mmm-yoso – Page 195

Village North Restaurant Revisited

January 30, 2017 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

**** Village North has closed

Almost two months since I first visited Village North, it remains a somewhat quirky enigma. I've visited and they've been closed….seems they are closed on Tuesdays. They don't have hours formally posted…..just scribbled on the portable grease board. And what's with the "Soft Opening" sign still up? I asked if they were still in their soft opening period and got an interesting answer; seems that their permanent sign hasn't arrived yet….so they are still air quotes, in "soft opening" mode.

Still, I really like the young folks who work here….they are friendly and very nice. And the décor is no shrinking violet; though the Chinese Rap music can be a bit much and there was the time one of the guys was on the small stage trying out VR gear.

After having me pick-up the Suan Cai Hot Pot to go a couple of times, the Missus finally decided we should drop by for dinner.

Which turned out to be a nice meal. This time we ordered the Stir Fried Version of Suan Cai and Pork; simply called "Sour Cabbage" ($12.99) on the menu.

Man, this was good. The textures and seasoning; with garlic and star anise was just the way the Missus likes this dish. It was pleasantly slightly gooey and comforting. These guys really know how to stir fry. The Missus had a new second favorite.

I say second favorite because She really enjoyed the Pork Intestines in Dry Pot ($12.99).

I really hesitated in ordering any Sichuan here; but man, this was really good. Every ingredient had been nicely prepped and seasoned separately. The intestine had been expertly cleaned and even had that inner "fatty" layer. I've never had them ask me "how spicy" here; something I like and respect. This was nicely "ma-la". The Missus immediately said that this was a level above Sizzling Pot King in prep and execution. I've now had this a couple of times with other folks and they all agree; this version is quite good.

Lily and I decided to take "YZ" out for a celebratory lunch and they (as usual) let me pick. My choice….Village North. We had some of the usual suspects; but also ordered a couple of more traditional Dongbei style dishes. Starting with one of the classic dishes; Dongbei La Pi; mung bean sheets in sort of a salad, Multicolor Clear Noodle ($11.99) on the menu.

Again very nice prep; everything from the thinly sliced vegetables to the pork and egg was seasoned separately. The dressing; a sesame paste black vinegar concoction; with a touch of wasabi tasted like a lighter version of what I make at home; though without as much sesame paste. It's a nice combination of nutty-sour-sweet. Pretty good overall; this will go well during hotter weather.

We also tried something simply called "Stewed Assorted Delicacies" ($18.99 – 农家一锅鲜) on the menu.

Basically a dish of stewed/braised pork ribs; which is then stir fried with corn, potatoes, and green bell peppers. This wasn't very good; it was basically too salty; the pork ribs were on the tough side. The best items were the corn and potatoes.

Still we'd had some of the other dishes and both Lily and "YZ" really enjoyed things….especially the suan cai.

Hearing that this place had the Missus's approval; my "Food Gang" decided we should have dinner here. We ordered a bunch of stuff I'd had from previous meals; the suan cai, intestine dry pot, guo bao rou, di san Xian, and a couple of new ones. Our young server recommended something simply called "Flank Steak" ($15.99) on the menu. It arrived looking all the world like Chinese Black Pepper Beef.

The was another winner. The beef wasn't tender per se; it was toothsome without being tough, with a nice display of the stir fry skills, which in this case seems to be velveting.

We also ordered some chuan'r (skewers), which were fairly sub-par.

The lamb really needed much more cumin….the mantou….was topped with sugar…if this were Beijing; I think it would be brushed with a sweet bean sauce. I know this is what Xiāngjiāo was hoping for. Alas, it was not to be.

During one of my take-out visits; the really nice young man who works here named "Victor" told me his favorite item on the menu was the Fried Shrimp with Dried Red Pepper ($14.99). So when I recently dropped by for lunch; I ordered it.

This was pretty good; crunchy shells, the whole numbing-hot ("ma-la") thing going on. Nicely prepared….like I said…these guys do real well with a wok.

Though in terms of seasoning; the Zi Ran Yang Rou – Cumin Lamb ($14.99) left much to be desired in terms of cumin-spicy-salty tones.

So, in the end, we have a nice new option. I'm still not quite sure of everything on the menu…….but perhaps that's the fun of exploring. I think there are dishes on the menu to entice the beer-drinking, young crowd…..but then again, there's some serious cooking skills on display with some of the dishes.

Village North
4428 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Sunday Stuffs – Szechuan Taste is now Beauty Hunan Restaurant and FuAn Garden becomes Hui An Garden

January 29, 2017 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

Seems that the Kearny/Clairemont Mesa area has been a hot spot for changes recently. Here are two more switcheroo's.

Szechuan Taste is now Beauty Hunan Restaurant:

I never really had much luck with Szechuan Taste and gave up on the place after a couple of tries. So I wasn't really surprised to see a change when I went to check out what was happening in the old Do Re Mi house location. A day later "Cathy" sent me a text with a photo. I guess she passed by and noticed the change as well.

So it's now "Beauty Hunan"…..interesting……I'll report back soon.

Beauty Hunan Restaurant
8199 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

FuAn Garden becomes Hui An Garden:

I almost missed this one while driving by. I did a double take; and yes, it seems the ill fated FuAn Garden has changed yet again.

Hmmm……

Hui An Garden Restaurant
4768 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Never a dull moment on "the 'Mesas" it seems.

Noodling Around – Revisits to Green China Grill and Pho Kitchen

January 24, 2017 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Chinese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

All this rainy weather meant…..well lots of noodle soup. Here's a short round-up of revisits.

Green China Grill:

Heavy drops were coming down and I was dodging pot holes on Convoy. I just decided to give up and turned into ever evolving Plaza del Sol (BTW Tasty Pot is now open). It had been over a year since my last visit to Green China Grill, so I decided to drop in. Looking at the dining area; this place should be called blinding green China grill. I was the first to arrive but withi minutes, the dining area started filling up. That woman sitting with a group seems really familiar too.

They now have a rather large menu with grilled items; various noodles, liang cai (cold dishes), and even yang rou pao mo? Go figure…. I went with the Beef Noodle Soup with Sour Cabbage ($9.99).

Man, that broth was blasting hot, which was good thing on a cold and rainy day. It was also deceivingly spicy and was quiet numbing (ma) as well. The amount of MSG has been toned down a bit since my previous visits; though I think it could still use a bit more beefiness. The preserved vegetable was your basic standard issue xue cai; like what you get at T&L. The noodles were nice a slippery; but is still missing that little bit of pull I enjoy in good "Lamian" (牛大碗). It has gotten better though.

The soup warmed me up and the spice had gotten the endorphin thing going and a nice sheen on my forehead. From that point of view, the noodle soup did its job. I need return more often.

Green China Grill
4688 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
Open Wed – Mon 1130am – 3pm, 5pm – 9pm

Pho Kitchen:

Last week it was raining cats and dogs….and I almost stepped into poodle! Ok, not funny….though that one is so bad the guys at work cracked up. I really didn't want to head out too far, so I decided to check into Pho Kitchen to see how they were doing.

The kids who work here are really nice. Looking over the menu I noticed they had Bun Bo Hue….hmmm….what the heck; it was pouring outside. I went with the "regular" ($8) bowl of Bun Bo Hue.

Pho shop BBH is a crapshoot and I let out a sigh when the typical pho sprouts and basil arrived…..

And just as quickly, they were removed from the table and replaced with this….ooh psych!

Purple cabbage? Not quite legit, but better than what it replaced.

So what to say? There was lots of shredded lemongrass, though not too much of that flavor in the broth. You could make out the slight, funky taste of mam nem, which added a bit of savories to things. The spice was pretty basic, all front of mouth heat. At least it was steaming hot. The noodles were done adequately, though for once there didn't seem to be enough of it in this bowl. The meat was quite good. The thick cut beef shank had excellent flavor and there was a good amount of it, the tendon was decent as well. Nice thing about the pork hock; they'd removed the bones for easy eating. Though sometimes sucking on that bone is one of the best things about a bowl of BBH.

While not terrible, in terms of spicy, sour, salty, savory, and sweet flavors this was kind of lacking. I'll stick with the Pho next time.

Pho Kitchen
5375 Napa St
San Diego, CA 92110
Open Daily 11am – 9pm

The Bitter Brothers Annversary Family Dinner

January 23, 2017 mmm-yoso Beer, Fine Dining, Pubs and Pub Grub

*** Bitter Brothers has closed

I've been asked a couple of times why I don't give "more love" to my neighborhood? To be perfectly honest, I hadn't been too inspired by places in my neck of the woods. But over the last year and a half or so; things have changed for the better…who'd have thunk that we'd go out for a New Years dinner; a tasting menu even….right down the street. So when Candice mentioned that Bitter Brothers was having an Anniversary Dinner; I decided to go for it. And I'm glad I did as it was quite an enjoyable event. I'd been to Bitter Brothers a couple of times, but always regret not visiting more often. So this was a nice way for me to get reacquainted.

There were just 50 seats available at $70 a crack, and things started fairly promptly at 5pm. Though at first it was just folks mingling. I'm not really a super social kind of guy so I just kinda took things in; perhaps a bit too hard, because I missed my chance at the amuse; a version of Lumpia Shanghai. That's ok; I did enjoy the Czech Pilsner. Crisp and refreshing, it did remind me a bit of what we had during our time visiting the Czech Republic.

What might be my favorite dish of the night was the Porcini Dusted Cauliflower, I loved how all of the flavors went together so well; from the hazelnuts, to the celeriac, to the slightly acidic, yet very tasty homage to celery a la Grecque.

The Missus surely would have loved this dish by Tim Kolanko. This was served with one of my favorites here; the Brotherly Love Dunkelweiss.

Phillip Esteban's dish was an eye catching version of the rolled and tied chicken Ballotine. Instead of forcemeat, this was stuffed with a black garlic based mixture. I'm not a big fan of items on the plate without a purpose; and those dollops of what I'm assuming is sort of a Nasturtium pesto really had no flavor. And the buttermilk leche de tigre added no real acid to the dish. The chicken itself was a bit on the salty side; but the black garlic paste added a nice amount of sweet, complex tones, which really balanced things out. This was paired with the Black Sheep Coffee Porter on Nitro.

Ami Cisneros's dish was a beautiful version of….well, Carnitas.

Pressed and nicely seared; perhaps a bit too lean for my taste, it was nicely seasoned. The kabocha puree was quite rich, creamy, and slightly sweet. To be perfectly honest, I really loved the pear with chamoy and tajin. It went so well with the Prickly Pear Family Tart Berliner Weisse, which almost tasted like a version of agua de sandia (watermelon agua fresca) paired with this dish. I even enjoyed the slice of black radish which was so crisp and had some of the pepperiness toned down….I'm thinking it must have been soaked in ice water for a bit before being dried.

My next dish was a sentimental favorite; since it was created by the one and only Travis Clifford; remember Travis likes food? Anyway, it was nice to see him cooking again….it's been a while since I've tasted his cooking. Funny thing; I've made a career out of being quite non-descript. I'd been to BB a couple of times and had actually spoken to Travis, but I'm fairly certain he doesn't remember me. I kind of like it that way.

Nicely blackened prawns; loved the "Travis made" Andouille, great texture, good smoke. The flavor of the grits, while they had hardened by the time it hit the table had a nice rich and sweet flavor from the marscapone. All of these big flavors were tempered with the Big Brother Double IPA.

I'm not a big dessert/sweets guy and was worried about the Espresso Crème Brulee made by "Bitter Bill" Warnke. I shouldn't have, this was not too sweet, but very nicely balanced with mild coffee tones.

Paired with a nice bittersweet chocolate and espresso sable, which was just perfect. Very good, grown-up flavors. This was paired with the deceptively boozy (only 5.2 abv) Barrel Aged Little Sister Russian Imperial Stout which made it a nice way to end the meal.

The Barrel Aged Little Sister Russian Imperial Stout is BB's first ever bottle release; so I bought a couple. The Missus will love it. And I'm sure to be there the next time BB has another "Family Dinner".

Bitter Brothers Brewing
4170 Morena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

T. P. Banh Bao 3

January 17, 2017 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

T.P. Banh Bao 3 quietly opened on Christmas Eve. I decided to drop by right after the Christmas Weekend to bring some of the Banh Bao to work. So I grabbed Calvin and we headed off.

This is the third shop of the T.P Banh Bao family, the first opened in Houston, which is where I first heard of the place from “FOY” Xiāngjiāo. The second location opened in Garden Grove. And now we have this shop in the rather odd location on Camino Ruiz in Mira Mesa. Go figure. And no, that’s not my Ferrari parked in front of the place!

There are 17 varieties of Banh Bao available. For an extra $2.50 (minimum 3 Banh Bao) you get the Banh Bao of your choice fried up. Now I’ve had Banh Bao, Charsiu bao, Manapua ( both the classic version and baked), Siópao, Hmong Galapao, Thai Salapao and even Samoan Keke Pua’a. Even different versions of Chinese Baozi; in the North, the dough is not sweet, the Missus’s preference. I grew up eating manapua and siopao; heck, I remember the “manapua man”! But I’d never had fried banh bao.

Anyway, we got the #1, pork, sausage, and egg fried and wanted to get the Pork and salted Egg, but they were out. So we decided to just get the Regular Pork, egg, and sausage version steamed as well. Just so you know; they’ll steam your banh bao to order, so it means a short – 10 minute wait, so be prepared. So steaming banh bao in tow we headed back to the office and busted it out on the back table.

This was pretty good; the exterior crunchy, the dough a bit less fluffy than I prefer, but fine. Not too sweet, the filling very moist and soft. Nice porkiness, really couldn’t make out any sausage, and the banh bao signature egg yolk was rather dry. As with most Banh Bao, the filling to bread ratio sided on the meat. Frying makes this rather rich and one is enough for me. This was much better than the steamed version and folks in the office really enjoyed this.

This was on the gummy-soggy side, though the filling, like the fried version was very moist. The texture of the dough made this less pleasant to eat than the fried stuff and there were 3-4 of these still left at the end of the day.

Hoping for a better selection and going into the office on New Years eve, I stopped by to pick something up for breakfast.

I was determined to get the pork and salted egg banh bao. The young lady working was very sweet and even marked the box to let me know where each banh bao was situated in my container.

Nice touch, yeah?

Unfortunately, the pork and salted egg banh bao had suffered from some leakage. The bottom was just mush and when I removed the paper at the bottom it just all came off. The filling was a bit on the dry side; probably from all the “good stuff”, the juices leaking away. This is a very “egg forward” in terms of taste and might have been quite good if not for the poor handling of the dough.

I’d take a pass on the BBQ Pork.

While the dough was nice and fluffy on this version and the meat to bread ratio quite good, you can easily see how dry this was. Also, this really lacked the nice sweet-salty-savory tones that make for a good BBQ pork filling. The texture was mealy and dry.

For some reason, I decided to try the vegetarian Banh Bao. Now this one had a greater bread to filling ratio. The textures of the filling; mushroom and so forth was fairly pleasant, but like most vegetarian baos, the overall flavor was on the bland side, to the point that the sweetness of the bread over shadowed the filling. The dough on this was nice and fluffy.

At this point I thought this enough, time to do a post. But my good friend “YummyYummy” sent me a copy of the press release on the right. Wow, talk about a mea culpa! After reading, I forwarded this to CC, who had recently also tried out TP Banh Bao. I then read Kirbie’s post and decided to give them another try.

After all, I really like the woman who runs the place, she’s very friendly, and the folks working for her, who seem to be a bit lost at times are also very nice.

I ended up getting three pork, salted egg yolk, and sausage Banh Bao, fried. You can tell the difference with these.

Notice how the filling is nicely centered, that golden orb had a nice concentrated “yolky” flavor….now I’m not a big fan of moon cakes; but here, combined with pork, surrounded with slightly sweet dough, with a nice crust around it….now this was good, if a bit rich for me. One was all I could handle.

I also ordered the BBQ Chicken and Taro and Pork Banh Bao as well.

I have never been a big fan of chicken in Bao and that still stands.

This was like an even blander and drier version of the BBQ Pork Banh Bao.

The Pork and Taro Banh Bao was not bad. You can tell how much better made and steamed these were compared to my previous visits.

This might be a bit too “mystery meat” in texture for some. But the taro adds heft and balances out the porkiness of the filling.

As things stand, I’ve had more banh bao in the last three weeks then maybe in the five or six years! I think it’s time for a break from banh bao for now. My recommendation is to go with the fried versions (call ahead). I think they’ll be great for groups of folks or parties….so long you eat them fairly quickly. I’m also glad that I usually try a new place a couple of times before posting. In this case it paid off. I hope they keep on improving.

T.P. Banh Bao 3
11271 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126

Funny thing, this post had me reminiscing about the neighborhood manapua man, who used to carry two old shoyu tin cans on a bamboo pole over his shoulder, full of manapua, pepeiao, and pork hash, yelling out “peh-peh-yao…man-a-pua” walking down the street. Eventually these folks graduated to trucks…….and these days, the Manapua Man (or woman) drives a Manapua Van! Here’s a really nice video….a real slice of life from “back home”.

Happy Tuesday!

San Diego Restaurants

Monday Meanderings – Little Sheep Coming to Mira Mesa, Steamy Piggy Replaces Lemon House, and the Menu at the Soon to Open Tasty Pot

January 16, 2017 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

Here's a few things for a quiet MLK Day.

Little Sheep Coming to Mira Mesa:

Yes, that's right. After almost ten years since the Clairemont Mesa location opened, it looks like Little Sheep is expanding to Mira Mesa.

I believe the Scripps Mesa Retail Center.

9841 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92131

Steamy Piggy Replacing Lemon House:

Well, Lemon House opened and closed so quickly, I never got a chance to check them out. My sources did tell me they really didn't enjoy their visits; so perhaps it's for the better. So now, we welcome a Steamy Piggy into the spot. I think the folks from Lemon House are still running this new concept as well.

4681 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92123

Tasty Pot on Convoy Looks Ready to Open:

At least when I went to pick up take-out from the newly opened Noodle Hut.

Curious, I drove by a couple of days later and the place does indeed look ready to go.

There's even a menu posted.

4698 Convoy Street
San Diego, CA 92111

So there you go……a little peek of what's going on.

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:

**** This location of Havana Grill has closed

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.