mmm-yoso!!!

Opera Patisseries Fines-part one, breakfast

Part Two can be found here

mmm-yoso!!! is the food blog.  The writings are contributed by Kirk, ed (from Yuma), Cathy, Vicky L and a few others. We just take photos of what we eat and then write about it...an unusual hobby.  Today, Cathy is writing.  Everyone else is eating...Kirk is eating the most interesting food of all.  He is on vacation. In a foreign country. Where they eat animals we would not consider eating. Prepared in a manner we would consider using.

The other Saturday morning The Mister and I found ourselves in the Sorrento Valley area, hungry.
  Opera is in a food court mall, with about 6 other restaurants.  This area is way crowded during the week, since people working at the surrounding offices apparently like to eat. Especially at the lunch hour.   It is on Scranton Road, just off  Mira Mesa Boulevard, East of the 805.
  You walk in, order and pay, find a seat, put your number in that metal number holder thingy and soon, your coffee ($1.65) (if you ordered coffee-there are a variety of espresso drinks and teas as well as a soda fountain available) is delivered to your table.
Since it was early and breakfast time, The Mister chose the French Toast ($7.50).
Two slices of a *wonderful* brioche, dipped in a vanilla egg batter and fried perfectly lightly, placed on a raspberry sauce and served with warm maple syrup.  Just a lightly crisp exterior, soft, not mushy bread interior.   The serving size of two thick slices is quite large.
Trying to appear to be healthy (Hello Dr. B!), I ordered an egg white omelette ($8.95) which comes with a choice of three fillings (I chose mushrooms, tomatoes and asparagus) (other items to choose from are ham, Cheddar, Swiss, bacon, onion and peppers) and is served with a choice of a fruit cup or salad and also the Yukon Gold potatoes seen here. 
I must confess, I did not expect much at all, but this was the *most* wonderful egg white omelet, perfectly made.  Crispy exterior and fluffly light interior.  Just like the French Toast.  The vegetables had been sauteed and were so fresh and flavorful.  The fruit salad was all ripe, good fruit.  The potatoes were thick sliced sauteed to a light crispiness and yet were still soft.  The Yukon Gold flavor was there.

Opera is known best for its pastries and sweets and baking as well as the  crepes, quiches, croissant sandwiches and salads which are made to order and which make each meal an event.

Breakfast is served Mon-Fri from 7:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. and again from 1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m. and all day on Saturday.  The lunch post is coming soon. Featuring pastries!

Opera Patissieres Fines 9254 Scranton Road San Diego 92121 (858) 458-9050 Mon-Fri 7:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Saturday 8:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m., closed Sunday  Website

Vine Ripe Market (and the adjoining restaurant)- La Mesa

Since this post, the adjoining restaurant has changed. I'll link to it once I have something to say.

Hello and welcome back to mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog written by Kirk, ed(from Yuma), VickyL and Cathy.  Kirk is still on vacation. ed (from Yuma) is in Yuma.  VickyL is in Northern California and cathy is in East San Diego County, blogging today.

Hello again.  Vine Ripe Market was around a few years ago, then closed, then opened again in January  2010.  I wrote a post about it back in 2006, when Kirk went  on his Hawaii vacation. (It was my 5th post.  Ever.) 
It seems to be a bit cleaner than before, and the bakery, meat, produce, regular aisles, freezer and deli sections are filled with wonderful well priced items. 
 All Halal meats.
  Household items and accessories are sold here also.
 
 Inside there are steam trays with hot food, sandwiches can be made to order or you can go out front and to the Fletcher Parkway side of the building is the restaurant. (I have never seen a name for the restaurant, not even on the menu..)

We started with a Turkish coffee  ($2)on this chilly day (all the seating is outdoors).
 
The Mister ordered the Ghorme Sabzi-Vegetable stew ($9.99) a baby lamb shank cooked with red beans, lime ad fresh herbs.  The meat was tender and flavorful as was the accompanying stew. Really good. 
I ordered a chicken Shawerma sandwich ($5.99) served on a warm pita bread. Juicy marinated very flavorful chicken cut from the spit then grilled with lettuce, green pepper and onion in the bread.  This is served with salad and house made hummus. A nice olive oil with vinegar and herbs dressing is served also.  
On another day, we ordered hot tea... 
 We decided on a Greek side salad ($4.99)to go with the sandwiches we ordered. Lettuce, cucumber, tomato, onion olives, feta and the same house dressing... 
A falafel sandwich ($4.99) was OK good.  After having the falafel at Mystic Grill , I am spoiled.  These were fresh and kind of fried a bit too long.  The flavor of the falafel were good. The sandwich had lettuce, tomato, cucumber and onion and a fresh home made (yogurt based) sauce.  
My sandwich came wrapped in flatbread...looking like this from the outside. 
and was filled with charbroiled boneless chicken.  Not Shawerma/marinated, but juicy and good flavored.  It must be Halal chicken.  
As I said, the prices here are great. 
Stop by if you are in the area.  Great market, great restaurant.

 

Vine Ripe Market  8191 Fletcher Parkway (at Jackson-SE corner) La Mesa 91942 (619)462-9900

Yoshinoya- chain food. Good chain food.

Just a blog about food we (Kirk, ed(from Yuma), Cathy, VickyL and a few others) eat.   That's what mmm-yoso!!! is.  Not "fancy" foods, healthy foods or anything specific.  You get to peek inside our eating habits and live vicariously.  Today, Cathy is blogging.

Hi.  Kirk is still on vacation.  It's only been a week.  Today I'm talking about a quick lunch at a fast food place.
This Kearney Mesa location of Yoshinoya has been in this mall on Convoy, across from the Weinerschnitzel for at least ten years.  The interior is clean and reminds me of Burger King or McDonald's...  I hesitated to categorize this as "Japanese" food.  Yoshinoya basically markets itself as "you won't leave here hungry".  The food here is inexpensive and for being food, is really not bad. Most people seem to order the teriyaki bowls (beef, chicken or steak, in combination and/or with vegetables on top of sticky rice).

Including the ordering area.
As well as the seating area.
However, the condiments offered are different...hot (ish) red  pepper and very pickled ginger (and soy sauce).
Then there is the food.  Some people complain that the usually ordered bowls are doused in teriyaki sauce, and I tend to agree, and order the sauce on the side or 'not as much sauce, please'.  Or I get this:  a BBQ combo bowl ($6.25).  Grilled, skinless teriyaki chicken and thin sliced grilled teriyaki beef  short ribs.  With fried rice, salad and noodles.  

All the items are not salty and not over-sauced. The rice is good, freshly fried, with some (probably) frozen vegetables and egg added.  The stir fried noodles are pretty good with cabbage and carrots added.  The salad comes with a packet of Italian dressing and is pretty standard.  

 
Sometimes, I want fried and get the large order (9) of sesame chicken wings ($3.79). Nicely fried, not greasy, topped with sesame seeds, juicy meaty and good.  This day , I decided to get a side of vegetables ($1.49).  This is *not* a weird, badly lit photograph.  The vegetables here are what I like to call 'neon veggies'. Broccoli, carrots, cauliflower and some bok choy in this wonderful colored, not salty, thick neon yellow-green sauce.  I like it and at least like to think it is a healthy meal...

Yoshinoya 4344 Convoy Street, Suite F San Diego 92111 (858) 560-5163

Garden Fresh Grill and Smoothie. Garlic for breakfast...

Welcome back to mmm-yoso!!! the food blog written by Kirk and occasionally ed(from Yuma), VickyL, Cathy and a few others. Kirk is on vacation and today Cathy is writing. 

The other day, I was on College Avenue at El Cajon Boulevard and drove into the Vons parking lot.  I remembered a bagel place that used to be here, years ago and saw this instead. 

Curious as I am about food, I walked up, asked some questions, grabbed a paper menu saw they  serve breakfast, lunch, dinner, smoothies and fruit bowls.   They serve halal meat, no alcohol. The families who own and run this very clean establishment are Lebanese.
 
The Mister and I first went on a Saturday afternoon.  Three people were waiting for "To Go" orders, Two tables were filled with people eating, there was one couple in front of us.  We ordered, paid and sat down.  We decided to try a cheese & zaatar pie ($2.99).  Dough is made in house then baked  in the wood fired oven (to the right, behind the pastry case above) the fresh bread dough is topped with a blend of  'premium cheeses', sesame seed and zaatar (oregano, sesame seed, olive oil and herbs) A nice blend of seasonings and quite a bit of cheese on this small (8 inch) pie.  You can get a Zaatar pie for $1.99 if you don't want cheese.
The Mister ordered a beef gyros salad ($8.99) (the menu has chicken gyros as an option).  The Mediterranean salad - lettuce, tomato, cucumber, pickled onion, parsley and mint topped with garlic, lemon juice and olive oil (house) dressing. Topped with sliced grilled beef gyros (moist/slightly greasy in a good way). This was a large, plentiful, fresh and tasty salad.  
 I ordered the "Combo 3"($8.99)- an assortment of house made hummus, tabouli, falafel and spanakopita. House made everything.: The falafel was made of fresh chickpeas (not the powdered mix) and were light, airy, tender and just crispy on the outside. The spanakopita was crispy (not soggy on the bottom) and filled with Feta cheese as well as spinach and onions.  The tabouli was very fresh parsley and bulghur, feta, onions and lemon juice. The hummus was excellent. All were done quite well.  The Mister and I shared a cup of Turkish coffee ($1.99).

We went back for breakfast. 
 First, we ordered a small bowl of fresh fruit ($4.49), cut up just for us (which is the same as when a smoothie or fruit juice is ordered-fresh fruit that is available, not frozen fruit). Banana, apple, pineapple, cantaloupe, papaya and strawberries.  Very fresh, flavorful fruit.
This was made on the other side of the cash register, where most people were walking in to get their morning smoothies. The Mister tried the scrambled eggs with chicken schawarma ($6.99).  There was more meat than egg.  Simple, flavorful, moist.  We figured two eggs were used. 
We got a plate of pickles. Along with four pieces of fresh baked, hot bread. These are small, maybe 4 inches, but thick and fluffy and soft.  I believe it is the same bread used for the zaatar pie, above, just not as flattened/thin. 
The pickles and bread accompanied my most wonderful hot breakfast of Foul Mudammas ($5.99) A 30 year old family recipe of warm, cooked fava beans, mashed then mixed with fresh garlic and lemon juice, topped with olive oil. 

All cultures have some sort of warm breakfast, usually a grain like oats or bulghur or rice that is a usually made into a sort of porridge. Items have to be added in for flavor- salt, butter, brown sugar or fruit.  The fava beans and garlic with lemon juice is by far my most favorite.  Garlic for breakfast. Nothing needs to be added to this bowl of goodness. Yay!

Coffee is free with any breakfast order. It is a good dark roast of coffee.  The food here is wonderfully fresh.  Everyone has been very nice to us every time we have had a meal here, answering questions and asking how we like the food. I plan on stopping by whenever I am in this part of town.

Garden Fresh Grill and Smoothie. 6165 El Cajon Boulevard, Suite F San Diego 92115 (619) 287-2373        Website Open 7 days, 8 a.m.- 9 p.m.

One New Year Resolution Kept- Wednesdays at the Santee Farmers Market

mmm-yoso!!! is a blog, written by a few friends, about meals or foods in general they enjoy. Today, Cathy is writing, because the others aren't. Some of us are on vacation...

Hi.  The County of San Diego Farm Bureau lists 47 different  Farmers Markets within the County of San Diego.  There is one happening somewhere every day of the week, (even on Monday there is one,  at the Welk Village in Escondido).  Here is a link to Kirk's (2007) post about the Sunday Hillcrest Farmers Market, which has within it a link to  his other  (2005) post and this stop at the Little Italy Farmers Market where he was last month.   

Since I live in Santee, I definitely show up at "mine" most often, although I have made it a point to shop at at least on Farmer's Market a week for the last year, as part of my 2009 New Year Resolution. So, I tend to stop when I see one is happening somewhere I happen to be driving.  Many of the vendors move from one to the other (hence, Monday is almost day off for some) and some vendors are "Uni"que.  
When you park in the abandoned school parking lot in Santee (that's what they call it-the school was razed years ago) and walk toward the market, you see the craft vendors first.
You can see there were only a few Fruit and Vegetable vendors set up on this Wednesday.   
The mostly locally grown produce is cut up so you can sample it, at most of the vendor booths. 
When my garden's tomatoes have stopped producing, I can still get some nice ones here.
Sometimes I crave radishes, and these white ones were excellent. 
As were these baby squash. 
Some with blossoms. (All the baby squash and blossomed squash were $5/lb; we had a delightful meal of cheese stuffed fried blossoms a few weeks ago).
This past Wednesday it was raining and not as many vendors were set up.  Citrus is in season.  (The funny looking oranges on the left are Italian Blood Oranges).
So are English peas, which The Mister and I eat straight from the shell, raw.

There are several food vendors here usually- tamales, hummus, fresh breads, honey, jams and a few others.  But that area (East end) is not as popular as at other (weekend) Farmers Markets.

If you are driving by and see a Farmers Market, do stop.  You never know what you may find... 
The San Diego County Farm Bureau Website

 

Hot, Cold, Wet & Hungry- Shrimp Cocktail and Birria de Chivo at Palominos

Thanks for visiting the mmm-yoso!!! food blog. The part usually played by Kirk is being played by Cathy today. Because Kirk and His Missus are on vacation.  In a faraway land.

Hi.  Boy, have we had an odd weather year.   Here it is April and we had cold winds and rain intersperse with some sun all day yesterday.  The Mister was going to be working late, I was hungry and didn't want to cook, so we met at  Palominos.   Again. 
Of course we could not decide on what to eat and while perusing the menu, saw a new addition in the soup category- Birria de Chivo- Goat ... soup.  Usually, this is more of a stew, but the goat factor was there, so I ordered it. 
Soon, the fairly large bowl of meat and broth (I could taste ancho chilis, oregano, cumin, thyme and cinnamon) was brought out, with the appropriate sides of corn tortillas as well as onion, cilantro, lime wedges and red pepper flakes. 
It looked like a lot of meat in the bowl of broth...and this is how much broth was in the bowl. 
The rest was meat.  A nice, gamey, fatty, flavorful goat. Which had been simmered for a long while, with meat falling off the bones.  A rich, deep broth and rich, flavorful meat.  For $6.49, one of the heartiest and heart warming soups we have had here. 
When ordering, I decided  to contrast the warm and meat with cool and seafood, so a shrimp coctele ($9.99) was in order.  There were 30 shrimp in this large serving glass, with lime and tomato juice, cucumber and some onion.  The fresh flavors of this 'broth' as well as the pretty large flavorful shrimp were a nice contrast and compliment to the fatty rich soup broth.  It was a nice break for both of us.  But I had to drive home in this...
and figured the traffic on the freeway would be backed up, so drove around the corners to Starbucks, pulled the old computer out of my car
and had a grande chai latte, no water, with The Mister before he headed back to work and I headed home.  I hope everyone had a warm evening and safe driving.

Palominos #2.  9353 Clairmont Mesa Boulevard, Suite I San Diego 92123 (858) 292-8470

Point Loma Seafoods- a revisit

mmm-yoso!!!, the blog you are perusing, is musings about food consumed or prepared by one of us- Kirk, ed(from Yuma), Cathy or some other friends.  Today, Cathy is musing. Because, Kirk and His Missus are on vacation.

Hi.  I've been to Point Loma Seafoods countless times.  I've only posted once on it, though, years ago, so  it is time to show you it pretty much has not changed. It has been in San Diego since 1963.  A landmark, selling and serving fresh and smoked fish.  You walk in and the seafood counter and menu is straight ahead of you.  You have to just step forward to order.  When one of the many order takers asks "who's ready?"
 

Place your order, get a number and wait.  Once your number is called, you pay and take your food (it is on a tray), walk out and can sit out front or in the covered area, next door.
You can order a shrimp cocktail or a smoked fish cocktail ($4.18 and it is not even 1/2 a pound of fish), or do what I do and just get a few pieces of smoked fish- the condiments in the eating area include cocktail sauce.  I order the smoked fish after I have placed my food order, since the food takes some time to cook...and by cook, I mean fry. There are seafood salads served here, the tuna sandwich is made with fresh cooked (still warm) albacore and I think that is all ...oh there is sushi...but otherwise, pretty much everything here is fried.  The people running the fryer know what they are doing.

  The Mister ordered a squid sandwich-solid squid cut in rectangular logs, breaded and lightly fried, and served between two slices of very fresh, soft, sourdough bread. ($8.32)
Topped with some fresh tartar sauce, it is a wonderful lunch.

 

We shared a cup of white clam chowder and an iced coffee, with milk. 
The chowder ($3.26)is creamy rich and  has a good, fresh clam flavor, as well as carrots, celery and potatoes.  It is one item we always order.  I got my usual fish and chips plate ($11.13)- the fresh  fish most abundant that day (usually haddock, maybe cod- a firm, white fish) 3 or 4 pieces  lightly breaded and fried nicely and served with crispy fries and a wonderful house made cole slaw, lightly dressed with mayonnaise.
 The only caveat- when you do walk next door to take a seat, remember  to get a good view...

Point Loma Seafoods 2805 Emerson Street San Diego 92106 (619)223-1109 Open M-Sat 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m.-6:30 p.m.

Website

 

It's that time again......

Man are we overdue for a vacation..... well a sort of vacation. Anyway, we're off in a couple of days.

We haven't made too many concrete plans. We're leaving that in other hands for some of this trip. I hope I'll have some yummy posts for you all.

As always, I'm leaving things in Cathy's care while we're gone.

Thanks for reading, and see you in a bit! 

777 Noodle House revisted

Here are a few other dishes from 777 Noodle House. We've found ourself in the area a few times recently, and it turns out the Missus thinks the food here is a good value, and pretty tasty as well. So here's the rundown:

"Yummy Yummy's" sister, "Little K" recommended the fried rice. And one day the Missus ordered the Thai Style Seafood Fried Rice ($6.77):

 Other then the scalded chilies and a few leaves of Thai Basil, this would pass for good "old school" fried rice. There's a nice smoky char, and a decent amount of shrimp, and some beef, which were a surprise because there was no beef in the photo. The beef wasn't that great, but the Missus enjoyed the fried rice. The portion was large enough for the Missus to have the left-overs topped with fried egg the next day. A few visits later, the Missus ordered it again:

I'm thinking that they were out of a few items on our previous visit since there was some squid and fishballs, and even more shrimp this time around. A lot more scrambled egg in this as well.

There are of course the Leek Cakes ($2.97), worth another mention:

On one visit, I ordered the Hủ Tiếu Bò Kho (Beef Stew with Rice Noodles - $5.77):

The noodles in this was the wider rice noodles, rather than the Hủ Tiếu in the Hủ Tiếu Nam Vang. Instead of the usual reddish color of the photos, this was kind of an almost unappetizing brown. The broth was actually quite good, well seasoned, with lots of star anise flavor. The beef was just so-so, and the tendon was decent, but not outstanding.

I had initially asked the Missus if She wanted a taste, since She was still waiting for Her fried rice to arrive. She looked at the bowl, and turned Her head in disgust, but unfortunately I insisted...... and though the Missus didn;t care for the meat, She drank almost all the broth! Leaving me pretty much with a "Kho" (dry) dish. Then something surprising happened. One of the young women, seeing most of my broth was gone, asked me if I wanted more soup! Shocked I think I mumbled, "yes, just a little bit more...." When the young lady went back to the kitchen, the gentleman working the counter passed by, and also asked me if I wanted more soup! So I guess this is the usual MO..... man was this very different from other soup shops. And sure enough, about two minutes later, the smiling young woman delivered my "soup"...... and it wasn't quite "just a little bit", but an entire bowl. And they didn't even charge me for it!

In order to respect their generosity, I made sure to finish everything, making sure the bowl looked licked clean. I left fat and happy, soup making "glop-glop" noises in my belly as I rolled to my car. Just this one gesture ensured that we'd return. 

Once the Missus had the Wonton Egg Noodles ($4.77):

 Nothing to write home about. The broth was milder than it looked, the wontons not bad.

On one trip the Missus, for some reason ordered the Shrimp Thai Red Curry ($5.77):

Which wasn't half bad, perhaps better than many Thai Restaurants in San Diego. There was no coconut milk or sugar overload in this one. Total eight shrimps made it a good value. Even though it was ordered at "spicy", this was pretty mild. The curry was kinda weak in the complex melding of flavors I expect from a curry.

Here's the Shrimp with Stir Fried Bun Loc ($6.77):

 

This dish was made with a type of rice noodle also called "Banh Bot Loc" bearing no relation to the pork and shrimp filled tapioca flour dumpling looking stuff I get from places like Mien Trung. Another generous portion of shrimp, and scrambled egg intertwined with bean sprouts and a thick rice noodle which was slightly gooey, and I didn't much care for. The noodles was served with a small bowl of Nuoc Mam Cham, which I found kinda strange, as the sweet flavor seemed to kill all the smokiness in the dish.

One dish I found pleasant was the Pig Intestine with Sour Vegetable ($5.77):

I would have preferred that the preserved vegetable be more sour and pickled in flavor, but there was quite a bit of well prepared earthy flavor intestine. One item that made this a bit different from other versions I've had, was the addition of a bit of spice, there were two or three sliced Thai chilies in the dish that really livened things up for me. It wasn't very spicy, just enough to tingle my tongue.

Here's the Egg Noodle Soup with Duck Leg ($4.77):

The broth was different this time around, featuring almost a seafood flavor. There was quite bit of egg noodles in the bowl though it's not my favorite type of egg noodle. The duck leg was decently fried, and adequate, especially for the price. The duck came with a little bowl of sweet soy, almost like you'd pour over steamed fish. I actually poured some of it into my soup, which was a positive addition.

While we were eating, the Missus and I noticed a pretty large party eating at one of the tables next to us. Even though they spoke Cantonese, She understood some of it. They must be regulars because they all requested a refill of soup, which came out promptly. And near the end of the meal, one of the women, who I think is the owner came out from the kitchen. They chatted for a while in Cantonese, which ended in a nice laugh. When the woman walked away, the Missus cracked up and told me, they just requested some watermelon....... say what! The audacity.... But wouldn't you know it; as we're paying our bill, out comes one of the young women.... with a large plate of sliced watermelon. You gotta love this place...... it may not be the best, but it's a good value, and the folks here are very nice.... almost too nice. And some of the dishes are pretty good to boot.

After all, there aren't many places where you can get noodle soup for under five bucks nowadays......

777 Noodle House
4686 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92105

Open Daily 8am - 9pm 

Revisits: Luong Hai Ky, Noble Chef, and The Counter

Luong Hai Ky - Mira Mesa revisited:

While doing my Beef Sate Noodle Soup post, I decided to also include Luong Hai Ky. The bad thing was I couldn't for the life of me find Beef Sate Noodle soup on the menu. So while the Server hovered over me in the typical LHK manner, I asked about Beef Sate Noodle soup. Totally ignoring me, the guy pointed to a photo on the menu and said, "this, this is what you want, it is good...." It was a photo of Hủ Tiếu Mỹ Tho. I said, "yes, but I'm looking for Beef sate Noodle Soup". In return he replied, "no, this is good, I guarantee it is good....." It was late, I was tired, and I knew this guy was just trying to get rid of me, so I relented.

And here's the bowl of  Hủ Tiếu Mỹ Tho:

This was okay, the noodles were cooked well, and there was a decent amount of char siu and pork in the bowl, along with shrimp. I still think the broth here is not nearly as flavorful as what was served at the now defunct Convoy location.

At seven bucks, I really didn't think it was a good value either.

Luong Hai Ky Restaurant
10606 Camino Ruiz #2
San Diego, CA 92126

More from Noble Chef:

I also visited Noble Chef Chef for the Beef Sate Noodle Soup, but when I saw another customer having it, I decided to get the Seafood Sate Noodle Soup($5.55) instead.

This was a bit different when it comes to Sate Noodle soup. There wasn't a very spicy, nor pungent flavor.......the soup was slightly thick, but had an almost curry-like flavor So, if you like Curry Noodle soup....you might enjoy this. The egg noodles were a bit overcooked, and the fishcake and various meatballs were just passable.

We also recently had the Shrimp with XO Sauce Fried Rice, and it too tasted a bit odd, I'm wondering if the place has changed hands yet again. Here's another place that just hasn't been the same since Noble Chef changed hands.

The Noble Chef
6159 Balboa Avenue
San Diego, CA 92111

A revisit to The Counter:

The Missus wanted their Veggieburger, so I was most happy to oblige. And we headed up to Leucadia, and The Counter. This time the cheese was swiss and I had onion strings on my burger.

As much as I enjoyed the idea of putting onion strings on my burger in my previous post, I think it really detracted from the overall flavor of the burger. I think I'll go back to simple grilled onions next time. The burger was again a perfect medium, and I enjoyed it. 

We also tried the Fried Dill Pickles:

The Missus thought these too salty, but I didn't think so. The pickles were nicely breaded and fried well. Personally, I'd enjoy thinner sliced pickles....... better crunch....

The Counter
1923 Calle Barcelona
Carlsbad CA 92009

One last thing....... I had the pleasure of spending a wonderful Saturday evening cooking. A few weeks back John, Peter, and Angela of Sandwich Emporium asked me if I'd like to help out with a Bentos and Sake dinner they were having as a benefit for the American Cancer Society. I was indeed flattered..... so last night, the twins, along with MrS, TammyC, and I spent an evening cooking and plating....

I was honored to be able to help put together the menu, and though my feet and back hurt like heck right now, it was a bunch of fun. It is a great cause, and it's nice to have friends who are willing to help out.