Thursday, February 21, 2008

Gabbi's Quick Stop #6

Sometimes I wish I could clone myself and more quickly try out new Mexican restaurants and make more frequent visits to the ones I already know I like. But as a mere mortal there's restrictions on my movements and those restrictions currently make it hard for me to get to Gabbi's Mexican Kitchen in Orange as often as I'd like. After almost three months away though I did what it took to get back there for a quick lunch where I tried their Sopes Surtidos platter with one chicken mole sope, a beef one, and a chorizo one. This dish comes from the appetizer menu so I rounded it out with a cup of Sopa Tlalpeño, "Chicken soup with vegetables, garbanzo beans, avocado & cilantro." The combined heartiness transported me from Orange County to a rustic ranch in central Mexico where after a long day on the range you could head back home, kick off your boots, and fill up on some real food made with an extra helping of tender, loving care.

gabbis022108a

It might be hard to tell what's in the next picture but it's warm apple cobbler a la mode with a big cookie sticking in the center of it. I heard about this Winter-oriented dessert several months ago and finally got to try it. On a day that was colder than any day in the preceding week this dessert transported me from the aforementioned Mexican ranch to the snow-covered mountains, where after a long day of skiing or snowboarding you return to a log cabin, kick off your boots, and warm up with some cobbler prepared with lots of tender, loving care in a Dutch oven and heated in the fireplace. And then I snapped out of it and realized it was time to head back to my work at a desk making websites...

gabbis022108b

While there I talked with Gabbi herself for a while and she told me the apple cobbler is about to disappear from the dessert menu and soon be replaced with more Spring-oriented desserts such as passionfruit souffle and white chocolate berry tres leches. Looking forward to trying those...

Gabbi and I also talked about a couple other Mexican restaurants in the county and found out we think alike on each one we discussed. We also agreed that sometimes you've just got to get away from Mexican food and have some good sushi.

Click on the "gabbi's" label to see all our extensive coverage on this key Mexican restaurant:
at

2 comments:

  1. joyFebruary 28, 2008 6:12 PM

    I know what you mean - there never seems to be enough time to eat at all the new restaurants I want to try and still get back to my old favorites. Oh wait, there's hardly time to go out to eat at all most weeks, what am I thinking?

    I especially regret not getting to Gabbi's more often, which is due largely to how much further away it is than many other options. The sopes you show look delicious - I like your description, too: even though I'm not exactly doing hard labor, I still feel tired at the end of the day and appreciate some home (tasting) cooking!

    So does Gabbi's have a sign yet?

    ReplyDelete
  2. ChristianZFebruary 28, 2008 6:15 PM

    Nope, no sign yet. Meant to take a picture of the still signless front.

    ReplyDelete