Cathy – Page 94

Haru Ya Sushi and Sake…we didn’t, because there are no rules

October 9, 2009 Cathy Japanese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog you are looking at, probably because you bookmarked it, or googled it or something. Kirk, ed(from Yuma), Cathy and a few others share in writing here. About meals they have had. Today, Cathy is blogging.

Hi. It was one of those "neutral" days between birthdays. The Mister and I are seven days apart, but really it is eight days we celebrate by going out to eat-The Mister gets the first three days of where and what to eat (Saturday, Sunday and Monday) and I get the last three (Thursday, Friday and Saturday) and on Tuesday and Wednesday, we both have to agree on where to go. So we did one of our 'date night' meals at Haru Ya- which used to be Haru, which used to be Takeya…you know in the mall with Khan's Cave Grill and Tavern and Boll Weevil, kitty corner from the Registrar of Voters. Date nights are when you seem to agree on everything…

It's been re-decorated, with an emphasis on the Sake/bar area and there are daily Happy Hour Specials.

We wanted none of that and proceeded to confuse our waitress with our order.

First, the seaweed sashimi salad ($12). Assorted, randomly cut sashimi pieces – a lot-, seaweed salad, baby lettuces, shredded daikon topped with a lemony/sesame oil/slight wasabi flavor dressing. There was a lot of sashimi-tuna, yellowtail, salmon, red snapper and albacore and a lot of lettuce. We started and ended our meal with this salad…

because everything else we ordered was fried- and an appetizer. On the left is the fried calamari ($4.95) it came with the dipping sauce above it-light and soy based. The calamari was very tender and lightly breaded and crispy fried, not greasy at all.

On the right, the mixed tempura vegetables (one each of onion, broccoli, squash, sweet potato, carrot and green bean)($3.95)- it was listed as vegetable pancakes on the menu and was shredded in that photo, but this was fresh vegetables and again, lightly battered and fried properly…not greasy. It was served with the homemade mayonnaise dipping sauce in front. Light and lemony.

We also ordered the 4 piece shrimp tempura ($4.95). Lightly battered, crispy, flavorful moist shrimp.

The agedashi tofu ($3.95)- lightly fried and served on a tempura sauce- was my favorite.

Of course we had hot tea and miso soup…

and a nice mid-birthday week dinner of exactly what we wanted.

Haru Ya 9340-B Clairmont Mesa Boulevard 92123 858.569.9595

Pho Pasteur Ahn Hong- Another meal from the eight days of feasting

October 3, 2009 Cathy Vietnamese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is this. A blog about meals. A few of us blog, individually and occasionally together. Today, Cathy ate. So she is blogging.

Hi. The Mister and I have birthdays seven days apart, so our tradition is to let Him chose what he wants to eat the first three days, we agree on the middle two days and I get to choose the last three days of meals. Here is one of “my” meals.

I have posted on Pho Pasteur. It is another of our “regular rotation”, and I realized I have not posted in a while anyhow, so this time I took photos.

It is in the same parking lot as K-Sandwich, a place Kirk and I have posted on *a lot*. Also, it is basically a walk inthe parking lot from Mein Trung, another place three of us have posted about *many* times. Right on the corner of Mesa College drive and Linda Vista Road.

Since this was one of “my” birthday days, and a Friday-when I don’t eat meat “just in case”- I got to choose the meal and I did. It was simple.

We ordered and waited. The decor has pretty much stayed the same here over all the years.

Especially the pretty pink tablecloths.

The fresh grilled tofu vegetable filled summer rolls ($2.95) arrived. Warm tofu, grilled slightly crispy on the edges and filled with sprouts, carrot, lettuce and rice noodles. Served with the hoisin-peanut sauce.

Soon, a large plate of lettuce, mint, sprouts, cucumber, marinated lily buds, carrot and daikon arrived.

After about 20 minutes, our meal, a whole steamed catfish (medium, $36) arrived. It was served flat and open on the platter. It had been steamed in basically with ginger-soy and topped with three types of onions (regular white sauteed and green onions as well as fried onions), cilantro and carrots with a black pepper touch, for some heat. Served with those rice noodles you see on the left in this photo.

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As well as the rice paper “tortillas” on top of a bowl of hot water (you dip the sheet of rice paper in the water for a few seconds and then it is softened).

You basically fill the rice paper with the noodles, sprouts, mint, marinated veggies, cucumber and fish, wrap all of it ina piece of lettuce, dip in sauce and eat.

I never got around to taking any photos of our little “wraps”. We were too busy eating.

I guess we were hungry…

Pho Pasteur Ahn Hong 7612 Linda Vista road San Diego 92111 (858) 569-7515

El Titanic Seafood – One meal from the Eight Days of Feasting

October 2, 2009 Cathy Mexican Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

El Titanic has closed.

mmm-yoso!!! is a blog about meals where Kirk, ed (from Yuma), Cathy and a few others record memories. You are reading the blog. Today, it's Cathy doing the writing (or talking if you'd like to think of it that way).

Hi. If you didn't already know it, The Mister and I have birthdays exactly seven days apart. It is our tradition to have Him choose what and/or where to eat the first three days (and I can't say "no") and then we have to mutually agree on the middle two days and then I get to choose the last three days. This year, our birthdays fell on Saturday. Difficult to go out to dinner that night of the week. So we did lunch.

As you can see, a sunny day. Indoors.

The Mister ordered a Modelo Negro ($3.50) and we were served the standard chips, bowl of limes and fresh salsa.

Oh, this is El Titanic, I know I just posted on it not long ago. It is part of our "rotation" and The Mister wanted lobster…

And he got it- half a grilled Mexican spiny lobster, filled with shrimp sauce and served with three breaded (standard, from the freezer, butterflied) shrimp, rice, beans and salad ($16).

The lobster was a bit overcooked and dry, but still had flavor. Butter would have helped. The shrimp in the buttery sauce were excellent as were the rice and beans.

We shared the fish ceviche tostada ($3.50) We really like the fish ceviche rather than shrimp. It tastes so fresh. Topped with fresh slices of avocado. Just perfect.

I got exactly what I craved- the marlin chile relleños plate ($9). Yes, they are this large. I apologize for the photos which do not show the abundance of this fish. Two anaheim chiles stuffed with wonderful, flaky, smoked marlin then egg batter dipped and fried and topped with cheese, served with rice, beans and salad. Excellent. Perfect. Wonderful.

An extremely nice birthday feast.

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El Titanic Mariscos

1771 N 2nd El Cajon 92021 (619)593-0637

Mystic Grill and Bakery-Mediterranean Cuisine

September 29, 2009 Cathy Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog which Kirk, ed (from Yuma), Cathy and a few others write about food they eat. Today, Cathy ate.

I have had occasion to drive past this corner- University and 70th- on the border of La Mesa, oh about 20 times since last December. I saw the old Auto Parts place turn into Mystic Grill and never took the time to turn into the parking lot. I wish I had stopped here sooner.

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It is pretty large inside, about 14 tables. Clean.

The food is Halal. Made from scratch.

The falafel appetizer ($3.95), six of *the best* garbanzo vegetable deep fried delights- made with *fresh* garbanzo beans, not that powdered stuff and served with *fresh* made hummus, is absolutely a wonderful, filling starter.

They advertise a $5 pizza (includes two items) on the sign out front, it is only for "to go" unless you order other items, then you can eat the pizza inside at the tables. (I suppose they don't want a bunch of kids taking up table space with one $5 pizza…) We had it one day, cheese only- thin, tasty, chewy crust, light sauce. Very good.

The spinach pie appetizer ($1.95) is in the display case up front and is made with fresh baby spinach, olive oil, lemon and sauteed onion in a light dough crust. Served with lemon wedges. I could eat three of these as my meal.

The grilled salmon plate ($8.95) is fresh salmon served with a lemon/garlic sauce, not too heavy in flavor, with pita, rice and salad with chunks of cucumbers. Very filling and fresh tasting. That is sumac on the edge of the plate- give a nice citrusy/salty 'zing' to the other flavors.

On one visit, The Mister wanted gyros and also wanted pasta. It's there on the menu- $8.95. You have a choice of penne or spaghetti. You can see what He chose. I doubt it's healthier than pita bread, but it satisfied his cravings. The pasta had a light alfredo sauce. The Mister really liked it.

Of course, they serve Shawarma ($4.95). This one is carved fresh off the spit chicken with lettuce, tomato, onion and a pickle with fresh tahina sauce wrapped in warm fresh flatbread. It is served with a small salad (and very large tomato half…)

All the food here is high end fresh made, quality and served with a smile. Stop by if you are in the neighborhood.

Mystic Grill and Bakery Mediterranean Cuisine

6990 University (70th and University) La Mesa 94941 (619)461-1985

Website

A quick Lunch at Anthony’s Grotto in La Mesa

September 5, 2009 Cathy Seafood, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the name of this blog. It is written by a group of friends, but mostly Kirk, ed (from Yuma) and Cathy. I am Cathy. I am writing. Because I ate.

Hello again. I got a gift card for Anthony's from some clients earlier this year and The Mister and I figured it would be air conditioned this past Saturday (when it was 104° in Santee). That seems to be our criteria these days. We have no humidity (<20%) but the dry heat is like opening an oven door and it just knocks the energy out of us. Oh. We love seafood. That was also a good reason to choose Anthony's .

When you are walking in, a small Grotto greets you.

If you are sit by the wall of window, you have a complete view of the lake out back.

We ordered and got some fresh baked Italian (soft, not crusty) bread rolls with sides of sun dried tomato butter.

We decided to share an appetizer of artichoke and shrimp dip ($6.95). There were 12 small but juicy and flavorful shrimp baked in the shell shaped dish, along with artichoke heart pieces and a lemony mayonnaise, topped with crispy breadcrumbs and accompanied by some toasted bread. A nice starter.

I chose the chowder and salad combination ($8.95). Of course, New England clam chowder.

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This was served in a fresh made sourdough bread bowl, which just helped me with my carb overload of the day. The sourdough was not very sour, but the bread was wonderfully fresh and the chowder, was, as always, creamy, rich and filled with fat clams and diced potato.

The Garden Harvest Salad that came with mine was served on a fish shaped plate. (click on the photo so it enlarges and you'll see the tail of the fish plate)

It was filled with shredded lettuces, cucumber, parboiled squash and carrots, flavorful tomatoes and topped with a light vinaigrette.

The Mister wanted to try the "Northern Combo" A choice of grilled sole, salmon or cod- any two or two of the same ($11.95) He chose cod and salmon and cole slaw as his side. Both fish were grilled and lightly seasoned, remaining moist. The cole slaw here is made with pineapple and is delightfully refreshing.

The total for this lunch was exactly $30 and there is still money left on the gift card…and our birthdays are coming up!

website

Pastalini- good food. Interesting concept.

September 1, 2009 Cathy Mediterranean Restaurants, Pizza, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! The Blog. About food. Written by some friends, mostly Kirk, sometimes ed (from Yuma) and sometime Cathy. Yet another sometime day.

Hi. I was driving along Miramar Road and saw a sign at the Taco Bell/KFC parking lot and drove to the back.

So I stopped, walked in, ordered and paid. The Mister met me for dinner.

Neat, clean, efficient. You choose a type of pasta ( 6 shapes, or whole wheat for $1 more or tortellini for $1.50 more), a sauce( alfredo, pesto, marinara, vodka, mushroom tomato, sundried tomato, tequila lime cream or Romescu), a meat (chicken, shrimp, fish or meatball) and 2 veggie toppings (mushrooms, zucchini, tri colored bell peppers, broccoli, corn, peas, garlic, jalapeño, tomato, onion,spinach, beets or carrot). Then all is mixed and heated through. Standard price is $5.95. There are also pizzas and salads (also $5.95, with the larger pizza being $10.95). The pizza and salads are pretty much combinations of the above ingredients, with the addition of blackened tofu and various cheeses…there are a variety of salad dressings.

The website shows this is the only location, but seems it is trying to franchise out. I like the concept. Three televisions, each on a different channel, free wifi. www.pastalini.net

I ordered a small side salad ($1.99), which comes with mixed spring greens, tomatoes and onions and a vinaigrette, but I asked for no onions and was told I could get any other topping, so I chose olives. This was quite a large, filling salad. Of course, I ate all the olives, since The Mister won't. But I would have eaten all of the onions also, and I know he would have mentioned the onion juice residue on the lettuce…

Oh. The salad came with these nifty, fresh baked, garlicy bread knots.

The Mister and I used to eat baked pastas all the time. When I saw it was offered, I *had to* order it. ($6.49)

Al dente rigatoni with a fresh marinara, topped with ricotta and mozzarella and baked. *Really* good.

We shared this. All the pastas come in this size pan with a variety of sauces, meats, salmon or pomegranate meatballs or blackened tofu. Quite enough food.

Really. We finished it.

But, you know, I also ordered a small (10 inch) goat cheese and olive pizza ($5.95)…

Fresh, thin crust. Mozzarella. Goat Cheese. Olives. Olive oil. Wonderful.

We will go back to try the other items on the menu.

PASTALINI 7190 Miramar Road San Diego 92121

Across from the West gate Entrance to MCAS Miramar. Behind the Taco Bell/KFC

website

Crepe World-on Convoy, dessert crepes after a quick meal at Chopstix

August 30, 2009 Cathy Desserts, Japanese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog and today Cathy is blogging. Because Kirk and ed (from Yuma) are eating.

Hi. The other day, The Mister and I went to Chopstix and got large bowls of soup, because at 96°, with 18% humidity, it just wasn't warm enough for us. The top one is the miso ramen and the bottom one is the dumpling ramen. Each about $6.50, huge, tasty, warm. When we were done, we walked out and wanted dessert. We thought about Yogurt World and Tapioca Heaven, but this new building is closer when you walk across the street. Crepe World. (The Nice Young Lady who waited on us was wearing a Yogurt World t-shirt; I did not ask if they were owned by the same people)It is right on Convoy, so you don't have to encounter what I like to call the 'parking lot from Hell'. It was not crowded. As in, we were the only people there, our order number was 13 and it was 6:41 in the evening…I think this was the second day of it opening. A large area, lots of tables and chairs and some park benches for seating…a rather extensive menu of savory (takoyaki, various 'sandwich crepes') and sweet crepes and waffles. There is a website on the business card, but it is not set up yet. We ordered and each crepe was served up in pink paper cones. (click to see full photo)(Typepad is acting strange again) I chose the #20, red beans with custard and bananas ($4.58). It was huge and filled with all the ingredients. The crepe was light and crispy on the edges. The custard was light and eggy tasting, the red beans were sweet and tasty. The Mister chose the #15- a fruit crepe stuffed with Nutella® and fresh strawberries ($3.68). The same delightful crepe, filled with nutty, chocolate-y Nutella® and sliced juicy, flavorful strawberries.

A nice ending on another hot, but not humid, day in San Diego.

Crepe World 4646 Convoy #102 San Diego 92111 858-268-8388 Website (listed on business card)

Pupuseria Salvadoreña & Mexican Food (El Cajon) with a quick ice cream dessert at Neveria Tocumbo

August 22, 2009 Cathy Mexican Restaurants, Salvadoran Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog about food Kirk, ed (from Yuma) and Cathy have enjoyed. Or not. Today's post by Cathy is an enjoyable one.

Hi again. It was Saturday and I needed an item that cannot be found at Lowes or Home Depot and so drove out to Harbor Freight Tools in El Cajon. Across the street in the parking lot with Papa Johns is

what I assume used to just be a taco shop, but has been specializing in Salvadorean food for about three years now.

Inside, it is neat, clean, small (6 tables, 18 chairs) and efficiently run.

We placed our order, paid and sat down.

We soon heard the slapping of corn meal in the kitchen, making my pupsas as well as The Mister's corn tortillas. After a short wait, my pupusas (one cheese, and one revueltas) ($1.75 each) were brought out, along with a tomato sauce and a nice container of the "Salvadorean kimchee", as we call it (really it is called curtido) , pickled cabbage and carrot shreds with jalapeño.

The masa is fresh and the pupsas are cooked just right; you can see the light burn marks on the light crispy corn shell. Here is a cross section of the revueltas. Refried beans, cheese and chicharron. Excellent flavors. Next time I may just get an all chicharron. I always say this, but it does not happen. This is just enough food for me and I always want the cheese and I always want beans…the refried beans here are wonderful. Probably they use the chicharron or carnitas fat to cook the beans.

The Mister ordered the Bistek Salvadoreño ($7.95). A thin sliced round steak, stewed in onions, tomatoes and green peppers, served with rice and a salad. Good, home made food.

The other Salvadoran items on the menu include Yuca Frito, Empenada de Platano, Atole de Elote and Mojarra frita. All done quite well.

The, we wanted something sweet, so walked one block West, to Ballard, and stopped in at Neveria Tocumbo

and could not decide on a fruit (I usually get fruitsalad or a tostiloco here) and ended up with two scoops and one paleta…

one scoop of pistachio, one scoop of fruita seca (dried fruit in a vanilla ice cream) and one ropompo (egg nog ice cream, but on a stick, so pretty much two scoops) it was ~$4 for all of this. Tocumbo deserves its own post, and will get one.

A nice meal before the drive home to play with goodies from Harbor Freight tools.

Pupusa Salvadoreña & Mexican Food 1207 East Main Street El Cajon, 92021 Open 9-9 M-Sat, Closed Sunday (619)447-2501

Neveria Tocumbo , the corner of Main and Ballard, El Cajon 92021 (at the signal light West of El Salvadoreña) Website

El Titanic- Mariscos in El Cajon

August 16, 2009 Cathy Mexican Restaurants, Seafood, What Cathy Eats!

El Titianic has closed. It will be missed.

mmm-yoso!!! is a blog about food. It's written almost daily by a group of friends- Kirk, ed(from Yuma), Cathy and a few others. Here's Cathy!

Hi again. So anyhow…I have driven past this corner- 2nd and Pepper Drive- in El Cajon (Maybe a mile North on 2nd from the I-8 exit) for..um.. years now. I've seen this place. From my car.

Finally one day, I drove in to the parking lot.

Which has painted walls.

As does the interior.

The menu is extensive, with Botanas (the large platters of marinated fish), Cocteles, Coco Estilo Culican (cocteles and ceviche served in a fresh coconut), whole fish, tostadas/tacos/burritos, combination plates, soups, and platters of just fish, shrimp and octopus, served with rice, beans and salad. First, we got a basket of fresh corn chips, salsa and limes and placed our order.

Medium shrimp coctele ($10) came out first. 14 whole shrimp, marinated in lime and served in a not very tomato-y, not very chilled sauce that had cucumbers and onions. Excellent, juicy, large shrimp and topped with sliced avocado. Filling all by itself.

The fish ceviche tostada ($3.50)

came out with the coctele, made just as quickly. Very fresh, with tomato, onion and cilantro, lime juice marinade of course and topped with more sliced avocado.

The Mister and I shared those items while waiting for his shrimp platter, the "Camarones al Popeye" ($12.25) was being made. Salad with a very nice dressing, excellent refried beans and rice and 17 large shrimp, sauteed in butter that was called a cream sauce, but really was butter, and sauteed onions, bell pepper and, supposedly, spinach (making it a "Popeye", which we thought would be fun to order at a place called Titanic) all topped with melted cheese.

We didn't see any spinach, except in the salad. No complaints though. Excellent, fresh flavors of everything. Lots of food.

For some reason, the waitress asked me if I wanted anything else and without thinking, I said I wanted a marlin taco ($3.25) Marinated smoked fish, sauteed and warmed with onions and placed onto a corn tortilla that had melted cheese on it, topped with cabbage and accompanied by a very appropriate hot sauce. A huge portion. A wonderful taco. I love smoked fish. This was perfect.

We did not get any beer, which every other table seemed to be ordering. Our bill came to $31.90. Including tax.

This is part of our 'regular rotation'. 99 cent fish tacos on M-T-W. Breakfast from 10 am-2 pm daily. If you are in East County, stop. Don't just drive by.

El Titianic Seafood 1771 N2nd Street El Cajon 92021 (619) 593-0637

House of Orchid- Korean and Japanese Restaurant

August 6, 2009 Cathy Korean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is this. The Blog that you are reading. Kirk and ed (from Yuma) are busy today, so Cathy is writing.

Hi. A new place opened just behind China Max about three weeks ago and The Mister and I decided to go there for dinner the other night.

It has only been open for about three weeks now and the staff is very enthusiastic and helpful. Pretty much at all times, at least two, and sometimes three people were at our table asking if we needed anything. The owner also came over to ask us how we liked everything. Twice. The interior is neat and clean, as is the fish tank, which housed a very large, flat, monkfish when we came in. (Whole fish prices range from $75-$150).

We were first served some iced barley (or maybe it was brown rice) tea, placed our orders.

Soon, we each were given these bowls of slightly spicy vegetables and "noodles" made of acorn powder mixed with agar. See those crinkle cut things at the bottom of the bowl? It was chilled and refreshing. A nice interlude.

Soon, The Mister's 8 plates of panchan arrived.

As did my bowl of miso soup (which had a good amount of excellent tasting tofu at the bottom of the bowl).

The Mister's beef bul go ki ($11.50) was tender, well flavored, plentiful and had many onions cooked with it (which all became my onions. Yay!)(I still think someday he will change and like onions, but am getting less hopeful as the decades of marriage roll by).

My Hwe Dup Bop (Korean Chirashi) ($15 at dinner, $11 at lunch) arrived at the same time.

Five types of raw fish and fish eggs on top of some fancy lettuces, on top of some iceberg, on top of warm rice, topped with some sliced seaweed. In a VERY large bowl.

After a while, tasting all of the seafood and lettuces with the sesame oil based dressing it came with, I added the spicy hot red sauce that was placed on the table and mixed up the ingredients for a variation on thesecond half of this bowl of goodness.

We each were given small bowls of warm sweet something which had pine nuts floating in the mix. It was very refreshing and a perfect, light ending to our meals.

Service was more than attentive, with at least two (young) waitpeople coming by to ask us how we were doing and the owner coming out from the kitchen twice always asking if they could help us with anything.

The "Japanese" part of the menu seems to be sushi and rolls are 50% off. There are daily lunch box specials to go for $5.99 and daily roll specials for $4.99.

It is nice and clean, the food is fresh and good. I would not hesitate to go back to try the rest of the menu which includes many stews of kim chee, soy bean, steamed black cod,monk fish and kalbi as well as flat noodles and ox bone soup and the whole fish.

House of Orchid 4698 Convoy, San Diego 92111 (858)776-9205 (858) 277-8949 Same parking lot as China Max, behind that building.