ANQI by Crustaceans

[flylice2x]

Anyone been to ANQI Bistro in Costa Mesa?
This is another restaurant by the An Family of San Fransico.

[BekahR]

They do a crab dinner on Tues nights that is very yummy. Black pepper, garlic, and soft chili notes. I also had monkifsh there the other night that was very beautiful and subtle.

The bar turns into a bit of a lounge scene on the weekend nights, which can be fun, and the cocktails are quite good.

[Jwsel]

I had the molecular menu at AnQi last spring and was very impressed. It was far above Crustacean level food, very inventive, and none of the dishes struck a sour note (which I find sometimes happens with molecular gastronomy in that the chef gets too obsessed with the tricks and forgets taste). One thing I also remember is that the wine pairings involved a lot of very unusual pairings -- with wines from all over the world and one dish served with sake -- but uniformly worked with the dishes.

[J.L.]

Kevineats offers us this review...

http://www.kevineats.com/2011/01/mole...

I myself have been to Happy Hour only there. The food's not bad!

[OCrashad]

I've only been to the happy hour a few times. I can't remember the prices but it was a pretty good deal and the drinks were awesome. They have a late night one on Friday if I am not mistaken. I do love and often crave their Garlic Noodles however!