Bakery – Page 17

Arely French Bakery Cafe (Revisit) (Clairmont)

October 16, 2014 Cathy Bakery, French Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog. Kirk is not blogging today, Ed (from Yuma) is not blogging today, Cathy is blogging today.

Back in 2007, I posted twice within three months about Arely, a favorite stop. Fast forward seven years. Located in Clairmont Town Square, Arely French Bakery has steadfastly remained in the same space, making quality cakes, desserts and breakfasts, lunches and dinners for more than seven years. Walking into the small space, the menu is straight ahead and above and both a refrigerated and warm display case are filled and directly in front of you. Four tables inside, three outside and two benches are the entire seating area. One recent morning, the Breakfast Crépé ($8.50) was on my mind. A thin flavorful pancake surrounding eggs, spinach, mushrooms, onions topped with melted Gruyere cheese, served with both home potatoes (usually a piece of baguette is given, but on this day the bread was still baking) and fruit, this was fresh, wonderful, filling.The Croque Madame ($8.65)is a usual order here. Ham and Swiss cheese on the house made French Bread topped with two eggs (these weren't as runny as I'd like, but they were wonderful flavored eggs) and served with a side of fruit, this is a satisfying and flavor filled breakfast item. We took home this still warm snail pastry ($1.95) because I am still in my 'raisin' phase of cravings.

From the refrigerated case, a Pecan Tart ($3.95) was our choice. Different pastries and fillings yet similar in quality and depth of flavors. The beginning (and ending) of a nice day.

The weekend is almost here!

Arely's French Bakery 4961 Clairmont Drive San Diego 92117 (858) 270-1910 Open 7:30 a.m.-9 p.m. daily

P.L. Bagels (revisit) (Point Loma)

October 3, 2014 Cathy Bakery, Breakfast/Brunch, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for finding mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog, during your internet travels. Kirk is very busy, Ed (from Yuma) is really busy Cathy isn't too busy, so she's writing.

As I was beginning to write this post, noticing the other posts written about P.L. Bagels were also from October must mean it's just the time of year I get around to writing about a fairly regular weekend stop.Open at 6a.m. daily, P.L. Bagels is located at the corner of Voltaire at Palermo, just a block West of Point Loma High School. In a small, tight parking lot for the various businesses – a Donut Shop, Taco Shop, Pet Food store and Pizza Place- it's been there since at least the mid 90's, originally opened by a New Yorker, who wanted to bring 'proper' bagel making techniques and flavors to San Diego, eventually sold to a very nice family (who are the only ones working here) maintaining those recipes.The store opens at 6 a.m. daily and closes around 1 p.m., unless they run out of their daily made products sooner.The egg and cheese bagel with coffee is $3.99. This 'everything' bagel is a usual choice when unable to decide. The second photo shows both the top and bottom of the bagel- another thing I like about the bagels here- coated and not just topped with the toppings.

Saturday and Sunday are the days when bialy are made and sold. A rare, baked and not boiled first item only sometimes found in bagel shops, bialy here have the small indentation filled with cooked onion. You can see the texture is a bit more 'bubbled' and lighter than a bagel, and the bottom is has a fine rice powder coating. I prefer mine simply toasted and with butter ($1.25).Our habit, following the light breakfast, is to drive to the Point, stopping at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery for our daily walk with a view while paying respect.

P.L. Bagel 3704 Voltaire Street, Suite 107 San Diego 92107 (619) 223-4788 open daily 6a.m.-1 p.m.

2015 Rose Parade float road test #4 and breakfast at Connal’s Burgers, Salads and Subs (Pasadena)

September 22, 2014 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Bakery, Breakfast/Brunch, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for dropping by the mmm-yoso!!! food blog. It's Cathy writing today's post. Kirk and Ed (from Yuma) are busy with other things.

An overcast morning in September. How wonderful it was to wake up at 4 a.m. with a chilly temperature of 63 and for it to remain that way for the two hour drive (beginning at 5 a.m.) North. Mechanical and maneuverabilty testing on four more floats that will participate in the 126th Tournament of Roses parade was happening at Phoenix Decorating Company in Pasadena.The Trader Joe's four part entry was the most interesting. The front piece (wheelbarrow with a pumpkin and watering can) is separately driven by a Honda motorcycle and the other attached pieces, depicting a raised bed garden pulling a watermelon and vine with a blossom and blossoming gourd, with the title of "Bedtime Stories", in synchronicity with the parade theme of "Inspiring Stories" is detailed, has spinning, rocking and water spraying parts and will certainly win some sort of trophy for creativity.The details of the City of Los Angeles float, "What's your L.A. Story?" are emerging."Made Possible by Hope" is the City of Hope entry. The Princess Cruises float, still in its rebar phase looks like a cruise ship depicting sights around the world. Titled "50 years of Inspiring Travel", it will be interesting to see the finished design. The original crew of the TV show "The Love Boat" will be riding on this float!

After that bit of fun, we were again hungry (we, of course had stopped at Cream Pan right around 6:15) selecting 'only' a creamy orange brioche and (of course) ham and cheese croissant, to eat in the car with a Starbucks coffee…
One thing The Mister and I are known for is not making plans. We left the road testing and started zig-zagging the streets, heading more or less North and East. Soon, we saw the above signage (there is a complete arrow, which is really great, classic signage that you can see on any of the links to the restaurant) and decided to stop.There is an ordering window at the street as well as a small inside seating area where you can also order. We saw many people from the neighborhood walking in to pick up phoned in orders and a few people driving and picking up meals.You can see an upside down outline of the arrow on the rug in the below photo. It turns out Connal's has been here since 1958…yet we had never heard of it. It is on Washington Street which has many old classic architecture buildings, including both Longfellow and Daniel Webster Elementary Schools.(I can imagine the rivalry).Since I seem to order the same breakfast 90% of the time, things would be no different here. An egg sandwich with bacon on rye toast ($4.59) was my (wonderful, tasty, filling) choice. Because this was one of The Mister's 'birthday days' when he gets to choose the place as well as the food, (we have birthdays seven days apart, which are really eight days of celebrating) (go ahead, use your fingers- if His birthday was Thursday, then mine would be the following Thursday – that means eight days we have to celebrate, but there are only seven dates using math) He ordered the rib eye steak and eggs breakfast ($7.49). The seasoned strip steak was tender and grilled; three eggs over easy; hash browns; sourdough toast…each prepared perfectly and remiinded us of Saturdays in college, when we'd splurge on steak and three egg omelets for breakfast at the counter at a long gone greasy spoon. Good times.

Connal's Sandwiches 1505 East Washington Pasadena, CA 91104 (626)794-5018 Website (the menu website links have old prices, the wall prices in the photo above are 'to go' prices, it's about 50¢ less per item when you eat in).

2015 Rose Parade float road test #3-(another) food road trip.

August 22, 2014 Cathy Bakery, Breakfast/Brunch, Caffeine Fix, Farmer's Markets/Night Market, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, Orange County, Road Trip, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a blog about food. So many events lead us to food. Today's post is about one of those days. Cathy is writing; Kirk and Ed(from Yuma) are reading.

Saturday, we woke up around 3:30 and let the dogs out, made coffee, threw some laundry and dishes into their respective cleaning machines and by 4:50, The Mister and I were headed North in the cool darkness of the early morning. (Other 2015 road test posts here and here.

Our first stop was Cream Pan, six minutes after it had opened. We picked up a ham and cheese croissant, orange chocolate pastry and a loaf of walnut bread, all still slightly warm, from the filled shelving displays.

Cream Pan Japonaise Bakery 602 El Camino Real Tustin, CA 92780 (714) 665-8239

Back on the freeway soon enough; arrived in Pasadena and the Phoenix Decorating Company barn, just before 7 a.m..

A few 2015 Tournament of Roses parade floats were lined up on Raymond Street, ready for mechanical and maneuverability testing.

The American Armenian Rose Float Association, from Pasadena, is sponsoring this very large, beautiful float this year. It's the first time an Armenian float will participate in the parade, 100 years after an Armenian (M.S. Pashgian) was chosen as Grand Marshal for the 1915 Tournament of Roses Parade. The various details of this 'Cradle of Civilization' titled float symbolize the 'Inspiring Stories' of the American Armenian community. (Theme of the 2015 parade is 'Inspiring Stories').Here's the 'Observer' seated in the City of Hope 2015 float. He doesn't control anything, but speaks to the driver (seated more toward the center) telling him how and when to turn, steer and if the speed needs to be increased or decreased. Here's a full length view of the City of Hope 2015 Rose Parade float- it will have various beakers and flasks, a DNA strand, and 'wishes' printed on the tags, all attached to hot air balloons. Seeing the bare outline now is as interesting as seeing the finished product. (The driver sits next to the red fuel tanks).The Shriners Hospitals for Children float, "A Million Stories of Hope and Healing", was also tested that morning. The Shriner Bear rocks from left to right and is just so cute! See the small rectangle cutout at the base of the green bookmark? That's for the Observer on this float.

When we were finished with the testing, we walked to cross the Metro tracks and this time stopped to check out the public art decorating the Fillmore Metro Station.The spire (top and bottom details in the above photos) is part of the entire work at the station and titled Geologica 42. (Link to a very detailed description)(Link to a less detailed description). There is symbolism in all of it, from the baseball (at the very top), weather vane, anemometer, Bell X1 rocket ( which first broke the sound barrier, designed at CalTech and tested at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory; locals), the number 42 (Jackie Robinson was a Pasadena Resident) …

…as well as the five bronze steamer trunks which are seats at the Gold Line stop (Harry Houdini was born in Pasadena). We walked over the tracks, to Arroyo Parkway and one block North, to Lucky Boy, for a quick breakfast.

This 24/7, drive in, walk up, American breakfast, burger and burrito joint has been here for decades and prepares quality, hearty food for a good price (without tip jars on the counter). Above, the bacon and egg platter ($6.80): 3 eggs, hash browns toast and…bacon(!) and my usual, an egg sandwich on rye ($3.35) with the included fixings of lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise. Served with the fresh made tomatillo based salsa, this was a great meal. Lucky Boy 640 S. Arroyo Parkway Pasadena 91105 (616) 793-0120 Website
We drove five miles East, to the parking lot of Pasadena High School on Sierra Madre Boulevard and stopped at the Pasadena Certified Farmers Market, which was already buzzing.

We try to only shop at Certified Farmers Markets and this one is particularly interesting, being in such a central location to attract local farmers. Pasadena Certified Farmers Market 2900 North Sierra Madre Boulevard, Pasadena Website

Back on the road, headed East to the 15, I wanted some coffee and yet another snack (or three) and we stopped at the Chino Hills location of 85C (a location is being built in San Diego on Clairmont Mesa at Genesee, but seems to be taking forever). This typical (grab a tray, line with paper, grab tongs and serve yourself, take to the cashier who individually bags each item for you) Taiwanese bakery chain is named because 85 degrees Centigrade is the perfect temperature for brewing coffee. There are two sets of cash registers, one dedicated to beverages (but you can order beverages from the other register also). Our snacks, a mini apple pie (puff pastry crust) ($2), Cheese bread (filled with a sweet ricotta cream cheese blend)($1.50) and a Calamari stick (which was round, filled with cheese and topped with garlic)($1).

Sea salt beverages are available here. Above an iced sea salt coffee ($3)and an iced sea salt (mountain green) tea ($2.75). There was no sugar added and each tasted wonderful, with the brewed beverage topped with a dollop of chilled steamed milk with sea salt crystals on the bottom, slightly blended in (swirling the container helps). The flavor meshing is amazing. 85C Bakery Cafe 12959 Peyton Drive Chino Hills 91709 website

We were home by noon. Hoping you have an interesting weekend!

Sunday Sandwiches: V Bakery

June 15, 2014 mmm-yoso Bakery, Sandwiches

*** V Bakery has closed

I was driving on Comvoy the day after returning from our trip. For some reason I glanced on over to the strip mall that houses Izakaya Sakura, Tsuruhashi, and Koubou and noticed that Viet Bakery and Pho had loss a couple of letters and was now just V Bakery. I wondered if this was just another iteration of the legacy shop which changed and morphed and in the end just couldn't gain any traction.

I saw "sandwiches" on the grand opening sign….and based on the history immediately thought Banh Mi.

I could not have been more wrong. I returned during the work week for lunch….the name of this shop is V French Bakery & Cafe.

Ah yes, another bakery in Kearney Mesa…. with the ubiquitous selection of macaroons and such. I did like the spartan set-up and the folks running the place were very friendly.

So I decided to stick around and get a panini……a Turkey and Avocado Panini ($7.95).

The bread was pressed and toasted well; crisp and light. The turkey seemed like tpyical processed stuff and the cheese really didn't have enough milkiness or umph, to really make a difference. I would have appreciated a bit more avocado, the slices I did run into added a nice creaminess to the sandwich.

I really enjoyed the acid from the tomatoes and especially the sun dried tomato dressing used for the sandwich. The price seemed a bit on the high side, but the addition of a free drink brought it back into balance.

I returned a few days later and decided to try the Meat Lover's Panini ($8.95), which in retrospect is a dubious choice on my part. Add to the fact that the bacon that was supposed to be on the sandwich was "not ready", this ham-turkey combination, even with the addition of the tomato and onion missed the mark for me. It probably would have been better with bacon.

I totally like the approach of going simple with these type of sandwiches. Last year, during our stay in Malta, the Missus and I ran into a little shop that did just salads and pressed flat bread sandwiches called "Piadina". All the piadina were just three ingredients; but all those items were of decent quality and went well together; like prosciutto – grana padano cheese – arugula…… It looked like this:

And at 4 Euroes ($5.40), was a bargain as well as being both satisfying and delicious…..

That's kind of what I'm looking for…..

Though I'm guessing the folks here are really pushing the bakery angle from the looks of the "sample" wedding cakes and such. Seeing that I don't have much of a sweet tooth, I'll let other folks tell me how the bakery items are.

The folks here are very friendly, just nice folks overall. I hope they find their niche and do well.

V French Bakery & Cafe
3904 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours:
Mon – Fri 1000am – 2pm
5pm – 9pm
Sat – Sun 7am – 9pm

2015 Rose Parade Rose Parade float road test #1-and a food road trip

June 8, 2014 Cathy Bakery, Breakfast/Brunch, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, Markets & Grocers, Orange County, Road Trip, Stuff, Thai Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!, yoso-silly

mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog with posts centering around food, sometimes sharing the process which the acqusition of said food occurred. Kirk is busy, Ed(from Yuma) is busy and Cathy is writing.

More than a month ago, friend and fellow food blogger, cc, asked (another friend and food blogger) CAB and I to accompany her on a celebratory (beginning of vacation) food crawl 'Up North'. CAB unfortunately had a change in plans and couldn't make it. I discovered on Wednesday before our scheduled crawl that the first Rose Parade float road testing was also going to be held that Saturday morning. Checking out the road testing is something The Mister and I do and share here on the blog ( I also share decorating and other 'behind the scenes' posts about float consruction). I felt guilty, A) Because The Mister wouldn't be able to come with us and 2. For asking for a slight change in 'plans'. Except our plans included and lot of 'maybe here and maybe there' places to visit and eat..so I added one in. Of course it had to be the first thing we did that day, because testing begins at 7 a.m.. In Pasadena.

At the end of this epic day (I was at cc's home at 5 a.m. on the dot and got back to my home at 6:35 p.m.), I was exhausted, had driven 314 miles and had 327 photos on my camera (many were the same subject from different angles) and so this post is mostly photos. Details in future posts.

First the 2015 Rose Parade. The floats tested this day were all sponsored by service (volunteer) organizations. The theme of the Tournament of Roses parade is "Inspiring Stories". The Grand Marshal will be Louis Zamperini, WWII POW, Olympian and the subject of soon to be released movie, Unbroken. Each float is the interpretation of the theme by each participating organization.

Rotary International (the color coded float, depicting a wishing well and candles). Lions Club International (in it's rebar and partial coccoon stage)(can you see a wave of water and surfboards?).

Odd Fellows and Rebakahs, their float is depicting the Unknown Soldier Tomb.
Kiwanis International (being parked back into the Phoenix Decorating Company barn)(the doorway is the maximum height and width a float can be, or collapse down to, to be able to pass under street and signal lights along the parade route).
Lutheran Hour Ministries. This float is titled "The Bible, God's Story".

This will be the Donate Life float. It's in the basic stage of construction and testing. Those detailed butterflies are just so beautiful. You can see the float driver in this photo.

Now, to the food portion of this post. In order: what we ate and did. One photo from each place.

Yep. We did a LOT in a few hours. It was fun, educational, tasty and only slightly exhausting. The details will be revealed in future posts. Feel free to guess or ask questions. Hope you are having a good week!

Where we ate: First photo (Cream Pan) 2nd photo (Jones Coffee) third photo (Euro Pane) 4th photo (Galco's) 5th photo (Mae Ting's) Next photo (LAX-C) Next few photos: Velveteria, Chinatown, Queen's Bakery, Brodard, 85C, The Snowflake Factory, and finally The above photo, a Jesuit.

Rose Donuts (near USD) {Breakfast and the elusive blueberry fritter}

May 31, 2014 Cathy Bakery, Breakfast/Brunch, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for stopping by to read the mmm-yoso!!! named food blog. Kirk is adjusting to his current time zone, Ed (from Yuma) is adjusting to his current job status and Cathy is adjusting to whatever new crisis occurs in her path, while writing a short post.

Last December, I made a casual mention about an item I can only buy here. You can see it in the last two photos of this post. Somehow, I was never back in this neighborhood for almost half a year. Located on the SouthEast corner of Linda Vista Road at Napa Street, just down the hill from the University of San Diego and just up the street from a San Diego Police Station, this location of Rose Donuts has been here and open since February 2006. By that, I mean open 24/7, closed rarely, for family emergencies.

There are more than donuts sold here. That's an ice cream freezer to the far right. You can see signage for Thai iced tea and Vietnamese iced coffee. Then there's all the stuff right in front of you.

The selection of donuts is not huge, but always a bit interesting. The brisk business here assures always fresh. What also makes this donut shop interesting is the menu of made to order Breakfast Sandwiches-which you can purchase during any of the 24 hours of the day. You might notice the small print at the bottom of the above menu. A "combo" comes with your choice of six donut holes or one regular donut and a small coffee or cold beverage. What a perfect dining establishment.

This day, we purchased only one Combo (shared a coffee) and chose the cake donut covered in orange frosting. Not just orange colored, but orange flavored-with bits of orange peel in the frosting. I like that neither the donut nor the icing is too sweet. The fritter? It's apple with blueberries (look close) ($1.05; smaller than a regular apple fritter ($1.55)). No other bakery makes this wonderful item, which, since eating this, has re-developed my craving for it and all frittered items.

Above is the "Sunrise" ($3.65, combo, $5.10). The croissant is made here, soft, flaky, fresh, warm and, as you can see, filled with simply fried egg and two types of cheese (white and yellow).

Above, is the "Early" sandwich ($3.65, combo $5.10). Served on a choice of white, wheat or sourdough toast with good, crisp bacon and, as you can see, two cheeses.

A great place for fresh items, a meal or a snack, any time you have a craving.

Rose Donuts 5201 Linda Vista Road San Diego, CA 92110 (619)294-8856

New Places, New Snacks (Donut Panic, Old Street Food and Paris Baguette)

May 23, 2014 Cathy Bakery, Korean Restaurants, Stuff, What Cathy Eats!, yoso-silly

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog written by three friends: Kirk, who is not on this continent, Ed(from Yuma), who is not in this state and Cathy, who is right here right now.

A couple of new places and a few new menu items have entered my life within the past couple of weeks and I thought I'd share, before writing a complete post…you know, in case you might want to try something new over this three day weekend.

The signage isn't up yet. The name really is "Donut Panic" and it's a small shop in the mall anchored by Souplantation on Mission Gorge at Vandever (near the 'other' Kaiser) run by a daughter and her father. The 'regular' daily donuts are always fresh and good, BUT on Saturday and Sunday around 9 a.m. and on Wednesday after 6 p.m.— Vegan Donuts come out of the kitchen. You read that right- no eggs or dairy go into these-the magic ingredient is potato- and each is topped with wonderful, imaginative, fancy flavors and sold at reasonable prices ($1.50 each). Above is a cross section of one with orange almond icing. The texture is light, crispy. The photo of four (clockwise, from bottom left) has the flavors of earl grey tea, vanilla (yes, I know it's pink), chocolate espresso almond and the maple "bacon". (The 'bacon' is unsweetened coconut dipped in soy sauce and flavored with liquid smoke has the right texture and flavor). There are other fancy flavors offered: saffron cardamom, green tea and quite a few others. There are also some filled offerings ($2 each).

I found out about this place from good friend and fellow blogger, cc (there's a link to her first post at the bottom of that link). On Friday, there are fresh vegan cupcakes..a post will be up soon.

Donut Panic 6171 Mission Gorge Road San Diego, CA 92120 (619) 280-1894

The only English on the sign (that isn't a menu item) is "Old Street Food", so I'm assuming that's the name, since I don't read Korean. Located in the center of Zion Supermarket, by the Fruits and Vegetables. Open on Monday, when Gala Chicken, the other shop in that center area is closed, we had to stop, look and order.

You order, then the once fried items are taken to the back stove and fried again.

This solid packed box with squid legs, octopus, purple sweet potato and pumpkin was $6 and still fresh and crispy when we got home. We could have eaten at the counter here, but were full…because

We saw this when we walked into the Zion complex and had to stop.

There are five flavors, three sizes.

Here's a photo of a small ($3.75) green tea shaved ice (excellent flavor of green tea) topped with sweet beans, mochi, sweetened condensed milk and some peanut powder. We saw a large bowl being brought out to a couple and it was HUGE!

Paris Baguette (inside Zion Marketplace) 7655 Clairmont Mesa Blvd. San Diego 92111 (858)650-0404 website

I hope everyone is having a nice and safe three day weekend. Have a good Memorial Day weekend.

Porto: Avenida dos Aliados, Imperial McDonalds, and Confeitaria do Bolhao

April 12, 2014 mmm-yoso Bakery, Breakfast/Brunch, Desserts, Porto, Portugal, Portuguese Food, Travel

We'd had a pretty busy first day in Porto and I really slept soundly. As is typical for us, we awoke pretty early in the morning to stretch our legs and do some exploring. We'd found that mornings are almost always the best times to see things……you'll be in less of a rush and, especially in Portugal the streets are quiet and empty.

We headed up to the area that seems to be the heart of Porto; the Avenida dos Aliados, the "Avenue of the Allies". The street commemorates the marriage of King John (Joao)I and Philippa of Lancaster, creating an alliance between Portugal and England.

The avenue and promenade is lined with some nice examples of Art Nouveau and Art Deco buildings. A statue of King Pedro IV on a horse stands at the lower end of the street and City Hall the top.

I'm sure everything here has a story. It's a nice place to stroll on a cool morning, all the grand buildings around. I wondered about the statue to the right. I could find very little, at least in English on "The Naked Girl – Youth" by Henrique Moreira, sculpted in 1929.

This is also the location of McDonald's….yep, McDonald's. What's the big deal? Well, they call this location, "Imperial McDonald's" and it's supposedly the most ornate and beautiful McDonald's in the world. In case you're wondering….it's not Imperial by declaration. I was told that this was the former site of Imperial Cafe, which became derilict and run down. McDonald's took over the space in 1995.

Man, talk about fancy-schmancy…..I'd feel down right uncomfortable getting my McNuggets on here!

Still, this was just a McDonald's, so we headed back up to the area near Rua Catarina and the large Mercado do Bolhão. Before heading in, we decided on getting breakfast at Confeitaria do Bolhao right across the street.

A large case of pastries, both sweet and savory, a large area to have you espresso and a pastry, this was very "tipico" of what we encountered everywhere in Portugal.

We were mainly after some espresso, but also had a few other items, which were decent, but rather non-descript. The prices were very good….if I recall, two espressos and pastries for like 5 Euros.

We also picked up a Broa de Avintes for later on…..

Confeitaria do Bolhao
Rua Formosa 339
Porto, Portugal

A cup of espresso, carbs in our belly….we were ready for the world, or at least a visit to the Mercado do Bolhão.

Thanks for reading!

Pangea Bakery Café-revisit (more than just a bakery!)

February 6, 2014 Cathy Bakery, Stuff, What Cathy Eats!

Pangea has closed

mmm-yoso!!! is the name of the blog. It's about food. Writers here are usually Kirk, Ed(from Yuma) and Cathy. Today, it's Cathy's post.

I started writing this post in November. Then things happened and even though The Mister and I have been to Pangea Bakery Cafe regularly, there have been some 'technical difficulties' regarding phones, cameras, computers, hinges and various other mechanical things and the final photos are recent. You'll have to take my word for it that there have been visits in the interim.

The weekend before Thanksgiving. Here we were. And what is that man doing on the front patio? With a grill next to him no less!

Notice the poster under the cash register…grilled items.

Notice signage in the store…

This was the menu in November. It has changed, but let me show you what we enjoyed that day.

The nice Young Man cooking held open the foil for moment as I snapped a photo. You'll see what this was…skewerS-that's a clue.

There were other items available- that's a Chinese sausage.

Condiments used for the various grilled items.

Yes! Grilled whole squid: the same as was being served at the First San Diego Night Market until it sold out within the first few hours…

This was HUGE (it cost $8) and tender, brushed lightly with a sweet teriyaki-like sauce before and while grilling. We took a good portion home and used it for dinner.

Of course we also bought some baked goods…

Here it was, leftover squid with the ham and cheese bread and squash. Ah, the balanced diet of the Holiday Season…

Here are some bakery items we've purchased- that's a ham and cheese baked in a bread and a cream filled almond pastry.

Here's the most recent menu…ever evolving and probably more refined(although on some of these chilly days, I'd like to have some soup).

The Thai peanut and lime chicken plate ($3.99 that day, regular $6.99 – and worth it at that price) is quite large. Fresh veggies stir fried with some of the rice, the bright flavors along with some crisped rice and cucumber and pickled onion… and the sauce had a nice kick…could taste coconut milk in the sauce-it was almost a curry…lemongrass more than lime flavors and a touch of heat that would creep up on you. This was very good.

We also shared the appetizer popcorn chicken ($3.99) which is served with the pretty cup of sriracha/teriyaki topped with black sesame seeds. Fresh, crispy and moist good size chicken pieces.

You can see this bowl was quite large and lined with baby lettuce, which could have absorbed any grease…but there wasn't any and so a mini salad was enjoyed at the end of this meal.

We've also enjoyed some day old pastries (half off; there's a small red mark on the packaging) and good cup of coffee for easy breakfasts here. That's the raisin walnut bread and a cherry filling in a soft Danish pastry.

It's going to be Valentine's Day soon!

Drop in and see what the menu will be on your visit…

Pangea Bakery Cafe 4689 Convoy Street, Suite 100 San Diego 92111 (858)560-0688 website