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Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar, CA 92014. (858) 755-1161

http://sdfair.com/

With over 100 food vendors at the fair, how will you choose which fair foods to try? Here are some that I tried:

Chicken Charlie’s

Krispy Kreme Doughnut Chicken Sandwich ($6) - This sandwich is very small… the size of a Krispy Kreme doughnut. It’s not worth the money. They basically cut a jelly-filled doughnut in half and put in a chicken patty. It’s tasty, not disgusting. You get a chicken sandwich and the sweet taste of a doughnut. I liked it better without the honey. The honey makes it too sweet.

Deep Fried Cola ($5) - I had heard it tasted like funnel cake, so I wanted to try it. It’s deep fried batter, but instead of using water in the batter, they use Pepsi. Then they drizzle on cola syrup, add some whipped cream, and place a cherry on top. I could hardly taste the cola. It has little fried bits… sort of like Dippin Dots. I ended up throwing half of it away. Funnel cake is much better and it doesn’t taste as oily.

Chuckwagon

Chicken Plate ($11) - The chicken is very tender. It almost falls off the bone. It is a little dry though. Make sure you get a lot of BBQ sauce with it. The beans, coleslaw, and cornbread aren’t too bad. This is probably healthier than all of the deep fried foods.

If you’re feeling a little adventurous, try Rattlesnake Ranch’s Rattlesnake Chili or Rattlesnake Bites. Yes, I said rattlesnake!!!

1430 Union Street, San Diego, CA 92101. (619) 294-7001

http://www.extraordinarydesserts.com/

This review is long over due. I think I went several months ago. This is the second Extraordinary Desserts. It is located in Little Italy and is larger than the Hillcrest location. There is a different feel. The atmosphere is more contemporary. The menu offers a wider selection than just desserts.

Kiwi Lemonade ($4) - Dave says, “No big surprise. Pretty much lemonade with chunks of kiwi in it. Nothing spectacular.”

Turkey Breast Panini ($10) - with smoked mozzarella, cranberry mayonnaise, and butter leaf lettuce. The turkey was moist, but the bread was too crunchy.

I think this was the Serrano Ham Panini ($10) with buffalo mozzarella, balsamic onions, and red plum conserve.

Sorry, but I can’t remember which chocolate desserts these are either! But, I will say that every single dessert that I’ve had at both locations has been pretty good… very rich and decadent!

Taste: 7.5/10
Presentation: 4.5/5
Service/Atmosphere: 4.5/5
Total: 16.5/20

5844 Montezuma Center. San Diego, CA. (619) 281 - 4040.

Today’s review is another one of my hang out spots next to SDSU. It’s a moderate sized restaurant thats right next to La Torta in the Aztec Shopping Center. They have sell basic deli type of sandwiches and some more expensive but really good gourmet “sandos” thats worth a try.

When the cashier asked me what I wanted to order, I told him “In Yo’ Face Sucka.” (thats what its really called!)

INGREDIENTS: Ham, genoa salami, pepperoni, melted provolone, marinated onions, peppercinis, grated parm cheese, oregano, oil and vinegar, pesto dressing, lettuce and tomatoes on a toasted sub.

I didn’t eat my sandwich right away because I was still playing with some new camera equipment that I bought today. But the first half of the sandwich was pretty good. It was strong in flavor, warm, and beautifully balanced and integrated. But by the time I got to the second sandwich, the oil and vinegar had penetrated and soaked the bottom half of the sandwich which gave it a weird wet bread texture while eating it. Perhaps next time, I will ask for them to put less oil and vinegar.

Overall, I still like this sandwich. Its a bit expensive ($6.75) for my preference but its great to munch on once in a while.

Taste:9/10

646 University Avenue, Hillcrest, 619-692-0100

http://www.capriottis.com/

Capriotti’s is a chain that started in Delaware and the Hillcrest location is their only California franchise. They do made-to-order hot and cold sub sandwiches in small, medium and large sizes. All the ingredients are very fresh and of good quality - their sandwiches are above and beyond any Subway or most local delis. There are only a few tiny tables inside the shop so I picked up some sandwiches the other day and took them over to a friend’s house. *Special thanks to my friend Bryan for the photos since I was a bad blogger and forgot my camera.

This is Capriotti’s signature Capistrami sandwich. It’s combines elements of both a hot pastrami and a Ruben sandwich. In this verision, juicy hot pastrami is topped with melted Swiss cheese, coleslaw and Russian dressing. It’s definitely a messy sandwich but very tasty and satisfying. Two out of the three of us voted this sandwich as our favorite.

This turkey sub was the most pleasantly surprising, taste-wise and check out how huge it is! This is the 12 inch/medium sub. I would like to shake the hand of anyone who can tackle the large size. I though this sandwich would be a plain-old, boring turkey sub but it was made with homemade roasted turkey that was very flavorful and slathered with a hot pepper sauce. This sandwich came in second place.

I had high hopes for Capriotti’s cheesesteak since it came recommended by a few people. As a Philadelphia native, I’m always on the quest for an authentic-tasting version but have still not found anything that tastes quite like the original. My mission continues because this cheesesteak was disappointing. The meat was very bland and had no grill flavor. It was missing the juiciness that a good cheesesteak should have as you can see by how meat juice and grease-free the paper was. This was our third-place finisher.

I love spicy food so I couldn’t resist trying these Habanero potato chips. They were a flame red color but I didn’t really notice a huge hotness increase from regular jalapeno chips.

I really like Capriotti’s Capistrami sandwich and I will definitely go back to try their other varieties of subs. The Bobbie sandwich, which features roasted turkey, cranberry sauce and stuffing, sounds interesting. They also do vegetarian versions of a lot of their sandwiches, using soy substitutes for steak, salami, turkey and more.

Taste: 7/10

9396-c Mira Mesa Blvd. San Diego, CA 92126. (858) 566 - 7711.

Today is the change of ownership of Cali Cafe Sandwiches. My friend Minh and his family purchased this sandwich shop and are currently in the process of updating it with new prices and products. Some of the new price changs include:

• Cali Club Sandwiches ($3.75, was $6.00).
• Smoothies ($2.75, was $3.00).
• Espresso Coffee ($2.00, was $2.50).
• Espresso Iced Coffee ($2.00, was $2.50.)

Some new things that will soon be added to the store are frozen yogurt, ice cream, and fruit bars. Minh says that the frozen yogurt will cost $1.50, $2.00, and $3.00 for small, medium, and large respectively.

I tried the banh mi thit nuong today and it was pretty good. I forgot to ask them to make it without the green pepper in it (aiya!) and so I paid the ultimate price. The amount of meat they gave me was pretty good and the bread was really toasty. It was quite filling and satisfying except for one area of it where it has a bit too much butter. Other than that, I like it. I will just have to ask them to go light on the butter next time.

I’m not sure when the grand re-opening is going to be, but I will keep everyone updated as I found out.