mmm-yoso!!!

Monday Meanderings - Mister Falafel and Mi Pana Closes, Dinner with Friends at Kingfisher

Recently, I got some bad news from two of my "FOYs".

Mister Falafel Closes:

"ChrisR" sent me an email saying that Mister Falafel had closed! Whoa, now I hadn't heard about this one! Of course being that Mister Falafel is a bit hidden from the street and is mainly a warm weather location for garlic paste, I hadn't really dropped by in a while. So, on the way home from errands I decided to see what was going on. And sigh.....yes, the place has been gutted. It seems Mister Falafel is no longer.

The folks here were so nice!

First La Miche, now Mister Falafel. This is so sad. When will the bleeding stop?

4461 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

Mi Pana Closes:

This one is from our good friend "Ale". She sent me a text directing me to Mi Pana's Instragram. And yes, there it was.....

I really enjoyed my meals at Mi Pana and probably should have revisited.

This seemed so sudden and even caught "Ale" by surprise as she had just been there recently.

2241 Highland Ave.
National City, CA 91950

Dinner at Kingfisher with Friends:

I know, you want a post and I don't blame you. Especially with all the accolades Kingfisher has gotten since they opened, the 50 Best New Restaurants by Bon Appetite listing, a Michelin New Discovery Listing, and with the chef being a James Beard Semifinalist. I'll say that the food was excellent and I'm sure to be back. But this dinner was more important than me doing a post.

You see, this dinner has been over four years in the making. There's a part of me that Covid had eaten away. The part that enjoyed spending time with my friends. Friends that have shared many fun times together, like bringing a whole roasted pig to Karaoke or celebrating Thanksgiving in August, or doing a trolley scavenger hunt. We've gone to dinner roadtrips and even a wedding in Ciudad Obregon! We've been thru births and weddings.

My good friend Candice had been trying to set something up for months and finally, we were all together! It had been so long! I didn't realize how much I missed them all (and you too TFD!).

And as often happens when good friends meet, the conversations, jokes, and laughter all came together seamlessly. It was if we had just seen each other yesterday.

And while the food was fabulous, catching up on things was more important on this day. I didn't even take photos of all the dishes, but here are a few.

Yes, it's as good as it looks, but I'll wait to return when I can spend more attention on the food before doing a real post.

So, here's to friendship and making up for lost time. Thanks for setting things up Candice!

Kingfisher
2469 Broadway
San Diego, CA 92102

Have a great Valentines Day everyone!

Midweek Meanderings - La Miche Closes, Yum Yum Africa Seems Closed, and the Egg Shortage

Here's a depressing Wednesday post, so you may just want to skip this one.

The Egg Shortage:

Call me clueless about the egg shortage. I pick up our eggs at the Indian Summer stand in the Little Italy Mercato on Saturdays, so really hadn't been aware of this. Last weekend, when the one man show for the stand, Andrew mentioned the egg shortage, I didn't have a clue! I guess we'd been away on our trip and then since I don't buy eggs from any of the markets, I hadn't noticed. But, based on stories like these, it appears either the Avian Flu or possibly something else is the cause. And of course, prices are quickly increasing as well.

After chatting with Andrew and doing my shopping at the Mercado, I went to check out the eggs at my next stop, Nijiya and this is what I saw.

Crazy. Well, today is Wednesday, so hopefully eggs are back in stock!

Has this been affecting you?

Yum Yum Africa Seems Closed?:

I'm saying seems closed, because back in June I received an email saying they had opened.

Of course, even though I noticed the coming soon sign in January of last year, I still took my time to visit.

Upon returning form France, I dropped by Garden Coffee and noticed the place didn't appear open and there was a "purchase and lease" sign displayed.

Which has me scratching my head. Did they ever open and have like a record quick closure....or perhaps they never opened at all and still just doing pop-ups?

2543 Congress St.
San Diego, CA 92110

La Miche Closes:

And the saddest news of all. Last Friday, "FOY" KathyQ sent me an email asking me if La Miche had closed. La Miche was usually a warmer weather stop for us, so I didn't know. I went and took a look at their website and found the sad news.

"We will be closing permanently effective January 1, 2023. We cannot thank you enough for your loyal patronage these past few years (especially during COVID). It was our greatest pleasure to introduce Lebanese cuisine to the community. Many of you started off as customers and became good friends. We will truly miss all of you and we take pride knowing that we were able to provide a small contribution to making your day wonderful. Please feel free to email us at [email protected] and we’d love to personally say thank you. Again, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you for a great 10 years and we wish all of you a prosperous 2023."

Very sad news as the place was a favorite of both Cathy and I over the years. I also know that the owner, the kind and generous Nabih has had some health problems in recent years. I can only hope that they are in good health and wish them the best.

We'll miss you!

And thanks to KathyQ for bringing this to my attention.

9350 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92123

Montpellier - Green Lab and Place de Peyrou

When planning our most recent trip to France, we knew we'd be spending our final two weeks in Paris, but where to go before then? The Missus wanted to visit places She had never been before and Brittany, Normandy, and the Loire was high on Her list. But I just didn't think visiting those locales at the end of November, beginning of December would be the best time. Nice and Marseille was high on that list, but in the end we thought visiting Carcassonne would be interesting and I'd always wanted to visit Toulouse, but we needed one more "leg" of the trip. We'd already been to the main cities in Provence....those posts never got done because like I mentioned in this post; after Israel, Palestine, and Jordan, we spent a night in Paris before heading to Provence, we planned 5 nights there, but got stranded because of a rail strike and ended up flying from Marseille to CDG and staying at the airport. This was at the end of 2019. So, while I started doing posts on that trip....well, you know what happened, right? Those posts on Provence never got done. Maybe one day I'll just to a COMC thing. Anyway, while I love train travel, the Missus has a "no more than 4 - 4 1/2 hour" rule when it comes to travelling by rail, which is why I have to plan on stays in places like Stuttgart, which is perfectly fine with me as I get to explore. After doing a bit of research, I developed an interest in Montpellier. Now you really won't find much about Montpellier in those guidebooks, but the city looked interesting; from the meandering old town, to having one of the oldest Universities in the world. And I'd read that fully one-fourth of the city's population is composed of students! That contrast would make for quite an interesting visit!

In fact, we could see the contrasts from the time we arrived. The apartment we were staying in was a mere ten minute walk from the train station. We went thru a tunnel that connected the tram line to quite a modern area with a mall. The apartment was in the interesting looking building connected to the Ibis Hotel.

We had a very nice view of the city.

Just steps away to the east was a large shopping mall named Le Polygone. Just to the west is the main square of the city, Place de la Comédie. This lively and lovely square features restaurants, fast food joints ("McDo" does great business with the students), cafe's, a movie theatre, and the lovely National Opera. Because we didn't have a map of the city, we stopped by the Tourist Information center and got the "detailed" map (,50 €) which we used along with Google Maps to get around.

At the heart of the square is the Fountain of the Three Graces.

The square is nicknamed L'Oeuf ("egg") because of its oval shape. From here there are arteries heading in all directions. We decided to take one of the side streets, away from the Ecusson (the old city), down Rue de Verdun for a light lunch at a place I had on my list; Green Lab.

Because of the large student population, I thought that there would be some nice casual eateries with diverse cuisines and with just one notable "fail", these places delivered. Green Lab features Lebanese and Middle Eastern influenced vegetarian and vegan dishes in a "fast-casual" type set-up. You order at the counter and they'll bring out your food to you. The plates looked pretty large so we just ordered the Falafel and Hummus (9,99 €) which ended up being enough for the both of us.

While we didn't care much for the pita, which was too dense, hard, and "bready" for us, we thought the falafel were quite good. Crisp outside, mildy creamy interior, nice nutty herbaceousness, this was actually better than what we'd had at L'As du Fallafel in Paris! The hummus was quite rustic, the nutty - savory tones came thru quite well.

This was actually better than we expected and enough to hold us until our Michelin Starred dinner.

Green Lab Comédie
12 Rue de Verdun
34000 Montpellier, France

We headed back to the square and decided to do some exploring. We headed up Rue de la Loge, one of the main shopping/downtown streets in Montpellier. We had arrived on a Saturday and I had thought that things might be a bit crazy....but we found that Montpellier had a relaxed, fun, community loving vibe to it. We got a kick out of this band with an interesting "cast" of characters playing on Place Jean Jaurès.

And as we headed further up the street, the Missus quickly noticed these tags on the ground.

Well, I didn't know that Montpellier is on the Camino de Santiago!

We enjoyed wandering up the streets of the Ecusson.

And we arrived at this.

Yep, Montpellier has it's version of the Arc de Triomphe, the Porte du Peyrou which was completed in 1693 and is actually modeled after Porte Saint-Denis, which I mentioned in this post. Right past the Porte is Place Royale de Peyrou.

Which has a striking Water Tower designed to look like a Greek Monument.

Which actually used to store water!

With an aqueduct.

That used to route water to the cistern in the tower.

There are gardens and a promenade.

And on this day it looked like a large meeting of motorcycle clubs was going on.

As we walked back toward the Arc we heard chanting and drums.......it was a protest.

Which made its way into Place de Peyrou.

It was interesting, anti hate protest meets biker clubs.......with no incidents. You gotta love it!

On a lively Saturday in Montpellier.

On the way back to the apartment, we started taking notice of the public art along the side streets.

Along with churches and other grand structures down alleyways and side streets. This is the Église Saint-Roch.

Montpellier was turning out to be quite an interesting stop.

Roadtrip (2022) - Ojai Rotie

After lunch at Yume Japanese Burger Cafe we decided to take a short drive and headed east along Highway 150. The winding road headed uphill and we stopped at the Ojai Valley Lookout. From here you have a wonderful view of Ojai Valley and are surrounded on all sides by mountains.

We drove a bit further, before returning to Ojai to check in at our accommodation.

We showered, relaxed, and even took a short nap before heading out to dinner. Our dinner destination was a nice stroll away; Ojai Rotie.

Ojai Rotie describes themselves as being:

"Chef/Farmer driven, fast casual patio-restaurant offering French-Lebanese style rotisserie chicken".

The atmosphere is relaxed, the large patio is a wonderful place to eat on a warm summer's evening.

We had reservations and were shown to one of the tables. I then went into the main building and placed my order and paid at the counter. I was given a number and placed that on the table. 

You then go to the small detached structure to order wine and beer.

The young man working asked me if I was from out of town (folks in Ojai are really friendly), and when I replied yes, he asked where I hailed from. When I mentioned San Diego, he told me he went to college in SD and we had a nice chat.

People watching was quite interesting. There seemed to be quite a few "locals" or at least regulars. I hadn't seen so many folks wearing Birkenstocks in one place.....also interesting choices of slippers. Folks seemed to wear shorts and many women wore flowing "new agey" dresses with dangling earrings to match.

Soon enough our order arrived at our table......

We had ordered the "Dippity Dips"........

Three different "dips" with Manuoche; the typical Lebanese flatbread with a light sprinkling of Za'atar on it. The Bread was warm, slightly yeasty and very pleasant eating.

Our favorite of the three items was the White Bean Hummus; so beany and creamy.

This was delicious; though I think a touch of lemon would have taken this to another level.

The Muhamarah was pretty good.

This was much smoother and creamier than what we're used to; but it matched quite well with the Manuoche. The generous amount of pomegranate molasses made this a bit too sweet for our tastes; but it was still a nice dish.

I was looking forward to the Charred Eggplant, but it proved to be a bit disappointing.

While adequately creamy, this was missing the smoky-savory tones of a nicely charred/grilled eggplant. It was also lacking adequate salt for our tastes.

Still that White Bean Hummus was really good and the Missus has been asking me to make some.

Of course we had to try the rotisserie chicken and I'd heard good things about the pommes rotisserie. So we got a quarter chicken meal with the roasted potatoes and caramelized cauliflower as sides.

First off, we weren't big fans of the chicken which was on the dry side. The seasoning also seemed quite mild. The saving grace was the bold and piquant garlic paste, which was sooooo good, but stayed with us for the entire evening if you know what I mean. The roasted potatoes were cold, but we both enjoyed the lemon-aioli. The Missus really enjoyed the cauliflower which was generously seasoned and had some great "role players" in the form of pine nuts, golden raisins, and baby kale.....each adding in a layer of complexity.

 We'd gladly eat here again. While sitting and watching the "regulars" get their orders we noticed that the house made sourdough bread and lamb kafta were popular and looked quite good.

We really enjoyed the vibe and setting.

And then there are the people.....we would really come to enjoy and appreciate the warm and friendly folks we ran into in Ojai.

For instance, that gentleman in the photo to my right. As he walked by, I noticed his t-shirt, which I really liked, so I took a photo of him.  Apparently he saw me taking his photos and came on by and asked me if I liked his shirt and we had a short chat. His name is Dave and he is in charge of restoring and renovating the Ojai Playhouse. We had a really nice conversation and he headed off....only to return a few minutes later with a t-shirt for me!

Yes, it says "Ojai Psychic Friends Network" and I love the t-shirt....plus I got a nice story to tell about how generous folks are in Ojai. And how in the world did he know I was admiring his shirt? Psychic perhaps???

Thanks Dave!

Ojai Rotie
469 E Ojai Ave.
Ojai, CA 93023
Hours:
Wed - Thurs 4pm - 830pm
Fri - Sun 12pm - 3pm, 4pm - 9pm
Closed Mondays and Tuesdays

La Miche Kabobgee (again)

Well, you're reading mmm-yoso!!!, maybe looking for lunch ideas or maybe you are just curious as to what Cathy ate, or maybe you are wondering when Kirk will return from vacation.  In any case, welcome! 

Even though I wrote my first post about La Miche in May, while Kirk wrote a post in April (and many posts prior).  It has become a semi -regular stop for The Mister and me.  The owner (Nabih) and his wife recognize us now and are always so friendly.
 We chose our table to have a view of the kitchen on this visit.  Sometimes we can see flames leaping during cooking.

 The menu was brought out- it's not under glass any more. This was dinner; lunch prices are less.  Website link at bottom of this post.  The odd cents for the price of each item take into account tax that will be added to make it a 'round' number.  If you pay in cash, it's easier to not have to deal in pennies (or nickels or dimes).
 As always, flavorful, fresh hummus and just made, hot pitas are brought out when you are seated. 
 The Mister likes to try moussaka whenever he sees it on a menu ($12.53 lunch, $15.08 dinner).  The Lebanese/Middle East/vegetarian version doesn't use any béchamel and is not layered like the Greek version; it is more like a stew.  Wonderful with a good amount of roasted eggplant, tomatoes, chickpeas, onions and garlic cloves (we found a few within the sauce-mild and almost sweet because of the simmering). Seasonings are mild and there is no need to add salt or pepper.  This is a new favorite.  
In my prior post, I had ordered the Fish Kabobgee and this time I wanted to try the other fish version-Mediterranean Fish ($13.46 lunch, $18.56 dinner)). Grilled white fish topped with tomato, onion, cilantro, garlic and lemon juice.  I do love a good char on seafoods as well as meats, so the difference from the sautéed fish was notable.  Yet, I am not sure which I like better because each version is so fresh, meaty and flavorful.  

A wonderful, family owned and run restaurant. 

La Miche Kabobgee 9350 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. San Diego 92123 (858) 565-1165
Current Hours: Mon - Thurs 11am - 3pm Fri 11am - 7:30pm, Sat 4pm - 7:30pm Closed on Sunday Website

 The presentation of the Mediterranean fish.  You can see a corner of the salad which, along with rice was part of each of our meals.

La Miche Kabobgee 9350 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. San Diego 92123 (858) 565-1165
Current Hours: Mon - Thurs 11am - 3pm Fri 11am - 7:30pm, Sat 4pm - 7:30pm Closed on Sunday Website

La Miche Kabobgee -lunch indoors

Welcome (back) to mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog.  Kirk is enjoying time alone with His Missus while Cathy is writing  about meals.

Realizing that Kirk posted about La Miche last month, I was hesitating to post about our recent visit.  It was the first time in a long while The Mister and I had an unhurried meal and it was kind of perfect.

 The tables are 'socially distanced' and business inside as well as 'to go' seemed steady.

 Menus are under glass on the table top, making it a bit easier to keep sanitized (as well as unnecessary for a QR code). Prices seem odd, because when tax is added, the final number is round.
 After ordering, a dish of fresh hummus and three hot pita breads are brought out.
 The Mister chose the Combo Pita plate ($12.50).  Beef and chicken shawarma and falafel in fresh pita breads, each with its own toppings (Beef shawarma with a (really good) pickled cucumber, hummus, tomatoes and tahini sauce. Grilled, moist chicken with garlic sauce, pickled cucumber and tomatoes.  Lebanese falafel (garbanzo beans and seasoning, made in house from scratch) with tahini sauce,  tomatoes, pickled turnips and pickled cucumber).
 The Fish Kabobgee ($14).  White fish sautéed in olive oil, butter, garlic and lemon juice.  It is so much more difficult to have things plain and simple yet is achieved in the kitchen here.  All flavors are bright and fresh and distinct yet blended perfectly.  

La Miche Kabobgee 9350 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. San Diego 92123 (858) 565-1165
Current Hours: Mon - Thurs 11am - 3pm Fri 11am - 730pm Sat 4pm - 730pm Closed on Sunday Website

La Miche Kabobgee 9350 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. San Diego 92123 (858) 565-1165
Current Hours: Mon - Thurs 11am - 3pm Fri 11am - 730pm Sat 4pm - 730pm Closed on Sunday Website

Mister Falafel Revisited

**** Mister Falafel has closed

The Missus has been craving falafel like we had in Israel back at the end of 2019. I told Her that I haven't come across anything that is even remotely close....but; perhaps She should try the falafel from Mister Falafel. I thought the Falafel was decent when they had first opened; but seemed to not quite as good on subsequent visits. Still, I really like the older couple that run the place and really wanted to give them some business. So, a few weeks back I went to get some falafel for the Missus on the way home from the office.

I was happy to see that they were still open and from the packages on the table for pick-up; doing decent business.

Instead of going full bore with a falafel sandwich; I decided to get the "munchie"; basically an appetizer size falafel snack. I also got the babaganoush because I'd always thought they did a decetn version of that. Both were priced right at $5.99 and $6.99 respectively....and heck, since I was there, why not get a small garlic paste (99 cents).

Well, as expected, the falafel didn't go over too well with the Missus. It was quite dry and too gritty......to me the perfect falafel has a crisp and mildly gritty experior, that gives way to a creamy interior. This just wasn't up to the task. The Missus did like the tahini though.

It definitely didn't make the Missus forget this.....

Oh man.....these were wonderful; from a little stand a block away from our hotel called Falafel Razon.....no wonder they've been in business since 1963!

The Missus did enjoy the Babaganoush.

She loved the smokiness and told me the texture was exactly how She likes it. She enjoyed the fact that it didn't have not too much tahini or lemon juice, but had a nice earthiness to it.

I of course, always enjoy the garlic paste from Mister Falafel.

And in what has become a classic "two-fer" for us....I'll often stop for the babaganoush (and garlic paste) when I'm on the way home from La Miche.

I'm happy that we've found items we like at Mister Falafel; the folks here are so very nice. 

Mister Falafel
4461 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117
(858) 490-0170
Current Hours:
Tuesday - Sunday Noon - 7pm

New to the Rotation Part 2 - La Miche Kabobgee

**** Sadly, La Miche has closed

With the weather getting a bit warmer, the Missus has been craving takeout from La Miche. There are items we want that are only served during dinner service and with the limited hours the place is only open for dinner service on Fridays and Saturdays. So, I've been dropping by on just about every Friday or Saturday for the last month or so.

The owner, Nabih and his wife are the nicest folks and we really want them to do well. It's quite depressing to stop by and see the place totally empty....though during my last two visits there was at least one table (since we reached Red Tier) occupied.

We pretty much get the same thing on my visits. But, much like Jesus from De Cabeza, Nabih understands our tastes. He knows the Missus likes spicy, so he recently recommended spicing up the hummus the Missus enjoys. Also, he is not able to get Soujouk at this time, so he asked if we would like to try the Kafta with the spicy tomato sauce he would use with the Soujouk (kasha kish)...he told me he'd make us a half order. So of course I said yes.

Which I got with the always delicious sweet-nutty-sweet-mildy spicy Muhamarah and the savory and mildly funky (in the best way possible) Shaankleesh, made from a wonderfully ripe and complex cheese.

The Spicy Hummus featured fire-roasted peppers which added an additional smoky layer, along with spice and acidity which really went well with the hummus.

The Kafta, meatiness went quite well with the bright-spicy-acidic tomato sauce....this was pretty hefty stuff and was quite filling. It was quite good........in fact we got a full order the next time around.

In many ways La Miche really embodies what makes being a regular customer at a great mom-and-pop restaurant. They recognize their regulars, are so warm and friendly, know their tastes and make spot on recommendations based on that. You are welcomed....with a gentle smile, a wave, and a very mellow and sincere "we're so happy to see you". And I'm always happy to see the folks here. I've noted that Nabih has had some serious health issue in the past and I'm glad he seems to be navigating these crazy times fairly well.

And....yes, I'll probably be back on Friday or Saturday for "our usual".

I'm so ever thankful for places like this; it's part of the reason I started the blog almost 16 years ago.

Take care and be safe everyone; things are progressing, but we're not over this yet!

La Miche Kabobgee
9350 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92123
(858) 565-1165
Current Hours:
Mon - Thurs 11am - 3pm
Friday 11am - 730pm
Saturday 4pm - 730pm
Closed on Sunday

Takeout From La Miche Kabobgee

**** Sadly, La Miche has closed

So, what to do with that leftover Garlic Sauce from Garlic & Tahini? Well, on the Friday I had off, I decided to order some takeout from La Miche. The Missus had been wanting La Miche for a while; but ever since the owner had some health issues La Miche has been operating under limited hours. And the items we enjoy from La Miche are the Mezes are only offered during dinner. Currently from 3pm to 730 on Friday and 4pm to 730pm on Saturdays. Which really limits things for us....especially with the pandemic going on. What I decided to do on this day was to place an order at 11am to be picked up at 330pm on that Friday.

I got there right at 330 and my order was ready and waiting. I as happy to see the owner and his wife; who are in good health. I made my way home; placing the items that needed to be chilled in the fridge. When dinner came along; I heated up the soujouk and then the pita in my handy-dandy tortilla warmer and we were ready to go.

To go along with our leftover garlic sauce......I've posted on these dishes a number of times....

The Soujouk…….slightly spicy, toothsome sausage, with a nice and tangy tomato sauce. I only got a small taste of this one.

Loved the spices, the acidity.....deeply savory and complex.

My favorite; the Muhamarah. Red Pepper - Pomegranate - Walnut, thickened with bread. Such wonderful sweet-tangy-slightly spicy-nutty-mildly sour tones, just perfect with a warm pita.

And of course, the Shaankleesh. The flavor of a mildly "ripe cheese", with onion, tomato, and zaatar added for complexity.

The Missus remarked how much She's missed these dishes; it would have been complete with the Makanek, which sadly wasn't on the menu. I'm going to have to figure out how to get dishes from here more often....I got two shots a week; either Friday or Saturday. I'm hoping for the day that the owner feels recovered enough to open for regular dinner again. Until then; we'll make due.

La Miche Kabobgee
9350 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92123
(858) 565-1165
Current Hours:
Mon - Thurs 11am - 3pm
Friday      11am - 730pm
Saturday    4pm - 730pm
Closed on Sunday

Most Mezes only served from 3pm on Friday and on Saturday

Mr. Falafel (Clairemont)

mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog for more than 14 years. Kirk is working a lot this short week before a holiday weekend, Cathy is blogging.  

Kirk has written about Mr. Falafel a total of three times; it's closer to His workplace.  However, I drive around a lot.  There are several signs directing you to this small storefront, (a strip mall *behind* the Panda Country on Clairmont Mesa at Genesee (the Southwest corner)). It used to be a Mexican Bakery where we would stop after eating at the small Mexican restaurant, also in this strip mall.   The signage used to indicate it was 'Mediterranean Cuisine' and now it is more specific- 'Lebanese Cuisine'.  There are 8 tables (two outside), 18 chairs.  The menu is simple.  The owner is very friendly and takes your order, apologizes that you will have to wait while it is being prepared, brings the food out to your table and checks up on how you are doing.  It is his place and you can tell he is proud of his quality.  Did I mention he is friendly?  He is also happy, sings with the music playing in the background while cleaning the tables.  It's like you are guest in his home.
 The entire menu.  Of course, we had to try the falafel.  Knowing this was Lebanese meant the falafel would have fava beans in addition to chickpeas (I mentioned falafel ingredient differences in this post).  A 'Munchie' ($5.99) of falafel was ordered.

 Crisp exterior, fluffy interior, onion, garlic, parsley mixed with the garbanzo and fava. Quite perfect.  Made to order (of course) and served with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and (a very mild) tahini.  This could be a light meal. 

So. Lebanese.  Top center menu item, Lebanese chicken panini ($7.95).  Chicken, pickles, garlic spread on a pressed French roll.  This is a Lebanese restaurant...Alforon and chicken tawook came to mind.  Could it be? 
 Oh yes!!! Freshly pulled roasted chicken (there was a small bone in one bite), a nice amount of pickles and the light, fluffy smooth, garlic paste on the nicely crisp yet fluffy pannini'd bread.  All the flavors I crave. When you order the sandwich, you can also get a small size of any side item (hummus, tabbouleh, cucumber yogurt salad, potato salad fries or baba ganoosh) for 1/2 price.  Ganoosh it was!  Smoky, chunky, fresh-wonderful.  The 'Munchie' part of the menu says a choice of either fresh pita or pita chips, and we were given some of each.  The regular pita here are the nice, thin version (which is what the toasted pita are made from)- and I like thin pita rather than the fluffy, bread-y style.  

A longtime (since 2011), local owned, friendly place serving wonderful, fresh food.   

Mr. Falafel 4461 Clairmont Mesa Blvd (BEHIND Panda Country and the gas station) 92117 (858)490-0170 Closed Monday, 11-8 Tues-Sun Website