I actually enjoyed them when they first opened as were like a breath of fresh air for the OC area, however haven’t been for a while.
I completely agree about the oversalting comment; after a while, that is all you could taste. They also give off the usual hipster, too cool for school vibe, especially with their service.
Has anyone had any meals at 2.0, their “finer dining” cousin?
A very cursory search (I checked out like ten people’s locations) says that Playground customers come from all over. I saw some LA, some Fountain Valley, some Huntington, some Laguna, some Fullerton, some NorCal…
I’ve been here a few times and have enjoyed our meals here significantly more than the regular Playground. Chef Quinn and his right hand man Mark have cooked every meal for us at 2.0. This must make a difference in quality. Haven’t had any issues with over salting over at 2.0. Since finding 2.0 we haven’t been back to Playground and after some of these comments not sure that we would want to “downgrade”.
I do agree that plating isn’t necessarily the most elegant but I don’t put a lot of weight into optics so long as the food looks edible and isn’t all brown/grey goopy looking crap.
Dammit. Not happy to read this considering we’re headed there tomorrow. Guess now I know why they have free corkage. That russian salad would have made this russian throw it off the wall (in my head)…
Quick, someone tell me a better restaurant around Santa Ana (and dont say Vaca)
is it a good idea for a group with a couple of kids who show up with a serious buzz already? not really into swirls etc. we may need to just keep to the reservation and make the best of it huh
If you don’t mind venturing away from DTSA, I like Pueblo even better than Vaca. It’s a smaller menu, but I haven’t had anything there I didn’t like. SoCo has several of good options depending on what you’re in the mood for.
Yall kind of scared me and boy i’m glad we felt otherwise. That place was pretty damn great and a very very good value. Went after 4 breweries:
had one of my favorites from home to take advantage of the free corkage on first bottle rule… if you ask me why i’m chilling a red wine i’m going to question your ftc cred
duck larb was a cool idea and we enjoyed it… refreshing and bright but were hungry and just swallowed them without really remembering anything about it.
first time trying barnacles… really enjoyed their earthy / oceany taste… interesting pairing with the cram and potatoes… a bit confusing but a memorable dish
the big boy that ensures nobody goes home hungry… they sous vide the fuck out of this thing for the longest time and finish in a very maple glaze type of reduction, sauce… i’m sure they can upgrade the finish… needs more acidity for me, maybe some barrel aged maple instead…
fig/chocolate something dessert was really good but needed much more of the cream on top. it was a great not sweet offset to the rest of it
and the chef/owner… my god what a dude… we walk in and my 4 year old screams out, “daddy, arsenal!!!” they have a jersey hanging behind bar… had to go track chef down at 2.0 after eating, he came out and we had a nice connection… he’s gooner family for life now … even without this i’d go back there in a second between the quality and price points… a bit annoying with the no subs, no salt no anything rules but whatever… didn’t effect the result.
No, this was the regular Playground. That porkchop put the 4 of us into a very satisfied state after all of the starters. Still have the bones to make a broth
Fig bread pudding at regular Playground is excellent.
Jason is a good dude. Huge Arsenal fan - told us he tried to name his daughter Lanesra (which is Arsenal backward) until his wife figured it out. My wife told him one day that his khai soi was much better than Lotus of Siam. He filmed a video to tell his team to give my wife a free bowl of khai soi at 4th street market when his noodle place was open. We tipped generously.
We frequent and love Playground 2.0. If you like to drink the $175 tab for food, drinks and tip is a great deal.