Davanti Enoteca, Italian, San Diego, CA

Davanti Enoteca,
1655 India Street
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 237-9606




Found this on our little wedding anniversary weekend away. This is in the Little Italy of San Diego, which to me was kind of a touristy Italian Larchmont for San Diego.

The food was great and the service was good. The only complaint is that the wine was a bit pricy. The cheapest glass being $11, and bottles being in the high $40's for the cheapest bottle, and I feel like Italian food should have wine (they did have cheaper bear, but...).

This place is done kind of Tapas style, where the dishes aren't huge, and come out as soon as they are done so you can share.

We stared with Bruschette, which changes daily, and was pretty good, with garbanzos and spinach and onions, but could have used some cheese and or balsamic vinegar.

For dinner I had a Riccio di Mare e Granchio, which was a linguine with sea urchin sauce and crab and it was quite good, but Kelly's marscarpone polenta and ragu of the day (which was a slow braised pork) was just awesome, if a little messy. They pour it at the table onto a wooden cutting board, so it drips over the edge, but damn if it wasn't delicious! YUMMY! Want to make it at home.

This place was quite good, and well worth checking out, if a bit expensive.

The Fish Market, Seafood, San Diego, CA

The Fish Market,
750 N Harbor Drive,
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 232-3474





I had found this place online and was excited to try it, as it has decent yelp reviews and is right on the harbor, and right next to the Midway Museum. And we literally ended up there accidently.

We were able to quickly find parking, though could see how it could get hard on weekends, though they do have valet for the restaurant.

The restaurant is huge, and has a higher class place upstairs as well as different bars around.

We got a great seat inside, safe from the heat, but right on windows looking out at the harbor, and able to look at the ships, and watched the 2 parked air craft carriers, a 3rd that went past as well as a destroyer going out to see. GREAT VIEW!

And the service was awesome. They filled drinks constantly and food was delivered quickly.

Now for the food.

Well the New England Clam Chowder was great, possibly the best I have had since the east coast. Very good.

Kelly had crispy fish tacos and quite enjoyed them. I went for Fish and Chips, which is one of my loves (and was not too expensive), but was quite let down. The plate was huge, but the portions were tiny! I got 2 small pieces of fish, and while the panko crust was not bad, the fish was overcooked an stiff as a board and would barely absorb the malt vinegar. The thin fries were OK, but the cole slaw was not to my liking either.

While the service and view were awesome and the chowder, I have to say messing up such a staple as fish and chips does not speak well for me, so I can't recommend this place at all.

Frosty Queen, Ice Cream and Hamburgers

Frosty Queen

17603 Chatsworth St

Granada Hills, CA 91344

(818) 363-6644

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This former Dairy Queen has the best soft serve in town, even better than the returned DQ! Awesome, delicious, creamy soft serve, cones and sundays, shakes and malts! Awesome!

Food wise, my wife had only had burgers and fries, and we were not too impressed. OK griddle burgers, but not too good. Would much prefer 5 Guys or  In N Out.

And there is even a drive through.

Manila Sunset, Filipino Fast Food, North Hills, CA

Manila Sunset 9516 Sepulveda Blvd North Hills, CA 91343 Phone number (818) 895-2001 My wife was feinding for some Filipino food, and since it was so close and so highly rated we went. She loved it, but I was not as impressed. This is in a strip mall pretty near were we live, with a decent amount of parking. The place is very clean and fast, but is a fast food place. Sure it has some decent flavors, but nothing that blew me away, though the lumpia shanghai was good. Still the portions could have been bigger for the price. They have a pretty decent menu though, and there are certainly other things I would try. Good enough for a quick bite, but certainly not fancy. Decent enough.

The Original Barrio Fiesta of Manila, Family style Filipino, North Hills, CA

The Original Barrio Fiesta of Manila 16150 Nordhoff St Los Angeles, CA 91343 (818) 920-3900 This was in a place that my wife and I have watched a sting of restaurants close right next to the Filipino Marker, and since Kelly always pines for Filipino food, we had to give it a try and were pleasantly surprised. The service is great, and they even have had an electric violin player playing at times. Now for the food. The portions are huge and reasonable, but this is very much family style, with you paying around $40 for 3 dishes. And it is delicious! The Pancit is fantastic, very much like my wife's grandmother's, or at least the closest approximation we have had in Los Angeles. The Pork adobe is quite delicious. My only complaints is I could use a little more vinegar in the adobe. And the huge pieces of fat are just too melt in your mouth delicious for someone who tends toward high cholesterol! And the lumpia (Filipino egg rolls) are great too. Sure not as good as grandma's) or even my mom's baked ones) but very good and well worth trying. My wife has had the bitter melon and loved it, but I have always though the stuff was just too bitter and vile for me. And the service was always fast and oh so friendly! Love this place.

Freebirds World Burrito, Mexican American, Granada Hills, CA

Freebirds World Burrito 17947 W Chatsworth St Granada Hills, CA 91344 (818) 368-8239 My wife and I had walked by this place many times on the way to the sublime Zankou Chicken, and since I love burritos, we finally decided it was time to give it a try. Looking inside I was very excited. Another Subway for Burritos like Chipotle. And the 4 sizes seemed even more exciting, as I can usually eat a lot (especially now on the warrior diet). I was excited by the cayenne tortilla (but wasn't impressed by it) and had a monster sized steak burrito with spanish rice, black beans, onions and roasted peppers along with various of the hot sauces, including the hot tomatillo sauce and the habanero sauce (none of which were too impressive to me, though I did like the little salsa bar). Honestly I just wasn't too impressed with the flavor. Sure I might give it one more try, but really I can make my own burritos that are much better than what I had, and it isn't that hard. And with Zankou next door, and Pieology as well, this place is pretty down on a list of places to try again.

Pieology, Pizza, Granada Hills, CA and elsewhere

Pieology 17943 Chatsworth St Granada Hills, CA 91344 (818) 831-8500 A new chain of custom made pizza shops, kind of a subway for Pizzas, but with better ingredients. I was actually quite impressed by this complaint and my only complaint was I could easily eat the whole pizza, so needed to get a side salad as well. You can get Red Sauce, Herb Butter or Olive Oil and 3 types of cheeses, and a plethora of toppings including artichoke hearts, and after bakes that can be added including pesto sauce or even roasted red peppers and they will pile it high on their thin crust pizzas. I also had a decent caesar salad as well. This is pretty darn good pizza, and I love that you get what you want without going halves with someone else. Very cool. Well worth checking out, reasonably priced, quick and tasty. My wife and I will certainly make a return visit.

Tacos Michoacan, Mexican, North Hills, CA

15755 Roscoe Blvd
North Hills, CA 91343
(818) 893-2204




Was in the mood for Mexican, so decided to try some place new that was nearby. This place is right across from the Budweiser plant on Roscoe, right next to Tommy Burger. A little whole in the wall in a strip mall with parking in the front or in the back on Woodley.


Well worth trying out. This place is inexpensive and delicious. I tried a carne asada burrito with everything and a carne asada and an el pastor taco. The carne asada was decent enough, though not amazing. And the el pastor was quite tasty.


Kelly also 2 tacos and we paid something like $15. And it was all quite good. I would certainly have it again. And try other things as well.


They also have a little bar with a couple of kinds of salsa, and spicy pickled veggies.

Next time I want to try the Tamarind drink, though I bet it is too sweat for me, though I can't say for sure till I try it. Other than a few drinks, they also have canned sodas.

Nu Nu Orleens, Louisiana Crawfish, Cajun, Food Truck

Nu Nu Orleens
1220 N. La Brea Ave
Inglewood, CA 90301
(310) 671-NuNu
NuNuNorleens.com though the web site does not seem to be up yet.
Yelp.

The Food Trucks are back in full force in the valley, many blocks worth every Friday Night. My wife and I went and were just walking and looking, but this stand interested me, and they had me try a piece of corn soaked in their boil, and it was spicy and awesome! So for about $15 I had crawfish (hard to eat and walk, but worth it) and they were awesome as was the corn and potato. Wow! Delicious! An awesome and tasty food truck, and they have a restaurant too.

If you see this truck and want some good New Orleans flavor, this is the place to try it. Quite worth it, and delicious!

Also have a gumbo that I didn't try, but would like to.

Cha Cha Chicken, Caribbean Cuisine, Northridge, CA

16912 Parthenia Street
Northridge, CA 91343
(818) 672-2130
http://www.chachachicken.com

My wife and I have been driving by this place for some time, and were quite pleasantly surprised. The outside is nothing to look in, next to a McDonald's in a crappy strip mall, but the inside is fun, and the food is delicious and reasonable! Kelly and I both love Caribbean cuisine, especially after our honeymoon in Belize, and were pleasantly surprised. My only complaint is when I ordered Hot, it was very mild, but I asked and they said they would make it more to my fiery liking if I specifically asked! And the food was good enough that I will certainly do that (and if not bring some Marie Sharps to spicen it up!).

EDIT: I we went back as the food was so good and I asked for Extra Spicy, and it was awesomely spicy! Almost at the edge of too spicy! WOW IT WAS GREAT! LOVED IT!!

When you order, you order a main item, and then sides. For $3.25 you get one, $5.75 2 and $7.75 for 3.

I got the Hot Cha Cha Chicken in a 1/2 size for $10.95 and 2 sides, plantains and dirty rice with black beans.



It was very tasty, and a big serving. Just not hot enough as I previously said, but so good I will certainly try it again.

Kelly got the coconut fried chicken with sweet mango sauce and jerk dipping sauce.



Again quite good. Very coconuty and sweet and tasty and great with the dipping sauces. She also got the beans which are quite good and plantains (awesome plantains).

And we got an order of the red cabbage slaw, hoping it would be like our favorite Belizean slaw, and it wasn't but still quite tasty.



Overall a very good meal for around $30 for 2 with tip, and Kelly had some to take home!

They also have some imported Caribbean drinks which we didn't try (I like bottomless refills, which you only get with fountain sodas) as well as bear and wine.

Looking forward to trying this place again and going for spicy, and they also have a branch in Santa Monica.

YUMMY!

Also had corn muffins with honey, which were great and helped to cut the incredible spice! And they cater as well.

This is one of my favorite restaurants new restaurants I have been to in a long time! THIS PLACE IS AWESOME! Can't recommend it more highly! WOW!

Pine Tree Korean BBQ, Korean Barbeque, Northridge, CA

8322 Reseda Blvd

Northridge, CA 91324
(818) 886-1512

I have loved Korean BBQ for a long time, and so my wife and I decided to try this place, and it is great. We have already been back twice, once with mom.

As with most Korean BBQ you can order things off the menu or get all you can eat, and there are levels of all you can eat, but we have just gotten the standard. The Standard all you can eat has 4 choices, and you can either get a plate with all 4, or the ones you pick. The choices are thin beef, marinated chicken, pork belly or spicy pork. The others are good, but what is really exceptional is the spicy marinated pork. It is awesome and delicious! Fantastic in fact. Worth travelling here to get it.

And like all Korean BBQ, you get delicious sides that you can and will get refilled. Especially the kimchi and sliced cucumber (I think that is what it is).

The service good and the food is good. And you get Korean pop music playing, and really nice and clean bathrooms.

The only complaint is that the parking fills up very fast, but they have a backup lot not too far away.

Quite good and I do recommend it.

Asahi Sushi, Sushi, Granada Hills, CA

Asahi Sushi
10375 Balboa Blvd
Granada Hills, CA 91344
(818) 360-8499

Pretty darn good Sushi in the valley. Sure it is not Sushi Ike that i had near me in Hollywood, but fairly reasonably priced and good service. The only complaint is the place gets pretty packed, and you might wait for a table, but the service is pretty fast, especially at the Sushi bar. And the best part both times i have been there has been great Albacore. Exceptional in fact.

Overall there is a decent variety of good sushi, and a huge amount of strange and different rolls. Lots of quirky rolls. My favorites are the Balboa Roll with spicy tuna, shrimp tempura, avocado  cucumber w/seared albacore and fried onion (more like thin panko onion strips).

There are other rolls I would like to try, though too many have spicy tuna or albacore, and I tend to shy away from that as I think the spicy wipes out the fish flavor completely!

They also have tons of bento boxes and the like that lots of people get and I would like to try sometime, though I don't know if I will be able to stay away from the sushi.

I signed up on their web site and go ta $5 coupon for my 2nd visit, and enjoyed it immensely the second time as well.

Well worth checking out.

Zankou Chicken, Middle Eastern, Northridge, CA

17949 Chatsworth St
Granada Hills, CA 91344
(818) 360-1300

Web Site

I have loved Zankou for a long time, especially the Hollywood original location, but I am so glad that this one has opened up near my house, and owned by the same owners as the orignal. And their garlic sauce is awesome as always.

I used to always get a whole chicken, extra pita and a falafel plate to make my own wraps, but lately I just get a chicken tarna plate. Also great are their kebobs, but they cook from scratch, so they take longer to cook (about 20 minutes), so expect a wait.

The service is fast and friendly, and unlike the Hollywood location they do take credit card.

My only negative is that you might have to park a little far away as the little parking lot next to it, fills up really quick (there is always nearby parking, but just a little farther away).

Always have and always will love Zankou!

Tacos Vallarta, Mexican Food, Alreta, CA

8730 Woodman Ave
Arleta, CA 91331
(818) 891-3836

I had been interested in this place for a while, as I love the quality of meat and veggies at Vallarta Market and I was not disappointed  The place is a hole in the wall, kind of an enclosed stand, but with a very good menu and a great salsa bar that even has great guacamole.

I tried a carne asada burrito, which was spot on, and Kelly had an enchilada plate with rice and beans. Both were great, the sides were tasty and the salsa awesome, and very inexpensive.

Nothing high end, but high quality mexican fast food that is really delicious. Well worth checking out. I am glad I noticed this place on my drive home!

La Asunción Family Restaurant, Mexican and Mole, North Hills, CA

8712 Sepulveda Blvd
North Hills, CA 91343
(818-891-5760  

In a little strip mall on the North East corner of Sepulveda and Parthenia, this place had some of the best Mole I have ever had. The prices are also quite reasonable, though they speak very little English, and they sure didn't have everything we tried to order, but they sure did have Mole, red and black.

The decor is very Tijuana Chic, and they don't let you take photos, and a bit run down, but don't let that stop you.

First they gave us some chips with red and black mole and a little queso fresco on them. I ended up going for the red mole and my mom went for the black. Both were good, but I though the red was better as it had more flavors in it, and the black was a bit more bitter, but both were still very good.

The prices were very reasonable and the the service good and fast. Certainly worth checking out and going back again.