January 2009 – Page 2

Road Trip: Ajisen Ramen & Diamond Jamboree Shopping Center – Irvine (OC)

January 21, 2009 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Markets & Grocers, Orange County, Ramen, Road Trip

**** This location of Ajisen has closed

I had purposely not gotten a large bowl of Pho at Pho Thanh Lich, so that I'd have a chance for another meal on my way back from the 'OC'. Plus, I wanted to check out the new Diamond Jamboree Shopping Center. I had decided a nice bowl of ramen would do the trick, and selected Ajisen Ramen.

Now, I know that Ajisen is a Chinese run Ramen chain, with over 300 outlets around the world, that according to Rameniac has strayed far from its Kumamoto roots. Still, I'd gotten a few recommendations, so I thought I'd check it out. At the time I arrived there were only a few tables occupied in the place. The dining area was ind of cramped, and not in the cozy ramen shop-izakaya kind of way.

The second thing I noticed, was a lack of a certain sound….slurping. There were folks having bowls of ramen, but not a single one of them were slurping….which made me feel a tad uncomfortable. You see, over the years, I've gotten used to, and now, relish the noise that a good bowl of ramen makes. It's almost like you can hear a great bowl of ramen before you smell or see it. I once knew a very proper Japanese girl named "Reiko". Now Reiko-chan, would never think or even conceive of slurping down some Chow Mein, or Spaghetti, but place a good bowl of ramen before her, and she would be instantly transformed into a slurp machine befitting of a certain truck driver many are familiar with.When asked why, she explained thusly: "Kirk-san, you cannot help it, when it tastes good, you must!" 'Nuff said….

All I wanted was a basic bowl of Ramen, so Iordered the Ajisen Ramen ($7.50), which also was the most inexpensive ramen.

Being used to Santouka portion sizes, I found the bowl that arrived to be pretty large. There was also quite a bit of cabbage, wakame, and hijiki in the broth, and the scent and flavor of the garlic oil, wakame, and hijiki, wiped out any subtle flavor the broth would have. The broth was lukewarm, which would usually be a real a no-no with a rich tonkotsu style(rapidly boiled pork bone based) broth, but in this case the broth was so thin it didn't really matter. No matter how cold the broth got, I doubted that a "skin" would ever develop. From what I've read Kumamoto style noodles are known to be softer than the more well known Hakata Ramen, and yes the noodles were a bit softer, and lacked a nice elasticity that I enjoy. The chashu (braised pork) had a nice caramelization, which added some texture, and tasted a bit on the sweeter side. It was probably the best part of the dish.

The service I received was curt, but professional. And the young lady managing the front was really very, very, nice, almost respectful….probably because I seemed to be at least (at least) a decade older than anyone else in the room.

The restaurant had filled up by the time I left, a mere 30 minutes later. Without a doubt, Ajisen is quite popular. Still, tilting my head toward the mass of ramen eaters, I could here nary a slurp….and that says a lot in my book.

Ajisen Ramen
2700 Alton Pkwy
Irvine, CA 92606

Elmo article from OC Weekly, here.

Ajisen Ramen is located in Diamond Jamboree Shopping Center which is a far cry from the typical LA Asian Stripmall, or even Focus Plaza, in it's size, and breath:

The focus is multi-cultural, and perhaps multi-con-fusional, with Crepes de Paris, next to Capital Seafood, next to BCD Tofu house, across from BBQ Chicken, which is next to a Greek Restaurant, with Tokyo Table on one end. In spite of the rather large parking lot, I think this place must be a zoo. Especially since there is only one small parking lot entrance. In fact, as I left, the parking lot was full, and the mall is only half occupied.

The mall is anchored by an outlet of the Korean Supermarket Chain H Mart, which strangely enough, has a fairly small parking area allocated in front of the market.

For those who fear the sights, scents, and sounds of Asian Markets, H Mart is for you. No worries of seeing or smelling piles of dried squid or dried filefish here. In fact, the first thought that came to me when I entered H Mart, was….. Whole Foods:

Everything is nicely wrapped, or behind glass, with no odors assaulting you.

Things are tidy, and the store is very clean. The prices of the produce seemed on the high side, but I found the meat, and other items to be reasonable.

And yet, I felt something was missing……but it was probably just me.

Diamond Jamboree Shopping Center
2700-2750 Alton Parkway
Irvine, CA 92606

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Luong Hai Ky Restaurant – Mira Mesa

January 19, 2009 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

As noted in the comments of this post, Luong Hai Ky's second location has finally opened in Mira Mesa. And about a week after their opening I found myself in the area, so I thought I'd check out the home of, ahem, "The Original Chinese Noodles". I'm pretty sure I don't need to elaborate…..

The Owners have done a pretty nice job with the interior…..down to having the now standard plasma televisions mounted on the walls….

I could tell that the level of disorganization was still running pretty high, I was asked for my order three times, by three different Servers. My hot tea didn't arrive until I was almost done with my soup (though this was not as bad as what happened later), and so forth. Being in the midst of a "grand opening" make such problems reasonable……

I stayed with my usual, the Won Ton & Dumpling Egg Noodle Soup ($5.75):

After making a brief stop at another table, the bowl of egg noodle soup arrived. The soup was piping hot, but much like my last visit to the Convoy location, lacked the nice rich flavor that I had encountered on previous visits. I'm guessing this is the standard broth at LHK now…bummer. The won tons were a bit softer than the norm, and the dumplings even better, toothsome, but not hard, and the shrimp flavor came through.

Still, this was enough to warrant another visit, this time with the Missus in tow. On this evening the Missus ordered the Combination Fried Rice ($7.50):

We both thought the shrimp were excellent, the rice had been cooked well, with a nice caramelization. But for some reason, the rice had an overly sweet taste. The Missus had to add fish sauce and soy sauce to balance out the flavor.

I ordered the Combination Crispy Noodle ($7.95):

Not enough sauce…which again ran on the sweet side. This meant instead of the nice combination of crunchy, to chewy, to soft and tender textures, I felt I was eating stuff from a can. The veggies were done perfectly, nice bit of crunch and weren't overcooked, and much like the fried rice, the shrimp was the best thing about the dish. The accompanying soup was fine, if a bit heavy on the sodium.

And than there was the tea…or lack thereof. We ordered hot tea with our meal, which never arrived. We inquired about it when our food arrived, and were assured it was on the way. I figured it was going to be like my previous visit, and end up at the table later on, but it never made it. When our check arrived, I asked what happened to our tea. The Server gave me a puzzled look, looked at the bill (even though it was written in Vietnamese, there were 3 line items). Seeing that they had forgotten the tea, we were told: "that's ok, no charge for tea anyway!" And walked away….. I guess because tea is free it's ok to not serve it when ordered? Having been caught off guard by that answer, we couldn't help but laugh……..

One other thing, it does seem like prices are going up rather quickly. I noticed that both locations of Luong Hai Ky share the same take-out menu. So if this is accurate, I paid $5 for Won Ton and Dumpling Egg Noodle Soup around November 19th, of last year. It's now $5.75, these "Mi Gia" noodle houses are getting out of the zone of cheap eats rather quickly. In the end, even if I don't believe that Luong Hai Ky is "The Original Chinese Noodles", I sure received a pretty original excuse for forgetting part of our order!

Luong Hai Ky Restaurant
10606 Camino Ruiz #2
San Diego, CA 92126

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A Burger Week Epilogue: Urban Solace

January 18, 2009 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Burgers

**** Urban Solace has closed

Urban Solace has become one of the Missus's favorite restaurants. So it's probably about time I did a post. You can get a pretty good feel for the restaurant from the many food blog posts out there, by Alice Q Foodie, Clayfu , Gil, and Beth. And though I've not been "wowed" by some of the items I've tasted in the past (such as a really greasy and salty pastrami), I've long coveted the burger. It just looks great arriving at the table. So burger week provided a great opportunity.

I like the dining area at US, the ceiling height, colors, and lighting strike a nice balance. The menu consists of what Urban Solace calls "New American Comfort Food", basically American food with a twist, like the "Duck-a-roni".

As much as I wanted to complete this post, it almost did not see the light of day. On this visit, we sat out in the courtyard, and the bright sunlight and the surroundings ended up giving all my photos an orange hue. But in the end, here I was all dressed up and nowhere to go…..

On this visit we started with a favorite of the Missus, an order of the Cheese Biscuits ($4.25):

Personally, I'd prefer a bit more cheese flavor, or any flavor, to my biscuits, as these are very mild in flavor. I like the texture of these, they are moist, and soft, without getting to close to foccacia, and also have a nice mildly crisp (though not very flaky) "crust" that does not head into "scone-land". My personal preference is for the salty over the sweet, so I'd have preferred a really nice and light butter, rather than the overly sweet and salty Orange Honey Butter that is provided, though I can understand that this would be a good compromise for some…….

So of course I had the burger, which, like many of the menu items are plain, downright reasonable in price ($9.25). I was asked how I wanted my burger, which was medium, and hey, for once, my burger arrived "medium". I had pretty much written off the perfunctory ritual of asking how you want your burger done, as just "shibai", so it was nice to have my faith restored.

As AliceQFoodie notes, the burger comes fully dressed, with a mild cheddar, thousand island dressing, and the produce. The bun had a mild and pleasant sweetness to it, but it was too large upsetting the meat to bun ratio. This burger had a bit too much dressing, which overpowered the flavor of the beef. And, because it seemed that the burger had either not been rested, or had been brushed with a ton of butter, the combination of the dressing and the "juices" just made the bottom bun turn into mush in addition to making the whole thing seem a bit too rich and oily….a bit more acid would help cut the richness. I scraped some of this off, so I could taste the burger, which had a pleasant beefy flavor.

As for the sweet potato fries, they are delicious, but arrive limp, wrinkled, and seemingly on the edge of rigor mortis, which makes eating them less pleasurable. The only semi-crisp sweet potato fries I've ever had or made, were baked, so I think Urban Solace would do just fine with regular fries, which I'm sure they'd pull off well.

The Missus ordered Her current favorite at Urban Solace, the Chicken and Dumplings, which at $15.95 was one of the more expensive items on the lunch menu.

I'm not a big fan of Chicken and Dumplings, so I'll just say, nice, tender and moist chicken, too much cream, and waaaay too much salt. And even though the Missus has been known to body slam a Moose to get to its salt lick, she ended up drinking 2 bottles of water on the way home. I'm sure She'll still order this again the next time.

The service at Urban Solace was very nice on this visit. Except for one strange thing. It seems like our Server has an interesting concept of "personal space". He really didn't want to get near us….to the point that I checked to make sure my 12 hour deodorant hadn't hit hour 13. He placed every dish on the opposite side of the table from us. So we had to stretch over the table to get our food. Nothing bad….just a bit odd.

As you'll notice from the menu on Urban Solace's Website, the prices a very reasonable.

Urban Solace Restaurant
3823 30th Street
San Diego, CA 92104

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What to do with top sirloin? Stroganoff(ish)!

January 17, 2009 Cathy Cooking, Recipes, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the food blog. Today Cathy is writing and Kirk and ed are doing something else. It is a beautiful day.

Hi. Top sirloin is on sale this week at Vons. Most people don't know what to do with top sirloin, since it can be tough and because it is a lean cut of meat. It does have flavor and can be tender if sliced and cooked properly.

The main thing to remember is to cut AGAINST the grain, which ends up making your pieces less chewy.

Now. Stroganoff. A traditional Russian dish, made for Army Generals. A *very* long time ago. Kind of a delicacy for them using meat (albeit cheap meat) cooked in a delightful, rich sauce. A sour cream based sauce.

This is a simple recipe. Very few ingredients.

These other two ingredients are optional: 335

You will also need butter, salt, pepper, tarragon and nutmeg.

That's it.

Slice about a pound of the top sirloin into 1/2 inch thick pieces (so they will cook evenly.

Put into pan with about 3 Tbs melted butter on low heat. You want the meat to cook but not burn. You don't want the butter to burn. Salt and pepper the meat. Remove from the pan.

Chop the onion and put into the pan that has some butter and juice from the meat in it. I have to chop into *very* large pieces because I married someone who refuses to eat onions, picks out even the most minute specks of diced ones, yet knows when I make a dish without onions, because "it doesn't taste right". I've adapted.

Put the onions in the bowl with the meat-on the side.

Add more butter to the pan. You can turn up the heat to medium.

Put in about 3/4 lb quartered mushrooms. It is almost always less expensive to buy these in bulk lately.

I quarter mushrooms, instead of slicing, so they stay larger and don't turn to mush when cooking, since mushrooms lose water when heated.

While the mushrooms are cooking, season with tarragon and nutmeg.

Let them cook. It may take about ten minutes.

Lower the heat again. You will now make sauce.

Add about one cup of sour cream (or you can use yogurt or even Imo, the sour cream substitute). The sour cream should *not* bubble or boil, just kind of melt in with the mushroom juice and butter. I also toss in a few Tablespoons of tomato sauce if it does not seem thin (or saucy) enough.

Add the meat and onions back in and warm everything through.

You can serve this over egg noodles, or rice or by itself.

I like it with pickled beets and some rye bread.

Cathy's Stroganoff

1 lb top sirloin, cut into 1/2 inch strips

3/4 lb mushrooms, quartered

1 C sour cream

{Optional: one small onion, tomato sauce, noodles}

Butter, salt, pepper, tarragon and nutmeg.

Cook sirloin strips in butter on low. Season with salt and pepper. Do not burn butter or brown the meat. Remove from pan.

Cook coarsely chopped onions in pan. Remove.

Add butter to pan, increasing heat slightly. Add quartered mushrooms. Season with tarragon and nutmeg. Lower heat when cooked.

Add sour cream to mushrooms. Add tomato sauce to make sour cream thinner.

Add meat and onions back into pan to warm through.

Serve over noodles or rice.

It’s Burger Week (again): High Dive Bar and Grill

January 16, 2009 mmm-yoso Burgers, Pubs and Pub Grub

About 2 years ago, the "High Dive" opened in our neck of the woods. And from the beginning this "not so divey" bar has drawn some pretty good crowds.

And though I drove by nearly everyday, this was about as close as I got to the High Dive:

There always seemed to be a postal truck parked outside….and you know what they say about Postmen. Like Cops, they know where the decent cheap eats are in the neighborhood. And still, I never made it to the High Dive. Maybe the close proximity to home lulled me into a state of "it'll always be there." Burger week, and overhearing several comments about the "meat in a bun" served at High Dive, finally roused me from my state of neighborhood catatonia, and I decided to grab lunch at High Dive.

I arrived to see two neighborhood dogs playing outside the bar, and three Postmen having an early lunch inside.

The interior is on the dark side. There are several beers on tap, mostly the usual suspects, except for the Boddington's. Several large screen plasma televisions gave this place a sports bar feel.

Since it was a beautiful sunny San Diego day, I decided to have seat outside in the patio area. I gather that this is also the smoking area, based on the sign posted. Since the patio was empty except for one other table….I decided to park my "butt" here.

The menu is mainly burgers, pizzas, and the usual San Diego pub grub suspects (i.e. Nachos, Chicken strips, etc…) Not feeling particularly famished, I went with the "High Dive", a quarter pound burger, topped with grilled onions. It comes with fries. With a bargain basement price (for a pub style burger) of $6, I decided to add some gorgonzola for 75 cents more. Mustard, ketchup, and other sauces soon arrived in the now ubiquitous recycled six-pack holder.

Soon enough, my burger arrived:

The burger looked on the smallish side, but there was a ton of fries. The bun was a standard issue hamburger bun, the same as you'd purchase at the supermarket. Lettuce, tomato, and pickles, were served in the usual bar-burger way, on the side. The grilled onions, were more like caramelized onions, and had no flavor. In fact, it only served to make the burger seem more greasy. I missed the nice crunch and bite of sliced onion.

The gorgonzola made the burger seem much richer, and really didn't bring much to the table. American cheese would have done just fine. All of this made the bun disintegrate into mush about half-way through. What made this burger decent was the moisture level which was excellent. It was also very soft and tender, and not mealy in the least. And because I wasn't asked how I wanted my burger done, I'd expected something cooked to death. How wrong I was. The burger was cooked barely well done, about as perfect as a well done burger could be cooked.

The fries are coated in what seems to be flour and cornstarch, and are served skin on. They are crisp, and seem light, though I couldn't finish them off. Go figure!

In fact, I felt more stuffed here than I did after eating at Hodad's

I found the service efficient and friendly, just as you'd expect from a neighborhood bar. My diet soda was refilled, as was my water. I was in and out in 45 minutes. All for under $10, which was pretty good. The crowd seemed a bit yuppie-ish.

All of these types of pubs offer daily specials, and High Dive is no exception. As for the burger; it's no Rocky's, but the burger was fine. Because of the location, I'll probably be back.

High Dive Bar and Grill
1801 Morena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92110

Mon-Thu. 1000 am – 1200 am
Fri-Sat. 800 am – 1:00 am
Sun. 800 am – 1200 am

It’s Burger Week (again). Nessy Burgers

January 15, 2009 Cathy Burgers, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog and Cathy is one of the bloggers. So are Kirk and ed (from Yuma) and even a few others. We just write when we can about what we eat. This week, there is a running theme.

Hi. You know I drive North on the I-15 a lot lately.

Not very far past this common sight is this exit.

Take it. Look to the left as you are exiting (North West). There is a Mobil Fuel station. Nothing else is there.

This small sort of trailer with three picnic benches in front under the awnings.

Go around (past and right) the Mobil station and park in the Park and Ride lot.

You are there.

Nessy Burgers.

The restaurant kitchen in a trailer.

The place without a phone.

The place that is now open on Sunday. (There was a sign in the parking lot)(It never used to be)

The menu.

All sandwiches are served on large, toasted sesame seed buns and include a slice of American cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and a Thousand Island-ish sauce. It does not cost less if you don't get cheese. No pickles.

There are bottles of catsup, mustard and the sauce if you want to put it on yourself.

Lots of lettuce. A full slice of onion.

The bun is toasted, the slice of American cheese is not melted (does that stuff melt?)and that you get a SLICE of onion…not just some raw onion rings….You can ask for grilled onions instead of or in addition to on your burger…but it is easier for The Mister to remove the whole raw onion when we share…

The Nessy Burger ($5.50)

A good size 1/3 lb patty, hand formed. Juicy, cooked in its own grease. It's said the fresh ground meat is a mix of sirloin and chuck. Very good in that it is not cooked too much, but needs some salt, even though salt and pepper are put on when cooking. The other ingredients (various spices, including garlic) give it flavor.

The fries, although the standard crinkle cut ones are perfectly cooked and salted. If you put some on your burger, taking off and eating some of the lettuce with a side of the Thousand Island-ish sauce, that will impart the salt the burger needs.

$2.75 and way more than two people should eat.

The Polish Sandwich ($5.50). Served on the same toasted bun with same toppings (I asked for no cheese because that is just wrong.

A home made coarse ground sausage with skin. Not too spicy ( I am used to smoked kielbasa having more garlic than this had).

Cans of soda here are $1.25, or you can walk over to the Mobil station to get a 32 ounce fountain beverage for 77 cents, a 24 ounce fountain beverage for 99 cents or two Vitamin Waters for $2.22…doing math in your head while you are waiting for your food. Although, since the menu is so limited, there is not much of a wait.

Stop if you are driving by. It is good.

Nessy Burgers North West Corner of State Route 76 and Interstate 15

Open Mon-Friday 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat *and* Sun 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Cash only. No phone.

It’s Burger Week (again). Tom’s Farms

January 14, 2009 Cathy Burgers, Ontario/Riverside/San Bernadino, CA, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog, written by a few friends. Kirk, ed (from Yuma) and Cathy don't make food deprivation related New Year Resolutions. We try to resolve to change habits we *won't* break in the first week of the New Year.

Hello. I hope your year is going well so far. I have a new computer. This is because my old one decided to commit suicide the other day. So, I am learning to be patient, do without, change habits and not cry at the loss of 'things'….yes, I am moving forward and managing. I have no choice. I am also fascinated with upgraded programs and the things that they can do-and don't do like they used to. Thank you for your patience.

You may recall that I seemed to be driving North on the I-15 quite a bit since Thanksgiving. I knew we would be doing Burger Week again. If you ever have, you have passed Tom's Farms and perhaps stopped, or made a mental note to stop when you had more time and were not either heading somewhere or 'almost home'. You really should stop.

You will notice several buildings and that the area is quite large, once you park. This building holds furniture for sale.

Another holds a Mexican restaurant.

There is an area which sells candies, another Produce and Vegetable area..wines, cheeses, gift baskets…

There are activities.

There is a wine tasting area and in that building, a place that makes pizza. We got the pizza once, many years ago, because the line for burgers was so long. It did not impress us and so now every time we go and the burger area is too crowded, we just buy some hot bread (there is something hot from the oven about every 30 minutes here. As soon as you walk into the Wine and Cheese Shop, the table in front of you will have something warm. Go ahead, touch the plastic bread wrapping) some cheese, maybe some smoked fish and sit out on the lawn, by the pond, to eat.

However, we drove by later in the evening just after Christmas, and it was not busy

. We walked over to the "burger and sandwich" area, by the duck pond.
I got my personal favorite, a Tom's Old Fashioned burger. ($3.95) 1/3 pound, served with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle and a special sauce. On a bun that is baked there. You know, a *very* fresh bun.

The burger is coarse ground meat, not frozen. Juicy, cooked medium and very flavorful (my personal" test" is eating the meat plain..seeing if it needs all those toppings or of the toppings compliment the meat). All the toppings are from the farm stand and include lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle and a sauce. (oh. Those giant pickles you pay $2 at the County Fair are sold here. $8 for a gallon. There are more than four in a gallon.)

In conclusion about the burger, you can't get much fresher unless you do all of this at home, including the baking, growing and using a high quality meat.

The Mister ordered a Chili Size ($4.95). The same 1/3 lb burger, served open faced on the fresh baked bun, topped with a nice, not too hot spiced chili with beans and shredded cheddar. I liked the combination of flavors of this and the hamburger meat patty stood out in that it was still coarse ground and had its own meaty juiciness. The chili complimented it.

We have had the fries here, and those have not been too memorable We pay the $3.69 for the onion rings.

Not a huge portion, but made fresh from thick cut, sweet Spanish onions. Breaded lightly with a flour/corn meal mix. Extremely properly fried and always sweet, sweet onions

If you want a root beer float, you get to kind of do it yourself.It is $3.95. They hand you a cup,more than half filled with a very good vanilla ice cream (the kind with specks of vanilla in it) and you fill the rest of the cup with root beer. Slowly. Because, you know, physics takes over and the carbonated beverage will flow over…

So, if you are near Corona or Anaheim and see Tom's Farms. Do stop and get a burger.

Tom's Farms 23900 Temescal Canyon Road, Corona, CA 92883

Website

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It’s Burger Week (again): Hodad’s, or is there life after bacon?

January 13, 2009 mmm-yoso Burgers

Ah yes Hodad's, the mere utterance of that noun will bring instant declarations of "Best Burger in Sam Diego"…if not the world, as the sign says:

The burger at Hodad's and Rocky's Crown Pub are at the epicenter of the OB (Ocean Beach) versus PB (Pacific Beach) burger wars. To me, they are two totally different burgers. Rocky's is a simple, hand formed, soft, and beefy plain burger. Hodad's is a crusty, messy, stuff dripping down your arms, kinda burger. There's more than enough room in San Diego, of not in my stomach for both of them. Personally, my relationship with Hodad's has been of the love-hate type. I long ago figured out what I loved about Hodad's burger; it was the bacon. Plain and simple, griddled until just teetering on the edge of burnt, with a nice greasy saltiness. Remove that bacon, and it was just a rather plain burger smothered in a ton of mayo, mustard, and ketchup. I'd visited Hodad's a few times when doing consulting work during the late 90's, and when we first moved to San Diego. My last 2 visits were not very good, the sandwich had become a soggy mess, with more iceberg than what sank the Titanic. Add to that the really rude "Hodad" attitude, I'd decided that enough was enough, and hadn't been back in years. Following our last burger week, several readers asked….nay demanded, that Hodad's got equal time. So here we are, over 2 years later….it's burger week.

The crowd at 5 minutes after opening, sure says something about Hodad's timeless popularity.

And though the crowds seemed the same, I noticed that many of the customers, at least on this day seemed a bit older. The menu looks the same, though the prices have gone up a bit over the years.

On this day, a really nice Young Lady was my Server, and I've got to say, it was probably the best service I'd ever had at Hodad's. She was friendly, efficient, refilled my Diet Soda once, and asked one other time. It's the most I could ever ask for at a joint like Hodad's.

Of all the items on he table, the salt, ketchup, hot sauce, and so on, the one you'll need to intimately familiarize yourself with, are the napkins. You'll be using many of these. So make sure to introduce yourself early on.

Looking over the menu, I suddenly realized that I had never sampled the onion rings at Hodad's, so I had a half order ($4.25):

They looked nice and golden brown, and were lip searing hot. I found the breading to be too hard and shell-like for my tastes, but these weren't bad by any means.

As for my burger, I decided to forgo the bacon, and go with a straight-up Double Cheeseburger ($7.50). Meet the leaning tower of burger:

An aquaintance of mine says that Hodad's "artificially" (his term, not mine) inflates the burger height with its own set of platform shoes; the lettuce. And though I believe I've encountered this before, it was not on display today. There were 3 tomatoes in my burger, but it was not "over-iceberged." I quickly noticed something, do you see it? Here's a closer look:

Yes, it was a little piece of bacon hanging on for dear life, as if to tease me!

For me, the burger at Hodad's is all about the crust of the patty, combined with that familiar flavor combination of American Cheese, pickles, ketchup-mayo-mustard, and tomato. It always takes me back to the burgers I ate growing up. Meat sizzling on the griddle until a nice crusty exterior is developed.

I kept eating and eating, until I hit a crossroads. It was the opportunity cost moment. Which will it be the onion rings or the burger? Well it was the onion rings that had to go. It did seem as if I kept eating, and hardly made a dent in the burger. In the end, I was quite pleased with the mess I had made.

Now this was the Hodad's we all know…….

As I waddled up to the register, the same nice young lady saw me rolling along and cracked up and asked me, "did you get enough to eat?" To which I replied, "I don't know what happened, I used to finish this with no problem…." Her response; "well, that happens sometimes……." Hmmm, maybe there is life after bacon at Hodad's…….

Hodad's
5010 Newport Ave.
San Diego, CA 92107

Hours:
Mon-Thu. 1100am – 900pm
Fri-Sat. 1100am – 1000pm

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It’s Burger Week (again): Bare Back Grill – Pacific Beach

January 12, 2009 mmm-yoso Australian/New Zealand Cuisine, Burgers

It's been a while since we've done Burger Week, so we thought it was time to it again. I real ize the timing may not be the best….. New Year Resolutions and all. So we apologize in advance, and hope you'll join us for this work-week collection of burgers.

It was FOY and fellow San Diego Food Blogger, Captain Jack who first mentioned Bare Back Grill to me a few years back. Along with the various "brokeback" jokes threw in for color, CJ mentioned that the burgers were of good quality, organic, and pretty tasty overall. That Bare Back Grill was located right on super busy Mission Boulevard in Pacific Beach really dampered my enthusiasm. But I had placed Bare Back Grill on my "list", and because I wanted to do another Burger Week, it was only a matter of when. Timing was everything, and the Missus and I decided to check the place out right after the Holidays, which meant we'd find parking without a problem….. right in front of the place.

The sign says "New Zealand Burgers and 'Wiches". According to what I've read, the Owners of Bare Back Grill were "trekking" through New Zealand when they came across a very popular Sandwich Shack. In love with the burgers and sandwiches, they got the owner to sell them the recipes, and the rest is history. Bare Back claims to sell %100 organic New Zealand grass-fed beef, ground fresh daily.

The interior of Bare Back, is wide open, very beach-bar-ish, and you'll sit on wooden chairs. During the winter, it can get a bit breezy.

The menu is short and sweet, and laminated…..on slabs of wood located on each table. Burgers range from $6.99 – $12.99, sandwiches and "other" grub $6.99 – $9.99. And as much as I wanted the Bare Lil' Lamb (Lamb Burger), I thought I'd stick with a burger.

During the workweek lunch hour, the best deal at Bare Back Grill is the Lunch Special, which is one of four different offerings, fries, and a drink (soft drink or draft beer) for $9.99. I went with the "Average Joe", which is a basic Cheeseburger.

The burger arrived, looking pretty good. I wasn't asked about "doneness" so there was no disappointment. I found that the very mildly milky swiss cheese added flavor without overpowering the burger. The patty was moist, and fairly tender. The flavor was mildly beefy, I had expected a bit more "ooomph" because it was grass fed beef, but the burger was not over seasoned. The roll was nothing special, but held up pretty well.

The fries at Bare Back are different….they are thin cut, and crisp…perfect in texture. But the addition of sugar freaked the Missus out. I guess Her Chinese palate wasn't able to deal with them. The aioli was a horseradish based deal, which really didn't bring much to the fries. So if you don't mind grainy sweetness on your fries you'll enjoy these.

The Missus ordered the Grilled Bird ($7.99). Basically chicken tenders. When the chicken arrived, I thought the Missus would be disappointed at having only 4 tenders in the "basket".

The tenders were coated with what is called "BBG" sauce, the "house dressing"….a tangy, tomato based sauce, halfway between chutney and BBQ sauce. The tenders were very soft and moist, a nice surprise, since tenders are usually dry and tough. The Missus enjoyed these.

Overall, a nice experience, and since I just have to try the Lamb Burger, I think we'll be back. Lack of parking, and the general traffic, both of the two legged and 4 wheeled variety will make timing very important. I'm making sure to include the Google map and address for Bare Back Grill, so you won't be a doofus like me and do a Google search on the words "bareback"……sheesh!

Bare Back Grill
4640 Mission Blvd
San Diego, CA 92109

Thanks for the rec CJ! hope to see a new post from you soon!

TacoNazo and the 2009 Rose Parade Floats.

January 11, 2009 Cathy Festivals & Events, Taco Shops, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is a food blog, written by Kirk and a few others. Today, one of the others, Cathy, is writing.

Hi again. 2008 was an unusual year and nothing seemed to be the same. Usually, The Mister and I volunteer with the Petal Pushers and help decorate floats for the Rose Parade , but that did not happen.

Instead, we started to drive north to Pasadena as the parade ended on television, in order to see the floats lined up end to end. Roseparade09 105 About 2 miles end to end. The New Year Resolution was about to begin.

About 1 million people camp out overnight to watch the Rose Parade, starting to claim seats along the 5 mile parade route on December 30 or 31, so they can ring in the New Year and then watch the parade up close starting at 8 a.m.. When the last float of the parade passes, they are so ready to go home…and we drive up against traffic.

Viewing on January 1, right after the parade, does not start until 1 p.m.. The parade ends about 10 a.m., so we have to eat lunch someplace before we can go inside the locked gate area.

As always, we have no plans…decided the exit that said "Azusa Pacific University" might have some college like food places, and took the exit.

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Sure enough, on Azusa Avenue, a one way street from the freeway, between houses, was this. TacoNazo

You know we had to stop.

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The menu board is simple…and when I saw the small cardboard board hanging down…the one next to the beverage machine… Roseparade09 009

Well, I knew I had a post.

Then there was the food. Roseparade09 006

The al pastor (spicy pork) taco, $1.69.

Juicy, extremely flavorful. Filling, although not that large. They do give you two tortillas. The small, standard ones.

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The ceviche tostada. $2.95. Fish. Fresh white fish.

You can also get one made with imitation crab for $2.95 also or ceviche made with (large) shrimp for $3.50.

This was excellent. Firm, fresh fish marinated in a lime juice topped with an onion/tomato/cilantro/celery relish and slices of avocado.

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Then, what TacoNazo is known for- the fish taco. Actually this is a one fish and one shrimp taco combination plate. ($5.59- which includes a bag of chips and large beverage.)

The rice and beans were excellent…and the batter on the taco and on the shrimp was perfect. It is light and thick, like a beer batter, and was absolutely perfectly fried-cooked through, crunchy on the outside, yet the seafood inside remained moist and extremely rich seafood flavored.

The seafood tacos come with your choice of toppings: cabbage, tomato, onion, cilantro and a signature cream sauce, which is *really* good…fresh and similar, (but better because it is fresh) than the jarred "crema" sold in most markets around here.

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Turns out this place has 6 locations, claims to have the "World's Best Fish Tacos". Have been around since 1978. They also declare they are the REAL flavor of Baja…and I think they may be right.

So, we drove to Exit 29…then North toward the far East end of where the floats are parked on Sierra Madre Blvd. We find parking on the street and follow the crowds. If you try to park closer, you'll pay about $10 and still have to walk…and you still have to pay $7 to get into the float area.

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Every square inch of the floats has to be covered with something that is, or was, alive. Yes, there are fresh flowers (and you can smell most of them). But beans, peas, dried leaves, seaweed, shredded coconut, rice, pulverized dried flower petals and so much else is used.

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These floats are huge, have to negotiate corners and have to be able to get under overhead wires and bridges along the route.

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There were 47 floats in this year's parade, all sponsored by different local cities and local and national businesses, the two schools playing in the football game (Penn State and USC) and the Queen's float, which is sponsored by the Tournament of Roses.

Roseparade09 040 Here is a little peek into where the driver of one of these machines sits. Of course, he can't look out, and is guided via headsets with a person who can see out the front of the float through a small opening.

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If you look carefully, you can see the orange "stamen" of the large flower to the left is made up of about 100 peppers. Each is meticulously glued or pinned onto the base. The flour petals are made of crushed rice and pulverized dried petals.

You can also see that there is an audio tour you can listen to, by calling a number and then requesting information about a particular float.

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It is fascinating to see the floats all lined up end to end. The enormity. There are white-suited Tournament of Roses members there to answer any questions you may have. Each has reference books with the most minute details listed about that particular float. Roseparade09 022

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We got in our exercise, started a new habit and had a great first lunch of 2009. I hope all of you are having a good year also.

Taconazo – 6 locations (Azuza, Bellflower, La Habra, La Puente, South El Monte and Walnut) www.taconazo.com