Review - OB Noodle House

Ive been going to the OB Noodle House since they opened a couple years ago, and ive watched it change from the tiny little one room place, into the hipster packed techno blazing sake bar it tends to be, these days. but regardless of who goes there and what the decor is and what music is playing, the food has always bee consistently good. the Pho they do is just right, in my opinion. the broth is deep, the noodles are always cooked right, the meats always are on temp and never chewy, always tender. the prices are right, as well. today allison and i stopped in for a light lunch, i went with the number 4, which has rare and well steaks, tripe, and brisket for 6.45.

allison gave me all her cilantro from her dish because she hates it and i love it, so i got plenty of cilantro. mmm. threw in the basil, lime, and jalapeno, squeezed in my usual load of hoisin, sriracha, and fish sauce, and went to war. absolutely yummy. i typically get the OB special which for 7.25, you get a larger bowl with all the meats they offer, but that was too much for my appetite this morning. allison went with the Veggie and Tofu Honk Kong Chow Fun(7.95)

and this was the first time that i have gotten to try one of the non-pho dishes here. ive never had one. i see people order them all the time, but have never personally tasted them, so i didnt know what to expect. it was really good though. the sauce was tasty, the veggies were all cooked correctly, the tofu was nice, and it was a huge portion. we were both impressed, so i think next time im in i will order something different for a change.

another great thing about this place is the booze. they have lots of awesome shit on tap, plenty for great sake, and always have rocking specials going on. every day of the week between 11am and 5pm you can get a pint of select beer for 1 dollar. today they had a Beach Bum Blonde Ale

which we both agreed was rather good. they usually have some sort of firehouse, or shock top, or something like that one the 1 dollar special, but its always changing. they also have awesome beer towers for fairly cheap. awhile back, we got one of sapporo, we did the math and it holds 7 beers and after we payed it equalled out to about 3 bucks a pint, which is pretty good for sapporo.

so thats my word. ive never had a bad experience here, so i will keep going back. its cheap, its hip, and its always busy. its worth it. check it out!

Travis Likes Beer.

so heres a new little segment im gonna throw at you every now and then. Travis Likes Beer! its true, i do like beer. and am constantly trying new ones, and also usually drinking my obligatory bud lights. but this post isnt about bud light, nor shall it ever be! this post will bring you a few HOPPY brews. check it

First up is my Favorite beer at the moment. its been my fav since i tried it last january, and no others have taken the spot yet. it is from the Ommegang Brewery in New York, and it is their Belgian Style Hennepin Ale. i feel this is one of the most flavorful and well rounded beers ive ever had. its citrus-y, not too hoppy, a little bit tangy, and somewhat sweet. if it were slightly more orange tasting, it would be girly, but its not. so its a good man beer. ive drank this one while eating multiple different kinds of food, bbq, pizza, sandwiches, and it goes well with everything ive had so far. it was like an epiphany the first time i had it. i remember it like it was yesterday. it was at Newport Pizza. on draft. it was on special that day, i got a slice of pepperoni pizza and a pint of that. i let elliott have a sip because i wasnt sure that it was real because it tasted so good. but anyway. its about 8% ABV. and a 22oz bottle runs about 10 bucks. any liquor stores that have a decent craft beer selection should have it.


on to the next one. since we are talking about belgian style ales, heres another one.

Pranqster Belgian Style Golden Ale, from North Coast Brewing, in Fort Bragg, CA. this is so far the closest tasting ive found to my the hennepin up there. its definatly less hoppy and less fruity, but its got a waaay more floral nose. it smells amazing. i enjoyed it very much so. its about 7.6% ABV i believe.


on to our last beer for the night, you've all seen it, some of you may have had it before. its expensive, but it is damn tasty

Chimay (red) brewed by belgian monks in a Trappist Monestary. no shit? its a 7% ABV and it is a very full, dark brown, buttery brew. its a little too brown for my likings, but hey, its beer, and it tasted good. i only had it once a few months ago, so i dont remember too much. all i remember is that id previously had Chimay White label and i enjoyed it more than the red.


ok, that wraps it up. i probably didnt inform you of too much new informations, but at least you killed some time and now have a couple beers recommended to you. Cheers!

Review - Tiny's Tavern

i like booze. i like food. i like going to bars that have both. luckily the closest bar to me in walking proximity is Tiny's Tavern, in Ocean Beach, San Diego, California, USA, The Planet Earth. Tiny's tavern is owned and operated by i small happy looking hawaiian man named, of course, Tiny. not sure on the back story of how or when he came here and opened his bar, but i am glad that it is here now. the bar itself serves only beer and wine, but has a small kitchen attatched to it that has a fairly large menu, including may hawaiian treats! theres an outdoor patio with many tvs and a foosball table, and inside there is 3 pool tables a shuffleboard table and a few coin operated golf games, you know the kind...there is a rack to hang your hat and everyones got a smile on their face, and 90% of the time if you stop in you will see tiny sitting at the bar himself drinking and socializing. BUT...this is a food blog afterall, and this will be about the food. ive eaten quite a few times but only snapped a few pics the last time i was there. they have lots of different kinds of sliders, burgers, sandies, fried apps, and standard mexican fare, as well as a hawaiian specialty area. i have had their original sliders, the veggie sliders, and the BBQ kalua pig sliders. they have all been pretty tasty and are quite filling. on this latest semi-buzzed not really hungry but food sounds soooooo good adventure, i over ordered thinking my companion jeff would help me eat, but he did not. so i stuffed my fat ass with this. i ordered the kalua pig burrito (7.95):

which features black beans, spnish rice, pico de gallo, white tomatillo sauce, lettuce, mixed cheese, and pulled pork. it was big. really big. and it was stuffed full of fixins, which is always a good thing. the kalua pig had really good flavor and was just slighty salty, which i kinda fancied, personally. it ate pretty good and everything in there appeared to be fairly fresh.

and then on a whim i also wanted somethin crunchy and cheesy to mack on so i also ordered the Philly Cheese Nachos (7.95):

which were pretty awesome. i love cheese sauce. its a weak point. its my kryptonite. put nacho cheese sauce on anything and ill eat it. except for penis. i dont want to eat penis. but these nachos had cheese sauce, grilled skirt steak, and roasted bell peppers and onions. it was like a nacho version of a philly cheese steak. what a lucky coincidence for them! unless they planned that. which im assuming they did...

...yea. so that what i ate there last time. their happy hour is all day monday and 2-7 all other days of the week. 6 dollar domestic pitchers so thats sweet. i regular this place, so if you say "hey travis, wanna go to tinys?" i will most likely say yes.

check it out!

Tiny's Tavern
4745 Voltare Street
San Diego, CA, 92107

Review - Dirty BIrds

ok. so. i hate PB. mainly because its filled with douche bags that wear nothing but tap out shirts trying to pick fights, and stupid drunk sluts that wear ugly dresses. but, i feel it is ok to venture out there every now and then during the daylight hours, if im in the mood for something different. and slightly douchey. so imagine how surprised i was to discover the seemingly douche-free chicken wing spot, Dirty Birds. it was about 3:45 last Wednesday, i had already spent 2 hours reading yelp trying to decide what i wanted to eat for lunch, then write a blog about...and i decided i wanted wings. dirty birds was at the top of the list, so i bit the bullet, threw on my flyest Ed Hardy hat, my tightest abercrombie jeans, and my sickest brightly colored polo (collar; popped, OBVIOUSLY!) and headed out to the Peebs. Located on mission blvd about 6 blocks north of garnet, there was ample parking right across the street. tight. i bro swagged my way down the block, attempting to look "chill". it worked. walked right in, there was about 6 people in there total at the time, 3 couples all enjoying the sunshine, beer, and chicken wings that they desired. so i was all like, aight, lets do this. sat down at a table by myself, the dude from behind the bar strolled over, layed down the specials and whatnot, happy hour, half priced wings. every day! word.

 i ordered a pint of shock top, reasonably priced at 3 bucks, i think? i made my way down the menu checkin out all the sandwich items and burgers and whatnot, all reasonably priced and if done right re probably decent fare. flipped the menu over to reveal this:

so many options!!!! i dig it! after about 5 minutes of trying to decide, my poor tummy was all like, ayo, i need some food. so i had to order. it was happy hour, like i said earlier, so all wings are half price. i decided to get 3 different flavors of 5 wings each. all flavors and marked by a number (1-5) noting how spicy they are. 5 being the hottest of course. i decided id start with the Dirty Blue (3). blue cheese mixed with their specialty hot sauce.

for my second choices i went with the Maple Chipotle BBQ (4).

whats not to like about that? maple? yum. chipotle? yum. bbq? yum. im in. and then thirdly i ordered what i really came here for.....

the Habanero wings (5). i love spicy. i put hot sauce on damn near everything i eat. so i def. didnt think these busters would make me drop a bead of sweat.

boy.

was.

i.

wrong.

i think my first mistake was tossing one of those right in my mouth the second they hit them table. they were obviously fresh out of the fryer. they burned. so not only did my mouth hurt from the temperature, the spice had no mercy. they were spicy. really spicy. the sauce is like molten hot lava running down your throat. its like napalm clinging to the corners of your lips like the tops of many a vietnamese trees! the shock top didnt help. i felt like a little bitch asking for a large glass of ice water. but oh well. thats what i guess for being cocky, right? besides my nuclear meltdown, they had good flavor. as did the other two flavors. what didnt make things better is that even though they were Maple Chipotle BBQ, they were also a level 4 in heat, so they were much milder. very full in flavor though.i will order a bunch of those ones next time as well. they were my fav.

the Dirty Blue wings were tasty as well. but ill pass on them next time. plus there is so many other flavors to try. so i cant stick with the same thing everytime.

there were a few wounded soldiers left on that battlefield for sure. ill pass on the haba's next time as well.  touche D.B.'s. touche. overall i walked out full of good sized chicken wings and beer and water(pussy!) with 16 dollars less in my pocket than i had before, and a smile on my face. so thats all that really matters. ill recommend it for sure. mainly if you wanna go grab some cheap wings and beers with some friends during happy hour. check it out, youll enjoy it. all wait staff was friendly and each order of wings came with a side of ranch and the traditional carrots and celery. parking should be easy to find and there is plenty of seating. now i kinda have another reason to maybe go to PB every now and then. maybe.


Dirty Bird's
4656 Mission Blvd
San Diego, CA, 92109