Tropical Star x 2

A few months ago, I read the Food Ho's posts on Tropical Star (click here to view in all of its glory). I was immediately intrigued by her mention of morcilla, or the blood sausage...We hadn't been to Tropical Star in a while. Plus, I had.......................................................................wait for it....

....................................................................................................still on the edge of your seat? In my possession, in my hot little hands was my money-saving-friend...............................................the (drum roll please!).....................................................................................................................coupon!

Yes indeed. The first visit was just me, Bert and TC. Here's the view from our table. Shortly after I snapped this shot, a big ass part of 15 came in. It was a Latino family, all dressed up. Maybe they came from church or something. TC and I were seated at a table, near the front window where a man sitting at the bar height counter was working on his laptop. He said to me, "Is that your seester?" while pointing to TC.

I was like, "WTF dude". (pause) No, actually, I didn't say that but I THOUGHT that.

I told him, "No, she's my daughter"...totally setting myself up for the next line...

"Oh, well you look like seesters! You look so young and preety" I wanted to throw up in my mouth. This was one of the oldest lines in the book.

While this was happening, Bert was in line getting our orders.

I told the guy, "Thanks, but I'm her mom!" and he just smiled and said that I looked really young, blah blah blah". After that exchange of words, he turned around and resumed his uploading of triple XXX porn. Right. No, he just turned around and started working on his computer again. I guess he was trying to be complimentary to me, but it felt kind of creepy for me to hear it. I guess I feel uncomfortable being complimented by strangers. I tend to find it annoying and akward.

Pictured below is Bert in line. Smooth pick up line man is not pictured here. I told Bert about what happened and he thought it was kind of funny.

We love this place...it's pretty small and it's a mom and pop operation. It's almost always busy everytime we go here and today was no exception. Just seat yourself and get one of their laminated menus.

Flip it over and you will see full on color photos of their entrees...

This was my entree (and because I'm lazy, I'm typing the description verbatim from their menu) #16 - PICADA COLOMBIANA - A Columbian combination country plate of chorizo, morcilla (black sausage), chicharron (pork rinds), patacones (fried green plantains), papas criolla (yellow potatoes), yuca frita (fried yucca), y arepa (cornmeal griddle cake) - This sucker is $13.99 and worth it. The menu says this is "also great as appetizer sampler plate"! One word here...FRIED !

The little yellow potatoes were one of the best things I've ever tasted. EVER. They were so cute and tiny and buttery! Biting into one was like experiencing a little volcanic explosion in one's mouth! The arepa was a little bland - it was kind of like a cornmeal coaster. Just put your tasty beverage on this and forget about it. The yuca frita was good for maybe one bite or two, but man, there was mega starch on this plate!!!

The best thing on this plate besides those mini potatoes was the chorizo, which was way better than the morcillo. There was more flavor and kick to it, while the morcillo had a more "earthy" taste. Maybe I'm saying that because I know there's blood in it. I kept telling myself, "If I can eat dinuguan", then I can eat a blood sausage!" It was really no BFD but the flavor didn't excite me, nor did the tiny grains of rice that were in the sauge. Look at that plate of fried shit. I mean, let's not kid ourselves, you didn't come in here to eat salad did you? It. Was. So. FKG Good!

This was Bert's entree (description again taken from the menu) #12 LOMO SALTADO - Peruvian beef delight. Beef strips (I think they meant 'strips') sauteed with fresh tomatoes, onions, cilantro and french fries - servied with white rice. $9.50. Since we had our "coupon", this entree was free since my dish was the more expensive item. We shared both of our plates with our daughter, who really liked the smashed fried plantains and the sausage. She wasn't so keen on the morcillo, but gave it a try. She was more into the rice and meat STRIPES. Ha ha.

Our appetizer - the tastyass PASTELILLO ($2.25) - Deep fried turnover filled with your choice of beef, chicken, or cheese. Ours was beef and we ordered two of these bad boys.

Cross section of the pastelillo (no flash). I love the crusty edges! Mmm!

So that was our summer lunch at Tropical Star. I recently went again, this time with my friend who is not only a counselor but a professor at a local community college up North. She wanted to take me out as a late birthday gift...Of course, I couldn't refuse her offer. The last time we went to lunch, we were going to eat at Asia Cafe but since it was closed, we went to Bonnie Jean's Soul Food Cafe (see that post here). Here's a few pix from that outing...it wasn't as busy that day so we got a table for two right near the side counter.
View from our table...with various food items in this market/restaurant.

For one of our appetizers, I ordered the Bacalaita ($2.95) - 2 cod fish fritters fried to a golden brown. This wasn't what I expected. I didn't realize they would be so thin. I thought it would be like a fish ball, like the kind I've had at Costa Brava (it's one of the tapas there). It was way too crispy and the fish flavor was kind of washed out.

We tried to liven up it's bland flavors with these two sauces...the one on the left was really spicy and lip-numbing, which means it was good! We also ordered two Pastelillos but since I already posted a photo of that, I didn't both including yet another pic of the same thing. Also, we ordered the #16 to share between the both of us...No pic as well. However, I noticed that they gave us 2 arepas and one extra piece of both sausages for each of us. Nice!!! This was a lot of food for both of us. Asides from trying to get caught up since we last saw each other, we were doing our best to make a dent in this combo platter (she ended up taking home the leftovers). Again, the little potatoes were the star as was the chorizo! It is one of the appetizers, but unfortunately, is served with an arepa (the tasteless cornmeal puck). I just want that chorizo. Now.

For dessert, we had some homemade Alfajores, which are two powdered sugar coated cookies with a dulce de leche filling. I've had these before at the Peruvian place, Latin Chef (in PB) but theirs were tiny. These were the larger sized ones. When Bert, TC and I were there, we saw the delivery guy drop these off. They look really nice in the covered cake platter (located right next to the counter, beckoning you to buy them).So...my friend and I got one each...They were super sweet and practically cavity inducing with just one bite! I saved the rest for later since the cookies were served in a silvery space agey like mylar sleeve.

I still have another coupon for this place! Gotta come back again for their #10 - PESCADO FRITO-MOJARRA - Whole fried Porgie fish served with salad and your choice of white rice, tostones, or fried yucca.

Okay, uh....when I see the word tostones, I think of testicles. It sounds like a combination of the words testes and cojones. Same thing, I know!

But that is not the reason why I want to try #10! I've never had Porgie fish before so next time we're up in the Clairemont area, we're dropping by here again! Porgie and Bess. George Porgie pudding and pie. Porg out! Porgorama! Porgmeister! Porgtacular porgy!!!!

Andres Restaurant

[went to this place the same day we went to the Brewhouse for Thane's 40th - 7/3]
Even when the economy wasn't so bad, we would always use coupons from those entertainment book fundraiser things. Here's one such occasion when we used one...at Andres Restaurant on Morena Blvd.
They'd expanded into a bigger restaurant. There is also a Latin market next door, but it was kind of sparse inside.
The reception area of the restaurant. We ate in the smaller section off to the right of this. Behind the counter is a bigger banquet area.
Thank goodness for coupons...
It was also sparse in the dining area but filled up before we left.
Bert asked the waitress what she would recommend for beer - this was her pick, the Bohemia.
I had the Palomillo, which is steak seasoned Cuban style sprinkled with parsley and onions, and served with rice and beans. That was one huge piece of meat. It was sliced thinly though, but still...I didn't want to eat too much since we were going to Thane's shindig later that evening. I loved the seasoning on the meat which went well with the rice. As for the beans, not a big fan of beans in general. I thought the onions would be better caramelized.
This was Bert's dish - the pork with rice and pigeon peas. His rice was much better than mine and we ended up getting a little off each others' plate. We figured our plates would be subtantial, so TC shared our food as well. That's the beauty of these 2 for 1 coupons. Lots of food for half the cost.
I think we'll be going here again soon! After lunch, we went to the next door market where I bought a few jars of dulce de leche and these round wafer things called "obleas". I've bought them before at Tropical Star...Love them! Sorry no pix of that!