mmm-yoso – Page 401

(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

Quick Weekend in Los Angeles

December 3, 2006 mmm-yoso Farmer's Markets/Night Market, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, Sushi and Sashimi, yoso-silly

Whew, just got in from a short trip to Los Angeles. Here are just a few photos of places I've posted on before.

Of course the Missus's favorite little Sushi Bar is Sushi Komasa.

**** Sushi Komasa has closed

The sushi at Komasa, though not spectacular, has always been consistently good, and is reasonably priced.

On this trip, the Hamachi(Yellowtail) was excellent, a creamy, melt-in-your-mouth tender. The Aji(Spanish Mackerel), was also good.

So tonight we had Ankimo, Maguro, Binnaga(Albacore), Hamachi, Aji, Hirame, Tai(Snapper), Negi-Hama, and Salmon Skin Roll, with Hot Tea, the bill came out to about $65. Not bad at all. You can check out previous posts for more info.

Sushi Komasa
352 E 2nd St
Los Angeles, CA
213-680-1792

Open Tuesday-Sunday 530pm – 11pm

Since we stayed in Torrance, we had to check out the Torrance Saturday Farmers' Market.

As I noted on my previous post, we used to make the 90 mile round trip to the TFM almost every Saturday when we lived in LA.

We loved the selection, and the low-key atmosphere. And were pleased to see things have not changed. There was still a wonderful selection of produce.

And lots of samples.

Tomatoes seem to be really popular today.

And of course the flowers.

And even Killer Snails!!!

One thing we've noticed is that the Food Court has sure expanded. Though we didn't have a chance to sample the offerings, I took a few photos.

Torrance Sat CFM
Wilson Park, 2200 Crenshaw
Sat, 8A-1P

I know, I know, you're saying, "Reruns, again?" Well stay tuned, I'll have some new posts on a few Los Angeles restaurant, including TianJin and ShenYang cuisine, and other stuff……

And as a great bonus, Cathy's also taking a road trip as well! So you'll be hearing from Her as well.

So why were we in LA? Well, maybe this helps:

Sorry, just being a bit silly. Here's the reason:

Yes, we attended the AKC National Championship. Over 3000 dogs were included in this years show. We'd never attended one of these, and thought this was a great opportunity.

Along with the P-B-G-V(Petit Basset Griffon Verdeen – won the hound group), the Glen of Imaal Terrier, Great Pyrenees, and Dandy Dinmont, we've always loved Havanese. And this was a great chance to check them out.

Hands down, one of our two favorite events was the Agility Invitational.

And it's not just the sporting dogs that compete, some of the biggest cheers were for some of the smaller breeds, like this Bichon Frise:

There were no losers…….

The other event we enjoyed was called "Meet the Breed", where every breed was represented and had a booth. We got to speak to alot of veteran dog owners/experts regarding the various attributes of specific breeds.

Of course there was the show.

As much as we enjoyed the "show" and prejudging portion, we enjoyed other aspects of the show more. Still, it was a great fun!

A Few Updates

November 29, 2006 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Xiao Long Bao

Recently, we’ve been making the rounds and have been revisiting a few restaurants. And here are a few updates.

Chin’s

**** This location of Chin’s has closed

We’ve been having brunch at Chin’s just about every weekend. Looking through my previous posts, I noticed I missed posting on a few of the better dishes at Chin’s.

The Wuxi Sparerib Noodle Soup:

This very tasty slightly sweet soup, with a nice portion of braised spareribs, along with some Shao Bing is probably my favorite…well next to the Five Spice Beef Shao Bing. The nice pork flavor really comes through, and though I still don’t care much for the noodles, I really enjoy the broth and of course the pork.

The Shanghai Chao Nian Gao:

Sliced rice cakes stir fried with pickled vegetables and pork. Perhaps a bit on the salty side, but the rice cake slices are always fried perfectly, and the slices are neither too mushy, nor hard and rubbery. The pickled vegetables and scallions add a nice flavor. I think someone had asked about this dish so I wanted to make sure to post.

Noble Chef – Under New Ownership

Last week we dropped by Noble Chef for our fried rice fix, and didn’t recognize any of the eight people scurrying about.

Upon inquiry we found out from the really nice young man manning the counter that the previous owners had decided to sell the restaurant. I quickly asked the young man if the menu would remain the same, at which point one of the young ladies standing behind the counter gave me a “dirty look”. But I was assured that the menu would remain the same. As this was the first day after the transfer of the restaurant thing were quite chaotic, but we did manage to place and get our orders.

The Shrimp with XO Sauce Fried Rice:

On the good side; there was twice the amount of shrimp. On the bad side…well, not enough XO sauce and not enough garlic or salt, the rice tasted like spicy fried rice. Also, I’m sure that the new chef will have to get adjusted to the wok stove, the rice was mushy and in clumps, I noticed that the chef never turned the heat up while making the fried rice, thus all the wonderful “wok hey”(the elusive essence of the wok) was missing.

The Chiu Chow Fried Rice:

Same story, lot’s of Char Siu, the portion size is about a third smaller. Rice clumpy and slightly mushy.

I’ll give Noble Chef a few months to get things in order and check in again. I’m hoping that I’m not losing one of my favorites.

Emerald

Made another visit to Emerald, and partook of all the usual suspects…pretty much the same as what I had on a previous visit. There were a few items that I hadn’t seen before, like the Xiao Long Bao:

Yes, soup dumplings! Unfortunately the wrappers were really, really thick, and there was no soup! Soup dumplings with no soup? The filling tasted like regular dumpling filling, not Xiao Long Bao.

The “Egg” Siu Mai fared much better. Basically a boiled quail egg lying on a bed of pork and shrimp, in a siu mai wrapper. A nice slightly rich and eggy bit of Dim Sum. My only complaint would be that the siu mai wrapper was welded to the plate, and everything fell apart as we tried, unsuccessfully, to pry the wrapper off the plate. Still we enjoyed a pretty good meal at Emerald.

For addresses and other info, click on the links to the original posts.

Finally, I’d like to thank Cathy. Her wonderful posts, has allowed me to spend a little more time revisiting restaurants. Thanks Cathy!

Big Kahuna’s

November 27, 2006 mmm-yoso Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego, Loco Mocos, Plate Lunch

*** Big Kahuna's no longer resides in PB.

Located in Pacific Beach on Ingraham Street is Big Kahuna's:

Part pizza joint/sports bar, part plate lunch restaurant, I've been told that the owner of Big Kahuna's is the Grandson of the original owner of Da Big Kahuna's Pizza on Puuloa Road in Honolulu.

Of course with a name like Big Kahuna, you'd have to go with a beach-surfer-tropical theme.

Though Big Kahuna back "home" is known for the pizza and sandwiches, I thought I'd try out the plate lunches. If you're wondering what the pizza at the original Big Kahuna looks like you can find a post on where else, but Ono Kine Grindz, it even has a photo of, ahem, the Big Kahuna "Balls".

For lunch one afternoon I ordered the Beef Teriyaki Plate($8.95):

In a few minutes a very large plate arrived, three scoops of rice, even! I enjoyed the macaroni salad, with just the right amount of mayo.

The teriyaki was indeed "local-style", on the sweeter side with the flavor of ginger. The sauce was more of a glaze, than a sauce.

Though I love good pineapple(my Dad is from Lana'i), I hate it as a topping for food, so I scraped it off. The meat was a very tough sirloin, and I mean very tough, and in spite of the sauce quite dry.

One evening I found myself in the area, and decided to try out the Lau Lau Plate($8.95):

Again three scoops of rice, and quite a large Lau Lau, which smelled promising.

The luau leaf tasted bit on the bland side, not the usual flavor of "greens" that I enjoy so much. There was a nice chunk of fat in the Laulau, but no salted fish, and the pork was on the dry side. To be perfectly frank, this is a typical Mainland Laulau, so I wasn't very disappointed.

While I was waiting for my Laulau the very nice Waitress mentioned a breakfast menu, and was kind enough to bring me one to check out.

And there it was….a Loco Moco. I was told that Big Kahuna's serves breakfast on weekends, so I made a mental note…..

And made an appearance at 1030am on a Saturday morning. I walked in, and it seemed that everyone was still sleeping….so I grabbed a table, and eventually managed to order my Loco Moco($7.50):

After a short wait, my Loco Moco made it's way to my table in slooooowww moootion. First thing I noticed was that the burger was crumbled and stir fried with onions and a gravy. For some reason the thought, "I think this is last night's burger", kept playing over and over in my head….

The eggs(3) were okay, easy over, the yolks slightly runny, though I would have enjoyed crisp, crunchy edges on my eggs, but that's being nit-picky.

The gravy, was more like a sauce, and the nice, dark color belied the fact that it was pretty bland, luckily there was a good selection of condiments and sauces to help out. Ditto with the crumbled burger, though it was piping hot.

The service at Big Kahuna's is "bar service", and though very nice, sometimes a bit on the spacey side. I had ordered my toast dry, but got it buttered, and the Server/Bartender was more concerned with stocking beer than bringing me my Diet Coke. Still every contact that I've had at Big Kahuna's has been friendly.

I've tried a few other items that are not pictured, all portions are quite large, always making sure you get enough carbs! The Kalua Pork, though a bit under flavored was pretty good. I thought the Portuguese Bean Soup was very bland, lacking a nice smokey flavor ham-hock flavor, and with hardly any beans, sausage, or anything except soup for that matter. I've not had the pizza at Big Kahuna's though it looks pretty good, though those "balls"(12 for $6) – garlic bread rounds baked in butter, and topped with melted cheese cheese, make my arteries cringe in fear. I'll cover the Big Kahuna Burger on a future post.

Big Kahuna's
3780 Ingraham St
San Diego, CA 92109

Fairouz Restaurant & Gallery

November 26, 2006 mmm-yoso Buffets, Lebanese Restaurants, Mediterranean Restaurants, Vegetarian and Vegan Restaurants

Okay, I know it…I got some nerve doing a post on a Buffet right after Thanksgiving! Guilty as charged. And admittedly, I’m not quite the expert on Buffets and Brunches as Jim the Brunchmaster, who should probably write a "Brunches and Buffets for Dummies" book. But I’ve had photos of Fairouz just taking up space on my hard drive, so…….

Fairouz has a regular menu, but we’ve mostly stuck to the buffet, which is $8.99 for lunch and $12.99 for dinner. And in the realm of the Hometown Buffets and various Chinese Buffets, I think that Fairouz is a nice change of pace. Though the sign says "Greek Buffet", I’d say that there are almost as many, or more Lebanese and Mediterranean buffet items.

On this visit to Fairouz, I noticed that the interior had been painted, and some additional lighting added, giving Fairouz a brighter cleaner looking interior. It had obviously been a while since my last visit.

If you think the interior slightly resembles an Art Gallery, you wouldn’t be too far from the truth. The Owner of Fairouz, Ibrahim Al Nashashibi, is quite an artist, and his acrylics and water colors adorn the walls of Fairouz.

As for the buffet, there is a nice variety of items, with slight changes everyday. One thing I always notice are the description cards for the buffet items are not always placed correctly…for instance, on this day the Moussaka was labeled as Okra. For some reason I always find humor in this.

And though there are several meat items, like the Kofta Meatballs and Roasted Chicken pictured above, I usually end up enjoying the various starches and vegetable dishes more than the protein items. As you head for the buffet warm toasted pita magically appears on your table.

Okay, two types of potato, and saffron rice…do you think I got enough starch? I should practice what I preach, the Gyros meat was the only item that I really didn’t care for. I enjoyed the Fava and Garbanzo beans, the Okra, and the Eggplant dishes.

Though my favorite dishes at Fairouz are the cold Garlic Potatoes, a vinegary, salty, and slightly garlicky "salad", and the various pickled cabbages.

I also enjoy the Rice Pudding with Rosewater as a refreshing end to my meal.

What’s that red thingy? It had a sweet, fruity flavor, with a touch of rose water flavoring. I had to ask….it’s Fruit Punch Jello! The yellow version is licorice flavored jello……

As buffets go, I think Fairouz is pretty good, and Al Nashashibi is a very mellow and nice Guy. So if you have a group of people, with vegetarians in tow, Fairouz may not be a bad option.

Fairouz Restaurant & Gallery
3166 Midway Dr
San Diego, CA 92110

(619) 225-0308

Happy Thanksgiving

November 24, 2006 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Dim Sum

I know it’s a day late…but I’m hoping everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

We did this year, what we’ve done for the last several years….started Thanksgiving Day off with some Dim Sum. I’ve already posted on Pearl back in November of last year, and even did our Thanksgiving Dim Sum there last year. So I won’t bore you with descriptions, just photos.

I may have missed a dish or two, and no Peking Duck 2 ways for $18, this year. All told, it came out to $30. Took a few laps around the path in back of the restaurant to help burn some of this off.

We hope everyone had a safe and fun Holiday!

Tajima

November 21, 2006 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

We’ve been going to Tajima since we first moved to San Diego back in 2000. I used to enjoy the Menchi Katsu(breaded deep fried ground/minced meat – in this case beef) Curry, now long gone from the menu, the various Ramen, and the Missus had always enjoyed the Okonomiyaki(a savory type of Japanese pancake).

Since an Ownership change a few years back, the menu has been expanded to accommodate a large variety of Izakaya style dishes(think pub grub/tapas style dishes) and Westernized Japanese dishes. Since I’ve started to make Okonomiyaki at home, the Missus hasn’t expressed a desire to eat at Tajima. So most of my visits have been for Ramen at lunch.

On this day, I had my favorite dish at Tajima, the Chashu Ramen($8.95):

The broth for the Chashu Ramen is Tonkotsu style, which is the whitish long boiled pork bone broth. While not as rich and velvety (nor as oily for that matter) as the version from Daikokuya in Little Tokyo(Los Angeles), it is still the best version of Tonkotsu style broth that I’ve had in San Diego. Though the broth is much darker in color than almost every other version I’ve had, it is not overly salty, and on the mild side, with a nice amount of oil.

The Char Siu on this visit were 3 slices of mildly flavored pork belly, accompanied by some slices of bamboo shoot, a boiled than marinated egg, bean sprouts, and a piece of nori.

Though thick noodles are available, I usually stick with the thin noodles(you can get more noodles for $1). The noodles have a nice pull and texture, but could stand to be a bit more chewy. I love that boiled egg…..

On some days, I want more of a "blank slate", a very mild broth, so I’ll have the "Ramen"($6.95), which in the case of Tajima is a Shoyu Ramen:

The broth is a mild Soy Sauce based broth to which I usually add a nice scoop of garlic paste, and some Shichimi for some zing. Speaking of the garlic paste; on a previous visit a gentleman with some obvious olfactory problems dumped 3 spoons of the garlic paste into his ramen….taking a sip of his soup, his eyes opened wide, exclaiming "Holy crap, this isn’t mustard"…..he-he-he.

As previously mentioned…I love that boiled egg. A nice hot bowl of Ramen on a rainy day, very few things better than that.

On this day, I needed my fix of Umami, and ordered this:

In case you can’t really identify it, let me help you:

It’s the Marinated Baby Squid($3.95), a salty-pungent-winey-slightly sweet offering, with a mild Shiokara-like flavor. The julienned basil added a nice clean flavor to this dish.

On a recent visit I managed to drag the Missus along, and being quite hungry we tried a few of the appetizers, along with a main course.

We started with the Tako Wasabi($3.95):

This was pretty good, more on the sweet side, than salty. The Missus enjoyed it, and even thought it was better than the version at Sakura!

The Tuna Tataki($6.95):

Looked fairly nice, but the fish was tough, the ponzu watery, and weak in flavor, and the fried garlic only added a bitterness to the dish.

The Chicken Karaage($3.95):

I love Chicken Karaage, in fact I love Chicken Karaage so much that it only needs to fulfill one of two criteria. Either it’s nice and crunchy, with mild flavor, or it can be cold and have a nice salty-soy-slightly-sweet-mildly gingery flavor. This version was on the soggy side, which would be fine if it was loaded with flavor. But as you can tell by the color………

The Miso Nabeyaki Soba($8.95):

Hardly any miso flavor, and soggy noodles. The shrimp tempura was fine, nice and crisp.

Minchi(Menchi) Katsu($9.95):

Aaaaah, minced meat, breaded, and fried, how can that be bad? Honestly, not a bad version, nice and crisp on the outside, and not oily at all. The patties had a good amount of filler which kept it moist, and the onion flavor came through. The "butter noodles" are not my favorite thing, and the Hijiki(seaweed) had not been cooked long enough and was like eating wood. The Menchi Katsu came with a bowl of miso soup(okay as miso goes), rice, and a combo Demi Glace – Katsu Sauce, that was too sour for my taste.

OH, before I forget…one of the really great things about Tajima is the late night Ramen! Check check the hours:

Yep, open till 3am Thursdays through Saturday(Convoy location only). And it’s a good thing; for now, I think I’ll stick with the ramen at Tajima. Don’t forget to try the Okonomiyaki!

Tajima Japanese Restaurant
4681 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

and now

4411 Mercury St
San Diego, CA 92111