Closed – Page 16

Brick Bowl-Sourdough, Vinegar, Korean-Kearny Mesa

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

City Bistro (American and Mediterranean) (El Cajon)

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

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

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

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

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

The Fancy Fish (Mira Mesa)(again)

May 18, 2019 Cathy Salads, Seafood, What Cathy Eats!

Sadly, The fancy Fish has closed. It will truly be missed, as it was a regular stop during the pandemic.

Thanks for stopping by to read mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog. Kirk is taking some time off and Cathy is filling in with posts about meals she has enjoyed.

First things first. I wrote a post about The Fancy Fish in July, 2017. The menu prices are the same. The only difference noted is there is an $8 Fish and Chips special (along with a few other items) now offered daily, instead of only on Friday (and on Friday, the Fish and Chips is $7.50).The (currently only, but soon to be referred to as 'the first' San Diego HMart is just to the right in the above photo).

Walk in, order, pay and your food is brought to your table. You'll be checked on by one of the owners during your meal.
The glassed in open kitchen can be fun to watch. In front of it, you can get your own beverage (from a Stubborn Soda machine), utensils, condiments and, if needed, to-go boxes.
We decided to try the daily $8 Fish and Chip special (there are other specials, too).
Two large pieces of white fish, lightly breaded and perfectly fried, served with a good portion of thin cut (also perfectly fried; non-greasy) potatoes and an excellent slaw. This by itself could be a light meal for two. But, we were hungry.
Seared albacore tuna salad ($12.50) was the order.
The salad is served in a very large bowl (almost three inches tall) with a choice of house made dressings (Ranch, Thousand Island, Cilantro Lime, Toasted Sesame, Honey Dijon, Berry Vinaigrette and Cusabi (cucumber wasabi; a pleasant, lighter version of straight wasabi).

Fancy Fish is an underrated, gem of a restaurant.

The Fancy Fish 9430 Mira Mesa Blvd (at Westview Parkway) San Diego 92126 (858)586-6228 Website Open Sun-Thurs 11a.m.-9 p.m. Fri-Sat 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

Gaya Gaya – A First Look(s)

May 15, 2019 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Filipino Restaurants, Poke

***** Gaya Gaya has closed

About a week-and-a-half ago, one of the folks in the office told me that Sarap had changed owners.

A day later, I read in the Eater that DJ Tangalin had taken over the spot and renamed it Gaya Gaya.

While I thought my meals at Bivouc Ciderworks were a bit of a mixed bag, I was interested in checking the place out. As were a couple of other folks so we headed on over.

The interior looks a bit more spacious; the rather huge benches and tables had been removed and things spaced out a bit better. Other than that things looked pretty much the same. The "Sarap" signage is still up, but one look at the menu and you know it ain't the same place. The names of the dishes are familiar, but reading the descriptions, well, it was now a different world. There seemed to be fusion touches to many of the dishes.

Of course; there were those that were excepted.

It had been ages since I've had decent Balut….but man five bucks! Whatever, I decided to try it. No one else around the table wanted to join me though.

In most cases; I've had it overcooked, which really didn't help texturally. Also, the nice "fowl-ly" flavors are lost. This was nice, soft, juicy, savory, with a light mustiness. I have a couple of stories about the first couple of times I had balut back home in Hawaii; but I'll save that for another day. I really enjoyed this version as it wasn't over-cooked.

The Bicol Express ($15) here is served with mussels.

While I missed the spice (thus not really Bicolano in my mind) and the usual good dose of bagoong; the mussels were tender and those twice cooked potatoes did well in the dish. This dish seemed more Thai than Filipino to me. Still, not bad.

The Bagoong Fried Rice ($6) on the other hand was terrible.

The rice wasn't coated well; there were many clumps and some really hard pieces of rice. Not enough bagoong for our tastes. All of us had eaten the bagoong fried rice at Sarap, which was much better than this.

Calvin just had to order the "Award Winning" Tuna Poke ($13).

Maybe it's because I just got back from visiting "home"; but man, this was bland. It seemed so good while reading it through on the menu; but the fish wasn't coated well enough, not enough white shoyu. The fish itself was fine, moist, tender, but was just so bland.

Next up; the Crispy Pata ($19).

This was interesting; the pata seemed brushed with a slightly sweet glaze. It was served with a pseudo atsara which had masago in it. The soy concoction was interesting as it had a good balance of salty and sour. Sadly, the skin of the pata was really hard….not crunchy or crisp, hard. The flesh was also quite dry…not sure why the mint-dill garnish was necessary. It was disappointing.

So, a bit disappointing, but I wanted to do a revisit a few days later….sadly, I had no takers so I headed over by myself.

I decided to go with the Adobo Rice Bowl ($12). This was quite good.

The pork belly was cooked just the way I like; not falling to pieces, but super tender and moist. The sauce was a perfect balance of salty to mildly sour, with just a hint of sweet. The porkiness of the pork belly came through nicely as well. The rice was decently cooked, perhaps a bit on the dry side. The pickled cucumbers helped to cut the richness of the dish. No, it's not your typical "gut-busting" portion; but more quality than quantity.

I also decided to the order the Pinakbet ($9).

This was decent; the eggplant soft and buttery; the pumpkin was slightly firm and not mushy, with a touch of sweetness. Loved the bagoong in this….it added a wonderfully pleasing savoriness and saltiness to the dish. I did sorely miss ampalaya (bittermelon); which I think adds tannic-bitterness to pinakbet.

Overall, a decent visit. Which had me wondering; was the first visit just a fluke? So, I decided to drop by one more time. Not being particularly hungry; I just went with the Chicken Tocino Rice Bowl ($11).

Not quite sure about this….the chicken thighs didn't seem to have been marinated enough. It had a decent amount of saltiness; but really needed that fruity sweetness (usually from pineapple if I recall), and some tanginess. The color was really light and the chicken was on the dry side. The egg was overcooked for my taste; I'd have preferred easy over. The rice was moist and fragrant.

Well, not sure what to make of my visits. The Servers working, a different one on each of my visits are very friendly; but man, the space is so large, so I'm hoping they'll staff a bit better. I feel the prices would be fine for elevated Filipino food; but I'm not sure if that's what is happening here. Still, things are still on soft-opening mode. The chef was either meeting with folks or doing paperwork in the dining area on each of my visits.

I'm going to revisit in a couple of months; hopefully things will just keep on improving.

Gaya Gaya
7580 Miramar Rd
San Diego, CA 92126
Hours:
Daily 11am – 3pm, 5pm – 9pm

Song Huong Mira Mesa Revisited

May 8, 2019 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** This location of Song Huong has been replaced by Saigon Corner

A few weeks back; Calvin asked if I'd join him at Song Huong; he wanted to have some Banh Cuon for lunch. I told him I wasn't the biggest fan of the Banh Cuon at Song Huong; nor much of anything else I've tried during several visits. Still, it had been over three years since I'd last visited, so why not. Unfortunately; or perhaps fortunately, Song Huong was undergoing some renovation work at that time….so we got Menya Ultra instead.

Fast forward a month and Calvin asks if we could go and check the place out. So, why not?

There're now a couple of groups of older Vietnamese guys hanging out on the tables outside the place. Guess they've found their coffee hangout.

Other than the fresh coat of paint and some wooden tables and benches, the place looks pretty much the same. Though I heard someone saying something about ceiling damage and repairs.

Calvin had one thing on his mind; the banh cuon. I on the other hand, really wanted nothing to do with any of the noodle soups here and was kinda fascinated by the new fried food menu.

Anyway, the Banh Cuon and Banh Uot was mediocre.

The banh cuon was especially bad; the rolls too thick and chewy, the filling bland, the nuoc mam cham watery….'nuff said.

Meanwhile, after a short wait all the fried food started arriving. First the chicken gizzards ($5.99). Holy smokes, the portion size was more than I bargained for.

These were crunchy, nicely seasoned, and in my opinion the best item of the meal. A good dose of Louisiana Hot Sauce added a nice kick and acidity to cut all that fry-o-lated goodness.

The fried okra ($2.49) was again a good portion size.

While it could have been more crunchy; it was still decently crisp, with a nice, gooey interior. Not bad; though this could have used more seasoning.

And last; the Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings (6 pieces – $6.99).

Unevenly battered, bitter garlic, too salty, and rather dry flesh…..this wasn't too good. a lot of the batter just flaked off as well. This one needs some work.

There was a ton of leftovers. We took it back to the office and gave it to Big Daniel from Georgia and he whacked those gizzards in minutes. Then looked sleepy for the rest of the afternoon.

As for the Banh Cuon; Phuong Nha definitely does it better. The woman working was much more friendly than I recalled. But am not sure I'll return.

Song Huong
10550 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126

Seaside Pho & Grill

May 5, 2019 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Seaside Pho & Grill has closed

A few weeks back, I recently had to run down to Point Loma to pick a package up at the Post Office for the Missus. I thought it a bit strange that the info given on the slip in our mailbox was for the Point Loma location, not the usual Midway Station. And to make things worse, that Post Office is only open from 10 to 1230 on Saturdays! So, I headed down at 1030, found some parking and headed into the Post Office and stood in line. Only to find out that I was given the wrong location….it should have been the usual Midway Post Office! Sigh…..

Well, I decided to grab some lunch in the area before heading back up Rosecrans to the correct Post Office. I decided to check out a place that had been on my "list" for a while.

An acquaintance recommended Seaside Pho & Grill to me for a specific dish. More on this shortly.

I walked on over and easily found a table as the place was totally empty on a Saturday at 11am. The Server was a bit disorganized and kept calling me "honey"…..ok. The vibe is definitely fusion, gastro-pub/bar, very modern. Looking over the menu; well, there's all types of Asian noodles; everything from Pad Thai, Drunken Noodles, Ramen, to Pho.

My source had recommended that I try the "Garlic Noodles" with Shrimp, not cheap at $16.75. I had pictured something like Crustacean's Garlic Noodles or Momofuku's Scallion Noodles. This tended more toward Crustacean's….though more like a version you'd make when you had midnight munchies and robbed the fridge.

The typical noodles were mushy; the sauce was gloppy-gooey with hardly any flavor and definite greasiness to them. The shrimp were nicely cooked but really bland and lacking in "shrimpiness". I added all the parmesan cheese and was definitely tempted to dump Hoisin and Sriracha on this….but I held back.

For some reason; I decided to head back and try the pho. So I returned a few weeks later. In contrast to typical pho shops there are limited options. So, I got the "Beef Combo" ($10.75 – small bowl). But first, some Garlic – Butter Wings (6 pieces – $9.95).

The wings had a nice crunch and were moist and very hot. Not a fan of all the broken bones and discolored flesh. Also, the garlic was too raw and was on the bitter side; the "sauce" was bottled lemon juice with black pepper.

This could have been a winner…..but no cigar.

I got the "Beef Combo" (small – $10.75); rare steak, brisket, flank, and tendon.

As I had anticipated, not much in terms of basil and sprouts; but at least it was fresh. That lime was much needed since the broth was super salty and like most "San Diego style" pho, on the sweet side. It lacked beefy-anise tones that I usually appreciate in a good bowl. The noodles; while in the typical clump were prepped nicely. The rare beef wasn't too rare by the time it hit the table; but it was more tender than the usual lousy top round I get at most pho shops; the flank and brisket were fine, both were fairly tender. The two pieces of tendon were slightly chewy, but passable as well.

In the end; another newish, modern "pho to not offend" shop. Fairly pricey with small bowls of pho near, or over ten bucks and limited options. And no; I'm not going to get the ramen here. The service was kind of; well, distracted, even though I was the only customer in the place during both visits.

And yes, this place is right next to Shanghai Bun…..still not sure if I should check that place out. What do you think?

Seaside Pho & Grill
1005 Rosecrans St.
San Diego, CA 92106
Hours:
Mon – Thur 11am – 9pm
Fri – Sat 11am – 10pm
Sunday Noon – 9pm

Nhà Hàng Chay Hoa Từ Bi Tâm

April 22, 2019 mmm-yoso Vegetarian and Vegan Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Nhà Hàng Chay Hoa Từ Bi Tâm is now Thanh Tinh Chay

A few months ago, I drove past the latest incarnation of a restaurant at 4591 El Cajon Boulevard…..and did a double take. It looked like yet another restaurant has taken the space; the last three, including a location of Saigon Sandwiches moved in and out so fast I never got a chance to check them out. What got my attention was the "Organic – Veggie" lettering on the sign.

I really wasn't too keen on checking this place out but "FOYs" (friends of yoso) Elle and Phuong both mentioned this place in the comments section of my Banh Mi Boulevard post. So why not? The following weekend, I drove over. Hoa Từ Bi Tâm opens at 8am, so I decided to head over for breakfast.

They've really "greened out" the place and one thing clued me in…..that this was a real "vegetarian" place; there's a bit of Buddhist literature around. This ain't no hipster – tree hugger joint. there's even floor seating available; just don't ask me to do that, I've gone though my lack of flexibility, which has turned into a bit of a phobia over the years. Well, here you can sit on the floor if you want to.

Another interesting thing…..just about everything on the menu (the Banh Xeo is $6) is five bucks!

I decided to start with the Banh Beo, something I hadn't had in a while.

The tapioca – rice cake was way too soft and was ungainly…it also strangely lacked the mild hint of sweetness. While there was a good amount of toppings; it was quite bland and sorely in need of a more savory component. The faux nuoc mam cham was super sweet and amplified the need for something savory in this dish.

In looking over the list of noodle soups; two were quickly eliminated; Bun Mam is only served on Thursdays and frankly, since that soup is a major umami bomb, I'm not sure how things would manage to hold up without seafood or meat, and the version of Bun Rieu which might have been a possibility, was only served on Tuesdays. I chose something that I thought would do well in a vegetarian format; Bun Mang; dried bamboo soup.

The highlights of this soup were the noodles; while the portion was rather small, was prepped perfectly, it shows that they really take care with what is being served. The rehydrated bamboo shoots had a nice crunch and earthy flavor. Unfortunately, not enough of that flavor was given to the broth what was surprisingly salty and on the "sweet" side. The bean curd items were standard issue….and I'm not a big fan of some wheat gluten products; which has a weirdly chalky-"off" meat flavor to me. And those items; especially the faux cha lua tasted that way.

Still; this wasn't terrible and I decided to return this past weekend to try a few other items.

I started with the Bo Bia; Jicama Spring Rolls.

I think these had been sitting a while for a couple of reasons; unlike my previous visit, where things took a while to hit the table, this came out in five minutes. In addition, the wrapper was dried out and really chewy. Third, in addition to the crunch of Jicama, I usually detect a pleasant light sweetness, which was missing here. The dipping sauce; which tasted peanut based was actually quite good; it held up well, and was nice and thick, coating things well.

Not quite knowing what to order in terms of noodle soup, I went with the Hu Tieu.

Which turned out to be a good choice. The broth, while still edging on being too salty, was fine. Because it was on the milder side, I could really make out the flavors; the lightly sweet cauliflower, the vegetal broccoli, the sliced king mushrooms, earthy and meaty. The bean curd items were fine, though I'm still not a fan of the wheat gluten stuff here. The noodles were cooked perfectly this time as well. I also enjoyed a squeeze of lime to tame the sodium and the addition of crunchy bean sprouts. This was not bad at all…..especially for five bucks!

The folks here are really nice. I noticed that all customers were a bit older; except for one table where a very unhappy young lady sat with her smartphone not eating anything while the two older women with her had noodle soup. I'm glad I tried the place; it looks like they already have a decent customer base and are trying to put out a good product. I hope they do well. I just may return one day for another breakfast…

Hey, maybe if they have one of the those "ear cleaning guys" like at Wenshu Temple? Just kidding….once in my life is enough!

Nhà Hàng Chay Hoa Từ Bi Tâm
4591 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115
Hours:
Thurs – Tues 8am – 8pm
Closed on Wednesday

Thanks for the recommendation Elle and Phuong!

Chicken Wing Wednesday – Krispy Krunchy Chicken Revisited

April 17, 2019 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings

**** Krispy Krunchy Chicken is now a location of Cluck n Sip

Just a short post for "hump day".

I had just finished a meeting and it was nearly noon…..a terrible time for lunch in the Kearny Mesa area….unless you love crowds. It was one of those times when I just wanted something….fried. So, I decided to head on over to the 99 Ranch Market on Balboa, which was pretty sedate as usual and decided to get lunch at Krispy Krunchy Chicken. I'm glad they ditched the terrible ramen here a while back.

I didn't want heat lamp wings, so I did what the young lady who works here told me back when they opened; if you order the ten piece wings, they will be made to order. If you order waffle fries, they will be made to order. So, I did both and ended up with way too much food.

These were hot, moist, and indeed c(k)rispy and c(k)runchy. The seasoning and batter still reminds me of Popeyes, nothing wrong with that. Though I find the meat itself more moist and with a definite "saltiness" without the spice like Popeyes. Just a little dip into Louisiana hot sauce, the vinegar and spice really helps cut any richness….but not the guilt I'm afraid.

While I'm not the biggest fan of waffle fries; these were at least crisp. Though I'll just stick with wedges next time.

One of the folks in the office was the beneficiary of a half dozen wings and a ton of waffle fries.

Well, I got my fried food fix in……..until next time.

Krispy Krunchy Chicken
5950 Balboa Ave (Inside 99 Ranch Market)
San Diego, CA 92111

Charlie’s Best Breads (Pacific Beach)

April 16, 2019 Cathy Bakery, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog with posts about random eating places in and around San Diego and the world. Today's post is in San Diego. It's written by Cathy.

On one of those rainy days earlier this year, a client and I decided to meet at Charlie's Best Bread (instead of the usual Starbucks) in Pacific Beach. I hadn't been here since the 'expansion'. In 2011, I had posted about a second Charlie's Best Bread location in Point Loma, which has since closed and is currently Point Loma Fish Shop.This is the same location in the mall on Garnet between Lamont and Kendall as has been for more than 30 years…but it used to just be a small walk up joint where you could get a sample, order and pay and go.

Now, you can walk in, see displays, still get samples AND you can have a seat, some artisan (Cafe Moto) coffee and…
order one of the sandwiches or toasts, displayed behind the glass there and enjoy yourself and a quick meeting with a friend.
On this visit I did grab a loaf of raisin cHalla to go (it's Challah; a 1.8 lb loaf ($8)). This Jewish egg bread is always a favorite for The Mister and I at home; just with butter, sometimes toasted and occasionally made into French toast.

One of the sandwiches this day was turkey, on a (fresh baked) ciabatta loaf ($6.75). A good quality turkey, Swiss, arugula, tomato, avocado and spicy aioli was just the right size and combination of flavors to satisfy.
I brought half home for The Mister and we will be going back soon.

Charlie's Best Bread 1808 Garnet Avenue San Diego, CA 92109 Open Mon-Sat 7-7, Sun 8-7 Website

A Loco Moco from Kona Kakes

April 11, 2019 mmm-yoso Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego, Loco Mocos, Plate Lunch

**** Kona Kakes has moved to Point Loma and no longer serves plate lunches

Recently, I had just finished up my errands on a nice Saturday morning and was heading home down Linda Vista Road. As I drove past the strip mall, you know where Ballast Point is located, I saw Kona Kakes. It had been over five years since I last visited (yeesh!) and tried their plates. I was really hungry, so I decided to stop by. For some reason, the place seemed a bit cleaner and brighter than I recalled.

Being quite famished; I decided to get what is a guilty pleasure these days, the Loco Moco ($10.99). It did take a while to arrive, but I got to watch all of the happy folks coming to pick up cakes for various occasions. The loco moco made its way to my table and was fairly hefty.

Since getting just downwind of a loco moco is means for celebration these days; I decided to bust out the "Rubio scale", a scoring system originally developed by James Rubio on his now defunct "Big Island Grinds" blog way back in 2005. I modified the scale back in 2005; man, fourteen years ago, and hadn't used it in over six months. So, you ready? Hea' goes……

BURGER: Was supposed to be 1/3 pound, but seemed thinner and smaller than expected. Too lean and tough, but well seasoned. Studded with green onions. Beefy with a decent char. 3.0

EGGS: Perfectly runny, though not seasoned, and it would have been a winnah' if the edges were crisp. 4.0

RICE: A bit on the dry side, but adequate. 2.5

GRAVY: Very dark, though not too gluey, salty, I definitely don't think this is made from scratch. Bitter bits in the gravy. And no Tabasco either! What's up with all these places not having Tabasco???? 2.5

STUFF: The Mac salad was much better than what I'd had before and served nicely chilled. Could have been seasoned and fairly standard. Standard is also the word for the green salad. 2.5

Overall score – 14.5. Decent, but nothing to go out of your way for. Considering that a typical L&L usually scores a 10, this ain't bad, but it's definitely not in the same league as Island Style Café.

Really friendly, nice woman working about my age, who spent her high school years on Oahu. It was nice chatting with her and I got a couple of to go treats for my friends….who loved the guava cake the best.

So, at least I got my Loco Moco fix in!

Kona Kakes
5401 Linda Vista Road Suite 402
San Diego, CA 92110
Hours:
Mon – Tues 11am – 3pm
Wed – Sat 11am – 6pm
Closed Sundays