Saigon Vietnamese In-and-Out

As a local restaurant waiter, I have the privilege of serving many of our town’s locals. The owner of Saigon Vietnamese In-and-Out comes in to my restaurant often, so I figured I’d return the favor when I was itchin’ for some Asian.
Red-eyed and still hung over from the night prior, I ordered the Iced coffee to wake me from my mid-day daze. When our waiter, Ling, brought me a rocks glass with it’s own personal coffee strainer, I sat confused. The Vietnamese iced coffee was unlike anything I’ve ever had.
“How does this thing work?” I said, pointing.
“Patience,” she replied.
The bitter grind, strained into the sweet condensed milk was an eye-opening concoction of two extremes. With one of those every morning, I’d have no trouble waking up.
When our food was served, Ling went even further with the dining adages – she taught us everything from how to wrap our egg rolls to how we toss our noodles. The vermicelli, that is...
Then it hit me. We were talking to the all-knowing, all-powerful guru of Viet fare. This meal was meant to be. I was the student, and she, my master (pardon me for the raunchiness, I can’t help it).
Everyone enjoyed the shrimp hot pot, except me, because I don’t care for sweet and sour soup. Nor do I care for sweet and sour candies, or MARGARITAS (except when it’s Margy Monday and they’re only a buck).
My lemongrass beef ($7), served over a mountain of jasmine rice, was simple, yet satisfying.
My friend Lindsey’s chicken, coated in a sea of peanut curry served over rice noodles was rich and full of flavor.
Our meal overall was good, considering it was something different. Just about every dish served to us came along with a side of fresh lettuce, mint and cilantro, which is popular in Vietnamese cuisine. That’s a good thing for me, considering that I’m a meat and potatoes kinda guy.
Saigon’s lunch specials could get you out of the place for under $10. For a healthy alternative to Asian dining, Vietnamese food is what you ought to do, and Saigon Café is where you ought to go. And if you’re not familiar with how to eat your egg roll, or in my case, how patience is key to iced coffee, it’s all right. Ling will be there to guide you.

Santa Barbara Eats: Tony Ray's

Since my friend began managing downtown's newest mexican restaurant, he hasn’t quit calling me to come in.
Being the good friend that I am (or at least think I am), I decided to give into his hype.
Tony Ray's, tucked away behind the State Street clamor, took me nearly twenty minutes to find, but in the end was worth the hassle.
My friend and I chose to sit outside on this overcast Tuesday afternoon, mostly because the dribbling water of the patio's fountain – complete with plastic roses and hibiscus buoyed among its three tiers - was almost therapeutic.
The restaurant's menu serves up your every day Mexican food, stuff you can find at just about every other taqueria or cantina in California. And like most other Mexican restaurants reaching out to their American counterpart, you find your burgers, steaks and chicken tenders served alongside fried papas.
Munching on my chicken burrito, but more so picking at my friends steak fajitas, I recognized that there’s a lot to appreciate from this hole in the wall.
No. 1: the patio seating hosts a great view of the Riviera and De La Guerra Plaza; a popular hangout for Santa Barbara’s homeless, but I digress.
No. 2: The place is kind of a secret. With no front entrance to State Street, you’d never imagine a restaurant ever existed here.
No. 3: This sit down lunch, complete with ice tea and more chips and salsa than you can handle, came to about $20. Nothing on this menu costs more than $10, except for the filet mignon, $24.
Tony Ray's also holds karaoke night on Wednesday and Thursday nights.
Hosting a full bar that’s open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, the hole in the wall tries, and is worth giving a try. So if and when you go in, ask for Rony. Tell him I sent you.

Price: >$10

Santa Barbara Happy Hour: The Boathouse

On a bright afternoon last Sunday, some friends and I hit up happy hour at the Boat House Restaurant. Nestled in front of Hendry's Beach, known by dog owners as the watering hole for their furry friends, the Boathouse restaurant is everything a Sunday afternoon at the bar should be.

This is happy hour heaven. And if you call that a mai tai, well, I'll have another.
The Blackberry Mai Tai, one of the Boathouse's specialty drinks, is one definitely worth trying. My friend Lindsey and I agreed that the muttled blackberry twist on this tropical concoction has forever changed the way we Mai Tai. And you thought a Mai Tai was just a bunch of rum hiding behind pineapple juice? So did I.

Their happy hour appetizers are just as good. Some of the favorites are the steamed manila clams served in a white wine broth with diced Linguica (a form of Portugese pork cured sausage). We also enjoyed the sesame-seared ahi, served over crispy won tons, island slaw and a citrus soy sauce.

This place definitely captures the Santa Barbara beach boy lifestyle to its fullest. I mean, what better than watching surfers get shacked on the small shoulders of Hendry Beach's shore break while diving into some good convo over happy-hour-priced drinks and pupus? Not much.

All tips on this particular Sunday were donated to Andre Balbeiri, a good friend of the Shellfish Co., who suffered from a snowboarding accident in the earlier months and lost his leg. Balbeiri arrived just after sunset and was welcomed with a round of applause.

Happy Hour 3-6 p.m. Sunday through Friday.

$3 Drafts: Pacifico, Sunshine Wheat, Firestone Double Barrel Ale, Bud Light
$5 Well cocktails: Definitely try the Blood Orange Margarita and the Blackberry Mai Tai
$7.95 Appetizers: Sesame Seared Ahi, Steamed Manila Clams, Fried Calamari and more

Service:★ ★ ★ ★
Food/Drink:★ ★ ★ ★.5
Setting: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

(All out of 5)

South Coast Deli

About every other week, I hit up my favorite sandwich spot in town. And it's not just because my boy Chris manages the joint and I get a fat hook up whenever I step into the spot. These sandwiches are good - real good. With an ever-changing menu, South Coast keeps the classics around while incorporating the new like the Buffalo Chicken sandwich, which I ordered. My sandwich, served on a toasted roll, smothered in that tangy sauce with a bright orange tinge, was, eh, so-so. I've definitely ordered better. My friend ordered the chicken ceasar sammy, served on pillowy sourdough. I ended up devouring her leftovers. Located a block off State street, South Coast's streetside outdoor seating makes for the perfect place to get lunch on a sunny day. And it's worthy to note that each sandwich, or "sammy" as they call it, is served with a dum dum lollipop.
Serving fresh baked cookies, pastas and casseroles and voted "Best Sandwich" by the Santa Barbara Independent since 2000 or so, South Coast is definitely keeping up the tradition.
Some other favorites of mine: The Dark Horse Pastrami and the Chicken Pesto sammy.

"Saving Santa Barbara from lame sandwiches since 1991."

Located at 1436 Chapala Street, Santa Barbara or 185 South Patterson Ave, Goleta

Food: ★ ★ ★.5 (out of 4)
Service: ★ ★ ★ (out of 4)

Double-dredged fried chicken

Follow these steps for a basic recipe to great fried chicken:

Ingredients:

Flour
Garlic Salt
Pepper
1 egg
2 lbs legs and thighs
Canola oil

-First, pull chicken from fridge and let sit until poultry reaches room temperature.
-Pour two cups flour in a separate bowl.
-In another bowl, beat 1 egg.
-Once chicken reaches room temp., season with garlic salt and pepper.
-After seasoning, dredge chicken in flour, then egg wash, then back into flour.
-Heat about 1"-1.5" Canola oil in a pan over Med/Hi heat.
-Begin frying.
-Flip frequently until skin is golden brown on all sides.
-For best results, finish chicken in the oven for 30 minutes at 375 degrees.

Other pointers:

Keep it southern with nothin' but Louisiana Brand Hot Sauce.
For an asian twist, serve with Mae Ploy Sweet Chili Sauce.

Also, don't fry chicken, or anything at that, without a shirt. Shit hurts!

The Waiting game

I’ve been doing the long distance thing.
For the last two months, we’ve been trying to keep it together over the phone and through letters in the mail.
I know I’m old fashioned. And no, I don’t think chivalry is dead. Shit, it’s pretty much my whole game plan.
But with one month left on the wait, she told me she wants a break.
People tell me she’s found another and I should do the same.
She says she needs some breathing room. She also told me that I shouldn’t make it a big deal about when she gets back and that I shouldn’t have any expectations of us.
Okay, Phil Jackson.
Ever since, the phone calls have been few and far between. She no longer calls me “baby,” but “Rhys”. She no longer talks to me as her lover but a friend. No more text messages good night. No more “I miss you’s”. No more “I wish you were here’s.” Nada.
When she told me: “I need a break.” I didn’t know she really meant: “Let’s break up.”
Infatuation will make you blind..
In the meantime, I’ve been able to meet a few girls.
Some are gorgeous, others outgoing. Some don’t have enough to say. Others just won’t shut up. Either way, these other girls don’t capture my attention the way she does.
None can make me smile the way she does. None give me that warm tingly feeling inside. Yeah, I said it: THAT WARM TINGLY FEELING INSIDE.
Maybe these other girls aren’t captivating me because my heart is thousands of miles away. Maybe these girls are interested in me because they know that.
Most people say I’m too young to get involved and that this is the time of my life to just have fun.
I’m an aspiring journalist headed wherever wherever might take me.
She’s an aspiring photographer/ environmentalist / dreamer with beautiful brown hair, light brown eyes and a smile that’d light up a room.
And I’m convinced that something as special as this will be hard –if not impossible- to replace.
I can’t count on finding someone like this “just around the corner.” I’d like to think of her as the girl around the corner, through the bend, across the river, down the valley and atop the mountain.
Yeah, her affection hasn’t come easy. But when it does, I’m reminded that it’s worth the work.
Sometimes she tells me I'm too much. But if she keeps letting me do it, I must be doing something right. Right? Anyways, I'd rather try my best than look back and say I didn't try hard enough.
And I now know what attracts me to her isn’t just who she is. It’s the person she brings out in me.
The guy who writes her letters just because.
The guy who plucks his four-string ukulele and sings her to sleep.
The guy who, even while she’s away, continues to strum his ukulele as if she never left his side.
Hopefully when she returns, she’ll want to be there to listen.
In the meantime, I’ll sing to myself.

Sombreros..Don't leave Mexico without 'em

A timeline of me and my brother's 15-hour Mexican adventure

10:12 p.m. Arrive in Santa Monica.

10:13 Headed toward the border.

12:15 Just crossed the border. Doing the patriotic thing by drinking Sam Adam’s – summer ale.

1247 a.m. Our first $20 goes toward paying the police off for peeing in public. Wish I could just pay the police off in America. Welcome to Mexico.

2:00 a.m. Arrive at some club in Rosarito. Guy tells us 12 bucks gets us drinks all night. Not really..

3:20 a.m. Arrive in Encinitas. Headed south til the sunrise.

4:01 a.m. Headed inland into Chihuahua county. Wrong move. Chihuahua county is No Man's Land, where many have been killed because of drug violence lately. Headed back toward the coast.

5:15 a.m. We’re trying to find a place to rest our heads. Resorted to knocking on some old lady’s door to see if we can park our car and sleep in her oceanfront driveway. $5 ocean views.

7:15 Rise and shine!

7:45 Surfing the pier in Encinitas. Sick lefts.. Me and my bro are the only ones without wetsuits. All the locals are laughing at us freeze our ass off. The taste of cheap tequila still sits in my mouth.

12:06 p.m. To go cups for my margarita. Only in Mexico..

1:00 p.m. Back in Encinitas for surf session #2. Troy can barely stand up on his board.

3:15 p.m. Bumping Gregory isaacs in the middle of the desert. Classic…

12:29 p.m. Ensenada tequila bar. Spilt salsa all over my shorts. Not surprised.

3:37 p.m. Headed back over the border. Sombreros back on.