Loco Mocos – Page 4

Plate Lunch Week: Chris’ Ono Grinds Island Grill

April 11, 2013 mmm-yoso Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego, Loco Mocos, Plate Lunch

***Unfortunately, this location of Chris' was lost to fire in 2015. Here's a post on the North Park location.

Here's one that I heard about a while back, but just didn't have a chance to visit until recently.

The location can be a bit challenging; off of Mission Gorge Road, head east on Mission Gorge Place in sort of a business park area. Once you go down Mission Gorge Place a bit you can't miss the sign….unless it's not out. Then it just looks like one of hundreds of business strewn around the area.

The interior is interesting, though kind of cold, looking more like an Hawaiian themed bar serving food, than an actual restaurant. Here's where I noticed some interesting things. A decent beer selection, but nothing on tap.

The really nice gal told me to sit anywhere I wanted. Menus are simple take-out type pamphlets. Here's the next observation, I couldn't find anything fried on the menu, which might not be a bad thing, so I'm thinking this place doesn't have a fryer. Lot's of fusion-hip type of things like sliders, guava BBQ wings, "street" tacos, and nachos, along with tuna melts, BLTs, and smattering of plate lunch type items under "entrees".

I went straight for the artery and ordered the Loco Moco ($9.49), to add to my loco moco collection.

Though it doesn't look it, this was a good amount of food.

Let's start with the eggs, which were over-cooked….I do love my runny yolk. I fully understand how folks can be with runny yolks, but places who serve eggs that way will usually ask me how I want my eggs. Which is over easy, with a little char on the edges.

The burger looked real good, but noticing how it had been grilled, I could tell it was going to be pretty tough, which it was. The flavor was decent though.

I thought the gravy was kind of odd. First, it was runny and thin, almost like a bisque. Second, a flavoring, like French onion soup mix over-powered the whole thing and there was a bit of a metallic-sour finish to it.

The one saving grace and a big one at that was the mac salad. It was very simple, but mac salad should be simple. It wasn't over-dressed, the macaroni was cooked to perfection, there was just enough other flavors to keep me interested, and most importantly, it was seasoned well and nicely chilled. This might be my favorite mac salad in San Diego.

So the mac salad and the really nice young lady was enough to get me to return. I looked over the menu when I got home. There was another interesting item on the menu; Huli Huli Chicken. Huli-huli means to "turn-turn". Ernest Morgado, head of Pacific Poultry is credited with creating the "king of fundraisers", at least when I was growing up. You can read more about it in Mr Morgado's obit here. Let me just say, I loved this stuff when I was growing up…..so I was interested in what Chris' Ono Grinds Huli Huli Chicken ($9.49) was like:

Most Huli Huli Chicken recipes I've seen use a good amount of ketchup. Funny thing is; I don't recall it tasting strongly of it.

The sauce on this version was more like a barbecue, not as in "Hawaiian BBQ", but BBQ sauce. It was more of a sticky glaze than a nicely charred huli huli chicken grilled over Kiawe. That doesn't mean it wasn't good. This was pretty decent, perhaps a bit too fruity and sweet, but other than the piece of bone, in the supposedly boneless pile that nearly cracked my teeth, this was decent. The chicken was decently moist and fairly tender. Not bad.

The best thing was, the mac salad was the same as before.

I may not been chasing down this place like I did fund raisers back in the old days, but I think Chris's Ono Grinds has some potential and will probably return one of these days. Mainly because I used to make Guava BBQ Chicken (Hawaiian style BBQ) and he has chicken wings with Guava BBQ sauce.

Even though the feel of the place (and some of the menu) is rather "Mainland – local themed", don't want to use the "H" word, it looks like they are trying to make good food here. This is not another shibai Hawaiian BBQ money grab. That and the nice folks here are enough for another visit.

Chris' Ono Grinds Island Grill
4651 Mission Gorge Place
San Diego, CA 92120
Hours:
Mon – Sat 11am – 9pm

Plate Lunch Week: Ohana Cafe

April 10, 2013 mmm-yoso Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego, Loco Mocos, Plate Lunch

**** Ohana Cafe has closed

I'd heard about this place a while ago, but took my sweet old time getting there. The little shop is located on Pearl, right past La Jolla Boulevard. I've never been a big fan of getting there and the parking situation, but I gotta say, on the days I visited this little corner it was pretty quiet.

Though the other side of the shop fronts the busier side, I like this area by the one parking stall.

The interior is quite larger than what this little storefront would make you think.

The breeze really goes through the dining area…..so it's probably great during the late spring/summer, but kind of chilly on the days I visited.

On my first visit, the yong lady manning the counter seemed like perhaps the owner's daughter? She was very nice, even though there were probably a thousand other things she could have been doing. I ordered the loco moco and much like much of Honolulu, Ohama Cafe offers brown rice and even coconut rice for an upcharge. You know me……..unless the Missus is breathing down my neck, it white rice all the way. By the way, you won't forget that this is La Jolla, as this is what you get for $8.50.

Still, we're all trying to exercise some portion control nowadays, right? As a loco moco, this wasn't bad, the egg was nice and runny, with some crisp edges, the gravy a little short on flavor, and a bit of "powderyness" to it, and was just barely ok. The rice was cooked well, but I really didn't take to the burger. It was crumbly and it tastes like they add something to the meat made it taste like onion soup mix.

Perhaps I should call this a "petite loco"…….but I guess "small crazy" sounds kind of strange, as if loco moco didn't sound weird enough already. The woman who came out of the kitchen was very nice, telling me hello and dropping off some brownie samples.

So I thought that I should return. This time around I ordered the "mix and match" with Kalua Pork and Teri Chicken.

This time the rice was on the dry and hard side. It was by-the-book oven kalua pork, something I make a couple of times a year. The pork was on the dry side and could have had more flavor. The chicken was decent, not too dry, but on the bland side. The drizzle of over-reduced, again by-the-book teriyaki sauce could have been a spitting image of Kealani's.

The mac salad was plain, but nice made, he macaroni was done perfectly, and the seasoning and he amount of mayo was good as well.

I really like the folks here, they are really a nice group. But it takes a bit more than a shade better than L&L level food with petite portions and La Jolla pricing/parking to get me to return. Though the breakfast menu (Sat/Sun) looks decent, so maybe…….

Ohana Cafe
456 Pearl St
San Diego, CA 92037
Hours:
Mon – Fri 11am – 8pm
Sat – Sun 9am – 8pm

Big Island: Kawamoto Okazuya, Kuhio Grille, and Volcanoes National Park

March 5, 2013 mmm-yoso Hawai'i - The Big Island, Japanese Restaurants, Loco Mocos, Plate Lunch, Travel

It seemed like the coqui frogs had a curfew of around 3am as I drifted in and out of sleep until then. Still, I got up at around 530 and we packed up and checked out of the Dolphin Bay Hotel. We had enjoyed our previous day in Hilo and we weren't quite done yet.

There's still a sleepiness to Hilo Town and many places are closed on Sundays. Still, I couldn't help but stop by Kawamoto Store, which holds typical Okazuya hours, opening at 6am and closing around noon….and they were open on Sunday to boot! Places like Kawamoto's holds a special place in my heart…..I basically grew up eating the most common and traditional Okazuya fare.

You basically say how many "bento" you like and then choose your items. All the classics were present and accounted for, shoyu chicken, maki sushi, "cone sushi" (what we call inari sushi back home), stuff like that. We put together a small bento to snack on later…….

There's something about places like this that are timeless……

Kawamoto Store
784 Kilauea Ave
Hilo, HI 96720
Hours:
Tues-Sat 600am – 1230pm
Sun 600am – 1200pm

We then headed off to our breakfast destination; Kuhio Grille.

Located to the side of Prince Kuhio Plaza, this place has been around since the 90's and is probably most well known for the 1pound laulau, which I don't remember being that great, but that was a while ago. Since it was about 615 in the morning, no laulau for us, we were here for breakfast.

Not much going on this early in the morning, just us and a couple of tables of older folks……who else gets up so early on a Sunday, right?

Still recalling how much She enjoyed "my" Japanese Breakfast at Teshima's, the Missus ordered KG Combo #3 ($10.99), with brown rice, ugh…..

This was just passable, the egg was nice and runny, but the fish was rather dry, and the miso soup was on the weak side.

Not wanting to fall back into a food coma; I went with the Loco Bowl ($6.99):

This was not bad, the egg was done right, though I could have done with a bit more crisp edges. The rice was decent, perhaps slightly on the dry side. The gravy was average, mainly salty. About that burger….well, it had that nice, old school char, seems like this griddle has some seasoning to it. The flavor was decent, the texture was very old school…….something I appreciated. The Missus had a taste and agreed.

Kuhio Grille
111 E Puainako St
Hilo, HI 96720
Hours:
Sat-Thurs 600am – 10pm
Fri 600am – 11pm

After breakfast we headed over to Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. We've been here many times and we love coming here. We actually had a late honeymoon at Volcano House all those years ago. There's basically one place we head to, which I'll get into later. A portion of Crater Rim Drive was closed because of fumes, so the Missus was a bit disappointed.

But the steam vents were going strong.

Halema'uma'u Crater, which is located in the larger Kilauea Crater wasn't nearly this active the last time we visited. No wonder there were all the sulfur dioxide gas warnings!

We saw several offerings to Pele as we walked around the crater..

It was quite a sight…..

There are many things to see here, the Thurston Lava Tube, great hiking trails (when they are open). The Iliahi (Sandalwood) Trail is one we've enjoyed several times. Or you can just drive down Chain of Craters Road and marvel at all the old lava flows. Each one is different.

With all due respect ot the wonders of Volcanoes National Park, the Missus and I have one tradition whenever we visit. And even the passing rain showers didn't stop us. We always drive to the end of Chain of Craters Road, park, it used to be that you'd park just a couple of yards from the flow, but now you walk about a half mile or so. I always take a photo of the Missus at the point where the lava is covering the road.

When we look back at the older photos, we've noticed that the flow has moved and even though things might seem the same when the picture is taken; looking at the photos all lined up reveals that nature never stays still. For us, this is a nice timeline of sorts….the Missus on the lava flow, moving, maybe at an imperceptible speed, but nevertheless, still slowly moving.

Mission accomplished, we headed back up the road and the back way to Kona. After a short "bento break" of course.

In the past, it always seemed that the Missus enjoyed Kona more. But like that lava slowly creeping forward, it seems that Hilo had won Her over after all these years. We'll spend more time in Hilo next time.

We’re Back

December 6, 2012 mmm-yoso Hawai'i - The Big Island, Honolulu, Loco Mocos, Oahu, Poke, Travel

In case you've been wondering…..the Missus and I took what seemed like a really short trip, it seemed to be over in the blink of an eye. We were getting a bit stale, so it was time for us to do something. I know I already went home once this year, but we decided to take that trip.

We ended up spending only a couple of days on Oahu and the rest on the Big Island. I've been there at least a dozen times and the Missus about 5 or 6. We had friends who lived in Hilo for a while. But hadn't been back in over ten years and were wondering if things had changed much.

Since we'd been there so many times, we've done all the sight seeing stuff, so we just kind of just wanted to drive around and enjoy….to the tune of 600 miles in four days! So even though we've been here many times before, you can be sure that we'll be at least showing a couple of great sunsets…..

Maybe throw in a waterfall…..

And being on the Big Island, you know we've got to visit here…..

Of course there will be lots of poke….which the Missus just can't get enough of…..

Or even this….a bargain at $9.95:

The Missus really appreciated the local produce on this trip and took full advantage.

Though that doesn't mean I cut this out of my diet…….

We also had a chance to visit a couple of real "old time" favorites on the Big Island, places that are etched into the locals minds. These places have been serving up the same fare for decades and have a place in the history of the Big Island.

From the very "Local-Japanese"……

To a pork chop that was probably cooked in a cast iron pan several decades older than I am…….

It was all good.

Even the Hamakua Mushroom Burger……..really!

We didn't have much time on Oahu, literally two nights total, but managed to enjoy ourselves……

So let me regroup and recover and we'll be back with a post!

Hopefully, before pigs fly……..

Thanks for reading!

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

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

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

Kapiolani Coffee Shop:

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

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

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

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

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

But what I enjoyed the most was the mac salad.

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

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

Harry's Cafe:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Harry's Cafe
1101 Waimanu St
Honolulu, HI 96814

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

Diner's Drive In Waimalu:

**** This location of Diners has closed

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

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

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

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

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

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

Revisits: Spicy House, Latin Chef, and 2 others you might know……

April 29, 2012 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Loco Mocos, Peruvian Restaurants, Thai Restaurants

Sometimes it's really hard to get excited about recently opened places and I often neglect places we used to go to alot or haven't been back to recently, so here's a couple.

Spicy House:

Now Spicy house seems to be a favorite of JeffL and I'd been there at almost a dozen times, I've documented maybe three of those visits. Recently my coworker YZ, whom I shared some interesting Sichuan meals with in Madison had time to grab lunch. We decided on Spicy House. The place was doing some pretty good business when we visited.

We started with the Pork Intestines with Preserved Vegetable.

This was better than what I'd had before at Spicy House, the flavor of the intestine was a nice funky-musty without overwhelming the dish. The preserved vegetable was cut into manageable pieces this time around and helped to heighten the mild heat as well as cut the offal flavor.

We also ordered the Shui Zhu Yu – the water boiled fish.

The flavor decent, nice heat, but lacking in Sichuan Peppercorn and Doubian Jian – bean paste. I like a nice layer of oil, but this was a bit too much. The amount of fish was generous, the pieces large, though very thin. I thought the fish was prepared decently, but when I brought the rest of it home, the Missus thought it to be one the mealy side.

Overall, this was pretty good….I guess I'm missing Chinese food…..

Spicy House
3860 Convoy Street #105
San Diego, CA 92111

Latin Chef:

There was a time when we'd be at Latin Chef just about every week. But over the years things seemed to have changed and when I visited twice last year, the food was especially salty. Another thing seemed to be missing on my visits to Latin Chef, the owner, Freddy. Whenever he's there, the food and service is much better.

Anyway, we had a bunch of days where it was almost like summer recently, so I thought I'd drive on down to PB and see what was up with Latin Chef. It was lunchtime and the place was deserted. No Freddy either….I hope he's doing well. I asked the served and she just shrugged and told me, "he was here yesterday……" As she dropped off the chanchita….which was stale.

I was pretty hungry and started things out with the Cebiche Pescado.

Which was nice, the leche de tigre (the cebiche marinade) was bracing and refreshing. The fish seemed to need a few more minutes bathing in the leche de tigre, but this was nice overall.

The pescado frito was another story.

While the fish was wonderfully thin and crisp, there was way too much salt on this….so much that it edged on being bitter.

This is how my meals have been recently at Latin Chef….kind of a mixed bag. Perhaps the place is getting a bit stale. I know that since the original chef left a couple of years, taking the recipe for tiradito with him, things just haven't been the same. I'm hoping my next visit will be better.

Latin Chef
1142 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109

And here are a couple just for the heck of it……

I hope you had a great weekend!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There was even a deck…….

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We’re Back……

December 5, 2011 mmm-yoso Honolulu, Loco Mocos, Oahu, Travel

Over a year ago, when we visited China, we promised the Missus' cousins that if they visited Her parents on Oahu we'd be there. Of course we had to keep that promise, right? So we're back after ten or so days and countless visits to Ala Moana and Waikele Outlets……

And during the in-between time, we were able to visit a couple of places that I'd been itching to check out.

And I managed to reaquaint myself with places I'd been thinking about for years…..places I really missed.

And newer favorites as well…..

So you know they'll be more than enough poke for a post……

We even managed a short side trip……

To the Pacific Northwest….juts kidding. By the looks of the Cook Pines can you guess where this is?

Or perhaps the ranchland???

Here's the answer…..

My father was from Lana'i and I hadn't been back in at least seventeen years. I thought it would be interesting for the Missus to visit a place with no traffic lights, seventeen miles of paved road, and a speed limit of 20 mph.

And of course we had to eat, right?

It felt great to be "home", where there is an endless supply of sunsets……

And beautiful orchids….

And of course there are those items that just grab my attention for some reason or another as well.

So let me regroup and I'll see you all tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping by!

What we’ve been eating……. Oyster Sauce Based Stir-Fry, Asian Stir Fried Rapini, Dill-Caper Celeriac Salad, and one you already know.

October 13, 2011 mmm-yoso Cooking, Loco Mocos, Recipes

Whew, it's been a pretty busy week for me. Mucho thanks to Cathy for making sure both the blog and myself survive to eat yet another day! Since I'm pretty bushed….I thought I'd just go over a coupe of things I've made over the last couple of weeks, starting with one, very familiar dish:

Thanks to my shaky photo taking skills, the Missus actually thought this was an ice cream sundae when She first viewed the photos.

I actually made this the night before the Amazing Graze. I figured I'd need something extra to take me through the day. Actually, I was at Seisel's picking up some calves liver for Da Boyz, when I decided to pick up some ground beef. The bad thing was, Da Boyz's liver was nine bucks…my ground beef two-fifty……yes folks, our household has truly "gone to the dogs"…..

A couple of weeks back I came across some decent looking baby bamboo shoot at 99 Ranch Market, which I ended up purchasing. After arriving home I realized that I had no plan……..

So I ended up lightly blanching the bamboo shoots and doing a pseudo-braise stir-fry with shiitake mushrooms them……

The sauce was an interesting combo, one that I used to make when I still lived in Hawaii…man we're talking fourteen years already!

The Sauce:

4 Tb oyster sauce
2 Tb soy sauce
2 Tb mirin
1 Tb sesame oil

It is a little bit (con) fusion-ny, but works rather well.

Last week the Missus was working pretty hard, so I decided to make something She'd been requesting for a while, a celeriac (celery root) salad.

Since I was also smoking some salmon, I thought I'd tie this into the main course. I added some carrots for sweetness and mixed the following dressing:

1 Tb Dijon Mustard
Juice from 1/2 Lemon
zest of 1 lemon
3 Tb capers drained and chopped (I don't rinse, the Missus loves the briney flavor)
3-4 Tb Mayonnaise
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (this does add flavor, so if you're not a fan canola oil will do)
minced fresh dill to taste
salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
1 tsp sugar (optional)
a dash of truffle oil

I used a base of baby arugula and topped with bacon. The Missus really enjoyed this. The next day She ate the rest of the salmon with the salad in a sandwich!

Another day, the Missus had to head off to work so I made Her a small bento of sorts:

Yes, that's some roast duck over some sliced cucumbers to help cut the richness…..

But what the Missus really loved was the Asian stir-fried Rapini, also known as broccoli rabe.

The sauce is just a combination of good soy sauce, sugar, and cornstarch. First three dried chilis are scalded in peanut oil, the rapini is added along with a dash of Xiaosing. Three cloves of finely grated (you can't see, but you can taste) garlic is added later. The sauce is added at the end….. Man, this can out really good. And as you can tell, the Missus is getting into different vegetables…….or at least convincing me to cook them!

So what have you made this very hot week!

Sunday Stuffs – Convoy Noodle House, Homestyle Hawaiian, and more…..

December 5, 2010 mmm-yoso Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego, Loco Mocos, Pho, Plate Lunch, Sushi and Sashimi, Vietnamese Restaurants

In case you’ve been wondering what’s been going on here…….. I’ve been having some problems with Internet access and such over the last couple of days. Luckily, as always, Cathy has been able to help me out. Because of the spotty access, it’s hard for me to do a “real” in depth post, since I usually just sit down and start typing things out. This one actually took three days off and on, fits and starts, blah, blah, blah……. It started thinking I could get things done on Friday for Saturday…then Saturday….and finally it’s Sunday. I hope to have everything back on course tomorrow…… So here goes, just a couple of real short items for this Sunday……

Even after all the new Pho shops have opened in the Clairemont/Kearney Mesa area, Convoy Noodle House still stands as my favorite overall in the area especially when it comes to the the broth, which has a more robust anise-clove-beef flavor.

After years of thinking I’d get some decent rare steak (even on the side), I’ve learned that the “tao of dry top round” is almost universal in San Diego, and stick with a brisket-tendon-flank combination.

I was a bit disappointed to that they told me they were out of Ngo Gai……. Still, in terms of flavor, this was as good as I’ve gotten in the area in a while.

**** Convoy Noodle House has closed

Convoy Noodle House
4647 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Recently, I dropped by Homestyle Hawaiian…. and Mo told me to try one of the new “specials”….. the Roast Pork Loco Moco. ($8.95)

I’m not quite sure what to say other than…… this was an immense amount of food…. four large slices of roast pork, was enough for maybe three or four people in my opinion. The pork was moist, but I wished for more of the nicely flavored edges. This was too much of a good thing. I asked Mo if anyone had ever finished this, and he told me, “all the time!” You gotta remember that this has the equivalent of three scoops of rice (rice is hidden under the pork and gravy), and a scoop of Mac Salad. The gravy makes this version of the loco moco work, and it’s a very decent version….. still, I want to know who has actually finished this dish. Mo told me that he’s working on a loco moco “challenge”….. I can only imagine…..

Homestyle Hawaiian Island Style Food
7524 Mesa College Drive
San Diego, CA 92111

Thanks so much for your patience……I’m hoping to have everything resolved soon….and I do realize that I need to finish up my China posts….after all I can’t let photos like this:

or even these…..

Go to waste, right?