July 2008 – mmm-yoso

BaLe Linda Vista Reopens

July 30, 2008 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Markets & Grocers, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

*** Bale has closed and is now Farm Sandwiches and Market.

So finally, Ba Le on Linda Vista resurfaces. The sign on the "old location" said the end of May, but when I took that photo it was already June! And when I shopped a Vien Dong Market a few days later, that sign was gone. This past weekend, I noticed that Ba Le had indeed taken the place of the old Dai Tan Supermarket, which had been there for quite a while.

In spite of the looks, there is quite a bit of parking further down the lot, where you're not packed in, and people aren't backing into you(I saw a little Vietnamese Lady driving a BIG SUV, hit another parked, BIG SUV, and she just kept on going…). As I walked in, I wondered what the heck Ba Le was doing with a market….but I guess that's the plan.

Seeing that the sandwich counter is not yet completed, I inquired about Banh Mi, and was told, that even though the counter, and seating area wasn't finished yet they were serving Banh Mi. And the current special is; buy 2 get 1 free. So I placed my order, and seeing the chaotic situation; a line of grocery customers, I took a walk around the market.

Dai Tan never struck me as being the cleanest looking market, but the place has been cleaned up a bit, and the lighting is much better. The produce looked fresh, and there was quite a steady flow of customers.

Which meant I'd probably be waiting a while, so I took a seat. Surprisingly, a few minutes later one of the Gentlemen comes walking out of the back of the market with 3 Banh Mi. Which I paid for, than proceeded to hightail it out of the parking lot, before a little lady in a BIG SUV had a chance to hit my car.

So, what did I get? Well let's start with the Dac Biet (special – $3.50):

In my visits after my post on the old BaLe location, I found the sandwiches to be inconsistent. There was a tendency to over-margarine, than over toast the baguette, making the bread crouton-hard…the stuff that rips up the roof of your mouth. This would obviously distract from the decent crust-to-bread ratio. Today, the baguette was okay, slightly crusty, but nothing special. The meats were piled to each side of the baguette…the ham on one side, the Cha Lua on the other…kind of strange. All of the meats, and the pate were very mild in flavor, if not down-right bland. The jalapenos were quite mild on this day. All in all, nothing special….

The Xiu Mai(meatball sandwich – $3.00):

The crumbled Xiu Mai(meatball) had a very mild flavor…sort of like what could be described as a "pork meatloaf". Not bad, even though I enjoy a more assertive flavor. Because of the juicy meatballs, this Banh Mi got soggy pretty quickly, but at least it wasn't dry.

As for the Banh Mi Bi, the Missus didn't feel like eating it, so I took it for lunch, well, breakfast the next day. I won't go into that, "Bi-cause" I wouldn't want to wish that decomposed sandwich on anyone. It just is not a fair assessment of the Banh Mi.

With regards to the Banh Mi, not much has changed at BaLe. If you enjoyed the sandwiches at the former location, you'll enjoy them here. But at least now you can catch up on some shopping while waiting for your sandwiches. All sandwiches run from $3 to $3.50.

BaLe Supermarket and Sandwiches(In the former Dai Tan Market location)
6959 Linda Vista Rd.
San Diego, CA

Santouka Ramen – San Diego, A revisit

July 29, 2008 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, What Howie Eats - Where the Foodie from Foodieview Eats

After my not too satisfying visit to the new Santouka in San Diego, I thought I’d wait a bit before trying it out again. But the opportunity arose a lot quicker than I’d thought. The always thoughtful Howie, proprietor of The Foodie View invited me to join his merry group for lunch. (BTW, check out his new feature, The Foodie View of the Day). On this day, the Shio Ramen was spot on, from the wonderfully tongue scortching broth, to the toothsome and elastic noodles. Unfortunately, I was enjoying the wonderful company of Michelle, Caron (of San Diego Foodstuff), and Howie so much, that I really didn’t feel motivated to take photos. Great conversation will do that to me sometimes.

Recently, the Missus, needing a change of pace, wanted some ramen. Now the Missus is not a big ramen fan, though I think it is due to the fact that She’s had too much "bad ramen". Being that a request for ramen occurs about as often as an appearance of Halley’s comet in the mmm-yoso household, I jumped at the chance. We arrived at the Santouka "booth", and the Missus wanted something "salty", so it was a large Miso Ramen for Her, and since She has never met a boiled egg She’s never liked, we got the boiled eggs(99 cents) as well. Since I wanted to do an "apple for apple" comparison, I decided on the Shio Ramen again($7.99 – large), and of course I got a side of boiled egg as well.

The shiro(broth) was excellent, tongue melting hot, rich, but not greasy, and full of porky goodness, sweet, and mildly salty. The Chashu was also very good, soft, but not falling to pieces, rich in flavor, and very moist. Even the Missus, who, ummm, "doesn’t eat pork", loved it! The noodles were a bit off today, hard and brittle, instead of being chewy, with a nice elasticity. Still, this was way better than that first bowl I had.

I had a sip of The Missus’s Miso Ramen, and it still strikes me a being too salty. As for the boiled eggs….the Missus loved them so much, She traded 1 piece of Chashu for my eggs. Sorry, but I wasn’t going to just give away my boiled eggs. Chivalry has its limits.

So there you have it, a revisit to Santouka in San Diego, not as good as my undocumented second visit, but better than my first. Still not better than the bowls I’ve had in Torrance and Costa Mesa, but getting there.

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

Swiss Noodles

July 27, 2008 ed fromyuma Cooking, Recipes, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

All regular readers of mmm-yoso know that both Kirk and Cathy can cook. ed (from Yuma)? Well, today will prove that (with some help) he is not completely lost in a kitchen.

I still remember getting to know Tina at a party last spring, and as often happens with me, we began discussing food. When she not only told me that she loves spaetzle, but that she also could prepare those tasty egg noodles, I realized we could make wonderful food together – in particular a flavorful Swiss dish that cried out for homemade spaetzle. Now we’d like to share (at least virtually) this traditional meal that is one of our favorites. Here’s how it is done.

Ingredients:

1 medium onion
4-5 slices (or 1/4-1/3 lb) bacon
2 bunches Swiss chard

1/3 lb Swiss cheese (preferably real Gruyere)

2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
pinch nutmeg

black pepper to taste.

Start by chopping the medium onion:

Then dice the four or five slices of bacon (I got some applewood smoked bacon from my local butcher, but bacon ends and pieces work well too):

After discarding the large rib ends, chop up two bunches of Swiss chard (green ribbed if possible). By the way, this is a huge bowl:

Then shred approximately a third of a pound of Swiss Gruyere cheese (pictured is a little over half a pound of aged Gruyere in wedges and then grated):

At the same time, you will need to prepare the dough for the noodles. After you mix together two eggs and half a cup of milk, add a cup and a half of flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, a half a teaspoon of salt, and a pinch of nutmeg, and beat with a wooden spoon or with the dough stirrer on an electric mixer until the ingredients are fully combined, thick, somewhat stiff, and stretchy. The dough should look like this:
At this point, you should have a large pot of lightly salted water being brought to a boil on the stove. On another burner, begin to fry the bacon at medium heat. Cook until much of the bacon fat has been rendered, but do not cook the bacon fully. Then add the chopped onion and mix together and continue frying:
When the bacon and onion mixture is ready, add the chard handful by handful and stir. If you wish the resulting dish to have some crunchy parts, add leaves and rib pieces at the same time. For a more uniform texture, separate the ribs and cook them for a minute or two before adding the leafy parts. Reduce heat, if necessary, to prevent overcooking.

The other half of the dish, the noodles, take less time. Back in the day, my grandmother would have spread the dough out on a small hand-held cutting board and sliced strips of the dough into the boiling water. Lacking my grandmother’s talent, patience, and wrists, most people today will use a spaetzle press to extrude the noodles. One can also extrude the noodles through a colander, but notice that the perforations at the bottom of the well of this press are not round and are irregular in shape; this flatness and lack of uniformity is key to top quality spaetzle:

When the water is boiling, fill up the utensil’s well about halfway, place over the pot, slowly push down, and send the fresh noodles into the boiling water:

Unlike Italian pasta, these egg noodles do not easily overcook, so that one can refill the well and drop more noodles into the boiling water. Using a wooden spoon, stir the noodles and let the water come back to a full boil. At this point the spaetzles are done.

After draining in a colander, the noodles should be added to the frying pan with the other cooked ingredients and quickly stirred together. Place the contents of the frying pan into a bowl and add the shredded cheese to taste. At this point, you may also add fresh grated black pepper (unless, like me, you forget). You will notice that the spaetzle noodles are not smooth and uniform, but rather pitted, bumpy, and irregular. This texture gives these homemade noodles plenty of surface areas so that they interface wonderfully with gravies or sauces. After the ingredients are all stirred together and the cheese has become wonderfully melty and gooey, the dish should look like this:
For our meal, Tina and I had previously chopped up a couple of heirloom tomatoes and added a few leaves of fresh basil:
After we tossed the tomatoes with the basil, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil, we plated this salad next to our main course:
This was more food than two hearty eaters could devour, and probably could serve up to 4 normal people. The heirloom tomato salad was good, but the noodles were supreme. The combination of textures and the creamy smoky flavors made this dish (even though I was at the stove) a success. I have no idea what this dish is called, but with the spaetzle, the Swiss cheese, and the Swiss chard, I guess calling it Swiss Noodles will have to do. Before I got to know Tina, I made the dish with regular packaged egg noodles. It was okay back then, but she just makes things better. Yum!

Saturday Stuffs

July 26, 2008 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Filipino Restaurants, yoso-silly

Just some odds and ends….

Bud's Reopens:

Just in case you missed "GoBears" comment, Bud's Louisiana has reopened. The newest incarnation is located in Tierrasanta, right behind the Round Table Pizza:

They are currently only open for lunch, from Monday through Saturday 11am to 3pm.

Bud's Louisiana Cafe

10425 Tierrasanta Blvd, #105
San Diego, CA 92124

Have I mentioned it before? I love Filipino Parties:

The Missus is the Godmother of a friends son, and a few months ago the Christening took place. You know that the party was going to be good.

This was a big one….a 2 lechon party!

That first roasted pig was gone really quick.

But man does not live on Lechon alone:

It was some spread, along with the usual Pancit and Lumpia, there was Kaldereta, Pinacbet, and tons more:

And being one of the Godmothers had its benefits…a whole plate of lechon from Pig#2, the Missus got to eat with the Aunts and Cousins in the "back room", and Frankie got a "cabeza"! Guess what the Missus was the most happy with?

More save our taco trucks!

Bandini has posted about saving LA's Taco Trucks from extinction. You can find updates at saveourtacotrucks.org. I received word from yumtacos.com, that Sacramento is attempting to do the same thing:

"Here in Sacramento, we have lots of terrific, and some very authentic, Mexican food – places that specialize in all sorts of regional dishes, from various types of ceviche and shellfish to birria and plenty more.
But some of the best, cheapest and most straightforward is served at our many taco trucks, which are – incidentally – the only place that many second and third shift workers can go to eat. Late at night in the industrial zones and elsewhere, you will often see lines of cops, firefighters, hospital workers, warehouse staff and janitorial workers lined up at the trucks.
The trucks don't park outside of open restaurants, nor do they usually park on public streets; almost all are at regular, scheduled locations, sometimes a single location all night; these are always parking lots, private property that they've received permission (or pay rent) to use.
Our city council, at the behest of restaurant owners, has enacted new regulations that effectively criminalize these trucks without consulting truck owners or customers. For example, the new 30 minute per location time limit – when truck owners take 20 minutes to set up, lock down their propane systems and heat up the grill, and 15 minutes to clean up – will mean they'll have to drastically cut down on safety and/or cleanliness just to serve a single customer. And not being able to do business after dark means that the vast majority of their business – night shift workers – will have nowhere to eat except for drive-through hamburgers. The city council claimed there was a public health nuisance attached to the trucks, although ours are all inspected regularly by the county and not a single truck has ever had a complaint filed against it or failed an inspection, unlike many of the restaurants who fear the competition of the trucks. One city council person claimed police reports linked violence to the trucks, a charge the Sacramento Police department disputes, showing clearly that there is no such causality.

We'd very much like your help and the help of your readers. We've set up a petition, where we'd like get several thousand signatures of locals and visitors; even non-Sacramentans are invited to sign, to dispute the Council's claim that tourists find the trucks a blight on our city.

Here is our petition"

I really enjoy the Taco Trucks here in San Diego, and other places I've been. You know that once legistlation like this is successful; it is just a matter of time before it makes its way down to San Diego.

What does Professor Salt and the State Department have in common?

Before he starts saying his name is "Salt…Professor Salt." I'll spill the beans. The State Department sent a video team to film a short documentary on the 4-Q BBQ Team, of which Professor Salt is a member of. You won't find anything more American than BBQ; and you won't find any BBQ team that represents the amazing diversity of our Country than 4-Q. Congrats guys!

You can find the video here.

If you really want to feel good:

I'm not quite the Youtube-ist(is there such a thing). I really don't follow all of the strange, amazing, and somewhat entertaining videos on YouTube. But sometimes, I find wonderful things on other Blogs. Such is the case with this wonderful video. It was from a post in the wonderful blog, Heather in Paradise. And according to Heather's post, which references Snopes.com, the story is true! Even better.

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Que Huong Revisited…many times Part 2 – How about some Cha Ca?

July 24, 2008 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Que Huong has closed

I know you're wondering….why so many "short" posts. Work has been quite hectic, and though I meant to do these as a single long post, I just haven't been able to make the time. So my apologies…

After my Chicken Feet Salad visit, I mentioned that Que Huong had a new menu to the Missus. The menu was wide and varied, and it was obvious that not everything would "work", but at least the 2 dishes I had tried had flavor. The Missus had little use for boneless chicken feet, "what's the use? You take away the most fun part of eating chicken feet…the gnawing and sucking." But when I told Her they had Bun Rieu, She decided that She needed to check it out.

We arrived to an empty restaurant, and had a seat at one of the tables. The Missus noted that the place looks a bit more worn than when we first visited. Of course She got the Bun Rieu($5.95)

I thought the Bun Rieu broth to be very clear and mild, and the ground "seafood" had a pretty strong flavor. The noodles were fine, if a bit on the soft side. The Missus told me, this isn't too bad, in fact, this almost tastes like what we had in Hanoi. The Missus really enjoyed the fresh and sparkling herbs, and there was a generous portion of banana blossom.

Though nowhere as good as the Bun Rieu at Mien Trung, the Missus thought this to be a passable version.

Why did I want to return to Que Huong? One of the reasons was that they had Cha Ca Thang Long($12.95) on the menu. It wasn't cheap, but because I enjoy this dish so much, I wanted to give it a try. Cha Ca Thang Long is a turmeric-flavored fried fish dish, that uses what some consider to be some atypical ingredients when it comes ti Vietnamese Cuisine. That would be turmeric and dill.

Much like the version at Ha Noi Restaurant in Westminster, this was served on a sizzling plate, with dill, onions, and green onions scattered on top. One thing we noticed, was that, the version we had at Cha Ca Thang Long in Hanoi used the dill as a vegetable, and it was used in great quantity, at Ha Noi Restaurant, and here at Que Huong, it is treated like a garnish of sorts. This version used snapper as the fish, which added a bit more chew, and made it less moist, but flavor wise it was pretty close to other versions we've eaten. Another difference was that much less oil was used for this, which for me took away some of the richness and moistness from the dish. There was a huge amount of fresh herbs, bean sprouts, sliced cucumber, pickled vegetables(nice and tangy), but the amount of Bun (rice vermicelli) was a bit lacking. And what to do with the huge leaves of lettuce? This isn't Banh Xeo! The SOP sesame crackers and peanuts were made available, as was a bowl of Mam Tom(Fermented Shrimp Paste) mixed with sugar and chilies which was so good, the Missus asked for another bowl.

If you've never had it before, this isn't a bad introduction. Not the best, but much less oily than other versions……

By this time, we'd become a bit of an oddity here, and had gotten to know one of the young men who ran the place. He brought us a sample of the Ốc len xào dừa. Snails braised in coconut milk.

He also gave us a quick demo on how to suck the snails out of the shell. I must say, these were fresh and tender. Forget about the rubbery Ốc we usually get with Bun Rieu. The coconut milk based broth had a little bit of a chili kick to it.

As we drove out of the parking lot, the Missus looked at me and said…"man that fermented shrimp paste tastes so good when you're eating it, but the after taste is hell!" She then turned to me and said; "we're coming back in a few days."

Stay tuned for part 3!

El Portal Fresh Mexican Grill

July 23, 2008 Cathy Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is this. The blog about food. It is just Kirk and some friends writing a sort of diary about meals. Really. We tell you what we like and don’t like. That’s it. You get to vicariously enjoy it. Or not.

Hi again. It’s still Cathy writing. I happened to be on Genesse and Balboa Avenues not too long ago and remember Kirk posted on El Portal and liked it…I just didn’t remember what He liked, or when I had read the post. So, anyhow, I walked in, ordered some "to go" stuff and came home and read the blog.

Kirk really likes the salads. I didn’t order a salad.

Then again, He posted about this place, like waaay back in November 2005…so this is pretty much a whole new post!

Anyhow, it was crowded, considering it was after 7 p.m. on a Wednesday night.

The menu looks interesting, but they had no paper menus nor a website- so you can look at it as I did…

I noticed that carnitas was listed as a "new" item, so decided to get a plate. ($8.45)

The plate comes with refried beans, rice and a small corn cake on top of the rice along with a choice of corn or flour tortillas.

You can see the serving of pork is quite large and the meat is cut in large chunks and not shredded, as some servings of carnitas happen to be served. The food here is more healthily prepared than I have had at taco shops, and the carnitas tasted dry and did not have much flavor to me.

I also decided to try the spinach enchiladas, one of the many vegetarian choices on the menu. (2 for $4.55). These were excellent. Fresh spinach, melted cotija cheese and a simple salsa (chopped tomatoes, onions and cilantro) filled the corn tortillas, which were topped with a very good, slightly garlicy tomatillo (green) sauce.

I have to go back -soon- and try a salad. El Portal has been in that location forever, and must be making money.

El Portal Fresh Mexican Grill 4104 Genesse Ave San Diego 92101 (858)571-7771 Fax (858)974-1448

Que Huong Revisited…many times Part 1 – Boneless Chicken Feet Salad Anyone?

July 22, 2008 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Que Huong has closed

In case your wondering where we've been the last couple of months, it's been at Que Huong on the corner of Malborough avenue. I'd posted on Que Huong before, way back in August of 2005. Our meals were pretty mixed, and so I kinda left it alone for a while. But recently, thanks to some comments about the food at Que Huong (thanks Y-Y!), and the various dishes offered at Que Huong, I found myself back in front of the restaurant behind Burger King.

The first thing I noticed was a chalkboard menu of specials, I recognized a few of them – Ốc len xào dừa, snails braised in coconut milk, but as a whole, I understood much less than I knew. As I entered the empty restaurant, it looked like it had been in a time warp for the last 3 years.

Except for a few things…..

Have you ever written on a greaseboard with the "wrong" type of pens, and the darn thing wouldn't erase? For some reason, several specials were written on the mirrors lining the walls of the restaurant.

The other dramatic change was the menu. It had been pretty long and diverse before, with stuff like Crocodile.

But now I noticed many more dishes…..and an entire sheet with various noodle soups like Bun Mam, and Rice Porridge(Chao – which has always been popular here). Much of it was probably due to my increased exposure to Vietnamese cuisine over the last few years.

So what to eat? There were 2 dishes that were mentioned to me. The first was mentioned by several persons, and I thought it was just a "natural". Fish Sauce Chicken Wings($9.95):

I'd been warned that these sometimes edged on being "too salty", and that it was a "weird" combination. But I found these to be pretty good, perhaps a tad too salty, with a mild sweet flavor. And these were nice and crisp. The nice young man running the place on this day told me to eat these hot since they don't stay crisped for very long, and he was right. I didn't finish them, and by the time I got home they were starting to get a bit chewy. I'd have them again, though I think they are a bit on the pricey side. When he packed them for me, he told me to make sure the lid stayed "open". There are several types of chicken wings on the menu, including Chickens Wings in Tamarind, which I was told is a sweet-sour wing. The small order is $9.95, the large order $12.95.

The other dish, mentioned to me by FOY "Y-Y" was Gỏi Chân gà rút xương – Boneless chicken feet salad($9.95)! How could I resist?

The photo is kind of deceptive, this was a pretty large salad. First off, the Chicken feet are boned, (how'd you like that job? ) so you really can't tell it's chicken feet. In fact, if you wanted to "punk" someone, you could tell them this was…say tripe…but well, most people I know who wouldn't eat chicken feet, wouldn't eat tripe either, and visa versa. The chicken feet had no taste, and seemed to just be here to add some crunch to the dish. The overall flavor of the salad was nice, sour-salty-mildly spicy. The Nuoc mam based "dressing" had a ton of ginger in it, and every bite had its own flavor and texture. Every so often you'd run into some Rau Ram, and the powerful peppery-spicy flavor would hit you. There was quite a bit going on here, and though it wasn't a "homerun", it kept me interested. At least interested enough to want to return. The only thing is….

How would I convince the Missus? Stay tuned…………

Siem Reap: Khmer Noodles

July 21, 2008 mmm-yoso Cambodia, Siem Reap, Travel

Even though the previous day had been pretty full, from sunrise until our afternoon trip to Lake Tonle Sap, we were ready to go the next morning. I was especially rarin’ to go, since Narin had told me we’d stop at his favorite noodle stand on the way to our first stop Kbal Spean, which was a bit out of Siem Reap.

We stopped at a crossroads village outside of Siem Reap. The place was colorful and bustling, dusty and yet somehow alluring. And tons of tourists and visitors in sight….except these were mostly from Phnom Penh. There were several mini-buses parked alongside the road, along with SUVs, and motorbikes.

This place was doing some major business.

Narin ever so concerned with our welfare, first stepped out and checked the well water….

This is the noodle dish that arrived:

A very nice and mild coconut milk based fish noodle soup. The noodles provided were rice noodles, which looked just like the "Bun" we had in Vietnam.

Along with the noodle soup several garnishes arrived. At the bottom of this bowl are some of the most amazing long beans we’ve ever tasted. So very sweet.

A bowl covered with a plate arrived at our table. On top lime and chilies.

Underneath was a brown fragrant sauce, that at first glance I mistook for some tamarind based sauce. Until I tasted it, a strong and complex sweet flavor, with pungent, savory undertones. I was told it is called Tik Pha Em, and is a basic sweet fish sauce.

I also had Narin write down the name of the noodle dish, he called it Num Banh Chok. The only real reference I could find to it was a recipe found here. Apparently, what makes this dish unique to Siem Reap is they way it is served, with the sweet sauce, and with all of the herbs, many of which I hadn’t tasted before. No it’s not table decoration, it belongs in your Rice Noodle Soup!

It was a staggering variety of herbs, some tasting peppery like cilantro, some had a celery like saltiness to it. The most amazing were the green leaves, which tasted almost like curry leaf:

I asked Narin to write the name of it down for me. Poor guy, he must think I’m a nut! He spelled it Kantrop. I found several citations of it, in English it’s called Wampee, or Chinese clausena. It is the leaf of a certain type of citrus fruit tree. In Vietnam it’s called Hồng bì, I had never had anything like it before. We even saw the trees growing on the trail up Kbal Spean.

All of the herbs like the Lily Stems added an amazing flavor to the dish, making it unforgettable.

We were also told that dish was famous in Khmer legend. After searching a bit, I found a post, here. The story of Thun N’chey and the Chinese Emperor. Who’d have thunk, revolutionary noodles, in a little village outside of Siem Reap.

Narin insisted on paying for the meal, telling us that, if we paid, they would overcharge, and would not take reimbursement. I was determined to make up for this later.

Meanwhile, the Missus had wandered away……I just knew She was up to no good!

Lucky’s Golden Phenix

July 20, 2008 mmm-yoso American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch

**** Sadly Lucky Wong passed away at the end of 2024

One day, while stopped at the traffic light at the intersection of Grim and University, I happened to glance at down Grim and saw a sign.

And did a double take……did I really see what I thought I did? I made a turn down 30th and back up North Park Way….and ok….."Phenix", not the word I thought it was, which kinda sounds like Phenix(not Phoenix), but is a part of the male anatomy. I noticed the shop was closed, the sign said the hours were 715 to Noon, but it was only 11am! So I figured that this was one of those wonderful little hole-in-the-wall places like Ray's Cafe, which used to be on the corner of Smith and Beretania in Honolulu. They used to have a wonderful butcher paper sign on the door, on which was written, "when the door open we open, when the door closed we closed". Simplicity, practicality, and common sense all wrapped up in one phrase.

Looking at the menu, filled with straight-forward breakfast items, I was struck by the prices. The most expensive offering was $4.30! The Denver Omelette with Cheese. How could this place exist? I knew I had to check it out. So on a recent morning, I arrived to find the place open, and entered through the red door…..and down the rabbit hole.

And entered what looked like something that was part diner meets Big Trouble in Little China. Some back alley Chinatown diner.

A strange mix of "stuff" that for me, was a charming, just North of tacky, kitschy collection of almost every type of stereotypical, campy, 1960's-1970's Chinese decoration and faux art. A somewhat bizarre collection of thingamajiggies, whatchamacallits, with some whosamawhatsits thrown in.

Which along with the singing bass, the "songbirds of America" clocks, and the photo of Arnold Schwarzenegger from his bodybuilding days, made me wonder what evil genius put together this collection.

Which leads us to Lucky, the one man show who runs the place. Lucky does everything, takes your order, cooks your food, runs the register, and buses the counter. Lucky also gives out free health tips, as only a curmudgeonly, Chinese grandfather could. Like when I asked about my toast without butter; "are you a health nut? You gonna be old and look like me one day, do you want to stay that way forever?"

So of course I got my toast "buttered"(or margerined). When a pair of older ladies came in, Lucky asked them if they wanted some coffee. When one of the women declined, Lucky said; "yes, you too young for coffee, it will stunt your growth!" Lucky for me, the toast was not as dry as his wit.

I ordered a simple 2 eggs over easy, and a hamburger patty($3.60), which came with the afore mentioned toast, and some perfectly griddled hash browns:

Everything was done just as you would expect a veteran of so many years of cooking(I was told since the mid-70's) would do. Eggs were nice and runny, the preformed burger had a nice crust, and it was no crime if you wanted to throw some ketchup, or a shake of salt and pepper on your food.

Just don't complain about that little sheen of oil that lies on the bottom of your plate. "Oil, we use canola oil. It is good for you, help you digest. Your body is like your car, no oil, it won't run!" The coffee is 100% Folgers(85 cents – 10 cents for refills), and the clientele is 100% North Park, a mix of working stiffs, the elderly, and other regulars who need a good, but inexpensive breakfast. A group right out of central casting, I'm sure thousands of stories have echoed off the walls at Golden Phenix. Lucky moves at a steady pace while briefly chatting with every customer, that he wears all of the hats in this joint is pretty impressive. One thing I did notice about Lucky was, he doesn't like to make change. I asked Lucky what I owed him(in addition to my breakfast I had some coffee and 1 refill), and he said, "just give me 4 dollars".

And the coup de grace? After you're done with your meal…..

I know mine said, "it's your lucky day!"

One of the regulars, told me that Golden Phenix was indeed a Chinese Restaurant. You can tell that the "Chinese" portion was buffed out of the sign. They sure don't make 'em like Lucky's Golden Phenix anymore.

Lucky's Golden Phenix
3804 Grim Ave
San Diego, CA 92104

Beard Papa – Plaza Bonita

July 19, 2008 mmm-yoso Desserts

**** This location of Beard Papa has closed

What would I do without all of my FOYs(Friends of Yoso), the minute Beard Papa opens in San Diego, I get 3 emails letting me know! So thank you, thank you, EdL(a longtime FOY), Sam, and Ricki. Ever since, I first read about Beard Papa in a post by Reid, I've been fascinated by the phenomenon. Though unlike Kathy, I don't have much of a sweet tooth, which I think is my saving grace, we really didn't hunt Beard Papa down during our road trips to LA….well, I didn't need to. Before you knew it, a Beard Papa opened in the food court at Marukai Gardena. The Missus and I shared a single vanilla cream puff:

And in spite of my lack of a sweet tooth, it was quite good. The shell(Choux) was thin, light, and crisp, and filling was not too sweet, but still rich.

And that would be it, for the next time we went to Marukai Gardena, Beard Papa was gone, and a "post for a rainy day" went down the tubes. And even though I ran into Beard Papa in other places, like San Gabriel and in Costa Mesa, I never really had the urge to visit. I'm just surprised that I hadn't deleted these photos.

So being in the vicinity of National City recently, I dropped by Plaza Bonita, and headed to where I thought the most likely location of Beard Papa would be. And there was no Food Court…at least where I thought it would be! It had been a few years since I'd been here, and the entire food court had been moved. They sure are trying to pretty the place up.

The set-up looked kind of haphazard, but there it was the signature Beard Papa yellow. The prices, were $2.50 a cream puff, a bit more expensive than I remembered. I did purchase 6 cream puffs($10.50 for 6), 3 vanilla, and 3 of the other flavor of the day, chocolate.

When I arrived home, I opened my little yellow box, and checked out the cream puffs all snuggled in.

I had one vanilla, and noticed something; either my tastes have changed, or the filling is a bit sweeter than I recalled. It was not quite as rich as well.

It was also a bit more "lumpy" than I remembered. The shell had not traveled well, it was soggy, and the bottom hard like a pie crust.

The chocolate was too sweet for my taste.

Though I found the shape of this cream puff to be a bit amusing.

I'm not quite sure if it was just grand opening inconsistencies, or if Beard Papa has lowered the quality control standards, but these were not as good as I remembered.

EdL mentioned in his email, the interesting choice of locations for the first Beard Papa in San Diego. EdL thought, like I did, that Beard Papa would open up somewhere around the Kearny Mesa/Clairemont area. But at least you can now get your Beard Papa fix locally if you need it.

Beard Papa, in the Plaza Bonita Food Court
3030 Plaza Bonita Rd
National City, CA 91950