Fiddler's Green Restaurant

Fiddler's Green Restaurant
2760 Shelter Island Drive
San Diego, CA 92106
(619) 222-2216
www.fiddlersgreensandiego.com

The best part about Fiddler's Green Restaurant is the service, with the decor coming in at a close second.

The food, while it's the third best part of the restaurant, doesn't fall short of any expectations one would have over spending $20 on a prime rib dinner that includes two sides and an appetizer.

The clam chowder in a cup, which was actually a tad greasy and not to my liking.

The prime sirloin steak, which was available for the same price as the prime rib.

The Fiddler's Cut prime rib, which is around an inch and a half thick. I ordered it medium rare but the meat was slightly less cooked through than I would have preferred. That being said, it was still pretty good, and the mashed potatoes tasted like they were made from potatoes and not some kind of powder reconstituted with water and milk.

The server (who turned out to be one of the restaurant owners) was keen enough to observe how we were dressed, and offered to have us wait a few minutes for a nice table to open up in the back. The booth seats themselves are lined with the sailing decor that can be enjoyed throughout the restaurant.

Dinner will set you back around $25 per person, but I will definitely come back here again. While the food is not to die for, it is still pretty decent, and the warm service makes the dining experience improve by leaps and bounds.

Restaurant - Lolita's Taco Shop

Lolita's Taco Shop
7305 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 874-7983
www.lolitasmexicanfood.com

Lolita's is a great taco shop with a funny name. It's one of the first places I ate at after coming to San Diego, and still remains a favorite of mine after two and a half years here.

Shrimp taco
It's really hard to go wrong with anything here; the have artery-clogging carne asada fries, deliciously succulent pollo asado, and a slew of other meats such as adobada and carnitas to fill in their many dishes.

Aside from their signature carne asada fries (enough to serve 3 people), I personally would recommend their pollo asado, carne asada, and adobado; their carnitas is a tad salty fo my tastes, and as any good pork meat does, it has a lot of oil that will drip down your fingers.

Super rolled taco
Also I wouldn't recommend any vegetable dishes, as that area is certainly not what they excel in (or spend too much time working on).

Their salsa bar goes easy on the salsa and instead gives you the option to munch on green onions, turnips, or pickled jalapeño peppers. And they have a "non-American" drink fountain with horchata beverages, among others.


Carne asada taco, chicken taco, and a carnitas burrito.The only caveat is that their food can take a while to prepare at times; as they so advertise, patience is apparently the essence of quality Mexican food. Other than that it's pretty standard as far as a sit-in Mexican fast food eatery goes.

Two people can expect to be reasonably full for around 11 to 15 dollars.

Cicadas are quite similar to shrimps in texture

An interesting read in today's Japan Times for the less squeamish...

"I think a food shortage will emerge as a global problem in the near future. Insects will play a big role in solving that problem."

I think so too, but that doesn't mean I'm going to start eating bugs on my curry -- never mind the fact that apparently, crabs are not all that different from spiders in terms of their anatomical structure.

Maybe people will eat more bugs as time passes by, but if I had any kids, I wouldn't want them to eat fried insects for dinner.

"While the idea of eating insects may seem unusual or even unappetizing to some, human consumption of insects is actually very common in most parts of the world," the U.N. body said.

I've heard of snacking on fried ants or locusts, but a giant bug on a bowl of curry is a bit extreme; it looks downright disgusting, and there's no way I would even go near that.

Source: The Japan Times Online

News - Assault With An 8-Inch Sausage

(Fresno, CA) A man reportedly broke into the home of two farmworkers, stole cash, rubbed one of the men with spices and hit the other with a sausage before fleeing.

The weapon of choice for a burglar -- an 8-inch sausage which he used to attack his victims after waking them up with some Pappy's spice seasoning.

Some information from the police report:

Before fleeing the residence, Vasquez, for some reason, removed his shorts, which contained his driver's license, credit cards, school IDs, and cell phone... Cops were unable to recover Vasquez's principal weapon. "I asked Santiago where the sausage was," Deputy George Ozburn wrote, "he advised his dog ate it."

I would have liked to see him claim that he saw someone do it in a video game.

Source: The Smoking Gun

Beverage - Starbucks Sorbetto

2.95 for what, you say?
No, my hands are not abnormally large nor small. You only have one option as the size of this Sorbetto drink, and it's pretty freaking small. In a bizarre twist of events though, Starbucks is actually using the Pinkberry brand to sell a product, and not the other way around!

I'm not sure why they think Starbucks patrons would want a drink that is super light, free of caffeine or cream, and costs almost $0.25 per ounce. It tastes okay, but I don't see anyone telling their friends to buy this, too.

Quick, go for this now before Starbucks takes it off their menu!

Restaurant - Spoon House

Spoon House Bakery & Restaurant
1601 W Redondo Beach Blvd
Gardena, CA 90247
(310) 538-0376

I have never had an unpleasant experience at Spoon House. A local favorite of mine since my elementary school days as an Asian kid with a bowl cut, it's a convenient place to stop by if you are interested in Japanese style pasta. Best of all, the understand what al dente means - a source of relief in a city where most Italian places will serve you a plate of crunchy spaghetti if you utter those two words.

Bacon, shiitake mushroom, shrimp, and spinach pasta
Their bread isn't bad either, but you are better off only eating a couple of bites if you want to avoid baguettes that are loaded with butter even before you take your butter knife to them.

Spaghetti bolognese with meatballs
I would personally recommend their spaghetti bolognese with sausage and egg, or if you prefer a creamy (but not buttery) sauce, their chicken cream sauce spaghetti. For the adventurous, their cold California pasta (avocados, vegetables, and canned crab meat in a light cream sauce) or spaghetti neapolitan (ketchup instead of tomato paste) may be to your liking.

As long as you don't go during a time they are super busy, you will get relatively fast and efficient service, and don't forget to pay at the cash register at the front of the store. You can buy some of their bread to take home, if you are so inclined.

Restaurant - Pizza Port

Pizza Port
135 N Hwy 101
Solana Beach, CA 92075
(858) 481-7332
http://www.pizzaport.com

If you are looking for the kind of pizza shop that you went to as a kid to get your ass kicked in Street Fighter II (or because of Street Fighter II), Pizza Port may provide an answer.

Their menu boasts a variety that, while not boring, is not too exotic in their toppings. Most of their pizza seems to be topped with garlic and basil, and you are probably going to enjoy your pizza a whole lot more if you get a pitcher of beer on the side, as they have over a dozen brews on tap.

The Solana Pizza - shrimp, fish, and shellfish?

If you want to take someone here and enjoy a small pizza and a salad, it'll set you back around $15. I doubt you will feel ripped off here.

The service is pretty standard fare; you order your pizza, take a number, and then pick up your pizza when your number is called. A few rows of long benches fill up the interior, so you'll have to sit next to some strangers if the place is crowded.

Sadly they do not have any Street Fighter machines, but they have a few arcade games that you can indulge in if the atmosphere is a bit boring for you.

And if you still want to get your ass kicked, they have an online jukebox that gives you the liberty to, I assume, put in some really shitty music that will rip through the entire establishment before. There's even a dark, unused booth towards the back of the restaurant that doubles as storage for unused pizza boxes - the perfect stage for a round of some real street fighting action.