mmm-yoso – Page 277

Evora: The Agua de Prata Aqueduct, Snacks at Pastelaria Conventual, and dinner at Adega do Alentejano.

September 27, 2013 mmm-yoso Desserts, Portugal, Portuguese Food, Travel

The town of Evora is quite charming, within the preserved city walls are cobblestone lanes, charming streets, the place just oozes character. After a wonderful meal at Botequim da Mouraria, followed by a nap, we were ready to do a bit more exploring. I really wanted to see the Agua de Prata Aqueduct, the "Aqueduct of Silver Water", which stretches into Evora from the Northwest. It was literally a block from our hotel. You turned the corner and the aqueduct was in sight.

Construction on the aqueduct began in 1531 and was completed sometime in 1537 and brought water to Evora from Ribeira do Divor about 5 miles away.

What made this interesting to me was that I had read that there were houses and other structures actually using the pillars of the aqueduct as frames. Pretty amazing, no space wasted.

Of course the aqueduct works on gravity, so as the structure goes lower, so do the buildings…..

Which eventually turns to garages and sheds as it heads earthward…..

While walking along the aqueduct we heard an "hello, hello…..how are you? Would you like to have your picture taken?" We turned and saw a woman huffing and puffing, up the street….her name was Toni, from Australia, who had decided to move to Evora! Needless to say, we had a wonderful chat. I have to say, Toni is quite an interesting personality, her husband had passed away, and somehow, in her 60's she had decided to move here. Of course we had many questions; like "how's your Portuguese?" Her answer; "well, I'm starting lessons next week." Man, talk about living an adventure…..

We headed off to our next destination….it was time for some coffee and a snack or two. We passed quite a few sights on the way, some of which I'll cover in a future post. Here's a photo of Igreja da Graça, the Church of Grace. I found the figures on the facade kind of scary and the church just looked spooky to me.

We finally reached our destination, up one of the side streets; the Pastelaria Conventual, which specialized in "Conventual cakes", basically sweets that originated in the areas convents. I had a seat outside, while the Missus went to town.

We were told that the item Pastelaria Conventual is known for is the pão de rala, a "thin cake", made of eggs (quite a bit) and flavored with almond, with a touch of orange. It was a bit too "eggy" and sweet for me…..pretty heavy stuff too.

As was this…..

What was really funny was watching the Missus biting into this and freaking out…..

It was an empada de galinha, basically a miniature chicken pie, with a heavy chicken flavor.

It was nice to just sit down; have a cup of Cafe Americano and let time pass. It's something we here in the States aren't real good at……just sitting and watching the street scene; your own personal relaxation "aquarium".

Pastelaria Conventual
Rua do Cicioso No.47
Evora, Portugal

After our snack we wandered around for a bit, then headed back to the Albergaria do Calvario, checked email, freshened up and headed back out.

The heavily touristed Dos Mercadores was now quiet. The day trippers were gone, the young folk had headed to other places to enjoy the evening, and the shops had closed.

The heart of Evora, the Praca do Giraldo, the main square was now quiet and sedate, totally different from the bustling version we had seen earlier in the day.

Somehow, we ended up at the Templo Romano, the Roman Temple once again…..we quickly noticed how different it looked at this time of the day.

We walked across the street to the Largo da Porta de Mouro where the Missus snapped this beautiful shot of the sun setting over Evora……

How wonderful…..

Ok, enough of that….time for dinner. The Missus wanted something hearty, which the region, the Alentejo was known for. We decided to walk on down the now quiet side streets of Evora….

To Adega do Alentejano…….

The restaurant is actually quite large, but we were the only customers. The red checkered tablecloths gave it a homey feel and the gentleman serving us seemed a bit aloof at first, but ended up being quite a nice guy.

Things started out in the typical manner, appetizers brought to our table…if you eat, you pay. We also got some of the ohuse wine which actually comes from the barrels you see in the back of the dining area.

We looked over the items written on the chalkboard to determine what to get while we had our first earthenware pitcher of wine.

The Missus had been curoius about the Sopa de Tomate, tomato soup, wince She first read about it. The deal was sealed when She was told to not "order anything else…it is not a bowl of soup, but a meal!" They weren't kidding.

There's a lot this heart soup has got going for it; slices of bread soaked with a broth that just feels like a warm comforting embrace. There is of course the Missus' favorite, two eggs poached in said broth.

And like the info-mercial goes, "but wait, there's more…." a bowl of charcuterie accompanies the soup; fried pork belly, linguiça, and yes, farinheira, the "flour sausage" the Missus hated, which tasted just lovely deep fried.

Can you say comfort food????

If you think about it; this part of the Alentejo is almost like the great plains in a way, it is one of the hottest regions in Europe. Instinctively you'd immediately balk when offered a dish that includes clams, right? Well perhaps I had my doubts, but one of the classic dishes of the region is Carne de Porco à Alentejana, a dish that includes the wonderful local pork as well as clams. I just needed to try this.

The clams were surprisingly fresh, tender, and tasty, with a nice briney goodness. The pork, which seemed to be shoulder was on the chewy side, but the flavor of pork here is wonderful, it reminds me of what pork tasted like when I was a kid, even better. The fried potatoes went well with all the rich gravy/broth.

This was also fairly inexpensive as well. The Missus had asked for something hearty and She got that at Adega do Alentejano.

Adega do Alentejano
Rua Gabriel Victor do Monte Pereira 21 A
Evora, Portugal

Thanks for reading!

Raki Raki Revisited – Waylaid by a ramen burger

September 24, 2013 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Burgers, Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

I had promised myself a return visit to Raki Raki to have the Tsukemen back in November when the weather got a bit warmer…..well, if the record heat we had recently wasn't a sign from some divine being….in short, it was tsukemen time.

But a funny thing happened on the way to my noodles. I believe I'm usually hype free and don't really follow fads. Yep, I'm just your usually fuddy duddy, boring kinda guy. But in a moment of temporary insanity I ordered this:

A ramen burger…….or should I say a "Dream Come True California Ramen Burger" ($9.75)

Even I have those moments it seems….after eating this I mumbled "what was I thinking" to myself as I walked into the psycho parking lot on Convoy. Hopefully not too loud….

The burger is 100% angus beef, over-worked and cooked to death as it's tough as leather. The flavor is nice and beefy. All of the juices from the burger seemed to have collected in the greasy, bland, flaccid, mushy bunch of noodles used as a bun. The fry job on these was lousy as it fell to greasy pieces after two bites. I had imagined something like crispy "cake noodle" like I get back home, this was not very good. The "crisp" rolled pork slice they call "underbelly" was more like hard and the edges burnt and bitter.

The sweet potato fries were light and mildly crisp, with good flavor.

But man, who you gonna sue for this oil spill?

This was like something dreamt up in a college dorm room after a couple hits of the cash crop. For a more mature point of view, perhaps you should read Kirbie's post on the ramen burger.

I sent out texts and photos to my friends, then had a moment of paranoid reflection…….first Yes! Pingo and now a ramen burger…what's going on? What next…a Harley, porn 'stache, and a couple of tats? Maybe this was that male menopause I'd seen my friends go through? Yikes!

I needed to fix this……which I did by returning for the Standard Tsukemen ($8.75).

It was as before, noodles with a nice texture, perhaps a bit over-priced for what you get, and the broth edged on the too salty side.

But most importantly, this seemed like a return to normalcy. At least for now….

RakiRaki Ramen and Tsukemen
4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Bentowich

September 23, 2013 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Japanese Restaurants

*** Bentowich has closed

I get some pretty interesting emails at times…..and as many of the other food bloggers can attest, about a good third of them are press releases, free stuff (which really isn't free if you think about it), and all of the other PR driven spiel. I even get my share of emails from folks…. whom I shall affectionately call "shills". Don't take this the wrong way, some of these folks are endearing as heck…and others, well, I'm thinking it's a single, or perhaps a small group of folks are plain persistent. I'd been getting emails for almost six months, at a pace of about one every two weeks, from different email addresses, all with pretty much the same writing style, telling me about their "favorite place"…..with the rather strange name of Bentowich.

Yes, I get it…..bentos and (sand)wiches. I thought the location a bit odd; at the outskirts of Old Town….but in retrospect, I think it's a pretty good idea, Japanese Fast Casual among the scores of Cantinas and tourist traps.

So I finally made it down on a bright (and hot) Saturday, finding parking on a side street. The interior looks efficient and spartan…..

The outdoor seating area is quite nice and bright, if a bit too hot this time of the year. Still, when things cool down it'll be a great place to have a meal.

The concept is a lot simpler than the name would suggest; you pick your protein, determine the context (bento, sandwich, yakisoba, salad), add a couple of toppings/sides, sauce, soup or salad(and dressing), and your on your way.

The assembly is pretty much fast-casual, the food is already prepped/sliced, you deep fry or saute adding some sauce, take it to the Kelvinator where it's put together, and you're done. The key high lite of all of this is that everything is made fresh to order, a key component of "fast casual" type places. There are some unique touches, like having my bento served in a nice bento box.

As you can see, I went with the Sliced char Siu Roast Pork ($8), bento style.

You can chose white rice, brown rice, or onigiri, which is what I choose. You might as well go with white rice as this onigiri is truly white rice scooped into an onigiri mold, other than some furikake on one and some nori on the other, it's not really flavored (i.e. I grew up with onigiri seasoned mildly with salt.

The two "sides" I order were the pickled daikon and carrots and the Asian cole slaw. The pickled daikon was way too sour and salty, while the cole slaw was rather unremarkable. I selected the green salad with Miso Caesar dressing which was watery and weak.

Having seen that the pork was pre-sliced and portioned off, I expected it to be dry and tough, but it was cut thin enough for it to be tender and sauteed quickly keeping it moist. The "teriyaki" sauce was very mild, a hint of sour, more of a glaze, without much sugar, which actually worked in its favor as the flavor of the pork came through nicely.

I thought this was decent in terms of value and quality, so I decided to drop by again when driving back from a meeting in Hillcrest. The pickled daikon came to mind. While being way to sour and salty eaten solo; I thought it would be a great compliment to a sandwich. So I decided to get the Yakiniku Sliced Prime Rib in a sandwich, one of the more expensive items on the menu.

This was a nice sandwich. The roll held up well. The sauce, which tasted the same as what was on the pork kept things moist. The pickled daikon and carrots really added a nice refreshing component to the sandwich, a la banh mi.

I got the green salad again, this time with the wasabi ranch; which was again very runny and lacking in flavor. Sadly, it seemed that the dressings here are watered down.

Overall, the prices were decent, the folks working here, the low-keyed, efficient, and polite young lady, along with the very polite young man…..I'm still trying to pin down the exact time in my life when I became "sir", were very pleasant. So a few weeks later I decided to drop by on a Saturday.

I ordered a Chicken Katsu sandwich, something that I like, though will not get at most bento places because it's that awful combination of dry (the katsu) and mushy (the bread). But since they make the stuff to order at Bentowich, I really couldn't go wrong, right?

When it arrived I thought two things; both of them incorrect. First, the portion size looked quite small, but after opening the sandwich, the portions looked decent, if not especially large. Second, the breading looked really dark, so I thought this was going to be very dry, which it was not.

After my previous experiences with the salads…well, to be more precise, the salad dressing, I was going to get miso soup even though it was hotter than the sun's surface on this day. But after seeing the not so great looking soup on another customer's table, I relented and went with a salad again…….and finally found a dressing that I liked here, the Jalapeno Cilantro. Just enough zip and flavor for my taste.

Frankly, I'd be eating at Bentowich every so often if they were in my neck of the woods…..even though they won't make me forget about my favorite Japanese lunch places, I still prefer this to Chi-poodles and Ba-HA Flesh. The staff here is nice; even to the kind of "ticky" woman who I've seen here on two of my visits, who sits on the table right in front of the counter and has the kind of stare that gives me the creeps. I'm wondering, could she be the one who is…nah, couldn't be.

Bentowich
2367 San Diego Ave
San Diego, CA 92110

Ok, whoever you are, you can quit with the emails now!

Yes! Pingo

September 19, 2013 mmm-yoso Taiwanese Food and Restaurants

**** Yes! Pingo has closed

For some reason the name of this place just didn't motivate me to visit. After reading posts by Kirbie and Jinxi, I did feel a bit more motivated. I really hadn't had decent Taiwanese food in San Diego, so I recruited my buddy Candice, to see if Yes! Pingo would fill the bill.

For some reason, the name of the place makes me think of the Hello Kitty gate at Taipei Airport. the interior has that fast-casual, boba/tea shop look.

I liked the menu which was full of standard Taiwanese "snack" items, many of which were familiar to me having spent five years living in the SGV.

So where to start? Well, I thought the classic oyster pancake (omelete) would be a decent choice.

My preference is for a bit more egg and a bit less flour/starch, which made this gummy. The usual ketchup based sauce could have used some flavor as this was kind of bland and runny. The oysters were decent, though rather sparse.

I like a good Ba-wan, pretty much a glutinous meatball, called Taiwanese Meatball on the menu.

This had a couple of large chunks of pork, tasteless and tough. This also lacked flavor and was rather disappointing. I never thought I'd be wishing for something from the now defunct 168 Restaurant.

Looking to improve our luck; I went with another Taiwanese standard that almost never fails. The fried pork chop.

Loved the texture, crisp and light. But whomever seasoned this must have dead tastebuds because this was extremely salty….unpleasantly salty.

One of my favorite Taiwanese dishes is Three Cup Chicken……

Loved the color, but this was also way too salty…almost bitter in flavor. I was wondering who was in the kitchen?

We met our final dish with trepidation…..Niu Rou Mian, beef noodle soup.

The best thing about the broth was that it was hot……other than that…well where to start. The noodles were overcooked, the beef tough, dry, and cold in the center. The worst was the soup, which was insipid, tasting like a beef bone was merely waved over it. This needed more of everything….

At the end of the meal I asked Candice what she thought the best dish was. Her response? The pickled vegetables that came with the pork chop! I also asked an acquaintance of mine who is from Taiwan about the place. He laughed and told me the owner is a well intentioned recent University Grad with no restaurant experience and that the kitchen doesn't have much either. It just seemed that the dishes here were really skewed on our visit; either very bland or way too salty. It wouldn't be too bad if one or two of the dishes were this way, but all five were. I know other folks really like the place, so perhaps it was a bad day. I really don't know what to say…..

Yes! Pingo
4813 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Revisiting Buga since the ownership change

September 17, 2013 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants

If you've passed by Buga recently, you can't help but notice the new sign. Well, that's not the only thing new at Buga. According to my sources, there's been an ownership change. One of the partners of Manna has taken over Buga. This also explains the slight remodel of the interior as well.

So it was only natural for the Missus and I to drop by and check the place out, right? We ended up visiting twice over the last couple of weeks and though we didn't order BBQ, we had a couple of interesting dishes.

Things have been modernized, from the signage to the menus, to the addition of a "wine" and dessert list as well.

Buga's menu design has been modernized in terms of lettering and style…gone are the Korean Romanizations, all items are either spelled out in English or Korean.

There's a large list of new appetizers and though I believe that many of the other dishes existed in the old menu, this fresh rewrite actually had me looking it over…..and trying to figure out what they were, since the Romanization was gone.

I'm thinking the panchan is a great place to start. On our first visit, we noticed that the variety of panchan, along with the quality and flavor were sorely lacking.

This seemed like really cheap AYCE quality panchan. Nothing very interesting and the item that I consider my baseline, the standard baechu (napa cabbage) kimchi tasted like sour cabbage with very little spice and none of the wonderful fermented flavor I really enjoy.

On our revisit, the dishes had grown from 6 to 8. While the flavors were better, this was still mediocre when compared to what Buga used to offer…….

During our visits, I went with a couple of appetizers, items I believe are new. Like the Kobe Beef on Sizzling Stone ($13).

For the price I didn't expect much….surely not "AAA" Kobe…..this was decent wagyu, nice flavor, the stone adding a good crust on the bottom. Lightly seasoned, the beefy flavor came through, though this was a more chewy cut, we both thought it was not bad.

You know me and chicken wings….so I had to try the Buga Crispy Chicken Wings ($7). The wings were frenched, an attempt at creating a more refined look.

To me this backfires when you send out product like the drumette whose bone had snapped, making this look rather amateurish. The coating was too light, more flaky than crispy. The sauce was a rather fruity, much too sweet, chili sauce.

The Japchae ($10) was cooked to perfection; not too oily, the noodles having a nice pull to them.

I thought this needed a bit more flavor. We asked for sesame oil which added a savory nuttiness that definitely brought the flavor up.

The Missus was looking for Her favorite hot weather dish; the Yukkwe Bi Bim Bap. I found it on the menu as Beef Tartare Bibimbap ($15).

She had this on both visits. The hot rice for the dish is now served separately, probably due to health code. The portion size seemed a lot larger. Along with cho-jang and sesame oil….well, this is still a favorite.

I actually went with the Kalbitang, yes soup, on one of our visits. It's on the menu as "Kalbi" Beef Rib Soup ($12), something I don't recall having at Buga before. I'm not sure it was on the old menu….

This was just rich enough with enough beef flavor for us. I do wish that the place had sea salt instead of iodized salt in a shaker…maybe that's coming? The ribs were just soft enough, without falling apart nor being mushy in texture.

We've got a pretty long history going with Buga, going back to August of 2005, so a change was probably in the cards. It seems that quite a few of our regular haunts are going through changes in the last year. I guess we've been doing this for quite a while now…..

I'll do another post after we check out the Korean BBQ.

Buga Korean Restaurant
5580 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117

Recently Consumed

September 16, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking

I'm feeling a bit lazy today, so just something quick…….here are a few dishes I've made recently.

More fun with triggerfish. This one with Tomato-Basil-Caper Sauce:

This one with a Lemon-Basil-White Wine Vinegar sauce.

I've been using my Weber Smokey Mountain at least once every weekend…except when we were in Ciudad Obregon. It's usually just chicken or ribs….I like smoking half chickens, then searing them off in a skillet when I'm ready to eat.

This past weekend, the Missus needed some smoked chicken for work…..I really didn't want to take up the entire day so I decided on brining then smoking some chicken thighs.

After cooling I chopped and sent Her off with BBQ sauce…..of course I saved some for me. It was a BBQ Chicken Salad.

See those "black bits" on top of the chicken? Well, the skin really doesn't get super crisp. So what I do is remove them; pat dry, chop, then deep dry….deep fried smoked chicken skin. Man, that was good! Made for a nice topping on my BBQ Chicken Sandwich along with some coleslaw.

I'll finish off with a nice sandwich I made with grilled wagyu skirt steak…..man this was good!

Thanks for visiting….we'll be back with a post on another restaurant tomorrow!

Sultan is back to only Baklava, Saray Restaurant opens in its place

September 15, 2013 mmm-yoso Persian Restaurants, Turkish Food

*** Please note – Sultan is back serving kebabs. This time in the Gaslamp. You can read a short post here.

This past week we decided to make our monthly drive out to El Cajon. We were craving some Turkish food from one of our favorites, Sultan. You've probably read at least one of perhaps a half dozen posts we've done on the place over the last couple of years.

Imagine our shock when we drove into the parking lot and saw "Saray Restaurant" instead of Sultan Kebab & Baklava. We were confused when we saw that the Sultan Baklava sign was still in place.

New signs, paintings, and posters adorn the interior of the place and we didn't see anyone we recognized. The folks running the place, a husband and wife team are very nice and welcoming.

The menu was a combination of Turkish and Persian dishes and a bit confusing.

More than the menu, we were kind of concerned about the (former) owner, who always made us feel welcomed, always stopping for a short chat. We hoped that he was doing okay…..

All was soon cleared up when he appeared, walking through the front door, waving to us, then coming over for a chat. He explained that between taking time for the baklava; his booth in the Famer'sMarkets, having the restaurant was getting to be too much of a burden, so he has decided to sub-lease the restaurant to this couple. He brought the owner out to chat. We found out that he was previously one of the chefs at Sufi Restaurant; the one next to Balboa Market. They took over the restaurant side of things about two weeks ago. After the chat, they both went back to the kitchen area where it looked like a whole lot of intruction was taking place……..

We ended up having a decent dinner; the prices seem a bit lower and the portion sizes a tad smaller. Here's what we had. Since it looks like they're just getting started, I'll reserve my opinions until we revisit in a couple of weeks.

Saray Restaurant
131 Jamacha Road
El Cajon, CA 92019

We are sad to see Sultan close down the restaurant part of their operation. Sultan inspired us to travel to Turkey, a country we've fallen in love with. Yet, I fully understand why the former owner wants to dial things back and am glad that he is well.

Saturday Stuffs: What’s going on in the former B.H. Chung Spot? Ditto Mr. Fish and Chips. LW’s San Diego BBQ coming to Bay Park.

September 14, 2013 mmm-yoso BBQ, Chinese Restaurants, Seafood

Just a quick post on a lovely Saturday.

So what's going on with the old B.H. Chung spot?:

On my way to lunch a couple of days ago, I drove by to see what was happening in the old B.H. Chung spot.

I know, doesn't look like anything, right? A closer look reveals a sign:

Both the Missus and "Xiang Jiao" told me it's going to be a "porridge place". I'm trying not to mentioned the lovely parking lot in this post, but can't help myself….

Stay tuned…..

4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

What's up with Mr Fish and Chips?:

"Soo" mentioned that a fire closed Mr Fish and Chips in the comments of this post. I believe they were supposed to reopen at the end of June, but the place is still empty. AT least the sign is still up; which is a positive indicator.

This whole strip mall is being renovated and some new structures are being put up as well. I've had some preliminary messages telling me that a Chinese restaurant may be opening in this mall as well.

Mister Fish & Chips
5647 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92111

LW's San Diego BBQ:

This sign has been up for a couple of months.

This used to be the location of Chinese Garden, an ABCDE (American Born Chinese Dining Establishment) whose main clientele were folks from the assisted living apartments behind the mall. Not quite sure what "SD BBQ" is…though a picture comes to mind of ribs par baked in foil, then finished over mesquite or something like that…….I'm hoping not, so we'll see.

3057 Clairemont Dr
San Diego, CA 92117

Ghost Pepper Infused “Fugu” Vodka

September 12, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking

So we were shopping last night and the Missus mentioned that one of Her colleagues loves to infuse his vodka with peppers…."smack to the head"…of course, what a great idea.

Just then I passed the perfect "label" to infuse…Ballast Point's ultra-filtered, "Fugu" small batch vodka.

Not much to say here, make sure to wash the pepper well, slice in half, put in bottle…….I thought about removing the seeds and stuff, but that would be no fun.

So that was last night….the Missus and I couldn't wait, so we had a taste with dinner….holy smokes……it's very floral, but that heat! I thought I'd need at least a week. It is literally "fire water"!

It went well with the Bison Nahm Tok I made.

I'll be sharing this and leaving it with friends this weekend (maybe I'll document what we create) since I'm not really into spirits….though that doesn't mean I won't do this again!

They just do it right in Ciudad Obregon

September 11, 2013 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Mexico, Sonora, Mexico, Taco Shops, Travel

This past weekend, I did a world-wind weekend in Ciudad Obregon. I wouldn't blame you if you've never heard of C. Obregon, I hadn't. But I'll tell you this much, if you asked me to return tomorrow, I'd be on a plane in the blink of an eye. Two of my good buddies…we'll call them Samuelo and Q-nito came with me to attend the wedding of our good friend Akira, who I've mentioned in previous posts…. How a young man from Sendai ended up marrying a wonderful young lady from Ciudad Obregon, well that's a story for another day. In fact, I'll leave it up to you to tell me if you'd be interested in posts about this trip; which included flying out of Tijuana Airport….getting to the airport was an adventure in itself. Oh, and if you've never heard of Aereo Calafia before; neither had I, and we travel all the time!

They really know how to do it up here…. It was quite amazing to go from the formality of the wedding…..

To the reception….which went on until 2 in the morning! The band was amazing……

Then there was Q-nito, who just couldn't stop dancing….though it was Samuelo who challenged the various musicians to a "dance off"…..

Which is how we three earned our reputations….Samuelo talks to anybody, Q-nito dances with everybody….and me? Well, I was pretty much sidelined with a little injury…..

So of course….I drank everything!

Then there was the after-party…….the highlite of which was watching the bride and Q-nito do Gangnam style in the middle of the street at 4am.

Two hours of sleep later found us having Birria de Chivo for breakfast at a roadside stand.

Then it was off to buy gifts, followed by a road trip to the sea side village of Paredoncito in the municipality of Benito Juarez, Sonora.

the horse drawn carts ferried people and products back and forth from the boats….it is shrimp season here…..I had some of the best shrimp ever.

After sunset we headed back to Ciudad Obregon….to the bride's house, for what else, well dinner of course! While the local carne asada (it's cattle country) was grilling over the mesquite…..

The bride's father waved us to the front of the house…where we were greeted with a Mariachi Band!

Q-nito and I ended our meals in Ciudad Obregon with adobado from a stand in the back of the hotel for breakfast. I went with the dorados.

And a double helping of what the owner of the place calls "power"…..

We loved our time in Ciudad Obregon; the bride, her warm and generous parents, and friends were wonderful hosts. We can't wait to return the favor….or even, return to Ciudad Obregon! The only thing hotter than the triple digit weather was the warmth we felt as guests…three Asians in Obregon!

So there you go…….I'll let you decide if I should write more detailed posts about our trip. I've got a ton of stories….and heck, there's even an appearance by this guy……

And maybe even this…….

Hope you're having a great week!