April 2011 – Page 2

Yes, it’s that time again………

April 16, 2011 mmm-yoso yoso-silly

And no, I don't mean it's time for Sammy and Frankie's pre-Easter haircuts and degrading Easter "gear"…… I do love Sammy's expression though. It's almost as if he knew how silly he looked. And here I thought dogs don't have a sense of "self"!

Frankie on the other hand, doesn't really care so long there's a treat to be had at the end of this silliness.

No, it's time for the Missus and I to go on vacation……..

So, as always, I'll turn things over to Cathy, and we'll see you in a couple of weeks!

Here are photos of some of our recent meals….. nothing new really, but I had to use these photos sometime, right? Somewhere in here lies a clue of where we're headed….

Thanks for dropping by! We'll see you in a short while!

Fried Chicken Friday: Annie Belle’s Famous Wings and Greens

April 15, 2011 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Chicken Wings

**** Annie Belle's has closed

While driving to Bonnie Jean's I noticed a restaurant that looked rather new, it had popped up since my last visit to the area last year.

The next afternoon I had some time on my hands so I decided to check th e place out.

The dining area looked very nice and new….. nice booths, along with at least five televisions lining the wall so those with short attention spans have something to keep themselves busy I guess.

The menu was pretty large…. with almost every single "side" known to mankind…. wow, so many choices. I was looking for fried chicken. And while you can buy it by the piece, the name of the place is "Annie Belle's Famous Wings and Greens", so I went with the Wings and Greens House Special ($8.49), They call the wings they serve here "Granny Wings" and there are two served with this special. Two wings? That seemed a bit pricey, I hope they weren't what came off a "Granny Hen"….. and they weren't.

These were actually two whole good sized wings…. pretty much what other places would call four wings. And while the batter at Bonnie Jean's was light and crisp, this was thick and crunchy, almost hard. They obviously use a lot of leavening in their batter. The wings were moist, but I found the whole thing to be on the salty side, without anything else much going for it.

Along with the wings was a large portion of collard greens.

Again, this wasn't bad, it was a portioned very generously. But I prefer my greens a bit less mushy, these were a little too over done for my taste, closer to creamed spinach than the kind of greens I got used to eating in Georgia and other places down South. There was a ton of "liquor" which was again too salty for me, and lacking in the light smokey flavor I love in greens.

This came with two very moist, but bland cornbread muffins.

You'll be needing that butter for these.

I will say that I enjoyed the woman serving me. She was very nice…. after bring food out to another table she turned to me and said, "don't worry honey, you next…. and it's going to be gooood!"

Annie Belle's Famous Wings and Greens
1746 Euclid Ave
San Diego, CA 92102

Please read Mary's post on Annie Belle's here.

Dry Cooked/Twice Cooked Mushrooms

April 14, 2011 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

We've seen this as both Dry Cooked Mushroom and Twice Cooked Mushroom on menus in China. It's sort of both. It's also one of those "non-recipes", that will kind of list the process rather than exact quantities……

This one is for "KenB" who asked for a recipe in the comments of last night's post. Ken has given us so many great recommendations, that I thought it only right that I do something right away. Anyway, this is what the first couple of efforts looked like:

We were given a box of Cordyceps Mushrooms as a gift in China. The ones we've seen at places like T S Emporium in LA are priced in the $30 + per pound range! I really didn't want to mess these up.

I basically took about a cup and a half of those mushrooms and soaked them in warm water for about 30 minutes. After that time, I removed and drained the mushrooms, but saved the soaking liquid. I sliced the rehydrated mushroom lengthwise, and patted them dry. I also rehydrated some dried Lily Buds and sliced some Chinese Celery.

I then heated my wok until smoking and added about a cup and a half of canola oil until it shimmered. I then did a quick fry of the mushrooms until the edges were crisp.

I removed the mushrooms to a paper towel lined plate, and drained all but 1-2 Tb of the oil, which had a nice fragrance. I waited until the oil hit smoking, then scalded a couple of dried red chilies that had been de-seeded. From here it was basically a stir-fry, starting with a dash of Shaoxing wine and white pepper, with the following added for flavoring:

1-2 Tb Premium Dark Soy Sauce
1 Tb Premium Light Soy Sauce
1-2 Tsp White Sugar
Mushroom soaking liquid to taste

It turned out great, savory and slightly sweet, but I just can't bring myself to part with nearly forty bucks to keep making this. So what to do when my mushrooms were gone? (I actually have enough for one last batch). I decided to try this out with King Mushrooms:

I julienned the mushrooms lengthwise into matchsticks. I also replaced the lily buds with mung bean sprouts which would bring more crunch and a nice flavor to the dish.

These rest was basically the same process, except I added some Mushroom Dark Soy Sauce for additional flavor. The water from the bean sprouts renders out during the stir-fry process which keeps the dish moist.

It was different, but also delicious……. and very easy……you really don't need a recipe for this.

So there you go. Sort of like that eye test….which looks better?

Number 1?

Or number 2?

Nanjing: Dinner

April 13, 2011 mmm-yoso China, Chinese Restaurants, Nanjing, Travel

We strolled (well, I limped) back to our room. After a pretty, well, I guess you could say eventful day, we decided to stick close to the hotel. I really needed to rest my foot. Across the street from the hotel was a bunch of smaller hotels and restaurants, and we finally chose this one (photo taken the next morning):

I gotta say we kinda lucked out on this one. In spite of the busy dining area, full of cigarette smoke and demanding customers, the service here was just righ for us. Friendly, without being overbearing. The woman running the dining room seemed to have great control over the employees…… we felt very comfortable here. Our server was quick with a smile, and seemed to enjoy explaining the specials to the Missus.

The Missus translated the menu to me, and I selected a classic Nanjing dish I wanted to try; the Nanjing Salted Duck:

A dish with a long history, this was delicious; fragrant, not too salty, much more tender than I expected, with a mild "wild game" flavor. I really enjoyed this.

The other dish that caught our fancy was the Dry Cooked Wild Mushroom. Man these Cordycep mushrooms were outstanding.

These mushroom were obviously twice cooked, first "passed through the oil", then stir fried with Chinese celery which added a nice palate cleansing flavor to the salty-sweetness of the soy and dark soy sauce and sugar. We ended up ordering this dish when we saw it again later. I've made this dish several times at home, perhaps I'll post a recipe one of these days. This was a very nice dish.

The Missus also enjoyed the simple stir-fried vegetable.

I didn't care much for the soup, which I thought was really bland, but the Missus loved it.

She thought it was light and rejuvenating.

Overall, this was a very nice meal, it was just what we wanted and needed. We simply crossed the street and headed back to our room for a good night's sleep.

Mariscos Monday: Mariscos Godoy

April 11, 2011 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Seafood

**** Mariscos Godoy has closed

I guess it's about time I did a post on Mariscos Godoy. Among the places Masa Assassin recommended to us when we ran into him a couple years back was Mariscos Godoy. Still, until late last year, we'd pass Mariscos Godoy every so often, always say, "man, we gotta check that place out one of these days." Finally, last fall, the Missus was craving Pescado Zarandeado, so we decided to drop by Godoy…….

And haven't stopped……. It was always, "well, I'll do a post on this place on another day", until I just stopped taking photos because I had so many. And while not every meal was stellar, we've always enjoyed ourselves, in spite of mariachi band and the one time there was a real band, and we were on the table right in front……

The restaurant itself looks much larger than it is. You'll realize that when there's a live band playing.

We prefer coming for an early dinner, when the place is less hectic.

The menu itself is humongous…… it rivals some Chinese Restaurants in size and scope.

Everything here starts with Chips and Salsa.

On the occasions when the chips arrive hot, I really enjoy them. To the point that the Missus has to force me to stop…. but I can't eat just one. It is also served with a ceviche that seems to be made with bone scrapings. The Missus loves this.

And of course you can't forget the little cup of consomme.

The flavor fluctuates from day to day, but on most visits it just soothes me and puts me in a better place. Honestly, if you were a cheapskate and just wanted a taco, this could be a meal.

Anyway, in trying to organize all of this stuff, I realized that I could probably be typing 'til sometime next week. Not everything is been great, but there are a few things I noticed. For coctele's, ceviche, aguachile, and tacos, go somewhere else. For us, it's mostly the grilled and fried that keep us coming back. I'm going to try to be as concise as possible, so here goes.

First there was the Pescado Zarandeado, ordered by the pound. I have personally witnessed the Missus finish off a 2 pounder with a couple servings of corn tortillas solo…..

If you order this, go with the snapper if it's available. Nothing else is quite as good. Lightly marinated, then broiled under high heat, the snapper is moist, there some chile flavor, but you can still make out the flavor of the fish. Those grilled tortillas with frijoles are good when grilled right; but I've had a few that was like eating toasted cardboard.

This is what the end result usually is after the Missus has had at it.

When we bring friends to Godoy, we usually order the Langostinos Aji Ajillo, a chili-garlic-butter preparation.

I think the photos speak for themselves.

Grilled creatures they call Squat Lobsters. As with the fish, this is what things look like in the end.

It's not cheap at close to $25 bucks, but most folks who've we've taken to Godoy have this when the go back.

There was one dish I really wanted to order at Godoy. The Pulpo Zarandeado ($14.50), the grilled octopus. The Missus however, is not a big fan of pulpo, tako, or whatever you want to call it. This dish however, has changed Her mind.

She now craves this; and we have to make trips down to Chula Vista just for this. There have been occasions when the pulpo has been very tough, and once it wasn't cooked properly, the marinade still a bit pasty. But most times it's mildly smokey, salty, with a touch of sweetness and spice. The texture is toothsome without being tough. We ignore the sauce, which just over-powers the flavor of the pulpo.

One of my favorite dishes is a recommendation from FOY (Friend of yoso) Candice Woo. She told me that I just had to have the Toritos ($8.95).

Think of these as glorified jalapaneo "poppers" if you will. Yellow waxy peppers, not usually spicy, but you'll get a surprise once in a while, are stuffed with smoked fish (Marlyn), breaded, and deep fried. No need for the tartar sauce on this. Salty and smokey, a nice savory front, combined with the crunch of the breading…… man this is good.

So I found it odd that I didn't care too much for the Tacos de Marlyn…. the smoked fish taco.

It was too salty for me.

One day, the Missus decided to take advantage of the 99 cent taco Tuesday and order two tacos. The first, the fish taco wasn't very good.

The fish had a mealy and dry texture, and tasted fishy.

On the other hand, the other 99 cent taco was the Manta Ray Machaca.

Though on the salty side, there was a nice oceany-savory flavor that was very pleasant.

Thus, on our next visit, I ordered the Manta Ray Machaca plate ($11.95):

Though I'm not a big fan frioles refrito, refried beans, in this case a smear of the beans in a corn tortilla helped to smooth out the flavor of the I assume dried and re-hydrated manta ray. A squeeze of lime was the perfect cure to any saltiness. The flavor of the green peppers and a bit of tomato added nice layers of flavor to the dish. Still, I couldn't finish this dish…. and it tasted even better the next day!

We didn't care as much for the Pescado Frito. Think of it as Fish McNuggets if you will.

The batter on this version of "make your own fish tacos" was very crunchy, but there was a large amount of "dark" portions, and the fish tasted a bit muddy.

When we first visited Godoy, we were enamored with all the photos of aguachile.

But try as we might, we've never found a version we enjoy here. There's not enough heat, and not enough acid for my taste.

It's not like we never tried……

And I've had my share of Cocteles and Campechana, and found them to have too much clamato, and not enough acid for my taste.

I enjoyed the smoked fish stuffed potato more than those dishes.

And we've really only scratched the surface of the menu at Godoy.

One of the other reasons we keep coming back, is that even on the busiest days, the folks here are as nice as can be. I guess it's now on the rotation as I never know when the Missus will want some pulpo….

Mariscos Godoy
651 Palomar St
Chula Vista, CA 91911

Nanjing: Zhonghua Gate, Snacks, and brush with Healthcare in China

April 10, 2011 mmm-yoso China, Chinese Restaurants, Nanjing, Travel

After the snack banquet, we walked (well, I limped) around the Fuzi Miao (Confucian Temple), a major shopping area in Nanjing.

That's when the Missus saw the Tanghulu (冰糖葫芦), candied Haw. This was a childhood favorite of the Missus, so She just had to get it; even though it wasn't the right season for this (it's a winter snack). Unfortunately, this didn't live up to Her memories.

From this stand.

The Missus got this:

Looked delicious, but the Missus said it was terrible.

We slowly walked back to the hotel. My foot looked terrible when I removed my shoe. The Missus and I knew what it was. The joint before my big toe was three times it's normal size, an angry red and purple and hot to the touch. I felt a stabbing pain with every step. Gout runs in my family, and though I've never had an attack, I'd seen it before. The Missus also knew exactly what it was, and knew exactly what would resolve this; the drug Colchicine. I'm thinking all that seafood and meat I ate in QingDao and Jinan pretty much put me on the gout fast track. I did later learn that diet is only the cause of about 10% of gout cases, with genetics causing about 65%…. of course statistics, diagnosis, etc, really don't matter when you're in pain. You just want to get past it…. We did find out that there was a community hospital two blocks over with a small ER/Urgent Care. So headed off…..

So here's my experience with Chinese Healthcare in a nutshell. It's pay as you go. I was registered, I paid, then saw a physician. I paid, then got labs drawn. I paid then saw another physician. I paid, then got my meds. "In Mao we trust, all others pay cash……." Next, you're given your medical record. You are responsible for keeping track of your healthcare.

So after the blood tests, we saw a "foot specialist". He took a look at the foot, and told the Missus that it is possibly gout. The Missus asked for Cochicine, but the physician said that it's very "toxic" and he wouldn't prescribe it without a uric acid test. Now I had just had blood drawn, so the Missus asked why they didn't do a uric acid, we were told that "the technician who does the test is off on weekends." Okay, how about an NSAID like Indomethacin? The answer? "No, no it's very toxic to the liver, we can't do that unless we do a complete liver panel." And guess what, "the tech who does those tests is not working today. Look like I picked the wrong day to have a gout attack! Among the nuggets of wisdom imparted to the patient was, "stay away from bean curd" (yeah, right….. I'm in China), "don't eat spicy food" (we'd be in Chengdu in a couple of days, so mark that one as a no-go"), and "don't walk too much" (the Missus would sooner cut my leg off and replace it with a broomstick than cut down on our activities). As a consolation prize, I was prescribed three meds, a circulatory drug (??), Cefaclor, an antibiotic, I guess there was still a small chance this was cellulitis, and a mild NSAID, which, combined with my ibuprofen helped me to survive the trip. It was pretty painful going at times, but I survived. We walked back to the room, I took my meds, elevated my foot, got a couple of hours of rest and felt better.

Later on that afternoon I felt a bit better, and the swelling had descreased, so we headed off (on foot of course) down Zhonghua Road…..

During the Ming Dynasty, Nanjing was the capital of China. Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang had the Ming City Walls built. The grandest gate is the South Gate, the Zhonghua Gate, which was formerly known as the Jùbăomén – "Gathering Treasure Gate".

It really didn't look all that impressive at first. But then I noticed that there wasn't just a single gate, but a total of four arched entrances…. making it quite formidable.

Between each gate is an open courtyard that the enemies would have to pass through.

When looking up at the arch in the gateway, you'll notice slots cut into the arch.

Apparently, these slots were used to lower and raise a "thousand kilogram" gate up and down.

From the top of the walls you see the other side of the slots, now covered with glass.

There are also 27 tunnels built into the walls of the gates. These tunnels were used to store supplies and shelter troops.

While walking up the stairs to the upper levels of the wall……..

I noticed that there were inscriptions on many of the bricks.

I mentioned this to the Missus, and wondered what it was. The Missus said it looked like some names and locations. A few minutes later we had our answer. In one of the tunnels was a display of the various bricks and inscriptions.

We learned that the Emperor had the names of the builders and brick makers inscribed on the bricks as a way of ensuring quality and responsibility. I'm guessing that this system worked rather well since the wall is still standing, and you can still read the inscriptions on many of the bricks.

Along with the stairs, large ramps line each end of the gates. I'm guessing so that soldiers on horse back could make their way up the gate quickly.

Making your way to the top you get a better idea of how imposing this wall was.

Taking a look from the top of the wall you see that the river flowing in front of the gate acts like a natural moat, making it even more formidable.

I'm guessing because it was later in the day, all the tour groups were gone and there was hardly any one around. You could really let your imagination go to work. I was really enjoying our time here, but it was starting to get a bit late in the day. It was time to leave.

Walking back toward Fuzi Temple was passed by one of those "food streets". On the taxi ride from the bus station the driver told the Missus that this was pretty much a tourist trap, and the food didn't reflect Nanjing food. Still, it was fun walking around and checking things out.

The Qinhua River looks quite nice during dusk…….

We decided to head back to our hotel and find something to eat near by……..

Stay tuned!

Postscript:

The day after returning home I went to see my physician. Of course he took one look at my foot and prescribed Colchicine and Indomethacin without waiting for my lab results. Two doses of colchicine and I was good as new. Well, almost. Unfortunately, the Xrays revealed some permanent damage to my foot, probably due all the pounding it took. My PCP, who has a dry sense of humor told me, "well, look at it this way, there aren't any triathlons in your future. And you don't plan on climbing Mount Kilimanjaro." (Of course I didn't tell him that Kilimanjaro was on the Missus's "bucket list") As a parting shot, he chuckled when I displayed the boxes for the meds I was prescribed in Nanjing. Especially this one:

He told me, "you know we prescribe this for hemorrhoids". I wonder where they thought I'd stuck my foot?

Fried Chicken Friday: Bonnie Jean’s Soul Food Cafe

April 8, 2011 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Chicken Wings

Ever had one of those itches that you just had to scratch? A couple of months ago I was just itchin' for some fried chicken….and collard greens. Kinda weird, but I love good collard greens, smokey-salty-mildly bitter-and even perhaps a bit sweet. So first I headed down to…..

Bonnie Jean's Soul Food Cafe:

**** Bonnie Jean's has closed

Off of the Euclid exit, right where it turns into 54th street. I've been here a couple of times, but for some reason it's starting to look a bit older…..

This little place has a whole lot of personality………

As well as games and other stuff to keep you occupied…… because everything is made to order, which is mostly a good thing! Funny thing, I realized that I'd never had straight up fried chicken at Bonnie Jean's, I'd had it smothered, which I enjoyed (what's not to like), and with the Honey Pecan Glaze, which I recall not enjoying that much. What was even more interesting, was that on my last visit, not long after Canine Cologne's visit (please check it out here) which had me wanting my smothered chicken; I dropped by Bonnie Jean's…. and the place was full of Asian's!!!

Anyway, today I was after some straight up Southern Fried Chicken ($10.99). I went with just the dark meat, even though the menu says, ahem, "The Breasts Are Huge!!"

My chicken, greens, and mashed potatoes and gravy arrived after the usual wait, which gave me time to catch up on my reading. The chicken was as I remembered, the coating crisp and light, and the chicken adequately juicy. But without gravy, or a glaze, it tasted really bland, and I needed a good dose of the (not so) hot sauce on the table. I'll stick with the smothered chicken next time.

The mashed potatoes were decent.

The folks here were pretty heavy-handed with the black pepper today, but I had no complaints about the thick potatoes, and the even thicker gravy.

The one item that made this meal worthwhile were the collard greens, which looked on the dry side, but were the beat I've had in a long time.

I appreciated the fact that these weren't over done and mushy like creamed spinach. There were many bit of smoked meat, and after a goof look-over I'm pretty sure it was hamhock, not smoked turkey. They're pretty stingy with the "liquor" here, some I think they save it as the "mother liquid" for the next batch. The flavor is just about perfect for my taste.

I ended up buying a large order to go for the Missus, who scarfed it up in one sitting…… I'm sure to be back soon for more greens… and smothered chicken.

Bonnie Jean's Soul Food Cafe
1964 54th St
San Diego, CA 92105

By the way, if you think Bonnie Jean's has lots of character, check out Sister Peewee's if you haven't done so already. One of these days I'll do a post on the place.

As I was headed back to the 94, I noticed a new place had sprung up, named Annie Belle's…… I'll save that post for next Friday!

Best Taste of China…. or China Chef 2 revisted……

April 6, 2011 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

**** China Chef 2 has closed

I'd heard a while back, that China Chef 2 had changed management, and also retooled the menu. So after waiting a good long while, we finally decided to drop by one evening…..

Anyway, the place looks basically the same. One half does some kinda terrible looking Chinese fast-food, the other side is a restaurant that serves more traditional regional Chinese dishes.

Then of course, all the changes kicked in…… I noticed that on some of the menus it says China Chef, on others Best Taste of China. Then there are all the specials……

Late night specials, weekend special menu, weeknight evening specials…. and just for "Faye" all you can eat hot pot for $16.99!

According to this, they've hired another chef who specializes on more "Northern/Jiangsu" style dishes.

Geeez, everything from Sichuan Hot Pot and Wuxi Spareribs, to Niu Rou Chuan (only on the weekends), and even "Hunan" Style Chicken….sheesh. There ain't no way a restaurant could do all these items well.

Then of course, are the interesting English translations on the menu……

Ever had Yam with napkin? Lots of roughage there…..

Anyway, we ended up returning a couple of times, just for this dish which the Missus loves. It's called Fish Prepared with White Egg (I think they mean egg white – $9.95). A dish that is described as being "better then crab" on the menu. A Jiangsu styled preparation that the Missus loved.

Flavors associated with eating fresh crab; a good amount of thin sliced ginger along with a good amount of black vinegar, tends to bring out the sweetness of crab, gave this dish a nice one-two punch. The look of the dish was meant to mimick crab. The egg whites on two occasions were soft, almost like bean curd as was the fish. On one occasion it was fairly dry and under flavored. Overall a nice dish full of comfort flavors for the Missus.

The other dish that stood out in our visits was the Pork Intestines with Dry Red Pepper ($9.95).

I'd recommend this dish as good for a "intestine beginner" so long that you could take a little heat. In spite of the chilies this wasn't especially spicy. I was surprised at the nice "ma" (numbing) in this. One of the problems with the previous China Chef was the lack of Sichuan Peppercorns. The intestines were very well fried, crisp on the outside, a bit spongy in the interior. My only complaint would be that the dish was a bit too salty. I saved the remainder and had it later that evening with a cold one!

The Spicy Sichuan Hot Pot ($12.95) was ok.

This was a "good cop", "bad cop" dish. "Good cop" served up a good amount of intestine and tripe. "Bad cop" tried to bring the heat, which was very one dimensional, and lacked any real complex flavors from herbs or seasonings.

One evening the Missus ordered the Beijing Style Lamb Hot Pot ($12.95):

Frankly, in spite of a decent amount of fairly tender lamb, this would be nothing without the fermented bean curd dipping sauce. The Missus was wishing for some leek sauce. The plain water "broth" also got pretty scummy…..

The tripe was good, crunchy, yet not hard. The fish balls and surimi really didn't add much.

The worst dish we had, used to be our favorite at the old China Chef…. the Spicy Tea Smoked Duck ($12.95). Just compare this photo…..

With the one here…. Waxy, with a strange almost artificial taste, much like bad so-called "smoked meat" you'd buy at 99 Ranch Market, this wasn't very good at all.

The last two dishes are dinner "specials" that are quite cheap. You'll need to buy at least one dish at regular price to qualify. Every night there's a special; one Monday it's some very ghastly looking Lion's Head. On another day it's Salt and Pepper Prawns for $3.99. Which, in spite of being burned by discounted dishes before, we just had to try. We were surprised…..

This was pretty well prepared; the shrimp wasn't overcooked, but was soft and moist. The flavor was quite good. And did I mention nine good sized prawns for $3.99? I'd perhaps not order this at regular price; but for under four bucks, it's a deal.

The Missus enjoyed the Friday night special; the Fish Gluten, Shrimp, Squid, and Chicken for $4.99. This seemed like a regular sized portion.

Everything was cooked adequately, the vegetables crisp….. but this was much too salty for me.

Overall, whether the name of the place is still China Chef 2…. or Best Taste of China, or perhaps both, it seems to us, that there are at least a couple of good dishes on the menu which seems much too ambitious. Looking at what other folks were eating and the cold dishes, the Sichuan dishes seems to not be as good as before. Oh, and if you do order that Fish and Egg White Dish, don't order anything with Sichuan Peppercorn, talk about clashing flavors…. And then there are all the specials…. The service was decent, about average for this type of restaurant. There's one young lady who really gets a kick out of explaining the dishes, the other woman could care less if you choked to death on a fish bone; but isn't that how it always is?

China Chef 2 – Best Taste of China
9225 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

And Faye! They've got all you can eat Hot Pot for $16.99! he-he-he……

Mariscos Monday – On the hood of your car edition: Tacos El Paisa Y Mariscos and Mariscos El Prieto

April 4, 2011 mmm-yoso Food Trucks, Mexican Restaurants, Seafood

After a fairly mediocre meal at Fish Mart; I decided to check out a couple of other places. It's not often that I'm this far South, so I intended to make the best of it.

The first stop was one Masa Assassin mentioned to me when I ran into him at Tacos El Poblano a couple of years back. (Where are you MA? We miss you….) He mentioned that he was going to check out a truck he'd heard about off of Iris, near Beyer. A couple of days later he posted on Tacos El Paisa Y Mariscos. I'd been wanting to check the place out for a while, so this day was a good as any for a visit to:

Tacos El Paisa Y Mariscos Truck:

Located at the far end of a parking lot close to the Iris Avenue Trolley stop, this place was doing some pretty good business when I arrived. I placed my order, and was handed a fairly large (12oz) cup of consomme…….

This one had a strong shrimp flavor; and indeed when I arrived at the bottom of the cup, there were quite a few shrimp shells.

I'd gone with what MA had on his visit; a Shrimp and Fish Taco.

When MA had visited; he indicated the use of lettuce on these tacos as sort of a signature. Somewhere down the line, they've gone ahead and reverted to the standard cabbage.

The fish in the Fish Taco was fairly small and the batter very soggy.

Not much of anything on this one. Which is too bad, since the crema used had a nice flavor. It seemed lighter than other versions.

The shrimp taco by comparison was huge, with four large (for a taco) battered "globs". The shrimp were pretty good sized, but the batter was really thick. After the initial crunch it was too bready(for my taste) on the way to the shrimp.

The lady taking the orders was very nice, and things ran in a very organized manner. I'm not sure I'd return, but this wasn't bad by any means.

Tacos El Paisa Y Mariscos
3170 Iris Ave.
San Diego, CA 92154

I then jumped back into my car and headed up North, exiting on Main Street. I had my sights on a truck that had been recommended to me by several people. I'd missed the truck on several occasions, but today I knew I'd be getting there on time. Located on Main Street, just due West of 3rd Avenue, right past the strawberry field is the :

Mariscos El Prieto Truck:

You know right away that this place must be doing major business. Have you ever seen designated parking spaces for a taco truck?

Having already consumed five tacos; there wasn't going to be a gobernador or anything else that big in my future. I went with two fish tacos, a bargain at $1 a piece. Of course things started out with some consomme.

This was the regular 6pz cup. The consomme was served at the required tongue scorching temperature. This one had a strong celery-peppercorn flavor.

When I ordered, the woman manning the counter asked me my name, which she wrote down on the order slip. So there I was waiting for my tacos, when I heard "hey"…."Hey"…."HEY". I realized that the guy behind the pick-up window was calling me. Perhaps they had a hard time spelling my name, and the woman just decided to write down H-E-Y as my name? Actually, I thought I as back in Philly waiting for a pork sandwich for a second!

My tacos looked almost perfect in proportion….fish the perfect length for the tortilla.

The textures were excellent; the batter shiny and crisp. The fish was perhaps a bit dry; kind of reminding me of Mariscos German's tacos de pescado…. but this batter was just perfect. Everything, the pico de gallo, the crema, which wasn't too heavy handed in the mayo department, and even the few slices of onion sang in harmony. Very nice; I'd have this again in an instant.

As to whether this is better than what is served at the Mariscos El Pescador truck, which is 25 cents more, and tends to have to much crema on it. Right now, at this moment, I'd say MEL's fish is better, but man this was fried perfectly….. I guess I'll have to save that comparison for another day.

Mariscos El Prieto Truck
3031 Main St
Chula Vista, CA 91911

A Gooey Sunday Post: Tan Ky Mi Gia (Mira Mesa) and the “New” Mandarin Canton

April 3, 2011 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Chinese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

This past week, for some reason, the Missus was craving something "gooey over fried noodles"…. something that happens every couple of years. I'm not quite sure brings it on…. but it does happen. We were in the Mira Mesa area so we stopped by:

Tan Ky Mi Gia:

**** Tan Ky Mi Gia is no longer

Which I've posted on quite a few times. The Missus went with the Pan Fried Egg Noodles with Seafood.

Something that I'd never had here before. The noodles not covered in the gooey "sauce" were very crumbly, and dare I say…. dusty. The light complexioned sauce was very tasty, perhaps edging on the salty side. That's about all I know since the Missus scarfed just about everything except the squid (not bad) and the fish balls (meh).

I noticed something interesting about the flavor of that sauce. It tasted a lot like the pork based "soup" that comes with many of the noodle dishes. I'm thinking they use this broth along with corn starch to create that stir-fry sauce. On this night, the broth was pretty salty as well….. but I wasn't complaining since I felt a cold coming on, and something with a good dose of salt (and MSG?) was welcome.

Needing a good dose of flavor, I went with the Beef Sate Noodle – Dry.

Not as spicy as other versions, the beef was pretty tender, the sauce a good flavor, so this hit the spot as well.

Tan Ky Mi Gia
9330 Mira Mesa Blvd #A
San Diego, CA 92126

For some reason, that dose of gooey-ness didn't cure the Missus. While driving South on the 805, I asked the Missus if we should drop by Mandarin Canton. I hadn't been back since before the unfortunate, and I still think unsolved murder of the restaurant owner in 2009. That's why Mandarin Canton never made it into our Salt and Pepper Wing challenge. The Missus had returned after the restaurant reopened, and thought the food had serious short-comings, which She blamed on "replaced oil syndrome" – where the well seasoned frying oil had actually been replaced, and all the flavoring is gone; and just never bothered to go back. We have nothing against ABCDE ('Ab-cee-dee' = American Born Chinese Dining Establishment) food, but it has to be done well. I found this to be a pretty hard thing to find here in San Diego. Anyway, as we walked to the restaurant off Telegraph Canyon Road, I noticed the sign now said:

The New Mandarin Canton Restaurant:

Perhaps trying to shake off the ghosts of the heinous crime. The menu looks new; but the same old dishes still occupy their place on the menu. In serious need of "gooey over fried noodles" the Missus ordered the Upside Down Pan Fried Noodles ($8.25), a well represented South Bay – Chinoy type dish that is well represented by places like Royal Mandarin and Golden Chopsticks.

This didn't deliver. The noodles were okay for this type of dish, but the sauce just had no flavor whatsoever. I did notice that the chicken in this dish was better than before. I'd always recommend that other than the wings, folks should stay away from anything with stir-fried chicken in it.

To digress, there's that ultimate sign of an ABCDE joint, stuff which I've gone over before. You get the fried won ton wrappers with the neon sweet-sour sauce. Also, no chopsticks; you have to ask for them.

Of course I had to have the Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings ($8.75):

I thought these were much better than before. The batter had been lightened up, and the wings were nicely crisp. The ever present crystals of MSG were of course present….. this had that nice "crack-like" addictiveness to it. You'll need to eat these when hot; due to the light batter, they don't keep real well.

The Missus favorite here, and probably the most expensive item on the menu is the Salt and Pepper Shrimp without shell at $12.75:

Like the chicken wings, these have been lightened up a bit as well. Compare this with how the dish used to look. The batter is more light and crisp, fairly close to lacquer-like. The shrimp had a nice flavor as well. The Missus thinks this dish is much better than before.

In the end, this was a nice guilty-pleasure meal. I find most of the items on the menu borderline terrible, but you can't go wrong with the fried stuff, and they do a decent job with shrimp. Also, if you are one of those people who believe they are allergic to MSG, be careful, this place will put you on life support. After paying the bill, after the Missus had already headed out to the car; the really nice lady serving us told me "Xièxiè", to which I replied one of the only words I know in Mandarin "bukeqi"… she laughed and started talking to me in Mandarin! Whoa….. I told her that my wife is Chinese, I'm Japanese….. she laughed and said, "oh, I thought you were Chinese, and you're wife is Filipino!" Happens all the time!

New Mandarin Canton Chinese Restaurant
543 Telegraph Canyon Road
Chula Vista, CA 91910