mmm-yoso – Page 188

Paris – More of the Right Bank and Boco

January 12, 2017 mmm-yoso France, French Restaurants, Paris, France, Travel

After our very nice and refreshing stop at Laduree, the Missus was itching to do some shopping.

I was however, quite surprised that She kept a rather leisurely pace as we headed down Champs-Élysées.

And while we didn't visit the exhibition at the Grand Palais, which was actually built as an exhibition hall for the Universal Exhibition of 1900, the building has had many uses over the years. During World War I it served as military hospital, during the Nazi occupation a truck depot.

We stopped at the statue of Charles de Gaulle on Place Clemenceau to take a photo.

This area, full of lovely green spaces is called des Jardin des Champs-Élysées and is quite lovely. There are many statues and fountains located on the garden grounds. This one, named "Fontaine des Ambassadeurs", also known as the "Venus Fountain" dates back to 1840.

The Avenue des Champs-Élysées ends at a large public square, Place de la Concorde, know for its two grand fountains.

And one dramatic looking, gold topped obelisk, which was originally located at the entrance of Luxor Temple in Eqypt. If you've read our posts on Istanbul, Rome, and even Brno, you'll know that the Missus has a thing for Obelisks, so we had to stop here. The Luxor Obelisk is supposedly over 3000 years old and was shipped from Luxor in 1832, arriving in Paris late in 1833. The pedestal details how the obelisk was transported to Paris, quite an engineering feat back in the day. The original pedestal resides in the Louvre. The gold leaf Pyramidion was installed in 1998 to replace one that had been missing since the 6th century.

It's quite a busy area.

We were going to check out Place de la Madeleine, but by this time the Missus was focused. So we turned left on Rue Saint Honore, then left on Rue Cambon, and arrived at the Missus's destination in the very upscale Opera Neighborhood.

They flagship store of Chanel……sigh. It was quite an experience, with one on one service, refreshment, and so on. I won't go into how much $$$$, or should I say "€€€€" the Missus spent. But let's just say She was quite happy…except for not having shoes in Her size.

In case you're thinking about stopping by:

Chanel Cambon
31 Rue Cambon
75001 Paris, France

The Missus, disappointed in Chanel not having the shoes She wanted, had a plan B so we headed off. At least I know why they call this area "Opera". It's because of the Palais Garnier, the striking looking Opera House.

Around the corner from the Opera House on Rue de la Paix is a location of Repetto. Repetto was founded in 1947 as a maker of ballet shoes. It is super popular in Japan. Being married to the Missus has its hazards; I know more about handbags and women's shoes than any red blooded male should. Anyway, the shoes are quite beautiful. The Missus requested black; but the savvy saleswoman brought out a pair of the Repetto BB in Flame Red and told the Missus they were the number one selling shoe in Japan! I gotta admit, they did look good, so I told the Missus buy them both (She's since bought four more…..sigh). Here's a wonderful blog post if you want to know more about Repetto shoes. There was one funny thing that happened. As I paid for the shoes, the young lady who helped us looked at my name and started talking to me in fluent Japanese! Ok……tis was starting to get a bit surreal. In chatting I found out she was one-quarter Japanese, though she didn't look it at all, and felt more comfortable speaking in Japanese than English!

Boutique Repetto
22 Rue de la Paix
75002 Paris, France

Lest you think I've gone around the bend and this has suddenly become a fashion blog…..

**** This location of Boco has closed

The Missus and I were getting somewhat hungry. While we didn't want too much to eat since we had quite a dinner planned, a croissant and coffee was just not going to do. Looking at my trusty Google Map, I noticed one of the places I entered, an interesting concept restaurant named Boco.

Created by two brothers, Vincent and Simon Ferniot, the shop is basically what I'd call Fast-Casual…or perhaps "Fast-Bistro". It has definitive French twist. Most of the items are served in a "bocal" (glass jar), which, in additional to being recyclable, means you can eat it in the restaurant, or take it home with you. In fact we saw two folks come in and leave with bags full of jars. I read that most ingredients are organic, and here's the kicker, are recipes from a star studded cast of chefs.

You basically pick your stuff out….let them know if you want to eat in, whereupon they'll heat up the items that need it, or take it to go.

Word of warning; this ain't super cheap. Especially if you visit the shop in Orly Airport. But just wanting a smaller sized meal, this proved to be quite relaxed and nice.

We started with Rabbit Rillettes and Celeriac…sorry no photo, we were hungry and just whacked this.

This recipe was courtesy of multi-Michelin starred chef Stéphane Décotterd. It was refreshing, the lapin perhaps a bit on the dry side, but the celeriac and mustard-aioli based sauce was really nice. Not too rich, nice acidity.

The Missus loved the Ouef Moelleux et Mousse de Courge au Lard.

Think of it as a perfect poached egg in a pumpkin mousse, with bacon. This recipe courtesy of Gilles Goujon, whose name I recognized. He is the chef and owner of Three Michelin starred L'Auberge du Vieux Puits.

My favorite dish was the lamb confit over winter vegetable ratatouille.

So perfectly gamey…at Orly, the whole dining area of Boco there smelled like this. Kinda scary to Americans, comforting to me. Loved the sauce, a bit of acid, some tanginess, I think from a tomato product, with an interesting sweetness. The lamb was both tender and gamey…the flavor of the green pasture coming through.

Overall we enjoyed this meal. It was comforting, the portion sizes not too large, definitely not like your friendly neighborhood Chiptole, Five Guys, Luna Grill, or Panera. The young man working here was very friendly. Not everyone's cup of tea….but if we had one on the corner, I'd be there quite often.

boco
3 Rue Danielle Casanova
75001 Paris, France

From here we headed back, walking through the Jardine de Tuileries. Folks were out and about, socializing. We stopped to watch this game of bocce.

A couple of the guys waved me down…wanting me to embarrass participate. I just laughed and nodded a solid negative. Where was the uptight and serious French folks told me about?

Surely not here in the park…enjoying the fall colors or lounging by the fountains.

We walked along the Seine and past Place de la Concorde.

Passing by the steady gaze of the statue that represents the City of Lyon.

And over the bridge.

We meandered our way back to our hotel on Avenue de la Bourdonnais.

We decided to take a short nap. As we unloaded our bags, you could see that the Missus had "made out".

But you know what? In my own way, so did I…..

Thanks for reading!

Revisits – Mister Falafel and Havana Grill

January 11, 2017 mmm-yoso Cuban Restaurants, Lebanese Restaurants, Mediterranean Restaurants

Here's a few revisits to places close to my office.

Mister Falafel:

**** Mister Falafel has closed

My last visit was nothing to write home about, but a revisit was due. I really wanted to know if that visit was a fluke and the falafel was as good as my first few visits. The folks here are the nicest people, so I should really come more often. I think it's the location of the place, out of view from the street, that makes it slip from my mind. Not being very hungry, I went with the Falafel "Munchie" ($5.99).

And while this was much better than on my previous visit, it was still missing something. It's a bit more gritty these days, but not bad at all and truly quite filling. I like the flavor; not too much parsley. I'm wondering if they still use the same ratio of favas to garbanzos?

The tahini here is not my favorite version; kind of bland, the pita was fine, standard issue stuff.

As always, the folks working here are warm and wonderful. And yes, they make this stuff fresh so you'll have to wait a few minutes……which is the way things should be.

Mister Falafel
4461 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117
Hours:
Tuesday – Sunday 1100am – 800pm

Havana Grill:

Soo has already posted on the Rabo Encendido here (you can read my comment in the post). The version he had looked nice, though perhaps over done. I ordered it because it wasn't on the menu during my first visits to Havana Grill.

What I got was enormous; though obviously under done and on the tough and chewy side. In fact trying to cut it without holding with my mitts, it broke the plastic knife. The flavor was quite tangy and not quite the flavor I'd experience in other versions I've had; a bit of sweetness, somewhat beefy, and in some version a bit of clove/allspice, and definitely some garlic tones. This wasn't bad; just kind of one tone in taste.

The biggest disappointment were the black beans, which during my first visits back when they first opened was really nice; complex in flavor. This one was bitter, really watery, like the stuff was from the bottom of a pot that had been cooking too long.

The rice was dry, the plantains very tasty. The folks, nice as always. I'm probably going to stick with the Ropa Vieja and the El Cubano, which placed second in my Cubano comparison during future visits.

Havana Grill
5450 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

Back to “Private Kitchens”

January 8, 2017 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

**** This place is no longer

Since my first post on this place a few weeks back, I've been back a couple of times. On a stormy night, a group of my friends got together….we managed to steam up the windows on half the restaurant.

And we got to sample the won ton soup here which Eater San Diego mentioned as well.

It seems like they are slowly adding things to the menu.

The Missus and I went once. But as She says, it can get pretty old after a while. What doesn't get old, at least on cold nights for us is the "tang", the bone based broth. What we found out was that they sell the broth, it's $4.99 for the large version. We really like the "extra spicy" version of this bone based broth.

Which ends up being 2-3 meals for us…..

After picking up the broth, head to the new 99 Ranch Market. The Missus favorite items? Wintermelon, daikon, a variety of bean curd products, bean thread, various vegetables…you name it. Because the broth is nicely rich; it seems like we go mostly vegetarian on this.

Talk about a warming meal that will leave you with a nice sheen of sweat on your forehead (the extra spicy is not super spicy), with a nice "ma" (numbing) to go along with a slight chili induced endorphin high. Can you say "aaaah".

It's worth the slight communication thing…..I had the Missus spell out the broth in Chinese, but just tried to order "tang". The sweet young lady, thinking I was speaking English hilariously pointed to the duck tongues.

The folks working have always been quite accommodating and friendly to us.

So as the next storm moves into San Diego….maybe grabbing some of the hot pot broth and your favorite items (I saw them packing 10 portions of broth and fixins to go during my last visit) might be a nice option for spending a "night in".

Private Kitchens
5440 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

Paris – Champs-Élysées and Laduree

January 7, 2017 mmm-yoso Desserts, France, French Restaurants, Paris, France, Travel

Our first night in Paris was rather low-keyed. We got a great night's sleep and the Missus was ready to go in the morning. The skies were overcast and hazy, but that didn't stop folks from enjoying the Eiffel Tower….like these Nuns, with smartphones and iPads, taking selfies even!

We had an outline of what the Missus wanted to do on this day and crossed the Seine on Pont d'lena.

I guess they decided not to turn on the fountains in Jardins du Trocadero because of the rather dreary weather on this morning.

From the Palais de Chaillot, the Missus decided She watned to wander Avenue d'Eylau and Rue de Longchamps to Avenue Victor Hugo where we stopped for some espresso and shared a croissant. Up Victot Hugo, we then crossed the super crazy roundabout and headed up Avenue Raymond Poincare to one of the richest and most prestigious streets in Paris; Avenue Foch. Finally stopping at the Arc de Triomphe.

This iconic to celebrate and symbolize France's victories and those who fought for and died for the country in a very Roman way. Take a look at the sculpture of Napoleon being crowned by the Goddess of Victory.

And while Napoleon died long before the completion of the Arc, his remains were passed through the Arc on its return from Saint Helena, on its way to Invalidies.

It seems like so much of French history events have occurred with the Arc as a back drop. From the funeral procession of Napoleon, to the Germans marching past after defeating France in the Franco-Prussian War, to the French and Allied forces marching victorious in World War I, to the Nazis during the occupation of France in 1940, to Allied forces after the Liberation of France. As recently as 2002, an assassination attempt was made at the Arc, French President Jacques Chirac.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I was buried here on Armistice Day in 1920.

We decided to take the stairs, all 284 of them to the top.

The stairs weren't too bad, but somewhat dizzying.

The view from the top, even on a overcast, foggy day was still stunning.

And we'd be crossing over to Avenue des Champs-Élysées upon leaving.

There were a few "musts" on the Missus's list for being in Paris for the first time; one of them was a walk down Champs-Élysées. It was a pleasant walk, but really didn't have any of the type of shopping for the Missus's taste. There were some interesting things though, like why no "Golden Arches" for what is considered the "the largest McDonald's Restaurant in the world"?

Apparently, there's some strict sign codes on the Champs-Élysées and if Mickey D's, or "MacDo" as they call them here, wanted to operate on the Avenue. By the way, did you know that the second largest market for McDonalds is France? WTH….. But, according to this posting in NPR, there may be some really good reasons why.

The one must stop for the missus was the Flagship store of Laduree, established in 1862, one of the two "King of Macarons" in France; the other being Pierre Herme, whose namesake used to work for Laduree.

Man, this place was quite….well fancy schmancy…..the boutique and even the counter.

We decided to head to the back area; the "Bar Laduree", which has a bit of a strange underwater theme. Had me humming "Octopus's Garden" by the Beatles.

It seemed to be just the right place to take a break and the Missus's sweet tooth was telling Her it needed to be tended to.

I started with a café noir. I love the way that these lovely shops always provide a little piece of chocolate with your coffee…..or rather, the Missus loves collecting these little tidbits.

Not being big on sweets, it was the Missus ordering all the way. A couple of macarons, which we ended up taking with us. And something from the dessert menu called the Ispahan, which are rosewater macarons sandwiching raspberries and lychee. Not cheap at 12,5€, but it was something that even I enjoyed.

Note overly sweet, with a nice balance of tartness. This was quite fragrant and very elegant as I felt like a complete barbarian trying to eat this.

The Missus loved it and She also enjoyed Her macarons which we ended up taking to go.

The service was very professional, the vibe relaxed. It was a nice little stop on our walk down the Champs-Élysées.

Ladurée
75 Avenue des Champs-Élysées, 75008
Paris, France

Yep, so there I was….sipping a café noir, munching on a frou-frou dessert, in a underwater themed bar on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. Who'd have thunk? My day dreams ended quite quickly when the Missus nudged me and said, "ok, enough of this….let's go spend some money." A phrase that sends shudders across my wallet…..

Thanks for reading!

For other thoughts on Laduree, please check out Kirbie's posts, here and here.

Recently Consumed – The Numb Nutz Edition

January 5, 2017 mmm-yoso Cooking, Playing with my food, yoso-silly

For the two years or so, one of my favorite snacks is this……

These "spicy" peanuts are quite addictive. They aren't super spicy, but also have that "ma" (numbing) thing going on with whole Sichuan Peppercorns used along with dried chilies. It's a nice salty, spicy, and numbing snack. Inevitably I started calling these "numb nutz". I even started giving these away to folks, often telling them, "this snack reminded me of you". A little inside joke.

Anyway, I was wondering what would happen if I actually used these peanuts in a dish. I had a couple of cups of corn and used 1 cup of "numb nutz", doing a quick high heat stir fry. This was actually not bad……

The Missus has me cooking with "la rou" a lot these days. Her favorite prep is simply spinach stir fried using the Big Kahuna with La Rou and Garlic.

I topped it with some shaved gobo. It's Her current favorite; though I think the shaved Brussel sprouts with La Rou might be gaining ground. Heck, I've even done an edamame – orange bell pepper stir fry, that was more of a beer snack….it would probably go well with some numb nutz……

Just playing in the kitchen I guess….

And who you callin' numb nutz?

Lunch Specials at FuAn Garden

January 4, 2017 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

**** FuAn Garden has closed

During this past summer FuAn Garden officially changed course and owners. Going from Sichuan to Cantonese fare. One of the main players was a former manager of Jasmine. I tried the place and had a terrible meal. Then according to what I understand, there was a major kitchen revolt and the manager was booted. And then I noticed a sign while driving by announcing lunch specials.

Man, $6.99….how good could the food here be now? Well, with the help of Calvin, several visits were made and we got to try out a good amount of the lunch specials.

In case you're thinking that the $6.99 specials were basically going to be egg noodle soup, porridge, and vegetable dishes, you'd be wrong. I was surprised to see some seafood item, though I remained somewhat skeptical about the quality of the dishes.

So here's a rundown of the items we had; best to worst.

In terms of texture, the Salt and Pepper Squid might have been the best overall.

Notice I didn't say technique. Though the squid was impressively tender and decently seasoned, batter was peeling off the squid, showing some lack of good technique. It was also not very crisp; like the oil used for frying wasn't at optimum temp.

Coming in a close second was the Stir Fried Pork Stomach (intestines) with Chili Pepper.

Edging on being too greasy and with little or no spiciness; this was still a decent dish. The intestines were nicely prepped; just the right amount of funk and chew, the vegetables were crisp, and this was mildly seasoned, so you could make out all flavors of the peppers, scallion, intestine.

The Missus's favorite dish; at least for two of the four times I bought it was the Gailan with Preserved Pork (la rou).

This was the first lunch special item I ordered on a solo visit. The portion size was large enough that I ended taking half of it home. The Missus loves La Rou and on this first visit the gailan was perfect; the stalks cooked but crunchy, and the leaves not over cooked. The seasoning was simple which suited this perfectly. So, during my other lunch visits; I'd order this to go for the Missus. The second time it was decent; but the last two times the gailan was blanched too long and was rubbery. After which, the Missus stopped requesting it.

It's hard to mess up simple Soy Sauce Noodles. Which might be the only thing over priced on this $6.99 menu.

The noodles were on the hard side, the presentation left something to be desired, and this was bit too salty.

The Eggplant in the Eggplant with Fermented Bean Curd; basically Yu Hsiang ("Fish Flavored"), was much too sweet and this was on the greasy side.

Though the texture of the eggplant was fair.

The Bittermelon with Black Bean Sauce was terrible.

An overcooked, greasy-gloppy mess, displaying some haphazard wok skills. Way too salty; bitter garlic….'nuff said.

Perhaps my least favorite item here…mainly because of flavor and portion size, the Roast Duck Rice.

Well geez, look at all that broccoli. This was basically the bottom two thirds of a duck leg with the meat and skin splayed out to make it look like more than it was. This was mostly bone. The skin was pleasantly crisp, but had very little of the beany-salty-sweet tones of a good roast duck. The meat was super bland. The rice was on the hard side and I wish they'd put a bit more jus on the rice. Well, I made fun of the broccoli, but that might have been the best item on this plate.

It's hard to complain too much about a $6.99 lunch item. Some things were decent and a good value; others rather uneven. One of the women who works here is very nice. I'd say while your mileage may vary, it might be worth checking out the lunch specials here. It might even be a good alternative to Golden City once in a while. It's even cheaper too.

Fuan Garden Seafood Restaurant
4768 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Birrieria y Menuderia Guadalajara

January 2, 2017 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants

I had a couple of days after Christmas off this year. So while the Missus slept, I headed down to Chula Vista. It had been quite a while since I’d really took time to just look around. Usually, I’d just turn on Broadway and H Street, but this time I kept driving North. And at the corner of G and Broadway I saw this place.

If I recall, this place was Mariana’s or something like that. So it obviously had been a while since I’d been around here.

It had been quite a while since I’d had decent Birria of any kind, so I decided to stop and have breakfast.

The folks working were very friendly and I was quickly seated.

Always a sucker for a good consommé; I went with the Consomme de Chivo and two tacos, the birria de res (beef) and birria de chivo (goat). But this being breakfast, everything started with some café de olla.

Which was quite nice; not too sweet. The usual condiments were provided, including some decent chips. The salsa roja was quite spicy….a bit too much as it basically over powered everything. The other, fairly smoky, I’m thinking chipotle salsa was quite nice.

I ordered the straight up consommé, which was slightly gamey, but not too strong.

Quite a bit of black pepper in this; at least to me. It did well with a hefty squeeze of lime, plus cilantro and onions. Not super rich, but satisfying.

I also ordered my tacos with “tortilla hecha a mano”, hand made tortillas, a buck more ($2.95) in price.

The tortillas were quite rustic; thick, full of corn flavor, hefty. The actual proteins were a mixed bag. The portions were generous; the birria de res was on the dry and stringy side, though it had a bit of beefiness to it. The birria de chivo had an interesting texture….chopped into small cubes, it was silken, almost buttery, but lacked that “taste of the pasture” I really enjoy.

Not perfect, but a decent meal. So I decided to go out on a limb. Do a search on Menudo and you’ll find a paucity of posts….at least those written by me. When we first moved to San Diego, I tried at least a dozen places for menudo….and man, what I got was a mixed bag….on the negative side…..most of it was really bad. I tend to pick my “menudo battles” carefully these days.

However, we’ve just entered a New Year….time to turn the page….and I thought…why not have the menudo here.

So I returned, for a New Years breakfast…..

Not too hungry, I just went with the small bowl of menudo ($6.95).

So let’s cut to the chase, shall we? I could actually smell the menudo as it was brought to he table. I call this “fragrance au cow patty”. It reminds me of when we used to live in Hacienda Heights and when the winds blew west we could smell the cows in Ontario. It was quite funky. The flavor of the broth was quite neutral, very mild….but add a squeeze of lime, oregano, a few shakes of the salsa, cilantro and onions, and things were livened up a bit. The texture of the broth had that tongue coating, almost fatty richness. The tendon was very good, smooth and tender; the various pieces of tripe were also almost buttery. There was hominy in the broth, but it was way too soft to enjoy.

The flavor of the hand made tortillas was nice; but they were too brittle and not up to the task. Still, this was far from bad. The service, while not particularly quick was accommodating and friendly. Perhaps I’ll return……..

Birrieria Y Menuderia Guadalajara
396 Broadway
Chula Vista, CA 91910

San Diego Restaurants

Happy New Year!

December 31, 2016 mmm-yoso Cooking, Pubs and Pub Grub

Whew, it's been quite a year. Work has been crazy and we managed to squeeze in four (if you count Vancouver) international trips as well. And suddenly, it's almost 2017.

Anyway, New Year's Eve started as things usually do for me, with last minute trips to Nijiya and Mitsuwa, giving me a chance to check out the Osechi, something that I've done since my first New Year post.

Then of course, I made Nishime.

This year we did something a bit different for New Year's Eve. We decided to go out and have a nice dinner. With the rainy weather we decided to stay close to home and check out the New Years Tasting Menu at Red Card Café. The price seemed quite reasonable at $46 per person and we were pleasantly surprised. We enjoyed our meal.

Red Card Café
4140 Morena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

And we stopped for a drink on the way home at the High Dive.

The theme seemed to be Disco and the staff dressed appropriately for that theme. The Missus couldn't stop laughing and folks were having a great time.

High Dive Bar and Grill
1801 Morena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92110

And when was the last time I heard this:

Or this…..

Now where did I put those Angel Flight Pants???

As the year comes to a close, everyone here at mmm-yoso would like to thank you for dropping by and extend best wishes for 2017!

Hauoli Makahiki Hou!

Revisits – Lavang Restaurant, R&B Filipino Cuisine, and Tim Ky Noodle

December 29, 2016 mmm-yoso Filipino Restaurants, Sisig, Vietnamese Restaurants

A couple of revisits from Mira Mesa-land.

Lavang Restaurant:

**** Lavang has closed

I hadn't been back to Lavang in nearly two years and I had been wondering how the place was doing. I had also gotten a couple of emails mentioning the Bun Cha here, so I dropped by to check things out.

Man, the place was empty when I arrived, with no other customers during my entire visit. The folks here are very nice though.

I had "some reservations" (no pun intended) when I saw a sheet of paper with a photo of Anthony Bourdain and President Obama having Bun Cha in one of those episodes of Parts Unknown. Another sheet explained what Bun Cha was…….hmmm…..not sure about this one, but I went ahead and ordered the Bun Cha.

As always, the presentation here is always quite nice.

Now, to be perfectly honest; I didn't expect anything close to what we had in Hanoi or even Westminster. But this was pretty bland; especially the sauce which was really watered down and really bland. The meatballs were hard and dry as well. The grilled pork was fine, on the chewy side which is fine for this dish.

The bun was really done well, exceptionally good stretch to them, but were chopped into short pieces. The herbs were fine; the pickled papaya was given a nice little flower presentation.

Overall, I was underwhelmed with this dish. I'll stick with the version from Nhu Y.

Lavang Restaurant
6755 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92121

R & B Filipino Cuisine:

It had been over two years since I'd been to R&B, so I decided to drop by and get my entire days worth of fat and calories in one meal. I actually had this at 10am and didn't eat again until dinner which was a salad.

I'm rarely able to resist sisig, so I got that. On previous visits, the sisig here had been decent. It still is, except for a few things; it's kept on the side and when served is ice cold. The sour flavors were quite good, but for some reason this time around it was missing spice. There were some really hard bits of lechon kawale in this as well.

I also saw something different this time around; the Paksiw na Pata, basically braised pork leg…it looks deceivingly like adobo. The flavor was interesting, I liked the vinegar tones and unlike adobo this doesn't have much soy sauce and wasn't very salty. I saw a lot of garlic, but strangely the flavor didn't come through. I also enjoy the gelatinous pieces, but not much of that and man, there was this huge slice of pork and fat. Some of the pieces of pork were on the dry side and the overall mouthfeel was a bit on the greasy side. Just a few strands of banana blossom.

The sinigang was pretty good, nice and bracingly sour.

The rice was on the mushy side, but in total, this wasn't bad at all.

R & B Filipino Cuisine
11257 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126

Tim Ky Noodle:

Driving aimlessly on Christmas Day, I decided to stop in to have a bowl of noodle soup Tim Ky. While what I had on my last visit wasn't particularly good, I'd had some pretty good bowls here in the past.

Deciding on turning a new leaf and all, I went with something totally different. The Hu Tieu My Tho, which besides the BBQ Pork is a bowl of offal.

This really didn't look very inspiring when it arrived….but how often does a bowl of guts and porcine organs really want you to break into song?

Loved the hu tieu which were robustly elastic. The broth started fairly flat, but as it soaked up the flavor from the offal, started tasting quite good. The best of the lot was the intestines, clean and chewy…the thin slices of offal were nice, just enough earthy, bitter tones, but the pig liver tasted a bit off, and not being a big fan of pig liver, unless it's really fresh, it was not my cup of tea. There were two small, rubbery shrimp in the soup.

Not bad. I was surprised at the large groups of customers, most of which weren't Asian! Folks gotta eat on Xmas Day I guess.

Tim Ky Noodle
9330 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

Midweek Meanderings – T P Banh Bao 3 Opens in Mira Mesa, Xi’an Kitchen Becoming Noodle Hut, and the Missus Gets Her Kenya Guama Peaberry Beans from Birdrock

December 28, 2016 mmm-yoso Caffeine Fix, Chinese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

T.P. Banh Bao 3 Opens:

There sure have been quite a few openings during the usually slow holiday season this year. Back in October, "FOY" (friend of yoso) Jan Frederick sent me an email regarding a Banh Bao shop opening in Mira Mesa. I found out through my sources that they opened on Christmas Eve.

Apparently the other two T.P. Banh Bao shops are in Houston and Garden Grove. I'll get a post done after I sample a few more items from the place.

Thanks for the heads-up Jan Frederick!

11271 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126

Xi'an Kitchen Closes. Noodle Hut Taking Its Place:

Back in early November I noticed that Xian Kitchen had shuttered quite suddenly. I walked up and read the gory details to the right. 'Nuff said.

Apparently something named "Noodle Hut" is taking its place.

4690 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

The Missus Gets Her Kenya Guama Peaberry Fix:

Once in a while the really nice guys at Birdrock on Morena will tell me when something special is going to be available. This year they mentioned that the Kenya Guama Peaberry had scored a 97 on Coffee Review and told me it might be in the top 5 coffees of the year. So when it became available I reserved a bag. Turns out the coffee took #1 of the top 30 coffees of the year.

While the Missus prefers the light acid a fruitiness of Natural Processed beans; these washed processed Peaberry beans were quite distinctive….super smooth, rich, with a long finish. The Missus was a happy coffee nerd.

Bird Rock Coffee Roasters
1270 Morena Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92110