Ren Asian Bistro (Irvine, Orchard Hills)

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Haka stir fry, my new best friend.  Sweet, savory, peanuty, umami (fermented black bean), slightly spicy with textures of cruncy veggies, chewy beancurd/squid and delicate sliced pork.  It is not a dish for everyone, but I'm SO enjoying this dish right now.  Especially after one of the most stressful day of my life.  The new chef at Ren has some serious good skills.  This is way better than Asian Tapa's version as well as Tasty Noodles beancurd stir fry.  Forget my estrogen allergy, I'm gonna be eating this once a week.  Pair with steamed rice and Kirin lager or any cheap chard, you have a winner.
 
Give it a go earlier today with the Orange Peel chicken....definitely not as good as before.  The pieces were these little tiny things and the sauce had a bitter/sour taste to it.  I'll be passing on going back.  :-\
 
Looks like another chef change, the pictures/newspaper clippings of the old chef are gone and the food is different.  Asked the clerk when they changed and he said "When was the last time you were here?"  Haha. 

Kung pao chicken is not bad, all white meat which we like.  Got the Haka stir fry as well, also decent, reminds me of grandma's cooking.  hopefully this chef is a keeper this time.
 
ps9 said:
Looks like another chef change, the pictures/newspaper clippings of the old chef are gone and the food is different.  Asked the clerk when they changed and he said "When was the last time you were here?"  Haha. 

Kung pao chicken is not bad, all white meat which we like.  Got the Haka stir fry as well, also decent, reminds me of grandma's cooking.  hopefully this chef is a keeper this time.
Click to expand...
Worth trying again???
 
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Pork Chop Rice

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TW rice vermicelli

So Ren's expanding their tastes, a chinese only menu written on the ikea chalkboard.  Some of the characters I can't even read.  Able to pick out the pork chop and rice vermicelli above.  As for taste... its just ok.  The pork chop was decent, thinly pounded, breaded, and fried well.  The weird kim chi cabbage side is good acid contrast, egg is tasty as well.  What I didn't like was this weird starchy sweet glaze they drizzled over the rice and ground pork.  Way too sweet and weird.  Like they're trying to westernized the taste but its a dish meant to cater to chinese customers!  I would tell them to hold that sauce next time. 

The vermicelli is also just average.  Chicken, beef, shrimp, and fish balls stir fried with veggies over rice noodles.  Not bad but also not memorable.  I did enjoy it more than the pork chop, but it needs more flavor.  If you're gonna have a chinese only menu, don't be afraid to be authentic! 

I still recommend the kung pao chicken and broccoli/kale chicken here. They're better at Americanized chinese food than real chinese food.
 
Ren update:

they now have one of my favorite dishes:  squid potage!

Had it tonight, not bad at all.  They use chicken broth as base.  A little salty but I like it.  Also they do not have the squid covered in fish paste like below:

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it's just squid, but the good kind (the dried reddish/pink ones).  Applaud the chef for bringing this dish to me, I really wasn't expecting it at all, especially in Irvine.  Gonna try it with noodle or even maybe vermicelli next.  A sprig of clilantro would really tie in the flavors.  Kudos again.
 
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