Closed – Page 100

Garden Grill

February 15, 2006 mmm-yoso Greek Food, Lebanese Restaurants, Mediterranean Restaurants

*** Garden Grill is no more.

On our visit to Saffron we noticed that "Falafel King" was gone and replaced by Garden Grill.

One look at the menu and we knew that we’d have to make an effort to return.

The menu is quite extensive, and I took these photos especially for RONW at Hotel Waikiki, I know he has a "thing" for menus. So here ya’ go, these are for you RONW! So we returned and found some primo street parking on India Street – not an easy thing by any means.

We both "eyed" out what we wanted and went to order. My plans were scuttled when the Missus ordered the Mixed Grill($8.99), which was what I had in mind:

Man it was good! The Chicken Kabob was moist and tender, the flavors of the herbs used to marinate the chicken came through very clearly. So delici-yoso!!! The Kufta Kabob was also tasty, the meat for the kabob was more coarsely chopped than finely ground which gave the meat an excellent texture. The Greek Salad was a bit short on Feta, but the Romain was very fresh and crisp, the simple dressing also followed the light and crisp theme. The Hummus was routine, and short on garlic, but the tabbouleh balanced out the hummus by being very garlicky. The plate also came with a whole pita that was nothing special, but perfect for scooping up the tabbouleh and hummus. We both thought the rice was kind of mushy for basmati, but we’ll be having the Mixed Grill again.

I ordered a simple Lamb Kabob($7.99):

The Lamb Kabob plate came with the same accoutrements as the Mixed Grill. The Lamb was so tender with a lemon and herb flavor, but not quite as gamey as I enjoy.

On a recent visit, we weren’t feeling very hungry, and so stuck with a salad and appetizer. Here’s the Greek Salad($6.45):

The Romain lettuce was so fresh and crisp, the dressing very light! Still not enough feta, though.

I got the Baba Ganouj/Hummus appetizer($4.99):

At first glance it was hard to tell the difference between the Baba Ganouj and the Hummus, other then some visible seeds in the Baba Ganouj. I really enjoyed the Baba Ganouj, which was filled with garlic flavor, and a bit on the chunky side. The Hummus was routine, but very nice with my pita.

The indoor seating is quite cafeteria like, but we rather sit outside. Parking on India Street can be a challenge, the parking meters are also on the expensive side. I always crack up at the "time allowance" of 4.48 minutes per 10 cents!! While we were leaving, an obviously rented mini van parked in an open space. As the Gentleman walked up to the meter His eyes opened up wide, His Wife walked up and simply said "Wow"! He quickly turned to his kids and said "Hurry, we’re going to have to eat fast, I’ve only got fifty cents, that’s 24 minutes!"

Garden Grill is also a favorite of Kady of Gourmetish. Who knows, maybe you might run into one of us there!

Garden Grill Restaurant
3715 India St
San Diego, CA 92103

Bai Yook Thai Cuisine

February 13, 2006 mmm-yoso Thai Restaurants

When we first moved to San Diego, Bai Yook was one of our favorite Thai Restaurants. I had always enjoyed the Grilled Beef Salad(Yum Nua) at Bai Yook; and though we had a found a few Thai Restaurants we enjoyed more, we still used to return to Bai Yook every so often. Still, we hadn’t been back to Bai Yook since we moved a bit farther away from the Hillcrest area several years ago. Our not so great visit to Saffron had kind of left us reeling, and also craving some decent Thai Food, and Bai Yook came up in the conversation. So we decided to have dinner at Bai Yook a few nights ago.

Located in a fairly quite corner in the busy Hillcrest Shopping Colonnade, Bai Yook is a small but quaint and relaxing little restaurant. Sitting in the dining room of Bai Yook, you wouldn’t even know that a few doors down is a Starbucks, Ben & Jerry’s, or Lalo’s Al Pastor Taco Shop.

We arrived at about 530 and found the restaurant to be completely empty, we requested a table outside, and was quickly seated. As we looked over the menu we noticed many changes since or last visit. A few of our favorite dishes, like a seafood clay pot dish were missing.

But at least my "old favorite" Yum Nua(Grilled Beef Salad – $7.95), was still on the menu. I eagerly awaited my old favorite beef salad; nice and tender grilled beef on a bed of lettuce, crisp cucumber, slices of tomato, julienned carrots, lot’s of thinly sliced onion, cilantro, all in a spicy lime and fish sauce dressing. The coup de grace was the nice sprinkling of roasted ground rice powder that would add a nice nutty flavor to the salad. What I got brought me down to Earth :

I could literally smell the salad before I saw it! Waaay to much fish sauce, made the dish quite salty and fishy, and not enough lime to balance the dish. The lettuce was a single wilted leaf, on which lied sliced beef that looked pan fried, and though very soft, left an oily film on your tongue. The oily beef was surrounded with two meager slices of cucumber and tomato "lying in state". There was a bit of rice powder, but the overwhelming amount of fish sauce blocked everything else out.

I still had Pad See Eew on my mind, so I ordered the Pad See Eew with Shrimp ($8.95):

Now on the menu I read that the Pad See Eew was prepared with "black bean sauce" and came with Chinese Broccoli. I dunno, maybe this is a new type of Chinese Broccoli(Gai Lan )? Sure looks like ordinary (Brassica oleracea Italica) broccoli to me. The Black Bean Sauce should have scared me off, but unfortunately, it didn’t. These really weren’t black bean like I know it, but some other fermented bean that was extremely salty, bitter, and astringent. To quote the Missus; "it tastes like Chinese medicine". Too bad, the shrimp were cooked to a nice tender state(and fortunately hadn’t absorbed the bitter taste), and though not fantastic; the noodles were also cooked well. I drank three glasses of water trying to finish this.

The Missus had wanted the Salmon Curry($10.95), but they were out of salmon, so we got the "Choo-Chi", a Fried Fish (we were told it was snapper) Curry($12.95).

Though the peas kind of threw me off, and I found the "curry" to be very watery, this dish was by far the best of the evening. The fish fillets were breaded and fried to moist perfection. The curry though thin and runny, was passable, though a bit heavy on coconut milk and salt. We did finish this dish, so it must have been pretty good.

As I licked my salt-chapped lips, I wondered what had happened to my beloved Beef Salad? What happened to Bai Yook? And even with more dread, I remembered that I had recommended this place to more then a few people! Yikes!

Bai Yook Thai Cuisine
1260 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92103

Monday – Friday Lunch: 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Dinner: 5:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Saturday 12:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Sunday 4:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Woodies Chili Dogs

February 7, 2006 mmm-yoso Hot Dogs, Sandwiches

*** Woodies is now Waldos

My phone rings, and the voice on the other side goes, "Hey, you want a Woodie…hehehehe?" Geez, no wonder we have to take Sexual Harassment Training classes every year! Though I'd always give in to temptation and answer with something like "I'd do just about anything for a woody". The conversation would eventually sink into the depths of deprivation, which I won't go into. Once we get our act together we'll head off to Woodie's. Woodie's Chili Dogs is located right off Clairemont Mesa Boulevard in the sprawling Clairemont Town Square shopping center.

The menu at Woodies is fairly small and basic, and makes for easy ordering.

There are some very interesting items on the "retro" menu, like Frito Pie($2.75) and Corn Dogs($1.75).

Though I usually go for the cholesterol bomb combo. That would be the #2($7.00).

It starts with a Pastrami "Sandwich", we'll use the description of sandwich very loosely here. For me it's pastrami, mustard, pickles, and kraut in an hot dog bun.

The bun is really an afterthought, and I'm always glad that I'm given lots of napkins with my sandwich, because the bun disintegrates after one or two bites. The pastrami ends up being two-fisted fun! Not very oily, and with a passable fat content; the pastrami at Woodies is pretty decent. Though lacking in the slight fatty sweetness that pastrami from The Hat has, it's also less oily, and not as salty. That also makes the pastrami at Woodies less "rich".

But it's still passable, though I find the kraut to be a bit too mild for my tastes. I end up eating the sandwich with a fork…well who am I kidding, I inhale the darn thing, and eat up the remains "Ethiopian Style", using the bun as I would Injera. I don't think it's the best pastrami in San Diego, but it'll do in a pinch.

I really enjoy the fries, thin cut and usually fried to a golden brown.

The pictures are worth a thousand words. You need to eat them right away, they'll get pretty limp after a few minutes, and you really don't want a "limp Woodie"……

Finally, I know you've all been waiting to see my Woodie…….errrr, Kraut Dog($2.50):

The Dog is thin and a little on the small side(I can't wait for the comments on this one), the Dog has a natural casing that gives it a nice "snap". The dog has a nice mild flavor, though again the kraut is a bit too mild, though always nice and crisp. The dogs at Woodies is not everyone's cup of tea. The Missus doesn't care much for Woodies….hehehe, she much rather have the ~~woodies~~ Hot Dogs from Costco of all places.

Overall Woodies is a nice little stop.

So, let me ask you, "do you want a Woodie?" LOL!

Some notes: On many weekends during the Summer Woodies will host many car "cruises". I haven't had the Frito Pie, but it always tempts me. I've had the onion rings, and thought they were pretty good as well. You can also sneak your Woodie(LOL!) into the theaters, they are much better then the mystery meat hot dogs that you get at the movies nowadays.

Woodies Chili Dogs
4250 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

The Greek Cafe

February 2, 2006 mmm-yoso Greek Food

**** The Greek Cafe has closed

Located in the same Mission Valley strip mall as Tandoor Indian Cuisine and El Portal is The Greek Cafe.

More of a “casual-fast” style restaurant, the Greek Cafe serves everything from Lamb Shank to Spanakopita. But the item I usually order is the Gyros Sandwich($4.85)

Though I can get a pretty decent sandwich with salad and fries for $4.95 at Mediterranean Cafe in Hillcrest, the Gyros Sandwich at the Greek Cafe is not too bad. The sandwich is served on a large toasted pita and I enjoy the really thick and creamy tzatziki that is slathered on the sandwich. On this visit the roma tomatoes were especially ripe and added a nice sweetness to the Gyros Sandwich. Other then that, it’s a purely routine Gyros sandwich, whose taste faded into memory almost as soon as I devoured it. Not good, not bad, but still better then any of the fast food options available.

On a recent visit I decided to order something different and had the Beef Souvlaki Sandwich($4.85).

Same toasted pita; though the tomatoes were not as ripe. But what threw me off was the lack of Beef Souvlaki. As the old commercial used to say; “Where’s the beef?”

Here have another look. Can you find it? Seems more like a veggie pita, doesn’t it?

But after some digging, I did discover some beef. The Beef was very mildly flavored though very tender, but totally “lost” in all of the slightly bitter iceberg lettuce. What a waste.

I did learn a valuable lesson. Sometimes it’s really not worth trying to find a “hidden gem”, in an environment that really wouldn’t seem to support such efforts. After all, it seems that The Greek Cafe is just Casual Fast Food, nothing wrong with that. At least there is another option that adds some variety in the “Fast Food – Chain Restaurant Purgatory” that is Mission Valley.

The Greek Cafe
5618 Mission Center Road
San Diego, CA 92108

Luong Hai Ky Restaurant

January 24, 2006 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

*** This location of Luong Hai Ky is now Phat Restaurant.

I first noticed Luong Hai Ky Restaurant on a visit to Chopstix. On a recent visit I had noticed that all the "Servers" had disappeared; as I was leaving Chopstix I saw half of them sitting and smoking on the sidewalk, and the other half were eating in Luong Hai Ky. The funny thing was, I'd never noticed the restaurant before. Probably due to it's location in the rear of the strip mall.

On a typical "soup weather" day, I dropped by Luong Hai Ky. As I looked over the approximately 100 items on the menu I realized that this was a Chinese-Vietnamese noodle house; in the same vein as Minh KY. The interior of the restaurant was deceptively large, with about 25 tables and large fish tanks lining one side of the dining area. The dining room and tables were also very clean.

On my first visit I ordered a simple bowl of Won Ton Noodle Soup($5.00):

A modest bowl was brought out, with topped with a "shrimp cracker" and green onions. The won tons (6), were almost identical to those at Minh Ky; very dense pork meatballs, with a small slice of shrimp placed on one side. Three small slices of well flavored Char Siu, along with the typical "ball" of crunchy egg noodles occupying the bottom of the bowl. What made this bowl of noodle soup stand out was the tasty, quite dark broth. Obviously a mildly intense chicken based broth, there was a bit more going on; slightly salty, but without the "parching" MSG effect, a hint of sweet, but most of all a interesting savory flavor. When I paid at the counter I inquired as to the nature of the broth. I had a feeling that perhaps shrimp, or some other flavoring was added, but was told that there was no seafood in the broth.

Having enjoyed the soup, I returned for an encore, just to see if the broth was consistently flavored. I ordered the "carb special"; Won Ton & Dumpling Egg Noodle Soup($5.50):

Again, the portion size was nothing to write home about. This time there were 4 won tons and 4 "dumplings".

The dumpling wrappers were a bit thicker than the won tons, and were flat in shape. The filling was ground pork along with crunchy strips of "Cloud Ear" fungus. Though the broth was a tad milder on this visit; it still had alot of flavor. And I never really had to touch any of the condiments provided. Notice the strange bottle of French's Mustard in the background, every table had a bottle. French's Mustard? I don't quite know what to make of that……

On my last visit; not being in the mood for noodle soup, or rice, and being a sucker for thin egg noodles; I ordered the Combination Fried Egg Noodles($7.50):

In stark contrast to the modestly portioned noodle soups, this was a pretty generous portion of egg noodles, along with a variety of stir fried cabbage, carrots, onions, and other vegetables. The meat consisted of a few shrimp, and some really tough beef. The noodles, though stir fried well, were pretty bland, and I ended up reaching for the bottle of soy sauce and white pepper.

So I think I'll stick with the noodle soups at Luong Hai Ky, though the menu is fairly large, and there is quite a bit to choose from.

Service at Luong Hai Ky, is typical for these type of Restaurants; fast and efficient. I enjoyed the tea served here, it was Jasmine. Though on my first two visits, I received a small pot of tea; on my last visit I only got a single cup! At least I was never charged for tea. In the end, Luong Hai Ky, is really not worth going out of the way for, but if you happened to be close by, well maybe……

One other observation; it has to do with the rather odd taste in the Music I heard here. On my first visit, it was the Carpenters Greatest Hits. On my second visit it was a strange cacophony of pseudo-Asian-classical music blaring away so loud, that I swear I was headed upriver with Willard to terminate Kurtz with "extreme prejudice"! On my third visit, it was a strange mandolin-like muzak, imagine a swarm of bees playing The Girl from Impanema, and other elevator standards, quite strange. The hard surfaces in the restaurant, made the music even louder, and it kind of drove me nuts. Though at least there's no music pumped into the restrooms. There's nothing weirder then "doing your thing" hearing Phil Collins singing "Can you hear me….can you hear me calling….."

Luong Hai Ky Restaurant
4633 Convoy St Ste 107
San Diego, CA 92111

Open 10am to 10pm Daily

Madras Cafe – So What Did we Eat? I Don’t Know, But it Tastes Really Good!

January 19, 2006 mmm-yoso Buffets, Indian Restaurants, Vegetarian and Vegan Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

*** Madras Cafe has closed ***

This is going to be a bit of a different post. It's mainly because most of the time I had no idea what I was eating at Madras Cafe. But that doesn't mean it wasn't good! Madras Cafe resides in Little India Center, along with Ashoka the Great Cuisine of India, and the Ker-Little India Megastore among others. The difference is that Madras features Southern Indian vegetarian cuisine. I managed to take photos on two separate visits. The first with the Missus, the second with Ed from Yuma.

The only thing I really knew about Southern Indian were Dosas:

A thin crepe-like pancake made from rice and lentil flour. The regular menu features Dosas "stuffed" with a variety of items. Since we were eating from the buffet, we were served plain Dosas, nice and warm, and very much crepe-like in texture.

We were also served piping hot Idli with our meal:

Idli is a steamed rice and lentil "cake". It almost reminded me of Chinese steamed rice cakes but with a mildly grainy texture, and I enjoyed these.

On the visit with the Missus we were served this:

It was a "balloon" of crust! I have no idea what is was; and as the restaurant was quite busy, I really have no idea what this was!

Here's a photo of the Onion Chutney:

Very loose, but very tasty, especially with the Idli.

As the Missus and I discussed the food we noticed that the same North-South dichotomy that existed in China, certainly existed in India. The North part of the Country featured many wheat products; while it seemed that South Indian dishes seemed to be rice based.

We also appreciated the metal plates and compartments that separated the individual dishes, so they would not mix together; allowing for us to taste each dish individually.

On the visit with the Missus we enjoyed the Eggplant dish, nice and mildly spicy, with a slightly sweet and somewhat "earthy taste". We also enjoyed the Okra dish(on the right of the Eggplant dish above), which at first tasted very sour, yet very "clean". But as we kept eating, the sour taste kept getting stronger until it started tasting almost bitter. Funny thing was that I mentioned how much we enjoyed the Eggplant while paying and asked what the name of it was, and was told, "It's Eggplant with sauce". Oohhhkay, I'll have no problem with that one!

My next visit was with Ed, and we enjoyed the buffet as well. What was interesting was that the items served where completely different from my previous visit!

Here are a few:

The two rice dishes were good. I enjoyed the version on the right which was a bit spicy, over the mild basmati rice with beans on the left.

My favorite dish was this version of "peas and carrots" with curry:

The melding of textures, in addition to the curry flavor and spice, made this so delici-yoso!!! Among the best peas and carrots I've ever had, and I hate peas and carrots. This changes any preconceptions of peas and carrots I've ever had.

Ed's favorite of the day was this spicy, tangy "Sambhar"(sambal):

At least that's what the Gentleman serving us called it. Basically a spicy, slightly sweet, and tangy stew. I found that most of the dishes at Madras were alot "looser" then the Indian food I've eaten before; and alot less "rich". While Ed was visiting the "facilities" our Server told me that the tangy flavor was imparted by the use of lemon and tamarind.

Here are a few of the other items served in the buffet.

A nice lentil and vegetable fritter.

I remember that I kept asking Ed "what are we eating?"

And Ed responding, "I don't know, but it's really good isn't it?"

Madras Cafe is worth a try. Even though the dishes are vegetarian, they are all very well flavored, and it seems that the dishes change from day to day. Regular menu items feature various Dosas and Idli, but the small (14-16 items) lunch buffet is priced right($6.95), and worth your attention. I've been told that the food is so hot as to be unbearable, but I didn't think so. But remember, I love spicy food. I'm sure that someone will provide some information as to what we were eating……..

So what did we eat? I don't know, but some of it tasted really good!

Madras Cafe
9484 Black Mountain Road
San Diego, CA 92126

Lunch: Tue-Fri 11:00 am-2:30 pm
Sat-Sun 11:30 am-4 pm
Dinner: Tue-Sun: 5:30-9:30 pm
Closed on Mondays

Post #201 – Ba Ren…Again

January 17, 2006 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, What Howie Eats - Where the Foodie from Foodieview Eats

Wow, time does fly. 7 1/2 months and 200 posts later, and I’m still here. Since I missed post number 200, I thought I’d do number 201 covering Our (still) favorite restaurant Ba Ren. I guess I’ve mentioned this restaurant in almost every conversation I have regarding Restaurants in San Diego, to the point that it even got mention in San Diego Citybeat. I really wouldn’t mind at all if you’re all pretty tired of my mentioning Ba Ren. But here we go again.

Fact is, I rarely ever bring my camera to Ba Ren anymore. Recently, we had a "meeting of appetites" at Ba Ren, with Ed from Yuma, mizducky who posts on Egullet, and the wonderful Gayla, who wrote up our Chowhound Feast at Ba Ren. And guess what? I didn’t even bring my camera; though I can tell you we had Ed’s favorite Rice Crust w/Three Delicacies(#181-$11.99), Gayla’s favorite Fish Flavored Eggplant(#201-$7.99), mizducky chose the cold appetizers – FuiQiFeinPein, Smoked Pork Tongue, and Dried Beef w/Sichuan Peppercorn(3 items-$5.99). You can view a few of them here. I got to choose the Sichuan Pot Roast(#127-$12.99), a not very spicy but very rich stewed pork shank and broth served in a clay "cauldron". The most amazing pork meatball also occupied the clay pot, oh yes, and Gayla, the round fishcake looking item was actually a boiled egg! Ed was looking for a fish dish that I figured out was the Liangfen fish (#409-$10.99), a spicy casserole with fresh red peppers, vinegar, and black pepper providing the palette of flavor.

So on this visit I brought my camera along; and guess what? We order almost the same items as my first post on Ba Ren. Oh well, here goes, I’ll just do photos without too much text:

Rice Crust w/Sliced Chicken(#184-$9.99):

Hot Pepper Prawns(#426-$14.99). Ba Ren’s Shrimp version of the Chongqing Style Chili with Chicken:

Don’t let the chilies scare you; yes it is spicy, but the smokey flavor of the seared chilies, and a slightly sweet flavor comes through.

Stir Fried Dry Beef(#324-$12.99). Ba ren’s version of the famous Sichuan dish Gan Bian Niu Rou Si, that uses the distinct gan bian ("dry frying") technique, unique to Sichuan cooking:

The heat hits you on all three parts of the tongue. The Sichuan Peppercorns numbs the front, the dried chilies the middle, and the chili oil gets you right in the back. Nice layers of heat.

And the meal is finished off with Eight Treasure Black Rice Porridge(Ba Bao Hei Mi Zhou):

Refreshing and soothing, a nice way to complete a spicy meal. The food at Ba Ren is Chongqing style, much hotter, and with a much more assertive flavor then food from the much more refined Chengdu style. Some other of our favorites at Ba Ren:

#135 Cold Chicken w/ Spicy Sauce
#141-#148 The classic dishes Boiled in Hot Sauce(often called "Water boiled")
#151-#158 Dry Cooked Dishes
#161-#171 Dishes cooked with Pickled Pepper
#193 Fish Filet Casserole(not spicy)
#403 Fish Flavored Chicken
#410 Twice Cooked Fish(A totally awesome dish)
#501 Ma Po Dofu
#552 Sichuan Cold Noodles
#563 Won Tons w/Hot Sauce

And many more……

But to quote a saying in Fuchsia Dunlop’s wonderful book Land of Plenty:

"China is the place for food
But Sichuan is the place for flavor"
"Shi zai zhong guo
Wei zai si chuan"

Ba Ren
4957 Diane Ave
San Diego, CA 92117

Finally, I’d like to send out a most sincere Thank You to everyone who takes the time out to read my humble posts, I realize I’m not a food writer or food critic, and it’s not my intention to be one. I’m just a "food eater". I hope I’m able to keep this up for another 200, or more posts. Once, during an exchange of Emails with Howie of A Foodie’s Eye View, I mentioned my worry that I may actually run out of Restaurants in San Diego that I’m interested in. His response was, "You’ll never run out of restaurants in San Diego, but you may run out of good restaurants, but I hope not". I hope not either……

Mahalo!!!

Lalo’s Tacos Al Pastor, Etc

January 11, 2006 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

**** Lalo's has closed.

I can hear you all now…."oh no, not another taco shop!" Believe me, we've said that a time or two. But one of the great things thing about San Diego is that there are Taco Shops everywhere. On the other hand one of the bad things about San Diego is that there are Taco Shops everywhere. In certain neighborhoods, it is possible to find a Taco Shop on every corner of a given block, and very mediocre Taco Shops at that. But sometimes it's either a Taco Shop or some Fast Food joint, in that case, I'll usually take a Taco Shop. After a recent shopping excursion to Trader Joe's in Hillcrest, we were a bit hungry, and stopped by Lalo's.

There always seems to be a few people in Lalo's, and the menu is pretty extensive, with everything from Flautas to Torta's. In fact, there's so much "stuff" on the menu, that Vietnamese Menu overload can occur.

After staring at the menu for about ten minutes, we took the easy way out and ordered the "specials".

The "Hillcrest"($4.99):

The plate featured four "mini" Al Pastor tacos, refried beans, and rice. Quite alot of food for $4.99! The rice was rather dry and tasteless, but I rather enjoyed the taste and texture of the beans after I added some salsa from the Salsa Bar to it. The four tacos had a nice amount of Al Pastor in them.

The good; the Al Pastor was seasoned well, with a nice chili flavor, and good caramelization. The bad; the Al Pastor was pretty dry, and the Guacamole flavorless and "gluey", the tortillas were fairly crumbly. The tacos tasted much better without the "Guac" and with just a squeeze of lime. If I ever have these again, that's how I'll get them.

The "Uptown"($4.49); featured a Fish Taco, Two Rolled Tacos(1 beef, 1 chicken), and same beans and rice.

I'm glad that the Fish Taco had cabbage, instead of lettuce. Though it looked like a large piece of fried fish, the taco actually contained two "fish nuggets", and there was a "gap" between the pieces of fish. The fish was well fried, and tasted okay with the salsa from the bar. The Rolled Tacos (taquitos) were very bland, with very little filling. I really couldn't tell which was the beef and which was the chicken.

In the end Lalo's really didn't stand out from the plethora of other Taco Shops in San Diego, though the prices are fairly reasonable.

Lalo's Tacos Etc (Yes, "Etc" is part of the name)
1266 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92103

Postscipt:

When I typed the word "plethora" above, a really weird conversation entered my "stream of consciousness". I guess this is kind of dated, and pretty un-hip….

El Guapo: Jefe, would you say I have a plethora of pinatas?
Jefe: A what?
El Guapo: A "plethora".
Jefe: Oh yes, El Guapo. You have a plethora.
El Guapo: Jefe, what is a plethora?
Jefe: Why, El Guapo?
El Guapo: Well, you just told me that I had a plethora, and I would just like to know if you know what it means to have a plethora. I would not like to think that someone would tell someone else he has a plethora, and then find out that that person has "no idea" what it means to have a plethora.
Jefe: El Guapo, I know that I, Jefe, do not have your superior intellect and education, but could it be that once again, you are angry at something else, and are looking to take it out on me?

Taqueria El Guero

January 8, 2006 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants

I’ve always noticed the “Farmers Market” sign while driving on the 5 Freeway when passing the exit for the Coronado Bridge. I’ve also passed the structure on Imperial Avenue, and have wondered just what was in this large brick building.

The main business in the building is the Plaza Del Sol Market. But walk East past the Market and enter through the doorway, and you’ll enter another world. This half of the building contains a huge collection of stalls, selling everything from Car Insurance to Carnitas. Among the many food stalls, on the far east side of the building among the crowds eating even at 2pm on a Sunday lies Taqueria El Guero. I decided to stop here, mainly because many of the other stalls were either packed or closing down. But “El Guero” was going strong, except for the empty Trompo(verticle spit, that holds and cooks Al Pastor). The trompo was enough to make us stop and grab some tacos.

All tacos here are $1.16 each, ad include items such as tripas(intestines), buche(stomach), and carne asada. The drill is, a Gal with a order pad meets you at the counter and you place your order; in our case Cabeza(cheek), Al Pastor(marinated and rubbed pork, grilled on a verticle spit), and Carne Asada. We had originally wanted lengua(tongue), but they were out. When your order is ready, you get just tortillas with the meat on it. You walk over to the “salsa” stand, and load up on what you want, from radishes to onions. (Sorry, no sour cream!!!!) Walk on over to a empty table and eat. Be careful, there are pigeons in the rafters, and they create the major pigeon by-product, you really don’t want that on you, or your taco!

We really don’t put much on our tacos, at least these type of tacos. The well marinated, or well stewed meat has alot of flavor. In this case the Asada was too mild, and the Cabeza was pretty good, but a bit too waxy, and not cooked to the moist tenderness that I enjoy. The Al Pastor, was excellent though, very moist, and slightly spicy. The Al Pastor needed no additional flavoring, though perhaps it could have been a bit more caramelized, but I think that’s the product of our late arrival.

3 Tacos and Horchata for 5 bucks ain’t bad. The Al Pastor makes this place worth another visit.

Over the next few weeks I’ll cover the other eating stalls within the Farmers Market, especially Carnitas Michoacan, which besides selling carnitas in tacos and tortas, sells carnitas by weight and “part”(i.e. leg, shoulder, skin). Today we arrived late and there was only leg and “skin” left. Though we were the only Non-Hispanic people I saw in the market, most people(except the tamale guy) speak English.

So if you have a chance, go ahead and enter another world at the San Diego Farmers Market.

Taqueria El Guero in the San Diego Farmers Market
2100 Imperial Ave.
San Diego, CA 92102

Jamillah Garden

January 2, 2006 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

*** Jamillah Garden in San Diego has closed. It is now CrawDaddy’s

When we lived in Los Angeles we enjoyed more then a few Islamic Chinese meals at either VIP Chinese Restaurant, which was located just two blocks from our apartment, or Tung Lai Shun in the humongous San Gabriel Square(Focus Shopping Center). In fact it was at VIP Restaurant where I started learning that there was much, much more to Chinese Cuisine then the usual Cantonese fare. I distinctly remember a Chicago pizza size Da-Bing(sesame bread with Green onion) being delivered to our table, as I stared at it in amazement.

So we were obviously thrilled when Jamillah Garden opened up.

Unfortunately, our experiences at Jamillah Garden has been quite a "roller-coaster" experience. The flavors of dishes have fluctuated wildly, and the same dish would vary wildly from day to day. We’ve already given up on the Dao Ko Chicken(Home style roast chicken), one of my favorite dishes. At Jamillah Garden it’s so mildly flavored, a mere shadow of what Dao Ko Shao Gi should be. We’ve pretty much settled on a few dishes that Jamillah Garden does well, and stick with those. So, on this rainy New Year, we decided to pay a visit to Jamillah Garden.

The interior of Jamillah Garden is clean and bright, and very "warming" on this cold rainy day.

And started with our "Green Onion Pies" (Scallion Pancake,$2.25), a very basic Northern Chinese "bread":

Today ,this was rolled very thin; almost like Naan, and in a large rectangular shape, not the pancake "oval" that we were used too. But it was fried to a perfect crisp. We tasted, but waited until this arrived; our Lamb Stew "Warm Pot"(Lamb Hot Pot, $15.95).

The Lamb Warm Pot is the dish we usually order at Jamillah Garden. Though we’ve had the quality vary, from very bland and watery, to superbly gamey and rich. Today, it was the latter, both with the earthy flavor of lamb, with a touch of anise flavor, cubes of tofu, thick sliced cellophane noodles, cilantro, nappa cabbage, and most of all, lot’s of lamb! The Missus and I both love the gamey and somewhat "wild" flavor of lamb, and today’s dish was no disappointment. If it’s lamb, it should taste like lamb, one of my pet peeves is lamb that "tastes like chicken".

Today, it’s rated as Delici-yoso!!! And oh, so comforting.

We also ordered the Homemade Noodles – Three Flavor Dough Slice Chow Mein(!!!) – $6.95. This is actually a classic Northern Chinese dish – Knife-Cut Noodles. In short, dough is prepared and rolled into a "ball", and the noodles are cut by hand right over a bowl of soup, or right before stir-frying.

Without sounding too strange, I’d just say, that this type of noodle has "body". The noodles are of varied width, and lengths; I’ve been told to represent the uneven, rough terrain and life in Northern China. The noodle is chewy and doughy, much different from the typical noodle. It can also be an acquired taste. Though the Missus grew up eating this type of noodle, I prefer it more then she. The dish itself is very simple, a stir fry with beef, eggs, shrimp, and green onions; with the flavor of sesame oil, soy sauce, and black pepper. The portion size was quite large, though those who are looking for alot of "meat" will be a bit unsatisfied with the dish; it’s mostly about the noodles. I’ll do the Niu Rou Mein from Jamillah in a future post!

To its’ credit; Jamillah Garden serves "Halal Meat", prepared in accordance with Islamic requirements that I’m not really sure of. And in keeping with that, Jamillah Garden aims to provide appropriate Chinese food for the Islamic Community. This means that Jamillah Garden tries to cook all types of Chinese, from Beef with Broccoli to Kung Pao Chicken. Many times with limited success. And even though the "classic" Islamic Chinese dishes have been inconsistent, today they were excellent; and worth a try. Just stay with Northern-Beijing Chinese, and you’ll do fine.

Jamillah Garden Chinese Islamic Restaurant
4681 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111