Apiquant Thai salad can be crowned with a mound of seared steak, green papaya, or barbecued shrimp. All are delicious. But branch out and go for larb, a simple salad of minced meat and roasted ground rice combined with fresh herbs, a scattering of vegetables, and the Thai trinity of fish sauce, lime juice, and chilies. This dish, which crept across the border from Laos, is one by which you can measure any northern Thai restaurant. Read More

In Orange County, Argentine sandwiches have a cult all their own. Waves of European immigration have shaped the country’s cooking, leaving an obvious Italian influence on most menus. So you’ll find Argentine pizzas, pastas, and sandwiches stuffed with ribbons of prosciutto and all manner of Italian-style cured meats. Among O.C.’s many Argentine sandwiches, however, are some distinctly South American creations. Read More

For diners of a certain ilk, a Greek meal would be utterly incomplete without an order of flaming saganaki cheese and the festive sound of smashing plates. Read More

With ramen houses opening across O.C. faster than the most dedicated noodlers can slurp, it’s sometimes easy to forget that Costa Mesa remains the center of our ramen universe. Read More

The charms of a good Indian buffet are obvious: rows of chili-spiked curries and fragrant basmati rice, colorful vegetables, and a price that won’t bust your budget. But when the inevitable monotony of those steam-table lunches becomes too much, turn to a thali instead. Read More

Among the many diners who scour the Korean corners of Orange County for roiling tofu soups and fiery kimchee, the siren song of Korean barbecue remains almost impossible to ignore. But when it’s time to move beyond the basics, many inevitably turn to bibimbap, the ubiquitous rice dish found at virtually every Korean restaurant. Read More

Anaheim’s Little Arabia was built on the Pavlovian power of charred kebabs and crisp falafel. For years, diners could carom among the neighborhood’s best restaurants and happily consume nothing but those blackened skewers of meat and fragrant fritters. Yet as the community has matured, so have its tastes. A growing cast of wonderful regional restaurants and bakeries now wrestle for claim to the neighborhood’s best manakeesh, glorious pizzalike flatbreads from the Levant region. Read More

By its very nature, chilaquiles is a breakfast of utility, not elegance. In its most basic form, it consists of corn tortillas cut into bite-sized chips that are lightly fried, soaked in sauce, and finished with scrambled or fried eggs, salty cheese, tart crema, and a bit more sauce. The dish is a jumble, a messy heap that’s a good excuse for using up leftovers. If it were a child, only a mother could love it. But entrusted to the right cook, even the homliest chilaquiles inspires fervent devotion. Read More