Filipino Restaurants – Page 2

White Rice Morena

July 24, 2023 mmm-yoso Filipino Restaurants, Sisig

**** White Rice Morena has closed

Back at the beginning of the month, I noticed that Fusion Eats had closed. After reading this post on Eater, I realized this location was going to be an outlet of White Rice. As I was driving past this weekend, I noticed that the sign was up for "White Rice Morena" so I decided to drop by.

White Rice Morena 01

Of course, the issue with this strip mall off of Linda Vista is the crazy parking….finding something that is only 10 minute versus 20 minute, versus and actual parking spot. No wonder places don't last here. Anyway, I found parking and walked on over. The place was empty with no hours posted, so I asked the really nice young ladies if they were open. And received a very friendly "yes, welcome, come on in" almost in unison.

White Rice Morena 02

Other than the posted menu, strategically placed plants, and some art the looks of the place was quite austere. Which is why I wasn't sure it was even open.

White Rice Morena 03

My first instinct was to go with the dish I had enjoyed the most during my visits to the Adams Avenue location, the Tocino Manok. But instead, I decided to try out the Lechon Kawali ($15) and at the last minute added a side of sisig (not on the menu $10). The cheerful young lady took my order and it was a short 15 minute wait for my order.

White Rice Morena 04 White Rice Morena 05 Arriving home, I quickly unpacked things and immediately went for the item I found the most problematic on my previous visits; the rice. Sadly, it was basically the same; hard and dry.

As for the rest? Well, the egg was a bit overcooked, but passable. I really like the pickled veggies, which have a nice sour-mildly sweet-salty balance. And the lechon was quite good, the skin which had a nice bubbly-fried appearance was a pleasant crisp to crunchy, the flesh tender and porky. Not bad.

White Rice Morena 06

As for the Sisig? Well, last time it was hard and rubbery.

White Rice Morena 07

While this version was still chopped too coarse for my liking and I thought it could use more chilies, the texture was fine, as was the amount of sourness. I think I'll stay with the lechon and try the Tocino Manok if I return. Now if "White Rice" could get their namesake item straightened out….

I do think that White Rice is an upgrade over Fusion Eats and can see them doing quite well with the USD folks. Hope it works out.

White Rice Morena 08

White Rice Morena
5299 Linda Vista Road
San Diego, CA 92110
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri 11am – 8pm
Sat – Sun 10am – 8pm

Sunday Stuffs – White Rice Replacing Fusion Eats, Zen Curry Temporarily Closed? And Aldi Coming to Clairemont

July 2, 2023 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Filipino Restaurants, Japanese Restaurants, Markets & Grocers

Just a couple of items for a leisurely Sunday.

White Rice Replacing Fusion Eats:

A couple of weeks back, I noticed that Fusion Eats appeared closed, so I drove on in.

The note on the door said "we are closed
but to check for updates. Which almost hints that this might be a temporary closure?

But things became clearer when I read this post on Eater San Diego. Apparently, this space will be a future site of a location of White Rice. They'll probably do well here. And I'm hoping that it might be better than what I had at the Normal Heights location.

5299 Linda Vista Road
San Diego, CA 92110

Is Zen Curry Temporarily Closed?:

Speaking of temporarily closed, I recently revisited PT Eatery. After finishing my meal, I took a walk to check out the location of YukDaeJung which is now open.

What caught my attention was that Zen Curry appeared closed.

And here again was the note posted on the door stating "we are closed". I checked Google which indicated that the place is "Temporarily Closed" as well as that "four-lettered" site which also noted that the place is scheduled to reopen on September 1st. I also did a check on the Zen Curry website, which said the reopening date is TBD.

Zen Curry Closed 00

Interesting times……

7309 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111

Aldi Coming to Clairemont:

I had to go to the bank and was heading back home, taking the left onto Balboa west when I noticed that the former location of Rite Aid on the corner of Balboa and Genesee which closed during Covid and never reopened had a sign posted. So after making my left turn onto Balboa I headed into the parking lot.

Looks like there'll be a location of Aldi here?

This is going to be an interesting addition. I've been to the Mira Mesa location 2-3 times and thought the prices were good, with a small, tight selection, and super rude employees. So, we'll see…..

5270 Balboa Ave.
San Diego, CA 92117

Hope everyone has a fun and safe 4th of July!

Jollibee (Cathy’s visits)

May 10, 2023 Cathy Chains, Filipino Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! , a food blog, is being written by Cathy while Kirk and His Missus are on the road.

Jollibee, a chain originating in the Philippines, is the largest and fastest growing Asian restaurant company across the globe, with 1500 locations (70 in North America). Three are in San Diego County. Even though burgers are on the menu, Jollibee is primarily known for its "Chickenjoy"-marinated, hand breaded chicken which is never greasy and always crisp and juicy. Each location has a Jolly Bee greeter at the door.
There are some specials near the ordering area as well as online if you pre-order.

The restaurant is always clean, ordering is efficient. As soon as you begin, there is another person or two listening and beginning to gather your choices. By the time you pay, a tray or 'To-Go' bag is waiting. You do have to fill your soda from the machine.
A salty brown gravy is included with each chicken order. That's a pineapple juice drink ($3.49) on the tray, which was filled from behind the counter.
A three piece meal with one side -adobo rice- and beverage from the machine ($11.99). Adobo rice is fried rice with pork.

Adobo is a method of cooking in the Philippines. It is a braising of the 'protein' (although you can make adobo vegetables) in a marinade of five items: vinegar, garlic, bay leaf, soy sauce and peppercorns.
The two piece combination with palabok ($11.99). Palabok is rice noodles topped with a garlic-pork-shrimp sauce topped with sliced hard boiled egg; a really nice side dish.
We also ordered the 'Limited Edition' fried pie ($2.99) which is coconut pineapple-large shreds of sweet coconut and chunky pieces of tangy pineapple in a flaky, buttery crust. The 'regular' pie (peach mango) is always satisfying.
On another visit, I picked up two Deluxe Chicken Sandwiches ($5.99) with a side of 'crispy fries', which remained crispy on the drive home. "Deluxe" means the sandwich has mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato. It is served on a brioche bun. As you can see, there was also a peach mango pie.
The chicken can be regular or spicy and regular is great-meaty, juicy, crispy and very large. Packets of Cholula are available and compliment the flavor if you change your mind and want spicy. I'm not crazy about brioche buns, since they basically don't absorb sauces (or juice) but this was toasted and fresh and not overly bready.

Jollibee has consistently great service and serves consistently great, fresh food. An excellent chain.

Soo wrote about Jollibee in 2021. cc wrote a couple of Jollibee posts more than ten years ago.

Jollibee 8436 Mira Mesa Blvd San Diego, CA 92126 (858) 800-3130 Open daily 9-10 Website

Road Trip – Nochi Bakery (Gallup NM), a Story About Gallup N.M., and we Arrive at La Posada (Winslow, AZ)

March 17, 2023 mmm-yoso Filipino Restaurants, Flagstaff/ Sedona/Winslow/Northern AZ, New Mexico, Road Trip, Travel

We had a wonderful night of sleep after our dinner at Geronimo and woke refreshed. Sadly, we needed to leave on this morning. So we had a light breakfast at the hotel, drove to Whole Foods and bought up more of those Red and Green Chile Peanut Brittle and hit the road. Our next destination was a visit back to Winslow and this time we were actually staying the night at La Posada. We drove down the 25 thru Albuquerque and then west on the I-40. By the time we got to Gallup it was time for a break.

It was a pretty quiet Tuesday when we drove into town and parked. We walked around a bit stretching our legs after an almost 4 hour drive from Santa Fe and enjoyed all the public art.

While strolling along Route 66, we noticed a Filipino Bakery, in Gallup!

With a tight little menu of Siopao, Lumpia, and sandwiches….here in Gallup!

I decided to get something small to eat and ordered a Siopao, then some coffee at the next counter. We noticed what looked like a Filipino Market right next door….

And took a quick look while waiting for my steamed bun.

Which was ready when we walked back thru the doorway. We had a seat, and I had my light lunch.

The pork siopao was not bad.

The bread was fluffy, slightly moist, a bit on the sweet side but that's to be expected. The filling wasn't too sweet, nice savory tones. Overall, a bit heavy in the bread versus the filling, but this wasn't bad at all.

Heck, I've had worse in San Diego!

The really nice and friendly young lady working the register me their family is originally from LA….now in Gallup of all places.

Nochi Bakery
107 W Highway 66
Gallup, New Mexico 87301

We took our time strolling back to our car.

While driving over the train tracks back to the I-40 West, I crossed over on the Miyamura overpass. Of course, the name got my attention. So, when I got back home I did that Google thing and found that the overpass (and a school in Gallup) is named for Medal of Honor recipient Hiroshi Miyamura who was born in Gallup. His parents were Japanese immigrants. Something I read in the Wikipedia post led me down a rabbit hole. When FDR signed Executive Order 9066 all persons of Japanese ancestry on the west coast were to be placed in internment camps. Cities not on the coast were given the option to do this or not. Gallup's citizens with the strong support of the Sheriff, Michael Mollica did not detain their Japanese-American citizens, the only town in New Mexico to do this! Here's more in the words of Hiroshi Miyamura himself, who passed away in November of last year:

The Only Town in New Mexico – Hiroshi Miyamura from Autry Media on Vimeo.

And more here if you're interested.

Once on the 40 west, it was a nice two hour drive into Winslow. Having been to this little town of around 10,000 before made finding our destination a snap. We had enjoyed our lunch at the Turquoise Room and checking out the La Posada Hotel on previous visit so much, that we decided to stay here for the night. We arrived and our room wasn't quite ready yet, so we headed out to explore the grounds of this historic hotel.

The La Posada has quite a history, a product of the Fred Harvey Company which built hotels all along major rail lines, allowing for passengers to spend a night and relax, or partake of the food in the restaurants manned by the Harvey Girls. Another familiar name associated with the La Posada is Mary Colter, who also designed the Desert Watchtower and was one of the few female architects of her time. In many ways this was to be considered her crown jewel. Unfortunately, the hotel opened right at the start of the great depression and remained open for only 27 years.

The La Posada was gutted and all the furnishings sold off. The building then became the offices for the Satna Fe Railroad. Finally, in a state of disrepair, threatened with demolition, Allan Affeldt and his wife Tina Mion bought the property and set about restoring it to its former glory.

And it is something to see. We spent a good two hours just exploring the halls and the grounds of the hotel.

Along with all of the quite "interesting art" of Tina Mion.

Over the years many celebrities have stayed at the La Posada.

Though I'm still trying to figure out who "Needles the Wonder Dog" was.

We were enjoying wandering around the property. Trains go right past the back of the hotel grounds.

And if you'd like to relax and watch them go by….well, that's easy to do as well.

We were really enjoying our own little "tour" of La Posada and were only about half way done!

I'll get to the rest in my next post!

Thanks for stopping by!

COMC: Revisits to Smack’N Guamanian Grill, R & B Filipino Cuisine, and Krispy Krunchy Chicken

January 13, 2023 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Filipino Restaurants, Guamanian/Chamorro, Sisig

I’m just going to do mostly photos in this C(learing) O(ut the) M(emory) C(ard) post. I’ve done so many posts on these places.

Smack’N Guamanian Grill:

**** Smack’N Guamanian Grill has closed

Been here so many times since they opened in 2019. I usually get the same thing; the Chebot BBQ Chicken, which is now $17.79. It was $15.79 on my last visit.

Sm Rev 02

For some reason, the chicken wasn’t nicely grilled and was really chewy; the Kelaguen was super bland. This was disappointing.

This is what it looked like on previous visit.

Sm Rev 03

Man, raise the prices and cut down on the quality and execution? I hope this is just an aberration, but I’m going to give this place a rest for a while.

Smack’N Guamanian Grill
9506 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92126

R & B Filipino Cuisine:

Another regular “turo-turo” stop for me since I first visited in 2008! 2008??? Man, what were you doing in February of 2008?

I basically get sisig and whatever just comes out of the kitchen or looks good. So this time it was the Sisig and Beef Mechado. I can’t put it away like I used to, so I go with “half rice” nowadays.

RB Rev 01 RB Rev 03 The sisig had decent spice, balanced with some good sour tones. This might be the best I’ve had here in terms of seasoning and flavor. The lechon kawale was on the chewy and hard side; but still, I liked the flavors.

R&B has this weird habit of keeping large and ponderous slices of meat in their stews, which I’ve mentioned before. The meat was tough and there was a kind of greasiness to the dish.

RB Rev 02

At least the sisig was good.

And I know what “FOY” JanFrederick was doing in February of 2008. He recommended that I give R&B a try….almost 15 years ago! Thanks Jan!

R & B Filipino Cuisine
11257 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126

Krispy Krunchy Chicken:

**** Krispy Krunchy Chicken is now a location of Cluck n Sip

This is totally “low hanging fruit”. It’s so easy for me when I’m shopping at 99 Ranch Market (I know of folks who still call it “Ranch 99”, do you?). I place an order and return to pick it up on my way out of the store. It always handles the trip back home with no problem. And on this day, they fried it up fresh because there were no wings ready.

COMC KKC 01

Potato wedges are usually a bit on the dry side; but like the name says the Krispy Krunchy Chicken, is still indeed crispy and crunchy. For me, this always needs Crystal Hot Sauce or Tabasco to cut thru the fried tones and saltiness. It’s not amazing and worth going out of your way for, I call it “Popeye’s elevated”. But it’s a pretty consistent product, convenient to get when I go shopping, I guess it fills a niche.

Krispy Krunchy Chicken
5950 Balboa Ave (In the 99 Ranch Market Food Court)
San Diego, CA 92111

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

White Rice Bodega

October 11, 2022 mmm-yoso Filipino Restaurants, Sisig

I had been wanting to check out White Rice in Liberty Station, but the place just always seemed too crowded. So I was happy to read that White Rice Bodega opened in Normal Heights. As a plus, the place opens at 10am on weekends, which seemed to fit right in with all my "errands".

The location is quite nice; though it's going to be interesting to see how it goes if they become popular as there is limited seating.

White Rice B 01

All of the seating is al fresco.

White Rice B 02 White Rice B 03 I like the fact that they have QR code menus; otherwise you'd have to ask at the window since there's no menu posted. I'd gotten so used to doing QR codes when visiting Mexico that I got kinda thrown off when we returned home!

The staff here is awesome; so friendly, always smiling, very helpful.

And for those "social media" mavens; they even have a "photo spot" marked off……

White Rice B 05

So you can be your most "instagrammable" self…..

White Rice B 04

White Rice specializes in "silog-ish" bowls and such. This is modern, sort of hipster Filipino food and the prices reflect that – $8.50 for five lumpia and all that. That's a buck-seventy per lumpia.

Of course, once I saw Sisilog ($14.50) on the menu….well you know me and Sisig, right? It did take almost 25 minutes for me to get my bowl to go. I'm thinking they are still working out all the procedures and processes.

White Rice B 06 White Rice B 09 I must say that the bowl looked quite good. The seasoning for the sisig was on the milder side in terms of sour tones and I didn't get much spice until I had a bite with three hidden slices of what looked like Thai Bird Chilies. Whoa…. I came across "groups" of chilies in the bowl. I guess they don't like being alone?

The egg was just perfectly done; still runny after the trip back home.

As for the lechon; while the pork and the fat was very nicely textured and flavored; the skin was hard and dare I say, rubbery?

White Rice B 08 White Rice B 07 Most problematic for me was the rice, after all this place is named "White Rice", right? It was terribly hard, dry, and there was hardly any garlic flavor at all. I mean, in addition to being called "White Rice", this was a silog, right? The "si" in the "silog" stands for sinangag -garlic rice. In terms of portion size, I usually have to tell those turo-turo places to give me "half rice", so this portion was fine with me.

So the following weekend, at the end of my shopping Saturday, I decided to stop by White Rice Bodega again….based on my experience with the sisig, I wasn't going to order the lechon kawale. I'm usually leery of Tocino at most places because it's usually quite dry; but I went with the Manok Tocino ($13.50). The wait time was about 20 minutes this time around.

White Rice B 11 White Rice B 12 This was a lovely looking bowl! And that fried sunny side egg was even better this time around with wonderful crisp edges! I loved the atchara and the almost VN style pickles as well.

The rice however, was just as bad as on my previous visit….so I guess this is the standard here?

The chicken however, was very good. Nicely charred, tender and moist, a bit mild in flavor for what I consider tocino to be. But that vinegar and garlic dip really helped things out.

White Rice B 13

This was definitely the better of the two items I tried.

The staff here are so friendly and welcoming. Now if only they'd get the rice straightened out. It's kind of ironic that at a place named "White Rice", my least favorite thing would be the rice.

White Rice B 14

You can read about Soo's visit to the Liberty Station location here.

White Rice Bodega
3586 Adams Ave. Suite 100
San Diego, CA 92116
Hours:
Mon – Fri 11am – 8pm
Sat – Sun 10am – 8pm

White Rice B 16

2023 Rose Parade float road test #2 and a food snack adventure.

August 15, 2022 Cathy Bakery, Festivals & Events, Filipino Restaurants, Los Angeles County, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is being written by Cathy for a few days; Kirk and His Missus are out and about, researching for more posts for you to enjoy.

Link to Road Test #1

At the end of July, another road test for 2023 Rose Parade floats was held. Instead of The Mister and I driving up, friend and fellow blogger, cc drove to our home, arriving at 5 a.m. and then she and I headed North to Irwindale. We arrived after some floats had completed testing, but were able to still see a few interesting things. D54EE71C-DE67-4254-A233-0427648EF4FA The float barn is filling up. 5366D157-CECF-4721-ADA6-456375C221DA It looks like Phoenix Decorating will build 22 of the floats which will be in the Parade on January 2. Decorating begins on December 3 and there is a link on that website.
The Kiwanis International float is painted and essentially ready for decorating (this second road test had 'weight' (people) on board and the maneuverability, mechanics and fire drill all passed). You can see the door open under the wave, for the "spotter" as well as the open door near the center, where the "driver" gets to his seat under the float.
D54EE71C-DE67-4254-A233-0427648EF4FA Unsure which float this is, but you can see the 'spotter' in front and a bit of the 'driver' all the way to the left and back in this photo. This float is small enough to drive the parade route without having to 'collapse' under street lights and the freeway bridge along the way.
3A94B8C2-308C-4021-B568-1B4A003A78C7 The float which will carry the Royal Court was being tested. It's the same float used the previous three years and is not judged for any awards. It is 'redecorated' each year.
0C0E02B9-82A1-4958-91BA-17AC746FC6B9 The Petal Pushers and Lutheran Hour Ministries float, "A New Day With Jesus" was tested and passed.
040B3179-663E-41BD-8A08-2AE417872BF6 Rotary International float, "Serving with Pride and Imagination", finished its testing and is also ready to be decorated. F8915AEF-FBE3-4E97-A280-C7A4126B3B52 "Hope for Peace", sponsored by the Oddfellows and Rebekahs was also tested. I took this screenshot from the Phoenix Decorating Facebook page, which posts short videos of the floats on testing day.

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Now, on to the food portion of this post.
29846377-CB74-4DD6-BF9E-F48E93C5ABB6 First, the obligatory stop at Portos, six miles South of the Float Barn. A few days before, the County of Los Angeles had put another Covid ruling in place and we had to wait before entering the bakery. We thought we wouldn't be allowed to eat inside.

118AE572-94FB-45F5-BF94-DCD23ED84DAD
So we waited in line and ordered, did see we could sit down for a moment and photographed some of our purchases.
76420C83-9278-4750-9886-2519EEAA4F74 We shared this 'new' item-a chicken and rice ball; excellent!
Then we started driving- cc always has a Plan A as well as a Plan B for our adventures. Turning South out of Portos and driving to Amar Road was new to me!
2A4AB568-DA52-4B89-87DC-C491CEED8DCE Yes we did! 31FAD9D9-CECA-4A48-84AD-5FF95EAD2F68 BD17E71B-C8F0-43C8-B435-3FE48551ED36 The choices and prices and wow! Everything was so fresh. (These three donuts were $6.25) The Donut Hole 15300 Amar Road La Puenta 91744

2F0322D5-E34E-4533-B3FC-FE50C7D3EFC1 0F2B5DC8-3D3E-4646-A645-D6A709E5B327 This mall, located between Amar Road and Manila Way, anchored by a Seafood City was filled with many, many Filipino businesses. Some restaurants don't open until later in the day and we will have to return.
C69E5941-0A4A-46F8-8453-8001382DAAA3 We purchased pieces of lechon (slow roasted suckling pig)-perfectly cooked with a flavorful moist meat and crackly skin. We also purchased fried chicken skins; the chicharron were large pieces and perfectly lite and crisp. Toto's Lechon Manok 1545 Amar Road West Covina 91792
39548546-B385-4E9F-B900-C48D1FA48C13 On the other end of this mall is a quite large building, part of a local chain, DJ Bibingkahan.

34C263B9-DAA4-41A4-B2CA-C26A7D8F1198 C94DC937-7248-4FB3-8335-B9842600938C 6D49BA0E-F7D4-476C-ABC7-41A9BE1CD93E A Turo-Turo (Point-Point) business, where you order, pay and find your own seat.
E6A49E9E-AEF2-4184-B38E-10B2721D566D Corned beef silog and longsilog, served with hard cooked eggs and garlic rice, made a great breakfast. The corned beef was in chunks and in a flavorful broth with tomato, onion and potatoes. The longanisa was boiled, not pan fried, but the 'skin' still had a good 'snap' and the flavor was more sweet-I think it was made with pineapple juice.
To the right of the steam trays is a small doorway labeled 'Bakery' and in there, we found a nice display.
C02F359A-8CBA-4FFB-A67D-4109A5EB0948
7C0B44A5-46B5-4B0E-8CC2-27BEE1945AAD We asked the friendly man behind the counter if he had regular bibingka (since the name of the place is Bibingkahan) and he went into the back and brought out the cutest small rice flour coconut milk cake made with a dollop of cream cheese baked in banana leaf. We took three-only $1.50 each! I also bought a large container of garlic peanuts ($4.95). Perfect treats when I got home. 9527AF2C-0943-452D-BECD-F7395980EED8 574FACC0-AC3A-4584-9A1F-43C681CA9ACD It is the 50th year in Glendora and also peach donut time for The Donut Man. We stopped here, too.

What a day of adventure and new places as well as 2023 Rose Parade floats!
A79D6A47-283D-49C8-BFE6-656F76CC34B3

Kusina

July 12, 2022 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Filipino Restaurants, Loco Mocos

Back in February of this year I noticed that Boss Bird Kitchen had completed moving from Miramar to La Mesa and there was a new sign up at that location. Whew, if you're keeping score that would make business number four in that location since 2018. And two of those defunct businesses were Filipino in concept, Sarap and Gaya Gaya. So now, I guess we were back to square one?

I waited a couple of months before visiting, until April, when Calvin was in the office and I had him come along to try out Kusina.

Kusina 01

Man, the place looked pretty empty, which was great for Calvin and I, who both tested negative before meeting up, but perhaps not for Kusina.

Kusina 02

The menu was full of the "usual suspects", though they were out of several items on this day.

We placed our order and in a few minutes our food started arriving.

Of course no meal in this genre is complete without rice and we went with the Garlic Rice.

Kusina 03

Which was decently done; if a bit on the mild side in regards to garlic/pungent flavors.

I believe I've mentioned that Calvin can't pass up trying Pancit Palabok whenever it's on the menu. His Missus doesn't eat (a lot of things) palabok so he takes this opportunity to treat himself….as he should.

Kusina 04

This isn't my favorite version of the dish; the pancit malabon was way overcooked and mushy; there wasn't enough of the deep, savory "seafoody" deliciousness of a good palabok. The breadcrumbs added a textural contrast, but really was not much of a help overall.

Of course we got the Sisig. Which looked quite nice, arriving in a sizzling plate with that lovely egg…..

Kusina 05

This dish looked much better than it was….much of the pork was on the burnt and tough side; the sauce lacked spice, the dish was super salty.

The best item was the Bicol Express.

Kusina 06

While I could have used a bit more bagoong and the pork was perhaps a bit on the "waxy" side; at least this had some zip to it, which made it go well with rice.

Overall, I wasn't too impressed with this meal.

Kusina calls itself "A Taste of the Pacific" and has some non-Filipino dishes on the menu. A week after my first visit, I decided to do some takeout and placed an online order….for….well… a Loco Moco. Which was ready for pick-up at the assigned time. It was a short, about 10 minute drive back to the office where I unpacked things.

Kusina 07 Kusina 08 This was interesting; the gravy was mushroom based and not terrible. The egg was over-cooked; I don't think the short drive back to the office was an issue though.

The rice was perfect.

The burger was a bit chewy and mealy, but was nice and beefy in flavor; perhaps it was just too lean for my taste.

Kusina 09

Not terrible, but definitely not a loco moco I'd be craving.

And so the photos just kinda sat. I did want to do one more visit before posting. During that period, Soo did a post on Kusina which you can read here.

Finally, after two months, Calvin was coming into the office and wanted to meet for lunch. I called Kusina to make sure they had Crispy Pata, they did, which set us off for another visit.

There were more tables set on this visit, though only one other fellow came in to eat during our meal….and he was from our office!

Kusina 10

On each of my visits the folks working the front of house were different and this visit was no exception.

We placed our order and like on our initial visit, the first dish out was the rice….this time Bagoong Rice.

Kusina 11

This was unevenly stir fried and there were clumps of uncoated/unseasoned rice. The dish definitely needed more bagoong….at least for me.

Of course we got the Crispy Pata.

Kusina 12 Kusina 13 The skin wasn't too bad, a bit beyond the crispness I enjoy, but not bad. The flesh was really tough and chewy….I'm thinking that this was made way ahead of time and then dumped into the deep fryer. It was also pretty darn salty so the sawsawan wasn't needed.

Last up was the Kare Kare. Look at how large everything is….what's up with not cutting ingredients these days? Talk about unwieldy and messy…..

Kusina 14

We didn't care for the greasy mouthfeel and in spite of being really salty, that's all there was in terms of flavor. The Oxtail was cooked perfectly though and was delish. Kusina 15

Sadly, this place seemed like a step down from Sarap and Gaya Gaya. Though the fellow from the office told Calvin and myswelf that he comes here every week for the Adobo, so maybe????

Perhaps Kusina will have the staying power the last 4 tenants didn't have?

We'll see.

Kusina
7580 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92126
Hours
Tues – Sun 11am – 3pm, 5pm – 8pm
Closed on Mondays

Turo Turo Tuesday – Lisa’s Filipino Cuisine Revisited

July 5, 2022 mmm-yoso Filipino Restaurants, Sisig

I recently had to place an order for chicken wings from "you know where". Since all this Covid stuff started and now with the insane gas prices, I just don't seem to get on over to National City much. So, after placing my order, I walked on over to see if Lisa's was still in business and they were indeed. Since it was early around 930 in the morning , I walked on in to check out what they had available.

Lisas Rev 01

Much of the lunch type dishes were just coming out….good timing on my part. So, I decided to place to do some takeout. I told the woman what I wanted and could not believe how much food she was putting in my containers! And it came out to under $12 bucks with tax……..enough to feed two or maybe three people. Luckily, there were some other folks in the office I could share this with.

I got the Sisig (of course) and the Chicken Afritada which had just come out to the steam table.

Lisas Rev 02 Lisas Rev 03 How I managed to carry this from the car to my desk without sustaining a hernia I'll never know. I forgot to ask for "half rice" so I got a ton of nicely cooked, moist rice. What's the deal with the giant chunks of protein in turo turo dishes these days? There were like two half thighs, bone and all in the overwhelmed styrofoam container. The chicken was on the tough side and there was a shortage of veggies (i.e. carrots, bell peppers) except for one orphaned potato; that I usually expect in this dish. I guess of you want to max out your protein intake… As you can see, it was quite greasy, and super salty.

The seasoning for the sisig was pretty good; nice spice and good sour tones. When it comes to the "leftover lechon" versions of sisig, I enjoy the crisp pieces of skin, but this seemed quite soggy and mushy in terms of texture. Though the other folks; who have never had the stuff liked it.

Lisas Rev 04

Still, in this day and age, I guess I totally got what I paid for and then some, right?

Lisa's Filipino Cuisine
1210 E Plaza Blvd.
National City, CA 91950
Hours:
Daily 7am – 8pm

Max’s Restaurant

February 24, 2022 mmm-yoso Chains, Filipino Restaurants, Sisig

Max's on Mira Mesa opened at the end of June of 2020. We have a rather long history with Max's, starting during our time living in LA in the late 90's…by the time we moved to San Diego, Max's in National City had become Villa Manila, which eventually became a favorite of ours for Crispy Pata and Kamayan Night. Though to be honest, we haven't been back to VM since way before the pandemic hit. Enough of that; this is about Max's. A few months after opening, I decided to see if the fried chicken at this location (because, having been to couple of locations YMMV) was any good. Since this was in September of 2020, I decided to do takeout. I went and did an online order….just a half chicken and fries.

So, I arrived and walked up to the counter; it was 1130 and no one was in sight. I waited about 10 minutes until a gentleman showed up. I mentioned my order and was told it was almost ready……and then cooled my heels for another 20 minutes! Now, I had placed my order at 11am, arrived at the designated time, and still waited another half hour for my order. Good thing I didn't have any meetings until 1pm; otherwise……

Anyway, I opened up the cardbox containers upon arriving back in the office. The fried chicken, which I believe is brined and thus is quite juicy was as good as I remembered, thin skinned, crisp, if a bit on the salty side.

Quite nice.

I used the Jufran, the banana ketchup on the really dry and limp fries……I'll bet this was just sitting on the side during the extra time I waited for my chicken.

This was not good eats.

After this visit; I decided that I'd wait awhile before returning…..thinking that dining in might be the way to go. Not realizing of course, how long I'd be waiting during the pandemic.

And then, there was a time, when we thought we good see the light at the end of the Covid tunnel, when we thought that perhaps the worst was behind us……Calvin, "M", and I decided to actually go out and grab some lunch. Of course we wouldn't be taking any crazy chances…."M" wasn't too familiar with Filipino food…other than the usual lumpia, adobo, and the like….we headed over to Max's, arriving right at 11am. And it would be fairly quiet until right before we left.

There was only one hard working young lady on duty…I felt for her as takeout and other customers gave her a tough time. Based on my previous visit, I set some expectations, which unfortunately was pretty much in line with how long things took after we ordered.

We did of course have the fried chicken….sorry no photo, which M really enjoyed. But then, there some other dishes, like the Chicharon Bulaklak.

This is basically the fat that wraps around the intestine. It had a chewy-crispness and was fairly mild in flavor….just the slightest offal-ness. M, not quite used to the earthiness was not quite into this dish.

Calvin loves pancit palabok and enjoyed this version, I thought the noodles were a bit overcooked and it lacked the deep shrimpy-fish savory tones that I enjoy.

It just seemed under-sauced, but heck Calvin never found a version of this he didn't like….so I was happy he enjoyed it.

Just to have our carbs covered; I ordered the Garlic Fried Rice.

Which nicely filled the carb gap.

I also ordered the Classic Sisig. Unlike many of the versions in San Diego which uses leftover lechon kawale, this one used pork cheek.

I haven't had this style of sisig in years. Good swiney gaminess; though I wished they used some other parts of the pig head for some textural variety. Not bad, but in need of more spice, sour tones, and pungency from onions. This came across as pretty greasy and of course "M" was not a big fan of this.

Just to cover myself I ordered the Beef Kaldereta as well.

Man, the beef was so tough, the kaldereta while beefy lacked the tangy-sweetness, with a hint of spice that I enjoy. I also like a hint of liveriness usually provided by lechon sauce (Mang Tomas) which seemed like was missing here.

And so, one would think that I'd end things here, but there was one item that I still wanted to try.

Little did I know that it would take almost half a year for this final visit.

With things slowly improving, the skeleton crew decided to do a takeout order from Max's and I had the honor of ordering.

The drill was basically the same. I ordered at 11, was given the designated time of 1135 for pick-up. The same really sweet, but over worked young lady was the only person working the front of house and there was an additional 20 minute wait for my order.

I got it back to the office and arranged the items in the middle of the walk way between cubicles, set out paper plates, napkins, and utensils and the guys took turns getting their plates.

Of course there was a whole fried chicken. Which when hot was every bit as good as what I'd had before; though it got soft and greasy fairly quickly.

The garlic rice didn't have as much flavor as on my previous visit; but with all this fried food, we needed some carbs.

Actually, with all this fried food and pork what I really needed was to be hosed down afterward, but would have to wait until I got home!

I ordered the lechon kawali sisig which was on the dry and tough side.

And like the other pork version needed more spice and sour tones.

And of course; what I really wanted to try….the Crispy Pata.

Which looked hard and dry; but wasn't too bad. It's was not nearly as good as my favorite version, but the skin was crisp, there were nice, gelatinous, gooey bits under that skin and the meat was tender. It was milder in flavor than other versions, but was still decently porky. In fact, this was the first tp be wiped out! Good job guys!

Speaking of wiped out; I think I've had my share of fried foods for a while….at least that's what my Cardiologist told me (jjk)!

To me this last meal, even though we ate in our cubicles, there was no one else in the office so we could joke around and chat quite loudly, gave us a taste of how things used to be…… the camaraderie of sharing a meal; good or bad, the bonding of breaking bread (or scarfing down fried pork), something that has been sorely missing in our lives for the last two years!

Cheers!

Max's Restaurant
8285 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126
Current Hours:
Wed – Mon 11am – 9pm
Closed on Tuesdays

You can read Cathy's post on Max's here and Soo's post on Max's here.