Buga Korean BBQ Restaurant

My favorite Korean BBQ restaurant is Buga. I crave it quite a bit and can eat there all the time. No joke. I've even been known to choose it above my favorite "special occasions" restaurant (The Oceanaire). A few things have changed since Kirk's (mmm-yoso!!!) first review back in 2005 (here) and my first visit to Buga. (Read Kirk's other posts here and here.)

The panchan, although still the best around, has become somewhat "standardized" and less seafood ones (haven't been served any seafood panchan in a long time). I sure do miss those tiny anchovies.

The top 2 dishes are the rice paper and daikon radishes used for wrapping the meat, yum! And a couple of other panchan dishes on that day.

Buga's price has always been a bit higher than other K-BBQ places but the meat quality, IMHO, is also still the best around. We always get 2 orders of galbi (need 2 orders or more of meat selection for grilling with maybe a couple of exceptions).

Service has not changed, still smiling faces, friendly servers, and sometimes still hurried when the restaurant is full.

One of the items that comes with the meal is Gyeran Jjim (steamed egg). I forgot to take a picture of it while it was still "poofy" but here it is after it deflated (kind of souffle-like). Sorry the picture was a bit blurry. The Blackberry isn't known for its photo quality. I love this stuff. My mom and grandmother used to make this for me for breakfast on weekends when I was a kid. I used to like to add just a tad of soy sauce on top but I like to eat Buga's as is. Even the Mister has gotten into it lately.

Every so often when we're really really hungry, we also order the Daeji Bulgogi (Spicy Marinated Pork) along with the galbi. I usually take some of this home, which makes for a great leftover! Next time we order it, I'll add a picture.

Although a little pricier than other Korean BBQ places, I still think Buga is the best Korean BBQ place in town. Certainly worth splurging for.

Buga Korean BBQ Restaurant
5580 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117
Open daily 11:00 am to 11:00 pm

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R & B Filipino Cuisine

I have a fondness for small, "family owned" type restaurants. R & B is one of those places and has been on my lunch rotation list for quite some time. I realized earlier this week that it's been a couple months since I've been and took the opportunity to get some take-out the other day while I was driving by (going back to work from lunch, no less). Yeah, I had lunch already but why not take something home for dinner? I also realized that I've never posted a review on them so why not knock out 2 birds with 1 stone!

R & B is a "turo-turo" place and offers quite a few entrees daily. Before I started this post, I remembered that Kirk (mmm-yoso) had posted something on them awhile back (read his review here). I chuckled when I reread his review because we ordered almost the same thing.

As a creature of habit, I get the 2 item combo: 2 entrees and 1 starch. I like to split my starch and get 1/2 and 1/2: half steamed white rice and 1/2 pancit. As far as entrees, I almost always get the lechon. And most times, it's pretty good. On this day, it was pretty good with crispy skin a thin layer of fat and not greasy, although a couple of pieces were a bit chewy. You can see all the "stuff" in the pancit and there was a decent amount of shredded chicken in it along with the veggies. The pancit was good, not soggy/mushy or greasy.

For my second entree, I chose chicken mechado. Sorry the picture doesn't do it justice but it was really good. This was the first time I've seen "chicken" mechado at R & B, typically I see beef mechado. I hope they bring this back as a regular.

I had also ordered a small side of Sisig since it looked good. But I was too busy stuffing my face and didn't realize I forgot to take a picture of it before it was too late. It had lots of tang to it and a good amount of green onions. I enjoyed it with the rice. Now a disclaimer here. I've only had Sisig at R & B so I can't give a comparison. I'll try to make a mental note to order more sisig at other places when I see it.

The total for the 2 entree combo and a side of sisig came to $8 and some change. I had enough food to feed me and the Mister. A pretty good bargain and tasty dinner. Oh, I should also mention that they do catering too.

R & B Filipino Cuisine
11257 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126
Mon-Fri: 9:30 am - 7:30 pm
Sat: 8:00 am - 7:00 pm
Sun: 8:00 am - 6:00 pm

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Sweet Home Chicago Pizza (NY Style)

We enjoyed the Chicago-style Deep Dish pizza from Sweet Home Chicago Pizza (review here). But we also wanted to try their NY-style pizza, both of us fans of thin crust and all. I think read somewhere on Yelp that they had bought Coney Island's recipe when they purchased the place. And since Coney Island had some decent reviews when they were in business, we were looking forward to trying the NY-style.

As last time, the person taking the order was very pleasant (according to The Mister). We decided to try the Coney Island Deluxe. 40 minutes later, pizza was here!

As you can see, there's lots of ingredients on the pizza. They used red onions rather than yellow onions, which is fine. The pizza was cut into large slices, good for folding. The sausage was decent and pepperoni is, well, pepperoni. What we were disappointed in was the crust and the sauce. The crust had a good pull and chewiness to it but was very bland, almost like cardboard. The sauce was quite salty and I really didn't care for it at all. Bottom line, neither of us liked the pizza.

I had told The Mister my skepticism about a pizza joint that makes deep dish AND NY-style pizza. Is it possible we found a restaurant can do both types well? Unfortunately, if I was judging SHCP by the Coney Island Deluxe, the answer would have to be no. I think we're going to stay with the deep dish.

Sweet Home Chicago Pizza
14034 Poway Road,
Poway, CA 92064
858-668-3215

Hours:
Mon-Thu. 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Sun. 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.

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Sweet Home Chicago Pizza (Deep Dish)

We've had the flyer for Sweet Home Chicago Pizza laying around on the counter for several weeks now and finally got around to trying their pizza. The Mister, being from New York, have always preferred NY-style pizza but wanted to try a Chicago-style pizza. His last one was over 7 years ago and he couldn't remember if he liked it or not. So on an evening when neither one of us wanted to cook, we ordered delivery.

Sweet Home Chicago Pizza also offers New York-style pizza, which may seem a bit odd for a "Chicago" pizza place. But the story I heard is that the owners of Sweet Home Chicago Pizza purchased the recipe from the previous pizza joint owner (Coney Island Pizza). Guess the new owner wanted to be able to offer the same type of pizza to loyal Coney Island customers. I thought that was pretty nice. So we can get both type of pizza if we wanted to, whatever we were in the mood for. Sweet!

We ordered a 9" (medium) Michael Jordan (sausage and pepperoni) deep dish and added mushrooms and onions ($2.50 for each additional topping for deep dish). If this was a thin-crusted pizza, a 9" pizza would have been too small. So we were a bit apprehensive about the size and whether it would be enough. So as a safety, we also ordered a side of hot wings.

About 45 minutes later, our dinner arrived. And this is what was in the pizza box. Sniff, sniff, smelled delicious!

Here's a cross section of the deep dish. It looks a little saggy because I took the picture after I scarfed down my dinner. I couldn't wait. As you can see, there 2 layers of gooey cheesy goodness, like a pie within a pie.

The sauce was a little bit on the sweet side, like Papa John's a bit. But it had really good flavor and tasted fresh. The crust was not bad but I prefer the crust on a NY-style pizza. Overall, this was a pretty good pizza. Oh yeah, I sliced the dish into quarters and we were only able to eat 1 quarter each. We were shocked! that neither one of us could eat another slice. The size was deceptive for sure.

The wings, although not advertised as Buffalo Wings, were very similar in style. The wings didn't have what it takes to be outstanding. It was okay because the wings were juicy and the sauce was very good. But the skin was limp, and I much prefer a crispier skin. It was served with Ranch, which I like but The Mister dislikes (he's a blue cheese kind of guy all the way).


In all honesty, if we couldn't get delivery, I'm not sure how often or willing we would be to drive here to get deep dish. But since I'm lucky they are so close, we'll be enjoying more of their pizza. I think next time I'll order a small deep dish (which I'm not convinced we will be able to finish in one sitting) and a NY-style pizza as comparison.

Sweet Home Chicago Pizza
14034 Poway Road,
Poway, CA 92064
858-668-3215

Hours:
Mon-Thu. 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Sun. 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.

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Star Anise Thai Cuisine

A friend suggested lunch at Star Anise Thai Cuisine. She's been there a couple of times and thought the food was pretty good. Hate to say it but she wasn't building up any confidence in me about the place. I've seen the restaurant in the Renaissance Mall but it never struck me as anything more than a Spices Thai Cafe knock-off. Don't get me wrong, I like Spices for a quick lunch but have yet to find another similar styled restaurant that is as good as Spices. But then if you really want good Thai food, there's no beating Sab-E-Lee.

We were the first to arrive for lunch. The place is very clean, white table clothes and all. As we were being led to our table by the window, we noticed a little boy playing with one of those Swiffer dusters. I think he was the waitress' son. The little boy was so cute, obviously trying his best to help mom and dad.

I don't recall any music in the background and quite frankly, I prefer no music anyway. The lunch menu looks to be the typical fair, pick a dish and choose your meat. My friend ordered her usual Panaeng Curry with chicken. She said the sauce is very good. I was torn between the spicy fried rice and the Spicy Khee Mao Noodles but ultimately went with the spicy noodles (I am so predictable). We had a choice of house salad and Tom Yum soup. I chose the soup, my friend decided on the salad. I forgot to take pictures of both but neither really stood out for me. The soup was similar in taste to the Tom Yum soup from Spices except it had more of a seafood flavor. The salad looked a little like cole slaw. And hindsight, they certainly were indications of what's to come.

Panaeng Curry with Chicken

The Panaeng Curry, according to my friend, was just as good as last time. She ordered a spiciness "1" (that's basically no heat). I liked the use of green beans and not the usual large chunks of green bell pepper I've seen in other restaurants. I also liked the fact that they only used red bell peppers. I didn't taste the dish but my friend enjoyed her meal very much.

When my Spicy Khee Mao Noodle with Beef was put in front of me, I knew just by looking at it that I was going to be disappointed.

Spicy Khee Mao Noodle with Beef

Those 2 burnt-looking fried wonton thingy in the upper left hand were Curry Puffs, supposedly stuffed with curry mashed potatoes, peas and carrots. It was not very good. I think I would have preferred a crispy spring roll. The dipping sauce is the standard plum sweet sauce.

The noodles were broken into small pieces and the only sign of "wok hay" was on the eggs. The noodles were cooked fine and weren't clumpy, which was good. Some pieces of the beef were tender but there were a few rather dry pieces, but not bad but lacked any real flavor. I liked the fact that my dish only had red bell peppers (again, no green bell peppers is always a plus for me).

So far, you would think this was a not-so-bad dish. But what pushed it down to a sub-par dish was the void of flavors other than the smidgen heat, which wasn't even that much for a "medium" heat order. I would rate the heat more of a mild 3 (scale of 1-10). I think a touch of soy sauce and a bit more hot sauce would have improved the flavor.

Service was very efficient, and the servers were pleasant. Cost for our meal was a little over $18, without tip, in line with other local Thai restaurants of similar nature. By the time we left, around noon, the restaurant was starting to fill up. Overall, Star Anise offers a run-of-the-mill, Americanized Thai lunch menu that probably satisfies your average dinners. But for me, I think I'll stick with my usuals.

Star Anise Thai Cuisine
8935 Towne Center Drive #115
San Diego, CA 92122
Tel : +1 858 535 1668
Fax : +1 858 452 5899
Lunch Mon - Fri 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Sat - Sun 11:30 AM - 3:30 PM
Dinner Sun - Thu 5:00 PM - 9:30 PM
Fri - Sat 5:00 PM - 10:00 PM

Postscript: I forgot to mention that on the way out, I noticed several of the other diners were enjoying the Panaeng Curry. You know how some restaurants do one type of dish well and the others so-so? Maybe Star Anise whips up a mean Panaeng Curry?

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Sab-E-Lee

I've been meaning to do a quick review of Sab-E-Lee Thai restaurant for some time, just hadn't had time until now. I apologize for the pictures because these were of take-out dishes, a couple of hours after the Mister picked them up. So they don't look as good as right out of the kitchen. But they were still just as delicious. I just never seem to have my camera with me whenever I ate at the restaurant. Kirk (mmm-yoso!!) has much better pictures that do the dishes more justice here, here, and here.

The Mister and I have pretty much stuck to our favorite dishes everytime we've been here. It's hard for me to choose which one of these are my favorites because I always want them all when we eat here. So in no particular order, this is what we typically order.

First, the Spicy Mint Leaves Noodles with Beef ($6.50). I believe this is their version of Thai Drunken Noodle (Pad Kee Mao). Thai Drunken Noodles are one of my favorite Thai noodle dishes and Sab-E-Lee's version is very very good. What I like most about this dish is that it is least greasiest version I've ever had AND that the noodles were cooked to perfection. No clumps, great wok hey, and great flavor. The beef is usually tender, maybe a little on the dry side but still good. Also it is not sweet like some other restaurants' I've had in the past.

The next dish is the Thai Sausage Fried Rice ($6.50). At first glance, the dish might look a little bland (that's what we thought) but it's really a wonderful dish. I can eat a whole plate of this in one sitting, I think. The Thai Sausage is a great compliment to all the flavors in the dish. And I love that they use Chinese broccoli in the dish (Mom would be so proud I'm eating my broccoli). We actually ordered just the Thai Sausage (Northern Style) once but didn't like it as a stand alone as much as a compliment.


I know I've said this before but Phad Thai isn't my go-to noodle dish but I've order it everytime I've been to Sab-E-Lee so far. The one below is with Shrimp although we've had it with beef as well. Both are very good. Again, Sab-E-Lee creates a noodle dish that is neither clumpy or overly oily. There's just a bit of sweet flavor and I really like the fact that they put the crushed peanuts on the side.


Another dish that we have to have is the Nahm Tok ($6.95). Typically I order Thai Beef Salad elsewhere and if you look at the menu, description of the two dishes look almost identical. Thanks to Kirk's explanation, you'll see that there is a difference. I love the tanginess of this dish. And the beef have always been tender.


So those are the 4 dishes we've been ordering. But on this day, The Mister decided to add a new dish, Pepper Garlic with Beef ($6.95). Well, neither one of use really cared for this one. The beef was tough and dry, almost jerky like. The sauce wasn't as garlicky as I had expected and not that peppery. I think if the meat was tender, I would have liked it a little more but I still think we'll pass on this one in the future. I knew we should have gone with my first choice, the Spicy Raw Beef (Koy Nua), but The Mister really wanted to try it. And now we know.

Other dishes that I would like to try (soon) are Duck Noodle, Pad See Ewe and Rahd Nah. Oh, and of course Spicy Raw Beef (Koy Nua).

We don't live nearby but have found "reasons" to be in the neighborhood just so we can stop. So if you're in Linda Vista or just driving by, this is definitely worth the detour.

Sab-E-Lee
2405 Ulric Street (corner of Ulric and Linda Vista Rd.)
San Diego, CA 92111
Phone: (858) 650-6868
Hours: 10:30 a.m. - 9:30 p.m. Tuesday - Sunday
Closed Mondays

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Jeong Won Korean BBQ - Revisit

To kind of celebrate the holidays with some friends from work, we decided to have lunch at Jeong Won Korean BBQ yesterday. Ms. L and Mr. S were with me the first time in May. And since Ms. L and I noticed some differences between the 2 visits, I thought it was worth mentioning.

We also brought along Mr. T (no fool, not that Mr. T!). We got there a little after 11 am, the first customers of the day through the door. A very pleasant lady brought our menus and another very pleasant lady took our drink order. The first thing I noticed was that the menu has changed for the AYCE section. (Sorry, forgot my camera at home and had to use my Blackberry to take this photo.)

First off, it's now $19.85 per person (up $2 since May). And vegetable and seafood combos have been added. Notice the hours of operation on the right side. Happy hour starts at 11 am Monday through Friday! That means lunch hour discounts! Also, senior discounts and kids prices have been added. I did find the age of the kids price interesting. What about kids under the age of 6?

We ordered the galbi, boolgogi (bulgogi), dak gooi, and saewoo gooi to start (these spellings are throwing me off). They left one of the menus for us for re-order (nice!). Soon the panchan came. Not too different from the ones I remember from back in May. Then came the meat entries. Right off the bat, I noticed the much smaller plate, like the size of a small dinner salad. Hmm, might be a problem if they are slow on re-ordering of meat but we'll see. What I was really happy to see is that the galbi had actual ribs on them! This might be a not-so-good thing for those who just want the meat but for me, I like the taste of galbi with the bones. Well, because I'm a bone picker (sounds kind of weird now that I think about it). I also noticed that the marinade for the bulgogi and the galbi were on the darker side.

The young lady who served us was very nice and gave extra guidance to the guys. They did look a little perplexed, actually (hehe). Ms. L thought everything was better than the first time we were there. I definitely think the galbi had much better flavor although a bit on the sweet side.

The service was great. The servers changed out our grill plate 3 times. One of them suggested trying the beef brisket. It was good but our favorites were still the bulgogi and galbi. We also tried the squid and it was okay but liked the shrimp better. We were all pretty full by the end, although one of the servers thought we hadn't nearly enough and said there was still plenty of food in the back. Ha! But we were all pretty stuffed by then.

They still offer the free soft serve and juice, although the soft serve machine was on the blink yesterday. So overall, everyone really enjoyed the meal. I've read some reviews in the past month how the quality has gone down but we didn't find that to be the case on our visit. Mr. T even said he wanted to bring his wife for dinner.

Jeong Won Korean BBQ
4690 Convoy St., #104
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours: Sun-Sat 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Happy Hour $16.85: Mon-Fri 11:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.; 9:00 p.m-12:00 a.m.
Senior Discount $16.85 anytime
Kids Discount (6-9 years old) $8.85

Hope everyone isn't going too crazy with holiday shopping. And remember, always stop to eat well to keep your energy up!

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Tuesday Ramblings

I'm cleaning up some old pictures on my Blackberry today so just a few ramblings on a couple of places I've eaten in the last week.

When the weather stays cool and even dreary like today, it's hard for me not to think of noodles everyday. Yesterday, I met some friends at Santouka Ramen for a quick bite to eat. These are the same friends who I used to meet at Chopstix at least twice a month for ramen (or katsu curry) fixes. But we haven't done that for a long time. Apparently, a couple of them have made Santouka their new lunchtime stomping grounds. All 5 of us ordered the shoyu ramen. I should have followed suit and ordered the large bowl because by an hour later, I was hungry again.

The broth on this day was very good and very hot, almost burned my tongue. The meat was very tender and I enjoyed all 3 pieces of it! The ramen was cooked al dente, just the way I liked it and I really enjoyed the pull to it. All in all, a good bowl of ramen. You can read about Kirk's (mmm-yoso) meals here and here.

Santouka Ramen
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd
(Mitsuwa Marketplace Food Court)
San Diego, CA 92111

Another place that I wanted to mention is Caliente Mexican Food. It was my first visit and stopped by for lunch at the invitation of a friend (one of the Ramen boys). Caliente is one of those local small Mexican eateries that draw a lot of business from the surrounding business buildings. I used to drive by all the time but just never stopped in for a bite to eat. Mainly because I end up at Primo's on Mira Mesa. But that's another post.

Caliente offers daily specials at a decent price. On this day, one of the daily specials was 2 carni asada tacos with rice, beans and a soda for about $6. Can't beat that.

Sorry the shot of the inside is a bit blurry but you can see the guacamole (those premade kind, a bit watery) and the salsa. The tacos were decent size and the meat was a little bland but nothing a good douse of hot sauce won't cure!

The only thing about Caliente is that it takes a while to get your food from the time of order, and this is before the lunch crowd rushes in. By the time we left, there was a huge line out the door and most of the tables (only outside seating) were taken. Get there before noon to avoid the lunch rush.

Caliente Mexican Food
11815 Sorrento Valley Road #F
between Carmel Mountain Rd & Industrial Ct)
San Diego, CA 92121
858) 259-9579

That's it on this dreary Tuesday. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!! Now go and eat well.

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Lucky Pho'

After my so-so pho experience at Kim's Vietnamese Chinese Restaurant, I was jonesing for a really good bowl of pho. Kirk (mmm-yoso) really enjoys the pho at Lucky Pho (read his review here), so I decided it was finally time to try it. Hey, Kirk hasn't steered me wrong yet (and a few hundred, maybe even thousands, of other San Diegans). With my friend, L, in tow, we headed over for lunch last week.

I've shopped at Lucky Seafood Supermarket many times but never eaten in the adjoining restaurant. And it dawned on me that I rarely eat at any "adjoining" type of establishments. Most likely some subconcious idiosyncrasy I got from my mom (I have a few of those!). She believed the food to be subpar from a "real" restaurant. Why? I never bothered to ask. But I had no trepedations about trying Lucky Pho. As a matter of fact, L and I were quite eager.

The restaurant was clean, less than half full when we got there around 11:15 am. We were greeted by a pleasant young man who escorted us to our table and gave us menus. L decided on a bowl of rare steak and medium flank and me the rare steak and tendon, our modus operandi. Shortly after, our bowls came. We noticed right off what Kirk described as a beefy broth. I immediately took a sip and sighed a happy "ahhhhhh." L agreed that this was the best broth that we've had. Rich, beefy, good depth, and nicely seasoned. It was so good, I didn't add anything else to it so I can enjoy all its richness as is.

This is my bowl. You can still see a bit of rare in one of the pieces, and the tendons were incredibly good. When I first picked up a piece of steak, I was a bit worried it might be tough because it was thicker than those in other pho places. But was I wrong. These steak and flank were the most tender we've had. And there was lots of it.

Okay, so all the add-ins are great. Moment of truth -- the noodles. After breaking it apart (the typical lump of noodles), I had my first bite. Ahhh, al dente, cooked just right. It had good pull just like Kirk described. Wonderful! Exactly what I was craving. L and I kept making "mmm-mmm-mmm" sounds as we finished our bowls. There was no doubt that these were the best bowls of pho we've had. As a matter of fact, we enjoyed it so much, we're going back today.

Thanks, Kirk, as usual.

Lucky Pho (next to Lucky Seafood Supermarket)
9326 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126
(858) 586-7979
Hours: Mon-Sun. 7:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! Now go and eat well.

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Kim's Vietnamese & Chinese Restaurant

I finally met up with some friends yesterday for lunch. We ended up at Kim's Vietnamese & Chinese Restaurant in Encinitas but to tell the truth, I was a bit reluctant because of some of the reviews I've read. But I was willing to try due to the "high" recommendation of Kim's pho from one of my friends.

It was a bit of a haul from where I work but luckily, I had a bit of time. I got there around 11:30 am and there was only 1 occupied table. One of my friend, the one who recommended the place, got there just as I did. We chatted and caught up while we waited for the others. Once everyone showed up, it was clear we were all there for pho, well, because of the recommendation. Everyone had the beef pho but I decided on the beef, tendon and tripe pho just to be different.

Not too long after, our pho came out. Other than the difference between the size of a regular and large order, all the contents looked the same. The tripe and tendon in mine were buried beneath the noodles. Sorry the picture is so terrible but we were sitting in the back of the restaurant, which was very dark, and I had to resort to my Blackberry camera with flash. But that table cloth really is pink. As a matter of fact, the whole restaurant is rather pink.

But back to the pho. The tripe was decent but the tendons were tough and hard on the tooth (crunchy), not very flavorful. Our "recommender" was going on about how great the broth was but I've had better. The broth had some spiciness to it that I couldn't put my finger on. But overall, it lacked depth and "beefiness" that I like. One of the eaters gave it a 7.5 out of 10. He thought the broth had good flavor, vegetables were fresh, but thought the beef wasn't as tender as he would like. I agree with the beef. But there was a decent amount of it. Another eater gave the pho 4.5 out of 5! Guess I'm the odd duck out, hehe. His only complaint was that he wished the broth was hotter. Another thing he noticed was that the after taste of pho didn't stay with him the rest of the day.

The side vegetables were the typical, which none of us really touched. I didn't see if there was saw tooth leaves because I was too busy (and hungry). There was a whole lotta cilantro and green onions, a bit too much for my liking. You can see some of the stalks I fished out on the side of the plate. This actually would have been a decent bowl of pho if the noodles weren't a bit overcooked and slightly mushy. But I was the only one who thought the noodles were a bit overcooked. I prefer my noodles a bit al dente with a bit of "tooth" to it. What can I say?

Although the "regular" bowl is bigger than a typical small bowl at other pho shops, at almost $10 (what a large bowl costs elsewhere), I think I'll stick to my usual haunts.

Since none of us had anything else, I can't comment on how good any of the other dishes are. But the menu is very extensive and I'm sure there's got to be at least 1 dish that I would find appealing. But I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to drive all the way back just to find out.

Kim's Vietnamese & Chinese Restaurant
745 S Coast Hwy 101#J
103Encinitas, CA 92023
(760) 942-4816

Postscript: One thing about pho that I've learned over the years is that every pho joint I've been to have good and off days. I've been to Pho Hoa Cali many times at 2 locations, having good and not-as-good meals. Same goes for Bolsa, Pho Ca Dao and a few other places. I haven't figured out why it's good 1 day and not another but the lesson I learned is to pick the places where I've had the most consistent "good" meals. And then throw in a few new places here and there. And with that not-so-mind-boggling insight, now go and eat well.

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AmerAsian Cuisine

AmerAsian Cuisine opened in Poway in March 2008 and we've been there several times since then. It's the first Filipino restaurant in Poway. Here's my disclaimer. My only exposure to Filipino cuisine has been limited to a friend's Mom's home cooked meals (her pancit was killer as so was her lumpias). That was over 17 years ago. So the Mister and I have been trying to expand our knowledge but in all honesty, I can only still identify a handful of dishes by sight (pancit, chicken/pork adobo, lechen, lumpia and beef mechado). This makes ordering turo turo style a little more difficult for me (I point a lot and ask "what's that?").

I stopped by AmerAsian Cuisine for lunch a few weeks ago and decided to get a 2 entry combo ($6.99). Although that is a little more than some of the other Filipino restaurants in close-by Mira Mesa area, the extra $1-2 can be saved on gas for those who live closer to Poway.

On this visit, I decided to get chicken adobo (one of my favorite dishes), and beef mechado. Odette Roda Peckham, the owner, was behind the counter that day. She is always very pleasant and obviously very proud of the food. Every time I ask the name of a dish, she is always quick to offer a sample of it. One evening, she even sent us home with an order of fish soup for free just to try. I can't remember the name of it (and no picture of course) but it was pretty good. It was a bit too salty for me but the Mister really enjoyed it. I have yet to try the kare-kare (stewed oxtail, beef, tripe and vegetables in peanut sauce) but that's on my list to try next time when I go with the Mister.

I love pancit and I think AmerAsian's pancit bihon is decent. The chicken adobo is typically on the vinegary side (I like mine to be a little less vinegary) but the chicken is moist and the gravy is plentiful. I like the Beef Mechado, tender pieces of meat and potatos are cooked perfect. But my favorite beef dish here is the Beef Caldereta. No beef caldereta on this day, though. BTW, the menu does change daily and if you're looking for something in particular, call ahead. Odette has told me that I can always call her in the morning to let her know what I'm in the mood for and she'll make it. How's THAT for service???

So for a quick and very reasonably priced meal, AmerAsian is a good choice for some home cooked style Filipino food. Odette learned to cook at a young age by helping her mom in the kitchen and I think knowing how much she loves to cook for people makes me enjoy the food that much more.

AmerAsian Cuisine
Twin Peaks Plaza
14897 Pomerado Road
Poway, CA 92064
(Right next to The Original Pancake House)
Hours: Open 7 days a week, 10:30a - 8:30p
Phone: 858-679-0644

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Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot & Grill

Ahhh, good food and good company. What else can a person ask for? I met up with Kirk and Cathy from mmm-yoso for lunch at Little Sheep yesterday. It was my first time there so it was really nice having Kirk and Cathy there. Although I had my camera with me, I was enjoying myself too much with the food and all the stories Cathy and Kirk were sharing. But fear not, you can read Kirk's review here and here and see lots of pictures. You can also read Oh-So Yummy's review here (another Cathy, not Cathy of mmm-yoso).

I have to admit that I wasn't too sure if I was going to be able to handle the hot spicy broth but Cathy said it was really good and Kirk really enjoys it with certain ingredients. They haven't steered me wrong yet. All those "things" in the broth really is deceiving and I thought the spiciness of the broth was wonderful! I couldn't get enough of it. We had 3 different kinds of meat, lamb being one, taro, thick noodles, and some really nice greens that I can't remember the name (A Choy?). I'm sure Kirk will chime in to remind me.

In my opinion, lunch was exactly what hot pot meals were meant to be. Friends and family sitting around a delicious pot of hot broth, great conversation, gread food, and just enjoying life. I really should make a better effort to do these more often. Thanks again Kirk and Cathy!!

Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot & Grill
4718 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117
858-274-2040
Mon-Thurs 11:30am -3:00pm; 5:30pm - 9:00pm
Fri-Sat 11:30am -3:00pm; 5:30pm - 10:00pm
Sun 11:30am -3:00pm; 5:30pm - 9:30pm

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Chicken Pie Diner

After puppy kindergarten last weekend, the Mister and I decided to get some lunch at The Chicken Pie Diner on Pomerado and Twin Peaks. We decided to go sans Merlin since he was quite tuckered from his full morning visit to the Farmer's Market and then training. He was ready for his lunch and a nice nap.

Although we drive past the Chicken Pie Diner every week, we've never stopped in until now. Always talked about trying the place, just took us 5 years to finally do it. The Diner is a 50's themed diner, 50's and 60's songs the jukebox (and a Dr. Hook song from 70's), James Dean and Marilyn Monroe pictures on the walls. There's even individual jukeboxes at the booths, 2 songs for a quarter.

Typical of me, I didn't have my camera, so once again, another food post sans pictures (sorry). But I can talk about the food. The menu is geared towards home-style cooking that is suppose to remind you of home, comfort foods galore. The service is friendly, and they are both kids and dog friendly. The menu offers lunch specials, finger food, burgers, sandwiches, "famous" chicken pies, shakes, malts and a great kids' menu. The prices are also very reasonable. I searched for their website but either it was down or they no longer manage it.

As we walked up, we saw Merlin's trainer and her assistant, both there with their dogs (one each). I got scolded for not bringing Merlin with us and hindsight, we probably should have. They were seated outside under umbrellas to shade them from the sun. One of the servers had brought out a cup of water for the dogs. We decided to sit inside for some nice air conditioning.

The place was about half full, probably most of the lunch crowd had already gone by then. Good thing because we got a booth. Nice. We didn't really look over the menu too much since we knew what we wanted. I ordered a vanilla milk shake and chicken fingers appetizer with honey mustard sauce and a side of onion rings. I had a choice of honey mustard, Ranch, or BBQ sauce with the chicken. The Mister ordered a chocolate milk shake and the King's Burger, which comes with a side of fries. As we waited for our order and checked out all the memorabilia on the walls, The King was playing on the jukebox.

Our shakes came, whip cream and cherry on top. The Mister made a mental note to ick-snay the whip cream next time. Both milk shakes were delicious, made from real ice cream. Ahhhh, nice on a hot day. Then soon after, our lunch came. The King's Burger was huge, big beef patty topped with an onion ring, mushrooms, tomato, lettuce, pickles, mustard, ketchup, and BBQ sauce. The fries were good, too. The onion rings looked typical of the frozen prepackaged type but it was still good enough for me. My chicken fingers, however, was just so-so. The breading was limp, not crisp at all, but the overall flavor was decent. The honey mustard sauce had the texture of paste, and I was very uninspired by it. I could have used a side of my own honey mustard. The Mister was surprised I had ordered chicken wings since that's something I can make at home and much (much) better. Mental note, try something else next time.

I think the total bill came to around $23. Overall, Chicken Pie Diner is a good place to come when you're looking for comfort food and hang out with your BFF (best furry friend). I'm planning on taking Merlin there for lunch this Saturday after training since it's just the two of us. I'll try hard to remember to bring the camera, ha!

Chicken Pie Diner - Poway
14727 Pomerado Rd.
Poway, CA 92064
(858) 748-2445

Other location:
Chicken Pie Diner and Filling Station - San Marcos
Old California Restaurant Row (1020 W. San Marcos Blvd., San Marcos)
(760) 591-9393

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Tang's Thai Kitchen

While running some errands and socialization with Merlin a couple of weeks ago, we noticed a new Thai restaurant that just opened in the mall on Pomerado and Ted Williams. It sits between Cold Stone and Great Clips (near Target). There are 2 small tables out front and 3 tables inside. The menu board was empty when we went in so they must not have been open for very long.


With lunchtime near and hunger setting in, we decided to try it. Let's just say that the first month of a grand opening always makes dining interesting. There was a sign on the door looking for part time help. And boy, do they need more help. The Mister did the ordering while I stood puppy watch outside. He said the lady at the counter taking the order must be very new to Thai food. Guess she was pretty clueless. There was one other woman in the back cranking out the dishes. It took another 20 minutes before we got our order. The lady behind the counter ensured the Mister that the food would be worth the wait. Finally getting our order of Pad Thai with seafood combo and Rard Nah with shrimp (wide rice noodles with special gravy sauce), we realized the dishes had zero spiciness. But overall, very tasty dishes. I was very surprised by the size and amount of shrimp in the Rard Nah, very nice. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of the food we ordered. But since we enjoyed our meal, we went back the next night for take out.

I called in the order this time (20 minutes before we wanted to eat). The same ditsy lady answered the phone. Either the phone she was using is very poor or she's a bit hard of hearing or the noise in the restaurant is very very loud. Or it's a combo of any of the three. I almost had to yell the order into the phone and this time I made sure she took down the spicy level (mild, medium, spicy). It also sounded like she was still getting familiar with the menu. I ordered using the name of the dishes, she asked for the numbers. Good to know for the next time. I added an extra dish of Yellow Curry with chicken (potatoes, onions, carrots) along with Pad Thai and Rard Nah but once again, I forgot to take picture. The Yellow Curry was very runny but had decent flavor. It came with an order of rice. I enjoyed it better the next day. BTW, there's a list of meat choices for the noodles and rice dishes (chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, calamari, seafood combo, tofu, vegetables). I'll scan in the take-out menu and will update a bit later.

Determined to actually do a food post with pictures, we went back a third time. We wanted to try different dishes this time. Once again, I called it in and once again, it was the ditsy lady. Hoo boy. They certainly have some kinks to work out because I was put on hold for about 3-4 minutes (actually the phone was laid down on the counter and I could hear everything, including the noisy kids in the background screaming, no wonder the ditz was hard of hearing). Finally, the ditz took my order. Once again, I was talking very loudly and speaking very very slowly so she can follow along. Me: One order of # 59, Spicy Seafood, with Spicy heat. Her: Wait, I will get that later. So.....[long pause] 59 [pause] that's spicy seafood [pause - uh huh]..............okay, that's it? Sigh...no, unfortunately. After taking the remaining order, she said thank you and hung up. Didn't ask me for my name or phone number and didn't say how long for the order to be ready.

I handed the Mister a slip with the exact dishes I ordered in case the ditz has trouble finding it. Thank goodness because the Mister had to help her find our order when he went in to pick it up. He had to wait an extra 10 minutes because the menu wasn't very clear as to whether all dishes have a choice of meat (not all), and ditz forgot to ask me what kind of meat I wanted with my pineapple fried rice. So the cook didn't make the rice and was waiting for the Mister to pick up the order to make it. Confused yet?? Uh huh. Well, at least the fried rice was piping hot. The Mister also noticed that the menu board was finally up.

So here's what we got.

This is (what's left) the fried meatballs (6/order). It has the same texture as a fishball but not much flavor. It came with a sweet dipping sauce. Meh.



The Pineapple Fried Rice with Pork in medium heat was very tasty. The pork was tender and had decent flavor. The pieces of pineapple were small bite sizes (obvious from a can). I wish the broccoli were chopped a little smaller but overall, good flavor and we both would have this again.

The Mister ordered the Spicy Seafood at spicy heat. He said it had decent heat but could have been hotter. The Mister said he wouldn't order this again. He'd much rather have his Pah Thai again. The sauce reminded me a bit of a mild ma la sauce. Meh. He did like the various seafood items.

I tried the Hot Basil with Calamari in medium heat. There was straw mushrooms, broccoli, carrots, bell peppers, bamboo shoots, zucchini, baby carrots and green onions. It was okay in flavor, mild heat, and the calamari was pretty good, tender and not chewy. I felt the amount of calamari was less than when I had it with the Rard Na during the second visit. Although the dish was okay and I enjoyed the calamari, probably wouldn't order this again.

The Mister and I decided that we'd wait a little while before going back. That will give them some time to work out the kinks. If you do stop on by, anticipate a bit of wait for your order. I'll post the menu in a little bit.

Tang's Thai Kitchen
14791 Pomerado Rd.
Poway, CA 92064-2802
858-668-1754

Next "food" post, Chicken Pie Diner, another dog friendly establishment.

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Jeong Won Korean BBQ

I've been anxiously waiting for Kirk's review of mmm-yoso of the newest Korean BBQ place in the Convoy area. Inspired by the "All You Can Eat" theme, I rounded a couple of friends from work to try the place out yesterday. Ms. L had her first Korean BBQ experience when I took her to Buga last year so she was eager to try another one. You can read all about Buga (my favorite) here, and on mmm-yoso here, here, and here. We also brought along Mr. S. This was also his second time but his first experience was with coworkers at an old job with LG and let's just say his account of that experience would turn anyone off. But Mr. S has a great attitude about trying new foods (and with much hype from me) and decided to tag along.

We got there just a bit after 11'ish. According to Kirk, the hours are 7 am to 10 pm. There was only 1 table occupied when we got there. I counted 6 BBQ tables and about 6 regular tables. There's also a larger room in the corner. A very pleasant woman seated us and handed out menus. Here are the choices for BBQ. There are a lot of other things to choose from on the regular menu from the kitchen.

Since there was 3 of us, we each decided to order something different. That way we can try more items and just ask for more of what we liked. I recommended Kalbi and Bulgogi and Ms. L and Mr. S thought shrimp would be good. Soon after placing our order, our server brought out our dipping sauces. Let me tell you, Mr. S was ga-ga over these, especially the paste on the right. He had 3 servings of it

The panchan was similar to what Kirk had on his visit, except we had 10 and did not get the mixed greens plate. That was fine with me since and we didn't really miss it. I loved the anchovies (right in the picture below) but couldn't get Ms. L to try it. Mr. S tried it and said it was...not bad. I think he was being polite, hehe.

Here's the rest of the panchan and the plate of Kalbi and Bulgogi at the top of the picture.

The server put all the shrimp (left) on the grill and added half of the kalbi and bulgogi, as well as some of the vegetables. I liked the assortment of vegetables, although I could hear my Mom in my head, "They're giving you all those vegetables to fill you up. Just eat the meat!" I was impressed with the size of the shrimp for an AYCE place.



Now those of you who follow my eating posts know I love kalbi. I mean I dream of kalbi, that is when I'm not dreaming of Chinese roast duck or chicken feet. hehe. So I'm sure it would surprise many of you when I report that the Kalbi was okay but I preferred the Bulgogi. I know, I was shocked too. Maybe it's because it didn't have the ribs, maybe it's not marinated enough, but whatever it was, the Bulgogi had better flavor. The shrimp was really good. They were good sized and kept you busy until the meat was done.

One idea that Ms. L had, which I thought was pretty cool, was to grill the garlic and the jalapeno rings. It was much better than chomping into a toe of raw garlic. Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, can you smell the garlic if I breathed on you???

We enjoyed all three that we decided to get another round of everything. Our server swapped out the grill plate and brought our selection. By this time, the lunch crowd came in and the tables were filling up. A large party came in around this time and were seated in the side room.

I think we probably could have had another plate of Bulgogi but I think we were all being a bit modest and called it quits. Ms. L and I tried the soft serve. It was vanilla flavored and reminds me of the soft serve from Souplantation. Not bad. Total bill without tip was $58.72 (included 1 soda). Not too bad for AYCE Korean BBQ for 3 people.

Mr. S was so thrilled with his experience that he was talking about wanting to try some sushi with us. He's been wanting to try octopus for a long time but just haven't found anyone to go with for lunch. Well...he asked the right 2 people because Ms. L and I are huge sushi fans.

Jeong Won Korean BBQ
4690 Convoy St., #104
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours: Mon-Sun 7:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m.

Have a wonderful hump day. Now go and eat well.

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Mo's Island Grinds - A Pet Friendly Restaurant

Update 11/5/2008: Kirk from mmm-yoso gave a brief update on what he knows about the closing of Mo's. Apparently Mo's got a suspension for its liquor license and Mo is concentrating on catering right now. I'll update as I find out more.

The Mister and I had wanted some place to meet for lunch where we can take Merlin to continue his socialization. The Mister suggested Mo's Island Grinds since they had an outside patio. I've never seen any dogs there before and haven't read anywhere that it was a pet friendly restaurant. So I sent an email and happy to report that Mo's is pet friendly!! While waiting for a response from Mo's, I did some searching on the Internet for pet friendly restaurants in San Diego. It seems like what little restaurants I found are clumped in certain areas and just not too many options.

I got to Mo's a little early so decided to order for both of us. I got, of course, the Korean BBQ combo plate. The Mister wanted something different and decided to try the Katsu cutlet plate. I picked a table outside under the awning. We hooked Merlin up to the table and he just nosed around and checked out the place. Soon after, the plates came.

Mine was good, kalbi grilled perfectly and the Korean chicken was crunchy, although some of the pieces had lost their crust. The chicken katsu cutlet, however, was disappointing. The chicken was dry and the crust was too brown and over fried. The gravy was tasty, the same that comes on a loco moco (which is very good). The gravy made the katsu at least palatable. Overall, it was still a good outing. Merlin got to go somewhere new and I was able to get a plate lunch.

Mo's Island Grinds
9823 Carroll Canyon Road Suite F &G
San Diego Ca 92131
858-271-8268

Hours Of Operation:
Monday - Saturday 11:00 am till 8:00pm
Sundays 11:00-3:30

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Poway Sushi Lounge

The Mister and I decided to have dinner at Poway Sushi Lounge last night. We've had several lunches and dinner, each very enjoyable. This has become our favorite local sushi place; close to home and wonderful food. I finally took pictures of "most" of the items we had this time. So yes, kiddies, we've got pictures!!

The menu has a very good selection. Check the website for menu. The previous time we were there for dinner, we ended up sitting at the sushi bar for the first time (no available tables) and we were very glad we did. Eric Wong, one of the owners was our sushi chef and he took really took care of us. The only thing I really regret from that visit was not taking a picture of the wonderful presentation of Aji that he made for us. It had aji sashimi, cucumber aji roll, and aji fried bones. The fried bones was so good and the only part I didn't eat was the tail.

I learned about Aji awhile back from Kirk of mmm-yoso (where else?) and have really gotten into it. The only other fried bones I've had was yellow tail at Sammy's Sushi awhile back (no aji that night). Sammy had told me that Aji has more flavor and was better than yellow tail. He was right, aji fried bones are definitely good eats (sorry, Alton). Being the typical me, I didn't take pictures on that visit to Sammy's and just didn't want to bore with my lame review, especially when you can read Kirk and Ed's great reviews with pictures at mmm-yoso here, here and here.

So back to Poway Sushi. We got there about 6:45 pm and the place was already busy. Looks like people in Poway like to eat early. We had a choice of sitting at a table or at the bar this time and for some reason, I decided to sit at a table this time. Mainly because I wanted to be discreet about taking pictures (the Mister gets a bit uncomfortable sometimes when I whip out the camera). As we were waiting for our table, Eric saw us and smiled. As we were heading to our table, Eric mentioned that he had aji. Woohoo! Guess what I'm getting? At that instant, I was sorry I asked for a table rather than sitting at the bar. But that's okay, we'll sit at the bar from now on.

There's always the same placard on each table, one side listing the 1/2 Tuesday Wine and Sake special.











The other side lists the Lounge's Saketinis. Sorry the saketini side is a bit blurry but shows Pomegranate, Lemon Drop, Melon Ball, Raspberry Lemon Drop, and Blue Hawaii. These aren't Japanese saketinis since they are made with Ku Soju, which is a brand of Korean distilled beverage using sweet potatos. I think Ku Soju is trying to rebrand it as vodku (kind of cute). Traditionally, soju is made from rice.





The Mister decided to try the Pomegranate saketini (he picked up a fondness for soju when he used to fly to South Korea a lot). I had a sip and it is a very tasty drink. Not overly sweet, just enough to make it a drink that can sneak up on you fast, you know what I mean (wink, wink)? I likey. I'm going to have to have him try other ones so I can taste them, hehe.

So on to the food. We place our standard order with a very nice waitress (who's served us several times before), the Chef's Sashimi Platter, a Dragon Roll, Aji sashimi, cucumber salad, and a tako sunomono (which is similar to the cucumber salad but with sliced octopus and more seaweed). The salads were served first (sorry, we ate most of it before i remembered to take a picture of it.).

Next was the Dragon roll. I really like this roll because it has some of my favorite roll ingredients and they don't drench it in eel sauce.




Next was our sashimi platter with the aji. We got a 1 1/2 portion (can't tell you what that means, just how it's rung up on the receipt) compared to the 2 1/2 portion from last time. I attribute that to me not really knowing how to order it properly. Nonetheless, it was still very good. The maguro was just okay on this night, other times have been great. The rest were delicious. The Mister said the sake (salmon) was very good, as usual.

By now, we were starting to get full but still had a little room for perhaps, dessert! The Mister decided to try the cheesecake with macadamia nut crust. I had 2 mochi ice cream, mango and strawberry. Good way to finish off a nice meal. The total bill was just over $76, not counting tip. As we were leaving, Eric asked how everything was from behind the bar and bid us with a "see you next time!" Definitely and soon.

Have a wonderful weekend! Now go and eat well

Poway Sushi Lounge
13132 Poway Rd.
Poway, CA 92064
Tel: (858) 748-0070

Business Hours:
Lunch: Daily 11:30am - 2:30pm

Dinner: Sun-Thur: 5:00pm - 9:30pm
Fri - Sat: 5:00pm - 10:00pm

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A Meatless Lunch

Having had the next 4 month's worth of meat servings all in one weekend, thought I'd give my system a break. I took my friend, Jazzy, to Sipz Fusion Cafe for lunch today. He's been wanting to try this place ever since he became a vegan last year. The restaurant is known for its Asian style vegetarian dishes, note that a not all dishes are vegetarian or vegan. You can check out the menu on the website, but it's not inclusive of all the dishes on the actual menu.

Once again, sorry no photos. I had planned on bringing my camera but completely forgot. Jazzy suggested using my cell phone camera but it doesn't take very good pictures at all. Not even worth trying. I tried that once before and it was just bad.

Back to Sipz. The restaurant is in the strip mall across the street from Buga Korean BBQ. We were surprised by the size of the restaurant. Much bigger than I had expected. By the time we sat down and ordered our food, the place was starting to get packed (about 11:30 am). I ordered the House Special Tofu in medium heat and Jazzy ordered the Garlic Tofu in hot heat. Shortly after our drinks was served, our meals came out. We each got a large Asian noodle-style bowl that contained our tofu dish and a decent scoop of rice. They smelled good.

Both dishes were in a thick brown sauce. Mine came with snow peas, carrots, baby corn, black and straw mushrooms, onion, celery, green peppers, bamboo shoots, and green onions. Jazzy's came with baby bok choy, straw mushrooms, onions, carrots and a few other things. There were lots of large pieces of firm tofu (what I would refer to as bean curd). In my family, tofu and bean curd meant 2 different things. Tofu is the white stuff, like those chunks you get in Miso soup. Bean curd is the more spongy-like soy items, often a brownish or tan color. Bean curd jerky is one of my favorite snack items.

My dish was very tasty but only mildly hot in heat. I would definitely have been able to handle the hot. The sauce gave it a very savory flavor, slightly sweet, and it matched the tofu very well. Jazzy's dish was even milder in heat than mine, but I think it's because my base sauce is suppose to be spicy where his isn't. But there was just enough hint of heat to compliment the garlic sauce. Jazzy liked it very much. I tried a bit of it and it was tasty. Overall, we both enjoyed our meals very much and would certainly go back (I'll remember to bring the camera next time). Apparently many people agree with us based on how many tables were occupied when we left and the amount of take-outs in just the 45 minutes we were there. Total cost for our meal including tip was just a little over $20.

Sipz
5501 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117
858-279-3747

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Weekend Eating Fest

Okay, right off the bat, I don't have any food pictures. Why? Because I was waaaay too busy stuffing my face, all weekend. And in all honesty, seeing pictures of everything I ate in the past 2 days is just too much for me right now. hehe. Today is a special day for me and we began celebrating on Saturday. The Mister asked where I wanted to go. In the past, I've usually answered, "Anywhere for great lobster." That would usually mean The Oceanaire Seafood Room. I love that place. This year, I wanted (craved) Buga Korean BBQ. You can read a great review at mmm-yoso!!! (and there's pictures too! hehe).

I think I had Buga on the brain because a co-worker and I had a discussion about Korean BBQ earlier last week. She was telling me about her terrible experience at one restaurant and vowed never to go back again. She didn't remember the name but we kind of figured it out which place it was. I recommended Buga to her, and so started the wheel in my head. The squirrel must of been in overdrive on that wheel because not only did I want Buga, I also wanted Chinese roast duck from Jasmine's. Can you say grease overload? Nah!

So on Saturday, we headed over to Buga for lunch. To our surprise, it was already packed with people at 11:30 am. It was the first time we didn't get a booth. The Mister thought maybe it was some kind of Korean holiday perhaps. I didn't know. Chinese New Year celebration is not for another 4 weeks.

As usual, the meal was delicious! We got galbi for 2. The Mister mentioned later that he knew I was enjoying the meal because I barely said a word through lunch. That's a bit of an exaggeration because I've never been known to be wordless. But the point was made and he was right.

Shortly after our dishes came, the Mister leaned over to me and said, "what's that on their plate?" He was referring to the table next to us with a large plate of curled marbled meat. I thought it was lamb but wasn't sure. We looked around and noticed that a couple of the other tables had the same plate of meat. The Mister then said, "maybe next time we should try something different." I mentioned that maybe we should try the beef tongue. The Mister replied, "maybe we should try something different." Okay. We'll try the something "else," maybe bulgogi and something less organ-y.

So right after lunch, we popped over to First Korean Market for some essentials and then to Jasmine's take-out for duck. The Jasmine ladies behind the counter know me and always welcome me warmly. We got a whole roast duck and a pound of char siu pork (BBQ pork). You think I'd had enough of BBQ by now. Oh no. This is just the beginning. Oh yeah, on the way home, we noticed that Marukai Market has still not opened. According to Marukai's website, it's scheduled to be open this month. I think the original date was Dec. 2007.

We had the duck for dinner that night and it was awesome! Probably one of the best duck from Jasmine's in a long time. The skin was perfect and roasted to perfection. The meat was very tender and juicy and not overly oily. Usually when the duck is very fatty, one meal of it usually saturates me enough for a long time. But by next morning, I was craving it again and we split what was left for lunch.

About mid-day, we got hungry again and I threw together some char siu pork sandwiches for us on sliced King's Hawaiian Bread. If you've never tried this, it's a really good combination. I usually just have it plain, char siu and bread. Nothing else. The flavor combo kind of reminds me of a Chinese pork bun. The char siu pork was okay, not the best I've had. It was a little dry but the flavor was good. Still made a decent sandwich.

We had originally planned on going to Poway Sushi for lunch on Sunday but since the Mister was going to make his famous pork chops for dinner, we opted to save sushi for another weekend. After watching the San Diego Chargers chop the Indy Colts down to size (woohoo!), I was ready for some good eats, again. One of the eating machines (SIL) came over to help eat, I mean celebrate, so we made a double batch of chops. For the first time, I helped fry up the chops and I have to say, I did a pretty good job. The chops were thin sliced with bone, gotta have the bone in for me. And it was moist and delicious. Ah, good way to end the weekend of meat-eating fest.

Have a wonderful week! Now go and eat well.

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Chopstix - Japanese Noodles, etc.

Chopstix is one of my comfort food places and I used to frequent here a lot, especially when I used to work for a Japanese company. The food seems to go in-out of consistency every now and then, mainly because of the various cooks they've had. But overall, it's still very dependable even over the years. The menu hasn't changed too much, either, and it still offers a very good variety or noodle and rice dishes.

Chopstix is one of those few places where I actually have several menu items that I rotate. In cooler weathers, I lean towards the ramen dishes and tend to order curry rice dishes or yakisoba in the warmer months. My usuals are won-ton men, mabo ramen (can be a bit overly sweet and I need to be in the mood for it), tempura, soba noodles, katsu curry over rice, yakisoba, and always a side of crunchy roll. For noodle dishes, I add lots of chili sauce because I like the kick.

You can read Kirk's review here of the chasyu-men, mix tempura, and chicken katsu curry rice. The katsu curry rice is just like the chicken version but with pork. I've always ordered the pork katsu so I can't compare the two.

The Mister and I had lunch here last week. I won't include the Mister's chasyu-men because Kirk's review pretty much sums up my opinion of it. The Mister, however, enjoys it most of the time.

We started off with an order of Crunchy Roll. It was pretty good today. Always enjoy the bits of tempura batter on it.

Since it was a cooler day in San Diego with a threat of rain in the air, I was in the mood for soup noodles. I usually order the won-ton men when I'm in the mood for comfort food. The wontons were as usual, precooked and then added to the broth. I think they are shrimp-pork wontons. The broth on that day was very good. Not overly oily. As far as the other items, it's the same as all the ramen dishes: egg noodles, half a hard-boiled egg, bean sprouts, a slice of kamaboku, and green onions.

I don't remember exactly when they added the Specials placard (sorry, the picture is a little blurry) and never had taken advantage of it since I only come for lunch. But it's not a bad price if you want some beer or sake and a little appetizer to go along with it.

I've read a couple of reviews that criticized Chopstix but for me, I think they serve a very decent bowl of Japanese noodles and katsu curry over rice. I've tried other Japanese noodle houses and those broths didn't quite measure up with Chopstix.

They are open for lunch and dinner, 7 days a week. Doors open for lunch at 11:00 am. Note that sometimes parking during the week can be a real challenge during lunchtime.

Chopstix

4633 Convoy St.

San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 569-9171

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