A & D Hawaiian BBQ - National City

Since we were the area we wanted to check out this Hawaiian place...Look, it says A&D Hawaiian BBQ on the sign right?

But this is now there!

Here today and gone tomorrow...

Tastea Grill revisited

Went here recently with TC...Tastea Grill. It's on East Palomar Street right across from Heritage Park.

Haven't been in in awhile...

See my previous posts on September 2009 and November 2009 for my previous takes on this place...

Waiting for my food...The Korean owner and chef was working the counter today. Normally it's his wife or his daughter but they were out. It was just a teenage worker and the chef, who is super nice by the way.

I ordered the Hot Basil Beef plate - comes with a scoop of rice and a side of island style mac salad. The beef had chili s int as well as onions and green peppers. I didn't see any basil, like last time. I ended up taking half of it home...The meat was the same cut you would get if you ordered Korean beef bulgogi - cut really thin. Some pieces were kind of too fatty though.

The Hot Non Basil Beef did "something" the next morning...

This was TC's Teriyaki Beef plate with rice and mac salad. This was the small size version, not the kid's plate. The kid's plate comes with fries which I try to avoid.

I ordered something to go for Bert. We normally don't go out to eat on weekdays since I usually cook enough to last the whole week, but I was frazzled that particular day and didn't feel like eating our leftovers. I originally was going to order the Island Style Short Ribs but the worker suggested the Mongolian Short Ribs instead. He said the sauce was "better". So that is what you see below:

Ha - okay, now it's the "dance" scene in "Sixteen Candles" where they play the songs, "Theme to "Peter Gunn"  and that 80's slow song classic, "True" by Spandau Ballet.
Sigh.

Samantha Baker looking forlornly at Jake Ryan dancing with his girlfriend Caroline while "True" is on. The song is rudely interrupted by the school geek, (then) skinny and gangly Anthony Michael Hall as Farmer Ted. Cue the song, "Wild Sex (in the Working Class) by Oingo Boingo.

Farmer Ted Dancing from Sixteen Candles
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"Hot! Hot! Very Hot!" the geek shouts as he spasmodically dances in front of her mortified visage before she sighs in frustration and runs off in tears.

Cotijas and Tastea Grill again

Last month I took TC and her cousin out ice skating. Before going up to UTC, we had lunch at the nearby Tastea Grill which I blogged about last month. They still have their grand opening sign up.
I had the Basil Beef (I did not detect any basil leaves or basil flavor though) which was actually quite good, despite the lack of basil. It was thinly sliced beef (bulgogi-like) stirfried with red and green bell peppers and sprinkled liberally with chili flakes. It was served with rice and a side dish of cabbage, onions, and broccoli. There are two sizes - small and large; this was the small ($5.75) and the portion was just right for me. Actually, I ended up eating 3/4 of it and saved the rest for later.

Both my nephew and my daughter got the same thing, which was a kid's plate: Teriyaki Chicken with rice and french fries. I think I am going to suggest to the owner to offer a substitution of stir fried veggies instead of the fries. It's too starch heavy as it is and I felt it was a "dumbed" down meal which assumes that all kids would rather eat fries than vegetables. Ugh.

The next day we were out and about. I was craving tacos after our errands. It was a foggy night when we went to Cotijas....we thought it was closed because all of the chairs were up on the tables. Turned out they were cleaning the floors. They were open after all but their attitude was kind of like, "Eh, whatever".

This was a plate we ordered for TC and ourselves (knowing that she couldn't finish it on her own). These were two enchiladas (chicken) with rice and beans and chips. The sauce was really good, not your usual reddish tomatoey sauce. They one had more flavor and was darker in color...I wish I knew what was in it...

As for Bert and myself, we had two tacos de papa each! I really really like these! They are also $1.29. They are just mashed potatoes with cheese, shredded cabbage, chopped onions and cilantro in a crispy shell!

One gross thing that happened though while we were there....I saw a big mouse walking outside. I made a nervous noise because I was afraid the damned rodent would dart into the store. It was walking tentatively outside and I made a motion as if to scare it away. The mouse meandered for a bit, then scurried off into the nearby bushes outside. There were a few customers inside when this transpired but they didn't seem too worried. Neither did the workers. Maybe they thought I was some wierdo that hadn't seen a mouse before in my life. Shit. I don't know about you but if there's a mouse there, then perhaps there's mice in the restaurant too. Time to strip that "A" rating off the window and change it to "C"!

Tastea Grill - Otay Ranch

After languishing in an empty retail spot for nearly a year, Eduard's Taste of Europe was reborn as Tastea Grill. This is located on East Palomar Street in the neighborhood of Otay Ranch, right in front of Heritage Park. Above the Tastea Grill are senior apartments...There's already a few reviews on Yelp here and here. Here's the front counter...sign above door to kitchen still reads "Boulangerie". Is it that hard to remove an old sign people? Eduard doesn't own this place anymore!!! There were small sample cups of flavored teas/ices on the counter (not seen)...they were giving out samples to customers...In addition to a variety of combo plates featuring a mix of Hawaiian, Japanese and Korean food, this establishment also served boba in smoothies, teas, and iced drinks.

The decor was bright but oddly mismatched. We expected an island-like or Hawaiian ambience, not the jarringly discordant citrus hued walls and and Pinky Tuscadero'esque booths that you'd expect to see at Arnold's Drive in with the strains of the Percy Faith Orchestra's "Theme from a Summer Place" in the background. Instead, the music was varied, from Lady Gaga to Foreigner to A Flock of Seagulls! Part of me wanted to hear 50's sock hop shit and the other half of me was digging some of the old school gems!

View down the narrow seating area...

And here is another boot photo because I just love to see black vinyl booths with pink piping and quilted silvery back rests.

My MIL's Hawaiian BBQ Chicken with rice, salad and dressing in a cup. This was pretty "safe" for her. My MIL doesn't eat a lot of fried food or anything out of the ordinary due to her restricted diet.

My Shrimp & Mango Salad ($8.95). At first I balked at the price...but this was actually quite good! There were about a dozen shrimp along with a generous amount of chopped mango with cilantro, thinly sliced jalapeno rounds, and diced red bell peppers which were topped with fried noodles. The salad really could have done without the fried noodles which reminded me vaguely of styrofoam worms. While the noodles may have been the owner's idea of a cool, crispy garnish, they quickly degenerated into a soggy wet mess. There was no dressing in the salad but for me, that was a good thing. The salad was sweet, crunchy, slightly herbal, and delicious!Bert and I also shared the Combo plate ($10.95). I thought this was a bit overpriced. The quality of the food wasn't that great. There was only one Kalbi short rib, several pieces of Hawaiian BBQ Chicken (thigh pieces),three pieces of panko breaded shrimp, and overcooked and dry bulgogi, along with the standard scoop of rice and ho hum salad. We could have got a better bento style elsewhere.

This was just our first visit. More pix to come in future visits. The service was a bit slow - it took about 20 minutes for our food. Everything is served in a styrofoam clamshell which as we all know, sucks for the environment. Bad bad bad! Lots of people coming in and out of this place which is great considering they just opened. I'm sure they are working out a few kinks...One thing I noticed was their menu had a few blacked out prices. The one glaring "blackout" was their kid's meal section...The word "drink" was unceremoniously censored from their menu, so basically the kid's meal is a protein with a starch (rice) and more starch (french fries - again dumbing down the menu because they don't offer healthier options) and NO DRINK! All for $5.95! That's kind of pricy for a kid's meal that doesn't come with a drink!