American/New American Restaurants – Page 15

Sunny Side Kitchen (Escondido)

November 20, 2019 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog, with most posts written by Kirk. Cathy writes posts when Kirk needs a break. Today, it's Cathy's turn.

The Mister and I were in Escondido and turned onto a side street (Orange Street), noticed a few tables on the sidewalk with a sandwich board menu. We had to stop.

Sunny Side Kitchen started out as a stand at North County Farmers Markets in 2013 and then migrated to popping up at various North County breweries and eventually moved into this brick and mortar location in 2015. It's open from 6:30-2:30 Monday-Saturday (and does a lot of local catering).

Walk in, check out another menu board as well as the wall menu, order, pay and find a seat. Your food will be brought to you. There are four tables and some barstools inside and three tables out front.
We were here on Friday, when the Soup of the Day ($4) was clam chowder. A wonderful, lighter version (still creamy, but not gloppy), filled with potato, celery, onion and plenty of canned clams, this did nt need any condiments added in- usually salt and pepper are needed and this soup was just perfectly seasoned.
The Quiche of the Day ($5.75) was green chili and was *wonderful*-like a chile relleno; cheesy, eggy, fluffy with strips of green chile. The no crust quiche made it a 'lighter' meal.
One of the sandwich boards had a "Thanksgiving Salad" listed and we ordered the half size ($6.75). The bowl it was served in is deceptively deep and there was plenty of turkey in between all the mixed greens, along with some onions, raisins, candied pecans, craisins and blue cheese. The cranberry citrus vinaigrette was complimentary to all the other flavors.

Everything is fresh, made to order and really good. We will be returning to try the breakfast menu.

Sunny Side Kitchen 155 S. Orange Street Escondido, CA 92025 (760) 294-4450 (between Valley Parkway and 2nd Avenue) Open Monday-Saturday 6:30-2:30 Closed Sunday Website

Sunday Stuffs – Saigon Restaurant Replacing Yum Cha Cafe, Chicken Charlie’s (Balboa) Closes, and the One Chip Challenge 2019

October 20, 2019 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants, yoso-silly

Been kinda busy over the last month or so. I finally had a chance to drive around a bit and noticed a couple of things for a leisurely Sunday post.

Saigon Restaurant Replacing Yum Cha Café:

I noticed some new signage up when I drove by Thuan Phat Market.

Hmmm….is it "that" Saigon Restaurant? This will be interesting.

Well, at least somethings happening in this spot. It's been over two years since Yum Cha Cafe closed.

6933 Linda Vista Road
San Diego, CA 92111

Chicken Charlie's FryBQ (Balboa) Closes:

I had to drop by the bank and noticed that it looked like equipment and furnishings in Chicken Charlie's were shrink wrapped. So, I parked the car and walked over.

Even though the outdoor tables and chairs are still in place; Chicken Charlie's is closed.

You can still go to the Rancho Bernardo location as a, sorry, can't help it…..bypass if you need to get your fix.

5407 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92111

And finally……

Just like last year; "Alle" wanted me to do the One-Chip Challenge.

And, just when I thought it couldn't be hotter than last year…..well, let me tell you……this had me fooled as it wasn't too bad for the first 15 seconds or so. Then it got really, burning, searing hot……like I just ate a porcupine. The heat lasted even longer this year….I got the hiccups, my scalp itched, all normal reactions on my part. Admittedly, I don't use any "props", no gloves and such…so it wasn't a particularly good move when I rubbed my face with my hands with the powder from the chip on them. Oh well, it wasn't as bad as when I worked with Ghost Peppers and didn't wash my hands well…..then took out my contact lenses a bit later.

This chip made the Triple Atomic Wings seem like ice cream.

Well, I'm done until next year…..

Hope everyone had a great weekend, thanks for dropping by!

Farmer’s Table (Bay Park)

September 16, 2019 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants

**** This location of Farmer's Table has closed

I know; the Farmer's Table has been open in my 'hood for almost a year now and I'm finally doing a post? Well, you can kinda figure why it took me so long to do a couple of visits.

The Farmer's Table opening in our neighborhood sure did create a buzz; it seems that the changes and gentrification of Bay Park is moving along. Farmer's Table claims to serve "Farm to Fork"; which I think is great, though the Missus took a look at the menu and wasn't particularly inspired.

Still, I thought the space was nicely put together. Kind of a rustic-chic look.

Still, like I said, the Missus wasn't really motivated. So one morning while She was working I decided to drop by for the "Brunch" which is served from 8am to 3pm Daily. My Server was really cheerful and friendly. After perusing the menu; I went for the Heirloom Tomato Frittata ($15) with Black Beans and Sourdough Bread.

This was a very nice, albeit somewhat "corporate" looking dish. It should do good here not scaring off the long time locals, while seeming to be interesting enough for the rest of us. Sadly, the black beans were hardly seasoned and quite bland.

The eggs were fine, decently seasoned, but the "heirloom tomatoes" weren't ripe enough and was really weak in either the acidity or sweetness department. It wasn't terrible, just sort of uninspiring and bland. Basically, "food not to offend".

Still, I needed at least another visit under my belt before doing a post. So, I relentlessly badgered the Missus; until She finally agreed to go the Farmer's Table for dinner. And why wouldn't She? The place is but a few blocks away from our house. Just think I told Her, "can you imagine if Farmer's Table is good….it's so close."

So, we went for a fairly early dinner. The service was good, until the place started filling up.

We started with the Duck Liver Pate ($12) which was served with nicely charred ciabatta. Now, we weren't expecting anything near the quality of, say Arnaud Nicolas, but while be nice and smooth, the pate was really salty, which really overshadowed the usual gamey-offal-earthiness of a good duck or chicken liver pate.

We also got the Bison Tartare ($17).

You might want to just skip this if you've read yesterday's post on Senia. The bison was chopped too large for our tastes, thus making the already lean Bison even more tough. The meat also had a slight metallic tinge to it. I love the mellow beefy and slightly sweet flavor of Bison; remember the Bison Nahm Tok I made? But this just didn't seem to do the meat justice. It was more than half avocado; which was perfectly ripe and creamy, though the Quail Egg was overdone and wasn't runny enough to help out the dish.

We also got the Stuffed Portobello ($15). The menu read, "heirloom tomato, artichoke, bell pepper chutney + caramelized onion + manchego".

We couldn't find any tomato; though there was chopped bell pepper and onion. The artichokes were really sour as was the pool of liquid this overcooked, rubbery mushroom was floating in. The cheese had been melted in glops instead of being a nice layer of cheese. The dish was just strangely sour.

The Missus gave me a look……I didn't need the gift of telepathy to know exactly what our next move was. It was time to cut our losses and head home.

And so, I had enough for a post….but really felt bad about these meals. I mean, were these just off days? Several folks in the neighborhood mentioned how bad the service at Farmer's Table had been; but I had never experienced that.

So, when the Missus was working one weekend I returned. And got the Corn Beef Skillet ($14); with potatoes and focaccia.

The highlight of my meal was the focaccia; which while being on the salty side is crisp around the edges with some decent yeastiness. I ordered my eggs over easy; but they came out over-cooked. The potatoes were nicely fried; well seasoned. The skillet was just that….it looked like everything was just thrown into a skillet. The bell peppers were hard, there wasn't any caramelization on the food and it wasn't heated enough.

Over the three visits; it seems to me that Farmer's Table seems closer to being a "fast casual, somewhat corporate, chain" than what the menu says, "A Neighborhood Eatery". Perhaps the other locations are better? I know that Lynn really enjoyed her visit. I mean, I love the Farm to Fork credo, but I still gotta enjoy the food. Sad, because I was somewhat excited about having a place like this in our neighborhood.

Farmer's Table (Bay Park)
3055 Clairemont Dr
San Diego, CA 92117
Hours:
Sun – Thur 8am – 9pm
Fri – Sat 8am – 10pm

Laguna Beach – Top of the World Loop Trail, Dinner at Sapphire Laguna, and Sunsets

September 6, 2019 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Orange County, Road Trip, Travel

One of Frankie's favorite Aunties; "Alle" recently gifted us with a two night stay in Laguna Beach! So, after an early dinner on a Friday, we headed up to Laguna Beach. We parked downtown and scoped out places I had on my list and also places Uber Blogger "Elmo" had provided for me for the following evening's dinner. Sadly; we just weren't particularly impressed with the offerings……

But that was ok; we were staying at the charming La Casa del Camino; which was built in 1929.

Which has Spanish-style rooms….but our gift certificate specified staying in one of the "Casa Surf Rooms". Each had been designed by different designers and sponsored by various sports and activity companies like Billabong and Rip Curl. We got the very unique Roxy Room.

It was quite comfortable and the staff was very friendly. The hotel has a very popular restaurant and an even more popular Rooftop Bar with wonderful views and a zillion people doing alcohol therapy! We saw quite a few middle aged folks walking kind of unsteadily down the stairs during the evening. We just wanted to relax with the A/C on!

La Casa del Camino
1289 S. Coast Highway
Laguna Beach, CA 92651

We headed down one of the streets to watch the sunset.

The next morning the Missus decided She wanted to go on a hike. We had gone to the visitors center downtown the previous evening and the nice gentleman working recommended the Top of the World Loop Trail. So we headed up to Alta Laguna Park and spent a couple of hours on the easy hike……

It was a pretty hot and humid weekend and the views were pretty hazy.

Lots of mountain bikers and dogs were doing the trail. One really funny Retriever refused to even start the hike; he just laid down on all fours. The owner told us; he doesn't like the sun, so I guess we're not going past here today. It was really funny.

There were quite a few critters on the trail, a ton of rabbits, and this one actually shook his rattle at the Missus!

We were done by 930 and the Missus decided that She wanted Vientiane Lao Thai, so we drove over to Garden Grove for an early lunch. We then headed off to Rowland Heights to buy some snacks and other stuffs. We got back during the early afternoon and walked the mile or so to downtown, did some shopping, and scoped out a few more restaurants. In the end, we decided to have dinner at one of the places that was both on my "list" and had been recommended by Elmomonster. Sapphire Laguna; which was also a block away from our hotel.

The place was booked up; but we took some seats at the bar; which turned out to be an excellent decision. There's a Happy Hour menu, in addition to the regular menu at bar, even on weekends. The lead Bartender was an awesome young man named Paul. He was so friendly and it would turn out quite a mixologist. The Missus started with a glass of white wine and I had a Macallan 12.

The menu at Sapphire is very….well, global fusion.

We started with the Octopus Aguachile.

The pulpo was very tender and the Missus loved the avocado. It was, of course, bracingly sour, but also quite salty. This was not bad at all.

I saw the Burmese Fermented Tea Salad on the menu and had to try that. The presentation was very "Burma Superstar" if you know what I mean.

I eagerly mixed everything together. This was not bad; though it did miss the mark a bit; it was sour, though for some reason, it lacked the bitter-savory-slightly tanic tones that make tea leaf salad so addictive. The tomatoes weren't ripe enough to add acidity and there was too much lettuce in comparison to the laphet. Still, like the octopus, this wasn't bad.

At about this time, we'd gotten to know the two local guys sitting next to us on the bar. They were really friendly and we had a nice chat about local restaurants and bars….they both snorted when I mentioned the Rooftop Lounge…."it's only for tourists!" "And so crowded….." They seemed to know the bar staff quite well. I'm guessing they were regulars. About this time, the really busy, but friendly bartender, asked me if I wanted another drink. I said sure, but wondered if he could make me something….I described my tastes, smokey, smooth, bourbon or mezcal, bitters….. And he came up with the perfect cocktail for me…..all my favorite flavors in balance. It was amazing!

I asked him what the name of this cocktail was, and was told "it has no name….I just made it up for you right now". Awesome.

The Missus was still a bit hungry, so just for the heck of it, I ordered the Sonoran Dog off the Happy Hour menu. The Missus just loved this.

I mean, the bun and onions were just decoration. The Missus loved the snap and flavor of the hot dog; which had a mild spice to it; smoky, with a light oregano and perhaps cumin tones….the bacon didn't hurt at all either.

She loved it so much, I ordered another….. and also another "Paul's a Genius"….when Paul asked me what that was, I told him, "I just named that cocktail you made for me!" He cracked up. During a pause in the action, we had a nice chat. He had worked for a while in Seattle and made some recommendations for our next trip up there.

We loved the folks at Sapphire. And the bartender….and that (those) cocktail(s) was perhaps the highlight of the trip for me. We'd made the right choice for dinner.

Sapphire Laguna
1200 S, Coast Highway
Laguna Beach, CA 92651

We had no plans for the rest of the evening. Yes, I know the Pageant of the Masters was going on, but we just wanted to relax, without crowds and such.

We walked south along Coast Highway, past all the hotels and motels…..and headed down to the beach at Woods Cove…..it was beautiful.

The next morning we headed out early. We had lunch reservations and also needed to do a bit more shopping in the SGV.

We'd had a nice relaxing time in Laguna Beach….it's not quite our kind of crowd there; but all the locals and folks working were very nice. I'm glad we had a chance to check things out.

And those sunsets……

Thanks for stopping by!

Clearing Out the Memory Card – Never Made the Cut Road Trip Edition

August 10, 2019 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Bun Bo Hue, Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Orange County, Pho, Road Trip, Santa Barbara County, Vietnamese Restaurants

Here are some photos that I was just going to delete…..I have a bunch of breakfast one's from when I was driving to Irvine almost weekly as well. But since these weren't in San Diego; where I try to visit places more than once; I thought I'd just do one of those "never made the cut" posts.

I went to lunch with the folks I was working with in Irvine a couple of times.

Ngu Binh:

I've posted on Ngu Binh before, but was excited to try the Bun Bo Hue. Unfortunately, the folks that got there first ordered for all of us…….

They like their Bun Bo Hue not spicy with no pork hock and that's what I had waiting for me when I arrived……what the??????

Ngu Binh Restaurant
14072 Magnolia St
Westminster, CA 92683

Pho Lovers:

Which was right in front of Lien Hoa, it has since moved.

loved the herbs which were amazingly fresh.

The pho was seriously defatted, the noodles over-cooked, though the broth wasn't overly sweet or salty.

Now at:

9892 Westminster Blvd
Garden Grove, CA 92844

From other Road Trips.

Chengdu Taste (Alhambra):

The Missus was seriously psyched to try the place that had been declared the "best Sichuan Restaurant in America". We were quite disappointed.

And the service was so terrible, that we got our mapo tofu and Shui Zhu Niu Rou, the beef boiled in hot sauce to go. Both just didn't have enough spice and were seriously defatted versions. The won tons in hot sauce were too sweet and lacked spice, not even close to the version I had at Long Chau Shou (龙抄手).

828 W Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91803

The Lark (Santa Barbara):

This one was from the same road trip where we had a wonderful meal at Yoichi's. It was a super hot weekend; yet they had the fire pit going!

From the mushy brussel sprouts to the teeth rattling sweet duck wings, not our favorite meal.

Though the lamb shoulder confit was quite good.

The Lark Santa Barbara
131 Anacapa St.
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

So there you go; thanks for indulging me.

I'll be back tomorrow with more San Diego restaurants.

San Diego Chicken Pie Shop (revisit)

July 5, 2019 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! welcomes you back for a quick look at a place to enjoy a meal. Cathy is writing and Kirk is enjoying this Independence Day long weekend.

I've written a few posts about the San Diego Chicken Pie Shop since 2006. The menu has expanded over the years. Comfort food, quick service, nice people both dining and working.

There are tabletop 'specials' which include soup and Cole slaw. (Of note, the pea soup here is vegetarian; no ham).
On this day, corned beef and cabbage was the Special ($11) This was very well made and had large portion of tender beef. It came with the carrots, green beans and potatoes as well as the cabbage.
The Pie Dinner (still $10) which also arrives with the finely chopped slaw and fresh, chewy, wonderful dinner rolls is the same as always; a sturdy yet light crust surrounding chicken and turkey and gravy-no vegetables as filler. It's served with mashed potatoes and a Vegetable of the Day.
Full meals are served with a choice of pie for dessert. This day, chocolate pie and peach pie were chosen. Again, the hose made crusts make this so wonderful…light and flaky and so very fresh.

Yes, three different daily fresh baked items- the dinner rolls, the chicken pie crust and the dessert pie crusts. It's why we are here on carb craving days.

A San Diego tradition for more than 80 years.

San Diego Chicken Pie Shop 2633 El Cajon Blvd, San Diego 92104 (619) 295-0156 website Open Mon-Fri 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Sat-Sun 9-8

Black Bear Diner (El Cajon)

May 25, 2019 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog, has yet another post for you to peruse this day. Kirk and His Missus are at the third of six stops on their Spring Vacation. Cathy is holding down the fort.

Black Bear Diner opened in El Cajon in mid-April; it's a former Coco's location, familiar to locals. The chain, founded in 1995 has 124 locations in 13 states.
The exterior and interior design is sort of 'rustic, appearing to be a local 'diner'. There are wood carvings of bears, local-themed artwork, a large bar seating area.
The front page of the "Black Bear Gazette" menu is locally themed.

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner menus each have choices of "Fit and Focused" meals as well as "Little Less" meals. No need for a 'Senior' menu. (Breakfast and Lunch are served all day, the Dinner menu starts at 4 p.m.). How I wish calorie counts were not displayed… The Mister ordered a "Bear's Choice Combo" ($10.69) and chose a sweet cream waffle (that's a bear claw design in the center), eggs over easy and two (or one of each) – thick cut bacon and a sausage link. (A smoked ham slice is the other breakfast meat available). The eggs were perfectly prepared, the sausage was quite large, juicy and had a nice skin, a slight black pepper flavor could be discerned. The bacon was indeed thick cut and quite wonderful. The cream waffle had a vanilla flavor and was a bit dry- needed butter and syrup.
I chose a "Classic Two Egg Combo" with chicken fried steak ($12.99), poached eggs (wonderfully prepared soft as requested), country red potatoes (red and green bell pepper as well as onions) were crispy on some edges (I wish each piece was crisped, but then I would have finished the quite large portion instead of taking home leftovers). The chicken fried steak- excellent. The crust was so light and crispy, the meat portion large and juicy. The gravy- a wonderful flavor and even though there is black pepper in it, the pepper was not overwhelming. An excellent meal. I asked for a biscuit as my bread and was disappointed. It definitely was baked here and fresh, but quite dry. I took more than half of it home and it was hard as a rock in a few hours. Toast next time!

Java City Coffee, sustainable and hand roasted, is served here ($2.89) and it is very high quality. I'm usually disappointed by most breakfast coffees and was pleasantly surprised.

Service was excellent; we were checked on and asked about our likes as well as dislikes and enjoyed this meal. We will return to try the lunch and dinner menu.

Black Bear Diner 1025 Fletcher Parkway El Cajon, CA 92020 Website Open daily 6 a.m.-10 p.m.

City Bistro (American and Mediterranean) (El Cajon)

May 23, 2019 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for coming back to read mmm-yoso!!!, a blog about food. Kirk and His Missus are at their second spring vacation destination and Cathy is still blogging.

I couldn't figure it out. Three clients called to make appointments and none of them would be available on a Monday morning, but all of them would be available on any other morning. I later found out that they knew each other and met for breakfast every Monday, at this location (which had been Country Waffles for about 15 years) which was remodeled and turned into City Bistro in 2016. Across the street from Valley Foods Mediterranean Market and about 1/2 mile from El Cajon Bistro, this location on East Main Street is another nice, neighborhood restaurant.
There's a bar seating area along with plenty of tables. A television is visible from every seat, each set to a different channel (and all on closed captioning). There is a white board with a daily special at the front door.
We ordered from the regular menu- the "Crepe Plate" ($11.99) (choice of fruit flavors; you can see this is strawberry) served with two eggs and either two bacon, two sausage or one of each. Each item was quite good, tasty, fresh. Quality.
I ordered the "Pan Handle Scramble" ($10.99) with country potatoes. The potatoes were nicely fried, randomly chopped and quite tasty. The scramble-I asked for the meat to be a sausage patty (they make the sausage patties here). It wasn't served on the side.
On the bottom of the panhandle serving plate was a large, fresh made biscuit, topped with the large Housemade sausage patty, topped with country gravy, topped with a scramble of eggs mixed with red and green bell peppers, onions and cheese and also topped with cheese. Wow! This was great, tasty and filling.
We returned for a lunch and tried the gyros plate ($11.99) (with a double order of salad instead of rice). The house made tzatziki was really great as was the house made salad dressing. The side of pita helped -there was a lot of gyros meat and I made a few little sandwiches in addition to making a gyros salad.
The Monte Cristo sandwich ($10.99) was a good choice. Cheese on both slices of the French bread, plenty of turkey for the sandwich, all cooked in an egg batter: French Toast style. The choice of sides (fries, fruit or onion rings) was easy. Th rings were whole onions in a thin beer batter. Crunchy, light and flavorful.

A lot of good, fresh, 'from scratch' items here, friendly people working and regular, neighborhood clientele. There are plenty of Mediterranean items on the menu, including basturma at breakfast; we will be trying more in the future.

City Bistro 1248 East Main Street El Cajon, CA 92019 (619)442-4444 Open daily 7 a.m.-2 p.m.

Anchorage – The Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, Orso, and Darwin’s Theory

May 10, 2019 mmm-yoso Airport/Airline/Cruise/Rail Food, Alaska, American/New American Restaurants, Gastropub, Travel

After having our lunch at IHOH we strolled the short two blocks or so to the coast. Past the house of Oscar Anderson who claimed to be the 18th citizen of Anchorage. The house is now a museum.

Anderson lived in this house until his death in 1974 and he sure had a heck of a view.

Right past the house is the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail; named after the 7th Governor of Alaska, Tony Knowles, this nicely paved trail runs for eleven miles (!) all the way past the airport to Kincaid Park.

And no; we didn't do eleven miles. But we did enjoy strolling along the coast.

Not too many people on the trail; but lots of birds!

We stopped on the shores of Westchester Lagoon; where there were quite a few folks; of the two and four-legged kind enjoying the day.

From here we decided to head back to our hotel.

It was a pretty long walk; past some interesting and colorful homes.

Through Delaney Park.

Before getting back to downtown and doing a bit more shopping.

It was still fairly early' like 430, but we were hungry. I had read that the place right next to Glacier Brewhouse, named Orso had a pretty nice Happy Hour until 6pm. So we headed on over.

We sat in the bar area and ordered a couple of items and had a few drinks. The staff was very friendly.

We started with the Roasted Beets and Fresh Mozzarella ($5.95).

The beets were really hard; the pesto like sauce quite salty which really just over-powered the mozzarella and everything else in the dish.

The Flash Seared Crab Cakes (Happy Hour – $10.95); were mediocre as well.

Not "flash fried" enough; somewhat mushy, and frankly, bland.

The Crispy Cauliflower (Happy Hour – $2.95) was a bargain during HH. However; the "tomato-red pepper sauce" was too salty. And not sure about the temp of the oil used for frying as this was on the greasy side.

I think the final nail in the coffin for the Missus was the Polenta Ragu another Happy Hour bargain at $3.95.

The polenta was on the dry side, there was a bit too much cheese for our taste, and not enough "ragu". What sealed the deal was the bread crumbed crusted poached egg; a bit too much fried stuff going on at Orso. And then when we tasted the egg; there was definite fishiness to it. I've noticed that more and more; we're coming across eggs in the States that have a fishiness to them. Not sure what they're feeding the hens, but we're not fans of it.

We decided to pay and head next door where the Missus wanted to do another flight of Bourbon.

Orso
737 W 5th Ave.
Anchorage, AK 99501

And so; the Missus got Her Bourbon Flight…..

And I got an Old Fashioned…..

But the place was slammed, so after this we decided to head back to our room……

Except that we passed this bar on the way….one that I'd seen earlier and was curious about.

Named Darwin's Theory…… I talked the Missus into checking the place out. It was the most wonderful dive bar! The service was straightforward and for some reason, folks in the place started talking to us. Seemed like there were a good amount of locals in the place. Folks seemed to know each other…….just like back home in Hawaii.

So we sat and had a Bourbon…..

The young man who sat next to me was very friendly and we started up a conversation…..he is born and raised in Alaska. We did learn a bit about living in this state of hardy, self-reliant people….but one of the first things we were told was not to "ring the bell" in the place. If you ring the bell; it means you buy the everyone a round! Often times, folks flush with money off of the king crab harvest or something similar will come into the place and ring that bell…..and buy everyone in the house a drink. Heck, if I win the lottery and am visiting Anchorage…. We started chatting about his life and he told me he was a refrigeration mechanic for the last 6 years. But before that he did seasonal work on the king crab and other boats for three years…and even earlier seasonally. He looked really young; I asked him his age….26! Yikes!

Anyway, this was totally my kind of place. If I ever find myself back in Anchorage, I'm headed here…….

Darwin’s Theory
426 G St
Anchorage, AK 99501
Hours:
Sun – Thurs 10am – 230am
Fri – Sat 10am – 3am

We headed back to our room and slept well….there was no one coming back at 4am…..nor were there any ghosts waking us. Still, daylight at 430 am kinda threw me off…..

Yes, I got up real early due to the daylight. Our flight was scheduled to leave Anchorage at 930, but man, it was so bright at 5 am!

I mean, as of right now, based on current experience, I'll take polar winter over twenty hours of sunlight…..

Anyway, we found some interesting "gifts"…….. loved the hand sanitizer collection…..

And we had an actual meal from Seattle to San Diego which wasn't bad at all.

And while the food had left something to be desired. Well, the beauty and experience was priceless.

Thanks for stopping by!

LouZiana Food

January 29, 2019 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food, Sandwiches

**** LouZiana Food has closed

Here's a post that took it's sweet old time; photos ripening in one of my folders. I'd meant to post ages ago, but for some reason just kept on going back to try something else.

I'd actually seen the LouZiana Food Truck a couple of times, before seeing this brick-and-mortar shop which opened just a bit after our office moved to the UTC area.

The folks here are always quite welcoming and the menu; while priced on the high side for stuff served in Styrofoam, has all the standards from po-boys to gumbo. In terms of Creole versus Cajun; the restaurant clearly calls itself Cajun.

On my first visit; I decided to just go for something simple to take back to the office and ordered the Andouille Po-Boy (7" – $9.25) with a side of Cajun Fries ($2.75).

The fries were dusted with Cajun seasoning; paprika based, a good amount of black pepper. The fries hadn't held up real well during the 15 minute drive back to the office as they were on the dry side.

The Andouille had some heft, a decent chew, and was perfectly serviceable….as for taste…well, as you can see, they went super crazy with the remoulade, which kind of made this somewhat greasy in texture and really killed the flavor. The bread was saturated.

I needed a bit of time to recover from that mayo overload, so I waited awhile before my next visit. In the meantime, both Mary and Soo did posts (please check them out) on LouZiana. Both were positive; though were fried food based….I just can't put too much of that stuff away these days. Especially during a work day.

So; I went with the Cajun Combo; basically two 8 ounce cups of the "Cajun Classics" on the menu. I ordered the Gumbo and the Jambalaya, which came out to $14.

The baguette on this visit had seen better days and was dry and crumbly. The roux used for that Gumbo must have been really dark, totally a mahogany roux. It did strike me as being a bit on the bitter-greasy side, and other than the couple of pieces of sausage, the chicken had been reduced to stringy bits.

The Jambalaya fared better; the sausages were intact, and the dish was nicely flavored, quite balanced, not overly salty.

Another of couple of months pass and I decided to drop by again. This time I went with the Crawfish Étouffée and Red Beans & Rice, which came out to be $12.75.

The Étouffée was a bit on the thin side and had a rather strong "floral", herbaceous taste to it. There was a decent amount of crawfish in the Étouffée, along with a savory-oceany flavor that did not over-power the dish.

This wasn't too bad at all.

The Red Beans & Rice was my favorite of the two.

While I have my own version of this classic dish that I enjoy; this wasn't bad at all. A bit short on sausage and I prefer my RB&R a bit more smokey; but this had a nice creamy tongue feel, decent beaniness, and was rather pleasant to eat.

Which leaves us with my most recent visit. I decided to try another sandwich this time "Creole" style….basically with a different sauce. The upcharge from a regular shrimp po-boy is a bit over a buck fifty, making this $11.50.

The sandwich starred a dozen fried shrimp, fried up nicely, but kind of lacking in flavor. It still had a bit too much sauce on it; but at least this wasn't drowning in globs of a heavy mayo remoulade. I'm still not big fan of the baguette here; it's too chewy and not crusty enough.

While I wouldn't consider the food here to be of a particularly good value; nor really great in the ingredients category….frankly, I prefer Bud's, which isn't much more expensive. It's still not a bad choice at all.

LouZiana Food
7128 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92121
Hours:
Daily 11am – 8pm