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9 cool eats for beating the heat in Orange County

September 5, 2024

Resistance is futile: As the sun fires up its flares (temperatures are expected to reach a sizzling 100-plus inland and in the mid-90s along the coast), avoid toiling away at the stove or jiggering a cross breeze inside your home. Instead, head to one of these nine spots that proudly max out their AC and prepare chilled dishes so you don’t have to. From savory cold-poached chicken to velvety soft serve, here are a handful of spots to retreat from the heat while you eat.

Blue Scoop Creamery (Brea, Yorba Linda): Kim and Chris Rhodes’ Southern-style ice cream shop offers house-made flavors like Twin Mint, PB Situation (peanut butter ice cream with chocolate and peanut butter-covered feuilletine flakes), peppermint stick, movie munchies (loaded with cinema house snacks), Grape Nuts, blueberry and vegan-friendly almond chip. 391 S. State College Blvd., Brea; 5105 Richfield Rd, Yorba Linda.

Cha Redefine (Costa Mesa): Celebrating its five-year anniversary with buy-one-get-one on all drinks this weekend at its Costa Mesa location inside the Collage Culinary Experience, from Sept. 6 until Sept. 8, South Coast Plaza’s first real boba shop offers a bevy of beverages made with fresh fruit (sans powders or syrups) and premium teas. Cha Redefine also recently launched a new set of drinks featuring drinkable mochi. Other cool menu highlights include a peach milk tea made with blended peaches, tea and milk and; matcha soft serve; and Sri Lankan ceylon tea soft serve. 3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa.

Cali Dumpling (Orange): While ordering some dumplings at Cal Dumpling’s new brick-and-mortar space, be sure to grab the Banana Mint Lemonade. An odd yet satisfying flavor pairing. 149 N. Glassell St., Orange.

Kim Rhodes, co-owner of Blue Scoop Creamery in Brea, holds an ice cream sundae, on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2025. It is the second location of the company. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Filo Dessert Co. (Orange): Mo Abusham’s new space in Old Towne Orange offers some of the county’s best booza, a resin-based ice cream noted for its stretchy texture. While Filo features dozens of flavors (all of which are made in-house) I recommend the exceedingly refreshing lemon-mint or the caramel-spicey Biscoff cookie. 227 E. Chapman Ave., Orange.

Hello Kitty Grand Cafe (Irvine): Head to the Irvine Spectrum for some Dole Whip soft serve (a blend of pineapple and vanilla soft serve) that comes to you in a downright darling Hello Kitty cup. 860 Spectrum Center Drive, Irvine.

Lucky Dog Gelato (San Clemente): Don’t worry; I didn’t forget human’s best-friend: In addition to gelatos (mint stracciatella and black sesame are my personal picks) and sorbettos (kiwi lime or mixed berry are just two ideal dead-of-summer flavors), this award-winning gelato pitstop in San Clemente also makes dogelato, a canine-friendly ice cream suitable for your overheated pooch. 1008 S. El Camino Real, San Clemente.

In addition to award-winning gelato, Lucky Dog Gelato in San Clemente makes dogelato, canine-safe ice cream. (Photo by Brock Keeling/SCNG)

Marché Moderne (Newport Beach): This thrice James Beard Award-nominated spot along Pacific Coast Highway offers a menu staple sure to satiated sun-kissed diners: Hamachi Crudo, which is so popular that it’s been on the menu since Marché Moderne opened. Silky slices of sushi grade hamachi are paired with a yuzu-jalapeño sorbet, lemon oil and cilantro. 7862 Pacific Coast Highway, Newport Beach.

Mayfield (San Juan Capistrano): A seasonal melons and prosciutto dish uses melons plucked from Weiser Farms and speck imported from Northern Italy. The simple yet flavor-packed sweet and savory dish is topped with extra virgin olive oil, basil and Aleppo pepper and Marcona almonds. (Bonus: You can take the train to Mayfield, located a few steps from the platform, should you not want to fire up your gas guzzler.) 31761 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano.

Hamachi crudo with mango yuzu sorbet at Marché Moderne in Newport Beach. (Photo courtesy of Marché Moderne)

Paradise Dynasty (Costa Mesa): The dumpling and noodle joint in South Coast Plaza now has a new cold-poached chicken dish served with a spicy Sichuan dipping sauce with lettuce wraps. Another ideal dish during the summer months is the chilled silken tofu in soy vinaigrette and topped with crispy onion. 3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa

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Remicone (Stanton): Remicone, a South Korean soft serve concept, just opened at Rodeo 39 Public Market. The shop serves up fun and playful twists on a classic treat, with whimsical toppings that include fresh spun cotton candy to pop rocks and dried strawberry to red bean paste and boba. 12885 Beach Blvd., Stanton.

Yoshiharu Ramen (Laguna Niguel, Orange): Japanese ramen restaurant, with locations in Laguna Niguel and Orange, features a chilled ramen, also known as hiyashi chuka. For a post-ramen treat, don’t miss out on equally refreshing macaron ice cream sandwiches (in flavors like pistachio, matcha, strawberry and more) or mochi ice cream. 32341 Golden Lantern, Laguna Niguel; 1891 Tustin St, Orange

Orange County Register

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