Shake*Shake*Nom*Nom

Hey ChickaDee’s and Chickadoo’s! Today’s post is brought to you by Dee a la Thursday.

Breakfast: BORING! Skipped it and had coffee since I had to attend an offsite company event. >.<

***

Lunch was a surprise birthday lunch for a team member at Naples Ristorante e Pizzeria at Downtown Disney. Once upon a time, long long ago, Dee ventured to this restaurant after a long day at Disneyland with my then bf (we can call him DB – I’m sure you can all figure out what that stands for). DB ordered a pizza with white sauce, artichokes, garlic, and something else – that pizza was magical. My lunch yesterday.. not so much. I ordered the Penne Con Pollo, featured below for your viewing pleasure.



Let’s take a closer look:



Pasta was dry, Chicken was dry, sauce was too watery.. whaaaat?! How does that happen?! I get it, the sauce sucked up all the moisture from everything else in the dish.. sneaky sauce!

PS – it was bland.. This is where the title comes in... I shook shook salt on it, then shook shook pepper on it, and THEN I shook shook some red pepper flakes on it. Taste, then repeat about 4 times. No bullshit. My team was in awe at how much salt I put on it. It was SOOOOOO bland! Ugh. I’ve discovered recently (although it’s always been suggested) that places who don’t put any condiments on the table, or don’t offer them at all, tend to be the best, most innovative, and tastiest and don’t need anything added anyway! Later on, I checked it on Yelp and the place only had 2.5 stars.. I should’ve checked it first. Ridick.

/Spit it Out.. All of it.

***

Dinner!!! Oh Dee-licious dinner!! Nom-sational - hands down. Yoshi’s Sushi in Yorba Linda was the place. This place is what sushi dreams are made of. So fresh, so flavorful, SO worth the drive.



We started with the Albacore Delight, or Dee-light as I’d like to refer to it as. California Roll (I hate these, but this is worth it) with seared Albacore up top, marinated onions, and green onions, all doused in an amazingly sinful garlic butter sauce.. This thing doesn’t even need to be dipped in soy sauce, it’s perfection in 8 pieces.

/Swallow It



Then followed the Crispy Spicy Tuna. I am a sucker for Spicy Tuna. This was actually pretty cool. Crispy/toasted sushi rice, a slice of jalapeno, and Spicy Tuna with a sprig of fresh greens. The sauces below were sweet, tangy, and spicy. The textures in this dish are insane, first you get that crunch from the toasted rice, then a crisp burn from the jalapeno, followed by the soft texture of the spicy tuna.. It worked, oh yes, it did.

/Swallow It

Next came Salmon Sushi:



Check out that marbling.. OMG my mouth is watering just looking at it. Simple, yet Dee-lish. Big pieces of fresh Salmon topped with marinated onions and Ponzu sauce, and yeah.. there’s rice under there.. somewhere.

/Swallow it down!

What’s next do you ask?! Well, here we go!



“Sea Snails?! WTF??!?!?!?” That was literally my reaction, I tried a few, but they’re a touch bitter. Not like Escargot at all.

/Spit it Out – Unless you’re into that sort of thing.

To help get rid of that last doozy we ordered some Kirin and Tempura Shishito Peppers:



Don’t be fooled! These peppers aren’t spicy at all! They have a very fresh essence to them, crunchy to bite into and they hardly need a thing, they are sprinkled with a little salt and that’s it. The sushi chef took the peppers, torched them a little bit, stuffed them with a tuna mixture and fried them up in a Tempura batter. So good!

/Swallow it.

It got better though! (Okay, yes, I ate a lot, but it was Sushi! (I have a sick obsession with the stuff. It’s like my version of crack!) Besides, I ate for the sake of the blog..
See guys! I DO care.



Snapper Sushi with Yuzu. *NOM* That little smidgen of green stuff on top of the fish packs such a punch of flavor, I might suggest not dipping this at all – if you can handle that. The Yuzu is citrusy, salty, savory goodness, pair it with that fresh slice of Snapper and you’re good to go.. Almost.

/Swallow it!

Last, but not even close to least:



The beautiful Star of Red Snapper. Slices of fish, dotted with hot Sriracha sauce, soaking in Ponzu. Yes.. that’s how you end a good meal.

/Swallow it

This place has great service and fresh food. No reason not to try it.

*Nom*Nom*Nom* This satisfies the Fat Kid in me.

- Dee