May 29, 2018 – mmm-yoso

mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog you are reading, has been around for more than 13 years. It's a compilation of meals enjoyed. Cathy is writing today; Kirk is relaxing after his vacation.

So, we have an out of town guest who has never been to a casino. It was lunchtime and the closest casino, Barona, came to mind. The Mister and I haven't been here in years and noticed how much things had changed. There's a hotel and more parking out front as well as in the covered garage. A sort of 'farm' theme is the exterior decor.
Look at the beautiful view East from the fourth floor of the garage.

I avoid taking photos of people and am pretty sure I couldn't take any of the casino floor, so just know it's beautiful, light filled, exciting and caters to just about any vice you may have, except for alcohol (the road to get here, Wildcat Canyon, has only one lane each way and up until a few years ago, no alcohol was allowed in the casino or any restaurant but now the Steakhouse does serve alcohol). There is a food court area as well as an All You Can Eat buffet and several restaurants at various price points.

The restaurant we headed to, Sage Cafe, is open 24 hours and basically right next to the hotel; the farthest point from the parking garage.
While perusing the menu, a basket of warm rolls and butter was brought to the table. The toasted ones were (a good, sour) sourdough and the brown ones were a soft yet chewy wheat. Both went well with the salted butter. One of our meal choices came with a choice of soup or wedge salad and this was great. The thin sliced onion and cucumbers as well as the tomato wedge and bits of Gorgonzola went well with the (iceberg) lettuce, which was tender and trimmed free of any hard, white leaves or parts.
One of the soup choices was green posole- pork and hominy filled, the tomatillo based soup was just so tasty, with a bit of chile heat creeping up at the end of each taste.
The chicken tortilla soup was also meaty and cheesy. Chicken, jack cheese, avocado and tortilla strips, along with a bit of chile heat, made this soup memorable.
The El Capitan French Dip ($9.95) with a side of onion rings (there was a choice of fresh fruit, fries or creamy slaw as well as the rings) was plentiful and had good quality beef. The warm French roll was soft and held up to a dip in the au jus. Those onion rings were quite perfect- the fry, the crisp, the whole onion slices…
The Sage Custom Cobb ($12.95) was presented in this non-traditional way.
The bacon, avocado, Gorgonzola, tomato and eggs in a formed mound made it a shame to have to split up and mix in. The 'custom' part? A choice of chicken breast, broiled salmon, New York steak, chilled shrimp or grilled tuna. As you can see, the grilled tuna was grilled to a nice medium-rare; a great choice. The mixed greens were plentiful and fresh and there were quite a few olives mixed throughout.
I only took one photo of "Mom's Fried Chicken" ($11.95) and it is a blurred, non-flattering photo. Just know the batter on this was very crispy and had a nice, light spice. The meat stayed tender and juicy even after the leftovers were chilled. In addition to the choice of soup or wedge salad, this meal came with both creamed corn and baked macaroni and cheese. Wow. The flavor of the sweet, fresh corn mixed with cream was so very, very decadent…as was the baked with sharp cheese macaroni.