OC Restaurant Week 2013: House of Big Fish and Ice Cold Beer by Andrew Acuna!

On Saturday afternoon I ended my OC Restaurant week experience by going to House of Big Fish and Ice Cold Beer in Laguna Beach. Getting there may be an experience in itself depending on what time of the day you head there. The restaurant in located off of PCH on the north side of the street with a parking area underneath the restaurant location that does validate the parking if you eat there.

After you park and head up to the restaurant the first thing that will catch your eye is the amazing view of the ocean. Once you walk into the restaurant you can either sit at the bar or wait to be seated. If you make reservations you may have a better chance to get an ocean view if you ask but no guarantees depending on how busy it is.

I made this trip to the restaurant with a few friends, with three of us getting the OC restaurant week 3 course beer pairing menu.

You have two appetizer choices: half scoop ahi poke or Thai glazed calamari.

After the appetizer you get a choice of either a caesar salad or a cup of clam chowder.
For your entrée you had three choices between hibachi salmon, Mac nut mahi mahi and 6oz filet mignon. And to wash it all down you get a choice of a draft beer. Well the original plan was to try one of each but after placing our order the waiter came back to inform us that the mahi mahi was out. So we ended up getting to hibachi salmons and the filet.

At first the service was a little slow but the waiter made that up to us by first apologizing to us and then explain to us that they where having computer problems with the order input process due to not being prepared for the restaurant week. Our food order got sent to the bar and our drink orders got sent to the kitchen. After our server figured out the issue he quickly fixed the problem.

For my beer I chose to drink a Stella and ordered the ahi poke for my appetizer, cup of clam chowder and the filet. The ahi was pretty good with an unique marinate, the chowder was a good size and the filet was cooked to order with a great marinate as well topping mashed potatoes and a side of vegetables. I tried the salmon which was also good but didn't care to try the calamari which I was told tasted good except for the fact that the sauce that was drizzled over it started making the calamari soggy after awhile.

You may also get bread with your meal only by request. I would defiantly go there again to try some of there other foods they have. Besides the small mix up at the beginning I can say it was worth coming out to try.

House of Big Fish and Ice Cold Beer
540 South Coast Highway #200
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
Phone: 949.715.4500
Website | Map

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Craft Time: Vanellope Von Schweetz Papercraft

Download the Template! 

How to make it

1. Print the template on regular paper or cardstock and cut out the pieces. Make folds along all dashed lines. Make sure you don’t miss the dashed lines running through the front and sides of her face.
2. Cut out the square in the bottom of her head where indicated. Using glue or double-sided tape, secure tabs A through E on the head to their corresponding panels in alphabetical order. Secure the F tabs to the back of their corresponding panels to close the back of her head. Secure the G tabs to close the top back part of her head. Secure the H tabs to their corresponding panels to close off the top of her head. Complete the shape of the head by securing the I tabs to their corresponding panels.
3. For the body, make two cuts along the solid brown lines between the tabs at her skirt where indicated. Form the shape of the torso and secure the A tab to its corresponding panel. Secure the B tabs to the inside panels of the torso. Attach the C tabs on the skirt to the corresponding C tabs on the bottom of her torso. Complete the shape of her skirt with the D tab.
4. Carefully curl each leg into a tube and secure the tab to the inside of the leg. You can use a pen to help get a smooth curl and to hold the tab in place while the glue dries. Secure each leg to the bottom of the torso.
5. Slip the head onto the neck of the torso. You may need to glue it into place once you have a proper fit.
6. Fold the hood in half and secure the two sides together. Attach the hood to her back where indicated.
7. Fold each arm in half and secure so the design is two-sided. Fold the tab back and use it to attach each arm to the side of the body where indicated with a light green triangle.
8. Fold each ear in half and secure so the design is two-sided.  Butterfly the tabs outward and use them to attach the ears to the head where indicated with a faint rectangle.
9. Fold the ponytail in half so the design is two-sided. Butterfly the tabs outward and use them to attach the ponytail to her head.

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