Samurai Sushi

In the past 10 years the HD has seen a major sushi boom in the area, our only sushi restaurant used to be Tatsuki on 7th in Victorville. Nowadays there are sushi restaurants on every corner of every major street in the HD. In this post, I am reviewing Samurai Sushi in Victorville.

Samurai Sushi is a small "hole in the wall" type restaurant on the outer edge of 7th street in Victorville. Samurai is very nicely decorated with various Japanese style decor through out the entire restaurant. The lighting is dim, and along with the beautiful decor, provides for a very intimate dining experience. The first thing I ordered was an order of Albacore, the first thing noted is the giant serving! I was given two standard pieces of sushi, along with a couple pieces of sashimi on the side. Samurai serves their albacore with caramelized onions, green onions, and a garlic vinaigrette that covers the fish. The fish tasted very fresh and had great consistency, the caramelized onions added for a light crunch to play off of the soft texture of the fish. My favorite part was definitely the vinaigrette that was on the fish, it gave the fish a very clean and tangy flavor that left a slight garlic aftertaste, the best part was that it didn't take away from the flavor and texture of the albacore.
One thing that's great about Samurai is that every diner gets a free Japanese Sweet Pepper appetizer with your meal. The sweet peppers are fried in a tempura batter, and served with thin noodles, carrots, and the same garlic vinaigrette that was served on top of the albacore sushi. What I like most about the sweet peppers is that they taste very similar to jalapeno peppers, without the spiciness involved with eating a jalapeno pepper. The appetizer is light and very tasty, it's a great segway into your upcoming meal.
The next item I received was the "Branden's Special Hand Roll". Branden is the head sushi chef at Samurai. Not only is he a very nice person, but he makes some great sushi! The hand roll consisted of spicy tuna, crab, tempura flakes, rice, cucumber, and a special spicy mayonnaise sauce to accompany the roll. The spicy tuna in the roll had great texture and wasn't overly spicy, the crab meat tasted just as it should, and the tempura flakes added a great crunch texture to the roll. The mayonnaise sauce complimented the vast flavors of the hand roll with a creamy and spicy flavor, not overly spicy, but not mild.
Next came our roll order. I ordered the Alaska roll (left) which consisted of a spicy california roll with tempura fried salmon on top, drizzled with a teriyaki-like sauce. The roll on the right is the tempura fried California roll. The Alaska roll was the highlight of the 2 rolls, the inside of the roll tasted like a California roll with a light Sriracha aftertaste, and the crunchy tempura salmon on top made for a great crunch contrast to the tender insides of the roll. The tempura fried California roll was also pretty good, but is recommended for the non-experimental sushi eater that wants a change from the typical California roll.
My wife ordered the chicken teriyaki dinner special. The special came with miso soup, salad, chicken teriyaki, vegetables, rice, veggie tempura, and half of a california roll. The miso soup tasted just like every other miso soup served at Japanese restaurants, which is a good thing because miso soup tastes great! The salad had a thick ginger dressing on top that offered a sweet and spicy taste to go with the salad. The chicken teriyaki was amazing, the teriyaki sauce wasn't overpowering and the chicken was cooked perfectly, it was served stir-fry style with broccoli, carrots, onions, and mushrooms. The veggie tempura was fried to perfection and offered a crunchy outside with a moist tender inside, also accompanied by a light tempura dipping sauce that completed the meal.
If the free appetizer wasn't enough to make you happy, Samurai also includes a free dessert with your meal! The dessert consisted of chopped apple sitting on top of a spoonful of peanut butter, with a drizzle of chocolate syrup and finished off with whip cream. The dessert was very tasty and cleansed the palette very nicely. Overall the experience at Samurai is easily one of the best in the HD, not only were the flavors amazing but the presentation of the food was comparable to a work of art. Head chef Branden takes pride in every dish that leaves his hands, if you get the chance make sure to sit at the sushi bar and watch him create his masterpieces firsthand! My only gripe is that when it comes to waiters/waitresses, Samurai seemed understaffed, once it became busy, they had a hard time keeping up with refills/serving. Samurai Sushi is located at 14464 7th St. Ste F, in Victorville.

La Casita Mexican Restaurant

There are 2 different types of Mexican food establishments in the HD. The first is "Restaurant Mexican": A place where you and your family can sit down and be greeted with chips/salsa, and have a nicely plated and mildly greasy dinner, also acceptable to take someone out for a date. The second is "Fast Food Mexican": A place where your preferred attack is to go through the drive-thru (most are open 24/7), get your full pound burrito or quick taco fix, and head home with a greasy bag and a soon to be happy stomach. There is nothing wrong with either of the two establishments, it just depends on what your preference is that day. La Casita falls under the category of "Restaurant Mexican", they offer plenty of seating and a well decorated restaurant full of nifty Mexican arts and crafts. First thing served to us was the chips and salsa, the homemade chips were fresh out of the fryer and had a great crunch to them. Unfortunately the salsa left much to be desired, I don't want to be mean about this, but the salsa tasted like canned tomatoes with chopped onion. I hoped for a better offering from the main course.

On this blog I will always try whatever the specialty item is on the menu, in this case it was the "La Casita Grande" burrito. The burrito looked to be around a couple pounds, drenched in green sauce and cheese. The burrito was loaded with green chile verde, carne asada, rice, beans, guacamole, sour cream, and pico de gallo. The burrito looked like a small burlap sack, I immediately felt intimidated but I wasn't going to back down. At first bite I was greeted with a soft tortilla, a mild green sauce, and a large punch from the perfectly cooked green chile verde. The contrast between the pork chunks in the chile verde, and the somewhat overcooked carne asada, made the burrito somewhat of a chore to eat. At times it felt like I was eating a burrito with beef jerkey in it. The guacamole was simple and clean, and the rice/beans complimented the burrito nicely. If the carne asada would've been cooked correctly, this burrito would've been killer! The taste was still great from everything else, but I just couldn't get past the poorly cooked carne asada.

Here is a look at the inside of the burrito, definitely a fork and knife dinner that required plenty of napkins.

In the end I had to hoist the white flag in defeat!

My wife ordered the Steak Fajita platter, here's a picture. She let me try some of her food, the steak and veggies were cooked well, but didn't have any flavor beyond that. I was hoping there would at least be some type of marinade or seasoning, but there was nothing. Lucky enough for La Casita the homemade corn tortillas completely saved the platter, they're thick, flavorful, and had a mild crunch to them. Next time I go back I will definitely be getting an order of Chile Verde with some more of their homemade corn tortillas! In the end, La Casita is worth a second trip, but when it comes to "Restaurant Mexican" food, there are much better establishments in the HD. The service and atmosphere make for a delightful dinner, and the ticket for my wife and myself was just over $30 ("Restaurant Mexican" also comes with a heftier price tag). I will recommend La Casita if you live close to one of their establishments and don't have to go out of your way to get there. A restaurant can't be completely judged by one visit, La Casita shows plenty of promise and the potential for greatness can be tasted in the food, and plenty of HD residents swear by the place (explaining why they're always busy). The lack of attention to detail in the cooking process is what hurt the visit this time around, I will go back though if i'm in the area and want Restaurant Mexican food. I visited the La Casita located at 14977 Palmdale Road in Victorville, there is another location at Spring Valley Lake located at 12170 Spring Valley Parkway in Spring Valley Lake.

Molly Brown's Country Cafe

When you live in an area that's flooded with country cafes, it's often difficult to get the courage to try a new spot for breakfast once you've found a cafe that you enjoy. It's often very difficult for country cafe's to separate themselves from the herd, considering that just about all of them serve the same food (scramblers, biscuits, gravy etc....). However, when you see a breakfast spot that's parking lot is constantly full, it's safe to say it's usually full for a reason. Pulling into the parking lot of Molly Brown's, the place looks like somewhat of a dive. It shares the parking lot with a sketchy hotel, and looks more like a shoebox than a restaurant. As you walk in you'll notice a lot of the cliche country kitchen items such as tacky wallpaper, old antique's, and a wall of daily specials. If you ask any of the waitresses what's good to order, they will all recommend the "Chicken Fried Chicken" plate. I ordered the recommended dish with a bit of negativity, I felt that any restaurant could dump gravy over a chicken strip and call it "special". When I received my food i was very surprised at the large fried boneless/skinless breast, huge pile of hash browns, and perfectly cooked eggs. The first thing I did was get a spoon and taste the gravy that flooded the plate beginning at the top of the chicken breast. The gravy had a smooth taste, with a hint of a sausage aftertaste, and the consistency was smooth with no lumps. Once I cut into the chicken I quickly noticed that the cut of meat was perfectly fried with a moist and juicy center. The chicken tasted like it had been soaked in butter-milk before being fried, this is a GOOD thing. The frying batter was a thin batter similar to that of a batter you would find at a county fair (minus the grease and thickness). The combination of the above items makes for an amazing breakfast dish that is far from my original thought of a chicken strip smothered in gravy. The eggs were cooked perfect and the hash browns had a perfect top crust without any burnt spots. The high desert hosts two Molly Brown locations and the waitresses told me that the food is cooked exactly the same at both locations. If you're near any of the two locations, I highly suggest you ditch your normal breakfast spot and let Molly Browns have a shot at your business. My entire dish with Iced Tea ended at just over $8, and the portion was enough to keep me full for the rest of the day. Molly Browns locations: 15775 Mojave Drive and 13778 Hesperia Road, both in Victorville.

Emma Jean's Holland Burger

Some of you might recognize Emma Jean's from their appearance on Food Network's "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives". Or you might recognize it from a couple scenes in Kill Bill. Emma Jean's is a cafe that serves amazing burgers and hearty, stick-to-your-bones breakfast items. On this particular trip I ordered a basic cheeseburger with grilled onions. The burger was amazing, thick, juicy, and cooked perfectly! The fries were crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. Part of the Emma Jean's experience is the amazing customer service. Head waitress Shauna is always on the ball with service, she'll even sit down for a minute and have a friendly chat. Odds are that if you go there more than twice and order the same thing, they'll remember your order the next time you come in! This place treats you like family and makes their food with care and love!
The most notable menu item is the famous "Brian Burger". Brian (owner) is the creator of the burger, it includes what looks like a 3/4 pound burger patty with cheese and a slice of green chile all wedged in between two slices of cheesy texas toast. The burger melts in your mouth and leaves you full! Also notable are the homemade biscuits & gravy. Emma Jean's Holland Burger easily takes the prize as best diner in the HD. Please make sure to go visit them soon! Image of the Brian Burger was taken from Yelp.com, Emma Jeans is located at 17143 D St. in Victorville. They are cash only so make sure you come prepared.

Carl's Jr Avocado Turkey Burger

It's a given fact that fast food becomes less appetizing as you get older. It makes you tired, groggy, and gives you a hell of a stomach ache. The last time that I can remember enjoying Carls Jr was back in high school when we would go get Western Bacon Cheeseburgers after school and hang out in the parking lot. I mildly enjoyed the Jalapeno Chicken Sandwich, but other than that, Carls Jr provides food with a strong flavor of disappointment. Once I saw the commercials on tv for their new line of turkey burgers, I immediately became intrigued, especially since my wife and I usually substitute all beef products for turkey when we cook at home. I figured that since they were the first major fast food chain to offer these, I would give them a try. I ordered the Avocado Turkey Burger (pictured above). Yes, I know it doesn't look very appetizing in the picture, but i'll take partial blame for attempting to cut the burger in half with the plastic knife that came with my wife's salad (does it ever look like it does on the commercial?). Upon the first bite, the first thing I noticed is that the guacamole on the burger actually tasted fresh, it had large tomato and jalapeno chunks that provided heat and freshness. The second thing I noticed is that the burger's outside had a nice charred shell from the charbroil, and the inside was incredibly moist and juicy with great flavor. The turkey patty in this burger tastes better than some of the store bought turkey patties i've purchased from the grocery store. The whole wheat bun was flavorful and held the burger together perfectly. Supposedly the turkey burgers at Carls Jr are all under 500 calories, which makes this burger even better than I had originally thought. Even if you're not a fast food eater, this burger is definitely worthy of a shot. Since this visit i've also tried the Pineapple Teriyaki Turkey Burger and that burger is also very good! NOTE: I understand that Carls Jr isn't necessarily a high desert establishment, but I feel that with the amount of fast food joints in the desert, it's good to offer advice on new products at these places. Some people don't have time to sit down at a restaurant or cook a meal at home, so fast food is the only option most days. I won't be making fast food posts a habit on this blog, but I felt this was worthy of some spotlight.

Overland Meat Co & Deli

Overland Meats is located in Apple Valley, wether you're looking for good bbq/deli meat, beer, hot sauce, or soup, Overlands offers it all! I visited the deli this time to get a sandwich for lunch, Overland offers 3 different sizes of sandwich: small, medium, and large. The difference in the size is the amount of meat they put on the sandwich, my sandwich (pictured above) is a small sized sandwich. Overland offers plenty of different meat, cheese, and topping selections. They use Boars Head meats on all of their sandwiches, and the sandwich is made to order right in front of you, the meat is even fresh sliced to order. I ordered a small turkey with muenster, sprouts, lettuce, tomato, mustard, mayo, oil, vinegar, on whole wheat bread. The sandwich was amazing and by itself cost me a little over $7 with a soda and chips. The special thing about Overland's turkey is that it's a honey turkey, basically it's the taste of turkey with a sugary, honey glaze aftertaste. It's the best deli turkey i've ever had. Overland's wins the Daily Press's "best sandwich" award EVERY year, and there's good reason. Other notable sandwiches to try at Overlands are the Rueben and the Pastrami. Soups are fresh made everyday as are the potato/macaroni salads.

Overland's butchered meats are also extremely fresh and can be purchased with their specialty seasoning on it (it tastes like a doctored seasoning salt). The meats are a tad more expensive than the grocery store, but in this case you get what you pay for. In the summer time Overland offers summer BBQ packs. The packs usually consist of ribs, steaks, burgers, sausages etc. They also offer scallops, lobster, and various fresh seafood for purchase by the pound. The above image was taken from the Overland Meat website.

Now on to money maker, BEER. Overland's offers over 100 different kinds of beers, some in bottles, some in cans, and even some in mini-kegs. There is something for everyone in their alcohol department. The above picture was also taken from the Overland Meat website. Overland Meats is located in Apple Valley at 18841 Hwy 18 next to the fire department on the outer part of Highway 18. You can also learn more at www.overlandmeat.com

PHO Belwood

Pho Belwood is a Vietnamese restaurant located in Victorville off of Bear Valley Rd. (exact address listed below). I have never tried Vietnamese cuisine before, so this was a new experience for me. The condiments seemed similar to that of a Thai restaurant: Sriracha Sauce, Soy Sauce, Hoison, various oil/red chili mixes, and random spices. The pictures on the menu reminded me of Japanese Ramen houses which basically serve you a large bowl of noodles with your choice of fillers in the soup. After reading various posts on Yelp regarding how good the spring rolls were, I decided to order those for a starter. I received 3 rolls which were basically the size of full sushi rolls. They consisted of lettuce, crispy noodles, and shrimp wrapped in spring roll paper. The rolls tasting very plain when eating them by themselves, luckily enough they came with a peanut sauce to dip them in. The peanut sauce had a mild heat to it, and basically tasted like watered down peanut butter, they sprinkle chopped peanuts on top which added a crunchy texture to the sauce. The peanut sauce definitely saved the rolls, these are best ordered with a 2nd person to share them with, by the time I got to the 3rd roll the spring paper was already beginning to dry.
Now on to the main course! I went ahead and ordered the #1 which is called the "Pho Super Bowl". The super bowl consists of a Vietnamese broth which tasted similar to chicken broth, noodles, beef strips, beef meatballs, herbs, bean sprouts, jalapenos, and lemon slices. The dish also included Tripe and Beef Tendon, but I decided that I would just stick to normal meats this time around. The waiter instructed me to add condiments to the broth to make it as spicy/salty as I would like. I went ahead and added chili sauce, sriracha, and hoison to my broth. At first bite I immediately thought of Japanese Ramen, however, the main difference was the consistency of the noodles. The noodles in this particular dish were very thin and had a little bit more crunch to them, which played off well with the tender slices of meat. The beef was a little bit fatty, but nothing to get upset over. The beef meatballs were well seasoned and provided a spongy texture to play off the crunchiness of the noodles. I basically made my broth super spicy to the point where it tasted like a spicy chicken noodle soup. I was very impressed with the Pho Super Bowl. Overall Pho Belwood impressed me with their fresh tasting ingredients, large portions, and dynamic flavors. This restaurant has now inspired me to give some of the other PHO restaurants in the HD a try. The portions were HUGE, I was unable to finish the spring rolls and soup. The order was easily enough for 2 people, and the final bill was $15 and some change. The friendly staff was also a plus, when I told the waiter that I had never eaten Vietnamese food before he explained to me how to properly combine the condiments with the broth without ruining the entire dish. Next time I will definitely try some of their stir fry dishes, I couldn't help but notice someone's seafood stir fry while I was there, it looked amazing! Pho Belwood's address is 15632 Bear Valley Rd, Victorville.