mmm-yoso – Page 371

Road Trip: Mama’s Lu and Northern Dumpling House – Monterey Park(LA)

July 1, 2008 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, Xiao Long Bao

With gas prices at new highs, just wanting to take a road trip would probably be grounds to have us committed. But we were getting a bit stale just stewing in our juices at home. So, we went ahead with our little road trip and made the best of it. After doing our morning shopping, instead of heading toward San Gabriel, we decided on what in the good old days(at least for us) was the center of our eating universe. The intersection of Garfield and Garvey in Monterey Park. We were amazed at how light traffic was and even snagged convenient parking on Garvey. I'm guessing gas prices are affecting everyone.

Our first lunch stop was a newer restaurant called Mama's Lu….no not Mama Lu's, or even ahem, Mama's Loo(God help us all). It really is called Mama's Lu:

See what I mean? I asked the Missus what the deal was with the name. Her response? "Hey, you're the food guy, right? You figure it out." Which translated, probably meant, "I'm tired of your questions, you figure it out…." This little shop occupies the area that used to be Heavy Noodling, which I was kind of sad to see go.

The interior of "Da' House of Lu", is very clean. Not a sign of "San Gabriel sticky" to be found here.

The menu is short and concise, mostly dumplings, Shanghainese, with some Sichuan thrown in on the Chinese menu board:

I dunno if we've gotten used to prices in San Diego or what, but we had reverse sticker shock when we checked out the menu.

10 Xiao Long Bao for $4.50? You can barely get a Carne Asada Burrito for that in San Diego! Maybe this drive was worth it.

As we looked over the menu, the Missus and I hatched our plan. 2 Xiao Long Bao, and one dish we'll sample, and load into the ice chest. We started with an old favorite of the Missus, Shanghai style "Smoked Fish"($4.50), a classic dish. The Missus grew up eating the stuff.

The photo is a bit deceptive, this was a pretty large portion. This version was drier(but not dry), than versions I've had. It also didn't have a very pronounced sweet and five spice flavor. I really enjoyed it, because unlike other versions, this was not "fishy" in the least. The Missus(and my MIL) still favor the version at Chin's. But I'll take this any day of the week.

The Pork and Crab Xiao Long Bao($8.50), probably the most expensive item on the menu.

These came with each XLB(8) packed into an individual foil container. What I thought; "wow, they pack them individually, in these little dishes so they don't leak." What the Missus thought; "no wonder they're so expensive, they waste money on those dishes. If they make them right, they won't leak. And they sure better know the difference between the crab and the pork Xiao Long Bao. What a waste."

For us, a good Crab and Pork Xiao Long Bao, will be rich and mildly sweet. This was bland and kind of greasy. The meat to soup ratio was not to our liking. Too much meat, not enough soup. The wrappers had a major defect; the fold was hard and chewy, and the bottom was gummy.

The Pork Xiao Long Bao(10 – $4.50):

These Xiao Long Bao suffered from the same problems as the Crab and Pork with regards to the wrapper and meat to soup ratio. Flavor wise, these were better with regards to a mild sweetness, and the meatball was melt in your mouth tender. I still think it was under flavored.

Still, I think it's better than any XLB we have here in San Diego, but when compared to all the other XLB in the area….. On the positive side, we had excellent service, our tea was refilled, and our water twice! The very nice Server, came back to check on us, something that almost never happens in the SGV! There is a booth behind the cash register that displays the XLB makers at work, a la Din Tai Fung. One more thing that I found somewhat humorous. The 'A' Health Rating is posted by the hallway door, away from the street…almost as if they're ashamed that they actually got an 'A'.

Mama's Lu Dumpling House
153 E Garvey Ave
Monterey Park, CA 91755

So why did the Missus and I exercise such restraint at Mama's Lu? Right across the street from Mama's Lu is this place.

**** Northern Dumpling House has closed

The English sign only says "Restaurant". I had read about this place on Chowhound, called Northern Dumpling House. We saved some "room" for a meal here. We planned on one order of Jiaozi and "something else". Like Mama's Lu the place is very clean, and almost too cold and sterile. The prices here are very reasonable as well.

I really wanted to try he Pork and Opo Squash Dumplings(I thought they'd be interesting), but they did not have any.

So we had the Beef and Chinese Celery Dumplings($5.50):

These Jiaozi were interesting, the wrapper was very soft and pillowy. I enjoy a bit of chew, but the Missus enjoyed these as a change of pace. She went into a lecture about making the dough of Jiaozi, and water temperature, etc, etc, etc…. The filling was undoubtedly beefy, but lacked a decent Chinese celery crunch and the only way we knew there was celery in the filling was a slight aftertaste. I'm not quite sure about these, but the Missus enjoyed them. I want to bring my Mother In Law to see what She thinks.

Looking for something that we could have a few bites of, than take home; I went for the Cumin Lamb. We thought it strange that all the stir fry dishes had prices that had been covered by blank white stickers. So at the risk of being charged some exorbitant amount, we went ahead and ordered it anyway.

If you enjoy a milder cumin taste, you'd like these. What made this dish really good was how the lamb was prepared and cooked. There were slices that were melt in the mouth soft! If not for the mild gamey flavor(not wild enough for us), you'd think that you were eating very well prepared beef. Mildly spicy from the chilies, this was even better the next day. Did you guess how much this cost? It was $5.40……on our check the Server initially wrote $4.95, but crossed it out and wrote in $5.40….I'll take that any day.

Even more than the food, there was something really interesting about this meal. The restaurant was empty except for another couple. Apparently, the Guy is a "Chef" at another restaurant, the Missus said he had a strong Beijing accent, She could barely understand his girlfriend/wife("man, her accent is really hard to make out"). After making our food the cook came out, pulled up a seat, and they started talking about business in the area. And also started dissing other regional Chinese cuisines. They were especially hard on Tianjin Cuisine("no way a Tianjin restaurant will make it, they don't make any good food, only snacks"). Stuff like prices and competition were discussed, too much to write in this post. But if you've ever wanted to be a "fly on the wall."

Northern Dumpling House
138 East Garvey Ave
Monterey Park, CA 91755

Restaurante El Salvadoreno – A Revisit

June 29, 2008 mmm-yoso Salvadoran Restaurants

It sure feels like I’ve been doing this for a long time. I remember doing a post on El Salvadoreno way back in August of 2005. A few months later, the restaurant moved into its new digs right next door. And though I’ve driven past the place dozens of times, I never took the time out to grab a meal until recently.

Here’s what the "old" El Salvadoreno looked like back in 2005.

If you think that is a big change; check out the dining area.

Wow. Here’s the old 7 table El Salvadoreno, which I thought had a nice quaint charm.

Wood siding, nice tile work, it really looks like a very nice and proper restaurant. A far cry from the greasy spoon decor.

About this time I started wondering if anything else had changed….like maybe the menu? If I had any doubts, one look at the menu told me otherwise. I noticed all of the dishes I’d had before. As with the everything else, the sticky two page laminated menu, had been replaced, "now with 100% more color photos!"

Since I had my first Pupusa at El Salvadoreno, I decided to stick with that. Soon enough the hot sauce arrived.

And instead of the usual "communal tub" of Curtido, the lightly pickled cabbage slaw. A bowl of Curtido was brought to my table.

Today the Curtido was crisp and fresh, with a nice oregano aroma, though not as "pickled" as I recalled.

I had ordered a Pupusa Revuelta Con Todo (a mixed Pupusa – $2.25), a Pupusa de Chicharron($2.00), and a Pupusa de Queso and Calabaza($2.00).

The Pupusas arrived steaming hot, and the fillings were molten. The texture of the exterior of the Pupusa was even better than I remembered, slight crunchy and crusty. As you got past the crust, a slight corn-masa flavor hit you, and the "tortilla" got a bit more chewy. The Revuelta was by far my favorite, a nice contrast of flavors, with the jalapenos adding a nice surprise zip now and then. I received the Chicharron con Queso, instead of de Chicharron. It was fine, nice and gooey, but came up short in the "porkyness" territory. The de Calabaza con Queso was very blah. I wasn’t paying attention. I should have ordered the Pupusa de Loroco con Queso. In this case the Calabaza was plain and simple zucchini.

3 Pupusas were perhaps, 1 too many for me. Still, you can’t beat the price, a filling breakfast for under $7. I’ve always received very nice and friendly service at El Salvadoreno. There are those who believe the area is on the "sketchy" side. But I’ve never had any problems in the neighborhood. All of the old favorites, like the fried chicken and the tamales are still on the menu. I need to make an effort to revisit other places that I haven’t been back to in a while.

Restaurante El Salvadoreno
2845 Imperial Ave
San Diego, CA 92102

I keep forgetting to keep some room for this:

Right across the street. Maybe next week?

El Rodeo Mexican Food

June 24, 2008 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

I know someone who swears by the Super Sergio’s on Convoy, and El Rodeo Mexican Food, located on El Cajon Boulevard, near the intersection of 69th street. Bad thing is, he has a "convenient bad memory" which I’ll explain a bit later on. What he did tell me was, you get around 69th street, you can’t miss the place. And you know what, he was right. Screaming oranges and yellows, it really does stand out.

I was in the neighborhood, and it was past lunch time on a weekend afternoon a few months back. So why not? I parked the car, check out the murals, and walked to the front counter…..and stopped dead.

At first I thought that perhaps this gal was unconscious, or passed out. At which time she let out a huge snore……at least I knew she was alive. I quietly crept to the counter to order, but could find no one. I could hear music blasting from the rear of the place, but there was no one in sight. I whispered, "hello? hello?" "ola?" And the gal let out a "snort-snort-snort". A bit of sleep apnea perhaps? Not wanting to wake her, I decided to revisit El Rodeo at a later time, and tip-toed back to my car.

About a week later, I was back in the area, so I decided to give it another go. Not knowing what awaited me in the dining area, I peered around the corner, and noticed no sleeping, snoring women.

My eyes were assaulted by the reflection of orange…everywhere. But I managed to order what I came for: a Carne Asada Torta. As I waited, I noticed how busy the phone booth right in front of the restaurant was.

It even rang twice while I was waiting. And 2 different young women walked up to answer the phone. I believe this is probably one of the last remaining pay phones left in the area, but it was strangely busy….and the only persons using the phone were young ladies. Hmmmm…..

When my Torta was ready($4.25), I grabbed it quickly and headed home. The bread on the sandwich was nothing to write home about, there was just too much shredded lettuce, and the Guacamole is pasty and tasteless. But I really enjoyed the Carne Asada, it was nicely caramelized and had a nice overall flavor.

Yes, the bread was heading to the land of soggy pretty quickly, but that could be explained away by the ride home. Soon after, I ran into "MrC" and told him that the Carne Asada Torta was pretty good. He stared at me blankly and said, "Carne Asada? I didn’t tell you carne asada, did I? You have to have the Milanesa."

So back I was for the Milanesa Torta($4.25). This time here was no activity at the pay phone, and there were a few other customers eating in the patio area. I decided to grab my sandwich, and consume it in the car. As I was walking to the car, I was stopped by 2 young women, "we need a ride, can you give us a ride?" My reply? "Ummm no." Which is about as close to a "hell, no, not a chance" as I could muster up. Next request, "can we use your cell phone?" I gave them 2 quarters….I’m pretty sure they knew where the pay phone was. As they walked to the pay phone, I entered my car, sat, took a deep breath and removed the foil from my sandwich.

This was not a very good Torta. First, the bread was stale and crumbly. Second, the Milanesa, which was totally overwhelmed by lettuce, had no taste. I suppose it would have been nice texturally, if there was a bite less lettuce. But the meat, which looked to be breaded pork, was tasteless. It was so bland I couldn’t make out what kind of meat it was.

About a week later, I run into MrC; "hey, that Milanesa wasn’t very good." "No-no-no, not the Milanesa, you should have the Carne Asada!"

Sigh. You gotta love early onset senility. No more snoring young ladies, being accosted for a ride or my cell phone, or that strangely busy pay phone for me for a while.

El Rodeo Mexican Food
6924 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Chinese Style Barbecued Ribs

June 23, 2008 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

How many times have I gone shopping and just threw something in my basket for absolutely no reason at all. Sigh. Of course, eventually you must go home, unload your groceries, and stare at that randomly chosen item, and wonder why you bought it. Buyer’s remorse rears its ugly head. Such was the situation with a recent purchase; a rack of St Louis Style Ribs(aka Spareribs), a cut from the lower portion of the of the pig. I cleaned the ribs up a bit, removing the rear membrane, the meat flap(Da Boyz lucked out on this one), though I left the rib tips on. Though I really didn’t do a very detailed job like this. And in the end, I still didn’t know what the heck I was going to do with these. No smoker at my disposal, and I really wanted to do something "Asian".

So this is what I came up with:

It’s sort of Char Siu-ish, except I used whatever I had on hand(sorry no red bean curd), and I got to play with red food coloring…muah-ha-ha-ha. In retrospect, I could have left the ribs in the oven to caramelize for a few more minutes…..but the smell, oh the smell! You can do without the food coloring…..but there something about the combination of those burnt bits and the red color that sets my stomach off. You may want to bake in foil for several hours before starting the regular cooking to tenderize, but I was too lazy. So here you go…another recipe from you friendly neighborhood hack cook.

Chinese Style Barbecue Ribs

Marinade
1/3 Cup Hoisin
1/3 Cup Light Soy Sauce
2 Tb Sugar
3 Tb Honey
2 Tb Shaoxing Wine
1 Tb Oyster Sauce
1/2 Tsp Five Spice Powder
2 Cloves Garlic finely minced
1/2 Tsp Red Food Coloring(optional)

Finishing Glaze:
3 Tb Honey
1 Tb Water
1 Tb Oyster Sauce

2-3 1/2 Lbs St Louis Style(spareribs) cut into individual ribs

1 – Mix the marinade.

2 – Mix together with ribs in a large ziplock bag

3 – Marinate over night

4 – Preheat oven to 350.

5 – Arrange ribs on a rack above a roasting pan filled halfway with water.

6 – Bake for 40 minutes. Turn ribs and bake for another 30-40 minutes. Baste with remaining marinade after turning. Remember to check your water.

7 – Mix "finishing glaze". I added water because the honey I had was so hard and thick.

8 – Turn oven up to 450. Turn ribs and bake for 10 minutes. Turn ribs and baste with glaze and bake until desired color is achieved (10-15) more minutes.

9 – Remove ribs from oven and baste with glaze one more time.

Serve with rice. It is nice to use the oven, you can have the Big Kahuna reserved for other stuff. In this case, some nice Black Bean Chicken.

And our 30 second green vegetable…that’s all the time it takes on the Big Kahuna. With only salt, slices of garlic, and dried shrimp. High heat does the rest.

A Road Trip from Memory Lane

June 22, 2008 mmm-yoso Farmer's Markets/Night Market, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, yoso-silly

I recently took a vacation day from work. For some reason my internal clock is still a bit off, and I just needed a day of R&R(that would be rest and relaxation, not readin’ and ‘riting). In spite of the recent increase in fuel prices, the Missus & I decided to take a "road trip down memory lane". When we resided in LA, we had a Saturday ritual. Whenever I was in town, we’d start our day with a drive down to the Torrance Saturday Farmer’s Market. I know I’ve posted on this before, in fact, more than once. But this Farmer’s Market holds a special place in our heart; if only because we spent a good many Saturday mornings at the market.

On this morning, we made it to the market in record time. There was a significant lack of traffic. I’m thinking it was combination of the heat, and gas prices. We arrived at about 845am, and the market was just starting to pick up. As always, there was a nice selection of a variety of fruits and vegetables. Because of the heat, all the "bug netting" was up.

With the heat and the bright sunlight, it seemed like it was already noon! We purchased a few items, walked the market, which is one of the largest in SoCal, and headed off to our next "regular stop".

On "memory road", our next stop was Marukai Gardena. And we arrived a bit after the 9am opening, and found primo parking. And though we spent a good amount of time walking the isles(and soaking up the A/C), the main reason we stopped here was to purchase fish. Even though, Marukai has opened in San Diego, one of areas where it is still deficient is with regards to fish. Though that could be said for Nijiya and Mitsuwa as well. Our little ice chest full of super fresh salmon, Karei, and Ahi, we headed on our way.

Marukai Gardena
1740 West Artesia Blvd
Gardena, CA 90248
Summer: Monday – Saturday, 9:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. & Sunday, 9:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.

My previous post can be found here.

Our next usual stop would be East on the 91, North on the 710, and either getting out on Valley, or as today, East on the 10. Today we exited on Garfield, and ended up at the place we used to call the "center of LA’s Chinese universe", the intersection of Garfield and Garvey…….this was circa the 90’s of course, and much has changed since then. So where did we eat? Sorry folks, but that’s future post. After not one, but two meals(hey, with gas prices, who knows when I’ll be back….and leftovers are always welcome), we headed off "home". Not our current "Home" in San Diego, but our old stomping grounds, Rowland Heights. The Missus had a craving for her Shaved Ice from Shau Mei, and that’s where we encountered a big surprise. While the Missus was enduring severely rude service at Shau Mei, I noticed this sign.

A bit curious, we entered Hong Kong Market, and this is what greeted us.

The produce section had been removed, and now consists of boxes of items being sold……inventory liquidation. The meat and frozen food section was "taped off". You can compare it to my previous post, here.

We were shocked, we hadn’t heard that they were closing. Now over the years, I’ve endured some horrible service at Hong Kong Market, but we shopped here frequently, sometimes 4-5 times a week, when we lived in the area. It was within walking distance. The Missus called Her Dad, who shopped here often when they lived in the area.

I guess time had caught up with this rather run down and seedy market. But we had many memories of the place.

In spite of the horrid service, I’ll miss the place. In keeping with the standard service at HK Market, the Missus went over to one of the cashiers who was standing around, and inquired about the closing. The young lady gave the Missus a dirty look, and in a nasty "it’s none of your business" tone, told the Missus, "there is NO reason". You gotta love it, a final kick to the crotch!

We were still talking about the closing while I was prepping dinner. Wondering what was taking its place, and what it meant to all the other businesses in the area. We had already noticed how much lighter traffic was in the area. It was the topic of conversation as we had a "memory lane" beat-the-heat dinner; Poke’ 2 ways.

The Ogo from Marukai was lousy, but man that Ahi was super-fresh. It took us back to our old "Saturday Night" meals way back when. Time moves forward, but sometimes it’s really nice to taste the past.

I hope everyone managed to keep cool this weekend. Tell me, what are your "eating trips down memory lane"?

Midweek Meme – 10 Photos

June 18, 2008 mmm-yoso yoso-silly

Last week FOY Kat, of Our Adventures in Japan tagged me for a meme, called "10 Photos". I admit that I’m usually not very good with these "meme-things". And have probably unwittingly earned a spot on the "places where memes come to die" map. But since this was a very good FOY(Friend of Yoso), and the theme didn’t sound too difficult, I thought it would be a slam dunk. WRONG!

The rules were very straightforward:
1. Post 10 of your own favorite food shots.
2. Pass the opportunity on to others by leaving a message on their comments page just so they’re aware of it.

No problemo….until I had to actually choose only 10 photos. How the heck do I choose just 10 photos? It’s like choosing 10 of my favorite children! So being the good little soldier that I am, I started thinking up different little rules, only places outside the US, only places inside the US, only places in San Diego, only places in San Diego whose name ends in "Berto". Arrgh! I finally came up with some guidelines for myself(boy, do I need structure or what?). Only photos of stuff I really enjoyed, and only from the last 2 years or so. So, though I really enjoyed the photo of the The Sherry Soused Spinach, 8 Minute Eggs, and Hazelnuts from Park Kitchen in Portland:

I didn’t think it was the best item I had during that meal. (Notice how I’ve already managed to sneak extra photos in already?) So it was disqualified. This ended up being quite hard for me. But I managed to pick a few.

So before my list, why don’t you take a gander at Kat’s 10 photos.

Here goes:

#10 – From the "did this really come out of my kitchen category?" Buta Kakuni:

#9 – From the "nothing tastes better wrapped in a leaf category". Nem Khao from Asia Cafe:

#8 – From the "it looks like it came from Lorena Bobitt’s new cookbook – Man(hood) meets grill" category. Hurts me just to think about it. De Nuong La Lot Mo Chai from Binh Dan Restaurant:

Not ba-a-a-a-ad at all!

#7 – My "MVP – Most Valuable Pescado". Cebiche Pescado from Astrid y Gaston in Miraflores(Lima):

#6 – From the "what’s a Loco like you doing in a place like this" category. The Hilo Style Loco from Leilani’s Cafe:

You know I just had to sneak a Loco Moco in didn’t you?

#5 – From the "so good my arteries stood still" category. Sisig from Ed’s Bistro(how we miss you, though my Cardiologist doesn’t).

#4 – From the "even though I don’t speak Spanish, I’m glad you understood me" category. Tacos from Tacos El Compita:

#3 – From the "swipe my meat" category. Prime Cap Ribeye from Tsuruhashi. Why "swipe my meat"? This photo has been used without permission 3 times.

#2 – From the "kabobs of my dreams" category. Lamb Kabobs from Chef Tony(RIP):

What’s better than some good "meat on a stick"?

#1 – From the "they must be using some highly addictive controlled substance" category. The Cold Sichuan Noodles from Ba Ren:

I dunno why, but I just "MUST" have this at least once a month, if not more often.

Looking at my short list, there sure seemed to be quite a few photos from places that have gone out of business, like Mei Jia Deli

And Thien Thanh

Sorry, just snuck in a few more photos…..it seems like I’m caught in a terminal, obsessive, death spiral….

MUST…STOP….NOW!

Whew, okay, so there you go. As for the tagging, if you feel the desire to keep this meme going, consider yourself tagged!

One last photo, ok? I readily admit, I really don’t know what the heck I’m doing when I take photos. It is just point and shoot(artistic composition? you’re better off trying to get me to breakdance – I wouldn’t know it if it hit me in the head). And all of these were taken with my little ol’ $200 Fuji:

I hope you enjoyed this. And WC, I know I still owe you the 5 Things About Me meme.

Thanks for the tag Kat!

Ba Le – University Avenue

June 17, 2008 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

I really had no good reason for not trying Bale on University, I've passed it many, many times. But for some reason I just never felt compelled. I think it had something to do with the parking lot.

I think it had something to do with the parking lot, what little there is of it. Many times I've driven past, and alas, no parking. Sometimes Cabs are double and triple parked, blocking the sidewalk. The Somali Coffee Shop next door does some bang up business.

However, things changed a few months ago. During a conversation about Pate, FOY TammyC told me that Bale on University had a nice version made in house. For some reason I had thought that a trip to this location of Bale would be a redundant exercise. Boy was I wrong. The menu was different from the other location(s) of Bale in San Diego.(I still haven't tracked down the "relocated" Linda Vista Bale).

Well, I should say "menus". There are 2 menus here. The one above the counter has sandwiches and other items listed by number. The one on the back wall has the same sandwiches listed, but with different numbers! Ha, sandwich roulette anyone? Banh Mi Ga(chicken) over the counter is #9, on the back wall it's #8. If you did it by number you could get Banh Mi Bi! Thinking you ordered Banh Mi Chay(vegetarian Banh Mi – usually tofu), you get Banh Mi Pate Cha. Now that would be a nice surprise.

Also, Tammy warned me about the "funky smell", and yes, once when I visited, there was a strange dank-medicinal smell. Other times, it was just like a worn, slightly seedy little sandwich shop should be.

But of course I was here for the sandwiches. And I ordered the Banh Mi Pate Cha($2.75):

And Tammy was right, this was a good Pate, slightly "livery", but quite smooth, and without the "grainy" bits. It was mildly fatty, but not much so. The Cha Lua was interesting for me, not as dense as other versions, with a slightly spongy initial bite. In retrospect, this version of the defatted pork sausage was very close to what we had in Vietnam.

There were 2 things I really didn't care for in this sandwich. First, the bread was pretty lousy, barely toasted, with a texture almost like that of stale bread(Tammy had warned me about the bread). Second, the pickled vegetables were on the sweet side. I prefer mine with a nice refreshing "bite", these stood out too much, and detracted from the overall flavor.

Of course I bought the Missus a Banh Mi Bi(shredded pork – $3.00):

Man was this a "load of Bi". The Missus didn't care for it. She found the Bi dry and tasteless. And didn't like the bread at all.

A few weeks later I found myself in the neighborhood, and tried out the Dac Biet(special – $3.25).

Bale's version was pretty filling. The sandwich had 3 different cured meats; a the Cha Lua, Pork Belly(Ba Chi), and some nicely flavored "Ham", to go along with a generous smear of the savory Pate.

Just as before, the pickled vegetables were on the sweet side, and the bread was not to my liking.

The thick stems of cilantro did not do much for me either.

Funny thing, the photos for this post have been sitting around for a while. And after returning from Hanoi, I was a bit curious to see if my tastes had changed substantially. So recently I made another drive up University, made a perilous U-Turn, and managed to find parking(though backing out of the parking lot was another story). This time, the gentleman who I'm assuming is the Owner actually understood me when I ordered my sandwich. I also noticed the huge block of Pate in the deli case, which I inquired about. He told me with some pride, "we make it here….$4.50 a pound. We make almost everything here."

Thoughts of purchasing half a pound, and getting some Gio Lua from Da Nang danced in my head. But first, I need to find some good bread. After getting home, I bit into my Banh Mi, and my original opinion of the sandwich stood. You gotta love consistency!

Ba Le French Sandwich Shop
4879 University Ave # A
San Diego, CA 92105

Open 6am-6pm Monday-Saturday
7am-4pm Sunday

BTW, the White on Rice Couple have a very nice post on Banh Mi. You can find it here.

Thanks for all the great recommendations TammyC!

Goldilocks Asian Cuisine

June 12, 2008 mmm-yoso Filipino Restaurants, Sisig

Here something I didn't know until recently, June 12th is Philippine Independence Day, which marks the day that the Declaration of Independence of the Philippines was signed in 1898. All these years, and I never knew this until recently. Of course, there are those who think it should be a different day, but understanding that all Filipino's I know are always up for a good time…..

So what better on this day than a post on that Filipino institution Goldilocks. No, not the Fairytale Goldilocks, but the very successful Goldilocks Bakeshop and Restaurant chain, which according to both the company website and Wikipedia was started out of an apartment in Makati City. Now with over 200 locations world-wide, I guess you could call this success story a real life fairytale. To be honest, when I first found out that Goldilocks was opening up a location with not only a bakery, but a restaurant as well in National City, I wasn't too excited. I've eaten at Goldilocks in Artesia, and also had "turo-turo"(steam table) food from the now defunct West Covina location, and had never been too impressed. However, the always reliable MG told me that the menu at Goldilocks had been revamped, and the food had improved. So recently, MG, MrB, and I descended upon Goldilocks. Goldilocks is located in the same strip mall as Seafood City(which has really been spruced up inside), Golden Chopsticks, Ohana Hawaiian BBQ, and Asian Noodles among others. There are times (think weekends) where this is a strong contender for most insane parking lot in San Diego.

The dining area of this location of Goldilocks is clean, though it was a bit smaller than it looks from the outside.

In what would be the first of many small missteps, we were basically ignored while waiting for a table. There was no else waiting, the place was empty, and the woman doing the seating was just standing ignoring us. Finally, without a word, the woman grabbed some menus and walked us to a table, where we were basically forgotten. After 15 minutes, MG tried to flag down one of the 6 or so workers, but was ignored. After another wait, another Server came by, and took our order, and disappeared. We had ordered drinks, but they never appeared.

Finally, when our first dish arrived, MG asked for water in Tagalog, and we received it soon after. Our first dish was the Beef Salpicao($8.49):

The very tender slices of beef, chopped peppers, and onions arrived on a sizzling plate, and was topped with a nice sprinkling of garlic. It was, however, strangely bland, and greasy.

A few minutes later our Sizzling Sisig($7.49) arrived:

This version of Sisig was quite bland as well; almost no vinegar flavor, nor spice, and the pork, though nice and fatty, was more greasy than rich. I liked the raw egg cracked on top of the pork, but I ended up adding a ton of vinegar, and even some salt, which I almost never do, to give this flavor.

Soon enough, our Crispy Pata ($13.49) arrived.

Though not a gargantuan version of the wonderful simmered, dried, than deep-fried pork leg dish(which is probably for the better), this was a nice rendition. And even if this version was lacking in the gelatinous goodness department, the skin was perfectly fried, and the meat amazingly moist. The sauce had a nice sour-tart-saltiness that I really enjoyed. I'd have this again.

At this point our biggest problem was that our rice had never arrived. We had ordered both steamed and Adobo Rice, and expected that the steamed rice would be arriving soon. How can you eat this without rice? After trying to flag down several people, MG finally found someone who would get us rice. But of course, our rice was still MIA. Meanwhile……

This location of Goldilocks features something they call "Pick A Pika", various menu items served in smaller portions a la Dim Sum. In fact, the dishes are wheeled around in a Dim Sum Cart.

And served in little bowls in Dim Sum Tins. All of the items(about 20 or so) are $3. It is nice because you can select from a good variety of items, and try out things you may not be sure of. Be aware, that even though it may sound like a bargain, the portion size of each dish is only 2-3 bites of food, so you can easily spend $18-$21 dollars. Especially if you don't get your rice………

MG wanted to try what we both thought looked like Beef Mechado, but was actually Beef Kaldereta:

This was a winner, with a good beefy-tomato flavor. The beef was quite tender. MrB, MG, and I each had 1 bite.

MG had wanted me to try an Ilocano dish called Beef Pinapaitan, and this was a good way to try it.

I was told that "pait" means bitter, and they sure weren't kidding. Man, this was a puckery-bitter that elicited a "whoa" from me. MrB took the severe sour looks on MG's and my face as a signal that perhaps he should pass on this. A few days later, after doing some research, I found a Pinapaitan recipe, and one of the key ingredients of the dish is bile. The combination of sour and bitter was quite strong. I took this little sampling home for the Missus to try. Her reaction, "ouch"…yes, ouch. Must've been so bitter it was painful!

Meanwhile, we were still barely picking at our food. Why? We still had not gotten our steamed rice! In fact, after our Adobo Rice arrived, MG had to flag down one of the Servers and ask about our steamed rice.

I really enjoyed the Adobo Rice, nice hints of soy-black pepper-vinegar, with a small amount on diced chicken. I'd like this with a couple of easy over eggs. Finally, a few minutes after our Adobo rice arrived, we also received our steamed rice, and really dug in.

Overall, the food, if on the pricey side, was not bad, better than I expected. The service however, left much to be desired. There looked to be no table or section assignments, so things ended up occurring in a rather haphazard manner, with things slipping through the cracks. I'm not sure if I'll go back. Maybe your luck with the service will be better than ours…..still, who can refuse Crispy Pata.

Goldilocks
1420 E. Plaza Boulevard
National City, CA 91950

Open 8am-8pm – Closed on Tuesdays

From Hanoi to Siem Reap – Khmer Kitchen

June 11, 2008 mmm-yoso Cambodia, Siem Reap, Travel, Vietnam

"Hopefully, we’ll be hearing about Cambodia soon (hint-hint)." So sayeth Ed from Yuma, in one of his recent emails. I guess this means that I need to get a move on.

In Vietnam they don’t tell you anything part 3:

We arrived in Hanoi from Lao Cai station at a bit after 5am. Say what you will, but our experience is that the trains do run on time in Vietnam. It seemed that the rain had followed us to Hanoi, as there was a steady drizzle coming down. After disembarking, we walked over to the Taxi stand, and started negotiating a fare to the airport. The guy running the place firmly stated $20/US, a bit on the high side. So, fine, I wrote 140,000 VND on a piece of paper. When the guy saw this his eyes popped out of his head, and he wrote $20! OK, I wrote 120,000 VND, even in the darkness I could make out the veins in his neck bursting through his skin. He wrote 300,000 VND, I wrote 200,000 VND, he wrote 280,000 VND, I wrote 240,000 VND. By this time, my "good cop" the Missus, played Her hand, She grabbed my arm, and started leading me out to the street, and said real loud, "we can get a taxi on the street". The guy relented, and we got a taxi to the airport for 200,000 VND. But not without a catch. Our taxi was driving through the soaked side streets of Hanoi, when the driver suddenly stopped in the middle of the street. He walked out of the cab, which kind of freaked me out! After a few minutes he returned and said, "you get out now!" At which point, not being sure of what was going on, I was starting to get into a fighting mood. He basically kicked us out of his taxi, and another taxi appeared in it’s place, and this guy waved us in. I guess there was some kind of side deal, this driver took us to the airport without uttering a single word.

After making it through stoic customs and immigration, we had a Banh My for breakfast, and eventually, we caught our Vietnam Airlines flight for Siem Reap. Here’s a photo of the in flight meal:

In case you were wondering, along with looking like plastic, it tasted like plastic.

As we arrived in Siem Reap, we glanced up at the display, and it read 96 degrees! We knew that this was the hottest month of the year in Cambodia, and yes indeed it was going to be a hot one. I was ready for a hot, and sticky miserable time. But something happened to me on the tarmac in Siem Reap. Both the Missus and I immediately made out the fragrance of plumeria in the air…and we couldn’t help but smile.

Customs and immigration is usually a trying ordeal, and we expected such at the airport. And when we saw the gauntlet that was the immigration line, we thought we were in for one.

But it was not to be. I paid our $20 a piece and we moved on down the line. Our money and passports were passed from officer to officer, sort of a passport bucket brigade. And these guys were smiling! In fact, the Missus thought one of the officers was calling Her, and walked up to the Guy. It turns out that Her maiden name sounds just like a Cambodian word. After checking Her passport, instead of being irritated, the Guy cracked up laughing, and started telling everyone else at the desk. They were just having a good old time. The Missus went to exchange some money, and the teller, realizing She made a mistake, started giggling. We certainly were not in Vietnam any longer. There is a central Taxi desk at the airport with a $5 flat rate to hotels in Siem Reap. Things were very organized.

The hotel for our stay was the Angkor Star. The hotel was interesting, it was a bit older, but very clean. There was a small "casino"(I’m really stretching the definition) attached to the lobby, with the universal casino scent(damp-cigarette) making its way out into the lobby area. But everything was more than adequate for $30/night.

Also, the Hotel was located on Sivutha Street, one of the main drags. It was also one of the few streets that actually seemed to have a "name". After rehydrating, and taking a shower, we decided to take a walk and grab something to eat. It was over 100 degrees by now, with the humidity hovering in the 80’s, but maybe because we were so excited to be here it didn’t bother us much. We walked down Sivutha(the heat just makes you slooow down) looking to find "Pub Street", but no one seemed to have a clue.

Of course, we could have stopped and grabbed some noodles or something else at any of the many restaurants lining the street. Or maybe have some…… Korean Food? It seems that the latest tourism wave in Siem Reap is from Korea. I counted at least 6 Korean Restaurants, and several hotels seem to cater specifically to Korean tastes. Here’s a restaurant in transition; the cuisine of the last "wave", Japanese Food, is being served in addition to Korean Food.

There’s even a Korean Market on Sivutha! In all seriousness, I was very impressed by what troupers all the Korean tourists were. The older Ladies in their visors with towels wrapped around their necks(don’t forget the parasols) marched through the ruins at Angkor in the mid day heat and humidity with aplomb. They sure were tough. We also noted all the humanitarian efforts being provided by the Koreans and Japanese in Siem Reap in our travels. My favorite vignette was when the Missus offered an older Korean Lady Her seat, to thank her, the woman handed the Missus a piece of chocolate.

There was something a bit different about our planning for Cambodia. For once, I hadn’t really done any research on restaurants or food. I did read the guidebooks and various forums, but didn’t take notes. So, with no plans, we headed toward where we thought Pub Street was. But it seemed that none of the locals knew or had heard of "Pub Street". Finally, we came upon the Hospital(Hospital Street, of course!), and I recognized some of the names, the Blue Pumpkin, Happy Herbs Pizza(guess what the Happy Herb in the pizza is? No thanks, I’ve already experienced the late 70’s…no need to go back, god help me if I ended up in the 60’s), and the Red Piano. Finally, we came upon our destination, a place that many of the guidebooks and forums recommend, Khmer Kitchen.

Khmer Kitchen is supposedly known for Khmer Home-style dishes. And so I thought I’d give it a shot. Now it’s disclaimer time. Siem Reap seemed to have the worst lighting I’ve ever experienced in restaurants. Ranging from "bug killer neon green" to almost pitch black, photos were always a challenge. Khmer Kitchen was no exception. And since I don’t use a flash…well, my apologies in advance. This restaurant down an alley of restaurants was pretty packed. We were seated at a table, handed the binder with laminated pages that is the menu, and eventually made our selections.

The one dish I kept reading about was Amok, a steamed curry like dish usually made with(for us tourists) fish. So it was a must for us to try.

Coconut and galangal were the principle flavors in this dish. The fish, sliced into small pieces were very moist and mild. What we noticed in Siem Reap was how fabulous the green beans tasted, even in this dish they stood out. Going through the various forums, I found that many people were really disappointed in the fish amok, and Khmer food in general, which is often described as Thai food without spice. I’d disagree, Cambodian food is much more subtle, and as I learned later, very dependant on the Kroeung or the flavoring paste. It is a mild dish, and not something I’d crave, but the Missus really enjoyed it.

I also wanted to try the Beef Loc Lak:

I’ve had this dish prepared Vietnamese style, and this is totally different, though I’ve been told the origins(the French influence) are the same. In this case, under the fried egg lay chopped beef in a sweet-peppery gravy. It was delicious, as was the additional sauce provided. One thing you’ll notice is that at these types of restaurants, someone comes to your table and a scoop of rice is put on your plate by the Server. We made good use of the rice in this case.

Water Spinach with Tofu. I had wondered why the Missus ordered this. She didn’t know that water spinach is Ong Choy(Kongxincai 空心菜). This was very bland, and the tofu was lousy.

Green Bean Omelet.

This was a pretty dish, which we saw at many of the food stalls in Psar Chas(Old Market). However, it did not have much flavor.

All told our dinner ran $14/US, cheap by US standards, but having just come from Vietnam……

We returned to our hotel, and tried to get in touch with the driver who had been recommended to us. We had communicated by email, and were told that he was booked, but that he’d find someone for us. And yes, he did indeed have a driver ready for us….with a 520am pick-up. No problem, we could dream of what lay before us.

Everything was working out…as if someone was looking out for us.

Chow Noodlehouse

June 10, 2008 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Chinese Restaurants, Thai Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Chow has closed

I'd been thinking about trying out Chow Noodle House for a while, but have been hesitating. You see, when we first moved to San Diego in '01, this was the location of the reincarnated Celadon Restaurant. And the young Owner, Alex Thao, at that time still a student at San Diego State, was a thoughtful and energetic young man. His father had Owned the original Celadon, now the location of Hash House, and after deciding to retire and close the restaurant, the ambitious Alex had talked his father into reopening Celadon, and turning over the keys to him. The space that Chow now occupies once held a Thai Restaurant called Thai-phoon, or something like that. I won't go into the food at that restaurant, but I think the name more than describes it. Alex is a smart Guy, he kept the original chef on staff at Celadon, and we thought the food to be pretty good. We'd often run into Alex's Mom running the front of house, and Alex would always come by and chat. Over time the food went on a downhill slide. It seems that the original Chef, Songsri Thammasuckdi, who, I was told, once cooked for Thai Royalty, decided to retire. About the same time, Alex Thao became quite the Restaurateur, first opening Rama in the Gaslamp, then moving Celadon to newer digs, and opening Chow Noodle House in the former Celadon location. Which brings us to the here and now.

The interior is simply modern, neat and orderly, if perhaps a bit on the "cold" side.

The menu though simple in concept; noodles, salads, and other similar items, is a challenge. Chow has chosen to straddle 4 different Countries. The menu consists of everything from Pho and Bun, to Yakisoba, to Chow Fun and Pad Thai. It is hard enough doing one cuisine justice, but four?

Back in January, I decided to check out Chow for lunch. The very nice young lady ushered me to a table, and after looking over the menu, I chose the Drunken Noodles(with chicken – $8). I thought this would be a nice dish to try since I enjoyed the version that Celadon used to make. Something in the back of my mind made me order it "spicy", something I'd never do at say, Yai Restaurant. Come to think of it, they serve it to you, their way, and don't even ask you how spicy you want your food. I kinda like that.

I was first served a bowl of a pseudo, egg drop soup. I say pseudo, because the one very strong flavor in this was that of Kaffir Lime Leaf. To me this wasn't a bad thing, because at least it had flavor.

Considering that I was paying the "Hillcrest premium", this didn't look too bad. On the good side, the noodles were cooked adequately, and the chicken wasn't dry as I expected. On the bad, this was cloyingly sweet. I expect my Pad Kee Mau to be on the sweet side, but this was really much too sweet. Also, it was not spicy in the least, not at all. It was hard to make out any flavor beyond the sweetness of the dish.

Another day, I was having lunch with an acquaintance, and decided to order the "Vietnamese" Grilled Beef Salad($10):

The "lemongrass grilled beef" was adequately done, but it had no lemongrass flavor. The menu says hothouse cucumbers, but none were in sight, not a big deal, at least there were some cherry tomatoes mixed in with the shredded cabbage and carrots. The dressing was very bland, I'd have killed for some Nuoc Mam Cham. Funny thing, this was one of my first meals out after returning from vacation, and I couldn't help but think…..160,000 VND!

Recently, I decided to give Chow one more shot. This day, being a bit brighter than most, I noticed that Chow was showing some signs of wear and tear.

This time I ordered the Beef Chow Fun($11 – I just noticed that I spent more and more $'s on each visit). I didn't quite know what to expect, perhaps a nice version of Thai style thick noodles with gravy, maybe I'd get a decent Chow Fun.

Chow Fun with Gravy does not mean mushy noodles. The noodles were horribly over-cooked, and improper cooking temperature made them greasy as well. Though the fragrance of ginger wafted up from the dish, it was all I could really make out. This was very bland. At least the Gai lan tops were cooked properly. The meat was cut too thick, and didn't match the thickness of the noodles, a no-no in Chinese cooking.

At this point, unless anyone has a really stellar recommendation for Chow, I think I'll pass for a while. It seemed like everything started at mediocre, and went down hill from there. I will say this, though my Server was different on every visit, I had very accommodating service. Also, I was never charged for my Diet Cokes.

This leads me to a conversation I had with the young Alex Thao, way back in maybe 2002. Just back from a visit to Thai Town, I inquired about dishes using ingredients like Thai Eggplants, Jackfruit, or even Gapi(Thai Shrimp Paste). His response was that using the unfamiliar in San Diego is "economic suicide" and those dishes would just take up menu space and never sell. I guess he's right, after all, the Thao Empire is now so large it calls itself the "Celadon Group".

Chow Noodle House
540 University Ave
San Diego, CA

Read Alice Q Foodie's post on Chow here.

Read Gil's post from what We Dig here.

From the no good deed goes unpunished files:

So, I'm walking after lunch, and see an Older Woman using a walker, dragging a shopping basket, muttering to herself while crossing the street. I notice that a shopping bag full of "stuff" fell from the cart while she was crossing the street. So, I run into the cross walk, get honked at by some "gangsta's" in an Escalade who in addition to throwing a Big Gulp Cup at me, obviously cussed me out…luckily, they were screaming at me in "gangsta" so I really couldn't understand what they were saying. Thankfully, I managed to pick up the bag, caught up with the woman, and handed it to her. Unfortunately for me, she was grappling with whatever demons are haunting her, and proceeded to scream profanities at me. And if that wasn't enough, she started spitting at me! Needless to say, I dumped her bag into the cart, and beat a hasty retreat. Goes to show me…you never know what'll happen to you on the corner of 5th and University……..