June 2009 – Page 2

COMC: The aborted Golden City hot pot project, a revisit to Sam Woo

June 17, 2009 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

Yes, even more “COMC” (clearing out the memory card) posts. Here’s a potpourri of revisits of the Chinese Restaurant variety for ya’.

The Golden City hot pot project:

**** Golden City has closed

I’m sure you find the photos of the “golden oldies” from Golden City kinda boring, but here are few anyway…..

Kwai Fei Chicken:

Though s bit inconsistent at times, the Kwai Fei Chicken is still one of my favorites here.

The lunch specials are still reasonably priced, with items like the Pork Chops with Spicy Salt.

Though the Peking Duck appetizer has gone up in price. If you want the dish served with minced Duck in Lettuce Cups, it’ll cost you $25 now. The duck is still carved tableside.

At one point, I thought I’d try to run through all the hot pot offerings, including the seasonal specials. After a while, I just ran out of momentum, and to be perfectly frank, motivation. But here are a few photos for you.

The Golden City Seafood Hot Pot.

At the time we ordered this, it was priced at $16. Not bad, but I wasn’t too impressed with the flavor and the quality of the seafood…except for the Sea Cucumber.

And though I enjoy the Chaozhou Beef Stew, I also enjoy the Beef Stew hot pot on occasion.

When done right, it is full of soft, buttery beef tendon. I also enjoy the slices of daikon radish in the dish. The “sauce” is well flavored and balanced. On not so good days, the tendon is rock hard, and the sauce edges toward too salty….or too bland.

I started losing motivation when we started ordering stuff like the Salted Fish with Taro Hot Pot.

There was very little salted fish, and this was very bland…….it was like eating paste, something I haven’t done since well, elementary school. After a while all the hot pots started blending into one, and I stopped taking photos.

Though I will never forget the look on the faces of the orange chicken eating gringos on the table next to us when the Ground Pork and Salted Fish arrived and the scent hit their noses.

I think one of the guys threw up in his mouth a little when the next dish, Kwai Fei Chicken arrived…..per his mumblings, I guess Kwai Fei Chicken does look like “raw chicken”. Sigh……like I always say, some folks are better off eating at Panda Express.

Golden City Restaurant
5375 Kearny Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123

More Sam Woo (not the “Killer Whale“):

We go long periods of time without eating at Sam Woo. But eventually we always return. Perhaps we miss the sodium and MSG induced edema…….. We’ve had our share of not so good meals at Sam Woo, but on this visit, we enjoyed ourselves. It seemed like we hit Sam Woo at the perfect time, even the older Server there, the one whose tongue is a sharp as a cleaver, smiled and said, “I haven’t seen you in a long time” made this a nice little meal.

Clams with Basil:

The Missus’s clam and shell inventory came out…… She always does a mental count of clam meat versus shells, thinking that we get more shells than clams. The clams were plump, the flavor decent…….

Sam Woo Seafood Pan Fried Noodles:

Though it pales in comparison to other restaurants, for $7.95, I think this is worth it. Plus, I’m a sucker for these. This was why we came here, I was craving some pan fried egg noodles. Most of the seafood was “meh”, but I just wanted the noodles………

And finally:

From what many consider to be the “wrong side of the pig”, fried Pork Intestines. These weren’t too bad, there was that dark, dank flavor, that I’ve slowly (very slowly) come to appreciate. The intestines didn’t have too much “debris”, a nice way of saying “stuff that the pig should have gotten rid of before it met its maker”.

We both thought the intestines could have been more crisp, and were on the oily side. The slices were also lukewarm, which made us feel a bit too “raw” if you know what I mean. There were a few pieces oozing grey matter, which we saved for those who would appreciate such things, i.e. Da’ Boyz.

As much as I grumble about Sam Woo in San Diego being not up to the standards of the SGV locations, this was a pretty good meal…….

Sam Woo BBQ Restaurant
7330 Clairemont Mesa Blvd Ste 103
San Diego, CA 92111

I hope everyone is having a great week!

Ah So Sushi and Steak: Yuma

June 16, 2009 ed fromyuma Chains, Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

Mmm-yoso is Kirk's wonderful foodblog. Sometimes he lets Cathy and others share their meals with you. In his last post, ed (from Yuma) discussed a wonderful Japanese meal in San Diego County. This post is different.

Most of us Yuma locals were excited a few years ago when we got an allegedly Japanese restaurant: Some of my enthusiasm melted away when a group of us came in for a Friday lunch, and somehow my order got lost in the system. At first, the server didn't even seem to notice that one of us had not received a meal. When I finally tracked her down and re-placed my order, the food still didn't arrive. When I finally located a manager — and that required finding the bartender and explaining everything to him — the manager insisted that my wait was not extraordinary since the time on the computerized order was only 20 minutes previous. I had to explain everything twice, before he understood that I had been in the restaurant for nearly an hour and that my friends had already finished their meals and I hadn't gotten a simple sushi combo yet. I was hungry, and when hungry, I get crabby.

Nonetheless, I decided to give the restaurant another chance. I doubt if I will ever forget that visit as I sat at the sushi bar and ordered various nigiri. As the itamae was bragging that the chain had restaurants in 44 different states, he was preparing me an order of saba, pouring vast quantities of sauce over the fish. Why? One foul and nasty taste answered that question and told me that the fish was, like Nemerov's Goosefish,"most ancient and corrupt and grey." The horror. I shudder everytime I think about it. The single worst sushi I have ever been served. Ever.

Hope does spring eternal, however, and when I saw that Ah So had been voted the best Asian restaurant in Yuma, I decided to give it another couple of shots. Maybe it had gotten better.

When I showed up both times at lunch, I tried to come with an open mind. I was pleased that icewater arrives with a lemon slice that I didn't even need to request: The miso soup is consistently thin, light but balanced in flavor, and lacking almost any content except for a couple shards of seaweed, a few thin circles of green onion, and on one visit, a cube of tofu the size of a garden pea. Nonetheless, it was certainly satisfactory: For my first visit, I decided to order something safe, something almost impossible to screw up, tempura: At first glance, this looked okay. There were several sizable shrimps and assorted vegetable pieces nicely arranged into a tower on the plate.

But when I looked more closely, I couldn't see any of the delicate lace like crunchies that typify a Panko crust: Putting aside any concerns, I started with the onion ring; after all, I've liked almost every onion ring I've ever eaten, at least to some extent. Well, not this one. First, there seemed to be no onion, at least none that I could taste. In fact, the only taste the ring had was stale cooking oil and greasy breading. Truly unpleasant.

The next item I tried was a slice of, I think, sweet potato: What I mean is that it looked sort of like it had some sweet potato in at, but the paperthin vegetable was overwhelmed by the greasy coating.

After wiping the grease off my fingers, I attacked one of the large shrimp, biting off the end. But there was no shrimp there. The last half-inch of the shrimp shaped thing I had put in my mouth was simply breading. After I peeled off the dense exterior, my large shrimp turned into something slightly smaller than my little finger, a truly shrimpy shrimp: It was also desiccated and flavorless. Yuck!

When I was finished, I left behind a nearly full bowl of unappetizing breading: To be fair, I wanted to give the place one more chance, so I returned to try a sushi combo. The $12 combination arrived at my table looking very pretty: The chef had done a good job arranging the items so that the colors were balanced. It really was an attractive and inviting tray.

The California roll was decent. While the sushi rice could have been seasoned better, at least the roll was not packed with mayonnaise. In the mouth, I could not detect the flavor of the krab or wasabi, but the creamy avocado was pleasant and the cucumber crunch was a nice contrast.

The tuna, even with its neon pink color, was okay, although it finished with a slight background metallic flavor that I found marginally unpleasant. But mostly, it seemed a bit dried out and had very little flavor of any sort at all: Ditto the whitefish: It is possible that this was hirame, but it could've been any mild whitefish for all the flavor that it had.

One of the highlights of the nigiri was, oddly enough, the krab. This was good quality imitation crustacean and was the most moist and flavorful thing I put into my mouth during the entire meal.

The ebi was okay as well, though a bit dried out and having only a very mild shrimp flavor. Again, however, the item seemed severely underseasoned. This time after I only bit off half of the piece, I lifted the remaining shrimp off of the rice ball and discovered why all the nigiri had been exceptionally bland. There was no wasabi anywhere.

Perhaps the restaurant expects that its customers are going to drown their sushi in the brownish swamp that forms when you stir an entire serving of wasabi into a couple tablespoons of soy sauce. And maybe if I had done that, there would've been more flavor to each of the pieces — but not a flavor I enjoy much anymore.

The worst single piece of fish was the albacore: It tasted tired and a little off. It was also mushy in texture and left an unpleasant aftertaste that lingered long after the meal was finished. I hate bad albacore burps.

The salmon was certainly better than the albacore, but like so many other items, it lacked much depth of flavor, richness, or intensity. No way unpleasant, just passably mediocre: I saved the tamago for last. Mostly, it was sweet and dense. Still, not really bad at all. In fact, the sushi combination was adequate enough that I could eat it again, though most likely, not again real soon.

In other words, I still don't like this restaurant very much. So how did this place get voted #1? Well, it is located at the mall and seems to be a popular dating location. It serves alcohol. Maybe in the company of an attractive friend, after several beers, the food seems pretty good.

Still, I think the restaurant should change its name. Instead of "Ah So," how about "Ah Ful So So," or maybe "So So Ah Ful"? Those seem right to me.

Ah-So Sushi & Steak, 1325 S Yuma Palms Pkwy, Yuma, AZ 85365 (928) 329-7442

Pisa’s Chicago Deli

June 15, 2009 mmm-yoso Hot Dogs, Sandwiches

*** Pisa's has closed.

Recently some business found me in the Mission Gorge area around lunch time. I saw a storefront I hadn't noticed before. I think this used to be a location of Submarina or something like that.

And since I just can't seem to pass up a chance at a Chicago Dog, I just had to stop.

The interior does seem to scream "sandwich chain", but the menu is bit different.

And so I ordered….what else, a Chicago Dog ($3.49):

The good? The standard Chicago Dog roll-call indicated all the usual suspects were present; the dog is Vienna Beef, the roll is poppy seed, the sport peppers were nice and spicy, the neon green relish was in attendance, as was the celery salt and tomato slices.

The bad? The dog was "blanched" and flavorless, the poppy seed bun was heated in the microwave and gummy, and it didn't have enough celery salt. Barely passable at best……

A few weeks later, I found myself back in the area, and decided to give Pisa's another try. This time I went for the Chicago Style Italian Beef Sandwich ($6.49), which I requested "hot dipped":

Even though the beef was basically your standard roast beef, it was sliced fresh. The roll was a standard French Roll, which did fine. The young man working the counter even included a cup of the "broth", which tasted pretty much like the stuff you'd serve with a roast beef dip. I once had a version so full of oregano and garlic flavor…..this wasn't it, but neither was it terrible. The giardiniera was the appropriate "sport pepper" version, which I enjoy.

And though I don't really consider this a "real" Chicago Beef sandwich, it sure was a lot of food:

I also enjoyed the potato salad which was cold, with a nice vinegar flavor.

All in all, that beef sandwich sure was pretty hefty. The menu is different from the usual Subway and Quizno's, and the guys that work here were nice and friendly. So if you're in the area, and really need a Chicago Dog……..

Pisa's Chicago Deli
10450 Friar's Road
San Diego, CA 92120

Road Trip: Qing Dao Bread Food – Monterey Park (Los Angeles)

June 14, 2009 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip

*** A short update can be found here.

Even though I've had Qing Dao Bread Food on my list for quite a while, we approached the place with some trepidation. The namesake is the Missus' hometown, so there's some apprehension, enough so, that we just kinda drove past during our trips to the area. This morning, however, was a bit different; the usual "June gloom" had been augmented with a bit of rain, and temperatures were much lower than the norm. We both thoughtthat a trip to China Islamic, for some Lamb Hot Pot would hit the spot. Unfortunately, China Islamic seemed to be a bit late in opening, and we decided to drive onward down Garvey. By the time we hit the "heart of Monterey Park", the intersection of Garfield and Garvey, we had made up our mind. Today was the day we'd check out Qing Dao Bread Food.

The interior of the small shop is non-descript, and wouldn't stand out amongst the other thousand or so little shops strewn across the San Gabriel Valley.

And as we entered, the Missus grabbed an ordering sheet, and chatted with the gentleman behind the counter. The Missus returned to our table with a smile. "Oh my, the accents are sooooo Qing Dao." The Missus has a thing about accents, we once sat in a Shenyang Restaurant, and the Missus kept giggling the entire night at the accents of the staff and clientle.

After placing our order, peeking around the posted Jiaozi and Baozi prices, we could see the woman rolling out the dough for our Jiaozi behind the Plexiglas window.

Taking into account the accents, the staff's features, and this, the Missus told me that this was the "real deal".

Growing up, this was the standard condiment for Baozi and Jiaozi in Qing Dao; garlic that had been pounded in a mortar mixed with vinegar. In fact, when She was a child, it was the Missus's job to peel the garlic. Which of course She hated! This was mighty strong stuff, that tastes great if you're garlic lover like myself……but the aftertaste will hang around for a good long time…….

The first item to arrive was the Pork and Green Bean Baozi ($1.25):

The Baozi arrived with a good twelve sets of "pleats". I was told that Baozi in traditionally shaped to mimic a woman's bound feet, once a symbol of beauty in China. My MIL also informed me that folks say the "more folds, the better the taste", which She said was just a myth.

The breaking open the Baozi, we noticed it was full of roughly cut green beans and pork. "Very country-like, just like what I grew up eating" said the Missus. Per my MIL, green beans is a common Baozi ingredient during the summer, replaced by Napa Cabbage in the winter. We found the dough to be much too crumbly, and it lacked the nice yeasty scent and flavor.

The filling was excellent in flavor, especially the pork.

Next up was the Lamb Jiaozi ($6.95):

When these arrived (a dozen), we could tell by the sheen and the look of the wrappers that this was going to be good. The wrappers had a wonderful al dente texture, with just the perfect amount of pull. Texturewise, these were perfect for me.

Each dumpling contained a bit of rich "soup", and the meat, though a bit chewy had a wonderful lamb flavor.

I told the Missus that, "these were probably the best I've had". The Missus concurred and said these were the best Qing Dao Jiaozi She's had in the States. And then of course came the inevitable loaded question. "So, you think these are better than my Mom's, huh?" After hemming and hawing, and doing the "similar but different" cop-out move, I surrendered and pleaded the fifth. No way was I going to jeopardize my "Jiaozi futures".

While I was plowing through the Jiaozi, the Missus had a chat with the Owner. They are from Qing Dao, and have been in the US for nine years. The Missus even remembered his street in Qing Dao, which was in the same District as where the Missus grew up.

Last to arrive were the Pork, Leek, and Shrimp Lu Bao ($6.95):

And though the filling was roughly chopped, with large pieces of pork and shrimp, in the manner of the Lu Bao of the Missus's youth, the dough left a bit to be desired. The tops were gummy instead of fluffy, and the bottom was hard instead of crisp. I also thought it tasted oily. The filling had great flavor though.

Of course, finding that I had found Jiaozi that rivaled my MIL's, the Missus immediately called Her Mom! Oh-uh……. The Missus wasn't able to talk to Her Mom until later that evening, but the desire to needle her still hadn't subsided. Upon finding that I enjoyed my Jiaozi, my MIL declared that She was, "very jealous" and asked for the name and phone number of this restaurant. When asked why should should want that information, she told us jokingly, "I'm going call and find out the secret of their Jiaozi." The Missus of course asked why would they share their recipe with you? To which my MIL replied, "we are from the same district, we are neighbors, what is the harm?"

She was joking….I think….I hope.

Qing Dao Bread Food
301 North Garfield Ave.
Monterey Park, CA 91754
(626) 312-6978

Check out PepsiMonster's post on QDBC here.

Check out the Gastronomer's post of QDBC here.

Postscript: While writing this the Missus called Her Mother….and guess what, Her Mother actually called QDBC! Among the things my MIL did find out was that the Owners are from the same neighborhood as the Missus's family. What She didn't find out was the recipe to their Jiaozi dough! Even using small talk and the "La Guan Xi" (doing the buddy-buddy thing) method didn't work. The response to the recipe request? "You come here eat, and we'll tell you the recipe!" he-he-he-he………

Simple grilled lamb

June 12, 2009 Cathy Recipes, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the food blog you just ran into. Kirk, ed(from Yuma) and Cathy and a few others write about what they ate- out or in. Today, it's Cathy. Eating in.

Hi. I went to Albertsons the other day and there was a pack of lamb shoulder, sliced thin, for $1.19 a pound. There were about 2 pounds in the pack and a lot was bone. I bought it.

I went through the kitchen and found these ingredients, all of which I thought would go with lamb.

I had made a marinade like this before, but for a thicker hunk of meat.

I let it marinade in the refrigerator for about an hour and a half.

In the mean time, I cut up some potatoes and sprinkled with salt and put into the oven to bake.

I also sauteed some mushrooms, and added a handful of snow peas in the pan once the mushrooms were cooked.

Then I put the marinated lamb shoulder on a heated grill outside.

Since the pieces of shoulder were sliced fairly thin (less than an inch thick) and the grill was hot, they cooked in about 2 minutes on each side.

It was a simple dinner outside on a nice cool evening.

I saved the onions from the marinade and sauteed those for myself. The Mister does not like onions (yay for me!)

Cathy's simple lamb marinade

2 pounds sliced lamb with bone

3 Tbs olive oil

1/4 cup vinegar total (I used 1/8 C white and 1/8 C balsamic)

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 thin sliced onion

Combine ingredients except lamb in a container. When salt is dissolved, add lamb and coat well. Let marinade in refrigerator about an hour. Remove from marinade, (reserve marinade and onions to saute as side dish) and place on hot grill. Cook about 2 minutes each side if meat is less than 1 inch thick.

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend.

(I served this with mint jelly)

Omakase at Kaito

June 11, 2009 ed fromyuma Sushi and Sashimi, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Today it's not Kirk – it's not Cathy – it's ed (from Yuma) writing about another sushi experience in Encinitas.

Last time at Kaito was a Monday night, so I thought it would be nice to come by on a Thursday so that more interesting stuff would be available. Plus I wanted to put myself into the skillful hands of Morita-san and let him select all the dishes (omakase – though I don't always use that word).

The meal started with a shredded gobo root/carrot salad. It was subtly sweet and the light dressing let the natural flavors and mouthfeel speak for themselves: Next came two shellfish dishes. The East Coast clam lay on a bed of shredded daikon and shiso leaf, presented in the clam shell:
The sweet tender clam was good and very fresh tasting – though not exceptionally deep or rich – but it did go well, as Morita-san pointed out, with a glass of cold sake.

More interesting were the two items parked to the left of the clam:
On top is huge piece of Morro Bay awabe (huge by contemporary abalone standards, that is). Below it is what Morita-san called its liver. Like nothing I'd ever put in my mouth before.

The abalone was outstanding. It had full abalone flavor, and the knife work on it was exceptional. One could remove one chunk or a small row of chunks and pop them into the mouth. The fineness of the dice accentuated the super crunchy texture, but left the awabe still easy to chew.

The liver (who knew?) was a nice complement. While it looks funky, the texture was actually rich and smooth, and the flavor was mild and pleasant. Overall a nice match for the abalone.

The next dish was truly amazing and (for me) unique in many ways:
On the right is a salad made from kombu, with little slivers of mirugai, all brought together with sesame oil and sesame seeds. A bit salty with a pleasant off crunchy texture.

It was the little fellars on the left that drew most of my interest, however. Morita-san called them firefly squid, and said they were sourced from the seas between Japan and China. "In season right now."

These critters were so pretty in a bizarre sort of way that I can't resist a close-up: Again, these little treats were completely new to me. As I popped each one into my mouth and bit down, my mouth was filled with a subtle and rich creamy liquid. I don't have the words to express the oceany complexity of the flavor. If I say something tastes "porky" we all know what that means, but it is impossible for me to express the total uniquity of this taste. At the same time each one of these little guys was very tender with almost no chew. The bodies were like tiny flavor filled footballs, the skin having just enough thickness to hold in the innards.

At this point, I was thinking that it cannot get better than this. But the first piece of sushi that I was served showed that Kaito can hit back-to-back-to-back home runs: Yes, I know that this looks like an ordinary piece of hirame; in taste, however, it was extraordinary. As on my previous visit, the halibut in the nigiri sat atop diced shiso leaf. This time Morita-san added some extra touches. The slice of fish was hit with a splash of lemon juice, then he grated a bit of crystaline salt over it, and finally dropped a dollop of green chile puree on top.

The flavors seemed to dance in choreographed fashion over my tongue. It was like each flavor had a moment on stage, had its own solo, before the next player appeared. It ended with the pleasant tap dance of green chile heat. Wow!

The halibut was followed by some soy marinated tuna: In this case, the maguro reminded me of the presentation on my previous visit. Very good. Solid. But no striking difference.

On the other hand, the kohada on this visit showed off the quality of the fish: Kirk describes the flavor of this fish as milky, though I just detected a certain richness that preceded the full flavored fishy (in a good way) flavor. The essence of the sea.

On my last visit, I had been somewhat disappointed in the Kohada – not this time. Similarly, Kaito's anago (sea eel) was better on this visit. Since Kaito's website links to my previous posts, it made me wonder if the chef was going out of his way to show me how good kohada and anago could be:
For those of you used to unagi, this fish will seem leaner, but it is also fleshier and firmer with a more subtle and complex taste. Morita-san is careful not to overwhelm the delicate flavors with too much sauce. The crunchy, deep-fried spine pieces provided plenty of textural contrast.

The meal ended with rolls. The first was a hand roll with ikura, uni, and ika: As before, I was impressed by the quality of the nori. And the flavors went together very well, with the squid providing good chew, although my teeth tended to pull the slices of squid out of the roll, much like cilantro stalks in a banh mi. At this point I may have been suffering taste bud fatigue because I cannot remember the flavor of the salmon eggs. The uni was, as you would expect, rich and fresh.

For dessert, I was served six pieces of toro roll with green onion: OK, I know you can count, but sometimes the chopsticks are quicker than the shutter. Trust me, there were six pieces. This roll was a nice way to showcase the richness of the tuna belly and an appropriate ending to the meal.

I left happy, satisfied, and pleased. Compared with an omakase at Sakura, the emphasis here was on sashimi and sushi. Kazu at Sakura will always include several items from the kitchen even when he showcases his fish. Morita-san focused on raw seafood and displayed an amazing range of outstanding items. Service was as friendly and personal as on my first visit.

Kaito Sushi * 130-A N. El Camino Real * Encinitas, CA 92024 * (760) 634-2746

Wong’s Golden Palace- La Mesa

June 10, 2009 Cathy Chinese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the food blog and Cathy is today's blogger, not reviewer. (Reviewers get paid to do stuff like this.) Kirk and ed (from Yuma) are busy with other stuff.

If you have been East on University Avenue, you've seen this place.

Wong's Golden Palace has been in La Mesa for about 42 years.

You can tell by the exterior.

You can tell by the decor.

as well as the tabletops…

and sturdy ceramic dinnerware.

Then there is the menu .

We had been here years ago, but not lately and chose some items we felt were pretty 'safe'… and to satisfy a craving I had…

Egg Foo Young ($6) and chicken liver chow mein ($7.00)

I always like my egg foo young to be vegetables only, no meat. This serving was three patties, properly fried, and served with gravy, but it was a very plain white gravy which had no flavor, only a smooth texture. The patties were mostly bean sprouts with some onions and all was crispy but not overly flavored. I had to add soy sauce to give it some 'kick'.

The chow mein noodles (soft, not fried) were excellent. There were at least 12 chicken livers sauteed without a batter or flour and quite a bit of carrots, onions, fresh and plump snow peas and bean sprouts.

Our third dish was the "Wong's Special Sizzling" ($9.50). A large sizzling platter of chicken, shrimp, ham, mushrooms, onions and more of the fresh snow peas. Served "spicy"…

You read that right. Ham.

It was pretty much BBQ pork without the glow-in-the-dark-pink coloring.

Really, I see more people here in the bar area, and the American menu. Even in the morning on weekends.

…but I just can't take pictures. The $6 Steak and eggs or pork chop and egg breakfast is a great deal…

The Mon-Fri 1/2 pound burger and beer is quite nice, for those of you who want a beer at 11 a.m. The burger is cooked to order; they will make it medium rare and it is very good. The bun is toasted. Again, eating alone in a bar on a Tuesday taking photos was just not in the cards for me. It was kind of sad that I was drinking alone anyhow…

Not fancy, not fantastic, but still bringing in patrons daily.

Wong's Golden Palace 7126 University Avenue La Mesa 91941 (619)465-9222 website

Santiago Atitlan: Chicken worth 400 steps?

June 9, 2009 mmm-yoso Guatemala, Guatemalan Food, Travel

Before leaving Santiago Atitlan, we decided to grab something to bring back to the hotel with us. You see, our hotel, is pretty isolated, and at night things are locked down pretty tight for the safety of the customers. And we weren't too thrilled with the food at the Hotel, and of course, we weren't staying there for the food anyway.

I mentioned the intense love of "Pollo Frito", fried chicken the locals and tourists alike have for Guatemalan Fried Chicken. And nowhere was it more apparent than in Santiago. There were three fried chicken joints steps from the main intersection in town, two of them right next to each other!

Choosing the "right" Pollo Frito joint was easy for us. Only one shop was doing some major business.

They could hardly keep up with the chicken…only legs for us, no pechuga (breast) por favor….

And there was something else that caught my eye…..

Chicharron en Pollo – fried chicken skin. Of course the Missus bought a dozen tortillas from the stand outside the shop. The Missus and I joked that the pollo frito places in Santiago had Antigua beat hands down. Whereas in Antigua, you bought tortillas picked from a basket, in Santiago, they made the tortillas fresh right outside the chicken joint!

And so the fried chicken started its long journey back to our room. First, from Santiago back to San Pedro. At the top of the hill from the embarcadero, we decided to give ourselves (chicken included) a break. We hadn't checked the Internet in a few days, so we stopped, and went about checking email. To our surprise, we had received a few emails asking us if we had heard about the swine flu outbreak in Mexico. We had been incommunicado for a couple of days, so we hadn't heard anything. We decided to follow-up when we returned to Antigua the following day. We made our way down the hill to the muelle to catch our lancha back to Lomas de Tzununa. It turned out that the captain of our boat, was the one who returned us to our pier the day before. He greeted us with a smile, and said "Lomas de Tzununa muelle"? And the fried chicken began the second leg(no pun intended) of its journey. Returning, the sky started getting dark, and a few sprinkles started falling. Apparently the rainy season was starting, and just as the previous day, the late afternoon would be punctuated with a few thunderstorms. Making a soft docking at the pier, the captain smiled and gave us a big thumbs up as he pulled away.

There was, of course, the 400 steps back up to our room……..

And though the steps were a bit easier this time around, the stairs were still winning the battle. I recall murmuring(more like gasping) to myself, "this chicken better be darn good" about halfway up the stairs. I don't think too much sweat fell on the precious chicken……

So was this worth the effort?

Even with the understanding that the chicken probably tasted better because of the effort, I'd say unequivocally, yes! The flavor was a bit different from Pollo Campero, there was almost a mild curry flavor hiding in the background. The skin was not as good in flavor as Pollo Campero, but the flesh was. The flesh was not as tasty as the chicken from Comedor Elenita, but it was a close second. Taking this into consideration, this chicken came out as the best overall on our trip.

As good as that chicken was, the fried chicken skin was even better.

These were fantastic! Amazingly crisp and light. Though I enjoyed the flavor of the fried chicken skin in Thailand, there was a gummy-ness to them, and also an aftertaste that reminded you of where the skin came from. These were just plain crack-tastic!

The Missus also had a few granadilla (golden passionfruit) which were a bit on the watery side.

Man this was good….as was watching the "fireflies" at night.

We awoke the next morning having had our fill of peace and quiet. It was time to move on. We were on our way back to Antigua, then Flores and Tikal.

Thai Pepper Cuisine

June 8, 2009 mmm-yoso Thai Restaurants

Now here's a place that without a heads-up from "FOYs" Farrah and Trent, I'd have totally missed altogether. Thai Pepper Cuisine is located in Serra Mesa on Sandrock, across from the strip mall that has been sorta depressed since Henry's left a few years back. I believe that a restaurant called "The Three Chefs" or something like that used to occupy this space.

On my first visit to Thai Pepper, I was accompanied by some great FOYs (Friends of Yoso). It's not very often that I get to share a table with a Zompus and a Paparatti, so Iwas indeed honored!

The menu is what you'd expect from a neighborhood Thai restaurants, sections of "choose your protein, choose your sauce", various curries, and similar items make up the offerings. This is not a bad thing, if done well, those dishes are wonderful. The interior of the restaurant is small with maybe ten tables. I found the chairs to be interesting; I swear that they are those ergonomic, office chairs that wouldn't look out of place in the average conference room.

Our Server for the evening was an adorable woman named Oy, friendly, and gracious to a fault, She projected that gentle demeanor we found during our trip to Thailand and Laos.

We started with one of those "basic" items, the Som Tum, Papaya Salad ($6.95):

This was fairly average, a bit on the overly sweet side. It was put together well, but lacked the wonderful savory flavor some salted blue crab, or even dried shrimp.

The Spicy Fried Rice with Beef ($7.95), even though lacking in heat was good, with a nice dose of fish sauce. It was just a hair from being very good. Though the rice had some nice caramelization, it was a bit too mushy. The beef was adequately tender, and this dish wasn't overly sweet.

The exotic sounding Wild Boar Curry ($8.95) was the only dish I wasn't too fond of.

This was slices of very dry and tough pork in a very mild curry. I also started realizing that this place loves white mushrooms……

Another of my go-to Thai dishes is Pad See Ew (with shrimp – $9.95).

Personally, I find this simple noodle dish to be a great test of a cooks skill. Temperature control, along with balancing the salty and sweet flavors is very difficult. Though there was no "wok hey" (burnt does not equal wok hey), the overall flavor was nicely balanced, and the noodles were cooked well, though not all the noodles were flavored. Not bad.

And I'm sure the wonderful company of Mr & Mrs Zompus added to the meal as well.

A week later, I dropped by Thai Pepper for another meal. This time, I decided to try the Yum Nua, the Beef Salad ($8.95):

Based on my previous visit, I ordered this "Thai spicy", but of course, it was not served that way. I was pleasantly surprised to find ground rice powder, even though it was ground a bit too coarse, was used to add a mild nuttiness to the proceedings. In direct contrast to what I had encountered in previous dishes this was really fish sauce heavy, borderline salty, and lacked balance, but it was not boring in the least(more white mushrooms?). The beef was tender, and this went well with jasmine rice.

I also ordered a dish I was eyeing on my last visit, the Homestyle Duck ($14.95):

There was nothing "homestyle" about this well prepared dish. Duck breast, flavored with hoisin and other spices, had been deep fried, and much of the subcutaneous fat had rendered off. The skin was crisp, the portion below the skin like great duck jerky, and the meat soft and moist.

The duck rested on a bed baby corn, mushrooms(yet again), and broccoli in a brown, mildy tamarind and ginger flavored brown sauce…an after-thought in my book. I took most of this dish home, and the Missus thought it to be pretty darn good.

During dinner I had a chance to chat with Oy, and the nice folks here. It appears that even though I had ordered my Yum Nua Thai Spicy, they noted that I wasn't Thai or Lao, so they held back! After talking to them about food, and various dishes, I think I convinced them to actually make my food spicy on my next visit, which may not be too far down the road.

Thai Peppers is a really nice restaurant of what I call the "neighborhood Thai" category. The service is friendly, and the food is pretty easy to take. Nothing really exotic, the menu sticks to the tried and true, Bangkok/Royal Thai model. The prices are reasonable as well. The turnover of businesses in the area makes me depressed, so I'm hoping that Thai Peppers changes that trend. Every neighborhood should have a nice place like this.

Thai Pepper Cuisine
3361 Sandrock Road
San Diego, CA 92123

Thanks Farrah and Trent

One last thing:

I usually don't post on various links and such, but I was just tickled when Caroline Russock, who does the Cook the Book post for the one and only Serious Eats mentioned us. I was flattered to be sure. But I was also puzzled when the first person to comment said this:

"I'm disappointed to hear you thought mmm-yoso! was your saving grace for San Diego! All I found on that site was mostly a bunch of fast food Hawaiian and "Asian" restaurants that make Panda Express look good."

Egad! I haven't felt so puzzled since the time a fellow food blogger told me, "I know why you post so often….it's because you have such a big ego that needs to be fed". Yeow….I think I'll leave now, and try not to trip over my ego!

A & D Hawaiian BBQ – National City

June 7, 2009 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego, Loco Mocos, Plate Lunch

**** A&D has closed

Well, there I was in Grove Plaza Center with the intent of grabbing a bite at Karihan. Unfortunately, there was no Kare-Kare on this morning, and for some reason, all of the food looked like it had been "sitting around" for quite a while….at 11am in the morning. So I decided to head next door to A&D Hawaiian BBQ.

I've been kinda down on the whole Hawaiian BBQ thing………most of it seems to be a bunch of folks who could care less about what they plop on a plate, who are just looking to make some $$$ (replacing Spam with Treet – heresy I say!). And frankly, after looking over the menu at A&D, full of the usual suspects, I wasn't particularly moved. But it had been so long since I've had even a borderline terrible Lau Lau, that I was willing to sell my soul, and drop my standards. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, there was no Lau Lau, only Kalua Pork available.

So I made an adjustment, and placed my order, and waited. Meanwhile, I gazed upon the borderline neon green walls. During my wait, the very nice Woman manning the counter was constantly cleaning. Now A&D isn't the most visually pleasing little place, the tables have various names, initials, and other verbiage carved into them, and it does look a bit aged for a place that's only been in this location for a year, but man this woman was really cleaning……

Unable to make a decision, I had ordered the ubiquitous "BBQ Mix" ($7.29). The nice lady brought the styrofoam container over to my table, and when I grabbed it, it felt like it must've weighed two pounds…..

And everything was hot…so hot that it steamed up my camera lens, and I had to wait for a minute or two to take photos. As with all these BBQ Mix plates, all the regulars were in attendance. The BBQ Short Ribs…please don't call them Kalbi….they are about as close to Kalbi as I am to Brad Pitt. That said, these were not bad, not as tough as the usual cross cut short ribs are, the marinade is not as sweet as many, which is fine with me.

The BBQ Beef was well marinated, pulling toward more of a ginger-shoyu flavor. It was also fairly tender, and without the usual "sugi", which is what we call nylon fishing line back home, the usual tough, and inedible tendon that is usually found.

The BBQ chicken looked on the light side, but was pretty tender. The norm would be chicken that had been marinated, pre-cooked, dumped back into a steam tray with marinade, and reheated before serving, making it really tough. I really got the feeling, based on the wait time, and how hot everything was, that these folks cook their stuff to order.

I really liked the Mac Salad, it was nice and cold, with a perfect amount of mayo, and some salt for a change. The rice was a bit hard and dry, though.

There was one more item that I had to order. On the door is a sign. That sign says "6 Piece Chicken Wing Special – $1.99". Yes, it seems that A&D is in the Salt and Pepper Chicken wing business.

The batter on these is light, and crisp, and the chicken is juicy, but it does not hold up well, and lacks the "crack-like" addictive flavor.

This way too much food for me, so I took half of it home. What I thought was interesting, was that the Missus had pretty much the same opinion. And I didn't even tell Her what I thought of the food. They say after you've been married for a while……….

A few weeks later, I was in the area, and decided to drop by A&D again. This time I paid a bit more heed to the menu, and had to chuckle at the "Healthy Meals" portion. since when is Chicken Katsu or Crispy Shrimp, considered healthy? Perhaps they mean a "healthy appetite"?

Being the predictable person I am, I of course ordered:

Yes, a Loco Moco ($6.99). I readily admit that I have a thing about the two easy over eggs, hamburger patties, gravy, over rice. It is something that I long for on a visceral level. So how does this rate on the modified "Rubio Scale", created by James Rubio of Big Island Grinds. For those not familiar with the scale, you can check out my post from waaaaay back in 2005. And in case you're wondering, why the Big Island? It is believed that the Loco Moco was created on the Big Island circa 1949. Sorry to say that I wasn't able to sample the Loco from the Lincoln Grill, but the Missus and I have had more than our share from Cafe100.

So moving right along…….

#1 – The Burger – Pure and simple pre-formed. Tough. – 2.0 points

#2 Eggs – A bite overcooked for me. But worse of all, they didn't clean the griddle before frying the eggs. Too many black, "mystery bits". – 1.0 points

#3 Rice – Perfectly cooked this time. – 3.0 points

#4 Gravy – Wow, really salty….really, really, salty. I've hardly ever left gravy to sit and congeal, but had to this time. – 1.0 points.

#5 Stuffs – In this case the Macaroni Salad, which wasn't as good as my previous visit, but still pretty good. – 3.0 points.

For a total of 13.0 points, which ranks it as being fairly mediocre, even by Hawaiian BBQ standards.

Overall, A&D serves up standard Hawaiian BBQ fare. I felt that with regards to the BBQ, you get a pretty hefty size portion of food, which was pretty good. There are also $4.99 specials such as Chicken Katsu. The service was, at least for me, a notch above the standard indifferent service at most of these places.

A&D Hawaiian BBQ
Grove Plaza Center
2220 Plaza Blvd
National City, CA 91950

Open Daily – 11am – 9pm