June 2017 – mmm-yoso

It’s been a while week-Sima’s Grill and Deli

June 30, 2017 Cathy American Restaurants, Greek Food, Salads, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

Here you are, on a lovely Friday 'cool down' day, reading this food blog, mmm-yoso!!! Kirk and Ed(from Yuma) are preparing to enjoy the Holiday weekend and Cathy is writing.

The last time I posted about Sima's was in 2013. The Mister and I haven't driven on Miramar Road unless avoiding traffic. There has been a three week period in the last month when we had to be at daily appointments West of here and taking various routes to get lunch on the way home became a priority. When Kirk mentioned he was writing 'It's Been a While Week', I knew what my contribution would be.

This unassuming end building in a mall anchored by a McDonald's, across from Miramar Marine Corps Air Station has been here since 1984, providing breakfast and lunch six days a week. Run by a husband, wife and their daughter, it's another 'local' place that has withstood the test of time.

The interior has remained the same, the menu has also, although there have, of course, been price increases.
The gyros salad ($9.95) is served with warm, fluffy pita bread with house made tzatziki. The wonderful house made, herby salad dressing is so fresh and perfect with the crispy fresh Romaine, cucumber, tomato, onion and olives. The grilled gyros is just crisped on the edges and there is plenty of it on this salad.

The hot pastrami sandwich ($8.75) is toasted and served with plenty of grilled, smoky, peppery, flavorful (it is Boars Head brand) meat topped with Swiss. The fries are quite good. The char-grilled cheeseburger is still my favorite (window special #1- $9.95, 1/2 lb, includes fries and a drink) burger. It is made from fresh (not frozen) Angus Pride beef and…well..that char grilling is what makes it for me. I was alone one day and decided to stop in again, opting for a cold/deli sandwich (roast beef) ($7.95) on an onion roll (light toasted). It's served simply, with lettuce, tomato, a smear of mustard and of mayonnaise…and plenty of the Boars Head roast beef as well as a very good dill pickle. Just right on a hot day.

Have a great Independence Day weekend!

Sima's Grill & Deli 7160 Miramar Road San Diego 92121 (858) 578-2582 M-F 7:30-4:30, Sat 10-4 Closed Sunday

It’s been a while week – Nate’s Garden Grill

June 28, 2017 mmm-yoso American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch

I had been wondering about how Nate's was doing for a while. I thought it would make a nice little IBAW post, so dropped by this past weekend.

I'd been trying to talk the Missus into revisiting; but in typical fashion She just wasn't motivated after tasting the results of….ahem, playing with my butt.

Still, I'd always rather enjoyed the vibe at Nate's.

The rustic interior, the really friendly folks who work here.

I'm thinking it being 8am on the weekend, it was much too early for the Hipster crowd….just a couple of families enjoying the wild west of South City Heights.

My food took a while; which I actually enjoyed. It made me relax and notice the "small things"…..

Like….did they always have air conditioning here? Well, it was welcomed because it was getting warm outside.

I had decided on getting the Pulled Pork Hash, which I really enjoyed during my previous visit. It was such a nice and vibrant dish back then.

Sadly, this wasn't quite as good as that.

While I thought the sourdough bread was nicely crisp and toasted; the eggs, well one of them was nice and runny…the other had leaked out, I really missed all the wonderful textures and flavors from the variety of vegetables I'd had before. This had a ton of pork; of which the smoke flavor was rather over-powering and was a tad too salty. What potatoes there were hadn't been browned very well and while this might be a pork-aholic's choice, I missed the balance in what I'd had before.

And yes, it was still way to much food. I did take almost two-thirds of this home and actually redid it with some proper vegetables…..topped with some Greek yogurt to cut the salt and ate the left-overs for two more meals. There's no arguing about portion size here.

I do like Nate's and will probably return….the folks here are so nice…..though I'm not sure what I'll order next time.

Over the years, I've recommended Nate's to several folks I know. One couple really didn't care for the place. I should have known based on where they lived; they didn't like ordering at the counter, wanted better table service, and gave me a lot of grief about looking out at stuff like this while eating.

Sigh……

Nate's Garden Grill
3120 Euclid Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

It’s been a while week – Bud’s Louisiana Cafe

June 27, 2017 mmm-yoso Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food

Here's another one that I haven't been to in a while. Man, Bud's….this one goes all the way back to posts from 2006! Though this visit was pretty much an impulse thing. Coming back from a meeting fairly close by and having meetings through noon time, meant a 1030 lunch and I recalled that Bud's was open from like 7am during most weekdays.

The place actually had a fair amount of customers. I also noticed that the bread they sell out front is from Paris Bakery….I dunno, good for Banh Mi, not sure about a Po' Boy. Though I gotta say, it's pretty slim pickins' for us when it comes to baguettes in SD…most of it is overly chewy, with hard crusts….so maybe Paris Bakery might be the best choice?

Having had no breakfast, I was starving and ordered the Crawfish Etouffe ($16.95), which was even lighter than what I had during our last visits.

Seems like the roux was quite light and the texture a bit thinner than before. Good savory-crawfish flavor; though it was missing some of the more pungent components….really couldn't make out any onion; though it had a good amount of salt. At least it wasn't gummy and there was none of the unpleasant floury flavor. Still, not quite as good as I recall.

Not quite sure what's up….perhaps it was too early in the day.

Bud's Louisiana Cafe
4320 Viewridge Ave
San Diego, CA 92123

It’s been a while week – Ranas Mexico City Cuisine

June 26, 2017 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants

**** Ranas has closed

For some reason, it was Ranas that came to mind while having breakfast at Fernandez Restaurant. I'm not sure why, perhaps is just a natural thing since it seems that I do a post on Ranas on a five years cycle. Guess when my last post was on Ranas? Yep, 2012. It's nice to see the "progression" with Ranas, from a simple shop with green walls and banquet chairs, to a much nicer restaurant.

To now……. Ranas has now taken over the entire building. The left door is the "Cantina", on the right is the restaurant.

One thing seems to be constant, it's the same really nice guy from my previous visits! He told me that they took over this side of the building two years ago.

Things started, as always with some chips and salsa.

There's one item on the menu I really enjoy here; the Pork Entomatado. I usually get the "plate", but this time I went for the Huarache ($11).

The pork was spicier than I recall; I kind of remember a nice heat, along with a nice smokey-tangy flavor. This was more front of mouth and lips and the flavors didn't seem as well rounded and complex…..I'm wondering if they've changed around the chilies a bit on this? Thick, rustic bed of masa, nice an full of corn flavor. I enjoyed the beans, though perhaps there was a bit too much of it, as it kind of wiped out what flavor the nopales had; though I still enjoyed the textural contrasts of all the players. The pork was tender and this did fine by me.

Still great service…..

Though I think next time I'll go for the plate.

Hopefully, I won't have to wait another five years……

Ranas Mexico City Cuisine
9683 Campo Rd
Spring Valley, CA 91977

It’s been a while week – Alforon

June 25, 2017 mmm-yoso Lebanese Restaurants, Mediterranean Restaurants

My really nice revisit to Fernandez Restaurant had me thinking about places that I hadn't been back to in a while. A few came immediately to mind….then a few days later, having some all too rare free time on my hands, I was updating "the big list" (I'm still behind 10 months….hopefully I'll catch up one of these days) which had me wondering about several more places. It's been almost four years since we last did an it's been a while week. So I think it's about time……

There were three places that immediately came to mind…that I had been wondering about. One of them was an old favorite which I've unfortunately ignored for over six years! Gladly, I knew based on other Blogger's posts and how busy the place seemed when I did drive past, that Alforon was doing just fine.

I dropped by on a Sunday afternoon, during a kind of weird hour. The place was quiet. The place has been changed a bit since my first visits back in 2010. I actually sat on one of the sofa looking thingies….the owner; a really friendly and funny woman…whose name is "Samia" if I recall, sat next to me, put her hand on my shoulder and told me to "lean back….relax….see it's comfortable….we just had this done last week and want people to enjoy it!" You gotta love it…..I'm glad she didn't recognize me since it's been a bunch of years….I woulda had some explainin' to do.

I ordered an old favorite, the Chicken Tawook…..so here's how long I haven't been back….when I last had this in 2011, it was $5.75; now it's $9.25….. But it's still damned good.

The real stars of this; in spite of the abundance of chicken is the garlic paste; not overly strong, at least you don't think so, until your tasting garlic for the rest of the day….but it's wonderful here, not overly pungent; savory, light, smooth. And the bread, just enough crispness on the edges; yet soft to the bite and nice combination. The pickles do a great job of cutting through the garlic paste; chicken, and bread. It was as good as I recalled!

Sitting there, stuffed…..my appetite ain't what it used to be either. I sat and thought about all the wonderful meals I've been able to share on our little blog. And even more, all the fantastic recommendations I've received over the years; I recall this one was from ChristinaC, who has made some great recommendations over the years. Thanks again Christina….all these years later!

Alforon
5965 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Vancouver – Coal Harbour, the Waterfront, and Japadog

June 24, 2017 mmm-yoso Canada, Canada Food and Restaurants, Hot Dogs, Travel, Vancouver, Canada

After checking out Granville Public Market; the Missus had a "great" idea. Why don't we walk back and do some shopping and check out the waterfront? The Missus knows I love to watch seaplanes….so that was the "carrot". How could I refuse?

So we headed back up Hornby, made a short stop at the apartment to drop off leftovers; then went to check-out the Lululemon Store on Robson. Gladly, the Missus didn't find anything She wanted……even for me!

We then walked down Robson….took a right and ended up at Harbour Park. This piece of public art is called "Solo" by Natalie McHaffie.

You can read more about it here.

Here's an interesting tidbit; some historic ties to Hawaii.

If you're curious, you can find more info here which I found quite interesting.

It was a beautiful crystal clear day.

And folks were out and about. This dapper fellow was having a great time. Dig the bowtie!

It was fun walking along the Waterfront, all the little scenes, each a small story.

Though not everyone is interested in what's going on.

This guy got a few bucks from us…….he looked like Henry Gibson; dressed in pastels, had a slightly high, nasal, airy singing voice….and a ton of guts! Looks at the young ladies just digging it!

He was singing "What a Wonderful World" and actually pointed at the roses during the "Red Roses Too" line, which got the girls giggling. Ain't it a wonderful world?

And of course, my favorite; the Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre. We often talk about the Missus's "Bucket List". Flying on one of these is one mine. Strangely, I have a fear of heights, but having flown in small planes a bit during my childhood, I'm not really bothered by them.

I just loved watching folks board the planes. I actually saw a family with two kids and a dog board one and take-off.

Apparently, I'm not the only one who enjoys watching the Seaplanes.

It was quite obvious that Anime Revolution was still going on when we got close to the Convention Center.

There was one piece of Public Art that I wanted to see in the area. It's called the Digital Orca by Douglas Coupland. Did you love Lego as a kid? This almost 3-D depiction looks really great against the water and clear blue sky.

And laid back Vancouver, with the cast of characters from Anime Revolution….well, you can't help but smile.

And just go with the flow.

Lots of photo opportunities…..

In case you have doubts….this is still a food blog….so here we go.

I'd heard and seen a lot about Japadogs in Vancouver and more than one person I knew mentioned it as a "must try". Even though we were but a block and change from the Robson Street location, I just wasn't motivated.

But when standing in front of this.

Well, I guess we can call that "fate", right? Anyway, it seemed like a good time for a snack before dinner. So I ordered a Beef Terimayo.

I enjoyed the snap of the beef hotdog, the Missus really enjoyed the combination of mayo (seemed to be of the Kewpie variety – a little sweet) and the teriyaki sauce. She didn't care for the umami-oceany flavor of the nori, which She thought clashed with the teri-mayo. I enjoyed the fried onions and the overall texture, though the roll was a bit on the hard side.

A bit over-hyped? Perhaps; but not a bad hotdog at all.

Japadog – several locations. This cart in front of the Waterfront Skytrain Station
Between Granville and Cordova St

Vancouver – Granville Island Public Market

June 23, 2017 mmm-yoso Caffeine Fix, Canada, Markets & Grocers, Travel, Vancouver, Canada

In spite of having done quite a bit the day before; I awoke refreshed and ready to go. The Missus needed a bit of a caffeine boost. I'd noticed a Caffé Artigiano location the previous day, so I decided to head out and grab us some coffee.

I noticed this food cart along the way. It says Traditional Thai Cuisine right above the window……though I noticed the place served the very traditional "Gluten Free Very Popular Thai Noodle Style Dish"…… Hmmm….. "noodle style?" As in when is a noodle, not a noodle? I just had to crack up. Celiac disease is no joke, but I still had to laugh. One of the guys that used to work for me has Celiac disease….really great guy…..I used to tell him; "you'll know when you mess up. There'll be bread pudding on your desk." His response? "It's better than waking up with a horse head in my bed."

Caffé Artigiano is right on Hornby Street.

A cup of Organic for the Missus, an Americano for your truly.

Nice folks, fast service.

Caffè Artigiano
763 Hornby St
Vancouver, BC V6Z 1S2, Canada

Good thing I got some caffeine in my system. You see, after Her cup, the Missus was ready to go….not sure what kind of jet fuel they put into the organic coffee there.

And of course, the Missus decided that we should walk to Granville Island. Thankfully, even though it was bright and sunny, the temps were still reasonable.

As in not taking the Aquabus. So we had to actually cross over False Creek on the Granville Bridge, come around and figure out which street went to Granville Island. Which actually wasn't too hard.

From there, it's a short stroll to the Public Market.

We had decided to put together a nice early lunch before deciding what to do next. So we did a quick walk around the market.

We put together a plan while walking around the place. The Missus would head off and pick up some gifts for folks back home and then go and pick up some chocolates from chocolaTas. We then decided on a meeting spot….based on what we'd seen during our "walk-through" we knew just the place.

I'd pick up most everything for lunch. First starting with some roast lamb from L'Epicerie.

From there it was quite easy.

Basically, cheese curds from Benton Brothers, Salmon "Candy" from Longliner Foods, bread from Terra, and we'd meet up at Oyama Sausage….where we saw some wonderful looking pate and charcuterie.

At Oyama sausage we were met with a wonderful variety and it was quite hard choosing what we wanted. But since we had one shot we made our decision…..sadly, we decided not to get any cheese.

And, since we had dinner reservations, we'd be doing no cooking……so no sausage.

We stepped outside looking for a table.

It was slightly overcast when we stepped out of the market.

But, as soon as we found an open table, the sun came out!

And we spread out our bounty….that salmon candy was very nice, sweet-smoky-slightly briny, just as expected. The cheese curds were very fresh.

We didn't care for the lamb; very tough, and not seasoned particularly well.

The tongue was sliced to a perfect thinness and wasn't too salty….full of beefy goodness! Really good.

Only to be topped by the Duck Pate with Black Truffles.

Great creamy texture, just enough earthy-pungent truffle flavor with nice rich mildly offally flavor. Decadent, this was so very good.

We saved the remainder of the pate, salmon, and bread for snacking and headed off.

This time the Missus decided that it might be a good idea to catch the Aquabus across False Creek to the Hornby Dock.

Which was a very quick trip.

As we watched the Aquabus leave the dock. The Missus looked up at the bright sky and said, "hey…..I have an idea!"

Oh-oh…..stay tuned!

Nagoya – Nagoya Castle and Lunch at Yabaton

June 22, 2017 mmm-yoso Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Nagoya, Travel

After crossing the Gojo Bridge we walked past the Nagoya Noh Theatre….where the Missus was smitten with this Cherry Blossom tree.

I had gotten a good dose of the Missus's love….obsession with sakura a bit earlier on the trip so I just ket Her carry on; while I took a look around.

That's a statue of Daimyo Kato Kiyomasa who was known as the premier castle builder of his day. Under orders of Ieyasu Tokugawa, several Daimyo's including Kiyomasa were tasked with rebuilding Nagoya castle which had been abandoned.

Once the Missus was done taking Her photos and admiring the sakura, we headed across the street to the entrance of Nagoya Castle.

We paid our entrance fee and stopped by the tourist office where the very friendly young lady pointed out several places of note.

Apparently, there was some kind of festival going on………not quite sure what it was about, but seeing folks in….ummm….costumes kept us smiling.

And some browsing time as well…..

All in the shadow of the Castle's Turrets.

Here's another statue of Kato Kiyomasa. Apparently, it was from this stone that he would command the building of the castle.

We headed to the other end of the castle grounds, to the East Garden.

Where we found a Tea House and decided to take a break. The Missus loves Macha….if you only knew how much She spends ordering stuff from Ippodo, Lupicia, and other places….

The Missus wanted some extra "bling" in Her tea…..

We walked back to the area of Hommaru Palace, part of which is being restored. We could actually enter and view the restoration taking place and were provided hard hats…..which made for a couple of silly hard hat photos (of course).

It was really neat to be able to check out all the elaborate construction being done.

Genkan, the entrance hall and Omote Shoin, the main hall have been restored and are open to the public. We got a chance to see the wonderful wall and partition paintings.

We had, of course, saved the Main Donjon (Tower) for last.

On the way there we passed the "Kiyomasa Stone", the largest stone in the wall said to have been put there by Kato Kiyomasa himself; though it is said that Kuroda Nagamasa was actually in charge of building this part of the wall.

We loved watching the kids take photos with the "Samurai"….in fact, we ended up taking photos with him as well (ssshhh, don't tell).

There was an interesting reproduction of the castle town along with what some of the meals looked like.

There's a replica of the Golden Kinshachi, two of which adorn the roof of the Dojon, and are symbols of Nagoya.

And a nice view from the 7th Floor as well.

After this we decided to head on out……there was some shopping that we needed to do.

But first, we just had to stop and watch the children's dance performances.

The littlest one's were really adorable.

Done with Nagoya Castle; we headed down Honmachi Dori and somehow managed to find the Nadya Park Shopping Complex. We went to the Montbell Store and bought some ultra-light Plasma 1000 down jackets.

That done, it was getting kinda late, so we headed back toward Nagoya Station. We decided to take our chances at the Yabaton in the underground ESCA shopping center. Indeed, there was a line when we arrived….but, things moved quickly and they actually took your order while you waited in line.

So by the time we got to our table; things were just about waiting for us.

Misokatsu is one of the classic Nagoya food items….ask Taka-san at Taisho about it and he practically smacks his lips. Yabaton is probably the most well known chain of misokatsu restuarants.

I went with what Taka-san told me to order; the Teppan Misokatsu.

I shared my rice with the Missus. The miso soup was really good as well. In the teppan version of misokatsu; the tonkatsu is delivered on a hot plate lying on a bed of cabbage sizzling away. The miso sauce is then brought to the table and you can tell them how much you want.

The miso isn't overly salty; nice beany flavor, the breading on the cutlet is nice and stays crisp for a while. The pork is surprisingly tender….but man, this was a lot of pork.

The Missus got some small dishes which She enjoyed.

While everything was prepared well; this was perhaps too much of the same flavor and it was rather fatiguing after a while.

Nice meal; though I'll probably stick with some kushikatsu next time.

Misokatsu Yabaton (ESCA Shop)
ESCA Underground Shopping Center
Tsubakimachi 6 No. 9 Gosaki Esca
Tsubakicho, Nakamura-ku, Nagoya-shi, 453-0015
Hours:
11am – 10pm Daily

Trying to Beat the Heat – The Original Sab e Lee and Golden City

June 21, 2017 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Thai Restaurants

Man, it has been pretty hot the last couple of days; at least for us, as Cathy says; "wimpy San Diegans". On the good side; this means revisiting some of my favorite places for dishes I enjoy during hot spells. I really do miss one of "staples", a good Sichuan Liang Mian, which just doesn't seem to exist in San Diego anymore. So, I stuck with other standbys.

The Original Sab e Lee:

**** TOSEL is now Zab Linda

I really haven't been much since they've relocated. Like I said previously, I've not a clue who the folks who work here are these days….except for the one young man who has been there for a while. Went with one of the guys from work….he said he could eat spicy, but then decided to order it a heat level three. I told him he needs to order at least a five or he just can't eat with me anymore. And so we did, and he did fine.

Nahm Tok.

Best dish of the day; though I think this needs more rice powder and I should have ordered it at least a 7 or something. Good citrus, nice fish sauce, not overly sweet….nice with sticky rice.

Issan Sausage:

Solid as always.

Nice sour and pork flavor….like I said in my recent Thai Papaya post; "while there might be better versions of Thai/Lao style sausage in San Diego these days….this is still a staple….." Some peanut, a sliver of ginger, wrapped in cabbage, yields nice porky-sour tones.

Koi Neua:

Sorry to say they've done something to what was once a favorite of mine. I had been hopeful that the version I'd had here on my last visit was a fluke, but sadly, it was not.

The texture was off and it seemed to have been "cooked" in citrus too long.

It was not nearly as good as in the past.

I remember the joy that Koby expressed when I asked about this dish way back when. I do miss Koby at times; things were simpler, the menu was there to please a smaller sampling, but times do change. I guess I'm sticking with Thai Papaya. Perhaps I'll run into Maylee one of these days and I can ask her about some of the SeL staples that are no longer on the menu.

The Original Sab E Lee
6925 Linda Vista Road
San Diego, CA 92111

Golden City:

So, one afternoon I had to buy a bunch of take-out for the Missus's coworkers. This netted me a $10 off card for Golden City.

With the Missus at work; I decided to get an old favorite, the Kwai Fei Ji….which, after the coupon was $3.49.

The ginger-scallion-sesame oil sauce was spot on; though the chicken was on the tougher side. Still, I whacked the whole thing……no rice, nothing….just Kwai Fei Chicken for dinner.

Golden City Restaurant
5375 Kearny Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123

So, what have you been eating to beat the heat?

Up 2 Yoü Cafe (revisits)

June 20, 2017 Cathy Desserts, Ice Cream/Frozen Yogurt, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the name of this blog. It's a food blog. Cathy is writing today; Kirk and Ed (from Yuma) are otherwise indisposed.

I just read this article, which has a mention about Up 2 Yoü in the second paragraph and decided I should get a post out before the changes occur. There are two locations of Up 2 Yoü (I've written about dessert at the first location twice.). With the heatwave we've been having, being able to sit down for a refreshing dessert is so refreshing.

The other Up 2 Yoü location is in the same parking lot as Homestyle Hawaiian (just behind/around the corner from the soon to be rebuilt K-Sandwiches). The interior is spacious. The ordering is right next to the menu on the wall. The choices are varied.
A simple affogato (espresso and ice cream) (in this case, vanilla) ($3.95) is usually just enough of a dessert. Unless we also decide to share a crepe. ($4.25)(simply filled with mascarpone cheese ($1)). Fun and filling. A new (to us) menu item is the chocolate sphere ($7.95). That small cup of dark chocolate sauce is very hot and… when poured over the sphere, will begin to melt it, revealing the ice cream (chocolate mint was chosen and it was very refreshing, complimenting the fruit and all the other chocolate flavors) until most of the chocolate sphere is collapsed. The ice cream was on top of a cut up brownie. So many flavors of chocolate as well as fruits. The various textures and temperatures made this a special shared dessert.