Markets & Grocers – Page 25

Djerba (Tunisia): The Houmt Souq Fish Auction and a cup of Cafe Express

January 27, 2013 mmm-yoso Markets & Grocers, Seafood, Travel, Tunisia, Tunisian Food

After visiting El-Griba Synagogue and Borj El K'bir Fort we headed into the village of Houmt Souq, the largest town and the capital of the place Odysseus called "Land of the Lotus Eaters".

The little town is quite charming and the architecture quite unique. Most of the buildings in Houmt Souq have that Mediterranean whitewashed look, but are square and somewhat formidable looking. I was told that this was because of the location of Djerba there used to be a constant fear of attack.

The alleyways and distinct vibe made us wish that we had stayed here instead of on one of the resorts on the island.

Houmt Souq literally means "the marketplace" in Arabic….so of course that would be Marche Central (the Central Market).

By now, Ben understood that we were interested in the food and cuisine of Tunisia. He led us through a small portal and into a courtyard. At the end stood the fish market.

Here amongst the fish stands one can witness the daily fish auction…..no it's not the havoc and craziness of Tsukiji Fishmarket, but rather something on the other end of the spectrum….very relaxed, casual, and amazingly laidback.

As you milled amongst the booths you noticed that chairs were being hoisted up upon the very counters that held the fish….this happened in a very subtle way, without any fanfare. Older gentleman then climbed up, sometimes with a bit of help and sat at their mighty fish "throne". A person to the left would then "show" a string of fish, octopus, or other type of seafood, then hand it up to the person who is auctioning the fish off.

The folks who had been milling around then suddenly all come together……some I guess to bid, other maybe just to watch?

The process seemed fairly quiet and calm……

And after the highest bidder got his prize, the crowd would slightly disperse and the whole thing started over again.

In the case of something that there was something no one wanted, the crowd would simply thin out….folks losing interest.

Until the next "juicy" item came up for bid…….

There was something mesmerizing about the whole thing. We decided to stay and watch for a little while longer and let Ben off the hook. This was where we parted ways, we'd catch a cab back to the Green Palm.

After watching for a few more minutes we decided to move on…..we found a coffee shop in the middle of Marche Central and sat down to just take in the whole place with a cup of "cafe express" – espresso.

Aah…..now we were really doing things at our pace…..

Of course, there was the question of "what's for lunch?"

H Mart Food Court- hot pot and soup

January 8, 2013 Cathy Korean Restaurants, Markets & Grocers, What Cathy Eats!

Well here you are, back at mmm-yoso!!!, the blog o' food. Kirk and ed(from Yuma) are busy today, finding places to blog about. Cathy is writing because she found a place.

Now that San Diego finally has H Mart, the Mira Mesa Boulevard location has probably been visited by a lot of you. There are only two other businesses located within the store, Paris Baguette and the "Food Court"- to the right when you enter the store.

It's really only one business with a limited menu, fairly large seating area and food that hits the spot, especially on cold days. Walk up, order, pay, grab chopsticks, water, some kimchi find a seat and wait for your number to be called.

It opens at 11:00 and gets crowded fast. Everyone always has large bowls of good looking food.

Even though we were here on a Friday before noon, we got the last two seats available. Just a note to whomever designed the counter- two people can't sit at the inside corner seats at the same time; one of those will always be empty.

When our number was called, The Mister brought the tray of bowls to our barstool seating area and the smells emanating were wonderful! This is #14- the soybean paste vegetable stew hot pot ($6.99). It was still bubbling in the heavy cast bowl. The mild saltiness of the soybean paste complimented all the vegetables in the bowl-a variety of squash, a lot of tofu, some onion and carrot, one piece of potato as well as the sliced jalapeño with the rice all combined into a deep rich flavored wonderful, satisfying meal.

The #5-Noodle soup with seafood ($7.99) was served in a very large bowl. Shrimp, squid, mussels, clams and a random piece of white, firm fleshed fish was served in a wonderful broth with noodles and vegetables.

Here's a better photo after a lot of the broth had been consumed while waiting for everything to cool down.

These were both refreshing and filling and so very fresh. Since the menu only has 11 items, everything will be tried in due time. I'm looking forward to it. If you are here and see a seat, grab it and order something.

Food Court at H Mart 9440 Mira Mesa Boulevard San Diego 92126 (858)577-0060 Open 11:00-8:30 daily

Happy New Year!

January 1, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking, Japanese Restaurants, Markets & Grocers, Sushi and Sashimi

Don't know about you, but we've just finished doing the dishes of our New Year's dinner. Nothing fancy mind you, just me and the Missus.

I hope everyone had a most happy New Year!

Like most we've, well I've had a routine on New Year's Eve……I get up early then hit Nijiya, Marukai, and maybe Mitsuwa to see what was going on, something I've done just about every year since our first New Year post. As I've noted over the last couple of years, the variety and quantity of Osechi-ryori, the traditional Japanese New Year dishes has flagged. I'm sure that it will never totally disappear, but what's available has surely gone down over the last couple of years as old traditions fade and new ones replace them.

This year I had a shopping companion….the biggest change in our household over the last year is that the Missus has taken an interest in cooking and shopping……so it was great having a companion when browsing the aisles.

Though there were many temptations….

We decided not to do the time consuming typical Japanese dishes I'd usually make for New Year. Instead, we bought something I don't recall seeing at Marukai……some really nice Argentinian Red Shrimp…not the freezer burnt stuff from TJ's, but some really nice, almost sashimi grade stuff.

I ended up doing a simple salt bake…….

This was so simple. you didn't even season the shrimp…..just make sure not to overcook them. They go really quickly….like 8 minutes over a hot bed of salt in 500 degree oven.

The Missus was in heaven. We paired this with a shaved kale salad, I made some three oil noodles, and also a dish that had been created a couple of days before. Late the previous week, the Missus just wanted to eat fish each day…..so She kind of threw down the gauntlet so to speak and I had to come up with three different fish dishes on three consecutive days….I call it pulling a dish out of my rear end…so to speak. Anyway, one of the winners was a pan fried fish with a Oyster Sauce-Chinkiang Black Vinegar-Honey Glaze on top of mui bok choi.

The flavors were right in the Missus' Northern Chinese flavor ballpark – sour-salty-sweet…..

For dinner we picked up JohnL and headed to our favorite little neighborhood sushi joint.

Loved the "two way ika"……

It was a nice low-keyed evening. The Missus and I almost never go out on the eve, but decided that this would be a perfect new year eve curveball…….and we really enjoyed it.

Sushi Yaro
7905 Engineer Road
San Diego, CA 92111

Nothing fancy for New Year morning….well, at first glance it would seem so. The Missus had challenged me with coming up with zhōu like we had at Shanghai No.1. So this meant starting the night before….I changed up my porridge technique and soaked the rice the previous evening. The next morning while I got the zhōu started, I warmed some water and soaked 2 ounces of dried scallop. I shredded the scallop and added the strained soaking liquid to the porridge. Then made a very Taiwanese thin omelete of egg and prevserved turnip. After about an hour and a half, the porridge looked close….I added more water and turned up the heat to allow for the total breakdown of the rice….giving it an almost luxurious texture…..

Dried scallop congee…..

Of course I'm of Japanese ancestry, so I needed to have soba as my meal to enter the new year – toshi-koshi soba. I went with a version of Sansai Soba……of course I needed to have some egg with it, right?

Dinner was the other half of the Argentinian shrimp….salt baked of course.

Some salad, oven-blasted cauliflower, and another item whose recipe is coming up soon. Porcini crusted ono, with seared truffled polenta, and a porcini-cremini sauce.

So this is the way we started 2013!

I hope you all had a great New Year, and a most delici-yoso 2013!

Thanks for dropping by!

Midweek Meanderings: Coming Soon – The Original Sab E Lee in Rancho Penasquitos, Baraka Market and Restaurant, and yes we’re stalking North Park Produce in Clairemont

December 19, 2012 mmm-yoso Markets & Grocers, Thai Restaurants

The Original Sab E Lee Opening in Rancho Penasquitos:

On December 11th, "KevinK" commented about Sab E Lee opening in PQ on this post. So the very next day I dropped by The Original Sab E Lee and asked…..and was told that yes, they were opening, probably within two weeks. I asked for an address….and cracked up when they couldn't remember it! All they told me was that it was in a strip mall near Twin Trails Drive. So of course we drove up there this past weekend to find out exactly where…… it's here:

Right next to Penasquitos Pets…. I was told that the menu will be the same as TOSEL, the restaurant will be much larger, about 50 seats. No need to worry, TOSEL on Ulric is not going anywhere.

13223 Black Mountain Rd.
San Diego, CA 92129

Baraka Market and Restaurant:

We drove by the long empty space that used to house United Oriental Food Market on El Cajon Boulevard and saw some activity and even a sign.

I believe "baraka" means blessed or something along those lines in Arabic…..not quite sure. But we'll have to just wait and see what's up.

It's great to finally have something in that spot.

5349 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

And yes, we're stalking North Park Produce in Clairemont:

We stopped by the NPP in Poway, since we'd never been there (a later post). The really friendly woman behind the deli counter told me that NPP was opening on the 16th….last Sunday. But Sunday came and no dice. We've been waiting since we first noticed the sign in September for this place to open. We were at the North Park location of NPP and they told us "in ten days……"

We've been checking the place out every time we drive by….which is pretty much daily. Sheesh….I'm starting to feel like I'm stalking the place.

4220 Balboa Ave.
San Diego, CA 92117

Honolulu: Whole Foods Kahala, Ono Seafood, Tamura’s Kaimuki, Take’s Fish Market, Mini-Garden, and dinner

December 9, 2012 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Honolulu, Japanese Restaurants, Markets & Grocers, Oahu, Plate Lunch, Poke

I won't go into great detail about planning or trip; you can read a bit more in my previous post.

During my last trip, I noticed a lot of construction was taking place on a huge lot on Keaunui Drive. My in-laws live about a ten minute walk away. On this trip we saw that one of the "mega-Safeways" had opened on the property. I thought this was great, with more choices, and maybe with a better fish department than the nearby Foodland. Unfortunately, like Foodland, this place serves up carbon monoxide treated ahi….bummer. I guess we'll stick with Tanioka's. We were pretty much pooped and didn't do much the first evening.

But we headed out early the next morning. In all honesty, I'm not the biggest fan of Whole Foods. I did however, relish the opportunity to check out the Kahala location. I wanted the Missus to have a chance to grab some local produce. I was pleasantly surprised to see a really impressive looking food bar area……

This used to be the location of Star Market in Kahala Mall, which sadly closed in 2007.

It didn't seem like we'd have any time to visit a farmer's market on Oahu, so this seemed a decent option. Of course, driving from Ewa Beach on a week day morning wasn't exactly the most wonderful thing in the world….

This was of course, Whole Foods, and the pricing reflected that. I'm not a big fan of the prepared and hot foods, many of which I find on the bland side. But the choice of all the local vegetables was very nice. The Missus and I had sort of a breakfast with stuff like Sumida Farms watercress and Ho Farms Tomatoes.

The Missus just loved the watercress and we bought some stuff for dinner.

Whole Foods Market
Kahala Mall Shopping Center
4211 Waialae Ave, Ste 2000
Honolulu, HI 96816

Our next stop was set to be Tamura's Kaimuki, but their poke department doesn't open until 1030, so we decided to get something to eat. Well, we already did breakfast, so I guess we need to call this brunch?

We headed down to Ono Seafood and decided to share a poke bowl. We went with a "combo" poke bowl; for 50 cents more ($7.50), you get two different poke. The one item that I enjoy eating brown rice with is poke….the Missus loves the "brown rice revolution".

The fish here has been sparkling fresh on all our visits. The poke is not over-sauced and the texture of the fish is not compromised. The Missus really enjoyed the wasabi version of the ahi poke, while I liked the less heavily flavored "Hawaiian" style, with inamona adding a bit of nuttiness, and limu for some crunch. All the juice from the poke flavored the rice nicely, though the Missus has a bit of an issue with putting cold raw fish on top of hot rice…… I on the other hand have no such qualms……

Ono Seafood
747 Kapahulu Ave.Apt 4
Honolulu, HI 96816

We then headed back up the hill to Tamura's.

For some smoked tako, smoked fish, and some other stuff for dinner.

Tamura's Fine Wines & Liquors
3496 Waialae Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96816

We decided to make one more eating stop….. We've done breakfast and brunch, so I guess this one is officially lunch? Anyway we headed to Mapunapuna and the former location of 99 Ranch Market. I'd always thought this was a weird location for a market and 99 Ranch Market didn't last that long. It's now a sort of food court with some shops….great for the working folks in the area. Though it still looks kind of seedy…..

**** Both Take's and Mini Garden Express have closed

I'd heard about a little place that makes a nice take-out chirashi with decent quality fish, called Take's Fish Market.

The place is run by a very nice older Japanese couple. They seem very mild mannered, even shy. I ordered the Kaisen Chirashi and was told it was going to be about 10 minutes. So while the Missus walked around I waited a while and actually saw them cut my fish fresh.

I then went for a walk and got the Missus to order something for me from another stand (see below). When I got back, my bowl was ready.

The shari (sushi rice) was prepared decently, not too sour or wet. The fish was very fresh, the hamachi impeccable. By no means is this an earth-shattering chirashi……but looking at the quality and price ($9.95), this is pretty darn good. I really can't, by any means, call this fast food. If I worked around here, I'd be having this just about every week.

Take's Fish Market
1151 Mapunapuna St
Honolulu, HI 96819

While waiting for my chirashi, the Missus and I took a walk. It was just after 11 and this place was packed.

The place was doing major business! Looking at the food the other folks were eating, I could tell….this ain't Panda Express. So I got the missus to order me something while I went back to see if my chirashi was ready.

What the missus ordered for me was the Roast Duck Pan Fried Noodles ($7.95). The Missus handed the styrofoam container over to me and I was surprised at its heft. Opening up I noticed that man, this place really packed it in.

The Missus loved the gooey sauce on the vegetables….mostly napa cabbage. There was a good amount of crisp noodles, one of my favorite thing. I found the sauce more like a fairly bland gravy which needed some flavor. The duck was super meaty and wasn't too salty, though it was on the mild side with regards to anything resembling five-spice or bean paste flavor.

Still, this is a load of food……..we had half of it left for dinner.

Mini Garden Express
1151 Mapunapuna St
Honolulu, HI 96819

Speaking of dinner……..it seemed like the Missus could not get enough watercress. We bought some Sumida Farms watercress and Ho Farms tomatoes and made a salad….and drizzled on a bit of soy and sesame oil for flavor.

Along with the stuff from Tamura's.

The smoked tako seemed a bit too sweet for our tastes.

The smoked marlin, which the Missus loved so much that I had to bring some home with me during my last trip, has somehow fallen out of favor with Her.

Turns out that the Missus prefers the stuff I now make at home. Of course it's made with Her taste preferences in mind.

The pipikaula was decent….not too tough, not overly salty.

I could eat a whole container of pickled garlic…..really.

While the Missus could do the same with tako wasabi……

While writing this I realized that we really packed it in…….though if you look through, we shared our food and never ate too much. We really enjoyed this type of "grazing"……..

We crashed fairly early, we'd bee headed to the Big Island the next day.

Thanks for reading!

Road Trip Weekend-(Pasa)Dena Burgers, some markets, meat by the side of the road and final 2013 Rose Parade float road test.

November 19, 2012 Cathy Breakfast/Brunch, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, Markets & Grocers, Road Trip, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for reading mmm-yoso!!! on this week of preparation, travel and beginning of holiday celebrations. Cathy is writing today. The guys (Kirk and ed(from Yuma)) are very busy.

This past Saturday was a busy (and exciting) day for us. The Mister and I woke early, let the dogs out, drove North, encountered rain and sunshine and got to Pasadena to enjoy the final day of Rose Parade float road testing before the actual parade (photos at the end of this post) and then drove North on Arroyo Seco, headed East on Orange Grove and saw this signage…and had to stop.

I liked the font…and right there on the corner of Orange Grove and North Los Robles, an angled building, to allow for drive through access while ordering from the passenger side of your vehicle-

Dena Burgers looked like a place to investigate.

Walk in, order and pay at one window,

and pick up at the other window.

We decided to go by the name of the place, and ordered a Breakfast Burger ($5.25)- a 1/4 pound burger, egg, cheese, lettuce, tomato and hash browns on a toasted bun. It was large and tasty, but kind of dry and we each added some ketchup at some point in eating our respective half.
A Machaca and eggs plate ($5.50) as well as some very good (Gavina) coffee completed this meal. The fresh tomato and crisp bell pepper as well as onion cooked with eggs and beef to a crusty brown, was really good (The salsa and onions on top were added from the condiment bar at the pick up window). The rice and beans were unusually tasty and the fresh, warm corn tortillas were a bonus.

Dena Burgers 445 E. Orange Grove Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91104 (626) 792-7035

When we finished, we walked across the parking lot to this grocery store.

Baja Ranch Supermarket was magical. I didn't take many photos inside, because it was quite crowded. There is a large steam tray area, deli area, excellent meat/poultry/seafood selection, tortilleria, bakery and produce area. There were extensive displays of chiles being sold here- dried in bags, in bulk and fresh. There items sold here include Mexican as well as Peruvian, Cuban and Salvadorean…and some American staples. We spent $21 and filled five cloth bags we had brought from home (this part of LA County charges for grocery bags).

Baja Ranch Supermarket 475 Orange Grove Blvd, Pasadena 91101 website

We continued East, got to Sierra Madre Boulevard and

stopped at the Pasadena Farmers Market again.

We chose a few seasonal items…

Pasadena Certified Farmers Market, Sierra Madre at Paloma, next to Pasadena High School website

Then we headed East on the 210…and, remembering that H Mart was opening in San Diego that day, decided to check out what we figured would be an uncrowded H-Mart located close to where we were…

Upon entering the Diamond Bar location of a Super H Mart and turning to the right,

we encountered a large Food Court area… which included this little franchise-Deli Manjoo

which has a window where you can watch this conveyor belt baking system making sweet treats. We were given samples fresh off the griddle! You can get a mix of eight for $3…

You can see the walnut shapes are filled with red bean paste as well as a walnut. For Lucky Fish we chose two filled with custard and two filled with cream cheese. Deli Manjoo Website

We also picked up savory treats at The Tous les Jours franchise. Excellent and so very fresh! The young ladies working here were very helpful and the selection was amazing. Website

There were other vendors in the food court area..and small shopping areas on other walls of this large store- then there was the H-Mart store itself.

Clean, fresh, friendly. One thing we noticed that the ladies giving samples were set up at the aisle ends, which were specifically sample areas- outlets on the floor so electric pans could be easily heated for sampling. Combined with the available items in the 'regular' food aisles, H Mart is a great store. I can't wait to visit "ours". Generic H Mart website link.

Since it is Thanksgiving, we needed to pick up our smoked ham, or "meat by the side of the road" as I have fondly termed it.
Once again, the Valley Center Optimists have their trailer set up in front of Fat Ivor's and are selling smoked hams (whole and half) for Thanksgiving. They will also be selling hams for Christmas and Easter. We wait for this time of year to be able to purchase this ham.
Here is a cross section view of the smoked half ham ($35). My friend from Valley Center, Ms. T., picked hers up and warmed it so The Mister and I could have a slice when we drove by to pick up ours. Valley Center Optimists 760-390-4173

Oh. So this day began with the last day to see 2013 Rose Parade floats do their final road test of the year. I've posted about previous road test days…all the floats need to pass three tests before being allowed to drive down Pasadena streets on New Years Day.

When we got here, the Lions Club float was finishing the test drive.

The Honda float, very long and intricately detailed was parked and waiting in line to be tested. Those are steps leading to a slide that people will be sliding on during the five mile long parade route.
Here's a better view of the slide.
Here's an unusual view of another float…

and another float from a high viewpoint…

and here is another perspective of the front of the Honda float (see the slide?).

Those viewpoints are from above ground, because I was standing on-ON- the front of The Lutheran Hour float! Yes, The Mister and I were asked to participate in the road test and fire drill.

Here's the float after the fire drill. It had started to rain when we were testing…but had to pretend there was a fire anyhow.

We've never made a "Bucket List" of things we wanted to do, but if we had, this would've been on it- and checked off!

If anyone wants to know about volunteering to decorate a Rose Parade float, information is available HERE.

I hope everyone has a non-hectic week ahead.

#GoBlue

H Mart opens in San Diego

November 17, 2012 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants, Markets & Grocers

I'd gotten quite a few emails from folks since the post about H Mart opening in San Diego. It seems to have created a bit of a buzz……..which was enough to actually get my crowd-o-phobic rear end down to H Mart today….opening day. Predictably, the place was packed, so I'm going to do mainly photos with this post. It'll be easier to see what this location of H Mart has to offer once the masses are gone.

We managed to pick up some prepared food which was pretty bland….especially the Japchae. The kimchi station wasn't ready yet upon this visit, probably by design.

They use all the marketing tricks in the book, from misting…….

To open prep stations……

To my disappointment, there's only a tiny little food court with looks like a single booth in the market.

The Missus was really impressed with the availability of organic and vegetarian products….. She's really into tempeh now and told me the selection and of course the prices were much better than Whole Paycheck. I wouldn't know…..

Decent seafood department…..

There was a nice selection of meat, with American Wagyu chuck roll and ribs available. I'm going to have to spend a bit more time here when things normalize.

We didn't even bother with Paris Baguette as the line was crazy long…….

In spite of the masses, every cashier station was open, so it was really fast once you got past the logjams at produce, the food court, meat, and seafood. I'm sure folks are happy to have another option in San Diego. Though not everyone looked thrilled……

As could be predicted, parking was an absolute nightmare….we parked on the street and walked into the mall. I'll do a folllow-up post in a couple of weeks when things slow down a bit.

H Mart
9440 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

Tip Top Meats- a breakfast revisit

October 22, 2012 Cathy Breakfast/Brunch, German Restaurants and Food, Markets & Grocers, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome back to mmm-yoso!!! the blog with percolating posts. Today, Kirk and ed(from Yuma) are busy and Cathy is posting about a North County restaurant inside a grocery store.

Well, another year has passed and The Mister and I celebrated our eight days of birthday with many meals. (Our birthdays are seven days apart, and celebrating on the day of and on the day of makes it eight days when we deliberately do something a bit out of the ordinary.) For one breakfast, we drove to Carlsbad and Tip Top Meats, a German grocery store, which has a nice restaurant inside.
\

Yes, I've written only one post on Tip Top, coincidentally a birthday breakfast, even though we have enjoyed many lunches and dinners here. Vicky also wrote a post, which included some other menu items.

There is a small list of some meal items, located at the entrance.

Once inside, the grocery store is overflowing with various German and European sundries, condiments and side dishes. The vast meat counters are filled with a wide array of fresh meat choices-

-as well as smoked meats. We passed this area quickly, as there was no line at the cash register for the restaurant, ordered, paid and chose a place to sit.

The condiments on each table include mustard choices along with the usual catsup, Tapatio and A-1.

Soon, our meals were brought to us. The Mister ordered the Big John Breakfast ($7.98) Three eggs (over easy), potatoes and all you want meat. This first meat selection was the breakfast sausage and bacon.

Later, Polish sausage and Bratwurst were choices. (Ham, the other meat choice, wasn't ordered this day)

I decided to go all out and ordered the steak and eggs ($8.98) Two eggs, poached, and a Delmonico cut of steak, cooked rare-medium. Of course, we each asked for rye toast.

Very nicely poached eggs…the yolk was fresh, velvety,wonderful.

You can see the rare cooked,very tender cut of dry grilled steak in this photo. A perfect breakfast!

On the way out, we stopped at my favorite aisle, all licorice…my weakness…so many choices, all good.

Tip Top Meats 6118 Paseo del Norte Carlsbad 92011 (760)438-2620 Website

Tunisia: Market day in Tataouine

October 13, 2012 mmm-yoso Desserts, Markets & Grocers, Travel, Tunisia, Tunisian Food

We left Ksar Ghilane early in them morning. We were headed to the final stop on our private tour, the island of Djerba. There would be a couple of stops along the way. We were headed to the town of Tataouine….yes, for those Star Wars fans, there really is a city name Tataouine. We traveled through some pretty inhospitable areas…..and yet, people have been living here for centuries. We passed by several ruins of Roman fortifications along the way.

Outside of Tataouine are several Berber hill villages. The most popular is called Chenini….yep, there's the Star Wars connection again. The village is known for it's distinctive white Mosque up on the hill.

We took about an hour to walk around the village. Many of the older homes built into the hillside had been abandoned and turned into storage.

Soon enough we made our way back to our transport and headed off to Tataouine. Since it was market day, the place was hopping.

Ben walked us to this little bakery.

Like Kairouan and Makroud, Tataouine also has it's special pastry called Corne de Gazelle, the gazelle's horn.

The pastry is in the shape of a gazelle's horn. I thought this was very nicely flavored, almonds and sesame seeds gave the confection a nice nuttiness. Like almost all classic Tunisian desserts the pastry was doused with a nice bit of honey. The Missus didn't care for it….I'm thinking it was the sesame seeds.

While Ben had a seat at one of the coffee shops, the Missus and I started walking around the market area. Here are some photos.

You know what this shop sells, right?

I was really enjoying the coffee culture in Tunisia and we decided to take a break at one of the coffee houses….it was a nice stop and gave us some time to take in the environment and people watch. They call espresso "cafe express" in Tunisia.

It was pretty calm driving from here on out, as we made our way to the island of Djerba. Soon we were driving over the causeway to Djerba which was the last leg of our tour. It had been a pretty hectic couple of days, but I was glad we did this…..there's just so much history in Tunisia.

Shopping and eating in the Market-99Ranch

September 17, 2012 Cathy Markets & Grocers

Welcome back to our blog named mmm-yoso!!! Kirk is still a bit overwhelmed with things happening, ed (from Yuma) is also dealing with whelming. Cathy is underwhelmed so has blogged this post for you.

For some time now, I've posted about local grocery stores where I shop which have in store prepared food areas. All of them do, you know. 99Ranch is no exception, other than it is also a very large chain, with 36 stores in Northern and Southern California, Washington, Nevada and Texas.

There is only one location in San Diego on Clairmont Mesa Boulevard, just East of the 805. It's pretty much a compendium of Asian canned and bottled foods and condiments, snacks and sundries.

It sells the usual and unusual fruits and vegetables and fruits, dairy products, meats, rice, noodles, soy based 'meats' and pickled everything.

There are eight live fish tanks,

a very good variety of whole fish and

also fish steaks are available.

The store is currently undergoing a step by step remodel, with new flooring, adding open freezer areas, new doored freezers…

The bakery area has temporarily moved (where the Soup Lady used to be) and is much nicer than the old area, with new display cases. We've notice new shelving and a rearrangement of the regular grocery aisle, which have been shortened to allow for the new freezers parallel to the meat and seafood cases.

In any case, the Steam Tray/ready to eat area is not yet updated. I posted about the food from this steam table area in 2007 and suppose it's time for an update, although not much has changed.

Nor has the Dim Sum area.

The roast chicken and duck area remains next to the cash register…

There are still Monday thru Friday combination specials, now $3.49. You can see they are subject to change.

This area, where beverage and soup orders are made and the open refrigerators have snacks is now the temporary bakery area from the above new bakery photo.

One day the soup was on special for $2.99. It had five shrimp and pork dumplings along with the noodles and bok choy, all cooked after you had paid and presented your reciept. It was very good. I hope the nice Soup Lady area returns; it was sad to not see her the other day.

This was a Monday Special ($3.49) the fish filet with sauce (the sign says tomato sauce, but this was a sweet and sour sauce) with rice. Good and crisp. Turnover is very quick here and nothing from the steam trays is ever old or stale.

This was a Friday Special ($3.49) and was supposed to be beef stew, but I don't think that meat is beef. In any case, it was a very good sauce over nice (not mushy) vegetables (the sauce is not sweet and not too salty/does not need any condiment added).

I always like the chicken roll wrapped in tofu ($3.50). It's quite large in the tray and is cut to fit into the box once you order it. Perfectly seasoned. No carbs!

One of the grab and go snacks, the Vegetarian Spicy Sauce, is usually a take home item, but one day I decided to buy it and have it as a side, with an a la carte…

Fried whole tilapia ($3.50). It made a nice meal.

Here's my obligatory fish carcass photo.

99Ranch is in a good, central location and the in store food court area serves some very good food. Shopping here is always an adventure, with so many items available. I hope everyone is having a good week!

99Ranch Market 7330 Clairmont Mesa Boulevard, San Diego 92111 (858) 974-8899 website