Author: mmm-yoso

Tid Din – A Soft Opening Visit

Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Thai Restaurants

A few months past, I was driving down Linda Vista Road and noticed that Taco Bomb had closed and was being replaced by a Thai Restaurant named Tid Din. While doing a search, I found the place’s website here it stated:

And looking over the menu….even though it listed mainly English names; it stated Spicy Larb, Grilled Marinated Beef – I’m thinking Nam Tok, sticky rice, etc…. Needless to say; I was a bit excited about the place. I mentioned it to Adam who is one of JJ’s favorite “Uncles” at BHT who lives close by in Linda Vista. And wouldn’t you know, last week he texted me and said the place had opened!

So, when I had a moment, I headed on over.

I’m guessing word hasn’t gotten out yet, since I was able to get parking in the small parking lot. And I walked on in.

The young lady working was so sweet and friendly. I then looked up at the menu…….

And thought “what the heck”?

Make it a burrito? Edamame? No larb, no sticky rice…. This looked like a pseudo food court, fast foodish menu. With four different mains. Still, it said “On the grill” which had things like a good Mu Ping on my mind. It seemed weird that a “rice bowl” was an additional $5.50, but a side of Jasmine Rice was $3. I decided on two proteins; the grilled pork ($9) and grilled sliced beef ($12), with a side of Jasmine Rice ($3), medium spicy; with Tamarind and Thai Chili Fish Sauce.

It was a nice day and I had a seat on the patio until my name was called.

The nice young lady actually brought out my package…..I had gotten it packed to go since I thought I wouldn’t be able to finish things. A fork and napkins had also been packed.

I opened things up….and was disappointed.

The meat hardly had any caramelization.

The portion of rice was generous and while a bit on the harder-chewy side was fine except for one thing I noticed right off. Take a look.

There were several “streaks” of what looked like drippings or sauce or…..skid marks???? I removed all those areas.

Also of note; I ordered the meat medium spicy; but these were not. I can forgive that; since it’s a soft opening.

The beef was simply stir fried.

The beef was the typical 10up – 12up, typically used for bulgogi and such. It wasn’t marinated enough and quite bland and on the chewier side.

It lacked hints of sweetness or herbaceous, savory pungency and was basically like something drenched in soy sauce. Just salty.

While the pork was drier and chewier; it at least had some porkiness.

Still, like the beef, the overall flavor was one-dimensional. But I did prefer this to the beef as it did seem to be grilled. But it was definitely not Mu Ping.

The sauces were “interesting” as well. The Thai Chili Fish Sauce was just that….straight up fish sauce with some chilies. The proteins were salty enough.

The tamarind sauce tasted like a bottled brand…..but at least had some fruity sweetness which helped things along.

To say I was disappointed….well yes…I fully didn’t expect Pok Pok, but just decent Thai street food and got what to me, was low level shopping mall food court stuff. A bummer, because that young lady was so nice. Still, with USD near by, this place might do well….you know; like “Thai-potle”? You can now get your Thai chicken burrito and all that.

I’m hoping that the menu and food improves. And with folks like “FOYs” Denver and Junichi nearby; I’m sure they’ll keep me in the loop!

Tid Din
6725 Linda Vista Rd.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 11am – 8pm

London – The British Museum and Ruskin’s Cafe

Caffeine Fix, London, Travel

**** No food in this one. But if you’d like to see a bunch of stuff the British Stole (I’m joking) read on!

On our return trip to London, we had one full day. There was one item at the British Museum that I’ve been wanting to see. So, I went ahead and booked online tickets (admission is free) for the 10am opening time. One of the reasons I had planned on staying in the Paddington area was that the Elizabeth Line takes you to Tottenham Court Road Station in about five minutes after which there’s a nice ten minute walk to the Museum.

As with all our strolls in London; there’s always something interesting to see.

We were quite early so we headed up Museum Street to a cafe named Ruskin’s for some coffee. There seemed to be quite a few Japanese and Korean restaurants in the area. We even saw a Din Tai Fung! And the name of this place caught my eye!

You know why, right? I think “FOY” Junichi will get a kick out of this photo.

You order at the counter and the really nice woman working brought out our Flat Whites. No big deal; on the weaker side of the scale, but serviceable.

Ruskin’s Cafe
41 Museum St.
London, UK

After which we headed up the street to the museum. It was 20 minutes before opening and good gosh, there was already quite a line down the block….of folks who actually had times tickets!

Things did move quickly once the clock struck 10 and we were inside in good time.

The British Museum is humongous and much like the Louvre, one should have a plan and to really enjoy things, perhaps not try to see everything during one trip. Heck we’ve gone to the Louvre three times and have only scratched the surface.

Over the years, the British Museum has come under fire for their collection having been plundered from other countries over the years. The museum itself has a page on “Contested Objects“. In fact, I’ve enjoyed the Podcast “Stuff the British Stole“……. In spite of this, there’s so much historical and cultural significance to the collections, that I couldn’t help but visit. Rick Steves likens visiting the British Museum to “taking a long hike through Encyclopedia Britannica National Park.” Of course, some of you younger folk may not know what Encyclopedia Britannica is……

And like I mentioned earlier; there was one item I needed to see….this.

Yes, that’s the one and only Rosetta Stone.

It’s discovery in 1799 allowed for the deciphering of Egyptian hieroglyphics. The text carved into the stone; which dates back to 196 BC is of a decree from King Ptolemy V and is written in three different scripts; the top is Hieroglyphic, the center Demotic, and the bottom Greek. Thus linguists could do a translation. I had first read about the Rosetta Stone in Elementary school and even though it was obtained during military action between the French and British, Egypt has called on the British Museum to return it. I was thrilled to finally be able to see it!

We spent our time between the Egyptian and Greek collections. Luckily for you, I managed to take photos of the signs of things I thought were interesting so you won’t have me droning on…..

Pretty cool, huh?

From here we headed to the Greek Collection.

And then it was off to the Parthenon Galleries.

Which were removed from the Parthenon by Thomas Bruce; the 7th Earl of Elgin during the early 1800’s. It is said the the Earl had his men chisel and saw the marble off the Parthenon. Thus these are called the Elgin Marbles. Though these were taken during the Ottoman rule of Greece, it has been a source of contention for many years. Having been to the Parthenon, it saddened me to know that only half of the sculptures are at that site, the other half here. I’m hoping they can settle this once and for all.

There was one other display that caught my attention; it’s a collection of 30,000 clay tablets, dating back to the 7th Century BC discovered in what is now known as Northern Iraq. This is known as the Library of Ashurbanipal, named after the “last great king of Assyria“.

The city where the “library” resided was consumed by fire as the Babylonians attacked the city in 612 BC. All the wood and parchment documents were burnt, but these clay tablets survived. At the time of our visit, it was being cataloged. We really enjoyed the translations. Especially this one; which has a statement I still hear today.

You’ve heard it or said it before, right? “I give, I give, I give, and what do I get????”

On that note….

The British Museum
Great Russell St.
London, UK

It was time to head on out and get some lunch! And I had a place on my “list” that I’d been wanting to try for years!

Thanks for stopping by!

London – Dishoom (Carnaby)

Indian Restaurants, London, Travel

After settling in and taking a nice afternoon nap; we decided to set out for dinner. After enjoying our meal at Tamarind and since well, we were in London, I thought we’d use that opportunity to have Indian cuisine again. Several folks I know recommended Dishoom and since we enjoyed strolling around London, I decided on visiting the SOHO location in Carnaby.

We enjoyed our walk on this winter evening from our hotel in Paddington.

Finally to Carnaby and then Kingly Street.

Arriving at Dishoom….well, the place was bustling, and would be even busier when we left as there was a small table available for us.

Service was on the slower side and pretty much all business….though I can totally understand based on the crowds. I ordered the one dish that came highly recommended, along with two others. There was a 30 minute wait for our first dish which arrived with a trio of “chutneys”.

The Chutney did have some heat to them; but for some reason seemed on the watery side. That Coriander and Mint Chutney reminded me of a weak salsa verde.

The first dish to arrive was the Prawn Koliwada – basically prawns tinged with the coriander and mint chutney.

The prawns were overcooked and on the chewy side. The charred edges provided some bitterness that we didn’t care for.

This was fairly bland in terms of Indian cuisine and we made good use of the Coriander and Mint Chutney.

The one dish everyone recommended to us was the Chicken Ruby, which is what Dishoom calls it’s Butter Chicken.

Hmmmm……we liked the texture of the sauce, it had some hints of ginger, but was very mild, except in the sodium department. The chicken was toothsome, but pleasant.

The Naan arrived with this.

Thin, but overly chewy, not very good.

The final dish was the Chilli Chicken which we were told reflects more of a Chinese-Indonesian influence as soy sauce was used.

This had a definite hint of sour-vinegary tones, not overly salty, decent savory flavors. It could have used more “heat” and spice. And the chicken was on the tougher side of the scale.

Hmmmm……not quite sure why folks seemed to like this place so much??? Perhaps it was an off night? But, to be perfectly honest, this really did seem like chain restaurant food. Oh well, you can’t win ’em all, right?

Dishoom Carnaby
22 Kingly St.
London, United Kingdom

Right around the corner from Dishoom is Liberty Department store and we stopped in to browse. The Missus loves the department stores in London!

And we had a nice stroll back to our room.

We had one more full day in London….and after Dishoom, the Missus was kind of concerned about the places I had chosen…..

Stay tuned!

Woomiok with JJ

Dog Friendly, Korean Restaurants

We had a pretty hot end of August – beginning of September. And for that reason, over the space of a couple of weeks, I was really craving Bi Bim Naengmyun. While checking for dog friendly Asian places….which is a rarity here in San Diego….I saw Woomiok mentioned several times! And while we’ve mostly done takeout from Woomiok since the days of Covid. It had been a while since I’d last visited. And I’d never had the naengmyun from the place….and even though I’ve seen the tables along the walkway. I had never seen anyone sitting there. So, this was going to be an interesting one!

We arrived right at opening and I peeked my head into the restaurant and asked if JJ and I could sit at an outdoor table. In my experience with Woomiok, folks have always been very nice and this time was no exception. I will say, that sitting on the walkway is kinda interesting…

As folks keep walking past…..though many of them smiled at JJ and a couple even asked to pet him!

The folks working were very nice….but as I’ve mentioned before; there’s “Dog Friendly” versus “Dog’s Allowed”; Woomiok falls in the latter category. But, no complaints as the service was very attentive considering I was sitting outside and a bit out of the way from folks.

I order the Bi Bim Naengmyun which is prices at $16.99 for lunch.

The panchan was better than I recalled; especially the baechu kimchi – so refreshing, fermented nicely, with good spice. And the Musaengchae was quite crunchy…..nicely pickled as well. This was a nice start.

Soon enough the standard accoutrements arrived. Pungent mustard and vinegar. I usually don’t need this for my Bi Bim Naengmyun, but for the version that Woomiok serves, it came in handy.

Of the three versions I had during that two week period; this was my least favorite version. For some reason, the noodles weren’t as “rubber-bandy” stretchy and chewy. Strange. The boiled egg was severely over cooked….look at the grey ring. I’m used to having the standard soup served with ice on the side….this was served in the bowl along with the usually spicy Gochugaru, which watered things down. For some reason, it seemed on the blander side of the scale and I actually added mustard and vinegar for some “zip”.

Well, I’ll pass on this in the future. As I mentioned earlier; the folks working were so nice and seeing the outdoor tables at Okan made me wonder if JJ would be welcomed sitting outside there as well?

Woomiok
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Sun – Thurs 11am – 9pm
Fri – Sat 11am – 10pm

Chicken Wing Wednesday – Wei Wei Asian Express

Chicken Wings, Chinese Restaurants

One of the things I’ve always loved about having this little ‘ole blog for all these years are…well you all! It’s the comments; the great emails, and of course, the recommendations! Admittedly, I’m sometimes a bit slow on the trigger, but I do try to keep track of things via and ever busy Google Map. Recently, I was craving Salt and Pepper Chicken wings. Of course, the usual suspects came to mind.

But then, I recalled some recommendations that I’d gotten years ago from two very dependable “FOYs”; Bruddah’s James and Jack for Wei Wei Express. So, instead of heading down to National City, I was off to Rolando and finding Wei Wei Express in a strip mall (of course), right off University.

I had arrived right at 11am and the place; which screamed “ABCDE” (American Born Chinese Dining Establishment) was already looking pretty busy. There were four cooking stations going full blast.

The set-up is interesting as half of the restaurant seemed like a pick-up. storage area with just a couple of tables. Those boxes on the counter were for trays of food being prepared.

While the “nicer” (it’s all relative) tables were on the other side.

You can tell how much stuff comes out of here by taking a gander at the ceiling….

Anyway, the prices are quite reasonable. Figuring I needed some veggies to go with my wings; I ordered the Sautéed String Bean – the lunch special, which came with Fried Rice and a Veggie Egg Roll was just $8.45, a bargain these days.

It was simple fried rice…with just soy sauce, decently coated. The Veggie Egg Roll was terrible, chewy, no flavor.

The green beans were adequately fried, still had a nice crunch and snap, but a bit under seasoned, in need of more white pepper, salt, and garlic.

That lack of salt and garlic on the beans made me worry a bit about my Salt and Pepper Wings – 6 pieces, $9.49, but I shouldn’t have worried.

The wings were crunchy, though starting to get a bit soft after the 20 minute drive home. The seasoning was quite good…..Wei Wei does not use MSG….which I kind of liked as the wings had a decent amount of sodium. Very nicely flavored.

The flesh was moist with just the right amount of toothsomeness. No dark patches, no off flavors.

I enjoyed scooping up the chilies-green onions as it it added another layer of flavor. Of course, I preferred the wings to the drumettes.

So, I guess I really don’t need to head on down to National City or Chula Vista for my S&P Wings anymore? I was pleasantly surprised!

This also made me wonder about the local ABCDE restaurant fairly close by; which I haven’t been to since we first moved here over 20 years ago! Hmmm…….I need to be less of a snob with regards to ABC type places, huh?

And, of course I need to thank “FOYs” James and Jack for recommending this place!

Wei Wei Asian Express
6465 University Ave.
San Diego, CA 92115
Current Hours:
Tues – Sun 11am – 9pm
Closed on Mondays

Wildflour

Breakfast/Brunch, Dog Friendly, Sandwiches

**** Wildflour has closed

Wildflour, another one of Phillip Esteban’s projects opened in Liberty Station opened at the end of February. I’ll head down to Liberty Station if I’m not hitting up Secret Sister for sourdough and I noticed that the place didn’t look too busy.

JJ enjoys walks along the Esplanade and I thought if I got here early enough, I could grab some breakfast with J and then take him for a stroll along the park. So, we headed on over. The hosts stand is on the patio which makes things really great. I often feel bad taking JJ into a restaurant when it’s just the two of us.

There’s an small indoor section with a bakery/deli area for takeout and some seating.

Though the patio is nice and stretches along Decatur Road.

We checked in and choose a table along the end of the patio. We do this to be mindful of folks who don’t like being in the company of pooches.

There was small and pretty limited menu for breakfast.

The two folks waiting on us were wonderful! They treated JJ so nice….like he was a VIP (Very Important Pooch)!

I thought my Americano was pretty good; fairly strong, but smooth.

Of course seeing Beef Tartare on the menu….well, I just had to try the Ribeye Tartare ($15).

The bread, a Country Levain was excellent…wonderful, more airy than I’m used to with Levain, but really good. A mild sourdough like flavor, it was quite satisfying.

The Beef Tartare was quite over-the-top; the Chemoula Aioli; basically a herb mayo, was fine, but there was just too much of it. The rib eye was nicely chopped, but too chewy for my taste.

The Bearnaise sauce was much too thick and gloppy, thicker than the aioli! It was also too sour for my taste. And like the aioli, there was just too much of it. This was like a mayo on mayo open face sandwich. Quite over-the-top!

Still, the service was so nice, that I decided to bring JJ over for an early lunch; arriving just at 11am.

And we sat on the patio; basically in the same location. The young lady working was quite nice, though not as friendly with JJ as on the previous visit. Still, he had no complaints, having a nice area to settle in the shade.

Having already had my caffeine fix for the day; I just settled on Half a Sandwich and some chips.

I really enjoyed the chips…though at $4 a small bag!!!!

Loved the texture and wonderful salty-sour flavor. I think I’ve seen this at Target, so…..

I had heard some nice things about the Mortadella Sandwich (Half – $10) so I ordered that. I cracked up when it arrived. Man, was it a carb load!

Again, the bread, a nice toasty focaccia was my favorite part of the dish, though there was just too much of it. I had really developed a taste for Mortadella while visiting Emilia-Romagna, gaining a fondness for the oinkiness of the salumi. The entire bread to filling ratio was skewed and the mild Stracciatella, of which there was a small amount really didn’t contribute to the sandwich.

I do think that Mortadella already is fairly mild in flavor and given the amount of carbs…well, it was nullified. I vote for “More – Mortadella” please!

I liked the relaxed and friendly service as did JJ, but having a meal where a bag of chips was highlight…… Though if you do need a “carb load”….

Wildflour
2690 Historic Decatur Suite 103
San Diego, CA 92106
Current Hours:
Wed – Fri 8am – 2pm
Sat – Sun 8am – 4pm
Closed Mon – Tues

At least J got to cruise around Liberty Station…..

Taking the Eurostar from Paris to London and Some Exploring

Airport/Airline/Cruise/Rail Food, London, Paris, France, Travel

**** Not much food in this one, but if you enjoy trains as much as I do……

You know me and trains, right? Even though I was a bit sad at leaving Paris, I was quite excited to finally be able to take the Eurostar high speed train from Paris to London. Many years ago, I watched a documentary on building the Channel Tunnel and I’ve been waiting for a chance to finally take the Eurostar…and the time had finally arrived!

One of the reasons we stay in the 2nd and near Les Halles is easy access to the RER. In this case we caught the RER D and one stop later we were at Gare du Nord. Where we followed the signs to “Hall 2”. It was interesting as we had to check our ticket, then do both a EU and UK passport checks before getting to the departure hall….we were riding in Eurostar Plus, but not Premier, so we didn’t have lounge access and simply waited in the departure hall.

Though there we separate lines for boarding.

Plus has the same large seats as first class and because of when I purchased my tickets were only 10€ more than “standard class” and was cheaper than standard when I checked a month before our trip!

Quite roomy, USB ports, and a small meal is served.

And the Missus enjoyed the complimentary white wine.

In fact, the really nice attendant noticed how much the Missus enjoyed the wine, that she brought her another bottle. Which we saved for London. Our train departed at around 115pm GMT+1; arriving at London St. Pancras at 230pm GMT. The 2 hour 15 minute ride just flew by!

St. Pancras Station is huge. I believe when it was built, the station was declared to be the largest indoor space in the world!

We saw this charming sculpture named the Wild Table of Love on the way to the tube.

Once we found the metro station; it was a quick ten minute ride on the tube to Paddington Station. We were staying in a different area from when we initially arrived. I planned our stay close to Paddington Station, which gave us easy access to the Heathrow Express and was in a part of London we hadn’t explored yet.

Our room at the Mercure London Hyde Park Hotel was ready when we arrived. We dropped off our bags and decided to head out to explore a bit.

About 20 minutes later, we found ourselves on Oxford Street and this department store.

Named Selfridges, which apparently opened in 1909. The Missus had really enjoyed Fortnum and Mason, so I thought She’d enjoy shopping as well.

Selfridges was really a lot of fun…it’s a very playful upscale department store.

And seems to have “stuffs” for ahem, all ages and “stages of life”……

It was a fun stop!

Selfridges
400 Oxford St.
London, United Kingdom

We headed down Duke Street and came across this lovely church.

And we decided to take a look inside.

Looking at the signs we found out that this is the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral! And of course, after returning I started noticing this Cathedral in the background of various news stories regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

We explored Duke Street a bit more, before heading back to our hotel.

It was time for a short break before heading out to dinner!

Thanks for stopping by!

Paris – L’Escargot Montorgueil Revisited, CIAL Restaurant Coréen (since closed), and a place I’ve posted on a zillion times

Caffeine Fix, Cocktails, France, French Restaurants, Korean Restaurants, Paris, France, Travel

**** I’m not going into too much detail since there’s a revisit and CIAL has already closed.

I guess we’ve been to Paris so many times that it feels like my second home….at least the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Arrondissements do. And since our stay was basically a four nights to link the Cinque Terre/Milan to London, we really didn’t make too many plans as we figured we’d be returning soon. This was, of course before we got the “little squirt”, so perhaps we should have done a bit more….but still, this was like our 9th time in Paris.

Staying at the Citadines, near Les Halles is quite convenient. The studios have a full kitchen and we really enjoyed the view of square below.

As you can see, it had been raining the night before. And being the creatures of habit that we are, headed off to our usual stop for morning coffee and people watching on Rue Montorgueil; Café du Centre. As always, some cafe allonge and “une carafe d’eau”.

And watch the “theatre of life” pass before us.

After which we headed on out to wander aimlessly. You’ll always see something interesting in Paris. On this day, there was a huge line in front of this shop.

Looking in the window…well, I cracked up as it looked like stuff based on Manga characters. Looking up the place, I found out it’s a yearly pop-up for Maison Ghibli! A store featuring “stuffs” based on Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli! In Paris! My goodness! Paris is always full of surprises!

And of course, we love the names of businesses here!

The clocks seems to move so quickly here! Before we knew it; it was time for lunch. I’d usually plan for our meals….but since we just wanted to relax and enjoy ourselves we hadn’t made any plans. The Missus di want some Asian food. One of the great things about Paris is having access to a decent variety of cuisines. I mean, we have our favorite “neighborhood” Sichuan and several Ramen shops that we frequent. Heck, we’ve even had decent hot pot….though we’re still searching for some good jiaozi.

During our walks, I’d noticed a Korean restaurant, on one of the side street of Rue Rambuteau. Named CIAL Restaurant Coréen.

It was a bit chilly, so I thought the Missus would enjoy a Dolsot BiBimBap and perhaps I could get some Tofu Jigae.

It seems the place was quite popular with the French folks for KBBQ. It was quite interesting as I was greeted with “Annyeonghaseyo”! All the staff on this day were Korean and they thought I was as well!

Anyway, from what I understand this place has closed since our visit, so I won’t go into too much detail. The baechu kimchi was pretty good, fermented tones.

The Missus’s Dolsot BiBimBap was ok. The dolsot wasn’t hot enough and the rice never developed a ncie crust.

I decided on some Doenjang Jigae; the fermented soybean based stew. It was fairly weak in flavor, but really did warm me up.

Basically mediocre Korean. Still, it’s interesting to see the variety of cuisines available in Paris!

CIAL Restaurant Coreen (Since closed)
16 Rue Mondétour
75001 Paris, France

We did a typical after lunch walk and took in the sights….

Before heading back to the Les Halles area.

And indulging in another typical travel habit….the afternoon nap!

Upon waking, we relaxed, had some tea, before deciding to head out for dinner. And of course, there was something happening close by….on the stage right outside Les Halles shopping mall.

For some reason, I felt like the “musicians” were having just as much fun as the folks listening!

While in Milan, the Missus really became attached to Aperotivo time and of course, She wanted to experience the same here! So we headed back up to Rue Montorgueil and Café du Centre.

Though we’ve had drinks here before; we’d never had little bites with our wine and Kir Royale before!

This was quite nice!

Café du Centre
57 Rue Montorgueil
75002 Paris, France

As for dinner? Well, I hadn’t made any reservations for our last evening in Paris. My initial thoughts was to hit up a Boullion, perhaps Bouillon République again? But the Missus really wanted to have the Escargot at L’Escargot Montorgueil once again! I guess She wanted to make up for the dozens of times we walked past the place thinking it was tourist hell…..and then finding out that it was quite good. We entered doing our best “marcher avec grâce” (walking with grace)….well, at least the best that a Sansei from Hawaii with two left could do…..

Our Server was again Olivier, whom we thought was a caricature of the stereotypical French waiter. But much like what we thought about L’Escargot Montorgueil we were wrong.

Olivier had a great sense of humor….drier than a French Sauvignon Blanc, delivered with a totally straight face! When we asked him how long he’d been working at L’Escargot Montorgueil, he told us “many, many, years…..longer than the furniture here has been in existence, older than Monsieur Escargot on the sign!”

Of course we ordered the Escargot and the Foie Gras, both of which were as good as what we had on our previous visit.

And of course because I’m so predictable these days….in the comments of my previous post “FOY” Kenneth asked how the Chanterelles were….because he knew we must have ordered them the next night, right?

Oh man, the boiled egg with a sinfully oozing yolk, the sauce so rich, a light acidic sweetness to go along with the earthy, yet lightly sweet-savory tones of the chanterelles.

There was not enough baguette to sop up all the drippings. We went thru three baskets of them!

The Missus really enjoyed the wine picked out for us. In spite of what we were eating, She wanted a white, so Olivier chose this.

The Missus also enjoyed the Creme Brulee for dessert.

While I had a lovely Vermouth.

This was a lovely last meal in Paris. And, I’ve learned my lesson to not disregard places just because of their location.

L’Escargot Montorgueil
38 rue Montorgueil
75001 Paris, France

After dinner we took a nice stroll up Rue Montorgueil….just enjoying the vibe.

Before heading back to the hotel. We’d be getting a nice night of sleep before heading back to London. Instead of flying, we’d be getting there a way I’d been wanting to travel since I first read about it many years ago. Boy, was I excited!

Thanks for stopping by!

Diamond Palace Revisited

Chinese Restaurants, Dim Sum

Recently, the Missus was craving some chicken feet. So after going thru some of the options for dim sum…..San Diego just doesn’t seem to cut with regards to dim sum….at least to the Missus and I. In the end, because we thought the shrimp based items were decent we decided to return to Diamond Palace.

We arrived at around 1030 and found the place empty.

Which might be great for other restaurants….but since DP still utilizes carts….well, it could mean many items aren’t available or you’d have to wait until they are.

Luckily, there was only one item we wanted that we had to wait for. And the Missus got Her Chicken Feet.

Which She said was better than what we had here before. Much more savory-soy sauce flavor. She enjoyed gnawing on these.

We saw an item not featured on the regular menu, the Shrimp-Fish Ball with Dried Scallop Sauce.

I’m usually not a fan of fishballs, but the addition of tender-sweet-succulent shrimp, along with the intense sweet-oceany and rich dried scallop potage, this was delici-yoso! The sort of sui mai-ish wrapper was fine and didn’t interfere with the dish. This was our favorite item of the meal.

Speaking of Siu Mai. We got the shrimp version. As with many DS places these days, all the items tend to be on the large side.

Like before; tender, sweet, and savory shrimp. Quite good.

I still think the wrappers on the Shrimp Har Gow are a bit too thick.

The filling was a bit too rubbery and on the dry side; though the “shrimpy” flavors came thru nicely.

The one item we were interested in trying was the Pan Fried Shrimp and Chive Cake. This one we had to order off the menu. These were quite large as well.

The wrapper was a bit too chewy for us. But I really enjoyed the full on “chivey – shrimpness” of the filling. If you like the grassy-pungency of chives along with plump, sweet-savory shrimp, this one is for you.

Overall, an enjoyable dim sum meal. Like I mentioned earlier; we stick with the shrimp based items at Diamond Palace. Though if you find other items we should try; please let me know.

As for the prices……well, even after having the “Har Gow price shock” at China Max, I was still a bit taken aback at current dim sum prices here.

Diamond Palace
3993 54th St.
San Diego, CA 92105
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri 10am – 9pm
Sat – Sun 930am – 9pm

Super Dumpling (Carmel Valley)

Chicken Wings, Chinese Restaurants, Xiao Long Bao

A few months back, I heard about a new XLB/Jiaozi restaurant opening in Carmel Valley named Super Dumpling. After doing a bit of research; I found that these were the folks who owned Sunny Noodle on Clairemont Mesa, which has since been replaced by Spicy Noodle. This kinda dampened the excitement a bit since I wasn’t overly impressed with my meal there. Though the jiaozi was ok, it was definitely not in the same league as Ju Feng Yuan or Lucious Dumpling (both of which I need to return to) in my opinion. Still, a couple of weeks passed and curiosity got the better of me (doesn’t it always?) and I had some time….even with the “crazy boy” at home to head on over to check the place out.

It was an interesting drive as I really don’t get to this area off the 56 very often. It was actually a pretty quick drive. The restaurant itself is located in a large mall with a good amount of parking available.

It was just past opening time as I entered and the simple, but spacious dining room was empty.

The two folks working were really friendly and I was led to a table. There’s also the very typical dumpling making area near the counter as well.

Of course I ordered the Pork and Cabbage Jiaozi ($12.95) and was wondering about the Popcorn Chicken ($10.95) as well since I find it hard to get a good version of that here in San Diego.

The dumplings arrived in a few minutes. This was actually better than what I’d had at Sunny Noodle; though the wrappers were on the thick and brittle side thus tearing easily.

The filling was on the dry – chewy side of the scale, fairly porky, with hints of sesame oil.

Overall, not bad; though I still prefer what Ju Feng Yuan and Lucious Dumpling serves. It does seem like jiaozi is stepping up here in San Diego. My good friend “YZ” had warned me that when she visited, you could tell the jiaozi were frozen. I’m thinking that the filling might indicate that.

As for the Popcorn Chicken. Well, it was quite a large portion.

More like chicken strips than “popcorn chicken”, the batter was mealy – crunchy and somewhat hard, on the salty side with a strong pepperiness.

Though the meat had nice soy sauce – seasoning tones; the chicken itself was really tough.

Still looking for some good Popcorn Chicken here in SD.

Really nice service and the prices were not bad; so I decided to return.

This time I got the Garlic Fried Chicken Wings (6pc – $12.95). They should have called with “Sodium Bomb” chicken wings….good lord and if the chicken wasn’t salty enough, the wings were topped with even more salt! There was a chili based powder provided as well.

The batter was fairly crunchy and fell apart easily. The flesh was moist, but had so much blackish meat. It was hard getting past how salty this was.

Every so often, I get distracted by those “shiny things”…..I had meant to try the Xiao Long Bao here. And I did get XLBs…but while I should have acted rationally; like I did trying the basic jiaozi, I ended up ordering the “Signature” Xiao Long Bao ($19.95). I haven’t had much luck with these “variety” XLBs; if it be locally at Facing East or even in Taipei at Dian Shui Lou. But still, here I went and ordered it.

Yes, quite colorful. And I took some comfort knowing that all the coloring was “natural”, even the blue on the Chicken and Corn XLB, is supposedly made by red cabbage…..why it’s blue…well, you got me?

And which was the best? Well, obviously what I should have gotten in the first place; the Pork XLB.

It didn’t have a whole lot of soup and the wrappers were on the firm and brittle side; like the jiaozi…I prefer my XLB to have a more “pillowy” wrapper. But the filling was quite porky, with hints of what seemed like ginger.

The Chicken and Corn XLB was also not bad – even though that neon-ish color seemed a bit disturbing.

My least favorite were the Korean BBQ Beef XLB which had no soup and was really tough and the Black Truffle; I really couldn’t make out truffle flavor.

The two crab versions were not bad; but nothing to write home about.

I’m glad I got to check out Super Dumpling. Though now I really need to head back to Ju Feng Yuan and Lucious Dumplings.

Speaking of Ju Feng Yuan; I’m wondering if my two “FOYs” who recommended JFY; SD Julie and RD have checked this place out; and if so, what are your thoughts?

And for another view on Super Dumpling, you can check out Soo’s post as well.

Super Dumpling
3870 Valley Centre Drive #301
San Diego, CA 92130
Current Hours:
Mon – Thurs 11am – 3pm, 5pm – 830pm
Fri – Sun 11am – 3pm, 5pm – 9pm