I also went to Yogurt World today.

I had noticed they had a sign for this place up for about a month or so, “Yogurt World - Coming Soon”. I only noticed that it was opening today because they had those guys dressed up in Chinese Dragon costumes dancing around the outside and inside of the store while a troop of fellows played drums behind them. I think that went on for about a half hour before the store actually opened at 12:28pm. The sign actually said “Grand Opening - March 1st at 12:28pm”. I overheard a guy ask the manager what the significance of the time was, and he just said, “It’s a lucky time for us.”

Yogurt World is a self serve frozen yogurt place. You go down to the end, pick up a cup, and pick what yogurt you want. They had a whole bunch of flavors, ranging from New York Cheesecake and Green Tea, to Strawberry and Mango flavors to “sour” yogurts to the flavor I actually picked, which was Peanut Butter. There were probably about a dozen different flavors to choose from in all. There’s also a ton of toppings to choose from: I saw granola, cereals, chocolate chips, M&Ms, mini Reese’s pieces, oreos, nilla wafers, gummi bears, all kinds of fruits and nuts, coconut and more. You dump whatever toppings you want into your cup and head for the counter.

Here you smack your concocted bowl of yogurt down to be weighed. It costs $.38 cents an ounce. The ounces add up quick though! I filled my cup above half way and dumped mini Reese’s pieces, almonds and a couple of Reese’s peanut butter cup pieces and my total came out to $2.53.

The yogurt itself was pretty good. It wasn’t overly sweet and had a nice peanut butter flavor - it wasn’t “full on” peanut butter, more like a hint of it more than anything else. Sorry my photo isn’t prettier. I was excited to eat it and was about to get in the car and go and didn’t have time to take the lid off. Dur.

There’s also another popular location in Kearny Mesa, if that interests you. I hear the parking there sucks though.

Yogurt World
8995 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126

I had to visit the laundromat today to wash my comforter and bedding. I quickly got bored of hanging out with the machines on spin cycle and decided to gander around and scope out some food. I don’t eat a lot of Filipino food actually, for whatever reason, even though I am half Filipino. I’m American, though, and don’t speak a word of Tagalog. I do know some key things about Filipino food though, from my mom’s cooking and visiting many Filipino households. Lumpia is the best thing ever. Lechon is probably the second best thing ever, followed by pancit. Living in Mira Mesa all of these years I have never been to Manila Fast Food & Desserts before but I spotted a photo of Lechon in the window and thought, “hmm. looks good.” It’s similar to a fast food Chinese place - all of the food is laid out under heat lamps for you to pick and choose from.

Lechon (full name: Lechon Kawali) is basically boiled, then fried pieces of pork. The outside of the pig gets very crusty and crunchy and really tasty. It’s a bit fatty, too, so if you can’t stand that then…. well, you should try it anyway. Come on, at least one piece!

The lechon was pretty good. Some of the pieces were a bit dry and some pieces were greasy, but there were a few choice cuts that were good. I also really liked the sauce that they gave with the lechon. It was a slightly sweet kind of sauce that went well with the pork. Lechon isn’t really something I can eat a whole lot of, but man, when I do it sure is good. The pancit was all right, not as good as my mom’s of course, but it was still good. It was mostly noodles and not much else. I think I got one piece of chicken in there, a few stray cabbage and carrot pieces as well. The lumpia was really good, and again, not as good as the one mom or I make. But at least it was still warm and really crispy. I like these lumpia better than the ones I’ve gotten down the street from L&L Barbeque, and these were also a lot cheaper. My above meal was the 2 item combo for $4.99, plus an extra dollar because I got the pancit instead of steamed rice, for a grand total of $5.99.

They sell all kinds of other Filipino foods that I don’t know the names of. I didn’t recognize most of the dishes, but I’m sure most of it is good. They also have breakfast on the weekends. It looks like Filipino sausage (lasilog) and eggs with rice. I wasn’t in the mood for breakfast by the time I got there, but it’s something I would try if I find myself back in here again during the weekend.

Hail, lumpia!

Manila Fast Food & Desserts
8979 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126
858-578-0968 / 858-695-9104

Hours:
M-F: 9:30am - 7:30pm
Sat: 8:30am - 7:30pm
Sun: 8:30am - 6:00pm

I was in the La Jolla area yesterday scoping out the annual cake show that the San Diego Cake Club puts on every year. I was hungry and my lunch date bailed on me so I was on my own for food. I decided to just wing it and head on over to La Jolla Village Square to see what was up. I spotted this placed called “Croutons” in the location where Pasta Bravo used to be. It sounded healthy-like so I thought I would check it out.

It’s a casual dining place. Sort of a cross between fast food and casual dining, really. You order up front and they bring the food out to you. There’s not much to the menu. They have a variety of signature and specialty salads, ranging from Cobb and Chopped salads to Pear & Blue Cheese and Mediterranean (think Greek) salads. They also have Panini’s and something called “Flatini’s” which I’m not sure what that is, but I imagine its a grilled wrap from the name.

I tried a Chicken Pesto sandwich - chicken breast, mozzarella, basil pesto mayonnaise. It was really good. The bread was really crisp and crunchy and the flavors were good. It tasted fresh, warm, and gooey. For $6.75 that’s all you get - the sandwich. There are no side dishes or anything. You can opt for a combo which is half a panini/flatini, half a salad or soup. The only “sides” on the menu are warm ciabatta or flatbread or chips. I will also say that I had this blackberry green tea that was really excellent as well. I would have liked to see some kind of side - even just chips - included with my sandwich but I guess you can’t always have it all. Though for the taste and price, I would still come back and spring for another sandwich. I’ve had other panini’s at other locations where it wasn’t really crisp all the way around or just sort of crisped up in one spot - but this sandwich had some attention to detail pasted onto it, which made it really good.

There are 2 other locations in Southern California, one in Carlsbad and one in Sorrento Valley. The Sorrento Valley location makes me happy since I can actually go there for lunch during the work week… and I foresee additional panini sandwiches in my future.

Croutons
8707 Villa La Jolla Dr.
La Jolla, CA 92037
858-909-0960

The Teri Cafe is a Teriyaki and Noodle House located in Clairemont, with 2 additional locations in Oceanside. They serve various teriyaki dishes and bowls along with ramen, udon, soba and other Japanese noodles in soups and stir frys. They also have sushi and tempura and some other appetizers, like egg rolls and gyoza, for you to snack on. It’s your basic Japanese food type place that pretty much covers all the basics. It’s tucked away in in a strip mall in Clairemont not too far from the Kaiser Hospital on Clairemont Mesa Blvd.

On this particular visit I decided on the chicken teriyaki and shrimp tempura bowl - it came which the chicken, 2 pieces of fried tempura shrimp, steamed rice and vegetables. I also got some egg rolls on the side. The bowl is a good meal for $5.95. The chicken was tasty, the shrimp wasn’t too greasy and the veggies and rice were good when I smothered my teryiaki sauce all over it. The egg rolls were just okay, not what I was really expecting. I thought the inside was too mushy and too saucy inside for my liking. I bet I would visit this place more if it were a bit closer to my work as they have $5.99 lunch bowl specials that include a drink. But alas, I don’t ever feel like making the trip down to Clairemont just to partake in their tasty food. There are other similar type places around town so I never really get a particular craving to come to this particular location, but the food is good and affordable.

You order at the counter and they bring the food to your table - sort of like fast food that delivers and isn’t so greasy and reasonably healthy for you. The have a different lunch specials Monday through Friday and they also have dinner specials. Their website mentions that they have their own noodle factory in Oceanside and offers personal orders for various types of Japanese noodles - check out their website for more information if you’re into that kind of thing.

Teri Cafe
7305 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, #B
San Diego, CA 92111
858-560-8859

I spotted this place in December when I was in Carmel Mountain Ranch getting my oil changed over my meager Christmas break. I was killing time by going to Pier One and noticed this funny little diner that wasn’t there before. It’s a 50’s style diner tucked into a little location. I think what really caught my eye was the name: Cheeburger Cheeburger.

It’s actually a chain restaurant mostly found in the east and south. This is the first California location. I was seated pretty quickly and the host asked me if I had ever been there before and I said no. He went over the menu with me - basically you have 5 sizes of burger to choice from. You can choose whatever toppings you want. There are a few specialty toppings that cost extra but basically you can get whatever you want on it. They also have a “Famous Pounder” burger which if you eat the whole thing, they’ll take your picture and put it up on their wall.

I went with the “Semi-Serious” burger, a 1/3 lb with lettuce, sauteed onions, mayonnaise and jack/cheddar cheese. The burgers don’t come with fries, you have to order a side basket like you do at Islands. I got a basket of fries, too, and a Dr. Pepper in a mason jar. They also have flavored cokes and a ton of shake flavors to choose from. I didn’t have a shake, but they have some interesting sounding ones like Peanut Butter and Jelly, S’mores, and Almond Joy.

The burger was good - it wasn’t spectacular. I didn’t really like the kind of bun that they used but it was still good. The fries were good, but again, not really outstanding. Some of them were a bit overcooked and I found myself rummaging through the basket for the “good ones”. The service wasn’t that great either. My waitress didn’t come over to be for quite some time and didn’t offered to refill my drink until I was done with my meal. So all in all, it was just an okay meal. There are some interesting little touches to the place, like they have Trivial Pursuit cards at every table and put a whole roll of paper towels on your table for you to tear off from. I’d like to come back and try a shake though and see how those are.

There are some differences between the menu online and they one in the restaurant. For instance, the Famous Pounder is about a buck more and guacamole is a specialty topping here while sauteed onions are not. Just some small differences I noticed when I peeked at their online menu.

Cheeburger Cheeburger
12002 Carmel Mountain Rd
San Diego, CA
858-613-1576

Stacey came to visit me a couple of weeks ago. After spending a day shopping for Sleazy Lounge Party clothes and watching many episodes of Dexter, we worked up a significant appetite. Not only that, but I wanted my dining experience to be amusing without being too involved. This desire doesn’t lend itself very easily to typical restaurant search sites, so I started Googling everything I could think of to find sites featuring restaurants in Orange, in the hopes of finding something I hadn’t seen before. I came across one site with many clearly outdated listings, that had an entry at the end for The Tartan Room. Stacey and I thought it was an interesting name, but we weren’t really sold yet.

I did a ton of searching for information on the The Tartan Room and could only find two reviews. One was unremarkable. The other said (going from possibly inaccurate memory, here) that the food was good and the portions were large, that the decor was very dark and extremely outdated, and that halogen lights had been added fairly recently over the booths, giving the feeling of being in a surreal puppet show. Sold.

Dark faux-wood paneling, some minimal kitschy decor that you can barely see in the dark corners, a live singer (with songs ranging from Brown Eyed Girl to White Wedding), fairly private booths, and acoustic tile ceilings covered in stains and glitter gave this place just the awesome ambiance I was hoping for. We were immediately served tasty cheesy bread and our beverages were never less than a quarter full. Dinner entrees were generally in the $10-$20 range (the cheapest non-appetizer item is a $10 burger), while the steak dinners were in the $20-$30 range.

Prime rib sounded good, but I didn’t feel like forking over $25 for it in a new restaurant that could potentially suck. Instead I ordered the $15 open-faced prime rib sandwich (above), which ultimately turned out to be a huge slab of prime rib over a piece of cheesy bread you can’t even see, a cup of jus, a cup of horseradish, and onion rings (I had a choice of those or fries). Was this the most fabulous cut of meat I’ve ever had? Maybe not. But was the entire meal incredibly tasty and worth my time and money? Absolutely. I’m in love with this place.

I had mixed feelings about Stacey ordering a cobb salad, because this seemed like a heavy-eatin’ kind of place. Not to fear though, because this is a heavy-eatin’ kind of cobb salad. Every bite was coated in the perfect amount of dressing, it was well-mixed, the ingredients were delicious, and the salad was quite sizeable. I was pleased, and it wasn’t even mine.

To sum things up: if, after reading this, you don’t want to go to The Tartan Room, don’t ever come visit me in Orange. I must insist that everyone I know visits this place when they’re here. Seriously. I’ll rage on any dissenters.

(714) 282-1274

My boyfriend works a lot and I wanted to get in some quality “us” time in the form of “let’s go get breakfast before you have to go to work”. I found a cute looking little cafe about five minutes from his house called “Nate’s Cafe” and we were pleasantly surprised by the place.The location might throw you off - it’s off Euclid at Home Ave. and it’s not exactly in an easy to spot location. It looks like it’s in the same lot as a nursery and the parking lot is pretty much just a gravel lot. But don’t let that fool you - once you go inside Nate’s you’ll find a cozy, home like interior, complete with bookshelves, side tables with knick knacks and more. It feels like you’re hanging out in someone’s house and has a really relaxed feel to it.

Jacob and I both opted to get the pancakes - we had some kind of pancake craving - and split a side of hash browns with our meal. These pancakes are so good - they had a little hint of cinnamon in them and reminded me a bit of the flavorings that you would find in your french toast. The hash browns were cooked right (crispy on the outside and not dry on the inside) and made my belly happy. The service here is also good - the waitress was nice and attentive and noticed we had never been in before, which I thought was pretty cool. And you get a good sized portion for the price. For about $6 you get two pancakes, sausage or bacon, eggs and a little bit of fruit.

I’ve already been having a craving to come back from some of those tasty, tasty pancakes. I can’t decide if I want to try something new, or stick with the pancakes. Knowing myself though, I’m probably going to have those pancakes again. Yum.

Nate’s Cafe
3120 Euclid Ave (at Home Ave)
San Diego, CA 92105
(619) 284-0206

Hours:
Monday – Saturday: 7:30AM-3:30PM
Sunday: 8:00AM-2:30PM

I may not be a poor college student anymore, but as far as I’m concerned, cheapness is always awesome.

When Mary, Travis and I decided to see Lars and the Real Girl at this theater in Irvine, we were looking for some cheap pre-movie food of at least moderate quality. It had to be cheap because of the potential cost of the impending Deep Fry Night, which Mary will have to fill you in on later. I Google-mapped some nearby restaurants, and a review for Lee’s caught my eye when I noticed something about $2.00 sandwiches. I said to Mary and Travis, “Hey, do you guys want to get some $2.00 sandwiches?” Mary and Travis are no fools. Of course they said yes.

Lee’s has a large variety of what they classify as either Asian or European sandwiches. You can check out their menu on their website, but suffice it to say that almost anything you would want on a sandwich (and some things you wouldn’t) are available. Most of their sandwiches either come on a baguette or a croissant. It may sound like a croissant sandwich would be smaller than a baguette sandwich, but no — the croissant is at least as big as my face.

The taste of the sandwiches is pretty average — there’s absolutely nothing wrong with them, and there’s nothing really magical about them either. I ordered roast beef on a baguette, and it was plenty tasty for the price (about $3.50). Even though I was incredibly full from the sandwich, I followed it up with a single-scoop, “Almond Joy” ice cream cone (about $1.50, and yes, the ice cream has big chunks of the candy bar in it). And be warned cilantro haters: all of the Asian sandwiches have cilantro, so be sure to ask them to leave it out.

Lee’s is open from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m., and if I recall correctly, their sandwich prices go up slightly after 9:00 p.m. As far as atmosphere goes, it’s a big, white, perhaps too well-lit area reminiscent of a college campus food court. This vibe is probably equally attributable to the masses of UCI students taking advantage of the cheapy cheapness.

This isn’t a place I’d travel to even from Orange, but if you happen to be (or live) in the area, it’s the perfect cheap food stop.

Did I mention it was cheap?

Lee’s Sandwiches
4127 Campus Drive (University Center)
Irvine, CA 92612
(949) 509-9299

imagine my surprise one night a few weeks ago when i suggested to my boyfriend that we just hit the burger king next to my house for a quick meal and he told me that it was closed. it was only eight o’clock so i was baffled. i learned that burger king moved out of dodge and in its place there’s now a roberto’s mexican place, with the kid’s jungle gym still hanging out in the front of the restaurant. i decided i needed to try it out, since it was new and all.

i love getting carne asada nachos. something about crunchy chips and guacamole makes me happy (my boyfriend though, doesn’t even like avocados, which i still can’t quite understand). i decided to stick with that. for six bucks i got some okay chips. they had what looked like salsa fresca, sour cream, some hint of guacamole and the carne asada. i’m not sure what kind of cheese they used, i think it might have been like a monterrey jack, but i’m not sure. they were just okay for six bucks, i felt like i got robbed on the guacamole part. but i did like the cheese a lot. and they’re a bit pricey and went a bit overboard with the sour cream. but they were acceptable. just not the greatest ever or the best value for the price. but it is nice to have another mexican place option with a drive through besides alejandro’s, whose carne asada nachos i do not get because they put way too much meat and not enough of the other good stuff i like on it. maybe a few more trips and a taste of their other menu items will brighten my outlook on the place. also, i’m not sure of their hours yet. if they’re a late night kind of place, that’ll be a plus for mira mesa.

update: i went back and had just the guacamole & chips and those were pretty damn tasty. just the guacamole & chips is $4. yum. my boyfriend says the california burrito is pretty good and i thought the breakfast burritos were just okay, not bad but nothing memorable either. i also discovered that they are open 24 hours, woo.

update to the update: i wouldn’t recommend the rolled tacos - they are not crunchy and are never served fresh.

Roberto’s
9312 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126
Open 24 hours