July 2024 – mmm-yoso

Midweek Meanderings – Looks like Zen Curry is Becoming Curry Club, Fish With You coming to Convoy, New Owners for Tsuruhashi, and Other Stuffs

July 31, 2024 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Festivals & Events, Japanese Restaurants, yoso-silly

Just a quick midweek post on a nice, and much cooler Wednesday!

Looks like Zen Curry is permanently closed becoming Curry Club:

**** Update 8/1 – Thanks to some great work by "FOY" Elle (see comments section) Zen Curry is becoming "Curry Club". Here's a link to the Instagram Account. Thanks as always Elle!

Well, this one has been a mystery for a while. I recall first seeing the "temporarily closed" sign back in July 2023. So, just for kicks I went into the parking lot which also houses Katsu Cafe and Yuk Dae Jang and guess what? The Zen Curry sign is gone!

The same sign saying to check their website is posted.

The website still says "Reopening TBD".

Screenshot 2024-07-31 164219

But I would assume that no sign means no reopening???

Perhaps one of our "FOYs" might know? As noted above; per Elle, Zen Curry is becoming Curry Club. Like I always say, this blog would not exist without all you "Friends of yoso"!

7309 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111

Fish With You coming to Convoy:

Sometimes just waiting to post something works out right. After my lunch at Izakaya Sakura I took a walk around the strip mall to see what was going on. I quickly noticed that Shen Tan BBQ had closed.

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The Change of Ownership sign indicated something named Wei's Fish was taking its place.

Fast forward a week and the the Eater did a post. Looks like this will be part of chain from Beijing whose name in the US is Fish With You. When I showed the Missus the website She got quite excited. You know how much She loves Suan Cai, right? Well, this chain specializes in Suan Cai Yu. Basically, boiled fish with pickled cabbage, which the Missus loves.

It's going to be interesting!

3904 Convoy St Suite 101
San Diego, CA 92111

Looks like Tsuruhashi has new ownership?:

While walking back to the car, I noticed a Change of Ownership sign in the window of Tsuruhashi.

Looks like it'll still be Tsuruhashi though.

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Tsuruhashi Japanese BBQ
3904 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

And Finally:

My food friend "CY" asked me if I was attending the San Diego Taiwanese Festival? Huh? You know how much the Missus and I love Taiwan!

After checking out the link and additional info from a few sources, I found that it's more of a Cultural Festival brought to you by Taiwanese American Professionals (TAP), then a food festival, but it still looks like fun. I'm not sure if you know, but one of San Diego's Sister Cities is Taichung. It is taking place at Torrey Hills Park, 4260 Calle Mejillones from 2pm to 5pm this Saturday, August 3rd. I believe you need to RSVP to attend.

Looks like lots of activities for kids and such.

San Diego Taiwan Festival
Saturday, August 3, 2024 – 2pm – 5pm
Torrey Hills Park, 4260 Calle Mejillones, San Diego, CA

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Bopomofo Cafe – A Grand Opening Quick Look (the Food)

July 30, 2024 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Chinese Restaurants, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants

**** Well, much like my post on the recently opened Zhengxin Chicken Steak, this was kind of a spur of the moment stop.

The Missus and I were talking about our trip to Taiwan, we'd had such a great time. That's when I made mention of Bopomofo's Grand Opening in San Diego. We've passed Bopomofo so many times in the SGV, it's in the same strip mall as Golden Deli on Las Tunas Drive, where our favorite location of Tasty Noodle House used to reside and had always seem busy. So, of course, now the Missus was interested. I had heard of crazy lines and such, so I told Her we'd wait for a while before visiting, but She insisted on me checking things out.

So, I said I'd drive by when the place opened and if there was a line I'd bail. Well, guess what? It was right at 11 and there was no line!

Bopomofo 01

Sigh…..

So, I decided to head on in and it turned out I was the fourth person in line! I wasn't going to be getting any tea or boba here; that's the Missus's thing. I looked over the food offerings.

Bopomofo 02

Like the Eater's post mentioned, there's a good deal of fusiony items on the menu. And hailing from one of the hotbeds of "regional fusion", I've come to believe that "base/foundation" dishes are just as, or even more critical than the fusion stuffs. So, before trying out the Beef Noodle Soup Sandwich or the Mapo Tots, I thought I should try the Lu Rou Fan and the Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken. But, on a interesting note; the guy behind me started chatting me up and he recommended the Hainan Chicken Tacos. So, I thought why not?

I placed my to-go order, paid, and waited. By the time I paid and walked to the stand up table to wait, the line was creeping to the door.

Bopomofo 03

It did take 40 minutes for my to-go order, so I'm glad I went early. By the time I left, the line was out the door.

So, here's what I unpacked at home.

Bopomofo 04

First up, the Hainan Chicken Tacos ($13.75). These were kinda tiny tacos for almost $14.

Bopomofo 05 Bopomofo 06 The tacos were served on blue corn tortillas, that were very dry, tough, and really didn't add anything to the dish. Likewise the sweet chili sauce provided.

I first tasted the chicken itself, which was not bad; though on the dry side; the "fowl-ly" ginger tones came thru nicely. But it was just lost when using the sauce and the cardboard like tortillas just made things blander.

As for the Lu Rou Fan ($14), you can tell this ain't Taiwan by the prices right? Well, I wasn't expecting Jin Feng Braised Pork Rice. And this wasn't close, but it wasn't terrible.

Bopomofo 07

In terms of texture, the pork was on the tougher side, the rice was hard and dry, and they actually stretched things out with mushroom, which isn't a bad option. The mustard greens really woke you up since it was super bitter. The egg was warm, perfectly cooked, and seasoned. The flavor of the pork was quite anise-cinnamon forward and a bit on the saltier side of things.

Bopomofo 09

Overall, not bad, but I'm not sure if this is worth $14.

And finally, the Popcorn Chicken ($12.50), I chose the "classic version" with dark meat (of course) chicken. I thought this was a decent portion for the price.

Bopomofo 10

Sadly, the chicken had lost all it's crispness during the drive home. It was also on the dry side of the scale. Even after doing the air fryer "revive" step, it was still not as crisp as I like. Like the pork, this was a bit on the salty side of things; but I was happy to note that a decent, peppy pepperiness and the flavor of basil; not sure how that was since there was but a string of fried basil in the box, came Bopomofo 11 thru nicely. I believe the the version from Soup du Jour (funny, I thought I did a post on the place, but I guess not?) is better both in texture and flavor.

The staff here were very nice. Wait times and such are rather long right now, but I'll attribute that to being newly opened. It seems, with places like Zhengxin and the soon to (hopefully) open Juewei, Convoy is in its next phase with these fast-casual places that are more targeted to the younger generation. I'm hoping that Convoy district will still cultivate mom-and-pop restaurants though.

As for Bopomofo; my next visit will have to wait, as I didn't think the food was enough to deal with the crowds. Unless of course, the Missus want to get Her tea/boba fix here.

Bopomofo Cafe
7951 Othello Ave. Suite 106
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri 11am – 8pm
Sat – Sun 12pm – 8pm

Bopomofo 01b

It’s Raw Poke Shop (Ocean Beach) Revisited

July 29, 2024 mmm-yoso Poke

Way back in February, "FOY" Jack in my post on 8th and B Poke, mentioned wanting to return to It's Raw in OB. Well, it had been a good 4 1/2 years since I had checked out It's Raw. And with the recent hot weather and the fact that I hadn't been to OB since that visit, I thought it was time to head on back. I probably should check out the area more often, but traffic and parking had always hindered my visits. And on this drive….well, I was headed down Saratoga when a dude on his bike jetted out from between two large parked vehicles blindly zooming across the street. I immediately hit the brakes, but the dude stopped and gave me the bad "half of the peace sign", spat on my car, and yelled at me. I rolled down the window to apologize, but he instantly told me to "get the f@(k" out of "his" neighborhood. He then pulled a can from his pocket and aimed it at me….I'm thinking it was mace or bear spray or ???? In the end he just as blindly zoomed off. I did see him again on Santa Monica Avenue yelling at another car. Sigh…..welcome to OB?

On the good side of things; I easily found parking on Santa Monica, something that can be difficult during the warmer months. I walked over to It's Raw, but it was early, so I took a short stroll.

Its Raw Rev 01

I must have gotten distracted…there are so many new places on Newport, that when I got back to It's Raw the shop had been open for a few minutes. And there was already a short line.

Its Raw Rev 02

The line does move quickly and it was nice to know that the Poke Plate here is $17, it was $15 back in 2019, so the increase in price isn't too bad. Heck, the equivalent at HFS is over $20 already.

If you're not familiar with It's Raw, the place is basically a take-out only shop with a cold case and and small counter.

Its Raw Rev 03

I ended up getting the Shoyu and the Wasabi Poke, also went with one scoop rice and the "macaroni" salad option.

Its Raw Rev 04 Its Raw Rev 05 This is what I unpacked at home. There was also two small containers, one with extra "shoyu", with very little shoyu flavor for that version of poke, I ended up not using it as it would have watered down the flavor even more. And the second, when I first looked at it, I asked myself "what the heck is Mul Kimchi doing here? This ain't a KFC place". Then I opened it and the fragrance hit me. I cracked up; it was haupia! A nice little touch.

The rice was nicely cooked.

I thought the Shoyu Poke was the better of the two I selected.

Its Raw Rev 06 Its Raw Rev 07 The fish was decently, not overly coated, the quality, while not as good as HFS was fine. Not too salty, a decent version of Shoyu Poke.

You did notice that I put "macaroni salad" in quotes above, right? Well, if you haven't read my earlier post or haven't been to It's Raw, you might be surprised to see that it's actually a "spaghetti salad". Nicely chilled, perfectly seasoned, not over-dressed, very plain, but in a good way.

As for the "Wasabi Poke".

Its Raw Rev 08

I found the fish to have quite a bit more "sugi" (our term for connective tissue) than the Shoyu Poke. It was also a bit too "sweet" for my taste and somewhat lacking in wasabi pungency.

Overall, I found the shoyu poke here to be good; I'll need to try something other than the wasabi poke the next time.

I'd say that It's Raw is my second favorite poke shop in San Diego, next to HFS. If it was in our 'hood, I'd visit quite regularly. As it is, even though It's Raw is just a bit over 5 miles from our house, it usually takes over 20 minutes to get there and then I have to find parking. Perhaps just going early in the week would be a solution? Not on Monday though, they are closed.

And to my "FOY" Jack. I'm wondering if you actually made it to It's Raw and if you did, what did you think?

It's Raw Poke Shop
4991 Newport Ave. (the storefront is actually on Bacon St.)
San Diego, CA 92107
Current Hours:
Tues – Sat 11am – 5pm
Sunday 11am – 4pm
Closed on Monday

Its Raw Rev 10

Sunday Sandwiches – Revisits to San Diego Bakery & Café and Banh Mi Express

July 28, 2024 mmm-yoso Bakery, Banh Mi, Sandwiches

A couple of recent sandwich revisits for a nice Sunday.

San Diego Bakery & Café:

"FOY" SomTommy recently mentioned that the prices for the formerly $5 Bolillo at San Diego Bakery & Café had gone up substantially over the last couple of months. It had been a while since I last visited, so I decided to drop by after doing my regular Saturday morning shopping.

I easily found parking and waltzed on into the rustic shop at around 845 and took a look at the chalkboard menu and yes, prices have indeed gone up!

SD Bakery Rev 02

The last time I'd had a breakfast bolillo here it was $5, it was now $6.50. Whoa, a 30% increase in the last five months! I know times are tough and there's all that inflation and stuff, but wow!

SD Bakery Rev 01

I decided to get the A la Mexicana.

SD Bakery Rev 03

Man, this had a good amount of jalapenos! It was quite spicy. The bolillo is nicely toasted and light, though up to the task of handling the eggs, beans, and stringy cheese.

SD Bakery Rev 04

While there has been a 30% price increase, with Banh Mi now going for seven bucks and up, I guess this still falls into the "inexpensive" price range? What do you think?

San Diego Bakery & Café
6959 Linda Vista Rd.
San Diego, CA 92111

Banh Mi Express:

Speaking of Banh Mi. Just a couple of weeks before, I was having coffee and breakfast at Finjan (I need to make another visit before I post), when it suddenly dawned on me that I hadn't been back to Banh Mi Express in a while. I was aware that the shop now opens at 8am on Saturday, it used to be 10am when they first opened. So, I decided to drop by.

Banh Mi Express Rev 01

Taking a quick look at the menu, I noticed that prices hadn't gone up since my last visit here.

Banh Mi Express Rev 02

I decided to get the Banh Mi Thit Nuong ($6.99). Interesting thing, while the prices remain unchanged, the bread looked totally different from when I last had a banh mi here.

Banh Mi Express Rev 03 Banh Mi Express Rev 03 (2) The bread looked like a rolled French Baguette. It was quite crusty, though a bit more dense then what I'd call a typical banh mi. The jalapenos were really mild. There was a thin sliver of cucumber….though I must say that cucumbers are MIA in many banh mi's these days. There was a good ration of pickled veggies to mayo to pork.

The only issue I had….and it's quite an issue was with the pork which was super dry and hard; like jerky.

Banh Mi Express Rev 04

I'm thinking I need to order a different banh mi next time. This would have been a good sandwich, if the protein had been better.

Banh Mi Express
9353 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92123

Road Trip – Lucky Luke Brewpub (Lancaster, CA)

July 27, 2024 mmm-yoso Beer, Burgers, Los Angeles County, Pubs and Pub Grub, Road Trip, Travel

So, what were we doing in Lancaster? Yesterday, I posed that question. Well, what happened is that the Missus had found out that the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, a state park, resided just to the west of Lancaster. According to what the Missus had heard, the poppies start blooming in Mid-March, and voila! Here we were. We had a light breakfast at the hotel and then headed on out arriving at the park right before 9am. Unfortunately, we were a bit too early for the poppies this year!

Regardless, we ended up hiking both loop trails, and the views were quite nice.

As you can tell, we were the only folks in the park during our entire stay.

We saw a number of gophers and a couple of Bobcats. And even some wildflowers.

The trails were easy to walk and nicely maintained.

And, as if to tease us a bit, near the end of the trail….well, we saw the first poppies starting to bloom!

We did enjoy the solitude and the relaxing peacefulness of the walk. The Missus mentioning returning one day when the poppies are really in bloom.

We walked back to the hotel and had a light lunch, then headed on back out to explore a bit. Lancaster is quite sprawling and we ended up restocking on water, snacks, and stuff at the Target and Vallarta Market on Avenue K. Then it was nap time, one of my favorite parts of the day during road trips!

Upon waking, we headed back out and walked around the BLVD a bit, stopping into shops that were open. We found many places are closed on Mondays here.

And of course, there's all that public art.

Soon enough, it was time for dinner. I had thought that we'd head to Le Papillon, a more upscale restaurant right across from the hotel, but the Missus just wanted something simple and basic. Which was just across the street from where we were standing.

We liked the outdoor seating. The interior looks very "sports bar-ish". Seemed like locals came by to watch sports and grab a brew.

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So, of course we had to get a table outside and I decided to get a Brown Ale.

This was light with a slight sweetness, very easy to drink.

The service was interesting; the woman who initially waited on us really didn't seem to want to deal with folks at tables, She mainly wanted to hang with the folks at the bar. The gentleman who came by and took over was very friendly and efficient.

We had a view of West Lancaster Boulevard and there was something going on for young people at the Performing Arts Center next to the Movie Theatres across the street.

Which was showing Kung Foo Panda???? You gotta love it.

The Missus ordered the Lemon Agave Salad.

Which, except for the pepitas was quite routine. At least the dressing wasn't too sweet, but this is totally something you can get out of a bag from your local grocer.

I got the Pub House Burger.

With Tater Tots.

IMG_5924b The tater tots were nicely fried, crisp, not hard, and the interior slightly creamy.

The burger came in a brioche bun, which was a bit denser than I thought it would be; but it wasn't overly sweet and held up well to all that cheese sauce. The cheese sauce was much saltier than I'm used to. I also enjoy a bit of pungency, which this lacked. And as you can see; there was a lot of cheese sauce. Luckily, the pickled jalapenos added a nice counter balance of pickled spiciness that I enjoyed. While the bacon could have been cooked a bit more; I prefer it more crunchy, it did add that smoky-savory component to the burger.

The burger itself didn't look like much, but it was fairly tender, seasoned quite well, and did the job. Not a bad burger as a whole.

There was one item on the menu that I could not resist. The Fried Wisconsin Cheese Curds. Wisconsin you say? Cue in to a flashback of my favorite cheese curds, served at The Old Fashioned in Madison!

These were a bit over-fried and too gooey, not squeaky-stringy. The batter was crisp though. The flavor was mild, man what I would have given for some horseradish dip with this!

Still, this was a decent dinner, in Lancaster. We liked the very laid-back small town feel to this area. At least that's what it was like on this Monday.

Lucky Luke Brewpub
735 West Lancaster Blvd.
Lancaster, CA 93534

After dinner we took another stroll up and down the BLVD area. In the end, I thought I'd put in some decent mileage.

IMG_5939.

We returned to our room, relaxed, and watched the sun go down on Lancaster.

Tomorrow we'd be headed back to Rowland Heights for a night and an Omakase dinner in City of Industry of all places!

Stay Tuned!

Road Trip – Charlie Brown Farms (Littlerock, CA) and Dinner at Cantarito (Lancaster)

July 26, 2024 mmm-yoso Los Angeles County, Markets & Grocers, Road Trip, Salvadoran Restaurants, Travel

So, if I said we'd be going to Littlerock and Lancaster, perhaps you'd think we'd be going Arkansas and Pennsylvania? Well, actually no. You see the Missus had a specific destination in mind for this road trip which started with a sort of "staycation" in Carlsbad and then took us to the SGV for a night. We took our time to our "destination" for this RT; the city of Lancaster in the Northern part of Los Angeles County. Why Lancaster? Well, the Missus had a specific reason which I'll reveal in an upcoming post.

We'd be taking the 210 to the 14 from the SGV to Lancaster. While doing a bit of research, I saw that there's one of those roadside stops like Eddie World and Bravo Farms that I enjoy so much fairly close by. So, we took a short detour on the 138 to Charlie Brown Farms.

While not as large as other places we've been to; I have to say, the amount of "stuffs" here was crazy!

Along with the usual nuts, peanut brittle, and varieties of candies and sodas that will bring a nostalgic smile to your face……

There was a huge variety of other food as well.

We ended up getting a bag of the fried garlic, which I really enjoyed.

And there are some interesting canned and bottled foods available.

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Just in case you need some pig's feet, lips, & hocks in your life.

There's much more than food available as well.

All of those novelty items.

And you just knew that Elvis had to make an "appearance", right?

As I took my bag of peanut brittle and the fried garlic to the register; the guy in front of me bought a $170 worth of bottled sodas! I asked the friendly cashier about this and she told me "it's totally normal"! Whoa!

There's a place that serves minidonuts, and a BBQ restaurant, funnel cakes, ice cream, and shakes.

This was a fun stop!

Charlie Brown Farms
8317 Pearblossom Hwy.
Littlerock, CA 93543

Our room at the Residence Inn Lancaster wasn't quite ready when we arrived, so we decided to head out for a stroll.

First thing we noticed was all the Air Force and Aerospace monuments.

Then I realized that Edwards Air Force Base was just a short distance from here! Duh!

There was also quite a bit of Public Art.

I came to find out that Lancaster is considered one of California's Cultural Districts, like Barrio Logan. There an Museum of Modern Art, but it closes at 4pm on Sunday, and would be closed on Monday so we missed out on visiting.

As we were checking things out on the "BLVD" I received a text message that our room was ready and we checked in.

We had but a small, early lunch, so I looked over my "list" of places in walking distance where we could have an early dinner. Cantarito, a Salvadoran restaurant was just two blocks away. Since it would be closed the next day, a Monday, we thought we'd dine here.

This seemed like a good option so we walked on over. We were the only customers in the place on a warm Sunday in March. The woman working was very friendly.

We ordered three pupusas and the yuca frita o sancochada.

First to arrive was the salsa and the curtido.

The salsa was the typical thin, not overly spicy version tat we're used to at Salvadoran places. But that curtido was awesome, it was fermented, nicely sour-savory-tartness, with hints floral-anise-citrus hints. I'm thinking they use a good amount of Mexican Oregano? We went thru two bowls of the stuff. The woman working got a kick out of the fact that we enjoyed the curtido so much….we could eat it like we would kimchi!

And then my cerveza arrived. It was simply a Modelo; but the Missus saw that frosty mug and immediately took control of it.

It was so refreshing on a rather warm day! Talking about "hitting the spot!"

As for the pupusas? Well, the Loroco version had too much cheese, we didn't care for the texture as it was a bit on the chewy-doughy side. The chicharron was actually ground pork. The best one was the hongos as it provided some earthy-mushroomy goodness, though it was suffering from some "leakage".

As for the Yuca Frita o Sancochada, well, this was an interesting dish.

This was a huge, but interesting dish. The menu said pork rinds, but this was fried chunks of pork. Man, it was quite porky and full of flavor, but really hard and chewy, like chunks of fried jerky. Make sure your teeth are in good shape if you order this. We enjoyed the yuca. While the exterior was crisp, the interior just melted in your mouth, the texture was amazing! I don't think they do the usual "boil and fry" here. I'd gladly get the yuca again!

Overall, a decent dinner; not impressed by the pupusas, but the curtido and that yuca was so good!

Cantarito Salvadorian Restaurant
730 W Lancaster Blvd. #102
Lancaster, CA 93534

After dinner we took a stroll. It seems that Sunday evenings are pretty quiet in downtown Lancaster.

There was one place that we dropped into that was quite lively.

It seems that this is a Craft Beer – Underground Bowling Alley.

We popped in to take a look, but didn't hang around.

There was one other place that looked pretty lively and we'd end up having dinner there the following evening.

On this evening, we just took a stroll around town and enjoyed the public art.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Sieu Sieu BBQ Revisited

July 25, 2024 mmm-yoso Chinese BBQ, Chinese Restaurants

Recently, the Missus was wanting some roast duck. All the usual suspects came to mind. But, for some reason, I was wondering how Sieu Sieu BBQ was doing. We used to go to Sieu Sieu back when they were in Linda Vista and our last visit was back back in 2018, my does time fly. And so I headed on over to Sieu Sieu.

Sieu Sieu Rev 01

Much has changed since the days of Covid. There's no more noodle soup on the menu nor is there a dine in option. These days it's all takeout.

Sieu Sieu Rev 03

It was quite interesting as I arrived right at opening time on a Sunday and there were actually two "old timers"….well, I probably qualify as an "old timer" these days….ahead of me. It was interesting to see what they ordered.

Sieu Sieu Rev 04

The two of them ordered the roast pork and the pickled mustard greens.

Sieu Sieu Rev 05_b

So, I got some roast pork, cut to order, and mustard greens, along with a half duck.

When I got home and decamped what I had bought. Well, I liked the mustard greens, but the Missus didn't appreciate the slight sweetness. I also noticed that there was pork intestine in this. A great bonus for me, but if you're not into it…well….

Sieu Sieu Rev 06

For me, this is wonderful side dish.

As for the Roast Pork. Well, it was so tender and juicy, full of flavor. But we didn't care for the way it was chopped.

Sieu Sieu Rev 07

Since part of the enjoyment of Chinese roast pork is the skin, and because it been obliterated into fragments when chopped, we could not enjoy the porky crunchiness of the pork. I'd also advise you to eat this in a timely manner as it gets drier and tougher over time. If they would chop this in a more thoughtful manner, it would be a real winnah!

As for the roast duck.

Sieu Sieu Rev 08 Sieu Sieu Rev 09 Well, the flavor was on the milder side. The skin kind of rubbery. It did better brushed with the jus and put into our air fryer. It was, as with many versions of roast duck these days, very meaty, but quite dry.

Well, it was great following those "old timers" here. That roast pork was really good, if they'd just chop it right. As for the duck; well, I'll just move on. Still, it was nice revisiting Sieu Sieu after all these years.

Sieu Sieu Rev 10

Sieu Sieu BBQ
7420 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Tues – Sun 930am – 630pm
Closed on Monday

Don Chicken (Encinitas) and Cal Pacific Orchid Farm

July 24, 2024 mmm-yoso Chains, Chicken Wings, Exploring San Diego, Korean Restaurants

**** Don Chicken has closed

Recently, I was up in the Encinitas area and decided to make a couple of stops on my way back home. The First was to the Cal Pacific Orchid Farm which I had heard about from some folks I know who live in North County and also read this on Hidden San Diego. I decided to stop by. The huge greenhouse is located off of Orpheus Avenue which parallels the I-5. It was interesting finding the place as there’s a discreet single lane driveway from the street which heads up to the greenhouse and the small parking spaces.

Cal Pacific 01

Many of the beautiful plants are in lovely arrangements and the staff are so friendly. The gentleman working that day was very nice and spent almost a half hour chatting with me. My grandparents on Maui grew orchids and my Mom had a couple of plants when we lived in Kaimuki. For some reason, I thought that orchids needed a rather humid environment to grow, but the gentleman went through some of the various species, how they thrive in San Diego, that they do like moisture, but not too much water and not too much direct sun….which is why we saw so many in the Cloud Forest in Ecuador.

Cal Pacific 02

Cal Pacific 03

The gentleman obviously enjoys his job and has a real passion for orchids.

Cal Pacific 04b

One thing I found interesting is that Cal Pacific will “board” your plants if they are not doing well, not blooming, or in need of additional care!

Cal Pacific 05

The folks here are wonderful. I’m going to make sure to get my orchids from them!

Cal Pacific 06

Cal Pacific Orchid Farm
1122 Orpheus Ave.
Encinitas, CA 92024
Hours:
Mon – Sat 9am – 4pm
Closed on Sundays

Of course the next item on the agenda was……well, what’s for lunch? A while back, someone, I don’t recall who, asked me if I had been to Don Chicken. I looked thru my emails and searched through my comments but was not able to find that recommendation. Well, you know me, could I fight off the temptation of some “KFC”? Probably not. Especially when it’s just a ten minute drive away.

Don Chicken is located off El Camino Real in one of the many strip malls lining the street. I arrived a few minutes before opening, so I headed over to Baker and Olive a few doors down to take a look at things.

Don Chicken 01

The open sign lit up just as I started heading back toward the restaurant. Don Chicken is yet another chain from Korea, though my friends told me that the chain is really popular in Ho Chi Minh City? Which, for some reason made me think of Crispy Chicken n’ Tomato which declares itself the most popular KFC in Japan.

Don Chicken 02

On this day, the place was a one man operation, at least while I was there. The menu features Oven Baked and Fried Chicken in various sauces. The specials include bulgogi, tteok-boki, a chicken sandwich, and even katsu. But, since this was a KFC joint, I was just going to get the Fried Wings. The wings only come in orders of 10, a bit much for me, but at least it was priced at $15.99, which was much cheaper per piece that the $8.99 I paid for 4 wings at BHC recently.

And after a short wait, my wings were ready.

Don Chicken 04 Don Chicken 05 The wings came with a rather large order of Mul Kimchi, crisp, not overly sweet, a good palate cleanser for fry-o-lated foods.

As for the wings, well these weren’t overly large, which I prefer as the skin/batter to meat ratio to more to my liking. The meat was moist and tender, no dark areas and no off flavors.

Don Chicken 06 Don Chicken 07 The batter was somewhat crunchy, but it really got soggy quickly. The seasoning seemed quite mild, but I had a raging thirst after eating 6 of these wings. I took the remaining wings home and even tried to revive in the air fryer, but that didn’t work too well. I’m thinking that if I tried this again it would have to be with some kind of sauce; but based on experience with other KFC chains of this ilk, I’m going to assume it’s going to be too sweet and heck, it already gets soggy-mushy too quickly anyway.

So perhaps I’ll just give it a rest? If you’ve visited Don Chicken what was your meal like?

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Don Chicken
215 S. El Camino Real Suite G
Encinitas, CA 92024
Current Hours:
Mon – Sat 11am – 9pm
Sunday 3pm – 9pm

Hatsuzakura

July 22, 2024 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants

Since I went ahead and posted on the somewhat "old school" Izakaya Sakura (which we've crazily posted on 40 times over the years!), I thought I should do a post on a newer and more hip location; Hatsuzakura. A couple of months back, the Missus and I were in the area at around 430, right at opening time. The restaurant is run by the daughter and the namesake of Michelin starred Soichi Sushi next door. While, from I had heard, the place is a favorite for desserts, and while I wouldn't quite call it a Kissaten, nor a Shokudo, it was quite interesting.

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We were warmly greeted and led to a two top, in this very anime pink, Instagram ready restaurant.

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The Missus and I cracked up as we sat. This was quite interesting. The entree menu was a single page; with so many Yoshoku dishes, which we should have anticipated in a place like this, right?

The staff was really welcoming and we looked over the menu.

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We decided on three dishes. As we waited two young ladies, dressed in Barbie pink walked in and were seated at the bar. A few minutes later, two working stiffs who looked like they had just finished a job walked in, quickly took in the restaurant, looked at each other, did an about face and bailed! It was quite funny.

It was a bit of time but our first dish, the Chicken Karaage ($13). This was a very unique looking karaage, apparently it is the recipe of Chef Soichi.

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It was very lightly colored and seemed to have been coated with katakuriko? The chicken was sliced thinly, giving it a nice, light, almost ethereal crispness. We're glad it was dark meat chicken as the seasoning was quite mild, though the chicken was tender and quite positive in the "fowlness" category. It did need both the lemon and Kewpie mayo.

Next up was the Tamago Sando ($10). As soon as the sando arrived, the Missus said; "what's going on the crust is still on the sandwich?" Too many trips to Lawson I guess. Though I did agree that having that crust on made it seem "un-sandoed"…..

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The egg was chopped too coarse for us, the filling wasn't evenly spread thru the sando. The bread was very dry and lacked the fluffy qualities of a decent shokupan. The filling was nicely seasoned, but just seemed to be missing something.

The last item up was the Omurice ($17).

Hatsuzakura 05 Hatsuzakura 06 Egads! This was a bit too much for the both of us. The egg was slightly overcooked, which isn't too bad. But so was the rice. But the thing that really got us was how overly sour; almost puckery, and sweet this was. Also, the menu said it was filled with chicken fried rice, but other than a few tiny pieces, it seems that the bird had flown the coop?

Still, the service was wonderful and that chicken karaage was interesting. Plus, I saw those "Animae Girls" eating something that I just needed to try. And yet, it took me several months to finally return.

When I did it was for lunch service. Same nice folks greeted me and I had a seat at the bar.

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On the previous visit; I saw the two young ladies each have two Bakudan Onigiri; one with kombu and the other with something else. They each put away their two onigiri and also shared a doria…..sheesh even more rice. So, I went ahead and ordered the onigiri ($7).

Let me just say, if anything fits the definition of Bakudan ("bomb") Onigiri; it's this. It's like 2 1/2 scoops of rice made into an onigiri.

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Take a look at the size of this beast! It uses like half a sheet of nori to wrap it. The rice was nicely cooked, but man, about halfway thru it became quite a task to try and finish this. There just wasn't enough kombu in this. I don't know how those two young ladies put away two of these? If I did that a couple of times, I'd probably be trying out for a Sumo league somewhere!

Of course I also got the karaage this time as well. But it was slightly different this time.

Hatsuzakura 10 Hatsuzakura 11 It wasn't fried quite as well, though it was more highly seasoned this time. I swear they put some togarashi on this which I liked. One the negative side, the cut this time around was thicker, with some fairly large pieces. The thicker pieces were dry and only the thin slices made it thru the meal maintaining some crispness. I'm glad they gave me two slices of lemon as I needed them both. Not as good as what we'd had on the previous visit.

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In the end, the service was very nice; but I guess the limited menu and style of Japanese food offered is just not our thing. I was glad to have tried it though.

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Hatsuzakura
2123 Adams Ave.
San Diego, CA 92116
Current Hours:
Tues – Sat 11am – 3pm, 430pm – 9pm
Sunday 11am – 2pm, 330pm – 6pm
Closed on Mondays

Eating to beat the heat – Zaru Soba from Izakaya Sakura

July 21, 2024 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants

Man, it's been pretty warm the last couple of weeks, huh? And not just hot, but humid as well. I was looking for a place to grab lunch in the Convoy area and of course Izakaya Sakura came to mind. Funny thing; even though Sakura has long been a favorite of mine; I'd only dined in twice since the days of Covid and my last visit had been over a year ago! Well, it seemed like the right time for a revisit.

Sakura Zaru 01

There were actually 8 folks waiting ahead of me when I arrived at 1130 for lunch. On an interesting note; everyone seemed on the "older" side of things. I guess time is passing and the customer base for more traditional Japanese is just getting older?

Second item of note; several of my favorites, especially the item I had in mind, the Gyokai Natto is no longer on the menu. I was tempted to go for the Chirashi; but Kazu wasn't behind the bar; plus, I didn't feel like spending $32 for lunch on this day!

So, I went with another warm weather favorite from Sakura, the Zaru Soba, which, in these days where pho is $12+, seemed price right at $10. In need of a protein option; I went with a side of Karaage ($6.50) as well. What was also interesting was the service….I had gotten used to sometimes experiencing rude and perfunctory service here. But the two women working were so nice. I got my water refilled without asking, I was asked how my meal was not once, but twice! Man, what is going on here?

Sakura Zaru 02 Sakura Zaru 03 My zaru soba arrived looking pretty much the same as always. The tsukemono, mildly pickled, crunchy, which I enjoy with a touch of shoyu seemed so familiar.

Things looked the same as always, until I removed the top of the little bowl of Tsuyu. Let me stress "little". This was probably half the amount of tsuyu I recalled being provided.

Sakura Zaru 04 Sakura Zaru 05 As I will usually do when having zaru soba, I have a taste of the tsuyu straight up. And man, this was potent! Very strong dashi, nice soy sauce tones, quite savory. I'd only be doing a one-third "dunk" of my noodles in this! I added all the fresh wasabi and scallions, and a bit of ginger which really added a pleasurable pungency and palate cleansing layer to things.

As for the noodles; they were as expected; perfectly cooked, with a nice springy "pull".

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In the end, perhaps my palate had become adjusted to things, but I chugged the last bit of tsuyu. Which by this time seemed somewhat invigorating.

As for the chicken. Over the years, as I've noted in previous posts, the karaage can be somewhat inconsistent. Today, it was quite good.

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Much more flavor than I recall; I didn't even need the dipping sauce! Less crunchy, more on the crisp side, the chicken was moist and tender. Heck, I swear I could make out some togarashi in this? And $16.50 for lunch! Heck, we sometimes pay more for a sandwich these days, right?

I had one more pleasant surprise. I went to the restroom and saw this posted.

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Man, this brought back some great memories! I looked at the date; a this was from almost 14 years ago! Since we all know that nothing is ever lost on the Internet, I went and found the original article by the one and only Naomi Wise (RIP, we miss you!). You can read it here if desired. Gosh, this was back in those days, before the place had a sign put up! BTW, that "sign of the times" post was one of my favorites.

Well, it's good to know, even though time has passed, with all the new fads, and generational differences, Izakaya Sakura still delivered.

Izakaya Sakura
3904 Convoy St Suite 121
San Diego, CA 92111

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Hope everyone is keeping cool and enjoying the weekend!

And as always, if you have some suggestions for places to eat during our heatwave; please feel free to let me know!