September 2013 – Page 3

Tender Greens (Liberty Station) (another visit)

September 7, 2013 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Salads, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the name of the food blog you are reading. Kirk and Ed (from Yuma) are both way too busy to be writing a blog post. Cathy is not busy and is sharing a few meals with you today.

Well, it's been another crazy hot day in San Diego. The Mister and I have been staying at home and eating and cooking here, but last month, we went to Tender Greens twice, so I thought sharing those meals would be a good idea for a post. Kirk posted about a recent lunch visit to the downtown Tender Greens location in July and I posted in 2009 as well as in 2011 .

The location in Liberty Station is unchanged. Two more locations have been added over the past four years.

The "Specials" board is now along the wall where you wait in line to order, instead of just above the ordering register. Prices have increased a bit over the years. The menu and specials reflect what is fresh/available and in season.

You place your order, then walk along the open kitchen and can see your meals being prepared from all the fresh raw and roasted vegetables and proteins.

When you reach the end of the line, you can order a beverage and perhaps…

some sort of freshly baked dessert.

Anyhow, onto our meals here-

These two photos are different views of one of my favorite salads here, the Happy Vegan($11.50). There are a total of five salad items on the plate. The tender greens, in the center, are topped with a vinaigrette. Next to the toasted bread you can see the scoop of green hummus (fresh chickpeas, parsley, lemon juice and garlic). The wheat berries are more commonly known as farro and are mixed with dried cranberries and hazelnuts.

On the left is a fresh tabbouleh(bulgur, parsley, cucumber and tomato) and to the right is red quinoa with cucumber and beets. The Happy Vegan is filling and balanced and a complete meal. Sometimes I crave it. If all vegan meals are like this, I'd have no problem changing me eating habits.

The above salad is the Daily Special from the chalkboard($11.50)- P. Balesteri salumi, heirloom tomatoes, Feta, olives all on top of a baby kale salad with a roasted garlic vinaigrette.

Soup of the day- heirloom tomato gazpacho ($4). We almost always order one of the available soups whenever we are here; each one is good.

On another visit, the Soup of the Day was roasted tomato topped with a basil oil ($4)

The Thai shrimp salad ($11.50) is made with Little Gem lettuce, green papaya, thai basil, citrus peanuts, coriander(cilantro) and topped with a chili lime vinaigrette. The large, plump shrimp are cooked and chilled. There were seven on this delicious salad.

Recalling the baby kale salad with roasted garlic vinaigrette from the previous visit, I made my own plate this visit with it (it's called a 'simple salad')($6) and added the herb brushed albacore ($5.50). This was a great combination and since my discovery that baby kale is delicious raw, I've been making salads at home using it.

All in all, fresh, good food here.

Tender Greens 2400 Historic Decatur Road San Diego 92107 (619) 226-6254 Website

Avo’s (Gyros-Burgers-Philly’s-Salads)(Spring Valley)

September 6, 2013 Cathy Greek Food, Salads, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for dropping by mmm-yoso!!! on this overly hot weekend. Cathy is writing today, while Kirk and Ed (from Yuma) are doing other things.

The other day, The Mister and I were out in Spring Valley, just across the street from Santa Sophia Catholic Church, which is undergoing some reinforcing construction. The tower and barrel roof can be seen from most of the Casa de Oro area.

We were looking for a place to eat after running our errand and saw this storefront-

So, we walked over…

Stepping inside the small ordering area which had two tables inside and two tables out in front, it was obvious this used to be a business which sold grab and go pizza.

Those three posters are the menu and the specials. Simple.

We ordered two gyro sandwiches ($7.50). The bread is made fresh here- in those pizza ovens. The meat was the standard gyros meat, sliced thck and grilled to give it a bit of a crust, which I very much enjoyed. The sandwiches were topped with onion, tomato and a fresh sauce. The sandwiches were quite large.

The Greek Salad ($5) was great on this warm day; crisp and cool mixed greens topped with cucmber, tomato, onion, Feta and a good size portion of a tangy, creamy dressing.

Another great find. Stay cool this weekend!

Avo's 9735 Campo Road, #250 Spring Valley, CA 91977 (619) 337-2334

What we ate during the hottest 2 weeks of the year: Revisits to Izakaya Sakura, The Original Sab E Lee, Grandma Tofu and BBQ, Manila Fast Food and Desserts, and Champions Mariscos Truck

September 5, 2013 mmm-yoso Filipino Restaurants, Food Trucks, Japanese Restaurants, Korean Restaurants, Mexican Restaurants, Seafood, Sisig, Thai Restaurants

Man, the last two weeks have been brutal….call me a soft San Diegan, but I've been feeling the heat and humidity. I told Cathy that I wish it would just storm like crazy so this weather would break. No such luck so far!

Well, regardless of the weather, you've got to eat, right? So here's some of what we had during the last two weeks.

Izakaya Sakura:

It had been a while and I was craving some Ebi Kakiage cold noodles, so Izakaya Sakura it was.

This time it was the cold udon version, which hit the spot.

This really hit the spot!

Though I could have done without having to listen to Wilson Phillips Greatest Hits throughout my meal….

Izakaya Sakura
3904 Convoy St #121
San Diego, CA 92111

The Original Sab E Lee:

**** This location of TOSEL has closed

Spicy Thai food is a natural for us during hot muggy weather…..not sure why.

The usual suspects at the Linda Vista location.

Man, that Grilled Duck Larb just hit the spot…right between the eyes.

I swear, I recall TOSEL having A/C? Well, not on this day. The result of spicy food with no A/C had me wondering if it was the Salted Fish Fried Rice….or was it me?

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

Grandma Tofu and BBQ:

I wanted some Bibim Naengmyun, but Buga was closed for renovation (they've since reopened). So I ended up going to Halmouny…Grandma Tofu and BBQ.

Love the flavors….bracing and refreshing. The noodles however, seemed were really rubbery, like rubberbands, I mean, naengmyun is always rather elastic, but these just would not give way!

Grandma's Tofu & BBQ
4425 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Manila Fast Food and Desserts:

I was up in the area and decided to grab lunch. I hadn't been back in here in almost 9 months or so.

A quick look at the steam table made selecting what I wanted easy.

The Beef Mechado was much more tender than the last time I had it. The flavor was also better, much more tangy flavor and decent salt. It was on the greasy side though.

The sisig was not bad; nice pungent, sour, spice, salt….. would have been nice to have a bit of crispness in it since it was typical "SD Sisig", left-over lechon kawale. But overall; no complaints, better than I've had recently.

Manila Fast Food and Desserts
8979 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

Champions Mariscos Truck:

So, just as in the previous four weeks, I broke out the smoker during Labor Day weekend. I needed something fairly close by before I started the ribs, so I headed over to Champions Mariscos Truck in the parking lot of Toys R' Us on Morena.

Consomme might seem to be a bit much on a scortching day, but I can never turn it down. This was a bit too water for my taste, with a bit too much celery flavor. Not as good as my previous visits.

I went with the Arrachera y Camaron…the surf and turf taco. Not enough caramelization on the beef, but it was decently tender. The shrimp were moist and flavorful.

I decided to go with the Taco de Marlyn again.

Man, they really loaded this thing! Unlike my previous visit, it didn't seem to have too much queso…perhaps due to the amount of filling! All this "stuff" seemed to water down the flavor of the smoked fish though….but this wasn't too bad.

Champions Mariscos Truck – In the parking lot of Toys 'R Us on Morena Boulevard

So there you go….we may be overheatin', but we're still eatin'. Hope everyone is staying and keeping cool!

Ba Ren’s legacy – Fu An Garden

September 3, 2013 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

*** Fu An has closed

*** You can find updates here and here

*** The folks that used to work at Ba Ren are no longer here.

*** 07/06/2016 Fu An is now Fuan Seafood

The first real inkling of something happening at the defunct BBQ Chicken site was announced in Eater San Diego. I did a quick post once the sign went up. FOY Candice even told me that she went to investigate and recognized one of the folks there, though she really couldn't remember where. I was pretty much burned out on Sichuan in San Diego once Ba Ren closed, and "Shifu" Chen, yes, he was a certified Master Chef from Chongqing (the original head chef of ChungKing Restaurant in Monterey Park), moved away. All of the places seemed to be serving stuff from the same playbook……..with either Spicy City or Dede's being the source. After having a couple of mediocre meals at Szechuan Chef, followed by a dreary meal at Spicy House with their "new chef", I'd had enough. Still, I thought I'd stop by Fu An Garden and take a look at the menu, when the most surprising thing happened…..

As I walked to front of the restaurant from my parked car, I almost jumped out of my pants when someone started pounding on the window. I looked closely….and my goodness, it was the assistant chef from Ba Ren! Upon entering he grabbed my hand and shook it vigorously. It was really nice seeing him. I made a promise to return with the Missus the next night, which we did. I returned with friends and solo a couple of times more.

The design is a million miles from Ba Ren…the restaurant is pretty small, but three's a large banquet style area behind some door in the front. The place is rather stylish in a Chinese restaurant sort of way. The place is owned by the family of the former prep cook at Ba Ren.

The menu is the modern, typical many photos scattered about and is sometimes confusing. There are at least a 169 dishes on the menu.

What follows is a listing of what I've had at Fu An Garden over the last couple of weeks, from the good, to the ones that I didn't enjoy as much. I will say, I've enjoyed the food at Fu An Garden much more than any other Sichuan restaurant in San Diego.

Back in fall of 2009, Ba Ren had a dish on the seasonal menu that we just loved. We didn't see it on the regular menu, but I thought the chef might just be able to make it for us. So I had my good friend "YZ" write it down before I went to visit with a group of friends:

We were delighted when our Server, the very friendly "Grace" asked the chef, who agreed to make it for us.

It was called Steamed Fish Filet with Green Onions and Chopped Chilies at Ba Ren. This looked like a carbon copy and was delicious! Though I will say, like many of the dishes, this one is not as spicy as the versions at Ba Ren, even when we order it "La" . Other then that, it's pretty close, the fish is tender, moist, and almost melts in your mouth, the sauce is a complex combination of flavors, there is bean thread on the bottom which adds to the enjoyment. I'm thinking of bringing some ghost peppers so we can get the heat up to snuff, but this is one of my favorites. My friends ended up taking photos of the Chinese name of the dish and have kept coming back to order it. Much like what happened at Ba Ren, I have a feeling this one will end up on the menu.

The Fried Intestines with Dried Red Pepper ($10.99) is also a winner.

Love the texture of these….crisp, giving way to a nice offal chewiness. Like many of the dishes, it could stand to have a bit more Sichuan Peppercorn, but this is one of my "go to" dishes here.

I believe that Chef Hu used to prep a lot of the Liang Cai – the cold dishes and these are a strong spot on the menu.

My favorite here without a doubt is the stomach/intestines which has a nice salty crunch to them. The pig ear is prepared well too.

My favorite at Ba Ren, the Fu Qi Fei Pian is cut correctly, but lacks the zip that I love. It's not bad, but not great.

My good friend "YummyYummy" loves the chicken feet…..

If there were any dishes at Ba Ren that I considered "comfort food" it would be the next three dishes. Each of which were close……

I loved the Sichuan Liang Mian at Ba Ren, it was comfort food to me, when the temperature rose I'd be craving it. So I just had to try it, called simply "Cold Noodle" ($6.99) on the menu.

At first I was thrown off as it looked nothing like what I expected. But as I mixed the noodles all those familiar scents rose in the air. And indeed, the flavor was there, the sesame paste, the vinegar, the mild spice, all the savory flavors melded together. This was almost spot on in terms of flavor….except that the noodles were really bad; hard, brittle, with an almost powdery texture to them. This was so close……

The portion size for the Chopped Cold Chicken with Chili Pepper Sauce ($12.99), Ko Shui Ji – mouthwatering (alright, let's call it the way it is…"Saliva") chicken was quite large.

The flavor was there, but very muted, like there wasn't enough of anything…it needed a whole lot more spice, more everything. This needs a bit of tuning, which I'm hoping will occur……

As did the Won Ton with Chili Sauce ($6.99) – Long Chao Shou.

This was a bit on the water-logged side and the won tons really didn't have the "kou gan", the mouth feel I was looking for.

The Lamb in Dry Pot ($12.99) was passable.

I prefer a thicker cut for dry cooked dishes, this was bit too close to shabu-shabu cut meat. The flavor was a bit too much soy sauce and not enough Sichuan peppercorn and spices.

The Fish Filet with Pickled Pepper (Pa Jiao – $11.99) was similar in lack of a complex spicy flavor.

Of course I had to order the Shui Zhu Yu, the classic "Water Boiled Fish" ($12.99).

The fish was prepared spot on, melt in your mouth tender. The flavor fell short in the "ma" category as it wasn't very numbing, and could have used more spice as well. The sauce was kind of flat and was very salty, but lacked the savory bean paste flavor. This is a favorite; I'm hoping it was only a mild "hiccup".

All of these dishes were edible, some more than the others. The dish I liked the least was a total "Convoy Sichuan" dish; something that everyplace makes….and not very well at that. In this case, they call it Twice Cooked Fish. A part of me was wishing for this, one of our favorites at Ba Ren:

Unfortunately, it was basically the same dish you can get at any of the "Sichuan" restaurants on Convoy – the fried then tossed with peppers dish that lacks real complex flavors.

It really wasn't very spicy and the batter was very powdery and crumbly with an odd sweet flavor that the Missus likened to cake mix.

So what's my verdict? Well first off, the service here is very nice. If you recall how surly things got once Wendy left Ba Ren….this is a very nice group of folks. The potential is there; the chef cooked for 9 years under a Master Chef and while it maybe just like the other places on the street with regards to a well worn playbook, we aren't talking about ChongQing Taxi Driver cooking here…this chef has a pedigree. I'm hoping this is a jump off point for Chef Hu and the sky's the limit.

Fu An Garden
4768 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Rhodes Town (Greece): A walk outside the city walls, Mandraki Harbor, and lunch at Alexis 4 Seasons Garden Restaurant

September 2, 2013 mmm-yoso Greece, Greek Food, Rhodes, Seafood, Travel

Energized after a cup of espresso, we decided to take a walk outside the imposing wall of the old town. The walk took us through the area called the "New Town". During Ottoman rule, the Greeks who didn't leave with the Knights of St. John were not allowed to live within the city walls, this is where the New Town sprouted. It looks like a fairly modern European town, skinny streets, lots of shops, banks, etc.

Still, there's quite a bit to see out here. This is the Mourad Reis Mosque and the old Turkish Cemetery,

There's an area called the New Agora, which I'll cover in another post. There's also Mandraki Harbor.

The passage into the harbor is guarded by the Tower of Saint Nicholas and the "Platoni", bronze statues of a Platoni deer stag and doe.

Platoni deer are one of symbols of Rhodes. But this spot has a larger historic significance. It is claimed that the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, once straddled the entrance to the harbor. Sadly, it was destroyed in an earthquake in 226 B.C. Still, it's probably better not to have any trace and leave things to the imagination then to have mere fragments of a column in an empty field like what is left of the Temple of Artemis.

We walked past the Temple of Virgin Mary's Annuciation…..

Past the commercial harbor and through the massive Thalassini Gate.

It's quite an imposing sight. It looks so imposing, that it's hard to imagine the old town being over-run and conquered.

By this time, the bright Mediterranean sun was getting to me and I was getting hungry. We decided to try out a place that Chris, from the Hotel Saint Michel recommended to us called Alexis 4 Seasons.

There's indoor seating on the second floor and a nice peaceful courtyard in the rear. Which seemed like a great place to escape all the noise and bustle of the street outside.

The menu was seafood based which made us happy……

We settled in with our wine and bread to get off to a nice relaxing lunch…..

At which time a large party of Taiwanese tourists on a "tour" from a cruise ship came in. Loud, demanding, and argumentative, this party of 12 just killed the atmosphere. Our Server, a really funny guy, saw the look on our face, and told us, "do not worry, they want to eat as cheap and fast as possible, and be gone in 20 minutes!" The one amusing thing was that the kind of eccentric woman with the tripod and camera I described in my previous post was part of this group. Even with all these folks she knew, some of which were possibly her relatives; she still insisted on placing that dinky little tripod on the ground turning on the timer, running into position, assume a pose, then "click" the photo would be taken. She did this about 6 times during the meal….never once did she ask someone in her party to take a photo, no……she needed that tripod, even when asking others to take a photo with her! I guess she trusted that tripod more than anyone else! Still, this group had nothing on the Russian tour that pushed everyone aside to get to the front of the line in Cappadocia, nor the Koreans who walked in front of all the folks trying to take photos in Selcuk, or the worst, the Chinese tour who pushed their way to the front of the line at Saint Peter's Basilica, then tried to force their way past the guard at the metal detector. Then there was the whiney German tourist who demanded free drinks because the bus from Halong Bay back to Hanoi was taking longer than it should.

Things started with a fairly routine roasted pepper and eggplant dish.

Ditto the salad….

Then it got really interesting. I decided to order something called the "Deep Blue Plate", the description of which was "mix local shell food".

I'm so glad I ordered this. There was seaweed, of course, nice but nothing really special. Then there's the collection of various limpets, sea snails and such, some of which were really tasty; the flavor of the Mediterranean condensed into a single bite. Loved the various textures, some soft and buttery, other chewy like abalone. I looked at a piece…..and it looked like opihi and even tasted like a milder version of it. There were some very briney barnacles as well. By now the tour groups had indeed left, to the relief of the three tables of customers in the place. I realize that having tour groups keeps these places in business, but man, that was painful.

We love octopus around the Greek Islands and our Server recommended the grilled octopus and calamari with squid ink pasta.

The octopus was a bit more chewy than I prefer. Perhaps the fantastic stuff we had at Vasiliko in Chania has kind of ruined me. The calamari was excellent quite tender, with a nice smokey, grilled flavor. The pasta was meh, al dente, but under seasoned.

We also had the mussels with white wine.

The mussels were decent, it was perhaps a bit under-seasoned for my taste. These were small, but quite tender…there are time I prefer the smaller mussels because they tend to have more flavor, but this was like something I'd make at home.

There was one item on the menu that I delighted to see. I'd come to really enjoy Raki during our time in Crete. I saw it by what the rest of Greece calls it Tsikoudia. It was the perfect way to end my meal.

The meal was decent, but not outstanding. The service was nice, but at over 70 Euros (over $100 at that time) for lunch in Rhodes, I expected a bit more.

Alexis 4 Seasons
Aristotelous 33
Rhodes Town, Greece

Still, we were full, the sun was shining brightly, Rhodes Town was in full tourist swing….it was time for a nap.

Roasted Ghost Pepper Guacamole…and one other idea

September 1, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

I was surprised at the interest folks seemed to have with Bhut Jolokia. Honestly, I bought the plant out of curiosity and because of the fussiness of growing and the long time it takes to ripen, the Missus didn't think the plant had a chance. But with the recent warm days, guess what?

So having these have been interesting. But what happens after all of the novelty? We are enjoying our garden and it is important not to waste, not a single radish, cucumber, shishito pepper, or leaf of kale if possible. We know when to pull the plug….the stalk of lettuce was almost two feet high and the leaves were getting bitter, it's time to move on. But what about all these ghost peppers? We've kind of decided not to go out and find specific recipes for our ghost peppers, but to insert them into everyday items we'd make, which would be much like how we garden; a very organic process.

Which is how it ended up in guacamole. The Missus is the guac maker in the family, so this is basically what She made. We had bought some nice 80/20 grass fed ground beef and some other veggies to grill. I'm not a big fan of grilling burgers, I like them griddled in their own fat, but items that baste our add moisture to the product are exceptions. Initially, it was going to be teri-burgers, but the Missus wanted me to fire roast one of the peppers for guacamole. I love guacamole on burgers, so I thought why not just grill of the meat and pile on that lovely guacamole on the burger?

I had the Missus put only half the roasted ghost pepper in the batch of guacamole, seeds and all. This was enough for a nice fruity heat that lasted for several minutes after each bite. It was delicious! Next time we'll throw in some bacon as well….ghost pepper-bacon guacamole!

I'm just giving you more or less a list of ingredients…the Missus doesn't really measure. You can replace the ghost peppers with 1-2 serranos if you like. Or a habanero. If you do use a very spicy chili, make sure to mince it very finely. I do all the chopping of the peppers, garlic, and such for the Missus who doesn't like to prep those items.

Roasted Ghost Pepper Guacamole
3-4 medium avocados
1-2 roma tomatoes seeded and chopped
1/3 red onion chopped
1/2 roasted ghost pepper, seeds and all, very finely minced
1 clove of garlic finely minced
cilantro (optional to taste)
lime juice to taste
salt to taste

You might want to go a little conservative in terms of salt and lime juice initially. You can put your guac in the fridge and let set for 15-20 minutes and then adjust the flavors.

It was great on the grassy flavored burger. We managed to use tomatoes, lettuce, and cilantro from the yard.

Ok, but what about the other half of the ghost pepper? Well, I didn't want to waste the rest of the rolls I had bought and I ended up using the smoker again today. So I went ahead and did a Rib Sandwich topped with my Asian Purple Cabbage slaw. I took a half cup of my BBQ sauce, added a bit more agave syrup, then the other half of the ghost pepper and blended.

So, when I made this, the Missus had a taste and said it was "kind of sissy". Nothing I could really do about it and I put it in the fridge. When it came time to eat the stuff, 2 hours later, holy smokes……man, it was pretty darn spicy. I'll use more sauce as a base next time! Still it did have add a nice fruitiness to the sauce….while you were able to enjoy it!

So three you go Lynnea, I hope you enjoyed this one! I gotta go and shred 10 pounds of chicken for da Boyz' food now! Hope you're all staying cool and safe on this hot weekend!