Project Poke

You’ve probably seen videos of sushi donuts and spam fries on Facebook. Or maybe you haven’t and my Facebook feed is disproportionately flooded with videos of food. Maybe both! I saw these things in two separate videos and found out that they could both be found in one magical place: Project Poke!

So Sean and I are heading down to Orange County and I have a whole list of things to try, but I’ve been on a seafood and raw fish kick so Project Poke sounded like a pretty good options. The sushi donut and spam fries were must-trys, but since they were more snack-appropriate, the sushirrito was the main event.

Sean and I split an order of spam fries, a salmon sushi donut, and I had a deluxe sushirrito while he had a salmon and tuna one. I’m always on the hunt for a good sushirrito. The guy suggested that I go for the deluxe or salmon one and I definitely wanted tuna in the mix, so I went for the deluxe, which has tuna, avocado, seaweed salad, amongst a few other toppings. I asked for some spicy mayo in there because I’m me and I love sauce. Also, spicy mayo is the bomb.

The sushirrito was pretty good, but not the best I’ve ever had. I don’t feel like the sauces really came through, so a little on the drier side. The avocado added some creaminess to the mix, but it wasn’t life changing. I don’t know what it is about avocado that makes people consider something “deluxe”, but Sean’s salmon and tuna was clearly superior. Avocado is a nice extra, but it doesn’t bring it for me. I will give this sushirrito credit for the seaweed salad. I love that shit and it definitely upped this sushirrito game.

Next order of business: spam fries. For the record, I do not like Spam. At least I don’t think I do The idea of it upsets me, it’s meat in a can. I may have tried it once and it tasted exactly like that – meat in a can. Maybe I should have cooked it or something, but it’s just not something that calls to me. These fries, however, were great. I guess if you cut meat in a can up into small strips and deep fry them, the results are pretty great. I was pretty disappointed that they didn’t put spicy mayo on top of the fries like they did in the video, but it was still pretty good. It came with a sweet pineapple dipping sauce that had a mild kick. Pretty solid combo, overall.

Last but not least, the sushi donut. I decided to go with a salmon donut with spicy tuna filling. “Where does the spicy tuna go?” I asked curiously. Inside. The. Donut. I don’t know what magical machine they have back there, but behold – a perfectly sculpted donut ring stuffed with spicy tuna and topped with salmon strips, radishes, masago, and cucumbers. Amazing.

If you’re a sushi lover with a curiosity for spam fries and ever find yourself near Fountain Valley, I recommend checking this place out.

Where?: 16051 Brookhurst St Fountain Valley, CA 92708
Price Range: $10-15
Parking: Large lot

Birthdae Cake

I’ve been on an ice cream kick lately. I know I really emphasized the whole “sweets aren’t my jam” thing, but good eats are good eats and there is so much great ice cream out there right now. Which brings me to my diabetic adventure at Birthdae Cake.

Sean and I took a trip down to Newport Beach over Memorial Day Weekend. I got a groupon on a beer fest down there so we decided to make a weekend out of it because YOLO. I have a whole roster of food in Orange County that’s been on my list, so what better time to try it out? One of the things on my list was Birthdae Cake. It was secondary to Project Poke, which is literally next door, but it made for a great lunch + dessert combo before checking into our AirBnb.

I heard Birthdae Cake was an edible cookie dough joint, but either I was wrong, or I got overwhelmed by the colorful ice cream flavors to get more details about my options. I was too busy sampling the many ice cream flavors and holding up the line, so I just went for it. So there may or may not be edible cookie dough, but unfortunately, I didn’t get to try it. What I ended up landing on was a scoop of Monster’s Inc. ice cream sandwiched between two fruity pebble rice krispies.

I was torn between the beautiful, purple Ubae Ube and the striking blue Monster’s Inc, but blue is my favorite color and Monster’s Inc came with brownie and cookie dough chunks in it, so I was sold. I was also between a specialty cone and these fruity diabetes pebbles but I don’t know, I was under a lot of pressure, so I just went with what felt right.

This thing was beautiful. Bursting with color and way too much sugar. Looking back on the situation, I was very excited about the whole experience at the time but I think the fruity pebble thing was just way too sweet, to the point that it overpowered the ice cream and I can’t really give you a solid description of what it tasted like. That being said, this is a sugar lover’s paradise. They also have custom drinks and, who knows, possibly edible cookie dough? I’d come back a little more prepared next time and definitely skip the diabetic sandwich, but it was fun the first time around! Except for the sugar coma.

Where?: 16051 Brookhurst St Fountain Valley, CA 92708
Price Range: $5-7
Parking: Large lot