mmm-yoso!!!

Cafe Hue- crepes!

The mmm-yoso!!! guys, Kirk and ed (from Yuma) are both having a busy time this week, so Cathy is going to blog, since she has been eating and taking photos the last few weeks while they were blogging and has a few meals to share.  This post is short. 

Hi again.  If you've been in the parking lot at the corner of Convoy and Ostrow, which is a mall housing an international compendium of eateries anchored by Nijiya Market, Mignon Pho+Grill, Okan, Sage French Cake, Spicy House and Koon Thai Kitchen as well as Sunrise Buffet, Subway and Palomino Taco Shop #2, you have probably seen Cafe Hue (and it's predecessor in that space, Red Berry Yogurt).

I have been fascinated by the "Lunch Crepe Special" sign hanging over the doorway and decided to finally stop in.  [Actually, The Mister and I had stopped in when Cafe Hue first opened a few years ago and shared a pretty lousy snack consisting of a cup of stale espresso and a stale, warm waffle topped with whipped cream.  I didn't want to write a post about that experience.] So we walked in and ordered (and were asked to choose from a variety of sauces when we ordered the crepes; most salad dressing flavors), paid and sat down.  

A very good cup of espresso was prepared, a good sign of things to come.  The interior is filled with tables, chairs and a few couches along with board games and books for people to share. 

The description of my order, the "healthy veggie" ($4.25), mentioned lettuce and spinach and so I figured there was a small salad on the side...but the salad was inside the crepe and my 'sauce' order of balsamic Italian was  spread on top of the lightly cooked flavorful batter crepe.

Actually, there was a light layer of cheese cooked into the crepe and then the lettuce, spinach and corn-yes corn- was placed inside the crepe.  Unusual and a very nice little lunch.

We also had ordered the $3.95 crepe- ham and cheese and (not knowing) asked for Thousand Island as the sauce.  This combination of flavors did work.  The photo of a cross section of this crepe didn't work.

Anyhow, I am still on my quest for a perfect crepe and the ones at Cafe Hue are in the running. They serve a great variety of beverages, gelatos, crepes and waffles.  It's a nice place to sit and catch up with friends.

Cafe Hue 3860 Convoy, Suite 106 San Diego 92111 (858)571-7947 

The Living Room-Point Loma, after a San Diego 'vacation day' in the rain

mmm-yoso!!! has a post about food almost every day.  Kirk and ed(from Yuma) just can't post right now.  Cathy is able to post now. 

"May gray leads to June gloom" is a fairly common San Diego weather report.  We had a bit more than gray yesterday.

It was Tuesday and The Mister and I planned to take advantage of "Residents Free Tuesdays" at  the usually Admission Fee charging museums at Balboa Park.

 

As we got off the 163, it was really raining.

  

The gray clouds made the blooming flowers seem even brighter in color.  
 
The Koi at the Japanese Friendship Garden were especially friendly.
The other Museums open yesterday were the Museum of Man, Museum of Art, Art Institute and Mingei International Museum.
The Mingei has quite a few interesting shows going on right now. 
We had planned to have a light lunch at the Tea Pavilion at the Japanese Friendship Garden and making that a post.  However, there are only two inside tables and the rain was not letting up. We walked through the museums then drove toward Little Italy and somehow ended up in Point Loma and stopped here.

There are five locations of Living Room Cafe and Bistro.  This one is an entire repurposed Victorian house, on the West end of  Rosecrans.  There is seating inside (upstairs as well as downstairs) as well as on the front porch and side and back porches.  There is free wifi. Comfy couches, tables and chairs are everywhere and a simple menu:

Since it was so cold and wet and I had planned on tea, I ordered a teapot for two ($3.75)
Choosing organic green sencha, the loose tea was measured and put into two bags and brewed in the pot...(as a reference, the amount of water filled both of those giant cups almost three times)
Oh.  That "Pony" marker was to put on the table for identification when the order is brought out.
Soup, salad, fruit and bread($6.25). No photo of bread.  Nice salad, fresh fruit. (As further reference, the soup bowl is as large as the giant tea cups)
Excellent soup.  Three bean vegetarian.  Thick, hearty, wonderful flavored. Just right on this chilly day.

This was a great find for us.  Perfect on this rainy day.  I imagine it gets pretty crowded with all the seating available. There are pastries, breakfast items, cold and panini and wrapped sandwiches and apparently some pretty good coffee and cold beverages also.

Living Room Cafe and Bistro 1018 Rosecrans San Diego 92106 (619)222-6852 Open 6 am-midnight daily. Website

Fat Ivor's and Meat by the Side of the Road-Valley Center

Welcome back to mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog.  Kirk is on vacation and Cathy is blogging in his place.  ed(from Yuma) is in Yuma, not on vacation and not blogging.

Hi again.   Long story short, I drive up Valley Center Road quite frequently, regularly noticed signs next to Fat Ivor's Rib Rack and back in 2002, I finally decided to stop and see what the signs were all about. I wrote a post about this in 2006.

 

In reality, the signs were only out near Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter...it took me a while to realize that was when I was driving regularly to Valley Center.  Here's an accurate photo of my viewpoint.  The yellow sign closest to the road is "Optimist Hams for Kids", next to a "Got Ribs? We do" sign, then there is that trailer with the Optimist logo on it and the sign for Fat Ivor's Rib Rack. Meat.  By the side.  Of the road.  The driveway is at those signs and the parking area is for Fat Ivor's.  

 
In the back of the parking lot, you can see the smokers, being used for the Optimist's hams, as well as for the beef and pork used on Fat Ivor's menu.  
Walk into the restaurant through the left door and seat yourself.  The right door is the outdoor Bar area.  Fat Ivor's has been in Valley Center for decades and was rebuilt after it burned down two months after the original owner, Tommy Thomas, died.  

 
The restaurant is decorated with American flags, pictures of President Ronald Reagan, John Wayne, patriotic items and is frequented by locals, especially at lunch time. 
 
Locals take advantage of the "Lunch Specials", as well as the "Extra Lunch Specials" (which include a side and beverage if you get it as a half sandwich).  You'll notice there aren't any smoked meats on the daily specials menu. This is a diner.  
So, The Mister and I ordered from the regular menu and his meal started with a fresh, but unexciting salad with blue cheese dressing...which had chunks of blue cheese at the bottom, but was pretty watery overall.
The main part of His meal was a whole farmed trout-deboned and spread open gently, so as to stay in one whole piece.  Lightly cornmeal breaded and perfectly fried, with skin on the bottom, this was fresh and a good, firm fish. It was a 'Lighter Meal' and came with cottage cheese ($10.95)
I ordered the BBQ pork sandwich ($7.95) which comes with a choice of two sides.  Baked beans (meaty baked beans) and a lightly dressed cole slaw were my choices.  The pork is smoked and  sliced (not pulled).  Real BBQ. The sandwich is topped with a homemade sauce, which seems to be sweetened with molasses.  The sesame seeded bun is well toasted so the sauce doesn't permeate the bun to fall apart.
About midway through, I used the BBQ seasoning (that isn't red pepper) from the tabletop condiment choices.  The very nice blend of  seasonings, including hot chili, black pepper and salt complimented my sandwich. 

Yes, Fat Ivor's is known for the all you can eat beef ribs, which are $13.99, seven days of the week.  I've had them.  They are well smoked, a bit fatty and better without sauce. People travel here for the evening meals.

Oh.  The ham. 
The best smoked ham ever.  The Optimists use Farmer John hams and smoke them deeply with hickory.  We could not wait.  It was tonight's dinner...tomorrow's breakfast and lunch... and many more meals, including pea soup. We're having Turkey for Easter.

Fat Ivor's 27961 Valley Center Road, Valley Center, CA 92082 (760) 749-0600

Fruitland & Deli- A fruiteria in El Cajon.

Fruitland & Deli has closed.

mmm-yoso!!! is the food blog you are perusing. Cathy is writing today, because Kirk is busy perusing things and ed (from Yuma) is busier perusing even more things.

Hi again.  In the last two years, a friend has taken me to Jamba Juice.  Twice.  I was overwhelmed both times, having to order from the huge menu board with many choices and derivations.  I always have gone to Fruiterias around town and could not understand how JJ had peaches in February... and finally asked my friend who looked at me and slowly said "it's frozen fruit"...Oh. OH.  I tried to explain my not understanding.

Then, I realized I have never even posted about Fruiterias on this blog.  So, here is a post about one in East County. {A fruiteria is basically a fruit shop where fresh fruit is served in various ways and other items, usually sandwiches and chilled seafood, are offered so as to make small meals. A neighborhood Mexican Bistro Cafe -no tacos or burritos or salsa bar.}

 

Fruitland and Deli has been on this corner where Second turns into Jamacha at Main Street in El Cajon for about three years now. It is in the same parking lot as Dubai (now Sultan)is located.
Clean and not too small (seating for about 25) inside, it offers items all Fruiterias offer...
with a menu in English above the ordering area.

Happy colors decorate the interior.  A selection of hot sauces are on every table.

 
Ices(raspados), smoothies, milk drinks(licuados), all juice-juices, 'diet' juices (not with artificial ingredients, but with vegetables as well as fruit...(you drink for the diet effects)), iced coffee drinks, fruit bowls-large in size, even the 'small' for $6.50-(plain, topped with yogurt or cottage cheese, crema or condensed milk and granola), paletas(ice cream on a stick..wonderful flavors), sandwiches, seafood, tostilocos (another post), tamales and salads.
#1 Licuado (milk shake) (small) ($3.60)There is powdered milk in this one,  made with papaya, banana, cantaloupe, banana and strawberries.
Medium camarones coctele (shrimp cocktail)($9.60) We counted 23 good sized, plump and flavorful shrimp in this one. The broth was mostly lime juice, not overly tomato.  However the cucumber, avocado and cilantro made this quite delightful and very flavored. It's refreshing.

We decided to share a pork torta (#1)($6.50), especially after the Young Man behind the counter told us the bread was made fresh daily in the store.
This sandwich, made with a good portion of sliced, moist and flavorful pork roast and a bit of mayonnaise, was topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, jalapeno and avocado and is definitely a meal in itself. The bread was indeed fresh, with a nice crispy crust and it was toasted.

Everything here is fresh, seasonal and takes a short while to be brought out, because it is all made to order.  This is how I enjoy eating.

Fruitland & Deli 109 Jamacha (between Main and 2nd) El Cajon 92019

Sushi Yaro-Lunch

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog. A few friends share blogging "duty".  We pretend it is a difficult task, but it's just fun. Today, Kirk has been elsewhere, having fun.  ed(from Yuma) is in Yuma, having fun.  Cathy is here and having fun.

Hi.  Remember the other day last year, when Kirk mentioned Sushi Yaro was having $3 lunch specials?  If not, link to it here. 

The Mister and I decided to (finally) try it for lunch the other day. The parking lot wasn't full

because we were the first ones there that day.  We checked out the 'White Board' near the kitchen as we walked in.

and ordered the $3 vegetable curry special (could have also had stir fried beef, pork, chicken or yakisoba also for $3). It came with a cabbage based salad (in the photo below) and the good serving of fresh rice and an excellent amount of a good curry with potatoes, onion and carrots and a bit of beef in the curry sauce.
I had a craving for poke that day and ordered it off the regular menu ($9.50) It came with the miso soup (very good), salad, side of rice and was presented on the plate this way...with a carrot petaled flower centered with radish and bunny ears of burdock in the poke...
which was an extremely fresh ahi tuna. Marinated in soy sauce, sea salt,  sesame oil, onion, garlic, seaweed and some furikake. 
One item on the White Board this day was 'stir fried giant clam' for $3.99.  It is on the regular menu for $8, but Sam was working that day and he made it ...so very tender, almost melt in your mouth like chicken liver or uni melt in your mouth texture.  The vegetables were stir fried just enough...crispy and fresh and if I had known the wonder that this item was, I'd have ordered two and had both for myself...

Excellent deals on the $3 lunch and everything excellent at Sushi Yaro.  Day or night. Fun.

Sushi Yaro 7905 Engineer Road San Diego 92111

Albert's- Lunchtime Dining at the San Diego Zoo

Welcome back to mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog.  Kirk and ed(from Yuma) are working.  Cathy is playing Tourist today.

Hi.  On a weekday not long ago, The Mister got a bunch of time off from work.  We are members of the Zoological Society of San Diego and usually only go once or twice a year with out of town visitors.  Since there are no rules about when you can go, we decided to pretend we were tourists.
We found close parking and walked between the elephant topiaries to the entrance, and went to see the flamingos straight ahead.  The youngest ones were molting and just turning pink.
Then we walked to the left and visited the tortoises
while they were eating lunch...and stared at the Monitor Lizard across the way...
 
then popped into the hummingbird exhibit (there is one hummingbird feeding on the left side of the orange flower in the center right of this photo.).
Then we walked on the Trail through the Lost Forest, passing the Gorilla Exhibit, following the signs to Albert's Restaurant (named after Albert, a silverback gorilla who came to the Zoo at 4 months of age, was hand raised and lived here for about 30 years and was the Patriarch of the Gorillas).  The fanciest place to dine at the Zoo. Cloth napkin fancy.  The only full service restaurant here.  We had to wait a few minutes to be seated, as the restaurant had just opened and others were being seated. 

 
Everyone ahead of us took seats outdoors, in the treetops, and we got the view from inside the building-see the waterfalls all the way in the back?
Warm, crispy crusted, mildly sour sourdough and whipped butter was brought out after we ordered.
Soon, our artichoke heart appetizer ($7) arrived. Artichoke hearts, red pepper strips and garlic cloves which had been carmelized olive oil. Served with three crisp crostini.  Very good.
The Mister ordered a Cobb Salad ($14). Romaine lettuce topped with the traditional Cobb toppings (Bleu cheese chunks, chicken breast, bacon, tomato, avocado and hard boiled egg). The chicken and the avocado were very cold.  Chilled I suppose.  If those had been room temperature, the flavors would have melded better.  (It tasted much better at the halfway point, when the temperatures of the avocado and chicken had 'warmed' and was really good at the end.)
I chose the vegetable linguine($13). Zucchini, yellow squash, peppers, carrots, tomatoes, broccoli  and onions in an opal basil cream sauce.  I could have added chicken or shrimp, but didn't want to and this was excellent. The vegetables were not mushy nor too crisp.  The sauce was just the perfect, complimentary richness.

You know how when you order onion rings and one french fry shows up?  Or when you order cheese popcorn, there is one piece of carmel popcorn in the box?  That happens with noodles too!

It was a fancy, fun, no-rules day for us.  I hope you can have one of those soon.

Albert's Restaurant in the San Diego Zoo, Balboa Park 2920 Zoo Drive San Diego 92101 619-685-3200  Website

 

Tea Garden. Fancy-ish beverages and really good snacks!

Cathy is penning today's issue of mmm-yoso!!! The guys (Kirk and ed(from Yuma)) are merely writing things in their brains.

Hi.  The other day, FOY(friend of Yoso), Food Detective, asked me in a comment if I had been to Tea Garden.  I haven't, even though I have driven by, parked in front of it, walked past it and knew it was there.  It is on Convoy, at Engineer Road, across from China Max and sometimes has parking when no place else on that street of countless amazing restaurants has parking available.

 
Deceptively small looking from the front, there is seating capacity for 57 inside. Of course, as is the rule for Convoy Street and its environs, parking availability does not correspond.You walk in and can grab a menu and sit on the couch next to the cash register, or just read the wall behind the register (that is just the beverage menu), or order a special straight from the whiteboard. Pay. Get a number. Find a seat. Free wifi, a shelf filled with board games, two televisions and nice surroundings.   For our first visit,

We decided to try a green tea float ($4.25).  Green tea, strong brewed, over ice with vanilla ice cream floating at the top.  Very rich flavored. There must be matcha powder in it.
My standard Beverage of Indecision (coffee-tea-milk, no sweetener added) ($3.75)-no sweet at all.  I could taste each of the three ingredients distinctively. Very nice. An appetizer of popcorn chicken ($3.99). Crispy and moist, mild thin breading flavored with fresh basil leaves (on the plate) from the fryer.
An appetizer of salt and pepper squid ($6.99) Soft squid, light breading topped with a relish of garlic, scallions and red pepper.  Just enough heat.
House Special fried rice noodle ($7.99).  A wonderful smoky flavor infused in the thin noodles and perfectly sauteed shrimp, beef and chicken along with green onion tops, onions, carrots, sprouts and (I think) bamboo.  Maybe it was a fungus.   Those brown things...they had a woody texture and not much flavor. Lots of flavor in everything else.
The other day (before this crazy heat wave happened), The Mister wanted soup.  So we went back and He ordered the BBQ pork ramen ($6.99).  This had a not salty, surprisingly rich broth, along with peas, carrots and cabbage as well as a few pieces of sliced BBQ pork (standard, not outstanding) and noodles which had a nice 'tooth',although not as good as the noodles at Yakyudori, my new favorite.
At lunchtime, most main courses come with a free iced black or green tea.  You can ask for no sweetener (I think it is a simple syrup) and taste the tea...
I wanted to try the fried tofu ($5.59).  When this came, I thought it looked like a thick, hard crust and was almost disappointed.Instead, I was pleasantly surprised at the delicate thinness of the coating and soft, soft fresh tofu inside.  The dipping sauce was a very dark soy and sesame oil base and filled with chopped garlic, green onion tops and some red pepper flakes.  Extremely complimentary for the tofu, and just the right amount of heat.  I think if I had ordered the salt and pepper fried tofu (50¢ more), this dipping sauce would have been overpowering.

All in all, the food here has been great.  A pot of hot tea is $5.95.  Other items on the menu I am wanting to try include a Hot Clay Pot, fried udon, fried rice, congee, sizzling steak,  other soups, brick toast, shaved ice and something called "vinaigrette soup" ($5.95), either shrimp, pork or squid.   Oh and juices, smoothies and...yes, more appetizer snacks.  You can easily get a meal, the plates and bowls are a very good size.

Thank you Food Detective!!! This is a great place.

Tea Garden 4685 Convoy Street, Suite 110 San Diego 92111 (858)277-8988 Website 

Hours: Sun-Th 11:00 a.m.-midnight, until 1 a.m. Fri-Sat

 

The 2009 San Diego County Fair- Part one- almost ready to open.

mmm-yoso!!! is the food blog.  Kirk, ed(from Yuma) and Cathy write about what and where they ate.  You get to read and enjoy vicariously.

Hi again. The 2009 San Diego County Fair opens this Friday, June 12 at 10 a.m. I have blogged about the Fair in prior years.  Last Saturday, it was just beginning to be set up.

Some vendors had placed their booths.

Some rides were being set up.

What I like to call  "The Heart of the Fair"-the reason State and County Fairs exist...for farmers to show the fruits of their work, the Home Arts section of the Fair, had entries brought in and and judging has been happening.

The judges of Preserved Foods- Fruits, Vegetables, Jams, Jellies, Preserves, Conserves, Soft Spreads, Honey, Syrup, Vinegar, Pickles, Relishes and Sauces...spent  a grueling four hours tasting the variations in those categories (for example, apricot, apricot-pineapple, berry (other than listed), boysenberry, low sugar, mixed fruit of two or more berries, mixed fruit of two or more non-berry, peach, plum,raspberry, strawberry and other than listed Jams)  Each judge got about 45  jars of preserved something to check for proper labeling, proper preparation, taste, compare against the others in that category and then decide which entry was good enough to be awarded a First, Second or Third place ribbon, given an Honorable Mention, or not awarded any prize.

Then all the First Place winners in each category went up against each other, to determine the "Best in Show"

All so that you can walk in on Opening Day and see ribbons on everything. 

This year there are many ways to save on some of the more expensive parts of the Fair, like admission, parking and food from some of the vendors.

Go to the website www.SDFair.com for details.  If you enter a daily contest, you get in free.  If you plan on going more than twice throughout the run (it closes July 5) you can pay $22 for a pass good every day.  If you come on a Tuesday, almost every food booth has some good sized $2 samples.

The Theme of the Fair is "Music Mania" and there will be many small shows going on all day and night concerts.

Don Diego will be at the Front Gate.

And I have my work cut out for me.

See you at the Fair!

The San Diego County Fair

June 12-July 5, 2009 

Snack Time- Tapioca Express

mmm-yoso!!! is the little blog, written by some friends who use it as a bizarre outlet to only talk about food they eat.  Enjoy reading.

Hi.  I've been a little busy lately and still find time to eat.  A lot of the time what I eat is not a meal, but a bunch of snacks.   Boba houses abound, and I tend to just stop somewhere when I am hungry and see one.  Here is a synopsis of a quick lunch.  I apologize for the photography now; I did not use flash and should've used the camera in my mobile phone, which has turned out better photos in the last few posts.

Tapioca Express is a franchised outfit, with many locations in California, Washington, Nevada and Texas.  I go to the one on Convoy, in the mall with no parking available, ever. Each location of Tapioca Express has a bit of a different menu, but the food is prepared fresh to order and sometimes I don't need much.

The menu is on the wall and *only* the far right column is food items- the rest is beverages available. 

Yes, beverages. 

Overwhelming variations of juices, teas, coffees, icy, shaved ice, yogurt frost, and "snow bubbles"..not even mentioning the addition of boba or jellies, sweetened or not, milk added or not, hot or cold...

I never can decide and get the hot coffee milk tea.  (Yes, I end up getting an "everything bagel" when I go out for the same reason.)..The Mister ordered a cold sesame mango iced something.  I always ask for no added sweetener.  No need. Each of these beverages was about $3.  Boba costs and extra 50¢ and just doesn't seem to do anything for me.

I always get the fried tofu (~$3).  I get mild or medium spicy, because I like the taste of tofu.  Go figure.

All the snacks are served in bags with bamboo skewers so you can grab and eat.

At some point, I use the skewers like chopsticks because it is silly to keep poking in the bag.

Crispy calamari rings (~$4).  All the snacks come with a choice of spice level.  Mild.  Trust me.  The hot just overwhelms everything. There is a lot of fried squid rings in here and I like the flavor of squid and breading.  {The medium is right on the edge of being too spicy hot.}

A variety of dipping sauces are available, provided by Sysco.  Sweet and sour and ranch dressing.  They are in focus when in front of you. 

Oh, what is that in the back?

Potstickers.  This plate is $4.75 and a meal in itself.  Ten pork and cabbage filled pockets of goodness, steamed, pan or deep fried, served with some steamed veggies (broccoli in this case) and a soy/vinegar/garlic dipping sauce. Very good.

This is a particularly bad photograph of the crispy chicken.  The bag is a very large handful size and costs about $4.  The chicken is, as with everything fried here, in a light batter -almost just flour- with a choice of spice level and in the case of the chicken, also fried with basil leaves for flavor...and the fried, crispy basil leaves are in the bag and so tasty.

There are also rice plates available which are quite large and filling and everything is at most ~$7.  I do like the coffee shop/wifi/quick food aspect of this place.  Supposedly the snacks are similar to those in Taiwan.  I wouldn't know, but that's what the website tells me.  I have heard the food at other locations is not good, but have never had a problem at this one.

If you haven't tried the snacks here-or from any boba or tea house, you should. You will enjoy it. 

Tapioca Express 4646 Convoy San Diego 92111 (858) 636-7889

website

Ikea, again- dinner items

mmm-yoso!!! A blog.  Seemingly random posts about seemingly random meals written by seemingly anonymous people.   

Hi again.  Cathy blogging, because Kirk is in Thailand and ed (from Yuma) is in Yuma. I am here, with a camera inside a phone and a bit too much free time on my hands.  

The Mister and I were hungry the other evening, again, and were in the vicinity of Mission Valley when the pangs hit. We looked around and-there it was- a furniture store!

But, Ikea is not only a Swedish based furniture store, but also serves up some tasty food, ostensibly to keep you in the store and relaxed while shopping for flat packed, oddly named furniture you assemble yourself with a L-shaped tool called a hex key(Allen wrench)and the help of drawings as your instruction.

Hot items are served cafeteria style in a steam tray area.  There is always a variety to choose from, (the cooked salmon plate is wonderful) (so is the stew), as are the fresh vegetable side dishes and the macaroni and cheese, but The Mister (and I) enjoy the basic 15 meatball plate.

15 meatballs (mostly ground beef and spices, no fillers) topped with a cream gravy and served with skin-on mashed potatoes and a side of lingonberry sauce. $4.99 and always good.

You can buy a bag of the frozen meatballs and two packages of gravy, as well as lingonberry sauce, jelly and concentrate downstairs in the "Swede Shop" just past the check out registers so you can enjoy this meal at home anytime you get a craving (you can easily make some mashed potatoes, right?).

There is an area of refrigerated glass cases where you can choose from desserts, salads, wraps and sandwiches. I got the gravad lox plate ($4.99) Two slices of excellent gravad lox served with a creamy mustard sauce, lettuce, fresh dill and a lemon wedge.

You can also buy frozen gravad lox in the Swede shop.

We also decided to share a shrimp salad ($3.99). About 50 small, but flavorful-small, shrimp served on a bed of mixed greens, tomatoes and cucumbers.  There is a station of sauces and dressings near the beverage area. The ranch seemed to go best, but I tried the Italian and French also.

The dishes and tableware are all sold in the store, as are the chairs and tables in the eating area.  Kind of good way to see what you would like to buy. Or not...

Ikea  San Diego 2149 Fenton Parkway 92108 (619) 834-1520 website