mmm-yoso – Page 51

Revisits – Hola Paris and T.P. Banh Bao 3

May 12, 2024 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, French Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

You know, I will often complain about the lack of decent, diverse eating establishments here in San Diego. But then I'll look at my photos and realize while I believe there could be so much more to offer, I should be thankful for what we have here.

Case in point, having to catch up with things and recover from my jet lag, I made the two following breakfast stops this weekend. Yesterday, it was a savory crepe from Hola Paris in Old Town and for strange reason I was craving the "FBB" (fried banh bao) from T.P. Banh Bao 3. You really can't get more diverse than that, right?

Hola Paris:

**** Hola Paris has closed

On my way back from my typical Saturday morning "rounds", I decided to stop by the Old Town Urban Market to see what was going on since Tuetano moved out. Walking past Hola Paris, the owner Benjamin saw me.

Hola Paris Rev 01

He came out to say hello and mentioned that it had been a while since he last saw me! It's quite nice that he remembers me. He also mentioned that they've added a couple more options with regards to savory crepes. I guess he also remembers that I don't have much of a sweet tooth as well!

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After chatting a bit, I decided to order one of the savory crepes and went with the Milo.

Soon enough it arrived.

Hola Paris Rev 02

Well, this was quite good. I loved how the salty-savory Prosciutto and the earthy-milky-nutty Brie balances out the sweetness of the crepe. The tomatoes added a nice acidity and I wish there was more of that.

Hola Paris Rev 03

This was deceptively filling and rich. I enjoyed it and am glad I have a "go-to" here. I really enjoy chatting with Benjamin and will try to stop by more often.

Hola Paris
2548 Congress St.
San Diego, CA 92110
Current Hours:
Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri 9am – 4pm
Wednesday 9am – 2pm
Sat – Sun 9am – 6pm

T.P. Banh Bao 3:

While completing some shopping, I was strangely craving something……fried. Of course we didn't get any Asian food in Ecuador, but I'm not sure what brought on this sudden craving for a fried bao? Perhaps it's because it had been over three years since my last visit? Anyway, I decided to head on over.

TP Banh Bao Rev 01

I really didn't want to wait for them to fry up the version with the salted egg, so I just got two of the pork, sausage, and egg which they had in the display case. The woman working was a hoot. She placed several napkins in the bag telling me "just in case you can't resist and have to eat them while driving!" Lol!

I was able to resist temptation and waited until I got home to enjoy these brown orbs of artery clogging deliciousness.

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The fried bao was still crunchy after the drive back home! There's an interesting combination of sweet-savory-porky-salty crunchiness with these. Oh, I could only finish one before needing a "timeout". I'll have the other one a bit later on.

TP Banh Bao Rev 03

This was a nice guilty pleasure. I'll probably wait awhile before having these again, since like "FOY" ChrisR mentioned to me in an email "I loved them, but I feel like they subtract weeks from my life expectancy."

T.P. Banh Bao 3
11271 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri 8am – 7pm
Sat – Sun 730am – 6pm

So I guess I need to stop whining about the lack of choices in San Diego, right?

We'd like to wish a most wonderful Mother's Day to all Mom's out there!

Where in the world were we?

May 9, 2024 mmm-yoso Ecuador, Galapagos, Latin American Cuisine, Travel, yoso-silly

Whew, ever had a trip that was so amazing that time flew by and having done so much, when thinking an experience that happened just a few days ago it seemed like weeks ago? Well, we're back from that amazing trip. In spite of the combination of flight time and layovers taking 15 hours plus each way, this one was one of those once-in-a lifetime experiences, from the time we landed in the country's capital at 9300 feet we were entranced.

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From the UNESCO World Heritage Capital.

To the even higher surroundings.

The diversity is amazing. In fact, there are 4 different geographical regions in this fairly small country!

Another interesting fact, the Country is named for the imaginary line that separates the Northern and Southern Hemisphere and takes great pride in being called the "middle of the world".

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And yet, things really got even more incredible when we did our cruise. To an archipelago I had always dreamed of exploring. And now have a better understanding of how a famous Naturalist became enchanted and inspired by his visit here when still a young man. And whose most well-known publication is inextricably linked to the islands.

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Our 7-day cruise explored the Northern portion of the archipelago and in all we visited 7 islands. And amazingly, the terrain of each one was different.

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And the Captain even took us on a spur of the moment visit to see nature in action as well!

Even more impressive was the wildlife.

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And each island had unique variations of species.

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There are strict rules in place on the islands, thus many creatures displayed no fear of hoo-mans.

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Some were even quite curious.

And it was amazing to see these creatures in their natural habitat.

It was an enriching experience and we learned so much.

And yes, this is still a food blog…..so we have that covered as well.

So let me recover from jet lag and get back to posting!

Thanks for being "a pal"……

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And "dropping in".

Thanks for stopping by!

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The Croissant Files – Desserts by Clement

April 24, 2024 mmm-yoso Bakery, Croissants, Desserts

Desserts by Clement was recommended by two "FOYs" (John Dowd and Stephanie) in the comments on my post on Patisserie Melanie. Seeing that the Missus has been wanting all these newfangled croissants since we visited Le Deli Robuchon in London trying the Instagram "superstar" cube croissant, which btw was a disappointment. Still, the Missus has been wanting to try these new spiral croissants. So, I decided to head into PB early on a Sunday morning, the patisserie opens at 8 and I figured I could then hit up TJ's on the way back home.

Being a Sunday; it seems that PB wakes up a bit later on that day of the week, plus the rain we had earlier in the morning, the streets were empty. Check out what Garnet looked like!

Garnet Clement

I parked on Garnet and walked on over to Desserts by Clement. The nice young lady had just unlocked the door.

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The shop was clean and bright; the two young ladies were super friendly as well.

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I got one croissant and asked the young ladies for something not overly sweet; they recommended the Pistachio Rolled Croissants and also said the Swiss (Pain Suisse) was very popular.

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So, I got all three….man, three pastries, over $21….who'd have thought?

I got home and the Missus was anxiously waiting and immediately went for the Spiral Croissant, which looked quite Instagram ready.

Clement 04 Clement 05 The Missus loved this! And made me have a taste. While more bready than the flakey-crisp of a regular croissant; the exterior was nicely lacquered with a bit of a crunch, the inner layers not overly doughy. The pistachio filling was on the lighter side; with a mild nuttiness and not overly sweet. This was pretty good!

The Swiss was a bit too sweet for the Missus, so I passed.

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As for the Croissant?

Clement 07 Clement 08 Well, this was pretty good. I prefer my croissant aux buerre a bit more crisp, but this was not bad. It was light , fairly fluffy, and not overly doughy with a nice, balanced butteriness, and a mild hint of salt. While not in the same league as our favorite in Paris, La Maison d’Isabelle, this was easily the equal of Ernest & Valentin.

I was happy with my croissant as was the Missus. Man, I need to head on back to Wayfarer and can't wait until Izola opens at their new location.

You can read about Soo's visit here.

Desserts by Clement
1380 Garnet Ave.
San Diego, CA 92109
Current Hours:
Tues – Sun 8am – 6pm
Closed on Monday

Thanks again for the recommendation John and Stephanie!

Turo Turo Tuesday – Kujo Eats (National City)

April 23, 2024 mmm-yoso Filipino Restaurants, Sisig

One of the benefits to putting together the "Big List" is that I needed to go over my former posts, which was a great reminder of places I hadn't been to in years. I went about checking on Erlinda's Filipino Cuisine, which had replaced a favorite sisig (along with fried chicken skin) spot of mine Conching and found that it was replaced by something called "Kujo Eats"? Now granted, these days I can't put it away like I used to and have really cut down on the amount of rice I consume. And though I've been trying to change things up a bit, with gas and food prices soaring, well, I've cut down on heading to places I once used to check out every 2 weeks or so to see what was happening. What really surprised me is that my post on Erlinda's is from 2014! Sheesh. As for Kujo Eats? Well, I went to the website which mentioned that the owner was born in Hawaii and raised in San Diego! Plus they open at 8am in the morning? So, I could drive on down and (hopefully) avoid crowds.

Exiting the 805 on Plaza and driving east felt so strange. When was the last time I was in this area? I mean, the last time I actually visited Tita's was in 2013. I headed off to where Plaza turns into Paradise Valley and into the parking lot of Kujo's which looks basically the same as when it was Conching.

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And other than the new signage, the two level interior looks the same as well.

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The women working are super friendly and of course there were some items that immediately caught my attention.

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I didn't come across anything that seemed to have touches of Hawaii until I got to the cashier. They had Spam Musubi for sale!

I got a two item combo with "fried rice" which was $13.79, a bargain these days, especially if your lunch (+ tomorrow's lunch) looks like this.

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My goodness, the portion size.

I instantly dug into the sisig, which was just passable with hard and chewy or waxy chopped lechon. The skin had not held up well, even though it was a shade after 10 in the morning.

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I can't fault the amount of pork in this; though I do enjoy a good amount of onions as well. This was just slightly sour, while I enjoy a bit more of a bracing flavor. It also lacked spice, one of my favorite things about sisig.

The best item in the plate was the "fried rice"; which was a pseudo garlic rice.

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The rice had a nice texture, a good amount of garlic, and more soy than other versions. It was quite satisfying.

The Tortang Talong looked wonderful.

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It was nicely coated with egg, though I thought it needed more seasoning, not enough salt and pepper for me. The eggplant was nice and creamy, with a hint of that "aubergine-y" smokiness. I usually like a hint of garlic in my Tortang Talong which I couldn't detect here.

So, this ended up being two meals and change (I still had rice leftover for another meal).

I was going to do a post right then, but decided that I should go back for another visit. I did wait a couple of weeks though.

This time I got the Lechon Kawale and Kaldereta. Again the portion size was more than generous; especially the rice!

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Most of the time, folks working at these turo turo places see that I'm obviously not Filipino and they won't give me the free sinigang that often comes with meals. It's not a big deal as the amount of food provided is more than enough.

But on this visit, the nice woman included the soup.

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I enjoyed this; it was bracingly sour, had just enough salt too.

The Lechon Kawale looked quite good.

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The chunks of lechon were quite large; the skin crunchy, though I thought it needed more salt. The meat was on the drier side of the scale and very mild in flavor. It looked better than it actually was.

While not as garlicky as on my previous visit; the fried rice was still good.

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I thought the Beef Kaldereta, while on the greasy side was good.

Kujo Eats 14 Kujo Eats 15 The beef, in this case short ribs was tender, which was a good thing as the bones made things rather unwieldy. I really liked the tart-tomatoey flavors that permeated the beef as well. This went quite well with the mild pungency of the rice.

I'm glad I checked out Kujo's, though my arteries are probably not as happy. I need to get down here more often and really need to revisit Tita's after all these years.

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Kujo Eats
3400 E 8th St. Suite 115
National City, CA 91950
Current Hours:
Mon – Sat 8am – 7pm
Sunday 8am – 6pm

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Taste of Hunan Revisited

April 21, 2024 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

Recently, the Missus wanted some Hunan style food. We'd had our fill of Cantonese offerings here. So, naturally She wanted Village Kitchen, which is perfectly fine. I on the other hand had been wanting to revisit Taste of Hunan. It had been ages since I had eaten there and though we did takeout during Covid, it was not quite the same. Plus, we could hit up Trader Joe's after our meal. The Missus complied and we headed on over.

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We went for an early dinner on a weekend and the place was pretty chill.

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The menu had changed a bit, but most of the "usual suspects" were there. The Missus was missing those dishes with preserved and pickled vegetables, so it was easy ordering for us.

First to arrive was the Minced Pork with Preserved Green Beans ($17.99).

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This was a bit short in terms of minced pork, but there was an abundance of crunchy, briny, green beans, which is what the Missus enjoys in this dish. A bit of spice, a lot of sour tones, the Missus enjoyed this.

One dish that we had enjoyed on previous visits was the Stir Fried Chicken Gizzards with Pickled Long Beans ($18.99). This time though, it was a bit different.

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Previously, the gizzards were cut thin, almost shaved, which added a nice, almost crisp-crunchy texture to the nicely sour-salty pickled long beans. On this visit, the gizzards were chopped thick, hard, and the offal-ish-livery flavor permeated the dish. This was our least favorite dish if the evening.

The Missus enjoys La Rou and Celtuce, so the Smoked Pork with Chinese Lettuce Stem ($21.99) was a must order.

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While the pork was on the rubbery fatty side; it was nice and smoky. The cucumber-nutty-chlorophyllic flavor of the celtuce, along with the crunchiness made up for that. A simply seasoned dish that highlited the ingredients.

Last to arrive was the Beef with Chives and Tofu Skin ($18.99).

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This was interesting as the "beef" was like brisket cut for pho, a bit on the chewy side. It was lightly seasoned with cumin, which lifted the dish. The tofu skin was on thicker side, but added a crunchy texture to the dish. The chives were quite mild. We enjoyed the leftovers of this as a liang cai "cold dish", which was quite good.

I had always preferred what Taste of Hunan served versus Village Kitchen and I think that the Missus now agrees with me.

Taste of Hunan
9880 Hibert St.
San Diego, CA 92131
Current Hours:
Mon – Tues, Thurs 1130am – 230pm, 5pm – 9pm
Friday 1130am – 230pm, 5pm – 930pm
Sat – Sun 11am – 930pm
Closed on Wednesday

You are what you eat? Chapulines……

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

Our good friend "Alle" just got back from Mexico and had some great omiyagi for us. Among the goodies was some Chapulines. She told me they were from Mercado de San Juan and were among the best she's ever had. We had come to really enjoy chapulines during our time visiting Oaxaca and nothing here we've gotten here in the states compares.

In case you don't know what chapulines is, here's the Wikipedia page. It's basically roasted grasshopper and has a smoky, almost shrimpy flavor, with a crunchy texture.

Man, these were so good!

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The Missus was really enjoying this with Her avocado toast or on eggs or with some Mezcal, but She wanted to have these for brunch.

So, we headed on over to Carnival Market and got some of the house made chicharron.

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So, with the chopped chicharron and the chapulines….

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With some of the house made tortilla chips, grape tomatoes, perfectly ripe avocado, salsa verde, salsa habanero, white onion, micro cilantro….you get the picture……some hipster chilaquiles.

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But let's not forget what chapulines brings to this….

Thanks again Alle!

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Roadtrip – Brodard (Fountain Valley), Wing Hop Fung, and Mandarin Noodle House (Monterey Park)

April 19, 2024 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Markets & Grocers, Orange County, Road Trip, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants, Travel, Vietnamese Restaurants

A few months back, what is now several road trips ago, we decided to head on back to one of our favorite lunch restaurants in Santa Barbara County. Instead of making it a single over night stay, we decided to stretch things out into three nights. We'd be doing a bunch of shopping along the way and be able to take our time. We'd spend the first night at the huge Courtyard by Marriott again, then head off the next morning.

We started off early, with thoughts of hitting up Canton Restaurant – Cháo Cá Chợ Cũ again. But we had gotten an early start and the Missus changed Her mind and suddenly requested a visit to Brodard. Brodard! I told Her that Brodard had moved since we last visited over a decade ago(!). Cathy has visited the "new" (it's all relative) location a couple of times.

We arrived a shade past 9am.

The place was almost empty, with one two top occupied.

The restaurant is quite large, with a dedicated takeout area. The space is modern and clean.

I could never have imagined Brodard being this quiet.

Service was quite pleasant and relaxed.

Of course we had to order the Nem Nuong Cuon. These days you can order just two rolls if you want for $2.50 each!

These seem a little smaller than I recall, but the sausage was nicely grilled and the proportion of ingredients seemed right, so one could enjoy the salty-sweet-savory flavors of the "bouncy" nem nuong and the crunch of the crisp egg roll wrapper. The wrapping was done perfectly, neither too loose nor too tight which would make the rolls tougher, creating what I'd call "bad botox spring rolls". The sauce was as before slightly sweet-sour, with garlic and umami tones. I does seem a bit more watered down than I recalled.

We also got the Banh Khot ($14.95).

I did notice that one of the shrimp was "MIA". Still, the Missus enjoys the crisp rice flour cup/shell, which has a hint of coconut. The shrimp were plump and tender, nicely cooked. These are quite a treat with the mung beans, pickled veggies, the anise-citrusy tiet to (perilla), and the slightly sweet-chili-fish sauce concoction.

We're glad we stopped by and will make sure to visit more often.

Brodard Restaurant
16105 Brookhurst St.
Fountain Valley, CA 92708
Hours:
Daily 8am – 9pm

We then headed off to the SGV. We did some shopping at the TS Emporium off Rosemead (I'll do a bunch of shopping/misc posts later) and some other stops before heading to the Courtyard. We were lucky enough to be able to check in early and spent the rest of the afternoon napping.

We hadn't made any plans for dinner. We were just going to play it by ear. It was a Wednesday, so we didn't expect things to be too crowded. The Missus wanted to walk to our dinner destination, so we headed down Atlantic, pausing at Daikokuya, then crossing over and taking look at a couple of places. We crossed back over Garvey and noticed Wing Hop Fung in the strip mall that housed 99 Ranch Market.

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We had passed by many times over the years, thinking this was something along the lines of TS Emporium. But once entering….whoa….

The Missus made a beeline for the teas.

And really took Her time checking out the Pu-Erh. Well, this was no cheapo shop.

It seemed like some good quality products here.

And in case you have $1800 lying around.

And the wine/liquor section was no less intense.

They also carry a good selection of Kavalan, one of our favorite brands. My favorite over time has been the Amontillado Sherry Single Cask Malt Whiskey. Our visit to the Kavalan Distillery affirmed that it is still my favorite. You can get that here. It's ahem, "only" $549 a bottle. I'll just admire it from afar for now….

We enjoyed our time in Wing Hop Fung, it looks like the herbs/tea are high quality and the selection is vast. I understand that for many years Wing Hop Fung had a very popular store in LA's Chinatown. Though I really don't recall that.

Wing Hop Fung
725 W Garvey Ave.
Monterey Park, CA 91754

We walked out of the store suffering from a bit of sticker shock. We decided to get something comforting and simple for dinner. We had passed a Taiwanese place right around the corner named Mandarin Noodle House many times over the years . It had been around back in the days when we lived in the SGV! I was really missing the pork chops I'd enjoyed in Taiwan, so I thought it would a great time to finally stop by. We turned the corner and there it was.

The restaurant is simply adorned, a typical mom-and-pop type establishment that immediately made us comfortable. The prices seemed so reasonable.

The gentleman working was nice and efficient. Ordering was a breeze as we immediately set our sights on two dishes.

Of course I wanted the Pork Chops. At $14.95, this seemed a bargain for these times.

The rice was decently cooked, the pickled greens were fine. The soy sauce egg had been cooked to death, the yolk dry. I enjoyed the Taiwanese spinach. The pork chops had a good amount of pepper, but not enough five spice flavor, was on the salty side, and really tough and chewy. Sadly, it did not remind me of Taiwan.

The Missus got the Pig's Feet ($14.95).

Which came with the same cooked to death soy sauce eggs. But after that, things got so much better. The wonderful porky-sweet-savory-soy based sauce had been poured over the rice. Oh man, talk about comforting! The pigs feet had been cooked perfectly; still intact, but the skin was so tender, the flavor of the cooking liquid had permeated every nook and cranny of the trotters. Once the skin was off, the meat fell of the bones, porky deliciousness. We got a winnah here!

By this time, folks had started coming into the restaurant. Different nationalities, all classes, from guys in workwear and boots speaking Spanish, to three guys in suit and ties, an older couple who knew the guy working. All converging on this little business, it was great to see. Looks like Mandarin Noodle House might be what I call a "thread in the fabric" of this neighborhood!

Mandarin Noodle House
701 W Garvey Ave.
Monterey Park, CA 91754
Hours:
Daily 1030am – 9pm

Duff’s Doggz (Poway) and Queen Califia’s Magical Circle (Escondido)

April 18, 2024 mmm-yoso Exploring San Diego, Hot Dogs, yoso-silly

It seems that I'm finally getting back into my car and driving around a bit. Something that I used to do quite often before Covid, inflation, and crazy gas prices. In those days it wouldn't be unusual for me to get into the vehicle, then head on off without a destination in mind. Ah, those were the days. But now, finally, it seems that I'm sort of getting back into the groove. Though these days it seems like I do have an objective. Having a Tuesday off, I got into the car and went for a cold brew. After getting my coffee, bolstered by a few sips, I suddenly had a plan for the morning!

There are things that stick in my mind over the years; like this, which we saw outside the Guggenheim in Bilbao way back in 2015.

This work is called The Three Graces, aka "Dancing Nanas" by French Artist Niki de Saint Phalle. It brought a smile to my face.

Over the years, we'd come across her work in places like the Stravinsky Fountain in Paris. Located at Place Stravinsky, next to the Centre Pompidou.

Which we've walked pass innumerable during our visits to the city. Though I can only recall only posting a photo once.

One of the interesting things I noted way back in my post on Bilbao was that Niki de Saint Phalle was a resident of La Jolla from 1994 until her death in 2002. In fact, many of her works can be found around San Diego. In fact, several decades back, I recalled seeing one of her works on the Campus of UCSD. It's called Sun God and was the first work added to the collection. I gotta get back there one of these days.

Back in the summer of last year, I came across this article on the KPBS site, which mentioned the artist's final work, completed posthumously, is located in Escondido; Queen Califia's Magical Circle. This large work tells the story of the namesake of California, Calafia, Queen of the "Island of California". The sculpture garden is only open on Tuesdays and Thursday from 9 to noon and one two Saturdays a month. I didn't want to deal with any crowds so I decided to head on over to Kit Carson Park. I easily found parking near the Escondido Sports Center and walked to the entrance "gate".

Right where Eagle Scout Lake is.

I must say, the squirrels here are fearless. They'll saunter right on over to you!

From here you just follow the signs….

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And you'll come to the sculpture garden; which was fenced off due to incidents of vandalism and damage over the years. The limited hours are partially due to having the place staffed by volunteer docents.

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It's something to see.

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All the mirrors, totems, and symbols inspired by Native American and Pre-Colombian art. Instead of droning on, I'll just post some photos.

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All under the watchful "eyes" of Queen Califia.

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I had a wonderful chat with the Docent. And for more info on Queen Califia's Magical Circle, you can read the Wikipedia page or this post in Hidden San Diego.

Queen Califia's Magical Circle
Located in the Iris Sankey Arboretum
Kit Carson Park
3333 Bear Valley Parkway
Escondido, CA 92025

After visiting, I took the loop back to the easy walking trail and made my way back to the car.

There's a large picnic area and even an area where folks were playing frisbee golf!

It was a fun time, but now I was getting hungry. It was only 945 and I didn't want a whole lot to eat before heading home. And then it came to me; back in January 2022, in the comments of my Chicago Fire Grill post, "FOY" DavidG recommended his favorite hot dog spot, Duff's Doggz. So, I brought up my Google Maps app, plugged in the name and off I went. Down the I-15 exited on Camino Norte, ending up in the parking lot of Home Depot? Hmmm…… I then spotted the little shack on the East side of the parking lot.

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For some reason this little stand brought back memories of Woodies/Waldo's. There were two guty in front of me in line already. The young Asian kid ordered three hot dogs (which he devoured!) and the other guy got a Lobster Roll, which whew…was like $25.

When it was my turn in line.

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I simply went with a Chicago Dog ($8.95).

Soon my dog was ready. There was only one young lady working and she did a great job!

Duffs 03 Duffs 04 The poppy seed bun was adequately fluffy, the sport peppers spicy, of course there was the radioactive green relish. The dog had a nice snap, I'd expect no less from a Vienna Beef wiener, though for some reason it seemed a bit thinner than what I'm used too? Everything else was in line; pickle wedge, check, tomato slices, check. A bit too heavy handed with the celery salt, but this was a decent Chicago Dog.

Duff's Doggz
12047 Carmel Mountain Rd.
San Diego, CA 92128
Current Hours:
Mon, Tues, Thurs, Sat, Sun 10am – 6pm
Wed, Fri 10am – 630pm

I know, it may seem a bit odd, a fantastic wonderous sculpture garden, followed by a Chicago Dog? But, for some reason, on this beautiful, sunny spring day, it just seemed right!

Thanks for the recommendation DavidG!

Pho Minh (City Heights)

April 15, 2024 mmm-yoso Pho

It seems like it had been a while since I'd had a decent bowl of pho. Since this time a year ago I'd had; "pho not to offend with an inventory of 16 bean sprouts provided", "went to an old favorite that changed owners and had a mediocre bowl", "had pho with some definite hipster vibes", and most recently had a "most pho-gettable bowl" that really had me wondering "what the pho is going on"? Sigh. I just wanted a decent bowl. I decided to head on over to Pho Hoa and just get an old school bowl. As a plus, Pho Hoa opens at 7am and it was just around 9 in the morning, perfect! But for some reason, instead of "zigging" into the Pho Hoa parking lot; I "zagged" onto 47th street and went into the parking lot there. I think "FOY" Elle had taken over the steering wheel and had guided me into the parking lot in which Nhu Y resides. Sorry to say, I wasn't going for Bun Mam on this day, rather I was headed to back of the strip mall (which in typical fashion has horrible parking) and Pho Minh.

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In spite of having all those older guys hanging out having coffee at the entrance to Nhu Y, I found some parking. It had rained earlier in the morning so that must have helped things. I remember when this place was Kim Chan Sandwich Shop which both the late Ed from Yuma and I enjoyed. It then became Lena's Sandwiches & Deli which eventually closed as well. And now it's an outlet of Pho Minh. Now to be totally honest, I wasn't overly keen on visiting. I'd been to the Spring Valley location of Pho Minh which had been just ok. I know they have a location in PB as well which I've passed many times but have never felt inclined to check out. Still, Elle said that it might be worth my time.

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Walking in, I had forgotten how small this place was. I was pointed to a table and had a seat; given a menu, and I ordered. Perfectly to the point, no wasted time.

Here they give you hot tea instead of water.

Pho Minh 03

Which was perfectly fine with me. To keep things simple, I just went with the regular sized Pho Dac Biet ($14). I was so pleasantly surprised when the herbs and sprouts arrived.

Pho Minh 04

My goodness! I like the peppery-chlorophyllic-citrusy flavor of Ngo Gai and to see it on this plate made me so happy. And, even more rare was the inclusion of Ngo Om (Rice paddy herb) that always seemed to have almost a earthy-cumin-citrus tone, a little goes a long way! A generous portion of bean sprouts which I happen to enjoy in pho and of course Thai Basil.

Pho Minh 05 Pho Minh 06 Soon enough the steaming bowl of pho arrived. It was chock full of cilantro and scallion. Hot but not overly so. I had a taste of the broth; which had been decently defatted, looking perhaps too clear. It had hints of anise and beefiness, though it did go in the direction of being "San Diego sweet" in flavor. Still, it was not bad.

The proteins were not bad, the rare steak was actually still rare and tender when the bowl hit the table and there was a generous amount of tripe. The two little pieces of tendon was too tough and rubbery, though the rest of the meats were very nice.

Pho Minh 07 Pho Minh 08 Best of all, the noodles weren't overcooked, something that I've been running into recently.

Things went nicely with all the bean sprouts, ngo gai, a few leaves of basil and ngo om, and a squeeze of lime to balance out the salty-sweetness. Not bad at all. And all that cilantro really contributed to the broth.

I decided to return before doing a post. This time there was no parking available in the lot, but I found parking a couple of blocks away. On a positive note, there was street art and other things I had never noticed before.

Pho Minh 09

And I decided to try the Bun Rieu ($14), thinking that perhaps we might have another option to Phuong Nga.

Again, I loved the herbs and veggies provided.

Pho Minh 10

Look at all that crunchy nutty banana blossom, though there was no morning glory provided.

Pho Minh 11

Well, in the end I figured tis won't replace Phuong Nga.

Pho Minh 12 Pho Minh 13 Loved how the broth had a nice, even fat content, but it was too salty and had me chugging water for the rest of the day.

The pork ribs were toothsome and swiny, quite good. The pork-crab "cakes" were too chewy; in fact, there was gristly, hard pieces in most of them. You can actually see it in the photo to my right.

Pho Minh 14

The noodles were the appropriate, thin bun that should be used for Bun Rieu. Still, there's no way that Missus would go for this.

In the end, I thought the pho here was pretty good. It was executed well and I'd gladly have it again. The service is very "efficient" in that "City Heights kind of way". So, I'll probably return, though I think I do need to revisit Pho Hoa and perhaps the "fastest pho in the west".

Pho Minh 15

Pho Minh
4712 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92115
Current Hours:
Mon – Sat 9am – 9pm
Sunday 9am – 7pm

Thanks again for the recommendation Elle!

Dining in at De Cabeza/El Unico

April 14, 2024 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants

This past weekend, the Missus told me that She wanted stuff from De Cabeza/El Unico. But the key point was, She wanted to actually eat at the restaurant and not do takeout. With prices of food and gas….and frankly, just about everything heading upwards, we don't seem to get around much these days. So this would be a nice treat for us. And we headed on over. The restaurant wasn't too busy and the Manager, the ever gracious Jesus was so happy to see us. He gave me a vigorous handshake and a hug!

De Cabeza DI 01

De Cabeza DI 02

Dining in meant we could diverge from our typical order, the Cabeza en su Jugo. Still to start things out we didn't stray too far and each had a bowl of the Consomé Con Carne ($4.50).

De Cabeza DI 03

Man, with a squeeze of lime, this is so comforting. The flavor of divine-bovine, so beefy, with pungent onions and cilantro, and a bit of spice, this is always so good.

We got some Guacamole for the other items we ordered.

De Cabeza DI 04

The Missus remembered enjoying the Lengua which we had on a previous takeout visit, so She ordered a Taco de Lengua ($4.00).

De Cabeza DI 05

I had a bite and man was this so good. The beef tongue had been cooked so perfectly, it melted in your mouth. The beefiness was amazing; the salsa roja helped to but the richness and brought some heat. The tortillas had been headed on the comal and I believe that beef stock had been used. This was so much better dining in than doing takeout.

We had always enjoyed the Alambres and thought it would just do so well dining in; so we got it with Tripas and Maciza ($15). Imagine having both Beef Intestine and Head, along with bacon, bell peppers, onions, and queso, spread among four wonderful corn tortillas. Say no more!

De Cabeza DI 06

Topped with some almost buttery guacamole; the Missus prefers the more acidic salsa verde, I prefer the more smoky red salsa, a squeeze of lime!

Needless to say, this was a wonderful brunch. Strangely enough, I had thought we had dined in at De Cabeza, but after looking back thru my many posts on the place, when we last dined in at this location, it was still Aqui es Texcoco back in 2019. Of course, Aqui es Texcoco took over the spot of Al Pastor and this location became De Cabeza. We first did takeout during those dark days of Covid. And thru that all Jesus has been the manager, so perhaps that's why we thought we had actually dined in at De Cabeza!

We enjoyed this meal so much; we need to head on over here more often.

De Cabeza/El Único
1043 Broadway
Chula Vista, CA 91911
Current Hours:
Open Daily 8am – 9pm