Tag: San Diego

Farewell Dinner = Sushi Win for Me!

“It is always sad when someone leaves home, unless they are simply going around the corner and will return in a few minutes with ice-cream sandwiches.”
Lemony Snicket, Horseradish

Tonight The Husband and I took The Girl out to get dinner at one of her favorite restaurants. She is leaving this week for college and is she filling up on In-N-Out? The best Mexican food this side of the border? Nope. She wanted to sit at Nakamura-san’s counter at Akai Hana, one of the best restaurants for sushi in the San Diego area.

Her farewell dinner = my win!

Tonight’s new-to-me masterpiece was salmon roe. Previously familiar to me only as bait that I once used to fish in our local lakes with my father, our Sushi Chef caught this fish on an Alaskan trip and prepared the roe with mirin (a sweet cooking wine) and other ingredients that he said way too fast for me to understand…

Salmon Roe Sushi
Salmon Roe Sushi

The flavors were so fresh and light, I could hardly believe how delicious the tender roe could be.

Adios, muchachita!
Adios, muchachita!

It was a great meal spent with wonderful people… just the three of us. “My sense of humor is packing up and leaving,” I joke about her inevitable departure. On to bigger and better things for her!

Shakespeare’s “Comedy of Errors” Marvelously Meets 1920’s New Orleans at San Diego’s Old Globe

Magnificent sets from Shakespeare's
Magnificent sets from Shakespeare’s “The Comedy of Errors” at San Diego’s Old Globe Theater. (Set Designer Alexander Dodge). Hopefully it is all right to display this photo that I snapped last night???

Usually, I prefer to see a theatrical production in it’s original format- musicals with all the songs, operas with full sets, not minimalistic productions, Shakespeare in all it’s Elizabethan splendor.

The Old Globe Theater of San Diego presented a superb rendition of Shakespeare’s “The Comedy of Errors” that I swear should not be missed! Director Scott Ellis‘s 1920’s New Orleans setting for this play was MAGNIFICENT. I would like to know if this was his recreation or a previously produced version- I gather from our “Performances” magazine/playbill that this is, in fact, his baby. In January, he was described as “the busiest director on Broadway,” with three shows running simultaneously. This same Daily News article mentions his San Diego production, and I am beginning to get the idea that we are really lucky to have this director and his take on “The Comedy of Errors” here in San Diego.

On leaving the theater, I enjoyed forcing my opinions on the crew of teens that we brought with us last night. They had to listen to me, I was their ride home, HA!! I think that all the Shakespeare that they study should be viewed first, and then read. They need to see this language alive, intact, and played back-and-forth between actors, not the dry, difficult context of the he-said, she-said, dialog on a dull page.

Our Exchange Student (we’ve exchanged The Girl, who’s off to college, for her friend) will be reading “Hamlet” for his AP senior English class. I told him I’m going to find the best production of Hamlet that I can locate via Netflix, Amazon Prime, or any other streaming services and make him watch it.

San Diego's Old Globe Theater presents Shakespeare's
San Diego’s Old Globe Theater presents Shakespeare’s “The Comedy of Errors” This picture comes from the Old Globe’s web page, click the picture to link to their site, or try this link: theoldglobe.org

San Diego Ramen Scene- Ikura Sushi & Ramen, Scripps Ranch

Ikura Sushi & Ramen just opened up last month in the Poway/Scripps Ranch area of inland San Diego. Do a Yelp search on the restaurant and the top two comments are:

  1. Yea! Now we don’t need to drive all the way to Kearny Mesa and Convoy Street for our ramen fix!
  2. Try the Tonkotsu Ramen, it is fabulous!

With four teens to taste test with me, I knew I’d get a good overview.

  • When the Chinese kid gives it a thumbs up, you know that the restaurant doesn’t stink (this gets tricky, because he says he isn’t picky and will eat anything…).
  • The Girl wasn’t wowed by her Miso Ramen, but…
  • I ordered the same and LOVED mine.
  • The Boy liked his Teriyaki Chicken, and was jazzed that they let him swap out the salad for edamame.
  • The Boyfriend gave his sushi roll high praise, and liked his Miso Ramen just fine.

Props to Ikura Sushi & Ramen for their online coupon offering a free California Roll with over a $12 purchase for an eat in special. They also offer a 10% discount coupon, also available online, for takeout orders. Our California Roll was one of the best I’ve had in a long time- I highly recommend it. Bottom line: I liked Ikura Sushi & Ramen better than the last Ramen joint, Rakiraki Ramen & Tsukemen.

Chicken Teriyaki
Chicken Teriyaki
Miso Ramen
Miso Ramen
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12205 Scripps Poway Parkway Suite 106 Poway, CA, 92064

Boba Tea

Teenagers sometimes know the best places to buy inexpensive, delicious, and fast treats. Add an international student with to the mix, and you can get their opinion of some of the The Best Boba In The Area. Tapioca Heaven in Mira Mesa, on Black Mountain Ave. and Mira Mesa Blv. is high on the list, it seems.

IMG_7685Our newest member of the family wanted to treat me to one of his favorite spots to get a boba tea, and he chose well- a honey dew for me and a taro for him. I liked both. There is something about the sweet fruitiness and squishy tapioca pearls that raises this drink to the level of a dessert. I did like this boba better than the first one I had at the Thai place a few weeks earlier. I think the sugary tapioca goodness works better with fruit flavors than the coffee flavors I tried initially.

Thanks for the boba, Willy, it really was delish! And welcome to our home. :o)

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Buried Treasure, Restaurant Style- The Grill’s “Forest Mushroom Ravioli with Homemade Almond Pesto”

Ever notice how some of the most scrumptious little food spots are tucked away in some obscure spot? The best food always is.

We have been hitting this spot known simply as “The Grill” for years. Brothers Henry and Edwin Bautista and their crew do a fabulous job at packing the parking lot of a tiny strip mall behind the Sorrento Valley Coaster station. Good luck trying to get to it and our favorite coffee shop, Zumbar. And you know what? It pleases me to no end that the difficulty of successfully navigating your arrival to this place is directly proportional to the deliciousness of these two joints. That’s how The Universe of Great Food works. I figure that only really interested people will try to find their way here… consider it equivalent to buried truffle that only the most persistent dogs and pigs can locate.

Albondigas from The Grill…

On Wednesdays, The Grill serves a home made Albondigas Soup- Mexican Meatball Soup. They make a mean bowl of Albondigas and if I’m eating lunch with The Husband on a Wednesday, this is our spot. I love soup.

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Mushroom Ravioli with Almond Pesto

But I’m also the knucklehead who, back in January, announced that I would be doing something new every day in 2015. So, instead of my favorite soup I tried a different dish off the specials board- “Forest Mushroom Ravioli with Homemade Pesto.” The pasta was great, not blown out with over cooking. The ravioli’s stuffing is just right for the amount of pasta and full of a really lovely minced portobello mushroom. Homemade pesto took the stage, however, and I’ve enjoyed enough good pesto over the years that I could tell that they weren’t using pine nuts, but for the life of me, couldn’t tell what they used instead. Henry is nice- he didn’t torture me by withholding the info- he shared the almond secret. It would have driven me nuts trying to figure it out (ha- nuts… see what I did? LOL!)

Really, I can’t say how glad I am that I’m sticking to trying new things. I can’t tell if it has been more rewarding or more delicious… maybe both? There is still a lot more to 2015. Here’s to rut-busting!

What's on the menu, Henry and Edwin?
What’s on the menu, Henry and Edwin?