Phoenix Asian Restaurant

Cheap eats? I have a good one this time. Out on Mission, there's a Chinese place called Phoenix. It has a great deal for lunch. $5.99!

Phoenix Asian Restaurant

Jim said he'd never been in there before, so we went to lunch last Friday. It's right across from Ferrell's Donuts if you want some dessert afterwards.

It's nice enough inside. They recently updated the tables and chairs and you've got to love the good luck cat on the counter. We were there early around 11:45, so we had our choice of spots.

The lunch special is $5.99 from 11am to 3:45pm. For UCSC students with ID, they can get that deal all day (except weekends). It includes rice, appetizer, soup of the day and a fortune cookie. Good deal! The soup was Hot and Sour and it had good size pieces of mushroom, tofu and bamboo all swimming inside. It had a kick from the pepper.

Jim got the General Chicken, which is his "go to" for new Chinese places. Two crunchy wontons came with it and the plate was full. He happily finished it off.

I ordered the Sweet and Sour Chicken and was not disappointed. The chicken pieces were cooked well and the coating was still crunchy, even in the sauce. Nice chunks of green peppers and carrots with it too.

Scanning the menu, they run all the traditional dishes including seafood, chicken, pork, beef, rice and noodles. Even Foo Yung and Mu Shu. This place was tasty and worth checking out!

Scores out of 10:
Food: 8
Service: 7
Atmosphere: 6
Value for price: 9 (lunch menu)
Overall: 7.5

O'mei Chinese - Westside

One of the great things with catching up with friends is reliving the funny stories from our past. They usually start with "do you remember..." and end with both of you laughing. Paula is one of those friends to me and we met at O'mei Chinese Cuisine last week for some Gan Pung and some giggles.

O'mei Chinese Cuisine

The front entrance to this place is very nondescript. I wonder why they don't spruce it up a bit? Well, they have been here since 1979, so they must know something. We got there at 12 noon and there were plenty of seats.

I liked the decor inside, a bit minimalistic, but tasteful. Our starter soup came a few minutes after we sat down.

I asked the waitress what was in it and she said sauerkraut and pork. It was sort of watery, but still had flavor. Sweet and sour is what they were going for, but didn't quite make it. And there were little red rings of fire (spicy pepper) hiding between the cabbage.

Speaking of peppers, I ordered the Gan Pung Express, which came with steamed rice ($8.95). This has been a favorite of mine for years and I always have to order it. Chunks of breaded, fried chicken, water chestnuts, green onions and peppers in a sticky, sweet and tangy sauce. If you bite into one of those peppers, you win a fire-mouth prize! Needless-to-say, I pushed them to the side.

Paula got the Lemon Chicken Express ($8.95) with brown rice ($1 extra) and liked it very much. Not too sweet, like some I've had, and a nice natural lemon flavor. It was on some shredded cabbage and veggies.

The lunch express menu says it's smaller portions and cheaper versions of their normal menu, but the food was still plenty for us. I was at that point where I was full, but there wasn't enough left to take home. Oof, one more bite then!

A nice touch was the orange slices at the end of the meal. Reminded me of playing soccer as a kid and loading up on these at halftime. It was juicy and fresh.

Over 30 years and O'mei is still going strong. For the dinner service, they turn the lights low and make it more of a fancy place. But lunch is a better value. Good quality Chinese - you owe yourself a trip if you haven't been.

Scores out of 10:
Food: 8
Service: 6
Atmosphere: 7
Value for price: 7 (lunch express)
Overall: 7

Parish Publick House - Westside

Over on the Westside of Santa Cruz is a British pub called Parish Publick House. It's has too many windows for a real British pub, but they have a lot of beer and mixed drinks for your imbibing celebrations. They also have food, but since this was a workday lunch, no drinking for us!

Parish Publick House

Jim and Seth joined me for this meal out and it's a short drive to the Mission St. Safeway parking lot. Watch for tight corners and slim spaces as you drive through. Better yet to just park on the street.

We grabbed menus at the front and chose a window table. Most of the seats are by a window. All the pubs I went to in England were dark, but cozy places. This place is still cozy, but at least it was foggy outside. It usually is on the Westside.

Our waitress came over quickly and asked about drinks. Then she came back to deliver them and take our order. The place was wasn't very full, so she was prompt and pleasant. My iced tea was a bit soapy (an unrinsed glass?), but she offered to replace it for me.

Jim ordered the Irish Dip with fries ($13). It was a take on the classic French Dip, but with Irish cheddar, Irish stout mayo and Jameson Irish Whiskey added to the au jus. That's a lot of Irish! It was a hearty plate of food, which he enjoyed.

I got the Almar Shuffle, which was turkey, avocado, Swiss cheese and grilled mushroom on sourdough ($13). Served with a salad, it was good and filled me up. You don't see mushrooms on hot sandwiches very often, so I always go for it. Thumbs up! Also, they put raw, chopped onions on the salads here - I like 'em, but some folks don't!

Seth got the Side Door, a veggie burger with fries ($11) and had all the toppings on the side. I'm in support of this, since you get to make it as you like it. He piled on all the goodies and drove in. He also gave it a thumbs up. You gotta love the throwback, crinkly fries.

As with all British pubs, the standards are here: Bangers and Mash, Shepherd's Pie, Fish and Chips. There's a pool table in the back and big TVs all around to watch sports. During football/soccer season, you can bet they are all tuned in. It is the European sport of choice after all. Happy hour is 4-6pm and all day Sunday if you want to get your drink on.

Scores out of 10:
Food: 7
Service: 8
Atmosphere: 7
Value for price: 6
Overall: 7

West End Tap & Kitchen

One of the best places to go in Santa Cruz is the West Side. A walk along West Cliff, a jaunt through Natural Bridges, a bike ride to Wilder Ranch... what could be better? Food! West Side has some fun, little places here and there and one of the most recent additions is West End Tap & Kitchen.

Website

Located in the Swift Street Courtyard, it's across from the SC Mountain Brewery and besides a couple winery tasting rooms. That's tall company to keep! How does it measure up?

My brother Mike and sis-in-law Diane met me there for lunch this week. Diane had been a couple times last week and wanted to go again. They have two large dining areas, a good-sized bar, a fireplace with comfy chairs and a small patio as well. We sat along the wall at some high tables.

It was cold and cloudy that day, so I started off with something to warm me up - a small French-pressed coffee from Verve ($3.50). It was strong and good, but I would have preferred it served in a smaller cup. It looked dinky!

After scanning the menu, we all decided on an appetizer, fried calamari with jalepenos ($9). It was served with homemade ranch and garlic oil. Yes, those are big slices of jalepenos battered up with the calamari. Yes, it was a crunchy, spicy sensation. We all dug in with happy smiles. The server said it's even better during happy hour (M-F 3-6pm) when it's only $5.

Diane said there's lots of things she wants to try on the menu, but keeps coming back to the bleu cheese burger ($11.95 + $2.75 cheese). It comes on a large tray with crispy french fries. Even though I consider a lunch burger and fries over $14 a bit expensive, she went on and on about how good it was. The bread was from Gayle's in Capitola (why not Kelly's next door?).

I got the Chicken sandwich with a side salad ($11). The chicken was buttermilk-coated and fried and was nice and flavorful. It had a tangy coleslaw and marinated onions on top, which was a good contrast to the slightly sweet bread and salty chicken. The side salad was just dressed with a mild vinaigrette, which was sadly bland. I should have gotten fries!

Mike's burger lunch came with bacon ($11.95 + $2.50 bacon) - how could you go wrong? It was gone in two shakes of a pig's tail. Man, that guy can eat!

So, West End is a nice place for a good lunch, but I would have like to have seen more choices on the menu. Sandwiches, burgers, flatbreads and salads are about it. Maybe there were daily specials I missed, but our server didn't mention any. The prices were a bit higher than I like to pay, but the food was quality. This place would be good to impress a date or your parents. Happy hour sounds like a deal too.

Scores out of 10:
Food: 7
Service: 7
Atmosphere: 8
Value for price: 6
Overall: 7

Sushi Totoro

Lunch time with my brother and sister-in-law at one of their favorite places, Sushi Totoro on Mission Street. You may remember Totoro from the adorable Studio Ghibli anime "My Neighbor Totoro". He's a big, furry, blue cat-like creature. Sort of like my brother...

Yelp website

This is a popular place for college students and has lots of whimsical decorations as well as pictures of past customers on the walls. I think they are going for a party atmosphere, which is good for smaller sushi place.

It was about half full when we got there mid-week and the waitress was quick to give us menus and drinks. Mike, my bro, said we're getting the stuffed peppers appetizer. Sure, sounds good...

The Little Bomb ($7.95) was filled with tuna and cream cheese, deep fried and covered in roe and sauce, it was quite the starter. The sweetness of the fish and sauce balanced the spicy jalapeño and finished with a crunch. I'm a fan!

Next, I ordered my old standby, a California roll. Some things never go out of style. Did you know it was invented in LA in the 70s? Ichiro Mashita, a sushi chef, replaced tuna with avocado and it was an immediate hit. This version was fresh with lots of crab, but I didn't taste the cucumber.

Mike ordered his favorite, the Big Boy ($16.95) has tuna, salmon, spicy tuna, avo & cream cheese and it was double-sized. It too was deep fried and then covered in roe and sauce. The other roll was the TNT Special ($9.95), which had spicy tuna and cucumber. Even though fried, both weren't greasy and we could taste all the ingredients.

The last roll we ordered was the Philadelphia Special ($13.95) with salmon, cream cheese and avo. I guess the specials are all deep fried with sauce and roe. You can get them without, but why would you want to? They make for a more filling meal.

Sushi Totoro is a cozy place that has a great menu and good food. There are other places in town for bigger parties, but for a quick lunch hour, it fits the bill.

Scores out of 10:
Food: 7
Service: 7
Atmosphere: 7
Value for Price: 6
Overall: 6.75