Over the weekend Jake and I went to pick up the kids (S and A) for lunch. Originally we were going to go to Project Pie over at the mall, but once we went inside there we saw a long line in front of us, no more seats and it was super loud… so we abandoned that plan and I came up with a Plan B. We had just gotten some desserts from Hogetsu Bakery so I decided to keep with the Asian theme.
We headed over towards Downtown Chula Vista – near the Third Avenue sign.
And ended up at Teriyaki Grill. We parked at a meter around the corner and were happy to discover a quarter netted you a whole half hour, instead of the measly 11 or 12 minutes you get if you’re in Downtown San Diego.
Pretty simple decor. It wasn’t busy and much quieter for us to enjoy a nice afternoon lunch. Here’s Teriyaki Grill’s menu if you’d like to check it out.
[teriyaki burger / $6.99]
This is S’s order. He’s the uh, not really adventurous one if you didn’t know. He’s the one who doesn’t like “red sauce” (tomato sauce) on pasta, but likes “pizza sauce” because it’s on pizza. Ahh, boys…
The Teriyaki burger came with an angus patty, grilled pineapple, sauteed mushrooms, onions and American cheese. He got it without onions and the mushrooms on the side so A and I could eat them (they were yummy, but under seasoned). It looked like a pretty good burger, Jake said it tasted good and S ate every bite so it was acceptable for an 11 year’s old palate.
[spring rolls]
This is the appetizer that Jake and I both got with our bento boxes. Jake got all of his items separately instead of in a neat bento box. The little spring roll came with a peach sauce that was really yummy. It was like a plum sauce, but peach flavored!
[bulgogi beef / bento – $9.90]
Jake was going to order what I got, but thought it would be better if he got something different than me (I trained him so well). I told him he should get the Bulgogi Beef and so he did. I ended up liking his a lot more than mine. The bulgogi beef was marinated really nicely and was a little sweet, which I enjoyed. The meat was very tender and I loved the flavor of it from the marinade. There’s a hot sauce that came on the side that he added later that he liked. I didn’t have any of the fried egg since I’m still in my “ew, eggs” phase of life.
[rib & chicken combo bento box – $8.75]
I got the galbi ribs and teriyaki chicken combo so I could try a couple of different meats. My grilled veggies came with brown rice – actually, they don’t even offer steamed white rice here. Fine with me since I really like brown rice. The rice reminded me of sushi rice in it’s style and consistency, but brown instead of white with a little bit of a nutty flavor.
In the foreground is the galbi ribs. They had a good overall flavor, but seemed a bit overcooked since they were tough and chewy and it was hard to pull the meat off of the bone. The teriyaki chicken had a nice char from the grill, but it needed more marinade or more teriyaki sauce or something since it was a little bland. It looked like the chicken was grilled on it’s own and then had a squirt of teriyaki on it which didn’t give it enough flavor. I did like my brown rice and grilled veggies though (mmm, grilled zucchini) and the little spring rolls were quite tasty.
[vietnamese iced coffee / $2.99]
Vientamese Iced Coffee is about one of the only coffees my stomach seems to tolerate, so I get it whenever possible. This took awhile to get since our server explained that they made it fresh – pouring the water over the coffee grounds and into a press. It was creamy and deliciously strong.
[bun bo hue / $8.50]
Saturdays at the Teriyaki Grill are referred to as “Slurp Noodle Saturday” – every Saturday they offer a different soup. The special soup that day was the Bun Bo Hue. Funny thing, our server came with the soup to give to A and almost set it down before she realized she made a mistake and was giving it to the wrong table. Jake immediately said, “No soup for you!” which made me chuckle and naturally the kids didn’t get the joke.
It’s like one of the only times where you could legitimately use this joke!
A eventually got her proper bowl of soup. It looked like there was a big old pork hock in it and it had the spicy sauce that Jake had on the side of his dish. A ended up really liked it, but she thought it was a bit too much on the spicy side since she kept saying her mouth felt like it was on fire… and her nose started running… but she still really liked it!
Up next, our desserts from Hogestu Bakery!
Teriyaki Grill
380 3rd Ave
Chula Vista, CA 91910
619-585-1789
Hours:
M – F 11am to 8pm
Sat 12pm to 8pm
Sun Closed
hi Mary – The people working here are really nice. I remember liking their coffee here. I went back in Fall 2012, using a coupon.
You know, across the street was Sweet Sisters Bakery (they have MACS there)….(they had the tiny sucky red velvet cupcakes from the taste-off). they have a nice assortment of desserts – cakes slices, cheesecakes, cookies, etc.
I was wondering/thinking that Sweet Sisters was probably nearby but we already had dessert! Next time I’ll be sure to check them out, too. This was a nice spot for lunch!