Category: Blog

Yes, I guess it would usually be one of those Happy Thanksgiving posts. But this year it's different.

No matter how we try to frame it; the pandemic has changed things.

We're keeping it simple this year; that's some Ham Hock and Bean soup; which turned out rather well.

While the Missus is working as usual this T-Day; I won't be having to cook for 80 people; because potlucks are (rightfully) not allowed at Her work.

So, I used my time to make some pozole…..I guess I need to get my act together and do a post on that…maybe this weekend.

Perhaps the best thing I can do is to extend our best wishes for everyone's good health on this Thanksgiving!

Be safe and take care, we'll get through this!

Is a question I've gotten in a few comments and to my surprise in a couple of emails as well.

In some ways, it was quite nice knowing that at least a few folks like those travel posts…….I never quite knew if people actually did. Thanks especially to "Kerri" who made my day with a lovely email.

There are/were a couple of reasons why I've held off on doing those posts.

The first being, that I wasn't sure how all this travel stuff would come across….folks not being able to go anywhere right now. Having to cancel our planned trips really drove home how sad and depressing being unable to travel right now is. But one sentence in Kerri's  email – "Love your blog, can't wait to hear the stories because we can't go anywhere right now." Really changed my mind about that.

Secondly, when doing my travel posts, I try to "get things right" as much as possible. So this means those posts actually take 2-3 times as long as my basic "stream of consciousness" restaurant/cooking posts. Things have been pretty busy for me, though I've now had three full days off since mid-February and my weekend work now comprises of just a couple of hours. So, I'll soon have more time.

And I do enjoy doing those posts, whether it's a place that is well known, iconic, a landmark.

Or places a little less known…..

And oh my, the history!

I've had the honor of sharing those places with you……

I've had the privilege of visiting places that a young, poor kid from Honolulu could only dream about.

One that never left the state of Hawaii until the age of 30, crazy huh?

And the Missus always has some interesting adventures in mind……

So let me get my act together as things are starting to somewhat "normalize"…….

 

I often consider my blog posts as sort of entries in my own personal diary of food and travel experiences……

And I thank you for visiting and sharing in them with us!

I'm not going to overload you with information, there's a lot of that available elsewhere…….we here at mmm-yoso is hoping everyone remains healthy and gets through this.

Be safe, healthy and we'll see you on the other side.

Take Care!

I haven't done one of these in a while; so let's ketchup catch up.

Taste of the Himalaya's Coming to Renaissance Towne Center:

I wanted something fast and just thought I'd grab some lunch to go and catch my favorite "character" in Renaissance Towne Center. When I headed back to my car, I noticed that the pizza place is being replaced with another outlet of Taste of the Himalayas

That pizza place lasted maybe 2 years? 

It is good seeing a bit variety in the area.

The address is:

8895 Towne Centre Dr #115
San Diego, CA 92122

About Fish Replacing Nozomi on Convoy:

I was revisiting a certain business in this strip mall and was just trying to survive both the crazy people trying to park and the over zealous parking lot attendant. I didn't even notice that Nozomi was gone until I had backed out of my space.

This one was a bit of a surprise as I thought Nozomi was always fairly popular. Cathy's last post on Nozomi was….wow, nine years ago!

4637 Convoy St Ste 104
San Diego, CA 92111

Red Cate Looks Closed:

I've passed by several times during what should be service hours and the place looks closed. Though I find it weird that those chairs are still outside.

Another place that didn't last too long. We had actually attempted to visit in April of 2017, and even though the open sign was lit, they told us they weren't open for another hour.

3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

And just in case you want to buy something for that special someone……I saw this at Marukai.

I already know what a couple of folks are getting for Christmas this year…….

Hope you're having a great week!

I haven't done one of these in a awhile. So here goes.

Simsim Outstanding Shawarma:

I walked past this place last weekend (that's another story).

In the same strip mall as Elijah's and Niban.

7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

Karami Ramen:

I don't get to Nijiya quite as much since our office relocated. But a couple of weekends ago I had to do some shopping and noticed this spot. I believe it used to be a tattoo shop?

Anyway, looks like the hoard of ramen shops in Kearny Mesa has grown by yet another.

Nowadays it looks like hot pot or ramen…….

Not much on the applicant.

3860 Convoy St Ste 116
San Diego, CA 92111

Lai Chen becomes BT Chinese Kitchen:

I drove past when grabbing a quick sandwich from The Sandwich A'Fare. It looked like Lai Chen, a.k.a. the restaurant that was never open when I wanted to visit, had closed and been replaced by another restaurant. I swung by while returning to the office. And yep…..

Hmmm…….kind of sounds and looks like Chinese Fast Food?

Anyone been?

BT Chinese Kitchen
6780 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92121

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Two quick things for a busy Saturday.

Farmer's Table Coming to Bay Park:

At least that's what the window display says.

Yes, this is an outpost of the popular La Mesa eatery.

It's good see some new places opening up in our neck of the woods.

3057 Clairemont Dr
San Diego, CA 92117

Ready for some "Hidden Sushi"?:

Saw this a couple of weeks ago. Right behind the former FuAn/Hui An.

A few days later; I read the piece on Eater. It's an omakase only concept….I hope it's more than just a concept.

4764 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Yes, we're back. A bit jet lagged, but getting right back to work will cure that.

Our last three stops were quite busy.

From one of the reasons we ended up in this region in the first place.

We loved this city.

To the city that was once the Western Capital of the Roman Empire. With eight UNESCO world heritage sites and the most stunning mosaics we've encountered in our travels.

Even under water!

There were times when we were struck speechless……

And we had one of our favorite meals of our trip here.

And our final stop. A vibrant city….with the oldest University in Europe. There's a mixture of young and old here.

We went on a fantastic all day small group food tour. On which we learned so much.

This was an amazing vacation.

So give me a bit of time to regroup.

And I still lost about a dozen pounds….so don't be calling me "Lardo".

Thanks for reading!

 

I haven't done one of these in a while, so I thought I'd play some ketch….ahem, catch-up.

Mike's BBQ in Bay Park Closes:

Driving by this strip mall, I noticed that the sign for Mike's BBQ had been taken down.

So I pulled into the mall and noticed that the place had closed down! Looks like there were some complaints from residents in the nearby apartment complex. One morning I mentioned this to a couple of the old-timers at Clairemont Coffee and got some interesting stories. I believe an abatement order was filed and I guess the rest is history.

Though I wasn't super impressed by the food I thought the folks here were really nice and they filled a niche in the community.

Sad to see things turn out this way.

3057 Clairemont Dr
San Diego, CA 92117

Tasty Pot:

Man, this strip mall has been busy lately with Baguette Bros, Green China Grill, and some Crawfish place recently opening. Looks like a hot pot place will soon be making its home here as well.

Thanks to FOY "Xiāng Jiāo" for the heads-up.

4698 Convoy Street
San Diego, CA 92111

Boba Bar:

Ever wonder what was going on with the old Dumpling Inn spot. Looks like it's becoming a boba-shaved ice-ice cream shop.

Don't we have quite a few of these already?

4619 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Donburi Kitchen:

FOY "Sandy" mentioned this in the comments of one of my posts.

I had noticed it a few weeks back when I dropped by Island Style Café. Donburi, huh? I'm interested to see what this place, in the location that used to be The Fish Bucket is going to be like. They might even be open already, so I gotta check again soon.

6030 Santo Road
San Diego, CA 92124  

So that's it for now. Hope you're having a great week!

A few things for this rather chilly Wednesday.

Lemon House Vietnamese Cuisine:

Didn't notice this until last week. In the former location of Maru.

I thought it was a rather odd that instead of Vietnamese; the sign was also written in Chinese. So I asked the Missus who confirmed that the Chinese does in fact include "Vietnamese" in it. Quite odd though.

4681 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92123

Great Wow (???) Restaurant Replacing Goldfish World:

I dropped by Nijiya to grab a bento on the way back from a meeting and I noticed a sign on the former location of Goldfish World. It said "Great Wow Restaurant"…… Now for some reason that struck me as odd. Perhaps it might be "Great Wall"? The reason I'm really not sure that it really is named "Great Wow", is the part of the sign that says "Comming Soon"….. Go figure….wow…..

3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

RakiRaki Taking Over the BABs Location:

RR's slow annexation of that strip mall continues. As Pokirrito looks almost ready to open. I noticed that they've laid claim to the now defunct BABs location.

With RR's owner's talent for self-promotion and hype; I'm sure we'll find out soon enough if they are just expanding the shops space, or if this is going to be another "concept"…..

4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

And speaking of suckers…..

You know, I've got my weaknesses. I drop by Nijiya at least once a week; sometimes even more often to grab something quick for lunch. And I have to say, I'll always try their seasonal offerings.

Man, you know I love stuff like sake kasu, to make amazake (I'll get the recipe up one of these days), and you know my love of using Shio Koji. So when I saw the pork mirin kasu, I had to get it. Man, that pork was leathery and dry as heck. Not much flavor as well. Bummer, because the takenoko gohan was really tasty.

Win some, lose some.

Hope you have more winners than losers this week!

A few things for a super hot Sunday…..

AppeThai replacing Yes! Pingo:

Yes! Pingo went quietly into the night about the same time Yu's Garden did. I saw this sign when driving past the other day. Seems like a Thai restaurant is  going to be here.

As the Convoy Street shuffles keep on coming……

4813 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Mama Testa Looks ready to go:

Drove up to Mira Mesa for a haircut yesterday and decided to see what, if any progress was happening with regards to Mama Testa, which closed and announced it was moving nearly a year ago.

To my surprise, it looks like they are ready to open any day now.

In it's day, MT was sort of a pioneer (like Chilango's before it) with regards to the Mexican cuisine scene. And while I'd tried the place a couple of times and never took to it, it's good to see they are back. I'm excited to check them out. In the same mall as Cali Express and QT Pot.

9225 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

Saying Goodbye to a Fellow Food Blogger:

My friend and fellow food blogger Kat sent me an email a little over a week ago informing me that fellow long time food blogger (since 2004) Santos, whom you might know from her blog the scent of green bananas had passed away. The last time I heard from Santos was last summer. In emails over the last couple of years, I knew she was not in good health.

Santos was in San Diego in the summer of 2013 and I offered to meet for a meal, but she wasn't feeling too well and asked for a couple of recommendations. Santos was eating quite healthy at the time, vegan and all that…so of course I included Slater's 50/50 as a recommendation

Her response?

"hey kirk! i just started laughing the second i saw the slater's menu…and yes! my first reaction was to look for vegan restaurant alternative. ha! thanks for making my day (although the more i think of the 50/50 burger, the less appealing it becomes)"

We'll miss you Santos. Rest in Peace.

From the Pacific Daily News.