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Croissant Files – Rolling-Out Cafe

Bakery, Blog, Croissants

In my first post on Relic waaaay back in January, “FOY” An mentioned that along with Relic she also enjoys Rolling-Out Cafe. Hmmmm……now I hadn’t heard of Rolling-Out. What the heck? So, since the place is in the Gaslamp, I decided to wait until tourist season slowed down. And then, I went to check the place out…..on a Sunday morning, not sure if I’d find parking. The shop is located right off Market on First Avenue across from Ralph’s. I lucked out and found one last spot right on West F Street and walked on over.

I had done a bit of checking and found that Rolling-Out had Asian inspired pastries….stuff like Egg Tarts, Mango and Sticky Rice Kouign Amann, and their trademarked “Mochissant”. The bakery originated in San Francisco and moved to San Diego, opening in September of 2025.

The shop also makes sandwiches, serves coffee, and will even do pot pies which you need to order ahead. I had to drop off some pastries for the Missus, so I took a look…..

Of course She’d want some egg tarts.

And I got some other “stuffs” as well.

Of course…I was just after one item……

The gentleman working the counter was super friendly and told me I had great timing as everything had just finished baking and I had arrived before the usual “Sunday rush”! The Asian gentleman, whom I believe is the head baker and owner smiled and waved to me from the kitchen area.

Anyway, this is what I got for the Missus.

She shared this with coworkers. They all loved the Ube and Egg Tarts. She thought the Chocolate Mochissant was in need of more richness and flavor. She and Her coworkers thought the Mango and Sticky Rice Kouign Amann wasn’t sweet enough…..quite interesting because, as most Asians She doesn’t care for overly sweet pastries.

As for my Butter Croissant ($4.75) which was reasonably priced for croissants these days.

It had that roundish shape like Wayfarer and Izola. I liked the fact that it wasn’t over baked, though the laminate was more chewy than flakey, light, and crisp as I enjoy.

Perhaps the croissants were “too fresh” as the crumb was on the wetter side? I did think that there was a decent salt to sugar balance….though like all croissants aux buerre in San Diego; I think it could be more buttery.

Well, this was better than the last croissant aux buerre I had from Christophe Rull Patisserie. Definitely not on par with Relic or Izola, perhaps a tad below Wayfarer? I’m wondering why East Village/Gaslamp is “croissant central” in San Diego? The Missus enjoyed the egg tarts, preferring the version here to what Na Tart makes, so I’ll probably be returning….we’ll see how the croissant fares then.

Rolling-Out Cafe
690 First Ave.
San Diego, CA 92101
Current Hours:
Thurs – Mon 8am – 2pm
Closed on Tuesday and Wednesday

Thanks for the recommendation An!

Touring the Rocks and Circular Quay (Sydney) and Lunch from Marrickville Pork Roll

Australia, Banh Mi, Sydney, Travel

I really wanted to get to see some of the sights in SYD during our short time there…especially in the area we were staying, known as Circular Quay and the Rocks. So, I hired a private guide for the morning. He met us at our hotel and were off. Sadly, the gentleman really didn’t seem into the job and mostly just pointed stuff out without any background or other info. So, I ended up doing a bit more research after the tour for context and such.

We headed off on the ferry from Circular Quay Wharf 5.

There seemed to be so many historical buildings in the area.

And of course iconic structures like the Sydney Opera House.

We would actually be having dinner at one of the restaurants at the Opera House this evening.

And of course there the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

We got off at Milson’s Point Wharf. and were led to the large Olympic Park. Which had so many sculptures and public art!

And the view from Milson’s Point is second to none!

And we were surprised to see Turkeys all over the place.

After looking things up; I found out that these are Australian Brushturkeys. They were almost driven to extinction, which led to the birds acquiring legal protection. Now, they are found thru out the city, and supposedly spreading everywhere in Sydney.

We walked to the Northern entrance to the bridge.

And crossed over. The views were of course wonderful.

Later on during our stay, we’d do a morning paddle in the harbor and were told that one of the nicknames for the Opera House is Nuns in a Scrum. You gotta love it!

You have great views everywhere….even when exiting the bridge.

We exited neat Miller’s Point and the Observatory Hill Lookout.

So many lovely green spaces everywhere! That’s the lovely Barangaroo Reserve above. A 15 acre park right on the waterfront.

From here we took the steep Baludarri steps down to the waterfront.

To an area known as Miller’s Point. Check out these harbour front homes.

You walk right out your front door to your boat/yacht!

Crazy, huh?

Crossing back under the bridge we got to an area known as Campbell’s Cove. Robert Campbell was a Scottish Merchant who built up this area, breaking the commercial stranglehold of the East India Company.

The warehouses he had built in the 1850’s still stand, called Campbell’s Stores they now house restaurants and various businesses.

The building I thought was a church is actually the ASN Company Building which has it’s own interesting history.

As we headed back to Circular Quay we passed this house.

When I asked about it; I was told “oh, it’s Cadman’s Cottage”…hmmmm…..ok? Well, you an find more info here.

I found this statue interesting.

It’s of William Bligh. Yes, that Captain Bligh. He was actually the Governor of New South Wales from 1806 to 1809! After the “mutiny”!

Walking back to our hotel we came across this.

It was an interesting dichotomy. On one hand, the Nurses Walk lays a path to the first hospital…you have to remember that Sydney was first populated with 750 convicts from Portsmouth, England in 1788. I read that many of the convicts arrived suffering from dysentery, scurvy, typhoid, and other illnesses. A tent hospital was established between George and Harrington Streets to care for those patients.

And then there’s the “Suez Canal”.

This is where water was drained. It’s also known as the haunt for various gangs and criminals. It was an interesting walk back to where we were staying.

And while our “guide” wasn’t really very good, there’s one thing he did which we enjoyed. Knowing we liked Asian type dishes, we stopped in a little alleyway a few blocks from where we were staying.

The name of the place is Marrickville Pork Roll. Now, I was wondering what the heck is a “pork roll”, but after a quick look it all became quite clear.

I had to crack up….it’s basically a Banh Mi Thit Nuong!

It was actually not too bad. The bread was a bit more chewy than I like; but quite yeasty and really crisp/flaky.

Loved the creamy funky pate, the pork was nice and savory.

Nice a refreshing pickled veggies……

This was not bad at all…..better than many of the banh mi shops here in San Diego.

We loved that you could walk down a random alley in Circular Quay and get a banh mi!

Marrickville Pork Roll
7 Loftus Lane
Sydney NSW 2000, Australia

From HNL to Sydney and Cocktails from Three Bottle Man

Airport/Airline/Cruise/Rail Food, Australia, Cocktails, Honolulu, Sydney, Travel

I figure I better get these posts done. After our visit to the Galapagos, the Missus was fully into exploring the reefs mode. Australia had been on our “list” for years, so we decided to go for it. Of course, I really wasn’t looking forward to flying all the way there from the West Coast…..and so, we decided on flying to and from “my home”…yes, that’s right…Honolulu. I’ve done all those posts already. The morning after our wonderful meal at Izakaya Uosan, we headed to the airport. Our flight left at noon and would arrive in Sydney at 745pm. We were flying Business Class…but man, the lounge was crazy packed, so we just hung out near the gate! What’s up with that?

Still, being able to sleep on our flight was key and the meals weren’t bad at all. And the little amenities bag was quite nice.

The pork belly was not bad at all…..

The Missus really enjoyed the Ube Rolls…..

That Shoyu Chicken wrap….which we had after waking up was a bit much though…..

Upon arriving, we actually took the train from the airport to Circular Key Station. I thought it would be an interesting introduction to the city. We caught the train and made it to our hotel…the JW Marriott.

We loved the view from our room.

We actually had a view of the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

I decided to get a nightcap so I went down to the lobby. Down some stairs and kind of tucked away I found a coffee shop during the day that became a cocktail bar at night called Three Bottle Man.

It was a really neat and quite chill place.

Talking to the bartender, he told me the inspiration for the place is based on William Pitt, who was the Prime Minister of Britain. Apparently, he popularized the “rule of three” and made sure to carry three bottles of liquor with him all the time! You gotta love it!

I went and had the Malfy G&T, which was nice and refreshing.

The bartender was so very friendly…something we’d find was the norm during our visit.

It was an enjoyable nightcap.

It was a fun introduction to Sydney.

Three Bottle Man (in the Sydney Harbour Marriott Hotel at Circular Quay)
1 Bulletin Place
Sydney NSW 2000, Australia

We had a nice night’s rest.

After having travelled so much, I decided to book our room at the JW Marriott with Club Lounge access. It just makes things easier for breakfast for us.

Nothing fancy mind you, but enough to get us ready for the day ahead!

Thanks for stopping by!

Molokhia (moroheiya) Ohitashi

Cooking, Recipes

A bajillion posts ago, I mentioned seeing molokhia at Nijiya. Having never seen it offered in Japanese restaurants…at least as far as I can recall, I wondered what dishes it was used in. This year, upon seeing it again….well, I decided to buy a bunch and just go for it. Why were we so interested in this plant known as Jute Mallow? Well, it goes back to our visit to Tunisia. Where we came across a dish we loved:

“it was black and tarry looking and was in a container that looked like a flower pot. The flavor however was profound….rich, beefy with some heat, and a tongue coating texture that we found enjoyable. No one seemed to want to eat this stuff….in fact, the Chef de Cuisine came out to talk to us, just because he was happy to see folks enjoy this so much.”

It turned out to be molokhia. It had that thick, mucilaginous texture…like okra, tororo, or natto….the Japanese call the texture “neba-neba”, which we enjoy. After all, I grew up eating natto.

So, this year I just decided to finally buy some and figure out what to make after.

Molokhia originated in ancient Egypt according to what I’ve read. But how the heck did molokhia, known as moroheiya make it from there to Japan….oh-oh, looks like I was headed down that “rabbit hole”. So, after making Google my friend….I found a story about Japanese linguist Kaisuke Iimori, who was introduced to molokhia during a trip to Egypt and brought it to Japan in the 1980’s. Well, you know the Japanese and neba-neba, right? Plus, the leaves are packed with vitamins and health benefits, it is now put into the “superfood” category. Apparently, there’s even a Moroheiya Popularization Association in Japan!

After doing a bunch more Googling, I saw that molokhia seems to be mostly used in ohitashi. Basically, those side dishes where greens are blanched, then put into an cold water. After which excess water is squeezed out of the greens and a umami forward sauce is used to flavor it.

I went ahead and using one whole bunch of Molokhia made two different versions. One with my typical kurogomae sauce, which I’m now using with okra as well as kale. And my other recipe, which had evolved from using dashi and some other stuffs to using Kikkoman Kappou Sashimi Soy sauce which has both dashi and kombu in it.

The winner? Well, the version on the left. I’m guessing the Missus enjoys the super umami of the version with the Kappou Soy Sauce.

So, this has become a regular dish in the household…..for as long as Molokhia will be available at Nijiya!

A couple of notes – Kikkoman Kappou Soy Sauce can be found at Tokyo Central and Nijiya. I remove the molokhia leave from the stems. Blanching the leaves will start to make them “gooey”, so only blanch for 20 seconds or so. When squeezing out the water, you can stop when you start seeing all that lovely, slimy liquid start to be extruded.

Molokhia Ohitashi:

Ingredients:

2-3 ounces Molokhia leaves. Remove leaves from stems.
8 Cups water
Ice water
Katsuobushi

Sauce:
2-3 Tb Kikkoman Kappou Sashimi Soy Sauce
1 Tb Aloha or Yamasa Soy Sauce
1 Tb Rice Vinegar
1/2 Tsp Dark Brown Sugar
2 Tsp Ginger Juice – I grate ginger then press out the juice
1 Tsp Grated Garlic
Fresh ground black pepper to taste

  • Rinse Greens
  • Add Kosher Salt to Water and bring to boil
  • Add greens and blanch for 20 seconds
  • Drain and place greens into ice water
  • Mix together 2Tb of Kappou Soy Sauce, Regular Soy Sauce, Dark Brown Sugar, and Rice Vinegar.
  • Add Ginger juice and garlic and combine well.
  • Taste and add more Kappou Soy Sauce and black pepper if needed.
  • Drain greens well and squeeze out excess water. Place Greens in a bowl.
  • Add sauce slowly mixing well.
  • Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.
  • Top with katsuobushi before serving.

It’s a nice side dish. And the Missus even enjoys it when putting together Her cold noodle bowl, using….well GreeNoodle, which is also made from Moroheiya.

And yep….that’s okra. Just think, if we added tororo, this would be a neba-neba ménage à trois!

Hope you’re having a great week!

Hiyashi Chuka and Karaage from The Bowl Ramen & Izakaya (OB)

Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

After my last post on having the Hiyashi Chuka from Santouka, “FOY” Matt sent me an email. Apparently, his friends live in OB and really enjoy the ramen and “stuffs” from a place named “The Bowl”. He was curious to see if I’d been there…or even the places parent restaurant named “the Joint”? Talk about the perfect name for a place in OB, right? I’ve never been to either place; the Joint claims to serve “sushi and tapas”? They must be quite popular since they’ve been around since 2011……. And since it was a bajillion degrees out and the Bowl seemed to serve Hiyashi Chuka…I thought why not? So, I headed over for a Sunday lunch. Now, this being OB and with the Bowl located right on Newport….add in that the place doesn’t open until noon, well, I thought parking might be an issue. But surprisingly, I found two hour parking right across the street form the place.

And the crosswalk led right up to the place.

Walking in, the nice young lady greeted me and told me to grab a seat wherever I wanted.

In keeping with the location, the place gave off a pseudo Japanese – beachy vibe. In fact, it would probably fit in well “back home“. The place seemed more of a bar than restaurant….but heck, it claimed to be an izakaya, right?

And yes, there’s ramen on the menu…but also Smashburgers, Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwiches, Kale Caesar Salads…..along with a load of “rolls”. Yikes! I started having some doubts here.

Anyway, I did order the Hiyashi Chuka ($14.95) along with a “small” Karaage ($7.95), from the very friendly young lady.

First up, the Chicken Karaage, which I got with the spicy aioli….sort of like the Spicy Kewpie mayo or a Sriracha mayo.

Not as crisp as I prefer, but dark meat chicken was appropriately used. Decent toothsomeness, good soy flavor. This would have been ok, except for one thing. Take a good look at this piece. See all of those little “grains” on the karaage?

Yep, that’s salt….oh man…and combined with the rather salty spicy aioli? Sheesh. Now, if I was having a couple of “biru”….this might have been ok….but in this framework it was a major sodium bomb.

And then the Hiyashi Chuka.

I actually enjoyed the texture of avocado in this…along with the sneaky jalapenos, both of which are not traditional ingredients. I’m guessing the chilies kind of replaced the benishoga? A good portion of “krab”. I did miss the tamago in this version. The tare was salty and sour. Perhaps some yellow mustard would have balanced things a bit? The cilantro was also a good addition.

As for the noodles? Well, as much as I enjoy my noodles katame – firm, these were more katai – hard. Really kind of difficult to eat. It’s like they just took it out of the bag and dumped it in the bowl.

Well, this was an interesting experience. Definitely westernized, a bit heavy handed in the sodium department, perhaps the regular ramen might be better? It looks like a nice place to grab some cocktails or a beer….perhaps a Smashburger? The woman working was very friendly….I’m thinking it’s a nice neighborhood place…just not for my “neighborhood”.

The Bowl Ramen & Izakaya
4953 Newport Ave.
San Diego, CA 92107
Current Hours:
Monday 420pm – 830pm
Tuesday 12pm – 830pm
Wed – Sat 12pm – 930pm
Sunday 12pm – 830pm

Thanks for letting me know about this place Matt! After all, nothing ventured, nothing gained…...

Cake de Partie

Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Chicken Wings, Thai Restaurants

“FOY” Franklin emailed me asking what I thought of the wings at Cake de Partie. To be perfectly honest, I’ve taken the Missus there so She could have some of the desserts, but unlike Cathy, who did a post on the place back in 2021, I’d never tried any of the savory food there. So recently, I decided to head on over and get some lunch.

I do think the parking situation there has changed? There’s a free 25 minute parking for some of the other businesses in the buildings, but otherwise it’s pay parking. I ended up parking on Brinell Street and walking over. Even though it was right after opening the place filled up quickly.

Sidling up to the counter, I looked over the posted menu.

Even though the Zapp wings interested me; I decided to just try the Original Chicken Wings ($10). And since man, or at least this man can’t live on wings alone, I decided on the BBQ Pork Bowl ($13), which Cathy seemed to like on her visit.

I then took my number and had a seat on one of the smaller tables…..the place was getting busy, so I didn’t want to take up more space than I needed.

First to arrive was the BBQ Pork Bowl. The portion size was much larger than what Cathy had when she visited.

The rice was moist and tender. My favorite item was actually the salad, which had a slightly sweet, but not overly sugary strawberry vinaigrette. It was quite refreshing.

The pork was interesting as I was wondering if it was going to be like Moo Ping? This was basically marinated and stir fried slices of pork, which came with a dipping sauce like Jim Jaew, but was more on the salty side.

On the order board, it is said that it’s “Honey BBQ Pork”…which was really interesting since this was super salty and really could have used some sweetness and pungency to cut all that sodium. It really seemed like a very homestyle marinated sliced pork.

The pork was on the chewier side of the scale and some caramelization might have created a more interesting texture and developed the flavors a bit more. Still, for thirteen bucks these days….well, I don’t think I should have expected anything more.

When my wings arrived, I had to crack up. Can you figure out why?

Well, look at all those pin feathers! Basically, these chickens were having some new feathers come out. Not very picturesque and they are totally edible, but of course it does sometimes look “interesting”. Well, at least I wouldn’t have to floss my teeth after eating these, right? The batter on these was just a light dusting, which I kind of prefer as when done well, it’s really nice and crisp. Though it didn’t hold up real well and started getting soggy rather quickly.

Not a fan of the sweet chili sauce as it was way too sweet and sticky.

As mentioned earlier, the wings were initially crisp, with a very simple seasoning; which like the pork edged on the very salty side.

Lots of dark spotting, these had probably been frozen for a while. No off flavors, adequately moist and tender. Like the pork, just a very simple prep and straight forward flavor.

Overall, pretty much straight forward, almost fast-casual meal. There’s much better wings to be found within a mile of Cake de Partie. Prices are not bad and perhaps one day I might return to try the Zapp Wings….maybe….

Cake De Partie
4685 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Sunday, Wed, Thurs 11am – 9pm
Fri – Sat 11am – 10pm
Closed on Monday and Tuesday

So, there you go Franklin! Thanks for getting me out of my usual doldrums and having me try some new things!

Shan Xi Magic Kitchen Revisited

Chinese Restaurants

Taking a look at my posts over the last couple of weeks has become a bit of a revelation. I saw a pattern that I needed to break. With this hot weather I had been hitting an eternal cycle of sorts and really needed to break that constant pattern of sandwiches – tacos – Thai/Lao food I’ve been in.

So, thinking I should get some Chinese food…that is not Eastern Dynasty or Taste of Hunan….yes, I know another basic cycle. I thought about checking out Spicy House since they are under new ownership….but they don’t open until 1130…it was a quarter to eleven and I was kinda hungry. In the end, I decided on Shan Xi Magic Kitchen since it had been over seven years since my last visit. Now to be perfectly honest, that last visit was not very good…in fact, if the location in the 99 Ranch Market Food Court was still open, I’d go there instead since I’ve always thought the food there was better.

Anyway, I headed on over and arrived just past eleven.

There was more than ample parking available and the restaurant was totally empty. In fact, there was only one additional party arriving before I finished my meal. I had a seat at the corner table.

Ordering was pretty easy for me……..it was pretty darn hot and humid so I thought I needed to try what was once one of my favorite dishes here; the Pidan with Tofu ($13.99). During my first couple of visits, it was quite good and refreshing. But on my last visit, it was terrible…. So, it was going to be interesting…..

Well, while it’s not as good as it was during my first couple of visits, it was much better than what I’d had the last time. While the tofu had been mixed aggressively; it wasn’t as mushed up as what I’d had the last time. There was also much more pidan. And much more chili-peppercorn sauce. Which, while pretty basic….almost Sichuan in flavor, it did the job as everything was nicely coated.

The portion size was pretty large and I took the leftovers home. The Missus was hoping for more complex flavoring…..Shaanxi style chili oil has a more smokey-pungent flavor than straight up ma-la. Still, this was much better than what I’d last had here.

Thinking about my favorite Shaanxi style dishes….one came to mind that I had enjoyed during our visit to Xi’an, which I hadn’t had here in years. Rou Jia Mo….which now costs $7 for one.

Well, I’ll probably not have this again here as the Baijimo, the bread was terrible. The exterior should be crisp, but it was super doughy, the interior mushy, totally lacking in any yeasty tones.

The pork was very bland and mushy, and it definitely had a lot less meat than what I’d had here previously.

Definitely not worth seven bucks.

Overall, the meal was a mixed bag. Service was a bit slow and perfunctory. I’d have that tofu – pidan dish again…but am in no hurry to return. I wish the location in 99 Ranch Market was still open.

Still, it was good to get out of that sandwich – taco – Lao/Thai food rut…….

Shan Xi Magic Kitchen
4344 Convoy St,
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Sunday 11am – 330pm, 430pm – 830pm
Mon – Sat 11am – 330pm, 430pm – 10pm

Ecuador – Mariposas de Mindo, Lunch and a Chocolate Tour at El Quetzal de Mindo.

Airport/Airline/Cruise/Rail Food, BBQ, Chocolate, Ecuador, Ecuadorian Restaurants, Latin American Cuisine, Travel

After an amazing time at San Tadeo Birding, we set off for our next stop. We drove thru the town of Mindo and down a short dirt road to a little parking lot and this place.

You see the name of the place right?

Yes, Mariposas de Mindo is a breeding and conservation project for the butterflies of the Cloud Forest.

We were escorted to the enclosed butterfly garden.

Where we were instructed on which butterflies are ok with humans and if they land on you, how to handle them. You never, ever touch their wings!

The amount of colorful butterflies fluttering and gliding around us was mind boggling!

All the colors, shapes, and sizes…..

And of course, one of the main purposes of the farm is breeding…..

And in case you’re not into the butterflies; right around the garden are all the birds!

Such amazing vibrant colors!

Another amazing stop!

It was getting close to lunch time; so we headed back to Mindo proper. When we first headed out, our driver/guide asked us if we’d had chocolate in Ecuador yet. I mentioned having visited Yumbos in Quito. Which was very helpful for him; because I guess there’s a Yumbos in Mindo as well. Instead, we headed to El Quetzal de Mindo, which is the restaurant location of Mindo Chocolates.

The menu was quite interesting, many dishes featured chocolate , but it seemed quite fusiony – touristic in a sense.

We started with some fried plantains which came with a very tart, mildly spicy Aji de Tomate de Arbol.

Our favorite dish of the meal was the Hearts of Palm Ceviche.

The earthy hearts of palm went well with the tangy-tart-sour-citrus forward sauce.

I was quite curious about the Cacao BBQ Wings. Which were much too sweet for my taste.

Somewhat earthy in the flavor, the wings were really tough and chewy. Really enjoyed the fried cassava.

We also got the Pollo al Chocolate. The chicken was overwhelmed by all that cheese and hardly had any chocolate flavor.

We figured that the chicken might be dry and tough, which it was….but we were interested in what that chocolate sauce would be like.

It was an interesting meal to say the least. Which was followed up with a chocolate tour.

Since we had done a pretty indepth tasting at Yumbos, we were more interested in the whole chocolate making process. From the various cacao plants.

There was an interesting variety, from the one’s that are native. The preferred species is the native Cacao Nacional, which is very slow growing with a low yield. We were told that it has the “best flavor” of all the cacao. Which is why most chocolate producers use CCN-51 Cacao which does well in direct sun, has a large yield, and is more resistant to disease. We were told that it now makes up close to 90 percent of the cacao used for chocolate in Ecuador. There are some reservations and worries about the growing use of CCN-51.

We were walked thru how cacao is made into chocolate.

Which culminated in a tasting.

We must be wimps, because we still enjoy chocolate with less than 7 percent cacao.

We were also given a very rich and sweet dessert as a finale.

El Quetzal de Mindo/Mindo Chocolate Makers
9 de Octubre
170167 Mindo, Ecuador

From here it was an over 2 hour drive to the airport. And our flight wasn’t leaving until 1130pm, plus we had a two-and-a-half hour layover in ATL. Luckily we were flying first, so we had lounge access. And the lounge at Mariscal Sucre Quito International Airport was nice and peaceful.

And our flight from ATL-SAN was right on time as well.

All the waiting and flight time gave me a chance to reminisce about what an epic trip we had. From arriving in Quito and checking out the TelefériQo and visiting Latitude 0°0’0 and the Basilica to spending seven amazing days cruising the Galapagos and then feeding the hummingbirds by hand at San Tadeo Birding…..man, we’ve been blessed to have experienced all of this!

And thanks to all of you who’ve allowed me to be able to share these moments!

Ecuador – El Pahuma Orchid Reserve and San Tadeo Birding

Buffets, Ecuador, Travel

**** Not much food in this one…..but there’s a very unique experience you might enjoy!

As I mentioned in my last post on Ecuador; because I wanted a bit of a buffer in case something happened, we had almost a full day in Quito on our return. Since we were staying at a hotel located at Mariscal Sucre International Airport, I went and booked us a private tour of the Mindo Cloud Forest. You can read this Wikipedia page in case you want to know what a cloud forest is.

We had a quick breakfast at the hotel before waiting for our driver.

We’d be making several stops during the day; so we did the check out thing at the hotel and stored our luggage and were off. Our guide/driver quickly informed us that the difference between a cloud forest and a rain forest is that cloud forests are at altitude and the plant life depends on an almost constant mist/condensation/dripping to keep vegetation watered.

The drive to Mindo takes a bit over an hour from Quito. And our first stop was at the side of the road where there stood a welcome center, a small mini mart, and parking lot.

Across the street was El Pahuma Orchid Reserve.

A lovely, easy trail.

Of course there were some beautiful, almost tropical plants.

And we even had our own “trail master”.

Who guided us to the lovely waterfall.

The indigenous inhabitants of the area; the Yumbo considered waterfalls and ponds to be sacred.

In fact, they still hold various sacred ceremonies here during the year! The trail almost looks like it was dug into the earth like a trench. We were told that they call this a “culunco”, a trail dug into the ground by centuries of use!

This was a wonderful start to our tour. And our next stop is one that we’ll never forget. After about a 45 minute drive, we headed down a short road to a small parking lot. Which had a wonderful view!

This is San Tadeo Birding, a well known spot for bird watching…..

But is know for one other thing……we were given some coffee and walked around a bit, with our guide pointing out the various birds occupying the vegetation.

We were then walked to a little clearing and handed these little red hand feeders and instructed on where and how to stand…completely still, with feeder in hand. And then it started to happen!

The hummingbirds started coming over to feed on the sugar water!

It was an amazing experience…one that we wished never ended!

Different species of hummingbirds were pointed out to us.

I asked how these wild hummingbirds got trained to do this….our guide laughed and said the training goes both ways…for the human and for the birds. Hummingbirds are drawn to the color red, so things are done with stationary or hanging feeders first.

Then the birds are slowly transitioned to feeding from feeders in people’s hands. We were told that the place was closed to visitors during Covid and during that time, they got used to feeding from the staffs hands. And it’s now been 2 generations since then….so it seems that the info has been passed down!

It’s moments like these that makes these trips exploring our wonderful planet so wonderfully inforgettable!

Thanks for stopping by!

Bello’s Tacos and Burritos (Bay Park)

Food Trucks/Carts, Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

While driving up Clairemont Drive a few weeks ago, I noticed a new Taco Trailer in the parking lot of V Outlet. This is where the La Chorreada Truck used to reside, before moving a bit further up the block.

I thought this was interesting since is there really a need for two taco trucks in less than a block? Plus, there’s the Roberto’s and California’s Taco Shop all within a block? Then I noticed the $1.69 Fish Tacos. Well now, there’s always room for a decent fish taco and a good price, right?

So, when I had a bit of time, I walked on up to the trailer……I had major positive vibes since the last taco trailer I visited was Tacos Minali which I thought was pretty good.

There’s a small makeshift dining area alongside the trailer.

As I walked up to the window to order I took a look at the menu and “holy sticker shock Batman”!

Yes, the fish tacos were $1.69……but Carne Asada and Al Pastor $3.99? Tripas and Cabeza $4.99…burritos like $14 and up? I mean really……I was pretty sure this wasn’t Mesa Agricola, right?

Well, I decided to trying that Fish Taco ($1.69), and since La Chorreada’s Adobada has been disappointing, I ordered the Taco Al Pastor ($3.99), and finally went with some Tripas ($4.99). On a good note, I was asked if I wanted my Tripas crispy or soft….well, it was crispy of course!

I was handed two little food trays with my order and I headed on home. The one table was filled by the time my order was ready.

When asked which type of salsa I desired, I asked for a recommendation. The nice gentleman working said, I liked picante, to get the Habanero Salsa….which is what I got. Nice heat and tangy finish.

The Fish Taco was as I expected. A sliver of fish the thickness of my ring finger. Can you even see it in this photo?

I had gotten soggy by the time I’d walked home…a simple ten minute trip. It had a mushy texture and muddy finish, so I’m thinking it’s swai or tilipia….not my favorite and something I’d never recommend. Pass….

The Al Pastor had a mushy texture.

While quite savory, it lacked that mild sweet-smoky flavor. The tortilla was really thick and more than up to the job of keeping form, but lacked a good maiziness. For some reason, it reminded me more of chorizo than adobaba/al pastor.

And then there was the five dollar “teensy” tripas……which was nice and crisp.

Loved the texture, but found this to be really mild with regards to the typical earthy-funky tones I enjoy in tripas.

That squeeze of lime helped, but the habanero salsa overwhelmed things. Not sure I’d have this again, but if I did, I’d probably go with a salsa verde….

Actually, with the prices and what not, I had decided not to return…..and actually to not even do a post. Until……one of the really nice folks who work at BHT, Diego and I had a short chat about Bello’s and he also went “no bueno” on the fish tacos and al pastor. But he did mention that the Quesabirria was worth the price. Soooo…….I decided to return and order the Quesabirria which was $13.99. The really nice guy working handed me chips while I waited, very nice!

I was handed my tray and headed home….and realized that something was missing. According to the menu, the quesabirria came with consomme…..but I guess they didn’t have any on this day? Oh well, I guess the chips made up for that, right? It did feel quite heavy and it was indeed quite large. This seemed like good ten inch tortillas were used for this!

Nicely griddled, the slight crispness had held out on the short walk home.

In terms of the birria…well, it was beefy, a bit on the drier-chewier-stringy side, milder in flavor than I prefer. Totally lacking in spice, the salsa roja came in handy….I could have even used a second container of it.

The cheese was mainly a textural thing…..stretchy.

Overall, based on portion size, this might be worth it…though some consomme for dipping would be really good.

As for now…..unless someone has a good rec for this trailer….I need to head back to La Chorreada. I’m wondering what the prices there are like now?

Bello’s Tacos and Burritos
3020 Clairemont Dr.(In the Parking Lot of V-Outlet)
San Diego, CA 92117