mmm-yoso – Page 292

Yesenia’s Taco Shop (Kearny Mesa)

August 12, 2012 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

Right before I left for my trip home, I met my good friend Candice for lunch. I was really swamped and having lunch with someone who's great company like Candice just makes the whole day better. With so much on my mind, I really drew blanks when it came to where we'd grab lunch. Luckily, one of Candice's friends recommended a place I'd driven past dozens of times on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard….a taco shop called Yesenia's.

I gotta say…..this place sure is a bright orange…..

The menu seemed fairly huge and overwhelming, though the young lady behind the counter was very friendly. There were several interesting items on the menu and we ordered a bunch of stuff.

Starting with some Aguachile.

First off, the slices of avocado looked like it was headed South. Not a bad sign, but somewhat ominous if you'll be eating raw shrimp "cooked" in lime. The shrimp indeed tasted a bit fishy, it hadn't gone bad yet, but it seemed headed in that direction. The marinade was very mild with regards to aguachile….I expect bracing citrus tones and a good deal of heat, but this was almost bland. To be perfectly fair, this tasted much better at the end of the meal when the shrimp had been in the marinade for about half an hour.

I really didn't care for the Chicken Mole either.

The chicken was quite dry and the mole lacked the wonderful complex spice tones that I enjoy in a mole poblano.

I liked the beans, though….nicely seasoned.

Things started looking up when we tried the menudo.

As far as I can recall, this was full on tripe and not much else. It was also the least funky menudo that I've ever had. The tripe was well prepared, light crunch, but not tough or hard. I wish the broth had been seasoned more aggressively…..it needed salt, hot sauce, and a good amount of oregano would have helped too. Nice tripe though…….

In my opinion, the last item was the best…….fish rolled tacos, something I'd usually not think of ordering.

It really didn't look like much, but the fish had a nice flavor which came through very clearly. The shell was nice and crisp and the fish moist. Cabbage instead of lettuce is a good choice, it added a mild earthy-bitterness to the whole deal. I'd have this again…….

The funniest little snippet of a conversation we had was when I asked what her friends favorite item here was…..Candice smiled and sheepishly replied, "Carne Asada fries……" Ha! It just cracked me up…… I did tell her that, if her foodie……or in this case beerie (??? what do you call those folks?) buddy really thought this was the best carne asada fries I'd check them out….really.

So…..being a man of my word, I returned after my trip, and stepped into the wonderful orange glow of Yesenia's.

And ordered up something I hadn't had in maybe….I dunno, five years???

Carne Asada fries ($6.55). The carne asada was fairly tough, though decently flavored…perhaps better than your friendly neigborhood 'berto's. The guac was decent, it added some creaminess to the whole deal….I'm still not a real big fan of sour cream on this. I really did like the fries, which were very competently fried……not greasy and crisp. For some reason, this didn't feel like the gut-busting, hollow-leg filling, burp fest that I recall CAFs being. I enjoyed the various salsas here as well…….

This location of Yesenia's gets really busy around noon and after looking over all the breakfast items, I read they open at like 530 in the morning. That said, I'm not sure if I'll return anytime soon…..though I'm now curious, since I've gotten a couple of CAF recommendations over the years……what shop makes the best CAFs???? Just for future reference of course……

Yesenia's Taco Shop
8199 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

Honolulu: Pau Hana Time at 8 Fat Fat 8

August 10, 2012 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Honolulu, Oahu, Pubs and Pub Grub, Travel

After lunch at Mitch's I was off on a mission for the Missus at Ala Moana Center. Man, when I was first back here after being gone for almost a decade I was totally….well, overwhelmed might be the word. Ala Moana had grown into a multi-level, multi-building, multi (terrible)-parking, monster. Now two visits later, I've kinda relaxed and grown easy with the place.

It being a beautiful, if a bit muggy day, made things a lot easier. Still, I couldn't believe how hard it was to find parking at 130 in the afternoon.

After picking up gifts and omiyagi, I still had a great deal of time on my hands, so I decided to take one of my favorite drives….. I'm a "townie" at heart and I've always had a fondness for Mount Tantalus and Round Top Drive. Of course, it's been maybe almost fifteen years since I've been here. I wondered what had changed….well some things have changed, like, I don't remember the viewing platform at Puu Ualakaa State Wayside. You still can't beat the views from here.

I could see some rain moving in from Manoa Valley to my left…….

If you look down to the grassy area in front of the platform…..you can still imagine scenes from a certain well known movie filmed in Hawaii.

I used come up here once in a while when I lived here……though many times during the later part of the evenings….ummmm…..to…well…look at the city lights…yeah, to look at the city lights.

The rest of the afternoon was spent driving around, just checking things out……until I went to meet my friends for Pau Hana time, at a place where I've spent many of my evenings for over a decade.

I've kinda gone through this before, but from the day 8 Fat Fat 8 opened, we….I was a regular customer until I left Honolulu. In fact, even after I left, the Missus and I would return as the owner, Sy (RIP) adored the Missus. He knew the Missus as that quiet young lady who never understood what my friends and I were talking about (it's pidgin after all) but loved his black-bean ginger crab. In fact, I'd return there to meet friends and Sy would ask me, "when your wife come….tell me….I go buy crab!" So I'd tell him….the Missus and I would get there and have a seat at the table reserved by my friends. Sy would bring out this bucket and place a couple of live crab on the table! They'd be scuttling around….he'd tell the Missus, "which one you want….you pick!" Man, those were good times……much happened behind those seedy looking doors in the joint next to Midas on Beretania.

It was quite interesting….I hadn't been here since Sy passed away. There's a pool table now, fewer dart boards….still karaoke though. And to my joy, the place is still hopping, at least on a Friday night. Much has changed, different folks, different kinds of drinks, everybody texts, or tweets, or whatever….but pau hana time endures.

I ordered my usual drink…..which will make those craft beer lovers in San Diego cringe. But when I'm back home; it's "Bud light, bucket ice"…..you don't buck tradition.

It was nice to know that Sy's daughter, I believe her name is Mary….I only remember Sy telling me when she was going to school in Beijing, is now running the place. It's been modernized a bit, business seems more formal, but it's still totally local.

And in my opinion, some of the best "stick to your ribs" local kind grindz are found at places like these. The best example would be Side Street Inn……

So here's what we had as pupus……I hadn't had Crispy Gau Gee, since before the millennium….

Crispy, salty, shrimpy, porky, dipped in a mildly spicy-shoyu sauce…..it took me back to my childhood when "Chinese Food" (notice the quotes) was something we had on special occasions.

"L" wanted the calamari, which, to me was over battered and gummy….though it was decent drinking food.

We ended by getting "Fat Fat Chicken", which was my favorite menu item here. It was the signature item that set 8 Fat Fat 8 apart when they first opened.

Basically salt and pepper chicken, flavored with five-spice, deep fried. This is still pretty good…crisp skin, nice flavor, great with beer, not as dry as I recalled.

Beyond the food; it was nice seeing my "old friends"….and we are getting older. I'm hoping we'll be meeting up again soon…… 2 Filipino's from Kalihi, 1 dude from Cleveland, and me….how we ever got to be life-long friends, I'll never know…..and that really doesn't matter, does it?

8 Fat Fat 8 Bar & Grille
1327 S Beretania St
Honolulu, HI 96814

Thanks for reading!

Recently Consumed

August 8, 2012 mmm-yoso Cooking

Man, I could just tell by this morning's sunrise it was going to be a hot one…..

I'm thinking it would be pure torture to do my post on Ramen Yamadaya today….so I think I'll wait until maybe next week. We've been eating at home a lot, the Missus has cut down on carbs and is now almost (can't give up lamb/goat/duck) pescadarian….so I'm trying to support Her somewhat by cutting down on the carbs at home as well. It doesn't mean we haven't been eating rather well…..now all the red meat belongs to me!

So here's just a few items recently consumed…….

Left over steak is wonderful stuff…….

The Missus has been eating wild salmon by the boatload…….

I just make a bunch of it, either seared off or smoked, and She eats it during the week for lunch…….

Some experimental Chili Shrimp…….

I love watercress……..

The Missus used to hate asparagus, but now She's come around……..

Especially when there's an egg involved…….

Here's another experiment. I marinated some swordfish overnight…….

Then smoked it on the stovetop…..

It tasted really good, but because it was really hot smoked, it was rather dry……I'm thinking of using some kind of glaze next time.

Did I mention that I get the entire steak to myself nowadays?

I think I'll grab myself one of these…….

An okratini……..

I hope your keeping cool and having a great week.

Oahu: Mitch’s Fish Market

August 7, 2012 mmm-yoso Honolulu, Oahu, Sushi and Sashimi, Travel

My MIL actually gave me a "day off" during my stay….just joking, I was meeting friends for "dinner" and since libations were going to be involved driving back to Ewa Beach was out of the question. Though we weren't meeting until about 7, I started my day very early with a nice breakfast (a later post), then did some shopping for the Missus. The Missus had encouraged me to have a "really good" lunch and since the temps were hitting the high 80's, I thought sushi would be great…..not mayo-filled, mega rice bomb fast-foodish stuff, but a light meal of decent quality fish. My list of three was pretty easy….Sushi Sasabune…but they didn't open until 12, Sushi Izakaya Gaku is a strictly dinner only place, and Mitch's Fish Market. Mitch's opens at 1130 and is located in a warehouse in the industrial zoned area near the airport. It does indeed look a bit like a machine shop or similar business….

I managed to squeeze my rental into a tiny little slot down the street from the tiny (5 seat sushi bar and two four tops) shop. The place was half full, a group of three to my left on the bar was hitting the Otokoyama pretty early in the day. don't blame them though….Mitch's is purely BYOB, so why not…hopefully you're not driving after all that sake, though. I looked over the menu in chalk on the wall, with various specials and the head Itamae, maybe because he didn't know me handed me over to his right hand man, Masa Murakami…perhaps he didn't deem me worthy? No complaints, though as I had an excellent light meal…which started and ended with o-toro.

At twenty bucks a pop, this ain't cheap, but I gotta tell you; it was very nice….melt in your mouth nice……touch it and it seems to start melting nice. The other piece had a slight brown streak on it, but also just melted in my mouth….such richness is worth the price once in a while. Cheap and sushi/sashimi are not inclusive of each other….. The rice was well prepared, you could count every grain, and it was not too tightly packed.

The only item I thought was not up to par was the Kohada(gizzard shad).

Which lacked the slightly cured milkiness that I enjoy.

The Kanpachi(Amberjack) on the other hand was quite good.

It looked dry and almost firm like shiromi, but man, when I put it into my mouth with just a drop of shoyu it almost melted away, rich and clean, with a slight sweetness.

I decided to try some other specials. First up, Isaki, known as Chicken Grunt(how's that for a paradoxial name) or Striped Pigfish, was something that I'd never had before.

Topped with a light drizzle of ponzu, green onions, and momji oroshi, this had a fairly delicate texture when compared to, say snapper or halibut.

I also got some Shima Aji (jack) which I know best by it's local name papio.

This had a nice mild sweetness to it, it was also a lot more tender and light than versions I've had before. I definitely want this again. I finished my meal with another duo of o-toro and left feeling refreshed……

I really enjoyed my meal at Mitch's. And while it's not the best I've ever had, it was without a doubt very good and to me well worth the 80 bucks or so I paid. No fancy arrangements, no pretense, just straight ahead good fish.

Mitch's Fish Market
524 Ohohia St
Honolulu, HI 96819

Open Daily – 1130am – 830pm

Fusion or Con-Fusion Part 2: Jiggle Jiggle Korean Grill

August 6, 2012 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Korean Restaurants

*** Update: This restaurant has closed.

Yes, i'm finally getting around to doing this one…..which I promised with "part 1" on fuze. I had actually stopped and looked over the menu when JJ first open, some Korean standards, fad following Korean tacos……a carne asada fries knock-off, which is kind of redundant because CAFs are a knock-off itself….so what is a copy off something that's a copy? My friend Candice even mentioned the place in a text, to which I replied, the "the name and the menu makes me giggle giggle".

And yet, there were a couple of folks I knew who liked the place. My usual query would be the one where I asked whether it was a location thing (Midway) or not. Several folks assured me that wasn't the reason. They also told me the Korean tacos were ,"the bomb". And even faced with the fast-food looking facade who am I to judge. If this place could be half as good as….say Gina's BBQ in Honolulu, I would be happy. Sorry to say, it ain't quite that……so if you decide to stop reading here, I wouldn't hold it against you.

On my first visit, I did order "the trio" ($8), one each of the kalbi, dak bulgogi, and daeji bulgogi.

It was a bomb all right; a gut bomb, a lettuce and spicy mayo-fest. I gotta say, if it's pure capacity you're trying to fill, then these might do it. The tortillas were the worst this side of El Pollo Loco, as they just fell to bits and had almost no flavor. I tasted each protein separately and the kalbi was by far the worst, pale, flavorless, and really tough "LA Kalbi" type shortribs. The pork was tough, but at least it had some heat, but all was really lost in the wilderness of lettuce. The chicken bulgogi was probably the best of the trio, decent, but again just covered with "stuff". Let me say however, if you're looking to fill yourself up….this might do it.

So I figured that would be pretty much it……but, the folks running the place were really nice, so I decided to visit one more time. This time I started with the Yaki Mandu ($4).

I really liked the way these were fried….light and crisp. The dipping sauce was a bit watered down and the filling really bland, otherwise this would have been a winner.

My curiosity got the better of me and I decided to try the Korean Fries, which, priced at $5.50 are really worth it. But man, this was a mess……

On the good side, I enjoyed the interplay of the kimchi and the fries. On the bad side kimchi and nacho cheese…..that's a bad partnership. I did wonder why the menu said Spicy Mayo and Korean Aioli, which seems to be somewhat redundant. Too much mayo and cheese for my taste and the bulgogi….well you could see it, but not really taste it. Though I did have sort of an epiphany while trying to eat this….if we had a category on the blog for "stoner food", this would be right up there! After all, it was salty, tons of fat, interesting textures…..hmmmm…

To me, the food at fuze is executed better, with higher quality ingredients. Still, the prices here are reasonable and if anyone could give me a recommendation that's not kalbi, spicy pork, bulgogi, chicken bulgogi, or mandu oriented, I may just check them out again. Though I might recommend Jiggle Jiggle to you at the end of a hard night of drinking a la "grease-berto's"….but JJ closes at 9 during the week and 10 on Friday and Saturday.

Jiggle Jiggle Korean Grill
3146 Midway Drive
San Diego, CA 92110

Oahu: Leonard’s and Oxtail Soup from Kapiolani Coffee Shop

August 5, 2012 mmm-yoso Bakery, Desserts, Diner, Honolulu, Oahu, Travel

During my visits home, mornings are "my" time. I'll take a drive, fill gas, pick up stuff for lunch/dinner, find a wi-fi connection, and basically just drive around……..at 5-6am. I really wanted the D's to enjoy some of the "local" food I grew up eating. Of course, being raised in the Kaimuki/Kapahulu area, Leonard's is on that list. I'm still quite flabbergasted when I see tour buses and even a limo pull up to the very non-descript bakery that is Leonard's and the lines we experienced on our last trip home were just not fun. I'm sure you can go later in the evening…..but for me, malasadas were made to be eaten early in the day. The Missus and I tried the malasadas from the Leonard's wagon in Waikele and really didn't care for what they sold….cold, greasy, somewhat gummy. So it had to be a trip to Kapahulu. I didn't expect to encounter too many lines at 530 in the morning…….

There was a line, but only four folks in front of me. It seems that Leonard's is popular with the military as two groups of men in fatigues dropped in while I waited in line. There's something about the heavenly smells when I walk into Leonard's that just takes me back to "small kid time".

Over the years, Leonard's has expanded their line of malasadas to include filled versions. Being the old fuddy-duddy that I am, I still go for the original plain sugared version. Though I also bought a half dozen haupia filled as well.

Man, these always take me back…… MrD enjoyed having his with soy milk for breakfast, telling me it was like a sweet youtiao! You know, I never thought of that…..

Leonard's is one of those iconic places that you should check out at least once if you're ever in or around Honolulu. Here's a neat little trivia thingy, Leonard's is celebrating their 60th anniversary this year. Did you know that the original location that Leonard Rego opened his bakery is actually in the building where Ono Hawaiian Food (another iconic eating establishment) is located?

Leonard's Bakery
933 Kapahulu Ave
Honolulu, HI 96816

The trip for the day was Dole Plantation. Maggie seemed to really enjoy the maze……

This is the Ohia tree and the blossoms are called Lehua. I stopped Maggie from picking these, by telling her the legend of Pele and Ohia.

The story goes that Pele (the Godess of fire) fell in love with a handsome man named Ohia whom she wanted to marry. Ohia, however told Pele that he was in love with a maiden named Lehua and turned her down. Well, as you imagine, this didn't sit well with Madam Pele….she turned Ohia into the twisted looking Ohia tree. Lehua became heartbroken and the gods took pity on her by turning her into the Lehua blossom, so that she and Ohia would be inseparable. To this day, it is said that picking the Lehua blossom will cause rain…..tears falling because Ohia and Lehua cannot bear to be separated.

The late afternoon meant another shopping trip and my in-laws took the D's to a luau. I dropped them off and went to pick-up dinner. I had been wanting to check out Kapiolani Coffee Shop for their oxtail soup a long time favorite since reading about it on Reid's blog back in 2004. Never let it be said that I'm not a patient person…..since that time, Kam bowl has closed down and the shop is now located in Waimalu Shopping Center.

Based on the menu, I'm pretty sure that this is one of the originals when it comes to oxtail soup…..

Funny thing is, I remember having my first bowl of oxtail soup at a restaurant on Kapiolani, next to where Aloha Motors was……could it be? I couldn't find any information on that.

The restaurant is quite small and very, very, old school.

The oxtail soup ain't cheap, almost $14 for a bowl, which comes with two scoops of rice….oh, as old school at KCS is, they did ask me if I wanted brown rice! Man, my soup arrived at my table in like two minutes…..

The standard condiment is some grated ginger and shoyu(soy sauce). I thought the broth was a bit too salty, even for me, very mild anise tones, and frankly, I prefer a bit more "fat" in my broth. This one was very clear. Lots of cilantro and green onions…..

The oxtails were excellent….not falling to pieces, but just tender enough. Personally, I prefer some nice fatty bits and gelatinous goodness, these had been prepped to remove a good amount of that stuff.

I still prefer the oxtail soup I had at The Alley to this and the portion to price ratio seemed a bit on the small side. Still it was good to be able to finally get that oxtail soup off my "list". Plus, I enjoyed the old school feel of the place.

Hey…..is that waitress calling me an Ox?

Kapiolani Coffee Shop
98-020 Kamehameha Hwy
Aiea, HI 96701

Oahu: Teddy’s Bigger Burger (Kailua) and doing the East Oahu – Windward drive

August 3, 2012 mmm-yoso Burgers, Honolulu, Oahu, Travel

The main reason I was home was because the D's were visiting and in all honesty, I really enjoyed my time with them, they are a heck of a lot of fun and their daughter "Maggie" sure has gotten a lot taller since I last saw her over two years ago. On my first day "on the job", my MIL decided that we should do the "East side – Windward tour"…..which ended up being much more fun than I recalled. We hit places that I hadn't been to in maybe 20+ years. I mean, really, when you live here, you're often too busy to really appreciate and enjoy "paradise".

Anyway, I hit H-1, then got off using the King street exit, thru Kapahulu, and past the zoo……when we hit Queen's, I noticed that everyone perked up. So I stopped……. I'm pretty sure there's nothing like this in Beijing.

I really got a kick watching MrsD kick off her shoes and head straight to the water…….nothing much like this in Beijing! She was so fast that she got splashed by a wave….which she joyfully laughed off. Her enthusiasm renewed my appreciation of the sun shining on my face and the feeling of sand between your toes. Of course it was a typical "island day".

As MrsD and Maggie headed off down the beach, it was MrD's job to record the visit in detail as he was busy with his camera.

We basically did the around Diamond Head, Hanauma Bay, Makapuu, Waimanalo, Kailua thing……

Funny thing, I don't speak hardly any Mandarin…..though I made the D's crack up with what I did know….."kuài diǎn, kuài diǎn….." and "bi zui" (闭嘴). Funny thing, humor goes beyond pure vocabulary and MrD is quite funny. The Missus has told me numerous times, "If you only understood Mandarin, you'd know how witty he really is…."

MrD Senior surprised me with his pronunciations…..looking at the sign he said "Ha-na-uma" perfectly! Whoa……..we would pass various signs and he'd pronounce them perfectly…maybe better than me!

We stopped at one of the look-out before blow-hole and I climbed over the wall to take a photo. This is when I found out how gutsy MrsD was….she just scampered down the rocks…..whoa.

That's her and Maggie to the right. I reached them and told them to be careful and not turn their back on the ocean, pointing out how waves come in sets………to step back a bit and watch the water….

By the time we got past Waimanalo, stomachs were growling. My MIL had told me "there's so much good food in Beijing, what they want to have is American food." So I decided to stop at Teddy's Bigger Burgers in Kailua. Man, this place is doing massive business…..I do mean some major business. The lines are long; they have to give you one of those vibrating coaster looking things……

At least I could tell the D's to go exploring while I waited for our "han bao bao" (hamburgers)…..I later found Maggie wearing a cute pink Kailua t-shirt, so I guess they contributed to the local economy…..

Grabbing lunch we headed to Kailua Beach…..after all, this is a pretty nice setting for lunch, right?

I know I'd usually just order a plain burger to see what the beef was all about. But in this case I ordered a "Bigger Combo" with American Cheese and grilled onions all around. Hey, what's more "American" than a cheeseburger….with American cheese, right?

Taken in context this was quite good…the burger, though on the "lean" side the burger was done just north of well. I mean, really, compared to màidàngláo in China….is there even a comparison?

I actually enjoyed the fries, which are "natural" (skin on) and very crisp.

I found that the D's really like ketchup…….and really couldn't find a Chinese word for "Mayonnaise" ….

After lunch, well it's fade time, you need something to grab your attention…….we headed off down the Pali and the one place I was really looking forward to checking out….

Man, I haven't been here in like decades, before you had to pay for parking, when we had five pounds of raw pork butt and got TWO flat tires going over the Pali on one foggy night….ummm, well, nevah mind…..

I knew this was going to be fun, you park your car and nothing seems amiss, until you walk to the look-out.

On really windy days, it'll buffet you….just try to fall over! The D's were amazed at not only the power of the wind, but the wonderful view of the windward side as well. I could point out where we'd been.

More significantly, in the history of Hawaii, this is where it is noted that Kamehameha I sealed his conquest of Oahu, defeating the forces of Kalanikūpule, driving off the cliffs of the Pali.

Beyond all of that, the view, if you can hold your camera still is wonderful.

My apologies for not having more food "stuffs" for you, but I hope you enjoyed this post….for me, it really renewed an appreciation for the place I was born and raised.

Oahu: Stuff from Young’s Fish Market and Marujyu Market

August 2, 2012 mmm-yoso Hawaiian Food, Honolulu, Oahu, Seafood, Travel

I landed at HNL a bit past 2 in the afternoon and walked on over to the rental car counter…..getting out of the airport before 3pm. It was my objective to pick some stuff for dinner along the way. The first stop? Young;s Fish Market.

This was Reid's recommendation from my earlier visit. since it was pretty close to the airport, it was pretty much a no brainer for lau lau and kalua pork.

The fish counter was pretty slim pickins' and my usual stop on the way to the in-laws, Tanioka's would be near to closing time by the time I hit Waipahu.

So instead, I got out near Moanalua Road and stopped by Marujyu Market.

Funny, I'm old enough to remember when Marujyu opened in Palolo Valley. The empire then spread all ova' the place…….I remember them being in the location that is now a Korean Market in Waimalu Shopping Center, and now to this tiny shop in Newtown Business Park.

Anyway, I made it there, with a stop at Zippy's for some Chicken, rolling into Ewa Beach just after 5 pm. Dinner was a fun affair…….The D's were always such fun…..

Here's a rundown on the grinds:

The pork lau lau from Young's was decent, pork moist, nice flavor overall, the best I've had in a while. The visitors enjoyed it. I gotta say, the chili pepper water Young's sells was quite good; I could almost drink the stuff.

The kalua pork was on the dry side and kind of bland. I'll be back to Young's for that lau lau……

Young's Fish Market
1286 Kalani St
Honolulu, HI 96817

The poke from Marujyu didn't impress me that much, the limu ahi was the best, but still on the salty side….and I like salty poke.

The "Ohana poke", had too much sesame oil and some pretty tough pieces of ahi……lots of "sugi" (tough tendon like connective tissue) in a couple of pieces.

The pulehu tako had some nice flavor, but our guests didn't like how tough it was. My FIL enjoyed it. By the way, what's up with tako prices? It seemed to have gone through the roof since my last visit. I saw pulehu tako selling for over $30 a pound in some places…..yikes!

Overall, I guess the D's weren't that thrilled with eating raw fish; plus, it seems that my FIL has stopped eating the stuff as well, telling me that he "doesn't trust raw fish anymore."

Marujyu Market Catering
98-820 Moanalua Rd
Aiea, HI 96701

Seems like things started a bit inauspiciously…..oh well, at least no one went hungry!

Oahu: Odds and Ends……

July 31, 2012 mmm-yoso Honolulu, Oahu, Travel, yoso-silly

It's kind of funny……in 2010, I hadn't been "home" in nearly a decade, then during the course of less than 2 years or so, I travel back 3 times! This one really wasn't planned way in advance. A few months back, we got word that Mr.D and his family would be visiting with the In-laws. After taking us around Beijing , it only seemed right that we return the favor. Sadly, the Missus couldn't make it, so I flew to Oahu solo and spent a couple of days helping the in-laws out. I really enjoyed my time with Mr.D and family and will get more into that in future posts. For some reason, I'm kinda bushed…even more tired than I felt after returning from our recent Istanbul-Tunisia-Rhodes-Istanbul trip. So give me another day to regroup. In the mean time I thought I'd do a short post on some "stuffs"…..

Let me just start off with a requisite photo…….

Here's some of the grinds I had during this trip……

Plate lunches and bentos of course…….

And of course, some of the other standards as well……

You know I'd have to have one of these, right?

I did manage to make the best of the time I had to myself and ended up having a pretty darn good meal.

I did find more then a few things that I really didn't want to eat…….like a "loco moco burger". I could probably do the gravy, bread, and protein thing. But for some reason, the thought of having a "mound" of rice between two buns just felt….well, wrong for some reason.

As for 7/11 having the best Spam Musubi…… all I can say is "really"?

It's a sad day when okazuya's and mom-and-pop stores can't make a better Spam Musubi than 7-11…really?

Then of course, there was that sign to my right. Oxtail soup with fat-free broth? I think this one ends up on my "why bother" list. Though….it might be good…..

While on my way to baggage claim in the airport, the July issue of Honolulu Magazine caught my eye. Mainly because of this article.

I'm pretty sure you really had to live it to understand the phenomenon of this show. During it's run, it was such a huge hit on the local Japanese language station, KIKU, that it basically wiped the floor with shows on all the other stations….we're talking stuff like Mission Impossible! Just thinking of the show has me humming the theme song……

Yikes, I'm regressing……I better get some rest!

Kairouan(Tunisia) – Morning in the Medina and Brik for breakfast

July 21, 2012 mmm-yoso North African Food, Travel, Tunisia, Tunisian Food

We slept quite well in Kairouan, the previous day was pretty hectic and the La Kasbah Hotel was quite nice. As usual, we got up very early, about 5am or so. We enjoy taking early morning walks when we travel. You get to see a city waking up and also the crowds are less severe. Kairouan's medina is known as being probably the least commercial and touristy of all the larger cities in Tunisia, so I wanted to see what it was like. We asked the doorman where the medina was and he pointed to right around the corner.

The medina looks quite fortified, surrounded by walls over 30 feet high. These walls were erected during the early part of the 18th century, though recorded history of the medina goes back to before the 8th century.

If some of the medina looks somewhat familiar, it might be because it was used to depict Cairo in Raiders of the Lost Ark. It's kinda funny, we were hitting a bunch of movie sites during this trip. One of the stories I heard was that the character "Sallah's" house was an actual house in the medina, but when they did a shot panning across the top of the city, they had residents remove over 300 television antennas for a day so they could shoot.

There is a feeling that the medina here is rather unspoiled….the streets are rather wide, the back avenues consist of residences, I'll show you much more in a later post.

The Missus and I really enjoyed walking through here, it gave us a feel of what daily life might be like in Kairouan. As we made our way through the streets we started to see folks opening their shops and making their way to work in the morning.

It didn't take very long for us to make our way to the other end of the medina.

As we headed back through the medina we came across this little shop doing quite a bit of business.

In the shop, a gentleman sat, legs crossed, above a large cast iron pan, that looked like a wok. He received a ball of dough from a young man with striking green eyes and hair the color of the Grand Erg Oriental. When I asked Ben about this later, I was told that it's not unusual for Berber to have even blue eyes and blond hair!

I saw the gentleman get the dough started in the hot oil, which never smoked, I confirmed later on that it was grapeseed oil, which has a high smoke point. He then added an egg. I told the Missus, "man, I wonder if that's how brik is supposed to really be made?" I then asked the woman waiting for her fried dough and a couple of those with eggs by pointing to the dough floating around…..she confirmed it was indeed brik.

Folks were buying this stuff in quantities of four to six. The prices were also pretty cheap, something like 0.4 Dinar (25 cents) for a hefty sized piece of fried dough and 0.6 (35 cents) for one with an egg. Soon the woman had her order filled. The guy behind the pan spoke to another man asking for his order…..he pointed to us, basically informing the "chef" that we were next in line. Folks here in Kairouan were more reserved, but very gracious. So, of course we had to have some brik.

After handing the cook some dough, the young man waved us to the counter in back to have a seat. he also showed us the sink in case we wanted to wash our hands. In a couple of minutes, our brik arrived, steam rising…..

The dough was crisp, light, but still with some substance, and not greasy at all. We soon discovered a very nice thing about the dough, it was studded with caraway seeds, which just brought it up another notch.

The egg was wonderfully runny, it seemed to have been poached. You eat this with your hands, when the young man saw us digging in, he kindly brought us a few more napkins!

This is why we travel….I mean the sights are great and all that, but having brik in the back streets of the medina in Kairouan, well that's like the cherry on the top of the most wonderful ice cream sundae……

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend.