mmm-yoso – Page 279

Saturday Stuffs – Convoy/Kearny Mesa Edition: The San Diego Night Market, BH Chung Closes, Green Shallot to open.

August 24, 2013 mmm-yoso Festivals & Events, yoso-silly

Some interesting stuff, based on the 92121 and 92123 zip code.

The San Diego Night Market debuts September 28th:

A few weeks back, I had a nice dinner with "DanielT", whose family is wired into the Linda Vista/Kearny Mesa area. During our conversation he mentioned plans for a San Diego Night Market, which I assume is modeled after the way busy 626 Night Market. So just the past week, FOY "YummyYummy" sent me more info on this. Apparently, the San Diego Night Market makes its maiden voyage on September 28th in the parking lot of Zion Market. I recall mentioning that I'd hope the market was on private property, which would give the folks running the thing more control. I know some folks who have gone to the 626 Night Market and the biggest complaints were the crowds (long lines), prices, and for those food lovers, pretty much underwhelming food choices. I'm hoping we get to taste some good eats, not regurgitated fair food, or over-hyped money grab cuisine.

Anyway, you can go to The SD Night Market Site or the Convoy District website. This will be a great organization test. It'll be interesting at the least to see if it can be pulled off successfully.

7655 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

B.H. Chung closes to be replaced by…..

So, I was told that B.H. Chung had closed. I drove by during a weekday lunch hour and it was indeed closed.

It was indeed closed. My sources tell me the new lessees are Chinese. Still not 100% sure what type of restaurant it will be. Stay tuned…..

4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Green Shallot to open.

I was wondering what was up with the former Mama Jamaica's location. Apparent it's (yet) another Thai Restaurant. This one called Green Shallot.

"Thai Gourmet Express"? Sigh….. Right across the street from where Dusit opened and closed before I even had a chance to visit. I quizzed some folks about the place and the best thing they ate there was some Sate Burrito thingy? I hope this is better, though I'm not opposed to Sate Burrito thingies…really.

5447 Kearny Villa Rd
San Diego, CA 92123

Overflowing Garden Thai inspired Beef Salad

August 23, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

OK, so as I've noted in previous posts, this gardening thing is getting out of hand…..

It's getting to the point where things are getting kind of out of hand….like, there has to be an intervention for the organic-veggie-plant growing addict! Man, the inventory gets kind of crazy….we now have have watercress and radishes, planted over carrots because of some timing thing. We bought hibernating ladybugs because it controls aphids. After a couple of days the Missus "fired them" because they weren't working fast enough! Still, there's something therapeutic about releasing, then watching ladybugs do their thing….I call it the "aquarium affect". Though that nirvana is soon broken by the Missus encouraging them to "kuai den….kuai den!" Then of course, we have to deal with "what happens when the novelty is over…." The Missus is on tomato deathwatch…..waiting to plant something in the real estate once the plants die. It's all a learning process for us. And yet, I find myself spending more time in our formerly desolate backyard, unless Sammy takes my seat.

And then, there's the question of "we have this stuff, what am I gonna make?" The Kale and Chard are fine, it's the Missus making "juice". But the other stuff has been, well, kinda fun interesting as a whole. I kid about the Missus a lot. But that's not to say I have no barriers. I tend to think in specific, structured ways. Take for example, that the Missus told me, "we have all this stuff, make a Thai Beef salad!" So immediately, I give two options, Yum Neua, which for me is a minced/chopped beef salad/larb that is cooked with herbs/sauce/flavoring or Nahm Tok, which is grilled, then sliced, and flavored. You know where this going, right? Yep, the Missus told me…."I want it grilled, then chopped, then flavored….then eaten."

Which was kind of good. It made me think…."if I had a a bunch of people to serve a Thai inspired beef salad to, what would I do?" Well make a sauce of course? Which I made the night before.

The Sauce – this is what you start with:
1/4 cup Fish Sauce
1/4 Cup Lime Juice
5 Thai Chilies Chopped, then smashed with a cleaver – I use seeds and all
3 Tb Palm Sugar
2 Tb White Sugar
1 Tb minced/grated garlic
2 Tb minced cilantro stems (save the leaves)

First I microwave (one of the few things I use it for) the palm sugar for 15-20 seconds to soften, then I add to a pot with all the other ingredients and bring to a simmer. This helps to dissolve everything. Once everything is mixed I remove from heat and cool. I then taste and make adjustments. Why? Well, because we all have our own preferences. The one key thing to remember is, it's easy to adjust flavor of the final product when making this ahead of time….you can add fish sauce. more chilies, etc…..except for the sweet component. So I err on the side of making this a tad too sweet. Also, remember, once the flavors come together, it's going to be a bit different.

So finally….we get to the version of Yum Neua, right?

Well….not so fast Kemosabe. It depends on what cut of beef you use…of course. The Missus really likes Hanger Steak, which ain't cheap, but is tender, and I always think in terms of "what I make at home versus cost of eating out". But it really depends. Sirloin might do well marinated in something like pineapple juice for an hours or two……for me, I rubbed the beef, all 1 3/4 pounds of it with 1 Tb of salt, 2 Tb fish sauce, 1 Tb granulated garlic, 2 Tb dark brown sugar, and a dash or two of white pepper.

I let sit for about 20 minutes, while I grilled like 2 pounds of brussel sprouts for the Missus……… Anyway, I grilled the beef until about 150….medium well, and let sit for 10 minutes. The carry-over cooking took it to almost well done. I cut against the grain, then chopped. I then mixed in chopped cilantro leaves, Thai chilies, scallions, and mint from the yard, then added about half the sauce. Had a taste, then added about 2 Tb of roasted rice powder. I tasted and adjusted the flavor.

Served it with lettuce and cucumbers from the garden and garlic from elsewhere….we consume so much garlic that I don't think we'd be able to keep up. Ended up using 10 Thai chilies, so I think we raised wimpy ones.

What's really funny is….same sauce and all…..I used half the beef which the Missus thought was delish. The next day, She just went ahead and made it herself with the remaining beef and sauce, without smelling or tasting and it wasn't quite as good. Go figure…..

And life is about juggling priorities….like Frankie wanting equal time, and letting us know, "in my next life, I'll be a farmer!"

Kona Kakes and Plates – Just the plates

August 22, 2013 mmm-yoso Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego, Plate Lunch

**** Kona Kakes has moved to Point Loma and no longer makes Plates

I recently saw the storefront for Kona Kakes in Linda Vista….I had wondered where they had gone to. What really got my attention was the new addition to the name….the “& Plates” part. So Kona Kakes was now serving plate lunches? This I had to check out.

So a few days later I stopped by……to check out the plates.

I’ve had the cakes from Kona Kakes a couple of times and it was quite good. So I really couldn’t wait to check out the “plates” which I guess are served between 11am and 4pm Monday thru Saturday.

You know…every place makes “sliders” now and a riff on nachos. I decided to try something basic and perhaps not as easy as it sounds; the Teriyaki Beef Plate ($8). Plates some with two “sides” which can include rice, green salad, quinoa salad (??), and mac salad. Hard to guess what I chose, huh?

First the basics. The rice was perfect, though I’m not a big fan of the mac salad here….too loose and too sweet. The beef was quite tough; literally the two dollar steak. It really lacked flavor and was also cold, like it had been sitting in a pan somewhere and maybe put in the microwave for a (too) short time. It lacked color, which made it look less appetizing. The sauce totally reminded me of the teriyaki we used to make; when we couldn’t get mirin….which was a good part of my childhood. It was too salty. Frankly, I don’t care if you microwave your meat, but marinate it well, some color would be good, too. I’ve moved on from using thick cut low quality beef, you can still get decent thin cut beef which you can marinate appropriately and still have osmething tender. It wasn’t horrible; just mediocre.

Still, I decided to try them one more time. This time I went with the Kalua Pork Plate, which was really cheap at $7.

For this price, I figured Oven Kalua Pork, which it was, I also kinda assumed Kalua Pork and Cabbage, which it also was, though I wish they made that clear on the menu….the “local” in me I guess. The flavor of the liquid smoke was decent, a mild “nose” and not an over-powering flavor, though it could have used more salt, and frankly more fat. The cabbage was still fairly crisp as well. The pork was on the dry side and this had the real feeling of something from a chafing dish. The onions were basically raw……which is great if it were sweet onions…which is one of my favorite things with a sprinkle of alaea, the mildly sweet sea salt tinged pink from red volcanic soil. Here it was basically pungent brown onions….too much for the plate raw. I did like the quinoa salad, though it was a bit under-dressed for my taste, it still was refreshing.

The folks here are very nice and friendly, but it seems that the plates are here to supplement the “kakes”, and I wish it was more than that. Maybe I’m being too harsh because I grew up eating this stuff, but frankly, I think this isn’t as good as L&L, and I’m not a big fan of the paint-by-numbers Hawaiian Barbecue. I really think they can do better and hope they do, especially since they have a potential goldmine by catering to Ballast Point next door, which has a beer pairing. I’m wondering, do they have a beer pairing for their cakes, which are really good?

Kona Kakes & Plates
5401 Linda Vista Road Suite 402
San Diego, CA 92110
Lunch Served 1100am – 4pm Monday – Saturday

Supannee House of Thai

August 18, 2013 mmm-yoso Thai Restaurants

After our brunch at Fathom Bistro, Candice asked me if I had enough left in the tank to try a Thai restaurant in the area called Supannee. Apparently, the restaurant has it's own "garden/farms" from which it gets many of the herbs/vegetables it serves and it also is supposed to make a killer Thai sausage. So even if I didn't have room, i would have made some!

When thinking of Thai food, Point Loma just isn't the first place that comes to mind, so I was fascinated. The location is a little corner strip mall a block or so from Point Loma Boulevard.

The interior of the restaurant is a bit larger than it looks from the outside. It's simple, but clean….I did find that sound travels quite far.

The menu reflected what Candice told me about the place. It's using local products when it can and frankly, the prices kind of reflect this.

In addition to the regular menu, a sheet of specials was also presented. Loved the local caught fish and the grass fed beef options.

Of course we started things off with the House Made Thai Sausage ($9.50). This dish really delivered.

The sausage was obviusly deep fried. The cut of the meat in the sausage was perfect, not too coarse and not mushy. The flavors of kaffir lime leaf and lemongrass came through nicely, as did a touch of heat. It tasted fine when eaten by itself; but once combined with some thinly sliced thai chilies, ginger, and wrapped in a fresh and crisp lettuce leaf it became delicious. The slight sour of the sausage, cut by the heat of the chili and the ginger; though honesty, I think galangal would have added a nice woody-fruity spice, but also a more cooling component than the ginger. Nevertheless, this was quite good.

We also got the Larb Grass Fed Beef ($12) at heat level 10.

This was an interesting dish. First, I think we got "gringo'd" because this was maybe a 6 or 7 in terms of heat. It was also a bit off balance in terms of flavor being a bit too sweet. The beef as expected was nice and chewy. The rice powder seemed loss here because of the sweetness of the dish as well. I took the leftovers home and it tasted better a couple of hours later.

The final thing we ordered is what I usually order to check the chef's stir-fry skill, Pad Se Eew (with beef $11).

I'm sure that Supanee has to defer to an "Ameri-Thai" customer base and has made concessions. So I ignored the "Calabrese broccoli". The flavoring, usually a simple dark soy, soy sauce, and a sweet component was quite off. This was pretty bland. The noodles were on the mushy side and it lacked "wok hey", the wonderful flavor of the wok.

I brought the leftovers home. The Missus took one look at the Pad See Eew and refused to eat it. She liked the texture of the grass fed beef, even though the flavor was a bit off. She loved the Thai Sausage. So a week or so later we returned to Supanee for dinner.

And of course started things off with the Thai Sausage ($9.50).

This delivered as it did last time. I believe its our favorite version in San Diego.

We also ordered the Grass Fed Beef Larb again.

This was again ordered at heat level 10 and this time it tasted like a "10". The flavors were nicely balanced this time around as well. All the components, the fresh crisp lettuce, the toasted rice powder, the cilantro, played their role well. In spite of the heat, you could make out all the flavors. I think we'll dial it down a bit next time!

On the top of the specials menu is a White Seabass, a wonderful fish, sauteed in a Garlic Chili Sauce, which we ordered.

First the good. This was bursting with flavor, a complex herbaceous-sweet-salty-spicy. The Thai eggplant (grown in their garden) in the dish was sauteed to perfection….I would be happy with a plate full of that. The dish just sparkled in terms of flavors and colors. The one problem was that the White Seabass was just cooked to death….dry as shoe leather. A real bummer, because it has a nice flavor and texture when done correctly. At $20, that's kind of a serious misstep. Bummer, this could have been an excellent dish.

I think we'll be back for the sausage and larb, but am not sure about having anything else. That sausage, even at almost $10 is worth it to us.

Supannee House of Thai
2907 Shelter Island Drive
San Diego, CA 92106

Hours
Mon – Thurs 11-3pm, 5pm – 9pm
Friday     11-3pm, 5pm – 930pm
Saturday    12-930pm
Sunday      12-900pm

777 Noodlehouse: Sometimes, nothing fits the bill like some intestines…….

August 17, 2013 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

In a bowl of rice noodle soup……

Or stir-fried, Chinese style with preserved vegetable. They can make this pretty spicy.

I don't know when it happened, but somewhere down the line intestines have become comfort food.

Not in the mood for poop-shoot? The Hu Tieu Nam Vang Kho )dry) is still my favorite here.

I wasn't quite as fond of the egg noodle version; Mi Nam Vang. It just didn't do it for me.

The Missus really likes the Tod Mun Pla, the Thai style fishcake here. I think it's tasty too. They really have a lot of kaffir lime leaves in it.

Not much else to say on a beautiful San Diego Saturday. Just some soup to share!

777 Noodle House
4686 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92105

I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend!

Honolulu: Keeaumoku Seafood

August 15, 2013 mmm-yoso Hawaiian Food, Honolulu, Oahu, Poke, Travel

Man, I didn't even notice I hadn't done this post….time to catch up!

After returning from the Big Island, we had maybe a full day to get our grinds in….the Missus wanted to make the most of it and I had wanted to check out Keeaumoku Seafood, and tiny shop just mauka of Beretania Street. Oh….yes, in case you didn't know, we never used East-West-North-South while I was growing up, in fact, I was kind of confused with those directions when I first started working, then living on the mainland. Back "home" we use "mauka", toward the mountains, or "makai" towards the ocean.

Anyway, the shop it a tiny one with barely a handful of parking spaces right in front of it. Funny, I still remember when Nippon Theatre was across the street from here….man am I getting old!

Anyway…we wen' score one of the spaces right in front of the place.

From the cold case, it seems that this place makes poke in small batches, which is not a bad thing. The poke did look a bit dried out as well, but we weren't here for poke. There was a rather stern mannered Korean woman working and a very sweet young lady who was Filipino. She really did a nice job putting together our plate.

I'd really come here for one thing…….this:

No…it's not the brown rice, ok? The Missus did insist on that to counter-act the rich and wonderful fried Ahi Belly. Man was this good! A slight resistance before melting away in your mouth. This being Ahi, not Aku, the flavor wasn't too strong for the Missus.

You also get an order of poke with the Ahi Belly. I chose the sesame oil poke, which was coated with masago. sadly, it wasn't very good. The fish was tough and this was strangely lacking in flavor.

The Missus really wanted to balance out the scales and we ended up going to Whole Foods in Kahala, where She built a massive salad. We had our meal at one of the tables right outside the market.

Man, we're still talking about that Ahi Belly…….

Keeaumoku Seafood
1223 Keeaumoku St
Honolulu, HI 96814

Weeknight Grilling: Asian style grilled lamb meatballs

August 14, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

In all honesty, I really don't know what to call this……..

I'm not going to insult anyone and call it Lamb Bun Cha, that would be wrong…..it's basically the product of having our little backyard garden go a little crazy and the Missus texting me this morning asking what to get at the market. I had been going through Cindy Pawlcyn's, Big Small Plates and saw a recipe for what is called Spicy Lamb Burgers with Vietnamese Salad. And while this bares hardly any resemblance to that recipe, I always try to note my inspiration.

The Missus decided it would be great grilling these…..and even better, why don't we do it over binchotan on our konru, wrapping it in herbs and lettuce from our yard. Just like tree-huggers would do!

And so it came to pass………and this was pretty darn good. We grilled it with some shishito peppers that needed to be picked soon.

We dipped these in nuoc mam cham and had a nice meal. The lamb was really moist and full of flavor…though it just wasn't gamey enough for the Missus.

Still, it was rather quick once you get the bincho going. There was a good amount of flavor. The savory fish sauce dip balanced out the borderline almost too sweet meatballs.

And as always, I lived to cook another day!

And we had a couple of interesting beers to boot…actually, I liked the name more than the beer.

Asian style grilled lamb meatballs:

1 lb ground lamb
3 tb minced shallot
2 tb minced scallion
3 tb minced mint
1/4 cup minced cilantro
1 tb dark brown sugar
1 tb agave syrup
2 finely minced Thai chilies
3 tb fish sauce
1 tb soy sauce
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

– Combine all ingredients and let rest for 20-30 minutes
– Roll into balls then flatten into small patties
– Grill and serve with fresh herbs, nuoc mam cham, and wrapped in lettuce leaves

Thanks for reading!

Tem’s BBQ

August 13, 2013 mmm-yoso Filipino Restaurants

*** Update: Tem's is now Nanay's, the food seems the same though.

A couple folks have asked if I'd ever been to this little shop in the food court of the Plaza Sorrento Shopping Center. Which I think is a pretty good food court. Yes, there's a Subway and the Chinese Fast Food place, but you can also get Thai, Greek, not my kind of Sushi, and perhaps not not my favorite Pho shop. Throw in Indian, one of the places in our Mira Mesa banh mi crawl, and you've got yourself quite a variety….maybe not the best in terms of quality, but it's a combination that's hard to beat in one spot. And there's even Filipino Barbecue……which is where I'll pick up. I'd seen Tem's and had always meant to try them out. So I finally made it a point to grab a meal.

I've always thought Filipino "turo-turo" style food was perfect for a food court. As expected, the atmosphere is totally food court and the selection revolves around Filipino Barbecue, with an additional 3-4 additional offerings. The prices are reasonable….the 1 item and rice goes for $4.99. Here's an example with BBQ Chicken.

Man, talk about enough carbs to keep you runnin' for a while….it's like three scoops of rice. The chicken is grilled, but not dry, and is dark meat which has more flavor. I enjoy the different riffs on Filipino BBQ, salty, sweetness from sugar or even 7-up, perhaps a fruitiness from Jufran, sour of Kalamansi, a hint of garlic, a touch sweet-pungent onions…..the list can get fairly long. The version here is very mild, coated with sauce, and for me, occupies a level barely above the food court "same chicken with a different sauce".

The best item I've had here is the "Spicy Pork", which is a pseudo sisig-ish.

It's the 50% solution….not very spicy, but it is pork. There's a hint of sour and sweet, the pork has a bit of chew, but isn't bad. It's the most flavorful dish I've had here.

The BBQ Pork on the other hand was totally "the other white meat". Dry, touch, and with less flavor than the chicken.

The one item I would absolutely not ever get here again is the Chicken Adobo. Dry, lacking in the flavor of soy, vinegar, black pepper, this was adobo in name only.

Then there was the occasion when my rice on the two item combo…..a reasonably priced at $6.09, was terribly hard and dry. No bueno…..

For some reason, the way the food is glazed reminds me of long defunct Eddel's, but with less flavor. Maybe someone with the inside scoops might know?

Tem's BBQ
6715 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92121

Champions Mariscos Truck in Bay Park

August 12, 2013 mmm-yoso Food Trucks/Carts, Mexican Restaurants, Seafood, Taco Shops

So yesterday I did a "Breakfast of Champions" post, I guess it just makes sense to do Champions Mariscos right after it.

Last week I making the drive up Morena Boulevard, something that I do countless times during the week. In the parking lot to the side of Toys 'R Us, where the ill fated Morena Farmers Market used to be was a lonchera…..

I hadn't seen this one before. Yet, I had stuff to do and couldn't drop by. I kept my fingers crossed that this wasn't just a one time deal. So this past weekend, I managed to stop by. Not once, but twice.

Champion Mariscos? I don't ever recall seeing or hearing about this truck. It was kind of weird approaching the lone truck in the middle of a large parking lot, with no one else around. I checked out the menu, the prices seemed in line for most items. The woman handling the counter was quite friendly. I asked her how long they had been here….."since monday" and what they're hours were, "every day 10 to 6".

I have a usual "routine" of items I order from just about any mariscos truck and I'm just too old to change that habit.

Like any decent mariscos truck, things start off with a cup of consomme…..

On the light side, kind of salty, but not terrible.

I went with the Fish Taco, which was a 99 cent special and a taco gobernador ($4.25).

So let me just get my pet peeves out of the way. The fish taco's batter was kind of mushy, in fact the fish was unusually bland, yet very moist edging on mushy as well. I'm thinking this was probably swali. The under ripe tomatoes add a bit of texture but not any of that nice acid to the taco. Other than that….it's 99 cents, who am I to be a nit-picker, right? There was a ton of shrimp on the gobernador. The tortilla had been lined with melted cheese so it wouldn't turn to mush. The shrimp was cooked decently, but I sorely missed the acid of some sauteed tomatoes and the flavor of bell peppers in this. Still, there was a decent amount of shrimp in this.

So I decided to make a return visit. The consomme was much better this time around. Nice shrimp-fish flavor, with hints of celery.

I decided to just go for it and started with an Enchilado Shrimp Taco….spicy shrimp($4.25). At first I was just going to do a taco de camaron, but I really didn't care for the batter, nor the frying technique on my previous visit.

Good quantity of shrimp, well cooked, though not very spicy. Same tomatoes and mediocre tortillas. Not bad.

I also got the taco de marlyn…or in this case marlin ($4.00):

Unlike other versions, the smoked fish wasn't too salty, but it did lack a distict smokey flavor. The tortilla was nicely griddles, but there was just too much cheese on this. I like the way these trucks make prep the tortilla on the gobernador or marlyn, using cheese as a base to preserve the texture of the tortilla. There's a very mild milky background that you barely notice. Here there was just too much of that. This was not bad by any means, but nowhere near the league of the good mariscos trucks in San Diego.

One thing about my posts you have to understand. It's not in my DNA to drop my standards "just because I'm happy something is close by". Just as I'm not just happy because we actually have XLB in San Diego, I can't say the food here is fantabulous, just because it's the only one. That said, I hope if you live nearby you check them out. I don't want to be negative, but Mariscos German couldn't make it in the neighborhood and sadly, we couldn't even support a Farmer's Market! La Playita closed recently and Playa Azul a couple of years ago. So unless you just want Taco Shop fare, this might be one of your few shots at something different.

Champions Mariscos Truck – In the parking lot of Toys 'R Us on Morena Boulevard

Breakfast of Champions: Banh Mi Ba Chi (pork belly) from Cafe Dore

August 11, 2013 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Breakfast/Brunch, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Cafe Dore has closed

Man, it been a couple of years since I've been here and even longer since I last posted on the place.

Not much has really changed here. Older gentlemen gather, have coffee, chat….and do guys gossip? For lack of a better word, let's just call it that. It's the coffee culture of Vietnam translated here….mostly men, each with his group. Hey, it's almost like high school huh? I'm thinking that it is….only the topics of conversation have probably changed, or perhaps not?

What really motivated me to visit on this bright Sunday morning was a conversation I had with FOY("Friend of Yoso") YummyYummy. Her dad is a regular here so she really has a inside track on the food. She told me that the pork belly banh mi…Ba Chi had really improved over the last year or so. Pork Belly? I'm so there…..

As I walked from my car to Cafe Dore, guess who I see? It's YY's Dad! It was nice seeing him. it had been a while. I told him that the reason I was here…..his daughter's recommendation. He invited me to have coffee with his "group"….very nice, but I had errands to run and food to prep on this morning. He also told me the Ba Chi here is "famous"….

I couldn't wait to have at it. So I opened it eagerly upon arriving home. It's pretty interesting, even though the bread for the banh mi here are from the same source as every other place that doesn't make their own, it's usually pretty fresh and flakey.

The pork was rather thickly cut, not a bad thing, and very moist. The flavor was pretty good, mildly sweet, with a slight swiney flavor. YY had told me that's it's getting better and I'll agree with that.

The pickles are a lot sweeter here than what I remembered and there was some major "jalapeno roulette" going on, with some slices being very mild, but a couple of slices were just explosive. All in all, a nice sandwich, one that I'll return for.

The service was very typical Cafe Dore, guys still play on those "machines" in the back….middle aged guys….hmmmm. It was a nice sandwich for a sunny Sunday….I'd like to tell you the price, but YY's Dad somehow paid for it without me even knowing…… Sneaky, but very nice, it made my day. Make sure to thank your dad for me YY!

Cafe Dore
4135 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105