mmm-yoso – Page 253

Porto: Avenida dos Aliados, Imperial McDonalds, and Confeitaria do Bolhao

April 12, 2014 mmm-yoso Bakery, Breakfast/Brunch, Desserts, Porto, Portugal, Portuguese Food, Travel

We'd had a pretty busy first day in Porto and I really slept soundly. As is typical for us, we awoke pretty early in the morning to stretch our legs and do some exploring. We'd found that mornings are almost always the best times to see things……you'll be in less of a rush and, especially in Portugal the streets are quiet and empty.

We headed up to the area that seems to be the heart of Porto; the Avenida dos Aliados, the "Avenue of the Allies". The street commemorates the marriage of King John (Joao)I and Philippa of Lancaster, creating an alliance between Portugal and England.

The avenue and promenade is lined with some nice examples of Art Nouveau and Art Deco buildings. A statue of King Pedro IV on a horse stands at the lower end of the street and City Hall the top.

I'm sure everything here has a story. It's a nice place to stroll on a cool morning, all the grand buildings around. I wondered about the statue to the right. I could find very little, at least in English on "The Naked Girl – Youth" by Henrique Moreira, sculpted in 1929.

This is also the location of McDonald's….yep, McDonald's. What's the big deal? Well, they call this location, "Imperial McDonald's" and it's supposedly the most ornate and beautiful McDonald's in the world. In case you're wondering….it's not Imperial by declaration. I was told that this was the former site of Imperial Cafe, which became derilict and run down. McDonald's took over the space in 1995.

Man, talk about fancy-schmancy…..I'd feel down right uncomfortable getting my McNuggets on here!

Still, this was just a McDonald's, so we headed back up to the area near Rua Catarina and the large Mercado do Bolhão. Before heading in, we decided on getting breakfast at Confeitaria do Bolhao right across the street.

A large case of pastries, both sweet and savory, a large area to have you espresso and a pastry, this was very "tipico" of what we encountered everywhere in Portugal.

We were mainly after some espresso, but also had a few other items, which were decent, but rather non-descript. The prices were very good….if I recall, two espressos and pastries for like 5 Euros.

We also picked up a Broa de Avintes for later on…..

Confeitaria do Bolhao
Rua Formosa 339
Porto, Portugal

A cup of espresso, carbs in our belly….we were ready for the world, or at least a visit to the Mercado do Bolhão.

Thanks for reading!

Fermentation Nation: Shio Koji – Chicken Wings and more

April 10, 2014 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

I'd been reading about what an amazing flavor enhancer Shio Koji was for a couple of years. Apparently it really delivers that "sixth flavor". This fermented product made is from rice, inoculated with aspergillus oryzae, a "domesticated mold" used in the making of sake, miso, and other products, with salt added. The enzymes in shio koji; proteases,breaks down the proteins to amino acids, of which glutamate, has a major part of delivering the "umami", lipase breaks down fats, and amylase, which breaks down starches into simple sugar. There's apparently a lot going on here…..

So naturally, when I saw something marinated in Shio Koji on a menu, I couldn't help but order it, which turned out to be a terrible mistake. It left me disappointed and let's be frank, kind of pissed off.

How could something that has been raved about in Japan over the last couple of years be so….well….weak? So on one of our trips to Nijiya, I bought a bottle. The Missus thought I was nuts. This mildly grainy, gluey substance did what?

It does taste like salty, crude, rice wine…….the stuff you'd make in a jail cell……

I went in blind and decided to grill some chicken wings……

Here's the first recipe:

1 1/2 pounds chicken wings
1 cup Shio Koji
1 Tb Garlic Powder
1 tsp ginger juice
togarashi

I marinated about 6 hours, then grilled.

One thing for sure……this thing will burn quickly if you're not careful. The wings were really tender, the skin actually got somewhat crispy, the flavor was good. A flavor like mild miso marinade, so complex, perhaps a tad too salty……I went overboard with the shio koji….but as salty as it seemed, we weren't bothered with any of the effects of too much sodium. It could have been sweeter, but man….we were hooked!

The Missus wanted me to do this again….the next day! This time I wanted a more well rounded flavor, without drowning out all the wonderful "umami" from shio koji….which is pretty hard to do. So here's the marinade for the same 1 1/2 pounds of chicken wings. Marinaded overnight.

1/3 cup shio koji
1 Tb grated garlic
1 Tb ginger juice
3 Tb mirin
1 Tb hoisin
togarashi

This time, we decided to really push our luck and grill over bincho!

I should mentioned that I don't put togarashi in the marinade. I sprinkle it on right before grilling. Man, this stuff goes really fast and I had to be on top of it. In the end, there was some char….which by the way, is delici-yoso….

Other than having to really be on top of the grilling, this stuff is a total no-brainer……

After our first foray into wings, I went to look for other uses and told the Missus that folks are using shio koji for salad dressing, and you know what, the Missus really got into it.

It does make a really good dressing, with balsamic vinegar, sesame oil, and I don't know what else the Missus puts into the salad. I hate fruits in my salads; but man, the strawberries are really wonderful in this….even the chia seeds! Sorry to say, the Missus can't even tell me portions and such……otherwise I'd give you a recipe. But we had salads three days in a row……

Why isn't everyone using this?

I guess the next step for us is to make our own shio koji, right?

Stay tuned…….

COMC – Revisits to Ballast Point Tasting Room and Kitchen and Brabant

April 9, 2014 mmm-yoso Belgian Cuisine and Restaurants, Pubs and Pub Grub

C(learing) O(ut the) M(emory) C(ard) on a fairly hectic Wednesday with some revisits mostly in photos.

Ballast Point Tasting Room and Kitchen:

There was a special brew on tap that we just had to sample.

And the menu has been revamped since my last visit.

Fanny Bay oysters are quite consistent, nice cucumber finish, which is probably the reason why Rowan Jacobsen said, "You never get a bad Fanny Bay" in his book A Geography of Oysters.

My favorite item here is still the pretzel…..well, probably the mustard, which the Missus can almost drink…..

Ballast Point Tasting Room and Kitchen
2215 India St
San Diego, CA 92101

Brabant:

**** Brabant has closed

The Missus and I both enjoy Brabant. Yes the food is on the rich and heavy side, and can be uneven as is the menu, the prices seem a bit high. But we both enjoy the vibe….and of course the beer.

The Klokke Roeland is my personal favorite here, it's 11% ABV, so I'll only have one….or two if the Missus is driving.

The Missus enjoys the coarse cut of the pork in the Bratwurst and of course the stoemp.

I'm perfectly fine with a couple of beers and a side of frites……

Though we recently had the vegetarian crouquettes and really enjoyed the flavor….celeriac comes through quite clearly.

Of course, it all comes back to the Belgian's here. When you visit, cozy up to the binder full of beer and tasting notes, some of which are quite entertaining. "Begins with a sawed-off shotgun blast of Belgian funk to your nostrils, along with notes of ash, wet oak, white wine vinegar, and yes, this is NOT a joke – sweaty gym socks…" Now tell me, how could we resist?

Brabant Bar & Cafe
2310 30th St
San Diego, CA 92104

LW’s SD BBQ

April 8, 2014 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, BBQ, Sandwiches

**** LW's has closed

Back in September, I shuddered at the thought of what a place with "SD BBQ" in its name was going to make. Well, it turns out I was wrong…….LW's, which opened a couple of months back in the old (and tired) Chinese Garden spot, does BBQ….not something par baked or boiled then slapped over some mesquite and sauced……well, for you hard core BBQ folks, you won't see an ash pile out back….I don't think the owners of the strip mall would take too kindly to that.

Still they actually smoke over hardwood and could easily be the best restaurant within a half mile radius….

OK, before you get to excited, let's hold on there Jethro! There's a couple of things you need to understand, the competition in the area are places like Hometown Buffet, Roberto's, Mountain Mike's Pizza…it's Bay Park, not North Park.

They claim to smoke over hickory….for up to 14 hours. Personally, find that Hickory is a bit too strong to use for some proteins, too much of it can give off a bitter flavor, so I wasn't sold.

I'm also not a fan of the sauces here, kind of powdery, on the bitter side, even though there are 6 varieties all taste like they were made from the same base. The fact that they refuse to serve anything without sauce on it kind of makes me think they may have problems holding their product. When I asked why, I wasn't given an answer.

Still, it's in my neighborhood…….

I first visited when they first opened and decided to get a Beef Brisket Plate ($13.50), no it ain't cheap, but the portion size is generous.

Since I couldn't get this without the sauce, I asked them to go easy. Decent smoke flavor, the beef was a bit too fatty, though this wasn't bad at all. I'd like a bit more bark, but there was a nice smoke ring.

The sides were mediocre, mass produced rolls, bland coleslaw, the beans being the best of the bunch.

Overall, ok……not terrible, there was some potential here.

The same week I smoked a tri-tip, I decided to try the Beef Tri-Tip Sandwich Combo ($8.95).

No, this won't make forget Firestone Grill, but the flavor of the beef was decent (I'm glad they went real easy on the sauce), the beef adequately moist though on the chewy side. It was served a bit too cold (especially with sauce on it) for me.

The potato salad was decent, it had some nice flavor, perhaps a bit too sour and I didn't care for the vegetable mix in the coleslaw.

One night, after getting off from work late, the Missus having already eaten, I decided to drop by and grab a half rack of ribs to go ($15.95). I quietly asked the young man working the counter if I could get it with the sauce on the side….I was pleasantly surprised when he said, "no problem"…… And then I got home.

A bit too "falling off the bone" for me…though the Missus loved it. I ate one piece and that was enough, decent smoke flavor but a bit on the dry side, and too much sauce. I also noticed that it looks like they didn't remove the membrane from the back of the ribs.

Strange thing was, that during this visit I was told that the owner's were from North Carolina….funny, but the sauces didn't seem like any Carolina style sauce I've had. I tried all of them, from the bottles on the table and they are all too sweet for that style. The "KC" style sauce here would make Arthur Bryant roll over in his grave….take my word for it; I've been there.

My most recent visit was a couple of weeks ago.

It was nice to see the place doing some pretty good business.

I went with a Pulled Pork Sandwich which was nicely priced at $6.25.

Tired of begging for no sauce, I just asked them to go easy, which they thankfully did. This was a decent sandwich, though nothing special; the pork was quite cold and a bit tougher than I like, but this wasn't bad. The coleslaw added a nice textural counter-point and being on the mild side, didn't interfere with the flavor of the pork.

I did make one mistake….curious, I ordered the Chicken Wings (6 pieces – $6.95).

Rubbery skin, bitter smoke flavor, lacking in seasoning….'nuff said. I ate two and pitched it…I hate to waste food, but this was terrible.

The folks here are nice, though sometimes a bit confused. I'm glad places like this are finally opening in this area. Though I'm not a "just happy to have something like xxx in my neighborhood" kind of guy. In terms of portion versus price, I think it's a good value. Is it good BBQ? check them out and let me know what you think……….

LW’s SD BBQ
3057 Clairemont Dr
San Diego, CA 92117

Roadtrip: Yai Restaurant (Los Angeles) 7 years later

April 7, 2014 mmm-yoso Los Angeles County, Road Trip, Thai Restaurants

We left San Bruno at a bit after 5am the night after having a wonderful meal at Wakuriya. We decided on grabbing lunch in LA, then doing a couple of errands, then heading straight home.

We stopped at "fragrant" Harris Ranch for gas and bought some stuff for Da' Boyz. What was really funny was that the Missus had never been back to LA this way…..so when I turned off at Gilroy, She asked me "why the hell are we taking side streets!!!"

Now if you recall, this was during the first weekend of December, which was the coldest of the year. The Missus told me to take a break and She'd drive until we reached Castaic. I dozed off, but awoke when the Missus told me, "hey, check this out!" We were on the Grapevine at the Tejon Pass and my god, it was snowing……..like sideways snow. Now you have to remember, I'm a kid from Hawaii, the Missus didn't learn how to drive until She moved to the US……in LA. We don't drive in snow…..

I looked ahead……I told the Missus, "you see those vehicles in front of us? Those are snowplows!" Yep, at the Northern tip of LA County……snowplows….

This was something very different for us…..and yes, the Missus was actually fascinated by the experience.

We were very lucky, they had closed the Tejon Pass about 15 minutes later. A few minutes more and we'd had been caught in a traffic jam. Here's what it looked like in Castaic…..

We made it to our lunch destination right on time; a shade after 11am. We'd been wanting to return to Yai Restaurant for a while. Alot of water had passed under the bridge since that visit in 2006; we'd been to Thailand, Laos, had our favorites in San Diego, and were wondering if our impression of Yai would be the same.

Yai resides on the outskirts of "Thai Town". It's a no frills, no pretense, simply furnished joint. I kind of believe that what Yai does best is are Chinese influenced Thai dishes.

We ordered the two dishes that really made an impression years ago and went with one I was interested in trying.

One of the dishes that we really enjoyed was the BBQ Duck with Chili and Garlic ($10.95).

This was definitely not visually appealing. It did have that wonderful sweet-garlic flavor, though it was a bit on the greasy side. The duck was also on the chewy side, but had a really nice flavor.

The Black Egg Pow ($8.95)

So good, just the way we recalled. I don't ever recall seeing this dish anywhere else. Preserved duck egg is deep fried, then combined with a wonderfully sweet and savory sauce that captures classic Thai flavors.

The fried basil leaves add a crunchiness and a mildly sweet-herbaceous flavor to the dish. The preserved eggs have a wonderful texture, the exterior crunch, yields to the firm egg, then gives way to a creamy center. There's a slight sulphuric – musty finish that I find pleasant in a strange sort of way. This is one of my "desert island dishes".

This is simply called Roast Pork with Chinese Broccoli ($8.95) on the menu and is actually crisp roast pork with gailan. But this dish is more than just a description. I'm not sure where they get that roast pork, but it is simply wonderful. It almost melts in your mouth.

This was a nice way to end our roadtrip….it's always gratifying to visit places you really enjoyed years ago and find they're still putting out good grub.

Yai Restaurant
5757 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90028

Pho Royal

April 6, 2014 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Pho Royal has closed

I tried to hit as many Pho places as I could during the recent cooler weather. I happened to be down in Chula Vista and drove past this place. I last visited when it was Pho 888. Now it's Pho Royal….so that makes it; what, 3 different Pho joints in the last 6 years? Pho-real?

The exterior looks much better now that it's no longer giardia-green. The interior look basically the same, except for the wall of water and the elephant planters…which made it seem more like a Thai Restaurant. There were two young girls working….I assume they're the owner''s daughters….very nice kids.

The menu is interesting; regular or large bowl, then you can choose up to 7 different proteins for your bowl. I went with a small bowl – $5.95 and went with "C,D,E, & F"….that would be brisket, flank, tendon, and tripe.

As is the standard nowadays; the plate of garnishes is kinda sparse, mostly bean sprouts, a sprig of basil, a couple of slices of jalapeno…..

The broth was too light in flavor, slight anise, almost no beef flavor, a bit of sweetness, but not too salty. The noodles perfect, which was nice since most bowls I've had recently included over-cooked and mushy pho banh.

The tendon was MIA, there were but a few strips of tripe which tasted fine. The brisket and flank were cooked to death, just falling to shreds and the brisket tasted a bit "off"….a residual "ice-box" flavor permeated the meat.

The prices here seem in line, the bowl is "pho-not-to-offend" much too light in flavor, but at least it isn't a MSG bomb. I still think Pho Hiep makes the best bowl in the area….let me know if you think there's something better!

I recently received an email that made me crack up……I won't reveal the persons name because they didn't want me to. But the gist of the email was along the lines of "you're the only person I know who can write 300+ words about a bowl of frgiin' soup". Yes, it's true….I can and have done so again!

Pho Royal

635 Broadway

Chula Vista, CA 91910

Hours:

Mon – Sat 10am – 9pm

Sunday 12pm – 9pm

Rhodes: Our (second) lunch in Stegna and the sunset of the year

April 4, 2014 mmm-yoso Greece, Greek Food, Rhodes, Travel

After having our (first) lunch at Mavrikos in Lindos, we backtracked and then took a side road. Our destination, the beautiful coast and the quiet village of Stegna.

Compared to Lindos and Rhodes Town, this was a peaceful, relaxing piece of paradise.

At the end of the road was a Taverna that Vassos, from the Saint Michel recommended to us named Antonis.

There's a ton of charm and the folks here are very friendly. However, we really found the food to be bland, and not prepared well. It was also our most expensive meal on Rhodes at over 70 Euros.

The Octopus was just grilled to death and rubbery.

The fish was not seasoned, not grilled very well……and cost us 50 Euros to boot.

It was really weird, like the grill wasn't hot enough, the skin of the fish like rubber…… such a beautiful fish….ruined.

We were finding that getting a nice meal on Rhodes was kind of tough……

Still, it was a nice, very relaxing change of pace.

Antonis
Stegna, Rhodes, Greece

We drive back to Rhodes Town and returned our rental car. As evening got closer, the cruise ships left, and Rhodes Town again became quiet.

We took a walk up and down the back streets of Rhodes Town, away from the main tourist sites….where the residents of Old Town lived.

We'd had two lunches and decided on just chilling. We stopped by one of the little shops and bought a bottle of wine……Chris had given me a list of nice drinking wines to try. We also saw some stuff being stocked on the shelves of the little market and the Missus was thrilled. It was one of Her favorite things from our time in Crete……Cretan Rusk (twice baked bread). We also brought some cheese. Funny, we even brought back some rusk all the way from Rhodes….and it was still good.

We settled in on the patio of our room, which we called "the penthouse", since it was situated on the roof of the Saint Michel….we had the whole place to ourselves.

As the sun started to set, we could tell it was going to be a great one…..

One of the most beautiful I've ever seen….and I've seen my share.

Maybe we'd been a bit underwhelmed by the food on Rhodes, but man…….this was worth it all. A priceless sunset, which just set everything right.

We got to sleep early…….we had a boat to catch the next morning.

Thanks for reading!

Yakyudori (quick all appetizer meal)

April 3, 2014 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome back to mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog. Cathy is writing today while Kirk and Ed(from Yuma) are busily preparing other posts for your future reading adventures.

The Mister and I had a few moments the other day and decided to stop into Yakyudori, which posts written by Kirk have appeared here more than a few times. The Mister and I have been here many times and I have also met here with clients, but just never posted.

It was pretty crowded when we got here, but there was no line waiting outside.

However, all the tables were being used, so we sat at the bar. A good view of the kitchen in action was the vantage point.

It wasn't quite time for the Yakitori portion of the menu to be served and the young man (above) was busily lighting the binchotan for the evening diners.

We each wanted some hot tea and ordered both (green and oolong) ($2 each). The heated cans were brought out first.

The kawasu, a cold dish, ($4) was brought out soon after. The ponzu sauce-marinated chicken skins were plentiful, refreshing and tasty. The spicy sprinkled topping (togarashi) adds depth to the dish.

Freshly made with pot-sticking crispiness, the gyoza ($4) are always good here.

An order of katsu chicken ($5) is almost always a given for us. The lightly fried crispiness leaves the chicken cooked on a skewer moist and with good flavor and is a quite large portion.

This time, we decided an order of takoyaki ($4.50) would be good, and it was. The minced octopus based cooked balls were laced with just a bit of batter/ginger/green onion filler and topped with the mayonnaise and gently moving bonito flakes.

All in all, a nice meal made up of appetizers. I hope you are having a good week!

Yakyudori 4898 Convoy Street San Diego 92111 (858) 268-8888 Website

Midweek Meanderings: Gourmet City opens and Tajima Ramen Bar coming to Hillcrest

April 2, 2014 mmm-yoso Buffets, Chinese Restaurants, Japanese Restaurants

Gourmet City:

Funny, the other afternoon I was driving back from Zion Market with the Missus and I noticed that the old….and really bad VIP Oriental Buffet was gone and something called Gourmet City has taken its place.

Funny, I pass this area almost daily; sometimes 4-5 times in a day, and I never even noticed this place. The Missus said that it looks like an all you can eat hot pot/buffet place. If I recall the space is huge. "All you cannot eat" just isn't my style….so I'll wait and see what other folks think.

Gourmet City
5541 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

They even have a website

Tajima Ramen Bar coming to Hillcrest:

As mentioned in Eater San Diego; Tajima has picked up the lease. I was in the area and took a look.

And sure enough, there it was on the ABC application – "Tajima Ramen Bar". I'm sure our good FOY, "PedMa" will have something to say about this one.

So how many different businesses in the last couple of years….Yakyudori – Raku – Tecchan, and now Tajima. I hope they stick around for a while.

3739 6th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103

Have a great week everyone!

Pho Ha Noi

April 1, 2014 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

As I mentioned last week, the unusually warm winter makes me feel like there's some unfinished business out there….. I really never got my share of soup, specifically soup this past year! So now that we're getting some cooler weather, I thought I'd take full advantage. I also received two very nice emails from "John", the first after my post on Pho 46 telling me about a place right down the street on Miramar Road named Pho Ha Noi, he was nice enough to email me about the place again after I mentioned the Brodard knock-off nem nuong cuon at Pho Ban Mai, telling me that Pho Ha Noi also made a similar version of the spring roll and wanted my opinion on it. So why the heck not, right?

Admittedly, I usually have a place in mind when I'm around this part of Miramar Road and really don't pay enough attention…..Geez Louise, I'd probably not have found this place at all if not for John. I'm trying to recall what used to be here before. Some kind of Chinese Fast Food joint? The steam table set-up is still in place.

Anyway, the nice young lady handed me a menu and I started with the Nem Nuong Cuon ($6.99).

Now if the version at Pho Ban Mai is, say a cousin of Brodard, this would be some distant relative twice removed. It's not very good, too loosely wrapped, the meat was kind of greasy, along with being kind of sparse with salad mix carrots and such. There was that little crispy strip, but the sauce was kind of bland as well.

As for my pho, I ordered the #9 – Well-done steak, Brisket, tendon, tripe ($6.99). For some reason, I just didn't feel right ordering rare beef here, better to try the other proteins first.

At first glance, I didn't find the look of the broth to be very impressive; too cloudy, too low in oil, it just kind of reminded me of Pho T Cali. Like the appearance, the flavor was light, slight anise flavor, and not quite savory enough for my taste. At least it wasn't too salty. The noodles were perfect, nicely prepped, with a mild pull to them. The proteins were passable; the tendon was chewy, but not too bad, the brisket was tough, and the tripe had that mild, almost soapy aftertaste of something that hasn't been prepared the way I like.

I thought this was ok, nothing to go out of my way for, and I think Pho 46 has a ever so slightly better broth, though the noodles here were better.

Still, it was nice to try someplace new……I'm hoping to try a couple more places while the weather is still on the cooler side.

Pho Ha Noi
6904 Miramar Rd
San Diego, CA 92121