I’ve been waiting a while for the pop up restaurants to come to San Diego with more frequency. So when this opportunity came up we couldn’t pass it by! As the sheet below mentions this was located at California Kebab right by San Diego State. On these Saturday’s the shop operates as House of Khan and not California Kebab. There’s only room for one chef in the kitchen at a time! 🙂 Also, it’s only here until the end of August so if you want in you better save a spot!
The menu is pretty simple and they only serve one rotating plate every Saturday. If you’re one of those people that likes to sit and contemplate what to order because A) you are very indecisive or B) there are just too many great options on the menu to just go crazy and choose one, House of Khan helps narrow down the field and makes your life that much easier by giving you only one choice. I’ve never came across House of Khan before so I’m not sure how long they’ve been around but Michael and I were excited to see what was in store for us this evening.
Inside California Kebab there’s a surf board hanging from the ceiling with various things written on it, reminding you that you are indeed in San Diego and are close to the Greek housing at SDSU.
As the menu states our dinner came with chicken tikka masala, pickled aubergines or eggplant in a tomato sauce, and nan bread. We also got potatoes with I believe cumin seeds mixed in. Surprisingly the aubergines were outstanding and had a strong tomato burst of flavor. I brought some home to Anh (she hates eggplant) and I didn’t tell her what it was until she polished them off. She did not give me a very nice look after I told her what they were but I managed to escape physical punishment for my unwise actions. Whew! I’m not a huge fan of raw tomatoes but love tomatoes that are stewed or take on some other consistency like ketchup or marinara so this was right up my alley. The chicken was equally strong in flavor. I’ve had many tikka masalas and curries in general and love them all. I’ve never tasted something quite like this before. The first thought is home-style so their description of it is spot on. The first bite into the chicken transported me to an unknown land. It wasn’t very spicy and a tad too salty for me but man was I digging the unique flavors. The potatoes were mild and not very strong which was nice because of the bold flavors of the tikka masala and aubergines.
Ah onto the nan! This came out scorching hot and oftentimes I put my health in jeopardy when something so great is placed before my eyes. So yes, I did burn my tongue and the roof of my mouth a little. And it may have been worth it. The nan was out of this world. Without the nan to balance out the flavor of the chicken it would have been too much for me. Lucky for us they were a generous portion so we could bite on.
A light desert with peach, strawberry, cake at the bottom, and mascarpone or whipped cream? I thought it had both since there was some sort of syrup at the bottom and we didn’t get an option when we ordered. If not the top tasted like homemade whipped cream. The desert was a lovely treat to finish off the meal and was quite refreshing. It was a little hot in the restaurant because they didn’t seem to have air so the chilled bites served more than one purpose.
The left us with a hot milk tea. I drink milk tea from Tea Station or Factory Tea Bar a lot so I’m used to more sweetness. They did bring out sugar in case we wanted to add some but it was actually nice not adding anything to it. I really enjoyed the plate of food presented and really want to see the other dishes being cooked over at House of Khan. So if you want a home cooked meal with all the soul mixed in, give it a go!
Thanks Jen over at BAM Communications and House of Khan for the opportunity to have this authentic experience.
House of Khan
5157 College Ave
Ste B
(at Lindo Pass)
San Diego, CA 92115
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