Royal India & Extraordinary Desserts (again!)

[original date of post was early August but ended up being posted one month later!]

In celebration of Divalicious's bday in early August, we (meaning me and The Other Rock Chick, TORC) took her out to lunch. We both brainstormed different places and types of ethnic food. In the end, Divalicious got to choose and the top choice turned out to be Indian...This is Royal India, as seen from across the street on Market. It's located in the Gaslamp Quarter notorious for it's tourist trap like quality and the overall shittiness of trying to find parking on a weekend. In our case, we parked at Horton Plaza and walked a few blocks west to get here...
They had a buffet ($12.95) or you could choose from the menu. We ended up choosing buffet because we thought we'd have more variety. The place was so damn dead when we walked in. And in retrospect, we probably should have asked for another table because there was a fkg food stain on the lower left corner of the table (not seen in this photo though). Nice.
That's the buffet at the back wall. It was kind of small and skimpy. There were the usual suspects - salad (iceberg, yuck), the dips/sauces (chutney, mint, tamarind, yogurt), rice (only one kind, boo), tandoor chicken, some lamb dish, a few veg offerings, plus 2 fried offerings (the bhajji and samosas). Dessert, if you wanted it, was fruit.
While the restaurants itself was nice and clean, I was a bit disappointed in this place which touts itself as one of "san Diego's Best". But then again, I've learned to be wary of these labels and who anoints these labels too. I've been to other Indian restaurants that were hole in the walls and they had a better buffet selection...
I liked the curvy cutout along the wall frame...by the way, the bathroom is in the far far right corner. It's not very clean. When I went there, there was, and I shit you not, a Milky Way wrapper on top of the toilet tank. Who eats candy when they're on the toilet? Can you image that shit? What theFKG FK people? There was also a few bits of crumpled TP on the floor that added to the somewhat less than classy ambiance.
This was my plate - samosa, bhajji, rice, some gloopy vegetarian stuff that included chickpeas, potatoes, spinach and curry, but not in that order or combination. We also got served naan but it wasn't very exciting to look at in a photo so it's not included here. Despite my less than stellar description of the food here, my friend really enjoyed her birthday lunch. Sometimes it's not where you eat but the company you share your meal with. Okay, I just ended that sentence in a preposition which was grammatically incorrect.
None of us really felt like partaking in the Indian buffet dessert offering (notice the singular noun), so we drove to Extraordinary Desserts (from here on out, to be referred to as "ED") on the outskirts of Little Italy. I'd already gone here a few months ago with TORC. In fact, we were supposed to go with Divalicious and the Knitting Diva but the former was out of town and the latter got tied up with work. And most recently, TORC and I went to the uptown location of ED after our dinner at Pizzicato. Here's my last post on this location of ED. So, here we were again...
The counters had Japanese wooden Kokeshi dolls on top as well as assorted gourmet teas, coffees, and sweets. The glass cases were filled with a wide assortment of desserts that Karen Krasne is famous for...That's TORC that you see down below, perusing the selections...
These tarts were just gorgeous - they were gussied up with flowers and berries.TORC's mango berry iced tea on the left and my passion fruit ice tea on the right...
Divalicious' coffee below...Look at those sugar rock crystals! I ate one too! Crunchy!
Here we are with our fancy ass desserts...
Diva's macadamia cream cake with caramel swirl...kind of looks like it collapsed. Her dessert tasted as light as a feather - very smooth on the tongue and fluffy!
This was TORC's dessert - I believe it was a version of Tiramisu - (you can see the cross section of the ladyfingers in there). Hers was very rich and decadent...
Mine was the Passion Fruit Pavlova topped with fresh fruit, custard and champagne grapes (I admit, that was one of the main reasons I wanted this - for the grapes!). Loved how they plated this with the quadrants of brilliant fruit purees.
Here is another view of my dessert, which I only had a few bites. I haven't had a real Pavlova) in about 16 years. I had an Australian classmate in my masters program (who later became a colleague in the same district) who used to bring homemade Pavlovas whenever we'd have potlucks. She would top them with sliced kiwis, strawberries and decorate them with tiny Australian flags. So cute!

The Pavlova, if you are to believe the various accounts, was supposedly named after the famous ballerina after she toured New Zealand and Australia in the 1920's. Both countries claim the Pavlova as their national dessert. The pavlova shell looks like a meringue but isn't hard through and through. Rather, it is hard and crispy on the outside but chewy inside, which is a pretty interesting texture and a more enjoyable mouthfeel (to me). I remember looking forward to our monthly multicultural potlucks because I always knew that she would bring a pavlova. While ED's version was pretty fantastic to look at and delicious to eat as well, I still fondly recall my classmate's version...
That last time TORC and I were at ED, we swore we'd have lunch here. Instead, we had dessert here again. Next time, hopefully with the Knitting Diva in tow, we will have lunch here because they have a few panini offerings that we have our eyes on!

Arrivederci

[meant to post this last month...original outing was 7/13]

Me and some of the co-workers (including the one who retired) went out one summer evening to celebrate our friend's bday. He'd just returned from Croatia and regaled us with stories of his travels. I like to refer to him as my 'jet setting' friend. We also wanted one last shebang before most of us got bogged down with work, since the district adopted a new calendar, our first day back would be Wednesday, July 15th. Anyhow, he picked our dinner spot, Arrivederci on 4th in Hillcrest. See Yelp reviews here. Again, awesome face obscuring skillz by yours truly. Who needs Photoshop!
We were so lucky to find a parking spot! Even on a Monday night, it was crowded outside. Having reservations also helped immensely. Here's the interior - with wine bottles galore...

Our bread...
The menu - click to enlarge...
II got the housemade ravioli - these were huge and had some sort of cheese filling...very creamy and delicious!
Another co-worker got the Penne Arrabbiate - which is Penne pasta with julienne chicken breast in spicy tomato sauce (description taken directly from online menu). It was quite a bit of food...I didn't have the chance to sample this but she seemed to like it. I sampled a few others but not this one.
Here's another entree - the Vitello Picatta Veal scaloppine, sauteed in white wine, lemon sauce and capers. The sauce was really good. That was also the first time I'd tasted veal, which I found tender.
This was the Lasagne del Giorno (the Lasagne of the day). Nothing tastes better than a piece of well made lasagna with oozing cheese drowning in sauce! Okay, here's all of us in the faux rustic dining area (see the brick cracks?)...Birthday boy is to my left (I'm in the middle).
The service was a bit slow at times. We spent a good 2+ hours here just shooting the shit...It was completely packed when we got there around 7:30'ish. We left close to 10 pm and the crowds had thinned out by then. My co-worker (the birthday celebrant) even bumped into a former student and her mom here. We always joke that we always see at least one of our students whenever we go out. Sometimes, it helps like when we went to see "Little Ashes" at the Hillcrest Theatres. We got comped because a former student was working the booth that day. Nice!

Our waiter was very patient with us since we vacillated so much while ordering from the menu. A bottle of wine (trefethen? I think that's what it was called, but not how it was spelled) was ordered but I only took a few sips. I don't really drink so much nowadays. I don't even remember having dessert. If we did have it, I didn't bother taking a photo of it.

In two more days, all of us (except the retired one) would be back at school/work!

TC's Bday, PVLL @ the Little League World Series, Shoes and randomness

Man, San Diego is having one major fkg heatwave! It was so hot yesterday and today. I even wore a damn skirt to work and I normally don't like showing my legs! Anyhow, today was also TC's bday. Our "baby" is now 9 years old. She is at the age where she doesn't even want to wear dresses anymore. She's almost a "tween", or does 9 count as a "tween"? She's into biking, skating, and was recently elected class rep at school and made the "Peace Patrol" (kids that mediate between arguing kids during recess/lunch). OMG, she's growing up. I'm going to have that "talk" with her soon too. Thank goodness she's not into that Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana crap!!! Yes, I taught her well. And no princess shit either! She's an Avatar girl all the way!

So, we had family over tonight for her bday plus dinner. We had the usual suspects - Lumpia and Pancit (the noodles are for long life, says my mom) plus vegetable stir fry and baked chicken. I thought my mom was going to make her fried chicken wings, so we didn't order any from the Chinese place (Mandarin). Instead, my mom brought baked chicken because she said it was too hot to fry anything. Not to be an ingrate, but I know I'm going to end up sounding like one for even mentioning it - but I was looking forward to having fried chicken wings. Disappointed I was, but I can't complain. My mom made us food for the partay. My friend who used to work for Kona Kakes made TC's cake - strawberry/banana. What made her bday pretty fun was also watching the Little League World Series!

Can you say Hell Yeah for Parkview Little League (also known as "WEST")???? They won tonight against Georgia and they are going to the Finals against Texas (whom they lost against a few days ago). These kids are from our city, Chula Vista. Most of the kids go to the local schools in the district where I work. My nephew (7th grader) knows most of these kids from Little League, has played with or against them, and has them in a few classes at middle school. Chula Vista has Little League fever! Everyone was cheering and clapping at every run made as well as the home runs!

On a totally different note, check out these shoes I got on sale last week at Macy's! Aren't they fkg cool? They were on clearance and I used my $15 off coupon. These lavender platforms are about 4" high (TC measured them!) - I love the two tone look; there's a darker shade of purple on the toe part of the platform. These shoes came about to around $30.
Here's the other side of the shoe...
I also bought this sexy pair, also on Clearance and with the $15 off coupon...The heels are 4 1/2" high - These are the highest pair of shoes I've ever bought. Are they too hoochy? Ha ha. Best of all, with these fkrs on, I am almost 5' 10"!
Ugh, the buckle strap isn't intertwined here. I normally don't wear this style, but I couldn't resist a good sale! Plus, these look really great with my dark denim shorts (no, not Daisy Dukes, but respectable above knee length a la Michelle Obama) and my super long jeans.

Okay, if you are Filipino, then you will know why I think "Kiki Sushi" is fkg funny...This was in Hillcrest on University...Looks like the same colors as the "Kinko's Copy" sign, but it's so not Kinko's. One of the slang terms for pussy is "kiki" in Tagalog. Well, there's also "pec pec","keke" (pronounced "keh keh", and pookie" (also pronounced as "pookeh"). "Kiki" might be someone's name or nickname in English, but it means the VADGE (aka - vajay, snatch, muffin, hairpie [that's a "Revenge of the Nerds" reference for you pop culture mavens], pooks, whatever you want to call it) in Tagalog!

Think about how ironic this sign is.

By the way, I have some Mexican friends who tell me that "Kiki" is also the nickname for the boy's name "Enrique" (can also be "Kique", sounds like Kikeh) or the girl's name "Cristina".
In other news, there's going to be a new Hawaiian food joint, "Tastea Grill" in the Otay Ranch area. It's going to be where the old Eduard's bakery was. Too bad they didn't last - they were the closest thing to a really nice bakery (besides Hans and Harry in Bonita) in the east Chula Vista area. This is on East Palomar St. across from Heritage park. The spelling of "Tastea" bugs me. I'm sure it's a play on words since they're going to serve those round and chewy snot ball things called boba. While walking around Heritage park, Bert and I saw this masterpiece of a car...Folks, give it up for the Gremlin , which was made by AMC back in the 70's. Almost as "interesting" looking and as shitty as the Pacer, this car is pretty hard to find on the streets or on the road nowadays. It was equivalent to finding a unicorn in a forest, or the devil in heaven, or me at a Kenny G concert.
Currently reading:
The Vampire Diaries. I kind of want to see what the big deal is since the CW is making this a tv series...So far, I've read the first 4. I'm now on the 5th book...They are kind of lame if you ask me.


Currently listening to:
Podcasts from Living True Blood in Dallas


Currently watching:
The Little League World Series (only Parkview aka West)


Currently craving:
Nem Khao from Asia Cafe

Cotija's

[Went here about 2 weeks ago during a lunch break]

Wow, I actually met Bert for lunch. That is a rare occasion that calls to mind the aligning of the planets, the moon, the stars, and all that cosmic crap. But seriously, it was one of the few times we've had lunch together. We wanted to go someplace classy so we went to Cotijas. No, but really, I wanted to go here because I was really craving their Tacos Papa (potato tacos) which I tried the week before with my co-workers. This place is where Rubio's Fish taco competitor Fins used to be. Before Fins, it was Patrick O'Palms, which was a hybrid Mexican/American food joint.
And for a limited time, they have a value menu - $1.29 for the items you see on the sign!
Bert ordering...we ended up sitting outside. There was a small tv in there blaring out a Mexican soap opera.
Bert got a combo plate - the Machaca with rice/beans/chips/guac. The machaca was so good here - shredded beef with eggs, green peppers...Tortillas also came with this, so he rolled himself a few mini burittos with the tortillas.
I got two items from the Value Menu - the Beef/Bean burrito. I put the plastic knife on there so you could see how big/small it was. The burrito was still pretty hot but it was loosely rolled, which I didn't like. I ended up eating only a few bites because I didn't like it...
Inside of the loose burrito. It was also kind of "too wet".
No, what I really wanted to eat was my Taco Papa - my lovely potato taco, which was loaded up with fresh chopped tomatoes, cilantro, onions, lettuce and sprinkled with cheese. Imagine mashed potatoes in a tortilla shell, then deep fried! That's what this is...
So nice and crunchy...I love the toppings. I could have eaten a couple more of these...
There's always next time! I hope they keep it at $1.29 for a little while longer. I know not to get that burrito again. You get what you pay for, I guess. But this taco is worth it.

IHOP

[Sometime in mid-late July]

It was one of those days where I wanted to just slum it. First of all, I wanted to use up my coupon for this place. Secondly, I knew that TC would like IHOP because they serve breakfast all day. Thirdly, it was close by. This is the IHOP location on Otay Lakes Road, near Eastlake Parkway; it's right by McD's in the Vons shopping center. Coupon time does not always equal good food but I was willing to sacrifice good taste for family time.

Please enjoy my ever so awesome spray paint/face obscuring skillz. Yeah, I rule. That's Bert on the right. They had these spiral mylar thingies hanging from the ceiling. Lovely. The theme was tropical or Hawaiian or something like that.
I haven't eaten in one of these places in who knows how long...it's like Denny's/Coco's/Carrow's/Bob's Big Boy/Bakers Square, etc...(haven't eaten at that last place, actually but wanted to throw it in there!)...
Bert's cup of joe and TC's orange juice:
Click to see their offerings if you dare. See the smile face pan cake? Should be on a new blog called "Pancake Wrecks".
Of course, the smiley face pancake is what my daughter wanted. She got the chocolate pancake with chocolate chips with a horrible squirted on face. The eyes had two maraschino cherries on it. Very evil looking. The chocolate chips were dumped haphazardly on the lower portion of the "face".
Bert got this entree - The Tuscan chicken griller...
Doesn't quite look like the photo on the menu, eh? It was a grilled chicken breast with mayo, a roasted tomatoe, a lonely lettuce leaf and a grilled cheese bun. Wait a minute, I just realized you could have read that description above on the photo of the menu. And I just saw that I was wrong about the cheese.
Here's the cross section of that sandwich - featuring the so-called juicy chicken. Never mind my weak sarcasm - my husband liked his sandwich and that's all that mattered.
I ordered this - the Philly Cheese Steak Super Stacker...
And again, it doesn't look quite like the photo above, huh...My cheese looks kind of washed out. I wanted grilled onions along with my french fried onion rings!!! Now those, I liked!

I basically denuded my sandwich and picked apart the meat, cheese and onions. Well, half of it, since I didn't finish it. Bert and I shared our onion rings and fries with TC. She didn't even eat all of her pancake, so we took it home where she had the leftover the next day. Another no cook breakfast for me. Hey, don't judge. I can't be like Martha Stewart EVERY DAY. Snort.

Another coupon adventure for you. Will we go here again? Probably, but maybe I'll eat something beforehand.

Urban Solace & Heaven Sent Desserts

[Went here earlier this month with my sis in law from OC, 8/1]

Here's a short post about my lunching outing with my SIL from Aliso Viejo. She and her husband Bert's oldest bro) came down to visit Bert's mom as well as help her clean out her house. I picked her up for lunch while Bert's side of the famly did their thing. I never knew this until she told me, but whenever she visits San Diego, she and her husband either only go down south to his mom's, or the Carlsbad outlets to shop, or to Chula Vista (where we live), or to La Jolla. She'd never been to the other parts of San Diego. I suggested North Park's Urban Solace. Here's an old post of mine here. We were originally going to go to Mille Feuille in Hillcrest (we made plans for this late last year), but unfortunately, they closed a few months ago. I thought about Extraordinary Desserts' Little Italy location but decided against it because I didn't want to deal with metered parking spaces. Plus, I knew that Heaven Sent Desserts was just a few steps away from Urban Solace...yes, the wheels were turning.

My chicken salad sandwich with tarragon mayo, served with a side of sweet potato fries. Again, I ditched most of the bread and picked mine apart. The bread was brioche I believe. I liked the tarragon mayo - that's an herb I hardly ever use or eat. Interesting flavor it had. Why am I speaking like Yoda? I know not. Ha ha. Lame. Yes. But the food? Not bad...loved the sweet potato fries.
The other half of our buttermilk biscuits with sweet orange butter. We had eaten several already before I realized, "Picture!". How sad and sick indeed - the compulsive mind of a food blogger that is. My SIL's plate - the Fish and Chips. I didn't try it, but she seemed to really like it. The fish portions were also substantial.
Went down a few doors to Heaven Sent Desserts where we chatted over dessert. This is her macaroon...which she proclaimed to be the best one she's EVER had. High praise indeed. She's a really great cook and an even better baker. The macaroon was .80 which she had with coffee. This was my dessert - which I forgot the name of, but it was triangular and chocolate covered (as you can see) and, best of all, filled with chocolate mousse. Plus I tend to think that everything looks better on a nice white plate. And it does.
Cross section of the dessert that has no name:
My drink was an Italian soda but that isn't really as exciting to look at as the dessert you see above. With the end of August fast approaching, I barely remember what happened this particular day. I hardly ever see my SIL (we've stayed at their house a few times this year before flying up to Portland and driving down the coast) so it was very nice to finally go out, relax, have lunch and all that girl stuff I hardly ever do.