if you’re going to playground you can drive up the street to newport seafood afterwards for a bang^2
+1 on Sab’s Sausage. Best in Show. Any Show (I’m looking at you NYC…you don’t have an Italian Sausage anywhere near as good as Sabatino’s).
1 Like
what’s the recommended prep on these bad boys?
I just got back last night and it’s great to be in civilization again! 
Thanks again for all of the suggestions and input. We had one really great meal at Vaca, one downright awful meal at Playground, and a somewhat indifferent meal at Kitakata.
In order of our dining schedule, I’ll begin with Playground. I’m sorry to say that this was the most obnoxiously pretentious and incompetently overreaching restaurant I’ve visited in recent memory; from the hopelessly trendy and disjointed menu itself (fried chicken, dosas, spaghetti and meatballs, ramen???) to the service, prices and the preparation. I knew what we were in for when the server explained the “concept” of the kitchen - no alterations or substitutions because they want to showcase the chef’s vision… puh-lease! What the hell kind of substitutions does one make for such conceptual dishes as fried chicken, a pork chop (literally swimming in maple syrup) and roasted brussel sprouts anyway!? Every single dish that was served was absolutely awful. There were no menu choices that complimented one another in any way. Flavors were completely off and some dishes were just flat out disasters, like their extremely bland ramen with soggy Cantonese style noodles in a salty tasteless broth. I’ve had better from a fifty cent package off a convenience store shelf. I’m also convinced that their so-called flatbread with charred eggplant dip, za’atar, pine nuts, etc. was a packaged hummus they bought from Whole Foods. It was literally grocery store crackers and dip. What a joke. There was a short stack of dosas which were not dosas at all. They were as thick as pancakes and drenched in the leftover maple syrup from the pork chop, I’d guess. They were sickeningly sweet and without any semblance of Indian flavor at all. I can’t fathom what the people in the kitchen were thinking when they came up with most of these amateurish plates. The dosas were like second-rate IHOP and clearly belonged on the dessert menu; though it wouldn’t have helped much. We also ordered some kind of Asian style shrimp dish, possibly with lemongrass. I can’t even remember anything else about the order except that the shrimp were way overcooked and 100% flavorless. This was basically on par with a shopping mall food court Thai counter. Desserts were so memorable that I couldn’t even tell you what we ate. I think someone ordered a passion fruit panna cotta or something. It was consistent if nothing else - it sucked as much as every other dish we ordered. The one saving grace was my old fashioned, which was well balanced. I enjoyed a couple of their other house cocktails which were passed around the table. The service seemed to match the proficiency of the kitchen quite nicely. Our waitress was unfamiliar with the menu and ingredients. I asked a different server about several ingredients from the cocktail list and he couldn’t answer either. I had to then suggest that he check with the bartender and fill me in. He finally did… in passing, from across the room. He couldn’t be bothered to return to our table to address me directly and it was not a busy night. We were seated at 5pm so the dining room was mostly empty. 0/5 - very happy we didn’t foot the bill.
After dinner we went to some bar a few blocks over that used to be called Sparrow. I forget the current name. Everyone ordered cocktails and nobody seemed to enjoy them. I returned two and then moved on to wine. Suffice to say, I wouldn’t return.
The next night was Vaca which was excellent! We ordered about a dozen tapas and every one was terrific. I wanted to try everything on the menu. The charcuterie and cheeses were especially tempting. Cocktails were fantastic as well. One person in our group ordered the duck paella, which was good but not outstanding. Based on earlier comments, I opted not to waste any appetite on it, which was all the better. This is a place that stands out on it’s own merits and not just for Orange County. I’d be just as enthusiastic about our meal if it were transplanted to SF or LA. We’ll be back every time we visit!
Ramen at Kitakata the final day was just okay. The noodles were a tad soft for my liking and I found the broth a bit too salty. I ordered the chashu with corn, sprouts, egg, seaweed and spicy green onion. It was fine but not something I’d get excited about. To be fair, I much prefer a richer and more flavorful Hakata style bowl, so perhaps it can be chalked up to personal ramen preference. I wouldn’t rush back anytime soon although I did appreciate the Kiyoshi Saito art on the walls.
Batting average of 0.333 - not great, but Vaca really knocked it out of the park and made up for the two strikes. It’s a beacon of light in the vapid drabness of suburbia and I look forward to returning on all subsequent visits. I only wish we’d booked a table both nights and skipped the cheap novelty of Playground!
4 Likes
Sorry that you took that hit, but I am slightly happy that someone else finds the Playground as much of a joke as I do, actually even more so.
Sounds like far from noting their decline and fixing it, they have plunged into even further depths of ineptitude since what is likely to be my final time ever visiting:
Vaca is genuinely awesome…if only they could do a proper paella =/ Though the stuff still tastes frankly incredible to me despite the lack of authenticity.
Too bad no one mentioned you have to ask for hard noodle at Kitakata =/ I, too, found the soft noodles not so nice, but their chashu cannot be beat.
Why didn’t you hit up Taco Maria though?
1 Like
The paella was indeed good and everyone seemed to enjoy it. My wife and I were really the only ones at the table who were well-travelled (she lived in Barcelona for a year in fact) so we’ve encountered better, but it wasn’t bad by any means!
I have to admit that I find it surprising that Playground was ever considered good. The kitchen staff simply don’t know what they’re doing. I’m no chef by any means but I’m confident that I could have prepared a better meal. First and foremost, if I’m going to a relatively upscale restaurant, the last thing I expect to find on the menu is fried chicken and ramen, unless it’s some kind of David Chang offshoot and even then… I don’t typically go for the fancy overpriced comfort food thing. But then to find out you can’t even cook the simplest of cloyingly basic dishes?!? Why even feature something like ramen when it’s clear the people in the kitchen have never tasted a real bowl of ramen before?? Again, I sensed this would be the setup from the moment our server introduced the menu. It was almost like a real life onion parody of an obnoxiously trendy restaurant.
I would have loved to have tried Maria but unfortunately we didn’t have the time. We touched down on Saturday just before 2pm and had dinner plans in OC at 5pm, so the first day was done shortly after landing. Sunday we had our dinner res at Vaca and spent the day with my wife’s family in Laguna, so we were in their hands. We ended up at some generic brunch spot in what looked to be an old pottery center. It wasn’t worth mentioning in my initial post. The drinks were okay. I ordered a crappy omelette. That said, I’d have sooner eaten here than Playground. At least it presented itself honestly and you knew what you were in for. It was inoffensive unambitious family fare. Maria is closed on Mondays (along with the other taco place recommended here which sounded interesting-I forget the name) so we had ramen for our final meal. Actually, we ordered some airport tacos in Long Beach before takeoff. We really only had Sunday daytime to squeeze anything in and the focus was on family over food. We’ll be back for Thanksgiving weekend and Maria + Vaca will definitely both be on the itinerary!
Sorry to hear your trip wasn’t better. The couple of times I’ve been to Playground have been very good, though it’s not for everyone.
I’m looking forward to going back to Vaca for the tapas and more of their great cocktails. As I’ve stated, I was completely underwhelmed by the paella. It tasted great, but the overcooked seafood and undercooked rice make it a safe bet that I won’t order it again. I’ve since talked to others since that have noted the inconsistency on the paella. Charcuterie was good, but we had a couuple of misses like the dates. We had dinner at Pueblo the other night, and it occurred to me how much I appreciate their consistency…
As for Kitakata, I haven’t been in awhile, but it has always been a favorite. I love their chashu and the richness of their broth. Clearly YMMV.
Thanks for the report!
Hi @oliver,
Thanks for reporting back!
For Kitakata, their default noodle prep is soft, but you can ask for firm noodles. I wish I could’ve mentioned that before you went.
Also their miso broth that you ordered is my least favorite on the menu. Their best is their Classic Kitakata style broth, which is less salty and more nuanced.
And their Chashu with that bowl is fantastic.
1 Like
I haven’t been to Playground in years but the last 4 or 5 meals at Playground 2.0 have been excellent. A much different experience since its an 18 seat counter prix fixe with wine pairings. The chef/owner and his two sous chefs are cooking all of the food in front of you. Playground and Playground 2.0 are essentially two different restaurants. But I’m not going to try to convince you to go back after your poor experiences.
Taco Maria is definitely a must try when you are back for Thanksgiving.
I can easily see what you mean in its current state. Many years ago when it first opened the pressure was monumental because it was the first of its kind to open in the OC. The kitchen actually pushed themselves in interesting ways, and was concerned with execution. I have eaten some truly delicious things there actually, but also certainly by far the most inedible things I have ever been served in a restaurant as well. At this point it seems like everything leans towards to inedible side, or, as I noted in my past review, it is food you wouldn’t be too upset about being served by a well-meaning friend in their apartment, but at a formal restaurant, you would be unbelievably upset about paying for. Part of the problem is that the main chef seems to have stopped tending to the main restaurant to cook in the 2.0 place, which is basically a different restaurant. Maybe those $170/person meals are infinitely superior, but it still speaks fairly poorly of a chef not to be able to maintian two places imo.
Makes sense… I wonder if the menu was always all over the place though? Even if the individual dishes had turned out to be stellar, I can’t imagine creating a cohesive meal with all of the random plates featured on the night that we visited.
I know this is far in advance but just for the sake of foresight, can anyone recommend really good restaurants near LAX for our return trip in November?
We’ll have one solo meal to ourselves on Saturday the 26th and I’d prefer something upscale and modern. It doesn’t need to be in the immediate vicinity of the airport; just conveniently accessible and within easy distance given our schedule…
We have a 10:30 PM flight out of LAX so I’m thinking a 7:00-7:30 PM reservation nearby would be ideal. I’d be willing to consider dining at a slightly earlier time if anyone has a recommendation relatively nearby which might require some extra leeway, to play it safe. I’d like to start thinking ahead so that I don’t run into the same problems as this most recent trip. I’ll probably need to book a table next month.
Thanks!
PS - This time we will be staying in Anaheim, and we’ll likely be driving in from O.C. late-afternoon-ish, in case that’s of any help.
Coni seafood
Fishing with dynamite
3 Likes
I made dinner reservations at Taco Maria for Fri. 11/25 and I’m shocked that they’re already nearly booked solid for the evening; more than two full months in advance! I got the last reasonable time slot avail. which is on the patio.
We’ll be with my wife’s mom’s side of the family and they probably won’t want to splurge on the $75/person prix-fixe. Can anyone tell me whether the restaurant is laid-back and will typically allow tables to order off both tasting and a la carte menus? I get the sense that it’s not the most formal of spaces…
Thanks
I’m not surprised that they’re booked for the day after Thanksgiving. Lots of people in from out of town.
They have an ala carte menu consisting mainly of tacos. You may want to check their website to see if that’s going to be enough for your in-laws.
Thanks. They aren’t picky at all; I’m sure they’ll be fine. Hopefully they won’t mind pacing their meal out to accommodate us, but if it’s cool with the restaurant, I’m sure it won’t be a problem with them. This is the easy-going side of the family. 
Near LAX?
X 2 on Coni Seafood. No need for reservations. One of the top mariscos place.
But call ahead for the zarandeado.
Dulan’s or Mama Joan’s for soul food.
Thanks,
I already made a res at Fishing w Dynamite. Should I consider Coni instead?
I’ll look into the soul food recs…
Continue on with FWD rez, both are destination worthy. Depends on what you are in the mood for/personal taste.
I threw in those 2 soul food places if you want something no fuss,casual,filling, and tasty. Or take a box to go.
1 Like
Since no one is telling you, you should cancel your reservation. Taco Maria offers nothing but a tasting menu except on Tuesday nights and for lunch. If you show up on a Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday night , the only thing you will be allowed to order is a $75 tasting menu. Your only choices will be between 2 dishes per each of the 4 courses, and whether you want wine pairings or not. If you can’t handle the $75/person, best to cancel, because once you’re in the restaurant you will be locked into it.