Well, I haven’t done one of these in a while…..
Recently, I had an appointment in the Ruffin Road area, between the 52 and Clairemont Mesa Boulevard. I’m not super familiar with the location, but there was what seemed to be one of those mom-and-pop sandwich shops nearby, and you know how I have a weakness for those places. The name of the shop also caught my attention….Gourmet Island Bistro! Hmmm……could it be?
Doing that Google thing; it seems like the shop opens at like 6am! So, I drove on over and I arrived at just after 9am. There are several stalls reserved for the shop, which is located in a business building.
The nice woman working greeted me as I entered. There seemed to be several to-go orders ready for pick-up at the counter. Like I’ve said, these are the places that keep workers fed.
I took a gander at the menu and focused on the breakfast sandwich offerings.
I decided on the Bistro Pastrami Sandwich ($10.95). I also noticed something interesting with regards to the menu. Much like Sandwich Island sandwich shop, there were Hawaii influenced names….like the “Big Kahuna”, the “Haoli (which I think is actually supposed to be Hau’oli – happy…not Haole, which means….you know) Hero”. But the nice older woman, who seemed to be the owner did not seem like she was from the islands. Anyway, I got some water and had a seat.
And went to pick up my sandwich when ready.
The croissant of course, was nothing to add to my “Croissant Files“, which I expected. Basically Costco-ish massed produced croissants used as a bread replacement. Which did fine in this case as it added a mild sweet butteriness to the sandwich.
Overall, it was a nice breakfast sandwich. The pastrami adding a salty-savory-light smokiness. The egg was nice and runny, with no off flavors. And I could even make out the milkiness of the Swiss Cheese, which was melted adding some nice gooeyness to things.
This was pretty good!
And then it happened. The woman walked on over and dropped off a cookie for me! Such a nice gesture!
Which gave me an opportunity to ask about the name of the shop and some of the sandwiches. I came to find out that much like Sandwich Island Deli; the previous owners were from the Islands!
When this family bought the place; they added soups and hot dishes, thus adding “Bistro” to the name!
A few weeks later, I decided to make a return visit. This time to try one of their lunch sandwiches. While the Island Club called to me, I decided on the Lucky Roast Beef ($12.30)…..I guess I just wanted some horseradish sauce to clear my sinuses on this day! This time I took my order to-go.
I unpacked things at home. The bread’s crust was quite friable, flaky quite easy, the standard issue roll did fine. The Sysco-ish roast beef was decently sliced, it was lean as advertised and a bit chewy. The portion size was fine as well.
There was a combo of Ranch Dressing and Horseradish Sauce…and not enough of the latter for my taste as I wanted more pungency and too much of the former as it just overpowered everything; especially the mild milkiness of the Swiss Cheese.
Still, I can’t complain about the portion to price ratio….I may try the Club Sandwich next time. Very nice folks working here. I’m glad there are still places like this and will try to keep giving them business. To me, they are the heart and soul of our neighborhoods.
Gourmet Island Bistro
5625 Ruffin Rd. # 140
San Diego, CA 92123
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri 6am – 2pm
Closed Sat- Sun