Food Galore Pt. 2: Extraordinary Desserts

Ok so usually a dinner with LH and DM within a 10 mile radius of Hillcrest is not complete without LH suggesting a trip to Extraordinary Desserts and EK begrudgingly consenting to paying for an outrageously priced piece of cake because he knows it’ll make me happy. ML was with us this time since it was after enjoying the meal at Chillangos and she swears that LH never suggests it when they are just having dinner by themselves down here. I think I’ve tried pretty much every cake here at least once if not twice already considering EK and I have come here bout once every other month since we started dating and then I do come here with my girlfriends occasionally on our girls’ night outings.

EK and I decided to share the Blood Orange Torte along with a double Valrhona Mocha and DM also went with the same cake. I must say a delicious choice. The white cakes are little more refreshing after a heavy meal than the chocolate ones. This particular torte is layers of Ricotta cake soaked with fresh blood orange juice, layered with slices of fresh blood oranges, raspberries, cranberries and whipped cream.

ML and LH shared a slice of the Dulce de Leche torte and a Soy latte and coffee respectively. Unfortunately, they discovered that there were nuts in the cake when ML throat started feeling a little itchy. LH being the good guy he is scraped out the layers with nuts eating it himself so she could eat the non-nut parts. This torte consists of layers of chocolate cake with chocolate mouse and praline, drizzled with homemade dulce de leche.

Extraordinary Desserts= Happy Lizzy even after a terrible day

Oh yes…there’s another location in Little Italy that you can find on the website. However the 5th Avenue one is the original location and you’ll probably feel more at home in the whimsical little cottage as opposed to the cavernous industrial style Little Italy one.

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Average meal price: ~$15

Food:the best cake I’ve ever had

Ambiance: cutesy and romantic

Service:quite fast

Kid-friendliness:try to leave the kids at home as the tables are bit small to bust out the toy cars and coloring books

Cleanliness:quite clean

Overall: A must go when you want to splurge or celebrate

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2929 Fifth Avenue

San Diego, CA 92103-5919

(619) 294-2132

Monday-Thursday: 8:30am - 11pm
Friday: 8:30am - midnight
Saturday: 10am - midnight
Sunday: 10am - 11pm

http://www.extraordinarydesserts.com/extraordinarydesserts/index.htm

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Food Galore Pt.1: Chilangos

Ok…so I’m not really into Mexican food which is blasphemous to EK and pretty much all my friends (Nhu-Chi upon hearing my comment of not being into Mexican: “How can you survive?”) Well, one day a few months ago DM and LH introduced us to this quaint cute little sit down Mexican joint in Hillcrest which has somewhat opened me up more to Mexican food. Ok so now I like sit down or home cooked Mexican food now but none of the Taco stand stuff still. I haven’t seen Michelle in quite sometime…since New Year’s Eve dinner at Region also in Hillcrest. It was nice that she was able to come down from LA. We think that the proprietor of the place swings the other way and that we’ve been getting special treatment since he thinks that DM and LH also have the same preferences. On several previous occasions we would get free desserts on the house or he would be very congenial with our party. I guess this trip was different since Michelle was able to join us and we noticed a change of attitude when LH mentioned that she was his girlfriend and that she couldn’t eat nuts. Yea… we got charged for the extra rice we ordered that we were pretty certain would have been free if the above wasn’t mentioned. Aside from that the food was excellent as usual.

To start we ordered the House Dip to share which consisted of Queso Fresco, Salsa fresco, guacamole and their house salsa on the side. I really do enjoy the texture of Queso Fresco…for some reason it brings back memories of vendors coming by my parents Laundromat back at to sell their home cooked goodies of tamales, roasted corn, menudo and other such treats.

I’ve fallen in love with the Braised Pork Loin in Brandy and Plum sauce and can’t seem to make myself order something else when I come here. I get so giddy eating the plums. I also convinced Michelle to get it as well which she equally enjoyed.

EK got the Braised Pork Loin with Salsa Verde s

auce which he has also ordered before. A bit spicy for me but still delicious.

LH ordered the Chile Relleno which I assume was super yummy considering that he didn’t offer to share.

I think the same thing goes for DM who ordered the Fish Enchiladas with Mole since he also didn’t offer to share. I really do need to try the Mole here sometime since I really do like Mole after trying some that Angie’s Mom made.

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Average meal price: ~$20

Food:the tastiest Mexican food I’ve ever had

Ambience: very fun and upbeat

Service: super friendly

Kid-friendliness: try to leave the kids at home

Cleanliness:very clean

Overall:always a great option when you want to splurge a little but don’t want to blow the wad

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Chilango’s
142 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92103

*Closed Business*

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Niban

Niban is one of those restaurants that we frequent often. The food isn’t spectacular but neither is it bad and what keeps us coming is the good deal. The plaza that it is located in is pretty itself so parking can be a challenge at times. We usually get the same thing when we come here. Its not that we don’t try new things…it’s just that when we have we end up still liking our tried and trues more. This trip wasn’t much different. I told EK to order a Chicken Teriyaki for me which ceases to never disappoint me here. I know for some of you the massive amount of sauce is a turn off. However I’m such a sauce girl…even when I’m cooking I really enjoy making various dipping sauces. I usually order the one with the California Roll combo and I thought EK would have known to order that since I order it like every time. I guess he forgot this time but its ok since just getting the plate means more chicken, it is also served with rice and salad for $5.65.

EK ordered his usual Bento C which consists of Combination Sushi, Tuna Sashimi, Chicken Katsu, Shrimp Shumai, miso soup and a California Roll($9.75) The sad thing is that EK always finishes his Bento C and I have trouble even getting close to mine considering it is a smaller dish.

This time we decided to deviate from our usual Spicy Tuna Roll ($3.95/8 pieces) or Crunchy Roll($5.75/8 pieces) and went with the Grilled Spicy Tuna Roll($3.75/ 8 pieces). Perhaps that wasn’t a good decision seeing as that the grilled tuna tasted like meatloaf or something. Next time we will stick with out our usual choice of rolls.

I really like the spicy sauce here and feel guiltless eating it with my sushi at a place like this. I can already imagine the disgust if I were to ask for spicy sauce at Sushi Ota for instance. Ota-san would probably have me kicked out and banned or something.

Note: it is a good thing to call ahead if you

plan on doing take out since the order will be ready by the time you get there.

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Average meal price: ~$10

Food:standard cheap Japanese food

Ambiance: casual

Service:fast and friendly

Kid-friendliness:A lot of parents bring kids who end turning the sushi into throwing objects but it is cleaned up quickly by the employees with a smile

Cleanliness:quite clean

Overall:always a dependable place to turn to for tasty cheap Japanese food

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7081 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. Suite #101
San Diego, CA 92111
858 268-0465

Lunch: Mon- Sat: 11:00 a.m.- 2:30 p.m.

Dinner: Mon- Sun: 5:00 p.m.- 9:30p.m.

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