October 2013 – mmm-yoso

El Cajon Bistro & Bakery-Breakfast

October 31, 2013 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, What Cathy Eats!

Yep, this is mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog. Kirk is still super busy with work, Ed(from Yuma) is super busy with writing a couple of posts after a relaxing short vacation and Cathy finally stopped being super busy and has time to share another meal.

I haven't posted all the meals The Mister and I shared for our birthday week (our September birthdays were on Thursday this year; we have eight days when we go out a lot). Since The Mister's birthday is first and he gets to choose meals on those first three days, this was one of His breakfast choices.

The family owned 'sister' restaurant of La Mesa Bistro & Bakery, which I've posted about twice, recently opened in El Cajon. It's in the same parking lot as Saray, which used to be Sultan Kebab and before that, was Dubai. (Sultan Baklava is still next door, as it has been all along).

Similar in decor as La Mesa Bistro & Bakery, there's a locally themed mural on the far wall. That's a self portrait of the artist, who is an El Cajon resident, on the left.

There are also the same large variety of coffee choices that you can pump and serve yourself, (as you can do with a water cup). You can grab a menu and find a seat, then walk up, order and pay; or just walk up and order and pay if you know what you want; no one taking orders here other than at the cash register. Your food will be brought out to you. The website has some good photos of all the coffee press pots on that side of the restaurant; I didn't take photos as it was very crowded when we were here.

Condiment choices are the same (the bottle that looks like it should be filled with olive oil is filled with maple syrup).

We ordered two chalkboard specials (the chalkboard is floor to ceiling by the entrance door and there are more specials on the chalkboard behind the cash register)(all the specials were around $8). The Mister chose raspberry pancakes. Made with fresh raspberries, as you an see, these were an excellent choice. The house made pancake mix made light, fluffy, great tasting pancakes on its own and the raspberry addition was just so fresh, wonderful and complimentary.

The pancakes came with two eggs (poached) and two pieces of thick, crispy bacon.

Since it was a Friday, I chose the salmon scramble as my breakfast. Delicious (not salty) smoked salmon pieces were cooked with eggs and red pepper, scallion and capers. This was served with fresh home fried potatoes and home made (the 'Bakery' part of the name of the restaurant) rye toast as well as some house made salsa. Really, really good.

Both of these family owned and run restaurants can get crazy busy on weekends, and both serve excellent, quality food.

El Cajon Bistro & Bakery 109 Jamacha Road (at Second and Main) El Cajon, Ca 92019 (619) 590-0278 Website Sun-Mon 7-4, Tues-Sat 7-9

Chopsticks Inn Restaurant-La Mesa

October 30, 2013 Cathy Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Chinese Restaurants, Japanese Restaurants, Thai Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a blog. Centered mostly around food, we (Kirk, Ed(from Yuma) and Cathy) write about various places, recipes, ingredients. Here's a post about a place, written by Cathy.

As mentioned in another post, frequently I meet clients for an exchange of paperwork and often they offer to buy me lunch. I let them choose the location, asking them where's a place they enjoy- knowing they might not be as adventurous as I- and also they are aware of the price point, since they have offered to pay.

Chopsticks Inn has been in the corner of this storefront area in La Mesa since 1988. It's the same corner and shares the same parking lot as La Mesa Bistro & Bakery . The owner of Chopsticks Inn was born in SouthEast China, moved to Hong Kong where she grew up with her Grandmother and eventually moved to the US, learning Japanese and Thai cooking along the way. As you can see from the signage, a multitude of Asian cuisine choices are available.

The interior of the restaurant is decorated in a higher end Asian look. The waitstaff is friendly, efficient and knowledgeable.

We both ordered lunch specials, which came with a choice of soup. Hot and Sour and Egg Drop were our choices. When we were first seated, the fried wonton strips and small plate serving of a sweet/vinegar 'duck' sauce were brought to the table.

The Red Curry Chicken lunch plate ($7.55)- came with the soup, an egg roll (all vegetable), cream cheese fried wonton, steamed rice and a very good size serving of red curry chicken-made with fresh mushroom, red and green bell peppers and celery. Yes, celery, which was very complimentary with the flavors.

The Kung Pao chicken ($7.25) was also accompanied by the same sides, as this was also a lunch special. You can see it also had fresh mushrooms, celery and is topped with peanuts. It wasn't very spicy-hot, but was made with very fresh ingredients and tasty…had just a bit of heat, which was nice.

Fortune Cookies were brought out with the bill. I haven't seen packaged Fortune Cookies in a long time and it was fun reading and exchanging our predictions. (Hot tea was $1 each).

This was a very nice, quality meal. I noticed the Dim Sum is a la carte as well as available as platters, that Bento boxes are available at lunch and dinner prices and many noodle and rice dishes are available along with Chinese "Family" meals (priced per person). A new item they were promoting were Boba beverages.

A very interesting restaurant in an unexpected location.

Chopsticks Inn Restaurant 8687 La Mesa Boulevard La Mesa, CA 91942 open Tues-Sun 11 a.m-9 p.m. (619) 466-4470 Website

Jector’s Too – Yuma

October 29, 2013 ed fromyuma Mexican Restaurants, Sandwiches, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

Most days this foodblog has fresh posts from Kirk or Cathy. But today, Ed (fromYuma) gets to tell you about a new old place (or is it an old new place?) in Yuma.

Ana’s (also spelled Anna’s) had been a tiny Mexican
eatery in my neighborhood of Yuma for as long as I can remember. It always
seemed like a cart/restaurant crossbreed with its tiny kitchen, window
service, and small eating area surrounded by steel cage walls. A minimalist burrito shack:

Sort of open to the outdoors, the ordering/delivering area is
pretty shabby looking as well:

About a year ago I noticed that the place had more customers
than usual, and when I stopped in, I was told that Ana’s had been sold to
Jector, of Jector’s Breakfast Burritos. Now it is called Jector’s Too:

So today you can get a wide range of breakfast burritos
there – most of the ones available at the original location. In addition, the
new management has not discarded the best parts of Ana’s old menu. That means
they will fix you a breakfast burrito with carnitas or al pastor as well as
bacon, sausage, or asada:

You can also get excellent lunch burritos with fillings such
as green chili:

A couple of years ago, Ana’s won the local newspaper poll
for the best menudo in town, quite an accomplishment for such a small place.
And Jector’s Too still prepares outstanding Menudo on Friday, Saturday, and
Sunday:

The rich broth filled with abundant tripe and nixtamal is
certainly one of the best in town. It comes with a grilled bread roll (or
tortillas), as well as onion, cilantro, dried chili flakes, and lemon or lime
wedges:

Really yummy:

But my main attraction here are the first-rate tortas.
Sometimes the carnitas is as good as it gets:

A Torta DF (in the style of Federal District – Mexico City
area) is a specialty of the house, a ham ‘n cheese/roast pork combo:

Recently, the al pastor has been specially tasty and spicy:

:
Other tortas – and I’ve tried every one – are just as good
even if I don't have pictures of them. I also love the jalapeno and carrot escabeche
that is included. A bite or 2 of hot pickle cuts through the richness of the
sandwich and, for me, adds just the right touch.

Dinner plates and excellent aguafrescas also available.

Too often restaurateurs open a 2nd location and everything
starts going downhill. Not this time.

Jector's Too, 252 E. 24^th, 928-539-9595. Open daily around 7 am;
closes 6pm M-S and 2pm Sun.

Pho Lucky-Warm meal on a cool day

October 28, 2013 Cathy Vietnamese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog you are reading, is an open diary of food consumption. Sometimes there is a story behind the reasons why one of us (Kirk, Ed(from Yuma), Cathy) is consuming said food. Sometimes it's just sharing a meal with you. Today is a sharing.

Wow, we've had strange weather the past week…foggy and overcast until mid-morning, and windy with some sun into the afternoon…chilly weather for us who live in San Diego and now this morning we have rain. The Mister and I try to be sure we have a meal before we go grocery shopping and last week, we planned on shopping on Mira Mesa Boulevard and Pho Lucky was an easy choice, because we wanted something warm and good.

I've counted more than five posts on this blog mentioning Pho Lucky in one way or another. It's a go- to place for both Kirk, Ed (from Yuma), when he is visiting (from Yuma) and The Mister and myself (as well as one meal with the three of us mmm-yoso-ers, which is left to our memories and was never posted).

This meal was typically good. Here is The Mister's rare steak and medium rare flank steak, small ($6.50). The stock here is so very flavorful and not greasy. The meats are plentiful and the noodles are always just right (not clumpy). The plate of toppings is always fresh and includes sawtooth (it's there, under the basil).

Kari-Ga ($6.50) chicken curry. On par with the Bo Kho (beef stew), Kirk's favorite. The flavors of the sauce, good amount of chicken as well as potatoes and carrot and the accompanying warm, crispy bahn mi (bread) is just a perfect ratio and comforting, especially on cool days.

I hope your week has started off well. Stay warm!

Pho Lucky 9326 Mira Mesa Blvd. San Diego, CA 92126

2014 Rose Parade Float Road Testing-Baja Ranch Supermarket-Pasadena Farmers Market (Road Trip)

October 27, 2013 Cathy Farmer's Markets/Night Market, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, Markets & Grocers, Road Trip, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for stopping and reading mmm-yoso!!!, a food-centric blog. There are numerous ways to find and acquire ready made food and ingredients for meals at home. Today Cathy will share a couple of those ways along with sharing a bit of a quick Road Trip from San Diego. Kirk and Ed(from Yuma) are relaxing today.

The Mister and I woke up late yesterday morning. It was 4:45 a.m. and the dogs had to be fed and let out, we dressed quickly and were out the door at 5:07 a.m.. There was a low fog overhanging the freeway the entire drive. We got to the Red Hill exit from the 5 (in Tustin) around 6:25 a.m. and stopped at the Starbucks for coffee then drove up the street to Cream Pan and picked up three hot, fresh pastries. The cinnamon pecan roll ($3), which is filled with crispy, whole pecans; a raspberry bottomed cheescake in a paper cup ($2) and a ham and cheese croissant ($2.50)…light breakfast to eat in the car. The freeway entrance is just around the corner.

In about 45 minutes, we were in Pasadena, parked, crossed the Metro tracks and the Rose Parade float Road Test was already underway. The eHarmony.com float (the first dot com float ever in a Rose Parade) was going to be tested with people on board. (During the parade, Natalie Cole will be on the float, singing along the parade route).What will end up being the last float in the parade was also being tested- it looks like a football…and it looks like two GIANT screens will be inserted into those frames…we don't know, but speculate may be playing highlights of either prior Rose Bowl Games (2014 will be the 100th anniversary of the Rose Bowl Football game) or of prior parades (2014 will be the 125th Tournament of Roses parade). We'll have to wait and see… This VERY large float will be one of the first you will see in the parade- it is by Honda, the sponsor. we suspect it will look somewhat futuristic, because

it will be preceeded by these five smaller (powed by Honda motocycles and one driver, no 'viewer' inside) floats, depicting various "Dreams Come True"-the parade theme-along time… The famous WWII poster (and some sort of circular float behind it).

A sort of Model T vehicle.

A construct of the Spirit of St. Louis. There's also a small diorama depicting Man landing on the moon.

Other floats tested were in their basic stages… The City of Beverly Hills will be celebrating 100 years as a City and will have a float in the 2014 Rose Parade.

The RFD-TV float looks like a large barn-like dance floor will be on the front of the float, with smaller buildings behind. I'm interested in seeing how this ultimately will appear. The front piece, made with heavy steel beams (instead of rebar) is unique.

We left the road testing area, and had no plans for breakfast, drove up to Orange Grove Boulevard and stopped at Baja Ranch Market, which I only mentioned slightly in another float road test post last November. We wanted to grab another quick bite. When you first walk into this medium sized Mexican/Latin American Market, you are in the Bakery area.

It is right around the corner, next to an extensive steam tray area.

We picked up 1/2 lb of those fresh chicharron from the end tray.

and also asked for one of each flavor of the empanadas- the ham and cheese and the ground beef (which is made with corse ground hamburger, hard boiled egg, olives and raisins; a very traditional and wonderful flavor combination), sometimes called 'picadillo'.

We also picked up a few other items, went to the car and started driving East while munching on an empanada.

Baja Ranch Supermarket 475 Orange Grove Blvd, Pasadena 91101 website

Parking on a side street, we had a short walk to the Saturday Pasadena Farmer's Market on Sierra Madre Boulevard (see Pasadena High to the right? The set up of booths is in the parking lot of the school.) This is the street where the Rose Parade floats line up at the end of the parade route.

I have become enamoured with young, small, tender jicama ever since I bought it here. It is so good, a bit sweet and easily a craving without needing to be mixed with other foods or topped with Tajin.

The autumn vegetables and fruits are in abundance. This Farmers market is central to so many farms and really is the nicest one I've encountered other than the one I went to when I was young..

I hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend!

Escondido World Marketplace (a swap meet with food)

October 26, 2013 Cathy Farmer's Markets/Night Market, Festivals & Events, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food-centric blog. Today, the post will end up about food, but the story of how to find it is part of the fun. It's Cathy writing today, by the way; the guys (Kirk and Ed (from Yuma)) are both crazy busy.

I've been planning (collecting photos) to write a post about the food vendors and items available at Kobey's Swap Meet and the ten or more food trucks parked at the Spring Valley Swap Meet each weekend. However, the most interesting (food-wise) Swap Meet in the County is in Escondido, surrounded by West Mission Ave, North Quince Street, West Washington Avenue and Rock Springs Road.

For a very long time, the Escondido Swap Meet was the name of this location. Escondido World Market has been the name of this space since 2011. It's open Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and, as all Swap Meets, charges admission ($1 on Wed and Sat, $2 on Fri and Sun)(Hours are at end of post).

Once you walk in. the Swap Meet sales areas are to your left, the stands selling fruits, vegetables and other Produce items are straight ahead and to the right are the 12 or so permanent structures selling food. The above photo is looking left.

Covered sellers areas with some 'standard' items (lots of women's clothing, used and refurbished tools, athletic gear, kitchen items, religious items…garage sale sellers) On this day there were quite a few empty stalls in the covered areas.

The Produce-fruits, vegetables, herbs, chiles (fresh hot peppers and dried-those are some very large habañeros Manzano (Rocoto) peppers in the middle photo), nuts and many, many other choices are situated under covered stalls, all in one lane, staying cool and undamaged in the sun of the day. This lane is straight ahead as you walk in the entrance, and right next to it…

are the permanent structures which house the various food vendors.

There are several spaces selling an array of aguas frescas and juices (I bought a small ($2) of the dark green on the far right- it's spinach, cucumber, celery and pineapple…you can see the foam on the top of that juice jug- and also on the top of the yellow one; pineapple does that when juiced).

Here's a sandwich board sign in front of another vendor.

This small shop turned out to be my favorite- items from Oaxaca, brought in from Tijuana that morning. Note the second from bottom on the sign-chapulines…

Pan de Muertos -Day of the Dead bread, traditionally sold this time of the year. Inexplicibly topped with plastic faces as well as sesame seeds. These were $10 and were on sale last weekend; the lady said she'll have larger loaves this weekend. There are other pastries, cookies, baked tortillas and several other items for sale here.

I decided to buy some red mole ($8/lb). There was green mole (unlabled ingredients) for the same price for sale in the Produce section, and I'll try that after I finish this batch.

Chapulines- fried grasshoppers. $5 for a good size bag. Crispy, lemon and salt topped and quite definitely alfalfa/grassy in flavor (which is exactly what the nice lady explained to me, while stressing they were organic). A nice snack, or they can be put into sauces.

I was able to edit and zoom in…Those are intestines in the foreground, and tripe and other parts near the back of the grill.

The Mister wanted to try 'real' Tostilocos ($5.50). This was HUGE, hardly any chips on the bottom, filled with a lot of cueritos (sliced pigs ears), cucumber, jicama, chamoy sauce, tamarind and cacahuate (coated peanuts). This was an excellent excellent breakfast.

But, I had to try more…a birria taco with beans-excellent stewed meat, beans, toppings and tortillas.

and a pupusa (the taco + pupusa price was $4.50), which was made after I ordered it and brought out to our seat in front…the side of curtido was not 'dumbed down' and was crispy fresh with a good amount of heat, complimenting the 'plain' corn flavor of the thick, fresh, hand made dough, which was filled with both beans and cheese (I was asked which I wanted or if I wanted both).

Here's a cross section of the pupusa- that's a Mexican cheese inside along with the very flavorful beans. Really good.

There were at least two vendors selling mariscos (seafoods), but those places were crowded…

If you aren't in a mood for Mexican food of any type, there is an option.

Escondido World Market 635 West Mission Avenue Escondido 92025 (760) 233-7703 Hours: Wed: 7-3, Fri 2-9:30, Sat 8-3, Sun 7-3:30. Admission $1 on Wed and Sat, $2 on Fri and Sun Website

The bluefin tuna, “try to make something good for a change” challenge.

October 25, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

It seems like a pretty easy question….poke or some sashimi, right? But what if you're given a challenge, to make "something good for a change"?

I was faced with that on a recent evening…..granted, I've been really busy with work recently, so I really wanted something special for the Missus.

So I came up with this.

Bluefin three ways……

The cut of bluefin was very fresh, though not particularly outstanding. The perfect 20 minute challenge for me.

Here's the play-by-play…..

I decided on doing a very quick, hot smoke, so I got my trusty stovetop smoker going. I didn't want this to be a hot dish, but also wanted a fairly aggressive smoke flavor without cooking the fish. So I used mesquite and instead of starting high then turning low, I just turned the flame up high, seasoned the block of tuna with Maldon Smoked Salt and fresh ground pepper, covered the smoker briefly and when a good amount developed, placed the fish in the smoker, replaced thecover, and just let her rip!

I went into the garden to pick the veggies and herbs, washing then drying them on paper towels. Seven minutes had passed. I removed the tuna from the smoker, placed it on a plate and putting it in the freezer to quickly cool. I wanted to maintain the firmness of the fish.

At this point I decided on making three different items; for the first, I chopped the uneven part of the block, mixing it with some pretty good Maui onion and minced avocado……I then added a few drops of my roasted ghost pepper hot sauce and stuffed the avocado. Something I used to do when I helped a friend of mine cater a few dinners many years ago. A couple of slices of red serrano, sliced scallions, minced cilantro, and a touch of mint from the yard finished things. The Missus loved this combination of meaty-smoky-pungent-creamy-crunchy-mildly spicy. I was amazed that the ghost pepper hot sauce added just enough heat with a wonderful flowery fragrance.

The second item were just slices of the smoked tuna on lettuce from the yard. This I paired with some blanched, then grated garlic, grated ginger, yuzu kosho, and wasabi. I was so proud of the Missus, She never touched that wasabi from a tube. She loved placing tiny dabs of the salty, mildly spicy yuzu kosho on the smoky fish, never feeling a need to add soy sauce.

The third item was a play on a caprese, with tuna replacing the standard mozzarella. I placed the cuts of fish between slices of cherry tomato and basil, drizzling on some 0.3% acidity extra virgin olive oil. I also seeded a cherry tomato and filled it with olive oil creating a "shot" homage to our visit to Peza Union, where the tasting of each olive oil was presented in cups like a shot! The Missus enjoyed this the least.

This was only half of everything as there was a imrror plate also created. The Missus really enjoyed this…..which turned out pretty well. One of the most interesting responses I got from the Missus was when I had Her eat a slice of the Maui Onion with a touch of smoked salt…….I love good Maui onion with just some Hawaiian salt…this was the way I ate it growing up and the Missus enjoyed this as well.

The funny thing was….I was also finishing up Her main courses for dinner at the same time…….perhaps that's a future post…..

Still, like that surf and turf challenge, I lived to cook another day……

Jump Tokyo

October 24, 2013 Cathy Japanese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!!, food blog, descriptions, sharing experiences. Kirk, Ed(from Yuma) and Cathy write here quite a bit. This time, it's Cathy's turn.

Long story short, a client wanted me to meet for lunch and exchange of paperwork. Knowing I lived 'just up the road' (Friars Road turns into Mission Gorge Road, going straight into Santee), he suggested Jump Tokyo, which is at the intersection where the name change occurs. I have seen Jump Tokyo over the years (more than ten years), passing by when parking in the lot to go to other restaurants in the same parking lot, but never have eaten here.

It's in the same mall with a Rubios, Einstein's, Carl's Jr as well as Troy's Greek Restaurant, San Diego Brewing Company, Saigon Star, Gaglione Brothers, Starbucks, Jamba Juice, Ra Ka De Ka and several other restaurants. Within walking distance from Kaiser Hospital, the businesses are always buzzing. The parking lot is large enough to handle cars for all the restaurants (Looking at you, Convoy Street) and I've never had a problem finding a spot here.

Inside, the wooden tables and chairs are nice to see. The decor on the walls includes paper specials.

My friend ordered the chicken katsu plate ($7.95). The chicken was a good size, pounded chicken breast that was lightly breaded and crispy fried-not burned nor dry. Placed on top of the shredded cabbage ensured the cutlet stayed crispy and didn't get soggy through the meal. It was served with the rice (topped with three edamame) and a generic salad, topped with a sesame oil based dressing.

We thought we had ordered vegetable tempura, but somehow received these tempura'd onion rings. Same price ($4.95) as the vegetable tempura. Nicely fried, not greasy and the onions were sweet and thick..

I ordered the tuna tataki salad ($8.95). Not pretty, but very tasty and quite large. The hot tea was $1.50 each.

When we were part way through our meal a group of eight who were obviously 'regulars' came in and occupied one of the larger center tables. They knew what they wanted to order and seemed very enthusiastic about each item when it was brought out (many rolls from the sushi area). I'm going to have to explore the menu with The Mister some day.

Jump Tokyo 10450 Friars Road San Diego 92120 (619) 280-4043

Spotted Cow Viet Kitchen

October 23, 2013 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Spotted Cow has closed

I first heard about this place on Eater and was a bit puzzled. I thought having a Pho stand in Zion Marketplace would be an interesting venture. It was the "marketing" and concept that I thought was kind of interesting. This place wanted to make "the pho experience more customizable"…..hmmm, have you ever seen the different combinations of protein, etc, at your friendly neighborhood pho restaurant? Like all 30+ of them…..and then you have nuoc beo (rendered beef tallow), gia chin (blanched bean sprouts), etc….. Pardon me, if I don't understand….is there some innovative "concept" here? It looks like an assembly line process, something which isn't too unfamiliar having seen the kitchen areas of a couple of Pho places. On the interesting side, the "chef" Jimmy Trinh went to the CIA…on the somewhat discouraging side the "heritage" of this place is not one of my favorite pho shops.

Still it's bright, the folks on my first visit, soon after that announcement on Eater were really nice. I was kind of confused at the set-up. There's the steam/hot table and the cold station where you can pick what you want for your soup, then a large gap, then what looks like another station with the cashier at the end. The gap seems like a "dead zone", what goes on here? On this visit I ordered one of the four soup offerings….pho of course ($5.99) and moved to the middle area because I really didn't know if I should stop here or move to the register. The really nice young lady took my tray all the way to the register where I paid and made my way to the table.

The broth was very light and defatted, lacking in richness. Beef flavor was lacking, though I could make out onion and a touch of anise. It was also on the salty side, thank goodness for the lime. This isn't among my favorite bowls. The broth was also on the lukwarm side as well.

The rare steak looked nice, but was cut too thick making for a dry and tough experience. I'm not sure if it was how the meat was kept in cooled sixth-sized food pans, but I found them really lacking in flavor. The one surprise was the tendon which was pretty good.

The noodles were decent, but since it was in a clump some of it was on the cold side.

I basically cooled my heels, until I read Kirbie's post and decided to return, after all this place is really close to work. But no pho pho me this time.

I decided to try the Pho Bo Kho. The young man working the front was really enthusiastic and friendly. I noticed something a bit different this time around. My noodles were dropped into hot water and the bowl rinsed in hot water as well. I'm thinking this step was missed on my previous visit….after all, it was just after they had started business. I walked on over to the register to pay. In a move I found somewhat awkward, this time around my tray was left in the "dead zone" for me to pick up and drag to the register. This wasn't much of a problem however since the guy working the register was too busy counting his money than to acknowledge my existence. I kept thinking if I was "at Pho Hoa Huong, I'd be eating by now". Finally, after checking his drawer, walking away to talk to someone, he returned and was ready to have me pay. When he actually spoke to me he seemed a really nice young man, it was getting to this point that was rather painful for me. What ever happened to "I'll be with you in a minute"? Come to think of it though, would I expect that at, say, Pho Cow Cali, or at your neighborhood Pho shop in Hanoi?

In many ways this was much better than the straight up pho bo. While not even in the same league as the version at Pho Lucky, this had some mild richness. The beef flavor was still faint and overall the broth was still a bit thin for me. I like a nice hearty soup. The carrots were a bit too undercooked for me and the beef was still tasteless.

The dunking of the already cooked noodles made them too mushy for my taste. The heating of the bowl ensured a nice hot broth though.

I also hated the plastic spoons which were not at all suited for soup slurping……I've seen disposable Japanese style soup spoons, though the cost might be a bit too high?

It had me wondering……where this ranked in the Kearny Mesa Pho universe? I will say that this was totally not what I expected, even in a fast-casual concept, from CIA Alums who've "logged stints in Michelin starred kitchens". Though after eating at Gordon Ramsey's Plane Food nothing should surprise me, right?

Spotted Cow Viet Kitchen (in the Zion Market Food Court)
7655 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, California 92111

Original Pancake House (revisit)

October 22, 2013 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, What Cathy Eats!

Hello there. You are at mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog. Cathy has a post today, because Kirk and Ed(from Yuma) are just not ready to post about any of their recent meals.

The Mister and I try to avoid going out on weekends, to avoid crowds. Going to the Original Pancake House is always a treat and since OPH is fairly close to home (via the freeways), we stop by here during the week for quick breakfasts before running errands.

It's still crowded during the week, but usually no line out the door as happens on Saturday and Sunday.

Coffee ($2.50) is always accompanied by real cream, served in a heavy pitcher.

Table condiments are "American" compared to other condiment photos I've shown (no idea why we had a second sugar container). You can see the fresh strawberry specials; yes, we were here in early September, now the specials are pumpkin-centric.

The Mister's Bacon waffle ($8.50). The waffle is not a giant Belgian deal, but a normal size one, made with the OPH batter, which is very malt-y. I think the waffle has a nice sweetness on its own and just needs butter as a topping (no syrup). It's perfect- crispy on the exterior and with a nice, fluffy interior. There is a good amount of crispy, thick bacon pieces, served on top, so you can give yourself a bit of bacon in each bite.

Sausage, egg and pancake meal ($9.25). I adore the sausage here. It's thick sliced (about 1/2 inch) from a log then cooked to a crispy exterior. The spices are mild but there and have a perfect ratio. The sausage is made just for OPH. Of course, I ordered poached eggs (again, perfectly cooked) and pancakes as my side…because, this is The Original Pancake House. The batter is different than the waffle batter and also specially made for here. There is a definite sweetness to the large flapjacks, especially when butter topped and I don't think syrup needs to be added. But… since real, warm maple syrup is on the table, I always have some with a few bites of the pancakes.

Original Pancake House 3906 Convoy San Diego 92111 858-565-1740 Website