The Original Pancake House

The last morning in San Diego was spent at The Original Pancake House in Clairemont Mesa. When Jeremy heard about this breakfast place, his eyes lit up, so my Mom, Jeremy, and I set out to have a good breakfast. 

Their most well known specialties are the Apple Pancake and German Pancake so we had to get those.  Between the three of us, those two pancakes plus a side of fried potatoes were plenty.  The Apple Pancake is very sweet because the apples are caramelized with cinnamon and sugar.  I really liked it with a little lemon because it made it not overly sweet.  We think they use the same batter on the bottom as the German pancake, but it also seems to have an additional layer that is almost like a light custard under the sweet apple layer.  

The German pancake looks so neat when it comes out because it is huge and "poofed up".  It starts falling quick though so we tried to take pictures quickly and start eating.  I really enjoyed it with the lemon and powdered sugar they serve with it, as well as the berry syrup sauce.  I believe it was lingonberry but I'm not positive.  They were both delicious but I could definitely taste eggs in both pancakes so I'm glad we didn't get an omelette in addition.  We did see one family order an omelette that was basically the size of the apple pancake, but even thicker!  We joked that it would take 4 of us to eat that omelette.  The potatoes were good but nothing special.  I saw some other interesting menu items like the buckwheat pancakes or various crepes that I would love to try next time!

World Famous in Pacific Beach

Memorial weekend/week off for Jeremy meant Jeremy and I were going to San Diego to visit my family.  My long time best friend Misato suggested we go to a restaurant called World Famous in Pacific Beach for breakfast/brunch.  She loves the place, so I decided it was a perfect time to try something new!  

We thought parking might be crazy since it was Memorial Day and World Famous is right on the Pacific Beach boardwalk, but it wasn't bad at all... at least when we got there at 10am.  We waited for about 10 minutes outside, but it was fantastic because we were right on the beach and we enjoyed the cloudy/sunny weather and soaked up the atmosphere.  Misato loves sitting on the patio area, but we got an inside booth which was quite comfortable and not too big for our party of 3.  Jeremy liked that it was inside since he wouldn't get burned.

We finally got to ordering and I got a pork carnitas chilaquiles platter served with eggs, beans, and tortillas.  I'm not a huge egg person so I only had a little with my meal but it was delicious! Some tortilla pieces were crispy while the others were softer.  The carnitas meat was a little on the saltier side, but balanced out in the whole bite when you had avocado and some salsa with it.  

Jeremy got the Carne Asada Benedict. Again I'm not a huge egg person, but he seemed to devour the 2 muffin, meat, and egg mounds as well as the potatoes served with it.  

Misato's go-to-meal at World Famous is the Carne Asada platter, so she got some Carne Asada meat, eggs, and beans, served with tortillas.  She also got a raspberry mimosa, since they make about 5 different mimosa mixes that apparently are all delicious!  Maybe next time I will have a mimosa also!

Lolitas- San Diego

Another must stop when I'm in San Diego is Lolita's, usually in Bonita for some carne asada! It's not like we don't have good mexican food up here in the bay area, but there's something about Lolita's and the memories!  I usually get a Carne Asada burrito or a Carne Asada taco with an extra corn tortilla to make it 2 tacos :)

My friend is obsessed with the Carne Asada Fries or the California Burrito which is a Carne Asada burrito with french fries, sour cream, and cheese in it.  She also claims that the salsa is to die for, but I'm not a connoisseur so I just use a little of the hot sauce like any other hot sauce! I'm also not a huge fan of the fries and carne asada thing, so I stick with the traditional burrito or taco... oh so good... I usually get it with horchata to wash it down, but this time I just stuck with water since it can be pretty darn sweet sometimes.  We met up with my friends who had never met Jeremy before, so it was a good time of eating good mexican food and catching up on what's new in our lives. I had mentioned carne asada fries to Jeremy (since french fries are his favorite "vegetable") a few days prior to going to Lolita's but he had forgotten about them- for which he still gives me a hard time about! He greatly enjoyed his carne asada burrito but talksa bout trying this carne asada fries business next time we're down there!

Another place I would have loved to go to was Tacos El Gordo for some more of the small street style tacos, but I didn't get over there and decided I could survive without it.  Maybe next time! Man, I love the numerous and delicious mexican eateries in San Diego!

Sushi Ota- San Diego

If you asked me what my favorite Japanese restaurant is in San Diego, I would be VERY quick to say Sushi Ota in Pacific Beach!

Jeremy came with me to San Diego this year for Christmas, and we went to Sushi Ota one night so he could experience the glory. My parents took us and we got the chef's tasting menu of about 7 courses as usual. We started off with a crab wrapped in cucumber dish topped with daikon, dried pomegranate, and a ponzu type sauce on top. My favorite dish was the foil wrapped steamed dish with an excellent broth! It had cod, enoki mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, mizuna greens, napa cabbage, and as I said, AMAZING broth. It was so good that Jeremy, who normally does not drink the soup and only eats the solids in any soup, drank all the broth!

We also had really good sushi such as two different types of Aji (Spanish Mackerel my favorite), and a special toro (fatty tuna). We put Jeremy to the test by giving him uni (sea urchin) and ikura (salmon roe) which even many Japanese people don't like. It took me a long time to actually eat it, but I still don't choose to eat it over other sushi items. He definitely tries everything once, which I think is a great characteristic! We also asked specifically for a salmon skin handroll for Jeremy & I since I love them! I don't think they're as good in a regular roll because you don't get as much of the crunch factor when the crunchy items are distributed throughout a long roll. It was warm, very crispy, and absolutely delicious, especially with the extra salmon pieces added into the roll. Jeremy really enjoyed it too. You can get that roll in other places, and I may be biased, but I love everything about Sushi Ota. The place is pretty casual, not the elegant, snooty feeling restaurant you have to dress up for, but I love the food and Mr. Ota is fantastic. I have and will continue to go every time I'm in San Diego!!