Ok volume 3 of the Food Diary! I’ve been checking out more new and limited edition fast foods, plus I got some other yummies in here. This is from July to October 2025.
Why don’t I just put all this on Yelp? Well, I don’t really know. I guess this is not just about food. I yap about my life a little, and I just want to keep it a blog thing. Even though no ones reading this lol.
Katsu Bar
3/5 ★★★☆☆
I went to Katsu Bar in Chino with my now ex (womp womp) and it was alright. Obviously when it comes to Japanese curry, Cocoichibanya cannot be beat. But I’m not really a huge fan of Japanese curry anyways. I also had the yubu (inari) and ttoekbokki.
My ex ordered the curry and it was okay, nothing to rave about. Yubus are okay too, and ttoekbokki was good but too sweet imo. Overall the place is not bad if there’s no better option for what you want. But I also wouldn’t come here specifically for this stuff.
Bacchus Bar & Bistro
5/5 ★★★★★
This place is the bomb. It’s in Irvine and I originally went because I wanted to go to the speakeasy in the back of the restaurant (it’s hidden behind a sliding bookcase), Cozy Pine, but ended up just eating at the restaurant instead.
Chicken Francese was so good. It has a lemon butter sauce and the meat was super tender. Only thing I’d say is maybe too many of the sprouts. Also had the Strawberry Tres Leche which was good too, but not the best I ever had.
Overall though, I won’t come back unless it’s to check out Cozy Pine (maybe). Nothing wrong with the place, it just also happens to be the day where my relationship took a nosedive before it’s inevitable ending so I’m traumatized by this spot tbh.
Lagu Cafe
4/5 ★★★★☆
I’ve been to Lagu Cafe quite a few times now. It’s in Irvine on Main street near-ish to the John Wayne Airport. My fave drink is def the Sakura Latte, but the other drinks are good too. I usually also grab an onigiri (of which they have a few kinds), which is super filling on it’s own so I can eat like 1 or 2 and I’ll be good for a while.
Only giving it 4 stars because there’s not really any seating since it’s so small. There’s enough seats for like 4 people maybe, so it’s a grab and go situation mostly. Also, the other foods like sandwiches don’t look too appetizing but I’ll try them next time!
McDonaldland and a Happy Meal
I am not a fast food eater but when there’s something special or limited edition, I’ll check it out.
Here we got the McDonaldland meal, which is supposed to be a nostalgid happy meal for adults. I got the Mt. McDonaldland shake as well and I’m pretty sure it’s 10x worse than having 5 Starbucks Frappuccinos lol. The flavor was kind of weird too. It was like, cotton candy and bubblegum to me. Although online it says it’s cotton candy and blue raspberry, which makes more sense.
Now the good part is the toy cause that’s really all I care about, as a casual trinket collector. You get a metal tin with some postcards, character card, and other paper things. It’s all Candyland themed too so that was nostalgic as well.
Since I’m a fatass, I also got a kids meal cause I wanted the ninja turtle sanrio figurine. Someone told me that I could’ve just bought the toy itself instead of the whole meal but like, I didn’t know that. ._.
Da Vien AGAIN
4/5 ★★★★☆
This place is in Garden Grove and I’m not in that area much, but I get these occasionally because my coworker will get me one whenever they have a buy 1 get 1 deal. I think I talked about this place in my previous food diary.
Now overall the drinks there are good but this banana pudding matcha was especially bomb. I think I’m gonna try to make my own (maybe a better version) and put a recipe on this blog so stay tuned.
Taco Mesita
15/5 ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
This has to be one of my top taco places ever! If you’ve been to a Taco Mesa and liked it, you gotta come to Taco Mesita (in Tustin). They are both from the same owner and like the name suggests, it’s a mini version of Taco Mesa. There is only some outside seating and a drive through.
It’s deffo not cheap but the price is really not bad considering you’re getting like a Puesto (see previous food diary) level taco imo. Plus, they have a happy hour at 9PM (I don’t drink tho).
Once you get out the car you’ll smell the amazing smoked meat. Ahhhh! I always get the woodfired steak and al pastor taco with a drink. BOMB BOMB BOMB BOMB BOMB!
Rise Espresso Bar
Rise Espresso Bar is a travelling coffee shop, like a food truck. I’m not going to rate this one because I don’t think I’ve tried it enough. I had the fruity pebble matcha which I talked about in my thrift haul blog and it was okay because the fruit pebbles got soggy real fast and it made the texture funky. I’ve also had the vanilla cold foam matcha which was average. Nothing to rave about.
Just What I Kneaded
4/5 ★★★★☆
I talked about this too in my thrift haul blog and it’s a pretty good vegan spot that I would definitely go back to if I was in LA and was vegan. It’s in Elysian Valley and the parking situation is absolutely shot! Good luck. But that’s pretty much all of LA anyways so not going to dock points for parking.
They have a good selection of cafe lunch and breakfasts, plus baked goods, and everything is vegan! I tried a fake egg there too and tbh I couldn’t tell it was fake. But that’s only because it’s all mixed, not separated like a real egg.
The sandwich was bomb actually. You can tell the chicken ain’t real but its kinda close. The batter on the outside and the smell is 100% of a real chicken tender but I knew it was seitan. Still good though!
Taco Bell’s Live Más Café and Limited Edition Foods
5/5 ★★★★★
I am definitely going to be coming to Taco Bell more. The Live Más Café is so cool. I got the limited edition Caramel Apple Empanada Chiller, which is just a milkshake, but man it was the bomb dot com. Lots of sugar of course though.
Came here another time to try the limited edition Flamin’ Hot Grilled Cheese Burrito and Frank’s RedHot Diablo Chicken Nacho Fries. The Flamin’ Hot Grilled Cheese Burrito was not very special. Just had lots of cheese and some flamin’ hot flavored corn chips inside. The nacho fries however were pretty good. The portion is really small and it looks kinda terrible compared to the promo pic but it actually had that redhot kick and the cheese sauce was good.
That shall conclude the food diary this time! Let me know if you try anything 🙂
Big J
P.S. More yummies in my previous food diary!