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Guess the Restaurant…..it’s Zarlito’s

Filipino Restaurants

The Missus hasn’t been feeling real well, and all those cravings have kicked in, so we went out and had a bunch of food, and a took a bunch of photos. Since I received a few Emails asking for another "guess it" contest, I thought I’d do it again.

So here goes. In this case you can either guess the restaurant or name the 7 dishes – I’ll name the eighth for you. If you name both the restaurant and the dishes I’ll send you an Espresso drink coupon from Peet’s. But remember, take the chance and you’ve got to get both correct. Or you can either name all 8 dishes, or the restaurant, and I’ll send you a cup of Peet’s. First seven correct Email answers win!

Personally, I think this one is too easy.

Here are the dishes

1: Kare Kare($6.50) – We both found the Kare Kare broth to be very mild, and somewhat underwhelming. There were 4 large pieces of oxtail, which were soft and flavorful, along with the eggplant. In what we found was a recurring theme, Zarlitos goes for the "meat-lover" in all of us, to make up for flavor short comings.

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2: Nilagang Baka($6.50).

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P1050564 The broth was very light and mild in flavor. The Missus corrected the flavor with a healthy dose of Bagoong Alamang(shrimp paste). As with the Kare Kare, there was meat in abundance, though the beef was on the dry and tough side.

3: Sinigang Sinampalukan(Chicken, not Baboy – $6.50). Though not "sour" enough for the Missus, She still enjoyed the broth. This version was made with Chicken Drumettes and Wings, quite a few of them(I ate them all), and I really thought they tasted pretty good.

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4: Pancit Palabok($6.20). Really bad, bland, oily, with under cooked noodles.

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5: Whole Crispy Pata($15.00)

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P1050572 Personally, I though this Crispy Pata(boiled in seasonings, than deep fried Pork Leg) was superior to the version at Villa Manila. The skin of the Pata had a perfect crunch, with the wonderful pork flavor coming through. I could have done with more "gelatin", but man it was good. The Missus thought the flavoring of the meat was weak. My response? "Meat? What meat?"(I could only eat about 4 bites before Pata-guilt took over) Frankie loved the remains of the Pata, and even took it to bed with Him……

6: Lechon Kawali($6.50) Nice portion size, but the lechon had been sitting for a while and had lost much of the crunch. Though not very oily, we both thought the flavor to be on the weak side. Still quite a bit of lechon, here.

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7: Daing Bangus($6.50). The Missus loves a good boneless Daing, and enjoyed this large piece.

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8: Here’s the "freebie"…he-he-he, it’s Rice, of course!

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At Zarlitos, you pretty much get what you pay for. Most dishes are under $7(taxes already added in), and there’s quite a bit of meat in most of the soups. Of course, there’s that Pata……

Of course the restaurant is in San Diego.

I’ll return with the prices of the dishes, as well as our impressions tomorrow.

As usual 1 winner per IP address. This one is easy, don’t give away the answers. You can either gamble and try to name all 7 dishes(you don’t have to be "perfect") and the restaurant. Or just name either the 7 dishes OR the restaurant.

The restaurant is…….

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Yes, Zarlitos Family Restaurant in National City.

Zarlitos Family Restaurant
505 East 8th St.
National City, CA 91950

Congrats to Ed who guessed Zarlitos correctly, and Denny who got all the dishes, especially the Sinigang Sinampalukan.

168 Restaurant

Chinese Restaurants, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants, Xiao Long Bao

*** 168 Restaurant has closed

168 Restaurant, located in the shadow of the 99 Ranch Market sign, is a popular and inexpensive Taiwanese restaurant in the area.

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The bare bones atmosphere, and "sticky" tables, along with the faint smell of vinegar in the air take me back to many of the Chinese "coffee shops" in the San Gabriel Valley. 168 specializes in homestyle Chinese and Taiwanese "grub" at very reasonable prices. Forget about atmosphere though, it doesn't exist at 168. We also ate with our "elbows up" and off of the sticky-tacky tables.

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Many of the people during our visits were eating Fried Rice, Noodle Soup, or some other noodle dish.

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We decided to try some menu items that we hadn't ordered before. Starting with the Smoked Chicken($3.75):

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I really enjoyed this cold chicken dish, it had a mild smokey flavor, the meat had a slightly "cured" texture, and though it teetered on the edge of being too salty it was very satisfying on this very hot day.

Pan Fried Egg with Dried Radish($4.25):

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This homestyle omelet had strips of dried radish in it. It is really nothing different from what I make at home. The eggs were very salty, though the radish added a nice crunch to the dish

Glutinous Rice in Bowl($3.25):

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I enjoyed the gooey glutinous rice that surrounded a "filling" of chunks of pork and dried radish. Here's a look:

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Slightly sweet, slightly salty, with a sauce with hints of……well, as the Missus put's it, "It's Five-Spice, okay, F-I-V-E Spice. None of this hints of anise stuff, it tastes like five spice". Okay??? This was not bad, I'd have it again.

I really don't know why I ordered the Xiao Long Bao($5.75), big mistake:

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Really big mistake, the wrappers were a bit freezer burnt, and only two or three of the dumplings actually had "soup" in them.

A few weeks later, we found ourselves at 168 again. And in keeping with our previous meal, we decided to try items we'd never had here before.

Since we enjoyed the cold Smoked Chicken on our previous visit, we ordered the Wined Chicken($3.75):

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The chicken tasted much better than it looked. The flavor of the chicken was neither too strong, nor totally bland like the version at Mei Long Village. The texture of the chicken was slightly dense and cured, with a slight salty-winey flavor. Not as strong in flavor as the version at Shanghai City, but still quite good.

Of course some Stinky Tofu(Cho Dofu – $5.25):

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The Missus has a basic "rule" when it comes to Cho Dofu. If I can smell it, than eat it, it's probably not good. The usual foul, what I call a dark-deep-damp-acrid odor of decomposition was very tame and mild. In addition, the sauce was very mild and weak. I had 3 pieces of the Cho Dofu, which really tasted like fried tofu, with a slight acrid odor. So this brined than fermented tofu dish was not very good.

Goose Meat w/Bean Thread($5.25):

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A light clear poultry based broth, had a nice quantity of slightly chewy bean thread. The broth was mild, and the julienned ginger added a very nice clean flavor to what would be a fairly weak soup. The "Goose Meat" tasted strangely like Duck Leg, it just wasn't as rich and gamey as goose is. We thought this was just okay.

Oyster w/"Thin Noodles" Soup($4.75):

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This thickened soup was a strange mish-mash of conflicting flavors, and the lack of decent quality ingredients didn't help it in the least. I really like the slightly gooey soup, it had a nice assertive vinegar and white pepper flavor. The Missus thought it was too sour. I really enjoyed the chewy brown wheat based thin Taiwanese style noodles. There were 2 items that ruined the dish. First, the Oysters tasted very bad, like they had been starting to "break-down" with a fishy-bitter flavor. I fished all of them out of the bowl, no sense in spending the night sleeping the bathroom, if you know what I mean. The bamboo shoots had a metallic-sour flavor to them. I'm pretty sure that the bamboo shoots were old, and that when they were removed from the can, the shoots were not drained or rinsed. Too bad, I thought this soup had potential.

The menu at 168 is quite extensive, with everything from Squid Potage and 3 Cup Chicken(posted on he wall) to Fried Rice and Kung Pao Chicken. What 168 does best are Chinese Coffee shop and snack dishes. And those are still a "mixed bag" and quite inconsistent. The service is basic Chinese restaurant in style and quality, you usually need to ask for anything you need. Of course being open till almost midnight is a big plus.

168 Restaurant
7330 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

Open 11am-1130pm Daily

Pho T Cali

Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

*** An updated post on Pho T Cali can be found here.

*** Pho T Cali has closed

One thing I really enjoy about doing this food blog are the emails, most of the emails I receive are very nice, kind, fun, interesting, and sometimes quite entertaining. Of course I get my share of Spam, Shills, and other unsavory Emails; but I'd say 90% of them are at least fun. A recent email surely belonged in the "entertaining" category. Someone named "Pho-grrrl" sent me an email, that was really a single run-on sentence…."Hey, you have to eat at Pho T Cali, it's the best! Pho T Cali rocks!!! They make the best Pho, SO YOU HAVE TO GO THERE SOON! Pho T Cali ROCKS, woo-hoo!" For some reason, I started laughing, I was feeling a bit under the weather, but this email still cracked me up. I knew right away that this wasn't a "shill" message. I mean, I've only seen 1 Woman working at Pho T Cali, who I really wouldn't think of being a Grrrl, nor could I imagine Her using the term "rocks", nor ending a sentence with "woo-hoo".

But, since Pho-grrrl brightened my day, and since I was feeling a bit under the weather, and a bowl of Pho would be a nice tonic, I drove over to Pho T Cali.

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Pho T Cali was formerly known as Pho Hoa Cali, and as far as I could tell the menu and staff are basically the same. The food had changed slightly, and the prices had gone up a bit since the change. I've always found the food at Pho T Cali to be quite middle of the road, in fact, I had considered doing Pho T Cali instead of Phuong Trang for my retrospective, as the example of MOR(Middle of the Road) Pho. Being MOR has it's benefits, Pho T Cali is very popular with a wide range of people.

Today I chose the Pho Dac Biet Xe Lua(Special – Extra Large bowl – $5.50). The garnishes are the basic basil-bean sprouts-jalapeno-lime quartet.

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The very large bowl of Pho arrived soon after:

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In keeping with the MOR theme, the broth was on the lighter side, with a very mild beef flavor, though a tad on the salty side. There was no outstanding flavor element, and the oil level was low. That is not to say it was bland, the green onions, onions, and all of the garnishes(including the jalapenos) gave the broth life. The portion of thinly sliced rare beef was pretty good, not tough at all, but a bit on the dry side. The brisket and flank were very tasty, though a bit on the fatty side. In keeping with safe theme, the portion of tripe was really small, and tendon was nearly non-existent.

There was a humongous clump of noodles at the bottom of the bowl.

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The noodles weren't cooked enough and were tough, but they are usually fine. Overall, the Pho was as expected.

Don't get me wrong, Pho T Cali has the formula down, decent food, good prices, and is fairly consistent. When people ask me about trying Pho for the first time, I sometimes recommend Pho T Cali. The service is efficient, and the "appetizer sin", where the Pho, or other main course arrives before the Cha Gio or Goi Cuon has never happened to me here. Most of the dishes(except for the Bun Bo Hue, which is lousy), are done fairly well. Here's to you Pho-grrrl. Woo-Hoo! Or maybe Hoo-Woo…….

Pho T Cali
7351 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

Hours – Sun-Thurs 830am-9pm
Fri-Sat   830am-930pm

Friend’s House Korean BBQ

Korean Restaurants

Quickly now, how many of you always walk or drive past a restaurant, and think to yourself, "hmmm, I really need to check that place out, one of these days?" Next part of the question, how many of you actually do make an effort to try out this "mystery restaurant", the one that never, ever seems to have any customers, that looks like a front for the Yakuza, or some other crime outfit, the one that never has any wonderful cooking fragrances wafting out the door. If you’re like me, you just walk or drive on by…….

Until you start food blogging. Now with a true mission, empowered and emboldened by Typepad, you become Super Foodie. If you’ve driven up Convoy street, or eaten at Nozomi, Convoy Noodle House, or Dede’s, you’ve probably taken a glance at Friend’s House Korean BBQ.

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So did you take the time to walk in and eat? If you did, you’re of a minority of people I’ve spoken to. Only two individuals I know, have claimed to have eaten there. And when queried, all I could get out of them was a cryptic, "well, we mostly go there to drink soju…."

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So on this evening, after staring at the food photos, and glancing at the menu, I walked on in. And was quickly greeted by 2 very nice young ladies, and seated at a table.

The interior of Friend’s House is paneled and divided with untreated wood, along with many photos, and a faux corrugated metal "roof".

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I guess it does make you feel like you’re visiting a "friend’s house", and perhaps sitting on the patio, or in the garage. I’m sure that Friend’s House sounds more appetizing than Friend’s Garage……

I looked over then menu, and started with, the one dish that was mentioned to me. The Kun Mandoo($7.50):

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These were a shade better then the frozen stuff, okay in flavor, though a bit on the oily side. The wrappers were also very brittle. But you could tell they were handmade. Not bad, but really not very good, the meal still showed promise.

I remember Ed from Yuma and I having dinner at Boo Cho and talking about how panchan is served in various Korean restaurants. Some restaurants will serve the panchan upfront, and give you something to "pick on" while waiting for your main course(s). Well, at Friend’s House everything came out in one furious rush, except for one item, that I’ll go into at the end.

The panchan:

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Friendshouse07 Everything except the Baechu Kimchi, was served on a cute little plate, almost like what you’d use to feed little kids. I truly expected to see some Hello Kitty emblem on the plate. The Baechu Kimchi was very, very sour, at first I thought it might even be spoiled, but it was not. Overall, the panchan was a disappointment, well maybe not, since how can you be disappointed if you have no expectations. To summarize, the same marinade was used for the baechu kimchi, Cuttelfish, fishcake, and Mu(radish). They all tasted the same. The marinated potato wasn’t too bad, but on the mild side.

My Bulgogi(Thin sliced marinated beef $13.95) arrived at the same moment, along with the usual metal container of rice:

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Well let’s see; the portion size was quite generous, but that’s about it. I knew this was going to be very mediocre Bulgogi when the sizzling plate was placed on my table, and I really couldn’t detect any fragrance at all. The meat seemed like it was quickly dumped into a marinade right before cooking, it was tough and flavorless. I didn’t eat but a few bites. I brought it home, and after the Missus got home from work, She opened the Styrofoam container, stared at the meat, wrinkled Her nose, and went "yuck".

And in what was an apt end to the meal, my soup arrived as I asked for my check.

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The service at Friend’s House was very nice, though on the scatter-brained side. Not one customer entered the restaurant while I had my meal, so maybe someone can clue me in. Not that I’ll be back, though who knows, after a few bottles of Soju, that Bulgogi might taste good.

Friend’s House Korean BBQ
4647 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Teriyaki Cowboy….Rides into the Sunset

Japanese Restaurants

Feeling much better, I decided to drive a few blocks to pick up a bento from Teriyaki Cowboy for lunch today. Only to find the place closed, with this note posted on the door:

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Bummer! TC, had been a semi-regular stop for inexpensive bentos.

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This little Mom and Pop hole-in-the-wall, had a quaint, comfortable atmosphere. Though the food wasn’t great by any means, it was good to fair, and the prices right. Too bad I never got around to posting. So here’s a posthumous Teriyaki Cowboy pictorial.

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I’ll miss sitting under my favorite print.

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Rest in peace Cowboy, you’ll be missed.

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Guess the Dim Sum Restaurant – It’s Silver Ark

Chinese Restaurants, Dim Sum

The Missus and I recently had some Dim Sum, and of course I automatically took some photos. But we arrived right at the end of Dim Sum service, and so we decided that perhaps we'd just delete these photos. Not that the Dim Sum was "tired", well some of it was……..

But then it came to me! It seems that everyone had fun with the Mid Week Mystery Market; so how about guessing the Dim Sum Restaurant? Same rules, first 7 Emails I receive that guess the correct Restaurant, I'll send you a cup of Peet's on me!

So let's get rolling, shall we?

The Jook was excellent, really rich, with lot's of preserved egg, and strips of pork instead of the usual ground pork.

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But of course it could be that the porridge had been simmering away all day, gaining flavor. And all of the good stuff had sunk to the bottom. Which is what we got. But really good anyway.

The rest was average to mediocre. Except for one other dish that I'll reveal tomorrow.

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I just realized that this one may be waaaay too easy, so I'll stop here.

My one clue? The restaurant is in San Diego County.

The rules are same as usual; one correct guess per IP address. First seven wins.

I'll finish the post, and have a few more photos, along with revealing the restaurant tomorrow evening!

Friday Morning Clues – You know, I've had some good guesses, along with some really excellent observations that I will add as clues. These will help those that have had Dim Sum in San Diego, and still are not quite sure which restaurant it is.

1 – Notice the Taro Gok, if you look toward the upper right you'll see some interesting clues.

2 – Same photo, notice how the fried taro balls are served. A certain Dim Sum house in San Diego serves it up differently, immediately removing that restaurant from contention.

3 – Notice how the tripe is cut; very thick. Also, some Dim Sum restaurants top the tripe with a red chili, removing that restaurant from contention.

4 – The best observation was made by Liver Bomb who noticed the mustard/chili dish. Talk about attention to detail!

So has anyone guessed correctly yet? Sorry, can't say…..

Friday Afternoon Clues – Just a photo of the Pan Fried Noodles with Seafood and some prices.

Pan Fried Noodle with Seafood($9.50):

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Dim Sum Prices :

Small – $2.10

Medium – $3.20

Large – $4.20

Super – $6.50

Good Luck!

The Restaurant is…… Silver Ark, a restaurant that recently opened on Mira Mesa Boulevard.

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Since we arrived at the end of Dim Sum service, we've decided to revisit when we have a chance. Our overall impression, is that the restaurant is a step below  China Max, Emerald, and Jasmine. The Pan Fried noodles were pretty good, lot's of noodles, the scallops were good, though the shrimp was not of the highest quality.

But we'll definitely try Silver Ark again, and do a "real" post.

Silver Ark
8993 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126

So how many correct answers?

One. Congrats Green Turtle!

Oshizushi

Japanese Restaurants

This recent hot and humid weather has really dampened my appetite. It has been kind of a challenge coming up with items that I really feel like eating, and there’s no way that I’m going to slave over a stove, or even turn on the oven.

So it kind of hit me during a nice lunch with Captain Jack, who does His San Diego Restaurant Reviews Site. Understanding that he’d want something a bit different, I ordered Oshizushi:

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Oshizushi, literally "pressed sushi", is created in a wooden or plastic "box", called an Oshizushi-Bako. This version is from Sammy’s. Though this version is somewhat "Westernized", it is still P1050437 quite good, and pretty filling. At Sammy’s they call it "Six in a Box". A layer of rice is placed on the bottom of the mold, then another layer, usually with uni, hamachi, masago, and green onions. Another layer of rice is placed on on the rice with maguro and salmon, or another item, then a lid placed on top of the mold and the sushi is "pressed". Sammy finishes His version of Oshizushi wrapping it with Tororo(made from Kombu).

I once sat next to an Gentleman enjoying His Oshizushi, and became engaged in a nice conversation. He told me about the wonderful Oshizushi he had in Osaka, according to him, the "home" of Oshizushi. The rice for Oshizushi there was very aggressively flavored with vinegar. He also mentioned Battera; a specific type of Oshizushi topped with Saba. The Oshizushi at Sammy’s uses his regular mild Sushi Gohan(rice).

I just thought I’d do this post, because I really don’t see this much anymore, and it tasted quite good on such a hot and muggy day……..

I’ll be back with a new restaurant tomorrow. Hope everyone is keeping cool in this hot weather!

Pho Tu Do

Bun Bo Hue, Vietnamese Restaurants

*** Pho Tu Do has closed, and will reopen as a Sushi-Teriyaki Restaurant.

A few months ago; the "Twins" from Sandwich Emporium mentioned Pho Tu Do, and specifically, the various "Khai Vi"(appetizers) on the menu. Peter(or was it John) mentioned that the appetizers on the menu at Pho Tu Do are pretty hard to find in San Diego. Then, a few weeks later Howie of a A Foodie View, and His friend Codergirl also mentioned the unique(for San Diego) appetizers at Pho Tu Do. So last week, I finally made it to Pho Tu Do.

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As I parked my car, I realized that I had eaten here several years earlier, and had a very P1050380 mediocre bowl of Pho. But this time I was in search of something other than Pho.

Unlike many other Vietnamese Restaurants, the menu at Pho Tu Do is short; about 8 appetizers, 20 soup and Com Tam(broken rice) items, 13 beverages, and 4 desserts. It sure makes ordering easy – no "Vietnamese Menu Overload" here!

On this visit I started with Banh It-Banh Ram($3.75):

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Two sticky, glutinous rice balls, with a mochi like texture is filled with shrimp and diced pork, lay on top of a fried croquette also filled with shrimp and pork. All topped off with green onions, that seem to be partially cooked, and ground shrimp. Served with a little bowl of Nuoc Mam Cham.

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Though these appetizers were a bit on the heavy and oily side, the contrasting textures; the gooey glutinous sweet rice ball, against the slightly crunchy deep fried crouquette, were interesting. It was also a challenge to eat, being very hard to cut and quite hot. The shrimp tasted quite interesting, having a flavor that edged toward that of re hydrated dried shrimp, though not quite as intense. The shrimp also looked like it had been cooked in annatto oil, or some other annatto based product. Overall a very interesting appetizer.

Having also heard that the Owners of Pho Tu Do(don’t know if it’s true or not) where from Central Vietnam, I decided to try the Bun Bo Hue (small – $5). The garnishes that arrived were on the skimpy side.

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Though the bowl of Bun Bo Hue was quite large for a "small" bowl:

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For me, this was a very disappointing bowl of Bun Bo Hue. First off the broth was cloudy and weak, and not very spicy at all(first time I’ve ever had to add slices of jalapeno to my Bun Bo Hue). The thick cut beef was very tough, though the slice of Pork Leg had some tasty edible meat on it. The noodles were overcooked and on the mushy side as well.

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Still, I saw two other items on the menu that interested me. So, a few days later, I managed to talk the Missus into having dinner at Pho Tu Do. This time I ordered the Appetizer Sample Plate($6.00):

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The tray arrived with 1 piece of the afore mentioned Banh It and 5 little plates of Banh Beo, each plate contained a little round rice cake, topped with fried pork, green onions, and ground shrimp. Topped with a touch of Nuoc Mam, I thought these were quite enjoyable.

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But our hands down favorite item were the two pieces of Banh Bot Loc.

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Two sticky "dumplings" made of tapioca flour is stuffed with shrimp and pork, and topped with ground shrimp and green onions. The ratio of filling to tapioca "cake" was perfect, as all of the flavors melded together in harmony. You could also still make out the flavor of the shrimp and the fatty pork, which kind of got lost in the huge glutinous Banh It. I think this would make a wonderful snack…..

We also got an order of Spring Rolls (Goi Cuon – $3.75).

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These were okay, full of too much Bun, and not enough herbage to give it flavor. We both noticed that the Sot Dau Phong(peanut sauce) served with the spring rolls was very good.

The Missus ordered Her favorite hot weather dish Bun Cha Gio(vermicelli with Egg Rolls – $5.75):

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This was a very large bowl of Bun. The Egg Rolls were very good, crisp and full of shrimp and pork flavor. The noodles were terrible, almost hot, and cut into small pieces, and over cooked. The only greens served with the Bun was a chiffonade of lettuce on the bottom of the bowl. Most puzzling was the Nuoc Mam Cham, on this visit, we both noticed that it was very weak in flavor, it tasted almost watered down, and even getting another bowl of the sauce didn’t help this dish, it just made it more watery. In the end, a very unrefreshing dish.

Still, every time we pass Pho Tu Do, we talk about stopping for a couple of orders of Banh Bot Loc…

The service at Pho Tu Do is quiet and efficient, and the clientele seemed to be mostly Vietnamese, in direct contrast to most other Vietnamese Restaurants in the area. Pho Tu Do almost always seems empty when viewed from the street, though when I’ve visited, there always seems to be a few people eating there.

Pho Tu Do
5430 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117