White Carrot Food and Travel Blogging Community

Yes, we’re hip.  We finally got Twitter.

In case you don’t know what Twitter is, it’s a status update of sorts.  It allows you to make small updates on pretty much anything you want in 140 characters or less.  It’s not as useless as it sounds.   For example, during the wildfires in San Diego last year, KPBS twittered little updates on freeway closures.  It beats going on traffic bloated websites and Twitter is so small, it’s easy to check on your cell phone.

Some other Twitters I subscribe to are BBC News, NPR News, MSNBC, 10news (my local news), KPBS News, RidewithG, Got|Apex? Deals, and some of my friends.

Also, you can also set your Twitter up to automatically change your AIM, Gchat, and Facebook status automatically.

Check us out!  WhiteCarrot Twitter

When my friends told me about their new favorite sushi restaurant, I was skeptical. First of all, it was called “Love Boat” and that just didn’t sound very Japanese to me. Oh, how wrong I was.

Love Boat has two locations, Oceanside and San Marcos - we went to the San Marcos location. It is situated just off of the Las Posas exit right off HW78 in this relatively new mall. You would never guess from the outside, the quality of sushi you would get there.

They say that the best sushi restaurants are made up of two important factors: the quality of fish and the chef preparing them. I can personally attest that the quality was outstanding and the chef… Our chef was… Well, let’s say a picture speaks a thousand words:

Meet Sho, aka Jonny Depp. My friends specifically requested to sit at his station and have him make all our orders. We ordered up some beers for him and he delighted us with his style of weird humor and EXCELLENT sushi. After that night, I can say that the best sushi chefs are usually the most social, fun, and/or eccentric ones.

When we sat down, we were immediately given warm edamame as appetizers.

I’ve had them chilled before at other restaurants, but I must say, having them warm makes it a lot more tender.

The first order up was the bluefin tuna sashimi with fresh wasabi. Yes, that’s fresh wasabi on the bluefin and it was pretty fantastic. In fact, we requested more fresh wasabi and they did not skimp on it. After that, I really can’t go back to the green pasty wasabi from tubes anymore.

The bluefin was super fresh, tender, and just plain delicious. I think I could have eaten just this bluefin all night and I would have been happy.

The next order up was off the menu. This was Jonny Depp’s special agedashi tofu. The sauce was more on the sweet side and they put a ton of bonito flakes. The tofu they used was more firm than other restaurants, but nevertheless, it was very yummy. The portion was very generous and can easily serve as an appetizer dish for four people.

The next order that came was “the” dish that my friends were raving about. It’s the “Albacore Delight” roll and you simply must order it. The albacore sashimi on top was just as tender as the ultra ripe avocados they used. The inside crab filling was unbelievably soft as well. This roll simply melts in your mouth.

The next order was something my friend Patty invented. She loves seaweed salad, so she ordered a wasabi roll and requested to have it topped with seaweed. Not only was this done, but the amount of seaweed was overflowing. Let’s just call this one the “Patty” roll.

Next up was the Kobe-style beef sashimi. It’s probably not authentic Kobe beef from Japan, as that would overly inflate the price tenfold. Regardless, it was as tender a beef as I have ever had. This picture really doesn’t do it any justice.

The next dish up was on the house (see, it pays to buy the chef beer). Jonny Depp grilled me up some hamachi kama, which means yellowtail collar. It was grilled just right with a tangy dipping sauce. Drool.

Our next entry was some of the freshest hamachi (yellowtail) that I have ever eaten. So good, that I didn’t even want to eat it with soy sauce. Instead I put a little bit of fresh wasabi on it and enjoyed it as it was.

Love Boat only had two live scallops in the house when we got there. Jonny Depp made it into handrolls for us. At first he made them the standard size, but with our party of seven people, there wouldn’t be enough to go around, so he REMADE them smaller to accommodate us and made sure everyone got one.

My friends asked me what my favorite sashimi was, and I told him it was salmon. Salmon is hard to screw up unless you have have really bad quality fish. Jonny served us up of the most tender and buttery salmon I’ve ever tasted!

I mean, look at it!

Since my friends did all the ordering, I didn’t know what was coming up next. To my delight, they had ordered some chirachi! Chirachi is a sort of salad dish with sashimi. You typically get a lot of salad with some sashimi. Jonny Depp basically hooked us up with sashimi with a little bit of salad. The dressing was lightly salty and sweet and very delicious. The sashimi included were salmon, yellowtail, tuna, and quite a few salmon skin for the crunch factor.

The last order of the night were fresh oysters with uni and uzura. I don’t like oysters, so I’m not sure how to review them, but my friends told me they were great, so I’m going to take their words for it.

All in all, Love Boat isn’t in a place where I would expect to find great sushi, but here it is. Also, it’s technically not in San Diego, but it’s well worth the drive. We went on a Tuesday and the bar was full, so there was a little waiting time. If you go, you must sit at the bar. If you sit at the bar, you must request Jonny Depp. With him, you get a great dinner AND a show.

In terms of ambiance, this is not a quiet, romantic date location. There were two birthdays in the house that night and they employees turn on some disco music, flashed the lights, and sang with enthusiasm. No, this restaurant is a noisy cacophony and we like it that way.

For a sushi/sashimi restaurant, the price was reasonable. But for what we got and the quality of the food and service, the price was a bargain! The seven of us split the bill and it came out to be around $30 a person including a nice tip. I’m still amazed it was that low. Highly Recommended.

San Marcos
121 S Las Posas Road #122
San Marcos, CA 92078
Phone: 760-471-7722
Reservations: 760-471-7701
Fax Orders for Pick–up: 760-471-7701

Hours of Operation - San Marcos:
(Open 7 days a week)
Monday through Thursday: 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Friday and Saturday: 11:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Sunday: 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

View Map

FRESH!
A Bargain for the Quality
Albacore Delight Roll Melts in Mouth
Cheerful Service
Jonny Depp Will be Your Personal Sushi Chef

BONUS - Extra Pictures:

Jonny Depp and Johnny Depp:

Jonny Depp with Birthday Hat and Two Live Scallops:

Jonny Depp with Two Live Prawns:

Jonny Depp with Fresh Hamachi (Yellowtail):

Yokomo was supposed to write about Mel’s Drive-In originally, but she was taking too long so I decide to just combine some of the pictures from her first visit and my last visit. Mel’s originated in San Francisco and was established in 1985. This is a 1950s drive-in diner, similar to those you see in the movie “Grease”. I’ve never been to the the original restaurant, but it’s located on 2165 Lombard Street in San Francisco, California. Since then, Mel’s Diner has expanded down to the southern parts of California and into one of their newer locations, Seal Beach.

This particular trip was my third one to Mel’s. I’m not a huge “American Cuisine” type of person. Aside from the occasional “steak and potatoes” and “Maine Lobster”, I don’t crave it much. However, this particular visit was for breakfast, and who doesn’t like breakfast, right?

El Rancho…they didn’t skimp on the Chorizo

I decided to skip the “steak and eggs” this morning, even though it was under $6. The last time I had “steak and eggs” here, the steak was a little too “medium”, so medium it was “well-done”. I am scared to think of what “well-done” would taste like. In any case, I went with “El Rancho” which consisted of a flour tortilla with 3 scrambled eggs, chorizo and cheddar, then topped with green salsa (a breakfast burrito in other words…truly American indeed). To wash that down, I ordered myself a glass of Mimosa, which was only .95 cents. It wasn’t a huge glass obviously, but just enough to get my Saturday morning dose of alcohol. My drink and meal was part of their special “Saturday/Sunday Brunch” which can only be ordered between 9am and 3pm. We also ordered a chocolate milkshake, which is not only good, but also huge. I would advise splitting it into two glasses. Overall, I did enjoy my “Rancho” breakfast burrito because they were generous with the chorizo. I didn’t care too much for the potatoes, I probably should have gone with the hash browns instead…live and learn.

Tiny Price…Tiny Mimosa. Don’t forget to split the milkshake

The Wifey ordered the “Denver” Omelet which had ham, green peppers, onions, and mushrooms. No complaints there.

The Denver: Big city, big omelet

Yokomo had the “Yuppie” which was scrambled eggs, spinach and mushrooms (i believe). No complaints here either.

The Yuppie: What yuppies eat for breakfast

Yokomo’s hubby got the “Eggs Benedict” which, I must admit, looked pretty darn good. I heard a “very good” from him, so I’ll take his word for it.

So much Hollandaise you can’t even see the eggs…looking tasty nonetheless

My little niece pigged out with a plate of pasta, a hamburger and a hot dog….Not really! The reason why she got all that food was because for every adult that orders $8 or more, you get a free kids meal. So we just ordered extra food for her pretty much. Of course, us adults munched on most of it. Again, she chowed down some of her pasta and had some fries like a good girl. Haahaa.

Kids’ Meal: Simple and to the point…now where’s that hot dog?

Scrambled Omelet and French Toast. Dishes from a previous visit

Mel’s has a rather nostalgic ambiance, like a trip down memory lane, expect I wasn’t born in the 50s. The walls are covered with black and white photographs of Mel’s diner, some famous people sitting or dining the original diner, etc… In certain booths, you get your own personal jukebox (coins required) which was pretty neat. Unfortunately, you can’t park curb-side and have a server on roller-skates serve you while you sit in your car. That’s just fine with me (even though it would be a neat experience) since I don’t eat in my car anyway. The prices at Mel’s are reasonable, the food was good (not great) and the service was friendly. Definitely worth a repeat visit in the future.

Jam 50s style with your personal booth jukebox…check out the old school photos around the restaurant

Mel’s Drive-In
12241 Seal Beach Boulevard
Seal Beach, CA 90740

Map It

Good Food, a step above Denny’s, but not earth-shattering
Friendly Service
Priced reasonably
Nostalgic Ambiance
Not a bad place to go if you’re itching for old-school American grub

On Saturday, the wife and I decided to go check out the new Americana shopping center in Glendale. If you are from LA and have never been to the Americana, you aren’t missing much. It is essentially the same thing as The Grove. I wasn’t blown away by the shops and restaurants in that area. However, I was blown away by the ridiculous prices of their condominiums (1.228 million dollars for a 2 bedroom / 2 bathroom unit, PLUS $1250 in Home Owner’s Association fees). Anyway, after laughing my way through their front door, we took a stroll about 3-4 blocks north to Porto’s, our favorite bakery in Los Angeles.

Last year, I had a four day training seminar across the street from Porto’s, so I stocked up with yummy pastries and baked goods. Needless to say, I was the world’s best hubby that week. We’ve had Porto’s numerous times in the past. Our favorite items were the Potato Balls and the cheese rolls…I don’t know the official names, I just point at them and say “1 dozen please” and that’s that. For this particular Saturday though, we kind of struck out. They were complete sold out of both our favorite items, so we decided to go experiment with some of their sweets.

This was the “Tres Leches” cake, which is essentially made of three types of milk: evaporated milk, condensed milk, and either whole milk or cream. It’s consistency is very similar to that of Tiramisu. Although this was a tad sweeter than I’m used to, I really enjoyed every bite of it.

I normally love creme brulee, but this one in particular was a bit of a disappointment. It was a bit too soggy for me to be honest. I like my creme brulee a bit firmer and not too creamy. The caramelized sugar was practically non-existent. It tasted more like the caramel syrup. One good thing to note is that the level of sweetness was just right.

Oreo Cheesecake was a bit too rich for my taste. Thing is, I only like one type of cheesecake, “Banana Cream” Cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory. So all other cheesecakes pale in comparison to that one. This isn’t bad, but I’m just not a Oreo cheesecake type of guy whatsoever.

I actually don’t know what this cake is called. The flaky parts tasted like a croissant and it had layers of vanilla custard, whipped cream and it was topped with a layer of powdered sugar. Not too bad, but not fantastic. I don’t think I care to revisit this one again any time soon.

This cheesecake was rather light and tangy, almost fruity. I just couldn’t tell what type of fruit it was. It had a sweet glaze on top and the inside was fluffy and soft. Overall, pretty tasty. Unfortunately, like I mentioned before, I’m not really a cheesecake kind of guy.

The triple chocolate mousse was actually very good. The only thing about chocolate (at least for me) is that I can’t really have too much. I get overwhelmed with chocolate very easily so I get kind of sick. It was a tad sweeter that I normally like, but I wouldn’t mind having it again, in smaller doses.

Overall, my only reason for giving Porto’s 5 of 5 is because no one makes Potato Balls and Cheese Rolls better than them. It is rather unfortunate that they didn’t have it available on this trip, but there will be other ones down the road…maybe as soon as next month. As far as the sweets are concerned, the only one I truly enjoyed was the “tres leches”. It just has a very different texture and flavor compared to the rest of the pastries I tried.

Porto’s Bakery and Cafe
315 North Brand Blvd.
Glendale, CA 91203
tel. (818) 956-5996
fax (818) 956-0696
MAP IT

3614 W Magnolia Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91505
(818) 846-9100

Cheese Rolls and Potato Balls are THE BEST
Tres Leches is worth a flyer
Some days you get very long lines at the bakery
Lots of indoor seating and some outdoor seating as well

My Fiancee and I were having our daily fight. “What do you want to eat for dinner?” at first he says “I don’t know” then I start naming off my list of meats “chicken,” he says “no,” “beef?” “….no,” “pork?” “hmmm… no,” *I sigh* “fish?” after a long pause he says “wait, I wouldn’t mind eating fish”

So the question of the day was solved. I dropped him off at work, did some shopping, and went looking for some fish.

Now, what type of fish to eat…there were so many to choose from. We just had Ahi the other day and I wanted to go with something familiar. Thinking back…Mahi Mahi is something mom use to cook all the time. My dad’s hobby is fishing so we always had a good variety of fresh fish to eat. Looking at the price of fish in the supermarket made me say “OMG this is so expensive!” You really can’t beat the price of free or eating at home. Luckily there was a frozen fish section where the price per pound is cheaper then the fresh assorted variety.

Ingredients
1 lb Mahi Mahi - I got mine in the frozen fish area for $3
garlic salt
pepper
flour
oil for frying - I used olive oil

Sauce:
10-15 pieces of shrimp - shelled
2 T. butter
1 T. lemon or lime juice
1/3 c. white wine
1-2 cloves of garlic - minced

*Double sauce if needed. Remember this sauce is just enough for 1 lb of mahi.*

Defrost the fish and towel dry.

Lightly salt and pepper the fish, roll in flour

Fry on medium heat for 5 minutes on each side

The Mahi should be a nice crispy golden brown color. After its done frying put it on a paper towel to soak up the excess oil.

To make the sauce.

saute garlic until lightly browned
add butter

when the butter is melted add the white wine and shrimp
the shrimp will turn red when it is done.
remove shrimp, turn the temperature to high and let the sauce reduce, stir occasionally.

pour the shrimp and sauce over the mahi mahi and serve

I was passing by the fish section of the store when I saw it! Beautiful glistening pieces of ahi. I’ve been craving ahi for weeks now and didn’t feel like eating it the regular sashimi style. This is a simple recipe which looks very fancy. It has wowed many of my friends and family.

Ingredients:
Slab of Ahi - sashimi grade
Cajun Spice (Tony’s Creole Seasoning or furikake)
Olive oil or vegtable oil for frying

Sauce:
Shoyu
Wasabi

Directions:

cut the ahi into square strips

roll in cajun spice or Toney’s Creole Seasoning

Lightly oil the pan, heat it up on high heat and put the ahi in.
Roll the ahi until it is cooked on the outside

*note make sure your stove fan is working ahead of time, this does get smoky

The ahi will be seared on the outside and raw on the inside. Slice thinly and serve on a bed of cabbage.

I arranged it and made it fancy.

Serve immediately. I do not recommend reheating these in the microwave, it will cook the fish.
For added flavor lightly sprinkle extra cajun seasoning on the top.

Special thanks to my mom and friend Kenji for sharing this recipe with me. ^^

The first time I dined at this restaurant was probably about three or four years ago. I remember it clearly, I ordered the Chicken Panag Curry at the spicy level of “five” (on a scale from one to ten) thinking it’d be around “medium”. Let’s just say that on MY scale of one to ten, that “five” was more like ten. The Panag Curry was very good, but after a while, my taste buds went numb. Talk about memorable. This time around, LeOnion, Yokomo and I decided to give this place a “proper” review.

For starters, we chose the Spices Crispy Calamari. I’m a very big fan of calamari and I’m known to order it as an appetizer whenever I see it (unless there’s something better). This time was no exception. Unlike Calamari dishes you get at Italian restaurants, were its served in deep fried rings, Spices serves in large deep fried battered chunks with plum and garlic dipping sauce. The sauce is great, definitely prefer it over Marinara sauce, but there a little too much batter to dig through before you get to the calamari. The good news is that the calamari tasted fresh, tender and flavorful. Not chewy and fishy like some other places I’ve know. Now if they were to cut back on the batter, I think this would be a VERY tasty appetizer.

LeOnion:
Normally, I don’t order calamari at restaurants because they’re usually tiny rings of fried batter with a sliver of actual seafood in there. However, at fancier restaurants I think it’s safe to take a chance on it. The calamari at Spices were indeed larger pieces and they were fried fresh and in a generous amount of batter. I would have preferred less crunchiness, but the freshness of the dish made it acceptable. The sweet sauce that is was served with went extremely well with it.

The See-Eyew Noodles was actually VERY tasty, probably my favorite dish of the bunch. The dish consisted of pan friend flat noodles with egg, carrots, broccoli and slices of pork. You can have it with other meats as well (chicken or shrimp?). I really liked the pan friend noodles with the egg, the broccoli was crispy and fresh. I didn’t try the carrots on this dish since they were semi-raw; I’m allergic to raw carrots…which is kind of ironic since our site is called “White Carrot” Haahaa.

LeOnion:
This is my favorite dish at Spices. Spices tends to make the see-eyew noodles on the sweet side with some heat. I can’t pinpoint why I like their version of the see-eyew so much better than other Thai restaurants, but I think it’s the entire package. Their noodles are just the right amount of chewiness (some would even say al dente), the vegetables are not overcooked and crunchy, hints of egg, and the pork went well with it. If you order just one dish at Spices, this is it.

Shrimp Penang Curry. Oh so very delicious. The curry had a slight hint of spiciness (because we went with a level 1 on the spicy scale) and sweetness, while the aroma of the basil made my mouth water. This dish was excellent if you have it over rice. The shrimp was medium-sized and relatively fresh (I am allergic to shrimp that is not fresh, so the fact that I didn’t puff up like a blowfish is a good indicator to the shrimp’s level of freshness). I highly recommend the Penang Curry with either the chicken or the shrimp.

LeOnion:
The Penang and the Green curries are what I would typically order, depending on my mood. Since it was G-lato and Yokomo’s first time, I recommended the sweeter and lighter Penang. If you don’t typically like curry because it’s heavy, pungent, and spicy then try the Penang. It goes over extremely well over rice and matches up with shrimp or scallop.

Chicken Phad Thai Noodles is like the “Steak and Potatoes” of Thai Cuisine. Everyone knows about it. This was some pretty good Phad Thai. There wasn’t an overwhelming use of peanut sauce and the level of sweetness was just enough to make this a dinner entree instead of dessert. I’m also very thankful they skipped on the raw shredded carrots because I can’t have any of that. You can skip this dish if you want something less “common”, after all, most Pad Thai dishes tend to taste pretty similar. However, if you LOVE Phad Thai, this dish is worth ordering.

LeOnion:
Spices’ phad thai noodles tend to be more on the tart side. For this reason, I tend to prefer the see-eyew noodles over it. Still, it’s a good dish to have on the table if you’re going family style with some friends.

To wrap things up, we got the Gulf of Siam. This dish consisted of a combination of seafood with Thai herbs, chili, vegetables and cashew nuts, all served on a boat-shaped dish. The dish was “Okay”, not as spectacular as the name would imply. It did had a good assortment of seafood, but the seafood was a tad too fishy. Honestly, this dish didn’t leave me with a positive impression, so I wouldn’t order it again.

LeOnion:
The Gulf of Siam was an experimental dish for us. I had never ordered it, so we decided to try it out. There was a good variety of seafood including squid, crab, mussel, shrimp, and scallop. With it was even more vegetables, which was fine by me. This dish felt a little bit pricey for the amount of seafood and the overall flavor was light with hints of lemon grass. The Gulf of Siam did not stand out to me as a great dish and I would probably not order it again.

Spices is actually a very good Thai restaurant. Not sure how “authentic” it is since I’ve never had “authentic” Thai food. However, compared to other Thai restaurants I’ve been to, this one ranks at the top. The See-Eyew and the Panag Curry alone makes me want to go back. If this review makes you want to give Spices are shot, you can try any of the four locations in the San Diego area. We personally went to the “Mira Mesa” location.

LeOnion:
I know that it sounds like my negative comments outweighs my positive comments here. However, Spices Thai Cafe remains one of my favorite Thai restaurants in San Diego. Getting the staple See-Eyew noodle and the Penang curry will bring delight to your palates. As for the authenticity, I haven’t a clue since I am not Thai nor have I ever been to Thailand. If there is a better Thai place in Southern CA that you would recommend, please let us know!

Mira Mesa
6785 Mira Mesa Blvd. Suite 143
San Diego, CA 92121
858-552-8845

Del Mar
3810 Valley Centre Dr. Suite 903
San Diego, CA 92130
858-259-0889

Escondido
1101 W. Valley Parkway
Escondido, CA 92025
760-291-1293

Rancho Bernardo
16441 Bernardo Center Dr.
San Diego, CA 92128
858-674-4665

Prompt Service
Prices are not cheap, but they are acceptable
Many dishes have a “vegetarian” option
Slightly more “upscale” ambiance than your typical Thai cafe
Real spicy food for those who crave it

With no idea what to make dinner tonight I suddenly decided to make macaroni and cheese when I walked by the cheese section at my grocery store.  I did a very simple version with what I had on hand at home.  Which meant soy milk instead of moo juice.  I based this recipe off a simple recipe I found on the internet.  I halved the recipe and changed some things and added more spices.  Particularly paprika on the advice of thedarkgrass.

Ingredients:
8 oz small pasta shells, cooked
1/4 cup butter (half a stick)
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 3/4 cup soy milk
8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
small handful diced deli ham
panko bread crumbs
grated Parmesan reggiano

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook your pasta as usual, drain and spread into a 9×13 baking dish (or whatever you have that can go into an oven and can hold all the pasta).

In a saucepan, melt the butter on medium heat, add flour, pepper, and salt.  Whisk the mixture over medium heat constantly.  You’re creating a roux, a flour and butter base that will thicken your sauce.  You have to keep the sauce moving so nothing burns or sets.  Keep whisking for about five-ten minutes.  You’ll see that the sauce has thickened very slightly.  If you do it too long and you notice your roux getting dark, don’t worry!  Roux can get really dark but it loses its thickening power the darker it gets.  I wasn’t sure when to stop so I cooked my roux till it turned noticeably beige.

Take the roux off the stove, add the paprika and garlic powder, mix it in.  Add in the soy milk slowly whilst whisking.  Once it is throughly whisked in, put the sauce back on the stove and let it come to a boil.  It’ll smell a little nutty due to the soy milk.  :)  Let it boil for a minute, you should notice that the sauce is a lot more thicker.  Take it off the stove and mix in the cheese a handful at a time.  Add in the ham.

Pour the sauce over the pasta.  Spread the mixture to cover any exposed pasta.  It might not look like the sauce is filtering down into the bed of pasta, don’t worry.  It’ll get down there in the oven.  Sprinkled panko on top until you get a good cover.  Grate Parmesan reggiano on top of that, as much as you like.  Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

Optional add-ins:
Caramelized onions, mix it in with the sauce.
Sliced tomatoes, to go on top of the sauce, before the panko and Parmesan reggiano.

You may find this dish slightly bland so add a pinch of salt more if you like.  The edges are very good as is.

I couldn’t wait a few minutes before dishing up some so it didn’t come out of the baking dish in nice squares.  Wait about five minutes or so and it’ll come out of the baking dish nicely.

Sharp eyes will pick out a farfalle / bow-tie pasta here and there.  I had a small amount left so I threw that in.  I was only able to finish a little less than 1/4th of the baking dish… I may do a single serving recipe later on so I don’t end up with leftovers.