Perry's Cafe revisit

From Lofty Coffee, we took the surface streets to Old Town...

traversing the PCH, past the new'ish Airport Rental Car center...

and finally ending up here...

The "David" mural in Old Town

One of these days we vowed to look at this particular mural up close and personal...

It's located off the 5 freeway in Old Town. It's right next to the Courtyard Marriott...

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...

Old Town - Pizza Bella

One of our lunch choices was clear across the other side of Old Town. The other coupon I had was near the trolley stop and featured pizza, which the girls preferred over Mexican food.

"Best Pizza in America"????

We would soon find out if this claim was true or not...

Trolley Adventure 2 - Old Town

It's nearly summer and I'm still trying to finish posts from Spring Break!

Do I even remember what happened? Let me search the cobwebs in my mind and see...

Date night in Old Town

[Update - Closed as of June 2013]

Our original plan was to go to the Pearl but I was PO'd because I'd misplaced the coupon (which of course I found later when we got home). Not to worry because I had Plan B in mind and it was a place that Bert and I enjoyed from past visits, 25 Forty Bistro.

Our favorite parking spot in a hidden area in Old Town was taken but we got lucky with other open spaces near Congress St. It also helped that we went super early (5:30 pm)...

25 Forty Bistro and yes, Big Joy again!

[Update - 24 Forty Bistro closed as of June 2013]

Since we were childfree today courtesy of TC's friend who was hosting a bday party slash sleepover, we decided to  make it a dinner date later on as well!

It was time to pay 25Forty Bistro another visit! Plus, I had my good old paper friend, the coupon!

Return to 2540 - Brunch revisited

Last weekend, we went back to 2540 for Brunch. We used another one of my groupon deals. Again, we were lucky enough to get parking at our "secret" spot.

Return to 2540 Bistro...Brunch

[Update - Closed as of June 2013]

Since I'm on vacay and it was my birthday week (ha ha, not Birth Day), I figured I'd get the most of my time off. Since we'd already been to 25 Forty Bistro for dinner last month, we wanted to try their Brunch, especially since I bought two more coupons for this place, $18 for $40.

It was a really beautiful weekend too. It was very warm that day and I was regretting wearing black. We chose to sit out on the patio and the staff was kind enough to shade us with an umbrella so we woulnd't get all lobstered out. After making our selections, they brought out some fruit puree with yogurt and honey. I didn't really like this and ended up giving it to TC. I don't like "soft" and "runny" things. I tried a little bit of it and if anything, the fruit puree was delicious but yogurt makes me want to hurl.

I got the Fried Rice with organic eggs along with a side of Italian sausage ($11):

I didn't realize the eggs would be "runny" inside. I thought they would be scrambled. I ended up giving one to TC who totally attacked it. The other egg, I gave a try and it wasn't so bad after mixing up the runny yolk into the rice. Now, I'd read about this fried rice from Ed Bedford's review from the SD Reader and I was curious. I can make fried rice myself but what was so special about this one? Well, for one thing, it was really flavorful. The soy sauce used in this rice was sweet soy sauce. But that wasn't what I liked the most about this fried rice...

Mixed throughout the rice were bits of onion, mushrooms and Holy-Shit-Motherfkg-Yoda 'n shit (Kevin Smith "Mallrats" reference), there was also PORK FAT in the rice! See that glistening piece right there? Oh yeah, that's the ticket...

Bert's choice was the Italian sausage with eggs and what they called "roasted potatoes" but looked like thick cut fries ($10):

He is a fan of runny egg yolks so he really liked his meal. Meat, potatoes, egg. That is all.

TC got the Peanut Butter and Jelly French Toast with whipped cream and a side of maple syrup. This was super sweet...

She ended up having some of my rice and sausage so she wouldn't get overloaded on sugar.

To end our brunch, we ordered one Nutella filled puff pastry which was nice and light!

Now that we've had brunch here, we'll have to check it out for lunch another time! We ended up walking off our calories in Old Town checking out various sites and museums such as the San Diego's first schoolhouse and courthouse, the Wells Fargo Museum, the McCoy House (a reproduction of an 1800's house but rebuilt in 2000) among other things. That post will have to wait awhile but it reminded me of when I accompanied TC's first grade class on their field trip to Old Town back in Feb 2007.

25 Forty Bistro

[Update - Closed as of June 2013]

This was the weekend of using up my groupon and coupons...This was one I got for $20 for $40 at 25 Forty Bistro in Old Town. (NewTokidoki bag - "Americana" print in Carino Cross body messenger style - finally got it on sale!)

Ooh, I used the "sunset" setting on my camera for this freeway pic:

The restaurant was on Congress Street but we parked on some tiny side street that dead-ended into the Rockin' Baja Lobster restaurant. We were lucky to even find a spot.

25 Forty Bistro is in a renovated cottagey-looking house.

There's some cool outdoor seating with heatlamps and another area with a mini fire pit.

The inside is not huge but not so tiny that you are elbowing our neighbors. The decor was also very cool - black and white and very modern. None of this frou frou crap. Very streamlined and tasteful. The music was also very Thievery Corporation'ish (it probably was Thievery Corporation!). On the counter were glass topped domes with pastries within.  At 6 pm, we were the third party there that night. By the time we left, the room was filled.

We also had a cool view of the kitchen. The lighting in here was not totally dim or dark but towards the end of our evening, I had to resort to using the flash.

I like how their menu is quite simple. No overblown pretentious descriptions.

One of the walls had a huge chalkboard with a world map of where their wines are from.

Bert got a German beer that night, the Franzishaner. The flavor had a nice orange finish towards the end. I had a sip or two and thought it was pretty good.

We were given a tiny complimentary appetizer. This was a thinly sliced toasted baguette with Stilton cheese and honey. I ended up giving my cheese to Bert since I'm not a fan of blue cheese.

For starters, I chose the Kale salad which had candied cashews, sweet soy sauce and golden yellow raisins. It was quite a bit for one person so the waiter was kind enough to provide two extra plates for me to share with TC and Bert. I loved the thinly sliced kale with the sweet soy sauce. The salad had sweetness from the raisins, soy sauce and cashews as well as texture and crunch from the nuts. Everyone liked this unique salad.

My entree was the Homemade Fettucine with Duck. The sauce was the broth created by braising the duck with onions. The ethereal topping was razor thin wisps of fried vegetables, perhaps leeks and/or carrots.

TC chose the Rib Eye with homemade fries and Chimichurri. It was served on a wooden lazy suzan which was fun for her because she liked how she could spin it around.

In addition, there was also a salad of mixed greens and a pile of coarsely ground salt. We liked how the fries were thick cut and how there wasn't an obscene amount of fries on her plate. Well, for a 10 year old it was a lot but for an adult, it was just right. We "helped" her out with it anyways. Her ribeye was done "medium" but it was too pink in the middle for me. The leftovers are still in the fridge waiting to be eaten for dinner.

This was Bert's Bistro Filet with Truffle Sauce and seasonable vegetables and mashed potatoes. He really enjoyed this; the meat was tender and flavorful. The truffle sauce had an interesting flavor (it's not my favorite but I liked it). The vegetables included not just your standard carrots and broccoli, but also asparagus, cauliflower, and halved brussel sprouts.

We saved enough room for dessert as well. By this time, we'd gone way over the groupon limit of $40 but we knew that would happen anyways so Bert took care of the difference....

TC and I shared the Raspberry Sphere. Now this was NOT what I expected. When I read "merengue" on the menu, I was thinking of the hard, baked crunchy kind like an Australian Pavlova. I was pleasantly surprised to see this snowball looking thing. The waiter set it down on the table and opened up a tiny vial with the blood red raspberry sauce and poured it on top of the sphere! I should have taken a photo but by the time I tried reaching for my camera, he was already done.  The sphere was also ice cold which was also a pleasant surprise. TC had so much fun eating this.

Bert's choice was the Caramel Pannacotta with Chocolate Sauce. This was served in a small jar which was cool. I was thinking it would be served as a "mold" from a ramekin or something. His dessert had a nice silky smooth texture.

Inside the sphere was more of that super concentrated raspberry sauce. That was an amazing dessert and I wish we could have had more of it.

I'd love to go here again but for lunch since they offer a different menu. They are also known for their baked goods so I'd like to try some of those next time since they are only $2 each. 25 Forty  also offers breakfast but I'm not up early enough for that. The service here was super nice from the receptionist to our waitress and servers. 

One thing I noticed was that the clientele was old, like bluehair old. We were probably the youngest people there (as well as the only ethnic Asians). Although this was not a formal eatery, I noticed that people did dress up here but not so much that you looked like you were going to the Opera or something. It was fun going out to a nice comfortable place that served excellent food.

Who else ate at 25 Forty Bistro?

Ed Bedford of the SD Reader went here last fall: "25Forty Bistro and Bakery is an Island of Modernity"

I like how it's not near all the tourist trappy type restaurants but it's still in Old Town so my only gripe is the parking. When we left, this car totally sharked us for our spot. Can't wait to try this place out again.

Moonstruck Chocolatier

[Update - Moonstruck is closed. Not sure when that happened but it's no longer there! :(  ] 

This weekend, Bert went to Old Town to get my wedding ring fixed. I don't know WTF I did, but I noticed one of the sides of my ring was really bent out of shape. Like totally fkg angular! Plus, one of my prongs was pushed as well. Last time my ring was fixed, my prongs were so worn down, it was a wonder that the diamond didn't fall out. That last trip to Old Town to get my ring fixed was back in September 2009. It was a fun day because we go to check out the Campo Santo Cemetery (see that exciting post here) and had lunch at one of the restaurants, Rancho la Lena, which is away from the main drag.

So while TC and I were having lunch at Kanpai, Bert dropped off my ring at the Diamond Source and walked around to kill time while the jeweler was fixing my wrecked ring. He chanced upon Moonstruck Chocolatier, which is a San Diego branch of the Portland based company. I recall seeing Moonstruck while we were there but we didn't go, so this was the next best thing. I didn't even know it was here in San Diego.

Dude, "Meet the Truffles" (click and lick):

I thought it was sweet of Bert to get us something. Here's the selection of truffles he chose for us.

The cone one is so cute - That's the Chcoolate Malted Cream Cone (for TC). (Description taken from website) It's "milk chocolate and malted milk-flavored French butter cream inside a milk chocolate cone, topped with dark chocolate and finished iwth a dusting of malt." The one with the checkboard pattern is the Pure Gold Truffle, which was dark chocolate with some of liqueur infused filling (Drambuie). Very rich and kind of alcohol-y.

The square with salt on top was Bert's choice for himself - the Sea Salt Vanilla Caramel which was Milk Chocolate covered caramel truffle. The salt is flaky "Maldon" sea salt which is some sort of premium British salt. The one with the cocoa nibs on top (for me) was the Grenada Truffle - (description from website) "An exotic ganache of whipped cream and single origin dark chocolate derived from rare and flavorful Triniterio cocoa beans from the Caribbean, resulting in hints of dried fruits and fresh tobacco. Enrobed in dark chocolate and topped with roasted cocoa nibs".

Close up of the Sea Salt Vanilla Caramel:

Cross sections of the truffles (sorry the photos are crappy):

More of the cross sections...

My favorite was the Grenada truffle (with the cocoa nibs). My least favorite was the Drambuie filled one. Bert, of course, loved his since he is such a caramel fan, especially when it has sea salt. TC hasn't eaten hers yet and I didn't have the heart to cut it in half. I want to go here next time and try their other flavors.

While wandering around in Old Town, Bert contemplated going to the Whaley House and even eating at the haunted Creole cafe that's right next to it. Uh, go on ahead. I'll pass on those!!!!

Readers, have any of you ever been to the Whaley House or any other house reputed to be haunted? Just curious. It's such a big tourist attraction but I'm way too chicken to go there.