Markets & Grocers – Page 28

Guess where this is?

December 23, 2010 mmm-yoso Chicago, Markets & Grocers

Just something short for tonight…. I'm guessing most folks have more pressing matters at hand…. like finishing up all that Xmas shopping!

Of course most will know just by the facade……

Yes, it's Mitsuwa Marketplace of course! But where?

I realized when I walked through this Mitsuwa how important design is….. this one is set-up basically the same. It is much larger than the Mitsuwa in San Diego. And so is the the food court, with a variety of restaurants…

And of course there's a Santouka Ramen…….

But also a Chinese Fast Food shop and at least one Korean influenced food stop to go with some other interesting offerings.

First off; the name makes me think that the burgers here are pork. Having already had an R Burger, whose ahem, buns are fortified with collagen (you know, I should just have someone provide me with the best collagen bun line…. there must be thousands), a teriyaki wasabi burger doesn't sound that strange. The fries here do sound interesting as you can choose various options like curry and cheese flavored or corn soup flavored fries…… I almost gave in…. well, maybe next time.

There are several more restaurants in this rather large food court.

I noticed that the market itself had quite a few Korean products…. more on that later. There were also local products…… and you just know that there are folks out there who can't go a day without Phil's Fertile Eggs, right?

Can you imagine the untapped marketing potential for Phil's Fertile Eggs!!!

There are of course more conventional Japanese items.

Ok….enough with the guessing game thing….. this Mitsuwa is located in Arlington Heights, about 25 miles outside of downtown Chicago. When my Admin Assistant was nice enough to book my overnight accommodations, she told me that I'd be staying in Arlington Heights….. I had no idea where Arlington Heights was….and neither did she. So I obviously saw the irony in the fact that there was a Mitsuwa almost right across the street from my hotel. Of all the places in the greater Chicago area….

It did look like business was pretty slow. After waking from my post Hot Doug's nap, it was already 6pm on a Friday, but the place was pretty dead. And there were several of these in the Marketplace.

I do hope they make it. I'm thinking I'll stay in this area if I'm in these parts again. As I drove down East Algonquin Road into Mount Prospect, i couldn't help but noticing all the Korean Restaurants….. there was even a restaurant named Dae Jung Keum……sound familiar???

Mitsuwa Marketplace
100 E Algonquin Rd
Arlington Heights, IL 60005

Valley Foods Mediterranean Market-and a meal.

November 28, 2010 Cathy Iraqi Food and Restaurants, Markets & Grocers, Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

See other posts about Valley Foods here and here. A 2015 update, from another blog: Here

mmm-yoso!!! That's the name of this blog. It's about food. With anecdotes tossed in. Cathy is blogging today. The guys aren't.

Hi. El Cajon has a new Mediterranean Market. It's on the South side of Main Street, just West of Second.(Next to the Rally Burger).
It's a new building, but the facade is more visible to the parking lot than on Main Street. It is not as large as Vine Ripe Market, does sell Halal meats, fresh breads and has enough of a produce section to make this a regular stop for me. Of course, as with the other Mediterranean markets I frequent, it has an in-store eating area. With good prices. Below, the deli area (which has many choices of Feta cheeses as well as the olives and halal deli meats shown)and a sort of 'grab and go'/prepared foods area.

When you walk in, you will go to the left and there is a hot food counter and small eating area. On the far left of this photo, the beverage machine with red juice- that is pomegranate juice- $1.49 for a large styrofoam cup. I get on every time I am here, but never seem to have snapped a photo. It is not from concentrate. The sign underneath the "Seafood" sign is "You Buy We Fry".

The steam tray area has a large menu above it. Prices are good. Really good. Order, pay and find a seat.

Beef shawarma sandwich ($3.95). Yes, that is the price. Yes, my hand is small. It is still a very large sandwich. Usually I don't order beef shawarma, because elsewhere, it is dry. Here at Valley Foods, the beef shawarma is moist and wonderfully flavored. The bread is one of the three main types sold in the store. Fresh. Those are turnips pickled in beet juice and onions in the sandwich, along with a garlicky hummus sauce.

On the bottom right is a 'side' of Biryani rice ($2.99). It's a pint.
Cooked Basmati rice, sauteed with shredded chicken, onions and some potato, along with cumin and maybe cardamom (a sweet spice, not cinnamon), this could be a meal in itself.
The falafel plate ($5.95)Seven fresh made from garbanzo beans(not powder) falafels, with a side of pickled mango , fresh made hummus (nice and with light garlic), fresh-fresh tabouleh (parsley, mint, tomatoes and bulghur wheat in a lemon-olive oil dressing) and two standard (fresh made here and warm) pita breads.
Here is a blurry photo of a cross section of the falafel. It is fresh, fluffy and good.

This is a good place for regular grocery shopping or a quick, good, inexpensive meal. It's worth the stop.

Valley Foods Mediterranean Market 1275 East Main Street El Cajon 92019 619-749-8355

Website

Saturday Stuffs

November 13, 2010 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Markets & Grocers, Sushi and Sashimi, yoso-silly

I now realize I haven't been paying much attention…..

To the strip mall where Spicy City is located. There appears to be a couple of new restaurants open, or opening up. The first one, called "Gorilla" has replaced Korean Hometown Restaurant, no more Bondegi soup for me I guess.

They're calling it a "Korean Fusion Restaurant"…… the menu looks like a combination of bar food, a la Min Sok Chon, crossed with modernized/westernized Korean Dishes…..Boo Dai Chigae…. along with Tonkatsu (served with French Fries!) and ramen, and cream corn even…..

I'm not quite sure what to make of it……. anybody check this place out yet?

I also noticed this restaurant in the place of Seafood Island. I'm not quite sure if they've opened yet.

All in the strip mall at 4690 Convoy.

You never know what you'll find at 99 Ranch Market:

I was picking up some lamb to make Cumin Lamb, when something grabbed my attention….. I literally did a double take.

Was it what I thought it was?

You bet…. plus it was on sale!

In case you have a problem finding this…… it located right next to the, ahem, Beef Pizzle.

One of the two things I was craving when I got back from Madison/Chicago:

Strangely, or perhaps not, I wanted a salad when I got home from Chicago and Madison. The other thing I craved was taken care of last night at Sushi Yaro.

Something that I found ironic is that Zo-san is now working at Sushi Yaro. Folks might remember that he used to own Sushi Ishikawa which was on this very spot before Sammy Sushi and Convoy Sushi.

Now if I can only talk Zo-san into making some of the Okinawan dishes they used to serve at Ishikawa!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Balboa International Market. Lunch in the store.

October 28, 2010 Cathy Markets & Grocers, Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Hey there! You're reading a blog about food. It's called mmm-yoso!!! A few friends writing about what they ate out, or food they prepared and ate in. Today, Cathy is writing. Because Kirk and ed(from Yuma) have jobs.

There is a parking lot behind some buildings which have a parking lot in front. Hidden from the main Road, Balboa Avenue (at the SouthEast corner-ish from Genesee, behind the See's Candy Store). All new construction.

The Balboa International Market building was opened not too long ago. It is not too large inside (only one cart can fit in an aisle) with a good selection of boxed/canned items to purchase and a good vegetable and large wall refrigerated section. It is not as large as Vine Ripe, which is closer to where I live, but I can see myself stopping here if I am in the area.

There is a small deli area and a Hot Food Menu (one page, with beef, lamb, chicken fish and specialty rice plates along with a soup of the day and a stew of the day). The gyros sandwich is $5.99, rice plates are $8.99 and the most expensive item is a white fish kabob plate for $13.99.
The Mister and I have been wanting to take a road trip just to go to Wholesome Choice since December, but life seems to have interfered. One thing we wanted was hot fresh sangak (flatbread). The day we were at Balboa International Market, they were testing the new ovens and asked if we would like one of their 'practice' flatbreads. Oh yes!. We decided we needed to eat it immediately, in the store, just as we did at Wholesome Choice. So we ordered.
So. The loaf of bread was not formed perfectly. The sesame seeds were not evenly distributed. So? It was fresh, soft, still warm. Excellent. (Oh and it was free. Everyone leaving that day seemed to be carrying a loaf in their bags. I am unsure what the price will be and don't care. It is *so* good).
Lam Kabob ($12.99) marinated lamb, grilled vegetables (a whole tomato, a whole onion and about half a green pepper) served with Basmati rice (that is piece of rice crust on top) and a small salad. Excellent fresh lamb, very lightly marinated. Not overpowering salad dressing. One of the condiments on the table is a shaker of sumac, which went very well with everything. So fresh.
This was listed as a daily special ($7.99, regularly $8.99)- Zereshk Polo. Baked chicken (lightly marinated) and the Basmati rice with sour barberries and saffron. Excellent and fresh. The chicken was juicy and not at all dried out.

The hot tea is $1. They give you a cup and there is a pump pot of hot water and box of Sadaf teabags at the counter.

We asked the man in the bakery area if he knew about Wholesome Choice and he said "oh yes". For now, Balboa International Market is a great choice. Yes, that is a very large restaurant that is going to open next door. The parking lot will be filled. I hope they use the same chef and ingredients as the market…

Balboa International Market 5907 Balboa Avenue 92111 (858) 277-3600 Website

Tip Top Meats and a birthday breakfast

September 27, 2010 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, German Restaurants and Food, Markets & Grocers, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog. Just a way for you to peek at what a few people eat. Kirk and ed (from Yuma) are not blogging today. Cathy is.

Hi. Another year has passed and it has been time for the week of feasting for The Mister and me. Yes. He was born exactly a week before I was. This year, our birthdays fell on a Sunday. Our 'tradition' is that he gets to choose where he wants to eat the first three days (Sun-Mon-Tues), we have to agree where and what to eat the middle two days, and I get to choose where I want to eat the last three days. I have photos of all the meals, but will start with my birthday meal first. Because there are no rules.

I chose Tip Top Meats, in Carlsbad, just off the Interstate 5 at Palomar Airport Road. Vicky did a post with us about Tip Top and a delightful dinner more than three years ago and also explained a few things, like it is an Old Fashioned meat store.

Which also makes their own sausages.

Smokes their meats in house.

Has one whole aisle shelf of just licorice for sale.
Another aisle of beers for sale.
Right across from the two aisles of wine. There is a lot more interesting inventory stuff, even though the store seems not too large. I find all sorts of interesting, familiar and new European and Mediterranean products here in addition to all the meats. But really, just walk to the left(West) of the store from the entrance/exit doors.
Look up. There is a menu.
Follow the people waiting in line, just past the refrigerated glass case with fresh pastries and pre-made side salads is the cash register, where you order, pay, get a number and get a coffee cup, which you will fill when you walk into the open seating dining area, which I did not take a photo of because it was crazy crowded at 8:36 on a Sunday morning (The store and dining area open at 6 a.m. daily) when our number was 114.
Since it was my birthday, I did eat my breakfast pastry first. A fresh, flaky traditional(made with raisins) slice of apple strudel ($2.49) with a cup of coffee ($1.79). {On our very first date, The Mister and I went to a German restaurant in Ann Arbor and shared a piece of apple strudel for dessert.}
The Mister ordered the Steak and Eggs ($8.98)- two poached eggs, rye toast, wonderful, crispy, nicely seasoned home fried potatoes and a 6 ounce, perfectly medium-rare cooked Delmonico Steak. Yes Delmonico, which is essentially a boneless rib eye, but how that cut was referred to decades ago. (I did say it was an Old Fashioned meat store there at the start of this post…)
I got exactly what I craved- the European Continental breakfast ($7.49). I almost always order this, because the first time I did, decades ago, the meat I got was in-house made Head Cheese, which was perfect. I know some of you may not know what Head Cheese is, but I bet a lot of you would like it, especially the Tip Top version. (Head Cheese is not cheese, it is an aspic filled with sliced head meat and maybe heart and feet from a cow, calf, pig or sheep and seasoned with onion, allspice, salt and pepper). This time, as a perfect meal for my birthday, the plate came with three slices of a nutty swiss cheese, five slices of a really great Black Forest Ham and about ten slices of hard salami…all my favorites! (I always buy ham and hard salami whenever I get deli meats) Two crusty French rolls accompanied the plate. It was the start of a nice day.

Tip Top Meats 6118 Paseo Del Norte Carlsbad 92011 (760)438-2620 Open 6 a.m.-8 p.m., seven days Website

Saturday Stuffs

September 11, 2010 mmm-yoso Markets & Grocers

Just a couple of things for this Saturday…….

I recently heard that Seafood City in Chula Vista is moving to this location on East Orange right off the 805:

I believe it used to be and Albertson's ……

So what is going to happen with the Seafood City on 3rd Avenue???

Believe it or not, I heard it was going to become a 99 Ranch Market! Anyone else heard the same thing?

A Taste of Korea Harvest and Wine Festival:

Traditional Korean dishes and wine? It's something I'd never even thought about. But I am intrigued….. and if this sounds interesting to you, on September 25th, the Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles will present A Taste of Korea Harvest and Wine Festival, hosted by San Diego's very own Cathlyn Choi. The event will be held at the San Diego Wine & Culinary Center on Harbor Drive. There will be a food and wine tasting starting at 2pm, and even more interesting, will be a "Korean Food Chef Challenge" at 4pm, which sounds like six chefs competing in an Iron Chef like contest, where Chefs are trying to create traditional Korean dishes in front of a panel of judges. Admission at $20 – $30 sounds very reasonable. You can find more information here.

QingDao: Some last minute explorations……

August 24, 2010 mmm-yoso China, Markets & Grocers, QingDao, Travel

Before heading off to Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province, we had a short amount of time. And there would be no lounging around the hotel room for us! So we set out up the various hills in search of anything interesting…. and maybe some breakfast as well.

As we approached the top of one of the avenues, you could here what sounded like incessant buzzing. We walked toward the noise, and soon enough we could make out voices. It was all coming from a large walled lot…… I was pretty sure what was going on as we turned the corner.

It was a morning market of course……. over the years, I've been to many of these, and even though I haven't found anything that quite tops the exoticness of Luang Prabang's Morning Fresh Market, I'm still fascinated by what these markets offer. I think it really teaches you a lot about the people and culture; insight that staring at the world from inside a tour bus could never provide.

Like this machine making sesame paste and sesame oil.

Here are where you get those breakfast staples You Tiao (fried cruller) and Soy Sauce Eggs, among other things.

Fresh vegetables and herbs galore……

Though there's always something interesting and exotic to be found…..

A reader emailed me mentioning that folks in my photos look a lot larger than what he considers typical Chinese in his neck of the woods. I wrote to him saying that the Chinese up North are bigger boned, and many of them like the Missus's Boy Cousin who towers at somewhere around 6'4" are quite tall.

Some folks were surprised when I mentioned that tomatoes are very popular….. they are eaten literally by the truckload……

But are consumed more like a fruit, than a vegetable.

Right down an alleyway from St Michael's Catholic Church, was another street lined with vendors. This one stretched for blocks, literally in the shadows of the downtown skyscrapers.

As always, there were tons of fresh and live seafood……

And other stuff……

Near the bottom of the hill, right across from and next to yet another truck full of tomatoes……

Where a few eating places….

The prices are very reasonable. All the food is cooked outside, and you eat in the cave-like, dark and dingy, and even perhaps a bit scary looking dining areas. I grabbed a seat while the Missus did the ordering…..

Of course there was You Tiao….

Both Millet and Red Bean Porridge……

As you can see; a plastic bag is placed around the bowl, and the porridge is poured into the plastic surrounded bowl. Once you are finished, and the bowl is returned, the plastic bag is removed and discarded, and a new baggie replaces it…. ready for the next customer.

We also had a variety of Baozi……

On the soggy side……

Overall nothing to write home about, but it sure did fill us up…..

We walked back out to the street realizing that we needed to get back to the hotel and head to the train station. Looking down the road, I noticed that we were just two blocks from Zhongshan Lu, one of the main streets, and pretty close to our hotel. It was time to make a beeline for our room, grab our luggage, and walk on over to the train station.

And Jinan was two and a half hours away……

Well, that's it for my QingDao posts. I hope you've enjoyed them, and as always, thanks for reading. Here is a listing of those posts:

Post #1 – Lunch and Dinner at Fifth Aunts

Post #2 – Morning in QingDao, Tianhou Temple, and Zhongshan Park

Post#3 – Our first visit to Pi Chai Yuan, and Banquet #1

Post#4 – St. Michael's Catholic Church and Banquet #2

Post#5 – The original family home and banquet #3

Post#6 – Pi Chai Yuan again

Post#7 – An abundance of seafood

Post#8 – The Wedding Banquet

Post#9 – Beer Street and the Tsingtao Brewery

Post#10 – Dinner at Sixth Aunt's

Post#11 – Donkey and Brain Tofu (Doufu Nao) for breakfast at Pi Chai Yuan

Post#12 – The Children's Park (Chu Shui Shan) and going shopping

Post#13 – Dinner at the Original Family Home

Post#14 – Beer in a Bag

Saturday Stuffs: Goodbye Shanghai City? And updates on Baihe (Lily Bulb) and Guai Wei Can Dou (strange flavor broad beans 怪味蚕豆)

July 31, 2010 mmm-yoso Los Angeles County, Markets & Grocers, Road Trip

Goodbye Shanghai City?

On a recent visit to Nijiya, I noticed that the lettering had been taken off of Shanghai City. This grabbed my attention so I walked on over to find this sign.

It says they are closed for "renovation"……. so maybe it's just a freshening up, which Shanghai City has needed for a while. Of course they'll be opening on 8/8….

Then I saw the Application for Ownership Change.

It seems that the place will be under new ownership. It made me a bit sad, at the least I should have gotten one last bowl of Niu Rou Mein.

3860 Convoy St
San Diego,CA 92111

An update on Guai Wei Can Dou (strange flavor broad beans 怪味蚕豆):

I first wrote about Guai Wei Can Dou in this post. The Missus and I love the stuff, and had been allowing ourselves a ration of two to three pieces a day from the stash we brought back from China. Of course it was just a matter of time before we'd munch on our last Guai Wei Can Dou, which happened all too soon. I soon set out looking for these broad beans around San Diego. I found one brand in Thuan Phat Market, but it looked plain wrong. There was one place that I thought we'd find this snack, and we made sure to drop by on a recent trip to our old neighborhood of Rowland Heights……. T S Emporium.

Emporium is a good name for this large shop which sells just about every kind of bottled and canned food item, snacks, and what they are really well known for, the herbs. It used to be that the smell of Chinese Herbal Medicine would hit you smack in the face when you entered. Nowadays the smells are bit more muted, and the apothecary is gone.

There are still endless aisles of goods, though.

And wouldn't you know they had two different brands of Guai Wei Can Dou.

Including one of the brands we brought back from China.

The strange thing about these "strange flavor" broad beans was they weren't nearly as "Ma" (numbing) as what we brought back from China. We noticed that Sichuan Peppercorn items aren't nearly as numbing as they are in China. I'm wondering if the irradiating of Sichuan Peppercorn affects the numbing aspect. And perhaps they irradiate this as well…. or perhaps it's just a bit of a different formula??? That's ok…. I'll take what I can get until we return to China.

T S Emporium
1457 Nogales St
Rowland Heights, CA 91748

An update on Baihe (Lily Bulb):

The gentleman at Beijing Restaurant in San Gabriel had told the Missus where to get Baihe. He laso gave us some specific instructions for rinsing and soaking to get rid of the sulphides, how to select lily bulb, and to only purchase ones that are labeled to come from Lanzhou. We purchased some from 168 Market in San Gabriel. We also saw the Xiang Chung Ya (salted shoots of the Chinese Toon Tree) that I believe the restaurant uses. It looked terrible, no wonder we weren't impressed……

The funny thing was, the very next morning "Tenjo" mentioned that we could find Baihe at 99 Ranch Market here in San Diego! I thought that I pretty much knew where everything was at 99 Ranch Market…….. but I was wrong. We found the Baihe stacked above the bean sprouts in the produce section.

I trim a little off the top….mostly the brown and discolored stuff, and just enough off the bottom so I can peel the petals of the bulb. I rinse three times, then soak in water for about 5-6 minutes, followed by another good rinse to remove the sulphides used to prevent discoloration. Many of the brown spots are just superficial, and can be rinsed or rubbed off.

If you've noticed a dearth of cooking posts recently; it's because I've been making this five or six times a week.

Don't forget some ginko nuts while you're at it……

Thanks again Tenjo!

QingDao: The Children’s Park (Chu Shui Shan) and going shopping

July 28, 2010 mmm-yoso China, Markets & Grocers, QingDao, Travel

After our breakfast visit to Pi Chai Yuan and a stop at Beer Street, we headed back to the hotel. We had some good 'ol H2O and a bottle of LaoShan Cola in tow. I gotta say, it seems that folks don't drink much water in QingDao. But with fresh beer everywhere, and LaoShan Cola, I can see why. I believe cane sugar is used for LaoShan cola, as it has the same sweetness as Mexican Coca-Cola. There's also a great complex mix of flavors from a variety of herbs and spices. Good stuff…..

After a short break, we headed off to Fifth Aunt's, to visit with the Missus's Mom's cousin and other stuff. Dinner was to take place at the original family home, and Fifth Aunt had mentioned that there was some chicken sold in the market along the way to the family home that somewhat resembled Dezhou Pa Ji (Dezhou Braised Chicken – 德州扒鸡). This was a no-brainer…. we'd pick up some chicken on our walk to the family home.

Fifth Aunt's street ends at the Children's Park (Chu Shui Shan), a place that the Missus had spent many moments at during her youth.

Though the park had changed during the years, there was still the 108 steps up to the walking paths lining the hill.

We meandered around the park a bit……..

We had been told that in this day and age, because of the amount of labor available, Fifty had become the "unofficial" retirement age. Here in the states, it would be a stagnating death sentence for many people. But China is such a social country that activities keep folks busy, like the "Grandmother Drum Teams" that play at weddings. And this group of women were having a great time……..

The Missus cracked up and told me they were "singing really old Communist songs…."

The men occupy themselves as well.

There's an intense card game taking place on every table.

There was one thing the Missus wanted to see. Firmly etched in Her memory is a grand lake, so we walked around searching for it. The best we could find was this pond……

Such is what the eyes of youth sees…… everything seems so much bigger and grander.

We walked down the path, and made our way across the street…..

Something caught the Missus's eye…….

It was something she "just had to have"…… and these weren't named Jimmy Choo or Chanel. They were roasted yams from a cart that very well could have been around when the Missus was a child.

The older gentleman let the Missus pick the one She wanted, weighing it on an old fashioned hand scale.

I forget how much it cost… it was some minuscule amount. To the Missus this was a priceless taste of Her youth.

This street used to be the "open market" when the Missus was a child. And though there are still many vendors along the street……

It seems the city has done its best to move the vendors that could afford a stall indoors.

The walkway is lined with various vendors…..

And in typical savvy marketing fashion, at each entry is a well stocked stand full of snacks. We ended up spending a good deal of time here as the Missus sampled, and eventually bought some goodies. The peanut snacks to the right was a winner, and the Missus bought some Haw Flakes…. which were the best I've ever tasted.

A bit further down the way was the stand selling roasted chickens…..

Unfortunately, the Missus didn't see the kind of chicken She wanted. After talking to the woman who seemed to own the stand, a cloth was lifted on a pan behind the counter…. and there it was!

After purchasing the chicken, the Missus asked if I could go behind the counter to take a photograph of the chicken. At first the woman was a bit suspicious, thinking that we perhaps a government or new agency. But after telling her I was from America…… well, I got my photo.

The woman happily exclaimed, "oh, good! It's free advertising!" And even moved the chickens so they would look more attractive.

And she even asked me to take a photo of her! You gotta love these folks……

When you visit most of the stands like this one that features different breads (sorry "AZ", still no rice!), you watch the folks working hard in the back of the shop making their goods.

Isn't that how it should be????

Like most fresh and open markets (i.e. Mercado Central in Cuzco or Hang Be Market in Hanoi) , the stands are organized together in sections. For instance the sauces and vinegar section.

And of course, this is QingDao, so there's a large seafood section as well.

As we made our way out the door, we ran into Fifth Aunt and the Missus's Mom on the way to the house.

Here are just a few more photos!

Seeing this reminded me that I still hadn't had "Qsingtao in a bag", which Fifth Uncle told the Missus is quite good.

Not to worry… the Missus had that covered!

I'm aware that this was pretty long post. So thanks so much for reading!

QingDao: An abundance of seafood

July 4, 2010 mmm-yoso China, Markets & Grocers, QingDao, Seafood, Travel

I was looking through my QingDao photos, and noticed just how many of them were of tanks of seafood.

Walking around QingDao you just can't avoid the tanks and buckets of seafood. This one is at one end of Pi Chai Yuan, downtown QingDao's food street:

Every large restaurant has tanks of live fish and seafood. Some of which are very large.

The smaller restaurants, like those near to QingDao Bay have tubs of seafood out for potential customers to check out.

There's quite a variety…. want razor clams? No problem.

The Missus did tell me that it's not quite like when She was growing up. She has told me stories of mantis shrimp being sold from giant piles on the street. I was told that there's a greater variety available nowadays.

Locals are very discerning, which is why, for example, you'll always see the crab displayed this way where the locals shop.

The females are much more desirable, since there's the possibility that they'll be carrying eggs. The odds become better during the fall, though there are those who can tell by just one look.

I had wanted to call this post "水果海" but the Missus told me that no one would understand the term "fruits of the sea" in Mandarin. I will say that the waters around QingDao is without a doubt fruitful, it is shellfish heaven. Which takes me back to a quote in my first post on our visit to QingDao, where I was told "Oh, man, you're going to love the seafood…. you're going to looooove the seafood!"

That's all for today………

I hope everyone is having a great Fourth of July long weekend!