What Cathy Eats! – Page 41

Peterson’s Donuts (Escondido)

January 27, 2017 Cathy Bakery, What Cathy Eats!

This is a food blog named mmm-yoyo!!! Kirk usually writes here, but is preoccupied. Ed(from Yuma) is also indisposed. Cathy is writing a short Friday post.

When we are in Escondido (most recently at Pegah's, but we've been to other places, which have been (and will be, again) posted (eventually), we try to stop at Peterson's Donut Corner, which I have posted about one time and mentioned briefly in a donut compendium post, as well as in another compendium involving ham and cheese baked into bread.

Petersons is on the corner of Ninth and Escondido Boulevard, about four cross streets (at the second signal light-East) from Pegah's.
There is a board with pricing just above the ordering windows; it's not all crazy expensive here. Besides, walking along the side windows to see what's available will probably make you not even think about price when ordering. This is the maple-bacon bar; it is $3.75, heavy and about 8 inches in length. One of the most expensive items here.
One order satisfied many cravings, with an orange frosted(with orange peel bits) cake donut($1.10), a chocolate cake donut topped with chocolate frosting and peanuts ($1.10) and a cherry filled fried tortilla/roll($2) When we returned recently, other cravings existed and One dozen donut holes(raised are 15¢ each, cake are 30¢ each), along with a cinnamon roll (with raisins, $2.10; plain is $2) were our choices. The raisins are plentiful and in all of the rolled length of the roll. So good.

A long time (since 1942), local owned, old fashioned, classic donut shop.

Peterson's Donut Corner 903 S. Escondido Boulevard, Escondido 92025 (760) 745-7774

Pegah’s Kitchen (Escondido) Breakfast and Lunch

January 26, 2017 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, What Cathy Eats!

This is a food blog named mmm-yoso!!! Cathy is writing today; things are busy in the worlds of both Kirk and Ed(from Yuma).

Not much of a story as to how we found Pegah's-driving through Escondido after a trip to the Swap Meet: World Marketplace, traffic was backed up, took a side street and passed this small restaurant, made a mental note to go back when nearby.

If you take the Ninth Street/Auto Park Way exit from the 15 (and go East, on Ninth) you'll see this restaurant at the corner of Redwood. Open from 6 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., the parking areas next to and in front seem to always be full.
There's a small counter area, booths, tables and a sort of larger area to the right with a few tables pushed together, where we saw some groups of people meeting. The tabletop condiment selection indicates both breakfast and lunch are served.
There's a White Board at the entrance, indicating daily specials. Pea Soup was available on one daily day…and you know we had to have some. This is a Bowl ($5.99) (cup is $4.99) It was a vegetarian pea soup (good, because this visit was on Friday, when I don't eat meat) and quite excellent, made with carrot and a bit of onion. The Mister had been craving fried chicken and ordered another whiteboard special plate ($9.99) perfectly fried in a light, not spiced batter, fresh and hot along with the vegetable of the day and (real) mashed potatoes with gravy, this satisfied cravings. I was more in a 'breakfast' mood so ordered a 'Sunrise Breakfast'($7.99) which came with two eggs and home-style potatoes. I substituted raisin toast ($1). The potatoes were made perfectly, as were the poached eggs. Of course, raisin toast is always my choice. When we returned, The Mister seemed to still be in a 'fried chicken' mode, but made his choice a the chicken strip salad with Blue Cheese dressing ($10.99). This was very large, filled with fresh ingredients (the chicken strips, again a simple batter fry and served hot on top of the cool, crisp salad ingredients). I liked it a lot when we traded plates. Being more in a 'comfort food' mode, the hot turkey sandwich ($9.99)was my choice. Served open face, on top of toasted, buttered, de-crusted sourdough. Thick sliced, skin on, fresh roasted turkey along with a wonderfully 'thanksgiving-seasoned' gravy, more of those real mashed potatoes and the similar vegetable of the day really hit the spot.

Taking a detour and finding local, family owned, established in 1987 with friendly servers and quality food. Such good fortune.

Pegah's Kitchen 912 S. Redwood Street (at Ninth) Escondido 92025 (760) 739-9265 Open daily: 6 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Website

Mary’s Donuts- Lakeside

January 22, 2017 Cathy Bakery, Breakfast/Brunch, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!!, one of many food blogs on the internet. This one is written by three friends, two of them (Kirk and Ed (from Yuma)) are too busy and/or tired to post today, so Cathy is writing a short post on this gloomy, wet and cold day. If you've been to East County, you might recognize the symbol.

It looks like it was taken off of the original Mary's Donuts in Santee, which closed almost a year ago after being in that location more than 30 years; the new Santee location has it. The newest location is in Lakeside, near the end of Highway 67, on Maine Street; that's a new donut symbol. cc was there at the Grand Opening! Yes, these photos were taken over the December holiday season; the windows were decorated and red and green frosting was used in a festive way. The selection of donuts is tremendous, fresh and, as always, tasty. (That giant one, next to the apple fritters on the top shelf is a 'Birthday Donut', $10) At the cash register, I noticed signage regarding sandwich choices. Not just donuts for lunch! The sandwiches are $6.99 and this turkey with cheddar choice was really good; a good amount of high quality thinly shaved quite flavorful turkey. Standard toppings of lettuce, tomato, mayo, no onion. It was served on a fresh, toasted croissant, probably from Costco. I like basic, good quality sandwiches.A ham and egg breakfast sandwich, with lettuce and tomato and mayo really hit the spot. Again, a good amount of high quality ham along with the freshly scrambled eggs. A great meal.
Of course, we came here for donuts. My favorite, a French cruller ($0.95), with green frosting (just to be festive; if blindfolded, I would not know if it were plain glazed or frosted, much less color) and the ever popular, quite large, quite apple filled, apple fritter ($1.90), which was shared and taken home to be shared again later.

A great, local place. Stay safe!

Mary's Donuts-Lakeside 10101 Maine Avenue Lakeside, Ca 92040 (619) 334-5272 Always open

Su Pan Bakery (and more!)Esencia de Sabor (Rolando area)

January 21, 2017 Cathy Bakery, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

You are about to start reading another post of mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog. Today. it's written by Cathy; the guys are busy.

Many of our days start out with some sort of appointment in various parts of the County, then taking random roads home and stopping either if seeing interesting signage or many parked cars at a storefront. That's how The Mister and I noticed Su Pan Panaderia, a Mexican bakery located next to a gas station, sharing a parking lot with both a Liquor and Auto Parts store, on El Cajon Boulevard, West of 54th. There are not many spaces in that parking lot and we've ended up parked across the street. Walking inside, the cash registers are directly in front of you. An ever changing menu board behind those shows breakfast and lunch choices, made to order in the kitchen. There are some items on the counter and pre-made sandwiches in the refrigerator. In addition to the refrigerated bakery items, the fresh shelves, to the left, are constantly being filled.

These were some recent purchases: Different combinations of cake, crusts and cookies combined with chocolate, cream cheese, jelly, fruit, nuts, cream and/or butter based fillings. Everything here has an extract, essence, aroma, flavor!

For example, this large double cookie is layered with a buttercream and chopped peanuts- a sort of home made peanut butter filling ($1.59).
That large, round 'pastry' on the second tray above is essentially two round vanilla flavored cupcake tops, slathered with a buttery buttercream (not sweet if you lick that in between portion)which is also frosted on the outside then rolled in sugar ($1.29). It's delightfully soft cake, sweet only because of the sugar crystals and so wonderfully perfect in its butter-vanilla simplicity.

Back to the menu board and cash register area.On the counter there's a tray of fresh and flaky empañadas ($2.49). The cream cheese with jalapeño is always a good choice (although the tuna empañada is really good, especially when warmed).
The most expensive breakfast burrito choice is the 'Hash Brown burrito' ($5.49) which has everything in it- eggs, cheese, hash browns and sausage, bacon, ham and chorizo. Everything. Very good and very large.

On more than one occasion, a ham and egg bolillo (($4.99) is a breakfast choice. The fresh baked bolillo bread is cut in half and a thin layer of beans are spread. Cooked egg, pan fried ham chunks, rectangles of Cotija cheese avocado slices and canned jalapeño slices complete this large enough for two breakfast.

Su Pan Bakery 5006 El Cajon Boulevard, San Diego 92115 (619)287-2078 open 5 am-10:30 pm daily Website

In December, when a cart of fresh baked good were being transferred to the cabinets, a deformed walnut cupcake one was spotted and the nice worker asked if we wanted it. Excellent flavor, crunchy walnut pieces and now a regular choice.

Pieology- customized pizza, customized salad (revisit)

January 20, 2017 Cathy Pizza, Salads, What Cathy Eats!

Pieology has closed

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog, it's been around since 2005. Kirk, Ed (from Yuma) and Cathy continue writing about the mundane as well as the interesting meals they've consumed in and around San Diego as well as other places in the world. Today, it's Cathy writing.

About three years ago, businesses that baked customized pizza in wood fired ovens in about three minutes were a big deal and about eight different franchises were located in the San Diego area. I wrote only about Pieology and Social Life (which has since closed). It's not that I didn't like those sort of places: they were so similar in execution, product and pricing that there was nothing unique. However, now that the chaff has cleared the wheat and only three other franchises plus Pielogy remain, there has been some refining. The 'system' is the same, walk up, order (choose a sauce, cheeses and meats and other toppings) and pay; get your own utensils and beverages. Your completed order is brought out to the table.

Pricing has increased only slightly (basically, any pie with an unlimited choice of toppings is $8.45).

One of the 'Pieologists Favorite Pies' available is 'Alfredo's Alfredo' (this creation of preselected ingredients also shows the highest calorie count of 1080) Olive oil, three cheese alfredo sauce, parmesan, mozzarella, garlic, mushrooms, artichokes, fresh basil, grape tomatoes (then we added on bacon and olives, because at that point it didn't matter). This pie was excellent, rich and flavorful and enough for two to share. A 'new' item is a custom salad ($9.25). (You can grab a classic or caesar, already made, for $8.45 or a pre-made side salad for $3.95). In this case, you select your greens, cheeses and meats, fresh produce and toppings. We asked for a few of each of the greens (Romaine, spinach and mixed), Feta cheese, bacon and then some artichokes, green & red peppers, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, shaved parmesan and a candied walnut topping. The dressing was the creamy Italian. The bowl is very large; I used my longstanding 'airplane salad' trick, taking off the lid pouring the dressing over and then replacing the lid and shaking the container instead of trying to delicately mix the packed ingredients. This, again is large enough to share and , of course, very fresh.Another visit, The Mister ordered a 'Classic Margherita' (because the base is olive oil, mozzarella, parmesan, fresh basil and grape tomatoes) but then added mushrooms and sausage, to make the pizza unique. This was also a very tasty pie. The thin crust is just right and properly proportional for the ingredients.

A good choice for whatever craving you might have. Hope you are staying dry!

Pieology (The Study of Custom Pizza) 5575 Balboa Avenue San Diego, CA 92111 (858)565-0600 Website

2017 Tournament of Roses Rose Parade Showcase of Floats and snacks at House of Cookies and Egg Roll Express (Pasadena)

January 13, 2017 Cathy Bakery, Chinese Restaurants, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome to another edition of mmm-yoyo!!!, the food blog with variants on the acquisition of said foodstuffs. Kirk is very busy with work this week and Ed (from Yuma) is very busy with retirement (in Yuma). Cathy is writing today.

Last Monday, January 2, was the official New Year holiday and the Tournament of Roses held its annual parade and Bowl Game. The following morning, The Mister and I drove North to see the parade floats lined up end to end, at the Showcase of Floats. The Banner float, which was first in the 96 unit parade entries (floats, bands, equestrian units), reflected the theme of this year, "Echoes of Success". Of the 44 floats in the parade, five are not judged (this is one of those) and 24 of the remaining floats are trophy winners. I'll just show you some details from some of the floats. Walking along to view takes at least two hours and that's if you aren't paying attention to the details that went into the meticulous decorations. You can see the work and thought that went into the design and execution of each float.

Cal Poly Universities entry, 'A New Leaf' featured three chameleons, with that yellow one changing color via an elaborate system of dowels. (YouTube video, 1:45 in length). The California Milk Advisory Board, with its entry "Legacy of Generations" provided a surreal view of a good variety of California Dairy products and emphasized the generations of California dairy families who helped to make California the most successful dairy state in the nation (The 'raisins' are covered with real raisins and the 'cereal flakes' are dried apple skin).

Ragu sponsored this "Simmered in Tradition" float, which was meticulously detailed in its design.
Dole Packaged Foods, "Spirit of Hawaii" won the Sweepstakes Trophy for the most beautiful entry in parade with outstanding floral presentation and design (The inside of the robe is lined with dried banana chips). The float that The Mister and I helped to decorate in early December was finally revealed and left in this position to display at the Showcase. The meaning of 'We Came, We saw, We Covered' was finally revealed during the parade. We were happy to be a part of the Farmers Insurance entry.
So much detail went into the decoration of every float. I will add some thumbnails to the end of this post and you can enjoy a few more photos, but now…it's time for the food portion of this blog post.
We had parked near the North entrance for the Showcase of Floats (there are three entrances) and walked, so on the way back to our car, we again stopped at the House of Cookies/Arsen Bakery, where we were recognized and warmly greeted.

Such a small area holds a great deal of delicious treats. This box was $4. Everything was so fresh, crispy, creamy and flavored wonderfully. A great, local, family run bakery. Arsen Bakery House of Cookies 2451 East Washington Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91104 (626)794-4280

A block away,

we'd been seeing this signage (and outside lantern decor) for years, but never were here when Egg Roll Express was open. We had finally the chance to dine here!

Simple decor, a pitcher of hot tea and weekday lunch specials!

Each lunch special comes with a choice of either hot and sour or egg flower soup. This was a wonderful, fresh, chicken based, creamy and very eggy egg drop served in a quite large bowl. I wanted more.

The serving plate of the special(#30-fish filet with Szechuan sauce)($7.29)was so cute! The food was even better. The spicy fish and vegetables were so fresh and flavorful.

The egg roll? Well, it was fried right (not greasy and nicely crispy) and filled with fresh and bright flavored vegetables. Quite good.
Since this was our first visit to a new Chinese restaurant, our standard , Egg Foo Young (with chicken) was ordered ($8.99). Wow! Every restaurant makes EFY their own way and The Mister and I liked this version. Filled with bean sprouts, onion and eggy goodness, the pancake was crispy even under the (not salty) gravy, chicken and fresh vegetables.

Egg Roll Express 2397 E. Washington Blvd Pasadena, Ca 91104 (626)791-2398 open daily 11a.m.-9:30 p.m. Website

We walked over 6,000 steps that day- starting off the year with a good habit. Soo and Maggie were here too, each wrote their own post! Here are some thumbnails of a few more floats. Here and Here is a link to 2017 float road testing, This is a link to one of the 'dry decorating days'.

Bing Haus-desserts

January 9, 2017 Cathy Caffeine Fix, Desserts, Ice Cream/Frozen Yogurt, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks so much for stopping by mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog. Kirk is way busy with work and Ed (from Yuma) is kind of busy engaging in things retired people do (in Yuma). Cathy isn't busy in comparison, so she's writing today's post.

It's back to work time for most of us; the holidays are over. Even though it's cold and rainy today, posts about soups and stews may be a bit boring. Here's something to look forward to when our weather gets back to 'normal'.

When growing up, ice cream was a big treat for my brother and I. Whenever we can meet, its for a meal-and dessert. Always. Recently Bing Haus opened in the same Convoy street mall as Grandma's Tofu, a convenient location. I needed to check it out for a future meet up.
Stepping inside, the menu is on the wall to the right.

There are also some grab and go beverages as well as a pastry case.
Orders are being prepped behind the cash register, but just past that area is what fascinates most. Those are 'anti-griddles'- steel surfaced flash freezers. Order a 'rolled ice cream' ($6.25) and a measured cup of heavy cream is then poured onto the surface where it begins to solidify after being evenly dispersed. The cream may then have an ingredient mixed/chopped in and then the thin, frozen layer is scraped into rolls, placed into your cup and topped.

This results in a very fresh ice cream treat. Today's choice was fresh coffee mixed in to make ice cream topped with Heath Bar candy bits and sliced banana. The creamy texture along with a bitter-sweet coffee flavor, complimented by the toffee and banana was very refreshing.

That pastry case sometimes has 'day old' items for $1. Based on past experience, I know that day old scones age well. This one had chocolate chips and coconut as well as almond slices and was delightfully flaky and light. It went well with a fresh cup of coffee.

The Mister and I decided to drop in the other day and tried a Chai tea latte ($4.25) and an affogato ($4.50), as shared desserts. The chai tea was subtle in its melded flavors, with a good black tea undertone. We were curious about the soft serve ice cream made here and it was of high quality, natural vanilla flavored and very smooth. Pouring the fresh made, hot espresso over the soft serve ('drowning' it) made the resulting flavor of coffee and cream quite similar to our coffee rolled ice cream from the first visit.

Other bloggers have been here: CC from Pink Candles has some great 'action' photos and Kirbie has a video on her post. The experience is fun and tasty.

Bing Haus 4425 Convoy Street San Diego 92111 (858) 276-9479 Website Open Mon-Th 7 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri 7 a.m.-midnight, Sat 10 a.m.-midnight, Sun 10 a.m.-10 p.m.

Cold, Windy, Wet Weather-Mama Testa, Lucky Seafood, Chopstix, Pho Hoa, Sam Woo BBQ and Tip Top Meats

December 16, 2016 Cathy Chinese Restaurants, Japanese Restaurants, Mexican Restaurants, Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

The mmm-yoso!!! gang has been busy for the past few days, with work, holiday parties, shopping trips and other end of year tasks. Kirk and Ed (from Yuma) haven't had time to write and Cathy is writing a short, pertinent compendium today.

We have had some very cold days this month and today it is wet and windy: Winter has hit San Diego. Kirk mentioned this last week. If The Mister and I aren't staying home and cooking, when eating out, at least one of us is ordering a warm meal that is served in a bowl and has a spoon as an essential utensil.

Kirk had mentioned that Mama Testa was re-opening, but neither of us has done a post. I've had the chicken mojados here ($10): rolled taquitos, cut and topped with lettuce and sour cream with a mild, chicken based broth on the side; you can pour it over everything to make an interesting soup-type meal. (The beef mojados is beef rolled taquitos and a spicy, red broth). This is unique and tasty. Mama Testa 9225 Mira Mesa Blvd San Diego, CA 92126 website

The Bahn Mi Bo Kho ($7.50) at Lucky Seafood is indeed the best Vietnamese style beef stew; I have tried versions everywhere, planned on doing a comparison post and was frustrated with so many bad meals. Pho Lucky 9326 Mira Mesa Blvd San Diego, CA 92126

Whenever The Mister and I stop at Chopstix Too, He takes His time looking at the entire menu and always orders the same thing, mabo ramen ($7.45). Chopstix Too 4380 Kearny Mesa Road San Diego 92111 website
We were back at Pho Hoa Huong after grocery shopping (and looking for 2017 calendars) and stopped in for a large bowl of pho tai ($7.25) which arrived with the beef still raw and cooking in the hot, flavorful broth. Pho Hoa Huong 6921 Linda Vista Rd San Diego, CA 92111
Kirk had called his meals at Sam Woo BBQ 'early lunch'. The menu lists these under 'breakfast' ($4.25 each). I almost always order the fish porridge, but another choice is the shrimp dumpling noodle soup. Each is good and satisfying. Sam Woo BBQ 7330 Clairemont Mesa Blvd Ste 103 San Diego, CA 92111 An Item I haven't mentioned that is served at Tip Top Meats is the Beef Stew ($6.98). Made daily from scratch, limited in quantity, this rich, meaty, traditional stew is great. Tip Top Meats and European Delicatessen 6118 Paseo Del Norte Carlsbad, CA 92009 Website

Stay warm and dry!

Then again, you can just drop into a local grocer (this was at H-Mart) and grab something to enjoy at home.

2017 Tournament of Roses Rose Parade- float decorating, meals at Kolache Factory (Tustin) and Tops (Pasadena)

December 13, 2016 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Burgers, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for stopping to read our food blog, mmm-yoso!!! Kirk, Ed(from Yuma) and Cathy contribute to various posts about various foods and various activities. Today is that kind of a post, by Cathy.

Yes, it is that time of the year. The countdown to the 128th Tournament of Roses Rose Parade has begun, floats are being decorated. We volunteer with the Petal Pushers at the Phoenix Decorating Company Rose Palace barn. We had to check in at 9 a.m. to begin work, left home at around 6 a.m., stopping in Tustin.

In the same mall as THH, where we stopped for breakfast before the first road test this year, the Kolache Factory has its sole California location. Kolach, Czech or Slovak in origin, are soft, puffy, slightly sweet dough 'circles' filled with various ingredients. These portable, almost 'hand pies' are fresh made all day. As you can see, quite a variety are available. In the back, a sausage, egg and cheese ($3.19), the middle is a 'Kolache of the month'-turkey with stuffing- ($3.88) and in the front is a cream cheese kolache ($1.62). Each of these were warmed, so very fresh and really tasty. We have such a variety of places to choose from on that street (Cream Pan is less than a mile away, just East of the 5) Kolache Factory 14091 Newport Avenue Tustin 92780 (714) 730-2253 Website We got to the Rose Palace as the sign-in area was being set up. Just inside, the Crew Chiefs were getting last minute instructions. This barn would be busy soon. The Lions Clubs International float: 'Celebrating 100 Years of Service' is magnificent! Shriners Hospital for Children, with the float titled 'Anything Is Possible' is so whimsical. The Odd fellows and Rebekahs float, 'Through The Ages' features a gazebo, wedding cake, diploma and mortarboard and a book with pictographs of prior events. The Lutheran Laymans League has their 67th entry into a Rose Parade with the float 'Celebrate Jesus', observing the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.
The American Armenian Rose Float Association has a parade entry for the third year, 'Field of Dreams'. The United Sikh Mission, with its float 'Together We Rise' is also in the Rose Parade for the third year. This float will be so beautiful! All that stuff in the foreground of that photo? Construction in the barn. It's the NHL float (which The Mister and I really had hoped to work on).

Then there is the Farmers Insurance float. It looks so …'plain'…just like a large Recreational Vehicle (especially compared to the 2016 float (at bottom of this link). We were specifically asked to not photograph the secrets of this float while decorating, but the title of 'We Came, We Saw, We Covered' is a clue. You'll love it when you see it! So what did we do this day? "Dry Decorating", or "Detail Decorating" is its own job. Scissors and glue… Beans, peas, poppyseeds, dry flower petals…more glue…In a cold barn for eight or so hours. It was fun, but a long day. By the time we got down Colorado Boulevard, the sun was setting and we were hungry!The Original Tops, (Since 1952) is always a tasty stop (I wrote about breakfast here two years ago). The meal was simple, a bowl of chili ($4.59) (made from scratch daily; no beans, a bit of heat and unique great taste), 1/4 lb burger ($3.79) charbroiled on that constantly used grill, imparting a delightful flavor on the toasted bun and simple toppings and a SMALL order of onion rings ($3.39) Thick cut onions in a light, seasoned batter. We had leftovers and were so satisfied.

The Original Tops 3838 East Colorado Boulevard Pasadena, CA 91107 Open daily 6:30 a.m.-11:00p.m. Website

The Rose Parade is in January 2, 2017 (never on a Sunday) Artist rendition of most of the 2017 Rose Parade floats

Tip Top Meats European Delicatessen(Carlsbad)- Meaty Breakfasts (and a meaty dessert)

December 7, 2016 Cathy Breakfast/Brunch, Desserts, Markets & Grocers, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog with some 'regular' people who post. Today, Cathy is posting while Kirk is working and Ed(from Yuma) is out and about (in Yuma).

I saw an advertisement that Tip Top Meats (which I've posted about many times) was going to serve Thanksgiving dinner for $12.95 beginning at 1:30 that day. Trying to keep with our now non-tradition of going out for our Thanksgiving meal, The Mister and I planned our day around this time, but so did many other people; the line was to the door when we walked in. We turned around and did something non-traditional ( same as Kirk's Thanksgiving Day). A few weeks later, we drove North to Tip Top for breakfast. The breakfast menu is to the left as you approach the cash register, where you order and pay (food is brought to your table; you get your own beverage and water).
The Mister chose the 'Big John' breakfast($7.98). Three eggs, potatoes, toast (rye) and -all you can eat- meat. Bacon is a choice, but because some people have been overly greedy in the past, now you can only have a single order/it's not all you can eat. Because we like but don't go crazy over bacon, the breakfast sausage and ham were part of the first order, with a return trip requesting the Polish sausage (bratwurst is also a meat choice). The sausages are made here; the breakfast sausages are large and have a hint of spicy red pepper as part of the ingredients. The thick slice of ham is quite wonderful and the Polish sausage is garlicky, peppery and smoked. All in all a great tasting meal. My 'Continental Breakfast' ($8.99) consisted of two thicker slices of cheese along with two quite large, crusty fresh fluffy rolls and two slices each of liverwurst, an in-store deli meat made in aspic with ham, mustard seeds and peppercorns (it's not head cheese, but a milder flavored, pleasant deli meat), two types of salamis and two thin slices of a wonderful Black Forest ham. This was a perfect breakfast for me. Walking through the store, we checked out the refrigerated section, countertops filled with fresh breads and pastries and the freezer area. Then, there were shelves just past the cash registers where you pay for the store purchases. That rack is for the Tip Top brand baked items. Mincemeat- made with beef suet–real mincemeat! The fresh, buttery and flaky pastry filled with the mixture of apples, raisins, currants, lemon and orange peel, sherry wine, brandy, citrons, spices and beef suet just tastes like Winter. Only made until December 31, it's a favorite holiday treat.

Tip Top Meats and European Delicatessen 6118 Paseo Del Norte Carlsbad, CA 92009 Website open daily 6 am-8 pm