A San Diego Restaurant Review Blog

in which the author chronicles her efforts to indulge her foodie inclinations amidst her working-mom-of-a-toddler lifestyle



(with some reviews for with toddlers, others for date night, and others for a delicious solo lunch on the run, plus occasional quick-notes on SD theater!)

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Quick takes: Wa Dining Okan (Convoy), Long Island Mike's (Kearny Mesa), Habit Burger Grill (Solana Beach), Michoz (Hillcrest)

Some quick recent meals.

WA DINING OKAN: RIDICULOUSLY DELICIOUS. I don't know why it took me so long to get here (I needed a willing partner - thank you, NYUGirl!).  Really healthy, authentic, Japanese food.  Got salted salmon with a delicious selection of "tapas of the day" plus delicious miso soup plus yum-yoso brown rice and hijiki seaweed.  Lunch menu is more extensive than it appears on their website. Very fascinating strip mall at 3680 Convoy.  We want to try sometime the ridiculously cute Mignon Pho + Grill (NOT your father's Vietnamese restaurant): chic, modern, yummy-looking.  And Spicy House looks really yummy, with lots of veg. dishes. And there's an adorable French bakery, and a crepe-gelato store (both Asian-owned).  Definitely want to go back.

LONG ISLAND MIKE'S:  Murphy Canyon. Was on my want to try list for a while. Disappointing! Had really high hopes based on Yelp. Looked very authentic. Newspaper on the wall says the owner, Mike, opened his place in Seal Beach dedicated to only real NY pizza. Sounded great. Got two slices: margerita and cheese. Margerita looked good and was delicious. Cheese looked depressing (like it had been sitting out) and was nasty. The two boys only ordered the cheese, so they were stuck. And the slices left in the case didn't look any better. Maybe they're fresher at lunch, but can't see returning.  Oh well!

HABIT BURGER GRILL: Solana Beach. Took SuperBoy shortly after it opened.  Was perfect for mom and son lunch out.  Wait on line like fast food to order. Then they give you a buzzer like PF Chang's for when your food is ready, and you go up to get it.  I liked my grilled tuna sandwich.  SB's grilled cheese couldn't hold a candle to Urban Plates' (white bread, boring cheese - luckily he did not have to vie with his mother wanting to steal it - blech) - but he liked it. He also got a vanilla ice cream shake and was very happy. Fast and relatively expensive, pleasant atmosphere.

MICHO'Z: Hillcrest. Ate with a friend here recently. Also wanted to love it based on Yelp. Mixed results.  Cute atmosphere. Super-delicious (free) vinegary carrot sticks they give you when you sit down. Ridiculously tasty baba ghanoush, just as smokey as promised by Yelpers.  But then....lentil soup had no taste.  I told the waiter, thinking that maybe the spicing was off that day. He was offended and explained that they don't salt and pepper on purpose because their customers are happy that way, and they can leave it off or add. Um, ok....but you can still make a soup flavorful with herbs (or you can warn non-hypertension sufferers that the soup is a bland pea soupy mess otherwise). I ate it all cuz it was healthy and I was stuck with it, and on a winter's day probably would enjoy it more, but would never order it again or advise anyone else  to! And the falafel, which was praised to the hilt on Yelp, was just ok.  It is certainly better than Daphne's! But it's definitely not the best in SD. Just in the last 6 mos. I've had better at Egyptian Delight (CV Farmer's Market) and Kebab Shop, and I know Sultan Schwarma's is better too. Really, I need to get to La Mesa and try Alforon and the other Iraqi places. So this place is worth a try but only if you manage to order the right stuff!

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