Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food

Monday Meanderings – LouZiana Food and SuperNatural Sandwiches Closes, Ramen Hanyuzur Coming to UTC, But it Appears JJ Chicken is Not

August 29, 2022 mmm-yoso Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food, Ramen, Sandwiches, yoso-silly

So, I go on vacation and all hell breaks loose….sheesh…. So, this past weekend, I decided to take a short drive to see what happened while I was away.

LouiZiana Food Closes:

Soo mentioned this in his post just before we left on our trip.

They closed on August 21st and the signage is already down.

Really nice folks. I'm sorry to see them go.

7128 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92121

Strange thing is, I actually visited during the end of June and all seemed well.

Louziana Rev 01

SuperNatural Sandwiches Closes:

**** SuperNatural Sandwiches has reopened with new owners

So, this past Monday, I woke to a text message from Cathy, mentioning that SuperNatural Sandwiches had closed. I then checked my email to find 7 emails messages mentioning the same thing. All of them linked to SuperNaturals Instagram. I gotta say; I've been a pretty regular customer thru Covid and they've always seemed busy, so this was indeed a shock.

And I've got quite a history with them; from the days at the San Diego Public Market,to when they opened their first brick and mortar location in the same mall, to the current location.

I wish them well and perhaps one day the Siren will rise again!

7094 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92121

It Now Seems that JJ Chicken is NOT Coming to UTC:

I need to thank "Patty" for the heads-up on this one. She mentioned that there's no indication at JJ Chicken is opening in the comments section of my post from last year. Turnover in Renaissance Towne Center seems pretty high. I drove on into the parking lot and yes, looks like the sign for JJ's is goners…..

I did a quick search online and found nada……bummer. So, if anyone has any info….

Thanks for the heads-up Patty!

8895 Towne Centre Dr.
San Diego, CA 92122

But Perhaps Ramen Hanyuzur is Coming to UTC?:

**** Well, it now looks like this location will be Ujin Ramen?

I noticed this on the other side of the mall while checking things out.

It's the unit between Star Anise and Cote D'Azur. I believe this used to be an Italian restaurant?

Of course, after what happened with JJ's perhaps I shouldn't be counting my Ajitsuke Tamago before they're ready?

8935 Towne Centre Drive #113
San Diego, CA 92122

The Rule of Three – Revisits to GyroGrill, LouZiana Food, and Smack’N Guamanian Grill

August 4, 2021 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food, Greek Food, Guamanian/Chamorro, Sandwiches

So, I recently started returning to places fairly close to the office and when setting up this post I noticed something about three of these places. The number three comes into play. All three places are on Miramar Road. This is my third post on these places since the pandemic started…..yes, it’s been that long. And all three are, well….take out visits. The one big difference is in my ordering mechanism.

So here goes.

GyroGrill:

Gyrogrill actually opened during the pandemic and my first post was back in October of last year.

Since service and turnaround is fairly quick at GG….a big plus is that they open at 9am so I can get our lunches at around 10 and the place is empty and the parking lot isn’t crazy. I actually order at the restaurant.

As I mentioned in my follow-up post, I….and my coworkers basically get one thing here. The pork gyros combo with handcut potatoes.

So even though the pork gyros here isn’t in the same league as Zgara, it’s sometimes a bit on the dry side and could be more aggressively seasoned, it’s way better than the ubiquitous Kronos stuff you get almost everywhere else. Decent pork flavor and everyone enjoys the crispy hand cut potatoes. And I’ve kinda gotten used to the really thick Tzatziki.

Gyrogrill
6780 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92121
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri 9am – 7pm
Sat 9am – 6pm
Closed Sunday

LouZiana Food:

**** LouZiana Food has closed

I think I’m pretty good at taking direction and on my last post on LouZiana Grill back in January of this year, “FOY” Dereck wrote this in the comments:

“Kirk, I don’t know how you can get out of there without a roast beef po boy. It isn’t like the debris sandwiches from NOLA, but it sure as hell does taste good when I want a fix!”

So, ok I decided to try the roast beef po’ boy. My mechanism for ordering here (there’s no online ordering) is to call in. LZ can get a bit busy at times and I still am a bit put off by crowds. The folks working are always friendly and my order is always waiting when I arrive.

I mentioned in my previous post during the pandemic, that I’m not a big fan of the bread here. But in this framework it does real well. Because sheesh…..

Oh geez, look at all that remoulade sauce! But that bread holds up real well and is almost tailormade for all that mayo goodness. In fact, when I bit into one end of the sandwich…it basically “sharted” remoulade out the other end. Luckily, I ate over the wrappers! The sauce was fairly balanced; not too much sour-pickle juice tones, though I like my remoulade to be more garlicky and spicy this was not bad. Standard issue shredded iceberg and tomatoes. The one thing about not having and overly strong sauce is that I could actually taste the roast beef.

A messy, but pretty good sandwich. Thanks for the recommendation Dereck!

LouZiana Food
7128 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92121
Current Hours:
Daily 11am – 8pm

Smack’N Guamanian Grill:

**** Smack’N Guamanian Grill has closed

Much like GyroGrill, I pretty much get the same thing from Smack’N Guamanian Grill during my pandemic takeout visits. The Chebot Plate, the combo of BBQ Chicken and Kelaguen (I sub out an extra scoop of Kelaguen for the cabbage slaw), with Red Rice. Smack’N has online ordering which I use.

And even though on my previous two pandemic visits the chicken was “masked” (i.e covered with foil)….I guess with new CDC guidelines, masking is now optional!

Smack’N has been pretty consistent over the last couple of visits and I know what to expect. The Kelaguen is very moist, though lacking in coconut tones and spice. It’s not overly salty, has mild citrus tones, and is quite easy to take. The finedene is also fairly mild as well. I actually take the Kelaguen home and use my homemade finedene…..because, as you can tell, this a generous amount of food.

The BBQ Chicken is nicely grilled, fairly tender, and has really good salt-soy balance. It’s much better than what you get from many of those “Hawaiian BBQ” places.

The Red Rice does a fine job of soaking up the chicken drippings and is quite moist.

Smack’N Guamanian Grill
9506 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92126
Current Hours:
Mon – Sat 11am – 7pm
Closed on Sundays

You know, it’s hard to believe that I’ve now done three posts on these places during the pandemic……it just seems to go on and on. My hope is that the next time I do a post on one of these places; I’ll be eating in and the worse will be but a tiny speck in our “rearview mirror”.

Take care everyone!

Takeout Revisit – LouZiana Food

January 31, 2021 mmm-yoso Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food

**** LouZiana Food has closed

Well, this pandemic has kept on for so long that I'm kinda "making the rounds" again to places like LouZiana Food, that I've already done takeout from a couple of times. I've got the drill down, I called in my order and was told it would be ready in 15 minutes; which was just enough time to "hele" on over.

My order was ready when I arrived and things went quickly. I like the folks working here; they've always been quite friendly.

In addition to my "usual" from here; the Red Beans and Rice; I decided to try the Shrimp Creole as well.

Things came nicely packed. As with previous visits I wasn't particularly fond of the very dry and crumbly bread provided.

I really hadn't seen any photos of the Shrimp Creole and didn't realized that it was battered and fried before being put into the "gravy", which was a mixed blessing. I'm sure the coating prevented the shrimp from getting too hard and rubbery; though all of the coating had started peeling off into the gravy. The shrimp also had a slight muddiness to it as well. The gravy was super thick….I'm used to shrimp creole having a "bisque like" consistency; this was an almost solid "blob". The flavor was decent; perhaps a bit too much….I believe it was thyme that kinda overpowered things.

As I mentioned earlier in the post; my usual here is the Red Beans and Rice. It did not disappoint, the texture and mouthfeel this time around might have been the best I've had from LouZiana; decent creaminess, not too thick. Perhaps not smoky enough for my taste but good enough for lunch. Decent amount of sausage; quite a bit of celery this time around as I could really make that out.

Overall, a decent lunch….hearty food for some cold weather. I'd still like to find something else on the menu to pair with the red beans and rice……the really nice staff means I'll keep on trying.

LouZiana Food
7128 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92121
(858) 566-6000
Current Hours:
Daily 11am – 8pm

Mikami- revolving sushi (no conveyor to revolve (covid-19))

August 27, 2020 Cathy Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food, Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is usually written by Kirk and sometimes Cathy helps. Todays post is from Cathy, because Kirk is busy with work.

Long story short, it is 2020 and there are many reasons I haven't posted about meals since mid-February. Now that the world, as well as eating out, has changed, here is an update from my January 2020 post about Mikami, a revolving sushi bar. The Mister and I had been here twice more, but everything was about the same as that first post. Now, with Covid-19, there is no revolving sushi or indoor bar area. The "Dine In" signage is leftover from when there was a six week or so variation in Covid-19 'rules'; why take it down when things could change tomorrow?. As of now, all California restaurant dining is "to go" or outdoor tables. I understand not wanting to expose yourself to possible Covid-19 and The Mister and I will eat outside at the opening time of restaurants- assuming the unused tables were just brought out and are freshly cleaned.
On this day, only three tables were set up when we got to Mikami. One was for handicapped. We were given paper menus and a pencil. Most of one menu was rolls and typical two piece sushi and sashimi selections. Hot green tea ($2.85) came in a paper cup, water in a plastic cup (with a straw!) and condiments in disposable containers.
We decided to order the chicken karaage appetizer($6). This seemed to be a larger portion than we had here previously. Hot, fresh, tender, juicy, crispy/properly fried. It came with a mayonnaise and spicy (not Sriracha, which is sweet and not sambal, which has garlic) sauce for dipping. Delightful.
We chose two hand rolls: soy paper yellowtail and the spider roll ($3.75 each). The yellowtail was not the spicy version and had great flavors of fish, cucumber and a better (sushi) rice. The soy paper is embedded with sesame seeds, which adds a toasted sesame flavor and crunch. The 'spider' is a half of a soft shell clam along with crab, avocado and cucumber wrapped in seaweed. These were larger than we remember and were made to order.
We decided to order a "Mikami Seafood Bucket Shrimp" (one pound, $15, add $2 for headless). The Cajun style buckets have been available only in the bar area and we have been curious.

A variety of flavors as well as (cajun spice) heat levels are available and we were simple and ordered garlic butter, which lined the heavy plastic bag filled with hot, freshly steamed shrimp. The photo of the plate is about half of the bag and the 'dip' is the sauce poured out into an emptied ginger condiment cup. You can see there was some spice used in the cooking process and it was just the right amount.

Trying to patronize locally owned places, the food is good here.

Mikami Revolving Sushi and Bar 7319 Clairmont Mesa Boulevard, San Diego 91911 Open Tues-Sun 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Closed Monday {Covid hours; check website -things might change Website

The parking lot is empty if you get there at opening.

Covid-19 Takeout – LouZiana Food

May 6, 2020 mmm-yoso Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food

**** LouZiana Food has closed

I was wondering if LouZiana Food was open during the current pandemic. I went ahead and called just to see and the nicest gentleman answered the phone. So, I ended up placing an order and fifteen minutes later (man, no traffic on Miramar Road) I was walking into the restaurant.

I decided to get the Red Beans & Rice and the Gumbo. Really liked the gentleman working the front counter, so friendly and warm….so when he said I really needed to try the Bread Pudding….well, even though I'm not a "sweets" guy, I ordered it.

The Red Beans & Rice here is solid, slightly smoky, good amount of sausage this time around…..decently creamy.

I ordered the Gumbo because I really didn't care for it last time. I enjoyed much more this time around; it wasn't quite as greasy this time around and the chicken wasn't reduced to stringy bits, the Gumbo was nice and rice, without the bitter tones I detected last time.

The bread was too dry and crumbly for my taste.

And my coworkers enjoyed the bread pudding!

Overall, I enjoyed the food more this time around and really liked the guy working.

LouZiana Food
7128 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92121

Bud’s Louisiana Cafe Revisited

March 2, 2020 mmm-yoso Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food

What I've found over the years is that I'm a pretty loyal customer….or maybe I'm just lazy? I used to follow my barber around from place to place for years, which I mentioned at the end of this post, form Mission Valley to Serra Mesa to El Cajon to College to his uncles house (during a bad spell he was pretty much homeless) to Rolando, to Oceanside, then back to Rolando…after which he fell off the radar…not sure what's up with him. Same with my Dry Cleaning Lady, whom I've mentioned in several posts over the years. After almost 15 years, she's decided to slow things down a bit and decided to sell of the dry cleaner and is now working a couple of days a week in Tierrasanta. So, of course, that's where my dry cleaning goes now.

After getting back from Mexico City, I had a batch of dry cleaning to drop off. And then I needed a place for lunch. Fat Tuesday had just passed, which had me wondering how Bud's was doing, since it had been over two years since I last visited.

The place was fairly quiet; I kinda just wanted a sandwich, so I went with the New Orleans BBQ Shrimp Po' Boy, and subbed out some Red Beans and Rice for the fries. The staff was warm and welcoming; especially the young lady who waited on me.

The bread was light and crusty and this wasn't drenched in tartar sauce like I've had it several times before. These days they put a purple cabbage coleslaw mix in the sandwich….way too much of it; all that cabbage just overwhelms the well sautéed, moist and plump, though quite under represented shrimp. This was quite mild in flavor, so I'll definitely have to try something else next time.

The Red Beans and Rice had a great tongue coating texture, but was way too mild in flavor, I guess I've been my version at home these days and wanted to gauge how it was. It lacked smokiness and needed a lot of help…..I mainly poured in a good amount of Crystal Hot Sauce.

Perhaps I should have ordered my old fave, the Crawfish Etouffe, but my last experience with that wasn't particularly stellar. Oh well…….it's kinda sad because the Missus and I used to really enjoy Bud's way back in the early 'oughts, when they were on Kettner. Perhaps I'll have better luck next time.

Bud's Louisiana Café
4320 Viewridge Ave.
San Diego, CA 92123
Hours:
Mon – Tues 7am – 230pm
Wed – Fri 7am – 9pm
Saturday 12pm – 9pm
Closed on Sundays

LouZiana Food

January 29, 2019 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food, Sandwiches

**** LouZiana Food has closed

Here's a post that took it's sweet old time; photos ripening in one of my folders. I'd meant to post ages ago, but for some reason just kept on going back to try something else.

I'd actually seen the LouZiana Food Truck a couple of times, before seeing this brick-and-mortar shop which opened just a bit after our office moved to the UTC area.

The folks here are always quite welcoming and the menu; while priced on the high side for stuff served in Styrofoam, has all the standards from po-boys to gumbo. In terms of Creole versus Cajun; the restaurant clearly calls itself Cajun.

On my first visit; I decided to just go for something simple to take back to the office and ordered the Andouille Po-Boy (7" – $9.25) with a side of Cajun Fries ($2.75).

The fries were dusted with Cajun seasoning; paprika based, a good amount of black pepper. The fries hadn't held up real well during the 15 minute drive back to the office as they were on the dry side.

The Andouille had some heft, a decent chew, and was perfectly serviceable….as for taste…well, as you can see, they went super crazy with the remoulade, which kind of made this somewhat greasy in texture and really killed the flavor. The bread was saturated.

I needed a bit of time to recover from that mayo overload, so I waited awhile before my next visit. In the meantime, both Mary and Soo did posts (please check them out) on LouZiana. Both were positive; though were fried food based….I just can't put too much of that stuff away these days. Especially during a work day.

So; I went with the Cajun Combo; basically two 8 ounce cups of the "Cajun Classics" on the menu. I ordered the Gumbo and the Jambalaya, which came out to $14.

The baguette on this visit had seen better days and was dry and crumbly. The roux used for that Gumbo must have been really dark, totally a mahogany roux. It did strike me as being a bit on the bitter-greasy side, and other than the couple of pieces of sausage, the chicken had been reduced to stringy bits.

The Jambalaya fared better; the sausages were intact, and the dish was nicely flavored, quite balanced, not overly salty.

Another of couple of months pass and I decided to drop by again. This time I went with the Crawfish Étouffée and Red Beans & Rice, which came out to be $12.75.

The Étouffée was a bit on the thin side and had a rather strong "floral", herbaceous taste to it. There was a decent amount of crawfish in the Étouffée, along with a savory-oceany flavor that did not over-power the dish.

This wasn't too bad at all.

The Red Beans & Rice was my favorite of the two.

While I have my own version of this classic dish that I enjoy; this wasn't bad at all. A bit short on sausage and I prefer my RB&R a bit more smokey; but this had a nice creamy tongue feel, decent beaniness, and was rather pleasant to eat.

Which leaves us with my most recent visit. I decided to try another sandwich this time "Creole" style….basically with a different sauce. The upcharge from a regular shrimp po-boy is a bit over a buck fifty, making this $11.50.

The sandwich starred a dozen fried shrimp, fried up nicely, but kind of lacking in flavor. It still had a bit too much sauce on it; but at least this wasn't drowning in globs of a heavy mayo remoulade. I'm still not big fan of the baguette here; it's too chewy and not crusty enough.

While I wouldn't consider the food here to be of a particularly good value; nor really great in the ingredients category….frankly, I prefer Bud's, which isn't much more expensive. It's still not a bad choice at all.

LouZiana Food
7128 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92121
Hours:
Daily 11am – 8pm

Clearing Out the Memory Card: Breakfasts and Brunches – Urban Solace, Tiger! Tiger!, and Talavera Azul

September 21, 2018 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food, Gastropub, Mexican Restaurants

It's sure been a beautiful day. I'm hoping you have more important things than to just sit around and read blog posts…..but if not; here are some quick, mostly photo revisits. Brunch and Breakfast issue.

Urban Solace:

*** Urban Solace has closed

For the Sunday Jazz Brunch.

Sadly, they're not doing the "Secret Menu" torchon de foie gras anymore. Bummer. Portion sizes were generous; but I really didn't like the gravy they put on the biscuits; it really killed the rather delicate cheese flavor. The slab bacon might have been our favorite; though the Kennebec potatoes were not bad.

Actually, my favorite thing was the Picante Bloody Mary, with bacon. Man, that was really good.

Urban Solace Restaurant
3823 30th Street
San Diego, CA 92104

Tiger! Tiger!:

**** Tiger! Tiger! has closed

We were bummed when they removed the Wood Fired Potatoes from the brunch menu and stopped dropping by on Sundays. We revisited last weekend and were happy to find "crispy potatoes" on the menu. We enjoyed it with a half charcuterie board.

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

Talavera Azul:

It's been too hot for the Missus to order the Menudo; so of course She ordered my favorite, the Sonoran Machaca.

Trying to figure what to order; I went with the Chicharron in Salsa Verde.

Gooey pork skin in an almost too tart and sour salsa verde. But combined in a tortilla with the beefy and crunchy machaca; it worked out fine.

Talavera Azul
365 3rd Ave
Chula Vista, CA 91910

So there you go….maybe some ideas for brunch this weekend!

Thanks for dropping by!

Brunch at Urban Solace (and the “secret menu” item)

July 5, 2018 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food

**** Urban Solace has closed

It's kind of strange; I thought I'd done a large post on Urban Solace before, but all I could find was a "burger week" post from back in 2009. Kind of strange since US was a favorite of the Missus for a couple of years. Regardless, the Missus had never had brunch at Urban Solace. And with us both having a nice leisure weekend day for a change, it felt like the right time to reacquaint ourselves.

We found parking rather quickly on Ray Street and stopped a couple of times as we made our way around the block to Urban Solace; which was pretty empty on this weekend morning.

I have to say; the service on this visit was outstanding, genial, professional, and the staff just seemed to have perfect timing.

Of course we started with the biscuits, which we just about perfect this time around.

Moist with a nicely balanced texture, hitting that sweet spot between fluffy and dense. It had a mild cheese flavor, which didn't over-power the biscuit, and we didn't even need the Orange-Honey Butter or Smoked Tomato Jam.

Since it was going to be noon-soon….we decided on some cocktails. The Missus picked something off the cocktail list; while I asked what the "Dealers Choice", basically the bartender's special was. And was rewarded with a refreshing, smokey, slightly herbal Mezcal-Chamomile Spritz. This was super good and not too sweet….in fact, the Missus ended up ordering one as well. Once She finished what She was drinking.

The Shrimp and Grits have always been a favorite of ours here; and this did not disappoint.

While the grits are perhaps…well, too refined (creamy) for my taste, it is still quite good. The shrimp….and there were five good sized ones in that little cast iron skillet were cooked and seasoned perfectly. Overall a very nice dish.

We also ordered the Beef Cheek Hash, which was probably our least favorite dish of the meal.

The beef cheeks were shredded finely, nice beefiness, but there wasn't very much of it. The eggs were cold. The potatoes were nice; but man, we're used to food being too salty these days; but this was a rarity as it really needed some salt! We ended up taking almost all of this home (except for the eggs). I fried up some lardons and added it to the leftovers for lunch the next day. And it still needed more salt!

Our wonderful Server asked us if we were interested in the daily special or per their definition the "secret menu"? As soon as she said "torchon de foie gras", we both answered "yes" at the same time. This was a huge portion and pretty good.

The torchon had a perfect texture; creamy, but with substance. It was a touch too sweet, but asked for some salt which brought the flavor back into balance. The toasts were nice; but for some strange reason; I loved having the foie gras with the biscuits. This is definitely a must order when we return….if they have it.

Here's the deal; when the torchon is available they only have enough product for five orders. I was told to call on the day of our visit to see if they had this or any other "secret menu" items. She also mentioned that for some reason; it's not very popular. Strange…..though I'm hoping it isn't popular the next time we visit!

Excellent service, nice cocktails that aren't overly sweet, and foie gras. Now that's a fairly successful brunch, don't you think?

Urban Solace Restaurant
3823 30th Street
San Diego, CA 92104
Hours:
Mon – Thurs 1130am – 930pm
Saturday 1030am – 1030pm
Sunday 930am – 230pm, 5pm – 9pm
Brunch on Saturdays and Sundays

It’s been a while week – Bud’s Louisiana Cafe

June 27, 2017 mmm-yoso Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food

Here's another one that I haven't been to in a while. Man, Bud's….this one goes all the way back to posts from 2006! Though this visit was pretty much an impulse thing. Coming back from a meeting fairly close by and having meetings through noon time, meant a 1030 lunch and I recalled that Bud's was open from like 7am during most weekdays.

The place actually had a fair amount of customers. I also noticed that the bread they sell out front is from Paris Bakery….I dunno, good for Banh Mi, not sure about a Po' Boy. Though I gotta say, it's pretty slim pickins' for us when it comes to baguettes in SD…most of it is overly chewy, with hard crusts….so maybe Paris Bakery might be the best choice?

Having had no breakfast, I was starving and ordered the Crawfish Etouffe ($16.95), which was even lighter than what I had during our last visits.

Seems like the roux was quite light and the texture a bit thinner than before. Good savory-crawfish flavor; though it was missing some of the more pungent components….really couldn't make out any onion; though it had a good amount of salt. At least it wasn't gummy and there was none of the unpleasant floury flavor. Still, not quite as good as I recall.

Not quite sure what's up….perhaps it was too early in the day.

Bud's Louisiana Cafe
4320 Viewridge Ave
San Diego, CA 92123