After moving to our new ‘hood, the Englishman and I came up with a list of places we wanted to dine at, Eat Chow being one of them.  We had tried to go to Eat Chow numerous times for brunch, but it always had a massive wait.  Since it seemed like such a popular spot and the yelp reviews were pretty high we were anticipating a top notch meal.  We finally decided to dine there for dinner with a couple of friends in the hopes that it wouldn’t be as crowded.

The restaurant itself is pretty small- tucked away off a side street in Costa Mesa and it backs up onto a baby store.  The interior is cool and sleek, and it definitely looked like the happening spot when we arrived for dinner.

We all ordered a round of drinks and then decided to get some fries to share for the table.  Unfortunately to my dismay, the fries were cooked in soy oil (which is a no no on my allergy list) so I couldn’t partake.  According to the rest of the table the fries were good, but nothing spectacular (apparently the Truffle Parmesan Fries are the ones to order) so I didn’t feel like I missed out on too much.

After discovering I couldn’t have the fries, I was even more disappointed when I found out that the goat cheese on my salad I ordered was also covered in soy.  Fail x2.  I do have to give Eat Chow kudos for being super nice about my allergy issues and informing me of what was in the dish before I took a bite of it, but I was still a bit disappointed.  I ended up settling for a Turkey burger instead.

The Englishman also had a burger (BBQ beef) and while we agreed the burgers were good, they weren’t amazing.  The meat was cooked well, the brioche bun was lightly toasted and the cheese on top was nice and melted (I hate when cheese isn’t melted on my burger).  The burgers also came with a nice salad on the side.

Our dining companions had the Grilled Cheese sandwich and the Cubano sandwich which they seemed to enjoy as well.

Then it was time for dessert.  We decided on the lemon cookie cake which was highly recommended from our waiter.

The cookie cake was good, but you wouldn’t have guessed it was a cookie cake by looking at it.  It looked more like a layered sponge cake with a lemony-yogurt icing on top.  I personally thought the icing really helped to enhance the flavor of the cake.

Overall, our meal at Eat Chow was nice, but I wouldn’t call it OMGAMAZING like so many other reviews out there.  The food was decent, service was good, but I do have to admit I have had better burgers at other restaurants.  Prices are decent, but the place does get very crowded so be sure to come on the early side if you want to get a table.

I still need to try brunch at Eat Chow because some of their brunch dishes looked pretty tasty, but for a dinner spot, I’d say it’s a place to get a solid meal.