Con Pane Rustic Breads and Cafe at NTC Point Loma

This bread place is pretty chic. They have many different type of bread, freshly baked and yes, quite popular and waiting in the line is expected. The bread quality is good, and I particularly like the French country bread and the one with nuts and cherry. The venue at Naval Training Center (NTC) is simply grand and beautiful! Defiinitely worth trying if you are in Point Loma.

Yelp review

Supermarket Grocery Stores are Out to Get Us

Supermarket Grocery Stores are Out to Get Us

A very nice article to talk about choices put on us at the supermarket.

The Cottage at La Jolla

Last week we went to the Cottage for some brunch. It is a famous and rightfully crowded breakfast place, and yes in the weekend it is jam-packed. I particularly enjoyed the fresh squeezed grapefruit juice and the Benedict. Hospitality-wise the waiters were friendly but the place was just too crowded and tables were small. Not much complain here though. Worth trying!

Yelp review

Blue Water Grill

Blue Water Grill is a down-to-earth, affordable and tasty seafood joint in Mission Hill. Located right by the free way I-5 this restaurant is not that easy to find, except for the always long line outside of the restaurant. It is that good.

I particularly enjoy the grill shrimps (jumbo shrimps are better yet), and the grill fish can get dry, not to my taste, but the shrimp is definitely a must try. I don't take the word "must" lightly.

Blue Water Seafood Market and Grill

煮粥6大秘訣 - a receipe for making congee/porridge from forward mail

煮粥6大秘訣 - 香港煲粥大師傳授

第一招: 浸泡：

煮粥前先將米用冷水浸泡半小時，讓米粒膨脹開。這樣做的好處：
1、熬起粥來節省時間；
2、攪動時會順著一個方向轉；
3、熬出的粥酥、口感好。

第二招：開水下鍋：

開水下鍋不會煮粥糊底
大家的普遍共識都是冷水煮粥，而真正的行家都是用開水煮粥，為什麼？
你肯定有過冷水煮粥糊底的經驗吧？
開水下鍋就不會有此現象，而且它比冷水熬粥更省時間。

第三招: 火候：

先用大火煮開，再轉文火即小火熬煮約30分鐘。
別小看火的大小轉換，粥的香味由此而出！

第四招：攪拌：

為了"出稠"，也就是讓米粒顆顆飽滿、粒粒酥稠
我們煮粥攪拌，是為了怕粥糊底，現在沒了冷水煮粥糊底的擔憂，為什麼還要攪呢？
為了"出稠"，也就是讓米粒顆顆飽滿、粒粒酥稠。
攪拌的技巧是：開水下鍋時攪幾下，蓋上鍋蓋至文火熬20分鐘時，開始不停地攪動，一直持續約10分鐘，到呈酥稠狀出鍋為止。

第五招: 點油：
粥改文火後約10分鐘時點入少許沙拉油
煮粥還要放油？

是的，粥改文火後約10分鐘時點入少許沙拉油，你會發現不光成品粥色澤鮮亮，而且入口別樣鮮滑。

最後一招：

底、料分煮：粥底是粥底，料是料，分頭煮的煮、焯的焯，最後再擱一塊熬煮片刻，且絕不超過10分鐘。
大多數人煮粥時 習慣將所有的東西一股腦全倒進鍋子裡，百年老粥店可不這樣做。

分頭煮的煮，最後再擱一塊熬煮片刻。

這樣熬出的粥品清爽不渾濁，每樣東西的味道都熬出來了又不串味。
特別是輔料為肉類及海鮮時，更應粥底和輔分開煮

Hexagone French Cuisine

It was a late Friday night nearing the end of the first restaurant week in San Diego. Trying to take advantage of that, bunch of us want to get some gourmet food. I like French cuisine, and I picked Hexagone which from the menu it looked pretty enticing.

Located in Banker's Hill, parking was not acceptable that night on a Friday. We parked about 4 blocks away, but that's mostly due to lack of direction. When we got to the restaurant, we were already late for about 30 mins from my reservation, but nonetheless we still got our names in. The place was packed full of people, and a lot of them were waiting for over 30 mins, hanging out in the side bar sipping small glasses of wine.

It was cold outside, so we went in as well, and got stuck in that area for more than 45 mins. By the time we got to our table, it was past 9 already. We were not impressed, to say the least.

I started with an interesting appetizer which I already forgot the name, though I remember that the appetizer there was not bad.

And of course, my duck. I could not imagine not wanting to try "canard" in a new French restaurant. It almost became my hobby. The duck was not good. It was dry and even the spice was not too interesting. A far cry from what I had tasted in Paris, and to a smaller extent to the excellent Tapanade in La Jolla which I will write about later when I go again.

Bips got lamb rack. I tried some of his, and they tasted ok. Mom's cooking was better! Though Hexagone did have some interesting sauce which I will give them credit for.

All in all, this place is over-rated, and over-priced. It could be that in restaurant week they were swarmed and thus a drop of quality. I don't know, but I won't go there any more in foreseeable future. There are a lot more restaurants to try out there!



Hexagone

495 Laurel St
(between 4th Ave & 5th Ave)
San Diego, CA 92101
Neighborhood: Banker's Hill

Yelp reviewers gave them 3.5 starts. I would give them 3.

Ariana Kebob House

So tonight after class we went to this Afghan place at the edge of Mira Mesa. This is my third time, maybe fourth, already, and yes I love the food here.

For the past couple times I had the same dish, the lamb shank, but it was so good that this time I had to force myself to try something different.

 So I had the beef skewer. And yes, the Afghan chef did it again! The beef was very tender and marinated just right. The rice was amazing as well. You can say I was hungry, but I finished the whole plate very quickly without anything left. At about $17 bucks, this definitely deserves a two thumbs up.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/ariana-kabob-house-san-diego