Brians' American Eatery

So today was cold and with a wind chill factor of "are you freakin kidding me?" you might not think I'd want to go to Brians' American Eatery for brunch.  There's always a line and it gets pretty crowded with people trying to wait inside, but, it's worth it!  They have parking, but you may have to park somewhere else and walk when it's really busy.

First of all, no, I'm not spelling it wrong.  It's Brians', not Brian's, because it's 2 guys named Brian.  Brians' is in Hillcrest, on Washington between Lincoln and Cleveland.  This location used to be an old coffee shop that never changed.  When it became Brians', everything changed.  It's still got a vintage coffee shop feel but now it's on purpose.  There's also a heated patio on the side for when it's not raining or windier than heck.

Brians' is all about good food and lots of it.  I'm not kidding.  If you consider yourself a big eater you might be surprised and you'll definitely be satisfied.  You're never going to go there and get "a little bite" of something.  I've never finished my whole meal.  They offer breakfast, daily specials and a big variety of entrees and sandwiches and everything is good.  When you order a cup of coffee, they leave a full pot on the table.  Same thing with hot tea and they bring a honey bear with it.

Not only is the food really good and really big, the staff is great.  If you leave Brians' unhappy, it's probably your own fault.  Everyone is friendly and attentive and eager to make sure you get everything exactly the way you want it.  

For breakfast I like their Country Benedict; a biscuit topped with sausage, scrambled eggs, country gravy and green onions.  I love that I can get grits instead of potatoes.  I also like that they put fresh fruit on many of their plates.  Other favorites include Fried Chicken and Waffle, Hey Ricky!, Nachos El Brian or any of the burgers.

Brians' is absolutely my first choice for Sunday brunch.

Make sure to get one of their frequent diner cards!

Review revisit - Awash Ethiopian restaurant

A few years ago, shortly after starting this blog, I did a review of Awash Ethiopian restaurant. I've been back several times since but thought it was time for an update. Not much has changed since 2009. It's still comfortable and relaxed and serves really good, authentic Ethiopian food.

We went there for dinner tonight and I purposely chose a menu item I had not tried before. I ordered the fried beef ribs. These were very different from what I have ordered in the past. Instead of small bits of meat mixed with spices these were slices of rib with bone that were seasoned and fried with jalapenos and onions and awaze (spicy sauce which tasted very similar to the sauce meats are mixed with in other dishes.

The ribs were served fajita style. First they brought a plate covered by a piece of enjera and a bit of salad and accompanied by a side of the awaze. Next, the waitress brought out a sizzling platter with the ribs, onions and jalapenos, and spooned it all on top of the enjera. The ribs were very good and seasoned nicely, but I think I prefer the other dishes I've had in the past. Although the awaze had that same flavor I'm used to, it didn't have as big a flavor impact served on the side as the dishes that are cooked in sauce.

In my previous review I stated that I had not tried the tej. I have since tried it, but not tonight. It was good, but not something I would drink on a regular basis. It's not too sweet as I feared it might be, but if I'm going to drink wine with dinner, I prefer something dry.

I also wanted to try wot this evening. I had ordered the collard greens wot, unfortunately I never got it. Although the waitress apologized profusely, somehow it didn't get in my order. Oh well, something new to look forward to next time I go. This is an example of the one problem I have with this restaurant. The waitresses are very nice but don't have a good grasp of English and this is not the first time my order wasn't exactly correct. This evening, after we were finished eating the waitress and I did a little "Who's on first" regarding taking our leftovers and ordering baklava to go. I'm willing to overlook this because the food is so good, it was just a side dish and the order has never been so wrong that I was completely unhappy, but if you're a stickler for perfect service you may be quite disappointed.

All in all, I still highly recommend this restaurant for those with adventurous taste buds. Just remember to wash your hands before dinner.

Himalayan Cuisine

A pleasant surprise, not too far from home... Himalayan Cuisine

Just on accident we stumbled across this restaurant. We don't spend much time in the East County but were on our way home from Parkway Plaza tonight. I did a quick search for restaurants in La Mesa and Himalayan Cuisine came up. What is Himalayan Cuisine? Well, it's a lot like Indian food. In fact, I could not tell you the differences. Their sign says Himalayan, Indian and Nepalese food.

This place is in a strip mall on El Cajon Blvd. You can see the sign for it on El Cajon Blvd., but the restaurant is farther in the strip mall hiding behind the 99 cents only store. It's a pretty big place, but it seems they probably use the larger back area for special occasions. We were seated in the front, along with everyone else who came in while we were there. There were 4 or 5 small booths and a few larger tables in this area. It's fairly dark inside, so if you need light to read your menu, bring one with you. The overall look of the place is pretty drab, but the ceiling included some panels with interesting designs on them.

What did I get?

Everyone gets a cup of lentil soup to start. It was very hot to the touch, but I would have liked a little more spice. We ordered vegetable pakora appetizer . Very tasty, shredded vegetable haystacks coated in what tasted like lentil flour then fried, served with mint chutney. They also have samosas which some may prefer, but those came with a tamarind chutney. I can eat gobs of mint chutney, thus the pakora.

I love lamb!!! I got the #29. Sorry, didn't write down its name. It is lamb in a slightly sweet and hot, flavorful sauce, served with your choice of Basmati rice or "bread". The waiter didn't specify, but I'm thinking it probably would have been naan. I got the rice and ordered it at level 6 for heat. I could have gone hotter and been fine. It was very good, lots of sauce, and I love sauces. The best part was that the lamb tasted like lamb. I've often been very disappointed when ordering lamb and getting something that I could not distinguish as being lamb. If I want lamb, like I often do, I want it to taste like lamb. If you can't taste that delicious gaminess, then you might as well order beef. My dinner companion ordered #46, I think. It was kinda like an Indian version of fried rice with lamb, served with Raita. It was pretty good, but of course I liked mine better because it was saucy. For dessert we tried the "juicy milk balls". Not really my kind of thing. Cake balls with honey or something really sweet in the middle, served warm in a very sweet syrup. I'm not a big sweet eater to begin with, and I didn't care for the texture, kinda like tres leches cake but denser on the outside and even sweeter.

He also ordered a chai tea. This is nothing like you get at the coffee monopoly stores. You could actually taste the tea, which had a grassy taste. The spices were not as pronounced as many people may be used to. It was served hot and unsweetened. After adding 3 sugars, he was happy with it.

They also feature a number of chicken and vegetarian dishes, all of which also sounded good.

As usual, whenever we go out to eat we bring home at least another meal's worth of leftovers. I'm looking forward to lunch tomorrow.

What's cool?

The waiters are very nice and it's pretty relaxing inside. Even though it's in a strip mall, all the windows except the glass door are covered with fabric so you can forget you're just steps away from the 99 cent store. The music playing was pretty interesting (if you're weird like me). It kinda sounded like a cross between native American and Celtic, different than I remember ever hearing in an Indian restaurant.

What sucks?

Nothing really sucked besides the dessert, but it just wasn't my kind of thing.

Rating...Good food and a nice change of pace.

Review - Awash Ethiopian restaurant

A tasty adventure...Awash Ethiopian restaurant

Awash Ethiopian restaurant is sparsely decorated but clean and comfortable. Their menu offers a pretty long list of authentic Ethiopian food. If you’re new to Ethiopian food but are adventurous, you’re in for a treat. What makes Ethiopian food unique is the spices they use and the way the food is served. All the entrees are served on enjera, a thin bread with a spongy texture and a tangy taste. You’ll also get plenty more enjera on the side. The enjera is the utensil they use to eat. After tearing a piece off you use it to pick up your food. Some might be afraid this would be messy, but the enjera prevents the sauce of the food from getting all over your fingers.

They offer entrees made with beef, chicken, lamb, a large variety of vegetarian options and fish (only served Wednesdays and Fridays). To start try a sambusa, seasoned beef or lentils wrapped in a flaky pastry and fried, served with a really spicy hot sauce on the side. The portions are large enough that they can be shared by two. With the most expensive dish being $16, it’s quite a good deal. Most dishes run around $9 or $10. They offer beer and wine from Ethiopia as well as American beer and wine and a few popular import beer brands. There’s a happy hour on certain weekdays with $2 beers including imports.

What do I get?
I love lamb and they offer a few different lamb entrees so I usually choose one of those. I also love their sambusas and their home made baklava is great. It’s served warm and isn’t as sweet or as rich as Greek Baklava. I like it much better. Someday I’m going to try Tej, an Ethiopian honey wine, but haven’t yet.

What's cool?
If you’re a true coffee lover you’ve got to try their Ethiopian coffee. They roast the beans when you order it and bring them out in the pan for you to smell before grinding and brewing. It’s served in an African pottery pitcher with demitasse sized cups. As you might imagine it’s very strong.

What sucks?
Their American wine choices. At the same price as their Ethiopian wines ($4 per glass and $14 per bottle) they only offer Charles Shaw wines, commonly referred to as 2 buck Chuck. Some of the Charles Shaw wines are pretty good, but it’s difficult to see paying $14 for a $2 bottle of wine.


Rating...You must go if you’re ok with eating with your fingers.

Review - Bangkok Spices

Inexpensive Thai food...Bangkok Spices

Bangkok Spices is the go-to place for inexpensive Thai food to go. The food is good, there’s a great selection on their menu and you can order almost any dish with whatever protein you like. They offer a few different vegetarian protein options including mock chicken and mock duck. You can also order beef, pork, chicken, seafood and duck. Like many Thai restaurants, you can order your food with whatever level of spice you want on a scale of 0-10. I’ve never been disappointed with any of their entrees, noodle dishes and curries. I haven’t found most of their appetizers to be very good though. I prefer to order to go. This place doesn’t offer much in the way of ambience, just good food. The building they’re in was originally a Pizza Hut and you can still tell it was. Brick walls and floors and wood paneling don’t read as Thai. The music they have chosen to play is easy listening and singers and standards. I find the look of the place and the music they play to be incongruous with the food they serve. They serve wine and beer and of course Thai iced tea. You can never go wrong with Thai iced tea.

What do I get?

My usual order is sweet basil with duck. The first time I took a friend of mine there I ordered my usual and after tasting it he ordered the same to go several times the following week. I’ve tried a couple of their curries and they were both very tasty. I also like their Pad Thai and Tom Yum soup.

What’s cool? They have duck! Their Thai iced tea is good, not too sweet but not watered down.

What sucks?

As mentioned earlier their appetizers have almost always been disappointing. In addition, they don’t have a web site so I suggest getting a copy of their menu to have at home. You’re going to want to order by phone for pick up. If you order there, you might have a bit of a wait.

Rating…Order to go and eat in your sweats or pajamas with a friend

Recipe - Farmer's Salad (Jewish deli style)

aIf you Google farmer's salad you'll find a large number of recipes that seem to have nothing in common. Apparently there is a version of farmer's salad for every region, country or culture. This version is the one my mother used to make and is very similar to the one served at the local Jewish deli. A good choice for a meatless meal. It's healthy, low fat, super easy to make and yummy. Great on a hot day.

Ingredients:

1 quart cottage cheese

1 pint sour cream

1 large cucumber

1 bunch red radishes

1 bunch green onions

salt

pepper

Preparation:

Chop cucumber (peeled or not) into small, evenly sized chunks. Chop cleaned radishes into small, evenly sized chunks. Chop green onions in small, evenly sized pieces. Mix chopped cucumber, radishes and green onions together.

That's it

Serve cottage cheese, sour cream and vegetables in separate bowls for family style dining. Allow diners to help themselves and season to their liking with salt and pepper.

Serves approximately 6 hearty eaters.

How do I like mine?

Cucumbers partially peeled. A generous portion of cottage cheese, lots of vegetables and a dollop of sour cream with a touch of salt and a few grinds of pepper. If I'm really hungry I might have a few woven wheat crackers on the side.