Current Location: Oceanside, San Diego, CA
Reason for Visit: Helping my brother and his family move in
Length of Stay: 10 days
I'm already into my 4th day here in sunny California and I'm dreading the day I have to fly back east to the good ol' grey NYC. Aside from unpacking boxes upon boxes, we've done a good amount of eating and sightseeing around the area. As any visitor would, I've been pretty dependent on Trip Advisor and Yelp, but am never afraid to ask some locals what they love to do and eat because they know where it's happenin'.
The first thing I wanted to do was go running along the beach, the one thing I never had the chance to do the other times I visited California. Aaannd, check. I could totally get used to this. Nothing, IMO, beats being surrounded by tall palm trees, hearing the waves roll in and out, and feeling the cool breeze evaporate your hard earned sweat off your face. Although Jersey has the four seasons to show the cool change in nature, California gives you unlimited vitamin D all year round. (No more SAD-ness.) Can you tell I'm a little biased here?
I'll get to more of what else I/we did later. Let's talk about food, baby. Here are some places we've grubbed at so far...
Lunch'd @ That Boy Good in Oceanside menu
If you're lookin' for meat, meat... and waffles, this is your place. What's great about going in a big group (who likes to share) is that you get to try a bunch of different things. The service was a bit slow but that's probably because I'm coming from NYC. However, the service was great - everyone is just so nice in California!
BBQ Combo: Beef Links, Pulled Pork, and 1/2 Rack of Rib - Easily shareable among two people, very good.
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| Photo Taken with iPhone 5 |
Country Fried Chicken Thighs and Waffles, Hand Cut Fries - This was really good, I'd come back for this; the chicken breading had a mild salty/spicy flavor which paired well with the waffles and syrup.
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| Photo Taken with iPhone 5 |
BBQ Beef Links - Pretty good hot dogs, not much else to say.
BBQ Pork Ribs - This was OK. It's more of a dry, mustardy meat that doesn't fall of the bone.
And, yes, we did have dessert. We got 2 Chocolate Chip Waffle Ice Cream Sandwich. "Six dollars for an ice cream sandwich?!" Umm, YES. This was unbelievably good. The chocolate chip infused waffle melted in your mouth as the ice cream cooled your mouth down. SO WORTH IT.
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| Photo Taken with Olympus OMD-EM5 |
Overall: I would come here again to get the chicken and waffles and the ice cream sandwich.
Dinner'd @ Azul in La Jolla main menu / patio menu
It was a long wait to sit inside but there's an option to sit in the patio with no wait, which we we did. The service was good and friendly.
Just get the flat breads and/or the pork chop. Everything else was just okay - salads are not worth it and the tuna was bland. We didn't order any steak, so I can't put my two cents in about what they're known for... oops.
Overall: I would dine here again just for the flatbread pizzas and maybe try the steaks, that's it.
Lunch'd in Domino's
We ordered in because we were in the process of moving and I feel like the Domino's here tastes different and better than on the east coast. OR it could just be me.
Overall: It's fast food pizza, what else do you expect?
Dinner'd @ Luche Libre menu
Burrito Heaven. The awning says "Taco Shop" in big letters and "Luche Libre" in very small letters, so open your eyes and make sure you don't miss it! The line was long but quick. You can't save seats at a table until you've ordered, their rule. So much better than Chipotle! Finding parking could be a pain in the bum.
Holy Moly w/o Sour Cream - very, very good! (Pictured below)
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Surfin' California - also, very good!
Undefeated Seafood (MahiMahi) - eh. After trying the other two, this was just okay. In my brother's opinion, "The coleslaw overpower the fish."
Overall: Loved the querky interior design, fast service, and delicious food. I would come here again.
Lunch'd @ In-N-Out
This is the one place I always go to whenever I'm visiting the west coast. This place is so good and better than the fast food joints on the east coast. There's a very basic menu and a not so secret menu* that is worth the trip.
I had the protein style* cheeseburger, animal style*. Protein style is without the bun, wrapped in lettuce. Animal style burger is cooked with a thin layer of mustard and has pickles, grilled onions, and extra spread. You can get your fries animal style which is a little different - cheese, grilled onions, and spread. The fries, too, are just so darn good.
You'll notice Bible verses on the bottom of the cups, wrappers, and fry buckets, which I think is pretty cool. Very similar to Chik-fil-a.
Hmm, compared to the number of places we've dined and dashed and what we've seen, we didn't really do much! After my brother's family settles in with unpacking and organizing, we are going to explore the country! This is what we did so far...
Our main reason visiting La Jolla were the coves. The sunset view of the horizon was beautiful and we loved the honking(?) of the sea lions. Apparently, it's mating season... I wish we stayed a bit longer and did more walking around. This place is definitely a must-see and we'll probably visit again to do some kayaking to get a closer look of the lions cat-calling.
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| Photo Taken with Olympus OMD-EM5 |
On another day, my younger brother (D), nephew (PK), and I went to the beach in Oceanside again to swim and hangout. The weather was perfect, not too hot/cold. It's not a busy beach, which is nice - no commercial stores, no umbrella/beach chair rentals.
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| Photo Taken with iPhone 5 |
We also visited Zion Market, a pretty big Korean grocery store. You can get everything you need here; well... that's Asian/Korean. They also have a Paris Baguette (bakery) which is a bit cheaper and more delicious looking than ours out east.
