Cathy – Page 118

episode four/Week one-La Basil Thai

October 4, 2006 Cathy Thai Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

***UPDATE*** La Basil at this location closed in June 2007. The La Jolla location is still open. Rumor is a new location in East County is in the works. Click onto website info at bottom of post for information.

mmm-yoso is on vacation. In the interim, the part usually played by Kirk will be played by Cathy.

Hi. So, the parting words to me from Kirk were "Oh- and make sure you do Basil Thai"…and I don't want to. I don't want everyone to know about this place. Its one of the really great hole-in-the-walls, run by a Thai family. The people who go there frequently know they have a gem…and anyone who goes to K Sandwiches has been right on top of it. (click onto the photo- you can see K Sandwiches on the left and right there, at the end of the parking lot, under the setting sun-those buildings right there…go ahead, walk on over)

There they are- my two best kept secrets, right on Mesa College Drive. We will go from left to right and I will talk about La Basil today.

Here is the menu, posted outside. Basically for the lunch specials, you choose your type of noodle, type of meat and type of sauce. If you get vegetarian, chicken or pork,its $5.99; beef or duck is $6.99, shrimp or calamari is $7.99, scallop is $8.99 and mixed seafood is $10.99.

Dinners have a similar style of ordering, with the most expensive entree on the menu being $12.95.

For dinner, there are appetizers, salads, noodles & rice, house curries, specialties and fish.

The thing is, there are 18 CHAIRS for 5 tables total inside and 10 CHAIRS for 4 tables outside, and really, if you were to sit at the tables using all of those chairs, there is no space for plates for all the people. Notice there are no condiments on the tables.

We ordered, had water placed and a basket of still sizzling shrimp chips were brought out to the table. Not oily, not too hot, but still sizzling with a nice shrimp flavor and oh so light and crispy.

Then the appetizer we ordered arrived, having been freshly made, Spring rolls ($4.95): rice paper stuffed with tofu, lettuce, bean sprouts, carrot, mint, cucumber, rice noodle served with a sweet/sour/hot sauce topped with chopped peanuts on the left and warmed, fresh made peanut sauce on the right. These were very fresh, with the right amount of crunch and the sauces complimented the flavors perfectly.

Then my most absolute favorite Thai dish arrived- Larb salad…made with beef! I have looked high and low for larb made with beef anywhere else in San Diego and have yet to find it. Seems its always made with chicken. Here, you get to choose: beef, chicken or pork. Larb is made with the minced meat, lime juice, chili, rice powder (gives it crunch) and mint and also served are cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, onions and shredded carrots. I asked for medium heat..not too much: I wanted to taste the flavors. It was just right. ($7.95)

We also got the chicken pad Thai this time. The pad Thai is kind of sweet tasting here and the noodles are fresh rice noodles, with a nice "bite" to them, but at lunchtime I like to get the pad see ew noodle, made with a thicker rice noodle, that seems to hold more of the sauce on it. (I also like the green curry on rice at lunch). Bean sprouts, scallion and egg along with chopped peanuts and the chicken and noodles. ($7.95)

This little placard was on the table, and we had ordered the rice with coconut ice cream once before, remembering it took about 10 minutes to come out, because they make it fresh, and it was busy. We ordered ahead of time. They were out of ice cream, so we asked for the custard.

Which was also made fresh. The rice is made with coconut milk, was still warm and wonderfully sticky. The custard was eggy and wonderfully fresh, with a skin just beginning to form on top. The price was $4.95.

All in all, the Mister and I really like La Basil. It does a brisk take out (but you don't call it in: i never have heard a phone ring when we were in there- you walk in, order and wait…they give you some shrimp chips to munch on… and enjoy the decor):

It is going to be Halloween soon, you know.

La Basil Thai Cuisine 7530 Mesa College Drive SD 92111

Mon-Fri 11:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.

Sat 12:00 p.m.-9:00p.m.

Did anyone notice the parsley on the dessert plate?

Addendum- October 12, 2006….I was reading the morning paper and saw a coupon for La Basil Thai in La Jolla. There was a website: La Basil dot com and I went to it, looked at the menu section and it is, apparently, a chain! The La Jolla prices are a dollar more than the prices at this location on Mesa College Drive. There is nothing on the menu here to indicate they had another location. …and I just don't hang around in La Jolla enough to know that there was a La Basil there. Sorry if anyone was confused.

Episode three-week one/Niban

October 3, 2006 Cathy Japanese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is on vacation. The part usually played by Kirk will be played by Cathy in the interim.

Niban-fast, inexpensive, fresh, un-fancy, second best (?)Japanese and sushi.

So I don’t know much about the Japanese language except the Numbers one, two and three: ichi, ni, san…and so I use the Google Japanese translator and ichiban means "first", niban means "second" and sanban means "third". Then again, if you merely Google "niban" well, that is a brand name of a boric acid based granular bait used for pest control…I know I have seen restaurants named Ichiban…so to name yourself Niban, well, that takes …guts… on so many levels.

So yes, of course we eat here, regularly.

Its a simple system. You walk in, pay, then sit down. (If you are doing a "to go" order, you can sit at one of the chairs lining the front window). One of the people who works there takes your receipt, asks what you would like to drink (hot tea is free) (if you have paid for soda or beer, they ask you what kind you want) and they bring it to you and soon your order arrives.

The menu is simple:

and there are daily lunch specials written on a chalk board on the wall in front of you when you walk in, and other specials written on a chalkboard to the far right of the cash register (but also displayed in a glass case to your right as you walk in the door-you can see it from the front window right underneath this GIANT menu taped to the window.) Also, there is a monthly special, printed on a colored sheet of paper taped to the front window, a glass case straight ahead when you walk in the door and on the counter when you order. For October it is katsu curry-either chicken or shrimp, with salad and beverage for $5.50..regular $6.25 without beverage.

The specials are usually 75¢ to $1 off the regular price. There is a sushi bar with 7 (seven) seats total to the right and to the back of the cash register. If you want only that, you can walk in and sit down…paying when you leave. No photo; the people eating didn’t want to be in a picture.

But I like this display of plastic sushi and mirrors in the front window anyhow….

This is what we had in the last two visits:

The calamari appetizer- 5 pieces of squid steak breaded and fried. That sauce that looks like thousand island dressing..it isn’t…it has jalapeño in it…

The chicken katsu salad (regularly $3.50, sale price $2.75). I can eat this as a meal. Lettuce, chilled rice noodle, sliced carrots, sliced cucumbers and a ginger-garlic dressing served on the side. One whole piece of katsu chicken.

We got the sushi combo one night: 6 pieces nigiri and 2 hand rolls:$10.95

The hand rolls are regularly $3.50 each and are quite large. One was with crab meat and the other spicy tuna. All the fish was very fresh, tender, sliced thick enough and served on proper rice. Nothing outstanding, nothing bad, either. Below in this photo are the gyoza, served steamed or fried. ($2.95) Five handmade, thin skinned and filled with mostly pork with good ginger flavor as well as some water chestnut crunch. Very good.

On this visit, one of the daily specials was this bento box of chicken teriyaki, fried croquette (potato cake), salad, pickled bean sprouts, cold rice noodle and rice, served with miso soup. ($5.95 regular $6.75)

The chicken was mostly dark meat, the teriyaki sauce is good, not too thick or sweet. The croquette was excellent: crispy on the outside, and good mashed potato on the inside.

The October special, katsu curry.

We tried it with shrimp-you get three. If you get the chicken, you get 2 patties.

The curry tonight was not as thick as usual, but still tasty, with a nice "bite"..beef based, Japanese flavored, some chunks of beef (we have had more beef in it previously), potatoes, carrots and, according to the Mister, an inordinate amount of onions.

There is a TV on each side of the restaurant, none on the outside patio- but Players Bar and Grill is across the sidewalk and they have 4 television sets playing outside, for the smokers.

…and..my most favorite piece of decor:

The sushi clock!

All in all, Niban is good, fast and inexpensive…and has some sort of issues going on with self esteem, near as I can tell. Someday I’ll ask why they chose this name.

Niban 7081 Clairmont Mesa Blvd San Diego (858) 268-0465

Lunch Mon-Sat 11:00 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

Dinner Sun-Thurs 5:00 p.m.-9:30 p.m., Fri and Sat 5 p.m.-10 p.m.

Episode two/week one-Emmas…and

October 2, 2006 Cathy Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is on vacation. The part usually played by Kirk will be played by Cathy in the interim.

Emma’s Mexican Food…and what else I ate today

So, there was an incident in a parking lot on Labor Day and the parts are in, and Carter’s Collision opens at 7 a.m., so drop off a car and either walk home (all uphill, by the way, about three miles) or have the Mister follow me and perhaps go out to breakfast (heh heh) on a Monday. I chose the latter.

Those of you who have lived in San Diego, should remember the first/only Price Club (which eventually bought out Costco), in Santee. It is now an empty lot (although this weekend it had some sort of carnival with all sorts of scary rides on the lot and soon it will have a Pumpkin Patch that will turn into a Christmas Tree sales place in about another month or so) and will sooner-or-later turn into Highway 52 joining up with Highway 67 and make our lives oh so much easier, if we are driving in that direction….[sorry; digression]…AND SO ANYHOW, if you remember that Price Club, the address on your receipts was Buena Vista Avenue, and you usually entered on that street and right on the other side of Buena Vista is Emma’s.

Which looks like this from Cuyamaca:

and looks like this from Buena Vista:

and so anyhow…we decided to go here for breakfast.

Here is the menu (I know someone loves to read the menus):

The Mister ordered the Enchiladas Rancheros (two cheese enchiladas, topped with an over-easy egg and some homemade nopalitos (preserved in a jar-with-salt water cactus)/onion/tomato salsa and rice and beans) $4.75:

Here is a better photo of the enchiladas and of the salsa: the enchiladas were nice and cheesy and fried on the bottom, so nicely crispy and the salsa was nice and chunky; good flavor but not heat:

and I ordered the breakfast burrito ($2.75): 2 eggs fluffily scrambled with cheese and ham:

Both entrees were brought out to the table by the owner and the place was hopping, with 9 other people having placed orders, most to go, before 7:30 a.m.. That is kind of interesting, considering the location being out of the way in a now non-busy part of Santee. Everything was fresh and tasty. There is a salsa bar with mild red, hot red and tomatillo spicy salsa that you can get for yourself. It was very nice and satisfying. They don’t serve coffee here, so you have to bring your own, or grab some soda pop from the fridge, or a bottle of water from your car if you want something to drink.

We usually go to Emma’s for lunch/dinner and get the quesedilla or carne asada burrito and both are always very good, oversized and filling. If it is on your way to somewhere (its just south of Mission Gorge, right off of Cuyamaca- the "new" Santee Costco is less than a mile from that corner, just northwest.) you should stop in. Everyone who works there is very friendly and the food is good. They make a LARGE shrimp cocktail for $7.05 (10 shrimp) and all of the shrimp dishes are very good.

One item unique to here is rolled FISH tacos. (Usually rolled tacos are made with shredded beef or chicken). These are especially good if you don’t eat meat on Fridays (and we all know fish isn’t meat, right?) because you grew up in a certain religion and so, "just in case" you continue to merely skip meat on that day of the week….

Oh, digression again, sorry.

Lunch was a nice respite:

Shrimp (31 count) was on sale at 99 Ranch this week for $4.99 per pound and so the Mister bought about 1.5 pounds and I made two things today: this simple shrimp salad (cook and chill shrimp, mix with grapes, fresh dill, mayo/sour cream, salt and white pepper) on a fresh croissant (99¢ from K Sandwiches)…and also this stir fry:

The rest of the shrimp, some leftover chicken, mushrooms and pea pods..stir fried in some sesame oil.

… served with some stir fried yakisoba and some re-hydrated miso soup from 99 Ranch.

All in all, it was a nice day weather-wise and food wise. I hope yours was, too.

Oooh, I do like doing this blog so far. You know, local lobster season just started, so in the interest of research and making an interesting post…

AND FOR TOMORROW- I promise no caffiene when I start writing.

Emma’s Mexican Food 8781 Cuyamaca, Santee 92071 (619) 596-8189 7 a.m.-8:3- p.m. Mon-Sat, closed Sunday

Episode one/Week one- Hello

October 1, 2006 Cathy What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is on vacation. The part usually played by Kirk will be played by Cathy in the interim.

Hello.

I know you are sort of traumatized. I will try to make you think that nothing has changed while Kirk is taking a well deserved rest. I am just going to blog about food, like he does. But, I'm not a guy…nor from Hawaii…so, even though I have similar observations as he does, some things may not be the same. Perhaps you will see some variety in my observations compared to his.

I like to cook, like he does:

This is from a Holiday Bowl tailgate last year, where the Mister and I always meet with 100 of our closest friends and everyone brings something to eat (we bring about 15 lbs of small end rib roast and 6 lbs of rolls, all made at home that morning) starting at about noon (the pre-game starts at about 5 p.m.)…and where we all return to after the game, to finish up leftovers, have some hot chili, a nice turkey soup that one couple always brings, hot cider and perhaps some sort of beverage made with …um..instant coffee crystals, hot water, whipped cream…and watch the traffic clear out.

I also like a nice cup of coffee:

I make drinking coffee a reason for me to sit down and relax, not just to drink while driving around in the car. I have a refurbished Proteo Barista machine from Starbucks and have at least two shots of espresso every morning. I saw this website and was inspired to make cute designs with the foam, at least on mornings when I feel like it. My brother liked this design. He says it looks like Mr. Spacely (of Spacely Space Sprockets) from The Jetsons.

I also have a small garden:

Where this year, I grew corn, beets, cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, basil, dill, parsley, potatoes and radishes…you know, stuff for munching. Oh, there is that one sunflower that showed up also…

Of course the Mister and I do go out to eat, too:

I take photos. Most chefs take such pride in presenting a beautiful plate.

These are potstickers, for a soon to be published post.

The Mister and I are unafraid to try any type of food, anywhere we happen to find an open restaurant. The Mister is now retired from the military and we have lived and visited kind of everywhere in the States and the Med and some of the Pacific Rim and not much scares us and we are willing to try just about any type of cuisine…and walk around in any type of neighborhood….you'll see that soon enough.

So, I hope you will not notice much of a difference and will maybe find some new places you might want to try -or avoid- …remember, its just blogging and observing, so not all of my comments will be positive. I look forward to sharing with you. -Cathy

P.S. I know, I have to figure out the stopwatch feature on my mobile phone….such requirements for blogging!