ed fromyuma – Page 12

Los Manjares de Pepe in Yuma: World Famous in Arizona

July 2, 2010 ed fromyuma Mexican Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

Like you folks, I look forward to Kirk and Cathy's food-driven forays around SD, and I await Kirk's next travel post. Today, though, it's just me, ed (from Yuma) writing.

Three years ago, I first posted about Yuma's best Mexican (oh heck, best overall) restaurant for readers here at ymm-yoso, so why another post about Pepe's? It's certainly not because the restaurant has moved to some new fancy location. It's still in an old house on 8th St:

It's not because the food has gotten any worse — or better. The pozole is still righteous:

The guacamole is still first-rate:

And the consistently spicy salsa is still one of the best in town:

In fact, Los Manjares was recently named one of Arizona's 10 best Mexican restaurants by the travel section of the Arizona Republic, and Arizona Highways Magazine said it was one of the 25 best restaurants in the entire state. Of course, all you yosoers knew how good it was already. The title of this post reflects this recognition — and because I was reminded of a sign I saw years ago: "World Famous on the Oregon Coast."

So I am doing this post because I keep eating at los Manjares and taking pictures of the food. I just can't help myself.

As before, some of the best things at the restaurant are specials, which are available only on certain days or when Pepe feels like cooking them. For example, the chicken soup is rich and full of vegetables:

And you always get at least two pieces of chicken on the bone:

Another winner is the traditional Jaliscan dish, carne en su jugo (meat in its broth):

Served in a bowl, the tender chunks of beef, the flavorful pieces of bacon, and the pinto beans all contribute to make this yo-so good. The flavor is enhanced by the condiments:

Sometimes I eat it like a soup, but other times I combine goodies from the bowl and make a taco:

While Yuma is not known for moles, even the chicken mole is better than any other that I have had in a restaurant in town:

Yet Los Manjares is more than just the daily specials. Numerous great dishes are featured regularly on the menu. The potato tacos, mashed potatoes rolled in corn tortillas and deep-fried are done very well here:

I was even more surprised that time I ordered sopes, a dish I rarely like. At Pepe's this order of griddled corn cakes tastes as good as it looks:

Each of the patties is topped with grilled chicken, lettuce, chopped tomato, guacamole sauce, crema, and cheese. Add a little of the great house salsa and the taste is heavenly and the textures are complex and satisfying.

The kitchen's technique also raises some mundane dishes to new heights. For example, look at the char on this machaca:

Similarly, this order of chicken fajitas has been singed, charred, and even slightly burnt:

In fact, that particular plate may have been too aggressively grilled even for my tastes.

In general, I have liked almost everything I have ever been served at this restaurant. Two of my favorites deserve special mention. Pork in tomatillo sauce (also called Pepe's special) is a dish I have encountered no where else and is a consistent winner at Pepe's:

The stewed pork is tender, rich, and oh so flavorful. The tomatillos do not make the dish sour in any way, but add a deep savory balance to the pork flesh. Flakes of red chile do a picante dance in the background. People have been known to take a spoon and eat up any savory sauce left after all the meat is gone (okay, I am one of those people).

Another consistent winner is Pollo Sinaloa:

The largely boneless half chicken is flattened, expertly seasoned, and grilled perfectly. It is served covered with a fresh pico de gallo dice. Many versions of this dish are overcooked (which is better, I must admit, to bloody raw). At Los Manjares, on the other hand, the chicken is always perfectly done and still juicy:

In addition to all of the dishes shown in these posts, there are several other things that the kitchen does very well, but I don't always bring my camera with me and my pictures don't always turn out the way I'd like. Also, I have to remember what my friend Chip keeps saying — "stop telling people about Pepe's. It's getting too damned busy." Okay, I'll stop right now, but somebody else has to tell Arizona Highways and the Arizona Republic to cease and desist.

Los Manjares de Pepe, 2187 West 8th St., Yuma AZ. (928) 782-2366

Costa Brava from a Different Perspective

June 28, 2010 ed fromyuma Spanish Restaurants and Cuisine, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog in which Kirk, Cathy, and others post about meals they have eaten in San Diego and elsewhere. Today, ed (from Yuma) wants to tell you folks about a recent meal in Pacific Beach.

Last April, Tina and I were both excited to read Kirk's post about a tapas restaurant in Pacific Beach. Like Kirk, Tina owns at least one tapas cookbook, and like me, she has rarely eaten at a tapas restaurant. In fact, my memory of my last visit to a tapas restaurant in San Diego includes no details about the food because I was so focused on the cockroach that crawled over the wall behind my dining companions. So for both of us Costa Brava would be a largely new experience.

As we looked at the menu, we were faced with a lot of choices; there must have been 40 different tapa (small plate) options as well as entrées etc.. To make it worse, I had forgotten to reread Kirk's post, so we were basically on our own.

On top of that, the wine list presented a bewildering number of Spanish wine choices. Since we were planning on focusing on seafood and vegetarian items, we wanted a white wine, but the list easily contained 20-30 Spanish white wines. With some help from our pleasant server, we decided upon a reasonably priced ($32) Vionta Albarino from the Rias Baixas region of Galicia:

I appreciated that he recommended this bottle and did not try to upsell us on other more expensive Albarinos from the list. What's more, the wine had a delightful fruity and flowery nose, apple and lemon tones in the mouth, and a long dry finish. In a way, it was the anti-Chardonnay — no oak and no buttery malolactic fermentation. It paired remarkably well with the tapas that we chose.

We gave our server a list of eight small plates that we wanted to try, including the only item I remembered from Kirk's post, the fried anchovies. When the server gave us the Spanish equivalent of "you no like" to that one item, we acquiesced and ordered the shrimp instead. After all, there was no need for me to discuss something that Kirk had already pictured and described.

The first item placed in front of us was the Esparragos alioli, cold white asparagus in olive oil accompanied by a garlic mayonnaise:

Although I had always wondered what the point of white asparagus was, Tina had fond memories of eating this vegetable in Europe. The simple presentation here showed it off very well. Lacking green flavor notes, this was the perfect essence of asparagus. The soft cool texture was also notable. The garlic mayonnaise certainly complexified the taste, but it really wasn't necessary.

The championes ajillo arrived next:

Wow! These mushrooms were standard supermarket 'shrooms, but the sautéed mushrooms had soaked up the flavors of their garlic and sherry wine sauce. Flecks of red chili added a slight hint of fire in the background. Unlike Kirk's experience with this dish, neither Tina nor I could detect any sour flavors. Our only regret was that we allowed the busser to clear off the plate before we got to soak up all of the sauce with the bread.

Which reminds me that we were provided (at no charge, since we were not there for happy hour) with mini loaves of fairly standard white bread. Good but not extraordinary:

We had a more complex reaction to the next small dish — the gambas ajiollo:

At first glance, this tapa looked like shrimp drowned in an orange colored olive oil, so I forked out one of the little crustaceans and popped it into my mouth. My initial response was "meh." While exhibiting no off tastes, the shrimp had been cooked thoroughly — the fresh and juicy shrimpiness that I love was AWOL. However, after I squirted the small bowl with the juice of a lemon wedge and Tina stirred the shrimp and coated each one with the oil spiced with garlic and a dried red (yellow?) chile, we both thought the flavor improved. And as the server had promised, these shellfish married perfectly with the wine.

The next item to hit our table, papatatas bravas, was a complete winner. The picante paprika aioli gave the whole dish a spicy richness and depth of flavor:

Yet this flavorful mayonnaise was only part of the story. As you can see in this next picture, the chunks of potatoes had been roasted before they were sauced, so each bite presented a range of textures, from crispy caramelized outsides to light fluffy centers. The potato flavors were enhanced, not covered up, by the rich and spicy sauce:

I was reminded, eating that wonderful potato dish, that it was in many ways emblematic of Spanish history. After all, Spaniards introduced both potatoes and chilies to the European world, and the papatatas bravas integrates these New World items into European cuisine.

The next two items we were served also reflected Spain's rich maritime past. The first was empanidillas atun — little tuna empanadas:

These days, we forget that the original center of tuna fishing was the Mediterranean. Back then, huge schools of tuna heading eastward would enter that inland sea via the Straits of Gibraltar and fill the boats of fisherfolk from Andalusia to Istanbul. At Costa Brava, each of these crunchy little packets contained tuna accented with green olive flavors — a truly Spanish version of a fried wonton or crispy ravioli:

The croquetas bacalao similarly contrasted exterior and interior and likewise showed off the deep frying skills of the kitchen:

The main ingredient and dominant flavor in these little crispy balls is rehydrated and desalinated dried salt cod. The restaurant's version is perfect, as you taste fish, not salt. And the texture of the interior is like creamy cod-flavored mashed potatoes. This dish is also a reminder of the 15th and 16th centuries when Basques from Spain discovered the Grand Banks off North America and supplied Friday fare for tables across Europe. In those days, bacalao was an inexpensive staple; nowadays, it is a delicacy shown here at its best:

Our waiter then brought pulpo gallego — small rounds of octopus, flavored Galician style with olive oil and Spanish paprika. This was perhaps our favorite tapa from the entire meal. The pulpo was incredibly tender and full of octopus flavor. Far better than most tako at sushi bars:

Our meal concluded with the classic tortilla de chorizo. No, we did not finish our dinner with a chorizo taco. In Spain and Argentina, a tortilla is a substantial egg and potato dish, much denser than a classic omelette. The plentiful chunks of Spanish chorizo added the extra taste of a dried sausage intensely flavored with spicy paprika. Although lacking the cheesy richness of some tortillas I've had, the dish at Costa Brava was attractive, well balanced, and a good conclusion to the meal:

Overall we were impressed with our dinner. While none of the dishes was cutting edge or innovative, we were pleased with the presentation of several classic tapas. And our server was helpful and friendly — even if he talked us out of Kirk and the Missus' favorite dish. The wine list offered a huge and diverse selection of appropriate Spanish choices fairly priced. The remodeled old house with several different rooms and an inviting patio provided an excellent ambience. Even though they allowed Tina and I to dine there, many tables were full of young and stylish PBistas. What's more, we were impressed at the way the kitchen had taken our request for eight different tapas and organized them into a dinner, presenting them in an arrangement that made sense to our mouths and our stomachs. We will be back.

Costa Brava, 1653 Garnet Ave, San Diego, CA 92109, 858-273-1218

Tata’s in Yuma: Bodacious Tacos and More

June 15, 2010 ed fromyuma Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

Like most readers at this site, ed (from Yuma) is awaiting more of Kirk's mindboggling posts on China, and Kirk and Cathy's regular looks at San Diego dining. While waiting, he thought he'd let you folks know about a new and interesting taco stand in Yuma.

Tata's has disappeared and been replaced by a new location for Rossy's. Unfortunately, none of the South of Mexico dishes described in this post are still available.

Last fall, Tina and I were exploring 8th St, looking to spot any new taco emporiums opened since the end of the summer. As soon as we saw a new truck in the old Tio Juan's lot, we made a U-turn, and pulled into Tata's Tacos:
At that time, the stand had been doing business for only a few days, so we sampled some tacos that evening. The smooth and creamy chichirones was bathed in spicy red chili sauce:
Oh so good and oh so not good for you. Yum.

The Cabeza was tasty too:
For both Tina and I, the best taco we had that evening was the tripitas:

Even though the portion was somewhat small, these rounds of pig intestine were wonderfully prepared. The textures ranged from crunchy to chewy to soft and melt in your mouth. The flavors started with upfront porkiness and finished with a haunting nutty earthy savory flavor.

Although our first experience at the truck was uniformly positive, it was months before we made it back (our bad). As soon as we opened the new two-page menu, it became instantly apparent that Tata's had morphed into an outdoor dining establishment unlike any other in Yuma.

Nowadays, some dishes characteristic of south and central Mexico are regularly available. For example, look at this picture of two new items. On the left is a tostada maya (a black bean tostada with cotija cheese). On the right is a Maria Felix, an empenada-like quesadilla with flor de calabazas (squash blossoms) and cheese:
When you open up the Maria Felix, you see the wonderful mix of ingredients combined into a joy bomb of flavors. The hand made corn tortilla shell is crunchy, but not greasy. The unmistakable tastes of summer squash and cheese fill the mouth with happiness:

Even more unusual is what Tata's calls a Tizoc, a hand formed corn tortilla wrapped around spicy huitlacoche (corn smut — called "corn truffles" on fancy menus):

Perfectly done here. Spicy chile notes deepen the dominant and complex earthy fungal flavors of the huitloche itself, while kernels of sweet corn add contrasting textures and flavors. While I am far from an expert on this kind of smut, Tata's tizoc is by far is the best I've ever tasted.

Tina and I also love a variation on the black bean tostada called the maya maya, which tops the black beans with grilled nopalitas salad, giving some contrastive tang and more textures to the tostada:

I'm still amazed right here in river city to find a taco stand that goes beyond the border and also serves several vegetarian dishes.

At the same time, you can get great versions of many taco truck standards. For example, the horchata is good and the Tamarindo properly sweet and slightly sour:

When you wait for your tacos to arrive, you're given little bowls of frijoles gratis, which I like to enhance with some of the free condiments:

Speaking of which, the condiment wheel includes all of the necessary players — lemon wedges, cilantro, shredded cabbage, chopped onion, guacamole sauce, tomatillo salsa, and a fiery salsa de arbol:

And the tacos continue to be very good. In particular, the pastor has a nice marinade and profits from the char of the grill:

The outstanding barbacoa is incredibly beefy:

And we still love the tripitas, which are the best I've ever eaten:

Notice the wok hay on these:

And on our last visit, Tata's had caguamanta, stewed stingray tacos:

Again, the version here is as good as it gets, deeply savory, fishy in a good way, and complex. They told us that these tacos were going to become a Friday and Saturday night special. We certainly hope so.

I love Tata's (I never thought I'd write that in a blog post at mmm-yoso!!!). This small place is truly one family's labor of love. The father (Jose) grew up in Guanajuato and knows the cuisine of south and central Mexico; mom (Aleyida) does most of the cooking; grandpa provides the caguamanta recipe; and the son and his girlfriend (I think) are often waiting tables.

However, particularly at this time of year, Tata's does not seem to keep regular hours. I guess there is no point in being open if it is insufferably hot or crazy windy. Most evenings I guess they open around 6:30 or 7:00. I have no idea when they close, but I'm sure it is well past my bedtime. Give them a call before you drop by. If they are open, you will not be disappointed.

Tata's Tacos, 3121 W 8th St, Yuma AZ 85364, 928-920-1105 or 928-246-0049.

Watermelon Salad for Summer

June 3, 2010 ed fromyuma Recipes, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Kirk is back with exciting tales about people, places, and food in China – Cathy is still eating and posting — and ed (from Yuma) just wants to share a salad with all of you.

This year, Tina has been growing herbs, which is a great thing because those fresh herbs come in very handy. However, she recently was complaining about all the mint she'd grown. In fact, when we harvested some of her crop (both regular and chocolate mint), the pile looked like this:
A pile this huge was well beyond the amount of mint that can be consumed easily in mint juleps (I don't even want to imagine). So what to do? As fate would have it, right after she was laminting about her abundant harvest, I noticed that watermelons were on sale in town. Problem solved.

One of my favorite dishes this time of year, as Yuma heats up, is watermelon salad. As usual, I began by juicing some limes — in this case, about seven or eight key limes total:
I then sliced up half of a red onion that I had in my refrigerator:
I then combined the sliced onion with the lime juice in a sealable baggie and stored the mixture overnight in my refrigerator.

The next day, the onion slices had a nice sour tang, and they and the lime juice were both pretty and pink:

I then cut open a mini seedless watermelon:
After cutting the flesh off of the rinds and chopping it up, I had a bowl of sweet watermelon chunks:

Since I was preparing the salad over at Tina's place, I also had a good loyal friend in the kitchen, Tina's dog Lucy:

Unable to speak English, Lucy communicates telepathically and was saying, "What you making? How much does the dog get? You know the dog is hungry, don't you? And you just said the dog was a good dog. The dog loves watching you make food. Did I mention I was a good dog? And a hungry dog? And a hopeful dog?" Sometimes dogs have very little to do except watch and hope.

So, after giving Lucy a couple of watermelon chunks, I then coarsely chopped up that huge pile of mint leaves:

I put the chopped mint, the onion slices, and about a cup (?) of crumbled feta cheese (basically what I had left in a package in the refrigerator) on top of the watermelon pieces:

Next, I poured extra virgin olive oil and some of the leftover pink lime juice on top of the mixture and stirred everything up together. I tasted it to see if more lime juice or olive oil was needed and adjusted the balance of ingredients. The salad ended up looking like this:

Here's a close-up:
For me, this is a perfect hot weather salad. The sweetness of the watermelon, which should be the star of the show, is balanced by the tart and crunchy onion slices. The abundant mint adds a wonderful summertime flavor note. The feta cheese provides a color contrast and a slight saltiness to the overall dish. Watermelon salad makes an excellent lunch by itself, but it also complements a wide range of foods (hint: try with smoked paprika paella). I made at least 6 servings with this recipe.

This salad can also be made with strongly flavored pitted olives — such as Kalamatas — alongside or in place of the feta cheese. I have also used chopped Italian parsley to augment the mint, but there was no need to do so with all of Tina's mint. Fresh ground black pepper would not be out of place on the salad either.

In any case, try this, and I think you will like it. We do!

Watermelon Salad

1 baby seedless watermelon
juice from 6-8 key limes
half a small red onion, sliced
A pile of chopped mint
feta cheese (and/or) pitted olives
olive oil

Kodiak Seafood in Yuma Foothills

May 25, 2010 ed fromyuma American/New American Restaurants, Seafood, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

The word on the street and in the blogosphere is that Kirk is due back from somewhere overseas soon. Until then, it is Cathy (from San Diego) and, today, ed (from Yuma) posting at mmm-yoso. You are warned.

Kodiak's location is now a good Thai restaurant.

Most of Yuma (such as it is) stretches south from the Colorado River, spreading out from the streets that once funneled north/south and east/west traffic through town. In 1967, a local entrepreneur started selling extremely cheap lots 12 miles east of the city. At the time, many people thought he was a fool, but after his first million dollars, people's minds changed. The Foothills (which is what his development is called) is now a thriving but largely unincorporated part of the city of Yuma. Its population varies from 10,000 to 40,000 depending on the season, and housing out there ranges from shabby trailers that would seem to date from 1967 to some of the most exclusive residences in Yuma County. Up until recently, The Foothills has been devoid of good and interesting restaurants, but over the last few years, more worthwhile eateries have begun to appear.

A wonderful example of this is Kodiak Seafoods, a tiny restaurant (about 10 small tables) located in the shopping center anchored by Fry's grocery store on Fortuna Blvd at the freeway:
It is a no-frills restaurant with a limited menu, and fishing paraphernalia and photos covering the walls (the family fishes commercially every summer in Alaska):
We first heard of it as the "new" fish n' chips place. Indeed, the fish and chips there is excellent ($9):

The two perflectly fried filets of Alaskan cod sit atop crunchy sweet potato fries, which are (imho) the best side available at the restaurant.

On that same visit, we were able to get something not regularly available — an order of crispy fried ocean perch ($10) (here pictured with the regular french fries):
Even though this is a modest little restaurant where you order at the counter and wait for them to bring your food and water or soft drinks, it is possible to enjoy some of the finest wines in the world here. How is that? Well, you just have to bring the fine wine with you. Since this little place has no liquor license, one of the strange laws of the state of Arizona allows customers to bring their own beer or wine (and no, that is not the only strange law of the state of Arizona). So on Tina's and my most recent visit to the restaurant, we brought in a set of stemless wineglasses:

and one of our favorite local wines so that we could complement our seafood dinner with an appropriate beverage:

When I say local wine I don't mean to imply that anyone grows wine grapes in Yuma County. Miraflores winery, located in the Sierra foothills, is owned by a local Yuma physician, Dr. Victor Alvarez. While the winery is most known for its outstanding red wines (I love the Zinfandel and the Bordeaux style blend), the Pinot Grigio is quite good, with balanced pinot grigio flavors, mineral undertones, and a smooth and slightly creamy finish.

We almost always begin our dinners with a side salad ($1), which, as you can tell from the pictures below, consists of a generous helping of fresh baby greens, baby tomatoes, and some other fruit or vegetable accent:

Although the dressings are most likely store-bought, they are of good quality and complement the salads nicely.

In addition to the great wines available, the most important reason why Tina and I love to come out to this restaurant is the wonderful grilled fish. Sometimes swordfish is available:

Often they have mahi-mahi:

Just look at how moist and juicy that piece of fish is. In fact it is the chef's ability to serve flame grilled fish at exactly the right degree of doneness that makes the all the fishes here so delightful.

For example, this piece of halibut certainly looks nice with the char marks from the grill:

But the tender and moist bites of the fish are even more succulent:

The restaurant also allows the customer to choose from various seasonings (that are, I believe, crafted in house) including Caribbean jerk, Cajun, teriyaki, lemon pepper, Southwest, garlic and herb, and their favorite, Kodiak seasoning. If you look carefully at this nicely grilled piece of salmon, you can see all of the herbs and spices that go into the Kodiak flavor:

As with the halibut, you really appreciate the grill master's skill when you look at and taste each wonderful bite of the fish:

That last picture brings me to another point about this place; Kodiak Seafood keeps trying to get better. On our most recent visit, Tina and I were blown away by the new tartar sauce being served. Unlike previous versions, the new tartar sauce is flavored with a large quantity of fresh dillweed, bits of old school dill pickle, and finely diced onion. It was so good, I wish I had a picture of it for you.

The grilled fish options range between $10 and $13 and come with a starch or veggies. Chicken breast and ribeye steak are also on the menu – but I have no idea how they taste. In season, the restaurant is open Tuesday through Saturday usually for dinners only. It is often closed in July and August while the family goes fishing. Call before driving all the way from downtown Yuma (or San Diego). Well worth the trip.

Kodiak Seafood Company, Foothill Fry's Shopping Center, 11274 South Fortuna Road, suite C-1, Yuma, 928-345-0433.

Las Herraduras: Lucky for Yuma

May 20, 2010 ed fromyuma Mexican Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

Kirk has been eating his way through some foreign country. Cathy has been eating a lot just to keep this blog current. And ed (from Yuma) has been eating and finally has the time to share a new Yuma restaurant with you guys.

It's got to be tough opening a Mexican restaurant in Yuma, the kind of city where almost everybody has two or three favorite Mexican restaurants already. So when I heard that a new restaurant was going in the old Chile Verde location on 4th Ave between the post office and Fry's, I didn't give it much of a chance for long success:
On my first visit, the large main dining area was largely empty. On the other hand, it was clear that the owners had enough capital to redecorate the restaurant, keeping the comfortable booths and adding high backed wooden chairs marked with horseshoes (Herraduras) around sturdy tables.

I was immediately impressed by the thin corn chips and outstanding salsa:
The salsa is both spicy and full of chunky goodness:
That day the special was green chile. Of course, I had to try it, and soon received a steaming bowl of wonderful old school, Yuma style green chile:
This was an excellent version served more like soup than a stew. The broth was wonderfully beefy and flavored with both tomato and green chile. The coarsely ground beef fit the rest of the dish perfectly. I was amazed by the lack of grease as well.

To my surprise, the next time I ordered green chile, the dish looked completely different:
This is what I consider standard green chile. Chunks of tender pork swimming in a mild and complex sauce with balanced flavors of green chilies, tomatillos, and fresh minced cilantro. The differences in this version let me know the range of flavors and dishes the kitchen could prepare.

At this point, our Friday Munch Lunch Bunch (MLB) agreed to get together and try some different items. Everyone loved the salsa (and what's not to love), but the cheese crisp lacked a certain complexity of flavors, though the tortilla itself was nicely crisp:

One of my friends had the fish taco special, which she proclaimed was very nicely done, with crisp batter and fresh flavored fish:
Chip opted for the asada torta and was very happy with the flavorful beef, the crispy grilled bolillo roll, and the numerous toppings including numerous slices of avocado on the sandwich and the pickled jalapeno slices on the side:
Someone else ordered the caldo de res (beef soup), which tasted better than it looked, the clear stock being full of beef flavor:
But I think I ordered the best of all the meals, the albondigas:

Here the rich beefy stock was thickened with tomatos, giving the whole bowl the flavors of an excellent beef stew. The meatballs themselves were both full of flavor and soft and tender. As good an albondigas as I've had in Yuma.

After the lunch, we compared notes, and every one was pleased with his or her dish, and considering the varied palates of the group, that rarely happens.

At this point, Tina and I started trying various other dishes. Once, Tina had the hass burrito, a nice combination of carne asada, fresh green chile strips, and cheese:
The beef was both tender and flavorful and Tina was impressed by how the cheese and the green chile slices contributed to the overall flavor.

Once I ordered a Lenten special, calabacitos:
The melty white cheese covered a stew of squash, fresh sweet corn, and fresh tomatoes:
Another common lenten dish in Yuma households is Chile rellenos. The first time that I ordered the chile rellano lunch special at Herraduras, it was truly outstanding:

The mild green chile was well fried in its egg batter, but the highlight of the dish was the tomatoey sauce that covered the chile. That sauce combined perfectly with the vegetable flavors of the chile itself:
In the six months since Las Herraduras opened, I have only been disappointed in two dishes. The chicken fajitas:

And the pollo asado burrito:
In both cases, part of my problem is the rather dry chicken breast meat. The burrito would have been 100% better if it had contained a generous portion of guacamole — of course, that preference probably reflects the two years I spent living in San Diego where the art of asada/asado burritos has been perfected. The chicken fajitas no doubt would've been better served on a hot platter in the restaurant, but the chicken breast just didn't have much flavor and the vegetables were not uniformly cooked. Nonetheless, I can imagine that these chicken dishes might well be favorites of white meat chicken fans.

Since I hate to end a post on a down note, I want to finish by talking about and showing you pictures of what I think is the best menudo in town, served with chopped cilantro and onion and a nice bolillo roll:
Lover of tendon that I am, I was delighted to find a slice of pata de res hiding in the bottom of the bowl:

The perfectly grilled, crispy crunchy bolillo roll matched perfectly with the tendon, the succulent and tender tripe, the chewy kernals of nixtamal, and the rich chili flavored broth:
It doesn't get much better than that. And Mexican restaurants don't get much better than Las Herraduras. Let's hope these are lucky horseshoes.

Las Herraduras, 2256 S. 4th Ave, Yuma AZ, 85364, 928-783-0559. Open daily 11am-9pm.

Seafood Village – San Gabriel Valley

January 21, 2010 ed fromyuma Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, Seafood, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

mmm-yoso!!! is Kirk's foodblog. Nice guy that he is, he lets some others like Cathy, Vicky, and even ed (from Yuma) post here sometimes. Today we magically go back to last summer when ed and Tina finish their culinary roadtrip with a stop in San Gabriel Valley.

Before leaving Monterey, Tina and I had begun the day with some pastries and lattes at Patisserie Parker-Lusseau by the post office, so by the time we rolled into the San Gabriel Valley more than five hours later we were hungry. Really hungry.

After locating a reasonable room for the evening, we headed out for an evening of Chiu Chow dining at the Seafood Village location in Temple City. This location (the original is in Rowland Heights) is larger, has more parking, is less crowded, and well, it was closer to our room. And did I mention we were Hungry?:
We parked in the giant lot behind the restaurant and entered the restaurant by its back entrance. At this time, slightly before 6 p.m., we were one of the few groups of customers in the spacious main dining room:
While we were looking over the menu, a small bowl of boiled peanuts accompanied by mildly pickled vegetables were placed on the table. Although not mind-blowing, these helped keep our hunger in check until real food started arriving:
That evening we had brought our own wine, a bottle of 2007 Roussane from Tablas Creek Winery (which had ridden down to SGV in an ice chest in my car). Tablas Creek is my favorite winery in the Paso Robles area, and to my palate at least, this bottle was the tastiest white wine I had encountered on my trip:
The restaurant charged a modest five dollar corkage fee and provided the stemware.

The seasonal vegetable that evening was pea greens ($12.99). They were wonderfully fresh and perfectly prepared. There was none of the toughness or stringiness that sometimes ruins this dish:
We also ordered baked oysters with XO sauce ($10.99). It arrived with eight breaded oysters on top of slices of a somewhat crunchy stirfried vegetable:
My first oyster was slightly disappointing because I was expecting more crunch from the breading — having already forgotten that the oysters were "baked." However, the more of this dish that I ate, the more I liked it. This preparation really focused on the taste of the shellfish. And the oysters were perfectly cooked, moist and full of wonderful funky oyster flavor.

The crunch in the dish was instead a product of the accompanying veggie. At first, I was puzzled by that crunchy vegetable as it seemed to resemble no vegetable that I had ever had in a stirfry, and yet it was very tasty. "What's this vegetable?" I asked Tina.

As soon as she said that it tasted like cucumber, I realized she was right and remembered that Kirk had recently posted a stirfried cucumber recipe. I felt only slightly embarrassed that I had missed the identification of such a common vegetable.

Our main dish that evening was the house special crab ($4.99 a pound — $14.97 total):
When reading about this restaurant at various places on the Internet, everyone said that this was the signature dish at the place. Still, at first it seemed odd to be eating crab that had been breaded and deep-fried in its shell . "Why bread shell?" I wondered.

As soon as we started eating the crab, any puzzlement I felt completely disappeared. This was really good crab (and the breading was pretty tasty as well). Flavors of garlic and mild chilies were predominant. The breading was good enough that I sucked some of it off of crab shell. The greatest part of the dish, however, was the succulent, moist, tender, and flavorful crab inside the shell:
And I realized then that the breading serves to keep the hot oil away from the crab meat, which was not greasy at all. This was so good it will be hard to drive through the San Gabriel Valley in the future without stopping in and eating it again.

Overall, Tina and I were delighted and impressed. We had tasted seafood and vegetables different than anything we can get back home. The wine proved to be an excellent match with the cuisine, having enough body and structure to stand up to the flavorful preparations. The service was not as superb as at Sea Harbour, but it was more than adequate, and our total for the evening was $50, not including tip, about half of what we had paid at Sea Harbour. Thanks, Kirk, for the recommendation — it was spot on!

Seafood Village, 9669 Las Tunas, Temple City, CA, 626-286-2299

Monterey Peninsula: Shin La Korean Restaurant

January 3, 2010 ed fromyuma Korean Restaurants, Monterey/Carmel/Santa Cruz - Monterey Bay/Peninsula, Road Trip, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Welcome to mmm-yoso – a little foodblog hosted by Kirk, who sometimes lets his friends post here. Like today, for example, when ed (from Yuma) writes about some things he ate on his summer vacation.

Although I have not lived in the Monterey area since 1997, I am fortunate to still have friends on the peninsula. And fortunately for me, many of those friends are almost as food obsessed as I am. With their help, I am able to eat in restaurants far from the beaten paths, places with no tourists in sight (well, except for me, I guess).

Last summer, Jack, Sarah, Lance, Tina, and I descended upon one such place, Shin La Korean restaurant.:
This small restaurant is located in a little strip mall on Carmel Ave, a few blocks east of Del Monte Blvd in Marina, California. In fact, if one wanted to hide a restaurant in a location where almost nobody could possibly find it — this'd be the place. The neighborhood is mostly residential and Carmel Ave is such a secondary street that there is no stoplight for it on Del Monte Blvd.

Previously, this space and been occupied by Shinra Korean restaurant, which served me a couple excellent meals before it went downhill. I have no idea when the new owner took it over.

In some respects, this incarnation is not as good as its predecessor. In particular, the ban chan currently lacks tremendous variety and outstanding quality. At Shin La, the ban chan were pretty ordinary – though properly prepared:

On the other hand, our first dish, fried mandu ($10.99), was first rate:
Each of these giant ravioli was stuffed with lightly spiced ground beef and had been nicely grilled like a good potsticker. The spicy dipping sauce was a nice complement.

We also loved the gal bi ($17.99):
Although the short ribs were cross cut, they were tender and pleasantly marinated.

We also were impressed by the cold noodles ($9.99):
Although the basic ingredients were just typical, the noodles had a nice pull to them and the broth (does anyone know what is in the broth for Korean cold noodles??) was very good. We were also impressed by the accompanying stoneground mustard seed:
The highlight of the meal was probably the Black goat soup ($29.99), which was served in a metal bowl placed on a heating element to keep the soup warm:
All of us were impressed by the soup itself. As you can see by this picture, numerous slices of goat meat were combined with a lot of cabbage in a rich and spicy miso broth:
The five of us ate until we were stuffed like dumplings and agreed that the food overall was pretty darned good. The next time you're in the Monterey Peninsula area, stop at Shin La for a meal and say some friends recommended the place.

Shin La Korean Restaurant, 265 Carmel Ave, Marina CA (831) 384-8956

The Fishery: Eating Well, Learning Something, and Tasting 10 Fishes

December 29, 2009 ed fromyuma Seafood, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

mmm-yoso is the blog. It's based in San Diego. Of course, Kirk and Cathy post about San Diego often, but even ed (from Yuma) eats sometimes in America's Favorite City.

Coming over to San Diego from the desert, Tina and I often have a deep desire for seafood. This holiday break, we decided to go to one of my favorite seafood houses in town, The Fishery:
That picture of the restaurant's exterior shows only two things very clearly. 1. The restaurant is nearly hidden on Cass St. in Pacific Beach; and 2. I'm not an especially good photographer.

My lack of talent and training in photography was even more evident as Tina and I were enjoying first courses at the restaurant. My crab Louie (half-size, $13) was a pretty good crab salad. Although lacking any large chunks of claw meat, the crab was exceptionally fresh and had a nice Dungeness flavor. I also appreciated the mix of lettuces, romaine and frisee predominating. The Louie dressing was nicely balanced and complemented both lettuces and crustacean. My picture of that pleasant salad is, unfortunately, not very pleasant at all:
Even worse was my picture of Tina's appetizer of black mussels with linguica sausage($10):

Trust me, there really is a black mussel appetizer hiding in this photograph of what appears to be a coal mine shaft at midnight with the lights off.

At the time, this presented me a dilemma because I really wanted to post about this marvelous dish we were eating. The musssels themselves were absolutely superb. Each little critter was perfectly fresh, totally tender, and wonderfully flavored. While the sauce presented hints of fennel, the predominant tastes were mussel broth and linguica sausage. The combination was irresistible. As tasty as the shellfish themselves were, the addition of the sausage brought the whole dish, bivalves and broth both, completely over the top.

As we were eating this wonderful food, Tina had to listen to me bewailing my inability to take a good picture.

"It's not that dark in here," she said. She was right. Although not bright like Denny's, The Fishery has plenty of lighting, and one sees the food clearly. The wooden walls, beams, and tabletops were not surfaces that sucked up light, and the restaurant overall does not seem dim, dark, or dank.

"Well it's too dark for good photos," I insisted.

"What setting are you using?" She asked. At this point I should add that Tina has actually taken courses in photography and has been known to get up before dawn to get just the right light for a photo.

"Automatic, just like all my pics." She gave me one of those "men are so clueless" looks.

"It should be easy to find a better setting," she said. So as we ate away at those marvelous mussels, dipped bread into their broth, and scarfed down full soupspoons of the that heavenly liquid, I kept trying various settings.

Finally, I was finally able to locate a basic setting that allows me to actually take adequate pictures in restricted light. By then, however, the salad and the mussels were long gone, and we had already started on our main courses.

This is linguine and white clam sauce ($19):

Like this photo, the dish was adequate, but nothing spectacular. The clams were very fresh, the linguine was not overcooked, and the very light sauce did not interfere with any of the flavors. Nonetheless, I would've preferred something more creamy and/or more assertive.

Tina's order of fish (cod) and chips ($10) was, on the other hand, as good a fish and chips as I've ever had:
The three filets of cod, in particular, couldn't have been done better (yes, at one time, there were 3 pieces). The cracker crumb crust crunched with each bite, but the fish flesh inside was moist and tender. Better deep frying is simply not possible. And only truly fresh cod can retain that high level of moist fresh flavor after frying.

The thinly cut french fries were very good, if not extraordinary; the cabbagey coleslaw (no mayo) was fresh and mildly flavored. If the tartar sauce was anything special, that fact escaped my attention.

Overall, we had been pleased with the meal. Everything had been fresh, a few things had been superb, and the bottle of Four Graces Pinot Gris from Oregon's Dundee Hills ($34) was an outstanding match for the food. In fact, I was generally impressed by the reasonably priced and well-chosen selection of wines on the wine list.

So we decided a second visit was necessary. That way, we thought, we could try some different entrées and eat more of those black mussels while I could get a picture of the dish.

As Burns wrote, the best laid plans of mice and ed and Tina oft go astray. When we arrived at the fishery on December 22, we were each given an additional menu for that evening — A Feast of the Seven Fishes ($35 per, wine pairings not included).

Sometimes you just got a go with the flow and give up preconceived plans. And the four courses (plus a dessert) seemed intriguing and we could accompany each course with a suggested wine pairing (available by the glass or half glass).

Before our first course arrived, we received a few pieces of crunchy sourdough and brown bread accompanied by a ramekin of whipped butter:

The first course was called a seafood cocktail, but it looked nothing like my vision of seafood cocktails:
The poached shrimp sat atop a seaweed salad and was sauced with some sort of standard mayo/ketchup combination. Somewhere there was a hint of jalapeno that added a nice picante note to the finish:
As nice as its presentation and garnishes were, the shrimp itself was nothing special.

The next part of the first course was a chunk of grilled octopus tentacle sitting on a remoulade:
The mollusk itself was my favorite part in the combination. The chef had managed to transform any chewiness in the raw material into a pleasurably dense texture. The char from the grill added a nice smoky touch.

Tina and I agreed that the scallop was the center of the first course in more ways than just appearance:
While the light cream sauce didn't bring much to the fried piece of shellfish, the breading and frying were perfect:
In addition to the complexity of textures, the scallop here had a good fresh clean flavor. The Gruner Veltliner that accompanied the first course was crisply dry and a good pairing with the simpler presestation of the various seafoods.

Next came cider steamed clams:
Much like the clams from the previous dinner, these were fresh and had a nice flavor. What's more, Tina and I both loved the brothy sauce. It opened with the sweet flavors of the cider and the ocean flavors from the clam juice. The tastes of garlic and white wine added complexity and contributed to a long smooth finish which ended with light spicy touches of red chili. Overall, the course was almost as outstanding as the mussels from the previous visit. The wine pairing, the Four Graces Pinot Gris, was a great complement.

The next course was perhaps even better:
Well cooked linguine was topped with flakes of wonderful oak smoked salmon and leaves of cooked spinach. The menu also noted that preserved Meyer lemons were involved, but whatever subtle flavor they contributed was undetectable to either Tina or I [after reading this, Tina reminded me that we could taste the lemon, but we couldn't detect any actual lemon bits – as usual, she's right]. Nonetheless, this was an outstanding dish — the smoky flavor of the salmon pervading everywhere. The course was well matched with a creamy Russian River Chardonnay from Fritz.

The last savory course was called Stewed White Sea Bass:
The perfectly cooked piece of fish was covered in a tomato caper sauce and was served on a small pile of salt cod flavored mashed potatoes. Again, the kitchen had hit a home run. While the salt cod seemed AWOL, the other flavors of the various items went together extremely well. In addition, the Foxen Santa Maria Chenin Blanc was an ideal match. In fact, to my tongue, it is one of the best Chenin Blancs that I have ever tasted.

The menu listed tiramisu for dessert, but the apologetic waiter explained that the tiramisu just wasn't right that evening and was too heavy for the other courses. Instead, we received a couple of slices of manchego cheese, surrounded by slices of Granny Smith apples, the whole dessert being drizzled with fresh honey. I have no idea what the tiramisu would've been like, but this light dessert was a fine, if somewhat pedestrian, ending for the meal.

All in all, Tina and I were pleased with the restaurant and the meals that we had had. My only major complaint about both meals is that The Fishery could serve better bread. While the room gets a little noisy, we thought that the atmosphere was fine, particularly for a seafood house. Prices, while not cheap, seemed very fair for the quality of the fish. The service was generally good, the small wine list was excellent, and I was especially impressed by the wine pairings on our second visit. And the restaurant clearly knows how to serve fish with a range of tasty preparations.

Plus our desertified taste buds got to savor 9 or 10 different fishes in just two meals.

The Fishery, 5040 Cass St., Pacific Beach, San Diego CA 92109, (858) 272-9985

The India Palace in Yuma

December 18, 2009 ed fromyuma Indian Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

Kirk, Cathy, and Vicky have shared many of their favorites with the rest of us over the years. This post, however, is ed (from Yuma) sharing one of his.

After having a couple of way-too-salty meals, I have quit eating here. Reports are that the place has declined.

Although I am delighted to have Das Bratwurst Haus over here in the desert, for me personally, the most positive change in the Yuma dining scene in the past six months has been the establishment of a new Indian restaurant in Yuma, India Palace:
I know that one or two of you who are familiar with Yuma will think that this is not a new restaurant at all–since Yuma has had an Indian eatery at this location on 4th Ave now for several years. In fact, you have to look closely to realize that this is a different Indian restaurant — and to my taste buds at least, a much better one.

The chef was born in Nepal, but she is skilled in cooking a wide range of Indian dishes and has spent many years sharpening her culinary skills by cooking for her Indian husband. Often, in fact, when I eat at the restaurant, I feel like I can dining in somebody's home because the food is made with love and with great attention to detail.

Even though the buffet has shrunk in size, the quality of the dishes is very high, and the variety of flavors never ceases to amaze me. For example, on one visit, the buffet had both chana masala (chick peas) and rajma masala (kidney beans) as well as mixed vegetables and a dish featuring large chunks of curried zucchini:
On another visit, the star items were a chunky eggplant curry, aloo matar (peas and potatoes), and the fiery onion chutney:
One never knows what one is going to find on the buffet. I have had a standard daal maharani, a yellow daal, and most recently an herbed daal unlike any other I can recall tasting elsewhere.

Similarly, there is usually a chicken curry available as well. Most of the time, it is pretty standard (so standard I realize I've never photographed it), but recently the chicken curry was a bright yellow color:
This curry, was primarily spiced with the subtle tastes of turmeric, roasted cumin seeds, and garlic — all of which serve to accent the wonderful flavor of the chicken.

Dishes cooked to order are also prepared well. One of my favorites is bhel puri chaat, a fried patty of dough, topped with yogurt, spicy sauce, and more:
This dish featured layers of flavors, with the curry spices offset by creamy and tangy yogurt. The textures of the dish also ranged from soft through chewy to crunchy.

Another time, I tried the masala dosa, a South Indian style pancake rolled around a potato and vegetable filling. It was served with an incredible coconut chutney and a traditional shambher made with yellow daal:
Here you can see the filling in the pancake:
Every item on the plate was outstanding, and they went together perfectly. When the chef came out and asked me how I liked it, I was full of complements, because it did taste so wonderful. She then pointed out the black flecks that were across the top of the South Indian soup:
"Curry leaves," she said, "but you have to burn them to get the right taste." And you know what, she was correct. The touches of burnt flavor contributed to the overall balance of the shambher.

I have also gotten several different items off the menu for dinner. Usually Tina and I will have them for take out, matching them up with one of our favorite gewürztraminers. One of my favorite items has been the chili chicken: This is very simple. The chicken is prepared in a spicy sauce with chunks of green chilies. What's not to like? The chili lamb is equally good and filled with numerous large chunks of slightly gamy lamb:

Bhindi Masala was outstanding on another occasion, the okra being perfectly fresh and slightly crunchy. The sauce and numerous onion slices just made everything better:
We've also loved the karahi fish palak, catfish chunks swimming in creamy spinach:

On that night, we also had an outstanding bengan bhartha, the roasted egg plant adding a smoky depth of flavor to the well seasoned and deeply flavored vegetable dish:
Is everything at the restaurant perfect? Well, no. The two times I've had a biryani, the flavors and textures have been largely monochrome, the rice dish crying out for cashews, raisins, and/or various other items. A couple of times dishes were too salty for my taste (though I am very sensitive to sodium, and I suspect that the dishes were seasoned in a traditional fashion). I also wish that their take-out containers were not so plastic, though these containers do resist spilling very well, even when they turn upside down on the ride home:
My main concern with the restaurant, however, has to do with its survivability. We all know that having a skilled and creative chef is only a small part of the battle that every independent restaurant faces. I worry that too many locals and winter visitors alike associate India Palace with the defunct India House, a restaurant that was uniformly mediocre for the last few years of its existence. I also worry that some lunch diners will associate the lack of quantity and daily variety with a lack of quality. I just hope that more people appreciate the unique flavors that India Palace brings to the Yuma dining scene. I hope.

India Palace, 2071 S.4th Ave., Yuma, AZ, (928) 782-0799.