mmm-yoso – Page 164 – As in, yoso-silly, yoso-hungry, yoso-full, or best of all; mmm-delici-yoso!!!!! A San Diego based food and travel blog. An Ex-Pat Kama'aina and Friends explore food, restaurants, and travel from San Diego and points beyond.

Little Italy Bar & Grill (Scripps Ranch)

June 5, 2019 Cathy Italian Restaurants, Pizza, What Cathy Eats!

Here you are, reading mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog. Kirk had been on vacation for two weeks, got home, posted a few things and the time zone change hit. Cathy is writing today's post.

The Mister and I were driving around, aimlessly, looking for someplace 'new' to us, as we tend to do. This storefront, in a strip mall next to the Vons in Scripps Ranch, had been a French Restaurant, open only in evenings. In 2016, it became an Italian Restaurant- open for breakfast on weekends as well as lunch and dinner daily. We decided to stop. We were asked if we wanted the Breakfast or the Lunch menu- and took one of each. (Thumbnails at bottom of the post).
There are various tables and seating areas, including an outdoor patio.
The signage out front indicated "All Starters 1/2 off Sat-Sun open-5". The Burrata starter (regular $15.95, so $7.97) was ordered. Wow. What a quality cheese, creamy and so very fresh. Topped with some crushed black pepper, it was served on top of sliced Roma tomato, a good slice of prosciutto de parma and large pieces of basil. Olive oil and balsamic decorated the side of the plate. If I were alone, I'd order this (and at 1/2 price, two) as my meal.
We decided to share one entree and had a choice of soup or salad. The soup of the day wasn't one we liked, so we asked for the side salad (dressing already mixed in; house Italian was what we chose), a refreshing choice.
Chicken Parmesan ($14.95) was ordered (lunch menu) and, as with proper Italian entrees, the plate came with sides of steamed vegetables and pasta topped with the house made marinara. Fresh, flavorful sides. The chicken, pounded thin, breaded and (properly) fried was moist and juicy, crispy and light, parmesan flavors and topped with more fresh marinara and Mozzarella. Great.
At the top of the Lunch menu is a "Bambino" (10 inch) pizza with one item ($10.95). We thought we should try it, choosing artichoke. Not too thin of a crust, wood fired and lightly charred. A light amount of marinara, plenty of cheese as well as artichoke. We took home leftovers and had a light dinner.

Another quality neighborhood restaurant. A great find.

Little Italy Bar & Grill 10006 Scripps Ranch Blvd (between Red Rock Drive and Aviary Drive) San Diego 92131 (858) 368-4688 Open Mon-Wed 11-9, Th-Fri-11-10, Sat 9-10. Sun 9-9 Website

Ban Lao Cuisine Revisited

June 3, 2019 mmm-yoso Lao Restaurants

**** Ban Lao has closed

My recent revisit to Mekong Cuisine had me wondering how Ban Lao was doing. It had been nearly a year since my last visit, so on that very next weekend, I decided to head on up to City Heights and check things out.

Ban Lao opens at 10am on weekends, so the severe parking shortage in the lot isn't quite as bad. I arrived right after they opened and was seated by the friendly and talkative women working.

Of course I had to decide what to eat. It was fairly warm that weekend so I went with the Nem Khao. The last time I ordered the Nem Khao here I thought the portion provided was on the smaller side. This time though…..

It was twice the size of what I'd previously had here! This was a rather rustic version; large chunks of pleasingly sour sausage; thicker slices of pork skin. It was a very pleasing in terms of savory-sour tones; though the rice that had been on the outside of the ball when fried was more chewy than crisp. Lots of lettuce and herbs provided, allowing for a nice combination of various flavors; from the mild anise to sour to salty, and so forth.

I also went with what was one of my favorite items here – the Sien Savanh, the Beef Jerky.

The version here is not totally dry and hard; rather it is crisp on the exterior and chewy and on the softer side on the interior. The umami of the fish sauce really set things off and the chilies and sweetness in the dipping sauce added another dimension to things.

I enjoyed my meal so I returned the next weekend. Things had cooled off a bit…..we're having such crazy weather this year. Which made for a good opportunity to try the Khal Piak (Khal Peak).

Man, this was a huge bowl of soup. The broth was not quite as thick as the version at Mekong, but it was just as scaldingly hot! It was more salty than that version, along with being more peppery. The noodles in this case had been cut into short pieces, but had a nice chew. The broth had a touch more complexity than the version at Mekong. A couple of standard issue, "squeaky" meatballs completed the soup.

It did "hit the spot" and I left with full, warm belly. Nice to know that Ban Lao is still making decent Lao food.

Ban Lao Cuisine
4126 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105
Hours:
Mon – Fri 1030am – 930pm
Sat – Sun 10am – 930pm

Where in the world were we?

June 2, 2019 mmm-yoso Travel

Whew; just got back to San Diego last night and it was immediately back to work. For just a short while though.

It was quite a whirlwind of a trip; 6 cities in what was basically fourteen days. Still, it was invigorating.

So, while I regroup; here's a rundown of places…….I'm sure you'll be able to figure them out.

We got into our first stop at around 1am in the morning; but that didn't stop us from fully enjoying this beautiful city that was claimed to have been established when a mythical bird dropped a sword establishing what is now this city.

There was so much to see in this wonderful city, one of the most populous in the EU.

The city itself was once actually three separate towns that we unified in the late 19th century.

Once the co-capital of a huge empire in Europe, you can really take in the grandness.

From its huge market hall and beautiful bridges, the city especially dazzles at night. Since it straddles a river, you are able to take in the views, from both the water, and from the hills.

Our second stop was on the map specifically because the Missus wanted to see one work of art.

With wonderful palaces and cafes, we managed to make the most of our time in spite of the rain and the wind.

Our next stop was just for one night; but we made the most of our time in this city of fantastic architecture, which is mostly known in the US for being the setting for a classic musical and birthplace of a famous composer.

We actually spent a night in a seminary…..

Our next stop was a bit of a surprise to us.

We loved the people; who were very nice, friendly, and quite kind. They seemed a bit serious at first, but really know how to have a good time.

The town hall is an amazing site.

And we saw a victory rally for the "football" team which won the national championship….it was orderly, safe, clean, and while beer flowed everywhere, and we ran into no knuckleheads.

We also had one of the best meals ever in this city!

And we really enjoyed the museum district; especially the Egyptian Museum.

You could say we weren't, ahem, any "wurst for wear"….

To avoid a very long train trip; the Missus doesn't want anything over 3-4 hours, we spent a night in a lovely, very laid back city; with a wonderful central square.

The hotel we stayed at was fantastic and we managed to catch up on some shopping as well.

And our final stop needs no introduction if you've been reading our blog for a while. It's the Missus's favorite city.

A month before our trip a tragedy occurred here…one of the symbols of the city caught on fire. And while one of the spires and the roof was destroyed, much more was saved.

Here's hoping that once the restoration is done; it will be better than ever.

And we basically did what we always do here; schedule ourselves for one major place to visit.

And spend the rest wandering this wonderful city…..

In fact, while we did a good deal of walking during the trip (usually 8-12 miles a day), we actually did over 14 miles during one of our days here! Whew!!!

And of course we did our share of eating.

From traditional dishes of the places we visited.

To more modern cuisine.

To what was in season…..

Some items to add variety…..

And of course some fine dining choices as well.

We did our share of eating and drinking as well.

I know there's still a bunch of catching up to on posts from other trips to do. I need to be more "on the ball".

So let me regroup and start catching up on things.

Thanks for stopping by!

Créme & Sugar (Del Mar)

June 1, 2019 Cathy Desserts, Ice Cream/Frozen Yogurt, What Cathy Eats!

You are reading mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog. Kirk is vacationing and Cathy is writing, again.

After The Mister and I finished lunch at Seasurf Fish Co, we passed this storefront two doors down.We thought we should have dessert here.
Peeking inside we noted familiar decor, consistent with other dessert/coffee places.
The hot and iced drinks menu is on the wall behind the Ordering area.
But, far more interesting choices are on the wall to the right, behind the ice cream freezers.(If you can't enlarge to read the handwritten wall menus, here is the two-sided menu you can grab at the counter). The offerings are "Epic" and pretty much 'County Fair Worthy' (there are some photos on the menu). We decided to go basic, ordering a single scoop ($3.75) of Butter Pecan ice cream. The serving is HUGE. The ice cream was good, but the flavor not as 'buttery'/salty as other versions. The pecans were chopped small. It is a quality ice cream, but a different flavor will be chosen next time.
We decided an Affogato ($5.50) over Sweet Créme ice cream would be nice. Servings elsewhere are not this large. The espresso here is excellent. The ice cream was rich and had a ribbon of condensed milk running through. Quite nice. This will be ordered again.

There are also cookies and slices of cake available. Next time.

All in all, a lot of dessert, fresh and tasty. We were stuck in traffic and got home late; neither of us was hungry at dinner time.

Kirbie has been here.

Créme & Sugar 3646 Del Mar Heights Road Del Mar 92014 Website Open Sunday-Thursday 9 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri-Sat 9 a.m.-10 p.m.

2019 San Diego County Fair-OZSome (Part One-before it opens)

May 31, 2019 Cathy Festivals & Events, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!!, the blog about food has no food photos today…so you can skip if that's why you are here. There are a few suggestions contained within and in a couple of weeks a 'Part Two' will reveal some tasty treats enjoyed. Cathy is writing; Kirk is (still) on vacation.

Here is a link to Part Two

The San Diego County Fair officially opens at 4 p.m. today. The Theme this year is "OZsome"… Reflected in the Front Gate design which includes a Yellow Brick Road and the Emerald City, along with poppy and corn fields. The inspiration for the Fair is L. Frank Baum's classic children's novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which The Library of Congress declared "America's greatest and best-loved homegrown fairytale." Its groundbreaking success and the success of the Broadway musical adapted from the novel led Baum to write thirteen additional Oz books that serve as official sequels to the first story. (The 1939 musical film adaptation starring Judy Garland, which we see on TV every year is not at all as detailed as the original Children's novels).

The view down the Midway (with the Ferris wheel at the West end) is amazing without the crowds. The corncob inflatable is a bit more realistic this year, with roasted corn kernels and three dimensional husk. Next to that booth is the Mediterranean gyros booth, which I mentioned in my (only) 2018 County Fair post, where we purchased a wonderful food offering of bacon baklava.

Home and Hobby, the 'Heart' of the Fair has had entries already judged.
Table Settings will be displayed together on one of the outdoor patios.
Collections have so many unique entries this year.

Crafts. There are many hand made crafting Divisions.

Quilting has a Fair Theme display.

Preserved foods,

baked goods, candies,
and decorated cakes were judged yesterday.
The various Guilds will be represented, giving daily demonstrations.

The Gingerbread Shop is advertising two Oz-centric treats. Here's a link to the various food offerings at the 2019 Fair.

Map of food stands.
The 2019 San Diego County Fair is going to be Awesome OZsome!

2019 San Diego County Fair Website Open May 31-July 4. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays in June. Free Parking at Torrey Pines High School at noon on weekdays and weekends, MiraCosta College on weekends. (Horse Park parking is now $5) Discount admission tickets sold at Vons and Albertsons

Seasurf Fish Co (Del Mar)

May 29, 2019 Cathy Seafood, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for stopping by to read today's issue of mmm-yoso!!!, a blog about food. Kirk and His Missus are continuing their vacation and Cathy is writing this post.

In early October 2017, when The Mister and I were leaving Bushfire Kitchen after a lovely lunch, we saw signage across the parking lot about some sort of seafood restaurant 'opening soon!'. There it ended. Until a few weeks ago when I was driving and heard a special ring tone from my mobile phone and needed to pull off the freeway to respond immediately. So here we were in the same parking lot… Seasurf opened in late October 2017 and was the fourth partner of a group of Los Angeles/Culver City/Santa Monica based restaurants named Sea Salt Grill.

It's a walk up, order, pay type place with your food brought to your table. There is indoor and covered outdoor seating. The menu is varied with Salads, Sandwiches and Poke. There are Grilled, Steamed and Fried choices as well as Bowls, Tacos, Burritos with interesting 'sides' and 'extras'. We sat down with the menu to plan this meal.
Seaweed salad ($3.99) was a reasonable choice to serve as a palate refresher during the meal we planned. Fresh, tender (I somehow have had a few unfortunate encounters with seaweed texture which I can only describe as 'shredded plastic') with a subtle sesame flavor. A large, flavorful serving.
There are two home made soups available ($3.99/cup) and we ordered one of each. The Baja Seafood Chowder 'cup' (I wonder how large the bowl is) filled with fish, shrimp and sea clams along with tomato, carrots, celery, onion, hominy and potato was really good. The Fisherman's Wharf Clam Chowder had sea clams and baby clams along with onion, celery and potato. Also excellent. Even side by side it was difficult to pick a favorite.
Of course we chose the Crispy Calamari ($6.99) to share. The light cornmeal breading and perfectly fried, tender squid was also great. The tartar and cocktail sauces were fresh made and really tasty. Kind of sad it was the only fried item we ordered, but in reality it was just enough.
At the bottom of the "Off The Grill" part of the menu was Seafood Cioppino ($13.99). This was a perfect item to share. Scallops, clams mussels, shrimp, calamari and fish in a garlic tomato sauce: traditional Italian stew on top of a small serving of rice. The two pieces of grilled toast were just enough to sop up the rest of the juices. Such wonderful flavors!

Condiments were not needed for any of this meal.

So glad we stopped and were able to try a bit of everything. There will be return visits.

Faye has been here.

Seasurf Fish Co 2650 Del Mar Heights Road Del Mar, CA 92014 Website (858) 280-7100 Open: Mon-Fri 11a.m.-9 p.m., Sat-Sun 12-9

The UPAC Neighborhood Cafe (City Heights)

May 28, 2019 Cathy Bakery, Breakfast/Brunch, Caffeine Fix, Filipino Restaurants, Mexican Restaurants, Sandwiches, Somali Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a blog primarily about food. There are many ways we (all) encounter places to share a meal. Cathy is writing today, while Kirk and His Missus continue to enjoy their vacation.

As is our usual method, The Mister and I began driving with hunger but no destination in mind. We saw this eye-catching signage "Now open at 8 a.m., Breakfast Specials". Of course we had to stop.

I knew the location. Kirk had written about it in 2010, then The Mister and I went to Pho Tay Do a year later. The 4600 square foot restaurant now has become a Social Enterprise Center run by the non-profit organization Union of Pan Asian Communities.

A spacious area is now the Cafe, but that's only part of this Neighborhood Enterprise Center: Kitchen Creations, a Technology Hub, Product Design and Print Shop (hence, the signage) and The Community Gathering Place are each part of this building providing much needed resources and opportunities for both UPAC clients and the ethnically diverse residents and small business owners of City Heights.

It was breakfast time when The Mister and I walked in and we didn't know what to expect.

The Breakfast menu is next to the cash register. The Lunch and Global Menu as well as the Beverage menu are on the wall to the left.

The yogurt parfait ($2.50) was one choice. Looks simple and basic. Nope. The fruit mixture (various fresh berries) is prepared in the kitchen, as are the granola toppings. The yogurt is wonderful and thick.
Overnight oats ($2.50) was another choice, made with oats, chia and almond milk with cinnamon, this was also served with the granola topping. Wonderful mix of flavors and so good. Will get again.
One menu item was 'Three Injera and large Tea" ($4). The Somali thin and spongy pancakes were made to order, topped with sesame oil and sugar. We used our hands to tear and enjoy these warm and flavorful flatbreads.

The tea choices were Chai or Somali tea (or assorted bags). We were told that one had sugar and the other didn't. This tea -a mix of spices- was also made with the individual ingredients here. Oh my, what a difference in being able to taste the cardamom, cinnamon, fresh ginger, cloves, black pepper! This was a wonderful, refreshing accompaniment to our breakfast.

Of course we returned. The turkey cranberry sandwich ($5.50) was served on a croissant (croissants and bagels are not made here) and was filled with fresh ingredients. The house-made cranberry sauce was spread on both sides of the bread, the greens are spinach, the meat was of high quality. An excellent sandwich.
We also ordered a side salad ($3.50) which you can see, arrived with walnuts on top…a fancy touch. Fresh ingredients. Quality. Of course the dressing is made here.
We decided to order from the Global Menu and chose this month's Filipino offering-adobo chicken ($5.85). Wow. An excellent version of this basic Filipino cooking and marinade method. Vinegar, garlic, salt (or soy), black pepper and bay leaf are the flavors of adobo-prepared anything (I've had mushroom adobo and it's great). Even the rice was high quality. Let's go back to when we walked in and pay attention. All of the products sold on the shelves to the left are printed here. The Product Design and Print Shop is equipped with all professional machinery. The Youth who work here design and print the items (and are available to print items people order).

Now, check out the glass case to the right of the cash register. Fresh baked items daily.
On top of the glass case there is a basket with bits of day old items to sample…so you'll know what to order next time. This was a berry turnover, which was still warm. Again, the berry mixture made in house. So good.

A great addition to the neighborhood for many reasons. Wonderful food and worth the stop.

The UPAC Neighborhood Cafe 5296 University Avenue #A 92105 619-255-7644 Mon-Fri 8-5 {Kitchen closes at 3, but sandwiches, beverages and the baked fresh daily items available from 3-5}

Union of Pan Asian Communities website

This is the current menu; the Global menu changes monthly.

Brick Bowl-Sourdough, Vinegar, Korean-Kearny Mesa

May 26, 2019 Cathy Korean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

CLOSED- Brick Bowl and its wonderful food is now gone. It will be missed.

mmm-yoso!!! is the name of this food blog. Welcome (back). Today, Kirk is vacationing and Cathy is writing.

I saw the signage across the street from my parking spot after shopping at Niban and picking up a 2019 calendar. Another new place to try. Turns out that Brick Bowl is known as 'the restaurant next to Yu Spa', a Day Spa with a Korean style sauna and many other services. Since the parking lot also houses several auto repair shops as well as a busy car wash, Brick Bowl has a variety of customers (and potential customers) looking in at the menu choices.
There are some menus to the right of the cash register where you order and pay. Photos of menu are at the bottom this post. The chalkboard special is good Monday to Friday and is the best way to try a smaller portion of the menu basics.
The fresh made sourdough bread is the basis of the Brick Bowls.

You can 'Build your own Brick' (starting at $9.99) Choose a sauce, a meat, veggies, cheese and add-ons. There are also six choices of 'Chef Specials'-ingredient mixes decided. The Mister wanted to try the "Bocelli's Italian Meatball Brick" ($10): marinara sauce, 100% beef meatballs (seven were in our Brick), cooked spinach, grilled onions, grilled bell peppers, olives, tomatoes and Mozzarella cheese. The grilled, buttery, herbed garlic bread on the side is what was pulled out from the thick cut slice of fresh sourdough.
The photo doesn't do it justice, but this bowl is about two inches thick. Everything tasted so good- very fresh ingredients.
The secondary item available here are the (hot or cold) sparkling vinegar drinks ($3.99). The "Elixir of Acid" graphics, as well as the tabletop tent information is interesting.
We have tried the mango and the pineapple flavors, but there are more: passion fruit, lychee, pomegranate and watermelon. The Mister and I used to purchase 'drinking vinegars' at Korean markets, but now add sparkling water to apple cider vinegar, at home. The same is done here-along with the various fruit flavorings. There is an A La Carte Menu and we decided to try the pan fried dumplings ($7). The filling chocies are either vegan or pork. We went with pork. The filling was meaty and flavorful and the dumpling skins were thin and crispy and also wonderful. This was a nice little snack.

There is also Bibimbap ($11) which we got with beef and egg. We received a second bowl and you can see the divided up ingredients. This was so fresh and so tasty and had just enough (not too much) rice…despite the fact that it wasn't served in a hot stone bowl so the rice didn't crisp up, every ingredient was so fresh and it all went very well together. Small containers of kimchee, pickled radish and cucumber were also given and there are house made condiments, water and cutlery on a table near the door. A cup of seaweed soup (beef broth or vegan) comes with the bibimbap. A lot of seaweed and so much flavor.

There are only a few other A La Carte menu items to try and some other drinks along with planning out some Brick Bowl combinations…I do like limited menus and the Korean choices make this small restaurant even more intriguing.

Brick Bowl 3927 Convoy Street San Diego 92111 (between Ostrow and Othello) Open Mon-Thurs 11:30-3, 5:30-9. Sat 11:30-9, Sun 11:30-8 Website

Black Bear Diner (El Cajon)

May 25, 2019 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog, has yet another post for you to peruse this day. Kirk and His Missus are at the third of six stops on their Spring Vacation. Cathy is holding down the fort.

Black Bear Diner opened in El Cajon in mid-April; it's a former Coco's location, familiar to locals. The chain, founded in 1995 has 124 locations in 13 states.
The exterior and interior design is sort of 'rustic, appearing to be a local 'diner'. There are wood carvings of bears, local-themed artwork, a large bar seating area.
The front page of the "Black Bear Gazette" menu is locally themed.

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner menus each have choices of "Fit and Focused" meals as well as "Little Less" meals. No need for a 'Senior' menu. (Breakfast and Lunch are served all day, the Dinner menu starts at 4 p.m.). How I wish calorie counts were not displayed… The Mister ordered a "Bear's Choice Combo" ($10.69) and chose a sweet cream waffle (that's a bear claw design in the center), eggs over easy and two (or one of each) – thick cut bacon and a sausage link. (A smoked ham slice is the other breakfast meat available). The eggs were perfectly prepared, the sausage was quite large, juicy and had a nice skin, a slight black pepper flavor could be discerned. The bacon was indeed thick cut and quite wonderful. The cream waffle had a vanilla flavor and was a bit dry- needed butter and syrup.
I chose a "Classic Two Egg Combo" with chicken fried steak ($12.99), poached eggs (wonderfully prepared soft as requested), country red potatoes (red and green bell pepper as well as onions) were crispy on some edges (I wish each piece was crisped, but then I would have finished the quite large portion instead of taking home leftovers). The chicken fried steak- excellent. The crust was so light and crispy, the meat portion large and juicy. The gravy- a wonderful flavor and even though there is black pepper in it, the pepper was not overwhelming. An excellent meal. I asked for a biscuit as my bread and was disappointed. It definitely was baked here and fresh, but quite dry. I took more than half of it home and it was hard as a rock in a few hours. Toast next time!

Java City Coffee, sustainable and hand roasted, is served here ($2.89) and it is very high quality. I'm usually disappointed by most breakfast coffees and was pleasantly surprised.

Service was excellent; we were checked on and asked about our likes as well as dislikes and enjoyed this meal. We will return to try the lunch and dinner menu.

Black Bear Diner 1025 Fletcher Parkway El Cajon, CA 92020 Website Open daily 6 a.m.-10 p.m.

City Bistro (American and Mediterranean) (El Cajon)

May 23, 2019 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for coming back to read mmm-yoso!!!, a blog about food. Kirk and His Missus are at their second spring vacation destination and Cathy is still blogging.

I couldn't figure it out. Three clients called to make appointments and none of them would be available on a Monday morning, but all of them would be available on any other morning. I later found out that they knew each other and met for breakfast every Monday, at this location (which had been Country Waffles for about 15 years) which was remodeled and turned into City Bistro in 2016. Across the street from Valley Foods Mediterranean Market and about 1/2 mile from El Cajon Bistro, this location on East Main Street is another nice, neighborhood restaurant.
There's a bar seating area along with plenty of tables. A television is visible from every seat, each set to a different channel (and all on closed captioning). There is a white board with a daily special at the front door.
We ordered from the regular menu- the "Crepe Plate" ($11.99) (choice of fruit flavors; you can see this is strawberry) served with two eggs and either two bacon, two sausage or one of each. Each item was quite good, tasty, fresh. Quality.
I ordered the "Pan Handle Scramble" ($10.99) with country potatoes. The potatoes were nicely fried, randomly chopped and quite tasty. The scramble-I asked for the meat to be a sausage patty (they make the sausage patties here). It wasn't served on the side.
On the bottom of the panhandle serving plate was a large, fresh made biscuit, topped with the large Housemade sausage patty, topped with country gravy, topped with a scramble of eggs mixed with red and green bell peppers, onions and cheese and also topped with cheese. Wow! This was great, tasty and filling.
We returned for a lunch and tried the gyros plate ($11.99) (with a double order of salad instead of rice). The house made tzatziki was really great as was the house made salad dressing. The side of pita helped -there was a lot of gyros meat and I made a few little sandwiches in addition to making a gyros salad.
The Monte Cristo sandwich ($10.99) was a good choice. Cheese on both slices of the French bread, plenty of turkey for the sandwich, all cooked in an egg batter: French Toast style. The choice of sides (fries, fruit or onion rings) was easy. Th rings were whole onions in a thin beer batter. Crunchy, light and flavorful.

A lot of good, fresh, 'from scratch' items here, friendly people working and regular, neighborhood clientele. There are plenty of Mediterranean items on the menu, including basturma at breakfast; we will be trying more in the future.

City Bistro 1248 East Main Street El Cajon, CA 92019 (619)442-4444 Open daily 7 a.m.-2 p.m.