We were at the Hotel Del Coronado for a job fair for the wife and I decided to take a walk around downtown Coronado while I waited for her.
I had heard about this place in The San Diego Reader (who warned us about the huge portions) but it was too early as they don't open for another 20 minutes, at 11:00 AM so I walked around downtown a bit more before heading back to find the wife after her second interview.
They say they are going to recommend her for hiring and that they'll call her next week to tell her how to proceed, etc.
By then, it was almost Noon and we decided to grab a bite of lunch.
We hadn't eaten since yesterday, when we visited Todai on the way home from The San Diego International Auto Show, almost 23 hours ago.
As we looked for a place to park, I noticed a spot on the street, 30 feet from the rear door and it still had 24 minutes on the parking meter.
I didn't have any change on me and I jokingly told the wife that we're going to have to order, eat and get back here before the time runs out.
Surprisingly, we pulled it off and I proceeded to go "Seinfeld" on her:
"Would you look at that parking space?
Man, that's the high point of my day; it doesn't get any better than that!"
"Yes, George" she said...
The wife ordered the pastrami and says it's probably the best that she's ever had, that it was tender and flavorful and I had the Kosher salami with Swiss cheese on rye bread, with mayo.
The mustard is on the table so I had a choice between the standard French's Yellow and Hebrew National Deli Style, which I, of course, chose as we'd never seen it before (it's pretty good, we have to admit).
And I also have to admit that the salami was good, the mustard had a great spicy tang to it, the pickles were also excellent and the woman behind the counter was nice enough to drop the fries back into the fryer for a moment to ensure that they were adequately hot for me.
The wife still had another stop to make after we left there so she didn't want to eat too heavily but this place literally seduces you with their huge and fairly authentic East Coast style deli sandwiches (so she put half of her sandwich into a "To go"container and will have the rest of it her for lunch tomorrow*).
The place was clean, staff was very hospitable, the sun was shining in glorious Coronado and the bay was gorgeous, what's not to like?
The total was just over $17 including a large Coke the size of a small bucket.
Fortunately, I did get my exercise in, not only with the walk around downtown but we checked out various parts of the beautiful Hotel Del (that's what we locals call it), so if I doze off in the chair for a while this afternoon, that's OK, isn't it?
*There was so much meat in just half a sandwich that it made a fairly nice whole sandwich when the wife finished it off for lunch the next day.
Todai Seafood Buffet:
On the way back from The San Diego International Auto Show, we stopped for lunch /dinner at a place that we had been meaning to try (our old neighbor, Lee from Suisun had recommended it highly).
The decor is kind of hard to describe; one part cafeteria and one part almost an art museum with neon, brushed stainless steel, 3 dimensional whales bursting out of the walls in each room, porpoises done in tile on the table tops and a few "aquariums" with bubbles and plastic fish.
As it was our first time, we made it a point to try almost everything on the menu (except the beef).
After we were seated, I held the table while the Boy and the wife stood in the various lines to get their food. As I hadn't eaten yet (it was well after 1:00 PM, I was thirsty and getting pretty cranky (low blood sugar, I suspect), so the Boy brought me half a dozen boiled shrimp (31 - 40, our best guess) still in the shell, a lemon wedge and some excellent cocktail sauce with just the right amount of horseradish to tide me over.
The waitress brought our drinks and I quickly polished off the shrimp and went back for a couple dozen more, almost ruining my appetite (ha!).
The wife brought a few different things to the table for us to taste, the Boy did the same thing and I selected the salads for us to try out after I finished doing my damage to the shrimp population of the world (have you ever seen that episode of "Seinfeld" where a guy tells George that "...The ocean called; they're running out of shrimp?).
Between the three of us we tasted several variations of sushi (California roll, crab and fish), several different tempura veggies and shrimp, half a dozen different salads (tomato, cucumber, seafood Louie, mushroom, Caesar and green bean ) and half a dozen different seafoods (both the wife and Boy loved the whitefish and there were mussels in the shell done 2 different ways, crab cakes, crab claws, etc).
And we tasted the spicy chicken wings (they were a tiny bit too hot for me), a little sweet and sour pork and a little teriyaki chicken.
We also had a little steamed rice, a bit of fried rice, noodles and a few steamed pork dumplings, too.
For garnish or dipping, there was light soy sauce, tempura sauce, wasabi, ginger lemon sauce, pickled ginger and kim chee.
For dessert, there were two kinds of crepes (banana and strawberry), several variations of brownies, a couple of versions of chocolate mousse, chocolate cake, green tea cake, carrot cake and tofu cheesecake.
The wife had hot green tea, the Boy had a Coke and I had iced tea.
The total was $54 before the tip (all you can eat for $14.95 plus drinks).
I have to say we got our money's worth (and then some) but there won't be any dinner here tonight.
And we will be back.
We've discovered that they are a chain with numerous outlets on the west coast.
See their web site here: www.todai.com
Nyuck, nyuck, nyuck...
Mr. Potato Head collector extraordinaire Jeff Potocsnak (and Frankie recipient) writes in response to our review above:
Did you ever see "The Simpsons" episode where Homer is kicked out of the all-you-can-eat seafood restaurant and sues?
My favorite lines are when Marge is being cross examined:
Lawyer: Would you please tell the court what you did after you were escorted out of the restaurant?
Marge: We drove around all night looking for another all you can eat seafood restaurant.
Lawyer: And when you didn't find one? Let me remind you that you are under oath.
Marge: (with drooping head) We went fishing.
Lawyer: I ask you ladies and gentlemen of the jury, does this sound like a man who had 'all he could eat'?
The compromise was for Homer to be displayed in the window eating fish under the billing of 'Bottomless Pete', more belly than man.
He also writes: I don't know what made me think of this...
Wrangler BBQ:
Wild Bill recommended this place, just around the corner from his Mom's house. He says he's been eating there since forever so we gave it a try just before closing time (9:00 PM) one night after I picked the wife up at the country club.
The decor can best be described as mid 1950's hunting lodge with real pine wood paneling and mounted deer and other heads on the walls.
The place smelled wonderful and smokey when we walked in but unfortunately, none of that seemed to actually have attached itself to my dinner. I had ordered a half serving of baby back ribs with BBQ baked beans but when it arrived, they were regular pork ribs.
When I pointed out I had ordered baby back ribs to the teenage idiot behind the counter, she snarled at me and said "I said we had ribs..."
I tried to make the best of it but the sauce was generic and the beans were nothing more than catsup poured into institutional pork and beans and then cooked in a crock pot, nothing I haven't had a thousand times before.
On the other hand, it was cheap, just over $10 including a huge bucket of soda.
An errant thought: would the spokesman for a chain of BBQ restaurants be called a "smokesman"?
We invited Wild Bill over about a week later to show him how it should be done.
Our menu: hickory smoked baby back ribs, potato salad, deviled eggs and BBQ baked beans.
I smoked the ribs for a couple of hours early that morning and then they spent the rest of the day at low temperature (250 degrees) in the oven.
For the last hour, I raised it to 350 degrees and the meat literally falls off of the bone when they are done.
I have the smoking part down but we're still searching for the sauce of my dreams (early childhood, actually; it was Mobile, Alabama, 1958...).
As it was, we spiced up some Bullseye brand with a little brown sugar, etc.
Mikey liked it!
Krispy Kreme:
When I first heard about Krispy Kreme, like many others, I thought: how good can a donut be to generate all of this hype?
After checking it out half a dozen times now, I am a true believer; there really is difference.
That difference is only obvious to patrons who have actually made the trip there to have one, fresh out of the fryer, moments after it is frosted.
They're so light and scrummy that you just know intuitively that they must be very, very bad for you but...
The ones you see in the local supermarkets and 7-11's will never capture that as they are room temperature by the time they get there.
And they are fairly over-priced as well but if you do live near a Krispy Kreme, it's worth the trip (and the price) at least every once in a while...
Moo Time Creamery:
I finally had a chance (and excuse) to visit Moo Time Creamery recently when the wife had a third interview at Hotel Del Coronado.
This location is in the basement of the Hotel Del and they're obviously paying some stiff rent for the privilege as they charged me $3.95 for a small single scoop of butter pecan in a small waffle cone. The ice cream was good but nothing to write home about, certainly not at that price...
Happy 50th Birthday Darla:
Today (16 January 2004) is the wife's 50th birthday and we decided to take her out for dinner, despite her protestations.
We invited Lee and his family and Wild Bill to go with us but Lee and the family are out of town this weekend.
The Boy bought her a great Kitchen Aid blender (a round of margaritas for everyone but me - I'm still on the wagon, at least to the end of the month and besides that, I'm the designated driver this evening).
And I got the wife a gift certificate for Borders (books, tapes, etc) so she can make up her own mind about what she wants...
The wife whipped up a batch of Margaritas Darla (serious alcohol content) and although she doesn't drink much, she had 3 small margaritas before we left for the restaurant. It's like Wild Bill says: "You're only 50 once..."
We had decided to check out PF Changs China Bistro when we discovered that there was a location relatively close by (Fashion Valley) and I had downloaded their menu the night before so we could take our time reading it and would know exactly what we wanted to order.
We left here around 6:30, traffic was fairly light in the direction we were going (against the evening rush hour) but parking was horrendous and people waiting for a table spilled out onto the sidewalk and into the parking lot. Oh oh...
We (of all people) should know better than to go out for dinner on a Friday night (we've made a career out of avoiding exactly that situation), especially without advance reservations. We heard the hostess tell someone that there was a 110 minute wait (way too much for me)...
Wild Bill and the Boy split an order of Egg Rolls and each had a Mexican beer (Corona) while we waited but after waiting 45 minutes with no hope in sight, we gave up and decided to go somewhere less crowded, somewhere with at least the hope of being seated and fed tonight.
We do have to admit that the place is fairly impressive but it will have to wait until some other time, maybe some afternoon...
See their web site here: www.pfchangs.com
We ended up in Por Favor in downtown El Cajon, a place we've visited many, many times in our 8 plus months here now.
We walked right in and sat right down...
Wild Bill, the Boy and I all ordered the "Especial Ramon" (beef taco, cheese enchilada, carne asada, beans and a lettuce cup of guacamole - no lettuce for the Boy and me) and the Birthday Girl ordered the White fish with Verde sauce, no cheese, extra rice instead of the beans.
We went through 3 small bowls of chips and actually couldn't finish the guacamole for a change...
The wife had a water, I had iced tea, the Boy had a Coke and Wild Bill ordered another cervesa (also a Corona).
We tipped the Mariachi Brothers to do their best and they sang her a traditional ballad then we all sang "Happy Birthday"
Our total was $60 including tip (slightly more than 15%) and a couple more bucks for the table-side entertainment (Boy threw in $3 more)...
What's the going rate for fairly well dressed strolling troubadours anyway?
We got home sometime after 9:00 PM.
Mas margaritas (for everyone else - I have to commend myself for showing remarkable restraint in the face of overwhelming temptation), and after a few tall tales (we talked about K-9, The Labrador from Hell), a little TV and some videogames, we called it a night. Clock me out...
Epilogue: The wife visited Borders several days later and discovered that they were having a sale on the books already in their bargain bin (buy two and get a third one free) and ended up walking out of there with 6 cook books for just over $25 including tax and she still has almost that much left on the gift certificate (they're good for 2 years from date of purchase - we checked, just in case).
She picked up books about rice, fish & seafood, wok cooking, Chinese cooking, spicy Asian dishes and another about Mexican cooking.
El Barrilito: The "Before" photo (close enough to the "After" photo)
Vaquero Carne Asada (formerly El Barrilito):
Grand Opening today: I was their very first customer!
We were just driving by right at 11:00 AM, on our way to do some grocery shopping when we noticed that they were open for business.
The previous owners sold it shortly after we got here and it had taken the new owners months to clean it up and open up again.
We stopped to look at the menu board, started talking to one of the nice women working inside and discovered that they had just opened and hadn't had their first customer yet. Needless to say, I stepped right up to the counter and placed my order, 1 beef taco, por favor...
The shredded beef taco ($1.95) was excellent; the meat had great flavor, plenty of Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses, the lettuce was nicely shredded, crisp and obviously fresh, the corn taco shell was done perfectly, I'll definitely be back again soon.
A second visit:
A couple of days later, on our way back from Big Buck La Jolla (the wife had dropped her resume of at the La Jolla Country Club), we stopped by for a serious shot at tasting a few other things on the menu. I ordered the beef taco and enchilada platter (with rice and beans) and a couple of canned Cokes. The wife had the 2 fish taco plate with rice, no beans, no cheese. The fish was deep fried with tartar sauce and topped with lettuce, cilantro, chopped onions and a spicy red sauce they include with every order. She shared my Coke and a couple of bites of enchilada.
No question, it was the best cheap Mexican we've had since we got here, for a total of slightly over $13.
I didn't come anywhere near finishing it all (even though it was excellent) and made it through the entire afternoon without falling asleep in the chair. It's a good thing we were having a nice, light fruit salad for dinner...
And they have another outlet somewhere in San Diego (I didn't recognize the street name but like I said before, San Diego itself is over 40 miles across at places) and a couple of more stores in the Phoenix area.
The Boy had a chance to check it out as well (one night after work) and he had the 2 beef taco / beef enchilada platter with beans and rice for just over $7.00 and he concurs with our assessment of the place.
What's in a name?
I discovered this name in the local phone book as I went through the Yellow Pages researching local restaurant names, etc: Mexicatessen.
It reminds me of a local place we frequented in San Jose almost 30 years ago now, the MexiDeli...
Then there's Calexico and Mexicali...
One's on the Mexican side and the other one is right across the border (I forget which)
And I was right: there are 14 Panda something restaurants (not including the Golden Panda, the Imperial Panda, etc) listed in the local phone book. Like I said, it has to be a law here that if you're going to open a Chinese restaurant, "Panda" has to be in the name somewhere...
And there's a place called "Manana" which means "later" in Spanish if you're not familiar with the term.
That's not a word you'd ever use to a customer and not a good name for a restaurant either, IMHO.
There's also what is known as "Manana time" here and it absolutely infuriates the Type A personalities (such as myself and the wife)...
Essentially, it's used to mean they'll get to you when they damn well feel like getting to you.
Others think it's OK to habitually show up late for work etc (and I'm not talking about the average hard working Mexican but rather the average pampered 20 something slobs who would prefer us to use the term "laid back")...
And we noticed a "House of..."name for a local restaurant so it also occurs to us: House of Franks?
Nah, we already have that: La Casa Weenie...
Rotisserie Hell:
Incredibly enough, the new rotisserie motor design (a larger motor now with a heat shield and new bracket to hold it farther away from the heat) survived cooking a second chicken last night (8 January 2004), a new record!
And I know January isn't outdoor cooking weather for most of the country, but it was 74 degrees in the house yesterday, with the sliding glass door and all of the windows open, and it was also a few degrees warmer than that outside (that's exactly why we moved here).
We're due for another rotisserie chicken dinner early in February so we'll let you know what happens then.
Our annual purification fest:
I made it all the way through the month without beer, wine or hard liquor.
It gets easier every year as I drink less anyway.
I also know that the first beer never tastes as good as you imagine it will and I've already got a brand new case of Heineken ready to go into the fridge several days before the end of the month as it takes at least 2 days to chill to the proper temperature.
Chivas Regal is always relatively affordable at Sam's Club and invariably I'll pick up a bottle there before the end of the month but it may be several days or more into next month before I fall off the wagon (most nights, I am too busy to have a drink until it's too late in the evening).
I haven't done so well on the exercise part because of time constraints, etc but we did make it down to the beach for a nice walk, made several tours of the neighborhood (it still gets dark too early to go after dinner), became acquainted with several of the local malls (Squarefield had 1; this place has over 30) with Olympic level shopathons of several miles each and are looking forward to a nice long bike ride at the beach soon.
And I did fairly well avoiding after dinner and between meal snacks, etc as I ate most of a bag of carrots, a full stalk of celery, a little cheese, crackers & olives and a couple of pieces of chocolate for the entire month and I laid off the sunflower seeds for the most part as well.
There were also a few salty snacks such as pretzels and had some peanut butter with the celery once.
As you may know, we only eat twice a day here so I'm proud of how much control I am exhibiting as I do love my beer and good food...
The wife made it all the way to her birthday, when she had a couple of margaritas (I abstained) and one more again later in the month.
Wild Bill popped for the margarita fixin's and there's still some left so I might get one early next month too.
The Boy really doesn't drink much more than an occasional Mexican beer, rarely eats between meals or after dinner, works hard, plays paintball a lot, basketball every once in a while and does a bit of martial arts but he hates biking, doesn't jog, etc so he didn't join us, needless to say.
Speaking of brewskies:
One of our neighbors (Horace) has this wild looking device sitting out in his driveway every once in a while and finally, curiosity got the better of me so I stopped by to introduce myself and to ask him what it is.
It turns out that he brews his own beer (this week it was a Belgian recipe) and the device uses a series of 15 gallon beer kegs and gas burners to gravity feed the stuff through 4 different tanks during a day and maintains a constant temperature until it's done.
He also belongs to the local brew club (I'm going with him for the next meeting) and told me about a local liquor store that carries a huge supply of beers from all of the west coast microbreweries.
Awrighty now!
