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Eastern Dynasty – More Dishes

Chinese BBQ, Chinese Restaurants

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

Marufuku Ramen (Sky Deck at Del Mar Highlands Town Center)

Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

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

Road Trip – Old New York Deli & Bakery (again), The Eatery at Mammoth Brewing Company, and Shelter Distilling again (Mammoth Lakes)

American/New American Restaurants, Cocktails, Road Trip, Sandwiches, Sierra Nevada, California, Travel

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….

Pelicana Chicken and Sieu Sieu BBQ Revisited

Chains, Chicken Wings, Chinese BBQ, Chinese Restaurants, Korean Restaurants

Just a couple of recent revisits.

Pelicana Chicken:

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

Honolulu – Ireh Restaurant

Honolulu, Korean Restaurants, Oahu, Travel

So, after our revisit to the Alley and Ko Olina we actually went to Australia, before returning to Oahu. But recently, Bruddah Kimo asked me if there were other places than Kimchi II to get some Meat Jun. He is staying at Pagoda Hotel. Well, during our return from Australia we actually stayed again at the Ala Moana Hotel. The Missus had finally taken to meat jun during this trip and I had heard of a place right on the corner of Ke’eaumoku and Makaloa in the Azure Condo complex named Ireh. So, I’m kinda doing this one out of sequence so that Kimo can get an idea…..ok?

So yes, we were staying in the Ala Moana Hotel, yet again. Because of our stays at Accor Hotels, I had a nice discount and got us an upgraded room.

Even had a kitchen….but nah…I’m “home”…I going eat out….

Still, it was comfortable room and I didn’t get the “Ji-chan treatment” (jjk) when we checked in.

With our some what jetlagged schedules going, we wanted an early dinner. I asked the Missus what She wanted and wouldn’t you know it! She wanted Meat Jun! You gotta love it!

A couple of places came to mind. Choi’s Family Kitchen used to be a favorite way back when I lived in McCully and they used to be on King Street, but we didn’t feel like driving. I searched a bit and noticed that there was a place name Ireh right on the corner of Ke’eaumoku and Makaloa. It’s a huge condo complex now; but I remember when Green Papaya and a Jewelry Store used to occupy a small two story building on the corner.

Anyway, we walked on in…since it was still early, the place was pretty empty. The woman working greeted me in Korean! I had to crack up…..my friends used make fun of me because I’d often get mistaken for being Korean when I lived in HNL!

Anyway, we were seated and handed menus; but the Missus had already made up Her mind. Since it was pretty warm I got the BiBim Naengmyun.

The baechu kimchi revealed that this was more of a true “Korean” restaurant, than a local style one. It was more pickled, but still had some fermented tones to it. The Yangpa Jjangachi had good soy-garlic-slightly sour tones and was kinda refreshing.

The Bibim Naengmyun ($16.95) was a disappointment.

The noodles weren’t very stretchy….there was no need for scissors for these. The sauce was quite watered down, having more of the sweeter mul naengmyun type of flavor. It really needed some umph!

This made me somewhat worried about the Meat Jun ($18.95), but it was quite good.

A pretty large portion of meat jun. Which was on top of the rice, which was a bit on the hard side. But of course, this was about the beef….

The dipping sauce was good; savory soy, a hint of palate cleansing vinegar.

As for the meat….this was quite good. It was very tender, the savory egg batter batter had spots of light crispness rather than the usual sogginess. The marinade had flavored the meat well; soy sauce, some sweetness, a hint of garlic.

The Missus really enjoyed this and She said it was a step above Kimchi II. Hmmm………

Ireh Restaurant
629 Ke’eaumoku St. Suite 104
Honolulu, HI 96814
Current Hours:
Daily 10am – 10pm

Bruddah Kimo; if you check this place out, let me know what you think?

Relic Bakery & Kitchen

Bakery, Croissants

I first heard about Relic Bageri back in early 2024 at their weekends only location in a commercial kitchen on Commerce Avenue. They started doing preorders, but that just wasn’t my thing. I did try to visit, but the lines were crazy. Now you just know that a place so successful was going to grow, right? And finally, in October of last year they opened a brick and mortar shop in East Village.

With all our road trips, I waited a bit to finally visit the shop in East Village. The area seems a bit sketchy, but heck, SDPD HQ is there and there always seems to be parking available.

It’s a nice looking shop, in a sort of transitional area.

Anyway, it wasn’t overly busy on this day and I strolled on in.

Lots of pastries to tempt you…and the price point is lower than Izola!

The same really nice young lady was working on each of my visits.

There’s both indoor and outdoor dining available, a coffee stand, and breakfast and lunch is served. But you know I was really only interested in one thing at the moment, right?

So, I got myself a Butter Croissant, which was $5. And a couple other savory stuffs.

As for the croissant aux buerre……I like the lamination, nice and flakey, good, light, fluffy and airy interior.

In terms of flavor; it’s got a lighter butteriness than I prefer, and perhaps a bit too much salt for our tastes. Still, not overly sweet, nice texture, not over baked as many versions.

As for the rest; well I just had to get this beast.

This is the Chinese Five Spice Sausage Croissant. Well, let me tell you, this is pretty huge.

Nice porky flavor, good, not overpowering anise tones. There’s a bit of herbaceousness and the size and texture reminds me of Lao/Thai sausages. And with a croissant wrapper around it?

Still, I really enjoyed the Jalapeno, Speck, and Cheese Croissant the most.

Love the tangy-sour spice of the pickled jalapenos, with the mildly smoky-savory speck, and the light milkiness of the cheese. If anything, I think a stronger cheese might be even better. Along with the crispness of the croissant, slight buttery-sweetness. There’s something about this combo I enjoyed.

The Missus tried all three and them asked me why I didn’t get anything for “Her”. So of course that issue had to be rectified.

I got the Double Pain au Chocolate which the Missus absolutely loved. And she enjoyed the texture of the Bear Claw, but it was too sweet for Her.

As for me…well, it was another Croissant aux Buerre. Now this one had a bit more butteriness and was still wonderfully light and fluffy. Except that it seemed to have been over baked and was too flakey…as in croissant laminate shrapnel everywhere.

Still, this might be my current favorite croissant aux buerre in San Diego. And of course, there’s a certain someone who was volunteering to “clean up” the fragments.

The Missus enjoyed the pain du chocolate so much that She sent me back on a Saturday to get more. This time, I decided to forgo the regular croissant…..

There was a line on this day and the dining area was almost full.

Still, the folks working have always been so pleasant.

So, this time around in addition to the Jalapeno, Speck, and Cheese Croissant – which I still really like and the Double Pain du Chocolate; I got a couple of others to try.

The Missus absolutely loves the “Mocha Bomb”.

I didn’t care for the Lamb Rillette Croissant.

The pastry itself had a really great texture, flakey and crisp, but the rillette was really chewy and it didn’t feature the typical aromatic-rich-gaminess that I associate with lamb rillette.

Still, we’ve enjoyed exploring various items from Relic. I have gone back 3 more times since this last visit. And the croissant aux buerre has been my favorite in SD so far…. It’s not perfectly to my taste….I’m thinknig a bit more butter but I’m not expecting say…what we get at La Maison d’Isabelle, our favorite boulangerie in Paris, which I’ve posted on like four times. But it has still been enjoyable. I need to revisit Wayfarer….or maybe do both in a side by side comparison, right? Meanwhile; the Missus has been craving that Mocha Bomb! And we need to check out the various kitchen offerings as well.

Relic Bakery & Kitchen
845 15th St.
San Diego, CA 92101
Current Hours:
Wed – Sun 8am – 2pm
Closed Monday – Tuesday

Soup du Jour – What’s in a name?

Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Chicken Wings, Chinese Restaurants, Dog Friendly, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants

In my revisit post for Ju Feng Yuan, I mentioned my current favorite popcorn chicken was from Soup du Jour. Now, I honestly thought I had posted on the place. But as I looked to create a link for the post, I discovered I had not! WTH??? So, I set out to correct that mistake. And went searching for photos and than did a couple of revisits.

I came across the place after returning from Taiwan in 2023. I was looking for some Taiwanese food and along with the usual, not-so-good suspects, Soup du Jour appeared. So, I decided to head on over. Soup du Jour was a very odd name and the location is in the Corsair Apartment complex on Aero Drive.

Looks familiar? Well, this was the former location of Carve Modern Deli & Beer on Aero Drive. Way back when, my office was located on Aero Drive, this place would have been in walking distance!

Parking is fairly limited and the restaurant’s interior looks basically the same, if a bit more packed with “stuffs”.

Anyway, when I first started visiting, I tried a whole of items from the very “diverse” menu. This is what it looked like back then.

Everything from Rotiserie Chicken to Congee to Ribeye Steak to Youtiao to ????

And I tried a whole bunch of stuff that, well…to put it honestly I didn’t care for. Like the Lu Rou Fan….the photo of which I couldn’t find! But here’s a few other one and dones….

The Daikon Soup….

The Asian “Meatball” Soup.

I was going to basically give up, but decided to do one more visit….because the owner, whose name was Claire was so nice!

And she was from Chiayi, one of our favorite little cities in Taiwan. We chatted about Taiwan while waiting for my food to go, so I finally asked her for some recommendations and she told me to try the Street Chicken, which she said was Taiwan style Popcorn Chicken and the Honey Glazed Spareribs, both of which were winnahs!

These are photos from several takeout meals I ordered that were supposed to be part of that non-existent post.

Loved the legit fried basil…which seemed to be missing in this box; but was actually underneath the chicken.

And the spareibs, were nice, looked tough, but quite moist with a touch of sweetness, smokiness, and Asian touches in flavor.

Though I’ve never been able to resign myself to those roasted veggies……

And so, I thought I did my post???? I did do some additional visits; the Missus also enjoys the chicken and ribs.

And then we got JJ. I recalled that Soup du Jour had a nice patio area, so I took JJ over for lunch!

By this time, I noticed that the menu had changed and also instead of Claire, a young guy and lady were running the place. The menu had also expanded.

And I saw Jiaozi on the menu, plus I’d always wanted to try the Salt & Pepper Wings ($14) to go with my Pork and Cabbage Dumplings ($13.99).

The jiaozi was a non-starter; the wrapper was really think and very chewy. The sauce had a weird sweetness to it.

The filling was a coarse cut; something I prefer to overly minced fillings, but this was also a bit on the chewy side; though the flavor, porky-sesame wasn’t too bad if a bit mild.

As for the chicken wings; the were seven in an order. I had them put it into a take out box for me in case I couldn’t finish.

Like the jiaozi; this didn’t quite hit the spot. I like a nice garlic topping, but this was burnt and bitter. The batter was uneven and soggy. Decent saltiness with a hint of pepper and spice, but nothing special.

The flesh was fine, a bit overcooked. All in all, this could have come from Panda Express…..

And then I did the JFY post and realized I missed the boat on doing a SdJ one! Unless maybe I did actually do a post…..which took place in another dimension? Anyway, the Missus was wanting the Street Chicken, which was now $15. So I did a takeout order.

This travels well. The batter is more on the crunchy side. The Missus is especially fond of the white pepper tones, five spice, saltiness, and that fried basil. It heats up well in the air fryer too.

Pretty moist, decent toothsomeness, also hints of other pungent spices, with a very mild hint of sweetness. It is by far our favorite version in San Diego. You hear that Bopomofo? Though I still need to check some other places. Let me know if you have a recommendation!

Deciding that I needed to at least try those Honey Glazed Spareribs again, I drove over for lunch with JJ.

Now priced at $17.50, you also add brown rice for 50 cents more; which is what I did. Good nuttiness from the brown rice which wasn’t overly chewy.

I’m still not the biggest fan of the roasted veggies that come with this as it just seems out of place.

Still, I was here for the ribs, which were moist, falling off the bone, and had a nice sweet-savory flavor, with a hint of smokiness.

The Missus actually enjoys these as leftovers. She enjoys the flavor and prefers it much firmer. It was good to know that it was still a dish we enjoyed.

Though I did not see Claire on this visit either; so I asked the young lady working and was told that Claire had sold the business to them a while back! Bummer; I hope she’s doing well! I always enjoyed chatting with her. I was happy to note that the dishes we enjoyed were still good.

And so, I was finally ready for a post, right? Well, I was until I saw this sign posted.

Well, I guess I needed to make one more visit…..

I’m guessing the new ownership are adding items to the menu. It’s good to see that.

The Hainan Chicken Rice was just $13.99.

I ignored the sweet-soy dressing and stayed with what I’m used to with this dish.

First off; I did not like the rice which was super dry and hard.

In spite of the color; it lacked that rich chicken flavor I expect in the rice with this dish.

The chicken itself was not bad. Quite moist, but very mild in poultry-ness.

The typical sauce, lacked scallions, had a bit too much garlic for my taste, and was starting to discolor.

I also think it needed a bit more oil for texture.

Not a terrible Hainan Chicken Rice, especially for the price, but I know I can get much better here.

Still, I know I’ll be returning when the Missus wants Her fix…..

So here you go…..finally got this done. Soup du Jour….what’s in a name???

Soup du Jour
8583 Aero Dr.
San Diego, CA 92123
Current Hours:
Mon – Sat 11am – 8pm
Closed on Sunday

Ramen Nagi and Santouka – Ramen Ruminations

Japanese Restaurants, Ramen, yoso-silly

After my last visit to HiroNori, I decided to revisit two other of my favorite ramen spots in San Diego. And both of these places have interesting “histories” with your truly.

Ramen Nagi:

I hadn’t been to Ramen Nagi in a while! And that visit was to try out the Veggie King Ramen! I was tempted to visit right after HiroNori, but heck, I ain’t going to UTC during the holiday season! I just waited until the calendar flipped to 2026 and headed on over. And guess what? No line!

I walked over and was shown to a seat at the counter.

It was quite mellow! I also have my preferences for my ramen here. Folks can choose and “customize” their bowl to their tastes, something I wish other places would do as well.

And while I waited, the older gentleman who was in charge came on over to say hello. And we had a really nice chat. I mentioned that my first bowl of ramen in Japan was at Nagi Ramen in the Golden Gai. And he cracked up! Apparently, he worked for Nagi’s parent company in Tokyo before coming to SD! Of course I had to ask him about Niboshi Ramen….and he laughed again. Apparently they did try it as a “special” for a short period, but the only folks who would try the stuff were the Japanese nationals and hardcore “ramen heads”. It was such a nice little chat!

As for my Original King Ramen ($16.95), well, I liked that the mildly porky broth wasn’t too salty…and check out all that richness! It just coats your tongue and tummy. That’s why I order it “heavy richness”. Normal garlic is enough to add some pungency without overwhelming the soup.

And those katame…..firm noodles do a great job picking up that broth and are so springy.

The egg was decently marinated and flavored. And perhaps because it was opening time, it was still warm.

To me, the pork shoulder chashu might be the weak link here as it is on the more chewy side.

But was decently marinated with good porkiness.

I think we have my favorite tonkotsu ramen in San Diego here! And of course, that memory of wandering thru Kabukichō to find that 24 hour location of Nagi Ramen on our first evening in Tokyo! Such great memories.

Ramen Nagi UTC
4301 La Jolla Village Dr. Suite 2033
San Diego, CA 92122

Santouka Ramen:

And of course, after Nagi, I had to get back to Santouka. Hard to believe it’s been over a year since my last visit. And like Nagi, I have some history with Santouka. To this day, I believe that the opening of Sanotuka in San Diego back in April of 2008 really changed the ramen world in San Diego. And after trying things for a bit, we had found our favorite here; the Shio Toroniku.

This was a solo lunch; so I just went with the small sized Shio Toroniku ($15.95).

I had never ordered the small size, so when my buzzer went off and I went to pick up my bowl….well, I cracked up at the size of the ramen bowl. Though I was happy to note that the portion size off the toroniku and garnishes were of the same size as far as I could tell.

To put things into perspective….check out the size of the porky, super tender pork cheek versus the size of the bowl of ramen.

Still, this was nice and warming….that thick bowl keeps the broth super hot for a long time. And no; I wasn’t in the mood for the usual horrible egg here.

The noodles were adequately firm. I already wrote about that tender-porky toroniku.

The broth creamy, not overly salty, nice savory tones.

And of course, I’ll never forget hunting down the original Santouka in Asahikawa...a tiny little shop! And of course we cracked up when the tamago there was just as bad! Points for consistency I guess! Such fun memories! And a good bowl of ramen as well!

You can read Joy’s latest post on Santouka here. And Soo’s latest on Santouka here.

Santouka Ramen
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd(In the Mitsuwa Marketplace)
San Diego, CA 92111

Zen Modern Asian Bistro – Now at the Del Mar Highlands Sky Deck

Chinese Restaurants, Niu Rou Mian, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants

I’m not sure which “FOY” mentioned that Zen Modern Asian Bistro had moved from Sabre Springs to the Del Mar Highlands Sky Deck…perhaps it was Dereck or RD?

Anyway, after my rather unsatisfying bowl of NRM from Dao Xiang, along with the cooler weather; I thought it would be a great time to make the drive up the 5 and check out the Sky Deck, which Cathy has been to…but I’ve only visited the Jimbo’s in this mall.

It’s a large if rather dark space; very hip in that “you know it’s Del Mar” kinda way…..

Zen is just to the left of the entrance.

It’s got a bit of a sports bar look to it along with a dining area. It’s interesting to see that the doors to the kitchen area are automatic ones.

The young man brought me the menu; though I already knew what I was going to order.

And oh my, the NRM is now $22 and adding the suan cai is another $1!

And soon enough my order arrived. That bowl of NRM was quite large!

In many ways; it’s basically the same as I had at the previous location.

Not overly salty, mild beefiness, light soysauce, light richness, in need for more aggressive anise-beefiness for my taste.

In what was an improvement over what I’d had before was that the beef was nice and tender and full of savory-beefiness. And there was quite a lot of meat!

The noodles still lacked springiness and also didn’t do a great job of “picking up” the broth.

There’s a good amount of bok choy….in case you’re worried about getting some “veggies”!

As Dereck and RD both indicated; the must have item is the suan cai, the pickled greens.

There’s a bracing sour-tanginess to it. And while it may be slightly on the sweeter end of the spectrum to me, it really boosted the overall flavor of the broth when I dumped it into the bowl.

Overall not bad….better than many other versions in San Diego. And while it may be better than other versions, I’m not sure the price tag and the drive is worth it for me. Still, I’m glad to have tried the NRM here at the new location of Zen

Zen Modern Asian Bistro (In the Sky Deck at Del Mar Highlands Town Center)
12841 El Camino Real Suite 206
San Diego, CA 92130
Current Hours:
Mon – Thurs 10am – 9pm
Friday 10am – 10pm
Saturday 11am – 10pm
Sunday 11am – 9pm

Road Trip – Tacos Los Hermanos (Lone Pine), Old New York Deli and Bakery, and Shelter Distilling (Mammoth Lakes)

American/New American Restaurants, Cocktails, Distilleries, Dog Friendly, Food Trucks, Road Trip, Sandwiches, Sierra Nevada, California, Taco Shops, Travel

Just about a month after we returned from our two week road trip up to Mendicino, we were back on the road again. This time to where the Missus wanted to go, Mammoth Lakes. One great thing I found out was that The Westin Monache Resort, Mammoth Lakes is dog friendly. And it was right across the street from the Village at Mammoth, which had a variety of restaurants. We’d been to the area around Old Mammoth Road before and really hadn’t enjoyed ourselves.

We decided to make an overnight stop in Lone Pine to rest up before heading to Mammoth. So, I got us a night at the Dow Villa Hotel. This was back in June, so it was pretty darn hot already in Lone Pine. We checked in and basically just stayed in air conditioned comfort. When dinner time rolled around we just wanted to eat in the back garden area of the motel. It was too hot for JJ, so I walked the four blocks up to the Tacos Los Hermanos Truck. I was in a rush so I didn’t take photos of the truck which is on the corner of North Main and Willow Streets. I hustled back to the Dow Villa and we had dinner in the shaded public area behind the offices.

I got us four tacos, Adobada, CArne Asada, Buche, and Cachete. The Adobada wasn’t too bad, some good smokiness, sweet tones, and not too tough. The worst was the Carne Asada which was quite tough.

The Buche was pretty chewy, but the Cachete, beef cheek was nice and beefy. The tortillas were no big deal, but the salsas pretty good and spicy.

Not too much variety in Lone Pine, so this was a decent meal.

Tacos Los Hermanos
120 E Willow St.
Lone Pine, CA 93545

This is what Lone Pine looked like when I took JJ out for his 430am potty break…..

In the morning I took JJ for a short walk before things got too hot…..

And then we headed out….stopping in Bishop at Erick Schat’s Bakery which I’ve posted on twice before. The Missus ran in and got us some stuffs and we ate at the park across the street, under the trees. JJ needed the shade!

We then headed up the 395. We knew we were going to be early, so we decided to take a detour to Convict Lake and did the easy loop trail.

JJ got to try out his “boots” which we would later find that he really didn’t need.

He even saw horses for the first time and did well when they passed by!

We then headed up to Mammoth Lakes. We were still too early to check in, so we got our parking pass and headed across the road to the Village.

We walked around Village Plaza and found this sandwich and bakery along the side facing Minaret Road.

And as you might know, I’m a sucker for a club sandwich ($18.99) which seemed kinda pricy, but I added sweet potato fries (+ $1.89) which ended up being a good move.

The Missus enjoyed the sweet potato fries, which while not crisp, was quite creamy with a nice sweet and earthy flavor. The sandwich was pretty massive and this was enough for the both of us for lunch! The sourdough was fine, the turkey thinly sliced and quite moist…….. Good crisp bacon.

This would end up being our “go-to” lunch during our visits to Mammoth Lakes.

Old New York Deli & Bakery
6201 Minaret Rd. Suite 105
Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546

Soon enough we got to check in at the Westin. We enjoyed the service there…in fact, one of the Bell men is from San Diego….Bay Park! He was so nice to JJ. To get an idea of how closed we were to the Village; this is the view from our room.

And there was a lot of space for JJ to do “his thing” as well.

When dinner time came along er headed down and across the street. It was interesting to see folks who didn’t want to walk down the steps actually drive their cars around the block! We came across Shelter Distilling, they actually make many of their own spirits, have outdoor dining, and serve food. So, we thought, why not?

Of course we started with some cocktails and man were we hooked!

I think the favorite was the “Crib” which was made with Jalapeno infused Blue Agave.

So good! We actually ordered another one!

We also tried the Beet It, made with Bourbon, honey, lemon, and of course beets! It was a bit sweeter.

We liked the fact that you could actually taste the spirits and it wasn’t overly watered down or overly sweet.

As for the food…well, we weren’t impressed. The Mandarin Orange Salad ingredients were good, but the Ginger-Soy dressing didn’t have enough savory-salty-tangy tones.

Like PF Chang’s lite…..

The Crispy Confit Pork Belly Tacos was fine, but one was served on a pita? The Harissa Shrimp Taco didn’t have much of a kick.

The pork was more chewy than crisp. The pico de gallo was too mild. The Harissa Shrimp was at least served on a tortilla…which fell to pieces quickly. The shrimp was overcooked and rubbery.

On a good note, we’d found a place to have cocktails each night we were here. And I also noticed a back outdoor dining area which we enjoyed the next evening. We’d be looking to dine elsewhere…..

Shelter Distilling
100 Canyon Blvd. #217
Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546

And the Missus and JJ both were really enjoying Mammoth….