Diner – Page 7 – mmm-yoso

Sun Cafe and a Little Walking Tour

October 25, 2005 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Diner, Exploring San Diego, Farmer's Markets/Night Market, yoso-silly

Ah, yes, another beautiful Seattle morning:

Just kidding…although the drizzly weather this past Sunday sure did remind me of Seattle. When I'm on vacation I enjoy getting up early and watching the City "wake", I especially love going down to Stockton St in San Francisco, or Pike's Place Market in Seattle, early in the morning, and just watch the area slowly come alive. So this morning I decided to head down to our own Gaslamp District and give it the "tourist treatment". Also, I'd received this little brochure and map during one of the movies at the San Diego Asian Film Festival, and took some time to read it. I'd known that San Diego once had a "Chinatown" but didn't know that it had been declared a Historical District. There's also a Sunday Farmer's Market in the same area, so that sealed the deal.

I had no problem finding parking on this misty Sunday morning; but I'd arrived at about 830, so the Farmer's Market stalls were still getting set up. I just decided to grab some breakfast and take a short "tour". I started at the corner of 3rd and J Street, at the location of the San Diego Chinese History Museum.

The Museum is located in the former Chinese Mission Building. As I walked up the street I was fairly surprised at what I noticed; like the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association Building:

These buildings really stood out, standing beside all the downtown Condominiums and development. This area at 3rd and Island Street was the heart of Chinatown in the late 1800's and early 20th Century.

As I walked up Market Street, my stomach started growling. It was time for some grub. It was my intention to grab a bite at the The Field, my favorite Irish Pub. I'd been looking at trying one of their "boxty" breakfast's. But Sun Cafe on Market Street caught my eye:

According to what I read this building was built between 1873 and 1883, and is one of the oldest buildings in the area. The Obayashi family ran a shooting gallery and confectionary at this location, but by 1926 the soup that was served here became so popular that Sun Cafe became strictly a restaurant. The Jeong Family bought the business in 1963, and still runs the Cafe. When you enter you quickly notice the old Soda Fountain counter and the old wooden booths, it's like entering a little retro time capsule diner, circa 1950's:

I sat in one of the booths and ordered Two Eggs, Hash Browns, and Corned Beef Hash ($4.90). The food is strictly diner, and carried out in efficient form. The eggs scrambled, and there was a nice crust on the Hash. And of course, I had to have a good diner quality Cup O' Joe (70 cents):

A bit of trivia; Sun Cafe is featured in several scenes in the movie Almost Famous.

I left refreshed and ready to head over to the Farmer's Market, and so I headed back. On the way back I noticed another Museum on the corner of 4th and Island. It was the William Hearth Davis House, a saltbox style house that was built in 1850. William Hearth Davis was one of San Diego's early pioneers; but did you know he had ties to Hawaii? Well it seems that Mr Davis was 1/4 Hawaiian, his grandmother Mahi was a ward of Kamehameha I. In fact he was known as "Kanaka" Bill. His full given name was William Hearth Ko'olaupoko Mahi-Davis. Amazing what you learn by reading brochures.

At this point, I headed back to the tiny Farmer's Market:

There really wasn't much going on, and only 2 vegetable vendors, and one flower vendor, though the Crepe booth was doing good business. I did get some Dog Biscuits for Sammy and Frankie:

By this time it was almost 10am, and I started seeing alot more people. It was time to leave.

Isn't it amazing what a little pamphlet can provide. I'm looking at the stuff I usually discard quickly, a bit more closer in the future! (Except those that are handed to me in Vegas!)

Sun Cafe
421 Market St
San Diego, CA 92101
Open Daily 7am-230pm

San Diego Chinese Center Sunday CFM
4502 33rd St
San Diego, CA 92116

B & B Catering and Deli

August 19, 2005 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Diner

I’ve passed this place many, many, times. I guess it fascinates me, because of the scope of dishes and cuisines that are covered on the windows:

If you read the windows they make Curry, Teriyaki, Roast Turkey, Country Fried Steak, Chorizo, Machaca, and on and on. At least it doesn’t say “authentic” anywhere. The other thing is that this place is only open from 7am to 3 pm from Monday to Friday, and closed on weekends. Best way to get me into a restaurant? Locate it in an obscure spot, and never be open during the hours I’ll be able to eat! Can you spell S-U-C-K-E-R! The one thing that keeps me going is that for every 5-10 borderline places there’s a “Ray’s Cafe”. So this little place is located on the road leading into Montgomery Field, a small community air field located in the Kearny Mesa area. Today I noticed a police car and several other vehicles in the front of B&B. A good sign!

As I walked up to the door there was a little board with the daily specials. There on the top was Bulgogi(???), along with Pepper Steak, Veal & Spaghetti, Polish Sausage, and Mushroom Burger! Now my curiosity had hit a peak! I had to go in. As I walked in, all became clear. This was a cafeteria type operation.

There were lot’s of hot table items and sandwiches. The people running the operation were Korean, as a matter of fact, the first question when I went up to the counter was “are you Korean?” I told them I wasn’t, but of course I ordered the Bulgogi ($5.99).

This item was actually made in the kitchen and brought out to me. Actually it wasn’t half bad. Sort of a pseudo teriyaki stir fry with sesame oil, a bit too much on the sweet side. Was it Bulgogi, uh, no. But it wasn’t bad. The meat was tender, the veggies not over cooked, not too bad.

So with this under my belt and being in the neighborhood, I decided to stop by for another lunch. As I walk up to the cafeteria line, there’s a huge hunk of meat lying on a board. It’s the roast beef ($5.95). Of course I can’t resist a huge hunk of meat! I order the roast beef to go:

So I watched the roast beef carved, and there must’ve been something “wrong” with how and what I ordered. When the same person I dealt with before asked me what kind of salad I wanted, I asked what kind do you have, he said “look it’s over there”! Ohhh-kay…. So after getting home and opening the dish, here are my observations. First thing I noticed is (“it’s over there look”) is that they served me the scalded rice, the ugly brown scald on the rice portion, looks like someone took the rice and wiped, ooops, don’t go there, yuck. The roast was tough, though it looked good on the board, it was singularly tasteless even with the au jus, the green beans canned, the roll inedible, and the salad had a ton of apple in it, or maybe that’s all I could taste. Then it came to me, this must be the Montgomery Field cafeteria, and I’ve voluntarily eaten here! And by the way, the police car I saw was for the RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Police), say no more. You’d think I’d have learned by now!

B & B DELI & CATERING
8690 Aero Drive #120
San Diego, CA 92123

Open 7 am to 3 pm Monday thru Friday

Spice House Cafe – Portuguese Sausage, well sort of….

July 24, 2005 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Diner, Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego

****** Sadly Spice House Cafe has closed

This is another one of those places that I drive by constantly, but never really had an opportunity to try. Until someone mentioned to me that they served Portuguese Sausage for breakfast! I immediately added The Spice House Cafe to my list. I went in with no real expectations since it was a Non-Kama'aina who gave me this recommendation, in the "hey, you're from Hawaii, do you know this place serves Hawaiian Sausage for breakfast" kind of way. So having woken up pretty early on a Saturday morning a few weeks ago, I decided to drive on over.

The restaurant is located in a structure that had to have been "something" else in a previous life, though it was hard to figure out; maybe a Carrow's, maybe an Denny's, I'm not quite sure. The restaurant was pretty busy(7 am on Saturday!!!) when I arrived, it seemed that many of the customers were "regulars" and knew each other and the staff. I was seated in a quiet alcove to the left of the main dining room, so I never really got a look at the main dining area. The waitress was at my table and instantly took my coffee order, while I read the menu. There it was; Portuguese Sausage a Hawaiian Specialty – $9.25, yikes! Nine bucks for Portuguese Sausage and Eggs……and no rice!!!! It was too late for me to run out though, so I placed my order, Portuguese Sausage, Eggs scrambled, and the waitress recommended the Hash Browns over the Breakfast potatoes. So with a refill on my coffee (decent) and a delivery of ketchup and Tabasco Sauce to the table, I waited…..

And in no time my breakfast was delivered. It was pretty huge, that's 3 eggs scrambled there, and an entire sausage link! First thing I did was cut into the Portuguese Sausage; it was pretty dense, and alot leaner than what I was used to. The color was a much deeper red than the norm. So eagerly took a bite…..and it was "not" really the Portuguese Sausage that I'm used to (either Purity or Redondo, or a similar brand), there where some different herbs, I distinctly tasted oregano and cumin. It wasn't bad, but not what I would've wanted. I know why the ketchup and Tabasco was delivered, the eggs were the "season your own" type, not even salt on them and not very "fluffy". The crust on the Hash Browns were good, and though the insides were a bit mushy, they had a nice buttery taste.

Notes: The service is very efficient and friendly. Most breakfast dishes are between $8-$10, a bit on the expensive side, but the portions looked pretty huge. Breakfast from 6am Monday – Friday, and 7am on weekends.

The place was totally packed when I left. I don't know if I would return, but the portions are large and the service good. Oh, and this is the type of Portuguese sausage I expected:

Spice House Cafe
9035 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92123
(858) 565-1028

LA Road Trip Part 2 – Rutt’s Cafe

July 18, 2005 mmm-yoso Diner, Loco Mocos, Los Angeles County, Plate Lunch, Road Trip

*** Update – On a recent trip to the area, I noticed that Rutt’s Cafe has been replaced with another restaurant. Something along the lines of Don Carlos……

In the first part of the road trip I picked up some ogo from Marukai in West Covina, and went over the purchase of "stinky tofu" from Shau Mei Deli. I had initially, planned on picking up some "local kine grinds" from either Harry’s Aloha Chop Suey or Bruddah’s Hawaiian Food in Gardena. But since I ended up in West Covina, that was pretty much out of the question. While driving up Azusa I saw this sign:

So I drove up and did a u-turn on Azusa, and then did a right turn and went around onto Valley Blvd, under the Azusa overpass. In this no man’s land strip mall, with a Carniceria, 99 cent Chinese Food, and other businesses, stood Rutt’s Hawaiian Cafe on the corner. Now having lived a few miles from here for 4 years, I knew that this couldn’t be an optimal location – Valley Blvd, on the border of City of Industry and La Puente. This mall can be more than a little scary, especially at night.

So I went in and there were no "Hawaii kine" people to be found, but I had a seat at the counter, had a menu handed to me, and looked it over. There were a ton of "royales", that is, an omelet over rice, or over fried rice. This was definitely a "breakfast" kind of place. Many dishes came in Junior, Regular, and King sizes and ranged from$4.25 to $8.45. There was Portuguese Sausage and Kalua Pork on the menu. I went ahead and ordered a regular size Loco Moco $6.35. The waitress was apparently a bit new and had to check the menu herself to see what options there were – I chose the macaroni salad, and eggs over easy (is there any other way to serve eggs for a loco moco?). I also ordered an iced tea, which came in a very large cup. After about 10 minutes my "loco" was served:

The plate a had 2 easy over eggs over a large hamburger patty on gravy over rice, macaroni salad, and a roll (?). The gravy was country style, not what’s usually served with a loco – it’s usually a brown gravy. The gravy was lumpy and had ok flavor, though I’m used a more beefy brown gravy. The hamburger patty was tasty, with a hint of sweetness, and lots of onions and green onions – a plus in my book. The macaroni salad had a good amount of mayonnaise, but was also flavored with relish, yuck, one of my pet peeves, couldn’t finish the salad. And the roll, I really didn’t know what to do with the roll…. The eggs, well let me say this. If there was a College degree for Short Order Cooks, whomever cooked the eggs and the burger would have a Masters Degree, they were cooked to perfection. Nice and runny yolk, the whites crisp around the edges and yet soft, excellent!

The service was friendly and attentive, and a person who I think is the owner was helping to wait tables, and it seemed like it was his Daughters that were helping him out. I found out later that the owner of the original Rutt’s had sold the name and restaurant, and this location had been open for about a year, but it looks like they’re really trying hard here. Before leaving I saw a huge platter of fried rice with char siu in it, and was told it was the King Sized "Hawaiian" Royale with Portuguese Sausage and Char Siu, looked big enough to feed a family of four. So would I return? Sure, I consider this a pretty good diner, with excellent portions. The location is kind of strange, I really wouldn’t want to be around here at night, but I’d definitely return.

Rutt’s Cafe
17371 East Valley Blvd.
La Puente, CA 91714
(626) 839-6312

Crest Cafe – Got the Monday Blues? Get a Butter Burger!

July 11, 2005 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Burgers, Diner, Sandwiches

Whew what a Monday! Needing a break, I headed up the street aimlessly and didn’t stop until I was on the doorstep of the Crest Cafe.

Now I had been here several times, but did not really know why I’d wandered here. I entered and couldn’t believe my eyes, the place was totally empty. On weekend mornings there’s no way you can get in without a wait; this neighborhood joint is jumpin’. What I’ve always noticed about Crest Cafe is that it always smells like breakfast, pancakes and maple syrup for that matter. You can drop in at 11pm and it’ll still smell like pancakes and maple syrup. Maybe it’s something in the AC? By now I focused in on the menu, and set my sights on a Butter Burger($8.25). What’s a Butter Burger you ask? Well it’s a half pound burger, stuffed with an herb-garlic butter, topped with cheddar cheese, with more melted butter and a garlic mayonnaise. There was a good chance that after I ate this burger, I wouldn’t see Tuesday, but whatever, I was willing to take the risk! The previous 2 or so times I’ve been here I ordered the Oui Oui Burger, and it was pretty good sized, no wee-wee burgers served here. To complete the job I ordered fries as my side. The burger arrived on a huge egg roll. Now looking at this you’d think that it was all roll, but that wasn’t the case. The roll was perfectly toasted, the burger charred on the outside, and super moist on the inside. Overall the burger had a very rich, not greasy feel, but was under seasoned, I’d say even somewhat bland considering all of the effort to inject rich flavorful seasonings into and onto the burger. One of my pet peeves is food that’s under salted; I mean, you supposedly have all this butter, all this nice meat, you cook it by-the-book, it’s retains moisture and has a great texture, but you forget the salt and pepper. You can say I can add my own, but it’s not the same as if the burger was seasoned during cooking. The fries were “natural” (I really don’t know what you call them – maybe a fry expert can tell me), think In-and-Out, a little larger with the skin attached. Nice potato flavor, but again under seasoned. I did finish all of them, so they must be pretty good, but of course I’ve never met a fry I didn’t like! Overall, not a bad burger, but next time I’ll stick with the Oui Oui – Blue Cheese under Melted Jack, no flavor short circuit there!

A few notes; the Crest Cafe, has a combination of chair and bench-style seating, and when filled can be quite cramped. Also, all the surfaces are pretty “hard”, making this a really loud room. By the time I’d left the room had filled both with people and noise. I’ve heard that the breakfasts here, especially the French Toast is good, but have never had breakfast here. One really good thing about the Crest Cafe is that they are open till midnight. Here in San Diego, any establishment that doesn’t roll up it’s sidewalks at 9pm is gladly welcomed.

Crest Cafe
425 Robinson Ave
San Diego, CA 92103
Phone: (619) 295-2510
Open: 7am to Midnight Daily