100 Places to EAT IN SD

I was browsing through my food blog sites and noticed a list of 100 places to try in San Francisco all from this one food blogger.. And I thought to myself "Self. Can I even name 25 places?" So I decided to start to jot down 25 places and to my surprise.. I easily put down 25 places.. So I upped it to 50.. done. 75? about 10 minutes later hit that goal.. so hell.. i went for the full 100.

Took me about a total of 20+ minutes.. but here is my list of 100 Places I've been in San Diego and my favorite thing from that place.

This is in NO particular order, just as they came to mind. Comment below let me know if you've tried some of these places OR what your favorite thing from that place is!

ALSO- Check out my FOOD PORN Blog in the Link Above

1. Lava Chicken @ Homestyle Hawaiian
2. Bulgogi Dol Sot @ Friend's House
3. Carne Asada Gordita @ La Fachada
4. Maui Coconut Porter Float @ Extraordinary Desserts
5. Roasted Tomato Soup w/ Grilled Cheese @ Neighborhood
6. The Love Volcano Roll @ Nozomi
7. #9 @ K's Sandwiches
8. Cha Jae Myun @ Santong Palace
9. Skirt Steak @ Rei Do Gado
10. Sage Chicken Plate @ Hash House a Go-Go
11. California Burrito w/ Dill Sauce @ Lucha Libre
12. Mambo Mambo Chicken @ Amarin Thai
13. Beer Mac & Cheese @ Small Bar
14. Dim Sum @ Jasmine
15. Fried Egg Rolls @ Phoung Trang
16. Carne Asada Fries @ Super Sergios
17. Maple Bar @ Doughnut Star
18. Chamango @ Tierasita's Fruiteria
19. Tocilog @ Conching's Cafe
20. The Hamburger @ Rocky's
21. Meatda Pizza @ Scilian Thing
22. Cheeseburger @ Hamilton's Tavern
23. South Park Special @ Grant's Marketplace
24. Peanut Butter & Banana Stuffed French Toast @ Cafe 222
25. Chow Fun @ Sam Woo
26. Turkey & Brie Panini @ Monica's on Park
27. Bianca al Prosciutto Pizza @ Blind Lady Ale House
28. Chicago Dog @ Wolfee's
29. Fried Calamari Roll @ Niban
30. Rib Tickler @ Phi's BBQ
31. Omega-3 Roll & Habenaro Sake @ Hapi Fish
32. Pesto & Mozarella Pizza @ Luigi Pizzeria
33. Lamb Tekka @ Ali Baba
34. Vanilla Bean Smoked Porter @ Stone Brewery
35. Maple Bacon Doughnut Holes @ R-Gang Eatery
36. Lamb Tagine @ Cous Cous
37. Tapas @ Picassos
38. Pisco Sour @ Noble Experiment
39. New England Lobster Roll @ Bite of Boston
40. All You Can Eat Korean BBQ @ Jeong Won
41. Miso Special @ Tofu House
42. Ice Cream @ Oasis
43. Blood Orange Popcicle @ Viva Pops
44. Italian Dippers @ DeMille's
45. Spam Loco Moco @ Leilani's
46. Shrimp Po Boy @ Creole Cafe
47. Handmade Tortillas @ Coyote Cafe
48. Hot Dog @ Corvette's Diner (just for the extras)
49. Crawfish Etouffe @ Buds Lousiana Cafe
50. Tonkatsu @ Tonkatsu
51. Okinomiyaki @ Tajima
52. Beef Stew w/ Baguette @ Vien Diep
53. Shrimp & Potato Cake Eggs Benedict @ Cafe 2121
54. Chicken Katsu Curry @ Curry House
55. The Big O @ O'Brother's
56. Veggie Burger @ Burger Lounge
57. Corned Beef Tacos @ Rosie O'Grady's
58. Duckaroni @ Urban Solace
59. Pepperoni Pizza @ Bronx Pizza
60. Smoked Salmon & Rock Shrimp Cakes @ Tractor Room
61. Beef Curry Dumplings @ Dumping Inn
62. Cold Pork Belly @ Dede's
62. Dynamite @ Harney Sushi
63. Tang Su Yoo @ Happy Family
64. Philly Cheesesteak @ Voltaros
65. Fish & Chips @ Mr Fish and Chips
66. Fried Chicken @ Magnolia's Southern
67. Dinuguan @ Tita's Kitchenette
68. Pho Ga @ Pho T Cali
69. Tounge & Cheek @ searsucker
70. Fish Taco @ Tabe BBQ Grill
71. Rotten's Chilli Cooch Burger @ Nicky Rotten's
72. Miso Ramen w/ Roast Pork @ Izikaya
73. Smoked Salmon Flatbread @ Gossip Grill
74. Banana Pancakes @ Richard Walker's
75. "SAC'd" Hamburger @ Hodad's
76. Fish Tacos @ Baja Betty's
77. Cheez Steak @ Eddie's Place
78. Pan Fried Dumplings @ Mr Dumpling
79. Samosas @ Taste of Africa
80. Pizza Roll @ Chiba
81. Osaka Roll @ Osaka's
82. Prime Rib @ Bully's East
83. Bangers & Mash @ Shakespeare's Pub
84. Tuna Melt @ Point Loma Seafood
85. Happy Hour @ Humphrey's by the Bay
86. Chicken Pie @ Chicken Pie Shop
87. Tacos @ South Coast Grill
88. King Crab @ Tom Ham's Lighthouse (AYCE)
89. "Victory at Sea" Vanilla Porter @ Ballist Point Brewery
90. Chocolate Malt @ Fiesty Kate's
91. Hibiscus Margarita & $3 Burger @ McCormic & Schmick's
92. Honey Walnut Shrimp @ Dumpling Inn
93. Deep Dish Pizza @ Lefty's
94. Yellow Submarine Roll @ Zensei Sushi
95. $1 Oysters @ Sea Rocket Bistro
96. Kimichi & Spam Fried Rice @ Min Sok Chon
97. Beef Ribs @ Kansas City BBQ
98. Ramen @ Santouka Ramen
99. Tako Sashimi @ Sushi Ota
100. Bibimbap @ Yoshi's Kitchen

Taste of North Park

(Event from: June 28, 2009)

Finally got around to posting the pictures from Taste of North Park.. this was a really fun day! One of the perks of living in North Park is the street fairs.. there are so many and literally walking distance from our apartment.. just like this festival its literally on our street LOL.

DeMille's had a frackin feast! This one spot alone almost ended us.. 

Blind Lady Ale house with Green Flash on sample.. I like it.. everyone else thinks its too hoppy.

The fellas striking a pose.

Check out the photo stream from the entire day here: TASTE OF NORTH PARK

kitchen nightmare...

I've been dabbling in the kitchen again.. got bored and decided to dish em up and plate them..

This one is the Spicy Tomato and Poor Mans Procuitto (aka bacon) over Penne.


And this is a Parmesan / Panko Crusted Talipia with a Garlic Lemon Butter & Capers Sauce, Fresh Squash and White Rice.


Out of the 2 dishes here.. the Talipia was the best one.. I'm not a fan of how the fish tasted since its a real fatty fish it really didnt have the flakey-ness i was looking for, plus I think I over-did the capers (i love capers, but too much is salty), so I'm gonna try the exact recipe minus the Talipia (insert a fresher white fish) and the Garlic in the sauce.

How do you like the pics? Damn i love my 50mm. HAHA..

True North

Stopped by North Parks new bar, True North. Tonight was the actual 2nd night it was open, I heard from the first night that they were giving away free drinks, and that there were smokers outside who were a little too close to the entrance and set off the smoke alarms and the entire joint got doused. But from what the waitress said, nobody even cared, and just kept on drinking. LOL.. now thats cool.


The bar itself is owned by the same owners of the Tavern and Sandbar in PB, so it's no wonder why this place is already getting hate mail and negative reviews on yelp and other sites, die-hard dive bar and or said locals, trying to protest a "PB-ish" type of bar coming into the neighborhood and ruining the North Park community feel. They say that when putting this type of bar in the area would draw the attention of the PB-goers, and that "douchebags" will soon infest the now north park vibe.


North Park is known for its Divey type of bars, which in honest opinion was one of the main reasons why I love it out here, great beer, great people. But north park has never seen an establishment quite this size.. 5000 sq ft, just about 20 plasmas, Video DJ and more.. its also being dubbed North parks first sports bar, which is somewhat untrue, with all the smaller "team-biased" bars around, but when football season comes around, i'm sure this place will be packed.

Every night there is a drink special, tonight we had the $3 you call its, $3 beers. Was there for about an hour or so and spent nearly nothing, and I paid for Geoff and his girl's drinks too. There's also a food menu, which they weren't offering, but they share a kitchen with Urban Solace and for tonight they used their menu. Jayne and I have actually been to Solace before, and we know that the food is pretty good there, so be sure to try that out when it comes about.


I had fun, theres plenty of room to get a bunch of friends together for a night of drinking and maybe dancing, the people is cool, since its the north park area, you still get the north park vibe, maybe when promoters start pimping the place out and bringing their "crowd", it might ruin certian nights and or weekends =/ ..but even then there is more than enough room to fit a ton of people and not get that hot and muggy feel like U-31 sometimes gets or the sweat sauna that Scolaris turned into.

Blue Foot still remains one of my favorite bars in North Park, but this place has potential to be something good.. lets hope that with the PB owners, DOESN'T come the PB crowd. Its still too early for me to even judge this place (and others as well) I need to see this in a night that its mad crazy and banging. But for now, I'll enjoy it as a spot to chill, have a drink, cut a rug.. so until then.. stop by, the beer selection is decent, and the atmosphere is swanky, even to North Parks standards.

By the way, I may be spinning there at the end of the month, thanks to DJ BDP. If I do, come check it out..

Beer Tour!

We decided to get together for one of our weekends and have a World Beer Tour, the rule is simple, bring a beer (belgian preferred lol) that you would not normally drink, or would like to try. It was our ghetto wine tasting for us beer snobs.

Here is some of the beers that were on hand..

My contribution wa the Duvvel, a favorite amongst most of us.


Kwak, a dark amber with subtle hints of licorice.. dark beers aren't my bag, but it was decent for a dark belgian.
Hennepin, a saison with great golden color, aromatic and a sweet aftertaste, almost like a champaigne feel with out the gay flute.

Can't go wrong with a Saison. Light and hoppy.


Delirum Tremens.. Rob actually did have a Nocterm as a special guest.. Hoegaarden.. its just fun to say hoegaarden.. lol Hoegaarden is pretty much a blue moon, with a better name.. Leffe, is probably my new favorite default belgian beer, blue moon ONLY when I cant find anything better. I'd like to think of blue moon as my Plan B. (get it B for belgian. haha)


Affligem, this is a blonde pale ale.. this shit is strong, very hoppy, very clean after taste, which is good because I hate when the bitterness lingers for too long, it slows my appetite to take the next swig. But then again this is a tripel.. so two more glasses and you'll be feeling goooooood.

This was so much fun.. I think I want to host another one in the coming weeks.. There is still a huge belgian selection I have yet to try.. for christmas I bought Rob a Beers of the world book.. we decided to take this year to do them all. I think we knocked out quite a few here alone.

We had a few more beers, but by that time we weren't up to documenting all the beer.. lol.

and Dim Sum..

Jayne and I kept valentines a bit simple this year, we had Dim Sum at Jasmine, its always a fun place to go, if you've never had Dim Sum correctly (at least in San Diego), Carts of food is wheeled from table to table, you stop one of them and if you don't know what one of the items is, you get this really heavy chinese / broken english description, to which you would just either accept or deny. LOL. Good thing we're both a bit adventurous in our eating to give anything a try once. Afterwards, they mark this card and at the end of your meal they charge you for each item you eat.



Our Lotus bun desert looked more like Lotus Boobs. LOL Jayne was blushing.



Happy Valentines Day.

Ale House

Kevin and I wanted to check out this new neighborhood brewhouse nearby. I heard it was a Belgian favored bar.. but it ended up being kinda like "Bar Basic" downtown without the downtown.

Blind Lady Ale house has been a big exciting opening to us beer snobs at work for sometime, and something we had to try.. and since it was literally down the street from our apartment, we figured why the hell not.

First off, parking is kind of difficult to find, and we went on a Tuesday night. Its surrounded by a bit of residential parking, so finding parking on Adams was the tough part, we ended up parking across the street and walking over.



Coming inside, instead of going to a bar to order your drinks, you walk up to a counter, order your food and or beer, they give you a number and you sit. This threw me off a tad, since I thought it was a bar, not a restaurant/fast food type of gig. The place in itself is real industrial, very open, big windows for natural light. The beer selection is impressive, Belgian biased, which makes me happy. Delirium Tremens on tap! woo hoo. But Delirium is quickly becoming the next Blue Moon.. =(, but its nice to see it as well as Green Flash, Saisons, Trumer Pils and tons of other beers available.




We didn't partake in the pizza, but I hear its fantastic.. maybe something to look forward to next time.

My honest opinion, it threw me off because I thought it was a place to be social, like a bar atmosphere, but instead when getting a number and sitting down, it was almost like getting coffee and pastries with a friend and chilling for a convo. Instead replace the coffee with beer and pastries with pizza and you got a chill late night spot to hang.

I'll be back for the pizza and beer with some friends.. maybe if they had a DJ I would frequent it more.. ahem ahem. LOL.

Maggies

If you haven't had maggies southern food.. you're missing out.

Crawfish Etouffe, Hot Wings, Fried Okra, Mash, Southern Style Fried Pork Chops and the best Corn Bread evar. (at least in san diego)

Can I get a pizza?

I went to home depot to get some pieces for my project and afterwards
decided to pick up a small pizza for a quick lunch, hit papa johns on
the way out, pay via debit, recepit come out, the dude hands me a pen
and wah wah the ink runs out mid-total, he goes to look for a pen,
nothing. Goes to the back office, nothing. Looks at me an says: "sorry
we don't have any pens"

Hahaha WTF? I'm not authorizing this sale then. He said don't worry we
won't overcharge you, but they can't charge my card without my
signature.

He said well I'll just void this recepit and make you your pizza.

But I didn't pay?

Pizza guy: that's right you didn't, want something to drink?

Sweeet, free pizza and it only cost papa johns, a 40 cent pen and the
ingredients cost.

--via iPhone

All you can eat...

Found this spot in the reader.. it read: All you can eat Korean BBQ.. on Convoy.

Now for all you who think they know Korean Food.. you dont. HAHA.. Korean food is one of my all time favorite cuisines and this is FAAAR beyond Bulgogi and Kalbi. I've hit all the spots on Convoy at least twice, since i work nearby it gives me a chance to try them all. Some fair well, some are just dog shit, but I'm a firm believer of if you try it and say its shit.. then its shit.. but if you judge before trying.. youre full of shit.

Now I was pretty damn sure that I hit ALL the korean spots, this joint must have opened up recently, and yes it did, so I wasn't too ashamed to have missed this spot. For my non-san diego readers, Convoy St is pretty much the popular asian section strip that spans about 3 short blocks.. and within those blocks are a mixture of korean, chinese, thai, lao,vietnamese, japanese and even middle eastern. Alot of good food, this was also where the boba craze began for the college kids.

When you get there they give you a menu.. the first page is the All you can eat meats page.. this is what you can order.. and order as often as you can.


QUICK NOTE: On the placemats they had some instructions and featured in the instructions is my future ex-wife Lee Hyori.. haha from my favorite Korean Pop Group Fin.K.L haha.. (and those who dont know.. yes I listen to korean music.. you should see my ipod HAHA)


Before entrees come out of course come the appetiezers/sides.


3 Sets for the entire table.. and we didnt even ask for the other sets.. we knew we loved this place already from this alone.


Fish Pancakes were mighty tasty.. dip it in the go-chu-jang (red sauce) and wooop..


Fresh seafood plate.. and by fresh.. they mean FRESH. Check out that squid holmes.


Kalbi and Calamari

Bulgogi

Now this is an interesting one.. Leia and I decided to Andrew Zimmer some shit.. on the right is the bulgogi on the left.. Lamb Intestines. I did know how long to cook them so I let them go for about 4 minutes a side or until they pot-sticked to the pan a bit.. there were two types of them, one of them was just the halved version, and the other was a whole version.. with some.. rather... um... interesting stuff inside..

The inside wall of an intestine is this dangly innerds which feel like hangnails pre-cooked. But when you cook them it seems to mush them up.. so when you chew on them, its like someone eating a bunch of non-flavored peanuts and them transfering them to your mouth. (disguesting eh?) but thats what the texture felt like.. mush lumpy flavorless peanut mush. hahaha.. cross that one off my list.


Bulgogi and Shrimp

Ben found that the dipping sauce can be used to marinate the bbq pork.. when you go there try this.. it is the fucking bomb! BTW, we asked what that sauce was.. and its a mixture of mustard and bbq sauce. hmm.. hehe


Heres the damage about 2 hours in.. the cool thing about the place is that they change out the hot pots everytime you get a new batch of meat.. so you dont get all those lil bits of charred shit on your meat. Did I mention the customer service here is the absolute best? Well it is.. they took well good care of us, explaining things, and keeping us well filled on drinks and just when you feel that you are ready to order.. boom.. in walks in our waitress asking if were ready for more..


This place is the fucking spot! I can't say enough about this place.. we had a group of about 6 1/2 people and we spent 2 hours there. My only gripe is drinks is NON-Refill.. but.. at the end of our meal, our waitress told us that there was ice cream and it comes with the meal. They also have these drinks that are also part of the meal.. these two drinks are hella good.

One of them is a Fruit Punch Tea type of drink.. from what I remember it has Honey, Tea, Cinamon, Ginger, Pine Nuts.. (er cant remember what else) but this shit was crazy good. The other was a rice fermented drink.. which tasted similar to horchata.. both are even served in the dispensers that horchata is served it.

So if youre in the mood for Korean BBQ, this is the spot.. Min Sok Chon is probably still better, but for all you can eat.. this has the bang for your buck.

crazee!

After work today, we took Stephanie out for her birthday since its an early day for Geoff and I and Andrea has the night off.. so we headed to a cool burger joint that Geoff and Steph know about with some very exotic meats.

(pardon the pic.. the iphone decided to fuck it up) I was probably the only one in the group that went with something "different"...this is a Kangaroo burger. I thought it would taste a bit gamey, but it really pretty much tastes like a burger... Not really what I expected, since the last "different" burger i had was buffalo in julian, and it did have a gamey after taste. So I figured something from down unda, would have some funk.. guess not. I don't know why I like to try the out of the ordinary foods, maybe its the wow factor.. maybe its just to experience something new.. or maybe i just crave strange and interesting.

They have antelope, so I might go for that next time around.

Afterwards we went to Heaven Sent for some dessert, then walked over to Pink Bar (formerly Pink Elephant) for a drink. The bar was pretty quiet and there was a band setting up, so we actually had time to just sit and enjoy some conversation. As soon as the band started playing.. we found it our cue to leave, it was still a bit early, but some of us had work early the next day..

All in all a pretty chill night.. had some crazy burger, some bomb bread pudding and some fun chats with the friends. We should do this more often. Minus all the facial references LOL..

Happy Birthday Stephanie!

you like-ah da festa!

Earlier this week I was working on some graphics for San Diego Living Guests who were promoting the Festa in Little Italy.. it brought back some memories and I wanted to make a day out of it.. since the Charger game was at 5pm we could spend the day there. Jayne was busy with Anna at the factory sale, so Chris and I hit it up.. Ryan met up with us eventually.

Its been years since I've been to the Festa. Last time i was at the festa they were holding it in Embarcadero and it wasn't so crowded. But things change and evolve and it has grown into a very large scale street fair. I think the sicillian festival has merged with this fair, because Jayne and I have been to the Sicillian fair, and it was pretty much a block and a half. The festa took up over 5 city blocks, almost as large as the Adams ave fair.


Live chalk art down one of the side streets, this was one of my favorites.






Our lunch for the day.. 2 Canolis, Sicillian Pizza, Calamari and some Peroni Beer. The Canolis were ridiculous. Should have got more. We could have gotten more but the lines were absurd. LOL.. Ryan got a phillycheese steak that Chris and I were eyeing earlier on.. of course we had to find the beer/wine garden for a spot to eat. hehe.


This is just funny.. this was at the Flowers and Suder booth.. it said "As seen on FOX6" lol.. they need to update their graphics..


I love street fairs. LOL.. so much I think this may be the 3rd one i've been to in like a month.. hey, if you cant travel.. enjoy the taste of the culture in your local. You save on plane tickets and hotels. It may not be as authentic.. but hey at least im out of the house.. saving for that big trip.

So I've been to local fair, filipino and italian.. what culture is next?

craziest hot dog....evar!

After work we tonight we hit up U31 for a night out with some friends. The place was TOO packed.. everyone was pretty much wiggling in unison and sweating up a storm, but non-the-less we still had fun. I was "sorta" the DD for the night, since everyone else had planned to NOT drive.. I did.. so I only had 2 beers. (which I shot, from what Jureyl says lol.. maybe I just drink fast.)

Resident DJs Shark Attack was spinning for us. The first of the two was good, he brought the dance and hip hop with some old school funk. The 2nd guy not so much.. he pretty much was all about house.. except when he went to 1 hip hop song.. for about 20 seconds then back to house.. bleh. Highlight for music tonight was a dance remix of Kids by MGMT.. that was the shit.

So once last call hit and we were kicked out of the club, we stood outside on university ave and just chilled out front.. I was hungry and a few steps from U31 is this taco shop.. where late night they put up a stand and cook outside..

I make my way there, and start reading the menu (written on a chalkboard) and try to decide what I want.. quesadilla, rolled tacos.. as I was making my decision the guy in front of me (shitfaced) turns to me and says "you gotta get number one bro, trust me" I read #1 and it was just too interesting for me to pass up...



Disgusting huh? This is what the lady called "The Danger Dog"

Hot Dog wrapped in bacon, carne asada, grilled onions, jalepinos, sour cream, guacamole, cheese and salsa..(I know, i was like WTF!?!) but I had to try it.

Its pretty much as bad as it looks. But for $4 hey.. i'm sure the drunkards love it. And I'm not one to pass up something so strange. LOL.

Afterwards, we hit up Geoff and Rob's pad in north park, then I really got to drink. But not as much since it was already like 3am.. we pretty much chilled on the couch and quoted random movie quotes as part of our conversations LOL. I was a bit faded, when I got a call from Chris.. he said he was stuck with 5 girls at super sergios and needed me to scoop him up. But i was in no condition to drive and I had given up my keys as well. LOL. (I called him the next day.. he was good and got home safe.)


I'm just glad the next day I didn't pay for that hot dog... if you know what I mean.

gangsta fries....

After work we both felt super lazy to go out. So we stopped by the store and picked some ingredients for our homemade carne asada fries.. now this is a bit more expensive than just going to the taco shop, but if you've never made your own.. youre missing out! HA!

We get the pre-marinated carne asada (they do the flavor right, its awesome, plus it saves time during prep) I grill them for about 3-4 minutes on each side (theyre not too thick so it cooks relatively quick) take em off and slice them with the grain, I did strips then cut those in half. Try not to eat too many of them when you prep... heheh


We like the shoestring fries. They add the fry aspect but its not an ass load of fries then some toppings. I like to have more carne asada than fries. (Make it how you want.. this is how we do it) oh and salt and pepper as soon as you pull them out.

Oh btw, we bake em.. you know, trying to keep it healthy and all. LOL (Before we top it with carne asada, guac, creama and cheese LOL)


And speaking of which.. go quality. Get the Crema Mexicana, not that store generic shit. And tapatio! And if I had a good recipe for guac I'd use it, cause the one we got was alright. But it didn't ruin the dish either.



Now thats gangsta. Oh yes... 2 limes please.


Thats how we roll in the southside bitches. LOL.

Tom Kha!

Found a place near by that serves some decent Tom Kha! woo hoo. Just in time for Winter...


On another tip, I was on Roe's myspace and found some pics of when we were in Vegas and we HAD to do their traditional Fat Tuesdays visit.. this is the night where I was too far fucking wasted that I dont even remember taking a picture with a fucking ORANGE COW.. what the fuck is in those drinks?!?! hahaha.. and when are we doing this again? "Das what its all a-BOOT!"



Wow.. were fucked up.



Its crazy when pictures of you surface and you have no recollection of them happening.