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.
In my post on Zen Modern Asian Bistro, “FOY” RD inquired about Lu Rou Fan. And “FOY” Jess mentioned Bei Yuan! Now this is why I love our little “community”. I get so many recommendations and it keeps me inspired! I realized that I have a couple of other Reader Recs visits….I just did one today, so I better get hoppin’ on these.
And so I dropped by at the 1130 opening time. Not quite knowing the drill, I kinda just milled around until the young man working saw me and led me to one side of the restaurant to a table.
Looking at the menu, I noticed the Lu Rou Fan….$16.80 lunch special with a drink is fairly reasonable these days.
My Lu Rou Fan appeared like magic within a few minutes!
This was quite interesting. Just tasting the pork by itself….well, it was just one bite…it was super salty, tough, lacking in the velvety fatty-beauty and anise-spice tones of what I consider LRF. It wasn’t bad mind you, just a bit much.
I did think the seasoned egg was pretty good, the yolk wasn’t overly dry and overcooked like what seems to be the norm these days.
I quickly poured it over the perfectly cooked rice and mixed with the veggies…though the edamame was ice cold.
I did enjoy the free drink which in this case was the Passion Green Tea, light sugar which was so refreshing and reinvigorating balancing out the saltiness of the dish.
The dish did much better mixed together, but was still on the high sodium end of the scale.
Still, I think it was much better than what I’d had at Bopomofo and Soup du Jour.
I think “Jess” had it right when she wrote “It’s more fast food-y but Bei Yuan has Lou rou fan. Is it the best? No but it’ll hit the spot.”
While I don’t think I’ll have this again; I’m glad to have tried it. Such is the blessing of having all you “FOYs” out there! Now RD, what did you think of the LRF here?
Bei Yuan Tea & Boba 7315 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. San Diego, CA 92111 Current Hours: Daily 1130am – Midnight
As you get older, do you find yourself eating more and more like your parents/grandparents? It came to me as I made us lunch the other day…..and no…sigh, the Missus cannot just eat Niku Doufu…She needs all those side dishes.
And while the takana (mustard greens) and kyuri (cucumber) asazuke are from the market. The one other item was not.
My grandparents loved bitter melon, at the age I was exposed to it….well, I hated it. When we lived in Kaimuki, our neighbors, the wife was Okinawan loved goya, and would give us goya and my mom, and later me; would make goya champuru…basically bitter melon and eggs. Being raised on a low income, it was a treat to have some Spam in it. They also gave us pickled bitter melon as well. Eventually, as I got older, I enjoyed it more, but still never really developed a taste for it until I was in my 30’s. Still, it wasn’t something I craved. And then we had our last trip “home”. My friends recommended a restaurant located on the second floor of McCully Shopping Center named Bozu. Yes, I know…waaaay behind on those posts!
Anyway, one of the dishes we ordered was the Pickled Bitter Melon.
And the Missus was smitten! We ended up have three orders of this!
Anyway, recently I’d been doing a bunch of pickling…mainly of stuff from the garden and I decided to try my hand at making Goya Tsukemono. I looked online and thru several of my cookbooks and after several tries found one that interested me in Machiki Tateno’s Japanese Pickled Vegetables. In the end, I used the recipe as an outline ingredient wise totally changing proportion and quantity. Not wanting to waste excess pickling liquid I fill the excess space with slices of daikon, which does well in this pickling solution as well as a few cloves of garlic.
Anyway, it’s a current favorite of the Missus. And now it seems to be getting a bit of play since it’s considered an important ingredient of “Blue Zone” diets. I dunno about that….we just think this tastes mighty good!
A couple of notes – I use the daikon and garlic to fill space after adding the bitter melon. I’ve cut down on the amount of dark brown sugar since the Missus enjoys more salty/bitter to sweet.
Goya Tsukemono (With daikon and garlic too) 1 – 7-8 oz Bitter Melon Boiling Water Slices of daikon (optional) 5-6 Cloves peeled garlic (optional)
2 dried chilies 1/2 Cup Rice Wine Vinegar 1/2 Cup Light Soy Sauce – I used Aloha Shoyu 1/3 Cup Dark Brown Sugar 2 Slices of Ginger
Heat a pot of water to a boil
Slice bitter melon in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds and scrape off as much white fibers and matter as possible. Slice into 1/3 inch slices cross wise.
Use boiling water to sterilize pickle jar and also pour over bitter melon and drain.
Add pickling ingredients to a small pot and bring to a boil.
Add bitter melon slices to pickle jar. Fill excess with slices of daikon and garlic.
Add boiling pickling liquid to jar, let cool until warm. Then cover and refrigerate.
Wait 2-3 days before serving
If you try this recipe; let me know how it turns out!
So yes, here we were in Mammoth. The Missus loved the hiking with JJ….on this day we headed back out to the Horseshoe Lake Parking and then took the McLeod Lake Trail. Of course JJ just loved it out here.
And the views were outstanding.
And while the lake was lovely….it was what we saw near where w parked the car at the Horseshoe Lake Parking lot. While the lake views were lovely…..
This section looked totally different.
All those dead trees. We walked over and read the signage.
We headed back to the Westin to…well….you know what….
After resting up a bit; we headed across the way to the Village. There was a place we were interested in dining at; but because it was still early in the season, the place was not yet opened for outdoor dining.
So, we walked over a bit and found this place.
Which had a large outdoor eating area and also a Happy Hour menu.
We ordered a couple of appetizers and a salad…..
We started with the Tri-tip skewers.
The cubes of tri-tip was really dry and tough. The sauce overly sweet.
We also got the Peri Peri Wings. We were warned by the really nice Server that it was going to be spicy.
Which it wasn’t. The sauce was quite tangy and salty. The chicken had been really overcooked and was tough. It did have some decent smokiness though.
The Missus did enjoy the Wedge Salad, especially the Blue Cheese Dressing which had a nice funky tanginess along with a not overly sweet balsamic glaze.. This is why the Missus had me start making Blue Cheese Dressing from scratch at home.
Lots of crumbled bacon…nice refreshing salad.
Overall; very nice service, but I don’t see us returning here.
Smokeyard BBQ and Chop Shop 1111 Forest Trail Suite 201 Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546
We did sleep well. And JJ did fine staying on an upper floor. There’s quite a bit of open space around the hotel and I even saw some wildlife while taking JJ out to potty early…think 5am in the morning!
Where JJ could show off some of his newly found balancing skills…..
You actually pass five lakes along this hike. This is Lake Barrett.
Even though it was early June, there was still snow on the ground in places.
And of course you know JJ and snow, right?
Making it to Emerald Lake, we headed on back.
We had lunch at Old New York Deli & Bakery and then had a well earned nap. Upon awakening, we decided to take a drive around…we did the Mammoth Scenic Loop…then went to by JJ some toys and snacks at Tailwaggers. By now it was just about 430. The Missus was really not into hitting up the Village again. I had found a BBQ truck/trailer of sorts while doing some research. It was located in a business park, next to Devils Creek Distillery.
We got a combo plate with Ribs and Elk Sausage, plus a tomato salad.
The tomato salad was excellent…using sweet-acidic-tangy tomatoes.
The slightly sweet-acidic balsamic dressing was wonderful.
Our favorite item was the Elk Sausage, very savory, nice and smoky, quite rich. The ribs were nothing special…though decently smoked.
That mashed potato salad had a bit too much mayo in it, though the greens were really refreshing.
The gentleman working was really nice. And he even gave us some moist and tasty cornbread….which was gobbled up so quickly, so no photos.
Anyway, we enjoyed our meal and even returned here the following month! We made sure to schedule that stay with the days the trailer is open – only Thursdays thru Sundays.
Emberz BBQ 120 Commerce Dr. Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546
As we took in the view of the Village from our patio, the Missus had me planning a return trip to Mammoth the following month. She, and JJ had really taken to the place.
Located two blocks down from FredCel which I probably need to get back to as well, I found parking on 37th Street.
The interior of Sabores has changed a bit as well…..what’s with all the blue dining rooms these days?
Anyway, the nice woman guided me to a table and I was handed a menu…..which I glanced at, even though I was here for one thing….
The Lengua en Salsa here is now $23.99.
Though it came with a small bowl of Ajiaco to start.
It’s always interesting to have ajiaco…because of the earthy-grassy flavor of the rich broth. Made with guascas. It was hearty and a nice way to start a meal on a cooler day.
And soon enough my Salsa en Lengua arrived. If you read my post yesterday, you’d say that this was a totally different dish from what I got at Antojitos Colombianos, right?
I’ve always enjoyed the plantain, sweet, rich, and creamy. A nice foil to the other flavors and textures. The salsa criolla here was different from what I had experienced on previous visits. A lot more onions, less watery, tangy, a hint of sweet-pungency. I enjoyed it more than what I’d had before. The lengua, as before was on the chewier side, but still nice and beefy and it was a large rather thick slice.
The rice was a bit mushy for my taste.
And the Yucca, as before was on the hard side…I prefer it more creamy.
Still, a very hearty meal.
So, what’s my preference? Well, SC has larger more generous portions, I like that plantain and ajiaco come with the meal. And this time around preferred the salsa criolla from here. AC had a more tender lengua, the salsa criolla was more tangy, and the yucca was nice and tender. I guess in the future, it’s what I’m craving for that day? I know, sounds like I’m taking the easy way out, right?
This visit also had me wondering how “FOY” Mr Black Belt Jonez was doing. He was the one who recommended Sabores to me all those years ago! I hope you are doing well Black Belt Jonez!
And I hope all of you are doing well!
Sabores Colombianos 3695 University Ave San Diego, CA 92104 Current Hours: Sun, Mon, Wed, Thurs 11am – 7pm Sat – Sun 11am – 8pm Closed on Tuesday
My how time flies……recently, someone who is new to reading our humble little blog reached out to me asking if I was the same person who wrote this a billion years ago. This got me craving some Lengua en Salsa from Antijitos Colombianos. Checking out my last post, I was shocked to see that my last visit was over 12 years ago and at the former location several blocks further down Imperial!
So, I decided to head on over to get my fix!
This newer location shares a small parking lot with a bank and some other shop…there’s limited parking, but because I got there right a opening time; 11am, I got one of the spaces right in front of the restaurant. The small storefront belies the rather spacious, and very “blue” interior.
The gentleman seated me quickly….as I was the only customer in the place for the entire meal.
I was handed a menu and of course I had expected prices to have gone up….but sheesh…the Lengua en Salsa is now $25……
It did give me pause; but I was here on a “mission” and I just had to have my fix. My order didn’t take very long to arrive.
I quickly noticed that the stewed beef tongue was sliced crosswise instead of being one long lengthwise, almost steak-like slice. Still, it was nice and beefy.
The rice was really mushy, though fragrant.
I did enjoy the starchy and very tender slices of yucca….it used to be that I enjoyed yucca frita; but for some reason this version did well with the tangy sauce.
The texture of the tongue varied from slice to slice. One piece was so wonderfully tender and beefy, that I could slice it with the fork. The other really tough and chewy. Still, the intense bovine flavor came thru clearly.
The Hogao, salsa criolla, was nice and tangy, mildly pungent, though a bit more watery and lighter than I remembered.
Still, not a bad meal…hope you enjoyed this post “Arby”!
We just got back from our first road trip with JJ for 2026. It was a fun and interesting drive; starting in a place that JJ has already been to.
This time there wasn’t record heat and JJ enjoyed things more…..
And we did a couple of hikes and enjoyed the views….
And ate well…..
The next stop was one we had last visited during he waning days of Covid…..
And this is where JJ enjoyed hiking the most. And of course the views were fabulous.
It was interesting as we did a favorite hike of ours…but this time around…well, it was still icy.
Which JJ loved!
What he also loved was the place that served a Doggie menu; with a version of beef tartare he loved.
We actually returned the following evening….
On our previous visit, we hadn’t been too impressed with the food; but his time around…well, we found our spot.
Which served up a dish that is a favorite of ours; especially when we visit Paris, but is not allowed in California….
Definitely our favorite meal of the trip.
We’ll definitely be back!
Our last stop was a city; with definite retro vibes. We last visited back when we lived in LA. It had been a while and we recall not being particularly taken by what seemed a superficial, image driven vibe. But time changes things. And while there’s still a strong commerciality, we’ve come to appreciate the history…..
And of course everything with JJ in tow makes things more entertaining…..
Anyway, thanks for stopping by. We’ll be back to our regular programming tomorrow!
I know, I just did a revisit post back in December. But seeing that ED is now the Missus’s go-to Cantonese spot these days and we’ve been going just about every week since that December visit, I thought I’d go over the dishes we’ve tried that I haven’t posted on before. Plus, I know “FOY” Kenneth is interested in visiting ED, so this might help.
Other than one item at the end that was surprisingly good, I’m not going to go over any dishes that I’ve posted on before.
Anyway, here goes:
Must Order:
This is called Sauteed Intestines with Chinese Pickles ($19.95) on the menu. Since the first time we tried this, we’ve had it on every single visit – five times! Each time it was prepped nicely.
When eaten at the restaurant the intestine texture is amazing. Chewy at first bite; giving way to almost creamy tenderness.
The black bean comes thru cleanly. Love the tangy-sour preserved vegetable. As you eat the leftovers; that flavor get magnified. It’s a must order for us!
The Missus loves the Steamed Minced Pork with Salted Fish ($19.95).
Welcome to Funky Town…well sort of. The secret to getting the salty-savory-funky fish salted fish flavor is to include one piece of the salted fish; which you see sprinkled on the top of the pork, in each bite. Don’t do too much; it’ll be so salty and overwhelming.
Westlake Minced Beef Soup ($17.95).
We’ve had this three times. Be careful; it’s really rich and thick and will melt your lips (and tongue) off. Give it time to cool a bit before consuming.
The secret to this dish for us is the cilantro, scallions, and sliced Thai chilies. It just enhances the savory tones so much. In fact, the second time we had this, there wasn’t any in the soup and we actually asked for some.
The Missus and I decided to try the Pepper Beef ($22.95) on our last visit. Not something we order often; but we’ve had some pretty good dishes so far and the price seemed very reasonable. And this ended up being another good dish.
The beef was so tender! The pepper sauce had a nice balance of savory and sweet, with a touch of ginger notes. It was so good with rice. The peas were crunchy and sweet, also adding a nice textural contrast. Another “keeper” dish.
Inconsistent:
The most expensive dishes on the menu are of course the seafood items. The Missus was wondering about the Steamed Blue Diamond Shrimp with Garlic Sauce ($26.95). In case you were wondering what Blue Diamond Shrimp are. I’m not totally sure these are Blue Diamond Shrimp, but they are pretty tiny and comes served split in shell.
The shrimp were quite sweet; the meat fairly firm. The sauce the first time was so savory and garlicky; the Missus especially loved the bean thread under the shrimp, which soaked up all that flavor!
Though, on the second time….which was the same visit where the Westlake Soup was missing our favorite ingredients, there was a shortage of garlic and sauce. You can easily see that here.
The shrimp was also a lot tougher…so perhaps the back-up cook was on this day?
Fish Filet with Black Bean Sauce ($20.95). Again, the first time we had this, the dish was pretty good.
Generous amount of savory black bean. The fish nicely velveted, almost creamy, very mild in flavor. The onions and red bell peppers enhanced the dish nicely.
And then there was the version on that “second visit”…..
Was there a fermented black bean shortage? At least there was in this dish! Like one slice of red bell pepper. The fish was not as wonderfully velveted and there was a muddy taste to it.
Luckily, on our third try with this dish, things were back to how it was the first time we tried this dish.
Other Dishes:
There’s a “Hot Pot Rice” ($19.95) that you can get for dine-in only and only from Mondays to Thursdays. The Missus was intrigued, so we ordered the version with Chinese Sausage.
This was pretty good; there’s pork belly in addition to the lup cheong. Decent rice crust forms and enough sauce to coat. Funny thing is. We won’t be ordering this again because we make even a better version at home!
But in case you want to try it out.
The Shrimp with XO Sauce ($22.95) was fine.
Shrimp was decently cooked; perhaps a bit firmer than I enjoy. The sugar snaps peas were crisp and sweet. I’d like a bit more XO sauce in this dish.
Speaking of XO Sauce. The Seafood Fried Rice with XO Sauce ($19.95) was not good. The rice super hard and not coated evenly. A true lack of Wok Hay!
Not enough XO sauce for us either. One and done.
Another one and done is the Pork Belly with Tofu Clay Pot ($19.95). This was really salty, but other than that lacking in other flavors.
The tofu was dry and the pork belly strangely tough. It was even worse as leftovers.
And one surprise:
So, the one menu item that surprised us was ordered on our most recent visit. We had thought the roast duck here was ok. And that other versions were better. But, on our last visit, we just decided to get a half roast duck ($21). And man was this pretty good!
Nicely roasted with a fairly crisp skin; fat nicely rendered. Decent five spice flavor and those drippings! Now we both think the meat could have been a bit more tender and flavorful, perhaps Noble Chef still tops ED in that department….but a half duck there was $28 on my last visit! This was definitely better than what we had at Taste of Hong Kong on our last visit. Did we hit the lottery on this one? Who knows…… I think we’ll order this again to find out!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this collection of dishes form Eastern Dynasty. Kenneth, I not sure you enjoy the same type of Cantonese dishes as we do, but I hope you find this post helpful!
Eastern Dynasty 4690 Convoy St. San Diego, CA 92111 Current Hours: Daily 11am – 3pm, 5pm – 830pm
During my visit to Zen Modern Asian Bistro at the Sky Deck, I came across a place that I’d had on my “list” but had totally forgotten about. Marufuku Ramen. I recall reading how popular Marufuku was when it opened in San Francisco’s Japantown in 2017. And since it was “ramen season” for me; I decided to return to try the place out.
Marufuku is located in the rear of the Sky Deck. The place was kinda dark at 11am, so pardon my photos.
I was seated by the very friendly and efficient Sugui, who told me he also works at Glass Box next door.
The prices, as anticipated were on the higher end of the scale, especially for what I consider to be a Food Hall.
I went with the Hakata Tonkotsu – regular size ($18.00). What arrived was about the same size as the small bowl I had at Santouka recently. Of course it didn’t have the toroniku and other stuffs.
The broth was fairly light, in spite of the dots of oil floating on the top. It was pretty straight forward, mild in flavor, though not salty.
It was rich enough to coat the thin, straight Hakata style noodles. Which were unfortunately a bit overcooked and too soft for my taste.
At least the tamago, which was edging on being overcooked for my taste was still warm. I’d say that’s a definite plus these days.
There were two bacon-thin slices chashu that were nicely flavored, with a nice toothsome texture.
And was probably my favorite thing in this bowl. The ginger would have helped to cut the richness if the broth were a bit thicker, but really wasn’t necessary in this case.
Overall, not a bad bowl of ramen, perhaps below what I last had a Menya…maybe what I’d consider level B+ ramen. Though priced like level A+ ramen. I’m not going to be in a rush to return.
Marufuku Ramen (In the Sky Deck at Del Mar Highlands Town Center) 12841 El Camino Real Suite 204 San Diego, CA 92130 Current Hours: Sun – Thurs 11am – 9pm Fri – Sat 11am – 10pm
The Missus was so excited to be in Mammoth…She couldn’t wait to take JJ hiking. And so first thing in the morning we headed out. She had decided on doing the Skelton Lake Loop, which started at the large parking lot at Coldwater Creek Road. This was an interesting hike as there was still snow and ice at some parts of the trail. It was only 3 1/2 miles long, but seemed longer. What we did find out on this trail was that JJ loved snow….
And the views of the different lakes we passed were gorgeous.
Including Skelton Lake which we got to at the end.
We then headed back to the Village. The Missus decided that we should hit up Old New York Deli & Bakery again. She had really taken to those Sweet Potato Fries. This time we went with the Vegetarian Sandwich ($16.99) + Sweet Potato Fries ($1.89).
The sandwich was not nearly as good as what we’d had the day before. Very bland and routine, the red bell pepper hummus was not up to the task of adding flavor.
Still, the Missus loved the sweet potato fries.
From this point on, we’d stick with the club sandwiches all the way.
Old New York Deli & Bakery 6201 Minaret Rd. Suite 105 Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546
After a short afternoon “siesta” I headed out to the Earthquake Fault Trail. A place where one could actually see an actual earthquake fissure which was initiated 500-600 years ago!
It’s not really a hiking trail per se, but an amazing thing to see…….
And then we headed back to the Westin to relax before dinner.
For dinner, we decided to walk down basically a block from where we were staying to Mammoth Brewing Company. We weren’t looking for any beer; there’s a restaurant on site called the Eatery.
The Missus went with the Quinoa Falafel Bowl ($18). The looks of the falafel tells it all.
The menu said “crispy falafel”; this was actually overcooked, dry and gritty falafel. That tzatziki tasted a bit odd….then I read that it was coconut tzatziki. The quinoa was fine as the lemon vinaigrette paired well with it.
I saw a Pork Belly Banh Mi ($16) on the menu and I couldn’t help myself.
While there was so much “not right” about this sandwich…starting at the bread which was not a banh mi….so basically this was a banh mi in name only. The cabbage and carrots was basically the shredded stuff you can buy at the market. The pork was hard and dry, though it had a some hints of savory and sweet. At least that egg was decent, crispy edges, slight soft interior.
Totally “con-fusion” cuisine.
The Eatery at Mammoth Brewing Company 18 Lake Mary Rd. Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546
As we crossed back to the Westin thru the Village, we decided to stop at Shelter Distilling. While not being fans of the food there, we had enjoyed their cocktails.
This time; instead of sitting in the front of the restaurant, we took JJ thru to the rear which had four tables with views of the ponds and courtyard.
We had the “Crib” again and also tried out their Old Fashioned. Both of which were really good.
While still on the search for something good to eat for dinner, at least we knew where to get our cocktails….
Shelter Distilling 100 Canyon Blvd. #217 Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546
The next morning, the Missus (and JJ) were rarin’ to go. This time I chose the Sherwin Lakes Trail, which was a 8 1/2 out and back.
There was a 800 foot elevation gain, but JJ had no problems with that at all.
Sherwin Lake is quite beautiful…..
I was just glad to be done with it…..because then we could get some lunch….
Way back when I did my post on Pelicana…like over three years ago now! I did 2 takeout visits and really wasn’t impressed. Though fellow blogger Soo commented that the chicken there is much better dining in. Which I can understand. So now several years later; in the mood for some KFC, I dropped by.
There was basically one very sweet young lady working. She greeted me and led me to a table. These days, ordering is done via a tablet……I’m sure it saves labor costs.
Anyway, I preferred the Original Fried Wings to the Crunchy for takeout, so that’s what I ordered.
Some water was brought to the table and interestingly, no mul kimchi…I guess they’ve changed it up for shredded cabbage with sesame dressing?
The wings arrived, nice and hot.
The lacquered wings were over battered for my taste, crunchy, but got soggy quickly and a bit on the greasy side. Other than salt, still very mild in flavor. I just wanted to taste the chicken without it obscured by sauces. At least the flesh though chewy, was moist, but there was still a good amount of darkened meat.
Good sized, but I think I’ll pass on Pelicana in the future.
Pelicana Chicken 7767 Balboa Ave. San Diego, CA 92111
Sieu Sieu BBQ:
So, on New Year’s Day, the Missus suddenly wanted Roast Duck??? Sending me out on a mission. I dropped by several places, some of which were out of duck, others had massive lines. I took a peek at Sieu Sieu and there were only three people in line, so I decided this was where we’d get our last minute NYDuck.
There were several of these folks hanging around….
In fact a woman and a young man; who I believe is her son picked up two of them! Came to over $600! Now that better be a “porky pig”!
When I got to order my duck; the woman told me “today, only whole duck, no half…..” So, that’s what happened. Got a whole duck, $34.99. Really not a bad price for these days…..
A bit better than what we’d had on our previous visit. Very meaty and on the drier side. The skin wasn’t quite as rubbery as before, but like the meat, in need of more flavor.
Good thing we had a lot of jus…..
And the air fryer….it was still on the bland side….
Sieu Sieu BBQ 7420 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. San Diego, CA 92111
