Dog Friendly – Page 4

Lunch with JJ – Nómade Tapas and Records

August 18, 2025 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Dog Friendly, European Restaurants

Recently, the Missus had an appointment in North Park and we decided to take JJ along…he really enjoys the area and then grab an early lunch. Of course Bica immediately came to mind, but the place was packed. As we headed west on Adams, I recalled a place named Nómade had opened close to An's and Et Voila replacing what I believe was once as sushi bar?

Nomade 01

The place was listed as dog friendly so we headed on in. It was empty at 1030 on this morning.

Nomade 02

The two women working were very nice and one of them even took photos of JJ! We were seated and handed menus. They brought JJ some water.

IMG_0832a

Nómade calls itself a Tapas Bar, which I believe it becomes during the evening. It seems more of a coffee – cafe kind of place with a small menu for lunch.

Nomade 03

I thought the Missus would go with the Tortilla Espanola, but She decided on the Huevos Rotos ($16) instead. I got the Mollete Toast ($14) and added eggs which was an additional $6….well, twenty bucks for and open faced sandwich.

Nomade 04 Nomade 05 The food did take a while with the Huevos Rotos arriving first.

The sunny side up eggs were nicely done with crisp edges. The Jamon Serrano was sliced too thick making the fatty edges really tough to eat.

The tallow fries were limp, dry, and in need of salt.

The Mollete Toast was better.

Nomade 00 Nomade 07 Though the eggs were overcooked; the yolks dry.

"FOY" Peter might appreciate this open faced toast as it used soyrizo, which had a mild smoky-paprika-ish flavor, along with a smear of black beans. I think a more flavor forward cheese would have done better than the very mild Monterey Jack Cheese used.

The slice of sourdough was nice and crusty; though it was mild in terms of yeasty-sourdough tones I enjoy.

Not a bad open face toast….but not sure it's worth twenty bucks. The Missus was on point when She told me "you can make this at home for less than five bucks". Which kind of sums things up Nomade 08

An nice neighborhood place with friendly staff; though it doesn't seem to be worth going out of your way for. They did treat JJ nice and he even got his photo taken.

Nómade Tapas and Records
3027 Adams Ave.
San Diego, CA 92116

And it seems like they're going to have new hours starting today.

Nomade New Hours

Lunches with JJ – EE Nami Tonkatsu Izakaya and Soi 30th

July 29, 2025 mmm-yoso Dog Friendly, Japanese Restaurants, Thai Restaurants

San Diego has the wonderful year 'round weather to support al fresco dining; but it's been an interesting challenge finding Asian restaurants that are dog friendly. With JJ, we've made a commitment to do those things that we wished we did the with Sammy and taking him to have a meal with us is one of those things. Here are two recent meals we had.

Soi 30th:

Yes, I just did a revisit post on Soi 30th back in November. Funny thing about that post. I didn't mention that we actually took JJ with us and ate on the patio. This was JJ's first week with us and he was amazing for an 8 week old puppy. So, after a walk around North Park, which always includes a stop at Dexter's Deli, we stopped back in at Soi 30th for an early lunch.

Soi 30th Rev 01

We got a table on the empty patio. I've mentioned before that I think there's a difference between "dog friendly" and "dogs allowed"; Soi fits in the "dog allowed" category. JJ was allowed to hang while we ate.

The Missus wanted the Som Tum on this day and ordered the Thai version ($10.95) medium heat.

Soi 30th Rev 02

We loved the obviously hand shredded, crunchy-crisp papaya; though there seemed to be quite a bit of cabbage this time around. The shrimp were plump and tender. The heat level was on the milder side for our taste and while I think it could have used a bit more umami-savoriness; this was quite refreshing with a good meld of textures.

Of course we got our usual; the Chinese Broccoli with Pork Belly ($16.95).

Soi 30th Rev 03

Just like our last visit, this was a winnah! The gai lan was nice and crisp-crunchy, with a pleasant earthy-bitterness tempered by the sweet-savory notes of the sauce. The pork belly was pleasantly toothsome, wonderfully sweet-savory; the rice perfectly cooked. The one thing we decided NOT to get with this was a fried egg; which now costs $3 to add! This is obviously our go-to dish here and we've filed one bad visit away.

JJ did fine as usual; though he was rarin' to go once we were done eating.

Soi 30th
3442 30th St
San Diego, CA 92104
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri 11am – 3pm, 430pm – 9pm
Sat – Sun 12pm – 930pm

EE Nami:

I was looking for a place serving Asian food a bit closer to home….it was an interesting challenge, but EE Nami showed up as being dog friendly. Hmmmm……we had kinda put lunch at EE Nami on the back burner, much preferring dinner, but heck, dogs seemed to be allowed on the patio…so why not?

So JJ and I cruised on over arriving right at the 1130 opening time for lunch. We were greeted with smiles and seated at one of the four tables on the patio. I'm glad we arrived at opening, since the patio was filled up within fifteen minutes of our arrival.

EE Nami JJ 01

The woman working was so sweet, especially to JJ…whom she called "handsome"…..which cracked me up!

EE Nami JJ 02

The positive vibes and cool covered patio set JJ at ease. As did the wonderful bowl of water the woman brought out for J.

EE Nami JJ 03

Of course I was having tonkatsu here, I decided to go with the more fattier Loin Katsu ($23.50). Of course I needed rice, so I made it a combo ($3.50) which included rice and miso soup.

EE Nami JJ 04 EE Nami JJ 05 Well, this was quite a hefty lunch! The miso soup was fine; not watered down like many other versions these days.

The finely shredded cabbage with sesame dressing was a nice crunchy "refresher" between bites.

EE Nami JJ 06 EE Nami JJ 07 The rice was moist, tender, and fragrant; though the portion size was a bit too large for me. I think if I go solo again I'll make sure to get a half portion of it. I was really heading into "kanak attack" territory here.

As always, the tonkatsu was moist and tender. The panko breading nice and crisp; and not falling away from the pork.

EE Nami JJ 08b EE Nami JJ 09 I waffle between getting the filet or loin cut….after this meal, I guess I'm back on "team loin"? I really like the meaty texture, fat content, and the porkiness. The sauce tends to the sweeter side in my opinion, so I use it sparingly.

I really enjoyed this meal and they treated JJ so well! I do want to return; though at over thirty bucks for lunch it's hard to justify. I think it'll be the Missus, JJ, and I for dinner next time. The nice woman who JJ really liked advised me to make reservations for the patio ahead of time because they are usually quite busy for dinner. Advice I'll be sure to follow!

EE Nami JJ 00

EE Nami
4706 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117
Current Hours
Wed – Sun 1130am – 2pm, 530pm – 10pm

Post #5571 – Back to the Beginning Redux, China Max, Sandwich Emporium, and Bay Park Fish Company

July 28, 2025 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Dim Sum, Dog Friendly, Seafood

I was going thru my "Big List" page recently and came across an interesting post from back in 2018, where I was asked if I'd hit 5,000 posts yet….well, I wasn't even close at that point! But, I ended up going back to places that were among the first I posted open from back in May of 2005 and did revisits. Well, I quickly checked my current post status and it was now over 5,000….go figure! And those three places from post #3951 were still open…well, one had reopened after a fire with a change of ownership, but I thought it would be fun to just do a couple of revisits and it was easy because two of the places are in my 'hood. And it just so happens that this is post #5571…so here goes.

Post #1 May 26, 2005; China Max:

Of course China Max isn't quite the same place I had enjoyed with the late, great, Ed from Yuma. There was the fire in April of 2020, which shut down China Max. The rebuilding took almost 5 years! At which time the original owners decided to retire and CM was sold to the owners of Taste of Hong Kong. I visited during the soft reopening back in March and was really disappointed as it seems China Max wanted to be DTF "light"…..the meal was a disappointment….they no longer really did Cantonese fare. But heck, it was time for me to check in, right? And thinking about doing this post gave me a reason to return.

China Max Circle 01a

Based on what I'd read about the AYCE dim sum and fluffed up posts on "influencer land", I expected the place to be rather busy when I arrived at opening on a Wednesday. But it was empty; I was the first customer of the day it seems.

China Max Circle 02

While my previous meal had been mediocre; I found the young folks working to be really nice and kind. And on this visit it was no different; really nice folks working.

On this visit, I was not going to order any second rate XLB….I was actually going to try the $8.95 Har Gow and the $8.95 Shu Mai, no matter how much my wallet screamed for mercy.

China Max Circle 03

Of course, one of the items that Ed and I enjoyed at the original iteration of China Max was the Peking Duck. The only Peking Duck item on the menu was something called "Peking Duck Tacos"…..well, going against my better judgement, I ordered that as well.

China Max Circle 04

First to arrive were the Peking Duck "Tacos", which were basically duck already places in the dan bing…..

China Max Circle 05 China Max Circle 06 This was pretty bad. The dan bing was rubbery…speaking of rubbery, the skin of the duck was not crisp, the fat hadn't been rendered from the duck properly and it had way too much sauce. This is what happens when you can't "do your own thing" with Peking Duck.

Next to arrive were the har gow.

China Max Circle 07 China Max Circle 08 I quickly noticed something about these almost $3 a piece shumai…..do you see it? Well, the wrappers were really too thick, but all of them had "puka pants"….suffering from severe leakage. Decent shrimp – savory – sesame flavors, but because of the holes in the wrapper, the filling was too hard and dry.

Last up; the Shu Mai. I could tell just by looking at it, that in terms of texture it wasn't going to be my cup of tea.

China Max Circle 09 First off, look how these lack uniformity, second, how haphazardly the wrappers are placed. Third, the filling was hard and dry. It was also overly salty. The shape was like someone rolled a meatball and just threw wrappers over it.

To say I was disappointed is an understatement. I was hoping that my visit in March was just a fluke….but, after spending almost $30 (w/o tip) on this…..well, I think I'm done with China Max. Quite sad, because CM was the subject of my first post on this blog over 20 years ago.

China Max
4698 Convoy Street #C101
San Diego, CA 92111

Post #3 May 28, 2005 Sandwich Emporium:

Yes, Sandwich Emporium was my third post way back when. Even though it's just a few blocks from home, I haven't been visiting as much as I used to. As indicated in my last post on SE last year, it seems like things have changed in terms of how SE constructed their sandwiches. Well, I needed to take my car for a wash after a recent road trip and decided to head on over to SE.

S Emporium Circling 01

I walked on in and placed my order.

S Emporium Circling 02

And placed an order for my "usual"; the Spicy Julio ($13.50)….I know after my last visit I said it was time to start ordering something different, but old habits die hard……

Anyway, here's my sandwich.

S Emporium Circling 03

It was, unfortunately, a mayo heavy mess, with less pickled jalapenos than it used to have. Kind of a soggy mess, with just a smear of avocado and for some strange reason, the tomatoes were MIA.

S Emporium Circling 04

As a point of reference; here's what it used to look like when I did post #3951.

3951 SE 03

You know, I haven't seen the Twins who own the place since before Covid. At one point in time, SE had expanded to locations in Rancho Penasquitos, Escondido, and Mira Mesa. All of which have closed. I'm wondering if they've lost interest in the place or what as there seems to be a lack of QC here. Kind of a bummer.

Sandwich Emporium
3054 1/2 Clairemont Drive
San Diego, CA

And finally……

Post #5 May 30, 2005 Bay Park Fish Company:

The reason I actually started this post was the sign on Bay Park Fish.

Bay Park Fish Circling 01

Yes, just like our little blog, Bay Park Fish is celebrating 20 years!

Anyway, since they have a nice little patio, I decided to take JJ for a light lunch.

Bay Park Fish Circling 02

Bay Park Fish Circling 03

As I've mentioned in previous posts, the only thing I order from BPF is the Smoked Fish Stack, which is now $16. Now, the last time I visited BPF was during Covid, so I didn't know what to expect.

To my immense satisfaction, the smoked fish was quite good. And I wasn't able to finish it.

Bay Park Fish Circling 04

This seemed a bit larger than I recalled. Smoky-savory-oceany flavors without being too fishy. I took the remainder home for the Missus to sample. She was a bit hesitant to try it, but once She sampled it….well, it was gone in the blink of an eye. I wish there was something else on the menu we enjoy as we'd visit more often……well, perhaps we'll be back soon with JJ to try and find another menu item we enjoy.

Bay Park Fish Company
4121 Ashton St
San Diego, CA 92110

Well, at least one of the three "oldies" delivered…..

Bay Park Fish Circling 00

And now I'm wondering….for folks who have been long time residents of San Diego……if you've recently visited an "old time" favorite, how was it?

Hope everyone has a great week!

Brunch with JJ – Luce Bar & Kitchen

June 13, 2025 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Dog Friendly

I keep telling myself that I need to try to enjoy our neighborhood a bit more. But, to be perfectly honest, choices are limited, and what is on the menu is not food I crave or am really interested in. I do wish that Bay Park was a bit more "walkable". That's the attraction of places like North Park, Kensington, and Little Italy to me. And now with JJ, it's even more attractive to have places that are pooch friendly as well. Luce is one of those places that I see and pass on pretty much a daily basis. And while the meals we've had there have been ok, we've never really been motivated to return. As matter of fact, the last time I've been there was to do Covid takeout in May of 2020! Whoa, it's been five years already!

Luce with JJ 01

And since that time; Luce has created a covered outdoor bar space. And now they are in the process of taking over what used to be the dance studio next door as well. While taking JJ on a post morning coffee stroll from Bay Park Coffee, I noticed something on the weekend "brunch" menu that caught my attention.

Luce with JJ 02b

So, on a recent Sunday morning, JJ and I dropped by Luce right when they opened at ten. Crazy, but there were several folks already in line waiting. All of them were waiting be seated either at the bar (those old timers started hitting the drinks pretty early) or in the dining room, so JJ and I initially had the back bar area all to ourselves.

Do you see what caught my attention on the menu?

Luce with JJ 03

Yep, it's the Kimchi Fried Rice ($18). Don't ask my why this caught my attention….or why I decided to order it. Call me a glutton for punishment if you will.

Luce with JJ 04 Luce with JJ 05 This came with two poached eggs….I would have preferred sunny side up with nice crisp edges; but the eggs were fine, with the yolks still runny.

My least favorite item were the doughy "corn fritters". Not enough corn as well, which made it lacking in flavor.

The rest of the dish was not bad. Perhaps in need of more kimchi fermented-spiciness, but not bad at all. The rice was perfectly cooked, the hoisin based pork belly had that mildly salty SPAM® affect, and wasn't overly sweet like I expected. The carrots were shredded and bit too thickly and were a bit unwieldy as well.

Luce with JJ 06

The service was nice and friendly….like it's always been at Luce. And JJ was such a "good boi" and waited patiently for daddy to finish his food. I made sure to take some of this home for the Missus to try and though she thought it was not worth eighteen bucks, She declared it not bad. Perhaps not "real" kimchi fried rice good, but better than overly "gringo-fied" stuff.

Luce is quite popular and the place was filling up by the time JJ and I left. There were three other well behaved pooches in the bar area as well.

Luce with JJ 07

Now if I can find a couple more dishes to interest me at Luce.

Luce with JJ 08

Luce Bar & Kitchen
1959 Morena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92110
Current Hours
Mon – Thurs 11am – 9pm
Friday 11am – 930pm
Sat 10am – 930pm
Sun 10am – 9pm

Daybreak Island Grill – Breakfasts with JJ

May 28, 2025 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Dog Friendly, Loco Mocos

I was looking for dog friendly places to get breakfast with JJ and also places where he can explore a bit. He likes "new" things, so this has gotten me to neighborhoods where one can walk and explore. Which is why we did North Park and Flora, University Heights and Parkhouse Eatery, and even Carlsbad and Wildland. Looking over things; it seemed like OB would be nice neighborhood for JJ, fun and funky, and laid back. I did a bit of research and found a listing for a restaurant named Daybreak Island Cafe. I checked out the Website and the "About Us" section which mentions stuff like taro and sweet potatoes. Google lists them as a "Hawaiian Restaurant". But when I looked over the menu, well it just seemed that there were just a few items that I grew up eating, like Portuguese Sausage and Kalua Pork on the menu. Hmmm……

Finally, while looking at the "four lettered" website I found this quoted in the "About the Business" section:

Daybreak About Us

Not a big deal really, I just wanted to know what to expect.

So, early on a Sunday, I drove with JJ down West Point Loma and found the very "beachy-tiki" looking restaurant right by the roundabout near Robb Field. It's a less hectic spot just a few blocks down from Voltaire.

Daybreak Island Grill 01

Daybreak Island Grill 01c

It's quite charming……

Daybreak Island Grill 02b

With a nice outdoor tiki bar on one side and a covered patio area on the other….great for really hot days.

Daybreak Island Grill 03

And yes, the place is super dog friendly.

Daybreak Island Grill 04

No where was this more evident than in our Server; Monica who was super warm and friendly…she treated JJ like a little prince!

Daybreak Island Grill 05

Not much "local kine" stuffs on the menu. I decided to order the "Hawaiian" Breakfast Bowl, but they were out of Portuguese Sausage….so I went with the Loco Moco ($18). I liked that they actually have Tabasco, a necessity for my Loco Moco's since small kid time.

Daybreak Island Grill 06

The loco moco soon arrived….of course no mac salad on this one. It looked kinda manini for eighteen bucks, but with prices going crazy these days.

Daybreak Island Grill 07 Daybreak Island Grill 10 So, here's the score using the Modified Rubio Scale.

BURGER: On the leaner side and chewy, but with a decent char and beefiness – 3.5

EGGS: Nice and runny. Would have appreciated some crisp edges. No off flavors. – 3.0

RICE: Was fine; on the mushier side. – 2.5

GRAVY: A bit on the runny side, edged on very salty. – 2.5

Daybreak Island Grill 09 STUFFS: While eating, I noticed a gluey component under the eggs. Not a fun texture and quite bland. Looking over the menu; I guess they also include sausage gravy with this? Overkill in my opinion. 1.0

Well, 12.5….exactly an average score! Not sure if it's worth $18 though.

I asked Monica what kind of Portuguese Sausage was used for the bowl and she didn't know. She was so nice to JJ, that we decided to return.

Daybreak Island Grill 11

And Monica was working again…and JJ even remembered her!

Daybreak Island Grill 12

This time a glanced around and saw that along with the Tabasco, they seem to carry some very appropriate condiments.

Daybreak Island Grill 12a

Daybreak Island Grill 12b

I wonder if they use Best Foods for their Mac Salad and is the ketchup Del Monte????

Anyway, they had the Hawaiian Breakfast Bowl ($14.75) available this morning.

Daybreak Island Grill 13 Daybreak Island Grill 14 Not sure about the Pico de Gallo as a side….funny, at first glance I thought it was Lomi Salmon! Four rather slices of Port Sausage; based on the texture and taste, I'm thinking this seemed like Redondo's? I'm fully "team Purity", but this was fine. Two scoops rice and two easy over eggs completed the set. The scoops of rice seemed on the smallish side; but I can't put it away like I used to, so this was fine. The rice was perfectly cooked and the eggs nice and runny.

Daybreak Island Grill 15

While I'm not sure this was worth almost fifteen bucks; I enjoyed the service and Monica treated JJ like a little prince…a very spoiled prince at that! And that is worth something to me.

Daybreak Island Grill 16

And it was interesting walking around the neighborhood after our meals.

Daybreak Island Grill 17

Daybreak Island Grill
2296 Bacon St.
San Diego, CA 92107
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri 8am – 130pm
Sat – Sun 7am – 3pm

Daybreak Island Grill 00

Road Trip – Shugrue’s Restaurant & Bar (Lake Havasu City)

May 24, 2025 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Dog Friendly, Flagstaff/ Sedona/Winslow/Northern AZ, Road Trip, Travel

We needed a place to stop for an evening on the way back from Winslow. Heading back to the Phoenix area or even heading back to Flagstaff or even Sedona might have worked. But having JJ along made a 7+ hour drive seem a bit too long. We had never been to Lake Havasu City and there was one thing I did want to see after watching a BBC documentary a few years back.

So, we made the drive to Lake Havasu City. We were staying on an area called "the Island" and since we'd be only spending the evening thought it would be nice to have a view of what I had wanted to see here; the London Bridge. So, I booked a dog friendly room at the Heat Hotel, which had a patio and a view of the Bridge.

And yes, this is really the "London Bridge". It was built in the 1830's and had become unable to handle the traffic in the city by the early 1960's. Robert McCulloch, the founder of Lake Havasu City (which was founded in 1964). I enjoyed this historic documentary on it.

And having recently been to London made it even more significant to us.

We got to the hotel a bit early and our room wasn't ready; so we took JJ for a short walk along the London Bridge Beach area.

It was a bit warm, but JJ did fine.

I hadn't done much research on Lake Havasu City; so it was interesting to see all the "snowbirds"….like I felt like a really young!

We checked into our room and then decided to find a place to get some dinner. As I mentioned earlier; unlike what I'd usually do, I hadn't done much research on Lake Havasu City…….we were just going to chill and not worry about things.

When it came for dinner; I looked for a pooch friendly place and we decided not to stray too far. We basically went across the street.

It seems that all the restaurants are owned by the same company. But here we were…and I (at least) was tired, so I walked into Shugrue's and the very nice young lady greeted me. I asked if we could have the outdoor table, which was right at the entrance of the restaurant. The folks here were quite welcoming and they did love JJ. And the view from our table was not bad at all!

We started with some nice brews…..

And, as we will often do these days, we just went with appetizers.

For some reason, I just decided to order the Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts ($16), which had a "sweet maple glaze". It just didn't seem like something we'd like, but this was our favorite dish of the night.

I'm usually not a fan of sweet stuffs as a main or appetizer; but we enjoyed the smoky-sweet-nutty flavors along with the salty-crunchiness, with the pineapple which actually did a nice job as a palate "cleanser".

I don't know why, but I enjoy fried pickles. But this version ($12) was not a favorite of ours.

There's a ratio of breading to pickle that I think is optimal, which balances out the sour to texture. This was just huge spears which were not evenly breaded.

The Flatbread ($15) was also not a favorite.

A bit too soggy-doughy and too sweet for our taste. We could have used more Portobello Mushroom and less Balsamic Glaze.

Still, the folks Serving were so nice….especially to JJ.

Shugrue's Restaurant & Bar
1425 N McCulloch Blvd.
Lake Havasu City, AZ 86403

And after dinner we took a walk across the bridge.

Where we got a nice view of our hotel.

Our walk on the other side of the bridge was interesting as it seemed to be party central……well, over 60 party central……think Gaslamp for seniors….

After getting back to our room and settling in….well, it was time for JJ's nightly "walk".

And there just happened to be an outdoor bar along the way! How convenient! I got a gin and tonic nightcap overlooking the bridge….

And had a chance to chat with the bartender. I really hadn't done a whole lot of research before choosing Lake Havasu City. I found out it's a haven for snowbirds and seniors and then party central for college students during weekends and spring break which was coming up. I guess we lucked out visiting during the middle of the week in March before Spring Break.

Lake Havasu City was a interesting stop on the way back home. Not sure we'll return; but we got to see the London Bridge!

Road Trip – A Return to La Posada and the Turquoise Room (Winslow) and the Painted Desert Rim Trail (Petrified Forest National Park)

May 16, 2025 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Dog Friendly, Flagstaff/ Sedona/Winslow/Northern AZ, Road Trip, Travel

After Scottsdale, our next stop was at a very familiar place. Yep, we were back in Winslow, Arizona, staying at the La Posada Hotel yet again.

Of course, this time we had, "you know who" in tow.

The place was much busier than we recalled; which I'm thinking is a good thing.

There are several dog friendly rooms in the hotel. As I've mentioned before, the room are named after various celebrities who have stayed at the La Posada. On this visit we had the Diane Keaton room.

It was quite large and spacious.

In spite of the place being rather busy; we were able to check in early. And once settled in; you know where the Missus needed to take JJ, right?

Yep…..

It was time for JJ to "Stand on that corner". Along with various other photo ops in Winslow and around the La Posada.

As for dinner. Well, when I made our hotel reservations, I was told that we could dine in the lobby right outside of the Turquoise Room. So, I made reservations and we had a table right in front of the bar area in the lobby. There was another table having drinks and later two more parties, both with pooches dined in the lobby as well.

I've already done several posts on meals at the Turquoise Room, that I'll just post some photos. It was as good as before.

And JJ seemed to enjoy himself as well.

After dinner; the Missus had to go back out again for more photo-ops…..

Before settling in for the night.

In the morning, we got some coffee in the lobby and of course guess where the Missus had to go to before checking out?

Sheesh…I basically did have to tell Her to "Take it Easy"…pun intended…..

After checking out; we headed east on the I-40 to the Petrified Forest National Park. I had read that the Park is one of the most dog friendly. We decided to first heading to the North side and the Painted Desert Inn area and get a bit acquainted with the park by taking the short Painted Desert Rim Trail.

The views were stunning.

And at first JJ was really curious…..

But soon, it seems the sun started getting to him….I'm saying the sunlight, because, well, it wasn't hot at all…..

He started to try to find shade under small little bushes and leaves…..so dramatic.

We kept trying to give him water….but he wasn't thirsty. Was this the same pooch who had just done a 5 mile walk with us in Santa Barbara a month before? We've kind of decided that "J" does not like too much sun….mister photo-phobia…..

So we cut things short and headed back to Winslow to grab an early lunch back at the Turquoise Room.

The Missus really likes that Lamb Pozole. And as you can tell; I like the salads here…..I know…me with a salad? Still, the Turquoise Room is pretty much a must stop for us when we're in the area.

Turquoise Room (in the La Posada Hotel)
303 E 2nd St.
Winslow, AZ 86047

From here we headed west on the I-40, stopping to put in gas in Kingman. Man, check out the price of a gallon of gas here!

Before making it to our next stop……

Road Trip – Zuzu (Scottsdale)

May 7, 2025 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Dog Friendly, Phoenix/Scottsdale/Chandler/Central AZ, Road Trip, Travel

Back at the end of March we took JJ on his forth road trip (!). This time the Missus wanted to take the pup to one of Her favorite towns, mainly for the photo-op. We had been there so many times that I knew the hotel had a good "pup policy". So, we did a bookend, one stop before and one stop after as JJ himself noted in this post. All in all, over 1300 miles in three days! Yikes!

Anyway, I'd heard that Hotel Valley Ho in Scottsdale was dog friendly and all rooms had a patio or balcony…..we usually request first floor rooms these days. You know, having a pup and all. I thought checking out Old Town Scottsdale might be interesting as I hadn't been there since my consulting days in the late 90's. And this being late March, the weather would still be pretty moderate….boy, was I wrong! Unfortunately, there was some record heat in the Phoenix area, the temp was said to be 93F! Yikes!

So, after checking in and cooling off, we took JJ out to see how things would go. Well, we found that JJ does not like high temps. Right past our hotel on East Main there was a patch of grass in front of a pizza restaurant. JJ would just lie in the grass and not want to move!

We did make it to the 5th Avenue Shopping District.

Where most of the shops were closed and those that were open were very touristy and bored the Missus. We hurried down North Scottsdale Road back to East Main and the hotel so JJ could cool off.

Luckily, for dinner, I had selected the restaurant in the hotel, something the Missus wasn't thrilled about. She looked over the menu online and was just not impressed. Telling me "are we really eating in the hotel restaurant?"

Zuzu however, did feature patio seating, and by this time things had started to cool off.

We started with some cocktails which were very good. Our Servers were very friendly and when we mentioned the heat told us that it had been in the high 50's just a week previous!

The Missus wasn't inspired by the menu, so I placed our order. The first item to arrive set everything right for the rest of the meal. The Terra Heritage Wagyu Beef Carpaccio was impressive.

Would you believe this was just 21 bucks!!! The beef was cold, refreshing, and quite tasty. There were slices of dried okra for textural contrast. The pumpernickel crumble, provided more texture, the flavor of the anise-toned caraway lifted the dish. Grana Padano added salty-savory milkiness and the Dijon pungency. This was my favorite dish of the trip by far.

I make roasted cauliflower a lot at home, directed toward the Missus' taste. So, when She saw that I ordered the Cauliflower ($14), the Missus was prepared for the worst. But like the carpaccio, this was a very good dish.

But the florets were nicely roasted and seasoned; the Fromage Blanc added a nice palate refreshing tart-creamy-sourness. The Calabrian Peppers mild spice and what seemed like a mild sweetness. There was an interesting mild anise flavor going on….I found out later that those tiny green slices were of Thai Basil.

Of course we had to have a salad, so we went with the Honeycrisp and Kale Salad ($13).

Sweet-Bitter with a nice, crisp, vinaigrette and grated Manchego cheese. Again, it was the little touches that made this dish interesting……here it was the sweet-tart pomegranate seeds.

This was a surprisingly (for the Missus) good meal! And there seemed to be quite a few "regulars" dining. I think She won't be dissing hotel restaurants anymore! It was our favorite meal of the trip! And the whole meal including cocktails was under $75 before tip!

ZuZu (In Hotel Valley Ho)
6850 E Main St.
Scottsdale, AZ 85251

After dinner, we took JJ for another short walk along East Main. It had cooled off a bit, so he did much better.

We'd spend the next morning taking a walk around Old Town Scottsdale since the temperature was much cooler.

Before heading to our next stop!

Circling Back to Tanuki

May 6, 2025 mmm-yoso Dog Friendly, Japanese Restaurants

At the beginning of last month; I was updating "The Big List By Neighborhood" and of course, a couple of places caught my eye. In fact, this one post I did in December of 2021, during the pandemic really got my attention. It was of two places that we had gone to three times each back in 2020! I had those photos saved for a post and then you know what happened, right? Anyway, I did a "Clearing Out the Memory Card" post and had meant to return once things returned to normal. And of course time does not stand still for anyone….here we are in 2025.

So recently, I set out to rectify that short coming. And lucky for us, Tanuki has a outdoor sitting area so we could bring JJ along. We decided on lunch and headed on over, arriving just at the noon opening time, managing to snare a parking spot. Parking in Kensington can sometimes be as rare as actually seeing the namesake in the wild!

We took a table outdoors and the friendly Server quickly brought JJ a bowl of H2O to get him settled in!

Tanuki 01b

Having been here three times before, we treaded lightly, from previous experience, even though it was five years and counting, staying away from the sushi/sashimi….I didn't come here for the fries.

Tanuki Rev 01

I did want the Kakiage Udon, but the Missus didn't feel like having that. So, we placed our order. The Missus got the cold brew tea, which came in a nifty glass bottle…….of course the Missus then purchased one on Amazon!

Tanuki Rev 02

And you can see the first item that arrived as well, the Wagyu Tataki Ponzu ($19).

Tanuki Rev 03

While the beef was a bit over cooked for tataki; it was tender with good beefiness. The daikon oroshi added nice pungency and the ponzu a layer of sourness, with a hint of sweet. Not bad at all.

What was bad was the Crispy Rice with Spicy Tuna ($18).

Tanuki Rev 04

The bones scraped tuna had been turned to mush and was rather fishy. The rice had been formed into squares like tater tots and hadn't been browned enough to attain crispness; rather it was quite plastic-cy in texture. Not a very good dish.

The Toro Wasa ($12) was a nice correction.

Tanuki Rev 05

I didn't expect Otoro for this price point and it wasn't a huge portion, but the fish was very fatty and tender. The wasabi added a nice sinus clearing pungency. We enjoyed this dish.

Our favorite item of the day was the Hamachi Kama ($20).

Tanuki Rev 06

Though it didn't look particularly good; we really enjoyed this. The skin had attained a decent crispness, the flesh moist and buttery, deep rich-oceany-umami flavors. It was decently (not overly) salted.

The Roasted Suzuki ($14) while nicely priced was just ok.

Tanuki Rev 07

The fish was very tender, though the skin rubbery. It was in need of some seasoning as the cilantro sauce, while creamy was bland. The toumokoroshi; the grilled corn was too hard, while haricot-vert undercooked, not seasoned, and too hard.

Overall, nice service, the prices reasonable for this day and age, the food was decent, especially for Japanese food in Kensington. We'll probably return for an al fresco early dinner with JJ one evening.

The Missus wants to have that kama again……

Tanuki Rev 00

Tanuki
4191 Adams Ave.
San Diego, CA 92116
Current Hours:
Monday 5pm – 9pm
Tues – Thurs 12pm – 3pm, 5pm – 9pm
Friday 12pm – 3pm, 5pm – 10pm
Saturday 5pm – 10pm

Where on the Road Were We? Part 2

May 5, 2025 mmm-yoso Dog Friendly, Marin, Napa, and Sonoma Counties, Northern California, Road Trip, Travel

It was interesting leaving an area of the state we were fairly familiar with, to an area we hadn't been before. And add JJ to the mix!

Still, it was fun, if a bit tiring.

Our next stop was a harbor/fishing village and very popular tourist spot.

It had a lovely harbor front; though the lack of walking paths between stop made it a lot less fun for us. Seemed like everyone drove everywhere here; even though the harbors, shops, malls, hotels were just a couple of hundred yards apart, there was no real sidewalks or walking paths and actually walking on highway 1, well…….

The area is also famous for being a filming location of one of Alfred Hitchcock's most well known films…..

We loved our accommodations….we'd do takeout, purchase a nice bottle of wine from the Inn (at a very decent price) and eat in the covered "Wine Shack" with JJ.

From here we headed up the coastline…making a few stops to stretch our legs, fuel up, and even get in a lovely hike!

Until we got to our our next stop, a charming village that reminds me almost of a town in New England. The water towers, the buildings were lovely. JJ enjoyed some nice attention as well.