This is not so much that strange just maybe creative but Maggi seasonings on sunny side up eggs is just incredible. Something so simple like this can be a 5 star experience right in your kitchen anyone can dish up.

So instead of sprinkling the usual sea salt, drizzle some of that German or Swiss soy sauce on that broken yolk to off set the richness is so good + some sour dough toast and bacon with the eggs will make my day.

Before you can only get a bottle at 99 ranch or asian markets but now it's everywhere Ralphs, Food 4 less, Albertsons, etc

Oh, a bit of Maggi + some siracha will really spruce up your boring cup O Nooldles

Why oh why won't Breyer's bring back their classic flavors Almond Joy ice cream. It was the best thing that happened for ice cream

Average 3 star Yelp reviews...pass. Horrible picture maybe because it is

What? no Giada De Laurentiis? you could have bought it online or something Cmon. That taste test is totally incomplete now you have do it all over again with her's in the line up.

Same here, our costco has a ton of Classico in a 3 pack. Since then, I've never been back to Ragu.

What? that doesn't make any sense. As time goes by and we get older we appreciate quality and don't mind spending time making things from scratch right? when you're young you don't time to cook so a cheap jar of Ragu is normally the case.

Where do you buy the frozen yeast rolls? can't find any...and is there another 2nd alternate option for the crust?

OMG this drives me NUTS...esp when a chef takes a piece of food in his hands then starts to fidget around with it on the plate like a kid plays with this toys so that it looks "pretty" is so stupid. I don't even want to touch that piece of food anymore after it's been handle like that.

+100...Tapas is one of the biggest rip offs in the industry. I can't believe the audancity to think I would pay nearly $10 worth of food in a small plate couple bites of food. Like Mr Taster said it may work in Spain or whatever but here in the land of Taco Bell and Micky D's dollar menu.

Amen...I'm sooo tired of seeing this guy all over TV. He acts like he invented "food" or something. I watch his show on pbs Mind of a chef just because I'm addicted to food shows and again he makes the weirdest concoctions.

I keep asking myself..."who is this guy really"? he has a ramen noodle shop in NY and all of sudden he's like some rock star chef???

Just sea salt on the pineapple and esp water melon really transformed it.

But for things like sour green apples before they ripen, as a kid my mom would take a Mortar & Pestle and crush fresh thai chiles into the salt until the salt was red. The red spicy salt was alone delicious very addictive by itself.

Sprinkle sea salt on sweet pineapple makes it sweeter and robust. Same thing with water melon...try it next time

It's not thin, NY pizza is thin. This is micro thin

Yes, precisely. Why do people always do this I have no clue. They do this with other stuff too like furniture or electronics, like who has the freakin time, knowledge, patient to make it from scratch? Plus by the time you end up paying for the parts needed it's more than if you go out and buy the damn thing...and it can never equal the research and skill in making it by the original makers.

Well ok, in all fairness the Ikea cabinets I used were with my previous kitchen I had done up in LA back in 99. Perhaps Ikea has listened to their customers and spruced the quality. But back then they look really nice in the showroom, but when I had them installed in my kitchen they were so flimsy.

You have 20 lin ft..I have 26.5 lin ft for $2680. Ok let me ask you this, are your Ikea cab solid wood with plywood shelves with no particle board.

Never Ikea, it feels and looks so cheap. You can almost punch through the doors...you can do better with price and quality from tons of listings on Craigslist. They all offer pretty much the same cabinets...solid wood doors with plywood drawers and self-closing

I got the Shaker in Beech with a lazy susan, 9" spice rack for $2800 incl tax. If I pay cash, then its only 2500 no tax. They come fully assembled, some places your contractor will assemble them.

Peter pan is very bland, for the little ones who don't care it's fine

Con't

I have a fairly new Samsung french door fridge so the only new appliance is the slide in range and DW. Pacific sales will deliver and install for free as part of their package price my 30" Viking D3 slide in range and Bosch dish washer.

The Viking was $3100, Bosch DW $600 all with free haul away, delivery and installation. This will be done when my counter tops and cabinets are all in.

I also watch just about every DIY and HGTV shows like 10 grand in your hand, kitchen crashers, renovation reality, flipping homes, etc those contractors can't tell me it takes 2 days to demo out my 10ftx10ft kitchen from a 900 sq ft home. I tell them hell no, maybe for those 4-5k sq ft million dollar homes.

And I have a friend who was lucky to be selected to crash his kitchen and it took them 3 days so I know it's very much possible just as long as the granite guys can fabricate quickly for the slab but pre fab is the best way to go...no one will be able to distinguish if it's pre fab or not. "some" will tell you Oh pre fab is cheap china crap only so they can make more money on fabricating slabs from their yard. They're just like any other money grubbing mechanic or dentist telling you have to do a root canal or porcelain inlays.

I have a very common 10ft x 10 ft kitchen except there is a peninsula on one side like a bar seating area that's 46" counter top. Total counter top area needed is only 50 sq ft. I have about 25 linear ft of cabinets.

I have lots of time on my hand at home not working so been doing a lot of research and enquirers on Craigslist because my 1st kitchen remodel I was a complete rookie and hired the 1st guy that gave me a estimate...big mistake jack.

This time around I'm getting at least 4 bids and still have not found some one I feel comfortable with that reasonable with the price. Go on craigslist people and you'll save at least 50% on cabinets. These cabinets are all solid wood with self closing just like the big name brands. I can tell you all this...say what you will but these cabinets from china are 10x better constructed than Ikea.

My cabinets which are the Shaker maple came to $2700/w tax and that includes a lazy susan, a 9" spice rack, med crown molding, toe kicks, scribes, fillers

My counter tops is one huge slab I selected from one of many granite slab yards 135"x74" which is about 65 sq ft which is well over my 50 sq ft. The color is Astoria @ $11/sq ft. it's very nice, not the speckles peppery cheap looking kind. Total installation incl under mount 16g single zero radius bowl 32" and hole cut outs is $3200.

Had I went with Pr-fab it would have only been $2400 and they would template and come back the next day and install it. The only reason I had to bypass the pre-fab route is because of the peninsula.

Then to demo, install the cabinets, hook up the plumbing, install a wall range hood, back splash, any dry wall/touch up paint is $2600.

So total for everything is $8500. Do a little home work folks and avoid the big companies..they all wanted over 10K and some said my teeny kitchen would take 2 weeks. They take 2 weeks is because they hop around from your job to the next and the next. Run as far as you can from these guys.

Get the smaller guys that are fully licenced and bonded and they'll give you a much better bid and their crew will stay with your project until completion. Just a matter of time and patient, don't do this like you have some timeline or rush.

When these contractors know you're in some kind of rush or desperate then they smell your weakness like a shark smells blood and go in for the kill. Don't force it, take your sweet time because there's a ton of good guys out there you just have to have an open mind and look. When they say things like "this his how things are done" or play the silly games after you show interest like "I'm extremely busy" when you try to comm with them just say next thank you.

Why wouldn't we when they say this is our so called "meatball sandwich" or surf n turf burrito? the food packaging is diff because we know that's marketing/advertising.

OTOH, ..On the show the chefs or owners say this is what we give the customers...so yes color me naive.

I mean the biggest rip off is prob Lucha Libre and I hate those jerks. Go watch that ep on your YT and see how much shrimp and prime grade steak they use on the burrito. Now go there and order the same burrito and you're like..WTF is this shit grade beef and maybe 4 shrimp??? total bait and switch. And the red flag was there the 1st time I went there and notice I was the only one there at 2pm on a weekend but didn't listen to my gut instinct.

I meant to say Diners, drives, & Dives. But both shows are the same...they pimp it up for the viewers then when you go there and order the same dish or hamburger or whatever you won't get that 8 shrimp on your linguine.

In all fairness though it's mostly the fast food and diners that I'm referring to. The high end places like Peter Luger's or Blue Ginger, etc it's pretty close to what you see on tv.

I was just at La posta and El cuervo couple blocks away and had the el pastor burrito at both places last month. La Posta was ok but El Cuervo was a fail....really terrible quality I could not give to my dog. That should tell you something.

I would NOT return to either of these places. The burrito's are much better at Cabais Mexi-Deli not too far away next block over on 4th st and Mexican Fiesta on India st.

Here's the sad truth about Lucha Libre and other places that have been on Man vs food, pizza paradise, etc. It's bogus and all spruced up for TV.

Ok let me explain. On man vs food when the camara is on Guy Fiere and the chef or Owner making the food, well they make it extra nice, extra cheese, pile on the meat/shrimp, etc.

You don't or won't always get the same thing you see on TV. I know because the surf n turf burrito Lucha Libre Man vs Food is nothing like the one I got. And it was basically more or less similar experience at other places.

They show you a super nice hamburger or plate because the owner is the one making all the dishes with Guy, but when you go there it's some min wage worker preparing your food. Now to be fair some places are still good but honestly no way can it look like what Guy Fiere ate that day...I wish I can have what's he's having.

Exactly. But it gives me a good feel or barometer before I go there what to expect that's all. Is it casual or formal. How is the service there. I like to look at the pics to see how the dining is laid out, what the outdoor patio looks like. The many photos other users post of their dish. What the food looks like.

As helpful as a board like CH, we don't have the options like yelp to post pics of what that chow mein looks like. Or the google map and directions how to get there. The address, phone #, etc.

That subway link you gave only has 7 reviews so of course right of the bat me or anyone would take that with a grain of salt.

But then also maybe that particular subway is one of the better ones with good service and management.

Yelp users know what to look what for. The scathing bashing review from the user with less than 5 reviews who just sign on less than a month.

It's all with discretion but for the most part Yelp is very insightful, useful,humorous and informative. I love it.

Ok so if you don't like Yelp then what should we use then? only CH? not me...why not utilize both and others like Zagat or word of mouth?

IMO not using Yelp is your loss. Using Yelp does more good than not. There's no one perfect resource.

Uh huh,you're totally right on the money. Blue ginger is so over rated and just yucky. All the awards and accolades below are all fake and fabricated.

In its first year, Blue Ginger received 3 stars from the Boston Globe, was named "Best New Restaurant" by Boston Magazine, was nominated by the James Beard Foundation as "Best New Restaurant 1998" and Esquire Magazine honored Ming as "Chef of the Year 1998."

In 2007, Blue Ginger received the prestigious Ivy Award from Restaurants & Institutions for its consistent achievement in meeting the highest standards for food, hospitality and service and in 2009, Ming and Blue Ginger won IFMA's Silver Plate Award in the Independent Restaurant category recognizing overall excellence in the industry.

I'm sorry but all this talk about "authentic" is just really relative and silly. Look at someone like Ming Tsai who's restaurants are ultra "Americanized". They're so revamped to Ming's interpenetration of chinese food and catered to western's palette and appeal to the masses but the important question is it good? yes and that's what counts in my book.

And read again the the question asked by the OP: he just wants great Chinese food, he didn't insists on anything about authentic.

Cmon guys there's decent chinese food all over esp right here in N county:

We have Spicy King in vista which has excellent reviews on yelp but there seem to some 1 stars in there becaue of the service but I think that can really depend on which servers you get.

Then there is Overseas Chinese Restaurant in Carsbad and a Peking Garden in the area.

In San Marcos there is Happy chang and Panda Garden with also excellent 4.5 average on Yelp.

Then you have the chain of Chin's which is also very decent.

And one of my personal fav Mandarin Garden in Mira mesa

On Balboa ave you have Mandarin Wok Restaurant and also Taste of China. And nearby Convoy there's the well known China max, Emerald and Jasmine for dim sum.

And I'm just barely scratching the service here.

That's Taco bar and yes they def have one the best al pastor burrito I ever had. Love the fact they have an open glass kitchen so you know there's no funny business with your food. This is a fine perfect example you don't have to go to the border or one of them tacos German trucks..it's right here in N county.

Ignore the stupid 1 or 2 star reviews on yelp and most just complain about the size of the tacos which is totally absurd because they're the same regulation size as any place in TJ.

For chile verde burrito or plate there's a new kid on the block San Luis in oceanside.

that is correct..thanks for being on top of it