January 2023 – Page 2

Eating Inside Mitsuwa Marketplace Food Court

January 17, 2023 Cathy Desserts, Japanese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Thank you for stopping to read mmm-yoso!!! Cathy is writing for a few days while Kirk gathers intel for some interesting posts.

I did write about eating at one of the restaurants in Mitsuwa Food Court in 2016, I wrote about a pop up crepe/dessert place in 2013 and again in 2016, when it became a permanent storefront. Kirk wrote about the actual Market in 2006. 951E118C-B45E-49AD-9EC9-2BE3B10DA92A In reality, The Mister and I shop here quite often and try to have a bite to eat before walking down the aisles.
F0690CD6-5587-4922-8D4C-EADB56A4FDC4 There is almost always some sort of sale/display in the center entrance area. The two main restaurants are to your left.
14C37D54-D029-49FA-A30A-29ED78FCE220 Hokkaido Ramen Santuoka is a favorite stop, especially on these chilly, rainy days.
The display of the menu -in plastic form-is mesmerizing. All bowls are available in small, regular and large sizes.
F3708E76-C751-412B-A16C-128758A14682 Shio, soy sauce as well as the miso broths (non-spicy; I like to taste ingredients) are each milky, rich and strong flavored. The thin, fresh noodles are slightly firm. Each ingredient is fresh and perfect together. (This is a small size basic miso ramen ($11) you can order char siu, tonkatsu as well as a variety of sides or sets).

Santuoka open 11-7:30 in the Mitsuwa Food Court
99DA0713-9D3B-48EA-BA00-1470BFA9467C The other restaurant, Musashiya, has an even larger display of Shokuhin Sampuru; an overwhelming menu and choice of items. Musashiya is owned by Mitsuwa.
7AC474BF-669A-4929-8D5D-717ECC1D70C8 860A9731-4ABA-4F52-BCDE-49F63BBB4C93 The #24, Chicken Katsu Set (the small food model photo is only 'off' by the color of the chicken breading) ($15) is large enough to share for a light lunch. Miso soup, potato salad, cabbage, pickles and omelet (tamago) along with a good portion of rice are each a compliment to the large piece of crispy chicken cutlet.

4E9179B1-00E1-49EC-B17A-B5CACEEAA7F3_1_201_a F89727B1-3FBD-4E59-8432-3C38F533F8D0 The tempura zaru soba ($12.80) has been a choice ever since I realized that soba noodles do not seem to affect my blood sugar level the way udon does. The two fritters (kakiage) of tempura vegetables with shrimp were very light and crisp.
6214131A-AD48-49C4-9684-9EBB80D0C1F6 CEEC203C-42B8-401E-8CBD-5870666B9FB1 The Sanzai soba ($12) is a bowl ordered when I don't want meat for a meal. The vegetables are Japanese parsley, bamboo shoots and mushrooms. Really tasty, filling and a bit different.

Musashiya 4240 Kearney Mesa Road San Diego 92111 Website
F8791435-96BC-4868-8595-1F14A7CC4915 When you walk in the front door of Mitsuwa, to the right is J Crepes & Cafe.
759FF02D-802A-418D-8379-85A0608D25EB Which, of course, has its own display of plastic food models.
Strawberry crepe ($7.50) add vanilla ice cream ($1)
87FAC70C-6263-4BCF-AEC8-7E205131EAA6
J Crepes & Cafe 4240 Kearny Mesa Road #119 San Diego 92111 (858) 292-5200

343A9671-0AFF-4F8E-B212-99916259C25C

Taste of Hong Kong – A Quick Look

January 16, 2023 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Chinese Restaurants

Man, it's been tough trying to eat out since we've returned from our trip. Usually, the Missus would be craving Chinese food after getting back home. But this time, we had some pretty good Chinese and Japanese food in Paris, so the Missus has not been wanting to dine in nor do even takeout much!

While running errands when we returned, I noticed that Kangxi is Coming was now Taste of Hong Kong.

Taste of HK 01

I somehow managed to talk the Missus into getting an early dinner (they open for dinner at 4) and we headed on over.

Taste of HK 02

We were seated upon arrival and the menus were distributed….sadly, most of it was the "usual suspects". I walked on over to the Chinese BBQ and we really weren't impressed by the looks of things.

There was one item I was interested in and we ordered that and two more dishes to try.

First to arrive was the Pork Intestine with Preserved Vegetable ($16.95).

Taste of HK 03

While the intestine was very thinly sliced it was nicely cooked, slightly crisp on the outside, the preserved vegetable was way too sweet throwing nullifying the sour-fermented flavor.

We ordered a favorite of the Missus, the Salted Fish, Chicken, and Eggplant ($16.95).

Taste of HK 04

Like the previous dish, the eggplant was nicely cooked, very creamy. There just wasn't enough salted fish in this dish…if any at all. The chicken was dry and tasteless. And this dish was quite bland as a whole.

The one item I was interested in, was an appetizer, the Salted Egg Yolk Chicken Wings ($11.95). Which came out last, though I'm not complaining as it was super hot when it arrived.

Taste of HK 05 Taste of HK 06 Man, this was really good! Crisp, moist wings, perfectly fried and seasoned. Glazed with an umami-sweet salted egg yolk sauce. This as just heavenly to eat. It's also a great diversion from all of those "KFC" places that have opened up in the area.

Of course I've been trying to get the Missus to return. I don't think the wings will do good as takeout. But so far, to no avail, so I thought I'd go ahead and do one of my "quick look" posts, so that maybe you can try out those wings. Oh, and if you find some other good dishes, by all means let me know!

Taste of HK 07

Taste of Hong Kong
4428 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Wed – Mon 11am – 3pm, 4pm – 9pm
Closed on Tuesdays

Carcassonne – FloridaBlanca, Aux Croissants des Lices, and Here We Go Again

January 15, 2023 mmm-yoso Bakery, Croissants, France, Spanish Restaurants and Cuisine, Toulouse, Montpellier, Carcassonne, and Occitania, Travel, yoso-silly

After spending the morning in La Cité and having lunch at Adelaide we realized that we still had an entire afternoon (and evening) left. So, what to do now? We decided to head into Ville Basse and take a look around. So we headed down the hill and crossed the Aude at the lovely Pont Vieux.

The view of La Cité from here is quite nice.

And we ended up walking down what I believe is one of the main streets in Ville Basse, Boulevard Barbes. Which is named after Armand Barbès, whose statue is found along the street.

What caught our attention was a bit past the monument.

It was a Christmas Fair going on.

We wandered about for a bit, then decided to walk on over to the train station to see how far it was. In the end, we decided to make the 30 minute walk to the train station the next morning.

We were also looking for possible places to have dinner, but of course we were too early for the typical French dinner time and decided to head on back to the apartment. On the way back, we crossed the larger, more modern Pont Neuf. And the view of La Cité was amazing.

Once crossing over we headed to Rue Trivalle to see if we could find somewhere to have a meal….if not, we would just head back to Le Passage. Well, there was another place open, named FloridaBlanca.

By now, there was a steady drizzle going on, so we went on in. The place was buzzing….and guess what? It was another tapas restaurant!

We managed to get a high-top for two. And along with the standard menu, the menu del-dia was presented. There was a nice, easy going, yet joyous vibe here. Folks were having fun. There was a group of folks, it seemed like employees from a company having a "very" happy hour. They asked me to take a photo of them. Of course, being American, I told them to say "cheese"….perhaps I should have had them say "fromage"?

And so we placed our order and soon enough our stuffs arrived.

This was nicely prepared simple dishes made in that tiny kitchen, prep was the key. The Aubergene Frite, was nicely fried slices of eggplant, nicely done, crisp with a creamy interior. The padrons were simply charred, just like you'd have in Spain.

And you'd play you're game of "pepper roulette" as well.

I saw the Jambon D'Agneau and just had to try it. The Server made sure to tell me; "it is lamb" twice! I just wanted to try this.

My goodness, this was so delici-yoso! Think of all the high points of lamb, good fat, mild sweet-gaminess, that "flavor of the pasture". Man, this was so good, I ordered another plate!

The Champignons Farcis, stuffed mushrooms were fine, but nothing special.

I just wanted more lamb. Look at the little leg compared to a jambon!

We got some Patatas Bravas, but it was served with the sauce on the side and wasn't as good as the frites we had the previous night.

And the Missus even got some dessert.

During our meal, the Missus and I wondered why there isn't something like this in our 'hood. It ain't hard, there are places that "claim" to do tapas, but we're not impressed. Perhaps folks here aren't really interested in these type of simple dishes? And then, we also wondered; what's up with Carcassonne and these tapas places? I know that Carcassonne is one of the stops along the route to Spain, could this be the reason?

Anyway, we had a fun time and enjoyed this meal.

FloridaBlanca
22 Rue Trivalle
11000 Carcassonne, France

As we were finishing our meal, I went and checked our train timetable using the SNCF app and found that all trains out of Carcassonne were canceled. Sigh…so here go again! So once we got back to the flat, I found out that there was a train derailment and all trains had been cancelled. And even though it said it would be for a day or two….heck, this is France….. So, I went and reviewed options and eventually booked us a bus from Carcassonne to our next stop; Toulouse.

The next morning, we cleaned up a bit and headed on out. We'd be walking to the train station where we'd (hopefully) be catching our bus to Toulouse.

We happened to come across this Boulangerie and decided to pick up some sandwiches for the trip and a croissant.

Really nice folks working here! So friendly, patient, and helpful.

Aux Croissants des Lices
4 Rue Georges Clemenceau
11000 Carcassonne, France

Getting to the train station we could see the tracks were taped off. I could also see our bus on the schedule board and confirmed with the very helpful station staff.

It was now time to have my croissant.

Decently flakey, it was a bit too doughy for my taste. I also thought it needed more butter, but it suited me fine.

We watched as a news crew arrived to interview the delayed and stranded.

Soon enough a bus arrived at the front of the station. And we started queuing up. The news team actually came over to me for an interview, but I told them I don't speak French. To bad, it might have been funny having my face on the newscast, huh? Maybe I need to work harder and learn more French?

We stowed our luggage and boarded the bus and were on our way to Toulouse. And while we would take twice as long to get there; the Missus and I were just happy to be on our way!

We had enjoyed Carassonne. Two nights and one full day was the perfect amount of time for us.

Next stop, Toulouse!

Carcassonne – More of La Cité and Lunch at Adelaide

January 14, 2023 mmm-yoso France, French Restaurants, Toulouse, Montpellier, Carcassonne, and Occitania, Travel

After a wonderful night's sleep at the flat we were staying at, we were ready to do more exploring of La Cité. The previous day had been quite interesting with the medieval city almost empty. While it made exploring easy, it gave the place an almost eerie atmosphere.

There had been sporadic drizzles from the night before so we took our umbrellas with us. Instead of taking the same route up to Porte de l'Aude like the day before, we swung around the city. Passing Rue Trivalle where we had dinner the night before.

We took a walk down the street and did notice that many of the restaurants on the street were closed for the week.

We skirted past the hotels on Rue Gustave Nadaud and made our way to what is considered the main entrance to La Cité, Porte Narbonnaise.

The gate with two huge towers and drawbridge is quite impressive.

As you walk to the gate you can't help but notice the bust to the right. Who is this you might ask? It is the bust of Lady Carcas, the namesake of the city. So, why is the city named after her? Well, according to legend, and yes it seems that this is a legend, while under the rule of the Saracens, the Franks under Charlemagne surrounded the city hoping to retake the city that was once theirs. At the point where the siege had gone on for over five years the citizens of the city were running low on food and water. Lady Carcas, the widow of the former chief requested an inventory. She was told that there was some grain left and a single pig. She ordered that the pig be launched at the Franks. Charlemagne seeing this pig launched toward his army believed that the city had enough surplus supplies that it could waste food, lifted the seige! As the Franks retreated Lady Carcas ordered the bells of the city to be rung, which led people to exclaim "Carcas sonne" – "Carcas Rings"! You gotta love it.

One thing that is easily noticed as you cross the drawbridge into the city are all the formidable battlements and defenses. There's a huge metal gate to crush you, notice the curve as you cross into the city, that serves a defensive purpose as well; to slow you down as you attacked the city.

The place was very quiet, just as the day before. The intermittent drizzle set the mood as we walked along the cobblestones, winding streets, passing medieval structures. Even the TI was closed!

Though unlike the previous day, some of the shops were open or opening.

And the Basilica of Saints Nazarius and Celsus was open as well, so we decided to take a look.

We spent a good amount of time walking the avenues of La Cité and before we knew it, the clock stuck noon. We were lucky enough to notice that one of the places I had on my "list", Adelaide was open! So, we headed on in.

The place had just swung open its doors for the day, so we were the first customers.

The folks were very mellow and friendly, of course there was one key item on the menu that the Missus was raring to try.

We started with some salads, not "just greens" mind you. The Missus got the Foie Gras mi Cuit de Maison (22€).

We loved the greens here, crisp, fresh, tossed with a nicely balanced vinaigrette. Of course, you're wondering how the foie gras was, right? Well it was quite good, somewhat rustic, light funky-offal tones, that caramelized onion jam was the perfect foil for it.

I got the Salad Adelaide (17€)

Which included the same salad, some fois gras, but much more. There was a nice cured duck breast and more importantly, what you see at the bottom of the plate in the photo above, Gesiers de Canard, duck gizzards. I had really enjoyed the version we'd had in Sarlat la Caneda years ago and couldn't wait to try this. We could not believe how tender these were, they basically melted in your mouth. Loved the flavor we call "funky-ducky", it was so good!

And the Missus and I split a main, the house specialty and one of the reasons we traveled to this area; the Cassoulet (15€).

Man, this was not to our liking. It was super salty, the duck confit dry, the sausage tough and bland, and worst of all the beans were hard and undercooked. I did appreciate the piece of pork rind at the bottom of the pan. But overall, this was not very good.

Man, after those salads our hopes were high, but the cassoulet had us crashing to the earth. There were two other couples in restaurant as we left and we noticed they were having cassoulet as well. I'm wondering how they fared. Well, at least the price at 15 Euros for the cassoulet was not bad.

Adélaïde
5 Rue Adélaïde de Toulouse
11000 Carcassonne, France

As we made our way back to the Porte Narbonnaise, we ran into a few people.

We had enjoyed our time in La Cité, but it was still mid-afternoon and I could tell the Missus wanted to do more.

So now what to do?

Stay tuned!

COMC: Revisits to Smack’N Guamanian Grill, R & B Filipino Cuisine, and Krispy Krunchy Chicken

January 13, 2023 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Filipino Restaurants, Guamanian/Chamorro, Sisig

I’m just going to do mostly photos in this C(learing) O(ut the) M(emory) C(ard) post. I’ve done so many posts on these places.

Smack’N Guamanian Grill:

**** Smack’N Guamanian Grill has closed

Been here so many times since they opened in 2019. I usually get the same thing; the Chebot BBQ Chicken, which is now $17.79. It was $15.79 on my last visit.

Sm Rev 02

For some reason, the chicken wasn’t nicely grilled and was really chewy; the Kelaguen was super bland. This was disappointing.

This is what it looked like on previous visit.

Sm Rev 03

Man, raise the prices and cut down on the quality and execution? I hope this is just an aberration, but I’m going to give this place a rest for a while.

Smack’N Guamanian Grill
9506 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92126

R & B Filipino Cuisine:

Another regular “turo-turo” stop for me since I first visited in 2008! 2008??? Man, what were you doing in February of 2008?

I basically get sisig and whatever just comes out of the kitchen or looks good. So this time it was the Sisig and Beef Mechado. I can’t put it away like I used to, so I go with “half rice” nowadays.

RB Rev 01 RB Rev 03 The sisig had decent spice, balanced with some good sour tones. This might be the best I’ve had here in terms of seasoning and flavor. The lechon kawale was on the chewy and hard side; but still, I liked the flavors.

R&B has this weird habit of keeping large and ponderous slices of meat in their stews, which I’ve mentioned before. The meat was tough and there was a kind of greasiness to the dish.

RB Rev 02

At least the sisig was good.

And I know what “FOY” JanFrederick was doing in February of 2008. He recommended that I give R&B a try….almost 15 years ago! Thanks Jan!

R & B Filipino Cuisine
11257 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126

Krispy Krunchy Chicken:

**** Krispy Krunchy Chicken is now a location of Cluck n Sip

This is totally “low hanging fruit”. It’s so easy for me when I’m shopping at 99 Ranch Market (I know of folks who still call it “Ranch 99”, do you?). I place an order and return to pick it up on my way out of the store. It always handles the trip back home with no problem. And on this day, they fried it up fresh because there were no wings ready.

COMC KKC 01

Potato wedges are usually a bit on the dry side; but like the name says the Krispy Krunchy Chicken, is still indeed crispy and crunchy. For me, this always needs Crystal Hot Sauce or Tabasco to cut thru the fried tones and saltiness. It’s not amazing and worth going out of your way for, I call it “Popeye’s elevated”. But it’s a pretty consistent product, convenient to get when I go shopping, I guess it fills a niche.

Krispy Krunchy Chicken
5950 Balboa Ave (In the 99 Ranch Market Food Court)
San Diego, CA 92111

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Carcassonne – Exploring La Cité and Dinner at Le Passage

January 12, 2023 mmm-yoso France, Spanish Restaurants and Cuisine, Toulouse, Montpellier, Carcassonne, and Occitania, Travel

It was a nice hour and fifteen minute train ride from Montpellier to Carcassonne.

And we arrived on schedule to Carcassonne Station. The station is located in the "Lower City"; Ville Basse and based on Google Maps would be about a 30 minute walk to our AirBnb which was just outside the medievel La Cité. Instead of fussing around in an unfamiliar location, we decided to get a taxi to the flat. The apartment was wonderful, bright, modern, clean, with fast Wifi, something we don't take for granted here. And I had timed our arrival to the self check-in time. We got in, freshened up, put in a load of laundry and decided to do some exploration. I also wanted to make some restaurant reservations for places that I wasn't able to online, so we'd hit up those places on the way back.

The flat was located just down the hill from Porte de l'Aude right next to Eglise Saint-Gimer. So, of course we headed right up to La Cité.

La Cité does make quite a statement when you first see it…..

And looks quite imposing as you walk up Cote De La Cite.

We had purposely chosen to visit Carcassonne during this time of the year to avoid the crowds and well, we sure did! As we saw nary another person on this afternoon!

It is said that Carcassonne has been occupied since the 5th Century BC; first by the Iberians, then by the Gallo-Romans, who started work on the walls of the city, which were completed in 333AD. There are two sets of walls in La Cité, the inner rampart was completed in 485AD. It is said that there were 40 towers and up to 40 entrances to the city.

Look at that moat….no, it wasn't filled with water and carnivorous creatures, but was basically a ditch, and from what I read it was dug even deeper than what is in place today. Can you imagine crossing that bare space? See all the slits and windows? You'd be pretty much an easy target!

To get ourselves acquainted with La Cité, we took a walk across the city, on the silent streets.

And found one of the places on my dining "list"; Comte Roger, which was closed during the week of our stay! Sigh…..

We exited at the opposite end of the city at Porte Narbonnaise. There's an interesting cemetery right outside the gate and we took some time to explore.

Heading back into La Cité, we decided to take a walk along the outer ramparts.

Where we actually saw another "hooman" and his four legged friend having a stroll.

We turned back into La Cité at Place Saint Nazaire and took a quick look at the Basilica of Saints Nazarius and Celsus.

This was Carcassonne Cathedral until 1803, when the title was moved to the present Carcassonne Cathedral located in the lower city.

From here we waked along the ramparts, the view was quite lovely.

We could see clouds coming in and the sky was darkening, so it was time to head back to the apartment. I used Google maps and found what we thought was an exit to the city.

Which strangely led us to a dirt trail. Oh well, we scrambled on down.

We eventually made our way back to the apartment and took a break.

When dinner time came along, we headed up the street we were staying on, Rue Barbacane which curved right, then turned onto Rue Trivalle. I had three places on this little street in my "list". No talk about bad luck; all three places were closed for the week. What I didn't know and really didn't find any information on….it seems many places take a winter break during the last week of November! So, I was oh-fer-four right now. We walked along the street and noticed this lively place.

Named Le Passage. A quick check revealed that this was a tapas place. Well, there weren't many or even any other choices left on the street so we ambled on in…..to quite a lively scene.

It was an interesting crowd, obvious locals who knew each other watching the World Cup, folks staying at the hotel above the restaurant, and us.

The guys working were quite jovial and we ordered some tapas, which were actually fairly large portions.

Starting with the Medallions de Foie Gras (16€ – $17.50/US).

A very generous portion of terrine mi cuit, with a lovely apple jam. The accompanying sea salt and a touch of jam went well with the lovely, rich and buttery fois gras.

We got a kick of how baguette was served here…..in a tower.

The Missus loved the frites (5€ – $5.50/US) here.

Crisp exterior, creamy inside, the potatoes had a nice starchy sweetness to it. We enjoyed it so much, we got a second order!

We also ordered the Moules Gratinees (10€ – $10.85/US).

Not a big fan of this dish. The mussels were overcooked and on the tough side and there was a bit of grainy "sandy" bits. Also, we didn't care for the milky creamy flavors which really detracted from the briny – sweet mussels.

Of course this came with its own "baguette tower" as well.

Overall, this was a fun meal. Nice folks and really reasonable prices. We enjoyed the friendly, neighborly vibe of the place.

Restaurant Le Passage
15 Rue Trivalle
11000 Carcassonne, France

It was drizzling as we headed back to the apartment. We were looking forward to a nice night of sleep.

Thanks for stopping by!

Midweek Meanderings – La Miche Closes, Yum Yum Africa Seems Closed, and the Egg Shortage

January 11, 2023 mmm-yoso African Cuisine/Restaurants, Lebanese Restaurants, yoso-silly

Here's a depressing Wednesday post, so you may just want to skip this one.

The Egg Shortage:

Call me clueless about the egg shortage. I pick up our eggs at the Indian Summer stand in the Little Italy Mercato on Saturdays, so really hadn't been aware of this. Last weekend, when the one man show for the stand, Andrew mentioned the egg shortage, I didn't have a clue! I guess we'd been away on our trip and then since I don't buy eggs from any of the markets, I hadn't noticed. But, based on stories like these, it appears either the Avian Flu or possibly something else is the cause. And of course, prices are quickly increasing as well.

After chatting with Andrew and doing my shopping at the Mercado, I went to check out the eggs at my next stop, Nijiya and this is what I saw.

Crazy. Well, today is Wednesday, so hopefully eggs are back in stock!

Has this been affecting you?

Yum Yum Africa Seems Closed?:

I'm saying seems closed, because back in June I received an email saying they had opened.

Of course, even though I noticed the coming soon sign in January of last year, I still took my time to visit.

Upon returning form France, I dropped by Garden Coffee and noticed the place didn't appear open and there was a "purchase and lease" sign displayed.

Which has me scratching my head. Did they ever open and have like a record quick closure….or perhaps they never opened at all and still just doing pop-ups?

2543 Congress St.
San Diego, CA 92110

La Miche Closes:

And the saddest news of all. Last Friday, "FOY" KathyQ sent me an email asking me if La Miche had closed. La Miche was usually a warmer weather stop for us, so I didn't know. I went and took a look at their website and found the sad news.

Screenshot 2023-01-06 100321

"We will be closing permanently effective January 1, 2023. We cannot thank you enough for your loyal patronage these past few years (especially during COVID). It was our greatest pleasure to introduce Lebanese cuisine to the community. Many of you started off as customers and became good friends. We will truly miss all of you and we take pride knowing that we were able to provide a small contribution to making your day wonderful. Please feel free to email us at lamichekabobgee@gmail.com and we’d love to personally say thank you. Again, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you for a great 10 years and we wish all of you a prosperous 2023."

Very sad news as the place was a favorite of both Cathy and I over the years. I also know that the owner, the kind and generous Nabih has had some health problems in recent years. I can only hope that they are in good health and wish them the best.

We'll miss you!

And thanks to KathyQ for bringing this to my attention.

9350 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92123

Takeout from Yummy House (Revisit)

January 10, 2023 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

The cooler weather has meant that I've been "doing the rounds". I decided to drop by Yummy House for some takeout.

Yummy H Rev 01

Just like on my previous visit over a year ago, the place was totally empty. How do they stay in business? Anyway, they didn't have the wintermelon soup again this time, so I just went with the same 'ol, same 'ol. I went for a walk after placing my order.

Yummy H Rev 02

Upon returning, my order was ready and I headed home.

Like before, I got the Beef Tendon Pot and the Lamb with Suan Cai.

Yummy H Rev 03

The Beef Tendon Pot was disappointing; first, the portion size was half that of my previous visit.

Yummy H Rev 04

You can tell by the light color that this didn't have enough tomato flavor, thus it lacked a nice tanginess. Also, there was very little tendon as well; it was mostly tough slices of beef. The soup was quite thick and had a greasy tongue feel to it. Man, to think I really used to like this dish.

The other "usual" dish was a bit better.

Yummy H Rev 05

The lamb was nice and gamy; and there was a good amount of suan cai as well, though we always have add in some of our home made stuff to bolster the fermented flavor. We also add in a good amount of white pepper. Once done it had a bracing sourness that the Missus enjoys. Maybe I should just think about making this at home.

Yummy H Rev 06

Overall, I'm probably not going to return for a while. And I'm thinking, I'll need to try some other dishes as those that were our favorites are not available or have been disappointing over recent visits. Kind of a bummer.

Yummy H Rev 07

Yummy House
4633 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Which leads me to ask; how have old favorites of yours been faring recently?

Woomiok Weather

January 9, 2023 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants

I don't know if it's me getting older or what; but this winter seems much colder than previous years. Even the temperature adjustment after returning from France, where we visited Strasbourg didn't last long. I started feeling really cold after days! And then of course all of that rain from the Atmospheric River, well we needed something warm and comforting to eat. It was time for us to get our fix form Woomiok. So, I did the usual thing, dropped by Woomiok right when they opened and placed my order for the Emperor's Soup and an extra side order of Bone Soup to go. I then headed to Nijiya to do some shopping.

Woomiok Wea 01

The young man who took my order was a joy. My order was ready for pick-up when I returned.

Upon getting home I unpacked and laid everything out.

Woomiok Wea 02 Woomiok Wea 03 I didn't realize it, but it had been over a year since I last visited. I did notice a couple of changes, other than prices which has gone up about $2 since the last time. There was a lot less rice and noodles as before; but to be perfectly honest, we don't order this for the noodles or rice. And there seemed to be a bit less meat as well.

Once the Missus got home, I set up the large dolsot with our Iwatani Butane Stove and we were off.

Woomiok Wea 04 The bone soup still has that nice tongue coating richness and once you add the salt and scallions to the mix it's quite comforting. Like I said, its really about the soup for us.

The baechu kimchi, jangahjji (pickled peppers and radish), and kkakdugi (radhish kimchi) were all quite good this time around.

Woomiok Wea 05

Here's a little hack we do and one of the main reasons we like getting this for takeout. While at Nijiya I'll get some soft tofu, which I drain and dry, then add to the dolsot. It really adds to the dish. Add the side order of soup and the tofu and this ends up being two meals for us.

Woomiok Wea 06

It's really warm and comforting. And one of the first things we get when the cold starts getting to us.

Woomiok
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Woomiok Wea 07

Hope everyone is keeping warm. And tell me, what have you been eating to warm your belly?

Montpellier – Antigone, L’Arbre Blanc, Dinner at Le Bouchon Saint Roch, and Maison Bonnaire

January 8, 2023 mmm-yoso Bakery, Croissants, France, French Restaurants, Toulouse, Montpellier, Carcassonne, and Occitania, Travel

As we were trying to decide what do for the afternoon it started drizzling. But that didn't deter us once we made a decision. I knew the Missus got Her fill of the Old Town, so how about checking out the "Neoclassical" side of Montpellier? We decided to take a walk to Antigone. Heading thru the Polygone Shopping Center.

Much of Antigone was designed in the Neoclassical style by Spanish Architect Ricardo Bofill. There are some pretty grand structures.

That's the huge Place de l’Europe.

It was quite grand. Though all the restaurants seemed very corporate and chain like in the area.

As we crossed the Lez River we came across the most distinctive building, which the Missus called "the White Cactus".

This "interesting" building is L’Arbre Blanc designed by Japanese Architect Sou Fujimoto. It drew the Missus and I like moths to a flame! We didn't quite know if we liked it or hated it. And it seems many feel the same way, see the comments for this article. Still, once you see it, you'll never forget it. In fact, after I got home, I watched an episode of House Hunters International. I really don't watch a whole lot of television, but I will watch some episodes of HHI to see cities that we've visited. And guess what? It was taken in Montpellier (and the couple was moving from San Diego)! Plus, Adrian Leeds cracks me up. Anyway, one of the properties shown was a unit in the white spiked bladder stone porcupine!

We headed back thru Place de Thessalie.

And Polygone Shopping Center.

Where we stopped by the madhouse of a pharmacy for some eye solution.

And then back to the apartment where we took a break. For dinner, much like our last two getaway meals in Paris, I wanted something a bit more traditional. A Boullion or Bouchon would seem like a good bet. So, of course I went to this older Montpellier post from Edible Reading, where I saw a mention of a place named Le Bouchon Saint Roch. I went ahead and made a reservation for 7pm online before we left on our trip. Of course, 7pm is almost an ungodly, early dining time….and would severely interrupt the heart of "apero time" in France!

And of course, when we arrived the place was empty.

The dining room was decorated in what we might call almost "stereotypical brasserie le cochon" as piggy posters and art was everywhere. And of course, the red checkered tablecloths and all that….

The two folks working were quite cheerful! As with the name, the restaurant's menu leaned Lyonnaise.

The Missus wanted some Escargot (9,€ ). I remember those days when the Missus (thought) She hated escargot; until our first meal in Dijon. She's been on the escargot wagon even since then!

This was decent; though we prefer a stronger garlicky-olive oil-parsley flavor. You know, because half of the enjoyment is dipping your bread into the drippings. The gastropods were on the chewy side, but acceptable. The plain salad had a decent Balsamic dressing.

We also got the "Oeuf Poché à la Crème de Morilles, Parmesan et Ses Toasts" (11,€), whew talk about a mouthful! Basically poached egg in morel creme with Parmesan and toast.

That sauce with a bit of cheese on the toasts was really nice. Good earth-slightly sweet mushroom tones, perfectly salty, the egg added an additional layer of creaminess and egginess to the dish.

We got a third starter, the Bone Marrow (10,€).

Man, this was so creamy and savory. Perfect amount of salt and the toasts and even more bread was needed to finish this!

About this time folks started arriving; several groups of students….most of them got burgers; go figure!

The Missus and I split a main; the "Quenelle de Brochet Sibilia, Sauce Nantua, Riz, Poêlée de Légumes" (19,€). The Missus really enjoyed the Quenelle we had when visiting Lyon so we ordered this.

Pike Quenelle Nantua Sauce

The darkness of the Nantua sauce threw us off a bit; but it was pretty tame with regards to seafood tones. The quenelle was a bit tougher than we like but was quite mild in flavor as is typical. The rice was on the hard side and the cooked vegetables was actually "légumes trop cuits" and really mushy.

By this time the more "French" crowd started arriving.

I've been enjoying having cheese for dessert and ordered the Saint Marcellin (7,€ ), the menu said it came with "olive oil" which I thought would be interesting for dessert.

Saint Marcellin has a somewhat fruity-nutty flavor and this was no exception; along with being so creamy. Along with the olive oil, there was a Balsamic glaze which helped things along. I'm thinking this might actually be a nice starter.

As we left the place started filling up. This was a nice meal and a great way to end our time in Montpellier.

Le Bouchon Saint Roch
14 Rue du Plan d'Agde
34000 Montpellier, France

We slept in the next morning, then I decided to get a croissant to have with my last coffee in the apartment. We had also become converts to the French way of traveling on the TGV…..having a sandwich or something similar for lunch on the train.

We had passed an interesting looking Boulangerie/Pâtisserie several times during our walks and decided to stroll on over.

The name of the shop is Maison Bonnaire.

And along with the usual baguettes and croissants, the window had many temptations, the eclairs looked especially tempting.

We got a croissant and two tartes for the train ride and headed back to the apartment.

The croissant was dark, flaky, and light. But it really lacked the butteriness I like and was on the dry side.

Maison Bonnaire
45 Rue Saint-Guilhem
34000 Montpellier, France

I did a final cleaning and bade the apartment farewell right at 11am.

We took the short stroll to the train station. Our train wasn't leaving until 1pm so we had some time to kill. Like much of the architecture in the city, the Montpellier Saint-Roch Station has an interesting design.

We found seats and relaxed, grabbing some coffee from the outlet of Paul in the station and bought some water from Casino. Soon enough we were on our train.

We had the Tartes which were pretty good, the one with the roasted tomatoes and tapenade was the better of the two. But the crusts were crisp and flaky.

And this did a good job of holding us over.

Perhaps we stayed in Montpellier a day longer than we should have; but I enjoyed myself.

But now I was looking forward to our next stop. Carcassonne!

Thanks for stopping by!