Burma Place

So after a long day at the San Diego Safari Park (we stayed until the bitter end!), we had to pick up our car at Escondido Lexus.  They had done the repairs on the tire and we had to return our loaner.  Even with all that going on, food was still on our minds and we decided to deviate from our original plan.  We'd had enough of burgers and sandwiches, hence we took a chance at a random place in Burma Place.  Burmese (Myanmar) food is rather hard to come by (and this one is apparently the only one in San Diego), so we put our name on the Yelp wait list and got a table once we arrived.

Naturally, the one dish we had to get was the Tea Leaf Salad.  Widely considered as one of the most popular Burmese dishes, this version consisted of romaine lettuce, fried yellow beans, garlic chips, sesame & sunflower seeds, peanuts, tomatoes, jalapenos and crushed dried shrimp tossed with fermented green tea leaf dressing.  I've had this a few times before and I've never seen romaine lettuce as an ingredient.  However, I enjoyed the fresh crisp lettuce as it broke up some of the heaviness of the ingredients.  Beyond the obvious tea flavor, the salad featured layers of texture including the firm crunch of the fried yellow beans, peanuts and garlic chips.  There was also a wealth of flavors including tangy, salty, aromatics, brininess and a touch of spice.  

Onto a relatively simple dish, we had the Salt & Pepper Fried Tofu with scallions, jalapenos fried and garlic.  Cut into bite-sized cubes, the tofu was fried beautifully where the outside was super crispy and light while the inside was delicate and airy.  There was enough seasoning that the side of sweet and spicy sauce was not necessary (although I did still use it).

To go with our orders of rice, we selected a few dishes that were rather impactful.  The first was the Garlic Pork with fried garlic, onion and fish sauce. Oh this was an explosion of rich saltiness and aromatics.  Definitely good with the rice as we could taste the soy, garlic and fermented brininess of the fish sauce.  Add in the ample amount of tender slices of pork, this was very addictive.  Didn't hurt that there was considerable amount of wok caramelization too.

Next up was the Burmese Chicken Curry, which was stealthily the best dish of the meal.  I mean, by looks alone, this was monochromatic and didn't elicit much excitement.  However, when we ate this with rice, the flavors were rich and delicious.  Loved the balance of the sauce where we definitely got hits of cumin and turmeric, but the earthiness and slight brininess ensured layers of flavor.  The chicken itself was tender and took on the spices within the curry.  Loved the potatoes too as they were tender and soaked up the curry as well.

If the Sesame Beef looks rather familiar to you, like say, ginger beef...  You are right.  This had all of the elements of the Americanized Chinese dish.  Hence, we found crisp slices of tender beef bathed in a sweet and tangy sauce.  Now unlike ginger beef, this wasn't exactly gingery, rather it was tangy in a vinegary sense.  It was nicely balanced and of course went well with our bowls of rice.

In addition to our white rice, we also go the Garlic Noodles with chicken.  Similar to a Chinese lo mein where noodles are tossed in a sauce, this one featured a bevy of fried garlic and onion as well as julienned cucumber on top.  The side of sauce was tangy with some spice.  As for the wide egg noodles, they were al dente with a nice chewiness.  Loved the crunch of the fried garlic as it added texture.  The small strips of chicken were tender despite being white meat.

Our last item was the obligatory veggie dish and it happened to be the Broccoli with Garlic.  This was a simple stir-fry that was nicely executed.  Broccoli florets were cooked through but still crunchy and topped with fried garlic and onions.  There was enough wok caramelization as well as seasoning.  Overall, we really enjoyed our meal at Burma Place.  Sure, some of the dishes weren't really Burmese, but they were delicious nonetheless.  Something a bit different than what we had been eating on this trip so far.  If we actually lived in San Diego, we'd go back in a heartbeat.

The Good:
- Well-executed and tasty food
- Friendly staff
- Lots of parking

The Bad:
- Gets pretty busy, staff are doing their best but hard to flag down

The Watering Hole (San Diego Safari Zoo)

So you might be wondering why I'm writing about a restaurant located in the San Diego Safari Park...  Well, after much research before we went, apparently The Watering Hole was a recommended spot for lunch.  This outdoor cafe is so popular, I had to make Opentable reservations one month prior.  The real draw is the unobstructed view of their Savannah habitat with all of the animals roaming free.  But what about the food?  Well I'm going to get to that right now.

Luckily we did make a rez because there was quite the lineup.  However, that didn't mean much since we waited over 20 minutes just to be acknowledged after we sat down.  I know there are staff shortages, but our server seemed more interested in chatting with her colleagues rather than bringing us water and taking our order.  Completely unacceptable.  Once we did get our order in, it took another 30 minutes to get our food.  Yes, we did get a good view of the park, but it gets tiring when people are hangry.  I guess the wait was not worth it as our Nacho Queso Dip with chicken was laughable.  Sporting stone-cold tortilla chips, this was topped with luke-warm soyrizo queso, corn, avocado, pico de gallo, jalapenos, cilantro, green onion, cotija and chicken.  Now the actual ingredients were fine, but the fact everything was cold, made this very hard to eat. 

Viv stuck with something simple in the Watering Hole Caesar with Chicken.  In addition to the usual romaine hearts, garlic croutons and parm, this featured capers and grated egg.  Now you might've noticed I didn't mention the dressing.  Well, if you take a closer look, there wasn't much dressing to begin with.  Hence, it was bland while the chicken was cold and rubbery.  You might be wondering why we just didn't get more dressing.  Remember the lack of service?  We couldn't even flag down our server to get water (and at the start, cutlery), let alone more dressing...

My son went for the Pulled Pork Sandwich with BBQ sauce, slaw (he asked for it on the side) and beer mustard with pickles and house-fried chips.  He found this sandwich acceptable with plenty of pork that was somewhere in between dry and moist.  BBQ sauce was mild and there wasn't enough of it.  Bun was soft and held things together.  The side of chips were actually quite good being crunchy and nicely salted.

My daughter had the Open Faced Tuna Sandwich with bacon, sliced tomato and arugula on levain sourdough.  A good amount of melted jack cheese was on top.  This was also okay with a decent amount of tuna salad with red onion.  It could've used more salt though.  Sourdough was a little bit too chewy and cold, hence it was difficult to eat.  The red onion was sharp, so it dominated the flavor profile of the sandwich.

Now for myself, I had to wait and wait.  Oh and wait some more!  They forgot about my order.  Like who is running this place?  Fortunately, this was the best item we had in the Beef & Cheddar Sandwich featuring thinly sliced roast beef, horseradish sauce, beer cheese and hot sauce.  With plenty of beef, it was tender and moist.  Loved the ample amount of cheese sauce as it was salty enough with a bite from the beer.  Messy, but I enjoyed it.  However, this is the only thing that went right for this meal.  Service was non-existent (took another 15 minutes to get our bill and pay) and they even forgot my sandwich.  Food was mostly forgettable and almost laughable given the price.  Yes, the view is awesome, but not for 2 hours because that cut into our time at the park.  I would recommend you skip this and save your money for a wildlife safari to get up close to the animals.  We did and that was awesome.  This meal wasn't.

The Good:
- Outstanding view

The Bad:
- Crappy service
- Slow, slow, slow
- Food is mostly terrible and cold

Menya Ultra (Mira Mesa)

Initially, I wasn't planning to check out Menya Ultra while I was in San Diego.  You see, I wasn't exactly staying anywhere close to it and it required me to drive in possibly rush-hour traffic.  However, when I was in the Bay Area, my uncle was raving about the place non-stop.  So after switching hotels from Downtown to Escondido, we decided to head over to the Mira Mesa location.  Pro tip, make sure you put your name on the Yelp wait list before you leave the house.  So what exactly is Menya Ultra?  It is a chain out of Odate City in Northern Japan where their first locations in the US have been in San Diego.

Before we got to the ramen, we started with the Nagoya Fried Chicken with house made sweet soy and black pepper.  Think KFC (Korean Fried Chicken) and you will get the gist of it (but it isn't KFC because purists will argue this).  I would say the batter on this was pretty light and beautifully crunchy.  Beyond that, the chicken leg meat was juicy and bursting with natural sweetness.  What made this dish was the impactful glaze where it was salty, sweet and peppery.  A real flavor explosion.

My daughter went for her favorite with the Miso Ramen.  The pork broth was accented by housemade Miso, fish flavored oil and garlic oil.  On top, we found pork chashu, bean sprouts, green onion, wood ear mushroom, grated ginger, roasted sesame seeds and red pepper.  The fermented flavor of the miso really came through with a deep salty richness (without actually being salty).  There was plenty of umami and aromatics.  Noodles were al dente and the chashu was sliced thin and tender.

My son and Viv both had the Tonkotsu Ajitama Ramen with the same pork broth base (of course without the miso).  This way, we could really get the porkiness of the broth as well as background taste of the fish oil.  Broth was rich but not thick, so it could be completely drinkable (which my son did and finished it).  Being fatty enough the chashu easily melted in his mouth.  Ajitama egg was custardy and marinated just enough where we could taste the mirin, but was not salty.

For myself, I went for something different in the Paiko Tantan Men.  This broth was much more robust with the addition of miso, sesame paste, chili oil and vinegar.  Mildly spicy, the broth had depth and umami with the nuttiness of sesame.  A little dollop of seasoned minced pork added more body to the dish.  This completely flavored the chewy noodles. For my choice of protein, I chose the chicken cutlet which was a touch dry, but still delicious.  So was it worth the drive to visit Menya Ultra (as per my uncle)?  I would say yes.  The ramen was really good with the broth being the highlight.  Loved the richness without being too thick while the flavors were pronounced without being salty.  Service was on point too.

The Good:
- Flavorful broth that was not overly salty
- Well-prepared components
- Excellent service

The Bad:
- A little rushed since they are super busy
- Always a lineup, but you can get on the Yelp waitlist  

Cesarina

After one night in Downtown San Diego, we were on our way out to Escondido so we were closer to the safari park for the next day.  However, upon loading up our vehicle, the TPMS alerted me to a flat tire.  Wonderful.  Well, that didn't prevent us from honoring our lunch reservations at Cesarina.  Hey, we still had to eat!  We could always deal with the tire later... Priorities...  Besides, I had a portable tire compressor and that bought us some time.  With that time, we were determined to try one of the best places, if not the best, in San Diego to dine on freshly-made pasta.  Furthermore, they have excellent vegan options as well.

Normally, I don't really talk about complimentary Bread, but the assortment we got was actually really good.  Loved the airy foccacia that had a slightly crispy exterior.  Even without the butter, it was tasty on its own with rosemary and enough salt.  What was the most surprising of all was the slices of vegan bread.  I quite enjoyed them and especially the herb & buckwheat loaf.  We actually asked for a second helping since it was so good.

To start, we got the Frittura di Paranza with deep fried calamari, shrimp, paranza, purple potatoes, lemon and sage.  This was a huge portion served on a beautiful decorative plate.  We enjoyed the thin crispy batter which was properly seasoned.  The light crunchiness gave way to tender (yet with a bite) calamari rings and tentacles.  Shrimp were meaty with a snap while the delicate little fish were a real treat.  In the middle, there was a big dish of creamy peperoncino aioli.

As a second appie, we had the Caprese Salad with a whole fresh burrata, heirloom tomatoes, red onions, caper berries, arugula, pesto and basil.  As much as we enjoyed the creamy burrata, the rest of the salad was a bit overdressed.  Now, we've had Caprese salads that have been completely underdressed before, so this one was actually fine.  However, the beautiful tomatoes were a bit lost in this one.

For my pasta, I went for the Papparedelle al Sugo di Spuntature.  This featured tender ribbons of pasta that still held a healthy bite.  It was bathed in a rich and mildly tangy tomato sauce that had plenty of body from the slow cooked pork ribs.  Hence, there was also considerable meatiness as well.  That was further elevated by the piece of fork-tender braised pork shoulder.  A light dusting of pecorino romano and fresh mint finished the dish.

Viv decided to create her own dish choosing the Paccheri in Arrabbiatissima.  This innocent-looking sauce was actually impactfully spicy consisting of fresh tomato sauce, Calabrian peperocino and traditional Calabrian pork "nduja" topped with burrata and parsley.  So if you can imagine, not only was this sauce tangy and spicy, it had some real meatiness as well.  Great add on the burrata as it cooled things off a tad.  The choice of pasta was robust enough to stand up to the sauce.

Disappointingly, the kids opted for the same dish (less variety!!!), but it was a good move as it was delicious.  It was the featured Tortellini with prosciutto, burrata, potato, rosemary and thyme paired with their choice of pomodoro fresco.  Large and completely stuffed, the ravioli ate well with tender yet al dente pasta.  Inside, the ample filling was tender with subtle flavors even with the prosciutto.  The tangy and fresh tomato sauce with a touch of burrata was simple enough to compliment the ravioli without overwhelming it.  So as you can tell, we really enjoyed our meal at Cesarina.  It is no wonder that they are super busy and so highly regarded.  Freshly-made pasta with delicious sauces at fairly reasonable prices.  A must visit while in San Diego.

The Good:

- Delicious hand-crafted pasta

- Pretty place

- Plenty of vegan options

- On point service 

The Bad:

- Need to plan ahead with a reso or you aren't getting in

 

The Crack Shack

Way back in 2016, Viv and I traveled down to San Diego so we could board our cruise to Mexico.  We dined at Juniper & Ivy, which was delicious and lived up to expectations.  Right next door sat The Crack Shack with its fried chicken staring me in the face.  I didn't have enough appetite to give it a try, but promised myself to do so eventually. We all know that something happened in between then and now, so we have finally made it back to San Diego (with the kids this time).

We ended up going for the Small Flock Meal with 5-piece bone-in jidori fried chicken, 12 nuggets, large fry, classic slaw, 6 biscuits & 2 cookies.  They advertise all-natural chicken without any additives or dyes.  Hence it was quite "natural-tasting".  Chicken was generally juicy and moist with a very crunchy coating.  It had enough seasoning, but the sauce bar helped add even more flavor (more on that later).  Nuggets were all white meat chunks with a thin layer of batter.  They were not juicy, but they weren't dry either.  Fries were crispy and nicely salted.  Didn't like the slaw as it as too wet and dressed.  Veggies were crunchy though with good tang especially from the pickles.  Biscuits were money being buttery and crispy with a soft, fluffy center.  Maple butter was delicious too.  Cookies were light and airy with a crunchy exterior.  It was purposefully sweet.

At the Sauce Bar, one can help themselves from Honey BBQ, Pineapple Mustard, Ranch, Ketchup, Baja Hot Sauce and Sriracha 1000 Islands.  I really enjoyed the mustard as the sweetness from the pineapple balanced the tanginess.  BBQ sauce was pretty sweet.  I personally like the smokier sauces.  That hot sauce was pretty darn spicy where it definitely lingered.  1000 islands did have nice kick from the sriracha but it wasn't too spicy.

We also got the Fried Chicken Oysters which were not oysters if you already know.  These were made popular by the movie Amelie where the father would pick out the chicken "oyster" for his daughter.  It is the small nugget of meat on the back on the chicken attached to the thigh.  These were fried very crispy.  The meat was tender and juicy due to the nature of the meat.  Loved the tartar that went with it.  Creamy and tangy.

Lastly and predictably, I got the Firebird Chicken Sammie which was quite good.  It featured a really large deboned chicken thigh which was super juicy and moist.  The batter was also crunchy and stayed as such even after being sauced.  About that sauce, it had spice, but was flavorful in a smoky kind-of-way.  Loved the ample pickles that added crunch and tang.  Bun was soft, but held up to the wet ingredients.  Loved the sandwich and also thought the fried chicken was pretty good.  Nuggets were a bit stiff due to the use of whole chunks of chicken breast.  Overall a good meal and a really cool spot to hang out.

The Good:
- Crunchy fried chicken
- Loved the firebird sammie
- Plenty of sauces

The Bad:
- Nuggets were a bit stiff and dense

Juniper & Ivy

Although I don’t make huge efforts to hunt down restaurants run by contestants of the TV show Top Chef (in particular the winners), I’ve hit a few of them including Star Noodle in Lahaina (by Sheldon Simeon). Since Viv and I had one day in San Diego after our Mexican Cruise aboard the MS Westerdam, we made reservations for Top Chef All-Stars Winner Richard Blais’ Juniper and Ivy in Little Italy.  We've always been a fan of Richard Blais, especially his creativity and attention-to-detail.

Reading more like a tapas menu, we decided to get 6 items to share starting with the Cruda Carne Asasa Toast. When it arrived, the portion size was more than I had envisioned, Sitting atop a thick piece of bread, the tender and nicely-seasoned tartare was already buttery, but the addition of a fried quail egg on each quarter segment made things messy and tasty. Next up, we had the Yellowtail Snapper Crudo served on top of mini-tostadas. The bright and fresh snapper was moist and soft while spiked with pickled ginger.  We enjoyed this dish, but thought the toast was more interesting in comparison.

In a surprising twist, my favorite item had to be the Smoked Sunchoke even though it contained no meat. This was achieved by tossing the robust sunchoke in a black garlic BBQ sauce atop fermented onion foam. The result was an explosion of umaminess that was supplemented by intense sweetness, a touch of saltiness as well as smoke, tang and Earthy flavors. Almost equally delicious, the Octopus was tender, yet at the same time, was appealingly chewy. It was sauced in a mildly-spiced sauce while the crunch on top added a complimentary texture.

Arriving underneath a glass dome, the Buttermilk Biscuit was presented in a cloud of smoke. Hence, the smell already suggested what we were in for in terms of taste. We opted for the foie gras butter on top which was creamy and only slightly gamy. It was sure decadent though as it melted over the soft and fluffy biscuit (that was more cake-like). Loved the crunchy sweet crunch of the top as it went well with the butter. Our last savory dish was the Squid Ink Linguine which was prepared a firm al dente. This was very well-executed for a freshly-made pasta. The shrimp, mussels and calamari were completely on point with the desired textures. They also added a sweet brininess to the creamy rose sauce that coated each strand of linguine perfectly.

Lastly, for dessert, we had the Yodal which was a chocolate encased log of many goodies including chocolate crunch, ganache, honeycomb, nuts and freeze dried strawberries. This was all doused with a silky chocolate sauce. Suffice to say, this was sweet, yet a wonderful study of textures.  In fact, the entire meal was very good and fairly interesting.  Prices were definitely fair for the quality and overall restaurant experience.  Good thing to see that Juniper & Ivy lived up to the Top Chef hype.

The Good:
- Reasonably-priced given the overall restaurant experience
- Impactful flavours
- On point service

The Bad:
- Food too awhile to come out (restaurant was at capacity though)

Puesto Mexican Street Food & Bar

Strangely, but not without reason, I only had one experience with street tacos while in Mexico.  However, as mentioned before, it wasn’t completely unintentional. You see, the ports that we were visiting were along the Pacific Coast and their specialties are related to seafood. Hence, the ceviches and plenty of other seafood were what we wanted to eat rather than just land-based meat tacos. With that in mind, we did hit up Puesto for some lunch after we got off the MS Westerdam (and yes, for some tacos).

But before that, we were served up some customary freshly fried Tortilla Chips with a smoky and slightly spicy chipotle dip. The chips were completely fine as they were but we couldn’t resist (more like I couldn’t resist) adding a side of Crab Guacamole. It was a good idea though since it was made with fresh creamy avocados where there were still little chunks present. It was well-seasoned and the hint of cilantro was not overpowering. Yet, it was the sweet and briny fluffy crab that put it over the top. The flavors were complimentary, much like how avocado and crab go together in a California Roll.

Next up, we got the White Bean Sopa that was thick and rich. It was blended fairly smooth with the silkiness of white bean, but I found it a tad too pasty. It was well-seasoned though and the drizzle of jalapeno oil made things bright and spicy. The best item we had all meal was the Charred Corn with butter, cheese, chilis and crema. These were smoky and intensely sweet from the caramelization. There was a wealth of flavours from the salty cheese and spices as well as the smooth cooling of the cream.

Of course I ordered some Tacos and they consisted of Al Pastor, Chicken Verde, Carnitas and Filet Mignon Asada. These were completely overstuffed with ingredients and well-worth the price of 3 for $15.00. My favourite was the beef as it was tender and well-spiced. The al pastor was tender and had the classic sweetness of pineapple. I also enjoyed the moist chicken in the verde where it was lightly spicy. On the other hand, the pork in the carnitas was fairly dry and mild-tasting. This could’ve used some hot sauce.  Despite this, all of the other dishes were quite good and flavourful.  This was a good first meal right off the cruise ship.

The Good:
- Loved the atmosphere
- Casual, yet attentive service
- Good eats

The Bad:
- Some items were on the pricier side

Holland America MS Westerdam Mexican Cruise

For all the cruises we've been on, not in a million years would I have thought that the cruise line that we'd be cruising with the most would be Holland America.  Yes, it is true that Viv and I are no longer spring chickens, but we are also hardly their main demographic.  Last time we checked, our hair hasn't gone grey and don't have grand children.  But due to the fact we won a cruise aboard the MS Veendam playing bingo, it meant that our Mexican cruise would be aboard Holland America's MS Westerdam leaving out of San Diego.

We were pretty familiar with the ship as it is essentially the same as the MS Oosterdam, which we sailed on to Alaska in 2012.  Boarding in San Diego was a breeze partly because the cruise terminal isn't particular busy (only one ship in at the time) and we arrived pretty early.  This was also facilitated by the fact we stayed across the street at the Marriott Springhill Suites.  Once aboard, the rooms were already made, so we could drop off our carry-ons before making our way up to the buffet.  We ended up with an outside room (with an obstructed view) on the Upper Promenade Deck.  Didn't matter to us as there was plenty of natural light and were not in our room very often.  It was pretty standard in size, similar to other HAL ships.  I did like the orientation of our bed as it made the room seem more spacious.  I still do not understand the chair in the room as there is nowhere to put it and it was always in the way.  The amount of storage space was sufficient for all of our clothes and belongings.  Our room came with a full tub (the small tubs found on cruise ships), but we stuck with the shower, which had good water pressure.

Despite not being the newest ship, we felt it was kept clean and all of the public areas were maintained properly.  Being a medium-sized vessel, there seemed to be plenty of room to move about without feeling like it was crowded.  Furthermore, since HAL does not have any mega ships in their fleet, lineups around the Westerdam were minimal.  As with all HAL ships, the decor was classy with traditional colors.  As you can clearly see in the pictures, this was a holiday cruise where Christmas decor could be found throughout the ship. Despite the use of soft and neutral colors, the ship didn't feel old due to some renovations and addition of technology.  One new addition was America's Test Kitchen where live demonstrations emulated the TV show.  We did catch a couple of them and they were entertaining with a lively host and interesting recipes.  At night, it became a blues club and the house band was fantastic.

In terms of the other on board entertainment and activities, they were the usual team trivia, music trivia, crafts, technology seminars and the sort.  Viv and I were amused at the music selection for name that tune as it was pretty ol' skool, even for us.  That was the same for the movie trivia too.  Again, the line appeals to an older demographic. We found the theater to be relatively spacious for the size of ship and we never had a problem finding a seat to watch a show.  With that being said, the lounge-type seating in the front section could get a bit squished depending on how the movable seats were arranged.  In terms of the food, it was pretty much as expected where it was decent for a cruise ship but still had various issues.  However, the meals that cost a surcharge were generally better.  Overall, the cruise was enjoyable and the mid-sized ship provided enough space and venues for everyone.  Personally, we found the lack of on-board activities for more active cruisers a negative.  Again, we are not exactly their core demographic either.

The Good:
- Generally attentive and friendly service
- Ship is in good condition and sports some upgrades
- Food is generally decent

The Bad:
- Lack of on-board activities for more active cruisers
- For the size of ship, it could use one more port as it became somewhat boring