Bella Bee Food Truck
Bella Bee Food Truck

Place: Bella Bee Coffee Truck

Category: Food Truck, coffee

Website: https://www.bellabeecoffee.com/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/bella-bee-coffee-seaside

Location: Mobile, Monterey, CA 93940

Date of visit: 2021 March 2

On Tuesday, March 2, 2021 I tried the Bella Bee Coffee food truck for the first time. I have been following them on Facebook since I decided to start Ed’s Eats and they often post photos of homemade baked goods that look amazing so I was looking forward to trying them but the timing didn’t work out until now.

Sesame Orange Blossom Loaf
Sesame Orange Blossom Loaf from Bella Bee Coffee.

The special the day when I went was Sesame Orange Blossom Loaf. They also had an Orange Blossom Latte drink special. As people who know me would guess, I went with a regular coffee instead of  a fancy latte but I was talking to someone waiting for their drink and they told me the special drinks are always delicious. My coffee was really good. The Sesame Orange Blossom Loaf was good as well. You can tell the person who baked it was a talented baker. It probably wasn’t my favorite choice for a baked good just based on my general taste (and nothing to do with the preparation). However I still very much enjoyed it.

I would definitely get food and coffee from Bella Bee Coffee again. I will keep on following them on Facebook and if they have a fresh baked treat that seems like something I enjoy I will hop in my car and drive to their truck. Because Bella Bee Coffee is a food truck, they change locations but typically, at least as I write this, they spend an hour or so on Cass Street in Monterey and an hour in Ryan Ranch outside of Monterey Spine and Joint but check on their website or Facebook page to find their current times and locations before going.

Tita's Pupuseria Lonchera
Photograph of Tita’s Pupuseria Lonchera food truck.

Place: Tita’s Pupuseria

Category: Mexican, Salvadoran

Website: http://places.singleplatform.com/titas-pupuseria/menu

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/titas-pupuseria-buttonwillow

Location: 20645 Tracy Ave Buttonwillow, CA 93206

Date of visit: 2021 February 20

On the evening of Saturday, February 20 I was driving home from Bakersfield and wanted to grab a bite to eat. I took exit 257 off of I-5 to find something. This exit, besides having a few gas stations with cheap gas, has a TA truck stop,  various fast food restaurants, a Starbucks, and some local restaurants. One of them is Willow Ranch which has great breakfasts and other food. However, instead of going there or one the fast food places (despite the temptation of a Shamrock shake), I decided to pull over where there were two food trucks. Only one of the two was open and that turned out to be Tita’s Pupuseria.

Burrito
Burrito from Tita’s Pupuseria Lonchera

On Yelp Tita’s is listed as having Mexican and Salvadoran food. I was originally going to get tacos but I saw a gentleman with a huge burrito sitting at a picnic table so I changed my mind and ordered an asada (beef) burrito. The burrito included meat, rice, cilantro, and lettuce. I went with beef because carnitas (pork) was two dollars more for some reason. The asada burrito one was quite good and I’d get it again but next time I might try the carnitas (or perhaps some other option).

Since I recently wrote about another burrito I got in King City one might ask which was better. I’ d say they were different. I can see some people liking Tita’s better but for me, I liked Tacos La Potranca De Jalisco. That said Tita’s was really good and better than your run of the mill burrito. If I want a quick meal while driving past Buttonwillow I would definitely stop there before the Taco Bell down the street and I recommend you do the same.

Exterior of La Sala's Bi-Rite Market.
Exterior of La Sala’s Bi-Rite Market in Monterey, California.

Place: La Sala’s Bi-Rite Market

Category: Sandwich Shop

Website: https://www.lasalasbiritemarketca.com/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/la-salas-bi-rite-market-monterey

Location: 250 Casa Verde Way, Monterey, CA 93940

Date of visit: 2021 February 8

On Monday, February 8,2021 I went to La Sala’s Bi-Rite Market for a sandwich. I’ve heard good things about La Sala’s since shortly after moving to Monterey a few years ago but I never went there basically because there are a number of other sandwich shops that are really good so I didn’t find a need to try another one. However, with the main goal of Ed’s Eats being to visit a different new-to-me restaurant or other prepared food place every week, it was time to finally get to La Sala’s Bi-Rite Market.

Pastrami on rye.
Pastrami on Rye from La Sala’s Bi-Rite Market.

Did I like it? Well, let’s say I went back the following week for another sandwich, so yes! I don’t think it will replace any of the other sandwich shops I go to but it definitely found a place in the rotation. Other sandwich shops in the Monterey area that I enjoy include Randy’s. Mundo’s, Valnizza’s, and Jersey’s Original Subs. The first two are within walking distance so besides have great sandwiches, they are quite convenient for me.

On my first visit I purchased a pastrami on rye with mustard. It was delicious. Now it wasn’t Katz’s deli https://katzsdelicatessen.com/  or Shapiro’s https://shapiros.com/ good, but it was still delicious and I will be ordering it again. The rye bread they used was better than most rye bread I’ve had in California and the meat was really tasty

Tri-tip Sandwich
Tri-tip Sandwich from La Sala’s Bi-Rite Market.

As I mentioned I went back the following week to try a tri-tip sandwich on a sesame role which I heard good things about. I enjoyed it but I definitely liked the pastrami better. Don’t get me wrong, the tri-tip was really good but I just liked the pastrami better. Also, I would say I’ve had better tri-tip at other places. In particular I

am thinking about various auto racing tracks that have a BBQ grill such as Ocean Speedway in Watsonville and Perris Auto Speedway in Perris. That said, if it is lunch time and I’m in the mode for a trip-tip sandwich I’ll head to La Sala’s Bi-Rite Market.

Tacos La Potranca de Jalisco
Exterior of Tacos La Potranca de Jalisco in King City, California.

Place: Tacos La Potranca De Jalisco

Category: Mexican

Website: hhttps://www.tacoslapotrancadejalisco.com/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/tacos-la-potranca-de-jalisco-king-city

Location: 201 Broadway St, King City, CA 93930

Date of visit: 2021 February 7

On the afternoon of Sunday, February 7, 2021 I found myself in King City, California after going backpacking. I was pretty hungry so I decided to stop at Tacos La Potranca De Jalisco for lunch. While there looked to be a number of good places for lunch in King City I chose this place because I liked that it was a walk-up window and there were some tables out front. After backpacking I was probably pretty smelly and was kind of warn out so this seemed like a good option.

tacos
Two tacos from Tacos La Potranca de Jalisco

I ordered a burrito and two tacos for a total of $10.98 (including tax). Because it was the day of the big football game they had a special were they were also giving customers a free fountain drink. You might think at first glance that $10.98 is not very cheap, but if you saw the size of the burrito and the tacos you would know that it was enough food to feed two people. The burrito, especially, was huge!

Tacos La Potranca De Jalisco offers a wide range of meat choices as well as vegetarian options. While I didn’t go for a vegetarian option, a person behind me in line did and she said it was really good. I went with an asada (beef) and a pastor (bar-b-que pork) taco. The burrito I ordered was filled with carnitas (shredded pork), rice, beans, onions, cilantro, and salsa. Other meat options include pollo (chicken), lengua (beef tongue), cabeza (beef head), tripas (beef intestines).

As I already mentioned the tacos and burrito were huge. They were also delicious! I think they may have been the best I’ve ever had. If not, they were right up there. All three meat options I tried were great. It is hard to a favorite but I’d probably say I liked the pastor pork the best of the three. The food was also served with pickled carrots which were really good as well. I almost was going to ask if they would sell me a container of the carrots to bring home.

photo of burrito
Carnitas burrito from Tacos La Potranca De Jalisco in King City, CA.

Although I don’t find myself in or near King City often, I will definitely go to Tacos La Potranca De Jalisco again. I probably won’t get a burrito and two tacos though because it was too much food. I was stuffed after eating them. Would I suggest someone to drive an hour from the city City of Monterey just to go to Tacos La Potranca De Jalisco? No, that would be silly considering he number of places to get tacos nearby. However, if you are ever driving past King City on 101 and want to get something to eat, I highly suggest you give it a try.

Taqueria Zarape's buildine
Photograph of the exterior of Taqueria Zarape.

Place: Taqueria Zarape

Category: Mexican

Website: http://taqueriazarape.com/

Yelp: https://yelp.to/T86mL63Fvdb

Location: 1107 Fremont Blvd. Seaside, CA 93955

Date of visit: 2021 January 31

On Sunday, January 31, 2021 I went to Taqueria Zarape for the first time. I really have no excuse for not getting to this place before because it has always been on my list since I moved to the area. The old time drive-up style building is very inviting. I think the main reason I haven’t been here before is I tend to acquire my tacos from food truck so had no need to go get a taco elsewhere.

While we are once again allowed to dine outside in Monterey and Taqueria Zarape had a few tables set up, I decided to get my food to go. I ordered a taco and enchilada combination platter for $9.99 before tax.. The combination platter came with beans and rice as well as some salsa and chips. I noticed that they have a salsa bar which was obviously closed due to the current circumstances. However, I’m intrigued.

Taco and enchilada combination platter
Taco and enchilada combination platter from Taqueria Zarape

Taqueria Zarape has a wide range of meat options. For the more adventurous readers choices include beef tripe, beef tongue, and pig stomach. I was not that adventurous and got a carne asada (beef steak) taco and a carnitas (shredded pork) enchilada. They also have a couple of chicken options, a couple of other pork options, and chorizo.

The taco was pretty big. The carne asada filling and the toppings were delicious. The enchilada was also a good size. The carnitas inside was cooked perfectly and the enchilada sauce was tasty. I really enjoyed both and don’t know which one I liked better. The chips, beans and rice filled out the meal nicely. They all tasted good and between all the food I was fill by the time.

As usual it is hard to judge customer service when getting take out but I definitely have no complaints. The staff was friendly and there was no delay in getting my food. Instead of ordering ahead, I ordered when I arrived. It did not take them very long before my food was ready—I was actually surprised it was ready so soon!

I definitely will be bag to try some of their other foods and different meat choices. I doubt I’ll be adventurous enough to try the pig stomach or the beef tripe but perhaps I’ll give the beef tongue a try. I also noticed they have some breakfast platter and breakfast burritos for reasonable prices. I really haven’t found many breakfast places I like in Monterey. There are some places that have great food but they are not all that cheap. Perhaps Taqueria Zarape’s breakfast offerings will fill that void for me.

A colorful Nepalese tuktuk
A colorful Nepalese tuktuk displayed inside of East Village Café.

Place: East Village Café

Category: Coffee, Café

Website: https://www.facebook.com/eastvillagecafemonterey/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/east-village-cafe-monterey-2

Location: 498 Washington St., Monterey, CA 93940

Date of visit: 2021 January 22

On Friday, January 22, 2021 I went to the East Village Café for the first time. Some of you may ask how can a coffee lover living in Monterey for over three and a half years not have been to the East Village Coffee Lounge before? But therein lies the catch: the East Village Coffee Lounge has been sold and has been rebranded as the East Village Café. With new ownership and a slightly different name, I figured it is a big enough change to be considered a new place for Ed’s Eats to visit. So far there has not been many changes but once COVID restrictions loosen up it sounds like their will be some tweaks according to an article on Edible Monterey Bay.

Spinach & Mushroom Quiche
Spinach & Mushroom Quiche from East Village Café.

I decided to order a drip coffee along with a spinach and mushroom quiche. I am not a huge fan of quiche but I like it once in a while. However, the person behind the counter said she really liked them so I decided to give it a try. I am glad I did because it was really good. If more quiche tasted like this and had as good of a texture maybe I would become a bigger quiche fan. They had various pastries and croissants that looked really good as well.

The coffee was hot and tasty and hit the spot. It was what you would expect as far as quality and flavor from a café of this type. Next time I’ll probably try a latte or some other type of fancier drink but on a rainy morning I wanted to go with the tried and true American drip. I look forward to when I can go back there and enjoy my coffee inside while using their wifi to work on Ed’s Eats posts!

The staff were friendly and made my coffee and heated up my quiche right away so good marks on customer service.

Boston Cream Donut
Boston Cream Donut from Marina Donuts & Bagels.

Place: Marina Donuts & Bagels 

Category: Breakfast

Website: n/a

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/marina-donuts-and-bagels-marina

Location: 266 Reservation Rd Marina, CA 93933

Date of visit: 2021 January 9

On Saturday, January 9, 2021 I went to Marina Donuts & Bagels for coffee and, shockingly, a donut and a bagel. I have to admit to being skeptical about the bagels when I saw the sign and decided to give the place a try because outside of Montreal, Ottawa, and New Jersey/New York I have not really found many good bagels. I had a little higher expectations for the donut because there are good donuts here in California.

I decided to sample a donut and a bagel to see how much I liked their namesake products. I went with a Boston cream donut and a buttered toasted poppy seed bagel. I also got a coffee. The coffee was better than expected but it wasn’t like going to a fancy independent coffee shop but it definitely could compete with chain coffee shops as far as flavor.

The Boston cream donut was stuffed full a lot of Boston cream—much more than you normally get. The cream was very tasty as was the donut itself. The chocolate frosting was also delicious. It definitely tanks with the best Boston cream donuts I have ever had and would highly recommend it. As with most (all?) donut shops they had plenty of other choices so perhaps I’ll try a different kind when I return but it will be very hard to pass up their Boston cream donut.

Poppy seed bagel
A toasted and buttered Poppy Seed Bagel from Marina Donuts & Bagels.

As you can see in the photo, they are not at all stingy with the poppy seeds. Do not get this bagel if you do not love them! As I said I was skeptical going in due to the fact I never had anything better than a satisfactory bagel in California. I am no longer a skeptic! The bagel was good enough that it could have been a New Jersey bagel! (Not a Montreal or Ottawa bagel, however because they are a bit different). I will definitely go back next time I am in the mood for a bagel.

They also had muffins and some other breakfast pastries and they sell bagel sandwiches. One pastry that caught my eye was the cinnamon roll but I wanted to stick

to the donut and bagel for the review. I also noticed they had a bagel hot dog. I might try that next time as a hot dog stuffed in one of their bagels must be good.  

The process of ordering and getting my food was fast and friendly but seemed a bit chaotic to me with multiple people behind the counter taking parts of my order. While it seemed chaotic to me, the chaos did not cause a delay or any other issues with my order; it was efficient and it did not take very long to get my items. I guess everyone that worked in their just jumped in to serve people as quickly as they could as the place was quite busy. They obviously understand the chaos much better than me as a first-time customer!

As you probably guessed from the review thus far, I will definitely be back. I’m actually thinking I could go for one of their bagels right now!  

Chef Lee’s Mandarin House
Chef Lee’s Mandarin House

Place: Chef Lee’s Mandarin House 

Category: Chinese

Website: http://www.chefleesmandarinhouse.com/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/chef-lees-mandarin-house-monterey

Location: 2031 N Fremont St. Monterey, CA 93940

Date of visit: 2021 January 8

On Friday, January 8, 2021 I ordered lunch to go from Chef Lee’s Mandarin House in Monterey. I have never been here before because, both from the outside appearances and the website (at least pre-pandemic), it appeared more of a place for in-person dining and I usually am more interested in take-out when I want to eat Chinese food. Just like I wouldn’t go to a nice steak house for takeout, the same goes for Chinese or any other food. Of course, everything is currently takeout so it seemed to be a good time to give it a try. Probably another factor for me not going here before is the online reviews. Their overall rating on Yelp! is not great (3 out of 5). Oddly enough some people seemed to have had a bad experience while others loved it. There are an almost equal amount of 5 star reviews as 1 star reviews; some people say the food was great but bad service and others say the food wasn’t good but the service was great. The reviews are not at all consistent! It is like people are talking about different restaurants. I don’t know what caused this dichotomy and I’m sure my review won’t solve the quandary but as I will describe, I was happy with my meal.

As I stated above, I ordered lunch for takeout. Like many Chinese restaurants they have a lunch menu that offers meals at a cheaper price than dinne

Scallop and Chicken with Shrimp Rice Plate
Scallop and Chicken w/ Shrimp Rice Plate from Chef Lee’s in its takeout container.

r. I like cheaper! I ordered the Scallop and Chicken w/ Shrimp Rice Plate. This was served with white race unlike some other restaurants that provide fried rice with their lunch and other specials. The rice was perfectly done. The amount of chicken, shrimp, and scallops was appropriate for the price paid ($12.95 before taxes). Overall the main part of the meal (i.e. the proteins and vegetables) was well-prepared and I felt quite tasty. They did not over-do the seasonings which I guess may be a good or bad thing depending on what you want but I found the taste pleasing. The chicken and shrimp were quite good. The scallops were good but not, in my opinion, as good as the chicken and shrimp. To elaborate, they were not under- or over-cooked but they were a bit bland. That said, scallops tend to be that way unless they are drenched in butter or something else so that is a matter of taste.

Scallop and Chicken w/ Shrimp Rice Plate
Scallop and Chicken w/ Shrimp Rice Plate from Chef Lee’s

With takeout it is hard to evaluate service but, as with most of the places I’ve been going to in the area, the food was ready on time and the transactions were pleasant so no complaints. I didn’t take any pictures of the interior because the chairs were on the tables for cleaning and that wouldn’t give a fair impression of what the interior was like but I thought it looked like a nice place to have a sit down meal and once indoor dining opens back up, I would like to check it out.

Overall I was satisfied with my takeout meal. Will I add it to my standard Chinese takeout rotation? I think I will likely get takeout from them again but it probably won’t supplant other places on my regular rotation. This is mostly because I think other places are a better value for takeout. That said, I really do want to give the in-restaurant dining a try when we are able to do that again as I think the ambiance would be nice and they have some dinners  (Peking and Chef Lee’s) designed for multiple people, that I assume are served “family style,” that sound really good. I imagine these are Chef Lee’s Mandarin House strength.

A large to-go coffee cup from Jack’s Coffee.

Place: Jack’s Coffee

Category: Coffee

Website: https://www.facebook.com/jackscoffeesalinas

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/german-restaurant-stammtisch-seaside-2

Location: 1348 S Main St, Salinas, CA 93901

Date of visit: 2021 January 2

On Saturday, January 2. 2021 I went to my first new food place of the year. It was Jack’s Coffee in Salinas in the same shopping complex as Nob Hill Foods. It is a small hut in the middle of the parking lot that is reminisce of Fotomats of years past. I have been wanting to check out this locally owned drive-up coffee place for a while but whenever I drove past it I usually already had coffee or it was latter in the evening so it was closed.

Jack’s Coffee hut in Salinas.

I bought a “regular” large coffee for $3.00 but they also have all of the typical coffee drinks that you would expect. They also had pastries and oatmeal but I already had my breakfast so I did not partake. The prices were probably, on average, slightly lower than other local coffee shops in the area (likely because they do not have as big of a space with inside dinning and restrooms to maintain).  

I am not a professional coffee taster so I can’t tell you if it had hints of whatever exotic fruit you like but it was extremely tasty and not overly roasted (aka burnt) that some of the chain coffees taste like to me.

The service was very efficiency and friendly. I’d definitely stop at Jack’s Coffee again. I just need to remember to not get coffee before I end up driving past it.

Place: German Restaurant Stammtisch

Category: German

Website: https://www.stammtisch-seaside.com/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/german-restaurant-stammtisch-seaside-2

Location: 1204 Echo Ave., Seaside, CA 93955

Date of visit: 2020 December 22

Stammtischschnitzel
Stammtischschnitzel (breaded pork steak, smothered with fresh bacon, mushrooms and sautéed onions) from German Restaurant Stammtisch.

On Tuesday December 22, 2020 I order takeout from German Restaurant Stammtisch. I heard about this restaurant slightly after I moved to Monterey a few years ago but for some reason I thought it closed. I think I had the location incorrect and I saw a new restaurant open where I thought it was. Regardless of the reason, because of that I never been here. Definitely my loss! I really enjoy German food and the meal I got from Stammtisch was outstanding

With COVID restrictions not allowing dine-in (or even outside dinning) right now, Stammtisch has a limited menu available for takeout but that menu includes many of the items you would expect. After going back and forth between Jaegerschnitzel and Stammtischschnitzel, I chose the latter mostly because I figured the gravy in the Jaegerschnitzel might soak into the meat too much as I drove home after picking it up (although I’m sure I could have asked for the gravy in a separate container). Additionally the Stammtischschnitzel has bacon in it so of course that was also a huge factor! Their menu describes it as “breaded pork steak, smothered with fresh bacon, mushrooms and sautéed onions.” It was served with home fried potatoes, salad garnish, and the soup of the day. I also got some German beer (on tap) to go (it was a lager but I am not sure what brand).

Cream of Asparagus Soup from German Restaurant Stammtisch

The soup of the day was a cream of asparagus. It was amazing. I can’t say I’ve had cream of asparagus soup a lot but I do enjoy cream soups (usually cream of mushroom or cream of broccoli) and this was possibly the best I’ve ever had.

The pork was cooked perfectly and the topping of bacon, mushrooms, and onions was delicious and the amount of each ingredient was good. I particularly liked that they did not use too many onions. I would highly recommend the Stammtischschnitzel. The fried potatoes were also extremely good.

I felt the price was better than average for the area considering the quality and quantity of food. Service-wise it is hard to judge when getting takeout but the food was ready when it was supposed to be and the staff (owners?) were very friendly and even gave me an extra container of beer for Christmas (They mentioned that they needed to use it up or it would go bad, so I was happy to help them out!). They also helped me carry the food out to my car. The interior of the restaurant looked nice and I look forward to dinning in person at some point in the future.

Really, everything was excellent and my only complaint is I didn’t go here sooner! If you live in the area (or are visiting) and like German food, definitely check German Restaurant Stammtisch out.