Closed – Page 90

Happy’s Sushi- Good Japanese food, loud music, pretty darn good rolls

May 3, 2007 Cathy Japanese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is not on vacation. Cathy is blogging, Kirk is busy with some other project.

Hello again. I met Mr. C for lunch a couple of months ago, and He suggested we try Happy's Sushi. It's on Mira Mesa Boulevard in the mall with Silver Ark, Hollywood Video and Seafood City. It used to be a Pho place. The front looked like this-with the large yellow sign "Buy 2 get 1 free sushi roll every day from 11-2 and 5-6". So, we had to.

This is our selection of three rolls: The Happy Roll: fried shrimp, krab and cucumber inside, with spicy tuna and avocado on the outside ($8.95). Yes, I know, krab…but it tasted very good; the shrimp were sweet and fried so lightly.

We also got the soft shell crab roll ($8.50). Fried soft shell crab, krab, avocado, gobo, sprouts and cucumber. It was wonderful- those are the crab claws sticking out in the photo- they were nicely battered and fried, so tasty and crispy.

The third roll, at the top of the photo there was the Fantasy Roll ($9.50). The inside had spicy krab and cucumber and the outside had seared albacore, seaweed , ponzu and was garnished with sprouts. Here is an upside down photo so you can see a cross section of the other rolls.

I particularly liked the albacore. The cucumber was unusually fresh, crispy and tasty also. A nice, clean, complimentary taste.

The rolls were very good and fresh and quite large. It was a very filling meal. Thanks for a nice lunch, Mr. C!

So, The Mister and I decided to go back the other day( so I could finish this post). The sign from the front facade was missing, but there there was a notice at the front door, indicating that if you bought the buy two get one free roll, the free roll was the one of lesser or equal value. Apparently there were problems.

We decided to try stuff from the regular menu- The large Ahi Poki salad ($8.50), which is served on top of a seaweed salad.

The tuna was very fresh but not very spicy. I kind of wanted more spice. Slightly disappointed. There was quite a bit of tuna.

The seaweed salad was very nice and fresh, seemed to be made with 3 different types of seaweed. It was excellent.

I decided I wanted the vegetable tempura, and so had it as a plate, with salad and rice. I really liked the dressing on the salad, ginger and a little garlic and creamy. The rice is excellent. The vegetables were very nicely fried. The batter was light and airy and crispy. The slice of carrot was only slightly disappointing; the carrot was kind of soft, not crispy, although too many times I have had way too firm a tempura'd carrot. I guess I don't know what I like. There were two pieces of tempura'd asparagus which were unexpected and really nice. The onion slice was particularly nice. The dipping sauce seemed watered down.

The Mister decided to try the shrimp yakisoba ($8.75) and boy was it good!. The stir fried noodles were nicely al dente and flavorful, the veggies (onion, cabbage and carrot) were all nicely crisp-fresh and the shrimp (6) were large, grilled and sweet.

All in all, I liked Happy's. Many people seem to; the sushi bar was full both when I was there for lunch and for dinner on a Friday night.

Both times I seemed overwhelmed by the loud music. The radio station it is tuned to is most likely XM 21, 22, 25, 26, 29 or 30- newer, younger songs and the volume was way high both times. I saw a waitress sit down next to a young Caucasian couple so she could explain some menu items to them; they could not hear her otherwise.

Thanks, Mr. C for telling me and taking me to this restaurant!!! It made me happy!

Happy's Sushi 8973 Mira Mesa Boulevard San Diego 92126 (858) 536-3178

Mon-Thurs 11-9, Fri-sat 11-10, Sun 12-9 Closed every day from 3-5 website

Mexican Fiesta

May 2, 2007 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

*** Mexican Fiesta has closed

A little over a month ago I received a really nice email from "GregM". In the email Greg mentioned a little Taco Shop on India Street called Mexican Fiesta. To quote "check out Mexican Fiesta's al Pastor taco. Good enough that I carry it back to NYC for my Dad, and it was the champion in my now aborted attempt to sample every taco stand in SD." How could I resist? If it's good enough for Dad, it's probably more than "good enough" for me!

So during a recent weekday, I made it down to the South end of India Street, and amongst all the towering High Rises, and new development, I found Mexican Fiesta. I must have driven past this place many, many, times and never noticed it.

I just had to cross the street and snap this photo which shows the sharp contrast between the "little taco shop that could", and the towering buildings surrounding it. For some reason, this little scene stirred up memories of one of the first books I ever read, called The Little House, written by Virginia Lee Burton. (and no, I didn't read a first edition version in 1942 ) In the book, a little country house is overcome by the urban sprawl until it is surrounded by giant buildings.

Business at Mexican Fiesta is brisk and busy.

You order at one window, pay, and are handed a number. When your number is called, you pick up your order at the next window. When I ordered, I was number 68, as I moved out of the way number 49 was called! As you can tell, there is no dining room or eating area, all orders are to go. Though, if you need to use the "facilities" those are provided for across the street.

And though these looked a bit out of place, the porta-potties were doing almost as brisk a business(no pun intended) as Mexican Fiesta!

The customers at Mexican Fiesta was a diverse group, a slice of almost every demographic, income level, and social standing. Even though I had to wait for almost 20 customers before me, my order was ready in a relatively short amount of time. And, since I had found primo parking, I had lunch in my car parked on the side of India Street.

For some variety, I thought I'd start with a Carne Asada Taco($1.99):

To be honest, I wasn't very hungry, and only ordered two tacos. I didn't know what to expect, but my little brown paper bag was very heavy. Well, these sure weren't those little street tacos, it was quite large. The Carne Asada was decent, very soft, but dry, with a very mild flavor. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of iceberg lettuce and shredded cheese on my tacos. On a side note, the Salsa Roja was good, a balance of heat and sour, with a just a hint of sweetness.

Just when I thought that perhaps I'd made a mistake, I opened up my Al Pastor Taco($1.99):

Now this was another pretty large taco. Though I consider this to be more Adobada than Al Pastor, meaning that it doesn't look spit roasted and lacks a good amount of carmelization, the pork itself was good, probably the softest Adobada I can remember, and very juicy to boot. The seasoning of the pork had a deceptive amount of heat, and an overall good flavor. I'd have these again. If anything, I'd have wished for more onions and cilantro, and the tortilla didn't hold up too well, I almost had the pork in my lap, but that was because the pork was so moist.

Sure seems like you get your money's worth here. One day soon, I'll probably stop by for that Machaca Burrito. It's good to see this small little stand doing so well. From what I could see Mexican Fiesta opens at 8am, Greg also notes that the hours are very limited during the weekends.

Mexican Fiesta
1460 India St
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 231-9851

Thanks for the recommendation Greg, that Al Pastor was very good!

Do-Over: Rosa’s Pizza

April 28, 2007 Cathy Pizza, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is not on vacation. Kirk is somewhere around town and Cathy is doing her first re-blog of a place she didn't like the first time around.

Hi. On January 23 of this year, I blogged about Rosa's Pizza. I did not like it. At all.

First of all, Rosa's is a Pizzeria. It's ON Convoy Street,( across from Home Depot Expo), the Mecca of All Asian foods…what is an Italian based food source even *doing* down there?

I got a few comments telling me how wrong I was. In particular, Dave wrote to tell me how the pizza he had in front of him *did* have spices in the sauce, he was crunching on garlic bits and that it wasn't as bad as I spoke of it being. I remember the sauce that was on the pizza I ate tasted just like canned tomatoes, the crust was nice and crispy but flavorless and I did like the wings. Michelle had written in also, telling me how much she loved Rosa's and did not understand my comments.

In any other case (like, if I was not blogging as one of my various little hobbies in life), I would not even bother going back. But feel I must be fair, and see what it is that Michelle and Dave are talking about. Also, The Mister was reading their comments and told me I should. (I think he just was hungry for carbs).

So, off we went. A nice, chilly, after the rains of Friday -now a Saturday- jaunt to Convoy Street. The new construction of the old Olehausen Billiards place was going on: the carpenters couldn't work in the Friday rain, so they were going to get as much done on Saturday as possible.

This time we ordered a sausage pizza ($6.99)and also tried the 16 piece breadsticks ($3.99) with cheese ($1).

When we parked, a car pulled up behind me and an older gentleman ran into Rosa's to pick up two pizzas…we ordered, were told it would be about 15 minutes, so walked over to Nijiya to get some beverages. {I like getting the hot green tea in a can from the small refrigerator looking contraption on the counter in the bakery section.}

We walked back to Rosa's, to see three other people parking and running in to pick up pizzas. There was a brisk business and that was a good sign.

We sat down and the nice young man who took our order brought out the boxes of pizza, breadsticks and sauce. He asked us if we were eating outside and when we said we were, he went back in and brought us plastic cutlery and paper plates and napkins. That was very nice.

The pizza, looked, good, like the last one did. The crust was nice and layered and crispy, but, again, had no olive oil flavor. It was a nice and crisp bread. I was glad we had ordered sausage- look at the oil. I figured that'd give it some flavor. I was right. It's an excellent sausage. The cheese was plentiful, stringy and, again,had not much flavor. However the oil from the sausage helped tremendously- as did the sauce- it was a nice, spiced, herbed sauce. There was garlic in it and the melding of flavors helped the flavorless, but nicely crispy, crust.

Then there were the breadsticks, with cheese and sauce. Lots of cheese, and eating it this way is why I said the cheese had not much flavor, although it was plentiful and stringy. I think the lack of flavor may have to do with the fact that they leave the items in just long enough for the cheese to melt, but not to brown. If it were left in a little longer, the slightly burnt cheese would probably have more flavor. It isn't like it is fake cheese or anything like that.

Then I dipped one of the cheesy breadsticks into the sauce we were given- AHA! THIS was the sauce that was on the pizza we got last time. Pretty much a plain marinara. Tomato sauce, limited herbs. Plain. Needed salt. Or something.

So that was it. Last time we had gotten a switched sauce. That, in combination with no oily meat topping, the plain, non-olive oiled bread- which, again-is a great crust but flavorless. If I ate it plain, as a bread, it would need a salty butter on it…the consistency is wonderful but it is just missing something.

I grew up in Detroit, the Homeland of "pizza" (Dominoes and Little Cesar's started there). I have been to Italy and know what 'real' pizza is and I know what I like. Rosa's is not as bad as I originally blogged about, but it isn't earth shattering pizza either. It doesn't send me. I will go back again, but maybe not for pizza, I'd like to try an eggplant Parmesan sandwich. The bread will be great.

Rosa's Pizza 3860 Convoy Street, San Diego. Between the mall that has Nijiya/Curry House/Sunrise Buffet and the mall that has Wings and Things/Original Pancake House/Izakaya Sakura

Leocynn’s Lumpia- another hole in the wall

April 26, 2007 Cathy Filipino Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is never on vacation. Someone is always blogging, because one of us has most likely had something to eat. This time, its Cathy. Kirk is too busy with something else today.

Hi again. I was driving about aimlessly one day, sort of near the Spring Valley Swap Meet, just off of the 54, on the edge of San Diego and Spring Valley and saw Leocynn’s, where I remembered having a nice meal quite a long time ago. It’s still there, and the sign on the front is thanking people for patronizing for the last four years. Well, it’s lasted this long, so still must be good.

There is a steam tray and two tables inside, a menu on the wall and some handwritten ‘specials’, all of which consist of the items in the steam tray and all of which cost$5.75. The generic (ground pork/ground beef/veggie) lumpia can be purchased individually from the steam tray for 54¢ each, or certain ones can be made special for $1 each, or you can order in bulk. All are made on site. Nothing frozen here.

I opted for 2 of the freshly made ground meat/veggie ones and the pork adobo/rice/pancit meal. The total cost was $6.83.

Excellent adobo- a nice twang of vinegar. The pancit wasn’t watery and really fresh tasting, the veggies were crispy and there were plenty of pork pieces interspersed and the rice was absolutely perfect and plentiful! When I ordered, the nice lady went in back and told me I would have to wait for the rice. (Less than 3 minutes).

A cross section of the other lumpia.

You can see there is plenty of meat and a small amount of carrot. The crust was definitely fresh and crispy. It came with a home made sauce, more sour than sweet, which complimented the meat well. I would rather have sour than sweet any day. Leocynn’s has withstood the test of time and is great.

Leocynn’s Lumpia 8360 Worthington (at Paradise Valley Road- Take the Jamacha Exit from 54) San Diego 92114 (619) 267-8210.

M-F 11:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m./ Sat 11:00 am-7:00 p.m./ Sunday 11:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Seoul BBQ Restaurant – A Revisit. Sometimes it’s all about timing

April 24, 2007 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants

*** Seoul BBQ has closed

Sometimes it's all about timing…… The Missus was in the mood for some Korean BBQ, something that doesn't happen very often. We had thought about a visit to Buga, but decided on a revisit to Seoul BBQ.

I had thought about Seoul BBQ for a couple of reasons; first off, the marinades at Seoul tend to be on the sweeter side, which the Missus enjoys, and the wide open interior makes for good ventilation, another plus in the Missus's book.

We were seated without delay, and looked over the menu, made our choices, and soon after the panchan arrived.

Along with a small salad with a Asian Pear/Garlic/Vinegar based dressing, which was refreshing, and not short on flavor.

The panchan(8 dishes), on the other hand was very unremarkable, and other than the Oi(cucumber) was very pedestrian overall. I don't know what it is with my luck with panchan recently, but I haven't had anything I've really enjoyed for a while now…….. More panchan left unfinished, sigh……

As is standard operating procedure for Korean BBQ restaurants, in order to use the brazier you need at least two orders of meat.

We decided on the Hyuh Mit Gui(Haemit Gui on this menu – beef tongue $18.99):

Though not as marbled as the version I recently had at Dae Jang Keum, this version had a much stronger gamey flavor, which the Missus enjoyed. Nothing like crisp grilled beef tongue.

We also ordered the Bulgogi ($18.99):

Grilled, and wrapped in a lettuce leaf along with a slice of garlic, this was pretty good. As I noted before, the marinade at Seoul BBQ is a bit sweeter, which is why many of the Ex-Pat Kama'aina's I know like the Kalbi and Bulgogi at Seoul.

Another thing I noticed are that the prices at Seoul BBQ are now in the same range as Buga and Dae Jang Keum.

We also ordered the BiBimBap($9.99):

Which ended up being mostly lettuce, with very little minced, flavorless beef.

Though unlike my previous lunch visits, there was no "dump and duck" going on, there was something which was kind of bothersome. Everytime one of the ladies passed by our table, they would "fiddle" with the gas grill, turning it off a few times, leaving the meat to congeal on the grill. We had to flag down people to turn the gas back on a few times. Though we still think that Seoul BBQ is just a step below Buga, our meal did "hit the spot", it was one of those moments where we had just the perfect amount of what we were craving, at just the right time. As they say…."timing is everything".

Seoul BBQ Restaurant
4344 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Latin Chef Part 2

April 19, 2007 mmm-yoso Latin American Cuisine, Peruvian Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

**** Latin Chef has closed

In my waaaay too wordy first part, I think I spent too much time on “stuff”, and not enough on the food, so I’m hoping to rectify that with part 2. After my very enjoyable first visit, I knew I had to convince the Missus that Latin Chef was worth a visit…it really wasn’t very hard!

So a few evenings later we found ourselves having dinner at Latin Chef.

We started with the usual Canchita, and the Missus had a glass of the Chica Morada($1.50), the very sweet drink made from Purple Maize.(Sorry no photo) We started with a bowl of Sopa a la Criolla(“Creole soup” – $8.50):

This very mildly spicy, tomato and cream based broth was rich, but not heavy. The soup contained angel hair pasta, and a few pieces of shredded beef. The Missus, as is Her M.O., took ownership of the fried egg…and declared it “delici-yoso!!!”

I ordered the Aji De Gallina(“Chili chicken” – $8.50):

This is one of the “standard” Peruvian dishes. The sauce is made with Aji Amarillo(yellow chile). Aji Amarillo is the most common chile in Peru, when young the chile is green, and is used in sauces. At the “ripe” stage the pepper is yellow in color, and is used in Aji de Gallina. When fully mature the chile is a deep orange-red color, and is at it’s most pungent state. Cream, bread, cheese, and usually walnuts make up the rest of the sauce, which is served with strips of chicken. The sauce was thick, and on the mild side, which I livened up a bit with some “Aji”, and not as “nutty”, nor a spicy as another version I had several years back. The chicken was fine, if a tad on the “dry” side.

The Missus ordered the real “winner” of the evening, the Arroz con Mariscos (The daily special, Seafood Rice – $10.00):

Beyond the nicely flavored rice, and wonderful roasted vegetables, what really impressed us was the preparation of the seafood. The calamari was soft, and very tender, as was the octopus. This was quite good, there was one request that the Missus mentioned to Freddie for the next time she orders this…she asked if next time she could get some chopped Papas Fritas(french fries). To which the always obliging Freddie said; “no problem…we’ll make one up special for you!” You gotta love these mom and pop places!

One thing did bother us on this visit, the place was totally empty the entire time we ate. We started worrying about Latin Chef surviving. But all such thoughts evaporated when we visited on a recent Sunday. On this day, the place was packed to the rafters, with no seats available in the tiny restaurant, but we decided to sit outside and enjoy the sun.

I had designs of starting our meal with some Papa a la Huacaina(Potatoes with Huacaina Sauce), after all the potato was first cultivated in the Peruvian Incas. I was over-ruled by the Missus who loves Yuca, so we ended up with Yuca a la Huacaina($6.00):

The pieces of Yuca were fried to perfection, slightly crisp on the outside, and nice and starchy, without being too dense in the interior. The Huacaina sauce, basically a cheese sauce, with Aji Amarillo and cream, was a bit too cheesy for the Missus. This version was made with Parmesan cheese, which made slightly more salty than what I’m used too.

For my entree, I went with a classic “Chifa” (Chinese-style) dish, Arroz Chaufa a la Carne ($8.50):

If you think this looks a lot like fried rice, you’d be right, that is exactly what it is. This version was a bit more simple than the Arroz Chaufa Especial that I enjoyed from El Rocoto in Gardena. While the beef was on the dry and tough side, the scrambled egg had been mixed with soy sauce, and I believe there was a hint of chile as well, making it very tasty.

On this occasion the Missus again did a fine job ordering the Pescado a lo Macho (again the daily special, Fried Fish with Mixed Seafood – $10.00):

A breaded and fried white fish fillet was smothered with a very mildly spicy tomato based sauce and mixed seafood. Like our previous meal, the seafood was cooked well, the Octopus was especially good, with an almost melt in your mouth texture, without being mushy. Whatever means of marinading and tenderizing is done, it is done well.

After this experience, I’d recommend reservations if you’re planning to have lunch on a weekend. At this time Latin Chef does not have a liquor license, so sorry, no Pisco Sours, if you want a Cerveza, you’ll be directed to the liquor store down the street. The service is very friendly and accommodating, keep in mind that this is a one chef in the kitchen restaurant, so you may have a bit of a wait for your food, but chances are it would be worth it. There are at least 2 “specials” daily that add a nice variety to the menu.

On the bottom of the sign to right it says, “Warning, Peruvian food is addictive!” At the least, the food at Latin Chef does not lack flavor.

Latin Chef
1142 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109
(858)-270-8810

Kudos to Ed from Yuma, another great find!

You can find part1, here.

Latin Chef Part 1

April 15, 2007 mmm-yoso Latin American Cuisine, Peruvian Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

**** Latin Chef has closed

During a recent dinner with Ed from Yuma, just before our panchan arrived, Ed brought out a nicely folded sheet of paper from his pocket. What he had was a menu from a new restaurant in Pacific Beach called Latin Chef. When I read the menu, I almost fell off my seat. The menu was predominantly Peruvian, with a few Brazilian dishes. One of the things I miss about living in Los Angeles are the Peruvian Restaurants. There must be over 2 dozen Peruvian Restaurants that I know about….I say at least, because if you have 5 Peruvian Newspapers, as LA does, you must have a rather large Peruvian population. Our luck with Peruvian food in San Diego had not been very positive, so needless to say I was excited.

So of course there I was the next afternoon, at about 4pm for a early dinner.

I managed to find parking on Garnet avenue, no easy task! I was greeted by a smile and hello by the very friendly young lady, and told to have a seat anywhere I wanted in this tiny restaurant.

A one page menu, similar to the one that Ed had shown me was handed to me. A though I did look over the menu, one of the dishes I had read the previous night stuck in my head. You see, one of the reasons I think we enjoy Peruvian food so much, are the almost Asian flavors and cooking techniques that are used. I had always wondered about the use of soy sauce in Peruvian food, until I saw one of the episodes of Cheuk Kwan’s wonderful documentary series, Chinese Restaurants that tells the story of the Chinese diaspora through the Chinese restaurant. During a screening of the episode called Latin Passions at the San Diego Asian Film Festival, I finally had a few answers, and also some motivation when I got home, to try and find some information for myself. If you have a chance, don’t miss screenings of this wonderful series. I’ve seen two episodes so far, and will probably purchase the whole set this year. Anyone who has read my post on Asian Noodles, and my fascination with Ma Mon Luk, or even my posts on Al Pastor and the “Trompo”, understands my fascination with this subject. So, some interesting data….Chinese first arrived in Peru during the middle of the 1800’s til the mid-1870’s. These immigrants arrived to work on the sugar plantations, and to work on the guano mines. Another wave of immigrants arrived after the establishment of Communist rule in China in 1949. And though many Chinese fled Peru during the rule of Juan Velasco Alvarado, there is still an estimated 4 million Peruvians of Chinese Ancestry in Peru.

Each meal at Latin Chef starts with some Canchita.

The young lady was fairly surprised when I exclaimed “aaah canchita…” Canchita is a very popular appetizer/snack(beer food), that is corn kernals that are roasted or fried until just before popping. This version was nicely salted, crunchy and addictive.

With the influence of the Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, and Inca people, I find the eclectic cuisine of Peru to be full of fascinating flavors. Getting back to the Chinese influence in Peru. The word used for Chinese food in Peru is “Chifa”, I’ve read that it is based on the Mandarin phrase to eat, “Chi Fan”. Chinese restaurants in Peru are called “El Chifa”, and one of the two oldest Chinatowns in Latin America is located in Lima, “Barrio Chino de Lima”. I’ve read that there are over half a million Peruvians of Chinese Ancestry currently living in Lima. One of my favorite Peruvian creole dishes is Lomo Saltado, and without fail, it is usually the first item I’ll try at any Peruvian restaurant, Latin Chef was no different.

The version of Lomo Saltado at Latin Chef($8.50), was quite good. Don’t let the “papas fritas”(french fries) scare you as it did a few on Chowhound. Papas Fritas are an integral part of Lomo Saltado. Though these large crinkle cut fries are a bit distracting. I’m used to having the potatoes fried with the rest of the ingredients, and later on asked the proprietor, Freddie about them. He told me that they will do it either way, so I’ll make sure to ask for them to be fries with the Carne, and the rest of the ingredients next time. I found the beef to be pretty good, as with most versions of Lomo Saltado, I found the lean beef to be on the tough side, though in this case the slices of beef were very moist. Where this Lomo Saltado separated itself from very pedestrian versions is the very flavorful sauce, both a bit salty, slightly sweet, and tangy, this was a nice rendition.

The tomatoes were sweet and tangy, and the onions added a nice flavor to the dish. I enjoy a bit of heat, so without fail I’ll always request some “Aji”(red chili sauce) with anything I order. This version added some nice heat.

This was a very nice, and reasonably priced meal. And I knew that I’d be bringing the Missus along for the next one….

Now I realize I’ve been very wordy so I’ll stop here for now…..part 2 is coming up!

If you want to grab a meal in the meantime:

Latin Chef
1142 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109
(858)-270-8810

Closed on Mondays…the hours are a bit strange. The menu says Tues-Fri 3pm-10pm, Sat-Sun 11am-10pm. But they really don’t open until 1230pm. So I’m not quite sure.

Those that live in San Diego, and the PB area will get this joke….someone asked where this restaurant was located on Garnet, and I replied it’s right before the 7th sushi bar on Garnet after Ingraham…..sheesh! I guess there’s a local ordinance that says 1 coffee shop on every corner, and one purveyor of California Roll on every block!

Part 2 coming up!

Phil-Am Kitchenette

April 12, 2007 mmm-yoso Filipino Restaurants

*** Phil-Am Kitchenette has closed. It's now Homestyle Hawaiian

I'd seen a sign similar to this one countless times while waiting for the traffic light to change at the intersection of Mesa College Drive and Linda Vista Road.

And I've probably made a mental note to check this place out just as many times, only to file it in the nether regions of my grey matter……

During a recent lunch hour, I decided to grab a bowl of Pho, only to find the restaurant closed when I arrived! Somehow, two of my lonely three remaining brains cells managed to rub against each other, and produced a memory of said sign. I arrived to a little shop that looked like a small convenience store located in a strip mall on Mesa College Drive.

With some hesitation, I entered the small and dark shop, past the shelves of Boy Bawang Cornicks and other snacks, and up to the little steam table set-up. I had also snuck up on the poor lady behind the counter and scared the crap out of her in spite of the fact that I set off the entrance "chime" when I walked in. The steam table held 8 trays of various items, some of which looked pretty good, some of which looked a a bit off….in fact the heating lamps for the steam table was turned off, doing their part to conserve energy perhaps? But when the lady saw me she smiled and turned the lamps on.

I chose a 2 item and rice combination, which went for the standard price of $5.50.

Along with the huge amount of rice, I'd ordered Longanisa(Filipino sweet sausage), since I figured that if you can't make Longanisa, you really can't make anything…

The sausages done well…no burn marks, fully cooked through. You can't really go wrong with Longanisa. I also opted for the Pork Tausi.

Now if you think this looks strangely like Pork with Black Bean, you'd be right…."Tausi" is fermented black bean…also known as "Dau See" in Cantonese. Of course the similarities in name are not coincidental. The pork was tender and had a decent, not overly salty flavor. One other thing, it was not as fatty as most versions of Tausi I've eaten. Also, even though the portion sizes were not as large (obscene) as those at Tita's Kitchenette, it was more than enough food for me, in fact I shared some of the food with our Filipino Administrative Assistant, who thought it pretty good as well.

I also grabbed a handy dandy pseudo-menu….

What I really enjoyed was the daily menu portion…."great, I can plan my lunch around what's on the menu…" Until I read the bottom portion(always read the fine print) which listed "alternate" dishes that may be substituted. I think there were 15 or 16 different dishes. To me this meant that they'll make what ever they feel like…I mean they could substitute every item on the daily menu twice over if they decided, right? This really cracked me up!

The other thing on the menu that caught our eye was the coupon, a buy 2, get 1 lunch free deal. Baaaarrgain City! Which meant a few days later we were back at Fil-Am. The problem this time was that we arrived at about 1115 am, and not everything was ready. It was a Friday, but there were only 2 items that matched the scheduled "menu". We still made the best of it….$11 for 3 plates is a bargain.

This time I got the Pork Adobo. The cubes of pork was fairly tender, and the flavoring was on the milder – black pepper side. In keeping with my previous visit, it was also less fatty, and not as salty as many versions at Turo-Turo(Point-Point) places.

The Nilaga Baka had a mild flavor, but was passable.

The meat was tender, and the veggies surprisingly were not over cooked. Best of all we got another coupon!

So, being the ravenous bargain hunters we are, we returned on another day. As before, most of the items served did not match "the list". But we did manage to find items we liked….You know I can't turn down Lechon Kawali(boiled than deep fried pork belly).

The lechon was on the "tough" side, the "skin" very hard and chewy, and the meat on the dry side. What really tasted good was the Beef Mechado(Beef Stew). (And it's not even mentioned on the menu!)

The chunks of beef were very tender, and the "sauce" was full of tomato-y goodness, nice and rich, not overly fatty. This was great with rice. No more coupons for us after this trip…I think we used up our quota!

To sum things up, the food a Fil-Am Kitchenette is a mixed bag, you never know what's on the menu for any given day(except Longanisa), but some of the dishes are prepared well, and have lots of flavor. The portion size is decent, as is the prices. I don't know if I'm the only one who noticed that the food is not as rich as most turo-turo places. For example check out this 2 item combination plate from Tita's Kitchenette:

So much food(at least 3 meals), so rich, so fatty, so good…so much guilt!

The two ladies at Fil-Am are very nice, and I'm pretty sure you'll find two items to your liking, I just wouldn't follow the listed daily menu. Fil-Am fills a void in an area filled with Pho restaurants and Taco Shops, not a bad thing necessarily, but it's nice to have choices. Fil-Am also serves breakfast, according to the menu:

So if you're in the area, and are longing for some Longsilog and Garlic Fried Rice…..

Pinnacle Peak-Meat!

April 2, 2007 Cathy Steakhouse, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is not on vacation. Kirk apparently did not eat today and Cathy did.

Hi again. I’m out in East County. Hungry. No frills. Craving for some steak. The Mister wants ribs. Sure, we have a grill. Sure, we can cook. Heck, Pinnacle Peak is right down the road. That big ole’ cow on the roof. The dark wood siding…the huge parking lot in front.

The simple menu, printed on the

take home Bone Bag.

Although I fully appreciate the Trail Boss (22.99), a 30 ounce Porterhouse, mainly because I cannot decide between the flavor of the New York Strip combined with the tenderness of the Filet which are both present on either side of the bone of the Porterhouse…30 ounces is a *lot* of meat, no matter what the size of the bone ,so I usually say ‘Why play games?’ and get the Cowboy($18.99), a 22 ounce T-Bone (as opposed to the sissy-ish Cowgirl($14.99), a 15 ounce T-Bone. But, there is something new on the menu- the Kansas City(16.99), a 16 ounce bone-in New York Steak…labeled as New York Steak, not T-Bone…must try.

The sides that come with everything are a salad, Buttons (baked beans) and Bows (sliced of white bread and butter). Baked potato , corn on the cob, sauteed mushrooms or onions are an additional $1.99 each. Nope, not today.

NOTHING IS FANCY HERE. The plates are plastic, as are the tablecloths…the utensils, except for the steak knives, are not very high quality. If you come in wearing a necktie, it *will* be ceremoniously cut off, to the ringing of a cowbell, and then stapled to the wall or ceiling, as part of the decor.

I had my steak cooked medium rare on the open grill- it was perfect. They put a nice dry rub/seasoning on it and its just right (did not need the A-1 sauce). It is mesquite wood that is used.

The Mister ordered the full Rack-O-Ribs ($17.99). It is brought out on two plates.

…and so we ate our food.

and that ‘bone in’ part of the description of my steak was true…but, not really anything to write home about.

The Mister had far more bones left over than I did!

Website here Pinnacle Peak Steakhouse 7927 Mission Gorge Road Santee 92071 (619) 448-8882

Mon-Thurs 5-9 p.m., Fri-Sat 5-10 p.m., Sun 4-9 p.m.

VGood, Sort of a Ch-Ch-Chain, Pretty good, too!

April 1, 2007 Cathy Japanese Restaurants, Stuff, What Cathy Eats!

The Santee location of VGood has closed.

mmm-yoso is not on vacation, but Cathy is blogging now, while Kirk rests for a few days.

Hi. It's been a while. People who know what my line of work is know what has been going on with that as well as some other crises in life. The rest of you may not have even noticed I hadn't blogged. It isn't like I haven't been eating, though.

So, you all know I am the Token White Girl who lives in East County. Santee, to be exact. We are not out of the loop out here, let me tell you. The Green Trolley Line does end here, though..or maybe, it *starts* here.

There it is, right next to one of three Starbucks we have out here (OK, two are stand alone stores and there is one inside the Vons…). Across from the Starbucks is VGood, Japanese Grill and Sushi.

Kind of innocuous, but an interesting menu, and a few Law Enforcement types seem to frequent this place. (The Sheriff Substation is less than a 1/2 mile away, as is Los Colinas, the Women's Detention facility made famous on a Episode of The Real World-San Diego) (sorry, digressing…).

Anyhow, last Sunday and this Sunday, The Mister and I were once again hungry, but not wanting to cook at home, nor drive very far for food. So this is where we decided to eat.

A kind of small menu, mostly with rolls, which most people were buying, but the idea of cream cheese with rice is not appealing to me, and the menu spells crab with a 'k' instead of a 'c', so I just wasn't in the mood to waste some calories on that food. There is no sushi bar, but sushi and rolls on the menu… you just walk up and order, pay, get your own beverage and utensils and wait for your number to be called.

The interior is clean, painted a happy Home Depot Orange, along with one yellow accent wall (learned that terminology on HGTV..whoo hoo) and has 5 low tables and 6 bar height tables, plus you can walk out into the courtyard where there are tables, and the water display and eat outdoors if you want to.

Editor's note: I have been informed that the color is officially "CalTrans orange" and *not* "Home Depot orange". Sorry for any confusion.

So, we ordered. We tried the two item VGood Value Combo Plate with teriyaki beef and katsu chicken ($6.99- usually $5.99, but $1 more for the beef) which comes with a choice of miso soup or salad of the day.

The salad this Sunday (and last Sunday for that matter) was made with iceberg, jicama, chopped cucumber, chopped red pepper, parsley, mango and a nice, spicy dressing. The heat of the dressing hit when we got to the bottom. It was quite refreshing. The katsu was nice and light-crispy, came with a sweet dipping sauce that tasted different than the teriyaki sauce on the very tender, medium rare cooked beef. A good portion of rice was served with the plate. There were two layers of both the beef and the chicken. Last week we got the fried fish and teriyaki chicken and the fish was exceptionally nicely fried. However, thinking the same thing would happen this week, I ordered the fried squid.($3.99)

You can see by looking at it that it was overcooked. However, the breading was still light and though slightly crispier than I think it should have been, had some nice spices in it. It was OK but all of the other fried items I have had here have been lighter fried.

I wanted to try some soup today and the Fried Dumpling Udon Noodle Soup ($4.99) sounded good. I had wanted to try the fried dumplings anyhow and they served them on the side with the soup-perfect!

The soup broth was oily, rich tasting in one way and too salty in another way. The noodles were good and chewy. There could have been some more vegetables, but the cabbage and carrots were good. I did not finish the broth, and usually I do. The dumplings had a nice, thin skin and were fried correctly. Enough filling, but not over-filled. Very good.

However, my most favorite stumbled-upon food here is the innocuously listed on the back page under "Side Orders":'Lettuce Wrap(4 pieces) $3.99 '

That is four large pieces of iceberg lettuce rolled up in plastic wrap, a good 1/3 pound (probably more) of cooked filling and a lot of nice, light crunchy rice noodles. It is served with a spicy Teriyaki sauce on the side.

The filling is a combination of chopped chicken, sausage, leeks and mushrooms, topped with some green onions.

Both times we ordered this, the meat lasted more than the lettuce did. Here is a service I made for myself with 1/4 piece of lettuce. The flavors are excellent.

I call this 'sort of a a chain' because there are two locations. It is locally owned and They don't even have a website.

VGood Japanese Grill and Sushi

9862D Mission Gorge Road Santee 92071 (Across from the Starbucks at the Trolley Stop) (619) 258-8288

16625 Dove Canyon Road Suite 108 San Diego 92127 (858)385-1628

Both Locations Open 7 days 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.