Eels are scary creatures. They're slimy and slippery and Flotsam and Jetsam from The Little Mermaid used to make me all scared with their yellow camera eyes and smirking faces. Eels are not the prettiest creatures on earth. They give me nightmares when I watch them swim around.

But cook them up and slather them in teriyaki sauce? Well then they're delicious!

There's nothing quite like a piece of eel, delicately scorched to the perfect warmth and crispiness with a teriyaki glaze on top (if indeed that is the sauce they typically use) lying ever so softly on a piece of sushi rice, wrapped in a slice of seaweed and ready to pick up and eat in one warm bite. Well, nothing like it until you take that same concept and put it in a bowl, multiply the proportions by 30, and add an EGG!

Meet the Eel Egg Bowl at Miyabi Tei, in the Mitsuwa Supermarket food court in Costa Mesa. While this isn't exactly the most romantic date spot in OC, it's the perfect little lunch spot, always with a long line and always smelling like heaven. The eel egg bowl is exactly what it sounds like. Eel and egg, cooked together and slathered in that rich sauce, then served over some sauteed onions and white rice. And while you're deprived of the crunchier or crispier textures, you get a lot of the softer textures in this dish to complement the flavors. It's the soft eel flesh attached to the slightly unyielding eel skin, cooked in an egg that has parts where it's fully yellow and parts where it's soft and white jelly. If you dig deeper, you notice that the rice, soft and sticky, also has some sauce all over it, allowing you to savor the flavors without worrying that the rice will dull it all down. Even with all the sauce, it's not overwhelming, and with all the textures, it makes up for the lack of color and the fact that you're eating Flotsam and Jetsam.

Yes, friends, tonight I sleep well!

Miyabi Tei
665 Paularino Ave., Costa Mesa, CA
http://www.yelp.com/biz/miyabi-tei-costa-mesa

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Oh Prix-Fixe menus! How I will never tire of thee! Who's in for some good food lovin'??
http://www.opentable.com/promo.aspx?m=6&ref=2954&pid=268

Last week DD and I caught some Ruth's Chris for the Orange County Restaurant Week, and my, was it good! Nothing like the smell of beef roasted in butter... Like Anthony Bourdain said, "Mmmm. Tastes like it died screaming!"

Which brings us to my steak rankings! In a loose order of preference, since, well, all steaks are meat and therefore wonderful, I present to you my top 5 destinations for brilliance:
1. Ruth's Chris - It's all about the butter....
2. Lawry's Prime Rib - So tender and so wonderful. Once the manager walked up to me and saw that I was finishing a Lawry's Cut by myself. He said if I finished it, he'd give me another on the house. I finished it.
3. Mastro's Steakhouse - Classic and tender.
4. Porterhouse Bistro - Well-prepared and well seasoned. Order the 40-oz cut for two.
5. BOA - I think I just really like the roasted garlic.

On the list to try:
1. Cut (LA)
2. Jar (LA)
3. Peter Luger's (NYC)

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Don't be fooled by this adorable smiley face with his chef's hat and a huge, almost phallic, loaf of bread. Behind this chipper exterior is the face of a beast. A fat-mongering, grease-loving evil mastermind. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to brilliance. Brilliance has a name, and it is Mr. Baguette.

The fact that he's not named Monsieur Baguette (to continue the French theme) only adds to his rebellious nature. The crime? The rebellion? The absolute anarchy masked in a smiley face and a quiet, small restaurant in Rosemead, CA? Fried EGG! Sesame! In a banh mi sandwich!

DD and I were foraging for something to munch on, when he remembered a place that he swore would put Lee's Sandwiches to shame. Now, having grown up with Banh Mi Cali Sandwiches and Lee's Sandwiches, I was leery of anyone who tried to intrude on my already comfortable niche market. If I wanted lots of meat and a full loaf of bread, I went to Banh Mi Cali. If I wanted crunch bread and a quick fix in a rapidly expanding franchise, I went to Lee's Sandwiches. And if I couldn't get to one of those, I would go without.

So needless to say, I was a little reluctant to try out this intruding sandwich shop in the middle of the asian capital of Los Angeles, Rosemead/Alhambra/Monterey Park. The outside was unassuming, which is bonus points in my book. Once inside, it looked remarkably like a Lee's Sandwich, clean, well designed menus with color pictures of each item, everything clearly labeled, and a front counter displaying foods you could buy to make your own at home.

And then I saw it. There, in the refrigerated counter, food-saver sealed with their own meat-market looking label, was a chunk of pate--5" in diameter and 2" thick. Lucious, savory, and delicious looking.

SOLD.

While looking at the menu of sandwiches, I decided on the "Dac Biet" Special sandwich. And then, from the mouth of the love of my life came the magical words: "You have breakfast sandwiches. Is there any way we can have an egg in the Dac Biet sandwich?" "Yes." (The counter clerk may as well have said "I Do", the word was so magical.) So there we went on our way, to wait for the sandwiches we ordered and a couple more we ordered to go. When we got them, they gave us the pickled veggies on the side, which is an added perk--the sandwich won't get soggy later and you can reheat the whole thing without ruining the fresh, cold flavors of the veggies. Once combined, I realized what made this place a mecca for Vietnamese sandwich lovers--the combinations of flavors. It wasn't just the meat, which was tender and present in relative abundance, but it was also the toasted sesame seeds on the bun that added a rich toasted flavor. The egg was just icing on the cake! While the pate was sporadic at best, when you got a rich spread of it in one bite, it was that much better--like you'd been waiting for it your whole life!

And thus, I concede defeat. Yes, Mr. Baguette, you can come play with my other banh mi favorites. And somewhere in my head, the scene plays:

"Do you expect me to talk?"
"No, Mr. Baguette, I expect you to feeeeeed me!"

Mr. Baguette
8702 Valley Blvd., Rosemead, CA, (626) 288-9166
www.mrbaguettesandwiches.com

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"Are you feeling safe or adventurous?"

Even as DD asked those words, I was trying to balance whether he would be tired, or whether I was feeling introverted. This particular evening, I was open to anything. Those are usually the evenings that end up with the most potential, because really, anything can happen. So despite the fact that a home-delivered pizza and a Vietnamese roast duck was on the table, I opted for adventurous. Who knows what the night would bring?

So to Roy's we went, a place DD had not been to in something on the order of 6 years, and a place I had never been to. I always walked by the Roy's in downtown Los Angeles, but I never went in. Looking back at it now, I should have stopped in at least once a week, if only to savor the glory of The Lakanilau. The Lakanilau is a sushi roll described in the menu as: Seared Kobe Beef Wrapped Around Yuzu Crab, Tempura Asparagus & Avocado. The Lakanilau is nothing like your everyday sushi roll. Whereas you would typically eat a sushi roll for freshness and a delicate flavor intermingled with a soft texture, this roll was an explosion of both flavors and textures. It's almost hard to describe, and I'm not usually at a loss for words... It was like the texture of the rarest of meats combined with a mildly crispy tempura asparagus surrounded by the warm, almost sticky rice. Delicious!

For my entree, I could not resist the mahi mahi: "Roy’s Classic Roasted Macadamia Nut Crusted Mahi Mahi", a tender filet of mahi mahi, covered in crushed macadamia nuts and seasoned in a lobster cognac butter sauce. Oh yeah, you heard me. Lobster. Cognac. Butter. That's almost all I need to say! The fish was cooked to perfection, nice and tender, flaky to the point where that knife on the edge of your place settings looked on with envy. Each time you dipped it into the sauce, which was a full, thick glaze, you felt like you were going to have a heart attack, and it was going to be worth it!

As part of the prix fixe menu, DD had the crispy shrimp lumpia, which was lightly crispy on the outside (not overcooked or too oily, as many lumpia tend to be), and soft and tender on the inside. The flavors were a mix of salty and sweet and sour all at once. Not your everyday lumpia! The entree was the "Pulehu" sirloin, with truffled fries and roasted shallot jus. The sirloin was prepared rare, though still a little tough on the outside. It was very tender on the outside and very richly marinated, almost like a red wine reduction. When you mixed this with the truffled fries, which were more like truffled potato fritters, it was yet another mix of textures and flavors, salty and sweet, tender and tough and crunchy, fully roasted and fried. It seemed like the theme of the evening was "multi-pronged approach", with both rich flavors and textures, and being a huge fan of textures, especially crispy/crunchy textures, this was quite a treat!

The finisher on the prix fixe menu was the "Roy's Melting Hot Chocolate Souffle", which was so very rich and thick. The top surface was crisp, almost like a brownie, but the inside was flowing out chocolate like molten magma--the way every chocolate souffle was born to disperse. And while I didn't like the crispy texture of the top, since I usually like my souffle's soft and tender, I loved the richness of the flavor. DD and I got through maybe half of it, as opposed to my usual one or two bites. (My favorites, for the record, are still the Eiffel Tower Restaurant at Paris, Paris, Las Vegas, NV, and Ten Restaurant, Costa Mesa, CA. This does come a close third!)

Without adventure, we cannot discover potential new #1's, new options, new taste explosions... And while the dessert that drew us to this restaurant wasn't the absolute best I've ever had, everything else was so decadent, so full and rich, that I couldn't help but feel absolutely content and happy. It was delicious. And all was well.

Maybe I should have taken that lobster cognac butter sauce to go.

Roy's Restaurant
453 Newport Center Dr, Newport Beach, (949) 640-7697
http://www.roysrestaurant.com/

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