Fuji Grill (Brea)

Fuji Grill, sadly, is one of a kind. They are the only place I know of in Southern California that serves Spicy Ahi Bowls - crushed sushi-grade Ahi mixed with spicy chili sauce and served over sushi rice. We fell in love with this in Hawaii (thank you Ninja Sushi in Oahu) and Fuji Grill's is just as good as theirs. Today the rice had just the right chewiness and just the right vinegar tang (as all good sushi rice has). We all agreed it was extra yummy. DD Samantha tried to down a chicken Udon and a bowl of rice, but was ultimately defeated. Her growth spurt must have ended.
Service is awesome too - and they remember their repeat customers!

Fuji Grill
Brea and Imperial Ave, Brea, CA
https://goo.gl/maps/9V6TZTueE2T2

Disney adopts demand pricing; ticket prices will rise most days - LA Times

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-disney-adopts-demand-pricing-20160226-story.html

"Disneyland and Disney California Adventure have been charging $99 for a one- ticket. Under the new policy, each day on the calendar will be designated a "value" day, a "regular" day or a "peak" day. The new price will be $95 for a value day, $105 for a regular day and $119 for a peak day.

Over a 12-month period, 30% of the days will be "value" days, 44% will be "regular" days and 26% will be "peak" days, Disney calculates."

Senorial Mexican Restaurant (Banning)

The Inland Empire is a major Latino population center and, as a result, is home to many outstanding Mexican restaurants. We discovered one tonight (via Yelp) that we really liked - Senorial. A tiny sit down affair, they were nonetheless able to seat a party of 6 at one table. The girls ordered their tacos (Samantha: double rice; Megan: double beans). The table ordered guacamole:

Mandy: side of guacamole please.
Waitress: small or large?
Teri: (butting in) large.

And it was only $4.

Alan ordered what he thought would be a straightforward Carnitas burrito but instead received an enormous mountain of a burrito covered in green sauce, cheese, sour cream, and queso fresco. The green sauce was incredible - tart, salty, and spicy. It was so delicious, Teri ate off Alan's burrito instead of her entree (beef taquito plate that arrived as chicken taquitos).

Then, the waitress arrived with a humongous platter of spicy sautéed onions and peppers. On the house! Wow! The two onion lovers devoured it.

All of this magnificence for $71 for 6 people. And Supreme gas prices under $3. Who doesn't love Banning?

Senorial Mexican Restaurant
1675 W Ramsey St
Banning, CA 92220
(951) 846-3520

http://www.yelp.com/biz/senorial-mexican-restaurant-banning?ref=yelp-android

Solitude

Solitude can't be rented by the night. It's not found at a resort. It is a space you have to create for yourself where you can leave the regular world behind. It has to be quiet and still and away from the city so you can see the stars at night. When the sun rises it should be crisp and clear and just warm enough, and the atmosphere will be like an undisturbed glass of water, such that you can conduct a waking meditation and not even need to close your eyes in order to quiet your mind. 

La Michoacana 100% Natural (Hemet)

I think this is the Saucillo? Bar with pistachios, almonds, peanuts, and raisins. It's incredible. Chewy and chock full of nuts, it eats like a meal (as Guy Fieri says). Dip it in chocolate and roll it in peanuts or pecans - as Alan P did - and you're gilding the lily.

This little place was jammed with people at 9pm. They had dozens of fruit bar flavors (including peyota dragonfruit), most of which were available for scooping. Interesting layered drinks as well.

And, the Pina Loca, a hollowed out pineapple filled with ice cream goodness. And a Cucumber "Loca", peeled and hollowed out and filled with spicy preserved tamarind, coconut shreds, and ice cream. This is the ultimate expression of fruit and ice cream! Please go out of your way to visit this place if you are a fruit or ice cream lover.

La Michoacana 100% Natural
https://goo.gl/maps/YV41ZLX3Wwv

Creme Brulee

I've lost track of how many undercooked Creme Brulees I've had. Too often they are soupy or like pudding. Properly cooked, it should be dense and your spoon or fork should leave a well defined mark in it.

We had a wonderful Creme Brulee at Flemings this week. We were using up a $25 coupon on a few steaks and a few glasses of wine (which honestly $25 barely made a dent against), and in a moment of weakness ordered dessert.

The custard was firm, full of vanilla (tons and tons of vanilla bean specks), and a perfect counterpoint to the crispy sugar crust.

Well done, Flemings! Your steaks are still overpriced, though.

(The Beef Carpaccio is unusually marbled, for carpaccio, but tender and served with a delicious drizzle)

Complaints against airlines up 30% in 2015 - LA Times

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-complaints-against-airlines-in-2015-20160218-story.html

"The number of complaints filed by air travelers with the U.S. Department of Transportation jumped 30% in 2015 over the previous year, with complaints about airfares nearly doubling, according to data released Thursday by the federal agency."

Cambodian Weddings Are an Excuse for Offal and Line Dancing

https://munchies.vice.com/en/articles/cambodian-weddings-are-an-excuse-for-offal-and-bad-dancing

"Khmers drink like the British—as if their livers had done them some terrible injustice. They even have a proverb that roughly translates as: "Drink not drunk? Then drink for what?""

You Think You're Putting Parm on Your Pasta, But It Might Actually Just Be Wood Pulp

http://jezebel.com/you-think-youre-putting-parm-on-your-pasta-but-it-migh-1759650624

"Over in Italy, the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium has asked the European Union to stop American companies from using Italian names and flags on their cheese products because it's "deceitful.""

Chaba Thai Kitchen (Kearny Mesa)

DH was not too hungry tonight so I took the opportunity to try a new Thai place. Thai has been my go-to for many years. Spicy, but not heavy like Indian, Mexican, or Italian. Not bland like sushi. And, has rice. What more can an Asian want.

Chaba Thai is a tiny, tiny Claremont Mesa Dr eatery with a waiting list out front. Good sign.

Drunken Noodles (noodles with chicken and basil) - broad flat noodles, brown sauce, a tad sweet, lots of onion. A nice counterpoint to the

Crispy Chicken with Basil - salty and savory fried boneless chicken, with crispy fried basil leaves and more onion. Sliced chicken, not chunk - easy to eat.

Larb Kai with chicken (spicy 2) - almost too hot, and we like spicy. I could taste all the ingredients - basil, galangal, green onion, shallot, ground rice.

Absolutely delicious. We will be back!

Chaba Thai Kitchen
8010 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
Kearny Mesa
San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 503-7777

http://www.yelp.com/biz/chaba-thai-kitchen-san-diego

Curry N More

Our very favorite Indian restaurant in San Diego is setting up a second location in Rancho Bernardo! Less than 5 miles from our house! Woooooo!

What we love about CNM are their unique home recipes like Jal Fresi (Samantha and Megan's favorite) and Murg Awadi Korma (my favorite), and the classically executed Chicken Mahkni (DH's favorite). I also love their Channa Masala chickpeas, and potatoes. You can watch them in the kitchen lashing their dishes with huge containers of heavy cream. The cooks are very consistent and the curries well seasoned and salted. My only surprise is that there seems to be no other world class Indian restaurant in San Diego! What happened? Ashoka (Miramar /Black Mountain) is no longer the crown jewel that it used to be. Does anyone have info to the contrary?

What is in a Vegan chocolate chip cookie?

No eggs, dairy, butter. So what's left? Apparently just flour, sugar, and and fruit and veggie juices. And cellulose gum, lactic acid, and lecithin. The smell, texture, and taste are actually not that bad - it tastes much like a soft Chips Ahoy. I've had worse cookies. But they don't have that salty buttery goodness of real homemade cookies. So congrats Alternative Baking Company, your product is just as good as a mass-produced, cost-reduced to the max cookie from a major baking conglomerate.

Next best thing to Pizza Rolls

Cheap and disgusting, yet highly satisfying, English muffin pizzas are easy to make, and they're family friendly too. We tried putting leftover bacon on a few. Sounded like a good idea, but nothing beats Boars Head pepperoni.  And any type of seasoned tomato sauce will do - this time we used a bolognese sauce, because that's all that was available in a small jar.

Sake-Off

Last night, we put up Horin against another longtime favorite, Ozeki Karatamba "Dry Wave". Horin is much heavier bodied whereas Karatamba is lighter and dryer (+7). Which is what we prefer. Karatamba is the winner!

Just as with wine, every restaurant that has a cold sake list, has a very short one that changes frequently, so you can never expect to find your favorite anywhere.  So sad. One exception is the very widely distributed Takara Sho Chiko Bai Classic (+3), another favorite of ours.

Or I could be confusing this one with Sho Chiku Bai Ginjo Premium (+3) which is also quite easy to find.

Look at this! Sho Chiku Bai Extra Dry (+7)!  How can we not have seen this before??

Kikusui (+1) in the beautiful blue bottle is similarly dry and delicious.

While researching sake tonight, I ran across truesake.com which has some reviews (only a few Gekkeikan sake reviews?) but their reviewer's lists of favorite sakes (Mei, and Lynette) deserves some careful research and investigation.

Rancho Santa Fe Farmers Market

Our favorite Sunday morning event is the Rancho Santa Fe Farmers Market. Open from 930 to 2, it is small but mighty. RSF has glammed up their farmers market with plenty of shaded seating and live music. No other outdoor market in San Diego has that. 

They also have several outstanding vendors that we rely on for breakfast. Unfortunately I can't find a list of the vendors names so here goes:

The Taco place - sliced or ground beef, you never know what you will get in your carne asado taco, but it's DD's favorite.

The Smoothie place - actually a Boba place but I'm guessing most of the clientele wouldn't know a Boba if they stepped on one. DD loves their strawberry smoothies.

The Paella place - oh ho ho. Outstanding Jamon Serrano bocadillos that started our obsession with the famous Spanish delicacy, Jamon Serrano. Crispy bread, garlic butter sauce, ripe tomatoes, Manchego cheese (it's like a Spanish cheddar) and that salty meaty Jamon. One of the universe's great combinations. The forefather of the great BLT sandwich. They also make a great Paella in their ginormous 4 foot diameter Paella pan, lots of chicken and saffron and the rice is not soggy or mushy at all.

The French bakery & Crepe place - Love their Croissants and oversized cookies.  I almost always get a Croissant to go with my bocadillo. Their breads aren't quite as good as Bread and Cie or La Brea, but they are decent enough. Savory and sweet crepes, made by the Dad while the Daughter sells the breads, are excellent as well.  We liked the bacon and tomato and cheese crepe.

Pro-Tip: arrive before 10am to avoid the heat and crowds. It was 83 this weekend! How do you like February in San Diego?

Rancho Santa Fe Farmers Market
16079 San Dieguito Rd, Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92091
Yelp review

Red Moon - Kearny Mesa

Red Moon is one of our favorites in the Kearny Mesa area. It's a tiny family run place that doesn't get a lot of press, but we love their dishes, always consistent.  We dashed down here with Megan's family tonight for
* Red Moon Beef - crispy, tangy, and sweet, almost beef jerky like
* Ginger Fried Chicken - lightly breaded, tender chicken, nice and salty
* Honey Walnut Shrimp - always well executed with tender shrimp and super crunchy walnuts
* and of course 5 trays of Xiao Long Bao.

We also like their Mapo Tofu and Salt & Pepper Shrimp.

The restaurant was empty due to the Super Bowl so we had the place to ourselves.  Which is a good thing because we tore the place apart - Uncle made the waiter spill the ginger all over the floor and then DH spilled his entire ice water in my lap.

Paid a visit to tiny Share Tea afterwards for Ice Coffee Blended, Oreo smoothie, Strawberry smoothie, and Oolong tea with Boba.

Red Moon
4646 Convoy Street, Ste 114, San Diego, CA 92111
Tripadvisor review

Share Tea Teahouse
4917 Convoy St, San Diego, CA 92111

Pholicious - North County Fair foodcourt

If you're at North County Fair and feel like some Pho, try Pholicious in the food court.  Delicious broth, nice and crunchy egg rolls filled with pork and shrimp (not filler rice noodles like some place), and smoothies (with or without boba).  A good choice.  And gets DD's seal of approval.

Gekkeikan Horin Ultra Premium Junmai Daiginjo

Horin. The magnificent black beast. One of our most favorite cold sakes.  Kaina and Kelly turned us on to this one. They can buy it at their Costco in Hawaii! Just another reason they are so lucky live Hawaii.  We played And Thus Sprach Zarathustra from Youtube as we were opening the black monolith:

A wonderfully balanced sake, not too sweet, not too dry, with subtle flavors - no banana flavor here.

  Elusive in our area, we have seen it at Marukai and HMart in San Diego for about $38/bottle.   We pulled this bottle out of storage and opened it tonight.  You only live once!

A few internet reviews of Horin:

The Passionate Foodie

Miles and Points 101: rewards types

There are three major types of reward credit cards. The difference is the type of reward you collect.

1. Cash Back
2. Specific program points
3. Generic transferrable points

The first is a cash back card. You collect money or points and then after you've met a certain threshold (which varies from card to card) you can get either a simple statement credit or redeem points against specific expenses for a statement credit.  The former is easier to understand and I have an American Express Blue Cash card that works like this.  I get a small reward per transaction (usually about 1%) that collects until I earn at least $25.  Then I have the option of redeeming for a statement credit that just reduces my next bill.  Most card issuers also allow purchasing of gift cards and other merchandise but they charge full price for these so I can't figure out why anyone would ever want to do that if they could just get money.

The other type of cash reward card is a little more indirect.  My Barclaycard Arrival+ gives me two points per dollar I spend.  Again I need to reach a certain threshold before I can redeem (10,000 points for new cards these days).  I then have to redeem against travel expenses I've incurred in the previous 120 days.  One point = 1 cent so I would get $100 back.  If I don't have any travel expenses I wait until I have some.  Barclay also gives the option to redeem for statement credit, but this is for suckers: they only give half value for the points in this case (1 point = 1/2 cent).  So I could redeem 10,000 points for $50 or I could wait until I had a travel expense and redeem the same number of points for $100.  Hmm. Who would ever redeem for half value?

The second type of reward cards are specific program cards, like my IHG Rewards Club card that gives me IHG Rewards Club points.  These are often referred to as "co-branded" cards.  Other examples are the United Airlines Explorer card (gives United frequent flyer miles) and the Marriott Rewards card (gives points in Marriott's frequent stay program).  There's no redemption you need to worry about, each month the points you've earned are transferred directly to your account with the specific program and merge with any points you already have there.  Simple, right?  But not very flexible unless you only ever fly on a single airline and stay in a particular brand of hotel.

The third and final type of reward cards are generic transferrable points cards from each issuing bank.  My Chase Sapphire Preferred card is an example of this type of card.  It earns Ultimate Rewards points, which aren't tied to any specific program when you earn them.  When I want to use them, I choose one of Chase's transfer partners (for example, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, British Airways, Hyatt Hotels, etc.) and transfer my Ultimate Reward points directly over (usually instantaneously).  Which would you rather have, 1000 United frequent flyer miles or 1000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points that could be instantly changed into United frequent flyer miles but could ALSO instantly become Southwest Rapid Reward points, or British Airways Avios, etc..  That's the flexibility with these "transferrable currencies".  Chase isn't the only one that has points like this: American Express has Membership Rewards, and Citibank has ThankYou Rewards.  Each of these generic points programs also allows direct redemption for certain types of expenses (like travel) but is usually not a particularly good value (e.g., Chase Ultimate Rewards points are worth 1.25 cents for travel booked through the Chase web site but typically can be worth far more than that when redeemed as airline miles).  Still, you always have the option.

The different card issuers have different transfer partners.  I can transfer Chase points to United but not American or Delta.  Chase points transfer at 1:1 (one generic point for one specific program point) but other card issuer's generic points can transfer at different ratios.  Some transfer partners are more useful than others and some make for very poor value transfers, because their points are worth much less than 1.25 cents each (the baseline established above).  Chase Ultimate Rewards points can transfer to IHG or Marriott but these points are worth about .7 cents each or just a little more half of 1.25 cents.  I would not recommend transferring Ultimate Rewards points to IHG or Marriott.

Coming up: annual fees and annual perks

Money for Nothing and Points for Free

I never really planned to do much with the points and miles I collected for flying on various airlines and staying in various hotels. I didn't have very much brand loyalty so I never thought I would have enough points in any given program to actually redeem for anything of any value.

Teri traveled to Asia several times in the '90s for work and amassed a fair number of United frequent flyer miles. We did use those to fly to Florida twice, but when those were gone it seemed like that was the end.

Years ago I had applied for a couple of credit cards based on the sign-up bonus alone. First came a Royal Caribbean Visa card that gave a $250 credit on a cruise.  I used that card for several years.  Sadly we haven't taken a cruise on Royal Caribbean since I got the card and most of the points I accumulated have expired.  I also got a Disney Visa card that had a sign-up bonus of $100.  I really thought that was amazing.

I got back into sign-up bonuses almost by accident. In 2014 we had a trip to Europe planned and so I knew I needed a credit card that didn't have a foreign transaction fee. Most credit cards charge a fee of up to 3% for any foreign transaction and why pay that if you don't have to?  I applied for an IHG Hotels MasterCard which didn't charge foreign transaction fees and came with points which I knew I would use in the future.  IHG (InterContinental Hotel Group) includes Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Crowne Plaza, Staybridge Suites, and InterContinental hotels.

It turned out to be fortuitous that I got that card when I did because shortly thereafter we planned a last-minute trip to Hong Kong. Everything in Hong Kong was expensive so I was glad to have a card without a foreign transaction fee. Later I was reading that in Europe you really need a card with a chip. Back then it was hard to find credit cards in the United States that had chips. My IHG card didn't have one.  I read about a card with a chip called the Chase Sapphire Preferred. I read that in Europe you really wanted a "chip and pin" card (has a chip and uses a pin to complete the transaction) but most cards in the United States (including the Chase Sapphire Preferred) are just chip and signature (card has a chip but you still sign the receipt as is customary in the US). Chip and signature was better than nothing so I went ahead and applied.  Literally a couple of days later I read about a card called the Barclaycard Arrival+ that had just announced chip and pin compatibility. So I got that one too.

Eventually I realized that all three of these credit cards had given me sign-up bonuses valued at over $400 each!  Over $1200 total.  I finally saw how lucrative sign-up bonuses could be.  All I had to do was meet a minimum spending requirement (usually $1000-3000 in three months with spending I would be doing anyway).  Score!

Coming up: different types of rewards.

Singapore-style noodles with chicken, peppers & basil….and a Mark Bittman cookbook giveaway!!

http://everybodylikessandwiches.com/2014/12/singapore-style-noodles-with-chicken-peppers-basil-and-a-mark-bittman-cookbook-giveaway/

Ha ha, here's a review of a review of a recipe and a cookbook!

I love Singapore and eating food in Singapore but I just am not a huge fan of Singapore noodles. Probably because I love Thai and Indian curries better. However if I could make Singapore noodles, at home, easily, and if my DD might eat them, well then I could overlook all that and get off my high horse.

Everybodylikessandwiches.com is full of great recipes. We're trying to cook at home more and are desperate for great meals that take like, five minutes to make. We've also noticed that certain packaged foods like Knorr Taco Rice and Kraft Mac N Cheese (which used to be standbys in our house, don't judge, DD was in grade school) have changed their formulation over the last year. They used to taste bad-good but now they just taste bad-bad. I think they are cheaping out on their ingredients. So now we'd better figure out how to make them from scratch.

CHOW Time — Eating Las Vegas (and is that kind of cost ever justified?)

http://www.eatinglv.com/2016/01/chow-time/#more-40160

While setting up Inoreader (RSS reader for Android) this weekend it led me to eatinglv.com which covers eating (my favorite pastime) in one of my favorite cities (Las Vegas). This is what vicarious eating is all about:

"All of this [Mr Chows] finery came to a cool 200 samolians, upon which we heaped another $132 for wine. Add a $64 tip and you have a $400 dinner for two."

I just might spend that kind of money if I can be assured that the experience will be fantastic.

Although actually, back in the day, DH and I did use to spend this kind of moola on food. I was obsessed with Mille Fleurs, Addison, Five Crowns, Victoria & Alberts, Napa Rose, Tidepools. I wanted the best that money could buy. And then I found out that after a few $400 meals that it just didn't seem worth it. Because you can get a Specialty Steak dinner (including garlic bread!) for 8.99 at Steak n Ale (or a Stockyard at Steer N Stein). Is a $50 filet really worth it? $100 after you add in a side, a Caeser, and a glass of wine? A $10 steak isn't 10pct as good as a Ruth Chris' filet, it seems like 60 or 70pct as good. And I didn't have to dress up. What about the perfectly delicious (and very consistent) Ahi stack at C Level for $15?  Perfectly cooked salmon at Fish District for $14. Beautiful ambiance at Davanti Enoteca. Whatever you are craving, you definitely don't need to pay stratospheric prices for an excellent experience. 

I do love the outstanding service (that never gets old) but that alone doesn't justify the cost.

So here are the expensive places that still seem to offer value for money (to us) :

Lawry's/Tam O'shanter/Five Crowns - these really each deserve their own treatment, because each is unique, but the Lawrys family of restaurants wisely focuses on one thing and one thing only: the best prime rib. For my money, the Tam in Burbank is a bullseye for laid back, old school, come as you are LA dining. Obsequious service, delicious prime rib, Yorkshire pudding, intimate tables, and not stuffy like Lawrys can be. I actually think Five Crowns is headed in this same direction. The back patio (and the really hip and trendy Side Door, which was PACKED the last time we went thru) is almost Hipster with its reclaimed wood and casual chairs. Leave your three piece suit at home (or risk being sat with the old folks in the more traditional dining room). Yelp reports that food quality is falling but we have never noticed this. (Note: I am not including Lawrys Carvery in this group)

California Grill - Located in Walt Disney World at The Contemporary Resort, DH and I have never, ever had a bad meal here. We love the creative fish and sushi fusion menu, the wine, the ambiance, and the service. We ate at the counter seats here once after starving ourselves on Atkins for weeks, and the experience and service was so splendiforous, and the food so delicious, that we fought over who was going to marry the waiter. For us, this restaurant fires on all possible cylinders. And, at 9pm you can see the WDW fireworks from the patio. Nuff said.

Booking flights and cars

We think Kayak.com is the best site for flights research, now that travel.bing.com is gone (actually long gone).

Select "+-3 days" to see how one or two days could drastically change your flight costs. The basic rule is, flying Wednesday to Wednesday is usually the cheapest, with weekend flying being most expensive.

Select "Explorer" to see when the cheapest times are to fly. Mid-Feb thru mid May is the cheapest time to go to Hawaii (no surprise).

For rental cars we book Alamo thru Costco and then continue to scan prices, rebooking every time the rate drops. We have seen prices drop 2-3x this way. My other pro-tip is to book the cheapest car possible then upgrade onsite. Always cheaper than booking a higher grade in advance.

Hot summer in Hawaii this year

I'm sure DH will have more to say on this, but we just booked a June trip to Kauai and we obviously waited too long by booking 4.5 months ahead.  We ended up paying for flights with cash because the only flights remaining that were available for points were bad times (red-eyes, 6AM departures (which are basically red-eyes when you think about having to get up at 3 to be at the airport at 4), etc).  I can't do red-eyes anymore, DD and I both need our sleep.  Also, hotel inventory of garden view rooms (and garden view rooms available for points) was extremely low - we made some non-optimal choices and now we are having to pay some cash for the hotel instead of using 100% points.  DH is upstairs gnashing his teeth as we speak.

Just a reminder - if you want to use points, book WELL AHEAD.  We were going to book this summer trip right after the holidays but we got sick and the time got away from us.  The economy is pretty good and obviously, destinations are going to be very full this summer. Don't wait, book now!

Two Hungry Pandas-- Lunasia: Does expensive dim sum mean better quality and taste?

http://www.twohungrypandas.com/2009/09/does-more-expensive-dim-sum-mean-better.html

I love food blogs like this one with lots of great pictures and tons of name dropping in the comments that help you understand how this place compares to others:

"It always seems like Chinese parents fall into 2 categories: the fiscally liberal who drop their $ at places like this all the time and the fiscally conservative who stick to places like Hop Li and King Hua. Mine definitely belong to the latter."

If you love Chinese and Taiwanese food, and frequent the San Gabriel/Alhambra/Monterey Park area is that is LA 's *real* Chinatown, check this blog out.