mmm-yoso – Page 293

El Zarape seven years later…….

July 20, 2012 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Seafood, Taco Shops

Ed from Yuma recently mentioned in his post on Sea Rocket Bistro, that we've been doing this for over seven years…..sheesh! I recently saw a comment on an old post of mine wondering why I hadn't posted on El Zarape(the original) in over seven years. so I thought I'd better get this done before another seven passes…….

Seven years is a fairly long time. I'm trying to think what was going on back in 2005…..it sure was a different landscape back then, social media was in it's infancy, we thought Flickr was the best thing since sliced bread…it was "BiP"….."Before iPhone". And that was also the last time I'd eaten at El Zarape.

This was before I'd eaten at all those lonchera's, before I'd experienced birria, before I'd had decent mariscos. I couldn't help but wonder how El Zarape as aged over those years. Curiousity warranted a visit.

And the place looked just about the same……….. I know that the "purists" now sneer at El Zarape, at the soy, wasabi, and buffalo chicken burritos. For some reason, the thought of having an "Aloha Burrito" sends shivers up my spine. Yet, I recall, many of those who now criticize El Zarape were head over heels when Luche Libre opened…….

I was pretty pleased to see that EZ's loss leader, the fish taco is still 99 cents, the same price it was when I first ate here in 2001.

Heck, Mariscos el Prieto couldn't even hold their price at a buck for more than a couple of months and the tacos de pescado at Mariscos el Pescador hasn't seen that price in my memory. Truth be told, I'd still pay quarter more to eat at those two trucks than the fish tacos at El Zarape. I'm still not a fan of the crema and the fish was o the dry side with a not so tasty blood line in it. Still, it's hard to argue with 99 cents……..

El Zarape makes up their profit margin with their other menu items. I decided to have a scallop and shrimp taco ($3.25/each) here as well.

The scallops seemed kind of sparse and were really bland and rubbery…..it doesn't even stand up to the tortilla in flavor. Not a good value at over three bucks as well.

I've always enjoyed the shrimp at El Zarape, so I wondered how that would be.

I counted six shrimp, which looked like 41/50, maybe about 2-3 ounces. They were nicely browned on the griddle, moist and tender. Decent shrimp flavor…….maybe better than I had back in '05, though that was a looooong time ago.

I'm hoping not to take another seven years before I'm back at El Zarape. Thought it's been far surpassed, they're still truckin' along and they still have a faithful neighborhood following.

El Zarape
4642 Park Blvd
San Diego, CA 92116

Hours:
Mon 8 am – 11 pm
Tue-Sun 8 am – 2 am

Moby Dick Fish Market & Grill

July 16, 2012 mmm-yoso Seafood

**** Moby Dick has closed

I'm still not quite sure why they named this place Moby Dick and of course there's the irony of the location….it used to be a "gentleman's club".

Yet, after doing a bit of research, I found that te owner of Moby Dick is the same guy that used to own Convoy sushi and Fish Market , not too great in the sushi department, but the place had some nicely priced cooked items. He also used to own North Park Sushi and Fish Market. Word is that the guy really enjoys planning and opening restaurants and selling seafood. And since he still owns Ocean Harvest, a seafood wholesale company, they should be selling some decent product, right?

Actually, the whole customer process up to the point of receiving your food is a bit confusing and complicated. It all starts by trying to find the. You need to follow the arrows and you'll find the dooorway. Which opens to a humongous space…….

The dining room is pslit into two parts….I'm thinking this place can easily seat over a hundred easy….plus there's even outside seating. What's up with the forest scene……Moby Dick of the jungle…yikes…I don't even want to go there.

That's Kazumi's area in the back, which I mentioned in a previous post. If you want to find out how Kazumi's doing now, you should read Kirbie's post.

Back to confusing….you enter and see a fish counter, a smaller bar looking area, and finally figure out that the cashier area is where you should order.

Then the funs really begins, there are about 13-14 different seafood offerings…you can choose whether you want a sandwich, wrap, salad, plate, taco….now depending what you order, you then have to look at the right of the menu and figure out what other things you have to choose…..fish plate or salad….you need to choose a sauce, dressing, potato salad, rice, or fries…salad a dressing…not too bad. But hold on, you can also order other items on the menu, fish tacos, fish & chips, soft shell crab sandwiches, burgers, misozuke plates, soups….and how about some sides!!! Oh, let's not forget the specials, some of which come with their own specific question(s). You want a drink with that??? Strange, but I actually felt like I was being given some kind of verbal exam when the Missus and I first visited.

The Missus and I started with some poke ($4.50), just to get a gauge on the quality of the fish.

Not a particularly big portion and on the "dry" side with regards to poke. Also, we got a couple of pieces with tough connective tissue as well. The fish was decently fresh, but this isn't sushi grade if that's what you expect. Ahi is a bit stronger in flavor than maguro and I think the Missus isn't used to that flavor anymore.

The best thing I've tasted to date was the Chilean Seabass Miszuke ($20). Not cheap, but it was a wonderfully moist and fresh cut.

The flavor imparted by the miso was mild but decent and the fish was "toaster-ovened" nicely. What was a bit strange was the salad…..mainly the feta cheese sprinkled on the salad….the ginger mayo dressing was mostly mayo and clashed with the olives, pepperocini, and the feta. It made the whole dish seem kind of odd.

I had the Mahi Mahi in salad form ($13).

It's really easy to tell when Mahi is starting to get past its prime….it tends to literally sour. This was a nice piece of fish, though it was overcooked and underseasoned. That creamy dijon that I got with the fish had very little flavor and added nothing. The "ranch dressing" had too much mayo. Still, the fish was of good quality, which I appreciated. But this just seemed to be missing….

I returned later that week and tried the Ono in plate form ($15):

Man, this was a load of food….and I have to wonder, why the bread, the plate already had standard steak fries on it? The Ono was even less seasoned than the Mahi Mahi, but not overcooked. That parsley garlic sauce tasted like industrial fake butter with a hint of garlic in it…..pretty nasty. It was kind of frustrating, the fish was decent quality, but again things just seemed to be missing the mark…….just.

So I came back and ordered the Fish Tacos Baja Style ($6):

If this was the first thing I had here, I would have not returned. The portion of fish was quite good, but the batter was a bit gummy and basically peeled off, the fish was dry as well. As a fish taco this also missed the mark; the tortillas fell apart immediately and were of poor quality and the crema tasted of just mayo.

Funny thing was, I was set to meet one of my favorite fellow food bloggers, Canine Cologne here in a couple of days……. but I also knew, it would be a fun time regardless!

It was really nice seeing her as it had been like 3 years…..21 years in Canine time!!!! I'd really like you to read her post here. Mainly because I get a kick of reading my name two sentences after she uses the phrase, "Hey, wanna see my THIRD leg?" Now how's that for original.

Instead of the regular fish and chips, I went with the Monkfish & Chips($9):

The steak fries were standard…the fish was very fresh and moist. Though perhaps selecting monkdish was a mistake as it was too dense……but this wasn't bad at all. A nice plus, malt vinegar was provided. I guess I'm kind of easy that way. I think the fish was a bit too cold when battered as the crust just fell of to the touch, but that's kind of nitpicky.

It was just great to see "CC", who generously gave me a bag of goodies which I'll cover in a later post.

I'm going to give Moby a rest for now……the food has potential, but just seems a bit slapped together and misses the mark. I'm thinking the guy who owns the place really has a passion for opening and running restaurants, but when diverging from the simple cheap fried stuff he used to make at the old Convoy shop, I think there should be a bit more effort in creating more professional, coherant, dishes……

Moby Dick Fish Market & Grill
4805 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Open daily 11am – 9pm

Tunisia: The Sousse Catacombs, Planet Food, El Djem, and we arrive in Kairouan

July 15, 2012 mmm-yoso Travel, Tunisia, Tunisian Food

Like most of the long trips we take, the Missus submitted a list of places She wanted to visit. It's my job to make that happen. Which what I tried to do. There seemed to be quite a few barriers based on the amount of time we had. First, most of the airports in Tunisia only do international flights…..and the airport at Tozuer only had flights on certain days. Second, we could do public transportation, but it seemed fairly long and somewhat disjointed. Third, we'd be pretty much unable to get to Ksar Ghilaine without at least hiring a driver. At this point I put some feelers out…..doing a "tour group" was out of the question for us, but I started looking into private tours. Some of them were surprisingly expensive….but I finally got an interesting response from Experience It Tours. In fact, Alan Burricks, the company's representative in Tunisia was very responsive usually returning my emails within a day. The company offered a bunch of different tours, but when I submitted my own request/inquiry, they found a way to work in out! We pretty much did a 9-10+ tour in six days. The hotels were all rated 4-5 star, all entrance fees were paid(expet for the 1 dinar "camera fee"), and breakfast and dinner included. So private driver/guide and all that came out to just about 3K……which was worth it in the end. Heck, Alan even called to see how things were going and actually stopped by to see us at the end of our tour in Djerba….really nice guy!

We got down to the lobby of our hotel in Tunis and a few minutes later our driver, "Ben" met us. We loved that he was always early or on time. introductions done, Ben took us for some "cafe express" (espresso) and we headed out. We learned a lot about the people, politics, and culture of Tunisia during our drives. Over the course of our tour, Ben slowly figured out what we were really interested in, and we ended up with a nicely tailored tour.

We headed out from Tunis and stopped in the beach resort city of Hammamet, which is basically a resort town. We stopped briefly at the medina and had a look around…….things looked a bit slow and depressed.

The medina was basically a tourist stop and we aren't really interested in souvenirs and that stuff so we moved on……..

Our next stop was the third largest city and home to some mega-resorts, over 40,000 beds, and killer traffic……Sousse.

Right past the traffic jam on the outskirts of the city, Ben stopped here:

Catacombs? Now this was something I hadn't read about. Apparently, in 1888 the French army discovered a network of underground Christian burial galleries. Considered a threat to the Roman Empire, Christians were persecuted, and it is believed that they were not allowed to bury their dead in cemetaries, thus they took to creating the catacombs.

The actual entrance itself is rather unassuming….just a little doorway.

Opening to some stairs leading underground…….

And the underground passageway.

I read that there are over 5 kilometers of catacombs in Sousse with over 15,000 gravesites. Only this short area is open to tourists.

Do you notice something about our photos? There's no one in sight……..this is not by design; there wasn't anyone visiting while we were here, which added to our experience and creeped the Missus out. After seeing a grave like this one:

The Missus wanted out………

Even though the streets above were quite busy; the silence was indeed eerie, and with no one else around, those shadows sure did start to play with your imagination.

After this we headed into Sousse and made a stop at the very touristy medina…….

After which we stopped for lunch….Ben picked a restaurant called….Planet Food????? With US movies playing on the televisions above and photosof Ahh-nold, Angelina, Clint, Bruce, and a whole bunch of movie stars you'd know by just their first names, this was obviously a Planet Hollywood knock-off. So really, Plant Food??? Interesting thing was, the place was full of what seemed like local, or Tunisian tourists…not a European in site. Ben told us that all the tourists just stay in the all-inclusive resorts and places like this now mostly cater to Tunisians…..we were also told it's a favorite date-night place. Kinda cute, I guess….

The menu was a mixed bag of stuff like pizza, which Tunisians claim is not Italian, but Berber in origin, so it belongs here…….kebabs, meat, and seafood.

We started with some salade mechouia, which turned out to be not bad.

This was actually seasoned and had some flavor.

Of course there was harissa provided….along with some very sweet ketchup and mayo.

The Missus ordered the clams and mussels which was cooked nicely, but the sauce had cream in it, which made it a bit too rich for the Missus.

It really messed up the really sweet and delicate flavor of the mussels and clams. As you can tell, the portion size was pretty hefty.

I went with the Veal Merguez and was once again stunned at the "three starch" standard……rice(overcook – bleh), frites (soggy and limp), and more potatoes. Oh, make that four starch, I forgot to mention the bread!

The merguez had a nice combination of seasonings and was very lean. However, I missed the gamey flavor of lamb.

This was a interesting combination or European and Tunisian flavors with a very Western theme. It seemed a bit strange at first, but after a while it attained a kind of kitschiness with us……

After Sousse, we headed South about 45 miles to the town of El-Djem with a population of about 18,000. Arriving in the little town of El Djem is pretty amazing. Why you ask? Well, towering above the little town is the thrid largest Roman Colosseum known.

It's an impressive sight.

It is estimated that the Colosseum could hold as many as 35,000 people, or almost twice the population of modern El Djem. It was built by Gordian who was declared Emperor of Rome during a rebellion against Maximus I and lastede a total of 31 days. The structure was built between 230 and 238 AD. At the time, the city and area was known as Thysdrus and was extremely wealthy because of olive oil. It is said that Gordian committed suicide within the Colosseum when it became obvious that the rebellion had been thwarted.

Much of the coliseum remains intact, though stones were removed in the 17th century to build the Great Mosque at Kairouan. It's the North side that looks the most impressive, the Ottomans shelled the South side in a rebellion.

You are also able to enter and walk through the underground passages…..

Here you pass chambers which held animals and gladiators.

Who were led down these passageways to daylight above to either meet their maker or perhaps live to see another day. It's probably appropriate that some of the scenes from the movie Gladiator were filmed here.

As you can tell, there were no other people here but us. It was very cool in some ways, but also depressing as well. We were told that Europeans spent all their time at the "all-inclusives" and Americans were too afraid to come…….

After our visit, Ben drove us a short way to the El Djem Archaeological Museum.

Before entering, Ben asked us if we had been to the Bardo Museum. When we told him we had, he asked us to compare the frescoes here to those in the Bardo.

Like the Bardo, we put on shoe covers, and just as before, I felt very uncomfortable walking on frescoes.

As for the frescoes, we both thought the collection here were in much better condition than those at the Bardo.

There's also a street of Roman Villas being excavated as part of the museum.

There's also a first century Roman Villa that was moved here for display called the House of Africa.

06072012 D60 203

If visiting El Djem, making a stop here is worth the time.

From El Djem, we headed the 45-50 miles to the city of Kairouan. The Great Mosque here is considered the fourth most holy site in Islam. Thus, seven visits here is equal to one visit ot Mecca…or something like that.

As we entered the city and passed the Great Mosque, we saw a large number of men….all men, with long beards and dressed in conservative Muslim attire. There seemed to be a rally going on. Ben turned to us and said, "Salafis and Al Qaeda……" Really??? Apparently, 3 thousand conservative Muslims had been bussed in from all corners of Tunisia for a show of power to hold this rally.

It was fairly interesting, perhaps a bit unsettling….but of course we stayed at the fortress like El Kasbah. Not too many accommodations in Kairouan and La Kasbah is the only five star in the city.

We were told that La Kasbah had actually been a French Fort, that had been converted into a pretty nice looking hotel.

Our room here was the Missus' favorite on this tour……

Of course since breakfast and dinner were included, it was sure to be the buffet. La Kasbah's offerings and execution left a bit to be desired……even as buffet food, under-flavored, over-cooked, and just dumped out on the line.

Thus we kept our dinner small and to a minimum.

There was one thing I just had to try, however. I just couldn't figure out why Tunisians loved pasta…overcooked pasta. There was a line for the spaghetti so I thought I should give it a try…..egads, this was bad. It wasn't overcooked, but that sauce was just plain….well…..think of the dude with the toque whose photo is on a can….

The Missus on the other hand, found something She loved:

It's called Makroud, a pastry of fairly course semolina flour, filled with a date mixture, deep fried, then glazed with honey. It's pretty hefty for it's tiny size…..the Missus just loved this stuff and we'd go hunting for more later on……

It had been a pretty long day.Which meant that we just pretty much crashed out fairly quickly that night….with dreams of frescoes in my head.

I know this is a long one….if you hung around till the end, I thank you for reading!

Beijing: Eating with Mr.D Part 2 – Mocuomen

July 13, 2012 mmm-yoso Beijing, China, Chinese Restaurants, Memorable Meals, Travel

A couple of months back, my good friends and I had one of our all too rare get togethers, this time at Little Sheep. During the conversation, "Xian Jiao" and I mentioned that even though hot pot is very enjoyable here in the states; it pales in comparison to what you'd get in China. Xian Jiao should know, she spent over half a year in Beijing…….

Which leads me to Mocuomen…….well actually it was Mr.D who led us to Mocuomen. I'd mentioned Mr.D in a previous post. That was the first meal of the night…….only Mr.D would make hot pot a dessert!

The front of Mocuomen really doesn't look like much….at least to me, just another shop on a street.

Like many other places, the restaurant was located upstairs and looked very modern, sleek, and very clean.

I told the Missus to have Mr.D go easy on us, because, heck, we'd just finished off a pretty hefty Xinjiang style dinner…full of lamb, bread, rice, etc……

So while Mr.D did order hot pot…….

So while the sauces seemed to be routine….instead of the usual "yuan yang guo", split hot pot that most folks here are used to, this was a milky, lightly herbal, "bone-soup" style broth that was quite luxurious, coating your mouth and tongue……

It did quite nice as the "broth" managed to coat whatever you dipped into it as it did you palate. It also allowed all the flavor of whatever you let take a short bath in the huo guo come through.

We had shiitake, tripe, intestine, bean curd sheets, and a bunch of other items……..

This was really quite good, but the clincher was when this arrived.

I agree, doesn't look like much, minced shrimp, bound with some starch…… But then, Mr.D called one of the servers over. With two spoons she proceeded to created little shrimp dumplings for us……the shrimp flavor was distinct and quite good, but the texture is what made this stand out.

These basically just exploded in your mouth……then melted away….into a shrimp flavor ether. The Missus and I are still talking about this…..

The last item to arrive topped everything else. It really didn't look like much…….in fact, they call this "ugly fish" and it is indeed fairly…well, fugly.

It's more well known as Wushan Kao Yu…..the fish is first marinated, then I believe deep fried…finally it is probably roasted. There was an amazing amount of flavor going around, Sichuan Peppercorns (indeed Wushan is a county famous for its three gorges in Chongqing), chilies, a bit of sweet, and bit of guaiwei("strange flavor"), that savory-spicy-sweet-sour-mildly nutty, amazingly delici-yoso flavor. The fish was veyr moist with a nice bit of oil to carry all the flavor along. The version here had won some kind of award…..and I could see why.

This was an epic ending to a fun night of eating…..Mr.D kept the Missus in stitches all night long. And even though I don't understand Mandarin, laughter is contagious. And unlike the cousin of a friend of mine who used to crack jokes in Illocano to his family, then punk out on the folks who laughed along who didn't understand the language to feel superior ("tell me what are you laughing for…tell me what I said, ha?")….Mr.D understood.

I wish I could tell you where Mocuomen was, but I wouldn't know. You can however ask Xian Jiao. You see, I recommended this place to her before she left for Beijing. I guess she really enjoyed it, since we're still talking about it to this day.

Some Noodling: Pho Convoy Noodle House, Lucky Pho, and Pho Cow Cali Express.

July 12, 2012 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

Funny thing; much like last year, the only thing I really craved while on our trip was noodle soup….really. Not rice, but noodles. So of course when we returned I really needed to scratch that itch. Here are some of those v(re)visits.

Pho Convoy Noodle House:

**** Pho Convoy Noodle House has closed

One of the most convenient with regards to location from work. I've had some fairly decent Pho here before, so this was an easy choice.

It was kind of strange when I arrived. It was already past 11am, yet it looked like the place had just opened. I believe they open at 10? Chairs were still stacked up and the guys working here looked like they just woke up. I should have taken this as a bad omen…..

I ordered the #2 regular (well done steak, flank, fattybrisket, tendon, and tripe $5.65). Second bad omen, the first plate of garnishes arrived and looked like we were suffering from a basil shortage here in San Diego…….really, I got more basil and bean sprouts with my pho in Madison Wisconsin! So I asked if I could have a bit more basil and perhaps some Ngo Gai. The guy grunted and removed the entire plate……

Meanwhile, my bowl of Pho arrived.

It looked really light, like bad dishwater, and man was it salty. The noodles were adequate, the protein mediocre, with just one tiny little dime sized piece of tendon. Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for my basil….which finally made it's appearance about five minutes later. In retrospect I should have taken a photo. It was a brand new("different") plate which I guess they switched out. Still no Ngo Gai, blackened basil, and this time the bean sprouts were brown….taught me for asking for something here. Perhaps all their energy has gone into the second location in Chula Vista? Or was it a bad day? I dunno……

Pho Convoy Noodle House
4647 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Lucky Pho:

Always one of my favorites, I decided on going here early one weekend morning.

I went with the flank, brisket, tendon and tripe….spelled "stripe" on the menu……

The broth looked nice and dark, not too salty on this visit; mild beef flavor, with hints of onion, a bit lighter in the anise than I recall. On my last couple of visits, they had gotten into the habit of overcooking their noodles; bot on this trip…it was nice, firm with a bit of stretch.

The protein was a bit scarce, but was never their strong point. Still, one of my favorite bowls…….

Pho Lucky
9326 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126

Pho Cow Cali:

Mean, on the other hand, has never been an issue at the competition right across the street at Pho Cow Cali.

Man check out how much basil they gave me! Looks like an entire bush! Talk about the opposite of Pho Convoy…..

Some of it was going kind of brown, but you enough to choose from that it wasn't a problem.

Basically the same item as Lucky; but of course it looked like twice the meat.

The last couple times I've been here; the broth has been kind of weak, though it does let the flavor of the cilantro and scallions come through a bit more. I do prefer something a bit more beefy and assertive in flavor. I'm thinking that's not a big deal for a lot of the customers here, like the three Korean guys on the table next to me who almost used up the entire bottle of Sriracha and Hoisin, then asked for onions. Pho Jjim I guess? Or perhaps some hamajang ganjang?

I think folks at "Da' Cow" do a really nice job with tripe, as it's usually quite good, nice crunch with no off-tasting soapy flavor. The flank and brisket are usually good as well, full of flavor and just tender enough. Not my favorite tendon, but still good.

Still in my top three……

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

Still, even Lucky and Cow Cali had me wishing for a bowl from say……Pho 86, Pho Kimmy, or Pho Thanh Lich. Which had me wondering; most of the Pho places make their broth very mild, except for salt and MSG. Do you think this is specifically done this way in San Diego? I realize that there's a bit of a chasm in terms of flavoring in San Diego. The older Vietnamese prefer something a bit stronger in flavor; the younger generation goes for something more hip, lighter in flavor, and focus a lot on decor. So is San Diego creating it's own "pho not to offend"? Or am I just going crazy?????

Road Trip: Vientiane Thai Laos Restaurant – Garden Grove (Orange County)

July 9, 2012 mmm-yoso Lao Restaurants, Orange County, Road Trip, Thai Restaurants

The Missus asked me what I wanted this past weekend, I'd been craving Jiaozi since we got back from our trip. So I thought a trip to Qing Dao Bread Food would be great. But the weekend rolled around and it was on the warm side…..and man, it had been a while since I had Lao food! So I thought what about grabbing a bite at Vientiane Thai Lao? The Missus jumped at it….which made me a bit suspicious. My suspicions were confirmed when She directed me to drive to South Coast Plaza. A half hour later, She had a new pair of Christian Loubitouns and I was going to get my Lao food. How's that for a trade off? Well, it could have been worse, She had spent some time checking out jewelry at the Chanel store…yikes!!!

We were rather surpised when we stepped into Vientiane…..the place had been renovated since we last visited during the beginning of 2010. It looked nothing like what I remembered.

I sure hoped that the food was the same! We were waited on by a couple of really friendly young men, who did their job adequately and with good humor.

There were two dishes we'd driven up for; the first was the Raw Shrimp Salad ($7.99):

I appreciated the fact that we weren't asked how spicy we wanted it. It would be interesting to see what we got. I think my tolerance has gone down quite a bit now that I don't eat as much spicy food as I used too. After a couple of bites I had sweat pouring down my face. But that didn't prevent me from really enjoying this dish. In spite of the chilies, you can still get the slight sweetness of the shrimp coming through. Nice tangy flavors from the citrus, a bit of garlic, fish sauce, chilies, all jockeying for top spot in the flavor battle…what's not to like?

We also ordered the Ka Na Moo Krob($6.99). If I recall, Moo = Pork and Krob = Crunchy, or something like that.

I know some folks don't enjoy the chewy texture of roasted/braised, then deep fried pork belly, but I kind of like it. The pork had decent flavor, the Gailan (Chinese broccoli) was fresh. The sauce, which tasted like Kecap Manis, or some type of sweet soy, along with some oyster sauce, and perhaps some bean paste(?) edged on the salty end of the scale. It was fine when eating at the restaurant….in fact, we ordered some sticky rice with the sole purpose of soaking all the sauce up. The leftovers tended to be much too salty….note to self: next time finish it all!

Next up, one of those dishes I'll request before the executioner pulls that lever……Nam Khao ($6.50). I just love the sour-salty-crunchy-nutty-savory goodness of Nam Khao.

You know, Nye has a wonderful looking recipe for this on her blog, but I just can't bring my self to make this. I guess making this would eliminate the air of mysterious wonderfulness that dish provides….so I just avoid it. what I really enjoy about this version is that's it is less salty and probably quite low on the MSG scale if there's any in it at all. You can make out the coconut, the sour sausage, the nuttiness of the fried rice……

The last dish we ordered is I believe a version of Or Lam, a typical stew dish called "Meat Stew with Dill and Herbs (Aww)" on the menu ($6.99). Given that the Missus pretty much doesn't eat chicken, beef, or pork, we went with the fish version.

The catfish was too muddy for my tastes, but the Missus liked it. I thought the eggplant and the kabocha were cooked quite well, the Missus was especially taken by the kabocha, soft, but still holding shape, the sweetness coming through with each bite. The broth looked fairly dark and funky, and you could make out what was probably either a bit fermented fish or shrimp paste, which actually took a back seat to the generous amount of dill and kaffir lime leaf flavoring everything. Overall, the Missus enjoyed this much more than I did.

It was a nice meal since we'd been talking about Laos a bit recently and our bill came out to a tad over $30, with leftovers for dinner, a pretty good deal. I'm sure we won't wait two years to return next time. Maybe it was worth the price of those Christian Loubitouns….well, maybe not, we could have over 20 of these meals for those pair of shoes….but who's counting, right?

Vientiane Thai Laos Restauarant
10262 Westminster Ave
Garden Grove,CA92843

Hours: Mon – Thurs 10am – 9pm
Fri – Sun 10am – 10pm

Awash Market and Restaurant

July 8, 2012 mmm-yoso Ethiopian/Eritrean Restaurants

We were kind of wondering where "the restaurant" part was of Awash Market and Restaurant during a recent visit. I looked up toward the back of the market and saw the doorway. We decided to return a couple of days later to try out the food.

The dining area is bright red, quite clean, and on one of our visits, pretty darn quiet.

On our first visit however, the place was hopping. It was the European Soccer Championships and there all the tables except one was full of guys watching the game….lot's of laughter and good natured ribbing going on. Even though the conversations weren't in English, there are things that are universal.

The conversations that we couldn't understand made us feel like we were on holiday again, which was strangely comforting to us.

The guys working here are very friendly and once they saw us, menus were delivered to our table. All dishes are described quite well.

Not really knowing what the specialty here was, we both decided to order combinations plates which are $9.99. I went with the meat combo.

Though there were some similarities in the look of the various stews, each had it's own distinct flavor. The two lamb dishes were our favorites…the lamb flavor came through quite well.

Of course injera, the yeasty-spongy bread made of teff flour, made inhouse, was provided in fairly large quantities. It was quite interesting for me to watch the Missus as She's never really taken to injera, which I jokingly call "carpet padding". To my surprise She loves the version here, which I think is a bit less sour and a bit firmer in texture than others we've had. I also think the Missus's tastes have expanded…….

She did enjoy Her vegetarian combination.

She particularly loved the red lentil and stewed kale and pretty much finished everything off.

Meanwhile, I found my plate to be quite filling and had enough for another meal. Needless to say, we returned a couple of weeks later. The missus again went with the vegetarian combination, but I decided on the item I enjoyed the most the last time, Yebeg Siga Wot ($9.99), basically lamb stewed in berbere, the classic Ethiopian spice mix.

The lamb was nice and gamey, the spices came through nicely but didn't take over the dish, and heat level wasn't very high overall. It was a rather heavy dish. I managed to put away only about a third of it. When we asked the young man walking through for a box, he looked at me and said, "but you haven't eaten!" The leftovers, including the injera was enough for two more meals.

I ended my meal with a nice cup of espresso…the beans are roasted in the shop, you can see it at the front counter.

The drill for eating here is simple….you have a seat in the dining room, I just go ahead and grab our menus when we arrive. One of the guys working there will see you and take your order. When you're done, you go up front to pay…… Funny thing, it's almost like we're on the honor system. You tell the cashier what you had and they ring it up. If you need more injera, they do a brisk business of selling that stuff in the market as well.

The Missus enjoys this place the most of the Ethiopian Restaurant's we've been to in San Diego; Awash, Asmara, Harar, Bayu's, and Red Sea, so I think we'll be going back again soon. There are two types of Kitfo on the menu, and I'm interested in trying them out.

Awash Market and Restaurant
2884 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92104
Hours:
Mon 830 am – midnight
Tue-Sun 830 am – 1am

Spicy Tuna Poke

July 7, 2012 mmm-yoso Cooking, Poke, Recipes

I'm feeling quite sheepish as I type up this post……..you see I'm not a big fan of spicy tuna rolls. In fact, if you do a search on "Spicy Tuna Roll" on this blog, I don't think you'll come up with much. And yet, on our last trip home, the Missus really enjoyed the spicy ahi poke from Lana'i Ohana Poke Market and She asked me to make it. What could I do?

I felt kinda bad using such good quality maguro for this, but it's what She wanted. I also warned Her that mayonnaise is a key ingredient, the Missus claims a total aversion to it, but I've always thought She was closet mayo lover and this proves me right again. Anyway, I saw spicy poke everywhere on my last couple of trips home.

This one is easy…..the spicy tuna thing is very basic stuff. You could add something like Mad Dog Habanero Extract and really do some damage. Perhaps after finding out how easy it really is, you'll just make the stuff at home and eat the good stuff when you get sushi.

I'm really not sure what the Missus will want next.

Spicy Tuna Poke:

1/2 lb diced ahi or maguro
3-4 tb minced red or sweet onion
2 stalks scallions minced – green parts only
2 tb tobiko (flying fish roe) plus more for use as a topping
1/3 cup mayo (Hellmans or Best Foods)
2-3 tb shoyu
3-4 tb Sriracha (or more to taste)
ground chilies to taste
1 tsp sesame oil

– Combine mayo, shoyu, sriracha, and ground chilies
– Gently mix together tuna, onions, and green onions
– Add mayo mixture and tobiko, mix gently
– Add sesame oil, taste an adjust flavoring

As you can tell, I had some fun with my food and plated on a bed of finely diced cucumber. I used a Spam musubi mold to get the shape.

I made some typical shoyu poke for me. While the spicy tuna was a rectangle on a round plate….I did a circle on a rectangular plate……..

Jus' fo' fun…you know?

Tunis: Morning at the Medina, the Bardo Museum, Chez Slah, and a small dinner

July 6, 2012 mmm-yoso North African Food, Travel, Tunisia, Tunisian Food

After taking our morning walk we headed back to the hotel to have some breakfast. Not much to say, it was nourishment and the woman working there seemed much more interested in getting the television in the corner working so she could watch something on it, than making sure everything got out to the buffet station. On this morning the coffee was ok….the next day it was like mud.

We usually sat outside on the balcony……..the best place to actually get some decent wi-fi reception.

While eating and going through emails, we made some preliminary plans for the day. We try not to plan too much. For us, it's better to enjoy what we're seeing in rushing through things. We really weren't feeling in the mood for what craziness the Medina would hold once business was going full tilt. It was however, is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. We decided to check it out early before the crowds are pushing you along and the vendors are grabbing you back……

We walked back down Avenue Habib Bourgiba for what seemed like the tenth time in just under 24 hours……

I snapped this photo of the Municipal Theatre of Tunis. The facade is distinctive of the Art Nouveau movement and the building was completed in 1902. It's still a functioning theatre as a later photo would show.

Most of the shops in the Medina weren't yet open when we arrived….just as we had planned. The romantic notion of a maze of warrens and paths do add an air of intrigue…..

The Missus and I do look at things differently. She was drawn to the brightly colored doors. Each one seemed unique, though we would find that you could learn a lot about who actually owns or lives behind these later on. It seemed that the Missus couldn't help but stop at every colorful door, and there were many of them, without snapping a photo.

I, on the other hand was fascinated by what was above ground. All these buildings were multi-story, blocking out the sunlight in areas.

You got glimpses of some stunning and impressive architecture just by looking up. The combination and contrast of colors are a photographers dream…. I just wish I were a better one!

There are passages that are covered….they can seem kind of spooky at times, but most of them held coffee or shisha (hookah) shops with older men sitting around. It was here that we saw two men in a little shop prepping couscous……

He stood over two large bowls….slowly adding water until he got the right texture……

Then it was off to be steamed.

In the middle of the Medina is Zaytouna Mosque, the oldest in Tunis. It's a fairly large building and the Minaret can be seen from quite a distance.

We managed to walk completely through the Medina and out to Place de la Kasbah at what is the western entrance on the Medina. Apparently there are some government buildings here as we again saw armed soldiers and placed cordoned off with barbed wire. Still, we saw happy children being dropped off for school….teasing and laughter all around.

Here's a photo of the monument in the square.

Things were starting to pick up in the Medina so we started back the way we came. We ran into a very talkative gentleman while we were looking at Zaytouna Mosque and somehow got talked into checking out the view from on top of one of the buildings……..

Here's the minaret of the Zaytouna Mosque.

And another view from above……

So we did the requisite sit through of the carpet dude, then even went to the guys "cousin's" fragrance shop and actually bought some pure citron oil…it would come in handy in warding off mosquitoes later on. Then when we got back to the mosque we offered the guy 10 dinars(about $6.25)…I mean, we know he was getting a cut of the 30 dinars we were paying for the scented oil and all….and he had the nerve to ask for 40($25 US)?!??!! We tried to bargain, but he was adamant on getting 25 dinars($15.50)……in the end, we told him to go get his money from his "cousin". The shops were now open and much of the cobblestone was covered in stuff. It was time to beat as hasty retreat.

On the way back up Habib Bourgiba we decided to stop at the very busy…even for this time of the morning Le Grand Cafe du Theatre, right next to the Municipal Theatre for some "cafe express" (espresso). It was a good cup and the service here was quite nice. Since it was still early, the Missus and I decided to check out the Bardo National Museum. We understood that the place was still being renovated and the revolution probably leaves much up in the air, but we'd probably not be back this way again anytime soon, so why not. We asked our Server about getting to "le Bardo…metro leger". We didn't understand much French except for his pointing and the part about "Place Barcelona".

I could handle "place Barcelona" and unlike Rue de Yugouslavie, it hadn't changed its name! It was also easy to ask about. Place Barcelona is one of the major transfer points for Tunis's métro léger (tram) system. It was easy to ask for the ticket counter and find the gate for the right tram.

We had noticed something a bit earlier….young women, those that looked like high school or college aged, and dressed in more western attire seemed more likely to speak English. And even if they didn't they tended to be nicer, without some "racket" going on. We asked one young lady and when we came to the Le Bardo stop, she made sure to let us know. We actually made it across the busy street looking for the museum…..we walked its perimeter, pass the tents of folks who seemed to be demonstrating or protesting something, only to find out we had gone the wrong way! We back-tracked and made it to the dusty parking lot of the museum.

We found the ticket window and found that tickets during the renovation were only 4 dinar (about $2.50 US) and the usual 1 dinar "camera permit" was waived. It was basically half price. We really didn't expect much as we put on the shoe covers(we didn't know that you'd be walking on mosaics), but our visit surely exceeded the price of admission. There were only mosaics on display, but many of them were beautiful, like this one of Neptune and the Four Seasons from Dougga.

It's hard to put into photos, but you can see how large some of these mosaics were to the right.

One funny thing was that we asked the security person to take a photo of the both of us….he really got into it and ended up moving us form mosaic to mosaic, directing and posing us, taking photos. The Missus and I couldn't help but crack up! It was odd, yet very funny….of course we tipped well, in retrospect, I'm sure this is another source of income for him during these lean times.

One of the most striking objects was the baptismal font from Sbeitla, a site we'd be visiting in a couple of days.

In the end, it was well worth the price…though we'd be even more impressed with the mosaics at another museum a day later.

We decided to catch a taxi back to Ville Nouvelle, the area we were staying. Would you believe we'd done all of this and it was only 11am? We got back to Habib Bourgiba and decided to grab some lunch. After the last couple of meals, I wanted to go "high end"(relative in terms), and the Missus agreed. So off we were trying to find Chez Slah…the address I had was 14 bis rue Pierre de Coubertin. Now finding Rue de Courbertin was fairly easy……but finding Chez Slah took a bit of work. We finally settled on a small industrial looking side street…….

Next to what looked like an auto repair stood a pretty entrance to a courtyard…….

We saw a young man basically scrubbing down the patio area…..man, folks in Tunisia were really clean…..the restrooms of almost everywhere were so clean. Anyway, apparently it was before opening time. The gentleman who opened the door pointed at his watch….we'd have to return at noon. Well, the mall is fairly close by, we took a walk and rehydrated…..and returned at noon.

The dining area is fine, nothing really special……when the wait staff found out that we spoke no French…well, they took our drink orders, but we had to wait for the waiter who spoke English! It was both humorous, but also humbling in a way. We eventually got our orders placed….and the plate of harissa, olives, etc, arrived along with the bread.

The Missus actually loved the piece of "thon" tuna, provided. She also jumped at the chance of finally being able to try some Tunisian wine and order a half bottle of the rose(meh) and the blanc, which was fairly decent, the crispness stood up to the Tunisian influenced dishes.

The Salade Mechoua was pretty good, the best we'd had so far. The Missus; "man, what is it that I'm liking so much?" Me; "they actually have salt in this…."

While it would not hold up as the trip went along, it was the best we'd had to this point……simply because it was seasoned well.

The brik we didn't enjoy too much, the egg was overdone and it was on the greasy side.

But man, the grilled calamari was very good. The amount of salt was right on, there was a distinct flavor, smokey and nutty, that I would later find was because it was grilled over olive wood.

There was a good amount of tenderness and even that slight hint of what I call ocean sweetness, ever so rare in the calamari we have here in the states. Even though I'd have better later on, this was my favorite dish to this point.

I decided to order the mussels; the Missus isn't a big fan of mussels as most of what She's had are dry and tasteless. These were simply done, sauteed in white wine, they were also tiny, but were packed with flavor and almost melted in your mouth.

We didn't enjoy the side dishes very much. I had been excited to try the Tunisian version of shakshuka…expecting eggs poached in a harissa. tomato, and red pepper sauce. This was basically a mechouia base with tomato….eggs were added in and mixed looking like scrambled eggs…sort of like if your were supposed to temper eggs, but screwed up and they ended up scrambled. This was also surprisingly bland, considering the other dishes.

The frites….well, what can I say? How about soggy and greasy? I'd about given up on having decent potatoes here in Tunisia….after just one day!

Unfortunately, we had also ordered grilled "fresh" fish. Going though the offerings, I wa assured that the best bet was the "dourade"……which our Server, who actually knew more Japanese than English told me was "madai"……Sea Bream, which is really good stuff, I've had some awesome madai nigiri. Strangely, because I told our Server we'd be sharing the fish, they ended up chopping it in half! Giving the Missus the back half and me the head! Oh, and it was grilled to death……add to that the slightly sour and fishy taste of something that didn't seem to be real fresh.

The Missus couldn't bring herself to eat more than two bites……..

Still, the meal ended on a high note. We'd requested the seasonal fruit as our dessert. First to arrive was this rather large mixing bowl of what looked like whipped cream…..well it was whipped cream….very old school whipped cream. Ever had those dreams about having some strawberries as a garnish to awesome whipped cream? Well this was it…….

These are what I call "third world strawberries", small, but super tart-sweet and picked when perfectly ripe. I put a dollop of whipped cream on my plate, this was apparently a misstep as our waiter made that clucking noise and proceeded to grab the bowl and put three more huge serving spoonfuls of whipped cream on my plate! Man it was good, not too sweet, slightly sour and tangy….the real deal.

Our meal ended on a high note. Total cost 84.800 TND, about $53.75. To me a bargain, to the Missus maybe not. By the time we left, the place was full of French expats who seem to be their usual clientele. I'm pretty sure the regular person on the street can't really afford to eat here…….

We picked up some "eau mineral" on the eay back to the room. The Missus took a nap while I snuck down to the patio and I actually worked on a post or two. Evening rolled around and we took a walk….we passed a Zara store and found that the prices were the same as the US(She's got it memorized)! And yet, the place was packed! We weren't very hungry and stopped at one of those really cheap Pizza-Panini-Crepe-Pasta plces on the avenue to grab something small.

The Missus went with the crepe de fromage-ouef(cheese and egg crepe), which was pretty nasty but only 2 TND – $1.25:

I went with the Merguez Sandwich, which was not bad…..2.4 TND – $1.50.

The merguz were fine, the bread decent, don't know what to do with the olives since they still had pits….biting into one would have been a surpise had you not checked. The frites were standard for Tunisia. The harissa on the sandiwch worked quite well. Could have done without the guys smoking like it was going out of style, but hey, we're in their country, you gotta roll with it, you know?

Still. the Missus had already gotten Her fill of Tunis. I'd have ot think about something for the trip back!

Smoked Portobello Mushroom with Crab, Avocado, and Smoked Corn salad

July 5, 2012 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

I'm kinda behind this year………I haven't even started grilling yet. Maybe I'm just a bit lazy; who knows? What I have been using quite a bit is my Cameron Stovetop Smoker. Since I bought it over 7 years ago, I've gotten quite a bit of use out of it. Of course, there's just so much smoked corn you can make. I've made so much corn and smoked salmon, that it's gotten kind of, well, boring…..

Still, the Missus loves Her smoked corn…… So I tried to think of something I'd really never made before and decided to smoke some portobello mushrooms. Of course there's the smoked corn. I ended up making a sort of salad/salsa/relish using the smoked corn, avocado, tomato, and red onion. And what goes better with corn and avocado than some crab meat….it was a nice exercise in cleaning out what I had in the fridge and came out pretty good as well.

Actually, the one I made for the Missus had a bit more crab meat…….

Super easy as well. I took the stems off the mushrooms and using a skewer poked about 5-7 holes in the cap of the mushrooms. I covered with a couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, seasoned with some smoked salt and smoked for about an hour.

The salad is really easy:

Crab, Avocado, and Smoked Corn Salad
2 cups smoked corn
2-3 roma tomatoes seeded and finely diced
1/2 medium red onion finely diced
1-2 avocados finely diced
3 Tb minced cilantro
4 Tb extra virgin olive oil
salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar to taste.
4 ounces lump crab meat
smoked paprika and cayenne

– Gently combine first five items
– Add olive oil and gently combine
– Season to taste. Let sit at least 20 minutes in the fridge before using
– Top salad with 1 ounce of crab meat
– Sprinkle on paprika and cayenne to taste

You could make about 4 smoked portobellos with this recipe….you could probably do well with grilled mushrooms as well. Heck while you're at it, I'm thinking that celery or cucumber might be nice in this salad as well. Of course, if you have leftover salad you can eat them in lettuce cups…..or be kinda strange like me and use it as a dip for pop chips…….