mmm-yoso – Page 397

Merry Christmas

December 25, 2006 mmm-yoso Cooking, yoso-silly

Yes, I realize I’m a bit late…..it’s been a pretty hectic couple of weeks, more so than anticipated. But things finally started slowing down at around noon on Christmas Eve, and the Missus and I managed to take in a movie, Curse of the Golden Flower, this isn’t a movie blog site, so I won’t say much except….."don’t bother"….really….

At least I managed to take my requisite Christmas photo:

After the movie, on the way home, the Missus decided that She wanted a home cooked, Japanese style dinner….say what! At 5pm on Christmas Eve!!!! Good thing Nijiya’s open. So, here are a few photos….no big deal, just some home cooked stuff. I didn’t get photos of everything, especially of stuff I’ve made before like Kabocha Nimono.

Let’s see…while at Nijiya, a young man was bringing out some nice looking Tako(Octopus), so we bought some, and I made my Mom’s Miso Sauce:

The Missus wanted Agedashi Tofu, but told me to "make it good this time; the last time you made it, it sucked."

This wasn’t too bad, the Missus enjoyed the tentsuyu, and I think She prefers this made with soft tofu, instead of silken tofu.

A Sunomono, made with whatever I could find…in this case Cucumber, Wakame, and Small Dried Shirmp.

Along with some Hijiki Nimomo, I also made some Daikon Nimono, simple simmered Daikon.

We purchased some pretty good Shiba Zuke(pickled cucumber and eggplant, maybe a tad too salty), and some really good Takana Zuke(pickled Mustard Greens), I really enjoyed the Takana, I wish I could find my Mother’s recipe for it…..

We both had Katsu Don, and today with the warm weather we’re having I made some Zaru Soba:

It was fun getting back into the kitchen, things had been so hectic, it had been a while. Plus the kitchen still smells real good! ;o)

I hope everyone is enjoying a great Holiday Season!

It’s Burger Week – Ch-Ch-Chain: Boll Weevil

December 23, 2006 mmm-yoso Burgers, Chains

*** This location of Boll Weevil has closed

I thought it would be appropriate to end burger week, with a visit to a "chain" of sorts….well not a nation-wide chain, but a local chain, called Boll Weevil. I did a quick search on Wikipedia and quickly found out what a nasty looking fellow the Boll Weevil is. Now who the heck would name a restaurant after such a destructive, nasty looking fellow? After looking through Wikipedia again, I found the story here. According to the entry, the proprietors of a steak house called "The Cotton Patch" opened up a chain of smaller, casual burger restaurants next to Cotton Patch Restaurants and they called them Boll Weevil. Am I the only person who finds some irony in the fact that Boll Weevils are still around, and all the Cotton Patches are gone? Guess them little Boll Weevil ate all the Cotton Patches……he-he-he!

The location of Boll Weevil we visited recently is located on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard, and in addition to all the standard Boll Weevil dishes, also offer BBQ, and other items….you can check out the smoker in the front of the restaurant. I'll pass, but you may be interested. It seems that recently several Boll Weevils have closed down, I know that the one on Convoy Street, among others(Midway) have closed down over the years….don't know why, they just seem to be disappearing.

We arrived at Boll Weevil, and found a table – this is the type of Casual-Family-Bar-Restaurant, where you sit yourself, the place was doing some pretty bang up business on this night. The Missus and I opened our menus, and suddenly both thought, "prices have gone up a bit since we last visited."

Well maybe it was just us…….since we aren't regular customers at Boll Weevil.

The Missus decided on a 1/2 pound Blue Cheese Bacon Burger, with Seasoned Curly Fries as her side($9.79):

I now understand the necessity of the condiment tray at Boll Weevil, the burger was on the tough-bland side, the "Goo"(not Blue) Cheese was just salty and had been placed under a broiler or something to melt it into a gooey texture, and the bacon tasted a bit old. The Curly Fries were great though. Nice and crisp, and well seasoned.

I got the "Super Burger"($5.09), which is the 1/2 pound "Steerburger"(after all Boll Weevil is "The Home of the 1/2 lb Steerburger) straight-up, which for me is the test of a burger, no cheese or "secret sauce" to hide behind:

My burger tasted better than the Missus's, it was fairly moist, though tough. And even though the menu states this….in plain English:

Both our burgers were cooked way beyond well…..

I tend to use the burgers at Mr Peabody's as a reference point for these type of burgers, and Boll Weevil fell short. Tough and on the bland side, these were just mediocre.

On previous visits, I'd always order some Frings(French Fries and Onions Rings – regular order $3.79):

The portion size was alot smaller than I remember…let's do the math; if the small portion of fries is say, worth $2(and that's really stretching it), that would make each one of those onions rings cost about 45 cents a piece…. The fries were just okay, nothing special, and the rings had been over cooked and proceeded to shatter into little pieces when I bit into them.

I dunno what happened to Boll Weevil, was it just a fluke? I will say that the service at this location of Boll Weevil was very nice, though a bit slow…but mostly due to the couple across from us who kept sending everything back(soup not hot enough…I don't like this salad dressing….I don't like this spoon!!!), and running the poor Gal ragged.

I know so many people who love Boll Weevil, but I'm kinda like this guy…..on the fence:

I really don't know if I'll be back…….

Boll Weevil
9330 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92123-1223
(858)571-6225

It’s Burger Week – Rocky’s Crown Pub

December 18, 2006 mmm-yoso Burgers

A few months back I received a very pleasant email from Colin, among other things he wondered why I didn't have many burger posts….I really didn't have a good answer. Which got me thinking…..why not a week of burgers? And now with Cathy's help, it looks like we'll have a work-week of burgers! A real mixed bag of burgers. So get the Lipitor out, let's get rolling. Burgers from Monday to Friday is dedicated to Colin….I hope that you did find a good burger out there.

Well what can I say about Rocky's? It's a Pacific Beach institution, a little pub located on the corner of Ingraham Street and La Playa avenue.

And when I mean little, I mean little, just a few tables, and the bar. When we arrived on a recent Saturday morning at 1030am the place was already packed. There was an interesting cross section of people of all ages.

Luckily, the Missus and I managed to snag a table. I love the menu, well calling it a menu may be stretching it a bit; there are four burgers(1/3lb Hamburger – $4.25, 1/3lb Cheeseburger – $4.75, 1/2lb Hamburger – $5.25, 1/2 lb Cheeseburger – $5.75) and Fries($2.50) on the chalkboard, that's it….no "Vietnamese Menu Overload" here!

Rocky's is the sort of local hang-out where you've got to know the "rules"…there ain't no waiters, if you're sitting at a table and waiting for someone to take your order, your going to wait a while. You need to walk up to the bar, and hope someone acknowledges your existence so you can place your order. You'll place your order and give your name which is written on a post-it note and passed to the ~~closet~~ small kitchen in the back. You better listen up for your name to be called, otherwise some hungry patron may get your burger.

Witness the 1/2lb burger:

Yep, there's no secret sauce, bleu cheese, bacon, mushrooms, monkey-style, blackened-ahi, tofu, kobe beef, have it your way, thing going on here. It's just a burger, hand formed, not pressed too hard, so the burger is rather tender, juicy, beefy, and pretty much just how it should be. As with many "bar burgers" you add the condiments, the pickles, onions, lettuce, and tomato are placed on the top of the bun when the burger is delivered. The burger is also almost unseasoned, so you'll have to work it out yourself as well. It's just a good burger!

The Missus and I each had a 1/2 lb Burger and shared a basket of fries:

The fries were fine, crisp and not oily. They were also just barely salted.

At about this point we managed to scarf down the rest of the meal….people were milling about waiting for seats to open up. There's nothing more uncomfortable than having a dozen drooling people staring at you while you eat, and they weren't salivating over our food, they were all drooling over our table! So we left them to fight over our seats. Still it's a mighty fine burger, and a nice way to start burger week, don't you think?

I think I've covered as much as I could about the burgers at Rocky's…but one last thing, get the 1/2lb burger, the 1/3 lb burger is kinda puny……….you'll thank me later!

Rocky's Crown Pub
3786 Ingraham St
San Diego, CA 92109

(858) 273-9140

Some Revisits – Shanghai City, Golden City, and Other “Stuffs”

December 17, 2006 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Cooking, Niu Rou Mian, yoso-silly

Well, it’s been tough, since having that amazing dinner at Urasawa, I haven’t been able to bring myself to eat for over a week. HA, yeah, right! I’m obviously joking. I’ve got about 5 more posts regarding restaurants in the Los Angeles area, including places like Deerfield Garden, and Santouka Ramen, albiet the Torrance location. But I thought I’d return back to San Diego, and do a post on a few revisits to various restaurants.

Shanghai City

*** Update – Shanghai City has closed and is now Spicy House.

The recent cold and rainy weather was perfect for Niu Rou Mein, so we made our way to Shanghai City. Looking back at my original post, I realized how terrible my photos were, so I brought my camera along.

Every Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 3pm, Shanghai City features a Chinese Breakfast menu, and though prices have gone up a bit:

Most items are still priced at a reasonable $4.95-$5.95 range, and there is no discernable difference in portion size between the weekend specials and during other times. One thing I have noticed, is that Shanghai City is much busier during weekend mornings since we first started coming here in 2001. Also, the crowd is now a bit more diverse, with more than a few Non-Chinese customers.

I of course had my bowl of Niu Rou Mein($4.95):

Just as good as always, the broth is spicy and rich, the noodles still have a nice “pull”, and the beef is moist, and tender with a nice flavor.

In order to get me out of the Niu Rou Mein habit, the Missus decided to order a few different items, starting with the Chao Nian Gao(Stir Fried Sliced Rice Cake) with Pork($4.95):

Unlike the version we enjoy at Chin’s, this dish was totally overwhelmed with the flavor of Sesame Oil, and you couldn’t taste anything else. The rice cakes were very soft, but not mushy, almost like noodles, and I enjoy my Nian Gao a bit less cooked.

The Missus also ordered the Pickled Mustard Greens and shredded Pork Noodle Soup at Chin’s so She thought she’d order that($4.95), instead of her old standby, the Eel Noodles Soup.

And though the noodles were good as always, the mustard greens had very little in the way of flavor, ditto the pork, and the broth while it looked rich, was on the mild side.

And of course, we couldn’t leave without some Xiao Long Bao($5.95):

And though the quality of the Xiao Long Bao at Shanghai City can be wildly inconsistent, and the wrapper a bit on the thick side, we still think it’s the best in San Diego. We have also noticed that during busier periods the XLB at Shanghai City is a bit better, probably due to turnover.

Shanghai City
3860 Convoy St
San Diego,CA 92111
619-278-5883

Closed Tuesdays

*** An updated post on Shanghai City with new prices can be found here.

**** Golden City has closed

More Golden City – Yep, again! This time in the mood for some Roast Duck, we ordered a whole duck($15.95, $8.95 – 1/2 Duck):

I was surprised at how good this was! Really. Not oily, and not salty, roasted to perfection, this was much better than what I expected. Many restaurants will pour broth over the duck before serving to rehydrate the meat….no such thing here. It is not cheap, but quite good. I’ve never really ever gotten into the really sweet and lousy plum sauce that’s served with roast duck……And Duck Fried Rice made with leftover duck is always a good thing!!!

The Gailan with Dried Fish($9.95), is Chinese Broccoli stir fried with dried-roasted fish:

The first time we had this, it was sublime; the Gailan had been peeled and so was soft and tender. The crisp dried fish added a salty-sweet flavor, and the garlic added a nice punch to pull it all together. It had been stir fried to perfection. The second time we had the dish was on a Sunday evening, and it was borderline terrible, the fish was hard and almost inedible, the Gailan was not peeled and tasted bitter, and was extremely fibrous, and the garlic was burned, and worst of all the dish had not been cooked correctly and it was slightly oily. We put it down to it being Sunday, and perhaps it was the ‘B’ team cooks running the show. So third time a charm? Well this was sort of a “tweener”, the Gailan had not been peeled, but wasn’t very bitter, and had been cooked well, the fish was perfect, but only a scant amount was provided. The garlic was burnt and bitter, I don’t quite know what to say. Wildly swinging inconsistency is quite frustrating, and causes quite a dilemma…I mean, how can I recommend this dish if it’s never the same twice?

Golden City Restaurant
5375 Kearny Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123

Open Daily 11am – Midnight

I tried making the Gailan with Dried Fish, purchasing the dried fish from 99 Ranch Market.

I first toasted the fish in the toaster oven, peeled and blanched the Gailan, and thinly sliced a few cloves of garlic. I did a simple stir fry, and ended up with this:

It was okay, but I’m sure that I didn’t use the right type of fish, it didn’t taste right. Also, I should have used the Big Kahuna to cook this but was too lazy, high heat would’ve made a big difference. Still, it wasn’t too far removed…….

So stay tuned, between the various restaurants visited in the LA area, I’ll do a few posts on places like Kayaba, and even this place:

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Postscript – By request I added a photo album of Urasawa photos, and even did an album from the AKC National Championships.

(Rail)Road Trip – Urasawa Beverly Hills(LA) Part 3

December 14, 2006 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Memorable Meals, Road Trip, Sushi and Sashimi

During the Sushi portion of the meal at Urasawa, if Hiro-san notices that you particularly enjoy an item, he’ll make another for you. At the end you can also request additional nigiri if you desire….or are still hungry(still hungry???).

I asked if I could get another Shiro Ebi:

Like the flavor of several Ama-ebi(sweet shrimp) condensed into one piece of nigiri sushi.

For Captain Jack, it was much easier for Hiro-san to figure out what he enjoyed. There was a certain scene in the movie When Harry Met Sally, that I think many will remember. So we’ll just call this…When Jack-ee met Uni, get the picture?

I think Hiro-san understood, Jack got a beautiful "Double-decker Uni Nigiri".

To finish out the sushi portion; Hiro-san asked us if we’d care for anything else. All night long we’d been ogling and plotting, attempting to get more of he Kobe Beef, wanting to experience the wonderful flavor and texture of Kyushu-heaven.

So with a smile Hiro-san asked if we’d like Beef Nigiri…. And after receiving enthusiastic positive nods(I almost threw my neck out), we were asked us how we’d like the beef done, which was a unanimous "rare, almost raw". The slice of beef spent the briefest of time on the brazier, made into nigiri with a small amount of Nikiri-joyu, and placed on the Geta for consumption……delici-yoso!!! All during this time Hiro-san, Jack, and I were chatting about food, and well…..food, and maybe a few other things. So in case you’re wondering, Hiro-sans favorite Chinese restaurants? Din Tai Fung for dumplings, and Sea Harbour in Rosemead("They know me, and what I enjoy….").

At about this point of the meal, Jack quick-wittedly asked Hiro-san if we could get him a drink. He smiled and accepted, and modestly ordered a Sapporo. When the beer arrived He asked us about our drive back to the Hotel, to which we replied we’re "cabbing it". Upon that reply, Hiro-san called over one of His assistants and had her split the beer with Jack and I, and we had a very memorable toast of "Kampai"("Cheers"), with the Chef and Owner of what some consider to be the most expensive restaurant in Southern California. Hiro-san than set back to work, and the Tamago arrived. I asked Hiro-san if he is now showing us his skill as an Itamae(Tamago is considered by many to be one of the dishes that truly indicate the skill, diligence, and attention to detail, of any Itamae).

This Tamago, was vastly different from any version I’ve ever had. The tamago was light like spongecake, I could almost imagine catching clouds on my tongue. The flavor is mild, slightly sweet, with the faintest flavor of the ocean.

Soon after, the most pristine piece of Hachiya Persimmon arrived, this photo made the Missus terribly jealous. Hachiya being an "astringent" type of persimmon, will taste bitter and cause you to really "pucker" because of the tannin in the fruit if not ripe.

When ripened, and the tannins have broken down, the skin of the fruit becomes so very soft, sweet, and tender, that you need to handle them very carefully.

A dish of Sesame Ice cream arrived, topped with soy milk and gold leaf, the ice cream was almost like a soft and creamy mousse. Very nice and not overly sweet.

We had two cup of tea to close out the meal. A light, and almost frothy Ma’cha(green tea):

And a Genmai-cha(Green tea with roasted rice) to finsh things off.

As we were leaving Hiro-san called to Jack and Myself. All night long when we had something really, really amazing, we’d give each other a "Fist Pound", by now my knuckles were hurting! Hiro-san stuck his closed fist over the counter, and we gave Him a fist pound as a way to close out the evening……

I must say, that Urasawa was the most unique and memorable dining experience I’ve ever had. A combination of amazing food and great service in a unpretentious atmosphere; along with a humble, amiable, and very highly skilled Artist(there’s not other way to describe it), made Urasawa unforgettable. In fact, the Missus and I are planning our next visit sometime next year.

Oh…..yes, the damage?

Jack and I split the bill, so my portion came out to $452+$100 tip = Worth every penny! And yes, I do realize that it would be over 100 bowls of Pho’!!!!!

Postscript – I’ve gotten more than my share of Emails regarding Urasawa, so let me clarify a few things:

Price – Walking in the door, and the multi-course meals starts at $250. Any drinks, including water, which is Evian at $8 a crack, will cost you. We drank two bottles of Kubota Manju, which was a perfect compliment to the meal at $150 each. So if you break down my portion it’s $250+$8+150=$408. I’m assuming the rest was tax and "Extras".

Is it really worth it? – In my mind, yes. After all, I’ve waited a few years for this. Let me put it this way, if I was on my way to the Electric Chair, and had a last meal, it would be Urasawa’s Kaiseki-Omakase dinner. I’d walk happily to the chair, and tell them; "LET HER RIPPPPP!" LOL!

(Rail)Road Trip – Urasawa Beverly Hills(LA) Part 2

December 13, 2006 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Memorable Meals, Road Trip, Sushi and Sashimi

So there we were, in the midst of a memorable meal at Urasawa. I knew that the arrival of the Gari(Pickled Ginger) was a sure sign that the parade of Nigiri Sushi was about to begin. A small wooden Handai(Rice Tub) was brought out, and Hiro-san got to work.

Hiro-san was the picture of efficiency, and the nigiri sushi was dressed with a dab of Wasabi(the real stuff, of course), a few drop of Nikiri Joyu – Hiro-san’s custom concoction of Soy Sauce, dashi, mirin, and who knows what else. At times, a few drops of Yuzu juice, or some Yuzu was grated for zest and brushed on to the sushi, or perhaps a touch of salt was added for flavor. In retrospect, I should have taken a few more photos of Hiro-san in action, or of the construction of the nigiri, but that would have been a challenge. The nigiri is created with Sushi-meshi (sushi rice) at perfect temperature, and the nigiri is placed on the Geta(serving platform) and served at optimal condition. This means that it should be consumed ASAP! In fact, once when Captain Jack was in fine eye rolling orgasmic bliss (I think it was the uni)form, Hiro-san reminded Him to eat the nigiri now on his plate. So for photos I would get the camera set while the nigiri was being formed, and as soon as the sushi hit the Geta, snap a photo, and snap up my sushi! So there I was like a photographer on the runway of nigiri fashion show, anticipating where the sushi would hit so I could quickly get my shot. So here are the runway models…….

Toro, the ultimate fat tuna belly, with a light brushing of the Nikiri:

There are two types of Toro; Chu-toro, the medium fatty toro which is what we usually get in smaller neighborhood sushi joints, and O-toro, the fattiest strip of buttery, tender toro….delici-yoso!!! I jokingly mentioned how O-toro got it’s name. After eating this treasured-tender, rich and buttery morsel, you couldn’t help but moan; "ooohhh-toro, ooohhh-toro", it is that good.

Kanpachi(Amberjack):

Slightly firm, and mildly creamy in texture. Good stuff. By this time you start realizing something. Looking at the nigiri, you can almost count every grain of rice, and each little oblong ball of rice is packed perfectly, not too tight so that the rice is mashed, not too loose so that the nigiri will fall apart.

Madai(Japanese Sea Bream/Japanese Red Snapper), as noted before slightly firm at first bite, but soft after.:

The grated Yuzu zest took this piece of nigiri to the next level. Each tiny bit of yuzu was packed with a clean, condensed citrus flavor, giving the nigiri a very clean finish.

Shiro Ebi(White Shrimp), actually many tiny raw white shrimp reside on this piece of rice.

I’ve had this once before, and didn’t think much of it. Chewing the shrimp was like eating a hundred little pouches of water, and it had very little flavor. This one was heavenly; the shrimp was so very soft, and the flavor sweet. I’d take this over Ama-Ebi any day of the week. This was one of my favorites, the condensed flavor of a dozen sweet raw shrimp. I think it’s about at this point where Hiro-san started conversing with us a little more, he really enjoys talking about food.

Sayori(Halfbeak), this was a new one for me. The long thin piece of fish was manipulated into a circular form with chopsticks.

The texture is firm and mild.

Kohada, many people call this Japanese Herring, but I know it as Gizzard Shad. Hiro-san told me that they call it Japanese Herring because many customers don’t know what Gizzard Shad is:

Slightly sweet and milky, this was very good. At this point, Captain Jack said "Hiro-san, you are a super-star!" Hiro broke out into a smile and said, "no, my customers are stars….."

Ika(Squid), I don’t know about you, but I’ve had many tough pieces of Ika in my life, this was probably the most perfect piece of Ika I’ve ever had:

The fine grains of salt and yuzu zest added great flavor. I mentioned the salt to Urasawa, who said, "yes, I make it here….", and added breaking into a smile, "I like to make everything myself!" So salt???? Urasawa creates a mixture of salt and water, adds Kombu(Kelp), lets the liquid steep, removes the Kombu, and lets the water evaporate….to create salt!

Aji(Horse Mackerel), one my favorites:

Very tender, I’ve never seen Aji looking so translucent. Very mild in flavor.

Kuruma Ebi(Prawn), this little bugger, was alive and kicking, placed on a skewer, and briefly poached(I know, I know…photos. Maybe next time):

Soft, sweet, and tender. Hiro-san told me, "just slightly cooked, is the best way….."

Uni(Sea Urchin Roe – actually the ovaries, but who cares?), I must say that I’ve never seen a more perfect piece of uni:

I have had better uni, live, directly from the shell. This was as good as "wood box" Uni gets, sweet and creamy. Captain Jack absolutely loved it. At this point the Handai was replenished with fresh rice.

Saba(Mackerel), usually not my favorite, this was excellent:

Aoyagi(Clam), more tender than mirugai, and sweeter to boot, with mild briny overtones:

Really, really, good!

Awabi(Abalone), as beautiful as the Awabi was, I wasn’t too impressed:

Though the yuzu zest added flavor, there was little else.

Shiitake Mushroom:

A medium sized charcoal brazier was brought out, and two pieces of Shiitake Mushrooms were grilled until soft. Nikiri was brushed on to the nigiri, and topped off the earthy flavor. I was rather surprised at how well the meaty texture of the mushroom worked as sushi.

Hotategai(Scallop), two large scallops were opened and cleaned. The meat was butterflied and the Hotategai Nigiri was topped with a brushing of Nikiri and Yuzu zest :

Soft, sweet, and a bit salty. The umami was going strong on this one!

Negi-Toro(Green onion and Toro roll). While preparing this, Hiro-san brought out a piece of Takuan(pickled Daikon Radish), and cut off a round slice. Placing the slice on the cutting block like a wheel, Hiro-san sliced a very long paper thin strip of pickle. The Takuan added a very mild hint of sour to the salty-onion flavor of the roll, as well as a crunchy texture.

Seared Toro, at first I thought, "what a waste", but this really tasted like beef.

An interesting nigiri.

At this point, I started wondering when palate fatigue was going to set in, but it never did. But I’m pretty sure reader fatigue will be setting in, if not already. So I’ll stop here. There’s still one more part to go, where we’ll cover the extras, and the last items of our dinner, including dessert and other things.

A few comments and questions that were emailed to me:

The Crab – Sorry, I dropped the ball on this one. I think the Kani Miso was made from Hairy Crab.

Organic – Yes, everything at Urasawa is organic.

How much did this cost? – Sorry you’ll have to wait until part 3 is done for this one.

Thanks for hanging in there….I hope this isn’t too much for everyone! Part 3 should be done tomorrow!

(Rail)Road Trip – Urasawa Beverly Hills(LA) Part 1

December 12, 2006 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Memorable Meals, Road Trip, Sushi and Sashimi

I truly have some reservations about posting on Urasawa, mainly because so much information is out there. From the three posts on Chowhound that originally got my attention. You can find them, here, here, and here. And of course the ever informative Gayot feature. All of which I devoured. Before making reservations in October, I found and read this post. And after returning from Urasawa is this fine post on MySpace. All of which provide so much detail and information, and are written by writers much more skilled than I. But I thought I'd give it a shot, and we'll see where it lands. There is a wealth of detailed information on those posts, so please read them.

So Urasawa, huh, where do I start? Well I'd been lobbying for a while to find someone to take the "leap" and pay a visit to Urasawa. And finally found a taker in Captain Jack. (The Missus wasn't sure if She could sit through a 3-4 hour meal, especially if She didn't enjoy it) Arriving at the glitzy corner of Rodeo Drive and Wilshire via cab, we had to make a quick call to find the elevator leading up to Urasawa, identified with this simple sign.(Sorry repeat photo):

Once upstairs we went down a snaking corridor…in the exact opposite direction of the restaurant! Finally back-tracking we found the modest entrance to a restaurant that I've been waiting to try for several years. And though here I was, I had pretty much compartmentalized all thoughts of Urasawa, so I felt somewhat detached. The Missus kept asking me if I was excited about my visit, and I said just a bit, but not much. Probably a personal defense mechanism to prevent disappointment should I not enjoy myself. When Captain Jack asked me the question, I gave him the same answer..His reply? "Dude, you know it's going to be great….just admit it"

As we walked in at about 6pm, the spartan though tasteful decor and the wonderful maple sushi bar that is sanded daily, attracted me….heck, who am I kidding, I went straight over to this:

Now that I was here, I could let excitement take over. Looking at the "food storage case" I now fully understood the definition of the term "food porn"! The size of the abalone alone drove me nuts, and the toro…let's not go there. There was the most beautifully marbled piece of meat lying on the back counter. Captain Jack and I automatically started plotting…

"Ok, Jack, you jump over the counter, grab the meat, and I'll get a running start…you toss me the meat, and I'll make the stairway!"
"One problem Kirk…"
"What's that?"
"Do you know where the stairway is?"
"Hmmm, that might be a problem"
"And furthermore, you got us lost when we first got off the elevator….."
"Party-pooper!"

And so it was back to reality for our intrepid, and hungry heroes. But oh, how nice reality was! We were seated front and center, just in front of the wooden "stage"(work area would not do it justice), so we could see in minute detail everything Urasawa did.

There was a kind of elegant simplicity to the set-up, everything organized in perfect detail; the squares are square, and circles are perfectly round. They say you can tell alot about the artist by his tools….

The wasabi(the real stuff), yuzu(Sudachi), yuzu grater and brush, and other implements were organized as if sitting for an oil painting.

We were provided Oshibori(hot towels), chopsticks were gracefully placed on holders, and we placed our beverage orders. And soon enough three bowls were carried out by Urasawa, and placed on his block, and rubbing His hands together, Urasawa said, "okay, let's get started."

He bowed slightly and introduced himself as "Hiro", and asked us our names and wrote them down. This was my first hint of how unique and personal this eating experience would be. Could you image Thomas Keller bowing to you and introducing himself as "Tom"? Or Charlie Trotter as "Chuck"? And even remembering your name during a 29+ course meal? At this point, Hiro-san asked us if there was anything we don't eat…..Jack and I couldn't help but laugh and said in unison, "we eat EVERYTHING!"

Enough rambling…let's get to the food. I'm going to break this post into 3 parts, because dinners at Urasawa are broken into 3 segments. First part is the quasi-Kaiseki portion of dishes, which I find quite appropriate since Urasawa is from Kyoto prefecture, well known for their Kaiseki restaurants. The second part is the Sushi portion. And third, I would call the finale, where Hiro-san asks if you would like more of anything, or have requests, and the tea and dessert service. This is quite a challenge for me; I decided not to take notes since I'd be taking photos, so everything is from memory, which isn't too hard, considering that I had a bit of experience with the cuisine, and the dishes were all quite memorable!

Our Kubota Manju Daiginjo($150/bottle) arrived, and was poured for us. I chose Kubota, because I received a bottle for Christmas last year, and found the smooth, mildly sweet qualities went well with anything I ate. So at least for my taste, I thought it would be an excellent sake for this meal. A quick side note; Daiginjo, or Junmai Daiginjo is a classification given to sake whose rice is polished to at least 50%. That means, that of every grain of rice used to create the sake, half of it is discarded. In the case of Kubota, a staggering two-thirds(67%) of the grain is milled! I also thought that Kubota had a nice flavor, there have been a few Daiginjo that I've tried that are almost too smooth……

We started with the dish created from those three bowls above:

A nice refreshing salad of chrysanthemum, shredded crab meat, and some thin slices of mizuna. The dish was quite refreshing, with the sweetness of the crab, and even the mizuna(!) standing out.

The very well known Goma Tofu filled with uni, in a mild dashi flavored "sauce", topped with wasabi, and gold leaf.

Wonderful combination of flavors, the tofu amazingly soft, yet able to hold form. The best way to eat this for me was to use the spoon provided, and break into the tofu(it felt almost like sacrilege, the tofu was so beautiful), and get a bit of the everything into each bite. The gold leaf doesn't matter, it has no taste or nutritional content.

The Uni, Crab, and Shrimp Chawan Mushi(Steamed Egg Custard) topped with Ikura(Salmon Roe):

The Chawan Mushi was perfect in texture, soft, custardy, with hints of sweetness provided by the uni. But for me it was the Ikura that shone. Most of the Ikura that I've had has been really salty and tough. These were like perfect, soft and tender bubbles of brine. I've been told that the freshest, cleanest salt water in the world exists several hundred miles off the South coast of the Big Island, deep in the ocean, the Ikura made me think of how clean and refreshing that water would taste. I mentioned this to Hiro-san, who told me that the Ikura had never been frozen or preserved in any way, and is the absolute freshest he could find, a recurring theme through the whole meal.

The signature Urasawa Sashimi placed on an ice sculpture. Funny story about this; Hiro-san saw my camera, and asked me if I did "internet", to which I replied, "yes, but not Chowhound". When this arrived I turned it, but Hiro-san instructed my Server to turn the plate a certain way. Which I guess was more photogenic, but obscured some of the fish.

The Toro was amazing; melt in your mouth soft. The Mirugai(Geoduck/Giant Clam) was absolutely the best I've had sweet, firm, and crunchy. In fact, I had to ask Hiro-san if it was mirugai! Hidden behind everything is "Red Snapper", I took a bite and immediately knew it wasn't the usual "Red Snapper"(Tai) I'd just eaten. The flesh was firm and almost translucent, and had just the slightest light resistance to each bite. So I asked Hiro-san if this was Ma-dai or Japanese Sea Bream, to which he responded with a small smile, "yes, wild, line caught Ma-dai from Akashi Strait". For those who say there's no difference between Tai and Ma-dai……..

The best I can describe this dish, is a sort of Kiku Dango(chrysanthemum dumpling), filled with shrimp paste, in a mild, sweet dashi broth laced with chrysanthemum.

The outside of the dumpling is solid and a few centimeters thick, and seems to be made with Kanten(agar), slightly sweet in flavor. The interior filling is a mild shrimp paste. Again, if one combines all items together, the textures are excellent, though overall this dish is very mild in flavor.

My favorite dish of the evening….the most luxurious Kani Miso, I've ever had!

No there's no Miso in the dish, Kani Miso is the brains, roe, and other innards of the crab mixed into paste. It is usually eaten in the shell, heated and a raw egg cracked on it. In this case there a dab of crab meat, and uni, making it the most amazing dish! Words cannot describe………

At this point Jack had to visit the facilities…..and we got the first hint of the most traditional service at Urasawa. Our Server, ran in front of Jack to open the sliding door for Jack. When Jack was returning from the restroom, the sound of the restroom door queued Her to Jack's return. She sprinted and arrived in time to open the door to an amazed Jack! same thing happened when the elevator arrived on the second floor, and the bell rang! You arrive back at your table, napkin folded, with a fresh oshibori.

Braised Kyushu Beef. Anyone familiar with Buta No Kakuni(Braised Pork) will understand the rich, slightly sweet-soy flavor.

Upon touch the meat almost melted, and yet retained enough chewiness. As Captain Jack said…'whoa, this is ultimate low and slow braising."

At this point Hiro-san seemed to conjure a lively lobster(Ise Ebi) out of thin air, and started working on it very quickly. It was probably the fastest I've ever seen anyone work with a lobster….in fact the tail meat was still quivering on the board.

A charcoal brazier with broth was placed in front of us.

And a plate of Foie Gras, the most marbled Kobe Beef I've ever seen, and Lobster Meat was placed before us.

Hiro-san asked us to let our Server do the first piece of Foie Gras for us, but both Captain Jack and I understood from the beginning how to proceed. Place the Foie Gras in the broth for the briefest amount of time (count to 3), place in the chilled dipping sauce(stops cooking) and eat. The exterior of the Foie Gras has seized a bit, and when you bite into it, there's the mildest of resistance…and BOOM! Foie Gras goodness, oh my! Same with the beef, we watched the family of four who came in later just cooking the beef to death……somehow it just made me sad. The lobster was really nothing new, I've had lobster sashimi several times, and still do not really enjoy it…flavorless, tough….I'd much rather have Ama-Ebi. After finishing the dish off by cleansing your palate by drinking the broth(watch the heat or you might burn your tongue and risk ruining your taste buds for the rest of your meal).

At this point a dish of Gari arrived:

Marking the approach of the Sushi portion of our meal. Our sake had run out and so we ordered another. This is as good a place to stop as any, I'll conclude with a few photos and some comments, and we'll do part 2 next, either tomorrow or Thursday.

A few comments:

Reservations – Urasawa is by reservation only, there is a maximum of ten customers, and a single sitting per evening. There is a 24 hour cancellation policy, you will be charge $100 if you cancel within 24 hours. I made my reservations in October, for December, there were only 6 customers the whole evening, so it doesn't look as if reservations are too difficult.

Timing – We'd advise early reservations, say around 6pm. It is a long multi-course meal, and starting early will give you a better "spacing". If you arrive later, Hiro-san will work hard to "catch up", but you won't be able to converse with him as much as we did.

Here's Hiro-san jamming the 3 meats for Shabu Shabu:

For customers who arrived at about 730.

Other "Stuff":

– The only water served is Evian, at $8 a bottle.

– For the first portion you will be provided with fresh spoons and other eating implements for courses that need more than chopsticks.

– Anything placed on the counter will be moved from the counter to you by the Server. It's really easy to get anxious……

Part 2 of this post can be found here.

Part 3 of this post can be found here.

(Rail)Road Trip: Los Angeles

December 11, 2006 mmm-yoso Filipino Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Salvadoran Restaurants, Sisig

Over the last 5 months or so, I've been juggling a few ideas in my head. The ideas had come from a variety of sources; on my trip to Portland I truly enjoyed the walking and public transit, so I kept thinking about doing this in large sprawling LA. After all Angelinos always joke, "nobody walks in LA…are you kidding?" Then, there's Andy, the ABC, who will often catch the train down to San Diego to visit his sister. There is a third part, to be revealed at the end of the post. And finally, the fourth part, which was The Missus telling me, "why don't you just get off your butt and do it?"

And so I started doing a bit of planning back in September, and here I was at Santa Fe Depot catching a ride to Union Station on the Surfliner.

I enjoy traveling by train, the Missus and I really enjoyed taking the Coast Starlight from Seattle to Oakland a few years back.

This trip from San Diego to Union Station took about two hours and forty-five minutes, and here I was in LA:

I arrived pretty early, at about 9 am, left Union Station, and headed off in the direction of the hotel I was staying at, the New Otani. Once there, even though it was too early for check-in, I checked my bag with the Bell desk, and started on my way.

You see, I hadn't had breakfast, and my belly was starting to protest.

Unencumbered, I headed up first, and eventually arrived at the Grand Central Market on Broadway.

This bustling public market has about 40 vendors selling a variety of items.

Everything from meat to produce are sold at the various stalls.

You do see an interesting cross section of people at the market, though most of the clientele are of modest means.

I've always enjoyed all the neon signs……and of course, nowhere do the signs shine brighter than over the various food stalls.

The variety is also pretty stunning.

Though I did have something already in mind.

Yes, I'm finally getting around to the food. I decided on a Pork and Cheese Pupusa($2.00), and you could watch your pupusa being formed than made.

I had a seat at the "badly in need of a wiping" counter, and a container of Curtido, that pickled spiced cabbage "slaw". And in a few minutes my Pupusa arrived, which I quickly garnished with a nice amount of curtido and a touch of hot sauce.

First thing I noticed was that the masa(dough) was much lighter and not as dense as the versions I've eaten in San Diego. The filling was fine, though a little light on the cheese, and though the pupusa seemed very light, it was very hard to cut with the plastic knife…in fact I snapped the first one in half! The curtido was on the mild side, crisp, and did not have a strong pickled flavor, though it was quite refreshing.

Now properly invigorated, I stepped back out on gritty, noisy Broadway, and was on my way….

Grand Central Market
317 S. Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Open Daily 9am to 6pm

I decided that since it was still rather early, I'd walk back down to Mitsuwa Market and check out what was going on. There is one building located in that "dead area" between Broadway and Little Tokyo on Main Street.

On every trip into the area, the Linda Lea Theatre has a strange pull on me. I've always passed by, thinking that it might be gone, but it's always been there. From what I've read, the building was built in the 1920's, and in the 60's became a Japanese movie house. It has been closed since the 1980's, and reminds me of one of those sad scenes of sentimental, aged disrepair we often see in movies. After I arrived home, I found this article, and it seems things are looking up. I hope so.

I walked past the Higashi Honganji on Third Street:

I crossed the street and into the monolithic Little Tokyo Shopping Center.

And was quite surprised at how quite and almost empty the entire shopping center was, at 11am in the morning!

I decided to walk on over to Chinatown, on the way through Honda Plaza I saw a long line of people. Geez, it was like they were waiting for the second coming of Elvis or somethin'.

But no, they were in line waiting to get into Sushi Gen, at 11am!

As I was walking through El Pueblo Park, I took a short side trip to the Chinese American Museum, located in the historic Garnier Building in El Pueblo Park.

This used to be the "center" of old Chinatown in Los Angeles. Chinatown was moved to make way for Union Station and the 101 Freeway.

Here's a photo of the Nativity Scene in Plaza de Los Angeles.

I wandered up Spring Street…

And than over to Broadway. Here's the obligatory photo of the Chinese Gateway.

About this time I started getting a bit hungry, so I started through all the usual suspects Empress Pavillion, Mandarin Deli……..but decided on something else. A few weeks ago Peter from Sandwich Emporium, mentioned a Filipino Restaurant, Asian Noodles, so I thought I'd give them a try.

Located on the far South end of Chinatown on Spring Street, Asian Noodles is a clean, well lit, and very modern in appearance. Signatures of Brian Viloria, Jasmine Trias, and many others decorate one of the walls in the restaurant.

Upon entering the restaurant, I noticed that the portions looked to be pretty large, and since I was on my own I needed something I could finish, and really didn't want any Mami – the Filipino Noodle soup. Now added to this was that Creen's posts on Tribu Grill, had sent me over the deep end, I decided to order the Sisig($9.95):

First thing I noticed was that this wasn't like most of the Sisig in San Diego, which tends to use left over Lechon Kawali(stewed than fried pork belly). This was without a doubt pork head, and ummm "parts". The meat was chopped and stir fried with vinegar, chilies, garlic, and other spices, onions are added, and it's served on a sizzling plate with some lemon. The flavor was on the gamier side, but not bitter, and there are a few "crunchies", but the flavor is not bad. I could've used a stronger vinegar flavor, but this dish wasn't as oily or salty as Sisig tends to be. I'd eat here again, and though the Manager is quite rude and a bit surly, the Wait Staff were very nice, especially after they saw me plow through this and a full order of rice($1.50), in about 15 minutes.

On the menu the Asian Noodles in National City was mentioned, but the menus share only a few similarities. The menu at Asian Noodles also contains a few dishes like Bicol Express that are not commonly served at the Filipino restaurants that I've been to.

Asian Noodles
643 N Spring St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Open Mon-Wed 11am-930pm
Thurs-Sun 11am-10pm

While finishing up lunch, my partner in crime for this trip, Captain Jack of San Diego Restaurant Reviews called me on my cell. You see I had made reservations for dinner at a tiny little restaurant called:

I did take a few photos, but I don't know if anyone's interested…….

Road Trip: Dezhou Pa Ji from 101 Noodle Express – Alhambra(LA)

December 7, 2006 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip

Two days ago, JosephE wrote a comment on our post on Mei Jia Deli with the idea of letting the Missus do Her own post. What a great idea! And I think we found the perfect subject – Dezhou Chicken from 101 Noodle Express. Fasten your seatbelts, here it comes………Heeeere’s the Missus!

Driving West on Valley Boulevard after lunch at Mei Jia, shaved ice in hand, I suddenly spotted the sign "Shan Dong Dezhou Pa Ji", which instantly brought back memories of growing up in QingDao, Shan Dong, China.

Back when I was a little kid, we were all pretty poor, according to America standards at least. But we didn’t know any better since everybody had the same things, which were not much. We were just little kids running around naive and happy. Head over heels about Andy Lau, The Shaolin Temple starring Jet Li, and stuff like that.

The refrigerator didn’t become a household item until about the mid 1990’s. Before that, we all needed to stop by the open-air market daily. Streets were blocked up for vendors to set up their stands, one next to another, running over several blocks. Most of what was sold was homegrown or homemade, and each vendor specialized in only one thing, either one type of vegetable, or fresh made tofu, or some kind of fruit. Bargaining is not only to be expected, it is required, beyond just a game, it is an art of its own. It is common for people to spend 5 minutes to bargain down an item saving just 5 cents and walk away with a bunch of green onions worth about 12 cents. Such a victory always brought great joy.

There are also livestock, mostly live chickens, cooped up in a pen, ready to be picked up. For a young man trying to "wow" a perspective girl’s family, nothing is better than arriving with a big, live rooster in hand, upside down bound up around the feet. It always brings a smile from the future in-law’s face. No wonder avian flu often started in Asia! Then again, I never got any food borne disease when I was growing up, no E-coli, no listeria, no hepatitis. I was as healthy as a country bumpkin should be, right along the "growth curve" which we didn’t have in China back then.

On the other hand, everything is always fresh. Fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, fresh killed pork hanging upside down with a seal of approval of blue ink promptly displayed. The Butcher’s greasy apron, the vegetable sellers muddy hand identified the preferred vendors. Meals are prepared daily, my Grandmother would get up before everyone else to prepare breakfast, then lunch and dinner while working full time as a School Principle.

There were Government grocery stores, selling mostly soy sauce, vinegar, or oil, and other rationed items. One of my Aunt’s worked in one of those 7-11 sized stores. She always smelled like a marinade mixture of soy sauce and vinegar. When in season, there would be piles of tomatoes, napa cabbage, or blue crab running sideways along sidewalk all directions at the same time, in that situation, my Aunt would spend most of her time running after those crabs than really selling them. And nothing is more entertaining to a kid with not much toys ( I was not deprived as a child though, I have everything everyone else did if not more, we were considered pretty well to do in the neighborhood).

Well back to this Dezhou Chicken thing. I really don’t know where Dezhou is or why this chicken is so famous. The only thing I know is that it tasted so good, and I remember exactly where the little shop was that we usually got the chicken from. It was always a special treat, a once or twice a year type of thing. Chicken was rare and expensive back then.

OK, the little shop that sold this chicken was located at the beginning of the market which was right down the hill from where my Grandmother’s house was. Tucked behind the vegetable vendor, in a dark little room, the chicken was sold by this dark little man, after you ordered, he would bring out one of the dark little chickens soaked forever in the dark broth in a big iron pot behind him, and hand it to you. The chicken was small, not like the enhanced double D in the States, more like A and a half. The most delicious part are the legs. The bone will slide right off the meat. The meat is dark and full of 5 spice, soy sauce, sugar and wine flavors. The meat is not mushy and tasting like dead meat. It is firm and has a slight chew to it. A family of 10 usually will share one chicken and I often dreamt of having one all to myself. My own neck to knaw on.

Since I moved to States and I haven’t seen nor thought about this chicken for more than 15 years. Now you see how excited I was when I saw this sign.

My chance at last. A good husband as Kirk is, he made an immediate U-turn in the middle of the busy Valley Blvd ( not all that unusual in Alhambra). We had to buy a chicken and they’d better not run out of it, as it was all I was thinking about when I walked into the restaurant. It was a typical, actually a much cleaner eatery, than the norm in the San Gabriel Valley. I was so excited I started ordering in English and the Girl gave me a baffled look. I had to slow down and order in Chinese. It was $8.70 for half a chicken ( still not cheap), for a contorted, dead yogi style half chicken in a Styrofoam container. By the way, the contortion is part of the style. We Chinese know how to maximize space, like twisting the chicken into little balls or squeezing 1 billion people along the east side of a Country.

Back to this chicken, the color is much lighter, the chicken is bigger than a whole chicken was in China, and the taste, while pretty good was much lighter than I remembered. The flavor was not as condensed or as hearty. Still, it was very good. Kirk, on the other hand, didn’t think much of it and I don’t blame him. If I never had this kind of chicken, I probably come to the same conclusion.

In conclusion, I was disappointed in the chicken, but that didn’t dampen my spirit at all. I became wordy and giddy, called my Mom and I could tell she was brought back to those days in China as well. Maybe it is not the chicken I was looking for. Maybe it is something else, like the feeling of having nothing, but still desiring nothing, extremely content, always feeling like the richest kid on the block since I had everything I needed or knew to desire. No desire, therefore no disappointment.

Now go and find your Dezhou Chicken!

101 Noodle Express
1408 E. Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA

Road Trip: Mei Jia Deli – San Gabriel(LA)

December 5, 2006 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip

*** Mei Jia Deli has since closed……

On this short road trip, we decided to do something different. Instead of making plans for meals (other than Komasa), we decided to just drive and walk around and see what caught our fancy. So, after sushi at Komasa and driving around, we parked our car on Valley just West of San Gabriel Boulevard, and got out to stretch our legs. Somehow, out of all of the restaurants(and there are hundreds of them), Mei Jia Deli caught the Missus’s eye. Actually the Chinese sign with Tianjin got the attention of the Missus. As we approached the restaurant, the Missus brightened, and kept repeating "oh, oh, Jian Bing Guo Zi, oh, oh Jian Bing Guo Zi". She literally sprinted into the restaurant and started up a conversation with the Waitress.

Unfortunately, Jian Bing Guo Zi was only sold between 8am and 2pm, but the Waitress, a very chatty lady said "it is better than what you get in Beijing", which practically made the Missus swoon. You see, the Missus has fond memories of getting up in the morning and running to the corner to buy hot Jian Bing Guo Zi while living in Beijing. I could just see the wave of nostalgia cresting…….As we walked back to the car, I could see a smile on the Missus’s face. Upon inquiry She told me, "I haven’t heard Beijing and Tianjin accents like that in years!" I swear that I could hear the Missus mumbling "Jian Bing Guo Zi" in Her sleep.

The next afternoon, after checking out the Dog Show we headed over to Mei Jia Deli, which was packed with a very loud, boisterous, and cantankerous group. It really doesn’t take much to fill tiny Mei Jia Deli, there are only 9 tables in the whole restaurant, and four of them had been placed together for a large group. We ended up with a small "spare" table, which usually sees duty as the condiment bar. You can see it in the photo from another visit, good old table number 7. If you’re expecting a bright, clean, and shiny restaurant…well this ain’t it! The floors looked like they haven’t been mopped in a while, the tables and the menus are a decidedly "San Gabriel sticky".

After looking over the menu, a portion of which is only in Chinese, the Missus starting ordering. When She ordered the Guo Ba(called "rice crust", but it doesn’t resemble rice crust in the least bit) the Waitress told Her not to order it. She basically did the "you no like that" thing, She did say the she was "from Beijing and she even hates the dish, and many Chinese customers end up ordering it, and not eating it." I think that She knew that the Missus wasn’t from Tianjin by her accent, and thought we, and especially me, the only non-Chinese in the restaurant would not enjoy the dish.

Of course we got the Jian Bing Guo Zi($2.99). The Missus had spoken on length about Jian Bing Guo Zi, about how the thin crepe/pancake batter is spread on a special iron, or sometimes the top of a barrel, and egg is cracked on top; it is important to note that you should see the separation of white and yolk. A sauce is then smeared on the egg covered batter, some Youtiao(fried cruller) is placed on the crepe, and it is folded up, not unlike a burrito of sorts.

I took a bite, and was totally unimpressed. I looked over to the Missus, who said, "this isn’t very good", the crepe had no taste, just a slight sour flavor, and was not soft and fluffy, the Youtiao was mushy, overall not very good. The bean sauce smeared on the Jian Bing Guo Zi just made it more soggy…….

The Gou Bu Li Bao Zi ("Stuffed buns that dogs are not interested in" – $5.00). I’m sure there’s a story behind the name.

We ordered the Pork, Egg, and Shrimp version, and while the filling was excellent, with large pieces of shrimp, and cloud ears fungus adding a nice crunch, the buns themselves were tough. I noticed that the buns had not been steamed correctly, heat had been allowed to escape making the dough tough and rubbery, not soft and fluffy. When I mentioned this to the Missus, She nodded in agreement, and asked, "How did you get to be so picky". To which I answered, "guess……" Having a Wife and Mother In Law from Shandong will make you that way.

Fennel and Pork Dumplings(actually Dill – $5.00 for 12):

We both thought these were excellent. The wrappers had just the perfect amount of pull and chewiness, probably the best I’ve had in a restaurant. The filling, while not having much meat, was perfect in quantity. I’ve had this type of dumpling before that had a large amount of filling, and the taste of dill just overpowered everything. In this case, the amount of filling was perfect for this type of Jiaozhi. Perfect with a splash of Black Vinegar.

Lamb in Brown Sauce with Sesame Cake($13.99), which is I think is the most expensive item on the menu:

This was brought out in the cast iron wok it was cooked in, the lamb flavor, though on the mild side was good, and the flavoring was just about perfect. Everything was in perfect balance, from the amount of cumin to the slight "heat", all ingredients worked in harmony. I was really jonesing for a bowl of rice…but we are talking about Northern Chinese Food here. Which brings me to the teeth shattering, dry, flavorless Sesame Cake, definitely not my cup of tea. For consolation, all the Missus could say was, "you should have this in China, it’s even harder and drier."

The waitress brought us 2 bowls of Xiao Mi Zhou(Millet Porridge – Free, if you want a BIG bowl it’s 50 cents). We had noticed that the two really loud women on the table next to us had only ordered about 6 bucks worth of food, but were helping themselves to the porridge. They would just stand up, brush past us, walk behind the counter to the pot and help themselves. When the Waitress brought them new bowls of porridge, they just poured off what was in the fresh bowl into their bowls, and dump the bowls on the counter. All told, each one of them had 4 bowls a piece, and that was only while we were there. They had been eating before we arrived, and were still eating when we left.

After taking a sip the Missus put Her spoon down, and never picked it back up. The porridge has a texture like runny-grits, and has no flavor at all. The Missus told me that this was a more refined version of Millet Porridge, most times the millet hasn’t been processed and there are hulls in the porridge. The version She grew up eating had more of a nutty flavor, probably because it hadn’t been processed as much as this.

Still, we had enjoyed our meal, and decided to go back the next morning. This time we lucked out, it was Sunday morning, and there were a few open spaces in the "parking lot from hell" that Mei Jia Deli shares with 3 other restaurants.

So having been seated, the Missus proceeded to order the Guo Ba Cai($2.50), and again the Waitress told Her not to order it. But this time the Missus stood firm, with the help of the 4 people on the next table who yelled out "let her have the Guo Ba Cai". They were eating Guo Ba Cai, and I’m sure the Waitress didn’t try and dissuade them from ordering it.

Looks interesting, doesn’t it? This concoction uses the crepe portion of the Jian Bing Guo Zi, cut into strips and mixed into a thick, brown, gooey gravy. The dish is topped with cilantro, chili paste, and fermented tofu. And it’s delici-yoso!!! The dish hits all of the sour-salty-spicy notes, and is very hearty. Caution, it is also quite salty, but we loved it, to the amusement of our Waitress.

More Dumplings (6 Chive and Pork, 6 Cabbage and Pork – $4.50):

The Missus asked for mixed dumplings, and they arrived steaming. The dumpling wrappers were excellent, just as those we had yesterday. This Jiaozhi fell far short in the filling department. The Pork and Chive dumplings were bland, with not enough chive, and tasteless pork. The same bland profile for the pork and cabbage dumplings as well.

Sesame Cake with Beef($2.50).

I thought that perhaps the presence of 5 spice beef would moisten the Sesame Cake, boy was I wrong. I almost lost several teeth. Still, can you believe breakfast for 10 bucks, in a restaurant?

We’ll most definitely return to Mei Jia Deli, there are a few more items we’d like to try. The place can be a bit intimidating, the people can be loud, abrasive, rude, and aggressive, and we’re talking about the customers! The Waitresses(there are two) are nice considering the circumstances. Most of the clientele have Tianjin or Beijing accents according to the Missus, and Mandarin is spoken exclusively. If you’re able to find an unoccupied space in the parking lot during most hours, give yourself a pat on the back, and go buy a lottery ticket!

Mei Jia Deli
534 East Valley Blvd. #8
San Gabriel, CA 91776