Orange County Register

A candidate for Best Happy Hour: $5 cocktails and $5 gourmet appetizers from 5 p.m. to closing every night at Kimera Lounge in Irvine.

You can get a bubbly champagne cocktail, a plate of ahi tuna sashimi on a bed of soba noodles and a large plate of shoestring parmesan fries for a total bill of $15 ($20 if you get a second cocktail!). And you can enjoy all this in a lovely, leisurely setting with an Asian-island vibe (spice-colored walls, mood lighting, dark woods and cushioned seating) - without rushing to beat the Happy Hour “last call.”

Kimera is a beautiful Zen-like restaurant in an unlikely, concrete jungle of a spot: in the shadow of the Google building near the intersection of Jamboree Road and MacArthur Boulevard. (Parking tip: park in the Google-tower structure and get your ticket validated at Kimera. Otherwise, valet park.)

The global-fusion food is not spectacular, especially in this day and age of fusion everything, but it’s tasty and made with quality ingredients (high-grade fish and meats), and some of the chefs’ experimentation works quite well.

The ahi plate, for instance, distinguishes itself from the ubiquitous others with garnet-red seared tuna sliced thin, not awkward thick, and served with an apricot sauce (so-so) and a tangle of soba noodles that tasted like it was lightly drizzled with a soy vinaigrette (so nice!).

The diverse bar menu offered in the lovely lounge also includes some tasty flatbread pizzas (the duck confit with drunken goat cheese gets a big thumbs up) and a kurobuta pork plate (pictured at left, half a dozen tasty, fatty morsels with a subtly-sweet sauce that reminds me of my Japanese parents’ homemade spare ribs) - all for $5 each during Happy Hour(s).

That Happy Hour price helps ease the pain when a dish is disappointing (for me, it was the gyro plate, with very dry, flavorless slices of lamb).

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