April 2016 – Page 3

Roadtrip to the Old Neighborhood: L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, Tokyo Central, and Other “Stuffs” (Rowland/Hacienda Heights – West Covina)

April 9, 2016 mmm-yoso Loco Mocos, Los Angeles County, Markets & Grocers, Plate Lunch, Road Trip

A few weeks back, I had to head on up to the City of Industry to take care of some business. Because of the Missus work schedule, this was a rare solo trip….in fact, we haven't found much time to head back up to the LA or even the OC very much in the last couple of years as things have been quite busy for us. After taking care of business, I needed to grab a bite to eat. My first thought was the rather new location of Chengdu Taste in Hong Kong Plaza….but man, there was a line outside the place. So I thought about doing what had been brewing in "mi cabeza" for several years. While we lived in the Rowland/Hacienda Heights area for several years, I had never really taken to the place, that is, I never felt that "this is my home". Honolulu is where I'm from and will always be "home". I now feel that San Diego is my home. For some reason, I never felt "at home" in LA, though I have some fond memories of the place, it's where I met the Missus, (well, not really as it was on a flight, She on Her way back to LA, me headed to Fort Smith Arkansas) where we got married and initially settled down.

Anyway, I decided to head to Puente Hills Mall.

Yes, strange, I know. One of the really funny things was; the first time I passed Puente Hills Mall was at night and I instantly recognized it….it was Lone Pine Mall in Back to the Future…that Robinson's May was still there back then. These days, the mall seems even more run down and seedy than it did then. Especially the Food Court.

The Missus sent me a text asking me where I was eating. When I told Her She replied "WHAT! You can do better than that!" Which is totally true. And yet, there's a story behind this. You see, the first L&L Hawaiian Barbecue outside of Hawaii opened in this mall. No big deal now….but for an ex-pat Kama'aina back in 1999-2000 it meant a lot. Back then, L&L served up a decent plate lunch……. And for a homesick local boy, it was just down the street. So now, all these years later, I decided to see what was going on here.

**** This location of L&L has closed

Back when they first opened here, I knew the owners….I wish I could remember their names, but they really worked hard to keep up the quality. I don't think they own the place anymore. It looks a bit run down….but so does the entire food court. I decided to go with a mini locomoco. This was actually the first one of the year!

There were two things positive about this loco; the egg which was nicely sunny-side up and the mac salad, which wasn't messed with too much; had the perfect amount of mayo and was ice cold. Other than that, this wasn't very good. The gravy was pasty and had no flavor, the rice was dry, some of which was hard. Worse of all was the train wreck called a hamburger patty, which was some leathery substance that I took a bite of, then put to the side. Also….no Tabasco…..

If I recall, in his spiel; Eddie Flores talks about franchisees having to come to Hawaii to learn about food prep and the "Aloha Spirit". Maybe they do….but it looks like it's forgotten about fairly quickly. I don't think there's any quality control, nor standards of service as I was treated like that hamburger patty. In some ways this was good. I now have closure and have no reason ever to return.

L&L Hawaiian Barbecue
1600 S Azusa Avenue
City of Industry, CA 91748

This visit had me wondering, what happened to some of those places we always used to visit when we lived here. We know about places like Chicken Box, Hong Kong Fishball House, Donut King, Yi Mei Deli, Shau Mei, and TS Emporium. But there were others I had in mind, so I decided to take a trip to some of the more obscure places. I did notice that the old Albertson's is now 168 Market…..which means that there isn't a "western" supermarket in this strip of Colima Road! Taiwan Deli is still there, but it looks like the menu is some pseudo Taiwanese-Sichuan mash-up?

It was nice to see Hacienda Village Meats is still there….we used to stop by for various meats and the Missus loved the variety of Italian drinks/sodas. In the same strip mall is what used to be the Missus favorite dried beef stop, which is still there.

I then set off to check out Marukai in West Covina, only to find it was now something called Tokyo Central.

And while I understand that Tokyo Central performs under the same umbrella as Marukai, that is, now owned by Don Quijote, this was quite a shock.

Much of the store looked the same, except for the huge prepared food area, which kind of reminded me of Todai for some reason…..

There was some kind of anniversary thing going on this day….the crowd in the fish department was quite large…..

There was even a "Ninja" in attendance…….though I think just the fact I could easily find him might make him lose his membership?

I understand that Marukai is doing away with memberships this year….though it seems that Tokyo Central has memberships for discounts. Is this the future?

1420 S Azusa Avenue
West Covina, CA 91791

Revisits: 777 Noodle House and Island Style Cafe

April 8, 2016 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego, Loco Mocos, Plate Lunch

It's winter in April! At least that's what it felt like last night. A couple more revisits for your consideration.

777 Noodle House:

Another weekend, another list to take of. And another stop for a noodle soup breakfast. It seems like I drop by here every couple of months. And while Ly Heng surely tops this place in terms of Pho/Hu Tieu Nam Vang, I still like the folks working here. They are so nice and friendly…..they still call me "sir" after all these years. Looking at the dining room it struck me that 777 is just one of those places that looked worn since the day they opened.

On this day, I had my sights set on the Pork Intestine Egg Noodle Soup. Strange, but I think it's gotten better over the years, at least I believe better than the first time I had it. Or perhaps my tastes have changed. The noodles were perfect on this day a wonderful counter point to the blanched bean sprouts. The broth wasn't too salty, slightly porky, and had taken on some of the flavor from the intestine.

I've called 777 Noodle House "my neighborhood noodle shop, even though I don’t work, or live, remotely close to City Heights" and it's still true to this day. It reminds me of the neighborhood saimin shops that I grew up with.

777 Noodle House
4686 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92105

Island Style Café:

**** Island Style Cafe has moved to Santee

So I got in my loco moco fix. It kind of happened by accident. I was going to lunch with Calvin and Deanna…..due to the rainy weather, pho sounded like a good choice….but they wanted "something different". It really doesn't get much different, even in terms of loco moco's, than the Kaloko Moco.

I thought this was better than the one I had last time, though the easy over eggs were style a bit over cooked. The crepe is such an oddity, but it just goes well with this loco……. The burger was better than what I had before and the gravy wasn't too salty…and heck; there's even some veggies! Check out the carrots! Ha!

Deanna, who is from the Midwest really wasn't ready for this, so she got the teri beef and Korean chicken….she loved the mac salad here, so maybe there's hope for her.

Island Style Cafe
5950 Santo Road
San Diego, CA 92124

Granada: The Albayzin, San Nicolas Church, and Bar Alaiatar Los Caracoles

April 7, 2016 mmm-yoso Granada, Spain, Spanish Restaurants and Cuisine, Travel

Finishing dinner at almost 11pm does take a bit out of you. The following morning we weren't that early to rise. After some much needed coffee, we headed out. This was supposed to be an "easy" day. The Missus wanted to check out the famous Moorish Quarter, the Albayzin, full of twisting lanes, history, and some of the best views of Granada to boot.

There were maps of course, but we just started heading up, up, and up. There is a bus which circles the Albayzin….but you know; this is the Missus…we walked.

We arrived at a nice little café, named Café 4 Gatos and stopped for a "un café Americano". Really nice folks and a great place to stop.

You can even see the Alcazaba from here.

And take in some of the local flavor, in the form of our four legged furry friends.

Yes, the streets are narrow and winding and the walk rather steep….I wouldn't want to be running around here during a good rain. But reading the section about the Albayzin in Rick Steves book makes this sound much more difficult than it is.

In spite of not using the map, we ended up where everyone wants to be when they visit the Moorish Quarter; the Mirador San Nicolas with it's beautiful view. It would be quite a romantic stop if not for all the folks sharing the view. Though it wasn't as busy as other photos I've seen.

And to be honest, there is quite an interesting vibe to the place. Checking out the priceless view……

Listening to the Gypsy musicians…….

For an even better, and in this case more romantic experience, go into the Iglesia de San Nicolas.

Pay your 5 Euros a piece and head on up into the bell tower. If you're lucky, you'll be the only folks in the tiny bell tower, feeling a million miles away from the people below. And you'll be rewarded with even more wonderful views.

Of Granada………

And Sacromonte; the "Roma" (Gypsy) Quarter.

If you want some refreshment, there are a couple of cafes. One is right on the street below the mirador, where you can grab a drink, sit, and enjoy the view. Another is right around from the church.

After spending a good amount of time enjoying the views the Missus wanted to do more exploring, so we set out heading downhill, until we came to a pretty little plaza.

The plaza was surrounded by restaurants and I broke out laughing when I saw this place; Los Caracoles. It was the place I had marked on my map for lunch!

It was still before opening time; so the Missus and I wandered around the area, stopping in some of the small shops down Cuesta del Chapiz, doing a bit of people watching.

Then heading back up and taking a break in front of Colegiata del Salvador, a huge church that stands on the site of what was the city's main mosque during the reign of the Moors.

We relaxed for a bit than headed across the street just past noon for lunch at Los Caracoles. Even if you spoke no Spanish (or even Portuguese) and didn't understand what caracoles were; you'd know what the specialty of the house was as soon as you stepped into the place.

The woman working here was so warm and friendly, always there with a smile. We were the only folks with a table for almost our entire meal.

We saw folks, mostly older, local, and rather thirsty, buzz in and out during our meal. They came for a glass of wine or beer and a tapa…..

The Missus had a very nice red….I choose a cerveza….

While we pondered over what to order……which was kind of obvious, right?

We placed our order, then the tapa arrived, free with our drinks…..holy smokes…..it was pretty large, pan fried pork on toast. with a nice garlic olive oil brushed on it. No wonder the locals come here!

The Missus decided that She wanted the Habas con Jamon….I watched the cook slice off three slices off the pata for this dish, which was quite substantial.

The Missus loves Her eggs so it was a double bonus. Nicely flavored peppery olive oil; almost a hint of citrus, the thicker slices of jamon really added all the saltiness the dish needed.

We had initially said that we didn't need any bread…but c'mon……you needed bread…even if it was in the shape of a snail.

Especially when your next dish is a very garlicky and grassy-peppery (from the olive oil) Gambas al Ajillo. I really don't think I need to write anything more about this dish.

Do I?

And of course…..

Probably the most tender snails I've ever had as the texture was like perfectly prepared beef tendon, buttery and tender, with just the slight amount of toothsomeness to finish. The flavor was quite plain and the Missus had problems with the rather earthy flavors of the snails. I just dunked them in the sauce left over from the shrimp! Luckily, this was a media racione (a half portion).

Meanwhile, a trickle of locals kept dropping in; having a drink, a tapa, then moving on….I'd like to know where they were going! Except for one really needy American couple….good lord, do you really have all those food sensitivities? Then what the heck are you doing at a snail restaurant? I really don't want to know your business nor your opinions….just chill.

I'd love to return to Los Caracoles. The folks here are warm and friendly. I'd come for a couple of drinks and some of those tapas; or maybe some callos (tripe stew) or rabo de toro (oxtail).

Bar Aliatar Los Caracoles
Plaza Aliatar 4
Granada, Spain

I thought we'd be headed back to Plaza Nueva via Cuesta del Chapiz, but the Missus wanted to head back to Mirador San Nicolas, for yet another dose of the wonderful view.

And I don't blame Her. Life is short. Who knows what tomorrow may bring. We should enjoy the moment!

Dim Sum at Emerald

April 6, 2016 ed fromyuma Chinese Restaurants, Dim Sum, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Tina and Ed (from Yuma) just spent a weekend in wonderful San Diego. We came, we saw, and we ate. Thus, this post at mmm-yoso!!! Tomorrow, Kirk or Cathy will be blogging this blog. Stay Tuned.

Sunday morning Tina and I got together for dim sum with her college friend, CF, who moved to San Diego a few years ago. Dim sum – where in San Diego? Kirk doesn't seem to eat dim sum here anymore, so this blog wasn't much help, but I did see that Emerald had been remodeled and had switched over to menu ordering. Thus, this picture to start the post:

The interior has been extensively remodeled:

When we sat down, we were given a picture menu of the items available, and a long two-sided checklist. I felt like we were voting, not choosing brunch. After the order had been processed, the ballot with a printed list attached was returned to the table:

The system seemed to work well and the dishes arrived one or two at a time, not all at once. When we decided we were still hungry we were able to add more.

The dried shrimp rice rolls were my least favorite item:

There was very little dried shrimp flavor and the noodles, which should be the focal point, were overcooked and too soft. The Chinese broccoli was a nice touch.

We all enjoyed the steamed pork ribs with black beans, but they were generic with nothing about them special:

The barbecued pork tarts were new to me. Slightly bland so hot mustard really perked them up. Their pastry exterior had a pleasant soft crunch though I would've liked more filling:

The seafood dumplings were good with a large shrimp inside. The wrappers were thin and perfectly prepared:

Baked barbecue pork buns are an old favorite of mine, slightly sweet and done well here I thought. More bbq pork than in the tarts:

And we all loved the squid in five spices:

This has been one of my favorites at Emerald for many years. Smaller portion now, but classier presentation. The tentacles are pleasantly crunchy/chewy and a little salty. Now served with two sauces –spicy ketchup and hoisin:

We decided that the little sea-critters tasted best with a touch of each sauce together, kind of a yin yang thing.

Truly amazing to us were the pan fried leek buns:

Fresh vegetable flavors intense inside a nice thin wrapper:

The last item we ordered was another favorite, steamed bean curd roll with meat:

These wrinkly rolls proved that looks can be deceiving. Ugly outside, beautifully meaty within. A good conclusion to the meal.

As Kirk will attest, I'm nowhere near knowledgeable about dim sum (and Chinese food in general). But for my palate this was pretty solid. Certainly better than a lot of dim sum I have eaten over the years. The ordering system works well. When I needed to get someone's attention, I could get it.

While I do miss the Cantonese chaos of carts and cart ladies, I prefer a menu card system. Sometimes back in the day, we'd never see the squid. Sometimes the cart ladies didn't show me the interesting stuff, “you no like.” And sometimes the carts would arrive in the middle of conversations that got lost while we chose shu mai or har gow or turnip cake. Also the menu helps things show up fresh – sometimes even too hot to handle.

Online, some people object to being charged for tea and some thought the prices at the remodeled Emerald too high. You can judge for yourself:

While your results may differ, we left Emerald feeling happy and well fed.

Seoul: Gul Bossam Alley and Samhae Jip

April 5, 2016 mmm-yoso Korea, Korean Restaurants, Seoul, Travel

There was steady drizzle as we headed back to Myeongdong.

We had begun to notice something about the crosswalk signals in Seoul…..they seemed to take an inordinately long time to change. Miss a walk signal and you're stuck cooling your heels. Which is probably why you'll see folks sprinting to make the walk signal….I mean like 80 year old grandma's hauling it to the crosswalk!

So why did we head back to that beast called Lotte Department Store?

Well, the night before I stopped by 7-11 and picked up a bottle of Hite. attached to that bottle was a sample of honey-butter almonds…..which the Missus loved. So of course we had to hunt them down. After looking in a couple of convenience stores we decided just to head to Lotte and check out the market in the basement. And whaddya know? Almonds. So it was mission accomplished.

We headed back to the apartment for a short siesta. During this time of the year, night falls like a hammer in Seoul…it gets dark by 430pm! We were also quite hungry. Seoul is famous for their "Food Alleys". Near the Jong-no 3ga station is an alley that specializes in Gul Bossam; pork and fresh oysters wrapped in lettuce or napa cabbage…… No need to ask me twice, I'm there!

The instructions were, find exit 15 of Jong-no 3ga station and walk 20 meters down the street, take your first left down the alley to your left, then take your first right. One of the shops, Samhae Jip was the one I read about the most. I had a photo of the storefront and the Missus could read the Chinese characters. It really wasn't that hard to find….you just looked for the line!

And all the pork simmering away……

We really lucked out as all the other parties were large and we quickly snagged a small table for two. I was also quite lucky to not have to do endure the floor seating, which, if you've read some of my previous posts is a disaster waiting to happen. The possibility of me falling over and spilling hot soup on folks is not a pretty thought, though folks here were having no problem.

Lot's of folks seemed to be having a good time….and many had what we call the "Asian gene" thing going on! Half the fun was people watching. The three guys to our far left were just plain wasted….they were slapping each other….then feeding each other! On our table to our left, we noticed the girl there only eating panchan and lettuce, while her boyfriend/husband just plowed through the pork, something we had also noticed the night before.

The smells in the place were just intoxicating! All the standard sides and panchan arrived; bean paste, fermented baby shrimp, the raw garlic, a couple of chilies, ssamjang, kkandugi (radish kimchi), Sukju Namul.

The wrapping was done with either lettuce or napa cabbage. The Missus preferred the lettuce; I preferred the sturdy cabbage, which I thought kept everything together better and had MCPB – More Crunch Per Bite.

Soju is required for this type of eating….at least that's what we were told.

The Missus's favorite item was the gamjatang, the pork bone soup. It was fairly chilly and damp, so the Missus who loves Her bone soup had problem plowing through almost the entire pot! It was quite tasty. The Missus has also developed a taste for the perilla seeds.

This was a load of food for 20,000₩, about $18 US! This was for two people! I was kind of leery about the oysters, but while not great in flavor, it had a nice texture, and was fresh. The fresh radish kimchi was really good as well. The pork….well, as you can see…..it was moist, pretty tender, mild in flavor. And those fermented shrimp tasted really good!

The folks here were pretty friendly. And dinner was a bargain at 30,000₩, about $26 for food and drinks.

It might be hard finding this place….well not really if you follow the "exit 15 – take a left – take a right". It's worth the effort to check it out.

Samhae Jip – Gul Bossam Alley

We headed back out to Jong-ro. The rain had subsided and the temperature was going down.

As we watched the businessmen stagger down the side streets…..

Feeling fat and happy……

Thanks for reading!

City Tacos

April 4, 2016 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

Over the last year, I went ahead and checked out several of our "hipster" taco shops. I've already posted on ¡Salud! and will probably get around to the rest eventually. Of these taco shops, the only one I took the Missus to was City Tacos; I think Salud has better tortillas, Perla is definitely tops in the salsa department, but I think City Tacos, which I recall first hearing about from Candice and then "CC" was the overall best of the lot. It's a small, cramped space, you order at the counter, pay, are given a placard with a number…..

The salsa bar is nice in that they encourage you to try the various salsas, though not quite inspiring on jicama first. I usually just go for the rojo, though there's one that's basically chili oil…..the Missus, She needs no salsa for the tacos She enjoys.

What's quite fascinating is that the Missus treats City Tacos as an alternative to Tiger! Tiger! when She wants to grab a beer at Toronado. So I'll let you know what the Missus enjoys here first.

Numero Uno would be the Puerco Agri Dulce….basically chunks of pork tenderloin with pineapple.

Disregarding the rather strange fried noodle thingy; which I guess is added for texture, the Missus loves the "sweet-sour" flavors of this taco. It's one of Her favorites. The tortilla on this is perfect as it just adds a bit of "breadiness".

As is the Chorizo Asado, which to me is pretty plain, but the Missus loves Her chorizo and also the milkiness of the cheese.

Number three, which could have easily have been numero uno (for the Missus, not me) is the Portobello con Vegetales.

The main reason is that we've never had it the same way twice…..once there wasn't any greens on it, the next time it was amazingly good (photo above), the cheese had been griddled to a wonderful crispy texture, the next time it was just melted. Personally, I'm not sold on veggie tacos, but give me something with that cheese crisp from the comal with black beans and corn….

I usually order the "Borrego", though those tacos have wildly varied as well.

I once got it ice cold, the last time I ordered it, there were some delicious fried veggies on top. The lamb is very tasty….I just wish for some consistency.

We also like the Carnitas when they have it.

Nicely porky….In spite of questioning the addition of mangos to this……it was tasty, even with the Missus's edict of "no salsa". The corn tortilla was perfect for this.

As a whole, we're not big fans of the seafood offerings here; I had the tacos de pescado (no photo) which was really fishy and not very tasty. The El Especial really wasn't much better.

Tough and rubbery octopus and squid, overly fishy flavors, just didn't do it for us.

The Mahi Adobo wasn't much more pleasant either….

It could be that in a "previous life" I had to deal with a ton of Mahimahi and understand how quickly it "sours"……but to me, this was too fishy and "sour". You can easily get a good tacos de marlyn from a Mariscos truck that would be much better than this.

Overall, we've figured out what we (the Missus) enjoys from City Tacos and it's a nice stop for us in the area when the Missus is craving some tacos. One of the women who work here is very nice. We've even taken the tacos to go….they put them in a pastry box, you know, like when you order a dozen donuts, and ate them at Poseidon.

City Tacos
3028 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92104

Spotted Cow Viet Kitchen Revisited

April 3, 2016 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Spotted Cow has closed

Spotted Cow Viet Kitchen:

I'd had a really good bowl of Bo Kho from Pho Lucky while doing my errands for the Missus. The following weekend, I had to get something from Zion Market and was hungry. Spotted Cow opens early, it had been a while since my last visit so I thought I'd grab a bowl of the Pho Bo Kho, which was the the best thing I had during my previous visits to Spotted Cow. The drill ended up being kind of strange; I ordered, the gentleman then went to the back of the shop and carried a Styrofoam container to the kitchen area. He set the container down out of sight and about thirty seconds later I heard a "ding"….sure sounded like a microwave to me. Meanwhile, my noodles were heated fresh in front of me, the contents of the container were poured into a bowl and additional broth added. I guess they don't sell enough beef stew?

I thought this was a rather odd bowl of Pho Bo Kho. The broth was barely past lukewarm. In fact this is the first time I can ever remember having a bowl of noodle soup where the noodles were actually hotter than the broth! The broth was very mild, in need of a bit more anise tones and beefiness in my opinion. At least it wasn't too salty. The carrots were nicely done, very tender. Cilantro and onions are quite important to the bowl in my opinion….adding an additional pungency to cut the richness and in the case of the cilantro, that extra anise and almost citrus like tones of cilantro (nope, I don't have olfactory receptor genes OR6A2) really add to the flavor.

As you can see…..I think it's the cost-cutting trend these days, barely any bean sprouts and basil.

The meat was provided in nice squared off chunks. It had probably been cooked separately ahead of time, not a bad thing, then chopped into chunks for serving. It was not bad….though I was looking for some tendon, which I love with my Bo Kho, but none was to be had.

The noodles, the thinner type of Banh Pho, was perfect in texture……there was a huge amount of noodles in the bowl.

But noodles are but one component of Pho Bo Kho. I'm kind of on the fence about this one; the broth was a bit too mild and the temperature was off…..it was kind of made "not to offend", not something I enjoy when having a meal.

Spotted Cow Viet Kitchen (in the Zion Market Food Court)
7655 Clairemont Mesa Blvd

Bordeaux: Marche des Capucins, Fournil des Capucins, Église Sainte-Croix, and Jardin Public

April 2, 2016 mmm-yoso Bakery, Bordeaux, Cheese, France, Markets & Grocers, Travel

The sun rose early and brightly on our first full day in Bordeaux. Even though we had arrived mid-morning we had still put in quite a few kilometers before deciding to call it a day. We would end up putting in some mileage on this day as well.

I had a destination in mind and we decided to just meander our way to our objective; one of the benefits of independent travel. The sun was shining brightly on Place de la Bourse as we headed off into the district known as Saint-Pierre, considered the birthplace of the city. The narrow streets are lined with structures from the 18th century and lead, one way or another into a square. We quickly walked onto the cobblestone lined Place du Parlement, once the location of the Royal Market.

The centerpiece is a beautiful Neo-Rococo fountain.

Walking to Place Saint Pierre, one can't help but notice the haunting, Gothic styled, Eglise Saint-Pierre (Church of St. Peter), which dates back to the 14th and 15th century.

It really stands out as the square and street is lined with restaurants and cafes, the name of one of them made us laugh……everyone does need a "Plan B", right? Place du Plais leads right up to the Porte Cailhau.

According to what I later read; there was actually a palace located here, the Palais de l'Ombriere the residence of the Dukes of Aquitaine and later housed the Parliament of Bordeaux. I really loved the relief-map sculpture of Bordeaux located right behind the Porte Cailhau. I did a little research and found a blog post about François Didier who created this work.

Near the Porte Cailhau, I noticed this plaque, which started with a few questions before telling us the story of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Bordeaux claims (along with two other cities) to be the birthplace of Eleanor, who would become one of the most powerful women in the Europe and after getting her marriage to Louis VII annulled would marry the Duke of Normandy, eleven years her junior….Henry, the Duke of Normandy would become Henry II.

A bit further down the way, past the Pont de Pierre we came across the Basilique Saint Michel.

It took two centuries to build this Basilica; starting in 1350 and finishing sometime in the 16th century. Possibly even more impressive is the bell tower which, like Pey-Berland Tower which stands next to the Cathedral of Saint Andre, stands apart from the church. And in case you're wondering who has bragging rights; Fleche Saint Michel is the tallest tower in Sothern France, standing at 114 meters, Pey-Berland Tower is 50 meters tall. On this bright morning there was a lively flea market going on in the square next to the tower.

A few blocks away, we found another church; the Église Sainte-Croix (Church of the Holy Cross).

This used to be a Benedictine monastery and was built between the late 11th and 12th centuries.

One of the most well known features of this church is the Organ built by famous organ maker and Benedictine Monk, Dom Bédos de Celles, finished in 1748.

This was a major landmark for me, as I knew we had to take a left here and swing around to get to our destination, Marche des Capuchins.

I'd read much about this market before we arrived in Bordeaux, it seemed to be a favorite with locals, and you know how much we love visiting markets when we travel!

The market was established on October 2nd, 1749 at the urging of Marquis de Tourny. If you like to see some old photos and read (a translated) history of the market, you can do that here.

We had a gameplan of sorts, but all revolved around bread. I'd noticed a bakery right across the street from the market.

I could actually smell the wonderful scent of bread baking. I followed my nose and ended up at the back of the bakery. The bakers looked at us, smiled and waved us in…….so our first experience at Fournil des Capucins was walking past the ovens and bakers baking bread to the front of the shop.

This would end up being our favorite bakery……I later found out the place is open 24 hours a day! With a steady stream of fresh baguette. How could we not get a baguette and a couple of croissants?

The smell of good fresh baguette is intoxicating….we'd seen folks walking along carrying bread with a chunk off the end missing. Well, I guess it's instinctive, because as soon as we walked out of the bakery, the Missus just bit a chunk off the end of the bread! It is that good…..

Fournil des Capucins
62 Cours de la Marne
Bordeaux, France

The smell of bread had overcome us….we needed something to eat and perhaps some espresso. Right across the back of the bakery, in front of the main entrance to the market is this stand.

Which made a decent cup of espresso that went nicely with our croissant.

Then we ducked back into the market and bought some cheese. We found the farmers and vendors in Marche des Capuchins quite friendly, even though we stood out from the usual crowd. They seemed to go out of their way to help us. We ended up at this cheese stand.

And got some cheese….

Marché des Capucins
Place des Capucins
Bordeaux, France

We had fully intended to do a nice picnic and headed back to the apartment after doing a bit of window shopping on Cours de l’Intendance. Where we saw the ultimate way of entertaining a pup while his "dad" did some shopping in the store.

Just get him some rope and cord to keep him occupied!

We cut through Rue Voltaire and stopped at the Carrefour Market in Place des Grand Hommes. The Missus, laden down with bread and cheese gave me a simple directive…."get us some white wine" which was simple enough. What I wasn't ready for was the whole wall of white wines! Like over 50 different bottles…vintages…blends….I went with something rather local, with some reservation since it was 4,9€ – five bucks and change. The Missus was cracking up when I got out of the market….she'd seen the look on my face when I got to the wine department….analysis paralysis.

We headed up to Jardin Public, the large public garden and green space that was two blocks from our apartment. It's quite a lush and welcoming park.

The park was founded in 1746 in style of a French Garden. Napoleon III turned it into more of an English style park during his reign. There's a nice large pond, the Natural History Museum is located here, and there's even a Puppet Theatre.

Nice, but it was getting a bit too hot for us…so we headed back to the apartment and had a really nice "indoor picnic"……with the A/C on…..doesn't get much better than that!

With our cheese, bread, strawberries, and of course the wine….which was excellent, crisp, light, with a touch of sweet, and a balanced acidity…..

In fact, the Missus would have me go back for this very bottle of wine a couple more times during our stay in Bordeaux.

It's not always about eating out when we're travelling……when in Bordeaux, it was the cheese and wine….oh, and don't forget that baguette!

Bordeaux: Basilique Saint-Seurin, Baud et Millet, Porte Cailhau, Miroir d’eau, and a Return to Bar a Vin

April 1, 2016 mmm-yoso Bordeaux, Cheese, France, French Restaurants, Travel, Wine Bars/Wineries

It was a strange thing. We never got a great restaurant meal during our time in Bordeaux. But what we did get was, fabulous cheese, great wine, and a city with a wonderfully relaxed vibe….in some ways it was what I'd always thought France would be….folks polite and to the point, very honest, the wonderfully perfect posture of women, young and old riding bicycles, almost taken out of some movie set somewhere….. All wrapped up with the shopping and such.

We had headed down Cours de l’Intendance, the major upscale shopping street, taking time out to stop at the Church of Notre Dame (Eglise Notre-Dame). We ended up at the Basilique Saint-Seurin, which dates back to the Sixth Century. The current structure dates back to the Eleventh Century and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This is Bordeaux's oldest church.

There's a necropolis below the church which dates back to the Eleventh Century. The place is quite haunting…..

From here we decided to head back to Place des Quinconces. Along the way, there was a place I had marked for a lunch stop; Baud et Millet.

This little restaurant did basically one…make that two things; cheese and wine.

The décor is quite simple; a few tables on one side; crates of wine on the other. The menu is also simple various pairings, from the simple cheese and appetizer combinations; all the way up to all the cheese you want from the cellar for 32 Euros.

We took a simple combination of three cheese each paired with a glass of wine. The highlight of this was being able to go down into "la cave", the cheese room.

Where we got to see our cheese cut…..it did smell like they cut the cheese here…..

And yes, it smelt like we were lying at "the feet of angels……"

After this, lunch was sort of anti-climatic……..though we did have some memorable cheeses…..

The Selles sur Cher; the cheese coated with ash on the left; was so distinctively nutty and creamy…..

The Pithiviers au Foin, a very creamy raw cow's milk cheese (which I believe is not legal in the US) coated with hay was so earthy with strong mushroom tones. Also, you'll never taste brie in the US (because it's made from unpasteurized milk is also illegal to import) like the real deal in France. Bummer for us. This was served with a huge basket of bread and a bowl of simply dressed greens.

The young lady who served us was very sweet.

It was a nice introduction to French cheeses and was a good, light lunch. I'm not sure I'd do it again; especially if I'm staying in Bordeaux for more than a day or two and have a fridge. We did enjoy it though….

Baud et Millet
19 rue Huguerie
Bordeaux, France

Instead of continuing back to our apartment after lunch; the Missus decided to do some (thankfully only) window shopping on Cours de l’Intendance.

Right down the street, where the tram turns is the Cathedral of Saint Andre – Bordeaux Cathedral, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Right next to the Cathedral was something we found even more impressive – Pey-Berland Tower. There's an interesting story about this bell tower. It was built separate from the church (in the 15th century) so that the vibrations from the bells ringing would not harm or disturb the church. Unfortunately, after building such a grand tower, the church ran out of money….so no bells were installed in the tower….until 1851!

There are always mysterious statues in our travels. I often take statues photos without even knowing who the subject of the statue is….until I get home.

Jacques Chaban-Delmas was a former Prime Minister of France and served 8 terms as the Mayor of Bordeaux.

We walked onward toward the Garonne River, ending up at the Porte Cailhau, also known as the Palace Gate. From what I read, this used to be the main entrance to the city of Bordeaux.

As you can tell by the dates I've been throwing out; Bordeaux has been around since Roman times, when it was known as Burdigala….so there's more than a little history to go around. There are two other medieval gates in the city….which the Missus just had to see. Those will be in upcoming posts.

Right up the street is Place de la Bourse, commissioned by Louis XIV as the Royal Square, it might be the most well known landmark in Bordeaux. For us however, it's what is right across from the square that got our attention.

Miroir d'eau is the largest reflecting pool in the world and a wonderful place to people watch….the folks running across the shallow pool seem to running on the water instead of in it. People seem drawn to this place.

On this day, we watched a young man take his dog into the pool….the dog looked a bit terrified at first. But obediently followed his master. Soon enough, the young man was first pouring water on the pooch's legs, then splashing the dog….he was teaching the dog about water! It was a lovely sight.

In some ways, this was much more fun than checking out cathedrals……just hanging out on the river's edge……

Watching the joggers on the bridge……

Checking out all the historical sights, it's easy to forget that yes, real people live here and their daily life goes on….much like ours does back home.

By now the sun was slowly sinking in the West. We decided it was time to head back and just relax for the evening. But first, we decided to make one more stop. Back to Bar a Vins, for a glass of wine (or two). This time around, it was much more busy, with what looked like more of a local crowd. Folks relaxing and unwinding…socializing over a glass of wine.

We really loved this place….it was perhaps our favorite in Bordeaux.

In the end, I decided to go for the gusto and got a glass of the Saint Emillion Gran Cru, which was the most expensive wine on the list (6 Euros), it was lovely. If you'd like to read about the craziness of just classifications of Saint Emillion wine, read this.

Bar a Vin
3 Cours du 30 Juillet
Bordeaux, France

It was a lovely day….with visits to Bar a Vin as bookends.