Orange County Register

Updated note (11/09/09): This post came late Friday, so enjoy it today if you haven’t seen it yet. We’ll have last week’s round-up of other blogs in a couple of hours and fresh content tomorrow. Thank you all who came out to Lou’s Oak Oven BBQ in Huntington Beach on Friday night. I’ll speak for Jeff and I in saying that we had a great time and are already looking forward to Food Frenzy Foodie Feast: The Third after the holidays wrap up. We’ll also have the review of Lou’s coming sometime this week.

Also, we have a new look on the blog, so I hope you guys enjoy it! Happy eating!

We’re continuing our culinary tour of Laguna Hills this week at the place where my adventure in the city started: Villa Roma Market & Deli.

For those who don’t recall, the wife and I were going to go here for breakfast, but they mostly sell coffee and pastries in the morning (which we didn’t know), so we had heartier fare at Mitze’s Kountry Kitchen instead.

We did return for dinner, and while I still had a pastry (an empanada’s technically a pastry, right?), I stuffed myself with some fantastic Argentinian supper too.Let’s back up a second. I first stumbled upon the market one day while Nadia was at a nearby salon and I’ve been meaning to return and eat ever since I saw hordes of people in the tiny market, most watching soccer, drinking beer and chomping on carne.

For a little background Villa Roma Market & Deli is housed in a stand-alone building in a massive strip mall off La Paz Road. The market has its own storefront, but it’s actually connected to Villa Roma Restaurant, an upscale Italian-Argentinian restaurant. I prefer the market because 1) I don’t feel weird wearing shorts and sandals inside and 2) It’s open all day unlike the restaurant.

You can buy Italian and Argentinian goods here including cured meats, crazy pastas and these wacky looking sandwiches. (Sorry about the finger placement, lol).

I should add that I was told all portions served in the market are lunch portions instead of the bigger dinner portions from the restaurant, but these aren’t paltry plates by any means. They are also a little cheaper when you skip out on the ambiance.

As for that ambiance, I did return, and you bet I took in the game while enjoying two of God’s greatest gifts to man: steak and beer. While there are no people in this picture, or a televisor con futbol, here’s a look at the deli counter. It’s really long, has a small coffee bar on one side and a huge TV on the wall.

Anyways, the beer.

I’m not going to pretend to know much about beer, so I’ll just introduce you guys to the go-to grog here. Guys, meet Quilmes. It’s imported. It’s apparently Argentina’s favorite beer. It’s delicious.

Next, the meat.

I chose the entrana (skirt steak) cooked medium ($13.95). I was a little worried that I had overcooked it, but was pleasantly surprised by this tender, juicy piece of meat that arrived at my table. I slathered it with the house chimichurri (essentially oil, parsley and garlic) and quickly devoured this thing along with the skinny fries that came with it.

As far as the other stuff (because the wife’s got to eat, too) …

Wifey Nadia must like things that aren’t much to look at, but are awesome on the inside. Except, well, I’m not covered in an herb-filled cream sauce like this salmon is. The plate, which was about $12 (I can’t seem to find it, or its name, on their online menu), came with steamed veggies and roasted potatoes.

As far as the fish is concerned, I’m not much of a fan when it comes to the chicken of the sea, but Nadia seemed to really like it. The sauce is what did it for me; it’s essentially what made her salmon edible. If you aren’t a hater like I am, you’ll love this one.

Finally, the empanadas.

We order one beef and one ham-and-cheese but receive two beef ones. First, they’re only $1.95 each, so Villa Roma’s already up in the points department. Second, for the money they are dishing up a whole lotta empanada. You can’t tell in the photo, but I’ve had so many empanadas that were too small for the asking price; that was not the case here.

As far as taste, these were savory little starters with well-spiced ground beef and hard-boiled egg. They sell them as six-packs for about $8 in the market. I did pick up some ham-and-cheese ones, but was disappointed after cooking them at home and finding them to be stuffed with spinach instead (Note: the spinach ones don’t taste good after being frozen).

On my way out, I noticed that Villa Roma also has a buffet on Sundays from 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. The spread features champagne (I don’t know if that’s all you can drink), pasta station, cold cuts, salads, dessert and most importantly, all-you-can-eat barbecue including skirt steak, flap meat and sausages.

It looks like I’ll have yet another reason to return.

Villa Roma Market & Deli/Villa Roma Restaurant
25254-A La Paz Road
Laguna Hills
949-454-8880 (market) or 949-949-454-8585

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