mick’s karma bar – Royal Origin

On another episode of things Minh feeds his body with, we venture all over south Orange County for the best eats with some of my favorite people during my birthday week.

Burntzilla has been one of the places I’ve been meaning to try for the longest time. It is a combination of the Burnt Truck and Dogzilla who I’ve been following since the food truck craze and even got pretty close with the owner Martin.

Nice decor and good use of the TV screens as the menu.

I went along with our make up artist Becky as she has all the deals. Her uncle was working and hooked us up with some suggestions and good food.

We got a dogzilla, a yakidog, PB & J slider and a chicken and gravy slider. Not pictured is the carne asada tots that we got too.

They also serve ice cream sandwiches!

Spotted Martin cooking it up in the kitchen. I miss it when he had long hair.

As the sun sets, we are on to the next food adventure.

For my birthday, Hayle, Kristine and Ashlyn took me out to Mama D’s! Mama D’s has a great reputation for their italian dishes and for the excellent customer service. The wait is usually long, but that night it went by pretty quick.

Having a good laugh about how hungry we are.

Live in the moment Hayle.

Living in the moment is stressful.

Hayle’s vogue look.

When things get too serious.

It doesn’t with Hayle.

I want some open pizza..

They have samples for you to try while waiting and of course we took full advantage of this.

Kristine and Ashlyn show up and just in time for our table. All smiles from this cute couple.

When you’re hungry, the free bread at the beginning is heaven. Just make sure you don’t overload on it like I do and get too full for the main dish.

Ready for some pink sauce pasta.

Small restaurant, but it feels very comfortable.

I got the roma alfredo with pink sauce.

Kristine and Ashyln got the primavera with angel hair and pink sauce.

At the end of our meal, the staff came out with a treasure chest of goodies and to sing me a birthday song. Thank you for the wonderful song!

Birthday brownie.

A free starter for next time!

Alright………..

I was immensely satisfied. Thank you Hayle, Kristine and Ashlyn for dinner and the staff at Mama D’s for making my first experience a great one!

The next spot is my go to burger joint. I would probably eat this everyday if I lived 4 miles closer to the freeway. This special place is Mick’s Karma Bar. This time I went with Shavi, Rodney and Tanya, this would be Tanya and Rodney’s first time trying this marvelous burger.

Camera shy Tanya.

We got the mint mojito, ice tea, strawberry basil lemonade and a Abita root beer for drinks.

Not everyone has the same taste buds, but I will cut you if you say anything bad about Mick’s habanero burger with bacon and eggs. Make sure you ask for the Mick’s sauce on the side!

After eating a delicious burger, I always get into the feels with my photography.

The next morning I had plans to have lunch with Jennifer and Valerie at Din Tai Fung. Din Tai Fung is a steamed dumpling and noodle house from Taiwan. They had one in Arcadia, but there was always a ridiculous wait for it and I never really bothered to go. Now that Din Tai Fung opened only 15 minutes away from me and the wait could be used to go shopping at South Coast Mall, it made it difficult not to finally try this place.

Jennifer and Valerie not living in the moment, but Jennifer was very alert when I took a photo of them.

All ready to destroy some soup dumplings.

This little girl was riding a stroller with a skateboard attached to it. I need that stroller in my life and maybe some kids.

Loving the wood decor even on the ceilings.

All the wood has to do with the traditional way of bringing out dumplings in a wooden basket.

So many soup dumplings and noodles to choose from..

Some Taiwanese teas and boba.

The food came out quick and just like that the phones were out for a photo. Remember my camera eats first.

These shao mai must feel special that so many people are taking photos of it.

Pork xiao long bao.

So you’re suppose to bite a hole into the soup dumpling, suck the soup out and then consume it. If you’re a noob like me you will somehow get the soup all over your pants.