Closed – Page 104

EZ Take Out Burger – 99 cent burger night

August 10, 2005 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Burgers

*** EZ Take-Out Burger has closed

I was told a while back that this little burger stand on Genesee Avenue, had burgers "as good as In N Out". And even better, they had 99 cent burger nights on Wednesdays and Sundays from 4pm to closing. So hey, what day is it? It’s Wednesday, and any day is a good day for a burger (or two).

This little retro-looking burger stand features a little kitchen and 3-4 tables outside. There are actually people dodging each other in the kitchen area. I noticed alot of descriptions were very "In-N-Outish", like the "Double-Take" (see Double-Double).

I ordered 3 burgers, no spread (we like to actually taste the burger), with all the produce, and 2 orders of fries – it came out to $5.98! Bargain city! We had also wanted one of their Boysenberry Shakes($1.85), but the shake machine was out of order. Bummer. We sat outside and in a few minutes my number was called and our burgers were ready.

Looks pretty good, huh? Unfortunately looks are deceiving. The burger was pretty dry, even though it just came off the grill, and pretty tasteless. The best part of the whole sandwich were the onions and tomatoes. How does it measure up against In N Out? Not even close. The burger is better than one of those major chain fast food burgers, but not by much. Is it worth 99 cents? If you look at it that way, I’d say yes, but again, not by much. The fries look really good but were under cooked, and got soggy really quickly. It’s still better than In-N-Out’s, I really don’t care much for the fries there. I’d actually been here once and had the fries while I waited for Honey Baked Hams who share the same parking lot, to open and thought they were pretty good. The best fries I’ve ever had was at, of all places, a stand called Y-Not Burgers in Torrance. For some reason all the planets were aligned that day, and the fries were golden, perfectly crisp, soft inside, and with a nice potato taste. I remember standing, and holding the "holy fry" up to the light, and exclaiming, "this is amazing, this fry is perfect"…..and was immediately told to "sit down, you’re acting like a fool, people are looking at you". I guess this galvanizing moment was not appreciated by all.

EZ Take Out Burger, 99 cent burgers (cheese extra) on Wednesdays and Sundays. There is usually a long wait in the drive thru, I’d rather take my chances by parking and going inside. Real ice cream shakes, boysenberry is a favorite.

EZ Take Out Burger
4277 Genesee Avenue
San Diego, CA 92117

Hey, where’s our shake!!!

Ichiro’s Japanese Restaurant – How can you not love a “Happy Restaurant”

August 9, 2005 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants

**** After 36 Years Ichiro Closed in 2021

I'd not been to Ichiro's in a while. That's the one thing that Food Blogging does, it really makes you think about where you've been, what you enjoy, and what you're "sticking in your mouth". I've always gotten a kick over the sign, after all, how can you not like a "Happy Restaurant"!

There had been many changes to "Ichiro" since my last visit. There's a sushi bar, and the seating had been changed, and the menu revised. But my old "friends" and former Katzra employees Masa and Tenryu still worked here. It's still a really nice neighborhood Japanese Restaurant, but like many businesses, Ichiro had evolved. There is now a quite extensive "Izakaya" menu of goodies ranging from Tsukemono to Tamagoyaki:

The hours have also changed; Ichiro is now open until 1am, Mondays thru Saturdays, making it one of the few eating places in San Diego that will not "roll up it's sidewalks" at 9pm. My main reason for coming here are the lunch "specials", they range from $5.25 – $6.95, and you get your money's worth. For example, on my first visit, I got the "special" Menchi-Katsu and Tempura ($5.95):

The mechi-katsu was very good, lot's of filler; that's how I enjoy it, nicely battered, and status quo tempura; which is the shrimp tempura, tasted like the expected shrimp tempura, also a slice of kabocha tempura (very good!), and a slice of zucchini tempura, the green mostly iceberg lettuce salad is dressed with a watered down sesame dressing. You also get a pseudo-kimchee tsukemono, that's really not worth mentioning, and a decent bowl of miso soup, with shred of green onions and onions. Not bad for under 6 bucks.

On my next visit I had the Sesame Chicken combination ($5.50):

I had always wondered about this "Sesame Chicken". In a nutshell, the chicken is battered with tempura batter, fried, and covered with teriyaki sauce and sesame seeds. There's a nice crunchy texture, and the teriyaki sauce adds the sweetness to the dish. Again the tempura is purely routine. 1 piece shrimp (nice "shrimpy" taste this time), 1 piece zucchini, and 1 piece kabocha. I actually enjoyed this, and loved the price to boot! Actually, I could've gotten just the Sesame Chicken lunch for $5.25.

I had forgotten all about Ichiro; but now it's back in my sights. Ichiro also has pretty good Chicken Katsu, the sushi is +/-, purely neighborhood standards, the Kaki Fu-rai (fried oysters) were really good. The service is very friendly (what do you expect from a "Happy Restaurant"), and open pretty late.

Ichiro's Sushi Restaurant and Bar

4344 Convoy Street
San Diego, California 92111
HOURS OF OPERATION
LUNCH
Mon – Fri 11:00 – 2:30
Sat 11:30 – 3:00
DINNER
Mon – Sat 5:00 – 1:00am
Sun 5:00 – 10:00

El Cuervo – Where Half of Hillcrest Eats.

August 4, 2005 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

**** After several decades, El Cuervo has become a location of Palomino’s

On any given weekday it seems that half of Hillcrest has lunch at El Cuervo, the other half at Bronx Pizza. People from various professions, laborers, “suits”, and “scrubs” from the nearby Hospitals, are all holding a spot in line.

After comments from both Jack (whom I’m sure I must’ve been standing next to in line several times) and Annie of Green Beans in San Diego mentioning El Cuervo were made, I finally decided to get down to business and actually do a post. I guess because of the close proximity to our offices, it’s relatively easy to take El Cuervo for granted. I mean, I could literally just up and walk the few blocks over (over people sometimes sleeping in the alleyway) and grab a quick order of Five Rolled Tacos ($3.20), a favorite of mine. These rolled tacos, or taquitos are smothered in guac and covered with lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, and cheese, and somehow find a way to stay nice and crunchy when I eat them back at the office. And I can justify it as a pseudo-salad if I need to, after all there is lettuce and tomato on it, right? You can also just get 3 rolled tacos for $1.90.

I prefer the guacamole at “Cuervo’s” to those of most taco shops, the guac here is more on the chunky side, rather than the usual runny, snotty mess that I get. Green is a really bad color for runny food! I think I’ve ordered many of the items on the menu, and today I had a Carne Asada Torta ($3.80). As you can see the veggie’s in the sandwich are really mostly symbolic, sort of to make you better about eating this slipper-sized torta. The one thing I could do without on this torta are the refried beans, they end up making the bottom bun soggy to the point of disintegration, and I have to end up eating this with a fork and knife. I’m at work after all, I wouldn’t want to walk into a meeting with refried bean smears looking like god knows what (I’ll let you decide on your own visuals here) on my shirt. On second thought this sandwich could’ve used a bit more carne asada.

The burritos at El Cuervo are pretty sizable ranging in price from $2.40 (Ground Beef) to $3.30 (Machaca), and for 90 cents more you can get it “wet”, that is with cheese and enchilada sauce on them. The item below is the Pollo Asado (grilled chicken) burrito, “wet”. Grilled chicken, salsa, guac, and cheese, wrapped in a tortilla the size of a hubcap. If there’s one complaint I would have, it’s that there’s too much tortilla, and when wrapped around itself, it can be pretty “tough”, but in this case the enchilada sauce cures that ill. The chicken in the burrito was moist and all the flavors blend well, until you get to the end and it’s only tortilla.

What does El Cuervo got going for it? The fare is not as greasy as other taco shops, good prices, fast service, good sized portions, good guacamole, and good hot sauce. A pretty good list by any standard. Some of the favorites Chicken Tostada ($2.40), Carne Asada Quesadilla ($4.25), Chimichanga ($4.20), and Machaca Burrito ($3.30). I would stay away from the “seafood” here, I’ve found it to be “grease city”. All in all, a good neighborhood taco shop!

El Cuervo Mexican Restaurant
110 West Washington St
San Diego, CA 92103

Plaza Sorrento Food Court – Greek Bites and Amarin Thai

August 3, 2005 mmm-yoso Greek Food, Thai Restaurants

***** Both of these places have closed

I'm a true believer in Food Courts; not the cookie-cutter shopping mall type, mind you. But those found in areas of the San Gabriel Valley, with interesting variety and decent quality. You'll hardly ever find "great" food in a Food Court, but it's the "hunt" that counts. Two of my favorites are The Quincy Market in Boston and Union Station in Washington DC. The usual program would go like this; we'd each take $20, head off in opposite directions, with instructions to meet at a central location in 15 minutes to share our bounty. Honestly, there are more "clunkers" than winners, but it can be fun. So when we came across the Food Court in the Plaza Sorrento during our visit to the Sorrento European Bakery, we became very interested. And since we were starving, and one Banh Mi would not quench our hunger, the hunt was on.

In this food court is a Indian Tandoori place, a Vietnamese restaurant, and Japanese restaurant. I started noticing that many of the places in this "food court" had it's own dining area, making the description of food court into a misnomer, this collection of eating establishments was more of a "restaurant row". On this trip we decided on Greek and Thai.

From Greek Bites we got a combination platter ($8.65).

This pretty sizable platter was a big dissapointment, even at food court standards. The gyros meat was very dry, the chicken kabobs were dry and tasteless, and the chicken wings were – eh, ok. The salad was short on feta and the dressing tasted bottled. The rice pilaf was over-cooked. The tzatziki was good though, and we ended up slathering it over everything, and even bought another one ($.40). Seems like the name Greek "Bites" was somehow appropriate. At least we had leftovers for Sammy and Frankie.

Our other choice was Thai from Amarin Thai Restaurant.

I asked if this place was under the same ownership as Amarin Thai in Hillcrest and was given a positive nod. I ordered the Thai Sausage ($5.95) and Grilled Beef Salad ($7.25). One quick thing, unlike the speed of most food court type places, there was quite a wait here – even though it was sausage and a salad I ordered.

The Thai Sausage was nicely portioned with all the usual condiments, the sausage was alot milder than I'm used to (i.e. LOS in Vegas), not as salty, a bit more herbacious, and softer in texture. The sausage tasted fine with a squeeze of lime and wrapped in a cabbage leaf, but I could've used a bit more peanuts.

Yum Nuah (grilled beef salad), is one of my favorite dishes, especially on a hot summer day. This version had a generous amount of beef, lots of cilantro, cucumbers, lettuce, and tasty ripe tomatoes. The dressing was a bit one dimensional, I know that sounds strange, but it had too much fish sauce and not enough lime. I ended up squeezing the lime from sausage dish to balance the flavor out. We ordered this dish hot and the heat was excellent, though in spite of the amount of beef, the overall portion size was on the small side.

Best dish of the day – the Thai Sausage. We finished almost everything (Greek stuff leftover), and could have gone for more, but it was getting a little late, so we headed home.

So not quite a food court, The Plaza Sorrento " International Food Court" features a great variety of restaurants, putting everything from Boba and Pho' to Tandoori Chicken within reach. Obviously your mileage may vary in these type of places, but it's fun to be able to grab a good variety of dishes. And besides, there's great sport in the hunt! Do you think there's a future for an organized food court eaters league?

6755 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92121

Hawaiian Island Barbecue

July 27, 2005 mmm-yoso Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego, Loco Mocos, Plate Lunch

*** Hawaiian Island BBQ has closed

This clone of L&L is located pretty close to where we live and is the most accessible "plate lunch" place for us. So I usually head on down to Pacific Beach now and then for a plate lunch.

Hawaiian Island Barbecue is located in Pacific Plaza next to a Von’s Supermarket, the local "foodies" will know the mall as the location of the Great News cooking store. I’ve never really ever seen this place full, but there seems to be a steady trickle of customers flowing in and out. The restaurant interior goes for a Hawaiian Hut/surfer kitschy type feel.

The menu features all the usual suspects; Chicken Katsu ($6.29), Loco Moco ($6.39), BBQ Beef ($6.39), BBQ Mix ($6.99), you get the picture. You can also get some items not usually served in many of these places like Lau Lau ($6.99 – previously frozen kine), Limu Poke ($7.99), and Manapua ($1.79 – also previously frozen kine). Mini plates are available from $4.29 – $4.99 featuring 1 scoop rice, 1 scoop Mac, and your chosen protein.

I placed my order, waited a few minutes, and went home, ready to grind!

The first thing I ordered was the BBQ Chicken ($6.29), all rice, which they got right. The thing I forgot to do was to tell them to "86" the pineapple ring. For some reason this pineapple ring sends me into a bout of terrible flashbacks….of when Hawaiian Food was thought to be a Ham steak with a pineapple ring on it! Ugh, just the sight of a little ol’ pineapple ring on top of certain foods send these waves of nausea associated with all those negative connotations! So I removed the pineapple ring and all traces of it’s existence. Oh yeah, the chicken, back to the chicken. In this case it was under marinated, but still ok. I’ve had the same dish here when it’s been perfectly marinated, and I’ve had them almost "white". It’s sort of a crap-shoot, when it’s good, it’s pretty good, when it’s not, well…….it deserves the pineapple ring!

I opened the next dish and it was a beautiful little Mini-Chicken Katsu Plate ($4.29). Only problem was, I ORDERED a CHICKEN CUTLET! Where’s the gravy? The gal as she handed me my package even said "chicken cutlet", I guess she didn’t pass her plate lunch identification test yet? Well back to the problem at hand – the chicken katsu was cooked to a perfect golden brown, crisp state, and had a nice crunch to it. The problem was what to do with the icky, terrible, sweet, mistake of katsu sauce this place and all the L&L’s serve for that matter. That’s the reason that I order chicken cutlet instead of chicken katsu. If I wanted sweet sour I’d pour some La Choy on it, gimme some "katsu sauce" fer chrissake! Katsu sauce into square receptacle, ketchup, Worcestershire, shoyu, and horseradish, here I come. Whoever made the macaroni salad on this day forgot the salt and put in a little too much mayo, but it was edible.

So why did I come here? Usually the foods ok, I usually like the Chicken Cutlet, when they remember to make it right, and the gravy fries ($1.99) and Loco Moco are usually pretty good. Looks like today wasn’t my day……

Hawaiian Island Barbecue
1768 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109
858-483-9830

Located in the Pacific Plaza Mall – Pacific Beach

Boo Cho – Say it isn’t so

July 25, 2005 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants

*** Updated posts on Boo Cho can be found here and here. Another update, Boo Cho’s new owners have decided to change the name of the restaurant. So Boo Cho is no more. An updated post on Dae Jang Keum, which replaced Boo Cho can be found here.

We have been touting Boo Cho on Chowhound since 2003. Probably the only charcoal Korean barbeque in San Diego, and with a very tasty Kalbi and Bulgogi marinade, Boo Cho was a personal recommendation for anyone who desired Kalbi in San Diego. We have not made this a regular stop on our rotation, due to the prices – $20 for Kalbi, $16 for Bulgogi, not something you can have every night. Coming from Hawaii where you can get a decent amount of Korean food for under $12, it was quite a shock when I moved to LA and saw some of the prices.

I had heard that Boo Cho went under a ownership change recently, and I was curious to see if there had been any changes in quality or prices since our last visit. So 2 friends and I decided to give Boo Cho a shot for dinner.

Everything looked the same as we entered other than the usual congratulatory plant arrangements at the front door. One thing I did notice was that it was really empty, but that could have been the recent heatwave or the long daylight hours we’re experiencing. We were seated and our order placed. Like I said, this place in my opinion is for Korean Barbeque, so I ordered Galbi – unmarinated ($20.99), Galbi ($19.99), and Bulgogi ($15.99). Soon our panchan arrived, and I could tell a "difference" immediately. Along with the usual panchan, rice paper wrappers and the "mesclun" salad, garlic paste, and other condiments were delivered as well. A sure sign that this place was changing to a "duk bossam" style restaurant. That is you place the mesclun, daikon slice, barbeque, etc… in a little pile, place a wrapper on the top, grab it with your chopsticks forming a little dumpling and eating it. The panchan at Boo Cho has always been unspectacular, and it was no different on this visit, though the Baechu Kimchee (Napa Cabbage) was fairly tasty.

All faded into the back ground as the charcoal and brazier was delivered, and we were readied for the meat.

The first item to reach the table was the unmarinated Kalbi. I had always enjoyed this for the tenderness, and thought that maybe with a garlic slice and salad, that this would be the perfect dish for this style of eating, but today the meat was rather tough, and not as tender as I remember it being. Also, much of the usual nice meaty flavor was missing – not a good start. Next up was the regular Kalbi, mysteriously under marinated as you can tell by the photo, this made the dish somewhat uneven, as the well marinated portions tasted good, but the unmarinated portions had no flavor. The last dish was the Bulgogi. This dish was very good, just as flavorful and as soft and tender as I remembered, falling apart and cooked to a delicious slight char in a second. It’s quite ironic that the least expensive of the dishes was prepared the best!

I felt quite embarrassed at the uneven preparation and taste of the food, but my companions, not being regular Korean Barbeque eaters, thought all was fine, especially the bulgogi.

As we left, only 3 tables were filled, on a Saturday evening, this doesn’t bode well. I also noticed that the dishes seemed a bit smaller than I remembered. I think that changing to the duk bossam style was possibly a strategic business decision to allow for smaller portions, I hope that I’m wrong. Boo Cho has long been one of our favorite restaurants, I’m hoping that this is just a "little bump", and that when (if) I return everything will be as it was in the past.

Some notes: Don’t wear any clothes that you don’t want smelling of charcoal, when the restaurant starts filling up, smoke will fill the restaurant, no matter how good the ventilation is. Service here has always been very friendly, accommodating, and helpful. For parties of 5 or larger, reservations are requested.

Boo Cho Restaurant
7905 Engineer Rd
San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 573-2585

Spice House Cafe – Portuguese Sausage, well sort of….

July 24, 2005 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Diner, Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego

****** Sadly Spice House Cafe has closed

This is another one of those places that I drive by constantly, but never really had an opportunity to try. Until someone mentioned to me that they served Portuguese Sausage for breakfast! I immediately added The Spice House Cafe to my list. I went in with no real expectations since it was a Non-Kama'aina who gave me this recommendation, in the "hey, you're from Hawaii, do you know this place serves Hawaiian Sausage for breakfast" kind of way. So having woken up pretty early on a Saturday morning a few weeks ago, I decided to drive on over.

The restaurant is located in a structure that had to have been "something" else in a previous life, though it was hard to figure out; maybe a Carrow's, maybe an Denny's, I'm not quite sure. The restaurant was pretty busy(7 am on Saturday!!!) when I arrived, it seemed that many of the customers were "regulars" and knew each other and the staff. I was seated in a quiet alcove to the left of the main dining room, so I never really got a look at the main dining area. The waitress was at my table and instantly took my coffee order, while I read the menu. There it was; Portuguese Sausage a Hawaiian Specialty – $9.25, yikes! Nine bucks for Portuguese Sausage and Eggs……and no rice!!!! It was too late for me to run out though, so I placed my order, Portuguese Sausage, Eggs scrambled, and the waitress recommended the Hash Browns over the Breakfast potatoes. So with a refill on my coffee (decent) and a delivery of ketchup and Tabasco Sauce to the table, I waited…..

And in no time my breakfast was delivered. It was pretty huge, that's 3 eggs scrambled there, and an entire sausage link! First thing I did was cut into the Portuguese Sausage; it was pretty dense, and alot leaner than what I was used to. The color was a much deeper red than the norm. So eagerly took a bite…..and it was "not" really the Portuguese Sausage that I'm used to (either Purity or Redondo, or a similar brand), there where some different herbs, I distinctly tasted oregano and cumin. It wasn't bad, but not what I would've wanted. I know why the ketchup and Tabasco was delivered, the eggs were the "season your own" type, not even salt on them and not very "fluffy". The crust on the Hash Browns were good, and though the insides were a bit mushy, they had a nice buttery taste.

Notes: The service is very efficient and friendly. Most breakfast dishes are between $8-$10, a bit on the expensive side, but the portions looked pretty huge. Breakfast from 6am Monday – Friday, and 7am on weekends.

The place was totally packed when I left. I don't know if I would return, but the portions are large and the service good. Oh, and this is the type of Portuguese sausage I expected:

Spice House Cafe
9035 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92123
(858) 565-1028

Linda Vista Food to Go:Crouching Restaurant, Hidden Banh Mi

July 19, 2005 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

*** Update Linda Vista Food to Go has been replaced by Mi Ngoc So 1, you can read a post here.

02/13/2008 – Mi Ngoc So 1 is now gone as well….this location is now home to Thai by Tara.

Do you have a restaurant that you pass on a regular basis, that you know is there, that you glance at, but have never had any reason or desire to patronize? I’ve been glancing at this little hole in the wall for almost five years. It’s readily visible from the intersection of Linda Vista and Ulric St. For some strange reason I’d always thought that this was a Mexican restaurant, and had developed no real desire to check this place out.

But now, under the guise of Food Blogger, I actually have a (flimsy) reason to enter through those doors. And to my surprise, it’s a little Vietnamese take-out restaurant! Even better, there’s Banh Mi on the menu, though it seems that it’s not the main product that this little place is trying to sell. At 7 am on a Sunday morning there are 2 Vietnamese Women rolling spring rolls and loading them into trays, seems like there’s a major catering operation going on. So I step up and order the "Dac Biet" Banh Mi and a tray of spring rolls. The Banh Mi cost me $2.50, even though the sign said $2.25, I figure that the extra quarter was probably a penalty for my lack of patronage over the last 5 years, or more realistically, they probably had raised prices and not changed the signage. The spring rolls set me back 3 bucks.

This sandwich was on the smallish size, and had cross sliced cucumber and a green chili, the usual pickled carrot and daikon, and two sprigs of cilantro. The meat filling was ham, pate’, and sausage. The bread had a good crust and minimal bread filling, the pickled veggies were under marinated and quite tasteless, the cucumber was fine, but the green chili was not hot at all and had that "green" taste that under-ripe peppers have. The meat was sorely lacking and the sausage really brought nothing to this sandwich. And one of my pet peeves are the long "branches" of cilantro. All in all, the poorest Banh Mi I’ve had so far.

The spring rolls were pretty good – lot’s of "Bun", and the lettuce was folded around pork in the bottom of the roll. I thought these were pretty decent.

The verdict? I really didn’t miss anything by passing by this place for last few years, though I liked the spring rolls. Who know maybe the other dishes are pretty good, and I may try them in the future, but not the near future. Another funny thing, the hours listed on the business card are Mon-Sat 6am-5pm, closed on Sunday; but the day I visited was Sunday. Maybe that’s what the extra quarter was for….a convenience charge!

Linda Vista Food to Go
2405 Ulric Street
San Diego, CA 92111
858-279-1491

LA Road Trip Part 2 – Rutt’s Cafe

July 18, 2005 mmm-yoso Diner, Loco Mocos, Los Angeles County, Plate Lunch, Road Trip

*** Update – On a recent trip to the area, I noticed that Rutt’s Cafe has been replaced with another restaurant. Something along the lines of Don Carlos……

In the first part of the road trip I picked up some ogo from Marukai in West Covina, and went over the purchase of "stinky tofu" from Shau Mei Deli. I had initially, planned on picking up some "local kine grinds" from either Harry’s Aloha Chop Suey or Bruddah’s Hawaiian Food in Gardena. But since I ended up in West Covina, that was pretty much out of the question. While driving up Azusa I saw this sign:

So I drove up and did a u-turn on Azusa, and then did a right turn and went around onto Valley Blvd, under the Azusa overpass. In this no man’s land strip mall, with a Carniceria, 99 cent Chinese Food, and other businesses, stood Rutt’s Hawaiian Cafe on the corner. Now having lived a few miles from here for 4 years, I knew that this couldn’t be an optimal location – Valley Blvd, on the border of City of Industry and La Puente. This mall can be more than a little scary, especially at night.

So I went in and there were no "Hawaii kine" people to be found, but I had a seat at the counter, had a menu handed to me, and looked it over. There were a ton of "royales", that is, an omelet over rice, or over fried rice. This was definitely a "breakfast" kind of place. Many dishes came in Junior, Regular, and King sizes and ranged from$4.25 to $8.45. There was Portuguese Sausage and Kalua Pork on the menu. I went ahead and ordered a regular size Loco Moco $6.35. The waitress was apparently a bit new and had to check the menu herself to see what options there were – I chose the macaroni salad, and eggs over easy (is there any other way to serve eggs for a loco moco?). I also ordered an iced tea, which came in a very large cup. After about 10 minutes my "loco" was served:

The plate a had 2 easy over eggs over a large hamburger patty on gravy over rice, macaroni salad, and a roll (?). The gravy was country style, not what’s usually served with a loco – it’s usually a brown gravy. The gravy was lumpy and had ok flavor, though I’m used a more beefy brown gravy. The hamburger patty was tasty, with a hint of sweetness, and lots of onions and green onions – a plus in my book. The macaroni salad had a good amount of mayonnaise, but was also flavored with relish, yuck, one of my pet peeves, couldn’t finish the salad. And the roll, I really didn’t know what to do with the roll…. The eggs, well let me say this. If there was a College degree for Short Order Cooks, whomever cooked the eggs and the burger would have a Masters Degree, they were cooked to perfection. Nice and runny yolk, the whites crisp around the edges and yet soft, excellent!

The service was friendly and attentive, and a person who I think is the owner was helping to wait tables, and it seemed like it was his Daughters that were helping him out. I found out later that the owner of the original Rutt’s had sold the name and restaurant, and this location had been open for about a year, but it looks like they’re really trying hard here. Before leaving I saw a huge platter of fried rice with char siu in it, and was told it was the King Sized "Hawaiian" Royale with Portuguese Sausage and Char Siu, looked big enough to feed a family of four. So would I return? Sure, I consider this a pretty good diner, with excellent portions. The location is kind of strange, I really wouldn’t want to be around here at night, but I’d definitely return.

Rutt’s Cafe
17371 East Valley Blvd.
La Puente, CA 91714
(626) 839-6312

Sorrento European Bakery – Some Banh Mi with your Chocolate Mousse?

July 15, 2005 mmm-yoso Bakery, Banh Mi, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

*** Sorrento European Bakery has closed

I had heard about a “Vietnamese Bakery” in Mira Mesa that made good Banh Mi. So with some rudimentary instructions we headed off. We came across a mall on Mira Mesa Blvd, that had an interesting Food Court and right next to the Food Court was Sorrento European Bakery. The little sign outside said Vietnamese Sandwiches.

We walked in and were met with a case of wonderful looking cakes and pastries like the mango mousse pictured on the right. I thought “no way can this be the place”. But the owners looked to be Vietnamese (and spoke some pretty good Mandarin too).

And there was a grease board with 10 sandwiches listed; the five on the left were stuff like roast beef and turkey. On the right it said “VN Sandwiches”, bingo! There were 5 sandwiches listed, all priced at $2.50, so I chose the #1 – Dac Biet. And while the poor Missus waited to pay and ogled the pastries and cakes, I wandered around the Food Court. We ended up doing a “Mini – Food Court Crawl”, which I’ll post later. The owner told my Wife that they bake their own bread for the sandwiches daily – so the bread is always fresh!

So how was the Banh Mi (please excuse the bad picture – I was over come by hunger) ? This was the “lightest” Banh Mi I’ve had by far. The bread was light and crusty, and a bit yeasty, with a really nice texture. The “ham” was very tasty, as were the veggies, but there was a spread (mayo??) that detracted from the taste a bit. The rest of the meat was good as well – no roasted pork this time, but the pork in the roll was good – I tasted all the meat separately. Not enough cilantro and the green chili’s on the sandwich were really mild. Rich, but light, good enough for a return visit. I’d order at least 2 sandwiches for me the next time though. The sandwich was good but there is something missing, I need to re-evaluate (poor me…) whether it’s a lack of filling, or a taste component was missing, I just can’t put my finger on it, so I’ll try again. Maybe someone else should try and let me know if I’m missing something?

Very nice and friendly service – the pastries looked very tempting, but I was focused on the Banh Mi. I think another visit is in order, the jury’s out!

Sorrento European Bakery
6755 Mira Mesa Blvd #117 – in the Sorrento Plaza Shopping Center
San Diego, CA 92121
858-909-0599