As in, yoso-silly, yoso-hungry, yoso-full, or best of all; mmm-delici-yoso!!!!! A San Diego based food and travel blog. An Ex-Pat Kama'aina and Friends explore food, restaurants, and travel from San Diego and points beyond.
Rabida is a small island, less than 2 square miles in area. Much of it is rocky coastline.
But Rabida has one very unique aspect……
The stunning red sand beach. The red sand is a product of iron rich lava that formed the island. And this beach is the only access point for visitors to the island. It’s makes for quite a dramatic stop.
There were so many unique stops in this archepelago!
A bit further inland is a salt water lagoon, where we saw Flamingos.
I was quite surprised to see them! Apparently, flamingos are very strong fliers, and it is thought that they first migrated to the islands all the way from South America and perhaps even the Caribbean!
I’ll never look at them the same again!
As we headed back to the shore, the red sand made for quite a back drop as we hit the “Golden Hour”.
Back on board, I quickly noticed that the deck had been rearranged a bit. Well, after freshening up we were back on the rear deck.
And there was this flag unfurled…..
Apparently, it was “party time”…….
It was a fun; pirate themed time……
And then it was time for us to contribute to the festivities. Remember the evening we had dinner at the Captain’s table? Well, one of questions we were asked….very casually during our chat was what would be our “spirit animal”. I mentioned really being drawn to the Flightless Cormorants. Well, it had been documented and we were now required to imitate that creature to music! Yikes…. I hope that video will never make it out of the Galapagos!
And after the festivities, we headed back to our cabins to “recover” before dinner.
That duck in a red wine – balsamic reduction was quite good!
Back in our cabin we noticed that we’d been given some nice chocolate as an appreciation gift.
We were actually kind of sad that our cruise was nearly over!
Recently, I needed some work on my car done in the Convoy area. Since it was kind of a long wait, I decided to find a place to grab lunch, I really wasn’t feeling like getting Greek or mediocre Taiwanese…..and of course ramen was not really on the list of items I’d be wanting to have on this warm day. Until…….well, I saw a poster for a limited time offering at Kitakata Ramen Ban Nai. So, I decided to check it out.
The place was not busy at all….I mean ramen in this weather?
The item that interested me was this special for the month of July…..
Yes, RedDevil I know you asked about Mazemen in my last post on Baikohken Ramen. To be honest, I hadn’t had a decent Mazemen in SD….though what really made me hesitate was that I haven’t even had a decent version Hiyashi Chuka either! They had two versions available. One with Mentaiko Cream…which really isn’t my thing and a basic version. You can even add more tamago, chashu, and nori for $2.50. Which I really didn’t need to do.
I just got the original ($16). One of the good things about Ban Nai is that you can request your noodles “katame”; extra firm which is what I did.
I got a kick out of having oi-meshi, basically rice served with this dish. It’s literally called “follow-up rice” and you mix it with whatever tare and leftovers you have after you finish your noodles. That onsen tamago was super runny, as I gleefully mixed everything together making a mess.
There was a ton of scallion, both the green and white parts, as is typical with versions I’ve had. The shoyu tare was on the milder side, but quite thick. Which were nice and chewy. The noodles, the curly, “Kitakata” style is good at picking up the thick tare. It was my favorite part of the dish. There was quite a bit of noodles as well.
I didn’t care much for the addition off gyofun in this as it added a bit too much fishiness to the dish…but perhaps that mild tare needed it. The chashu was, like on my previous visit, on the chewier side, but it did well in small cubes, mixed in with everything.
And then of course……
The oi-meshi, which was on the firmer side…..was actually perfect for mixing with and soaking up all the leftover drippings, nori, scallions, and whatever else was sticking to the bottom and side of the bowl.
In the end, perhaps not the best mazemen I’ve had….but I did have a lot of fun eating this. Though my mom would have slapped me upside the head for “playing with my food”.
So, RedDevil, perhaps you can enjoy “playing” with this version of Mazemen. Though it’s only available for the month of July.
Kitakata Ramen Ban Nai 7951 Othello Ave. San Diego, CA 92111 Current Hours: Mon-Thurs 11am â 3pm, 5pm â 9pm Friday 11am â 3pm, 5pm â 10pm Saturday 11am â 10pm Sunday 11am â 9pm
So….there I was finishing up my Saturday shopping at 99 Ranch Market on Balboa and feeling a bit peckish. I walked past the food court and noticed that Arbor Sushi & Grill, which had replaced Potato Powder Love Noodle had opened….it was a shade past 10am and the shop was open for business. Hmmmm……now, I did hesitate for a minute. This was random and unplanned….I had no clue what the menu looked like. But hot off my recent, fun visit to George’s Cafe, I thought why the heck not?
Now, let’s be clear on something right away……this isn’t Japan, Taiwan, or even say….. HNL. I wouldn’t be having sushi in a market food court. There were some…what looked like aburi style sushi under the heat lamps on the counter and a menu of Westernized Rolls. Not my kind of thing. I heard the woman at the front counter speaking Mandarin to someone in the kitchen. There was however this sign that actually caught my attention.
Well ok. A teriyaki chicken bento, which comes with shrimp tempura priced at $11.99 as a grand opening special. Heck, that’s cheaper than Yoshinoya these days, right? Got nothing to lose, so I decided to go ahead and try it out.
The woman manning the counter was really nice and very mellow. I placed my order and was given one of those buzzer thingies and had a seat. When my order was ready, she actually came and dropped off my bowl at the table herself!
The bowl was quite hefty.
You can have white rice, fried rice, or chow mein with your bento bowl. I chose white rice, which was Jasmine and decently cooked.
It had what looked like two slices of Caterpillar Roll. It was as expected, “krab” and mayo, wrapped with perfectly fresh avocado.
The rice, which was not jasmine, was on the harder side and the shari was vinegar forward. Not my thing, but perfectly fine.
Not a fan of the “shrimp tempura”. Batter not crisp and lacquered.
Overcooked and rubbery shrimp.
The Tentsuyu was almost flavorless.
The Gyoza….was well….
The wrapper was so thick and chewy, the filling salty and very one dimensional.
I would not be surprised if this came from the frozen isle.
And finally, the teriyaki. Well, it was dark meat which is a plus…….chopped chicken thighs, pre-cooked, reheated, then “glazed” with a pretty weak sauce. Not terrible, but on the blander side. I actually enjoyed the mushrooms that accompanied the dish as the earthiness really provided a nice savoriness to the dish.
Overall, fine for pseudo Japanese fast-food….though I wouldn’t be getting sushi from here. The portion size was generous. And at $11.99….well, at least right now, it’s worth the price. Not sure I’d be paying more than that though. Just don’t be expecting “Japanese” cuisine.
Arbor Sushi & Grill Express 5950 Balboa Ave (In the 99 Ranch Market Food Court) San Diego, CA 92111 Current Hours: Mon – Fri 1030am – 8pm Sat – Sun 10am – 8pm
Ok, ready for some interesting “stuffs” on this Monday?
Taste of Hong Kong is Now Grill N Malatang, or is it?:
Well, I knew that Taste of Hong Kong had closed and become yet another Hot Pot (of course) place. But this gets more interesting. Back in May, Taste of Hong Kong started a pseudo “all-you-can-eat” program. Of course the cynic in me thought this was the start of desperate measures by the business. I remember telling the Missus, “when they start doing hot pot, I know they are really desperate.” Well, guess what? A few months later I heard they were doing hot pot! Yikes! But like that sales pitch goes “but wait, there’s more!” After an interesting comment on one of my posts, I decided to head on over to check things out.
And yes, the signage clearly states “No Longer Taste of Hong Kong”……strangely, it does say to go the side door…I think it’s for unit 320 to enter whatever restaurant it is. Also, note the notice of application for ownership change!
So, what about the hot pot? Well, I found this on IG:
OK, so it’s now Grill N Malatang, right? But strangely, I saw this follow-up post.
It seems like Grill N Malatang is closed for a couple of weeks?
“A single mother named Kayo Iwasaki moved to Hokkaido in 1903 with her daughter, Kimi Sano, but their life there turned out to be so hard that she could no longer raise the girl on her own. Eventually, she decided that she had to leave Kimi in the care of American missionary Charles W. Huett and his wife, who promised to take her back to the United States and raise her there.
However, what awaited the girl was a tragedy. Before the Huetts could sail for America, Kimi caught tuberculosis and had to be taken in at an orphanage in Azabu, where she died shortly after at the age of nine. Kayo never found out about her daughterâs death, believing for life that Kimi grew up to be a fine lady and had a good life abroad.”
And if you go to Shelter Island, there’s a red pagoda housing the Yokohama Friendship Bell.
And, if you look to the left of the Pagoda….well, guess what?
It the Girl in Red Shoes by Japanese artist Munehiro Komeno.
In the comments of her post, I promised Kat that I’d take some photos and post, so on my most recent visit to Tunaville, I stopped by to take these photos. So there you go Kat!
I’m not quite sure who mentioned ViNam Cafe to me? But it’s definitely Banh Mi “season” for me right now as temps are starting to rise and I found myself in Rolando. So, I decided to figure out where ViNam was. I finally found the little shop on the ground floor of a mixed use apartment on ECB just East of College. I found some parking on ECB and walked over and discovered that the shop has it’s own small, but dedicated parking lot.
It was fairly early on a weekend morning and the little shop was quite sedate. Folks were just getting coffee while I was looking for my banh mi brekkie!
Just one nice young lady working.
Looking over the food, it was apparent that this is one of those “new” places and the menu has no Vietnamese names…other than banh mi.
I went with the Banh Mi Pate Chaor perhaps Dac Biet Cold Cut ($9). And it’s an interesting sign of the times as the nine dollar price didn’t faze me at all. Another thing that was different from other places is that the very nice young lady was doing everything….taking orders, making all the drinks, answering the phone, and of course making my banh mi. If this is usually the case, I wouldn’t be in a hurry when you visit. My banh mi took over twenty minutes, but I’m not going to complain too much since that young lady was working hard!
Three stacked slices of cha lua, two of nem nuong….though the flavor of that was nullified by that thick smear of pate….not that I’m complaining mind you. This was definitely pate forward in flavor.
The pickled veggies were really cut thick…a bit too thick for my enjoyment, but that’s splitting hairs. There were not one; but two slices of cucumber in this so you won’t find me complaining about that. A nice cross slice of jalapeno with some decent spice.
My least favorite item was the bread, the crust was hard and the bread was overly chewy.
Overall, not a bad banh mi, the proportion was off for my taste….though I might be the only customer who would ever complain about too much meat? If the bread situation is just an aberration (I understand they make their own bread) than this would indeed be a nice, slightly Westernized banh mi. I’m thinking this is great for the students at SDSU.
The ViNam Cafe 6150 El Cajon Blvd. Suite A San Diego, CA 92115 Current Hours: Mon – Fri 630am – 6pm Saturday 7am – 9pm Sunday 7am – 6pm
We stopped by on the way back from the Farmer’s Market and took a nice stroll and quick look.
Looks like fun and there are several stands and the of course Poseidon, BPC, and other places are open.
Nutmeg Cafe which will be opening on this very street has a table as well. It was the busiest table so I didn’t get a chance to check them out or even take a photo. However, Pit Stop Pizza which has a shop on Clairemont Drive has a trailer there as well.
This is taking place on the 4000 block of Napier Street from 9am to 1pm. More info here and here.
Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe Fourth of July! Happy 250th!
On our last visit to Idyllwild many businesses were closed. We were here on Tuesday and Wednesday so that seemed odd. It’s during our meal at Ferro that our wonderful Server explained that weekends are the busy times for Idyllwild, so many businesses use Tuesday and Wednesday as their weekend so to speak. So, I took that into consideration when planning this road trip. We were visiting on a Sunday and Monday, leaving on Tuesday morning. So, all of the businesses seemed open during our visit.
That made the short walk from our accommodation to Raven Hill Bagels so easy to grab some breakfast and coffee. The shop is indeed closed on Tuesday and Wednesday.
It’s a small shop with some outdoor seating. You order at the counter….it’s basically a deli and then take your food.
There were some tables outside and the Missus waited with JJ.
A simple order, two Americanos, and a Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Bagel Sandwich ($13), with Avocado ($2).
I chose a Jalapeno and Cheese Bagel, which was fairly dense, but tasty.
It would have been on the saltier side; but I added avocado which was a nice buffer. This was also quite large….I saved half for the next morning’s breakfast.
I also noted that the shop also sells various cheeses and deli meats by the pound as well.
Raven Hill Bagels 54440 North Circle Dr. Unit A Idyllwild-Pine Cove, CA 92549
Heading back to the Fireside Inn, we got into the car and headed up to the Idyllwild Nature Center.
There are several easy trails here and also ample parking on this day. We took the super easy Idyllwild Park Trail.
There was some interesting signage along the way with some interesting things to see; like these Bedrock Mortars used by the Cahuilla, the Indigenous People who settled in the area.
There were also some nice views along the way.
Which JJ enjoyed.
It was a nice way to spend a few hours.
Back in town, we parked at our cottage and walked down North Circle Drive, stopping at what is probably the Missus’s favorite shop in the town, Idyllwild Gardens.
Though this time the Missus resisted the urge to buy a bunch of stuffs!
Idyllwild Gardens 54385 North Circle Dr. Idyllwild, CA 92549
Our stop for lunch would be where we had what was our favorite meal on our previous visit….yes, it was at Atomic Cow.
The Missus and JJ hung out on the patio and I went in to order.
This time the Missus also wanted to try the Chili Cheese Fries. Which turned we turned out to not really enjoy.
Soggy dry fries…really weak, but salty chili, and gooey, but tasteless cheese.
Yes, it was the Cubano, which had Kalua Pork as one of the ingredients. Nicely toasted bread, nicely melted provolone cheese, pickles helping to cut the richness of the tender, smoky, porky, but not overly salty “Kalua pork”.
I’m glad we still enjoyed this. We had also learned that the sandwiches are pretty large here, so one plus a side is more than enough for our lunch. In fact, we needed a nap after this.
Atomic Cow 54200 North Circle Dr. Idyllwild-Pine Cove, CA 92549
We then had our afternoon “break” before heading back out to grab an early dinner and headed down North Circle Drive. It was nice to be here when most places were open. Right next to the Mountain Paws Pet Supply store was this lovely Gallery – Gift Shop.
The owner was super friendly and the Missus ended buying some small “stuffs” as gifts for folks.
Artspresso Art Gallery 54380 North Circle Dr. Idyllwild-Pine Cove, CA 92549
We kept heading on down the road and before you knew it, we had reached the Market, where North Circle Drive meets the 243…….
Right across the street was this place, called the Lumbermill.
Which had a patio, so we decided to head on in. We were led to the patio….which we really didn’t take to.
But the stools at the rail seemed nice and the place had a pleasant view of the street.
Looking at the condiments provided, you just kinda knew this was one of those burger-sandwich family diner – bar kind of places. And the menu, with burgers, burritos, nachos, hot dogs, sandwiches and such confirmed things. With this in mind, I went simple with regards to my cerveza….
And we just ordered two apps for dinner….which we were happy about since the portions were pretty large.
We got the boneless wings ($16.95).
Which looked over-sauced. It was pleasantly crunchy, the Buffalo sauce was on the sour-puckery side, but it did go rather well with the Blue Cheese Dressing. The really nice Server told us that they make their own dressing inhouse.
Of course, I just had to try some Cheese Curds ($15.95).
A bit too gooey with the batter not crisp enough…the menu said Wisconsin White Cheddar, but I really couldn’t make out any of the cheddar “sharpness”. Of course, it’s probably mass distributed young cheddar. I wasn’t expecting what I’d get at say………..The Old Fashioned in Madison, but it was still mediocre.
Still, not a terrible meal. JJ got treated nicely’ they brought a bowl of water for him. Service was welcoming….very nice folks working here. And it was enough food for our dinner.
Lumber Mill Bar & Grill 25985 CA-243 #243 Idyllwild-Pine Cove, CA 92549
It closed up a nice short stay in Idyllwild for us.
On our way out of Big Bear, the Missus decided She wanted to do another hike. So we headed west to the Castle Rock Trail. Because of the weekend crowd, we headed up early. It was a fairly easy trail, just 3 miles round trip.
Love the rock formations and the fall colors….something we really don’t get here in San Diego.
And of course; JJ had a blast as well.
Then we headed off to our next stop. The Missus wanted to stay in Idyllwild again. Because it was a Sunday, folks we headed out of Big Bear so it took us almost three hours to get to Idyllwild, which wasn’t too busy.
We parked near Village Center and the Missus did some shopping.
I had also heard that there’s a Farmers Market near the Town Hall on Sundays so we headed on over and did some browsing.
Idyllwild Farmers Market 25925 Cedar St. Idyllwild, CA 92549 Sunday from 9am – 2pm
We headed back down North Circle Drive to the car…..there are some really charming buildings and houses in Idyllwild.
When it happened! Remember how I mentioned that the Mayor of Idyllwild was a dog named Max? Well guess what….we ran into Max and his entourage meeting his constituents. So, we finally got to meet Max!
Which was kinda interesting as apparently Max doesn’t like other pooches so he went after JJ! He did go after me….well, after my back pocket as he sniffed out my package of treats. I cracked up….Max was looking for a bribe while trying to get rid of the competition! He really is a politician!
Meanwhile, I got my access code to our little cottage up the street….we’d stayed at the same place on our previous visit, so JJ felt right at home!
This time I went with the red ale with nice almost sweetish tones and was very easy to drink.
The Missus decided on the Crispy Sprouts.
Which were actually not bad. Fairly crisp, not mushy as many versions are. Kind of light in terms of flavor though.
I was curious about the “243 Dog”……which was a quite elongated kinda chewy hot dog, but was pleasantly savory..
The beer cheese was quite mild and not milky enough, the sweet caramelized onions were kind of a shock, but did add some additional flavor. The bacon aioli wasn’t really necessary in my opinion as it made things get soggy faster. The fires were typical thin style and on the drier side.
This was an ok dinner…..it met expectations.
And JJ was treated quite well too.
Idyllwild Brewpub 54423 Village Center Dr. Idyllwild, CA 92549
We had a nice stroll before settling in……
And we’d do a bit more exploring the following day!
I was driving past Hong Kong Kitchen & Dimsum a couple of weeks ago, when I noticed a new banner posted. Apparently, they now feature $5.99 Dim Sum during weekdays. Now, if you had mentioned $5.99 Dim Sum to me, say two years ago I would have laughed……but with prices these days…well, it’s now a relatively good price.
So, when the Missus was wanting some Chinese food recently; I talked Her into a revisit.
We arrived a bit after the 10am opening time and the place was quite empty….but it did fill up pretty quickly.
We were provided several menus, along with the dim sum laminated one, where you indicated what dishes you wanted. I quickly noticed that the dim sum item I thought was the best, the Scallop Dumplings were….I guess obviously not listed. We marked off the items we wanted to try.
We also got the Two Item Chinese BBQ ($24) as well.
And soon enough, items started arriving.
First off, the Jellyfish Salad.
This was nice and crunchy, rather refreshing, but was severely under-seasoned. After a few bites we ended up taking this home, chilling it well, than added black vinegar, chili crisp, and sesame oil which helped it a lot.
The Shrimp Cheong Fun was on the chewy side.
And the sauce seemed watered down. The shrimp was plump and tender though.
The Missus was looking forward to the chicken feet.
And you can tell by the color, right? While the texture, decently tender with crunchy cartlidgey parts, was fine, it was also quite bland.
Other than the now defunct Scallop Dumplings, the Pork and Shrimp Siu Mai were our favorite dim sum item we had on previous visits. And while it was on the chewier side, this was still the best dim sum item we had on this visit.
You could actually make out a light shrimp flavor, good porkiness as well. Pretty dense overall and the wrapper was a bit chewy, but the overall umami reigned supreme.
What was probably our least favorite item was the Shrimp Har Gow, which had also shrunk in size from we’d had before.
The wrapper was really thick and chewy and the flavor was on the fishy side as well.
We had made our way thru all the dim sum and even had to wait a bit longer for the two item barbeque plate. The woman working was very nice and apologetic, telling the Missus that we’d be getting the roast duck made “fresh”.
We tried the Char Siu first. Man, it was so hard, dry, and chewy….almost like jerky.
You can tell by the photo. It was also lacking in flavor, just a bit of sweetness, no five spice tones, weak savory flavor. Not good.
The woman working wasn’t lying when she said we’d enjoy the roast duck though. As the fat had been nicely rendered, the skin crisp, great flavors.
Nicely aromatic, decent anise and savory tones.
The meat was quite tender, full of that duck flavor. This was a nice surprise and as far as we’re concerned was worth the wait. We only regretted that we didn’t order a a half duck!
So, this was an interesting visit. The dim sum was, as a whole, meh…..but that roast duck was probably the best we’ve had in a while! So, we’ll probably return to have the regular menu and some duck. It’ll be interesting to see if having it just done fresh makes a difference if we come later in the day!
Hong Kong Kitchen & Dim Sum 5375 Kearny Villa Rd. San Diego, CA 92123 Current Hours: Daily 10am â 9pm
Ever walk into a random eating establishment and get totally surprised? Well, it happened to me this past weekend. It was an odd hour and I had skipped breakfast. I was close to City Heights, so the “usual suspects” came to mind. However, this time, I was driving down 43rd Street when I saw a place I’d been meaning to dine at for years.
The place had been around for over 50 years! And was still in business despite all the new development going on around it. There’s limited hours, just 8 to 2…..and on this day there was ample parking close by so I decided to head on in. I quickly noticed that the owner was Asian and he smiled and pointed me to a table.
The Server was very friendly and handed me a menu….I was totally fixed on just getting the typical 2 eggs with protein and potatoes kind of thing, when I saw this.
What the heck? Along with the burgers, sandwiches, and typical American Breakfast items, there’s teriyaki, bulgogi, even orange chicken! I’m guessing the kitchen staff is Mexican, because you can even get fish tacos and chorizo with your eggs, not surprising to me. But Buldak Chicken seemed rather random. If you’re not sure what Buldak is; it’s a rather modern name for spicy Korean chicken (i.e. “Fire Chicken“). This place obviously didn’t seem like one of those concept “Asian fusion” type of places, or even a food court stand, and with all those typical diner dishes on the menu?
The Server, who one moment was speaking Spanish to a table of what seemed like regulars, came on over and was kind of shocked when I ordered the Buldak. Telling me “it might be too spicy for breakfast….are you ok eating spicy for breakfast?” I really appreciated her concern, but yes…I told her I wanted to try the buldak and to please don’t mind all my sweating! She laughed and placed my order.
There’s a tiny window in the corner where food comes out of the kitchen and I saw my plate appear. Which soon made its way to the table.
So, I loved the perfectly easy over egg….totally diner style, right?
The rice was decent; perhaps a bit on the mushy side….but coming from a place that specializes in hash browns….well….
I liked that the chicken was dark meat and it was indeed spicy. Usually, I’d expect cheese or tteokbokki , but c’mon, it’s a diner.
Like I mentioned, I liked the spice, the savory tones were decent, I’d like a hint of sweetness with this; it’s definitely not a place you’d find on Convoy, but all in all it was better than what I expected. Good portion size as well. The rice and simple “coleslaw” did the job of buffering the spiciness.
I also enjoyed the vibe, tables where folks were speaking Spanish, the table behind me were speaking Vietnamese. It took me back “home”…….back in Kaimuki in the “old days”…..where places like Aotani Fountain would serve “cone” sushi….with Green River….or on a special occasion we’d be heading to Kaimuki Inn or my Mom’s favorite Alakea Grill (by bus)….where you’d get a burger with oxtail soup or spaghetti with a side of kalbi or pork chops…..and butter rolls! We didn’t have much money, I was raised by a single Mom who never learned how to drive. So those places hold a special place in my heart.
And no, it’s not “that George’s“, but in this day where division, hate, and anger seems prevalent, it’s places like this that can bring a community together. I’d take that any day of the week!
George’s Cafe 4012 43rd St. San Diego, CA 92105 Current Hours: Mon – Sat 8am – 2pm Closed Sundays
