Category: Dog Friendly

Soup du Jour – What’s in a name?

Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Chicken Wings, Chinese Restaurants, Dog Friendly, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants

In my revisit post for Ju Feng Yuan, I mentioned my current favorite popcorn chicken was from Soup du Jour. Now, I honestly thought I had posted on the place. But as I looked to create a link for the post, I discovered I had not! WTH??? So, I set out to correct that mistake. And went searching for photos and than did a couple of revisits.

I came across the place after returning from Taiwan in 2023. I was looking for some Taiwanese food and along with the usual, not-so-good suspects, Soup du Jour appeared. So, I decided to head on over. Soup du Jour was a very odd name and the location is in the Corsair Apartment complex on Aero Drive.

Looks familiar? Well, this was the former location of Carve Modern Deli & Beer on Aero Drive. Way back when, my office was located on Aero Drive, this place would have been in walking distance!

Parking is fairly limited and the restaurant’s interior looks basically the same, if a bit more packed with “stuffs”.

Anyway, when I first started visiting, I tried a whole of items from the very “diverse” menu. This is what it looked like back then.

Everything from Rotiserie Chicken to Congee to Ribeye Steak to Youtiao to ????

And I tried a whole bunch of stuff that, well…to put it honestly I didn’t care for. Like the Lu Rou Fan….the photo of which I couldn’t find! But here’s a few other one and dones….

The Daikon Soup….

The Asian “Meatball” Soup.

I was going to basically give up, but decided to do one more visit….because the owner, whose name was Claire was so nice!

And she was from Chiayi, one of our favorite little cities in Taiwan. We chatted about Taiwan while waiting for my food to go, so I finally asked her for some recommendations and she told me to try the Street Chicken, which she said was Taiwan style Popcorn Chicken and the Honey Glazed Spareribs, both of which were winnahs!

These are photos from several takeout meals I ordered that were supposed to be part of that non-existent post.

Loved the legit fried basil…which seemed to be missing in this box; but was actually underneath the chicken.

And the spareibs, were nice, looked tough, but quite moist with a touch of sweetness, smokiness, and Asian touches in flavor.

Though I’ve never been able to resign myself to those roasted veggies……

And so, I thought I did my post???? I did do some additional visits; the Missus also enjoys the chicken and ribs.

And then we got JJ. I recalled that Soup du Jour had a nice patio area, so I took JJ over for lunch!

By this time, I noticed that the menu had changed and also instead of Claire, a young guy and lady were running the place. The menu had also expanded.

And I saw Jiaozi on the menu, plus I’d always wanted to try the Salt & Pepper Wings ($14) to go with my Pork and Cabbage Dumplings ($13.99).

The jiaozi was a non-starter; the wrapper was really think and very chewy. The sauce had a weird sweetness to it.

The filling was a coarse cut; something I prefer to overly minced fillings, but this was also a bit on the chewy side; though the flavor, porky-sesame wasn’t too bad if a bit mild.

As for the chicken wings; the were seven in an order. I had them put it into a take out box for me in case I couldn’t finish.

Like the jiaozi; this didn’t quite hit the spot. I like a nice garlic topping, but this was burnt and bitter. The batter was uneven and soggy. Decent saltiness with a hint of pepper and spice, but nothing special.

The flesh was fine, a bit overcooked. All in all, this could have come from Panda Express…..

And then I did the JFY post and realized I missed the boat on doing a SdJ one! Unless maybe I did actually do a post…..which took place in another dimension? Anyway, the Missus was wanting the Street Chicken, which was now $15. So I did a takeout order.

This travels well. The batter is more on the crunchy side. The Missus is especially fond of the white pepper tones, five spice, saltiness, and that fried basil. It heats up well in the air fryer too.

Pretty moist, decent toothsomeness, also hints of other pungent spices, with a very mild hint of sweetness. It is by far our favorite version in San Diego. You hear that Bopomofo? Though I still need to check some other places. Let me know if you have a recommendation!

Deciding that I needed to at least try those Honey Glazed Spareribs again, I drove over for lunch with JJ.

Now priced at $17.50, you also add brown rice for 50 cents more; which is what I did. Good nuttiness from the brown rice which wasn’t overly chewy.

I’m still not the biggest fan of the roasted veggies that come with this as it just seems out of place.

Still, I was here for the ribs, which were moist, falling off the bone, and had a nice sweet-savory flavor, with a hint of smokiness.

The Missus actually enjoys these as leftovers. She enjoys the flavor and prefers it much firmer. It was good to know that it was still a dish we enjoyed.

Though I did not see Claire on this visit either; so I asked the young lady working and was told that Claire had sold the business to them a while back! Bummer; I hope she’s doing well! I always enjoyed chatting with her. I was happy to note that the dishes we enjoyed were still good.

And so, I was finally ready for a post, right? Well, I was until I saw this sign posted.

Well, I guess I needed to make one more visit…..

I’m guessing the new ownership are adding items to the menu. It’s good to see that.

The Hainan Chicken Rice was just $13.99.

I ignored the sweet-soy dressing and stayed with what I’m used to with this dish.

First off; I did not like the rice which was super dry and hard.

In spite of the color; it lacked that rich chicken flavor I expect in the rice with this dish.

The chicken itself was not bad. Quite moist, but very mild in poultry-ness.

The typical sauce, lacked scallions, had a bit too much garlic for my taste, and was starting to discolor.

I also think it needed a bit more oil for texture.

Not a terrible Hainan Chicken Rice, especially for the price, but I know I can get much better here.

Still, I know I’ll be returning when the Missus wants Her fix…..

So here you go…..finally got this done. Soup du Jour….what’s in a name???

Soup du Jour
8583 Aero Dr.
San Diego, CA 92123
Current Hours:
Mon – Sat 11am – 8pm
Closed on Sunday

Road Trip – Tacos Los Hermanos (Lone Pine), Old New York Deli and Bakery, and Shelter Distilling (Mammoth Lakes)

American/New American Restaurants, Cocktails, Distilleries, Dog Friendly, Food Trucks, Road Trip, Sandwiches, Sierra Nevada, California, Taco Shops, Travel

Just about a month after we returned from our two week road trip up to Mendicino, we were back on the road again. This time to where the Missus wanted to go, Mammoth Lakes. One great thing I found out was that The Westin Monache Resort, Mammoth Lakes is dog friendly. And it was right across the street from the Village at Mammoth, which had a variety of restaurants. We’d been to the area around Old Mammoth Road before and really hadn’t enjoyed ourselves.

We decided to make an overnight stop in Lone Pine to rest up before heading to Mammoth. So, I got us a night at the Dow Villa Hotel. This was back in June, so it was pretty darn hot already in Lone Pine. We checked in and basically just stayed in air conditioned comfort. When dinner time rolled around we just wanted to eat in the back garden area of the motel. It was too hot for JJ, so I walked the four blocks up to the Tacos Los Hermanos Truck. I was in a rush so I didn’t take photos of the truck which is on the corner of North Main and Willow Streets. I hustled back to the Dow Villa and we had dinner in the shaded public area behind the offices.

I got us four tacos, Adobada, CArne Asada, Buche, and Cachete. The Adobada wasn’t too bad, some good smokiness, sweet tones, and not too tough. The worst was the Carne Asada which was quite tough.

The Buche was pretty chewy, but the Cachete, beef cheek was nice and beefy. The tortillas were no big deal, but the salsas pretty good and spicy.

Not too much variety in Lone Pine, so this was a decent meal.

Tacos Los Hermanos
120 E Willow St.
Lone Pine, CA 93545

This is what Lone Pine looked like when I took JJ out for his 430am potty break…..

In the morning I took JJ for a short walk before things got too hot…..

And then we headed out….stopping in Bishop at Erick Schat’s Bakery which I’ve posted on twice before. The Missus ran in and got us some stuffs and we ate at the park across the street, under the trees. JJ needed the shade!

We then headed up the 395. We knew we were going to be early, so we decided to take a detour to Convict Lake and did the easy loop trail.

JJ got to try out his “boots” which we would later find that he really didn’t need.

He even saw horses for the first time and did well when they passed by!

We then headed up to Mammoth Lakes. We were still too early to check in, so we got our parking pass and headed across the road to the Village.

We walked around Village Plaza and found this sandwich and bakery along the side facing Minaret Road.

And as you might know, I’m a sucker for a club sandwich ($18.99) which seemed kinda pricy, but I added sweet potato fries (+ $1.89) which ended up being a good move.

The Missus enjoyed the sweet potato fries, which while not crisp, was quite creamy with a nice sweet and earthy flavor. The sandwich was pretty massive and this was enough for the both of us for lunch! The sourdough was fine, the turkey thinly sliced and quite moist…….. Good crisp bacon.

This would end up being our “go-to” lunch during our visits to Mammoth Lakes.

Old New York Deli & Bakery
6201 Minaret Rd. Suite 105
Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546

Soon enough we got to check in at the Westin. We enjoyed the service there…in fact, one of the Bell men is from San Diego….Bay Park! He was so nice to JJ. To get an idea of how closed we were to the Village; this is the view from our room.

And there was a lot of space for JJ to do “his thing” as well.

When dinner time came along er headed down and across the street. It was interesting to see folks who didn’t want to walk down the steps actually drive their cars around the block! We came across Shelter Distilling, they actually make many of their own spirits, have outdoor dining, and serve food. So, we thought, why not?

Of course we started with some cocktails and man were we hooked!

I think the favorite was the “Crib” which was made with Jalapeno infused Blue Agave.

So good! We actually ordered another one!

We also tried the Beet It, made with Bourbon, honey, lemon, and of course beets! It was a bit sweeter.

We liked the fact that you could actually taste the spirits and it wasn’t overly watered down or overly sweet.

As for the food…well, we weren’t impressed. The Mandarin Orange Salad ingredients were good, but the Ginger-Soy dressing didn’t have enough savory-salty-tangy tones.

Like PF Chang’s lite…..

The Crispy Confit Pork Belly Tacos was fine, but one was served on a pita? The Harissa Shrimp Taco didn’t have much of a kick.

The pork was more chewy than crisp. The pico de gallo was too mild. The Harissa Shrimp was at least served on a tortilla…which fell to pieces quickly. The shrimp was overcooked and rubbery.

On a good note, we’d found a place to have cocktails each night we were here. And I also noticed a back outdoor dining area which we enjoyed the next evening. We’d be looking to dine elsewhere…..

Shelter Distilling
100 Canyon Blvd. #217
Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546

And the Missus and JJ both were really enjoying Mammoth….

Road Trip – Nikka Ramen (Goleta) and 1909 (Temecula)

American/New American Restaurants, Cocktails, Dog Friendly, Japanese Restaurants, Ramen, Road Trip, Santa Barbara County, Temecula/Idyllwild/Palm Springs - Riverside, CA, Travel

Our two week road trip up the coast was nearing an end. To break up the last two days, we were staying a night, first in Goleta, south of Santa Barbara….I was trying to stay in Carpinteria since it’s been a recommended stop, but was unable to book accommodation. Then we’d be staying a night in Temecula, before heading home.

It was a uneventful 4 hour drive from Santa Cruz to Goleta. We arrived a bit too early to check in, so I had a stop in mind. We decided to stop and do a nice little walk/hike at Ellwood Bluffs and the Ellwood Beach Loop. There’s a Monarch Butterfly preserve, but it was the wrong season for that.

Some nice wide open trails and also views from the bluffs.

Along the bluffs we came across this.

Along with this Historical Marker.

After our nice little walk, we headed back to the main drag in Goleta. I had gotten us a room at the Leta located right on Calle Real. We settled in and relaxed. When it as time to head out for dinner, we wanted something in walking distance and I’d found a ramen shop a block or so away from out hotel named Nikka.

The reviews seemed positive and they had an outdoor dining area that was dog friendly. We were greeted and seated. The young man who waited upon us was very nice; but I could tell that this was more of a “fusiony” ramen place as he kept calling he ramen I ordered as “tonkatsu” ramen and while the menu boasted of the 24 hour simmering time for the broth, they called the version I had as “Shiro ramen” not shio ramen.

They also had stuff like poke bowls and ramen “burritos” on the menu. And in fact, I decided to order the Combination Baos (3 baos for $12.50). I ordered one of each.

As I figured, the baos seemed like those premade frozen ones you can get at the market. The karaage was too salty and dry, the chashu had a very nice texture but was super bland and over shadowed by the sweetness of the bao. The shrimp tempura, while overfried was the best of the three as it was tender and presented a decent shrimpiness.

As for the Tonkotsu Ramen ($17.50).

Well, the broth was barely past room temp and was super thin for our taste. It was pretty darn bland as well.

I had ordered the “thick noodle” which was a tad overcooked, heading toward too soft. Also, you can tell how thin the broth was since the noodles rea;;y didn’t “pick” any of it up.

The chashu was the best item in the bowl, nice texture, perfect tenderness, though a bit lacking in the porkiness department.

Overall, a “C” level bowl of ramen.

Well, service was nice. We hadn’t expected much from this place and I guess they lived up to those expectations.

Nikka Ramen
5701 Calle Real
Goleta, CA 93117

We did have a nice night of sleep at the hotel and breakfast was included in our stay, which was enough food to keep us until dinner!

We had decided on making one last stop before heading home, at a place that we’d never really taken to. We had visited Old Town Temecula several times while living in the SGV and when we first moved to SD. But had never really enjoyed the place as it seemed overly touristy. I thought that perhaps staying the night might make things more enjoyable, so I booked us a room at the Hampton Inn, which was right across busy Rancho California Road from the start of Old Town.

JJ got in a nice nap while we drove to Temecula.

We checked in and then headed to Old Town to wander around a bit.

Man, the bars were doing some good business; even at barely 4pm on a Sunday.

The Missus got some cream for Her and JJ, which they don’t always have at Temecula Olive Oil in Old Town. I also got some olive oil as well.

Temecula Olive Oil Company
28653 Old Town Front St.
Temecula, CA 92590

We wandered a bit more…..

And then decided to grab some dinner. An acquaintance had recommended a Bar/Restaurant named 1909 Temecula to me. The place had outdoor seating and was fairly busy; even at 445!

The menu consisted of typical items like burgers and tacos, stretching into Korean Fried Chicken, Risotto, and even Lobster.

The Missus started with a Sangria, which She enjoyed.

I had the Cedar Smoked Old Fashioned, which had some decent smokiness, but was a bit on the sweeter side and tasted a bit weak.

We decided on a couple of items; one of which was recommended to me; the House Chili (bowl – $12).

The blue cornbread was too wet and mushy. The chili lukewarm. There was supposed to be “steak” in this; which I think was super hard pieces of meat. It had an interesting flavor profile; perhaps a bit on the sweeter side? I was told that they use beer to make this chili. It was the best item we had during this meal.

The Al Pastor Tacos ($16) were not good. The pork very dry and chewy. The flavor too sweet.

The supposedly house made tortillas too brittle and lacking in good corn flavor. The fries were dry and soggy.

The Shrimp in the Shrimp & Chorizo ($18) was tough and chewy, with a muddiness to it.

The sausage seemed more like Longaniza as the meat seemed on the courser side and without the spice of chorizo. Still that was not bad. The bread had been nicely grilled, the sauce was quite tangy and acidic.

Overall, 1909 seems like a very touristic place, though it was super popular as there was a line of at least 20 people waiting when we left. Good thing we had an early dinner. Service was nice, but things took a while to get to our table.

1909
28656 Old Town Front St.
Temecula, CA 92590

We walked back to the hotel and relaxed. I did a post and caught up on things. We had a decent night of sleep. There was a bit of traffic noise, but things weren’t too bad.

While not quite the ending of our epic little road trip we had wanted; we…and JJ still enjoyed ourselves, from revisiting Paso Robles yet again and enjoying the Alchemist Garden, to our favorite meal of the trip at L’Escargot in Carmel, to lovely Mendocino and Santa Cruz, this was one for the books. And we are so honored that you were able to vicariously come along with us!

Road Trip – Lupulo and Revisiting The Buttery (Santa Cruz)

Bakery, Beer, Croissants, Dog Friendly, Gastropub, Monterey/Carmel/Santa Cruz - Monterey Bay/Peninsula, Road Trip, Travel

After a nice morning hike and a pork filled lunch we had ourselves a nice nap. Upon rising, we decided to head back to downtown Sant Cruz, where the Missus could get more shopping in. And then we’d find a place to have an early dinner.

Because the Missus didn’t feel comfortable among all the homeless in San Lorenzo Park, we walked over to the Soquel Avenue Bridge and crossed the river there.

Check out this truck and trailer crossing the bridge!

Right as we got to Pacific Avenue, one of the main streets in Downtown; the Missus saw this shop.

What else could I say other than “Ommmm on in”?

It was quite a “groovy” experience.

We wandered thru the side streets and alleyways. Check out the tea master at this Tea House.

We headed north to where Pacific Avenue meets Front Street and came to the Town Clock.

Which I later learned had quite an interesting story behind it. You can read about it here.

We then headed down Front Street.

Lined with shops, coffee places, and restaurants…..

And came across these Rockin’ Nana’s….man, they were really good! And much cooler than me!

Meanwhile, a street art thing was happening on the corner.

While walking thru one of the passageways, we came across this “groovy” tea shop/cafe. Named Roxa (and no my fellow Kama’aina’s it ain’t RockZa ok!) Hammock Cafe.

It sold tea and other herbal drinks and had actual hammocks spanning two floors! No, I didn’t feel comfortable taking photos since there were folks just having their teas and lounging on the hammocks. The Missus actually got some tea from here.

I could see why Santa Cruz played a big part in the “Summer of Love”. Some of it still lingers on….

We decided to get an early dinner. Of course the question was, where? I had heard about a nice Gastropub named Lupulo, that served up some decent brews and some “Latin” style dishes so we decided to walk on over and give it a try.

There was outdoor seating, which worked fine for JJ. I went in and ordered. The gentleman working was quite friendly.

The place was pretty busy as well…..

The menu was indeed Mexican/Latin based, I placed my order and had a nice Pliny while we waited for our order.

I loved the glasses here!

And we also enjoyed watching the customers……

As for food. Well, you know how the Missus loves Her meatballs, so I ordered the Albondigas.

The bread was meh……but those beef and pork meatballs were quite good. A bit dense, but you could tell there was pork there! The tomato “sofrito” was tangy, with nice garlic tones. This was fairly good.

I also ordered the Cochinita Pibil tacos….which was made from chicken rather than pork.

This was actually not bad at all. Nice tangy acidity, a bit on the chewier side, which is fine for tacos. Decent savory tones, really enjoyed the pickled onions. The tortillas were quite basic and routine, but not terrible. This was actually not bad and made for a pleasant meal.

Lupulo Craft Beer House
233 Cathcart St.
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

It had been an enjoyable day for us!

As for the next morning….well….you know we’d be back at the Buttery. And by this time…..well, JJ was now into full “croissant mode”!

And it was just as good as the day before if not better!

The Buttery
702 Soquel Ave.
Santa Cruz, CA 95062

We really enjoyed Santa Cruz and can’t wait to return….with JJ of course!

Thanks for stopping by!

Road Trip – The Buttery, Pipeline Road Trail, and Revisiting Special Noodle (Santa Cruz)

Bakery, Chinese Restaurants, Croissants, Dog Friendly, Monterey/Carmel/Santa Cruz - Monterey Bay/Peninsula, Road Trip, Travel

Upon waking on our full day in Santa Cruz, we decided to head up Soquel Avenue to a bakery I’d heard about. It was a short 10 minute walk from our hotel. Right past the Shopper’s Corner Market, was the Buttery.

The low key location had a nice outdoor area.

And the Missus watched JJ, while I went inside to get us some croissants and coffee.

There was no one in the queue when I entered and I was pleasantly surprised at the price of the plain croissants – $2.95.

So, I was ready to be underwhelmed at this croissant, but it was surprisingly good!

The exterior looked a bit overbaked, but the laminate was crisp, but not flaking to pieces. The ridges didn’t fall off either.

The interior was nicely honeycombed and fluffy. But most importantly, there was a decent amount of butteriness to this! Not bad at all! Better than what we’d had at Bouchon Bakery a few days previous!

I even gave JJ a taste and he went bonkers! Oh man, did I open up a can of worms here!

The Buttery
702 Soquel Ave.
Santa Cruz, CA 95062

Of course we’d return the following morning….

And of course the Missus needed me to “burn off” those croissant calories, so we headed back to the hotel, then set out to Henry Crowell Redwoods State Park. Marissa, the lovely young lady at BPC had recommended the Pipeline Road Trail, though she told me that it was kind of long – 6 miles or so. The big plus being that it starts at the Park Office and that it is well paved and maintained. It is the only dog friendly trail in the park as well.

There a 900 foot elevation gain, but we really didn’t feel it.

There were some nice views.

And of course those lovely Redwoods……

And JJ handled it like a champ. Actually, you can tell by his expression that I’m the “weak link” here…..

It was on the “easy side” for the Missus and JJ, who did really well.

After heading back and freshening up, it was time for lunch. Well, since we had enjoyed our dinner the previous evening at Special Noodle and the Missus was still missing Chinese food we walked on back to the restaurant.

The gentleman from the previous evening remembered us and we were seated in the same area. He even made sure got chopsticks without asking this time!

We decided on some different dishes this time around; starting with the La Rou with Smoked Bamboo.

This usual Hunan style dish was a bit short on chilies and spiciness, but the bamboo was nice and crisp; though the pork was definitely like the stuff I can get at 99 Ranch Market. It was far from bland though with a good amount of soy and smokey tones.

The rice had obviously just been finished as it was steaming hot; but also a bit on the mushy side.

We also got the Braised Pork Belly – Hong Shao Rou, which turned out to be quite good!

Just tender enough, without being mushy, the porkiness came through nicely. Ginger – Soy tones came thru nicely, and more importantly for the Missus, this was much more savory than sweet.

After finishing this; we really needed a nap!

Special Noodle
415 Ocean St.
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

I guess this will be a regular stop when we’re in Santa Cruz!

Now it was nap time!

White Elephant Asian Kitchen

Dog Friendly, Thai Restaurants

In my search for dog friendly Asian Restaurants in San Diego, I came across White Elephant Asian Kitchen in Hillcrest. Looking at the location, well, it brought back memories….not all of them good of Amarin Thai Restaurant, which was here for like 20 years? We ate at Amarin way back in the early 2000’s and even did a post on the Mira Mesa location way back in 2005! Still, when in the area, we preferred Bai Yook, which closed around 2013. How’s that for old timer memories?

Anyway, I noticed White Elephant was dog friendly and I hoped that the place wasn’t stereotypical Thai based on the location…so JJ and I headed over.

We arrived right past opening time and I peeked into the restaurant to get us an outside table.

The woman working was very serious, though that would change a bit later. JJ did well, since the area was nicely shaded.

The menu cracked me up as most of the dishes were “translated” into English…..

Along with the menu, an “anti-fly” device was also brought to the table.

I asked the woman if the “Crispy Rice Salad” was Nem Khao and the Waterfall Beef was actually Nam Tok and things immediately got friendlier. I got both dishes at a “7” on the spice scale.

The Nem Khao was a non-starter, there was no crisp, crunchy rice and it was really weak in spice.

The sausage lacked the sour tones of a good Thai/Lao sausage and no strips of pork skin either. The dish as a whole lacked that sour-spicy-herbaceousness and textural contrast of a good Nem Khao.

I was starting to understand that this was truly Ameri-Thai when my Nam Tok arrived.

Again, hardly any spice and really lacking in the toasted rice powder, fish sauce, and lemongrass flavors. It was in fact pretty mild overall, perhaps edging on too sweet. The one positive note was that the beef was quite tender and there was a decent amount of cilantro. As you can see by the amount of mixed greens; this was more of a salad, than Neua Nam Tok.

The woman was quite nice and came to ask me what I thought. So, feeling that she was really sincere, I told her. She smiled and said, “yes, I understand” and nodded in the direction of the other folks in the place. She then told me “please come again and say you want real Thai spicy, and I think you’ll enjoy it more.”

So, I decided to return one more time.

The really nice woman wasn’t working, but I decided to try my luck. Not being super hungry, I just ordered the Crispy Duck Salad, spice level 10, also indicating that I’d like it “Thai spicy”.

I didn’t know how I’d take to having pineapple in this; but it went fairly well with the dish, adding tart-acidic-sweetness. I liked the crunchy chunks of battered duck, good flavor and texture. While this was indeed more spicy that what I’d had on my previous visit, it was still lacking in bright-pungent-savory tones as a whole.

Oh well, JJ still enjoyed the shade.

In spite of being heavily Ameri-Thai, I’m glad we were able to try things out. I understand that places must appeal to their customer base and location. And of course, one never knows unless you try, right?

White Elephant Asian Kitchen
3843 Richmond St.
San Diego, CA 92103
Current Hours:
Mon – Thurs 1130am – 3pm, 430pm – 9pm
Friday 1130am – 3pm, 430pm – 930pm
Saturday 12pm – 930pm
Sunday 12pm -9pm

Road Trip – Sweetie Pies Bakery (Napa) and Special Noodle (Santa Cruz)

Bakery, Caffeine Fix, Chinese Restaurants, Dog Friendly, Marin, Napa, and Sonoma Counties, Monterey/Carmel/Santa Cruz - Monterey Bay/Peninsula, Road Trip, Sandwiches, Travel

We had a great night of sleep at the Napa River Inn…and no, we didn’t have any “spooky” visitors as I had heard about earlier in the evening at The Fink. Before we left for our next destination, I decided to grab a quick Breakfast Sandwich from Sweetie Pies Bakery which is right next door to the hotel.

This place has quite a selection of treats for your sweet tooth. We had gotten a sample delivered to our room for breakfast the previous morning.

I ordered a Fried Egg Sandwich to take back to our room.

A basic toasted Ciabatta, with creamy avocado, and pesto.

The bacon was basically a single slice lining the middle of the sandwich, on the burnt side, and a single fried egg. Again only enough to cover two-thirds of the sandwich.

My guess is that “Sweetie” is mostly about the pies as the name indicates?

Sweetie Pies
520 Main St.
Napa, CA 94559

After devouring the sandwich, we checked out and headed to our next destination; Santa Cruz. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to arrive at our accommodation, the Hotel Paradox. We were early for check-in so the hotel let us park and we went to explore Santa Cruz for a bit. The hotel was on the other side of the San Lorenzo River from downtown Santa Cruz and we were next to San Lorenzo Park. On the map, it looked like a nice “green space”. Unfortunately, it was taken over by the homeless population while we were in town. So, instead of having a nice green space for JJ to explore, well…..

We did think the Dragon Archway, which faces the last Chinatown in Santa Cruz across the river. And you can see the two folks hanging out under the archway as well. This made the Missus somewhat uncomfortable crossing the bridge at night. We ended up using the busier Laurel Street Bridge when it was dark.

Regardless, the Missus and I really enjoyed downtown Santa Cruz. It had a kind of Hipster-Artsy-Hippy-Surfer vibe to us. Very mellow and laid back; at least when we were there.

We dropped by Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting for our caffeine fix. It was recommended by one of JJ’s Bay Park Coffee “Aunties”, Marissa who used to work there and went to UCSC.

Cold Brew and Latte fortified we headed on to do some shopping.

Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting
1330 Pacific Ave.
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

The Missus loved wandering thru the “eclectic” shops.

And bought quite a few items during our stay.

It seems that tarot card reading, and various psychic readings are big business here.

My goodness, check out the name of this shop! I wonder….

Yes, it was quite entertaining here!

We decided to grab an early dinner….by this time, the Missus was sorely missing Asian food…well, Chinese to be specific. I did some research before the trip and found a place that was dog friendly and basically two blocks from where we were staying. Now, I did have my doubts because the place served everything from Orange Chicken to XLB to Chow Fun to Sichuan/Hunan and has multiple locations, named Special Noodle. But I thought we’d give it a shot. Now if I had my doubts…imagine the Missus!

We arrived and I expected us to be seated on the patio; but the very nice gentleman escorted us to one of the back dining rooms!

He also spoke Mandarin….which eased some of the doubts the Missus had. The menu was huge….talk about “Vietnamese Menu overload” times 2!

Yep, this place tries to cover all bases.

It was a huge portion of rice for a single order.

We decided on some typical Hunan style dishes. Starting with the Pickled Beans with Minced Pork.

While kind of mild in the spiciness department, this was a pretty legit dish. Nice soy flavor, the long beans had a nice crunch adding that mild salty-sourness to the dish. The pork wasn’t overly chewy. Nice savory dish!

And of course I had to try the Intestines with Chilies.

Made with a combination of sliced jalapenos and dried chilies, this had a nice smoky kick. Nicely seasoned with soy sauce-garlic-white pepper and a touch of numbing Sichuan Peppercorns. The pork intestine was fairly tender, with a pleasant initial toothsomeness. Nice funky tones and a really good dish.

And of course……

What we did notice as the place filled up was that the Chinese customers were seated in the same area as us. While the “other” customers were seated in the front dining area, which we named “Eggroll Land” ! Kind of funny….

The Missus was pleasantly surprised at the food and even though She got Her “fix”, we’d end up returning the next day for lunch!

Special Noodle
415 Ocean St.
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

We were enjoying Santa Cruz. In addition to the “vibe” we had gotten decent Chinese dishes as well!

Road Trip – The Alston Park Loop, The Riverfront Promenade, Dinner at Angele Restaurant, and Returning to the Fink (Napa)

Cocktails, Dog Friendly, French Restaurants, Marin, Napa, and Sonoma Counties, Road Trip, Travel

Our one full day in Napa started with pastries being delivered to our room in the Napa River Inn. These are from Sweetie Pie a bakery – sandwich shop located in the Old Mill Complex next to the hotel.

A bit too much sweets for me; but we saved most of it to have as an afternoon snack.

We then headed out to Alston Park and spent the morning doing an easy walk along the Alston Park Loop Trail. A nice walk along the meadows, groves, and of course alongside some vineyards.

Of course we had to finish before things got too sunny/hot as JJ does not do too well under those conditions.

After which we headed into downtown and found parking on 1st Street….man, it gets pretty busy here, where the Missus did some shopping.

For some reason, the Missus just didn’t find Napa to be much fun….She thought it was on the boring side???

We returned to the hotel and finished off the pastries and had a nap. After which, the Missus just wanted some time to read, so I decided to take JJ out for a walk along the Riverfront Promenade which basically cuts thru downtown Napa. Here’s a view of our patio which was right along the promenade.

It was a nice little walk.

We walked all the way to the First Street Bridge which has a nice view of the promenade.

And there was shade for our fragile, heat sensitive, little squirt.

Check out this mural in front of a Tiki Bar named Wilfred’s……kinda sterotypical, yeah?

JJ and I took Main Street back to the hotel.

I kind of enjoyed some of the architecture.

I saw this church on the way back and walked over.

This is the First Presbyterian Church, built in 1874 in the Gothic style.

When dinner time rolled rolled around, we had noticed a French restaurant named Angele located just a few steps from our accommodations in the Historic Napa Mill.

So, we dropped on by and there were a bunch of al fresco tables available out front. The menu was quite interesting; a nice variety of dishes. As is our usual, we went with three apps and one main.

The baguette was nice and crusty, though a bit “doughy” for my taste.

I was fascinated by the Potato Beignets.

These were interesting. The exterior was crisp, though we weren’t big fans of the overly pasty and sweet filling.

The Pate de Campagne was “by-the-book” and quite good. Very porky, slightly offaly, hint of boozy sweetness-pungency.

The much needed cornichons and mustard allowing for some pungent, palate cleansing counterpoints.

The Beef Tartare was a bit on the mushy side.

And the use of capers was a bit on the heavy-handed side, though not bad overall.

The piece of Veal Sweetbread was huge!

It looked like it was overdone, but was quite tender-creamy. The jus was quite winey, though not unpleasant. The sweetbreads were a bit livery, but overly “metallic” in flavor.

The service was friendly and welcoming. And while not in the same league as L’Escargot in Carmel which we dined at a few days earlier, it was a nice meal overall.

Angele Restaurant
540 Main St.
Napa, CA 94559

It was still light out when we finished dinner, so we took a walk along the Promenade.

There’s so much public art in Napa. This one is named Grateful Harvest.

After crossing the 1st Street Bridge, we came across this.

This is the China Point Overlook and Park.

Did you know that Napa once had a Chinatown? From this park you can see the location of Napa’s Chinatown, which was razed in 1927 to make way for a Yacht Club. Which by the way was never built.

We then headed back to the Napa River Inn. From the sign at the door to front lobby it seems like “Ember” had checked out with only JJ and Nola being the two “VIPs” left.

After relaxing a bit, as I did the night before, I headed next door to The Fink for a nightcap. This time I took JJ along.

The woman working smiled as we entered and said “oh, I’m so glad you brought the pup along this time!”

And the owner…”the Fink” himself asked me if I had noticed anything strange the previous evening. When I said “no”, he told me the story of the hotel being haunted!

Yikes, it was time for a cocktail!

JJ was indeed treated like a “VIP” here as several customer came to pet him!

It was a really cool cocktail bar!

The Fink
530 Main St.
Napa, CA 94559

It’s the Et Voila Time of the Year

Cocktails, Dog Friendly, French Restaurants

Well yes…it’s that time of the year again. Funny how we get into these habits. Even though we had other plans for NYE….we’re going to stay closer to home, Et Voila always comes to mind, especially for Happy Hour. Though we’ve had some NYE meals at ET, we just decided to drop by. Especially since they now have a “special” black truffle menu.

Which you can add for $18 to any dish, or pick something from that menu. Because we had JJ in tow and were sitting outside, we could take advantage of the Happy Hour menu as well.

So, we placed our order, of some HH favorites, and a truffle dish off the menu. And of course I had a Huckleberry Bourbon to start.

It seems a bit weaker these days…but maybe its the HH curse?

This time there was no charge for the half baguette. Perhaps it’s based on what you order?

First up were the Beignet de Champignons ($10 HH). My goodness, this is what we usually order during HH with mixed results. This time it was so perfectly fried.

So crisp, the mushrooms almost buttery…my goodness! Which hides a mild earthy-saltiness. That aioli…which is almost like a basil driven thousand island does fine as well. Perhaps the best we’ve had over so many visits.

Unfortunately, another HH staple for us, the Raviolis aux Champignons (HH – $15) was off the mark for our tastes.

The raviolis were really tough, the sauce overly sweet, and we couldn’t make out the flavor of white truffle at all. I think we’ll be giving up on this one.

The next item, another HH staple set everything right again. The Terrine de Porc (HH – $13) was indeed “porc-y”.

It was quite offal-y and liver-y as well…so that whole grain mustard helped clean the palate and the sinuses. The Missus prefers the baguette with this to what is served.

And then what was supposed to be the “star” of the evening….from the Black Truffle Menu, we got the Champignons a la Royale ($28)….I know, we’re really into the fungi here.

First off, we really enjoyed the crisp and cheesy Parmesan Toast. For some reason the Perigord Black Truffle flavor didn’t come thru. The usually strong fragrance and nutty-sweet-earthy-ultra umami flavors quite faint. The sauce was too thin and watery, but had a decent mushroom flavor.

The Royale was more mushy than creamy and though it did have truffle and mushroom duxelle, the flavor didn’t come thru sufficiently for us.

Service was very nice as always. The woman serving us remembered JJ from our visit last NYE! She kidded us about loving our fungi. Though two of four is not that great in terms of dishes…it has us wondering if our tastes have been changing quite a bit over the last couple of years? At least the Happy Hour prices aren’t too bad.

Et Voilà!
3015 Adams Ave
San Diego, CA 92116

Revisits – Nate’s Garden Grill and Village Kitchen

American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Chinese Restaurants, Dog Friendly

Nate’s Garden Grill Revisited:

Well, the Missus has the “gardening bug” going really strong! We’ve been hitting up Walter Andersen Nursery at least once a week these days! Yeesh….

Anyway, She mentioned wanting to check out City Farmer’s Nursery on Euclid…..well now; opportunity knocks! Since Nate’s Garden Grill is right next to the nursery and my goodness, we hadn’t been to Nate’s since right before Covid! So, with JJ anxious to do some more exploring we headed out for breakfast.

Man, the place was pumping on this Sunday morning!

We got what was an old favorite of ours; the Pulled Pork Hash and an Avocado Toast on Pretzel Bun. The Missus went in to order while I got us a table on the patio.

Where JJ made himself right at home. There was some live music, so I made sure we sat on the other side of the patio out of the way of folks.

The Pulled Pork Hash was a bit of a disappointment.

Other than the crisp, perfectly buttered, and tasty sourdough toast. The pork lacked smokiness and was really chewy, the eggs overdone, and the dish was on the bland side. In a rare move, we had to grab some salt from the condiment table…and then went back for more hot sauce. Too bad, because this was one of our favorites from previous visits.

I’ve always enjoyed the Pretzel Buns at Nate’s and which didn’t disappoint with the Avocado Toast.

Slightly chewy, mildly salty-nutty, and crisp crust. The avocado was really creamily mashed, wish there was more of it. Didn’t care for the bacon which was really thick cut and chewy, rather than crisp like I enjoy.

Overall, not an especially pleasing breakfast. Though the two young ladies loved JJ and asked us if he could have some steak! Good lord……we got bland pulled pork and chewy bacon…..he got steak? What is this world coming to? So, I guess if JJ had his way; we’d be here often…..

Nate’s Garden Grill
3120 Euclid Ave.
San Diego, CA 92105
Current Hours:
Tuesday 11am – 730pm
Wed – Thurs 11am – 9pm
Friday 11am – 9pm
Saturday 8am – 9pm
Sunday 8am – 5pm

Dining In at Village Kitchen:

It’s become a standard routine that when we return from one of many road trips that the first thing the Missus wants is…….well, Chinese food of course! And after returning from one of our road trips, the Missus was thinking of visiting Village Kitchen. I had thought we had just done take out recently….but no, that was from all the way back in November of last year! Man, time has flown by!

Another interesting tidbit is that She wanted to dine in…..looking at all my posts on Village Kitchen it seems that my last seven posts on the place were takeout visits! And the last time we’ve actually eaten in the restaurant was….yes, you guessed it, before Covid!

Over time we’ve noticed that several of our favorite dishes are no longer on the menu. We stuck with one old favorite, one that has been +/- over the years, and one new item from the menu.

Our old favorite, the La Rou with Bamboo Shoots Skin was quite good. We actually wanted the version with radish skin, but they were out.

Though not as spicy as we’d like; the smoked pork was more tender than usual; the bamboo shoots slightly crunchy and earthy. Not overly salty, nice savory tones.

I consider the Eggplant and Green Chili with Preserved Egg to be the “signature dish” at Village Kitchen, though we’ve had mixed results ordering over the years.

These days it seems to have a lot less chilies, thus making it less spicy…but oh my; so much pidan! Which the Missus enjoyed…She loves that savory-complex umami flavor, with the ammonia like finish! Well, there was a ton of it here! The eggplant was very creamy and smoky, there was a hint of sweetness as well. This was a huge portion.

The one new item on the menu we tried was the Smoked Bamboo Shoots with Pork Belly.

Not enough black bean to really add much flavor to the dish; which was really salty. The pork belly was tough and chewy as was the bamboo shoots. This one is a “one-and-done”. Lacking in spice.

Overall, not a bad dinner….we’ll stick with our old favorites. We’ve noticed that the portion sizes here sure have gotten bigger over the last couple of years. It was good to actually dine in rather than do take-out for a change.

Village Kitchen
4720 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117

Hope everyone is having a nice post-Xmas weekend!