Three Dog Kitchen

Wednesday night we met with the second landscape guy (whom T likes; I like the first one) to go over his quote and such.  Boy, redoing your entire backyard is not cheap.  But, if we can get it done, it will look so nice.  Clean, polished, comfortable, and a place where we can relax outside and I will most likely complain out loud about the neighbor’s smoking.  I’m not fond of our neighbors. 

Anyway, after that meeting we had to decide on dinner.  Because T had been gone over the weekend on his 4-day trip, I spent all those meals cooking for myself.  I don’t think I ate out once while he was gone.  As such, I was kind of tired of eating at home and I wanted to go out.  Of course, due to his absence, T had a list of things to do before we headed on vacation.  I was trying to make a case for Souplantation, he was trying to push the envelope of tortilla soup (that would make 8 cups) we had in the pantry.  I had almost argued (internally) that we could eat at home since we’d be spending the next week, essentially, eating out and spending money.  But, I must have been pouty and T is too nice to me, so we ended up in the car headed to Souplantation.  On the way there, we passed Outback Steakhouse, for which I had a $25 giftcard (thanks, Melanie!)  It was closer, it would be cheaper, and that’s how we ended up there instead of Souplantation.

We ended up with a variety of dishes: seared tuna, french onion soup, a blue cheese side salad, and I ordered the Slow-Roasted Sirloin Medley.  Now, there is also a dish on the specials menu called Herb-Rubbed Slow Roasted Sirloin.  This dish comes on a crouton, with steamed vegetables, garlic mashed potatoes, and au jus dipping sauce.  However, I wanted the dish I had last time - the Sirloin Medley.  The Medley has sirloin on a crouton, but it has grape tomatoes, asparagus, spinach, and is topped with a garlicky-herb dressing.  It’s really good.  Now, why would a restaurant name two different dishes with such a similar name?  You might argue that they aren’t all that different, but if you want spinach and garlic sauce and not potatoes and au jus, it’s a huge difference.  So, we made sure the server wrote down the right one (Sirloin Medley) and he even checked with 3 people to make sure he was putting in the order for the correct dish.  What comes out?  Yup, the one with mashed potatoes.  He approached our table and before he even set it down I said, “That’s the wrong one.”  He took it back and came back with the same plate with tomatoes, asparagus, and the garlic dressing on top.  So, I had a combination of the two dishes, but without the spinach and with a lump of potatoes that neither of us ate.  To make up for this odd snafu, we got free ice cream with hot fudge sauce, which made us very full but it was good.  I think someone in the kitchen was confused because our receipt even said “Sirloin Medley” instead of “Herb Rubbed Sirloin”.

If you go to Outback and you want the good sirloin dish, make sure you order the one that says Medley (and it’s on the regular menu) and make sure your dish comes with grape tomatoes and a garlicky-herb dressing.  If it shows up with garlic mashed potatoes, it’s the wrong dish.

To Outback: Just because you add “Medley” to the end of one and “Herb-Rubbed” to the beginning of another dish title doesn’t mean your people will get it right.  I have no clear solution for you, as I’m not sure how I’d rename either dish, but perhaps you should have tested the dish names in-house for a while before releasing them to the public.  You know, like a quiz. 

“Bob, what’s on the Slow-Roasted Sirloin Medley?” 

“Uh, sirloin slices on a large crouton with, um, wait.  Is that the one with the mashed potatoes or the tomatoes and asparagus?  What’s the other one called?  Herb-Rubbed Slow-Roasted Sirloin?”

“Hmm… I see where you’re getting confused.  Perhaps we should work on this a little more.”

When I’m bored, I mill around Chowhound. I’ve gotten pretty good at not reading posts with titles that I know will annoy me. I now ignore them. Sometimes I get tricked and read a post only to discover that it’s a stupid question (yes, there are stupid questions AND stupid answers in this world) or completely unrelated to the title. These days, Chowhound is most useful to me for providing insight on new restaurants in the area. Of course, I don’t trust chowhound praise outright. No, typically I’ll see a few restaurants named and I’ll read about them and try and get an idea if the reviews are balanced enough to believe. I don’t trust gushing at all. Especially if it’s accompanied by PRAISE in CAPITAL LETTERS. So, I make a mental note of these places and then if I see it pop up on a couple local blogs it triggers a “hmm..” moment. At that point, I probably write it down somewhere and tell T that I want to try it. Or Cami. And then a few months go by before we ever get to where it is we’re craving. So, I’m totally not a trendsetter when it comes to new restaurants. Except for places in Poway, I guess.

My actual point, however, was to say that I don’t actively try to annoy myself with Chowhound. I feel like I’ve been on that site long enough for the vast number of topics to actually start repeating themselves. What to make for V-Day. What to cook to impress a first date. What to do with leftover ham. What’s your favorite cheese. OMG - Greek yogurt rocks. How long do I roast a chicken. Where to eat during Comicon. No car in SD - what food is bearable. And on and on.

What I don’t understand is what people think the site is for. I see questions pop up that make me wonder if they think they’re having live conversations*. Like, there’s a chicken burning in the oven and the dinner party starts in half an hour - what should they do? If I had a dinner party in half an hour and my food was burning, my first instinct would not be to consult a message board for an answer (and then wait for said answer to eventually appear). I would turn on the vent hood, stick the food outside, and either run to Costo for a roast chicken or make a frantic call to Joey’s Smokin’ BBQ. But, I also plan my dinner parties very carefully, so the chances of this happening to me are small. Also, for small get togethers, I don’t tell people what I’m cooking. For all they know, I was planning on having take-out all along!

Or someone will pull out chicken, a pepper, cheese, and couscous and ask what they can make for dinner that night. In half an hour. Do you really think people are sitting at their computer, constantly hitting “refresh” to see what last-minute disasters they can solve?

My latest favorites, however, involve broken appliances. My oven sometimes bursts into flames - should I worry? My refrigerator is leaking water - what should I do? Weird noises, odd smells, random flames, and puddled liquids are not questions for a message board. That’s when you start calling repair people. Some problems don’t get better the longer you wait to fix them (actually, I don’t know of any problems that do that). The concept boggles my mind.

But, just so I don’t end this post on a grumpy note, I will tell you about a cookie from Trader Joe’s (I know, surprise, surprise!) that I bought and didn’t like that later grew on me to the point where I took the bin to work so I didn’t eat them all. In one sitting. They are like Nilla Wafers, if Nilla Wafers were made with butter and vanilla beans. They’re called Ultimate Vanilla Wafers. They come in the plastic tubs, like the chocolate chip cookies that are also addictive. The cookies are crisp-soft. Not as hard as Nilla Wafers, but not as soft as a chewy cookie. You can definitely taste the butter, but sometimes you can also feel the vanilla bean seeds (some people don’t like that). It’s kind of nice to know that you could use a more natural cookie in place of Nilla Wafers (remember making mini cheesecakes with the wafer as the bottom crust?), but I also take comfort know Nilla Wafer are always on grocery store shelves. For all I know, the vanilla thins are “seasonal” and will disappear once summer is over. All in all, it’s a good butter cookie, with just a hint of vanilla.

* Some message boards really are like real-time chatting. I know friends who frequent boards like this and they form their own little odd community. This comes in handy if, say, your car is stolen and you need hundreds of eyes keeping a lookout until it’s spotted, at which point they band together, block said stolen car in until police arrive, and help you get your car back. I’m just saying.

In this world, you come across many people who shun chain restaurants solely because they are chains.  I consider myself a little food snobby - I don’t enjoy eating bad meals when I know better ones are out there.  I also don’t think bad food is balanced by a nice view or fancy place settings.  Good food is good and if it’s a chain that makes it, hurrah for them!  Or, maybe huzzah for them!

The first time I went to a Renaissance Fair with T, which was odd and strange yet entertaining and enjoyable, we were eating lunch while the Big Parade with the Queen and Other Important Folk sauntered by.  I don’t know what the Oueen was saying to her loyal “subjects”, but whenever she stopped talking everyone else yelled “Huzzah!”  Eventually, we just yelled “Huzzah!” along with the rest, in between bites of the ginormous turkey leg, of course.  I think it’s an exclamation that should be brought back into today’s vernacular.  Huzzah!

I have spouted my annoyance with Chowhounds often here, and that is one site where you’ll find more snobs than anywhere else in the world.  Ironically, Chowhound also has a Chains board, but it’s often filled with snide “questions” like: “I’ve never heard of Jack in the Box… is there anything worth eating?” and “Being forced to eat at Cheesecake Factory - is there any menu item that won’t make me gag?”  Regarding JitB, I have to say that one of my favorite items is also one I find kind of disgusting - the “tacos”.  2 for 99-cents!  Mushy meat in a deep fried shell with (what I swear is) American cheese!  It’s like admitting that you sometimes prefer Kraft Mac ‘n Cheese to the “real” stuff (I do).  Granted, the last time I actually ate those tacos was a few years ago, but if I think about them, I get a little craving for them.  And The Cheesecake Factory?  Well, they have overpriced cheesecake and the menu is, like, 50 pages long, but it’s not like the food is awful.  The wait is awful and it’s loud, but there are dozens of things that are actually pretty good.  And you really can’t beat the portions.  Order anything and you’ll definitely have leftovers for lunch the next day.  I used to really enjoy their shrimp scampi, their salads, and most of their appetizers. 

Now, I’ve been known to pout if forced to eat somewhere that I don’t deem acceptable.  And I quickly point out every flaw I see - chlorinated water, cold bread rolls, stale chips, frozen pie that should not be frozen, too-chewy meat, etc.  I’m kind of a brat that way.  But I’ve never dismissed something just because it was a chain restaurant.  In fact, I used to hate the Olive Garden.  I was quite justified in this.  Every time I ate there I had pasta that was overcooked (and mushy), undercooked (and crunchy), or a dish that was oddly really cold in the middle.  But then I went for lunch at the request of a colleague and discovered that some of their new dishes were really good!  I had braised short ribs that were fantastic!  I also learned that if you ask for unbuttered bread sticks you get fresh ones because they have to bake them just for you.  And the unbuttered ones are just as good (c’mon, we’re not talking about the heavenly bread sticks from Pat & Oscar’s).  So, see?  My mind can be swayed, even by chains!  So, I get truly riled up by people who talk about chain restaurants like they’re all serving dog food and soggy lettuce, when I bet those exact people go home and eat frozen dinners but don’t admit it to anyone and are probably in self-denial. 

All this to say, we had dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory and it was lovely.  The only one left in San Diego is in San Marcos, which really isn’t that far from Poway, but it feels like it so we hardly go.  Well, actually, T had never been.  So, off we went to enjoy the complete meal of bread, soup or salad, pasta, iced tea, and spumoni.  For pretty much $10!  Now, I will never tout OSF as being a good Italian restaurant.  I only order one thing whenever I go there, anway, but it’s exactly what I expect and it fulfills my craving.  Spaghetti with mizithra cheese and meat sauce.  I love the brown butter and mizithra cheese, but the cheese is very salty so you need another sauce to balance it out.  T ordered the sampler with the meat sauce, mizithra cheese, clam sauce, and mushroom sauce.  Oh, the creamy pesto dressing is the best.  If you get salad instead of minestrone soup, get the creamy pesto dressing.  T seemed pretty happy with the food, so maybe we’ll be back.  I mean, if we want Italian food there are 2 good places close to home (one of which is within walking distance), but OSF never disappoints when you want some decent spaghetti at a good price.  Oh, they do give you a choice of vanilla ice cream or spumoni, but when do you ever get to eat spumoni?

I hope everyone has a nice weekend lined up.  We’ll be waiting for the fence guy to finish our end of the fence (we replaced the one running between us and the mean neighbors).  He was supposed to be done last Saturday, but apparently he greatly underestimated his schedule and still isn’t done, even though he also worked Sunday.  Our neighbors picked him (he did their back fence before and came in with a pretty low price) but I don’t really like him.  I wish we could have gotten our fence guy, the one who did our back fence and the front gate, but I’m sure our neighbors wouldn’t have wanted to go with someone who had a higher price.  It turns out he’s too busy anyway and isn’t taking new jobs right now, but I bet he would have finished when he said he would.  He and his brother did our entire back fence and front gate in 1 day.  The one we’re using now started Thursday and still isn’t done and at one point he had three other people working with him.  What the heck?  Good thing his price was low.

We’re also meeting with some landscape companies to get an idea of a) what to do with the back yard and b) how much it might cost us to do.  I have grand visions for more patio, a canopy tent, and a fire pit.  T wants a dedicated bbq area (not a built in bbq, though, that’s way too expensive) and thinks the fire pit should be kept away from the fence so as not to annoy any neighbors with fire pit smoke.  Whatever.  It’s not like they give any thought to whether or not we want to smell cigarette smoke coming in through the screen door that’s open because it’s hot and we aren’t ready to flip on the AC.  Bah.

Unless you live under a rock or never, ever go out to eat or stay away from internet chatter (in which case you probably wouldn’t even be reading this), you have heard of the new frozen yogurt craze.  It started with Pinkberry, the chain that offers a grand total of TWO flavors and charges you for the privelege of eating the new-fangled tart frozen yogurt.  And then charges you more if you want the non-plain flavor (in Pinkberry’s case, this is green tea).  In its wake, a slew of of chains followed and saturated the market, much like Starbucks when it was first discovered.  Granted, there are not frozen yogurt shops on every corner, but there are certainly a lot out there.

I remember frozen yogurt being marketed as a healthy alternative to ice cream.  Much like it is now trendy to use non-plastic grocery bags, you were hip if you pretended like the frozen yogurt was just as good as an ice cream sundae.  I didn’t like it.  If I wanted slightly tart frozen stuff… well, actually I didn’t.  I wanted ice cream.  Yogurt was for breakfast, in the sweet, flavored variety of Yoplait, Custard Style.  Then came TCBY, The Country’s Best Yogurt, with flavors that were sweet and much like soft serve ice cream rather than frozen yogurt.  I loved it, especially in a chocolate waffle cone.  Oh, yes, the waffle cones were flavored, not just dipped in chocolate.  Why hasn’t anyone brought that back?

After TCBY became “just a fad”, frozen yogurt went back to being something I avoided unless it was in a fruit smoothie.  There was a shop in San Luis Obispo that we would go to, and they had nice non-sour frozen yogurt, but I suspect we went more because they would fill the bottom of the cone with crushed Butterfingers.

Now, we enjoy Golden Spoon, my favorite being the peanut butter cup flavor.  Again, the frozen yogurt itself isn’t what attracts me.  The best part about Golden Spoon is that you can order a Mini size - the perfect amount of dessert for under $2.  On the other end of the spectrum, we discovered Yogurt World down on Convoy Street.  I guess they’re a Pinkberry follower, but they have a dozen flavors and you get to serve yourself.  Some are good, some are not.  Oddly enough, I like the plain tart yogurt and sometimes the tart peach.  The vanilla custard (not tart) is rich and creamy.  When they have banana yogurt, that’s practically the best flavor ever.

All this to say: a new yogurt shop opened up in Poway.  It’s called A Whole Lotta Yogurt (WLY) and it’s behind the Starbucks on Poway Road (12222 Poway Road, Suite 3).  When I heard about it, I said they either need to be different, like Yogurt World, or better than Golden Spoon or they won’t make it.  When we saw a coupon in the Clipper magazine, we figured that would be a good time to check it out.  So, after spending a weekend stuck at home waiting for the fence guy to finish (he’s still not done - he was supposed to be done Saturday, he worked Sunday and there’s still more to go - bah!) I was itching to get out of the house.  We hopped over to Mr. Hummos for the kefta plate and an appetizer combo (the baba ganoush is fantastic) and then walked to the new yogurt place.

It’s sold by the ounce and they currently have 6 flavors (I think it’s 6).  The owner said that the store was designed and built by the same company that did Yogurt World.  Two tart flavors (Yogurt World wins on the plain tart, but WLY had a nice tart mango), the necessary chocolate and vanilla, and then others.  I tried the pistachio, but I wasn’t in the mood.  It wasn’t bad, just not the kind of pistachio I was hoping for.  Maybe I was expecting a gelato-style flavor?  The peanut butter flavor was really good.  Combined with the chocolate it could give Golden Spoon competition on the peanut butter cup.  T and I actually got the same flavors, except I added some tart mango to my cup.  Now, here’s why we’ll definitely go back: they have the soft mochi balls as a topping for your frozen yogurt.  They have oodles of other toppings (no fruit jelly-things), but the mochi balls are what we love at Yogurt World.

I was pretty happy as we walked back to the car.  I think I may still frequent Golden Spoon to get my Mini peanut butter cup, but I’m really happy we can get a frozen yogurt fix closer to home and not have to drive down to Convoy Street or Mira Mesa (where the new, still crowded Yogurt World opened).  I hope word gets out and they get popular (but not too popular!) because I want to be able to go back.

So, to A Whole Lotta Yogurt: Thank you for opening, thank you for having the mochi balls, and please consider doing a good banana flavor.

Any time some noteable beer place opens up, someone takes notice.  T discovered Phileas Fogg while driving home one night after his hockey game, right on Poway Road in the funny strip mall that has a constant rotation of places.  Phileas Fogg is where Sipz used to be, and the bistro that came after it but didn’t last long.  Java Kai used to be in that strip, too.  I suppose it’s not really a convenient location; it’s more along the way to your final destination.  Kind of like Primm when you’re driving to Las Vegas - you’re so close to Vegas that you don’t really want to stop, even though Primm has all those outlet stores and the huge roller coaster.  And on your way out of Vegas, you just want to keep going and get home.

We did stop at Phileas Fogg once for beers, on our way to Jimmy’Z for some Poway Fun Bowl bar karaoke and people watching.  They had quite a crowd on a Friday night and the boys seemed impressed with the beer list.  The food menu looked pretty good, too.

Last weekend, we pointedly drove over (the whole 4 minutes it took) for lunch.  I’m going to preface this by saying it was Saturday afternoon, the place has only been open a month or so, and I guess their typical Saturdays have been very, very empty.  I only saw one server on duty, but half the seats at the bar were taken, a few bar tables, the lounge-y couches at the front, two outside tables, and 3-4 dining table all had patrons.  I repeat, all this for one server.  Because they haven’t been open long enough to settle into the swing of things, I’m willing to overlook this.  However, I think it would have been nice if they had someone on reserve duty who could have come in to help.  We had noticeable waits between drink refills and beer re-orders, not to mention the food wait.

T really had his heart set on the Tikka Masala, an item that is on the menu and has been since they opened.  However, you can’t have Tikka Masala because, even though it’s on the menu, it’s not being served.  I can understand being out of a certain item from time to time (though I was still upset that they ran out of curry sauce), but to have indefinite plans for serving a printed menu item?  I would think you could either make sure you’ve got your lineup ready before opening, take it off the menu until you’re ready (you could make it into a “daily special”), or at least put a note over the item on the menu itself so people know not to get hungry over it.  T ended up with the Phileas Cheesesteak, which was good and standard for a non-Philly-style sandwich, but we have been spoiled with good cheesesteaks that make our standards quite high. 

I ordered the fish and chips as it seemed like a good item to test the menu.  I actually wanted to specifically compare curry sauces, as the best one I’ve had so far has been at Dublin’s Irish Pub in Mammoth, CA.  Alas, Phileas was out of curry sauce.  I also suspect my crispy fish suffered from the aforementioned short-staffing.  It was still hot when I got it, but the bottom layer had gotten all soggy and didn’t want to stay on the fish.  The fish was good (1 large piece among semi-crisp but well-seasoned fries), but I found myself longing for the fish and chips from Patrick’s, the Irish pub in Poway.  There, you get smaller pieces (but not much smaller), but still a substantial amount of food and the lemon mayo sauce that comes with it is amazingly addictive.  I would actually order the dish just to get that lemon mayo.  It’s better on fries than anything.

We didn’t get dessert at Phileas, but the dessert menu has chocolate lava cake, cheesecake, ice cream, and one other item (maybe bread pudding?)  I’d love to see sticky toffee pudding on the menu, as we had a really decadent one in London and Phileas Fogg is trying to incorporate that comfy British food.

They have also started a beer club, where you mark off 50 beers from around the world and get a polo shirt when you’re done.  It reminds me of Spike’s in SLO, where I punched out 2 beers from their list of 40.  I’m not a huge beer drinker.  At Spike’s, though, you got to engrave a small plaque label when you finished.  The beer list at Phileas Fogg is pretty good and varied though, with some Heineken and Foster’s thrown into the mix.

I think Phileas Fogg has a good idea behind it and I hope they are successful enough to stick around.  They’re a nice choice for a beer stop, but I’m going to give them more time to work out the serving logistics before making a decision on their food status.

Summary:  Go for beer or a glass of wine (they have a nice wine selection) and maybe some appetizers, but give them time before testing it out as a dinner stop.  Also, let me know if you hear of sticky toffee pudding rumors.

T and I started out with a “rainy day” at home - late breakfast, house puttering, computer playing, tree trimming (that was all me), and dog piles - until I got an itch to actually leave the house and go somewhere. I was envisioning a car ride somewhere, anywhere, but we ended up taking a walk.

We debated a few places for a late lunch (since we had plans for a night of Spanish tidbits with friends) that were within walking distance and close to the library. With an Entertainment Book coupon in hand, we headed for Spicy Pickle, near Dixieline and Petco. I don’t know what to compare Spicy Pickle to, but they offer paninis, subs, salads, pizza-ish type things, and soups. We had the Yard Bird sub and the Italian panini, both of which come with a pickle. A spicy pickle (but not too spicy), of course.

The Yard Bird had turkey, apple, blue cheese, bacon, tomato, and spinach. How could you go wrong? The apple was actually a nice touch, adding some crunch and juicy sweetness. The sandwich as a whole was very tasty, but it had bacon and blue cheese, so how could it be anything but good? The bread was a soft roll and just the right thickness. I don’t like sandwiches that are more bread than filling. T preferred my sub to his panini, which was your standard Italian meats in grilled bread, but I was very impressed with their panini. The outside was perfectly crispy but not greasy at all. I think if you could have taken my filling and put it in his bread, you’d have the perfect sandwich.

It’s the first time we had eaten at Spicy Pickle and if there was one closer to where we worked, I’m sure we’d go more often. But, since it’s rare we eat out for lunch on weekends, I don’t know how often we’ll go back. If you have a Spicy Pickle near you for lunch, I don’t think you’d be disappointed to give them a try.

On a side note, it looked like the Pick-up Stix next door closed? It certainly wasn’t open and there were a couple of ladder inside. We’ve probably only ordered food there twice (at the Poway location), but it was comforting knowing they were there.

On the way back, we stopped at the library and got ourselves some library cards. I didn’t know the library was open until 8pm during the week…. for some reason I thought they closed much earlier, so I didn’t know how I’d ever manage to get there while they were open. There’s actually a huge selection of magazines, so I could see stopping in to check on the few that I stopped subscribing to. And, with their online catalog, we can see what books are in stock and then reserve them to pick up later. That’s pretty cool. I didn’t really see how good their DVD selection is, but I know my dad is always renting movies from their library. T brought home a stack of 5 books already!

We also recently took a class at Barbeques Galore. It was a lot of fun, so don’t let me forget to tell you about it. And the drunk people at the other end of the class!

Yes, yes, it’s the long awaited review of Mr. Hummos in Poway.  I swear, at least 2 people find my site every day searching for information on this “new” eatery.  Heck, I even tried to Google it and I came upon my own site!  Which was totally not helpful at all.  But now I have things to tell you about this tasty joint, which I hope will get more people in there and eating.

When the not-so-great Poway BBQ closed last year, it took a few months before we discovered who would be the new tenant.  It took a couple more months before we were sure they were open (assisted by the Now Open! sign that hung in front) and then it just never seemed convenient to stop there for dinner.  I always wanted to, but I also wanted to know what their menu was like before committing to a meal there.  I mean, you only get so many meals in a day and it’s important to make sure you enjoy as many as possible.

We were going to take our inaugural Mr. Hummos trip with our friends last night, but that got rescheduled (well, cancelled, actually) due to our busy schedules.  And I’d like to clarify that it’s not just our schedule that are busy, it’s theirs, too.  We are all busy people having too much fun!  So, Wednesday we had our fancy 3-course meal at 1500 Ocean, Thursday they had a client dinner, and Friday was our bbq class at Barbeques Galore in fancy-pants 4S Ranch.  The weekend is all planned up, too, so we’ll just have to have dinner with them another time.  Because it’s hard to see friends that live a whopping 7 minutes away (yes, I’ve timed it).  I’m kidding… we actually see them quite a bit, considering you have 4 people’s work and social schedules to coordinate!

Anyway, they took the initiative and ate at Mr. Hummos Wednesday and I got to hear about the tasty non-mushy tabbouleh salad and the fabulous falafel and kefta sandwiches.  T and I had no dinner plans for Thursday (well, we tentatively were going to eat at Costco) and he was going to be busy meeting with a financial guy (meeting with financial planners is almost more complicated than dealing with your money alone) so I thought I’d pick up a couple of things and we’d have dinner before going to Costco.  Right now, nobody cares about our lives and what we did, you all just want to know about the food.

I only got the falafel ($4.95) and kefta ($6.45) sandwiches (two separate sandwiches).  In retrospect, I could have gotten something else and had the leftovers for lunch at work.  But I didn’t.  The sandwiches come with a side salad and a shot of hummos.  I don’t know why you get a shot of hummos, maybe to put on the salad?  To add to the sandwich?  Just to get a sense of how tasty their hummos is?  The pita bread is so good.  It’s soft and chewy (like how a fresh tortilla is a little chewy?) but tasty and when it’s wrapped around a good filling, it just makes you happy.  The falafel sandwich comes with a thin dipping sauce.  I have no idea what it is, but it’s good.  I think it’s their homemade tahini sauce.  I like tzatziki, though, which is what came with the kefta, the ground lamb and beef “roll”.

They also have entrees and baked pita dough dishes.  Oh, and five kinds of hummos dishes.  If they’re anything like the shot I tried, they will be yummy.  As a side note, I always spelled hummos with all “u”s, but they spell it with an “o”, so since I’m talking about their food, I’m going with their spelling. 

It’s good food and it’s not expensive.  You order at the counter but they have plenty of seating.  It looks like they didn’t do much remodeling at all because the space looks like it did when it was the bbq place.  But, everyone is very friendly and nice and the food is cooked up nice and fresh.  I was there at 6pm and it was completely empty, so please go in and try at least one meal.  I’d really like them to stick around.  I’m rooting for them much more than Poway BBQ.  I still like Pamir Kabob House, too, but this is very different.  I do wish they had gyros, but I’ll survive.

So, go eat at Poway Sushi Lounge on Mondays (but leave room for us at the sushi bar) and eat at Mr. Hummos any other day of the week.  Or go for lunch.  To entice you even more, I’ve even gone and scanned their menu for you!  Front and Back!

Mr. Hummos
12316 Poway Road
Poway, CA 92064
858.513.0001

Just a quick blurb. Recently, the City of Poway sent a survey out to residents asking about their shopping habits. A quick summary can be read here. I just found it funny because Trader Joe’s was the most requested business Powegians wanted to see come to town. I would be willing to bet that the majority of people who said they do most of their shopping in Carmel Mountain instead of Poway do so because that’s where our Trader Joe’s is! Just imagine… I could do all my shopping at Trader Joe’s, Henry’s, and then Vons and the City would get its tax benefits!

I already frequent the Poway Home Depot and Costco, and Target is located within city limits, so I guess you could say I really do most of my shopping in my city. Yay!

update: Weird. Now the categories are back.

First, my “Poway” category and “Books” category have gone missing (and I can’t re-add them for some reason), although the posts are still in existence. For books, all you need to know is that I read the last Harry Potter solely on the elliptical and some parts of the story were so intriguing I actually did a second workout after the first just to justify continued reading. Also, I read Blaze and Lisey’s Story and I was “meh” and “blech”, respectively. Recently, I finished The Choice by Nicholas Sparks and I kind of wish he would write a book that didn’t just wrench my heart around so much. However, if you want a true heartbreaker, a story that will have you sobbing out loud, then go read The Time Traveler’s Wife. Really. It’s good. You’ll be bawling, but it’s a good read. Don’t take it on a plane trip, though.

As for the “Poway” posts, most of them related to the fire updates that went on last week. Some posts were related to local events and restaurants, and it would be nice if you could just click a category that would tell you what’s good to eat in this little city, but it’s just not going to happen until I figure out how to fix whatever it is that’s broken.

I do have a good place to eat in Poway, though, if you’re interested. It’s a new place called Yume Cafe and it’s located in the LA Fitness shopping center where the Lucky Chinese place was. They call themselves a Japanese Bistro, and I’m inclined to agree with the description. The menu has a very Japanese foundation to it, but there are also dishes that are more mainstream and bistro-like. Menus are on the webpage so you can take a look before heading out.

We went for dinner tonight because I like to go out to eat before leaving on a trip (I don’t know why since we always eat very well when traveling) and I couldn’t face another night of leftovers. Even if they are good leftovers. It was getting late and we were hungry, so we drove all 3 minutes to get there instead of walking like we could have. Whatever. We drove a Prius, which should offset any negative environmental impacts, right? When we got there, one couple was seated and one couple came in after us (and left before us… they must not have eaten much). Because they are so new, I wasn’t too concerned about the very empty restaurant. After looking over the menus (dinner, specials, drinks - one set between the two of us), we had to decide if we wanted to go for the “tapas” arrangement (a selection of small plates, quite varied, some smaller versions of the entrees) or just order an appetizer/tapas plate and entrees. T was set on the Prawns in Chili Sauce, so I settled on Kurobuta Schnitzel, which is a weird way of naming the Tonkatsu. Entrees come with miso soup, rice, and steamed vegetables - T was, surprisingly, able to substitute the house butternut squash apple soup for his miso. We also ordered the gyoza - our server told us they are made individually by hand and would take some time to come out. Oh, it was also emphasized that the menu focuses on fresh ingredients. Personally, I’m getting tired of the food buzzwords - fresh, seasonal, artisanal, sustainable, organic. I don’t argue they mean good things for everyone, I’m just tired of hearing it.

The soups came out first (due to the individual hand crimping of the dumplings, I guess) and they were good. The miso was tasty but not too salty and not watery at all. The butternut soup was creamy and full of flavors while managing not to be too rich. They were served in perfect mugs for sipping or drinking with the provided spoon.

Soon after, the dumplings came out, one side steamed and soft, the other side crispy and golden. I think they are either steamed or boiled and then pan fried until crispy, being inverted onto the serving platter. They are definitely handmade and not from a freezer, but I’m guessing they’re put together ahead of time. Folding up 10-12 gyoza to order seems a bit too time consuming (I didn’t count… I was hungry and they were really good. It seemed like there were a lot, though). The gyoza are small, with tender pork filling and a tasty dipping sauce, but they are worth ordering. The doughy wrapper melts away and ends with a bite of pan-fried crispiness. I’m glad we got those instead of the edamame.

Our dinners arrived and they looked amazing. Presentation is very lovely here, which I appreciate. Both dishes came with a small pyramid of rice, a potato pancake/croquette, a steamed baby bok choy, and some steamed baby squash. My pork had the tonkatsu sauce in a little dish with the cutest tiny ladle. The ends of the pork were a little chewy and the breading was starting to fall off some of the moister middle pieces, but the pork was tender and tasty. Honestly, it wasn’t the best tonkatsu I’ve had, but it was quite good and with everything else on the plate I was more than happy. T’s prawns were in a tangy chili sauce that was just spicy enough to make you sniffle, but just tangy enough to make you eat more. It was addictive in a way. The shrimp were perfectly cooked and had no trace of fishy-shrimpiness. They were good. We polished our plates and were pleasantly full. Yum yum yum. I’m still thinking of that chili sauce, it was so tasty.

The tapas plates are priced very reasonably (prices are on the website, too) and I could see stopping by for an assortment of 3 or 4 for dinner. The entrees are a few dollars more than the typical Japanese restaurant, but I think the quality is worth the extra money. There is also a standard sushi menu - one of the tables ordered some and it looked beautiful. It’s not a cheap dinner, so I don’t know how often we’ll end up at Yume Cafe, but it is good food and I hope they are successful.

The other nice thing about Yume Cafe is that it is just a few doors away from my beloved Golden Spoon. If we are anywhere near Golden Spoon, I don’t even bother looking at a dessert menu. I know we’re going to get a mini cup of Peanut Butter cup frozen yogurt, the tastiest fat-free dessert I know. Except, tonight we walked out with a mini cup of Pumpkin frozen yogurt, something that is almost better than full-fat pumpkin ice cream. Crazy! It’s that good, though, trust me. We may have to take an additional trip there while pumpkin season is still on, just to get another taste.

In other news, Three Dog Bakery is offering opportunities to open a franchise and one of their markets is San Diego. You’ll notice a similarity to the name of this website, which is purely coincidental. While I think running a dog bakery would be a lot of fun, especially since it already has a strong marketing presence (kind of like opening a Nothing Bundt Cakes store), I am well aware that it would be a lot of work and definitely wouldn’t allow me the freedom to take vacations like my present job does. It’s fun to dream, though, especially since it would be a job that would allow dogs in the office!

Good job to the Union Tribune for 1) recognizing that they needed to move the fire update blog to a more stable server and 2) keeping said blog… umm… updated.

Many of the evacuated areas have been able to return home, which is nice to hear. The fire blog lists all the returned communities, but most of Poway, Scripps Ranch, Rancho Penasquitos, Rancho Bernardo, Del Mar, and Encinitas have been allowed to return. The most northeastern portion of Poway (High Valley) is still being evaluated.

We are by no means finished with this fire - Witch or Harris. It’s still burning, it’s still not even contained to the double digits. The air is still smoky and ashy. Freeways have opened up, but I don’t think anyone’s really going anywhere. At least the evacuation centers are so full of donations they’ve actually asked for people to stop bringing goods by.

If anyone would like to help (from near or far), the easiest way to do so is through the American Red Cross, who will set aside funds specifically donated to the San Diego Fire Victims. For Poway, you can drop off monetary donations at City Hall’s overnight drop box - details here. I’m really wanting to just go buy grocery gift cards to donate, instead of writing a check. Maybe that’s a step for later? I still need to drop off my water bill payment, so that’s probably a good time to drop off a donation check, too.

Thanks to Robyn for sending so many people (and their good thoughts) our way… it must have worked! Maybe I should have asked for all of you to do a rain dance for us, too!