Road Food... In Honor of Jane and Michael-5/18/09

Everybody has heroes. For some, it's athletes like LeBron James or Payton Manning. For others, it's those who combine talent and fame like Bono of U2 or actress Angelina Jolie. Me, my heroes like food and follow their own path like Jane and Michael Stern. Jane and Michael Stern are the authors of the Roadfood books and travel the country reviewing local restaurants that cater to the "everyman". For years, I've used their book and companion website to find great eats across the country. I don't know if I've mentioned that Richard and I are highpointers, members of a club that encourages and commends people who travel to the highest points in the United States. Together, we've been to 40 of the the U.S. highpoints and some more than once. As you can imagine, this hobby takes you to out of the way parts of our country and nothing is better than a great local restaurant.

We began Richard's business trip in San Diego, California, and nothing says "San Diego" quite like fish tacos. A little touristy, perhaps, but it had been a long time since I'd had a good fish taco and I was excited to try El Indio's take on this SoCal classic. Soon after landing at San Diego's airport, we headed to Old Town San Diego for lunch. El Indio is not out to impress with ambiance. The tables were Formica cast offs and aside from a few local photos and a large picture of Food Network star Guy Fieri who had visited the restaurant recently, there wasn't much else to decorate the place. (As an aside, I had to look up Mr. Fieri as the blonde tv chef on google.com. I'm not a food tv person and honestly had no idea what his name was, just what he looked like and that he did TGI Friday's commercials.) The place was efficient though and despite a pretty good crowd on a Sunday afternoon, our food was ready fast. I ordered the fish tacos and thought they were good, though not the best I've ever had. (Hopefully, I'll return to Chandler, Arizona soon to find Guido's just as I remember it!) Richard ordered the fish burrito and we both agreed mine was better. The fish was tender, flaky, and lightly battered. The taco was flavored with that wonderful lime juice tang and crunchy slaw filling. I liked the rice and beans too. The rice was spicy Spanish style rice and the beans had a nice gooey cheese topping. Eyrleigh liked the sides more than the taco but that's to be expected from the carb kid. Our only real complaint was the very hard tortilla chips that accompanied the meal. They were lightly spiced with chile powder but so crunchy that you couldn't really enjoy the flavor. I'm sure they are simply cut and fried corn tortillas but much too thick and hard for me and especially for Eyrleigh, who doesn't have the chew power yet to take down one of these chips. If you are in San Diego, this place is worth a trip but I bet there are some other good fish taco places around too.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hambrick's-Party of Four!-8/1/11

Image
On August 24th of last year, I wrote a innocuous little post on this blog about my husband being a good sport about my creative culinary exploits.  And then....nothing....for over 11 months.  What happened, you may ask?  Well, the picture at left tells a rather significant part of the story but not the whole thing so I'll try to summarize here in case another 11 months go by before I post again.  (Okay, I will seriously try not to do that!)  The year 2010 started off on the wrong foot with the loss of our fourth pregnancy (Thankfully, pregnancy #2 had resulted in Eyrleigh!) at 18 weeks.  We were still reeling from the devastation of that event when my only sibling, my brother Ben, committed suicide at the end of February.  Then in April, Richard's company hired a new CEO and things professionally went south from there for him.  Since a blog is a public format and could therefor be accessed by anyone, including this individual, let me suffice it to say that after 9 years with th
Read more

I Don't Boil Lobsters...July in Review-7/31/09

Image
Gourmet's July recipes are in the bag and aside from the two recipes I refused to do, I made every recipe for the month. I suppose I should explain... I eat meat but I cannot actually kill the animal before I eat it. I suppose I should amend this statement. The mussels I brought home from the store said "Live mussels" but they sure didn't move or give any other indication that they were alive. Lobsters do, they move, they squirm, and whether you believe it's simply air escaping from their shells or not, they make a high pitched screaming sound when first put into boiling water. I just can't do that. The very thought of it turns my stomach and makes something I find fun, cooking, fill me with dread. So I didn't make the Boiled Lobster Dinner with Sesame Mayonnaise on page 54 or the Lobster Rolls with Lemon Vinaigrette and Garlic Butter on page 28. Everything else I made and here's my highs and lows from this month's issue. This month's best reci
Read more

He Even Eats Sardines-8/24/10

Image
My husband is a really good sport.  I was reminded on several occasions this week how many spouses, husbands in particular, would take no part in the experiment I've been blogging about for over a year and a half.  Some friends came to eat last week and the wife made a point to tell me her husband did not eat vegetables.  He's a great guy but I'm really glad I'm not married to him.   I couldn't handle a picky eater.  And I'm 100% sure a picky eater could not handle me!    Another friend, after I told her what we were having for dinner, asked very incredulously if Richard would eat that.   Tonight I think I found Richard's least favorite food.  It's sardines.  I had to eat them as a kid so though I don't love them, I can eat them.  Richard took one bite of the sardine spread and asked what I had made him eat.   The recipe for Grilled Monterey Sardines with Lemon and Herbs in the To Big Sur, With Love article in this month's Bon Appetit called for
Read more