May 2007 – Page 2

Wired Bistro-another (good)French Cafe

May 20, 2007 Cathy European Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Wired has closed.

mmm-yoso is the blog and Cathy is writing today. Kirk is on vacation.

Hello, again and welcome back. The Mister and I decided to "slum" our way out of Santee and visit the UTC area of town yesterday and enjoy lunch where we have enjoyed lunch many times- at Wired Bistro- but this time, with camera in tow.

I was introduced to Wired by a friend, Miss C, last year when we couldn't decide where to meet for lunch. It is in the Renaissance Mall, just southeast of the UTC Mall. I had visited this mall, but had only gone to the Rubio's here. Wired is one of quite a few restaurants here. It has become a 'regular' spot for me when I dine alone.

It is basically French Bistro style, serving in house baked goods all day and omelettes and bagels for breakfast , crepes, quiches, baguette and panini sandwiches, all sorts of cafe beverages and a daily wine bar serving tapas along with on Friday nights, having a wine tasting of a large selection of French and Spanish wines.

Here is the menu:

I must say I wish I had a camera every time I have been here, because everything is just pretty when they bring it to your table.

This time, I decided to try just the soup and quiche combo ($7.50) primarily because the soup of the day was tomato basil bisque, and I have had it before and crave it every so often. made with fresh tomatoes, light cream and basil, topped with lightly toasted fococcia (herbed) croutons. it was, as always, delightful.

For the quiche, you can chose one of usually four offered per day. I chose the spinach mushroom.

Usually, during the week, I get a wedge of quiche. This time it was a small, individual quiche, which was nice. Made with a puff pastry crust and filled with a *very* nice custard and cheese filling, fresh spinach and flavorful mushrooms. The garnishes vary and this time, as you can see it was shredded carrots with some bean sprouts. Different, but colorful.

The Mister decided on a panini- the one made with roast beef, roasted eggplant and cheese ($7.95). Neither of us had ever had this one before. It is the first time we were disappointed in anything here.

The bread was excellent, as are all of the pastry/baked items. The roast beef, although plentiful and tomatoes, sliced nice and thick basically had no flavor. The cheese and eggplant relish were wonderful. It isn't anything that would make me not want to go back, it was just not as exciting as we had expected it to be. It was served with a small salad in the center, topped with a very nice house vinaigrette.

Knowing I would be blogging, well, we had to order a dessert. It was late afternoon and quite a few of the pastries were gone and, well, The Mister had a craving- so we got the Nutella crepe ($4.00).

Two freshly made crepes, stuffed with Nutella (a spread that is half hazelnut butter and half chocolate butter) and topped with real whipped cream. Of course this needed a cup of coffee ($1.50), French roast- wonderfully fresh- and we had a nice respite.

During the week, or on Fridays at 6, when the wine bar tastings start, the Tapas menu is perfect. The $9 cheese and fruit plate or the $9 antipasto plate is a meal for me. If you are at the UTC mall, just leave the Sears parking lot and go south through the one light and the Renaissance Mall is there on your left-you'll see the Rubio's.

Wired Bistro Wine Bar 8935 Town Centre Drive, Suite 110 San Diego 92122 (858)450-0880 Daily 6 a.m.-10 p.m. (closes Sundays at 8p.m.)

Cafe 67-Great, plentiful food at the end of the freeway!

May 19, 2007 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is the blog and you are looking at it. Today’s information is provided by Cathy. Kirk is on vacation.

Hello,again. Cathy here. I was talking with a friend, Mrs. L, who told me I had to try this place, located at the end of Highway 67. I was trying to think to myself ‘where does a Highway end?’…and it occurred to me that on Highway 67 in Lakeside, once you hit Mapleview Street with the Rodeo on the Northeast corner, there is a traffic signal. The Highway does indeed end, goes down to one lane for a while and then vacillates from one to two lanes up to and through Ramona and to Julian and it is all called 67. So, indeed, Highways do stop being Highways at some point.

I had seen the sign in front of the old Pernicano’s, on that Southwest corner of Mapleview at 67, one day in February and had made a mental note that I should try it out one day, when I was in the area again. I did pass it a few more times, but always was alone and not overly hungry, and it kind of looks a little too new and gimmicky and I didn’t want to go inside alone to eat. So I waited. Then Mrs. L told me about *how* good it was, and that we should go there one day, soon. She even gave me a paper menu she had taken from the restaurant (she did not know I did this blog, which made her recommendation make me take note). Well, first thing I noticed is that the entire menu is available "To Go". Shoot me now. Then I noticed they are only open from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.. Hmmm…limited cuisine. I like that.

So, this past Saturday, The Mister and I decided to head East, to the Santee Swap Meet, instead of west and Kobey’s Swap Meet. Of course, we were hungry and wanted breakfast. I decided to try the basic:

One poached egg, Monterey potatoes(shredded potatoes with Jack cheese and herbs), bacon and rye toast with coffee, of course. ($5.50)

The bread was a nice, thick marble rye- I imagine the one they use to make the lunch sandwiches. The bacon was thick and crispy, the way I like it. The egg was poached and still runny with a very fresh orange colored yolk …and, wow! those Monterey potatoes. I have had the pre-made reheated, Sysco’d Monterey cakes and I like them. These were made from freshly shredded potatoes, had evenly dispersed shredded Monterey Jack cheese and the herbs were a nice blend; perhaps Herbes De Provence, but I am not certain.

The Mister could not decide, and got "The Works" Omelet ($7.75) with the home fried potatoes (That is almost half a plate of red skinned potato quarters, topped with cheese) and a biscuit, served with either country gravy or honey.

The omelet was made with at least three eggs, filled with ham, bacon and sausage, bell peppers, tomatoes, onions and cheese (The Mister asked for no onions and it was no problem). The bacon and ham were nice and thick and cut into nice sized pieces and the breakfast sausage was crumbled and excellent. The home fried potatoes were superb. Prepared simply and were so fresh tasting and wonderful, especially with that cheese. That biscuit- oh my!. Definitely made from scratch, shortening based, baking powder. Wonderful, light, large and if I do say so, perfect!

This place seems to always be busy yet service is great, attentive and fast. I have seen buses stop here on weekdays; some sort of regular, local tour group it seems to be. There is a larger side room and I saw that the Local Rotary Club meets here also.

The only downside- I confess, I am a coffee snob. It was fresh coffee, but either Folgers or Farmer John brand and I just don’t like the flavor. It was served with real half and half though, in those cool coffee cups. That kind of made up for it all.

We saw several tables getting lunch menu items, sandwiches in particular which were *huge* and looked really good. If made with the same bread I had for toast, they were a good size and at minimum, great bread. From what I have heard, everything here is good, and I believe it. Thanks for telling me to try this, Mrs. L! If you happen to be in Lakeside,or just traveling through it, on 67, do stop in. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Cafe 67 12381 Mapleview at Highway 67 Lakeside, CA 92040 (619) 443-4100 Open daily 6 a.m.-3 p.m.

Starbucks Sandwiches- hmmm

May 17, 2007 Cathy What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso never goes on vacation. One of us is blogging at one point or another. This time, its Cathy. Kirk is somewhere, documenting for a future post,while saying he is on vacation.

Hi. Me again. Kirk isn’t around. If you live in San Diego County, you have no doubt seen in most, but not all, Starbucks locations a small yellow 3/4 circle on some of the pastry that have the words "try it warm!" and then maybe notice the small or large placard mentioning the breakfast sandwiches.

Most of the stores were retrofitted with ovens earlier this year, and the quest for serving warmed pastries and toasted sandwiches to patrons, rather than seeing them walk out and toward a bagel/bakery place, which all seem strategically placed close to every single Starbucks in the county.

So, the sandwiches. Limited and basically the same one with different toppings. I decided to try the Eggs Florentine…three times.

The bread for all of them is an English muffin, which is toasted, and topped with egg, cheese, some kind of creamy sauce and some fresh spinach leaves.

The ‘sauce’ definitely has garlic in it.

The first sandwich I got, I took home and it "aged" in the car as I drove about 18 minutes and it tasted *really* good. The bread was only a little soggy, the egg was OK, nothing bad or good about it; a cooked egg, the Havarti cheese was extremely nice for breakfast and the spinach leaves were tasty. The second sandwich I got I ate hot and the sauce was kind of weird. This is a photo of the third sandwich and it seemed to be a combination of the first two- not bad but not great. I liked the cheese and crispiness of the toasted bread as well as the fresh spinach. The egg had not much flavor. It’s the melted sauce. Kind of on the edge of sour/bitter. It is described as a ‘creamy herb spread’ and maybe it wasn’t melted or something. It isn’t bad, but if it is allowed to "age" it tasted better than eating it as soon as it is served.

All three sandwiches were purchased at different locations, but I think we all pretty much know how much Starbucks strives to be uniform throughout its system. There should not have been a variance. I think the ‘freshness factor’ was part of it.

I went to yet another Starbucks in late afternoon, saw it had the toaster oven thingy and asked if I could try the ham and egg sandwich. I had no craving for low fat turkey bacon, peppered bacon or sausage that late in the day. (Actually, I never crave low fat anything, or peppered anything at any time of the day). They will make you a sandwich whenever, I have seen a few signs just advertising about warmed sandwiches and not calling them ‘breakfast’ any more. There are no rules. let the California Egg Board push their product all day long! Eggs- not just for breakfast anymore!…(sorry, digression again). The nice young man brought out my sandwich on a "for here" plate, since I was eating in the store and also I had asked for a "for here" cup for my coffee. You can see in the photo above that I had a "for here" cup for the coffee, but a "to go" sandwich.

Here, the photo of the innards of the sandwich show the delightful experience I was about to have…aged cheddar cheese and a lot of wonderfully flavored black forest ham. Having it freshly made, still hot…and that little bit of aged cheddar that melted out and crisped onto the bottom of the plate made it oh so perfect!

As I understand it, there are a limited number of sandwiches available a day. So, this means they will always be fresh and not day old. The eggs are apparently pre-made and so are only reheated. They do have a pre-wrapped pack of fork/knife/napkin/salt and pepper available in case the flavor from the cheese and meats or sauce isn’t quite flavorful enough for you.

The other flavors are a classic sausage with aged cheddar,a peppered bacon, also with aged cheddar and a low fat turkey bacon with a cholesterol free egg and reduced fat white cheddar cheese on a multi grain English muffin (all the others are on regular, white toasted English muffins). The sandwiches are good and made when you order. Its a nice change and I like not having to smuggle in my Carl’s Jr. Breakfast Burger into the store, making an extra stop before my fresh Cup o’ Joe.

Starbucks, too many locations to list. Some have the breakfast sandwiches, which you can order all day long, some don’t. Hours vary. All are open by 6:00 a.m. in San Diego.

Mediterranean Cafe on Washington Street-walk on in!

May 16, 2007 Cathy Mediterranean Restaurants, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is the blog. It’s Cathy’s turn today. Kirk is on vacation.

Hi, it’s me again. The Mister and I were driving about Little Italy about noon on Saturday because we so enjoy trying to find a parking space and then walking many blocks. We did not feel like waiting in lines with lots of tourists, but were hungry and decided to head up Washington Street and probably going for a slice of pizza. Bronx Pizza is really close by.

Being the ever vigilant blogger, I knew that Bronx would kind of be a redundant post; a ‘wasted meal’ in a sense, and that it would probably just provide fodder for the vocal anti-Bronx crowd out there. The Mister and I both like it, and that is that. It is good pizza.

Ah, where have we also gone that we liked but I have not yet blogged about? Oh sure, Kirk did, but like a long time ago, in September of 2005. Kitty corner from Bronx-

Mediterranean Cafe! Yes, we went here about 2 years ago, -when the line for Bronx was out the door- and we *really* liked it. Besides, I sort of wanted some sort of greens and Bronx is only pizza.

Here is the menu. Pretty much standard Mediterranean fare, with a lot of vegetarian options.

There are nine small tables inside. It seems most people were getting "To Go" orders, although at all times there were at least two tables with ‘eat in’ people, even at 2 p.m. on a Saturday. You can walk up and order and pay, or sit at a table and someone will take your order and bring the food out to you.

I wanted to try the Gyros and hummus combo plate ($8.75).

Gyros, hot pita, a lot of mixed greens salad with shredded carrot, tomato, olives, feta.

In store made fresh hummus. Herbed rice (the herb was dill) with green beans mixed in. (Option of rice, fries or more salad was given). The rice is not the sticky kind, but was fresh and tasty.

The gyros meat was plentiful and good. Not the best I have ever had, but not bad. The hummus was wonderful. The side of tzatziki was also fresh and nicely sour. You make your own salad dressing with the condiments provided on the table.

The Mister, still craving pizza, tried the Cheese pizza, small (8 inch) served with a side of Greek salad ($5.95).

This was a *lot* of cheese, melted properly (i.e., some burned cheese)on top of a pocketless pita and had a mild tomato/garlic/olive oil sauce. Wow! It was heavy with cheese and we can only imagine how much they put on top of the ‘large’ (11 inch) pita bread. Excellent.

Even though we weren’t that hungry, I was curious about the sign "we proudly make our own Key Lime Pie" at the counter and decided we must try a slice.

Wow, again. Real whipped cream topping-not from a can- and the lime flavor was subtle, not sweet, texture creamy and the crust was a good crispy graham cracker crust. Definitely home made. It costs $2.50 a slice or $18 for the whole pie. Once again, I strongly urge everyone to be certain to have their children study math. {This slice is not 1/8 or even 1/7 of the whole pie-the profit margin on the whole versus sliced pie is quite high}{This phenomenon shall hereafter be dubbed the "inverse Costco effect": thanks, Hao}

I am thinking that it is even busier in here during the week, with this great deal on sandwiches that is available. (click and it will enlarge) I am trying to think of how I would be able to have the tzatziki sauce on a sandwich with any of those meats, but suppose I could just do a cheese sandwich and all the veggies and then it would work.

Anyhow, try this place; it’s been in the same location for a long time and it’s good.

Mediterranean Cafe 112 West Washington (corner of 1st and Washington) San Diego 92102 (619)98-7738 Fax (619) 298-7739

“Dude, Like Where’s All the Asian Food….”

May 15, 2007 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Dim Sum, Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants, yoso-silly

So sayeth an email I received yesterday. You gotta love those emails…… Funny thing is, the writer of the email is correct; just by coincidence it does seem that Cathy and I have done a little role-reversal! I've been doing burgers and tacos, and Cathy has been doing Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino food! How odd……

I'd just like to say, that the Missus and I are still eating up a storm, and I've got the photographic evidence to prove it. These are all revisits, so I won't bore you…I'll keep the writing to a minimum. So let's get started, shall we.

Dim Sum at China Max:

I've done posts on the Dim Sum at China Max before, just like to say, that on this visit the Dim Sum was not quite as good. As noted before, Dim Sum here is served "menu style".

The filling for the Sharkfin Dumplings was on the tough side, and the sides of the wrappers were soft and mushy, probably due to improper steaming.

The Pan Fried Shrimp and Chive Dumplings were probably the best items we had.

The contrast between the crunchy fried portion and the chewy pull of the remainder of the wrapper was excellent.

The filling of Shrimp Dumplings were fine, but the wrapper was tough and dry.

The Dried Shrimp Cheong Fun tasted a bit "off", and overly fishy, like the dried shrimp wasn't prepared properly.

We ended with simple Soy Sauce Noodles, one of my childhood favorites.

No complaints about this…so simple, but so good…..

My previous posts on China Max can be found here, here, and here. I'm pretty sure that this is just a little blip on the radar screen.

I'd also like to dedicate this post to Captain Jack, for only reasons he knows…..

China Max
4698 Convoy Street
San Diego, CA 92111

Palabok from Tita's Kitchenette:

This Missus had a craving for some Pancit Palabok, those wonderful seafood flavored noodles. Tita's Kitchenette makes Her favorite version, so I picked some up on a recent morning.

I'm not quite sure what happened, but these tasted really "flat", lacking any flavor. I dunno, any ideas?

Tita's Kitchenette
2720 East Plaza Boulevard
National City, CA 91950

Pho Dac Biet and Hu Tieu from Lucky Pho:

Every once in a while I need to recheck and verify…so when we were in the Mira Mesa area recently, I decided to grab a bowl of Pho from Lucky Pho. And I was again reminded of why I really enjoy the Pho here.

It's mostly about the broth, which is to my taste with hints of different herbs and seasonings. The Missus, not a big fan of Pho even had a taste, and said it was pretty good.

She ordered the Seafood Hu Tieu(Rice Noodles)

Nothing to write home about, really……..

My previous post on Lucky Pho can be found here. Along with a Pho retrospective.

Lucky Pho' in Lucky Seafood Supermarket
9326 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

A Quick Meal at Luong Hai Ky:

**** This location of LHK has closed

On this visit, I had the Missus in tow. I wanted Her to try the Won Ton and Dumpling Soup.

She enjoyed the broth, and agreed with me, that there was a hint of seafood flavor in it, though it's always been denied when I ask.

I tried out the Beef Sate Noodle Soup, and really didn't think much of it.

Nice bit of spice, but very weak in flavor overall. I rather have the version at Tan Ky Mi Gia. Still, as with most of these Vietnamese-Chinese Noodle Soup restaurants, the prices are very reasonable.

Here's my previous post on Luong Hai Ky.

Luong Hai Ky Restaurant
4633 Convoy St Ste 107
San Diego, CA 92111

You Gotta Love Filipino Parties!

A few months back we attended a party at a friend's house. It was a combination Birthday(two of us) and House Warming, Karaoke party. You can imagine the fun.

Here are some photos I took.

We brought a combination tray from Da' Kitchen half Teriyaki Chicken, half Korean Chicken.

Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings are required at these types of parties. Though this one was not from Royal Mandarin, Golden Chopsticks, or Mandarin Canton. Of course any Salt and Pepper chicken wing aficionado could tell you this by just looking at those wings.

Where is it from….stay tuned!!!

Of course you need Lumpia:

The Missus's favorite, Filipino style Empanadas. She enjoys these the best. She ate at least 5 of them….

And you must have Pancit Bihon.

There was much more food, but about that time it was my turn to sing my really, really, bad version of Love Potion Number 9. And after that, I totally forgot to take any more photos…..but you get the picture, right?

Last, but not least:

Here's something that will warm the coldest pork lover's heart:

What is it? It's a dish called Golden City Roast Pork($10.95), and it's made with Pork Belly. How can you resist?

I think I already have too many posts on Golden City, so I'll stop here.

So to answer your question Eric; "Dude, all that Asian food is like in my stomach!" LOL!

One final item(I promise). We'll be off on vacation for a few days, trying to complete our aborted vacation, I hope we make it this time. I may pop in, for a bit, but otherwise mmm-yoso is in the fine hands of our favorite "Chee-Fee" eater, Cathy. See you in a week or so!

Tacos El Gordo DE Tijuana B.C.

May 14, 2007 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

On a recent post "Dee" mentioned Tacos El Gordo, and damned if I didn’t forget about the place. So on a recent trip to Hogetsu Bakery, I managed to talk the Missus, a recent taco convert into some tacos from Tacos El Gordo. I’ll usually "hit" the H street location of ‘TEG’, since it’s right off the I-5.

Little had changed at TEG over the last few years; I believe that prices had gone up a dime. But over the last two years, much has changed in the mmm-yoso household…with regards to tacos. Where before, I’d only order the Carne Asada…and if I were feeling really brave, perhaps the Adobada(Al Pastor), nowadays, it was a whole different story. We now order the stuff that’s boiling away in the cauldrons behind the counter.

We didn’t give the Asada a glance…..we had moved on…aaah, how fickle the mind of the Asian Taco lover is! And no Sesos(Beef Brain) today…bummer!

Though we did give in to the temptation of the Trompo.

The drill is simple you order your tacos, and take it over to the cashier stand along with any drinks, she checks out your tacos(keep it clean guys), and you pay. And enter taco nirvana. We ordered all of our tacos with "everything".

The Lengua(Beef Tongue – $2) was nice and tender, though a bit smothered in Salsa Verde. It was a bit on the mild, rather than "wild" side as far as lengua was concerned. It was still quite good.

My usual favorite, Cabeza(Beef head/cheek – $1.75), was good, beefy in flavor, and very soft. Not the best I’ve had, but quite good.

I have not had Suadero before, when the Missus stepped up to the counter and asked the Gentleman what suadero was, he raised his bent arm perpendicular to his body, and moved it up and down. I told the Missus, "I know what it is…it’s meat from the wings of a cow!" She was not amused, but brightened considerably when handed a generous sample. The suardero, in this case beef shoulder, had been cooked for a long time, it had a nice rich beef flavor, and I kinda thought of it as "beef carnitas".

The favorite of the day was the Adobada(Al Pastor). Cut fresh from the trompo(verticle spit), the pork had a mild spiciness, with a hint of sweetness. The meat was slightly chewy while still moist. The Missus is not a big fan of "white sauce" on Her tacos, but loved this version as it complemented, not overpowered the tacos, by slightly buffering the spice, and balancing out the flavor.

You may wonder "why only 4 tacos?" But this stuff is quite rich, and we felt satisfied sharing the four tacos. We saw two pretty hefty guys eating six tacos each…..I’m sure that they’d be ready for a nap soon after lunch.

So the next time you’re in the mood for some Cabeza……..

Tacos El Gordo De Tijuana
689 H St
Chula Vista, CA 91910

And other locations…..

Mandarin China- The first place I ever had “chee fee”

May 13, 2007 Cathy Chinese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!, yoso-silly

mmm-yoso is the name of the blog. Kirk and Cathy and other friends write about food they ate. That's all it is. Today, it's Cathy's turn.

Me again. Thanks for stopping by. The Mister and I were once again driving around wasting fuel and being hungry while running some errands and fondly remembered an incident many, many years ago. It was our first Dim Sum experience. Suddenly, there we were on West Point Loma Boulevard, looking at the place. It has been there since 1980 and still doing a brisk business, including a *lot* of take out.

It was a Sunday and they were only doing to order Dim Sum- no carts rolling around, and we looked at the menu

and decided to re-live our early-early dating days back in Ann Arbor and try some favorites.

Well, there it was-Shrimp Toast, 3 pieces ($4.95). There is just something about a layer of chopped shrimp on top of a piece of crustless white bread, thickly coated with sesame seeds and deep fried that brings back so many memories. The plum sauce served with was extremely good with pieces of plum and just a hint of heat. Hot mustard in jars were on the table and that added to the flavors.

Of course, more of the memory was helped along by using forks and not chopsticks to eat our food…

We decided to try stuff we knew we should like, again sticking with the original dating experience. Ma Pu tofu (7.95)

This was the most home made Pa Pu (or Mabo, as most of us know it) we have ever had- twice cooked pork slices (not ground pork , as we usually get) sauteed with mushrooms, water chestnuts, onions and scallions in a great sauce that has a good kick of heat to it. The tofu was soft and flavorful also. We were very pleased with this choice.

I decided to try the pan fried home style noodles with BBQ pork ($7.95). The pork was not outstanding (could have had more fat marbled in it) but it was sliced into nice, thick chunks and the seasoning on it was good. It was served with a good variety of vegetables-more fresh mushrooms, carrots, water chestnuts onions and green onion tops. The accompanying sauce was great; totally different than that on the Ma Pu. Those noodles were outstanding! Nicely firm and then sauteed to a gentle crispness. Extremely satisfying.

At the end we got our bill and fortune cookies that were not wrapped a la Smart N Final. The cookies were nice and fresh, there was no charge for the very tasty Chinese Restaurant Tea flavored tea and our fortunes merely told us things we already knew:

You set your sights high and enjoy striving for the best things in life.

Age is a matter of feelings and not years.

Mandarin China 4110 West Point Loma Boulevard San Diego 92110 (619)222-6688 Sun-Th 11 am-10 p.m. Fri and Sat 11 a.m.-11 p.m.

Ah, the rest of the story. The Mister was getting ready to leave on a lengthy (more than 6 month duration ) cruise with the Navy and we met another couple here for dinner- the husband would end up being a roommate with mine and His wife was pregnant with their first child. We all were adventurous and wanted to try this 'new' phenomenon called Dim Sum. (This was a *long* time ago).We were happily ordering just about everything that came by from the nice ladies who had strong accents. One lady showed us something and I said "oh yes!" She said it was "chee fee". It had a red sauce on it. "Chee fee", she repeated and I said, yes. She pointed at something else on the cart that had no sauce and I said "no, I want that". She repeated "chee fee" a few more times and I was starting to get irritated. I insisted. There were four pieces, so each of us took one. I kept looking at it on the small plate in front of me, turning it over and trying to figure out what it was. It wasn't in a bun or steamed in a wrapper. It was something. As I put it in my mouth, I quickly spit it out, screaming " chicken feet! she was telling us it's chicken feet"… we kind of all simultaneously spit out the bony stuff back onto our plates, began laughing hysterically, and then went back and ate them. It was terribly tedious and not that tasty. The sauce wasn't even hot or spicy.

Lucky Buck’s

May 11, 2007 mmm-yoso Burgers

*** Lucky Buck's has closed

Recently, I had the pleasure of having lunch with my friend JackB, whom I hadn't seen or heard from in a while. I asked him if he had any suggestions for grabbing lunch, and he said "why don't we try a burger at Lucky Buck's". My reply, "say what? Uncle Buck's?" "No Lucky Buck's." And since I just can't resist a stupid pun I asked "well, where the buck is it located?" I was amused to find out it was pretty much right under my nose in Hillcrest, right next to Ichiban, and I hadn't even noticed!

I met Jack right outside the very empty restaurant, and we walked in while still trying to catch up on a few things….like "what the buck have you been up too?"

First off, I really liked colors and how the restaurant was designed.

Now I don't watch all those home improvement or design shows, so I really can't articulate the restaurant decor, other than to say….perhaps Industrial meets Art Gallery?

Lucky Buck's menu consists of burgers, burritos, and sandwiches, and various combinations of those items. As you can clearly see on the very colorful and "busy" menu.

Since I was here for a burger, I decided to have one of the burger 1/2 pound burger combos. I always like a good ol' regular burger so I can gauge just how good the burger is. I found out JackB is the same as well. We both got the "Plain Ol' Buck" ($7.59). I was asked how I wanted my burger, and happily exclaimed "medium"….now a good burger done medium, well there a few things better! Another thing I liked was the choice of "bun", you can get Onion, Sesame, or Wheat….hey, maybe this was my lucky day…..

While our burger was being Char Broiled, I had a chance to check out the condiment table, which included something called Buck's Special Chipotle Sauce.

I managed to get a taste of the "Special Sauce", and well, it wasn't anything special…..

BTW, in case you have the misconception that this is fast food, read the sign on the right. Our food did take a while, though I don't think it was more than 15 minutes or so.

Our burgers and waffle cut fries did look really yummy:

And the burger looked really nicely char broiled, with an interesting almost slightly red lacquered color. With some onion, lettuce, and tomato from the condiment bar, I was ready to jump in.

This is where my "luck" ran out. The burger had been over cooked(I guess asking me how I wanted it done is just a formality?).

JackB had bitten into his burger at the same time, and looked at me and said, "this is pretty dry and grainy." My thoughts exactly. Which was too bad, because the flavor of the burger wasn't too bad…there was a hint of "something" there, perhaps some chipotle? The burger also had a pretty good char broiled flavor.

I think there were some timing issues with the waffle cut fries, which ended up being a bit soft and soggy by the time we got them.

That's too bad, because these seasoned waffle cut fries had a good flavor, and must be pretty good when hot.

And that's kinda how we left it…….after a nice "talk story", JackB said something that stuck with me. "You know, this place has some potential…." Which had me thinking, maybe this wasn't my "lucky" day. Sooooo, a few days later, I decided to give Lucky Buck's another try.

I was going to have another "Plain ol' Buck", but decided it would be kinda boring…so I went went for the "Bleu Buck" Combo ($7.59). I don't recall how much my soda was, but the total was over 10 (lucky) bucks. Again, I was asked how I wanted my burger…and my answer was? "Medium", of course. After a short wait in the empty restaurant, my name was called out…which was kinda funny, since I was the only person in the place.

After grabbing some tomato and onion from the condiment bar, I sliced my burger in half, and you see the result below. Still not "medium"(why even bother asking me – and it ain't carry over cooking since it took me 15 seconds to get from the counter to the table, and cut my burger in half), but nice and juicy. Since my bacon was undercooked and the bleu cheese really didn't bleu me away, I wished that this was the plain "burger" I got on my last visit(sans the cheese and bacon). I noticed that the burger was being basted with some liquid while being grilled, which accounted for the nice lacquered exterior, and perhaps some of that "chili" flavor?

Nice burger. Good, but not great…but I'd have it again.

The seasoned waffle cut fries on this visit were hot and crisp. If you like waffle cut fries, you'll be in "luck". I received a very large amount of fries on this visit, and try as I might, I couldn't finish them off.

I found the service at Lucky Buck's to be a detached-professional. Sort of like they really don't care if you eat there or not, but that could be because it was lunch. There are several beers on tap, and margarita specials. The current lunch special consists of a 1/3lb Burger, Fries, and small drink for $6.95. Not a bad deal at all. We'll see how my "luck" holds out on my next visit……..

Lucky Buck's
1459 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92103

Chow King- Great Filipino Fast Food in San Diego

May 9, 2007 Cathy Chains, Chinese Restaurants, Filipino Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog. I am one writer of the blog. I am Cathy and I am *so* Caucasian as is The Mister. Kirk and His Missus are Asian; they can describe stuff better than I can, but still, I know what I like. Here goes!

Hello one more time. Chow King is the #1 Oriental Fast Food chain in the Philippines. It has been around since 1985 and in 2000, became a wholly owned subsidiary of Jolibee, the *other* major fast food chain in the Philippines. In fact if you Google "Chow King" The first things that pop up are the Chow King website, Wikipedia with a description of Chow King and Jolibee.

Of course, being as Caucasian as I am, I had not heard of Chow King before seeing it in front of Seafood City.

So, it is fast food. Bright, happy, formica’d tables and chairs and a nice menu above the cash registers.

Here is a take home menu you can use to phone in an order so you can just walk in a pick up.

We decided to try a bit of everything basic. The Mister tried the "personal size" beef noodle soup with a pork Siopao. ($5.25)

The noodles were eggy and not overcooked; the beef was tender, had some fat on it (which we like) as in stew meat ; the broth was rich and very nice, and the vegetables were put in at the end, so were still crispy fresh/not mushy.

The Si0pao was:1. Huge and B) tasted fresh with lots of shredded pork on the inside. I forgot to take a photo of the cross section. It was not a skimpy fill at all. A nice, slightly peppery (not very sweet) sauce came with the bun and complimented the flavors, but was not necessary.

There were some large ads by the cash register for a new "hot" beverage- a Taho- ($2.99 for a "classic"- I had ube added for another 25¢). I thought when I saw "new" and "hot" it just meant a neat drink. It was a hot drink- hot soy, with boba on top and sweet ube on the bottom. It was really nice and I got my soy fix for the day. Yes, I said "hot" and "boba" in the same sentence; we will explore the entire concept of boba in a later post.

Anyhow..so I wanted to try the fried chicken, called "Mandarin fried chicken". Just a two piece box, with rice and a choice of sides( Bihon, Canton {egg noodles}, egg roll or pot sticker) I wanted to see how the Bihon (rice stick noodles) were prepared here. ($4.95)

Oh my- that fried chicken is great!. A light batter, crispy with mild spices, the chicken meat has such flavor and is moist. If this place was closer to home, I would be buying the ‘party pack’ every chance I got, and eating it in the car on the way home (and I drive a manual transmissioned car, which would not be a good thing). The rice was good, the Bihon was fresh and good with several small shrimp in it- a nice surprise. This two piece meal was quite filling.

A lot is offered in "party pack" or "value pack" sizes, which say they are good for up to eight persons. There is also a Breakfast menu- part of which is only available from 7-11 a.m., but another part which is available all day ( I know Dale was talking about longanisa at a good price in a note to Kirk the other day- the all day Kings Breakfast for $4.75 includes 2 main items, plus scrambled eggs, plus rice and longanisa and boneless bangus {milkfish}).

The Mister and I decided to splurge and see what the Halo Halo here was like for our dessert.

Excellent- only $3.25 and made with crushed ice, ice cream, a nice blend of canned sweet beans, canned fruit, coconut gel and what seemed to be toasted rice. It was one of the better Halo Halo’s I have had.

All in all, I was surprised at how fresh and non-Sysco’d the food was, even though it must be in some way standardized. I know there is a Jolibee just down the way, also on Mira Mesa Boulevard and another set of Jolibee/Chow King restaurants in National City {both are on East Plaza Boulevard}, so I would imagine the supply truck hits all of them with the same or similar stuff regularly.

The Mister and I were the only Caucasian people in the restaurant and, even though it was a busy Sunday, the Manager came by several times to ask us if we had any questions and was extremely friendly and helpful as was the Gentleman who took our order at the register. It was a very enjoyable experience, with food, that did not seem to be fast food at all.

Chow King 8955 Mira Mesa Boulevard (right next to, with a door into Seafood City) San Diego 92126 (858) 653-4977 Open 7 a.m.-9 p.m. 7 days Click here for website.

Suzuya Japanese BBQ – A Revisit

May 8, 2007 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants

*** Suzuya has closed

The Missus has been on a roll lately, on a Yakiniku/Korean BBQ roll to be precise. So after a very nice meal at Tsuruhashi, the Missus decided that She was ready for Suzuya….just for comparisons sake, of course! This was great for me, since I'd enjoyed my previous lunches at Suzuya, I was looking forward to trying out the dinner menu. We arrived at about 7pm on a recent Tuesday to find Suzuya completely empty.

I liked the way Suzuya is designed, with nice spacing between tables, and a understated but classy set- up for an Asian BBQ joint. Now there is one specific item that sets Suzuya apart from Tsuruhashi, and that would be that Suzuya serves Shabu-Shabu(Japanese style Hot Pot). Now the Missus was pretty excited at the prospect of having some Shabu-Shabu, it's one of Her favorite styles of eating, and frankly, it had been a while. The bummer was that on the placard it says "Two order minimum", which it would seem would blow the possibility of having a combo Yakiniku/Shabu Shabu dinner out of the water. And this requirement kinda made sense since the table had only one brazier on it. So we mentioned this to the nice young man waiting on us, who said, "just one minute", and walked to the kitchen area. He came back in a minute and said that since the restaurant was empty, they'd make an exception, and charge us slightly more. We had no problem with that, in fact we were really pleased with the service.

Soon enough the dipping sauces for the Shabu-Shabu arrived.

The condiments were the standard "Gomatare"(sesame dipping sauce) which in this case was a combination miso and sesame dipping sauce and lemon based Ponzu. also provided was a rustic type of Momiji Oroshi(usually grated daikon and chili), which in this case was grated daikon and togarashi, and thinly sliced green onions.

Soon enough a pot of water with some Kombu(kelp) arrived and placed on the burner.

Notice a problem with the photo? Well, Kombu should NEVER be boiled, as it will add a bitter flavor to the liquid. I just had to remove it.

Soon enough all of the "stuff" started arriving…..remember, this is for one order of Shabu Shabu. First the thinly sliced Rib Eye.

Well marbled meant a very moist and tender meat when briefly submerged in the liquid.

A nice generous helping of Napa Cabbage, Shingiku(Garland Chrysanthemum), Shiitake Mushroom, Tofu, Gyoza(dumplings), Onion, Carrot, and Udon. The shingiku was very fresh and had a nice flavor. The Missus enjoyed the Udon the most, as it had a nice, mildly chewy, pull to it.

This was a nice start to the meal….in fact it almost felt like enough food for the whole meal! As soon as we were done, everything was whisked away and the cooking surface placed on top of the flame, and we were ready for the Yakiniku portion of the meal.

The sauces provided for the Yakiniku was a Aka(red) miso based sauce, that had a nice sweet-miso flavor, and the standard ponzu sauce.

We started with Beef Tongue, which has become the Missus's favorite.

This however, was not the best version of tongue we've had. It was very tough, and was a bit off in terms of flavor.

The Mixed Vegetables.

Everything was as good as veggies should be. Being the carb lover, I enjoyed the boiled potatoes after they'd been grilled for a while. The Shiitakes also were excellent, but overall, I felt that I could make this at home.

The "Prime" Rib Eye:

Unfortunately, in this case the picture doesn't lie…you can draw your own conclusions……

The Mixed Seafood.

Not very impressive, especially after having the Mixed Seafood at Tsuruhashi. Everything was fine, and the scallops were good, though not sashimi grade. The shrimp looked and tasted like regular black tiger shrimp.

In the end, we were left scratching our head. I mean the service was so nice and accommodating, and we enjoyed the very relaxed atmosphere….maybe due to the fact that we were the only people in the restaurant. The Shabu-Shabu was good, but the Yakiniku fell a bit short.

We so wanted this meal to be great, since we really like this restaurant….

So how about price? In keeping with the Tsuruhashi post, I decided to wait till the end to summarize everything.

Shabu Shabu – $18.00
Seafood Mix – $9.50
Tongue(Jo-Tan) – $7.50
Mixed Vegetable – $5.50
Prime Rib Eye(Jo-Rosu) – $7.50
Rice – $2.00

Total $50.50 w/o Tax

And to make me feel even worse about doing this post, they didn't charge us extra for ordering only one order of Shabu Shabu! But then again, how is it that all of the Yakiniku is more expensive than Tsuruhashi? Sigh……..

We will return to Suzuya, though we may just stick with the Shabu Shabu. I'm hoping that someone will comment and tell me this was just a very off night for the Yakiniku.

Suzuya Japanese BBQ
5447 Kearny Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123
(858) 505-0611

Lunch – Mon-Fri 1130am – 230pm
Dinner – Daily 5pm to 11pm