Author: mmm-yoso

Staying at The Cosmopolitan Hotel and Touring the Whaley House (Old Town)

Exploring San Diego, Staycation, yoso-silly

**** No food in this one. But I figured I needed to finally get this done!

If you recall, we had a fun stay back in early 2024 at the newly renovated Lafayette Hotel. We had enjoyed our stay so much, that we decided to do another staycation, and to finally play tourist and do a tour we’d been wanting to for a while. So yes, we stayed a night at the Cosmopolitan Hotel and double yes, we booked ourselves a tour of the Whaley House! So touristy, yea?

With the Blue Line Clairemont Drive Trolley stop being established at the end of 2021, it was easy to walk on down and instead of parking, just catch the trolley to Old Town. We only had small backpacks since we’d only be staying the night.

At the time of our visit, the restaurant/bar was not opened yet. I believe they are still only doing Happy Hours during weekends now. Anyway, checking in was done by calling a number provided and the really nice young lady met us at the side gate.

We were staying in the Seeley Suite, the largest suite that has a fireplace and a separate sitting room. On an interesting note, the rooms have no television or telephone.

Named for Alfred Seeley who purchased the property to create a stagecoach hotel. The room is on the second floor with a view of Old Town from the wrap around balcony that stretches the length of the building.

Juan Bandini originally built his home on this location, named Casa Bandini in 1829. It was a single story 12 room u-shaped adobe home. In 1859, Bandini struck by illness and in debt transferred the ownership of the property to Abel Stearns who sold the property to Alfred Seeley in 1869. In 1888 Seeley sold the hotel, which over the following years served as a store, pickle factory, and motel.

The rooms really do transport you to another time. And speaking of transport; I opened the book on the table and started reading…..

About various supernatural experiences that took place in this room! Shades of the Historic Anchorage Hotel, huh?

After resting a bit, we headed off to dinner at Tahona….my photos strangely didn’t come out? Perhaps something was going on with the combination of staying at the Cosmopolitan and eating next door to Campo Santo Cemetery? And throw in the little tour we were headed to after dinner……

At the Whaley House of course! Which claims to be the most haunted house in America and has been featured in many of those “supernatural shows” on television.

We met our guide; Hannah who was so full of stories and entertaining.

Back in September of 1852, James “Yankee Jim” Robinson was hanged on the site of what was to become the Whaley House for supposedly stealing a rowboat. It is said that he is one of the “spirits” that haunts the Whaley House.

Thomas Whaley, who had moved to San Diego after his store burnt down in San Francisco in 1851 purchased the lot in 1855, building a single story structure. In 1857, the two story house was built.

Along with “Yankee Jim”, the house, and the Whaley’s ran into some bad luck. Their 18 month old son died of scarlet fever in 1858 and their store burnt down. Trying to change their luck; Thomas and Anna Whaley moved to San Francisco. They ended up moving back to San Diego after the 1868 Hayward Earthquake. And in partnership with Philip Crosthwaite opened the Whaley and Crosthwaite General Store. Which Hannah went over during the tour.

She also went over the suicide of the Whaley’s daughter, Violet in 1885. In 1868, an upstairs bedroom was converted into a theatre and rented out to the Tanner Troupe.

Unfortunately, a few months later Thomas Tanner, the head of the troupe died suddenly. It is said that he also haunts the house.

It is said that you can smell Thomas Whaley’s cigar smoke in the foyer or Anna’s apple pie in the kitchen…along with utensils rearranging themselves. There have been reports of a Native American Man, a Confederate Soldier, and a mystery woman in the converted courthouse portion.

I didn’t smell, hear, or feel anything. But the Missus did say that something tapped Her on the shoulder as She was walking up the stairs!

And then it was a short walk to El Agave for a nightcap, before returning to the Cosmopolitan. We slept well and luckily were not “awakened” by Mr Bandini or his daughter Yisadora during the evening.

Waking early, it was interesting walking around Old Town at that time of the day.

And we also got to check out the bar and restaurant areas of the hotel as well.

That’s a portrait of Albert Seeley on the wall in the dining room.

It was quite fascinating to wander around.

We did enjoy our short overnight stay in Old Town. I’m certain that we really don’t spend enough time exploring our lovely city. I’m hoping to try to rectify some of that in the future.

Whaley House
2476 San Diego Ave.
San Diego, CA 92110

Cosmopolitan Hotel
2660 Calhoun St.
San Diego, CA 92110

Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday Stuffs – Hong Kong Kitchen & Dim Sum Replacing Golden City and Dagu Rice Noodle (Miishen) Coming to Convoy

Chinese Restaurants, Exploring San Diego

Hong Kong Kitchen & Dim Sum Replacing Golden City:

I know that the long standing Golden City had closed; but did not expect to see signage for a replacement so quickly…so this caught me by surprise.

Golden City had gone thru an ownership change earlier this year and I guess they just couldn’t make it.

Kind of sad in a way since we used to go to the old location on Convoy and then this location when the moved here in 2005! I’m sure many of you have dined there over the years!

Man, Cathy, the Late Ed from Yuma, and I have done 27 posts on Golden City!

5375 Kearny Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123

Dagu Rice Noodle (Miishen) Coming to Convoy:

During our visit to Eastern Dynasty, I saw this sign up in the location that used to be Dokdo.

Hmmm… Dagu Rice Noodle; Yunnan Crossing the Bridge Noodles, eh? Another big time chain coming to the area. They have locations everywhere it seems; not only in the SGV, but even Madison, Wisconsin and off Buford Highway in ATL….both places I’ve spent time at!

4690 Convoy St. #108
San Diego, CA 92111

And of course I need to have a photo of JJ here, right?

We’ve been going to check out the lights at Clairemont Christmas Park since 2019! We used to take Frankie…so now we take JJ. He was a little squirt last year and didn’t enjoy it as much as this year……

It’s always a fun time. You can even get free home made cookies and cocoa and they had music going as well!

Cross streets of Lana Drive & Jamar Drive San Diego, CA 92117

Road Trip – Morimoto Napa and The Fink

Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Cocktails, Dog Friendly, Japanese Restaurants, Marin, Napa, and Sonoma Counties, Road Trip, Sushi and Sashimi, Travel

There was a restaurant I wanted to check out just a half block from where we were staying in Napa. Several decades back, I recall the Missus and I being glued to our television watching the original Iron Chef. And when I was in Philly for a conference, I remember being so excited having the chance to check out Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto’s restaurant there. Sadly, it was quite disappointing. But now, over two decades later, a few steps away from us was the Napa location of Morimoto. I thought it would be interesting to check out all these years after having dinner at the Philadelphia location.

And they had a patio! So I made reservations.

Upon walking over, we were greeted and seated on the patio. The service here was super friendly, the staff so warm and sweet. Folks came out just to meet and greet JJ! He was brought water….totally the definition of dog friendly. In fact, the next day while I was walking JJ, some of the folks working saw him and called out “hi JJ, hi JJ, how are you???”

The place wasn’t overly busy. Looking at the menu…well, it was obviously not going to be cheap!

I saw Sawara (Mantis Shrimp) on the menu; one of my favorite things, but they were out! Bummer….

Anyway, we placed our order and soon enough our food started to arrive.

First, the Toro Tartare ($32). This was kind of weird as it was so finely minced that it was more like Nakaochi (Tuna Scrape) making it really mushy.

The ponzu sauce was overkill; since it came with wasabi, nori paste, and other seasonings on the side along with sturgeon caviar. The sauce just basically nullified everything but the wasabi.

We got some Sushi….here they charge you by the piece.

Man, the quality of the seafood was top notch, though I would have preferred not having my o-toro ($16/ea) slightly torched, but it was still quite buttery, and don’t get me started on Hokkaido Uni ($20/ea) ok? Good lord, so melt-in-your mouth, buttery, and sweet-oceany tones…it took me back to Otaru! The Aji ($8) was a bit on the overly chewy-slightly metallic side and the Madai ($8) had too much wasabi. Still, this would have been really great, but the rice was hard and under-cooked and the sushi meshi was too strong. Sorry, but if I’m paying $88 for six pieces of nigiri…..

We ordered the Braised Black Cod ($43).

This was a non-starter as it was overcooked; even the sauce, which was overly salty could not save it. Such a waste of a nice piece of fish.

The actual “best” dish of the night was the Duck Confit Fried Rice ($20)

The Jasmine Rice was a bit on the dry side; the rice itself decently coated with a soy sauce – basil type sauce. You could make out the flavor of the duck in the rice; I’m thinking they use the confit duck fat for this as well. Loved that perfectly cooked egg, with the crisp edges and gooey yolk.

Overall, we loved the folks working here, but the food just fell short. The products seemed top notch, but the execution did not do it justice. And at this price point, well…. It’s kinda like what my experience was at Morimoto in Philadelphia.

Morimoto Napa
610 Main St.
Napa, CA 94559

We took a short stroll after our meal. Right around the corner from Morimoto Napa is a location of Morimoto Asia. I know they have one in Waikiki as well. I took a looks at the menu; with stuff like XLB, Peking Duck, Sisig (!?!?), Pad Thai (double !?!?), Tonkotsu Ramen, etc, etc….

And then the faux Terracotta Statues…can you say PF Chang’s, in the image of Masaharu Morimoto???

What the heck???? Yikes!!!

Anyway, we walked along the walkway and promenade, enjoying the artwork.

We returned to our room….JJ was pooped, so I decided to walk a couple of doors over and check out the Cocktail Bar named The Fink.

I liked the somewhat nautical theme of the place. It was really quiet on this evening. I found it interesting to note that all the other folks at the bar were regulars.

The bartender was really friendly as was the gentleman talking to everyone. He introduced himself and I came to find out that he’s the owner of the place; Judd Finkelstein! Really friendly guy! I got to meet the “Fink” himself.

I got a favorite of mine; a Penicillin, which was nice and stiff!

Chatting with the bartender; I mentioned JJ and she asked me why didn’t I bring him in! So nice!

So guess who was coming with me to The Fink the next evening!

The Fink
530 Main St.
Napa, CA 94559

Road Trip – Bouchon Bakery (Yountville) and The Napa River Inn

Bakery, Croissants, Dog Friendly, Marin, Napa, and Sonoma Counties, Road Trip, Travel

**** Just a croissant in this one, in case you just want to come back tomorrow!

Our next destination after leaving Mendocino was the actual city of Napa. But first, I wanted to stop at a bakery that folks I know have been raving about in Yountville. Back in 2003, the one and only Thomas Keller opened Bouchon Bakery in Yountville, to reside along his restaurant Bouchon…all of which has become part of the kingdom that includes among others, the French Laundry, which I’ve had the pleasure of dining at a bajillion years ago and Per Se.

So, after a three hour drive, we made a stop in Yountville, which is quite a lovely and artsy town.

We found some parking up the street from the bakery and had a lovely little stroll down Washington Street. Van De Leur Park is a small, but quaint park…..and the flowers were in bloom, which JJ enjoyed.

We arrived at Bouchon Bakery and the Missus and JJ had a seat at the bench outside; while I went in.

Yes, of course I got the butter croissant, which looked fairly good.

Not overly laminated and while the ridges didn’t fall off, it lacked a nice crispness. The interior was on the doughy side and definitely needed more butter for my taste.

Overall….meh. And the funny thing is; we’d actually get a better croissant aux buerre later on this road trip, in Santa Cruz of all places!

Bouchon Bakery
6528 Washington St.
Yountville, CA 94599

We took a short walk after having the croissant.

Yountville seems nice to visit; though all the folks we saw seemed like tourists. I’m fairly certain it’s pretty expensive to live here as well.

From Yountville, it was about a twenty-five minute drive into the city of Napa and our accommodation, the Napa River Inn. Located in the Hatt Building, once the location of the Napa Mill, the hotel is located right on the riverfront.

It’s a historic property…..just look at the lobby.

The rooms are spread thru three different buildings on the property. The entrance to where our room was on Fifth Street.

And it actually had a view of the riverwalk from the patio, though it was discreetly bordered by plants for privacy. But, one of the main reasons we stayed here was how dog friendly the place is.

Look at how JJ was greeted!

I guess there were three pups staying here on this day!

And they had the room nicely set-up for him as well.

There’s a bakery; with free pastries delivered to your room each morning; 2 restaurants, a cocktail bar, and a sweet shop located on the property.

And lots of artwork everywhere.

Napa River Inn
500 Main St.
Napa, CA 94559

After settling in, we headed on out to explore a bit. We crossed the Napa River on the Third Street Bridge.

And went to explore the Oxbow Public Market.

There wasn’t anything at the market or along the walk that caught the Missus’s attention. So we headed back to the room.

It was kind of strange as this would basically be the main theme of our stay for the Missus as She seemed kinda bored with Napa…..

But at least JJ was a VIP!

Road Trip – Trillium Cafe (Mendocino)

American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Dog Friendly, Mendocino, CA, Road Trip, Travel

After having a nice afternoon nap and relaxing for a bit, we headed out to dinner.

Our destination for dinner was basically a half block away at the place much like MacCallum House Inn where we were staying. Trillium Cafe & Inn did double duty as well; both accommodations and a restaurant.

Like MacCallum House, the menu featured local produce; but seemed a bit more “hipster” to us and we seemed to enjoy the more eclectic menu as well.

And it’s always nice to be able to start with a Kir Royale, right?

As is the “norm” for us; we ordered a couple of appetizers and shared a main.

Things started off with some perfectly seared scallops in the Sauteed Wild Scallops ($22). So very oceany-sweet and tender.

I thought the balsamic glaze might be overkill; but it actually paired well with the earthy-slightly smoky asparagus puree.

The one item we found quite interesting was the Vegetable Galette ($13).

Here’s a better view.

Loved the texture of the pastry, sturdy enough to hold the veggies, but crisp really crisp layers of puff pastry. Nice combo of vegetables. And that lemon pesto was rich, but had a nice crisp-acidity as well.

The Broccolini ($12) was straight-forward, sort of like how I make at home…..though we prefer it a bit more “charred”.

The Vegetable Gnocchi ($37), had a nice array of veggies, but overall was the weakest dish of the meal.

The potato gnocchi was a bit tougher than we prefer but not bad. The pepito pesto had a mild nuttiness, but this dish needed a bit more flavor overall….though perhaps the objective was to enjoy the veggies in their true state?

I had a nice Tawny Port as my digestif.

While the Missus had the “Dubai Bar” ($14) for dessert.

Which She really enjoyed.

Overall, a very nice dinner under a lovely tent. The place was quite busy; but the service was quite friendly and they treated JJ well. We’d gladly return!

Trillium Cafe & Inn
10390 Kasten St.
Mendocino, CA 95460

After dinner we took a short walk to the bluffs and on the way back we saw this little one having a “bath”, just staring us down…..and an old phrase from “back home” came to mind as the raccoon seemed to be saying “wot, boddah you“?

We got back to our lovely accommodations and just hung out…..

The next morning we got up early…..

And took a walk up Lansing Street.

Past the very nice Harvest Market, then up the hill past the cemetery.

Past the lovely St Anthony’s Catholic Church.

That wooden sculpture above is of a woman and child looking toward the sea. It was created in the memory of two fishermen lost at sea.

We strolled on back to MacCallum House to have our breakfast, past some wonderful structures.

We had our breakfast on the patio again…..

Before packing up…resting for a bit….then heading out to our next stop!

Thanks for stopping by!

Eastern Dynasty Revisited

Chinese BBQ, Chinese Restaurants

There was one more Cantonese style restaurant we wanted to check out for “FOY” Kenneth, to help plan his holiday night out. Naturally our initial recommendation was for Noble Chef; but we had revisited Taste of Hong Kong and were pleasantly surprised. And based on that meal; the Missus was all for me doing some “due diligence” and revisiting Eastern Dynasty since it had been almost two years since our last visit.

Man, the place was buzzing, soon after being seated; the place was full; so I only took a photo of the ducks hanging…..

What was also interesting was of the three places; Eastern Dynasty was the least expensive.

For instance; the half roast duck was $21.

This was also pretty darn good as well. The skin wasn’t as thin and crisp as Taste of Hong Kong; but it definitely had more of that five spice – duck flavor. The fat had been rendered decently; and those drippings…man; we’re talking major left over fried rice material. Very moist and tender…a pleasant surprise!

I was craving some of those Soy Sauce noodles ($17.95) and we’d never tried that here.

The texture was almost like pan fried noodles; which I liked as it took me back to the first time I had this dish. My cousin got married many moons ago to a guy who owned a business and was pretty successful. The reception was held on the Oceania Floating Restaurant, which at the time was world’s largest floating restaurant. You can read about it here. Being a poor kid, raised by a single mom; I’d never had any food like that before! And when these noodles arrived……I had always preferred noodles to rice when I was young…my mom attributed that to craving saimin all the time when she was pregnant with me…anyway; I’ve always loved this simple dish since then. This version had nicely coated noodles; it could have used more sprouts and scallion though. Word of warning, I don’t think this would heat up well….so you ‘betta finish ’em all up at the table.

The one clunker was the Salted Fish, Chicken, and Eggplant ($19.95).

This smelled nice and stinky; but the sauce was watery and lacking in flavor. The eggplant was mushy; not fairly firm on the exterior and molten-buttery inside. It was on the bland side in spite of the “fragrance”.

Our last dish was our favorite from our previous visit; the Mei Cai Kou Rou (Pork Belly with Preserved Vegetable – $20.95). I gotta say; this was a bargain with regards to current pricing.

The tender, buttery nicely flavored pork. The slightly bitter-sour-edging on too salty preserved vegetable. The slices of napa hidden under everything actually helps balance out the strong flavors. As an FYI; this is not a sweet version of this dish as it leans more towards soy-salty-savory. It’s the Missus’s favorite version here in SD.

The service was good considering that every table was taken in this rather small restaurant. It was the most inexpensive of the three meals. Kenneth, I’m not sure if my posts have been helpful or have caused more of a quandary with regards to your choice. Either way, I’m hoping that the place you select provides a wonderful meal and experience for the both of you! Of course; you could always go to all three……

Eastern Dynasty
4690 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 11am – 3pm, 5pm – 830pm

HiroNori Craft Ramen Revisited

Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

In a post from a few days ago, I mentioned actually finding reasonable parking in Hillcrest for a ramen fix. And yes, it’s time for me to make my “ramen rounds”…..and I wanted something other than what is ubiquitous ’round these parts….that is something other than tonkotsu ramen. So naturally, my choice for shoyu ramen is HiroNori. Looking at my previous posts, it’s quite funny as my last three visits had been in December! So, I guess the time was right!

It was kind of crazy, as I was part of a line of 10 people waiting when they opened! The place filled up quickly. As always, the service was friendly and efficient.

It was interesting to note that overhearing folks order….everyone was going with tonkotsu.

I was pleased to note that the Shoyu Ramen was priced the same as my visit a year ago – $16.45….a rarity these days!

As usual, I got the shoyu ramen with noodles extra firm and it was nicely delivered to the window seat I had.

Man, there’s something about the shoyu broth I like, the barrel ages shoyu has an interesting flavor, that’s not overly salty, nice slightly smoky-sweet umami. Decent richness and tongue feel.

The tamago was nicely cooked…and guess what? It wasn’t cold! In my best “Bourdain mode”, I thought “a glowing orb of deliciousness….”

While the chashu looks to be on the tough side, I’m thinking because it looks roasted and charred. but that adds to the flavor; it is decently tender, nicely roasted, with good porkiness!

And those noodles were firm, slippery, and perfectly chewy for my taste. It did a nice job of “picking up” the broth.

The really nice young lady came to check on me as I was finishing up and asked me; “is everything all right?” So I showed her my bowl…..

And she just laughed.

Overall, a lovely, warming bowl of shoyu ramen…..it just makes everything seem better…..

HiroNori Craft Ramen
3803 Fifth Ave.
San Diego, CA 92103
Current Hours:
Mon – Wed 1130am – 8pm
Thurs – Sun 1130am – 9pm

Lunch at JJ’s Island Grindz (Bonita) with JJ of course

Dog Friendly, Guamanian/Chamorro, Plate Lunch

Back at the end of September, I had the pleasure of sharing a wonderful lunch with two of my favorite people; those who’ve been reading our little blog for a while know Cathy, along with our long time friend CC, who while she doesn’t update her Pink Candles at Ridgemont High blog anymore, has quite a presence on Instagram these days. The place chosen was JJ’s Island Grindz in Bonita. I was kind of excited since there’s not much Chamorro/Guamanian available these days since Smack’N Guamanian Grill has closed, as well as the Midway location of Guahan. I’m thinking that other than JJ’s, Chamorro Grill might be the only other place serving this style of food South of the 56?

Anyway, we had a wonderful time…though so much of it was catching up on things, so I decided not to do a post.

The food was plentiful and the conversations wonderful! Of course, both CC and Cathy asked me why I didn’t bring JJ…..I should have, right?

Anyway, I brought the leftovers home and told the Missus She might enjoy those pork ribs; which were chewy, but nicely flavored with touches of smokiness and soy. Of course She didn’t believe me; but I removed all the meat from the bones and chopped it up and She ended up enjoying it. And we both thought that taking JJ to a place named “JJ’s” would be kinda fun. So, about a month later we ended up heading over to Bonita and the strip mall where JJ’s is located….with JJ in tow. Man, I remember when this place was Ono’s Cafe!

The nice young lady directed us to a table on the patio. She was so nice to JJ and when we told Her his name she could not stop laughing!

Of course we weren’t going to order the sushi rolls or sushi burritos and that kine’ stuff from the huge menu. We got the Chamorro Combo and I was curious, based on how smoky the ribs were, to try the Kalua Pig.

The portions here are fairly sizeable.

The Missus wasn’t fond of the potato salad, though She really enjoyed the red rice, which I did as well. Great texture, savory tones, a hint of smokiness, and to us, even a mild acidity. She was not a big fan of the kelaguen, it was chopped too coarse, without a nice sour-spicy kick, and lacking in the hint of coconut She loves in the version I make. The finadene was too mild for Her taste, but the young lady brought over some of the spicy finadene which helped things out.

The ribs were flavored as She remembered, though strangely, the Missus preferred them the next day as leftovers. Removed from the bone and chopped!

As for the Kalua Pig.

Well, I do like the red rice here. The pork was nice and smokey, but strangely….very strangely, wasn’t salty and porky enough for me. I mean, I don’t ever recall wanting to add salt to my kalua pig! But for me; it’s the mushy, almost watery texture of the pork I didn’t enjoy. Again, strangely, the pork was better the next day after it firmed up a bit and I added some Alaea to it. It’s still not my favorite though.

As for JJ’s, I think we’ll return, so the Missus can get those ribs and perhaps I’ll something else from the menu. The service was warm and welcoming.

And JJ had what Cathy called his “hakuna matata” moment!

JJ’s Island Grindz
4154 Bonita Rd.
Bonita, CA 91902
Current Hours:
Sun – Thurs 11am – 8pm
Fri – Sat 11am – 9pm

Circling Back to Dumpling Inn and Shanghai Saloon

Chinese Restaurants

Well, perhaps this shouldn’t be a “circling back” post since the last time I was here, waaaay back in 2014 it was under the previous ownership. And then at the end of that year, the family that used to own Minh Ky (which changed hands in September of 2023) took over the “old” Dumpling Inn and created Dumpling Inn and Shanghai Saloon. So yes, that was over 11 years ago! I really wasn’t interesting in seeing the “new” DIaSS…..

But, on this day, much like happened with my long overdue revisit to El Borrego, fate intervened. I was late shopping at Nijiya and for some reason decided to head up Convoy. I had my mind set on revisiting Ju Feng Yuan for my jiaozi fix, but then I thought that I needed to finally try the chicken at Zhengxin. I saw ample parking available so I pulled into the lot. Unfortunately, there was a line at Zhengxin???? I’d already gotten a parking spot and even though El Viejon seemed like a good choice, I kinda wanted some jiaozi….so, Dumpling Inn it was.

Walking in, I noticed that even though the place was buzzing, there were many seats at the bar. So, I had a seat there.

The interior looks pretty good; it sure doesn’t look like the old Dumpling Inn to me. The customer base was mixed; though mostly non-Asian. The gentleman working the bar was really nice and handed me a menu.

I ended up ordering the Pork Dumplings ($15) and the Pig Pork Ears ($8.50). I was brought the sauces.

And yes, I’d forgotten…even at the old Dumpling Inn, they bring you white vinegar…I asked about black vinegar, but was told they were out??? Sigh…..

Anyway, my “Stewed” Pork Ears arrived.

I put the “stewed” in quotes as this was full on “rubbah”…..while I always enjoy a nice crunchiness…there’s usually “layers” of that texture along with some more gelatinous textures. This was simply just hard. It also lacked any pungency and herbaceous/anise tones. I did add some white vinegar just because I needed something other than soy sauce.

And then the jiaozi.

Well, these looked ok; but the wrappers were waxy-hard, too thick, needed some pillowiness-stretch to them.

The filling had decent sesame-soy sauce flavors, with a hint of porkiness.

But was basically a hard, dense, ground “meatball”. Which would have been ok in a won ton; but has no place in a jiaozi.

This was pretty disappointing. Meanwhile, I saw a Chinese couple (I heard them speaking Mandarin…really loudly) bust out their own bottle of Chinkiang Black Vinegar! I had to crack up.

In the end, perhaps I should have expected this. I guess some egg noodle won ton soup a la Minh Ky would have been a better choice? You know I’m really not going to go for the XLB, Orange Chicken, Kung Pao Beef, etc….

Unlike El Borrego, this didn’t quite work out. Well, at least I gave it another try after all these years. I’m headed to Ju Feng Yuan for my jiaozi fix and making sure I don’t get distracted!

Dumpling Inn and Shanghai Saloon
4625 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Sun, Wed, Thurs 11am – 230pm, 4pm – 830pm
Fri -Sat 11am – 230pm, 4pm – 930pm
Closed Monday – Tuesday

Saturday Stuffs – Nutmeg Bakery & Cafe Coming to Bay Park, 85°C Bakery (Balboa) Closing 12/19, and Other “Stuffs”

American/New American Restaurants, Bakery, Breakfast/Brunch, yoso-silly

Just a couple of things I’ve come across recently.

Nutmeg Bakery & Cafe Coming to Bay Park:

While having my coffee with JJ at Bay Park Coffee this morning, I noticed a new sign on what used to be the weed growers Hydroponic Shop next to Poseidon Project.

Whoa, now this was quite a surprise as I hadn’t read or heard anything about this. Could it be? Well, at least the sign says Nutmeg Cafe & Bakery is coming soon! The place has locations in Poway and Scripps Ranch, which Cathy has posted on twice.

This is exciting news….though I’m kinda worried that the place is going to take away business from Bay Park Coffee….and the parking in the area, with the new yoga studio is kind of at a premium, so we’ll see! I know there have been plans for up to 14,000 new housing in the area, near the trolley, so they might be putting down roots? It’s going to be an interesting couple of years.

4122 Napier St.
San Diego, CA 92110

85°C Bakery (Balboa) Closing 12/19:

I’d already read about this on other sites; but when I did a quick trip to the bank recently, well, the sign was up.

Yep, they closing on 12/19. There was something that did stir that sarcastic humor of mine. Notice the sign on the left says “Time to Party”? And right next to it is the “We Are Closing” sign?

Anyway, 85C was a most welcome addition to the area when they opened back in 2014. I was told that the cause was the rapidly increasing rent.

Though since Covid, the place always seemed short staffed and opening hours changed quite frequently.

85°C Bakery Cafe
5575 Balboa Ave.
330 San Diego, CA 92111

Hillcrest Sandwich Co. Has Closed:

I made an exploratory drive up to Hillcrest, aka the “new ramen central” to see if I could find a parking spot and get my fix. I was amazed to find decent parking on Fifth Avenue. While walking down Fifth, I looked over and noticed that the Hillcrest Sandwich Co. looked closed.

Checking online, it looked like they closed in February! Oh my….they’ve been around forever. I used to get sandwiches there when I did consulting here in SD back in the late 90’s! And when my office was in the area we used to order from them every so often….though I hadn’t actually been in the shop since my pre-blogging days! Looks like more development in the area is driving a lot of change.

Man, just in the last year El Cuervo, then La Posta de Acalpuco, and many other businesses have closed in the area.

3780 Fifth Ave.
San Diego, CA 92103

And finally…it’s pronounced you-ree-nay:

So, I noticed that Nijiya had Lily Bulb in stock today. And while taking a look, a young lady saw the name and asked the mom if it’s really what she thought it was…..

Like I noted on my Instagram post…..you know what she thought this was, right?

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend!