Wholesome Choice From Dos Viewpoints

Wholesome Choice.

Most UCI students know it as the supermarket where Persians roam free like the wayward chaff from a wheat stalk. There have been NUMEROUS occasions where they have (incorrectly) assumed that I was persian and started speaking farsi to me. Do I correct them? No, I just smile awkwardly and nod and then walk away. I think it really gets to them.

The main reason UCI students would actually go here, however, is not the supermarket goods, which tend to be of higher price than Ralph's or Albertson's, though they do claim to have organic produce and stuff so that might be a reason. The real reason? The food court. You can systematically get anything from Persian to Chinese to Indian to "American" as well as Sandwiches, Salads, and a Bakery from their food court. The prices are reasonable considering for most people, the servings can easily stretch into two meals, especially the Chinese and Thai ( a recent addition, read more below) which is what me and Josh consumed this afternoon.

Part I- Bangkok Express?



I was always afraid to try the Thai food, because as you'd notice if you went there, it's perpetually deserted. I usually get the Chinese food, but as of late I've started to loathe myself more and more after eating it. It's a love/hate relationship with the Chinese food at Wholesome. The only thing I think it has going for it over Panda is that they give you an ASSLOAD, not just any assload, but a SAMOAN ASSLOAD of food for the same price as Panda Express' girly/stingy portions.

What I ordered is pretty basic. You get a choice of 4 starch items, Pineapple Fried Rice and Pad Thai, which is what I ordered half and half of, as well as "Thai Steamed Rice" which looked like steamed rice with leeks or green onions or something mixed in, as well as "Curry Noodles" which looked interesting. The Pad Thai was pretty bland, but the Pineapple Fried Rice wasn't that bad, definitely at least average when compared to most steam table Fried Rice. It tasted NOTHING like pineapple though, which scared me a little.

The meat items I got were Basil Chicken, Satay Beef, and "Chicken Balls" which you see skewered on my styrofoam platey. All three were at least average, the Chicken Balls stood out to me as they had some good texture and taste. The Basil Chicken was pretty good as well, but I almost accidentally ate an entire clove of garlic, of which I counted at LEAST 3 in my meal. This in addition to the non-Pineapple Pineapple Fried Rice was enough to get me to start to consider a conspiracy theory in the Thai Food section of Wholesome Choice. The Satay Beef was actually the least impressive but probably the best looking. The Beef was without any significant texture or flavor.

Overall I liked it a little more than the Chinese Food and on my next(probably not for a while) visit to Wholesome, I will probably get Thai again.

Part II-of our tour of Americanized-Asia: China


(Half-eaten. Sorry, I was howngry)

For me, Chinese food from Wholesome Choice has been a standard. If I'm ever undecided as to what to eat for dinner, or I'm looking to save money, Wholesome Choice is there. As of late, the consistency of the Chinese food was starting to bother me. My two-item combo always consisted of half-chow-mein-half-fried-rice-broccoli-beef-orange-chicken. But the last couple of times I got the orange chicken, the sauce has had this weird gooey consistency that kinda bothered me to eat. It was a little bit like eating Orange Jell-O, but only twenty times worse for you. And halal. So I steered clear of the orange chicken this time and opted for the Kung Pao chicken instead. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by it. The past times I've had Kung Pao from Wholesome, it had this overwhelming peanut-pepper taste, of which I was definitely not a fan of. But today, they were much more subtle and the chicken itself had this somewhat sweet and crispy texture. I enjoyed it.

My other meat item was Beef with Broccoli. One thing I hate is when the beef is far too chewy. Not today. It was savory and plentiful. However, the broccoli was way too soggy and sat in its juices for far too long.

At $5.25 for a SHITLOAD of decent food (I could only eat half, so I have lunch for tomorrow), you really can't go wrong. That is unless, you're a vegetarian. Or you eat healthy. Or you don't like Chinese food. Other than that, Dumb Scrum.

Kaiten Kaisen Sushi Bar

Since finding Kura Sushi, it's been our stalwart for cheap, fast, fun sushi. I was excited when I heard that Kaiten Kaisen was a little closer, and had (supposedly) better sushi. I guess overall it was a hit and miss dealio. You order here off a sheet of paper mainly, as the conveyer belt doesn't carry enough sushi on its own to constitute a full meal. They had great selection and most individual servings ranged from .99 to 3.50, with the cut rolls being larger servings ranging from $4.00(California Roll) to $7.00 for things like the Volcano Roll(pictured below) or the Lobster Roll.



This particular Volcano roll was pretty tasty. For those unfamiliar, the Volcano Roll at Kaiten is a california roll topped with scallops in a cream-ish(probably mayonnaise based) sauce and cooked a little bit at the top. They included an obscene amount of scallops, which was a nice surprise.

We also tried what is always a group favorite at Kura, the crunchy roll.



I actually thought the Crunchy Roll was better here than at Kura. An interesting discovery I made with a friend at Kura one time was that the crunchy roll is basically just a regular roll that is coated with some type of crunchy shit. This is completely different from what is typically a "golden" or some such flamboyant name given to a roll that is actually deep fried in tempura. I definitely prefer the deep fried variety, but Kura only makes those in California variety, and I've heard they are delicious in the Philadelphia variant.

Other things to note about the restaurant? The seared salmon I got was rubbery and slimy, not very pleasant to be sure. The fried squid was actually very delicious, some of the better fried squid I've ever had. The shumai was extremely disappointing, tasted old and of low quality. The Gyoza was typical, described as "EXTRA crispy". They serve a few desserts, including mochi and this ice cream creation:



Trust me, it didn't look that ethereal/mystical in real life. The name escapes me, but it was basically the only dessert option besides Mochi/Ice Cream. It was Ice cream topped with whipped cream and served with tapioca, peaches, and red bean paste. It was pretty tasty, though not what I expected from the non-descriptive title.

Overall, I enjoyed Kaiten, and knowing what they excel at (cut rolls) and what I will probably avoid in the future(Salmon), I will probably give them another taste in the future. Their strengths definitely lie in their value and casual atmosphere. The group I ate with were all pleasantly surprised by the amount they forked over at the end, since they'd all expected to be paying more.

Kaisen Kaiten Sushi Bar(right behind Pat and Oscar's...it was somewhat of a clusterfuck trying to find it from the number/street alone)
3855 S Bristol St
Santa Ana, CA
714-444-2161

First Entry

Just so you all know, this is a food blog started out of boredom/curiosity run by two guys. And if you can understand the name, then extra bonus points for you.