July 2014 – Page 2

Mariscos Monday: Oscar’s Mexican Seafood – Hillcrest

July 21, 2014 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Seafood, Taco Shops

It seems like more than a bit over two years ago that the Missus and I had a meal at Oscar's Mexican Seafood. While the meal was decent, we didn't find it especially great, at least in comparison with other Mariscos restaurants and trucks we eat at. I think the major draw was the location; there was nothing quite like it in the area. Since then, Oscar's has expanded. To PB and Hillcrest. I'd always been meaning to return and revisit, but having a location in Hillcrest is pretty easy since I'm in the area quite often for work.

One really great thing is that they open at 8am. I often have meetings at odd hours and the early opening was a big plus for getting me here….also, the parking here can be a nightmare during prime time.

Like the decor, though the regular seating is nd of uncomfortable. The menu is very gringo friendly…everything fully explained.

I decided on the Smoked Fish Taco (Taco de Marlyn – $4.25) and the Fresh Fish of the Day ($4.50) which was Yellowtail….actually I ordered a Battered Fish Taco ($1.99), but they just rang up the grilled fish….which I probably should have ordered anyway.

There was much to like about the Smoked Fish Taco, loved the way the queso was melted onto the tortilla (very routine mass-produced) to prevent breakage and add a mild milky edge. The fish was a bit too mild in terms of smokey flavor and even salt….I consider this "bacon of the sea". On the good side; it was less fishy than some versions I've had recently. I do think the portion was pretty small…..

I also thought these tacos were a bit under-dressed, though I do understand wanting to make the rather mild yellowtail the star of the show. The fish was a bit overcooked for me…..yellowtail can dry out pretty quickly. I also thought it needed to be seasoned a bit more. This was on the bland side and really needed more….also, there wasn't enough onion or anything else to give it some textural contrast.

A quick word about the salsas…the Chipotle is nice and mild….I thought that white salsa was crema…but whoa, I believe it's habanero based, which I really thought added a nice kick.

In total, not bad, perhaps priced on the high side….but of course, there's the location.

I had an odd hour meeting and another scheduled over lunch so I headed back to Oscar's before traveling back to the office. This time I did order the Battered Fish Taco ($1.99).

The batter was light, but could have been a bit more crisp it got soggy fairly quickly. The fish was moist, though the whole thing lacked flavor. Still, definitely worth a buck ninety-nine.

Curious about both the shrimp and non-seafood items, I ordered the Surf and Turf Taco ($4.50). This was a nice two-fisted taco.

The shrimp was well seasoned, cooked to the edge of being overcooked, but didn't go over that line. The skirt steak was too tough and chewy, which I don't mind if there some nice assertive flavors to obscure the texture, but that wasn't the case here. Overall, a decent taco.

I'll probably return to Oscar's because of the location and hours. I think I'll go with some shrimp tacos and maybe the Cucarachas which we enjoyed last time, but is now like $11.

Oscar’s Mexican Seafood
646 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92103
Hours:
Sun – Thurs 8am – 9pm
Fri – Sat 8am – 10pm

Prague: The Charles Bridge, the Little Quarter, the Lennon (not Lenin) Wall, the Jewish Quarter, and lunch at Kolkovna

July 20, 2014 mmm-yoso Czech Food and Restaurants, Czech Republic, Prague, Pubs and Pub Grub, Travel

We awoke early as we usually do when on vacation. It seemed the sun had risen even earlier as it was bright and sunny when we stepped outside.

The Charles Bridge was to be the first stop this morning. There would be no messing around with the weather and getting lost in the streets around the Old Town Square. This time we headed west and walked along the Vitava River. Along the way we passed Kranner's Fountain, which you can read about here.

And then of course, there is the view of the Charles Bridge, Little Quarter, and Castle Quarter looking like it came fresh out of a postcard.

The bridge really had a strange pull on the Missus…well perhaps it was Prague itself that drew Her. We kept coming back to the Bridge at all times of the day. Each time it seemed to have a different personality. On a morning like this, it seemed so peaceful and serene…….

Construction of the bridge was started in 1357. In keeping with all the lore surrounding the bridge; Charles IV, in addition to being Roman Catholic was quite interested in astrology and numerology. In order to have luck on their side, the palindrome 135797531 was used to guide in the building of the bridge; which started on 531 am on July 9th, 1357. Apparently, Charles IV's Astrologers also noted that this would be a favorable time to start as well based on the positioning of Earth and Saturn.

The bridge itself features 30 statues, the earliest of which was built in 1683. All of the statues have been replaced by replicas, which seem aged and "gothic" enough to suit my taste.

Of all the statues, the one thing the Missus wanted to see was this plate.

This marks the spot where John of Nepomuk was thrown off the bridge and drowned by the order of King Wenceslas….I guess he wasn't "Good King Wenceslas" after all? Apparently John was the priest to whom the Queen confessed all her sins. Of course the good King wanted to know all the juicy details, but John refused. Thus, he was tortured, but still refused to give up the goods. The King decided to put an end to John by throwing him off the bridge. Notice the five stars? Apparently, when John hit the water five stars appeared above it. Time has been good to John, who became Saint John of Nepomuk, the National Saint of the Czech Republic. His statue, also on the bridge is probably the most popular.

The bridge ends right below Prague Castle in the area known as the "Little Quarter" (Malá Strana). Originally the area where the ethnic Germans settled, some of the architecture still reflects that time.

We headed right up the street and had an espresso at the cafe right in front of the Church of St Nicholas. As you can see, clouds were forming, it was getting to be a bit windy, and it looked like rain was again on the way.

After our cup of fortifying espresso, we headed right back down the street toward the bridge. What, were we done? Not quite. Right at the Little Quarter end of the bridge; before the tower are stairs. These stairs lead to "Kampa Island", built from the rubble of the Little Quarter.

Water was diverted to feed the waterwheels of the various mills that were located on the island. If you'd like to see the last existing water wheel, you can see it by finding the bridge with all the "love locks" - padlocks sometimes inscribed with names or initials, the keys are thrown away to symbolize a love that cannot be broken…..

How quaint….though the cynical side of me wondered out loud, "in how many cases have these locks outlasted the unbreakable bond?" Which had the Missus mark me as "unromantic". To which I replied, "ok, how's this…..my love for you is unbreakable….it is forever….now let's go to Home Depot and buy a lock!" The Missus reponse? "You're right…I'm better off telling you to give me a couple of hundred bucks to go buy some lululemon……"

Yet, right after this conversation, all my synicism melted away…..

Right around the corner and down the street is the "Lennon Wall". When John Lennon was killed in 1980, this wall was suddenly filled with artwork and graffiti. I can only "Imagine" what the music and lyrics of the music of John Lennon and the Beatles would mean to those who felt repressed by the Communist regime. I've read that the wall would be whitewashed constantly; only to have it full of graffiti by the next morning. In the end, it had become a symbol of freedom and perhaps, an agent of change….a wall. To this day new messages and artwork is constantly added, the originals are long painted over…..but, if you take time to read them, dodging the photo opportunity "peace sign for the camera folks" ….some of it can be very touching.

For me, this was probably my favorite place (other than sitting in a basement having some sausages and beer) in Prague. We'd return one more time to the "Lennon, not Lenin" Wall. Funny thing is, the folks that now own the wall are the Knights of Malta! So, two years ago we went ot Rhodes and I found out about the Knights of St John, who were defeated by the Ottomans and settled on Malta, which we visited last year…..I know, I'm way behind on travel posts…..but if you only knew how much I want to make these posts "right"………which takes a large chunk of time when you do things "stream of consciousness" style.

After this we headed up Ujezd….the area is colorful, though we were now dodging an occasional drizzle. There was one last thing I wanted to see. Up on Petrin Hill, in a serene, park area is this sculpture.

It is a haunting piece…….the human figures start whole at the top, but slowly appear to disintegrate as they move down the hill. This is the Memorial to the Victims of Communism. Down the middle of the sculpture the inscription repeats, "205,486 arrested, 170,938 forced into exile, 4,500 died in prison, 327 shot trying to escape, 248 executed……" Kind of heavy I know…….

We walked back up and around…..the Missus wanted to "save the Castle Quarter" for when we returned…..

Where I saw what is probably one of my favorite signs of all time. You can't say the folks here have no sense of humor, can you?

We walked past a variety of people……folks who seemed to be government bureaucrats, tourists, locals trying to make a buck. And yet, this area didn't seem quite as touristy for some reason.

And so we ended up where we had been the day before…. more confident and comfortable….but still not quite sure where the heck we were.

I pride myself on having a decent sense of direction….but what the heck, who really cares, right?

Soon enough we were at…guess where?

Yep, Old Town Square….and the Ooompah Band was playing "If I Were a Rich Man"…… Take a left right past St Nicholas Church and you're at the "high rent district" with upscale shops and upscale shops. Right past this is the Jewish Quarter……..the Missus and I were in need of a break by now though I really wish we spent more time here.

When we're back, we'll spend much more time here…….

At this point, two things were happening; first we were getting pretty hungry….second, it was starting to rain. This meant we needed a stop for lunch, which was close by.

There were several restaurants I had on my "list" in the area, but Kolkovna was the closest. With raindrops starting to come down, we decided this should be the place.

I believe this restaurant is owned by Pilsner Urquell, not necessarily a stamp of approval in my mind. The restaurant does look slightly corporate, but there's a non-smoking area in the basement.

The menu is large and full of items ranging from Greek Salad's and Jambalaya (???) to Moravian Sparrow.

Kolkovna is known to have it's Pilsner Urquell delivered "tank style" straight from the brewer, so that was obviously the way to go. The Missus went with a "half and half" – half Pilsner Urquell, half Kozel Dark.

We started by going with a sampler of Czech beer food type items.

Much of the charcuterie was fairly routine; ham and head cheese. What we both really loved was the pickled sausage, called "Utopenci", which literally means "drowned man". Typical of Czech humor, this pickled sausage is either named after the creator of the dish, a pub owner who got drunk and drowned to death, or because the sausages bobbing in their jars resemble……drowned men. Either way, we loved the tart-sour-porkiness of it. We'd have it almost everywhere we could, even from Tesco, but this was our favorite by far….the most sour. The pickled cheese (nakládaný hermelín) had both that wonderful perky sour flavor and the fermented milkiness. It's made with hermelin cheese which is like camembert.

The Missus went with everything but the kitchen sink…..the Bohemian Platter.

In case your keeping score; beer sausage, thick cut "bacon", smoked pork, sparrow (gamey), red and white cabbage, bread dumplings, and a duck leg.

Nothing really stood out and of course the Missus said the duck was missing Five Spice.

We took a lot back to the apartment and had it with dinner.

It was an interesting way to taste a lot of dishes……and yes, this is for one person!

I ordered the Cabbage Pancakes…..think of potato pancakes with sauerkraut and bacon in it.

These looked greasy but were not. Nice crisp exterior, some smokiness from the smoked pork, a little tart-sour form the cabbage, this went well with the garlic-sour cream condiment. It was also a bit lighter than it looked. Since cabbage was involved, you know the Missus loved this.

Overall, we thought our meal here was decent and would return if in the area. Service was casual but efficient and our server was kind of funny, even joking with us. Of course, as we left the place started getting crowded, it was a good decision to eat early. The prices were also reasonable; we ate all of this and had 3 beers for about $45 US.

Kolkovna
8 V Kolkovne
Prague, Czech Republic

Belgian Independence Day at Brabant

July 19, 2014 mmm-yoso Belgian Cuisine and Restaurants

*** Brabant has closed

Well, technically Belgian Independence Day isn't until June 21st…..but having a couple of Sours and stuff like this on Saturday is much better than Monday, right?

The Missus and I decided to head over to indulge a bit. There were a couple of specials for BID.

That's a Frikandel, an Angus Beef version of the hot dog like sausage….and yes, it is deep fried. With frites, of course…..

And a Boudin Blanc de Fowl, a chicken a duck fat white sausage….this one is wrapped in pastry.

The usual suspects are available as well……the Missus still believes the stoemp here is better than anything She had in Belgium.

So if you're in the mood for anything like that…..or perhaps this……

They're serving this stuff until closing today. Which I think is midnight…….it's all Belgian style beers on tap and 20% off bottles.

The Missus and I need a nap now…..

Brabant Bar & Cafe
2310 30th St
San Diego, CA 92104

Thomas Hill Organics, Paso Robles, June 2014

July 18, 2014 ed fromyuma Fine Dining, Paso Robles/Cambria/San Luis Obispo County, Pizza, Road Trip, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Today Kirk and Cathy can concentrate on their real work (or just kick back and relax) because Ed (from Yuma) has a post about a restaurant up in Paso Robles.

Tina and I had wonderful memories of a lunch at Thomas Hill Organics back in 2009, so we wanted to be sure to go there with Steve and Helen. Again we entered through the larger and fancier alley entrance to the restaurant:

This side of the restaurant has the larger indoor dining room, the Park Street side has a long skinny room with the bar and small tables, but whenever possible, we like to eat in the central covered courtyard in the middle of the restaurant:

Remembering a wonderful watermelon gazpacho from our previous visit, Tina and I decided to share the avocado-corgette cold soup with coconut milk and chili oil ($8):

What can I say? The cool smooth green avocado blended with the summer fresh squash seemed like the essence of a late spring harvest – rich, vegetal, tangy and complex. The chili oil added a touch of spicy hotness to balance the cool green creamy depth of the soup.

For Helen, the soup was her main dish, though she did share some of Steve's skirt steak sandwich:

All of the sandwiches came with extremely fresh field greens tossed with a light basil vinaigrette and a few grains of quinoa:

Along with the soup, Tina opted for the local grass fed beef hamburger ($17):

Her burger was topped with Cambozola cheese, caramelized onions, and abundant applewood smoked bacon, all accented by nut romesco and roasted garlic aoli. It was really wonderful:

I had the pork belly banh mi:

I love banh mis, but this seemed a little over the top for my tastes. While the pickled carrots, avocado, and chopped cilantro were good, the two thick slices of pork belly seemed excessive and were a bit chewy. Call me old school, but I also missed the light crunchiness of a good Vietnamese baguette:

Tina and I had always wondered about dinner at Thomas Hill, so we decided to have our last dinner in Paso at Thomas Hill Organics. The menu seemed wide-ranging, we liked that many produce and protein sources were identified on the menu, and it is hard to beat the ambience of that courtyard.

Our dinner began with ahi tataki style ($16), a plate that looked like a beautiful little tuna topped volcano erupting ginger/scallion relish :

This was very nicely done. The excellent fresh ahi was lightly seared, and the ponzu sauce was perfectly flavored and did not overpower the other ingredients. Speaking of other ingredients, when Tina and I removed and divided the tuna, the rest of the appetizer was visible:

There was a large clump of wakame (seaweed salad), slices of avocado, wedges of pickled apricot, rounds of beautiful purple radish and cucumber, sunflower sprouts, and that ginger and scallion relish. For Tina and I, these flavors worked well together.

The next course was an unusual ceviche ($15) with local yellowtail and Oregon baby shrimp accompanied by chunks of Rocking Chair Farms nectarines and white peaches with purple radishes, cilantro, shaved shallots served on tostadas made from plantain and drizzled with coriander/honey coconut milk:

In most ways, this was an ambitious and very tasty ceviche presentation. It was not too tangy/sour to accompany our wine (more on that soon), and we loved the combination of stone fruit and seafood – though I would have liked even more of the seasonal fruits:

For us, the only things that didn’t work in the dish were the discs of plantain. They were more chewy than crunchy, and while they stood up to the ceviche toppings, the flavor/texture profile just didn't appeal and we actually left most of one round on the otherwise cleaned plate.

Because we were starting with two seafood courses, we began with glasses of Lone Madrone 2011 Points West White ($13), a very tasty Rhône style blend of 4 grapes, the rich and creamy roussane being the most prominent. We had tasted that very same wine the previous afternoon at the winery and had enjoyed it very much. It did not disappoint with dinner, and of course, the stemware was excellent and the pours very fair.

Our next course was called Jewel of the Spring Salad ($15):

In that picture, you can see what they called a Fabergé farm egg, attractive and hard-boiled. The greens in the salad were wild arugula and pea leaves and tendrils. The orange carrot ribbons, dark pink macerated red onions, asiago cheese shavings, and abundant sweet pea pods added body, color, and variety to this lightly dressed and unusual salad, dense with the taste of spring:

From the moment we had been seated in the courtyard in the middle of the building that evening, we noticed a chef attending to the woodfired pizza oven:

So our last course just had to be one of their woodfired pizzas. Called the Verde Green pizza on the menu, it was topped with mozzarella cheese, black truffle salami, pistachio nuts, roasted zucchini, basil leaves and a light sprinkling of Romano cheese ($17):

It was excellent, the crust light and crunchy and the toppings tasty but not overpowering. We shared a glass of Enfold 2010 Jazzy Zinfandel ($13), which went well with the pizza.

We had a good time at Thomas Hill Organics, the service, ambience, and food were all first rate. Much of the food was local and organic. The wine list was well focused on local wineries. If we had any complaint, it was that we ordered too much food, so had to take about half of the pizza back to our room with us. Oh, hold on here, why am I complaining about a midnight snack?

Thomas Hill Organics, 1313 Park St., Paso Robles CA 93446, (805) 226-8555

Duck Confit

July 17, 2014 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

Meet our latest "staple", something the Missus says we should always have on hand……

Basically, duck legs, cured, then cooked at a very low temperature covered with fat (oil poached) for hours, which produces and amazingly flavorful, juicy, and tender product. It can then be stored in it's own fat for rather long periods of time. Most folks hear "duck confit" and think it;s something difficult to make; but at its core it's basically a preservation method, with animal fat used as a barrier to the elements. It is amazingly easy….basically prep, cure, rinse, dry, poach in oil, cool, put in the fridge.

Prepping them for a meal is also easy; the most basic method being putting in a 400-425 oven and baking until heated through and the skin is crisp. I prefer doing this on the stovetop, starting with a cold pan and under low heat. The fat renders out…which we later use for eggs or potatoes. The idea is to heat through slowly while crisping up the the skin. I usually raise the temp a bit near the end.

This one had a simple pan sauce where the duck fat is poured off into a bowl for later use, shallots are softened, since we're still not doing cooking with alcohol at home; I used veal stock to deglaze and reduce. When reduced I add a touch of Date vinegar, and creme fraiche, since it's fermented and allowed. This one is served with a version of stoemp, made a bit more creamy with the cooking liquid from the sauteed vegetables and some duck fat. It is, in a word, quite the meal.

All you really need for curing the duck is really salt….but of course, the Missus needs that little "Chinese touch", because She believes all duck should have that flavor profile, so I use Five Spice powder…..from QingDao…where you actually go to a herbalist/pharmacy to have them mix up for you. The duck legs I order from Bristol Farm, I pick them up, usually the day it is delivered….it's never frozen and quite fresh.

Duck Confit – mmm-yoso style

Seasoning per duck leg:

3/4 Tb of coarse sea salt – we use Maldon Salt because it's pretty easy to get

several grinds of black pepper

1/4 tsp Chinese Five Spice

1/2 tsp granulated garlic

Duck fat to cover/submerge duck legs. About 6 cups or so. (you can supplement with pork fat, or other neutral oil – not too much)

– Rub seasoning into duck and place fat side down in a single layer in a pan

– Place in the fridge overnight

– Wipe cure off duck and place duck in a single layer in a pot and submerge in duck fat

– Cook at a low temperature, preferably 180-190 degrees….the lowest in our oven is 200, which I measured at 210, so I make due.

– Cook for 4-8 hours. We're usually at the low end.

– When a skewer goes easily into the duck legs remove from the heat- the tricky part is to stop before the duck start breaking down. It will keep cooking as it cool.

– Cool, and remove to a container, cover with fat and place in the fridge.

Once you've finished eating your duck, you can reuse the fat for confit a few more times before it gets too salty…..

Antonelli’s Deli (El Cajon) revisit

July 16, 2014 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome back once more to mmm-yoso!!! Kirk is still very busy and Ed (from Yuma) is similarly occupied, so Cathy is writing a post to keep you interested in stopping by our little blog.

Noticing that Kirk had missed a 'Sunday Sandwich' post and figuring maybe (based on vehicle traffic patterns) that some readers of our blog live and occasionally drive East, I thought an update to a post from 2010 was in order. I had planned to do a series of 'pastrami' only posts, but merely ate and stopped documenting.

Located in an industrial area of El Cajon, one block West and parallel to the 67 North of I-8, Antonelli's Deli, family owned and operated, has been in the same location since 1984.

The walk-up/order/pay area is convenient and there is plenty of seating inside and outside. The menu categories consist of Breakfast Sandwiches, Sub Sandwiches, Cold Sandwiches, Hot Sandwiches, Salads, Soup and Chili.

Above, a #41- Egg, bacon, ham, sausage, cheese Breakfast Sandwich (served all day) ($3.95) The sub roll is one of many bread choices here, and standard with the breakfast sandwiches. Fresh, warm, crispy and chewy and quite filled with the meats, cheese and egg, this is enough to share.

Some days, I just want a simple grilled cheese sandwich (#34, $4.25) and order it on the marble (rye/pumpernickel) bread, to make it a bit fancy (and tasty- rye is my favorite). Grilled on a flat top to crispy perfection, the melty American slices are part of the comfort.

Chili with cheddar and onions are available daily. The small ($4.15) is quite hearty, filled with ground beef, beans, tomatoes, green chili and a pleasant blend of spices. [There are also two 'soup of the day' choices, except on Saturday when Italian Wedding Soup is the available flavor].

Above, from the 'Hot Sandwiches' area of the menu, a Pastrami and Swiss on rye (# 22, $7.15) ordered without kraut this day…very good pastrami along with all the other quality ingredients. A favorite.

Above, a 4" sub sandwich- Capocollo and cheese (Provolone) (#3, $5.15). Subs can be ordered in 4, 8 and 12 inch sizes. As you can see, there is no skimping on the fillings (standard toppings on Subs include lettuce, tomato, onion, oil & vinegar, salt, pepper and oregano).

This local little Deli is another hidden gem in East County.

Antonelli's Deli 1354 North Magnolia El Cajon 92020 (619)440-8460 Mon-Fri 7-4, Sat 8-4, Closed Sunday Website

AJ’s Fish Merchant (San Carlos area of San Diego)

July 15, 2014 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Seafood, What Cathy Eats!

AJ's has closed. Some of their food items will still be around: the Santee, El Cajon and Allied Gardens Farmer Markets and perhaps other venues. Look for "AJ's Haute Cuisine".

Thanks for stopping by mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog. Kirk got really busy and so did Ed(from Yuma), so Cathy is writing today's post.

Late last year, one of our favorite seafood restaurants, the Fish Bucket Grill, closed abruptly due to the death of its owner. We had liked the Fish Bucket Grill because it was just as good as The Fish Merchant, their 30 year family owned restaurant, which had been located in the area and had been closed for about two years.

In the middle of May, we heard this location was re-opening and were very happy to once again have access to seafood near home.

We didn't know how good it would be, so stopped by one early evening to try a few items.

It turns out the menus change almost daily, due to availability of fresh items. This section from the website mentions that the seafood is sourced from Catalina Offshore and the produce from Specialty; both open to the public selling quality items.

The interior is about the same. There are 13 tables and no bar area. We saw several people bringing in their own wine to accompany their meals.

We were asked if we'd like some complimentary bread after we placed our order and these two pieces were brought out: cheese topped white and a very nice squaw type served with unsalted butter. Both fresh, with crispy crusts and chewy interiors.

We were curious about the "California Clam Chowder" and ordered a cup to share ($4). The flavor was uniquely familiar.

If you read the link from the website provided above, you would notice Chef Bennett was trained at North Carolina's Johnson and Wales culinary college. This clam chowder tastes like a version of She-Crab Soup, a common, favorite soup we enjoyed during the years The Mister and I lived in Tidewater Virginia. Such good memories…not as much cream as regular chowder, a mirepoix along with potatoes, plenty of clam, a touch of sherry (or maybe white wine; you can taste it)…unexpected perfection.

Above, the small Captain's salad ($10), which is large enough to share. Fresh mixed greens topped with shrimp, crab, lobster, artichoke hearts, organic egg, tomato and a house made mustard-poppy seed dressing. Really good.

Above, the crab cakes appetizer ($12)- perfectly lightly crispy fried. As you can see, very little filler…it's just crab and enough complimentary spices with a panko-like breading. Served with a small side of mixed greens on top of a house made remoulade sauce, this is a meal in itself.

AJ's Fish Merchant 7407 Jackson Drive San Diego 92119 (619)462-FISH Website Mon-Thurs: 11-9, Fri, Sat: 11-10; Sun 4-9

Philippe the Original (Breakfast and Lunch) and 2015 Rose Parade Float Road Test #2

July 13, 2014 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!!, a blog about food and the story prefacing as well as post scripting enjoyment of said food. Today's post is bookended by food and also centralized by books. Kirk and Ed(from Yuma) are doing other things while Cathy writes.

A beautiful Saturday morning, waking while the sky was illuminated by the Supermoon and driving North to Pasadena was intervened with a quick stop for breakfast at Philippe the Original, which Kirk blogged about in 2007. (A recent post from cc here and from Elmo in 2007 here and a 2008 post from MiP here )This quintessential American Cafeteria, with a fascinating history, is famous for THE French dip sandwich.

There is also a breakfast menu. Walking up to the counter, The Mister ordered, paid and waited for our food to be prepared while I enjoyed the various miniature museum of displays surrounding the communal seating areas.

If you didn't know, Philippe the Original is within walking distance of both Union (railroad) Station and Dodger Stadium, the third oldest ballpark in the USA.

Soon enough, breakfast was ready. At the top is the Breakfast Combo Special ($7.50)- French toast, over easy eggs, bacon and coffee. The French toast batter has a bit of cinnamon in it, the bread is soft, thick and cooked just right (crispy on the exterior and soft and warm/fluffy interior). The bacon is thin and crispy and has flavor. Here's a better photo of the corned beef hash plate ($8.25)served with home fried potatoes and over easy eggs (again, coffee is included). The hash is wonderful -dry, not greasy- and has a great flavor. The Home Fries are made expertly, as are the over easy eggs and the biscuits (a classic baking powder/soda mix) – great short-order chefs.

We drove up the 110 to Pasadena and the Phoenix Decorating Company barn for the second 2015 Tournament of Roses Parade float maneuverability testing in less than six minutes.

There were ten floats being tested this day and quite a few were ready for their final tests before decorating (which begins in December) by having people on board to test weight bearing on the maneuverability as well as ability to escape efficiently in case of a fire. Above, Kiwanis International, with their float now color coded for the volunteers to decorate easily. So much prettier than when it was tested in its 'cocoon' stage last month (3rd photo).Similarly, last month's rebar/chicken wire/partial cocoon stage of the Lions Club International float, "Inspiring Challenges" (to the right in the first photo in that post), did no justice to this finalized version.

Rotary International has the theme of "Changing Lives Through Clean Water".

The Oddfellows and Rebekahs Rose float, "Never Forget" is beautiful with its colors marked.

The City of Alhambra is titled "Go For Broke" and will also have a military theme.

The theme of the 2015 Tournament of Roses Parade is "Inspiring Stories" and a good number of floats are taking that concept literally and depicting books on their floats. Above, the Donate Life float titled "The Never Ending Story".

Lutheran Hour Ministries and "The Bible…God's Story" will have a float in the parade for the 65th time.

Shriners Hospital for Children is having a float featuring a Shriner Bear reading -and seated upon- books.

There were two other floats also tested, both in rebar stage: Trader Joe's and the American Armenian Rose Float Association. Within a month, each will take on more details and be more interesting.

Back to food, since Philippe the Original is only about seven miles from Raymond Street…

The ordering cases filled with a variety of sides, ten order/serving lines (there are only five at breakfast), ordered chaos, freshly sawdusted flooring, house made HOT mustard on each table. (Philippe is right next to Chinatown, which I'm pretty certain had an influence on the mustard recipe). Lunchtime.

Double dipped (each piece of crispy fresh French bread gently run through the jus; opposed to a 'single dip' with only one piece of bread dipped) sandwiches of roast beef ($7) roast lamb ($8.50), sides of house made potato salad ($1.35) and pickle ($1.30) along with two glasses of iced tea (65 cents each).

Because we had side by side comparisons, we liked the roast lamb considerably more than the roast beef (no complaints when we tasted the beef first) (There were also some nice crusty pieces of the lamb in the sandwich, which may have been a further influence). The kosher pickle was excellent as was the freshly made potato salad.

We also served ourselves water…so reminiscent of Elementary School…

and stopped to check out the gift counter, where some old fashioned candies are sold (Sen-Sen anyone?) (this area takes credit cards; the food counter is cash only)…

while getting a roast pork sandwich, double dipped ($7) and pickled egg ($1.15) (see the gallon jar on the counter in the second photo of this post?) to go. No worse for the drive, the pork also was very good. The pickled egg has a good old fashioned pickled beet flavor.

Philippe the Original 1001 N. Alameda Street Los Angeles 90012 (213)628-1731 Website open seven days 6 a.m.-10 p.m.

Shanghai Dumpling House and Xiang Wei Lou: Two Dinners in the Hilton Plaza, San Gabriel

July 12, 2014 ed fromyuma Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Xiao Long Bao

Again Ed (from Yuma) is blogging about his road trip in June 2014. Who knows what Kirk and Cathy will be blogging about next.

On our trip to Paso Robles in June, 2014, Tina and I could see old friends, go wine tasting, and eat in some of the fine restaurants in Paso – but we also could stop in the San Gabriel Valley on the way up to Paso and on the way back.

On our return trip, Tina found a good deal on a room in the Hilton Hotel on W. Valley Blvd. in San Gabriel:

The hotel could not have been more convenient, smack dab in the center of the San Gabriel Valley and across street from San Gabriel Square, better known as the "Great Mall of China." The room was well furnished, the basement parking garage easily accessible, and the staff friendly and helpful. When checking in, we told the clerk, Adolfo, that we were staying there to be close to all the Chinese restaurants. "Yes," he said, "very authentic. The first time I went into one, I ordered orange chicken, and they all laughed at me."

That Thursday afternoon, we were tired from driving and needed to stretch our legs and what better way than walk around and look at restaurants and menus. It didn't take long for us to be overwhelmed by the choices and overheated by the bright sunshine. On our way back to the hotel, however, we decided to explore the little restaurants in Hilton Plaza, the small two-story stripmall just to the west of the hotel itself. Some things looked interesting, so we decided to dine close to the room that evening.

Shanghai Dumpling House:

We were early and only one other table was occupied in the small, clean restaurant:

Tina ordered honey lemon iced tea ($2.75), which she liked very much:

Having just driven in from Paso Robles where we had been feasting on wine country cuisine, we wanted basic simple foods. Cucumber in Sauce ($4.35) sounded cool and refreshing:

Amazingly simple, but simply amazing. Irregular chunks of freshly cut cucumber lightly sprinkled with salt and mixed with garlic bits and a touch of sesame oil. Not much sauce, really, but fresh and delicious, clean and refreshing – a perfect antidote for our four hour car ride.

The Beef Rolls Pie ($5.95) was next. A large and flaky green onion pancake wrapped around numerous beef slices, fresh cilantro, and a spicy/tangy hoisin sauce:

I suppose the pancake could have been a little browner and crunchier, but the flavors were excellent, and Tina and I were both impressed by the tender and flavorful beef:

Also served at the same time were the xiao long bao, Juicy Pork Dumplings ($6.95). We have had enough experience with boiling hot XLB exploding in our mouths that we ate half of the Beef Rolls Pie before we attempted even a single dumpling. But when we did, we were completely blown away.

If you look at this picture, you will see no spilled soup in the steamer; each dumpling is intact:.

One at a time, we would take our chopsticks, grab the little morsels by their topknots, carefully lift them off the paper, add a drop of black vinegar, lay them on the tongue, close the mouth, and chew. The juicy soup flooded the palate and the mildly seasoned pork ball was tender and tasty. Worthy of the mmm-yoso dance.

We were amazed by the dumpling wrappers. They were thin and elastic without being tough or chewy. When we raised the dumplings out of the steamer their bottoms sagged downward but never tore and never leaked. Just perfect Shanghai dumplings.

The last item to arrive at the table was the Stir-fried Vegetables ($5.95), in this case perfectly cooked baby bok choy:

For most of you, I'm sure this dish looks plain and pretty boring. However, the freshness of the tendercrisp young vegetables and the wok skills of the chef made this very inviting. In fact, we ate every piece of baby bok choy as well as everything else we were served at Shanghai Dumpling House – with no leftovers. That almost never happens anywhere.

Shanghai Dumpling House, 227 W Valley Blvd, San Gabriel, CA 91776, (626) 282-1348

Xiang Wei Lou

Thursday night's dinner had been so easy and delicious that we decided to try another place in the same stripmall – Xiang Wei Lou, a small Hunan restaurant that Kirk wrote about several years ago:

The place was small, but well lit and inviting – though now I wonder about all those specials posted along the wall (what did we miss?):

Both Tina and I had been intrigued with Kirk's description of the pork intestine at this restaurant, so we discussed chitlins choices with the very helpful young server. "You know that's the, the, the intestines of a pig," she said, rubbing her lower abdomen, as if perhaps we were such clueless Anglos that we didn't understand what intestines were. We found that sweet and amusing. Kirk had not liked the pickled vegetables he had chosen with the intestines, so with the assistance of our server, we settled on spicy pork intestines ($9.99), which she assured us came with some vegetables:

It was good to see that the restaurant has not lost its touch with intestines. These were truly excellent. As Kirk said, they were split lengthwise and well cleaned, and Tina and I especially appreciated their richness and tender chewy texture. The promised vegetables included extensive celery, scallions, garlic slices, and both red and green sliced chilies. The veggies added flavor, spice, and crunch. Being over cautious, we had ordered the dish medium spicy, which was okay because there was a lot of noticeable heat, but the dish could have been even hotter.

Again being cautious, we had ordered the house fried rice ($5.99) not spicy:

This was excellent fried rice, the Hunan smoked pork giving it a unique touch.

That same smoked pork provided the flavor for the smoked pork with string bean ($8.95):

The beans were perfectly cooked in a very hot wok and tasted fresh and green beany. The pork – though it looks like bacon – has a different smoky flavor profile. This dish was probably our least favorite, though still pretty good, like someone's least favorite child.

The last item to arrive on the table was the house special, Steamed Spicy Whole Fish ($9.99):
The fish was extraordinarily tender and melted in the mouth. While it had that fresh water fish flavor, it was not muddy or fishy. The profusion of chopped dried chili pods and crushed garlics provided flavor certainly, but this dish was not excessively spicy, and the flavor of the fish came through very well. We liked it:

Xiang Wei Lou, 227 W Valley Blvd # 118A, San Gabriel, CA 91776, (626) 289-2276

Overall, we had two excellent interesting dinners, and appreciated the convenience of eating next to our hotel. I also just want to thank Kirk for making me a more adventuresome eater and helping guide Tina and I to some of the good places in San Diego and elsewhere. Thanks Kirk!

Rome: Santa Maria Maggiore, the Usual Suspects, and dinner at Da Danilo

July 11, 2014 mmm-yoso Italian Restaurants, Italy, Rome, Travel

Just about everyone I know who has travelled has been to Rome….really. There's so much to see….a bit too much…the crowds, the scams (impersonating police seems to be just fine with local authorities), the somewhat jaded attitude toward visitors….. And yet, Rome is full of history, chock full of amazing sights….

If I were to do posts on everything we saw and ate in detail….well, it would be too much. So I've decided to most of these as sort of a C(learing) O(ut the) M(emory) C(ard) posts and keep the verbiage to a minimum.

So, we arrived. The Leomardo Express from the airport is a total joy, like much of Europe, public transportation is excellent. We stayed at a "B&B" close to Termini Station, the one great thing about the place was the person who ran the whole operation. More on that later.

You know the Missus by now right? We dropped things off and were off to the races! With something quick to eat of course…

The Missus doesn't have the best sense of direction; so the thought of having a map in Her grubby little hands would usually send chills up my spine….not so much here.

You know how they say, "you always remember your first"….that really hit home as the first church we visited was Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. My goodness……

It was indeed an impressive sight.

What was really interesting were the Chinese tour groups… they would often push themselves to the front of the line, trying to force themselves in front of everyone. It was especially bad at the Vatican where the guards actually had to push them back.

They often make interesting statements which would make the Missus crack up. Like when one of them said to another while looking at the statue of Pope Pius IX, "look, a statue of Buddha praying…."

One thing that really fascinated both the Missus and I were the Obelisks.

Each different….there seemed to be a story somewhere here….

06082013 1362 One could just wander like we did and find a church like San Pietro in Vincoli, which has the tomb of Pope Julis II.

Apparently, this work was by Michelangelo, what more can you really say? How often do you see a work by Michelangelo? Really?

The church also holds a relic of the chains that bound Saint Peter while he was imprisoned.

The sheer amount of art, displayed in sculpture, on canvas, and in murals is quite amazing.

There is of course, the Colosseum and the Forum, but for some reason the Missus wasn't interested in visiting either.

Her reason? Well, having visited the Colosseum at El Djem and having the whole place to ourselves, ditto our visit to Sbeitla (Sufetula) had provided the Missus with enough exposure…..

And then of course, there's Trajan's Forum…..

And then there is the "Torta Nuziale", (the wedding cake), also known as the Victor Emmanuel Monument.

The Missus loved the architecture….I thought it as being a bit too gaudy…..

Around the back is the Basilica Santa Maria in Aracoeli.

The view from here is quite nice.

We made our way back to our room. Max, the proprietor of our B&B had made reservations at a place I was just itching to try, Trattoria Da Danilo, which was a scant three blocks away.

We were warned about the "typical Roman service" which was pretty much isolated to the woman who seemed to run the place….in other words, we should be honored just to eat here.

There's a big push for the antipasto here…..as in a major Ronda Rousey armbar upsell of dishes…some of which were good….some not.

The fried dishes were cold and were not especially good…..

And then of course was what I really wanted….the dish that had me going, "oh my….." The Cabonara with truffle…..oh my, what can I say? The flavor of shaved truffle…perfectly al dente noodles. the restrained richness of the dish.

In the end, there was a payoff for me……. I was willing to endure the lousy service for the carbonara of my dreams. I guess we all have a price, eh?

Trattoria da Danilo
Via Petrarca 13
Rome, Italy