Breakfast/Brunch – Page 32

Breakfast of Champions – Oahu edition Redux: Kapiolani Coffee Shop, Harry’s Cafe, and Diner’s Waimalu

August 13, 2012 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Honolulu, Loco Mocos, Oahu, Travel

Even though my first "Breakfast of Champions" post is probably the most spammed (somehow appropriate) post on our blog, I couldn't help but do a follow-up. Here's the breakfasts I had during my last trip home.

Kapiolani Coffee Shop:

I really got a kick from the very old-school atmosphere at Kapiolani Coffee Shop during my oxtail soup stop, that I went back just to see what breakfast was like.

There were no customers when I arrived, and was directed to exactly the same table I had sat at before….funny, yeah?

I got a cup of coffee while I looked over the menu…..yep, this place is old school all right, the cup o'joe tasted like it had been sitting around since I was in high school! Man, it was like mud….the real friendly guy kept wanting to refill it, but I just kept telling him, "no need" and making up some excuse like, "my docta' said I got to cut down on da' caffiene, no good fo' my heart" and stuff like that. Yeeeesh……

I hoped that my loco moco fared better and it did.

The kitchen bouquet gravy could have used a bit more salt and the eggs were a bit past how I want my easy-over eggs to be, but this wasn't bad at all. The hamburger patty had been pressed on the griddle developing a nice char, but the gravy balanced out the possibility of a dry burger. Not bad at all.

But what I enjoyed the most was the mac salad.

it had just the right amount of salt and mayo and was nicely chilled. I actually wanted to order more mac salad…..but how would I explain, since I supposedly had "one bad ticka'"…..no coffee because of a cardiac problem and I'm there eating like three scoops of macaroni salad??? Would have been a bit odd….so I decided just to enjoy what I had.

Kapiolani Coffee Shop
98-020 Kamehameha Hwy
Aiea, HI 96701

Harry's Cafe:

Harry's Cafe, on Waimanu street, just a block and a half from Kapiolani has a bit of a cult following. The place is a total hole-in-the-wall and very divey….the type of places that "butt crack guys"…you know, the fellows who work the trades, stop and devour a ton of calories before heading to work.

They are also famous for a 99 cent breakfast……..

I was a bit late for the special, but decided to drop by for breakfast anyway. The place was pretty busy when I arrived. Four movers were eating a massive amount of food on one table….at the bar, a pretty seedy looking couple talked toeach other real loud….the woman kept half running out of the place to get "some fresh air"….yeah, right. They ended up sharing two pancakes and one cup of coffee! Every time they spoke real loud, the movers would all turn and give them the "stink eye".

I really got a kick out of the labeling for the sugar dispenser……makes me wonder if someone once mistook this for salt ot visa-versa???

I believe that "Harry" retired a while back and sold the place to the very nice Korean woman, whose name is Christy if I recall.

I was pretty hungry and went with the Corned Beef Hash Loco Moco.

Honestly, not the best breakfast I've ever had….the yolks of the eggs had broken, the gravy was somewhat gluey, and the corned beef hash was too soft and mushy, with no caramelization. It also tasted kinda funky……after reading this post on Kat's Blog, I'm pretty sure it wasn't my canned corn beef of choice either.

But heck, it was reasonable and gave me more than enough calories for the shopping I needed to do for the Missus.

Harry's Cafe
1101 Waimanu St
Honolulu, HI 96814

Hours:
Mon-Fri 6am – 3pm
Sat 7am – 2pm
Sun 7am – 12pm

Diner's Drive In Waimalu:

**** This location of Diners has closed

On the day I was to leave for home, I left the in-laws pretty early. I still had some shopping to do and I wanted to hit up at least one place for lunch. Anyway, I wanted to check email and stuff and needed a wi-fi connection so I stopped in Waimalu at Starbuck's. As I walked to Starbuck's, I could hear Diner's calling me. It was early, I was a bit hungry so why not?

When I entered, I noticed two of the "bruddah's" each eating on a different table had two styrofoam containers open and were eating from both. It didn't register until I opened up my $6.95 breakfast.

Do they sell "small" eggs? Check out the size of the eggs compared to the three, fairly thin slices of Portuguese Sausage. No wonder those guys were eating two plates!

The woman working the counter was very nice though……not much else to say…..

Diner's Drive-In
98-1277 Kaahumanu St
Aiea, HI 96701

So there you go…….a trio of breakfasts and a ton of calories….and I still lost weight! Go figure!

Pasadena Road Trip-An early 2013 Rose Parade event and breakfast at Lucky Boy

July 19, 2012 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, Sandwiches, Taco Shops, What Cathy Eats!

Hi there, person reading the blog called mmm-yoso!!! Sometimes Kirk writes here about meals and events and sometimes ed (from Yuma) writes about meals and events. Today, Cathy is writing about an event and a meal.

Well, it's been a hot and busy summer so far, probably for everyone. There are events every weekend it seems. Last weekend, San Diego was hosting both Comic-Con and Over the Line, the Orange County Fair opened and on Saturday, The Mister and I woke at 4:30 a.m., let the dogs out and back in the house, grabbed some snacks and coffee and jumped in the car and headed North, to Pasadena. In less than two hours, we were greeted by this sign.

Our reason for the trip and being here before 7 a.m.. Some of the floats that will appear in the 2013 Tournament of Roses parade were going to be road tested! There are at least three road tests for each float before the parade. This road test was mentioned on the Phoenix Decorating Company Facebook page and not on the website. The Rose Parade has fascinated both of us since we were children, watching it on television every New Year Day from our snow-bound homes back East and we are so happy to be able live here and be able to help decorate floats and also watch the progression of their creation every year.

This will be the Trader Joe's entry. You can see a few of the many kitchen gadgets (and cupcake holders) that will be part of the float. There will be some animation and those parts seemed to be the ones tested.

This is the initial sketch of the float. You can see the photo is facing the opposite of this drawing. It will be interesting to see the final product, which I am sure will be great.

Another float was being driven, with the Observer in front, directing the driver (who will be in an enclosed area in the middle of the float) down the street using headsets and microphones and then directing to a 180 degree turn at the end of the street to get back to the barn.

You can see the driver in this photo.

Other floats have the rebar skeletons covered and are almost ready to be marked for colors. This is the Shriners Hospital float. One bear depicts the Shriners Open Golf Tournament and the other bear depicts the Shriners Football Classic:

The rectangle cut into the belly of that bear will be where the Observer for this float will be looking out along the parade route.

Some of the floats are essentially ready for decorating, covered with foam and painted the colors where the various live and dried materials will be placed and glued. This is the 'off side' of the Nurses' float-the side the television cameras won't show.

This is the "camera side" you will see when you watch the parade on television. So beautiful.

The Rotary International float is very animated- that screw knob in the back spins and so do all of the gears! It was tested with nine riders.

The City of Hope float looks like a Chemistry Laboratory, complete with a spiral bound notebook and microscope.

There were eleven floats in all, all in different levels of being finished and tested for safety. It was fun to watch…and was all over before 9 a.m. There will be another road test on August 18. Dry decorating of the floats begins December 1. Volunteers are always welcome, but you have to sign up. Here are three links about decorating opportunities.

So, it was breakfast time and The Mister and I walked half a block North and over the Metro Gold Line tracks (this is the Fillmore Station)

to Arroyo Parkway and took a left,

and stopped at about two blocks North, at Lucky Boy…which is right at the corner with
the *Original* Trader Joe's location (the logo under the main sign is "Your neighborhood grocery store").

Anyhow, Lucky Boy. Walk up, order…

pay and wait for your number to be called…

A little peek inside the cooking area. The tortillas are cooked on a grill- and have grill marks.

This is a cross section of the famous Breakfast Burrito ($5.80). It weighs about one pound. Really. Hash browns, cheese, scrambled eggs and, in this case, ham-which was warm from the grill; nice. The salsa which came with was tasty and unique, a tomatillo based with some green chili and also a red chili with some heat.

We have been here before, but for lunch and dinner, and I usually order a pastrami something, but this time I decided to try a simple breakfast…

An egg sandwich, on rye toast. ($3.25)(not a typo). Soft scrambled eggs with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise on a really nice rye bread.

A perfect day. We stopped at a few places and were home by noon. The day had just begun!

Lucky Boy Drive In 640 S. Arroyo Parkway Pasadena, CA 91105 Website It is closed on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, otherwise it's open.

COMC: Chinese Breakfast at Chin’s Miramar

July 1, 2012 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Chinese Restaurants

**** This location of Chin's has closed

I realize that my last two posts were pretty wordy, combing for almost 3000 words….a bit too much. So I decided that it was time for a COMC (Clearing out the memory card) post.

Just about all photos here. Since Ba Ren closed, this is just about the only place we go to for Chinese in San Diego. Not always the best, but I do enjoy several dishes on the breakfast menu…..not a real big fan of dinner, though. One thing that's really nice for folks who were worried about having to deal with a Chinese only menu….which for me is a non-issue since most folks here are nice and helpful. They now have a handy dandy photo based menu…….

For more info, I guess you can read my previous posts, including the stuff from way back in 2006.

Only photos from here……..

Chin's Seafood & Grill
9355 Kearny Mesa Rd
San Diego, CA 92126

Breakfast from 930am to 230pm Saturday and Sunday

North East San Diego County Road Trip: Amerient-Country Cooking & Oriental Cuisine (Ramona) and a drive to Julian

May 21, 2012 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Chinese Restaurants, Road Trip, What Cathy Eats!

You are reading the blog named mmm-yoso!!! It’s about food. Not just a description of what, but also the where, sometimes the why and, occasionally how and who. Kirk usually takes care of those pronouns and sometimes ed(from Yuma) writes in a way outlining his posts using the interrogatives. Today, Cathy is using her grammar skills to share a day.

Hi. Last week, on a particularly foggy weekday morning, The Mister and I decided we’d like to take a drive North, to Julian. Originally we wanted to try Jeremy’s on The Hill, which ed (from Yuma) had posted about earlier this year, but on checking, realized it was not open for breakfast. However, figuring that people everywhere have to eat, we got in the car started the drive up Highway 67 and while on the lovely main street through Ramona, (cleverly named Main Street, just before it turns into Highway 78), I spotted this building, signage and decided this was where we should stop.

Perhaps you can’t read the signage on the building. I had heard of Amerient years ago but never had even noticed it when passing through town on my way to and from other errands.

We were greeted, seated and handed the leather bound combination menu. I noticed a lady in the corner booth rolling egg rolls and asked if I could order from the “oriental” part of the menu, even though it was barely 9 a.m., and was told that I could. (While we were there, several other people ordered other-than ‘country cooking’ items).

The wall decor and table condiments reflect both cuisines offered here.

The Mister decided on the Daily Special ($5.99, $2 off the regular menu price). On this day, it was Country Fried steak, which came with two eggs (poached), home fries (thin sliced and crispy fried)…

Here is a cross section view of the tender, lightly breaded, perfectly fried steak which was topped with a *very* nice, slightly peppery sausage gravy.

The Special also came with two GIANT pancakes, butter and heated maple syrup. On the right in the above photo, you can see a partial view basket of teas to select from($1.95)

My meal came with two fresh made egg rolls.

These were more meat than filler/no cabbage and really good; properly fried and not greasy. Actually, they were more like a good lumpia,now that I think about it. The neon red sweet-tart dipping sauce with a dot of hot mustard is something I rarely see or get to taste and it was a nice memory jog to my taste buds.

Here is a cross section of my order-Vegetable Egg Foo Young ($7.25). I crave mushrooms and was silly happy to get this giant platter of goodness, with the fresh, al dente cooked mushrooms, carrots, peas, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots and -that patty- a fluffy, mostly cabbage, onion and egg delight. Actually a perfect breakfast (the gravy was not salty). Every restaurant makes egg foo young differently and this version was particularly memorable.

We plan to return, because the Saturday evening special is Ma La chicken. Spicy!

Amerient Country Cooking and Oriental Cuisine 668 Main Street, Ramona, CA 92065 (760)789-6855 website

We got in the car and continued on through the fog on the winding two lane road to Julian and were able to park on the main street, again having the clever name of Main Street. I so enjoy not having to think much. Parking on Main Street is something you can’t do during apple-picking time in Autumn. It was kind of strange to see the town, sidewalks and parking places in an uncrowded state. We walked and checked out every menu and determined that the price point for a meal started at $8, not including beverage. It’s also pretty consistent that a slice of pie with ice cream will cost $5. None of the businesses offer coupons in the local free paper nor is trying to underpricce a neighboring restaurant.

We drove just West, (Main Street turns into Farmer Road) to the cemetery, and walked around.

It was foggy and misty and peaceful.

We started to drive South, and passed Jeremy’s,which is about three miles from the center of Julian, then stopped four miles later, in the town of Santa Ysabel. Usually we stop at Dudley’s Bakery, but it’s only open Thursday-Sunday. There is a sign in the window that Dudley’s items are sold in the small IGA market next door, but since the bread would not be baked-that-day-fresh, we walked across the parking lot to the Julian Pie Company.

where a cute door handle greets you…

Choices of fresh pie slices, cookies, donuts, carmel apples and a freezer of take and bake pies and no crowds or waiting made the choice overwhelming.

So, we got one apple cider donut (75¢) and a coffee ($1.50) and a pie to go. The apple cider donut is unique in flavor…made with apple cider instead of water, it has a nice, fresh apple flavor and the light coating of cinnamon sugar was complimentary and not overwhelming. A good snack.

The pie?

The small size chicken pie. Made with the crust used for all the fruit pies. A good sized (one pound) meal for two. Baking fresh at home was perfect a few days later. The filling is almost all chicken, along with vegetables and the sauce.

San Diego County is large and every area/city/road has something interesting to do and places to eat. I hope everyone can have an adventure someday soon.

SO…yesterday, ed (from Yuma) wrote about his vacation and today I wrote about my “staycation”…whose turn is it now?

Julian Pie Company 21976 Highway 79 Santa Ysabel, CA 92070 (760)765-2400 website

Breakfast of Champions, old school revisit edition: Lucky’s Breakfast (Golden Phenix), Perry’s Cafe

May 13, 2012 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Diner

There's something about old school, simple, American style breakfasts that I love. None of that frou-frou stuff. Just eggs, meat, potatoes, and toast…… So here are two revisits or my breakfast files:

Lucky's Golden Phenix:

**** Sadly Lucky Wong passed away at the end of 2024

I've actually been back to Lucky's a couple of times since my post back in 2008. Lucky is quite a character, quick with the dry remark, don't even think about asking for decaf, Lucky told a gentleman, "why you decaf, it's full of chemicals, you're already looking like you have too much chemicals!"

I once asked for my toast "dry" and was told "are you a health nut? You gonna be old and look like me one day, do you want to stay that way forever?" Though I later asked him why he serves both white and wheat toast, "I have to do something for health nuts like you….just drink black coffee, that's the most healthy….no cream or sugar!" Aaaah, nutrition according to Lucky!

Though the place still looks like it has come of the set of Big Trouble in Little China, which I actually went to see at the old Cinerama Theatre. Sorry, I digress, having these old school breakfasts at places like Lucky's will do that to you.

I must have not been here in a bit since the interior has been cleaned up a bit…all the Arnold Schwarzenegger stuff is gone, perhaps Lucky was a bit unhappy with his role as the "Governator"? Things are less cluttered here now, but the really cheap prices look about the same as they were almost four years ago…..

Another thing that hasn't changed……it's still a one man show at Lucky's.

On this day, I had two eggs over easy, bacon, hash browns, white toast…….$3.60….yes three dollars and sixty cents.

Man, this was better than I remembered….especially the hashbrowns which were nice and crisp on the exterior….it might be SYSCO potatoes, but if you do it right…….

It's really hard to get negative on a breakfast that's under four bucks…especially when it's pretty good.

I do recall one other thing about Lucky's….one evening, the Missus wanted something from Heaven Sent Desserts. The only parking was on Grim right across from Lucky's. It was pretty late and Lucky's is only open from 7 to noon Monday thru Saturday. It was pretty late in the evening….as we walked past Lucky's the Missus said, "look at that lonely looking old man…." She pointed into Lucky's (this was before the curtains went up). And sure enough, there was Lucky, watching a little portable television in the corner of his place. I felt quite sad…..after all Lucky probably has a story, not sure what it is, behind that somewhat curmudgeonly exterior……

Lucky's Breakfast (Golden Phenix)
3804 Grim Ave
San Diego, CA 92104

Open Monday – Saturday 7-12

Perry's Cafe:

**** Sadly Perry's has closed after 39 years

A coworker asked me if I've been back to Perry's since they reopened after the fire. I replied that I hadn't….I was then informed that they reopened back in April of '10! Seeeesh…..time sure does fly! I mean really? Two years???

Arriving in the parking lot, it looked like business as usual at Perry's. There was a line out the door waiting for a table. This being a solo breakfast, I easily snagged a seat at the counter….. Which is a pretty nice place to sit as you get to watch the Servers do their thing. You can count the plates the balance on one arm as they make their way to tables…on this day, the winner, a tall blond who looked like she was all business actually took nine plates out in one trip!

I really didn't feel like bacon or sausage, so on this day I went with two eggs, hamburger patty, hashbrowns, and toast($8):

For some reason, this just didn't do it for me. I can overlook the cooked in a ring, somewhat overdone easy over eggs, or the mass produced textured burger. But if you've read my earlier post on Perry's, you'd know that for me, it's all about the hashbrowns here. Cooked on a well seasoned flat top with liquid butter goodness……man, I'm so there! But this time around, it hadn't spent enough time on the griddle and I didn't enjoy it as much. Bummer…..maybe I needed to order some au jus to pour all over it????

Perry's Cafe
4620 Pacific Hwy
San Diego, CA 92110
(619) 291-7121

Open Daily 6am-2pm

So there you go…..perhaps not as fascinating as Stadium Club (though it's hard to beat Lucky's)….but this is breakfast old school style. Where's your favorite "old school" breakfast joint?

Crete – Iraklios: Saying “no to Knossos”, breakfast at the Galaxy Hotel, Peza Union Museum and Shop, and driving the wine country

April 14, 2012 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Crete, Iraklios, Travel

We had really enjoyed our previous day in Iraklios. But the city is a pretty busy modern one, the fifth largest in Greece. Now the one reason that had me planning a stay here is the ancient Greek city of Knossos once the capital of the Minoan civilization. Located 5 kilometers from the Iraklios, it's probably the main reason tourists come here. But it turned out that by the time we arrived, the Missus had developed "ruin fatigue" and adamantly refused to visit Knossos….in other words, She said "no to Knossos."

The Missus had been cooking up another plan. She wanted to drive around the central wine region of Crete. By drive meant that I'd be the driv-er. Now having seen folks zooming around on the street, I really wasn't too enthusiastic about driving around Crete. Plus I was pretty sure that the car we arranged for was a "stick". Not really a big problem I guess, my last car before I moved to the mainland was a 4×4 and I used to drive delivery trucks and flatbeds….but it had been at least 15 years since I drove a stick. Of course, the Missus had Her own spin on the whole thing, "it's like riding a horse, right?" Of course how many times you fall off that horse when you get back on factors into the equation. "I hope you feel the same way when I kill the thing in the middle of the busiest intersection of Crete." "You are so negative….."

Of course, the natural place for such conversations would be breakfast. And we really enjoyed the spread at the Galaxy hotel. Of course, we'd not have been so happy if breakfast wasn't included, it would have been an extra 22 Euros a day and as good as it was….well, it wasn't that good!

The Missus had fallen in love with rusk, the twice cooked bread, which was as hard a crouton, but struck a nerve with Her. And tis place had an area with traditional Cretan items.

Of course, if you're a regular reader, you know the Missus loves Her eggs. Here the boiled eggs were lined up in rows, front row 3 minutes, middle row 6 minutes, back row 9 minutes. Which led to a bit of a quandary for the Missus, "I'm wondering how long the three minute eggs has been sitting in the salt……is it more like a nine minute or six minute egg?" Trying to end this mental stalemate I told the Missus, "while you're contemplating carry-over cooking, there's a line forming behind you……"

It was the orange juice that got me………it tasted so wonderfully fresh squeezed…….I actually would have three glasses with breakfast.

We really enjoyed our breakfasts here……

When we met with the rental agent, the Missus told him, "I want a small car, one of the itty-bitty European cars, the smallest one." The agent humoured Her and gave assurances that we'd get the tiniest car available. After breakfast, we picked the keys up at the desk with information on how to find our car….it was parked on an adjacent side street and how to return it…..try to find parking on a side street. To the Missus' disappointment, the car wasn't "itty-bitty" enough, but I'm sure She forgot about that as we headed out of Iraklios, past the hospital and Knossos……and hit wine country.

About 15 kilometers out of Iraklios we passed the village of Peza. Peza is known as the central hub for Wine and Olive in the area. Right past the town we came to the Peza Union Museum and Tasting room. There was one tour bus parked outside, so we decided to stop….the Missus really wanted to taste some of the local olive oil. I read somewhere that Crete has the highest consumption of olive oil per capita in the world, something like 30 kilos per person per year!

The folks on the tour was just finishing up when we arrived, so we had the place to ourselves.

We wandered the displays showing the history of wine and olive oil production in the region and stopped to taste some wine.

Some of the wines tasted really "raw", but we found a bottle we liked and bought it. We'd later have it one evening in Chania.

Of course the Missus was here for olive oil. There were five available and the woman manning the counter talked to us about flavors and acidity.

When it came time for tasting, we asked to taste just the straight olive oil….this was when the fun started. We expected a little splash of olive oil and maybe some bread. Instead the woman poured a shot of the stuff into a little dixie cup and handed it to me! She then started pouring another cup of it for me! We frantically stopped her….man, there ain't no way I could do five good sized shots of olive oil. I guess the folks in Crete do consume the most olive oil in the world. We indicated using our index fingers and thumbs how much to give us……it surely wasn't like 2-3 ounces of the stuff. In the end, we loved the highest quality olive oil, called 24K gold and bought a bottle. You can see it in a photo on this post. Man, could you imagine me drinking like ten ounces of olive oil……… It makes for a funny story though.

After making our purchases we jumped back in the car…….the Missus now told me what Her mission was for this roadtrip…… stay tuned!

Roadtrip: Touching bases with Beach – Pho 86 and Kang Lac Bakery – Westminster (Orange County)

April 3, 2012 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Orange County, Vietnamese Restaurants

Man, it had been quite a while since I had a chance to visit my good FOY (Friend of Yoso) "Beach". It had been over three years since I last saw the man who introduced me to the joys of Binh Dan. We'd tried meeting up a couple of times before but something always seemed to come up. Last week, I had a day off and I wanted to make sure to drop by and see him, just to touch bases since it had been so long. As usual, Beach was ready with a handful of places…..but I really just wanted to see what was up, so we ended up hitting two of his recent favorites. Places he'd drop by for breakfast…….

Pho 86:

This location of Pho 86 is squeezed in next to Pagolac, another place Beach took me to several years back…..never posted because my photos didn't come out. I'd really never noticed the place even though I've driven past it quite a few times.

The tiny restaurant was fairly busy when we arrived, so we ended up sitting at one of the larger, almost communal tables that you'd end up sharing with other customers as they straggled in. Beach has a good understanding of my tastes and preferences, so of course he ordered…the guy taking his order knew him pretty well….he told me he stops by two or three times a week.

As to be expected in the highly competitive world of Pho in Little Saigon, things had to be pretty good. The sparkling herbs, bean sprouts, peppers and lime were a testament to that.

And the Pho was also lovely……

The "Tai", rare steak was especially impressive since I'm used to the thin, dry, and cardboard-like stuff that is the norm here in San Diego. The broth is clear, very balanced and mellow, with decent fat, mild anise, and not overly salty.

Of course, I was soon distracted. I was looking at the guy behind the window to the kitchen area lifting out two delicious looking leg bones and putting them in a bowl. Beach turned, took a glance, and told me, "don't worry, that's for us….." And indeed it was.

I wish I took a photo of the bones lengthwise so you'd get a better look, but I just wanted at the tendon and all the beefy goodness. Man, this was like a tendon lover's dream. You just keep cutting pieces of tendon with meat off the bone and keep eating. It was, without a doubt, delici-yoso…… I only wish I knew how to order it since it's not on the menu. I'm sure Beach will let me know.

Nothing like hole in the wall Pho with Beach….

Pho 86 Restaurant
14576 Brookhurst St
Westminster, CA 92683

Our next stop was a little further down…..all that tendon just kinda sits and I just can't eat like I used too. I needed to make one short stop (a later post) and Beach had just the place for a small "snack" right next door.

Kang Lac Bakery:

I do have a special place in my heart for those "old school" places that may have a large menu, but do certain things well. According to Beach, Kang Lac makes a good Bot Chien, which I'd never had before.

The dish is basically cakes made of rice flour that are pan fried till crisp, then eggs and scallions are added, much like the Chiu Chow Turnip Cakes with scrambled eggs. The bot chien had attained that wonderful crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside texture and the eggs added a richness, the scallions a mild pungency.

Beach proceeded to pour some fish sauce into a small dish and added some Sriracha and told me to dip the bot chien into that. I loved the fish sauce, which added a nice salty-savory component to the dish. I think I'll pass on the hot sauce next time…no need for that. Actually, this dish is right up the Missus' alley, She loves stuff like this. I'll make sure to bring Her here next time.

Kang Lac Bakery
9301 Bolsa Avenue
Westminster, CA 92683

I had to be back in San Diego for an appointment, so I had to leave sooner than I wanted. Still, the morning was full of lively conversation. I noticed something as we were chatting….it used to be so much about food….now that we're getting a bit older it was about other things, travel, how well Beach's children are doing in their career and school, life in general….yes, we still talked about food, but there was so much else. As always, I had a great time. I've got to make sure that it's not another three years before meeting up again.

Thanks for another great day Beach!

Breakfast of Champions: Lana’i Edition Part 2 – Blue Ginger Restaurant, Manele Bay Resort, Hulopo’e Beach, and the Puupehe Rock

March 22, 2012 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Lanai, Travel

The Missus must have felt really comfortable at the Hotel Lana'i. As usual I got up pretty early….She was still counting, sheep, or maybe opihi…. I decided to walk down and grab a bite to eat. Having another meal at Canoe's sounded tempting, but I decided to walk a few more feet, right next door actually and grab a bite at Blue Ginger. There were a lot of old timers hanging out in front drinking coffee. I went to the counter and ordered a "regular breakfast" which consists of your choice of protein (Portuguese Sausage of course), two eggs (over easy), fried rice, and toast. I grabbed a cup of coffee (serve yourself) took a seat at one of the tables adorned with blue vinyl checkerboard tablecloths, and took a look around. I recall someone telling me this used to be the dry cleaners and looking at the pipe fittings hanging from ceiling, I'm thinking they were right.

I quickly figured out why this place was popular with the old-timers. The coffee was serve yourself, the cups were quite large, and you can just keep your caffeine buzz going….

My breakfast was not quite as good as what I had the previous morning. The sausage and eggs were good, but the fried rice was a bit too mushy for me and the toast was loaded with margarine.

As I walked back to our cottage I noticed an interesting vehicle in the parking lot.

Hmmmmm…..

I hung out and watched the TV until the Missus woke. She, of course, instantly wanted to head back to Hulopo'e Beach…of course. But first She needed Her caffeine fix, so we headed down the hill and got a cup of coffee for Her. Wouldn't you know it….as we headed back up Seventh Street, we saw one of the shuttles driving up to the front of Hotel Lana'i. The Missus determined not to miss a single moment of beach time decided to run up the hill to the shuttle. Of course, She first handed me Her scalding hot cup of coffee yelling at me to hurry up as She took off up the hill. Somehow, my stumbling attracted a dog who decided it would be great fun chasing me nipping at my heels. So there I was looking like some pupule (crazy) tourist being chased up the hill by a dog spilling hot coffee all over himself….only to find that the shuttle we were chasing was the one to the airport. The other folks waiting around for the shuttle to Manele were treated to a bit of morning slap-stick courtesy of your truly and his first degree burns.

Now the last time I was in Lana'i the resort at Manele Bay wasn't open yet. So I was interested to see what it looked like. The shuttle drops you off right in front of the hotel and you walk through the lobby and down the trail to the beach. Unlike many other resorts, you're not bothered much at all…in fact the staff was giving us water and even asked us if we needed towels? Well, there are only the two big resorts and the Hotel Lana'i on the island, so I guess they figure you must be staying at one of them……

The lobby of the hotel is beautiful with a strong Asian theme.

There's a sense of quiet and exclusivity on mst of the hotel grounds. The Manale Bay Resport only has 236 rooms so things really don't seem very crowded.

I'm wondering what the staff to customer ratio is……as there seemed to be quite a few people working.

Here's a view of the pool area and Hulopo'e Bay below…….

To get to the beach, you simply walk past the pool and head down the trail past the foundations of a old fishing village…..

I tell folks I know who are going to Lana'i to "look out for all the turkeys." They think I'm joking, but there are folks of wild Rio Grande Turkeys flourishing on Lana'i. I've heard they have to be brined before cooking because they've learned to catch and eat crab and other crustaceans and there's no real above ground freshwater source on Lana'i so they drink brackish water making the meat fairly funky. Sorry to say I've never had it….though I did taste wild venison from Lana'i years ago. Still, it's quite a sight seeing flocks of wild turkey roaming the golf courses…more on that later.

As I mentioned before, the beach here is lovely and the Missus loved it.

After swimming I took Her past the camping area to the tide pools, which are great fun. There's even a stairway built going down to the tide pools.

Hike a bit further up the dirt path and you'll see one of Lana'i's landmarks, the Puupehe rock, also known as the Sweetheart Rock and the Tomb of Puupehe.

Several variations of the story exist, but the gist of it is the same. A young warrior from Lana'i fell in love with a beautiful girl from Maui. He was so jealous and afraid he would lose her that he hid her away in a sea cave near the rock. One day, the weather turned bad, he rushed back to the cave to find she had drowned. He managed to retrieve her body, and with the help of the gods scaled the rock carrying the body of the woman. When he reached the summit, he buried her on top of the rock.

There is an actual rock structure on the top of the rock! The late Archaeologist and Anthropologist Kenneth Emory actually scaled the rock and investigated the platform. He concluded that this wasn't a tomb, but more likely a altar. Nice story though!

Breakfast of Champions: Lana’i Edition Part 1 – Canoes Lana’i Restaurant and other stuffs

February 23, 2012 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Lanai, Loco Mocos, Travel

I have a special place in my heart for Lana'i, though I really haven't visited much since "small kid time" and having not visited for probably about 17 years. My dad was from the island and I still have family there, though I kept this visit on the "down low". Over the years, I've taken the Missus to just about all of the main 8 islands, I'd been to all of them, well except for Kahoolawe, though I've set foot on Niihau. I've taken friends to Lana'i a couple of times, once we rented four wheel drive vehicles and drove to various sites and beaches on the island through the Garden of the Gods all the way to the beautiful and secluded Polihua Beach. In a couple of days we managed to hit all the places, Shipwreck Beach, pass the ruins of abandoned Keomoku Village, even making it to King Kamehameha's Summer Retreat, the remnants of the fishing village of Kaunolu. Still the Missus hasn't been to Moloka'i or Lana'i so I thought a nice relaxing getaway of two days or so might be just the right thing. In the old days, only cessnas made the flights to Lana'i, now larger planes do, but I thought the Missus might just enjoy flying in one of these.

Of course it all kind of starts getting fun when they ask you to jump on the scale to see how much you weigh….in case they have to balance the plane. And then of course, they take you out to the tarmac to board. This is when the Missus said, "that plane looks so tiny….."

Other than the pilot and co-pilot (on the way back there was only a pilot) there were only two other people on the flight.

One of the benefits of having a light load and being early was that the really nice folks took us on a extra pass and we went over and past Shipwreck Beach.

Yes, there really is a "shipwreck" stuck on the merciless reefs of Shipwreck Beach. However, even though the reefs here have been the end of many a sailing vessel, this one is not technically a shipwreck. It is a World War II vintage "Liberty Ship", a concrete ship that was wrecked on the reef along with several others as a means of disposal. While the others broke up and eventually became one with the reef, this one decided that resting on the reef would be its fate for now.

It proves to be a rather haunting landmark, or perhaps I should say "seamark"?

As for Lana'i Airport? Well, here it is…….

You don't really need a car on Lana'i if you want to just hang out and visit th two resorts or the beach. There's a shuttle that runs between the Lodge at Koele about a half mile out of Lana'i City, the Hotel Lana'i, and The resort at Manele Bay. You pay a one time fee of $35 per person, usually tacked on to your hotel bill and you get unlimited use of the shuttle during your entire stay.

I heard that the two Four Seasons Resorts were wonderful places to stay, but I wanted something a bit more, well, unique, in more of a Lana'i sort of way. I booked two nights at the Hotel Lana'i. We used to call this the "lodge" and I think many old-timers still do. It was built in 1924, originally to house Hawaii Pine management and visitors to the island.

But instead of staying in a regular room at the hotel, I went ahead and booked the cottage, located to the left of the hotel building.

Being a couple of yards away from the main hotel, up the walk and separated by hedges from the parking lot, it provided some wonderful privacy.

There was even a deck…….

There's a nice living area and a separate bedroom…..and as another big plus; this was the only room in the entire complex that had a television! The woman at the front desk jokes about the possibility of having me rent out TV time to the other guests. If you've never been to Lana'i, you'll quickly notice that Lana'i City, at the elevation of 1600 feet is a bit cooler than many other locations.

The main businesses in Lana'i City run along two streets, Seventh and Eighth, with Dole Park between them.

One thing you'll notice right away are all the pine trees on Lana'i. That in itself is a quite a story. Perhaps I'll tell it one day.

It's hard for me describe life's pace in Lana'i, so I tend to use examples; like the speed limit is 20 miles an hour, there are no traffic lights, only 17 miles of paved road, 10 of which is from Lana'i City to the Four Seasons Manele Bay!

Even though I hadn't been here in almost two decades, things looked eerily the same. Timeless in a way…… I could easily say these photos of Eighth and Seventh avenues came from a different generation.

We had arrived fairly early and I thought a nice breakfast was in order. I knew just the place I wanted to check out.

This place is now known as Canoes Lana'i Restaurant, but growing up it was the location of S&T Properties. It was probably the most well known and popular diner on the island.

**** Sadly, Canoes Lana'i Restaurant has closed

The Misuse and I decided to split a Delux Loco Moco, not cheap at almost $13, but this was Lana'i. It arrived looking quite good.

Deluxe because it came with fried rice, very local style with calrose rice and full of goodies. The Missus really enjoy the fried rice. But there was another reason for me coming here……the hamburger patty.

You see, the Tanigawa family had a secret recipe for their burgers and it was sold to the current proprietors of Canoes. I was told many years ago that this was the first burger I ever ate, so of course I had to try it. The burger is very soft and moist, very, very soft, like a good part of it is filler and mayo. In a way it makes sense, after all, Lana'i was fairly isolated back then and beef was probably quite expensive. You needed to figure out a way to stretch things while still keeping it sworth a couple of bucks. The patty literally melts in your mouth. The Missus ended up loving this as well, so after a couple of bites, I let Her have the rest. I'd had a couple of bites of my history, it was only right that the Missus get some too……..

Breakfasts of Champions: San Diego Edition – Hinotez, 777 Noodle House, Island Style Cafe, and Zarlitos

February 13, 2012 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Filipino Restaurants, Japanese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

Whew, I'm pretty beat today, so I thought I'd just go with some recent breakfasts in photos. These were basically the photos I sent along with text messages to my FOYs that led to JohnL telling me to put them into a post. I'm pretty sure you'll recognize the places/dishes:

I still haven't gotten round to doing a proper post on this place. Still waiting to check out the yakitori I guess. I mentioned the special place in my heart this type of dish holds. I still prefer whole raw eggs, but "hot spring eggs" (onsen tamago) will do, even if these were a bit more runny than other versions I've had. For $6, I consider this a real nice breakfast.

Hinotez
7947 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92111

I've stopped by 777 Noodle House a couple of times while doing my weekend morning grocery shopping. The Hu Tieu Nam Vang Kho – Phnom Penh Noodles (Dry) is what I'll usually order. The price for this has gone up, but is still just $5.77.

I always look forward to the broth on the side, mainly because I really enjoy the sight of the pork leg bone in the broth. No offal in this version, but it is quite filling. One morning, as I sat and ate my breakfast, I noticed that all the tables were speaking different languages…one table Vietnamese, another Spanish, the one to my left Cantonese, right in front of me was a family that I think was Somali, the one in the corner Lao….the room was full of beautiful noises.

777 Noodle House
4686 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92105

This next one needs no introduction…….

My quarterly loco moco………..well, actually a Kaloko Moco ($8.95).

Island Style Cafe
5950 Santo Road
San Diego, CA 92124

And it just wouldn't be right for me to do a breakfast post without a "silog" meal, in this case a Longsilog ($5.75) from Zarlitos.

The longanisa didn't look too good, but was nicely charred on the exterior. I can tell you that cooking longanisa can make a mess of your frying pan. This was a decent meal for the price. I enjoyed it more than the Spamsilog I had a couple of months back.

Zarlitos Family Restaurant
505 East 8th St.
National City, CA 91950

So there you go, a quartet of breakfasts…….have anything good for breakfast recently?