July 2013 – mmm-yoso

Cheesy Express-Gourmet Grilled Cheese (inside the GO Gasoline Mart)(Santee)

July 31, 2013 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

This location of Cheesy Express has closed, but there is a new location in Mission Beach we can all visit. Santee will miss you!

Thanks for finding mmm-yoso!!! a food blog which exists in the interwebs. Today, Kirk and Ed (from Yuma) are taking a break and Cathy is blogging about food.

I've stated a few times that people have a favorite place close to home or work where they can pick up a quick meal…if hungry, you can find something to eat wherever you happen to be. Most fuel stations have mini marts; you can grab and go with some sort of refrigerated/frozen prepared food item which is rarely fresh made.

This GO Gas station replaced a Chevron station earlier this year. It's on the NorthEast corner of Mission Gorge at Carlton Hills in Santee.

Here's the mini mart. Look over on the side of the building…to the far right. "Cheesy Express Gourmet Grilled Cheese". Yes, I was curious…

In its prior incarnation, this food mart had a small sandwich shop inside. Now there is a sandwich shop

with three grills on the counter.

On my first visit, I chose a 'make your own': Cheddar cheese on brioche ($3.49) add hickory bacon (99¢). A perfect, gooey, yummy grilled cheese and bacon (good quality thick bacon) sandwich.

Next time I tried the "Italian Delight" ($5.25) Provolone, pepperoni, sundried tomatoes and fresh basil. Again, delightfully gooey, crunchy, tasty.

Each time I've gone in, I have been offered a sample of either the BBQ pork or Korean BBQ beef. I finally broke down and tried the BBQ& Mac sandwich ($6.75). Great BBQ pulled pork AND a scoop of very good, gooey macaroni and cheese AND a slice of sharp cheddar AND very very good grilled onions all on a hearty Italian white bread. This was a LOT of food and flavors.

Of course there are 'dessert' grilled sandwiches here also. The 'healthiest' choice (in my logic anyhow) is the grilled peanut butter with banana with chocolate chips on honey wheat bread ($4.75 + 50¢ for the special bread). The chocolate chips melted in with the peanut butter, making its own creamy goodness along with perfectly warming the bananas…the grilled bread was done right and I could taste the honey in it…

Just another great find that I happened to notice. When the weather gets cooler, I think a simple grilled cheese with tomato soup will be perfect.

Cheesy Express Gourmet Grilled Cheese 9312 Mission Gorge Road Santee 92071 (619) 436-4250 (inside GO Mart Fuel station Mission Gorge Road at Carleton Hills, Santee) Open 7 days M-F 8-6, Sat-Sun 9-4:30

Loco moco (and other stuffs) for brunch at Fathom Bistro

July 30, 2013 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Loco Mocos, Pubs and Pub Grub

About a week-and-a-half ago, I read that Fathom Bistro would start serving brunch, which usually wouldn't mean more than a glance. Except that I quickly noticed "loco moco" in that post for Eater San Diego. You know me; I'm always looking to add to my loco moco collection. I quickly sent Candice a message asking if having a loco moco here would be worth my while?

Which is how I ended up down on Shelter Island Drive on an overcast Sunday morning.

I think the location is really great, original, and quirky, as it's located on a pier, which on this morning was packed to the gills (no pun intended) with folks fishing.

Man, you really can't beat the view; which was really great even on an overcast morning.

There's an actual bait and tackle shop on one side of the building…..and it's a bit of a stretch to call this a building. The kitchen look as large as the dining area, which look like it somehow holds about 20. There are a couple of tables out front as well. I loved the collection of vintage National Geographics which took me back to elementary school.

Fathom has a nice variety of beers; but that's to be assumed with Dennis Borlek, formerly of Hamilton's and Monkey Paw in charge. The brunch menu is tight, basically five items, but it instantly earned my affection. In addition to a loco moco, they feature Eggs, Spam, and rice.

We started things with the Beignets.

It's fried dough, with powdered sugar, and chocolate sauce…….'nuff said.

We also got the Italian Sausage Biscuits and Gravy.

Truly, the best Country Gravy I've had in a while. The abundant chunks of house made Italian sausage added a nice mild spice and tons of flavor to the wonderful tongue (and belly) coating gravy. The only problem with this dish were the bisquits which were very hard hockey pucks. But hey, it's only the second day they've been open for brunch. Hopefully, they'll straighten this out. I instantly knew why I heard the word "hangover" bandied about in the dining room.

Well, since Candice knows everybody, Dennis came over to chat. Dennis is quite a character, very friendly, witty, funny, with a ton of stories to boot.

Which brings us to the loco moco. I originally ordered it with straight up and traditional beef brown gravy, but Dennis talked us into getting it "half-and-half" with half beef gravy, the other half Japanese Curry. At first I was kind of doubtful, but hey after having the Kaloko Moco who am I to criticize?

First off, the rice was perfect. The Japanese curry tasted like it should, though a bit runny. The beef gravy was totally by the book, solid in flavor and seasoning. The hamburger patty had a nice char , nicely seasoned, and was still moist. There was one problem with this for me. You can tell, can't you? The only way you'll get eggs here are scrambled…..and it's kind of painful calling this a loco moco without an easy over egg. Dennis told me that the eggs are pre-prepped to minimize stress on the kitchen. I'm hoping everything gets squared away and they start doing eggs to order.

Dennis mentioned adding Spam musubis to the menu. I mentioned Portuguese Sausage and he said it would be a logical progression since this was Point Loma and all. He also said it would be made inhouse. Now if that happens, I'll be sure to get there early! Because as time passed, more of those "hats and 'tats" folks started drifting in for their Sunday hangover remedy.

Next time you're fishing on the pier and get the munchies and perhaps a bit thirsty, Fathom is the perfect spot. Heck, the evening view of downtown San Diego must be pretty good as well.

Fathom Bistro Bait & Tackle
1776 Shelter Island Dr. (On the pier)
San Diego, CA 92106

Brunch served from 10am Saturday and Sunday only.

You know, it's kind of sad that I really never come down here and tend to associate the area with Humphries and tourists. There's quite a bit to see, like the Tunaman Memorial.

And other public art……

Now with Fathom, there's a better reason to explore the area.

Paris Baguette (again) and a Kronut!

July 29, 2013 Cathy Bakery, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog you have in front of you, has writings of a rotation of subjects which ultimately center on some sort of delicacy or general appetite satisfaction. Today, while Kirk and Ed(from Yuma) sit back and contemplate their latest form of nourishment, Cathy will write.

Hello again. Ever since the Paris Baguette franchise showed up in San Diego, I've been fascinated at the variety of baked goods offered in the small venue whenever The Mister and I stop in the local HMart.

Last weekend, on our most recent visit, this sign stood out:

Well, you know I had to…but of course, I wanted to appear in control of my purchase, so picked up a tray and paper liner and set out to buy a few items from this in store bakery…

As I rounded the back corner…

There IT was- the LAST Kronut on the tray. Nobody was around, there was no fighting for it: it was MINE!!!

My total purchase: Sausage bread ($1.80), Blackout bread($1.80), Ham and cheese croissant ($2.20) and Kronut ($3)…see? Three items with a protein and only one sweet…I appear to be disciplined in my bakery habits…

The Mister and I drove across the street, to the Starbucks. I waited in line for a coffee (brewed, bold, tall: discipline) while The Mister lined up the purchase so I could take a photo.

The ham and cheese croissant is a regular purchase of mine, everywhere. I may do an entire post of ham and cheese croissants one day. The crust here is sweet glazed, the crust/bread is wonderful: crispy and flaky, the ham is flavorful but sparse, as is the cheese.

I like the sausage bread here, because the sausage itself has good flavor, it's topped with quite a bit of cheese and the red and green pepper rings add that touch of flavor (and fiber )that rounds it all out…the bread is good too.

If you haven't figured it out, the "Black Out Bread" is colored with squid ink . The sausage/hot dog is split and the center filled with mustard. The ends sticking out of the bread are split again, so they curl when it bakes and looks kind of like a squid.

Finally. The Kronut (not to be confused with the Cronut™). The fried croissant dough, filled with a wonderful pastry cream, topped with a lemony/citrus pudding swirl.

I can count the number of times I've paid $3 for a donut on one hand. I have a post coming up about those other goodies; bakeries are a current obsession. This Kronut is worth it….so very worth it.

Paris Baguette (Inside H Mart) 9440 Mira Mesa Boulevard San Diego 92126 website

(Yet another) Kalbi Recipe

July 28, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

Yes, I know I have not one, but two of these already. I did notice that it was four years between the first and second. And heck, guess what? It's been another four years already. So I guess it's just about the time again……

Actually, it was an email from frequent commenter (and hopefully reader) "Soo" that sent me down this road. It was a simple question about Kalbi, which made me realize that I hadn't made it in a while. I'd been wanting to try a different version and this seemed like a great time to do it.

So I bought some meat……..

And the other ingredient, a new one……Sierra Mist. I'd been hearing about folks using lemon lime soda in their kalbi for quite a while. It's supposed to help tenderize the meat….though like most of everything else, I'm not sure how true that is. I believe it was Thomas Keller who debunked the acid as tenderizer theory. Yes, who am I to say this wouldn't work or taste good?

Still, the addition of other acids (i.e. mirin) and the standard Asian Pear which has the enzyme papain which does indeed break down protein. I know something about that since I had two chymopapain injections when I was younger. Though too much papain can make your meat really mushy.

Anyway, I started with a baseline, and just built on it by taste of the marinade. One big change in how I make this. I now grate everything by hand. A couple of years back I decided not to use the food processor/blender for this anymore. It was whipping in too much air, adding too much heat, making the marinade taste a bit different for me.

Enough of that; here's Kalbi Three:

Kalbi Three:

1 cup Aloha Shoyu
12 ounces Sierra Mist or Sprite
¼ cup mirin
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
½ cup grated Asian Pear
½ cup grated onion
2 Tb minced or grated garlic
3 Tb Malt Syrup
1 Tb sesame oil

– Combine all ingredients.
– Marinade ribs overnight

The flavor was more light and fruity than sweet. Even though I used Haeundae cut, Angus beef ribs, these were on the chewy side. Still, the Missus enjoyed the flavor. I need to do a taste-off of my various recipes with the addition of one that does a milk marinade for tenderizing first. I've heard a couple of "my grandma's kalbi recipe" stories of milk being used to tenderize the beef. Anyone know of this?

Saturday Stuffs: Fu An Restaurant opening on Convoy, I-Sushi replaces Walmido

July 27, 2013 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Korean Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi

Just a couple of quick things for a quiet Saturday.

Fu An Restaurant opening on Convoy:

Eater San Diego has been on top of this since BBQ Chicken closed. So now there's a sign, I heard the cuisine is……yes…..yet another Sichuan restaurant. I was told the owners are from LA, so hopefully they won't be cooking from the same playbook as other places in San Diego. I'm hopeful this will be much better than the last new Sichuan restaurant.

The address is:

4768 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

I-Sushi replaces Walmido:

It was "Yummy Yummy" who first mentioned this to me. This place quietly replaced Walmido a few weeks back. I asked if they still do the whole halibut sashimi and was told yes, except it no longer comes with all the side dishes.

Well, at least I get the answer to question, "U Sushi?"

I-Sushi
4367 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

It’s been a while week: Charley’s Famous Hamburgers (6.75 years later)

July 26, 2013 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Burgers, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome back to mmm-yoso!!! Kirk 's been writing a lot of posts lately and Cathy has a few contributions which can be part of "it's been a while week". This is one.

When Kirk mentioned that he had a lot of revisits he could write about, I knew exactly what he was talking about. I pretty much had posted on all 'new' places during His and The Missus' most recent vacation, yet The Mister and I have had our favorite places and rotation, which I just don't bother mentioning here again and again. When I saw Kirk hadn't posted on some places since 2007, I decided that a revisit of places I had posted on in 2011 would be 'too soon', so went back to the archives of this blog, when Kirk and The Missus went on their first 'blogcation' - It was in September/October of 2006 when I held down the blog for about three weeks, deleting spammers and contributing posts about what and where The Mister and I enjoyed eating.

One of those posts was about Charley's Famous Hamburgers, a small drive thru/walk up limited menu restaurant in Lemon Grove. It's still there -and has been there since 1973.

Charley's was and still is a regular stop when in the area. It's so very familiar, with a consistent quality and low price point.

Until I looked at my post from October 2006, I didn't realize that the menu (as well as the menu prices) is close to unchanged after all this time.

Well I do like consistency.

The Mister and I needed to 'research' what could possibly be different; what has changed since 2006.

The outdoor tables next to the drive thru are the same.

The covered seating (three picnic benches and overhead lighting) is still there, as well as the 125/54/94 freeway overpass.

One item I sometimes order here is the BLT ($3.69) The same thick, perfectly cooked, flavorful bacon that Charley's is known for…BUT only five slices (instead of six slices in 2006)-a bow to inflation. Still, it's a lot of bacon and the sandwich(served on a lightly toasted sesame seeded bun) is a really good deal. As always, shredded lettuce is used liberally at Charley's.

Something I hadn't posted that first time, but tend to order when needing a quick meal, is the basic grilled cheese ($1.79)…white bread, American cheese in a good amount, grilled on the flat top resulting in a crispy edged wonderfully simple, basic and good sandwich. (I must confess if the BLT is ordered, I pull out a slice of bacon to put between the pried open goopy mess of the grilled cheese sandwich) (a side order of three slices of bacon is $1.59…and, yes, I have considered the possibility of that being an order).

The chili cheese fries (small, $2.89) are exactly the same. Crispy, thin standard fries topped with melted cheese and a bean based nice flavored (not too spicy hot) chili. Everything is made to order here, so the fries are always good in that sense.

See those fried apple pies? $1.29 each or two for $2. FRIED to order. So good.

If you are so inclined, the carmel apple pie shake ($3.09) is not a conglomoration of odd syrups mixed to achieve an apple pie flavor; it is made with one of these cooked pies blended with vanilla ice milk…so you get crusty bits of pie dough stuck in your straw, along with chunks of apples. The banana shake is made with a real banana and the peanut butter shake is made with real peanut butter. {The other (less expensive) shakes (the ones you can order in size small or large) are made with syrups}.

The onion rings ($2.09 ) however, have changed and are no longer the individually breaded and fried rings of days gone by. The interior is the mushy mess of chopped onion…I'd forgotten the reason I stopped ordering these a while ago…

The kabob is what keeps me coming back. This is the double kabob with bacon ($5.49) cut in half. On a flat non-pocketed pita are two semi-thick slices of seasoned ground beef surrounding melted cheese and more of that thick, good flavored bacon. The rest of the sandwich is unique yet simple- mayonnaise, shredded lettuce, tomato AND sliced/chopped green peppers with sliced radishes. The flavor combination is just right; always was, still is. {as a side note, you can order a single kabob sandwich and either with or without bacon}

The double cheese hamburger ($3.39). Pretty much it's the same; maybe not as good as I remember; maybe my tastes have changed. Still, it's tasty, with hand formed coarse ground beef patties cooked on the flat top, achieving a nice char. The American cheese is something I never overly cared for and it doesn't matter to me..the toppings (again, the shredded lettuce as well as sliced onion and tomato along with mayonnaise) are always fresh and complimented by the lightly toasted sesame seed topped bun.

It was fun to be able to look back at my 'early days' of blogging and fun to go back to Charley's-with the 'new' freeway junction, we aren't regularly taking those side roads unless there's backed up traffic.

Charley's Famous Burgers (kabobs and shakes) 8213 Broadway, Lemon Grove 91945 (619)460-2690 Open 7:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m.

It’s been a while week: Tita’s Kitchenette

July 25, 2013 mmm-yoso Filipino Restaurants, Sisig

Everybody know's Tita's right? I mean, really, it's an establishment here in San Diego. Cynthia "aka" Tita, has created a little kingdom for herself here in San Diego, now with a couple of places on Plaza Boulevard. Many folks, myself included brave the crowds to stand in line and pick out the "turo turo" favorites from the ever replenished steam table, beef mechado, adobo, tortang talong….. As I mentioned in my first post back in 2005 and other posts, I've yet to be able to polish off an entire plate from the place in a single sitting. The portions are huge and in terms of value, it's good. But over the years, I've been going less and less. The lousy attitude of the workers, in addition to not really going after quantity anymore, means that I really haven't gotten a meal there in quite a while.

Now this is with a couple of caveats. My good friend MG will get me lunch from there once in a while. Also, I dropped by looking for sisig as I mentioned in this post. Why sisig? Well, my recollection was that Tita's sisig just wasn't very good. In fact, when FOY (Friend of Yoso) and fellow food blogger Kirbie did a post about Tita's which included the sisig in 2009, "MrM"(I hope you're doing well) and myself commented on how bad the sisig was at Tita's. To me it just wasn't the thing you ordered there. And yet…….Tita's was on one of those food shows and the sisig there blew up….suddenly, folks were saying how good it was. At first I was kind of irked because changing the recipe for the purpose of publicity is basically admitting that you knew your sisig wasn't very good all these years and you did nothing about it. Whatevers. The strange thing about the lousy service at Tita's…..I'm glad I don't speak Tagalog, because the body language and facial expressions of some of the workers makes me really happy to not understand what they're saying…on the other hand, I've met "Tita" a couple of times and she was the nicest person. Go figure…..

So I finally hit paydirt a couple of weeks ago and actually got sisig. First I need to clear some things up. If someone got off the plane from Pampanga this morning and hit up a couple spots for sisig in San Diego, they' be wondering "what the heck?" What we have here is basically use of leftover lechon kawale, not the delici-yoso pig head and parts that make up traditional sisig. Still, when done well, it's porky goodness.

The photo above in a nutshell goes a long way in explaining Tita's popularity. You can easily feed two, or maybe two and a half with this $7 plate of food.

I chose the pork adobo because it just came out of the kitchen and was steaming hot. It was decent, sour enough, salty, not overly tough, especially at this price point. Maybe lacking in the black pepper department a bit.

The sisig on the other hand was as bad as the version I had in 2002, except not as soupy.

Not enough salt, sour, spice, very waxy and greasy in texture. All the benefits of using leftover lechon kawale lost in it's sogginess. Throw in the below lukewarm temperature and this just wasn't my thing. Which has me scratching my head….this can't be what folks have been raving about since Andrew Zimmern "tweeted" about it – "Tita's sisig, best I have ever tasted . San Diego Philippine food is crazy good".

You want bang-for-the-buck to feed your starving student, Tita's is it. You want good sisig? If this is an indication, I don't think Tita's is it. There are a good number of dishes they do make which are better…. I'm wondering if they still make the pancit palabok to order?

Tita's Kitchenette
2720 East Plaza Boulevard
National City, CA 91950

It’s been a while week: Asia Cafe seven years later……

July 24, 2013 mmm-yoso Lao Restaurants

**** Asia Cafe has closed

Seven years….my goodness. Asia Cafe….aaah, yes, it's been a while, over seven years since my last post if I recall. This wonderful little mom-and-pop-shop once held a place in our rotation and I'm not sure how it just kind of slipped off. Perhaps it was our trip to Laos and our experiencing the depth of the cuisine, the sour-bitter-salty vibrant cuisine. Or maybe it was Vientiane Thai-Laos in Garden Grove that did it. I'm not sure. Even though I haven't posted on this place for a while, I've gone back to Asia Cafe a couple of times, though not for at least about five years or so. So I'd say a revisit post was more than warranted.

If there's comfort in the familiar; Asia Cafe surely hit the mark for us. Not many changes, new banquet style chairs, fresher paint perhaps, and it seemed a lot cleaner than I remembered.

The menu looked to be the same rather worn menu and we decided to order items we enjoyed on previous visits. It had been so long since we visited that the husband and wife who run the place no longer remembered us, which suited us just fine.

Things started off with the Yum Asia; a seafood salad of sorts.

This struck us as being a mere shadow of it's former self. The dressing was extremely sweet, throwing the whole balance of the dish off-kilter. Not enough lime or fish sauce and without a doubt not enough heat. Perhaps we were getting the "gringo" treatment after not returning here after so many years?

See Nam Tok was also another dish we used to enjoy. A simple charred flank steak, well seasoned with a salty-bitter-sweet dipping sauce.

Slightly chewy, this was not bad and an improvement over the Yum Asia. They still do a decent job with this, though it was a bit too charred. The dipping sauce was extremely bitter. Now bitter flavors, as in "sweet makes you dizzy, but bitter makes you healthy", so lets get another spoonful of that water buffalo bile in our Koy or just another piece of Sa-Kahn, bark of the Piper Ribesoides. But this was no fun.

Asia Cafe had always made very good sticky rice and it was nice to know they still do. Perfect in texture, not overly sticky, but perfect for forming that all too important three-finger ball of rice. It had me wishing for some good Jeow (a type of dip) for dipping.

The one item that I thought Asia Cafe made better than anywhere else in San Diego was Nem Khao, one of my Desert Island Dishes.

When made well, this crispy rice salad is a symphony of flavors and textures. Crunch from the rice that is fried….rice are made into balls then fried. The external rice becomes crisp adding that great texture. Fermented sausage adds the sour-meaty layer and the rest is delivered by various seasonings…..places in San Diego, or even Vientiane Thai-Lao doesn't use a whole lot of coconut, but the best version I've had in Laos did. Strangely, this was ok, but not quite as good as I recalled. Not enough sour sausage, it was also missing that "umami" that I enjoyed. somewhere along the line, it seems a decision was made to make this as "crunchy" as possible, which messed up the glutinous and crunchy textures. The Missus doesn't always agree with me, but sadly, this time She did. This wasn't bad by any means, just not as good as it used to be for us. I could tell that this bothered Her as She kept mentioning how sad She felt about the Nam Khao for almost the entire following week.

In the end, the folks here were wonderful as always, the prices so reasonable, unfortunately the food seemed a mere shadow of it's former self. I'm not sure; maybe we were "gringo'd", but that never happened to us here before.

Asia Cafe
4710 Market St
San Diego, CA 92102

It’s been a while week: Sultan Kebab and Baklava revisited

July 23, 2013 mmm-yoso Turkish Food

Ah Sultan…..hard to believe we hadn't been back in over a year. There was a time when we'd make the 20+ mile drive each way a couple of times a week. Like Latin Chef, Sultan inspired us to travel to Turkey, which we loved. The food at Sultan was delicious enough, that it took two trips to Istanbul before we found a place where we thought every dish eclipsed Sultan. I guess the memories managed to last for over a year.

Sultan is a wonderful example of the benefits of blogging. We'd never have found the place were it not for FOY (Friend of Yoso") "KenB" (hope you're doing well), whose email got us to visit, and revisit, many times. One of other wonderful benefits and I'm sure other Food Bloggers will agree, is that once in a while we're contacted by Producers or Story Editors from various food shows and are able to share these wonderful mom-and-pop restaurants. I was lucky enough to be able suggest, along with many others I assume, Sultan along with the next two revisits I'll posting on, to those shows.

Finally, after over a year, we returned……..

We got there pretty early. This is a little mom-and-pop place, so when it gets busy, you just need to relax, and go with the flow.

The Missus and I decided to share a combination meze plate.

There is of course, those cooked to death green beans which the Missus loves. The patlican salata, smokey, with hints of cumin and oregano, antepezme (acili ezme), mildly spicy-tangy-sweet, the shakshuka with tasty potatoes, eggplant, and red pepper. Along with some lavas….sorry, forgot the photo, but hopefully you've read previous posts.

We also ordered the "mixed grill", Karisik Izgara, which is enough, along with the mezes, for the two of us.

We times things pretty well. You see, we've postulated that the cooking is much better during Ramadan, and this visit adds to that belief. The chicken kebab (tavuk sis) so tender and moist, full of flavor, the standard issue Urfa(ground beef) kebab, delicious and moist. Only the Kuzu Sis seemed a bit too mild, as in not gamey enough for us. The rice was fluffy the haydari (yogurt dip) seemed much more creamy than we recalled. In fact, this whole meal just seemed a step better than previous visits.

Perhaps time does make the heart grow fonder, or maybe we were just missing Istanbul? The reason is probably out of grasp, but that doesn't really matter. The point was, after having so many disappointing meals recently, this was the perfect meal, at the right time. Just what I needed. We gotta get back again soon……

Sultan Kebab & Baklava
131 Jamacha Road
El Cajon, CA 92019

It’s been a while week: Latin Chef 6 years later…….

July 22, 2013 mmm-yoso Latin American Cuisine, Peruvian Restaurants

I've been trying to restore my "restaurant mojo" since returning from vacation. After some not very good meals, I wondered how those places that used to be on our rotation was doing these days. So about two weeks ago, I decided to revisit a few that I haven't been to in a while. And so "It's been a while week" is born.

Latin Chef used to be a favorite of the Missus and I, we'd often visit several times a week. I could easily have credited the place with fueling the fire to visit Peru in 2007. It held a prominent place in our rotation at one time. But our enthusiasm eventually waned when the original chef moved back to Peru. And though I've visited a couple of times in 2011 and once early last year, the food on those visits was quite uneven. Part of what was missing for me was the presence of Freddy, the owner, a friendly, gracious, gentleman, who always had time to chat a bit. I'm sure he was around, but never on our visits, and the food seemed to suffer.

Still, the recent warm weather made it seem just right for some cebiche so I headed on over to Latin Chef.

And lo' and behold, who was waving at me from the window but Freddy! I hadn't seen him in at least four years. I had a seat and we caught up on things while I placed my order. While waiting for my food, Freddy sat down and we had a chat. Over the years, the menu had expanded to include Brazilian dishes, which I'd never had. Some folks attribute the uneven food to the addition of that side of the menu. When I asked Freddy about those dishes, he told me that without te Brazilian menu, they would not have survived the last three years. Enough with business….we chatted about how Peru has changed over the couple of years. It seems that everyone there now wants to be a chef! Maybe it's time to start planning another visit, eh? Though I was also told that prices have soared as well.

As Freddy served me my Anticuchos, he had to take leave to head out and shop.

I've always enjoyed the marinated beef heart at Latin Chef and I enjoyed this. Well prepared, with a nice chew but not too tough and rubbery, flavored with a mildly spicy chili-annatto marinade with a hint of acid I thought these were nice.

My cebiche pescado wasn't quite as good. First, no chanchita? That's almost a deal breaker for me as I love those toasted kernels of corn.

As much as I enjoy the bracing flavor of a good cebiche pescado, this was way too sour for me. I wouldn't be slurping up this leche de tigre (the cebiche marinade). The fish was under marinated for my taste, a bit too tough, as if the acid in the leche de tigre didn't have enough time. As for potatoes, it was a plain camote or sweet potato. Sadly, this was a far cry from the "vintage cebiche pescado" of Latin Chef's past:

Perhaps it was an off day. I'll probably be back to (finally) try some of the Brazilian dishes on the menu and maybe the cebiche pescado again. Hopefully, it'll be back to classic form.

Latin Chef
1142 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109