Tag Archives: food blogger

Premier Sports & Pub Grub at Phileas Fogg’s in Sabre Springs Plaza!

Having been to London three times (and counting), I have a great love of pubs. I love the sports fueled atmosphere, the camaraderie, and especially the food, affectionately known as pub grub. Recently, my sister and I had lunch at a great little pub located at Sabre Springs Plaza called Phileas Fogg’s Bar & Restaurant. They were voted “San Diego’s Best” three years in a row, and by the experience we had, we could see why. Right when I walked in, I felt like I entered a pub in London, soccer prominent at every turn, even on the ceiling!

The food was just as wonderful as the atmosphere, reminding me of England on one hand, as well as making me feel right at home. Their menu ranges from traditional British fare, to Asian and Mexican. I had the Bangers & Mash with brown gravy and onions, and my sister had the fish tacos, along with her favorite appetizer, poutine fries. We finished off our afternoon with bread pudding and banana fritters with ice cream for dessert. It’s good to know that I can have delicious pub grub right in my own backyard!

If you would like to indulge in some pub grub while catching your favorite football club on the telly, Phileas Fogg’s Bar & Restaurant is located at 11385 Poway Road, #100 San Diego, CA 92128 and they can be reached at (858) 486-4442. Cheers!

Football (NFL) & more football (soccer)? Why yes! Plus, take a look at that ceiling and the amount of jerseys and flags; I spotted Manchester United straight away!

Above: Bangers & Mash; Poutine Fries

Below: Fish tacos

Above: Banana fritters with ice cream

Below: Bread pudding with white chocolate chips and caramel

Pub grub just the way I love it!

FTC Disclosure: I received compensation to patronize a business at Sabre Springs Plaza. Although I did receive compensation, the opinions in this post are strictly my own.

(Most photos taken by Rholnna Jiao)

“Mangia Mangia” at Bongiorno’s Pizza in Poway Valley Center!

Hometown eateries are always a great find because they’re like hidden gems. My sister and I have been discovering fun places to eat up near where she lives in Rancho Bernardo, and Bongiorno’s Pizza in the Poway Valley Center is a tasty and affordable choice for Italian cuisine. Our entire lunch meal, which included our main dishes with garlic knots, drinks and dessert only came to $29! There were so many great choices, which solidifies a return trip with our families!

If you would like a great and affordable Italian dining experience, Bongiorno’s Pizza is located at 13332 Poway Road, Poway CA 92064 and they can be reached at (858) 679-3278. They also do deliveries within 5 miles. Cheers!

Bongiorno’s has a cozy feel, with lots of pictures of New York. Isn’t that pizza clock awesome?

I had the spaghetti with meat sauce, and my sister had the baked ziti. Both were really good, and we loved the garlic knots!

“Leave the gun, take the cannoli…”

This is absolutely one of the best deals at Bongiorno’s: the Dough Bites. They are deep fried dough rolled in powdered sugar, and come in a small pizza box. The entire box was only $4.99 and so great hot and right out of the box!

FTC Disclosure: I received compensation to patronize a business at Poway Valley Center. Although I did receive compensation, the opinions in this post are strictly my own.

(Most photos by Rholnna Jiao)

Blogsgiving 2016

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Our family Thanksgiving happens annually in Las Vegas and it was filled with fun and food, and of course a little shopping. But prior to our family gathering, I celebrated “Blogsgiving” with a few blogger friends at Hotel La Jolla where we previewed the new fall menu at CUSP Restaurant by Chef Ingrid Funes.

Our table was dressed with gorgeous flowers by Melissa from Madmade Designs and Louie from 656 Photography documented the entire evening!

I was in superb company with these beautiful bloggers!

Above: Tiffany of Glitz & Glam By Tiff, Moi & Paulina of Lil Bits of Chic

Below: Maria of Savvynista, Kali of In-Spades, and Jenna of Lucky Little Mustard Seed

Bloggers doing what we do best!

This is the Fall menu for Cusp Restaurant, and we pretty much sampled a bit of everything! But I’ll feature what I ate that evening, which was simply amazing!

My appetizer was the Crab Cake with sweet and sour bell pepper relish & green goddess sauce (above, in front of the Crispy Pork Belly). My main dish was the Lobster Gnocchi with Mushrooms & Kale as my side dish. Both dishes were savory and absolutely delicious!

I closed the evening with a Sweet Potato Tartlet with cinnamon ice cream. I think heavenly would be the appropriate way to describe this delectable dessert!

Chef Ingrid Funes came to meet with us during our dinner.

We had a blast all through the evening, sharing stories and laughing (a lot)!

After dinner, Louie from 656 Photography captured more pictures, including this one we’re all calling our “Real Housewives of San Diego” pose. Maybe someone can come up with a bloggers version for reality TV?

Our lovely co-hosts for the evening, Jenna and Paulina!

Many thanks to Hotel La Jolla, CUSP Restaurant, their staff and Chef Ingrid Funes for the delicious dinner. Thank you again to Melissa from Madmade Designs for the lovely floral table setting and to Louie from 656 Photography for the amazing photography.

Special thanks to Jenna, Paulina, Maria, Tiffany and Kali, who I’ve come to know and love as my friends. It was a great evening filled with laughter and I was glad to have spent it with all of you!

Eternal Summer Snacking with Chobani Mezé Dips!

It’s been crazy busy at the Chen household lately mostly because it’s summer, which means Dominic is out of school and we can travel or attend more family events. Sometimes during the summer, we have impromptu visitors or we end up becoming the meeting place for pre-concert or pre-movie gatherings. To help with entertaining around this time, the folks at Chobani sent me this fun infographic to help either plan a special summer event or help with what to do if you have simple soirees like we occasionally have.

Chobani is my go-to brand for Greek yogurt, so I’m excited to try their new Mezé Dips! They have four great flavors to choose from, but I think Roasted Red Pepper will become a favorite. So cheers to eternal summer snacking and let me know in the comments on how you throw a fabulous summer get together!

Foodie Fest Encinitas is Tomorrow!

Sorry for the lack of posts lately! I’ve been quite busy trying to fit everything in and I’m finally getting around to doing some product reviews and concert posts (in fact, I’m going to see The Cure tonight). Before I do, I wanted to share pictures from a wonderful event I attended with my good friend Angi last week, which was the Discover SD Foodie Fest Media Party. It was a preview of Foodie Fest Encinitas, happening tomorrow. At the preview, we got to sample a nice little selection of the vendors that will be there, and the event included tunes by The Fab Lushes and a fun little photo booth. Thank you to Tiffany of Delicious Buzz for the invite, and you can find information about the event below. Did I mention Angi won us tickets to KAABOO?!

Cheers and have a great weekend!

Foodie Fest Encinitas

When: Saturday May 21, 2016

Time: 11am to 4pm

Where: The Lumberyard Encinitas

Buy tickets here!

Delicious Kombucha by Living Tea Brewing Co. Loved the blood orange tea. Refreshing!

Favorite main dishes & appetizers of the night: Poke by Mission Avenue Bar and Grill; Vella Cheese Company Dry Monterey Jack Cheese from Gourmet Culinary; Deviled eggs by Local Tap House; Bacon wrapped pork belly drizzled in honey by Barrel Republic; Pork bahn mi by Frazier Farms Market. Yum!

Ah-mazing dessert dishes by Bistro West & delicious caramel by Cheryl’s Caramels!

The Fab Lushes!

Fun at the photo booth!

Angi had the winning raffle ticket for 2 passes to KAABOO! We’re going on Saturday September 17!

Foodie Fever: Fresh Catch Fish Market & Grill

I’ve been to a few great places to eat recently, and I attended one of my first restaurant openings at the end of April. I went to the media preview prior to the grand opening of a new restaurant in the Hillcrest area called Fresh Catch Fish Market & Grill, along with Zach, my good friend and fellow food enthusiast.

The restaurant is quaint and casual, and our choices for the day were very visible upon entering, both on the board and in the refrigerated display case next to the register. There is such a wonderful variety of options to have your very fresh seafood served up: from tacos & burritos, to grilled in either a salad, sandwich or plated with rice and vegetables. I opted for one of the house specialties, which was the Crab Mac n Cheese, and Zach had the Ahi Tuna in a Cajun crust and soy glaze. The Crab Mac n Cheese was so creamy and had crab in every single bite. The Ahi Tuna was seasoned perfectly and was absolutely tasty. Zach and I had a great time and we each thoroughly enjoyed these amazingly fresh selections!

Thank you Delicious Buzz and Fresh Catch Fish Market & Grill for the invitation and I will definitely be back with my family and friends to enjoy the rest of the menu!

Fresh Catch Fish Market & Grill

3650 5th Avenue, San Diego CA| (619) 295-9590

Instagram: @Fresh_CatchSD | Facebook: FreshCatchMarketGrill | Twitter: @Fresh_CatchSD

(FTC Disclosure: I was offered the opportunity to attend this event as a courtesy, but not necessarily for the purposes of a review. Although I received a courtesy meal for myself and my guest at this event, the opinions in this post are strictly my own.)

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