Month: February 2014

Eating Out in San Diego

Categories UncategorizedLeave a Comment on Eating Out in San Diego

Eating out in San Diego has a diverse array of food choices. From buffet, fast food chain, cafes etc. San Diego has it. It may take me a lifetime to try everything but, I need to start somewhere.  

1. Mongolian Stir Fry

Stir Fresh was started by a family of Mongolian Barbeque eaters with 25 years of mongolian dining experience. When relocating to San Diego County in 1996, we could not find a Mongolian Barbeque restaurant, so we opened our own. We serve Mongolian Barbeque in the traditional way, with the finest of ingredients including white breast chicken and the traditional sesame seed pocket biscuit (shau Bin).  —Source


                       

What I like about this is they serve the vegetables, meat, seafood and sauces buffet style. Feel free to help yourself! Price range is between $11-15 (approximately) drinks not included. Comes with either rice and sesame bread but I chose the latter. Rice makes me full at a faster! ( I need to have my seconds…LOL)

Watch the video for this is how they do the cooking. These guys are more entertaining though. 




What I didn\’t like about the grill was, if a previous customer picks a spicy sauce. The next person in line will likely have a spicy mix and it happened to me. I\’m not a big fan of  spicy food. The Rancho Penasquitos branch is spacious and clean. I don\’t like the mess on the buffet area. It\’s largely, caused by customers who accidentally drops or spill the sauces, veggies etc. I understand when the staff can\’t simply clean it right away because of the queue. I think cleaning the mess promptly if the queue is lesser.

2. Arby\’s 
My first time to try the fish sandwich. Yum! We frequent the Point Loma branch. 

                           

3. Turkey Leg (from Seaworld) 
Bigger and juicier as compared to the Universal Studios Singapore version (where I experienced it the first time).
          
                       


4. Project Pie (Chula Vista)
Read my review in my previous post. They also accept military discounts. If not in uniform, just show them a valid military ID.



5. Roadem Korean BBQ

Barbecue buffet where you don\’t need to stand and get your food. Everything is served in your table. You just need to choose your \”food package.\” It costs $11 (if my memory serves me right) excluding drinks.
We opted for beef, pork and seafood \”package.\” It has kimchi, rice, egg and other side dishes. Once you\’ve finished anything from the food choices, the staff will be giving you another batch.

6. Manila Sunset

Manila Sunset derived its name from this beautiful Philippine scenery – for in many ways, the food of Manila Sunset evokes the same nostalgic feeling. They bring back the memories of old-fashioned homecooking and traditional celebrations: Pasko, Simbang Gabi, Flores de Mayo, weddings, homecomings and other joyous occasions. 

Manila Sunset specializes in a few but unique and hard-to-find Filipino foods such as Bibingkang Galapong and Puto Bumbong which are traditionally found in church plazas and roadside stalls only during the Christmas Season. Our best seller, Pancit Malabon is prepared from an original well-guarded recipe from the fishing village of Malabon from which the name of the delicacy came from. Even in the Philippines, there are only very few cooks who know how to prepare this delicacy. —source

Clockwise from upper left side: Pork BBQ, Halo-halo, Lumpiang Gulay, Arrozcaldo. One of the few Filipino dishes that Manila Sunset has.
When I want my dose of Filipino food, the National City branch is our go-to-place. My favorites are Bibingkang Galapong (by far the best that I\’ve tasted even I was in the Philippines) and Puto Bumbong. Just take note that they are packed during lunch and dinner time. They have lots of customers aside from the dine-in orders, they cater to to-go customers as well. Waiting time will depend on the customers present. Especially on their busy hours. Not recommended for those who are super hungry.

7. Seasons Buffet in Barona Casino

We hope you’re loving the changes to our award-winning buffet! You’ll enjoy our new Ship of Seafood, featuring favorites such as smoked salmon, smoked whitefish, and bay shrimp. And our Baked Potato Bar is a big hit, where you can deck out your spud any way you want! –—source

Love this award-winning buffet! Peak hours queue are crazy! (waiting hours 45 minutes to 1 hour). They have good control of the crowd. So once you get inside it\’s not crammed. Moving around to get food is easy.

They provide cookies for those who are in line. If you are waiting in the casino area, they provide coffee, juice mix concoctions, chocolates, soda and water for free.

Macadamia Cookies


Side note:

Porto\’s Bakery & Cafe

My brother-in-law Jon gave us this delectable bread as pasalubong.

                          


I don\’t know what they call this bread. It has a cheese filling inside that compliments. Delish! Makes me want to go in Los Angeles just to sample what the cafe has to offer.

                         
Till next food trip! 


Tangled Ever After

Categories UncategorizedLeave a Comment on Tangled Ever After

My third most popular post is my Tangled movie review. I love this movie!

Tangled ever after is a short movie sequel. Watch what happens on the day of the wedding.

Max and Pascal are hilarious!

Baking Noob

Categories Uncategorized2 Comments on Baking Noob
Six months of domesticated life has engaged me to do things I\’ve either done before (almost forgotten) and never done at all. Baking was one of it.
Baking is HARD! It\’s an exact science. Every measurement of ALL the ingredients has to be accurate. One wrong measurement would take the recipe to another direction. My very first try at it was a huge FAIL! You can\’t recognize that it was a cookie.
I choose to persevere. I kept on practicing until all the flour and butter supply in the kitchen exhausted. Eventually, my hardwork paid off…

//instagram.com/p/j0QGuluUYW

My Auntie Erly who\’s an experienced baker (based in Michigan), advised me to learn baking from scratch. Dependency on ready-to-bake items is a no-no. Well, what she said is true. Because seeing the result of hard work is very fulfilling. That\’s why some of my friends find baking as a stress reliever.

This was my second try for baking cookies. I tried tweaking the sugar content but it didn\’t do wonders.
                                       
It may look like a cookie now but it\’s like flattened muffins. Pfftt!!?!
                         
Next 3rd and 4th try has already sealed the deal. I can manage baking cookies now! Woohoo! The 5th try though I tired to decrease sugar content again. Lesson learned: Look for low sugar recipe on Pinterest. Ask the experts for advise. As for my latest try  (I just had it the other night), I was able to reproduce the cookie that was called for in the recipe. Yipee!
Aside from cookies, I\’ve done leche flan using the oven (we have no steamer). I was happy to get the result that I want, a \”poreless,\” smooth and intact flan. I got the recipe from the youtube channel of Pinay Cooking Lessons.
                  
                            
                                   
I had Puto craving a few months ago. So I used a ready-to-make mixture but steam-baked in the oven. 
                       
Obviously, it was an easy one. Just enough to satisfy my craving. 
                       
For introduction to baking, tips, ingredients etc. I follow Lindsay Ann, winner of Food Network\’s Cupcake Wars. She has the best small batch recipes of cookies and cakes. If you\’re a beginner like me, it\’s best to whip up recipes in small batch. Just in case it\’s a fail, at least you don\’t waste a lot of ingredients. Joy of Baking has lots of recipes as well, from cakes to shortbreads. She has an extensive video archives of baking tutorials.
Can\’t wait to bake cupcakes. Yey!