The recent hot weather had me craving some Bi Bim Naengmyun, so I started thinking of some options. I'd last had a metal bowl of it at Yuk Dae Jang, but I wasn't very impressed. Thinking back, I had enjoyed the BBN from Prime Grill, though on our last visit there back in March of 2022, the panchan was terrible and the service even worse. Would things be different over 2 years later? Well, we decided to roll the dice and find out.
We arrived for an early dinner and the place was still fairly busy. This time around, the woman who waited on us was quite warm and friendly.
The Missus had always enjoyed the Dak Bulgogi here and ordered the combo ($24.99) and I (of course) got the Bi Bim Naegnmyun ($16.99). The panchan was much better than what we'd had on our previous visit.
The Baechu kimchi was nice and fermented, with a slight funkiness we enjoy, the kkakdugi (radish kimchi) was spicy, sour, yet refreshing, the Missus enjoyed the namul and I the oi (cucumber) kimchi!
The Missus's combo soon arrived.
And when the gyeran jjim (steamed egg) hit the table, I thought that this would be the interesting test of the service. You see, the Missus enjoys some sesame oil on Her steamed egg. I think it's kind of a Northern Chinese thing. On our last visit, Her request for some was met with some testy derision. This time, the nice woman came over with a squirt bottle and told the Missus, "tell me when…."
Also of note, the woman had told the Missus that there was an option for "sausage tofu stew", basically Budae-jjigae with the combo. And surprisingly, the Missus went for it.
Apparently the Missus enjoyed the gyeran jjim as it was gone in an instant.
The version of budae-jjigae was fairly mild in terms of spice and on the salty side. It was not bad on rice. And the weather was so hot that I just really had a taste and left the rest to the Missus.
Who really enjoyed the salty-sweet-soy flavors of the dak bulgogi, which was also decently griddled with spots of caramelization without charring.
I had a bite and thought it was not bad; dark meat chicken, nicely balanced flavors, not overly tough.
As for me, well, soon enough my metal bowl of spicy-vinegary-sweet elastic noodles arrived at my table.
I made sure to accept the shears that were proffered as I'd had enough experience trying to slurp in what seemed like an endless stream of highly elastic naengmyun. These days I go for a "four-cut". I enjoyed these as the noodles weren't too elastic, but still held on to it's pleasurable, springy-stretchy resiliently bouncy texture. The sauce had a nice spice to it, I added a bit more vinegar to balance things out. If the heat rose to bit too high, I simply took a sip of the icy sour and sweet broth to recover.
The slices of Asian pear helps "Sweeten the pot" and there's a single slice of very dry meat and the boiled egg was overcooked, you could tell that by the evil "gray ring" around the yolk. But heck, I didn't order this to help fulfill my protein requirement for the day.
I wanted something with loads of flavor to help cool me off. And this did the job in spades.
The Missus also enjoyed Her meal with the panchan and service back on track, so I'm thinking Prime Grill is back in our good graces after a two year wait. Just in time for the summer heat.
Prime Grill
4620 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 11am – 10pm
Which She enjoyed with a nice refreshing cup of Horchata! Good smoky flavors, nice maize tones. Would it make us forget 
It was a wonderful stay, if a bit on the "atsui" side of things.
First thing I hit was the miso soup. I was happy to note that it was flavorful and not watered down.
But that was the only downside to this lunch as the very generous portion of rice was hot and fluffy.
Not much has changed here other than the prices, so here we go!
The soft shell crab roll ($11) is a filling five piece meal. Soft shell crab, real crab and avocado are the main ingredients.
The fried calamari appetizer ($9) is always a good choice. Four pieces of sliced calamari steak breaded in panko, crisply fried and served with (always too much) spicy sauce. 
The Vegetable Delight ($13.50) seems to be a regular choice for me; I found photos from nine different visits. Consistently the same presentation.
Eight pieces of vegetable tempura (potato, carrot, zucchini and onion), salad, eight pieces of Garden Roll, edamame, cold noodle salad, rice and tempura dipping sauce. This is a very satisfying meal with so many varied flavors and textures.
The Combination Bento ($13.95) with pork teriyaki and egg roll is also a good choice.
The Stamina Udon ($13) was a nice meal on one of the (many) cold and rainy days we had early this year. The broth has a light mushroom flavor and the ingredients (chicken, krab, fishcake, shrimp, dumplings, sweet tofu, egg, broccoli) along with the springy udon make this a very filling meal. 
The Shrimp Tempura Bento ($13.50) has five shrimp tempura, lightly fried and served with a house made tartar sauce and a portion of the Seafood Salad (bottom right) which is on the appetizer menu for $5. A nice addition to this bento.
When you first walk in, before turning to the cash register, look at the wall ahead. Daily Lunch Specials from 11-2:30.
Bento Lunch ($9.75) Six pieces of California roll, one piece Inari, three pieces of fried seafood (fish, squid, shrimp), pickled vegetables and rice. This is a very pleasant lunch and good for the budget minded.
The Gyoza Lunch ($9.25) is also really nice. Six meat filled dumplings steamed or deep fried. Salad, rice and (a very good) miso soup. You might notice that miso soup is no longer included with the bento meals; it is $2.50 on the appetizer menu.
I do prefer the gyoza being steamed then quick fried 'pot sticker' style. The deep fried is a nice, crisp texture but I think overwhelms the filling.
The building housing Rose D'Amour has reincarnated itself several times over the years. It is now owned by a friendly husband and wife and serves breakfast, lunch and various coffees and juices. The ordering online system seemed to be well in use during the time we were here on a Tuesday morning.
Just a portion of the menu.
The interior is small but there is additional seating on an outdoor patio.
cc ordered the Simple Breakfast ($12.99) with scrambled eggs, sausage, country potatoes and corn tortillas. I had a bite and this was very good.
I ordered the Molletes ($14.99) which I always like to try at new (to me) places. The toasted telera was topped with plenty of wonderful flavored refried beans, pico and Cotija cheese. A fresh made Chile de arbol based salsa was served on the side. This was a great savory breakfast; the telera was fresh and soft, even with the toasting. 
cc ordered an iced brown sugar something ($6.75) and I got a regular coffee ($3)
When the Tom Cat first opened, Miramar Naval Air Station was the military base nearby. Close to the Pacific Ocean, the base housed aircraft and squadrons which were assigned to aircraft carriers stationed in San Diego. Among those aircraft was the F-14 Tomcat, hence the bar was initially a hangout for Active Duty and Retired military. The base also was home to TOPGUN, the nickname for what was the Navy Fighter Weapons School. (There was a base realignment in 1993 and in 1996, TOPGUN moved to Fallon, Nevada, while the various Naval aircraft, squadrons and training were relocated to several bases and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar was made official.).
So now, the Tom Cat is a Sports Bar.
A simple, two sided menu is available. We did notice a chalkboard with some specials, at the bar.
We decided to order the fried mushrooms ($9.25) from the appetizer menu. The serving is quite large and very well made- light cornmeal based batter, surrounding large, meaty mushrooms, properly fried. It's served with an excellent Ranch dip.
Then we ordered the Tom Cat Signature Wings ($13.25). There are eight flavors to choose from and "Tom Cat Style' (grilled green onions and fresh jalapeño slices) has the highest spice level, three chilis, but the nicely crisp wing breading was not spicy if you didn't eat the fresh jalapeños. Four large flats and four large drums and a lot of carrots and cucumber, this was certainly a meal in itself. 
The Cobb salad ($14.95) was nice to share. Bacon, turkey and Blue Cheese crumbles, a hard boiled egg along with other vegetables and lettuce (as well as a squaw roll) in this deceptively large (deep) bowl made this also a quite large meal. 
The front gate is crowded just past the metal detectors at 11 a.m.
The Midway, with rides and food booths
There's Chicken Charlie, checking out a couple of his food booths as the Fairgrounds opened!
The Fun Zone, with Carnival Games, is a typical American Fair activity.
Home Made, Gems & Minerals, Design in Wood
The Paul Ecke, Jr. Flower Show,
along with the Paul Ecke, Jr. Garden Show with the entry from the San Diego County Model Railroad Museum
The Future Farmers of America were preparing to show goats..
Walking outside the Livestock Barn is an informative area sponsored by Hollandia Dairy. Dairy cows were on display and a small booth was selling chilled bottles of Hollandia Dairy milk for $3. There was signage indicating that these bottles were also being sold at 
There are three adult-only 'Specialty Booths' at the fair-The Beer Experience,
The Wine Experience,
and "Destination Unknown", a sort of Speakeasy (you need to tell the password to the elevator attendant who will whisk you up to the rooftop bar overlooking the Race Track).
The Texas Style BBQ booth offered a 'BBQ Sundae'- mashed potatoes topped with plenty of hickory smoked meat, some bark, some BBQ sauce and topped with a grape tomato. Tasting this BBQ absolutely made both of us want to order a full plate.
A 12 ounce Aqua Fresca at Ricos Manjares Mosita (cucumber lime flavor) was worth the $5 and so refreshing.
San Diego's Original Fish & Chips offered clam chowder fries. French fries topped with a lovely, thick chowder filled with clams, some potatoes and topped with crumbles of bacon. Definitely a chowder I would order if it was cooler.
The Texas Donuts offered their plain glazed donut for $5 (regular $7) and it was kind of perfect. We've always thought this booth has reasonable prices. 
OH MY! Dipping Dots 'taste' was a five ounce root beer float. Wonderful tasting root beer. Topped with vanilla Dipping Dots, it really was a different type of 'float'.
On our second visit, we saw this Rowdy's Root Beer Float booth and it was also offering a $5 taste. We had to. Ten ounces of soft serve ice cream and not as much root beer; memories evoked and well, soft serve.
This blurred out booth,'Eat At Joe's' was selling various fried items (zucchini, chicken strips, curly fries) the Taste of the Fair special was cheese curds! The curds didn't 'squeak' when biting in, but were very tasty…as batter fried cheese should be.
Maddie's Churros was offering one made-to-order churro and it hit the spot. You know, fried dough rolled in cinnamon sugar…
The Squeezers Lemon shaped booths are always part of the Fair and this year offered a 'Sour Apple Lemonade', small size (12 ounce) as a Taste. First, the color. Second- the flavors. The mix of sour apple flavor and fresh lemons was really unique. Another refreshing beverage.
The Pan Fried Chicken booth offered two fried wings, hot sauce, carrots and celery with Ranch dressing for $5! One drum, one flat and quite large. Another mini-meal.
We saw the Freeze Dried Candy booth last year but never stopped. This time we did; I've been curious for a year. Quite nice and different.
Of course, when leaving, we stopped here, as almost everyone does- always see people carrying large bags of Kettle Corn out the main gate. The small sample of Kettle Corn made it home and even lasted a few days. It was great; large, mushroom shaped popped corn coated in sugar and salt. A Perfect treat.
One thing we will pay regular price for is a turkey leg ($22). Since we seem to only find raw turkey eggs (weight about two pounds) for $9/pound, it is worth it for us to purchase a large leg already smoked.
We brought this one home, cooked some corn (3/$1) on the grill and had a nice dinner.
The generous portion fish has a mild smokiness, wasn't too salty, and wasn't fishy in the least. Think of it as "bacon of the sea". Not a big fan of the queso on the fish, but I really enjoyed and appreciated the layer of melted cheese on tortilla which ensured that things wouldn't fall apart. I do enjoy the onions and peppers and the tortilla was pliable did the job.
The fish was fried nicely, crisp, the flesh moist, no off flavors. The issue would be how skinny it was. There was so much cabbage and crema that it kind of overwhelmed the poor guppy….. Well, at least the tortilla held up, but I probably won't be getting this again.