mmm-yoso – Page 202

Otaru: The Shako (Mantis Shrimp) Festival

June 17, 2016 mmm-yoso Festivals & Events, Hokkaido, Travel

Since we're supposed to have record heat this weekend, I'd initially planned on doing yet another Bun Bo Hue post. But in the end, common sense prevailed and I decided that doing a short little post of our early winter visit to Otaru might be a cooler option…..

We had a fun time in Asahikawa on our first day in Hokkaido. On our second day we hit the rails again; this time to the charming port town of Otaru. We headed out with no firm plans, not quite sure of what to expect and in the end, in spite of the place being rather touristy, we really enjoyed ourselves. It's a short 30 minute train ride on the Hakodate Line from Sapporo Station to Otaru. As we walked out of the station, we were greeted by light flurries of snow….those little dots in the photo below.

Chuo Dori is the street that goes straight from the train station to the canal. It's lined with hotels and other interesting diversions.

Along the way, there are more than a few markets/shops where you can pick up seafood which they'll cook up for you.

At the intersection right before the canal stands what I was told is Hokkaido's Oldest Standing Commercial Warehouse, built in 1893, which now houses the Tourist Information Office, some souvenir shops, and a pretty interesting "Christmas Tree" made out of glass floats.

I'm fascinated by those because I'm old enough to remember finding the small glass floats from time to time on the beach back home!

Inside was a tower made of wine glasses. Otaru is known for their glasswork, so I guess this makes sense.

Meanwhile, outside was a certain character I remember reading about in Kat's post. That nattily dressed statue is of a famous firehouse dog named Bunko. According to this post, Bunko was a brave mutt who would help the firefighters and apparently rode to a thousand fires. I actually saw the children's book about Bunko!

Crossing the street we reached the canal, but really had no plans.

It had warmed up to a balmy 34 degrees Fahrenheit.

Upon crossing the street and noticed a bit of hustle and bustle as folks walked into a parking lot. It looked like some kind of festival was taking place. Then I came across the sign and read the one little English sheet on the poster, "Looks Strange Tastes Good", then below, "Shako"……oooh, Mantis Shrimp!

I guess this was a mantis shrimp festival! Talk about my lucky day. Man, when was the last time I had mantis shrimp?

Things were just starting up when we arrived…….

But there was a fairly long line forming on the other side of the parking lot. The Missus, not one to miss an opportunity grabbed some money and went straight into the line.

I walked up to the front to have a peek……

And noticed the gentleman dumping baskets of mantis shrimp into a cauldron.

Yep, this was the right line…….

Miso soup with a very sweet mantis shrimp; quite nice! Of course, man (nor the Missus) lives on miso soup alone. We wanted something to warm us up a bit, even if it was only 1030 in the morning!

We could not ignore the simple three letters H-O-T….plus the Missus could make out some of the Kanji.

Nothing like a nice steaming cup of umeshu to warm you up. Just the right thing to make you almost forget about the cold!

Just then, there was a little commotion on the other side of the parking lot. It was a Taiko Drum Group!

Man, it was freezing……but check out the folks in shorts!

Of course, it's the "old timers" who really have a good time!

We stayed for the whole performance and slowly drifted away after. Here's the festival website.

We saw the interesting "fellows" above while headed to Sakaimachi Hondori. At first we thought he was just a rather eccentric local walking his dog. Then he whipped out a camera and starting taking photos. So I'm not so sure….does he travel the country with his faithful canine? Then the Missus read the dog's jacket which said "In Memory of….." with a caricature of a dog…..so does this dog wear a sweater in memory of this guy's previous dog? Hmmm……. Well, at least we were finding that Otaru was far from boring!

Thanks for reading!

A Revisit to My Favorite Restaurant – Suzunari (Tokyo)

June 14, 2016 mmm-yoso Fine Dining, Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Memorable Meals, Tokyo, Kamakura, and the Kantō Region, Travel

I have a few acquaintances who love the Michelin Star/Best Restaurants in the World kind of thing. And earlier today, one of them sent me this link, telling to look at #13….it was Maido, where we had just eaten last month. What I thought was a bit strange was that Maido was several notches above Azurmendi. Just goes to show you the fickle "sport" of ranking restaurants and also why, while I take all those things into consideration, in the end, I try to figure out the food, how the place suits us, both in cuisine and service (those restaurants where staff is constantly hovering is not for us), before making a decision. A few hours later, "SomTommy" who sometimes comments, sent me an email mentioning the same thing. I replied that I thought this was both interesting and surprising. He then asked me what my favorite restaurant in the world was. What really surprised me was how easy it was typing out my reply; it was Suzunari which we visited during our first trip to Tokyo. The place just suited us; Kaiseki, perfectly prepared, elegant, but not fussy, without pretense, in a casual atmosphere, the customers were all Japanese. Oh, and while it was basically a husband and wife team, with one assistant, this tiny shop had acquired one of those "star" thingies.

Funny thing was, we enjoyed our previous experience so much we returned the last time we were in Tokyo. So I thought I'd do a quick photo post, out of chronological order, but it seemed somewhat timely. We had our good friend Reiko make reservations for us before our last visit; we also insisted that she come along. Even though we knew the pacing of the meal, pretty much in line with traditional Kaiseki, it was still fabulous.

From the steady silent interactions of the chef, his wife, and the assistant. To the sincere service, we loved sitting at the bar, and watching the flawless execution.

The Hassun, just fantastic.

Reiko, a Tokyo native told us that this was the best meal she's ever had and we were so glad to have been able to share it with her.

I'll always remember overhearing some advice from a Japanese National who advised the young couple that if they really wanted a "true" experience, to bypass the multiple Michelin Star Kaiseki places and work a bit harder to find the places that Japanese would go to when they had a nice meal. This lead me to researching a bit and finding Suzunari. My favorite restaurant.

Suzunari
7-9 Arakicho, Shinjuku-ku
Tokyo

Later during the morning I sent an email to Ed from Yuma and Cathy regarding the list. Ed's response was priceless: "Rereading the post you did, it is amazing that the place had so many little shortcomings. But you are picky." I really don't think I'm picky, but I do know what I like, and after all these years, I think I'm pretty good at mentioning those things I don't care for. Funny thing about places like Maido. These places take chances, are innovative, they have a vision, and move toward that vision. There might be items that aren't your cup of tea, but, at least for us, the highs are amazingly high.

I'm still of the opinion that the Egg from our Hens, Cooked Inside Out and Truffled from Azurmendi, might be the best single bite I've ever had.

Still, while this was a genuinely great experience, "experience" being the key term; like Disfrutar, I'm not sure we'll ever go back.

Urasawa? Not really sure……

Maido, or even Etxanobe perhaps. Suzunari? I'm pretty sure we'll be back.

But it's a big world and we've only been to 23 countries. The Missus has told me that the US can mostly wait until I'm old and decrepit. Which might be anytime now. And while all these places are great….even the occasional banquet or two…..

Or something super delicious and different, that I wish they served here…..

Or maybe a bit more challenging?

Or maybe not…..

I think I'll settle for a nice bowl of soup.

After all, it's sometimes these simplest things that we love.

Thanks for reading!

Banh Mi Bakery & Cafe

June 13, 2016 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Banh Mi Bakery & Cafe is now Phuong Nga Bakery and Cafe

Back in March I mentioned seeing a place named Banh Mi Bakery & Café that looked like it was ready to open. A couple of weeks back, I drove by and noticed that the place had opened.

I decided to drop by and grab a bite. The shop is fairly small, with a few tables off to one side and stacks of pastry receptacles lining the path to the counter.

Even though most of the containers were empty, that these were for grabbing take-out items like spring rolls, croissants, and various salad dishes. There was also a decent selection of VN coffee, boba, and smoothies as well. There was a stack of banh mi and baguettes in a basket to the side.

I gotta say, the folks working here were really friendly, though the turnaround for orders were a bit slow. The great thing I found out was that they bake their own bread here! Nice! Competition for Cali Baguette Express?

I decided to try the Dac Biet, the "special".

Priced a bit more expensive than other Banh Mi shops at $4.49, I was immediately aware that the sandwich was a bit more "hefty". Returning to the office, I noticed that there was a bit more meat in this. First things first, the bread here is more crusty than flakey and is on the chewy side. It also doesn't keep very long, getting almost rubbery after a short time….I'd find out that for myself when I bought a baguette during another visit. Paris Bakery currently makes my favorite bread for Banh Mi and even to have with cheese in San Diego.

And while I've always said that it's about proportion rather than fillings when it comes to Banh Mi, I really liked how this was put together; the amount of pate was perfect and the meats' especially the cha lua, which can be rather rubbery when sliced too thick was excellent. I thought the carrots and daikon weren't pickled enough to cut the richness of the meat and pate, though the jalapeno was nice and sneakily spicy. Typical stringy cilantro.

Pretty good sandwich overall, so a couple of days later I decided to return. Calvin was interested and decided to join me.

I love eggs in my Banh Mi and the menu said they make Banh Mi Op La ($3.49), typically fried eggs, but here they told me it was easy over. And when I opened the sandwich, you could tell by the mess it was!

Egg yolk oozed all over my paperwork, but that's ok. Initially, I thought they hadn't sliced the sandwich, but then I noticed it had been sliced 2/3 way through. I realize a lot of people are freaked out over runny egg yolk, but this was pretty good, if a bit messy. As a bonus, there was a nice thin slice of ham and a good smear of pate as well. As I ate this rather quickly, the bread held up pretty well.

Calvin ordered the Xiu Mai, the meatball, which, after many bad versions, I'm leery of, but he told it was better than average.

Having to work on a recent Sunday and wondering if three time's a charm , I decided to head over and get the Banh Mi Cha Lua ($3.99).

Nicely set-up sandwich, though the bread was a bit chewy and perhaps because it was Sunday seemed to be a bit on the stale side. Pickles were still a bit too mild for me, but like how thin they slice the cha lua and the amount of pate on the sandwich. The cilantro (I know folks tell me I'm kind of weird about that) had more leaves than stems this time around.

Overall, my three visits were satisfying. It's good to have another decent banh mi option in the area that makes their own bread. While I prefer the bread at Cali Express, I prefer the egg banh mi here. Also to note; if you order egg on a banh mi as an extra, it'll be fried well done, but you can tell them you want the egg easy over they'll do it for you. Be forewarned, it'll be quite messy. I think I'll check out the beef jerky papaya salad and perhaps some of the other dishes in the near future.

Banh Mi Bakery & Cafe
9353 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. Suite H1
San Diego, CA 92123

Clearing Out the Memory Card: Revisits to Shan Xi Magic Kitchen and Spicy House

June 12, 2016 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

I finally had a chance to have a day off; so things seem rather hectic this weekend. Last night I crashed and burned at 8pm. So here's a COMC post for you. I'll have someplace new tomorrow!

Shan Xi Magic Kitchen:

My first couple of visits to Shan Xi Magic Kitchen were pretty good. Our coworker Lily who has since transferred is from Taiyuan and she really wanted to have lunch at Shan Xi Magic Kitchen before I left on my trip. So the trio of YZ, Lily, and myself found a day where we all had times on our calendars. I gotta say, things weren't quite as good this time around, except for the Yang Rou Pao Mo, which was actually better. Some of the seasoning was out of balance and the service was rather slow.

The best items were the eggplant and the yang rou pao mo.

Shan Xi Magic Kitchen
4344 Convoy St,
San Diego, CA 92111

Spicy House:

It had been a while since I last at Spicy House, but my good friend Akira and his lovely wife Diana were in town. I hadn't seen them in nearly two years, when we all last ate at Spicy House, which Akira really likes, so why not? We made better choices this time, but I gotta say; even though I buy into the adage that "oil is the pathway to flavor", some of the dishes were borderline greasy. Especially that Shui Zu Yu (water boiled fish) and nothing really had enough zip.

I actually think the intestines with chilies might have been the best executed item as it had some of that "ma-la" thing going.

It could have been a bit crisper, and was slightly offal-y, but not bad.

I actually don't mind the Zi Ran Yang Rou (cumin lamb) here, but it needs a bit more cumin, is cut too thick, and needs a bit more of the nice flavor of the wok.

Still, it had been two years since I've seen Akira and Diana, whose wedding I attended in Ciudad Obregon and it was great seeing Akiko and her hubby, that food was really secondary. I truly had a wonderful time.

Spicy House
3860 Convoy Street #105
San Diego, CA 92111

Hope you had a great weekend.

Sapporo: Jingisukan at the Sapporo Bier Garten

June 11, 2016 mmm-yoso Beer, Hokkaido, Japanese Restaurants, Travel

It was early in the afternoon when we returned from Asahikawa and it was time a nice afternoon nap. After the light snooze and freshening up, we decided to head out for dinner. Walking through the lobby we noticed, not one, but three weddings taking place!

I guess the Old World charm of the Hotel Monterey makes it a hot spot for weddings!

We noticed that it wasn't very cold out as we walked to our dinner destination. I was told that we absolutely should try Jingisukan (Genghis Khan) while in Sapporo and while it was kind of touristy, we should at least check out the Sapporo Beer Garden. It was a pretty relaxing, quiet walk.

There are several restaurants on the premises. We chose the very casual "Kessel Hall", which has a large beer cauldron, made in 1912 looming over it.

While the place seemed a bit busy, we had no problem getting a table. In an interesting move, we were given large plastic bags for our jackets…..which should have been a hint as to what we'd be exposed to.

After a rather large breakfast and ramen for lunch, we weren't very hungry, so while the all-you-can-eat option wasn't even in the plans, we just ordered a single portion of the mutton with vegetables.

And some other items from the menu that we were curious about. Loved the nice piece of fat used to coat the griddle.

We also got a mug of the Sapporo Hokkaido Limited which I thought was a bit lighter and sweeter than the usual Sapporo lager I have once in a while.

In an earlier post I mentioned Hokkaido produce and dairy products. We had a chance to try a few items from the menu; first Hokkaido baked potato….which, unlike the potatoes in Peru and Spain, were really mild in flavor. Also, being cheese lovers, we jumped at the chance of trying Hokkaido cheese, this one being a nice and creamy, but very mild in flavor. We both prefer Camembert with a more full bodied riper flavor.

The mutton actually had a pretty strong, gamey flavor which we both enjoyed.

The fat basted the bean sprouts and the onions added a mild pungent flavor. It was just enough for the Missus and I.

There was one interesting downside to eating here. Remember I mentioned the plastic bag for our jackets? Well, we should have actually worn plastic over our clothing as the place has no ventilation.

It was so thick that it could almost knock you over. We ended up quarantining our clothes from this visit until we had access to a washer in Tokyo!

Sapporo Bier Garten
9-2-10, Kita7Jo, Higashi-ku
Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan

There was one thing we learned about at information center. A very nice woman was giving out samples of Hokkaido corn soup, the stuff is made from a powder, so I've always been leery. It was actually very good! The Missus really wasn't interested in trying it, but I had Her try a sample and She was hooked. We bought a couple of boxes home with us and though we can't find the exact same brand here in San Diego, we found one that is a reasonable facsimile. It's great as a little snack or even breakfast on a colder morning.

We took a short detour on the way to the hotel…..trying to stay downwind from folks as we visited the basement of Daimaru looking for some snacks.

There was a Hokkaido Products shop along the way and I purchased a little "nightcap" for me.

This was a nice Hefe, for some reason the fragrance reminded me of bananas! It was a mild, but refreshing beer, which I enjoyed. We were headed to Otaru in the morning and I recalled Kat and Satoshi had visited the brewery a few years earlier. So we now had another item for our agenda!

Asahikawa: Otokoyama Brewery and the Flagship Store of Hokkaido Ramen Santouka

June 9, 2016 mmm-yoso Hokkaido, Japan, Ramen, Travel

After a nice and filling breakfast, we walked to Sapporo Station and got our tickets for our destination on this brisk morning. We'd been planning this side trip from the time we decided to travel to Hokkaido. I hinted at the destination in my previous Hokkaido post as being the place where the coldest temperature in the history of Japan was recorded and that temperature being close to where Celsius and Fahrenheit meet; which would be -40F. The coldest recorded temperature in the history of Japan at as -41 degrees Celsius (-42F), was recorded in Asahikawa on January 25th, 1902.

And no, we weren't headed to Asahikawa for the weather, which was actually pretty nice at about 36 degrees Fahrenheit when we left Sapporo, but for more hedonistic endeavor.

The weather changes quickly here….from the mild near freezing drizzle and the rainbow above, to the sudden snow during our 90 minute ride to Asahikawa.

But things had cleared pretty quickly by the time we had arrived.

When we mentioned visiting Asahikawa to folks who knew about the city, the first thing mentioned was Asahiyama Zoo; though they really couldn't fathom going there at the end of November. And when they found out what our real purpose was….well, they kind of thought of us as being a bit, well, as my Mom would have said, "きちがい".

To get to the first destination, we had to leave the train station and cross several streets to one of the many municipal bus stops. From there, it was me, using my terrible, quite limited Japanese, to ask if the bus passed the destination. Once on the bus, I used Google Maps with pocket wifi to figure out when we were getting close. Lucky for us; the wonderful and friendly driver remembered that I had asked about the place and made sure to let us know. And when we started walking in the wrong direction, stopped, opened the door of the bus and pointed us in the right direction. You gotta love Japan!

So where was this? Well, while I have a favorite splurge sake that I enjoy, my favorite (not) everyday sake is made by Otokoyama. If my liver could only speak. Sam used to call me Mr Otokoyama ages ago and Ed from Yuma and I really enjoyed our Otokoyama in our younger days eating at Sakura.

So a visit to Otokoyama Brewery was a must.

The sake museum was interesting, I didn't know that Otokoyama has been around for almost 350 years!

You get to see the brewing facilities, a collection of scrolls, and vintage brewing tools.

Loved the various displays of various awards and the world wide distribution….heck, I even recognize some of these places!

And then of course, there's the tasting area……

Just when we started tasting various sake, a busload of Chinese tourists invaded. The Missus was laughing as many of them complained about having to use the steps to go upstairs! We decided to take a break and sit at one of the desks; which had a collection of reading glasses of various magnification….I don't recall seeing anything like this before…..

When things calmed down a bit, having tasted most of the free samples, we went to taste the "good stuff" which you had to pay for.

My favorite was the Kitamiduki.

Apparently, Otokoyama uses spring water from Mount Taisetsu, which is known as "The Water of Long Life". We saw folks coming in with jugs, filling them up in front of the brewery.

There's also a little faux spring from which you can taste the water. The Missus went to have a sip, but when I went to get a taste, the water stopped flowing! Oh-oh, I might be in trouble here!

Otokoyama Sake Brewery & Museum
Nagayama 2 jyo, 7 chome
Asahikawa, Hokkaido

We had a great time…though waiting for the bus on the chilling sidewalk wasn't too much fun.

Eventually the bus did arrive and we headed back.

We got off a few stops short of where we started. A set off to find our second destination.

Regular reader know that Santouka makes our favorite ramen in San Diego. The Missus even had Her senses dulled when we last visited Japan, convinced that the ramen served at Santouka in San Diego was every bit as good as what we had at places like Ippudo, Rokurinsha, and Nagi Ramen. She was a bit misguided, I ended up calling this "the Santouka Effect". But now we were in Asahikawa, where Santouka Ramen started. I did some research and found the "Flagship Store", what I understand is the original location.

It is a tiny shop, a few simple tables and bar seats.

As with most ramen places we've been to in Japan, you help yourself to the ume and pickles.

What did we order? Well, that was a no-brainer. Shio Toroniku style of course. Which was delivered in the signature thick sided donburi, designed to keep the broth hot during your entire meal.

There some slight, though significant differences with regard to the ramen. The noodles were even more chewy and just had a wonderful texture. The pork cheek was sliced much thicker than what we've had here in San Diego, and yet started to fall to pieces when dipped in the broth. The big difference? The broth tasted less salty, but had a mild seafood flavor, this totally reminded me of the flavor of Sanouka's shio broth when they first opened. I don't really pick that up in recent bowls in San Diego.

Since we'd had a rather large breakfast, we shared the single bowl, and also ordered a boiled egg and some rice, which was cooked perfectly, and went well with the pickles.

One constant between Santouka here and Santouka in the states is…..the boiled egg is still mediocre as it's hard boiled. At least this one didn't have that sulphuric tasting green ring around the yolk that indicates a terribly overcooked boiled egg.

In regards to the ramen, the Missus claims this is the best bowl of ramen She has had to date. Me? Well, I'm not so sure….. Still, I can now say I've been to the original Santouka.

Ramen Santouka Honten Asahikawa
8 Chome-348 1 Jōdōri
Asahikawa, Hokkaido

We walked back to the train station with bellies full of warm ramen.

The train was pretty empty, I guess it was the slow time of the day.

My friends actually did pretty well, since I bought them a bottle of the Otokoyama Kitamiduki, which I was told you can only purchase in Asahikawa. They told me it was delicious. For some reason, I think that we'll return to Asahikawa one day. After all, the Missus loves Santouka!

Thanks for reading!

Ly Heng Asian Restaurant Revisited

June 8, 2016 mmm-yoso Cambodian Restaurants and Cuisine, Vietnamese Restaurants

There were a couple of fairly cool (for San Diego) mornings during April, so I decided to give Ly Heng as visit on a Honey-doo weekend morning since it had been a while since I'd eaten there.

I was in for a couple of surprises. First off, the configuration of the place had changed, with the register and counter now on the west side of the place.

Another big surprise; was the menu. There was a larger variety of dishes, with items like Bo Luc Lac and….gasp…Hainan Chicken!

So you know I just had to order it. I wasn't sure what I was going to get and was a bit shock at the portion size of this as it was just eight bucks! Man, that chicken was succulent and tender, but the flavor was really lacking in chicken flavor, nor the mild ginger or salt. I'm used to two different sauce with Hainan Chicken, the scallion-ginger sauce, which was absent, and a chili based sauce, with lime, chicken broth, and a touch of sweetness. This sauce really lacked zip. The worse part of the whole thing was that it was served with regular jasmine rice…..a ton of rice mind you, but I really missed the typical chicken-mild ginger flavored rice.

I was bummed, but the pork bone soup, porky and salty saved the meal for me. Ly Heng serves a falling off the bone chunk of pork rib in the soup which is just fine by me.

I returned a couple of weekends later, with the thought of trying something else new from the menu, but decided to just stick with the Pho Nam Vang……

Which turned out to be the right move on this day as I've mentioned before, in spite of tending to overcook the noodles a bit, of all the places that serve this in the area, Ly Heng is my favorite.

And that bone soup on this day was delicious.

And at $5.99, I ain't going to complain too much.

Perhaps I'll try some of the other dishes one of these days, but right now, I'm happy with that Pho Nam Vang.

Ly Heng
4451 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105
Hours:
Thurs – Tues 8am – 8pm

Clearing Out the Memory Card – Revisits to Village Kitchen, Thai Papaya, and Sushi Yaro

June 7, 2016 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi, Thai Restaurants

Man, it's been quite busy since we've returned from our (all too short) trip. I've had to work everyday, so I'm starting to feel it. So here's another one of those COMC posts of places you already know.

Village Kitchen:

The Missus requested Village Kitchen a few nights before leaving for Lima.

We tried a couple of the newer dishes like the "Green Vegetable Cooked the Old Way", which, in spite of the preserved vegetables was very bland, and the Intestines with Chilies and Bamboo Flavor, which tasted really good, but I'd have preferred the intestines being a bit more crisp.

The best dish was our old favorite the Eggplant and Green Chili with Preserved Egg .

There's an interesting story about the folks here…..one day I might get around to sharing it.

Village Kitchen
4720 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

Thai Papaya:

**** Thai Papaya has closed

Another favorite of the Missus, as long as they keep serving up the Som Tom Khai Kem; the papaya salad with Salted Egg, which the Missus pounced on so quickly, I never got the chance for a shot.

And the Spicy Thousand Year Old Eggs.

Another favorite of hers.

They actually had Roast Duck Larb on this visit.

Thai Papaya by Sab E Lee
2405 Ulric St
San Diego, CA 92111

Sushi Yaro:

**** Sushi Yaro has closed

DW has been doing some great consulting work for us…..but she's from Missouri and had never had raw fish ever in her life. She does enjoy a bit of spice in her food and in spite of being terrified of some of the stuff I eat, is quite game….she had her first ramen that didn't come from a package a few weeks back, crawfish, raw oysters….but she was still terrified of raw fish. So I figured, since she loves rice, why not have same make her a Hwe Dup Bop. Knowing she was really nervous, he put the Makisu up around the prep area so she couldn't see anything, just to make her a bit more apprehensive…….you gotta love Sam!

Anyway, she really enjoyed her meal….though the look on her face when I had to explain what various things were….like masago; oh, and that cube thing was tofu. And that nice crunchy green vegetable was seaweed.

Aaah the things we take for granted. It's always nice to introduce folks to new experiences.

Sushi Yaro
7905 Engineer Road
San Diego, CA 92111

Revisits: Mama’s Bakery & Lebanese Deli and Pinoy Fiesta

June 6, 2016 mmm-yoso Filipino Restaurants, Lebanese Restaurants, Sisig

A couple of revisits from last month. Places I hadn't been to in a while.

Mama's Bakery & Lebanese Deli:

So here's a blast from the past. It's been over 3 1/2 years since I last visited.

And I was surprised to find that in addition to the simple, rather divey dining area…..

They've added additional seating out on the street, where there once were some 15 minute parking. They call it a Parklet and I rather like it.

I had my usual, the Garlic Chicken Wrap, now $7.25. You can tell I've been doing this blogging thing for a while….at the time of my first post on Mama's, the wrap was $4.99!

And while I had mentioned that the chicken in this wrap had gotten rather scarce back in 2012; there seemed to be even less of it on this day. And while I do enjoy the garlic paste and claim that it would make cardboard tasty, this is still a "chicken wrap". It just seemed to have less of everything, though the flatbread/wrap, made fresh on the "Sajj" was still warm when I opened it up and had a nice stretch to it.

It just didn't have enough filling. And as the saying goes; "Man does not live by bread alone".

I did notice another thing. I'd always thought that the "hot sauce" here tasted a lot like Louisiana style hot sauce. These days they leave the hot sauce dispenser out….it's Trappey's. I do like the way the hot sauce works with the wrap.

Mama's is one of those places that seems to have been around forever. We used to drop by every so often when we first moved to San Diego. A bit before my first post on the place in 2005, the place changed hands, to what seemed to be no detriment to the quality of the food. The folks here have always been pleasant. But it seems, at least in my mind, that the garlic chicken wrap has not aged well.

Mama's Bakery & Lebanese Deli
4237 Alabama St.
San Diego, CA 92104

Pinoy Fiesta:

I've been having to work weekends sporadically over the last couple of months. On those days, because I'm able to take my sweet old time going into work, I'll often take the "really long route" to the office. On one of those mornings, I stopped by Pinoy Fiesta. Another place I haven't been to in a while.

I noticed that a pan of kare kare had just come out, so I got that….and in a moment of weakness, even though I didn't care for the sisig during previous visits, I decided to give it another shot.

Man, that kare kare was really bland and the meat super tough, not a fan. And while the flavor of the sisig wasn't bad this time around, denotes, though it could have had a bit more spice, it was ice cold and super waxy…."fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice……"

Still, nice folks, but I'll wait a while before coming back here.

Pinoy Fiesta
550 E 8th St
National City, CA 91950

Sunday Sandwiches: Garlic Shack

June 5, 2016 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Sandwiches

**** Garlic Shack has closed

Back in February, I was just driving around and exploring one sunny weekend day when I noticed this place.

I'm pretty sure this place was fairly new……I recall it being pretty much a revolving door of eating places in the last couple of years. I am, of course, a garlic lover, so I just had to try the place out. I will say they really went with the "shack" theme here.

Nice and tight selection of craft beers and an even more interesting selection of craft sodas……looks lie Diet Coke is persona non grata here.

I was greeted by a bright smiling face when I entered; the folks here seemed very cheerful and helpful. The drill is order at the register; pay and have a seat. I really can't say the view was great, though there was a nice breeze blowing through the place and I counted two ambulances and one fire truck rushing through the neighborhood during my meal.

You know; this place IS named the Garlic Shack, so I had to try the Garlic Fires, right? It wasn't quite what I picture as garlic fries.

The fries were really nice and crisp, very hot….I really didn't care for the garlic seasoning which seemed like a bunch of granulated garlic dumped on the fries, which made the flavor somewhat bitter to my palate. That spicy ketchup was quite nice though….not super spicy, the tangy-sweet with a slight kick.

I ordered the "Spicy Porkaholic".

It was quite a hefty sandwich….which was appropriately wrapped in butcher paper. It should have had a "contents under pressure" label since it basically bursts at the seams. The bread didn't hold up for very long, the pork had a very strong paprika flavor and really didn't have a smoked flavor, at least to me. The bean sprouts were an interesting choice, which added some texture, along with the lettuce. The menu said grilled onion, but I didn't detect any of that.

There was no way that I could finish all of this….though it did seem more about portion over quality. I did enjoy the South Bay Seltzer; which wasn't overly carbonated and quite refreshing after all of this rich and hefty food.

And so things stood pat….but of course I really wouldn't have felt comfortable doing a post without another visit. Which I did a few months later.

Different folks, but the same very friendly and helpful service.

This time around I decided to stick with just a sandwich and went with the Korean Beefaholic. Which of course was quite hefty.

This was, as before, quite a messy sandwich as the bread didn't hold up for long. The generous portion of meat was kind of mushy in texture and a bit too sweet for me…..the milky flavor of the cheese just seemed to clash with the other flavors as well. The romaine lettuce saves the sandwich, but I think this needs a bit of pungency (onions) and acid (tomatoes) as this was pretty mundane in terms of flavor….but that's just me.

Perhaps if you weren't raised on teri beef sandwiches or W&M Burgers, this might seem really good. For me; not so much. Still, I enjoyed the variety of sodas, the folks who worked here are so very nice. You might want to give it a try yourself to see if it's a good fit.

Garlic Shack
549 25th St
San Diego, CA 92102