As in, yoso-silly, yoso-hungry, yoso-full, or best of all; mmm-delici-yoso!!!!! A San Diego based food and travel blog. An Ex-Pat Kama'aina and Friends explore food, restaurants, and travel from San Diego and points beyond.
Sometimes, you just need to take a breath, and enjoy those little things.
Like taking Frankie for a much deserved "frolic"…..
And maybe make the Missus pasta….sort of like She had in Emilia-Romagna……no garlic, no onions, very little olive oil……you gotta get a bit creative.
And then you can take a break…..and have a nice cold one.
I'll be back tomorrow with another restaurant and…or travel post.
Thanks for indulging me!
**** Tiger! Tiger has closed
I love being wrong……I do. I visit every place, whether it's new or on our rotation hoping for a great meal. And for places we love….well, sometimes, it ain't so great. At the beginning of 2018, we visited Tiger! Tiger! a couple of times and were quite disappointed. I believe I mentioned that in a post somewhere….of course, a week after I wrote that, the Missus decided we should pay them another visit….and, of course we enjoyed ourselves.
So here's a round-up of recent dishes at Tiger! Tiger! And….I'll preface things by saying that having something like Pliny the Younger….does help things!
Even at $15……you should try this once…..great balance…..amazing tongue feel……and 10 ABV….well, don't have too many!
The Missus has been enjoying the really spicy….and I do mean legit spicy Mushroom Sandwich……
While I enjoy the sausages…whether the Bratwurst….
Or the Kielbasa….it's made inhouse and has great snap and flavor. And when the potato salad is "right"…..like on our most recent visit, the perfect amount of mustard and studded with just the right amount of slices of pickled celery…well, it was quite good.
The Missus has enjoyed the Kim Chi Brussel Sprouts….though it's not always perfect for Her tastes.
Still, there's a nice umami touch that helps move things along, even when not cooked perfectly.
And of course, old favorites like the charcuterie…….
And certain soups the Missus enjoys…..
And even though there are certain "clunkers" we don't enjoy…like the under-flavored and usually over-cooked broccolini….which isn't a good value…..
We still go by the specials board and not the menu.
Plus, we like the relaxed atmosphere……. So, Tiger Tiger is back on the rotation….for now…..
Tiger! Tiger!
3025 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92104
And….everytime we visit….I think of Sammy…….
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
We finished up dinner at Le Lapin Saute and took another nice stroll around the Lower Town before heading back to our hotel room.
Eglise Notre-Dame-des-Victoires looked quite stunning at night.
Back at the room, while the Missus drew Herself a bath; I decided to relax and enjoy this last night in QC a bit. Based on what my phone told me, I'd earned it.
I did 53 floors? I really did earn it.
I slept like a baby…..
It was our last morning in Quebec City. We'd had a blast; from walking the streets of the Upper and Lower Town, to visiting the oldest existing grocery in North America, to having a wonderful lunch and getting to use my very limited Japanese, and of course, there's the "Red Door". While we felt like we did quite a bit, there was still much more to do. Seems like QC had become a favorite travel destination for us. While life is full of those "once in a lifetime places", like Easter Island, it's places like Quebec City that we return to.
We had time until check-out and our train wasn't leaving until 1pm, so we took one last walk.
For some reason, I really like this photo.
The horse drawn carriage leading the tour bus down the street.
We stopped for a croissant and espresso at Paillard.
On the way back to our room; the Missus saw another locale She had read about when trying to find out what the "Red Door" was all about.
According to the KorCan Blog, this is the "Christmas Shop" in the series. We stopped in at the little shop where it's Christmas every day. Very cute.
La Boutique de Noël de Québec
47 Rue De Buade
Quebec City, Canada
Speaking of the KDrama; SJP sent me this link to the Chateau Frontenac website; where they actually have something called the "Ultimate Golbin Experience". You can stay in the actual suite where Goblin was filmed….for only $1129 CAN a night! Sheesh….
And then strolled back down Côte de la Montagne, which is the oldest remaining street in the city.
It was once the only street which connected the Lower and Upper Towns of the city.
After a brief respite, we packed and went to check-out. We really enjoyed staying at the Auberge Saint-Antoine. The hotel was so comfortable, the staff and amenities wonderful. There's also a good bit of history here. The property was once both a wharf house and a cannon battery. When the hotel was being constructed, items dating back to the 17th century were being uncovered. So it became sort of a dual construction – archaeological site. Many of the items excavated can be found restored and on display in the hotel.
And then was what I could say was the "crowning moment", the "cherry on the top", that totally sold the Missus on the hotel. I went ahead and settled our bill at the counter. As we walked out the door; the desk clerk, a very nice gentleman, walked after us, calling to the Missus, "madam….madam". We stopped and turned around. He handed the Missus a bag of still warm cookies saying, "Madam, these cookies just came out of the kitchen and this is for you." You gotta love it! As we walked to the train station, the Missus looked at me and said, "we're definitely staying here again….." It's the small things that count.
We took the short walk to the train station and because we had Business Class tickets were able to use the lounge; which was really small, and rather tight. As we walked in and tried to find some seats, the Missus tapped me on the shoulder and said, "aren't you going to say hello to your new friends?" It was the group of Japanese women I translated the menu for at Le Saint-Armour. The were all smiling and waving. I waved back, laughing.
Our ride back to Montreal was uneventful…..other than listening to the woman with the drink cart trying to explain what the different cocktails were to the women….. This one, I had no idea about; so I hung back.
We got back to bustling Montreal. It seems the weather had cleared up and it was getting to be kind of warm. This time around, we stayed at an AirBnB in the Plateau Mont-Royal area. I wanted to stay in the area because….well, the food of course. There aren't many hotels, but I found what turned out to be a huge apartment on Avenue du Parc.
So, we were back in Montreal…..time to start eating!
I wanted to end our trip to Vancouver with a nice dinner. We'd started the trip with Miku and I thought having dinner on our last night at Hawksworth, which many consider to be Vancouver's "best" restaurant. Best, is of course quite a subjective measure, and I'm really not one to spend too much time on the those…..but I'd read enough on other food blogs and such to actually make a reservation.
The restaurant is located in the Rosewood Hotel, just a few blocks where we were staying. The dining room looked quite small and is fairly cramped and the room is quite loud overall. Service was excellent, very accommodating when we said we'd like, as is our norm to have several apps and one main. They even split our main without us asking and never charged us for it. Best of all was our Sommelier a wonderful whom we asked to match a glass of wine with each of our courses. She was wonderful.
First to arrive was the Beef Loin Tataki (24 CAD).
This was dressed with a ponzu like vinaigrette, with what tasted like a touch of ginger. which added a nice bit of acid; the beef was texturally very nice….not too soft, but pleasantly toothsome. The beef was topped with tender sprouts and a julienne of crisp taro….think taro chips strips. Quite a generous portion…..at this point we were glad we didn't go for 2 mains.
You know if there's a foie gras dish on the menu, we're going to order it right? We got the Foie Gras with Hazelnut and Pain Perdue (26CAD)
This was our least favorite dish of the night….the sour cherry topping and the pain perdue (i.e. "French Toast") just wiped out any of the rich, slightly livery flavor of the foie gras. Too much sweet and sour going on. This was foie gras torchon and didn't really hold up well in terms of texture and taste to all the busy flavors in the dish.
We did enjoy the Braised Lamb Shoulder Cavatelli (20CAD), which was our favorite dish of the evening.
The mahon cheese added a nice bit of slightly smoky. saltiness to the dish. The pasta was perfectly textured; the mint added that bit of bittersweet, palate cleansing, touches to the dish, while the green olives added a nice briney touch. The lamb was very tender and perhaps not gamey enough for our tastes; but in a nice well flavored ragu like this, it was very nice. I was told there were pine nuts in this, but they seemed MIA. Regardless, we really enjoy this dish. This was paired with a Syrah, which added nice mild spice and berry notes to the dish.
Our main course, which was so nicely split was the Duck Breast (44CAD).
The duck was cooked well and the texture was perfect. Not quite sold on the duck leg confit tamale, nor the kind of odd tasting "mole jus". Corn, morel mushroom, and white beans went nicely together; earthy and sweet notes, but I thought the white beans were undercooked.
Again, dessert is the Missus's department and She ordered two.
Though She did take he macarons to go. And enjoyed snacking on them.
I finished with a Vermouth.
We really enjoyed the service here. The quality of the ingredients and prep was excellent; though we thought some of the combinations kind of missed the mark a bit.
Hawksworth Restaurant (In the Rosewood Hotel Georgia)
801 W Georgia St
Vancouver, BC V6C 1P7, Canada
Speaking of good service. While cleaning out my electronics travel case I found this in one of the pockets.
Upon opening it, I suddenly remembered. We had really enjoyed the personal attention of the Sommelier at Hawksworth and appreciated her pairings. Just before leaving she handed us this handwritten card…..in case we wanted to find any of the wines we'd enjoyed during this meal.
Thank You Lydia! You made our night!
We went back to the apartment, packed a bit, and relaxed. We had done a good bit of walking during the day, so I started getting hungry. And thirsty. So while the Missus stayed in and watched videos, I headed back out.
First hitting up our favorite little liquor store (if you hadn't read the story, it's here).
For a couple of brews.
Then down "colorful" Seymour Street…….
This place has quite a history and is supposed to be haunted.
And then over to Davie and Fritz European Fry House.
You see; the Missus said if we were going to have a last snack, we should do it right and get some poutine. After all, our first meal when we arrived was poutine and much to my surprise, the Missus loved it. Fritz is legendary for being one of those "late night post clubbing munchy" sites. It's also a long time favorite for straight up, nothing fancy poutine. Which is what I got.
The cheese curds were nicely melted, yet some of them still had a good texture by the time I got back to the apartment. The gravy was too salty and the fries were overcooked, hard (not crunchy), and rather dry.
Maybe the girl at Viti's was right. When I asked about getting some good poutine, she told me, in that oh, so proper Canadian way, "well sir, I personally think that you need to go to Montreal!"
Fritz European Fry House
718 Davie St
Vancouver, BC V6Z 1B6, Canada
Hours:
Tues – Wed 530pm – 230am
Thurs 1130am – 3am
Fri 1130am – 4am
Sat 1pm – 4am
Sun 1pm – 2am
Walking back up to the apartment, I used Granville Street, which looked like it was closed to traffic. I came back and found that this is known as the Granville Entertainment District.
Relaxing, sitting in the apartment's solarium and looking at the street below, having a couple of brews…..now this was a nice way to end our trip to Vancouver.
We started with poutine and ended with poutine. Having some nice meals, and doing some fun things during our short stay. I'm sure we'll be back; after all, I still need to do a seaplane flight. Though when I asked the Missus what She wanted She told me, "I want some good poutine." So maybe that would be……
After a nice afternoon nap, we headed off to the Gastown area.
It was a nice day to be out and about, if a bit on the warm side.
The Missus enjoyed window shopping and we stopped at a few places; like at Kit and Ace near the Steam Clock. Where this guy was hanging out.
It was indeed rather warm, so we headed down the street to a place named the Alibi Room. The place was pretty much full. But the nice Server told us that if we weren't eating anything and didn't mind not having table service, we could head on downstairs.
Which turned out to be a comfortable place to grab a few beers. There are over 50 pulls in this place. And they do half pours as well; which we appreciated.
What we had is lost to posterity, but I recall really enjoying the vibe.
A nice stop; we'll be back the next time we're in town.
Alibi Room
157 Alexander Street
Vancouver, BC V6A 1B8
Canada
We needed to first catch the bus; then the SkyTrain to get to our next stop. We had day metro passes and I had the bus stop indicated on my phone. We found our stop and a guy who looked homeless came up to us. I immediately thought he'd be asking for some cash….but instead he told me, "sir, this bus stop has been temporarily moved to the street above." Thanksful, I offered him some money, but he refused, saying "this one is on me." Only in Canada!
We got off at the Bridgeport SkyTrain Station and followed the well marked signs.
So, we followed this group of people who were having a great old time and got to what looked like ticket booths and a gate. A really nice young man came up to us and asked us if we were customers of 'xxx' and had our customer number. We explained that we are from out of town and have obviously found the wrong entrance. The young man pointed across the way to a line of what looked like 200-300 people. He told us "that's the general admission line; this line is for 'xxx' customers, 'xxx' is sponsoring tonight's night market and if you have either a zoom pass or are one of their customers you can come in this way." Now, if I recall a the passes were like $25 a book, good for so many entrances, so that would be a waste. So we thanked him and were headed to the line when he asked us where we were from. We told him San Diego. In a hushed, conspiratory tone he told us to "wait here". A minute later he returned with two tickets. You are now officially customers of 'xxx', if anyone asks you if you are customers of 'xxx', make sure to tell them yes. What a nice gesture….you gotta love Canada.
The Richmond Night Market claims to be the largest Night Market in North America and I don't doubt this claim as the choices, and crowds are staggering.
Now, if you read the blog quite often, you know I'm way behind on some of my travel posts and our visit was during early August of 2016. The Missus had seen a bunch of stuff posting to Instagram……about a dessert…..She just had to have it.
The dessert "du jour" of that period of time was the Raindrop Cake (you can see Kirbie's recipe here). It's based on Japanese Mizu Shingen Mochi. And kind of looks like a breast implant if you ask me.
The Missus got Her confection and we took a seat.
And soon folks started coming around asking what this stuff was….we actually offered them a taste if they wanted one….but most of them just looked kind of, well, puzzled. Anyway, this was "meh", sugar water and agar…..I prefer just straight up Warabimochi coating in kinako to this.
Our table was next to the Prehistoric Park area and while taking a look at the photo of the T-Rex below, it wasn't the replica of the dinosaur that caught my attention; but the sign to right that said, "FanTuan Delivery, Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere"…..I don't think San Diego is included in the "Anywhere" though.
While the Missus went for the sweets; I had one place in mind.
Little Phnom Penh is famous for their Chicken Wings with Lemon and Pepper sauce. So I placed my order and watched them make my wings.
Notice that container with the spoon; the wings are fried, then mixed in a wok with garlic, scallions, and a spoon full of that mysterious white substance….which I'm fairly certain isn't only salt.
The wings are light, though not as crisp as I prefer, the garlic could be cooked a bit more; it's still on the bitter side. The wings are tender and moist, but I'm not a big fan of the lemon sauce; which tastes like bottled lemon juice with black pepper. Still, this was good overall.
There sure was a huge variety of "stuffs" available…….some quite interesting.
This seemed more "County Fair – Carnival" than Night Market and the place was starting to get packed.
As we wove our way around people; we heard this guy……..voice like an old fashioned Carnival Barker, with a Chinese accent of course.
As we walked up; the smell of cumin danced in the air……we both love yang rou chuan and this guy cracked us up.
We got lamb and lamb kidney and while not great, this was pretty tender, though it could have used more cumin.
This "Chef James" had me wondering who he was. If you'd like to find out his story you can read it here.
Overall a fun time for us.
Richmond Night Market
May – October
8351 River Rd
Richmond, BC V6X 1Y4
Canada
Fri-Sat 7pm – MN
Sun 7pm – 11pm
By the time we got back to the apartment, the sun had set. It was a beautiful clear night. We finished the rest of the Roast Duck and Rice and I cracked open a brew…..
And sat in the Solarium of the apartment watching the weekend action on the Street below.
Life was good…..
The Missus's hairdresser now works in North Park. During the last two months, the Missus has asked me to drop Her off….lucky me! There's no shortage of places where I can, ahem, "pass the time" while waiting for the Missus. Like……
Toronado:
**** Toronado has closed
It's been a while.
Had a nice New Belgium Le Terrior. Perfect temperature…..
Toronado
4026 30th St
San Diego, CA 92104
The most recent time, it was…..
Hess Brewing:
It had been a couple of years since I'd been here as well.
A nice 8 West on a rather warm day.
Hess Brewing Company North Park
3812 Grim Ave
San Diego, CA 92104
And in case the Missus is hungry after getting Her hair done. Well there are a lot of options here as well. Like a recent favorite of Hers….
Tribute Pizza:
On this day, the pizzas were much better than on previous visits……
Tribute Pizza
3077 N Park Way
San Diego, CA 92104
I think I'm going to make sure the Missus goes in for a trim on a regular basis!
Night seemed to fall rather suddenly as we walked back to our AirBnB after dinner at Miku. We decided to stroll around a bit and since we had just arrived that afternoon, familiarize ourselves with the surrounding area.
One thing we found interesting was that there was an H Mart on the corner of the block we were staying on. In the middle of downtown!
Something I'd imagine in, say Seoul, but not here.
I decided to relax by having a beer and there was a liquor store a block or so down the street. We decided to stop and see what they had to offer.
And this is where we really started noticing we were "in Canada". One of my coworkers loves to make Canadian jokes…..not joking about lack of cognitive ability, but joking about how nice Canadians are. As I noted in my first Vancouver post, my good friend married a Canadian, and my first trip outside of the state of Hawaii was to Canada for his wedding. I've seen the good natured "niceness" first hand. As much as it seems to be a stereotype, I'd say it's true. So what does that have to do with this liquor store? Well…..let me tell you:
So we're looking over the local beer selection and I pick something out. I walk to the register and the guy behind the counter waves at one of the "customers" in the store and tells him; 
"sir….sir, please leave. You always steal from us, so please leave." The guy, replied in a rather high pitched irate voice while lifting his shirt, "no….no…..I never steal from you…..how dare you!" And continues mumbling as he exits the shop. The guy then sighs and tells me, "I don't know how many times we've caught him stealing from us." I pay for my beer and get handed my change when a guy walks in with a bottle of wine in his hand, passes it to the cashier and says, "I saw a gentleman walk out of your store and pull this out of his pants, so I made him give me the bottle." The Missus and I couldn't stop laughing. How do you think the first part of this would play out in San Diego? "Please leave?"
Anyway, the Strange Fellows (I thought it strangely appropriate on this evening) Jongleur Belgian Wit, was light, citrusy, perhaps a bit too sweet, but we both enjoyed it as a nightcap. And I'd be stopping by Viti's Wine and Lager again.
Viti Wine and Lager Liquor Store
900 Seymour St
Vancouver, Canada
The next morning we got up bright and early. The Missus wanted to check out the Capilano Suspension Bridge. and even though there's a free bus from downtown Vancouver, we decided to take the SeaBus to North Vancouver, then take Bus #236. 
But first, some coffee.
We decided to stop at this little shop as we headed to the Waterfront Station.
The guy working here was super friendly and chatty.
As we were waiting for our my Americano, he shouted out, "look….look…..all the crazy people are coming out!" We turned and saw folks dressed like Star Trek characters walking down the street. We get Comic-con down here, so the Missus and I shrugged.
Nice place, though all the coffee comes in take-out cups I guess.
Mario’s Coffee Express
595 Howe St
Vancouver, Canada
We got to the Waterfront Station, we had already bought a Daypass, which made all the ferries, trains, buses a breeze.
I enjoy travelling by ferry whenever we can, it gives us a different view of the cities we're staying in.
This one was a very short 15 minute ride.
From there; finding the bus and getting to the bridge was a snap. It was a bright and sunny day; so we knew we'd be enjoying ourselves. Admission ain't cheap; if I recall about $40 per person. But heck, we're on vacation. I bought the tickets ahead of time online.
The bridge itself was originally a hemp rope and cedar planked footbridge built in 1889 by George Grant Mackay. It has since been reconstructed several times; the last I could find was in 1956.
The place was already getting busy when we arrived.
The bridge does give you a slight thrill as it will sway back and forth and the views….well, at least for us, they were great.
There are different "attractions", like the "Treetop Adventure" which takes you above the forest floor.
And the Cliffwalk, a walkway attached to the face of, well, a cliff…..
Beyond all of that; it was just nice to get out and enjoy the sights and sounds……
We enjoyed exploring, but soon enough, it started getting crowded. The speakers over the bridge started blaring messages to not rock the bridge and so forth. It was time to head back.
So we exited and headed out and over to the bus stop. When, in typical Canadian style, one of the young ladies waved us over. She told us that the free shuttle back to the Waterfront was leaving in just a minute, so why not catch that instead of the bus and ferry? You gotta love it!
Back at the Waterfront, the Missus wasn't very hungry yet, so we decided to enjoy the sights……well, these "sights"!
Well….why not?
These folks sure seemed to be in their "element" and having a blast.
I always wonder what their coworkers think? Reminds of once going to a Kiss concert and a woman tapped me on the back as I left. I didn't recognize her until she spoke because of all the gear and make-up. I was shocked, she was one of the toughest, hard-a$$ managers I had to work with…and part of the Kiss Army! You know; I never looked at her the same again……
By now, it was getting kind of warm and the Missus was getting hungry. It was time to grab some lunch.
Thanks for reading!
One of the great pleasures I've had over the years has been meeting up with other like-minded Food Bloggers….and at the top of my list is Kat from Our Adventures in Japan. We had met before in Osaka and on this trip, we wanted to make sure to touch bases again. This time, I chose the somewhat quirky; kinda country, rustic "Hunting Ground", Okariba which we really enjoyed the last time in Kyoto.
We had a nice walk over and met Kat and Satoshi. The place was much more busy than on our last visit.
And we spent a good deal of time catching up on things and just having a good time.
After all, places like this were made for friends gathering, sharing "pupus".
You can read all about this in Kat's post….and it also shows how far behind I'm at with my travel posts as well!
So from here on; it's most it's mostly photos.
Man, I love basashi…..
At the end of the meal, we gave the owner some Mac Nuts….even though we were sure he wouldn't remember us, he'd given us so much samples on our previous visit, we wanted to make sure to show him our appreciation…so of course he busted out the home made ume-shu……
Okariba
Okazaki Higashi-Tennocho 43-4, Residence Okazaki 1F
Kyoto
After dinner, we had a nice nightcap at another familiar place; Beer Komachi…….lot's of tourists and such….but with the San Diego beer connection menu….
It was a fun stop.
And I think it's a great reminder for Kat and Satoshi……….you can always come out here for a visit too!
Thanks for such a great time K&S!
*** Bitter Brothers has closed
I've been asked a couple of times why I don't give "more love" to my neighborhood? To be perfectly honest, I hadn't been too inspired by places in my neck of the woods. But over the last year and a half or so; things have changed for the better…who'd have thunk that we'd go out for a New Years dinner; a tasting menu even….right down the street. So when Candice mentioned that Bitter Brothers was having an Anniversary Dinner; I decided to go for it. And I'm glad I did as it was quite an enjoyable event. I'd been to Bitter Brothers a couple of times, but always regret not visiting more often. So this was a nice way for me to get reacquainted.
There were just 50 seats available at $70 a crack, and things started fairly promptly at 5pm. Though at first it was just folks mingling. I'm not really a super social kind of guy so I just kinda took things in; perhaps a bit too hard, because I missed my chance at the amuse; a version of Lumpia Shanghai. That's ok; I did enjoy the Czech Pilsner. Crisp and refreshing, it did remind me a bit of what we had during our time visiting the Czech Republic.
What might be my favorite dish of the night was the Porcini Dusted Cauliflower, I loved how all of the flavors went together so well; from the hazelnuts, to the celeriac, to the slightly acidic, yet very tasty homage to celery a la Grecque.
The Missus surely would have loved this dish by Tim Kolanko. This was served with one of my favorites here; the Brotherly Love Dunkelweiss.
Phillip Esteban's dish was an eye catching version of the rolled and tied chicken Ballotine. Instead of forcemeat, this was stuffed with a black garlic based mixture. I'm not a big fan of items on the plate without a purpose; and those dollops of what I'm assuming is sort of a Nasturtium pesto really had no flavor. And the buttermilk leche de tigre added no real acid to the dish. The chicken itself was a bit on the salty side; but the black garlic paste added a nice amount of sweet, complex tones, which really balanced things out. This was paired with the Black Sheep Coffee Porter on Nitro.
Ami Cisneros's dish was a beautiful version of….well, Carnitas.
Pressed and nicely seared; perhaps a bit too lean for my taste, it was nicely seasoned. The kabocha puree was quite rich, creamy, and slightly sweet. To be perfectly honest, I really loved the pear with chamoy and tajin. It went so well with the Prickly Pear Family Tart Berliner Weisse, which almost tasted like a version of agua de sandia (watermelon agua fresca) paired with this dish. I even enjoyed the slice of black radish which was so crisp and had some of the pepperiness toned down….I'm thinking it must have been soaked in ice water for a bit before being dried.
My next dish was a sentimental favorite; since it was created by the one and only Travis Clifford; remember Travis likes food? Anyway, it was nice to see him cooking again….it's been a while since I've tasted his cooking. Funny thing; I've made a career out of being quite non-descript. I'd been to BB a couple of times and had actually spoken to Travis, but I'm fairly certain he doesn't remember me. I kind of like it that way.
Nicely blackened prawns; loved the "Travis made" Andouille, great texture, good smoke. The flavor of the grits, while they had hardened by the time it hit the table had a nice rich and sweet flavor from the marscapone. All of these big flavors were tempered with the Big Brother Double IPA.
I'm not a big dessert/sweets guy and was worried about the Espresso Crème Brulee made by "Bitter Bill" Warnke. I shouldn't have, this was not too sweet, but very nicely balanced with mild coffee tones.
Paired with a nice bittersweet chocolate and espresso sable, which was just perfect. Very good, grown-up flavors. This was paired with the deceptively boozy (only 5.2 abv) Barrel Aged Little Sister Russian Imperial Stout which made it a nice way to end the meal.
The Barrel Aged Little Sister Russian Imperial Stout is BB's first ever bottle release; so I bought a couple. The Missus will love it. And I'm sure to be there the next time BB has another "Family Dinner". 
Bitter Brothers Brewing
4170 Morena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117
