Category: Clairemont

Clairemont, San Diego County, Mary

phuong trang / clairemont – san diego, ca

I like referring to “Phuong Trang” as “that ‘sea food’ place next to Big Joy” since I’ve always wanted to go simply because it says “SEA FOOD” spelled as two words out front. These kind of things amuse me. Please bear with me.

I stopped in one day by myself just to try the chicken wings for a little snack. I was waiting for Jake to come home and did a mini preview to see if it might entice me enough to bring me back – and it did! Not long after that Jake and T came with me for lunch one day to check it all out.

[bbq pork meatball rolls with lettuce, thai basil, bean sprouts and vermicelli noodles – $4.50]

This was one thing that Jake wanted to get. I ordered the rest! It’s a spring roll filled with bbq pork.

Here’s a cut view of the spring roll – it has the fresh wrapper and a long grilled piece of pork, with noodles and fresh Thai basil.

The spring rolls were served with this little cup of peanut sauce with chopped up peanuts.

The spring roll was very good – very crisp and refreshing and the meat was nicely seasoned and prepared. I’m quite sure what makes this a “meatball” – but I suspect it was some kind of meat that they prepared there in the shop. In any case, it was pretty delicious, especially dipped in a bit of the thick peanut sauce.

[stir-fried noodles with cha-siu pork, baby bok choy, broccoli, carrots, celery and onions in a garlic sauce – $7.75]

I picked one of the noodle dishes to try with my new favorite wide rice noodles. With this dish you can also get soft egg noodles, udon noodles or crispy egg noodles but the wide rice noodles were what I was craving.

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Mary, Clairemont, Linda Vista, San Diego County

homestyle hawaiian and rockie’s frozen yogurt / clairemont – san diego, ca

Homestyle Hawaiian is a tiny little place near Mesa College serving up some grand Hawaiian food. It’s not in the strip mall where K Sandwiches is, but in another strip mall behind that one. The first time Jake and I went here we passed it a few times before we actually found it. It’s totally tucked away in the corner and there don’t seem to really be any other businesses operating on that side. But, this tiny little joint does put out some tasty food.

I originally came here with a Groupon and then forgot to do a post about the food there. Since my hard drive crash, I lost a lot of data (*silent weeping*) and no longer have those photos to share. But I do remember that Jake and I both got lemonades and some of the Kalua Pig. The Kalua Pig is very tender and moist from what I remember.

On our next visit, we had yet another Groupon and Jake, S. and I shared a couple of plate lunches and some more of their fine lemonade.

[Peach Lemonade and Strawberry Lemonade]

These are big 32oz suckers. They’re made by hand right when you order them. They squeeze the lemons fresh and then add the flavoring and some kind of sugar syrup and mix the drink up in a big container they just shake, shake and shake some more.

Jake got the peach and I got the strawberry. Mine was a little too sweet this time (versus the last time we had it) but it was still delicious. I like it to have a little more tartness, just so you know you’re actually drinking lemonade. I love that they put the lemon rinds into your drink as well.

[Lava Chicken plate – $7]

Jake ordered the Lava Chicken plate, which comes with a scoop of macaroni salad and a scoop of rice (you can also get a little salad of greens if you don’t want one of those). The lava chicken is the katsu but with a “lava” sauce on it, a spicy sauce that’s tossed over the chicken katsu.

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San Diego County, Mary, Clairemont

mr. steve’s famous bbq at the hungry stick / clairemont – san diego, ca

Okay, now that I have my trusty laptop again, let’s play catch up!

Last month Jake and I were out and about in Clairemont and I was hungry. I thought it might be a good time to finally try Little Sheep and we headed over there. Jake looked less than enthusiastic about the place, especially after we saw the prices. I yielded and decided I’d try it on another day and instead we walked over to another restaurant in the parking lot – The Hungry Stick.

I’ve driven by the Hungry Stick a few times before. It’s always look like a dive to me but the name has always amused me. Is it a stick that’s hungry? Do you hold the stick to indicate you are hungry? I have no idea. These are the kinds of things I think about.

We walked in and noticed about half of the place was in renovation. The upper part, the bar area, was open with a few pool tables, booths and long, dark bar. There was a menu and a sign talked about “Mr. Steve’s Famous BBQ”. I thought we were at the Hungry Stick?

No matter. We braved it and I’m sure glad we did.

[The Menu]

We found out from our super friendly waitress that The Hungry Stick had very recently abandoned their old menu in favor of doing BBQ with Mr. Steve. He’s even won a few trophies and awards (that you can see as soon as you walk in) for his BBQ. Our waitress told us that they had tried so many different types of food at that place and were trying to do so many different things that she was glad to see them do something a little simpler – and something that’s really tasty.

[Pulled Pork Dinner – $11.99, plus extra side]

We had originally ordered the beef ribs, but Mr. Steve wasn’t happy with the way the ribs came out and told our waitress he couldn’t serve them. Instead of selling us product he wasn’t happy with, we were kindly asked to choose another dish. Our waitress had raved about the pulled pork so we gave it a shot.

We got 2 sides with it – fries and corn bread – and added on potato salad as an extra side ($2.50).

[Close up of the pulled pork]

Jake and I shared the plate… I’m pretty sure we had plans later that day and sharing made the most sense. The pork was so tender and delicious though, we almost didn’t want to share anymore.

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