go go sushi & tofu / mira mesa – san diego, ca
There’s this spot in Mira Mesa that seems like such a good spot for a little restaurant… and yet, over … Continue reading go go sushi & tofu / mira mesa – san diego, ca
Tag: seafood
clementine gourment marketplace & cafe / palm desert, ca
Jake and I stayed in Palm Springs only one night – so after a very peaceful and restful night at … Continue reading clementine gourment marketplace & cafe / palm desert, ca
ristorante kaz / clairemont – san diego, ca
I’ve read about Ristorante Kaz on a few blogs so far and finally felt the pressing need to visit. I … Continue reading ristorante kaz / clairemont – san diego, ca
mr. dumpling / clairemont – san diego, ca
I gotta be honest. I wasn’t so sure how this visit to Mr. Dumpling would go. I hadn’t read very … Continue reading mr. dumpling / clairemont – san diego, ca
red moon noodle house / clairemont – san diego, ca
Red Moon Noodle House has been around since last year. A few bloggers have made the rounds here, but it … Continue reading red moon noodle house / clairemont – san diego, ca
hintoez / clairemont – san diego, ca
HINOTEZ is the sister restaurant to Yakitori Yakyudori, which I visited not too long ago with my co-workers. Jake, T … Continue reading hintoez / clairemont – san diego, ca
dining at terra american bistro for san diego restaurant week
San Diego Restaurant Week is upon us yet again! This biannual event is a county wide event, spreading into just about every neighborhood in San Diego county and bringing with it the joy of a three course meal (for dinner – or two courses for lunch). SDRW is a great way to explore new restaurants and try out menus for a set price. There are $20, $30 or $40 menus for dinner as well as $10, $15 or $20 menus for lunch.
I was again invited to come out and dine at one of our local restaurants and I choose to visit Terra American Bistro in the outer edge of La Mesa. There was a … slight snafu… involved with my visit, in that there was a miscommunication and the hostess and manager did not know about my visit. Happily, the manager did everything she could to figure out what was going on and Stacey and I were able to enjoy a dinner here. Since it was all kind of arranged “on the fly”, they picked out everything for us, giving us plates and samples from items that will be featured on the SDRW menu this week (all of these are available on the menu – minus a few of the desserts).
[complimentary bread with chickpea spread]
We were offered complimentary bread by our waiter. I was hungry and immediately said yes. I am never one to turn down bread, in any case. Bread, I love you and all of your glutens!
The bread came with “chickpea spread”. Stacey and I quirked an eyebrow at each other and said, “Isn’t that just hummus?”
It wasn’t really seasoned in the same way that hummus is and it was a much simpler spread, so I could see why they called it “chickpea spread” instead. Not knocking it or anything – it was simple and good – but I wouldn’t have complained if it had had a little extra seasoning. Good bread, as well. Tasted freshly made.
[“the remedy” – house infused sage bourbon, ginger lemongrass lemonade, bitters, lime, splash of soda]
Stacey opted to get an alcoholic beverage, while I abstained and just got the ginger lemongrass lemonade, as mentioned above in the description. I had a little sip of this – and it was dangerously delicious.
Dangerous in that it just tasted like sweet deliciousness with barely a hint of alcohol. Maybe just a *tad* too sweet.
[salty peppery calamari – fried garlic, green onion and chile flakes]
I know I said something about always ordering calamari – very recently! – but I didn’t order this! They brought it to our table, put it in front of me in the prettiest presentation I’ve ever seen for calamari and I had to eat it. Had to!
All of the plates were split for us – so we each got our own little plate. This dish was served on a very cool stone/granite plate – more like just a flat piece of rock, really – with the calamari in an edible “shell”.
Stacey affectionately called it a “squid-ucopia”! And she even ate a tiny piece! She didn’t really enjoy it, of course, but at least she was a trooper enough to try. She also “sneaked” all of her calamari into my squiducopia so it looked like I didn’t like it… but I did!
The fried garlic and chile flakes were all kind of at the bottom of the shell thing, but I got a few peppery bites here and there. It was also served with a kinda spicy sauce that I couldn’t get enough of. It had a good kick of flavor and tasted wonderful paired with the calamari. I ate almost every bit of this.
[roasted beet and goat cheese salad – honey-miso vinaigrette, baby greens, toasted hazelnuts]
Our next course was a roasted beet and goat cheese salad. Stacey, who is allergic to milk, was very happy to see goat cheese since it’s something she can actually eat. We were both not thrilled with the prospect of beets though, and our plates kind of looked like this:
[“beet henge”]
Well, mine looked like this. Stacey pushed all of her beets together on her plate and then said my plate looked like “Beet-Henge”.
I love Stacey.
And the goat cheese was really delicious. And creamy. And kind of dreamy.
[pot roast – mashed Yukon potatoes, local vegetables, truffle oil]
The first entree we got was this deliciously tender pot roast. The outer part of the pot roast had a bit of a crust and the inside was flavorful and tender. I especially like eating bites of the pot roast with the very creamy mashed potatoes. The mashed potatoes were perfectly smooth and well seasoned – very flavorful. The local veggies were all bright and crisp and there was such a nice variety on the plate – not to mention colorful! Continue reading “dining at terra american bistro for san diego restaurant week”
taco eating at rubios
I don’t go to Rubio’s that often. Once in a blue moon I’ll go on Taco Tuesday and get the … Continue reading taco eating at rubios
busalacchi’s a modo mio / hillcrest – san diego, ca
Busalacchi’s is a pretty well known name around here in San Diego and recently I had the opportunity to visit Busalacchi’s A Modo Mio in Hillcrest for “a modo mio” week – or “my way” – where the chef calls the shots for dinner service. Guests get to choose what kind of entree they want (chicken, red meat, fish or vegetarian) and chef Joe Busalacchi takes care of the rest. It’s a fun and adventurous way to dine and you get to taste a little bit of everything that a restaurant has to offer.
This was the appetizer samplers laid out before Stacey and I for our first course. No messing around here. There’s a little bit of everything, including some complimentary bread with a bruschetta topping (which was incredibly flavorful for something that just looked like tomatoes in a cup).
[garbanzo croquettes]
These little fried croquettes were made out of garbanzo beans and pressed into this square shape. I thought they looked kind of weird and spongy, but they were actually a little crisp on the outside and kind of creamy in the middle (and really not spongy whatsoever). I’ve never seen garbanzos prepared like this before!
[pickled veggies plate with artichoke, olives, mushrooms, sardines, cheese and prosciutto]
We also got this little plate of mostly pickled things. I personally don’t like pickled anything so I was feeling very adventurous with this plate. I did try the mushroom but I didn’t care for it – the marinade made it taste off to me, but like I said… no pickled stuff for me. Prosciutto was fine, a tad salty though.
[pizza bread]
For some reason I have no notes about this except “pizza bread” and “flavorful”.
Clearly I need to take better notes.
[eggplant parmesan]
This dish actually surprised me because I don’t usually like eggplant. But this dish I ended up really liking it and – funny enough – didn’t taste at all to me like eggplant. I just tasted a very flavorful, rich and herby sauce with plenty of basil. The eggplant was tender and just soaked up the flavor of the sauce so I was really astounded I liked it!
[calamari]
Since Stacey doesn’t eat seafood, I got to have this plate all to myself. Wonderfully seasoned calamari, I would marry you if I could. The batter on this version is light and crispy, well seasoned and perfectly fried. The batter did not take away from the deliciousness of the calamari and is one of the better versions I’ve had of this dish.
[frisee pomegranate salad with arugula and pumpkin seeds]
This salad had frisee and arugula in it – and yet I still liked it! The combination of flavors and textures just made this whole salad really shine – from the crunchy bits of pumpkin seeds to the brightness of the pomegranates to the sweetness of the dressing balanced with the peppery arugula. Really packed with flavor and it was pretty and artful. Continue reading “busalacchi’s a modo mio / hillcrest – san diego, ca”
thai time 2 / sports arena – san diego, ca
For my birthday, my friend Laura took me to see a play at the San Diego Repertoire Theater. Before we headed over to the show, we stopped for some dinner at Thai Time 2 – a place Laura had found in one of the many coupon books floating around town (this was for a buy one get one free meal). When we walked in and got a booth in the restaurant, we both kind of gave each other looks simply because of the decor of the restaurant.
Now, I know you should never judge anything by it’s cover… but wow. The pink and teal colors of this place are really not doing it any favors and why on earth does the carpet change color once you get into that “pink” room? Who knows…
We were also in a weird corner with this small door and low hanging pipe. Someone helpfully pointed out the pipe with this little sign. Uh huh.
Despite the strange and baffling decor, we did stay and actually eat food here.
After going back and forth between a few items, Laura and I finally decided on two dishes to share.
[pad see yew with shrimp – $8.95]
Pad See Yew has quickly become one of my new favorite dishes – I’m in love with these flat noodles that’s serviced with this dish. This batch came with broccoli, egg and black bean sauce with a few other veggies thrown in for good luck. This dish was quite tasty and we chose to pair it with shrimp, though you could always go for tofu (or mock meat of your choice), chicken, pork, beef, calamari, seafood, scallop, roast duck or a combination plate.
The sauce was perfectly balanced with the veggies, shrimp and noodles. Slightly sweet (very slight) and a nice flavor from the stir frying. Very yummy!
[peanut steak – grilled steak topped with peanut sauce – $15.95]
Laura really wanted something with peanut sauce on it and we didn’t want to get another noodle dish so we opted to try out this Peanut Steak. The description said it came with peanut sauce but for some reason we didn’t think it would be smothered quite like this! Continue reading “thai time 2 / sports arena – san diego, ca”
the boiling crab / mira mesa – san diego, ca
I’d been wanting to check out the Boiling Crab for awhile since it was the newest restaurant to pop up in my neighborhood. My friend, Laura, and I tried to go once for lunch, only to discover they only opened for dinner. What!
A few weeks ago we were browsing around the farmer’s market in Mira Mesa and then decided to head over here for dinner to try it out. I’d heard kind of a mixed bag of reviews about the place, but I always believe that I have to try it for myself before I can judge.
Laura and I weren’t quite sure what to expect from this place. They place a big sheet of paper over the table and hand you some bibs and menus. No utensils for you, my friend! Here’s Laura with our bags of steamy food and disposable cups of water. I’m pretty sure everything in this place is disposable. Maybe they really hate doing dishes here – makes for an easy cleanup, anyway.
Everything here is sold by the pound – but you can get 1/2 pound amounts if you don’t want a full pound of something. One thing we did notice is the lack of vegetables – pretty much the only veggies they have are corn and potatoes. We kind of wishing for a salad or something, but I suppose that doesn’t really fit the seafood boil theme.
[shrimp, sausage and corn mixture]
We ended up sharing 1 pound of shrimp ($10 per pound), a half pound of sausages ($8 per pound) and 2 corn on the cob ($.75 cents each).
The seasonings they have available are Rajun Cajun, Lemon Pepper, Garlic Sauce or “The Whole Sha-Bang!” which is a combination of all three. We got it with garlic sauce. The shrimp and sausage came in one bag and we ordered the corn in a separate bag with just butter.
The shrimp are cooked with the shell and heads on. Shrimp heads don’t bother me exactly, but I’m not really into eating them (though I know other people are). The flavor was … just okay to me. The shrimp were a bit overcooked resulting in a slight rubbery texture. I didn’t think the shrimp soaked up the flavor of the sauce at all – they tasted like the shrimp were cooked first and then just tossed in the sauce later so not a lot of transfer of flavor. The sausage was fine, nothing to sing about, and the sauce wasn’t really detectable on there either.
The corn on the cob were really awful. The corn was really mushy and lacked any kind of flavor – it tasted like frozen corn on the cob tossed in a weird sort-of-butter-like sauce. I actually complained about the corn and the manager came by to ask me about it and I told him the truth. He said the corn was usually much better when it was cooked in with the sauce and he gave us another round of corn free of charge and didn’t charge us for the first two corns.
[corn with garlic sauce]
Yeah… these were not any better. At all. Still tasted really mushy and flavorless, with maybe slightly more flavor than the other set we got, but still not really enough improvement to entice me to eat it any further than one bite. Continue reading “the boiling crab / mira mesa – san diego, ca”
white bean and sweet chili coconut shrimp pizza
I’m a bit proud of this one, my second post for the WorldFoods challenge. And I got this idea from thinking about beans.
Beans are not usually something I ever think about. I tend to shun beans, not really enjoying their flavor or consistency. But I did have a bean dish this summer that I really enjoyed at Isola Pizza Bar – it was made with cannellini beans and had a great punch of garlic and rosemary and served as a dip. I started thinking… what if I put that dip on a pizza?
And then what if I added shrimp to it?
This led me to make this White Bean and Sweet Chili Coconut Shrimp Pizza.
Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
This is about all you need – and some onion, which I forgot to include in the photo. Silly.
The first thing you need to do is crank your oven to 500 degrees. Put your pizza pan in there, too. Trust me.
The next thing to do is prep the shrimp – clean and devein those suckers and then use this Sweet Chili Coconut sauce to marinate the shrimp.
Then just set it aside while you prep the rest of your food! You should also take out your pizza dough to let it rest and come up to room temperature while you are making the bean sauce.
These creamy looking beans need a drain after the lid is popped off, but save that “bean juice”! We’re going to need it again while making the bean sauce.
Chop up about half an onion and five cloves of garlic. It seems like a lot of garlic but I think it gives the bean sauce a great, simple flavor.
Cook the onions in olive oil with a sprinkle of salt and pepper until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another minute, until fragrant.
Add your beans and a few tablespoons of the reserved bean liquid. Add another dash of salt and pepper and cook until heated through.
Put the whole thing into your blender with the rest of the reserved bean liquid and a few good tablespoons of olive oil.
Whirl this mixture around until perfectly smooth. Be sure to taste it and season to your liking! It might need a little more salt & pepper love, if your tongue tells you so.
Smooth, creamy, bean stuff!
Time to prep the pizza dough!
Sprinkle a little bit of flour on the dough and then you need to stretch and roll it out.
I like to let gravity do all of the work for me. I start to twist the dough around in the air to stretch it out. I don’t do that tossing thing – I’m afraid of dropping the whole thing on the floor. I work quickly enough to get the dough out to a good size – though not quite round… but that’s okay!
Once the dough is a good size and the oven’s ready, pull the pizza pan out of the oven and carefully place the dough on top. Once it’s on there it will not move until cooked through, so be mindful!
The heat from the pan will sear the bottom of the crust and start cooking it right away, helping you to create a nice, crispy bottom.
After the dough goes down, I always put olive oil, salt and pepper on the bottom. I’m a firm believer in seasoning every layer!
The dough is ready for that beautiful white bean sauce to be spooned on top of the crust.
Plop your shrimp across your misshaped pizza and then pop it back into your hot oven. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
Yummy pizza goodness is now at your fingertips! Even if it’s not a traditional round shape. That just makes it more “rustic”.
For a little “oomph”, add prosciutto and chopped cilantro to your pizza after it comes out of the oven. Totally optional, but also another little layer of flavor for your slices.