Memorable Meals – Page 2

Oahu – Waialua General Store and Dole Plantation

August 11, 2024 mmm-yoso Filipino Restaurants, Memorable Meals, Oahu, Poke, Travel

Before our last trip "back home", the Missus gave me some "guidelines" and places She wanted to check out. It was kinda strange because some of the places were major tourist spots. But in retrospect, it ended up being fun, because when I lived in Honolulu, we would never go to these places unless we had visitors. But heck, having left the islands a quarter of a century ago, I'm just a tourist these days too right?

One of the places was Dole Plantation. Yeeesh, the last time I was here was with the Missus, back in the late 90's. For me, "Dole" is the cannery in Kalihi, but this ended up being a nice drive to Wahiawa.

For me this was mostly a bunch of shops and stuff.

Coming from the grandson of immigrants who worked for Maui Pine; this seemed more about selling stuff than telling the story of those who worked. After all, my first job was picking pineapple over the summer.

I did enjoy seeing who was "really" in charge.

For those that don't know. You don't mess with the chickens here. There's a real "pecking order" (sorry, couldn't help it) in place. Even the cats know…..

The Missus did enjoy shopping here.

And She ended up buying a really cute bag.

Dole Plantation
64-1550 Kamehameha Hwy.
Wahiawa, HI 96786

In some ways, I really enjoyed driving here. In a previous life I did frozen food delivery. Being the low man on the "totem pole", my route was places like Whitmore Village. Heck, I used to deliver to the Iroquois Point Naval Exchange in Ewa Beach! This is why I always picture "that" Ewa Beach when we're there visiting my In-Laws!

There was a place I had been wanting to check out near the North Shore. After a short discussion, the Missus and I decided to head on up to Waialua to get some poke at Waialua General Store. From what I recall the town was home to a major sugar mill back in the day.

The little shop in a strip mall, before you get to the "North Shore" kind of stuffs is quite low key. They do a lot of Filipino BBQ and such, but I just wanted some poke.

I could not believe the prices! The woman was so friendly! We got a "bowl" with the Hawaiian Style (aka Limu) and the Secret Spicy Poke. We were kind of hungry and were told to just head over to where the owner's husband was grilling things to sit and eat.

We walked over and the gentleman doing the grilling told us to have a seat. There were several "old timers" (like me) there and I had a blast "talking story" with them.

As for the food; the Missus also got Seaweed Salad, can't tell you about that 'cause I don't like it, and pickled mango which was quite good.

As for the poke, the quality of the fish was decent, wish there was more limu in the Hawaiian style, the secret to the "spicy" was kimchi, but this was still better than what I get here in San Diego. The Missus was hoping for a brown rice option, but c'mon, really?

This was quite good!

I was having a great time chatting with the "old timers"; about how things have changed, what it's like living in SoCal and then coming back home. And then it happened. The gentleman grilling pulled off two skewers and told us; "here this is for you"! For real? My first thought was to turn him down, after all you want them to make some money or offer to pay….but you just don't do that here, that would be an insult. It was such a beautiful gesture.

The glaze had a nice sweet-salty-sour balance. Nice porkiness, fairly tender meat, it was quite good. The folks here were so friendly….like very old school style. We loved it. In the end I took a spare Hamilton and went into the shop and put it into the tip jar. The woman told me "eh, no need", but I said "no, I need".

This kind gesture made our day; the food was good, I loved the "small town vibe", if you want true Aloha Spirit here it was, or more precisely "lokomaika'i", to be generous, which is what the folks here were. It just puts you in the right frame of mind.

Waialua General Store
67-272 Goodale Ave.
Waialua, HI 96791

It was a wonderful day.

Dinner was, of course Jiaozi!

And after dinner we strolled on over to the beachfront in Ewa Beach.

It was a beautiful evening…..

And for a moment, all seemed right in the world!

Thanks for stopping by!

Road Trip – Sushi Yuen (City of Industry)

August 8, 2024 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Memorable Meals, Road Trip, Sushi and Sashimi

On the way back from Lancaster we decided to stop in our old neighborhood. We'd spend the night and do some shopping and drop by Mountain House for takeout on the way home the next day. I did have something planned for dinner though. There was a Sushi/Omakase restaurant that opened in a strip mall on Gale, between Fullerton and Nogales a while back named Sushi Yuen. Man, this strip mall wasn't even constructed when we moved away from the area.

Sushi Yuen is an all Omakase shop, according to what I had read they actually got seafood from Toyosu Market in Tokyo. At the time of our visit, dinner was running at $250 per person (drinks not included), with a $150 deposit for each diner.

Anyway, after checking in at the Best Western and taking a short nap, we actually walked on over……now there's not much pedestrian activity on Gale, so we did get some weird looks.

We checked in and waited until we were walked over to our seats. The restaurant has sushi bar only seating. I counted a total of 15 seats for our dinner.

There's a brief selection of wine and sake available. We did end up having a glass of the Zaku and the Tenbei during our meal.

Speaking of glasses, metal tumblers were brought to the table. Once filled with ice water, a pattern appeared! Kinda neat.

Due to the amount of dishes in this meal, I'll try to be as brief as possible.

There was five staff working behind the counter; the head man, who introduced himself as Ryan was very friendly, as was the young man who would eagerly show us the products being used for our dishes.

And you can see what was going to be part of our first dish.

Notice all the fresh wasabi at the bottom of the screen?

As you can tell by that photo, hairy crab was going to be in the first dish, which ended up being a wonderful savory chawan mushi.

Decadently smooth and creamy, permeated with the frangrance of sweet-savory-oceany crab, this was a wonderful start to our meal.

Next up, Katsuo (Skipjack) Tataki.

This had a mild smokiness to it; on the firmer side in texture, with that nice, all too familiar umami "punch".

Next up was the Hokkaido Hotate with Kaluga Caviar.

Gently coated, with a wonderful, light, crisp coating. The scallop was perfectly cooked, the slightly firm and wonderfully sweet flesh was so delici-yoso! It really didn't need the caviar, but heck, there it was and I wasn't going to complain about that!

We'd first come across "Tacu" in CDMX, at its most basic it's using nori in place of a tortilla. This was a negi-toro tacu.

The highlight of this was the interplay of the pungent-herbaceous-slightly sweet wasabi, the minty-chlorophllic-anise shiso, and the savory nori.

Next up was the grilled Tachiuo, belt fish.

The flesh was so buttery in texture, it basically melted in your mouth. The flavor was mild, so having the crisp skin on made all the difference.

The Akami-zuke was quite routine.

Perfectly texture maguro, but even more impressive was the rice which cooked to perfection, every grain could be counted, but the texture was soft, the "shari" was nicely balanced.

Aji-Miso was next.

Nice textural contrast, but the nice rich-savory flavor of the Horse Mackerel was kind of overwhelmed by the miso sauce.

I was quite excited to see Nodoguro (Black throat sea perch) as the next item. This is a rarity for us here in the states.

Man, this was so rich and buttery in texture. The flavor was mild and was enhanced by the "tare".

We didn't care much for the Ankimo-Yuzu. It was like they were trying to cover up the natural flavor of the ankimo.

Think of it as being mashed ankimo "potato-ish" salad. We enjoy the texture of ankimo which was not featured in this dish. Too sweet-sour.

The folks must have been reading our minds, because next up was a "shot" of Katsuo Dashi!

Which helped to "reset" our palates.

The Hirame was quite good, great texture!

While having the Hirame, we noticed some items being cooked on the griddle.

This turned out to be charred Saba, made into sort of temaki.

This was very good; the skin crisp, the oil content made the flesh so very creamy and reduced the strong fishy flavor!

Next up was another fairly rare fish for SoCal, Sayori (Half-beak) Nigiri.

So clean and refreshing! The somewhat sweet, delicate flavor wasn't overwhelmed by the tare. This was ono!

Then the Chu-Toro.

Rich and fatty goodness! On perfect rice, the tare did so well on this; adding the savory touches of soy and a hint of sweetness.

Kumamoto Tiger Prawn was up next.

While a tad overcooked, the shrimp was so sweet and oceany.

We were then provided some Ebi Kakiage Udon

And were asked if we were ready for the "best part" of our meal! Whoa, even better than what we'd had? During this time we had a chance to chat with Ryan. We spoke about Japan. Ryan told us he closes Sushi Yuen twice a year to go to Japan, but is busy working with his suppliers there, so isn't able to visit many places.

And just to add an exclamation point to things we were given a preview of what was coming up!

As you can see; the A5 Wagyu came with it's own set of "papers".

As did the Hokkaido Uni!

But first, was the 8 Day Aged O-toro…….O-my!

So melt-in-your mouth tender that it should be illegal! And like all the nigiri, the rice and shari were perfect for our taste.

The sweet and deeply savory Hokkaido Uni, so creamy.

The flavor took me back to a memorable lunch in Sankaku Market in Otaru.

These last two items were so good that it made the Anago and Tamago seem like after thoughts…….I guess we needed to be brought back "down to earth?"

The Tamago was especially good, light, sweet, and fluffy.

Usually, these two would be the items that would close the meal. But of course there was one item we had a preview of that was missing.

Torching and smoking was in progress while we had our Anago and Tamago.

And soon enough these two covered bowls were provided.

Which opened up to display……

The A5 Wagyu! Well, in terms of flavor this was beefy heaven! Though I will say for my taste it was overcooked; I prefer mine rare.

And so a nice last dish to an epic meal, right?

But like that television pitch man says; "but wait, there's more"!

Have you ever seen or bought one of those $100 melons at the Japanese market?

The Missus had always been wondering about those and She finally had a chance to taste some.

Needless to say; the Missus thought the price of the melon is worth it!

As for the meal itself; well it was an epic one, with some excellent dishes. Would we have it again? Hmmm…..perhaps if we have an extra $800 lying around (or more as I've read that the price of dinner is now $275 per person). Sushi Yuen also serves an Omaksae lunch which is currently priced at around $150 per person and a $100 deposit for each customer. Please note that there are penalties for cancelling within 48 hours as well.

Boy has our old 'hood changed since we lived here!

Sushi Yuen
18558 Gale Ave.
City of Industry, CA 91748

Road Trip – Bell’s (Los Alamos) Revisited

June 22, 2024 mmm-yoso French Restaurants, Memorable Meals, Road Trip, Santa Barbara County, Travel

When you stay at the Sideways Inn you can get a "knock & drop" breakfast in the morning. A simple breakfast that you mark off on a form the night before and find on your doorknob the next morning. All I really needed was bagel and OJ to get my day started.

We relaxed, went for a stroll, then checked out.

We enjoyed our stay here.

Sideways Inn
114 E Hwy 246
Buellton, CA 93427

One of the reasons we spent the evening in Buellton was to have lunch in Los Alamos the next day at Bell's. While we had enjoyed dinner at Bell's on a previous visit, it was the more "classic" French lunch that we loved. Thus, I had made reservations for lunch.

We got into Los Alamos a bit early, so we headed to the Los Alamos Gallery to browse and shop.

We ended up getting a couple of gifts for folks. Downtown Los Alamos is basically a four block stretch, so we left our car parked on the street and walked on over to Bell's a block away.

The restaurant, which I believe used to be a bank had just opened for lunch service and we were the first through the door.

Just as on previous visits, the service was relaxed, yet professional, hitting a nice balance.

We started with the Chicken Liver Mousse.

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Smooth, almost creamy, the pate had a pleasurable, rich funkiness, nice sweet-savory tones. The deep flavor went well with the strawberry jam, aiding in cutting the richness and the cornichon cleansing the palate.

The Missus loved the escargot during our previous visit, so we made sure to order it again.

And just as before, the Missus enjoyed the plump, "wild" Burgundy snails, surprisingly tender, full of garlicky goodness. Sadly, the baguette was also the same as before, much too chewy. Still, those snails…..

The Crepe du Jour looked interesting.

The tomatoes was an sweet-acidic-fruity flavor explosion! The crepe wasn't too sweet and the taste of cheddar came thru nicely without being overwhelming.

Of course I had to get the Beef Tartare.

This is still one of my favorite versions; tender beef, perfectly cut, nice balanced amount of capers, creamy egg yolk, nice touch of pungent tones! There was a generous amount of lightly dressed greens provided. Though again, that baguette. But, the tartare was so good, it was easy to overlook the bread.

We really enjoy lunch at Bell's and can't wait to return!

Bell's
406 Bell St.
Los Alamos, CA 93440
Current Hours:
Thurs – Mon 11am – 3pm, 5pm – 830pm
Closed on Tuesday – Wednesday

IMG_1238_02

Taipei – Addiction Aquatic Development (上引水產)

May 23, 2024 mmm-yoso Memorable Meals, Seafood, Sushi and Sashimi, Taipei, Taiwan, Travel

You know, there are times, even in these "influencer – make things look great online" times where you might only need a photo or two of a delicious, memorable meal instead of extensive verbiage. And I think that these two photos are all that are necessary.

Add to that the fact that each of these nigiri "plates" was less than $25 each?!!?!?

Ok, I'm going to go now, see you tomorrow! JJK!

Though honestly, you could stop here if you'd like to…..

Otherwise, here goes…..

After spending most of the day checking out the National Center for Traditional Arts and Kavalan Distillery, we headed back to Taipei. On the way back, I thought stopping by a fishmarket-dining hall named Addiction Aquatic Development would be nice for dinner. The Missus agreed and we told our driver to drop us off in front of the market hall.

Our wonderful driver dropped us off right in front of the place which is located in a part of the Zhongshan District we hadn't been to yet.

We entered the huge market hall, historically this was the Taipei Fish Market and was transformed into the AAD in 2012. The morning fish market is now held next door. As we entered we came across tanks of seafood….wonderful looking seafood.

The Missus, who had become quite the social person in Taiwan asked one of the workers where all the seafood came from and he answered Her say, "mostly Japan!"

So, choosing where we were going to eat was pretty easy.

We picked the sushi bar of course! What's interesting about the sushi bar in AAD is that it's a stand up operation.

The young lady who served us was unusually serious compared to what we had encountered in Taiwan, but would prove to be quite good to us later on.

Anyway, instead of ordering the usual combination from the menu, we picked our own nigiri to start, based on what I saw in the counter case as I walked by. Our initial a la carte foray cost us a handy $10200 NT, now if that sounds expensive to you, well, it was about $30/US at the time of our visit. Pricey by Taiwan standards, but let's look at what we got.

We liked that the rice was on the smaller side and the shari wasn't overpowering. And yes, that buttery Otoro, Hokkaido Uni (!), so umami-sweet and creamy, tender-sweet-oceany Hotate, and Amaebi!

We also got two Temaki, the Ebi-Asparagus was $75 NT, about $2.25/US and the Uni $150 NT – $4.50/US.

These were fine, but not nearly as good as the nigiri.

We went with the standard "Addiction Sashimi" $240 NT, think $7.25 US!

Now, I think we had been spoiled by the nigiri as the typical maguro, which was fine and the thick slices of hamachi, etc, was perfectly fine….but we wanted more nigiri.

So, we decided to order a second round of nigiri. Now this is when the young lady came in really handy. I started ordering using the Japanese names; you know, hotate, otoro, uni, when she stopped and said something to the Missus and walked away. I was wondering what was going on. Apparently, she told the Missus, "you like fatty, we have something for you!"

And wouldn't you know it; when our nigiri arrived there was the great otoro, hotate, and uni….but also engawa, which was so collagenic and sweet!

Man, this was a great meal and when you totaled things up, it came to $ 2425 NT, big bucks right? That's about $75 US! For real…..

We had myriad of great meals in Taiwan, but man, this one really spoiled sushi for us.

Addiction Aquatic Development
No. 18號, Alley 2, Lane 410, Minzu E Rd.
Zhongshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 10491

Can you believe this?

Taipei – Mountain and Sea House Restaurant

April 10, 2024 mmm-yoso Beer, Fine Dining, Memorable Meals, Taipei, Taiwan, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants, Travel

While planning our trip to Taiwan, I came across a Michelin listing for a place called Mountain & Sea House, which had one Michelin Star. But what really got my attention was the restaurant served Taiwanese dishes that harkened back to the 1930's. In addition, the restaurant sourced their ingredients from their own farm, their swine from a ranch that raises indigenous breeds and so forth. Honestly, I could've spent the entire trip eating Lu Rou Fan (and of course pork chops), but that wouldn't be any fan fun, would it? A big plus is that Mountain & Sea House did online reservations, which I took advantage of.

The walk from our hotel was about 25 minutes where we ended up on Ren'ai Road and a lovely looking structure. The really knowledgeable staff told the Missus that the building is in the style of the Japanese Meiji Taisho period, which coincides with the time period of Japanese rule in the country and what is considered the heyday of Taiwanese banquet cuisine by many.

01 Mountain Sea House

The interior is austere yet classy.

Of course, it was only the Missus and I, so ordering huge banquet dishes was not a possibility, but there is a huge "family menu" for 8 people that needs to be ordered in advance; a bunch of set menus, whole suckling pig, chicken cooked in pork stomach, and a bevy of seafood offerings as well.

We just ordered a couple of interesting items off the a la carte menu.

What was interesting is the the restaurant had it's own beer, barrel aged in wine barrels.

This had some nice tart-fruitiness to it; but wasn't as strong as say, a Belgian (of which I've had a few).

The Missus started with a Rose from Weightstone and winery in Taichung.

Which She really enjoyed. She would have a glass of white from the same winery, which was exclusive to the restaurant later during the meal.

After our tea service….

Our food started arriving. First up, was the eye catching "White Flowered Mountain Gourd".

The zucchini and carrot laced parcel was filled with a concoction of dried scallops, black pork, and several different type of mushrooms. It was a bit milder in flavor than we had anticipated, but man, the velvety chicken stock, seasoned perfectly, studded with sweet-earthy mushrooms was fantastic.

Next up were the Oyster Fritters.

It was the two types of greens; bitter-vegetal-crunchy that made this dish. The oysters and pork were quite mild in flavor and the fritter batter not as crisp as we would like.

My favorite dish of the evening was the Three Cup Pig Tail Stew. What seems like a bajillion years ago, I had my first taste of Taiwanese food in a restaurant in the SGV. One of the dishes was Three Cup Chicken. It was love at first bite! It was strange for us to not come across that dish in restaurants we visited in Taiwan? Regardless, this was amazing.

At first glance, the pork looked really dark, but it wasn't overly salty, loved the whole cloves of sweet-pungent garlic, a hint of ginger wafted through the air. The earthy mushrooms added another "meaty" dimension to the meal. The pig tail was swiny, the skin soft, the pieces of cartilage perfect for gnawing. The fragrant basil added the necessary herbaceous-anise tones to the dish.

The "Maqaw" Roast Pork was fine if a bit underwhelming.

Love the tender – porkiness; but the pork seemed to have not been marinated long enough for our taste.

I had our wonderful, friendly Server order me a glass of local Whiskey, he told me it was Lychee Flavored. It was quite nice.

This was a fun meal. We enjoyed the service and watching the families, many multi-generational enjoying their meals here. While we could have easily stuck with smaller restaurants, night markets, and street food; I'm glad we made time for places like this!

Mountain and Sea House Restaurant
No. 94, Section 2, Ren'ai Rd.
Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan

Le Menu du Bar at Jeune et Jolie (Carlsbad)

March 14, 2024 mmm-yoso French Restaurants, Memorable Meals, Road Trip, Staycation

Like I mentioned in my previous post, the Missus requested a Road Trip to a specific location. This also gave us an opportunity to revisit Jeune et Jolie and spend a night in Carlsbad before heading off. After our last meal at JeJ my friends "B&G" had seen my photos and taken it upon themselves to head on over and have dinner. Though they didn't make reservations. Instead, they dined at the bar, which has its own menu and doesn't take reservations. They had no problem getting seats at the bar arriving right before 5pm on a Friday. The bar menu had several items that looked enticing, so we thought we'd try our luck on a Friday no less!

This time around we stayed at the Tamarack Resort, which we enjoyed. The location was right across from Carlsbad State Beach and had ample underground parking; at least when we arrived.

We checked in and relaxed until it was time to head out to try our luck.

We enjoyed the short stroll over to the restaurant and arrived 5 before 5. There were several parties ahead of us; but most had reservations for dining in. We easily got a place at the bar; which filled up quickly and was totally full in minutes!

Service was friendly and relaxed, yet still quite efficient. The Missus started with a Chardonnay and I had the House Old Fashioned which was no joke!

We placed our orders, we had eaten a fairly big lunch before heading out, so the smaller bites on the menu suited us perfectly. There are offerings of oysters, prawns, a plat du fruits du mer, but we had other things in mind.

"B" had stated that the Croque Monsieur ($44) was his favorite item of his meal, so we started with that. We didn't know what to expect and this is what arrived.

If there was ever a dish to be named "death by truffle" this might be a contender. So the earthy-sweet truffle and brioche really dominated these bites. We really couldn't make out the jamon iberico. Don't get me wrong; you know how much we love truffle, but this was just a bit too sweet and out of balance for me.

Seeing one of my favorites from the tasting menu available, I made sure to order the Veal Tartare ($23).

This was every bit as good as what I'd had before. Tender veal, chopped to my preferred size, nice touch of pungency, the flavor of white soy added a nice savory-saltiness, the crunchy-peppery radish was a nice foil, and the nori powder added another nice layer of flavor.

One item that I really enjoy when in France are Gourgeres, though it's getting a bit more difficult to find light puffs of savory pastry and cheese these days. Even in Paris, where it used to be sold be weight. So, when I saw Gourgere ($16) on the menu I had to get it. Even though it was filled with mornay.

My goodness, we loved these! The crisp and light choux was filled with a savory-pleasantly cheesy Mornay, which even had a nice touch of garlic. That wonderful nutty-earthy-savory-mushroomy flavor of the black truffle came thru clearly as well. We could taste all the components which made this dish delici-yoso! In fact, we had a second order of these!

You know, we enjoy Carlsbad in spite of the lack of Asian food offerings in the area. I hate to think how much damage to my wallet we'd do if we lived in walking distance of Jeune et Jolie!

Jeune Et Jolie – Le Menu du Bar only served at the bar and small "lounge" area. No reservations, first come first served.
2659 State St.
Carlsbad, CA 92008
Current Hours:
Wed – Sun 5pm – 10pm

After dinner we took a nice stroll.

Where we passed several venues with folks having a great time!

Very relaxed, laid-back……fun!

On the way back to the hotel, the Missus and I decided to get a glass of wine at a place we'd had coffee at on our previous visit.

Road Trip – Sazon (Santa Fe, NM)

March 7, 2024 mmm-yoso Fine Dining, Latin American Cuisine, Memorable Meals, Mexican Restaurants, New Mexico, Road Trip, Santa Fe/Taos, New Mexico, Travel

One of the main reasons we headed back to Santa Fe for another road trip was to dine at Sazon. We had really wanted to have dinner at Sazon during our last stay (Sept 2022), but the Chef, Fernando Olea who hails from CDMX had recently won the James Beard Award for Best Chef Southwest and reservations were impossible to come by. So, instead we ended having a nice meal at Geronimo. This time, I managed to get reservations for an early dinner. The restaurant located in one of those classic Santa Fe Adobes one block from our hotel.

The place was already buzzing when we were seated. The dining area is divided in different rooms, each adorned with colorful artwork.

The service was professional, but warm and not stuffy. There is a tasting menu available during two specific seatings, but we just wanted to try items we saw on the regular menu.

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The Missus started with some Champagne, I was looking forward to our upcoming (at that time) trip to Tequila in the upcoming month and had a Tres Generaciones Anejo. We were also provided with a Mole sampler, some of which was too sweet for the Missus, so we were glad to have just gone with ordering off the menu. You'll also soon see why…..

As things started with the Tuetano – Bone Marrow. You know how much I like bone marrow, right?

The salsa rojo on the bone marrow had a nice kick and really blended well with the buttery richness of the marrow. It went so well with the maizey tortillas. This was a nice start.

Next up; the Higado de Ganzo – Foie Gras with a raspberry-coconut sauce on crostini.

The sweetness of the sauces and the resiny flavor of the pine nuts overwhelmed the small slices of foie gras in this dish. It was just a bit too much stuff, which made it a "foie faux" to us.

Next up were these.

The Xochimilco – Huitlacoche, with queso fresco was so delici-yoso.

Oh my, the earthy-mushroomy-sweet huitlacoche paired so well with the slightly milky queso fresco, which added a melty-buttery texture. The corn tortillas added heft and the salsa a bit of heat, with a mild sweetness.

We also enjoyed the Oaxaquenos – Chapulines, which was served over mashed avocado.

Just by themselves, the light and crunchy grasshoppers had a really nice savory-grassy-mild spice that was so nice. Our Server told us that it had been infused with garlic and olive oil and chili de arbol. The corn tortilla was a perfect match as was the avocado.

There was one last dish I really wanted to try; the Cholula, which is the Chef's take on the Chile en Nogada. this was served in a tower format, rather than the usual stuffed chile poblano.

Well, this had a lot going on; the meat here was a combination of ground lamb, pork, and beef; which was seriously overshadowed by a very tasty, not overly sweet and creamy-rich walnut sauce. The balsamic vinegar sauce added another level of sweet-acidity, with a touch of heat from jalapenos. We'd have enjoyed more of the bitter-sweetness provided by the pomegranate seeds. The poblanos added a nice mild green bell pepper flavor to things. That walnut sauce is what made the dish in our opinion.

Overall, this was a memorable meal, the service was excellent, the dishes interesting with such a range of flavors! I'm glad we were able to finally have dinner here!

Sazón
221 Shelby St.
Santa Fe, NM 87501

After dinner, we took a nice stroll. This is the Bell Tower Bar, where we had drinks earlier in the day.

We passed those places we visited on our last trip here.

The Loretto Chapel.

The San Miguel Chapel.

Santa Fe Plaza.

And all the enjoyable public art.

It made for a very relaxing time!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jeune et Jolie (Carlsbad)

February 5, 2024 mmm-yoso Exploring San Diego, Fine Dining, French Restaurants, Memorable Meals, Staycation

Like I had mentioned in my post on Frankie's, we had enjoyed our staycation at the Lafayette so much, that we decided to finally hit up a couple of places we had always meant to visit. We stayed in Carlsbad at the Best Western. I don't think we'll stay there again, it was noisy and dated, though the location right across from Carlsbad State Beach was great. This was of course between two "visits" from the Pineapple Express. Somehow we lucked out and dodged the storms. Though you could tell by the clouds off Carlsbad State Beach that something was amiss.

We enjoyed taking a short stroll in the area before heading off to dinner. This being during the week, things seemed really relaxed and very small town like, which we enjoyed.

This is the Alley Art Wall.

We headed back to the room to change before heading off to dinner; which was just a few blocks away.

Compared to how quiet the rest of the town seemed Jeune et Jolie was very busy. We got a small table in the middle of the dining room.

Jeune et Jolie 01

As crazy busy as JeJ was, the service was top notch. Our main Server; Joe was amazing! Plus, he had lived in Japan, and we even managed to have a chat with him. We were asked if we were right or left handed for the place settings, all dishes were explained well. Watching the kitchen work was incredible as well.

The menu is four courses at $115 per person. We (I) got the Wagyu which was a $55 supplement. We also got one pairing, which the Missus said should be based on the dishes I ordered. We also started with a Champagne for the Missus and since I was feeling "French-Diegan" I got a Kir Royale.

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Things started with a nice Amuse Bouche; eggplant puree in a semolina shell.

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Crisp exterior, which cracked away to a creamy-earthy-slightly sweet filling. This was a nice start.

Of course I had to get the Veal Tartare which was fabulous.

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The veal was chopped exactly the way I like it; it was very tender. There were Asian touches in this; wasabi which added a wonderful pungency and really complimented the dish as did the white soy! The radishes added an additional peppery crunch to the dish. This might now be in my top 2 versions of tartare!

The Missus ordered the "Poireau" as Her first course.

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Wonderful, almost sweet-oniony leek, with a potato potage hid the Missus's favorite part of the dish; an creamy and delici-yoso sous vide egg yolk. The Missus loves Her eggs; so it was love at first bite! There was some very mild caviar on this, but it was all about the egg yolk for the Missus.

Some brioche arrived as we finished our starters…the Missus wished that it had come earlier.

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The Missus's Scallop course was quite good.

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The scallop was a perfect rare and sweet, the sauce which contained grapes added a nice sweet-acidity to things. The scallop was crowned with the cap of a king trumpet mushroom which added a wonderful, meaty, sweet-earthiness.

Thinking that with all the meat I'd ordered that it would be best to get some veggies, I ordered the "Betterave".

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The beets had been I believe dehydrated and had the texture of meat. The bone marrow vinaigrette was rich, but I felt was kind of lost in this dish. I loved the bitter-crunch of the chicory and the nutty-slightly sweet hazelnuts really complimented this dish. The Missus is not a fan of beets, but She even enjoyed this!

The most mundane dish of the evening was the Partridge.

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The partridge was nicely cooked and seasoned, the jus was a bit on the acidic side; the morel mushroom stuffed with partridge was a bit dry but tasty. Don't get me wrong, this was a nice dish, but compared to what we'd had so far for dinner…..

And then there was the Wagyu ($55 supplement),which was A5 Miyazaki Ribeye. Good lord, I think I died and went to bovine heaven!

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Just the decadent beefiness of the meat was amazing! The texture luxurious. The jus had just the right balance of beefy-acidity to compliment the meat. The lightly fried sweetbreads were creamy and had no off metallic flavors. My goodness!

The Missus got the Lavande; which She enjoyed as it wasn't too sweet and had nice lemony tones from yuzu.

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I got the Automne, which was made with parsnip and was delicious as well.

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Like I mentioned earlier; we loved the service and the food. We didn't care for the wine pairing much and will work around that next time.

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The place was quite loud, so perhaps we'll even return earlier in the week, or perhaps sit outside during a warmer time of the year. And yes, we are definitely returning!

Jeune Et Jolie
2659 State St.
Carlsbad, CA 92008
(760) 637-5266
Current Hours:
Wed – Sun 5pm – 10pm

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Quixote and the Gutter (Lafayette Hotel)

January 31, 2024 mmm-yoso Cocktails, Exploring San Diego, Memorable Meals, Mexican Restaurants, Staycation

On one of the evenings during our stay at the Lafayette I made reservations for dinner at Quixote. I had really enjoyed our meals in Oaxaca and was looking forward to this dinner. Like the rest of the hotel; the restaurant's decor is a trip. Apparently, the furnishing were originally from a Catholic Church in Oaxaca. Man, was it kinda strange…..think Dark – foreboding, David Lynch.

I think the photos speak (hopefully not in a deep scary bass) for itself.

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The stained glass……

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And statue of Lucifer.

The candles, wax hanging…..

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The altar behind the bar….

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We were encouraged to check out the various rooms…..

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Quixote 07 Quixote 08 Before returning to our table, right below the statue of "Lucifer". We had already placed our order. Our Server, Jacob was amazing, he encouraged us to check things out. Though I kinda wonder about working with all of this around you! The place was quite quiet, and to be perfectly honest, kinda spooky, before the crowds descended on the place.

You gotta appreciate the kitsch…..very spooky kitsch.

Keeping with the theme, many of the cocktails were mezcal and tequila based. I really enjoyed the Mezcal Old Fashioned.

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As is our MO we stayed with all appetizers to make our meal.

First up, the Crab Corn Donut ($21).

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Man, I loved this. This is the way crab tasted when I was a kid. I appreciated the fact that the donut added heft without being too sweet. The crab flavor was a bit too strong for the Missus. We both enjoyed the hint of spice in the rich sauce.

The Ceviche ($17) seemed by the book.

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The snapper was marinated nicely; good texture no off flavors. I will say that there was not enough acidity in the dish for our taste.

Of course there were tortillas.

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The Squash Blossom (Flor de Calabaza – $15) was quite good.

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We enjoyed the crisp, tempura like batter, the horseradish aioli added a nice slightly pungent and rich touch to the dish. The slice of sweet potato wasn't my favorite but the Missus enjoyed it. There was mushroom in this dish which added an earthiness which "grounded" the dish.

The last item was going to be interesting. The Missus had issues with mole being too sweet during our visit to Oaxaca. In fact, until I found a place with mole sugueza She really didn;t care for mole at all. But, we just had to try the Memelita ($15).

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Outside of Oaxaca, our favorite memelitas are probably from Pasillo de Humo in CDMX. But these are in a different league. The memelitas have such a wonderful maize flavor. The duck carnitas….well, what can you say, a good touch of rich flavor without being "foul" (fowl). The mole had just the right touch of savory and mild rich sweetness. The adobado was nice and savory, the pickled veggies gave your palate a break and the refried beans added an earthiness that grounded the dish.

We really enjoyed this meal. Of course, I like my Mezcal and Jacob picked a nice, "fumar" one for my digestif.

Good food, great service.

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Look out Lucifer; I think we'll be back!

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Quixote (In the Lafayette Hotel)
2223 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92104
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri Noon – Midnight
Sat – Sun 1pm – Midnight

On this evening, we headed on over to an area of the hotel down a hallway which said "The Gutter". This opened up into a faux courtyard.

The Gutter 01

And a doorway, with the sign "The Gutter".

The Gutter 02

This is the Lafayette's "cocktail bar/game room", which features a two lane bowling alley that you can reserve.

The Gutter 04

There's also pool, shuffleboard, and of course more cocktails!

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Which you can have in your own vintage, wood framed booth, if you're not playing pop-a-shot….

The Gutter 05

As you can tell, we enjoyed our time at the Lafayette. There are certain things you need to take into consideration; like parking. If you can't find adequate street parking, overnight valet parking is $35. And yet, the folks working here were wonderful, great service. I'm sure we'll be back on another staycation in the future. We're hoping the neighborhood keeps moving with the times and that they'll be even more options for enjoying the area.

The Lafayette Hotel
2223 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92104

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Paris – Dinner at Automne

January 26, 2024 mmm-yoso Fine Dining, France, French Restaurants, Memorable Meals, Paris, France, Travel

Our time in Paris was winding down. We had two more evenings left. The Missus had enjoyed dining at a Boullion on the last night of our previous stay, so we thought we'd do that again. So, on the second to the last night, I thought we'd go with a fancier meal. I mentioned having made reservations at the Michelin Star Automne in an earlier post and then having it cancelled. On the bright side, we ended up having dinner at Les Enfants Rouge that evening, which has become a favorite of ours. I did still want to dine at Automne and on this visit I made a reservation for this evening. The restaurant is in the 11th Arrondissement, about a kilometer and a half from our apartment. We had a nice stroll on over. Like many of our preferred fine dining restaurants in Paris, the restaurant was helmed by a Japanese Chef.

We we greeted upon arrival and escorted to a nice quiet corner table. For dinner we selected the 7 course tasting menu and shared a wine tasting.

The pacing was relaxed, very low keyed. Of course things started with the amuse bouche.

Which I recall being delicious, but I got seriously distracted.

By what, you might say. Well, we had one of those wonderful "Paris moments". You know us and pooches. We saw the cutest furry pooch walking down the street. He looked like he was smiling and there was something about he and his owner that caught my eye. I brought out my camera to take a photo and wouldn't you know it. The woman saw me pointing the camera their way. Now, if you would believe those Paris stereotypes, you'd think that we'd be in store for some rudeness. But, like what has happened to us many times before, we had a moment. The woman smiled and waved and brought the pooch over to take their photo.

It was such a sweet moment! When I went and downloaded the photos I realized what had caught my attention. You know that folks say people start looking like their dogs……. What do you think? It's one of those unforgettable moments. The Missus and I talk about this encounter more often than we chat about the Louvre!

Anyway, on with the meal.

First up was a terrine with Smoked Eel and Foie Gras.

I wasn't sure about this dish at first glance; but it was quite good, the rich foie gras paired nicely with the smoked-savory-eel. The balsamic glaze and beets added sweetness to really help balance things out. The radish was slightly pungent which helped to reset the palate between bites.

The Scallops with Osetra Caviar was quite decadent.

I thought the scallops could be seared a bit more, but it was perfect rare, sweet-oceany, the caviar adding an interesting layer of flavor that was almost like intense walnut? The shavings of hazelnut added another layer of earthy-nuttiness to the dish.

The next dish featured, black truffle, wild game bisque, and a salsifis timbale.

The bisque was a bit too much and overpowered the dish. But of course, we could minimize the exposure and enjoy the truffle and salsifis. This also had really earthy and savory pied blue mushrooms.

The line caught sea bass was cooked to perfection.

Crispy skin, moist and flaky, the sauces, broccoli, rapini, and one that seemed like a mild foam with hints of lime all added a different dimension to the dish.

The Roasted Venison was cooked to a perfect doneness for me.

Nice mild gaminess, the one item that was amazing in this dish were the mushrooms. I was told it's called Trompette de la Mort "trumpets of death"! Also known as black chanterelles. My goodness, the sweet-nutty-earthiness was amazing.

The Poached Pear with Cocoa Tuile was not overly sweet.

And all in all, this was a fine meal.

One of many that we've had in Paris over the years!

Automne
11 Rue Richard Lenoir
75011 Paris, France