mmm-yoso – Page 150

San Francisco – Z & Y Restaurant

October 21, 2018 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, San Francisco and Silicon Valley

After making that fairly long hike along the bay and up Lombard Street, I was left with trying to find a place to eat in Chinatown; there were places like R&G Lounge where there was nothing available….so finally, we decided upon Z&Y Restaurant. Especially since, I've been missing decent Sichuan food in San Diego.

So we made our way there.

Of course there was a wait; but since we didn't want to share table. it wasn't too long, maybe 20 minutes or so.

We ordered a couple of things off the menu, some smaller "snack" type items I've been missing and since we needed to finish everything up without leftovers, nothing extravagant.

First up was the Sichuan Liang Mian; which was pretty disappointing.

I'll readily admit; I enjoy the Chongqing version of Sichuan Liang Mian and this was pretty weak in the vinegar-spice-garlic-savory-sweet department. Remember "suan tian ku la Xian", this was pretty mild in terms of flavor and the noodles while decent in texture just didn't do a decent job of holding onto the "sauce".

The pork with garlic looked wonderful; and the cucumber rolled in the pork really helped to clear out the richness of the dish.

Our basic problem with this is how lean and chewy the pork was and the temp as it was nearly hot. The sauce, in spite of the look of it was quite mild and lacking in spice, at least for us.

The best dish of the meal was the fish filet with preserved vegetable.

There was that nice fermented-sour flavor in the broth, along with a good amount of spice and white pepper. The fish filet had been nicely "velveted", it was so tender and moist, the broth had a wonderful bracing, but not over-the-top sour-spicy flavor. This had that "aaah" thing going for it.

The last item we ordered were the won tons in hot sauce…….I'm still looking for that "kou gan" (mouth-feel) for the won tons we had in Chengdu, that wonderful mouth-feel, slippery and yet tender…and this was almost there.

And the pork filling was light and moist, very pleasant to eat. The sauce however, was much too sweet, too light and thin, without substance and spice, that made the dish a bit disappointing.

The staff here works really hard with the crowds; they are efficient and do a nice job. We both thought the dishes had been "adjusted" in terms of spice and taste.

Z & Y Restaurant
655 Jackson St
San Francisco, CA 94133

Still, we were having a nice time just wandering around……

Paris – Marché Monge, Rue Montorgueil Market Steet, and More Croissants

October 20, 2018 mmm-yoso Bakery, Croissants, Farmer's Markets/Night Market, Markets & Grocers, Paris, France, Travel

During our last full day in Paris, we made no plans, "réservations pour le dîner, oui", but really had no real plans other than that.

So, during our breakfast at the Hotel Monge, we came up with our plans for the morning.

Well, at least a place to start. We headed down Rue Monge, one block later we headed west on Rue Lacépède, then turning down Rue Mouffetard. Several blocks down starts the really well known part of Rue Mouffetard, known as Marché Mouffetard, the street that Hemingway dubbed as "A Moveable Feast".

Things were quiet on this morning.

It was still too early in the morning it seems. So when we got to the Paroisse Saint Medard, we decided to head back up to Place Monge. We'd return to Rue Mouffetard the next morning.

At Place Monge; we noticed that it was market day.

The entire square was taken over with booths selling prepared food, produce, meat, and of course fromage.

We always enjoy these markets, as we get to watch everyday life.

And having been to a couple of places in France, we had to smile at places that jogged our memory.

Remember the "Route du foie gras"?

And having just returned from Strasbourg, I just had to crack up when I saw this…..

I recalled how the Missus could not pass up that choucroute garnie?

I did ask the Missus if She wanted some; but She wistfully told me; "I'm still full and it's too early in the morning". so perhaps we'll have to head back to Alsace one of these days.

From here we headed up Rue Monge.

Crossed over the Seine on Boulevard du Palais.

This was the busy 1st Arrondissement. There's a lot going on here; the Louvre, the Jardine de Tuileries, Jardin du Palais Royal, it's all here.

That's the Fontaine du Palmier on Place du Châtelet, like may things in Paris, it has quite a story.

The Tour Saint-Jacques (Saint-Jacques Tower), once part of Church of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie ("Saint James of the butchers"), which was demolished in 1793. All that remains is the tower.

The tower indicated that we were getting close to our next destination.

Once we came across Les Halles, which used to be the central market and has a great long history. It was demolished in 1971 and replaced with the Les Halles Forum a shopping mall.

A short turn right and you're on Rue Montorgueil; one of the most well known Market Street….as like we were often told; is "très différent du marché de rue"….the difference between a "street market" and a "market street".

There are businesses, like La Maison Stohrer to the right; established in 1730, that claims to have invented Rum Baba.

There's an interesting mix of tourists…..

And locals……

It's a wonderful miasma of sights, sounds, and smells.

I'd been told by some folks that people in Paris were quite rude. And while we had run into a few folks who basically didn't want anything to do with tourists……there were so many wonderful folks like the nice woman who saw us staring at the Rue Montorgueil sign and came up to us and asked, "Monsieur, Madame, are you lost, do you need some help?" We never forget these moments as it makes us better human beings. We are all more alike then we are different. It is much harder to be cruel and cold than it is to be kind.

We had done our exploring for the day and decided to head back to the hotel. We knew that lunch really wasn't in the cards. The Missus decided that perhaps we should continue our "croissant quest" on Rue Monge.

Maison Gregoire was a block away from our hotel. Of course we got the croissant "au buerre" (croissants made with butter, not margarine).

This one was a little light in the butter side of things and on the dry side. In terms of flakiness and lightness it hit the mark.

Maison Grégoire
69 rue Monge
75005 Paris, France

Catty corner from Maison Grégoire is another Artisan Boulangerie.

Same drill…except when I removed the croissant from the package….good lord!

Burnt, bitter,….incinerated. Dry as all heck. The lady in the bakery seemed detached and it seems that she just didn't care. This was horrible.

Boulangerie Teillet Philippe
66 rue Monge
75005 Paris, France

Our quest for a favorite croissant continues…….

Fools and Kings

October 16, 2018 mmm-yoso European Restaurants, North African Food, Peruvian Restaurants

**** Fools and Kings has closed

One evening a few months back, I was looking for a place to grab an early dinner with the Missus. She wanted something different. I returned to the menu at Fools and Kings, a fairly eclectic collection of small plates….with dishes from some of our favorite places; Spain, Peru, and heck even North Africa. Over the next month or so we visited this quaint and rather discreet little eatery in Mission Hills.

Come to think of it; we've always had a table on the little patio out front….I don't think we've stepped into the dining room!

The menu is a fairly tight one, not too many dishes, but the range, at least in geographic terms is vast. The menu is broken up into five sections; Salads, Bocaditos (appetizers), Crudo, Flat Breads, and A la Carte items. All items are meant to be shared.

Funny thing; I'm not much of a Sangria person, but I did enjoy the White Sangria, especially during the hot spell we had a few months back. While it edged toward the sweeter side; I think the lychee and cinnamon gave it a nice refreshing and "clean" taste.

On our three visits, we were basically the only people eating at Fools and Kings, of course it was early in the week and for dinner; like 430-5pm or so.

Each meal started with some Canchita, which always made us smile as it reminded us of our favorite little place in Miraflores.

Anyway, just like other posts of the same ilk. Here are our picks and pans.

Our favorite here is the Stuffed Piquillo Peppers ($10).

The peppers are stuffed with crab and goat cheese, a nice, rich combination….creamy, savory, sweet, milky, a tad of mild heat from the peppers. Served on a toasted and pressed, yeasty and light bread, it was very much a "Montedito". This was by far our favorite dish and we had it on every visit. The simply dressed greens added a nice bitterness and "green" flavor to temper things a bit. In fact, we thought the greens in most of the dishes were nice and simple.

We both also enjoyed the Lamb Sausage ($14).

This reminded us of Merguez, a bit more meatier, but it still had those nice spices that reminded us a bit of what we had during almost every meal in Tunisia.

The Missus enjoyed the Lentil and Burrata Salad ($8).

Of course, She loves puy lentils and corn…and Balsamic Vinegar. The burrata had a light milkiness, a mild acidity, and was very soft, but not runny. I actually enjoyed the yeasty bread, as I thought this salad was like something I make at home.

I really didn't care much for the Sauteed Wild Mushroom with Burrata ($10).

For some reason, I didn't care for the milky-acidity of the burrata, along with the texture of the cheese combined with the earth flavors of the mushrooms. It was a bit to much with the truffle oil; even for me a truffle oil lover. I mainly enjoyed the greens and the bread.

Sadly, our two "pans" were both of the Crudo we had.

We gladly waited the 20 minutes or so for the Cebiche ($14), you know how much the Missus loves Her cebiche. And this would have been pretty good; that leche de tigre was nice and bright in flavor, great acidity, I even asked for another spoon to eat my canchita in the leche de tigre.

The problem was that the fish was still partially frozen; we bit into ice crystals with every bite. It had also spent a bit too long in the leche de tigre. The camote, sweet potato had very little flavor was quite mushy.

On our next visit we tried the Tuna Carpaccio ($15). I dunno about combining Extra Virgin Olive Oil with Soy Sauce….like that Yellowtail with Olive Oil and Soy Sauce in in my previous post on Sushi Noguchi; I find the flavors really clash.

The fish was decent quality, but also on the mushy side….I believe they mix duck pate in with this? It was just a strange mish-mash of flavors and textures for us.

Overall the service was friendly and relaxed. Our dishes did take a while, but we were in no rush. Prices aren't bad….but this might sound a bit strange based on the wide geographic swath of the various dishes. But the menu just seems a bit limiting for us; there isn't that two or three dishes we want to return for. At least not for a while. Maybe when the weather turns warmer that White Sangria will call to me. Until then I might just "wander very far, Very far, over land and sea….." Yeah, go ahead and call me Nature Boy:

"And then one day
A magic day he passed my way
And while we spoke of many things
Fools and kings
This he said to me
The greatest thing you'll ever learn
Is just to love and be loved in return"

Fools and Kings
4015 Goldfinch St
San Diego, CA 92103
Hours:
Tues – Fri 430pm – 10pm
Sat – Sun 10am – 2pm, 430pm – 10pm

Clearing Out the Memory Card – Romeo & Julieta Wine Cafe, Et Voila, and Sushi Noguchi (Yorba Linda)

October 14, 2018 mmm-yoso French Restaurants, Japanese Restaurants, Orange County, Polish Food and Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi

Just a quick post for tonight – 2 Happy Hour revisits and once place where not all the photos came out.

Romeo & Julieta Wine Café:

**** Romeo & Julieta has closed

Now that the weather is getting a bit cooler, we're enjoying HH here. It's never too crowded and the food is hearty. There's always leftovers for the next day.

My previous post on Romeo & Julieta Wine Café.

Romeo & Julieta Wine Cafe
4715 Monroe Ave
San Diego, CA 92115
Hours:
Tues – Sat 4pm – 10pm
Sunday 3pm – 10pm

Et Voila!:

Honestly; we're not overly fond of many of the meat courses and entrees. But we really enjoy HH.

Even though the Huckleberry Bourbon is now nine bucks during HH….it's still a relative bargain.

Two drinks and a couple of staples from the Happy Hour menu and we're….well, quite satisfied and happy.

Et Voilà!
3015 Adams Ave
San Diego, CA 92116
Happy Hour:
Sun – Fri 430pm – 7pm
Saturday 430pm – 6pm

Funny story insertion time. The Missus and I were eating outside on the quaint little patio. There was a couple seated right past us…..the gentleman was really, really chatty. We usually keep to ourselves, but he was very amiable. We talked about everything from this being his first visit to Et Voila (he was pleasantly surprised – Jayne's was closed) to Japan to whatever seemed to come to mind. I told him he looked familiar; turns out it was Mike Aguirre. I laughed and said; "wow, you're famous". He smiled, shook his head and said, I'm sure in jest, "no…more like infamous." You never know who you're going to sit next to…..

Sushi Noguchi (Yorba Linda):

Yes, Yorba Linda. This one is from last year actually. I had a meeting up in the OC and the Missus decided to join me since She had a couple of days off. I'd been waffling between sushi places, so I sent off an email to the one and only Elmomonster, His vote was the tiebreaker. We chose Sushi Noguchi; which is a rather odd place….another strip mall treasure in Yorba Linda.

The Missus and I had a great time….such a great time that I missed a couple of photos and some of what I took was not usable.

I thought about trashing what I had; but the meal was very good; especially having three different uni (San Diego – Santa Barbara – Hokkaido), where we could really make out the differences in flavor – San Diego was the meatiest and the mildest, the Hokkaido uni had an amazing briney-sweetness, it tasted of the ocean, the Santa Barbara might have been the sweetest of the three. We also really enjoyed all the shiromi (white fish).

The only thing we didn't particularly care for was the yellowtail in the olive oil-soy sauce.

This was only about half of what we got; the negi toro temaki was also fantastic.

I'm not sure when or if we'll be back in the area in the future, but this one is a total winnah! I'll do a better job of documenting our meal then. And worth every penny of the $120 per person without drinks.

Sushi Noguchi
18507 Yorba Linda Blvd
Yorba Linda, CA 92886

Tasty Noodle House Revisited

October 11, 2018 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

I was craving some Nian Gao (sticky rice cakes) and noticed that Chef Chin doesn't have it on the menu anymore. So I headed over to Tasty Noodle House since it had been over a year since I last visited. even though it was just past eleven (there was still parking in the worst lot on Convoy), the place was about a third full already!

Looking at the menu I decided to order a couple of items; even though the Mei Cai Kou Rou (steamed pork belly with preserved vegetable) wasn't very good the last time I had it; I ordered it again. I was a bit worried when it was the first dish to arrive….in like five minutes after I ordered it. Can you say microwave?

Still, while not particularly hot, this was much better than what I'd had here before. The pork was very tender, moist; though a bit underwhelming in terms of porkiness and soy sauce flavor. The preserved vegetable was basically cold, but had some saltiness, and a mild, pleasant bitterness. I actually took most of this home….the Missus heated properly in a microwave and proceeded to devour the whole thing……so I guess it must be pretty good?

I saw the Green Chilies with Black Bean Sauce on the menu and decided to try that. Man, the portion size was pretty large.

The mild chilies were nicely charred, but the sauce was way to sweet, obscuring the savory-fermented flavors of the black bean. The pork was on the chewy side and a couple of pieces….well, have you ever bitten into a piece of meat and felt like you got a toenail? There were several very hard, tooth chipping piece amongst the chewy minced pork.

As for the Chao Nian Gao…..well, it was not stir fried well; some pieces were really hard and others over-cooked and too mushy.

And I've noticed how stingy they've become with the Jì Cài (Shepherd's Purse), the green vegetable that adds a nice vegetal sweet-bitterness to the dish. The pork was actually not bad if a bit on the tough side. Decent seasoning; enough saltiness and a light hand with the sesame oil.

A fairly uneven meal, though the young man who waited on me was quite nice and friendly. And while I was tempted to order the Zui Ji ( Drunken Chicken), perhaps I should have.

I think these days it's all hot pots and meat skewers with regards to Chinese food in San Diego. We seem to be in a slump with regards to decent regional cooking.

Tasty Noodle House
4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Ferrara – Trattoria da Noemi

October 10, 2018 mmm-yoso Emilia-Romagna, Italy, Italian Restaurants, Italy, Travel

After exploring Ferrara for a bit and then a short nap, we awoke hungry. Since it was Easter Monday, a holiday, we were lucky to have been able to get reservations for dinner. Our B&B was right outside the city walls, so we left a bit early and just enjoyed sitting alongside Ex Chiesa Di San Romano, which was now the Cathedral Museum, facing Piazza Trento e Trieste. It was a beautiful night!

It seems that much of the crowd we saw during the day had left.

Soon enough, dinner time had arrived. Ferrara itself is an ancient city, the first recordings of a settlement in the area was in the 6th Century BC. Thus the city, a UNESCO World Heritage site, has city walls and warrens of alleyways. Down one of these is Trattoria da Noemi. There was quite a line in place when we arrived and folks were being turned away. Like I said, we were lucky to have gone earlier in the day and snag some reservations. The only thing we had really eaten for the whole day was some salumi, so we were starved.

The Missus ordered the Fiori di Zucca fritti ripieni di mozzarella – fried squash blossom stuffed with mozzarella to start.

These looked fairly dense, but were surprisingly light, the breading nice and crisp. The cheese added a bit of density to things and just the slightest bit of milky acidity.

You know what I ordered as my primi, right?

Yep, Culatello of course! This was Culatello di Zebello, so tender, almost sweet, with a touch of milkiness. In case you don't know what part of the pig is used for this…think of the name…."culo". The torta fritta here was light and crisp, a perfect match for the piece of….ahem, you get it right?

We had noticed an entire section of "special" pasta on the menu. Can you guess what was special about these?

The Missus ordered the Fagottini ripieni di faraona al tartufo. These tender "little bundles" were filled with Guinea fowl, which was quite mild, we expected something more gamey. The hand made pasta was quite tender. And this is the way pasta is in Emilia-Romagna, it shines on it's own, not drenched in sauce and in this case, topped with fragrant black truffle. All the ingredients shine.

I had wanted to try pasta al zucca (pasta stuffed with pumpkin), so I ordered the Cappellacci di zucca burro e salvia al tartufo. Stuffed pasta in the shape of a "hat".

Of course I got it topped with truffle. The pasta is finished in sage butter; which wasn't enough to balance out the sweetness of the pumpkin….this was just too sweet for us. The pasta was quite tender, with the slightest pull.

We had enjoyed our meal with a couple of glasses of wine.

The meal was enjoyable and we attempted to make reservations for lunch the next day, but the place was booked solid.

Trattoria da Noemi
Via Ragno 31
44100 Ferrara, Italy

We awoke the next morning and had a light breakfast. We went back to our room to relax until check-out time. Our train didn't leave until after 4pm and we didn't have to do anything other than return out rental car. The folks running the B&B kindly allowed us to park our car in their lot after we checked out. We decided to take another walk around the city.

Things were fairly quiet. We just wandered the various alleyways and streets taking in the charming cobbled streets and warrens that circled the town.

Things started picking up as the clocked edged toward eleven. Many places were closed; I guess to recover from the Easter rush, all the other were booked, and even take out panini places had an hour wait….for paninis to go!

We decided that lunch just wasn't in the cards for us and just decided to return the rental car. When determining our route and timing for the rental car return, I noticed that our rental office in Ferrara was just a ten minute walk to the train station.

The woman at the rental office was so warm and friendly!

As I walked back out to the street, I noticed this place next to the rental office.

We got a couple of Americanos and shared a sandwich to kill some time. What was really interesting were the three guys sitting on the other side of the al fresco "palette", they had obviously gone thru a couple of beers each. One of the guys had that "glow" if you know what I mean….his face was bright red. He finished beer number who knows…..got up…shook his friends hands….and got into a delivery van and drove off! Sheesh….

We got up, returned our cups and saucers…..and took the short walk to Ferrara Train Station.

We'd had a fun time in Ferrara. I'd randomly picked Ferrara because of an extra day we had between cities and noticing how close the rental car office was to the train station. Part of this was driven by some dinner reservations and other things. Ferrara entertained us and exceeded our expectations. We just might return some day…..though I'm going to make sure it's not around a holiday!

Next stop….Modena!

Ramen Menma – Basso Drillman Oceanside

October 9, 2018 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

**** Ramen Menma – Basso Drillman Oceanside has closed

Now here's a ramen spot with origins in Japan that I had read about several years back. Ikebukuro's Basso Drill-Man ramen is fairly well known by ramen junkies, mainly for the Tsukemen and Abura Soba; basically "oil noodles" in which thick and hefty noodles are coated in "oil" in many cases rendered pork fat with various seasonings. I was quite happy that another ramen shop with a true ramen background was opening up. The catch; Ramen Menma – Basso Drillman was opening in Oceanside. Oceanside!

So, when Eater announced the opening of the shop in June; I just knew I had to check it out. It was just a matter of having the time and making the 30-plus mile drive up to Oceanside.

I find the location interesting, it's not quite Convoy or even Mira Mesa as the restaurant, which has a rather spartan interior is basically across the street from Swami's.

I arrived just as the open sign was turned on and lead over to the bar area. I recall being told that this used to be an Americanized sushi bar. The two women working were quite nice and friendly.

Ordering for me was a no-brainer; being a lover of Sichuan Liang Mian and still make my version of "Oil Noodles"; I just had to try the Abura Soba, which they call Aburasso here. I ordered the "deluxe" version, not cheap at $15.75.

I'm glad I also got the Chicken Karaage, which at $4.25 for four pieces was not cheap. But let me tell you; this is the best karaage I've had in a while. And I got five pieces instead of four.

The coating was so crisp and lightly crunchy, and the dark meat chicken was so moist that it basically exploded when I bit into it…..it was more juicy than the recent XLB I had at Din Tai Fung. It had been marinating for a while as there was a deep soy flavor; perhaps edging on being too salty, with a definite lightly acidic tone, I'm fairly certain they use shio koji or something similar. There was a slight hint of ginger as well. This was quite good.

The Aburasso was soon passed to the Server who brought it over to me. I had seen the medium-thick noodles being mixed with the oil base. I had also seen one of the egg yolks fall out of the white and the poor fellow wrestle with getting it back into place.

The noodles were topped with the afore mentioned egg; nicely flavored, and for once, not served cold as it was nice and warm. The chashu had a very nice soy-slightly sweet flavor and while nice and fatty was on the more chewy side. Not sure about the blanched cabbage, as it brought nothing to the dish.

The flavored oil was on the bland side, with a hint of spice and smokiness. I was looking for a more intense, maybe porky essence. But this wasn't bad at all and several levels above the Abura Soba at hipsterish Nozaru Ramen.

It did a great job of coating the noodles though. And those noodles….you'll either love them or hate them. I enjoyed the wonderful toothsome chewiness….these were noodles with heft and would obviously be great if they were also used in the Tsukemen. Very nice noodles, it looks like you won't have to worry about the noodles being mushy here!

As much as I was looking forward to he ramen here, it was the karaage that fueled my return the following weekend.

The karaage this time around was even better than on my previous visit. A bit lighter, less salty, but still with a deep soy flavor.

So crunchy and moist, it was a joy to eat.

I had thought of going with the Tsukemen, but in the end, I chose the Deluxe Shoyu Ramen ($14.75). And while my main motivation was to see how the broth was at Menma, I regretted not getting the Tsukemen as this was less than satisfying.

While the egg and chashu was better this time around, both in terms of texture and flavor, I'm not a fan of the thinner noodles here as it lacks the springiness and toothsomeness of the thicker noodles.

The broth was very one-dimensional, it just seemed dashi heavy and salty, lacking any real savory tones. And while it appeared rich enough it strangely lacked that wonderful tongue coating "aaah" appeal.

My favorite component was strangely the menma, the bamboo shoots were initially crunchy, with an almost meaty finish, making it very satisfying to eat.

The two women working on both visits were very pleasant. And man, that karaage. But all of this comes with an investment for someone living within San Diego. Think of it as being about thirty-five bucks if you include gas and tip. And I was eating solo.

And yet, that karaage beckons me…….and perhaps that tsukemen…….just to see how it compares to Rokurinsha.

Ramen Menma – Basso Drillman Oceanside
509 Mission Ave
Oceanside, CA 92054
Hours:
Tues – Sun 1130am – 230pm, 5pm – 9pm

Al Pastor Authentic Mexican Grill Revisited

October 8, 2018 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants

**** Al Pastor has changed back to Aqui es Texcoco

When I did my original post on Al Pastor back in June I mentioned waiting a couple of months before checking in with "Al Pastor". It just so happens that a month or so ago, the Missus wanted breakfast from Talavera Azul. we were running late and by the time we drove down to Chula Vista there was a long line outside the restaurant. It was just before 10am so I suggested checking out Al Pastor. The Missus enjoyed Her meal and we've returned a few times since. The menu at the restaurant is humongous, like generic Vietnamese Restaurant menu sized. We've tried a few items on the menu and here's the rundown.

The Missus loves the simplicity of the Guacamole here. There is always a glowing freshness to it.

It's a nice base, a palette of sorts to which the Missus can add various salsas, cilantro, onions, and a squeeze of lime to suit Her taste and mood for the day.

It also goes nicely when a little dollop is added to the Al Pastor Alambres……you have your choice of meat, but it's the savory-sweet flavor of the Al Pastor that goes well with this riff of the traditional grilled beef-bacon-green peppers dish. She usually forgoes the queso.

And of course there's the Al Pastor, pork of course. Here I tried the Chuleta Ahumada, smoked pork chop, which didn't bring much flavor to the table.

Love the mixture of thin slices of pork and the caramelized "crispy bits" of Al Pastor, the pineapple adds a nice fruity-acidic touch. I'm usually not a big fan of fruit in savory dishes, but it works here. I didn't care much for the texture of the Chuleta Ahumada as it was weirdly "mushy" and it just didn't have enough smokiness, richness, nor pork flavor to make it really shine in a taco.

As much as we enjoy the Al Pastor; there have been occasions when it's been cut too thick, the spices have been pasty and gummy, and perhaps, thinking we're not worthy gringos, there were no nice, crisp pieces added to our tacos. When that happens, like below, the Al Pastor tacos really don't stand out from what I can get elsewhere.

The Chorizo Tacos are a nice "plan B", except we really didn't enjoy the radioactive looking Chorizo Verde – green chorizo. We actually didn't order that Green Chorizo…more on that later.

Usually made with green chilies; beyond the shock of the color…..green and meat (ecxept in a stew) are not something I think humans gravitate towards, the chorizo had a weird texture and while it is traditionally made with Serrano and Poblano Chilies; there was basically no spice in this, just that green-chlorophyllic flavor. The regular chorizo has that combination of spice-saltiness-slight smokiness that folks would be familiar with.

Some other items. On a whim I ordered the Nopales Asados….because we both love Nopales. We received a plate of stir fried nopales and cebollas.

Which very plain…….you'll need tortillas for these. Those aren't provided.

Ditto the Frijoles Charros, which was too salty, and was quite thin while still having a greasy mouthfeel. And yet; if it were thicker and you were provided tortillas, this would maybe be passable.

Still, when the Al Pastor is on….or anytime the Missus is craving those Alambres, the time on the griddle brings out the best in the Al Pastor, we'll be headed back over to Al Pastor. Service has always been friendly, though sometimes a bit…well, spacey? We had ordered Alambres, with Chorizo, but somehow got the Chorizo Verde taco, go figure?

Al Pastor Authentic Mexican Grill
520 Broadway
Chula Vista, CA 91910
Hours:
Sun – Thurs 10am – 1am
Fri – Sat 10am – 2am

Breakfast of Champions – Lucky’s Golden Phenix

October 7, 2018 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Diner

**** Sadly Lucky Wong passed away at the end of 2024

After a particularly brutal week, I recently revisited a place that holds a special place in my heart. It had been a few years since I'd eaten and even longer since I last posted on Lucky's, that little former Chinese restaurant, cum diner, cum greasy spoon, to me a steady, dependable beacon in the ever changing North Park scene.

Once you enter; you know….this ain't hipster central.

From the rather tacky, now considered "retro" Chinese restaurant décor, to various bits and pieces of the history of Lucky's, which in turn is probably the history of North Park, the place has grown on me.

Just sitting for a breakfast on this morning; the customers were like characters from central casting….a young couple, a hipster in his 'hat with 'tats", two older guys grumbling about how the bus is always late. Like I said in my first post a decade ago, "I'm sure thousands of stories have echoed off the walls" of Lucky's.

And the prices? Yes, this is North Park, where you can get a $17 bowl of pho a few blocks away. And yes, this is 2018.

Four bucks for two eggs with bacon, hashbrowns, and toast. Don't forget to finish your toast….Lucky doesn't like waste. Lucky sees everything. If he sees that you've finished your toast, he'll ask if you want more.

The coffee….well, it's "authentic"……100% Folgers. Still under a buck.

This is a one man show, Lucky has no wasted motion, he moves with deceptive efficiency and my breakfast is on the table within minutes.

The eggs are a perfect easy over, the toast is great for sopping up all the drippy egg yolk……the hash browns are SYSCO heavenly and the bacon crisp. This cost me $4.10 mind you. Also notice the bottle of Tabasco. I recently went to Island Style Café and just like Leilani's Café they didn't have Tabasco. Except that instead of telling me they didn't have Tabasco, when I asked for it, they just silently dropped off a bottle of Sriracha.

I mentioned having Tabasco to Lucky, who told me that even though he could get a gallon of Tapatio for the same price of a couple of bottles of Tabasco, things just wouldn't be right without it. I like that; it just "wouldn't be right".

Eating at Lucky's always remind me of the places Mom took me to, we didn't have much money and didn't eat out much. It was always a treat. To me, eating at Lucky's is a treat.

And then there are always Lucky's "words of wisdom"….not too much on this day; though he did encourage the young lady to butter her toast since butter was "good for your complexion".

And to file under the "Lucky sees more than you realize". After I paid my bill; Lucky always rounds things off, he told me "you haven't been here in a while" and handed me this.

World Peace & Happiness…….in recent months, I've heard, folks at work, and even some friends of mine surprisingly spout some of the most hateful and resentful rhetoric. We could use some peace and happiness….as usual Lucky has hit it on the nose.

As for the fortune cookie?

I hope so……

Lucky’s Golden Phenix
3804 Grim Ave
San Diego, CA 92104
Hours:
Mon – Sat 730am – Noon

You can read a wonderful post on Lucky in Eater.

Happy Sunday!

Ferrara – The Cathedral, a Walk Around the City, and Al Brindisi, the oldest Wine Bar in the World, aka Copernicus Slept Here

October 6, 2018 mmm-yoso Emilia-Romagna, Italy, Italian Restaurants, Italy, Travel

It was probably not the best plan on my part. I had thought Easter Sunday might be a problem and was kind of worried about finding places open. We did luck out with a gigantic meal at Osteria Carducci in an almost sedate Piacenza. Which pointed out two things I didn't know about Easter in Emilia-Romagna; folks in the big city head out to smaller towns; like Ferrara, to celebrate and enjoy life. Two, the Monday after Easter is a holiday and places would be packed. We searched for a decent place for lunch but every place was booked, or just served stuff like pizza and panini. We did manage to snag reservations for dinner.

We decided to just go ahead and check out this charming city; remember the amazing Street Performer?

Ferrara Cathedral dominates Piazza Trento e Trieste considered to be the center of the city. While there was a lot of restoration work going on, we decided to check out this structure which dates back to the 12th Century.

The interior is quite grand in a rather foreboding kind of way; as it is rather dark.

There were services going on; so we decided to just take a quick look around…..

It would be interesting to see the Cathedral after all the restoration work is complete.

As we slipped into the quite street behind the Cathedral we saw this place.

Al Brindisi….where did I hear that name before? Then in a rare example of my brains cells all firing at the same time, I remembered. Al Brindisi is said to be the "Oldest Wine Bar in the World".

Like 583 years old! So now for the name dropping; Copernicus studied at the University of Ferrara in 1503. While matriculating, he actually had a room right above Al Bridisi.

So, if it was good enough for Copernicus; it must be good enough for us.

Being a bit later in the afternoon; we just decided on some Culatello (of course) and a couple of glasses of wine. A red for the Missus and a white for me.

Along with the Culatello, we were served the famous and typical bread of the city; Coppia, which means "couple" has a unique shape, two strands of rolled dough are connected like a cross, with four "legs".

This was fairly dry and crumbly, though very "yeasty"…..it's not something we'd search out.

The Culatello was decent, not quite melt in your mouth, but still satisfying.

There is a definite porky-cheesy flavor to culatello which I really love.

So, are you ready for our Al Brindisi story? It's about the Missus's red wine….first of all, it was turning a bit skunky to the nose….

It tasted like it was on its way to becoming a nice vinegar. We motioned our really nice Server over and explained to him that the red wine was going south. His response? He flashed us an uneasy smile and said "SOOO-rrreeee". And walked away never to be seen again! You couldn't help but laugh!

Oh well, we cut our losses…this red was really inexpensive.

And we now have a story about the oldest wine bar in the world, right?

Enoteca al Brindisi
Via Guglielmo Degli Adelardi 11
44121, Ferrara, Italy

After our snack we headed out and stretched our legs.

Ferrara was indeed an "interesting" town…..looks like this fellow is trying to sell his books?

Just a few blocks from the center of town; things were a lot quieter. This is the Piazzeta Sant 'Anna

This was once the sight of the first hospital in Ferrara, dedicated to Saint Anne.

We headed away from the city center……just taking in some of the wonderful structures along the way.

That's the Chisea del Gesu above, a Jesuit church built in the 16th century.

You kind of get the idea that they measure time in centuries here. In need of a nap before dinner we headed back, past the Castello Estense di Ferrara.

Past all the busy craft booths.

It was time for a nap….and then dinner!

Thanks for stopping by!