Showing posts with label Escondido. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Escondido. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Hidden Gem in North County

Saigon Noodles Restaurant

By Stacey Kuhns


A friend and I recently returned to a small "hole-in-the-wall' type restaurant for the second time. We had wonderful food and service the first time, so wanted to go back.

Saigon Noodles is located in the Escondido Promenade (in the Target Center) at 1264 Auto Parkway, Suite C, in Escondido, California. They are open Monday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

I apologize as I forgot to take a picture of the outside, but it is a normal strip mall place. Normal in looks, but the food is outstanding and there is a lot of it.

We started off with soup. I had the noodle soup with chicken broth and my friend had the chicken noodle soup. The noodles are thick rice noodles and so yummy. The broth was tasty and on a cold night it just hit the spot.

The soups are garnished with green onions and cilantro. My friend got a plate of sprouts, fresh jalapenos, and basil leaves that he used to garnish his soup. He loved the broth and noodles, but not the chicken that was in the soup. Warning: The small sized soups come in large bowls. I would think the large would feed a family of four easily. 


Hidden Gem in North County - Saigon Noodles Restaurant by Stacey Kuhns

Hidden Gem in North County - Saigon Noodles Restaurant by Stacey Kuhns


We both chose a soft noodle and vegetable dish for dinner. He chose chicken and I chose shrimp. The dishes are large and full of veggies and meat. My friend loved the chicken in the main dish and mine was full of shrimp and oh so good! The soups were so big (even though we got the small size), and filling that we took half our dinners home. 


Hidden Gem in North County - Saigon Noodles Restaurant by Stacey Kuhns


On our first trip to Saigon Noodle, we ordered the appetizers-spring rolls. They were fresh and delicious. Saigon Noodles seems busy for take-out as well as eat in, but we have never had to wait and the food comes quickly.

One thing I did not care for was that when you order a soda, it comes in a can with a glass of ice; so no free refills. However, the food and service makes up for that small thing easily.

Try them out. You will not be disappointed and the menu is large with plenty of items to choose from.

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Sand Crab Tavern-If you Love Seafood

by Stacey Kuhns

 

My friend and I visited the Sand Crab Tavern  (located at 2229 Micro Place in Escondido, 92029). This is a hidden gem in the industrial area of Escondido, close to Palomar Medical Center.

This was my third visit to Sand Crab and it was just as good as the second time (first time they were new and still seemed to be ironing out the kinks.) The restaurant is pricey, but is a great bargain for what you get and is fun food (will explain shortly).

We used a coupon from the Entertainment.com book which took $25 off the bill (The book is a fantastic gift and investment if you like to try different restaurants, venues, attractions, hotels and more).

Sand Crab Tavern-If you Love Seafood by Stacey Kuhns

Sand Crab Tavern-If you Love Seafood by Stacey Kuhns

When you walk into Sand Crab Tavern, you enter through the bar (and that is it, just a long bar with barstools-no additional seating in the bar area).

Sand Crab Tavern-If you Love Seafood by Stacey Kuhns

There is a lot to look at inside the restaurant; funny signs, model ships, sailor's knots, great photos, and more. They have small booths right after passing the bar (seats 4 comfortably), or plenty of tables and a backroom that can be used for large parties.

Sand Crab Tavern-If you Love Seafood by Stacey Kuhns

Sand Crab Tavern-If you Love Seafood by Stacey Kuhns

Sand Crab Tavern-If you Love Seafood by Stacey Kuhns

Sand Crab Tavern-If you Love Seafood by Stacey Kuhns

There are a lot of dishes to choose from. My friend started with a cup of clam chowder and I started with a cup of the lobster bisque that has a puff pastry in it. Both were delicious, creamy, yummy, and perfect for a cold evening. I would love to take a few containers home to have on a cold winter night.

Sand Crab Tavern-If you Love Seafood by Stacey Kuhns

Sand Crab Tavern-If you Love Seafood by Stacey Kuhns

Sand Crab Tavern-If you Love Seafood by Stacey Kuhns

This is a fun restaurant to go with two or more people because you can choose the crab boil dinners (a variety to choose from). They come in a big bowl with potatoes, corn on the cob, Louisiana sausage, peel and eat large shrimp, and then your choice of crab or other items.

We choose the boil that had Alaskan King Crab and Stone Crab. They bring the items all mixed together in a giant bowl and dump them on butcher paper onto your table. You are given mallets, peelers, and a bucket for the shells.

It is a lot of work, but well worth the effort. You can be a blast with shells flying and everyone laughing. (It may take a while to get served the main meal portion when they are busy, but it is worth the wait).

Sand Crab Tavern-If you Love Seafood by Stacey Kuhns

Sand Crab Tavern-If you Love Seafood by Stacey Kuhns

Sand Crab Tavern-If you Love Seafood by Stacey Kuhns

Sand Crab Tavern-If you Love Seafood by Stacey Kuhns

OMG! So good. The King crab was giant sweet and tender. They also provide you with a basket of fresh sourdough bread, dipping sauces for the seafood such as cocktail sauce and drawn butter. The seafood tastes great on its own. The sausage is a slight bit spicy and is just a juicy perfect bite.

Sand Crab Tavern-If you Love Seafood by Stacey Kuhns


 The aftermath. Definitely messy, but great. They give you lemon towelette at the end of the meal. If you are a lover of seafood, you will not be disappointed -Recommended. Another hidden gem.

Sand Crab Tavern-If you Love Seafood by Stacey Kuhns

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

One of the San Diego Home Cooking restaurants-Centre City Café

by Stacey Kuhns


Centre City Café is located at 2680 S. Escondido Boulevard in Escondido-92025. They are opened 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. I have visited Centre City Cafe twice, once for lunch and once for breakfast. Both times, the staff have been extremely friendly and attentive. However, the restaurant is old, so do not expect a modern updated place.

San Diego Home Cooking Restaurant Review-Centre City Café by Stacey Kuhns

The restaurant is fairly large. We got there at 9 a.m. on a Saturday morning and had no trouble with seating; but, by 10 a.m., there was a long line of people waiting for tables. This restaurant seems to have a good number of regulars which is always a good sign.

San Diego Home Cooking Restaurant Review-Centre City Café by Stacey Kuhns

I went with two friends for breakfast. One friend had the corned beef hash, which is quite a plateful and also comes with your choice of toast or English muffin. She said it was quite good.

San Diego Home Cooking Restaurant Review-Centre City Café by Stacey Kuhns

My other friend had the chicken fried steak, with hash browns and whole wheat toast. He said the chicken fried steak was very good, but the hash browns were not the best he had eaten. He said they were overdone.

San Diego Home Cooking Restaurant Review-Centre City Café by Stacey Kuhns

I had the cinnamon roll French toast. I was expecting slices from regular sized cinnamon rolls. Boy, was I wrong! It was humongous! It came with warm syrup, three gigantic thick cinnamon roll slices and homemade glaze/frosting. The slices were almost too thick and I needed a knife to cut them, but it was good and was enough for three meals. I could barely finish one slice and the “to go box” would not even close with two slices in it.

San Diego Home Cooking Restaurant Review-Centre City Café by Stacey Kuhns

San Diego Home Cooking Restaurant Review-Centre City Café by Stacey Kuhns

San Diego Home Cooking Restaurant Review-Centre City Café by Stacey Kuhns

San Diego Home Cooking Restaurant Review-Centre City Café by Stacey Kuhns

All in all, the San Diego Home Cooking-Centre City Café was a fun a fun place to visit. Food is not outstanding but it is good and there is plenty of it. My friend took half her corned beef hash home also. We never felt rushed even after we paid the bill and were just sitting at the table talking.

Great for all ages. I saw some kids eating pancakes that were twice as big as their heads!

Sunday, December 20, 2015

Sunday Breakfast at the Rainbow Oaks

Sunday Breakfast with the family is always so much fun.  This morning we went to a different restaurant.

The Rainbow Oaks Restaurant, originally established in 1946, reopened in April 09, newly remodeled to restore the interior of the historic building to become a gathering place for locals, travelers and bikers to engage in fine, yet affordable dining for breakfast, lunch and dinner serving traditional American cuisine.


Coast Oak - Santas Little Helper.

Reef Indy - Before he got in trouble.

 

  Coast Oak enjoyed his first baby peas at the Rainbow Oaks!

Monday, October 19, 2015

Natural Best Foods in Escondido, California

by Stacey Kuhns

 

Natural Best Foods in Escondido, California by Stacey Kuhns

Natural Best Foods in Escondido
A great spot for a healthy meal that is also delicious.


My friend and I recently visited Natural Best Foods (located at 242 E. Mission Ave, Suite E, in Escondido). I wanted to try this place because of all the great reviews I had seen on Yelp. We were not disappointed.

The menu is not extensive, but everything is good. The owners, Claudia and Carlos run a clean, friendly shop. We arrived around 7:30 on a Friday night and Carlos was working. (Hours are M-F 8-8., Sat 8-6, Sun 10-5).

He greeted us warmly and was very accommodating with our orders. We both chose the tuna. I chose the sandwich on squaw bread and my friend chose the tuna torta. Both were wonderful and everything was so fresh.

The tuna was made simply and they seem to use lemon instead of a bunch of mayo. Their sandwiches come standard with lettuce, tomato, onion and avocado but you can add jalapenos or have the sandwich made exactly to your liking. He was definitely not skimping on the amount of tuna in our sandwiches.

Carlos also brought over some homemade cilantro dressing for us to try on the sandwiches (that is also offered on the salads). It was very nice.


Natural Best Foods in Escondido, California by Stacey Kuhns

There were other items I am not familiar with but Carlos made us some amazing smoothies. We had ours with strawberry, pineapple, and banana-all fresh and very yummy. The large smoothies are so much cheaper than the chain stores and taste a lot better.

Natural Best Foods also offers a variety of flavored waters. While we were eating, Carlos made sure we had what we wanted and he brought over a basket of chips for us, on the house. My friend ordered a chicken Caesar salad to go. He ate it the following day and said it was the best one he had ever eaten.

We will definitely be returning to Natural Best Foods. (I unfortunately did not have my camera with me so had to use a subpar phone to take the photos, so I apologize for the lack of clarity, but wanted to give you an idea of what everything looks like).

Natural Best Foods in Escondido, California by Stacey Kuhns


Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Plan Nine Alehouse
in Escondido, California

by Stacey Kuhns


On Sunday, a friend and I were looking for a place to have a late dinner; someplace not too expensive. It was almost 9 p.m. and we ended up on Grand Avenue, in Escondido. Therefore, we decided to try the Plan Nine Alehouse because it was very crowded which is usually a great sign. Additionally, they are open until 10 and have a kitchen where they serve food all the time. It appears their hours are 12 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Just a note: my friend and I do not drink beer, however, Plan Nine offers a selection of wines also. Since we just wanted dinner, no beverages were ordered nor reviewed.

The service is friendly and there is always someone to ask how you are doing or if you need anything else; so A+ on their service. There is also plenty of seating inside as well as out on the sidewalk.

The hallway to the bathrooms moreover leads to additional seating and they have a kid’s area with a large chalkboard for kids to draw on. The Plan Nine Alehouse also have a "Walken" storage refrigerator (love their sense of humor).

The Walken Storage Refrigerator - Get it????
The Walken Storage Refrigerator - Get it????
 

The menu is more extensive than we expected for a brewery. They offer vegetarian items along with many meat items and seem to offer a variety of brats. They have soup, salads, brats on pretzel buns, wings (duck or chicken), and other items. There is also a kids menu. They have one large screen television, but we sat away from that area. The bar is big and offers additional seating.

We tried the cheesy potato soup with their special bacon pieces and green onions. It came with crostini*. It was very good but the temperature could have been a bit hotter.

We sampled the duck wings and the chicken wings. Duck drummettes come in an order of four while the chicken wings come in an order of six. You are given a choice of Ranch or blue cheese as well as any of four bourbon based glazes.

We tried the bourbon Sriracha on the duck and the bourbon BBQ on the chicken. Personally, I did not care for the Sriracha sauce. I love spicy food, but the bourbon taste was too strong for me.

The BBQ glaze was yummy. The chicken wings were served nice and crispy on the outside and tender inside. My companion tried their special brat on a pretzel bun (specialty of the night). It came with sauerkraut and a choice of a side. He chose the regular fries. He loved the brat (I did not try it.) The fries were amazing though; thin shoestring potatoes, crispy on the outside (just the way I love them).

Overall, Plan Nine is a great place to hang out with a friend or a group --- relax, and have some good food that is not too pricey. Our bill for all those items was only $35. The plates were good sized with large portions.

Plan Nine Alehouse in Escondido, California

Plan Nine Alehouse in Escondido, California

Plan Nine Alehouse in Escondido, California
 

 

* Crostini is just a fancy name for baguette slices that have been brushed with oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and baked until golden brown.