After 9 weeks on the raw food diet, my hubby and I actually went out to eat at a restaurant minus our kiddos! I was dying to try this new raw food restaurant in Orange County. So we did a crazy, fast-paced 7 mile walk on the beach, freshened up and drove to Costa Mesa to dine raw style! We had a little detour as my hubby spotted a Patagonia store (this is like chocolate to him) – if you know anything about Patagonia, they make awesome clothing, but its soooo expensive. Anyhow, got him out of there and we walked on over to the 118 degrees restaurant.
Ok, so I was really, really excited to have someone else uncook for me! We have nothing close to raw or even vegan where I live, so I was gonna go for it and try lots of raw goodies. My darling hubby was game too even though he is still an omnivore (*sigh*) –
So I started out with their Lemonade and Hot Chocolate – I loved the hot chocolate as you can tell, but they did say it was hotter than 118 degrees (go figure) but the ingredients were raw, so I was happy. The Lemonade had cayenne and agave in it and it was tart for me, but the hubby liked it. He said it cleansed the palette!
Fried Avocado Mini-Tostada
Now this little dish was probably my favorite of the night. The Fried Avocado Mini-Tostada and it was awesome!. The avocado slices were rolled in some type of crumb mixture (they are on the side of the dish) and the buckwheat shell was topped with spinach, corn and peppita sauce. I would definitely order this yummy little dish again!
Coconut Ceviche
Next was the coconut ceviche, which was pretty good. It had fresh coconut (to mock the usual fish in ceviche) and fresh mango, cilantro in a ceviche sauce. It was a huge serving and came with the raw corn tortilla chips. This was very filling! But I liked the Fried Avocado Mini Tostada's better.
The hubby enjoying his non-raw (but organic) beer and coconut ceviche. I am lucky he likes any type of food and he is such an awesome guy for supporting my raw food thang!
Pomegranate-Blood Orange Salad
This salad was fab! It had a very light vinaigrette dressing and was just delicious! Hubby really liked it too!
Trio of Enchiladas
How gorgeous is this? We decide to split dinner as believe it or not we were getting full (and I had planned to pig out!). This was a mild, medium, spicy combo of raw enchiladas topped with avocado sauce, chipotle sauce and pine nut sour cream. They were pretty tasty. I preferred the mild one as it was stuffed with some type of nut cream and fresh corn and matchstick carrots. If you are expecting authentic mexican food, you would probably just think this dish was ok. I mean, there is a mexican place up in Bishop, CA, called Ms. Amigos that serves TO DIE FOR mexican food. Of course it is not vegan – so us raw foodies have to find replacements.
Now for the fantastic ending to our raw food adventure! Drum roll please………………………………………………………………….
Raw Apple Pie with a yummy caramel sauce
Da bomb baby! This was soooo good! The only thing missing was raw vanilla ice cream, and I asked for it, but they did not have it (shame on you 118 degrees! Didn't you know it is a crime to serve apple pie without the ala mode?) – haha…anyways, this was really delicious. They only had three desserts to choose from, so I was kind of bummed as I hear that their chocolate stuff is amazing. I saw a gal come in asking for their brownies to go, but they did not have any.
On a side note, we escaped the kids for the day but sat next to a cute family with two little ones. Their children were soooo cute and the little girl was just a doll, declaring in a loud voice for all to hear that her smoothie "was delicious!" – How cute is that? And how awesome that these kids already like healthy, raw food! I would come back to this restaurant just to meet the lovely raw people!
118 Degrees Overall Review (in my raw opinion)
Pros:
- Nice, quaint setting
- Next to the Patagonia store (lol)
- Food is very fresh and not bland (ya know how raw can be sometimes)
- Nice selection of juices and smoothies
- Nice selection of appetizer dishes and salads
- Food presentation is beautiful
Cons:
- Dessert menu was very limited (C'mon, I'm a girl, dessert is on my mind 24/7)
- Somewhat limited entree menu (about 15 of them – I guess I expected more, but maybe its just me)
The prices for all the entrees was about average for a nice restaurant, so that was no issue (I mean we were expecting to spend some money so I was ok with it). So overall, I liked 118 degrees and I would go back there if I was in the OC (which is about 2 hours away). I think next time I would order one of their salad entrees, more appetizers, and skip the main entree.
So this raw food critic gives them 4 out of 5 stars! Of course, I have never been to another raw food restaurant besides this one, so I have no comparison. I can make some pretty delish food using recipes from KristensRaw.com and some other raw recipe books I have, so until my next raw food outing, I will be uncooking in the kitchen baby!
9 comments:
Hi Raw Sierra,
I knew a raw PCT thru hiker when I hiked the trail back in 2001. His name was Doug and you may be interested in some these articles about hiking long distance and eating raw.
I highly reccomend that you do hike the PCT since you have a strong intention to. From my experience, if we don't follow our dreams we tend to get sick. And when we let go and flow with that which excites us, we become alive as if for the very first time. Follow that which feels good.
Bernie
http://www.rawhike.com/
http://earthhopenetwork.net/Interview_Doug_Walsh_Raw-foods_Long_Distance_Hiker.htm
By the way, the food looks wonderful. Quite the works of art. I am a vegetarian now but would like to explore the raw side of life too.
Bernie, I so agree with you about following your dreams. Thanks for the link to the Raw hiker interview. What an amazing journey for Doug to do the PCT raw! I just wanted you to know that your thru hike blog is very inspiring. I am 46 years old and worry that attempting the thru hike when I am 51 (when my husband retires and has the time) might be too late! In that article Doug states he sold just about everything. We really feel that way, but still have two teenagers to raise. I will be checking out your blog for new updates! Thanks so much!
Nice blog! I'm drooling over the Trio of Enchiladas. My taste buds love Mexican food. 118 degrees is on my destination wish list. Hopefully I'll have a reason to visit sooner than later :)
Patagonia like chocolate - I SOOOO get that!
Love how your husband is supportive - very important and he gets big thumbs up for that.
Thanks for mentioning me... much appreciated.
BTW... your mention of autoimmune and vitamin D on my blog... have you read The China Study yet? They touch upon it in there. And, overall the book is a must read - it's soooo good. It was instrumental in getting my husband converted to a vegan diet.
Cheers XOXO,
Kristen
Thanks for checking us out when you were in the area!Great feedback and thanks for the support- 118 is here to help people learn that living foods can be a great and delicious alternative and we appreciate you taking the time to write this up for others to see as well- May you have a beautiful and vibrant year in every way!!
Peace and Blessings
Chef Jenny
PS. Thank your husband for being such a great sport!!
the food looked so yummy! I wish we had a raw restaurant around here. I am so jealous.
Those are some fabulous looking dishes! Thanks for sharing them with us :-)
Whenever, I am on a long distance trail, there are always plenty of fifty something and sixty something year olds hiking the entire length of the journey. So no worries. Just stay relaxed, but hold the passion of the hike to accomplish it through your heart. I have done it in my thirties and now in my forties and hope maybe to do it once in my fifties and even sixties. Once every decade sounds about right. :)
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