Such a fun fusion restaurant with so many good options! Everything we've tried has been really…read moretasty. My favorite thing on the menu is the Saltado Fries with steak. You can upgrade to garlic noodles, which are also delicious. The lychee lemonade is really refreshing too! The staff is attentive and so nice. Definitely a fun spot if you want something a little different!

I was honestly ready to leave a 1-star review based on how our experience started, but our server…read moreJoseph completely turned things around and bumped this up to 4 stars. We joined the waitlist and were quoted 10-20 minutes. After waiting about 20 minutes, we could see that we were #2 in line, but people kept getting seated ahead of us. I checked with the hostess and was told we would be seated soon, so we waited. More people continued to get seated. When I asked again, the hostess seemed a little flustered, checked the tablet, then pointed to a patio table and said they were setting that one up for us. Another 10-15 minutes passed and we were still waiting. By this point, I was hangry and went back to the host stand. Another host explained that they were seating reservations first, which I understand, but we had also seen multiple names called for people who appeared to have arrived after us. She checked with the original hostess, who then pointed to a completely different table INSIDE and said that was the table they were preparing for us. I pointed out that 15 minutes earlier, she had specifically told us we were waiting for the patio table. After that, they finally got someone to clean the table and seat us. The whole seating process felt disorganized and unnecessarily frustrating, especially because we kept being told we were about to be seated without anything actually happening. BUT THEN... Joseph came to the rescue! He was exactly the server we needed after that experience. Super attentive, genuinely friendly, and just had a great personality and sense of service. He kept our drinks filled, checked on us at the right times without hovering, and completely changed the mood of the meal. The food was great as always. We had the ceviche, which came with a sweet potato garnish that pleasantly surprised us. I got my usual Lomo Saltado and swapped the rice for garlic noodles. So good. Food: 5/5 Table service: 5/5 Host/seating experience: 1/5 Overall, this probably would have been around 3 stars for me, but Joseph absolutely bumped the experience to like 4 stars!

Love this place! Poke Nachos, Poke Nachos, Poke Nachos- I'm doing it for the algorithm and the…read moresearch. Yes they have it here. Yes they have the version you want the one with wonton chips. It is thoughtfully created each layer of chips is sauced and finished, then repeat. It's been over a month since i have had it and I swear i think about it at least every week. Wonton Chips, salmon tuna, and house made sauces that is all I have to say. Go getchu some!

Was really looking forward to trying Ai Pono Cafe after seeing some foodie content on IG so made my…read moreway over on the weekend. The place was buzzin on Saturday afternoon which I immediately took as a good sign. It was an extremely hot day (cue Cali heat wave) and standing inside the restaurant didn't help. No AC and hot open kitchen made for a sweaty time. Ordered an Ai Pono Poke bowl and Roots plate to-go. Our total was $38 between the two items. Got home in about 25 mins and immediately dug in. For a $16 poke bowl, I guess I was expecting a bit more fish. Also, the rice had a sour ish taste (according to me). The Roots plate quantity was solid but the short rib was very chewy. Definitely a preference thing but chewy short rib is not my jam. The flavors were good though. There wasn't much of a service aspect to our experience cause we took our meal to go. Unfortunately was a bit disappointed as the food didn't hit the mark but very open to trying again in the future.

We have been to the Newport Beach location, so this was exciting to see that they opened up a store…read moreclose to where we live. The restaurant itself is quite nice and New. Our only observation is that the tables are a little close to each other. In Newport Beach is a little bit more space. We ordered a few things to test things out all the food was great. You can look at the pictures to get an idea of what we had but Service and food are top-notch as a Thai restaurant. They are one of the top ones we go to.

We came here on a Friday evening for dinner and got seated pretty quickly (5pm). The waitresses…read morewere really nice and the food comes out in a timely manner. However, I had to make a new review because I'm a bit disappointed by the quality of the food. Fried chicken was good (7/10) but, I mean it's fried chicken, I didn't come here to get good fried chicken. Thai sausage was very dry (3/10). Flavor was there but couldn't get over how dry it was. Thai sausage is one of my favorites dishes and I'm sad that that this one was so dry. Couldn't finish the dish. Tom yom was ok (5/10) it didn't wow me and I can name two places right now in the OC that has better tom yom. Rad Nah was sweet and not in a good way (2/10). We had to add some Thai chilli with fish sauce and some vinegar to cut through the sweetness. Thai tea creme brûlée (8/10). It's still just as good as I remember but it's noticeable smaller in portion. When I was here a few years back they had serve the creme brûlée in a classic creme brûlée dish but today they served it in a small bowl. Because we already had a pretty disappointing experience, this was just adding to it. Heavily disappointed because Thai food isn't suppose to be sweet like that. It's sour, savory, spicy and with lots of great herbs. I grew up with Thai and Lao food, so I'm very sad to see that Hanuman has changed their flavors like this.

This place is the best of the best Great food friendly…read morestaff I highly recommended them

Excellent food and overall great Vietnamese takeout. The shrimp saltado and shaken beef garlic…read morenoodles are delicious and definitely flavorful. The meat is also tender! They are also generous with the shrimp portions and they did an excellent job with the garlic flavor in the shrimp and the noodles. We really hope they bring a brick and mortar to the area since it is hard to find good Vietnamese restaurants in the area that cook these types of dishes!

the place is super private and clean ! service 10/10 they…read moreattend really good and are always on task. Jonathan our server was always on top on attending us. Food was super good, the fried rice was a 10/10 recommended !

Colin is the best waiter that we have ever had. It's our first time at nova but the experience was…read moregreat thanks to him. The food was not only amazing but so was the customer service. I can't wait to come here again especially if Colin is serving us.

Located with south coast plaza this place is a gem Part of…read morethe crustacean group their menu is made with spectacular ingredients and are presented with panache makes every occasion special

For those of you that are considering to come here to try AnQi's Sunday Brunch, save your time,…read moremoney and energy! I was looking for a place to celebrate my daughter's 13th birthday. My daughter is adventurous and loves trying different kinds of food. I made reservations a month in advance for a party of 5. 2 adults, 13, 10 and 7yo. We came here on August 2nd. Their brunch is only available the first Sunday of the month. First of all, it's been very warm in orange county and we noticed that it was warm in the restaurant. Stuffy and you can barely feel the air conditioning. They only had lamb that day as their protein option. They ran out towards the middle of our meal, and they had to cook up some steak (flank?). You get one non-alcoholic drink ticket. There were about 5 different options and my husband and I saved our tickets for the kids so they can try a few more since we were limited to one ticket each. A few other options they had included chicken pho (basic and very little flavor), steamed sui mai (meat dumplings) that tasted like it was frozen and over cooked, fried egg (literally just that), spring roll, fried wontons, and one chocolate dessert. Remember this is an AYCE brunch! I was floored. Of course I spoke to the manager after dinner and he gave me the most annoyed and disgusted look. He was a tall, Asian man that looked like he was in his late 20s. I saw an older Caucasian man standing next to him and he looked like he could have been the owner or someone in charge, so I asked and sure enough he was the owner. He was kind and attentive the entire time. But I basically told the owner that I didn't like the way the manager side eyed me and frowned as soon as I said I'd like to speak to the manager. In any case, I told them everything that I had mentioned here. The owner took down my email address and phone number and offered to invite us back another time. I was optimistic that maybe they would send me an email to apologize and to invite us to come back. I was tempted to write this review immediately after I left but I thought I would just sit on it. I figured maybe they would be nice and try to make things right. A week later... no email or call. It's been over a month and nothing. Why bother take down my information if you're not going to do anything about it? We walked out paying almost $400 for a terrible and grossly expensive meal and we all left hungry and unhappy. My husband I and haven't been here since the AnQi's famous garlic noodles days so it's been at least 10 years. We thought we'd come back and check out the brunch with our kids. Unimpressed. Will never come back again. Hands down worst $$$ meal ever. AnQi - Please do better.

Such a great experience here!! My boyfriend and I visited while we were in town and we were…read moredefinitely impressed. Ambiance: pretty loud on a Saturday but we were also next to a large group celebrating a birthday. The aesthetic was cute and clean. Service: Oanh was our waitress and her, along with all other staff, were super nice and helpful. definitely felt like a team effort of workers and it showed Food: YUM!!! We liked everything! - garlic chicken wings: 8/10- paired well with the sauce, though I think it would also taste really good with a side of white rice. Very garlicky and tasty! - crab congee: 9/10- tasted very buttery once mixed, very Vietnamese fusion but I really enjoyed it and my boyfriend (who grew up eating congee) said this might be the best congee he's ever had! It is very unique in terms of flavor in my opinion - ribeye garlic noodles: 8/10 meat was cooked well and it was a solid dish! - lychee lemonade: 10/10 so worth it!! It is free refills and super refreshing. If you like lychee you'll like this drink! Would recommend. Overall we had such a great experience and can't wait to come back!

Service was great, Trisha provided great service. Wouldn't wait around too long. She refilled the…read morewater jug without asking. She did let us know the kitchen is slightly behind as well. There were a lot of booths inside and lots of tables on the side and outside seating. Outside seating is pet friendly but bit crowded. Two restrooms in the back, and it even offers complimentary mouthwash! Food is absolutely amazing! The pear salad was light and fresh, with great simple flavors. It's arugula with candied walnuts, and under is burrata with Asian pear. The carne asada tostada is a very small plate, but seems more of an appetizer. Great flavor for a small dish. Saltado with Filet Mignon and Garlic Noodles were very delicious, especially the chewy and soft noodles. The meat is very tender, the fries ok, a bit overcooked. Great place for family sharing. The Saltado is $25 and a big portion.

Been there twice and zero regrets! Delicious food and drinks. Our server made some great…read moresuggestions (the whole menu) but understandable because everything was excellent. This time I sat in the front instead of the speakeasy side in the back which was just as good, more lighting. Will be coming back again.

We were just looking for some good delicious food and we found this place in a strip mall totally…read morehiding and would had never thought all the good food they had in there! They also have a little speakeasy area (seat there) and the ambiance over there was super cool and very intimate. Service is as great and the servers were very nice. We started with Sakura Sour - deliciously made! And short bottle of unfiltered sake- excellent. For food: Lemongrass dumplings: too good, don't miss it. Wagyu Bao: absolutely delicious Seared Hamachi: Hamachi was prepared to its perfection and the sauce was perfect. Just too much asparagus for me. Garlic Noodles: OMG - you cannot miss this out if you like noodles and garlic! Chicken Katsu: great dish but can be skipped. Lamb Chop: if you like yakitori style lamb, it is absolutely great. (I love lamb) Over all this place from service to ambiance to food execution was absolutely amazing. I highly recommended this place and I will be coming back to try other dishes!

First time here and I was truly impressed! I literally had lunch just 2 hours before, but came with…read morea friend to try this place and I'm so glad I did. The girl helping us was so sweet and attentive. She recommended a pasta dish and it was SO good! The bread was super fluffy, and that garlic butter was to die for. Highly recommend this place. I'll definitely be back!

Momonoki has been on my list of restaurants to try since it first opened and I'm so happy I finally…read moregot to go this weekend! We went on Friday night and I was surprised that we were seated right away. The service was great and friendly and the restaurant itself felt cozy and high-end. We ordered the garlic parm fries, momonoki chicken wings, and dashi pesto. The garlic parm fries were crispy and fresh and were like the best version of a McDonald's or Potato Corner fry. I could smell the garlic as soon as the fries came to the table but unfortunately, the taste wasn't as strong as I was hoping. Still really delicious, but the high price point means I probably wouldn't order this again. The chicken wings came out next and they were HUGE. They were super juicy inside and the fish sauce glaze was strong and had a nice kick. I appreciated that despite being glazed, the wings were still pretty crispy. The slaw that came on the size was a little heavy on the mayo and had a bright peppery taste. Definitely a nice fresh component to an otherwise heavy meal. Finally, the dashi pesto came out and the udon was perfectly bouncy. The pesto had a subtle seafood flavor and was very herbaceous. Most pesto I'm used to pack more of a sharp, garlicky punch, but this one leaned heavily into the fresh basil which I enjoyed. The scallops on top were also cooked beautifully. I was a bit sad that we received each dish at very different times, the dash pasta coming out much much later than the fries but they did warn us after we placed our order that the kitchen would be very busy so I appreciated the heads up. All in all, I think this is such a fun and classy fusion restaurant and they executed very well.

No one can beat Mama's cooking! That's a known saying for a reason when it comes to this place…read more Every single dish was absolutely DELICIOUS. There was not one thing we didn't love. The restaurant itself is just as amazing as the food! Cute, fun, colorful and full of personality, from the wall decor to the gorgeous and absolutely delicious cocktails. And the hospitality?! 10/10. Everyone was so warm, friendly and accommodating. Plus, if you're lucky, you might even get a surprise visit from Mama herself! I love Thai food and have tried so many different spots but I have to say... I think I just found my new favorite! The flavors are out of this world AND PLEASE do yourself a favor and try the house sauce if you're looking for an extra little kick in flavor!

Food here was great. Massaman curry with the lamb shank was one of the best versions of massaman…read moreI've had. Also really liked the moo ping appetizer. The Chinese broccoli dish with crispy pork belly was just ok. Probably would not order that again, not because there was anything necessarily wrong with the dish but compared to the other dishes we had. We sat at the bar and service was average. When we finished eating we sat around for a long time and no one came up to us to ask if we wanted dessert or to clear our dishes. We also had to grab someone's attention to get the check and it took awhile for them to come back and process the payment. I would love to come back and try their khao soi as it's one of my favorite dishes.