Shihnong

Today, my friends and I decided that we would go out and eat tonight, but indecision quickly overwhelmed us. We wanted to eat something cheap without spending over five dollars. The usual came to mind – Jack in the Box, In n’ Out, etc., but lately, we’ve eaten that way too much. Then I remembered a place called Gina’s where a family member of mine had previously worked. Honestly, even though he worked there, I had never been, until today.

Gina’s Pizza is in the Campus and California shopping center next to the Albertsons. Its location is perfect for college students considering how close it is to campus. If you and a couple friends are hungry, simply walk a little (it is college, you should either be walking or taking the bus) and you will soon find yourself at Gina’s.

Gina’s is relatively small, smaller than many of the McDonald’s franchise chain stores in Irvine. Upon entering, I noticed that the setting was dark, much like other restaurants. A sign greets you right as you walk in, telling you to either serve yourself by proceeding to the counter to order and pay up front, or sit down and allow them to serve you. Considering our predicament of frugality, we decided we would pay ahead, allowing us to forego tip.

Above the counter is the menu, partitioned into different items such as Pizza, Pasta, Salad, Appetizers, etc. etc. Well, we wanted to get a pizza that we could all share. Gina’s has a great variety of pizzas – there are its specials, the House Special, Barbacoa Chicken, etc., and you can also make your own. Not only is there a great selection, but there is also a wide variety of sizes. The large, I do believe, was sixteen inches and was priced at $18.95 without tax. We decided on our pizza, the Barbacoa Chicken, and ordered.

Here is my one gripe. For some odd reason, the service was relatively slow. Before us, two customers, young female college students, were ordering, but then they hopped from one cashier to the other and the other cashier disappeared. That made no sense to me and how the cashiers allowed such a strange predicament left me somewhat bewildered. I do not know what happened, but just that these girls, in all the time it took us to decide, which was a while, were able to dawdle time away at the cashier’s.

The servers, however, were very polite. They kindly asked us whether we were waiting or desired to be served. We replied that we were ordering and they moved off. Nice people, honestly. I do believe that, in their asking the question, they caused the cashier to double his speed because suddenly, the cashier asked us if we would like to order.

We told him what we would like to order, everything went smoothly, and we were well on our way to sitting down, awaiting them to bring the pizza to us. They did ask us whether we wanted it to go or eat in, but the point of college is to experience the outside world, so we ate there. We talked the time away and soon the pizza was before us. The same cashier was actually our server, showing that if you order at the counter, you do not have one of the standard servers act as the server for you – you are not obligated to leave tip.

The food did not cost most of us more than $5. I still felt that I should leave a tip so I put the change and an extra dollar into the tip jar.

The food was delicious, the service was good at times, and it was cheap. And as soon as you turn 21, Gina’s is also a bar. You and your friends can go there and drink the night away!

For a college student, price and taste are the two most important things. At Le Diplomate, that’s what you get if you can look past the pretentious name. Honestly, this has been bugging me for a while. What is so french about this place. I’m purchasing a hot sandwich. Sure, it uses French Bread but does that really deserve the name – The Dimplomat? What is diplomatic about it? Whatever, I’m done with this rant.

Now, this establishment is not just a sandwich shop. It also serves smoothies. Unfortunately, I, being a grinch, did not even bother looking at what smoothies they were and their price. I wanted my sandwich.

Unfortunately, even without this review, Le Diplomate is well known already. It has lines everyday during lunch hour, lines of ten to twenty people. If you can’t wait, then you’re missing out because the sandwiches are delectable. Served on a toasted french baguette, there are a myriad of fillings, not that you have a choice to mix and match, which is one gripe I have. You have to pick from a set list. Once you order, you’re on your way to wait!

Oh, what a wait. I ordered at 11:15 AM today for a half sandwich. My order number was seven. My friend ordered before me and got a full sandwich and had order number sixty four. Now, they hop around with the numbers because of the two cash registers so the numbers are skewed. One will be higher than the other. What I do not understand is, how my half sandwich went slower than my friend’s, and about twenty other people after me. That was my other gripe. Killed my lunch hour.

The interesting thing is that you can pick up hot sauce, the red asian kind I am assuming, to put onto your sandwich. At first, it may seem counter intuitive to mix the two cultural foods, but hey, it works.

Other than time restraints, Le Diplomate is definitely is worthy trying, if you have time.

I’m not exactly cultured in Japanese ways, but when I walk into Shin-Sen-Gumi, and they shout in Japanese to welcome you (at least I suppose they’re welcoming you), there’s some kind of instant attachment. Though they all have accents, that’s part of the charm. That doorway to the little shop transcends boundaries. Enough pantry poetic prose, Shin-Sen-Gumi kicks ass.

It is by far one of my favorite restaurants. They have udon, rice… forget those, just Ramen. This bowl of Ramen is ultimately customizable: you can order many extras to it such as egg, meat, corn, seaweed, bamboo, etc.; you can choose how thick you want the soup base, firmness of noodle, and amount of oil; and the combinations that come with it during lunch and dinner.

How amazing is the ramen? I hate candied ginger – that vile red stuff, and they put it in the ramen. I wind up eating it because it perfectly balances the taste.

The combinations for lunch come with gyoza (fried dumplings), chicken rice balls, fried rice, chicken rice bowl, spam-sushi, or many more. They’re all delicious, though the rice balls can waver depending on whether or not they’re fresh or frozen. Still, it’s good.

Dinner Combos come with a 1/2 order of gyoza, and then you have a choice of potato salad, shark fin in plum sauce (you better really like your plum sauce), fish cake with cheese, or one other, which I can’t remember off the top of my head. There are only two dinner combos: both include the above, but they differ in drinks: Alcohol or non-alcoholic.

Really, just try it yourself. Lunch is by far cheaper and far more worth it.

And when you leave, they yell at you in Japanese. So cool.