October 2022 – Page 3

Takeout From De Cabeza/El Único

October 6, 2022 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants

Well, it seems we've finally gotten some cooler weather around here and are really enjoying it! Of course that meant that the Missus started craving some of Her favorites. And first on the list? She wanted the Cabeza en su Jugo from De Cabeza. While De Cabeza had been on the "rotation" for a while, due to the heatwave(s), gas prices, etc, we hadn't done takeout in a while. Even though gas looks like it's hitting almost seven bucks a gallon at places (it was $5.99/gallon at Costco!) we'd been waiting for a break in the weather to get some takeout.

I'm glad they open rather early, I encountered no traffic during my drive down to Chula Vista and got to De Cabeza around 820.

De Cabeza 01

Jesus saw me, smiled and then chided me for not having been here in a while. He immediately went to work on my order…….I didn't even have to order! What a great guy.

De Cabeza 02

My order was ready in no time. I paid, thanked Jesus and headed back home.

The Missus wanted to have right at it when I got home. The soup was still hot so it took minimal time to heat a bit and I didn't have to warm the tortillas.

De Cabeza 03 De Cabeza 04b As I stared at our food, take a look at the photo to my right, I was suddenly reminded of something. Back at the end of August, we went to CDMX and Oaxaca. The Missus had really enjoyed our visit to the Museo Nacional de Antropologia and so I got us a private tour. One of the things we learned was how to identify different versions of Tlāloc, the Aztec God of rain and water. It's mainly by the large circular eyes. So, for some reason the angle just made me think of that. Weird.

Ok, let's return to planet Earth shall we? This really hit the spot; the deep beefiness with a hint of offal, the wonderful various textures of the different parts of the cow's "cabeza". The soup is thick and rich. And this time it had a good amount of "zip" to it. The tortillas were nice, such good corn flavors. A hit of lime to cut that wonderful richness and we knew why we always return. Even if we wait until cooler weather.

De Cabeza 04 De Cabeza 05 Add to that the wonderful, gracious service of Jesus and his gang…..well, I'm sure we'll be back again soon.

De Cabeza/El Único
1043 Broadway
Chula Vista, CA 91911
Hours:
Daily 8am – 8pm

Golden Chopsticks – Mira Mesa

October 4, 2022 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Chinese Restaurants

So, while I was between trip Golden Chopsticks finally opened in Mira Mesa….well, I'm thinking they took long enough. Upon returning from our last trip, I read Soo's post on GC's soft opening. I know by buddy Calvin was waiting for his shot at Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings and not having to drive down to National City for his fix. We quickly arranged for an all important, ahem, "lunch meeting".

Gold Chop MM 01

We both arrived just before 11 and they actually waved us in early! The place filled up quickly. The service was the typical "all business" menu down, what's your order kinda thing.

The dining room is of pretty good size and still filled up quickly.

Gold Chop MM 02

Of course man does not live by salt and pepper chicken wings alone…..well maybe you could, but in this case we needed to order a couple of other items for lunch as well.

The menu is full of "ABCDE" (ab-cee-dee, American Born Chinese Dining Establishment something I coined back in 2005) classics. Which, when done well can be quite enjoyable.

So, it ended up that I selected what I recalled was a decent dish from my visits way back when, along with what our dining companion in absentia "LeahA" recommended to go with our wings.

I recalled that the Sizzling Shrimp/Beef/Chicken combo was pretty good on former visits.

Gold Chop MM 03

Now this had enough flavor; the beef was surprisingly tender, as was the chicken. Nice soy sauce tones, not overly sweet or gooey, crisp veggies…perhaps the broccoli was a tad undercooked; but not bad at all. This was the best dish of the meal and I'll gladly order it again.

And then came the dish we were waiting for.

Gold Chop MM 04 Gold Chop MM 05 Now, the batter on the wings from GC back in the day was on the lighter side and was also quite thin and the wings got soggy quickly. In this case it was the opposite; the batter was almost hard; not crunchy…hard. Also, I'm not sure if I'm rubbing off on Calvin (good lord, I hope not), but after our first bite we both said "where's the salt and pepper"? Barely any garlic, pepper was MIA, a few slices of scallions. I mean, this was bland, and while the wings were moist, there was just too much batter. The wings were large…but heck, I could have used some "salt" on my Salt-and-Pepper Wings……..

If you're wondering what the wings used to look like – here's a photo from "the vault".

Goldensticks01

Our starch came out last "LeahA" told Calvin to order the Shrimp "Chow Mein", which I remember being pretty decent.

Gold Chop MM 06 Gold Chop MM 07 The noodles were nicely cooked and coated. But we both noticed something right away when biting into the shrimp. You can tell by the color. It seems the shrimp were blanched and just dumped into the dish. It had absolutely no flavor.

Perhaps it's the soft opening blues……maybe we'll try again in the future; though Calvin did say that the wings at QT Pot were better than these. He is Cantonese, but his Missus is not, there was no way the Missus would eat the leftovers, so I told him to take it home.

One might say that at least the less salty wings means less MSG….well, I don't know about that….I ended up drinking like five glasses of H2O immediately after lunch. On the bright side, Calvin's Missus enjoyed the noodles and sizzling plate (the wings she said tasted like cardboard). I guess it measured up with her favorite "Chinese food"……she loves Panda Express.

Gold Chop MM 08

Golden Chopsticks
8155 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126
Hours:
Daily 11am – 9pm

Sandy, I know you were looking forward to Golden Chopsticks opening, I hope your visit was more like Soo's than mine.

Monday Meanderings – It’s Honeyjam Chicken Not JJ’s and Olleh Sushi Replaces Old House Hot Pot

October 3, 2022 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Korean Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi

Just a quick post for a busy Monday.

It's Honeyjam Chicken not JJ's:

So, first off a big "THANK YOU" to "FOYs" Patty and Rena who gave me heads-up regarding what was going on with the spot that was initially indicated to be JJ Chicken. Patty was nice enough to comment on my it appears that JJ is not coming to Renaissance Center and on the very same day Rena sent me an email with a photo (Thanks so much Rena!) mentioning the same thing! So, of course I needed to do an update and a couple of days later I headed on down (up??) to Renaissance Towne Center and yes indeed it looks like Honeyjam Chicken and Beer is now taking the spot that was planned for "JJ".

HoneyJam MM 01

And since there's a sign up, it looks like this one will actually happen!

8895 Towne Centre Dr.
San Diego, CA 92122

Thanks so much Patty and Rena, I appreciate the time and effort you both expended. You know, I don't think our little blog would exist without wonderful folks like you!

Olleh Sushi Replaces Old House Hot Pot:

I noticed this when I was driving to Daiso. Looks like Old House Hot Pot is gone. Sorry to say I never had a chance to check them out.

Olleh Sushi 01

Looks like the Olleh Kingdom is expanding. They already have a AYCE Korean BBQ in the Old Seoul – then Roadem BBQ spot on Convoy. This one is a AYCE Sushi….I guess they specialize in what my good friend calls "All You Cannot Eat"…..

8199 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111

And finally……

My apologies for the blog being down almost a whole day over the weekend. Apparently there was an issue with Typepad's servers. It had been happening intermittently over the last month or so and this time; things went down for all their customers.

Now Typepad has notified me that there will be another downtime this month. But haven't been clear on specifics yet.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Scotland (2022) – Breakfast at Port Charlotte Hotel, Bunnahabhain and Bowmore Distilleries, and Lunch at The Lochside Hotel & Restaurant (Islay)

October 2, 2022 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, British/Irish/Scottish Restaurants/Pubs, Distilleries, Scotland, Travel

On our first full day in Islay, we got up early, and decided to take a short stroll around Port Charlotte.

It was a charming town.

We headed back to the hotel for breakfast.

I saw something that I've always wanted to try on the menu.

It's hard to go wrong with any smoked fish in Scotland and the Missus ordered the Loch Fyne Smoked Salmon with Poached Eggs.

There was a bread, dairy, and cereal station available. The salmon was quite good and the eggs perfect.

I had always wanted to try Kippers and here I finally had a chance. I ordered the Loch Fyne Smoked Kippers.

Man, with the fried potato scone, this was so good. Deeply savory, wonderful smoked fish flavors, perfect salt. A squeeze of lemon to help cut the richness and we were good to go. The Missus had a taste and was sold. In fact, She would order this the next morning for breakfast!

Port Charlotte Hotel
Main St.
Port Charlotte PA48 7TU, Scotland

As usual Sean was on time for our pick-up. One of the benefits of having a private driver/tour is the flexibility. We found that doing three tastings in a day was a bit much for us and asked Sean if he could cut it down to two for this day. Which was no problem.

The first stop was just a quick one. Ardnahoe Distillery was fairly new, opening in 2019. Sean had never been there so he asked us if we'd like to take a look.

It was very modern and sleek looking. It was a nice stop to stretch our legs a bit and the Missus enjoyed all of the portraits of Her favorite animal; the Highland Cow….which they call "Heilan' Coo".

The next stop was Bunnahabhain Distillery. It was quite a drive to the distillery.

Our visits on this day revolved around tastings, though we were given an short walking tour of the distillery.

Bunnahabhain Distillery is known as the most remote distillery on Islay. We were told that the village of Bunnahbhain was created to actually house the distilleries employees! Their Scotch is also unique as they are known for their unpeated Scotch Whiskey.

When it was time for our tasting were were each given an impressive "tasting kit"!

There was no way the Missus and I would finish one each; so we split one and brought the other home, which I gave to "FOY" JeffP.

The Missus thought this a bit on the overly "sweet" side; while I really liked the 18yo and the Amontillado Cask versions.

We had quite the drive to our next destination; Bowmore and Sean made a stop at a wonderful ceramic shop named Persabus Pottery which the Missus loved.

She ended up buying a beautiful looking cup

And it looks like cats are loved and most welcomed here!

It was about a half hour drive to the town of Bowmore. Which, after staying in Port Charlotte, and visiting the distilleries and villages seemed like a big city (it's the Administrative Captial)….with a population of…..700!

We made a quick stop at the pharmacy, before heading off to Bowmore Distillery.

The Visitor Center seemed a bit more fancy than the other tasting rooms. And instead of a tour there was a video presentation. Bowmore was the first "legal" distillery on Islay, founded in 1779.

Which came with 2 free tasters of our choice.

It's nicely balanced, with nice fruity tones.

After this tasting we stopped for lunch at the The Lochside Hotel & Restaurant. We'd eaten quite a bit for breakfast, so the Missus and I went with some smaller, starter items.

The Missus enjoyed Her Stornoway Black Pudding.

Which was fairly crumbly, but pleasant to eat, quite moist, not overly "iodiney", and nicely seasoned, perhaps a bit on the salty side, which made it go good with the poached egg.

If you noticed; I've been looking for dishes I'd read or heard about during my meals on Islay. And here I got the Cullen Skink.

Basically a smoked haddock cream soup….think of it as a less thick smoky chowder if you will. Actually, I enjoyed the rustic bread the most! This was nice and filling.

The Lochside Hotel & Restaurant
20 Shore St.
Bowmore, Isle of Islay PA43 7LB, Scotland

Sean had noticed that we took a bit on interest in the rather unique looking church in the town. So after lunch we drove on up to Kilarrow Church.

It's quite an eye catcher to be sure. Built in 1767, Kilarrow Church is still used to this day, making it the oldest church still in use on Islay.

There's a cemetery right next to the church that caught my eye.

This is a Commonwealth War Graves site.

I was rather shocked to see many "Unknown" tombstones. According to this website there are:

"36 unknown seamen of the Merchant Navy"

Buried here. Very sad.

We started heading back to Port Charlotte, taking in the views….

Because it was still rather early in the day; Sean had one more stop in mind before dropping us at the hotel!

Stay Tuned!

Scotland (2022) – Ardbeg, Lagavulin, and Laphroaig Distilleries. Dinner at Port Charlotte Hotel (Islay)

October 1, 2022 mmm-yoso British/Irish/Scottish Restaurants/Pubs, Caffeine Fix, Distilleries, Scotland, Seafood, Travel

After a nice day in Oban, we headed off early the next morning to catch the ferry to Port Ellen on Islay. It was a bit of a drive and I was quite fascinated with the whole thing as I hadn't ever been on a ferry this large before. I mean the ferry could hold buses and semi's, heavy construction equipment. It let cars in first, then had the cars lifted to the ceiling. I'd ridden the Washington State Ferry several times; but this was much larger.

We were entertained by this pup while waiting to get our van onto the ferry.

It was drizzling a bit and the pooch just wasn't into going to do his business or even a walk. He refused to move until finally; his "Dad" let him back into the car! It was pretty funny. We knew who ran things in this family!

The ferry was quite spacious and well equipped and had several designated areas.

Sean our driver told me to meet him back at the van a few minutes before docking; so we headed out to relax.

We saw the pooch sitting with Dad and eventually napping away in the pet friendly area. It must have been a pretty tough morning! The seats and sofas there were quite comfortable.

After a while, we headed off to the coffee kiosk for a caffeine fix.

There was some pretty comfortable seating here as well.

And the coffee decent as well.

Soon enough we had arrived at Port Askaig…..

Sean had arranged for three distillery visits and we'd be hitting them right in a row.

But first, we stopped here…..

What in god's name is this you might ask? Well, this is what gives Islay Scotch Whiskey its unique character. It's peat, basically an accumulation of decayed organic matter.

The peat is dried, then slowly burnt to give Islay Scotch it's smoky flavor.

And then it was time for our stops. Like many of the tours we do these days…most private or small group, there's just so much information…..I'll just do quick recaps of our visits.

First stop Ardbeg Distillery.

Most of the distilleries we visited had a similar look; the white washed buildings and some had wonderful views as well.

We loved Ardbeg's "mascot"!

We did a tour of the grounds and got a nice history; Ardbeg was established in 1815! We then got a tasting.

Quite peaty; though a good amount of sweetness came thru.

Lagavulin was next. The setting was amazing as there are ruins of a castle right in the bay in back of the distillery. This is Dunyvaig Castle.

We got a nice rundown of the machinery here; some of it unique and almost one of a kind.

The tasting here was quite diverse; everything from really strong with a "bite" to quite peaty. We were told that the pot stills are filled to the maximum at Lagavulin; thus the contact with copper is lower than most other brands creating a unique flavor profile.

The Missus's favorite Scotch is from Laphroaig, so She was looking forward to our visit. And overall, the Laphroaig tour was the most comprehensive as well.

We actually got to go into a malting room.

Saw peat being "burned"…..

And was basically walked thru much of the process.

As for the tastings….well, the Missus still likes Her Laphroaig 10! And perhaps the Quarter Cask. I'm more of a Sherry Oak kind of guy and I had a taste of the 16…oh my!

Looks like some other folk like Laphroaig too!

Perhaps our favorite part of the tour were the "opinion tiles" which detail the love-hate polarizing opinions of the Laphroaig. These are at the entrance of the distillery.

It details at the bottom of the tile details what the person tasted.

My favorite one was…..

There were a group of Frenchmen….wearing kilts and all the gear on a Scotch pilgrimage! Sean went and took photos of them.

You gotta love this place!

Islay was indeed beautiful; the folks warm and welcoming. And the scenery……

But man, we were bushed. Sean dropped us off at out accommodation, the very comfortable Port Charlotte Hotel.

And after doing a bit of research before our trip; I figured that the most suitable meals for us would be in the hotel.

And it would turn out to be a good choice.

We started with 6 Loch Gruinart (local) Oysters.

My goodness; these were so good! Not overly briny; with a sweet-cucumbery aftertaste. We ended up ordering another half-dozen.

The Wild Mushroom Salad was also quite good.

Good earthy flavors; loved the addition of pine nuts added that unique, almost sweet flavor. The truffle oil dressing didn't hurt things at all either.

The Seafood Chowder was interesting; tomato based.