Restaurant Review: Nature's Express, DELICIOUS!!

I always said, whoever makes a healthy fast food place is going to strike it rich. I hate fast food but I don't always want to have to sit down and do the ordering and tipping for a healthier meal. Nature's Express might be the gem I've been looking for. I ate there three times this weekend! It all started with the void of fast food restaurants in Banker's Hill, which I love but it sucks if you want something fast, cheap, healthy and simple. I drive by Nature's Express like everyday and never go there, I'm pretty pretentious about NOT being a vegan or a vegetarian and very much liking meat. Hey they get to be snotty about all the thing they DON'T do! Good thing I got over myself, I was soooo pleasantly surprised. I ordered the Thai Raw Wrap and sweet potato fries. It came out fast and cheap. THE SWEET POTATO FRIES WERE AMAZING!! Crispy and delicious, I was hooked. The wrap was wrapped in collard leaves which I was a bit disappointed about, I wanted it to be wrapped in some delicious wheat tortilla but it's an all vegan place, shoulda known, it was still really tasty though! I went back the next day for a cheeseburger and more of those hauntingly good sweet potato fries. This was the real test because the cheeseburger was vegan down to the burger, cheese, mayo and bread and I love cheeseburgers, REAL ones. It was awesome!

It tasted like a delicious cheeseburger, really it did, well done. I had to go and order the same thing the next day! The person on duty is a good friend of mine and threw in this delicious vegan cookie that ruled. Turns out they have an awesome buffet and tons of seating room inside and outside and much much more to try on the menu, can't wait to see what other suprises and joys await me at Nature's Express!

Nature's Express
www.natures-express.com
2949 5^th Avenue (at Quince)
San Diego, CA 92103
T: 619.550.1818
F: 928.317.8304

Tajima Japanese Restaurant

A friend of mine was moving to Japan to teach and I had to know she'd be eating right. I lived in Japan as a kid and I remember a few sleep overs with my Japanese friends when I'd go to bed hungry after not being able to stomach squid tentacles and raw horse meat (thank god for rice). If you asked me where to get Japanese food in San Diego I might have just rattled off my favorite sushi places. WRONG. Japanese people eat way more than sushi and not all of it looks like the food the mom on 80's cult classic Better Off Dead would have cooked. I think we can all safely say the best Asian ethnic food comes from the Convoy area and that's where we went. There are hidden treasures all over there but you gotta know where to go and thankfully my friend teaches English and her Japanese students raved about Tajima, GOOD SIGN!! We smoked a bowl in the car and strolled in. Right off teh bat, the place was cute and clean, spacious and great for small and large groups. Katie pretty much knew everyone there and they ran over to hug her and meet us all happily. Japanese people love to share cultures whether their absorbing yours with giddy enthusiasm or passing off their culture to you with a contagious pride.

We wanted to try a wide range of things and were able to because the prices were very reasonable! They had a bunch of safe bets for less adventurous peeps and some far out options. We got kimchi pork udon (stir fried noodles,pork, kimchi and a poached egg, this was our favorite!!), an array of appetizers (standards like veggie tempura were great along with wild cards like grilled beef tongue (!), cold tofu and kimchi were great also). We enjoyed beers and great service. Tajima stays open till 3 AM for Ramen Nites on the weekend, anybody whos been drunk and poor knows ramen is a great drunken treat (but a really horrifying thing to barf up so they have other stuff too). Check their menus on their nice website and head out to Convoy for some great Japanese eats!!

Tajima Japanese Restaurant
4681 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

(858) 576-7244

Restaurant Review: Pizza Gourmet Express

I'd driven by Pizza Gourmet Express a bunch and it looked cute, plus I am always on the lookout for tasty pizza be it NY style joints like Bronx and Luigi's, Chicago style like Lefty's, or Sicilian like Venice Pizza. Our office has a bi monthly outing to check out San Diego lunch places and do some office bonding over food. This outing did NOT disappoint. PGE is cute and clean with outdoor and indoor seating. There isn't too much space but we comfortably had 8 people in our party and there was room for more customers. This place is definentely diffrerent than the beloved places above, KNOW THIS. There are pies that range from the classics like pepperoni and Hawaiian to BBQ, Mediterranean and even a Duck, Pesto, Gouda, fig one (I was going to try this but they were out of duck, great excuse to return!). The service was AWESOME and I was delighted to find they had beer and wine as well as Coca Cola, in the glass bottle! You can order a personal sized 10" pizza or a 14" pizza to share and you can build your own pizza with the many many ingredients they have on hand. I was suprised to find that the first pizza hit our table about 8-10 minutes after ordered!! They have convection ovens so you don't have the loooong wait I associate with pizza. They did have two different pizzas available for by the slice if you can't even wait 10 minutes. I had the BBQ pizza which had smoked gouda, shrimp, cilantro, carmelized onion, and delicious BBQ sauce. BOOOOOOMB!!!!! SO GOOD!!! Dude, their ingredients are off the hook. I was very impressed and I'm a foodie. You can either get a traditional crust or a flat wheat crust. I tried the flat crust and adored it. Since the ingredients are delicious and adventourous the crusts purpose here is really only to hold them, not to be the showcase and that's how I like my pizza, incredible toppings and a great crust that doesn't usurp. Did I mention the owner was a sweetheart? Check this place out, University Heights has some incredible food choices so make this one of your stops. You won't be dissapointed!! Try and branch out if your a cheese/pepperoni type of person, everything is delicious!

Pizza Gourmet Express
4615 Park Blvd
San Diego, CA 92116

(619) 546-7430

Check Out The Menu

Hillcrest Italian Food Gem: Bacione

It doesn't help that Bacione is in a shopping complex slapped up against a Radio Shack and Pick Up Sticks (It's by Ralps and Trader Joe's on University). Also doesn't help that the font on the sign sort of looks like you'll be eating fancily prepared musaka and not home style tortellini. We walked into Bacione and found a laid back atmosphere and friendly no frills service from the daughter of the cook herself. Ok so I had overdressed but I felt instantly at ease and even had a fun conversation with our server (who was also our host) about what to order. She recommended the rigatoni which was the house specialty but we got the Eggplant Parmesan instead and we started with wine, bruschetta and ordered a pesto basil tomato pizza for dinner as well.

Ok right off the bat, I'll just cut to the chase: This was the best Italian food I have ever had. And I dine! And I've been to Italy! Bruschetta is a basic italian starter but easy to mess up. This bruschetta was perfect because of the ingredients, the ingredients make or break an Italian dish. I have never tasted such flavorful exquisite olive oil, oh and the crunch of the bread!! Then the eggplant parmesan comes out and I died and went to heaven again. I'll say the eggplant was just normally awesome but the side of spaghetti that came with it was FUCKING INSANE. And this is just your basic noodles and red sauce spaghetti you guys. Its just the noodles were sent from god, perfect, and tasted like I was sitting in some house kitchen in an Italian Villa. The sauce, perfecto. Ok and then the pizza with pesto, mozzarella, tomato and basil. It followed suit and was incredible. Crunchy light crust that was still somehow soft and intensely flavorful ingredients in their perfect amounts. I think I exclaimed and hummed happily through the entire experience, yes EXPERIENCE. We had a gift certificate to pay for most of it but found out we were $10 short of the required amount we needed to spend. At this point I was so full I was about to sleep in the booth so we ordered the rigatoni, house specialty to go. We ate it for lunch the next day and fucking died and went to Italian food heaven. Mushrooms, garlic, roasted red pepper and herbs in a spicy marina sauce over the best rigatoni pasta I've ever had. We flipped out and tried to make it last, savoring each morsel....WHEN CAN I GO BACK? Best 4000 calories I've ever eaten in all of San Diego. Please try it, they are family run and cook like you'd never believed. The Yelp reviews are mixed but at least try for yourself!!

Restaurant Review: The Glass Door

I noticed The Glass Door when I craned my neck upwards while walking out of Blick in Little Italy. It sat on the top floor of recently renovated, four story high, Porto Vista Hotel. It is on the corner of Fir and Columbia. The sun was setting and spectacular and people were dining on a sun bathed deck overlooking the harbor, sailboats and Cabrillo Point. It was gorgeous and I knew I had to check it out.
I went on a Friday night with four friends and reservations at 8 PM. We sat right inside but there are enormous sliding glass doors between the restaurant and deck and when theyre open it feels like youre outside. There is a large beautiful bar and sort of a modern morrocan theme going on, tons of great lamps and chandeliers were hanging everywhere. There was a flat screen tv if you want to plop down and watch tv but it took away from the dark amber glow in the restaurant. The faire was New American and the wine list included great interntional and local wines. Price were resaonsable for a nice place and they serve food for every meal Supposedly their brunch is awesome!! Our host and server were very nice, helpful and patient and the other people in the restaurant were kind too, no snooty downtownies! We ordered the house Cab, which was delicious ($32/bottle) and four appetizers to try. The starters were VERY reasonable so if youre on a budget get wine and some things to share with your party. We had pomme frites of course, a delioucious large serving of skinny french fries. We had crab cakes as well. They were large and less crispy on the outside than I like and VERY crabby, I like things a little less intense on the flavor side there. We tried the macoroni and cheese which was DELICIOUS. It was more creamy than cheesy and had anduoliie sausage. We also ordered the chicken Jidori which came with a large side of lettuce and dressing. The chicken was dry and a bit flavorless though, sort of disspointment. All in all, I had a great time just because the wine was good, I was with friends, the staff was great and the atmopshere outstanding. If I went back id check out a meal I could enjoy at sunset! I'd also probably just order wine and enjoy cigarettes and pomme frites or branch out a bit more and get one of their more expsensive but delicious sounding entrees. Let me know if you go and what you have!!
Check out The Menu at The Glass Door
For reservations call 619. 544. 0164
Hours:

Monday - Friday

Breakfast - 6:00 am to 10:30 am

Lunch - 11:30 am to 2:30 pm

Dinner - 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm

Late nite - 10:30 pm to 1:00 am

They also serve brunch all day Saturday and Sunday, from 7:00 am to 3:00 pm.