mmm-yoso – Page 268

Supannee House of Thai

August 18, 2013 mmm-yoso Thai Restaurants

After our brunch at Fathom Bistro, Candice asked me if I had enough left in the tank to try a Thai restaurant in the area called Supannee. Apparently, the restaurant has it's own "garden/farms" from which it gets many of the herbs/vegetables it serves and it also is supposed to make a killer Thai sausage. So even if I didn't have room, i would have made some!

When thinking of Thai food, Point Loma just isn't the first place that comes to mind, so I was fascinated. The location is a little corner strip mall a block or so from Point Loma Boulevard.

The interior of the restaurant is a bit larger than it looks from the outside. It's simple, but clean….I did find that sound travels quite far.

The menu reflected what Candice told me about the place. It's using local products when it can and frankly, the prices kind of reflect this.

In addition to the regular menu, a sheet of specials was also presented. Loved the local caught fish and the grass fed beef options.

Of course we started things off with the House Made Thai Sausage ($9.50). This dish really delivered.

The sausage was obviusly deep fried. The cut of the meat in the sausage was perfect, not too coarse and not mushy. The flavors of kaffir lime leaf and lemongrass came through nicely, as did a touch of heat. It tasted fine when eaten by itself; but once combined with some thinly sliced thai chilies, ginger, and wrapped in a fresh and crisp lettuce leaf it became delicious. The slight sour of the sausage, cut by the heat of the chili and the ginger; though honesty, I think galangal would have added a nice woody-fruity spice, but also a more cooling component than the ginger. Nevertheless, this was quite good.

We also got the Larb Grass Fed Beef ($12) at heat level 10.

This was an interesting dish. First, I think we got "gringo'd" because this was maybe a 6 or 7 in terms of heat. It was also a bit off balance in terms of flavor being a bit too sweet. The beef as expected was nice and chewy. The rice powder seemed loss here because of the sweetness of the dish as well. I took the leftovers home and it tasted better a couple of hours later.

The final thing we ordered is what I usually order to check the chef's stir-fry skill, Pad Se Eew (with beef $11).

I'm sure that Supanee has to defer to an "Ameri-Thai" customer base and has made concessions. So I ignored the "Calabrese broccoli". The flavoring, usually a simple dark soy, soy sauce, and a sweet component was quite off. This was pretty bland. The noodles were on the mushy side and it lacked "wok hey", the wonderful flavor of the wok.

I brought the leftovers home. The Missus took one look at the Pad See Eew and refused to eat it. She liked the texture of the grass fed beef, even though the flavor was a bit off. She loved the Thai Sausage. So a week or so later we returned to Supanee for dinner.

And of course started things off with the Thai Sausage ($9.50).

This delivered as it did last time. I believe its our favorite version in San Diego.

We also ordered the Grass Fed Beef Larb again.

This was again ordered at heat level 10 and this time it tasted like a "10". The flavors were nicely balanced this time around as well. All the components, the fresh crisp lettuce, the toasted rice powder, the cilantro, played their role well. In spite of the heat, you could make out all the flavors. I think we'll dial it down a bit next time!

On the top of the specials menu is a White Seabass, a wonderful fish, sauteed in a Garlic Chili Sauce, which we ordered.

First the good. This was bursting with flavor, a complex herbaceous-sweet-salty-spicy. The Thai eggplant (grown in their garden) in the dish was sauteed to perfection….I would be happy with a plate full of that. The dish just sparkled in terms of flavors and colors. The one problem was that the White Seabass was just cooked to death….dry as shoe leather. A real bummer, because it has a nice flavor and texture when done correctly. At $20, that's kind of a serious misstep. Bummer, this could have been an excellent dish.

I think we'll be back for the sausage and larb, but am not sure about having anything else. That sausage, even at almost $10 is worth it to us.

Supannee House of Thai
2907 Shelter Island Drive
San Diego, CA 92106

Hours
Mon – Thurs 11-3pm, 5pm – 9pm
Friday     11-3pm, 5pm – 930pm
Saturday    12-930pm
Sunday      12-900pm

777 Noodlehouse: Sometimes, nothing fits the bill like some intestines…….

August 17, 2013 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

In a bowl of rice noodle soup……

Or stir-fried, Chinese style with preserved vegetable. They can make this pretty spicy.

I don't know when it happened, but somewhere down the line intestines have become comfort food.

Not in the mood for poop-shoot? The Hu Tieu Nam Vang Kho )dry) is still my favorite here.

I wasn't quite as fond of the egg noodle version; Mi Nam Vang. It just didn't do it for me.

The Missus really likes the Tod Mun Pla, the Thai style fishcake here. I think it's tasty too. They really have a lot of kaffir lime leaves in it.

Not much else to say on a beautiful San Diego Saturday. Just some soup to share!

777 Noodle House
4686 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92105

I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend!

Honolulu: Keeaumoku Seafood

August 15, 2013 mmm-yoso Hawaiian Food, Honolulu, Oahu, Poke, Travel

Man, I didn't even notice I hadn't done this post….time to catch up!

After returning from the Big Island, we had maybe a full day to get our grinds in….the Missus wanted to make the most of it and I had wanted to check out Keeaumoku Seafood, and tiny shop just mauka of Beretania Street. Oh….yes, in case you didn't know, we never used East-West-North-South while I was growing up, in fact, I was kind of confused with those directions when I first started working, then living on the mainland. Back "home" we use "mauka", toward the mountains, or "makai" towards the ocean.

Anyway, the shop it a tiny one with barely a handful of parking spaces right in front of it. Funny, I still remember when Nippon Theatre was across the street from here….man am I getting old!

Anyway…we wen' score one of the spaces right in front of the place.

From the cold case, it seems that this place makes poke in small batches, which is not a bad thing. The poke did look a bit dried out as well, but we weren't here for poke. There was a rather stern mannered Korean woman working and a very sweet young lady who was Filipino. She really did a nice job putting together our plate.

I'd really come here for one thing…….this:

No…it's not the brown rice, ok? The Missus did insist on that to counter-act the rich and wonderful fried Ahi Belly. Man was this good! A slight resistance before melting away in your mouth. This being Ahi, not Aku, the flavor wasn't too strong for the Missus.

You also get an order of poke with the Ahi Belly. I chose the sesame oil poke, which was coated with masago. sadly, it wasn't very good. The fish was tough and this was strangely lacking in flavor.

The Missus really wanted to balance out the scales and we ended up going to Whole Foods in Kahala, where She built a massive salad. We had our meal at one of the tables right outside the market.

Man, we're still talking about that Ahi Belly…….

Keeaumoku Seafood
1223 Keeaumoku St
Honolulu, HI 96814

Weeknight Grilling: Asian style grilled lamb meatballs

August 14, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

In all honesty, I really don't know what to call this……..

I'm not going to insult anyone and call it Lamb Bun Cha, that would be wrong…..it's basically the product of having our little backyard garden go a little crazy and the Missus texting me this morning asking what to get at the market. I had been going through Cindy Pawlcyn's, Big Small Plates and saw a recipe for what is called Spicy Lamb Burgers with Vietnamese Salad. And while this bares hardly any resemblance to that recipe, I always try to note my inspiration.

The Missus decided it would be great grilling these…..and even better, why don't we do it over binchotan on our konru, wrapping it in herbs and lettuce from our yard. Just like tree-huggers would do!

And so it came to pass………and this was pretty darn good. We grilled it with some shishito peppers that needed to be picked soon.

We dipped these in nuoc mam cham and had a nice meal. The lamb was really moist and full of flavor…though it just wasn't gamey enough for the Missus.

Still, it was rather quick once you get the bincho going. There was a good amount of flavor. The savory fish sauce dip balanced out the borderline almost too sweet meatballs.

And as always, I lived to cook another day!

And we had a couple of interesting beers to boot…actually, I liked the name more than the beer.

Asian style grilled lamb meatballs:

1 lb ground lamb
3 tb minced shallot
2 tb minced scallion
3 tb minced mint
1/4 cup minced cilantro
1 tb dark brown sugar
1 tb agave syrup
2 finely minced Thai chilies
3 tb fish sauce
1 tb soy sauce
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

– Combine all ingredients and let rest for 20-30 minutes
– Roll into balls then flatten into small patties
– Grill and serve with fresh herbs, nuoc mam cham, and wrapped in lettuce leaves

Thanks for reading!

Tem’s BBQ

August 13, 2013 mmm-yoso Filipino Restaurants

*** Update: Tem's is now Nanay's, the food seems the same though.

A couple folks have asked if I'd ever been to this little shop in the food court of the Plaza Sorrento Shopping Center. Which I think is a pretty good food court. Yes, there's a Subway and the Chinese Fast Food place, but you can also get Thai, Greek, not my kind of Sushi, and perhaps not not my favorite Pho shop. Throw in Indian, one of the places in our Mira Mesa banh mi crawl, and you've got yourself quite a variety….maybe not the best in terms of quality, but it's a combination that's hard to beat in one spot. And there's even Filipino Barbecue……which is where I'll pick up. I'd seen Tem's and had always meant to try them out. So I finally made it a point to grab a meal.

I've always thought Filipino "turo-turo" style food was perfect for a food court. As expected, the atmosphere is totally food court and the selection revolves around Filipino Barbecue, with an additional 3-4 additional offerings. The prices are reasonable….the 1 item and rice goes for $4.99. Here's an example with BBQ Chicken.

Man, talk about enough carbs to keep you runnin' for a while….it's like three scoops of rice. The chicken is grilled, but not dry, and is dark meat which has more flavor. I enjoy the different riffs on Filipino BBQ, salty, sweetness from sugar or even 7-up, perhaps a fruitiness from Jufran, sour of Kalamansi, a hint of garlic, a touch sweet-pungent onions…..the list can get fairly long. The version here is very mild, coated with sauce, and for me, occupies a level barely above the food court "same chicken with a different sauce".

The best item I've had here is the "Spicy Pork", which is a pseudo sisig-ish.

It's the 50% solution….not very spicy, but it is pork. There's a hint of sour and sweet, the pork has a bit of chew, but isn't bad. It's the most flavorful dish I've had here.

The BBQ Pork on the other hand was totally "the other white meat". Dry, touch, and with less flavor than the chicken.

The one item I would absolutely not ever get here again is the Chicken Adobo. Dry, lacking in the flavor of soy, vinegar, black pepper, this was adobo in name only.

Then there was the occasion when my rice on the two item combo…..a reasonably priced at $6.09, was terribly hard and dry. No bueno…..

For some reason, the way the food is glazed reminds me of long defunct Eddel's, but with less flavor. Maybe someone with the inside scoops might know?

Tem's BBQ
6715 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92121

Champions Mariscos Truck in Bay Park

August 12, 2013 mmm-yoso Food Trucks, Mexican Restaurants, Seafood, Taco Shops

So yesterday I did a "Breakfast of Champions" post, I guess it just makes sense to do Champions Mariscos right after it.

Last week I making the drive up Morena Boulevard, something that I do countless times during the week. In the parking lot to the side of Toys 'R Us, where the ill fated Morena Farmers Market used to be was a lonchera…..

I hadn't seen this one before. Yet, I had stuff to do and couldn't drop by. I kept my fingers crossed that this wasn't just a one time deal. So this past weekend, I managed to stop by. Not once, but twice.

Champion Mariscos? I don't ever recall seeing or hearing about this truck. It was kind of weird approaching the lone truck in the middle of a large parking lot, with no one else around. I checked out the menu, the prices seemed in line for most items. The woman handling the counter was quite friendly. I asked her how long they had been here….."since monday" and what they're hours were, "every day 10 to 6".

I have a usual "routine" of items I order from just about any mariscos truck and I'm just too old to change that habit.

Like any decent mariscos truck, things start off with a cup of consomme…..

On the light side, kind of salty, but not terrible.

I went with the Fish Taco, which was a 99 cent special and a taco gobernador ($4.25).

So let me just get my pet peeves out of the way. The fish taco's batter was kind of mushy, in fact the fish was unusually bland, yet very moist edging on mushy as well. I'm thinking this was probably swali. The under ripe tomatoes add a bit of texture but not any of that nice acid to the taco. Other than that….it's 99 cents, who am I to be a nit-picker, right? There was a ton of shrimp on the gobernador. The tortilla had been lined with melted cheese so it wouldn't turn to mush. The shrimp was cooked decently, but I sorely missed the acid of some sauteed tomatoes and the flavor of bell peppers in this. Still, there was a decent amount of shrimp in this.

So I decided to make a return visit. The consomme was much better this time around. Nice shrimp-fish flavor, with hints of celery.

I decided to just go for it and started with an Enchilado Shrimp Taco….spicy shrimp($4.25). At first I was just going to do a taco de camaron, but I really didn't care for the batter, nor the frying technique on my previous visit.

Good quantity of shrimp, well cooked, though not very spicy. Same tomatoes and mediocre tortillas. Not bad.

I also got the taco de marlyn…or in this case marlin ($4.00):

Unlike other versions, the smoked fish wasn't too salty, but it did lack a distict smokey flavor. The tortilla was nicely griddles, but there was just too much cheese on this. I like the way these trucks make prep the tortilla on the gobernador or marlyn, using cheese as a base to preserve the texture of the tortilla. There's a very mild milky background that you barely notice. Here there was just too much of that. This was not bad by any means, but nowhere near the league of the good mariscos trucks in San Diego.

One thing about my posts you have to understand. It's not in my DNA to drop my standards "just because I'm happy something is close by". Just as I'm not just happy because we actually have XLB in San Diego, I can't say the food here is fantabulous, just because it's the only one. That said, I hope if you live nearby you check them out. I don't want to be negative, but Mariscos German couldn't make it in the neighborhood and sadly, we couldn't even support a Farmer's Market! La Playita closed recently and Playa Azul a couple of years ago. So unless you just want Taco Shop fare, this might be one of your few shots at something different.

Champions Mariscos Truck – In the parking lot of Toys 'R Us on Morena Boulevard

Breakfast of Champions: Banh Mi Ba Chi (pork belly) from Cafe Dore

August 11, 2013 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Breakfast/Brunch, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Cafe Dore has closed

Man, it been a couple of years since I've been here and even longer since I last posted on the place.

Not much has really changed here. Older gentlemen gather, have coffee, chat….and do guys gossip? For lack of a better word, let's just call it that. It's the coffee culture of Vietnam translated here….mostly men, each with his group. Hey, it's almost like high school huh? I'm thinking that it is….only the topics of conversation have probably changed, or perhaps not?

What really motivated me to visit on this bright Sunday morning was a conversation I had with FOY("Friend of Yoso") YummyYummy. Her dad is a regular here so she really has a inside track on the food. She told me that the pork belly banh mi…Ba Chi had really improved over the last year or so. Pork Belly? I'm so there…..

As I walked from my car to Cafe Dore, guess who I see? It's YY's Dad! It was nice seeing him. it had been a while. I told him that the reason I was here…..his daughter's recommendation. He invited me to have coffee with his "group"….very nice, but I had errands to run and food to prep on this morning. He also told me the Ba Chi here is "famous"….

I couldn't wait to have at it. So I opened it eagerly upon arriving home. It's pretty interesting, even though the bread for the banh mi here are from the same source as every other place that doesn't make their own, it's usually pretty fresh and flakey.

The pork was rather thickly cut, not a bad thing, and very moist. The flavor was pretty good, mildly sweet, with a slight swiney flavor. YY had told me that's it's getting better and I'll agree with that.

The pickles are a lot sweeter here than what I remembered and there was some major "jalapeno roulette" going on, with some slices being very mild, but a couple of slices were just explosive. All in all, a nice sandwich, one that I'll return for.

The service was very typical Cafe Dore, guys still play on those "machines" in the back….middle aged guys….hmmmm. It was a nice sandwich for a sunny Sunday….I'd like to tell you the price, but YY's Dad somehow paid for it without me even knowing…… Sneaky, but very nice, it made my day. Make sure to thank your dad for me YY!

Cafe Dore
4135 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

A Sushi/Sashimi Intervention at Sushi Tadokoro

August 9, 2013 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi

Our luck in eating out hasn't been much good recently. In fact, I guess I'm starting to get a bit ornery about the whole thing. So the Missus decided it was time for an intervention. And She chose just the right place……Sushi Tadokoro.

What follows are mostly just photos….I've posted on the place enough already.

The sashimi was just perfect, the amaebi were just delivered as we sat. The heads were still moving the entire time we ate our sashimi. Some may find this somewhat disconcerting. We saw this as a mark of freshness. The engawa was a favorite of the Missus.

We always get something a bit different on every visit. This time it was the Kamasu – barracuda, which was seared to develop the wonderful oils.

The Iwashi (Sardine) was especially rich.

Like I've said before….getting this is not difficult. The Itamae has to be comfortable and familiar with your tastes and even budget. Your responsibility is to be an open-minded customer. After a couple of visits, he, and you have an unspoken understanding…..

Sushi Tadokoro
2244 San Diego Ave
San Diego, CA 92110

Open: Mon – Sat 5pm – 10pm

Red Moon Noodle House revisited

August 8, 2013 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Xiao Long Bao

**** Red Moon has closed

It had been about a year since I first posted about Red Moon Noodle House. Some things had changed since then. They had started serving lunch, which I think is a good move. There's a bit of a buzz because of their "secret menu" that I first read about on Convoy Conquest, then on This Tasty Life. With a post by Kirbie in the mix. So perhaps it was about time for a revisit.

The interior remains the same, as does the really nice folks who run the place.

I'm thinking the lunch hours help the place as does the advertising in Lighthouse. On both of my visits, most of the customers I saw were Japanese. It's probably a good move for the place. Even though the owner is ethnically Chinese, he's from Japan.

On my first visit, to get things off to a good start, I ordered the dish I enjoyed most during my previous visits; the House Special Chicken with Garlic Sauce. Earlier I described this as being a " poor man's Dezhou Pa Ji/Dao Ko Shao Ji". Well, it seems like we're getting a bit more poor here…..

I liked the color, but this had much less flavor and was much more dry than what I'd had before. I had already thought that it needed a more complex vinegar-sweet flavor, or something to balance out the raw garlic……it seemed to have taken a step in the opposite direction. Sadly, this was still the best item I had on my visits.

Now on to the "not so secret – secret menu" item, the Xiao Long Bao. When the white distilled vinegar and sparse shreds of ginger hit my table, I knew I was in trouble. I mean really, I don't mind changes if you have something that you think is an improvement; but this is just cheaping your way through this. Oh, and maybe adding Chinkiang Black Vinegar might help that chicken a bit too.

Geez, these were bad….the first thing that went through my head was "where are you buying these"…because the hard and dried out wrappers leads me to believe they had been frozen for a while. Also, there was a distinct lack of soup and the filling was on the tough and chewy side. 'Nuff said. If you want to compete with DumplingInn for the worst XLB, I say you got a contender here. Sad that a place with such nice folks would serve something like this….. But, like friends tell me, I'm the only person they know who thinks that "Din Tai Fung's XLB is kind of a gimmick." So it's probably a personal problem……

I really didn't feel good about doing just a single visit. I really wanted to find something I thought was good here, so I decided to give it another try.

I ordered another dish I'd had before, the Shrimp Pan Fried Noodles, which I thought had some potential, but was just very weak in flavor.

Well, I gotta give it to Red Moon. If anything, they sure are consistent. The noodles are crisp without being powdery, the shrimp so nicely done, for some reason, they like their vegetables this side of what I consider optimal, but that's no big deal. What is a big deal for me is the lack of flavor……..this was so bland. I did something I almost never do, as I want to understand the flavor….I made friends with the white pepper and soy sauce…Kikkoman soy sauce….for Chinese food. I took most of it home and had the Missus try this. The only thing She could say was "so sad……."

I also decided to try something I hadn't had before, the Crispy Garlic Chicken.

To me, this tasted like an overcooked chicken katsu (which it was) with a drizzle of something like katsu sauce, topped with a brown sauce. At least this had flavor, but it seemed like something I'd do at home. And that Chicken Katsu was really tough.

I had thoughts of going back to Red Moon yet another time, but decided to give it a rest. This is not my cup of tea. I will say that Red Moon serves the best "Chinese" style food in that strip mall, but being better than A Cafe….I dunno if that's much of a prize. All I can say is horrible parking lot, mediocre food, very nice folks.

Red Moon Noodle House
4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Rhodes Town (Greece): Palace of the Grand Masters and a cup of espresso

August 4, 2013 mmm-yoso Greece, Greek Food, Rhodes, Seafood, Travel

*** Nothing but a cup of coffee in this one. We'll have a new post with more food tomorrow.

Compared to the busy and buzzing late mornings and afternoons, the walled Old Town of Rhodes seemed quite tranquil and relaxed in the morning. The Mediterranean sun shone brightly on the streets even at 7 am! Busy Ippokratous Square seemed downright tranquil.

The Kastellania Fountain is one of the Old Town's landmark as is the usually packed Kastellania Stairs, which date back to 1507, which used to lead up to, duh, Kastellania Palace.

Walking around Rhodes Town during this time of day you're able to see the usual tourist filled town in a new light (no pun intended).

Walking within the rather formidable walls of the old town, you start understanding the history and importance of this medieval city, once the crossroads of Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The commercial and strategic location of Rhodes means a long and colorful history as well as the island was in turn ruled by the Greeks, Roman, Isaurians, Arabs, Genoese, Ottoman, Italians, finally back to the Greeks. None of these captured my imagination more than the Knights of St John and no walk created more drama for me than an early morning wander up the Street of the Knights. This was where the Knights lived, you can find the "Inn of France", the "Inn of Italy" and so on. The Knights were divided into eight "tongues" – Aragon, Auvergne, Castile, England, France, Germany, Italy, and Provence. Each had their role and a "gate" of the city for which they held responsibility.

The road originally led up from the harbour to the Palace of the Grand Masters, an impressive structure. You can almost imagine knights on horseback galloping out the gates.

It is so large that I had a hard time trying to fit it in a single photo. This castle like structure was built in the 14th century on the site of an ancient temple to the god Helios. This was where the Grand Master of the order of the Knight Hospitaller lived. When the Ottomans defeated the Knights it became a prison and storage for ammunition. This lead to the event called the "Great Gunpowder Explosion of 1856", when lightning triggered an explosion which basically demolished the structure. When the Italians took over Rhodes, they rebuilt the palace, which became a vacation residence for Mussolini. There's actually a plaque near the entrance with Mussolini on it….sort of "Mussolini slept here" I guess. I took a photo but it didn't come out.

The photo that did come out was of the rather grand stairway in the palace.

I was told that most of what is located in the "museum" does not reflect the "Knights", rather the mosaics and art were taken from Kos and were brought here by the Italians as was the antique furniture.

Still, the place is quite an impressive site.

So what happened to the Knight of St John after their defeat at the hands of the Ottoman Turks? Well, the Knights, badly outnumbered made a spirited defense, so it is thought that Suleiman the Magnificent, allowed them to ransom themselves and leave Rhodes. Where did they go? Well, take a look to the right and I'm sure you'll figure it out. This simple display also served as inspiration for one of the stops in our most recent vacation.

We left the palace and just a short walk down the street you can see one of the remnants of the Ottoman occupation.

The Suleyman Mosque. This was also where we first saw this rather eccentric tourist. She was a very thin Taiwanese woman, who looked to be in her mid forties. She carried this really dinky looking mini-tripod with a camera attached. Every few steps she'd place the tripod on the ground and click a button and run up the steps do a "pose" just before the camera and flash went off. A couple yards later….she'd do the same thing. The Missus and I walked past her just cracking up. We just had to get out of there, so we ducked out St George's gate. As we exited the Old Town we walked over the area that must have been the former moat. It had been replaced by a nice green area.

We wandered around the "New Town" a bit. Through some of the shops and markets, just getting a feel for the area. Man, I was running low on gas, so the Missus suggested we get a cup of espresso.

Not as good as Tunisia, but it did the trick. I was ready to head on back out in the sun drenched streets of Rhodes Town.

Thanks for reading!