ed fromyuma – Page 17

Pupuseria y Taqueria Cabañas 1: Yuma

April 24, 2008 ed fromyuma Salvadoran Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

Kirk is back with pics and stories about Vietnam and Cambodia. Cathy and others are out eating and snapping photos, but today ed (from Yuma) wants to share a recent find.

*** I am saddened to write that Pupuseria Cabanas is no more. One of the few cases of a restaurant doomed by its success. At least as I have heard it, the landlord was getting complaints from the towing/repair shop next door that there was no place to park during the day because the pupuseria had too many customers. Lucia was not allowed to be open weekdays, and then on Nov. 1, the restaurant was empty with no sign about another location etc. I will update if (I hope, when) she has relocated *** :-(

At the end of last month, a friend and I were exploring Calle Ocho (8th St) in Yuma looking for interesting taco stands and such. After a campechana at Juanita's and some empanadas from Mariscos el Nayarita, I spotted a lit-up open sign in the window of this new pupuseria:

After finding a parking place, Tina and I walked into the small family restaurant (3 booths, one bench and table set, and one larger table that could hold maybe 8 people), and as soon as I started speaking the little bit of horribly gringofied restaurant Spanish that I know, every head in the place turned to look at us as if we were los Migras. I suspect we may have been the first native English speakers to come in looking for a meal.

Since there is no menu and no white board, some conversation is required to find out what is available and to place an order. Fortunately for us on this visit, a friendly young man who spoke perfect English instantly switched the conversation into a language that both of us could understand. He seems to be there on weekends. During the week, ordering becomes more problematic since my poquito español de comida Mexicana is only marginally useful, and the nice ladies' English is only slightly better than my Spanish. Nonetheless, crossing that language barrier is worth it to me.

On our first visit, I ordered pupuses, and soon the two women in the back of the kitchen started patting out thick corn tortillas, much like the woman on one of the wallhangings that decorated the spare restaurant:

Pupusas are two corn tortillas grilled together with a thin layer of filling between them. We ordered bean and cheese, cheese and some Salvadoran green veggie, and pork. They are served with a tomato flavored, marginally spicy red sauce and a large jar of Salvadoran coleslaw, mildly tangy shredded cabbage with shredded carrot and an occasional slice of jalapeno. My first efforts at decorating the pupusas led to things that looked like these:

It's hard to beat hand-made corn tortillas, and they are the primary element in a pupusa. The thin smear of filling inside adds a flavor note, rather than a dominant taste. At first, I luxuriated in the honest flavor of the tortillas, and I used the sauce and coleslaw as accents. Since then, however, I have learned that I like my pupusas more heavily dressed. Starting with a plain pupusa, I cover it with sauce, and then I pile on the coleslaw:

This way, the pupusa is salad, filling, and starch all together. Also, at $1.75 apiece, two properly decorated pupusas make a good $3.50 lunch.

While the pupusas at Cabañas are what first got me hooked on the restaurant, other things keep me coming back over and over. For example, they serve very interesting – in fact downright amazing – Salvadoran agua frescas ($1.50). The first one I ordered contained mango, pineapple, and some mystery Salvadoran fruit:

Unlike any Mexican Agua Fresca that I have drunk, this place serves a handful of diced fruit in each glass. Although I believe I am served a straw each time, these are meant to be drunk without one. That way, each gulp is a mouthful of sweet liquid and chopped fruit.

I have no idea what this critter that looks like a yellow cherry is called, but it does contain a pit somewhat like a cherry:

On another occasion, apple was the primary flavor, and I felt like I'd eaten half an apple by the time I finished the drink:

I have two small concerns about this place. It calls itself a pupuseria y taqueria, yet I have seen no evidence of any taco on the premises. Certainly no one has offered to make me one. In addition, the last time I was eating there, it was over 90 degrees outside, and the tiny wall-mounted 1960s AC in the restaurant was having no perceptible effect on the internal temperature. I may not want to hang out at Cabañas when Yuma gets to 115.

Nevertheless, this little place has quickly become one of my favorite restaurants in Yuma – and I will keep coming back, at least until I can't stand the heat and have to keep away from their kitchen. It is not just that the pupusas and the homemade drinks are outstanding, but the place also has served me some of the tastiest and most unusual soups of any place in town. The soups and other treats will have to wait for part two. Consider yourselves properly teased.

Pupuseria y Taqueria Cabañas, 3405 8th St, Yuma AZ. Phone #? If they don't have a menu, maybe they don't have a phone either.

Asmara Eritrean Restaurant

April 7, 2008 ed fromyuma African Cuisine/Restaurants, Ethiopian/Eritrean Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Kirk will soon be back posting about his incredible trip to Vietnam & Cambodia. Cathy will soon post more about her culinary adventures. Other folks help out on this blog as well. Today, though, it is ed (from Yuma) writing about a new restaurant he just visited in San Diego.

When I lived in San Diego about 10 years ago, I delighted in the vibrant Ethiopian/East African community in the city. While my previous exposure to their cuisine had been limited, I loved Ethiopian food. Unfortunately, the Ethiopian restaurant scene in America’s Finest City left much to be desired.

My favorite Ethiopian restaurant (called Asmara) closed. Another place that served good food had virtually no customers, perhaps because no one would have expected a restaurant called Legare to be an Ethiopian restaurant; the warm and friendly owner explained that everyone in Addis Ababa knew that the best restaurant food was at the train station, which being built by the French, was called Le Gare. But for those of us not from Addis Ababa . . .

So I approached Asmara (no connection to its deceased namesake) with a certain level of trepidation. First of all, it calls itself an Eritrean restaurant, not Ethiopian. Eritrean cuisine? I know that Ethiopia and Eritrea have been joined and separated and warring and at peace at various times in my lifetime. So how would this food relate to Ethiopian cuisine? What’s more, the restaurant is so new that workers were painting over the name of the previous occupant on the awning above the main entrance as we were entering:

But when I walked in, I was able to leave my trepidation at the door. This was clearly a professional operation. There was no thick cloud of incense smoke or tables of men playing cards in darkened rooms oblivious to their surroundings. Instead, everything about the decor of the sizable restaurant said clean, modern, stylish, and professional:

Before we go any further, let me apologize for the lack of great food pictures. My old buddy Greg and I were on a guy’s eating trip to San Diego, and we were fortunate to get together with Dave and Michelle, friends from Jamul, who enjoy gourmandizing as much as Greg and I do. So when two large trays of various dishes arranged on sheets of injera arrived, it was hard to keep everyone from attacking the food while I was hurriedly taking pictures. (Remember this important life lesson: always blame others for your deficiencies.)

We had ordered a meat combination, a chicken dish (called here tsebhi dorho – but identical to the douro wat in Ethiopian restaurants), a veggie combo, and shiro, a dish of roasted ground chickpeas with seasonings. Thoughtfully, they put all the vegetarian items on one tray and all of the meat dishes (with accompanying salads) on another, so that any vegetarian would be spared morsels of injera lubricated with meat sauce or juices. This picture of part of the meat platter gives you an idea of how the food is served:

We were all very impressed with the injera, the bubbly sourdough flatbread full of tef flour and flavor. It had a pronounced sour tang and seemed a little thinner and less doughy than other versions I have eaten. For those of you unfamiliar with Horn of Africa cuisine, the injera is the starch, the plate, and the eating utensil. One picks up bits and bites of various foods with pieces of injera held between the fingers. In addition to the injera that covered the platters, more injera wrapped up around itself was also served on the side. However, as everyone who has eaten Ethiopian or Eritrean food is aware, the best tasting injera is that which has lain under the entrees and soaked up all their essential goodness.

Even though the meat combo was supposed to have only two different items, we received a chunky cubed beef and a similar lamb item as well as a longer cooked, falling-apart-tender lamb stew. The two cubed meat dishes looked like this (but clearer):

All the meat items were tasty and richly seasoned, but the fiery chicken dish may have been the star of the meat platter, even though it contained only one chicken leg and one boiled egg (sort of a mother and child reunion):

Similarly, we got more than expected with the veggie combination, which had two different lentil dishes (one darker and more highly spiced than the other), a cabbage and carrot dish, a collard and spinach dish, and a surprise yellow split pea stew, something not even listed on the menu. Except for the one lentil dish, the spicing on all the vegetarian items tended to be more subtle. Please do not click to enlarge any of these fuzzy pictures; they won’t get any better — they will only get bigger:

The most impressive of the items on the vegetarian platter was the Shiro, which came in a covered bowl so we could continue to add more on top of the injera. It had layers of complexities. The nuttiness of the roasted chickpeas and the ~~Ethiopian~~ Eritrean spices contributed to the overall taste. I had been somewhat hesitant to order this item, but it was really good (if not really pretty):

Not counting the cost of the Eritrean and Ethiopian beers that we ordered (my advice: order more conventional beers) the cost of the dinner was about $10 a person. None of the entrées is over $10. I felt that the dinner was a very good value, particularly considering the pleasant setting.

Is this a great restaurant? Well, I don’t know. We didn’t try either of the beef dishes which can be ordered raw (gored-gored and kitfo). However, everything we were served was well prepared and well seasoned. Only the rather ordinary and underdressed salads (containing fresh jalapeno slices to get one’s attention) were disappointing. I can’t recall ever having better East African food in San Diego. This would certainly be a great place for someone who had never tried Horn of Africa cuisine before. On the other hand, the menu at Asmara doesn’t appear to break new ground, and most items listed seem similar to those at most conventional Ethiopian restaurants, except that some have different names.

Perhaps the most unusual thing on the menu is the weekend special, spaghetti with your choice of meat or tomato sauce. This pasta is a reminder that Eritrea spent many years as an Italian colony. In Ethiopia, on the other hand, the Italians were hated invaders whose brief rule had little effect on that nation’s cuisine.

Asmara Eritrean Restaurant, 4155 University Ave, (619) 677-3999. Open daily 11 AM – 10 PM.

Tacos from David’s Carneceria: Yuma

April 3, 2008 ed fromyuma Taco Shops, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

This is not Kirk, not Cathy, not anybody else but ed (from Yuma) here to share some tacos with you.

About a month ago I got an e-mail from my good friends and eating buddies, Paul and Joanie, raving about the tacos from the stand located at David’s Carneceria. I was embarrassed. It is my job to try every taco stand I can find, and while I had noticed this stand, I had not yet sampled it. I had been scooped.

Since Yuma does not allow roadside taco trucks within the city limits, the taco stand sits in the parking lot of a small market on Avenue B specializing in Mexican meats:

The set up is very convenient. There is a charcoal grill behind the tree and a series of small tables running alongside the market. For a small stand, this place cranks out a whole lot of tacos. I have stood waiting for my order on more than one occasion while two overworked employees take orders (sometimes for dozens of tacos) and prepare tacos as fast as they can:

The tacos (here one carnitas, one lengua, and one pollo asado) are presented plain:

However, a wide range of salsas, condiments, pickled vegetables, and grilled vegetables are available to complete the tacos:

When finished, the plate of tacos looks like this:

Or like this:

I am very fond of the lengua, its tongue flavor lightly spiced and cooked to falling apart tenderness:

Other meats are also available. Like the lengua, the Cabeza is cooked until it shreds, and each tender bite is full of juicy beefiness:

The carnitas, not as crunchy as I would like, is plenty porky and chewy and matches well with the guacamole:

Chicharrones, or stewed pork skin, is not for the faint of heart (or the narrow of artery), but if you have always wished for mouthfuls of lightly pork flavored and smoothly textured fat (and who hasn’t?) This is the dish for you:

The carne asada here is lightly marinated, beefy, tender, and lightly charred for a perfect flavor. Here it is, along with some cheese, in a burrito:

Just a note. The pollo asado here is really outstanding also, with a nice char and moist interior. I just had no outstanding (or even acceptable) close-ups of the chicken. Hope you have enjoyed the post. I certainly have been enjoying the tacos. Thanks and a tip of the floppy hat to FOYs Paul and Joanie.

David’s Carneceria, 191 S. Ave B, Yuma, 783-7221 (phone number for market; no phone at the stand).

Taqueria El Chipilon 2: A World of Tacos

March 19, 2008 ed fromyuma Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

Kirk is the wonderful host and main writer here at mmm-yoso!!! , but he lets others play in his sandbox too. Today ed (from Yuma) is here to tell you that more than just vampires lurk at this Taqueria.

Just wanted to do a quick post about the huge taqueria where I found the vampire tacos in San Luis, Sonora. Usually we think of getting tacos at stands, trucks, and carts. Of course, you can also get tacos at most Mexican restaurants, but real restaurants have all kinds of other things on the menu. El Chipilon is remarkable for being a large restaurant that serves primarily just tacos.

On my last visit there, the pollo asado taco was exceptionally flavorful, though you can’t tell that from this picture:

The chicken had a wonderful flavor, a hint of char, and a moist and succulent interior. Much better than the rather undistinguished version I had had previously. A quick visit to the charcoal grill showed me why the taco was so much better that day:

That afternoon the chicken came straight off the grill and onto my taco. From this next pic, You can see that this taqueria prepares meats in vast quantities, so the quality of any item will vary depending on how long it has been on hold:

The positive side to this mass production is that the cooks can satisfy 50 to 60 tables full of hungry partiers all at once, chopping up the meats with skill and speed:

Friends tell me that the place is busiest and completely packed at 2:30 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights (more precisely, on Saturday and Sunday mornings). After all, what better way to end an evening of drinking and clubbing (and the drinking age in Mexico is 18) than to have a few great tacos?

And of course, all the tacos come with the wheel of condiments (and grilled veggies and house salsa):

Along with vampire tacos, this place does one other unique and distinctive taco – the Super Taco Chipilon:

Basically, just a cheese and carne asada soft taco (which is called a caramelo taco – see this link (thanks Alex)), this Super Taco Chipilon is loaded with moist and flavorful beef, and the white cheese lays atop a roasted green chile. What’s not to like? The combination of mild white cheese, carne asada, and green chile all enfolded by a yellow corn tortilla – with its touch of natural corn sweetness – provides a nice balance of contrastive flavors.

As good as these two types of tacos are, my favorite non-vampire at El Chipilon is their version of al pastor:

They don’t skimp on the meat. Most al pastor in Yuma is done with a dry rub, but this succulent pork flesh is carmelized and almost glazed and has a slightly sweet flavor note that surprised me the first time that I tasted it. It was only later, when I looked at this close up of the meat, that I began to speculate about the origins of this style of al pastor with its distinctive flavor:

Doesn’t this look a lot like Chinese barbecued pork – if it had been cooked over open flames? I’m not saying that al pastor estilo El Chipilon is unique, because I’ve eaten similar looking Mexican pork before, but the hints of sweetness in this meat made me wonder if there might be some Asian connection. Someone more knowledgeable than me has pointed out the profound influences that Mexican and Chinese food have had on each other along Mexico’s northern border with its large Chinese population. Some claim that Chinese cooks invented the chimichanga, so maybe it isn’t too fantastic to suggest that this shepherd style pork, which is often cooked on a Lebanese style spit, sometimes exhibits the finishing touch of some Asian pig herder (which seems appropriate considering that no one has ever shepherded pigs). Small world really.

How are the prices at El Chipilon? Well, no prices are listed on the menu, and I didn’t do any bargaining before ordering, so I suspect we paid the gringo rate. Nonetheless, 16 tacos (8 deluxe and 8 regular), 4 Pacificos, an order of beans, and a large jamaica came to $30 American. Seems fair to me.

Vampire Tacos: Taqueria El Chipilon

March 10, 2008 ed fromyuma Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

The blog is mmm-yoso!!! Sometimes (like today) Kirk lets one of his friends do an entry at the blog. Today ed from Yuma writes about his cross-border pursuit of the elusive VAMPIRE taco. It really won’t be scary at all – I promise.

Beginning last November, a friend of mine who teaches English as a second language began hearing from his students about vampiras — vampire tacos. He kept regaling me with stories about these mysterious treats, so soon I was driving down to the southern terminus of US Hwy 95 in San Luis (a city of well over 250,000 mostly located in Mexico, but with a smaller Arizona extension) on a mission to locate and sample the elusive vampire taco in its native habitat.

When I describe these tacos as elusive, I am really speaking of my difficulties in locating, tasting, and photographing them. My friend had convinced me that they were objects worthy of pursuit. However, my first two trips to a purported purveyor of bat tacos in San Luis Arizona (Nuevo Asaderos los Jarros) only convinced me that this was an establishment not open during the day – which I suppose is fitting for a place serving tacos vampiras:

When I finally tracked down vampiras in San Luis Mexico, in my excitement I must’ve hit the wrong button on my camera because I mostly ended up shooting a movie of my right knee. Oops! I’m sure it had nothing to do with the Cervezas Pacificos. Then, a nighttime visit to Los Jarros in San Luis Arizona was a great adventure that resulted in some tasty vampire tacos, but few usable pictures.

Finally last weekend, four of us descended into Mexico just to taste and photograph tacos vampiras – and some other goodies – at Taqueria El Chipilon, a huge taqueria (two outside seating areas and one inside) located on Revolucion near 22nd:

As the menu indicates, this taqueria serves a range of different tacos, but at the bottom of the menu lurks the dark shape of the vampiras’ namesake, a vampire bat:

In a matter of minutes, four vampiras arrived at out table – three of them having corn tortillas, the other flour:

At first glance, these tasty treats look much like ordinary carne asada tacos over stuffed with carne. However, a closer inspection shows that the marinated beef pieces lie atop a thin layer of white melted cheese. Also distinctive are the browned scalloped edges of each of the tacos:

A single bite makes instantly clear the difference between these and ordinary tacos. Instead of the soft tenderness of a regular tortilla, these tacos are crunchy.

Since they are filled with carne asada and not blood or bat flesh, why do vampire tacos carry their distinctive and unusual moniker? The answer to this question and the key to a vampira is the preparation of the tortilla. The tortillas are not just warmed, steamed, or deep-fried. Instead they are griddled until they are completely desiccated and charred and have begun to shrivel up, giving them the appearance of a bat’s wing (hey, use some imagination here, help me out) — hence the name vampira:

Sometimes when I describe vampiras, someone will say, "oh, that is just a tostada." And yes, the vampire taco shares the crunchiness of a tostada, but they are not tostadas. First, they have a concave shape, perfect for holding meat and toppings. Second, vampiras do not shatter as one bites into them, so they are intended to be eaten with one’s fingers. Every tostada that I have tried to eat by hand has sent tortilla shards and various toppings cascading down whatever shirt I was wearing, leaving an avalanche of guacamole, sour cream, and frijoles resting in my lap. So very not good. That does not happen with a vampira.

Another tasty feature of El Chipilon that improves the taste of their vampiras is the wheel of condiments served with the tacos:

In addition, grilled chilies and charred scallions along with cucumber and radish slices and an excellent spicy house salsa are also brought to the table:

The first time that I ate a vampira, I left it very plain so that I could savor the lightly marinated tender beef chunks, the mild cheese, and the tortilla. Later, thinking about the experience, I realized that vampire tacos have another distinctive quality. Because of their concave shape and because the crunch of the tortilla is protected by the layer of cheese, one can load up the taco with lots of various goodies. This one, for example, is covered with two kinds of salsa, guacamole, chopped onion, and chopped cilantro; if I wanted to, I could have added even more stuff. Nothing oozed out of either end, and a fiesta of flavors hit my tongue:

One of my fellow culinary adventurers even put some of the grilled green onions on hers.

So some vampires do come out during the day. My flying taco hunt was no wild goose chase. Maybe my karma intended for me to return again and again to seek out and eat these tacos. I hope so; that’d be good karma.

* * * * * * *

Sometimes, disappointments and frustrations can have positive results. In my search for the wonderful and rare vampires of the taco world, I was reminded of the tremendous culinary resource that is San Luis, Sonora, Mexico. Back in the 80s, when I was merely a visitor to Yuma, a trip to San Luis was a part of every visit to the area. And no trip to San Luis was complete without a meal or two at local restaurants. By the time I moved to Yuma, however, the road between here and San Luis seemed to be in constant repair, and the 20 minute drive more often took 35 minutes with detours and stops. At the same time, the overwhelming majority of the local American tourist trade rerouted itself to the convenient tiny border village of Algodones, Baja California. Now, though, the road to San Luis is in good repair, and the return border crossing on foot at San Luis runs about 10 to 15 minutes (compared with over an hour at Algodones). Even more important for me is that San Luis Mexico is really Mexico. It is not overflowing with American tourists, and a walk along Obregon – the main street – exposes one not only to the sights and sounds of a truly foreign city but also to all of the fragrant and enticing smells of al pastor tacos, tortas de lomo, and birria. Large Chinese and mariscos restaurants abound. I will be back. I feel like somebody living in Mira Mesa who just remembered the existence of El Cajon Blvd and University Ave. Yum.

Sushi Porn 2: The Sequel from Sammy

January 22, 2008 ed fromyuma Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

*** On October 11th 2008 Sammy called it a day.

Welcome to mmm-yoso!!!, Kirk's blog on the wonderful world of food from San Diego and beyond. Sometimes, he lets one of his friends post here, and today, ed from Yuma will share some more salacious sushi pics.

A few weeks ago when I was preparing my first excursion into the fishy world of sushi pornography, I was surprised by how many of my favorite raw pictures were of items from Sammy Sushi, not Sakura.

After I thought about it for a while, I began to understand why. Ever since I first wandered into Katzra, where Sammy was then employed, on a rainy night many years ago, I have been impressed by Sammy's skills as an itamae. Not only is his fish usually fresh and tasty, but he creates an atmosphere of warmth and friendliness in his sushi bar. Over the last few years he has honed these skills (as well as a number of knives, I suspect) at his own place on Engineer, about a block away from Convoy.

While Sammy's kitchen does not turn out the wide range of tasty izakaya treats like Sakura, he does more than just sushi. For example, the salmon skin salad is a wonderful combination of crunchy, fishy, and smoky flavors:

In addition, Sammy's appeals to me because it is a great American neighborhood sushi bar (in the best sense of the term). The friendly atmosphere and reasonable prices attract a lot of regulars. If one wants to watch a World Cup game or a baseball playoff, Sammy has no problem turning on his television set. Similarly, Sammy's menu contains a wide range of America's favorite rolled sushi. Sometimes it's nice to tuck into something like a spider roll or rainbow roll, though in general, my taste in rolls runs to the more traditional, as in this beautiful albacore roll:

Sammy also creates pressed sushi, using the mold somewhat like a plastic ice cube tray to create oblong cubes of densely packed rice and raw fish:

As you can tell from this close-up, this version contains maguro and some crunchy items along with the rice, presenting a mix of flavors and textures:

Sammy also does a wide range of nigiri sushi. The salmon and mirugai shown here were both excellent:

Some days, the sushi at Sammy's crosses over the line into the obscenely good. This display of naked fishflesh (hamachi) makes me want to eat my computer screen:

Similarly, I cannot imagine any connoisseur of crustaceans not being aroused by this gorgeous display of amaebi, split wide open, its pearly moist luster beckoning the viewer into serious indulgence:

Of course, in my mind, no post on such an erotic and exotic topic would be complete without a look at some fresh uni. Here the sex organs of a sea urchin lie exposed above the rest of its body:

In the tradition of fine pornography (so I am told), I feel it is completely appropriate to end with a close-up of this kinky echinoderm, a picture that leaves nothing (except the rich creamy flavor) to the imagination:

Now that is truly obscene.

Sammy Sushi, 7905 Engineer Road San Diego, CA 92111

Monterey: Cafe Fina on Fisherman’s Wharf

January 14, 2008 ed fromyuma American/New American Restaurants, Monterey/Carmel/Santa Cruz - Monterey Bay/Peninsula, Road Trip, Seafood, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Welcome to mmm-yoso!!!, Kirk’s wonderful food blog, featuring the culinary adventures of Kirk and his friends. Today he is letting ed (from Yuma) post about a meal he had on Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey last summer.

Perhaps some regular reader mmm-yoso!!! may recall that I claimed to have gone to two different tourist oriented, Fisherman’s Wharf area restaurants on my last visit to Monterey. Although I was able to post about The Sandbar and Grill last summer, before I could describe my second touristy meal for my friends at this blog, my real job interfered, leaving you all (I am sure, of course) eagerly awaiting the posting about the other Fisherman’s Wharf restaurant that I visited. Luckily, I have tasting notes and pictures because at my age the memory ain’t what it used to be.

After asking all of my gourmet/gourmand/foodie friends in the Monterey area about which wharf restaurant they would eat at, assuming that they were forced to eat at one, the consensus pick was Cafe Fina, owned by Dominic Mercurio, one of the men who had originally founded Dominico’s, the Wharf’s most famous restaurant (though according to my friends, no longer the best restaurant there). The two-story restaurant is rather narrow and small by Wharf standards and is located western/northern (left) side of the Wharf not far from the entrance to the dock. Except for the couple of hours before sunset (when we were there), some tables at the back of the restaurant would have a nice view of Monterey Bay and hundreds of boats.

The first thing to arrive at our table – well, after the cheerful young server brought us our menus – was a loaf of French bread accompanied by whipped herb butter:

At first taste, I began to regret my decision to play tourist, as the soft bread was closer to supermarket French bread than to the wonderfully rustic, European-style breads that are regularly available in the Monterey area. While the whipped herb butter was flavorful and matched well with the softness of the bread, I did not think that this was an auspicious beginning to the meal.

The wine list also seemed somewhat limited (although there was a page of very expensive choices in case I had won the lottery recently), but I did select a bottle of Sicilian white wine, Regaleali Bianco, which turned out to be an excellent white wine, particularly considering that it was less than $30 on the wine list:

The next thing to show up at our table was the complimentary appetizer; Steve and Helen are slightly acquainted with Mr. Mercurio, so we felt special to get this freebie. Little did we know at that time, that anyone who visits the Cafe Fina website may print themselves a coupon for a complimentary appetizer. This particular evening, the appetizer was composed of two parts. The first were fresh Monterey Bay sardines grilled over a wood fire:

These fish were something new for me; every sardine I had ever eaten up to this time had come out of a can. I wasn’t even sure how to eat them though I quickly learned that the bones were too substantial and crunchy to eat along with the flesh. I am just glad I didn’t start at the head end. However, by simply placing a fork alongside the spine I was able to pull off a complete sardine fillet. These fishies were solid, mildly but distinctively fish flavored, slightly smoky, and very basic in taste. I can imagine old fishermen eating these on some Mediterranean beach a hundred years ago. A truly primal flavor.

Alongside the small whole fish, sat several discs of eggplant, each one composed of roasted eggplant flesh inside of a concave holder of eggplant skin:

Again, this item tasted traditional and basic. Although I found the mild flavor of the eggplant (mostly tasting of olive oil) a bit lacking for seasoning, Helen happily scarfed up most of this half of the appetizer.

We had decided on sharing a Caesar salad, and all of us were very happy with this version of the traditional preparation. So happy, in fact, that the salad was half eaten before I remembered to photograph it (oops):

In contrast with the second-rate salad from the Sandbar and Grill, this version is what I expect in a Caesar salad in a restaurant. The flavors of garlic, Parmesan cheese, and anchovy came through the creamy dressing. A whole anchovy fillet that lay across the top of the salad quickly found its way into my mouth. Yum.

Even better was the clam chowder that showed up at about the same time – one of the best clam chowders that I have had in years:

This chowder met all of my requirements. The broth was neither pasty nor gelatinous; instead, it was creamy with hints of salt pork and intense clam flavor and with a decided herbal undertone. Pieces of potato, small chunks of carrot, and a large quantity of clams added to my delight. Of course, you need to take my word on this as all clam chowders look pretty much the same in photos. Then, trying to document how clammy and good this chowder was led me to take perhaps the worst photograph of my entire life (and given my limited photographic skills, that is indeed saying something):

As you can see, this picture is uniquely awful. While I was trying to show how large some of the discs of clam meat were, all I succeeded in showing was that someone should never take a close-up photo of a soup-spoon sized pale colored clam slice, covered in cream colored broth, posed over a white bowl of light-colored soup. The fact that, in addition, my shaky hands blurred the photo probably neither added to nor detracted from the results.

After this photographic debacle, it is nice to turn my focus and my memory to our main courses. Steve had opted for one of the evening’s specials, halibut cheeks in a brandy and cream sauce:

The firm, somewhat stringy halibut cheeks were nicely accented by the lightly flavored sauce. I thought my entree, halibut fillet in a marsala sauce with shallots was even more successful:

This fillet was wonderfully tender, moist, and not overcooked, and the flesh broke apart at the touch of a fork. The marsala sauce, while more assertive than the brandy sauce, still did not overwhelm the fish. Both of our entrees were accented with dollops of dark caviar and bits of chopped roasted red pepper and were accompanied by a savory mound of homemade orzo pasta (toothsome if not aggresively al dente) and by zucchini strips sauteed in olive oil with a touch of marinara. Both Steve and I were very pleased with the mains and the side dishes.

Helen had ordered her old favorite, called here Pasta Fina:

This traditional Californian combination of small shrimp and chopped fresh Roma tomatoes, California olives, and green onion, served on top of fresh homemade linguine, was the best version of this dish I have ever tasted. In particular, the flavors of the various ingredients were brought together by the light seafoody sauce full of garlicky shallot flavor. This picture does not properly show how gigantic this serving was. Helen was also amazed by the quantity of toppings on the noodles. This was not a huge pile of pasta lightly covered with toppings, but instead, the portion of shrimp, in particular, was huge. She took home most of her entree and happily reheated it as an early dinner the next night.

Overall, we agreed that this was a good meal. Unfortunately, I have lost the receipt, so I don’t have a specific idea of what each item cost (though the web site gives entree prices at around $20), but we felt that we had received good value, considering that Cafe Fina is a Fisherman’s Wharf restaurant. In addition, we were told (a number of times by our friendly waitperson) that the restaurant grows most of its own vegetables organically on its own farm. Similarly, all the pasta served in the restaurant is homemade. While Cafe Fina is certainly a tourist oriented restaurant that sticks to the basic Mediterranean/Italian flavors common to most old-school Monterey restaurants, the three of us agree that the dishes that we had had were generally tasty and interesting. Heck, I would happily go back there and play tourist again.

Cafe Fina, 47 Fisherman’s Wharf #1, Monterey CA, 1-800-THE-FINA (843-3462).

Two Dishes at Shanghai City

December 26, 2007 ed fromyuma Chinese Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

mmm-yoso!!! is Kirk's wonderful food blog, mostly centered on San Diego eating, but sometimes Kirk goes out of town. And sometimes he lets one of his friends contribute. Today it's ed from Yuma posting about a recent meal at Shanghai City in San Diego.

Soon after moving to Yuma in 2000, I began to develop cravings for seafood and for a variety of Asian cuisine that was simply not available in the southwest corner of Arizona. Having lived in San Diego previously, I knew that I could satisfy those cravings in America's finest city. Of course, this was in the days before Kirk's wonderful blog got started, so I was mostly on my own at trying to locate great food.

On one trip, I got real lucky. I wandered into Shanghai City, heard the friendly waitperson describe a fish fillet special and asked her to pair that with some sort of the vegetable oriented appetizer. While I have long forgotten the exact specifics of the meal, I remember it being a very positive experience. On a couple of subsequent visits to this restaurant over the years, I have always been pleased with the friendly and accommodating service, so unlike the rather brusque indifference that one sometimes encounters in other Chinese restaurants.

However, it has been a long time since my last visit because it seems like I always have new and exciting destinations and/or old reliables that I just have to eat at. But on my most recent visit, I was determined to go back to Shanghai City for some fish and something else interesting.

As before, I was very impressed by the friendly service. The young woman who took my order was smiling, personable, and kind of leaning up against the wall as we talked about my choices. I finally decided on dried tofu with wild malantou herb (whatever the heck that is) and also chose braised fish tail, a dish that had intrigued me on the menu at the Green Valley restaurant in San Gabriel.

The friendly young woman made sure that I knew that fish tails have bones in them, and I assured her that I had encountered fish bones before.

Soon the appetizer arrived. When I looked at it, the plate triggered a memory flashback: this was the same vegetarian appetizer that I had had six or seven years ago. It looks like this (please do not click to enlarge):

As I began to taste the dish in front of me, I realized why it was such a positive memory. Instantly, the aroma and taste of aromatic sesame oil filled my mouth. Even more impressive was the complex mouth feel of the dish. As you can see from this close-up, the appetizer contains finely diced dried tofu, and a chopped green herb, both leaves and stems: The diced tofu is wonderfully chewy in a good way. The crunchy green stems add a contrastive textual note to the dish. The flavor of the herb itself is pronounced, if not overwhelming. I would say that it resembled a strong parsley flavor, but I'm sure there is someone out there with a more skilled palate than mine who is thinking to her/himself, "no, it doesn't taste at all like parsley."

Then the main course swam over to my table and landed in front of me. So, I thought, this is what braised fish tail looks like, four large conjoined and elongated chunks with no actual finny tail:
I have to admit that I approached the dish with a certain degree of trepidation. I was afraid that all that dark sauce was there to mask some unpleasant flavor and would overpower the fish. However, as soon as my serving spoon encountered the flesh of that fish tail, all my reservations were gone: Obviously, I am no expert on braised fish tail, but after beginning to devour this dish, I wanted to become an expert. The flesh was meltingly tender and flaky. It had a clean and mild flavor. The smooth skin with a thin subcutaneous layer of fat was rich and succulent. The thick sauce, which looked so heavy, never overwhelmed the fish, the sauce tasting mostly of ginger, bits of which would crunch occasionally in my mouth, with a light sweet soy sauce flavor in the background.

All through my meal, various members of the waitstaff would come over and ask me if everything was okay and if I needed anything. I tried to discover what kind of fish it was, but all I learned was the name was too hard to say in English and that it was a large freshwater fish something like a carp, but not a carp.

As you can see by the remains of my meal, I liked it:

At the end of the meal, I received my final satisfaction, as one of the friendly waitpeople came over and asked again how I liked my dinner. I said I loved it. She said, "not too many Americans like that dish." (She meant, I think, that not too many Americans try the dish – I can't imagine anyone not liking it.) This allowed me to use one of my favorite lines. While moving my hand in front of my face, I said, "American face," and then moving my hand over my happy belly, I finished, "Chinese stomach."

Shanghai City, 3860 Convoy St, San Diego,CA 92111
619-278-5883

Sushi Porn: Pics from Sakura

December 18, 2007 ed fromyuma Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Hello readers. This is Kirk’s incredible mmm-yoso blog, but sometimes he shares the fun (?) of blogging with a few of his friends. For the last three months, I (ed from Yuma) have been enjoying the posts by Kirk and Cathy and others. Today, I finally get to do another one.

Several weeks ago, Cathy’s wonderful posting on lunch at Sakura reminded me that I had some decent pictures from a couple of recent (well sometime in the last two years) visits that I could share with everyone who reads mmm-yoso!!!

I usually let Kazu serve me what he wants to serve me, although I will occasionally provide guidelines or suggest something that I just have to eat that evening. Most often he starts me off with an exotic sashimi platter. This one is both typical and beautiful:

In fact, I thought it was so pretty I took another picture of it from a different angle:

I remember the ama ebi (sweet shrimp) as being especially succulent and rich in flavor. This also has to be one of the largest sweet shrimp that I have ever been served. The aji, always a specialty at Sakura, was outstanding. The maguro was good although nothing special, but the rich salmon made up for the rather ordinary tuna. Soon after I had gobbled up all of this wonderful fresh raw seafood, the shrimp head (which I’d torn into two pieces) and the aji bones were brought back to me deep-fried and tasty:

On another visit, the sashimi featured fresh local uni perched next to crunchy chunks of abalone (awabi). The abalone was almost too crunchy for my taste, but the uni was excellent as always:

I love this picture of fatty salmon belly and rich and succulent hamachi. Both tasted as good as they look. Both were extremely unctuous (in a very good way):

The Toro that evening was similarly superb and beautiful, so pretty in fact that this pic has become my avatar at Chowhound. Not that I see myself as a tuna belly (tunas are sleek and muscular, after all), but from their bellies to mine is sortof my sushi mantra:

After serving me a long chewy piece of squid (ika) wrapped around cucumber matched with a crunchy slice of giant clam neck (mirugai), Kazu presented me with saba (mackerel), something I don’t recall having eaten there before. With one taste, I realized that this was not the standard, pre-marinated mackerel with that standard sour fishy flavor, but instead these 5 slices were a real treat, Kazu’s own marinated saba, the best I have ever eaten. If one could taste the essence of the Pacific Ocean, I am convinced it would taste just like the saba that evening:
On another occasion, I was served spicy toro roll, the light spiciness perhaps covering up some shortcoming in the tuna belly. In any case, the smooth richness of the toro came through perfectly:

Since I don’t often order items, I am often unsure of the name of things I am served. I believe this fish salad is albacore tataki. In any case, it contained lightly seared moist and tender albacore slices: :

Tako wasabi is one of my favorite dishes, so it deserves a picture here too: Over the years, Kazu has served me many stew like dishes. At first this seemed strange as it didn’t fit my rather simple ideas about what Japanese food was. Now Sakura’s various izakaya specialties seem normal to me. In fact, many folks believe that the kitchen at Sakura turns out even better food than the sushi bar. This particular beef stew with perfectly cooked, but still firm potatoes and crunchy pea pods was both simple and flavorful. The chunks of beef had achieved a perfect balance of meaty flavor and a rich and tender mouthfeel. For dessert, my favorite thing (unless it has already been served to me) is always uni. What a way to finish: That looks so fresh and tasty that I’m salivating just sitting here at my computer looking at it. In any case, I hope you’ve enjoyed the pictures as much as I have enjoyed re-experiencing some tasty treats from my favorite San Diego restaurant.

Somerton Tamale Festival

December 16, 2007 ed fromyuma Festivals & Events, Mexican Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

Believe it or not, Kirk is letting ed from Yuma do another post on mmm-yoso. Any rumors of my death were greatly exaggerated, though I have been buried under stacks of student papers for the last three months. I finished grading on Friday, and (seredipitously) on Saturday, the south Yuma county town of Somerton was hosting its first annual Tamale Festival.

It’s always a little scary going to the "first annual" of any event; sort of like showing up the first day a
new restaurant has opened. Do they know how to do this right? Are they ready for what is going to happen? But this was a tamale festival. Me miss a tamale festival that’s only a few miles from where I live? Not gonna happen – which explains why I was pulling into the first annual Somerton Tamale festival, a little after noon on Saturday.

The central two blocks of downtown Somerton had been closed off, and both sides of the street were lined with little tentlike coverings under each of which there was one or more tamale vendor happily selling single tamales, combination plates, and bags full of dozens of tamales. As advertised, there were well over 20 vendors, far too many even for the intrepid stomach of mmm-yoso to sample. What’s more, not a single restaurant name could be found; these were all the real deal, homemade tamales prepared according to traditional family recipes.

To pay for the tamales, one had to purchase tickets,and since this was for a good cause (college scholarships for local youth) I bought a few more than I needed.

My first sample came from this nice young woman. At first the rich chili flavor seemed deceptively mild.The long shreds of abundant beef were full of meaty flavor accented by a deep red chili sauce – all complimented by the slightly sour stuffed green olive. After I was half way through, I realized that there was a distinctly picante note of hot chile flavor probably from the thin shreds of green chile mixed in with the meat and sauce.

Then I went across the street to try one of the few tamales de puerco. This was another rich, succulent, spicy, treat. This one was slightly doughier andsaltier than my first tamal. The porky goodness of the meat was a perfect match to the dried red chile sauce.

As soon as I saw these women standing over their tamale kettle, I knew I had to sample their wares. They were having a good time and showed me the festival’s largest tamal.

When I said I wanted a sweet corn and cheese tamale, they insisted that I also had to have one of their tamales de res. Who was I to argue with two abuelas? The beef tamal had more of an upfront heat than the first two I had sampled earlier.

Along with two un-pitted green olives (twins) , there was one additional secret ingredient. Yes, that is a french fry, so maybe California burritos truly have along history.

The corn and cheese tamale was perhaps a little doughy, but the sweetness of the corn and the mild cheese flavor made a nice contrast to what had come before.

The next beef tamal that I purchased came from a couple guys who were hawking their product like carnies outside a sideshow. Theirs was the mildest of the afternoon and contained the most potato. Nonetheless, it was full of beefy goodness, and the beef flavor was nicely balanced by strips of green chile.

By now, I was full enough that I could wait in a line for the spicy beef tamal.

At first bite, I was disappointed; it hardly seems spicier than the previous mild version. However, two or three bites into it, I became aware that yes, indeed, this one packed some fiery punch.

My last tamal (and dear reader, by now I was eating for you rather than satisfying any hunger that I might have had) was made by using a different approach. Not only was this beef shredded, but it seemed to have been sliced or chopped at some point as well, so there were no long shards of beef.

This one also had no potato and the least amount of chili flavored sauce (if any at all) – excepting of course the cheese and corn tamal. It also had a very thin layer of masa, so all together it was extremely beefy, but perhaps a little greasier than its predecessors.

Throughout the festival, music was playing, and as I was getting ready to leave, one of my favorite local bands, the Chuckawalla Rhythm Kings, began playing.

It is certainly a unique group. Probably the only group named after a lizard of the Desert Southwest performing Celtic folk music. Certainly the only one performing this day at a tamale festival, that’s for sure.

When I went to get my half dozen tamales to go, the purveyors of my two favorites from the afternoon had already run out, so throwing caution to the winds, I got my tamales to go from a completely different vendor. Who says I’m not a risk taker? Right now, I have no idea whether they are any good or not as the last thing on my mind is eating another tamale today.

Seeing the turnout and tasting the tamales, I am convinced that the Somerton tamale Festival is going to become a new tradition (now that’s an oxymoron). In any case, it’s also a good thing.