OB Noodle House

3 consecutive days of "heart attack" food meant that we had to go for something a bit different. Look at it. We already had Duckaroni at Urban Solace, Mexican at El Zarape, Pizza from Bronx, BBQ from Phil's, Chicken & Waffles from Hash House a Go Go and ice cream from Mootime. We realize there is much more than noodles to be had in San Diego; yet, due to our feelings of bloatedness, we settled on Pho. And to top it off, we headed over to OB Noodle House, which was not exactly the most kid-friendly place either. Part Pho joint and part happenin' bar, this place was a party with rice noodles in beef soup. Like almost everywhere else we went, there was another lineup. Man, I wanted to leave. However, Viv persuaded me to stay and tough it out. It wasn't too bad and luckily we scored an outside table which meant better pictures and also the kids would not cramp their style.

Naturally, we had to try the Pho and I went for the "everything" version with all the meats. The look and presentation was quite authentic despite the venue. I found the soup to be very flavourful in a salty/MSG sort of way. I'm not really complaining because it did taste good. The noodles were cooked properly as well while the meats were tender and plentiful. Viv had a different bowl of Pho and it was noticeably smaller than mine. As a starter, we got the Salad Roll. This was a pretty typical salad roll with sprouts, vermicelli, lettuce (a bit old), pork and shrimp. We would've liked to see basil or some form of herb to brighten up the flavours though. In terms of the roll job, it was a tad loose and we found it difficult to dip it into the sauce without chunks falling out. And about that sauce, it was good being a nice balance between peanut and hoisin.

Lastly, we ordered the Grilled Chicken on Rice in case we weren't full and if the kiddies changed their mind on sharing some Pho. Luckily we did order it since our intuition was right on both accounts. Viv's small bowl of Pho wasn't enough for her appetite and my daughter actually ended up wanting rice after all. Well, she had some rice... and then switched over to the soup noodles. The rice had a good texture, being slightly chewy while cooked all the way through. However, the chicken was too thin which resulted in a dry product that was probably too charred in some areas.

It is important to note that OB Noodle House has a similar Pho Challenge much like Pho Garden in San Francisco. I didn't take the challenge since I didn't feel like wasting food. Alas, this was a nice break from all the rich foods we've been stuffing our faces with over the past few days. Sure, it wasn't spectacular Vietnamese food; but it was more than acceptable. Considering that the restaurant didn't even resemble a Pho joint, this was quite surprising. I guess the combination of booze and Pho really does work. The Ocean Beach location doesn't hurt too.

The Good:
- Decent eats
- Inexpensive
- The place is hopping for a Pho joint

The Bad:
- If you want a quiet experience...
- Lineup out the door

Mootime

I remember, for a time, that I would religiously watch Rachel Ray's $40-a-day and Tasty Travels. I'm not sure if it was because I found her strangely "cute" or that I actually paid attention to her recommendations... Yummo! OMG. Ignore that. What I do know now is that her picks are definitely hit and miss. I don't blame her though. Most, if not all of the restaurants were probably scouted and presented to her by the people behind the shows. So that is why I had to take her visit to Mootime in Coronado with a grain of salt (or sugar in this case). I figured what was the risk anyways since it's only ice cream and the kiddies love it. So on a warm day in the touristy area of Coronado, we paid Mootime a visit.

For me, I'm not a huge dessert guy and Viv was not in the mood for anything as well. Thus, we let the kids pick out some items for themselves. My son had the Chocolate Ice Cream with Reese's Pieces. Although quite sweet, the ice cream was very smooth and chocolaty. We didn't detect any ice crystals in the ice cream either. My daughter ended up with the Berry Sorbet with 2 Oreo cookies which made the dessert look like Mickey Mouse. Once again, this was pretty sweet while being balanced off with a decent amount of tartness. The whole thing was melting pretty quickly which meant that it was a pretty pure sorbet. In the end, nothing was amazing here; but it was truly solid ice cream and sorbet. The decor is fun as well as the many options for toppings. I guess that is pretty much what one can expect from an ice cream shop located in a predominantly touristy area.

The Good:
- Very respectable ice cream and sorbet
- Lots of topping options

The Bad:
- Nothing amazing here though

Hash House a Go Go

For me, lining up for food is sometimes a necessary evil despite my aversion to it. Think of it, if we never actually endure the lineup, there will be no chance to actually try the food. Well, there are a few ways around it: either you go real early or late. That was the original plan for Hash House a Go Go. Seeing how the lineup can be in excess of an hour, I had planned to try it out right when it opened at 7:ooam. Well, that plan didn't come to fruition. Trying to get the kids to wake up that early after a long day at the zoo wasn't exactly that easy. So despite having a late start to the day, we tried our luck. Our luck turned out to be a really long lineup outside. It only ended up to be 30 minutes and we actually had rock star parking. Once inside, I could see why there is always a lineup here. The plates of food were absolutely ludicrous. No human being should be able to finished those portions. Seeing that, Viv and I settled on sharing our food with the kiddies. No need to order separate meals for them.

Viv decided on the Turkey & Smoked Bacon Hash which was served in a skillet. It looked really large; yet most of it consisted of fried hash brown potatoes. With that being said, there was no shortage of turkey and bacon though. Those 2 ingredients provided much of the flavour in the dish. In fact, the bacon was pretty much the dominant flavour since there was so much of it. For myself, there was only one item on the menu for me - Sage Fried Chicken & Bacon Waffles with a hot maple caramel reduction and fried leeks. Despite being a novelty item of sorts, the food on the plate was tasty. The fried chicken was crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. As for the waffles, there are actually strips of bacon in them! And you know what? It worked! The bacon was not chewy or undercooked while the waffle was sufficiently crisp. Combined with the sweet reduction and the savouriness of the bacon, I felt like Brittani from Glee - breakfast confusion... Is it sweet or is it savoury? It's both! Yum... It also came with a side of eggs and I got 2 perfectly poached eggs. Believe it or not, I almost finished my chicken and waffles. Not the smartest of ideas; but it was really that good. The large portions are indeed a novelty and in a rare moment, the food is actually quite good too. A must try for anyone visiting San Diego (or Las Vegas).

The Good:
- Ridiculous portions
- Food is prepared properly and is quite good
- Solid service

The Bad:
- A little heavy on the carbs with most dishes
- Long lineup

Phil's BBQ

It was bound to happen. When I needed my camera the most, it breaks. After a full day of shooting animals (no, not with a gun) with the new telephoto lens, the shutter on the DSLR gets stuck. Yah, we got all of the San Diego Zoo; but when I was about to do dinner, the camera fails. For the love of... The pictures of the food! They're going to be terrible! Yes, I had to resort to the point & shoot. I realize that this is the choice of many people; yet after being completely spoiled by the DSLR, it's hard to go back. It's akin to going from an 52" LCD down to a 27" tube TV. Okay, I'm being melodramatic here. At the very least, I was getting takeout and realistically, the pictures would be less "sexy" anyways. Why takeout? Well, we were heading for some Phil's BBQ after the zoo and the place is famous for their lineup. When we arrived, the line snaked around the front all the way to the back of the restaurant. Hey, I walked into the takeout line (which had nobody in it) and did my orderin'. 5 minutes later, I was out the door and heading back to the hotel. While I was carrying the food to the car, it felt rather heavy. When I started to open up the boxes, it was quite obvious why... There was a freakin' enormous amount of food!

The first thing I laid my eyes on were the Beef Ribs. These suckers reminded me of the dino bones in the Flintstones. I'm surprised it didn't tip my car the way it did in the cartoon. Wait. That wouldn't happen, I had a Crown Vic. Nothing can tip that behemoth. Wow, driving a Crown Vic heading down to the BBQ. So very un-Asian of me... Nevermind the size of the bones, the meat attached to them was even more impressive. There was plenty of it and it was moist and smoky. There was plenty of charring and it was surprisingly not extremely fatty (as beef bones are apt to be). The BBQ sauce was tangy and a bit spicy. It wasn't that smoky nor sweet; yet the smokiness in the meat made up for it. Unlike a dry smoke, these ribs were tender and didn't require much chewing at all. The Baby Back Ribs were just as tender. Fall-off-the-bone and equally smoky, these are exactly what I personally prefer. Sure, there are BBQ purists from Carolina and parts of Texas that are rolling their eyes; but hey, I like what I like. I wouldn't call the meat necessarily moist or juicy; however, it was neither dry nor hard.

For good measure, I took a run at the BBQ Broham or Pulled Pork Sandwich. I really should have stopped and walked the other way because the thing was massive. There was so much meat in the darn thing, it all fell out and Viv actually had to remove some to get it in her mouth. The smoky meat was not too dry and was actually edging towards moist. With a huge amount of crunchy coleslaw, this sandwich was messy and good. I would've liked more sauce on it personally; yet that could be alleviated easily. As for our sides, we had the Fries, Macaroni Salad, Potato Salad and Baked Beans. It was hard to assess the fries since they were underneath the baby backs and it had been sitting in a styrofoam box for about 8 minutes. Viv thought they were potatoey and good despite the lack of crispiness. I actually liked the salads. The potato salad consisted of big chunks of red potato which were cooked just right. There was just enough bite left in it that it didn't resemble mashed potatoes. After attempting to eat all of the food, we were stuffed and thoroughly satisfied. We didn't care if this was true BBQ or not because it was tasty, good value and made us wanting for more.

The Good:
- Large portions
- Meats are moist and tender
- Reasonably-priced

The Bad:
- Crazy lineup
- For me, the sauce may need more smoke, it's a bit too tangy

Bronx Pizza

After our first failed attempt at getting some take out from El Zarape, we took the short jaunt over to Bronx Pizza for some slices. Normally, my son loves pizza, so it is usually a safe backup plan. For some odd reason, he wanted a taco instead. A taco? Little did he know, the taco in question was not the type you'd find in a box of Old El Paso. That is probably why after one look at the one we got from El Zarape and he went straight for the pizza. Thank goodness we actually drove over to Bronx Pizza. Situated in a pretty plain looking building, Bronx Pizza (as the name implies) serves up New York-style thin crust pizza. Since we only had the 4 of us and 2 were kids, I only settled on pizza slices rather than a whole pizza. So keep in mind that these were premade pizzas which were reheated in the oven.

From the display, I selected 4 slices of pizza, 2 of which were Cheese. When I was presented with my order, the nice guy at the counter actually threw in a 5th slice of Pepperoni for free. By appearances alone, the pizza was definitely thin; yet not that thin. Therefore, it wasn't necessary to do the "fold" in order to eat it. Would this upset some purist? Possibly. This could've been due to the reheating which crisped up the crust more than it was already. In terms of texture, the crust was crispy from the visit to the oven while still exhibiting that classic chewiness. There was a modest amount of tomato sauce and the right amount of cheese so it didn't overwhelm the thin crust. All-in-all, a good slice of pizza.

I also got a slice of Sausage and Artichoke & Sundried Tomato each and I much preferred the meat pizza over the vegetarian. Personal preference really. Well, also the fact that any pizza with veggies on it normally becomes more soft and this was no exception. I found the sausage to be quite meaty with some peppery notes. I liked that there was lots of it too. In terms of being a NY-style pizza, Bronx comes close. The crust is probably a tad thicker. Yet, it does the job considering it is located in San Diego.

The Good:
- Reasonably-priced
- Crust is pretty good, considering it's San Diego
- Cool dudes work there

The Bad:
- Although good, the crust could be thinner

El Zarape

Finding good Mexican food in Vancouver is akin to finding a car parked properly at Crystal Mall. But, in San Diego, it is another story. With its close proximity to Mexico, it is only natural to find many great Mexican restaurants. However, not all are created equal. Much like you cannot assume a Chinese restaurant is good in Vancouver, you have to pick your spots in San Diego as well. In consultation with some locals, we headed out to El Zarape for some authentic Mexican eats. However, the parking in the area was inhospitable (how ironic). Furthermore, a lineup out the door didn't bode well for us. So, we headed over to Bronx Pizza for some slices. My son was quite dismayed at this development since he was looking forward to some tacos. We tried convincing him that the pizzas would be good and I'd put on extra Parmesan. No dice. He was whiny as a 6-year old. Wait, he is a 6-year old. Fine, we drove all-the-way-back to El Zarape and this time around, there was no lineup. Still no parking though! I finally decided to ditch the car at a closed auto shop nearby and ran in quickly to get some take out.

From the outside and inside, the place is very humble. No glitz. No gimmicks. You see, we were just coming back from Old Town, where there were "Mexican" restaurants abound. We were tempted to eat at one; but there was "tourist trap" written all over them. At El Zarape, you order at the counter from the large menus on the wall and head on over to the condiment station where you can help yourself to sauces, limes and spicy carrots. I was so excited to see the reasonable prices, I went a bit overboard with my selections not realizing the portion size. For a measly 99 cents each, the Fish Tacos were quite good. The fried fish was of a decent size and I got a piece in every bite of the taco. It was crisp which kept the taco from getting wet. It was topped with fresh salsa, cabbage and sour cream. They were good on their own; yet even better with the addition of one of their hot sauces. I went for the spicy. Really flavourful. We also got the Beef Tacos because my son wanted them. That is why there was nothing on it except for beef. As expected, he didn't eat them and opted for the pizza instead. How could I not see this coming??? Anyways, the hand shredded beef was fantastic. Flavourful with lots of depth from the braising while being very moist and tender, this was delicious. The sheer volume of meat also made this a hearty taco. Another dousing of hot sauce and we were happy campers (except for my son). While at the counter, I asked for something else that I should order and the guy suggested the Cactus Taco. Sure, that sounded good; however, when not prepared properly, cactus can be extremely slimy. Not here though. It was tender with a slight snap and not slimy at all.

Going for something different, I got a Lobster Burrito as well. I wasn't expecting much out of this one since it was reasonably-priced and well, it ain't a seafood joint. To my surprise, the burrito was filled with large pieces of lobster. Moreover, it was cooked perfectly with that fresh snap and natural sweetness from the flesh. I am still thinking about it and by the end of the trip, hope to get another. Lastly, I got a Chicken Chimichanga. This behemoth was filled to the max with shredded chicken breast meat. Although not exactly super moist, the meat was not dry either. There was plenty of flavour on its own and was further helped along by the 3 sauces on top. Lastly, I got some Nachos and well, they were forgettable. The cheese sauce reminded me of 7-11. Besides that, the food was pretty good and cheap!

The Good:
- Large portions
- Cheap
- Some items are really good (fish tacos, lobster burrito)

The Bad:
- What's with the nachos?
- If you want ambiance, go to Old Town...

Urban Solace

The great thing about taking an evening flight is that you can take your sweet time all day to pack and get to the airport. This was especially true since we were flying out of SeaTac. Woke up late, did some last minute packing, had lunch and did the leisurely drive down I-5. We even had time to head to Target for some shopping and dinner at Miyabi. Sounds all good right? Except when you have kids. Near the end of the flight, they were getting whiny and exhausted. By the time we landed, it was already past 11:30pm. Another problem was that my rental car reservation was for 11:30pm and the rental place closes at midnight. Once out the plane, I let Viv handle the kids and baggage claim while I hightailed it out to find the shuttle. As I exited the airport, I spotted the rental car shuttle across the street; but behind a steel fence. Taking a quick scan of the situation, it looked like the only way across was to get up to the 2nd floor skywalk and back down to the street. As I was running across the skywalk, I noticed the driver of the shuttle checking for last minute customers and was about to leave! I put on my afterburners with 3 bags in hand and made it as he was closing the door. Talk about cutting it close! This was the last shuttle of the day for that rental car company!

So our late night got even later with a visit to In-N-Out and we didn't get into bed until past 2:00am. Hence our next day got started real late. Our first meal of the day wasn't until 12:30pm at a place which came highly recommended - Urban Solace. Serving up contemporary American fare, this quaint place has a nice outdoor seating area which we took full advantage of (light for pictures!). For me, there were a couple of things that caught my attention, starting with their Warm Cheddar & Chive Biscuits. These freshly baked treats were really good. Beneath the slightly sugary crisp exterior was soft, warm, buttery and cheesy goodness. There was this sweet & savory thing going on that was further accentuated by the orange-honey butter. With 5 of these to share amongst us, there was little room for me to have a full order of anything, so I got the side portion of the Duckaroni. Consisting of duck confit, blue cheese, arugula, scallions and roasted garlic, this was a super rich mac 'n cheese. After the initial crunchy top and moist duck confit, this was a little hard to finish. Hey, not that it wasn't good. Actually, I really liked it. C'mon, duck confit and blue cheese, I love them both. With the addition of arugula which added some brightness to an otherwise rich concoction, it was somewhat bearable. However, in the end, I was very glad to have not ordered the full version. My heart and stomach probably couldn't take much more despite its tastiness.

We also shared an appie to start in the Fried Green Tomatoes. These were pretty darn good with a classic cornmeal coating fried to perfection. The tomatoes were still structurally sound (hence the use of green tomatoes) and were nicely topped by a blend of goat cheese and crème fraiche. The only thing that we would've liked was more of it. There were only 2 slices and that was hardly enough for the price. For her main, Viv had the soup and sandwich combo consisting of the Roasted Chicken Salad tossed with grapes and pecans on grilled egg bread and a cup of Potato and Leek Soup. The sandwich was a nice take on a standard chicken salad with the addition of sweet grapes that popped in our mouths. The pecans added another layer of texture while the egg bread was soft and made it easy to eat the sandwich. We really loved the soup, it was full of flavour with light richness. It felt like it was salty; but it really wasn't (best way we could describe it).

For the kiddies, we got them the Mac 'n Cheese and for a kid's meal, it was huge. Much like my Duckaroni, the pasta was perfect and the sauce was rich and creamy. It was mild and not salty. Overall, we were quite pleased with our meal here. We also loved the outdoor dining space as well as the attentive service. I wouldn't say we were necessarily blown away, it was a solid meal nonetheless.

The Good:
- Lovely outdoor dining area
- Food made with care
- Friendly staff

The Bad:
- Although food was good, it won't blow-you-away (probably a victim of too many glowing reviews)
- Not expensive, but not cheap either