Just a couple of things I noticed this past week.
Cafe Dore is now Da Nang Restaurant and Coffee:
I received an email that caught me off guard. It asked me why Cafe Dore had closed. What?!? I didn't know anything about this. So, last Sunday I took a shopping detour and headed down the 15 to check things out. And wouldn't you know it. The place is now called Da Nang Restaurant and Coffee.
Looking at the sign I was wondering when this change took place. Notice that it's been long enough for the "R" in "Restaurant" to apparently fall off the signage.
Our friend Google didn't seem to be much help either.
Kind of sad to see it's no longer Cafe Dore. My posts go back to June 2005, I remember seeing all the old timers drinking coffee in the place and playing those, ahem, "video games" (wink, wink) in the back of the shop. When I last visited back in November of 2021 things seemed to go the status quo. And even in the days of Covid, old-timers were gathered in the place and lighting up the 'ol cigarettes even!
Much like another closure of a long time restaurant, it feels like the end of an era.
Da Nang Restaurant and Coffee
4135 University Ave.
San Diego, CA 92105
Farmer's Table (Bay Park) Becoming La Pastaia:
During one of my recent shopping trips up the block to Sprouts I noticed that Farmer's Table was empty so I walked on over.
I was surprised to see construction going on and the note to the right. Well, I just posted on Farmer's Table in January! Looks like it's becoming a Italian Restaurant named "La Pastaia"?
Not too excited about this one as it looks like just a change in concept. I'm hoping the food served loses its overly corporate approach.
3055 Clairemont Dr.
San Diego, CA 92117
I'm sure if you ordered online things would work out fine. And that guanciale looked really good.
So, the wings usually come tossed in sauce, be it buffalo, BBQ (what was recommended here), or mango habanero. Well, I just wasn't a fan of these. While the wings were of decent quality and prepped well, it was kinda soggy when it arrived. I prefer my wings to have some textural contrast that doesn't include mushy. Plus, it was over sauced for my taste as well.
And I guess I take direction fairly well. The wings not being drenched in sauce was much better. There was still some crispness to them and I got to determine which sauce I enjoyed the best. The habanero edges on a bit too sweet, but there's a bit of spice. The ranch will quell that. So, I will order my wings simply "salt and pepper" with habanero and ranch on the side.
The wings looked lightly battered and fried. In fact, it had a decent light crispness. Until I really bit into them. Man, these wings were seriously freezer burnt. The wings were so gross and bitter. I mentioned this to the folks behind the bar and was told, "it looks perfectly fine to me….."
First off, the bread was as I recalled from the "old school" location, crusty and fairly dense, with some yeastiness.
I did find the ratio of Bi (pork skin) to be kind of small compared to the amount of pickled veggies and even cilantro. And of course, I think that it's all about ratios when it comes to these sandwiches. Strangely, I found that the Bi had an almost sweet-sour flavor? Though those jalapenos did a good job of clearing my sinuses.
Much like the Dac Biet, this version had quite a bit more meat than what I've had from Paris Bakery. In terms of consistency, Paris scored well as the bread was crusty and yeasty, those jalapenos nice and spicy, and the pickled veggies nice and refreshing.
We came across what looked like a hotel….it turned out to be the Splendor Hotel, with a bunch of vendors selling all sorts of plants and crafts. The Missus read one of the signs and noticed that the building is called "Park Lane" and on the third floor was something called "Taichung Sixth Market". Since it was still early and Dawncake didn't open until 10 we decided to check the place out.
The Missus really loved the yamaimo and the meat was buttery, beefy, and so tender.
When I finally had another opportunity, I arrived just as the very friendly young lady was folding up the blinds on the front door. And as during the soft opening, only one party is allowed inside the shop at once. I recall seeing chicken karaage on the menu when I did my aborted visit, but that was no longer offered. There are four sandwiches on the erase board menu; chicken katsu, menchi katsu, egg salad, and fruit and cream.
Compared to the Japanese version; this was chopped too coarse, there wasn’t enough mayo. There was a bit too much black pepper and it edged on the sweeter side. Liked the visual of the quarter tamago. The bread was slightly moist, but a bit too firm and chewy for me. Like I said before, I prefer my shokupan fluffier and softer.
It was also quite dry. This did the bread no favors. There was some flavor though it was quite mild. I could have used with a bit more katsu sauce to added a nice savory-umami-sweetness to things. It’s a sad day when I think that the shredded cabbage is the best part of the sandwich.
Which was soggy and peeling off the protein. Man, this was not good eats at all. It seems that the only thing I could taste was the katsu sauce. Again it was the cabbage that was the headliner of the sandwich, bummer!
My goodness, this was a lot of noodles. I moved the noodles to a large plate, which turned out to be a good idea. Because when I poured the sauce over it there was all this "stuff" on the bottom.
