DX Peruvian Restaurant - Santa Ana

After a hard day of shopping and catching up on the gossip with my sister, she decided to take me to this Peruvian restaurant in front of South Coast Plaza called DX Peruvian Restaurant.
Us two, along with her 2 cuttie toddlers choose to sit outside, relax and enjoy some tasty Peruvian cuisine in hopes to drown the gilt of how much we had just spend on the morning's shopping! LOL

The kids had a very traditional simple combo kids eat in Peru called "Salchipapas" ... for those few who don't get the simple compound word (you know who you are!) ... its Salchichas (hot dog wieners mixed with Papas or French Fries)... Nothing mind blowing for sure, but a nice change of pace from the usual suspects in kids menu's I thought.

The adults in the bunch decided on the "Saltado" I choose the Lomo (red meat) and Sis of course the much healthier option, Chicken Breast.

Both combined with an amazing, tasty broth, tangy wedges of tomato, sweet red onions and mixed with french fries and a side of white rice; which really could have been avoided all together, as it didn't add anything to the dish.  If there was a fault, I'd have to say, that would be the only one.
I much preferred the Lomo to the Pollo dish, but nonetheless, both amazing and great value's at $14.95 for the beef and $12.95 for the Chicken options.

Prior to the main dishes, they bring out this bright greens sauce, and bread and trying to decipher what was in the sauce, we realized we consumed all the bread.... and still, had not figured it out. So we resorted to the next best thing... our waitress.  She informed us that the main ingredient was Lettuce!... Lettuce, really?  for a sauce?... wow, OK... that's why we couldn't figure it out... who would think you can make such a tasty sauce with lettuce as a base?... it was really good, not too spicy and very creamy.

Will definitely come back! Check it out for your self. 

Pollo Saltado

Lomo Saltado

Salchipapas

Salsa Verde made with Lettuce & Bread

P.H.A.T. Pizza - Yorba Linda

Stuffed Crust Pizza - Chicago Style

Going to Chicago in less than 3 weeks, and being as "obsessive" as I am with things :) I couldn't wait...
We found P.H.A.T. Pizza in Yorba Linda, CA through a friend, did some research and thought it was worth the drive to check it out.

Here are a few things about the place:

Ambiance: There is none, you should know its more of a place to call ahead, place your order and pick up.  They do have a few tables, but the place is a whole in the wall, although very clean. (important)

Service:  The service was very good, they were courteous and talkative.  One thing I didn't like was the absence of napkins!... really... its a pizza place... they brought out paper towels... that is sooo not acceptable. Maybe they just ran out.. who knows... but the soda machine was also not working... giving me the feeling that these people are not in a hurry... they'll get to it when they get to it...

Food: here's what we had:

*Thin crust pizza (cheese and pepperoni)
The crust was amazing... although I cannot yet compare to Chicago's.  It was sort of like a short dough, with a nice buttery taste... I've never had a pizza crust like that.  If that is how Chicago's pizza crusts are like... I will for sure be packing my bags more often.
The sauce was just enough and not soup on dough, as most other pizzerias, because I hate when my pizza is drowning in sauce.  (there is an exception of course) and that is when the crust can handle it and when its appropriate for a larger quantity of sauce as in Chicago Style Stuffed or Deep Dish.
There was ample amount of cheese.  A very good thin crust pizza.

*Stuffed Crust: We choose the cheese and sausage (very classic Chicago Combo).  Basically the construction of this massive thing was: crust, cheese, sausage, crust and chunky sauce on top.
I would have liked the sausage to have a more important role in the pizza because I could barely taste it, it was very under seasoned for my taste.  The cheese as in the thin crust was liberally added to the stuffed pie and they did not skimp on this.  The sauce was nice and chunky, very well seasoned, not that sweet tomato-y stuff you get with others...
One thing I will note on the Stuffed Crust is that you sort of loose that buttery, short dough flaky crust you get in the thin crust, because of all the ingredients on top, its harder for the crust to remain moist free.  

Over all, i really liked the pizzas... both the Thin Crust and the Stuffed Crust. Although I didn't like the lack of napkins and soda machine, I would come back for sure because of the amazing pizza's and in the end, they were very nice and courteous.