Appeasing the Tiki-philes

Legend has it that ma po tofu is named after its creator, a woman with pockmarks on her face who first popularized the dish in China's Sichuan province. You see, ma po loosely translates to “pock-marked woman”, as I'm sure our resident translator...

Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar at the Disneyland Hotel is a full-circle distillation of everything that came before it, descended from the kitschy Polynesian-themed tiki bars pioneered by Donn Beach in the 1930s (yes, the name behind Don the...

Tim Ho Wan opened not long ago at Irvine’s Diamond Jamboree, and people keep calling this Hong Kong-based chain a Michelin-starred restaurant.  The Irvine branch of Tim Ho Wan does not have a Michelin star. And if the Michelin inspectors in...

Photo by Edwin Goei Last week, the owners of Yen Ching, the venerable Chinese restaurant in Orange, sent out the following email to its customers announcing their retirement. To Our Dear Customers and Friends: After 39 years of serving the...

Photo by Edwin Goei There’s an authentic Hawaiian charm that the new ‘Ai Pono Cafe in Costa Mesa has that other Hawaiian plate-lunch joints in Orange County do not. A lot of it has to do with where it’s located: tucked away in an industrial area...