Papellechos Hillcrest

Papellechos opened up it's second location, this time in Hillcrest across from the tractor room.

With bountiful gelato, panini's and salads are also offerred in this industrial chic lofty spot.

Buffalini: a mini flatbread with buffalo mozzarella cheese, olive oil and spice.. Delicious


With a balsamic glaze ad Rosemary,,, fantastic little bite.

A bresaloa salad drizzle with flavor! That's boar cured prosciutto baby... A favorite when I use to strollthe streets of Florence:



Francesco, the owner, is in the process of getting a beer and wine license... Look out for a little vino and gelato summer days!

- Posted using mobile cam.. Eating and blogging on the go, excuse spelling mistakes :)

Chicken got game

Here's to all the roasting an grilling going on for memorial day!

Plump juicy chicken dancing in garlic and kalamata olives with a dressing of olive oil and thyme



Pear and gargonzola salad and avocado oil dipped broccoli.. Blackened basmati rice under neath...

- Posted using mobile cam.. Eating and blogging on the go, excuse spelling mistakes :)

Breakfast wraps

Nothing beats a great breakfast wrap.

Eggs, tomatoes, herbs, romano cheese with some fire diced tomatoe salsa all wrapped in a whole wheat lavash bread:



Flaxseed chips for a healthy digestion!


- Posted using mobile cam.. Eating and blogging on the go, excuse spelling mistakes :)

Farmers market Hillcrest

Sun filled Sunday mornings are a calling for some food tasting, fresh veggies and other goods at the farmer market.

Coffee loading at nose for joes starts the caffeinated adventure



No lard tamales sighted:



Sweet succulent smelling chicken kebabs scenting the air:


Hummous tasting sessions: chiopotle, kalamata olive, pesto, avocado and garlic.. Dip away:


Panini time. Visit to our brazillian brothers seb's panini shop for a Brie an turkey.. Hot pressed brie... Oh my:





Let's get a close up of the Brie:


Never to miss the guac shop for some hot guacomole:









With some flowers to welcome the good weather, get your grub on!




- Posted using mobile cam.. Eating and blogging on the go, excuse spelling mistakes :)

Crest cafe- Hillcrest

50's diners have that classic burger and malt feeling, bright decor, art deco tables, jukeboxes and neon glow tubes, crest cafe is the Cohn group restuarants 50's diner sibling:



Conveniently located and open till midnight (few food spots opened this late), burgers, sandwhiches and a set of classic bites makes you wish you brought your lipitor.

The chicken salad, roasted chicken served on top of avocado, greens and with a basil vinagrette dressing, was actually one of the better salads tasted in the hood:


The ultimate burger, 12 ounces of angus beef, topped with bacon, beer battered onion rings and standard tomatoes and greens required two hands and two guys to eat!


The fries weren't my favorite but the burger was pretty good.

With 20 percent coupons off in the hood papers, great grub at bargain prices.

- Posted using mobile cam.. Eating and blogging on the go, excuse spelling mistakes :)

Lalos.. What's going on?

The sun is out and Saturday morning errands abound. Breakfast burritos at lalos are one of the neighborhood perks, cooked potatoes, bacon, egg, cheese and whole weat tortillas with habanero salsa and grilled onions is always a welcome breakfast.

But this time, something is going on. The flavor wasn't all there and not sure where it's failing. Maybe the trans fat police have hit up all the Mexican places or maybe the eggs and potatoes are cooked in non greased soars pans. Either way, the bites weren't hitting the spot this time.



Some good food memories here so hope it was a bad burrito day an not the new norm.

- Posted using mobile cam.. Eating and blogging on the go, excuse spelling mistakes :)

Bombay Hillcrest

The monsoon group operates several Indian restuarants in the area. Masala in the downtown area, banana leaf in Hillcrest and Bombay in Hillcrest all offer a wide array of Indian foods.

Bombay's environment is really well done. The entire entrance is one big retracting wall, allowing the sidewalk to esentially be the border of the entrance, giving you a great open airy feeling. It's too bad a lot of SD restuarat don't do this, given the weather. Nice water elements create a curtain of water as you walk into a dark interior with classic Indian decor.

The curry hummous was ordere as a starter:


Spic and favorful, went fantastically well with the garlic topped naan.

The tandoori gourgh was chicken tandoori with sautteed tomatoes and onions:



It was colorful and tasty, but was expecting a more potent flavor.

The lamb and lentils were good with the basamati rice


Extra garlic naan to scoop up the dishes:


Overall, the food was ok bit definately prepring for some cocktails on the veranda facing the street.

- Posted using mobile cam.. Eating and blogging on the go, excuse spelling mistakes :)

Saffron delight teaser

I had the pleasure of meeting Angela Goding of Saffron the other day, San Diego's first thai restuarant since 1985 which was started by her mother Su-Mei Yu. (will have to write up on her impressive culinary career!)

Tasty treats were out for sampling. Chicken sate, roasted plump chicken with peanut sauce is great finger food.

Banana leaf wrapped curried rice was fantastic. In fact, you have to scoop it up with your fingers to eat it, just like you would in the streets of Bangkok!


Little wrapped veggie triangles bite with dipping sauces... It's all about the sauces!


Look forward to a Thai tasting adventure at saffron in the near future!

- Posted using mobile cam.. Eating and blogging on the go, excuse spelling mistakes :)

Desperate housewives makeovers at TJ's

All of us know that trader joes has some fantastic finds, from Eco friendly ethnic varieties to one of kind goodness. The cilantro dressing, chipotle aoili, roasted beat salad, orange chicken, veggie potstickers or the tzatziki and hummus are just a few. And let's not forget the kumquat and goji berries!

It's also great to use their salads, sandwiches and even frozen preparations as starters for meals. That's right, improve upon the basics for an added flavor and wow the crowds!

Take the turkey wrap for example. A basic turkey Aram style wrap that makes a quick lunch on the go. Heat her up in some kalamata olive oil, fresh oregano, cracked black pepper and sea salt to taste and you have a near aramini (ok I made that up but a cross between an aram sandwich and a panini):



Served with a tangy sesame shitake and Ginger sauce with Tabasco fire or a cilantro pesto basil dipping sauce, this little packaged turkey wrap is aramanastic!

Sprinkle a little fairy dust on the southwestern BBQ chicken salad with some fresh chipotle pesto fusion, and let the tastebuds revel in sin:



Fresh from the farm, nectarines and wild blueberries splashed with a little bee's honey for a soft subdued sweetness of fructose and sucrose:



TJ's upgrades, that's what's cooking.

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Lemongrass chicken and asparagus

Watch out poultry, gamey desires are abound and the sauttee pan has no shame and no fear!

Organic plump chicken breasts, boneless and skinless... Sounds like some folks I've worked with in the past.. Lol, were sautteed and sizzled with onions, garlic and peppers.




Southwest meet Thailand. Add in the lemongrass and basil and voilà, tasty powerful chicken. Nicely complemented with olive oil and lemon dressed asparagus and a baby beet and feta salad.

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Farmers market food hunt

With Appetite in full swing and the farmers market having options to explore, let see where the tastebuds take us today.

First, load up Joes.. Caffiene served with a smile or sometimes a question mark:



Grilled panini's from the brothers of brazil, sweet succulent cheeses oozing over chicken or turkey and others, hand pressed to grilled perfection:


Close up bite shot:


Grilled chicken and cheddar with spinach.. Good start.

What's ahead? Asian BBQ:


Show me some legs:


Blow up the picture drool over the bbq'd meats.

A little palate cleanser, 2 buck oyster schucks:


Migniotte, Vinegar and Tabasco... Delicious.

The Pavlov response goes crazy with grilled burgers smoking hot:


Dipping and tasting all kinds of hummus (curried, avocado, chipotle), a red velvet cake cookie topped it all:


Brunch on the go, lots of good foods at hillcrests farmer's market.

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Saigon.. Hillcrests on little Vietnam

Saigon on fifth is becoming the Vietnamese food spot of choice in Hillcrest.

This time, it was all about Mi... The pho soup with chow mien noodles, tofu, giant straw hat mushrooms, broccolli, carrots, egg and chicken if requested:


Served in a little pot, topped with pea pods, chives and served with a little dish of tangy and spicey hot sauce to flavor up to your hearts content, perfect for a windy gloomy may grey day.

The lemon steak salad is one of the favorites for it's sweet vinagry tang. However, broadening our horizons, selectedte minced chicken salad:



The tangy goodness was delicately absorbed by the pickled cucumbers.

The chili chicken level 6 was savory and flavorful :


Sautteed onions and peppers with chicken au hot chili was a great firestarter.

Saigon keeps rockin with solid good food, prompt service and great hospitality.

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Buonissimo round 2

With energy coming back, gave buonissimo a second round. Located in uni in Hillcrest, this modern rustic country Italian spot with a pinnochio whimsical has some basic sold dishes.

This time (see past blog post), ventured to the outside porch area in the back. When the spot was California Cuisine, the outside space in the back was a nice separated area that gave you a gardenesque dining experience.

Welcome gepetto:



Cozy and country Italian with a bit of a whimsical flare, new addition of a lounge section amongst the 8 outside tables.

To start, brischetti were brought out complimentary:



The spinaci salad was requested, shaved Parmesan bacon pieces, and although the olive oil grade has improved to a grassy tasty almond type, their was a tad too much salt! :



The roasted seabass with pinenuts and pesto, fresh veggies was great, but needed to spice it up a bit with some olive oil:



Overall, food is simple and tasty. Overshot with the salty salad but the upgrade in olive oil and outside space with chaming hosts will invite for a comeback.

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Kemosabe -Hillcrest

The Cohn group of restuarants has a diversified portfolio of fun eating establishments. From island prime, to indigo grill to kemosabe...or any if the other 10 or so, One thing is for sure, well two things actually, fusion confusion of some type which is good creative energy presented in an edible format, and healthy... and I mean healthy portions like they serve at beppo's or Marie calendars.
They're perfect for the value driven big portion plate thing going on in san Diego (not sure I quite get it but get your grub on).

Kemosabe, has an Asian fusion theme going on with some flared up combinations that came straight out of the other side of the world.

The starters, new Zealand mussels with garlic and Ginger in a chipotle cream sauce were yum yum yum:



The charbroiled Mexican prawns with wasabi, goat cheese and wrapped bacon were magnificent prawn mama's. Tender and meaty. Bacon always makes things taste better and I really feel for what my Muslim friends are missing out on:



The grand course, and mind you this had to be split by two people, was the whole tilapia. A whole, and I mean eyeballs, tail and all, tilapia fish stuffed with Thai basil and lemongrass, fried to perfection served twisted up on top of a jasmine rice teriyaki seared cake of a thing placed on a pedestal and dressed with udon noodles and seaweed salad:


Even the Whiskers were fried as adornment and left attached, spanning 1.5 feet in length and looking like they belonged in some carnival hat. Delicious.

The almond pie with pineapple Ginger icecream came out with a plantain stick that was rather phallic in nature... Accidentally grabbing it to break a piece revealed a cream side that was unanticipated... Ay ay ay, It is Hillcrest.



You'll need to fast before you come here, but definately some fusion powers to be had.

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Terra -Hillcrest

Having reviewed Terra before and eaten here a couple of times, I'm always confused walking into this place. The food menu is pretty diverse in term of offerings, the food tasty and prepared well but the environment is a bit of an energy sink.

A fantastic thing to mention is that for Uptown residents, hillcrest's very own melrose place, you get 20 percent off! That's right, a local insider's discount. With the average dish hovering at $16, that can add up and be allocated to the beverage department!

With an appetite slowly coming back, looked for flavorful and sumptuous offerings.

The mushroom gnocchi was fabulous. Wasn't sure how the mushroom would mix well with the potatoe dumplings, but it fared well:



The cinammon coated chicken over green beans was sweet and gamey, quite good:


Topped with a decorative flower, nothing was left except for the little bones!

The organic green salad was basic and simple:


All together the food was tasty and well presented.

Noticed that they are offering lower priced selections ($10 range) to stimulate hungry appetite as part of a new food campaign.

The pan American globally influenced menu has some great selections. From mussels in wine sauce to thai lettuce cups and hangar steak, the options should satisfy most hungry beasts. Will have to try the Kobe beef burger next time I'm in. A local spot that sometimes gets missed because of the low energy, it does have some good food offerings that are worth a stop. Plus, with the discount, can pratically be your local kitchen.

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