wich addiction / mira mesa – san diego, ca
Earlier this month, I had lunch with CC of Pink Candles of Ridgemont High and Faye of Faye’s Fork. I … Continue reading wich addiction / mira mesa – san diego, ca
Tag: sandwiches
coast of pacific beach restaurant walk 2013 – san diego, ca
Last month I was invited to go to the Coast of Pacific Beach Restaurant Walk. Since it was held in … Continue reading coast of pacific beach restaurant walk 2013 – san diego, ca
britts bbq / el segundo, ca
I had to make a quick trip up to LAX last month and I figured if I was going all … Continue reading britts bbq / el segundo, ca
d bar / hillcrest – san diego
When we visited D Bar for our bacon crawl, I knew we’d be back. We didn’t try any of the … Continue reading d bar / hillcrest – san diego
bld’s at valley view casino / valley center – san diego, ca
All of the casinos around San Diego have different offers and incentives to entice you into their casino to get … Continue reading bld’s at valley view casino / valley center – san diego, ca
woody’s burgers / miramar – san diego, ca
Woody’s Burgers has taken over the old spot for Bangin’ Burgers which closed down last year. My co-workers and I … Continue reading woody’s burgers / miramar – san diego, ca
pork belly sliders on steamed buns
This is really kind of the “lazy girl’s” method to do pork belly sliders with steamed buns since I didn’t actually make any of the ingredients – I just cooked them! The whole thing took maybe 20 minutes to do, if that. I’ve been playing around with ideas for a dinner for this Saturday and one item I wanted to make was something akin to the bao sandwiches we had in Vegas last summer.
This is the easy, cheap way to make these little sandwiches. Read on!
I was going to head down to 99 Ranch in search of the buns until I remembered – hey, we have H Mart!
At H Mart they had two different sized buns and I had no idea which would be better for my needs. There was this larger variety with 6 buns for about $2.29. There were also whole wheat version and an oat version of these buns. No instructions on this package.
There is also this smaller steamed “rolls” version. It has 15 rolls and sells for $1.99. There are instructions on the back of this package!
You barely need instructions, but it was still nice to have since I’ve never used these before. I steamed one larger bun and three of the smaller rolls. I like how the rolls have a little pattern on them – so cute! I steamed these for about 15 minutes. The package for the smaller buns says to steam them for 15-20 minutes – probably on the longer side if they’re straight out of the freezer.
This turned out to the be perfect opportunity to finally try some of the marinated meats they have in the back corner of H Mart. There’s a young lady who sort of hangs around by the price labeling machine to help assist you with your meats. Some people just go right by and bypass her to get their own meat, while other people (like me!) who wait and just have her do it. She looked kind of sad that other people were forsaking her. They have marinated beef, chicken and pork all ranging in different prices and cuts. I choose the marinated pork belly. This was 3 slices of pork belly. Continue reading “pork belly sliders on steamed buns”
jones brothers mississippi bbq / san diego, ca
Jones Brothers Mississippi BBQ is a little joint off Euclid Ave. near Lincoln Park. Jake suggested we try this place out last month after he spent some time talking to one of the owners. We’ve passed by this little nondescript BBQ spot a few times when we were on our way to Chula Vista and avoiding the traffic-clogged 805 freeway during rush hour. The smells of BBQ wafting in the air always made our mouths water and we finally had the chance to stop in to check out their BBQ.
[bbq overview – 3 meat combination with 3 sides – $22.99]
The ladies at the counter were really helpful and friendly – greeting us warmly as we came inside and grabbed a menu to try and figure out what we wanted. They even suggested that we get the 3 meat combination – that way we’d get to try a bunch of stuff for one price. That’s what we ended up doing and it was more than enough food for Jake, T and I to share for lunch with plenty of leftovers for later.
They also let us sample the BBQ sauce. They have a regular mild BBQ sauce, a spicy BBQ and what they call “Twist BBQ” sauce – a combination of the mild and spicy. I got a little taste of the twist and enjoyed it enough to agree that we have all of our meats smothered in the “twist” sauce. It had a delightfully sweet taste and just a enough of an extra spice to give it a tiny kick – which is about as much spice as I could take or want. I am, after all, still a wimp when it comes to spicy stuff.
[pulled pork]
The pulled pork ended up being my favorite meat of the three that we tried.
The pork was very tender and juicy. It melted away in my mouth from how tender it was and the sweetish sauce was a great accompaniment to the pork. I like pulled pork with sauce on it, so this was perfectly fine to me. I’m not sure what makes this stuff “Mississippi” style BBQ, but whatever it is, I like it. There’s no tangy flavor (rejoice!) just a nice, sweet and clean flavor from the sauce and the juicy meat.
[beef brisket]
I’m really not a brisket person – I don’t know what it is that turns me off from it – but this beef brisket wasn’t too bad, especially with that tasty BBQ sauce. Jake and T seemed to enjoy it but there was one item they enjoyed just a bit more…
[hot links]
… which was the hot links! There is a damn good amount of hot links here, also covered and tossed in their “twist” BBQ sauce. I am normally a great big fan of hot links and these hot links were also very good – juicy with a nice crisp “snap” to the links – but good god, they were really spicy! The “hot” part of the name was not lost on these links and they were much spicier than what little old me is used to and I sadly couldn’t eat too many of them. Jake and T were pretty bonkers for them though, and considering they like spicy stuff, this one was the winner for them that day.
Damn me and my low tolerance for spicy. Continue reading “jones brothers mississippi bbq / san diego, ca”
spiked, boozy coffee at islands restaurants
Hot drinks and booze. What more could you ask for this holiday season? Islands is offering these specialty drinks just … Continue reading spiked, boozy coffee at islands restaurants
tropical fruit paradise / mission gorge – san diego, ca
I buy lots of group deals from Groupon, LivingSocial, Amazon Local and places like that. Lately I’ve felt like a lot of the places I’ve been to have been just kind of “meh” and not really impressive with their food or service, so when I finally went in to use one of my coupons to a little place called Tropical Fruit Paradise, I really wasn’t expecting very much. I read a couple of Yelp reviews saying they had good torta sandwiches and that was enough to get me to shell out money to buy two coupons – and as it turns out, this was a really excellent idea.
Let’s say that my first visit was the “scouting trip”. I went here alone for lunch one Saturday afternoon while Jake had to work for a bit. My Amazon Local deal covered $10 – just enough to get me one torta sandwich and one strawberry agua fresca. I had to pay tax and for my bag of chips, all in all a steal.
[steak torta sandwich – includes mayo, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, and sliced avocado with a side of salsa – $6.99]
I ordered just a plain old steak torta, just wanting to try something “basic” and simple here for my scouting mission. I must say I was pleasantly surprised. The steak was well seasoned and marinated – cooked perfectly as well. It was juicy and cooked to medium and stacked high with lots of fresh veggies – red onion, tomatoes, green leaf lettuce and slices of perfectly ripe avocado.
The bread on the torta is also really nice – the bread is fluffy with a nice chew and is grilled on the inside. I could tell it was grilled on a stove to toast since the top of the was still fairly soft but had a really nice crunch from the grilling.
Since it’s a pretty large sandwich, I only ate half and brought the rest home to Jake. He ended up gobbling the sandwich in no time and thought – even cold – that it was one of the best torta sandwiches he’s ever had. I think I might have been onto something here.
[agua frescas – strawberry flavored – $2.49, large]
Ever since I got one of these at Frutilandia oh so many moons ago, I’ve loved them. I order them pretty much wherever we go – but I always get the same flavor! I can’t seem to branch out and try a new flavor, sticking with my standby strawberry favorite. The version here at Tropical Fruit Paradise seems a little creamier than other versions I’ve had a little less sweet – but still quite delicious in my book. I ordered one of these on both of my visits to Tropical Fruit Paradise. I can’t manage to tear myself away from them.
Must… have…strawberry water… arrrrgh!
[tostielote – tostitos, nacho cheese and corn – $3.99]
From here on out we’re using iPhone photos since I actually left my camera at home on our second visit. Lordy. Jake ordered this – it sounded totally weird to me, but since he was paying for it, I wasn’t going to complain.
I ate my words shortly after though since I did actually kind of like it. These are served right inside of a bag of salsa flavored Tostitos chips and topped off with nacho cheese, jalapenos and corn. Nacho cheese and corn?! Was this invented on purpose? I can’t see how that’s possible. I honestly believe someone had an open can of corn that got accidentally dumped in some nacho cheese and no one noticed until they started eating it and then decided it was good. I would never put “nacho cheese” and “corn” together otherwise. But for some reason it’s tasty? Even as I ate it I was in disbelief. Still kinda am.
[cubana torta – milaneza, chicken, ham, chorizo, egg, american egg, jack cheese + veggies – $7.69]
Jake and T shared this Cubana Torta – this thing is packed with goodies! Milaneza (which, in this case, it a thinly sliced breaded steak cutlet), chicken, ham, chorizo and an egg… with two kinds of cheese! This is definitely a rich sandwich with all of those layers packed into one sandwich – but you’re still able to wrap your whole mouth around the sucker since everything is thin enough to still make it a decent side.
I did have one little bit and the chorizo seemed to be the most dominant flavor since it had a little bit of a spicy kick to it. I thought the egg made it “too much” – but Jake totally loved this sandwich. We had this last weekend and just last night he told me he had been thinking about this sandwich for three days! I hope I don’t lose out to a sandwich! Continue reading “tropical fruit paradise / mission gorge – san diego, ca”
gluten free dining at 2Good2B bakery cafe / encinitas – san diego, ca
Let me just say right off the bat… I was skeptical. A gluten free restaurant with baked goods and regular food? Could this possibly be any good? As someone who doesn’t shun gluten at all and doesn’t have food allergies, I wasn’t sure how this whole experience would go down. But since I got invited to come in and check it out, I was willing to take the risk. And I have to say… I was pleasantly surprised.
[inside the cafe]
2Good2Be is a cute little cafe inside of one of the strip malls in Encinitas, CA. It’s a fast casual restaurant with lots of beverage options (coffees, teas), baked goods (cupcakes, brownies, cakes) as well as regular food – all gluten-free, corn free, corn syrup free and soy free.
[case of gluten free cupcakes]
The cupcakes that greet you when you walk in also very tempting looking – all pretty and decorated!
Jake and I ordered a few things from the menu to get an overall feel for their food and then, of course, saved room for cupcakes at the end.
[bottled sodas]
My initial beverage choice was rejected by Jake and he went up and got us some bottled sodas. I told him to surprise me and he got me this Cock ‘n Bull ginger beer which wasn’t too bad. I don’t normally drink full sugar sodas anymore but this one was decent with a good ginger flavor. Surprising to me, I actually liked the Cheerwine a little bit more. I thought it would be full on in-your-face-tastes-like-cough-syrup flavored cherry.. but it actually kind of reminded me of Dr. Pepper.
[cheese pizza]
We started off by sharing a cheese pizza. I really liked the HUGE dollops of ricotta on top. Ricotta makes me really happy, so this put a smile on my face.
This also had tomato sauce, mozzarella and just a touch of basil. I would have enjoyed a wee more bit of basil, but it was fine. The crust was a gluten free crust that was quite thin (like NY style thin) and quite a bit chewy. The outer edges of the pizza were kind of burnt which I did not like since it made the other edge too hard to eat. But overall the crust wasn’t bad – you could tell this wasn’t a normal crust, but it didn’t deter too much from the pizza (except for the burnt edges). Overall good flavor and good distribution of cheese.
[macaroni and cheese]
Our other shared item was the macaroni and cheese, something we’ve really taken a liking to order whenever we see it on a menu. Continue reading “gluten free dining at 2Good2B bakery cafe / encinitas – san diego, ca”
free birthday food in san diego, ca / 2012 edition
I turned 34 this year. It’s not a significant number. I can still say I’m in my early 30’s but I think I’m just shy of being bumped up to the next demographic group. I sure don’t feel like 34, not that I can really imagine what it should feel like. In my 34th year I can say that I’m happy. I’m content. I have a job that I enjoy, a boyfriend I adore, and I don’t feel like I’m lacking anything. I’m hoping for good karma and continued happy times.
As I do every year, I look forward to my birthday instead of shunning it away. I drag out the celebration by getting a bunch of free, delicious food into my belly. Or maybe I like hearing strangers wish me a happy birthday when I present my coupons? (Truth: It is definitely the former.)
I kicked off the year by getting lunch at Rubio’s.
[Rubio’s Street Taco Plate – $6.59 value]
Rubio’s Beach Club sends you email offers as well as a coupon good for 1 item up to $7.99.
This is the Rubio’s Street Tacos plate ($6.59) with one chicken, one beef and one carnitas taco, plus beans and chips. Of the three, I liked the beef the best, though really, I probably should have stuck to seafood here since that is their namesake. The chips were warm (a plus that has not always been the case) with a decent side of beans.
Coupon notes: Sent two weeks before birthday. Expires on birthday. Can use your phone to show coupon or you can print it out. Rubio’s Beach Club signup.
Panera Bread also treats you for your birthday by loading a “special offer” onto your My Panera card.
They don’t tell you what the offer is though, but let me spill the secret for you – it’s good for one bakery item.
When I found out what it was, I think I gave a little bit of a pouty face because I said, “Aw, I really wanted a bagel.” The guy serving me though instantly said, “What kind of bagel would you like?” and I told him I wanted the pumpkin bagel. He went ahead and rang up a chocolate pastry in it’s place, letting me get my pined for pumpkin bagel. How sweet!
Coupon notes: Free offer is loaded onto your My Panera card. Expires 60 days after your birthday. I got an email notice about my special offer 4 days before my birthday. Can pick up a card in store or join My Panera online.
I have skipped El Torito in the past but I decided it was high time to try out this deal. I haven’t been to El Torito in ages, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. The nice thing about this one – the free chips and salsa!
[Tableside Fajitas Salad – $12.99 value]
Signing up for El Torito’s Email Club yields you a birthday coupon that’s good for one item up to $12.99 – no other purchase necessary. I opted to get the Tableside Fajitas Salad with chicken which clocks in perfectly at $12.99. The salad and the sizzling fajitas are brought tableside and tossed together right before you – you have the option to get the dressing on the side, too, if you fear too much dressing. I walked on the wild side and let them do it for me. The onions and other fajita goodies are also tossed in with cojita cheese, chunks of avocado, roasted pepitas, pico de gallo, tortilla strips and a serrano-grape vinaigrette. Overall very delicious and fresh. I was surprised at how tasty it was!
My waiter also brought me a mini flan! Probably the cutest mini flan ever.
Coupon notes: Sent about 1 week before birthday. Expires 1 week after birthday. Doesn’t specify, but I printed this one out. El Torito Email Club signup. No other purchase required. Good up to $12.99.
[Mini Club Supreme with roast beef, turkey, swiss, bacon done “Mike’s Way”]
This is another one of the deals I haven’t used in years past because I thought I didn’t really like Jersey Mike’s. I went a couple of times when they first started popping up in San Diego and I tried their hot sandwiches – which I didn’t like. This time around I went for a cold sandwich and found it to be a much better experience.
The meats and cheeses are sliced fresh when you order your sandwich. I got the Club Supreme (roast beef, turkey, swiss, bacon) and I got it “Mike’s Way” – which is with lettuce, tomatoes, onion, mayo, olive oil and vinegar, oregano, salt and pepper. The cold sandwiches are way better than the hot ones with the fresh slices of meat and cheese. The bacon was also surprising good – very crisp and it tasted like real bacon, not like those flimsy pieces of “bacon” found in fast food restaurants. Glad I finally decided to drop in and get this deal!
I actually got the “mini” sub because I didn’t want to eat a regular sized, but this deal is good for the regular sized sub.
Coupon notes: Coupon emailed about 1 week before your birthday. Can only be used on your birthday with the printout and photo ID. Good for any regular sized sub and a drink. Jersey Mike’s Email Club signup. No other purchase required. Continue reading “free birthday food in san diego, ca / 2012 edition”