Kat's 9 Lives

Who doesn't love ice cream and donuts?  Now imagine them harmoniously together in one bite! I decided to finally try Afters for dessert, even though it is a bit far but worth the trip.  They were pretty packed the night I went and very hard to find.  There isn't really a sign that pops out for them.  I kept circling the plaza and had to look real hard to find them.  What helped that night was that there was a crowd of people waiting.
The line was way out the door but you could tell that it must be good or something special to make it so popular.  Most of the crowd were teenagers and college students.  The interior is very simple and the line wrapped around inside.  They have tables outside for you to sit and eat there if you like.
I liked the variety of ice cream flavors they had.  Not your typical flavors, which is what I love.  My favorite is the Cookie Batter.  It is really good! They have Thai Ice Tea, Vietnamese Ice Coffee, Cookie Monster, and more.
If there isn't too much of a line, I would suggest to ask and try some of their flavors.  You can choose to just eat the ice cream or make it into an ice cream sandwich.  You can either get it glazed or without it.  Personally, I like glazed but it does tend to get heavy because it is all bad sugars for you.  So bad, but so good O=D.
The first time I went, I got two sandwiches and could barely even finish one.  Still, I ate the yummy ice cream! The Cookie Monster is very colorful and just fun to eat but flavor wise, it was just okay.  Surprisingly the Cookie Batter was great and if you add a little Captain Crunch, it would really add to the texture.
All in all I really enjoyed the place because you can't find many good ice cream places in Orange County like you could in San Francisco.  I heard the owner say they are thinking of opening down in Tustin, which would be great and I would go more often.  The sandwiches are more for splurging.  If I went more often, I would just get the ice cream and enjoy a bunch of different flavors.  =)

Afters
18030 Brookhurst St
Fountain Valley, CA 92708

As I rarely ever go down to San Diego to eat and play, I always make the most of it if I am down there.  We decided to go to Horton Plaza to kill some time between meals.  I decided to see what there was to offer nearby as a snack and found Spike Africa's Fresh Fish Grill & Bar.  It's walking distance from the mall.
Being that it was around late afternoon, the place was not packed and we were seated right away.  The interior was very clean and had a nice bar area.
Even though we were still pretty full from earlier in the day, I was tempted to order more because I may not come back.  I have always had a soft spot for delicious poke so I had to try their Tombo Tuna Poke.  It comes with seaweed salad, mango, soy ginger ponzu, and wonton to enjoy.  I liked that they had the sweet seaweed salad but the flavor was just so so to me.  The overall taste was sweet but not quite savory enough.
At that time they had a Yelp check in where you can get an order of their house made BBQ chips.  They were fresh and good but little did we know that it came with our meal so there was way too many chips to eat lol.  Right now the Yelp check in is a free butterscotch pudding.
I was craving lobster and decided to get their Pt. Loma Lobster Roll with roasted jalapeno tartar and avocado.  There was a decent amount of lobster inside.  The flavor was light and the brioche was good.  It wasn't anything that blew my mind away.
All in all the vibe was good but not anything that I would ever crave or drive far for.  There's plenty of food in the Gaslamp district to check out before I'd probably come back.

Spike Africa's Fresh Fish Grill & Bar
411 Broadway
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 795-3800