mmm-yoso – Page 84

Taipei – We Arrive and 93 Tomato Beef Noodle

April 14, 2023 mmm-yoso Niu Rou Mian, Taipei, Taiwan, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants, Travel

Our flight to Taipei was about a half hour late. Getting thru customs in Taoyuan Airport was amazingly efficient and since we only had carry-on luggage to deal with, finding the Airport MRT station was also quite easy, as was getting and loading up EasyCards, Taiwan's travel smartcard. Our Airport MRT train left on time and we arrived at Taipei Main Station in around 40 minutes. Now here's where it got interesting…….dealing with Taipei Main Station was crazy. All the floors, all the different lines; the MRT/Metro/HSR/TRA all leave from various tracks at Taipei Main Station. Even with the Missus being fluent in Mandarin it was a beast. We deal and have dealt with train/metro travel quite a bit, heck we even survived Shinjuku Station which claims to be the busiest in the world. But man, trying to find the MRT Blue Line to our hotel, well it just had us flummoxed. Maybe we're out of practice?

Anyway, our hotel was just one stop over on the Blue Line, so we decided to take a cab. Which turned out to be great in several ways; first we discovered Cab Fare in Taiwan is very reasonable with a start at 85 NT ($2.60/US) and 5 NT every 200 meters or so. Cab fare to our hotel ended up being 95 NT, think $3.11. Second, we got our first taste of how friendly cab drivers (as a whole) were in Taiwan. They loved conversations. In fact, the Missus would make it a habit to get dining recommendations from Taxi Drivers during our stay in Taiwan.

We got to our hotel and checked in at around 830pm. The staff at the Resonance Hotel were very professional and accommodating. After freshening up, we decided to head on out to grab something light for dinner. This is when we noticed that many businesses seem to close fairly early. It was 845 and most restaurants in the area were closed. We also noticed that there seemed to be either a 7-11 or Family Mart on every corner. Even more than Japan!

After walking up and down a couple of streets, we settled on this place.

Which specialized in Tomato Beef Noodle Soup! The menu is posted on the wall, you are given a paper to check off your selections. The interior and dining is simple.

We ordered the Beef Tomato Soup and some jiaozi. The Missus had a view into the kitchen and quickly told me; "they are making the jiaozi to order!" And then, "he's cutting the noodles to order as well!" We'd find that this is the norm here in Taiwan.

Our Pork and Cabbage Jiaozi arrived hot to the table.

The Missus walked over to the condiment table and poured us some black vinegar. This jiaozi was very good, fluffy, tender wrappers, tender and nicely seasoned pork filling. Better than anything in San Diego…in fact, just about as good as anything in the SGV!

Then our noodle soup arrived.

Man, the beef was so tender and beefy! The knife cut noodles were a bit thick for my taste, but the texture was very nice, good pull, not doughy or overly chewy. The broth was light on the beefiness and edged on being too sweet. We would have liked a bit more tangy-tomato flavor as well. Still this was quite enjoyable.

And then came my favorite item of the meal, the Fried Pork Chop.

Crisp, yet tender, we loved the porkiness. We'd come to enjoy the pork in Taiwan, it's definitely not "the other white meat here". In fact, the Missus would make fun of me after I enjoyed each pork chop saying; "Taiwan, the land where Kirk never found a pork chop he didn't like!" Which was true. This version was smothered in black and white pepper and we liked the sinus clearing effect of it.

This ended up being a nice, random first meal in Taiwan. And heck, it was just over nine bucks!

93 Tomato Beef Noodle (93刀削麵館)
No. 3-2, Qingdao E Rd.
Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan

We had a nice night of sleep. I woke a bit early, had some tea and just looked out at our view of Taipei.

We decided to head on out and do some exploring. Walking out of the hotel straightened us out! We had left San Diego with temps in the 50's to 60's. Here in Taipei highs were in the 80's with some humidity to match.

We headed out on Zhongxiao East Road, one of the main thoroughfares in the city.

With the sounds, the smells (is that chou doufu I smell?), the lively, yet mellow vibe hitting us. We were so happy to finally be here and couldn't wait to do some exploring!

Thanks for stopping by!

Los Angeles – Far Bar, the Star Alliance Lounge (LAX), and Royale Laurel Class on EVA Air

April 9, 2023 mmm-yoso Airport/Airline/Cruise/Rail Food, Cocktails, Los Angeles County, Pubs and Pub Grub, Travel

After dinner at Sushi Enya we took a stroll around Japanese Village Plaza.

And wandered in and out of some of the shops in the area.

We also passed by the now closed Sushi Komasa with brown paper taped over the windows. We felt a tinge of sadness as Komasa had always been a favorite of ours. In fact, my second post, way back in May of 2005 was on Sushi Komasa.

Little Tokyo seems to be thriving as the place was pretty busy, even on a Tuesday night.

Passing places like Kouraku, the first place I recall seeing plastic Japanese food brought a smile to our faces.

And seeing places like Fugetsu-do always bring back nice memories.

It was a bit too early to head back to our room and hit the hay, so we decided to grab a cocktail. There's a place called Far Bar that occupies the iconic location of Far East Chop Suey which has it's own long history in Little Tokyo.

Man, it's been ages since I'd been in this building! I recall the mezzanine as a place where the Missus and I saw parties taking place the two times we ate here a zillion years ago.

The folks working here are very nice and laid back. The Missus had the Jade Empire and I had the La Luna y el Sol, which featured La Luna Mezcal and Aperol.

Not overly stiff, quite easy to drink.

We also decided to have something small to snack on and went with the Maneki Tots because, well you know we weren't going to have any rolls and it's never a bad time to have some tater tots.

This was actually not bad. The tots were fried nicely, the bacon crisp, the braised pork a bit too sweet, the wasabi mayo added a nice zip, but the spicy mayo was a bit of overkill. Kind of a lot going on here, but what was I to expect with stuff like various sushi rolls, pozole ramen, salmon pasta, shiitake miso burgers, among others on the menu?

We liked the folks working and had a nice, relaxing end to our day.

Far Bar
347 1st St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012

We headed back to our room to catch some shut eye. Just like the last time we stayed at the Miyako Hotel our room overlooked 1st street. And just like that time, we could see the unending line outside Daikokuya.

Our flight the next day was scheduled to leave at just past noon, the flight was going to be almost 14 hours, so we decided to fly in EVA's Royal Class, which meant we had lounge access. Which ended up being a blessing since our flight ended up being delayed.

The Star Alliance Lounge was quite empty and peaceful when we arrived.

It would fill up rather quickly soon after, but by then we were ensconced on the porch area.

Which had a view of Terminal B.

It was basically standard breakfast fare when we arrived, so we just had some coffee, tea, and water.

What was fun was watching the robot "bus boy" do its rounds!

While walking back from the restroom a gentleman had a chat with me. Turns out it was the lounge manager, a really nice guy. I mentioned his "bus boy" and he cracked up and said, "you should hear it sing Happy Birthday in one of about a hundred different languages!"

He also mentioned that I should give the "noodle bar a try, it starts at 1030". And since the lounge staff had just announced our flight was delayed, that's what I did.

Folks rushed the bar when it opened. I got a bowl with the vegetarian pho broth.

Very salty, but I enjoyed the veggies.

Soon enough, it was time to board. The service on EVA is wonderful. The Missus loved the Jason Wu designed pajamas which can be kept and also the Ferragamo amenity kit.

I loved the lie flat seats with a decent amount of space; but wasn't quite sold on the Hello Kitty themed pillows….

Like I mentioned earlier, EVA's service is well regarded and at least based on this trip well deserved. Our meals were also among the best we've had on a flight.

I usually avoid seafood on flights, but that octopus in the salad was so tender.

And the breakfast porridge was also quite good.

Most importantly, being able to get some rest on our flight really makes a difference as we can be awake and alert when we land and can adjust to things quickly.

Our flight departed late, but the pilots made up time in the sir and we arrived at Taoyuan Airport just an half hour late. We then found the MRT to Taipei Main Station and our time in Taiwan had started!

Thanks for stopping by!

Los Angeles – Sushi Enya

April 8, 2023 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Sushi and Sashimi, Travel

When planning our current trip, we decided to fly out of LAX to avoid layovers. The flight was already 14 hours long and we really didn't want to extend our transit time. So, we planned for something like we had done several years back; we'd stay the night in Little Tokyo, then head to the airport in the morning for our flight. It would give us a chance to catch up with one of our favorite little neighborhoods in LA.

Except, this being 2023 and all, we ran into a little problem. We enjoy doing Amtrak to Union Station, then taking the short walk to our hotel in Little Tokyo. On the morning of our trip I received a message from Amtrak, our train had been cancelled and we'd been automatically rebooked to Union Station out of San Juan Capistrano!?!?!? Say what? After spending 45 minutes on hold with Amtrak, our only other option would have us arriving in LA at 6pm, after our dinner reservation. In the end, I made reservations on the FlixBus, which turned out to be a decent option and we arrived at Union Station at 430pm.

Walking to the Miyako Hotel from Union Station in 2023 was a different experience as well, many more homeless, folks with obvious mental health issues screaming at us (it's quite sad), groups of kids on skateboards harassing people acting like they "owned" the sidewalk. Whoa….

Though once you got off Alameda and made that turn on 1st Street things calmed down quite a bit.

We checked in, freshened up, and basically just had to cross the street to get to our dinner destination, Sushi Enya. Actually, we had wanted to check out a place that had been an old favorite of ours. But sadly, Sushi Komasa closed last year when the Itamae decided to retire. Sigh…. Anyway, we decided to check out Sushi Enya and I managed to get us early reservations. We were the first folks in the place and took a seat at the bar.

There were five folks working behind the sushi bar! Our Itamae for the evening was a young man who was quite friendly, it seems like a couple of the folks behind the bar were tasked with making various rolls that folks coming in after us ordered.

We got our order in and our nigiri started arriving. A couple of observations. Enya seems to do a lot of Aburi (torched) nigiri, they also have several tare/nikiri that is used on all the nigiri, so we had no need for shoyu and wasabi, except for a few exceptions. We both didn't care for the quality of the rice used as it was on the hard and chewy side and lacked a nice fragrance. As for the nigiri, well, read on!

Things started with Engawa, the dorsal fin muscle of hirame (halibut) a favorite of ours

The engawa had that wonderful toothsome texture, the nikiri added a nice touch of savory-soy tones with a hint of sweetness. Very clean, great texture!

Next up was the Kinmedai (Golden Eye Snapper).

This was torched changing the texture, adding a layer of creaminess to things. The addition of yuzu kosho gave this a nice salty-citrusy-"zippiness".

I saw Yamaimo "Fries" with Truffle Salt on the menu and had to try it.

This was quite delicious! The exterior crisp, the interior slightly creamy. All the usual sliminess of yamaimo was gone! Not much truffle flavor, but we really didn't need that as there was a delicate starchy-sweetness to this.

Next up was the Albacore.

This was a miss for us as the strong garlic sauce really detracted from the mild flavor of the fish. The sauce overwhelmed the dish.

Things were quickly corrected when the O-toro arrived.

Ethereally buttery in texture…..the fish almost melted when it hit your tongue. Too bad we didn't care for the rice here. The nikiri really added a nice, mild soy-sweet flavor to this.

We also ordered some Uni. When asked whether we wanted Santa Barbara or Hokkaido uni, the answer was quite easy.

The Hokkaido Uni was fabulous, creamy-sweet-briny. As I say, it's like having a creamy taste of the cleanest, freshest water of the Pacific ocean.

From here we decided to order a few more items to complete our meal.

We got some Hotate (Scallop).

With some ginger and the nice nikiri, this did need a bit of shoyu to balance things out. The scallop was sweet and tender.

We both didn't care for the Wagyu Nigiri.

The beef seemed really lean and did not benefit from being torched a bit too much making it very chewy.

We finished with Negi Toro Temaki.

This was fine, though the rice really dropped this a few notches for us.

Overall, a nice meal. Because of being the only folks sitting at the bar it was like we had our own, personal Itamae. Wish we liked the quality of the rice as it would have made our meal that much more enjoyable. As it was, this just illustrated how much we enjoy Tadokoro. We'll have to get our fix there soon!

Sushi Enya Little Tokyo
343 1st St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012

After dinner we decided to take a stroll and see what was going on in Little Tokyo.

Stay tuned!

Where in the world are we?

April 2, 2023 mmm-yoso Travel

Well…..yes, we're off on another trip, call it making up for lost time, or the cringe worthy "revenge travel". This is a place we had planned on visiting right when Covid hit. So now, three years later we decided the time was right?

So, where are we? Well, we've been here just a couple of days, not even half way thru, but we are just loving it!

We arrived and spent two evenings in the largest city here. It was an amazing city where the modern…

Aligns with the traditional.

And we got to try some traditional cuisine that we've always wanted to eat here.

Both in restaurants…..

And in the vaunted night markets.

And even on our short time here, we've gotten to try some of the more modern cuisine as well.

One thing that has really struck us is how kind, mellow, and generous the folks are here. The Missus is having a great time getting recommendations from folks. It's been fun gathering the recs and hearing the Missus enjoy Her conversations….folks are quite opinionated, in a fun way.

We'll be spending a couple of days back here during the tail end of our trip and I can't wait.

We're at our second location right now.

And though we only arrived last night, we've taken to this city. It's more mellow than the capital, folks are very friendly.

And for our two meals out here, we've used the recommendations of taxi drivers! And both meals, though very different were great!

We visited two markets earlier today. One was quite traditional.

The other more modern and artisanal on the third floor of a modern high rise. The young man working the tea stand spent a good hour having taste different teas, many if which were grown on his cousin's farm. He was so kind and generous with his time.

We're enjoying our time here, this trip has so far exceeded our expectations. We expected great food, but it's the people that have really made an impression on us.

And it's only been three nights so far!

Man, if things stay the course, this is going to be one for the books.

Thanks for stopping by!

Takeout from Tenkatori (Again)

March 28, 2023 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Japanese Restaurants

A couple of weeks back "FOY" ChrisR sent me an email with some photos with the title "Tenkatori impresses". I then sent him a link to my post from May of last year. Apparently Chris hadn't read that post? And here I thought he was a F(riend) o(f) Y(oso)! Of course, I'm just kidding (I think?). I actually appreciate that email as it placed a reminder in "mi cabeza" about returning to Tenkatori.

I thought about online ordering, but there's an additional $3 fee that I'd rather provide as a tip to the restaurant. So, just like what I do for takeout at EE Nami I called in my order right at 11. I was given the time of 1130 for pick-up.

Tenkatori Rev 01

I arrived a bit early and managed to find a space in the rather merciless parking lot. The woman working the counter was juggling a couple of takeout customers and the phone which seemed to be ringing non-stop.

Tenkatori Rev 02

By the time I made it to the counter my order was waiting…in fact, it's that first package in the photo above. I had ordered the "Mix" Bento Box which was $9.90 in May of last year. It is now priced at $12.50.

The drive back to the office took about 15 minutes and this is what the Mix Bento looked like.

Tenkatori Rev 03 Tenkatori Rev 04 The wings actually held up better than the Karaage. Don't get me wrong, the karaage was very moist and tender, but that light, what seems to be katakuriko based batter is made for eating quickly. I think of the flavors are very nicely balanced, soy-with a touch of sweetness. I like that the karaage still has skin attached. The "whole" wings (tips and drumettes included) did well. Like I've mentioned before, I like the addition of wing tips as they add a nice cartiligous texture with the addition of the batter of course. I could make out a touch of the shichimi togarashi a lot clearer than the karaage.

Tenkatori Rev 04b

The potato "salad" was the same as before, mashed potatoes. Decently seasoned, with a sweet, teriyaki like sauce on it. The rice was a bit harder than I like, but serviceable. This is not by any means a large portion of protein, but these days it's enough for me.

Which lead me to wonder why I don't come here more often. Of course, I really like the gizzards and the nankotsu…..so I'll probably wait for a day when Calvin comes into the office to order all that stuff.

Tenkatori Rev 05

Thanks again to Chris who took the time out to send me an email with photographic evidence! Hope you get back to Hilo soon!

Tenkatori Miramar
6780 Miramar Rd Suite 104
San Diego, CA 92121

Takeout from Soi 30th (Revisit)

March 27, 2023 mmm-yoso Thai Restaurants

Thai is usually a spring-summer kind of thing for us. But, upon returning from our trip "home", the Missus was craving some Thai food. We thought it would be nice to do some takeout from Soi 30th. We'd place our order then take a walk and pick-up our takeout on the way back to the car. Man, Soi 30th was pretty busy, but as usual the folks working were quite nice. We placed our order, then went for a short walk before circling back to pick up our food which was ready as I walked thru the shop's doors.

We got back positively famished and unpacked our order.

Soi 30th Rev 01

Something struck us right away, one of dishes was missing an ingredient, the dishes didn't seem as fragrant as what we'd had befor.

The Larb Moo Krob has always been a favorite of mine, but this was really disappointing.

Soi 30th Rev 02

I ordered this spicy but it was really mild, it lacked rice powder which adds a nice nutty flavor to the dish. The pork was hard and tough, not good eats. Man, this was really dry overall and it lacked savory tones….almost like they forgot the fish sauce.

After the larb, I was kind of worried about the Chinese Broccoli (gai lan) with Pork Belly.

Soi 30th Rev 03 Soi 30th Rev 04 This was a shade better than the larb, at least it had a bit more heat to it. The gailan was crisp and nicely stir fried. The pork belly suffered the same fate as the previous dish; it was hard. We were left wondering what was going on with the usually crisp and tasty pork belly.

The last item we ordered was the Chicken with Holy Basil.

Soi 30th Rev 05 Soi 30th Rev 06 Well, the first thing the Missus said when I opened this was "where's the fried egg"? We had ordered and paid for the "fried egg option" but they forgot to put it in this dish. Bummer. And I wasn't about to drive all the way back to 30th street for a $1.75 egg. This dish needed more basil and the overall texture was on the greasy side. At least the chicken wasn't hard and dry as we'd experienced before.

This meal left us scratching our heads, as a whole we had enjoyed our meals from Soi 30th, so we weren't quite sure what was going on here. Perhaps it was just a bad day, but going oh-fer-three is not good.

Soi 30th Rev 07

Soi 30th
3442 30th St.
San Diego, CA 92104

Toulouse – Le Capitole, Basilique Saint-Sernin, and Dinner at Le Bibent

March 25, 2023 mmm-yoso France, French Restaurants, Toulouse, Montpellier, Carcassonne, and Occitania, Travel

After having a bit of an adventure trying to get out of Carcassonne, we made our way to Toulouse by bus, which ended up taking 4 hours. Once we made it to the city however, things went quite quickly. We were staying right on the the main square Place du Capitole. And it was a snap getting there on the metro, which was fast and efficient.

We stayed at the Hotel du Grand Balcon.

We really enjoyed the location and our room had a view of the square and this being the end of November, there was a lively Christmas Market happening. We loved just watching the goings on from our window.

I listen to quite a few Podcasts and one of my favorites is Join Us In France. A frequent guest on the Podcast is Elyse Riven who runs Toulouse Guided Walks. Not knowing much about Toulouse, I tried booking a tour with Elyse, but unfortunately this being the holiday season Elyse was travelling during our time in Toulouse. That said, Elyse was so generous in making a few recommendations and I did download her VoiceMap audio tour. We really enjoyed Toulouse and I'm hopeful that we'll be able to book one of her walks next time around.

We were quite happy to find that our room was ready when we arrived. We freshened up and then headed out. It turned out that Toulouse was a wonderful city for walking. Our first stop was right across the square at Le Capitole, a combination City Hall, Theatre, with beautiful State Rooms.

To us, Le Capitole seemed more like a grand art gallery, then a municipal building.

From the Grand Staircase which dates back to 1674 and beautiful paintings that adorn it…..

Which leads to three halls, each featuring stunning artwork.

Whoa…..we really didn't anticipate all this grand and quite stunning art!

It was a nice first stop for us in Toulouse.

From Place du Capitole streets stretch out in all directions like a spider web. We headed up north a bit to see Basilique Saint-Sernin. This huge Romanesque style church was constructed in the 11th Century.

This was once the church of the Abbey of Saint-Sernin. Only the church remains. It is said that Pope Fabian sent the church's namesake, Sernin, consecrated as a Bishop to France, which was then Gaul, where the Christian religion had been replaced by pagan beliefs. Sernin, would walk past the various pagan temples, the idols would suddenly not be able to prophesize. The priests grew angry, seized him, tied him to a bull and he was dragged to his death. The Bull finally ended up on the street going up to the Basilica, now named Rue du Taur (Route of the Bull) and at the place where the bull finally deposited the body of Saint Sernin is a church now named Notre Dame du Taur.

The interior, as expected is quite grand.

And is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We even found a statue of Saint Roch, the Patron Saint of Dogs!

We stopped by Notre-Dame du Taur on the way back to the hotel. I took a photo of the exterior of the church later in our visit.

We returned to our room and took a short break before dinner.

One of the challenges I encountered while making plans for our stay in Toulouse was making reservations for dinner. Most places did not do online reservations and my French is horrendous, so there's no way they'd be able to understand what I'm saying. I did manage online reservations at two places, one of which was a recommendation from Elyse. We did try to drop by restaurants to attempt to make reservations, but alas, the places were booked solid. I really need to do that French immersion thing.

Still, Toulouse had a more relaxed vibe than Paris, much less touristy. In fact the Aerospace and Aeronautics sector is the largest employer in Toulouse. We really enjoyed our time in the city, though I'm not going to quite fall in line with this….

For dinner, I had made reservations at a place nearby, off Place du Capitole, named Le Bibent. There was a familiar name associated with Le Bibent, Christian Constant, whose restaurants we've eaten at in Paris. Even though he is now retired, we were interested to see what Le Bibent would be like.

It was a drizzly evening and we were seated close to the bar area. The restaurant has been restored to it's former glory in the Belle Époque style and is quite stunning.

As is typical of our eating habits, we went with three entrees and one plat; starting with the eye catching Carpaccio de Tete de Veau (14€).

This was quite good, the veal head was tender, mild in flavor, it almost melts in your mouth. The mustard seed vinaigrette added a nice layer of sour-pungent tones, the greens were amazingly crisp, with a mild nutty bitterness. We loved the combination of flavors and textures.

The Missus loves Her Oeufs en Meurette (16€) so we had to get that.

The Missus enjoyed the poached egg, the potato mousse was a bit too starchy-gooey for us. The red wine sauce was nice, not overly bitter. This was not bad.

Of course we had to get the Foie Gras En Croute (21€).

The pastry was on gummy side though the "fillings" were really wonderfully "offaly"-earthy in flavor. Loved all the wonderful textures and flavors that the various greens and the pickled onions provided.

And of course, we had to try the Cassoulet (29€), which ended up being quite diapppointing.

We liked the "crust", but things ended there. The beans were hard, the dish was too salty, this was just not good eats to us.

Of course the Missus was hoping for that ethereal Cassoulet, but it was still not to be found.

Still, in terms of price, this was not a bad meal at all.

Le Bibent
5 Place du Capitole
31000 Toulouse, France

And we enjoyed the "feel" of Toulouse.

Folks here were very friendly and kind……

Yoso-Silly – It’s Ramen Weather

March 23, 2023 mmm-yoso Cooking, Ramen, yoso-silly

Man, has the weather been crazy or what? With more rain that I can ever remember, I just didn't want to leave home. But, it was great ramen weather, right? So ramen it was……

Which kinda hit the spot. This was not bad. So, here's where it gets interesting. This was actually from a package, albeit with some "additions". A few months back, I saw some frozen ramen on sale at Nijiya at $3.99. I thought it was expensive (it's now $5.69). And having tried the Nijiya brand and other stuffs by Sun Noodle that I thought wasn't very good….still, I couldn't help myself so I bought 5.

And this turned out not bad. Noodles by Sun Noodle, the tare has a bit of that metallic instant noodle flavor, but I tamper it down by using more water, usukuchi shoyu, grated garlic, and shaved onion. That chili crisp doesn't hurt as well. And I'll use whatever I have at my disposal, like some frozen jioazi, some frozen chashu, leftover roast duck and duck fat….it all works well.

So perhaps I've changed my tune with regards to packaged ramen….

Still, I don't think I'm willing to try this yet…..

Especially after our experience at their location in Kyoto.

Still, this has been interesting and I'm wondering what the effect of all these "atmospheric rivers" have had on your eating habits?

Tahona Bar

March 22, 2023 mmm-yoso Cocktails, Mexican Restaurants

A couple of months back, the Missus and I decided to go to Tuetano for our date night. The Missus was wanting to have a drink or two, so we walked on down and took the trolley to Old Town. It's great having the Trolley off Morena. Once we got to Old Town however, the Missus just wasn't "feeling it". She wanted a cocktail. Just then, I recalled reading that a bar specializing in Mezcal, Cocktails, and Oaxaca influenced cuisine had opened a couple of years back in Old Town named Tahona. So, I suggested we check it out.

Tahona 01

And while there were some misses with the food; we enjoyed the service, the cocktails, the Mezcal (of course), and the general vibe of the place. So much that we've visited a half dozen times since.

Tahona 02

We always get there right after 4pm and on nice days we sit outside and enjoy the fresh air (and heaters). When it's a bit more chilly or drizzly, we'll have a seat in the bar area.

Tahona 02b

And since there's usually no one there, we'll take the corner table, which has a view of El Santo Campo Cemetery (I included that in a previous post) and the dining room.

Tahona 02c

While I truly believe that Old Town is trying more than ever to please locals, there's the simple fact that this is a tourist hot spot. And it's quite apparent in some of the dishes. We've stayed away from stuff like the Chips and Salsa and Guacamole.

We tried a few tacos, but all are over $8 for a single taco and while not bad, we know we can get better elsewhere.

Tahona 04

Some of the fusiony tacos didn't fare much better. The Tempura Nori "Taco", which used nori as a base was not very enjoyable for us.

Tahona 03

This mish-mash of quick to get soggy tempura nori, bland mahi mahi, overly sweet mole, made doubly sweet and salty with unagi sauce, with pickled daikon and carrots – a la do chua was just a mess.

We've tried a couple of other items, like the Empanadas ($16), which got soggy quickly and the smoked tuna was too fishy and salty for the Missus.

Tahona 04b

And I guess they were trying for a Mediterranean feel by adding that tapenade, which wasn't bad.

On the positive side, we found some dishes we really enjoy here. More on that later.

Because, well, one of the reasons we keep returning are the cocktails…..

Tahona 05 Tahona 05c Some of which feature ingredients that include Hoya Santa; which, if you read our Oaxaca posts you know the Missus loves. My current favorite cocktail is the Oaxacan Firing Squad (above) and the Head Ancho (right) which has a nice spicy component to it.

I usually will have one cocktail, then finish with a Mezcal (of course). And when it comes to Mezcal, this place is great. The staff really knows their stuff, in fact, they all seemed to have gone and visited Oaxaca. On our last visit we started chatting with our Server about Boulenc. And once they find out we've been to Oaxaca, do the suggestions start coming! They are quite enthusiastic about their Mezcal and Tequila. In fact, they even got us to try Mezcal Pechuga which was so smooth and smoky. I'm kicking myself for not trying it when we visited Palenque el Cornejo!

Tahona 05b

And the Missus has found that She has a taste for Tequila Anejo; specifically this one.

Tahona 06

As for our favorite dishes at Tahona? Well, there are three we currently order.

We enjoy the Wagyu Aguachile Tostada ($18).

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In this case, all of the pieces went together well; from the toothsome, though very beefy flavored grilled wagyu, to the refreshing, not overly sour leche de tigre, which also had a bit of heat to it. The guacamole acts like a cool, calming component, while the pickled veggies and onions add a pungent-sour. The tostada adds a ice maize-crunch to things.

We had wanted to try the Flor de Calabazas Tempura ($18), but they were out on our first two visits. They've had them on subsequent visits and we order it on every visit.

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This is another example of somewhat disparate ingredients working well together. The tempura batter adds a nice crispness to the delicate squash blossoms. It seems that it all just melts in your mouth. The earthy eggplant crema gives the dish a smoky heft and the olive oil adds a fruity-rich component.

And the one dish that we luckily ordered on our first visit, the Birria and Bone Marrow ($28).

Tahona 09 Tahona 10 The beefy birria partners well with the buttery-rich bone marrow. This version has some great richness and bulk, we favor this more hefty version to the more delicate version at Tuetano. We also order this a specific way. We ask to replace the blue corn tostadas with corn tortillas which has a stronger maize flavor and also want a salsa that has a good "kick", since the birria here can really stand up to it. We enjoy the roasted shishito peppers and the fun "pepper roulette" that it provides.

We enjoy those three dishes above with the cocktails and agave spirits at Tahona. Add in the very friendly and enthusiastic staff, which can overcome the somewhat slower service at times and it's currently on our "date night" rotation. At least until tourist season starts. Though perhaps by arriving at 4pm those crowds can be avoided.

Tahona Bar
2414 San Diego Ave.
San Diego, CA 92110
Current Hours:
Tues – Thurs 4pm – 10pm
Fri – Sat 4pm – 11pm
Sundays 4pm – 10pm

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Doing the trolley/bus thing can be beneficial, especially during the slower season. One night, we walked into El Santo Campo Cemetery.

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We saw three young men walk into the cemetery with these strange looking lights, meters, and gear. We started chatting with them. Turns out they are Ghost Hunters! The Missus who is usually quite reserved with strangers started chatting them up! Apparently, they are from Vista and were spending a couple of nights in Old Town. They had spent the previous night at the Whaley House. And when the Missus asked if they had seen anything, they shared a video they recorded on some strange lights and the meters blinking and stuff. You gotta love it!

One evening, we walked over to Casa de Reyes, which can be crazy busy during peak season and times. But on this evening, there was a duo playing music, folks just kicking back and enjoying things and a group of folks dancing! It was adorable!

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And for some reason, because we were walking just like we do in some of our favorite cities, it felt like we were on vacation.

While sipping that Mezcal, I closed my eyes and while I was actually sitting there in Old Town, my mind was many, many, miles away…..

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Thanks for stopping by!

Takeout from Village Kitchen (Again)

March 20, 2023 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

I was recently referred to as a "Debbie downer" in the comments section of one of my posts. Which I actually thought was funny. So, perhaps for a change of pace, here's a more "positive" post!

The Missus hasn't really been wanting Chinese food since we got back from Paris. We found a Sichuan restaurant that served simple, but really enjoyable food. We liked it so much that we ate there three times in two weeks! Go figure. But, on one of our "date night" dinners at EE Nami, we passed Village Kitchen and the Missus stopped as said "maybe we should get takeout from here soon". Which is how I found myself ordering takeout one evening.

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The really nice woman who remembers me from when she used to be at Kangxi is Coming was working. She's always been so nice to us and was happy to see me.

I went and ordered three dishes, two oldies but goodies, and because a favorite of the Missus, the La Rou with Cucumber Skin in no longer on the menu, something a bit different that I saw. The woman told me it "was good to come and order" because of the extra fees involved with online ordering.

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In case you're keeping score, from left to right, the first two items are the Preserved Radish Skin with La Rou, the Eggplant and Green Chili with Preserved Egg, items which we've ordered many times before. On the right is the Baby Bamboo Shoots with Minced Pork.

The Preserved Radish Skin with Hunan Smoked Pork was quite good, perhaps the best rendition we'd had from VK to this date.

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Nice crunchy dried radish, with smoky and surprisingly tender La Rou, nicely stir fried, not greasy, decent spice. This was quite nice.

The Eggplant and Green Chili with Preserved Egg was my least favorite dish of the evening as I felt it was on the greasy side.

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The Missus enjoyed all the pidan hidden under the mashed eggplant.

The big surprise was the Baby Bamboo with Minced Pork.

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This dish also featured preserved vegetable, which added a nice sour-salty flavor to the dish. Great earthy-soy flavors with a mild spice, this is a new favorite of ours.

We were pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed this takeout meal. We'd been doing takeout from Village Kitchen quite often in recent years and this might have been the best yet.

So, a week later, guess what the Missus wanted? It was indeed "rinse and repeat". And wouldn't you know it, we thought that this was even better than what we'd had previously.

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Take a look at the Baby Bamboo dish, man, it was nice and spicy this time around!

VK TO 07 VK TO 08 They sure didn't short us on the chilies did they? And more preserved vegetable which just lifted the dish in my opinion. Great smokiness to the dish, perfect amount of soy and sodium flavors.

The eggplant was better this time as well, less greasy, the mashed and melt-in-your mouth eggplant was quite good. There was definitely more spice in this as well. The Missus loved this.

And to top things off, the radish skin with la rou was better as well! There was much more smoked pork this time, the radish skin was so nice and crisp, this was quite enjoyable.

VK TO 09 VK TO 10 Not sure who was cooking on this day, but I'm hoping the person will always be there on my visits! And the dishes really brought some heat this time around….maybe it was a new delivery of chilies? The one a sat next to while waiting for my takeout?

We go back a way with Village Kitchen to when they first opened. It seemed like the place had hit a rut for a while and was inconsistent. But while there were differences in the dishes for these two meals, they were both good. Here's hoping that this is how things will be from here on out!

Village Kitchen
4720 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

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