Show 12, January 5, 2013: Anita Lau of the “Diary of a Mad Hungry Woman” Blog

Anita blogs about her dining adventures in Orange County and San Diego. She is not afraid to experience something new or adventurous. All of her informative and objective postings feature food photography to illustrate her meals. Very useful blog…

Anita shared some of her recent San Diego County dining.

First up was Valley View Casino near Escondido. This is a resort hotel and casino with a number of appealing dining options. Anita enjoyed her suite which actually had an impressive “valley view.”

Rib Eye at Black and Blue at Valley View CasinoThe fine-dining restaurant there is Black & Blue with is a upscale steakhouse with lots of seafood options, too. Her favorite dish was the 10 oz. Filet Mignon which she found “tender, flavorful, and cooked a perfect medium rare.”

Valley View is well-known for their lobster buffet which Anita partook of the next day. She consumed more of the tasty lobsters than she cares to admit to.

Menuderia Don Vicente in National CityAnita has had menudo all over California but it’s a dish that has been previously lost on her. A stop at Don Vicente Menuderia in National City changed all of that.

There was a 25 minute wait for a table so she knew she was in the right place. Anita was also the only non-Latino in the joint which was a plus. No Americanized, combo plate Mexican here…She loved the aroma of the tripe soup and the reaction upon tasting was “ahhhh, so so good!”

There are other Mexican specialties on the menu and the fresh tortillas are house-prepared.