Review - Mardi Gras Cafe and Marketplace.

while i was home on vacation for the weekend, pops had recorded some show with Art Mann, ive never seen it or heard of it, but apparently he goes to allllll sorts of festivals and parties and shit all around the country and checks them out. so the episode i watched was a crawfish festival in louisiana. as i was watching it, i thought to myself, "is there and good crawfish in san diego???". i was determined to find out. when i got back to SD the other day, i hit yelp in search of that which i so desired. like usual, i found some little hole in the wall that i never would have been to. and lucky for me, it was 5 minutes down the street from my apartment! so with companion Adam in tow, we headed over there for lunch before our screening of Thor at fashion valley. it seems to be a tiny little place judging by the store front, but when you walk in, its surprisingly large. old creole lady working behind the counter making peoples food. few people finishing up their meals sittin at the plastic tables. adam had already decided on the Muffaletta sandwich(8.99 regular, 12.99 large)

muffaletta is a new orleans sandwich based on the large sesame-focaccia style loaf that is used. it typically has an olive relish, ham, salami, capicola, pepperoni, emmantaler, and provolone. i believe this one only had a few of those meats. it was good though. the flavors were all good, it wasnt soggy because of the relish, and the bread wasnt stale or anything. it wasnt the most amazing sandwich ive ever had, but it was good, and HUGE!. now i had already decided upon a crawfish po boy for myself (9.99), but when i ordered it, and she started making it, she informed me she didnt have enough crawfish for a whole sandwich. i though that was a little odd, but i figured it was because she just sold all the crawfish because hey, maybe this place is actually popular? i dont know. but i decided to have half crawfish and half oyster. so this is what i ended up with.

the crawfish were good, they were crispy. not over fried. the sesame roll was toasted. under each fried portion, there was tomatoes and a slam dressed out with a yummy mayonaise based dressing.

the oysters were huge, they were like 3 bites each. once again, fried nicely, not over done. same slaw tomato party that was on the other half. i ate most of the sandwich, but it was pretty big. i saw her pulling the oysters and crawfish out of the freezer, but honestly doesnt bother me with a place like this. if they were some creole restaurant claiming to be fresh and all that jazz, i wouldnt be stoked at all. but they have been open for 23 years, so i guess they are doing it right haha. now onto the main attraction. the WALL OF FIRE!!!!

yes thats right. those are all different bottle of hot sauce. they have a huuuge selection to buy from. i actually found a bottle of one of my favorite sauces that i havent been able to find for the past year because its been on back-order. up on the counter they have a little tasting station for some of their hottest selections. and then on each of the tables, there is random half full bottles of different ones strewn about that you can use freely on your food.

so i enjoyed my lunch. ill be back for sure. it wasnt mindblowingly amazing, but it was good and its a different step from my usual sandwich routine. plus they have a large menu with lots of other options on it. also with the hot sauce options, if i dont like whatever i order, just douse that shit!!! hell yea. check it out!!


Mardi Gras Cafe and Marketplace
3185 Midway Drive
San Diego, CA, 92110

www.mardigrascafesandiego.com

Bay Area Review - 900 Grayson (Berkeley)

so the only reason i could only eat one sandwich at C.R.E.A.M. is because we were so stuffed from lunch and hour earlier at 900 Grayson, also in berkeley. the night before, while chatting over our yummy meal at Oakland's Plum Restaurant (that review is next, its gonna be a doozie!), moms was all like, ayo, i know what we are having for lunch tomorrow. and they she gave brother the eye, and he gave dad the eye, and they all just happened to know what it was. the Demon Lover. whats that? - i said. chicken and waffles? im in. ok, so time travel 14 hours into the future and here we are, walking down grayson, past the private french school, and into the old-victorian-cottage-turned-indoor-outdoor-breakfast-lunch-eatery. fwew. that was a mouthful. but fitting, because so is the demon lover. lets get straight to it.

Demon Lover 12.0
Spicy Buttermilk Fried Fulton Valley Chicken Paillard,
Buttermilk Waffle & Old-Fashioned Cream Gravy or Vermont Maple Syrup
2.0 Extra for both


yea, i copy-pasted from the website, so what? im on vacation... but this bad mother fucker was yum central. we all opted for the gravy, since thats what they said to do, i wanted both gravy and syrup, but an extra two bucks for both? nawwww. shit was on point. the chicken was crispy and still juicy. not dried out at all. the waffle was lil crunchy on the outside, yet soft, like a set of satin sheets for the chicken and gravy to get nasty on. and that they did! i think im the only person that finished mine. oh well! next!

shoestring onions (4 bucks) were good. thin, crispy, yet kinda greasy, which was kinda nice, in a i love greasy onion stuff way. they came with copious amounts of chili aioli sides. which for those of you who are stupid and dont eat chili aioli, is sriracha, mayo, and lemon juice. its universally good. pizza, fries, burgers, sandos, fried shit, spring rolls, you name it. its the new black. those were good. between the 5 of us, we damn near polished off two orders. order them. now this

booooooooooooooooooo!!!!! booooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!! chickpea burger, sounds good, allison should eat that since shes a veggie. booooooooo!!! this thing sucks all kind of balls. the patty, which im not sure whether it was made in house, is flavorless, textureless, and down right insulting. the toppings were stupid, it made no sense. as if the last thing they put on the menu was this burger and they were tired because they spent all day working on the menu and were just like, lets just put A and B on here, then throw on some C and D. ok, we're done! lets call it a night. carrot slaw? yea right, they fucking hit raw carrots on the cheese grater and threw them  on there without a care in the world. pickled red onions. im ok with pickled stuff, mainly because pickled stuff tends to have some sort of flavor. these just tasted like straight white distilled vinegar. get the fuck out of here. yogurt cucumber sauce? yea right. more like they opened a tub of yogurt, didnt stir it up at all, scraped the curds off the top, and threw is some cucumber scrap. we thought it was goat cheese honestly. so this whole thing was a bomb. A BOMB, not THE BOMB. get that straight. but i digress.




go here with meat eaters. not recommended to veggies unless they like flavorless bullshit. the chicken and waffles are killer and the shoestring onions are a good starter. check it out.


900 Grayson
(yea, you guessed it) 900 Grayson Street
Berkeley, Ca, 94710


http://www.900grayson.com

Review - Chamarro Grill

so on my only day off this week i obviously wanted to get out and try something new, so i set off on yelp, per usual, and did a lil wandering around pages until i found something i was remotely interested, and was fairly decently reviewed. im all for trying places regardless of the reviews, but since it was my only day off, i decided id rather not be completely let down. so i stumbled upon this little place over on mission gorge in mission valley, claiming to be Island BBQ. emphasizing the "island" part due to the fact that the menu is Guamanian, Phillipino, and Hawaiian. so i set forth in search of Chamarro Grill! it wasnt hard to find...so i guess that was pretty sweet. i had already decided on my choices by the time i had left the house due to the online menu on their website, but im indecisive so i could have changed my mind at any point. i didnt.... walking into the place, its in a little strip mall with other random sorts of places in it. the decor is very...well...island, i suppose. like, flip flops hanging from the walls and shit. oh, and a map of guam. when i walked in, the 4 tables of people there eating were all P.I.'s so i figured i was in the right place. eat where the people eat, i always say. so when i approached the counter, i ordered myself and order of Span Musubi(3.50)

essentially it was nigiri sushi, but with spam. and they give you the option of red or white rice. i chose red. they came out hot, and wrapped in plastic wrap. i rather enjoyed them, mainly because i fucking love spam. but also the red rice had good flavor, and was cooked nicely. my only gripe about this appetizer is that the rice to spam ratio wasnt very good. it was like having a cheeseburger that it all bun and no burg.

see what i mean? anyway, they were good and they have lots of other kinds of musubi as well. for another appetizer i ordered the order of 5 lumpia (3.25)

i ate one before i took a picture. oops. but these lumpia really surprised me. they were obviously made in house, which is usually a plus. they were fried very crispy, but not greasy, which as a fry cook, i can tell you is really hard for alot of places to accomplish. the filling was beef, mainly, some peas, and maybe carrots? but it tasted good. plus, dipping it in sweet chili sauce is always money. i enjoyed the lumpia very much so. now as for my entree, yelp was blowing up about the Chicken Kelaguen. i dont know what that is. but hm. guess ill go with it. i ordered the Chicken kelaguen Bowl (6.50)

i got about 3 bites into this and was about to go up to the counter and say "excuse me....this chicken kelaguan...is cold!" and demand a new one....but then i was like, wait...i dont know shit about this dish, i should google it. i did, and lucky for me...i found out this dish is supposed to be eaten cold, or room temp. boy my face would have been red. so what is it? it is a chicken (or often times beef or shrimp) dish that is marinated in a mixture of lemon juice, fresh coconut juice, salt, scallions and red hot chilis. oh, ok. cool. so i ate it. the bowl entree came with a huge helping of the red rice i was talking about earlier. it was good. now while i was eating, i had a can of dr pepper to wash everything down with, but as i was half way through, i realized my can was empty. sad face! but then i looked up to the counter and saw this

pineapple water!!! fuck yea. i guess im on a tear of going places that like to flavor their water. the pineapple water was delicious. it tasted like cold water...with pineapple!!!! whoda thunk it? but yea. thats free, so its chill. overall i enjoyed my meal, and i will definatly be back to try other things. they had a specials chalk board with abunch of random things on it. they also have a shitload of like short ribs and stuff that looked pretty tasty, so ill want to check that out. oh and everything is very moderately priced, so thats good. check it out!


Chamarro Grill
6628 Mission Gorge Rd.
San Diego, Ca, 92120

www.chamarrogrill.net

Review - Asmara, East African Cuisine

i felt like eating with my hands. so i yelped and i yelped and i yelped, i came upon this place. Asmara East African Food in City Heights. it looked cheap, it had good reviews on yelp, and allison was in the mood for ethnic food. so we set off! set on University right off the 15, it was sitting there next to a check cashing place i think? it was dark so i couldnt tell. as i pulled into the parking lot on the back side of the restaurant, i noticed there was 2 taxi cabs among the cars parked there. we walked into a damn near empty restaurant except for a group of fancy looking girls (and one gay guy) having a birthday party in the corner, and a bar filled with old ass african dudes chilling, drinking african beer and watching the Lakers - Mavs game. they were speaking a foreign language, but i could basically tell that they werent happy with Kobe's jumpshot. we got out menus and i had basically already decided on out orders before i left the house. for drinks someone on yelp praised the Honey Wine. so i ordered a glass.

it looked refreshing, so i dove right in. um. yea. basically it smelled of nail polish remover, and tasted like a combination of well vodka and cheap whiskey. not. a. fan. but i digress. allison only wanted water, so he dropped us two glasses of this stuff. allison took a sip, looked at me and said "taste the water"....uh oh.

cinnamon???..........in the water??? ok, so at SOME POINT, the jug of water they had, has been infused with cinnamon stick. because this water, tasty exactly like it had cinnamon stick in it. which we both found slightly distrubing, yet...pretty fuckin tasty! it was refreshing and different. way better then stupid lemon slices floating in the water. fuck that. we doin cinnamon, son! anyway, we started with an order of Veggie Sambusas(2.50):

they came out hot, they pastry was flaky and seasoned, and the filling which mainly consisted of lentils and a little potato, was pretty good. it was simple, but had alot going on. lots of different spices in that mix. and it wasnt just some smashed together lentil goo, there were full lentils all up in there. the red sauce was essentially cumin-paprika oil. thats all it was. but it worked well with the sambusas. for my entree, i wanted to try it all, so i got the Meat Combination Platter (12.95) which looked like this

now, as i said earlier, i wanted to eat with my hands. there are no forks, no spoons, no knives, nothing on  any of the tables. which is great, because you see that thing underneith all the meats? thats what you eat with. also they give you all these on the side as well

its called injera. its a very airy-yeasty-sour-pancake if you will. its tangy when you eat it by itself, but once you start picking shit up with it, you get it. ok, so i dont recall what everything was that i was eating, i just know it all tasted different, and it was all fucking awesome. ill try to recall though

this was a braised lamb stew of some sort. despite the fact that it looks like a dog turd, it was very flavorful and quite spicy, as in hot. it was delicious.

on top there was a cubed grilled beef dish which was the least spicy of the group, but it was very heavy of spices, yet seasoned perfectly and not overcooked! the bottom one there was a grilled lamb dish that was a medium spicy level and was also nicely cooked and well seasoned. also on the plate was a salad of pickled cucumbers, onions and lettuce. once again, seasoned, and it popped! the fresh crunch of the salad was a real nice balance when eaten with the meats.

now a little less carnivorous on the other side of the table, allison got the Veggie Combination Platter (12.95)

hers also came with its own plate of rolled injera. there was no shortage on injera, ill tell you what. so if i can remember correctly, the top green stuff was braised collard greens. they were slightly sweet and fairly butter, they were good. then on the top right, was some sort of potato and carrot dish, i actually didnt try that. i probably should have.

the front right here was a yellow lentil dish that wasnt very spicy but wasnt short on flavor. the lentils were cooked nicely, not all mish mashed like most places crank em out. im not sure what the middle left dish up there was, but that was allisons favorite i believe.

then this one was some sort of spicy bean dish, alli didnt care much for this one because it was the spiciest thing on her plate and she doesnt care for too much spicy. i enjoyed that one quite a bit though.

so, all in all, this places is doing the right things. the same things i get preached to about at work every single day. and that is this, proper seasoning and balanced flavors will take you a loooong way. everything we ate tonight was seasoned properly, it all had lots of flavor, and nothing was over/undercooked! it all had balance and the tanginess of the injera bread really ate well with everything. next time i can do with out the honey wine since i barely touched it and at 5 bucks a glass, its a bomber. ill probably skip on appetizers next time as well, the combination platters are alot of food. it doesnt look like much, but factoring in some injera with every bite, its alot haha. we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. we will be back, for sure.

Asmara East African Cuisine
4155 University St. (between 42nd and Marlborough)
San Diego, CA, 92105