Hefty Serve & Store: Plates are lids, lids are plates...
Well, we found it at Ralph's and finally tried it.
It seems to work well (see above) and the wife really likes them now that she's used them a couple of times
Photo is grayscale for clarity because of extreme contrast in the colors as it was shot close to sundown with poor lighting...
2 July 2005 - Karina's Mexican Seafood - No. 98:
It was a Saturday night and it was just me and the Boy out looking for some dinner.
We had recently heard about this place through their great, full color ad in The San Diego Union Tribune.
This (the El Cajon location) is the 5th outlet of the Chula Vista based local chain
It's fairly pricey, especially considering the neighborhood, less than 2 miles from here and on the way to Steele Canyon Golf Club.
And the menu is this lavishly printed multi-color thing but we went into sticker shock at some of the prices ($89 for Karina's Seafood Platter, which is enough to feed two or three people maybe) and most dinners start off at approximately $20 or so.
The main entrance isn't properly marked and we and half a dozen others tried to walk in the back door; they need to move the neon OPEN sign away from that door (which is always locked) and around toward the front (the side actually) of the building, where they put the new entrance.
I had the grilled prawns with 6 huge prawns (as big as small lobsters), beans rice, butter, plenty of lime wedges and tortillas. The platter usually comes with salad instead of the beans but I asked them to substitute it for me and we were pleasantly surprised at how good the beans were.
I don't care for the way they do the butter here (like that lobster place in Ensenada we visited last year) as I prefer it to strike a more subtle note with just a hint of garlic and white wine. They do it that way at a number of places here and it's too blatant and overpowering for my tastes...
The Boy ordered the crab ceviche (lime juice marinated crab, onions hot sauce, tomatoes served in 2 avocado halves).
And there were the obligatory chips and salsa (we aren't very fond of the salsa as it was a little too tomatoey and sweet)
I had the usual iced tea and the Boy drank a Coke.
CUSTOMER HELL: Service was poor at best.
We sat there for quite some time waiting for a menu and finally had to go get them ourselves, our waitress didn't acknowledge us, after she brought our drinks, she left us alone to the point that if she had walked into the room once more without taking our orders, we would have stood up and walked out, she took forever to bring us the bill after we specifically asked for it, then asked the bus boy for it after a few more minutes went by and then it was the wrong one, we had to ask for drink refills and she bought the Boy back an iced tea instead of a Coke, etc.
The total was $36.50 or so with tax, I dropped 2 twenties on the table and we walked out.
The waitress should be glad that I didn't want to wait another 10 minutes for her to give us change or that I didn't have the exact amount on me or I would have put that on the table with a one cent tip, the ultimate insult to a server and something we've never, ever done before...
I would say that we'll never be back but the wife is going to want to check the place out as the food in the ad, on the menu and in real life, all looks wonderful and this is just her kind of place (I do imagine that she'll have plenty to say about the service standards however).
5 July 2005 - Karina's II:
On our first visit, we walked in through a rear door and sat in a corner booth. This time, we parked on the side and walked in what is now the new front door. The waitress / hostess told us to sit anywhere we liked and we chose a booth right near the grill (the chef's table?).
To start things off, we ordered our drinks; I had my regular, an iced tea (fortunately, this time they didn't throw in a slice of lime like they had the last time, which threw the taste off), the Boy had a Coke and the wife had a glass of water with several twists of lime.
I should point out that I lived down south a number of times (Mobile, Alabama twice and Biloxi, Mississippi) and the custom there is to pre-sweeten iced tea and although I drank lots of it there (as Dave Attel from "Insomniac") would say "When in Rome, do as the Romanians do" - I've been waiting for months to use that line), in my dotage, I prefer my tea like I do my women - clear, strong and slightly bitter...
Before any of our order arrived, someone in the kitchen sent us a free plate of ceviche.
I'm not much for uncooked fish but the wife and Boy swooped on it, along with a basket and a half of chips and a bowl of salsa.
For appetizers, the Boy and the wife had the Seven Seas Soup (lots of shrimp with octopus, squid, scallops, mussels, clams, fish and topped off with a crab leg). We had noticed this dish being served on our first visit and tucked the idea away for when we could bring the wife with us as she loves fish soups in all forms and knew she'd want to give this one a try.
I tasted a bit of it but paced myself as I knew how much food was coming our way and didn't want to fill up prematurely.
For his main course, the Boy ordered the Shrimp, Steak & Cheese Molcajete (magma hot cheese in a super heated red hot, hollowed out chunk of lava rock bowl with shrimp, beef and mushrooms (the Boy says you can get a sun tan while eating your dinner as the bowl was so hot).
I asked the waitress what that word meant and even though she is Mexican, she had no clue...
The wife had the Fish Plate with Ranchero Sauce and double rice (instead of beans or salad).
We also asked our waitress to find out what kind of fish it is but she didn't know that either and the cook could only answer in Spanish so we still aren't sure but the wife says it was light and flaky and a very good cut, whatever it was (we can always email the company to ask)...
I had the Shrimp Shish Kebabs (with slices of tomato, green bell pepper, onion and bacon) and rice and beans.
As usual, it was way too much food but we got pretty good service this time.
The total was $67 plus change, $11 plus the leftover coin for a tip, for a grand total of $79.
The Boy paid the tip, I paid the rest as the wife has been putting in a large amount of time at work recently and she deserved a change of pace.
As it is now, it'll be 16 shifts in a row for her over the last 2 weeks until Monday; when she finally gets a day off.
On the other hand, she grossed a whopping $421.82 for working an 8 and a half hour shift on the 4th of July as it was her 7th day in a row and a holiday as well, so she made double time and a half plus a $50 holiday bonus for a grand total of $471.82 before taxes, not bad at all...
It's an all-hands-on-deck thing at La Jolla Country Club for their 4th of July festivities as they stage their own fireworks from the golf course, bring in a big band, hire a carnival and hold a huge cookout by the pool for 1500 or 1600 members and guests (up from 1300 last year)...
And of course, the wife and Boy ate too much but as an old man, I've learned to be more prudent.
And there was enough fish and rice left over for the wife's lunch tomorrow
She really, really liked it, in spite of the prices and says we'll be back soon only we'll order a lot less food the next time...
And I have to admit that I have changed my mind about this place (as did the Boy), in spite of the lousy service on our first visit and the fact that I really don't like fish nearly as much as they do.
Mr. Funny (the Boy) says he had a hard time putting his finger on it and only after we left did he realize that the waitresses' uniforms (white blouse, black skirt) and their physical similarities (most are young, attractive and mainly Mexican) reminded him of something: the matching babes in Robert Palmer's ("Addicted to love" and "Simply irresistible") music videos (and he actually liked the 80's)...
See their web site here: www.karinasmexicanseafood.com
15 July 2005 - Jasmine Bistro:
The wife and I dropped by for a little Dim Sum this morning and had their Shrimp Sui Mai, Scallop Dumplings, Lotus Sweet Rice (glutinous rice steamed in a lotus leaf with mushrooms, shrimp and other meats), and for our dessert, the Sesame Balls (which are filled with lemon curd).
We'd had the shrimp and scallop dishes numerous times before and the lotus rice on our last visit but the sesame balls were new to us.
I had an iced tea and the wife had a pot of hot jasmine tea.
The food was very good, especially the nutty after-taste of the sesame balls but service lagged as the cart got ahead of the horse, so to speak, as the steam cart girl served us before our server was able to get our drinks on the table. That's important, especially when the customer takes a big bite of something dipped in very hot Chinese mustard (which we had to ask for along with the soy sauce) and instantly regrets it...
And needless to say, I ran out of iced tea immediately and there was another perceptible lag in the service until the server noticed it, despite the empty glass sitting at the very edge of the table, a universal symbol to refill me NOW.
She should have also noticed my directly staring in her direction, eating utensils (chop sticks) down, not being able to eat another bite until I put the fire out in my mouth. A good server scans her tables every minute or so instead of disappearing for 5 minutes or more at a time.
And after we asked for the check, the server apparently got busy doing something else so after approximately 5 minutes of waiting, the wife got up, walked over to her and handed her the cash behind the line. The wife had said that that was going to cost her an extra buck but when she handed me back the change, she admitted that she has a very hard time tipping 10%. The total was $20.85 before tip, make it an even $24.
16 July - Don Mario's Taco Shop - No. 99:
According to the sign out front, this is "San Diego's Best Mexican Food".
It's been open for approximately the last 6 months or so but we finally got around to checking it out this evening.
Like a lot of places here, most of the seating is outside (with 3 or 4 tables inside).
I had the beef taco / beef enchilada combination with beans and rice, the Bay had the carne asada burrito and we both had Cokes.
Boy liked his burrito better than the one at El Barriilito but says they need to add sour cream and cheese to the guacamole and Pico de Gallo.
He also liked the beef enchilada better than any of the others we've tasted since we got here.
The chips and salsa were nothing to write home about.
We paid a total of $14.06 for it all and he'll be back (I'm largely indifferent - it was good but not what I'm really looking for)...
And as it was self serve, no tipping was involved.
19 July: Dinner @ Darla's:
We saw this recipe on Giadda de Laurentis' "Everyday Italian" on TV Food Network.
The halibut is cut into cubes, wrapped in bacon (she used pancetta but...) and then grilled.
We stopped by El Pescador on the way home from picking the wife up at work in La Jolla.
I had 3 jumbo prawns done the same way (and a taste of the halibut).
We had home made tartar sauce and drawn butter for dipping
We also had wild rice, steamed cauliflower and green beans cooked in bacon grease with little chunks of cooked bacon, sautéed onions and a tab of butter on top when served (along with plenty of freshly ground black pepper).
Wild Bill joined us (no left overs)...
25 July - Brigantine - No. 100:
One of the wife's co-workers at Steele Canyon Golf Club had told her about the $1 oyster shooters and $2 fish tacos during happy hour.
We checked out their La Mesa store, one of several locations including Point Loma, Del Mar, Escondido, Poway, Coronado.
This location is on the lower edge of Mount Helix and overlooks a major freeway (I-8) but is far enough above it so the noise isn't a problem.
They also own 3 Miguel's (East Lake, Point Loma and Coronado), Zocalo's (in Old Town) and Azul in La Jolla.
Happy Hour is from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM (generally) but Dinner starts at 5:00 PM so we missed being able to taste anything from the dinner menu that visit as we arrived at approximately 4:15 and we'll get to the rest of the menu on our next visit.
I had the Brigantine Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail ($6.99) with Jumbo wild Mexican shrimp, cocktail sauce and horseradish) and iced tea ($2.29) . The horseradish and cocktail sauce were wonderful .
The Boy ordered the Santa Rosalia Shrimp Scampi ($11.99) with Jumbo wild Mexican shrimp sautéed with avocado butter, flamed with tequila and served with sourdough garlic bread) and the Calamari Strips ($4.99) which were "...dusted with Italian bread crumbs and served with cocktail sauce and our famous jalapeño white sauce".
He also had an oyster shooter ($1.29), a fish taco $2.29) and a Coke ($2.29).
I gave the Boy a couple of my shrimp, he had some of the wife's Cioppino: San Francisco-style Cioppino ($7.99) with clams, mussels, salmon, cod (we think), and scallops, sautéed red and green bell pepper, a very light tomato based sauce and topped with tomato-basil bruschetta and he also did some major damage to everything else...
The wife had some of the Boy's Scampi, several Calamari Strips and a fish taco as well and drank ice water with her meal.
I also had a couple of the Boy's Scampi and one of his Calamari Strips to taste all 3 dipping sauces: the leftover scampi juice (see ingredients list above). It was a magnificent sauce and the Boy almost went for a straw to get every last bit), their cocktail sauce with a fair share of freshly ground horseradish and their "...famous jalapeño white sauce..." whose appeal apparently eluded me but not the Boy.
Service was very good (I put the empty iced tea glass on the edge of the table and it was like a military surgical strike when she immediately refilled it). Our total was slightly over $45 with tax ($42 something before) so we rounded up slightly and walked out of there $52 poorer but stuffed to the gills, so to speak. Both the wife and Boy agreed it was wonderful and we'll definitely be back soon.
See their web site here: http://www.brigantine.com/
Wretched service, poor manners & absolutely no brains:
I went to the local (El Cajon) Wienerschnitzel for my annual National Hot Dog Month big tip for the server thing and a very preggers 16 year old took my order at the counter.
She isn't too bright (no one is who is that young and that knocked up could possibly be accused of being intelligent) and when I told her that someone had spilled soda in the salt packets, please give me a salt, she walked around the counter to see for herself, making me wait while my food got cold, like I was lying to her. After she established that it was, indeed, soaked in soda, she went back around the counter, told the manager and finally gave me a packet of salt. As an adult, I resent being second guessed by a moron, especially for a freaking salt packet.
Never-the-less, doing the mature thing, I still gave her the tip, explaining it was National Hot Dog Month.
Without flinching (or even saying thank you), she tossed it on the shelf below the counter, like so much trash.
She'll go far in life...
Where we ate this month:
LUNCH:
Bunboy'z - The 4th time (I had the steak sandwich, steak fries and a Coke) - $13.00 including tip
Wienernschitzel - $4.19
Burger King - $6.58
Woodies Chili Dogs - I had a chili dog, the wife had the pastrami and we split an onion ring and root beer - $10.58
Jasmine - Dim Sum - $24 including tip
Rally's - $6.48
Arby's - Twice (Desperate times call for desperate measures)
DINNER:
Karina's Mexican Seafood - Twice - see review above - $119 total
Popeye's - Once with the Boy - $10.59, once by myself - $6.42
McDonald's - The Boy started his MBA program (Analytical Math is his first class) and I was on my own for dinner - $5.08
Chili's - The Boy and I split a side salad and some beef fajitas - $23.00 with tip
Don Mario's - $14.06
Brigantine's - $52
In-N-Out Burger - $14 and change - My college room mate John Horsley and daughter Ashley were visiting and had never been to In-N-Out...
