mmm-yoso – Page 40

Nhu Y Revisited – A “Com-tam-plation”……..

October 30, 2024 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

The Missus was really disappointed in the Com Tan Dac Biet from Pho Duyen Mai. She immediately made it my mission to find a decent Com Tam. One of the first places I had in mind was Nhu Y. It had been a while since I last dined there….man it was in 2019! Of course, most of my visits to Nhu Y was for the Bun Mam, though I recalled the place had a decent Com Tam Dac Biet….but that was years ago and "FOY" Elle had mentioned that portion sizes at Nhu Y had gotten smaller recently, so when deciding to visit, I didn't set my expectations too high.

The parking lot where Nhu Y is located can be hit or miss, but we managed to find parking in the lot on this morning.

Nhu Y Rev 01

The outdoor area of the restaurant was filled with those "guys doing coffee", but the dining room was empty except for two other parties.

Of course the Missus got the Com Tam Dac Biet ($13.25).

Nhu Y Rev 02

This was very "old school", which the Missus appreciated. The Bi was sliced thin and dusted with roasted rice powder and was nice and porky. The "cha" the egg-pork "loaf" was on the dry and chewy side. The pork chop was nicely flavored, salty-mildly sweet but was also quite chewy. The Tan Hu Ky, crisp bean curd with shrimp paste, was nice and crisp. The broken rice was quite rustic, but decently textured. The nuoc mam wasn't overly sweet as many versions are these days. Not bad overall and decently priced for these days.

When we walked in, there was a petit woman just destroying the Bun Cha Hanoi. It was quite impressive. So, I decided to get that ($14.25).

Nhu Y Rev 03 Nhu Y Rev 02b I know that Elle said that the portion sizes here have decreased, but I thought this was pretty generous. Lot's of bun and a good amount of lettuce and herbs,

In terms of the proteins; the sliced pork was the better of the two this time around, nicely marinated, good savory-sweet balance. The meatballs were on the tough side of the scale. But when wrapped in the bun lined lettuce, garnished with mint, cilantro, cucumbers, bean sprouts, and pickled radish, dunked into the nuoc mam, this made for a very nice bite. I do wish there was more pickled veggies though.

I finished things off topping the bun with meat, veggies, and pouring on the nuoc mam cham. I did not leave hungry!

Nhu Y Rev 04

This was a decently priced meal and the Missus thought the com tam was pretty good, but She still wanted to try a few other places. Well, it was time for some additional "com-tam-plation"!

Nhu Y Restaurant
4712 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Nhu Y Rev 05

Stay Tuned!

The Curry Club (Formerly Zen Curry)

October 28, 2024 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants

Back at the end of July, I thought that Zen Curry, which had been "temporarily closed" since summer of 2023, had permanently closed. As always, our great "Friends of Yoso" (FOYs) came thru, as Elle notified me that Zen Curry was becoming something named "Curry Club". It was the same owners and the place had their soft opening in the middle of August. In the beginning the place was only opened for dinner; so I decided to wait until lunch hours were available. A couple of weeks back, I noticed that the Curry Club now had lunch hours, but only on weekends. On a recent weekend, I finally decided to check the place out, to see the state of the curry.

Curry Club 01

I arrived right past the posted opening time of 11am and easily found parking. I quickly noticed that the sign for the business has not been put up yet.

Curry Club 02

It seems that the interior has been changed a bit, though it still looks simple and functional.

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There were folks already in the place when I arrived.

The menu seemed similar to what I recall at Zen Curry, but this difference caught my attention.

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Interesting……it seems like the Curry Club has created a mechanism for controlling the spice and associated flavors.

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Curry Club 06

My experience with the tonkatsu over the years had not been very good; so I decided to stick with the "meat product" I had enjoyed the best here, the Spam® Katsu.

Asking about the various chili powders I was told that the best approach to determining which spice level you enjoyed was to take a spoon of the curry and sprinkle a bit of the chili powder in it, starting from the mildest of the three, and determine which suited you the best.

I thought that was an interesting approach, so as soon as my plate arrived, I started the process…..

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As soon as I seasoned that first spoonful, I stopped…..well sheesh; what about the blog???? I guess I got a bit too excited……

Anyway, here's the Spam® Katsu Curry, minus one spoon of the sauce.

Curry Club 08 Curry Club 09 In the end, I settled with the Cayenne Pepper seasoning as it had a nice bit of heat, mild smokiness, a bit of a "bite" if you will, with a touch of sweetness. I actually tasted the seasoning by itself!

Zen Curry had a habit of "over-frying" the Spam Katsu and this looked basically the same. Still it was crisp without being hard. The meat product was nice and salty….heck, it was Spam®, whaddya expect?

One of the things I disliked about the curry at Zen was how pasty and bland it had been on some visits. This version was smoother and creamier; it was still a bit weak in terms of beefiness, but was not overly sweet, and not very pungent overall.

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I enjoyed the "add your spice" step, I think it's a bit more than a gimmick. I'll probably return somewhere down the line and try the tonkatsu or maybe the "Curry Moco". And maybe add in some garlic chips?

Until then, I think it's getting to be curry season(ing) around here. I need to start my "rounds" again! Any suggestions on where to start? Does Hinotez still do curry? They used to be a favorite of mine….though they're only open for dinner these days.

The Curry Club
7309 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Tues – Fri 5pm – 9pm
Sat – Sun 11am – 3pm, 5pm – 9pm
Closed on Mondays

Curry Club 00

London – Dinner at A Wong Part 2

October 27, 2024 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Chinese Restaurants, Fine Dining, London, Travel

**** So, this is part 2 of our dinner. If you haven't read part 1, you can find it here.

After the "Banquet" and the "Dim Sum", the next set of items up were named "Fish".

Anhui Province Red Braised Fermented Wild Seabass, I'm thinking that this was supposed to be a homage to Chòu Guì Yú, which uses a brine based fermentation technique?

We enjoyed the textural variations within the dish. The ikura like fish roe presented a savory-brininess. The fish was tender, not overly salty.

The "Why We Don't Need to Eat Shark's Fin Soup" was interesting, subbing agar for the shark fin.

We were told to pour the soup, which had a nice gelatinous richness onto the Braised Abalone with Shiitake Mushroom and Sea Cucumber which was part of the "set". It was a bit of overkill. For some reason the abalone tasted somewhat bitter?

And then there was the Garlic Steamed Tiger Prawn, Mung Bean Noodle, with "Superior" Soy. Not sure why they needed to add the Superior Soy to the name…..I use it in my dishes all the time and think of it as a kitchen staple?

Nice balanced garlic-ginger tones in this; but the tiger prawn was over-cooked and tough.

Next up were the "Snacks".

Starting with the riff on Rou Jia Mo; something we loved during our trip to Shaanxi.

A very interesting put it together yourself presentation. The mantou was a bit too doughy; it should be more crisp as well. The lamb had really been stewed in the juices and sauce, but was quite mild in flavor. It seemed a bit "tame"…which I think was the issue we had with many of the dishes here.

Soy Chicken with Ginger Oil and Oscietra Caviar. Man Ossetra Caviar, with Soy Sauce Chicken?

It was accompanied by some soy sauce for dipping. The caviar and soy sauce did a great job balancing out the dish which skewed sweet.

We did enjoy the texture of the Pulled Noodle Cracker with Japanese Wagyu and Shrimp Chili Oil.

But the Wagyu seemed a bit lost here. The chili oil was savory, but wasn't particularly spicy.

Next up were the "Five Flavours"; now you know how much I reference suan–tian–ku–la–xian, the sour-sweet-bitter-spicy-salty metaphor for balanced dishes.

Gong Bao Chicken, Roasted Peanuts, and Hot Pot Essence.

This was a nice bite as the ma-la (numbing spice) came thru cleanly.

We were provided with Nashi Pear edges with Sichuan Peppercorn as a palate cleanser for the final dishes.

The presentation of the Sweet and Sour Corn Fed Chicken, Thai basil, Pineapple and Candied Walnuts was eye catching.

But like many of the other dishes, the "Emperor had no clothes". It was too sweet; the chicken was not crisp enough and bland. Not enough basil to really add that anise goodness to the dish.

Not sure why the Roasted Cashew, Tamarind, Dried Shrimp and Coriander Cheung fun wasn't on the "dim sum" menu.

The Missus enjoyed the crisp youtiao that crowned the dish; it again skewed a bit sweet, though the cheong fun was nicely texture with a nice "pull" to it.

The silken tofu in the Chrysanthemum Tofu and Lemongrass Broth was beautifully silken.

The dish came with a very nice soup spoon of sauce on the side.

We were told to eat the tofu in combination with the Yunnan Seared Beef with Mint, Chili and Lemongrass.

Which was fine. As you can tell, we were getting a bit worn down by this time.

And my notepad on my phone was getting quite full.

On the bright side; the last "main dish" was quite interesting. The Young Coconut with Madagascan Black Pepper Sauce.

I know, doesn't look like much from this angle. But turn the plate around a bit……

Yes, there's more black truffle here. We were surprised that it went well with the slightly sweet and nutty coconut. The black pepper sauce really balanced the dish out with the fried shiso leaf adding in that touch of minty-anise-vegetal tones.

As you all know, I'm not much of a dessert guy, but I found the Coconut Water Ice to be quite refreshing. Especially after so many items.

The Candied Walnuts with Blue Cheese was an interesting, very non-Chinese item for dessert.

The Missus enjoyed the version of Dragon's Beard Candy provided.

We took the Petit-Fours with us. The Missus enjoyed them with coffee the next morning.

So, if you've made thru both posts, I'm sure you can figure out what we thought of the meal. The service was a bit hovering, but very nice. The presentation of the dishes were quite excellent; but we don't eat with our eyes. For a place whose owner claims to be a "Chef-Anthropologist", many of the dishes really didn't capture the essence and soul of the cuisine of the various regions of China to us.

As for the price; it was 200£ per person plus another 200£ for the wine pairing….which the Missus liked BTW. So, all told including service charges/tips the bill came out to about $1k US!

We'll have to mark this one up to "well, at least we finally tried A Wong".

A. Wong
70 Wilton Rd.
Pimlico, London, United Kingdom

London – Dinner at A Wong Part 1

October 26, 2024 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Chinese Restaurants, Fine Dining, London, Travel

**** OK, this is going to be a two-parter, since dinner was 30 courses!

I was really excited about our first dinner in London. I'd made reservations at A Wong which has the honor of being the first Chinese restaurant with 2 Michelin Stars outside of China. I had purchased the A Wong Cookbook which is no longer printed, way back in 2016. I'd tried some recipes with mixed results. Yet, I believed eating at the restaurant would provide some insight.

The restaurant was located about a mile-and-a-half from our hotel and the Missus decided we should walk. It was a pretty nice walk as we strolled thru the Green Park and past Buckingham Palace.

I did enjoy the walk.

A Wong is located on Wilton Road in Pimlico and it's a fairly low-keyed spot, between a Mexican restaurant and a Brazilian Steakhouse. We were welcomed as we arrived and seated at the bar.

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The menu is like a book, the 30 courses divided up into 6 sections with specific "themes" like the "Banquet", "Dim Sum", and "Fish". We also took the wine pairing as well. As for the Chef/Owner, Andrew Wong has quite the story, as does the location, which was formerly his parent's restaurant.

You can read the link and the page from the menu below if interested.

Apparently, the Chef has travelled across China and wants his menu to reflect his travels. I don't think I need to say how difficult it would be to pay homage to all 8 great traditions as well as regional cuisine like Hakka, Yunnan, and others. Chef Wong does fancy himself as a Culinary "Anthropologist" so this was going to be interesting.

The staffing of the restaurant is kinda amazing; it seems like there's a 1:1 ratio of staff to customers. The downside is that there's bit of "hovering" going on, which can be somewhat uncomfortable at times.

The meal was brought out in "groups", the first 8 dishes, comprising the "Banquet" arrived in unison. I must say the presentation was quite good.

That's Fish Fragrant Oyster on the right and Beans with wasabi soy sauce, and Osmanthus Jelly on the left.

The Yúxiāng Qiézi (fish fragrant aubergine) Oyster was first.

The oyster was nice and briny; but things basically stopped there as the "flavoring" was quite mild. I was looking for the layering of flavors, pungent-sour-a hint of sweet-spice, but this really lacked that.

We were instructed to have the Osmanthus Jelly next.

Mild pungent tones from the wasabi soy; we enjoyed the refreshing jelly.

We found the Yunnan Sweet Potato with Tamarind and Shrimp Caramel to be overly sweet.

The sweet potato noodles were the highlight of this, great texture, not overly sweet, somewhat vegetal.

The Smacked Cucumber with Trout Roe was decent.

Crisp cucumber, the briny trout roe added a nice layer of flavor, but it could have used more garlic and assertive – refreshing flavors which to me, are the hallmark of this dish.

The "Tiger Salad" with Cumin Lamb and Split Buttermilk was too sour-tangy, though I guess if you added more cilantro you could have gotten some weird Jeera Chas, but then that wouldn't be Chinese cuisine.

To be perfectly honest, the lamb was pretty much lost in this.

I was looking forward to the Cantonese Honey Roasted Pork with Grated Foie Gras.

Loved that foie gras powder; it did provide that "soul of foie gras", liverish-offaly-savory tones. Heck, I'd sprinkle it on my toast every morning! The pork was barely lukewarm, chewy, and the marinade too sweet.

The Isle of Mull Seared Scallop and Honey Glazed Char Siu was way too sweet (it seemed a common theme here?). The "crackers" on each side of the filling was really crumbly and really made a mess.

Our favorite dish of the set was also the most interesting looking.

That's the Zhou Dynasty Cured Scallop and Stuffed Crab Claw. Within the confines of the crisp noodles resided briny-savory-pleasantly sweet scallop and a stuffed crab claw.

Balanced flavors-seasoning and great textural contrasts. I mentioned how funny it was that our favorite dish so far looked like a "palm tawashi"!

Next up were the "Dim Sum" courses. Would they be changing the course of the meal? Six dishes were delivered to our table.

First up was the "Shanghai Steamed Dumplings" (aka Xiao Long Bao) with Ginger Infused Vinegar.

The "skin" was on the gummy side, the "soup" was very "gingery" (I guess there's no false advertising here), which overwhelmed the flavor of the dumplings.

The Wood Ear Fungus acted as a good vehicle for the mild sweet-sour tones of the dish.

The slice of onion was definitely needed to balance things out.

The Dim Sum Duo was up next for us.

First off, the wrappers on both the shumai and har gow were really "rubbery". The pork cracklin' was an interesting addition to the shumai, in fact, like the vinegar foam for the har gow, both were the most interesting features of the dish, which otherwise would be very mediocre dim sum to us.

We were instructed to have the Choy Sum with Century Egg as a palate cleanser before the last two dishes.

The Missus, who loves pidan, thought this too mild.

Next up was the Raw Wagyu, Fermented Meat Paste.

Being a big fan of tartare, I was looking forward to this; but it was way too sweet in my opinion. The slices of raw pear just exacerbated things.

Another dish that caught my attention was the "Memories of Peking Duck", foie gras, and smoked duck.

Oh my, caviar on one end, truffle on the other! We were instructed to eat this in two bites, to fully enjoy the dish.

Not a fan of the pancake like wrapper, but the smoked duck was very tasty. We couldn't make out the foie gras. The "truffle bite" added a pleasant mildly sweet-earthy flavor to things. The caviar seemed to amplify the saltiness of the smoked duck and seemed like overkill.

Well, at this point we had made it thru the dim sum but were still less than halfway thru the meal! There were still 16 more dishes left!

If you're still intrigued by the dishes here, stay tuned for part 2!

London – Checking out Fortnum and Mason

October 25, 2024 mmm-yoso Airport/Airline/Cruise/Rail Food, London, Markets & Grocers, Travel, yoso-silly

Man, time is flying by isn't it? We've been doing so much traveling since Covid subsided. I think with getting older comes more a sense of urgency. The desire to get those "bucket list" items is higher. What do you think? Anyway, hopefully better late than never.

We had flown thru Heathrow so many times. Mostly as a layover to Paris. This time, we decided to stick around and explore London a bit. After consultation with the Missus, I booked our stay in the Piccadilly area. Yes, it's tourist central, but heck, we are tourists after all, right? We stayed at the Dilly a historic hotel.

As we usually did we flew on British Airways, Business Class. And as I mentioned in a previous post, it seems that the food has returned to pre-Covid levels.

That celeriac gratin was pretty good.

I did make the mistake of ordering the "Full Breakfast", which lived up to its name….I was quite full after this.

The Heathrow Express made getting from the airport to Piccadilly a snap and our hotel was centrally located. We had slept well on this flight and the Missus arrived just rarin' to go. I had made dinner reservations at a place I'd wanting to visit since I bought their cookbook in 2016. But first, the Missus wanted to explore a bit. Thre is of course, so much to see here!

So we headed on out from the hotel.

This seemed to be a rather "high-rent" district. It was fun to see a K Minamoto here….we always stop by the Ala Moana store when "back home".

There was one place in particular we wanted to check out. When at Heathrow, we always stop by Fortnum & Mason, just to have a look around. In fact, we once bought one of their pre-packed "hampers" for a pretty penny to snack on while waiting for our flight.

The Piccadilly location was located a block away from our hotel.

F&M touts itself as an "upmarket" department store….well, no kidding!

One of things that surprised us was how popular Halloween seemed in London.

And even though it was early October, the store was all decked out for Christmas!

We enjoyed checking out the various floors and the decor.

So fancy!

Much like those Japanese Department stores, the lower level features a "food hall"; though it's obviously not your run-of-the-mill food floor.

We spent a good amount of time here and would end up getting some lunch to-go a couple of days later.

It was a nice place to see all those things that you can't afford!

Fortnum & Mason
181 Piccadilly
London, United Kingdom

We took a walk a bit further afield, even checking out a rather upscale shopping arcade on the way back to the hotel.

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Back in our room, there was a knock on the door. One of the hotel's staff dropped off some "welcome gifts" for us!

This was a nice touch!

We were really enjoying things!

Thanks for stopping by!

COMC, The Turo-Turo Edition – Revisits to Nanay’s Best BBQ, R&B Filipino Cuisine, and Manila Fast Food & Desserts

October 24, 2024 mmm-yoso Filipino Restaurants, Sisig

A few months back, I did my "Turo-turo Rounds" in the MM area. It took a while since I really can't put it away like I used to. The photos have been languishing for a while and I've done a ton of posts on these places, so I thought I'd just do a quick C(learing) O(ut the) M(emory) C(ard) post.

I'll so them in order of enjoyment.

So, numba 1…..

Nanay's Best BBQ:

This one is a bit of a surprise since I didn't care much for the food when it first transitioned from Tem's nearly a decade ago now.

I got the BBQ Pork and the Spicy Chicken….basically their version of sisig.

Nanay TO 02

While the rice was on the dry side; the BBQ Pork had a nice mildly smoky-sweet-salty flavor and decently toothsome.

Nanay TO 04

The Sisig-ish spicy chicken had a mild spicy, the chicken was fairly tender, it did have a decent vinegar "kick" to it.

Nanay TO 03

Nanay's Best BBQ
6715 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92121

R&B Filipino Cuisine:

Based on my previous visits, I fully expected to enjoy R&B the most. Man, I've been going here since 2008! Though I haven't visited since January of last year. The sisig here is what I get on every visit. So, I got that and the what had just come out when I arrived, the Afritada.

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Funny thing, I always get "half-rice" here and it's still a lot!

The Afritada was terrible. The meat was super tough, and it had a greasy tongue feel, along with being on the bland side.

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The Sisig was decent, still a bit of crisp-crunchiness on the skin pieces, good sour tones, a bit of spice, the onions added a pungent sweetness and were quite crisp.

T-T R&B 04

R & B Filipino Cuisine
11257 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126

Manila Fast Food and Desserts:

"MFF" just hasn't been up to par during my last couple of visits. Though I must say, the place is always quite busy, even at 930am in the morning when they open. Must have something to do with the location, which is right in the same mall as Seafood City.

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I got the sisig, which was terrible, waxy, tough, lacking in spice and vinegar, almost cold in temperature.

T-T Manila Fast Food 05

The Beef in the Mechado was fairly tender, but lacking in flavor. The stew was salty, greasy, and in need of more tomato….and heck, it just needed to be something other than a sodium bomb!

T-T Manila Fast Food 04

Well, at least the rice was not bad…..

There was a time when MFF was a decent choice for turo-turo, but I just haven't enjoyed myself over the last couple of visits. Kind of sad since I've been going here since 2006.

Manila Fast Food and Desserts
8979 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

So, there you….I'm going to give my arteries a rest for a while now…..

Where is the world are we – part 2

October 22, 2024 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Australia, Chinese Restaurants, Seafood, Sydney, Travel, yoso-silly

It was quite obvious from my previous post that we were in Australia.

We're headed home today from HNL, but I thought I'd do a quick post.

We spent our last couple of days "Down Under" in Sydney. For a change of pace we stayed in the Chippendale area. Which was quite bustling, but the main reason for staying in the area was….

Yes, Chinatown. When doing some research, it became obvious that there was not only Chinese cuisine here, but Thai Town and Korea Town abut the area. It is so culturally diverse!

The area also houses several Universities and the population near Chippendale really skewed to the younger crowd.

We did two wonderful activities during our three days.

The first being a morning kayak journey in Sydney Harbor.

The Missus and I were the only two people on this tour, so we had the guide, "Sam" all to ourselves. It was so much fun!

Like Sam said, "this is like paddling in a postcard!"

The second was an all-day adventure. This was a private tour, with a local and it was amazing! It was customized to our desires and we got to see wonderful views…..

Where tour groups don't venture.

We got to learn about the plants in the region.

We stopped at an area with Aboriginal drawings. It's kind of hidden off the side of the road. We were the only folks there. And I guess the site is not visited by many non-Aboriginal folks because a ranger came over to check. And it was great listening to him.

We stopped at seaside village where it's mostly locals since transit doesn't go here.

But the highlite was a stop at a Wildlife Sanctuary/Rehab where we got to meet the wonderful inhabitants of Australia up close.

And we got to spend some "Koala-ty" time with this fella!

His name is Arnold!

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One of the great benefits about staying in the Asian district was enjoying the diversity of food! Sydney has such a great variety….and some of the items were delici-yoso!

We spent our free time wandering down streets and alleys.

That's not to say that the Missus didn't get Her share of Barramundi….

Anyway, we're leaving for our flight in a few minutes.

Hopefully, my next post will be done from San Diego!

Thanks for stopping by!

Where in the world are we?

October 18, 2024 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Australia, Chinese Restaurants, Seafood, Sydney, Travel, yoso-silly

Well, sorry about the lack of posts. Things have been quite busy, activities and exploration every day! Plus, I'd been having issues with WiFi in some areas and was unable to download photos from my phone until yesterday.

Anyway, after leaving Oahu, where the heck did we go?

Well, this photo will just give it all away!

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You know where right?

We arrived rather late in the evening and after catching the train, which was fast, efficient, and inexpensive, then taking a short walk to our hotel. We settled in with just one full day.

In order to familiarize ourselves with the area….arriving when dark can be somewhat disorienting; I booked a private walking tour for the morning which did a great job of getting us oriented with this city of over 5 million!

The friendliness of the people, the cleanliness of this large city was wonderful.

And the range of wildlife, all protected, was something to see. Imagine walking down the street to see a wild turkey scrounging around? And most creatures seemed quite colorful!

Strangely, our dinner in the city was our only rather disappointing meal to date. Though the service was wonderful.

Soon, we were off to see something that has been on our "bucket list" for ages. Located in an area appropriately called the "Outback" resides a massive monolith!

It has always provided an air of mystery to the Missus and I. We flew in and stayed at the nearby town and did both a sunset program and a sunrise visit. We came to learn much about the native people of this area, though we just scratched the surface. We gained so much respect for their beliefs and the efforts being made to preserve both the area and those beliefs.

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We got a taste of some of the indigenous flavors.

Though after our third meal of kangaroo; the Missus had eaten enough!

Which was fine because our next stop was a fantastically laid-back beachfront city. We had things going on every day.

On the first evening we decided to make a visit to the aquarium on the spur of the moment. Upon arriving, we made the decision to purchase tickets for the small group after hours tour, which ended up being one of our favorite things we've done so far. The small group was led by a Behavioral Biologist and she was wonderful. More on that later.

In short, she knew all the creatures by name!

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One of our favorites was this curious puffer fish.

Who is appropriately named "ET"!

We also booked the Skyrail, the cable car that took to and above the oldest rainforest in the world!

We enjoyed our time exploring the village at the top and taking a nice walk thru the rainforest.

And the views from the train that returned to the city was quite good.

We also did two boat trips, which included three snorkeling adventures in the largest coral reef in the world.

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Our favorite was a boat trip to a nearby island.

And a snorkel with a Marine Biologist.

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Where we learned so much about the reef systems and the animals that inhabit the area!

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Of course, this is a food blog, right?

Well, let me tell you right off that we were so pleasantly surprised at the food in this city! Especially the seafood!

And whether it was fusiony type dishes or straight up Chinese, all the seafood was fabulous!

Yes, we had a flamin' good time!

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We're now back where we started. We'll be heading "home", then back to San Diego soon after!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I'm hoping to resume regular posting soon!

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Honolulu – Lunch at SXY Szechuan and the Honolulu Coffee Experience Center

October 6, 2024 mmm-yoso Bakery, Caffeine Fix, Chinese Restaurants, Honolulu, Oahu, Travel

After an evening of revisits, we awoke the next morning with…well, no major plans other than doing a bunch of shopping. We had reservations for dinner and needed to get the usual…you know Lupicia, Hawaii Cookie Company, a couple of stuffs we needed for this trip, etc. We had thought of driving to a couple of places but ended up not using the car at all during our stay at the Ala Moana Hotel! We just had fun walking around.

We started off needing some caffeine to start the day. There are a couple of places really close, but instead, I wanted to walk the couple of blocks over to the corner of Kapiolani and Kalakaua. This is where the “main” location of Honolulu Coffee, which I used to have when my office was located in downtown. I hadn’t had their coffee in ages and I guess now they are a major chain!

Another reason I wanted to visit was that old timers like me will remember when this was the location of Coco’s Coffee House (before that it was Kau Kau Corner – but I’m not that old!), which closed and was replaced by the Hard Rock Cafe in 1987.

So, that’s what it kinda looks like now. We crossed on over and walked on in.

It’s a pretty nice space. It’s in a circular design, with a coffee roasting machine at the center.

At the front is where you place your order. The folks working are really friendly.

The Missus ordered a Peaberry Pour Over, I got a Cold Brew, and was a bit hungry, but didn’t want anything too sweet. The young man recommended the Elote Scone, toasted, with a friendly warning of “it might be too salty, though.” The drill goes this way, all basic coffee drinks and pastries are served at the counter. They call your name and you pick up your order. Cold Brew is specially made at this counter in the back by the area you can buy coffee beans.

You are given a number and they’ll deliver the pour over to your table.

Also, all the pastries for the chain in HNL are made here.

Of course my order was ready first.

The Cold Brew was ok, on the milder side. The scone was pretty good, not overly dense, nice chunks of corn, and not too sweet. I did not find it to be overly salty. Quite filling to be sure.

The Missus’s pour over was delivered on a tray with two cups on the side.

The Missus said it seem to lack “character”, She is also more into natural processed African beans and this was washed process and fairly mild.

Still, we liked the “vibe” of the place; think of it as a local version of a Starbucks Reserve Roastery.

**** The Honolulu Coffee Experience Center has closed

Honolulu Coffee Experience Center
1800 Kalakaua Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96815

After our coffee we headed up Kalakaua. I showed the Missus where we lived for a short time. It was a cheap apartment, I had to support my Mom by those days. It cracks me up that it is now a parking lot….probably makes more money than the apartment did?

I then took the Missus to Don Quijote because most other places weren’t open yet. Of course, you might remember it as Holiday Mart and then Daiei? Mega chain “Donki” owns many markets you might know, like Marukai, Times, Big Save, and even Gelson’s. Anyway, this location of Don Quijote is open 24 hours It’s huge; think of it like a huge Asian Grocery combined with Daiso on steroids. It kept the Missus busy for over an hour!

At which time we could head to Ala Moana to do our shopping. By the time we were done we decided to drop off our bags to our room and get some lunch. It was quite hot and we wanted to walk to lunch. I mentioned a place I’d read about on Kathy’s wonderful Onolicious Hawaii, with the interesting name of SXY Szechuan. It’s got an interesting location facing the parking lot on the second floor of the Kona Street side of Ala Moana, right where the ramp comes up from Piikoi. San Diego has been quite the wasteland for Sichuan in recent years and some Liang Cai and a veggie sounded good.

It was just after opening time for lunch; 11am and we were the first customers served.

The place isn’t very big, though it also wasn’t too busy on this day. There was only one other party eating during our entire meal.

We ordered two liang cai and some ong choy.

First up was the veggie. Man, this was so tender!

Even the stems! Great garlic tones; just enough salt and pepper, the Missus loved it.

We also got the Fuqi Fei Pian a favorite of hours.

This had a lot more slices of beef than tripe; but the tripe was so tender as was the beef, which in this case seemed to be brisket. The seasoning had decent spice, good ma-la (numbing hot) with a balance of sweet and sour flavors. It wasn’t overly salty and could have perhaps used more garlicky-pungent tones, but this was pretty good overall.

The last item was something I saw on Kathy’s post on SXY; the Pork Belly with Garlic.

Slices of pork belly wrapped around cucumber; looking at it, we were reminded of what we’d had Mountain House. There was a good amount of garlic, but the pork belly was too thick which really made it gummier than we like. While the cucumber did add a nice palate cleansing refreshing note, the overall flavor seemed a bit off balance. It needed more spicy, sweet, and savory. Funny thing, we dumped all the drippings from the Fuqi Fei Pian on the remainder of this dish and we enjoyed it much more. Still, the version at Mountain House is a step above this. Though, we did enjoy our meal. If we weren’t staying in a hotel and unafraid to have leftovers, we definitely would have ordered more.

Still, this was a nice meal, the spice really had an almost cooling effect on us as we walked back to our room.

SXY Szechuan (Ala Moana Center)
1450 Ala Moana Blvd.
Honolulu, HI 96814

We decided to have nice nap in air-conditioned comfort, then do a bit more shopping before heading off to dinner!

Thanks for stopping by!

Honolulu – Revisits to 8 Fat Fat 8 and Agave & Vine

October 5, 2024 mmm-yoso Airport/Airline/Cruise/Rail Food, Chinese Restaurants, Cocktails, Honolulu, Oahu, Pubs and Pub Grub, Travel

In case you noticed; it's been kinda quiet here the last couple of days…… We're back "home" on Oahu enroute to another destination. We're spending a few days on each leg of the trip. Usually, Cathy will take over the posting duties, but she is quite busy this time around. So, I'll try to do posts when I am able to.

We flew out on HAL again. It's a fairly long flight so we enjoy the lie flat first class seats; though the planes are looking a bit worn with chips and stains, and such.

And we do wish that HAL had a lounge at SAN, but perhaps things will change with the recent merger with Alaska.

We do like the crew on HAL, very nice and friendly. And while having a 930am flight means it's just to early to "partake" in certain liquid refreshments……though we were amazed to see others just going for it! I mean, like four mai tais going for it….and that's only what I colunted before taking my nap!

And on this flight, we enjoyed the Mushroom Frittata, which also featured tender broccoli.

And the Honey Dew Melon was so sweet and refreshing.

And since "FOY" Peter really enjoyed the photo of the "Aloha Shirt" salt and pepper packet on our last HAL post, here's what it looked like this time! This one is for you Peter!

IMG_1583a

I managed about an hour nap while the Missus got in a good 2-3 hours.

We always love the views when arriving…..

This time around we again decided to spend a couple of nights in town…..again at the Ala Moana Hotel. When I asked the Missus what She wanted for Her first meal….I had the next night's dinner planned….She said 8 Fat! So, my apologies, I realize I just recently did a post on 8 Fat Fat 8 and hope you don't mind another? I know it's pretty late on a Saturday night, so I'll keep it short.

Of course, I got my usual.

This time, in anticipation of what we were ordering; the Missus went with a Tsingtao.

As for the food; well it's been really hot and humid so we decided to skip the Crispy Gau Gee this time around. And replace it with something more refreshing. I know I've mentioned how much I enjoy Cold Ginger Chicken, which is quite similar to Kwai Fei Ji. While the Missus doesn't like those type of cold chicken dishes; She does love the sauce. There was Cold Ginger Tofu on the menu, so we decided to try that.

First off, the tofu was nice and "beany". The pungent-aromatic-"spicy" ginger was really refreshing and savory. This was quite enjoyable….the Missus has now directed me to make this when we get back home.

The other two dishes, the Ong Choi and the Fat Fat Chicken were every bit as good as on our previous visit.

It's really fun to note that after all of these years; the Missus is really enjoying the "local flavors"…..it's not just about poke anymore.

As an awesome bonus, we chatted a bit with one of the Servers and mentioned that I had been a customer from the opening of 8 Fat back in the mid-80's. It just so happened that Mary was working. She is the daughter of the original owner of 8 Fat, Sai. She took over when he passed on in 2003 and has run it ever since….now longer than even Sai did! I had spoken to her a couple of time way back when, but of course that was so long ago. We had a wonderful time chatting about her dad; the "old regulars", many iof whom have passed on or are just too old for "Pau Hana" time. She also now has a 14v year old son. These days, she usually works until 5 or 6, then has to head home, but on this evening she happened to be inhouse. She told us that a Japanese series was coming by to do a short piece on 8 Fat! That sounded so awesome.

We talked about what kept me coming to 8 Fat, the vibe, the folks, and of course the food and she left us with something her dad always told her:

"You can get Bud Light everywhere….but you cannot get good Chinese food everywhere!"

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

After dinner we walked back to the hotel….but like the last time, we decided to stop by Lanai in Ala Moana Center for a nightcap. It was Thursday, so I got $2 off the cocktail I had there the last time; the smoky – citrusy Bad Decisions ($12 – $10 on Thursdays).

We had a fun time talking to the woman who runs the place. She loves Tequila, so we chatted about our visit there!

Agave & Vine (In the Lanai – Ala Moana Center)
1450 Ala Moana Blvd.
Honolulu, HI 96814

Yes, I know it's kind of a rerun…but it just goes to show how much we enjoyed things previously.

And we'd just like to let you know; because of our travels, things might be kinda sporadic here over the next few weeks! I'll try my best to get some posts done!

So, as always, thanks so much for dropping by!