Falafel from Oasis Grill

Sunday nights are always hard food-wise, so I used GoPago as some inspiration to try out a new place, preferably one where the lack of availability of fresh seafood and off-duty executive chefs wouldn't matter.  And since I'd already used up all of my GoPago credits, I needed to find a buddy to treat me to dinner using theirs.  I decided to tempt Ojan with the promise of some good falafel at Oasis Grill, as I know it is something he likes, it was only a few blocks away, and I've heard great things about the place.

So we went, ordering from his phone from a few blocks away.  As always, GoPago worked like a charm.  He put in the notes to have it cut in half so we could share, and they saw the note and did so.  I love how easy special requests are with GoPago!

One amusing thing is that we had the option when ordering of dine in or take out.  We hadn't been to the "restaurant" before, so selected dine in.  When we arrived, we saw that there was exactly one table, and it was occupied.  Whoops!  Luckily, there was plentiful seating in the courtyard across the street.

I don't think I'm likely to go back, at least not for the falafel, but Ojan liked it, and said he was glad to have found a new quick option for lunch or dinner in the neighborhood.  GoPago wins another fan!

Falafel Lavash Wrap: Fried chickpea patties with hummus, mediterranean salad, topped with tahini, wrapped in a lavash.  $7.86.

Since I was splitting with Ojan who can't have spicy food, we got it mild.  I would have ordered it hot, but I was able to get the hot sauce on the side, which I used to jazz it up.

And jazzing up it needed.  There just wasn't really any flavor to it.  Very bland.

The description listed in GoPago said there was hummus, but I didn't find any, and the online menu doesn't list hummus as an ingredient.  I kinda think there wasn't any.

There was tahini, but it didn't really add much flavor.

The mediterranean salad was lettuce, cucumber, and some herbs, that mostly just seemed like mediocre quality filler.

The falafel was the best part.  The wrap contained several falafel balls, all nice and crispy.  Speaking of crispy, the lavash was grilled, which gave it a great crisp exterior.  Actually, that might have been my favorite part.

I just didn't really care for this, but a falafel wrap isn't something I normally pick.  Ojan, who does like mediterranean food, liked it.  He said it wasn't amazing, but better than a lot of falafel he has had around here.

$7.86 was a random price (that was pre-tax), but pretty decent for a sandwich in this part of town.

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Tropisueño

Tropisueño is one of my favorite Mexican restaurants in San Francisco.  To start, it is an actual restaurant, not a taqueria.  Except ... that isn't really true.

Let me rewind.

Tropisueño opened a few years ago, and I stumbled into it during their very first few days open, as it is located near where I used to live.  I loved it instantly, as I like Mexican food, but I'm a bit of an ingredient quality snob, and just don't really ever like the meats or vegetables used at pretty much everywhere I go in the Mission (except Papalote ... mmm, love their soyrizo!).   Besides the quality ingredients, what really struck me during my initial few visits was how much love and care when into the cooking.  It reminded me of home cooking, just obviously not the cooking I'd get at my home.  The servers were friendly, the quality was high, and the price was remarkable, particularly given the location.

The restaurant quickly got very popular, and I could no longer just walk in anytime.  Reservations became required, otherwise waits were always over an hour.  Prices went up, the homey feeling somewhat disappeared, but it did stay incredibly tasty, and everyone I've ever brought there has really enjoyed it.

They also have a decent sized bar area and make a wide variety of interesting margaritas, all with different flavored salts.  Even if you aren't up for a full meal, it can be a nice place to chill for happy hour and eat some delicious fresh chips and salsa.

So as I mentioned, this is a full service restaurant ... at night.  But during the day, they actually operate taqueria style.  It is really incredible to see how they transform the entire space every day!  During the day, there is a menu on the wall, and a long counter where you order with all of the meats, veggies, sides, etc all lined up, and a cashier at the end.  You order, seat yourself with a little number on your table, and your food is delivered very quickly.  Chips and salsa are of course included.  Many people also get their food to go, and they have a very large salsa and condiments bar equipped with takeout containers.

I've been wanting to go during the day for ages to check out the casual style, but I eat lunch at work during the week, and I'm usually brunching on weekends.  But ... they are on GoPago, which of course finally pushed me over the edge to try out the daytime menu.

The seating area is the same whether you go for lunch or dinner, except that during the day you seat yourself, and in the evening, you are seated by a hostess.  And of course, you order first at the counter during the day, and have regular table service at night.  The decor is somewhat hard to describe, basically, as rustic and Mexican as you can get, while still fitting in the with SOMA vibe, if that makes any sense.

I really like Tropisueño for dinner, Happy Hour, and now, for lunch as well.  I wish they operated the casual side in the evenings too, as I'd love to be able to get a high quality, cheap, fast taco in the area at night too!  I'll be back, just not sure what time of day ...

Baja Fish Taco: crispy, battered tilapia with salsa verde, sour cream, house slaw,  served taco truck style on soft corn tortillas. $3.95.

This was a very large taco, particularly for the price!

It was delivered to my table, nice and hot.  The presentation was much better than other tacos I've had.

The corn tortillas were soft, but didn't have a very strong corn flavor.  They reminded me of a cross between the two different types of soft taco shells from Rubios.  Even though the flavor of the Rubios corn tortilla was much stronger and better, I preferred these for their softness, warmth, and overall consistency, as the Rubios ones were a little soggy.  I was a little confused when the menu said "soft corn tortillas" and thought it was a type-o, but it did indeed come wrapped in multiple tortillas.  I'm not really sure why.

The fish was a fried and battered tilapia, a decent size chunk.  A few bites had a bit of fishiness to them, but others didn't at all.  The fish was flaky and nice and buttery, seemingly high quality, better than the Rubios fish.  The batter was ok, but got very soggy quickly from the other things in the taco.  I'm not sure how crispy it was to begin with.  I actually think I'd have preferred this just with some grilled fish, as the batter was lost with everything else going on the taco, and in particular, the crispiness wasn't there, and that is what deep frying is all about!

The house slaw was what really made the taco.  It was crisp, fresh, and delicious.  There was a generous amount of it.  It really just tied everything together.  Much better than the cabbage or spring greens that Rubios used.

The salsa was their tomatillo-avocado salsa.  It was creamy and had a decent flavor, but not much kick. Since I have a mild avocado allergy, I mostly scraped this off when I realized what it was, the menu had said "salsa verde" and I knew they made another green salsa, and was expecting that instead.  Whoops!

The sour cream added another creamy component, and I appreciated it.

Also included was a fresh slice of lime.  It was incredibly juicy and provided a nice flavor.

I went to the amazing salsa bar and added some salsa fresca and some pickled jalapenos as well.  They added some great additional freshness and kick.

I'd definitely get this again, although I'd have them leave off the salsa, and I'd just dress it up myself using the salsa bar.  $3.95 was a fantastic price for quality ingredients.

Compared to Rubios, this was a much higher quality taco, and the price was the same.  It was about twice the size, the tortillas were far better, and the fish was better.  But Rubios definitely wins on the creative, delicious, sauces, although that also makes them far less authentic.

Barbacoa Taco: braised shredded beef, fresh onions and cilantro.  $2.55.

I went back a second time when I received more GoPago credits.  This time, I only had a $3 credit, so I couldn't afford the fish or shrimp tacos, which is what I'd normally order.  A plain taco was my only choice if I wanted to stay within my freebie budget!

They offer a slew of filling choices: 3 types of chicken, 3 types of beef, 4 types of pork, tofu, or veggies.  Since none of them are things I normally would pick, I asked the staff member for advice.  She recommended the barbacoa, the braised shredded beef.  So I went for it.

The preparation of this was very different from the fish taco.  The fish taco seems to be more of a special case, and they prepare it in the back kitchen, presumably because they are frying the fish, whereas this was prepared standard assembly-line taqueria style.  Like all of the standard meat options, there are just containers of the meats sitting there that they scoop out of, etc.  As such, it was ready before I even had time to get my salsas ready!

The taco shell was the same as the fish taco, soft, corn, pretty decent flavor, nice and warmed up.  And doubled up again.  This time, it made sense to me why it was doubled, as this was a big juicy mess!  The meat was swimming in liquid and the shell got soggy pretty much instantly, even with two layers.

The meat was tender, well cooked, and seemingly high quality.  I didn't find any fatty bits or gristle.  And there was a very generous amount of it.  Unfortunately, it didn't really have much flavor.

The onions and cilantro were pretty boring, and nothing compared to the slaw from the fish tacos, or the cabbage or greens that Rubios used.  Perhaps if I'd made it a super taco, which includes lettuce, cheese, guac, and sour cream, it would have been better, but I'm allergic to the quac, and that was over budget!

I did dress it up at the amazing salsa bar again.  I added pickled jalapenos for some kick, radishes for some crunch, some creamy green sauce (I have no idea what it was, it was fairly flavorless, but I think it might have been sour cream based), salsa fresca for some more veggies, and some regular salsa for more flavor.  It was much better with all of these additions, but overall, still wasn't anything remarkable.

I wouldn't get this again, but it was again a good price for a high quality taco.

Fresh, hot, chips!

Chips are $1.95 for take-out, free with in-house orders.  This makes no sense to me, as the price for food is the same, and it seems like you are using fewer of their resources for take-out.  They are also free at bar and at dinner.  During lunch hours, you can enjoy your chips with a slew of different salsas from the salsa bar, but at dinner time, they only provide a trio of salsas (although you can always ask for your favorites and they'll bring them).

The chips are served hot.  They are thin, crispy, salty.  Always enjoyable.  Sometimes greasier than other times, but always very fresh tasting.

Assorted salsas from the salsa bar.

The salsa bar contains 8 - 10 different salsas, along with other condiments like radishes, cilantro, lime wedges, and pickled jalapenos.  This photo is just a sampling of a few of them.

(Clockwise, from top left)

• There is one salsa that I just adore.  Honestly, you can put this on anything and I'd eat it.  It is orangeish in color, and incredibly creamy.  I think this is the chili de arbol salsa.  It has nice spicing, and the creaminess is just to die for.  By far my favorite of the salsas, and I always take any leftovers home with me to slather on anything I can find.  They sometimes serve it warm when you get it at the bar or at dinner.  So amazing.
• Salsa fresca/ pico de gallo:  Mix of tomatoes, onions, herbs.  Fresh, light, but no spice. [ Fresh, nice tomatoes, not spicy ]
• Avocado-tomatillo salsa (light green): not spicy, creamy, avocado in it. [ Creamy, slight avocado flavor ]
• Light red, standard salsa: Spicy, fresh tasting, but almost too spicy. [ Spicy, fresh, serious kick. ] [ creamy and decently spicy ] [  nice spice and creamyness, my fav of the red salsas ]
• Salsa verde (dark green): Really great flavor, not spicy, I really like this one. [ Good flavor, second favorite salsa ] [ I love the smokiness in this, really intense flavors ] [ great smoky flavor, second favorite ]

(Not pictured)

• (dark red): Not spicy, really boring, more like enchilada sauce.
• (light green creamy one): was it sour cream based?  Not much flavor.
• Habenero: just hot, not that great.

[ Not Pictured ]

Margaritas!

• Tropisueño: House signature drink.  Good ginger flavor, nice balanced drink.
• Virgin: Meh.  Not very strong lime flavor, just sweet.  [ Note: I remember loving these when they first opened and didn't have a liquor license, and thus they could only serve virgin margs.  They gave them out complimentary then to show off their fresh squeezed marg base and fancy salts, and to apologize for not having the ability to serve the real deal then ]
• Cena del Oso: Pink!  ok ...
• Duende: Awesome anise flavor
• (spicy one ... forget what it is called ): very spicy, decent.

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Kasa Indian Food Truck

Several of my friends have been raving about the Kasa Indian food truck since they first discovered it a year or so ago.  Given that I love indian food and I'm on a desperate quest to find some in San Francisco that I really like, I was excited when I came across the truck when I was hungry.

Unfortunately, I didn't like any of this.  I am unlikely to try it again.

Vegetarian samosa ($2.50), mint chutney, raita, chicken tikka malasa kati roll ($4.50).  

I was planning to just get a kati roll, but when the person taking my order asked if I wanted to add on a samosa, my hungry stomach answered "yes", even though I don't generally love samosas.  It was a  basic potato and pea filled samosa, nothing special, no standout spicing. The dough was incredibly oily, as you can see in the photo.  It was served with some pretty generic mint chutney.

The kati roll is what I was looking forward to.  Basically a burrito, but made with roti and filled with spicy indian goodness?  Yes please!  It was described as: "A flaky, buttery roti (handmade bread) wrapped around char-grilled and marinated naturally-raised chicken in a spicy, creamy tomato sauce with marinated onions and chutney. Served with raita."  Sounded great.  But ... it really wasn't good.

The roti, like the samosa, was way too oily.  The chicken was low quality and all dark meat.  And there were way too many onions, perhaps more onions than chicken even.  I was impressed by the $4.50 price tag, until I tried it.  There is a reason it was so cheap.

Would not get any of this again.

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Ritter Sport Chocolate

I've never purchased Ritter Sport chocolate myself, yet I seem to keep encountering it.  They are a German company, and produce bars that are broken up into 16 little cubes, perfect for sharing.  Which, perhaps, is why I keep getting to try so much, as co-workers keep having some.

Most recently, one of the shops available on GoPago had a large selection of Ritter Sport, and so one co-worker went to use up his credits there before they expired.  And being the great co-worker he is, he shared :)  Below are my notes from assorted tastings.

Dark Chocolate

• Edelbitter: Plain dark chocolate, 71% cacao: Tasting notes: Very dark for a 71%.  Rich, creamy, really like an intense brownie.  Quite good.
• Dark Chocolate with Marzipan: Tasting notes: Dark chocolate with sweet marzipan filling.  Filling a little gritty.  Not very interesting.

Milk Chocolate

• Voll-Nuss: Milk chocolate with whole hazelnuts.  Tasting notes: creamy milk chocolate, soft, decent whole hazelnuts, chocolate + hazelnut combo is classic and tasty. [ decent creamy milk chocolate but not too much it.  Hazlenuts are great though. ]
• Knusperkeks:  Crisp butter cookie teamed up with cocoa cream in luscious milk chocolate.  Tasting notes: Creamy milk chocolate ... with a biscuit in the middle.  Big crunch.
• Bourbon Vanille: Tasting notes: Creamy milk chocolate, very sweet filling.  Didn’t taste bourbon at all (heh, was this just a special type of vanilla, not the liquior we were expecting?).  Very, very sweet.
• Ganze Mandel: Milk chocolate with whole almonds.  Tasting notes: Decently creamy milk chocolate, nice almonds.

White Chocolate

• Weiße Voll-Nuss: White chocolate with whole hazelnuts.  Tasting notes: Sorta sweet white chocolate, nice whole hazelnuts.  [ Just sweet white chocolate, nice crispy bits, hazelnuts good roasting, but meh ]

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Pearl's Deluxe Burgers

As I mentioned when reviewing my last burger at Umami Burger, a group of friends and I used to get burgers once a week for "B Night".  We've since stopped this tradition, but still occasionally get inspired to do it again.  A what better inspiration than introducing a bunch of friends to GoPago via free burgers?

We headed to a place that has been on my list of places to check out for ages: Pearl's Deluxe Burgers.
Basically everything on their menu sounds tempting: a plethora of choices for milkshakes, burgers with creative toppings, a slew of patty types to pick from (buffalo, kobe, turkey, chicken, veggie, etc), and then of course the fries, sweet potato fries, and onion rings.  So much deliciousness!  I've wanted to visit them for years now, but somehow they never made it to the top of my list.  Until I saw them on GoPago of course.

They have two locations in San Francisco, with the same menu, both equidistant from our office.  The bigger, newer one is located on Market St, but we went for the original, smaller location on Post St since it seemed to have more positive Yelp reviews.

The restaurant was indeed tiny, with 5 tables for two, and a counter with a few seats.  Luckily, there were not many people dining in when we arrived on Monday evening, so we were able get seats for our group with no problems.  When I visited on the previous Sunday afternoon however, the place was bustling.  They seem to be handing a lot of togo orders.  GoPago seems to be a hit there, as I heard the chimes going off many times during each of my visits.

The restaurant was clean, the staff friendly, everything was efficient.  Fairly standard burger joint decor with slightly sticky ketchup and mustard containers and much needed napkins on the tables.  Additional sauces, plastic silverware, cups of water, and a bucket of pickle spears (bonus points for this!) were available at the counter.

We ordered from a few blocks away using our phones, and everything was ready soon after we arrived, delivered to us at our table.  I appreciated that when they brought out our food, they addressed us by name, rather than number, like the people who had ordered in person.  Far more personal seeming, even though we'd used technology rather than talking to them to place our orders.  Strange how technology can make things more intimate!

The food was all good for the price point and casual style.  It isn't a cuisine I crave regularly anymore, but I'd go back if I wanted a great shake, some delicious fried sides, and a simple burger.  Or some subset of that.  Ok, who am I kidding, I'd still want it all!

Mint Oreo Milkshake.  $4.49.

While I was excited to try the burger and sides, and had plans to go with friends on Monday night, what I was most excited for was the milkshake, as I've been on a milkshake kick lately, and I had a sore throat and wanted something icy and cold.  And it was a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon in San Francisco, a rare treat.  So, I decided to go on a "reconnaissance mission" to scout out Pearl's on my own the day before going with the group, to get a shake.

Pearl's offers the largest selection of milk shake flavors that I've come across.  I had an incredibly hard time picking one.  Did I want to go for something slightly refreshing, like coconut, pineapple, or pina colada?  Or try to mimic the greatness of the strawberry shake I'd had from Holy Grill? Or go for the decedent sounding peanut butter, or even better, chocolate peanut butter?  But my throat was sore, and something minty sounding soothing, reminding me of my pretty tasty mint chocolate chip shake from Roxy's Cafe.  I decided on that, but then realized that although they had a slew of flavors, mint chocolate chip was not one of them.  I could do plain mint, but that seemed boring.

I didn't order it in advance with GoPago, because I wanted to see if there were other milkshake flavors available that just weren't listed in the app (like, mint chocolate chip!).  Indeed there were, like a seasonal pumpkin one.  But not my precious mint chocolate chip.  I saw mint Oreo however, and decided that would be a good substitute.

So I ordered via my phone, and eagerly awaited my shake.  Since I didn't use GoPago in the traditional order ahead way, I had to wait a few a minutes.  I could hear the blender whirling away in the background, and it seemed like everyone around me had ordered a shake too.  I was excited!

My shake arrived, a large size.  It had a wide straw.  This was a good sign, as my biggest criticism of the last Oreo shake I had from Bistro Burger was that the standard size straw wasn't sufficient to suck up the Oreo chunks, and it kept getting clogged.

The shake was loaded with Oreo.  I can't even guess how many whole Oreos went into it.  A lot of them.  The chunks were of varied size, some of them quite sizable, but the large straw made this never  a problem.  Normally, I would have loved how much Oreo was in here, but if I'd thought about it more, I would have realized I didn't actually want an Oreo shake.  My throat was sore, and swallowing really hurt.  Chunks of cookie were not actually welcome.  Whoops.

The shake was a fantastic consistency, really nice and thick.  Blended perfectly.

I didn't taste much mint.  If you had told me this was a plain Oreo shake, I would have believed you.  This was disappointing, as I really wanted it for the mintyness.

They do not offer whipped cream.  Minus one point for that, as I do enjoy my whipped cream, but honestly, the shake didn't need it.

Overall, this was a very well executed milkshake, but I didn't love it.  I wanted something with much more mint flavor, and I made this mistake of getting the Oreo.   I can't blame Pearl's for that part though, they did a great job of giving a generous amount of Oreo.

$4.49 is pretty pricy for a milkshake, but it was large, and clearly well made.  I'd certainly consider trying another one, perhaps one of the fruiter flavors.

When I came back the next day, my dining companion got a Oreo malt shake.  I of course demanded politely asked for a taste.  It was again thick, a great consistency, loaded with Oreo.  It definitely made me wish I'd gotten another one!

Bula Burger: 1/2 pound, buffalo, award winning spicy pineapple teriyaki sauce with bacon, mayo and swiss cheese.  $12.99.

First up, the burger.  Pearl's has a variety of burgers with preset toppings available that all sounded pretty amazing, including one with a hotdog on top.  Or you can build your own.  And for the patty, you can pick a "mini" quarter pound beef burger or a half pound beef burger.  Or if you are being healthier, you can get a turkey burger, chicken breast, or veggie burger.  Or you can upgrade for $4 to a kobe burger or buffalo burger.  Soooo many choices!

Had I been alone, I'd have just gone for the mini burger, since a quarter pounder is big enough for me, particularly since I wanted to try the sides too.  But luckily I had a buddy who agreed to split things with me, so we could try even more menu items.  We decided to be slightly more adventurous and went for the buffalo burger.

We also decided to pick the burger that got the most mentions on Yelp, the Bula burger.  It isn't the one either of us would normally pick, but we took the advice of the masses, and thought it was easier than agreeing on a custom built one given our different preferences anyway.

The burger patty was cooked perfectly medium, as we specified.  We both would normally get medium-rare, but we thought that buffalo would do better with a little more cook time.  It seemed like a good choice, as the patty was lean but still very moist, but not too juicy.  One of the least messy burgers I've had in a long time, even though it was coated in sauce.

The sauce was the "award winning" spicy pineapple teriyaki.  It was sweet, flavorful, and pretty tasty, but I didn't love it with the buffalo.  I think it would go much better with a chicken, turkey, or veggie burger.  I didn't think it was spicy at all.

Also on our patty were strips of bacon.  They were not crispy style, which is how I like my bacon.  This is clearly just personal preference though, as my dining companion loved the bacon.  When I told him I only like mine crispy, he laughed and asked how I dealt with the bacon in Sydney.  Easy: I gave up on ordering bacon there after probably 2 tries!

But back to the burger.  It also had a thick slice of swiss cheese on top.  The cheese went well with the teriyaki sauce, but I wish it were either sliced thinner, or melted a little more, as it was fairly solid.  There was also apparently mayo, but I didn't detect it amongst everything else on the burger.

The most surprising thing to me about the burger was the bun.  It was really fluffy, and actually the right size for the patty!  That is, unlike basically every burger I've ever eaten before, I didn't run out of bun.  It wasn't a decadent brioche bun or anything fancy, just loaded up with some sesame seeds, but it really served its purpose well, soaked up the sauce and juices, and again helped make this burger not a mess to eat in any way.  Again, unlike most burgers, I was able to pick it up and set it down several times, without it falling apart, or turning into a disaster.  (Now, beside me, Emil ordered a rare Kobe pesto burger, which was a kinda ridiculous mess.  Between the juices running out of the burger, and the pesto sauce, he was covered in drippings.  There is a reason they have a vat of napkins on the table!  He commented that the burger was cooked very nicely, rare as he requested, and that it had good flavor, although he lamented his choice of pesto, saying it would have gone better with a chicken burger.)

Overall, there was nothing mind blowing about the burger, but it was well done, particularly for the price point and speed of service.  It doesn't really compare to my all time favorite burger from Alexander's, but they are pretty different things, and there is something to be said about being able to get a good, satisfying, quick meal.

The price was good for the size and quality of the burger.  Had I stuck with standard beef, it would have only been $8.99.  I'd certainly get another one if I was in the mood for a casual burger, but I think I'd go for a classic burger, with mushrooms and swiss.  Or maybe cheddar.  Or american.  Ok, somehow, I'm already in the mood for another burger!

Springs: Sweet potato fries and onion rings.  $3.99.

Pearl's has a number of tempting sides.  They also make it easy to be indecisive, offering up combinations of some of the more popular choices.

First, we went for the "springs", a mix of sweet potato fries and onion rings.  When they were brought to our table, the server asked if we wanted ranch or mayo with them for dipping.  I said sure, as you know me, I like to try out all combinations of things.

I couldn't decide which of these I liked more.  Neither were amazing in my first bites, but I quickly got addicted.  My initial disappointment was due to the fact that they weren't hot, even when we first received them.  And after I'd taken a few bites of burger, they were fairly cold.

The sweet potato fries were decently crispy, and had a great sweetness to them, clearly made from sweet potato. They were cut unevenly, which I really liked, because it meant that some were more fluffy, and others more crispy like chips.  I could pick and choose which style I wanted every time.  They were good on their own, but I absolutely loved dipping them in the mayo.  I had a few moments of second thoughts, thinking how crazy it was that I'd just devoured a cheesy, bacon covered burger, and then was diving into onion rings and fries, and still felt the need to amp it all up with mayo, but they really tasted so much better with the mayo, that I couldn't stop.  The ranch wasn't as successful, just generic ranch, and I didn't really find a use for it.

The onion rings had a fantastic salty batter on them.  It didn't seem to stick all that well, as the coating was falling off of a number of them, but the spicing in it was great, and they were nice and crisp as well.

$3.99 was a good price for a serving this size, which we couldn't even come close to finishing.  I'm really glad they let you get a mix like this, because I honestly don't know which I'd pick if I could only pick one.  I think the sweet potato fries were the winner, with the onion rings coming in at a close second.

Frings: Fries and onion rings.  $3.99.

We also had to try the fries, as I'd heard that they were unlike normal fries, and were coated in tempura batter.  They were indeed interesting, the extra coating made them super crunchy.  Good, but again not that warm, and my least favorite of the sides.

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Catering by Rubio's

I've recently discovered, and really loved, Rubio's.  So far, I've tried a number of their tacos: the classic fish tacos, several different shrimp tacos, and their newest tilapia taco.  I've really liked them all.

So tonight, when I saw the event I was at was catered by Rubio's, I was excited to try out the offerings. Since it was catering, they went for a cold item, one of their new salads.  Unfortunately, it wasn't very good. I'm glad this wasn't my first experience with Rubio's, as I'd never be tempted to visit based on this dish.

Chipotle Orange Shrimp Salad.

The menu describes this as: "Wonderfully tangy pan-seared shrimp, mandarin oranges, fire-roasted corn, fresno chiles, avocado slices and black beans on a blend of spring mix and butter lettuce, topped with tortilla strips and fresh crema. Drizzled with a chipotle orange vinaigrette and garnished with a lime."

Since I absolutely loved the flavor in the shrimp I'd had in my assorted shrimp tacos, I was really looking forward to the shrimp in this.  Unfortunately, they were not the same.  These tasted really fishy, were small, and lacked any real seasoning.  I tried two different salads, and they both had the same poor quality seeming shrimp.

The lettuce blend was some crunchy butter lettuce and spring mix, probably the same as I had in one of my tacos, but it was rather wilted and not fresh tasting here.

The corn was a nice touch, flavorful and added some interesting texture.  The chiles added a nice kick.  The mandarin orange segments seemed like generic canned ones, fairly flavorless and watery.

I had them leave the avocado out of mine since I'm allergic.  They also were not serving it with the black beans, since those are normally hot at the restaurant.

The dressing was a slightly tangy chipotle orange vinaigrette, that was decent, and it wasn't overdressed.  I liked the crema on top, it added a nice creamy component.  The tortilla strips added some crunch, but no real flavor.

This just didn't really come together, and things didn't seem fresh.  But it was catering after all, and I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, since their tacos have been so good.  I'm sure I'll still go back!

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More Blue Hawaii

I first visited Blue Hawaii in early August, when I had a cold with a sore throat, and wanted to try out GoPago for the first time.  As "luck" would have it, they just sent me another $10 worth of credits as a thank you, right when I somehow got another cold.  (Seriously, I haven't had a cold in several years, and now I'm getting them regularly?  Not fair!)

Anyway, I went again several times to get something relieving for my sore throat.  This time, I properly used GoPago, placing my orders on my phone while I was waiting to cross the street a few blocks away.  Both times, when I walked in the door, the staff member looked up, greeted me by name, and told me she was just finishing up my order.  What a wonderful experience!  It was interesting to me in that felt even more personal that ordering in person, which isn't what you'd expect since I was cutting out a human interaction step by ordering on my phone.

I have been really impressed with the staff at Blue Hawaii.  On every visit, they have all been friendly and personable.  They make you feel very welcome.  They also have a commitment to quality, always slicing the fresh fruit to order.  Nothing is pre-made here.

I don't love the smoothies or the açaí bowls, but they are not things I normally order, and all of my visits have been when I'm sick and a little grumpy.   I think I need to return sometime when I'm NOT sick to give them a fair evaluation!

Small Simply Blue: Proprietary blend made with organic açaí, fresh banana and berries, topped with granola & bananas.  $4.95.

On my previous visit, I got the signature Blue Hawaii, which was this bowl, but with berries and honey on top as well.  I felt it was too sweet then, so I wanted to leave off the honey this time.  And I'd had some really amazing berries for breakfast, so I was hesitant to get berries on it, since it didn't seem like they'd measure up to the ones I'd had earlier.  So I went for the simplest bowl, the aptly named Simply Blue.

The açaí mixture was the same as before: icy, well blended, but it again it seemed too sweet.  I love sweets, so it really weirds me out that I felt that way, and last time I blamed it on being sick, but I'm starting to think that perhaps it is just a sweetness that I don't care for.  It made me really want some water to go with it, something to help cut the sweet.

On my previous visit, I didn't like the granola because my throat was so sore that it hurt to swallow the chunks of granola.  This time, my throat wasn't quite as sore, but I still didn't like it.  It seemed more rice crispies than granola, and it quickly got soggy when mixed with the açaí base.  I did like having something else in the bowl as a textural contrast however.

The banana was just banana, but it was done as good as it gets: freshly sliced to order, perfectly ripe.  There was a generous amount of it, since it was my only topping.

Overall, I didn't enjoy this very much, as it was too sweet, and I just wasn't into the granola or the banana really.  It did feel good sliding down my throat.  I think I might have just been in a grumpy mood from not feeling well though, as I kinda hated everything all day long.

Outrigger Cooler.: organic soy milk, apple juice, mango, papaya, pineapple and strawberries.  $5.45.

On my final visit, I went for a smoothie.  They have a few smoothies available, all with soy milk and apple juice as the base.  I went for the tropical sounding Outrigger Cooler, which had frozen mango, papaya, pineapple, and strawberries freshly blended in.

Since I was splitting it with someone, I tried out a feature of GoPago I hadn't yet explored: "add special instructions".  I entered a note asking for it to be split into two cups.  They saw my note and nicely split it for me.  Thanks, GoPago!

The smoothie was really well blended, a great consistency.  The flavors were nicely balanced, it wasn't too sweet at all.  I could taste the soy in the base a little, but as I love the flavor of soy, I do wish it were a little more pronounced.

Overall, well executed, clearly higher quality than what you'd get at Jamba Juice or elsewhere, but not really my thing.  Again, I was mostly getting this just because I had a sore throat and wanted to soothe it.

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