Casa de Bandini – San Diego

My brother wanted to have Mexican food since we were down in San Diego, so the FS concierge suggested Casa de Bandini, one of the well-known Mexican restaurants in the area.

We got to Casa around 6:30pm and  had to wait for an hour and a half for a table! Mind you, it was a week night!!!  The staff were quite friendly and they kept apologizing for our wait. I loved the atmosphere at Casa: the staff wore Mexican costumes and the decor was very festive.

We ordered martinis and the waiter asked for my ID! I must look way younger than 21!!  The martini was quite-watered down….

The quintessential complimentary appetizer… tortilla chips with salsa!!!  The chips were fresh, warm and crispy and I got full from just eating the chips! And the waiter kept asking if we wanted refills…. yes please!

Quesadilla de Bandini wih chicken (flour tortilla folded, melted cheese, mild green chilies and salsa, cut in wedges and severed with guacamole and sour cream)…. We always thought quesadillas was a main course, but apparently it’s an appetizer.  The quesadillas was our favourite dish that night (even my hard-to-please dad liked it).

Guacamole… I knew I would be full from all the tortilla chips, so instead of ordering a burrito, I ordered guacamole!

Grilled chicken and avocado tacos (soft corn tortillas filled with seasoned strips of grilled chicken breast, sliced avocados and served with jalapeno white sauce, Mexican rice and black beans)…. mom ordered this but she preferred the quesadillas.

Burrito de Bandini (large burrito filled with seasoned shredded beef and frijoles, topped with cheese and sour cream, served with Mexican rice)… My brother is so used to eating the non-authentic-Mexican-food at MexiCali, he didn’t like this authentic burrito.  He claimed there’s too much beans but burritos are supposed to be stuffed with beans! I quite liked the beef because it reminded me of Chinese beef brisket!

I really enjoyed dinner at Casa de Bandini and I’m munching on tortilla chips as I’m typing this!

FAIM? OUI OUI!!!

Casa de Bandini

1901 Calle Barcelona @ The Forum Shops
Carlsbad, CA 92009, United States
(760) 634-3443

Las Margaritas – Vancouver

i think i blogged about my love for Ajisai Sushi Bar, so when i wanted to go to Ajisai for dinner, my friend was adamant that I try something new. and hence, we went to las margaritas..

i’ve never been a big fan of mexican food (not even the authentic mexican food i had in mexico), so i was kinda iffy about dinner that night…

first came the complimentary chips and salsa…. great chips! salty and crispy enough… not a big fan of salsa, but it was ok too..

I had the L.A. burrito… tortilla with beans, ground beef, onions, cheese, salsa, sour cream, guacamole… and served with salad and mexican rice..

let’s just say i finished all the house salad and chips.. and doggy-bagged the rest for my brother (he wanted a burrito, so i gave him the leftover 9/10ths of the burrito!)

FAIM? non non….

Las Margaritas

1999 West 4th Avenue
Vancouver, BC V6J 1M7
(604) 734-7117