A Shopping Day lunch at Bristol Farms

Kirk, Ed(from Yuma) and Cathy are the usual writers here on mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog.  Today, Cathy is writing.

The rush of a multitude of holidays with corresponding activities is winding down, with individuals cleaning up, rearranging and perhaps following some new patterns.  Businesses are 'clearing out' holiday-centric food and decorating items.  The Mister and I have been out and about, looking for some bargains, and, as always, manage to squeeze a meal into the midst of the shopping. Yes, both Kirk and I  have written a few posts about Bristol Farms, an upscale market (the parent company is Albertsons) located in La Jolla.There is both a self serve area (salad bar, soup, hot foods) where you can select, package and then pay for your items and find a seat here in the Bristol Cafe (or just outside), or you can walk up and order items 'to go' or you can seat yourself and a friendly waiter/waitress will bring you a menu and you'll have table service. This Wednesday, the special was a cup of any Soup and Sandwich of the day for $7.49. The Mister chose the carrot ginger soup- which was fascinating in its complimentary flavors and excellent.The 'sandwich of the day' was a "Malibu Melt"...and the description made us simultaneously fearful and curious. Toasted sourdough, the top with soft grilled red onion, Monterey Jack cheese, tuna salad...on top of grilled honey ham and a basil aioli spread. Yeah, we ordered it, ate it and liked it (except for the onion; a bit too many flavors there and it was removed after a bite). The tuna salad alone was excellent, as was the grilled honey ham.  No idea who concocted this in their brain, but it works.Playing it safe, I ordered the quiche of the day with a salad ($8.49).  The simple salad was accompanied by the most wonderful Thousand Island dressing.  The quiche (which you can purchase unbaked in the store) had melange of (at least three types) of roasted mushrooms and spinach baked into a wonderfully flavored custard which was all baked in a crispy, flaky shell.

Yet another day of trying something new, and it worked.  

Bristol Farms 8510 Genessee Avenue San Diego 92122 (858) 558-4180 Website

Comments

[Fat Killer]

You paid for this food Bro? Seriously, looks like vomit on bread. Thanks for taking one for the team. Yikes.

[Kirk]

Hey FK - Cathy is far from a "bro"..... Actually, some of the stuff here is decent for the price.

[Cathy]

Do you use the term "Bro" in everyday conversation, FK? Seems kind of tedious to also write it in, like, every comment. Yes, the Malibu Melt was described, ordered and paid for. Appearance is such a tertiary factor in just about every aspect of my life; it tasted good, which is what matters for a meal.
Most food items here are great, Kirk. The rotisserie chickens, pizzas, wraps and sandwiches have made it home -or to the Glider Port for lunch- this time, sharing an in-store lunch seemed an interesting post.

[Faye]

We revisited Bristol some months ago and ate at the cafe. The service hasn't been all that great - did you have any issues on your visit? I've never had ham on top of a tuna salad so it is kind of an interesting concept. I recently made tuna salad and am now thinking if possibly adding some diced honey ham to the mix would bring another dimension to the salad ! Happy New Year Cathy -

[dereck]

Cathy, What day did you go to Bristol? I have been looking for the broguiere's egg nog everywhere this season. I can drink about 20 gallons of that stuff and if Bristol still has it, I'm leaving work right now!!!!

[Ed (from Yuma)]

I think ham and tuna melt is an old East coast thing. A good pizza/sandwich shop in Foothills (Bernardo's) here in AZ is run by a family from Philly and they have had a ham/tuna melt on the menu forever. And oddly, it's really good though it took me years to work up the courage to try it.

[Fat Killer]

My sincere appologies to Cathy! I should have looked more closely.

You must have caught them on a bad day. EEekkk.

[Fat Killer]

Thank you Cathy.

You took one for the team! Happy New Year!

[caninecologne]

I remember when this place used to be Big Bear. I just showed my age, haha. Went here recently and bought the loaf of chocolate brioche, which was great.

[Cathy]

Happy New Year to you too, Faye! We used to sort of have problems with the waiter/ess at the Cafe, but now, we sort of 'announce' we will be ordering from the menu and are not sitting down to just use wifi and eat our own lunch. I think the mixed use area is confusing. Try the honey ham with your tuna salad (you can see it was pan seared and that may bring another dimension).
It was closer to New Year Day, Dereck, the egg nog is gone :( However, if you go to a Mexican Market or taco shop and see ice cream bars with the flavor "rompope", you can get that flavor you are craving all year.
Yes, I have seen it on the East Coast, Ed...sometimes as a 'Saturday meal', when Catholics have leftover Friday tuna salad. I'm thinking the 'Malibu' part of the name is water and land, or some sort of 'protein' sandwich idea...
Thanks, FK. As I have mentioned, we try to order at least one 'new to us' item from menus. It wasn't bad at all.
We had a Big Bear close by when we moved to East County a few decades ago, cc; it was a good store. Bristol Farms is fascinating and I always find something I've never seen before and want to try.