mmm-yoso – Page 278

Surf and Turf Thursday…….

March 14, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking, yoso-silly

I think I've mentioned that the one really big change in the last year was that the Missus really enjoys shopping for food now….She has no problem heading over to Catalina Offshore during the week, or Bristol Farm, or Whole Paycheck. It makes life kind of interesting. Especially when I'm given a bunch of ingredients to fold into a meal. Tonight is a good example……….

So here's a bunch of stuff to make a week (work) night dinner.

So what do we have? From top to bottom, horseradish, duck fat, sunchokes, and a piece of Wagyu New York steak.

So what to make? I took the easy way out……I roasted off root vegetables, including the sunchokes, along with purple potatoes, parsnips, carrots, and whole cloves of garlic, in a combo duck fat-grapeseed oil, and made a duck fat vinaigrette to top it off. Sort of like the Roasted Parsnips and Kabocha with Caper Dressing.

Cook time I estimated about 40-45 minutes, so first thing I did was clean some shrimp. We always have shrimp on hand, it can make for a nice meal just about anytime.

I then made a horseradish sauce, which I thought could be used for both the shrimp and the steak.

Mince shallots, grate garlic, add shrimp, salt, pepper, Smoked Spanish Paprika, Thyme, Oregano, and a touch of Grapeseed oil and marinate the shrimp for a bit.

Season the steak, sear off…….let rest……

Vegetables finished roasting, turn off the heat, add vinaigrette, mix, and leave in warm oven…..

Saute shrimp using the Big Kahuna, which takes literally two minutes. Total time, just north of an hour.

Plate up and eat. It's surf and turf Thursday….

And I've survived to cook another day……..

I hope everyone is having a great week!

Shrimp with Indonesian Style Glaze

March 13, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

I've actually mentioned this sauce/glaze in previous posts. I've used it as a sauce for chicken wings, fish, salad dressing, almost anything that you can glaze, if you can deal with just a touch of heat. I think the Missus really enjoyed it the most when used here:

I'm sure you know how to quickly saute shrimp, right? So, I don't think I really have to go over that. This glaze is super easy, the only items you may….or maybe you do have in your pantry is Kecap Manis and Sambal Olek. Not the Chinese/Vietnamese plastic bottled Sambal, but the stuff from Indonesia.

It's really easy stuff.

Indonesian Style Glaze/Sauce:
1/4 cup Kecap Manis
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 fresh squeezed lime juice
2 TB ginger juice
5 cloves of garlic grated/finely minced
2 Tb Sambal Olek
zest of 1 lime
dash of white pepper

– Combine all items, sample and adjust to your taste

The longer the sauce sits, the better it tastes, if left overnight it also gets a bit more spicy.

The shrimp we used for this is wild Mexican Shrimp from Catalina Offshore. We saute quickly in a neutral oil and add some coconut oil for a nice little hint of coconut flavor.

Shrimp:
2/3 lb 21-25 shrimp deveined with tail left on
1 shallot minced
2 Tb Shaoxing wine
dash of white pepper

5-6 Tb canola or grapeseed oil
1 Tb coconut oil
cilantro
sesame seeds

– Combine the first 4 items and let sit for 15 minutes
– Heat a pan over high heat
– Add oil
– Saute shrimp until just about cooked – do not overcook
– Remove from heat
– Add 1/2 cup of glaze and coat shrimp
– Arrange on plate and top with sesame seeds and cilantro

Easy to pull off, especially on a weeknight.

Las Vegas: Dinner at Sage

March 12, 2013 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Fine Dining, Las Vegas, Memorable Meals, Road Trip

What to do after two lunches in Vegas? Well, I guess a walk up the strip was in order. I parked at Aria, took the tram to the Bellagio, then headed up the strip. At Fashion Show Mall, where the Missus had checked out the latest from Lululemon the night before, I crossed the street and headed back.

On the way back, I decided to kill a couple of minutes at Harrah's, a place where I've had some luck in the past. I ended up making about $200 and decided it was time to flee…..

For our final dinner in Vegas, the Missus decided that we should do sort of a blow-out meal. Unfortunately, just about every place I wanted was booked, Guy Savoy, Joel Robuchon, even Picasso, no bueno. My fifth pick was Sage, in the Aria. I'd heard some nice things about the place and it seemed a lot less assuming than the other four. Years ago, when Michelin Stars and stuff like that really mattered to us, we'd have been disappointed. But after doing The French Laundry, Spago, et al, the Missus and I decided that stuff really isn't for us. Some of it was stuffy and rather pretentious and you can get to the point where you're describing the food like a science project, not my style. But hey…..every once in a while you gotta live, right? And Sage really isn't that expensive.

We arrived right when they opened at 5. Though you might take a risk with the kitchen not being in full swing….they haven't hit their rhythm yet, I still prefer a more relaxed time. And though things might get kind of hectic at the tail end of your meal, you at least have enjoyed most of your meal.

We were the second party seated and our Server, who introduced himself as "Bond, as in you know…." was a pro's pro. He was also quite a character…..we came to find out his name was Jason Bond. Next up was what and how to order. You see, I wanted the Chef's Tasting Menu with the Beer Pairing, the Missus did not. And I understand the issues with pacing and all of that. If you're getting six courses and the person across from you is just getting an app and a main, well there's going to be a lot of dead time for the person having the conventional meal. Again, we plan for the win-win. So when I explained to Mr Bond that only one of us would like the six course tasting, he tried to discourage us from doing that. Until I explained our proposal. I'd get the six course with the beer pairing and the Missus would get five starters. In essence we'd be creating our own little tasting menu. We've often found starters to be more interesting than mains in many cases. Bond got really excited about this and told us it was a great idea, he went to check with the kitchen, who he said was "excited about this". I don't know about that, but we also told him to have the kitchen sequence the starters any way they please….which would mean that it would indeed be like having our own tasting menu.

Things started out with what looked like Himalyan salt and a herb butter. We were shown the bread basket and the two different breads. The serious looking, but really funny young man said, "I think you should each take both." In the end we took one of each. We knew we had a pretty rich meal in front of us.

The sour dough was decent, nice textures. The bacon roll; well, we were tempted to get another.

We were brought an amuse of a Kumamoto Oyster with Tequila Mignonette, and Piquillo Pepper.

The mignonette had a nice tartness to it, very cleansing. Love the sweetness of Piquillo Peppers, I'll probably have to buy some one of these days.

When we had finished up the oyster, the first beer of our tasting arrived. This was a St Feuillien Saison from Belgium. Very crisp, with a nice, almost sweet aroma. This was very easy to drink, light and airy. We also noted that the temperature of the beer was just right on perfect.

This was paired with the Chilled Main Lobster. The brown butter added a nice nuttiness to the dish, making it seem a lot lighter than it was. The Missus is not a big lobster fan, but this lobster was wonderfully sweet and very tender.

The Missus got the Wagyu Beef Tartare ($18).

This was very good. The creamy lightly poached egg yolk just added that extra luxurious texture to the very fatty, melt in your mouth Wagyu Beef. Two interesting touches, the pickled mustard seeds which helped to cut the richness and the savory crisp chocolate made this dish just that much better.

Next up was an interesting dish, the Foie Gras Brulee. Tasting the combinations of flavors in this was rather unpleasant for me as I thought it way too sweet.

Though I loved the salted brioche, the brulee was too much like having candy and pudding for dinner. Great when you're in elementary school, but not after. The cocoa nibs did act to settle things down and take it into a more savory-coffee direction, but it was just too much, until…… I tried this with the beer pairing.

This dish was pared with the Dogfish Head Midas Touch. The Missus loved it as well, it has a mead-like texture and that honey like flavor. There some fruitiness to it and the Missus enjoyed that component….I'm thinking that is probably due to the use of muscat grapes in the making of this. It's a favorite beer of our now. This just seemed to take that sharp sweet edge off the Foie Gras Brulee. To me, this was an awesome pairing.

The Missus got the Grilled Spanish Octopus ($22):

You wouldn't have thought this was octopus if you looked at it. Bond told us they removed the suckers and such so as to "not scare the customers". The octopus was very tender, but this wasn't especially memorable.

My next dish was the Pan-Roasted Sea Scallop. Man, the Jamon Iberico, mild salty-sweet, along with the creamy sunchoke-parsley root, and the olive oil made for a wonderful match.

Scallop and cured pig, a match made in heaven….there should be a children's book by that name, don't you think?

This was paired with another beer from Belgium, Duvel. Very fizzy, clean, with what seems like a bit of spice, this didn't mess with the flavor of the scallops.

The Missus got Her second favorite dish of the evening; the Slow Poached Organic Farm Egg($18), which was almost obscured from view by all the shaved truffles.

The Missus just loved this, even the potato foam and the smoked potato. She was in egg-truffle heaven.

Next up was a very nice Venison Tenderloin. This might just be some of the most tender venison I've ever had.

You could really taste the venison in this dish. The combination of flavors was very pleasant.

Loved the pairing, the Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock looked really heavy, but was not. Has a raisin-chocolate, earthy flavor which goes well with the gamey venison.

Just to prove that there is too much of a good thing, we were stunned at the huge portion size of the Roasted Sweetbreads ($17).

The dish started out really good…especially the sweet and smokey glazed bacon, which was a like a nice smoked pork belly. The sweetbreads were good at first, not the best I've had, they could have been a bit more, well, gooey on the inside. But man, after a couple of bites of this rich stuff, you pretty much wanted to hoist up the white flag. I'd prefer it more lightly fried….and that portion size was quite large for sweetbreads. And yes TFD, these are thymus glands.

Our last two savory dishes were very good. The 48 Hour Beef Belly, was rich, but the roasted quince and the caraway spiced squash helped temper things.

This was served with a Chimay Grande Reserve which was very fruity, perhaps a bit too fruity for my taste.

The Missus's last dish was the Braised Beef Tongue ($19). All I can say is that this was outstanding. Looking all the world like it would be on the waxy side, this was tender to the touch. The celery moved the dish forward by cutting the richness as did the apple cider based sauce. This had the rich, slightly gamey flavor of well made beef tongue.

Our palates were given a nice respite with "Zambuca Caviar"…….

Somebody in the kitchen is playing with spherification! I'm usually not a big fan of sweet anise flavors, but this really did the trick.

I really couldn't do much after this so the Missus had the Grapefruit Semifreddo.

Dessert also came with a hard cider, a Eric Bordelet, Sidre Doux Tendre from France which the Missus really enjoyed. I ordered another Midas Touch as my dessert.

The Missus and I really enjoyed our dinner at Sage. The staff made us feel comfortable. When I told "Bond" that we'd be exchanging plates and sharing, he encouraged it. The service was excellent, efficient, but not hovering nor stuffy. We had a great time……the GM of the restaurant even came over to chat. We never felt rushed and the meal was well paced, clocking in at just a tad over 2 hours. The bill wasn't too bad either. I gave you all the prices for the starters. The Chef's Tasting Menu clocks in at $120, the beer tasting an extra $50, so we're talking about $300 total. I'm kind of glad that my other four choices didn't pan out……

Sage in Aria Resort and Casino
3732 Las Vegas Blvd South
Las Vegas, NV 89109

Hoai Hue Revisted

March 11, 2013 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Vietnamese Restaurants

It had been a while since we'd visited Hoai Hue Restaurant, and a good amount of time since I last posted on the place. The Missus was craving some Banh Nam, so we decided to return to see how the place was doing. Business looked good as the place was half full when we arrived and filled up totally by the time we left.

I can't help but remember how the original Hoai Hue Deli used to be.

The folks here have always been nice to us and today was no different. The older gentleman brought over extra bowls for us to share everything.

The Missus got Her Banh Nam.

Loved the flavor imparted by the banana leaves. The Banh Nam seemed pretty thin, but the texture was very good. This was the best item of the meal.

We also quickly noticed that the fish sauce here is super watered down.

I went with the house version of their special Bun Bo Hue…..can't call it Dac Biet, because there is already a Bun Bo Hue Dac Biet on the menu. This is called the Bun Tom Hoai Hue.

This has basically stayed the course over the years….you gotta give it to them for consistency. THe meatballs are still on the bland side, as is the Cha Lua. The other cuts of meat are a step above Mien Trung, the thick cuts of pork more tender, the pork hock has nice flavor, and the tendon chewy, but not too hard.

As for the broth, it still doesn't bring the heat and is lacking in the lemongrass tones as well. They seem to serve it a notch below what I think is optimal BBH temperature. The broth just seems kind of timid….something I'd usually never think of saying with regards to Bun Bo Hue……

It's not a bad bowl, just not quite up to Mien Trung.

The Missus also ordered the BanhIt Ram, basically glutinous rice dumpling on top of a fried glutinous rice base "dumpling" two ways.

The Banh It, the top "dumpling" was not bad, decent texture, slightly elastic, nice shrimp, though I'd like more pork, pretty good overall. The Banh Ram was not very crisp and much too chewy, even for Banh Ram, which really doesn't have much flavor anyway….if it's even harder then what we deem as normal, then yikes. Add to that lousy nouc mam cham. This stuffs sinks to the bottom of your belly and stays there.

I still think Hoai Hue has the (very distant) second best Bun Bo Hue in San Diego and the flavor and the rest seem pretty consistent. And the Missus enjoyed the Banh Nam, so we may be back sooner than I think.

Hoai Hue Vietnamese Restaurant
4660 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Sidi Bou Said (Tunisia): Dar Amilcar, Le Chargui, and a Tuna Pizza(!) from Tam Tam

March 9, 2013 mmm-yoso North African Food, Pizza, Sidi Bou Said/La Marsa, Travel, Tunisia, Tunisian Food

Our time in Tunisia had been quite a whirlwind, from bustling, confusing, and hustling Tunis, to amazing El Djem and Sbeitla, the vast desolation of the Chott el Jerid, and the beauty of the Grand Erg Oriental, our days had been full. It was time to wind down a bit. Which is why we decided to stay out of Tunis and stay in the village of Sidi Bou Said. Located to the North of Tunis, this town has gained a reputation as a town for artists. The whole town is draped in white colors with bright blue doors, windows, and trim. It gained protected status in 1915 and while researching Tunisia, I constantly came across the word beautiful and relaxing in descriptions of the town. The Missus and I were kind of bushed by this time. You see, even though you might think we go like crazy when on vacation, we're not like many of the, ahem, Chinese or Korean tourists we see. We don't do well in tours, we have the attitude of "we'll return someday", so if we miss something, so be it. We try to take in a bit of where we're visiting, not just blitz through a place to say we've been there, another notch in our belt. Most times it is the journey, not the destination that really makes the trip worthwhile. And though we have so many photos, it's the stories, most of which never make it to the blog, that we remember….like the time I was poaching wi-fi from across the street by sneaking into the restaurant of the Hotel Carlton in Tunis. You could only get decent wifi on the balcony of the restaurant. It was past dinner and the place was closed so I just walked in. As I was checking email and such, a team of men walked in and started fumigating the place….no masks, gloves, nothing….they were just blasting the place! Of course this is where we ate breakfast in the morning. It made me wonder if this was a regular event and what effect it had on the breakfast each day????

Anyway, wanting to enjoy Sidi Bou Said, but not wanting to hang with all the tourists up the hill in Place Sidi Bou Said, we chose a little place called Dar Amilcar. Both the Missus and I had our doubts when the taxi drove up to this street.

Right across from a huge empty lot, full of brown withered grass and trash was a compound with the sign Dar Amilcar in front.

Once we entered into Dar Amilcar and was greeted by the owners and the staff, we knew this was the right place. On the first floor is a spacious lounge and eating area, where breakfast is served.

Though we didn't spend much time down here, some of our most memorable moments of our time in Sidi Bou Said were spent here….more on that in a future post.

There are three suites and a bedroom in the guest house….ours was the Asdrubal Suite, which was huge……

We ended up spending four really nice nights here. Like much of Tunisia, the wifi was a bit spotty, but that really didn't matter.

We came to really enjoy our walks into Sidi Bou Said proper. Being away from all the crowds of tourists was nice….as were the quiet nights.

It was about a 20 minute walk past the train station, the mosque and the busy coffee shop past Place du 7 Novembre to Rue Habib Thameur.

Up the cobble-stoned hill was where most of the tourist action took place.

Though we loved the views…….

06072012 1493

The colors and architecture, we ended up coming up here only three times during our four night stay, twice to eat, and once to get ripped off (just joking).

The place was often crawling with tourists and somewhat pushy touts and just wasn't our scene.

Though the people watching could be interesting at times. Along with all the European tourists, it seems like folks from around Tunisia came to visit Sidi Bou Said. It was a little peaceful and pleasant oasis (of a different kind) outside of busy Tunis.

In spite of all the tourists and visitors, we found the food in Sidi Bou Said to be pretty good. Yes there were some tourist trap coffee shops and restaurants, but sprinkled amongst them were places like the simple, straight-forward, and reasonably priced (for the area) Cafe Restaurant Chargui.

Located through a little portal, in an area that was probably once a courtyard, this restaurant is very, well…..bright and white, and potentially very hot. We were the first customers of the day so we got a little covered and raised gazebo. It seems that the sun shone very brightly around these parts.

The menu was simple and the prices not bad……of course you'd pay more for the "Couscous Royale" (20 Dinar), but if you keep it simple, the prices aren't bad.

Like a simple Salade Tunisienne (4 Dinar – $2.50):

Or the Salade Mechouia (5 Dinar – $3).

This was an interesting version. First off, it had a nice spicy kick to it, which helped to lift the entire roasted pepper salad. I also think there was some tomato in this. The acidic component balanced things out nicely.

The Merguez Grille (10 Dinar – $6), also had a bit of spice to it. It wasn't the run of the mill spiced lamb sausage.

They sure love their soggy fries in Tunisia….along with over-cooked pasta!

The brik was just ok, the egg was overcooked (2 Diner – $1.20).

After lunch we wandered around a bit, then hit the market (an interesting post on that is coming up) for some H2O, had a nap and a lazy afternoon.

We were still kind of just unwinding, so we decided on a very popular place on Avenue 7 Novembre called Tam Tam.

The place looked quite modern, in fact, the place looked like it could be dropped into a mall in the US and fit right in….say along with one of those places like California Pizza Kitchen.

I quickly saw something on the "specials" menu that I pointed out to the Missus…the Seiches Grille.

For some reason, countries other than the US seem to be able to cook cephalopods….and the thought of it grilled over olive wood just seemed delish.

Of course, this was still Tunisia, so there was the bread…..

And of course Harissa…….

The seiches were not bad……

Salt, pepper, and not over-cooking these buggers…….

As for me, I decided on something that went against all of my sensibilites……

For some reason, the thought of a tuna and cheese pizza just sounds wrong. But why not, right? The "tuna" here, like in Europe is pretty good quality stuff; it ain't "Chicken of the Sea". And you know what? I was pleasantly surprised.

Just in terms of being a pizza this wasn't bad. The crust was nice and crisp, light, and yeasty. The tuna actually went well on this….I was surprised at the amount of very mild flavored tuna. It was put on the pie after baking so the mositure content was still good. I'll be the first to admit, I was totally wrong about this.

Though I won't be going out of my way looking for it, I rather enjoyed it.

After dinner we walked around a bit, then headed back to the Dar Amilcar……..the Missus went on a rampage with the iPad (we found an area in the room that got a decent signal). I just turned on the television…..

We were settling in for a relaxing couple of days.

Remember that empty lot across the street from the guest house? Well, even that was growing on us…..it looked really nice out there as the sun set.

Thanks for reading!

Falafel Friday: Mister Falafel

March 8, 2013 mmm-yoso Lebanese Restaurants, Mediterranean Restaurants

**** Mister Falafel has closed

"Way on the other side of the Hudson
Deep in the bosom of suburbia……"
What that Dean Friedman song has to do with this post, I dunno……but for some corny reason I love the song.

There's something bright and sunny about it…..

Sort of like the bright and sunny interior of this little shop in the strip mall on the corner of Genesee and Clairemont Mesa, hidden behind the gas station and Panda Country.

I recall this being a Mexican Bakery…..how long ago Mister Falafel took residence here I've no clue. This seems to be a family operation, an older couple and a younger gentleman run the shop….always gracious, always letting me know "it will be just a while for your food, we make it to order."

Since this place is called Mister Falafel, I just had to try the namesake of the shop, right? The menu is compact with salads, "sandwiches" (pita based of course), salads, plates, sidea, and smaller portions called "munchies". I ordered a Falafel Munchie ($3.50)

This was nice, I enjoyed it as a good change of pace from the usual gritty falafel. This version is smooth with a less pronounced parsley flavor. I was told that they use favas as well as garbanzo beans for their falafel. The tahini is more like mayo and doesn't have a real strong flavor.

You can have one side with your order andI chose the Hummus, which was fairly garlicky.

It came with seasoned fried pita chips which went nicely with the dish.

I had ordered the Beef Schwarma Sandwich, which turned out to be pretty large. I thought it was nicely priced at $6.50. As much as I enjoyed the sides, I really didn't care much for this. The meat was very tough, there was too much pita and tahini, you really couldn't taste much. It was pretty hefty though.

Two out of three ain't bad, so I returned a couple of days later. This time I ordered a falafel sandwich and some fries. I saw garlic paste, one of my favorite things on the menu….this leads me to believe the folks who own this little shop are Lebanese.

This was nice and full of garlic flavor, perhaps not as smooth and balanced (I know that sounds wrong when referring to garlic paste) as Alforon's, but much better than what Mama's makes.

Soon enough the sandwich and fried arrived. The fries were typical.

Perhaps I should have learned from my schwarma sandwich. This was just too much stuff and you really couldn't enjoy the rather mild flavored falafel. It was quite filling….you could say I was "fala-full" after eating this.

I think I'll stick with the "munchies" and a couple of sides the next time I visit.

And there will be a next time. The folks running this place couldn't be nicer and the prices are quite reasonable. That's enough to get me to come back.

Mister Falafel
4461 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117
Hours:
Tuesday – Sunday 1100am – 800pm

Revisits to Grandma Tofu and BBQ (aka Halmouny/Hal Mu Ni)

March 7, 2013 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants

I know…..same title as the last time I posted on the place. Honestly, nothing else came to mind. A couple weeks ago I had yet another birthday. Instead of doing a party, I just wanted to enjoy an evening with the Missus. Not sure where to go, we decided on Halmouny….Grandma's.

Instead of the usual combination bossam with pork belly and pig's feet, we went with the Modeum Bossam, which also includes soondae, blood sausage. I've written about the bossam a couple of times already, so I'll just let you enjoy the photos.

I will say that the Missus is still not fond of the blood sausage. I think it's a texture thing as it's pretty mild in flavor, but kind of sticky in texture.

We also ordered the Kimchi Soondubu, which wasn't anything special as it lacked a nice deep flavor and could have used more spice.

We ended up having a ton of leftovers…..in fact, I ended up making sandwiches with the leftover pork belly and pig's feet, which were delicious.

Soon after this visit, we noticed that the place was closed and some renovating was going on. The "term" under renovation always worries us as it often means a place is closing down or management is changing. Lucky for us, this was not the case here.

Upon our return, we noticed that the booths had been replaced, tables had been changed out, they now had built in burners which were still not in service as of our visit. The place was still full of dark woods, but the television was not as annoying, and the whole place had a nicer, lighter appearance.

When you've been to a place many times, it easy to fall into the same ol', same ol'….ordering the "usual". After all, the menu here has some pitfalls. On this night, instead of ordering the Seolleongtang for the Missus, and the Dolsot Bi Bim Bap, we decided on ordering one of our favorite dishes, but one we had doubts that "Grandma" could pull off. The Heokyumso Jeongol, Black Goat Stew. Soon enough, a butane stove arrived (since the built-ins aren't ready yet), topped with a pretty hefty sized pot. Our panchan arrived, the usual suspects, and two good sized bowls of dolsot bop…….we could hear the rice sizzling.

In all honesty, I was surprised at how good this was….maybe not the best I've ever had, but this was a notch above decent. There was a good amount, of fairly tender chopped goat, along with tendon on the bottom of the bowl. The goat was assertively gamey, which we appreciated. The flavor of the broth was good, not too salty, but could have used a bit more savory and acid tones. Still, this was hearty, and quite satisfying…..

Along with the wonderful rice crust….loosened by adding just a touch of water to the dolsot…..wonderful flavors and textures here.

Even though the menu says this is a portion for two ($29.99), this was way more food than we could eat. We ended up taking home almost half of it.

Just goes to show, we need to stretch out once in a while, beyond the horizon of our favorites.

I guess it'll be Budae Jeongol next time….after all, who doesn't love a stew of Spam, sausage, and, ramen noodles, right? Heck, it'll be just like college again!

Grandma's Tofu & BBQ (Halmouny)
4425 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Big Island: Kawamoto Okazuya, Kuhio Grille, and Volcanoes National Park

March 5, 2013 mmm-yoso Hawai'i - The Big Island, Japanese Restaurants, Loco Mocos, Plate Lunch, Travel

It seemed like the coqui frogs had a curfew of around 3am as I drifted in and out of sleep until then. Still, I got up at around 530 and we packed up and checked out of the Dolphin Bay Hotel. We had enjoyed our previous day in Hilo and we weren't quite done yet.

There's still a sleepiness to Hilo Town and many places are closed on Sundays. Still, I couldn't help but stop by Kawamoto Store, which holds typical Okazuya hours, opening at 6am and closing around noon….and they were open on Sunday to boot! Places like Kawamoto's holds a special place in my heart…..I basically grew up eating the most common and traditional Okazuya fare.

You basically say how many "bento" you like and then choose your items. All the classics were present and accounted for, shoyu chicken, maki sushi, "cone sushi" (what we call inari sushi back home), stuff like that. We put together a small bento to snack on later…….

There's something about places like this that are timeless……

Kawamoto Store
784 Kilauea Ave
Hilo, HI 96720
Hours:
Tues-Sat 600am – 1230pm
Sun 600am – 1200pm

We then headed off to our breakfast destination; Kuhio Grille.

Located to the side of Prince Kuhio Plaza, this place has been around since the 90's and is probably most well known for the 1pound laulau, which I don't remember being that great, but that was a while ago. Since it was about 615 in the morning, no laulau for us, we were here for breakfast.

Not much going on this early in the morning, just us and a couple of tables of older folks……who else gets up so early on a Sunday, right?

Still recalling how much She enjoyed "my" Japanese Breakfast at Teshima's, the Missus ordered KG Combo #3 ($10.99), with brown rice, ugh…..

This was just passable, the egg was nice and runny, but the fish was rather dry, and the miso soup was on the weak side.

Not wanting to fall back into a food coma; I went with the Loco Bowl ($6.99):

This was not bad, the egg was done right, though I could have done with a bit more crisp edges. The rice was decent, perhaps slightly on the dry side. The gravy was average, mainly salty. About that burger….well, it had that nice, old school char, seems like this griddle has some seasoning to it. The flavor was decent, the texture was very old school…….something I appreciated. The Missus had a taste and agreed.

Kuhio Grille
111 E Puainako St
Hilo, HI 96720
Hours:
Sat-Thurs 600am – 10pm
Fri 600am – 11pm

After breakfast we headed over to Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. We've been here many times and we love coming here. We actually had a late honeymoon at Volcano House all those years ago. There's basically one place we head to, which I'll get into later. A portion of Crater Rim Drive was closed because of fumes, so the Missus was a bit disappointed.

But the steam vents were going strong.

Halema'uma'u Crater, which is located in the larger Kilauea Crater wasn't nearly this active the last time we visited. No wonder there were all the sulfur dioxide gas warnings!

We saw several offerings to Pele as we walked around the crater..

It was quite a sight…..

There are many things to see here, the Thurston Lava Tube, great hiking trails (when they are open). The Iliahi (Sandalwood) Trail is one we've enjoyed several times. Or you can just drive down Chain of Craters Road and marvel at all the old lava flows. Each one is different.

With all due respect ot the wonders of Volcanoes National Park, the Missus and I have one tradition whenever we visit. And even the passing rain showers didn't stop us. We always drive to the end of Chain of Craters Road, park, it used to be that you'd park just a couple of yards from the flow, but now you walk about a half mile or so. I always take a photo of the Missus at the point where the lava is covering the road.

When we look back at the older photos, we've noticed that the flow has moved and even though things might seem the same when the picture is taken; looking at the photos all lined up reveals that nature never stays still. For us, this is a nice timeline of sorts….the Missus on the lava flow, moving, maybe at an imperceptible speed, but nevertheless, still slowly moving.

Mission accomplished, we headed back up the road and the back way to Kona. After a short "bento break" of course.

In the past, it always seemed that the Missus enjoyed Kona more. But like that lava slowly creeping forward, it seems that Hilo had won Her over after all these years. We'll spend more time in Hilo next time.

B.H. Chung

March 4, 2013 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Korean Restaurants

*** Update: BH Chung has closed and is now a location of Yu's Garden

I usually get into work at around 6 in the morning…..this means that I'm actually able to spend more time with the Missus and Da Boyz during the evenings and I get a ton of work done before other folks get into work. One drawback of going to work so early is that I can get pretty hungry by the time 1030 rolls around. So I'm always looking for places that open by 1030 or 11. A couple of years back, Cathy posted on BH Chung, I also know of a few people who enjoy the Katsu Curry here as well. An added bonus is that even though BH Chung is housed in the Convoy strip mall with the parking lot from hell, they, along with Tofu House open pretty early.

Frankly, I'm not a big fan of most of those Korean-Japanese "Hwe" type places, though it's really hard to screw up katsu too badly.

The older Korean woman who works here is very nice; always offering me seconds of panchan. The service is very mom-and-pop, though I've only eaten here before 11am.

On my first visit I ordered the Chicken Katsu Curry….not cheap at $9.99. Though you do get some standard panchan with your meal. And as I mentioned before, the nice woman working here has always asked me if I wanted more.

The curry itself was not exactly photogenic, brown gloppiness poured over some form of fried protein.

The chicken itself was on the dry side, though I noticed that the cooking and prep was done correctly since the breading wasn't peeling off the chicken. I prefer my katsu on the crisp and lighter side, this one was very hard and in my opinion a bit over-fried. The curry wasn't anything to write home about, though I've had worse….it was kind of lumpy though.

Still it was quite a bit of food. I later mentioned this meal to an acquaintance…who told me to try the Tonkatsu Curry instead. So a couple of weeks later….famished at 10am, I marched on over to BH Chung and had the pork version.

You gotta hand it to these folks, they seem to be pretty consistent. This was pretty much a replay of my previous meal, except the curry was a little bit less gloppy and had a more pronounced flavor.

With a sprig of parsley and slice of orange as garnish, there's something unabashedly "diner-like" in the presentation. So I thought, "well that's that….." and moved on. But a couple of days later, I had gone into work at around 530, by 1000 I was starving. I jumped in the car and headed to Convoy. I intended on grabbing a bite from Tofu House, but for some reason, I just ended up walking into BH Chung. On my previous visit, I noticed a young lady having the Dolsot Bi Bim Bap. It looked decent, so I decided to get that….. I guess you get five panchan with the Bi Bim Bap.

It looked pretty good overall, but after further investigation, this really didn't pass muster. Bi Bim Bap is a humble dish, so I don't expect a huge amount of meat, though the amount here was good. It was however, very bland bulgogi. So I quickly banished any thought of having that. For some reason, no matter how long I waited, the rice in this stone bowl just never really crusted up. The cho-gochujang tasted kind of weak and watered down as well. This just didn't do it for me.

Well, after three meals here, I think I'll give the place a rest. I'll resist temptation and just head over to Tofu House like I intended. Unless someone has a great recommendation????

BH Chung
4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Roadtrip: Beijing Pie House – Monterey Park (Los Angeles)

March 3, 2013 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip

Back in October, I had a chance to grab a bite with one of my favorite couples, Kirbie and her DH. As always, conversation always drifts toward food. One of the places that Kirbie recommended was Beijing Pie House in Monterey Park (read her post here). So on our next trip to the SGV, we made sure to check the place out.

We had stopped by China Islamic right before our visit here, so we knew it wasn't going to be a gigantic meal.

We arrived pretty early and the dining area was empty except for a guy who I'll designate as the loudest slurper and chewer I've heard. We could hear him smacking his lips all the way on the other side of the room.

We could actually see flecks of food flying from his mouth as he spoke while chewing. His dining companion left the table for a good long time…..probably to remove all the detritus from her hair.

The young man who served could not have been nicer. The Missus found him adorable…..mainly because he spoke Mandarin with a very formal "American" accent.

The Missus has an affection for the various porridges she grew up eating…….which includes the cornmeal based version here.

As for the various Xian Bing….

They were nice enough to serve us a combination vegetarian XB.

Two radish and two "combination".

First off, these "pies" had a nice crust, crisp, but not oily. The filling were also moist….

The radish version was probably my favorite……the bitterness of the radish had been tempered when cooked……

Creating a nice chew with a balance of the pungent and sweetness.

The combination featured mushroom and bean curd with a good amount of seasoning. Though on the salty side, this was still good.

Since we love lamb and mutton, we also ordered the lamb pie……

These didn't quite do it for us. In terms of texture and preparation, we both thought, the Xian Bing were prepared well.

With regards to flavor, we thought this on the weak side…it could have been pork or any other protein, the distinctive flavor of lamb was missing.

I understand that there are those who don't enjoy the "flavor of the pasture", but I still think lamb should taste that way. When it is too tame….well, you might as well get anything else.

Still, the Xian Bing were well prepared, the service was nice. I wouldn't hesitate in returning.

Beijing Pie House
846 E Garvey Ave
Monterey Park, CA 91755