Boney’s Bayside Market in Coronado is the archetypical San Diego grocery store. It was created for those who enjoy an epicurean lifestyle — people with refined taste buds and not-so-refined wallets. Admittedly, despite not having the budget, I often stroll the beautifully decorated aisles of fancy grocery stores to feel a sense of calm. This grocery store is one of those.
I love to admire the artisanal aged cheeses, bulk nuts and seeds, the different selections of dark chocolate and colorful exotic fruit, the vitamins and supplements, and a wide array of premium water in well-marketed glass bottles. The grocery store is comparable to local San Diego grocers like Lazy Acres or national ones like Whole Foods.
And with every good grocery store comes their own deli. It’s a section that usually unites the community. At Boney’s, tourists may go in the summer, but the typical crowd consists of shoals of daily workers and Coronado residents who need a quick address of hunger.
Amongst typical deli sandwiches written in cute cursive on the menu, an alternative stood out: the house made meatball sub.
Because Boney’s offers a hodgepodge of choices, I made a hodgepodge of selections: Along with the meatball sub, I ordered a smoked gouda chicken salad on the side and the esquites, an off-the-cob form of Mexican street corn.
As I unwrapped the meatball sandwich, I immediately understood why it cost $8.99 — a suspiciously low price for any deli, especially one in Coronado. I stared at it, shocked. For me, meatball sandwiches usually come with a brash, Italian American East Coaster yelling your order in the background: messy, hard to eat, spilling out of the bun from sheer overload. Despite the chaos, you know you’ll leave full.
This one was the delicate little sister of that. I could fit the whole sandwich in my hands. The meatballs were golfball size, and the bun was more comparable to a hotdog bun.
Still, the mozzarella, tomato sauce and meatballs were warm and seeped into the soft french roll. Mozzarella melted and stretched in the gap between my teeth and my hands. The sauce was flavorful and rich, as if they used the most in-season tomatoes. The meatballs, laced with oregano and flakes of parsley, garlic, grated parmesan, and olive oil, tasted as if it was just made. The edges were crispy, and the mozzarella was as if it was taken off the artisanal shelf, adding a briny complement to the tomatoes. Despite the size, the flavor was powerful.
I paired it with the chicken gouda salad, a mix of penne pasta, smoked gouda, roasted red peppers, spinach, red onion, and chunks of roasted chicken. The smoked gouda gave the whole salad a nutty and smoky essence. The roasted red peppers complemented the smokiness with a sweet acidity. It was crunchy, sweet, savory, and peppery all at once. It was one of those recipes you might scribble down in case you needed an elevated last minute dish for dinner.
The esquites also had the common through-line, which was fresh. Roasted elote, tomatoes, cotija cheese, red onions, lime juice, cilantro. While it didn’t quite go in line with my Italian motif, I will never deny a salsa-esque side salad. Each corn kernel popped in my mouth, and the diced tomatoes made me want some tortilla chips to carry the technicolors. It was sprinkled with cotija cheese for a bit of salty robustness.
Boney’s Bayside Market, at 155 Orange Ave., is open every day from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
