Monthly Archives: January 2014

Dumpling Inn (3 of 52)

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One of my goals for this challenge is to include as wide a variety of restaurants as possible.  San Diego is as diverse as it is weatherless so it offers many different options.  Dumpling Inn was a departure from the last 2 spots as this place is a little more tiny  small claustrophobic smurf-sized intimate.  Located in what appears to be an industrial Asian sector, Dumpling Inn is surrounded by strip mall-esque karaoke places, eateries and electronic stores with signs written in both English and another language that I am too lazy and covered in white privilege to properly research.

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Which of these symbols was your regrettable Spring Break tattoo?

A little something about me: I *LOVE* hole in the wall style places.  They tend to have a no-frills approach and bomb ass food.  Dumpling Inn came with a huge amount of hype from my friends who had been there before and there were several folks wanting to be in on this adventure with me.  I showed up with an entourage of 9 and a baby.  For the size of this place, I may as well have shown up with the entire 3-day Coachella audience.  My squished dining companions were:

Aimee-Roommate since the 90’s, BFF, allergic to hot dogs and therefore labeled a commie by many

David-Technical writer, singer, robot super villian

Durwood-Best friend, comedian, San Diego’s go-to young black non-singing actor

Joe-Theatre and beer enthusiast, podcast co-host, Co-Creator of World’s Cutest Baby

Joey-Future music professor, Saceraz drinker, makes a mean cup of coffee

Kelsey-Project manager, Advanced level foodie, Has been known to drop it like it’s hot after a few cocktails

Lily-World’s Cutest Baby (a Joe & Nicole production)

Nicole-Stage Manager, Cupcake diva, Co-Creator of World’s Cutest Baby

Suzanne-My Italian soul sista, Can throw down in the kitchen, the cultured one who pronounces everything correctly

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We came, we saw, we ate, we judged.

The wait at this place is no joke.  You show up, you get put on a list.  You come when called or they skip you.  The staff is Chinese, older, female and they are NOT HAVING YOUR BULLSHIT.  A near fight broke out over people trying to get in.  Luckily I called ahead so they knew we were coming.  They were nice enough and worked hard to accommodate us, even if it was a tight squeeze.  Did I mention there are only 8 tables?  Like, 8 total.  9 grown adults plus one high chair seemed like an impossible task but we made it work.  We were almost arrogant about how well we’d figured out the seating arrangement.  That is, until our 757 plates of food arrived.

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“It’s like Twister but with food!”-Aimee

But onto the good stuff!  Dumpling Inn is obviously noted for their dumplings but I was surprised to see a wide array of Northern Chinese style dishes on the menu.  Joey ordered the Beef Curry Dumplings with Bao Pork & Pickled Cabbage soup.  He was the 1st of many at our table to heap praise upon the curry dumplings.  I tried them and they were crispy with a sweet filing.  Not really my thing but David, Kelsey & Suzanne all felt strongly that they were the real stand out of the meal.  Joey noted that he would be interested to try the Beef Curry filling in a pan fried dumpling.  He described his soup as “awesome, awesome, awesome”.

Kelsey had the shrimp and chive dumplings, which she described as a bit bland, pan fried potstickers & Wor Wonton Soup.  She said the other items in her meal were okay but nothing fantastic.  David and Suzanne split plates of Pork Potstickers, Beef Curry Dumplings & Xia Long Pork Buns.  They were both in agreement that the Curry dumplings were the real stand out, while they regarded the others as “nothing stellar”.  I tried the potstickers and I’m inclined to agree.  The fillings were fresh and tasty but the single greatest potstickers I’ve ever had in San Diego cannot be touched by any other (that’s a future entry).  They were decent.

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Beef Curry Dumplings. For my dining companions, the stand out of the meal.

Joe had Pork Dumpling Soup with house made noodles, which he enjoyed.  Nicole had one of the more traditional “Chinese Food restaurant dishes”, Sweet and Sour pork.  She felt the breading was a bit heavy (which I also found to be true when I tried it) and the dish was heavy on carrots and onions but boasted a tasty, tangy sauce.  Lily had pureed squash and cheerios because she is a baby and cannot use chopsticks.

Aimee had steamed pork buns and pork dumpling soup.  She described her meal as delicious but hugely portioned.  Lotsa bang for your buck at this place.  She also mentioned that the hot chili oil is fantastic when mixed with the soup.  Durwood had the dish by which he judges any Chinese food restaurant; Kung Pao Chicken.  He described it as “The best Kung Pao Chicken in San Diego, top 2 West Coast and top 3 ever”.  High praise indeed and a review that I cannot argue with.  This dish alone is why I will be coming back.  Seriously delicious.

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Kung Pao Chicken AKA “The reason I’m coming back here”

As for my own dinner, I have to say it wound up being the least exciting food I ate during this meal.  I had Pork & Chive Dumplings and Sauteed Shrimp in Garlic Sauce.  The dumplings I found to be fresh and tasty but largely unremarkable.  The steaming process left them limp and watery.  As for the Shrimp, it was well prepared with steamed vegetables and a near non-existent sauce.  Boring.

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You may recognize this dish from every Chinese restaurant ever.

Some observations from the table made were that more than a few of us believed the “dumplings” in question would be done more in the style of Cha Siu Bao.  I was surprised more of that style wasn’t offered.  In our commitment to sitting in “true judgement” we consumed more than 100 dumplings at our table.  Durwood felt they should’ve at least taken our picture for such a feat.   Joey made a keen observation that there was no sign noting “No MSG”, which was A-Okay with him as this meant the food “Tastes of awesome”.   In place of dinner mints, our check was scattered with Starburst chews.  Points for originality.

Overall we felt that Dumpling Inn had some pretty solid choices (Beef Curry Dumplings and the Kung Pao Chicken) but as a whole failed to live up to the hype.  I say walk, don’t run.  and pick me up some Kung Pao Chicken to go.

Snooze (2 of 52)

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My very first breakfast for this challenge was also a bit of a personal victory for yours truly.  I have tried at least 4 times to dine at Snooze and my hopes were dashed every single time as the wait has been so long, I would surely die from starvation.  This place is popular.  Really popular.  Like, puts out on the first date popular.  The key, I’ve discovered, is to go early and on a Monday.  Snooze is located in the heart of Hillcrest, San Diego’s legendary Gayborhood.  As most young gay men are still staggering home from last night’s exploits, shaking off the long island ice tea haze and planning to catch a disco nap before hitting the gym for 8 hours, the morning streets of Hillcrest are left to lost heterosexuals and middle aged gays who harshly judge the younger, prettier versions of themselves waltzing by.  A PERFECT time for Snooze.  We got in with absolutely no wait.

It’s style is cool retro-meets-industrial-chic.  The staff is nice, the attitude is sassy and random screams can often be heard from the kitchen, volume levels ranging from a rowdy crowd watching a football game in Paraguay to one of the staff being ritualistically set on fire.  If it’s the former, his or her sacrifice is well worth it because sweet lord Jesus this place is off the chain.  A treat for me and my lucky dining companions:

Abby-Swim instructor, Disneyland buddy, Stresses about making food for my other food-savvy friends

Aimee-Roommate since the 90’s, BFF, allergic to hot dogs and therefore labeled a commie by many

Amy-Vegetarian Belle, Author, Event Planner

Anna-Canadian goddess, theatre dresser and puppet builder.

Daniel-Metal lover.  Can tell you everything you want to know about great beer.  and he will.

Durwood-Best friend, comedian, San Diego’s go-to young black non-singing actor

Larissa-Writer, crafter, has a cat named Brak

Eight people. One booth. A friend's elbow in your chest for the whole meal helps you digest your food better.

Eight people. One booth. A friend’s elbow in your chest for the whole meal helps you digest your food better.

Snooze is said to have some amazing coffee.   Anna seconded this and insisted we all read the back story.  The back story is printed on their table menu and is roughly 17 paragraphs long, so I didn’t read it, but it looks legit enough.  For the meal, I ordered the OMG! French Toast.  Fresh brioche stuffed with mascarpone and topped with vanilla creme, salted caramel, agave soaked strawberries and toasted coconut.  It was every bit as amazing as it sounds.  Soft, sweet and rich.  Think dessert for breakfast.  Amazing.

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If I didn’t already have type 2 Diabetes, this would seal the deal.

The rest of the table was split between sweet and savory fare.  Aimee ordered the blueberry danish pancakes with a side of chicken sausage.  Snooze makes their own sausage it is amazing.  juicy with great spice.  Aimee enjoyed the controlled sweetness of her dish and liked the whole almonds included with her pancakes.

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Finish this plate so Violet Beauregarde’s death will not have been in vain.

Durwood ordered the Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes.  I tried these and it basically tasted like the cake of it’s namesake, which I had no problem with given the great fan of dessert that I am.  Durwood called it a good marriage of sweet flavors without overkill.

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While I stood drooling over his plate of Hawaiian inspired delight, Durwood reminded me that “Aloha” also means “Goodbye…”

Dan ordered the “Sandwich I am” AKA the “Thing I’m going to order from now on”, Udi’s soft pretzel roll filled with scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese and a sausage patty, served with a side of smoked cheddar hollandaise & house hash browns. He chose to switch out his hash browns for Snooze’s special pancake of the day, chocolate pancakes with white chocolate chips and a peanut butter cream, which was chocolately goodness on a plate.  Dan said the sandwich was fantastic with a nice toast on the pretzel roll.  It was well balanced with the spicy sausage but the real stand out was the smoked cheddar hollandaise, which Dan volunteered to drink from a thermos.   That’s some serious saucy love, right there.

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Egg McMuffin, you ain’t shit…

Anna ordered the Ham Benedict III and also chose to switch her hash browns with the lauded pancake of he day, the sugar coma from which she delighted in.  While she felt the poach was a bit runny and under done, the ham was great, thus sealing her overall approval of the dish.

Abby had The “Lower East Sider”, lox style salmon, accoutrements including Snooze’s house-made herbed goat cheese spread, eggplant and tomato tapanade, firmly poached egg, dressed greens and rustic bread.  She loved the tapanade and raved about the side of homemade granola (which Aimee theorized would be even more amazing on top of Durwood’s pancakes.  THIS IS WHY I EAT WITH THESE PEOPLE!)

Amy’s breakfast was Tofu scramble with carmelized onions, spinach and basil.  She also chose rye toast and opted to keep her hash browns, which are apparently legendary.  I would’ve tried them but I had eaten so much of my french toast at that point, I could only communicate through a series of shaky hand gestures and incoherent grunts.  Amy said the dish was delicious with the real high point being the addition of the onions, which added a great flavor.

The only sour note of the meal was Larissa’s dish; She also ordered the tofu scramble but hers seemed to lack the right amount of seasoning, thus resulting in a not so awesome experience.  Larissa had eaten at Snooze before with great success so she was willing to chalk this up to an isolated incident.

My overall report on Snooze: A home run.  I completely understand why folks are willing to stand on a blazing hot sidewalk for hours to get in.  The food is delicious, it’s cheap ($127 for a party of 8 people.  8!) and the menu is varied enough to peak curiosity & encourage repeat visits.

and I plan to do just that.

Further reading: http://www.snoozeeatery.com/

94th Aero Squadron (1 of 52)

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The very 1st restaurant in my challenge!  EXCITING!  For my maiden voyage I chose the homey, quaint & World War One-y 94th Aero Squadron.  It’s some impresssive, almost museum style digs for a restaurant.  It’s made to look like a World War I French farmhouse.  , The restaurant sits overlooking Montgomery Field Airport, and is packed full of military memorabilia, antique farm implements, and aviation relics. At least, that’s how I would describe it if the lighting were anything above black out and I could actually see it.  Fortunately, I was able to cut and paste that description from the restaurant’s website.  What I saw on the inside was stone hearths, airplane wings hanging from the ceilings and a backyard that looks like the set of M.A.S.H. (minus hot lips and a few hundred Koreans).  Super cute, if structurally suspect, chairs.

My dining companions for this restaurant were:

Abby-Swim instructor, Disneyland buddy, Stresses about making food for my other food-savvy friends

Aimee-Roommate since the 90’s, BFF, allergic to hot dogs and therefore labeled a commie by many

Harry-Wise guy, master of the grill, loves camping for some reason

Justin-My steady beau, writer, not a fan of dairy

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Admit it, you’d totally eat with these people…

I started the meal with crab cakes in rosemary cream sauce as my appetizer.

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Not enough basil leaf, I can still see my meal.

The cakes were tasty.  The meat was delicately sweet and the sauce added a nice richness but overall it was a bit heavy and not as hot as I would’ve liked, they tasted almost room temperature.  I prefer a bit of crispy in my crab cakes.  On that note, I did also find a bit of shell which proved they used real crab, so good on ya for that one.

Justin started with fried calamari, which he wisely chose not to insist I share with him.  Squid, like most things in nature, is gross and wrong.  The plate was also HUGE for an appetizer.  Abby ordered the shrimp cocktail, which I’m happy to report included actual JUMBO shrimp.  I just came back from spending a week in Florida with my family where the “jumbo” shrimp is, to put it politely, a buncha bullshit.  The cocktail sauce was also nice with minimal heat.

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If you saw this and immediately thought of Beetlejuice. We’re friends now.

Our sassy waitress, Annie, boasted early on that 94th Aero Squadron’s French onion soup was “The best ever”.  Justin, Harry and I took her up on that challenge and I gotta say, homegirl was tellin’ the troof.  The soup was hearty, rich, sweet, salty and covered in a slab of melted gruyere.  Aimee and Abby ate New England Clam Chowder, which they both greatly enjoyed despite the fact that it was disgusting New England Clam Chowder (BTDubs, I hate chowder, which is yet another reason I have been a near constant disappointment to my family for nearly four decades!)

It wasn’t long before it was time for the main courses.  I resisted the temptation of steak or seafood as I wanted to wait until later in the year when I dine at places that specialize in these types of cuisine.  I instead ordered Panko Crusted Chicken Roulade.  This dish was a home run.  SO GOOD.  

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My new favorite thing

The panko blackened to almost a perfect crust and was stuffed with ricotta cheese and covered in a creamy sauce.  Lawd have mercy this shit was good.  Not as impressive were the garlic mashed potatoes that came with it.  I found them clumpy, starchy and leaving me wanting more garlic.  But the big story here, as far as side items go, was the creamed corn.

Despite my love of corn, I *HATE* creamed corn because I’m not into food that looks like someone already chewed it for me.  But the thing I had forgotten was that I’d only ever seen creamed corn from a can.  The creamed corn at 94th Aero Squadron was actual whole kernels of fresh corn in a cream sauce!  Absolute madness, I tell you.  It was delicious.  I may need to add a caveat to my hatred of this food.  It was seriously great.

Abby ordered rack of lamb with a dijon glaze and mint jelly.  It was good.  A quality cut of lamb prepared really well.  Abby’s dish was also lacking in the side item, bland steamed vegetables.  Aimee was defeated in her request for short ribs as they had run out but instead had flat iron steak with chimmichurri sauce.  Annie again sung praises of this sauce and proved to be truthful in her assessment.  Aimee said the sauce was very fresh and well made.  It accented the meat perfectly.  Harry ordered the double thick pork chop, which I tried.  It was juicy and really good.  This place does meat well.  Justin ordered the rib eye steak, which he described as “competently cooked but comparable to others”.  I have to agree.  It was tasty but nothing ground breaking. 

Finally it was time for dessert.  I sampled all of them (for Science…shut up.)  Abby ordered the classic Creme Brulee which I will liken to Justin’s steak in that was really good but nothing beyond like I’ve had elsewhere.  Creme Brulee is just kind of awesome in it’s own right.  Justin ordered the Apple Walnut Upside Down Pie (he thoughtfully passed on the scoop of cinnamon ice cream because he’s lactose intolerant and had to share a bed with me later).  While I thought it was good, everyone else at the table seemed to be more in love with it.  MY favorite dessert was the one Aimee ordered:  Godiva Triple Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake.  This was sex on a plate.  Rich, creamy, chocolately & velvety smooth.  It’s sized for fighting to the death sharing  and was a tremendous way to end the meal.

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Smooth, dark and satisfying. Imagine a Barry White song brought to life in dessert form.

So, here’s my overall report on 94th Aero Squardon:  Cool to look at but probably moreso during the day.  Great service with minimal hiccups (what’s a fruit fly drowned in a glass of Malbec between friends?).  The appetizers were so-so, the main course proteins were outstanding even if the sides hit a bad note and the desserts were top shelf.

In short: Yes, I recommend this place for dinner

Further reading: http://www.94thaerosquadron.signonsandiego.com/dinner.html

 

A funny thing happened on the way to this challenge…

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I had plans in place to start this challenge as early as last Summer.   In October of last year, I went in for a routine health assessment and got a very unpleasant surprise.  I have Type 2 Diabetes.  I was upset for a number of reasons but a big one was I thought “well, there goes my 2014 challenge”, convinced my life was going to be reduced to rice cakes and tap water.  That is, of course, silly because Diabetics can’t eat starchy rice cakes.

The origin of this condition was not a result of my habits (shockingly enough) but rather of lineage.  I have a history of Diabetes in my family.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure my lifelong philosophy of “cake is a meal” certainly didn’t help stave it off but through diet, lifestyle changes, medication & exercise, I’ve been able to control it and keep it from becoming a bigger problem for my health.  I’ve also dropped a significant amount of weight, which is a great step in the right direction.

I’ve learned the secret is a LOT of moderation.  I have been determined to learn how Diabetes fits into my life, not the other way around.  It was that line of thinking that convinced me to go through with this challenge.  I will try to make largely good choices at the restaurants I go to and demand that my dining companions give me a bite of whatever decadent selections they get.

So, yeah.  Still in this race if you are.  Belly up to the table everyone.  I’ll pass on dessert, though.

-Anthony

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I guess my days of passing out on the floor after Thanksgiving are over

Hello there…

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My name is Anthony Donovan.  That’s not my real name but Queen Latifah was already taken.   What I am is a comedian, writer, singer, graphic artist, pop culture nerd, podcast host, television producer, actor and lover of music, film, fellas and food.

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What I am not is a cook.

I’m fortunate to know many great cooks.  One of the best of which is my roommate/partner in crime/BFF for nearly 2 decades, Aimee.   She cooks so I don’t have to.  Don’t get me wrong, I can follow directions on a box.  I can mac n’ cheeze with the best of ‘em.  I purposely spelled it that way lest you confuse that statement to mean I can assemble 4 different types of fromage and whip together a fabulous home-style comfort food dish.  Nope.  I’m talking strictly blue box here, folks.

While I can’t cook, I do love eating.   Anyone who has seen how much fabric it takes to cover my body can confirm this fact.  I also have the good fortune to live in one of the premiere cities for food, San Diego, California.   I have no statistics to back this up but you pretty much can’t tune to a single episode of any destination cooking show on the Food Network or Cooking Channel  without seeing my home on it.  By “home” I mean “City”.  Constantly seeing my actual house on the food network would be weird.

I have a hefty list of favorite places to eat in San Diego but there’s still a ton of places I haven’t tried.  I thought a great way to remedy this would be if I spent all of 2014 going to a new restaurant every week and sharing my experiences with you on this here blog.  I’m feeling pretty proud of myself for being the 1st person in history to start a food blog but I don’t like to brag so I will instead humbly accept all the teary praise for my genius I imagine you’re shouting at your monitor right now.

My closest group of friends (affectionately referred to herein as “The Usual Suspects”) also love food and many have offered to join me in my quest to eat more of San Diego.  So I will also detail their experiences with the cuisine we try.  There is no order, rhyme or reason to how I eat at new places.  I’ll just decide at the top of each month which places look best and put out an offer for anyone in my circle who wants to come with.   The results should be fun.  And hopefully very tasty.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention (because, y’know, you’re timing me or some shit…)  I do have a reputation for being a bit of a picky eater.  I would like you to know, gentle reader, here and now that this is absolutely true.  I’ve been a pain in the ass ever since my Mom tried to get me to eat canned cranberry sauce which led to the hours-long stand-off now known as Cranberry gate ‘83.  I hate beans.  Not all beans.  Just anything that’s not green.   You’re likely shaking your head in disbelief having now realized that I just admitted to hating beans while living a stone’s throw from Mexico –the very PLACE where Mexican food was invented!  Yeah, I get that a lot.  I’m also not a fan of eggs.  I like scrambled eggs and quiche but eggs prepared any other way make me barf.  I’m also picky with seafood (btw, I grew up in New England, where seafood was invented).  I like lobster, shrimp and crab.  No scallops, clams, mussels, squid, uni, octopus, etc.  Basically if it’s been used as a monster in a Japanese movie from the 60’s, I have no interest in eating it.

But I love lots of other things and we’ll cover that as we get further into this blog.  For now, enjoy the ride!

-You got the check, right?…

Anthony