I love a chance to feel fancy, and restaurant weeks’ upscale menus and discounted prices let me feed that fondness. Right now, a little splurge goes a long way with the $20 lunches offered through OC Restaurant Week. (CLICK HERE to see our picks from more than 100 participating restaurants.)
I get exactly the high-end experience I hope for during lunch at South Coast Plaza’s AnQi, the bistro and noodle bar owned by the same people as Crustacean in Beverly Hills. $20 might go further at other spots, but this menu is elegant as well as delicious.
For restaurant week, everyone starts off with a duo of rolls riffing on Caesar salad and surf n’ turf. The Caesar wrap looks lovely with its shard of pecorino romano perched on top. Lettuce gives the bite a little crispness, and the main flavor comes from tangy dressing. Far more flavorful is the Wagyu beef and spicy tuna roll. Its rice and seaweed exterior is packed with the spicy fish, with the melt-in-your-mouth beef layered on top. The meaty bite comes in a savory sauce that enhances the already bright flavors. I could easily eat a plate of these.
For the entree, I go with the soy-glazed salmon salad.
A reasonable square of tender fish sits atop crisp cabbage, bell peppers and bean sprouts. Fried wontons add more of a crunch, and mango dressing generously coats the ingredients. The result is indulgently sweet and spicy – this is not a salad for someone who’s counting calories.
Fellow foodie Amber goes with the tumeric roasted Cornish game hen (above). The bird is prettily plated with arugula and roasted sweet potatoes.
I’m more excited to try Heather’s order of the restaurant’s famous garlic noodles, which are part of its and Crustacean’s claim to fame.
Thick noodles are ridiculously and deliciously greasy, so that Parmesan cheese clings to each strand. Garlic adds a sweet and savory bite, and it’s obvious why the dish has found such popularity – it’s flat-out comfort food.
Dessert on prix-fixe menus always seems like an afterthought to me. Often, unimaginative items like lava cake seem to just be a perfunctory placeholder for the final course. I’m thrilled to see a little effort put into the lychee panna cotta at AnQi.
A scoop of the impossibly refreshing sorbet sits on a bed of the smooth pudding with an intense berry sauce. Cubes of mint gel are a nod to molecular gastronomy techniques.
It’s really just a taste of what the restaurant is capable of, but I’m happy to finally check it off my list. For too long, I’ve gazed curiously at its bright red and black exterior while stuck on the 405. I might now be inspired to pull off and order some garlic noodles while I wait out the traffic.
AnQi by Crustacean
3333 Bristol St.
Costa Mesa
714-557-5679
For links and online extras, LIKE us at Food Frenzy’s Facebook page or follow us on Twitter!
More Costa Mesa:
More Central County:
Go upscale for a discount during restaurant week is a post from: Food Frenzy
