Good ole El Cajon Blvd, near College Ave...
Near the corner of El Cajon and 60th is one of my favorite dessert places.
However, we were not here for dessert. We wanted to have dinner here and chose to sit out in their closed in patio...
Loved the hanging purple lamp...
It was also happy hour but I didn't feel like imbibing alcohol, especially with TC there.
Bert didn't have a problem with it though. He chose a local craft brew - this was the Black Marlin Porter which he graciously shared a few sips with me. It tasted of coffee and chocolate, now all it needs is some ice cream! I'm so fixated on chocolate beer floats ever since our Portland 2009 trip.
We used the coupon for our entrees and TC ordered two items from the happy hour menu.
She had the Mac and Cheese which surprised us when we got it since the pasta was the larger penne instead of the expected elbow macaroni. She really liked the crispy topping. I'm still thinking of those crispy fried onions that crowned the much superior version we had at the Westside Tavern.
She also ordered (and shared) the fried calamari. We really loved the batter on this calamari. The sauce was just so so (marinara), but the squid pieces were nicely coated and seasoned. I liked that they included the tentacles and not just the "safe" little rings some places serve.
Bert had their Spinach Lasagna which was served with salad (and drowned in balsamic dressing).
I ordered something uncharacteristic and got the Chicken Pot Pie (also served with salad and wisely ordered sans dressing). I was pleasantly surprised to see that this was a "stand alone" pot pie and not served in a huge ramekin or dish. Of course, this meant, more crust to filling ratio as well!
The crust was really really flaky and sturdy. The filling was creamy and filled with white meat chicken and vegetables. It was also not an oozing mess which I also expected but was willing to endure but luckily it wasn't.
The portions were just right, both for the lasagna and the chicken pot pie. Bert's lasagna had the right amount of cheese and sauce, which he thought was one of the best parts, besides the spinach of course. My pot pie was really "crusty" and I enjoyed sharing it with Bert so he too could experience the awesome crust.
Lots of the older crowd like to frequent this place. There was also "entertainment", a youngish guy playing the guitar and singing guitar-based folk rock songs. Think of John Denver or James Taylor or Cat Stevens. If I hear "Fire and Rain" or "Sunshine on My Shoulder", please somebody poke my ear drums out with a red hot sword and put me out of that easy listening misery.
Sorry people, but this wasn't my type of music. Don't get me wrong, of course it was "pleasant" as background noise but what I really wanted to request was some Megadeth or Metallica. Just kidding. Try do finger that on your guitar! Not really. Okay, what I meant was Rick James (bitch!) or some other groovy ass songs that wouldn't put me to sleep!
Despite being at San Diego Desserts (which does offer really good desserts), we opted to skip out on dessert and went home afterwards. Well, our original plan was to get sticky rice and mango at this new place in University Heights but being a Friday night, parking was a nightmare. Plan B was ice cream at Mariposa in Normal Heights. We unfortunately found out that they were closed due to a horrifically stenchy sewage problem.
Sooooo, we stopped by our local Fresh and Easy and picked up these bad boys for our dessert before turning on "The Hunger Games" dvd. The Ben and Jerry mini's were 4 for $5. Bert had the Chocolate Fudge Brownie while TC had the Cookie Dough.
Underneath the ice cream lid was a tiny shovel like spoon (not pictured). The box of condom-name sounding ice cream was my choice. MAGNUM?!!!!!! Whoa! Seriously Magnums are a sub-brand manufactured by Trojans and are um, for the more "hung" to put it crudely. It was $3.99 for the box (sometimes it's on sale for a dollar less but tonight wasn't one of those nights). Like Haagen Dazs, there are three of these bars to a box. Of course, I only had one.
The chocolate was nice and thick and the almond pieces substantial. I wish this bar came in dark chocolate rather than milk. The other varieties include vanilla coated with chocolate, dark chocolate coating chocolate and caramel, and vanilla with caramel.
This was our first time buying the tiny sizes of the Ben and Jerry's. The inclusion of spoon was a nice touch. Buying a bunch of these could well be a fattening and bad habit. Much better to buy the larger sizes and save some moolah, I guess. This was our consolation dessert instead of the Thai place or Mariposa's homemade ice cream.
Our Labor Day weekend was off to a great start! Hope you all enjoyed this weekend and got to do what you wanted to do whether it was to relax or go out and try something new!
2 comments:
Ooo, I like that crusty looking stand alone pot pie! I like extra crust, so that might suit me. I've never had the regular food there, only the desserts!
I think you'd like that pot pie - loved their crust, i tell you!
their regular food is all right. we've had their sliders before too as well as this crusted tilapia dish. very good food with the added benefit of awesome desserts!
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