As in, yoso-silly, yoso-hungry, yoso-full, or best of all; mmm-delici-yoso!!!!! A San Diego based food and travel blog. An Ex-Pat Kama'aina and Friends explore food, restaurants, and travel from San Diego and points beyond.
Welcome back to mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog. Kirk and ed(from Yuma) are working. Cathy is playing Tourist today.
Hi. On a weekday not long ago, The Mister got a bunch of time off from work. We are members of the Zoological Society of San Diego and usually only go once or twice a year with out of town visitors. Since there are no rules about when you can go, we decided to pretend we were tourists. We found close parking and walked between the elephant topiaries to the entrance, and went to see the flamingos straight ahead. The youngest ones were molting and just turning pink. Then we walked to the left and visited the tortoises while they were eating lunch…and stared at the Monitor Lizard across the way… then popped into the hummingbird exhibit (there is one hummingbird feeding on the left side of the orange flower in the center right of this photo.). Then we walked on the Trail through the Lost Forest, passing the Gorilla Exhibit, following the signs to Albert's Restaurant (named after Albert, a silverback gorilla who came to the Zoo at 4 months of age, was hand raised and lived here for about 30 years and was the Patriarch of the Gorillas). The fanciest place to dine at the Zoo. Cloth napkin fancy. The only full service restaurant here. We had to wait a few minutes to be seated, as the restaurant had just opened and others were being seated.
Everyone ahead of us took seats outdoors, in the treetops, and we got the view from inside the building-see the waterfalls all the way in the back? Warm, crispy crusted, mildly sour sourdough and whipped butter was brought out after we ordered. Soon, our artichoke heart appetizer ($7) arrived. Artichoke hearts, red pepper strips and garlic cloves which had been carmelized olive oil. Served with three crisp crostini. Very good. The Mister ordered a Cobb Salad ($14). Romaine lettuce topped with the traditional Cobb toppings (Bleu cheese chunks, chicken breast, bacon, tomato, avocado and hard boiled egg). The chicken and the avocado were very cold. Chilled I suppose. If those had been room temperature, the flavors would have melded better. (It tasted much better at the halfway point, when the temperatures of the avocado and chicken had 'warmed' and was really good at the end.) I chose the vegetable linguine($13). Zucchini, yellow squash, peppers, carrots, tomatoes, broccoli and onions in an opal basil cream sauce. I could have added chicken or shrimp, but didn't want to and this was excellent. The vegetables were not mushy nor too crisp. The sauce was just the perfect, complimentary richness.
You know how when you order onion rings and one french fry shows up? Or when you order cheese popcorn, there is one piece of carmel popcorn in the box? That happens with noodles too!
It was a fancy, fun, no-rules day for us. I hope you can have one of those soon.
Albert's Restaurant in the San Diego Zoo, Balboa Park 2920 Zoo Drive San Diego 92101 619-685-3200 Website
I'm really blessed to have so many FOYs (Friends of Yoso). There are times when I don't hear from them for pretty long periods, but I always appreciate the recommendations folks like KenB and "SomTommy" provide. Receiving emails from them is like getting an early Christmas present. I hadn't heard from FOY ChristinaC in a while, perhaps not since one of her recommendations Chef Tony closed. So I was pleasantly surprised to find an email from her in my inbox two days ago! And even better, it was a recommendation; for a shop called Alforon. Christina's rec's are beyond refute, so even though the Missus was under the weather, we made sure to drop by this tiny shop on El Cajon Boulevard ASAP.
The interior of the shop is tiny, but full of warm colors, and there are wonderful fragrances coming from the oven made of refractory concrete in the back of the kitchen.
The menu is small, but like the very friendly, energetic, and warm Samia, one half of the husband and wife team that owns this shop says, "it is full of good food, everything except one thing, the baklava is made here." Samia makes time to talk to all her customers, and since we really stood out; everyone else seemed to be Lebanese or Armenian, she was curious as how we had found Alforon. I told her that a very "dependable source had emailed me and told me I had to try this place."
Since the various versions of the freshly made flat breads looked great I went with the version topped with Soujouk($5.75):
Looking like a wood-fired pizza, this was wonderful, nice texture (a decent bit of pull), topped with deliciously spiced sausage, and a light sprinkling of fresh white cheese. I really enjoyed this, and can't wait to try othe versions of this…… I have a feeling the basic Zaatar, made with imported organic wild thyme and other herbs and spices will be heavenly.
The Missus, craving Falafel went with the Falafel wrap ($4.95):
This was a nice combination of flavors and textures, but was overshadowed by the Soujouk. Still the Falafel was fried to order, and was nice a crisp.
We also ordered the Baba Ghannouj ($5.85), which was nice, not overly processed, and without too much tahini, hit the spot.
This is where I failed twice as a food blogger; engrossed in my meal, I forgot to take photos of the pita bread (ok) and the wonderfully briney house made pickles. I loved those pickles, which edged on the briney side, but was great with the baba ghannouj on a pita. The young man helping with the tables noticed how much I loved these and asked me if I wanted more! At that point, George, Samia's husband started dropping by each table to see how the customers were enjoying their meal. You can tell that George and Samia really care about what they're serving…..
And since Samia told us that we "just had to try some dessert", I walked up to the counter, and asked the young man what we should have. He pointed to a tray in the cold case, pointed, and said "you have to try that, it is the best." Since I just saw a gentleman polish off one of these, then get two orders to go, I didn't need much more prompting….. we had the Aaysh Essaraya ($3.95):
Starting with a bed of slightly sweet, thick, clotted cream, on which laid a bread-bread-crumb like layer, topped with crumbled pistachios and fragrant rosewater, this was indeed quite good. No wonder they call this "bread of the mansion." Even I, not much of a fan of desserts really enjoyed this.
Needless to say, we'll be back. The food is reasonably priced(everything under $7), but you'll be tempted to get something to go. We saw two tables of two gentleman end up buying $55+ of food….they ate a good amount, and got even more to go……we were tempted to do the same……. George and Samia are so warm and friendly, they make the meal an even more enjoyable experience.
Alforon 5965 El Cajon Blvd San Diego, CA 92115
Thanks again for the wonderful recommendation Christina!
I now realize I haven't been paying much attention…..
To the strip mall where Spicy City is located. There appears to be a couple of new restaurants open, or opening up. The first one, called "Gorilla" has replaced Korean Hometown Restaurant, no more Bondegi soup for me I guess.
They're calling it a "Korean Fusion Restaurant"…… the menu looks like a combination of bar food, a la Min Sok Chon, crossed with modernized/westernized Korean Dishes…..Boo Dai Chigae…. along with Tonkatsu (served with French Fries!) and ramen, and cream corn even…..
I'm not quite sure what to make of it……. anybody check this place out yet?
I also noticed this restaurant in the place of Seafood Island. I'm not quite sure if they've opened yet.
All in the strip mall at 4690 Convoy.
You never know what you'll find at 99 Ranch Market:
I was picking up some lamb to make Cumin Lamb, when something grabbed my attention….. I literally did a double take.
Was it what I thought it was?
You bet…. plus it was on sale!
In case you have a problem finding this…… it located right next to the, ahem, Beef Pizzle.
One of the two things I was craving when I got back from Madison/Chicago:
Strangely, or perhaps not, I wanted a salad when I got home from Chicago and Madison. The other thing I craved was taken care of last night at Sushi Yaro.
Something that I found ironic is that Zo-san is now working at Sushi Yaro. Folks might remember that he used to own Sushi Ishikawa which was on this very spot before Sammy Sushi and Convoy Sushi.
Now if I can only talk Zo-san into making some of the Okinawan dishes they used to serve at Ishikawa!
When I first started coming to San Diego over a dozen years ago for work, one of the first places recommended to me was Ichiro. I grew up eating in little mom and pop places like Ichiro. Speaking of "mom", my Mother's favorite restaurant was one of these places, called Wisteria Restaurant, which sadly at the end of 2004. It seems that these places I refer to as Japanese-American Diners are slowly disappearing. Recently, I was in the same strip mall as the restaurant, looked over at Ichiro, and felt a bit guilty. It had been a good number of years since I visited.
In some ways, perhaps the years haven't been very good to Ichiro…. and the sign near the front door speaks volumes.
About five years ago, I noticed changes at Ichiro, starting with the addition of "kozara" (small dishes) of standard Japanese bar food fare.
Still with places like Izakaya Sakura, Okan, and even Tajima to a certain extent; Ichiro is sometimes forgotten.
Being in the area a bit more often, I decided to have a few lunches at Ichiro, just to see what was going on. Things look about the same with regards to the dining area, and the service is the same….. friendly.
All lunches start with a small dish of Tsukemono…..
And come with miso soup (watery), and a pretty routine green salad.
A couple of months back, I was told to try the "Ponzu Chicken", which is what I had on my first visit.
Actually, this was fairly disappointing. The chicken was a basic salt rubbed, grilled chicken; like something I'd make at home. It was also on the dry side. The ponzu tasted bottled, and was not of good quality. In the end, it was just sustenance.
And yet, the two women working here were so very nice, I just didn't want to leave it at that. So a week later I returned and had something I'd eaten a few years back, and thought was pretty good. The menchi katsu, this time as Menchi Katsu Curry ($7.25).
Man, that was a load of curry……. not too bad, mild spice, but nothing but onions in them. The breaded meat patty was pretty good, a bit leaner, with less filler than I remembered. It didn't have the rich flavor of the version at Izakaya Sakura, and for some reason I like my mechi katsu to have more filler.
Still, this was nicely prepared, crunchy and moist.
During one of the recent 90 degree plus days, I wanted some Zaru Soba. Instead of heading to Izakaya Sakura, I decided to return to Ichiro for lunch one more time. This time I had the Zaru Soba Tororo ($8.50).
On the good side, Ichiro includes a quail egg for the tsuyu, on the bad, the tsuyu had a super salty artificial taste to it. The soba was also undercooked and was very hard.
I didn't expect soba like I-Naba, but this was like something I'd throw together at home.
After five plus years since my last visit to Ichiro, I found that the service here is still very nice and friendly. I see that Ichiro is taking steps to try and upgrade the menu. Also, Yasu, an old time Itamae favorite of mine is working there, though only on Fridays these days. On my visits I noticed that most of the customers were either older "Gaijin", and once two elderly Japanese women who were friends with the owner. I'm still up in the air as to whether I'll check out Ichiro during the evening, or for Happy Hour…… sadly, the food just seems s bit tired and dated(and I like old-style Japanese food) to me. Perhaps you'll find it more to your liking than I did.
Ichiro Japanese Restaurant 4344 Convoy St San Diego, CA 92111
Kirk and Cathy get a day off today because ed (from Yuma) has a report on some decent desert dining not far off I-8
Normally when my car gets on Interstate 8 in Yuma, it heads west to San Diego. That makes sense, for sure. However, some recent trips have taken me in the other direction, ultimately ending up in Surprise, Arizona. And of course I was looking to find some good food — if there was any – on my route.
I have gotten lucky. On my first adventure to the north and east of Yuma, Tina and I spotted an unassuming looking Mexican restaurant in Gila Bend with a lot of cars in the parking lot (and in July, there aren't a lot of cars anywhere in Gila Bend): On our way back home, we'd decided to stop there. To be honest, Tina and I weren't expecting anything special, even though the purple and orange interior decorated with a mural of a famous natural wonder in Jalisco seem right to me: The highlights of that visit were the main courses, Tina's carnitas and my green chile (beef chunks in spicy chile tomatillo sauce). Both were really good. We were also impressed by the flavorful tomato-based salsa (served in a mini carafe) and fresh crunchy corn chips, obviously fried on promises:
However, I had not brought my camera on that trip. So all of the pictures for this post come from a later visit.
The next time we stopped in Gila Bend, it was for a quick lunch, and again I had no camera. And again the food was good. Tina's California burrito was filled with decent carne Asada, potatoes, and the other fixings. My chicken enchiladas contained actual chicken rolled in good quality corn tortillas and topped with a dark red enchilada sauce.
Finally, at the beginning of November, I remembered to bring my camera, and Tina and I enjoyed another satisfying Mexican meal. Although no beer or wine is served, they do have homemade horchata and jamaica: We started with one of the strangest things that Tina and I have ever ordered together in a Mexican restaurant, a couple of old-fashioned, gringo style, hamburger tacos with fried shells:
On a previous visit, we had seen an order of these go to the table behind us, and they had looked wonderful. I realized that over the last 20 years, I had eaten raw fish, cow stomach, pigs ears, fermented squid intestines, and all sorts of other things, but I could not remember a single hamburger taco experience. And I could not remember ever seeing better looking hamburger tacos.
So this time, we ordered them, and they were perfect, better than my memories. Totally crisp and greaseless, the crunchy shells stayed intact even when we poured salsa into them and then bit off the end. The hamburger was moist and perfectly seasoned. There was just enough lettuce and yellow cheese. Ummmm-crunchy beefy good:
As an entree, Tina had the carnitas again, for reasons that this picture should make clear:
Crunchy, chewy, and tender pork very lightly seasoned. Warm fresh white corn tortillas. Decent rice and creamy beans.
My chile relleno plate was pretty dang good as well. The three fresh chilies blanketed in tender egg batter and covered in fresh tomato sauce: The preparation was excellent. Each chile was stuffed with a decent amount of melty white cheese and perfectly cooked. The big surprise were the chilies. Not only were there three of them, but these were full of chile flavor and exceptionally spicy, probably from this year's New Mexico harvest. This picture shows you a little of the goodness of the dish: I can't imagine that there is better food to be had between Yuma and Surprise, Arizona.
Sofia's Mexican Food, 530 West Pima, Gila Bend, AZ 85337, 928-683-6382. Open Daily.
Today Cathy is "blogging" on mmm-yoso!!! Kirk is "working". ed(From Yuma) is "recovering".
Hi. I've posted on Pacific Beach Bar and Grilla few times. They have really good food, lots of beers on tap, televisions everywhere… and technically, the front area is an outdoor patio, covered with a sturdy tarp.
It's been a while since we had Brunch here. It's a buffet. $7.95 on Saturday from 9 until noon and a bit more on Sunday, but then there are more items to choose from. Coffee is $1.95 and a very good French Roast. I don't take photos of people and today it was kind of busy, so only have photos of our plates. From 12:00: Eggs Benedict, thick cut maple bacon, skin-on breakfast sausage (just the right amount of spice; really good), biscuit with gravy (the gravy needed pepper added), a potato cake (not greasy), a banana nut muffin (still warm and with vanilla in the batter), a 'spicy' burrito (it was chorizo and egg filled and very good). The Mister had a cheese/tomato/spinach/mushroom omelet made to order and also picked up a still warm, buttery, crispy chocolate chip cookie. (Counterclockwise from 9:00) I picked up some " scrambled eggs Florentine" which had bacon, onions and spinach in it, some "home fries" made with onion and lots of cheese and a "Jose Benedict"-slice of avocado, Hollandaise sauce, good, runny poached egg and carne asada on a biscuit. See? Poached egg and carne asada. I could eat three of these as my breakfast. Easily. Later (we were watching a *very long* football game), I went back and got some of the omelet add- ins and made myself a salad of spinach, tomatoes, chopped bacon and mushrooms. I also got more of the eggs Florentine and a good selection of tasty fresh fruit. The Mister ordered a Bloody Mary ($3.50). I could taste every flavor in this- the tomato juice, the vodka, the black pepper, the Tabasco…and the olives were marinated in something. Like vodka. It was good, but very strong. I only had a few sips. Then The Mister went back and had a waffle made to order. That strawberry topping is the frozen, sugared, memory triggering childhood strawberries-in-Winter stuff I grew up with. At least He took some pieces of fresh watermelon…
Pacific Beach Bar and Grill 860 Garnet Avenue San Diego 92109 Website (warning: LOUD! website)
After dinner at Zheweiguan, I slept quite well…. probably because I was exhausted. The Missus got up the next morning raring to go. We decided to just grab a quick breakfast at Zhiweiguan(again), and catch the bus to the Lingyin scenic area.
This time we went with the first floor area, which sells snacks and fast-food type dishes. At this time of the morning it was waaaaay more empty than usual.
The drill here, similar to many other places is…… first you go to the counter and buy script:
You then go to the various counters, place your order, pay with script, and get your food. If you have script remaining at the end of your meal, you return them to the counter and get a refund.
This is what we ended up with:
The Missus enjoyed the porridge (when doesn't She?), but the youtiao (fried dough) was on the greasy and soggy side.
The Xiao Long Bao were actually better here then in the more upscale restaurant on the third floor.
The bean curd skin stuffed with glutinous rice and broad beans was also pretty good.
Crisp on the exterior, perhaps it could have used a bit more flavor, but the glutinous rice sure was hearty and filling. This made for a fairly substantial breakfast for us.
After the meal, we caught the bus to the Lingyin Scenic Area.
Even as we walked up the trail to Lingyin Temple, a line of buses were already unloading tourists.
So instead of hitting the temple with the first wave of tourists, we took a detour, and decided to check out Fei Lai Feng (Peak Flown from Afar), also known as Nimble Vulture Peak (Ling Jiu Feng). This 700 foot peak was supposedly named by an Indian Monk named Hui Li. Hui Li noticed that this limestone peak was so different from everything around it, and also that it resembled the mountains in India. He theorized that the peak had flown to this spot from India… thus naming it "Peak Flown from Afar).
There are trails around the peak, with over 500 Buddha Statues carved from limestone, many dating back to the Song Dynasty (10th Century).
Even more fascinating for us, were the caves lining the base of the peak.
There are over 300 carvings in the wall of the caves….. which adds a sense of drama to the whole experience.
Within one of the main caves, named Shexu Cave, there is a spot where the sun shines through a crack at the top of the cave. I was told this is called "one thread of heaven" which makes quite an impact.
That's not to say that the trails up and down the peak aren't quite dramatic in their own way. Because it takes mild effort to walk up and down the peak, there are less tourists, and some very nice carvings.
Of course, it's not just the carvings that catches the Missus's eye……
So far on our visit to Hangzhou, we enjoyed Fei Lai Feng the most…… but right across the street was Lingyin Temple.
*** This location of Quaker Steak and Lube has closed
I'm not quite sure what to make of the "eating for sport" kinda thing…… I used to be able to put it away when I was younger (on a wager, I once finished Beth's Cafe challenge). But it's been decades since I've even given though to doing anything close to what I did during my youth. Now it seems a bit silly, something that was great during my college days, but a recent spate of shows like "Man vs Food" have made such gastronomic excess/stress popular. For instance, when an acquaintance of mine found out I was going to Madison, he quickly told me, "hey, there's a Quaker Steak and Lube in Madison." To which I replied, "what…. a gas station?" He quickly explained that it was Quaker S-T-E-A-K, a chain which featured his favorite wings back in Ohio. So far, Quaker Steak hasn't made it West of Colorado, so there were no shops on the West Coast. Knowing how I enjoy chicken wings he soon got my undivided attention. As a kicker he threw in something called the "Atomic Wing Challenge"…… I explained that while I enjoy spicy food, I enjoyed varied nuances with regards to heat, not just the sensation of having skin burnt off my body. I recently sampled a ghost pepper, and decided that it was like a bad neighbor, any contact is painful and is something you'd like to avoid as much as possible. Even worse was some Naked Shrimp from the Original Sab E Lee with MrC and friends. MrC is Lao, and ordered it "Lao spicy"…… man that was tough. By the end of the meal, I had a ring of first degree burns around my mouth. Luckily for me, even though sweat pours down my face, I've never had problems with my stomach.
So I declined…. which led to a bit of heckling, during which I was called something that rhymes with "fussy". Even though giving in to my inner-machismo has often had terrible results, I decided to go with the Atomic Wing Challenge, after all….. it really seems like the dude on "Man vs Food" is doing a bit of (very bad) over-acting at times. 150,000 Scoville Units? That's just a mild Habanero……
Instead of the Madison location, I went to the Middleton location, just outside of Madison, and closer to where I was staying.
As you can figure by the name, the restaurant is Gas-station themed…. with a sportsbar-meets-corporate chain restaurant type of atmosphere (think Jiffylube crossed with TGI Friday's). The folks here were indicative of the service I received in Madison, friendly, laid-back, but efficient.
Having a seat and perusing the menu, I found what I was looking for.
So there it was…… until I read the top of the menu….
Now I had read up a bit on the Quaker State Atomic sauce….. rumor had it, that the restaurant Atomic Sauce sauce was made by the folks who make Endorphin Rush Hot Sauce, and the bottled Quaker State Brand Atomic Sauce was basically cayenne and tabasco. But here was something supposedly clocking in at 500,000 Scoville Units, which is about a 100 times hotter than a Jalapeno. So why not???
When I ordered the wings, the nice young lady asked me if I wanted a blindfold and a cigarette…. just kidding…. I was asked if I wanted to do "the triple atomic wing challenge". When I asked her what I got by doing the challenge, I was told I'd get my photo on the wall and a bumper sticker….. nah, not for me. I'd just settle for my six triple atomic wings without the fanfare. And I really could have done without the flashing police light they put on my table….
And of course a "waiver" confirming that I'm a total knucklehead is all part of the show…..
I'm sure that when my Server went to place my order of wings, someone pointed out that I look like a classic sufferer of Hyperhidrosis, and was given a good amount of extra napkins……
Since the wings at Quaker Steak come six to an order, I decided to try something else just to see how the wings are. The young lady told me that the Arizona Ranch Wings were her favorite.
These wings are not battered, but were decently fried, the skin was fairly crisp. The sauce was fairly mild, not too spicy (supposedly, 2,050 Scoville Units), and did have a mild buttermilk-ranch flavor that edged on onion soup base. Nothing really that special though…..
Of course I know that you really don't care about those wings, you really want to see what Triple Atomic Wings look like, right? Well here it is, in all of it's anti-climatic glory…..
These were hot…. or maybe I should type Hot…. but were definitely not HOT, if you know what I mean. The capsicum smell was pretty strong, and the heat was in your face, and sweat was dripping down my face, but no hallucinations, not even the usual tingling scalp that occurs when I eat something super-spicy. The heat was tempered with a bit of sweetness, and the oil content, which usually just plain kills you by keeping the heat applied to your tongue, lips, and everything else that it comes in contact with, was relatively low. I recently had a couple of drops of Mad Dog's Revenge Habanero Extract, which clocked in at 1,000,000 Scoville Units, and actually made two of my FOYs (Friends of Yoso) MrQ and PeterL jump out of their seat and run out to the parking lot. This was nowhere near that. As a wing, it was hot, totally in your face, and not something I'd order again.
The wings at Quaker Steak are decent, better then most chains, and I'd probably drop by and have them again if one was in the area. It's nothing I'm going to crave though. I did text TammyC and told her that MrC would eat this stuff like it was candy……
One of the manager's came and spoke with me after I ate my wings…. she was very friendly, and funny. She told me that the Triple Atomic Wing sauce was made with Ghost Peppers….. funny it didn't seem as hot as the Ghost Peppers I've had.
Quaker Steak and Lube 2259 Deming Way Middleton, WI 53562
Some really nice folks I met once told me that Adam Richmond is a basically an actor, earning a Master's Degree in drama from Yale. And though I've never seen the episode, I can't believe he had any problem with the Quaker Steak Atomic Wing Challenge. If he was, he must have been making good use of his drama degree.
Cathy is penning today's issue of mmm-yoso!!! The guys (Kirk and ed(from Yuma)) are merely writing things in their brains.
Hi. The other day, FOY(friend of Yoso), Food Detective, asked me in a comment if I had been to Tea Garden. I haven't, even though I have driven by, parked in front of it, walked past it and knew it was there. It is on Convoy, at Engineer Road, across from China Max and sometimes has parking when no place else on that street of countless amazing restaurants has parking available.
Deceptively small looking from the front, there is seating capacity for 57 inside. Of course, as is the rule for Convoy Street and its environs, parking availability does not correspond.You walk in and can grab a menu and sit on the couch next to the cash register, or just read the wall behind the register (that is just the beverage menu), or order a special straight from the whiteboard. Pay. Get a number. Find a seat. Free wifi, a shelf filled with board games, two televisions and nice surroundings. For our first visit,
We decided to try a green tea float ($4.25). Green tea, strong brewed, over ice with vanilla ice cream floating at the top. Very rich flavored. There must be matcha powder in it. My standard Beverage of Indecision (coffee-tea-milk, no sweetener added) ($3.75)-no sweet at all. I could taste each of the three ingredients distinctively. Very nice. An appetizer of popcorn chicken ($3.99). Crispy and moist, mild thin breading flavored with fresh basil leaves (on the plate) from the fryer. An appetizer of salt and pepper squid ($6.99) Soft squid, light breading topped with a relish of garlic, scallions and red pepper. Just enough heat. House Special fried rice noodle ($7.99). A wonderful smoky flavor infused in the thin noodles and perfectly sauteed shrimp, beef and chicken along with green onion tops, onions, carrots, sprouts and (I think) bamboo. Maybe it was a fungus. Those brown things…they had a woody texture and not much flavor. Lots of flavor in everything else. The other day (before this crazy heat wave happened), The Mister wanted soup. So we went back and He ordered the BBQ pork ramen ($6.99). This had a not salty, surprisingly rich broth, along with peas, carrots and cabbage as well as a few pieces of sliced BBQ pork (standard, not outstanding) and noodles which had a nice 'tooth',although not as good as the noodles at Yakyudori, my new favorite. At lunchtime, most main courses come with a free iced black or green tea. You can ask for no sweetener (I think it is a simple syrup) and taste the tea… I wanted to try the fried tofu ($5.59). When this came, I thought it looked like a thick, hard crust and was almost disappointed.Instead, I was pleasantly surprised at the delicate thinness of the coating and soft, soft fresh tofu inside. The dipping sauce was a very dark soy and sesame oil base and filled with chopped garlic, green onion tops and some red pepper flakes. Extremely complimentary for the tofu, and just the right amount of heat. I think if I had ordered the salt and pepper fried tofu (50¢ more), this dipping sauce would have been overpowering.
All in all, the food here has been great. A pot of hot tea is $5.95. Other items on the menu I am wanting to try include a Hot Clay Pot, fried udon, fried rice, congee, sizzling steak, other soups, brick toast, shaved ice and something called "vinaigrette soup" ($5.95), either shrimp, pork or squid. Oh and juices, smoothies and…yes, more appetizer snacks. You can easily get a meal, the plates and bowls are a very good size.
Thank you Food Detective!!! This is a great place.
Tea Garden 4685 Convoy Street, Suite 110 San Diego 92111 (858)277-8988 Website
Hours: Sun-Th 11:00 a.m.-midnight, until 1 a.m. Fri-Sat
I received an email from a FOY (Friend of Yoso) today who mentioned that my posts have recently been a bit long-winded. Actually, the term used was "verbose". Under certain circumstances, I'm pretty sure that I'd be somewhat…. well pick the verb; maybe offended might fit the bill…. and perhaps I'd even respond with a somewhat colorful adjective of my own. The humorous and jovial tone of the email erased all possibility of that, and was a reminder that many of you are perhaps more interested in seeing what I ate, rather than reading about it.
And I just happened to have a bunch of photos….. revisits all, of recent meals with friends. The locations are miles apart, but here goes……
*** Ba Ren has closed
Ba Ren:
Yet again. I usually don't even take my camera out any more. During a recent visit, Akira requested a meal at Ba Ren. I believe the main reason being that I remember what his favorite dishes are here. So here's what Akira, Mr S, and I had.
After all these years Ba Ren still delivers……
You can find links to my zillions of posts on Ba Ren on our rotation page.
Ba Ren 4957 Diane Ave San Diego, CA 92117
*** Chautara has closed
Chautara – Madison (Wisconsin):
I made sure to return, since I enjoyed my meal there on my previous visit. This time around, the food seemed to fall short, the Lamb Palungo way tough, the beef over-cooked, my dish, the Khasi Ko Masu was the best of the lot, but was a bit too salty. At least the photos came out a lot better than on my previous visit. Oh, and those thingys that look like Xiao Long Bao? They're "momos" a Nepali/Tibetian type of dumpling. My eating companions on this evening were from Shandong and Taiwan respectively, and were surprised when that hit the table.
In case you're wondering what, or where Chautara is, you can find out here.
Chautara Restaurant 334 State St Madison, WI 53703
Sea Harbour – Rosemead (Los Angeles):
Believe it or not, after my breakfast at Gardena Bowl, on my recent visit to LA, I still had lunch in store. I was meeting Akira, and good FOYs PeterL and Angela, who drove all the way from San Diego, for Dim Sum at Sea Harbour. Packed as always, it was a fun and mostly delicious meal.
I love this first photo…. of the Durian Pastry…. it looked so good that PeterL could not help himself and snatched one away as soon as it arrived!
Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant 3939 Rosemead Blvd Rosemead, CA 91770
So there you go…… more photos, less verbiage… sheesh, I feel like a laundry detergent ad, you know, more cleaning power, cheaper price!
Man, it's hot around here, I hope everyone is keeping cool!
in an opal basil cream sauce. I could have added chicken or shrimp, but didn't want to and this was excellent. The vegetables were not mushy nor too crisp. The sauce was just the perfect, complimentary richness.
