Kathryn Hu | Leader, Philosopher, Visionary

obligatory picture of my friends from winter break

I WROTE THIS IN MY NOTES APP SO I DIDN’T REALIZE IT WAS 1500 WORDS I’M SORRY

Another school week, another blog post, another apology for not finishing my noodle series. 

This break was disappointing on the cooking front. I was out of town for the first week and then I was stressing about college apps the second half, so I did very little culinary work. Of the few dishes I did make, none were interesting. It was a sandwich and oatmeal filled winter break for me. 

So I come to my regular readers (Tyler and maybe Chris) asking for forgiveness and instead presenting to you a diary of the more interesting food I ate.

December 23rd, 2022

The Hu family wakes up at 4am and Ubers to the airport. Once we get there, I watch my dad’s hair turn white as he prays that our flight isn’t canceled. I guess it worked because we made it to San Diego. 

First meal: Oscar’s Mexican Seafood

My sister doesn’t eat any seafood, so it was a bust for her. But for the rest of us, people with normal diets, this was a great meal. The highlight for me was probably their spicy shrimp tacos. Their incredibly flavorful shrimp pairs really well with avocado. And the cabbage and tomato add a note of freshness along with the typical cilantro, onion, and lime combination. Though I didn’t like their octopus tacos as much, they’re also worthy of a try. 

On a side note, I don’t think I’ve ever been to a restaurant with a larger hot sauce selection. Overall, I’d give my first meal in San Diego a 8/10 – a solid start.

Second meal: some ramen place I forgot the name of

The fact that I forgot the name should indicate that it was a mediocre meal at best. Though, I’m pretty sure it was my fault for ordering something basic. Whatever the case, the noodles I got didn’t taste like much. I’ll give a baseline 5/10 since it was nothing spectacular but also not terrible. 

After eating dinner, my dad immediately began stressing about what we’d eat on Christmas. We’ll get back to that.

December 24th

Third meal: hotel special

I did not have breakfast that morning. My toothpaste and the tap water was 7/10. 

Me at the beach, happy and unaware I was about to have these pasty tacos

Fourth meal: El Pescador Fish Market & Restaurant

Let’s start with the positives: I had clam chowder for the first time here and it was great. However, I had an ordering mishap once again. I’d wanted the poke originally since I was craving raw fish, but I guess it wasn’t in season or something because they didn’t have it. In a panic because of the line of people behind me, I ordered the first thing that came to mind. 

Do not get their fish tacos. The taste was by no means offensive, but that was just because it didn’t taste like anything. I legitimately don’t think I’ve ever had a blander taco. To their credit, they don’t specialize in tacos, and the food that my family ordered was just fine. But I can’t overlook their sad, floppy excuse for a taco. So for that, despite being a pretty decent establishment, they get a 5.5/10. 

Fifth meal: Thang Thang

If you guys put your thinking caps on, you’ll realize that the 24th is Christmas Eve. Our dinner options were pretty limited. We wanted tacos and actually drove pretty far for them, but El Gordo (more on them later) was closed. And Masic and Elise didn’t bring their passports so we couldn’t take a spontaneous Tijuana trip. Sad.

only picture I have from thang thang

Instead, we went to a pub. After going in blind (Elise didn’t have time to do her usual Yelp scouting), we were pleasantly surprised. Their bossam was very cooked nicely, and they gave a variety of sides that cut the fattiness. I especially enjoyed their salted cabbage. It complemented the pork well. That was the star of the night, but their other dishes didn’t disappoint either. I’ll give them a strong 6 and a bonus .5 for saving us from starving on Christmas Eve. 

December 25th

We went to a family friend’s house for Christmas so no restaurant review for this day. Good news: my dad didn’t end up having a stroke from stress. Bad news: Elise got sick.

Elise, sick

December 26th

Sixth meal: the name of the restaurant makes me uncomfortable and the food wasn’t that good so if you really want to know that bad you’ll have to ask me personally I guess.

I guess weak immune systems just run in the family because Elise got sick the night before from who knows what. So now, with my dad in charge of our itinerary, we got Chinese food for the first (and only) time during this trip. I’m a little dumb in the head so I didn’t actually realize it was a Chinese place until after I ordered. In my defense, they advertised themselves as like an Asian fusion spot or something so I don’t think it’s entirely my fault. Anyway, I got ramen and that was a mistake. Their braised pork bowl was not bad, so I should have gotten that. But the ramen wasn’t even that much of a mistake compared to the real villain of the meal: their soup dumplings.

SUPER SECRET AND EFFECTIVE REMEDY FROM THE FAMILY FRIEND

I’ve dreamt about going back to China the past couple of years just to have high quality soup dumplings. Don’t get me wrong – the frozen ones are enough to itch a craving from time to time, and restaurant ones here aren’t usually too bad, but this place was. The filling was fine I guess. It was nothing special but it didn’t make me want to die inside so that’s a plus. The issue was the wrapper. Soup dumpling wrappers are typically very thin because that’s what works. I guess they had an intern in the kitchen that day because the wrapper was so incredibly, unbelievably, disgustingly thick. For hurting my soul with their shameful rendition, they get a 3/10.

Seventh meal: El Gordo

Luckily for me, God heard my cry for something delicious during lunch and delivered during dinner. I tried 3 tacos here: lengua, carne asada, and adobada. Their lengua was definitely good, but I’ve actually yet to have bad lengua so I suppose it’s just slightly above average. Their steak and adobada taco, however, had me regretting not applying to UCSD. 

El Gordo, like many San Diego taco joints, serve their tacos Tijuana style – meaning there’s usually more going on in terms of toppings (seen at Oscar’s as well). It’s been hard going back to plain cilantro and onion after finally understanding what a party in my mouth is like. 

Let’s talk about their steak first:

Their steak tacos included my favorite aspect of Tijuana tacos: avocado. So when I saw the generous heap of avocado, I didn’t think it could get better, but then it did. 

If you know me, you’ll know that one of my favorite things is charcoal grilled meat. There’s a lot I would trade for a smoky, well grilled steak. All I had to give up at El Gordo was the two dollars I paid for the taco. The flavor of their carne asada was unmatched. It was the best steak taco I’ve ever had.

After I nearly wept while eating my first taco, I tried their adobada taco. It was even better.

Okay so I might be wrong, but I’m pretty sure it was an al pastor taco. Whatever it was, I had a great time. The pork was so flavorful, the sauce was a perfect balance of creamy and limey, and the fresh sweetness from pineapple slices they gave really just sealed the deal for me. This taco is the best one I’ve ever had. If you haven’t been here, you haven’t lived. This place is a 10/10.

December 27th

We were scheduled to leave this day, so we didn’t have breakfast instead saving our stomachs for a (hopefully) good last lunch. 

Eighth meal: The Taco Stand

such a fun trip I had such a good time oh my gosh I love my family

Imagine you are the number one gymnast in your country competing at worlds. The order of athletes comes out and you die inside when you see you’re right after Simone Biles. That’s the best equivalent I can give for how The Taco Stand stands up to El Gordo. So yes, unfortunately, this meal fell short of its predecessor. But fortunately, that’s just because the standard was so high. 

This was at the very least, a satisfactory last meal. Everything here was pretty good. But their fish tacos, both grilled and fried, stand out. I don’t know how they managed to have better seafood than a place literally called Oscar’s Mexican Seafood, but they did so props to them. Everything here is very fresh and well seasoned, so it’s definitely worth a try. I’ll give them a 9/10. 

The rest of my trip is kind of a blur so that’s all for this post. Maybe I will get back to cooking for the next blog, maybe not, who knows!