Wassup with Wasabi's? Tex Wasabi's - Sacramento, CA

You’re not a foodie if you don’t know the name Guy Fieri. You are not a foodie if you haven’t watched an episode of Triple D (Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives).. Yeah, you know that “Guy” that hosts Guys Big Bite, winner of the first season of The Next Foodnetwork Star. He may know how to eat but does he really know how to cook? I mean, anyone can basically tell you what tastes good. We visited Northern California one weekend and one of his restaurants in Sacramento, Tex Wasabi, was on my list to try.

For starters, we ordered the calamari (not pictured-$10.95), garlic fries ($5.95), and the red dragon roll ($13.95). We had to order the calamari because the  description said “some of the best calamari you’ll ever try.”  By itself, the calamari was bland. It was fried nicely but it had way too much breading. What made it good was the thai dipping sauce that came with it.  So it should have described as the "best calamari dip you'll every try." 

The garlic fries were really good. The fries were crisp and the generous mixture of the chopped garlic, parmesan cheese, salt and chopped parsley was perfect. I couldn’t stop eating these. The Red Dragon roll is a California roll topped with spicy tuna and rolled in tempura bits. Although there was nothing special or different about this roll, I really did like it. The unagi sauce was also very good. I guess Guy knows his sushi rolls. 

Ed and I shared the Oyster Po-boy sandwich ($13.95), “Fresh oysters dusted in seasoned cornmeal flour & fried.” I was really disappointed with this dish. Although the flavor of the spread was good, the oysters that were used were so small. They were so small so you couldn’t taste much of the oyster over all the breading. So with the thickness of the French roll, the lettuce, and the dressing, you wouldn't be able to tell what kind of po-boy you were eating.

For dessert we ordered the chocolate bread pudding a la mode. I’m not really a bread pudding kinda gal, but for some reason,  this was the only dessert that really appealed to me. I’ve tasted bread puddings before that were just mushy. This one was really good! It had the texture of a freshly baked, soft, fluffy cinnamon roll that was drenched in sauce and there chunks of chocolate in some bites. It came out warm and it melted in my mouth. It didn’t need the ice cream, but I do like eating warm desserts with that cold contrast of the ice cream.

Don’t expect gourmet, don’t expect a hoity-toity atmosphere, and don’t expect extraordinary food. Although he is a pleasure to watch, the food at Tex Wasabi was just ordinary. I wouldn’t recommend this restaurant to anyone who wants to have one of their best meals of their life but would recommend it to those who live in that area who want to just hang out with friends and listen to the live band while having drinks and appetizers. 

Oahu Shave Ice- Fullerton, CA

Oahu Shave ice is located in Fullerton, CA. I was excited to know that I no longer had to chase trucks or save a wad load of cash to take a trip to Hawaii to get "authentic" shave ice.  We visited Oahu Shave Ice to taste if it measured up to my favorite shave ice truck or to my wonderful experience in Maui.

I got my usual order: large shave ice with strawberry and vanilla syrup, mochi, condensed milk and vanilla ice cream. Let me just make this short and sweet.  It didn't measure up, nor was it even up to par. Parts of the shave ice were still chunky that you can hear the breaking of ice in your mouth. The bottom half of the ice didn't even have syrup. I'm not sure what brand of ice cream was used but it didn't taste like homemade, quality ice cream and the mochi either hardened in the ice or was already hard. Everything about it was definitely not authentic. 

I usually share a large with Ed and together we always finish it. This time we didn't even make a dent. Let me make this short and not so sweet. I would not recommend this place at all. Besides the service, nothing else was great. 

Pie-Ology-Fullerton,CA

A friend of mine requested that I do a review on a restaurant in Fullerton, CA called Pie-ology, and she referred to it as "the Chipotle of pizza." I didn’t know  what to think about that statement since I’ve only been to Chipotle 3 times in my life and couldn’t quite correlate Chipotle with Pizza. However, once I walked into the restaurant it hit me. Pie-ology uses the concept of the "conveyour belt manufacturing process" that Chipotle does. I also didn’t think it was going to be a “fast food” style establishment, I was expecting a sit down and order from a menu with waiters type place. The décor also seemed “Chipotle-ish” with the same type furniture and metallic (as in material not music) feel to it. When you walk into Pie-ology, you wait in line to order. As we were in line, we perused the menu that was hanging on the wall.

They roll out the dough made to order. They have an array of toppings to choose from. You have your basics like pepperoni, sausage, vegetables as well as your non- traditional toppings such as bacon or chicken. Just like Chipotle they construct your pizza as you choose your ingredients.  We tried not to go too crazy since it was our first time trying the please so we ordered a pepperoni, mushroom, and fresh tomatoes ($7.50) , a #1 (cheese) pizza ($6)   and a #4 (mozzarella, parmesan, ricotta, fresh basil, cracked black pepper and olive oil)  pizza ($7.50) and a pepperoni, sausage and bacon pizza ($7.50) along with their cinnamon sugar pizza.

There is  no option to have the crust thicker, which doesn’t bother me because I prefer thin crust.  But  when we ate our pizza there wasn’t enough crust to soak in or withstand the oil from some of our toppings. But besides being a little on the oily side, the crust had a good crisp and was nicely seasoned. The pizza obviously tasted fresh since it is made to order.

Their cinnamon sugar pizza was amazing! It would’ve been more amazing if I had eaten it while it was still warm. It was buttery and wasn’t overpowered by too much cinnamon. The frosting that was drizzled over the top was sinful. I could’ve eaten the entire thing by myself.

The pizzas only come in one size, not sure of the actual dimension but I would describe it as not enough to share unless you aren’t too hungry.  $7.50 for a custom pizza, with as many toppings as you like, is a really good deal.  Overall, Pie-ology was good. It wasn’t the best pizza I’ve had and I don’t think I would rave over it but it’s definitely a place I would recommend if you are looking to go wild and construct a pizza like you've never had before. With all the different ingredients to choose from and the endless possible combinations I would definitely go back, but only if I were in the area.