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Sunday Sandwiches – Mali’s Deli

Sandwiches

A few weeks back, I was in the Balboa and Ruffin Road area. I decided to grab something for an early lunch. Bud’s immediately came to mind, but I just wanted something smaller and I think I’d like to bring JJ along for brunch there. I also considered getting a sandwich at Unique Deli, which I believe is now named Unique Sandwiches….. But, I was at the intersection of Ruffin and Sky Park Court and recalled having read about a deli nearby? So, I drove to a parking spot and did that “Google” thing. Which led a bit farther up that parking lot; where I saw a rather discreet outdoor dining area. Turns out, it was the place I was searching for; named Mali’s Deli.

It is a rather hidden looking shop.

The interior was quite spacious.

And the menu vast; from breakfast items to burritos, burgers, quesadilla’s, and of course sandwiches.

And it must have been my lucky day as Mali’s does half sandwiches! I wasn’t really very hungry and the prices for half sandwiches weren’t bad for these times. The names of some of the sandwiches have a San Diego link; like the Coronado Chicken Club (probably raised in a Coopacabana), California Girl Veggie (a “Hippie Dippy Cali”?), or the Top Gun…..which I didn’t really “feel the need” for at that moment.

Regular readers know that I have a special place in my heart for club (older locals would call it “clubhouse”) sandwiches…so, I went with a half California Club ($7.49). My sandwich only took a few minutes. Opening the package, you immediately knew what kind of deli meat they used.

The half sandwich was enough for a light lunch for me. I had picked sourdough, which had been decently toasted and held up fine.

I enjoyed the pickle spear. Appreciated the fact that the sandwich wasn’t over dressed…a good amount of mayo and mustard for me. I actually liked the pepper jack cheese which added a mild milky-spice to things.

The turkey was as expected, though nice and moist. The bacon was cold and on the chewy side, but overall, pretty much what I expected, which was a good thing.

I do appreciate spots like this; located in an office park, they keep all the working folk fed. Plus, I did think that $7.49 for lunch was a bargain for me!

A week or so later; I found myself in the area and decided to drop by for another half sandwich.

Wanting to see how their hot sandwiches were; I went with half of a Reuben ($9.99) which was on the higher end of the half sandwich price scale.

This one was a bit disappointing. First off, the rye bread was not toasted and it quickly became a soggy mess.

Too much Thousand Island which nullified the flavor of the coleslaw and Swiss cheese and sogged things out rather quickly. The pastrami was as expected for this brand, mildly peppery, decently salty, et al….. But not toasting the rye was a no-go for me.

I am glad that I tried Mali’s. If I return; I might even go for a breakfast item….or stick with a basic sandwich.

Mali’s Deli
9265 Sky Park Court Suite #105
San Diego, CA 92123
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri 7am – 3pm
Closed on weekends

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Galapagos – Urbina Bay (Isabela Island) and Volcanic Eruption on Fernandina Island

Airport/Airline/Cruise/Rail Food, Beer, Ecuador, Galapagos, Travel

After exploring Punta Espinoza and an awesome snorkel session, we headed off to Ubina Bay which is on the largest island of the Galapagos Archipelago, Isabela Island.

We did a smooth wet landing. Apparently; this bay really didn’t exist until 1954, when a tectonic uplift caused the seabed to rise over 16 feet, creating an additional half mile of coastline. We were told to keep our eyes peeled as the largest known land tortoises, the Volcán Alcedo giant tortoise, named after the volcano in the area and some of the largest land iguanas live in the area.

We started seeing the giant tortoises immediately after the trail edged away from the newly formed shoreline.

There was one large empty tortoise shell from one that had died a while back.

And then we started seeing the land iguanas in the scrub.

And yes, they looked very large and well fed.

We ended to walk a bit early and were told that we were going to make a detour for something special.

So, while folks settled in, our Concierge, the wonderful Jocelyn said she had set up something for us and directed us to the a small door. Thru the door was the tiny galley. The couple of days before, both the Missus and I had noted how much we had enjoyed the chimichurri that was served. Jocelyn had apparently been overhearing the Missus and I chatting about our meals during the trip….were we that obvious? Sheesh….

Anyway, we were led into the phone booth sized galley and met the chef. And then he went thru making the chimichurri.

Jocelyn explained that they serve a “smoked” chimichurri…that is, once the chimichurri has been prepped, two hot stones are placed in the sauce to create a deeper, smokier flavor!

Pretty cool, huh? This little “excursion” really gave me an immense respect for what was being served….it all came out of this tiny kitchen!

From here, while the Missus freshened up, I sat on the deck, having some liquid refreshment….

While watching our “escort” to our next destination.

As we got back to Fernandina, it became clear what our destination was going to be…..

No, you can’t see it here….but….

You see what I see?

Yes, La Cumbre Volcano was erupting!

The lava getting to the ocean made for quite a dramatic sight!

Especially as the sun started to set…..

Lest you think this is an everyday occurrence…..even the crew wanted their photos taken. This is Farley and Luiz, two of the amazing bartenders/staff……

As night settled in; the view got even more dramatic.

And for most people; this would be a once in a lifetime view.

I now feel that I’ve been blessed by Madame Pele twice in my life!

And our dinner on this evening was one of our favorites on this cruise!

The grilled prawns were really delish!

That sopa de choclo, was quite good….great corn flavor…..and it gave us a taste of some Ecuadorian cuisine.

That chimichurri we saw them making was presented with dinner on the beef. Though it was the roasted potatoes with a hint of truffle that I enjoyed.

All in all, a fun, eventful day!

Friday Findings – Potato Powder Love Noodle, Di-Chan Thai, and Makai Sushi Closes

Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Chinese Restaurants, Poke, Thai Restaurants

Man, there seem to be so many places closing recently….all the rising costs and such. I saw these three in just the last week….

Potato Powder Love Noodle Being Re[;aced by Arbor Sushi & Grill:

It seems that the food court at the 99 Ranch Market in Balboa has become a revolving door. There was Dao Xiang Noodle, which replaced Mama Lin’s, which replaced Saigon 5. Dao Xiang that didn’t last a year and was replaced by Wang La Ya in February. Back in August of last year Potato Powder Love Noodle, another chain with locations in the SGV, replaced the rather long running Shann Xi Magic Kitchen.

Imagine my surprise when I took a peek at the food court and noticed that the place is gone!

Sheesh…another place that didn’t last a year. I only made that one visit and was meaning to return…but I guess not now! I think it’s kind of how things might go with regards to chains?

So, it’ll be interesting to see how a sushi and “grill” does in this space.

5950 Balboa Ave (In the 99 Ranch Market Food Court)
San Diego, CA 92111

Makai Sushi Being Replaced by La Rotonde:

Now this one was another surprise which I saw when driving down 5th Avenue.

I know I was really intrigued as to why a fellow from Kauai would open a poke/sushi place here. During my visit the really friendly owner, Matt, who is from Poipu explained that the place kind of found him. I’m guessing that it was perhaps almost a spur of the moment kind of decision? So perhaps I shouldn’t have bee overly surprised at this?

I did a little searching and found that Matt is currently back on Kauai…..hmmm……I’m wondering if he’ll return?

3968 5th Ave.
San Diego, CA 92103

Di-Chan Thai Closes:

Now, both of the previously noted closures were short timers. This one however, is for one of those businesses that has been around seemingly forever. On Tuesday, I went over to Leilani’s Attic to get some “stuffs”. Man, that strip mall….Madison Place has gone thru some major renovations and the businesses looked empty. I did notice that Ma’s House was still open. But Di-Chan Thai seemed closed so I drove on over.

And I quickly saw the sign on the door, “after 25 years we’ll miss you all”.

Whoa….though I’ve never been a huge fan of Di-Chan; I know quite a few folks who enjoyed eating there, so this is kind of a sad one!

5535 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

Time’s seem to be hard on businesses right now…..I think I need to head to some of my favorites to give them support!

Galapagos – Punta Espinoza (Fernandina Island)

Airport/Airline/Cruise/Rail Food, Ecuador, Galapagos

After visiting Cerro Dragon (Dragon Hill), having dinner, and our evening briefing we had a wonderful night’s sleep. Our stop the next morning was to be Punta Espinoza (Espinosa Point), on Fernandina Island, the western most and youngest island in the Galapagos. Doing a bit of reading, I realized that Punta Espinoza is the only one visitor area, and the island is uninhabited, which for some reason piqued my interest.

Upon waking and heading to grab a morning coffee, I saw Fernandina Island……

It looked quite lovely.

After a light breakfast…..

We boarded the pangas and did a dry landing on Punta Espinoza.

As we landed on the lava rock…the usual Marine Iguanas were there to greet us.

As I’ve mentioned before, because humans cannot approach the wildlife in the Galapagos, many of the creatures have minimal fear of us. And so, we get to observe, some sometimes “interesting” behaviors…..

Like this Lava Lizard, who seems to be helping this Marine Iguana as a “look out”.

Or these two “best pals”……

Though along with the charming vignettes; there were those scenes of “real” life…..

There’s an active volcano on Fernandina Island (more on that in my next Galapagos post)…..and it’s an interesting walk on the old lava flows. Something that harkened back to our wonderful trips to the Big Island and Volcanoes National Park.

It was interesting to see the plant life that was actually starting to grow on the flows.

Fabrizio, one of the Naturalists, was quick to point out the Flightless Cormorants, which can only be found in the Galapagos, and only on two islands; Fernandina Island and Isabella Island.

They are among the largest of the species and the only that have lost the ability to fly. I actually love their “T pose” which they strike to dry off their feathers.

It was a fun walk…..

And then we were brought to an amazing site on the lava rocks……

Yes, an honest to goodness whale skeleton.

This was supposedly the exact spot where the whale washed ashore and has never been moved!

It was an awesome way to end our walk on Punta Espinoza!

We boarded the pangas and headed back to the Evolve. Lest you think the morning was over….well, it was not!

Next up was some deep water snorkeling. We’d done some snorkeling the day before, but it was nothing like this. It was amazing watching the Marine Iguanas and Sea Turtles in their habitat.

Not paying us any mind…..just going on with their daily life!

You get a totally different view of things from below…..

Digital Camera

Man, it was quite a morning! I was kinda disappointed to have to reboard and have lunch!

But was quite happy to note that we still had the afternoon and evening ahead of us. And it was going to be quite the afternoon!

Phở Gà Go at Crab Hut Mira Mesa

Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

Sometimes I just wait too long to post. Case in point would be Phở Gà Go, which is Crab Hut’s kinda pop-up. I say kinda because it made quite a stir doing just take out back at the end of last year. You’d put your order in online, choosing a pick up time…..between Sunday and Tuesday. On Sundays, the pick up was between noon and 3pm. On Monday and Tuesday from 4pm to 7pm at Crab Hut Mira Mesa. So, not having had decent Pho Ga in San Diego, I was interested and eventually I did place an order. The pick up time for weekdays was a bit of a hassle with regards to traffic and such…but what the heck.

Everything was packed nicely and you just zipped in and picked up your order. Of course I chose the dark meat chicken. The herbs were fresh…there was ngo gai.

The broth was nice and rich, with strong chicken tones……kinda like what your mom would make….if you were born into a Vietnamese Household. Look at the golden color.

Not overly salty, the chicken toothsome, I enjoyed the Banh Pho, which were of the wider variety….it did a better job of getting coated by the rich broth.

It’s definitely the best Pho Ga I can recall getting in San Diego (and no, I don’t care for Cow Cali’s MSG laden version)……which I’d pretty much given up on decades ago.

So, I was going to do a post after doing another take out visit….but I must have taken too long….getting slow in my old age I guess? ;o)

By the time the weather had cooled off, Pho Ga Go was now doing dine in…between 10am and 2pm during weekdays. The time suited me even better, so I decided to grab an early lunch on a Friday. As a bonus, this location of Crab Hut has a patio….so guess who could come along?

The drill is interesting….you walk in and order at the host stand and pay….it’s credit card only right now. The menu is a lot larger than what I recalled online.

And then had a seat on the patio.

As with takeout, the basil, ngo gai, and bean sprouts were quite fresh. It was interesting to note how quiet things were. In fact, one of the security guards driving his buggy drove by and stopped…asking me if they were now open for lunch! I guess he hadn’t noticed?

The Pho Ga came out steaming hot; but looked a bit different.

It was much lighter in color, lacking that yellow tone that I’d had previously. Though it was still nice and rich. In fact, this had nice aromatic/spice tones; anise, clove, coriander, ginger…….even stronger than takeout!

I actually enjoyed it more. Though I did make one mistake….the broth really didn’t need the basil nor lime, which masked a lot of the flavor of the spices to me….I had just wanted to see what the effect would be. Lesson learned; rookie mistake.

Same type of Banh Pho, decent cooked.

Though the noodles seemed to be chopped into shorter strands? Well, no slurping for me, I guess?

This time around; the poultry was a bit more toothsome, but actually had an even stronger savory-chicken flavor.

I found this quite comforting. And I guess I now have a place to get my Pho Ga fix.

I hope they continue making pho ga and perhaps even expand their hours a bit. Especially when winter comes around.

Phở Gà Go at Crab Hut Mira Mesa
8280 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri 10am – 2pm
Closed Weekends

Post 5785 – mmm-yoso Makes 21!

yoso-silly

Hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day long weekend! I just looked at the calendar and realized that another year has gone by, We’re now 21!

And trying to a do a bit of math, we’ve got 5785 posts over 7670 days (252 months)! Go figure!

And so….now that the blog is of legal drinking age!

Here’s a toast to all of you who have read, commented, and emailed me over the years! Even though I look at our posts as being a food and travel diary, I don’t think we’d still be doing posts if not for all of you! Thank you from the bottom of my heart (and glass)!

Cheers!

And I’ll be back tomorrow with another food post!

Thien Huong Revisited

Vietnamese Restaurants

Recently, I wanted something a bit “different” for breakfast. It was a Sunday and JJ’s usual breakfast stop doesn’t open until a bit later. So, we walked up to get coffee and I took JJ to the park after, all the while contemplating where I should get breakfast. Being quite hungry on this morning, a place popped into my head; Thien Huong. My goodness, how long had it been since I last visited? A quick check reveals that it was back in 2023! So, I settled JJ in for his morning nap and drove on up to Mira Mesa.

Since it was just past 8am, the place was pretty quiet.

Based on my previous visits; there was just one item I was interested in…..

My favorite item based on my previous visits was the Banh Cuon Trung. I loved the softer texture and the additional flavor egg brings to the usual rice flour wrap. So, I ordered the #7, which was priced at $17, which I thought was quite reasonable for these days.

The drill was the same; order and pay at the counter, if dining in, you’re given and number. You go ahead and have a seat. After a short while, one of the folks working will do their rounds and drop off some water. And eventually, your order will arrive.

The portion size is still quite generous; though I did notice that the banh cuon seemed to have less egg than before? Perhaps I’m imagining things?

I do like the Cha Lua with the black peppercorns, it’s meaty, though not overly rubbery, and the black peppercorns adds a nice sharpness when you crack your teeth on one!

The nuoc mam cham seems to have changed from before as well….though the change seemed quite positive for me.

Even though it edges on the sweeter side; it wasn’t as cloying as before. It also had more chilies, which provided a decent “kick”.

As for the banh cuon.

It’s not quite as fluffy as before, but still not overly stretchy and sticky. I enjoy the fried shallots as well.

Not a whole lot of pork in this, though it was still decently savory.

And I got all my carbs for the day, right? Breakfast of champions…..

It’s still my favorite version of banh cuon in San Diego. And the prices seem quite reasonable. Funny thing, to me it seems like Thien Huong just opened yesterday….but man, they’ve been here for over three years already! Crazy!

Thien Huong
9349 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126
Current Hours:
Mon, Tues, Thurs – Sat 8am – 5pm
Sun, Wed 8am – 4pm

Friday Fun – Fish With You is Now Yonny Hot Pot, Spicy House For Sale? And Jersey Mike’s Coming to Bay Park

Chinese Restaurants, Sandwiches, yoso-silly

Well, here we go….time to prep for the weekend, right? Anyway, just a couple of quick things…..

Fish With You is Now Yonny Hot Pot:

So, remember my last post on Fish With You? Where we noticed that all the hot pot equipment was going in? Well, back on Tuesday, as I was driving to Nijiya I noticed that the sign for Fish With You had changed to something like “Yonny Hot Pot”. Sigh…. Anyway, that same day “FOY” Xiāng Jiāo texted me saying that Fish With You had closed! And then “FOY” An commented on that last Fish With You post, mentioning that the name of the place had changed, but the logo and the blow up fish was still the same. Sooooo…….on my latest trip to Nijiya, I stopped by to take a look:

And yes, it’s now Yonny Mini Hot Pot. I went and parked the car and walked over to take a peek…..the posted menu on the door looks the same, as did the menu at the counter. I couldn’t take a photo of that with all the reflections and such.

Hmmm……. So, I did some digging and found that Yonny Hot Pot has three locations. One in Irvine and two in Texas. Now for the interesting info…looking at the Yonny Hot Pot website for the Plano Texas location…it looks quite familiar, right? And then the website for the Sunway Square Mall says:

“YONNY is a flagship brand under Beijing Fish With You Brand Management Co., Ltd. Founded in 2017, YONNY pioneered the fast-casual suancai fish market, quickly sweeping across China and leading the suancai fish industry to become a well-known Chinese fast-casual chain brand.”

And even though I might be an online dinosaur….on occasion, even I can do AI…..

So, there you go. It seems like the place has expanded the offerings and concepts. So, at least for now, I can “Fish With Me” at Yonny. For now…..

Fish With You
3904 Convoy St. #101
San Diego, CA 92111

Thanks so much for thinking of us An and XJ!

Is Spicy House For Sale?

While at Nijiya the other day, I saw a guy on a ladder putting up some finishing touches to the sign at Spicy House. When I finished shopping and walked back to the car the new sign was up.

I don’t know why I took a photo…I think it was just for the Missus to see if the Chinese name of the place had changed. But no, it had not. Ok, time to delete the photo, right? Luckily, I didn’t do that too quickly as my good “FOY” YummyYummy sent me this screenshot!

Screenshot

Looks like Spicy House is for sale? So weird that I just decided to take that photo, huh?

Times are really hard on restaurants right now…..

Anyway, if you’ve got an extra 280k lying around and want to own a Sichuan Restaurant…perhaps now’s your chance?

3860 Convoy Street #105
San Diego, CA 92111

Thanks for letting me know about this “YY”!

And lastly……

Not a big deal and I’m not too excited about this as I’d prefer more local based eateries in my ‘hood. But the former dentists office in Clairemont Village is becoming…..well, Jersey Mike’s…..

You can read more here at ExploreClairemont’s Instagram.

3065 Clairemont Dr. #C
San Diego, CA 92117

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Bonchon Revisited

Chicken Wings, Korean Restaurants

Recently, I had a craving for some K(orean) F(ried) C(hicken) and decided to finally head on over to Calvin’s, which Soo has already posted on. Strangely, they were closed…..I was to find out why soon enough….cause, you know why, right? Anyway, thinking of a “plan B”, I decided to head on over to Bonchon. I consider Bonchon, along with B.BQ Chicken (the original location – which opened in 2008), and Cross Street to be the “OG’s” regarding KFC. I drove on over and easily found parking at 1130 in what can sometimes be a chaotic parking lot.

I was surprised to see only one other table taken when I arrived.

The very nice young lady dropped off the menus…but I already knew what I wanted…..

The lunch special. One thing I quickly noticed, is that the lunch special is now $12.99. It was $13.45 on my last visit back in January of 2025. Hmmm……..

I got the Lunch Special with the 6 piece wings….after trying the different flavors, it had been the Soy Garlic for me in the past, so I went with that.

This is what arrived.

The chicken didn’t quite looks as good as what I’ve had here in the past.

Though I still enjoy the pickled daikon….the portion is now a bit smaller than what I’d had on my last visit.

I like that it’s not too sweet and quite refreshing.

As for too sweet….well, as I started noticing on my last visit the soy garlic seems to be straying to the over sauced and sweeter end of the scale and this was even sweeter than what I’d had on that visit! If I recall they brush each wing by hand after frying…..I’d say this was a bit heavy-handed for my taste.

The batter was also not as crisp as I recall. I’m wondering if they’re even doing a double fry like they used to?

As always, I prefer the flats to drumettes.

The flats were very moist and tender.

It seems that Bonchon has gone the way of jumbo drumettes.

Which throws off the skin/batter to meat ratio for me. The drumettes also had a lot of discolored black flesh.

In spite of the price, which was super reasonable for lunch, it seems that Bonchon has slid down my “wing list” and is not a favorite anymore. Quite sad because I really enjoyed Bonchon when they first opened. Now I’m going to need to get my KFC fix done.

Bonchon Convoy
4690 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Sun – Wed 11am – 10pm
Thurs – Sat 11am – 1am

Roast Duck Revisit to Tom’s Chinese BBQ (City Heights) Seventeen Years Later.

Chinese BBQ, Chinese Restaurants

After my last roast duck revisit to Noble Chef, I was wondering how other Chinese BBQ places were doing. And so, I thought of returning to one of those “regular” places…… Until I went and took a look at my Big List. One place really caught my attention. A place I hadn’t been back to in 17 years! So, I decided it was time to roll the dice for a parking spot in the rather crazy corner parking lot in City Heights and head back to……

Tom’s Chinese BBQ:

Man, it’s hard to believe that it’s been 17 years since my last visit! Once upon a time, when we first moved to San Diego in the early “aughts”, we used to visit Tom’s once in a while. But, over time the roast duck became more and more bland, the meat dry and after that last visit…well, it basically fell off the radar. Until this day. And no, I was not lucky enough to find parking in that corner lot….I did find a spot further down 44th street though, and I walked on over.

Walking over, well….Tom’s looks the same…..one of those places stuck in time….

No steamed buns or dim sum ready yet on this day.

What wasn’t “stuck in a time vortex” were the prices. A half duck here now goes for $19. It’s also cash only.

Which is what I ended up getting.

This was interesting. Notice the color trends toward a redness; but it lacks any anise-five spice essensc. No jus/sauce either, just a bunch of watery drippings. This was really bland.

I enjoy the fat decently rendered in my roast duck; but this one went too far as there was a lack of richness. The skin had been over-lacquered and was hard and plasticky.

The duck seemed quite lean and chewy; decent gaminess, but really lacking in the additional seasonings, flavor, richness, et al….

Just to think that we used to come here every so often way back when. Kinda sad as a whole, but they seemed to be doing some fairly brisk business on this day.

Tom’s Chinese BBQ
4414 University Ave.
San Diego, CA 92105
Current Hours:
Mon, Wed – Fri 10am – 630pm
Sat – Sun 9am – 630pm
Closed on Tuesdays