January 2018 – mmm-yoso

Island Style Hawaii BBQ & Local Food

January 31, 2018 mmm-yoso Hawaiian Food, Loco Mocos, Plate Lunch

***** Island Style has closed

Island Style Hawaii is a favorite of one of my "customers" and after finding out that I'm originally from Hawaii she had asked me what I thought of the place. I told her that I'd had had my fill of these Hawaiian BBQ type of places and really hadn't been motivated to visit. But one day at work I got a call. She had a meeting in the same building and decided to drop of "some lunch" for me……from Island Style. How sweet.

So I suddenly had mini-plates of Garlic Chicken and Mochiko Chicken on my hands.

Now, I didn't expect Sugoi's or Mitsu-ken, and this was pretty mediocre. Even though she had picked this up on the way to our offices, it hadn't held up well and was more gummy than crisp. I expected more garlic flavor, but what I mostly got was burnt bitterness. Sugoi and Mitsu-ken have both garlic flavor in the seasoning for the chicken as well as a sauce; it reminds me a bit of karaage. This was basically fried chicken.

It's the Mochiko Chicken that had the sauce.

While I thought the batter on this was a bit better; the sauce was pretty one-dimensional. This style of chicken isn't really hard to make.

I gotta say, for a mini-plate, the portion sizes were quite hefty. Compre the $6.99 mini-plate with the $11 food truck plate lunch.

The rice was fine, but I really didn't care for the potato "mac" salad. The quotes on the "mac" is because this was like chopped spaghetti noodles. It also just tasted of plain mayonnaise with no other seasoning. The young lady really wanted to know what I thought, so I told her. Man, if I were a millionaire, I'd love to buy her a ticket to HNL, so she could actually have the real deal.

Anyway, this got the ball rolling so I decided to drop by the place. It's in Pacific Beach, near the corner of Cass and Garnet. I can honestly say, I don't get down here very often.

Wasn't this a location of Rakadeka in a previous life? So, it was a Saturday morning and I'd read that the place opens at 11; so I got there at 1105…..no Bueno. Must've been on Hawaiian Time. So I took a walk around the block. I returned at 1120 and the open sign was on; but the door was still locked….go figure. Eventually, I did get in.

The menu had all the usual suspects. Since this was a weekend and I could definitely just roll back home and take a nap, I decided to add another one to my Loco Moco collection. I ordered a regular sized Loco Moco ($9.29).

This was a passable Hawaiian BBQ/Chain style loco moco. The beef patty was cooked to death and tough. The rice was strange, some of it was dry and hard and the rest really mushy. The eggs were nice and runny, though I enjoy a bit of crispness around the edges for a textural contrast and these weren't seasoned, thus in dire need of some salt. The gravy was on the thinner side, but other than having a bit too much black pepper was fine.

During this visit, I noticed an "Aloha Friday Special" ($13.99) on the menu. So, with the Missus at work, I returned on my way home that Friday.

Man, this was a hefty plate. First things first. I noticed a lot of liquid that smelled like laulau at the bottom of the package. I opened the container up to see all the liquid from the laulau on the bottom. It hadn't been drained well.

The laulau itself wasn't very good. This being "mainland laulau" I expected no salted fish, but the pork was really dry and stringy, and the luau leaves weren't cooked enough for my taste and were hard. Even here in the laulau wasteland that is San Diego, I thought Poke, Etc was better.

I'm still not a fan of the potato mac salad; though I did find a couple of small cubes of potato in this. It really needs a bit more seasoning.

The kalua pork was not bad. On the dry side, the trick I learned when I worked drive-in kitchens back home was to mix the fat and liquid that drained off the pork back into it when shredding. It did have enough salt and smoke flavor though.

I didn't expect much of the lomi salmon and it was just that. Really in need of seasoning; the tomatoes not ripe enough, too watery, quite bland.

Island Style has a very nice location, close to the beach and all that. If you enjoy quantity over quality this might do it for you.

The service very laid back. The young lady at the front likes to spend her time on the iPad. Not sure if I'll return and if I do, what I would get….the katsu perhaps? Saimin? I dunno.

Here's a to Soo's visits to Island Style.

Island Style Hawaii BBQ & Local Food
4508 Cass St
San Diego, CA 92109
Hours:
Mon – Wed 11am – 10pm
Thurs – Sat 11am – 2am
Sun 11am – 8pm

Last Call at Spicy King (Vista)

January 30, 2018 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

**** Spicy King has closed

So, a funny thing happened after the former assistant chefs from Ba Ren gave up the ghost at what was Fu An Garden. I saw Chef Hu twice at 99 Ranch Market. I guess we used to go to Ba Ren so much that these folks all remember us. Anyway, I was told that they'd taken over Spicy King in Vista. And while I really missed Chongqing style Sichuan food, I wasn't super impressed with what was being served at Fu An Garden. Not enough to make a drive out to Vista.

However, I had an all day meeting in Orange County and really just wanted to take my time on the drive back home…..with all that lovely San Diego rush hour traffic. I thought it would be a great chance to see how Spicy King was doing.

The place was empty when I arrived….and for my entire meal. Chef Hu was surprised and pleased to see me. Then his wife, who speaks English quite well told me that, "we have sold the restaurant, today is our last day". Whoa, talk about some weird timing!

They both looked tired and worn down. And you know……so did the restaurant to a certain extent.

They were both so very gracious. I decided to order some favorites from the Ba Ren days. Here's how it went.

Sichuan Cold Noodles was and is comfort food to me. Ba Ren's version was a favorite of ours.

I really wasn't inspired by this when it arrived at the table. But upon mixing things together I found that all the "good stuff" was on the bottom of the bowl. The noodles were like what I'd had at Fu An Garden, really hard and brittle. And while there was enough black vinegar, spice, ginger, and peanuts in this; it really lacked the sesame paste and garlic from versions I enjoy. The texture of the noodles actually got better over time and was much better the next day.

Ko Shui Ji (saliva/mouthwatering chicken), another old favorite. When I ordered it, I was told that they were no longer making this. However, Chef Hu was peeking out of the kitchen and insisted making this for me.

And while the chicken had the perfect texture and the heat was really good….it was quite spicy. It just seemed to be missing something. Not bad though.

I got the Spicy Fish and Tofu. This was actually pretty good.

Good heat, nice and richly oily. The fish, while not a velvety as I prefer was still tender. Nice combination of flavors, though missing a bit more savory-complex seasoning. The Missus really enjoyed the leftovers of this one.

Sorry to say the Shrimp with Chilies was the most disappointing dish of the meal.

It wasn't fried right, the batter was gummy and the shrimp overcooked. Liked the Sichuan Peppercorns in this, but the dish was a bit mild in spice….I know, all the chilies, but it didn't seem very spicy to me. The texture of that shrimp just wasn't pleasant to me.

All in all, a decent meal. And the timing of my visit seemed like some strange act of fate. I had promised to drop by. The couple told me they were going to take a break and go back to China for two months, then return and see what opportunities are available in San Diego. I did appreciate the effort with the chicken and how very friendly and happy they were to see me. I wish them well.

After almost six years, I still haven't found a dependable Sichuan restaurant that could stand up to Ba Ren.

As to what's next for Spicy King, well I'm not sure…..

Spicy King
1233 East Vista Way
Vista, CA 92084

Tromsø – Chasing the Aurora and Lunch at Bardus Bistro

January 29, 2018 mmm-yoso Nordic/Scandanvian Food and Restaurants, Norway, Travel

So, you might be wondering why Tromsø? Well, seeing he Northern Lights was a "bucket list" item for the Missus. We missed out on the Northern Lights in Iceland the previous year. I wanted to have the best shot at seeing them on this trip. Granted, there are many great places to see the Aurora Borealis from above the Artic Circle, but I chose Tromso for several reasons. I'd be the first to tell you that I'm not much of a roughing it kind of guy. So while your friendly neighborhood mining town, no matter how large would be great for some, I wanted something that would be more suited to the soft American in me. Tromsø while being 250 miles above the Artic Circle is home to the world's northernmost university. The city has an international airport and I'm not much of an outdoorsy kind of guy. I just figured Tromsø would be a better fit.

So did we see the Northern Lights?

Revisits – Supannee House of Thai and Pho Xpress

January 28, 2018 mmm-yoso Thai Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

A couple of revisits for a quiet Sunday.

Supannee House of Thai:

It's been quite a while since I did my post on Supannee back in 2013. I'd been back a couple of times, though not in a year or two. Over time, it seems that Supannee has become a favorite of CC and even Cathy.

On this day, I needed to drop by Trader Joe's in Liberty Station, so I thought I'd head a bit further south and have lunch at Supannee.

Of course I needed to get the Thai Sausage which is now $11.

This sausage that is made inhouse was what brought me to Supannee in the first place all those years ago. And while it was a bit drier that I prefer, it did "hit the spot". In fact, I think they've adjusted the recipe a bit as it's even more flavorful, the lemongrass and kaffir lime leaf somes shining thru, and there's more of a chili kick. Nicely grilled, this was a great start to lunch.

I wanted to try a curry and went with the Roasted Duck Red Curry ($16).

This was very nice; in spite of the decent amount of spice, I could make out the flavor of the coconut milk in this. I often stay away from Thai Curries at restaurants because it's often too sweet….and I'm really not a big fan of fruits in my curries. But let me walk that back here. In this case, other than the curry being on the "thin" side, all the flavors worked in harmony. There was a generous portion of duck in the curry as well. All flavors of the ingredients, the duck, pineapple, tomato (added a nice acid), and grapes, worked both in harmony and individually in this dish.

The service was also very nice. When I took the leftovers home, the really nice young lady gave me an order of rice (I'd finished my bowl…a rarity these days) as well. Same young lady was so gracious and helpful to the woman who told her, "no meat, no dairy, no shellfish, no gluten, low sodium, and I'm allergic to peanuts".

I gotta get back here more often.

Supanee House of Thai
2907 Shelter Island Drive
San Diego, CA 92106
Hours:
Mon – Fri 1130am-230pm, 5pm – 9pm
Sat – Sun 12pm – 9pm

Pho Xpress:

So, since our office moved, I'm outside the free shuttle range for the folks who work on my car. So these days, I need to go Saturdays or Holidays. The first time, I took the trolley and just went "cruising". On my latest visit, I waited the three hours.

After paying and heading out, I decided to grab something to eat. It was pretty chilly out and I hadn't been back to Pho Xpress in nearly two years.

Instead of ordering the pho like I usually do; I went with the Banh Mi Bo Kho. What I got was disappointing.

This tasted like pho broth with some bo kho seasoning dumped in it. It lacked any kind of rich beef flavor, tomato, etc…..it was so bland. The carrots were still raw, the beef very tough. This was so thin that I thought I'd read the menu wrong….but no, it says right there "Beef Stew". At least the banh mi was warm and fairly crusty. But this was disappointing as a whole.

Also, since the guy who took my order insisted on correcting my pronunciation of "bo kho"…they should have actually made me a real bo kho, right?

Pho Xpress
6533 Mission Gorge Rd
San Diego, CA 92120

From Oslo to Tromso

January 26, 2018 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Norway, Travel

Our flight from Oslo was scheduled to leave at 1135am. I picked our hotel specifically because it was next to train station; the Flytoget High Speed Train to the airport leaves the train station about every ten minutes arriving at Gardermoen Airport in about 20 minutes. Another reason for picking the hotel; well breakfast. In this case breakfast was served in the Scandic Byporten location of the Egon Restaurants chain right across the walkway from the hotel.

It was still pretty dark at 730 in the morning here in Oslo.

Every breakfast features smoked salmon and-or pickled herring in these parts. Something I really enjoy for breakfast. The Missus enjoys the dark and dense rye breads and soft boiled eggs.

Nothing fancy, but enough to keep us until dinner if necessary.

We checked out, walked across the way to the train station, bought our tickets to the airport from the ticket machine (180 NOK – about $20/each) and got to the airport in no time.

Our flight to Tromso was quite punctual taking off on time. The flight was a quick two hours. It was quite interesting to see the landscape rapidly change as we headed North.

As things changed to what looked desolate a far as the eye could see.

As we got closer to our destination; Tromso, things looked even colder.

Our flight arrived at 125pm sharp. As we only do carry-on, we found the Flybussen; the Aiport Express Bus in rather good time, paid the driver and got aboard.

So here's what things looked like 145pm

Tromso has what they call Polar Night. During this time of the year, while it's not completely dark during mid-day, the sun never rises above the horizon. To quote this nice piece from Atlantic Magazine by Kari Leibowitz (date July 1, 2015):

"Located over 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle, Tromsø, Norway, is home to extreme light variation between seasons. During the Polar Night, which lasts from November to January, the sun doesn’t rise at all."

We found it quite fascinating, somewhat disorienting, and quite different. Like the article says; we found the folks in Tromso to be quite friendly and cheerful, in spite of the almost constant darkness. For some reason, the movie 30 Days of Night kept coming to mind.

Anyway, the airport bus stopped a couple of blocks from the apartment we were staying at. The owner was a very friendly guy. The apartment was spacious, with everything we needed in walking distance.

It also had a view of the street below that I would find mesmerizing.

We decided to take a short rest, then go ahead and grab something to eat.

There were plans for a very busy night ahead of us!

Thanks for reading!

Oslo – Dinner at Arakataka

January 25, 2018 mmm-yoso Fine Dining, Nordic/Scandanvian Food and Restaurants, Norway, Travel

We'd done a good amount of walking in Oslo, so we settled in for a nice nap. I awoke to the sound of a ships horn. I looked out the window, it was already getting dark at 430pm, and I saw the cruise ship we'd arrived on leaving the harbor.

It was time to wake up. We had dinner reservations at…surprise, a place the Missus picked out. I managed to get reservations at Arakataka which seemed a bit off the beaten path, though it was only a half mile away. The darkness probably had something to do with it.

The restaurant was rather small with an even smaller open kitchen.

The bar area was a bit larger, but the place was still not very large. The Hostess and our Server were amazing. Very knowledgeable, amiable, and just so nice. I mentioned being told to try the Aquavit in Norway; specifically Aquavit Linie. Man, this stuff is good. I ended up bringing back a couple of bottles. I'll tell more about it in a future post.

Most folks were getting the tasting menu, but having a bunch of tasting menu meals coming, we decided to order from the menu. And it turned out to be the perfect thing to do.

The weakest item of the night was the Potato Bread and Smoked Artic Char.

The potato bread was on the soggy side, the flavor of the char very mild and lost under all those greens and herbs.

Things turned around with the rather interesting Rutabaga, Porcini, and Pecorino. Which looked nothing like what I had imagined it would.

Thinly sliced and made pliable; the rutabaga had a nice crunch, the fragrance of porcini danced around the plate, and the pecorino added a nice milky-saltiness which really elevated this dish.

The Reindeer Tartare, Beetroot, and Juniper was another nice combination.

The mild, clean flavor of the reindeer, matched with the sweetness of the beets, and the tartness of the juniper was a surprisingly nice combination!

The Dry Aged Pork was nice and tender….and yes, it medium rare, making it ever so moist.

But the real winner was the combination of shaved black truffle and kale. Another interesting and rather delicious combination of earthy flavors with the crunch and bitterness of the kale.

The Skate was so buttery and mildly sweet. A wonderful piece of fish….the Missus claims one of the best She's had.

But I really enjoyed the pungent-mildly garlicky ramps and the savory and almost briney flavor of the salsify. We were both enjoying vegetables that we really don't get much back home in San Diego.

Of course we had to order the Duck, Cabbage, and Lingonberries, which looked quite lovely.

A nice sliced duck breast on the right. Nice and gamey. Slices of duck confit under roasted wild cabbage, lingonberries, with black garlic. This looked and tasted wonderful itself. But then another bowl arrived and was poured on the dish.

A espuma of duck confit, hearts, skin and barley……

Good lord! This was like being invited into duck heaven! The texture of the duck hearts were especially satisfying.

We were wiped out after this hefty dish and had no room for dessert. Another glass of Aquavit….well, one does need a digestif, right?

This was probably our favorite meal in Scandinavia. It had the right combination of comfort, flavor, and interesting, yet tasty dishes that were nicely seasoned and kept our attention. While the combinations were interesting, nothing was so over-the-top to be strange. And like all the places we ate at in Scandinavia, service was so friendly.

Arakataka
Mariboes Gate 7
Oslo, Norway

As we were finishing up dinner, we noticed a large queue lining up one block over. The Missus was curious. So we walked over after dinner and asked what was going on. We were told that there was a concert going on….and then in the typical Norweigan way, we were told that there were "still tickets available….so please, if you're interested we'll be happy to have you…." Such nice folks!

It was pretty chilly as we walked back to the hotel.

And yet Oslo was so relaxed…..it definitely had an affect on you.

We headed back and got to sleep early. Tomorrow, we'd be flying to a city 250 miles above the Artic Circle. It was going to be an interesting day for a kid from Hawaii…..

Thanks for reading!

Eli’s Signature Peruvian Kitchen

January 24, 2018 mmm-yoso Peruvian Restaurants

Sometime back in July; I was driving west on El Cajon Boulevard, when I noticed what looked like a Peruvian Restaurant had taken the place of the old Awash, then Meskerem Ethiopian Restaurant. I truly love Peruvian cuisine and was somewhat excited. The only thing being…..I couldn't figure out when this place was open! And then one Saturday morning, I actually parked and walked on over to find the place was only open Wednesdays thru Saturdays, from noon to five. So coming here on a weekday was pretty much off the table.

When I finally had some time on a weekend, the calendar was ready to turn into the New Year. And the place had nicer sign; "Eli's Signature Peruvian Kitchen".

Entering the place from the rather gritty neighborhood takes you into a pretty nice dining area. Much larger than what the façade would indicate.

The very nice young man working here seated me and handed me a menu, which was fairly Spartan, five dishes and a special of the day. Though the five dishes were probably the most well known and popular Peruvian dishes.

I ordered a Chicha Morada to start. It was actually pretty good; less sweet than most that I've had in the states, the best I've had since we got back from Peru. With just the right touch of sweetness and cinnamon flavor.

I instantly homed in on the Seco con Frijoles ($14.95) because it featured two of my favorite things. Seco is a cilantro and garlic based braise, and my favorite version features lamb. The frijoles here were canary beans, a favorite of mine, which shines in the classic Peruvian dish Tacu Tacu.

In this case it was beef, which was very tender, but I do prefer cordero as it adds a nice gamey dimension to the dish. The sauce was on the mild side, I usually enjoy a more assertive minty-anise flavor, with maybe a bitter sweet touch of huacatay. Still, this wasn't bad at all. The beans were creamy, nicely seasoned and my favorite part of the dish. The salsa criolla had a mild vinegary-spicy kick that helped to cut through any richness. The rice looked dry but was fragrant and nicely done.

This meant a return trip. So the following weekend I returned.

This time I started with the classic Papa a la Huacaina ($6.95).

The potatoes were nicely boiled and tender. The sauce was much thicker than other versions I've had of this dish. It was also quite cheesy and had a mild spicy kick to it. I thought the sauce was a bit too thick for my liking. The versions of this dish I enjoy also usually had some acidic-pungent element (garlic/onions), that helped to cut through things which seemed missing here.

Thankfully, I ordered the Cebiche de Pescado ($15.95). The nice young man told me that the fish for today was sea bass and if I was ok with that.

Of course, the first thing I went for was a taste of the leche de tigre, the marinating liquid for the seafood in cebiche. This version was more tannic than sour/tangy, thus a bit more reserved. It did have a good amount of aji rocoto which gave it an interesting amount of spiciness, though it had me wishing for some spicy-fragrant-fruity aji limo. At first I thought the fish had been "cooking" too long in the leche de tigre, but it was very tender, without any off flavors. The camote was lacking in the sweet-cinnamon flavors that the Missus loves at her favorite places. This was a passable version of Cebiche Pescado.

This had me determined to finally try the lomo saltado, the dish that really got me interesting in Peruvian cuisine. So I returned the next day, a Sunday. I saw that Eli's actually opened at 10am on Sunday, so I returned at a bit past 11. So here's the deal on Sunday's. Eli's serves a version of breakfast from 10 to noon on Sundays.

Which was actually fine by me.

You see Lomito al Jugo ($7.95) is basically lomo saltado without the potatoes and rice. It seemed to be quite inexpensive, so I was surprised at the portion size when it arrived.

While the beef was as I expected this price point a bit on the chewy side; it had no metallic or off flavors. Unlike versions I've had recently, the sauce, and there was quite a bit of sauce wasn't too salty. It also had just the right amount of onions and tomato to make the dish interesting. Perhaps a bit too much black pepper, but I really enjoyed the sauce with the bread.

So, I remained determined to get that lomo saltado. Hence, the return visit the following weekend.

And the Lomo Saltado ($14.95).

Sadly, this was my least favorite dish at Eli's. Not enough sauce, so the rather chewy meat seemed even more dry. The potatoes were very soggy. There wasn't enough onions and tomatoes to add pungency and acid to the dish. This came across as rather bland. The rice was also on the dry and tough side. Bummer.

Still, while the food here won't make me forget about Peru, it's decent, straight-forward, middle of the road, classic fare. Plus the folks here are really nice. Things might take a while to get to you; but that's how Peru is as well. On one of my visits, I had a nice chat with three middle aged women from Peru. They come here every other week. They were rather surprised to see me in this rather out of the way place with limited hours. We had a fun discussion about Peruvian food. And the look on their faces when I started mentioning some of their favorite places in Lima as well.

While the limited hours may be a bit of a hindrance, it's probably for the better based on the neighborhood, I'll probably return when I can.

Eli's Signature Peruvian Kitchen
4979 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115
Hours:
Wed – Sat Noon – 5pm
Sunday 10am – 3pm

Revisits – Green China Grill and Pho Duyen Mai

January 23, 2018 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

A couple more revisits before we moved offices late last year.

Green China Grill:

It had almost been a year since my last visit. So, on one of those cooler days, I decided to drop by.

The place was as green as ever. And the menu seems to keep expanding.

Looking over the menu I realized that I'd always had the Lamian (牛大碗 – hand pulled noodles) here. I decided to try the Dao Xiao Mian; knife cut noodles, with beef brisket.

While the flavor of the broth was still on the mild side; it didn't seem to be too heavy on the MSG side of things. It was also decently textured, a decent amount of fat/oil in the broth. The beef had a nice texture, not falling apart, but not too chewy. There was a nice soy sauce-anise-light sweetness to it that was pleasant. Man, this had a ton of noodles in it! The noodles were pretty uniform in terms of width and I prefer my Dao Xiao Mian a bit thicker. It seemed a bit too processed in texture; tearing easily, lacking tenderness and "pull".

All-in-all, not bad. Though not quite worth the $10.99 price tag for some rather routine noodle soup.

Green China Grill
4688 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Pho Duyen Mai:

**** Pho Duyen Mai is under new ownership

Of course I had to have some of "Them Bones" again.

The pho broth here has hit a certain level of consistency; a bit too sweet and salty, but not terrible, light in beef flavor and anise tones. Still there's much worse to be found in the area. Noodle were perfect, proteins in the soup decent. And then there were the xí quách bò – the simmered beef ribs. I was kind of disappointed this time around as the meat was really tough. I had to use the knife to cut it off the bones. On previous visits, I could just scrape them right off the ribs with a spoon. The beefiness was there, but it was just too hard to fully enjoy.

And no talented pooch this time around either. Oh well, Duyen Mai is still better than other pho places in the area……for now.

Pho Duyen Mai
5375 Kearny Villa Rd
San Diego, CA 92123

Thanks for reading!

Roadtrip – The Bear and Star (Los Olivos)

January 22, 2018 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Road Trip, Santa Barbara County

**** The Bear and Star has closed

We had a fun time stopping in Solvang and doing olive oil tastings. But it was lunchtime and both of us were getting hungry. I had several places on my "list"; Sides Hardware, Los Olivos Wine Merchant….but it was the menu at The Bear and Star, a rather newish place in the Fess Parker (remember him?) Inn that got us to walk in.

The place was rather full and at first we didn't think they'd have a table for us, but we were seated on the back porch area. It was nice and quiet.

The menu screamed "New American" and in typical fashion we ordered four appetizers for our meal. We really enjoy touring a menu via appetizers, something we really started doing about five years ago. Our Server was so nice and accommodating. She even took time to really describe every dish for the Missus.

First up; the Chicken Liver Mousse ($9). This version was whipped to a very creamy and light texture.

It was bit on the sweet side for us and just pouring the marmalade into the ramekin didn't help things as we'd have preferred to have it on the side. Still, very nice, light offal flavors, if a bit too sweet. I enjoyed the toast as it was crisp and overly hard.

The Missus just can't help Herself when it comes to Devilled Eggs. We ordered two of the Smoked Guajillo ($3) and two of the Bacon ($3).

This was nice; very solid versions of devilled eggs. I enjoyed the smokey flavors of the guajillo version while the Missus enjoyed the more classic bacon flavored ones.

The Missus's favorite item was the deceptively simple Crispy Ranch Squash ($9).

Glazed with a soy-sweet chili sauce that wasn't too salty nor too sweet; the condensed flavors of the different squashes came through. There were a couple of slices that were really outstanding. Our cheerful Server told the Missus those were slices of Mother Hibbard Squash that cam from the vineyard's garden. Surprisingly good.

I thought the Smoked Wagyu Carpaccio ($17) sounded interesting. I will say, it was "different".

It was quite the presentation. The meat seemed to be cold smoked; the texture a bit fibrous and grainy. The smoked flavor on the mild side. The mushrooms were strange as it seemed to be dried and was like eating cardboard. This actually needed more salt….something we rarely say. Kind of a strange dish for us.

Overall, we enjoyed our meal, we'd gladly revisit. We really enjoyed our Server who was friendly, knowledgeable, and very efficient.

The Bear and Star (In the Fess Parker Inn)
2860 Grand Ave
Los Olivos, CA 93441
Hours:
Sun – Thurs 7am – 9pm
Sat – Sun 7am – 10pm

Steamy Piggy Revisited

January 21, 2018 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

An acquaintance recently checked out Steamy Piggy and told me they really enjoyed their meal. While recalling that I really didn't enjoy my previous visits to the place, I did make a note to return.

I found that the interior looks much the same. There's that motif of bright colors with worn and rustic touches like the rusted original walls and such. I'm not really a big fan of such contrasts, but then again, I'm not quite the design maven, right?

The menu has expanded a bit, but is still just occupies one sheet of paper. There's now someone actually making dumplings on the ide of the bar and quite a variety of pan fried dumplings; seven in all. I decided to check out the "Assorted", which was one of each pan fried dumplings.

I also wanted something else; but already having dumplings, decided to stay away from more starch. I went with the Salt and Pepper Chicken ($4.50).

The portion size was generous. This "popcorn" chicken of sorts was nice and hot; the meat moist. I really didn't care for the coating, which was on the soft side. The pieces lacked crispness and was rather gummy in texture. The seasoning was on the weak side; not enough salt or pepper. On the bottom of the bucket were lots of itty-bitty pieces of chicken.

Here's the very colorful Assorted Pan Fried Dumplings ($9.50). Looks like they did the Facing East thing and went with varied colored wrappers.

On a good note; unlike my previous visits, all the dumplings were adequately pan fried. As for fillings, I think the pork and chive was the best as the meat wasn't too hard, the filling moist, and the flavor balanced.

My least favorite was the chicken curry version, which had a rather bitter taste I didn't enjoy.

Many of the wrappers were problematic. I bit into the "pimp shrimp" and the wrapper tore, the too hard filling squirting out from one side.

The flavor of the basic pork and cabbage dumpling was decent, there was a nice amount of liquid in the dumpling. But the meatball was really tough and the wrapper too brittle.

The best texture, in terms of wrappers was oddly, the egg and cheese dumpling.

The bottom was nice and crisp, the wrapper not too thick, the top nice and plump. Though I'm not a big fan of cheese dumplings……eggs yes, in a good vegetarian jiaozi.

So, nearly half a year later, it seems that the dumplings have gotten slightly better here. But, like Facing East, it's more of a concept versus substance type of place. And like I said before, probably more of a place for the younger crowd to eat and hang out in.

Steamy Piggy
4681 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours:
Sun – Thurs 11am – 10pm
Fri – Sat 11am – 11pm