Nine Ten

When I got word that Nine Ten was one of the best fine-dining establishments in San Diego, it was definitely on my list of eats during our visit. However, there was one big problem. We had the kiddies with us and the menu didn't look exactly that kid-friendly. So, I basically settled on the fact we were going to eat at Smashburger down the street instead on our visit to La Jolla. Wait. We could go for Sunday brunch! It is a hotel restaurant after all. I'm sure they've seen their fair share of kids despite not really being a kid-hospitable establishment. Besides, there would be something on the menu for the kids. Yes, I do realize that brunch would not be the best way to experience the restaurant; but we'd have to make due. After all, this way, we could still get a taste of what the restaurant is all about. Another good thing about the place is that they accept Opentable reservations. Score! We were so tired of lining up and eating at unholy hours to avoid the crowds at other establishments. As we drove by The Cottage (and their crazy lineup), it further reminded us how great reservations were.

Walking into the Grande Colonial Hotel, where Nine Ten is located, there was an air of sophistication. I wouldn't call it necessarily pretentiousness though. Just classy. We opted for the patio seating which gave us an obstructed view of the ocean and all the ocean breeze we could take. Since the whole reason why we were here for brunch was due to the kiddies, we got them the standard Two Eggs with Sausage. They were nice enough to split the order into 2 plates which almost worked out to 2 complete breakfast portions. I'm not sure if the breakfast was supposed to have 4 sausages; but the kids got 2 each. The sausages were big and meaty while having a nice bounce texture and snap from the casing. We found the scrambled eggs to be done pretty well being fluffy and not overcooked. The hashbrowns were not exactly crispy; but they were potatoey and soft. The one black mark, literally and figuratively, was the toast. It was burnt on one side which was the side that wasn't facing up. For me, I had a tough time deciding between the hanger steak and the Nine-Ten Burger. I asked our server and she swayed me over to the burger which was a half pound angus beef patty with house made pickles, butter lettuce, tomato and mustard aioli. I added blue cheese for good measure. I was asked how I liked my meat done and I went for medium. And as you can clearly see, it was perfectly cooked with just a touch of bloodiness. That, for me is delicious. The patty was moist, juicy and very meaty tasting. Combined with the blue cheese, there was some good flavours at work. The crisp butter lettuce, fresh tomatoes and crunchy pickles made this a good burger. Simple; yet executed perfectly. On the side were some of the best Truffle Fries I've ever had. The truffle hit me like a veritable softball in the face. Earthiness galore, I thought I was licking the ground in the forest (not sure if that is a good analogy). Add a bit of salty Parmesan and these crispy frites needed no other seasoning or dip. Outstanding.

Viv ended up with the Short Rib Panini consisting of port wine braised beef, aged cheddar, onion marmalade. Although the short rib was super tender and possessed considerable depth of meat and wine flavour, it was the onion marmalade that stole the show. Sweet, oniony and thick, this was the glue that held everything together. Literally, it did hold everything together as well as provide the bridge between savoury and sweet. This was a really good sandwich. Viv devoured it quite quickly. So despite the fact we didn't get to try their dinner service, our brunch at Nine Ten was sufficiently pleasant enough to demonstrate the possibilities. We loved the setting of the restaurant in the hotel and the service we received was solid. I guess if I'm ever in San Diego again, dinner is definitely on my list.

The Good:
- Lovely setting, especially the outdoor patio
- Attentive service
- For the items we tried, they were good

The Bad:
- For a hotel restaurant, strange to not see a kid's menu
- Depending on the server, it could be friendly service or slightly hoity toity

Tajima

Continuing the theme of eating a bit healthier (in relative terms), we headed North to Mesa Kearny for some Ramen action. Ramen? In San Diego??? Dude, isn't there a whackload of great Mexican food here? Why go for ramen? Yah, I know. That is all true; but with kiddies in tow, Mexican food doesn't work so well with them. When I mentioned Japanese food for dinner, I had them at Yakiudon. Besides, we were completely exhausted after an 11-hour stay at Sea World. Gawd. Honestly. 11 hours? Why does Viv insist on wanting to see everything??? At the end, the kids were in a bad mood and so was I. It seemed like a good bet to go with something familiar and not covered in syrup, butter or bacon. Much like all the places we've been to so far, we heard that there might be a lineup and an absence of parking spots for Tajima. Surprisingly, we experienced neither. Finally, something going my way after an excruciating day. I was so hungry at the end of our Sea World visit, Shamu was looking like sashimi.

Despite not being a ramen joint, Tajima is known for its ramen and they actually serve it late into the night (and morning on weekends). The deal here is you choose your noodles, soup base and whatever additions to the standard Ramen with chashu. I went for the Pork Belly and added an egg as well. When it arrived, it looked pretty good and one slurp of the soup - fantastic! Wow, I wasn't expecting that at all. The soup had depth and plenty of flavour. Sure it was slightly salty; yet that is expected with ramen. Good meat flavour though. The thin noodles were al dente and mostly remained that way to the very end (which wasn't long since I was hungry). The chashu wasn't exactly super moist; but it was tender enough. Now, the pork belly was delicious. It was not overly fatty while still being fall-apart tender. The egg was done right with a soft yolk and enough seasoning. Honestly, this ramen could work in Vancouver.

Not everything was a bed of roses though. Our Okonomiyaki was pretty average at best. We appreciated that they jam-packed enough filling to make 2 orders; yet it was too dense and doughy. I actually thought it could've used more oil in its preparation, it was a bit dry as well. With the abundance of cabbage and veggies, the whole thing fell flat taste-wise despite the sauce and bonito flakes. I had to resort to using sriracha to liven it up, much like how Bob Blumer does in his Tabasco commercials (however, Tabasco is weak compared to sriracha). For the kiddies, they had their favourite which is of course, the Yaki Udon. This was decent with plenty of ingredients such as cabbage, carrots, sprouts, pickled ginger and pork to go with the udon noodles. However, the pork could've stood to be less fatty though. In terms of flavour, the noodles were very mild which suited the kids fine. If it were me, it needed a bit more seasoning. The noodles were also on the softer side with the veggies still being crisp.

Lastly, Viv didn't feel like ordering a full dish of anything and went for a side order of Kimchi Fried Rice. Lo and behold, the plate of rice was pretty large. Too bad there was very little kimchi flavour though. It was pretty bland and lacking any form of kick. I suggested she add some sriracha and that seemed to do the trick. The fried rice kind of summed up the food here at Tajima - it's okay. However, the ramen is where it's at. It is easily comparable to other places where good ramen is not hard to find.

The Good:
- The ramen is pretty good
- Reasonable pricing
- Friendly staff

The Bad:
- The rest of the food is average
- Wow, that's not many spaces in the parking lot...

The Mission

After a failed attempt to wake the kids up for an early morning breakfast at 7:00am the day before, we had no choice this time around. You see, we had to switch our itinerary around to accommodate my "camera" incident. Yes, my trusty DSLR bit the dust and there was no way we were gonna complete the trip without one, especially since I lugged a telephoto lens all the way down here. The day before, we were supposed to head to Sea World for a day of fun and pictures. Well, I had to switch it to the following day so I could head to a local camera store to get a replacement. The problem with the switch of days would be that our visit to Sea World would be on a Saturday. Great. The crowds... So we woke up the kids early and headed out for breaky at 7:00am in order to get to the opening time for Sea World. Imagine the joy in that exercise. Well, at the very least, we could hit one of the places which hung in the balance. The Mission was another one of those "popular" places which came with a side of long lines. Aha! Get there just after opening and voila, no lineup!

With a bit of research in hand, we knew what to order. The Mission French Toast was a must apparently and Viv did the honors. The fresh baked cinnamon bread on a palette of berry puree was beautifully presented and of a large portion; however, Viv thought there was too much cinnamon. However, the blueberry coulis rocked which made it a unique and good French toast. For the kiddies, we got them the Apple Sausage and Eggs. As the name of the plate suggest, the star was the sausages. They were bursting with sweetness, in particular, a peppery kick. The meat was moist while still exhibiting a bounce texture. The accompanying scramble eggs were fluffy and the rosemary potatoes were soft inside and crispy outside.

For myself, I went vegetarian with the Soy Chorizo & Eggs. As expected, it was not a heavy breakfast consisting of soy chorizo scrambled with eggs, served with black beans, cheese, chipotle crema & flour tortillas. The soy chorizo scramble was quite good with fluffly eggs and decently masked tofu product. Overall, the rest of the plate was a bit plain. Now, to be fair, breakfast can only be so exciting. Hence, we weren't really "wow'd" by anything. The bottom line is that the food was good and the prices were reasonable.

The Good:
- The food is solid
- Reasonable pricing
- The service we got was friendly

The Bad:
- Usually there is a lineup, not sure if it's worth the wait

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