Markets & Grocers – Page 29

Nijiya Market- grab and go for a quick meal

May 24, 2010 Cathy Markets & Grocers, What Cathy Eats!

You are reading mmm-yoso!!! the blog about food. Cathy is blogging again today. Kirk is *still* on vacation, as is ed (from Yuma).

Hi. The other day, The Mister and I had about an hour for lunch at the same time and we were in the same area, so we met at Nijiya Market. The first time I had ever gone to Nijiya, I came home and googled it. The first google item that came up was this blog. I started following Kirk and this blog. Way back in 2005. .
Located in the same mall as Sage French Cake, Okan, Shanghai City and Curry House , this Japanese Market sells healthy (mostly all organic) and gourmet foods. We walked to the wall opposite the entrance door, where prepared foods and sashimi are displayed. Yes. I am doing another post about meals you eat where you shop.
I took a warm vegetable croquette (99¢)- mostly mashed potatoes with carrot and peas, rolled in panko and fried and also a shrimp vegetable tempura pancake ($1.99)- onions, green pepper, carrot, squash and small shrimp dipped in batter and fried until crispy.
The mister grabbed a Saki Nori bento box($5.49) with warm smoked salmon, a piece of tempura shrimp with some karage style chicken all on top of laver (a thick piece of seaweed which has a good mineral content) which was on top of organic rice which had some sort of seasoning sauce (not soy) and bonito flakes on it. The rice ended up being very salty fishy tasting; The Mister likened it to anchovy-like saltiness, which he does not like. Of course, I thought it was wonderful.
I chose the Kaisen Chirashi ($6.99)- organic sushi rice,(Clockwise from top) Squid with salmon roe, salmon, octopus, shrimp, scallop(under the shrimp), cooked egg, yellowtail and tuna. The packing includes organic soy sauce, wasabi and ginger packets. You get chopsticks when you are paying at the cash register. To the far left of the grab and go counters, on top of the counter, is a hot refrigerator and the cans of green tea or coffee are very heated through and only $1. A quick lunch we could eat our front at one the the five set up tables in front.

Nijiya Market 3860 Convoy Street, Suite 109 San Diego 92111 (858)268-3821 Website

Breakfast at Bristol Farms

May 5, 2010 Cathy Breakfast/Brunch, Markets & Grocers, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome back to mmm-yoso!!! the food blog written by a few friends who like to eat and write about their respective meals. Kirk usually writes, but he is on vacation (nobody has guessed where yet). ed (from Yuma) is busy with work. VickyL and a few others are apparently merely eating and not writing and so today, Cathy is sharing a nice breakfast with you.

Hi. The other morning, The Mister and I decided to drive to La Jolla to look for breakfast. We ended up at Bristol Farms, just West of the UTC Mall.
Bristol is a High End grocery store. Very close to La Jolla. Albertsons is its parent company, but nothing in here is like your local Albertsons Store. There is a wide selection of prime and dry aged meats, seafoods, deli meats and cheeses, breads, wines, produce and even the regular grocery aisles have some quite fancy items, as well as everyday groceries. The prices here for the higher end items are not bargain basement, but are fair for the quality of the item. The everyday item prices are similar to what you pay at your regular grocery.

Each location has a cafe. There are some steam trays, a by the pound salad bar, pizza, roasted chicken and in the morning breakfast burritos already made to grab and go. You can have plates or sandwiches made, pay and take them to go, or you can sit down and get a menu and have a nice meal.
Starting with a good coffee ($1.65). You can see there are daily breakfast -and lunch- specials. Those specials are about $4 off of the regular price. There are also wine tastings on some evenings. High end, but accessible. Everyone here is very helpful and explains the foods they sell- in the store and in the Cafe.
The Mister got a bacon, avocado and cheddar omelet ($9.49) with seeded rye toast and a fresh fruit cup. The omelet made of two fresh tasting eggs, a very nice, sharp cheddar cheese and the bacon- those 1/2 slices, crispy and maple flavored…really, really good. Topped with ripe, fresh avocado and a side of a fresh roasted tomato salsa. The toast was a thin sliced seeded rye, also very fresh and good. The fresh fruit cup was only cantaloupe and grapes, but both fruits were very ripe and nice flavored.
I got the smoked salmon scramble ($9.99). Again two eggs mixed with a lot of high quality cold smoked salmon, capers and onions. This was accompanied with a toasted "everything" bagel and whipped cream cheese and those…up there on the top right. I like to call those "Bristol Tots"…cubes of potatoes, deep fried so there is an outer crust and the inside is light and fluffy and lightly seasoned. Heavenly little cubes. Maybe because I have not had French Fries in a very long time, or maybe because of the type of potato used, but those little cubes of goodness are addictive.

A special breakfast inside a special grocery store.

Bristol Farms 8510 Genesee Avenue, San Diego 92122 (858) 558-4180 Website

Vine Ripe Market (and the adjoining restaurant)- La Mesa

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

Since this post, the adjoining restaurant has changed. I'll link to it once I have something to say.

Hello and welcome back to mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog written by Kirk, ed(from Yuma), VickyL and Cathy. Kirk is still on vacation. ed (from Yuma) is in Yuma. VickyL is in Northern California and cathy is in East San Diego County, blogging today.

Hello again. Vine Ripe Market was around a few years ago, then closed, then opened again in January 2010. I wrote a post about it back in 2006, when Kirk went on his Hawaii vacation. (It was my 5th post. Ever.)
It seems to be a bit cleaner than before, and the bakery, meat, produce, regular aisles, freezer and deli sections are filled with wonderful well priced items.
All Halal meats.
Household items and accessories are sold here also.

Inside there are steam trays with hot food, sandwiches can be made to order or you can go out front and to the Fletcher Parkway side of the building is the restaurant. (I have never seen a name for the restaurant, not even on the menu..)

We started with a Turkish coffee ($2)on this chilly day (all the seating is outdoors).

The Mister ordered the Ghorme Sabzi-Vegetable stew ($9.99) a baby lamb shank cooked with red beans, lime ad fresh herbs. The meat was tender and flavorful as was the accompanying stew. Really good.
I ordered a chicken Shawerma sandwich ($5.99) served on a warm pita bread. Juicy marinated very flavorful chicken cut from the spit then grilled with lettuce, green pepper and onion in the bread. This is served with salad and house made hummus. A nice olive oil with vinegar and herbs dressing is served also.
On another day, we ordered hot tea…
We decided on a Greek side salad ($4.99)to go with the sandwiches we ordered. Lettuce, cucumber, tomato, onion olives, feta and the same house dressing…
A falafel sandwich ($4.99) was OK good. After having the falafel at Mystic Grill , I am spoiled. These were fresh and kind of fried a bit too long. The flavor of the falafel were good. The sandwich had lettuce, tomato, cucumber and onion and a fresh home made (yogurt based) sauce.
My sandwich came wrapped in flatbread…looking like this from the outside.
and was filled with charbroiled boneless chicken. Not Shawerma/marinated, but juicy and good flavored. It must be Halal chicken.
As I said, the prices here are great.
Stop by if you are in the area. Great market, great restaurant.

Vine Ripe Market 8191 Fletcher Parkway (at Jackson-SE corner) La Mesa 91942 (619)462-9900

Harvest Ranch Market and another Pastrami Sandwich

March 19, 2010 Cathy Markets & Grocers, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the food blog, written by a few friends. Today, Cathy has written a short post. Kirk and ed (from Yuma) and Vicky are reading. Or something.

The other day, I was out in El Cajon near where Second Street turns into Jamacha Road and decided to stop into what has been an old favorite place to shop.
It wasn't crowded around 1 p.m. so I decided to continue my pursuit of a great pastrami sandwich, for FOY (Friend of Yoso), "H" and dropped in. It's a fancy market, with a few branches around town (including Jonathan's in La Jolla) with Boars Head meats and condiments
as well as all the other items you'd see in a grocery store.
A fancy grocery store anyhow…the wine selection is awesome and they have wine tasting events here pretty regularly (sign up inside the store to be notified). I don't take photos of people, so that is why I don't have too many photos inside the store.
But here's a nicely blurred photo of the Produce area, where I picked up a d'Anjou pear for my dessert ($1.49/lb). Then I paid and walked over to the Starbucks in the same mall.

A full sandwich is $6.99 (half sandwiches are $3.50) and includes cheese, choice of bread, lettuce, tomato, onions, mayo and mustard. I got pastrami and kraut, warmed, with mustard on rye, no cheese. The bread was soft and flavorful and a seeded rye. The meat was not fatty but wonderfully smoky in flavor. A quality pastrami, plenty of it. The kraut was nice and crispy. The pear cost 70 cents, so my whole meal was $7.69 plus $1.50 for the fresh, individually brewed with a drip filter and freshly ground beans coffee at Starbucks (I did not want the Pike's Place brew and asked for the Bold of the day, which is Italian this week and the nice Young Man behind the counter ground some beans, poured hot water into a little gizmo over the coffee cup and made me a nice, fresh, hot cup of coffee at the regular price). It was a great meal, just on the edge of too much food.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Harvest Ranch Market 759 Jamacha Road El Cajon 92019 (619)442-0355

Website

Antigua: Miscellaneous stuff

March 5, 2010 mmm-yoso Guatemala, Guatemalan Food, Markets & Grocers, Travel

I really need to finish up my Guatemala, and for that matter my Thailand posts. After Copan Ruinas we returned to Antigua, to spend our last nights of our trip.

We really loved the colors of Antigua, from the cobblestone streets to the colorfully painted buildings, this is one photogenic town.

After some research I booked our room at the Hotel Casa Florencia. Our usual "M.O." is to book a room for the first night or two and take things from there.

As for how we enjoyed the Casa Florencia…. I ended up booking all our nights on our return trips from Lake Atitlan and Copan Ruinas at the Casa Florencia. The rooms aren't very large, in fact, they are on the small side. Though on our last night, we were given the larger "triple" room on the second floor. I'm guessing that the folks at CF were being nice to us for making the place our base of operations.

What we found most impressive about Casa Florencia, was how clean the place was…..the floor shone and squeaked under our feet. You felt like you could almost eat off that floor.

Hotel Casa Florencia
7a Avenida Norte #100
La Antigua,Guatemala

On many nights, we'd sit on one of the benches outside our room, and have our snack of fried chicken from Pollo Campero, and a cerveza or two. One evening we decided to taste test two of the very popular beers….. Brahva and Gallo.

Brahva is a light lager, very effervescent. Gallo, which is the more popular beer is also a lager, but has a weird "skunkiness" to it, that wasn't very enjoyable. It wasn't just a bad can…. all of them tasted that way. Needless to say, we stuck with Brahva from then on……

On the west edge of Antigua is the market which we only briefly visited. We did spend enough time to take some photos.

If I were to go over all the sights in antigua…. well, I'd have a ton of posts. Instead, here are two of our favorites. On the north side of central Antigua is La Merced, a beautiful church.

And though La Merced is known for what is often called the most impressive fountain in Central America….

And the views from the top of the church…. I found walking the hallways more interesting. The lights and shadows give the place an interesting feel.

La Merced is an interesting way to spend an hour wandering the hallways, checking out the views above, and of course the fountain.

To the Southwest, is one of the oldest churches in Antigua, the Iglesia de San Francisco. Dating back to 1579, the church and the large monastery was destroyed in the great 1773 earthquake.

The church has been rebuilt, but the grounds of the monastery, which once included a library, and even a hospital has not. You can walk and explore the ruins.

And of course, since this is a food blog, I need to include some food. During the evening, you can find vendors outside of La Merced, selling various items that is a good change of pace from all the tourist food.

Where you can get stuff like this….

The Missus always cracked me up when ordering these….. this type of small tamal are called "chuchitos". The term tamale is saved for larger tamals. So the Missus would point and go "tamales…tamales?" And the woman manning the cart would go "no, no, no tamales…. chuchitos!" And the Missus would point again and go, "tamales…." And the woman would go, "no…chuchitos"……. he-he-he….

And of course there was always someone selling tostadas…..

Which always hit the spot……..

Thanks for reading!

Wholesome Choice- Irvine. A Market, and then some.

January 8, 2010 Cathy Markets & Grocers, Mediterranean Restaurants, Orange County, Road Trip, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog. Just some friends writing about what they ate. Today, it's Cathy writing after she ate.

One Saturday morning, The Mister and I drove North up the 5, took the 405 a few exits, exited at Culver street, went South two lights and stopped here.
Wholesome Choice. The location used to be a Wild Oats (Henry's) Marketplace. It is quite large inside. When you first walk in, there is a line of people waiting for hot Sangak (flatbread) to come out of the oven. I don't take photos of people and so could not get a good one of the ovens. You'll have to go there and see it for yourself.

The bread is four feet long, made from mostly wheat flour, with a starter from the day before, is topped with sesame seeds, costs $2.79, is placed on a piece of brown kraft paper directly from the oven, HOT. I will show you photos later. Here is a story of Sangak .

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It is a regular grocery store, with fruits, vegetables, Halal meats and pretty much the normal Mediterranean stuff. Good prices. Very clean.

Nuts- in all varieties and prices.
Preserved foods and olives from around the world…
Then, at the other end of the store, you notice the cheeses…and what is all that? Looks like steam trays.

Menus above each area (there are Indian, Persian, Chinese, Thai as well as soups, cold deli and bakery sections )
In the soup area, there is Haleem.(a wheat-based porridge)
There is a Gyros and Schawarma area.
A by- the-pound deli area…
So many different Feta cheeses are available…
as well as any other sides you can think of (fresh hummus is $4.49/lb)
…so much more that I haven't shown you.

These are just some of the desserts. There is a fresh baked, by the piece baklava and in house made croissant case…so much.

So anyhow. The Mister and I were hungry and bought some stuff, paid at the cash register and sat down (there are tables inside just past the cash register and also tables out in front of the store).
Here is a photo of one large styrofoam tray, filled with half a baked chicken(with *wonderful* saffron flavor) on top of what must be a pound of Addas Polo (basmati and saffron rice with lentils, currants and dates) ($7.99). The rest of the photo is the Sangak bread we picked up when we walked in. At the midpoint of the Sangak bread…see that hummus in a box…one half pound. The box is 4 inches square…wait.
Here is a photo of the hummus with a normal size plastic fork…the bread is HUGE. It is soft, slightly spongy in the areas where it is not too thin, tears easily tastes so good…the sesame seeds make it more flavorful.
We also got one Koofteh ($3) Ground beef, rice, herbs and yellow split peas in a vegetable stew.

A wonderful place, not that far from here. There is a location in Anaheim Hills also. If you have some free time, take a short drive North. Then stop, shop and eat.

Wholesome Choice Market 18040 Culver Irvine, CA 92612 Open 7-11 daily (Food Court area open 11-8 daily) website

5755 East La Palma Anaheim Hills, CA 92807 Same hours

(The Irvine location is 84 miles from our East County home and the Anaheim location is 106 miles from here. The Anaheim store is about 1/3 larger, formerly had been an Albertsons. That location has a gelato area in the food court. Really good gelato.)

Happy New Year!

January 1, 2010 mmm-yoso Cooking, Markets & Grocers

Boy did the Holiday season roll around quickly this year…. and for many it seems the faster we get this year behind us, the better. It was a pretty tough year for lot's of folks. I've always found that the availability and amount of Osechi-ryōri on display at various Japanese Markets in San Diego is a good gauge on the kind of year we;ve had. Needless to say, this year it seemed a bit more subdued. Less of the prepared boxes….

And what seems to be more of the items for assembling your own….

Nijiya seemed to have the largest collection of items and fresh seafood.

We just relaxed, and in addition to bought items…..

In addition to the stuff photographed we had some Shishamo, and I picked up some Roast Duck.

I also made a couple of dishes as well, mostly small dishes like Hijiki Nimono….

And what the Missus said was the best Kinpira Gobo I ever made……

I swear I posted on this before, but I can't find it….. well maybe I should do a post?

And also some Gomoku Takikomi Gohan (5 ingredient rice).

You know, I swear I did a post on this as well…… hmmmm, do you think it's worth a post?

And of course, there was Dashijiru ready for my midnight Soba……..

We hope everyone had a great Holiday season, with lots of great gifts…..

And great food as well!

From all of us at mmm-yoso, we wish you a hearty Happy New Year!

Minh Huong Supermarket

October 21, 2009 mmm-yoso Markets & Grocers

It's been a while since I've done a Markets & Grocers post, so I guess it's about time. I get a number of emails asking me how or where to find certain ingredients. And one of the ingredients that I get the most requests for is "Hot Basil" aka "Holy Basil" aka तुलसी aka "Kra Pow" (กะเพรา) also known as Ocimum tenuiflorum. The answer used to be easy, it was either United Food Mart or 97 Supermarket, but both are long gone……. So when FOY "Barry BBQ" asked me about Holy Basil, I was kinda stumped….but only for a minute. I had an idea that he'd be able to find the stuff at Minh Huong, which I first posted about here.A while back Minh Huong moved from University Avenue to it's current location on Euclid.

The produce section is not very large, but the variety of goods is quite stunning…..

There is of course, the afore mentioned Hot Basil……

Along with, on this visit five different type of bamboo shoots, several types of eggplant, and much more…..

And though on this visit I was only after some purple perilla and mint, it was a nice bit of information to file away for later…..

And the quality of the mint and purple perilla weren't very shabby at all.

There's also a nice collection of Fish Sauces, Fish and Shrimp Pastes, and the like:

As well as a nice collection of pickled vegetables….pickled rattan anyone?

And though the fresh seafood section is pretty small….

The frozen seafood section is a nice little browse, with everything from whole Spotted Featherbacks to a couple of varieties of frozen Snakehead….. you know them right…. the ones that can breath air and live out of water for several days…. and have been known to eat little mammals, and has been dubbed "Frankenfish" by the press.

I guess man got the upper hand this time around….

I counted four types of fermented sausage in the dairy case……

As well as prepared food, like Jeow Bong, and fresh noodles…..

And of course, I gave in to impulse and bought something that looked interesting…..

So here's where you help me….. how should I prepare this? Put in the toaster oven….grill it….or ???? I may just go to Sab E Lee and ask Kobe what to do with this…..

You may not recognize some of the stuff at Minh Huong, but it sure ain't boring….. and who knows what your impulse buy will be.

Minh Huong Supermarket
4029 Euclid Avenue
San Diego, CA 92105

Sunday Sandwiches: Mona Lisa Italian Foods

September 6, 2009 mmm-yoso Markets & Grocers, Sandwiches

Going through my photos I was surprised at the amount of sandwiches we've been consuming lately. It's probably due to the weather, we don't really feel like cooking, and grabbing a sandwich on the way home from work fills the bill. Mona lisa works pretty well for us, since the Missus enjoys the Imported Prosciutto, and I stock up on San Marzano Tomatoes, while waiting for our sandwiches.

The usual drill is, grab a number and wait. When your number is called, place your order with the folks behind the counter. This is your chance to wander around the fairly crowded aisles and grab stuff you need.

I'll readily admit that I'm always afraid that I'll have a moment of motor disfunction which would end up in my wiping out the shelves of the tiny store.

I'll usually get the Deluxe ($6.75), which is comprised of Mortadella, Ham, Salami, and Provolone. We also always get our sandwiches sans mayo and mustard, which we feel gets in the way of all the other flavors.

We both think the sandwich does just fine with the Italian Dressing. Proportion-wise, I think this sandwich is set-up pretty well. Not over-stuffed, but put together well. The one thing we noticed, was the bread. I swear that Mona Lisa used to use a different Italian style bread, this was overly doughy, dry, with a crust that was hard and tough.

The Missus usually goes with the Imported Prosciutto, at $8.50, the most expensive sandwich on the menu.

The sandwich contains a nice amount of Prosciutto di Parma sliced paper thin. The imported Prosciutto at Mona Lisa is vastly superior to the domestic version, which has a strange, almost plastic-like taste. As mentioned before, the bread really wasn't up to par.

I recently made a return trip to Mona Lisa to pick up some prosciutto for a dinner of antipasti, and just wanted to see if the folks at Mona Lisa had run out of their usual rolls and had used a back-up source. I had initially thought of grabbing the Caprese Sandwich, but ended up ordering the Capicolla ($6.75):

Well the bread was the same, too doughy, tough crust. The Capicolla was fine, a bit milder than anticipated, and ended up being a bit bland overall.

I think we'll look at other options for sandwiches unless Mona Lisa changes their bread. We'll stick to getting the prosciutto and make our own sandwiches.

One last little story about Mona Lisa. A few years ago, when all the condos were being built in Little Italy, while waiting for my sandwich, two construction workers walked into Mona Lisa. One of the guys pulled his shirt up, over his rather considerable gut, forming a "basket" of sorts. The other guy started grabbing these premade little sandwiches stacked up on the side of the counter and placing them in the guys shirt. I hadn't even noticed all those little sandwiches! He turned around and unloaded his bounty onto the cashier counter. He had nineteen sandwiches…..the lady rang him up…..and it came out to less than twenty bucks! The little sandwiches were 99 cents each!

Curious I bought three……the sandwiches aren't very big…..

But two of them left me sufficiently satisfied. Two slices of meat, a slice of cheese, a smear of butter…….just like mom used to make.

I bought one recently and it's still just 99 cents. I'm thinking this is great for kids, or maybe if you're kinda "short" before payday….. I still wonder how many guys that construction dude fed with twenty bucks.

Mona Lisa Italian Foods
2061 India St
San Diego, CA 92101

Hours: Monday-Thursday 9:00-10:00
Friday & Saturday 9:00-11:00
Sunday 10:00-10:00

You can read Cathy's post on Mona Lisa here.

Saturday Stuffs

July 18, 2009 mmm-yoso Markets & Grocers, Peruvian Restaurants, yoso-silly

Just a few items for a pretty warm Saturday.

Nazca Grill:

Signs have gone up in the old Aji Seco/Nieto's Taco Shop location on Genesee. Looks like this will be a Peruvian restaurant called Nazca Grill.

Sounds good to me!!!

Costco Stuff:

I try not to spend very much, if any time in Costco, because of the crowds. My mission is to time things right, and get in and out ASAP. But on a recent visit, I took some time to look around and was rather surprised at finding a few interesting items.

As I navigated my way into the produce section….one does not stroll in Costco, what one does is push a cart the size of an aircraft carrier, dodging other massive shopping carts or six wheelers, and hope for the best. I've always hoped that traffic lights and turn signals will become standard equipment in Costco, but I don't think that'll be happening in my lifetime. To be honest, Costco is invaluable for stocking up on those necessities, I can always get a pack of toilet tissue that would make my late, TP hording Mom proud. The one thing with Costco is not just buying stuff you'll never use, or don't need, but buying said items in bulk! Luckily, my phobia of ravenous crowds trying to sample stuff in little cups, and crazy folks at the helm of shopping carts (it's a "Long's" story) keeps me away unless we need something. So of course, browsing at Costco cost me a few bucks more, but I was satisfied with what I purchased.

I was surprised to find Donut/Saturn Peaches.

The Missus grew up eating these in China, and She really loves these fragrant, and sweet peaches. I was shocked to see them in Costco, as until a few years ago they were usually only found in Asian Markets. These were huge, and fragrant, though not as sweet. Pretty cheap too, 2 pounds for $3.49.

I was also lured into buying a package of cedar smoking planks. Because of the amount of grilling we've been doing in the last few weeks, I thought I'd try these out. There were 6 thin planks in the package.

I wanted to take these for a test run, so decided to use some shrimp I had in the freezer.

I soaked the boards for about an hour, marinaded the shrimp in Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Garlic, and Salt, for about 15 minutes, lines up on the board, and placed it on the grill at the end of my grilling session (like I said, I want to milk every single bit of heat from my charcoal), and placed the lid on my Weber.

I think twelve minutes was a bit too long for the shrimp, but the flavor was excellent. The Missus loved the smokiness. So maybe this was worth it.

Costco always finds new ways to separate me from my money……

Some interesting links:

I remember reading this a couple of weeks ago, and for some reason I couldn't help but laugh.

This one is not about food, but I found it funny as well!

I hope you're all enjoying your weekend!