mmm-yoso – Page 9

Honolulu – Ireh Restaurant

January 29, 2026 mmm-yoso Honolulu, Korean Restaurants, Oahu, Travel

So, after our revisit to the Alley and Ko Olina we actually went to Australia, before returning to Oahu. But recently, Bruddah Kimo asked me if there were other places than Kimchi II to get some Meat Jun. He is staying at Pagoda Hotel. Well, during our return from Australia we actually stayed again at the Ala Moana Hotel. The Missus had finally taken to meat jun during this trip and I had heard of a place right on the corner of Ke’eaumoku and Makaloa in the Azure Condo complex named Ireh. So, I’m kinda doing this one out of sequence so that Kimo can get an idea…..ok?

So yes, we were staying in the Ala Moana Hotel, yet again. Because of our stays at Accor Hotels, I had a nice discount and got us an upgraded room.

Even had a kitchen….but nah…I’m “home”…I going eat out….

Still, it was comfortable room and I didn’t get the “Ji-chan treatment” (jjk) when we checked in.

With our some what jetlagged schedules going, we wanted an early dinner. I asked the Missus what She wanted and wouldn’t you know it! She wanted Meat Jun! You gotta love it!

A couple of places came to mind. Choi’s Family Kitchen used to be a favorite way back when I lived in McCully and they used to be on King Street, but we didn’t feel like driving. I searched a bit and noticed that there was a place name Ireh right on the corner of Ke’eaumoku and Makaloa. It’s a huge condo complex now; but I remember when Green Papaya and a Jewelry Store used to occupy a small two story building on the corner.

Anyway, we walked on in…since it was still early, the place was pretty empty. The woman working greeted me in Korean! I had to crack up…..my friends used make fun of me because I’d often get mistaken for being Korean when I lived in HNL!

Anyway, we were seated and handed menus; but the Missus had already made up Her mind. Since it was pretty warm I got the BiBim Naengmyun.

The baechu kimchi revealed that this was more of a true “Korean” restaurant, than a local style one. It was more pickled, but still had some fermented tones to it. The Yangpa Jjangachi had good soy-garlic-slightly sour tones and was kinda refreshing.

The Bibim Naengmyun ($16.95) was a disappointment.

The noodles weren’t very stretchy….there was no need for scissors for these. The sauce was quite watered down, having more of the sweeter mul naengmyun type of flavor. It really needed some umph!

This made me somewhat worried about the Meat Jun ($18.95), but it was quite good.

A pretty large portion of meat jun. Which was on top of the rice, which was a bit on the hard side. But of course, this was about the beef….

The dipping sauce was good; savory soy, a hint of palate cleansing vinegar.

As for the meat….this was quite good. It was very tender, the savory egg batter batter had spots of light crispness rather than the usual sogginess. The marinade had flavored the meat well; soy sauce, some sweetness, a hint of garlic.

The Missus really enjoyed this and She said it was a step above Kimchi II. Hmmm………

Ireh Restaurant
629 Ke’eaumoku St. Suite 104
Honolulu, HI 96814
Current Hours:
Daily 10am – 10pm

Bruddah Kimo; if you check this place out, let me know what you think?

Relic Bakery & Kitchen

January 28, 2026 mmm-yoso Bakery, Croissants

I first heard about Relic Bageri back in early 2024 at their weekends only location in a commercial kitchen on Commerce Avenue. They started doing preorders, but that just wasn’t my thing. I did try to visit, but the lines were crazy. Now you just know that a place so successful was going to grow, right? And finally, in October of last year they opened a brick and mortar shop in East Village.

With all our road trips, I waited a bit to finally visit the shop in East Village. The area seems a bit sketchy, but heck, SDPD HQ is there and there always seems to be parking available.

It’s a nice looking shop, in a sort of transitional area.

Anyway, it wasn’t overly busy on this day and I strolled on in.

Lots of pastries to tempt you…and the price point is lower than Izola!

The same really nice young lady was working on each of my visits.

There’s both indoor and outdoor dining available, a coffee stand, and breakfast and lunch is served. But you know I was really only interested in one thing at the moment, right?

So, I got myself a Butter Croissant, which was $5. And a couple other savory stuffs.

As for the croissant aux buerre……I like the lamination, nice and flakey, good, light, fluffy and airy interior.

In terms of flavor; it’s got a lighter butteriness than I prefer, and perhaps a bit too much salt for our tastes. Still, not overly sweet, nice texture, not over baked as many versions.

As for the rest; well I just had to get this beast.

This is the Chinese Five Spice Sausage Croissant. Well, let me tell you, this is pretty huge.

Nice porky flavor, good, not overpowering anise tones. There’s a bit of herbaceousness and the size and texture reminds me of Lao/Thai sausages. And with a croissant wrapper around it?

Still, I really enjoyed the Jalapeno, Speck, and Cheese Croissant the most.

Love the tangy-sour spice of the pickled jalapenos, with the mildly smoky-savory speck, and the light milkiness of the cheese. If anything, I think a stronger cheese might be even better. Along with the crispness of the croissant, slight buttery-sweetness. There’s something about this combo I enjoyed.

The Missus tried all three and them asked me why I didn’t get anything for “Her”. So of course that issue had to be rectified.

I got the Double Pain au Chocolate which the Missus absolutely loved. And she enjoyed the texture of the Bear Claw, but it was too sweet for Her.

As for me…well, it was another Croissant aux Buerre. Now this one had a bit more butteriness and was still wonderfully light and fluffy. Except that it seemed to have been over baked and was too flakey…as in croissant laminate shrapnel everywhere.

Still, this might be my current favorite croissant aux buerre in San Diego. And of course, there’s a certain someone who was volunteering to “clean up” the fragments.

The Missus enjoyed the pain du chocolate so much that She sent me back on a Saturday to get more. This time, I decided to forgo the regular croissant…..

There was a line on this day and the dining area was almost full.

Still, the folks working have always been so pleasant.

So, this time around in addition to the Jalapeno, Speck, and Cheese Croissant – which I still really like and the Double Pain du Chocolate; I got a couple of others to try.

The Missus absolutely loves the “Mocha Bomb”.

I didn’t care for the Lamb Rillette Croissant.

The pastry itself had a really great texture, flakey and crisp, but the rillette was really chewy and it didn’t feature the typical aromatic-rich-gaminess that I associate with lamb rillette.

Still, we’ve enjoyed exploring various items from Relic. I have gone back 3 more times since this last visit. And the croissant aux buerre has been my favorite in SD so far…. It’s not perfectly to my taste….I’m thinknig a bit more butter but I’m not expecting say…what we get at La Maison d’Isabelle, our favorite boulangerie in Paris, which I’ve posted on like four times. But it has still been enjoyable. I need to revisit Wayfarer….or maybe do both in a side by side comparison, right? Meanwhile; the Missus has been craving that Mocha Bomb! And we need to check out the various kitchen offerings as well.

Relic Bakery & Kitchen
845 15th St.
San Diego, CA 92101
Current Hours:
Wed – Sun 8am – 2pm
Closed Monday – Tuesday

Soup du Jour – What’s in a name?

January 26, 2026 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Chicken Wings, Chinese Restaurants, Dog Friendly, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants

In my revisit post for Ju Feng Yuan, I mentioned my current favorite popcorn chicken was from Soup du Jour. Now, I honestly thought I had posted on the place. But as I looked to create a link for the post, I discovered I had not! WTH??? So, I set out to correct that mistake. And went searching for photos and than did a couple of revisits.

I came across the place after returning from Taiwan in 2023. I was looking for some Taiwanese food and along with the usual, not-so-good suspects, Soup du Jour appeared. So, I decided to head on over. Soup du Jour was a very odd name and the location is in the Corsair Apartment complex on Aero Drive.

Looks familiar? Well, this was the former location of Carve Modern Deli & Beer on Aero Drive. Way back when, my office was located on Aero Drive, this place would have been in walking distance!

Parking is fairly limited and the restaurant’s interior looks basically the same, if a bit more packed with “stuffs”.

Anyway, when I first started visiting, I tried a whole of items from the very “diverse” menu. This is what it looked like back then.

Everything from Rotiserie Chicken to Congee to Ribeye Steak to Youtiao to ????

And I tried a whole bunch of stuff that, well…to put it honestly I didn’t care for. Like the Lu Rou Fan….the photo of which I couldn’t find! But here’s a few other one and dones….

The Daikon Soup….

The Asian “Meatball” Soup.

I was going to basically give up, but decided to do one more visit….because the owner, whose name was Claire was so nice!

And she was from Chiayi, one of our favorite little cities in Taiwan. We chatted about Taiwan while waiting for my food to go, so I finally asked her for some recommendations and she told me to try the Street Chicken, which she said was Taiwan style Popcorn Chicken and the Honey Glazed Spareribs, both of which were winnahs!

These are photos from several takeout meals I ordered that were supposed to be part of that non-existent post.

Loved the legit fried basil…which seemed to be missing in this box; but was actually underneath the chicken.

And the spareibs, were nice, looked tough, but quite moist with a touch of sweetness, smokiness, and Asian touches in flavor.

Though I’ve never been able to resign myself to those roasted veggies……

And so, I thought I did my post???? I did do some additional visits; the Missus also enjoys the chicken and ribs.

And then we got JJ. I recalled that Soup du Jour had a nice patio area, so I took JJ over for lunch!

By this time, I noticed that the menu had changed and also instead of Claire, a young guy and lady were running the place. The menu had also expanded.

And I saw Jiaozi on the menu, plus I’d always wanted to try the Salt & Pepper Wings ($14) to go with my Pork and Cabbage Dumplings ($13.99).

The jiaozi was a non-starter; the wrapper was really think and very chewy. The sauce had a weird sweetness to it.

The filling was a coarse cut; something I prefer to overly minced fillings, but this was also a bit on the chewy side; though the flavor, porky-sesame wasn’t too bad if a bit mild.

As for the chicken wings; the were seven in an order. I had them put it into a take out box for me in case I couldn’t finish.

Like the jiaozi; this didn’t quite hit the spot. I like a nice garlic topping, but this was burnt and bitter. The batter was uneven and soggy. Decent saltiness with a hint of pepper and spice, but nothing special.

The flesh was fine, a bit overcooked. All in all, this could have come from Panda Express…..

And then I did the JFY post and realized I missed the boat on doing a SdJ one! Unless maybe I did actually do a post…..which took place in another dimension? Anyway, the Missus was wanting the Street Chicken, which was now $15. So I did a takeout order.

This travels well. The batter is more on the crunchy side. The Missus is especially fond of the white pepper tones, five spice, saltiness, and that fried basil. It heats up well in the air fryer too.

Pretty moist, decent toothsomeness, also hints of other pungent spices, with a very mild hint of sweetness. It is by far our favorite version in San Diego. You hear that Bopomofo? Though I still need to check some other places. Let me know if you have a recommendation!

Deciding that I needed to at least try those Honey Glazed Spareribs again, I drove over for lunch with JJ.

Now priced at $17.50, you also add brown rice for 50 cents more; which is what I did. Good nuttiness from the brown rice which wasn’t overly chewy.

I’m still not the biggest fan of the roasted veggies that come with this as it just seems out of place.

Still, I was here for the ribs, which were moist, falling off the bone, and had a nice sweet-savory flavor, with a hint of smokiness.

The Missus actually enjoys these as leftovers. She enjoys the flavor and prefers it much firmer. It was good to know that it was still a dish we enjoyed.

Though I did not see Claire on this visit either; so I asked the young lady working and was told that Claire had sold the business to them a while back! Bummer; I hope she’s doing well! I always enjoyed chatting with her. I was happy to note that the dishes we enjoyed were still good.

And so, I was finally ready for a post, right? Well, I was until I saw this sign posted.

Well, I guess I needed to make one more visit…..

I’m guessing the new ownership are adding items to the menu. It’s good to see that.

The Hainan Chicken Rice was just $13.99.

I ignored the sweet-soy dressing and stayed with what I’m used to with this dish.

First off; I did not like the rice which was super dry and hard.

In spite of the color; it lacked that rich chicken flavor I expect in the rice with this dish.

The chicken itself was not bad. Quite moist, but very mild in poultry-ness.

The typical sauce, lacked scallions, had a bit too much garlic for my taste, and was starting to discolor.

I also think it needed a bit more oil for texture.

Not a terrible Hainan Chicken Rice, especially for the price, but I know I can get much better here.

Still, I know I’ll be returning when the Missus wants Her fix…..

So here you go…..finally got this done. Soup du Jour….what’s in a name???

Soup du Jour
8583 Aero Dr.
San Diego, CA 92123
Current Hours:
Mon – Sat 11am – 8pm
Closed on Sunday

Ramen Nagi and Santouka – Ramen Ruminations

January 25, 2026 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Ramen, yoso-silly

After my last visit to HiroNori, I decided to revisit two other of my favorite ramen spots in San Diego. And both of these places have interesting “histories” with your truly.

Ramen Nagi:

I hadn’t been to Ramen Nagi in a while! And that visit was to try out the Veggie King Ramen! I was tempted to visit right after HiroNori, but heck, I ain’t going to UTC during the holiday season! I just waited until the calendar flipped to 2026 and headed on over. And guess what? No line!

I walked over and was shown to a seat at the counter.

It was quite mellow! I also have my preferences for my ramen here. Folks can choose and “customize” their bowl to their tastes, something I wish other places would do as well.

And while I waited, the older gentleman who was in charge came on over to say hello. And we had a really nice chat. I mentioned that my first bowl of ramen in Japan was at Nagi Ramen in the Golden Gai. And he cracked up! Apparently, he worked for Nagi’s parent company in Tokyo before coming to SD! Of course I had to ask him about Niboshi Ramen….and he laughed again. Apparently they did try it as a “special” for a short period, but the only folks who would try the stuff were the Japanese nationals and hardcore “ramen heads”. It was such a nice little chat!

As for my Original King Ramen ($16.95), well, I liked that the mildly porky broth wasn’t too salty…and check out all that richness! It just coats your tongue and tummy. That’s why I order it “heavy richness”. Normal garlic is enough to add some pungency without overwhelming the soup.

And those katame…..firm noodles do a great job picking up that broth and are so springy.

The egg was decently marinated and flavored. And perhaps because it was opening time, it was still warm.

To me, the pork shoulder chashu might be the weak link here as it is on the more chewy side.

But was decently marinated with good porkiness.

I think we have my favorite tonkotsu ramen in San Diego here! And of course, that memory of wandering thru Kabukichō to find that 24 hour location of Nagi Ramen on our first evening in Tokyo! Such great memories.

Ramen Nagi UTC
4301 La Jolla Village Dr. Suite 2033
San Diego, CA 92122

Santouka Ramen:

And of course, after Nagi, I had to get back to Santouka. Hard to believe it’s been over a year since my last visit. And like Nagi, I have some history with Santouka. To this day, I believe that the opening of Sanotuka in San Diego back in April of 2008 really changed the ramen world in San Diego. And after trying things for a bit, we had found our favorite here; the Shio Toroniku.

This was a solo lunch; so I just went with the small sized Shio Toroniku ($15.95).

I had never ordered the small size, so when my buzzer went off and I went to pick up my bowl….well, I cracked up at the size of the ramen bowl. Though I was happy to note that the portion size off the toroniku and garnishes were of the same size as far as I could tell.

To put things into perspective….check out the size of the porky, super tender pork cheek versus the size of the bowl of ramen.

Still, this was nice and warming….that thick bowl keeps the broth super hot for a long time. And no; I wasn’t in the mood for the usual horrible egg here.

The noodles were adequately firm. I already wrote about that tender-porky toroniku.

The broth creamy, not overly salty, nice savory tones.

And of course, I’ll never forget hunting down the original Santouka in Asahikawa...a tiny little shop! And of course we cracked up when the tamago there was just as bad! Points for consistency I guess! Such fun memories! And a good bowl of ramen as well!

You can read Joy’s latest post on Santouka here. And Soo’s latest on Santouka here.

Santouka Ramen
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd(In the Mitsuwa Marketplace)
San Diego, CA 92111

Zen Modern Asian Bistro – Now at the Del Mar Highlands Sky Deck

January 23, 2026 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Niu Rou Mian, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants

I’m not sure which “FOY” mentioned that Zen Modern Asian Bistro had moved from Sabre Springs to the Del Mar Highlands Sky Deck…perhaps it was Dereck or RD?

Anyway, after my rather unsatisfying bowl of NRM from Dao Xiang, along with the cooler weather; I thought it would be a great time to make the drive up the 5 and check out the Sky Deck, which Cathy has been to…but I’ve only visited the Jimbo’s in this mall.

It’s a large if rather dark space; very hip in that “you know it’s Del Mar” kinda way…..

Zen is just to the left of the entrance.

It’s got a bit of a sports bar look to it along with a dining area. It’s interesting to see that the doors to the kitchen area are automatic ones.

The young man brought me the menu; though I already knew what I was going to order.

And oh my, the NRM is now $22 and adding the suan cai is another $1!

And soon enough my order arrived. That bowl of NRM was quite large!

In many ways; it’s basically the same as I had at the previous location.

Not overly salty, mild beefiness, light soysauce, light richness, in need for more aggressive anise-beefiness for my taste.

In what was an improvement over what I’d had before was that the beef was nice and tender and full of savory-beefiness. And there was quite a lot of meat!

The noodles still lacked springiness and also didn’t do a great job of “picking up” the broth.

There’s a good amount of bok choy….in case you’re worried about getting some “veggies”!

As Dereck and RD both indicated; the must have item is the suan cai, the pickled greens.

There’s a bracing sour-tanginess to it. And while it may be slightly on the sweeter end of the spectrum to me, it really boosted the overall flavor of the broth when I dumped it into the bowl.

Overall not bad….better than many other versions in San Diego. And while it may be better than other versions, I’m not sure the price tag and the drive is worth it for me. Still, I’m glad to have tried the NRM here at the new location of Zen

Zen Modern Asian Bistro (In the Sky Deck at Del Mar Highlands Town Center)
12841 El Camino Real Suite 206
San Diego, CA 92130
Current Hours:
Mon – Thurs 10am – 9pm
Friday 10am – 10pm
Saturday 11am – 10pm
Sunday 11am – 9pm

Road Trip – Tacos Los Hermanos (Lone Pine), Old New York Deli and Bakery, and Shelter Distilling (Mammoth Lakes)

January 22, 2026 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Cocktails, Distilleries, Dog Friendly, Food Trucks, Road Trip, Sandwiches, Sierra Nevada, California, Taco Shops, Travel

Just about a month after we returned from our two week road trip up to Mendicino, we were back on the road again. This time to where the Missus wanted to go, Mammoth Lakes. One great thing I found out was that The Westin Monache Resort, Mammoth Lakes is dog friendly. And it was right across the street from the Village at Mammoth, which had a variety of restaurants. We’d been to the area around Old Mammoth Road before and really hadn’t enjoyed ourselves.

We decided to make an overnight stop in Lone Pine to rest up before heading to Mammoth. So, I got us a night at the Dow Villa Hotel. This was back in June, so it was pretty darn hot already in Lone Pine. We checked in and basically just stayed in air conditioned comfort. When dinner time rolled around we just wanted to eat in the back garden area of the motel. It was too hot for JJ, so I walked the four blocks up to the Tacos Los Hermanos Truck. I was in a rush so I didn’t take photos of the truck which is on the corner of North Main and Willow Streets. I hustled back to the Dow Villa and we had dinner in the shaded public area behind the offices.

I got us four tacos, Adobada, CArne Asada, Buche, and Cachete. The Adobada wasn’t too bad, some good smokiness, sweet tones, and not too tough. The worst was the Carne Asada which was quite tough.

The Buche was pretty chewy, but the Cachete, beef cheek was nice and beefy. The tortillas were no big deal, but the salsas pretty good and spicy.

Not too much variety in Lone Pine, so this was a decent meal.

Tacos Los Hermanos
120 E Willow St.
Lone Pine, CA 93545

This is what Lone Pine looked like when I took JJ out for his 430am potty break…..

In the morning I took JJ for a short walk before things got too hot…..

And then we headed out….stopping in Bishop at Erick Schat’s Bakery which I’ve posted on twice before. The Missus ran in and got us some stuffs and we ate at the park across the street, under the trees. JJ needed the shade!

We then headed up the 395. We knew we were going to be early, so we decided to take a detour to Convict Lake and did the easy loop trail.

JJ got to try out his “boots” which we would later find that he really didn’t need.

He even saw horses for the first time and did well when they passed by!

We then headed up to Mammoth Lakes. We were still too early to check in, so we got our parking pass and headed across the road to the Village.

We walked around Village Plaza and found this sandwich and bakery along the side facing Minaret Road.

And as you might know, I’m a sucker for a club sandwich ($18.99) which seemed kinda pricy, but I added sweet potato fries (+ $1.89) which ended up being a good move.

The Missus enjoyed the sweet potato fries, which while not crisp, was quite creamy with a nice sweet and earthy flavor. The sandwich was pretty massive and this was enough for the both of us for lunch! The sourdough was fine, the turkey thinly sliced and quite moist…….. Good crisp bacon.

This would end up being our “go-to” lunch during our visits to Mammoth Lakes.

Old New York Deli & Bakery
6201 Minaret Rd. Suite 105
Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546

Soon enough we got to check in at the Westin. We enjoyed the service there…in fact, one of the Bell men is from San Diego….Bay Park! He was so nice to JJ. To get an idea of how closed we were to the Village; this is the view from our room.

And there was a lot of space for JJ to do “his thing” as well.

When dinner time came along er headed down and across the street. It was interesting to see folks who didn’t want to walk down the steps actually drive their cars around the block! We came across Shelter Distilling, they actually make many of their own spirits, have outdoor dining, and serve food. So, we thought, why not?

Of course we started with some cocktails and man were we hooked!

I think the favorite was the “Crib” which was made with Jalapeno infused Blue Agave.

So good! We actually ordered another one!

We also tried the Beet It, made with Bourbon, honey, lemon, and of course beets! It was a bit sweeter.

We liked the fact that you could actually taste the spirits and it wasn’t overly watered down or overly sweet.

As for the food…well, we weren’t impressed. The Mandarin Orange Salad ingredients were good, but the Ginger-Soy dressing didn’t have enough savory-salty-tangy tones.

Like PF Chang’s lite…..

The Crispy Confit Pork Belly Tacos was fine, but one was served on a pita? The Harissa Shrimp Taco didn’t have much of a kick.

The pork was more chewy than crisp. The pico de gallo was too mild. The Harissa Shrimp was at least served on a tortilla…which fell to pieces quickly. The shrimp was overcooked and rubbery.

On a good note, we’d found a place to have cocktails each night we were here. And I also noticed a back outdoor dining area which we enjoyed the next evening. We’d be looking to dine elsewhere…..

Shelter Distilling
100 Canyon Blvd. #217
Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546

And the Missus and JJ both were really enjoying Mammoth….

DoughBoy’s Grill (Ocean Beach)

January 21, 2026 mmm-yoso Cheesesteaks, Sandwiches

It’s funny how things sometimes work out. With the really warm weather, I was thinking of getting some poke. Of course HFS at Centerpark came to mind. But, I thought I should revisit It’s Raw in OB….of course I figured parking might be an issue, but I decided to take a shot and lucky me….I found a spot right on Santa Monica Avenue! My lucky day right? Well, not so fast my friend….

As I walked down Bacon Street….yikes; look at the line in front of It’s Raw!

I felt “raw” all right. So now what? Well, I decided to find someplace to grab a bite and this place was right across the street….

Doughboy’s Grill! I’d had heard of the place….someone; I don’t remember who had told me the Cheesesteaks there were pretty good. So, ok…..that’s plan B. I crossed the street and walked on in.

The really friendly gentleman greeted me and asked what I was interested in. There’s everything from Smashburgers to wings to pizza and even gyros! And this being OB…well, beer of course. There’s even four types of cheesesteaks. I went with the Rib Eye Cheesesteak ($14.99), with “the works” (+ $1.29).

There’s quite a bit of seating available. I decided on the counter facing Bacon Street.

Soon enough, my name was called out and my cheesesteak was ready.

Did not look like an Amoroso Roll, but the bread was soft and yeasty, kept form during the meal and went well with the cheesesteak.

The gentleman was nice enough to give me some of the Garlic-Truffle Aioli to sample. It was pretty good, mild in terms of truffle, but the savory-sweet-tangy richness went pretty well with the cheesesteak.

As for the sandwich itself; I really enjoyed the sweet-pungent caramelized onions and the tender, savory-almost slightly sweet mushrooms. The mixture of both provolone and mozzarella worked so nicely, as there were hints of the milkiness that mozzarella brings, along with a “cheesiness” of provolone.

As for the beef, well, it contributed a bit, but there wasn’t enough of it in the sandwich for my taste. What the sandwich contained was very tender though. I was told that they slice their own rib eye for this.

Still, while definitely not a classic cheesesteak to me; I did enjoy the sandwich. While I wouldn’t go out of the way to revisit, if I’m ever here again, I just might get the veggie version of the sandwich since I really enjoyed those components. A big plus was how friendly the service was.

Doughboy’s Grill
4994 Newport Ave.
San Diego, CA 92107
Current Hours:
Mon – Sat 11am – 9pm
Sunday 11am – 8pm

Lanzhou Noodlelicious Revisited

January 20, 2026 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

On my post on revisiting Dumpling Inn; “FOY” Peter mentioned one of his favorite spots on Convoy, Lanzhou Noodlelicious….which is also a favorite of mine as well. Though strangely, I hadn’t been there in a while. So while the weather was still nice and cool….before this weird weather we’ve been having over the last couple of weeks with nights being in the 40’s and days stretching out to the mid and even high 70’s, a few days after revisiting Spicy Noodle, I decided it was time to get my “Noodlelicious fix” in.

Hard to believe that I hadn’t been here in over two years!

I visited during lunch, arriving right after the 1130 am opening time. This parking lot gets packed by noon, so the earlier the better. Man, have I really been coming here since 2016?

Anyway, over time, I have my favorite menu item, the Beef Noodle Soup with Sour Cabbage, which is now priced at $15.99. Not bad for these days.

Instead of waiting around for the “thin flat” knife cut noodles, I just went with the standard knife cut noodles, which they still make by hand.

This looked quite good! I enjoyed the abundance of sour vegetable which gave things a nice bracing counterpoint and crunchy texture. There seemed to be less beef than I recalled, but it was tender.

The broth had a bit more beefiness than what I detected on previous visit and was a bit richer as well.

The noodles were slippery and springy, doing a decent job “picking up” the broth.

All in all; this was a very nice visit! It was flavorful and comforting. The service was “all business”, but I’m used to things being that way.

Thanks for the reminder Peter!

Lanzhou Noodlelicious
4688 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Wed – Mon 1130am – 3pm, 5pm – 9pm
Closed on Tuesday

Kiiro Sushi Izakaya

January 19, 2026 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi

I’d heard about Kiiro Sushi opening back in February of last year. So back in the beginning of March I decided to check the place out.

Kiiro is located next to the L&L BBQ on Sports Arena Boulevard….which I actually posted on back in…yikes 2005! I went for lunch right at 11 and the place was empty. The tables and chairs make the place seem almost cafeteria like to me?

I was greeted and seated by the nice young woman. Both she and Itamae were Hispanic which is kinda the norm these days at many places.

Looking at the menu; I noticed a lunch time bargain…the Chirashi was $21!

I thought it would be an interesting way to see how the fish was here. I also went with some Chicken Karaage….that when it arrived wasn’t just “some”; it was quite a lot.

It arrived with “spicy mayo” and I quickly noticed something about the chicken….it was white meat (i.e. chicken breast), which is not my favorite cut for karaage and it would prove to be true as the flesh was hard and dry; not especially flavorful.

The batter was lacking in crispness and fell off the pieces as I tried to eat them. The flavor wasn’t too bad, pretty straight forward soy sauce; hint of garlic….. Still, not a fan of the textures.

As for my Chirashi, well, I quickly noticed something.

It’s not only that the slices of fish were really thin; at this price point I expected that. But, it had that fish that’s banned in Japan since 1977 and also in Italy, escolar (aka white tuna) which can cause keriorrhea (aka the, ahem “orange oily leakage”)….I’ll just leave it at that. The rice was really hard, but also steaming hot, and lacking in seasoning.

You could tell this was really thin cut “saku” fish. The slices of salmon were especially thin, the maguro somewhat on the tougher side.

I didn’t expect much; but this was even less than expectations.

And of course, the Missus wouldn’t touch the leftover karaage, even after “helping it along” a bit and an air fryer session. So, I was just going to call it a day at this point. But Soo, did a nice post on the place and seemed to enjoy the kalbi? Apparently, the owners are of Korean heritage, so I thought I’d return. Though I waited several months before doing so.

I decided to try the Bulbogi and still wanting something more; went with the Tako Wasa as well.

Check out how the Tako Wasabi was served…pretty cool eh? The texture was fine, good toothsome chew. It was lacking in the pungent, sinus clearing attributes of wasabi though.

And I suddenly understood why this was served with wasabi and gari. This would be the first time I’ve ever had to add wasabi to Tako Wasabi!

As for the Bulgogi…..

Huge portion of bulgogi, huh? The rice was much better this time around.

As for the bulgogi…sigh; it had been chopped finely, was strangely mealy in texture, and over marinated and super salty.

This came with tempura, which was fine; though the batter was a bit soggy, lacking in the light and crisp texture I enjoy.

The shrimp was of decent quality, though the kabocha was undercooked and really hard.

Overall, I think I’m done with Kiiro…in spite of what’s written here. I prefer to spend a bit more for better executed food; though I’m glad I tried the place.

“Drink, Eat, Love”……..

Please let me know if stuff other than the huge list of rolls is worth trying here!

Kiiro Sushi Izakaya
3145 Sports Arena Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92110
Current Hours:
Sun – Thurs 11am – 1030pm
Fri – Sat 11am – 1130pm

Galapagos – Santa Fe Island

January 18, 2026 mmm-yoso Airport/Airline/Cruise/Rail Food, Ecuador, Galapagos, Travel

Our first day was supposed to be spent exploring Genovesa Island, famous for the abundance of birds and the Prince Philip’s Steps. The island however, was closed due to a outbreak of Avian Flu. So, the Evolve instead headed first to Santa Fe Island.

I woke early and got a nice cup of coffee on the deck. I started getting a hint of “who ran things” around these parts!

After which we got our gear on and boarded the Zodiacs.

And we headed to Barrington Bay. Santa Fe Island used to be named Barrington Island after Admiral Samuel Barrington. During our briefing the night before, we were told that the island is considered the oldest by many at over 4.5 million years old, and there’s a specific species of Land Iguana only found on Santa Fe Island.

Fabrizio, the Naturalist in our Zodiac mentioned that there’s a large colony of Sea Lions in the bay and also pointed out the first Blue Footed Boobies of the trip!

They are so cool looking, huh?

We did our wet landing and being told that there’s a large colony of Sea Lions in Barrington Bay was a bit of an understatement!

You are not allowed to touch any of the wildlife and not approach and try to stay 2 meters away from them. It was amazing to visit a place where the wildlife has no fear of humans.

The sea lions would look at you and then “bust a pose”.

And having no fear of hoo-mans meant that if you weren’t paying attention, sometimes they’d catch you in some interesting situations.

We started our nature walk and Fabrizio quickly pointed out some lizards.

These were Santa Fe Lava Lizards. The ones with the bright red throats are the females.

The island is small, just 24 square kilometers and yet, it is an amazing place to visit.

We were amazed to see so much cactus here.

Apparently, there’s a specific species of cactus that is endemic to this area.

Walking along the trail we came across a Mockingbird. It was just not phased by our presence. This is of a distinct sub-species endemic to Santa Fe Island.

Can’t you just see how Darwin would have been affected by this?

And then Fabrizio pointed what we’d been waiting to see.

This is Conolophus Pallidus, more widely known as the Santa Fe Land Iguana. Endemic to Santa Fe Island……which covers just about 9 square miles! Amazing!