November 2006 – Page 2

Lolita’s-Don’t say they did not warn you

November 19, 2006 Cathy Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is NOT on vacation. Kirk is taking a day off from blogging, and Cathy has found-surprise- another Taco Shop to talk about…and she has an add on..

You have driven on Clairmont Mesa Boulevard, I know it. 99Ranch is right across the street, and Teri Cafe and Pho T Cali is right in this mall. You’ve seen this place, it used to be a Souplantation, which moved down the street to an area with less parking but apparently more table space. ( I do so like planning ahead).

As you walk in, on the wall to the left it’s written: "Patience is the essence of fine Mexican food"

That’s your clue…its not really fast food. Its still a taco shop. You walk in, order, pay and wait…look at the receipt: Its written there, too..

So, here is the main menu, and there are some handwritten specials also.

You can see the full menu here ..you know, while you are waiting… (look at the site-Under the "Lolita’s Taco Shop" logo…there it is..that darn talk about patience)…so load up on the salsa bar..it has radishes,scallions, jalapeños and limes! You can eat those while you wait…

AND FINALLY your number is called…

The carne asada torta (beans, carne asada, guacamole on a fresh, toasted telera roll) was excellent, as was the mashed potato taco.

This is one of the breakfast burritos: Eggs, cheese, potato and bacon.

This is the unrolled breakfast burrito, so you can see more of the filling. The potatoes were sliced and crispy-sauteed..nice.

So, yes you will wait, and yes, its worth it. Its a nicer atmosphere and a better quality of food.

Lolita’s Taco Shop 7350 Clairmont Mesa Boulevard San Diego 92123 (858) 874-7860

And now, a little diversion…

I tend to write about cooking at home, Taco Shops and Mediterranean style foods…and just wanted to let you know, I do frequent fast food places…for a reason. On Halloween, I decorate…oh, sure not like my neighbor does-

But I save my fast food bags, throughout the year, and line the driveway, making interesting luminaria:

When its dark, it looks more like this photo from last year-

..and I didn’t take a photo of it in the dark this year…

because Oct 31, 2006 at 5:50 a.m…well, I was walking up at the top of the hill in my backyard: (that is Nutmeg, by the way) the hill is higher up that these stairs indicate-there is a deck, two more stairs up and one step down..oh, it doesn’t matter…gravity, displacement, Colle’s fracture of the distal radius…

This was at about 11 hours after it happened. On November 15, because the healing wasn’t quite right, I was casted twice:

You might notice the palm of my hand is 90° in a different position than in the other photo. This is the 4th cast, in 15 days…and as a side note, my elbow is immobilized, so the cast goes to my shoulder….

Oh, I drive a manual transmissioned car…and I worked for the Registrar of Voters, as a "Troubleshooter", manning 4 driving locations, on November 7 (as did The Mister). I am not complaining. Its just I am now realizing how much, even though I am ambidexterous, how much we use two hands a day….dental floss anyone?? Kirk knows of the plans I had for Thanksgiving that are now on hold, and how upset I was, especially with the latest cast. I appreciate all of your kind notes hoping for a speedy recovery. It probably won’t be, but hopefully I won’t need surgery.

So, that’s it, mystery over…and in summary, go with the fall, don’t try to stop yourself with one hand…it doesn’t work.

Is It Soup Yet? Guess the Restaurant – It’s Fortune Cookie Express

November 16, 2006 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

I haven’t done one of these in a while. I recently had a pretty good bowl of soup, and thought "hmmmm, maybe it’s time to give away some coffee".

So here we go, I’ll post a few photos. Email me the name of the restaurant, and I’ll Email the first 7 correct answers a free cup of Peet’s. Now that it’s getting a bit cooler, doesn’t a cup of Peet’s sound good?

Okay…..the name of this Chinese Fast Food Restaurant is:

As much as I hate the name…it’s Fortune Cookie Express, hidden behind other businesses on Balboa avenue. And most of the usual Fast-Food suspects are in view from Chop Suey to Beef Broccoli.

It’s one of the last places on Earth that I’d be eating….but the Chow Ma Mein was recommended by the Twins at Sandwich Emporium. Turns out that you won’t find it on the regular menu….but if you check out the photos on the side wall you’ll see the a photos of "Chowmamein".

Looks pretty spicy, huh?

The Chow Ma Mein, seems to use all those Chinese Fast-food components…the thin cut stir fry refugee veggies, fast food chow mein noodles, the sliced beef, etc….

Though I enjoy the fried garlic, and the 5 pieces of shrimp, the Chow Ma Mein is a bit on the oily side, but for $3.99, who’s going to really complain. The Chow Ma Mein is nice and spicy, though lacking in much other flavor, and will fill you up…….

BTW, there was one correct guess! Kudos to Kimmie!

Fortune Cookie Express
5931 Balboa Ave.
San Diego, CA 92111

Midweek Madness

November 15, 2006 mmm-yoso Cookbooks, Cooking, Recipes

Wow, it's Wednesday already. Here are a few midweek odds and ends.

Kayaba

One half of the new food stands in the Mitsuwa Marketplace has revealed itself.

From what I understand Kayaba will be doing Soba, Katsu, and the like. I'm hoping for a Santoka Ramen as well. One can always hope……

The Missus had a hankering for Una-Don, so I purchased some Unagi from Nijiya, but decided to make my own quick and dirty Nitsume(Eel sauce). We've purchased the bottled stuff, and found it either to be too salty, or too sweet, or having strange flavors. So I decided to try a slight modification of an interesting recipe I found in DK Kodama's Sushi Chronicles from Hawaii, which I purchased on my visit to Sansei a few weeks back. The recipe is pretty easy, and after seeing the amount of Sake in it I had my doubts, but it turned out to be quite good. Maybe a tad on the sweet side, but not bad at all.

The recipe uses some short cuts, like hondashi…which worked out well, since I didn't happen to have a whole bunch of Eel trimmings lying around. The recipe also calls for the Hondashi to be boiled…which made it a fishy-bitter during the first pass, so I cut the amount in half, and added it right before the reduction process, and it worked. I'd been taught never to boil anything after adding Hondashi, but in this case it worked during the low boil. Purists may just want to skip the recipe, if it hurts too much.

Easy Unagi Sauce(Nitsume)

2 Cups Sake
1/2 Cup Mirin
1/2 Coy Sauce(Yamasa or Aloha)
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/4 Tsp Hondashi

1 – Mix all ingredients except Hondashi in a pot. Bring to a boil stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce heat to medium-low and add Hondashi.

2 – Reduce mixture by half to a light syrup.

3 – Store in a tightly sealed container and refrigerate. According to the original recipe this will keep for up to 1 month.

I still don't quite know what to do about the Missus's other current obsession:

Have you ever known anyone who craved brussel sprouts???? With Nitsume??? And Rice???

One last item – mmm-yoso's very own Cathy Doe has been recovering from illness, so I'd like to make sure to tell Her to hang in there, and get well soon. She's still posting too..what a trooper!

Chopstix Too

November 14, 2006 Cathy Japanese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

About a week or so ago, I mentioned that Chopstix Too, a sort of "Casual-Fast" version of Chopstix had opened in the same strip mall as Mitsuwa Marketplace. Talk about setting yourself up for success.

So I finally walked on up to check out the menus attached by clothespins to chairs….and sheesh, talk about cheap grand opening specials! Bargain-City…..

Okay, so I’m sold, I’ve got to check this out. At this time of the morning 11am the place is empty, yet bustling. Seems like the employees are still getting used to the surroundings. The interior is pretty fast-foodish, with simple booths and tables, and a sushi bar crowning the cavernous interior.

I didn’t bother opening the menu; I ordered the Chicken Teriyaki & Tempura Combo($4.95 – Grand Opening price – $5.95 regular):

The special came with a bowl of so-so miso soup, a green salad with Asian-style dressing, rice, some chicken(dark meat) teriyaki, with a sauce that was less sweet than the usual American-style teriyaki, and3 pieces of tempura. The tempura was not bad; it was not as crunchy, nor did it have the lacquered texture of the version at Chopstix. Pretty fast-foodish, but well worth the $4.95. It’s much better than picking up a pretty much cold bento from Mitsuwa or Nijiya.

But that’s not all…..there’s a "To Go Only" menu, that has specials like Curry Bowl($3.50), Chicken Katsu Bowl($3.95). Wait a second, Chicken Katsu Bowl for under four bucks? Sheesh…Bargain City!!

So being the sucker for Chicken Katsu that I am, I ordered the Chicken Katsu Bowl($3.95).

But wait, I’m not done….because it was inexpensive, I also ordered the Fish Katsu($3.95):

It’s hard to tell which is which, huh? This was a styrofoam soup sized bowl, with a nice amount of rice on the bottom. A layer of shredded cole slaw mix(shredded cabbage), and few pieces of broccoli acted as a buffer for the fried product. Honestly, it was a bit on the greasy side, but still will fill you up. The other item that I didn’t care for were that first off, teriyaki sauce was used instead of katsu sauce, and the whole thing was slathered with spicy mayo, like what is used for those spicy rolls. As if the dish needed any more fat! Is this worth $3.95…you bet, but next time I’ll order it without any sauce(or mayo), and use some of those leftover katsu sauce packets.

I’m sure that I’ll do another post on the regular menu items in the future…sort of a Chopstix Too, part too…he-he-he, sorry couldn’t help myself.

Now comes the fun part, it was bound to happen! Cathy and I ate at Chopstix Too during the same week. So you get a "double post", a two-for-one special so to speak. Actually, I’m letting Cathy go so She won’t serve me with a food stalkers warrant from the Food Police! LOL! So without further ado, heereee’s Cathy!

mmm-yoso is NOT on vacation. Kirk isn’t even taking a break off from posting. We both went to Chopstix Too-didn’t even see each other- and have pretty much the same observation of pretty much everything on the menu…here’s the rest of it.

Hi Everyone…I just want you to know I think the Mister went to Chopstix Too *before* Kirk did (The Mister works within walking distance)…for lunch…and that evening he brought home some of those "Grand Opening Take Out Only" specials.

The crunchy roll served with salad ($4.95) (Crunchy Roll is pretty much that fake krab stuff and avocado..its larger than most rolls..wrapped in seaweed and the rice and rolled in tempura leftovers…crunchies…topped with a sort of katsu (sticky sweet) sauce and the spicy mayonnaise).

This is a meal in itself-crunchy roll is quite large. The same one Chopstix has been having on ‘special’ forever. The salad is light, crispy and topped with the "Asian salad dressing" that is standard-more or less vinegar and sweet..no garlic or ginger.

He also brought home the Spam sushi ($3.50) made with avocado and pickled radish. It was nice. He also brought home some of the generic bowls Kirk apparently got (after perhaps stalking The Mister…) One of these is the calamari katsu, which held up quite well in the traffic home. The other is the chicken katsu, which was tasty but not crispy (the calamari was on a bed of shredded cabbage to maybe keep the steam from the rice from softening the crust). {ooh, I just looked at the photos and two are the same…that’s how well I could tell the bowls apart}… and then there was the tempura bowl:

The tempura coating does not fare well inside a bowl with steam for about 15 miles in rush hour traffic. There is a shrimp, carrot, zucchini and pumpkin..the veggies and shrimp were good, still crispy, not mushy…but the coating was not as much fun as you get with fresh tempura inside the restaurant….by fun, you know, crispy, light, airy…making you think it has no calories…

So, we decided to meet up for dinner, off of the "regular" menu one day. This is probably your first view of the building, when you take the exit off of 163:

Its kitty corner from Mitsuwa, in the same parking lot, attached to the Taco Bell. Originally that half of the building was a Sarah Lee Outlet Store, where I happened to be one of the first, and a regular customer.

We seem to have sat in the exact same booth as Kirk did, with that view of one of the two flat screen TV’s in the place… The regular menu looks more like this: Its a little bit different from the regular Chopstix menu, with lots more sushi items. You may notice the "miso butter corn ramen". We asked our polite waitress what it was. She said:’its miso with butter and corn and ramen noodles’. Maybe next time.

We opted for a few "standards", to test the kitchen:

The seaweed salad, ($3.50) nice and fresh…not much different than elsewhere. The mabo ramen ($5.95) seemed to have a richer broth and was excellent. I really like fresh ramen noodles.

I opted for the Seafood Katsu ($8.25). Served with miso, salad and rice. Three shrimp, two pieces of fish and two pieces of calamari, all lightly battered. I liked all of it. The shrimp is made from shrimp paste and is larger and denser than just a single piece of shrimp would be…and there is still a tail attached…which I always eat anyhow…its fried, crispy…fiber…

The grand opening specials will probably stop at the end of November…or not I suppose. The Mister and I went to the original Chopstix and with our bill, we got a coupon for a free California roll with purchase of any meal at Chopstix Too. Its a smaller California roll (6 pieces) and the coupon was stamped with an expiration of November 30.

All in all, Chopstix Too is the same as the original Chopstix, with an added sushi bar and *much* better parking. The Grand Opening Specials make it worth the trip also. I saw quite a few people with "to go" foods just eating in the parking lot….besides all the people following me around in general….ahem!

Chopstix Too 4380 Kearny Mesa Road San Diego 92111 (858) 565-1288 open 7 days 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. Closing hours may change.

Pho Sao Bien Vietnamese Restaurant

November 13, 2006 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

*** An updated post can be found here.

Right at the outskirts of Pacific Beach is Pho Sao Bien Vietnamese Restaurant. You really can't miss the sign.

Though if you drive a bit too fast you'll zoom right past the restaurant and the small 8 stall parking lot. I'd been told that the Owner of Pho Sao Bien is the son of the Owner of Pho Hoa Huong. But whereas Pho Hoa is all business and bustle, Pho Sao Bien has a more peaceful and laid back "vibe".

The interior of the restaurant is bright and clean, and taking a page from those Asian restaurants with a customer wall, Pho Sao Bien has it's own "Wall of Fame".

This being Pacific Beach, I expected the prices to be a bit higher, but was still a bit taken aback by the prices, most everything was over $5.65. Still this is PB, not Mira Mesa where paying over six bucks for a bowl of mediocre Pho would be hard to understand, when you could get good Pho for under five bucks right down the street.

The one item I was told that I "must" have here were the Cha Gio (Egg Rolls – $6.25). Yep, it's Egg Rolls for over six bucks…these had better be good. What I got were 6 huuuge Cha Gio, that needed to be steroid tested:

These large Cha Gio were wrapped with the thin type of rice paper that bubbles up and gets very crunchy when fried, but due to the amount of filling they start getting soft pretty quickly…so fried lip be damned, it's full speed ahead with these. The Cha Gio filling didn't have very much filler, and I could only finish two of these. This reminded me of something that would be made when suffering from "dumpling fatigue", that happens when the Missus gets tired of making Jiaozhi after making 3 dozen or so, the dumplings start getting more and more filling…The Missus's Mother still can't figure out how She manages to get so much filling into a dumpling!

The Nuoc Mam Cham was mildly sweet, and overall this wasn't a bad dish. Is it worth over six bucks…I dunno, but this could be a meal on it's own.

During that time my garnishes arrived for my Pho:

Pretty skimpy, I ended asking for more basil and bean sprouts.

As for my Pho, I had ordered the Pho Dac Biet("Special" – X-Large – $6.50):

Since there was a connection between Pho Sao Bien and Pho Hoa, I expected a very dark and beefy broth. So much for expectations…the broth was medium dark in color, with a mild amount of oil. The flavoring pulled more toward a clove and anise flavor, not bad overall. The noodles were not the usual clump in the bottom, but loose, and of the thinner variety. There was a good amount of rare steak, which was soft and tender. There was just a scant amount of tripe and brisket, 1 piece of tendon, and 1 piece of flank, not much overall, I'm guessing in keeping with the clientele in PB.

In spite of the price, would I eat here again? Well considering that the nearest Pho is at least 6 miles away…..who knows? And if I'm craving for jumbo Cha Gio, or the Missus wants some Bun Cha Gio with Cha Gio suffering from Elephantiasis….you get the picture.

Pho Sao Bien Vietnamese Restaurant
1958 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109

Turnip Cake

November 12, 2006 mmm-yoso Cookbooks, Cooking, Recipes

Did I ever happen to mention the Missus’s obsessions? It really doesn’t take much…just a simple mention of an item, and a fast growing seed is planted. It’s something that demands immediate attention…if left alone to germinate, well, let’s not go there.

This past Saturday, we had a wonderful lunch at Chin’s with Ed from Yuma, mizducky, Howie from A Foodie’s Eye View, and last but certainly not least Codergirl. In the midst of the lunch Howie happened to mention that a friend of his makes Turnip Cakes at home. Now at the mention of this little comment, I saw the Missus perk up, and though I don’t think anyone else noticed it, with just the little "they make it at home…" I knew we’d be making turnip cakes.

And so it’s off to 99 Ranch Market we go……

We’ve always had pretty good outcomes with recipes from Ellen Leong Blonder’s book Dim Sum: The Art of Chinese Tea Lunch, and used the recipe as the basis for making turnip cakes, which turned out to be quite easy. We did make a few changes and adjustments in the recipe. The result is pictured below.

Turnip Cakes

2-3 Tb Small Dried Shrimp(optional – also soaking them in hot water for 20-30 minutes and draining is optional, we didn’t do this)
2 1/2 – 3 cups(lightly packed) Coarsely shredded Daikon Radish
1 Lup Cheong(Chinese sausage) finely diced
2 Green Onions (include white parts) finely sliced
1-2 Tb Cilantro – finely chopped
2 Cups Rice Flour (* Important note – use rice flour, do not use sweet/glutinous rice flour)
1 Tsp salt(adjust up if not using shrimp)
1/2 Tsp Sugar
1/4 Tsp Ground White Pepper
1 1/2 Cups Water
Vegetable/Canola Oil

1 – Place shredded radish in a small pot or saucepan with water. Bring mixture to a boil, than reduce the heat to a low and simmer for 15 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Remove radish from liquid(do not discard the cooking liquid) and place in measuring cup. Add in cooking liquid to bring the amount to approximately 3 cups. Let the mixture cool to a lukewarm temperature.

2 – While radish is cooking, heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a skillet or wok. When oil starts to smoke add the Lup Cheong,Green Onions, and Dried Shrimp. Stir fry for 1 or 2 minutes. Remove the mixture from heat and stir in Cilantro.

3 – Get the steamer going.

4 – In a bowl mix the rice flour, salt, sugar, and white pepper. Add the radish and cooking water, and stir to a batter-like consistency. Add the Lup Cheong mixture to the batter and mix. Pour mixture into a 8×8 cake pan, or a 9 inch round cake pan.

5 – Place cake pan into steamer, and steam at a medium-high boil for 35-45 minutes.

6 – Once done, remove the turnip cake from the steamer and let cool.

Once cool, you can cut into squares and fry, or fry, than add egg, or whatever preparation you desire.

I fried up a few squares, and the Missus told me, "you know what this means, don’t you?" "Wellll, I guess no more store bought, and we’ll cross this off our Dim Sum list, ala’ Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf?"

Thanks alot Howie…just kidding of course. Turnip cake turned out to be much easier than we thought.

I’ve had a few Emails asking if I still cook, and yes I am, but recently it’s been really simple things like Soboro, and other stir fries, but I thought this would be of some interest. I’ll be back with another restaurant tomorrow.

Just a Reminder….

November 10, 2006 mmm-yoso Festivals & Events

*** An update; the Four Q team ended up taking first place in pulled pork, second in brisket, third in chicken and third overall. Reports can be found at You Gonna Eat That, The SoulFusionKitchen, and The Survival Gourmet.

Just got back from a nice visit…ahem, food and drinks with the Four-Q BBQ Team at the Imperial Beach Beachfront BBQ Competition.

The big day is tomorrow, as "turn in" starts as noon.

I had the a chance to chat with the team of Food Bloggers turned BBQ competitors; Professor Salt(and Katie), Sylvie from Soul Fusion Kitchen, and Neil from The Survival Gourmet, as they attempt to win the California State BBQ Championship. The team generously shared their pre-contest meal with me.

And if it’s any indication……..I think they’ll do very well.

I was impressed at the effort and dedication it takes to compete in an BBQ event. Though as Professor Salt says…"It’s not the cooker…it’s the cook that matters".

FYI, things start getting hot and heavy starting at about noon!

Beachfront BBQ Competition

800 Seacoast Drive

Imperial Beach, CA 91932

Road Trip-Yang Yang Sushi and BBQ

November 8, 2006 Cathy Japanese Restaurants, Ontario/Riverside/San Bernadino, CA, Road Trip, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is NOT on vacation. Cathy is blogging while Kirk is not. You looked in, why not stay and read?

Hi. So, my best friend from 4th grade all through High School was attending a seminar this past Saturday, in Ontario, a less than 2 hour drive (she lives in San Jose) and so I had to take that little drive to visit for a few hours…emails and birthday and Christmas cards just can't summarize what your life has been like.

Neither of us knows the area, but I can say that the address of her hotel, being on North Vineyard, is *not* located north of the 10 freeway…and I can also say this was the least-infiltrated with Starbucks area of Southern California I have been to.

So, I saw this sign inside a Stater Bros grocery store parking lot, and we stopped.

The hours said it was open until 10 on Saturday and it wasn't even 8, but tables were empty.

There are only 8 tables inside, but it seems they do a very brisk phone in/pick up business. That is the menu overhead and here is a paper menu:

Since Yang Yang is closed on Sunday and this was late Saturday night, apparently they don't keep much of an inventory, so when we tried to order, quite a few things (mostly the raw fish) was out…still, we managed to get a few, nice and interesting quick bites.

The miso soup was nice, but unremarkable except for the thicker, fresh tasting seaweed.

I was pleasantly surprised by the appetizer of baked green mussels ($5.45).

Six mussel shells, each with 3 small mussels in the shell, covered in a spicy, creamy orange colored sauce and baked and topped with some sweet tonkatsu sauce on this pleasantly decorated plate…with cherry tomatoes, ginger, sliced oranges and limes…interesting and it tasted very nice.

I had been craving poke ever since Kirk's report on it from Hawaii (and the great deal at Safeway) and when I saw the Spicy Tuna Salad on the menu for only$6.95, I wanted to try it. This is a HUGE serving, nicely very spicy served with picked veggies on top, lots of onions, radishes, pickled ginger and, more sliced limes and oranges…pretty and filling and tasty.

Then, since the place is called Yang Yang Sushi *and* BBQ…well, I thought we should try some BBQ…seems logical, right? hmmmm…The nice waitress told us they did not have Japanese BBQ beef available, but they did have some Korean BBQ beef…bulgogi..cool. I like that..in a bowl, fine. Price was the same ($5.95). Picture showed beef and some kind of salad on top of rice…

Oh, please, click on the photo and make it larger…words cannot describe how this was served, but I will try.

It was a good sized, heavy bowl of rice, covered with a lot of *excellent* bulgogi..and then there was some shredded cabbage, radishes, limes and then on top of that, yes..that party mix stuff, pretzels, croutons, cheese crackers, pieces of shredded cereal…and miniature marshmallows… yes, THAT mix…

I dunno. It did taste good, and I admit the flavors were nice, but I guess I need to get more creative in the kitchen next time.

I know I've told you to not be afraid to try someplace new…this wasn't scary..and it was quite interesting. Good food. An adventure.

Yang Yang Sushi and BBQ 1953 East Fourth Street (at Vineyard) Ontario, CA 91764 (909)948-9838 Tues-Sat 11 a.m-10 p.m.

Maui: Aloha Mixed Plate

November 7, 2006 mmm-yoso Maui, Plate Lunch, Travel

**** Aloha Mixed Plate has closed

Aloha Mixed Plate had been recommended by several people I know. The bad part is, that all those who recommended AMP had really not had a "good" plate lunch before. On the positive side, if it tastes good and is well prepared, it's still ono, right?

Aloha Mixed Plate is located right behind the Maui Cannery Mall on Front Street. At first we thought we'd grab a couple of Banh Mi at Ba-Le in the mall, but I must admit I kinda freaked out….Banh Mi was going for four bucks, each! Ouch. So we decided to give AMP a try.

After walking up the stairs to the dining area and having a seat…we waited, and waited…finally deciding that perhaps we should get a take-out order. We placed our order and after a short wait drove back to the condo.

The Furikake Garlic Fries($3.50):

These weren't bad, but fell short on flavor. I had thought this would be a really good combination, and I'm still sure it could be, but it would need to have more furikake and garlic.

The Missus ordered the "Chinese" Roast Duck(say what!!! – $6.95):

To be honest this is about "Chinese" (the menu didn't say Chinese-style or Local style Chinese, but Chinese) as anything that Paul Fleming "Chang" would cook up, with very little five spice flavoring. The duck was not bad, though. The portion size was pretty good, and the meat while a bit tough, had a decent duck flavor.

The "Alii" Plate($12.95), had Kalua Pork & Cabbage, Lau Lau……

Lomi Salmon, Poi, and Haupia:

First off the Kalua Pork was terrible…dry with no flavor. You can tell by the color, it was very bland. Tasted like boiled pork.

The Lau Lau on the other hand was not bad, even though it looked like it was steamed in foil. The pork had absorbed the flavor from the luau leaves, and was moist. No butterfish or salted fish in this version, and especially no piece of fatty pork, I think the Lau Lau was kept tame to not freak out any tourists.

The Lomi Lomi Salmon was not very good, much too fishy. Too much tomato, not enough onion, and lousy fish.

The poi was runny, and weak, but the Haupia, even though it really had a more pudding like texture tasted pretty good.

The one and only Aloha Mixed Plate($8.75), had Shoyu Chicken, Teriyaki Beef, and Grilled Mahi Mahi:

The Shoyu Chicken had a nice flavor, but was tough and very dry, same with the Beef. You could tell it was marinated with local-style teriyaki…not as sweet, and with hints of ginger. Much to my surprise, the Mahi Mahi(Dolphin-Fish/Dorado) was pretty good, with a nicely grilled crust, and very moist, and not hint of any off putting fishy flavor.

By Lahaina standards, the prices at AMP are pretty reasonable, though in our opinion not as good in taste and quality(it's cheaper, though) as Honokowai Okazuya & Deli .

Aloha Mixed Plate
1285 Front St
Lahaina, HI 96761

Da Nang Food to Go

November 6, 2006 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Vietnamese Restaurants

*** Da Nang Food to Go has closed

I'm not quite sure how many times I've passed this little restaurant on El Cajon Boulevard. And I've lost count of the times I've attempted to find parking within a reasonable distance to Da Nang Food to Go. This little restaurant has but 7 little parking stalls that is shared between 3 businesses, and maybe the few stalls in the parking lot of the 7-11 next door, and the curb out front is a no parking zone. So, each time we drove past Da Nang Restaurant, we'd always end up somewhere else…possibly Nhu Y, which is right up the street, or Thien Thanh. But there's a reason we've been pretty persistent about getting a meal here….just read the signs.

Yep, it says Banh Bot Loc, Banh Beo, and most of all Bun Bo Hue. A quick look at the map and you'll see that the city of Da Nang is located in Central Vietnam, South of Hue, and right smack dab on the South China Sea. Even more reason to try and grab a meal here.

We finally figured that we would need to eat there during the evening when the businesses around the restaurant were closed, and indeed on a recent Monday evening the entire parking lot(all 7 stalls) were empty. We felt like we hit the lottery! The interior of this little restaurant is….well quite small, and most of the business seems geared toward take out orders.

The menu at Da Nang Food to Go is small, and limited to mostly Central Vietnamese style dishes. Which for us is a good thing….it usually means a pretty darn good bowl of Bun Bo Hue.

We started with an order of Banh Bot Loc($3.00):

A plate of 8 plump and moist and sticky tapioca flour dumplings made it's way to our table…we could smell the freshly fried shallots, which started our stomachs rumbling. These Banh Bot Loc didn't have an abundance of the smokey, tea like flavor imparted by being wrapped and steamed in banana leaves for a long period of time, but each dumpling held a very tasty piece of shrimp, and a small piece of pork that was a bit less fatty and tough as is normal for Banh Bot Loc. The Nuoc Mam Cham, was slightly spicy and sweet, almost approaching the flavor of sweet chili sauce.

Our garnishes arrived as we were eating our Banh Bot Loc.

In this case mostly bean sprouts….

The Missus ordered Her latest favorite soup Bun Rieu($5.00):

This version of Bun Rieu had a very cloudy broth, with a pronounced sour flavor. It wasn't bad…just different. The noodles were the standard "Bun", the version a bit thinner than the noodles in Bun Bo Hue. The noodles were firm and a perfect al dente. The best thing about the soup was the very good fish cake, and the wonderfully flavored seafood "meatball". The fish cake had a wonderful flavor, and texture. Fried tofu topped everything off. We noticed that this version of Bun Rieu did not have as much tomato as other versions we've had. To sum it up, a not bad bowl of piping hot soup.

I of course had the Bun Bo Hue (no blood – $5.00):

As with the Bun Rieu, this slightly spicy broth was on the cloudy side, and the broth a bit more sour, and not as pungent than I'm used to. The noodles were good and firm. The slices of beef and tendon were okay, on the tough and dry side, and the Pork Hock was most skin. What made this bowl of Bun Bo Hue stand out was the Gio Lua (lean sausage), it had a very strong smokey fragrance, the large pieces of black pepper added a nice zip, and the flavor of the sausage was also a bit more "porky-meaty" than what I'm used too. The dark color also made it a bit unique.

We found out that Da Nang, as many restaurants do, makes their own Gio Lua. In fact, as we ate three people came in to buy the Gio Lua…who knows, I may drop by and pick up one of these banana leaf-wrapped, meat-paste product myself……

Though in our opinion the Bun Bo Hue and Bun Rieu at Da Nang is not as good as Mein Trung, I'd still give it a try again….and order something else like the Bun Mit Thit Ba Roi(Vermicelli with Pork and Jackfruit), or the Bun Mang Vit(Vermicelli, Bamboo shoot and Duck soup), or the Mi Quang, or…….after all, I'm guessing you all are getting pretty tired of my obsession with Bun Bo Hue by now!

Da Nang Food to Go (aka Quan an Da Nang)
4745 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115