Khyber Pass - Awesome Afghani food in Hillcrest

Toni and I are back after our seven continent tour of the underbelly of world cuisine. We studied food with the great chefs of Paris, Addis Ababa, Ankara, Changsha, Florianopolis, and the Ross Ice Shelf. We spent six months with the biscuit guru of Mobile. Now we are back and ready to review the heck out of San Diego. Toni and I have moved into a restaurant heavy part of town and are excited to get at it.

Tonight we ate at Khyber Pass, a Hillcrest restaurant featuring Afghanistan cusine. (523 University Ave.
Hillcrest, San Diego,CA 92111,619-294-7579, contact@khyberpasssandiego.com ) Right away we noticed that the place was nearly empty. Unusual, as Hillcrest has about five restaurants per block and they're all always pretty busy. But Toni and I thought it looked clean, the hostess was friendly, and the menu looked pretty good.

Neither of us had eaten Afghani food before. We noted a lot of lamb, kabobs, curry, and many dishes of which we had never heard.

The decor was fairly minimal. A blown up photo of the famous shot of Sharbat Gula, named 'Afghan Girl,' and an evocative wall painting featuring  a woman, a man on horseback, and a stone city in the mountains, was about all there was. The music was native and was surprisingly engaging.

We started with bolani (bulanni) or awasana, as an appetizer. This is leeks, potatoes, in a yogurt sauce, wrapped in a delicate fried pastry ($3.95). It came with three sauces--chatni sauce, a hot green sauce made of cilantro, mint, green pepper, and garlic; a pink yogurt sauce that tasted a bit like French dressing; and a hot pepper sauce. Toni found out that this is a common party food in Afghanistan, and served often during Ramadan to break the fast. It was delicious! And such a bargain, I'm telling you, we got about eight of them for under four bucks!

Then we got our main courses. Toni got the karahi chicken ($18.95) off the kabob menu; I got the sweet and sour apricot chicken ($14.95). Toni's was chicken stir fried with bell peppers, spices (I hear some turmeric and coriander might have been involved.) with a side of basmati rice. Toni described it as spicy, but not really, tender, and said "it was really good." Toni as research girl, learned that a karahi is the pan the dish is prepared in--picture a middle eastern version of a wok. My food was just how it sounded, good cuts of chicken covered in a mouthwatering apricot sauce, with big chunks of apricot, and a side of rice. (Toni was making me go less spicy tonight.) Sweet, not spicy, and very satisfying.

For dessert we ordered the rice pudding, and as the server recognized us as internationally famous food bloggers, she threw in some pistachio pudding for good measure. Neither was as ordinary as they sounded. The rice pudding had definite cinnamon overtones. We could not identify the flavor in the pistachio pudding; Toni said it was like "a spicy flower." We asked and were told that it was cardamom. Research girl found out that it is related to ginger, is smoked, chewed, and is used as a medicine to treat infection as well as snake and scorpion bites!

We did not order drinks, though the restaurant does have beer and wine and some Afghan teas.

Total damage for 1 appetizer, 2 entrees, one dessert, and two pops - $54.00. I gave Khyber Pass a very solid GOOD all around, while Toni gave it an enthusiastic GREAT!

There you have it. It feels good to be back home writing. Look for weekly posts!

 

Baja Betty's--Most fabulous Mex in Hillcrest

Toni chowing down at Baja Betty's

Baja Betty's--1421 University Avenue, San Diego, CA 92103.  (619) 269-8510, http://www.bajabetty.com/.

Of all the restaurants that we've tried since coming to San Diego, we have come back to Baja Betty's the most, because we love the fun and fabulous atmosphere [I think the waiters are cute--Toni] and the food is delicious as well.  So last Tuesday, which is a big day for Mexican food in San Diego with every Mexican joint in town running 'taco Tuesday' specials, we went to Baja Betty's to review it.

Arriving at seven-ish, we had to wait for about ten minutes for our table.  Everytime that we have been to Baja Betty's there has been a wait, but it has never been longer than twenty minutes and usually closer to ten.  

The first thing that strikes you when you walk into Baja Betty's is the multitude of balloons in the shapes of male and female genitalia, tied to tables and floating around near the ceiling.  They have some patio seating where smoking is allowed and is where to sit if you want to be seen by whomever happens to be walking around Hillcrest--a Rogue's Gallery, but in a good way.  The interior seating is ample with basically three dining rooms and a bar decorated like a tiki hut.  The decor is loud and colorful and the volume is also generally quite loud.  People just seem to be happy in Baja Betty's and so laughter and loud conversation is typical, all backed up by awesome eighties music and some club music.

We were seated and our waiter, Brad from Scottsdale, Arizona [Adorable!--Toni] watered both of us without being asked, something that fewer servers seem to do in a lot of restaurants thses days.  He brought us chips, which were fresh, crispy, and not greasy; and Baja Betty's always fresh and a little spicy salsa.  He was very friendly; he called me, 'Babe,' and Toni was 'Angel.'  Once he got know us, he offered us a hot salsa that we had never tried in our previous visits there--very, very spicy, but good--smooth with a pleasant, garlic aftertaste. 

We looked over the drink menu.  Baja Betty's specializes in tequila.  The menu lists 101 tequila choices.  A Margarita Casa is $7.00.  [Their drinks are delicious and always pretty strong--T.]  Other drinks are the Skinny Betty, Surfer on Acid shot, the Me So Horni (A 36 ounce margarita monstrosity for $16.50) and the Teabag Sr.  Baja Betty's also boasts tequila tastings on the first Saturday of every month from 3pm to 5pm.  Toni ordered a Kick Ass margarita [It was awesome!]  and I had a Casa margarita, also very good.

Chi Chi Chicken Chipoltle

We were in a chicken mood.  Toni got Senorita Sally's Soft Taco dinner, two soft chicken tacos with onions and cilantro and Spanish rice for $11.99 [It comes with beans, but she doesn't like the beans--E.].  I got the Chi Chi Chicken Chipotle, char broiled chicken served with three kinds of bell peppers, onions, and a creamy chioptle sauce over rice and beans for $12.95.  One thing that always impresses both of us about Baja Betty's is the cleanliness of the resaturant and the freshness of the food. 

Our food came. The only complaint that I had from the day, was I got black beans instead of the refried beans that I ordered. [You didn't tell the waiter and give him an opportunity to fix it!--T] [Because he was being so nice, I didn't want to bother him with a trifle, my food was great, really--E.]  [I didn't know about it until right now.  You didn't tell me because you knew I would have told him.  He was so great and would have brought you more--T]  Despite that, my food was great and Toni, who often takes half of her food home for the next day, cleaned her plate.

The phallic dessert

After we ate, Brad decided it was Toni's birthday and brought us a celebratory dessert--a deep-fried bannana, with two scoops of vanilla ice cream and some whipped cream.  In this case, presentation was everything.  The scoops of ice-cream were positioned like balls for the bannana shaft, and the whip cream--well, you get the picture. [It came to the table and I squealed 'OOH a penis!' --T.] Since I am allergic to bannanas, but Toni doesn't eat a lot of ice cream--it made the perfect dessert.

So how much did three drinks and two entrees (the dessert doesn't count.) run us?  Just around $45.00.  Not at all bad for good food in a really fun environement where the service is always good, the food fresh and tasty, and the people very friendly.  We liked it all.

I'm being informed by my partner in writing that they have a sister restaurant--Urban Mo's Bar and Grill [With a drag show that is supposed to be to die for--T.]--also in Hillcrest, but we have yet to go there.  Oh and they own Gossip Grill, I'm told.  They probably own more of which I am unaware.

Oh, Baja Betty's also has a great Sunday Brunch--I recommend it.

On our rating scale both of us give Baja Betty's and enthusiastic GREAT for the overall good times and good food.

Babycakes--fabulous desserts in Hillcrest

 Photo from the Babycakes website, used for review purposes only.

Babycakes--3766 Fifth Avenue, San Diego, California, 92103.  (619) 296-4173.  To see their website click here. 

This will be a shorter review as we only had dessert, but we liked what we had and saw and will go back.  Babycakes is a fun and relaxing dessert place that also has a full bar.  Think Truffles on Clifton (For our Cleveland fans.) with booze.  The specialty is, as the name suggests cupcakes, though they had a scrumptious dessert case and also serve quiche, fruit trays, and similar items.  Their website states that they are getting ready to add lunch and brunch soon.

Parking in Hillcrest can be a problem, but Babycakes is far enough down Fifth that there is usually street parking.  If not, the Rite Aid across the street has a pay lot. 

On the approach, I noticed the location has a quaint, antique look and according to the website, the restaurant is situated in 1889 Craftsman home.  There is a front patio with ample seating that allows smoking.  There  a rear patio though I did not see it.  Toni and I went to the dessert case side and were helped by a friendly guy with earlobe expanding earrings in that were about an inch across.  I got a vanilla cupcake with fudge icing and a double espresso.  Toni got a rasperry fudge cupcake with a soy chai latte.  I was immediately impressed that friendly earring boy peeled the cupcake paper for us.  If you are like me, I tend to avoid cupcakes simply because I don't like messing around with the paper.  Then he plated them, added some chocolate sauce for presentation points, and made witty chit chat all at the same time.  While he was helping us, someone else came to make sure we were being helped.  Service is not an issue at Babycakes.

We got our food, 2 cupcakes and 1 double espresso and one chai latte--the damage $14.14--very reasonable I thought.  I was happy to give earring boy a few dollars in the jar.

The cupcakes were good--these were not your momma's bakesale cupcakes--they were moist with thick, rich icing, garnished with little chocolate discs and some sauce.  Wonderful.

We ate on the patio.  A server came by twice while we were out, cleaning and clearing.

Best of all--no dogs and no screaming children.

Babycakes--good food, prices, atmosphere, (Though the view from the front patio is Rite Aid and the taxi stand.) nice looking bar.  For what it is--I gave it a GOOD-GREAT on our scale.  Toni had to refrain from helping with this review as she doesn't feel good, but she liked it too.  We will go back when they expand their food menu.