November 2022 – Page 2

Tim Ky Noodle (Mira Mesa)

November 20, 2022 Cathy Chinese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is being written by Cathy today; Kirk and His Missus are enjoying the start of a lengthy vacation in another country.

The Mister and I had planned to try out the recently re-opened Pho Lucky, but decided against it and instead walked to the other end of the strip mall to Tim Ky Noodle, which Kirk had written an indoor eating post in 2019 and a "to go" post in 2020. {The Mister and I have been here previously but I never posted.}

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275CC856-7F4C-4E63-9030-ECA9A6989D66 The two sided, laminated/ easily sanitized menu is a bit pared down from pre-Covid-19 days. The majority of choices are Vietnamese with some Chinese choices also.
BA31D81F-DA8A-41B9-A7ED-00CE54B05FA6 Still, hot tea is brought out when you are seated; some things are back to normal.
45808A70-DFF8-4EAC-82A6-B415788938D3 The seafood chow mein (crispy noodles) ($15.99) was quite large, filled with shrimp, fish and scallops as well as very fresh vegetables. Excellent.
The salt and pepper fish filet with rice ($16.99) was also a very large portion. Light and crisp fry (proper) and onion were all that was needed for this meal. We did have leftovers of both.

Another survivor of the Covid-19 shutdowns.

Tim Ky Noodle 9330 Mira Mesa Blvd. San Diego, CA 92126 Daily 9am – 830pm

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Paris (2022) – Chez Meunier (Rue Rambuteau), Musée Carnavalet, and L’As du Fallafel

November 19, 2022 mmm-yoso Bakery, Croissants, France, Israeli Food, Middle Eastern Restaurants/Cuisine, Paris, France, Travel

We had asked the owner of the AirBnb we were staying at for a croissant recommendation. He lived in the apartment part of the year, so I was interested in what he would choose. He told us that his regular spot was down Rue Rambuteau across Rue Beaubourg. An outpost of Chez Meunier.

Chez Meunier has several locations in Paris and this didn't look too promising, but I thought we should try it.

Chez Meunier
18 Rue Rambuteau
75003 Paris

After picking up the Croissant we headed to our destination for the morning heading down Rue des Francs Bourgeois. We passed this cafe, Le Voltigeur along the way. Notice anything interesting?

Notice all the Teddy Bears? Apparently, various cafes across Paris used these over-sized stuffed animals as tools for social distancing during the pandemic! And now they are just hanging around enjoying the fruits of their labor!

There was also some interesting street art along Rue des Francs Bourgeois as well.

As for our destination. I had read that the Musée Carnavalet had just reopened after renovations two months before our visit. The museum, which is dedicated to the history of Paris resides in two former mansions. And best of all; admission is free!

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As with many museums we've visited, we took our time. And heck, admission is free and we're sure to return to Paris and can always return.

We especially enjoyed the gallery of shop signs.

Some were pretty easy to figure out.

Others might keep you guessing. Guess the business of this sign.

According to the attached "sign" this was for a cheese maker and hung in the cheese district around Les Halles when it was Paris's central market!

We basically viewed the displays and rooms up to the 198th century and decided to leave the rest for a future visit.

The cafe area is also quite beautiful.

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We decided to get some coffee and got us a table in the courtyard.

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And had the croissant from Chez Meunier.

Which wasn't very good. Not enough butter, not light and flaky enough, and too doughy.

Oh well, at least the setting was great!

Musée Carnavalet
23 Rue de Sévigné
75003 Paris, France

Finishing our coffee we headed on out. We decided to grab something light for lunch and headed on over to Rue des Rosiers. The area around here is considered the Jewish Quarter of Paris and Rue des Rosier right before Rue Vieille-du-Temple is pedestrian only and is packed with Jewish/Kosher/Middle Eastern Restaurants. There's one place that is quite "famous" and always has a line. L'As du Fallafel. The line on this day wasn't as long as usual, So, we decided to actually try the fallafel sandwich.

The line moves quickly and it was a twenty minute wait.

The guys working here work hard and fast!

The fallafel sandwich looked quite good!

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We loved the tender and warm pita and all the tasty veggies. As for the fallafel, well, even though this was better than anything I've ever had in San Diego, I guess our trip to Israel has really spoiled us. The fallafel here were on the harder, drier side and the interior was grittier than we prefer.

Still, in spite of the wait, it made for a decent lunch. And that line stretched all the way down the block as we left.

L'As du Fallafel
34 Rue des Rosiers
75004 Paris, France

We're glad we tried it.

We had a bit of shopping to do before heading back to the apartment. We had dinner reservations and one more full day in Paris. Time just seems to go so quickly when we're visiting.

Paris (2022) – Musée d’Histoire de la Médecine, Au Petit Versailles du Marais, Dinner at Pirouette, and Some Revisits

November 18, 2022 mmm-yoso Cocktails, Desserts, European Restaurants, France, French Restaurants, Paris, France, Travel

After enjoying our croissant at Square Samuel-Paty, I took a look at the time. It was perfect; the museum we wanted to visit, The Musée d'Histoire de la Médecine would be opening in five minutes. We headed on over the two blocks to Paris Descartes University and was instantly confused. I quickly stepped into the local tabac shop and the really nice gentleman pointed me in the right direction. The museum is located on the second floor of the College of Surgery.

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The first floor features statues of well known practitioners of medicine. In fact, if you look at this painting…..

And then the accompanying "guide", you might recognize some names.

The building itself is quite impressive. It was build between 1769 and 1775 by Architect Jacques Gondouin and was the original location of the Medical School which was founded in 1803.

For us, the main focus was the collection of medical instruments. The museum is famous for having the bag and tools of François Carlo Antommarchi which was used for the autopsy of Napoleon Bonaparte.

I think I'll leave the verbiage here; you'll be able to figure out what all these medical instruments tools were used for. Some are fairly cringe worthy.

And while not quite as enjoyable as the Surgeons' Hall Museums in Edinburgh, this was an interesting stop.

And was well worth the 4 Euro entrance fee.

Musée de l'Histoire de la Médecine
12 Rue de l'École de Médecine
75006 Paris, France

This was back in May and it was a beautiful day.

On the way back to our accommodation, the Missus wanted to stop by what She called a "nice café" that She had enjoyed the previous day when I was taking the baguette class, so we headed on over to Au Petit Versailles du Marais. I cracked up when I saw the sign….

The Missus didn't understand why I cracked up. I told Het look at the sign, it says "Christian Vabret, Meilleur Ouvrier de France". She said "So….." And I had to explain "think of it this way, it's competition for the best in France in different categories." Once you win you hold the title for life. So you found the Boulangerie of a "master". And all by accident.

The Missus then told me; "I was wondering why all these tour groups were stopping by this place while I was enjoying my pastry and coffee…..it was so annoying!"

You gotta love it.

It's a lovely little shop with many temptations.

The Missus made Her selection and we both got coffee…..

And the Missus really enjoyed Her treat!

Au Petit Versailles du Marais
1 Rue Tiron
75004 Paris, France

We then headed back to the apartment for a nice little break. We decided to have dinner nearby. I had read some good reviews on Restaurant Pirouette which was basically a block from where we were staying, so we decided to see if we would be able to grab an early dinner there. Since it was fairly early, there were outdoor tables available.

**** Restaurant Pirouette has closed

We ordered 1 entree (appetizer) and 2 plats, starting with the Langoustine "Tempura" (18 €).

Notice the quotation marks around "tempura". This wasn't deep fried. It was also overcooked, chewy, and under-seasoned. The fennel did add a nice anise-crunch and textural contrast. The pesto rosso; sun dried tomato pesto, was pretty much sun dried tomato oil. Not very good.

The Missus got Razor Clams and Cockles (25€).

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The white wine sauce was nicely done, it had a nice, pleasant acidity. Unfortunately, there was a good amount of "grit" in this dish which made eating a bit unpleasant. The potatoes were really dry, though the razor clams were tender and sweet.

I got the Lamb Shank, Chard, and Thyme Jus (28€).

The lamb was super tough and there just wasn't enough of the thyme sauce to go around. The leaves of chard were basically uncooked.

Service was a mixed bag; the young lady working was wonderful, but it seemed that the gentleman working just wanted us out of the way.

This was the most disappointing meal of the trip.

Restaurant Pirouette
5 Rue Mondétour
75001 Paris, France

After dinner we took a short stroll, then headed back to the apartment to watch the sunset. We relaxed, caught up on emails and then decided to head on out for a nightcap. We had enjoyed our previous visits to Jefrey's on Rue Grenata. So, we headed there.

**** Jefrey's has closed

I don't know if Covid had really affected things, but the drinks tasted watered down and the service was not as welcoming as on our previous visits.

Jefrey's
14 Rue Saint Sauveur
75002 Paris France

Man, it was kinda sad, we were "oh-fer-two" on favorites of ours during this trip. We headed down Rue Tiquetonne on the way back to the apartment and came across a familiar site.

The Golden Promise Whisky Bar. When waiting for our table at ERH, we'd had a drink here. Hmmmm…..well, we decided to givre it a shot and this time, instead of drinking at the bar on street level, we headed downstairs to the bar. Which had almost a speakeasy like feel to it.

Not wanting to mess around with another cocktail, I just had a Yamazaki Single Malt, which was a nice end to the evening before calling it a night.

It was quite interesting as the other folks at the bar seemed like regulars.

Golden Promise Whisky Bar
11 Rue Tiquetonne
75002 Paris, France

Arriving back at the flat, we decided to get to sleep fairly early. But not before enjoying the sites from the window.

2023 Rose Parade Float Road Test #5, Breakfast at Portos and Dim Sum King

November 17, 2022 Cathy Bakery, Dim Sum, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is being written by Cathy today. This blog is about food as well as reasons leading to the food.

On the last Saturday of October, The Mister and I drove up to Irwindale to observe the fifth road test of 2023 Tournament of Roses Rose Parade floats.

Link to 2023 Road Test #1

Link to 2023 Road Test 2

Link to 2023 Road Test 3

Link to 2023 Road Test 4

On this day only a few floats were being tested for mechanics and maneuverability.
284C9124-CE5A-45F2-865D-CBF1EC225F8B Here is the Elks (a fraternal organization) 2023 Rose Parade entry, which needs to collapse to go along the Parade Route. The size of the door leading to the Phoenix Decorating Barn is the exact maximum height and width to allow passage.
6CAA2CC9-1BE6-48D6-BF47-88572D047DBE It is a magnificent float when fully expanded.
284C9124-CE5A-45F2-865D-CBF1EC225F8B Fezzy Bear, the Shriners Hospitals for Children mascot, and their 2023 float, is still in its rebar stage.
B66B602C-AED2-4AA3-848B-AE1C69E50A32 Apparently this float will be highlighting the annual Shriners Golf Tournament fundraiser.

284C9124-CE5A-45F2-865D-CBF1EC225F8B
95A41D47-CB20-43F3-B66B-42B7A1BBD28B The Lions Clubs International float, "Bridging the World Through Service" was tested with weight (people) onboard for the mechanics and maneuverability as well as the ability to exit the float within 45 seconds in case of a fire.

All in all, a short day. So, we headed out to look for breakfast.
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2E7D0D80-B2E7-40C6-AFC4-85F0561261C8 It is so easy to get to the West Covina Portos (six miles South on the same road as the decorating barn).
Getting here before 8 a.m., there are no crowds.
74760763-968A-4E48-89D9-12BFDEA38844 We ordered a medianoche (Midnight) sandwich ($7.19); a Cubano (pork, ham, Swiss, pickles and a mustard/mayonnaise dressing) on a sweet, dark bread (instead of a lighter Cuban roll).
Also a ham and cheese omelette sandwich ($5.95) (on a fresh, buttery croissant). A6CD4FCF-033F-43D5-9CDA-FDA41B2AC70A Of course, I had to get a loaf of bread (walnut raisin ($4.15)).
43E90251-2D02-49B4-9E95-F75C80E018DE 2C556583-D88A-48F7-9C44-94C0D13C62FC Also a few other items (apple strudel ($1.55), gingersnap cookies (0.85), a pumpkin spice danish ($2.49) and three pan de muerto ($2.45 each) along with a dozen turkey-gravy potato balls ($18.79)).
F5725651-29DB-4D56-9893-898F22D6EC9C I also noticed the guava rose cakes ($3.85) so very pretty- and delicate and delicious (guava mousse with a chunk of guava in the center on top of a thin sponge cake, topped with a white chocolate).

Of course, some of these items were shared with friends. Portos Bakery, many locations, Website

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Then I remembered our breakfast after the Fourth Road test and wanted dim sum!

Once again, The Mister was navigating via his phone, searching for "Dim Sum". Soon we were here.
4A2E2BC8-DA06-47FD-8BF6-588499596275 There is no eating area, which is fine since we were full and heading home.
Quite unassuming and very popular, this was a perfect place to pick up some Dim Sum to go.
BD6D87C9-441D-4593-BB20-8226FFCBBF3E F157FC56-F434-42F0-B05D-DD6601A53B2B There is a small interior with a small selection shown, the kitchen is behind the steam trays.
AB823682-25D1-41E2-840F-0F595DA7C24A Photos are on the front window.
Menus with pens are at the front. Not many descriptions are available.
DFD3D37E-F20A-4EF2-9112-B03AAB1B06F5 Steamed Fun Guor (ground pork, dried shrimp, peanuts, chives, mushroom and radish in a tapioca wrapper) ($3.98)
Shrimp Har Gow (only shrimp in a tapioca wrapper) ($4.38)
Baked BBQ pork pastry ($3.98)
Shiu Mai (ground pork and minced shrimp, water chestnuts, mushroom in a flour/dumpling wrapper) ($4.38)
DFD3D37E-F20A-4EF2-9112-B03AAB1B06F5 Rice noodle roll with shrimp ($3.98)
FB87E862-0740-432B-8749-2F2F18B9DE19 Everything held up well on the drive home and we had a wonderful lunch!

Dim Sum King 11230 Garvey Ave, Suite D El Monte, CA 91733 Website Closed on Thursdays, opens 8 a.m. other days.
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Pelicana Chicken (Balboa Avenue)

November 14, 2022 mmm-yoso Chains, Chicken Wings, Korean Restaurants

I noticed that Pelicana Chicken was opening in a post last month, the latest in the "KFC invasion" of the Kearny Mesa area. In fact, I think there are more places serving KFC than pho in the area these days! Then just a few weeks later, while running some errands, I noticed that Pelicana was in soft opening mode. So, the next time I had some late errands to run (Pelicana currently opens at noon), I decided to stop by and do a takeout order.

Pelicana 01

I parked and walked into the shop and was greeted in a very cheerful and smiling manner. I was told that the place had only been open for less than a week at this time. So even though the place opened at noon, it was empty.

Pelicana 02

I know prices like this are pretty much the norm these days, but the amounts on the menu still gave me pause.

Pelicana 03

I placed my order and was told 30 minutes. So I made a quick Nijiya run and returned. I waited another 5 minutes and my order was good to go. At least it wasn't sitting around, right.

I was wondering how the wings would hold up on the drive home, so I ordered the 9 piece Original Fried Wings ($15) and got the Original Sauce on the side which added another $1.50. It's free if you order it on the chicken.

Pelicana 04 Pelicana 04b The chicken held up quite well after the drive home. This batter is more of the "laquer" type and it was still quite crunchy. Not much seasoning though, so it really needs a sauce. The sauce came in a presealed container and was like a sweet (emphasis on "sweet") chili sauce that was kind of weak overall.

The Mul Kimchi was also provided in a presealed container.

Pelicana 05

This was not as crisp as I enjoy and much too sweet. Man, read that ingredient label. You know, sometimes I'd rather not know. It has sodium saccharin and aspartame, i.e. Equal®, and sugar (glucose) no wonder it's so sweet. Oh, and in case you didn't get your daily allowance of aspartame and want an extra one of these….well, that'll be $1.50.

Pelicana 06

I also considered getting the Sea Snail Salad, but really didn't want to pay another $24, so I just went with an order of fries ($6). As well as the wings held up on the drive home, the fries were a total fail.

Pelicana 07

You can tell by the color, these weren't fried enough. It was dry and they barely seasoned it at all.

Well, at least the chicken wings held up quite well.

A week later, I decided to give Pelicana another go. This time I decided to have the wings sauced and I figure I'd cover myself by ordering the "Crispy" Chicken Wings ($16) and went with the Soy Based Sauce. The young man working was awesome and efficient and I did the same Nijiya run. Timing was great as my order was approaching the counter as I walked into the restaurant.

These wings are more heavily battered.

Pelicana 08 Pelicana 09 The wings were somewhat unevenly battered, the pieces on the top were quite crunchy, but for some strange reason, even though I liked the fact this wasn't swimming in sauce, the bottom pieces had gone mushy. For some reason, the meat of the wings were drier as well. This soy based sauce was also too sweet for my taste.

Personally, I prefer the "original" prep to the "crispy", which is actually more "crunchy".

I'll chalk these visits up to the "soft opening" for now. Though the presentation, menu, and food has a definite corporate "feel", the folks working were very pleasant. We'll see what things are like in a couple of months.

Pelicana 10

Please read Soo's post here.

Pelicana Chicken
7767 Balboa Ave.
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours:
Sun – Thurs 12pm – Midnight
Fri – Sat 12pm – 1am

Sunday Sandwiches – A Revisit to Sandwich Emporium

November 13, 2022 mmm-yoso Sandwiches

After a recent roadtrip, I dropped my car off for a wash. I was a bit hungry, so I decided to drop by Sandwich Emporium and grab a bite while I waited for my vehicle. It had been a while since I last visited. The place is so close to home, I really should be dropping by more often. Especially since it was one of the places I first posted on way back in May of 2005 (it was post #3)! Having known the "twins" since then, I had even visited all their other now defunct locations as well.

Sandwich Emp Rev 01

Things have changed a bit since my last visit. There's now outdoor seating which I liked. This meant I could order my sandwich and have it outside on this nice, sunny day.

Sandwich Emp Rev 02

The interior looks much the same. The twins weren't present on this morning. I decided to go with one of my "usuals" here; the Spicy Julio ($10.79) It was ready in a jiffy. I took one of the tables outside and opened things up.

Sandwich Emp Rev 03

This was a bit messier than what I usually get and the bread a lot crustier. You can use this as a reference. As usual, I enjoyed the zip from the jalapenos and the interplay between the meaty roast beef (which I think they still make inhouse) and the creamy avocado. The bread actually did an admirable job holding up with all that sauce.

Sandwich Emp Rev 04

Because of the amount of spicy mayo on this, the tomatoes played an important role in keeping the richness at bay. The Pepper Jack cheese was fine, but I couldn't help but wonder, since this had more than enough spice, perhaps something milky, like Havarti might do well in this sandwich. Of course, it's typical to have thoughts like then when you've had a sandwich as many times as I've had this!

I did enjoy sitting outside in the sunlight, soaking up that vitamin D and the sandwich was fine, though I think I'll order it "easy on the mayo" next time. And of course, with my history with Sandwich Emporium they'll be a next time. Hopefully more sooner than later.

Sandwich Emp Rev 05

Sandwich Emporium
3054 1/2 Clairemont Drive
San Diego, CA

Sandwich Emp Rev 06

Paris (2022) – Matamata Coffee Bar, What’s Going with Notre Dame, Le Saint-Regis, and Still Our Favorite Croissant from La Maison d’Isabelle

November 12, 2022 mmm-yoso Bakery, Caffeine Fix, Croissants, France, Paris, France, Travel

On the morning after our previous evening's "carb-fest", we arose nice and refreshed. I had just planned for one place to visit during the day, so we could just kind of make things up as the day went by. The Missus wanted to try someplace different for this morning's coffee, so we headed over to Rue d'Argout right off of Rue Montmartre to Matamata Coffee Bar.

Man, all these boutique coffee places seemed to have popped up over the last couple of years. Anyway, the Missus ordered a pour over and I got a coffee and a scone to start my day.

The Missus thought the pour over here was a bit weaker than Motors. I enjoyed the scone. Service was quite nice.

Matamata Coffee Bar
58 Rue d'Argout
75002 Paris, France

It was a bright, sunny day and our destination for the day did not open until 2pm, so we could just do our Flânerie thing.

We stopped while crossing Pont au Change when we saw what looked like the police dive team either doing an exercise or perhaps actually searching for something?

We decided to swing by Notre Dame to see what was going on in terms of restoration and construction. Like so many, we were horrified to see and read about the fire at Notre Dame back in April of 2019.

I had read that Notre Dame is scheduled to reopen in 2024 and we were curious to see what work was going on.

Illustrations and photographs of the fire, damage, and restoration are posted on the boards surrounding the church.

And it's really difficult to determine what work is going on from where we stood.

We do hope that Notre Dame returns better than ever.

We walked the length of Île de la Cité and crossed over to Île Saint-Louis via Pont Saint-Louis. We were just here the previous day, but things seemed even more serene on the Wednesday.

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Check out this outdoor dining set-up! It's basically taking up a parking stall!
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We decided to take a break and grab one of the outside tables at Le Saint-Regis, which seemed to be a very popular café.

It was a great place to people and pooch watch as it was just steps from Pont Saint-Louis.

We could watch folks as they crossed back and forth, going about their daily business and routines.

The Cafe Allonge was quite good as well.

As was the service. I'm sure we'll be back to relax and people watch, possibly getting a breakfast as well. This café seemed quite popular.

Le Saint-Regis
6 Rue Jean du Bellay
75004 Paris, France

Bolstered by our caffeine fix, we crossed over to the 5th Arrondissement. We were still a bit early for our visit….so we decided to see how busy our favorite boulangerie for croissants was.

Must have been our lucky day, the line wasn't very long and unlike our previous visit, they weren't out of Croissant aux Buerre,

Things moved quickly and we were in and out in a flash.

La Maison d’Isabelle
47T Boulevard Saint-Germain
75005 Paris, France

Well, we decided to find a place to have our croissant. Close to our destination was a little park; Square Samuel-Paty.

This used to be named Square Paul Painlevé, but was renamed for teacher Samuel Paty who was murdered by an Islamic Terrorist in October of 2020.

It's a tiny park, but a nice peaceful green space, full of sculptures. We were surprised to see a copy of the Capitoline Wolf, which we had seen in Rome.

We had a seat on wall in the shade and opened up the croissant….it was every bit as good as we remembered.

Light and crisp exterior; fluffy interior, slightly moist, perfect amount of butter and salt for our taste. It's still our favorite here in Paris.

After our last disappointing visit to a old favorite of ours, we were glad that La Maison d’Isabelle still delivered. We smiled as we headed off to our destination for the day.

Thanks for stopping by!

Paris (2022) – Baguette Class at La Cuisine Paris, La Ferme Saint-Aubin, and a Revisit to Fou de Pâtisserie

November 11, 2022 mmm-yoso Bakery, Cheese, Cooking, France, Paris, France, Travel

When planning out our time in Paris, I thought it would be fun to do a cooking class. We'd had such a fun time doing our cheese tasting with Le Cheese Geek during a previous visit. Now I think I'm a decent cook, but baking, well, it's really not my thing. And yet, baguettes and croissants have become such a big part of our eating lives that I thought perhaps taking a cooking class would be fun. After doing a bit of research, I settled on La Cuisine Paris and thought that the Missus and I would have fun learning to make baguettes. However, when I was in the process of booking our class the Missus decided that I should go ahead and take the class myself and She would go shopping and enjoy a cafe.

So I bade the Missus farewell at the rather discreet doorway right off the Seine on Quai de l'Hotel de Ville.

Our instructor was Segolene, she was in one word, amazing! She helped us organize things, explained each step, answered all questions, and had a great sense of humor.

And because she had worked as a pastry chef in LA, she could explain the differences between French style baguettes and what we have in America. It was ash content and protein (i.e. gluten content). Which is why many people who are gluten intolerant can actually eat bread in France!

We went thru the basic "petrissage", the kneading and working of the dough by hand and "falconnage" which is forming and molding the bread.

Along with the scarification…creating the "scars" on the bread. I'm not going to go into much more detail, other than the one trick I learned…..basically when making your baguette, and this holds true for reheating in the oven, place a pan or lipped tray in the bottom of your oven. When you reach the desired temp place the bread in a rack in the oven and pour water into the tray in the bottom of the oven to create steam. This is what I currently use when reheating my baguette and it works perfectly.

As for how my baguette turned out. Well, this isn't it, it was just a demo of how to make a baguette en épi.

These are my baguettes.

And, I even made a fougasses, the French style focaccia. Segolene said mine looked "très bon". Segolene brought ingredients from her mom's garden to use in making our fougasses, which I used along with cheese, leek, and garlic.

It was a great time and Segolene was the best! This is highly recommended, it was fun and even though I'm not quite sure I'll make baguettes at home, I sure learned a lot.

And we got to take the stuff we made with us.

La Cuisine Paris
80 Quai de l'Hôtel de ville
75004 Paris, France

The Missus wants me to take the croissant class next!

The Missus seeing that I had two baguette and the fougasse said that we wouldn't need to go out for dinner this evening. Instead we headed right over the Seine to Île Saint-Louis, that island in the Seine east of Île de la Cité to La Ferme Saint-Aubin where we bought some fromage for dinner.

La Ferme Saint-Aubin
76 Rue Saint-Louis en l'Île
75004 Paris, France

On the way back to the apartment, we made a detour at Nicholas, then a revisit to Fou de Pâtisserie, that shop which sells various curated pastries from some of Paris's most well known pastry chefs.

Where in spite of the challenges presented to Her, the Missus managed to make a decision on one!

Fou de Pâtisserie
45 Rue Montorgueil
75002 Paris, France

When we got back to the apartment, we relaxed, then got ready for our dinner.

The Missus enjoyed the fougasse, great acidity and sweetness from the tomatoes, but said my baguettes were too doughy and the crust too thick and hard. Still, not bad for a rookie, eh?

And before all of this we had our own little apero moment.

Where we sat at the window and watch the sun set in the horizon as Paris slowly turned into the city of lights……

Paris (2022) – Raviolis Chinois Nord-Est, Motors Coffee (again), and Chez Taeko

November 10, 2022 mmm-yoso Caffeine Fix, Chinese Restaurants, France, Japanese Restaurants, Paris, France, Travel

We arrived in Paris from Edinburgh just before 8pm. We had some decent food in the Air France Lounge in Edinburgh and also on the flight.

We arrived at CDG close to 8pm, then caught the RER to Les Halles. We made good time and since we'd be staying for five nights, I managed to get us a VRBO I'd been wanting to stay at that had a 5 night minimum. Granted, Les Halles may not be the most glamorous of areas, but our flat was on the 6th floor (since this is Europe, it's the 7th floor by US standards), but it had a lift. And while you may not think this view of Les Halles is anything to write home about.

Just raise your eyes a bit.

Yep, that's the Eiffel Tower to the left and Saint Eustache to the right. We would never tire of this view.

The Missus and I weren't quite ready to call it a night, so we headed over to our favorite street in Paris, Rue Montorgueil. Man, it was super busy, even on a Monday night.

Like I mentioned in one of my posts on the first leg of this trip, it was super busy, like Covid never happened. Well, at least this was outdoors.

We made our "rounds" then headed back down St Denis when we decided to grab a "small bite" to eat. The place we chose? Ravioli Chinois Nord-Est. To translate, "ravioli Chinois" = Jiaozi! We had enjoyed out time in Scotland, don't get me wrong, but the Missus was missing Asian food and some late evening Jiaozi sounded like fun.

The place was fairly busy, though there were a couple of empty tables. The customers were mostly Parisians with a few Chinese sprinkled in. I started to appreciate the varied tastes of Parisians on this trip as it seems they were quite open to trying and enjoying various cuisines. The Missus got to use Her Mandarin and we got the house beer….the namesake of Her hometown. Having come from Scotland where the weather was fairly cool, it just seemed so hot in Paris. So this helped pave the way to getting us adjusted.

We started with some Liang Cai – cold dishes, the stir fried potato strings and five spiced beef.

The beef had a nice five spice flavor, but was really dry and tough. The potato strings were fine, nothing special, but the vinegar helped cool us off.

As for the Jiaozi…..

We got the Pork and Cabbage dumplings….they used napa cabbage in this (whew). The wrapper was too brittle and lacked a decent "pull", the fillings though were quite tasty, well seasoned and moist and tender. This is pretty much on scale with the higher level jiaozi in San Diego.

While the food didn't blow us away, this was a fun stop, and the Missus and I had a nice time reminiscing about a trip that seems oh so long ago now. And man, the place seemed to be a popular late evening stop.

Raviolis Chinois Nord Est
115 Rue Saint-Denis
75001 Paris, France

We headed back to the apartment and enjoyed our view for a few minutes before heading off into dreamland.

The next morning we woke and just lounged around for a while. I had a baguette making class scheduled in the afternoon so we decided to do some shopping.

But first we headed over to Motors Coffee and this time we had a seat outside on the sidewalk.

The Missus thought Her Geisha "drip", what they call a pour over here was decent. I had an Americano which was quite good. We'd end up visiting one more time during our stay.

Motors Coffee
7 Rue des Halles
75001 Paris, France

From here we headed over to the Marais and just did our lèche-vitrine (window shopping) thing. We stopped into a location of Signorini Tartufi, we had first come across this shop in Avignon….yes, never got those posts done because Covid just kinda waylaid my travel posts. Perhaps I'll do a summary one day because we had a fabulous time. Anyway Signorini Tartufi is a favorite for gifts and stuff for ourselves as well.

Signorini Tartufi Paris Bretagne (Locations all over France)
3 Rue de Bretagne
75003 Paris, France

We also "finally" (we'd walked past this shop several times in the past) took some time to check out Comptoirs Richard, a tea & coffee shop on Rue Bretagne.

The Missus spent a good amount of time here and even sampled some of the teas available. She ended up buying several bags as gifts and for Herself.

Comptoirs Richard
45 Rue de Bretagne
75003 Paris, France

She also bought some treats from La Maison du Chocolate as well.

La Maison du Chocolat Bretagne
14 Rue de Bretagne
75003 Paris, France

By now it was time for lunch. There was a place in Marché des Enfants-Rouges that I wanted to check out. Marché des Enfants-Rouges is the oldest food market in Paris, established in 1615! These days, as much as folks are shopping for groceries, the market is known for their food stalls. There was one in particular I was interested in.

This food stall is called Chez Taeko and serves up bentos, combinations, donburi, and the like. If you're eating at one of the counters or tables, you have a seat and they'll take your order. I got the Chicken Karaage and the Missus a Chirashi. Even though there's some hustle and bustle, this is Paris, so folks aren't talking loudly, so we enjoyed the vibe.

We ate at the counter.

I enjoyed my chicken karaage, the batter was more on the crunchy side, but it was good. The sauce had a nice sweet-soy flavor and the chicken was moist. The tempura broccoli was nice, light and crisp as were the tsukemono. The rice however was terrible, hard and chewy.

That rice situation made the Missus's Chirashi not as enjoyable as my bento.

The salmon was quite good, nice and fresh, the maguro was just passable, not the highest quality; the ebi was fine as well. That rice however….man, a whole bowl of it!

We did enjoy the service, which in spite of all the customers was really efficient and the staff, all Japanese were so pleasant. So, when I walked up to pay our bill, the woman spoke to me in Japanese, I understood some of it. But when I submitted my credit card she switched to English. This was when it hit me….they knew I was American as soon as the chip on my card didn't work by tapping it on the device! I started noticing this at other businesses as well. Interesting, huh?

Chez Taeko
Marché des Enfants-Rouges
37 Rue Charlot
75003 Paris, France

We headed back to the apartment to drop off our packages.

Before we headed back out.

I would be taking a baguette class for the rest of the afternoon and the Missus would be exploring Paris solo. This was going to be interesting.

Having a Hilo Loco at Leilani’s Cafe

November 9, 2022 mmm-yoso Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego, Loco Mocos, Plate Lunch

I recently had a morning appointment in North PB. I decided to skip my usual breakfast….I've been doing a lot of Overnight Oats recently. I skipped breakfast because I'd be close to Leilani's Cafe and it seemed like a good time to have a Hilo Loco. It was a tad past 830 in the morning, most of the morning coffee folks had gone, and the remote workers have started hitting up the coffee chops in the area, so Leilani's wasn't busy at all.

Leilanis Rev 01 Leilanis Rev 03 It had been over 2 years since I'd last had a Hilo Loco from Leilani's and it was (of course) a takeout order. This time, with no one eating outdoors, I felt comfortable having my Hilo Loco at one of the (farthest) tables on the lanai. In terms of prices, the Hilo Loco had gone up a buck since October of 2020; it's now $13.75.

There's something about the vibe I get from Leilani's that always takes me back to the "old days", you know, when Da Kine's was in PB, Kealani's in Encinitas was still open. And whenever I do a post on Leilani's I often get too wordy. From my Leilani's Hawaiian Restaurant post, when they had a place in Serra Mesa (I believe this spot was being renovated):

"I've noticed that here on the mainland, we have been inundated with a number of "Hawaiian BBQ" joints. So it goes without saying that most people I've met think that Hawaiian BBQ is the ubiquitous "plate lunch". Nothing wrong with that, but the plate lunch is much more than the corporate Hawaiian BBQ, which when done well, is a good value(there are several L&L locations in Honolulu that I like), but when done with only the profit margin in mind(which happens often), is really lousy. If you grew up in Hawaii, you're sure to have your favorite(s), whether it's Rainbow Drive-In(my personal favorite), Masu's(RIP Masu's), Richie's, Zippy's, Cafe 100, Grace's, or any number of places, and there are many. You'd also realize that there is life beyond the BBQ Chicken, BBQ Beef, and all the generic items served in those Hawaiian BBQ places. Each one of the places mentioned above have their own versions of the "standards", each with it's own "food personality" of sorts. In addition, other "standards" like Beef Stew, Sweet Sour Pork, Chili, Mochiko Chicken, etc, are also available."

Ok, 'nuff said.

Leilanis Rev 02

You know, I totally expected to be called to the window to pick-up my locomoco, but the really nice young lady brought it out to me.

Leilanis Rev 04 Leilanis Rev 05 So, how was this? First off, the rice isn't as well coated as before, though it still has a decent spiciness and some nice chunks of Portuguese Sausage. The burger has always been lean and without filler, which makes it nice and beefy if a bit more chewy than others.

I had thought that the gravy at Leilani's tended to be on the "gloppy" side, but this was nice and smooth with a creamy tongue feel. There's some beefiness to it, though it was on the ssalty side for my taste.

The egg, well this says it all……nice and runny….just perfect.

Leilanis Rev 06

In the end Leilani's delivered pretty much as expected. Not a perfect loco moco, but one that's comforting and for some reason always brings back memories. Hard to believe I first did a post on Leilani's back in 2006! Man, what were you doing in November of 2006? Well, maybe I don't want to know……it'll make me feel "REALLY" old!

Leilani's Cafe
5109 Cass St.
San Diego, CA 92109
Hours:
Daily 7am – 2pm

Leilanis Rev 07

This one is for "FOY" ChrisR who went to UH Hilo and is always nice enough to let me know where he is finding (or not finding) good grindz in town!