I love Penzey's! We went to one on our trip to Portland and I kept saying how awesome it would be if we had one in SD. Wish granted! I use the salt free version of season all and the bouquet garni. Looks like I need to restock my spices! If you have extra flour tortillas, you can cut them into triangles, fry them up, and toss them in sugar and cinnamon. Easy bunuelos. My neighbors always did that with leftover tortilla.

In my opinion, the chamango at Teresita's is the best. Don't get the chamango at Neveria Tocumbo. What you'll end up receiving is chamoy slushie and some cut mango on top. VERY disappointing. Get the Mangoneada instead there. That place makes a mean one. I'm glad you blogged about the one in Mission Valley! I've been looking for a chamango closer to home!

I'm not a huge fan of Smashburger. We had one open across the street from us in PQ and it's...alright. Don't ever get the chicken burger. It's pounded to death and then cooked to dryness. Half the time I've gotten fries, they were so darn oily. I also always feel ripped off whenever I eat there. You get a burger, a small pile of fries and a drink and it's usually going to set you back around $10. I definitely prefer Burger Lounge over Smashburger. Have you done a burger showdown yet with the popular burger places in SD? I'm talking about Hodad's, Rocky's, Tioli's, etc. Then again, you would need a quadruple bypass afterwards.

Wow. Even just looking at the banh beo you could tell it wasn't made correctly. They should focus on making a few dishes well instead of trying to make a bunch of dishes badly. Have you had the banh beo at Mien Trung? They got the rice cake part right, but I'm not a fan of the shrimp on top. It's obvious they use dried shrimp put through the food processor instead of fresh shrimp. It ends up with a funky shrimp shell flavor.

The pizza looks mighty tasty! I wonder how it compares to Blue Ribbon up in Encinitas? We went to Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix and it was out of this world. Most definitely get their caprese with your order. Apizza Scholls in Portland also was really amazing. Haven't found anything like those two in San Diego yet.

The one time I went there with The Dude, we ordered the pho and his first comment was: tastes like beef water. I have to admit - it's quite weak in the flavor and richness department. I thought it'd be fun to get the brown rice noodles. They're quite slippery to eat and taste like instant pho. If you don't know what instant pho tastes like, don't do it! That stuff is terrible. Also, I've finally tried Mien Trung and got Bun Bo Hue. All my friends up in SGV say it's better than the places up there! My favorite BBH place up there is Nem Nuong Khanh Hoa on Valley across the street from Yoshinoya, but Mien Trung has dethroned them!

I was just there this past Tuesday for their AYCE ($20 on Tuesdays for dinner)! It was my first time and I had no idea what to order, so I got their lamb shoulder, lamb wontons, some greenery, the buckwheat noodles, prawns, squid, and tofu that never arrived. Any suggestions? I LOVED just about everything that they brought out, but the spicy broth was a little too spicy. I also saw people get dipping sauces, but I think I had to ask for it. Any advice for my next AYCE trip there?