For its tour at taco asylum, guests will be able to partake in an 11-course tasting menu for $99 per guest (excludes beverages, tax and gratuity). The menu will focus on “post modern American” dishes with global influences. Through the presentation of each course, Chef Carson intends to transport guests back to their childhood, using playful inspirations paired with classic, sophisticated disciplines. Diners will be comforted by the familiar flavors and scents presented in unfamiliar ways, while being excited by inventive, astounding flavors and textures presented in familiar ways.

“Since opening our doors about a year ago, taco asylum has become a location that has attracted those looking for an interesting and unique dining experience,” commented taco asylum Partner and Executive Chef Greg Daniels. “Chef Carson’s menu is nothing short of inspired and passionate, and my Partners Ace Patel, Wil Dee and I look forward to taking part in all eleven courses at taco asylum.”

Menu: ‘Pri-vē  @ taco asylum (FEB 12-14)

champagne & caviar, white chocolate-strawberry fizzy
hiramasa, sweet & sour tangerine, frozen beet, persian cucumber, jalapeno
have a heart, veal, palm, artichoke, romaine, greek salad flavors
octopus mosaic, kimchi consomme, salt & pepper pork, pickled apple, perilla
all things oyster, chicken, plant, mushroom, leaf, mignonette, liquor, pearl, sea vapor
foie gras, sushi rice, avocado, charred honey, roasted eel, nori, sesame tuile
otter pop, intermezzo
trout amandine, almond brittle, haricot vert, sour orange marmalade, lamb belly bacon
filet mignon, celeriac creamed spinach, black garlic, bone marrow, truffled ‘tater tots’
chocolate, banana milkshake, chewy peanut butter ice cream, pretzel crisp, micro celery
buzz button, suspended in rosey water

Menu: ‘Pri-vē  @ taco asylum (FEB 19-20)

champagne & caviar, white chocolate-strawberry fizzy
tuna nicoise, crusty green bean, smoky tomato, quail egg, olive gusher
iberico ham, tuscan melons, manchego, balsamic, olive oil sour patch kids, black sesame
sweetbread marsala, wild mushroom, cauliflower, sultanas, radicchio, hazelnut, truffle
otter pop, intermezzo
pigs ear, green apple piccalilli, black tuacn kale chips, bbq-caramel powder
sturgeon, fennel spaetzle, dill royale, braised oxtail, heirloom beet textures, borscht
fried chicken, buttermilk, tarragon, grapefruit, pink peppercorn biscuit, trout roe
filet mignon, celeriac creamed spinach, black garlic, bone marrow, truffled ‘tater tots’
fruit cup, lemongrass-orange ‘syrup’, compressed melons, yuzu salted mango sherbet
buzz button, suspended in rosy water

Menu: ‘Pri-vē  @ taco asylum (FEB 26-27)

champagne & caviar, white chocolate-strawberry fizzy
smoked trout dip, horseradish-dill crème fraiche,  apple-radish slaw, celery seed saltines
beef tongue, avocado, manchego, zuchinni, onion sprout, corn smut tortilla
head to tail, inverted pickles jardiniere, sauce gribiche, fines herbes, s+p olive oil gummies
double-double, wagyu beef tartare, secret sauce, potato gaufrettes, brioche grilled cheese
otter pop, intermezzo
fish stick, tartar sauce, salt & vinegar celeriac chips, ale cloud
duck.duck.goose, watermelon, kaffir lime, vanilla, ginger, black garlic, thai basil
lamb skirt steak, burnt carrot, coriander, rutabega, turnips, mint tea jelly
grapefruit, crème fraiche, avocado, angel food cake, macadamia brittle
buzz button, suspended in rosy water

A selection of wines will be available for course pairings, along with taco asylum’s choice of craft beers and specialty non-alcoholic beverages, at an additional cost.

Reservations can be made by calling (909) 576-9210 or emailing ryanjcarson1@yahoo.com. Guests must include name, party size, and reservation date. All reservations will be confirmed in advance of the desired date.

‘Pri-ve at taco asylum is located at The CAMP in Costa Mesa. The restaurant will be closed to the public beginning at 5 p.m. on Sunday, February 12 through Tuesday, February 14. For more information, address, dates, hours and menu, visit http://chefryancarson.com/tacoasylum/.

Participating in The Positive Plate helps us do just that.

The Positive Plate Dining Club is an important part of this program, enabling members to save $245 at eight of OC’s most dynamic restaurants, all while supporting great local non-profit organizations.  There are only 200 memberships available, and many have already sold.

The way our dining club works is very simple:
·  Your membership is a tax-deductible $99 donation to Ecofficiency.Org
·  Receive a one-time 50% discount at eight OC restaurants that have committed to sustainability through The Positive Plate (total savings equals $245; see dining club page online for full details)
·  Dine well, knowing that you are also doing good for your community

Participating restaurants include:
Avanti Café • Duke’s • Haute Cakes • Haven Gastropub • Sage • SOL Cocina • Taco Asylum • Xanh Bistro

For full details, please visit: http://www.thepositiveplate.org/dining-club/

All discounts are valid through Oct 31, 2012, and are good for one visit to each restaurant.

If you have any questions, please call Jesse Baker at (714) 280-2045.

“Since opening, taco asylum has developed a strong following – a community, if you will. Most come in during the week for snack or a meal, but the Sunday Supper offer is to promote diners coming together for a quality experience,’” commented Chef Daniels, who noted that the restaurant would be celebrating its first anniversary in the coming weeks. “As with all our offerings at taco asylum, we put our own spin on the tradition of Sunday Supper, and made it accessible to any diner looking for an interesting and unique flavor experience.”

Chef Daniels’ menu offers nine taco options, focusing on a variety of cuisines, and utilizing seasonal, local, responsibly sourced ingredients. There are vegetarian options and all meats are humanely and naturally raised. Those unfamiliar with the concept should note that the “rice” features Israeli cous-cous with cilantro and lime, while his “beans” is a cold lentil salad with carrots, shallots, fennel, and garlic, in a red wine vinaigrette topped with chevre goat cheese.

Great for group dining are Belgian beers, each available in a large-format 25.4 oz size:

§   Blanche de Bruxelles (11.2 oz and 25.4 oz)

§   Chimay Grand Reserve (Blue; 11.2 oz and 25.4 oz)

§   Unibroue La Fin Du Monde (12 oz and 25.4 oz)

§   The Bruery Saison Rue (25.4 oz)

These beers are supplemented by more than 30 canned craft beers and six rotating draught options at taco asylum at The CAMP in Costa Mesa. For more information, address, hours and menu, visit www.tacoasylum.com.

Falafel
Tabbouleh
Spicy Tzatziki
Dates
Cucumber
Naan Tortilla
$5

This one’s only gonna be around for a limited time again (we’re talking a number of days), so come check it out! Available beginning Thursday, December 8th.

www.tacoasylum.com

Thanksgiving taco:
Beer-Braised Turkey
Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Turkey Gravy
Cranberry Chutney
Fried Green and Yellow Beans
$6

This one’s only gonna be around for a limited time again (we’re talking a number of days), so come check it out! Available beginning Monday, November 21st.

www.tacoasylum.com

This one’s only gonna be around for a limited time again (we’re talking a number of days), so come check it out! We’ll begin serving it Friday, October 21st!

DBLT taco:
Duck Bacon
Arugula
Fried Green Tomato
Spicy Aioli
$6

Limited availability!
We’re offering these Friday, October 21st through the weekend (or while they last)!

Monday, October 17 @ 5 p.m. >> Lost Coast Brewery!

Enjoy Lost Coast’s Downtown Brown Ale on tap and take home a free pint glass (while supplies last).  This is a lightly hopped dark malt ale, without the brawny taste of a more robust beer.

Beer on tap is $6, but remember that they are $3 off during Happy Hour Monday-Friday from 2-6p and again at 9-11p!

Cheers!

Once in a while you come across a restaurant that takes food to an all new level. They take the ordinary and make it extraordinary, take a basic concept and get entirely creative. Allow me to introduce you to Taco Asylum. The name beckons a sense of total abandon, opening your mind, and asking your taste buds to take a trip on the wild side. This post is entirely different than the rest and in all honesty, it deserves it’s own originality. Before I even delve into walking you through a restaurant that lures you in with a notion of tasty insanity, take a look at the photographs: http://www.atasteofdawn.net/2011/10/06/taco-asylum/

What you are looking at is called “First of Flight”. A sampling of EVERY Taco on the menu but one – and before you ask, YES – yes I did order every single one. So let’s start by telling you about the Menu:

1. grilled octopus | flour tortilla, kalamata olives, oregano, feta, tomatoes $5

My take: I am not an enormous fan of octopus BUT the purple guy that comes out lathered in a mix of salt and sweet somehow eases my concerns and I happily enjoy the Octopus’ garden. The best part? Those kalamata olives! The strangest flavor that cut the “fishy” right on out.

2. pork belly | flour tortilla, carrots, daikon, onions, cilantro $5

My take: Oddly, not too salty! The daikon adds this “sneak-up-on-you” palette cleanser.

3. short rib | flour tortilla, pickled red onion, salsa verde, cotija cheese, cilantro $5

My take: 10 More PLEASE! This is not short rib that has just been thrown in. This is short rib that has been stewing and drinking in flavor for long enough to be like strips of juicy meat swimming in a sea of irony. The flavors are an odd combination and yet — YUM!

4. curried paneer | naan tortilla, raita, tomato chutney $5

My take: You had me at Paneer. This is a Vegetarian taco with all of the powerful flavors of traditional Indian fare. This is another one I could take a dozen of. The curry makes you close your eyes and imagine being surrounded by bright color and love, spices filtering through every open kitchen window.

5. wild mushroom | herbed tortilla, mushrooms, garbanzo puree, parsley salad, fried chickpeas $5

My take: I was expecting this to be the cringing bitterness of old Shitake mushrooms but instead it is a meaty morsel of mixed mushrooms dancing along in the “parsley salad” which seems more like heaven when it is paired with this wonderful little fungi.

6. lamb | flour tortilla, olive tapenade, ratatouille, mâché $6

My take: The lamb is moist but ratatouille just isn’t my favorite thing. They can’t all be hits and this is more about preference than taste.

7. duck | flour tortilla, camembert, dijon crème fraîche $6

My take: Seriously delicious. In spite of having dijon (my least favorite taste), the creamy perfectly surface-ripened camembert cheese added an unexpected level of depth that I was all too happy to enjoy. This is the BBQ-Beer-Outside kind of taco.

8. steak | chimichurri, buttermilk fried onions, potato hash $5

My take: Let me start with the buttermilk fried onions. Fried makes everything taste better but this, this is seriously a home run! Then add the chimichurri AND potato hash – this is so homey and sweet it feels like something a Culinary Mastered mom would make you when you came over. Comfort food.

9. ghost chili pork | flour tortilla, chili threads, pork cracklins $5

My take: The BEST was saved for last. The chili threads are like hints of spicy innovation. The pork cracklings are the thing that takes this masterpiece one step further. The Pork – the perfect blend of spice with the ease of a perfectly cured piece of meat . This would make even the pig consider ordering one. There are few words to adequately describe how much I loved this taco. Taco love for Executive Chef Greg Daniels.

READ THE ENTIRE REVIEW HERE!

MAS Vino, which is a 2009 blend of Petite Sirah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, and Sangiovese and a 2009 MAS Chardonnay are offered in the tanks along with a new selection of Belgian beers as well as house-made spicy sangria. The Belgian beers are served in 24.4 ounce servings and include Chimay Grande Reserve and Unibroue La Fin du Monde priced at $6.

Taco Asylum is open until 11 p.m. daily so make it the meeting spot for your pre-party party and stop in for late-night happy hour from 9-11 p.m. Monday-Friday and enjoy $3 draft beers, $2 off canned beers and $1 off tacos.

BY SARAH MOSQUEDA for COAST MAGAZINE
Mini Wine Tanks at Taco Asylum: http://www.coastmagazine.com/articles/minitanks-1885–.html

Taco Asylum in Costa Mesa sells products that really are tacos in name only, better described as tortilla-wrapped tapas. That said, they’re delicious. Best bets are the paneer cheese taco with raita and chutney, the wild mushroom with fried chickpeas and the braised lamb with ratatouille.

JEFF OVERLEY, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
PHOTO BY MIKE GOULDING, THE REGISTER
“Are these the best O.C. tacos?”
The Orange County Register | September 29, 2011
LINK: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/food-319722-taco-county.html?pic=9