mmm-yoso – Page 279

Nhat Vy Vietnamese Restaurant revisited

July 2, 2013 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Nhat Vy has closed

I first posted on Nhat Vy back in November when they had just opened, and while only one dish stood out, the Banh Cuon, the prices were right and the folks working here were very nice. Over the next couple of months we visited a couple more times. Here's what we found. After a few months they moved things around and even had a grease board put up. Unfortunately, it's hidden behind the palm…..

As you can see, there's a nice representation of items I really enjoy listed, bot chien, banh xeo, and of course, what they make to order, the Banh Cuon.

I brought the Missus right after my initial post and She was sold……granted, not the best Banh Cuon in the world, but good by San Diego standards. That would be thin, slightly stretchy……

The goi cuon, on the other hand is nothing to write home about……

Too much bun…with iceberg lettuce (!). Dirt cheap though at $2.25 for two.

We returned for the Banh Cuon, but were shut out on subsequent trips, which gave us a chance to try other items on the menu.

The Bun Tom, vermicelli with shrimp was quite good according to the Missus.

Shrimp plump and juicy and the bun prepared well.

On this trip I tried the Bun Mam ($7).

In the case of Bun Mam, I expect a rich, funky, complex, almost heavy broth broth, full bodied with the flavor of fermented shrimp paste almost bubbling to the surface creating what I call an "umami bomb". This was pretty weak. The broth seemed to be the kitchen's standard issue soup broth with some mam nem dumped in it. Not much else to say, other than this really isn't bun mam.

We returned the following week, hoping for Banh Cuon…..my pronunciation of certain Vietnamese words can be almost tragically funny. Like I've often said…."I barely speak English and you want me to try a six-tone language?" So I've started typing the words out on my iPhone showing the folks working here what I want. Well, no Banh Cuon on this visit either…….

So the Missus ordered the Banh Xeo.

We were both surprised when not one, but two crepes were brought out. Along with the veggies and herbs, this was quite a bit of food. These were ok, the scant pork really tough and the meager shrimp overcooked and rubbery. If I recall, this was like about five bucks….really cheap. But we'd have preferred a smaller portion with a better product.

I decided to try the simple bot chien, but it was a "no go". So I went with the Bánh canh giò heo ($7) a clear broth soup with pigs feet.

This was their standard issue clear broth with some well prepared and slippery rice/tapioca flour noodles. There were two smallish pieces of pig's feet which was pretty tender, but nothing special. The broth was light on flavor, but kind of heavy on the MSG as I started to puff up a bit after the soup.

After striking out twice on the Banh Cuon, the Missus and I concocted a strategy. I'd park in front, motor running, the Missus would walk in the door and ask if they had Banh Cuon today. If not, She'd thank them and we'd be on our way. That way, we'd minimize wasting time and calories on dishes we really didn't want.

After coming up empty handed three more times we just gave up. The folks here are nice, but there's just really one item on the menu we want, and they never seem to have it anymore. Too bad…….

Nhat Vy Vietnamese Restaurant
4595 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92115

The Missus Yakyudori obsession

July 1, 2013 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Cooking, Japanese Restaurants, yoso-silly

One of the side benefits about doing this blog for so long is that I get to document things, how our eating has changed over time, ditto with my cooking, our travels, and so forth. One of the really fun and interesting items I've been to post about over the years are the Missus's food feet-ishes umm, obsessions, some of which are narrowly focus on a single item, sometimes from a single place, or perhaps a dish with a common "mechanical" function, many of have been documented here in detail.

And just as many times, the Missus has "sworn off" things after finding out what the ingredients are, or perhaps how something is made. The longest running "item that shall not pass my lips" was chicken and turkey. Folks have asked for the cause of this. All I have for you is a video of this commercial:

Which somehow traumatized the Missus so much that She refused to eat chicken or turkey (except on vacation). The Missus was very good at keeping Her word as I've noted several times. This, other than the Asian Pear overload (a story for a different day) has been the longest running "I shall not eat"……starting in November of 2009, as I mention here. It only ended a bit over a week ago, though with strict conditions….I do believe turkey is still not welcomed, though.

So, what ended the historic and epic chicken prohibition? It was victory by Binchotan as duly noted in this recent post. It seems that those bincho-tainted wings won Her over….so in essence we've grilled in that manner 5 times over the last two weeks. Always with something interesting; in this case "Kamo", duck breast.

And with chicken wings of course. During one of our sessions, the Missus mentioned how good the wings were, probably among the best She could recall. Instead of showing restraint, I made the mistake of saying that our grilled wings were not as good as Yakyudori's. Thus began the interrogation. All that was missing was the bright light blasting into my face, the water dripping into my eye, and maybe a dentist drill. "Just what makes Yakyudori's wings better!", "Well, it's decent quality wings, second joint only, heavily seasoned with good quality salt, but the main thing is how the wings were skewered." "Well……." Showing no will-power I instantly spilled the beans: "The wings are skewered in such a way to stretch the skin, maximizing surface area. The bones are separated making it easy to pull out without burning your fingers." Yes, such is life in the mmm-yoso household, an entire conversation about stretching chicken wing skin…….what happened to us?

Suddenly, Yakyudori went from a shop the Missus wasn't interested in, to one we just had to go to…..as in the next evening. And of course we had those wings…….

And of course I was right………..it was better than what we made at home.

My gloating was short lived however, as the Missus directed me to Marukai on the way home. You guessed it. To pick up chicken wings.

The next evening, as the Missus prepped Herself for wing surgery, I got the other stuff ready. Lit the binchotan and prepared the shishito peppers, shiitake mushrooms, okra, and some pork "toro"…..

25 minutes had passed and the charcoal was white and hot when the Missus finally finished Her 6 wings. I gotta say, She did a great job.

She basked in the glory of Her wings…..

With a side order of gloating thrown in, "Ha, after 15 years, I finally got a cooking point over you! Fifteen years!"

I gotta admit, these were pretty darn good, and I told Her so. Immediately, the Chinese daughter came out, "hmmm, the bones don't break away as easy as Yakyudori…maybe the skin can be stretched a bit more…."

Remember our drooling "friend" from our previous post? He was back again.

The Missus said he reminds Her of this character from the old series Home Improvement.

As dinner was finishing up, I told the Missus what a good, albeit rather long job She had done. She absently told me, "I don't really remember how I did that……."

She had already moved on, mentioning how much She enjoyed the Tsukune at Yakyudori.

Oh-oh, another obsession coming up?

Stay tuned…….

Yakyudori Ramen and Yakitori
4898 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Rhodes Town (Greece): Hotel Saint Michel, dinner at Laganis, and other stuff

June 29, 2013 mmm-yoso Greece, Greek Food, Rhodes, Travel

Trying to catch up on our travel posts. This one is from back in 2012.

I'm not sure why we…..though I think it was I, chose the island of Rhodes. When doing some research, I probably got caught up in Medieval, knights, Grand Masters, a walled city! A young boy's dream. It also seemed like a nice change of pace after Tunisia and Istanbul. All that history was a plus as well. Plus, the Missus loves the Greek Islands.

So we arrived on our flight from Istanbul, through Athens. We'd decided to catch the bus from the airport to Rhodes Town. However, one of the cab drivers…you gotta love Greek cab drivers, they are nuts, offered us a deal to split the fair with another couple. So we ended up catching the taxi. The couple got out at a resort south of Rhodes Town and the driver picked up a passenger outside the Old Town. From there we ended up at the cruise terminal dock, all the while listening to an animated conversation between the driver and the passenger in a language we didn't understand! As the driver dropped the guy off he glanced back and gave us a surprised look. He's been so engrossed in conversation that he forgot all about us! He laughed, shrugged, and told us, "sorry, politics you know…." He ended up taking us back up the road and dropping us off near Saint Catherine's Gate…..he pointed through the gate and said, "that way….." Well, it wasn't quite "that way…." Luckily, we had a map and it wasn't that long a walk as headed past the main square and tourist stops down the charming cobblestone back streets of the Old Town.

If your idea of the Greek Islands are those charming bright white with blue trimmed structures, Rhodes will be a surprise. Here it's brick and stone, a fortress, a moat…..

Eventually we ended up at a small square area and gingerly stepped over the snoring dogs…..

We really wanted to stay in the Old Town, within the walls of the medieval city, and the Hotel Saint Michel seemed to fit the bill. The building is over 700 years old, cozy, and while the rooms are nothing fancy, the place has character to spare.

Also, Chris and Vasso were so accommodating, really making us feel comfortable and at home.

We were lucky enough to get the room we call the "penthouse". It is located at the top of the steep stairs on the roof. While the room was rather small and the wifi really didn't work up here, the place was private, cozy, and had one really big bonus……

We had the entire upper deck area to ourselves. Both the door to the room and the door to the deck had locks…

We were to make great use of the deck over our stay……

We really enjoyed the location of the hotel, it was close to everything, but away from the tourist hustle and bustle.

Settled in, we headed out for dinner. Usually, we're really tired after arriving at a city for the first time. Rhodes really didn't tax us much. Still, we thought we'd take it easy and head to a restaurant I'd read about fairly close by, away from the tourist rush called Laganis.

The Missus loves the tin cups that house wine is served in, so we got the house red which was passable.

She also loves horta, the wild "mountain greens", often a type of chicory, so we ordered that as well.

This version wasn't cooked to death as we're used too. It also needed a good deal more seasoning, but was not bad overall. Sadly, this was the best dish of the meal.

Things went quickly downhill with the Fava Skordalia.

This lacked flavor as well, but even worse, the dip had an unpleasant gritty texture as well.

The beets were nice and sweet but on the hard side.

After having wonderful grilled cuttlefish twice at Le Golfe in La Marsa, the Missus wanted to try the cuttlefish.

This had the texture of old tires.

The grilled octopus didn't fare any better……

We were only comforted by the fact that we tend to not choose real well for our initial meal in new cities we visit. I was sure that tomorrow we'd fare much better.

After the meal, we decided to take a walk down the streets of this quieter part of Rhodes Town.

We eventually ended up at Ippokratous Square and the Castellania fountain which is the busiest tourist area of the Old Town, surrounded by shops and restaurants…and tourists of course. Since it was almost evening, most of the day-trippers had left or were in the process of leaving.

Soon, the folks from the cruise ships would be heading back and the place would become pretty quiet. After all the folks in resorts leave it looks like this.

Quite a contrast……

We headed back up the cobble stoned alleyway to the hotel, stopping at the little shop next door. Christos was more then happy to open our bottle of wine and provide some glasses for us. We sat on the patio and heard the horns of the two cruise ships heading out. Soon we toasted as the sun went down in the horizon.

It was a nice sunset, but a few days later we'd see what I can only call an amazing sunset on Rhodes. Things were sure to get better……

COMC: Beating the Heat Edition – Places you know (if you’ve been reading long enough…)

June 28, 2013 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi, Thai Restaurants, yoso-silly

**** Sadly, all of these places have closed

Man it's been a hot one. And I read that's it's going to be even hotter this weekend. Here's some "Clearing Out the Memory Card" stuff. If you've read long enough, you'll know where these places are…..

Have a great Friday!

The Original Sab E Lee
2405 Ulric St
San Diego, CA 92111

Sushi Yaro
7905 Engineer Road
San Diego, CA 92111

And I guess I'm having "pork withdrawals" after consuming all that swine in Portugal…..

Kayaba
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd Ste 119 – In the Mitsuwa Marketplace
San Diego, CA 92111

Keep cool everyone!

Comfort Food: Teri Beef Sandwiches

June 27, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes, yoso-silly

A few weekends ago I got what I thought was an interesting request from the Missus. She wanted Teri-Beef…….. Man, what a blast from the past for me! I love teri-beef sandwiches. So while She went with the strange low carb teri-beef in lettuce cups…I just did mine the way I like it.

I've gotten pretty good at actually grilling the soft #2 thin cut rib eye on my Weber. Man was this a blast from the past……it made me long for the Teri Beef King at Jolly Roger Drive-In. The one we used to go to was next to the graveyard near Kahala Mall, it's now a Zippy's. We used talk about how Waialae Drive-In was haunted because it was next to the graveyard and we were told that part of the parking lot was built over half the cemetery….supposedly the movie would go upside down at midnight and there was a faceless woman ghost that haunted the women's restroom……I heard that the ghost moved on to the Kahala Theatre's after the drive-in closed??!??

Anyway, this is basically my "Fourth Grade Teri-Beef" with some grown-up touches. So easy……

Teri-Beef:

1 cup Aloha/Yamasa Shoyu
3/4 cup Dark Brown Sugar
1/3 cup mirin
2-3 Tb grated/minced garlic
2 tsp ginger juice
3-4 bunches green onion, white part only chopped

– Mix all ingredients until sugar is totally dissolved.
– Taste and adjust
– You should be able to get 1 1/2 – 2 pounds of meat with this
– I separate all the meat slices and mix well with the sauce before putting into a ziploc
– Marinate for at least 6 hours and no more than 14-16…it will get real salty
– Grill or panfry

Man……..this makes me miss "home"……

Tell me, where is/was your favorite teri-beef sandwich?

And here's a total blast form the past…..anybody remember Hana Chicken?

My goodness……I'm getting majorly old…..before you know it, I'm going to blabbing about Yum Yum Tree!

Thanks for letting me reminisce!

Szechuan Chef

June 25, 2013 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

Just before we left on our trip, I heard that Quoc Te 2 was closing and being replaced by a Sichuan Restaurant, which would bring the total of Sichuan Restaurants (I know Spicy City is sort of Yunnan, but you ever look at the menu?) on Convoy to four. I also heard that the former owner of Dede's was somehow involved, which didn't exactly thrill me since that playbook has become a cliche for me.

Still, just like I believe that we could always use another "good" Thai Restaurant, a decent Sichuan place is welcome.

So upon returning, I decided to drop by Szechuan Chef.

They've done a nice job updating the tired Quoc Te……..

The thing that I found really fascinating is that this was the first time I recalled seeing the "over-sized glossy menu" in San Diego. It's something we noticed in China when we visited and it made it's was to the SGV at places like Shanghai No.1. A real page turner of glamour shots of the various dishes served. It can be perceived as really neat, or a pain, depending on your viewpoint. For me, the scatter-shot arrangement of dishes was somewhat aggravating….trying to find, say, Shui Zhu Yu (water boiled fish), means turning back and forth from page to page…..

In the end, I got tired of trying to find "my standards" and went with the Chongqing La Zi Ji(重庆辣子鸡), the Spicy Chicken with Red Chilies ($10.99).

This actually looked pretty good, but really lacked zip. It would be one of least spicy, spicy-looking dishes I've ever had. It really needed more spice and much more Sichuan Peppercorn. I liked the way the chicken was fried, but the fragrance was slightly rancid and it did taste a bit off. I'm wondering if the oil was a bit past its prime and denatured.

I saw something on the other table and ordered it. The steamed pork with mustard greens. This was a mistake.

This was very salty and had an unpleasant, bitter flavor like burnt soy sauce. Also, while the pork is supposed to be rich and luxurious, this was greasy, which meant that the person making this really didn't have the chops to pull this off or didn't care. Not to be snide but I would have preferred to have taken a bite out of the pretty, glossy photo of the dish than to have another bite of this. I actually had a friend of mine try this……..she couldn't bear to have more than one bite.

Still, the prices were reasonable, and the portion size seemed perhaps a bit too large almost reminding me of Spicy King. In fact, even the flavor profile seemed similar, like it was pulled out from the same gene pool.

I talked the Missus into visiting a week or so later. As we sat and tried to order something, the Missus told me that the two women were talking in Cantonese, not Mandarin, which seemed kind of strange. We also had the same menu paralysis as before….looking over, I noticed that they had Liang Cai – cold dishes…which strangely, we hadn't seen on the menu. Maybe it's there, but we just didn't see it.

The Fu Qi Fei Pian was all meat, no offal, and was cut to a perfect thickness. The flavor was sorely lacking however. Missing light anise tones, a touch of sweetness, I even enjoy versions with a bit of black vinegar. This was pretty bland. The pig year was thinly sliced with a nice crunch, but really had no flavoring what so ever…..luckily that it's consumed mainly for the texture. I saw Kou Shui Ji 重庆口水鸡 - mouthwatering (saliva) chicken in the cold case and we got that as well. Man, talk about lacking any complexity, or even heat. No sesame paste flavor, not enough vinegar, ginger, garlic, Sichuan peppercorns…. just lacking.

I just had to try the Zi Ran Yang Rou – the Cumin Lamb.

First off, this photo doesn't show just how much lamb this was…sheesh, we ate like crazy and only got thru half! Because I make this at home so often, I enjoy ordering it just to see how things line up. Like the other dishes, there just seemed to be something missing. In this case the cumin flavor was pretty good, it could used perhaps a touch more soy sauce. The lamb was tough and really didn't taste much like lamb. I'm thinking a bit more cilantro might have helped the whole effort as well.

One of the dishes I really miss from Ba Ren was the Beef with Preserved Vegetable, so I was really interested when I saw a "Beef Sour Soup" ($10.99) that looked like it had preserved mustard greens in it. So what the heck, we ordered it.

And while it didn't quite look like the glossy in the menu, this was probably the best item I've had from this restaurant. The sourness and the ginger heightened the spice, the meat was ok…basic huo guo (hot pot) cut, not prepped in cornstarch, but that really didn't hurt the dish. Finally, something that at least hit the "suan-ku-la-xian" (sour-bitter-hot-salty) tones. We saved most of this and had it the next day and it was much better, more spicy, more sour, more better…..

So all of this meant that I give the place one more try. I'd finally got the handle on the menu and decided on one of my favorite dishes – hong you chao shou, basically won tons in hot sauce ($5.99). What I got was a large bowl of won tons in an insipid "broth".

This was just wrong….in case you want to see photos of what this is supposed to look like, you can try here. Or what the heck, how about one from our visit to Chengdu? While the won tons were decent, perhaps the wrappers a bit too thick, I thought the kou gan (口感 – mouth feel) was ok, nice and slippery. But the overall flavoring was watery and not spicy enough.

I also went with the Pork Intestines with Red Peppers ($10.99).

You know what? I'll take back what I said about the Chongqing La Zi Ji. This has got to be the least spicy, spicy-looking dish, I've ever had. A real lack of heat from scalded chilies and almost no numbing sensation from Sichuan peppercorns. The intestines were not fried well, resulting in a rubbery texture. A good version should have a nice fried crunch, before yielding to a decent chew. It's a darn shame that a restaurant in Madison, Wisconsin with a Japanese name can do it better. Well, at least it had the slight offal flavor of intestine.

After this visit, I'm pretty much done, unless someone can give me some compelling reason (dish) to return. I thought the servers here are nice….they are ever so patient with all the "gringo" customers. In fact, I thought the guy's Beef and Broccoli looked much better than my won tons. The dishes I had, except one, pretty much fell flat. It had me wondering, with the beef roll, jiaozi, and other stuff on the menu and the servers speaking Cantonese, whether a "Szechuan Chef" was actually cooking here. I asked the Missus what She thought. Her answer? "He could be from Sichuan….but remember what I said….anybody from China with a wok can open a restaurant saying they're a chef." The son of the owner of Ba Ren once told me that one of the local "Sichuan Chefs" is actually from Chongqing like he says. But back in Sichuan he was a taxi driver! Heck, I could have been eating at Szechuan Taxi-driver Restaurant!!!!

Szechuan Chef
4344 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Noodling Around: Revisits to Pho Tay Do, Santouka, Minh Ky, and having something that’s “just wrong” at Pho Cow Cali

June 23, 2013 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Pho, Ramen, Vietnamese Restaurants

Somewhere at about the half-way point during our trips, the Missus always asks me, "are you missing anything?" And usually, it's noodles. Strangely, on our last vacation we ate so well that I only started missing noodles, at the end of our trip……yes, I realize we were in Rome and all, but it was Asian noodles, in any form….

Anyway, here's a short collection of revisits…..

Pho Tay Do:

**** Pho Tay Do has closed

I first posted on Pho Tay Do back in 2010, Cathy followed up a year later. For some reason my mind just blanks out places in this strip mall; I'm not sure why.

I actually hadn't been back here in over a year and was wondering what the state of the Bun Mang Vit – The Duck and Bamboo Shoot Noodle Soup was.

There were a couple of tables occupied when I arrived, but the interior was pretty dark. I guess they're trying to keep the energy bill down.

I ordered the Bun Mang Vit which arrived in the blink of an eye.

I don't know how business is, nor how the current state of the economy or anything else is affecting this place, but in terms of what I had it seems to have fallen.

The broth wasn't hot and had very little flavor. There was hardly eny of the earthy reconstituted dried bamboo and maybe 2/3 of the noodles of the bowl I last had here. The portion of dipping sauce was smaller and though it still has a nice hint of ginger, it too tastes watered down.

The slices of duck are smaller and very dry. Even though the place never provided an abundance of herbs in their greens, this was just about all cabbage……

This was pretty sorry overall and a mere shadow of what I'd had in previous visits. Sad…..

Pho Tay Do
5296 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

Santouka (for the zillionth time):

Yeah, I know…I won't even post the links. A couple of weeks back, I took my coworker, "YZ" to Yamadaya, I was interested in what She thought.

On this visit, the pork cheek was spot on, tender and full of flavor. The noodles were done perfectly as well. Hard combination to beat.

So when I quizzed Her, the opinion was pretty much the same as ours. Pork and noodles Santouka, broth Yamadaya. So I guess it depends on what you're in the mood for, right?

The Missus asked me if the perfect ramen existed? I could only shrug my shoulders……

Santouka Ramen
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd(In the Mitsuwa Marketplace)
San Diego, CA 92111

Minh Ky:

Yes, Beef Sate Noodle – Dry, again:

Needless to say….it delivered as expected.

Minh Ky Restaurant
4644 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92115

Pho Cow Cali:

Before we left on our trip, the Missus was strangely craving Pho….something that rarely happens as I'm the Pho eater in the family. The craving lasted for a couple of weeks and there's just so many times you can go to Pho Lucky. The Missus can be a rather hard nut though…..once She finds something She likes it's hard to convince Her to try something else. I did explain to Her that Pho Cow Cali's protein was better and that they had Filet Mignon Pho!

Which was just fine for Her….however, once She saw this on the menu:

She determined that I just had to have the Com Tam Dac Biet….without com tam (broken rice). And so it came to pass that I had mine with brown rice.

First, let me explain that I'm not a fan of brown rice. Then to add insult to injury, they charge you $1 more. Of course they probably don't sell too much brown rice, so this took forever……it was also very low quality. The Bi was good, the pork chop and cha ok, the brown rice, just wrong. Nuff said….I tried it once.

Pho Cow Cali
9170 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

Stehly Farms Market opens in Bay Park – A quick look

June 22, 2013 mmm-yoso Markets & Grocers

**** This location of Stehly Farms is no more.

I read on Eater San Diego that Stehly Farms, a Valley Center Organic operation was opening a brick and mortar shop on Morena Boulevard. Because this is in my neck of the woods, I was a bit surprised that I hadn't heard about this. So that very afternoon, the Missus and I went to check them out.

The shop is located at 1231 Morena, right next to Andres.

The shop appeared to be well spaced and the selection of produce was good.

Considering this is a local, organic operation, the prices are pretty much in line.

In addition to the wonderful looking produce, there's a selection of jams, some random Asian type stuff, bread from Bread and Cie, a cold case with dairy/almond milk, and of real interest to us….at least on this day, was the selection of cheese.

Even though we had come in just for a looky-look, we ended up getting some Franco and Angelo Burrata.

This is a nice addition to the neighborhood. Now we've got a good set of shops, from Seisel's and Catalina Offshore, to Stehly Farms and the Fruit Stand. Now all we need is a great bakery……..any takers?

Stehly Farms Market
1231 Morena Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92110

Hours:
Open Daily from 9am – 7pm

We put the burrata to good use.

Lisbon Day 2: Morning, Mercado da Ribeira, Alfama, the “Lisbon Rule”, the “Thieves Market” and yet more Pork!

June 21, 2013 mmm-yoso Lisbon, Portugal, Portuguese Food, Travel

Man, is Lisbon quiet in the morning, at least on weekend mornings.

We were staying on Rua de Sapateiros, which I believe means Shoemaker Street. The skinny street ends at a gate. That's what it looks like from Rossio Square, which was dead quiet on this morning. Even the fountain hadn't been turned on yet.

It amazing what you see during quiet morning walks. We often miss things while walking in the hustle and bustle of streets like the usually busy with tourists Rua Augusta, a pedestrian only street crawling with restaurants trying to pull in tourists and folks trying to sell cheap sunglasses. This caught our eye on this morning's stroll.

One of our favorite things to do during early mornings is to visit the local market. I'd read about the Mercado de Ribeira (River Market) and thought it might be worth a visit. The front desk person had never heard of it and had to Google it. He gave us instructions on the kilometer or so walk to the market which was located almost across the street from the Cais do Sodre Station.

The area around the market was a bit gritty, there were many bars, and a couple of rough looking types, but it was daylight, and this was Lisbon, which seems very safe.

The market is located in a building with a distinctive Moorish style dome and has been in existence since 1882.

Having been to markets across the globe, I expected a hustling and bustling scene….but I guess for once, we were too early for everyone. Like I said, Lisbon is a late waking city.

Well, that was that….kind of disappointing, but still a bit interesting.

From here, we decided to catch the #28 tram to Alfama, the oldest existing and maybe the most picturesque of Lisbon's neighborhoods. We spent a bit of time trying to find the stop, so we went to the "Lisbon Rule". Whenever you start getting a bit confused and frustrated, it's time for some espresso and a Pastel de Nata. We found a little shop….there must be literally a thousand of these and had a very nice cup of espresso and a passable Pastel de Nata.

By this time I'd developed an espresso routine. Taste, then add preferably raw sugar until you get that balance of bitter and sweet. I actually preferred the espresso in Portugal more than what we had in Rome. I ended up mostly ordering Macchiatos there.

Anyway, one of the guys working here spoke excellent English and gave us directions up the hill to the tram stop. Like I said, the Lisbon rule, when starting to get frustrated, head for the nearest Pastelaria, it worked everytime.

We caught the tram, before all the tourists…though at this hour there weren't any and watched as it ambled up and down the hills.It's a neat ride.

We got off at the stop near the Church of Santa Luzia.

There's some really nice tilework to be found on the church. All done in the 18th century. This was really the first time we had a look at Azulejo, the famous Portuguese tilework up close.

Right on the other side of the church is the small square (Largo) of Santa Luzia. The views of the Tejo and Alfama are breathtaking.

Even with the morning sun blazing in your eyes. For some reason, the sky just seemed brighter in Portugal, Rome, and Malta.

It's really hard not to take a great photo here…….

You just have to follow the signs to really get around.

Alfama itself is a maze of interconnected streets which reminded me of the Medinas of North Africa. This area has been occupied since the days of the Visigoths. I was told that if "you really want to see "how Lisbon was, go here". And I'm talking about really old Lisbon. You see, on All Saints Day (November 1st) 1755, a huge earthquake, actually three earthquakes occurred while most of Lisbon was at Mass, followed by a tsunami. Alfama was one of the few areas spared. Lisbon was rebuilt, in a logical grid pattern. In Alfama, you get a feel of the rabbit's warren of streets, a practical defense against your enemies, the shade from the buildings built close to one another and the breezes directed from the streets kept things cool during hot weather.

The Castle of Sao Jorge – Saint George, you remember him, right? He's the guy who slayed the dragon is right through the gates. The story I read was that John I married an English Princess and since Saint George was a popular figure in both countries, he named this castle after him. Meanwhile, the other story goes that the Alfonso I enlisted the help of the Knights of the Second Crusade to aid in defeating the Moors. The knights prayed to Saint George who inspired them to victory. Nothing was opened at this time, and truthfully, we were just enjoying the vibe and colors too much to even entertain a museum or such.

There's a ton of graffiti in Europe. We kind of enjoyed the signs and graffiti in Alfama……

WE then decided to follow the tram tracks uphill and ended up in Graca District, which seemed more local and residential than Alfama. We followed a sign that said "miradouro" (of course) and ended up at a beautiful viewpoint.

You could tell how far we had walked from Sao Jorge Castle as we had a nice view……

THe Missus had seen "s church" earlier and wanted to find it. This turned out to be the São Vicente da Fora monastery. Which we eventually found……

Now this was Saturday and when I saw stands set-up right past the gate to the right of the monastery I knew we had found the Feira da Ladra, the "Thieves Market". No, it's not quite as romantic as it sounds. This was basically one gigantic flea market.

With everything from Aprons to Zippers……

You can see the Church of Santa Engrácia in this photo. It gives you some idea of how big this market is.

Reaching the end of the market we decided that finding the restaurant in Alfama that we had reservations for the next night might be a good idea. The twisting and turning streets seemed a bit confusing.

So we headed down those very streets, looking at various maps and a print out of the restaurant location. We started getting a bit frustrated.

So you know what time it was, right? It was time to enforce the "Lisbon Rule". We immediately stopped at a pastelaria…

And had a decent espresso and a Pastel de Nata. The really nice woman here sprinkled cinnamon on it, which I kinda liked.

And from here we got our bearings…..

We went from the obedient pooch…..

Past the raincoat mutt….actually, we saw several dogs dressed in jacket and raincoats….

And against all odds actually found the place. We then headed off in the direction we thought was correct and somehow ended up at the fortress like Sé (Cathedral) of Lisbon. Not quite sure how we made it here……

But we had.

It was then just a few blocks to Rua da Prata, a street we were familiar with, parallel to Rua Augusta and Rua de Sapateiros.

By this time I was getting a bit hungry. We had walked past a small restaurant with all type of pork parts displayed for the world to see in its window the previous day. This time, we decided to stop in.

The Missus, in Her typical way, took charge….She started asking the really nice guy manning the counter questions about the pork ear and other stuff.

In the end, the choice for Her was easy. After getting a taste of this She was sold.

And so it passed that I had suckling pig for breakfast……

The skin was crisp and not too hard nor think. Perhaps the meat was on the salty side, but it was moist, with a nice swine flavor. And it all screamed out for a "breakfast Sagres"……..

But man does not live on roasted suckling pig alone….. there's also Chouriço, smoked pork sausage…in this case a whole deep fried version. Which was delicious as well.

You know, the Missus and I have been married for almost 15 years. After all that time affection and love are represented in sometimes different and subtle ways. Like when the Missus saved this for me……

This would have probably made for a nice "Breakfast of Champions" post if it weren't so long. Funny thing is, we realized later on, that the front of the shop didn't have a sign……

Oh well…..if you're on Rua de Prata, just look for the place with all the pig parts in the window!

Lisbon Day 1: Up to Chiado & Bairro Alto, dinner at…..Super Mario? And other stuffs…..

June 20, 2013 mmm-yoso Lisbon, Portugal, Portuguese Food, Travel

I felt so satisfied after that wonderful bifana and a beer, that I didn't even complain when the Missus decided that we hadn't done enough walking for the day. She had decided that we needed to get on up to Chiado and Bairro Alto, Lisbon's bohemian and nightlife district. Luckily, the Missus didn't insist on climbing up that hill and we just walked past Rossio Station and the Avenida Palace Hotels…..

And catch a ride on the funicular, the Elevador da Gloria, using our Viva Viagem Card.

Which I was told has been snaking up the hill linking Baixa with Bairro Alto since 1885. A bunch of other tourists jumped on, the guy asking me "where is this going?" I told him, "up the hill….." He smiled and told me, "I really don't know where this is going, but it looks like fun…."

To the right of the funicular stop is the Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcantara. One word I learned rather quickly was "miradouro" which meant viewpoint. Anytime we saw that word, we followed the signs….. usually ending in a wonderful sight like this.

This little park/garden was a nice place to check out the views of the city. It also helped to get us a little more oriented with our surroundings.

The narrow and rather congested streets down to Chiado are lined with Churches(of course), boutiques, and theatre's. This seems to be the place where the hip hang out.

At the end of Rua Garrett is a multi-floor mall. You exit head to the Sportszone and go downstairs to exit back in Baixa (thanks Rick Steves!). We did make a stop at H&M. We travel light. I personally had less than 6 kilos of clothes and shoes. My strategy is to pack light and if necessary, buy a jacket or something. Since there were Zara and H&M stores everywhere and it was in the 40's at night, I bought a hoodie for 10euros and the Missus a sweater for about the same price. We were set for the rest of the trip. We dropped by Pingo Doce and bought water….we were set.

We had booked our room at Lisbon Short Stay Apartments, which was basically a conversion. The room was decently sized with a kitchenette and there was even a washer and dryer on our floor. However, the place was rather dark and a bit funky, with kind of an industrial feel.

The staff was nice, but really couldn't provide a whole lot of information nor recommendations. Though they did provide a tiny map that included the metro routes which we kept the entire trip. It was time for dinner…….

There are a couple of things you need to know about eating in Lisbon and Portugal in general; folks don't eat until at least 730pm. You will be enticed by a bunch of "appetizers/bread/olives" put out in front of you. Note that these are not free, you will charged for whatever you touch; feel free to put them to the side and not eat. You won't be charged…we found that many places will ask if you want these and take them away if you tell them no. There are often two portion sizes offered on menus; dose and meia dose. We found that meia dose, literally a "half order" is usually enough to feed one as an entree.

We had dinner reservations for the next two evenings, so one this night we just wanted something simple and easy. We headed back up to Chiado, past some really touristy looking places, up stairs and a mildly steep climb. In a little alley on a side street we found a place I read about on Chowhound called Super Mario….really, it was named Super Mario.

Into that doorway past the little sign was a simple tiled restaurant.

Tables were simply covered with paper……this was just a nice and homey place.

As we peeked into the door, we saw three gentlemen having beers and pub grub. We weren't sure if they were "really" open, but the guys waved us in and pointed to a table and called out to the back. They also gave us bread with slices of pork on them….sharing their food with us! I really liked the folks in Portugal! We later offered to buy them a round, but they refused, telling our Server that they had to head home. We had lucked out….it started pouring right when we sat down.

We started off with a bottle of Vinho Verde….the verde doesn't really mean "green" in terms of color….it refers more to how "young" the wine is. This was light, slightly fizzy, and more sweet than dry.

The food at Super Mario can be best described by the locals who told us, "very typico……"

The Missus wanted to try Caldo Verde, a simple, but hearty soup thickened by potato, containing thin slices of kale.

For my first sit down meal in Portugal, it just seemed right that I had bacalhau. I hadn't had anything made with salt cod since I was a teenager. So I went with the Bacalhau Frito, fried bacalhau.

Nothing fancy, perfectly decent, salty, but not overly so, perhaps a bit too many bones for me. The rice….well, I never had decent rice in any dish in Portugal, that's just the way things went.

This was sardinhas (sardine) season, so the Missus would get that whenever She could. It looked fresh here.

The sardines were fresh, very nice….but man, those potatoes….in fact all the potatoes in Portugal taste, well, like really good potatoes…..possibly the best other than what we had in Peru.

We had killed the first bottle of Vinho Verde, with no problems, nor affects, so we ordered a second.

About this time a Korean woman who looked to be in her 30's entered the restaurant….this was pretty much a first for us. We always see Korean tourists traveling in tours or packs. This was the first time I saw one traveling solo. We shared a glass of wine with her. It just seemed like the right thing to do. She was very nice and indeed travelling solo. She told us, "I like to travel and don't have friends…." I'm sure she didn't mean literally. She was from Seoul and travelled all over Europe because, "I like to drink…." then telling us about how good Porto was. She had dinner at Super Mario's the night before and enjoyed it so much she decided to return.

While the food was nothing to write home about, we enjoyed our dinner at Super Mario. The service was nice, so was the vinho verde, and the Missus enjoyed he caldo verde. It was relaxed, the guys having drinks in the place were very warm and hospitable. It was a good first dinner to get things started.

Restaurante Super Mario
Rua do Duque 9
Lisbon, Portugal

There was still fading daylight left when we finished dinner and walked down the hill. Lisbon seemed very safe, so we strolled around a bit, taking in a bit more……

We found a bakery run by Chinese and got some Pastel de Nata……

The crust was just wrong and the custard was too sweet and eggy. These were the worst of our time in Lisbon.

We headed back to our room, opened the window….. the immediate area was very urban and dark. We watched the street scene below. Folks heading home, dodging the drizzles, then the next wave of folks heading out for the evening.

I'd come to find that Lisbon sleeps and wakes late. I woke to folks laughing and yelling a couple times during the night….the last at 330am. Still, we were exhausted and the sleep did us good! We'd be having another full day tomorrow!

Thanks for reading!