mmm-yoso – Page 169

Ginger Pho & Grill

December 27, 2017 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Ginger Pho & Grill has closed

A few months ago I received an email from "SomTommy". He asked me if I could check out a place on Plaza in National City that supposedly made a good Bun Bo Hue. I really hadn't heard of a place in National City making at good BBH; but heck, I did get a fairly passable bowl of pho in the area recently so why not? Turns out the place is actually in the very busy mall that houses Seafood City on Plaza.

I did notice that there's been a bit of turnover in the mall since my last visit. Manila Resto is gone, there's a new, what looks like the ubiquitous Crawfish place, and a few places I don't recall seeing before. Though the veteran restaurants like Golden Chopsticks, Bread Deluxe, and Goldilocks is still doing good business. As was Porky's Lechon.

As for Ginger Pho & Grill, well, there were a couple of tables occupied; all getting pho, but I went with the Bun Bo Hue. This actually took a while to get to me; which had me a bit concerned as I saw everything else just rolling out of the kitchen in minutes.

Eventually, it did arrive. First thing I noticed was the strong orange color of the broth; orange, not red, and how cloudy it was.

The plate of herbs and veggies were very fresh; though mostly lettuce and purple cabbage with a sprig of mint thrown in.

The broth was quite spicy, an in your face blast of chili heat. There was a mild richness-fattiness to the soup. The rest of the broth seemed so plain in comparison; very little lemon grass flavor, no beef or pork notes, no sour or savory (shrimp paste) tones; it was basically just spicy.

The meat was well prepared; the rustic cuts were think enough, but not hard, there were two pork hocks in soup; one was wrapped in a nice, toothsome piece of skin; the other tasted slightly off, so I passed on that. The two pieces of tendon was well prepared and pretty tender.

The bun was cooked well, slippery, with a decent stretchiness to them.

If the broth had a bit more than spiciness going for it; this might have been a pretty good bowl.

Recently, I had to drop by Seafood City, so I decided to try the pho at Ginger.

I went with good 'ol #4; the well done steak, brisket, flank, tendon and tripe. I went with the small size priced at $6.99.

This was an interesting bowl. First off, the broth was really mild and severely defatted. It was also barely over lukewarm. The basil had brown spots, but there was a generous portion of bean sprouts. To illustrate how warm the broth was; I placed half of the bean sprouts in the broth and they never softened.

I like my noodles "al dente", but this was too hard for my liking. I'm thinking the broth wasn't hot enough to finish cooking the noodles and what I got was on the too hard and chewy side.

The best part of this pho was the proteins; other than the tripe which was MIA. All the meats were fairly tender, especially the brisket and tendon.

There was a generous amount of noodles and meat in this $6.99 bowl of pho. I think this illustrates what the folks at Ginger believes folks are looking for here; large portion sizes and more meat.

Service was typical; perfunctory without being rude; efficiency rules. The restaurant is nice and clean, prices are reasonable. For me; there is better pho…and Bun Bo Hue out there.

Ginger Pho & Grill
1420 East Plaza Blvd
National City, CA 91950
Hours:
Open 9am – 9pm Daily

Merry Christmas!

December 24, 2017 mmm-yoso Alsace, France, Paris, France, Travel, yoso-silly

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season!

Funny thing, we're not real big "Christmas folks". But something strange happened during our last trip. First, we visited Galeries Lafayette in Paris. Every year, there's a theme, and a huge Christmas Tree spanning five stories under the dome of the department store. You can click on the image and it will take you to the video page.

And then we went to the city of Strasbourg, which claims to have the largest Christmas Market in Europe. They say that Strasbourg is the Capital of Christmas. The entire city becomes a Christmas Market.

Yes, it's very commercial, but for some reason all the happy people, all the sights and sounds, just put us in a great mood.

You could say we found our Christmas spirit!

Want to see more amateurish videos?

You can find them on Flickr – here, here, and here.

We hope you have a fantastic and delici-yoso Christmas!

Copenhagen – The Little Mermaid and a Memory Card Fail at Bror

December 23, 2017 mmm-yoso Denmark, Fine Dining, Nordic/Scandanvian Food and Restaurants, Travel

After a nice break for lunch at Almanak, we headed back out. The Missus had seeing the statue of the Little Mermaid on her agenda.

We walked past the very Amsterdam looking Nyhavn Canal. There was a Christmas Market there as well. We'd walk though it on our return visit to the city.

Past the distinctive Opera House.

Until we got to the area known as Langelinie. Walking alongside the water you'll see a crowd of people. Of course, it has to be the Little Mermaid.

Shades of Mannekin Pis is pretty much all I have to say.

Watching the crowd is actually more interesting. As they try and get selfies and sometimes as close as possible to this rather small statue.

A study in human nature…..

As we walked back in the direction of our hotel, we did pass a couple of interesting sights in the area. This is the Ivar Huitfeldt Column which commemorates a battle during the Great Northern War.

And this striking fountain.

This is the Gefion Fountain. The dramatic scene depicts the Goddess Gefion driving four bulls. It is Copenhagen's creation story if you will.

According to the legend, the Swedish King promised to give Gefion all the land she could plough in one night. Gefion turned her four sons into oxen and carved out what is now known as Zealand, the island on which Copenhagen resides.

We also found the church in back of the statue; Saint Alban's (also known as the English Church) to be quite striking as well.

We headed back to the hotel, down the street known as Bredgade. It had started to drizzle a bit, so we looked around for a place to have a short respite. We noticed a church with an impressive copper dome, so we decided to take a look.

This is Frederiks Kirke (Frederik's Church), a Lutheran Church and has quite a story. The church was designed in 1740 and work started in 1749. But due to literally death and taxes, the site stood in ruin for over a hundred years. In what at the time was a highly controversial move, the land was sold to Industrialist Carl Frederik Tietgen on the condition that a church be built along the lines of the original plans and that it be donated to Denmark when completed? So what did Tietgen get out of it? Well, in turn he acquired land rights in the area.

There's a word you'll hear quite often in Denmark; Hygge. To me, it seems more of a concept than a word; that feeling one gets, I believe you can be alone or among friends. A coziness, that content feeling, secure, trusting, comfort…… Our hotel had "hygge hour", basically happy hour in the lobby. The Missus had a glass of wine, I had a pilsner. It was nice and relaxing.

We then headed off to dinner. I had a list of places to try but had to cross off a bunch of them because I couldn't get reservations. Amass comes to mind. Bummer, because the chef and owner, Matt Orlando is form San Diego. I had heard so much about "New Nordic (Danish) Cuisine". I went ahead and got reservations at Restaurant Bror; opened by two former sous-chefs at Noma.

Anyway, here's what happened. During the meal, my memory card failed. I have a couple of SD cards that are getting fairly old. Since, unlike the two Asian Young Ladies who we saw taking copious notes during their meal at Bror, I don't take notes….it's my memory and the photos that cue up many of my recollections of my meal. Guess my gear is getting old. This is the second card to go over the last 3-4 months. Sorry to say you won't be getting a post on our wonderful meal at Sushi Noguchi…..or I may just do a COMC with the photos that made it.

So, the deal with Bror is that you get either a four or five course set menu. You can also order a selection of snacks. Things like Bull Balls….yes, literally bull balls and such. The menu features some interesting ingredients, which we found in most cases to be too salty, put together in combinations where nothing really stood out. Several times; we ate each of the ingredients from the composed dishes and found them to be quite good separately, but together it was just a mish-mash.

For some reason, the Missus really didn't care for the bone marrow butter. I found the bone marrow and pickled pumpkin crispbread to have a rather unpleasant clash of flavors and textures….think pickled lard.

And so it went. The service was excellent and the wine tasting was fabulous.

But overall, this just didn't do it for us.

The dishes seemed to lack focus and direction. The cod head was supposed to have horseradish sauce; which tasted just like plain mayonnaise.

The best item we had was the cod – pesto lettuce cup. Though you really could have been eating any type of fish since all the clashing flavors cancelled each other out.

Sad, because I was really looking forward to these meals. This also kind of turned the Missus off on set menus….though it was kind of too late for Her because I had reservations at places in Amsterdam and Paris that had multi-course set menus. Luckily, we enjoyed those meals much more, especially Alliance in Paris.

So perhaps it's better that I just leave it at that.

Restaurant Bror
Skt. Peders Stræde 24 A
Copenhagen, Denmark

I still had an open evening during our return trip to Denmark. I was going to make reservations for a late lunch at a Copenhagen main stay that has been around since the 19th century or a set menu dinner at another restaurant. Guess what won out?

A Walk Around Copenhagen and Lunch at Almanak

December 21, 2017 mmm-yoso Denmark, Nordic/Scandanvian Food and Restaurants, Sandwiches, Travel

We started our first full day in Copenhagen with breakfast and then headed off. We were staying in the Nørreport area, which we enjoyed. Not as hectic as other parts of the city, but still centrally located. We decided to use the day to walk around the city. Rådhuspladsen, City Hall Square is considered to be the heart of the city by the guidebooks we read, so we headed off down Nørre Voldgade.

Taking a left on H.C. Andersens (yes, that H.C. Andersen) Boulevard coming right up to the square. As you can tell; the weather was a bit gloomy and overcast, but after having some record heat as we left San Diego, we really enjoyed the cold.

Copenhagen's City Hall is quite impressive. The tower of the city hall rises high above the square.

To the right of City Hall is a statue of Han Christian Andersen who seems to be staring wistfully at Tivoli Gardens across the street.

Interesting thing about taking a photo from this angle. The statue actually holds a cane in the left hand. From this angle though; doesn't it look like the statue is holding a knife and is perhaps not too happy about having to stare at the entrance of an amusement park for eternity?

On the otherside of city hall is the statue called "The Lure Blowers" which depicts two warriors lowing into a Lur, one of the oldest known instruments, dating back to the Bronze Age.

According to local, ahem "lure lore" the bronze statues will actually blow into the lure if a virgin walks by. For what it's worth; I've never heard of anyone actually hearing a peep coming from that horn…..

To the left of the "blowers" is the Strøget a collection of pedestrian streets that winds its way thru the center of the city.

Along the way you'll pass the University of Copenhagen, churches, and buildings that hide wonderful courtyards.

That distinctive obelisk is the Reformation Memorial. It celebrates Denmark's decision to break away from the Catholic Church, transitioning to Lutheranism in 1536.

It stands right in front of the Church of Our Lady.

We took a quick visit inside the cathedral. Which was bright, with clean lines, and is lined with statues of Jesus and his Apostles.

It was quite different from most churches we visit.

Rick Steves Copenhagen Guide recommends heading around the Holy Ghost church and thru a passage at #32 Valkendorfsgade. There you'll come across a lovely and peaceful square (Steves says its "beer-stained", but I think we were there during the off season) called Gråbrødretorv.

Nearby are the two squares known as Gammeltorv ("Old Square") and Nytorv ("New Square"). The Old Square features a distinctive fountain known as Caritas (Fountain of Charity).

This is the oldest fountain in Copenhagen and has quite an interesting story.

There was a Christmas Market on Nyhaven, so we decided to take a look.

It had all those necessities…meat in tubular form….

Traditional Viking Drinks……

And even sleeping dogs…..

Walking a bit further up the street we ended up on busy Amagertorv.

We took some time out to visit the beautiful Royal Copenhagen Store.

We then took a turn and headed down Købmagergade. I really wanted to have a hot dog from Den Økologiske Pølsemand, but the Missus refused. Suddenly, we heard some music, and wouldn't you know it, out of nowhere, a marching band came down the street!

We turned around and headed across Amagertorv and crossed the bridge to the island known as Slotsholmen ("Castle Island"). This has been the Center of Government since the Middle Ages. Many of the most impressive structures in Copenhagen reside on this island.

Christiansborg Palace.

Confederation of Danish Enterprise (Dansk Erhverv) – which I believe is sort of like the Chamber of Commerce.

And the very distinctive Børsen, the former Stock Exchange.

By now, I was getting a bit hungry. So we headed up along the waterfront until we came upon this retro looking building known as "the Standard".

I'd read about a restaurant named Almanak that took up half the building. The restaurant specialized in modern interpretations of the traditional Danish open faced sandwiches known as Smørrebrød.

The restaurant was fairly empty when we arrived. The very nice and tall (actually, just about everyone is tall here) young lady sat us; provided the one page lunch menu, and went through all the various smørrebrød, their preparation, what was more traditional and what was not. In the end we went with three sandwiches; which turned out to be enough for a light lunch.

Starting with the oh-so delici-yoso Christmas Herring.

Turns out that the Missus, who is not always fond of oilier fish loved pickled herring. And this version, pickled with the addition of beet juice, which added a tinge of sweetness to the savory-briny pickled herring. The texture was almost buttery; the dill helped cleanse the palate; the almonds added texture, the rye bread was moist and pleasantly dense.

The Smoked Salmon was equally delicious.

The sprouts added a slight and pleasant bitterness and crunch. The horseradish was just pungent enough to balance out the wonderful smoked salmon. The pickled lingonberries was also very tasty.

The only clunker was the Homemade Liver Pate.

We were somewhat puzzled when the supposed open-face sandwich arrived with bread on one side of the plate and a bowl on the other. Touching the bowl, I found it to be lukewarm. We could identify mushrooms and chunks of beets which lay on top of a grainy looking mush. This really looked like liver thrown in a food processor, brown-grey with some red bits floating around. The offal flavor was very pronounced, as was the unpleasant texture and metallic after taste. One quick note; I'm not the biggest fan of many liver dishes….my mom used to make liver for me as punishment. The Missus, who likes liver had a difficult time eating this as well. Not wanting to insult anyone; I finished the dish off. But from this point on, if we saw pate on the menu in Copenhagen; unless we saw it first, we just couldn't order it.

We did have very nice service. As for the price? Are you ready? Three open faced sandwiches (we later found out that 2-3 per person is normal) and one bottle of sparkling water…..was over $50 US. Not cheap…..

Almanak
Havnegade 44
Copenhagen, Denmark

But what the heck; we were in Copenhagen and next up….we'd be searching for the Little Mermaid.

Cypress – Cafe Hiro

December 20, 2017 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Japanese Restaurants, Orange County, Road Trip

Work has been a real "bear" for me this year. This past quarter, I've had to make several trips to the OC for work, which culminated in a two night support stay.

It was over a weekend…no biggie since I'd already done almost 20 days straight of work. We had a bunch of choices for places to stay, with most of the support team staying in Irvine near our customer.

I chose to stay in Cypress. Yes, Cypress. You see, since this was a weekend and I'd be heading to our location at around 6am, there wouldn't be any traffic. Plus, this hotel was even cheaper than the other choices.

But why Cypress? Well, it sure wasn't to check out the Noodles & Company or the El Torito that basically shared the same parking lot with my hotel.

No, it was to be able to finally visit Café Hiro.

I'd been waiting to check this place out for years. You see, when I first started this blog back in May of 2005, the focus of the food blog back then wasn't a career path and social media as know it now was in its infancy. Remember Friendster ? Facebook was still a Harvard campus oriented site; it wasn't released to the public until 2006. By the time I had started the blog; there was already a pretty strong food blogging community, yes, in those days it was sort of a community and "Elmomonster", perhaps you are more familiar with his food blog Monster Munching was going strong. Elmo, or you probably know him more by his real name these days, was one of the first to comment on this blog. One of Elmo's favorite places is Café Hiro; he's done multiple posts on the place over the years, culminating with a poetic Valentine's Day post in 2016. In November of 2017, a full twelve years since I first read about the place, I finally had an opportunity to check out Cafe Hiro.

I made my reservations for later in the evening since I'd be working almost a full day in San Diego, then drive up. And oh what a drive it was….a full 140 minutes of thrills and excitement. I managed to check in at the hotel and then decided to do something that drew a bit of attention; I walked there from my hotel, up Valley View Street. Several cars actually slowed down to see the odd sight of a person walking of his own free will up the street. I'd forgotten………

The place was full, except for the small bar area, which is where I was seated.

Things were pretty busy; but the two young ladies working were very efficient and quite nice.

I had my sights set on Uni Pasta, but when a woman walked in to pick up 10 orders of Uni Risotto, well, my mind was made up.

Things started with a simple, refreshing crisp salad.

And a cup of creamy potato soup; which, to be perfectly frank, could have been hotter.

Though I did enjoy the touch of curry flavor in smooth and creamy soup.

For some reason I was a lot more hungry than usual. I really can't eat as much as I used to anymore. Perhaps it was the twelve years of anticipation? Regardless, I ordered the Beef Tataki – "Japanese Style".

Which was pretty much by the book; the beef pleasantly toothsome; I enjoyed the refreshing ponzu-daikon oroshi, and the pungency of the onions. Not a big fan of the fried garlic which was on the bitter side. This was a nice version of Beef Tataki.

My risotto took about thirty-five minutes; which is perfect in my book. Risotto takes time. There are very few versions of restaurant risotto here in the states I enjoy. Most of it is terribly par-cooked, leaving the center of the Arborio rice hard and rather unpleasant. This was nice and creamy all the way through.

All the seafood as a whole was well prepared; the shrimp plump, juicy, with a briny-sweetness, the calamari adequately tender, ditto the mussels. The Manila Clams had a bit of grit in it, but not enough to stop me from eating. The flavor was at once rich, yet quite mild and balanced with just a hint of sweetness and a definite oceany finish. It was very good.

I actually wanted to return to Café Hiro the next evening, but wasn't sure of when I'd be finishing up work. So I decided against making reservations. I did show up and the place was packed so I had to go with a Plan "B".

I'm glad to have finally been able to check out Café Hiro. It is worth a visit. I spent a good amount of time during my meal thinking about how much time has passed since I started this blog; all those SoCal folks…..Dylan & Jeni, Pam, Kristi, ChubbyPanda, Andy…..Beach! I wonder how they're all doing now. Passionate Eater still has a post once in a while and Elmo of course, still does a post weekly. But time has passed, lots of things change in twelve years. And my visit to Café Hiro gave me time to reflect on things. So maybe I wasn't twelve years too late……I'm thinking it was just the perfect time!

Cafe Hiro
10509 Valley View St
Cypress, CA 90630

Elmo, I'm not sure if you still drop by once in a while. But thanks man. Not only for all the posts and emails over the years, but for being, along with Reid, one of the folks who inspired me to start this little old blog way back when!

Revisits – Santouka and Grandma’s Tofu & BBQ

December 19, 2017 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Korean Restaurants, Ramen

I've been a bit under the weather. This past weekend was especially tiring. I guess getting in from Copenhagen after 8 in the evening and heading right back to work the next morning at 6 might do that to you. Then there's the fact that a bunch of folks at work are sick as well, it inevitable I guess.

Anyway, here's what I had to put me back on the road to recovery.

Santouka Ramen:

With the cooler weather, there's no way the Missus would turn down Santouka. she really enjoys the Shio Toroniku Ramen. To the point that we had to make a pilgrimage to the original location of Santouka in Asahikawa. We had the usual; a large shio toroniku to share and a bowl of natto gohan, also to share.

While the broth still falls a bit short of the versions in Japan; this still hits the spot. Not too greasy, a wonderful tongue a belly coating richness. Just enough saltiness. The thickness of the bowl keeps the broth hot; something you definitely need in Asahikawa where the coldest temperature in the Japan history was recorded(-41°). The pork was nicely flavored good porkiness and soy, but was on the tougher side this time around. The noodles were just short of excellent, a bit too soft.

But it did hit the spot. Menya Ultra might be getting all the publicity these days, declared Restaurant of the Year for 2017, but Santouka is comfort food for the Missus and I.

Santouka Ramen
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd(In the Mitsuwa Marketplace)
San Diego, CA 92111

Grandma's Tofu & BBQ:

I was feeling a bit congested and the Missus suggested Grandma's Tofu & BBQ. It had been a while. We went with the Heukyumso Jungol, Korean Black Goat Stew. We hadn't had that in a couple of years.

This was much better than what we had on our last visit here. The broth was spicier, which really helped to clear me out. The goat meat was nice and gamey and quite tender to boot. Love the flavor of sesame leaf; it adds a nice fibrous texture and anise flavor to things. A lot heartier than on previous visits as well.

Too bad the panchan was second rate. As you can tell; it was fairly dried out, the baechu kimchi, which we consider a staple was quite fishy, too salty, without a nice fermented flavor.

We stopped by Nijiya nad Zion on the way home. Firm tofu from Nijiya. and while I'm not such a fan of Zion anymore, they had the good packaged "old style fermented kimchi" in stock. Not cheap, but it kind of reminds us of the versions we had Seoul, along with sesame leaf. It was even more spicy and much richer the next day.

Grandma's Tofu & BBQ
4425 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Putting me on the road to (hopefully) recovery.

Hope everyone is keeping warm and in good health this holiday season!

Birrieria El Primo

December 18, 2017 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants

On one of my "taking the long way to work" weekends; I took a really long way; University City via Chula Vista. I decided to stop by Hogetsu and noticed this birria shop had opened in the old Utage location.

So I decided to grab some breakfast and birria sounded just great. This is purely a birria de res shop; so no goat here.

The dining room is broken into two portions, one side was really busy, the other empty. Since I was eating solo, I had a seat at what was Utage's former sushi bar. For some reason, the counter here is very high.

Since this is a Birrieria, ordering was quite easy. The young lady working here was very friendly, with a nice, bright smile.

In a somewhat humorous moment, the young lady approached the counter and placed some chips in front of me while at the same time a hand appeared over the counter handing me the consommé.

The ships were crisp and still warm.

The soup already had onions and cilantro in it and was hot enough to melt steel. It was slightly beefy with what seemed like the distinct flavor of ginger coming through. I've had jugo de res with rather assertive onion or garlic, but a strong ginger flavor was a new one for me. The broth was also on the lighter side.

The pickled onions had quite a kick to them and went well on my tacos dorados.

Which, like the consommé came already dressed with onions and cilantro. The tortilla, while a bit on the "thinner" side, had a nice texture; slightly pliable, but still crisp. The birria de res was very tender and moist, though the flavor was on the milder side. I do prefer the richer, heartier, version of birria de res at Fernandez Restaurant and Catering and could have done with a more beefy flavor. Still, not bad overall.

The café de olla cleaned things up nicely for me.

I'd eat here again. Nice service and decent prices.

I really need to check out some of the other Birrierias in the area.

Birrieria El Primo
1200 3rd Ave
Chula Vista, CA 91911

Airport Food – Japan Airlines Sakura Lounge (Narita) and Iceland Air Saga Lounge (Reykjavik)

December 17, 2017 mmm-yoso Airport/Airline/Cruise/Rail Food, Iceland, Iceland Food and Restaurants, Japan

Just a short posts on a couple of airport lounges.

One of the perks of flying First or Business Class is use of the lounges. Regardless of how small or limited offerings, it is usually a lot more relaxing then hanging out at the gates. and it makes for a nice break for at least getting some water or coffee.

Japan Airlines Sakura Lounge (Narita):

I'd heard this lounge was always pretty busy, but it was quite empty during our visit. It is a very large lounge!

The food offerings were decent.

Hot options were curry, hamburg steak, and beef bowls.

I went with some curry rice and miso soup. The curry was surprisingly good.

This beer dispenser caught my eye…..

So I had to try it out……

You place the glass on the stand; press the button and the machine tilts the glass and tries to gently pour in the beer. If the idea was to cut down on foam; I don't think it worked real well. Kind of fun to watch though.

On this trip, the lounge was a nice place to wait for our flight.

Iceland Air Saga Lounge (Reykjavik):

On our way back from Iceland, we had use of the Saga Lounge at Keflavík Airport. I really didn't expect much; but man, the variety of decent quality eats was quite impressive.

I also really liked the fact that there were some local specialties included in the offerings.

Like a version of Plokkfiskur (mashed fish).

Hangikjöt (smoked lamb)……

Two types of pickled herring; which was pretty good and of course the rye bread.

I actually preferred this to what was offered in Business Class on our flight back to Seattle.

And, there was one last surprise. While getting a refill of sparkling water, the really friendly young woman brought out a huge platter of battered, fried shrimp. She looked at me smiled and pointed at the plate. Basically telling me I needed to try some; so I did.

I'm not sure how long that batter would hold out before getting soggy…..though I doubt that it stays around very long…… It was hot, the shrimp fairly sweet, and the batter crisp.

We really didn't expect much and this ended up being a nice surprise.

Copenhagen – Bibendum Vinbar

December 16, 2017 mmm-yoso Denmark, Nordic/Scandanvian Food and Restaurants, Travel

By the time we head out on one of our trips; the Missus usually has me planning the next one. Well, at least the flights. The Missus missed seeing Northern Lights during our time in Iceland, so that needed to be handled. She wanted to spend more than Her usual time in "my favorite city". I knew She loved Paris because there's usually a "no more than two or three night" rule for most places.

Eventually, things came together, as they usually do. And after leaving San Diego at just past 7pm, we got into Copenhagen at around a half-past-seven the next evening. Having never flown into CPH, I wasn't sure how long immigration and transportation would take. We knew we'd definitely need something small to eat upon getting to our destination. Doing research, I found that most places closed around 9pm, at least around where we were staying. Also, it would be rather dark, a new city, so something close to our hotel was probably a good idea.

In the end, getting to Nørreport Station from the airport was quite easy. Since we don't check luggage, even for a three week trip, we grabbed our bags, and headed off. Passport check (unlike what we experienced in Brussels) took less than ten minutes. I quickly noticed something interesting. While usually low-keyed and reserved; Danes and Norwegians are quite quick to smile, not a crazy huge smile, but what seems, at least to me, a rather content one . The passport control woman looked at my passport, did her checks and gave me a smile and nod, and said "welcome, have a great stay"! The M2 metro takes you right to Nørreport Station and it was a short ten minute walk to our hotel. We enjoyed the location since it wasn't super crazy.

From there, it was literally a five minute walk to Bibendum Vinbar.

The place was pretty busy, in contrast to the rather quite streets. It was strange to see no cars actually driving on the streets. As whole, for a city with a population of over a million, we saw very few cars. In chatting with folks later, we found that any car that sold for less than around $13k was taxed at 105 percent, cars more than that are taxed at 180 percent. Also, we found the mass transit system to be quite efficient, and while not quite on the crazy level of Amsterdam, there were quite a few bikes with bike lanes everywhere.

I'd chosen Bibendum because of the later hours. The kitchen closes at 930pm. I'd made what I thought was optimistic reservations for 9pm. But due to how quickly we were able to get from the airport and check-in, we were pretty early. We decided to take the short walk down the street and see if we'd be able to eat early. While the table that was to be ours still had folks enjoying the evening, the bar area was empty, so we asked, and were seated at the bar.

I won't go into the wine we had; but will say, we were given tastes of several, based on our preferences, and enjoyed them all.

It was a light meal, just two dishes, starting with the Pate (90kr – about $14.25 US).

A rather petit portion, but fairly decent tasting combination pate of duck, pork, and chicken livers, topped with a pork aspic. Very clean, mildly offal-ly flavors. The fennel cream was interesting, but the fennel fronds really helped to cut through any richness. The fried chicken skin was crisp and quite good.

When we left San Diego, temperatures were in the 80's. Arriving in Copenhagen, it was in the high 30's. So we thought a some soup would be a good idea. We settled on the Goose Consommé (110 kr – about $17.35 US). What initially arrived at our table was a bowl containing lovely slices of smoked duck.

I had a piece of duck and it was nicely toothsome, sliced very thin, good smokiness, with a very nice savory "duckiness".

Which was nice until they poured that broth on it.

There was definitely soy sauce in this; not very good soy sauce. The was very salty and one-dimensional in flavor, with a slight tininess to it. It really tasted like very bad soy sauce ramen broth. It was a bit of a bummer as there was no rich-gamey flavors of goose in this.

Well, one out of two ain't bad. The wine was very nice, though the temperature was a bit off. The folks working here were very nice as well.

Bibendum Vinbar
Nansensgade 45
Copenhagen 1366, Denmark

And….we were on vacation….in Copenhagen.

Where in the World Are We – Part Trois

December 14, 2017 mmm-yoso Alsace, France, French Restaurants, Paris, France, Travel

As you read this, we should be home and dry.

The last part of our trip was enjoying the Missus's favorite city.

And while we did visit some of our favorite areas, we decided to really eschew the Museum visits this time around and visit some of the other neighborhoods.