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4718 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA 92117. 858-274-2040

http://www.littlesheephotpot.com/

This is a great new place to try out in Clairemont! It’s sort of like Japanese Shabu-Shabu, but without the dipping sauces. As soon as you are seated, your waiter will give you an ordering form and a pen. You just check what you want. There are about 100 items to choose from!

First, you need to decide on the soup base: House Original, House Spicy, Half and Half, or Vegetarian Mushroom.

Half House Original and Half House Spicy aka Half and Half ($3.75 per person) - The soup came out first and as I was waiting for the other items, I tried the House Original and it was so flavorful! It’s good on it’s own even without the other items. But, I must warn you, the House Spicy is extremely spicy! I actually mixed 1 part spicy and 3 parts original in my bowl and that was spicy enough for me… you don’t want to start sweating

Next, you’ll have a difficult decision to make… Do you want meat? Lamb, beef, chicken, or pork? How about seafood? Tiger prawns, shrimp, fish, clams, or mussels? Can’t decide? Try the Seafood Combo Platter.

Chicken Breast ($4.95) and Supreme Beef Slice ($6.50) or maybe it was Premium Sliced Beef ($5.95) - both thinly sliced.

How about some vegetables? Sprouts, cabbage, watercress, bamboo, lotus, or taro? Noodles? Tofu? Mushrooms? Dumplings?

Back: Napa Cabbage ($3.95), Seafood Combo Platter ($12.95), and Udon Noodles ($3.95). Front: Assorted Mushroom Platter ($10.95).

Feeling a little adventurous? Want to try something different? How about Jelly Fish or a BBQ Pork Intestine Skewer?

Jelly Fish ($4.95) - I didn’t try this, but you are supposed to eat it cold.

Everything that I tried was good… the Chicken Breast, Tiger Prawns, Fish, and I especially liked the Udon Noodles.

Worried about the hot summer weather? Don’t be! The restaurant is air conditioned. It’s a fun thing to do for lunch or dinner with your family or friends.

http://www.venissimo.com/

2710 Via de la Valle #B138, Del Mar, CA 92014. (858) 847-9616

754 West Washington, San Diego, CA 92103. (619) 491-0708

Cheese, please! This little store is one of San Diego’s best kept secrets for cheese lovers. Upon entering the store, you are greeted with the most horrendous stench. The phrase “Who cut the cheese?” now makes sense. They offer numerous cheeses from around the world. They have cheeses made from the milk of cows, buffaloes, sheep, and goats.

The employee was very knowledgeable and offered me different samples. I’m not very adventurous and wanted to try a creamy cheese. She recommended Fromager D’Affinois from France ($14.50 per pound). It was definitely creamy. It’s made from cow’s milk and double cream. It’s like spreading soft butter on bread.

I also tried Ossau-Iraty from the French Pyrenees ($20 per pound). It is a hard cheese made from ewe’s milk. It tastes like a very strong Mozzarella.

Here are some of their refrigerated cheeses, including Cashel Blue from Ireland, Grayson from Virginia, and Tete de Moine from Switzerland.

They also offer a selection of hard cheeses, including Mona from Wisconsin, Serena from California, and Roncal from Spain.

The cheeses are sold by weight. Of the cheeses that I saw, the range was $14.50 to over $30 per pound, but according to their website, they also have cheeses that start from under $10 per half pound.

Give them your name when you buy a cheese and they’ll store the name of which cheese you bought in their database, which is a good thing if you go back to buy some more, but you can’t remember what the name of the cheese is.

They also offer a small selection of accoutrements, such as salami, crackers, baguettes, and chocolate. Visit one of their two locations if you want to sample a few cheeses or you need to order a party tray. You can also visit their online store and join the Cheese of the Month Club. They also offer classes and tastings.

Join them this Saturday, October 27, 2007 from 2 - 4 pm in the Flower Hill Mall for a Happy Halloween Cheese Tasting for only $8.

4622 Park Blvd, San Diego, CA 92116. (619) 813-2272

http://www.leilounge.com/

Lei Lounge has an inside bar with seating for dining outside. If you have at least 6 people, try reserving one of their white cabanas.

Like great tasting food at bargain prices? Check out Lei Lounge’s Happy Hour special on Mondays from 5 pm to 10 pm: 50% off their samplers!!! (The following prices are already discounted.)

Tempura Sampler ($6) - rock shrimp, veggies, and lobster. The rock shrimp and lobster tempura were very good, but I didn’t like the broccoli tempura. Veggies are supposed to be healthy and there’s nothing healthy about deep frying them. I’d rather have steamed veggies instead of all that extra oil.

Skewers Trio Sampler ($6) - ahi tuna, lemongrass chicken, and beef kabob. The ahi tuna was seared, so I didn’t try it. I like my fish fully cooked. I didn’t try the beef kabob either. The lemongrass chicken was a little bland so make sure you dip it in one of the sauces. It was topped with very fresh, sweet, delicious pineapple.

Dumplings Sampler ($5.50) - scallop, beef and scallion, and ginger vegetable with assorted sauces. This was the only sampler that I didn’t like. Even with the discount, it was not worth $1 per piece, especially when comparing it to the other samplers. Beware, the ginger vegetable dumplings were very spicy hot!

Lei Cabana Sampler ($6) - 5 pieces of the chef’s selection of daily menu items. Our sampler had more of the ahi tuna skewer, lemongrass chicken skewer, veggie tempura, and veggie dumpling. The only new item was the Philly Cheese Steak Spring Rolls (brown thing to the top right of the sauce).

They even have drink specials! Mondays through Fridays from 5 pm to 7 pm: 50% off their signature cocktails. Lei Tropical Cooler ($3.50) - coconut rum, creme de banana, melon, syrup, pineapple and lemon juice.

Thai Sticky Coconut Rice ($5) - It doesn’t look good, but it tastes delicious! You can even see the whole strands of coconut.

Chocolate Bento Box ($16) - Definitely not worth it! Their dessert menu is a verbal menu, which means your waiter will describe their sweet offerings, but they don’t mention the outrageous prices! They were out of the Chinese-style fried doughnuts, so they gave us another piece of the pistachio cake, which wasn’t good, and another cream puff, which tasted like it was frozen and hadn’t completely thawed yet. The chocolate dipping sauce and the raspberry cake was ok. The standouts: the dark chocolate piece was sinfully decadent, very smooth, melts in your mouth… The circular creme brulee had a cheesecake like consistency, nice and thick… The last piece was white chocolate lemon cake? The smooth finish was sweet.

And… do you want an even better deal? Go to Costco and purchase their $100 San Diego Gift Card for only $80! You can also use it at over 100 restaurants in San Diego.

http://www.sandiegogiftcard.com/

The service wasn’t the best. We got there right as they were opening. There was only one waitress and it was a little difficult to get some service at times.

Lei Lounge also serves brunch and champagne cocktails.

Taste: 8/10
Presentation: 5/5
Service/Atmosphere: 4/5
Total: 17/20

This roadstand has the BEST soft pretzels known to man. I am completely serious! I was on a bus tour of the Amish country in Pennsylvania and the tour guide told me that they were the best. I was skeptical. I thought they might be really good, but they are the BEST! They are made fresh and only cost $1.50. The more you buy, the cheaper they get. They literally melt in your mouth. They also sell a mix for $6 and you can try to make pretzels at home, but unfortunately, there must be some kind of secret because my homemade pretzels were okay… not anywhere near the best…

Right next door is a gift shop, which offers snacks and souvenirs.

If you’re in the area, stop by and try their soft pretzels! You won’t be disappointed =) There are a few picnic tables if you want to sit while you enjoy your pretzel.

Taste: 10/10

http://www.fairwaymarket.com/

When I’m travelling, I love visiting different markets and grocery stores to see what kind of selection other cities get. I found heaven at Fairway Market in NYC. There are a few of these markets in the city and one branch even has a gourmet cafe and steakhouse. Fairway seems like a cross between Henry’s and Whole Foods. Tons of really fresh produce mixed with a huge assortment of prepared and gourmet items. I wished that I’d had a kitchen to use so that I could have shopped and cooked! I am obsessed with olives and cheese so I literally gasped in delight when I saw this:

There were olives as far as the eye could see, every variety and flavor imaginable. It was like being a kid in a candy store! I thought it couldn’t get better but then I saw this:

Fairway offers something like 300 cheeses! The aroma in this corner of the market was amazing. I stood around and tasted cheese for at least 20 minutes. The only drawback about Fairway and other markets in New York is that that liquor and wine are not allowed to be sold in grocery stores so you can’t buy a nice bottle to go with your olives and cheese. Luckily, there always seemed to be a wine store right across the street from every market!