May 2013 – Page 2

Green Acre – a real hidden gem

May 19, 2013 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Burgers, Pizza, Salads, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome back to mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog. Kirk is vacationing, according to solid plans. ed (from Yuma) is relaxing, according to fluid plans. Cathy is blogging, according to general plans of achieving a post for you to enjoy.

Everybody has to eat. If you are at home and don't want to cook, you go out to a favorite neighborhood place. If you are at work, there's going to be a place that is close. People don't like to drive very far when they go out, unless maybe for a special occasion. People who work in the "scientist" area of town -near Sorrento Valley and UCSD- where not many lunch options are available, *do* have a great, healthy, tasty option but it isn't easy to find…

This is what you are ultimately looking for.

Raised bed gardens, in the middle of an Office Park (the Nautilus Life Science Campus area). These fresh vegetables and herbs will be part of your meal, picked that morning.

Straight ahead is the front door to Green Acre.

This is what you see from the parking lot. See the umbrellas to the right?

There are plenty of marked parking spaces, if you'd like to come here for breakfast or lunch and don't work here. It's only open Monday-Friday…like the office park. (I'd be here every weekend if it was open.)

When you walk in, there's a chalkboard listing the daily specials.

There's an area to eat inside, also.

When you are waiting in line to order and pay, the wall advertising other restaurants related to Green Acre- those run by San Diego's Top Chef Season 3 Cheftestant Brian Malarkey, is your only clue that this place is related to those "fabric themed" (Searsucker, Gabardine, Burlap, Gingham and Herringbone) restaurants around town, which are heavily promoted and very popular.

The menu board is hanging above the cash register area, where you order, pay and get a number. Then you take your beverage, find a seat and soon enough, your food is brought to you.

My first visit here was a meet up with fellow bloggers caninecologne (who posted after that first visit)(two posts, actually) and Dennis. Dennis has been here many times, since he works close by (as I said at the beginning…)

One of the things I really like about Green Acre is that just about everything is recycled and recycle-able. The paper straws are more than just cute. When you return your tray, the trash area is marked for food mulch, paper and plastic recycling and 'other'.

The food is brought out on jelly roll pans lined with brown butcher/craft paper. This is Dennis' Grass fed beef burger, topped with leek, slow roasted tomato and Marin County Brie served on a fresh pretzel bun($12) it comes with the fresh-fresh salad, topped with a herb infused dressing…oh, and the pickle is definitely not from a jar. The Russett fries ($3) are served with a 'tomato jam' that tasted more like a marinara than catsup…The fries are quite nice.

caninecologne was not going to let this long drive North go to waste and ordered two full meal items. She took home more than half of each. This is the "Drunken Mary" panini-a chicken salad made with smoked almonds and brandied cherries ($7). I had a taste and it was really good. The side salad, again very fresh-fresh was very good.

This is caninecologne's other main course meal- the 'Corn Cobb' ($9). A very nice, very large, very fresh Cobb salad, made with chicken, avocado, bacon, cheese (she asked for a substitute of the standard Bleu cheese) and topped with a corn vinaigrette. This was very good.

My salad- the 'Nice!'-(a play on Nicoise) ($10) Lightly seared albacore, a perfect soft boiled farm egg, and instead of beans, fresh peas and instead of potato, freshly fried potato skins on top: whatever is fresh and in season… The lettuces, tomato, vinaigrette were memorable as to their freshness.

I had to bring The Mister here, so one weekday in April, we drove out here (it's easy, take the 5 to Genessee, go West two lights to John Jay Hopkins, turn (you can only turn North) and the first street is General Atomics Drive- the first building on the right -go behind it through the parking lot). I decided to try one of the items from the "Brick Oven Bar"- a 'Purist' half pizza($6). Again, it comes with the salad, all on the brown paper lined jelly roll pan. A simple, perfectly baked mozzarella/basil/tomato pizza. This combination is *so* good, I didn't want to stop eating it and am glad I only ordered a half…just to appear polite.

The Mister ordered the Nice! salad, based on my incessant obsession with my previous experience (this version had a few small potatoes in it, so no potato skin toppers;potatoes were able to be harvested) and also ordered a Daily Soup ($4), which this day was a wonderful vegetarian spring root vegetable chowder. This hit the spot with the slightly chilly overcast outdoor seating spot we chose. It was a nice blend of root veggies and kale, not too spicy and not a thick broth, but a very flavorful one.

We've tried other menu items here. The breakfasts are pretty basic (omelettes, wraps and paninis as well as yogurt and fruit cups) and extremely fresh. The menu is small and changes based on what is available. Green Acre serves very fresh, very high quality food without any hype. I really like it here.

Green Acre 3535 General Atomics Court San Diego 92121 (858)587-6601 M-F 8am-6pm Website

Cafe Marché – Bird Rock/La Jolla

May 18, 2013 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Caffeine Fix, French Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Cafe Marché has closed.

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog, written by a few friends: Kirk, ed (from Yuma) and Cathy do the majority of posts here, but a few others have helped out as well. Today, it's Cathy's turn to write while the guys are 'researching' in various parts of the USA and world.

It's that time of year when The Mister and I just get in the car, drive and stop when one of us is hungry. The other day, we found ourselves in South La Jolla on the fairly new La Jolla Boulevard that has added circles in the middle of the road, so you have to drive slowly, zig zagging at 15 miles per hour, instead of stopping at every corner.

It's the area commonly known as Birdrock.

As I drove slowly, we saw this- Café Marché. It used to be a different restaurant where we had never stopped. This time, I found a parking space (the parking lot has green lines painted in it, but is labeled 'Customer Parking Only' and not '15 minute parking' as are green lined spots on the street).

I didn't get a photo of the counter when we walked in, but a good variety of freshly prepared deli items and flavored popcorns are available to grab and go.

We sat near the front, and had a nice view of the painted Bird Rock on the wall. The breakfast and lunch menus were brought to us.

The Mister ordered coffee ($2) and a thermal pot was brought to him. It was a very good, fresh brewed French roast coffee.

The Mister's order came with a 'small salad', which was quite large and served with a very nice herbed balsamic dressing.

Short story: The Mister and I had just been reminiscing about late night stops at Denny's after the UGLi (undergraduate library) closed, and how we always ordered a "Super Bird", a sort of Monte Cristo sandwich…

So, when the Monte Cristo Crépe ($8.50) was on the menu at Cafe Marché, He had to order it. I must say, this was *wonderful* and had a good amount of ham and turkey and cheese inside the *very* perfect, thin and flavorful crépe.

When I looked at the menu, I could not decide, asked what the soup of the day was and was told that in addition to French onion, the 'soup' was actually a chili. ($5). I had to try it and was very, very happy I did. Our (very nice and attentive) Waiter said it was his Mother's recipe…and I want that recipe! Ground beef, black, kidney and garbanzo beans, corn and a perfect blend of spices, topped with cheese and a dollop of sour cream and…a perfect meal. It was accompanied by grilled Focaccia, which was so very fresh and apparently what is used for sandwiches here…sandwiches which I'll order next time.

What a great place. So glad we stopped here.

Marché Café 5550 La Jolla Blvd La Jolla CA 92037 (623)332-3505

Recently Consumed and it’s that Time Again!

May 16, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking, yoso-silly

So here's some stuffs that I made recently……..

A cumin and five spice crusted halibut…with that Purple Cabbage Slaw.

A Garlic Shrimp Po' Boy.

This one went to the reject pile. It was totally "ma-la" – numbing hot. But the Missus rejected it because it wasn't "red" enough. So it's back to the drawing board with the Chili Oil Won Tons.

Still, it was really spicy….

I still get embarrassed when the Missus requests "spicy tuna". So I sheepishly submit this Spicy Ahi Salad.

If you decide to make this, don't forget the tobiko and the avocado. I served this on mizuna, which added a nice mildly bitter counter-point to the dish.

And finally……..

Tommy from Catalina Offshore recommended some fresh sardines, which had just come in that morning. The timing of which is excellent. It's that time again. Hopefully, by the time you read this, the Missus and I will be on our way to our next destination(s). So where are we going? Well, the photo leaves a clue.

I'll try to post once in a while while we're gone, but until then, everything is in the fine hands of Cathy!

Thanks for reading!

J&T Thai Street Food

May 15, 2013 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Thai Restaurants

On one of my trips to Ballast Point on Linda Vista a couple of months ago, I noticed this little restaurant had opened.

The name conjured up memories of the cornucopia of street food we encountered in Thailand, the breath and depth of which was impressive…….wonderful whiffs of fried goodies wafting down streets and alleyways in Thailand.

We already have The Original Sab E Lee feeding us Issan style food…..could this be the place for true Bangkok style street-food.

Even though I try not to let first impressions set the tone, the interior screams of "fast-casual"……in fact, I started calling this place Thai-Chipotle.

The place is going for that somewhat slick and modern vibe, using "Thai Street Food" to make the Veggie Pad Thai and Grilled Salmon Salad sound exotic and different.

Still, there were some items on the menu outside the restaurant that seemed interesting.

The Pork Leg Stew Rice, which I'm assuming was Khao Kha Moo looked like a must try, until I entered the restaurant and found that it was no longer on the menu….the one inside the place.

Still the steamed chicken rice ($7), sounded much like Hainan Chicken Rice which is called khao man kai in Thailand, so I thought I'd give that a try. Admittedly, I was thrown off when the chipper young lady asked me if I wanted my chicken with or without skin.

Upfront I'll say this was way better than the version at Noble Chef, the chicken tender, the rice not dried out. On the other hand, the flavor was on the mild side, almost a caricature of sorts that had me wanting something like what I had in Chiang Mai. The flavor was a bit too watered down and gabacho for me. The sauce was basically a sweet chili sauce with garlic, a bit too sweet for me. The tones that ginger adds to this dish was missing as well.

The good thing about these type of places is that you don't spend a mint on your meal. This means that you, like I can give it another go a few weeks later. This time I was famished and started with the Chicken Wings, not a bargain at $3 for three wings…..they gotta fix the sign outside, it says four wings.

The wings were served with the same pseudo garlic-sweet chili sauce that was served with the chicken on my previous visit. Gladly, the wings didn't need the sauce. I thought these were quite good. The wings were moist, the skin crunchy, with a nice balanced seasoning, salty-peppery, with a touch of heat. Not cheap, about the same price as wings from Kyochon and not quite there in terms of execution and taste. Still, not bad.

I wish this carried over onto my Duck Noodle Soup ($7).

This was one of those dishes that could be represented with the phrase, "the good, the bad, the ugly…."

The good, well, the decent was the pretty generous portion of duck, which was tender if not particularly memorable in terms of flavor.

The bad was the broth, which was an insipid combination of watery faint five spice and sugar flavors. Everything else was null and void.

The ugly were the noodles which were mushy and overcooked.

Well, at least it was steaming hot, right?

In terms of prices, this place is not bad. In the context of gringo/student Thai Food, ditto. Is it for me….well, other than those wings, probably not. I usually don't go to Chipotle when I'm craving Mexican Food, but I don't hold it against those who do.

J&T Thai Street Food
5259 Linda Vista Rd
San Diego, CA 92110

Tacos de Mexicali

May 14, 2013 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

**** Tacos de Mexicali has closed

Tacos de Mexicali is one of those places that I pass at least once every week or so, always reminding myself to visit one day. Well….one day finally arrived a couple of months ago.

On one of the trips to North Park Produce…..this was before the Clairemont location finally opened, I decided to check the place out.

To be perfectly honest, I really don't know what "Mexicali tacos" are….what comes to mind are vampiras, like what Ed from Yuma had, but I was pretty sure this was not that. I would have heard about it sooner if that was true.

The interior of the restaurant is bright but a bit worn, but I appreciated a the simple menu, a single page.

You could by the prices that these aren't the smaller "street tacos", but probably more substantial. Another plus is that all the tortillas are hand made.

The one person I knew who had actually visited Tacos de Mexicali told me that I just had to have the lengua, which I thought was strange since he barely has anything else other than polla asado and carne asada….in fact, he once told me he "hated cabeza and lengua".

So I ordered a Taco de Lengua ($2.95) and Taco de Cabeza ($2.70). The tacos come to your table with nothing but the meat, It's then up to you to dress them as you wish at the salsa bar. The salsas were routine, except for the spicy guacamole which I enjoyed for some reason.

I had requested corn tortillas, but these were obviously flour. It was a happy mistake since the tortillas had a nice stretch to them.

One bite of the lengua and I knew why the dude liked them so much. In terms of tongue, this was very mild in flavor. I thought that the condensed beefy, almost offal flavor of the tongue was missing. In those terms, it was really well prepared, soft and tender. For me it seemed like everything I enjoy about tongue had been cooked out of it. The slight waxiness, the almost luxurious richness was missing.

Ditto the cabeza.

This could have been stewed and shredded short ribs, or chuck.

I guess I could recommend this as "beginner's lengua and cabeza". It just seemed that all the redeeming qualities of tongue and beef head had been removed. If that's talent and skill, I'll tip my hat to the cook, but it's not my thing.

Still, I returned a couple of weeks later. I thought I'd try the Taco Al Pastor ($2.70) and the Carne Asada ($2.95).

As you can tell by the lack of color on the carne asada, it was pretty bland, tough, and in need of some caramelization which would probably made it a bit more interesting.

The Al Pastor, was pretty much Adobado. The marinade had a powderiness to it and the flavor was very one dimensional with just some heat from chilies. I would have enjoyed it more if it had some sweetness and acid to it. At least it was much more tender than the carne asada.

A word on the tortillas. This time I did receive the corn tortillas. These are quite refined and thin, though the masa flavor is quite clear and clean. It seems almost a bit too processed.

In terms of price-point it's not bad, but really not my cup of tea. The flavors are a bit too mild and tame for my tastes.

For another view of Tacos de Mexicali please read Mary's post.

Tacos De Mexicali
3450 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92104

Istanbul: Our favorite restaurant – Gaziantep Sahre

May 13, 2013 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Istanbul, Travel, Turkey, Turkish Food

It really did seem like we've spent a good deal of time in Istanbul. In actuality, I'm thinking maybe three weeks max. On our last couple of short stays we started getting away from Sultanahmet and taking the metro to places like Osmanbey and Sisli, home of the Nisantasi Shopping Mall. On the top floor you can walk out onto a small patio and take a photo like this one….though the heights kinda got to me rather quickly.

This is the hip and modern Istanbul, looking all the world like just about any major city in the world…….including the traffic.

Having at least a rudimentary familiarity with a city is nice as it opens up other options for shopping and dining.

We'd kind of hit the wall with eating in Istanbul. All of the nice young men in the hotel, except one, who really knew his stuff, would recommend tourist type places. Like the fish restaurants that line the touristy Kumkapi Fish Market area.

Hawker's try to lure you in….but they lose us as soon as they mentioned the "culture show"……

Across the street is the bright, mega-restaurant district of Kumkapi, which seemed a bit too much for us.

All of these type of restaurant/entertainment districts have a certain look and feel to them. The bright lights, the loud music, the free flowing alcohol. Nothing against this, but we wanted something a bit more low-keyed.

And we found just the place. It was a bit of a walk, about 3 kilometers from our hotel. But we had just walked past Kumkapi into the area known as Yenikapi. Right past a massive Korean Restaurant on Kennedy Caddesi we saw this place that looked full of locals.

We walked on up the stairs and noticed that even though the restaurant dining area was pretty large, everyone was eating on the patio. All the customers were male when we arrived, though more couples started coming in a bit later on. More importantly, everyone seemed to know the servers…..like they were regulars, just what we were looking for.

When the men started coming around with trays….we knew we had found a Meyhane.

Though I'm thinking that there must be an amount of tourist business as there's an English translation of the menu.

Anyway, we were met with sort of an amused attitude. There was one Server, a really nice guy, who spoke passable English and I think he found us a bit interesting as we took to the menu like wolves…..

All the usual suspects were present.

He seemed even more amused that I actually knew the names of some of the dishes, like Acili Ezme….

Which was really good, chunky, decent spice, slight pungency…..

And the delicious shaksuka.

All of which was made for bread….we were provided with two different variations.

The Missus just loved this salad, which I thought was a version of Coban Salatsi, but the gentleman said no….so we asked what it's called. He didn't quite know what to call it. So what to do? We he broke out his iPhone and translated it to English……"chopped salad?!?" We just cracked up. I still think it's a version of Coban Salatasi. Whatever the name, it's delicious!

There was one item we saw on every table, so I just had to try it out. The Missus hesitated at first, but I just had ot have it. The Server brought us a piece to try and we were sold.

This is called Çiğ köfte. In this case it's minced raw lamb combined with bulghar, herbs, and spices. Wrapped in the lettuce leaf with a mint leaf it is pure heaven. Refreshing, a bit lamby, herbaceous, and now one of my favorite things!

As we were polishing things off, our Server came by and dropped this off for us, saying "we have extra…."

This was a really tasty lahmacun. Nice crisp bread topped with a very tasty mixture of lamb and spices. Have you noticed the lack of Sultan posts in the last year or so? It's mainly because the Missus has had the food here…….

The next day we headed off to Rhodes and Symi, but we hadn't forgotten Sahre. When we returned to Istanbul, we had one full day before heading home. That's when we visited Osmanbey. When the inevitable lunch question arose, the Missus asked to eat at Sahre. That would be quite a hike, so we decided on a cab…..we weren't sure on how we'd communicate the instructions correctly to the driver, until the Missus found a package of sugar from the restaurant in Her bag.

It took a while with Istanbul traffic, but we finally arrived poised for lunch.

One thing we noticed as we walked up the stairs was that a makeshift table was set-up in the downstairs parking area. A family of five was eating there. The Missus quickly noticed that one of the older gentleman was in a wheelchair. I guess this is the handicap section set-up.

We were a bit disappointed to find that Çiğ köfte was not served for lunch! The Missus hadn't stopped talking about it for the week we were in Rhodes. Anyway, Her other favorites where still available. Our favorite Server wasn't working and it's not the typical meyhane set-up for lunch, so I just pointed to the menu, which was supplemented with a trip to the back to select what we wanted.

We also ordered some içli köfte.

This was a decent version. The exterior was nice and crisp. The filling, a mixture of minced lamb, bulghur, and spices was adequately flavored.

Think of this as being like a croquette or kibbeh. The best thing was the texture.

I also saw chicken wings on the menu. I really enjoyed the version at Mehmet Kebab, so why not try it here as well?

This were nicely grilled. For some reason, I've really taken to the combination of spices used for wings here. Smokey, salty, with a mild spice.

We both tried the grilled green peppers. Most regions in Turkey don't care for really spicy food. I had tried the peppers at Can Can Pide in Antalya which were pretty darn hot. But this was Istanbul, folks don't like things too hot here, so I took a bite….yikes! Man, this had some pretty good heat. That's when we noticed that all the plates on the tables around us still had their peppers intact.

It ended up being a nice lunch. We had dinner reservation later that evening at Mimolett Restaurant, a restaurant that is trying hard for a Michelin star, but we both had out hearts set on having that Çiğ köfte one more time. So we ended up cancelling when we got back to our hotel.

It was our last evening in Istanbul for this trip and we took our time walking the 3 kilometers to the restaurant.

Still we arrived at Sahre a bit early. A few minutes later "our" Server arrived, looking quite amused to see us. We asked about the Çiğ köfte, and he told us, "no, until 7….."

But we were here and determined to get what we had come here twice in one day for…… It was our last night in Turkey and this was a Meyhane, so I decided to get a couple of Efes.

Meanwhile, we noticed storm clouds coming in from the Mamaris. We, like everyone else were seated on the patio, but were safe since we had the awning above us. Soon enough raindrops started to fall and the most amazing drill was initiated. Like a well oiled machine, all the tables were moved from this configuration….

To this….in a matter of minutes……

We had started dinner……

Of course our Server knew the Missus was after one thing. So a few minutes into our meal, he told the Missus "come" and took Her into the kitchen of the restaurant and the station where the Çiğ köfte was being prepared. He then grabbed one for the Missus to have on the way back to our table!

Of course we got the first plate when it finally came out of the kitchen.

It was just as good as our previous visit.

For some reason, we really took to this place. We'll be back the next time we're in Istanbul.

Gaziantep Sahre Restaurant
Kennedy Caddesi No 130 Sahilyolu Yenikapi, Istanbul

We walked through all the restaurants in Kumkapi, then back to Vericeriler Caddesi which turned into Divan Yolu Caddesi.

We mainly wanted that one last view of the Blue Mosque at night.

As the final call to prayer started, I looked out at that same quiet street in front of the Hotel Djem. There's something about Istanbul that I love….that had me visiting here twice in two years. I'm not sure what it is, but it's just a matter of time before I return.

Thanks for reading!

This post is dedicated to "Senor" who got me to finally take the time to write this post. I hope you have a great time in Turkey!

The Baked Bear – and a good memory

May 12, 2013 Cathy Desserts, Ice Cream/Frozen Yogurt, What Cathy Eats!

Here you are reading the blog mmm-yoso!!! It's where Kirk, ed(from Yuma) and Cathy (as well as a few others) share posts with an underlying subject of food. Today, Cathy is sharing.

One afternoon last week, The Mister and I drove West and found a place to park near The Crystal Pier, a public pier (where you can fish) as well as a hotel at the end of Garnet Avenue, in the Pacific Ocean.

It's quite a walk down and back the 872 foot long wooden pier, quiet and beautiful.

We left the pier, walked straight ahead, past a few restaurants, took a left on Mission Boulevard and saw this building and sign next to the Fatburger.

Well, I had never heard of this place…and we had just had a nice walk, justifying an ice cream sandwich. Had to…

{It turns out The Baked Bear opened just last week, Kirbie has already posted on it}

Spacious, clean and not crowded. A nice young lady at the counter asked us if we had been there before. She then told us a common ordering method-pick a cookie flavor or two different ones, then pick an ice cream flavor…and I started to read the flavor choices on the menu board-

The first and second main sandwich choices: Cookies, brownies OR waffles!!!

When I was growing up in Detroit, one special treat my brother and I would sometimes get was a waffle ice cream sandwich at the counter at Kresge's, a Five and Dime store. (Here's a photo). Oh, I knew what I wanted.

The cookies were freshly baked, and the waffles (under the cover to the right of the cones) were already made…but…well, you'll see. Cones and cups were also available…for people who are here for the ice cream and not a sandwich.

The selection of 12 ice cream flavors. Premium ice creams, from different companies; a very nice detail. We chose butter pecan.

The soft, fresh waffle had one side already crispy toasted. That side had the ice cream placed on it and then the waffle was folded over the ice cream, then it was placed on the flat toaster (above; like a panini maker without the ridges), to get the exterior of the waffle warm and a bit crispy…and perfect.

I know people are buying the cookie sandwiches -the cookie selection was tempting- but the waffle is absolutely my idea of an ice cream sandwich.

The waffle was just enough crispy to not turn soggy and the ice cream was a very good quality of butter pecan- salty and not too sweet with crispy pecans. The waffle stayed intact and we were able to share the sandwich without a sticky meltdown. It really was perfect.

Fond memory #2: I sent my brother the above photo attached to a text message…with no words… and he immediately texted back "Kresge's!!!" Yes, he also remembered our special snack outings.

The Baked Bear 4516 Mission Blvd San Diego 92109 (858) 886-7433 website

The rest of the story (3rd memory)-

I call Mom daily. When I told her about The Baked Bear ice cream waffle, she immediately relayed a story about the horse drawn waffle cart that used to show up on Fridays in the Detroit neighborhood where she, my dad and my brother and I grew up. She told me the man would yell from the cart "Rzecz naleśnik", which is "pancakes" in Polish. She said the cart also had ice cream.

After some research, I found This Blog Post with a photo of a New York horse drawn waffle cart. It was a memory she hadn't ever shared before. I realized Food carts are not a new invention, nor are waffle ice cream sandwiches.

Happy Mother's Day.

COMC: Revisits to those same old places – Izakaya Sakura, Pho King, Minh Ky, Kayaba, Pho Lucky, and Buga

May 11, 2013 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Korean Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

Here's another one of those C(learing) O(ut) the M(emory) C(ard) posts. Just the same old places that I've posted on a zillions times.

You can figure out where is where, right? Just photos for this warm Saturday night.

Geeez….all the same places. Sometimes it's a wonder that I'm able to post on new places.

Sidi Bou Said/La Marsa (Tunisia): A quick morning walk through Sidi Bou Said, a return to La Marsa and Le Golfe

May 10, 2013 mmm-yoso Sidi Bou Said/La Marsa, Travel, Tunisia, Tunisian Food

I've mentioned how beautiful Sidi Bou Said was before, that beauty even shines through the crowds walking its cobble stoned streets.

Still, we really enjoyed the still, quiet mornings when we didn't have to "wrassle" our way through the crowds.

Perhaps the vibrant energy that the crowds bring adds it's own color and energy to the mix, but in the quiet moments you're allowed the time to just stand and enjoy the view wrapped in your own little bubble.

Still, no matter how wonderful the view, we found ourselves on the TGM headed back to La Marsa. It was no different on this morning.

There's something about the Mediterranean brightness of La Marsa, of the whitewashed buildings and the palm tree lined road that has such a retro feel for me.

And though there were tourists, there didn't seem to be as many of them.

We decided to just relax and have a cup of "cafe express" just as we had done previously and soak in the relaxed vibe of La Marsa.

I really enjoyed the cafe culture in Tunisia. Folks actually took time out of the day to socialize, read, contemplate, or whatever…….the moment was yours to enjoy.

And while the view and the beach was nice……

It was starting to get pretty warm.

Plus, we were here on a mission……a lunch mission.

We headed back down the side streets of La Marsa, past the well to do homes, bright white, with blue windows, doors, and trim. You could tell this was the high rent district…..

Some of these places may not have looked like much from the road……

But the Mediterranean was this building's backyard.

We found the street where Le Golfe was fairly easily.

We walked in just as they were opening. The woman who kindly seated us before they were opened the day before, first looked at us in surprise, I guess most "tourists" visit just once. Then, giving us a bright smile, told us, "welcome back" and waving with her open hand told us, "your table is waiting!"

You gotta love these folks!

Our server was also the same as the previous day, he's so nice and welcoming.

We started with a Mushroom Salad – Salade de Champignons (13 TND – about $7.50)

This was nothing special.

Of course we had to have our favorite dish from our previous visit, the Seches Grillees.

Man, this is so good. Just enough chew, wonderfully grilled, with a smokiness that reminds me of stuff done over binchotan. Nice salt and cumin, brushed with olive oil……it hit all those flavor points.

The Missus really wanted to try the Salade Nicoise au Thon mi-cuit (16 TND – about $9.50 US)

The seared tuna was nicely seasoned and tasted fresh. The balsamic reduction really added to this salad.

The olive wood really lifted the Sardines Grillees (8 TND – about $4.75 US).

There was one item I really wanted to try. I'd seen fresh Bluefin Tuna several times during this trip. Once, in a market in Carthage, I watched in horror as two of the "fish cutters" went at a beautiful bluefin with chisels, hammers, and saws, just hacking the daylights out of it.

So today, I inquired about the Les Carpaccio de Poisson (20 TND – about $12 US) and was told it was "thon rouge", bluefin. So of course we had to get it!

This was very nice, the fish super fresh, the flavor mild, the texture light, but meaty. They gave us a little bowl of "soy sauce"…..place very strong quotations around that, with wasabi. I went with lemon which added a nice acidic touch to the dish.

All in all, a wonderful meal, in a beautiful and relaxed setting. What more could we ask for?

A couple of days ago, I was checking out a Roman Colosseum, the ruins of the city of Sufetula and having fantastic lamb slaughtered by the side of the road. We crossed a great salt lake and spent a night in a tent on the edge of the Sahara. Now here I was eating bluefin tuna carpaccio at a restaurant at the edge of the Mediterrannean. I'm not quite sure of how or why, but I was just glad to be able to do this. Life was good!

Roadtrip two-fer Part 2: Ngu Binh Restaurant – Westminster (Orange County)

May 8, 2013 mmm-yoso Orange County, Vietnamese Restaurants

The Missus and I were really trying to make the most of our little roadtrip to Little Saigon. We exercised restraint at Song Long with a second stop in mind. Our good friend "Yummy Yummy" had told us that the Banh Beo she had at Ngu Binh was among the best she could recall. So of course we had to stop by.

Though it wasn't even 11 yet, the place was packed. We lucked out and managed to get a table right away. The menu is concise, made up of the specialties of Central Vietnam, Bun Bo Hue, Banh Bot Loc, Banh Beo, you get the picture. For us, this was the way. Do what you do well.

We'd already put away a decent amount of food, and "banh" can be pretty filling and substantial. We went with the "sampler" of Banh Beo, Banh Ram, and Banh Bot Loc ($6.50):

I knew I'd like this place when the plate arrived garnished with chicharron. The Banh Beo was right on target with regards to my texture preferences. It's usually either too hard and gummy or soft and doughy. I loved the tenderness, which exerted just the right amount of pull for me. The ground shrimp added nice savory tones….oh, and the nuoc mam cham was nice and strong! The Missus thought the Banh Beo was too tender and not chewy enough. Her favorite was th Banh Nam; that smear of dumpling like rice flour based dough, the nice smokiness from banana leaves, She just loved it. The Banh Bot Loc were good, though a bit more chewy then I appreciate; but overall, this was excellent.

We also ordered the Banh It Banh Ram ($6.50).

Having grown up eating mochi, I've always felt a bit of affection for this rather dense and heavy bomb of glutinous rice dumpling, filled with shrimp, which sits on an a dense fried dumpling whose texture remind me of agemochi. It is quite filling, though the version here is probably the best I've had in terms of execution, flavor, and texture.

In the end, we had quite a day, going two for two. We'll definitely be back to Ngu Binh.

Ngu Binh Restaurant
14072 Magnolia St
Westminster, CA 92683