Cathy – Page 51

EscoGelato (Escondido)

September 8, 2015 Cathy Desserts, Ice Cream/Frozen Yogurt, What Cathy Eats!

Today's short post is written by Cathy. It's just too hot to think much about food today. The mmm-yoyo!!! men, Kirk and Ed (from Yuma) will write about food when they are ready.

Another hot and humid day in San Diego and not much can keep you cool or relaxed. Unless, maybe you can find gelato! ('gelato' means 'frozen' in Italian)

EscoGelato has been in this small storefront for about three years now, serving up coffee, soup, salad, panini and gelato (as well as a few sorbet flavors), seven days a week. The husband and wife owners are proud to use the highest quality, locally sourced ingredients. This is the view if you are walking South from Grand Avenue, where many nice restaurants are located. You'll probably notice the ice cream cone logo before you notice any signage. Here is a link to cc's 2013 post, which shows a front view of the store.That is the entire menu. Because we had finished lunch elsewhere, we were only here 'for dessert'. I will write a post about the panini, soup and salads later.

What is gelato? Milk, cream and sugar, along with some fruits and/or nuts and/or other ingredients for flavors. Placed into a special machine which cooks, slow churns and then chills. The product is extruded from the machine into a pan and flash frozen. Gelato has less fat than regular ice cream, but it is higher in density than ice cream, so it's very creamy. All the flavors are made fresh daily at EscoGelato.The final product looks like this. Many traditional and some interesting, imaginative flavors. As I mentioned: locally sourced, highest quality, made fresh daily.Small ($3.50). Brown Butter Pecan gelato and Apricot Goat Cheese gelato. We asked for a sample first and each of these were refreshing. You can taste each flavor, and what great flavors these were! The buttery creamy gelato, crunchy pecans…fresh apricots and, yes, goat cheese, were wonderfully complimentary and great tasting.Salted caramel gelato used for an affogato ($4.75) ( Affogato is Italian for 'drowned'). Because I know the coffee here comes from locally owned Zumbar and I had a craving for a good cup of coffee, the shot of espresso with this salted caramel gelato was a perfect combination of flavors. It looks like a small amount of coffee, but because it is so strong, using it sparingly (more like a sauce) was just the perfect amount of espresso with this rather large amount of gelato.

I hope everyone is staying cool!

EscoGelato 122 S. Kalmia Escondido 92025 (between West Grand and 2nd Ave) (760) 745-6500 Website Open Mon-Fri 8-9, Sat-Sun 10-9

Suzy Q’s Diner (Escondido)

September 1, 2015 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for stopping by to read mmm-yoso!!! Cathy is writing a short post today. Kirk got caught up in something at work and Ed(from Yuma) is also crazy busy.

I somehow was on one of the one way streets in Escondido earlier this year, took a turn to try to find my way back to some sort of familiar landmark and was stopped at the signal light on Juniper at East 2nd and noticed this building. Eventually, I brought The Mister here, so we could try out the food. This definitely is an original building spanning the block. Now it is broken into separate storefronts: Suzy Q's, a small Mexican Restaurant, a Mexican Bakery (Panaderia Oaxaqueña) as well as a Laundromat. I couldn't research what it used to be, but did discover that Suzy Q's has been open since January and is family owned.The decor is 50's style with corresponding music being played overhead. The menu is kind of kitschy, with some silly names for items (the Jed Clampett omelet, Patsy Cline, Jailhouse Rock, Milton Berle, Ricky Ricardo, Mickey Rooney, Dean Martin, Patty Page…then again, these names may not mean anything to you. I digress)

I had low expectations, which were quickly dashed.Monte Cristo (chalkboard special, so no silly name) ($11.49). Wow, this was great. A ham and cheese sandwich on a hearty white bread, dipped in egg and fried, like French Toast, topped with some powdered sugar and served with some great blackberry preserves, fruit and a spinach salad. Quality, thick ham, quality cheese…really great.This is the 'Bye Bye Birdie' ($7.99). Holes cut into two thick pieces of white toast, an egg dropped into the hole and cooked to my request (easy); all of it topped with a really great sausage gravy. Served with Country Potatoes, and either bacon or sausage, this was another winner. A great meal. So glad I took the wrong turn and discovered this gem.

Suzy Q's Diner 258 E. 2nd (at Juniper) Escondido 92025 Closed Mondays. Open Tues-Thurs 7-3, Fri 9-9, Sat-Sun 7-3

2016 Rose Parade float road tests (3 &4) Breakfast at Silver Dollar Pancake House (Corona)

August 20, 2015 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Diner, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! Sometimes we write about events in addition to food. Cathy and Her Mister took a few short road trips and here's what they saw and ate. {Kirk and Ed (from Yuma) are both still too busy to write today}.

It's been a while since I wrote about the first road test of floats that will participate in the 2016 Tournament of Roses Rose Parade. A second road test was held two weeks later (on a Saturday in June) and The Mister and I couldn't go to that one. We've been to the third testing and the fourth test just occurred, so this post is a summary of what we've seen, along with what we ate.

First, breakfast following the 7 a.m. tests. You may recall a post from last year, about us stopping at Cupid's following a float road test. When we had left that stop, which we happened upon because of a terrible bit of traffic, we noticed this building……making mental notes that it looked interesting, especially if we had to jump off the freeway again. This past Saturday we had an opportunity.
When you first step inside, there's a horseshoe shaped counter, where you can sit if you see an empty chair. Else, you can sign in under the signage (to the right) and wait for a seat in the adjacent dining area.
While waiting, I read several of the framed newspaper articles in the 'lobby' This one has a good photo of the counter area and the unique seating there. We only saw one open seat or would've sat there, but the wait was not long since we were here before 9 a.m. {Briefly, Silver Dollar Pancake House has been in this location since 1925 and the current family owners used to work here}

The pancake menu here is similar to Original Pancake House, but not in terms of price (ex. coffee is $1.99). Similarly, Silver Dollar is open for lunch and closes in late afternoon. The Mister chose the Silver Dollar Special ($8.99). Two eggs, two bacon, two sausage and two of any of the special pancakes from the pancake menu. He chose the banana pancakes because the description said the bananas were baked in, not merely a topping. Then again, the topping is a delightful sweet mix of a sort of caramel and chopped pecans. Wonderful pancakes, great (skin on) sausage, orange yolked eggs (cooked perfectly over easy, which is not an easy thing to do).
When I saw plates being delivered to other tables, the portion sizes looked huge, so my decision was to be different (!) and I ordered the #3 special ($5.49 plus an additional 69¢ for a sausage patty substitution), French toast and two eggs (plus the sausage). This was a great choice. The two slices of French Toast were cooked perfectly…thick bread was used, the outside was crispy and the interior soft and fluffy. That sausage patty was excellent and the eggs were poached perfectly.

All in all a great breakfast, a great Diner with great people working. We'll be back. The tabletops? Each is centered with a different breakfast item photo and all are embedded with ads.

Silver Dollar Pancake House 710 East Sixth Corona, CA 92879 (951) 737-5977 Open Mon-Sat 5 a.m.-4 p.m., Sun 6 a.m.-4 p.m.

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On to the floats. The 2016 entry by the City of Los Angeles is titled "Discover Los Angeles". The first two photos of the July Road Test and 'fire drill' show the float expanded. The third photo shows the float inside the Phoenix Decorating Company barn, with the float collapsed (as it will have to, several times along the parade route). Also, the float has been colored in, which will be a guide for the volunteer decorators (who will begin the first Saturday in December). Do you see the 'Spotter' for this float in the second photo? He's inside the incorrectly proportioned Capitol Records building. Childrens Hospital of West Virginia will have their first float in the 2016 Tournamentof Roses Rose Parade. It's titled "Wild and Wonderful". In the second photo, you can see a small slot in the front (to your right) 'pier of bricks'. That's where the 'Spotter' is seated. (In the first photo, you can see the opened doors for the Spotter and the Driver).

The Shriners Hospitals for Children 2016 entry, "Fezzy Races To Adventure" was road tested in July. You see both sides of the float. You can see that people who are seated along the Parade route get different views of the same float. Again, in the top photo, you can see the opened doors for the Driver and the Spotter.

Clicking onto one of the two first photos, you can see rebar outlines of a horse and a buffalo. Look at the above photo, inside the barn. (Enlarge it.) The now screened over float has much more definition… and an eagle!…you can see Mount Rushmore (in keeping with the co-sponsors of the 2016 parade, the U.S. National Park Service along with the general parade theme of "Find Your Adventure").

There were more floats tested for driving and maneuverability, all in rebar. I'll post those with more finished photos, so you can see progression all in one post, instead of having to jump back and forth…the parade is in less than six months!

I hope your week has been going well. As always, thanks for reading.

Bolsa-Mira Mesa (lemon beef salad time)

August 18, 2015 Cathy Vietnamese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Well, well, here you are again, looking at mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog. Kirk is still overwhelmed with lists of things to do. Ed (from Yuma) has lists of places to see. Cathy is writing today, with a list of favorites.

It's about time for me to rotate locations and cuisine to Mira Mesa and Vietnamese. Bolsa has been located in this same mall that holds the storefronts of QT Pot and Tapioca Heaven at the SouthWest corner of Mira Mesa Boulevard at Black Mountain Road for more than ten years. Kirk wrote one post about Bolsa in 2008 and he didn't like the pho. Let me say that after 7 1/2 years, the pho here still is not the best. But so many other menu items are. The interior is always clean and we've always been seated immediately.The fried squid appetizer ($9.95) can be a meal or can be shared. Lightly seasoned and breaded and properly fried, the crispy batter combined with the tender squid is always a good choice.The version of cha gio ($6.50) are made with my favorite, rice paper skin. The deep fried egg rolls are filled solidly with a variety of vegetables and just bit of pork. Six are served with a good amount of fresh mint and lettuce; more than enough for wrapping. The nuoc cham dipping sauce here really has the sweet, sour, salty, savory and spicy hints of flavor that compliment the rolls.Then again the order of spring rolls ($4.25) are also multi vegetable filled, tightly wrapped in fresh rice paper with my preferred filling of pork ball and the accompanying peanut dipping sauce.Banh Xeo ($7.95) is ordered before opening the menu. The crispy sizzling rice batter, flavored (and colored by) turmeric needs some extra time to make. The filling of sliced pork, shrimp, bean sprouts and mung beans are all part of our 'ritual' of cutting up the savory pancake and placing a bit of everything on a piece of lettuce along with some mint and dipping the wrapped morsel into the nuoc cham sauce.

It's gotten to the point that one of the waiters merely tells us that they have begin preparing the Banh Xeo because they saw us in the parking lot…The version of chicken curry ($6.95) here is excellent. Savory with some sweet, the curry sauce is thick and always has such deep flavor. Served with a warm loaf of banh mi that is used to soak up the sauce after eating the (large amount of) chicken along with the onion, carrot and noodles that are in the bowl, this is a great meal, especially on a cooler day.The turmeric marinaded fish ($13.95) is so good. The accompaniments in the upper photo include lettuce, sesame leaf, cold noodles, peanuts and sesame studded rice cracker…but those are hardly necessary for the first bites of these fried thicker pieces of moist fish with a light turmeric seasoned crust and fresh cooked dill. The flavors of just those basic pieces could be enough, but I end up making small lettuce filled bites using all the other ingredients to continue the enjoyment of the flavors.Last summer, my obsession was lemon beef salad. The version here is called lemon sauce beef ($9.95) and is listed as an appetizer. The salad, with its lettuce, onion and mint along with some crushed peanuts and the lemon cooked thin slices of beef seems to be exactly what I crave on hot, humid days. However, I still seek out other versions, just to be sure I have found my favorites.There's also a 'Stir Fried Egg Noodle' section the menu. You can ask for the noodle to be deep fried instead of stir fried and sometimes (like rainy days) the crispy noodle, topped with a combination of everything ($9.95)…beef, pork, shrimp, squid and vegetables..along with the addictive flavorful gravy is just perfect here.

Bolsa 9225 Mira Mesa Boulevard San Diego 92126 (858) 693-3663 open 9-9 daily

The Village Kitchen (Ocean Beach)

August 17, 2015 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Diner, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for stopping by to read this food blog named mmm-yoso!!! Kirk is again having a busy few days at work and Ed (from Yuma) is having a busy few days staying indoors, avoiding the heat (in Yuma). Cathy is busy writing a few posts about places where she's had a meal.

Late one overcast morning, The Mister and I drove West and spent a considerable amount of time looking for a parking space. We ended up about four blocks from the ocean on Newport Avenue near Sunset Cliffs Boulevard. This bright yellow storefront caught our eye.Standout bright yellow…and such a narrow storefront…but the building is deep. The restaurant has been in that location a long time. Mom and Pop…everyone in here seemed to know each other…a locals hangout. That's the ocean…you can see the American flag on the post that's built into the sidewalk at the edge of the beach, if you squint.Classic diner decor…breakfast is served all day, but there were some menu items that we were more interested in trying.The Monday special- meatloaf ($6.95). The slices of meatloaf were thin, but so flavorful… the color of gravy is a hint- carrot was used in the loaf and therefore the gravy, and there was not much bread filler; it was all meat. The potatoes and veggies were standard (and went well with the gravy) and the grilled toasted dinner roll was just enough bread for the meal.Asking if the chili was made here (and being unaware of the Ocean Beach Chili Cook Off), I was answered with a hearty "of course!". (Mental note: the OB Street Festival and Chili Cook Off occurs during the San Diego County Fair). I ordered a cup ($3.95).

Well. This was more of a soup-chili, which I grew up eating. It had beans, which is how Mom made it. All the right flavors were there. Nostalgia.What really caught my eye while reading the menu was the Stuffed Tomato ($6.75). Stuffed with a generous portion of Tuna Salad. A wonderful, lightly dressed, simple, made with good tuna Tuna Salad. Cutting up the tomato and having forkfuls with the lettuce, cheese and occasional pickle had some food memories triggered. This was a great meal…and I am on the lookout for Stuffed Tomato on menus…my new craving.

Village Kitchen Restaurant 4853 Newport Avenue San Diego 92107 (619)222-0151 Open Mon-Tue-Wed 7:30-2, Thur-Fri 7:30-6 Sat 8-6, Sun 8-2

Ice Blast (shaved ice plus) (Convoy Street)

August 14, 2015 Cathy Desserts, What Cathy Eats!

Ice Blast has closed.

mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog. It is just too darn hot for Kirk, Ed (from Yuma) and Cathy to eat much or to write about much. Here's a short post about a local place that's been in operation for about two years.

In the far corner from Phuong Trang, which Kirk and I have written about numerous times, and also sharing the same parking lot with Big Joy Family Bakery (which I've also written about more than once) is a tiny store front…which I thought was maybe a water store that also sold bagged ice. In addition, cc had written about Ice Blast after other bloggers had after it opened and I took it for granted I would be writing a post, yet never got around to it. Until today. It's 5 p.m. and 99 degrees outside. I can't think of any sort of meal at this point. Fortunately, The Mister and I are always adventurous and unafraid to walk into places…or at least peek inside windows. Let me just say that if you are eating by (or ordering just for) yourself, the "tiny" size is more than enough. The outlines drawn on the glass are accurate.

The instructions on the glass and on the wall are there to help you…Alternately, there are flavor combination suggestions on the wall near the register and in the menu booklet. Order, pay, have a seat.Really, I do have too many photos of our orders here, but don't want to bore you. That's Jimmy, the owner, in the photo above. He is patient, professional and very nice. He makes the syrup flavors used here. Tigers Blood (a combination of strawberry and coconut) is a favorite, but really none of the flavors is automatically dismissed by me when we stop here, I take a while to decide what I want to try that day. Above, a small ($3.15) Sourbomb (Lime, Lemon and Pink Lemonade, no toppings). Just a great combination of the more sour flavors offered.

You can have the ices topped with sour spray, sour plum powder (ling hing mui), condensed milk or Hawaiian salt, for free. We've tried all and each has its place, depending on the flavors you choose. The most recent visit had us trying the 'exotic' (to us) combination of cherry, banana and guava. In addition, we paid 75¢ more for a scoop of coconut-pineapple ice cream (and yes, it's Thrifty brand; my favorite-extra creamy, old fashioned ice cream).

Another locally owned, really great place.

Ice Blast 4206 Convoy Street 92111 (858) 430-6104 open Mon-Wed noon-9, Thur-Sun noon-10

Shizuoka Japanese Restaurant (La Mesa) (new owners)

August 13, 2015 Cathy Japanese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! A food blog. Kirk is working to exhaustion this week. Ed (from Yuma) is continuing his steady relaxation with his retirement schedule. Cathy penciled in and checked off writing a post for today.

In December, I was simultaneously happy and sad to get a comment on my most recent post about Shizuoka from Nana, the daughter of of the owners of this Mom and Pop Japanese restaurant; her parents had decided to retire and sell the shop.

I had written about this 25+ year East County Institution only twice before that post…but it was one of our regular stops. Local, quality, friendly. I really couldn't bring myself to stop in for a very long time. But we finally have. Well, it looks the same from the outside, other than a sandwich board on the sidewalk and the missing shoji window coverings.Inside, the refrigerator and one booth is gone and a small, three seat sushi bar and cash register is near the entrance to the kitchen…the tablecloths are gone, too.

Other than the addition of a few pages of sushi rolls, the menu looked about the same…but I wondered if the food tasted the same.Starting out, we each had a nice bowl of miso soup, which was good. There were plenty of fresh tofu cubes. The calamari appetizer ($4.95) prepared in a similar, but not exactly the original way…lightly dusted with rice flour and crispy. It was good and I'll order it again. The lunch menu was the same: choose a primary and a secondary for a Bento box ($6.99). The Mister ordered the teriyaki chicken and pot stickers. Everything was fresh and good. The teriyaki sauce on the tender chicken was not too sweet nor sticky/gloppy; the pot stickers were quite good and mostly meat filled. The salad dressing was fresh and flavorful and the edamame in the center were still warm from steaming.

The difference? Rice filled one of the compartments, so the mayonnaise covered noodles were missing…rice used to be served in a side bowl. The rice was an excellent, almost sushi quality.The standard for me here are the primary of saba (grilled mackerel) and the tempura vegetables. The large piece of mackerel was fresh, thick, not oily and grilled to a perfect doneness with a nice crispness of the skin. The tempura was perfect and included one shrimp and one piece of surimi in addition to the vegetables.

All in all, still good, still quality and still local.

Shizuoka Japanese Restaurant 9118 Fletcher Parkway La Mesa 91942 (619)461-1151 Mon-Fri 11:30-3 Mon-Thur 5-9:30 Friday and Saturday 5-10 Closed Sunday

Mucha Fruta -Neveria/Fruiteria/Cocteleria (City Heights)

August 12, 2015 Cathy Fruiterias, Ice Cream/Frozen Yogurt, Sandwiches, Seafood, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for stopping to read mmm-yoso!!! on this warm summer day. Kirk is (again) busy with work, errands and stuff while Ed(from Yuma) is (still) busy being retired and exploring Yuma and other places while enjoying life. Cathy is (once more) writing a post.

One day not long ago, The Mister and I were driving down University Avenue and noticed this signage, located in between Tu Thanh which Kirk has posted about twice now.The business on the other side used to be (another) Ali Baba, but now is City Heights Cafe.The menu is pretty much standard. There is a sign in the window for churros with cajeta (caramel made with goat milk) for $1.25 as well as large plantains for $1.50 with but those are fried and aren't being made in the these days of heat. The glass case you see in the above photo shows some of the Thrifty brand ice cream flavors available.The wall opposite has photos of some of the menu items.The glassed in refrigerator displays most of the fresh fruit available that day.One day I was craving a coctele and ordered the shrimp version ($7.75). Only one size and this was plenty. The large shrimp are cooked in the lime/tomato juice to which is added cucumber, onion, cilantro and slices of avocado. There were at least 12 (and I think 15) large shrimp in this cocktail, which was more than enough.Another version of chamango (small, $4) was tried here. Since mangos are in season and available fresh (instead of being frozen), the drink wasn't as cold or icy, it was merely tasty and wonderful.One other visit had me craving the shrimp again, so I ordered a tosti-ceviche ($4.50). It was a great ceviche (again with large shrimp) on top of spicy lime Tostitos (which are only sold in Mexico). It is $2 more than a plain tostada and the melding of flavors is good/unique, but I can now go on with my life and order a regular ceviche tostada next time.Pretty much any visit to a Fruiteria includes a fruit salad (small, $4.25) and our visits here are no exception. Papaya, banana, mango, cantaloupe, watermelon, strawberries and apples along with cottage cheese, granola and honey made this hearty meal a good (and refreshing) choice.The tortas here are wonderful. The fresh bread and plenty of quality ingredients have simple sandwiches being a fancy meal for us to share. Above, a Lomo torta($5.25). Plenty of beef tenderloin, a thin layer of good beans and cheese, Romaine and avocado on the fresh, toasted torta bread. It's great.Then there's the ice creams. Usually we share a two scoop cup ($1.25) but one day, The Mister thought we should share a banana split ($3.95). Who am I to argue. Best part, you choose the ice cream flavors and don't need any sauce to disturb those flavors. Our usual ice cream choices: pistachio, butter pecan and cherry. A perfect snack on these hot days.

I hope your week is going well!

Mucha Fruta 4804 University Avenue (Between Estrella and 48th) San Diego 92105 (619) 282-0282 open 8-8 Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri, Sat and 8-7 on Wednesday, 9-7 on Sunday

Go ahead, click on it; the photo will go upright. I still don't know what I've done to make my camera phone go goofy.

Ranchwood BBQ and Catering (La Mesa)

August 6, 2015 Cathy BBQ, What Cathy Eats!

You are here: mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog. Kirk has been working a bit more than usual and Ed (from Yuma) has been enjoying life. Cathy is writing this short post.

It's still unusually humid and hot; neither The Mister nor I want to cook. The other day we stayed close to home, driving on side streets until we got into La Mesa just looking for a small, quick bite. We didn't even use 'air conditioned comfort' as a criterion.

The old brick and mortar location of Pubcakes closed at the end of last year and Ranchwood BBQ took its place. Ranchwood had only been a catering business for years and this location is now the storefront as well as catering. We parked on El Cajon Boulevard and walked in.

(FYI, Pubcakes exists in a way; they sell craft beer cake mix, (you can make cupcakes at home using beer as the liquid). The mix is sold at specialty markets around town, including Seisels and Iowa Meat Farms {Pubcakes website}.The small storefront holds two picnic benches inside and some small tables out front. There are several bar stools strewn around. A lot of the orders are 'to go'.

That is the entire menu above the counter in that second photo. The meat is smoked here, behind the building. We were here one day just after opening (11 a.m.; closed on Monday) and all of the menu was available. Deciding we were going to share and being unable to agree on what, we chose the Cowboy Plate ($13.99). Two meats and two sides…and two slices of white bread.The sides we always choose seem to be cole slaw and baked beans. The slaw was good: fresh, crispy, cool and just creamy enough…no real spices added.

The beans…ah the root beer baked beans. Tasty and different. Two types of beans, onion, celery and maybe some bell pepper… and a creamy slightly tangy sauce which had a faint undertone of the sassafras, vanilla and other flavors of a good root beer. These were different and tasty beans. As you can see, these sides were quite large.

There are other sides we could've chosen: fries, rings, mashed potato, veggies, regular and a chipotle potato salad and house made chips.

Our two meats? Brisket (we would rather have fatty Brisket than lean Tri-Tip) and Pulled Pork. Yes, that portion is large; it weighed more than a pound.

Both meats were cooked low and slow, so the meat was very tender. The beef was lightly covered with a mustard based sauce and the whole portion (pork and beef) with the BBQ sauce.

I was happy trying pieces of meat without any sauce, and got only a light smoke flavor from the pork. The sauce was complimentary to the meats, yet not needed.

We will be returning to this locally owned business to try out other meats and menu items.

Ranchwood BBQ and Catering 7229 El Cajon Blvd San Diego 92115 Website Closed Monday open Sun, Tues-Thurs 11-8:30, Fri-Sat 11-9

Tasty Pizza (no pizza) (inside Parkway Plaza Mall)

August 4, 2015 Cathy Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Here you are, once again checking out mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog. Kirk and Ed (from Yuma) both don't feel like writing today, but Cathy does, so here's another post about food.

The weather out here has been quite humid the past few weeks, even with the thermometer topping at 84•, it feels miserable. The Mister and I have tried driving to the coast and have ended up inside grocery stores with air conditioning, just to feel cooler. Fortunately Parkway Plaza, the first indoor shopping center in San Diego County, is close to home.

I must admit that it's been years since we really stopped here for anything other than shopping for tools, appliances or parts at the Sears store, so when we walked the mall, it was all 'new' to us. However the Food Court had quite a few of the same old chains…until we took a closer look.This used to be a Sbarro, where I could pick up a stromboli or calzone or pizza slice when the urge hit, so pizza ovens were in place here…but thenclosely reading the menu, showed us so much more than pizza is on the menu here.The bowl of lentil soup ($3) is excellent and quite filling. It was nice to eat something warm in the chilled air conditioned food court. Ordering the 'Spinach Pie' ($2.50) was a nice surprise. Not a spanakopita other than being filled with fresh spinach, the home made bread was stuffed with a refreshing mix of spinach, lemon and spices. The bread was a fresh, hearty and chewy type; the way I like bread to be.The tabbouleh salad ($3). Oh my, this was so fresh and bright. Parsley, bulgur, olive oil and lemon juice.Manakeesh, an arabic flatbread (this is a different dough than used for the $5 pizzas here; see the edges?) is $5. The top photo is cheese topped, the above photo is topped with za'atar (a blend of sesame seeds, thyme and sumac)and olive oil. Both of these flatbreads were excellent in their own way (and purchased on different visits; one is enough to share).Most of the time, we order a hot tea ($2) it's a teabag in a standard cardboard cup and a standard tea I've seen sold at local small markets but one day, I decided we should try a Turkish coffee here. It's $3 and quite a presentation.

So much nicer than we could ever expect. You just never know what you'll find in a mall.

Tasty Pizza 414 Parkway Plaza El Cajon 92020 (619)401-4400