Ess-A-Bagel (Interrupt)

Date of Dining: 10/6/2012
Price: $10.75 for sandwiches
Location: 831 3rd Avenue, New York, NY
website

The Quick Bit

+ classic bagels made fresh on site

Δ wait time could be shorter

While I was in New York, one of the things I wanted to try was the classic lox and bagel. After consulting many different sites, I chose Ess-A-Bagel as the place to try the delicacy based on location and reputation.

Established in 1976, Ess-A-Bagel has become a staple of the New York bagel scene. The bagels are boiled and baked on premises constantly throughout the day.

everything bagel - nova lox, scallion cream cheese

For my one breakfast at Ess-A-Bagel, I settled on the classic sandwich. While I asked for a hot bagel, I assume this was code for tourist and I felt my bagel was anything but hot and fresh. Further, the lox was not particularly good to make up for the bagel; the kirkland brand smoked salmon you get at Costco was better. Overall, I have to say that the sandwich was a little better than what you would get at the local Einstein Bros. However, when cost and convenience are factored in, I didn't particularly feel that Ess-A-Bagel was far superior to the local bagel shop.

Conclusion

Ultimately, I have to agree with the Serious Eats article that I referenced when choosing a bagel shop - namely, a bagel older than 30 minutes is indistinguishable from any other bagel. While Ess-A-Bagel was churning out fresh bagels to order from the bagel counter and was packed full of customers, they were unable to send out fresh bagels as sandwiches to customers. This failure is a massive oversight.

If you are in New York and want to enjoy great bagel and lox, I recommend ordering the lox and cream cheese separately and then going to the bagel counter to make your own sandwich. This will ensure the freshest bagel with the best taste.

Read more...

Red Light District - Flash

Date of Dining: 7/13/2012
Price: $12-15 per entree
Location: 409 F St, San Diego, CA 92101
website

The Quick Bit: 

+ house made breads for lunch

+ great service and friendly front of house

Δ water could have less chlorinated taste

Red Light District in Gaslamp is the new venture of Chef Jason Maitland. Graduating from the New England Culinary Institute, Maitland previously worked as sous chef to Chef Carl Schroeder at Arterra and was the Executive Chef at Flavor Del Mar. Maitland's cuisine at Red Light District seems to be cooking American foods with complicated technique but presenting them in a clean and laid back manner.

As part of the Comic Con crawl, I visited Red Light District for lunch one day.

duck confit flatbread (half order) - hoisin, scallion, red onion, arugla

This flatbread order appeared to be more of a flatbread with a salad on top. While the flatbread itself was baked excellently and had a nice crispy crunch, the elements on top including the duck were cold. I appreciated the flavor combinations of duck, arugula, and hoisin, but thought that overall the dish lacked some finesse. Most of the time, the flavor combinations were out of balance.

maine lobster roll - melted leek, scallion, drawn butter

As a lover of seafood (and lobster) I appreciate any dish that includes a fresh lobster. The lobster in combination with the leeks was prepared well, as the slight garlicy taste enhanced the lobster. The roll was a house made bread, which was fresh and well toasted. The upgrade to the salad was also appreciated and included a nice champagne vinaigrette and a nice selection of fresh vegetables. Unfortunately, the lobster was slightly overcooked

braised short rib torpedo - roasted tomato, aged white cheddar, buttermilk hot dog bun

The short rib was braised well and full of flavor. The cheese did a good job of tying all of the elements of the dish together. Overall, this was a nice sandwich.

Conclusion

While there was nothing wrong with the meal at Red Light District, there was also nothing that really stood out about the meal. Overall, the experience was somewhat average and felt like a meal I could get at any slightly high end chain restaurant (e.g. Cheesecake Factory). While perhaps there is a demand for such places, especially in the Gaslamp, I didn't feel there was anything in the meal to justify a return visit in the future.

Read more...

Cremolose - Flash

Date of Dining: 2/25/2012
Price: $8-12 appetizers, $8-11 sandwiches, $11-15 pizzas
Location: 840 5th Ave, San Diego, CA 92101
website

The Quick Bit:

+ unique environment of Italian dessert + "club"

+ large selection of desserts

Δ "lost" order during non-peak hours

Δ mis-labeled dish naming

Δ could get higher quality ingredients for the price paid

I visited Cremolose along with several other San Diego bloggers as part of a SeriousEats meetup. While the meeting occurred several months ago, I sat on my photos for a long time because I was conflicted on whether to post my thoughts.

On one hand, Cremolose has an interesting concept for downtown San Diego in that it contains the club atmosphere with a wide variety of Italian desserts.

On the other hand, my experience at the restaurant was so bad that I find it hard to write anything even neutral about the experience.

When I ordered my food during non-peak times (as in our party was maybe 15 of 25 people in the restaurant), it took over an hour for my food to arrive. It turned out that despite paying my money prior to the food being served, the ticket was lost and there was no intention to serve the food. Further, when I inquired to my order with the manager, I was treated as a liar and was met with skepticism at my claim even though I produced the receipt.

When the food finally arrived, I felt that the description of the items on the menu may not have correctly reflected the food that was finally served.

The Food

portabello e speck - cow milk mozzarella, portobello mushroom, imported speck, and truffle oil

quattro formaggi - gorgonzola, mozzarella, asiago, and parmigiano

The pizzas were provided as part of the SeriousEats meetup, and was the least offensive food served by the restaurant. Still, I would prefer pizza from Bruno, Blue Ribbon, Calabria, and many other San Diego pizzerias, especially at the price point.

carpaccio di bue - thin sliced filet mignon, arugula, shaved parmigiano, cherry tomato, lemon olive oil

For the price of this menu item, I thought there would be more than the seven thing slices of filet served. Further, the shaved parmigiano didn't make the plate and it was sorely missed as the dish required that additional element to really elevate the flavors against the relatively flavorless filet.

porchetta panini - slow roasted imported pork, provolone cheese, roasted mushrooms, mayo

Calling the protein porchetta would be a huge insult; calling the protein even ham would constitute as an insult to ham. Calling the final sandwich a panini is probably even a stretch.

Conclusion:

Over two months after my dining experience at Cremolose, I still feel some outrage at the memory of the food I was served. If I ever return to Cremolose again, it will be too soon.

Luckily, the company that I enjoyed in meeting the other bloggers and SeriousEats personalities made the time enjoyable and worth the trip. I look forward to more blogger meetup events in the future, but perhaps at establishments with less offensive dining options.

Read more...

MIHO Gastrotruck

Date of Dining: 3/23/2012 
Price: $8-10 per item
Location: Two trucks, various location - check website

The Quick Bit:

+ high quality restaurant food in a food truck

+ rotating selection of menu items

+ most items made fresh

Δ some items were unbalanced

Δ restaurant quality food is still at restaurant prices

I've quipped about MIHO in the past in relation to what I viewed as their shortcomings (namely the small portions), but I never really did give them a fair shake. The reality is that MIHO was San Diego's first Gourmet Food Truck in the real sense of the word, and they are who many of the other food truck operators look to as the "top dog" of San Diego food trucks. 

MIHO is the brainchild of former Linkery Chefs Juan Miron and David Ho. Leaving The Linkery, they sought to establish a mobile restaurant in the same spirit of the restaurant where they worked; fresh, local, organic ingredients are used and everything that can be made from scratch is made from scratch. 

When I decided to visit MIHO for the blog, I decided that I would remove any past preconceptions from my mind and approach the food truck like any other first timer would. I enlisted the help of a coworker to make sure that I remained unbiased.

The Food

shrimp tacos - chipotle aioli, slaw

The shrimp was cooked to perfection, and the aioli was flavorful. Unfortunately, I felt that the dish did not quite come together in spectacular fashion. I was hoping for the sweetness of the shrimp to contrast with the spice of the chipotle and sing in my mouth, and those flavors did combine in such a way, but the resulting chorus was more of a pianissimo sound than the fortissimo.

fried chicken biscuit - free range chicken, local slaw. house made buttermilk biscuit

As people are starting to get to know, my guilty pleasure is fried chicken. Coupled with the biscuit and I knew I had to order this. The biscuit was made to perfection as it was moist, crisp, and full-flavored. The chicken was fried perfectly to retain moistness and tenderness. This was the best dish of the visit, and not just because it was my guilty pleasure. While I normally never order chicken from a restaurant, I was happy to have this dish and would readily order it again.

Perhaps most importantly, the serving size of the sandwich was a full portion. Eating this alone is enough for a normal person to get full.

Lamburger - all natural lamb, harissa aioli, goat cheese, caramelized onion, local arugula, local ciabatta

We ordered the lamb cooked medium rare and the chef complied to cook it exactly as per specification. The lamb was super moist and the medium rare cooking caused all the juices to overflow throughout the ciabatta. The combination of flavors really worked well in the context of the sandwich and was satisfying. While I was ready to anoint the lamburger the best dish, my co-worker pointed out that he was really put off by the bread to meat ratio in that the flavors of the ciabatta really muted the flavor of the lamb. Instead of being the best dish, the lamburger will have to settle for a close second.

bacon chocolate chip cookie

We finished with a dessert item. Other than the bacon chip visible on the top of the cookie, we detected no other flavor of back throughout as the chocolate seemed to overpower the flavor. Further, thought the price of the cookie did not justify what we received. This was easily the worst dish, and we both recommend against anyone ordering it in the future unless the price is dropped.

Conclusion

Overall, there were some hits and misses at MIHO, but I came out of the experience with a much higher opinion of the truck than I held previously. Most importantly, MIHO is now offering true restaurant quality food out of the truck in the proper portion sizes to be full. While the price isn't any cheaper than a restaurant,  the location of the truck in certain certain culinarily desolate locations may trump the higher price point - the food out of the MIHO Gastrotruck is easily better than most restaurants.

For the high quality restaurant food out of a food truck, MIHO is awarded the bit award.

Read more...

Wich Addiction - Grand Opening

Date of Dining: 4/12/2012 
Price: $3-4 sides, $8-11 entrees
Location: 6625 Flanders, San Diego, CA 92126
website


The Quick Bit:
+ Great technical cooking temperatures
+ Diverse menu of sandwiches and salads
+ Braised short rib flavors
Δ Seating can be difficult during rush hours

I previously covered the Wich Addiction soft opening, so it was only natural that I made my way back for the grand opening. When I first started covering food trucks, I mentioned that many of the early food truck pioneers entered the business because they wished to own their own restaurant, but otherwise did not have the money to do so. Those owners either made the food truck into their version of a mobile restaurant, or used it as the seed to eventually establish their own storefront.

As the bubble of food truck popularity begins to burst, the long term viability of food trucks will ultimately lie in the abilities of their owners to convert to brick and mortar locations. While a few more successful trucks may continue to always operate, the more secure path to a future lies in the establishment of a successful restaurant. 

Dyann and Mark Manning, owners of the Devilicious Food Truck, are the first in San Diego to make the jump from food truck to brick and mortar restaurant. In a little more than 15 months of operation, the Mannings have been able to use the seed money from the food truck to fund their own restaurant.While the restaurant isn't a huge Cohn monster in terms of space, it is the next step in a potentially larger future.

For those that don't remember Dyann Manning (or those who remember her as Dyann Huffman), she went to the CIA and honed her skills with Tom Colicchio at Grammercy Tavern. When I spoke with her, she stated that once the business gets going, she plans to hold some special events at the new restaurant where she may show off more of her fine dining skills. Stay tuned for some of these future updates. In the meantime, she is constantly adjusting the menu at Wich Addiction and gearing it up for both delivery and catering services to the surrounding Sorrento Valley area.

The concept of Wich Addiction is a casual American eatery; it will offer both sandwiches and salads and primarily focus on lunch and early dinner. All the meats for the sandwiches are roasted on site and everything is made fresh, including the chips that accompany each sandwich order. In addition to the salads and sandwiches, there are some "other" entrees including a poutine (which speaks to Dyann's Canadian roots) and a grilled penne.

Salads:

fennel salad with crispy pork belly

The fennel salad had a nice flavor as it integrated the flavor of fennel with the manchego. The cherry tomatoes brought some sweetness and acidity that brightened up the dish. My only complaint with the dish was that the crispy pork belly didn't seem to integrate well with the other elements of the salad. 

panzanella salad with seared scallops

To this day, the panzanella salad I ordered from Devilicious was one of three best things Dyann has ever served me. It is with great pleasure that I can report the panzanella salad is back and to stay at Wich Addiction. In fact, this version of the panzanella salad is superior to the previous because it is made more freshly. However, the mix of the balsamic with the cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers and arugula is still a winning combination that carries the core flavors that I previously experienced at an even more elevated level. 

beet and citrus salad with seared sea scallops

Perhaps the biggest surprise to me came with how much I enjoyed the beet and citrus salad. The sweetness of the beets is really emphasized against the sweet acidity of the oranges in this dish, and I was really pleasantly surprised with the intensity of flavor. This is definitely a salad for beet lovers. I would never want to pick between this salad and the panzanella salad as they are both really good. However, if you are in the mood for scallops, I would advise more towards the panzanella as the sweetness of the scallops is lost a bit when held against the beets.

Sides:

I previously covered the friend yummies that also fall into this category, so that really only leaves the deviled eggs.

deviled eggs

Note: I ordered the deviled eggs while they were fried, but I believe they have now been changed to not include the parmesan panko crust

The deviled eggs were very well done. This was the classic deviled egg with the twist of the small crunch when biting into the egg white. I really felt that the frying worked in heightening the flavors of the deviled egg, but it does seem labor intensive to make them.

Non-Wich Entrees:

I already covered the poutine previously (which is utterly amazing), and the only other item I've tasted is the penne:

short rib penne - grilled asparagus, cherry tomatoes, spinach, parmesan 

The penne uses the same brasied short rib as the poutine, but perhaps with less of the gravy. The savory braised sauce of the short rib really carries through,  but the stars of this dish was the perfectly grilled asparagus. The asparagus gave a textural contrast while also being cut in roughly the same sized chunks as the pasta, and really carried the dish to success. 

Sandwiches:

house roasted beef - lettuce, tomato, onion, sharp cheddar, bloody mary aioli

The bloody mary aioli really made this dish work - it helped the beef retain moistness and provided a seasoned contrast to the flavor of the beef. The beef was well roasted and tender. Perhaps the most important part was that the roast beef didn't contain any of the connective tissue bits that get stuck in between your teeth.

stuffed burger - angus patty stuffed with gouda, lettuce, tomato, onion, dill pickle aioli

This is Dyann's take on the jucy lucy. As usual, the patty was cooked to a perfect medium rare and the flavor was definitely in the patty despite it not being grass-fed beef. I was a little worried at first at the size of the bun, but the added thickness of the double-patty held up to the thicker bun (and the thicker bun looks way better for presentation).

house roasted turkey - provolone, lettuce, tomato, onion, jalapeno aioli

This was easily the best sandwich dish I enjoyed. The jalapeno aioli was the star of this dish - it made my mouth sing and complemented the roast turkey perfectly. The aioli was the perfect blend of flavor and spice, and really enhanced the flavor of the roasted turkey.

Conclusion:

Dyann is off to a great start with Wich Addiction, and I can't wait to see how the menu evolves over the next few months. The quality of the sandwiches is really high as all the meats are freshly roasted on premises, and there is the added extra flair of a professionally trained chef cooking in the kitchen. As with any new restaurant, there are still some kinks to work out so don't expect a michelin starred experience if you go. However, I believe the Mannings have adapted their winning food truck formula into a winning restaurant formula. I also look forward to the special events that Dyann may have in her mind.

For the great food with excellent technical precision, Wich Addiction is awarded the kilobit award. 

Read more...

Wich Addiction Preview Soft Opening

Date of Dining: 4/2/2012 

Price: $4-8 per item

Location: 6625 Flanders, Mira Mesa, CA 92129

website

I'm back a little early, but this is just a teaser post. Back when I first covered Devilicious, I mentioned that many food truck owners operate the food truck to try and open their own proper restaurant. I will cover this a little more in the subsequent post, but Devilicious owners Dyann and Mark Manning have converted their food truck dreams into a proper brick and mortar location.

Instead of extending the Devilicious name, they decided to call the new restaurant Wich Addiction and build up a new following. The menu is completely different from the food truck, but features some "retired" favorites from the truck in the restaurant. While the food will remain strongly rooted in comfort food, many of the dishes will be things that cannot otherwise be served in a food truck.

Wich Addiction is set to have its grand opening on April 12, but you can check it out ahead of time during its soft opening. Just be patient as they work out some of the kinks. I will have full coverage of the location for its grand opening. Until then here are some of the highlights.

Wich Addiction First Day Menu

The menu features a range of sandwiches, salads, and "special" appetizers. It is not too much unlike the Devilicious Food Truck Menu in its first incarnation.

The coffee and tea is provided by Cafe Virtuoso, and is created using a reverse osmosis water system to give a pure and clean flavor to all the coffee and tea.

passion fruit iced tea

 I really enjoyed the ice tea and felt that I could taste some of the natural sweetness in the tea despite there not having any sugar added.

chili fried yummies

The arancini-style fried yummies are back! The first flavor of the month is the tried and true chili flavor. These were better than I remembered them as there did not seem to be any over or under-seasoning issues with the yummies. I'm glad they are back and look forward to the mushroom risotto yummies again in the future.

corn beef sandwich - house kraut, swiss, dill pickle aioli

All sandwiches are served with thick-cut house made chips. The corn beef was cooked so well that I felt I didn't need to chew the beef. The seasonings were spot on and the kraut and aioli rounded out the proper flavors. While it may not have been piled high like a Jewish deli, the flavors were really strong and well-rounded.

poutine - red wine braised short rib, new york sharp cheddar, french fries

While this poutine lacked the chese curds, Dyann assured me that this was an otherwise authentic Canadian poutine. I'm not sure what it was but the short ribs were cooked to be perfectly tender and packed full of braising liquid flavor. I liked that the braising vegetables were also included. I felt this was one of the top three dishes that I've ever been served by Dyann, and it shows a lot of promise for what is yet to come.

Wich Addiction is off to a great start and is now open for business. 

Read more...

Hoangie's Banh Mi on Wheels Food Truck

Date of Dining: 3/22/2012
Price: $7-9 per Banh Mi
Location: Food Truck Weekly Schedule:
Monday - 4000 Ruffin Rd
Tuesday - 8945 Rehco Rd
Wednesday - 5600 Oberlin Dr
Thursday - 9540 Towne Centre Dr
Friday: Greer Dr and Shoreham Pl
website

The Quick Bit:
+ authentic Vietnamese flavors on a food truck
+ fast friendly service
+ large selection of beverages
Δ price could be more reflective of banh mi
Δ protein choices could reflect more authenticity

It has been awhile since I covered food trucks, and I apologize for the lack of coverage for those interested. I can't promise that I will be covering more food trucks, but I do plan to try and try out more of them in the near future.

Hoangie's Food Truck is a truck that specializes in serving Vietnamese Sandwiches otherwise known as banh mi. The concept of selling Banh Mi on a food truck was popularized by the Nom Nom Truck in the first season of The Great Food Truck Race. With the success of the truck and the popularity of the show, I'm actually more surprised that we haven't seen another Banh Mi truck in San Diego even earlier.

Hoangie's is a family owned and run operation. The name of the truck is a pun on the Hoang family's name along with the hoagie roll, which resembles the French roll that banh mi is served in. Upon ordering at the truck, one is greeted by the effusively friendly and positive smile of Jenny Hoang, who takes the order and then calls it out to her brother(s) working the line. By the time Jenny finishes taking an order, the previous order is usually ready to be picked up.

The sandwiches offered by Hoangie's consist of the same basic banh mi fillings - pickled daikon, pickled carrots, jalapeno, cilantro, cucumber, and spicy aioli - along with several different protein choices - free-range chicken, rib eye, pork butt, ground sirloin hamburger, tuna, or panko crusted tofu. It should be noted that while the chicken is free range, none of the other proteins are of abnormal quality.

oink banh mi

I settled on the oink banh mi as it is the most popular sandwich. While I wasn't floored by my first bite, but the end of the first half of the sandwich, the flavors started to win me over. The pork contained the great flavor of pork and was complemented by the sweet pickled flavors of the daikon and carrot. The jalapeno and aioli added a spicy contrast that built up on my palate and had enjoying the flavor contrast. These flavor contrasts demonstrate some of the basic tenants of Vietnamese cuisine. 

While the sandwich won on flavors, it did fall a bit short in some areas. The temperature of the protein was lukewarm, and the bread was cold. I also felt that the inclusion of the spicy aioli was trying a bit too hard to dress up the banh mi - traditional banh mi contain butter and perhaps some pate spread.

vietnamese (pork) egg rolls

I also took the opportunity to order the vietnamese egg rolls. Freshly out of the fryer, these egg rolls were well-made traditional vietnamese egg rolls. Instead of the traditional fish sauce dip, they were instead accompanied by the spicy aoili sauce. While I ate these, I found myself missing the fish sauce dip as well as the lettuce wrap and mint that usually accompany egg rolls.

Conclusion:

If I had been given the food for free and asked to judge whether it had come from a restaurant or food truck, I probably wouldn't be able to differentiate; the food that Hoangie's serves is on par with the better Vietnamese restaurants in San Diego.

Unfortunately I did pay for the food, which brings up my biggest issue with Hoangie's. While the size of the Hoangie's Banh Mi is about 1.5 times larger than other restaurants, the price of the sandwich is about double. Furthermore, at a restaurant the egg rolls usually cost twice as much, but one receives six egg rolls as well as accompanying vegetables. 

At the price point set by Hoangie's, I want a little more differentiation - the ingredients need to be higher quality or there needs to be more innovation in the cuisine. While the chicken is free range and reflective of the higher quality, the other proteins lack any special quality to differentiate them.

Ultimately Hoangie's is making tasty food, but should perhaps consider prices in comparison to both other food trucks and other brick and mortar Vietnamese restaurants.

Read more...