Despite this being the first time I had ever used my (now six-month-old) culinary torch, I think it turned out rather tastily, even if the presentation wasn’t great. But it works for My First Food Porn.

Here’s my version of the recipe.

Ingredients:
• Some berries
• Some plain yogurt
• Some brown sugar

1) Take the berries and yogurt, and mix it up to taste. I ended up using frozen berries (we’re paying for a new fridge this month, unfortunately, or I would’ve used fresh), lightly thawed in the microwave. I also ended up using vanilla yogurt, though I had meant to buy plain. The vanilla worked out, though.
2) Spoon the yogurt into small oven-safe ramekins.
3) Sprinkle a layer of sugar on top. Here’s where I went wrong; the original recipe said to sprinkle the sugar on and evenly brown it with the torch. I misinterpreted that as “sprinkle brown sugar and use the torch”.
4) Use the culinary torch in a swift circular motion over the sugar to brown it. I ended up using too much torch time on the sugar, which ignited it, much like a marshmalllow can ignite if held too close to a campfire. I threw out one big chunk of charred sugar, and then blew out smaller pieces as they ignited. (Note, always have a fire extinguisher or water within easy reach when working with fire. Very important.)

The sugar layer never really got hard, though there were patches that hardened. It did brown nicely, though, and turned out to be quite good; the picture above is of a ramekin that had already had a taste scooped out of it.

World Curry represents the finest in curries from all over the world. They have fine curry dishes from India (of course), Japan, and the Caribbean. From what I understand, Brits will be able to find a decent curry at this place — they have Keema and Vindaloo curries. You can also get a lovely Thai salad, and since you can substitute tofu in most of the dishes, they cater to the vegetarian palate as well.

My favorites are the Thai Panang curry, the good Thai chicken salad, and the curry puffs — a dollop of one of the curry dishes and some cream cheese, wrapped up in a delicious pastry dough and deep fried.

We usually go here for lunch or for takeout when we need it. The dishes are yummy, everything is fresh and well-made, and it’s a great value.

Lamont Street Grill is a great sit-down restaurant that fits the bill for when you want a nice restaurant with good food but down-to-earth staff and prices.

We’ve been going to Lamont Street Grill for at least 7 or 8 years now; we’ll go on a whim, to celebrate something, and we’ve even had business dinners there. Hidden in a former house between Grand and Garnet in Pacific Beach, it can be full, but doesn’t always get crowded.

The chef at Lamont Street designed all the dishes, and while everything is good, he’s best known for his soups. Every night the soup is different; even if the combination of items in the soup sounds odd, try it anyway, as chances are it’ll be good.

In addition to the food, there’s a full bar, in which they serve an excellent variety of martinis. I had my first chocolate martini at Lamont Street — the bartender was experimenting and gave me something new.

We’ll usually start with at least a couple of the appetizers. Lately we’ve been ordering the bleu-cheese mushroom caps — mushrooms served in a cast-iron skillet filled with sizzling butter and melted bleu cheese. A friend of ours’ favorite is the won-ton-like spinach and roasted garlic cream cheese pillows. The sauces that come with the appetizers are as amazing as the soups, and we’ll often sop up the remainder with the fresh-baked bread that comes with the meal.

You also really can’t go wrong with the entrees. They’ll always have two different specials for the day, but the standbys are great too. We’ve had the filet mignon with roasted garlic whole grain mustard butter, the baby back ribs, baked chicken in a puff pastry, and the sauteed shrimp and scallops with gorgonzola over pasta.

One of our favorites that cycles on and off the menu is a spicy chicken on grilled romaine salad; even if this (or another dish) isn’t on the menu, though, ask your waiter — if they have the ingredients in the kitchen, chances are they’ll make the dish for you.

Last, you must make sure to save room for dessert. There’s a lovely variety, my favorite of which is the kahlua and cream cheese crepes, drizzled in caramel.

Lamont Street Grill is a great restaurant for pretty much any occasion, or no occasion at all, when you want decent food in a nice atmosphere.