Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion – Page 8

Revisits – Bann Cutlet & Teriyaki and Sarap Filipino Kitchen

September 24, 2018 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Chicken Wings, Filipino Restaurants, Korean Restaurants

A couple of revisits to places on Miramar Road that I posted on rather recently.

Bann Cutlet & Teriyaki:

**** Bann in the H Mart Food Court has closed

**** Bann has moved to the H Mart Food Court

I think the freshly prepared food at Bann is a decent choice; the prices aren't bad, and while it's not outstanding, you do get what you pay for. During one of my recent revisits; I recalled that while I've tried the Chicken Cutlet here (nicely fried, but the sauce is not to my taste); I hadn't tried the Teriyaki. So why not? Also, the two young ladies who work here are really nice. And (maybe) because I waited for my Teriyaki Chicken so long, they gave me a fried egg for no additional charge.

Whatever the motive for the gratis egg was; I appreciated it. As you can tell; this is a fairly hefty lunch….man, so much rice. As I posted on earlier; I do enjoy the salad, and that mandu was still crisp when I got back to the office.

The chicken was on the rubbery side, but not bad.

Not a big fan of the teriyaki sauce; it's too sweet for my taste and texture is really gloppy. The rice was perfectly cooked; the bok choy (along with the salad) made sure I got my veggies.

Though it was too much food. I'll stick with a "bowl" next time which is still more than enough for me. Like the kimchi fried rice bowl…….

Bann Cutlet & Teriyaki
9506 Miramar Rd
San Diego, CA 92126

Sarap Filipino Kitchen:

**** Sarap is now Gaya Gaya

After our visits to Sarap; the gang at work couldn't wait to revisit. And so; with one of the folks having a birthday, even though there were only four of us, we headed back to Sarap.

We ordered the Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings again.

While these were ok; they weren't as crisp as on my previous visits. Still, not bad. Also, not seasoned as much either.

The Lechon Kawale. I wanted to try this again after having a terrible version earlier.

The skin was much better this time around; though the pork belly was on the dry side, and the leaner portions were rather tough. I enjoy the lechon sauce here; it's on the fairly mellow side, with a nice balanced flavor.

Crispy Pata (of course):

This time around; the pata was chopped up; the meat taken off the bone and the two ends, with the nice gelatinous parts laying at each end. It was still good, perhaps a bit drier, but the skin was wonderfully crisp; the porkiness of the leg coming through nicely. It was also a bit smaller than last time as well.

Daniel from Georgia loved the Sinigang and the Bagoong Fried Rice (sorry no photo).

Not a huge portion; but the tamarind based broth was rich, had a nice sourness, and man; the okra (I do love my "neba-neba") was gooey goodness. The pork was moist and tender and this had that nice "aaah" appeal. I'd gladly have this again.

We ordered some white rice with this……but hardly touched a quarter of it……

So, there you go….still a mixed bag; but still closer than Villa Manila which I think is better. They also need to staff better….it's go early, or wait a while for your food.

I also heard that they have started serving breakfast on the weekends now.

We'll see how things go here.

Sarap Filipino Kitchen
7580 Miramar Rd
San Diego, CA 92126

Revisits – Bistro Kaz and Talavera Azul

June 27, 2018 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Breakfast/Brunch, Italian Restaurants, Japanese Restaurants, Mexican Restaurants

The restaurant landscape of San Diego sure has changed from when we moved here back in 2001. And while I still complain about the quality and the preference of style over substance…..I'm still not happy "just to have" something; it's sure nice to have some variety available. Here are two examples; one of lunch on Friday, then breakfast on Saturday, in two drastically different areas of San Diego.

Bistro Kaz:

My coworker "SJP" wanted to take me to lunch……how very sweet of her. At first I thought perhaps Korean would great. But the petite SJP is not a very big eater. She was also born in Japan. Even though my last visit to Bistro Kaz wasn't that great; I thought she'd appreciate the food.

The menu here has grown nicely since they first opened. It was a pretty warm day, so I chose the Cold Natto and Mekabu Pasta. The lunch combo came with a nice, refreshing, simple salad, and a passable pseudo egg drop soup.

But it was the pasta I was looking forward to. And it did not disappoint.

The pasta was cooked…well, just about as well as this type of pasta can be. It had a nice pull and was nicely chilled. The natto fragrance wasn't over-powering and combined with the slimy mekabu (the bottom area of the same seaweed that gives you wakame – it gets slimy when heated) gave the whole dish that wonderful "neba neba" sensation that I find satisfying. For some reason, this seemed quite refreshing and the yuzu kosho added a touch of spice and saltiness to the whole, beautiful mess.

SJP had a taste and thought it was delicious….so did I. But you know how much I enjoy natto and the memories it elicits. I think I'll have this again soon.

Bistro Kaz
3904 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Talavera Azul:

Yes, another post so soon. The next morning the Missus wanted Her Menudo Rojo fix. So we headed to Downtown Chula Vista and back to Talavera Azul.

And the Missus got Her menudo. This time around I finally found "my dish" here. The Sonoran Machaca with Easy Over Eggs.

The shredded beef is griddled with onions, peppers, and tomato; adding some nice crunchy bits of very flavorful beef. Who doesn't love drippy eggs (just kidding Jessica). Some beef wrapped in a tortilla with a smear of beans, potatoes, onions and cilantro, and finished with salsa….man, this was good. In fact, the Missus ate more than I did! And it was one of the rare occasions where we finished all the tortillas. The Missus took half the bowl of menudo home with Her!

We returned the following week with the same result. I'm guessing we'll be returning soon.

Talavera Azul
365 3rd Ave
Chula Vista, CA 91910

Shank & Bone

March 22, 2018 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Chicken Wings, Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

I was a bit intrigued when I first read about Shank & Bone opening in North Park. A Vietnamese place in North Park? Though this little phrase in that post caught my attention “traditional, authentic cuisine and flavors of Vietnam". Okay! You know what I think about using the term "authentic" when it comes to a cuisine. But "traditional", I can buy into that. Could it be? I decided to visit a few days after the place opened.

Traditional or not; the interior design of this shop is something to see. From the Shepard Fairey print to the bright colors and clean design.

In the category of "something to see", so are the prices on the menu; especially "that" bowl of pho…..more on that shortly.

I saw Beef Carpaccio ($12) on the menu. So I decided to start with that.

I also saw watercress; so thought the dish was perhaps a cross between Bo Xao Xa Lach Xoong and Bo Tai Chanh. Turns out it was closer to the former. I love watercress, so I enjoyed the veggies, the mint really helped; though the nuoc mam was weak on the fish sauce and too sweet for me. The beef was rolled up into balls, not the most visually appealing presentation. Upon unravelling the protein, I realized how large the four slices were. This was basically repurposing beef sliced for pho. It was a bit too thick for my taste.

Still, not a bad dish.

I also got the "Signature Pho" ($17). The bowl, sans soup was delivered to the table, and the broth poured from a pitcher tableside.

I noticed a couple of things right off. The basil and sprouts, the portion size of which was small, were starting to turn brown. The broth had a nice fat content and was dark brown, but gave off no fragrance. It was pretty weak; very mild beefiness, no anise tones, very little of anything. The noodles were too soft for my taste as well.

The two slices of top round were typical; on the dry side, though the flank and brisket were nicely done.

The biggest disappointments were the oxtail, which needed more cooking time as it was dry and tough, and the bone marrow, which sounds really good in theory, but quickly became a rather unsightly globule of fat in the bowl and for some reason had lost all its flavor.

Not my favorite bowl of pho by any means. And maybe "no MSG" might not be a good thing in this case? And I was left over thirty bucks lighter in the wallet as well.

The staff though, were a joy, very friendly, and just a nice group overall. Dishes did take a while, but I wrote that off to having just opened.

I was on my way back from Northgate Market the next day and decided to take a detour and try a couple of other dishes at S&B.

This time, I was seated at the bar. I looked over the beer, sake, and soju list. S&B does not have cocktail license, but I was intrigued at the "Old Pho-shioned" ($10). Which, while a bit on the lighter side…to be expected, was fairly decent. I enjoyed the anise-clove-burnt orange tones of the drink.

As for food; well, this time I went with the "Saigon Chicken Wings" ($10).

These were smaller sized wings; which I prefer for the skin/batter to meat ratio. The batter was a bit on the hard side and the glaze really, really sweet. The wings were also fried a bit too long as the meat was on the dry side. Not terrible.

I saw Banh Mi Bo Kho ($11) on the menu during my previous visit and was curious about that.

The beef stew, while on the thinner side had a nice amount of fat. The broth, while lacking a good amount of tanginess, had more than enough black pepper and beefy flavor. The beef was nicely done; not mushy and over-cooked, but unlike the oxtail not tough. I could have used more pungent onions and some anise tones in the broth, but this was fine. I also missed not having beef tendon. But this was, by far, the best item I had at Shank & Bone.

I was going to quit while I was ahead. But then I read Kirbie's post on Shank & Bone (please check it out) and there was a dish that caught my attention. So I decided to head on back.

The same great crew were present. I went ahead and ordered a "Plenty for All" and the Banh Xeo Tacos ($11).

This riff on banh xeo uses the "crepe" as the taco "shell". Very nice and creative. The filling is a combination of chopped pork, shrimp, bean sprouts (not enough), and jicama (not enough). It was on the mild side in terms of flavor. and the nuoc mam was low on the fish sauce and much too sweet. I liked the lettuce and mint, but missed the basil and tiet to (purple perilla) which adds a nice citrusy-anise flavor to banh xeo. Also, the crepe shells didn't hold up real well; but had a nice, light crunch while they did.

I needed a companion to my "tacos" and because that was a pretty large fat globule of bone marrow in my pho on my first visit; I decided to try the Roasted Bone Marrow and Banh Mi Crostini's ($13).

This just wasn't a good value as there wasn't very much bone marrow in these rather "skinny" bones. It was all gone with one slice of banh mi. The "chimichurri" had way to much citrus making it too sour….not a great match for bone marrow.

So that's it for Shank & Bone for now. I wish them well, but there's just so many almost $40 dollar solo mediocre lunches and dinners I can take. Still, it's a nice atmosphere, the staff is friendly…..but it's all about the food with me.

Though if you want hipster Vietnamese, well….this just might be the place.

Shank & Bone
2930 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92104
Hours:
Sun – Mon 11am – 9pm
Tues – Sat 11am – 10pm

Roadtrip – Xiang Yuan Gourmet (Temple City)

March 11, 2018 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Chinese Restaurants, Dim Sum, Los Angeles County, Road Trip

**** Xiang Yuan has closed

**** Xiang Yuan no longer serves Dim Sum

We had one stop to plan on our way back from Santa Barbara last year. The Missus really wanted dim sum. And naturally, Sea Harbour came to mind. But I wanted to try something different. And after showing the Missus a couple of blog posts, I talked Her into stopping at Xiang Yuan Gourmet. The Missus was somewhat skeptical since "Xiang" basically means Hunan.

Still we made the drive to Temple City, to a portion of Las Tunas Drive that I don't think I've ever been to.

The restaurant is clean and modern and was totally empty during our entire visit.

The service was quite good…..and very efficient, though I guess being the only customers might not be the best gauge of that. It seems that the menu serves dim sum during the day, with the Hunan menu coming into play for dinner.

The menu did indeed feature some interesting nouveau style dim sum items.

We ordered some of our favorites, along with some interesting items I'd seen on other blog posts.

Crystal Shrimp Har Gow.

The shrimp were very moist and plump, with a nice "shrimpiness". The wrapper was a bit too think for my liking. I think that the version at Sea Harbour is better than this.

We both enjoyed the nice "pull" of the wrappers on the Vegetarian Dumplings.

The filling had a nice combination of textures and was pretty tasty overall. Surprising for a vegetable based dumpling.

I usually enjoy Chiu Chow Dumplings and this was no exception.

The wrappers, while on the thick side, weren't too gummy, the ingredients, peanuts, chives, mushroom, shrimp, all worked together well. Very balanced.

We also ordered this….

To translate, least you think we're one "k" away from skunk. Bean Curd Skin Roll with Cordyceps Flower.

The broth was delicious, and not overly medicinal. The bean curd skin was nice and crunchy, though the roll was on the bland side.

Turnip Cake is a must order item for the Missus.

Nicely studded with Chinese Sausage, this was very soft. It doesn't hold a candle to the version with XO Sauce at Sea Harbour. The Missus said that She enjoys what I make at home more than this.

The last three items that came out were the one's we were really interested in trying.

The Mushroom Bun……really looks like a mushroom.

The dough was a perfect combination of soft-fluffy, while still having a slight chew and not overly sweet. The filling of mushroom and bamboo shoots had a perfect savory flavor, with just the right amount of crunch from the bamboo shoots and carrots, which added a touch of sweetness as well. My favorite item of the day.

The Crispy Bamboo Shoot Paste Balls really make an impression.

They arrive looking like carrots….I'm not sure why, there's no carrot in this. The exterior is said to be made from bamboo shoot paste, which reminded me of exterior of glutinous rice dumplings. It was overly sweet and chewy for our tastes and the amount of salted egg filling just didn't stand up to the sweetness.

Ever since first having Durian Pastry almost eleven years ago at Elite Restaurant, I always have to try it if it's on the menu. The version here is quite nice, if not as visually appealing as the previous two dishes.

The crust is fairly light, the filling thicker than other versions, but very tasty and not too sweet. As a bonus there's a slice of durian along one edge of the pastry. Very nice in a mildly savory-not overly sweet-custardy kind of way. I'd gladly have this again. Another winner.

The Missus really enjoy this meal. In fact, She told me that we should return as soon as we are able to.

In fact, She told me that "this might now be my favorite dim sum restaurant". I'm not sure. I think I still prefer Sea Harbour. I'm going to need several revisits to both. You know; for research purposes……

Xiang Yuan Gourmet
9556 Las Tunas Dr
Temple City, CA 91780

Cloak & Petal

March 6, 2018 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Japanese Restaurants

Cloak and Petal landed with quite a splash at the end of last year. Even though the place had been open barely a month, it garnered many votes as San Diego's most beautiful new restaurant for 2017. And yes; the space is quite stunning.

As are some of the menu prices. Service was quite pleasant and knowledgeable on our three visits. It's not uncommon for me to ask a question and get blank stares and shrugged shoulders here in San Diego. But the folks serving us did well and managed to answer our questions about where the products are sourced and ingredients (i.e. New Zealand salmon – per Tommy Gomes the "best" farmed salmon). Of course we ate early with minimal crowds; but that's because we like unrushed meals.

The drinks, even the proclaimed "Flagship" "Japanese to English" are on the sweet side for us.

Here's a rundown of dishes we've had in order of preference.

The Glazed Duck Breast ($23) is by far our favorite; we've had it three times and on each occasion it's been prepped perfectly. Great mild gaminess with a very nice, just sweet enough glaze.

The kabocha puree and the sauces are superfluous in our opinion and really don't add anything to the dish, other than to garner a "look at the pretty colors" response. Still, by far a favorite.

We've had the Wagyu Roll ($25) three times. If Kobe Nigiri at Urasawa didn't convince me that great quality beef belonged on rice or with rice, the Aburi Wagyu Nigiri at Miku surely did. and the first time we had the wagyu roll it totally delivered.

Torched, buttery wagyu beef, with perfectly made rice, wrapped around a crab and scallop mixture with what seems like tenkasu – fried tempura batter or something similarly crunchy, with a wonderfully earthy-rich truffle nikiri, capped off with a slightly spicy slice of jalapeno. Man this was amazing. On the next two visits, it was not quite up to par. Once, the jalapeno seemed to be MIA once the rice was hard, twice we couldn't detect any truffle flavor in the nikiri. One out of three is great in baseball….but not for dinner.

I was excited to see Houba (Hoba) Yaki ($20) on the menu. If you've seen our posts on places in Hida-Takayama and elsewhere in Japan, you know this is one of my favorite food preparations. This version is seafood based.

While the miso here is legit, great fermented beany-nutty and not too salty, and the spot prawns quite nice; the shiromi (whitefish) was really tough and there really wasn't enough miso used to really make this sing…..

We had the Belly Sashimi ($28) twice. Just because I noticed something quite odd about the portion the first time.

While the salmon belly cut is nice and thick; everything else is cut super thin and rather long. On the first visit the salmon was mushy and watery, on the second tough. On the first visit the chu-toro was actually better than the o-toro which had a metallic finish to it. Overall, other places will do this so much better. At least they gave us real wasabi and the soy sauce was of high quality.

The Buta Kakuni ($12) was just okay.

There was a good porkiness, but was on the tough side and the braising liquid really lacked the sweet-saltiness we enjoy. The ajitama (marinated soft boiled egg) was delicious, but was ice cold.

The Mero Saikyo Seabass ($28 – 4 ounces) was a bit of an enigma to us.

While the miso flavor was wonderful, there wasn't enough caramelization to add a bit of texture to the fish. Also, after having this twice (fool me once…shame on you….fool me twice…) we came to the conclusion that seabass might be too lean for this prep as it lacked the butteriness we enjoy in this type of dish.

While the Jidori Chicken Karaage ($12) was very moist, the mild flavor reminded me of the buta kakuni.

It was also not crisp. I kind of look at Tori Karaage a couple of ways. Crisp and crunchy or less crisp, but with deep umami from something like shio koji. Of course our favorite in Japan does both. A case of good ingredient, just not enough flavor for us.

Our least favorite dish during our visit was the Cloak and Petal Ceviche ($20).

Besides the rather miniscule amount of seafood, this was way too sour, and things just seemed out of balance. There was a good amount of "sugi" (stringy connective tissue) in the fish as well.

So, after three visits, we've come to the conclusion that it's probably the "fusion" type dishes at C&P that do well, we found the more traditional dishes to be a bit mild in terms of seasoning. The ingredients for most of the dishes were excellent and nothing came across as salty. Our Servers were excellent, though the music is a bit too loud…though it could be my age showing. Also, the cheapest we got away with for any meal (without tip) was about $120. The vibe is definitely hip, the seats now that they've changed them out from the terrible lounge like chairs they had in the beginning is a definite improvement.

I'd certainly come back for that duck again, perhaps try something else, though at this price point, it's not a weekly or perhaps even monthly kind of thing for us. We'd rather save our money for our trips and meals at places like Sola (our meal there minus drinks was just a bit more than our most expensive meal here), our favorite restaurant Suzunari (remember no tipping in Japan), or if we want fusion, maybe give Maido another shot (that was about $100 pp).

Please check out Kirbie's post on Cloak and Petal for balance.

Cloak & Petal
1953 India St
San Diego, CA 92101
Hours:
Mon – Fri 5pm – Midnight
Sat – Sun 3pm – Midnight

Cypress – Cafe Hiro

December 20, 2017 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Japanese Restaurants, Orange County, Road Trip

Work has been a real "bear" for me this year. This past quarter, I've had to make several trips to the OC for work, which culminated in a two night support stay.

It was over a weekend…no biggie since I'd already done almost 20 days straight of work. We had a bunch of choices for places to stay, with most of the support team staying in Irvine near our customer.

I chose to stay in Cypress. Yes, Cypress. You see, since this was a weekend and I'd be heading to our location at around 6am, there wouldn't be any traffic. Plus, this hotel was even cheaper than the other choices.

But why Cypress? Well, it sure wasn't to check out the Noodles & Company or the El Torito that basically shared the same parking lot with my hotel.

No, it was to be able to finally visit Café Hiro.

I'd been waiting to check this place out for years. You see, when I first started this blog back in May of 2005, the focus of the food blog back then wasn't a career path and social media as know it now was in its infancy. Remember Friendster ? Facebook was still a Harvard campus oriented site; it wasn't released to the public until 2006. By the time I had started the blog; there was already a pretty strong food blogging community, yes, in those days it was sort of a community and "Elmomonster", perhaps you are more familiar with his food blog Monster Munching was going strong. Elmo, or you probably know him more by his real name these days, was one of the first to comment on this blog. One of Elmo's favorite places is Café Hiro; he's done multiple posts on the place over the years, culminating with a poetic Valentine's Day post in 2016. In November of 2017, a full twelve years since I first read about the place, I finally had an opportunity to check out Cafe Hiro.

I made my reservations for later in the evening since I'd be working almost a full day in San Diego, then drive up. And oh what a drive it was….a full 140 minutes of thrills and excitement. I managed to check in at the hotel and then decided to do something that drew a bit of attention; I walked there from my hotel, up Valley View Street. Several cars actually slowed down to see the odd sight of a person walking of his own free will up the street. I'd forgotten………

The place was full, except for the small bar area, which is where I was seated.

Things were pretty busy; but the two young ladies working were very efficient and quite nice.

I had my sights set on Uni Pasta, but when a woman walked in to pick up 10 orders of Uni Risotto, well, my mind was made up.

Things started with a simple, refreshing crisp salad.

And a cup of creamy potato soup; which, to be perfectly frank, could have been hotter.

Though I did enjoy the touch of curry flavor in smooth and creamy soup.

For some reason I was a lot more hungry than usual. I really can't eat as much as I used to anymore. Perhaps it was the twelve years of anticipation? Regardless, I ordered the Beef Tataki – "Japanese Style".

Which was pretty much by the book; the beef pleasantly toothsome; I enjoyed the refreshing ponzu-daikon oroshi, and the pungency of the onions. Not a big fan of the fried garlic which was on the bitter side. This was a nice version of Beef Tataki.

My risotto took about thirty-five minutes; which is perfect in my book. Risotto takes time. There are very few versions of restaurant risotto here in the states I enjoy. Most of it is terribly par-cooked, leaving the center of the Arborio rice hard and rather unpleasant. This was nice and creamy all the way through.

All the seafood as a whole was well prepared; the shrimp plump, juicy, with a briny-sweetness, the calamari adequately tender, ditto the mussels. The Manila Clams had a bit of grit in it, but not enough to stop me from eating. The flavor was at once rich, yet quite mild and balanced with just a hint of sweetness and a definite oceany finish. It was very good.

I actually wanted to return to Café Hiro the next evening, but wasn't sure of when I'd be finishing up work. So I decided against making reservations. I did show up and the place was packed so I had to go with a Plan "B".

I'm glad to have finally been able to check out Café Hiro. It is worth a visit. I spent a good amount of time during my meal thinking about how much time has passed since I started this blog; all those SoCal folks…..Dylan & Jeni, Pam, Kristi, ChubbyPanda, Andy…..Beach! I wonder how they're all doing now. Passionate Eater still has a post once in a while and Elmo of course, still does a post weekly. But time has passed, lots of things change in twelve years. And my visit to Café Hiro gave me time to reflect on things. So maybe I wasn't twelve years too late……I'm thinking it was just the perfect time!

Cafe Hiro
10509 Valley View St
Cypress, CA 90630

Elmo, I'm not sure if you still drop by once in a while. But thanks man. Not only for all the posts and emails over the years, but for being, along with Reid, one of the folks who inspired me to start this little old blog way back when!

Paris – The Louvre and Dinner at Sola

October 20, 2017 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Fine Dining, France, French Restaurants, Japanese Restaurants, Paris, France, Travel

Our time in Paris was nearing end. But we had one last busy afternoon and evening set. First up, a late afternoon visit to the largest art museum in the world; The Louvre. If you've never visited Paris; do yourself a favor, get yourself Rick Steve's Paris Guidebook. While I'm not a big fan of the restaurant choices in his books; he has a whopping 20+ pages on the Louvre….more than I'll ever need to know. In order to really enjoy and not burn out during our trips, we always act like we'll return one day. In other words, we have the places and things we "need to see" and the rest, well, if we get there, it's gravy. Anyway, if you plan on visiting the Louvre, get your tickets online, strategize on beating the crowds, unless you enjoy the crowds. We used the Carrousel du Louvre, the underground shopping mall entrance and getting in was a breeze.

Once in, there are still crowds of course…..some folks seem to have a look of desperation on their faces.

We had kind of planned things out, the best we could, just as we did when we visited the Vatican.

We headed straight for the one thing the Missus wanted to see……you know, right?

Well, the view is actually more like this…..

And if you don't already know, the dimensions of the Mona Lisa is 2′ 6″ x 1′ 9″.

And then we were off; sort of as we took time to enjoy some of the many, many masterpieces in the museum.

Like La Liberté guidant le people (Liberty Leading the People) painted by Delacroix.

Hmmm….where was Venus de Milo? Looks like Bacchus is pointing the way.

Well, there she is!

Such beautiful balance, eternally standing in "contrapposto"

Passing thru the museum, you could peer out the windows and see folks trying to capture their "forever moments".

We enjoyed spending a few hours at the Louvre.

And then taking some time to people (and canine) watch outside.

The Seine makes quite a, well, scene at dusk.

And night seemed to fall very quickly.

We returned to our room and freshened up. We still gad some time to kill before dinner. What to do? Well, hit a café of course. The Missus and I had a nice cup of coffee and relaxed before dinner. When I went downstairs to the restroom, this sign cracked me up.

Our dinner destination was just a few blocks away. The second reservation I made for this trip was at a one Michelin Starred restaurant named Sola. I was especially intrigued by the "Franco – Japanese" cuisine put out by Chef Hiroki Yoshitake. The restaurant is quite discreet.

Only a tasting menu is offered, for a very reasonable 95 Euros. Funny, we both took the drink pairing, which ended up being way too much for us…..which also cost 95 Euros!

Half the customers were actually Japanese and many of the Servers were also Japanese. It was an interesting crowd.

The Amuse was a wonderful, savory-mildly sweet crab in dashi aspic over a thin, light, chawan mushi like egg custard.

Along with an amazing Foie Gras and Miso filled Wafer, touched with the light sweetness of Sake and Maple Syrup.

The Missus really loved the Sparkling Sake that was served with the foie gras.

There was olive oil and bread…..but I really don't remember much about it.

I totally failed on the next dish, as I forgot to take a photo of the Beef Tartare, Beet, and Stratatelli cheese. An amazing range of bright flavors. There was a hint of wasabi detected.

The next item might have been our favorite. Amazingly tender sea beam, topped with thinly sliced, slight pungent and sweet onion, on thin slices of daikon and smoky eggplant.

Let's not disregard the light drizzle of buttery-grassy olive oil. Such a wonderful dish.

The squid in the next dish was so amazingly tender and the baby leek was almost sweet.

I was told that the slightly tangy and eggy sauce was based on kimizu, the Japanese egg and rice vinegar dressing, which did well in this dish.

For me; the star of the Parmesan Crusted Shrimp dish was the Chanterelle Risotto, which was just perfect. The earthy flavors went amazingly well with the shrimp emulsion.

By now we'd had Sparkling Sake, Champagne, and two different sake served in wine glasses. The second of which was matched with shrimp.

Next up was a Chardonnay from Muersault paired with Sea bass and scallop with cabbage and cabbage cream with shiso-celery cream.

Complex, but very clear flavors all around.

We were brought a granite to clear our palates.

We could tell that the last main course was something a bit more robust as a red from Beaune was poured.

This was matched with Wild duck breast with jus and sansho pepper sauce and endive and carrot.

Amazing. That duck was cooked perfectly and was so very tender! The bitterness of the endive helped to balance out the flavors.

And then the desserts which the Missus loved.

There was a sensibility and a certain combination of flavors that just hit all the right buttons for us. A combination of Japanese and French technique and flavors just seemed to work in harmony.

This is a place we'll return to; though we'll share a single beverage tasting the next time.

Sola is currently closed because of a fire, but we're hoping they reopen soon.

Sola
12 Rue de l'Hôtel Colbert
75005 Paris, France

After such a meal (and all the drinks) , we slept soundly thru the night. We awoke for breakfast and then our transfer to Orly. We were flying Business, so we were able to relax in the rather uncrowded lounge.

Soon enough, we heard the call for our flight.

Next stop; Reykjavik!

Thanks for reading!

Cross Street Chicken and Beer (Pre-Soft Opening)

October 4, 2017 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Beer, Chicken Wings, Korean Restaurants

Cross Street has fascinated me since I first noticed that Your Story was closed back in June. I'd heard that the place was going to do KFC….you know K(orean) F(ried) C(hicken), which was confirmed by Eater a few weeks later.

While driving by last week, I noticed that the place looked open. I sent a text to "YummyYummy" who through her connections verified that they were in "Pre-soft" (???) Opening mode. Soon enough, "YY" and "Xiāng Jiāo" and I decided to meet up.

The place is dressed up in the very modern; industrial style that is popular these days. Lot's of staff on hand….super friendly young folks. This being "before" the soft opening, I expected some mishaps, but there were none. Some scrambling, but these folks seem up to the task.

The menu is mostly made up of fried foods, with Chicken Wings (of course) being the focus. It's basically $11 for 6 wings prepared in one of six "styles".

But first that popular Korean drinking snack, Corn Cheese ($8).

These were pretty dull for corn cheese, not enough cheese, the corn not sweet enough.

And some Beer Battered Fries ($6), which I found to be ok.

I thought these could have been more crisp and the fries got soggy fairly quickly.

So, what about those wings. Well, before folks freak out about the $11 for six wings thing; I'll say this, the wings are pretty large, in my opinion too large as I prefer a small to medium size wing….better skin to ratio. The wings were good quality; tender meat, juicy, no broken bones, no off colors.

As to how these compare to the KFC we had at, say, Mirak or Kkanbu in Seoul? Or even Gala, "Bee-Bee-Q", or Kyochon? Well, let's take a look.

The Original……

I was told these were the "signature" wings, but though while it had enough salt, it needed some zing. The wings are so large that I think the double fry method doesn't work as much magic here as all of the fat under the skin did not render down all the way and the batter got soft rather quickly. This was the only wings we had that were served with a "salad" rather than the traditional mul kimchi….which would have done good in this case.

Salt and Pepper…..

Royal Mandarin, Mandarin Canton, and the rest have nothing to worry about for now as again the coating didn't hold out too long. It also wasn't very light and crisp on this version. The flavor was very mild for S&P wings and was a bit greasy as well.

Here's the classic, very typical, sticky, Spicy Korean style wings you get at many places.

I expected a bit more heat, but we were told that they were worried about it being too hot and scaring away the non-Korean customers. It was sweet and sticky. This got soggy really quickly and the young man who I think is one of the owners really apologized about that and tried to take it off the bill. But that's not our style…..hey, they're not even in Soft Opening mode!

I thought the best wings we had was the Soy Garlic…..

While on the mild side with regards to garlic flavor; it wasn't too sweet, had a decent bit of saltiness, the batter was a bit thick, but held up the best of all the wings. This ain't no Kyochon, but I'd take this over "BBQ Chicken" and Gala.

The owners were very nice and gracious….they asked us our opinion….usually we'd balk, but this time we were very honest. We were thanked for our opinion and told to please return because they're hoping to "get better every day"! There was such sincerity in that declaration, that having to run some errands for the Missus, I returned the very next day…..

They were a lot busier this time around, but the service was still very friendly….everyone smiles here. At least on my visits they did.

This time around I had Max Cream, an all malt beer, brewed by Hite. This wasn't too sweet, very light, unobtrusive, slightly winey (cat pee), easy to drink.

I actually ordered way too much food, but really enjoyed myself.

Starting with the Fried Pickle Spears ($8).

While I thought the breading was really hard; I really enjoyed the tart-sour of the pickles….it really got my attention; especially when I took a big first bite.

The Beer Battered Fries were better this time around.

Staying nice and crisp.

I ordered the Original Wings again.

While the flavor was still rather plain and the wings didn't quite have that signature light crispness of good KFC; in terms of keeping a nice crunchiness throughout the meal; this was much better.

As were the Soy Garlic wings.

A bit more garlic; lighter crisper coating that held out well, this was much better than the previous day. They just need to get a handle on rendering out a bit more fat and I think this is a keeper.

So, I guess the really nice folks here weren't kidding when they said things "get better every day". At least it did for me.

I like these folks, I hope they do well. Though I'll wait until or maybe after their upcoming Soft Opening.

I also need to order the Garlic Parmesan wings that Kirbie enjoyed in her post on Cross Street.

Cross Street Chicken and Beer
4403 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Bistro Kaz Revisited

March 1, 2017 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Italian Restaurants, Japanese Restaurants

I was having one of those long days….and it was only 1130am! I wanted a bit of solitude during lunch and wondered where to go. I just got in the car and drove….thinking of maybe Sakura or Okan. But those places were just going to be too hectic for me. I pulled into the parking lot and walked past Bistro Kaz and turned around and headed right on in. It had been a couple of years since I last visited. And it looked like there was now some overlap on the menus between Kaz and Sakura; but the place was quiet. I started noticing over the last couple of visits that this seems to be the kind of place that the "Japanese ladies who do lunch" visit. No different on this day.

The menu here seems to have evolved from the Japano-Italian pasta heavy initial incarnation; into more of a diverse offering. Though pasta is still at its core. The pre-fixe lunch menu is still in place as well. On this day; I decided on the Beef Tongue Stew, which sounded nice and comforting.

The bread was warm and crusty and when the young lady asked me if I wanted more I should have said yes…..

This was a bit more than I bargained for. The tomato sauce was heavy and quite thick….and while definitely not bland, was really missing seasonings to balance things out. The texture of the three large and fork tender pieces of beef tongue was excellent. Though I was expecting a more assertive, pure beefiness that I love from beef tongue. This could have been a regular cut of beef. This dish actually could have used some penne or something similar to help with what was more of a gravy than a stew.

Not bad, but I'm going back to the pasta dishes here next time.

Bistro Kaz
3904 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Sunday Sandwiches: Garlic Shack

June 5, 2016 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Sandwiches

**** Garlic Shack has closed

Back in February, I was just driving around and exploring one sunny weekend day when I noticed this place.

I'm pretty sure this place was fairly new……I recall it being pretty much a revolving door of eating places in the last couple of years. I am, of course, a garlic lover, so I just had to try the place out. I will say they really went with the "shack" theme here.

Nice and tight selection of craft beers and an even more interesting selection of craft sodas……looks lie Diet Coke is persona non grata here.

I was greeted by a bright smiling face when I entered; the folks here seemed very cheerful and helpful. The drill is order at the register; pay and have a seat. I really can't say the view was great, though there was a nice breeze blowing through the place and I counted two ambulances and one fire truck rushing through the neighborhood during my meal.

You know; this place IS named the Garlic Shack, so I had to try the Garlic Fires, right? It wasn't quite what I picture as garlic fries.

The fries were really nice and crisp, very hot….I really didn't care for the garlic seasoning which seemed like a bunch of granulated garlic dumped on the fries, which made the flavor somewhat bitter to my palate. That spicy ketchup was quite nice though….not super spicy, the tangy-sweet with a slight kick.

I ordered the "Spicy Porkaholic".

It was quite a hefty sandwich….which was appropriately wrapped in butcher paper. It should have had a "contents under pressure" label since it basically bursts at the seams. The bread didn't hold up for very long, the pork had a very strong paprika flavor and really didn't have a smoked flavor, at least to me. The bean sprouts were an interesting choice, which added some texture, along with the lettuce. The menu said grilled onion, but I didn't detect any of that.

There was no way that I could finish all of this….though it did seem more about portion over quality. I did enjoy the South Bay Seltzer; which wasn't overly carbonated and quite refreshing after all of this rich and hefty food.

And so things stood pat….but of course I really wouldn't have felt comfortable doing a post without another visit. Which I did a few months later.

Different folks, but the same very friendly and helpful service.

This time around I decided to stick with just a sandwich and went with the Korean Beefaholic. Which of course was quite hefty.

This was, as before, quite a messy sandwich as the bread didn't hold up for long. The generous portion of meat was kind of mushy in texture and a bit too sweet for me…..the milky flavor of the cheese just seemed to clash with the other flavors as well. The romaine lettuce saves the sandwich, but I think this needs a bit of pungency (onions) and acid (tomatoes) as this was pretty mundane in terms of flavor….but that's just me.

Perhaps if you weren't raised on teri beef sandwiches or W&M Burgers, this might seem really good. For me; not so much. Still, I enjoyed the variety of sodas, the folks who worked here are so very nice. You might want to give it a try yourself to see if it's a good fit.

Garlic Shack
549 25th St
San Diego, CA 92102