As in, yoso-silly, yoso-hungry, yoso-full, or best of all; mmm-delici-yoso!!!!! A San Diego based food and travel blog. An Ex-Pat Kama'aina and Friends explore food, restaurants, and travel from San Diego and points beyond.
Located two blocks down from FredCel which I probably need to get back to as well, I found parking on 37th Street.
The interior of Sabores has changed a bit as well…..what’s with all the blue dining rooms these days?
Anyway, the nice woman guided me to a table and I was handed a menu…..which I glanced at, even though I was here for one thing….
The Lengua en Salsa here is now $23.99.
Though it came with a small bowl of Ajiaco to start.
It’s always interesting to have ajiaco…because of the earthy-grassy flavor of the rich broth. Made with guascas. It was hearty and a nice way to start a meal on a cooler day.
And soon enough my Salsa en Lengua arrived. If you read my post yesterday, you’d say that this was a totally different dish from what I got at Antojitos Colombianos, right?
I’ve always enjoyed the plantain, sweet, rich, and creamy. A nice foil to the other flavors and textures. The salsa criolla here was different from what I had experienced on previous visits. A lot more onions, less watery, tangy, a hint of sweet-pungency. I enjoyed it more than what I’d had before. The lengua, as before was on the chewier side, but still nice and beefy and it was a large rather thick slice.
The rice was a bit mushy for my taste.
And the Yucca, as before was on the hard side…I prefer it more creamy.
Still, a very hearty meal.
So, what’s my preference? Well, SC has larger more generous portions, I like that plantain and ajiaco come with the meal. And this time around preferred the salsa criolla from here. AC had a more tender lengua, the salsa criolla was more tangy, and the yucca was nice and tender. I guess in the future, it’s what I’m craving for that day? I know, sounds like I’m taking the easy way out, right?
This visit also had me wondering how “FOY” Mr Black Belt Jonez was doing. He was the one who recommended Sabores to me all those years ago! I hope you are doing well Black Belt Jonez!
And I hope all of you are doing well!
Sabores Colombianos 3695 University Ave San Diego, CA 92104 Current Hours: Sun, Mon, Wed, Thurs 11am – 7pm Sat – Sun 11am – 8pm Closed on Tuesday
My how time flies……recently, someone who is new to reading our humble little blog reached out to me asking if I was the same person who wrote this a billion years ago. This got me craving some Lengua en Salsa from Antijitos Colombianos. Checking out my last post, I was shocked to see that my last visit was over 12 years ago and at the former location several blocks further down Imperial!
So, I decided to head on over to get my fix!
This newer location shares a small parking lot with a bank and some other shop…there’s limited parking, but because I got there right a opening time; 11am, I got one of the spaces right in front of the restaurant. The small storefront belies the rather spacious, and very “blue” interior.
The gentleman seated me quickly….as I was the only customer in the place for the entire meal.
I was handed a menu and of course I had expected prices to have gone up….but sheesh…the Lengua en Salsa is now $25……
It did give me pause; but I was here on a “mission” and I just had to have my fix. My order didn’t take very long to arrive.
I quickly noticed that the stewed beef tongue was sliced crosswise instead of being one long lengthwise, almost steak-like slice. Still, it was nice and beefy.
The rice was really mushy, though fragrant.
I did enjoy the starchy and very tender slices of yucca….it used to be that I enjoyed yucca frita; but for some reason this version did well with the tangy sauce.
The texture of the tongue varied from slice to slice. One piece was so wonderfully tender and beefy, that I could slice it with the fork. The other really tough and chewy. Still, the intense bovine flavor came thru clearly.
The Hogao, salsa criolla, was nice and tangy, mildly pungent, though a bit more watery and lighter than I remembered.
Still, not a bad meal…hope you enjoyed this post “Arby”!
We just got back from our first road trip with JJ for 2026. It was a fun and interesting drive; starting in a place that JJ has already been to.
This time there wasn’t record heat and JJ enjoyed things more…..
And we did a couple of hikes and enjoyed the views….
And ate well…..
The next stop was one we had last visited during he waning days of Covid…..
And this is where JJ enjoyed hiking the most. And of course the views were fabulous.
It was interesting as we did a favorite hike of ours…but this time around…well, it was still icy.
Which JJ loved!
What he also loved was the place that served a Doggie menu; with a version of beef tartare he loved.
We actually returned the following evening….
On our previous visit, we hadn’t been too impressed with the food; but his time around…well, we found our spot.
Which served up a dish that is a favorite of ours; especially when we visit Paris, but is not allowed in California….
Definitely our favorite meal of the trip.
We’ll definitely be back!
Our last stop was a city; with definite retro vibes. We last visited back when we lived in LA. It had been a while and we recall not being particularly taken by what seemed a superficial, image driven vibe. But time changes things. And while there’s still a strong commerciality, we’ve come to appreciate the history…..
And of course everything with JJ in tow makes things more entertaining…..
Anyway, thanks for stopping by. We’ll be back to our regular programming tomorrow!
I know, I just did a revisit post back in December. But seeing that ED is now the Missus’s go-to Cantonese spot these days and we’ve been going just about every week since that December visit, I thought I’d go over the dishes we’ve tried that I haven’t posted on before. Plus, I know “FOY” Kenneth is interested in visiting ED, so this might help.
Other than one item at the end that was surprisingly good, I’m not going to go over any dishes that I’ve posted on before.
Anyway, here goes:
Must Order:
This is called Sauteed Intestines with Chinese Pickles ($19.95) on the menu. Since the first time we tried this, we’ve had it on every single visit – five times! Each time it was prepped nicely.
When eaten at the restaurant the intestine texture is amazing. Chewy at first bite; giving way to almost creamy tenderness.
The black bean comes thru cleanly. Love the tangy-sour preserved vegetable. As you eat the leftovers; that flavor get magnified. It’s a must order for us!
The Missus loves the Steamed Minced Pork with Salted Fish ($19.95).
Welcome to Funky Town…well sort of. The secret to getting the salty-savory-funky fish salted fish flavor is to include one piece of the salted fish; which you see sprinkled on the top of the pork, in each bite. Don’t do too much; it’ll be so salty and overwhelming.
Westlake Minced Beef Soup ($17.95).
We’ve had this three times. Be careful; it’s really rich and thick and will melt your lips (and tongue) off. Give it time to cool a bit before consuming.
The secret to this dish for us is the cilantro, scallions, and sliced Thai chilies. It just enhances the savory tones so much. In fact, the second time we had this, there wasn’t any in the soup and we actually asked for some.
The Missus and I decided to try the Pepper Beef ($22.95) on our last visit. Not something we order often; but we’ve had some pretty good dishes so far and the price seemed very reasonable. And this ended up being another good dish.
The beef was so tender! The pepper sauce had a nice balance of savory and sweet, with a touch of ginger notes. It was so good with rice. The peas were crunchy and sweet, also adding a nice textural contrast. Another “keeper” dish.
Inconsistent:
The most expensive dishes on the menu are of course the seafood items. The Missus was wondering about the Steamed Blue Diamond Shrimp with Garlic Sauce ($26.95). In case you were wondering what Blue Diamond Shrimp are. I’m not totally sure these are Blue Diamond Shrimp, but they are pretty tiny and comes served split in shell.
The shrimp were quite sweet; the meat fairly firm. The sauce the first time was so savory and garlicky; the Missus especially loved the bean thread under the shrimp, which soaked up all that flavor!
Though, on the second time….which was the same visit where the Westlake Soup was missing our favorite ingredients, there was a shortage of garlic and sauce. You can easily see that here.
The shrimp was also a lot tougher…so perhaps the back-up cook was on this day?
Fish Filet with Black Bean Sauce ($20.95). Again, the first time we had this, the dish was pretty good.
Generous amount of savory black bean. The fish nicely velveted, almost creamy, very mild in flavor. The onions and red bell peppers enhanced the dish nicely.
And then there was the version on that “second visit”…..
Was there a fermented black bean shortage? At least there was in this dish! Like one slice of red bell pepper. The fish was not as wonderfully velveted and there was a muddy taste to it.
Luckily, on our third try with this dish, things were back to how it was the first time we tried this dish.
Other Dishes:
There’s a “Hot Pot Rice” ($19.95) that you can get for dine-in only and only from Mondays to Thursdays. The Missus was intrigued, so we ordered the version with Chinese Sausage.
This was pretty good; there’s pork belly in addition to the lup cheong. Decent rice crust forms and enough sauce to coat. Funny thing is. We won’t be ordering this again because we make even a better version at home!
But in case you want to try it out.
The Shrimp with XO Sauce ($22.95) was fine.
Shrimp was decently cooked; perhaps a bit firmer than I enjoy. The sugar snaps peas were crisp and sweet. I’d like a bit more XO sauce in this dish.
Speaking of XO Sauce. The Seafood Fried Rice with XO Sauce ($19.95) was not good. The rice super hard and not coated evenly. A true lack of Wok Hay!
Not enough XO sauce for us either. One and done.
Another one and done is the Pork Belly with Tofu Clay Pot ($19.95). This was really salty, but other than that lacking in other flavors.
The tofu was dry and the pork belly strangely tough. It was even worse as leftovers.
And one surprise:
So, the one menu item that surprised us was ordered on our most recent visit. We had thought the roast duck here was ok. And that other versions were better. But, on our last visit, we just decided to get a half roast duck ($21). And man was this pretty good!
Nicely roasted with a fairly crisp skin; fat nicely rendered. Decent five spice flavor and those drippings! Now we both think the meat could have been a bit more tender and flavorful, perhaps Noble Chef still tops ED in that department….but a half duck there was $28 on my last visit! This was definitely better than what we had at Taste of Hong Kong on our last visit. Did we hit the lottery on this one? Who knows…… I think we’ll order this again to find out!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this collection of dishes form Eastern Dynasty. Kenneth, I not sure you enjoy the same type of Cantonese dishes as we do, but I hope you find this post helpful!
Eastern Dynasty 4690 Convoy St. San Diego, CA 92111 Current Hours: Daily 11am â 3pm, 5pm â 830pm
During my visit to Zen Modern Asian Bistro at the Sky Deck, I came across a place that I’d had on my “list” but had totally forgotten about. Marufuku Ramen. I recall reading how popular Marufuku was when it opened in San Francisco’s Japantown in 2017. And since it was “ramen season” for me; I decided to return to try the place out.
Marufuku is located in the rear of the Sky Deck. The place was kinda dark at 11am, so pardon my photos.
I was seated by the very friendly and efficient Sugui, who told me he also works at Glass Box next door.
The prices, as anticipated were on the higher end of the scale, especially for what I consider to be a Food Hall.
I went with the Hakata Tonkotsu – regular size ($18.00). What arrived was about the same size as the small bowl I had at Santouka recently. Of course it didn’t have the toroniku and other stuffs.
The broth was fairly light, in spite of the dots of oil floating on the top. It was pretty straight forward, mild in flavor, though not salty.
It was rich enough to coat the thin, straight Hakata style noodles. Which were unfortunately a bit overcooked and too soft for my taste.
At least the tamago, which was edging on being overcooked for my taste was still warm. I’d say that’s a definite plus these days.
There were two bacon-thin slices chashu that were nicely flavored, with a nice toothsome texture.
And was probably my favorite thing in this bowl. The ginger would have helped to cut the richness if the broth were a bit thicker, but really wasn’t necessary in this case.
Overall, not a bad bowl of ramen, perhaps below what I last had a Menya…maybe what I’d consider level B+ ramen. Though priced like level A+ ramen. I’m not going to be in a rush to return.
Marufuku Ramen (In the Sky Deck at Del Mar Highlands Town Center) 12841 El Camino Real Suite 204 San Diego, CA 92130 Current Hours: Sun – Thurs 11am – 9pm Fri – Sat 11am – 10pm
