Category: Dog Friendly

Road Trip – Seaside Gardens and Zookers Restaurant (Carpinteria)

American/New American Restaurants, Beer, Dog Friendly, Road Trip, Santa Barbara County, Travel

On the way back from Summerland, I decided to make one more stop. The Missus is really into Her plants these days….and I had read about Seaside Botanical Gardens right outside Carpinteria. Yes, it’s a nursery and plant shop….however, it spans three-and-a-half acres featuring plants from various regions around the world.

It’s also dog friendly……and plants are separated by region. The folks working here are so very knowledgeable.

It was so relaxing and yet overwhelming at the same time…….it just went to point out how little we know!

We’ll be stopping here whenever we’re in the area!

Seaside Gardens
3700 Via Real #3050
Carpinteria, CA 93013

When we got back to the downtown area, we decided to do some shopping…..the Missus had fun with some of the thrift stores….some of which had fun items…..

And no….that’s not a “real” goldfish!

Walking down Carpinteria Avenue we passed this huge tree.

This is the Wardholme Torrey Pine, standing at 126 feet tall, it is the largest Torrey Pine in the world!

After a short respite in our room, we decided to head on out for dinner. I had chosen a place a short walk away, named Zookers. Located in the Casitas Shopping Center, Zookers also has a meat and seafood market…so I thought the food might not be too bad.

Plus, they had a large patio area…perfect for JJ!

Service outside was a bit slow….we noticed this for others who sat al fresco as well. Very nice and friendly folks though. The Missus enjoyed Her glass of a White Blend from Paso Robles and I got a Island Brewing Blond, made locally in Carpinteria, fairly clean and refreshing, with a hint of hops.

We ordered one starter and an “entree” salad.

First up were the Duck Confit Tacos ($22).

Man, this was not very good. The tortillas were waxy-mass produced stuff. The duck “confit” was dry and chewy; really lacking in flavor as well. Not enough cheese to have an affect on the tacos as well.

What was good was the Dry Aged Rib Eye Steak Salad ($33). I think I need to put salad in quotes since the only representative “garden green” in this was the very crisp and refreshing Romain Lettuce. It was quite good and we were told it’s locally grown.

The rib eye, while a bit overdone for our requested medium rare was very tender in spite of the looks! It was perfectly seasoned and man, it was so beefy and earthy.

Since Zookers had a meat market; in spite of the Missus’s reservations, I wanted to order some red meat and I’m glad we did! This was our favorite meal in Carpinteria and nowadays, the Missus will order a steak now and then! It was a nice way to end our little road trip.

Zookers Restaurant
5404 Carpinteria Ave. (in the Casitas Plaza Shopping Center)
Carpinteria, CA 93013

Breakfast was provided by the hotel. And the next morning, before checking out I took JJ for a short walk where he managed to meet a “cousin”, named Louie…..who it turned out was also staying at the same hotel!

It was a rather short, but fun road trip…..the 11th week took in 2025! Crazy, huh?

Khao Mun Gai from Kin Len – Thai Street Eats

Dog Friendly, Thai Restaurants

In the comments section of my post on craving and getting some Khao Mun Gai from Me Sen, “FOY” ST mentioned that his sister enjoys the Khao Mun Gai from Kin Len. Which I found interesting since I don’t recall seeing Kau Mun Gai on the menu there. But since ST is of Thai heritage….well, I just needed to do a revisit since it’s been a while. Plus, they have a covered patio so I could bring JJ. Looking at the hours I noticed that they are open to 1am on some evenings……I guess they’re looking for that post “North Park night” population, huh?

So, we found parking fairly close by and walked on over to Kin Len. I peeked in and the nice young man told me to sit wherever I wanted, so I took the covered corner table. He soon came out and brought me a menu and water for both JJ and I. When he saw me giving JJ ice cubes; he was so nice and proactive and brought JJ an entire cup of ice just for him!

So JJ was immediately on “team Kin Len”!

Looking at the menu I realized why I hadn’t noticed the Khao Mun Gai here before.

While many of the dishes feature the Thai name for the dishes….Khao Soi, Pad See-Ew…..many dishes feature English names and the KHao Mun Gai here is “Sous-vide Chicken & Rice”. Which is what I ordered ($17.95).

Soon enough my plate arrived.

Man, those pieces of chicken were gigantic! Of course, the first thing I went for was….the rice! It was on the hard side and not quite as rich and “chicken-ny” as I like.

The bowl of soup that came with the dish was quite large; scalding hot….nice chicken flavor, strong white pepper tones.

Not overly salty….I enjoyed it.

As for the boneless chicken; in terms of texture it was tender, though not falling apart, which I liked. Mild chicken flavor….more moist and tender than the version at Me Sen. The sauce was a lot stronger in terms of sour-tangy fermented soy bean paste, though not as spicy as I enjoy.

I do enjoy hints of ginger and slight herbaceous tones, but this was pretty much straight forward. And yes, those pieces of chicken were quite wide and thick.

Overall, a decent version….though I’m pretty much into the rice and so for that I’ll stick with Me Sen, which is like $4 cheaper as well. Still, this was not bad and service was very friendly and nice…so perhaps we’ll return (if we can find parking) to try some other dishes. It gives us another option to Soi 30th in the area for Thai food..

Kin Len – Thai Street Eats
3934 30th St.
San Diego, CA 92104
Current Hours:
Sunday 12pm – 9pm
Mon – Wed 11am – 3pm, 5pm – 9pm
Thursday 11am – 3pm, 5pm – 1am
Fri – Sat 12pm – 1am

Road Trip – Revisiting Blue Moon Over Avila and Checking Out Some Other Places

Dog Friendly, French Restaurants, Paso Robles/Cambria/San Luis Obispo County, Road Trip, Santa Barbara County, Travel

After hitting up some of our favorite places the day before, then spending the night in Solvang we headed up the 101 to a stop that we had enjoyed a few months before; Avila Beach.

On the way up, we stopped in Los Alamos. The Missus had always enjoyed shopping at Los Alamos Gallery.

As there were always things that She never knew She needed!

Los Alamos Gallery
515 Bell St.
Los Alamos, CA 93440

Still running a bit early, we made a stop in Pismo Beach, so that the little “crazy guy” could run around on the beach.

With a stick he found of course.

We got to Avila Beach and was able to score an early check in.

And after taking a break, we went to our favorite restaurant in Avila Beach; Blue Moon Over Avila.

Which is open all the way thru from 1130am….so we did a late lunch-early dinner kind of thing. The place is totally dog friendly and we got seats at the rail so we could see what was happening on Front Street.

Since we had a fridge, we ordered more food than we needed.

Like this huge Charcuterie Board.

Nothing fancy mind you; but quite satisfying; I enjoyed that cheese that seemed like Manchego which was nice and milky. We saved a good amount of this to have as an evening snack.

We also got the Beef Bourguignon, which was just as good as on our last visit.

Not overly “winey”, it was quite savory, with the mushrooms adding the perfect earthiness, the lardons saltiness. We saved some of this for later as well.

And I was glad to know that our favorite item from our previous visit; the Croque Monsieur was just as delici-yoso!

That perfectly crisp layer of Gruyere makes this for us. It’s a bit milky-savory, with a hint of what seems like sweetness.

Buttery Bechamel, rosemary ham, and a nice yeasty sourdough completes the set. Man, I wish this place was in San Diego. Totally our favorite Croque Monsieur!

Blue Moon Over Avila
460 Front St.
Avila Beach, CA 93424

Sadly, my favorite stop for a local brew, Locals Taproom was closed because it was a Tuesday, but because it was early in the week; all the kids from SLO and other visitors weren’t around. So it made a nice afternoon; then evening stroll really nice.

Of course we took a walk down the pier with J.

This little town of about 1,600 is quite mellow during days like this. And JJ even met a “cousin”!

We then headed on back to the hotel…relaxed. They had a free wine tasting during the evening which the Missus enjoyed. I had also gone to the little market and got myself a brew to have with the leftover Beef Bourguignon. We enjoyed a nice night of sleep and of course JJ got me up at 430am!

The beach is open to pups before 10am and after 5pm daily. So once the sun was up, we took JJ for some fun on the shore.

And there’s always something “new” to notice!

Our accommodations serves breakfast which is nice. We checked out and then headed back South.

We made a couple of stops on the way to our final destination for the road trip. Since this was in early December, I decided to stop at the Pismo State Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove. Which is a well known migration spot for Monarch Butterflies between November and February.

There were a couple of people on the trail…two folks with major camera gear. But unfortunately we saw maybe 4-5 Monarchs.

I read that there’s been a 90% drop in the Monarch Butterfly population in recent years. So sad…..

We took a short stroll around the Meadow Creek area.

Before heading back to the car and our final destination….we were actually taking a bit of a longer route since there was a place I wanted to stop at!

Stay tuned and thanks for stopping by!

The Pad Thai Stand Revisited

Dog Friendly, Thai Restaurants

Recently, on the way home from one of JJ’s “excursions”, I was feeling a bit hungry. We were passing Carnival Market on Ashford Street when I suddenly remembered the Pad Thai Stand, which I hadn’t been to in a while…..like 5 years! Since they have a covered patio, I thought that JJ could relax while I had some lunch.

As I walked in; I quickly noticed that the place is looking a bit run down.

The woman working actually came out from the counter to take my order. Based on my previous visits, I got the Boran (old style) Pad Thai with Tofu ($15) Medium Heat. My order took about 20 minutes….which was strange considering I was the only customer…..I quickly noticed that they don’t do the noodles over high heat here…..more on that later.

It was a rather large portion.

The chunks of tofu was fine; my favorite item in this version of Pad Thai are the pork rinds. The egg was chopped into pieces and overcooked for my taste. Enjoyed the crunch of the bean sprouts.

I liked the spice; it was hot enough to get my sweat glands going. A bit on the sweeter side for my taste, a bit lacking in in savory tones……which was one of the reasons I got the Boran. Usually the more traditional version has much more umami-savory tones than other versions.

The most “interesting” thing were the noodles; which were super chewy and rubbery. In fact, I took a good amount of the Pad Thai home with me. When I went to heat it up it was all stuck together in a giant clump. I needed to keep heating and mixing to try to get the noodles separated. Then I remembered….I saw the young man cooking the dish over a rather low heat. This would often cause the noodles to clump together.

Kind of a bummer, though JJ enjoyed hanging out.

The Pad Thai Stand
3520 Ashford St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours:
Sunday – Thurs 11am – 2pm, 4pm – 11pm
Fri – Sat 11am – 2pm, 4pm – Midnight

Lunch with JJ – Nature Forward Socal Bistro

Dog Friendly, European Restaurants, Mediterranean Restaurants

So, in my croissant post on Nature Forward Socal Bistro, I mentioned noticing Shakshuka on the menu. And while I wasn’t impressed with the “croissant”, I was interested in trying the Shakshuka, especially since the place had outdoor seating. Little did I know that I would have a opportunity so quickly! It just so happened that I placed a takeout order from Joyee for when the Missus got home for dinner. JJ and I went to pick it up at around 1030 on a recent Saturday. After placing our food in the car, I decided to take JJ for a short stroll and I noticed that the front patio of Nature Forward, which is usually quite busy on weekends, was empty!

Well, I guess this was a “sign”, right? I decided to have an early lunch with JJ. I got the really nice young lady’s attention and we were seated in the front patio.

In the shaded table in the corner.

The young lady brought JJ a bowl of water with the menu for me to review. Of course, I knew what I wanted….the Shakshuka ($19). I place my order and just relaxed….based on previous experience I knew it was going to take a while…and with just the young lady working the register and front of house doing everything I wasn’t going to complain.

Eventually, my Shakshuka arrived. It came with roasted potatoes.

The potatoes seemed to be seasoned with rosemary. As you can see, it was unevenly roasted, not enough crisp brown parts, it was lukewarm, so I’m thinking it had been sitting under a heat lamp somewhere?

As for the Shashuka, it had a ton of feta cheese and was really tart from the tomatoes.

The eggs had been poached in the tomato sauce nicely and were really nice and runny.

It came with a few slices of pita bread which were hard and over toasted.

Like I mentioned, a bit too tart and sour for my taste. There was supposed to be jalapeno in this, but I could not make out any spice at all. Though I prefer this to what I’d had at Flora.

I do like hints of garlic and even cumin in my Shashuka. And while this was not even close to what I’d had at Jachnun Bar in Jerusalem….I really didn’t expect that. This was really one dimensional.

Overall, not bad, good portion size, but I think I’ll stick to making my version at home.

Nature Forward Socal Bistro
8935 Towne Centre Dr. #110
San Diego, CA 92122
Current Hours:
Sat – Tues 8am – 5pm
Wed – Fri 8am – 8pm

Road Trip – Raven Hill Bagels, Idyllwild Nature Center, Atomic Cow Revisited, and Lumber Mill Bar & Grill

American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Diner, Dog Friendly, Road Trip, Sandwiches, Travel

On our last visit to Idyllwild many businesses were closed. We were here on Tuesday and Wednesday so that seemed odd. It’s during our meal at Ferro that our wonderful Server explained that weekends are the busy times for Idyllwild, so many businesses use Tuesday and Wednesday as their weekend so to speak. So, I took that into consideration when planning this road trip. We were visiting on a Sunday and Monday, leaving on Tuesday morning. So, all of the businesses seemed open during our visit.

That made the short walk from our accommodation to Raven Hill Bagels so easy to grab some breakfast and coffee. The shop is indeed closed on Tuesday and Wednesday.

It’s a small shop with some outdoor seating. You order at the counter….it’s basically a deli and then take your food.

There were some tables outside and the Missus waited with JJ.

A simple order, two Americanos, and a Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Bagel Sandwich ($13), with Avocado ($2).

I chose a Jalapeno and Cheese Bagel, which was fairly dense, but tasty.

It would have been on the saltier side; but I added avocado which was a nice buffer. This was also quite large….I saved half for the next morning’s breakfast.

I also noted that the shop also sells various cheeses and deli meats by the pound as well.

Raven Hill Bagels
54440 North Circle Dr. Unit A
Idyllwild-Pine Cove, CA 92549

Heading back to the Fireside Inn, we got into the car and headed up to the Idyllwild Nature Center.

There are several easy trails here and also ample parking on this day. We took the super easy Idyllwild Park Trail.

There was some interesting signage along the way with some interesting things to see; like these Bedrock Mortars used by the Cahuilla, the Indigenous People who settled in the area.

There were also some nice views along the way.

Which JJ enjoyed.

It was a nice way to spend a few hours.

Back in town, we parked at our cottage and walked down North Circle Drive, stopping at what is probably the Missus’s favorite shop in the town, Idyllwild Gardens.

Though this time the Missus resisted the urge to buy a bunch of stuffs!

Idyllwild Gardens
54385 North Circle Dr.
Idyllwild, CA 92549

Our stop for lunch would be where we had what was our favorite meal on our previous visit….yes, it was at Atomic Cow.

The Missus and JJ hung out on the patio and I went in to order.

This time the Missus also wanted to try the Chili Cheese Fries. Which turned we turned out to not really enjoy.

Soggy dry fries…really weak, but salty chili, and gooey, but tasteless cheese.

On a positive note, we enjoyed the item that was our favorite on our last visit.

Yes, it was the Cubano, which had Kalua Pork as one of the ingredients. Nicely toasted bread, nicely melted provolone cheese, pickles helping to cut the richness of the tender, smoky, porky, but not overly salty “Kalua pork”.

I’m glad we still enjoyed this. We had also learned that the sandwiches are pretty large here, so one plus a side is more than enough for our lunch. In fact, we needed a nap after this.

Atomic Cow
54200 North Circle Dr.
Idyllwild-Pine Cove, CA 92549

We then had our afternoon “break” before heading back out to grab an early dinner and headed down North Circle Drive. It was nice to be here when most places were open. Right next to the Mountain Paws Pet Supply store was this lovely Gallery – Gift Shop.

The owner was super friendly and the Missus ended buying some small “stuffs” as gifts for folks.

Artspresso Art Gallery
54380 North Circle Dr.
Idyllwild-Pine Cove, CA 92549

We kept heading on down the road and before you knew it, we had reached the Market, where North Circle Drive meets the 243…….

Right across the street was this place, called the Lumbermill.

Which had a patio, so we decided to head on in. We were led to the patio….which we really didn’t take to.

But the stools at the rail seemed nice and the place had a pleasant view of the street.

Looking at the condiments provided, you just kinda knew this was one of those burger-sandwich family diner – bar kind of places. And the menu, with burgers, burritos, nachos, hot dogs, sandwiches and such confirmed things. With this in mind, I went simple with regards to my cerveza….

And we just ordered two apps for dinner….which we were happy about since the portions were pretty large.

We got the boneless wings ($16.95).

Which looked over-sauced. It was pleasantly crunchy, the Buffalo sauce was on the sour-puckery side, but it did go rather well with the Blue Cheese Dressing. The really nice Server told us that they make their own dressing inhouse.

Of course, I just had to try some Cheese Curds ($15.95).

A bit too gooey with the batter not crisp enough…the menu said Wisconsin White Cheddar, but I really couldn’t make out any of the cheddar “sharpness”. Of course, it’s probably mass distributed young cheddar. I wasn’t expecting what I’d get at say………..The Old Fashioned in Madison, but it was still mediocre.

Still, not a terrible meal. JJ got treated nicely’ they brought a bowl of water for him. Service was welcoming….very nice folks working here. And it was enough food for our dinner.

Lumber Mill Bar & Grill
25985 CA-243 #243
Idyllwild-Pine Cove, CA 92549

It closed up a nice short stay in Idyllwild for us.

Thanks for stopping by!

Road Trip – The Castle Rock Trail (Big Bear), Idyllwild Farmers Market, and Dinner at Idyllwild Brewpub (again)

Dog Friendly, Farmer's Markets/Night Market, Pubs and Pub Grub, Road Trip, San Bernadino County, CA, Temecula/Idyllwild/Palm Springs - Riverside, CA, Travel

On our way out of Big Bear, the Missus decided She wanted to do another hike. So we headed west to the Castle Rock Trail. Because of the weekend crowd, we headed up early. It was a fairly easy trail, just 3 miles round trip.

Love the rock formations and the fall colors….something we really don’t get here in San Diego.

And of course; JJ had a blast as well.

Then we headed off to our next stop. The Missus wanted to stay in Idyllwild again. Because it was a Sunday, folks we headed out of Big Bear so it took us almost three hours to get to Idyllwild, which wasn’t too busy.

We parked near Village Center and the Missus did some shopping.

I had also heard that there’s a Farmers Market near the Town Hall on Sundays so we headed on over and did some browsing.

Idyllwild Farmers Market
25925 Cedar St.
Idyllwild, CA 92549
Sunday from 9am – 2pm

We headed back down North Circle Drive to the car…..there are some really charming buildings and houses in Idyllwild.

When it happened! Remember how I mentioned that the Mayor of Idyllwild was a dog named Max? Well guess what….we ran into Max and his entourage meeting his constituents. So, we finally got to meet Max!

Which was kinda interesting as apparently Max doesn’t like other pooches so he went after JJ! He did go after me….well, after my back pocket as he sniffed out my package of treats. I cracked up….Max was looking for a bribe while trying to get rid of the competition! He really is a politician!

Meanwhile, I got my access code to our little cottage up the street….we’d stayed at the same place on our previous visit, so JJ felt right at home!

We had a nice little nap.

When dinner time arrived; we just decided to head on back to the Idyllwild Brewpub.

After you head on down that stairway……

There’s a nice covered patio.

This time I went with the red ale with nice almost sweetish tones and was very easy to drink.

The Missus decided on the Crispy Sprouts.

Which were actually not bad. Fairly crisp, not mushy as many versions are. Kind of light in terms of flavor though.

I was curious about the “243 Dog”……which was a quite elongated kinda chewy hot dog, but was pleasantly savory..

The beer cheese was quite mild and not milky enough, the sweet caramelized onions were kind of a shock, but did add some additional flavor. The bacon aioli wasn’t really necessary in my opinion as it made things get soggy faster. The fires were typical thin style and on the drier side.

This was an ok dinner…..it met expectations.

And JJ was treated quite well too.

Idyllwild Brewpub
54423 Village Center Dr.
Idyllwild, CA 92549

We had a nice stroll before settling in……

And we’d do a bit more exploring the following day!

Road Trip – Oakside and Cocktails at De la Nonna (Big Bear)

American/New American Restaurants, Cocktails, Dog Friendly, Road Trip, San Bernadino County, CA, Travel

After a lovely afternoon slumber; we woke and decided to take a stroll and then head to dinner. This was a Thursday evening at the end of October, so things were really quiet and relaxed.

We strolled up the main street, Pine Knot Avenue. There were a lot of cool wooden sculptures along the way.

We saw the sign for this candle making bar, which stated they were dog friendly, so of course we headed in with JJ.

The young lady working was a joy…so very friendly. And she cracked up when we told her we were from San Diego. She used to live in North Park!

The Missus found a few items She ended up purchasing….some tea and other stuffs. Really nice little shop. We didn’t know they closed at 5; but the young lady kept the place open. When we found out we apologized, but she just said “don’t worry, I’ve got nothing else to do right now!”

Mystic Moto | Ritual Provisions Candle Bar
625 Pine Knot Ave.
Big Bear Lake, CA 92315

We really don’t get much fall colors here in San Diego; so it was nice to see that.

We walked up to Village Drive and after stopping in a couple of shops, headed to a place recommended by one of JJ’s Aunties, Janeli. Named Oakside. We had a seat on the nice outdoor patio….the heater was already started!

The place was actually bustling, though not many people on the patio, there was a line at the door for dinner.

The menu was had things like pizza/pasta/seafood/steaks…you know, right? Anyway, our wonderful Server after asking for my taste preferences recommended the Monkey on a Mule, basically a Mule with Monkey Shoulder Scotch. A nice version of a Highland Mule, smokey, but still smooth, and not overly sweet.

We weren’t very hungry, so we settled for two appetizers, which was a good move since one of them, the Fried Green Beans was a rather large portion, of fried stuff.

Decent crisp – crunchy batter, lightly “snappy” green beans. We both enjoyed the wasabi ranch dressing….the pungency of wasabi did a nice job of cutting the richness of the dressing.

We also got the Oakside Wagyu Sliders.

The brioche like slider rolls were nice and fluffy. The almost thousand island like sauce wasn’t too thick and it wasn’t over sauced.

The beef was juicy and decently tender. Mild beefiness.

The cheese had been nicely melted as well.

Most of all; the Missus, who is not a “burger person” actually enjoyed this. It qualified for Her “once a year burger”.

Service a bit slow, but heck this is Big Bear and we’re on vacation, right?

Oakside
40701 Village Dr.
Big Bear Lake, CA 92315

We headed back to the Marina Riviera and decided to get a nightcap. There a restaurant and bar with outdoor seating. It has a great view of the lake, but of course it was dark by this time. The place was doing some good business. We peeked into the bar and the bartender, named Kinzey waved us in telling us, “come on in, you can see, we love dogs”!

And so we had a seat at one of the tables. I had an Old Fashioned which was a nice way to end the evening.

They made us feel so welcomed that we’d either have drinks or dinner here during the rest of our stay in Big Bear.

De la Nonna Big Bear (In the Hotel Marna Riviera)
40770 Big Bear Blvd.
Big Bear Lake, CA 92315

This was a nice way to spend our first evening in Big Bear!

Road Trip – Tropicali (Big Bear)

Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Dog Friendly, Poke, Road Trip, San Bernadino County, CA, Travel

Just a month after returning from Tahoe, we were off again. I really didn’t want to be doing that 7 plus hour drive like I’d done the previous month. So, I got the Missus to agree to Big Bear, which we’d never been to, then a couple of nights in Idyllwild again.

I’d gotten us a nice room at the Marina Riviera, perched right on the shore of Big Bear Lake. It had also just reopened a few months before after some renovations and turned out to be very dog friendly.

Our room was ready when we arrived and we were able to check in. We had a nice view of the lake and beachfront from our room.

Right across the street was a restaurant I wanted to check out named Tropicali. You see, the restaurant had just been named as having the best poke in America (not only on the mainland), by that four lettered website. And you know I don’t take all the stuff from that website seriously, right? Though I understand that it did make some major waves, check out this from KHON and Sam Choy! Ho, like beef, huh? Anyway, that was written a few months after my visit; though this one Reddit stuff…….. I just had to check it out.

Anyway, the restaurant has an interesting entrance. You walk in thru the mouth of a shark sculpture.

So, of course JJ had a photo-op…..

They really go all in with the Tiki-ish sterotypes here…… A bit over-the-top……I can see how some Kama’aina’s can get a bit irritated by the cliches.

You order at one of the very colorful kiosks……

Anyway, I placed my order and then joined JJ and the Missus on the lovely deck.

Soon enough my name was called….they try to be funny announcing names, like “Gunnar xxxx” doing pirate themed thing….so of course when my name was called it was “Captain” you know who…..

Anyway, I had ordered two bowls. The rice for both bowls were nicely cooked.

The first was the “Kraken”, which used unagi sauce and was topped with won ton chips.

At least this wasn’t one of those “chi-poke” places. The fish was of decent quality, not too much “sugi”; though the fish was over sauced and the sweetness really overpowered everything. The sprinkled panko was kind of strange as it added a weird grittiness to the dish.

The Pele Bowl was the better of the two. Again decent fish and rice.

The cucumber tasted like Kyuri Asazuke, slightly pickled, which we thought added to the dish. Especially since this was also a bit over sauced and even though was obviously a version of spicy ahi was also too sweet for us. I think some limu and salt would bring back the ocean to the ahi here.

To me, poke is first about the fish, the sauce enhances the experience. Here it overwhelms the dish. That’s probably why I prefer HFS in San Diego to this place. Honestly, it’s not bad; but to me it’s not in the same class as Tanioka’s or Ono Seafood.

Tropicali
40771 Big Bear Blvd.
Big Bear Lake, CA 92315

After lunch we crossed the street back to the hotel and took a short stroll along the lakeside.

Before heading in for a short nap.

Tacos Minali

Dog Friendly, Food Trucks/Carts, Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

I’ve often mentioned my “list” in posts. Places that I’ve listed to visit or revisit….it’s actually a Google Map that keeps getting more and more “crowded” on a daily basis it seems. Well, I only got one stomach so…..

Anyway, sometimes I take too long to visit and places will close before I have a chance to check them out. Case in point Voqozo. And sometimes I’m in for a surprise. Last year an acquaintance recommended a taco stand that opened off of Park named Tacos el Flaco. So, I put it on my map and read that since it’s a trailer set-up with outdoor seating; well, JJ could hang with me.

Recently, I took JJ to Old Trolley Barn Park for a little change of pace. And when things started getting a bit on the warmer side I thought it would be nice to grab some lunch. I initially thought of heading to BFD, since I hadn’t been there since they moved. But, in the end, I thought I’d try Tacos el Flaco. I lucked out and found parking on Park, then went looking for the taco trailer.

Finding this “clue” along the way.

Even though the address listed is for Park Avenue; the place is located on Lincoln Avenue. And even more to my surprise, it’s not Tacos el Flaco, but Tacos Minali!

Hmmm……well now I wasn’t too sure, but then I spied the trompo! Sorry about the terrible photo!

So, I knew I had to try this place out. Next, the prices gave me pause…….the Tripa Tacos were $4.85. The birria and adobado $4.25! Ouch!

Anyway, I ordered and JJ and I had a seat.

And soon enough my tacos were ready. They looked quite good.

I started with the Adobada, which turned out to be the best of the three.

I did find that mashed avocado to be a bit odd, but quickly got past that. I enjoyed the nice crisp and charred edges; really good caramelization. Savory-smoky, a touch of spiciness, I did miss the hint of acidic sweetness….if I ever have this again, I’ll do what the guy who came by as I was finishing up did and make sure to get some pineapple on the taco.

That salsa had some good heat and the tortilla was nice and maizey and held together well.

The tripas was my second favorite.

I loved the crisp and charred pieces, such good texture. The flavor was earthy-savory, not overwhelmingly “offalish”. The onions, cilantro, and other toppings went well with this.

I was not impressed with the birria. I did appreciate the fact that the double tortillas were crisped up; almost like vampiros, thus it held up well.

The beef was a bit too fatty, the seasoning on the milder side, and for some reason, it was a bit weak in the beefiness department.

Overall, two out of three ain’t bad. And JJ enjoyed himself.

Kind of pricey for tacos; especially from a trailer, but I’m glad to have tried it. The 9am opening time might also get me back here…though I’m sticking to Birrieria Enriquez in area for birria.

Tacos Minali
4005 Park Blvd. (actually on Lincoln)
San Diego, CA 92103
Current Hours:
Daily 9am – 11pm