Prime Grill

Well, after a rough 15 months we here in California are on the cusp of reopening, yes, tomorrow the capacity limits for businesses ends and mask requirements will be modified for those vaccinated....though I truly doubt that many businesses will be asking for proof of vaccination. Does this mean things get back to normal? I really don't know how to answer that one....I mean 3700+ deaths and 280,000 cases later, a fifteen month lockdown, politicization of what should have been a public health emergency......what is normal?

As for rushing out to grab a meal at restaurants.......I think we're in "wait and see mode". As a whole we're not big on crowds anyway......so we may just lie low until after Father's Day. But who knows. I will say we had our first indoor dining experience last week as San Diego entered the Yellow Tier allowing for 50% indoor capacity. It's been getting kinda hot...in fact, I think tomorrow we may have record temperatures. I was working from home and the Missus finished work early. I was craving some Bi Bim Naengmyun and the Missus, a Dolsot Bi Bim Bap. And after I tried and failed to order Bi Bim Naengmyun to go from Prime Grill and since they were open straight through from 11am, we decided to give the place a shot. Prime Grill had stopped doing outdoor seating a while back, so indoors was the only choice. It was however, only 430pm when we arrived and we didn't expect the place to have customers.....but we were wrong and the place was about 1/3 full.....we requested and got a table in the far corner.

The Missus of course wanted Her Bi Bim Bap and I went for the Bi Bim Naengmyun....the Missus asked me to order some Dak Bulgogi as well. So, the older Korean woman came over to take my order.....and when I tried to place my order, she shook her head, "no...no....better for you to order the combination....you save money." I suddenly recognized her voice; she was the one who told me not to order the Bi Bim Naengmyun to go the last time! Well, I pointed out that the menu said "Naengmyun" and I wanted Bi Bim Naengmyun.

To which she answered "no worry, we make bi bim naengmyun for combo." You gotta love it!

And while it looked like the gyeran jjim (the steamed egg) had pretty much collapsed due to over work, the rest of the panchan was quite good....the baechu kimchi looked like it wasn't fermented enough, but it was good.

And the Missus got Her Dolsot Bi Bim Bap.

Which She let "rest" to develop the rice crust from the hot stone bowl, while devouring the gyeran jjim and also the Dak Bulgogi, which was much better eating here as it got some nice caramelization....use the takeout photo to compare. In fact, She ended up taking half of the Bi Bim Bap home to eat the next day.

As for me....well this was just what I wanted...heck, needed after 15 months. The stretchy naengmyun, cut to an edible length with scissors, the spicy sauce.....

A shot of sweet-spicy cho-jang, a squirt of vinegar to get those salivary glands to pucker up. The Asian Pear brings a bit of sweetness and helps cut through all that spiciness. Aaahhhh.....

Just what the doctor ordered......

And even though we felt a bit out of sorts eating indoors after so long, just for a few minutes; there was no pandemic in sight....we were having a nice meal......what would be a "normal" warm weather meal for us, and all seemed right in the world. During these times it's a feeling I've come to treasure.

Prime Grill
4620 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 11am - 10pm

So, here's a question for all our "FOYs" (Friends of Yoso). With the reopening happening tomorrow are you making plans to go out? To eat, to a movie, your favorite watering hole, perhaps the gym...a museum? Or are you going to adopt a "wait and see" position? 

Comments

[RedDevil]

Looks delicious! I’ve got kids who are not vaccine eligible so will continue to avoid eating in restaurants but we are slowly getting more adventurous.

[kat]

if I were fully vaccinated, I would eat in a restaurant:)

[Sandy]

I'm vaccinated, but I'm waiting till the end of June before venturing out without a mask or dining indoors. On the other hand, I'm looking forward to an outdoor get-together with a group of friends this weekend.

[Kenneth Bonus]

fully vaccinated, went to the gym this morning no mask. It wasn't too crowded and felt pretty safe. I've already eaten indoors at our fav local pub but only because I knew all the servers had their shots and had been very cautious during the pandemnic. another restaurant, maybe I'd pass on indoor dining.

[Kirk]

I'm hoping all the trials for children under twelve are completed so they can get their vaccines RD!

It's such a bummer that you can't get vaccinated Kat!

Sounds like a good plan Sandy! I'm sure you'll really enjoy getting together with friends whom you've probably not seen in person in quite a while.

Yeah, I totally understand Kenneth.....I'm kinda leery of crowds in places that I'm not a regular at or do not really "know".....so I'll probably wait and see how things go.

[Greg]

Looks lovely. Our favorite naengmyun place didn’t survive :(. Our kids are too young to be vaccinated so take out only and masking for the foreseeable future. Hopefully by years end they’ll be set.

[James]

My wife and I are both fully vaxxed and are re-engaging with restaurants bit by bit. Now and during both semi-reopenings our first priority was food we couldn't replicate at home, and Dae Jang Keum was at the top of the list each time. We love that place because the BBQ pods are ideally suited for semi-isolationist dining, they use charcoal, the staff are fantastic, and the kal bi is top notch. We also love steak and moules frites and would always rather eat that in house (take out is a non-starter and I'm not cooking that at home.)

[Kirk]

I hope even earlier than years end Greg! I know Pfizer has just expanded their testing for children 5-11 in the US/Spain/Finland/Poland and are hoping to be able to get Emergency Use Authorization by the end of September.

I'm glad you both have been vaccinated James! Also happy that you are to slowly enjoy eating at restaurants again!

[Junichi]

I've been fully vaccinated and started dining out slowly. It was nice drinking Russian River beers at O'Brien's over the weekend.

[Kirk]

I'm sure you really enjoyed that Junichi! Glad that you've had your vaccinations.

[caninecologne]

My husband and I are both fully vaccinated but I am still not into crowds. When we have gone out, we are usually out at the crack of dawn for coffee and sometimes breakfast and hardly anyone is there, ha ha. The way I like it.

No plans to see a movie. I stopped my gym membership back in January and won't be returning actually. Save some $$$! I will also wait 'til the tourists are gone from SD before going to any museums or beaches again.

[Kirk]

Sounds like a good approach CC!

[dancing]

Yay finally time to catch up on your blog posts (starting with most recent and then reading backwards chronologically little by little). Hubby and I are finally both vaccinated and only really started getting takeout again last month. It's been about a year of home-cooked meals with very occasional delivery from a nearby pizza place and very occasional (maybe a total of three times throughout the entire pandemic year) picking up of burritos from a local burrito place. Oh and we did order Cali Dumpling delivery twice too. I think we'll wait on eating at a restaurant (in the past we almost always prefer to get takeout and eat at home anyway). Kinda tempted to see the F9 movie (these kind of movies are just not the same on our small tv at home) but don't feel like we have to see it RIGHT when it comes out either (and might still wear masks if we do go and theater is crowded). Mmmm dolsot bibimbap is totally what I'd order too if dining in. Really missing some of these things that are not so easily made at home and don't do as well as takeout items... glad you and the Missus had a good indoor dining experience! =)

[Kirk]

I'm glad you're both vaccinated dancing! And hopefully soon you'll be able to slowly get back into something that approaches what pre-Covid normal was like.

[Janfrederick]

Vaccinated and taking the vaccinated kiddo to New York next month. :) Flights are cheap.

[Kirk]

That's awesome Jan! Hope all goes well!

[Jack]

Having been fully vaccinated since February, we have been "tip-toeing" out to support places that have outdoor seating. This week though, we ate indoors for the first time for a small, quiet celebration for my partner's retirement from UCSD at Bleu Boheme. She loved the feeling of normalcy eating indoors! We will still probably avoid the more dense, popular restaurants (we usually have done that anyway!) and definitely not going to gyms for now, but I'm hopeful we will all be responsible to keep everyone safe to keep everything in control and on the right trajectory!

[Kirk]

It's amazing how much just a bit of normalcy can be so soothing Jack!