Cathy – Page 67

Chopsticks Inn Restaurant-La Mesa

October 30, 2013 Cathy Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Chinese Restaurants, Japanese Restaurants, Thai Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a blog. Centered mostly around food, we (Kirk, Ed(from Yuma) and Cathy) write about various places, recipes, ingredients. Here's a post about a place, written by Cathy.

As mentioned in another post, frequently I meet clients for an exchange of paperwork and often they offer to buy me lunch. I let them choose the location, asking them where's a place they enjoy- knowing they might not be as adventurous as I- and also they are aware of the price point, since they have offered to pay.

Chopsticks Inn has been in the corner of this storefront area in La Mesa since 1988. It's the same corner and shares the same parking lot as La Mesa Bistro & Bakery . The owner of Chopsticks Inn was born in SouthEast China, moved to Hong Kong where she grew up with her Grandmother and eventually moved to the US, learning Japanese and Thai cooking along the way. As you can see from the signage, a multitude of Asian cuisine choices are available.

The interior of the restaurant is decorated in a higher end Asian look. The waitstaff is friendly, efficient and knowledgeable.

We both ordered lunch specials, which came with a choice of soup. Hot and Sour and Egg Drop were our choices. When we were first seated, the fried wonton strips and small plate serving of a sweet/vinegar 'duck' sauce were brought to the table.

The Red Curry Chicken lunch plate ($7.55)- came with the soup, an egg roll (all vegetable), cream cheese fried wonton, steamed rice and a very good size serving of red curry chicken-made with fresh mushroom, red and green bell peppers and celery. Yes, celery, which was very complimentary with the flavors.

The Kung Pao chicken ($7.25) was also accompanied by the same sides, as this was also a lunch special. You can see it also had fresh mushrooms, celery and is topped with peanuts. It wasn't very spicy-hot, but was made with very fresh ingredients and tasty…had just a bit of heat, which was nice.

Fortune Cookies were brought out with the bill. I haven't seen packaged Fortune Cookies in a long time and it was fun reading and exchanging our predictions. (Hot tea was $1 each).

This was a very nice, quality meal. I noticed the Dim Sum is a la carte as well as available as platters, that Bento boxes are available at lunch and dinner prices and many noodle and rice dishes are available along with Chinese "Family" meals (priced per person). A new item they were promoting were Boba beverages.

A very interesting restaurant in an unexpected location.

Chopsticks Inn Restaurant 8687 La Mesa Boulevard La Mesa, CA 91942 open Tues-Sun 11 a.m-9 p.m. (619) 466-4470 Website

Pho Lucky-Warm meal on a cool day

October 28, 2013 Cathy Vietnamese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog you are reading, is an open diary of food consumption. Sometimes there is a story behind the reasons why one of us (Kirk, Ed(from Yuma), Cathy) is consuming said food. Sometimes it's just sharing a meal with you. Today is a sharing.

Wow, we've had strange weather the past week…foggy and overcast until mid-morning, and windy with some sun into the afternoon…chilly weather for us who live in San Diego and now this morning we have rain. The Mister and I try to be sure we have a meal before we go grocery shopping and last week, we planned on shopping on Mira Mesa Boulevard and Pho Lucky was an easy choice, because we wanted something warm and good.

I've counted more than five posts on this blog mentioning Pho Lucky in one way or another. It's a go- to place for both Kirk, Ed (from Yuma), when he is visiting (from Yuma) and The Mister and myself (as well as one meal with the three of us mmm-yoso-ers, which is left to our memories and was never posted).

This meal was typically good. Here is The Mister's rare steak and medium rare flank steak, small ($6.50). The stock here is so very flavorful and not greasy. The meats are plentiful and the noodles are always just right (not clumpy). The plate of toppings is always fresh and includes sawtooth (it's there, under the basil).

Kari-Ga ($6.50) chicken curry. On par with the Bo Kho (beef stew), Kirk's favorite. The flavors of the sauce, good amount of chicken as well as potatoes and carrot and the accompanying warm, crispy bahn mi (bread) is just a perfect ratio and comforting, especially on cool days.

I hope your week has started off well. Stay warm!

Pho Lucky 9326 Mira Mesa Blvd. San Diego, CA 92126

2014 Rose Parade Float Road Testing-Baja Ranch Supermarket-Pasadena Farmers Market (Road Trip)

October 27, 2013 Cathy Farmer's Markets/Night Market, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, Markets & Grocers, Road Trip, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for stopping and reading mmm-yoso!!!, a food-centric blog. There are numerous ways to find and acquire ready made food and ingredients for meals at home. Today Cathy will share a couple of those ways along with sharing a bit of a quick Road Trip from San Diego. Kirk and Ed(from Yuma) are relaxing today.

The Mister and I woke up late yesterday morning. It was 4:45 a.m. and the dogs had to be fed and let out, we dressed quickly and were out the door at 5:07 a.m.. There was a low fog overhanging the freeway the entire drive. We got to the Red Hill exit from the 5 (in Tustin) around 6:25 a.m. and stopped at the Starbucks for coffee then drove up the street to Cream Pan and picked up three hot, fresh pastries. The cinnamon pecan roll ($3), which is filled with crispy, whole pecans; a raspberry bottomed cheescake in a paper cup ($2) and a ham and cheese croissant ($2.50)…light breakfast to eat in the car. The freeway entrance is just around the corner.

In about 45 minutes, we were in Pasadena, parked, crossed the Metro tracks and the Rose Parade float Road Test was already underway. The eHarmony.com float (the first dot com float ever in a Rose Parade) was going to be tested with people on board. (During the parade, Natalie Cole will be on the float, singing along the parade route).What will end up being the last float in the parade was also being tested- it looks like a football…and it looks like two GIANT screens will be inserted into those frames…we don't know, but speculate may be playing highlights of either prior Rose Bowl Games (2014 will be the 100th anniversary of the Rose Bowl Football game) or of prior parades (2014 will be the 125th Tournament of Roses parade). We'll have to wait and see… This VERY large float will be one of the first you will see in the parade- it is by Honda, the sponsor. we suspect it will look somewhat futuristic, because

it will be preceeded by these five smaller (powed by Honda motocycles and one driver, no 'viewer' inside) floats, depicting various "Dreams Come True"-the parade theme-along time… The famous WWII poster (and some sort of circular float behind it).

A sort of Model T vehicle.

A construct of the Spirit of St. Louis. There's also a small diorama depicting Man landing on the moon.

Other floats tested were in their basic stages… The City of Beverly Hills will be celebrating 100 years as a City and will have a float in the 2014 Rose Parade.

The RFD-TV float looks like a large barn-like dance floor will be on the front of the float, with smaller buildings behind. I'm interested in seeing how this ultimately will appear. The front piece, made with heavy steel beams (instead of rebar) is unique.

We left the road testing area, and had no plans for breakfast, drove up to Orange Grove Boulevard and stopped at Baja Ranch Market, which I only mentioned slightly in another float road test post last November. We wanted to grab another quick bite. When you first walk into this medium sized Mexican/Latin American Market, you are in the Bakery area.

It is right around the corner, next to an extensive steam tray area.

We picked up 1/2 lb of those fresh chicharron from the end tray.

and also asked for one of each flavor of the empanadas- the ham and cheese and the ground beef (which is made with corse ground hamburger, hard boiled egg, olives and raisins; a very traditional and wonderful flavor combination), sometimes called 'picadillo'.

We also picked up a few other items, went to the car and started driving East while munching on an empanada.

Baja Ranch Supermarket 475 Orange Grove Blvd, Pasadena 91101 website

Parking on a side street, we had a short walk to the Saturday Pasadena Farmer's Market on Sierra Madre Boulevard (see Pasadena High to the right? The set up of booths is in the parking lot of the school.) This is the street where the Rose Parade floats line up at the end of the parade route.

I have become enamoured with young, small, tender jicama ever since I bought it here. It is so good, a bit sweet and easily a craving without needing to be mixed with other foods or topped with Tajin.

The autumn vegetables and fruits are in abundance. This Farmers market is central to so many farms and really is the nicest one I've encountered other than the one I went to when I was young..

I hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend!

Escondido World Marketplace (a swap meet with food)

October 26, 2013 Cathy Farmer's Markets/Night Market, Festivals & Events, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food-centric blog. Today, the post will end up about food, but the story of how to find it is part of the fun. It's Cathy writing today, by the way; the guys (Kirk and Ed (from Yuma)) are both crazy busy.

I've been planning (collecting photos) to write a post about the food vendors and items available at Kobey's Swap Meet and the ten or more food trucks parked at the Spring Valley Swap Meet each weekend. However, the most interesting (food-wise) Swap Meet in the County is in Escondido, surrounded by West Mission Ave, North Quince Street, West Washington Avenue and Rock Springs Road.

For a very long time, the Escondido Swap Meet was the name of this location. Escondido World Market has been the name of this space since 2011. It's open Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and, as all Swap Meets, charges admission ($1 on Wed and Sat, $2 on Fri and Sun)(Hours are at end of post).

Once you walk in. the Swap Meet sales areas are to your left, the stands selling fruits, vegetables and other Produce items are straight ahead and to the right are the 12 or so permanent structures selling food. The above photo is looking left.

Covered sellers areas with some 'standard' items (lots of women's clothing, used and refurbished tools, athletic gear, kitchen items, religious items…garage sale sellers) On this day there were quite a few empty stalls in the covered areas.

The Produce-fruits, vegetables, herbs, chiles (fresh hot peppers and dried-those are some very large habañeros Manzano (Rocoto) peppers in the middle photo), nuts and many, many other choices are situated under covered stalls, all in one lane, staying cool and undamaged in the sun of the day. This lane is straight ahead as you walk in the entrance, and right next to it…

are the permanent structures which house the various food vendors.

There are several spaces selling an array of aguas frescas and juices (I bought a small ($2) of the dark green on the far right- it's spinach, cucumber, celery and pineapple…you can see the foam on the top of that juice jug- and also on the top of the yellow one; pineapple does that when juiced).

Here's a sandwich board sign in front of another vendor.

This small shop turned out to be my favorite- items from Oaxaca, brought in from Tijuana that morning. Note the second from bottom on the sign-chapulines…

Pan de Muertos -Day of the Dead bread, traditionally sold this time of the year. Inexplicibly topped with plastic faces as well as sesame seeds. These were $10 and were on sale last weekend; the lady said she'll have larger loaves this weekend. There are other pastries, cookies, baked tortillas and several other items for sale here.

I decided to buy some red mole ($8/lb). There was green mole (unlabled ingredients) for the same price for sale in the Produce section, and I'll try that after I finish this batch.

Chapulines- fried grasshoppers. $5 for a good size bag. Crispy, lemon and salt topped and quite definitely alfalfa/grassy in flavor (which is exactly what the nice lady explained to me, while stressing they were organic). A nice snack, or they can be put into sauces.

I was able to edit and zoom in…Those are intestines in the foreground, and tripe and other parts near the back of the grill.

The Mister wanted to try 'real' Tostilocos ($5.50). This was HUGE, hardly any chips on the bottom, filled with a lot of cueritos (sliced pigs ears), cucumber, jicama, chamoy sauce, tamarind and cacahuate (coated peanuts). This was an excellent excellent breakfast.

But, I had to try more…a birria taco with beans-excellent stewed meat, beans, toppings and tortillas.

and a pupusa (the taco + pupusa price was $4.50), which was made after I ordered it and brought out to our seat in front…the side of curtido was not 'dumbed down' and was crispy fresh with a good amount of heat, complimenting the 'plain' corn flavor of the thick, fresh, hand made dough, which was filled with both beans and cheese (I was asked which I wanted or if I wanted both).

Here's a cross section of the pupusa- that's a Mexican cheese inside along with the very flavorful beans. Really good.

There were at least two vendors selling mariscos (seafoods), but those places were crowded…

If you aren't in a mood for Mexican food of any type, there is an option.

Escondido World Market 635 West Mission Avenue Escondido 92025 (760) 233-7703 Hours: Wed: 7-3, Fri 2-9:30, Sat 8-3, Sun 7-3:30. Admission $1 on Wed and Sat, $2 on Fri and Sun Website

Jump Tokyo

October 24, 2013 Cathy Japanese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!!, food blog, descriptions, sharing experiences. Kirk, Ed(from Yuma) and Cathy write here quite a bit. This time, it's Cathy's turn.

Long story short, a client wanted me to meet for lunch and exchange of paperwork. Knowing I lived 'just up the road' (Friars Road turns into Mission Gorge Road, going straight into Santee), he suggested Jump Tokyo, which is at the intersection where the name change occurs. I have seen Jump Tokyo over the years (more than ten years), passing by when parking in the lot to go to other restaurants in the same parking lot, but never have eaten here.

It's in the same mall with a Rubios, Einstein's, Carl's Jr as well as Troy's Greek Restaurant, San Diego Brewing Company, Saigon Star, Gaglione Brothers, Starbucks, Jamba Juice, Ra Ka De Ka and several other restaurants. Within walking distance from Kaiser Hospital, the businesses are always buzzing. The parking lot is large enough to handle cars for all the restaurants (Looking at you, Convoy Street) and I've never had a problem finding a spot here.

Inside, the wooden tables and chairs are nice to see. The decor on the walls includes paper specials.

My friend ordered the chicken katsu plate ($7.95). The chicken was a good size, pounded chicken breast that was lightly breaded and crispy fried-not burned nor dry. Placed on top of the shredded cabbage ensured the cutlet stayed crispy and didn't get soggy through the meal. It was served with the rice (topped with three edamame) and a generic salad, topped with a sesame oil based dressing.

We thought we had ordered vegetable tempura, but somehow received these tempura'd onion rings. Same price ($4.95) as the vegetable tempura. Nicely fried, not greasy and the onions were sweet and thick..

I ordered the tuna tataki salad ($8.95). Not pretty, but very tasty and quite large. The hot tea was $1.50 each.

When we were part way through our meal a group of eight who were obviously 'regulars' came in and occupied one of the larger center tables. They knew what they wanted to order and seemed very enthusiastic about each item when it was brought out (many rolls from the sushi area). I'm going to have to explore the menu with The Mister some day.

Jump Tokyo 10450 Friars Road San Diego 92120 (619) 280-4043

Original Pancake House (revisit)

October 22, 2013 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, What Cathy Eats!

Hello there. You are at mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog. Cathy has a post today, because Kirk and Ed(from Yuma) are just not ready to post about any of their recent meals.

The Mister and I try to avoid going out on weekends, to avoid crowds. Going to the Original Pancake House is always a treat and since OPH is fairly close to home (via the freeways), we stop by here during the week for quick breakfasts before running errands.

It's still crowded during the week, but usually no line out the door as happens on Saturday and Sunday.

Coffee ($2.50) is always accompanied by real cream, served in a heavy pitcher.

Table condiments are "American" compared to other condiment photos I've shown (no idea why we had a second sugar container). You can see the fresh strawberry specials; yes, we were here in early September, now the specials are pumpkin-centric.

The Mister's Bacon waffle ($8.50). The waffle is not a giant Belgian deal, but a normal size one, made with the OPH batter, which is very malt-y. I think the waffle has a nice sweetness on its own and just needs butter as a topping (no syrup). It's perfect- crispy on the exterior and with a nice, fluffy interior. There is a good amount of crispy, thick bacon pieces, served on top, so you can give yourself a bit of bacon in each bite.

Sausage, egg and pancake meal ($9.25). I adore the sausage here. It's thick sliced (about 1/2 inch) from a log then cooked to a crispy exterior. The spices are mild but there and have a perfect ratio. The sausage is made just for OPH. Of course, I ordered poached eggs (again, perfectly cooked) and pancakes as my side…because, this is The Original Pancake House. The batter is different than the waffle batter and also specially made for here. There is a definite sweetness to the large flapjacks, especially when butter topped and I don't think syrup needs to be added. But… since real, warm maple syrup is on the table, I always have some with a few bites of the pancakes.

Original Pancake House 3906 Convoy San Diego 92111 858-565-1740 Website

Green Acre -revisit- lunch in an office park setting

October 21, 2013 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Salads, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome back to our food blog, mmm-yoso!!! Kirk is busy, Ed (from Yuma) is busy and Cathy finally is not busy, so she's blogging today.

Yes, I wrote about Green Acre only five months ago. It's a favorite place of ours that is crowded at lunch time, with an Office Park crowd. "Regular" people can eat here, we've met friends here and have tried just about every menu item, which vary based on what's been harvested from the garden. I can't wait to try more 'cold season' selections, which should be available soon. For now, the fresh fresh salads are my favorite item to order.

The outdoor eating space is always clean and surrounded mostly by herbs.

Each day the regular menu is supplemented by chalkboard specials, which you'll see as you walk in the door.

The indoor eating space is comfortable and hs a few vignette eating areas.

The menu is slightly changed from the last time I posted, mentioning Chef Owner Brian Malarkey's name on the branding symbol, as well as altering some of the choices. I imagine the menu will change with the seasons, since some items won't be fresh and available.

Here is a full size "Purist" from the Brick Oven Bar ($12)- mozzarella, crushed tomatoes and fresh from the garden basil. It comes with the salad.

This is the Prosciutto salad ($8). A good variety of greens, sunflower sprouts (and seeds), fresh basil, some grapes from the garden and an olive oil based dressing. The Prosciutto is a very good quality

This is the half mushroom Brick Oven Bar selection ($7)- garlic, cremini mushrooms and a fresh mozzarella topped on an excellent flat bread. Again, the simple salad is included in the price.

The "Goddess" Salad($7) with added on Mary's free range chicken 'brick filet' ($6). This salad includes fresh herbs as well as edible flowers, capers, and Goat Cheese. It's kind of 'fancy' and delicious.The dressing is a champagne vinaigrette.

Here are a few photos from the garden, it looks like fennel, beans and peppers will be playing a role in future menu items.

Always fresh and good food here.

Green Acre 3535 General Atomics Court San Diego 92121 (858)587-6601 M-F 7am-3pm Website

P.L. Bagels (revisit featuring the Bialy) (Point Loma)

October 20, 2013 Cathy Breakfast/Brunch, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog. Kirk or Ed (from Yuma) or Cathy usually write blog posts here. Today, it's Cathy's turn.

I wrote about P.L. Bagels in October last year, promising to follow up with a weekend only offering- Bialy. This yeasty, baked and onion topped product is similar in size to a bagel (which is boiled) but takes a bit more time and so is specially made only two days a week. Since The Mister and I try to avoid crowds, we usually aren't at the Point on weekends, but if we (meaning He) wake really early, we do drop by here before our morning walk and indulge in this special breakfast item.

Family owned and run, there is a friendly, familiar crowd here, picking up pre-orders or riding bicycles up to the front door on a steady basis on weekends. The parking lot is small, but the lines move pretty fast.

The prices are the same as in my last post (mini bagels are still 35¢ each) and, as always, it is cash only.

There are various cream cheese flavors as well as sandwich choices, along with breakfast specials (bagel with butter or cream cheese or egg & cheese plus small coffee for $2.50, $3.25 or $3.99). The ordering system and food preparation is efficient.

Here's a photo of a salt bagel and a bialy, each toasted and buttered. You can see the chopped onion topping is just placed in a small depression on the top of the bialy, not overwhelming the bread.

The bagels here are not large and crazy carb filled, but a 'normal' (as found in NYC) size. Also, the entire bagel is covered in the various toppings (the left side of that salt bagel, above, is the bottom).

Here's a photo of the bottom of the baked bialy. You can see the texture is more bready than bagel-y. It's soft and chewy, but not as chewy/dense as a bagel.

Here's a photo from another visit, where I ordered a bialy with egg (no cheese) and The Mister ordered an 'everything' twist with cream cheese.

The wonderful bagels are made fresh here every day, and the doors open at 6:30 a.m. and close when sold out (around 1 p.m.).

We follow our bready indulgences with a nice walk around Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, enjoying the views and paying respect.

Hope you are having a great weekend!

PL Bagels 3704 Voltaire Street, Suite 107 San Diego 92106 (619)223-4788 Open daily 6:30-1:00

Dia De Los Muertos bread-Tradition

October 19, 2013 Cathy Bakery, What Cathy Eats!

You are reading about the who, what, where, when and why of food on this blog named mmm-yoso!!! Well, at least some of those are included in each post. We (Kirk, Ed (from Yuma) and Cathy) try to write interesting, informative posts which are food-centric. Today, Cathy is trying.

It's October. The time is close to Halloween, and you probably have been seeing pumpkins, candy for sale and other 'scary' displays since August.

Pay attention to this last photo. It's a display in a Mexican Market in Chula Vista. Skeletons come alive and there are sorts of plates of food in front of them.

Decorated sugar skulls with 'gifts' for the dead. Yes, Halloween -All Hallows Eve- is just before the day before the Day of the Dead, a religious holiday celebrated by Christians. (In Catholicism, November 1st is All Saints Day and November 2 is All Souls Day.). The costumes and scary events of Halloween are meant to scare off the souls of the dead which remain on earth. In Mexico, the holiday is Dia de los Muertos and is celebrated on November 2 with making small altars or shrines to the deceased and leaving gifts for them.

Inside Mexican Markets and Bakeries, you will notice some displays of oddly shaped bread for sale near this holiday.

This is what it looks like out of the package. The symbolism- round signifying the circle of life, and topped with 'bones' of the dead, is Pan de Muerto (bread of the dead).

In some markets, it's just on the shelf with other breads.

In other Mexican Markets, it's boxed and displayed on shelves around the store.

The traditional flavor of this soft, eggy bread? Orange peel with anise -orange and black- the 'Halloween' colors.

You can see some of the tiny black specks in this slice-the anise seeds. A sweet soft bread, which is meant to be consumed with atole- a hot corn beverage- or a good hot chocolate. If you see this bread in the store now, grab a loaf; it will be gone by November 3.

Last weekend, we were at Northgate Gonzalez and there were small Pan de Muerto in the donut shelves for 70¢. However, when we sliced into it, it was a very nice buttery sweet egg bread and not orange or anise flavored. A good, sweet bread, but not the traditional flavors. We didn't buy the large loaf because we have usually purchased from the smaller Mexican markets in the neighborhood. I'd look to see if there were anise seeds on the exterior of the bread to know it has the traditional flavors.

I hope everyone has a good weekend.

Tan Ky Mi Gia- Lunch in Mira Mesa

October 18, 2013 Cathy Vietnamese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Tan Ky Mi Gia has closed. It will be missed.

Thanks for stopping by mmm-yoso!!! and reading about food. Today, Cathy is blogging: Kirk and Ed(from Yuma) are really busy.

The Mister and I were craving Vietnamese on one of those crazy hot days a few weeks ago, but neither of us wanted pho. We had originally headed to Lucky Seafood and when we got to the parking lot, went to the other end of that group of storefronts- to Tan Ki Mi Gia, which Kirk has blogged about several times. The menu here is a mix of Vietnamese and Chinese dishes, "mi" is noodles, which is the specialty here- and we didn't order any this visit…

We had just missed the 'lunch rush' and had the restaurant to ourselves.

Although while we were there, several people came in to pick up 'to go' orders.

I enjoy the plethora of condiments available here.

As soon as we sat down, I placed an order for Banh Xeo ($7), which did end up being brought out last, as expected. The turmeric flavored (and colored) rice flour crepe is mixed and made to order.

It's filled with a stir fry mix of bean sprouts, scallion, pork and shrimp, served with lettuce and mint and nuoc-mam(fish sauce). I do like the lightness and crispiness of the crepe along with the softness of the fillings; the flavors really go well together.

We also had an order of spring rolls($5.75), fried in a delicate, very flaky wrapper and quite filled with fungus as well as pork and not many rice noodles, these came out of the kitchen hot and fresh. Again, these were served with lettuce and mint and nuoc mam.

We decided to share an order of lemon grass fish($9) – steamed and delicate, the flavors of lemon grass and soy were light and also went well with the accompanying steamed rice, steamed (topped with garlic and a bit of sweet hoisin) bok choy and small bowl of broth.

It was a delightful, fresh lunch on a nice day. Hope your week has been good.

Tan Ky Mi Gia 9330 Mira Mesa Blvd #A San Diego 92126 (858) 271-8899 Mon-Th 9:30-9:30, Fri-Sun 9-10