Encinitas with Superman - Iron Smith Roasters, breakfast at Honey's Bistro & Bakery + drinks from Philz Coffee

Earlier today I hung out with my good friend Superman.

A drive up North was in order...

Breakfast at Andy's Coffee Shop

We missed our daughter TC who would be returning to San Diego later that afternoon.  We sure wished she was with us...

Breakfast  before the long drive back was here, at Andy's Coffee Shop.

Located on Historic Route 66, the restaurant is also a prime spot to view the tail end of the Tournament of Roses Parade...

Denny's, Roseville

The kids were still amped from the concert...

They were also hungry but we chose to go to the Denny's that was farther away from the SoMa...

Old Mill Cafe

A few Fridays ago Bert and I had dinner at this old school diner...

which was pretty dead the night of our visit...

Perry's Cafe

The other day we went to Onami buffet in Mission Valley for my mom's birthday lunch. As we crossed the 5 off ramp to the 8, I saw Perry's Cafe below. It's one of those restaurants I've always looked at but never gone to...

The sloped roof and the old school look inside made me curious. The restaurant's kitchen had burned down several years ago but it was rebuilt and came back stronger than ever it seemed...

Rudford's plus drinks from Coffee, Tea & Collective

I've been enjoying the break so far. TC and I have gone to a lot of places, both old and new...

(The North Park Water Tower near Howard & Idaho St.)

In this case, we went with "old", as in celebrating their 65th Anniversary...

We've passed by it so many times while driving on the Boulevard...

Day 4 - Starting out the day right at Irving Street Cafe

[This location is now CLOSED]

Now that I've finished my Canada posts, I looked through my photos and saw with dismay that I still need to finish our LA Roadtrip post (from February) and our Bay Area Roadtrip post (from Spring Break)...so, like the tortoise trying to finish a race...slowly but surely will I finish these posts...

Day Four of our vacation would bring us to the Inner Sunset District...

My former student and my cousin both suggested hipster type places for breakfast in the Richmond District (just above the Sunset)...

Did I listen to them?

With all due respect, it was apparent that I did not. Instead we went to an established neighborhood greasy spoon...

Bay Area Roadtrip - Day 1: The Red Onion

While TC watches some hokey Animal Planet show on "mermaids", I thought I would do my first post from our recent road trip...

The photo above was somewhere along the 5...while the photo below was near the 580 as we approached the Oakland area...

We were excited because we hadn't visited Thane up here since 2011...this time it was different since he was now married with a toddler son and with a house!

Before hunkering down with Thane and his family, we sought out a place for lunch in his neighborhood...

Return to Lil b's

It's been a few months since my first visit a few months ago with Cathy of mmm-yoso.

Today, TC joined MFH and I to meet up with our former co-worker and his wife for lunch at lil b's in North Park...

Gilroy Bowl

I forgot to mention in my previous post that the Garlic Shoppe guy had asked if we liked Loco Mocos. Bert said he did, but I'm not really into them. The reason he asked was because there was a little place in downtown Gilroy owned by Japanese Americans from Hawaii. I forget if they were 3rd or 4th generation. In any case, our interest was piqued...

He said the name of the restaurant was Scotty's and it was located within Gilroy Bowl, a bowling alley.

Poutine at Carol and Earl's, South Baymouth

It was S and E's last day in Manitoulin before they headed out back out for their wedding anniversary trip. After the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation, we planned to meet up with C and her daughter along with S and E at this place that supposedly had the "best" fish and chips, "Island Fish and Chips". This place is in South Baymouth...

Unfortunately, it was closed. To kill some time, we went to the nearby gas station, Carl's Trading Post (this is the one we asked for directions to C's place when we arrived a few days earlier). I think I bought a few post cards here as well as the local newspaper. If you can see the sign, it's an advert for their local ice cream, "Farquhar's" (I keep thinking Lord Farquad from "Shrek")...

So, instead of Island Fish and Chips, we decided to meet at Carol and Earl's. This is literally across the street from the gas station. I remember seeing this when we first arrived here.

This is really owned by a couple named Carol and Earl, duh! According to C, they are a very nice couple. Their restaurant is also known for their pies.

Ooh, pea meal bacon. Uh, no thanks. Didn't like the kind we had back in Toronto. They also call mashed potatoes "mash".

Their menu is basic diner food. Homestyle. Big portions.

I noticed they had poutine...hmmm.

More of the menu...

The Toronto Blue Jays were playing the San Diego Padres in our hometown (this was on June 15th, 2010)! Woo hoo! Final score? The Padres won, 8 - 2! Check out all stats from that game here!

View from our table. The hallway in the back is near the front of the restaurant by the baked goods display case.

C had the barley soup for her and her daughter...

Someone had the chicken sandwich. It was either E or C's. I know it wasn't mine! Healthy! Unlike what I ended up ordering...

Someone's sandwich with fries. Again. Not mine. Possibly E's. I know it's not S's because he's a vegetarian. This looked quite good to me.

TC's cheeseburger...it looked and tasted "eh". So plain looking too. Kinda of blah.

My ham and cheese sandwich which was pretty basic and nothing spectacular. I wanted something small because I ordered the poutine and I knew it was going to be huge.

We also got onion rings! These were pretty good and were attacked as soon as they arrived at the table. By me.

Bert's fish and chips. I believe S also had the same meal but why take two photos of the same thing, right? These were pretty good from what I recall. I did have a half of one of the fish portions.

Now this here was the poutine, a dish that can only be described as a "massive heart attack on a plate". To me, it looks like Canada's version of carne asada fries but without the meat.  Believe it or not, this obscenely!gigantor mound of carbs was the "Small". Originating from Quebec, poutine is served at fast food chains to hole in the walls and sometimes "fancified" by upscale restaurants using frou frou cheeses and gourmet ingredients. Poutine is also even featured in school cafeterias in Canada. Maybe not all of Canada but near Montreal, Quebec, and Toronto.

I guess I was more excited to order the poutine and look at it rather than to eat it. I'd heard so much about poutine and when this came to the table, everyone ooh and aahed at how much there was. But eating something like this was another story. I felt like I should have been a Dom de Louise sized trucker with an overhanging fat gut or something.

Regarding the appearance of the poutine, according to C, this was not authentic, due to their use of prepackaged shredded cheese. It was also the wrong type of cheese which is supposed to be fresh cheese curds not this processed Mozzarella stuff. I had just several bites of this and I was done. It was too much starch and I cringed at the thought of someone actually finishing this behemoth caloric time bomb. The gravy was your regular brown gravy. This could have used some chopped up carne asada meat. And sour cream. And guacamole. Now we're talking. I think I rather prefer carne asada fries like we have here in Chula Vista.

The aftermath at our table as we left...

Pies in the display case. Should've tried a slice but we were totally stuffed!

I like how their towns are called "townships". There's a big map of the island behind the window.

After lunch and bidding farewell to S and E, we headed back to C's and then made preparations to drop off Bert and TC at a local horse ranch. We (C and I) were going to do a few errands. But first, a totally addicting Canadian candy bar, Coffee Crisp!

OMFG, these things are like crack!!!