Damn fine burger!

After watching a show on KPBS on Sunday, all we could thing of was Burger Lounge.   Had to have it.    Fast.
Not our first trip to this party and won't be our last either.
This time we visited the location in Kensington.    We decided last night that this one is second only to Little Italy.    The one in Coronado is to small and hot.   Haven't lounged in La Jolla - yet.
Me and T and Ts sister Juanita went there for a delicious dinner.     T and Juanita had Baby Lounge Burgers.    T had the vegetarian and Juanita had the beef with NO ONIONS.    Sorry, I didn't mean to yell but Juanita gets really, really mad when there are onions on anything.    I went full throttle, burger, fries and salad.   We all shared the salad and fries but still.    After all this food, me and T had a vanilla milk shake too.   YUM.  
Anyone who knows me knows I don't eat beef very often but when I do, it is a lounge burger.    That is how good these things are.    The beef is always done perfectly, the onions I like raw and the bun...oh the bun.    That bun could be a blog entry on it's own.    A pillow of perfection that cradles the beautiful burger in comfort until it is shoved down my gullet.

The fries are great too (same with the onion rings though I didn't have them on this trip) as is the salad.   Tonight we opted for the Cesar but the garden vegetable won't make you sad either.   I like that there are taro strips on the salad instead of croutons.    Nice and crunchy and different.

Some people might think that $8.00 is a bit pricey for a hamburger.    I don't happen to believe this.    This is not a Carls Junior or McDonalds burger.     This is a real, big, fill you up all organic burger.  These cows were coddled while they lived and you can tell that by the way they taste.    The restaurant is green.    Won't find any styrofoam here!

Now about that vanilla milkshake.    

Oh.

My.

God.

Must have about 1/2 gallon of ice cream in it.    Comes to the table in a malt shop glass with whipped cream on top.    Stainless cup with the rest of the milkshake that won't fit in the glass comes too.    Spoon and straw.  Last night it was almost to thick for the straw.   Almost.  

4116 Adams Avenue
San Diego, CA 92116
Cusine: burgers, fries, onion rings, salads and drinks.  
Dollar Value: Very good.
Service: Very, very friendly
Would I return here: Yes!   Already have.   

Crepes, anyone?!

Special Guest blogger: Stephanie Liuag

Nestled on the 1400 block of what is said to be on the "quiet" side of Little Italy, is Fabrison's. 

A quirky sign invited health nuts and foodies alike to indulge themselves in a little bit of French cuisine. Inside, the wood cabinets were painted a rustic aqua and the floor tiled a dulled checkered pattern which combined to give a very French country vibe. 

We sat ourselves and the waitress/hostess promptly wiped the table and brought us menus and offered us something to drink. The menu featured savory crepes, vegetarian crepes, breakfast crepes, sweet crepes, quiches, and a whole slue of sandwiches. 

After surveying the menu for over ten minutes we decided on splitting the deux fromages (it pretty much had me at "brie cheese") oh and then following it with FOUR dessert crepes. The waitress politely doubted our eating ability but proceeded to write down the following: 

1 deux fromage sandwich, 

1 dark chocolate crepe, 

1 fruit crepe, 

1 nutella crepe, and 

1 lemon and sugar crepe. 

The sandwich was wonderful, and the crepes beautifully presented and enjoyed. They split each crepe and quartered the sandwich to make it easier for us. The menu was reasonable, around $7 to $10, the crepes being about $6.50 to $7.75, which is fairly average. In the front window and along one of the walls they sold table linens, painted butter dishes, and tea sets should you want to continue the French feel at home. One woman came in and bought a huge French baguette that I thought was just going to fall apart because it was so fresh. Hmmm…nutella and French bread anyone? Overall, Fabrison's is a place I would love to "repEAT"; what sweet crepe should you order? Answer: all of the above.

Fabrison's Sweet Cafe and Boutique

1425 India Street

San Diego, CA 92101

(619) 955-8834

 

Not yer typical bean and burrito joint!

I love Mexican food.   The more I eat it the more I love it.   I love that each restaurant I go to is a bit different.    Only the hot sauce from Lolitas tastes good on the food from Lolitas.    See what I mean?
I love all of the regional cuisines in Mexico.   Ranas serves the food of Mexico City.    Think cactus, shoes and flowers.    OK, ok, think nopales, huaraches and zucchini flowers.    There, you aren't scared anymore are you?
If one was to drive by Ranas in Spring Valley, one might think "oh, just another Robertos" but one would be wrong.   Don't let the taco shop appearance of the place fool you, this is a first class restaurant with really, really good food.   
I've been to Ranas several times, enough so that Oscar, the owner gave me a high 5 the last time I was in there.   On this last trip (12/11) we took 2 friends who had never been there before and were they glad they went!    
The first time we went in, Oscar brought us out about 4 samples of the sauces they make, chipotle, sour cream Dulce, peanut sauce and green mole.   The green mole was the best I have ever had.   Not on the menu, made with pumpkin seeds and basil OMG YUM!.  The chipotle and dulce were great as well but the peanut sauce stopped the show.   When he said peanut sauce I thought it would be sweet and sticky - it was not.   Whole peanuts were in there and the sauce was a savory taste explosion with a kick of heat in it too.   
Sadly, every time I have gone there since, the green mole hasn't been featured and I can't get past my favorites to order the peanut sauce.   I know, bad foodie, TRY SOMETHING NEW!   ;)
This past Friday I had a bit of a cold and was really glad to see that the Caldo Tlapeno was on special so I got it.    If you love good soup, I mean really good soup, get this.    HUGE bowl of chipolte broth with garbanzo beans, rice, tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, avocado and cheese.    The broth is hot enough and it cleared my sinuses but I was still able to taste all of the wonderful goodies in the soup.    Served with tortillas this bowl is plenty to eat for dinner.     
The 3 gals I was with each had a huarache.    Think sope that is shaped like a shoe - huarache.   The masa is great here, nice and chewy.    The pollo asado is grilled not stewed and very light.    I had bites of the huaraches too since I love them so much.
Two of the gals had never had nopales (cactus) and so asked Oscar for a sample which he gladly brought out.    They really liked it and I think were a little surprised that they did.   Oscar then brought out fresh cactus to taste and a whole leaf of cactus so they could get a look at it.   As soon as they saw the leaf, they figured out what it was.    We all tried the raw cactus and it was very crunchy and very fresh tasting.   Then came the best part.    
Oscar drinks every morning a smoothie made of cactus, celery, kiwi and orange juice.   He whipped up a little batch for us and we all tried it.   OMG was it good.   Very light and refreshing and we all saw how it would be a great breakfast.    Oscar says it is going on the menu soon.   Please Oscar don't tease us!   
Go to Ranas soon, don't be surprised if there is a wait and then enjoy some great traditional cuisine!


9683 Campo Road, Spring Valley CA 91977 
Cusine: Mexico City Cuisine
Dollar Value: Excellent.
Service: Very, very friendly
Would I return here: Yes, a thousand times YES!

Lake Murray Cafe

OK there we were, sitting at home on a rainy Monday night wondering what to have for dinner.    Neither one of us felt like cooking and we wanted something warm and comforting.     We decided on the Lake Murray Cafe.
We had been there a couple of times before and the food is good, the place is big and the staff is nice.
One thing to know about this place is BISCUITS.   When you sit down, they bring a basket of them to the table and they are big.    I mean really big.   I am talking Cheesecake Factory BIG.    Big and good and warm and yummy.    If you don't go there for anything else, go there for the biscuits.
This time around we were both in the mood for breakfast.   I had the avocado, feta cheese and olives omelet and my dining companion had the  Mediterranean omelet with feta, olives, tomato and basil.     I would have expected the olives (at least in the Mediterranean) to be kalamata but they weren't.    Basic black olives.   Don't get me wrong, I love olives of all colors, I was just a bit surprised.
The omelets are HUGE 4 eggers each.    Needless to say there was a take home box for each of us.  I can't say for sure that the eggs were real as they tasted a bit processed.   Next time I will ask for real eggs as I really don't like the ones from a carton.   What do the chickens look like that lay those cartons anyway?!
I ordered the toast cakes with my omelet.    I wasn't sure what they were and the server told me they were pancakes.   Worked for me!

The food came and we ate with gusto til we were full and then marveled at the amount left over.  Lunch for the next day!

There are several restaurants in this family.  This is the only location I have been to.

5465 Lake Murray Blvd La Mesa, CA 91942-1549 Cusine: american with a little bit of everything
Dollar Value: Excellent.
Service: Very, very friendly
Would I return here: Yes I would but will ask for real eggs next time.

Street Food!

Let me start by saying I am not a chef nor do I aspire to be one.  I let the experts do the cooking and then enjoy with "unbridled enthusiasm" the fruits of their labor!     This past Saturday was a most enjoyable morning!

Me and two friends went to the Cooks Confab in Little Italy - Street Food!   

I love street food.   If I were in Manhattan and had no food budget, I would eat the street food.    I think it is one of the best ways to get close to a culture.    Experience what people eat when pressed for money and time.    This is where it happens, at street level.

Don't get me wrong, this street food event was unlike any I have ever been to before.   These chefs are not messing around.   This was not the street food of Mexico or Red Hook.    This was only street food in that it was served on the street.   I don't care.   I loved it.   

This event was a fundraiser for ARTS.   Up until this, I have never heard of this non profit.   But they are out to help kids and they did it with food.   I like this a lot.

The deal was this, buy a ticket for fifteen bucks and for that we got 5 booth tickets.    Great deal.    We also bought a bunch more booth tickets for five bucks each.   We wanted to try it all.     This was the first year of the event and there were a lot of happy people there.    Only a couple of suggestions - have water to buy and more vegetarian stuff to eat.   There was only one booth (Waters) that had anything to drink.    They had tangerine juice with mint.   It was yummy but not nearly enough.    One friend of mine is a vegetarian and there was only one booth that had anything vegetarian.     All of the vendors were happy to make their dishes without meat for her but it felt like an afterthought.

We ate shredded beef tacos from Waters.    These were the street variety, tiny little corn tortillas with peppers, limes, salsa, cilantro and onions to pile on as we liked.    Yum.    I love tiny little tacos.  

The Farm House Cafe in University Heights was there with ham and cheese sammiches and pomme frittes.    More yum.    Nothing wrong with french fries and a nice sammich for breakfast!

Cafe Chloe was there with a nice little tray of a palmier, roasted chestnuts and drinking chocolate.   OMG.   Chestnuts and drinking chocolate are the perfect holiday treat.    Please don't even bother calling this hot chocolate.   If you have never had drinking chocolate stop what you are doing and get you some - NOW.    It will change your life.  

Since this was a fundraiser, I was really happy to see that it was very well attended.    Lots of people there with lots of really happy faces eating really good food.    We were all really happy that we had parked on Harbor Island and walked the 3 miles to Little Italy.   Made us feel better about all of the calories we consumed.   Another bonus is that we discovered that the Little Italy Farmers Market is one of the best in town.   Live sea urchin at a farmers market?    Get what I mean?