Beer – Page 8 – mmm-yoso

Brussels: Marche du Parvis, Brasserie Egalite, Friterie de la Barriere, and Moeder Lambic (Saint Gilles)

February 25, 2016 mmm-yoso Beer, Belgian Cuisine and Restaurants, Belgium, Brussels, Markets & Grocers, Pubs and Pub Grub, Travel

On our return trip to Brussels I booked an apartment in the Saint-Gilles neighborhood. Part artsy, part somewhat run down, quite diverse, urban, we really enjoyed staying in this part of town….it seemed quite "real".

Our flat was quite large as well.

Since we had arrived too early for check-in, we dropped our stuff off and headed out….not quite sure what to do. I had a farmer's market, Marché du Parvis (Parvis Market) de Saint Gilles, marked on my map so we headed off in that direction.

Where there was indeed a farmer's market.

We decided to take advantage of the huge kitchen in the apartment and self cater. Picking up some eggs; charcuterie, vegetables…..and a nice amount of cheese from the fromage-mobile.

Marché du Parvis de Saint Gilles
Sint-Gillisvoorplein
Hours:
Tues – Wed 730am – 1pm
Thurs 12pm – 10pm
Fri 730am – 1pm
Sat – Sun 730am – 2pm

We took a look around for something to eat, but decided to duck into this "brasserie"

I liked the looks of the place……

There was a huge cold case with beer that you could just select yourself and a rather large listing…..

Wanting to just have fun, we selected two beers we'd never heard of before. The Missus a blonde ale; "Den Tseut" from Huisbrouwerij Den Tseut, which was pretty disappointing; very light and "Pilsner" like. I decided to "go big" and went with a Goliath (Gouyasse) Tripel from Brasserie Des Légendes, a nice straight up tripel; very yeasty-bready, slight hops, only 6% ABV, so it really wasn't Goliath like in my book.

I'm not sure the place even serves food….but there was none on this morning. The woman working here was a hoot; she spoke not a word of English.

We opened up the cheese and charcuterie and made eating motions and she nodded in agreement. We then asked for a knife making a sawing motion….in a moment she figured out what we needed and replied to our pantomime with the knife across the throat gesture with sound effects! It was hilarious; and yes, we got our knife. You gotta love it!

Brasserie Egalite
Parvis de Saint-Gilles 47
Brussels, Belgium

Instead of heading back to the apartment which I don't think was ready yet, we strolled around and actually found a friterie that I had on my list; Friterie de la Barriere, which is a little frietkot on Avenue du Parc.

It was just past 11am and there was a line. So I took a peek and one of the guys in front of me who was chatting with his friends in Flemish, turned to me and said, "no worries. this place makes the best frites in the area….." Say no more……

So I got the frites, with aioli. I thought these were pretty good, not greasy, crisp exterior, fluffy exterior, but nothing special overall. After having several versions of frites in Belgium; the Missus claimed to not get what the love of frites was all about….and then she'd proceed to attack it…….

Friterie de la Barriere
5 Avenue du Parc
Brussels, Belgium

By now it was time to check-in and a nap……

We awoke made a simple dinner with what we had……

And headed out to the one destination that I had planned out for the day. We had enjoyed our visit to the Fontainas location of the legendary beer bar Moeder Lambic, but I had wanted to visit the original location, which was one of the two reasons I choose to stay in Saint-Gilles. And we weren't disappointed. Things in Brussels always seems relaxed and chill to us, but it was even more laid back here.

Of course the Missus had something from Cantillon, Cuvee Saintt Gilloise, which She loved. The sour-tart tones were balanced out with what I can only describe as an earthy flavor. Very nice and refreshing.

I tend to enjoy tripels, so I went with the Val-Dieu tripel. I really enjoyed this; there seemed to have an apple-honey background, while not being too "bready" or boozy. Man, his was a nice beer. I need to find a bottle of this here in San Diego….though I've found that versions of the Belgian's I've had here don't taste quite the same.

And while I really enjoyed that Val-Dieu, it was the next beer I had that really made my day. I decided to try something named "Hop-Ruiter". Man, this was really good….just enough hops for me; that would be south of an IPA; yet quite floral to the nose. The flavor doesn't quite go into dubbel-tripel territory, yet the honey flavors and some citrus tones are there. We'd return to Moeder Lambic the next night so I could have this again. I did find bottles of this here in San Diego, but the overall aroma and flavor was totally different.

The Missus tried the Caulier 28.

We really enjoyed Moeder Lambic; the folks here were very nice and it seemed less touristy than the Fontainas location.

Moeder Lambic
Rue de Savoie 68
Brussels, Belgium

While the Saint-Gilles area seemed a bit more "gritty" than Central Brussels or St Catherine, it seemed to have much more of the local color which we enjoyed.

We got to sleep early, tomorrow was going to be a full day…..

Thanks for reading!

Midweek Meanderings: Christy’s Bakery Closes, a Revisit to Poseidon Project with the Haad Sai Thai Food Truck, and Some “Beery” odds and ends

February 23, 2016 mmm-yoso Beer, Filipino Restaurants, Food Trucks, Pubs and Pub Grub, Thai Restaurants

Christy's Bakery Closes:

Last month, before our trip, on the day of my bad haircut, I noticed that Christy's Bakery had closed. I'd visited a looong time ago, before the food blog days and don't even remember the food. Here's CAB's post from 2009. They'd been around forever it seems…..though if a place like Conching's can close….

9178 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, California 92126

Back to the Poseidon Project and the Haad Sai Thai Food Truck:

The Missus ended up working on a recent Friday evening at the last minute, which left me alone at 630 pm on a Friday. So I headed out looking for a place to eat…..as I figured everyplace was packed. I even tried Pacific Time, but there was no parking. As I rolled up Morena, I noticed a Food Truck in front of The Poseidon Project, I thought "why not"?

Turns out it was a Thai truck called Haad Sai Thai.

The guy running the truck was really friendly and several folks in Poseidon were eating noodles; a couple of folks even doing take-out from the truck, so I ordered some drunken noodles with chicken, bought a bottle of one of my recent favorites….I was surprised at the price, cheaper than what I recently paid for a bottle at Keg and Barrel at $9.53 with tax, and had a seat.

The drunken noodles were nothing to write home about, though it was decently spicy at a heat level 7 and at least the noodles weren't mushy.

The chicken was dry, not enough "wok hay", other than the heat level, missing the sweet and salty of drunken noodles, and a bit over-priced at $9, but the savings on my bottle balanced things out for me. The portion size was quite large though and I got to watch a beer nerd ("bro") get a bottle of Delirium and match it with a California Burrito from Santana's across the street….a first for me.

Plus, the folks working here are great. I'm really warming to the place. Even though they only currently have 8 pulls, the bottles seems nicely priced.

Poseidon Project
4126 Napier St
San Diego, CA 92110

Plus I just can't help but keep humming this song.

Yes, I'm old enough to remember the movie.

Some other "Beery" stuffs:

My favorite of this batch is Elysian Brewing Company's Bifrost Winter Ale….I just love the aroma, though the taste is a bit of a letdown, though they do a nice job balancing the hops.

Hope you're having a great week!

The Poseidon Project

February 2, 2016 mmm-yoso Beer, Pubs and Pub Grub

The Poseidon Project, a beer bar and bottleshop opened quietly in my neck of the woods a couple of weeks back. I recall Candice asking me if I'd been there. At that time, busy with work, I hadn't had time to check them out. But that was soon rectified and I've managed to visit the place three times in recent weeks.

The place is somewhat easy to miss; next to Bay Park Coffee and the place we call the Hydroponic Shop. Parking is at a premium. It's an interesting choice for a locale, since there's a huge, diverse gap in the demographics of Bay Park, but I'm happy to have them in my neighborhood.

On our first visit we found that the place has 8 pulls, but a nice variety of bottles at a decent price. The set-up has that wide open theme that we like. I had the Father Ted from Half Door Brewing. I had enjoyed the beer from Half Door when I visited their tasting room a few months back.

This was a surprisingly light, somewhat apple-pear flavored brew. more of a Saison than a Belgian Pale Ale, but very drinkable. One thing that is quite apparent is the lack of food; this isn't a gastropub….it's only beer. Which tends to attract an interesting crowd.

There are the neigh-"bro"-hood folks, with their girlfriends, excited to try new things; there are the folks on laptops…the pseudo coffee shop gang, and what would be described as hipsters….but he most interesting folks are the beer snobs. I like sitting in front of the cold case and watch these folks hold court…..describing the attributes of each beer loudly…holding the bottle up to the light….grabbing a bottle, then putting it back and picking up a different bottle…..makes a cynical statement about temperature, color……just have a beer already! The staff here is very nice and tolerant…and quite friendly.

I find it quite entertaining from behind my glass of Cuvee de Tomme by Lost Abbey.

Since there isn't any food served at Poseidon, I've seen burritos from Santana's across the street and folks armed with bags of peanuts….I think an In N Out burger someone brought in. On this day there was a Food Truck present and some folks were enjoying Mariscos.

I've kind of taken to the place…….it has a certain personality that hasn't been present in Bay Park before….

While having a Painted Lady from the Good Beer Company I asked about turnover…it seemed that even though there were only 8 pulls, the selection was different on every visit. The really friendly guy behind the bar named Juan told me they are able to get Quarter Barrels which really enhances the turnover. He also pointed to the area to the right and said at least eight more pulls will go in easily.

They've also got an interesting "list" of bottles bought from collectors that you can ask for……..

It's all those little inside things about beer culture; the bottle trading and such…they've kind of got it covered. I like the folks that work here….very mellow, super chill…perhaps they'll go with a cheese plate and some charcuterie here some day; nothing that needs a full kitchen and keep the food trucks and the bring your own grinds concept. I hope they do well…..

Poseidon Project
4126 Napier St
San Diego, CA 92110

Some Shopping: Bluegrass Soy Sauce at Catalina Offshore, Balistreri Salumi at Trader Joe’s, and Some “Beery” Stuffs

January 28, 2016 mmm-yoso Beer, Markets & Grocers

Bluegrass Soy Sauce and other stuffs at Catalina Offshore:

I don't get to Catalina Offshore quite as often during winter months, so I was surprised to find Bluegrass Soy Sauce on a recent visit. I know Catalina has been bolstering their retail sales floor; I regularly buy Salt Farm's Ghost Pepper Salt from there, but was really pleasantly surprised to find Bluegrass Soy Sauce. If you've never tried the stuff, check it out; deep flavors, a hint of sweet, perhaps a bit more salty….no don't use it in a marinade….try it on some tofu. From what I've read, Kentucky non-GMO soybeans are highly prized for miso and soy sauce makers in Japan.

There's now a bunch of other stuff as well.

It was great browsing around….even if Mr Grumpy….ummmm, Tommy wasn't around to entertain me on this day.

Catalina Offshore Products
5202 Lovelock St.
San Diego, CA 92110

The Missus shops at Trader Joe's a lot. In fact, this might be the one place She'll go on Her own……everywhere else….I do the shopping. That is, so long it's a familiar TJ's. She has problems with unfamiliar set-ups and it drives Her nuts. It has to be the same Target, the Sprouts…..you know what I mean? Rite Aid in our neighborhood did some redesign. Five minutes after entering the place, She had to leave….couldn't find anything was the issue. The new PB location was a challenge at first, but She's gotten used to the set-up……I recently went along….if I go to TJ's it's usually on the weekend and I'm on a Mission. This time, while the Missus went and got Her stuffs, I had a chance to browse and I found this.

Good stuff! I've seen this local line of salumi at Siesel's and Venissimo, but here at TJ's it was $4.99. Makes for a nice addition during the last two days when the weather has been more April than January.

I know, it's usually Kirbie that gives us updates on this stuff.

My current favorite beer? Paris of the West by Almanac.

While much lighter than most Quads, which I think is rather misleading, I like the balance of stone fruit, sweet, mild hops, with a nice earthiness, this is so drinkable and balanced for my taste. Even the Missus likes it with blue and washed rind cheese.

Just to show you, I can be sucked in by "cute" labels.

And this was an interesting one for me.

Not quite sure what to think……..it was indeed briney and the tart flavor combined with that was interesting to say the least. Wasn't quite sour enough for me. Still, it's great to have such an interesting beer.

Portland: Toro Bravo and Upright Brewing

January 7, 2016 mmm-yoso Beer, Portland, Oregon, Spanish Restaurants and Cuisine, Travel

*** Toro Bravo has closed

To think we'd been to Tasty n Alder three times (it would be four by the time left) over the last year and had even been to Tasty n Sons, but still hadn't been to the first, John Gorham's original; Toro Bravo. I'd indeed read and heard a lot about the place; the Spanish inspired dishes, and having just returned from Spain, possibly my second favorite country to visit, the time seemed right.

Even though we'd done a good amount of walking already, the Missus was determined to walk to Toro Bravo. Hacing walked to Tasty n Sons the day before, this two mile walk was a piece of cake. It helped that it wasn't quite as hot as it was earlier in the day.

As you can see….Toro Bravo is the place to be. There was a line when we arrived. The place only takes reservations for groups of 7 to 14 people, so we had to arrive a bit before opening. We loved the service here; it was both efficient and polished, but relaxed, and not stuffy at all. There was never a time when we even had to consider flagging someone down, as our drinks were always full , the timing of clearing the table was amazing. And yet, we never, ever felt like anyone was hovering over us…..a nice plus was being seated in the comfy and cozy little nook called "the Make Out Room". Compared to the busy dining room…..

Portland Sept 2015 121

It was such a nice, private, space…..

While it seems like the Tasting Menu would be a nice choice, we went a la carte instead and were glad we did.

We started with two "kisses", think amuse like starters.

First up, the Spanish Kiss – "spherical olives".

Had we not been to Disfrutar a few months before, this El Bulli inspired, olive flavored spheres would have impressed us a bit more. As it stood, we found this to be quite mild in flavor, not quite the stunning bite we expected.

Same with the "Barcelona Kiss".

The one dish we really wanted to try was the Radicchio…..the version of this that Tasty n Alder serves is among the Missus's favorite dishes. So much so, that my copycat…let's called it "inspired by" version is a staple in our household.

I have to say, while this was decent, it really missed the richness, smokiness, and pure savory goodness of the TnA version. The vinaigrette was nice, but I think the tangy-creamy-rich dressing that TnA uses is better.

The Basque Piperade had all those components we love.

But in spite of the hearty look of the dish, this one also missed the mark. The grilled bread; was a bit too burned and bitter for us; and the entire dish was a bit lacking in overall flavor. We would have enjoyed a bit more acid, more salt…as a whole this tasted a bit flat to us.

At this point, I noticed something with the last two dishes; it seems that we were consuming what were the base of other dishes we'd had at Tasty n Alder and Tasty n Sons…the radicchio salad is obvious….but the piperade was so close to the shakshuka at Tasty n Sons, down to the grilled bread, and even the base flavors…we also found the shakshuka at TnS to be a bit lacking in flavor overall as well.

For us the real star of the "Beccerita" were the potatoes, which were prepped quite well and had great flavor. The sauce overwhelmed the octopus, which did have a very nice texture.

We also loved the potatoes the accompanied the nicely seasoned and very tasty Moorish Lamb Chop.

Loved the flavors; the charred and smokey lamb was very gamey.

By now we had a thought that perhaps the proteins here were the way to go and decided to end with the Drunken Pork, which proved to be a favorite.

While it looked like a hot mess; the combination of textures and flavors really did well together.

So things ended really well. Still, I think that Ataula is more our thing. Still, I'm glad we finally had a chance to check out Toro Bravo.

Toro Bravo
120 NE Russell St
Portland, OR 97212

We had really wanted to check out several breweries, but were just not able to this time around. With our time in PDX short, I decided that the one place we needed to check out was Upright Brewing.

Located in the basement in the office building, I loved the setting. You go and find the elevator (we found the stairs) and head down to the basement.

Past those double doors…..

And you were there……

A couple of tables in room with a few pulls, the place had this real speakeasy feel….you were in the basement of some business building in who knows where… Also, I love my Belgian style brews, so the French/Belgian Farmhouse style beers were just up my alley.

My favorites were the "Six" and "Seven", the six a bit prune-raisiny with sweet touches. The seven was a wonderful farmhouse saison, fresh, perhaps a bit too sweet for a saison, but I enjoyed it.

Upright Brewing
240 N Broadway
Portland, OR 97227

As always Portland is full of surprises for us.

Speaking of surprises….anyone know what this is?

Beery, um, Merry Christmas

December 24, 2015 mmm-yoso Beer

Well, it seems that another year is just zooming by. So quickly that I really can't keep up with our travel posts. So I thought I'd sneak photos from Seoul and Nagoya into this post.

Folks are usually really busy and preoccupied during this time of the year, so I thought I'd give it a rest, relax, and have a beer. This one is a very nice seasonal, Belgian style Brown.

Nice caramel, slightly bourbon boozy…. Thanks Candice!

Before settling in with my brew, we went on our yearly drive to check out the Christmas lights.

And of course the gang here at mmm-yoso, Ed from Yuma, Cathy, Myself, and even "Sammy-Claus" would like to extend our best Christmas wishes to all of you.

Oh yes, we can't forget Frankie, can we? Where is Frankie?

Oh well…..

Thanks so much for reading and Happy holidays!

Portland: Moonstruck Chocolate Cafe, Alma Handmade Chocolates, and The Commons Brewery

October 17, 2015 mmm-yoso Beer, Chocolate, Desserts, Portland, Oregon, Travel

*** Moonstruck, Alma, and the Commons have all closed

Having completed breakfast, the Missus was ready to start with today's mission….first chocolates, then beer.

A few blocks away was a location of Moonstruck Chocolate Café.

We entered the tiny shop so the Missus could add to Her collection of confections. The woman manning the counter was very nice and we found the Oregon Craft Brewers collection to be quite interesting. I did have a taste of the Rogue Hazelnut Brown, which was really, really, good.

And so the Missus was able to add to Her collection and we were able to grab a few gifts as well.

Moonstruck Chocolate Cafe
608 SW Alder St
Portland, OR 97205

On our way back from The Cheese Shop the previous day, I pointed out a chocolate shop named Alma. The Missus did a Google Search and came up with an address. It said NE 28th Street……which was strange since I recall seeing the shop fairly close to the Hawthorne Bridge. But we trudged onward for 2 miles and change…..

I did get to take this really nice photo of the Steel Bridge though.

Upon arriving, I knew we hadn't passed this shop the day before. Temps were going to hit the mid 90's on this day and I was already hot and bothered by the time we arrived.

But at least the Missus got to add to Her chocolate collection.

We did learn that Alma had just opened their second shop on SE 7th a few days ago….which is why it didn't appear in the Google search. The girl here thought it was pretty funny that we'd walk all the way from Downtown to visit….

Alma Chocolate
140 NE 28th Ave
Portland, OR 97232

Man was it getting hot……and the Missus could tell it was getting to me. We stopped and had a Pellegrino at the nearby Whole Foods, which I recalled from the time we ate at Davenport on our last trip. Revived we decided to do the mile and a half walk to The Commons Brewery, which we had also seen on the #15 bus the day before. It was a long mile and a half and by the time we saw the building, the Missus was doing a good bit of whining.

Loved the industrial look, the high ceilings and wide open spaces. I do wish there was some A/C though as was getting a bit warm in the building.

Loved the beer selection and the place seemed to complete the set with their own resident Hipster.

The Commons brews Belgians, a lot of Saisons, which seemed perfect for a hot day like this.

So we started with a flight of tasters.

My favorite on this day was the very clean, slightly grassy, refreshing, "Petit Classique".

This was a nice stop.

The Commons Brewery
630 SE Belmont St
Portland, OR 97214

We decided on catching the bus back…on our now favorite route, #15. As we left, the bus had just stopped across the street. We were stuck on the red light. But this is Portland and they have some of the nicest bus drivers we've ever run into. I waved at the driver, she smiled and waved back and made a hand sign telling me not to rush across the street….you gotta love these folks!

You gotta love Portland!

Urbn St Brewing Co (El Cajon)

October 13, 2015 Cathy Beer, Pizza, Pubs and Pub Grub, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for stopping to see what mmm-yoso!!! is writing about today. Kirk is under the weather and Ed (from Yuma) is otherwise occupied (in Yuma) so Cathy is writing this short post.

There are five different locations of URBN and the one closest to home is this one, URBN St Brewing Co, in El Cajon.This is the building from the parking lot. The front door is on Magnolia at Main (the North West corner, next to the Starbucks).The 'windows' are the roll up garage door kind, so everything is exposed. You can see the bar area has plenty of taps. The side televisions are beer menus.Once inside, the industrial hipster brewery look is obvious.The Mister was here to try some of the house beers ($7 for an URBN flight) (of four): Saison (bright and light in flavor), Unite (a red Belgian rye, brewed in collaboration with Twisted Manzanita Brewery (located in Santee)), Brown (graham cracker with chocolate undertones) and Triple Brown (strong coffee notes). Each beer was unique and fresh in taste. We enjoyed all of our choices.

The menu at dinner is straightforward, with pizza and salad being the primary choices along with four appetizers and desserts.The URBN salad (small, $7). A nice mix of greens topped with gorgonzola, pears, a walnut brittle and a light vinaigrette. This could be a meal for one (the bowl is deep), but we shared. It was very fresh and flavorful.None of the preselected ingredient pies appealed to us, so we chose to 'Craft Your Own'. We chose a Small, White with parmesan/garlic/evoo ($10) then added Ricotta ($2) and artichokes ($2).

That small pizza is on a regular size cookie sheet (half sheet cake size)! More than enough.

The flavor combination was just right, with the garlic and olive oil complimenting -and not overpowering- the Ricotta or artichoke hearts. The crust was more cracker-like than the edges, which I don't normally like, especially when cold..but this pizza never got to the point of being leftover…

URBN St. Brewing Co. 110 N. Magnolia (at Main) El Cajon 92020 (619) 328-6922 Website Open Sun-Thurs 11:30-10, Fri-Sat 11:30-midnight

Bruges: The Wednesday Market, De Halve Maan Brewery, Dumon Chocolatier, and the Memling Museum

September 19, 2015 mmm-yoso Beer, Belgian Cuisine and Restaurants, Belgium, Cheese, Chocolate, Markets & Grocers, Travel

It was on our only full day in Bruges where we really got to enjoy the city a bit. Earlier in the morning, on a weekday, we took a walk around Market Square. Even in the drizzly mist we were able to appreciate the Belfort (Bell Tower) which has risen over the square and Bruges since the 14th Century. We wandered around the courtyard and down some side alleyways.

The buildings lining the square, housing various restaurants and tourist focused businesses are built in Neo-Gothic style. This square is considered the heart of Bruges and was once the economical center as there was a canal that came right up to the square.

It was Wednesday…usually market day, but there were bleachers set-up so we saw no market stalls. We did hear a bit of noise from the nearby Burg Square.

I guess the market had been moved here on this day to accommodate whatever event was happening in the Market Square.

It was still early; before 8 and the market didn't get going until 10am, so we just walked along the booths….

And vehicles…..we called this one the Cheese-mobile…..

I love the way this pooch manages to keep dry….under the table and in a box….

While checking out some of the cheese and charcuterie we had an idea…..

We'd ask the wonderful Caroline, who ran our little two room B&B if we could use the dining area and self cater lunch!

As we crossed over one of the canals, I saw a statue that looked familiar. It was Saint John of Nepomok! Remember him from my posts on Prague?

They call Bruges the "Venice of the North", so of course I had to include a couple of canal shots.

We headed back to the B&B and breakfast was served downstairs. It was quite a nice spread.

I'm not quite sure what it was…perhaps the sickly sweet smells that all the shops had; but I'd been avoiding waffles. I know heresy….you're in Belgium and no waffles? Until this morning. Caroline made us fresh waffles, her own secret family recipe and they were delicious.

Light, crisp and creamy, not too sweet…..just perfect. I loved them…and she made me another!

We had discussed having our own self catered lunch in the dining area with Caroline and got the green light. So we headed back out. On the way out, we passed this doorway. I stopped….this was the back entrance to the Old St John's Hospital. Which is now the Memling Museum. We hadn't visited any museums in Belgium and this one had artifacts and displays of medieval medicine as well as art. This is our kind of stuff. And we really enjoyed the Memling.

Our favorites? Well here goes….

Jan Beerblock's painting, The Wards at Saint John's Hospital.

The painting is full of different vignettes of what patient care at St John's Hospital was like, from the Nuns that served as Nurses, to the fact that dogs were welcomed in the wards.

The ambulance? Well, it was a man powered sedan chair…..

Which I believe was this sedan chair…..

While checking out some of the displays, I heard the Missus go, "oh my….check this out. Those are some awesome stones" (it's not what you might think by what she said). Holy smokes! Check out those stones….kidney stones. My goodness, can you imagine the pain?

I'll not go into any great detail of how the stones were removed, but in case you're morbidly interested, here's an interesting link.

The main attraction of the museum is probably Hans Memling's St John Altarpiece. Dedicated to the Patron Saints of the hospital, this work was displayed on an altar situated at a height and distance so all beds in the ward could view this painting.

We then quickly returned to the market which was just starting to get into full swing.

We made our purchases, returned to the B&B, placed them in the fridge and headed off. It was still a bit too early for lunch, so we decided to grab….well…should I call it a "brunch beer"? At De Halve Maan Brewery.

You might recognize the names of the beer brewed by Huisbrouwerij De Halve Maan….Staffe Hendrick and Zot. I went with the Staffe Hendrick Quad, the Missus a Brugse Zot.

I found the quad to have kind of a burnt sugar fragrance, though slightly boozy and mildly sweet. The 11% ABV sneaks up on you. Strangely, I recently had a SH Quad at Iron Pig and unlike my experiences with other Belgians it held up pretty good and tasted quite similar to what I had here.

They also have tours at this brewery but we decided not to take it.

De Halve Maan Brewery
Walplein 26
Bruges, Belgium

After our liquid refreshment, we headed to a quite busy shop on the same street.

Dumon Chocolatier is quite popular.

So we decided to add to the collection of chocolates for my MIL.

Dumon Chocolatier
Walstraat 6
Bruges, Belgium

We meandered a bit, then headed back to the B&B. Caroline had kindly set aside some plates and silverware for us and we had a nice light lunch.

After cleaning up, we headed upstairs for a nice afternoon nap…..

Thanks for reading!

It’s Back to the Routine – Tiger! Tiger! and Toronado

September 3, 2015 mmm-yoso Beer, Gastropub, Pubs and Pub Grub, Salads

**** Both Tiger! Tiger! and Toronado have closed

I'm not quite sure why it took so long…..check that; I do know why it took so long to get back into a nice routine after our trip back in May/June. We ate so well that coming back was kind of a let down. But it seems like we've finally gotten back into a routine and Tiger Tiger and Toronado have again taken their spots in our rotation.

In terms of the beer selection Toronado is a favorite of ours.

I really enjoy Belgian's and they always have La Chouffe and a couple of dubbels/tripels so I can get my fix. Or perhaps a Pliney the Elder. The Missus can always find something She enjoys like a nice Flanders Red, a sour, or even like the 21st Amendment Hell or High Watermelon (you can now get cans at TJ's) which she loved.

But for some strange reason, She enjoys the jukebox here as well. It took a bit of time, but it's become a favorite of Hers.

Personally…I just want to see what's posted on the (e)ATM(e)…..

Toronado
4026 30th St
San Diego, CA 92104

Tiger! Tiger!:

Well, I pretty much covered it before, so this will be mostly photos.

The first time we had the chilled melon soup, it was fantastic.

It was during the recent hot and muggy weather…..this was so refreshing. While follow-up visits weren't as good, it was still quite nice.

The Octopus Sandwich sounded interesting, but we didn't enjoy the bread and it was way over-dressed.

But the octopus was really nicely prepared, soft and tender and full of flavor. The next time around, I decided to order it without the bread and they served it as a salad. It was delicious.

Those pea shoots added so much texture and flavor. Unfortunately, we had this again recently and it was missing the pea shoot and the octopus was tough and rubbery….we didn't recognize the folks working in the kitchen, so I'm wondering if it was the 'B' crew?

One item that has been consistently good is a vegetarian offering (are you reading this KenB)….yes vegetarian. It's the Pickled Squash Sandwich. I know. It sounds odd. But take a look at this and tell me you don't want to eat it.

Some other stuffs…..

Like I said…..we've never really had the time to make it to the regular menu…..

Tiger! Tiger!
3025 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92104

Hope you're having a great week!