Road Trip: Tucson, Arizona

EHK and I just came back from Tucson this past weekend. It was quite a whirlwind as we basically rolled into town for a wedding and spent less than 24 hours there before we headed back to San Diego. Looking back, we had an excuse to be in town and should have taken off an extra day or two to explore the area or even drive up to Phoenix or Sedona.

I do have to give a shout out to Priceline again for setting us up in a lovely, extremely well priced room close to the venue which was the Manning House. We stayed at the Marriott in sort of an extend part of the University of Arizona. It turned out to be really nice location. The school is to one side of the hotel and there are literally a myriad of restaurants and shops to visit the next block over.

{Welcome to Arizona sign in Yuma, AZ}

{Tucson neon sign in Tucson, AZ}

Having about 3 hours to chill and get ready, we decided to grab a bit around the corner since we hadn't eaten since breakfast at McDonald's in Yuma.  The concierge recommended Gentle Ben's so we payed a visit. EHK and I shared a plate of Beer Spuds and he ordered a glass of the Tucson Blonde and a Southwestern Burger (not pictured). 

{Gentle Ben's Brewing Co ~ Tucson, AZ}

EHK said the Tucson Blonde was just a standard blonde... nothing to really wow about and he wasn't the biggest fan of the burger. I think his exact comment was "Am I eating in a college cafeteria?"

{ Gentle Ben's Brewing Co ~ Tucson, AZ}

The spuds were ehh... ok. I just didn't understand the little mound of salad in the middle of the plate. I ordered a plate of Beer Spuds right? I expect a plate of greasy spuds and nothing else. They were a little on the cold side. I would have preferred them to be pipping hot and not covered in the sauce. I'm more a sauce on the side type of girl for the fried fare.

{Beer Spuds ~ Gentle Ben's Brewing Co}

When we were looking for our hotel, EHK spotted this cupcake place just down a block from Gentle Ben's so I being the cupcake fanatic had to stop by. I really wanted to try 2 different types of cupcakes but I don't really like it when I ask what's good in a shop and the attendant basically says everything. I was going to order the Red Velvet since I'm a big Red Velvet fan and also because of the namesake. However, I wanted another flavor too and asked for a recommendation. The attendant basically gave me a run down of the flavors and didn't tell me what were the most popular flavors or what was his favorite. So I ended up ordering 2 Red Velvets.

{Red Velvet Cupcakery ~ Tucson, Az}

In retrospect. I should have saved my money and came back to SoCal for some Sprinkles. Speaking of which... Sprinkles in La Jolla is bound to open this Fall in The Shops at La Jolla Village (shopping center that contains Whole Foods). No more trekking to Newport Beach for cupcakes! Coming back to these cupcakes, at first glance they seemed like a deal at $3/cupcake compared to Sprinkle's $3.25/cupcake but they were actually way smaller than expected. The cupcake was on the moist side but definitely underwhelming and I found there to be too much frosting for so small a cupcake. I prefer a higher cake to frosting ratio.

{Red Velvet Cupcake ~ Red Velvet Cupcakery ~ Tucson, Ar}

Sorry I didn't take any photos at the wedding. I found myself busy modeling with EHK at the LA Photo Booth installation. It was the huge hit of the night as everybody was either modeling or checking out the images as they appeared on the Mac monitors instead of dancing the night away or listening to the prompts the MC was giving.We missed MH and OH's "Grand Exit" since we were so taken with the booth :(. In our defense, its no ordinary booth. Its like this wall-less setup and the guest controls the photo taking with a remote pedal. Oh... and everybody magically looks photogenic in their photos.

Dave, the Best Man did get a chance to stop by and chat with us before we took off, learning that we were heading back to San Diego in the morning and told us we had to try the Sonoran Dog at El Guero Canelo (featured on Man v. Food on Travel Channel).  I've attached a clip of the Man v. Food episode in which Adam tries the Sonoran Dog for your viewing pleasure.

Dave put up such a convincing argument that EHK and I immediately headed back to our room to change out of our fancy clothes and met up with MK to see what the heck Dave was talking about.

I have to admit that the description sounded pretty amazing. Bacon wrapped dog, pinto beans, grilled onions, fresh onions, tomatoes, mayo, mustard and jalapeno sauce. Who can resist? It turned out to be an interesting dog. I wasn't thinking that it'd be in a sweet Hawaiian bread type roll. Overall, dog wasn't too bad. EHK's complaint was that he didn't really taste the bacon. So... double up on the bacon wrapping? I wasn't really digging the beans. It was just falling all over the place out of the bun. After a night of model it wasn't all that filling by itself either. So be prepared to order 2 if you are ready to eat.

{Sonoran Dog ~ El Guero Canelo ~ Tucson, AZ}

We awoke the next morning ready to hit the road but not without something in our belly's first. The guys at the wedding weren't that awesome at helping us to find a breakfast joint so we were on our own. I spotted a pretty copy of the Tucson Guide in our room and perused it hoping for some breakfast inspiration. My prayers were answered as I stumbled upon a small article recommending a stop at Rincon Market to start a lovely day in Tucson. Apparently they have a breakfast bar on the weekend that serves made to order omelets, Belgian Waffles and Eggs Benedict. Yum!

{Cinammon Rolls ~ Rincon Market ~ Tucson, AZ}

{Omelet Bar ~ Rincon Market ~ Tucson, AZ}

Upon entering, I spotted the bakery counter with such a variety of pastries and some massive cinnamon rolls. I also saw a counter with some pre-made breakfast items but I'm not such a big fan of pre-made scrambled eggs. So EHK and I hopped over to the omelet station which I thought was a pretty good deal. For just under $7 we got an omelet filled with any of the ingredients we choose at the station, some home fries, some sautéed veggies and cinnamon roll or croissant. We actually really enjoyed our breakfast. Value wise, it was awesome and we really liked customizing our omelet.

{Omelet Plate ~ Rincon Market ~ Tucson, AZ}

{Mixtas Tostada ~ Tacos y Mariscos Juanita's ~ Yuma, AZ}

Finally on the road, we were troopers since we wanted to get back home before dark. However, hunger finally overcame us so I perused EHK's Blackberry as we were approaching Yuma looking for something tasty to eat. I came across Ed from Yuma's post on mmm-yoso mentioning Juanita's so we decided to make a food stop. We ordered the mixtas tostada, 2 fish tacos and 2 shrimp tacos. We actually wanted to order more food but decided to see how we'd feel after this initial order.

Thanks goodness we decided against ordering more at first. The mixtas tostada came out and covered nearly the entire circumference of  the plate. We really enjoyed the concoction of shrimp, octopus, cucumbers and onions with the exception of the massive amount of imitation crab. As EHK said, this dish would have been money if it weren't for all the imitation crab. The tacos were pretty good too. Maybe could have used a little more crunch in the batter but the portions were definitely very generous. All in all, this was what we were looking for on quite a warm day in Yuma. For $13 for this entire lunch, we were happy campers and filled for the rest of our trip back home.

{2 Fish and 2 Shrimp Tacos ~ Tacos y Mariscos Juanita's ~ Yuma, AZ}

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Gentle Ben's Brewing Co.
865 E. University Blvd.
Tucson, AZ 85719
(520) 624-4177
M-W: 11 am-12 am
Th-Sa: 11 am-2 am
Su: 12pm-10 pm
http://gentlebens.com/

Red Velvet Cupcakery
943 E. University Blvd., Suite 165
Tucson, AZ 85719
(520) 829-7780
http://www.redvelvetcupcakery.com/

El Guero Canelo
2480 N. Oracle Rd.
Tucson, AZ 85705
(520) 882-8977
http://elguerocanelo.com/

Rincon Market
2513 E. 6th Street
Tucson, AZ 85716
(520) 327-6653
store hours:
M-F: 7am - 9 pm
Sa: 7am - 8pm
Su: 8am - 8pm

breakfast bar hours:
Sa: 7am-12pm
Su: 8am-1pm

http://www.rinconmarket.com/

Tacos y Mariscos Juanita's

SW Corner of S. Avenue A & W. 8th St
Yuma, AZ 85364

Cheezborger, Cheezborger, Cheezborger! at Billy Goat Tavern: Chicago, IL

OK! Back to those few Chicago posts I still need to finish up. Being a fan of Saturday Night Live and burgers, can't leave Chicago without visiting Billy Goat Tavern right? Staying at the Intercontinental Chicago, we were fortunate to be a hop, skip and a jump away from this place. Its located on the lower level of Michigan Avenue, so its got that dark dingy feeling pretty much all day.

For those of you not familiar with the SNL reference, the tavern was honored as the reoccurring Olympia Cafe skit played by John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray and Loraine Newman. My experience at Billy Goat Tavern wasn't as outrageous as an SNL skit but it was still ... quite an experience. I actually think that the outlandishness of the skit rubbed off a little on the staff. But what do I know? I wasn't around to see what it was like before SNL put it on the map. Upon immediate arrival, the cashier yelled "Cheezborger, Cheezborger, Cheezborger!, Cheeps! No Coke! Pepsi!" at us. Uhm ok... I guess I'm having a cheezborger? After perusing the menu, I think we were convinced to get the double cheeseburger. The cashier sized up EHK and suggested it... and well I can eat too!

Was the burger something to write home about? It was an okay burger, thin patties.. not overly juicy,  buns made up most of the burger, and ugh... raw onions. My heart still belongs to grilled onions and Rocky's. What I liked about the place was the novelty. Its a greasy joint, got the usual sports memorabilia and of course the antics of the staff. I'd come again for the entertainment and a bite to eat if I were in the neighborhood.

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The Original Billy Goat Tavern
Near Tribune Towers and Wrigley Building
430 N. Michigan Ave at Lower Level
(312)222-1525
*other locations listed on the site*
http://www.billygoattavern.com/home.html

Yakitori Yakyudori: San Diego, CA

Minh moved down to San Diego a few months ago and little did I know that it'd mean I'd have a foodie buddy to harass. We discovered that we both had a liking for Yakitori Yakyudori over a Facebook photo. His dream is to one day order one of each item in one sitting. Hmm... amass a large group of friends or fast for a week to stuff this all? I say fast... I don't want to share my pork toro skewer.

Chicken Skin. I once saw a paper ad on the restroom door proclaiming you'd develop baby soft skin from indulging in this. I've gotten this dish every time I come but have yet to feel the effects. Oh well... it's still the first dish I always enjoy here.

Large Chicken Terriyaki Bowl. I like coming here with one other person to split this order. Perfect for two! I'm such a fan of the lightly charred chicken over white rice with a generous heap of nori slivers and drizzle of terriyaki sauce.

Beef Tongue. Another one of my favorites. Fatty tender goodness on a skewer seasoned perfectly with salt. Need I say more?

Fried Spanish Mackerel. Ahh this was the dish that did us! I normally don't get this but we got an order and it totally filled us up. It was a generous portion of mackerel coated with panko. Not my most favorite dish but I'm a fan of fish and fried stuff. Who isn't?

Pork Toro. Oh how I relish this item. Normally I get a 2nd round but thanks to the order above I was pretty much done after this. A lovely combination of meat and fat on the tongue. I'll be back soon for this! 

Rolled Pork With Shiso. I was pretty stuffed at this point. However, I mustered up enough stomach space to enjoy some more pork goodness wrapped with shiso along with a side of tart pickled plum sauce.

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Yakitori Yakyudori

3739 6th Ave., #B

San Diego, CA 92103
619-692-4189
http://www.yakyudori.us/

Rocky's: San Diego, CA

(Sorry… I got so excited I had to take a bite before I remembered to take a picture)

It’s been a hectic couple of weeks. I recently became obsessed with wanting to learn Mandarin. Mind you my parents can speak a whopping 9 languages between them but the only languages they can communicate on a fluent level together are English and Fukkien(a dying dialect of Chinese). My father speaks Mandarin among the languages he has a crazy command over. Sometimes I wish he would have spoken it to me when I was growing up even given the language situation at home. Now that I’m all grown up and have been working in the biotech industry for close to 3 years I realize that it is a necessity to learn this language. I run into quite a few superior colleagues who are from Mainland China or simply prefer to speak Mandarin because that was the first language they learned. I want to be able to connect with people outside of work talk so I find that this is quite a necessary skill I must learn if I’m to accomplish this goal. I would also like to empress my dad with my Mandarin skills one day too but this isn’t so important. So I’ve been busting my butt with a Rossetta Stone program but I don’t feel that I’ve gotten as much out of it as I’ve wanted to and have thus signed myself up for a traditionally taught First Year Mandarin course at Mesa College. So for those of you wondering why I’ve been so lagging on updating … I guess the above is a measly excuse for the back up of posts.

Now on to Rocky’s. I would assume most San Diegan have heard about this hole in the wall, no frills joint in the grapevine either from friends, coworkers or family. For those of you who haven’t tried out this place you must go. I promise you that this is the most juiciest and tastiest burger you will probably ever try. I’ve had plenty of burgers… in fact EHK and I have been on a mission to find the best burger. Every time we try a new place we keep on coming back because there simply is no better burger out there. The burgers really are a cover for this tiny bar to sell the beer but I think we wouldn’t even come if was just for the beer because it isn’t something to write home about. The burgers on the other hand are heavenly and normally I don’t like to get my hands super messy when eating but this is one of the few exceptions that I wouldn’t mind that oil, juices, mustard and ketchup are running down my hand and threatening to stain the sleeves of my long tee shirt. I swear its like crack cocaine… not that I’ve ever done that - I’m only basing it off of the numerous biology and psychology classes I’ve taken that discusses the effects. The first burger blows your mind away and every subsequent burger is also good but can never quite measure up to the first experience. Then the 2nd to the last time I went I heard a man order his cheeseburger with grilled onion. I had never thought you could make that order because their limited food menu of 5 items makes no mention of grilled onions. A few days ago I went back and I was determined to order mine with the grilled onions. Oh my goodness… I actually think this last burger surpassed the experience of the first burger. Grilled onions make everything taste better… well almost everything. All the juices were dripping down my hands and I took off my jewelry in preparation but I really didn’t mind because it was so sinfully good. There wasn’t to much filler like I find at other joints trying to hide their not so tasty burger, the patty was so plump and juicy cooked to perfection and the buns where soft and somewhat pillowy. I ate my burger in silence… one of the few dining experiences that I’m content to not converse with EHK.

I do have a few gripes with this place though. If only the fries were better! The fries are mediocre and I suppose the burger more than makes up for it but if the fries were better than it would elevate the experience to another level. Also the size of the place is a concern. It’s normally just EHK and I gorging on burgers but if we show up with friends than it can be somewhat of an issue to find a table to park at. One time there was a party of 30 celebrating a birthday there. I thought that was super inconsiderate. This place isn’t designed to hold that type of a celebration. I think a number of 6 in the party is more considerate for other patrons and also saves you the headache of trying to save tables.
Nonetheless, the gripes fade away once I sink my teeth into this oh so tasty burger and I think you will agree once you’ve tried one too.
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Rocky's
3786 Ingram St.
San Diego, CA
(858)273-9150

Los Gatos Brewing Company: Los Gatos, CA

A while back ago when I was back home in the Bay Area for my brother’s high school graduation, I met up with a few good friends from back in the day. ES still lived in the area, CW came all the way down from Alaska also for her sister’s graduation and NCT came with her boyfriend GS from the OC on their way up to Napa. It was really good seeing the girls all together as we all do have crazy conflicting schedules so its not exactly easy to meet up in one place. Of course the choice of venue for meeting was up to me so I cruised around Jatbar since they wanted to go to a place not too casual. Well when I’m home I eat either mom’s good ol’ home cooking or at very casual places like Long Phung(post below). I don’t come home often enough and neither do I eat out often enough when I come up in order to give a recommendation I’d be totally confident in. So I’m looking around Jatbar and I come across a few places that sound good. They were all over the South Bay and Peninsula and I didn’t feel like traveling too far up North so I suggested the Los Gatos Brewing Company… remembering how pretty Downtown Los Gatos is at night.


We started off with some Fried Calamari($9.95). The flavor was a little bland as I remember it and it seemed like our order didn’t get its fair share of batter as you can see from the photo. However the calamari was tender which is a plus as chewy calamari is such a disappointment.

I ordered 4 Cheese Ravioli($15.95). It was quite tasty… the noodles were cooked perefectly and the filling was creamy rich. The toasted bread was a nice treat to dip into the sauce. However after a few bites it was a little too much for me and I ended up taking it home.

Edna ordered a Fresh Basil Pesto Pizza($12.95). I didn’t try any of the pizza but Edna said it wasn’t too bad. The prosciutto wasn’t overwhelmingly salty and it was very cheesy. The pine nuts added a nice crunchy texture to the pizza.

Nhu-Chi and Greg decided to share the house burger($8.50). They said they liked it…. it was a good basic burger. Again, I didn’t eat it so there’s not much I can say about this dish.

Crystal decided to go with the Pecan Crusted Catfish($23.00). I have no idea why she picked fish considering she can have all the fish she wants for fresh since she fishes back at home. She said that the fish was nice and tender and the pecans added a nice crunch to the fish.

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Los Gatos Brewing Company
130 N. Santa Cruz Ave. 
Los Gatos Ca 95030
(408)395-9929
Lunch 11:30am-3pm
Dinner 5pm-9pm
Sunday Brunch 9am-2pm
http://www.lgbrewingco.com/index.html

Miscellanea International Student Pub: Rome, Italy

I have to owe Scott for introducing me to this wonderful little pub that really helped me out with staying under budget while I was in Rome. This pub is tucked in a little alleyway so you may have to ask around to find the place but it is well worth the effort. The food here is very reasonably priced for a student’s budget and the drinks are actually discounted at lunch. What kept me coming back like Scott was the roasted turkey sandwich. Its roasted turkey with fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and romaine lettuce in between two tasty slices of rustic bread. This sandwich is actually better to go as they season the lettuce already and it’s kinda tough to do it when they present your sandwich already assembled. One thing that Scott was raving about that I only got a taste of and never really got to try was the Fragolino.. strawberry wine. I’ll be sure to have a glass if I ever go back.

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Via Pastelle
Pantheon Area
Rome, Italy

Nerbone: Rome, Italy

Walking through the quaint streets of Florence was a nice change from the bustle of Rome. It is quite easy to work up an appetite visiting several of the museums and churches that dot the town. After going to the Academia and gawking at the David we were quite famished. We decided to walk back the Mercato Centrale that we had passed by on the way from the train station. We were astonished to walk in and find two floors of basically any ingredient an Italian cook could dream of. The place was organized into several small stalls like a little open market. We let our nose guide us and soon found our way to Nerbone… a small food stand famous for panino bollito( boiled beef sandwich so we decided to try that. Man was it delicious! The bread was quite crusty which the Italian seem to be fond of and the beef was incredibly tender and flavorful. The guy making my sandwich added a green and red sauce which added a delightful kick. There surely is nothing like simple, down home, no frills food.

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Nerbone 
Mercato Centrale 
S. Lorenzo
Florence, Italy 
p: 055 219949

Princess Pub: San Diego, CA

Many a times have a been down in Little Italy and passed by this English pub surrounded by mostly Italian restaurants. Then I heard from a former coworker that this was a must visit place because of the fish and chips. I needed some de-stressing from finals on this particular trip so I brought Angie along to try out this place and of course trade our latest stories of the drama going on in our lives. Girls+food=always trading stories. So we both decided to try the fish and chips which according to the menu was “San Diego’s Best”. It was a little pricey…close to $15 for 3 pieces of battered fried cod a generous amount of fries and a small side of coleslaw. Overall the fish wasn’t too greasy, had a good flavor and crunch to it. However the fries seemed a little soggy and neither I or Angie were impressed with the coleslaw.

Unfortunately, Princess Pub doesn’t offer takeout boxes so make sure to bring your appetite with you.

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1665 India St.
San Diego Ca. 92101
(619)702-3021
M-Th: 11am-midnight
F: 11am-1am
Sa:10am-1am
Su:10am-midnight
http://princesspubandgrille.com/