Recent Posts

Who would ever buy shrimp from the back of a truck? Well, I did and all I can say is you don’t know what you’re missing out on.

I’m pretty sure there’s like only one road to Poipu from Kalaheo. Savage Shrimp is parked in the dirt, right before you get to all the fancy resorts. There’s construction going on there now. They’re building condos. Sorry I can’t be more specific.

Personally, I wouldn’t have stopped, but my friend said that his uncle thought the food was good, so we decided to give it a try. They basically only offer 3 dishes: regular garlic, the hot “grasshopper,” and a “bahia” with coconut milk and Thai-like spices. All the dishes are about $12 and come with rice and a little salad.

Grasshopper - This is good. Not too spicy.

Bahia - At first, I thought this was really good, but there was too much sauce on the rice. It got to be a little too much by the time I finished it all, but the shrimp are a nice size and very delicious. I wanted more…

We took our food to go, but you can eat there if you don’t mind the wild roosters roaming around. There are a few tables and chairs in the dirt, but no one was using them.

Savage Shrimp offers good meals without all the fuss. The meals are cooked right in the back of the truck and you can watch while you wait. I believe there’s even a discount for locals. Apparently, shrimp trucks are more common in Hawaii than on the mainland. Something to try and if you don’t like it, then at least you’ll have a story to tell about how you ate shrimp from the back of a truck…

Indigo Grill Website
1536 India Street, San Diego CA 92101. 619-234-6802.

My friends and I went to Indigo Grill last night for their $20 three course menu special. It is a current anniversary special by the Cohn Restaurant Group for their participating restaurants until January 10th. More information can be found at the Cohn promotion page.

Pipian Crusted Brie. Jalepeno jelly, honey roasted garlic, grilled nopales, mole negro and scallion flatbread.

This brie was fantastic! I had never eaten brie before and the rest of the group hadn’t eaten it with this kind of crust! Warm brie oozed out when we sliced it and it went well with the flatbread, which was the perfect blend of soft bread and subtle sweet flavor.
Christina and Lynn loved the honey roasted garlic, which surprisingly had little of the expected strong garlic taste! The insides melted in your mouth and the crunchy skin could either be eaten or removed beforehand. The brown sauce at the edge of the plate was boring. It had a flat taste that just seemed to disappear the moment you tasted it.

Shrimp and Scallop Ceviche. Cured in lemon juice with cucumber pico de gallo.

The presentation looked great for this ceviche and chips. The taste was within expectations too. But the portion was lacking. Is this your money’s worth? NOooo.

Alderwood Plank Salmon. Cucumber dill moleto, squid-ink pasta and smoked aged farmer’s cheese.

The first crispier bite of the Salmon had Lynn thinking that the fish was overcooked, but once past that corner, the juicy and tender salmon had her feeling quite happy with the meal. This salmon also had quite a bit of sweet flavor in it, which reminded us of the roasted garlic. A nice change in overall flavor was the interesting ink squid pasta mixed with a complimenting cheese. We’ve definitely never had cheesy pasta that tasted like that before! The only part Lynn didn’t like were the vegetables in the middle but pickled food hardly ever receives her praise.

Wild Mushroom Fettecini. Roasted bell pepper pasta, leek and fennel cream sauce, sauteed spinach, hazelnuts, and cotija cheese.

For a vegetarian meal, this was absolutely scrumptious! Christina and Lynn really loved the mushrooms and hazelnuts that were buried in the dish. The vegetables and pasta created a unique blend that was fun to eat. The only thing Lynn didn’t like about it were that the spinach pieces were in large lumps and not as spread out as she would have preferred. Who said you have to have meat for a good meal?

Hickory and Apple Smoked Pork Ribs. Morita-kahlua glaze, indian corn pudding, shaved pear and walnut salad with cilantro viniagrette.

Eugene and I both ordered the Pork Ribs entree. It was served in a unique rectangular plate that was somewhat difficult to eat off of. Every time I stabbed my fork into the mountain of salad, some other parts of salad would fall off the edges of the plate.

The Indian corn pudding had a fantastic and very familiar taste. I especially liked the outer parts near the rim. It had a nice texture that counterbalanced the warm and gooey center. I wish they had served this during the Taste of Downtown event last year. This is definitely a new favorite for me.

As for the ribs themselves, they were delicious and tender. The flavor was interesting and portion was just right. I was quite full by the end of this entree but eagerly awaited my dessert!

Roasted Plantain Cheesecake Flautas. With firewater dipping sauce.

The outside of the flautas were crispy and tasty. The inside had a subtle cheesecake flavor to it. Everyone really liked the dipping sauce. It had an Asian kind of flavor to it. Alcohol flavored figs? I’ll pass!

Chocolate Pistachio Torte. With rasberry Sorbet.

Nothing out of the ordinary for this dessert but it was still tasty. The dark chocolate was surprisingly not as strong as I thought it would be. The girls really loved the chocolate. The sorbet reminded of me of the Razzmatazz flavor at Jamba Juice, just without the seeds.

We came in to this restaurant hungry. We left full (and with to-go boxes!). If anybody is interested, I would highly suggest trying out the $20 three course special. If not at this restaurant, then at least at another one of the participating Cohn Restaurant Group restaurants. Its such a great deal! BTW, I believe there is some San Diego restaurant gift card at Costco where you can buy two $50 gift cards for the price of $79.99. Please correct me if I am wrong but I believe this restaurant is on that list of restaurants. Good Eating!
Taste: 9/10
Presentation: 5/5
Atmosphere: 4/5 (crowded)
Total: 18/20

The first San Diego Restaurant Week is coming soon. So make your reservations! Meals cost $30 or $40 per person depending on the restaurant and includes choices of appetizer, main course, and dessert.

It’s late notice, but the Cohn Restaurant Group is having a 2008 anniversary promotion at their selected restaurants. Three courses for $20 until January 10.

Over Thanksgiving, I went home to the Bay Area to visit the family. One of the things I like to do when I’m home is to get the Lazy Man’s Cioppino at Scoma’s restaurant at Fisherman’s Wharf. I remember growing up and going to Scoma’s after the Niners games or anytime we were up in SF and I’d always get the Cioppino. Unfortunately, there had just been an oil spill in the Bay recently and people were saying not to eat crab. Even crab boats were not going out because they were banned from selling anything they caught. Mmm… Oil slick crab. Same as using olive oil, right? If that wasn’t enough to dissuade me, I looked up their menu on the internet and the Cioppino is now $35 a bowl! Ouch! As you can imagine, no Cioppino for me.
The upside to this story was that all this reminded me that a long while back I had found the actual Lazy Man’s Cioppino recipe in a Fisherman’s Wharf Recipe Book. Upon my return to San Diego, my need for Cioppino was so strong that I decided to make it myself. I was surprised to find that the recipe was pretty straightforward and simple!

Lazy Man’s Cioppino
1/2 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 pinch oregano
1 bay leaf
1 pinch sage
2 cans (No. 2 1/2) solid pack tomatoes
1 T tomato paste
1/4 C water
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 lbs. crabmeat, cooked
4 large oysters
8 scallops
8 prawns, shelled and deveined

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until soft. Add spices and allow to cook 5 more minutes. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, water, salt and pepper, and simmer for 1 hour. Strain before using.
When ready to serve, add the seafood to the sauce and cook for about 5 minutes. Serve in bowls with plenty of sourdough French bread.
The sauce for this dish may be made any time. It can be stored in the refrigerator for several days and will freeze beautifully.

I didn’t stick completely to the recipe on my first attempt. I changed a few of the seafood ingredients. I didn’t want to have to spend a lot of money on the scallops or crab only to have my first attempt bomb and have it all go to waste. I also didn’t know what No. 2 1/2 solid pack tomatoes were so I used an 18 oz. can of crushed tomatoes and an 18 oz. can of pureed tomatoes. I also didn’t get the straining step. I originally thought it was to take out some of the ingredients like the bay leaf, but the stuff is so thick that nothing strained through except water. I assumed that was the point and the straining process was to get out some of the liquid and thicken the soup/stew. Although it wasn’t in the recipe, I did take out the bay leaf at this point. I was happy with the results. It tasted pretty much like what I’ve had in the restaurant except for the sourdough bread I bought. I have yet to find a really good sourdough in San Diego that compares to what you can get in SF, but that’s for another post.
It was great to have my initial disappointment of not eating at Scoma’s become a discovery of how to make my own Cioppino. Now I don’t have to travel all the way to San Francisco or spend $35 for the meal. I can’t wait to make this again, but this time with fresh seafood from a good seafood store in Point Loma or somewhere. If you try this out, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

-Dave

Here’s a picture of the cioppino, but it wasn’t made “lazy man” style this time.