yokohama yakitori koubou / clairemont – san diego, ca
My co-worker David really wanted us all to try yakitori at this one spot that he really loved and arranged … Continue reading yokohama yakitori koubou / clairemont – san diego, ca
Tag: cheap
sloppy’s burritos / hillcrest – san diego, ca
Sloppy’s Burritos is a new Mexican restaurant in Hillcrest with a focus on serving sustainable, local and healthy ingredients. I … Continue reading sloppy’s burritos / hillcrest – san diego, ca
hodad’s / ocean beach – san diego, ca
I haven’t been to Hodad’s in forever. The last time I went was when Alyssa (my good friend and long … Continue reading hodad’s / ocean beach – san diego, ca
tacos de mexicali / city heights – san diego, ca
My dad got a coupon to Tacos de Mexicali and so I copied him and got the same coupon for … Continue reading tacos de mexicali / city heights – san diego, ca
las cuatro milpas / barrio logan – san diego, ca
Jake and I have heard about Las Cuatro Milpas for years. We’ve attempted to go a few times, feeling quickly … Continue reading las cuatro milpas / barrio logan – san diego, ca
hao vi chinese restaurant / city heights – san diego, ca
Hao Vi is this little restaurant is smack in the middle of City Heights. Jake and I used to pass it all of the time on the way to his old apartment in the ‘hood and for some reason, I always wanted to go here. It didn’t look like much, just this tiny little place on the corner, but I wanted to go exploring. The day we were going to actually go we couldn’t, since Jake didn’t have any cash and I had a brain fart and couldn’t remember my pin number. I racked and racked my brain, but I just could not think of it! It was like one day I remembered it, and the next day – poof! That memory was gone.
Ah well. I got a new bank card and reset my pin to something I would actually remember and we were finally able to go here.
As you can see from that sign on the counter, this place is definitely “CASH ONLY”.
And yes, that giant light in the back is probably one of two lights in the whole place. The other from the front of the place, where the outside sign is located. They aren’t into interior lighting in this place. It also looks kind of dirty and there’s a weird tray of condiments at every table. Oh, and the parking is this weird tiny lot in the back off of a side road, with no lights there either.
This place screams “hole in the wall” on so many levels.
They’ve got a shorter menu then I’ve seen at other Chinese restaurants. No descriptions on it at all with a vague idea of what you’re going to get. We tried to ask the waitress what a few things were but it was hard for her to explain in broken English and it was hard for us to understand. We just went with it and ordered the best we could.
Menu Page 1 | Menu Page 2 | Menu Page 3
[beef chow mein (dry) – $7.99]
When we got our dishes, I actually confused them. And then I confused them again while writing this post. The names of the dishes didn’t quite match up to what I thought – why does it say dry in parenthesis? No idea. What we did get was a veggie laden dish with some delicious stir fried beef and yellow noodles.
You can’t really see how much (or what kind) noodles is in the dish from that first photo so here’s another shot. Under the layer of veggies lies this bed of noodles with a lovely little sauce. In the mix are bean sprouts, cabbage, onions, carrots and topped off with a sweetish sauce that’s made with pork and beef stock. There’s definitely a ton of veggies in this dish (much to Jake’s dismay) but the beef is tender and well seasoned. A surprisingly excellent first dish to start off with.
Another note here: we ordered three dishes, and each dish came out one at a time – long enough for us to polish off a majority of the dish before the next item came out. The dishes are served family style and it’s plenty of food for sharing!
[bbq pork vegetable crisp noodle – $6.50]
The second thing I picked was under “Chow Fun & Mein” – which was Chow Fun and which was Chow Mein I’ll never know.
Now this one sort of came out like what I thought – with crisp noodles on top. They look a lot like the noodles from the previous dish – except the noodles are crunchy and there’s a tasty sauce underneath. Continue reading “hao vi chinese restaurant / city heights – san diego, ca”
minh ky restaurant / city heights – san diego, ca
We went here because A) the place I originally wanted to go to was cash only and for the life of me, I could not remember my pin number that weekend and B) it had a fairly high rating of over 300+ reviews on Yelp. I’ve learn to take Yelp reviews with a grain of salt though, since people tend to rate with no rhyme or reason (“the parking sucks, 1 star” or “it looks dirty, I walked out and didn’t actually try any of the food, 1 star” or on the opposite end with highly overrated food and other shenanigans). We ended up here on kind of a whim, a second choice location, but as it turned out, it was a pretty good whim after all.
Parking here is actually pretty weird. There’s a tiny, almost unnavigable parking lot in front of the tiny strip mall and a sketchy parking lot in the back, behind the restaurant. We parked in the back since it was the only space we could find, though the area made me cringe with the obscene amount of trash littered about.
We went inside and saw a small, cozy, 12-table restaurant. Every table was full but we must have had a stroke of good luck since we didn’t have to wait long to be seated.
They have an enormous six page menu with over 200+ items on board. A little baffling, to say the least.
Menu Page 1 | Menu Page 2-3 | Menu Page 4-5 | Menu Page 6
There’s also a specials board on the right side, listing about 5 different specials. We decided to try the Shrimp Tempura and BBQ Pork.
[tempura shrimp + bbq pork – $5.50]
Since neither Jake or T like shrimp, I got to keep that all for myself. The shrimp are butterflied and flattened and have a thin coating on the batter with what seemed to be panko crumbs. There was a side of Thai sweet chili dipping sauce for both appetizers. I enjoyed the shrimp – the batter didn’t hide the flavor of the shrimp and the shrimp was nice and tender on the inside.
The BBQ pork was a tad dry but a few pieces were perfectly sweet and tender.
[dumplings and wonton lo mien – $5.75]
This dish actually surprised me since it came out in two bowls – one with the noodles and one with the broth and dumplings/wontons. Lo mien makes me think of noodle dishes, sans broth, and nothing like this.
Here’s the broth by itself – you can see the dumplings and pieces of char sui pork just under the surface with the scallions scattered over the top.
And a closeup of the noodles with a hint of a sauce just underneath the pile of noodles.
Jake started to eat them separately, but me – I put those two suckers together and had myself a little lo mien soup.
I loved the flavor of the broth – it wasn’t overpowering, very nicely seasoned with a good amount of flavor and (as you can see) oil. The noodles were tender and delicious as well and the meaty dumplings were really nice with the broth. I liked the pork pieces in this dish more than the ones we had as an appetizer – they were more tender and flavorful, perhaps a result of sitting in the broth? Continue reading “minh ky restaurant / city heights – san diego, ca”
tacos el gordo de tijuana / chula vista, ca
You like Mexican food? Of course you do! What’s not to like about delicious tacos piled with meats and cheeses? Tacos El Gordo de Tijuana is one place that really does it right. This little taco shop is originally from Tijuana and they have ported themselves over the border to San Diego with three locations in town, plus one in Vegas.
[menu at tacos el gordo in chula vista]
As soon as you walk in, you can tell this place is just a little bit different from the other taco shops in town. The menu is well lit above you and there are stations. Each station specializes in a particular kind of meat. There’s a carne asada guy, an adobada guy and a guy who kind of serves up “everything else” (tripe, cabeza, legnua, etc.)
You pick the kind of meat you want and order from that station. Jake and I always go to the adobada station for the spicy pork that’s turned on a spit.
[adobada slowly turning on the spit]
Mmm, meat on a spit.
[slicing pieces of adobada]
I always make Jake order because he does know enough conversational Spanish to get by. I’d rather not break out my rusty old high school Spanish.
God, I’m such an American.
I’m sure they’ll understand you even if you speak English, but I still make Jake do all of the ordering. What a good boyfriend.
The guy starts slicing meat off for our assortment of treats and prepares our tortillas by dipping them in the drippings from the pork and then grilling them. Holy heart attack on a plate! Probably why it tastes so darn good…
They’re fast and efficient and get your order ready in no time. There’s a line behind you, they gotta be quick with this stuff. Once you have all of your treats you go over to pay then try to find a seat so you can devour your meal.
[juicy, freshly made adobada taco – $2.00]
Jake usually gets the tacos with everything – salsa, onions and cilantro and some avocado looking dressing tucked on top of two corn tortillas.
Continue reading “tacos el gordo de tijuana / chula vista, ca”
kelly’s donuts and burgers / huntington beach – orange county, ca
Over Labor Day weekend this year, Jake, the kids and I headed up to Huntington Beach for the Civil War Reenactment that weekend. I got really interested in Civil War history after taking a few history classes in college at Boston University – I started liking history so much that it was my concentration (I was a little too lazy to actually minor in it though).
For the past two years, Jake and I have gone up to Calico for their Civil War weekend over President’s Day. I want to go to another one a little closer to home and this one was the winner.
Before we headed over to the camps though, we needed a little something to fill our bellies. We made a quick pit stop not too far from the Huntington Beach library to check out Kelly’s Donuts and Burgers.
[kind of empty looking donut case]
I started getting a little worried when we walked in and this was their donut selection.
All of the donuts mixed together just on a few trays. Say what? This was a donut shop wasn’t it?
[partial menu at kelly’s donuts and burgers]
Yes, it is definitely a donut shop but they also have other offerings for breakfast and lunch – including deli sandwiches and of course, burgers.
I put my skepticism aside as best I could after seeing the sad donut case. The kids and I each got a donut and Jake and I shared a breakfast burrito.
[polish sausage, egg, hash browns and cheese breakfast burrito – $3.75]
The burritos normally come with salsa, but I asked for it without since I don’t really like salsa inside of my food all that much.
[burrito closeup]
This was a fairly simple burrito. The polish sausage gave the burrito a good overall taste and the eggs were done well (maybe slightly overcooked but still solid). The hash browns were nice and crisp, too. I didn’t really taste a whole lot of cheese in it, so that could have been improved a little. Jake got a cup of salsa on the side and liked it better with some salsa. All in all it was a pretty decent breakfast burrito. Jake liked it a lot more than I did. The price sure is right though.
[donuts]
The kids were luckily able to easily pick out donuts for themselves, S. choosing the jelly donut and A. picking the chocolate and peanut cake donut. Jake skipped out on donuts while I got a blueberry donut.
Continue reading “kelly’s donuts and burgers / huntington beach – orange county, ca”
milo’s pizza & subs / college area – san diego, ca
I went to Milo’s Pizza on a whim. I was at Jake’s waiting for him to come home from work and wanted to have some pizza ready for him. I went and got a couple of pizzas and some garlic bread. It was the garlic bread that hooked me – nice, thick sourdough with lots of crunch!
Jake and I finally came back recently so Jake could try out a pipping hot pie and have started to come here a bit more regularly.
[milo’s pizza mottos]
“Yes, our slice pies are cooked in a brick oven.” (Score)
“No. We do not use sausage that looks like dog food!” (Double score)
[16″ inch x-large pizza with ricotta and meatball – $11.99 + $1.50 per topping]
We ordered whole pies at first before discovering the slice specials. This one above has meatball and ricotta. The whole pie has a thin, sort of soft crust with a good amount of sauce. I liked how their sauce tasted – not too tangy and not overly sweet. Everything tasted fresh!
[sourdough garlic bread – 4 slices for $2.49 (i had already eaten a slice…)]
I love how thickly cut the slices of garlic bread are – nice, hearty slices of sourdough. Not too heavy with the garlic (not enough in my opinion) so it will sit well with most folks. Little sprinkle of herbs in there, too, but it’s just a hint.
Next up… the slice specials – cheap and delicious!
Continue reading “milo’s pizza & subs / college area – san diego, ca”
lemon grove deli / lemon grove – san diego, ca
The Lemon Grove Deli is a little restaurant that’s nestled in the heart of Lemon Grove. It’s in amongst the many little shops and businesses in Downtown Lemon Grove, near the trolley station. The Lemon Grove Deli serves up some mean breakfast and then also does sandwiches in the afternoons. You can stop by on Sunday and get breakfast until 2PM – which is what Jake and I did on a recent weekend.
This is one of my “adventures in groupons!” posts – I had a coupon for 2 breakfast and 2 drinks for one price. It was just the two of us for breakfast that morning and we sat outside on the patio to enjoy the beautiful summer day. There was a slight wait in getting someone to see to us, but we were in no kind of rush. When our waitress did come by we asked for some coffee while we continued to look over the menu.
[coffee & creamers – $1.95]
The coffee was pretty good for a standard cup. Not too strong but strong enough to have a nice, distinct flavor. I also enjoyed that they had a little bowl of different flavored creamers. They had vanilla, hazelnut and plain and I chose to dump a couple of hazelnuts in mine.
Hazelnut + coffee = a match made in heaven to me.
[breakfast menu at the lemon grove deli]
Here’s a peek at their breakfast menu. There’s a really good amount of options and you get a TON of food for the price.
[our breakfast, from above]
See that plate of biscuits and gravy? And the pancakes? Both side dishes for each meal.
So. Much. Food!
Continue reading “lemon grove deli / lemon grove – san diego, ca”
the huddle / mission hills – san diego, ca
I first read about the Huddle over on Dennis’s blog, A Radiused Corner. It’s been tickling the back of my mind for awhile now. I’ve been searching for a good “go-to” place for breakfast and looking for the elusive “perfect” hash browns after my favorite place for hash browns closed last year.
The Huddle has recently earned a place in my heart with it’s down-home, “sit and stay awhile” feel. This local, family owned restaurant has been around for quite awhile and I’m glad I finally got to make my rounds to drop by for a visit.
On our first visit, Jake and I (with two of the kids in tow) make only a conservative effort at tackling their massive menu.
The first thing I ordered? The “Del Mar Fair Cinnamon Roll”. It called to me. I had to answer the siren song.
[The Del Mar Fair Cinnamon Roll – $2.50]
The huge hunk of a cinnamon roll is the same recipe from the lady who makes the famous cinnamon rolls you get at the fair every summer. The Huddle puts their own spin on the roll by slicing and grilling the massive roll and topping it off with their own homemade cream cheese icing. What you get as a result is a fresh, warm cinnamon roll with a little crisp and crunch from the grilling. The creamy icing melts on top and should be slathered onto very bite for maximum enjoyment.
Four of us happily split this cinnamon roll and devoured it in record time. It’s so big that I do highly recommend you share this with a friend to avoid the onslaught of a sugar coma.
PS – This is my new favorite cinnamon roll in town. For reals!
[Corned Beef Hash and Eggs – $9.50]
I had a serious hankering for some corned beef hash. Jake only made a slight protest and then told me to “order whatever I wanted” since we were sharing. I was going to get something else, but since he’s a good boyfriend, made it sound like it really didn’t bother him if I ordered this. So I did.
We told our waitress we’d be sharing the plate, so she went ahead and split the plates for us. How nice is that! I was very touched by this little detail – and that we didn’t have to ask for it to happen and it was done at no extra charge. That is what I call some fine service!
The corned beef hash itself was quite good – it had a nice, crispy top and was soft on the bottom. Not too salty but with a good overall flavor. If you dig this type of thing, then the version they serve here won’t disappoint you.
[Homemade jams]
The other thing that I found exciting was their lineup of homemade jams.
Our waitress, who’s family has owned the Huddle for years, told us that the jams were her grandmother’s recipe. The jams you see above are: apple butter, strawberry rhubarb, and orange marmalade.
Continue reading “the huddle / mission hills – san diego, ca”