mmm-yoso – Page 36

Takeout Revisits – De Cabeza/El Único and Phuong Nga

December 23, 2024 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

Sorry about the lack of posts. Seems that my over 10 year old PC has finally seen its last days. So, I ended up getting a new desktop and then had the fun of setting things up and then moving files over.

So, here's a post for today. Two places that we love to do takeout from; especially when the weather is cooler. I've posted on these places a bunch of times so am going to keep the verbiage to a (hopefully) minimum.

De Cabeza/El Único:

The Missus was missing the de cabeza en su jugo, so we decided to head on over and do some takeout. So, sorry to say, as much as we loved the mollejas here on our last visit, that will have to wait until we dine in again.

Jesus was again in attendance and like usual greeted us warmly. We got our usual two orders with everything.

De Cabeza TO 01 De Cabeza TO 02 This delivered as usual. The tortillas were still warm when we got home; such very nice corn flavor, pliable, yet hearty.

The caebza en su jugo is rich, beefy, has a bit of spice, pungent tones, the flavor is quite complex for a fairly humble soup. The meat is quite tender.

De Cabeza TO 04a De Cabeza TO 05 It is so hearty and comforting. It really has that "aaah" appeal. Nothing like rich, beefy, soup dripping out of a maize-y tortilla down your arm and then your throat on a chilly day, right?

And as we were leaving, Jesus came on over and gave us a nice little keychain, telling us "Happy Holidays"!

De Cabeza TO 06

De Cabeza/El Único
1043 Broadway
Chula Vista, CA 91911

Phuong Nga:

I know most folks go to Phuong Nga for the Banh Cuon. For us, it's been our choice for Bun Rieu ever since "FOY" Elle recommended that we try it back in 2018.

Phuong Nga TO 01

And after not enjoying the Bun Rieu from Mien Trung on our last visit, the Missus insisted on doing some takeout from Phuong Nga.

It seems that the dining area is now fully open and was quite busy, but we still did takeout.

Phuong Nga TO 02c

Phuong Nga TO 03 Phuong Nga TO 04 The Bun Rieu is now $13.99, but is totally worth the price. A generous amount of very fresh herbs and veggies. And look they still provide a good amount of shredded morning glory, though there's a bit less banana blossom these days.

Phuong Nga TO 05

The amount of bun provided is also generous. I used to request that they just give me one order of noodles, but they always gave me two anyway, so I just stopped trying to do that.

Phuong Nga TO 06

For some reason, on this day, the broth seemed even more flavorful than usual.

Phuong Nga TO 07 Phuong Nga TO 08 So savory, with nice porky-seafood tones. The tomatoes added a perfect amount of acidity. The pork ribs were quite swiney, though a bit more chewy than usual. And the Missus enjoys the tofu a lot. The broth just seemed so good, perhaps it's because we hadn't been back here in almost a year-and-a-half? I didn't even use the mam tom! And the soup wasn't overly salty either!

So, I guess we'll be headed back again soon!

Phuong Nga
4016 54th St
San Diego, CA 92105

Phuong Nga TO 09

Hope you're having a wonderful Christmas week!

Odds and Ends

December 20, 2024 mmm-yoso Cooking, yoso-silly

Just a bunch of "little stuffs" for a pretty chilly Friday! Yes, I know, it's San Diego……

It's the Sukiyaki time of the year:

Yes, the Missus has been requesting Sukiyaki again. These days I use two grades of meat.

I use a basic sukiyaki grade – from Nijiya for cooking with the veggies and stuffs. It adds the requisite beefiness to the dish. And then I get about a quarter pound of prime or wagyu (when it's "Meat Day") for dipping.

IMG_4212a

I have a feeling I'll be making this again this weekend…..

Salad in December?:

Yep, the Missus said She wanted a salad…. But, of course it wasn't just a simple salad. After all the requested ingredients it looked like this.

Everything from roasted cauliflower and sweet potatoes, boiled eggs, etc…..

And then I had to come up with an "appropriate" dressing. I settled on making a Bacon Vinaigrette.

So, the Missus has been wanting a version of this salad like four days in a row…….

Meat Jun?:

In my post on making Okra Kurogomae, I mentioned serving it with some Meat Jun I made. "FOY" Kimo emailed me asking me for a recipe. Well, I'm not it's ready for prime time. The biggest issue is finding the precise cut of meat I want. Both Zion and H Mart cuts their rib eye quite thin. Though I've made due with marinating the meat a specific way. As for the recipe; it's a cross between an old recipe from Wanda A. Adams wonderful cookbook, the Island Plate and of course, the Kathy has a version on Onolicioushawaii as well. With a couple of adjustments and personal touches as well.

It ain't the prettiest thing.

IMG_4422a

But our neighbor, who is originally from Manoa liked it as did the Missus, who specifically requested that I make this after having it twice during our last trip "back home". Strange thing, this stuff keeps ok and actually heats up well in the Air Fryer? Anyway, maybe I need to make this a couple more times, right?

Yep, so that's what's been cookin' here.

Hope everyone is keeping warm during our cold spell!

Finca

December 19, 2024 mmm-yoso European Restaurants, Fusion Cuisine, Spanish Restaurants and Cuisine, Wine Bars/Wineries

So, the Missus wanted an early weekend dinner/happy hour and was thinking of revisiting Tribute Pizza. So, we drove on up and found parking on North Park Way. We were a bit early though and Tribute was still closed. We went and did some strolling thru the area and headed back toward our vehicle when I noticed this shop in the newish apartment complex on the corner of Grim and North Park Way. I then recalled our good friend Candice had mentioned the place, named Finca to me and thought we might enjoy it.

Finca 01

Turns out that Finca opens at 3pm on weekends with a Happy Hour from 3 to 6 pm. We decided to give the place a try. This was before the recent super cold spell, so we had a seat outside.

Finca 02

The folks working were very friendly! We were handed a menu, with some items that looked quite "hipsterish", but interesting to us. There were some featured small plates which were $10 during HH.

The Missus started with some red sangria, which was $10 during HH. She enjoyed it and followed with the house red; which She also enjoyed during our meal.

Finca 02b

Since I saw Beef Tartare on the menu and it was priced at just ten bucks during Happy Hour; you know I had to order it, right?

Finca 03

Well, this wasn't a good start to our meal as the beef was mushy; over dressed; though we enjoyed the pickled green beans and the pungent-savory fried onions. The item we least enjoyed was the cardboardish, hard, flat bread, which had no flavor at all.

Things completely changed with the Bone Marrow ($16). Ah yes, you know me with beef tartare and bone marrow, right? We really weren't sure when the bone marrow arrived, with a layer of red pepper jelly smeared on it.

Finca 04a

Loved the yeasty grilled sourdough, which went so well with the beefy-tallowy-buttery bone marrow. We made sure to get every single drop of the rendered fat. No wonder there's an option to do a Bone Marrow luge to finish! The red pepper jelly had a hint of sweetness, sour, and acidic-spice to complement and cut the richness. This was quite good.

We also got the Lamb "Chorizo" ($18) which were more like lamb meatballs.

Finca 05

The meatballs were very tasty; more African-Middle Eastern flavors to use, cumin…that sort of thing. It was enjoyably gamy, nice "flavor of the pasture" as it were. The "soubise"; basically a bechamel based like sauce was a bit too sour and sweet for us.

We managed to take a look inside the restaurant-bar before leaving.

Finca 06

Finca 07

Stylish; somewhat moody.

We really liked the service and the food, especially the bone marrow was quite enjoyable. So, we decided to return a couple of weeks later. Again it was for an early dinner on a weekend.

Finca 08

The Missus again enjoyed the Sangria, followed by a glass of the house red. The service again was warm and friendly.

We started with the Red Wine Spanish Sausage ($17).

Finca 09

Now this was the one dish that really reminded us of Spain. Yes, there's grits on this; which were quite tasty, and that black garlic sauce wasn't too sweet, but along with the shallots added some nice pungency. The sausage itself had great flavor….there seemed to be hints of coriander and other spices; which just took me back to Seville for some reason.

And of course we had the bone marrow again.

Finca 10

Which was even better this time around! The fat was even more rendered and we could make out a hint of salt which heightened the flavors!

We had one last dish for the evening; the Chicken Liver Mousse ($15).

Finca 11

The mousse was quite runny, very metallic, almost bitter. Not a fan of the very dry milk bread and the dish goes a bit overboard with sweet items. The pork cracklins ' were super hard instead of crisp…heck, I almost "cracklin'd" my tooth on a piece. We'll pass on this one in the future.

Yes, I said in the future. While I'm sure we'll make that revisit to Tribute soon, we enjoyed that bone marrow and the wonderful staff enough to return again! When we're in the mood for California-ish "tapas" with Middle Eastern and Asian, hipster-modern touches. To us, this is what BoujieManacould be!

Finca 12

Finca
3066 North Park Way
San Diego, CA 92104
Current Hours:
Tues – Thurs 5pm – 9pm
Friday 5pm – 10pm
Saturday 3pm – 10pm
Sunday 3pm – 9pm
Happy Hours:
Tues – Fri 5pm – 6pm
Sat – Sun 3pm – 6pm
Closed on Mondays

Finca also features a bottle shop which opens at 3pm

Finca 00

Circling Back to Mien Trung

December 17, 2024 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Vietnamese Restaurants

Man, has it been a year since I last visited Mien Trung? Sheesh. Mien Trung had been a fairly regular stop since I first visited over 17 years ago! I always think about the late "Ed from Yuma" when I visit. It was always a favorite of his. Of course, much has happened over the years; "Mom" who made the soup "Dad" who ran the front of house have both retired. There have been times when the Bun Bo Hue just wasn't up to par. Still, over the last couple of visits, things seem to have been corrected. With the recent cold spell, I had been wanting some Bun Bo Hue and even the Missus, who stopped going when Mien Trung changed the noodles for Her beloved Bun Rieu and then She found that She enjoyed the Bun Rieu from Phuong Nga more. Well, She decided to come along to see how the Bun Rieu fared these days.

We dropped by at 10am on a Sunday for an early lunch and were the only folks in the place.

Mien Trung 2024 01

The Missus ordered a small Bun Rieu ($12).

Mien Trung 2024 02 Mien Trung 2024 03 Which the Missus didn't care for. The noodles used were those for the Bun Bo Hue, not the typical thin bun used for Bun Rieu. The broth lacked the crabby savoriness and mild sweet-acidity of tomato the Missus enjoys. It was fairly high in the MSG department. Other than the saltiness, it was quite bland.

While the plates of sprouts and veggies was large; we lamented the lack of banana blossom.

I guess I'll be heading back to Phuong Nga again soon?

My Bun Bo Hue (small $12.10) was perfectly fine.

Mien Trung 2024 05

Nice spice, assertive lemongrass tones, a hint of beefiness dancing on your tongue, perhaps a bit high in the MSG department, but quite savory. The rustic proteins like I'm used to. The noodles slippery and firm. I do lament the lack of banana blossom, but since I can't find a bowl of Bun Bo Hue I like more in San Diego, this will do fine.

Though it looks like I'll be back to doing solo visits here again.

Mien Trung Restaurant
7530 Mesa College Dr.
San Diego, CA 92111

Mien Trung 2024 06

Lunches from Rising Sun Collective (Pre-Grand Opening)

December 16, 2024 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Japanese Restaurants

**** Rising Sun is now Common Table. You can find a post here.

During the middle of last month I headed up to North Park to grab a late breakfast from a place I hadn’t been to in a year or so. Sadly, the place was closed….I’m not sure what’s going on but will do an update once I get all the info.

Anyway, it was about 1030 am and I decided to just go ahead and take a stroll on 30th Street. As I was crossing University, I thought that it was perhaps time for me to finally revisit Shank & Bone, but another place caught my attention.

Rising Sun 01

In the location of what used to be Sipz was something named “Rising Sun Collective”? I decided to cross the street and take a look. Well, I took a gander of the menus and quickly figured out that this was a conglomeration of various businesses (thus the “Collective”, duh…) with drinks from Cafe Maiko, bread and pastries from Salt & Butter by Okayama Kobo, which used to do pop-ups in Sorrento Valley. Okayama Kobo is the chain which has outlets in Little Tokyo and Honolulu, Sipz, and “Rising Sun”.

Rising Sun 02

Needless to say, it caught my interest. So, I decided to return at 11 and check the place out. I returned and was kindly greeted by a gentleman, who was quite friendly. The space is quite large and of course, Japanese themed.

Rising Sun 03

There were separate menus for lunch and dinner. I decided to do the Tonkatsu Panini, which came with fries, which was nicely priced at $9. I went for another stroll and returned to pick up my sandwich which was cheerfully handed to me and I headed home.

Rising Sun 04 Rising Sun 06 I will say upfront that my favorite item were the fries, which had been dusted and were perfectly seasoned and still crisp after the 15 minutes drive home.

As for the Panini….this was a “Salt & Butter” roll that had been stuffed with some really tough and chewy tonkatsu and cheese and pressed. The breading of the tonkatsu hadn’t handled the trip home well. The roll was dry, doughy, though I liked the balance of flavors; lightly buttery, decent salt, and not overly sweet.

The katsu sauce was very good, super flavorful; almost too strong.

Rising Sun 05

Overall, not terrible, and at these prices I could easily return for a follow-up.

A couple of weeks later I decided to return.

Rising Sun 07

Things looked like they were really in grand opening mode. It was again lunch time and I decided to order the Salt and Pepper Chicken. ($14). I’m guessing they were in Sipz mode because I had to make sure to order “chicken”, not tofu which seems to be the default.

The gentleman working the front was very nice and told me they had starting serving a variety of breads from Salt & Butter and even brought on over a plate of samples.

Rising Sun 08

They had really started selling the breads from Salt & Butter.

Rising Sun 09b

I had a sample and it’s really not my kind of thing. Too doughy and sweet for my taste. But I’m sure there are folks who will like this.

Rising Sun 09

My Salt and Pepper Chicken really looked like a “classic” Sipz dish, except that it had chicken.

Rising Sun 10 Rising Sun 12 The rice was on the drier, harder end of the scale. I was asked if I wanted “spicy” sauce with my lunch and I said yes, but I think they forgot it. It’s ok, I’ll leave that to the “soft” opening.

Lot’s of broccoli, which wasn’t bad. It still had a bit of crunch to it. There was a good amount of spicy jalapeno as well. Not too much garlic tones and such; very basic and straight forward.

The chicken seemed to have been fried, sliced, and then incorporated into the the dish. It still had a nice crunch to it, salty-sweet-spice. Think a level above Panda Express.

Rising Sun 14 Rising Sun 13 The “pot stickers” were like a very bland, chewy, fried mandu. This was not terrible; very fast-casual in nature, though not my kind of thing.

So, if you’re into that style of food.

One interesting thing to note, I made sure to indicate that my visits were before the grand opening. What I found strange was that the place just had their grand opening last weekend. Which I found kind of disturbing….a place named Rising Sun had their grand opening on December 7th? Really, do they know what happened on December 7th, 1941?

Rising Sun 15

When I mentioned this to some folks I was told by a good friend, “well, the owners are not Japanese and I don’t think they know”. I was told by another person that I’m “just woke and overly sensitive”! Hmmm…… I told him that there’s a difference between being “respectful and woke”.

Rising Sun Collective
3914 30th St.
San Diego, CA 92104

Milan – Duomo di Milano Rooftop, Lunch from Rossi & Grassi Srl, and Starbucks Reserve Roastery Milano

December 14, 2024 mmm-yoso Caffeine Fix, Italy, Markets & Grocers, Milan, Travel

The day before we headed to Liguria was going to be our busiest in Milan. We had activities scheduled for both the morning and afternoon. Like basically two of the major sites.

We headed out to the first. I had gotten Fast Track Tickets for the Duomo di Milano, which included access to the Terrace, i.e. the rooftop of the Cathedral. I really wanted to check that out after seeing it on an episode Stanley Tucci's Searching for Italy where he visits Lombardy (I hope his new upcoming shows do well). I thought both the architecture and the view was fantastic.

Our assigned time was 10am, so we headed out a bit early. We were way ahead of schedule when we reached bustling Piazza Cordusio. Among all the financial businesses and high end shops we noticed a location of Starbucks Reserve Roastery. Though we're not big fans of Starbucks, we had been to Seattle location of the Reserve Roastery, so we were interested in taking a look.

As one would assume for Milan….this location was pretty fancy.

The line for coffee was crazy; so the Missus got some tea which She rather enjoyed and I had some sparkling water.

It was an interesting place to visit. There are currently six Starbucks Reserve Roasteries around the world. If you'd like to see what the Tokyo location looks like, you can check out Kat's post here.

Starbucks Reserve Roastery
Piazza Cordusio 3
20123 Milan, Italy

It had started drizzling and things seemed a bit "wet" when we got to Piazza del Duomo.

But heck, we weren't going to let a little drizzle stop us. We were zipped up by the elevators to the "terraces". To a world of spires, statues, and gargoyles.

We were told that many of the statues were carved as a gift to God and were only seen by the workers who climbed the stairs for hundreds of years. Now an elevator can whisk you up in minutes.

It's as if you've entered another world. The amount of work is stunning. No wonder it took almost six centuries to complete.

The view, even on a drizzly day was wonderful as well.

If you ever have the chance to visit the Duomo, we highly recommend doing the rooftop!

Once back down on earth, we entered the cathedral. There's so much to see….I'm just going to post on a couple of tihngs that really caught our attention.

The nave of the Cathedral is impressive, at a height of over 200 feet and stretching over 500 feet long!

There was an "interesting" statue of Saint Bartolomeo, one of the 12 apostles. Check it out.

Bartholomew was famously martyred; skinned alive and beheaded by the Romans.

We also went to the basement of the Duomo, which was quite interesting. The highlight were the ruins of the Baptistery of San Giovanni alle Fonti.

The Baptistry was constructed in 378 AD and is where Saint Ambrose (who became the Bishop at the Duomo) was baptized.

There are different foundations of churches that stood here before the Duomo. Many artifacts, even some tombs.

Yes, there's much to see here. Especially if you go from "top to bottom".

I had thought 2 to 2 1/2 hours would be enough, but it wasn't. We needed to get some lunch and a take a break before heading to our afternoon "appointment". So, we took our leave. We'll be sure to return someday.

As for lunch. Well, we headed back to the apartment. Because we had a nice sized kitchen we were using it for breakfasts and such. We passed this shop on Via Ponte Vetero and walked on in.

IMG_2476a

The place had a good selection of prepared foods, salumi, and stuff. Though it was kind of pricy. Still, I couldn't resist the Porcini mushrooms, which heated up well!

Earthy, nutty, slightly sweet, in need of salt, but there was some in the cabinet.

I also wanted to try the Cima alla Genovese; which had everything from offal to boiled eggs to pistachios in it.

It's basically stuffed veal belly. Boy, this was potent! But quite filling!

Luckily we had some bread leftover from breakfast.

Yes, this place was quite expensive for a deli; in fact, this cost more than the dinner we had in a restaurant on this day! Still, it was great to be able to try this!

Rossi & Grassi Srl
Via Ponte Vetero 4
Milan, Italy

It was time for a nap; then we needed to head on out to our next "tour"!

Stay tuned!

Okra Kurogomae

December 12, 2024 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

Hope you don't mind a quick and easy recipe for this Thursday!

A few months back, I noticed a new side dish at Nijiya; okra gomae. Knowing how much the Missus loves what the Japanese call "neba-neba"…that slimy-slippery stuff like natto…and okra. The Missus instantly enjoyed it. So, for the next couple of weeks, I'd get some when available.

Okra Kurogomae 01

But, you know how it goes….after getting this few times, the Missus started noticing how She would prefer this dish be made. More sesame flavor….not as sweet, etc. So, I was commissioned to create a version to Her taste.

I did mention not wanting to toast and grind sesame seeds. The Missus quickly came up with a solution to that. We had an unopened container of Black Sesame; the stuff you'd top desserts with in the cabinet.

Okra Kurogomae 03

Okay, we were off to the races. And this is what I've made a half dozen times since.

Okra Kurogomae 02a

Not the prettiest dish in the world, huh?

Anyway, there were a couple of things I've noticed when trying to make this. First, younger, thinner okra works best. Second, the "sauce" can be a bit too thick, so I thin out the sauce with a neutral oil, like avocado oil as necessary. To get the right texture, I blanch the okra for a minute in boiling salt water, then stop the cooking by placing the okra into ice water. Doing this also brings out the nice green color of the okra and also makes it more "neba-neba".

I call it Kurogomae because I'm using the black sesame for this. Anyway, this recipe is to the Missus's taste, less sweet, more sesame flavor. It's easy to adjust.

Okra Kurogomae:

1/2 lb Okra – Younger/thinner preferred
1 Tb Kosher Salt
8 Cups water
Ice water

Sauce
3 Tb Black Sesame Powder or 4 Tb Toasted Black Sesame Seeds Ground
2 Tsp Sugar
2 Tsp Soy Sauce
1 Tb Sesame Oil
1-2 Tb Avocado or other neutral oil (optional) Okra Kurogomae 04

– Rinse off okra
– Add kosher salt to water and bring to a boil
– Add okra. Blanch for 1 minute
– Drain and put okra into ice water to stop cooking
– Once okra has cooled remove form ice water and dry

– Mix together sesame powder (or ground sesame), sugar, soy sauce, and sesame oil.
– Check consistency. Add neutral flavored oil as needed to create an acceptable texture. Okra Kurogomae 05
– Taste and adjust.

– Slice okra into bite sized pieces
– Mix sauce and okra together and chill for a half hour
– Give the okra a mix before serving. Yes, it's going to be neba-neba, but that's one of the reasons you like this, right?

Okra Kurogomae 07

It makes a nice side dish.

Okra Kurogomae 06

Just had some today with some Meat Jun I made.

Okra Kurogomae 00

Midweek Meandering – Coffee Culture replacing Hola Paris, Isa.Bella Closes, and an update on the Karaage from Tokyo Central

December 11, 2024 mmm-yoso French Restaurants, Markets & Grocers, Pizza

So, last week "FOY" Junichi was kind enough to let me know that Hola Paris had closed in the comments of one of my posts. Ever the thorough investigator, he even mentioned their Instagram site. Which states their last day of business was November 10th.

So, this past weekend, on the way back from my errands, I decided to drop by.

Coffee Culture replacing Hola Paris:

And it looks like a coffee stand named Coffee Culture is replacing Hola Paris.

Sad to see Hola go. It seems that the Urban Market can't sustain businesses.

2548 Congress St.
San Diego, CA 92110

Funny how random conversations can provide interesting info. I saw Nate the owner of Poseidon Project while getting my caffeine fix at Bay Park Coffee. He mentioned that isa.bella, the pizza place that used to be in the old Boll Weevil location on Avanti, off Morena (you can find my post here), then moved to the food court at Clairemont Town Square had closed.

A few days later, I was over at TJ Maxx doing a bit of shopping and decided to hop on over.

Isa.Bella Closes:

And yes, the sign is gone.

So, it looks like the they are closed. Though our friend "Google" says "Temporarily Closed".

Screenshot 2024-12-11 154735

And their website says they are looking for a "new home".

Screenshot 2024-12-11 154844

On my last visit to Main Chick, I had made a mental note to check them out….but I guess that note never got filed?

So, we'll see…..

4705-A Clairemont Drive
San Diego, CA 92117

Update on the Karaage from Tokyo Central:

A few months back, I noted how happy I was to have found a replacement for the "new and improved" chicken karaage at Nijiya, which I thought was pretty bad. At that time Tokyo Central was touting their chicken karaage, which turned out well when heated in our Air Fryer.

Well, on recent visits, I had noticed that the chicken karaage, at least the one's in the warmer looked terrible.

I tried this twice and was not a fan.

And then I noticed that the "original chicken karaage" in the warmer looked different.

Hmmm……

And then I went in and found both versions in the bento case. Both are called "Original Chicken Karaage" but look vastly different.

The one with the "Wagura" label costs $5.49. The other is sold by weight.

The one sold be weight is the one I get. It's much better when heated in the Air Fryer.

Like we needed more confusion?

Tokyo Central
8125 Balboa Ave.
San Diego, CA 92111

Ramen Weather – Santouka and HiroNori Craft Ramen Revisited

December 9, 2024 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

Yep, well the cold weather (it's all relative) has settled in. If there's one thing I enjoy about winter here is that it is cool enough for me to head out and get ramen. Heck, even the Missus was wanting some ramen.

And of course She chose…..

Santouka:

Man, can you believe that Santouka has been open for over 16 years already? And even with the influx of all the ramen shops over the years, the Shio Toroniku from Santoua is the the Missus's favorite.

Which is now $16.95. It was $15.95 on our last visit in February of last year. Still, the Missus and I will split one bowl and also get a rice bowl. On this day, the Missus chose the Chashu Gohan ($6). Guess She was feeling in a "porky" kinda mood.

Santouka Ramen Rum 01

The ramen was as usual; that bowl keeps the broth hot for the entire meal.

Santouka Ramen Rum 03 Santouka Ramen Rum 04 Santouka has been fairly consistent over the years. Of course that consistency is a two way street. Santouka has probably the worse tamago. And yes, it's always been terribly overcooked. But hey, if you want consistency, that egg was just as bad at Santouka's original location in Asahikawa!

The broth was rich and tongue coating, savory with just enough saltiness for us.

The pork cheek (toroniku) was a bit tougher this time around and didn't start melting away in the hot broth like we enjoy. Still, it was delightfully porky.

Santouka Ramen Rum 02

Speaking of porky, we both enjoyed the Chashu Gohan.

Santouka Ramen Rum 05

Nicely flavored, fairly tender pork, over hot rice. Since we're not big eaters, this was enough for both of us.

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

A few days later, I was craving some ramen, and decided to head on over to another favorite; HiroNori. After all, the last time I visited was almost exactly a year ago. To be perfectly honest, these days I prefer the ramen at HiroNori to Menya, which has been somewhat inconsistent and much too busy these days. And let's not even go into the crazy prices at Baikohken. I also had thoughts of heading to UTC….perhaps I need to do a ramen rumination of all ramen places in Westfield UTC? But that'll have to wait until after the holidays.

So, it was off to try and find parking in Hillcrest. Which I magically found a few blocks away on Robinson and Third.

HiroNori Craft Ramen:

HoriNori Ramen Rum 01

My timing worked out pretty well. The clock struck 1130 just as I crossed Fifth Avenue and I sauntered in; the first customer of the day.

I ordered my usual here; the Shoyu Ramen, now priced at $16.45, it was $15.10 at this time last year. I also got some moyashi ($.50).

HoriNori Ramen Rum 02 HoriNori Ramen Rum 03 I prefer the savory, somewhat salty, barrel aged shoyu broth to the tonkotsu here. It has nice soy-savory complexity and the broth has a decent velvety tongue feel.

The tamago had been nicely marinated and the yolk was warm. An ice cold egg is a pet peeve of mine.

HoriNori Ramen Rum 04 HoriNori Ramen Rum 05 The chashu was porky, with a nice shoyu flavor. It was so soft and buttery; the best I've had here to date! I decided to get the noodles katame; firm, and the woman working nodded in approval. The noodles were indeed firm, slippery, but also did a great job "picking up" the broth.

HoriNori Ramen Rum 06

This might be the best bowl I've had here to date!

For me, this is a great option to the typical tonkotsu broth that is everywhere. Which leads me to something interesting I noticed during my meal. There were three parties of folks who came in during my meal. They all ordered "tonkatsu" ramen. The Japanese woman working didn't blink an eye….I guess this is the norm here in Hillcrest. "Tonkatsu" ramen…..

HoriNori Ramen Rum 07

HiroNori Craft Ramen
3803 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103

HoriNori Ramen Rum 08

So, two bowls, both of them winnah's. It's a nice start to "ramen season" for me!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Milan – Dinner at Hekfan

December 8, 2024 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Dim Sum, Italy, Milan, Travel

After our nice Aperitvo, we walked basically 50 meters to our dinner destination. Another recommendation from "FOY" Candice. A Hong Kong style restaurant named Hekfan, which also served Dim Sum for dinner.

It was a tiny, cute little restaurant.

But the menu belied the rather quaint surroundings, with items like Foie Gras Siu Mai and Crystal Dumplings of Mushroom and Truffle! The Missus also appreciated the tea selection as well. Ordering was a breeze and the folks actually spoke Mandarin and English as well!

We placed our order, not a huge amount of food; but some pretty rich stuff.

First to arrive were the Crystal Dumpling, basically Har Gow with a trio of mushroom and truffle.

We really didn't care for the har gow wrappers which were very glutinous; but the earthy-savory-sweet mushroom and the very fragrant truffle was very good. The addition of a tobiko garnish gave the dumpling a nice salty-briney touch.

A trio of Dim Sum followed.

IMG_2399a The weakest item were the Xiao Long Bao. The wrapper was decent if a bit too doughy; but there was barely any "soup" in the dumpling which was quite bland.

While we were still not big fans of the Har Gow wrapper; the Roasted Duck Har Gow was quite good. Great flavors, not overly sweet.

Mild anise-sweetness-savory tones. I had reservations about the skin being included but it actually added a nice texture.

In what seemed to be a recurring theme; the wrapper of the siu mai wasn't very good, kind of mushy; but man, the flavors of the Foie Gras, Shrimp, and Mushroom Siu Mai were really good.

Never thought the earthy flavor of foie gras would work here; but it added a nice earthy-creamy touch to the very sweet-oceany shrimp. The filling was so tender and moist, yet it held firm.

The Missus really loved the smokey-savoriness of the Pork on Smoked Boiled Eggs.

This arrived on a wooden plate covered by glass fed by one of those smoker-infuser guns. I might have to get one of those. The pork added porcine flavors and the five-spice based seasoning really made the dish.

Soon enough, the final item we ordered appeared. Arriving on a covered plate, which was soon set ablaze.

Quite a show for the Dong Po Rou.

Which was super rich and fatty, decently sweet, good sweet-soy flavors. Quite fragrant, served in tandem with some fancy "buns".

All in all, an enjoyable meal. While the wrappers weren't the best; I'm thinking that sourcing the right ingredients might be a challenge, the flavors were quite good.

Who knew; decent Hong Kong style Chinese in Brera…Milan!

Hekfan
Via Marco Formentini 2
20121 Milan, Italy

Please note that my sources have informed me that Hekfan is moving to a larger space.

And guess what? We'd have even better Dim Sum in Milan later on the trip.

Thanks as always for the recommendations Candice!