September 2015 – Page 3

EscoGelato (Escondido)

September 8, 2015 Cathy Desserts, Ice Cream/Frozen Yogurt, What Cathy Eats!

Today's short post is written by Cathy. It's just too hot to think much about food today. The mmm-yoyo!!! men, Kirk and Ed (from Yuma) will write about food when they are ready.

Another hot and humid day in San Diego and not much can keep you cool or relaxed. Unless, maybe you can find gelato! ('gelato' means 'frozen' in Italian)

EscoGelato has been in this small storefront for about three years now, serving up coffee, soup, salad, panini and gelato (as well as a few sorbet flavors), seven days a week. The husband and wife owners are proud to use the highest quality, locally sourced ingredients. This is the view if you are walking South from Grand Avenue, where many nice restaurants are located. You'll probably notice the ice cream cone logo before you notice any signage. Here is a link to cc's 2013 post, which shows a front view of the store.That is the entire menu. Because we had finished lunch elsewhere, we were only here 'for dessert'. I will write a post about the panini, soup and salads later.

What is gelato? Milk, cream and sugar, along with some fruits and/or nuts and/or other ingredients for flavors. Placed into a special machine which cooks, slow churns and then chills. The product is extruded from the machine into a pan and flash frozen. Gelato has less fat than regular ice cream, but it is higher in density than ice cream, so it's very creamy. All the flavors are made fresh daily at EscoGelato.The final product looks like this. Many traditional and some interesting, imaginative flavors. As I mentioned: locally sourced, highest quality, made fresh daily.Small ($3.50). Brown Butter Pecan gelato and Apricot Goat Cheese gelato. We asked for a sample first and each of these were refreshing. You can taste each flavor, and what great flavors these were! The buttery creamy gelato, crunchy pecans…fresh apricots and, yes, goat cheese, were wonderfully complimentary and great tasting.Salted caramel gelato used for an affogato ($4.75) ( Affogato is Italian for 'drowned'). Because I know the coffee here comes from locally owned Zumbar and I had a craving for a good cup of coffee, the shot of espresso with this salted caramel gelato was a perfect combination of flavors. It looks like a small amount of coffee, but because it is so strong, using it sparingly (more like a sauce) was just the perfect amount of espresso with this rather large amount of gelato.

I hope everyone is staying cool!

EscoGelato 122 S. Kalmia Escondido 92025 (between West Grand and 2nd Ave) (760) 745-6500 Website Open Mon-Fri 8-9, Sat-Sun 10-9

Asian Noodle House

September 7, 2015 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Asian Noodle House has closed

I was taking a weekend morning drive along ECB, checking things out when I noticed that Nhat Vy was gone and replaced with "Asian Noodle House"….talk about a generic name……

It was just past 8am and I was contemplating checking the place out when the car in front of the shop left….giving me a perfect parking spot. This must have been some kind of "sign" right? So I pulled a U-turn and parked.

The place looks totally Spartan and generic….

The older gentleman working here was very friendly. I was handed the menu and had that "deja vu" feeling. I knew I'd seen this menu somewhere before……. Yeah, strange, kind of weird. And then it came to me; it looked just like the menu from the now defunct Hao Vi. So of course the first thing I did when I got home take a look at my Hao Vi post. Take a look and tell me what you think.

If I had any doubt in my mind; that was erased when the Hu Tieu Nam Vang ("kho" – dry – $6.50) arrived…..

It was the soup that sold me…instead of a leg bone, it was a couple of ribs. The soup was just like Hao Vi's porky, with a slight sweetness from the MSG.

The Hu Tieu was a bit overcooked and mushy, though it was nicely seasoned….the rest was routine, shrimp tough, ditto the pork, though that chicken was nice. The portion size a on the smaller size, but perfect for breakfast. I think the version at Ly Heng while being on the salty side is better and cheaper.

I did decide to return the next morning since the Missus was sleeping. This time I got the Beef Sate Egg Noodle "dry" ($6.50).

Again the noodles were on the overcooked side. This was pretty spicy though. The sate sauce was quite strong, it obviously wasn't diluted down, but it had a powdery texture to it. The beef was nice and tender. It was fine, but it won't make me forget the version at Minh Ky.

In regards to Hao Vi; the nice woman working here seemed not to understand when I asked. That's ok, I'll find out one of these days. Really nice folks here….. I'll drop by again in a couple of months. I like that they open at 8am; it does give me another option for breakfast in the area.

Asian Noodle House
4595 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92115

Sunday Sandwiches: Revisits to Pacific Time and Monkey Paw

September 6, 2015 mmm-yoso Cheesesteaks, Gastropub, Sandwiches

**** Both Pacific Time and Monkey Paw have closed

A couple of revisits for a nice leisurely long weekend.

Pacific Time:

I took the Missus and did a "drive-by" of Pacific Time when we were on our way to TJ's in MV. And was pleased to see that they had expanded their hours. So we decided to drop in.

It looks like the shelves are starting to be filled, there's a menu of cheese and charcuterie plates to go along with selections from the beer and wine bar.

They also now have a fairly decent selection of beer as well.

I enjoy chatting with the Cheese Guy here…he's so friendly, approachable, and quick with the samples. On this day we bought a couple, with Andante Dairy's Tomme Dolce being the crown jewel. It is a heck of a nice aged goat cheese.

As for the breads….well, it's that "Bread and Cie" thing….much too chewy and hard, but I do love the breads toasted.

I've also been dropping by for a sandwich now and then. My favorite previous visits is still the Spicy Italian ($9). Like I said, the bread that PT produces does real well toasted, when it gets crunchy and crusty.

Again, I loved the proportion, and that spicy capicola really drives the sandwich.

A few days later I ordered the Veggie Delight ($7). And while I ordered it on a baguette, I had vapor lock and forgot to tell them to add garlic aioli and press the sandwich.

While I like the combination; I still think it lacks zip and having the baguette untoasted made it a bit too chewy for me. It was basically a tug of war with each bite. I'll remember how I want this next time.

Really nice folks; it's good to see their business improving.

Pacific Time
5277 Linda Vista Rd
San Diego, CA 92110

Monkey Paw:

To regurgitate a passage from a post back in 2005:

" Almost a decade (now two decades) ago I had a conference in Philly, so of course I had to try a cheesesteak. A friend of mine took me to two famous stands, Pat's and Geno's both with a huge line and you had to kinda know "the rules", that is, how to order your steak, or you really got a hard time. Well I had this Cheese Whiz thing twice, nice, hot, and gooey, with the faintest hint of beef. And I thought, "what's the big deal"? But a funny thing happened; about two days later, I'm still in Philly, and for some strange reason I'm craving a cheesesteak. Now I've only had this once in my entire life, why the heck am I craving it? I ended up getting a cheesesteak in downtown Philly; wasn't much good, and it pretty much killed that craving. Until a day later, when I had a cheesesteak in Reading Terminal Market, this time with provolone, and I found my "cheesesteak". I'm convinced that there's somethin' in the cheesesteak; some insidious ingredient that after a short gestation causes an extreme craving for another cheese steak sandwich."

So…it was time for another cheesesteak and since it was a nice and rather balmy afternoon, a good craft brew sounded good as well. So I headed back to Monkey Paw. And got the Blairsteak, I'm just not a whiz kind of guy, plus you gotta remember, Pat's who claims to have invented the cheesesteaks did so in 1933…..taking the Whiz wasn't done after 1953, when it was invented.

First thing I noticed was…well, the price…was it always $13.75? Oh well, I wanted, nay needed, my fix.

Second thing, those really lousy waffle-cut fries were gone. Replaced by crisp, thin cut fries, perhaps bit too salty, but really nice with a dash of malt vinegar….and the good thing? They kept crisp the whole time.

As for the sandwich…well, the roll was perfect, I love that little gritty finish of the Amoroso. The flavors were all in line, from the mildly milky cheese to the beef, to the pyrazinic flavor of the green bell peppers. The cheese was gooey, though the beef was a bit drier than I usually like.

Still, it was just what I needed and now I can go another 8-9 months without one. Hmmm, this should have been one of those "What's My Craving" posts…..

Monkey Paw
805 16th St
San Diego, CA 92101

Saturday Stuffs: Coming Soon – Char House and Green China Grill and One I Missed – Izakaya 52

September 5, 2015 mmm-yoso Hokkaido, Japan, Travel

I drive up and down Convoy and the street of Kearny Mesa almost daily. And have noticed quite a few changes recently. Here's a few…..

Char House – Saigon Grill & Pho:

Right on Balboa just west of Convoy, across from Car Max.

7765 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92111

Green China Grill:

In the same strip mall as Spicy City, Xi'an Kitchen, and China Max.

4688 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

And one I Missed – Izakaya 52:

Not quite sure about this one…… "Fusion Izakaya"?

It's been quite a revolving door since the place was Wal Mi Do.

Anyone been?

4367 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Bruges: Bistro den Huzaar

September 4, 2015 mmm-yoso Belgian Cuisine and Restaurants, Belgium, Travel

After lunch and doing a bit of chocolate shopping, the Missus decided that we needed to "stretch our legs a bit". So we headed in the direct opposite direction of the dwindling tourist crowd and followed the canals.

It seems that folks were heading for warmer and drier locales….even the horses!

Away from the crowds we could really enjoy the beauty of Bruges. Full of little quaint little streets, stately structures, canals, and wonderful churches, I could see why folks are charmed by the city.

We did find a spot we really enjoyed in Bruges, Burg Square. We'd have a seat on one of the benches in the park opposite the square and watch folks come and go. The buildings here are quite striking from the City Hall to the Basilica of the Holy Blood.

You almost get transported in time when a house drawn buggy passes in front of the gold gilded Old Recorders House.

Only to be jolted out of your day dreaming by the honking horn of a tour bus…….

Yet we really enjoyed just sitting here admiring the structures…like the City Hall Building.

The canal shots are wonderful. Like this one with the Church of Our Lady in the background.

We returned to out room, took a nice warm shower and had our ritual nap for the day.

After waking, we decided to head out to a Beer Bar that was recommended to us; t'Brugs Beertje. Unfortunately, they had just changed their hours and would be closed during our stay in Bruges.

We also found out first hand how difficult it was finding a dinner spot without reservations. Luckily we had one for the next night….but on this evening we were on our own and every spot on my list was booked solid. So, I decided on a place I'd read about serving good, unpretentious (although you could use that term for all of Belgium), hearty meals, named Bistro den Huzaar.

The place was rather cozy, perhaps the tables were a bit close together, but the folks here were quite friendly.

We ordered and some bread, herb butter, and a jar of pate was placed on the table.

The pate tasted a bit different; not overly livery, but it had a definite gamey flavor to it. I asked and was told this was Rabbit Pate….which made sense. A friend of mine told me that rabbit pate tasted faintly like urine….having never chugged "Cowboy Beer" I'll have to take is word on it.

Speaking of beer, well, this was Belgium so it made sense to have some with dinner.

The Missus ordered the Duck Confit which came with some bacon, salad, and potatoes.

It was rather non-descript. Not bad mind you, but roasted instead of seared off with crisp skin. Decent flavor and all that. What really surprised us was when a second bowl was delivered to the table…with another whole duck leg in it! So I guess you get two duck legs when you order the confit here.

I got the Lamb Stew, which was nicely flavored, good tomato, though not as rich as I would have enjoyed.

The flavor of the lamb was quite strong, which I enjoyed, though it was also on the tough side. Like the Missus, I was brought a bowl with more lamb stew in it…..

Bruges as a whole was more expensive than any other city we visited in Belgium…probably due to the amount of tourists. But at Bistro den Huzaar; you really couldn't complain about not getting enough to eat.

Bistro Den Huzaar
Vlamingstraat 36
Bruges, Belgium

We basically rolled out of the restaurant and headed back to our room to recover……

It’s Back to the Routine – Tiger! Tiger! and Toronado

September 3, 2015 mmm-yoso Beer, Gastropub, Pubs and Pub Grub, Salads

**** Both Tiger! Tiger! and Toronado have closed

I'm not quite sure why it took so long…..check that; I do know why it took so long to get back into a nice routine after our trip back in May/June. We ate so well that coming back was kind of a let down. But it seems like we've finally gotten back into a routine and Tiger Tiger and Toronado have again taken their spots in our rotation.

In terms of the beer selection Toronado is a favorite of ours.

I really enjoy Belgian's and they always have La Chouffe and a couple of dubbels/tripels so I can get my fix. Or perhaps a Pliney the Elder. The Missus can always find something She enjoys like a nice Flanders Red, a sour, or even like the 21st Amendment Hell or High Watermelon (you can now get cans at TJ's) which she loved.

But for some strange reason, She enjoys the jukebox here as well. It took a bit of time, but it's become a favorite of Hers.

Personally…I just want to see what's posted on the (e)ATM(e)…..

Toronado
4026 30th St
San Diego, CA 92104

Tiger! Tiger!:

Well, I pretty much covered it before, so this will be mostly photos.

The first time we had the chilled melon soup, it was fantastic.

It was during the recent hot and muggy weather…..this was so refreshing. While follow-up visits weren't as good, it was still quite nice.

The Octopus Sandwich sounded interesting, but we didn't enjoy the bread and it was way over-dressed.

But the octopus was really nicely prepared, soft and tender and full of flavor. The next time around, I decided to order it without the bread and they served it as a salad. It was delicious.

Those pea shoots added so much texture and flavor. Unfortunately, we had this again recently and it was missing the pea shoot and the octopus was tough and rubbery….we didn't recognize the folks working in the kitchen, so I'm wondering if it was the 'B' crew?

One item that has been consistently good is a vegetarian offering (are you reading this KenB)….yes vegetarian. It's the Pickled Squash Sandwich. I know. It sounds odd. But take a look at this and tell me you don't want to eat it.

Some other stuffs…..

Like I said…..we've never really had the time to make it to the regular menu…..

Tiger! Tiger!
3025 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92104

Hope you're having a great week!

Tasty Noodle House – A First Look

September 2, 2015 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

I won't deny being pretty excited when I found out that a restaurant named Tasty Noodle House was taking the place of Yu's Garden. Could it be? THE Tasty Noodle House, home of my favorite Tianjin Baozi! I drove past on Monday and saw the Grand Opening sign was up, but the place wasn't open.

As luck would have it, the next day Lily, whom I hadn't seen in a while asked me if I had some time for lunch. So I mentioned checking this place out to see if they had opened yet…..it would be great to have someone fluent in Mandarin. Lucky us, they were open…their first day of business as a matter of fact. After this….my luck basically ran out.

Turns out that this isn't "that" Tasty Noodle House. Instead the menu here was basically Shanghai style dishes with a strange smattering of Sichuan. Well, in truth we could use a good Su Cai or Shanghai style place and the tea was nice….loose leaf, served in a coffee press.

I saw a favorite dish of mine; Wined (aka Drunken) Chicken on the menu. Unfortunately, the dish wasn't available. Since we still weren't quite sure what the exact compass of the cuisine here was, we went with the pig ear and tripe "ma-la" (numbing hot).

This was nice and crisp, a bit too much sesame oil, but ok. This wasn't what I would consider Sichuan….. it was "ma" as in there was a slight tingle and very little "la" (spicy). This kind of reminded me of how (Beijing) Spicy (less) City was when we moved to San Diego in 2001…..a regional (non-Sichuan) representation of Sichuan food.

Of course we had to try the Pork Xiao Long Bao.

I can forgive the two XLB leaking malfunctions – you can see on the paper liner the "leakers", after all this was opening day. The wrapper was on the thick side, which would be ok if they had enough of a "pull", but these were too hard. There was not enough soup, though I thought the flavor was pretty much by the book for XLB. Not too sweet and the filling was tender enough.

The pork in the Hong Shao Rou (red braised pork – $10.99) was a bit under cooked, though I do love my bean curd skin.

And as you can tell by the lack of the red lacquer color, the flavor was a bit too mild for my taste. It wasn't bad; it just wasn't Hong Shao Rou as I like it.

Still, the folks here were very, very nice. As you can see, the portion sizes were good……though as is the norm with regards to Chinese food here in San Diego, it's more about quantity than quality.

I also did learn one thing, the XLB and Sheng Jian Bao take at least 20 minutes here.

Being that I wanted to try the place one more time before doing a post, I returned. As soon as I entered the door I ordered the SJB.

And the Drunken Chicken ($6.99) of course. This time they had it. The portion size was quite large and it was much more meat than bones.

The wine flavor was quite strong, which, while not everyone's cup of tea, I like. The chicken was meaty, though a tad over-cooked and while it was on the salty side I kind of liked it. For me, it was the best item I had here.

About a good 20 minutes later; out came the SJB.

Something must have gone awry during the cooking of these as the dough was gummy and rubbery. There was also too much oil brushed on these making adding a layer of greasiness. To add insult to injury, these were also somewhat burnt and the bottoms bitter. The filling was too mild in flavor as well. Look at the poor deflated looking baozi at the ends….

You know, for now, since they just opened, and the folks look like they're trying hard I'll give them a pass. I'll return in a couple of months and see how things are doing then.

Tasty Noodle House
4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Suzy Q’s Diner (Escondido)

September 1, 2015 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for stopping by to read mmm-yoso!!! Cathy is writing a short post today. Kirk got caught up in something at work and Ed(from Yuma) is also crazy busy.

I somehow was on one of the one way streets in Escondido earlier this year, took a turn to try to find my way back to some sort of familiar landmark and was stopped at the signal light on Juniper at East 2nd and noticed this building. Eventually, I brought The Mister here, so we could try out the food. This definitely is an original building spanning the block. Now it is broken into separate storefronts: Suzy Q's, a small Mexican Restaurant, a Mexican Bakery (Panaderia Oaxaqueña) as well as a Laundromat. I couldn't research what it used to be, but did discover that Suzy Q's has been open since January and is family owned.The decor is 50's style with corresponding music being played overhead. The menu is kind of kitschy, with some silly names for items (the Jed Clampett omelet, Patsy Cline, Jailhouse Rock, Milton Berle, Ricky Ricardo, Mickey Rooney, Dean Martin, Patty Page…then again, these names may not mean anything to you. I digress)

I had low expectations, which were quickly dashed.Monte Cristo (chalkboard special, so no silly name) ($11.49). Wow, this was great. A ham and cheese sandwich on a hearty white bread, dipped in egg and fried, like French Toast, topped with some powdered sugar and served with some great blackberry preserves, fruit and a spinach salad. Quality, thick ham, quality cheese…really great.This is the 'Bye Bye Birdie' ($7.99). Holes cut into two thick pieces of white toast, an egg dropped into the hole and cooked to my request (easy); all of it topped with a really great sausage gravy. Served with Country Potatoes, and either bacon or sausage, this was another winner. A great meal. So glad I took the wrong turn and discovered this gem.

Suzy Q's Diner 258 E. 2nd (at Juniper) Escondido 92025 Closed Mondays. Open Tues-Thurs 7-3, Fri 9-9, Sat-Sun 7-3