Mexican Restaurants – Page 36

Episode 13A/Week Two-Happy Chef, Happy, Happy!

October 14, 2006 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Greek Food, Mexican Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is on vacation. The part usually played by Kirk will be played by Cathy in in the interim.

*** Update. The name has changed to Kayson’s. The people who work there all seem to be the same (even the husband and wife who I thought were owners) including Aurelio, the Chef. The walls don’t have photos of famous Channel 8 ex-personalities. The tables and chairs all match now. There is a wide screen TV and new flooring. The menu has the same foods, but the prices all went up by about $2 per item.

Update of the Update: Happy Chef and Kaysons are now closed.

Ahh, its a weekend and, well…there is this place The Mister and I have been going to since about 1984 and its still there, and I think the tables and chairs are still the same and, well, nobody has ever had a mention of it. YET, Kirk has mentioned Sammy Sushi as being his favorite place and here, Happy Chef is technically in the same building, sharing the same parking lot.

Its only open from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday thru Saturday and is busy most of that time. The sign says "Home Style Cooking" and if your home is American-Greek-Mexican, then yes, it is.

The menu has American, Greek and Mexican breakfasts and for lunch, Greek Food, Mexican Food, Charbroiled burgers, salads, sandwiches, two "Oriental Plates", seafood and combo plates. Note that there is gyros listed under "Mexican Food" and under "Old Favorites" in the breakfast section, the shrimp and mixed cheese omelet….I suppose I grew up deprived…

Here is a better photo of part of the lunch menu (the descriptions are difficult to read on the paper menu because its kind of grey ink on yellow paper) :

The Mister got himself the souvlaki and eggs breakfast with pita ($6.35) and I got my all time favorite- chilaquiles with shredded beef ($4.99). The souvlaki was excellent- tender and served on a kabob with a side of tzatziki. (Those are poached eggs in the cup on the plate). I do *love* the chilaquiles here, some places only make them vegetarian style but you have the option of getting them with shredded chicken or beef and the shredded beef is excellent. Chilaquiles are tortilla strips cooked in a sauce, kind of an enchilada sauce, and then mixed in are meat or eggs or vegetables.

For lunch one day, the Mister wanted the Fish and Chips, which came with 1/2 of the plate covered in salad, the other half with in store cut potatoes and three large pieces of fish, covered in a cornmeal batter. All very tasty. The tartar sauce is made here and is very chunky with jarred relish, kind of tart in taste. I opted for the gyros with onion rings, which were whole slices of onions covered in the same cornmeal batter. The gyros was way overfilled in the pita, nice and thick sliced and had chopped onions and chopped tomatoes in it. The tzatziki is a good one, made without dill.

Now the place is called Happy Chef and the clock on the wall has been there forever. …you know I don’t have photos of people in any of my posts. But when I saw how Aurelio was dressed on this day, I just *had* to ask permission. He did not want to have his photo taken and I told him it was for my mom to see. She will see it…(click onto the photo for it to enlarge and look at the clock). Doesn’t he look happy, just like the guy on the clock?

Anthony’s Happy Chef 7905 Engineer Road San Diego 92111 (across from Pacific Honda) (858)569-1582

Monday-Saturday 6 a.m.-3 p.m.

Episode 8-Week 2 Carnitas Uruapan

October 8, 2006 Cathy Mexican Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Carnitas Uruapan closed in September 2011. It will be missed. It has relocated and is being run by former employees at 4233 Spring Street, La Mesa 92042 Here's a post

mmm-yoso is on vacation. The part usually played by Kirk will be played by Cathy in the interim.

When I started blogging, yea all of seven days ago, the first comment I received was from Ted, who asked if I might possibly review Mexican restaurants in the San Diego area. "Ha!" I thought. Mexican restaurants…what is out there? what is good?…

Then I was reading the chowhound website and recalled seeing a lot of inquiries this summer from people who were going to be staying in downtown San Diego for some sort of convention or another and they, too were asking about 'good Mexican restaurants'.

Invariably, someone always mentioned "Carnitas Uruapan" for great carnitas, yet I have never seen a review. (Carnitas is essentially orange juice marinated pork, simmered in boiling oil, then braised in the oven to get a crispy crust.). So, since I am not doing much of anything, I felt it was necessary to at least show some photographs to the few people who do not know about Carnitas Uruapan. It is in Lemon Grove…waaaay out in East county (maybe 12 minutes from downtown, because you get stuck at lights getting out of downtown).

Looks innocuous, eh? Its a lot nicer than the old location, which did not have air conditioning. That location was taken over by Eminent Domain about 15 years ago.

We went here today, a Sunday, at 1 p.m. We were the only non-Hispanics in the place. This is a good sign.

Here is the menu, all three pages. You can click onto any of them and they will enlarge.

This is the main dinner menu and then there is the lunch menu.

If you have paid attention, the name of the place is CARNITAS Uruapan. Get the carnitas.

Carnitas for two: $12.90…we wanted guacamole also, $3.50

Doesn't look like much, you say? That is a pound of carnitas meat. You get three corn tortillas each, or two flour tortillas each. Here is what we made, and what was leftover:

I made a taco and then just a plate of beans, carnitas, guacamole, cilantro, onion and tomato. I used lots of carnitas.

The Mister made himself smaller burrito like servings on the flour tortillas.

After we each had two pretty large servings, this amount of meat was still left over. We did manage to finish it all though…but I wasn't hungry for dinner…

The "Sampler Platter" is $15.95 and includes about 1/3 lb carnitas, tamale, chile relleño, enchilada, a sopa, taco, rice and beans…lots of side stuff. Its good. Its all good. The carnitas here are great. The salsa is hot, fresh, the chips are made in house, the tortillas are fresh and warm when they get to your table, the beans are made with lard (wonder where they get it?), the cilantro and onions are plentiful and fresh and it is all brought to your table quickly with a smile. The only thing I don't like- the iced tea is instant, not brewed.

Carnitas Uruapan 8035 Broadway, Lemon Grove 91945

(619) 462-0704

Episode two/week one-Emmas…and

October 2, 2006 Cathy Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is on vacation. The part usually played by Kirk will be played by Cathy in the interim.

Emma’s Mexican Food…and what else I ate today

So, there was an incident in a parking lot on Labor Day and the parts are in, and Carter’s Collision opens at 7 a.m., so drop off a car and either walk home (all uphill, by the way, about three miles) or have the Mister follow me and perhaps go out to breakfast (heh heh) on a Monday. I chose the latter.

Those of you who have lived in San Diego, should remember the first/only Price Club (which eventually bought out Costco), in Santee. It is now an empty lot (although this weekend it had some sort of carnival with all sorts of scary rides on the lot and soon it will have a Pumpkin Patch that will turn into a Christmas Tree sales place in about another month or so) and will sooner-or-later turn into Highway 52 joining up with Highway 67 and make our lives oh so much easier, if we are driving in that direction….[sorry; digression]…AND SO ANYHOW, if you remember that Price Club, the address on your receipts was Buena Vista Avenue, and you usually entered on that street and right on the other side of Buena Vista is Emma’s.

Which looks like this from Cuyamaca:

and looks like this from Buena Vista:

and so anyhow…we decided to go here for breakfast.

Here is the menu (I know someone loves to read the menus):

The Mister ordered the Enchiladas Rancheros (two cheese enchiladas, topped with an over-easy egg and some homemade nopalitos (preserved in a jar-with-salt water cactus)/onion/tomato salsa and rice and beans) $4.75:

Here is a better photo of the enchiladas and of the salsa: the enchiladas were nice and cheesy and fried on the bottom, so nicely crispy and the salsa was nice and chunky; good flavor but not heat:

and I ordered the breakfast burrito ($2.75): 2 eggs fluffily scrambled with cheese and ham:

Both entrees were brought out to the table by the owner and the place was hopping, with 9 other people having placed orders, most to go, before 7:30 a.m.. That is kind of interesting, considering the location being out of the way in a now non-busy part of Santee. Everything was fresh and tasty. There is a salsa bar with mild red, hot red and tomatillo spicy salsa that you can get for yourself. It was very nice and satisfying. They don’t serve coffee here, so you have to bring your own, or grab some soda pop from the fridge, or a bottle of water from your car if you want something to drink.

We usually go to Emma’s for lunch/dinner and get the quesedilla or carne asada burrito and both are always very good, oversized and filling. If it is on your way to somewhere (its just south of Mission Gorge, right off of Cuyamaca- the "new" Santee Costco is less than a mile from that corner, just northwest.) you should stop in. Everyone who works there is very friendly and the food is good. They make a LARGE shrimp cocktail for $7.05 (10 shrimp) and all of the shrimp dishes are very good.

One item unique to here is rolled FISH tacos. (Usually rolled tacos are made with shredded beef or chicken). These are especially good if you don’t eat meat on Fridays (and we all know fish isn’t meat, right?) because you grew up in a certain religion and so, "just in case" you continue to merely skip meat on that day of the week….

Oh, digression again, sorry.

Lunch was a nice respite:

Shrimp (31 count) was on sale at 99 Ranch this week for $4.99 per pound and so the Mister bought about 1.5 pounds and I made two things today: this simple shrimp salad (cook and chill shrimp, mix with grapes, fresh dill, mayo/sour cream, salt and white pepper) on a fresh croissant (99¢ from K Sandwiches)…and also this stir fry:

The rest of the shrimp, some leftover chicken, mushrooms and pea pods..stir fried in some sesame oil.

… served with some stir fried yakisoba and some re-hydrated miso soup from 99 Ranch.

All in all, it was a nice day weather-wise and food wise. I hope yours was, too.

Oooh, I do like doing this blog so far. You know, local lobster season just started, so in the interest of research and making an interesting post…

AND FOR TOMORROW- I promise no caffiene when I start writing.

Emma’s Mexican Food 8781 Cuyamaca, Santee 92071 (619) 596-8189 7 a.m.-8:3- p.m. Mon-Sat, closed Sunday

A Tale of Two Comals Part Deux – El Comal Chula Vista

June 17, 2006 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants

The day after our visit to El Comal on Imperial avenue, we found ourselves in Chula Vista. Since the Missus really enjoyed the food, on our visit to the Imperial Ave location we decided to try a few more items here.

The exterior of El Comal on Broadway looked alot more like a representation of a typical San Diego Tex-Mex style Restaurant, but happily for us, the menus of both locations are the same.

The interior of the restaurant is very large, and there is a cavernous bar and dance floor in the rear of the restaurant. We were seated immediately and given our menus, after few minutes we placed our orders, and the parade of food began.

We started with Huarache Azteca, with Carne Asada and Nopal($6.00):

This version had thin very flavorful Carne Asada and perfectly prepared Nopal.

Unlike our previous Huarache, this one was perfectly grilled. Slightly charred and crisp on the edges, and slightly chewy in the center. The nopal was also well seasoned, and needed no lime or any other flavor enhancers.

I ordered the Torta de Adobada, and as in our visit to the Imperial avenue location the Adobada was beef($5.00):

In my previous experience with the Adobada at El Comal, the beef was well seasoned slightly spicy and cut into thin slices. The meat was quite dark, as if well marinated, and well caramelized. This version was a more standard version of Adobada, not as well marinated, the marinade was came right off of the meat and had a slightly grainy texture. Also, the bolillo was slathered with mayo, which I thought ruined the whole sandwich.

The Missus ordered the Caldo Tlalpeno($7.50), a spicy chicken soup:

Basically a chicken soup, with shredded vegetables, garbanzo beans, one delici-yoso whole chipotle pepper, and almost a half chicken. The garnishes provided were the usual cilantro, onion, and lime, and also a slice of avocado. The rice for the soup was provided on the side, and when the Missus tasted the rice, she insisted I have a sample. And darn if it didn’t taste like Filipino Garlic rice! There was a good amount of garlic in the rice.

The soup had an interesting flavor, slightly spicy, but quite sour(without any added lime). I thought it tasted pretty close to Tom Yum, without the fishiness. Very odd.

The chicken had alot of flavor, it was obviously a stewing hen.

We finished off with Tres Leche Cake($2.50):

So sweet it hurt my teeth.

And we did order the Albondigas($7.50) to go, and it did not resemble the version we had earlier in the least bit:

No green beans or chayote in the soup. The broth was thinner yet more oily, and the meatballs were dry and tough.

Two restaurants, same name, same menu, but the difference is the two very different kitchens.

El Comal
534 Broadway
Chula Vista, CA 91910

A Tale of Two Comals Part I: El Comal – Imperial Ave

June 8, 2006 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants

*** This location of El Comal has closed.

On a recent afternoon I was rather surprised when I asked the Missus what she felt like eating. Her answer? "Hmmm, I’d like some Mexican food, maybe some soup would be good." Wow, first she went along for some Vietnamese, and now Mexican. But as with most similar opportunities in our household there was one catch. "But make sure it’s none of that, taco shop garbage, OHHKAYYY!" Yes, the Missus has an aversion to the tons of yellow cheese, gloppy refried beans, french fries in the burrito, greasy taco shop fare that is so abundant in San Diego. Bummer…… Luckily, I had a restaurant in mind, one entry in my little notebook that had been slowly fading away; El Comal. Now as fate would have it, over the course of two days we found ourselves not only breaking bread (or is it tortillas) at the Imperial Avenue location of El Comal, but the Chula Vista location as well. What really surprised us about the meals, was that even though the two El Comals share the same menus, and Owner, the food was quite different, maybe a more of a similar, but different? But then again, I’m always mentioning the differences in the quality of food between the various locations of Sam Woo BBQ, so why should this be any different?

As I understand it, a "Comal" is a clay, cast iron, or other metal skillet or griddle. So just as any well seasoned cast iron pan or wok would have it’s own distinctive flavor, no two "Comals" would be the same, right?

Enough with this, on to El Comal, located on Imperial Avenue.

We arrived on a weekend afternoon at about 2pm, and the clean and simply attired interior was fairly empty.

As we entered we were seated by the very nice and friendly Server, given menus, and had some chips and salsa delivered.

I perhaps enjoyed the crisp and grease free chips a bit too much. I plowed through them in no time. The salsas were nice and spicy.

We placed our order and in no time the food started arriving. We started with a Potato Empanada($2.75), and a Oaxaca style Chicken Tamale($2.00).

The exterior of the Empanada was nice and crisp, though the interior was a "cheese-fest" with very little potato.

The Tamale did not fare much better. Not having any experience with Oaxacan Tamales, we were surprised at the very thin tamale delivered. The interior of the tamale was a very thin and waxy looking masa and chicken filling.

After a taste the Missus couldn’t bring Herself to finish it. So I was left with that duty.

After this very inauspicious start, we started having some doubts about El Comal. That’s when our other dishes started arriving. First the Ensalada De Nopal($6.00):

I first had the pleasure of having a Cactus Salad a few years back. The Mother of a friend of the Missus had a party and we were invited. I had two servings of what I thought was a green bean salad. I was then told that the "green beans" were in actuality strips of the leaves of the prickly pear cactus(Nopal). Since then I’ve usually ordered a Nopal Salad whenever I have the chance. Most times, I’ve been very disappointed in the preparation of the cactus. When not prepared correctly, the cactus becomes very slimy, not unlike okra. Here’s a look at the nopal in this salad.

Very well prepared, and along with the tomato and cotija cheese, and very refreshing salad. The salad did need a good amount of lemon squeezed on it to bring out all of the flavors, but once that was done, it tasted pretty good.

I also ordered a Huaraches con Adobada, in this case a Huaraches with Spicy Steak($5.00):

Huarache literally translates to "sandal", and this popular Antojito(appetizer) is a slipper shaped piece of grilled masa, not unlike a thick corn tortilla or pupusa. A little "smear" of beans, a portion of well flavored, nicely caramelized, slightly spicy beef(yes, in this case the Adobada was beef!) is placed on the beans, and shredded lettuce and cotija cheese finishes everything off. It’s all about balance. The only thing that really wasn’t very satisfying about the Huaraches was that it was a bit on the gummy/soggy side. Other then that, this was a very well balanced, very tasty appetizer.

Yes, you heard right, appetizer. I also ordered a Torta con frijoles, nopales, hongos, lechuga y tomate. That would be a Vegetable Torta with beans, cactus, mushroom, lettuce, and tomato.($4.50)

I thoroughly enjoyed this sandwich. And in what was a very pleasant surprise; there was a layer of a mashed potato, with seasoned tomato sauce used as a "spread". The Missus loved the bollilo(roll).

The Missus got her soup, she adores Albondingas. The wonderfully helpful Server (Osiri???), suggested she get a "small" portion.($5.00)

I am not a big fan of Mexican Meatball Soup. In most cases, it’s either too watery, too oily, too salty, the meatballs are tough, or there’s some other problem with the soup. In fact, when I had asked the Missus’s friend about His favorite Albondingas, He mentioned a canned version. Even over his Mom’s!

This version came with rice, tortillas, cilantro, jalapeno peppers, and lemon on the side. Unfortunately half the tortillas where charred almost beyond recognition.

The soup itself was very good, the broth was neither too thick nor thin, and very nicely flavored, with a slight smoky spiciness courtesy of the chipotle pepper(smoked jalapeno). The broth contained not only the usual carrots and potatoes, but pieces of chayote(mango squash), and green beans. The meatballs were melt in your mouth tender, we wondered how they managed to stay intact. The mint in those meatballs added a nice finish.

Sounds like alot of food, huh? We did take home half the salad and Huaraches. The total bill including a refreshing glass of Nuez(Walnut Shake), and Horchata came to $32.

The Service was so amazingly nice, and the Young Lady whose name I tried to write above even stopped by and started making recommendations. As we left El Comal started filling up, most people were having soup. Driving away we started talking about returning in a few weeks. Little did we know that we’d be at El Comal, but at another location the very next day.

El Comal
2822 Imperial Ave
San Diego, CA 92102
(619) 239-7101

Part II – El Comal in Chula Vista coming up next week.

Reyberto’s Taco Shop

May 17, 2006 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

*** Reyberto's has closed.

This version of a "something – Berto's" taco shop is sort of an old crime scene to me. A crime against my palate! When we first moved to the area several years back we tried some carne asada and other items here and were totally grossed out! It was terrible(ever had sour carne asada), and I vowed never to return. But along comes this food blogging thing, and a few recommendations that included Reyberto's, and here I am again.

So a few weeks ago, I decided to give Reyberto's another shot. After all there are two other Taco Shops within a block of Reyberto's; an outpost of Roberto's, and a location of Cotijas, and yet Reyberto's survives. In case you can't find Reyberto's, just look for the large "Gyros" poster! Yep, you can't miss it. Say what!!!!!

Not being in the mood for carne asada, nor brave enough to try the "Mexican-Gyros", I ordered the Al Pastor Burrito($4.25):

Honestly, not too bad. A bit on the mild side as Al Pastor goes, and too much tortilla, or maybe it's too little filling for such a large tortilla. But the decent creamy guacamole, and pico de gallo, went well with the Al Pastor. A vast improvement over my last (and I swore it would be my last) visit.

So after a recent shopping stop at the market in the mall, I stopped by Reyberto's again and ordered the 5 "mini" Al Pastor Tacos($5.25):

Funny thing; as I was waiting for my order and grabbing some salsa and carrots at the salsa bar:

There it was again! Another Gyros poster! Man, they're really pushing that stuff…… By the way, did you know???? Actually, I'm surprised it's not four out of four people.

So I manage to get my tacos, and myself(sans Gyros, thank-you-very-much) home:

This time around the Al Pastor were on the tough side, and still mild in flavor. The tacos were a bit larger then what I would call "mini", and the size of basic "street-tacos". This was quite a bit of food. Not great, not good, but not bad.

And strangely enough, I found myself at Reyberto's again recently after a long day at work, and a grocery shopping excursion to the market.

And was again assaulted with the Gyros advertising. Now who can resist "Authentic" Gyros? Especially "authentic" Gyros from a taco shop? So I gave in and ordered a Gyros Sandwich (you won't tell on me, will you?). When I watched them prepare the Gyros, it all came to me…duh!!!

Gyros are served to maximize the use of the Trompo(vertical spit). So when it's not in use for Al Pastor, it's in use for Gyros meat.

So at long last here it is the Gyros Sandwich($3.95):

I didn't quite know what to expect. Perhaps gyros meat laid upon a tortilla? What I got was a good amount of typical gyros meat on a store bought pita. The sandwich was quite large and filled the entire Styrofoam container. Along with the meat were a few slices of crappy tomato, and a good amount of onion. So no guacamole, salsa, jalapenos, or anything that would have made this sandwich interesting. The Pseudo-Tzatziki was a bit strange. First of all, there was way too much of it, the sandwich was practically floating in it. But the tzatziki had more of a sour cream flavor then the usual yogurt flavor. hmmmmm….

As a whole Reyberto's serves up average taco shop fare, at a decent price. No more, no less. But then again if your having a bad day, perhaps Carne Asada fries will help make your day a bit better. Or at least put you into a food coma……

In case you think I'm really serious, I hope you understand the irony(I know that Kronos is the largest supplier of "food court" gyros meat), and slight sarcasm of this post. Reyberto's serves average to mediocre taco shop fare. But then again, there are those Gyros………

Reyberto's Taco Shop
3017 Clairemont Dr
San Diego, CA 92117

La Posta Taco Shop – And a Quesadilla with an Identity Crisis

May 7, 2006 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

**** La Posta has closed

In my line of work, I sometimes have to work some odd hours. They usually include the words "weekend", "midnight", "Four AM", or something similar. A recent Sunday morning was no exception. Totally buzzed on caffeine, and starving at 530 am I sorely needed some sustenance. But where to go at 530 Am on a Sunday morning in Hillcrest? Well, without question, it's La Posta for some greasy Carne Asada. Just eating a Carne Asada or California Burrito here will make you feel alive….or dead.

I would say that if you lived, worked, or frequented the area within the last 20 years or so, you'd recognize the sign immediately.

I believe the La Posta sign is as significant a local landmark, as say, the Hillcrest sign, or the sign for Jimmy Wong's Golden Dragon. A key phrase in the signage is "Open 24 Hours". Those who live in San Diego know, that though things are getting better, late night eating(somehow I can't bring myself to use the word dining, and La Posta in the same sentence)options are very limited. The best time to grab a bite at La Posta, is undoubtedly between 1 AM and 5 AM on a Saturday or Sunday morning. You'll get the full effect of the "ambiance" and the interesting cast of characters, many of whom you never thought lived in San Diego, or Earth for that matter. On a recent Sunday morning, I just missed the "late-early" crowd at La Posta, which left me feeling disappointed; sort of like arriving at the Opera after the Fat Lady has sung.

Bummer! I'd missed the free entertainment. A person once described the after midnight crowd at La Posta in a single rambling sentence that included, "Goth's, Grungees, Gays, Gargoyles, and the bar scene from Star Wars!" Not this morning though, all that was left was the eye stinging light, and a really tired looking guy cleaning behind the counter.

If there one dish, other then the standard San Diego taco shop fare, that is interesting, it's the "Special" Quesadilla($5.59). So what's so interesting about it? Well, it starts out like a jumbo quesadilla with two large flour tortillas, that is heated on the griddle, along with some Carne Asada. Here's a peek into the world of La Posta:

A layer of cheese is placed between the two tortillas. Sounds like a normal quesadilla, right? Well that's where we take a sudden left turn. The "quesadilla" is then moved to the counter where the large serving of Carne Asada, lettuce, guacamole, and Salsa is placed on the tortilla, and it is folded up like a burrito! I think it it weighs somewhere in the range of 2 pounds. It's pretty large, in fact, I've often thought it's as big as my shoe, so I thought I'd do a comparison.

Not quite there but pretty close. On this morning the carne asada was too salty, and had a bit of a "stale" taste. Probably because it had been sitting for a while, and the kitchen was kind of winding down. I couldn't finish but half of the quesadilla turned burrito. I also don't care for the watery hot sauce that La Posta serves up.

Overall La Posta serves up the type of food that really "tastes better when your drunk, tired, starved", or otherwise craving a greasy calorie-bomb. And we all have those moments. One thing for sure, you won't say the food at La Posta is bland. When the carne asada is fresh and not too heavily salted it is pretty darn good as well.

During a recent lunch hour I was waiting in line for a Carne Asada burrito, when a Young Man in scrubs turned to me and said, "You know, the food here is okay, but it sure tastes better at 4 am!"

Amen, brother!

La Posta De Acapulco #8
3980 3rd Ave
San Diego, CA 92103

El Borrego Restaurant

May 1, 2006 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants

**** As of 12/28/2025 El Borrego has sadly closed

A few months ago we noticed a new restaurant opening on El Cajon Boulevard. You really couldn’t miss the colorful paint and signs. And finally this past weekend we made our way to El Borrego Restaurant.

And the clean and bright interior was just as colorful as the exterior.

As were brought our menus, a smiling (and very tall) Young Lady came over to our table, and welcomed us. She also asked us “Do you like lamb?” When we answered with a very positive “yes”, she said, “Then I think you’ll like us!” She then proceeded to go over the one page menu, that featured, what else? Lamb! The Young Lady whose name was Rodnia explained that Borrego style Barbacoa was the specialty of the house. She explained that the standard Barbacoa was lamb steamed in a “vaporera”. We placed our orders and soon enough our Tamarindo and Horchata arrived along with the “condiments” for our order:

The condiments were accompanied by a salsa verde, and a red salsa. Rodnia also gave us a taste of the Lamb Broth:

A nice and hearty dark brown broth, full of flavor. Strips of Barbacoa, garbanzo beans, and rice dotted the consomme’. With a squeeze of lime this was very tasty, and really made us look forward to our food which arrived in a few minutes.

First to arrive was the Mixiote($10).

This seemed to be a seasoned Lamb Leg wrapped in a parchment like paper (papel de mixiote?). We stripped off pieces of lamb and proceeded to make tacos with the fresh tortillas and condiments.

First off, we noticed that every table used the salt shaker provided and took this to be the “norm”. The salt was needed because, though the lamb was rubbed with seasoning, the meat didn’t seem to have been salted. As good as the Mixiote looked, we both thought that the “rub” took away all the “wildness” from the lamb. I also found out that the salsa verde had quite a bit of “zip” to it.

We also ordered a half pound of Barbacoa($9).

Now with a touch of salt, these made wonderful tacos. The combination of flavors and textures that the onion, cilantro, tortilla, and lamb provided made for a very rich and tasty taco. I showed extreme restraint by only eating 6 of these.

We enjoyed our meal enough to ensure that we’ll be back. The only item we really didn’t care much for were the tortillas, very mushy and bland, but at least they were fresh.

The people at El Borrego were very nice and friendly, they seemed intent on making sure that we enjoyed meal, and obviously took great pride in the food they served, shown by the amount of time they took in explaining each dish in detail(Of course we kind of stood out). In this day and age when it seems that many restaurants just want to serve you food, really not caring how you enjoyed it, and then get you out the door, the amount of pride that Rodnia and the others at El Borrego have in what they serve was refreshing. I think I’ll have a large bowl of the Lamb Soup($3.75), and a Nopal Salad($1.50) next time, along with the barbacoa of course.

El Borrego Restaurant
4280 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92115

Porkyland

March 20, 2006 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants

With a name like Porkyland, well…..the food better be good! Located in Barrio Logan(and also La Jolla – go figure!), on the corner of Logan Avenue and Sampson Street, and right down the block from the landmark that many consider to be the "heart" of San Diego’s Latino Community, the colorful Chicano Park, resides Porkyland Restaurant and Tortilla Factory.

Once in Porkyland (The Happiest Place on the Planet?), you’ll notice that the kitchen area takes up over half of Porkyland’s space. The menu is limited, but still has a pretty good variety of the "usual suspects."

I did have my mind made up, and with the help of the very friendly Young Lady, I placed my order. I originally ordered a pound of Carnitas, but the Young Lady, told me that for $8.99, I could get the "Carnitas Special." Which consists of a pound of carnitas, fresh tortillas, beans, cilantro, and onions. this being a mere 50 cents more then the price for a pound of carnitas she won me over. Of course, she then had to ask me, with a giggle, if I’d be eating this here! I think she was joking………

For those who are used to the roasted then deep fried, greasy, and salty carnitas; these will surprise you. These carnitas are very tender, and the flavor is slightly smokey; rich, yet not greasy or overly salty in the slightest. Though the carnitas at Carnitas Michoacan have a much more assertive flavor, these are soft and mild, yet you know you are eating "oink".

I usually chose not to "defile" good carnitas with too many "accouterments", and prefer just some onions, cilantro, and a good hot sauce, on one of the steaming hot fresh tortillas. Delici-yoso!!!

The fresh tortillas were decent, with slight elasticity, and not brittle in the least. But not even close to those I had in Yuma, which had a nice rich corn flavor. The beans were good, slightly chunky, and not too salty or greasy.

Price wise, this was a bargain, about a dozen fresh and hot tortillas, a pound of carnitas, a container of beans, for $8.99. Enough for the four of us (Me, the Missus, Sammy, and Frankie), with a bit leftover.

The menu at Porkyland also features Rolled Tacos, Carne Asada, and even Salads(at Porkyland!!!), by if you make the effort to get there, you might as well get at least a Carnitas Burrito!

Porkyland Restaurant
2196 Logan Ave
San Diego, CA 92113

Tacos El Panson

February 12, 2006 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

El Cajon Boulevard can sometimes seem like an ocean of restaurants, arriving wave after wave. After passing the twentieth Pho’ or Mexican Restaurant your senses can shut down. And in the end, I’ll end up at an old standby. But once in a while something will catch my eye. At El Panson, it wasn’t the generic sign, that got my attention.

But it’s that Baby on the right that grabbed me. That’s a "trompo" or "top", a vertical spit of meat, typically Al Pastor. This meant of course, an immediate right turn and a search for parking. For the uninitiated, cooking with a vertical spit was supposedly brought to Mexico by Lebanese immigrants. And the cooking style has been adapted, using a "roll" of thinly sliced pork that has been marinated and rubbed with herbs and spices, called Tacos Al Pastor(Shephard style tacos). The meat is turned and shaved off, much like Gyros, and made into tacos. During that visit, the Missus and I had several good tacos, but the photos never really came out(see photo on the right). And now with the weather a bit warm for February, I wanted to grab a few tacos, and decided to see if my camera would work this time. On this afternoon, El Panson was quite busy, and the sounds and smells of various herbs and spices hung in the air. One Gal was hard at work on tortillas, while one Gentleman flew around in the small little space filling orders.

I ordered three tacos(all tacos $1.50), and had a seat. After a short wait, a Young Lady popped out of the door and into the small dining area and I had my tacos:

I quickly hit the salsa bar, and grabbed some pico de gallo, and some of the extra hot salsa, and some lime, and I was good to go. I’m not one for over garnishing my tacos. As I learned on my trip to Yuma, the flavor of the meat really needs to come through. As per standard, these tacos came on small corn tortillas, which gave the flavor a little boost.

Here’s the run down on the various tacos. First up Tacos La Cabeza:

Tacos De Cabeza, or "head tacos" are usually made from beef cheek meat. Most versions of Tacos De Cabeza in San Diego are horrible. Made from undercooked waxy, fatty, and stale tasting chopped chunks of mystery meat. The version at El Panson was very moist and soft, with no greasy and waxy texture. The meat was lacking the intense "beefiness" that I’ve experienced in good Cabreza, but was pretty decent. The onions and cilantro added flavor and crunch to the taco, and the other garnishes made it complete. Overall, pretty good, not oily or greasy, and lacking the rich beefy flavor I enjoy, but mile above most of the Cabeza I’ve had in San Diego.

The Adobada.

I guess I get confused, I know it’s Al Pastor, I even order it as Al Pastor, but it’s on the menu as Adobada. I watched the meat sliced from the trompo, juices flying everywhere, and vaporizing as it hit the heating elements, I had high hopes for the Adobada. In the end, the flavoring was much too mild, though the meat was very soft and moist, and the caramelized "bits" added some nice flavor. I enjoy my Al Pastor/Adobada seasoned a bit more aggressively, though I’d happily have this again.

Birria De Res

So what I’ve learned is Birria De Chivo is stewed goat(yum!), and Birria De Res is stewed/roasted beef. On my first trip with the Missus, the Birria had a good bit of spice, and the flecks of chilies could be seen in the meat. The Birria was also much more moist. Today, the meat was much milder and not as juicy. Still enjoyable, but not great.

What ‘s really interesting is, that because the various meats are quite rich, you’ll find that three to four tacos, with garnishes may make you quite full. Portions can be deceptive.

Here’s one of the surviving photos from our first visit. The taco with Guacamole is the Carne Asada, and it was quite dry and tasteless.

If you’re in the area, and want a nice snack El Panson might fill the bill. BTW, I understand that El Panson means something like ‘Fat Man’…….

Tacos El Panson
4433 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115
OPEN DAILY
Sun-Thurs 10am – 12am
Fri – Sat 10am – 3am