Day 1: 12/24
arrived at SD at 7:30, had a late dinner at Lou and Mickey's.
Read on yelp that they have the best bone in ribeye in SD.
Lou and Mickey's
224 Fifth Avenue
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 237-4900
Coconut Kiss: Coconut Rum, Kahlua, and Pineapple Juice. $11.50 (never would have though about kahlua and pineapple juice combo. pretty tasty!)
Roasted beet salad with goat cheese $11.95 (this was so good. I love the earthiness and the sweetness of the beets. Joe, however, is not a fan of beets.) 
cowboy steak (bone in ribeye) $39.95 (super fatty and delicious. But I've had better, especially with the price you pay)
Conclusion: Great place to hang out, but overpriced because it is situated in the Gaslamp Quarter. Great service, and they don't charge extra fees to do split plating. Didn't think the steak was as great as all the hypes, but definitely tasty. They have lots of other meat selections as well as a duo plate like surf and turf.
Day 2: Christmas
Lunch at Seaworld:
Smokehouse cafe in Seaworld - sample platter. $14 (Brisket, chicken, ribs, baby back ribs, bun, fries, and corn. Almost everything was juicy and good. It costs a lot but is the only thing we bought at the park all day.)
Dinner: Candelas on the Bay on the Coronado island.
Candelas on the Bay
1201 First street #115, Coronado CA 92118 (at Coronado Ferry Landing
619.435.4900
Freshly baked bread, choose from plain, jalapeno, or cheese. spread it with compound butter mixed with garlic, anchovy, lime, chili, and 10 other ingredients that I forgot.
Strawberry Basil martini
NON-Alcoholic mojito
Calameras Candelas: Stuffed calamaris with tomatoes, rice, onion, morta chili. Served with a chili pepper, tomato, bleu cheese sauce, topped with spinach. $11.50 (Comes with 5 pieces. The server split it for Joe and me. Tender calamaris! The sauce was very good and different. I wish it was a little bit spicier. )
Pasta Uxmal - Linguini with lobster and portobello mushrooms in guajillo sauce. $16.50
Pechuga de Pato Lucrecia - Baked duck breast over potatoes, veggies, with a passion fruit sauce $24.00
Conclusion: Great service- our waiter Rodrigo was very attentive and informative. Even gave us great advice on where to visit. Beautiful view of the SD downtown, especially at night, with all the lights. It's a very trendy restaurant but very romantic as well. Delicious food, the portion was just right. wished we had try some of the Mexican appetizers. Lots of reviewers complained about $$$, but I think they were comparing it with a regular tacos joint or something... Candelas is categorized as "Latin Fusion" cuisine and is pretty upscale, but I don't consider them to be over priced at all.
There is one other location in Gaslamp Quarter as well.
Day 3: 12/26 (Balboa Park and SD Zoo)
Breakfast at Hash House a go go | Twisted Farm Food
3628 Fifth Ave, San Diego, CA 92103
(619) 298-4646
Lemonade with watermelon juice and kiwi syrup.$5
(so pretty to look at, no? Yummy too. Too bad we had to stir it up so it didn't look this pretty when we were drinking it)
Corn beef hash with crispy potatoes, homemade biscuit, and 2 eggs over easy. (Don't remember how much this was. around $12?)
this comes in a heavy cast iron skillet, can easily feed 2 people with this. They also have a homemade berry with apricot jam on the table, and I couldn't stop smothering the biscuit with it. We later on took the leftover and ate it for lunch at the zoo.
The tractor combo: buttermilk flapjack the size of the moon, with bacon or sausage, and eggs. (also around 12 bucks? for $1 more, you can substitute for other flavor flapjack)
Just to show you the size of the flapjack. Joe ALMOST finished it.
Conclusion: Yes yes! worth the wait and every penny spent. Great service, awesome food, GIANT portions. Would love to try different flavors of the flapjack next time. They also had some specialty espresso drinks like "toasted marshmallow latte" and some other fancy drink combos that I forgot. Those are quite pricey at $6.00+ each.
Dinner: Sloppy Joey/Nicky Rottens.
548 5th Avenue
San Diego, CA 92101
San Diego, CA 92101
560 5th Avenue
San Diego, CA 92101
San Diego, CA 92101
These two places are connected in Gaslamp quarter, and you can order from either menu at either location.
Jeryl ordered the Sloppy Joe Pizza $12.95
Thought it was pretty unique so I took a picture o it. Jeryl said it's very good.
Veal cutlet sandwich with homemade marinara sauce $9.95
Conclusions: Good selections of food since you can pick from both menus. (Pizzas, burgers, pasta sandwiches...etc.) Joe got a burger from Nicky Rottens, they're all $9.95 each. As a burger aficionado, Joe approves of Nicky Rottens! Anyway, it's a great place to get a quick bite and hang out. Food is about average, if not, somewhat above average, but you can't beat the price. Both restaurants were packed! We ate at the bar because we weren't sure how long we had to wait, but the bar was very spacious and comfortable.
Bar hopping at
560 5th Avenue
San Diego, CA 92101
San Diego, CA 92101
Voodoo Lounger (Left) $9
skyy passion fruit vodka, peach schnapps, mango puree, pineapple, lime juices, & splash of cranberry
bacardi superior & appleton special rums, strawberry nectar
Conclusion: This place was really empty compared to all the other restaurants and bars in Gaslamp. It was definitely a great place to get some drinks. The food menu looked expensive - they serve sushi rolls and fusion entrees. They advertise for their "pokes" but I actually didn't see any on their menu, kind of weird. Average price for a small sushi roll is $11+. Yummy drinks though! You can get some of the mai tais by the pitcher, and the people next to us ordered a drink for 2 - it came in a big bowl with the middle lit on fire!
Anyway, after mai tais, we then proceed to the Yard house for beer (they have an amazing selections of beer on tap), then some hookah at Fumari ($19 per hookah. We got 2.). I forgot that the legal age for smoking is 18+, but some of the kids in there looked like they are 15!!
Plenty more of food pictures for day 4-6 to come!
