March 2013 – mmm-yoso

Clearing Out the Memory Card (COMC): Revisits to Golden City, Buga, and The Original Sab E Lee (Linda Vista)

I haven't done one of these in a while. Here's a trifecta of places I've posted on many, many, times. So I thought you'd like something with mostly just photos.

Golden City:

I actually hadn't been back to Golden City in a while. But recently, I actually had lunch there twice in two weeks! The first time with my good buddy "YZ" and the second with my long time FOY (Friend of Yoso) The Zompus……aka MrZ.

Anyway, here are the food photos:

I know, it's the same old thing….so once in a while, I'll order something different, like the Jellyfish Head with XO Sauce.

Which could have used a bit more XO Sauce. The Jellyfish texture was very nice though.

I guess this is where I bid Aloha to MrZ, his lovely wfie, Paparratt (aka MrsZ), and their little "Woolet" (Little Z of course). MrZ has gotten a big promotion and is off to Seattle. Congrats and best wishes, I'll miss you guys!

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

Buga:

It's been pretty warm here for the last couple of weeks……so ramen is out of the question with the Missus. She was craving Yukkwe Bi Bim Bop, so the first place that came to mind was Buga.

Of course I got the Bi Bim Naengmyun.

Of course, being open for dinner at 4 in the afternoon also works in their favor. From the placard in the window, it seems that the place is undergoing a change of ownership….so we'll see how that plays out.

Buga Korean BBQ Restaurant
5580 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117

The Original Sab E Lee (Linda Vista):

**** This location of TOSEL has closed

For some reason I crave TOSEL whenever it gets warmer. We visited twice in the last two weeks.

Over the last two visits we've found that the quality of beef used in the Koy Nua seems to have been upgraded. It's much more tender now.

Funny story, the first time the Missus had this, She noticed the spots on the plate, thinking it was blood and was kind of grossed out. Still, we enjoyed the beef. On our second visit, I noticed that the orange spots were actually decorations on the plate!

For some reason, the Missus has taken to the Tod Mun Pla – the fried fishcake. I think it's the sauce.

The Original Sab E Lee
2405 Ulric St
San Diego, CA 92111

So there you go, three places I've posted on many times….at least there are a couple of new dishes, right?

I hope everyone has had a great Easter weekend!

Recently Consumed

March 30, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking

Here's a nother round-up of what's been cooking in the mmm-yoso household.

The Missus is into Her smoked salmon again, so I've been smoking salmon just about every week.

What I've been doing is trimming off the belly portion of the salmon……Catalina Offshore has had some really nice Scottish Salmon recently. I'll cut the belly lengthwise, season with salt and pepper, dust with potato starch and fry……

I've done this a couple of times already….it's really wonderful. Rich, yet rather mild in flavor…..

Here's a Turkish Spiced Halibut, Crisp Roasted Eggplant, Pickled Vegetables and Afghan Chatni.

Here's Pan Fried Dover Sole with Potato Pancakes and Creme Fraiche - Caper Sauce.

Coming right off surf and turf night, I got another shot in before Bristol Farms Wagyu Beef sale ended.

And from our meatball section……I made those combination ground lamb- ground veal kofte again:

Last night I saw some uncased merguez meat, so we decided to try making merguez kofte, which were delicious.

So that's the round-up.

Happy Easter!

Falafel Friday: Oasis Restaurant and Lounge – Bay Ho

March 29, 2013 mmm-yoso Mediterranean Restaurants

** Oasis is now Spice & Soul

I mentioned this place opening, along with Dan Diego back in November of last year. A couple of weeks later I went to check them out.

The interior was clean, bright, and spacious and looked nothing like the taco shop that was formerly at this location. The menu was a bit odd; Med/Middle Eastern on one side, Burritos on the other. There were several beers on tap, most of them standard local brews. I found the combination of all three kind of confusing….was this a bar serving Mediterranean food, or a Med-Mex restaurant featuring beer and wine. Throw in the hookah room in the back, add ESPN running on all the television sets and you got a Med-Mex-hookah-sports bar. The folks running the place are friendly enough. I was told they own the liquor store across the parking lot, so maybe that explains the beer and wine.

Most of the plates, salads, and stuff ran north of $7.95, but under ten bucks, which didn't seem bad. I decided on something called the "Crazy Kofta" ($9.95):

Basically mass produced pita, with some mildly seasoned kofta meat, a bit on the dry side. Iceberg lettuce, tomato (which was actually pretty good), red onion, and sumac. Throw in some rather limp fries and a mild yogurt sauce. Nothing really special. It was nice to have this option in the neighborhood, but this didn't seem like a good value.

Still, the folks running the place were really friendly, so I returned with some friend for drinks one evening. We basically had a couple of beers, Ange a glass of wine, and we decided to get the Falafel Plate.

The falafel were really hard, gritty, and dry,tasting of too much parsley, with a bit of bitterness thrown in. The hummus was too thick and tasted like the store-bought stuff. This also seemed a bit over-priced at $7.95.

For some reason, it just seemed like Bay Park just couldn't pull off some really good grub…..Oasis just seemed like a bar that served Mediterranean Pub Grub. But maybe that's what they were shooting for. I really like the folks here, but I'd pretty much marked this down as a place to get a beer or two and not much more.

A couple of weeks ago, I happened to be in the area during lunch and decided to stop by again. I was surprised to find a "Lunch Specials" menu, with everything at five bucks. So I decided on the Falafel Pita. I was surprised when my plate arrived….there was no mention of fries on the menu, but there it was.

Sure, it was the same mass produced supermarket pita…iceberg lettuce, sumac, et al. But there were four falafel in the sandwich, which were much better, more moist, and the parsley taste had been toned down so I could make out some mild spice.

The fries were done to a decent SYSCO-liciousness. Perhaps the kitchen was still feeling its way during my first two visits. I thought this was priced right at $5, or even six.

Oasis is a nice addition to the neighborhood, though not a place to go out of your way for.

Oasis Restaurant & Lounge
4033 Avati Dr
San Diego, CA 92117

The Corner of First and Main Part 1: The Blind Burro

March 27, 2013 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants

As I mentioned in my post on Sage, we've been finding firsts and appetizers to be much more interesting than main courses recently. And we've had a couple of meals that seem to support that theory. The first was at the Blind Burro, a rather trendy, fairly new "concept" bar/restaurant in East Village. A very nice and stylish sort of Baja-ish fusion restaurant. I'm more substance focused, so I'd usually pass on places like this. The menu however, seemed interesting and I'd heard good things about the place. So when my dear FOY (friend of yoso) Candice asked us to join her for food and drink, the Missus and I jumped at the chance. Of course there is always the parking thing, but hey, it's about location, right?

Like I said, very nice atmosphere and the service was decent. The Missus really enjoyed the rather thick, but very crunchy chips.

There were some interesting items on the menu. We started with the Sweet Potato-Chorizo Taquitos ($7.50).

First off, we thought the chorizo, made inhouse was very good, smokey, with a nice blend of spices. The sweet potato added a touch of starchy sweetness. The Missus really enjoyed the mole, the combination of savory-salty-sweet flavors was nice as well. The crunch? Well, the Missus loved that as well. This was a very nice start for us.

The Missus also enjoyed the Quinoa and Squash Cakes ($9).

I really enjoyed the cilnatro pesto, especially on the grilled panela cheese which always seems to work well with herbaceous and even pungent flavors. The Missus loves quinoa….we still joke about getting it for 79 cents a pound back in '06……nowadays it's sticker shock. The inclusion of black beans gave it a bit of heft and a mild smokey flavor. The shaved calabacitas salad was….well let's just call it zucchini, was pretty mild and really fell into the shadows.

At this point we were starting to really enjoy the food here. It seemed that the BBQ Yellowtail Collar ($13) spelled the end of that feeling for us.

I love the richness of hamachi kama, as I do the flavor which is perhaps a bit strong for some, but for me it just adds to the enjoyment. Grilled in a too sweet and sour glaze killed the richness, it blocked the flavor….you might have well been eating chicken wings. A bit too sweet and sticky for me, I really didn't taste the smokiness of the chipotle in this.

The seafood in the Mariscos Stew ($17) were perfectly cooked.

The mussels were especially tender.

Unfortunately, the whole dish was way too salty, even for a sodium lover like me. It got to the point of being rather unpleasant, though it didn't seem to bother JohnL who joined us at about this time.

The Angus Skirt Steak($18) was decent.

I mentioned that the flavoring tasted like something out of Rick Bayless's playbook. Candice cracked-up and told me that the Executive Chef has gone on those chef excursion/tours that Rick Bayless has every year and is infatuated with the food. The beef could be a bit more tender, the salsa macha was pretty weak, more like a watered down chili oil. The best part of this dish were the red mole beans which had a nice complex flavor and though you could make out the touch of sweetness, it was still restrained, as was the spice, giving this nice balance.

Overall, his was a decent meal. But as we've been finding recently, appetizers have been outshining the entrees on menus. So in the case of the Blind Burro, the next time we visit and reach the "corner of first and main"….we'll be turning onto first and checking out more of the botanas, ensaladas, and probably a side or two.

The Blind Burro
639 J Street
San Diego, CA 92101

It’s Pollo Amigo!

March 26, 2013 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

Sorry, I couldn't help but add bookends of the It and the exclamation point to the name of this very low keyed nondescript little shop in Chula Vista. Last weekend, I drove down to Chula Vista to pick up some mantarraya from the El Vaquero truck for the Missus. Even though there are a couple of newer mariscos trucks in the area, I decided to check out this little shop I saw on my last visit to the area.

The tiny shop looks a bit worn, with simple communal picnic like tables and a small television running.

The kitchen was spotless though and seemed larger than the entire dining area.

The menu featured standard taco shop fare in the form of tacos and burritos. But since this place is named Pollo…..Amigo, what else would I order but the pollo, amigo?

I went with the Special#2. A half chicken, beans, rice, salsa, corn tortillas(3). Then I drove home with lunch…..mantarraya for the Missus and for me, well, it was pollo, amigo! (last time with this silliness, I promise)

The chicken was surprisingly good, much better than most, if not off the hook delicious. Well seasoned and moist, I really enjoyed it and will definitely get it again. Though I won't include the beans which were tragically runny and bland, nor the salsa which was also watery and had the over-powering "green" flavor of straight on jalapeno. The rice was ok, but o the dry side.

Next time, I'll just get the half chicken for $5.99, chop some white onion and cilantro, use a good hot sauce……

And be perfectly happy……

The couple that run this place is very nice, the prices seem good….so perhaps you should ignore the rather shabby exterior, stop by, and have some….pollo…..ok, I promised no more silliness. You get the point.

Pollo Amigo
2540 Main St.
Chula Vista, CA 91911

Is this the new king of salt and pepper chicken wings? Liu’s Chinese Restaurant

March 25, 2013 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Chinese Restaurants

**** Liu's Chinese Restaurant has closed

Funny thing, I've been in a bit of a Salt and Pepper Chicken Wing slump. Royal Mandarin has been kind of going downhill and the last two orders from Mandarin Canton have been less than stellar. For almost the last year, I've heard folks mentioning a place called Liu's on Coronado Avenue in Nestor. One even dubbed them the "King of Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings". So finally, FOY (friend of yoso) "RightCowLeftCoast" mentioned the place….this provided the impetus for driving down the I-5 toward IB and stopping in a strip mall to find Liu's. Which is located near a Rite Aid and a Barber Shop.

This place looks like something from a different age….man, those 70's were something, right? I loved the A-B-C-D on the window. I always call these types of restaurants ABCDE – abceedee – American Born Chinese Dining Establishments.

Man, the interior of this place is kinda beat.

Though I did kind of love the little figures lined up on the old fashioned diner sill.

And no, the peeling wallpaper, yellow and running signs, the torn seats, nor the rather sticky floor that could use a steam clean, or perhaps a hand grenade didn't bother me at all. I've had no less than three people tell me that this place made really good chicken wings. Places like this don't stay in business by poisoning their clientele.

The menu actually gives you reverse sticker shock…..Shrimp Fried Rice $5.85? I love that all the dishes also had Spanish translations. Still, I was here with one thing in mind, the Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings ($7.50), which happens to be one of the most expensive items on the menu.

If it's all about the batter, you'll like these, not as salty as other versions, but still with a touch of sneaky heat. The batter is lacquer like; which puts it into the class of Mandarin and Mandarin Canton…there's lots of crunch going on here.

My big complaint is the very low quality of the wings. Do you see the wings with the "black" in them. The bones in these wings had broken and the fluid and the marrow from the bones had seeped out, changing the flavor of the meat. I know you probably don't eat wings for the meat, but still…… That one drum on the bottom tasted freezer burnt. Nine wings at $7.50, that means 80 plus cents a wing….in spite of the prices of other items on the menu, that's not a good value based on the lack of quality control. One of these days I gotta learn about how wings are graded and sold…..I'll put that on my bucket list.

The wings here are not bad….in fact, if you run into a batch that isn't freezer burnt, or suffering from marrow ooze, you'll probably like it a lot.

The King of Salt and Pepper Wings…..don't start the coronation yet.

Liu's Chinese Restaurant
1850 Coronado Ave
San Diego, CA 92154

Sidi Bou Said (Tunisia): Au Bon Vieux Temps

March 24, 2013 mmm-yoso European Restaurants, French Restaurants, Sidi Bou Said/La Marsa, Travel, Tunisia, Tunisian Food

One of the places recommended to us by Rafael was Au Bon Vieux Temps. Located right off the main tourist street of Rue Hedi Zarrouk, the place has a nice, almost romantic feel.

Perfectly in character, we arrived just at the beginning of dinner service. We enjoy the quiet before the chaos.

Though folks rave about the views, I really didn't think it that great from where we sat on the patio.

The menu featured both French style and Tunisian style dishes. The prices were the highest we'd encounted in Tunisia, but still pretty reasonable by US standards.

We were still in search of a Tunisian wine we really enjoyed. Not really knowing where to start and wanting a "blanc", we simply ordered the most expensive bottle on the menu at 42 Dinar, which was about $25 US at the time. It turned out to be a good choice as this bottle of Magnifique was light and refreshing, with a crispness to it. We ended up getting this whenever we saw it on the menu.

As the meal goes, we found that we preferred the Tunisian style dishes to the French preparations, like the Fruits de Mer (18 TND – $10 US) which was kind of waterlogged and mushy.

The Duck Pate, a bargain at 10TND, think six bucks, had some potential, the flavor was decent, but the texture was a bit too waxy.

For me, the best dish of the night was my Lamb Couscous (26TND – $15).

This was by far the best couscous we had on our trip. It was light and fluffy. I thought the vegetables were going to be somewhat onerous, but they were fork tender, not mushy, but yielding perfectly under my fork. The lamb was simply flavored, but was also very tender….loved the gamey flavor. It really didn't need the spicy sauce provided, which actually covered up all the wonderful flavors.

The Missus loved Her stuffed squid (22 TND – $13US).

The squid was very tender, we don't really remember much else about this dish.

Right as we were finishing our mains, a gentleman who claimed to be the owner came up to us and started a conversation. He talked the Missus into ordering a dessert, which She loved….probably because of all the pistachios and the rose water. Since She obviously enjoyed the rose water so much, he brought Her a glass with a bit more of it to pour over the dessert….

He also told the Missus She should check out the upstairs VIP area where Presidents, King's, Queen's, and Prime Ministers have eaten. He was a pretty smooth operator.

The Missus managed this photo….perhaps you'll recognize someone.

Overall, this wasn't bad. Perhaps if the prices were a lot higher I'd complain a bit more about the place. On the bright side, we found our favorite Tunisian wine and that makes this meal worthwhile. And as you can tell; we didn't leave hungry.

We admired the sunset as we walked back down the hill.

We were amazed at all the folks sitting and still having coffee at the busy cafe across from Place du 7 Novembre.

Folks laughing and carrying on, chatting as they ended the day.

Meanwhile, right across the street, it was time for prayers at the Mosque.

An interesting contrast for us. Such is life in Tunisia……..

Big Island: The Manago Hotel

March 23, 2013 mmm-yoso Hawai'i - The Big Island, Japanese Restaurants, Travel

After visits to places like Teshima's, Suisan, and Kawamoto's, you can see there's a kind of a running theme in our visit to the Big Island. With that in mind, I just had to stop at the Manago Hotel.

The hotel was built in 1917 and is still owned by the same family. There's a real "old-time" vibe to this place.

Walking down the hallways is like journey back in time…. You wonder what stories would be told if these walls could talk.

I hadn't stopped in here since the early 90's, but it looks the same to me. Especially the somewhat ramshackle, but charming "lunch room"……yes, they call it a restaurant, but it really reminds me of a plantation lunch room….mismatched furniture and all.

There's no menu handed to you when you are seated…..you read what's being served on the peg board and order. After placing your order, the server returns with your "side dishes", which you eat family style….you serve yourself.

Today, along with the big bowl of rice, there was long rice, macaroni-potato salad, which was well chilled, and blanched and marinated bean sprouts which was sort of like namul. The Missus pretty much whacked the bean sprouts and our server brought us another plate!

The one item I always have to get here are the pork chops. The big dilemma is; whether so get it pan-fried, or smothered in gravy. Seeing that there are kids now in college who weren't even born the last time I had the pork chops here, I went for the straight-up pan fried version.

I've been told that the cooks here use cast iron pans which are….well, older than I am. That's a well-seasoned pan. The bone in chops were a bit thinner than I remembered, but the wonderful crust and simple seasoning, salt, pepper, and maybe granulated garlic was just what I wanted. The chop isn't super-tender, but it has a pleasant chew, and was really moist. Sometimes I wonder if my food memories are a snapshot which has snowballed over time, creating its own reality. I'm glad to say, in terms of flavor, this was as I remembered.

The Missus had the pan fried ahi.

Which She said was simple, but well and honestly prepared.

There's something about a good meal which puts you in a nice frame of mind. There's also that great feeling you get when an old favorite still delivers….it makes everything seem right in the world for that moment. What the Manago hotel serves is good, simple, homey, honest, food, a snapshot of a different time. In this day and age of food fads, gimmicks, slow food – fast-food, farm to table, etc, etc, etc….. There's something almost refreshing about that.

Manago Hotel
82-6155 Mamalahoa Hwy
Captain Cook, HI 96704

Thursday Tacos: Tacos el Paisa – Imperial

March 21, 2013 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops, What Howie Eats - Where the Foodie from Foodieview Eats

The Missus: Why do they have taco Tuesday?
Me: Well, I think that Tuesdays are usually a pretty slow day for business, so it's a marketing thing….
The Missus: But why not Thursday?
Me: I believe because business starts picking up on Thursday so they don't need a….
The Missus: That's really not fair….
Me: Ummm, to who? Thursday???

Sometimes it's hard to get past the conversation…..so in deference to the Missus…after all, my boss always tells me, "happy wife, happy life!" It's Taco Thursday. At least here it is…..

I recently had a fun dinner with my friends Candice, Howie, and Jenne. It had been a while since we had gotten together and we had a blast. Anyway, during the conversation Howie mentioned that one of his favorite taco shops is El Paisa. I suddenly realized that I haven't paid this location of El Paisa a visit since it was Tacos el Rico. So I made a mental note to check them out. It was easy enough for me, since I'm in the habit of dropping by the San Diego Public Market every Sunday. Imperial is just a couple of blocks away….there's really no excuse.

Man, they've really renovated this place sine the last time I passed by.

The deck area look really nice……

You can get two different sizes of tacos here; the "minis" run from $1.80 – $1.85, though you can get three for $4.99. The regular sized tacos run from $2.25 – $2.99.

On this day, I went with the Al Pastor and Cabeza ($2.75 each):

The Al Pastor was on the dry side, the spice quite mild, and it lacked the depth of flavor that a good al pastor would have. The tortillas were pretty much middle of the road, nothing outstanding. Ditto for the two salsas I tried….the verde and the roja.

The cabeza was very moist, though it could have been more tender, and rather than being rich seemed more like greasy to me. There were hints of the nice beefiness that I enjoy in cabeza.

The service was rather indifferent to me, though it seems like they really tend to cater to their Hispanic customers.

Still, I could see some potential and thought it only fair that I return. On this visit, the young lady was very friendly. She even brought out squeeze bottles of the salsas to me. On my last visit, all the other tables got those bottles….except me. When I stood up to get limes, she told me to have a seat and brought them to me. Very nice…….

On this trip I went with the Lengua ($2.85) and Carne Asada ($2.75):

The carne asada wasn't too salty and I don't know if it was a byproduct of the griddle, but I could taste hints of what tasted like chipotle and perhaps achiote as well. Just look at the meat and you can see what I mean.

Sadly, this was dry and tough as heck…..it really brought out how gloppy the guacamole was as well.

Looking at the rather grayish lengua wasn't very encouraging either.

Looking closer I could make out the actual papillae of the tongue's surface on the pieces of lengua. It also looked a bit too waxy, but the fragrance was heavenly. And it was surprisingly tender with that somewhat offal-beefiness that I enjoy in good tongue. The onions and cilantro helped to cut the richness and the salsa roja added that bit of pungent push in flavor.

This was good; I'll have it again.

Since I'm in this area every Sunday, i'm thinking I'll hit up La Fachada again. I haven't visited since they moved things around in the parking lot a bit. Unless anyone has some other recommendations for tacos in the area at 10am!

Tacos El Paisa
2494 Imperial Ave
San Diego, CA 92102
Hours:
Sun – Thurs 8am – midnight
Fri – Sat 8am – 3am

Roadtrip: Torrance Farmer’s Market and a revisit to Tasty Noodle House (San Gabriel)

March 20, 2013 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Farmer's Markets/Night Market, Road Trip

The Missus and I had a great time in Vegas and our time there ended on a high note. When we initially made plans for our short jaunt to Las Vegas, we thought we'd do what we've done before, make a quick stop in the SGV for a meal then hit the road home. But after thinking things through, we decided to spend a night in Hacienda Heights. After all, we lived in the area for a good chunk of time. It would be nice for old times sake. We also decided to do some of the things we used to do on a Saturday……that would be hit the Torrance Farmer's Market. So we left Vegas at around 545am and made it to the Torrance Farmer's Market in no time at all!

I've already posted on the Torrance Farmer's Market three times already, so I'll spare you a rehash of the same old story……

Ice chest full of produce, we stopped and topped off the gas tank and headed to San Gabriel.

I'd been craving the Tianjin Baozi from Tasty Noodle House for a while, so that's where we stopped for lunch.

Remember, it was still January, so the Missus was still in the mood for soup and ordered the Suan Cai Yang Rou – Sour Vegetable and Lamb soup which was both warming and cleansing, if not super good.

I prefer mine a bit more sour and salty…..but this did fine.

Of course we got the Tianjin Baozi, which was just as I recall, yeasty aroma, light and fluffy, with a light, yet tasty pork filling.

Just the fragrance takes me back to China.

Seems like everyone who eats here orders this. A guy comes in, has one order for lunch, then proceeds to get five orders to go. Though I don't think you really the full enjoyment of these after reheating.

I could probably eat this a couple of times a week.

Tasty Noodle House
827 W Las Tunas Dr
San Gabriel, CA 91776

After lunch we took our time driving up to Rowland Heights and wandered around the neighborhood…..up and down the streets we used to drive on often….Nogales, Harbison, Azusa, Colima….. We checked into the Courtyard a bit early and got a nap in…..then it was dinner time of course!