Anyone know where I can get elderflowers or elderflower cordial in San Diego?

I'm not sure if/how elderflower cordial is different from elderflower liqueur, but St. Germain (which is the liqueur) shouldn't be too hard to find any any well stocked liquor store. I know I've seen it at Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido.

tanzbodeli in San Diego

Halfway through the World Cup and what I want to know . . .

For those local to North County, Churchill's in San Marcos is a great spot. An English-style pub, it always attracts soccer loving expats. And the beer selection is among the best in San Diego with their newly installed 50 tap bar. They've been serving a tasty breakfast menu for the early games as well (they opened at 6 am this morning).

tanzbodeli in San Diego

Pizzeria Bruno Napoletano -- San Diego

I -finally- made it to Pizzeria Bruno this past weekend. Came in at about 2pm on Saturday and my girlfriend and I were the only two customers.

From all the ambivalence, I really wasn't sure what to expect. But I was blown away. Less than 5 minutes after placing our order, the pizza arrived at our table. I guess that's what you get when it only takes 90 seconds to cook the pizza. I've never had a pizza crust like that. It was light, chewy, toothsome and oh so tasty. It had perfect little char spots around the edge and was sublime.

We got the margherita with added anchovies. The tomato sauce was light, sweet and unburdened. The cheese was great. Not to much, nor too little. I didn't find the pizza to be watery as others have found. It was easy to eat by hand, or with a fork and knife.

Definitely one of the best pizzas I've ever had. And having Czechvar to wash it down with was great as well.

As it was so empty, I was able to chat with the waiter for a while. He was extremely friendly and knowledgeable. All in all, a great experience. I wish I lived closer, so I could visit everyday. On second thought, it's probably a good thing I'm not.

tanzbodeli in San Diego

Can anyone identify this old Jamba Juice baked goodie?

Jamba Juice used to sell a lemon poppyseed bready thingy. They discontinued it around 2004/2005 and replaced it with a mini-bundt version, which I never cared for.

The original was hard to describe, a bit chewy on the inside and a little crusty on the outside. It was short and rectangular, maybe close to the shape of many scones. It was a bit crumpety. I don't know, I'm really at a loss to describe it accurately.

Anyway, I used to eat those all the time, and they've been gone for several years and I must now admit they won't be coming back. But I'm not giving up hope of ever having one again. I would like to be able to reverse-engineer it in the kitchen.

So does anyone who remembers them, have any ideas what the name was, or even better, what approach one might take to make one?

tanzbodeli in General Chowhounding Topics

best coffee in SD

I'll add my vote to the chorus. Zumbar is the best coffee in San Diego. I've said it other posts, but it bears repeating.

I totally agree with what "Indirect Heat" said that their coffee is not just good, for San Diego criteria, but is good, period.

I've lived in places with a surfeit of coffee shops pulling shots of a similar quality as Zumbar's, and the fact is that Zumbar is equal to all of them.

Since moving to San Diego, I still pine for my favorite coffee shop in the world (EVP in Madison, Wisconsin), but since I've found Zumbar, I no longer have to suffer such long dry spells between good cups of coffee.

tanzbodeli in San Diego

DePalo & Sons, Pismo Beach - sandwiches with a side of hostility.

That's really scary. One of my best friends is severely allergic to eggs. Had she taken a bite of the allegedly "no mayo" sandwich without checking, it would have resulted in a trip to the emergency room for an epinephrine shot. (If she didn't happen to be packing her epipen). It's hard enough to get truthful answers out of people about whether a particular dish contains eggs, but for someone to outright lie out of it, because they think it's funny, is downright malicious and very dangerous. They've obviously never been with someone who's going into anaphylactic shock due to an allergy reaction.

Thanks for helping me steer clear of this place. I'll never go there and advise my many friends who pass through Pismo frequently, to do the same.

tanzbodeli in California

Frozen Custard in SD or OC area

I was excited to think there was real frozen custard in SoCal when I saw this thread. I moved here from Wisconsin, and Strickland's appeared similar to many of the custard places back there, but on further examination:

This is the ingredient list posted on their website for the Vanilla Ice Cream:

Milk, Cream, Sugar, Corn Syrup, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Whey, Mono &
Diglycerides, Dextrose, Cellulose Gum, Tetrasodium Pyrophosphate, Carrageenan,
Vanilla, Vanillin, and Annatto Color.

Unless they are leaving something out of that list, it's not frozen custard. Custard must have egg yolks in it, right?

tanzbodeli in California

Kosher or Halal ramen [San Diego]?

I've enjoyed the ramen at Santouka and Tajima several times and would like to take my girlfriend there. However, she is muslim and although she does not follow strict Halal rules, she wouldn't want to eat anything with pork or pork derivatives in it. The last time I was at Tajima, I tried asking if they made any of their noodles without a pork base, and I thoroughly confused the waitress, so I'm coming to my fellow chowhounds. I'm a bit a of a ramen newbie, but if I understand correctly, many ramen dishes, even if they are not served with pork slices, might be made with a broth base that was started with roasted or braised pork bones. So, my question is: can anyone provide me with some guidelines for non-pork noodle dishes at these restaurants?

tanzbodeli in San Diego

Bar with good cocktails in San Diego

The Tractor Room in Hillcrest.

Been there several times just for the drinks. San Diego is a bit of a wasteland in terms of mixology, but that may be changing. The Tractor Room nails the trifecta of a good cocktail bar: quality, fresh ingredients, knowledgeable bartenders, and understanding the classic cocktails while also being able to get creative with new libations.

tanzbodeli in San Diego

Hard to find cocktail ingredients near San Diego?

I've been looking for some hard to find cocktail ingredients lately (ran out), and can't seem to find any around here. My standby (Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido) has come up empty on multiple occasions. Here's what I'm in the market for:

Fee's Bitters (any kind, but Aromatic mostly)
Carpano Antica vermouth
Luxardo Maraschino
a good rye selection (Rittenhouse especially)
Domaine du Canton (ginger liquor)
Malort

I'm resigned to the fact that I probably won't find any malort around here (it's a chicago staple), but the others should not be this hard to find. Maybe I'm just having bad luck, or having found a good shop.

tanzbodeli in San Diego

Panchita's - I love thee! SD

Cool, well always give a shout if you see some champurrado or atole. Any news is good news :)

And it wasn't bad, but I think I'm a victim of the scenario of when your first try at something new also happens to the best possible combination of ingredients, expertise and ambiance, it sets the bar so high that anything else is bound to be a slight disappointment. Witness my first champurrado:
http://csolomon.flotsamjetsam.net/gallery/bestofmex/DSC_0441?full=1

street vendor in Oaxaca, paired with a flor de calabasa & quesillo quesadilla fresh from the comal. And it's nice when they whip out their whisk thingy and give it a twirl before they serve you up your bowl. It's the little things.

(BTW, the photo came out a little blurry, but that dark green vase on table with the plate of flores de calabaza covering the top, is the bowl of champurrado).

On a related note, I did indeed hit the swap meet this weekend and had a Hoya de Platano tamal from Fiesta. It was filled with pork and was steamed to perfection. It was larger than I'm used to seeing tamales being, and as such I'm glad I only ordered one. It was very good. I thought the tlayudas were expensive, but maybe that's just in comparison to how much they cost in Oaxaca (not fair I know). I'll try one of those next time I go if I have someone to share.

tanzbodeli in California

Panchita's - I love thee! SD

I suspect it's the heat that is preventing it from appearing more often. Many places that profess to sell it, currently are not. Cocina de Maria and Fiesta Oaxaquena in Escondido said they will start serving it when it cools down.

I did find some at Bakery Ortiz in Escondido, and it was just ok. I suspect it had been sitting there for a few hours without any stirring (I stopped by around 11am), which is probably why it wasn't the right consistency. But it was better than nothing! :)

Now that I've been looking in the right places, I've noticed it advertised alot, but I still haven't seen any places making "atole", which I would expect at least the tamales places to do, being the traditional accompaniment to tamales.

tanzbodeli in California

Panchita's - I love thee! SD

Indeed. I stopped by the City Heights location, as I happened to be in the neighborhood. It was really hot out, so I didn't go for the hot chocolate.

I did try a fruit empanada (thought I was buying mango, but turned out it was piña). Although I usually don't like piña flavored things, it was actually really good. Larger that most fruit empanadas, it was nicely crispy/crackly on the outside and not overfilled. Do they ever have guayaba?

I also got a cochinito (not sure if that's the name... the cookie that is shaped like a little pig). It was good, but I prefer the ones at Bakery Ortiz in Escondido. The cookie at Panchitas was a little too bready for my tastes. But it was good.

tanzbodeli in California

Panchita's - I love thee! SD

just to clarify.... is it mexican hot chocolate or champurrado? I can never get enough champurrado, and would be willing to make the drive from North County on the rumor of a good bowl of champurrado.

tanzbodeli in California

Why didn't I think to ask you guys sooner? Tamales Dulce

And they serve champurrado! I'm so there...

tanzbodeli in California

Your favorite (asian?) vegetable dishes [San Diego]

Good suggestion, but thanks to an old friend with a good memory, I was able to identify it as Pak Boong (water spinach) http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/stir-fried-water-spinach/

tanzbodeli in California

Your favorite (asian?) vegetable dishes [San Diego]

I occassionally get cold case stuff from Mitsuwa, but they don't have a great selection of prepared vegetables. I haven't been to Ba Ren and Dede's, so maybe I'll have to check out their cold cases.

As far as the Thai green papaya salad goes, it is one of my favorite thai dishes. Speaking of Thai, a few years ago in a thai restaurant in LA (can't recall the name), I had a vegetable dish of some very "stalky" greens that was fabulous. Wish I could remember what it was, but I remember thinking I'd never seen that veg in the store before. My fuzzy memory wants to describe it (appearance) as a mix between broccoli rabe and spinach.

Any other veg recs from our asian eateries?

tanzbodeli in California

Your favorite (asian?) vegetable dishes [San Diego]

Ok, this is maybe a strange request for help, but bear with me.

I used to live with a guy who could cook some great asian dishes. He was chinese, but he cooked a mix of japanese style food and chinese (can't really say what regional bias he might have had). And he used to make some really great vegetable dishes, sauteed/steamed greens, radishes, sprouts, beans, mushrooms, etc...

Lately I've been craving some of these dishes. The problem is that I don't know any of their names, and in fact they may have been things that he made up.

But what I'm looking for is some recommendations for some good vegetable dishes in San Diego's asian eateries. I've been to a few of the places in the Kearny Mesa/Linda Vista neighborhood (Tajima, Chopstix, Mitsuwa, etc) but I don't really have enough knowledge of the food to decipher the menus. I mostly just stick to the noodle or dumpling dishes I'm familiar with (and always wish they had more vegetables mixed in). Any time I ask the server for help with choosing usually gets me strange looks and/or some dish with lots of meat in it (?). I don't want you to think I'm looking for vegetarian dishes... it can have meat, or be cooked in meat broth or whatever. It's just that sometimes I have a craving for a huge mess of veggies cooked just so.

And if you think of some great vegetables dishes that hail from other non-asian ethnicities, I'd love to hear those recommendations as well

tanzbodeli in California

Pambazo, Cocina de Maria [in Esco] or Naco Cuisine at its finest

Trip Report:

As I work at Cal State pretty close by, I couldn't resist to urge to stop by for lunch today.

My first impression was about how nice of a location it is. The outdoor seating area is nice and was a perfect place to eat my lunch and ponder it's deliciousness.

Plagued by indecision, I ordered:

a taco de carnitas
a taco de nopales
a mini torta de panbazo
and an agua de melon

I enjoyed the chips and aforementioned salsas as I waited for my food to arrive.

The green salsa was one of the most beautiful salsas I've ever seen. The charred bits of pepper brilliantly offset the rich green chunkiness. Based on previous reports (kare and josh), I was surprised that it wasn't as picante as I thought it would be. But maybe it's better to say that it was stealthily spicy. I didn't get much lip or tongue burn from the green salsa, but did start sweating on the scalp after a few bites. A very delicious salsa with a slight "grassy/green" flavor to it. I am really surprised to hear that this may only be jalapenos.

The red salsa was actually more to my liking though. I found it's flavor to be a bit richer and more well balanced, but both were excellent.

I'd never had agua de melon, but found it to be really great. It wasn't too sweet, and had just the right amount of cantaloupe flavor.

Then my food came:

I was a little disappointed that I didn't get a tray of condiments to adorn my tacos as you find at most taquerias, but as this wasn't a taqueria and I didn't explicitly ask, I suppose that's not really a complaint.

taco de carnitas: double tortilla, filled with carnita meat, cilantro and two slices of avacado. The carnitas were good, but not great. They had great texture, with a little bit of crispiness, which I really enjoy much more than the mushy carnitas you find sometimes. There wasn't too much "added" flavor to the meat, but they were good. I just felt like they were missing something. A little salsa roja helped out.

taco de nopales: I generally really enjoy grilled nopales, but found this taco to be very flat and untasty. Not sure why, but if I had been blindfolded, I definitely would not have been able to identify the taco filling. Maybe I should stick to nopales salads.

The tortillas were fabulous! I'm not sure, but it almost seemed like they used a coarser grind of masa to make the tortillas. They just had a darker and "meatier" texture to them, sort of the way whole wheat pasta compares to refined pastas.

The Panbazo: It was beautiful. I love tortas dipped in chile sauce. This torta took me back to my year in Mexico and my favorite DF torta shop. Wow. Talk about time travel through a sandwich. It was great. But that being said, I'm personally not a big fan of starchy sandwiches like this and probably wouldn't get it again. I just prefer my papas y chorizo on a plate or in a tortilla. But it was a great torta.

I asked the extremely friendly server about the costillas en chile verde mentioned in another post and she said they only do it sometimes and it occasionally appears as a daily special.

But my favorite moment of the meal came when I was perusing the breakfast menu while eating.... I found those magical words: atole and champurrado. Atole! Champurrado! Oh how I have missed thee. I so long to feel your loving maize caresses trickle down my gullet. It has been so long. I had all but given up hope of finding a reliable atole fix stateside. I fell in love with this delicious concoction when living and traveling in Mexico, and now to find that it's sweet embrace may lie but at my doorstep every weekend? You know where I'll be on Saturday morning (and Sunday too). The server said that in warm weather, they usually only serve them on the weekends, and even then not 100% reliably. But that they are on the menu almost every day when the weather turns cool.

Oh sweet bliss. Thank you kare for pointing the way to this treasure in my own backyard.

tanzbodeli in California

Menuderia Don Vicente SD

Are they still only serving the machaca during the week? I'd love to come down for a weekend breakfast, but I'm not the biggest fan of menudo (maybe I need to try DV's before I decide that), so I was hoping to try the machaca which looks great. Anywhere else to get great machaca and chilaquilas for breakfast?

tanzbodeli in San Diego

Tropical Star Report SD

I'm definitely going to have to check that out. I love puerto rican food and miss the food my ex-girlfriend's mom used to make for me. I love pasteles, yucca, arroz con gandules, tostones, mofongo and all that... I wonder if they make pernil around the Christmas time. Oh how I love a good pernil.

That Tamal Colombiano sounds great too.

tanzbodeli in California

Mezcal at El Agave SD

Wow, just another reason to make the trek down to Aqui es Texcoco... (as if I needed another... the reviews from CH have already convinced me)

tanzbodeli in California

Mezcal at El Agave SD

IMHO, mezcal and tequila are so different as to not be really compared that much, at least not compared any more than you would compare any two single source distilled spirits.

I have to admit, based on flavor profile, I do prefer fine tequilas, but there are some really good and interesting mezcals out there. Del Maguey makes some good ones, as does Real de Magueyes.

While we're on the 'maguey' subject... does El Agave (or anywhere in SD for that matter) make pulque?

tanzbodeli in California

San Diego: Best Food Neighborhood?

I would also nominate the North Park, University Heights, Normal Heights area. There are some great restaurants in this area on the upper and lower end of the cost spectrum. The area features two of the better "beer bars" in San Diego (Ritual Tavern and Toronado) almost across the street from each other. There are cafes and quirky shops. Others have mentioned the fantastic Hillcrest Farmer's Market and grocery options. I like this area so much, that I'm considering moving there as well. Currently I'm up in the farther reaches of North County, where there is a real dearth of good food and interesting, walkable business districts.

tanzbodeli in California

Looking for commentary/ recs of Mid-western U.S. craft beers

I don't know if New Glarus distributes to chicago (from New Glarus, WI, near Madison), but it is one of my favorite breweries. Right now, their Dancing Man Wheat is a phenomenal weisse beer. Also noteworthy is the Belgian Red if you're into the kriek flavor (though not a true kriek itself). I also like Capitol Brewery's (out of Madison) Blonde Dopplebock and Maibock, which you might still be able to find. It might be too early for their Autumnal Fire. Good luck. I'm jealous as I'm in San Diego now and can't get any good Wisconsin beer out here.

tanzbodeli in Beer

Tacos El Paisa [or El Gordo whimpers] SD

Have they moved? Their website (crazy that taco trucks have websites these days) claims 3 different locations, none of which matches the address you posted.

http://www.tacoselpaisa.net/locations.html

tanzbodeli in California