple juice makes this into a delicious beer-mosa. A refreshing beverage to enjoy with the lovely Spring weather.

9. The Beet Kombacha Sangria from Eat Your Greens. Another refreshing beverage that is similar to seltzer water meeting a berry sangria. Oh, and you cannot taste the beets at all.

8. Grilled Asparagus Caesar Salad also from Eat Your Greens. I love grilled asparagus and this combined with Caesar dressing and grated cheese and croutons is a wonderful light and tasty snack.

There Is An Exclusively Brewed Craft Beer at Disney California Adventure - the Animation IPA and Where To Find It!

Take a look at the Animation IPA, a craft beer brewed exclusively for Disney California Adventure by local brewery Backstreet Brewery and sold only at Award Weiners! This craft beer is so exclusive that it is not even listed on the menu! The Cast Members will mention it to you but now that you know they have it, go ahead and order an Animation IPA from them! It is a delicious light bodied single hop IPA and very refreshing! If you order one, let me know what you think of it! Hopefully we will see more exclusive beers in the park soon!

Eat, Pour, Love - The Wall Restaurant Review Written by: Kristen Nichols

Eat, Pour, Love - The Wall Restaurant Review

Written by: Kristen Nichols

Sasaki Time was recently invited to taste the delicious food and drinks at The Wall restaurant located in Old Towne Orange, CA.  We were lucky enough to sample a wide variety of their food and drink offerings and had the pleasure of speaking with some of the staff about the restaurant’s style and philosophy.  The Wall’s menu offers the flavors of traditional street food combined with the shareable design of tapas.  Their Elote Fries have a great aesthetic presentation while maintaining the flavor of traditional street-cart elote.  The Wall is also known for it’s Frito Pie, the only restaurant in Orange County that offers it, and it’s own delicious housemade Choco Taco.  There is also a specialty gourmet burger that changes with each month.  The burger for June is the spicy Green Chili Crunch burger complete with a bacon and ghost pepper aioli.   

The Elote fries with carnitas are flavorful and shareable...although you may want to keep them all for yourself!

The Green Chili Crunch Burger, burger of the month for June, complete with a Bacon and ghost pepper aioli.  Delicious and spicy!

Frito Pie with an egg on top.  The Wall is the only restaurant in Orange County that offers it!

Freshly made Peruvian Ceviche!  So delicious I made sure to take the leftovers!

Housemade Choco Taco - served with Thrifty brand ice cream, a stout chocolate sauce, and a chocolate stout waffle cone shell!  Amazing!

Generally, I’m not a fan of donuts but these Boozy Crullers with candied bacon and a maple bourbon glaze were probably my favorite thing we tried all night!  Light and crispy perfection!

The Wall boasts 55 beers on tap, the most beers on tap in Orange County.  Currently the servers are doing the pouring but a self-serve format is currently in the works.  The Wall will soon be implementing an electronic wrist-band system that allows patrons to select, order, and have their drink automatically dispensed from the tap.  They offer beers and ciders in 5oz taster, 13oz, or 16oz pours.   Patrons can also assemble their own custom flights comprised of four 5oz tasters.

From left to right: Red Nectar - Humboldt, Raspberry Wheat - Alaskan, Shower Beer - Solarc, Shellmaker - Gunwhale, Chocolate Sombrero - Clown Shoes.  My favorite was the Shower Beer from Solarc Brewing!

The Wall is a casual and friendly place to catch-up with loved ones or just hang out and watch the game.  Grab your friends and family and visit The Wall located at 80 Plaza Square in Orange, CA.  You can also check them out on Instagram at @thewall_restaurant or on Twitter at @thewall_orange.  Thank you so much to The Wall for hosting us and giving us an exclusive look at their delicious offerings!  See you there!

Holsteins Shakes and Buns - Amazing Food, Fantastic Service and an Ever Changing Menu

My friend Carla and I went to go check out Holsteins Shakes and Buns in Costa Mesa. This is only their second location, with the first being in Las Vegas. They are known for their burgers, appetizers and what they call their Bam-Boozled, alcohol-infused shakes.

Take a look at that amazing Campfire Smores shake in the photo above. A delicious and refreshing smores made into a shake with Smirnoff marshmallow vodka added to it. This makes a perfect dessert shake.

I love the popcorn that's brought to your table. Good comfort food to munch on while you look through the menu.

The Buffalo Chicken dip is a must have appetizer. Think of shredded buffalo chicken and queso mixed together with house made tortilla chips. Spicy, cheesy and easily one of the best things I have ever eaten.

Let's take a closer look at that shake list. Find anything you like yet? Or should I say have you found several that you have to try?

Next we had the Azuki Coconut shake. Yes, azuki, that awesome Japanese sweet bean paste blends so perfectly with the subtle flavor of coconut that you will want another.

If Bam-Boozled shakes aren't your thing, never fear there are more than enough wines and beers to keep you happy. The wine and beer list is on this handy tablet.

The other reason to come is for the burgers. This is their simple Classic Burger and honestly one of the best cooked hamburger patties I have ever tasted.

Friday and Saturday nights they have live music. Happy Hour is 6 days a week. So come check out Holsteins for great food, drinks and service!

Learn more at their site:
holsteinsburgers.com

The Newly Refurbished Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant

Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant underwent a complete refurbishment earlier this year.

The beautiful new entrance takes you to the Hostess stand. No longer do you have to wait in their old switch back queue. You simply check in and if there is a wait they will ask for a cell phone number and they will text you when your table is ready. So your wait is exploring the California Marketplace.

If you do want to wait inside the restaurant there is a spacious lobby area.

There is now a full service bar. They have some wonderful boysenberry-infused cocktails.

Two of your boysenberry options are a draft boysenberry beer and a boysenberry lemon drop. They also offer a boysenberry mojito.

The biscuits are still served fresh and warm.

You get your own butter and boysenberry jelly.

The chicken noodle soup is still one of the best ever. And one can never go wrong with some salad as well.

The Mrs. Knott's Famous Friend Chicken Dinner with mashed potatoes and corn. Now I used to think that Mrs. Knott's chicken was one of the best on the planet but I don't know if it has been years of eating the flavorful and juicy chicken at the Plaza Inn at Disneyland but there is a lack of flavor on Mrs. Knott's chicken. The chicken here is still moist and juicy but the lack of flavor made me sad.

And what else would you finish dinner off with than a slice of boysenberry pie?

A wonderful refurbishment of the Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant is sadly held back by the flavorless chicken. Other than that, the service, the ambiance and the rest of the food is authentically homemade. Maybe I will try something other than the fried chicken on my next visit.


Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant

Address: 8039 Beach Blvd, Buena Park, CA 90620

Phone: (714) 220-5055

Restaurant Review: H2O Sushi & Izakaya in Costa Mesa AYCE & AYCD

Time to bring back restaurant reviews and here is my first one for 2016. This is my review for H2O Sushi & Izakaya in Costa Mesa. This is the only one of their locations to offer All You Can Eat ($28.95 per person) and you can also add bottomless hot sake and Sapporo draft to your AYCE for $11.95. That is a great deal. There is a two hour time limit which gives you more than enough time to eat and drink more than your fill.

Time to start with a bottle of hot sake and an ice cold Sapporo draft.

Started off our meal with the garlic chili edamame. Perfectly spicy and a perfect way to start off the meal.

Look at that color of the sashimi. Tuna sushi (on the left), yuzu tuna sushi and salmon sushi to start off the sushi fest.

Do not pass up the seared garlic tuna sushi!

Three Broomsticks Restaurant Review: Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood

If this is your first visit to Hogsmeade, uh I mean the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood, then follow me to some of your amazing food choices at Three Broomsticks! No visit would be complete without butterbeer, a butterscotch cream soda that comes in frozen form (my personal choice) or straight up. The warm version will be served up starting April 7th.

After attending class in Hogwarts and taking on Harry Potter and The Forbidden Journey, it's time to eat! Head over to Three Broomsticks!

Amazing details and great place to eat some of the best theme park food around! The food here is English pub fare that comes in Hagrid-sized portions!

The lemon-herb roasted chicken with potatoes and a full ear of corn! The chicken is moist and tender and really flavorful. Potatoes are tasty and I had to order another ear of corn because it was so sweet.

Backstreet Brewery in Anaheim Encourages You to Drink Local!

My friend Danny took me to his favorite new brewery in Anaheim. Located near Anaheim Stadium where the Angels play, Backstreet Brewery has been brewing beer in the OC since 1998! I'll be quite honest, this was the first time I had heard of them!

Take a look at their variety of beer! With 16 beers on tap, how do you choose? So many amazing choices and they will even pour you a shot to taste!

If you select to do a flight, you write down which four beers you want to try!

Look at this flight! Such great color on the beer! I'm a fan of pretty much every style of beer and got their most popular beers! Each beer was full of great flavors!

After the flight, it was time for a pint! This is a pint of the End of The Rainbow Dry Irish Stout! A new favorite! A delicious coffee stout that goes down smooth!

I loved the End of The Rainbow so much that I went home with a growler!

Great service and great beer will keep me coming back for more! Remember to Drink Local!

Anaheim location

1884 S Santa Cruz St
Anaheim, CA 92805

http://www.backstreetbrew.com/