Category: Dog Friendly

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!

Road Trip – Morimoto Napa and The Fink

Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Cocktails, Dog Friendly, Japanese Restaurants, Marin, Napa, and Sonoma Counties, Road Trip, Sushi and Sashimi, Travel

There was a restaurant I wanted to check out just a half block from where we were staying in Napa. Several decades back, I recall the Missus and I being glued to our television watching the original Iron Chef. And when I was in Philly for a conference, I remember being so excited having the chance to check out Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto’s restaurant there. Sadly, it was quite disappointing. But now, over two decades later, a few steps away from us was the Napa location of Morimoto. I thought it would be interesting to check out all these years after having dinner at the Philadelphia location.

And they had a patio! So I made reservations.

Upon walking over, we were greeted and seated on the patio. The service here was super friendly, the staff so warm and sweet. Folks came out just to meet and greet JJ! He was brought water….totally the definition of dog friendly. In fact, the next day while I was walking JJ, some of the folks working saw him and called out “hi JJ, hi JJ, how are you???”

The place wasn’t overly busy. Looking at the menu…well, it was obviously not going to be cheap!

I saw Sawara (Mantis Shrimp) on the menu; one of my favorite things, but they were out! Bummer….

Anyway, we placed our order and soon enough our food started to arrive.

First, the Toro Tartare ($32). This was kind of weird as it was so finely minced that it was more like Nakaochi (Tuna Scrape) making it really mushy.

The ponzu sauce was overkill; since it came with wasabi, nori paste, and other seasonings on the side along with sturgeon caviar. The sauce just basically nullified everything but the wasabi.

We got some Sushi….here they charge you by the piece.

Man, the quality of the seafood was top notch, though I would have preferred not having my o-toro ($16/ea) slightly torched, but it was still quite buttery, and don’t get me started on Hokkaido Uni ($20/ea) ok? Good lord, so melt-in-your mouth, buttery, and sweet-oceany tones…it took me back to Otaru! The Aji ($8) was a bit on the overly chewy-slightly metallic side and the Madai ($8) had too much wasabi. Still, this would have been really great, but the rice was hard and under-cooked and the sushi meshi was too strong. Sorry, but if I’m paying $88 for six pieces of nigiri…..

We ordered the Braised Black Cod ($43).

This was a non-starter as it was overcooked; even the sauce, which was overly salty could not save it. Such a waste of a nice piece of fish.

The actual “best” dish of the night was the Duck Confit Fried Rice ($20)

The Jasmine Rice was a bit on the dry side; the rice itself decently coated with a soy sauce – basil type sauce. You could make out the flavor of the duck in the rice; I’m thinking they use the confit duck fat for this as well. Loved that perfectly cooked egg, with the crisp edges and gooey yolk.

Overall, we loved the folks working here, but the food just fell short. The products seemed top notch, but the execution did not do it justice. And at this price point, well…. It’s kinda like what my experience was at Morimoto in Philadelphia.

Morimoto Napa
610 Main St.
Napa, CA 94559

We took a short stroll after our meal. Right around the corner from Morimoto Napa is a location of Morimoto Asia. I know they have one in Waikiki as well. I took a looks at the menu; with stuff like XLB, Peking Duck, Sisig (!?!?), Pad Thai (double !?!?), Tonkotsu Ramen, etc, etc….

And then the faux Terracotta Statues…can you say PF Chang’s, in the image of Masaharu Morimoto???

What the heck???? Yikes!!!

Anyway, we walked along the walkway and promenade, enjoying the artwork.

We returned to our room….JJ was pooped, so I decided to walk a couple of doors over and check out the Cocktail Bar named The Fink.

I liked the somewhat nautical theme of the place. It was really quiet on this evening. I found it interesting to note that all the other folks at the bar were regulars.

The bartender was really friendly as was the gentleman talking to everyone. He introduced himself and I came to find out that he’s the owner of the place; Judd Finkelstein! Really friendly guy! I got to meet the “Fink” himself.

I got a favorite of mine; a Penicillin, which was nice and stiff!

Chatting with the bartender; I mentioned JJ and she asked me why didn’t I bring him in! So nice!

So guess who was coming with me to The Fink the next evening!

The Fink
530 Main St.
Napa, CA 94559

Road Trip – Bouchon Bakery (Yountville) and The Napa River Inn

Bakery, Croissants, Dog Friendly, Marin, Napa, and Sonoma Counties, Road Trip, Travel

**** Just a croissant in this one, in case you just want to come back tomorrow!

Our next destination after leaving Mendocino was the actual city of Napa. But first, I wanted to stop at a bakery that folks I know have been raving about in Yountville. Back in 2003, the one and only Thomas Keller opened Bouchon Bakery in Yountville, to reside along his restaurant Bouchon…all of which has become part of the kingdom that includes among others, the French Laundry, which I’ve had the pleasure of dining at a bajillion years ago and Per Se.

So, after a three hour drive, we made a stop in Yountville, which is quite a lovely and artsy town.

We found some parking up the street from the bakery and had a lovely little stroll down Washington Street. Van De Leur Park is a small, but quaint park…..and the flowers were in bloom, which JJ enjoyed.

We arrived at Bouchon Bakery and the Missus and JJ had a seat at the bench outside; while I went in.

Yes, of course I got the butter croissant, which looked fairly good.

Not overly laminated and while the ridges didn’t fall off, it lacked a nice crispness. The interior was on the doughy side and definitely needed more butter for my taste.

Overall….meh. And the funny thing is; we’d actually get a better croissant aux buerre later on this road trip, in Santa Cruz of all places!

Bouchon Bakery
6528 Washington St.
Yountville, CA 94599

We took a short walk after having the croissant.

Yountville seems nice to visit; though all the folks we saw seemed like tourists. I’m fairly certain it’s pretty expensive to live here as well.

From Yountville, it was about a twenty-five minute drive into the city of Napa and our accommodation, the Napa River Inn. Located in the Hatt Building, once the location of the Napa Mill, the hotel is located right on the riverfront.

It’s a historic property…..just look at the lobby.

The rooms are spread thru three different buildings on the property. The entrance to where our room was on Fifth Street.

And it actually had a view of the riverwalk from the patio, though it was discreetly bordered by plants for privacy. But, one of the main reasons we stayed here was how dog friendly the place is.

Look at how JJ was greeted!

I guess there were three pups staying here on this day!

And they had the room nicely set-up for him as well.

There’s a bakery; with free pastries delivered to your room each morning; 2 restaurants, a cocktail bar, and a sweet shop located on the property.

And lots of artwork everywhere.

Napa River Inn
500 Main St.
Napa, CA 94559

After settling in, we headed on out to explore a bit. We crossed the Napa River on the Third Street Bridge.

And went to explore the Oxbow Public Market.

There wasn’t anything at the market or along the walk that caught the Missus’s attention. So we headed back to the room.

It was kind of strange as this would basically be the main theme of our stay for the Missus as She seemed kinda bored with Napa…..

But at least JJ was a VIP!

Road Trip – Trillium Cafe (Mendocino)

American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Dog Friendly, Mendocino, CA, Road Trip, Travel

After having a nice afternoon nap and relaxing for a bit, we headed out to dinner.

Our destination for dinner was basically a half block away at the place much like MacCallum House Inn where we were staying. Trillium Cafe & Inn did double duty as well; both accommodations and a restaurant.

Like MacCallum House, the menu featured local produce; but seemed a bit more “hipster” to us and we seemed to enjoy the more eclectic menu as well.

And it’s always nice to be able to start with a Kir Royale, right?

As is the “norm” for us; we ordered a couple of appetizers and shared a main.

Things started off with some perfectly seared scallops in the Sauteed Wild Scallops ($22). So very oceany-sweet and tender.

I thought the balsamic glaze might be overkill; but it actually paired well with the earthy-slightly smoky asparagus puree.

The one item we found quite interesting was the Vegetable Galette ($13).

Here’s a better view.

Loved the texture of the pastry, sturdy enough to hold the veggies, but crisp really crisp layers of puff pastry. Nice combo of vegetables. And that lemon pesto was rich, but had a nice crisp-acidity as well.

The Broccolini ($12) was straight-forward, sort of like how I make at home…..though we prefer it a bit more “charred”.

The Vegetable Gnocchi ($37), had a nice array of veggies, but overall was the weakest dish of the meal.

The potato gnocchi was a bit tougher than we prefer but not bad. The pepito pesto had a mild nuttiness, but this dish needed a bit more flavor overall….though perhaps the objective was to enjoy the veggies in their true state?

I had a nice Tawny Port as my digestif.

While the Missus had the “Dubai Bar” ($14) for dessert.

Which She really enjoyed.

Overall, a very nice dinner under a lovely tent. The place was quite busy; but the service was quite friendly and they treated JJ well. We’d gladly return!

Trillium Cafe & Inn
10390 Kasten St.
Mendocino, CA 95460

After dinner we took a short walk to the bluffs and on the way back we saw this little one having a “bath”, just staring us down…..and an old phrase from “back home” came to mind as the raccoon seemed to be saying “wot, boddah you“?

We got back to our lovely accommodations and just hung out…..

The next morning we got up early…..

And took a walk up Lansing Street.

Past the very nice Harvest Market, then up the hill past the cemetery.

Past the lovely St Anthony’s Catholic Church.

That wooden sculpture above is of a woman and child looking toward the sea. It was created in the memory of two fishermen lost at sea.

We strolled on back to MacCallum House to have our breakfast, past some wonderful structures.

We had our breakfast on the patio again…..

Before packing up…resting for a bit….then heading out to our next stop!

Thanks for stopping by!

Lunch at JJ’s Island Grindz (Bonita) with JJ of course

Dog Friendly, Guamanian/Chamorro, Plate Lunch

Back at the end of September, I had the pleasure of sharing a wonderful lunch with two of my favorite people; those who’ve been reading our little blog for a while know Cathy, along with our long time friend CC, who while she doesn’t update her Pink Candles at Ridgemont High blog anymore, has quite a presence on Instagram these days. The place chosen was JJ’s Island Grindz in Bonita. I was kind of excited since there’s not much Chamorro/Guamanian available these days since Smack’N Guamanian Grill has closed, as well as the Midway location of Guahan. I’m thinking that other than JJ’s, Chamorro Grill might be the only other place serving this style of food South of the 56?

Anyway, we had a wonderful time…though so much of it was catching up on things, so I decided not to do a post.

The food was plentiful and the conversations wonderful! Of course, both CC and Cathy asked me why I didn’t bring JJ…..I should have, right?

Anyway, I brought the leftovers home and told the Missus She might enjoy those pork ribs; which were chewy, but nicely flavored with touches of smokiness and soy. Of course She didn’t believe me; but I removed all the meat from the bones and chopped it up and She ended up enjoying it. And we both thought that taking JJ to a place named “JJ’s” would be kinda fun. So, about a month later we ended up heading over to Bonita and the strip mall where JJ’s is located….with JJ in tow. Man, I remember when this place was Ono’s Cafe!

The nice young lady directed us to a table on the patio. She was so nice to JJ and when we told Her his name she could not stop laughing!

Of course we weren’t going to order the sushi rolls or sushi burritos and that kine’ stuff from the huge menu. We got the Chamorro Combo and I was curious, based on how smoky the ribs were, to try the Kalua Pig.

The portions here are fairly sizeable.

The Missus wasn’t fond of the potato salad, though She really enjoyed the red rice, which I did as well. Great texture, savory tones, a hint of smokiness, and to us, even a mild acidity. She was not a big fan of the kelaguen, it was chopped too coarse, without a nice sour-spicy kick, and lacking in the hint of coconut She loves in the version I make. The finadene was too mild for Her taste, but the young lady brought over some of the spicy finadene which helped things out.

The ribs were flavored as She remembered, though strangely, the Missus preferred them the next day as leftovers. Removed from the bone and chopped!

As for the Kalua Pig.

Well, I do like the red rice here. The pork was nice and smokey, but strangely….very strangely, wasn’t salty and porky enough for me. I mean, I don’t ever recall wanting to add salt to my kalua pig! But for me; it’s the mushy, almost watery texture of the pork I didn’t enjoy. Again, strangely, the pork was better the next day after it firmed up a bit and I added some Alaea to it. It’s still not my favorite though.

As for JJ’s, I think we’ll return, so the Missus can get those ribs and perhaps I’ll something else from the menu. The service was warm and welcoming.

And JJ had what Cathy called his “hakuna matata” moment!

JJ’s Island Grindz
4154 Bonita Rd.
Bonita, CA 91902
Current Hours:
Sun – Thurs 11am – 8pm
Fri – Sat 11am – 9pm

Road Trip – Breakfast at MacCallum House, the Mendocino Bluff Trail, Mendocino Market

Breakfast/Brunch, Dog Friendly, Mendocino, CA, Road Trip, Sandwiches, Travel

The Missus woke on our first full day in Mendocino ready to go. Breakfast was included in our stay at MacCallum House which was nice.

The Missus had a nicely made latte; I had an Americano.

The Missus chose some poached eggs and bacon.

While I got the standard two eggs breakfast – easy over with bacon, which was a $20 value.

Meanwhile, JJ got a nice stick to chew on…..

After a short break we decided to do the entire Mendocino Headlands Trail, which we had done a part of the previous day.

We headed back down Church Street and headed off until the trail ended with a view of Big River Beach.

We then walked along the bluffs; where the scenery was quite beautiful.

We then took the trail into Headlands State Park.

Even more lovely views….the coastline here is beautiful.

And as I mentioned before, it’s hard to believe the town is but a few steps away.

JJ was enjoying the scenery as well.

As you head toward the rocky end of the bluffs, things get a bit more dramatic.

It’s an easy 5 mile walk.

Did you know that Miasa (Omachi) in Nagano is Mendocino’s Sister City?

After our morning walk, the Missus wanted to drive up to Fort Bragg, which we did. Though once we got there; the Missus didn’t feel like stopping anywhere, though I think the next time up there we’ll take JJ on the Skunk Train. Anyway, I turned and headed back to Mendocino.

Once back, the Missus wanted to do some shopping, so we headed on out. We came across this honor system farm stand.

Pretty cool, huh?

We zig zagged our way around, in and out of shops. This was the Missus’s favorite.

Where She actually did “Spend-o-cino” if you know what I mean.

Even though they must have to deal with many tourists; folks here were very laid back, relaxed, and friendly.

Circling around Ukiah Street we came across and honor system pottery shop.

The town was giving off major quaint small town vibes!

We decided to grab a sandwich from Mendocino Market, a small shop that sells sandwiches, deli items, snacks, and even wine.

It’s one of those places where you check off your order on one of the handy-dandy forms, pay, then pick up your order at the counter.

After our breakfast we just wanted something light; so I got the Hummus Avocado ($9) on Sourdough.

I’ve come to enjoy pesto on my avocado toast, but never thought of having hummus with it! The nutty-earthy – slightly tangy hummus actually went quite well with the creamy-rich avocado.

The lovely alfalfa sprouts and tomatoes made the sandwich complete. Not haute cuisine, but just a nice, light sandwich for lunch.

Mendocino Market
45051 Ukiah St.
Mendocino, CA 95460

After which it was time for…..you know what, right?

Thanks for stopping by!