Our two week road trip up the coast was nearing an end. To break up the last two days, we were staying a night, first in Goleta, south of Santa Barbara….I was trying to stay in Carpinteria since it’s been a recommended stop, but was unable to book accommodation. Then we’d be staying a night in Temecula, before heading home.
It was a uneventful 4 hour drive from Santa Cruz to Goleta. We arrived a bit too early to check in, so I had a stop in mind. We decided to stop and do a nice little walk/hike at Ellwood Bluffs and the Ellwood Beach Loop. There’s a Monarch Butterfly preserve, but it was the wrong season for that.
Some nice wide open trails and also views from the bluffs.
Along the bluffs we came across this.
Along with this Historical Marker.
After our nice little walk, we headed back to the main drag in Goleta. I had gotten us a room at the Leta located right on Calle Real. We settled in and relaxed. When it as time to head out for dinner, we wanted something in walking distance and I’d found a ramen shop a block or so away from out hotel named Nikka.
The reviews seemed positive and they had an outdoor dining area that was dog friendly. We were greeted and seated. The young man who waited upon us was very nice; but I could tell that this was more of a “fusiony” ramen place as he kept calling he ramen I ordered as “tonkatsu” ramen and while the menu boasted of the 24 hour simmering time for the broth, they called the version I had as “Shiro ramen” not shio ramen.
They also had stuff like poke bowls and ramen “burritos” on the menu. And in fact, I decided to order the Combination Baos (3 baos for $12.50). I ordered one of each.
As I figured, the baos seemed like those premade frozen ones you can get at the market. The karaage was too salty and dry, the chashu had a very nice texture but was super bland and over shadowed by the sweetness of the bao. The shrimp tempura, while overfried was the best of the three as it was tender and presented a decent shrimpiness.
As for the Tonkotsu Ramen ($17.50).
Well, the broth was barely past room temp and was super thin for our taste. It was pretty darn bland as well.
I had ordered the “thick noodle” which was a tad overcooked, heading toward too soft. Also, you can tell how thin the broth was since the noodles rea;;y didn’t “pick” any of it up.
The chashu was the best item in the bowl, nice texture, perfect tenderness, though a bit lacking in the porkiness department.
Overall, a “C” level bowl of ramen.
Well, service was nice. We hadn’t expected much from this place and I guess they lived up to those expectations.
Nikka Ramen
5701 Calle Real
Goleta, CA 93117
We did have a nice night of sleep at the hotel and breakfast was included in our stay, which was enough food to keep us until dinner!
We had decided on making one last stop before heading home, at a place that we’d never really taken to. We had visited Old Town Temecula several times while living in the SGV and when we first moved to SD. But had never really enjoyed the place as it seemed overly touristy. I thought that perhaps staying the night might make things more enjoyable, so I booked us a room at the Hampton Inn, which was right across busy Rancho California Road from the start of Old Town.
JJ got in a nice nap while we drove to Temecula.
We checked in and then headed to Old Town to wander around a bit.
Man, the bars were doing some good business; even at barely 4pm on a Sunday.
The Missus got some cream for Her and JJ, which they don’t always have at Temecula Olive Oil in Old Town. I also got some olive oil as well.
Temecula Olive Oil Company
28653 Old Town Front St.
Temecula, CA 92590
We wandered a bit more…..
And then decided to grab some dinner. An acquaintance had recommended a Bar/Restaurant named 1909 Temecula to me. The place had outdoor seating and was fairly busy; even at 445!
The menu consisted of typical items like burgers and tacos, stretching into Korean Fried Chicken, Risotto, and even Lobster.
The Missus started with a Sangria, which She enjoyed.
I had the Cedar Smoked Old Fashioned, which had some decent smokiness, but was a bit on the sweeter side and tasted a bit weak.
We decided on a couple of items; one of which was recommended to me; the House Chili (bowl – $12).
The blue cornbread was too wet and mushy. The chili lukewarm. There was supposed to be “steak” in this; which I think was super hard pieces of meat. It had an interesting flavor profile; perhaps a bit on the sweeter side? I was told that they use beer to make this chili. It was the best item we had during this meal.
The Al Pastor Tacos ($16) were not good. The pork very dry and chewy. The flavor too sweet.
The supposedly house made tortillas too brittle and lacking in good corn flavor. The fries were dry and soggy.
The Shrimp in the Shrimp & Chorizo ($18) was tough and chewy, with a muddiness to it.
The sausage seemed more like Longaniza as the meat seemed on the courser side and without the spice of chorizo. Still that was not bad. The bread had been nicely grilled, the sauce was quite tangy and acidic.
Overall, 1909 seems like a very touristic place, though it was super popular as there was a line of at least 20 people waiting when we left. Good thing we had an early dinner. Service was nice, but things took a while to get to our table.
1909
28656 Old Town Front St.
Temecula, CA 92590
We walked back to the hotel and relaxed. I did a post and caught up on things. We had a decent night of sleep. There was a bit of traffic noise, but things weren’t too bad.
While not quite the ending of our epic little road trip we had wanted; we…and JJ still enjoyed ourselves, from revisiting Paso Robles yet again and enjoying the Alchemist Garden, to our favorite meal of the trip at L’Escargot in Carmel, to lovely Mendocino and Santa Cruz, this was one for the books. And we are so honored that you were able to vicariously come along with us!
I liked the fact that they "flagged" the cheeses for us. I especially enjoyed the Mitica KM39, firm and flavorful, it went well with the bread. I'm a fan of blue cheeses so I enjoyed the Stilton. I wish they sold Port by the glass, which would have been perfect with this; but unfortunately they don't. The Missus enjoyed the Spanish Chorizo and I the prosciutto and pate. The Pico went well with the candied walnuts as well.
While the exterior could have been a bit more flaky and crisp; there was a nice balance of butter and salt flavor. The interior was light, fluffy, and nicely honeycombed. This was a pretty good croissant; and would probably be in the "top 3" here in San Diego.
We enjoyed the Smoked Duck Salad even more this time around; the duck was more tender, had a nice gamey-smokiness. The dressing had a nice acidity and the Missus enjoyed the tart-sweetness of the apples….She usually does not like the addition of fruit to salads, but this changed Her mind. A nice refreshing salad.
We ordered the meat rare. but only the large piece was rare, the rest were medium-well, skewing things to the tough side of the scale. The meat was well seasoned, though the "sauces" really didn't go well with the proteins but was necessary for the really dry "garlic bread" bites in our opinion. The Bloody Mary aioli was interesting, but pretty bland; the BBQ Sauce was too sweet. 
Seeing that the ridges were falling off the viennoiserie made me somewhat concerned, but the pastry did not shatter into crumbs upon consuming. The exterior was light and crisp, the interior fairly fluffy and "honeycombed". It was sorely lacking in butter and even salt for that matter. Quite bland overall.
