mmm-yoso!!!

Tequila Part 3 - Chocolate and Tequila Tasting at La Rojena, Fonda Chivo y Vaca, and the Sky Bar (Hotel Solar de las Animas)

**** Here's part 3 of my mostly photo posts on our stay in Tequila

We started our last full day in Tequila, with a birote as I noted in my previous post. We wandered around a bit before heading to a tour and tasting I scheduled. We were in Tequila and it would be almost sacrilegious to not visit the oldest Tequila distillery, right? And to make things more entertaining for the Missus, I decided to do the chocolate and tequila tasting as well.

This would take place at Jose Cuervo's Fabrica la Rojena distillery. I mentioned that Jose Antonio Cuervo was the first person granted permission to produce Tequila for sale in an earlier post. Fabrica la Rojena, the distillery was established in 1812, making it the oldest active distillery in Latin America.

Finding the place was easy.....it's located on, you guessed it, Calle Jose Cuervo. The view up that street is quite lovely.

We met in front of the Mundo Cuervo Hall, where that giant crow statue stands and were soon guided on a tour of the place.

Making it to the back of the distillery where we got to see the "pina", the heart of the agave plants being delivered and prepped.

Like the previous day, it was getting pretty darn warm....this is hard work.

I had worried that doing tequila distillery tours two days in a row might lead to a lot of overlap; but to our extreme pleasure, what we learned here actually added to what we had learned the previous day. We got to be much more close up to things as well.

And there were actual displays along the way as well. I didn't know that American Oak barrels were used for Reposado and Anejo aging.

After the tour, the Missus and I met up with the nice young man who guided us thru our tasting which the Missus truly enjoyed.

What I most enjoyed was chatting with him about his life; he was born in Glendale and his family moved back to Jalisco and Tequila when he was 10 years old. Can you imagine how being seprated from your friends at that age must be? And he was more comfortable speaking English at that time. He also liked that we enjoyed the varied tastes of Blanco. And then we asked him about the new Cristalino Tequila; where Anejo is passed thru a filtering process, making it clear, and taking it back to almost being a Blanco....but charging a person even more than a Anejo? He laughed and said it's kind of a hipster thing right now.....'nuff said.

We enjoyed our tour and tasting at La Rojena.

When we were done; it was...well time for lunch. We just wanted something simple and hearty. And yes, we were in Jalisco; so Birria de Chivo was high on our list. And there was a place named Fonda Chivo y Vaca close by!

Turns out it was a three story restaurant with views of the street. We were seated on the ground floor.

Of course we got some Birria de Chivo and also Carne en su Jugo.

The Carne en su Jugo had a very upfront acidity, which was interesting.....the beans were so earthy and perfectly cooked.

The Birria de Chivo was slightly gamy; nice smokey flavors, a bit of spice.

The meat was on the chewier side. Definitely not like Birriería Las 9 Esquinas, but miles ahead of what we have here in San Diego.

Fonda Chivo y Vaca
Jesús Rodríguez de Hijar 17
Tequila, Jalisco, Mexico

On this day, we actually managed a nice siesta........

And then we woke and took a nice stroll. On an interesting note, we saw the really nice young man who did our chocolate pairing at La Rojena in the lobby of the hotel talking to the staff. Apparently, Jose Cuervo owns Hotel Solar de las Animas!

As the evening rolled around we took a nice stroll. This was a Thursday and the hotel was getting busier. As we strolled around Plaza Principal we could see the families doing there "evening thing".

We looked for a spot to have a seat and just take in the evening, but it was busy. It was then we saw a couple waving to us, they moved over on a bench and beckoned us over so we could enjoy the sights and sounds. These are the moments that make travel so special!

When dinner time came around; we just decided to head back to the hotel. On our first evening in the town, we enjoyed having a drink at the Sky Bar at our hotel. We also noticed that they had an abbreviated menu of  La Antigua Casona, the very popular restaurant in the hotel. So, we just decided to have our last dinner there. 

With a nice view of the town.

The Aguachile Negro and Jicama was just as good as what we'd had in the restaurant.

The Ceviche less so; but overall this was a nice, light meal.

Sky Bar (in Hotel Solar de las Animas)
Calle Albino Rojas #14
46400 Tequila, Jalisco, Mexico

And of course, our room with the amazing view was just a minute away.

The next morning, we woke a bit earlier than usual and took a stroll around town before our ride to the airport.

We were indeed taken be the art, the colors.....the Tequila.....but there was more that made our stay wonderful.

It was the warm people....and the pooches.....

That had us contemplating as I got that Birote yet again.....

That we'd return once again, in the middle of the week to enjoy Tequila...both the town and the drink!

Revisits to A-Chau and Avian Sandwiches

My revisits to the more "modern Banh Mi" at Banh Mi Express and Paris Sandwiches had me wondering how some of the more "traditional" banh mi shop were doing. So, it was time for a couple of revisits.

A-Chau:

Well, I decided to head on up to the place where I did my first post on Banh Mi in June of 2005! My how time flies! On this day I lucked out and the slightly psycho parking lot was only half full. It was just after 8am on a Sunday morning so Minh Ky  wasn't open yet.

It's pretty much "all business" here. You walk in, order, pay, get your sandwich and get the heck out of Dodge.

The Banh Mi Pate Cha here now runs you $7.25. It was $5.50 on my last visit and the end of 2021. OF course I had to get some Cha Gio as well.

I had been a bit critical of A-Chau over the last few years because the place seemed to have slipped a bit over the years.

This version was actually pretty good.

The exterior was crusty, the bread was light and yeasty. There was that "unicorn" of banh mi ingredients, a slice of cucumber present. The pickled veggies were thinly sliced and though there could have been a bit more, it was crisp and sour.

The ingredients was nicely distributed thru out the whole sandwich; the amount of funky pate was excellent, the cha lua nice and toothsome. Perhaps a bit too much mayo, but I think that's splitting hairs. There didn't seem to be a lot of jalapeno; but what those thin slices were pretty darn spicy.

Pretty good banh mi!

But while the banh mi seems to be "back"...the Cha Gio still seemed to be "stuck in a rut".

While it was improved on my last visit, this was much like what I had back in 2018.  While still nicely "stuffed" it is still lacking in crispness, very chewy, the filling cold and lacking in a good pork flavor.

Oh well, at least the Banh Mi is back on my "list" here. I need to return more often.

A Chau Restaurant
4644 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92115
Current Hours:
Mon - Thurs 7am - 4pm
Fri - Sun        7am - 5pm

Avian Sandwiches & Fresh Drinking Water:

In my post on Banh Mi Express, "FOY" ST asked if I'd be doing Avian Sandwiches. Well, considering that Avian is one of the closer Banh Mi shops to me, of course I was. In fact, Avian was one of the most recent Banh Mi shops I posted on before this last  spate of visits.

I will say, that this small shop can get kinda crazy, with all the old timers drinking coffee outside, the endless stream of folks playing the lottery or filling up water.

The interior can get positively claustrophobic.

Like now you can get some body wash, shampoo, and conditioner with your Cane Juice, Alkaline Water, Lottery Tickets, and Banh Mi if so desired.

My drill here is to order my sandwich and find some crevice or corner to squeeze into until my number is called.

Like on my last visit; I got the Banh Mi Nem Nuong, which is now $8.95. It was $7.95 last May.

  The bread was crusty, though on the drier end of the scale. It had a good amount of pickled veggies; crisp, sour, and refreshing. Huge slices of jalapeno, some of which was spicy, some not...time for some "chili roulette"? Nice, thick slice of cucumber.

Two thick slices of nem nuong, savory-sour, with a mild sweetness. A bit too much mayo, but acceptable. Good amount of fresh cilantro. All evenly distributed. 

A good banh mi...probably why it's one of my first choices for banh mi these days. In spite of the almost nine dollar price!

Avian Sandwiches & Fresh Drinking Water
6937 Linda Vista Rd.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 8am - 7pm

So, my "Banh Mi Brethren" ("BMBs"), where have you been getting your Banh Mi these days!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Paris Sandwiches Revisted

My revisit to Banh Mi Express had me wondering how Paris Sandwiches was doing, after all it had been almost a year since my last visit. So, I drove on over for an early lunch.

What I quickly noticed as I walked toward the shop was that there weren't any "old timers" having coffee outside. This was when I first noticed the sign for Saigon Corner, which has seemed to taken over that duty in this strip mall, at least on a couple visits I made.

I kind of consider Paris Sandwiches to be like Banh Mi Express as a "tweener" banh mi shop; attempting to please a varied customer base. Looking at the posted menu; English descriptions, though the Vietnamese names are displayed below. The place was doing some steady business on this day.

I got the Cha Lua (Pork Roll on the menu - $7.05). The two women working the line were super fast and my banh mi was ready in less than five minutes.

This is what it looked like unwrapped.

 I've always enjoyed the bread from Paris Bakery and this is basically the same. Nice and light; "crackley", slightly yeasty. The Cha Lua was sliced fairly thin and layered nicely. Not much pate. Also light on the mayo which suited me well.

Not enough pickled veggies on this visit and of course the cucumber was MIA. I had to make some "adjustments" to the fillings as all the jalapenos were piled in the middle and a lot of the cilantro leaves were yellowed; which I removed. Kind of sloppy in my opinion.

While this was an ok banh mi; I felt that the proportion was a bit off and it was kind of sloppily put together. On the good side; this led me to wonder about  couple of other banh mi shops that I hadn't been to in a while!

Paris Sandwiches
10606 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126
Current Hours:
Mon - Sat 730am - 630pm
Closed on Sunday

Kali's Garden Cafe (Julian)

Back at the end of March, we decided to take JJ up to Julian. I know it might sound strange, but we hadn't been back to Julian since like 2003-2004...over 20 years ago!

And upon parking, we were instantly thrust into the charming old west-mining town. Several businesses were dog friendly and the Missus enjoyed doing some shopping. First at the fun, tourist kitschy, old Americana wielding, Old Julian Garage.

The Old Julian Garage
2126 Main St.
Julian, CA 92036

We also enjoyed The Olde Goat.

Where we ended up getting some freeze-dried goat milk and freeze-dried goat milk ice cream for JJ.

It's too bad The Olde Goat doesn't include these for mail order, because JJ really enjoyed them.

The Olde Goat
2106 Main St.
Julian, CA 92036

And JJ waited while Momma went and did some pie shopping.....

Though in the end, the Missus decided to go without. She'd never taken to the pies from Julian.

We then had to find a place for an early lunch. We settled on a place with outdoor seating close to where we parked that served Vegan style cuisine named Kali's Garden Cafe.

The Missus went in and ordered while I hung out with JJ in the patio. After ordering, we just enjoyed the clean, crisp air.....it had been snowing as recently as the week before, but we didn't come across traces during our visit and drive.

Soon enough, the friendly, cheerful young lady brought over our food.

The Missus got the Avocado Toast.

The bread was nice and crisp-yeasty. A decent sourdough. The avocado was a thin layer of mashed with a sprinkling of a smoky-spicy powder. The bread was the best part of the dish.

The Missus ordered me a jackfruit burger.

Like the avocado toast, it was the bread; in this case a brioche like bun that had been nicely toasted that was the best part of the dish. The jackfruit "burger" had a mushy texture, and I really couldn't make out much in terms of flavor as it was slatered in a very sweet BBQ sauce and there was a lot of Thousand Island like dressing poured over it.

All in all, an ok meal. We'll explore other options in the area the next time we visit.

Kali’s Garden Cafe
1921 Main St.
Julian, CA 92036
Current Hours:
Fri - Tues 830am - 3pm
Closed on Wed - Thurs

JJ did have a fun time exploring Julian.

As a postscript.....I'm sure most of you know. But three weeks after our visit a 5.2 magnitude earthquake with an epicenter outside of Julian occurred.

I'm relieved to note that even thought there was some minor damage, that there were no fatalities. As for me; I was driving east on the 52 when my phone went off. I didn't notice a thing. I guess this is a good warning for us to be ready.....

Banh Mi Express Revisited

Getting the rather "Americanized"  banh mi from Poppy Boba had me wondering how some of regular banh mi stops were doing. So, I set out to do some revisits. I decided to start with my most "recent-decent" banh mi, which was from Banh Mi Express, which provides one of the few pre-lunch options that is not fast food or premade bento's in the area on a Saturday morning.

The place was doing some pretty good business on this morning. Remember when this was Phuong Nga Bakery and Cafe? Banh Mi Express is kind of interesting as I think of it being a bit of a "tweener" between the more traditional banh mi and more Westernized versions. For instance, the menu only features westernized names for the sandwiches.

For instance, I decided on the Cha Lua....which is on the menu as "Pate - Meat Loaf" ($7.75). It seems that the going price for banh mi seems to run in the 7-8 dollar range these days. I couldn't believe the version at Poppy was over ten bucks!

Once back home I unwrapped my Banh Mi.

I was glad to note that the house made bread was back to normal, not the rather strange version I got on my previous visit. There was a bit too much mayo for my taste, but a good amount of funky pate was provided. The cha lua were sliced thinly, which I kind of liked. The jalapenos were quite mild and I noticed that the cucumber slices were MIA. The cilantro had quite a bit of think stems.

The bread was crusty and yeasty. There were proportionally less pickled vegetables than I would have enjoyed. 

Not a bad banh mi; but it did fuel my curiosity even more. It was time to "make the banh mi rounds" as it were.

Banh Mi Express
9353 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92123
Current Hours:
Mon - Fri 7am - 4pm
Saturday  8am - 3pm
Closed on Sundays

Road Trip - Helena Avenue Bakery (Santa Barbara), Good Seed Coffee Boutique (Solvang), and a Revisit to Bell's (Los Alamos)

After a surprisingly good dinner at Shalhoob's and a nightcap at Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company, I thought I would have a nice night's sleep. Well, that was not to be. I did anticipate JJ's 4am morning "puppy potty", but I had a hard time sleeping because of the traffic noise from the 101. I really enjoyed the Moxy Hotel, but it was right on the 101 and the traffic noise kept me up for most of the night. Oh well, cant win 'em all.

When morning arose, the Missus and I made some quick plans. We had lunch reservations at our favorite restaurant in the area and added in what we thought would be a fun visit for JJ. 

But before all of this, we decided to head down the block. I had noted that right across the way from Figueroa Mountain Brewing was Helena Avenue Bakery. I decided to get my croissant fix, since they supposedly made everything inhouse.

It's quite a charming spot, the bakery shares the space with a wine tasting room. It also shares the address with a place we had really looked forward to eating at that kind of disappointed us on our previous visit to the area.

You order at the counter and are given a number. We had a seat at one of the lovely outdoor tables.

Soon enough my Americano and Croissant was ready.

The Americano was fairly smooth, with a nice kick.

 Seeing that the ridges were falling off the viennoiserie made me somewhat concerned, but the pastry did not shatter into crumbs upon consuming. The exterior was light and crisp, the interior fairly fluffy and "honeycombed". It was sorely lacking in butter and even salt for that matter. Quite bland overall.

A "halfway there" croissant if I've ever had one. Liked the vibe of the place, though I'm not sure what it would be like if busy.

Helena Avenue Bakery
131 Anacapa St. Suite C
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

Since we had lunch reservations in Los Alamos, we decided to head on up to Solvang which is sort of on the way. We thought that JJ might enjoy the place and since it was a Monday during the slow season, things wouldn't be too hectic.

And we were right. It was calm and relaxed, we enjoyed strolling around. And JJ kinda enjoyed his "photo-ops".

This was when we thought it would be fun staying in Solvang with JJ, which would be our next "road trip".

We took a short break at this little coffee shop.

Where I had my second Americano of the day. This one was smooth and easy to drink. We just had a seat on the porch and enjoyed things.

It was a nice break in the action for us.

Good Seed Coffee Boutique
1607 Mission Dr.
Solvang, CA 93463

We did a bit more walking; then it was time to head off for lunch. Which was going to be at our favorite restaurant in the area; Bell's in Los Alamos. Over time we've come to conclusion that we enjoy lunches at Bell's more than the prefix dinner. It's much more classically French, with local produce and such. And since this is my fourth post on the place; I'm just going to mainly do photos. You can click on the preceding links for more info on our previous visits.

Perhaps because it was 11am on a Monday, we had the place to ourselves for a while. The back patio is dog friendly and the chef even came out and spent some time with JJ!

We ordered what we usually do at Bell's. They still make one of my favorite versions of Beef Tartare.

Love the cut of beef, with a wonderful texture, perfect ratio of capers and pungency, so rich and decadent.

Of course the Missus had to have Escargot.

The Country Terrine is nice and porky, with hints of winey-sweetness. It goes well with the cornichons and grainy-pungent Dijon.

We also enjoy the slightly offally, mildly sweet Chicken Liver Mousse.

The strawberry jam works as a nice sweet "foil", with the cornichons sour-acidity clearing the palate. Our only issue is with the crostini which were hard rather than crisp.

As with our previous we enjoyed our lunch at Bell's and would return again in a few weeks.

JJ enjoyed his first visit to a Michelin Star restaurant and got treated so nicely!

Bell's
406 Bell St.
Los Alamos, CA 93440

Now it was time to head back to the hotel and get a much needed nap.....if I could block out the freeway noise; before dinner!

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you had a great weekend!

Road Trip - Shalhoob's Funk Zone Patio and Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co. (Santa Barbara)

After our stroll along State Street, we settled into our hotel; the Moxy. We took a short nap and then had to decide on dinner. A couple of places on my "list" were closed; several of them for "Employee appreciation parties"! Pretty nice; I'm guessing Super Bowl Sunday is pretty quiet round these parts. There was one place I wanted to try; Santo Mezcal, but they don't do reservations and there was a 90 minute wait.

There was one interesting place I had on my "list", it was all outdoor dining, which was perfect for JJ. Shalhoob's Funk Zone Patio was just barely two blocks away. An extension of a company that runs several butcher shops, the menu has everything from tacos to burgers to BBQ, and beer of course. So, we walked on over.

The Funk Zone is an interesting location; there are wineries, restaurants, breweries, shops, and even some houses sprinkled among auto shops, warehouses, it has a real industrial transitioning to hipster feel. 

The actual restaurant used to be the main "cutting room" for the butcher shops and has now been converted.

While the few parking spaces were taken....the place was maybe half full. There was a large screen television mounted on a large golf cart showing the Super Bowl pregame.

You order at the counter, they give you a number, and you have a seat at one of the tables or barrels. The Missus wanted a beer! Go figure! The features brews made inhouse. Not quite knowing what the Missus would want; I got a Funk Zone Blonde to go with what the Missus ordered; the Funk Zone Lager.

Turns out the Missus preferred the Blond Ale....whew...good thing I got that, right?

The Missus wanted a 1/4 Rack St Louis style BBQ ribs ($10.95), with a side of Street Corn ($8.95). I went with the Oak Smoked Tri-Tip Sandwich ($16.50). The woman working the counter was very nice.

The Tri-Tip Sandwich was pretty good; the meat a bit on the drier side, but tender enough. There was a very nice smoke ring, and so I knew the assertive smokiness of Oak would be front and center.

I think the pico de gallo was kind of overwhelmed by the smokiness of the tri-tip, though the garlic bread and aioli came thru nicely; adding some moistness and a rich-mild pungency to the sandwich. The BBQ Sauce, which I believe is St Louis style was a bit too sweet for my taste, but this was an enjoyable sandwich overall.

The "street corn" was sweet and maizey; though it had too much other "stuffs".

Was still pretty good.

I had reservations about the ribs; but they turned out to be pretty good.

Like the tri-tip, the BBQ sauce was a tad on the sweeter side; but the ribs were tender, quite smokey. It might be a bit much for some folks, but the Missus enjoyed the smokiness and the "fall off the bone tenderness" was quite good.

This ended up being a relaxing and enjoyable meal for us. Just what we needed on this day.

Shalhoob's Funk Zone Patio
220 Gray Ave.
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

After dinner, we walked back to the hotel. JJ was pooped as was the Missus. I'm not sure why since I had been the one doing the driving up from San Diego! I decided to take the opportunity, since JJ wouldn't be displaying his yappy separation anxiety, to walk over to the Figueroa Mountain Brewing tap room a block away and watch the end of the Super Bowl. Like the rest of the area, things were pretty mellow. There was only one table taken and a couple of folks over at the bar.

I had a Frozen Goat Weizenbock.

Fairly boozy, fruity - yeasty notes.

And I took in the last quarter of the Super Bowl and chatted with one of the local guys, who told me that the sports bars around the area are pretty busy, but many places close during Super Bowl Sunday. He lives on State Street and walked on over here.

Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co. Santa Barbara
137 Anacapa St. F
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

It was a lovely end to a fun day.

Road Trip - The Sando Truck (Santa Barbara)

JJ had done so well on our road trip to Morro Bay and Cambria that when the Missus had another string of days off, we decided to try it again. This time, we'd head to Santa Barbara. Granted, we have kind of mixed feelings about the city; it's kind of touristy, we hadn't always enjoyed our stays too much, but I had an idea. This time we'd stay in the Funk Zone.....at the Moxy Hotel and just kind of see how we like it this time around.

As with our previous road trip; JJ was a champ and we made it to our destination in no time. We even managed an early check in! Our room was interesting, but comfortable; I'll go into a bit more detail a bit later.

The Funk Zone is located across the 101 from the busy portion of State Street. It was a nice short walk to Stearns Wharf.

This was a Sunday and we were shocked at how "quiet" things were....more on that later.

We enjoyed the walk as did JJ who got a lot of "pets" from folks.

We even had a photo-op or two.....

What I had found interesting was that there weren't reservations available for many places or various restaurants were closed. We looked for a place to grab lunch and I had noticed this food truck just around the corner from the hotel.

And we thought "what the heck"? We weren't too hungry, so this sounded good. We got a Pork Katsu (that's what it is on the menu...I guess folks wouldn't know tonkatsu???) Sando - 3 piece (which I think is one sando) $11 and an order of Potato Salad ($5). The guy working was very nice; he pointed us to a table we could use.

We liked that shokupan was used for the sandwich and yes, the crust was trimmed off!

The "sizing" was a bit off as the tonkatsu was significantly smaller than the bread and had been over-fried a bit. The pork was toothsome and not tough; a bit too much katsu sauce as well. Overall, an ok sando.....in Santa Barbara!

The Potato Salad was actually quite good.

At first glance we thought it might have a bit too much mayo; but this was nice and refreshing. The potatoes nicely mashed, a good amount of egg in this, but our favorite ingredient was that instead of just plain cucumber, kyuri asazuke, pickled cucumbers were used. This added a nice sour-acidity which helped to balance out the mayo.

This was pretty filling and a nice start to our stay in Santa Barbara.

The Sando Truck
210 State St.
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

We decided to take a stroll after our meal. We headed under the 101 and over to the main part of State Street.....usually busy with tourists, today it was totally empty.

We actually enjoyed this.....

Many of the businesses were closed as were the restaurants I'd tried to reservations at. What was going on? 

Well, I guess that many places don't open on Super Bowl Sunday? The bars were open, but there didn't seem very full. I guess this is what SBS is like in downtown Santa Barbara?

Sunday Sandwiches - Gnarly Girl Pizza

Recently, while finishing up on some errands on a Sunday, I was craving a Cheesesteak. I decided to had to the Wise Ox since I was in the area. I thought it would give me some other options in case I changed my mind....yes, I still remember the recommendation for the bologna EW and Dave! I should have known better; it was close to noon on a Sunday and of course, there was no parking to be found; sigh. So, I needed a plan B. I had recalled reading that a pizza shop on the corner of ECB and Louisiana named Gnarly Girl that served up cheesesteaks. So, I decided to see if I could actually find some parking. Which I did rather easily on Mississippi...there's some huge building going up on ECB, but there was a ton of parking right past it.

I walked over to the colorful shop, it was five til noon, and there were a couple of groups; all with kids in tow waiting outside. I thought about doing an about face, but in the end, I decided to stick it out. Apparently, there were two large parties, one with reservations for 20 waiting! So actually getting in a placing an order was a breeze because all the pizzas had been preordered.

The interior is quite colorful....Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles rule one wall, this guy is on the fridge.

I walked up to the register and the friendly guy, who was soon overwhelmed with kids running around took my order.

There's an interesting sign at the register.

And then I walked over to the corner and watched the action!

My order took about 15 minutes. The woman, who I think runs the place handed me my sandwich and I wished her "good luck"......which cracked her up! She replied, "yes, thanks, we're going to need it!" As another party of at least 8 walked in with kids in tow!

The cheesesteak ($15) was quite hefty and long. And this is what it looked like when I opened it up.

A lot of meat. Which had been chopped too finely; it was headed toward "hamburger land". It had been seriously mixed with the White American Cheese. Didn't care for the mushy-mealy texture, though the flavor was ok.....mostly beefy, couldn't really make out the cheese or the onions.

The bread, faced with a daunting task of surviving all the mushy-damp protein had held out quite well.

   I prefer my cheesesteak to have thinly sliced beef, not chopped too finely like this was. One could not complain about the portion size nor price. Looks like a great neighborhood place to take the family for some slices and maybe enjoy the art, but perhaps not for a cheesesteak. Looks like I'll be headed to Evans or Wise Ox soon.....boy do I miss Monkey Paw and Pop's. And if you'd like a good laugh, you can check out this this old cheesesteak collection from almost 15 years ago! Man does time fly!

Gnarly Girl Pizza
2302 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92104
Current Hours:
Sunday, Thurs 12pm - 9pm
Mon - Wed       3pm - 9pm
Fri - Sat            12pm - 10pm

Mama G’s Kitchen & Sauces

There seems to be a sort of Peruvian Renaissance of sort going on. Since August - September of last year no less than three Peruvian spots have opened in San Diego. I've already posted on Chimpum Callao and The Peruvian Spot, though it was Mama G's that I actually first visited, but wanted to do multiple visits before posting. So, here we go.....

The actual location of the restaurant is interesting; along Camino del Rio South, past the Benihana. I also recall that a TGI Fridays used to be nearby? 

The restaurant actually faces the street and has a small indoor dining area and an outdoor patio.

I've actually sampled Mama G's sauces at the Hillcrest Farmer's Market, which I'd never really taken to, a bit too mayonnaisey for my taste, but I was quite interested in what the dishes produced would be like.

Service was quite laid back and friendly. Things did take a while, but heck, it's a mom-and-pop kind of operation and they had just opened.

Of course I was going to order the Lomo Saltado. It was the first Peruvian Dish that made an impact when I tasted it back in 1997 at El Rocoto in Gardena (if you want to see a revisit post, we visited back in 2010). Before that it was basically Pollo ala Brassa from El Pollo Inka. So of course I had to order that, along with some Chicha Morada.

Well, this was the bottled stuff I can get at Tropical Star and even at Andres, it's a bit too sweet for me.

Soon enough, the Lomo Saltado ($17) arrived.

   Soon enough my lomo saltado arrived. Quite a bit of onions and papas frita in this. The rice was fairly dry and chewy, but edible, and seemed to have been seasoned a bit.

The beef was a bit on the chewier side; but not as bad as what Soo had, nor as drenched in sauce. A bit on the salty side, mild sour - savory tones, it was not bad.

Wish it had a bit more tomato to balance out the saltiness, but this was not bad.

I waited a couple of weeks and returned. It was a nice and unseasonably warm day for San Diego.

So I thought it would be great to try some Ceciche; sadly they were out of fish! I then tried to start with some Yucca Frita, but the fryer was down! Well, I didn't come here for a cheeseburger or Caesar salad. 

I had an Inca Cola to think things over.

I'm not one for soft drinks; but like I've mentioned before, there's something about that "bubblegum flavor" of the drink that takes me back to Peru.

In the end I got a Causa Rellena ($11) and Beef Empanadas ($12).

   The presentation was lovely; though the boiled egg was overcooked. The chicken was fairly bland, stringy, and there was a bit too much mayo. The potatoes were nicely done though.

The Empanadas came with a side of Mama G's Sauce, which I enjoyed with the empanadas.

   Loved the crust of the empanadas. Even though it wasn't slightly flakey, it had a nice crunchy texture. I didn't care much for the dusting of sugar as I think it detracted from the overall flavor. Like I mentioned earlier, the sauce did well with the pastry, deflecting some of the sweetness and helping with the texture of the beef which was pretty chewy.

I probably wouldn't order this again.

And so I was ready to do a post. But then, I went and visited The Peruvian Spot and couple of times. I then decided to see how the Pan Con Chicharron ($16) was.

   

It was interesting, that they didn't call this a Sanguche. Perhaps it was because it was served on a brioche instead of a typical Pan Frances? The fries were dry and got quite limp quickly.

   This was a lot less stuffed than the version at The Peruvian Spot. It had a drizzle of Mama G's sauce which did a pretty nice job of adding a creamy, mild spice to things. The ratio of camote and salsa criolla to meat was quite balanced.

The pork seems have been roasted and was decently seasoned, though there were some hard bits.

   The young lady working asked me if I wanted to try the spicy versions of Mama G's sauces and brought some over when I said yes. The verde was quite nice, not overly spicy to me. I added a tad more to the sandwich and used it to dip the very dry and limp fries.

The one thing that this sandwich had in common with the version at The Peruvian Spot was that the roll did not hold up. It got soggy and fell apart after one bite!

Still this was not bad at all. In fact, with the two versions of this sandwiches, I no longer have a desire to revisit Sangucheria Peruvian Street Food. The folks working has always been welcoming. Food can take a bit of time at this mom-and-pop restaurant, but I'm looking forward to having the Ceviche when things warm up.

Mama G’s Kitchen & Sauces
407 Camino del Rio South
San Diego, CA 92108
Current Hours:
Tues - Thurs 1130am - 730pm
Fri - Sat 1130am - 830pm
Sunday 1130am - 530pm
Closed on Mondays