Road Trip – Page 26

Roadtrip: Koi Palace (Daly City) 17 years later

March 19, 2014 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Dim Sum, Road Trip, San Francisco and Silicon Valley

In 1996 I had a meal that changed my view of dim sum. I had grown up eating the typical, run of the mill stuff back home in Honolulu, siu mai, char siu bao, blah, blah, blah…..I was in San Francisco, had a car, and decided to visit this new (at that time) Chinese Restaurant that was supposed to be "possibly" the best in the country. Hyperbole? Perhaps. But I'll say this much, that visit to Koi Palace changed the way I looked at dim sum, in terms of quality, flavor, and how things were put together. I'd longed to return. In fact, I once mentioned Koi Palace to a supposed "foodie", who looked at me, laughed, and said, you're "the only person I know who wants to go to Daly City and eat"….such was the depth and breath of much of San Diego when I arrived here in 2001. Gladly, much has changed since then…..and so have I. So when we made plans for this little road trip, I really wanted to see Koi Palace circa 2013. I also wanted to share that experience with the Missus.

We arrived just before opening. Folks were already milling around just inside the door. When they started seating, all the "Popo's" pushed to the front of the crowd….it was chaos; though controlled chaos, as the host had kept track of who was in line and ignored the folks who cut in front of the line.

17, almost 18 years, is a lot of water under the bridge, and I have to say the place really shows its age; dark, somewhat dank, scuffed tables…well, I felt right at home. The Missus on the other hand, "the best dim sum in the states, huh?"

We started things off with the Steamed Shrimp Dumpling with XO Sauce:

In many ways this was just perfect; the shrimp plump, full of flavor, steamed to perfection, the XO sauce added that wonderful, deep savory flavor….the much over-used "umami". My biggest problem with this were the wrappers, too thick, too sticky, and falling to pieces when you picked it up with chopsticks….the juices leaked onto the table….of course, this is Koi Palace, so they just placed the next dish right on the oil slick.

I have a rule, "never order Xiao Long Bao at a Cantonese Dim Sum chop", but I broke that rule after seeing Crab Roe Xiao Long Bao on the menu. And I'm glad I did.

This was very good. The dough was just chewy enough, the filling had a wonderful balance of sweetness, which wasn'y cloying, along with pork tones. There was enough "soup" to keep me happy. And yes, you definitely could taste the crab in this. I'm glad we ordered it.

We also ordered the Seafood Pan Fried Noodles, which was good, but not great.

The cooking technique of the seafood was excellent….down to the the oft mishandled squid which was very tender. The sauce/gravy was really bland and there was too little of it and some parts of the noodles were hard instead of crisp.

The Turnip Cakes were average.

The texture was too gummy, like too much flour was used. Not much flavor; I think we make better at home, though that XO sauce that came with it was killer……

The other dish that was "killer", though not in a good way was the Cheong Fun with Fried Fish Filet. It sounded like a good idea, but was a mistake in retrospect.

I've noticed this fad recently, especially at Sichuan Restaurants where fish filets are being coated with a sweet flour, that reminds me of artificially sweet cake mix. It's not a pleasant flavor to us and this was no exception. I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed that. The sauce(balanced salty and sweet) and the rice flour roll(thin and of perfect texture) were excellent, but that fish and the batter was just not our thing.

Things ended on a high note though, as you can see.

This wonderful example of porky beauty is the Koi Palace Suckling Pig. It ain't cheap at $18, but I'd pay that much just for the skin, which was just spot on, perfect in texture….light, crisp, swiney deliciousness. The meat itself was on the chewy side, but the pork flavor was just so good. I hadn't eaten swine so good since we got back from Pork-u-all, ummm Portugal. This is the real deal…..

I think the place needs to be freshened up a bit, that carpet looks like it hasn't been cleaned since 1996. Perhaps more effort goes into their other location(s).The service was pretty good, efficient, non-intrusive……

As to what the Missus thought about Koi Palace, "I expected more, I think Sea Harbour in Rosemead is better…." I read some time ago that Jonathan Gold was of the opinion that Koi Palace was the best "Hong Kong style restaurant in the US"…..or something like that. Personally, I'm not so sure…..but that suckling pig was really good….

But in response to the person who made that remark about Daly City all those years ago, "yes, Daly City is a great spot to find good eats; just ask the hundreds of thousands who've been to Koi Palace."

Koi Palace
365 Gellert Blvd
Daly City, CA 94015

Roadtrip: Shopping Edition – Crystal Springs Produce and The Gourmet Corner – San Mateo

March 13, 2014 mmm-yoso Markets & Grocers, Road Trip, San Francisco and Silicon Valley

One thing I really enjoyed about our post Thanksgiving Roadtrip was the theme….it really wasn't planned, but much of it revolved around food in one way or another……we ended up in San Bruno for two nights. San Mateo is close enough and we ended up going market-hopping. There are places where I didn't really take the time out to take photos; Nijiya and Whole Paycheck in San Mateo, but here's a couple of other places we stopped at while just checking things out:

Crystal Springs Produce:

I had read about tis place and thought it might be a nice stop. I didn't quite know where it was and the irony of the location and where we were was to evident in our selection for dinner, which was basically right across the street, though we didn't know it at the time.

The shop is not very big and you can't really do all your shopping here, but this is one of those places that every neighborhood should have; a nice selection of local, organic, with a nice selection of European products.

The Missus was especially interested in the Sardines and tinned Seafood, having been to Portugal earlier in the year.

The Missus was obsessed with apples at this time; She hoarded them, Jazz Apples, Crimson Gold, Blakc Arkansas……we added to the collection here…..

Remember those" I went to xxxx and all I got to show for it was this t-shirt", well, I went to NorCal and all I got to show for it was a bunch of apples…..

This was a nice shop, every neighborhood should have one of this quality; though I gotta say, the young man manning the counter treated me like he was doing me a favor by ringing me up……

Crystal Springs Produce
770 Polhemus Rd
San Mateo, CA 94402

The Gourmet Corner:

I'd actually heard about this shop a while back.

When we entered, it looked like what I'd call a "box wine shop"…..

With a nice selection of canard products. I mean, I really wish I had room for a six pack of duck confit!

Things really didn't click for us until one of the guys working here said, "we've got lots of other stuff in the back" and opened the door……

While there wasn't anything amazing…..think of this as the "Smart and Final" of French ingredients.

I was tempted to ask "Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?"

Some of it was quite good……

Some of it was meh……

Still, I'd really love a shop like this in San Diego….though I'm not sure we could support it. The gentleman at the front counter told me that a good majority of the duck products went to Canada and I later saw some of it a Surfas. I was also told that I "should have come here before the foie gras ban"

I really enjoyed this stop.

The Gourmet Corner
873 N San Mateo Dr
San Mateo, CA 94401

Roadtrip: Burma Cafe (Daly City) and other stuff

January 25, 2014 mmm-yoso Burmese Food and Restaurants, Road Trip, San Francisco and Silicon Valley

Full and happy after lunch at the Firestone Grill, we headed northward. Hitting Gilroy we couldn't help but stop at one of these tourists traps…..

We also stopped at the Gilroy Outlets. The Missus doesn't shop much at outlets, it's not Her "thing" I guess. But She was interested to see what the lululemon shop had to offer. Of course She was wearing some limited edition jacket thingy which made all the sales girls go "that's so nice isn't it?" ick….. Then I came to find out that we didn't stop for Her…..we stopped here to get some stuff for me???? Anyway, two shirts later we left the place……me wearing lululemon, sigh. I feel somewhat emasculated for some reason. They are comfortable though.

We eventually got to our hotel. We were staying in San Bruno at the Villa Montes. It gave us lots of options and we kept joking that we were going to NorCal, but not into SF……

After a short rest we got back on the road a drove around a bit. We were still pretty full form lunch and decided on a fairly light dinner. I gave the Missus a couple of options and She chose the restaurant which was located in Daly City. So we drove to Daly City stopping here and there. When the Missus saw the 99 Ranch Market we decided to stop since we were still running a bit early. After stretching our legs a bit we headed to our dinner destination, Burma Cafe.

Burma Cafe is located in, what else, a strip mall. The mall looked a little run down, with most of the shops looking like this one right next to Burma Cafe.

Burma Cafe was without a doubt the nicest looking shop in the place.

****Burma Cafe has closed

They had just opened for dinner when we arrived, so it was pretty empty. The interior was on the dark side, yet it created a fairly nice intimate mood.

The really nice young lady seated us, we came to find out she is the owner's daughter.

The menu is concise, but full of dishes I wanted to try.

Of course we had to have the Lahpet Thoke, the Fermented Tea Leaf Salad, which is often called the Burmese National Dish.

I realize that the traditional version of this dish doesn't usually include lettuce, but in this case the crispness of the greens really made this a refreshing dish. The mildly bitter-astringent-pickled flavor of the fermented tea leaves, which looked a lot like pesto was really enjoyable for us. The addition of various nuts, beans, and seeds added textural contrast and flavor. The tomato gave the dish a bit of an acid kick as well. I'd have this weekly if we lived in the area.

A while back, I read that kabocha is used quite a bit in Burmese cooking. I thought the Missus would really enjoy the Kabocha Pork Stew.

The Missus, a big fan of kabocha loved this dish….even if it had pork in it. The pork was perfectly tender, soft, but not mushy. I really enjoyed the combination of spices used in this dish, complex, mildly spicy, but not overwhelming. I wasn't such a big fan of the kabocha, I felt it was a bit too starchy and undercooked….but hey, the Missus loved it.

We both enjoyed the ambiance. The young lady who served us was very nice and even chatted with us about how the food was prepared and the spices they use. I wish we had a place like this in San Diego.

Burma Cafe
63 St Francis Sq
Daly City, CA 94015

Revisits: Fu An, 777 Noodle House, and Song Long (Westminster)

January 21, 2014 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Orange County, Road Trip, Vietnamese Restaurants

Here are a bunch of revisits for you…….

Fu An:

**** Fu An has closed

Since I first posted on this place right after their opening in September, I've been back a couple of times. I really hadn't bothered to take any photos until a recent visit with some friends. This visit clearly shows what I think the "state of Fu An's" is.

First, I've always gotten very friendly service, the folks here seem really nice. The food on the other hand has been uneven.

The batter on Shrimp with Exploding Pepper was on the soft and gummy side. It also strangely lacked spice.

The Fried Intestines with Dried Red Pepper, one of my favorite dishes here was nicely fried, but again, really lacked the "ma", the numbing hot that makes this dish so addictive.

As with previous visits; it's the Steamed Fish Filet with Green Onions and Chopped Chilies was the best item we had.

Though it too seemed a bit mild with regards to heat.

Strange, the diners who accompanied me were both Chinese, one of whom worked for a short while at Ba Ren and we had asked for spicy. But this came up a bit short. Kind of sad really. We have a good amount of Sichuan restaurants in San Diego, but none seems to take the lead with regards to the whole "suan–tian–ku-mala–xian" and top notch technique. I was hoping that Fu An would step up.

Fu An Garden
4768 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

777 Noodle House:

It's really hard to argue with the prices here. The food itself can be quite good.

The Missus' favorite here is still the Tod Mun Pla. It has a very distinct Kaffir Lime Leaf flavor.

She actually prefers the version here to what the Original Sab E Lee serves.

When not getting the Hu Tieu Nam Vang Kho or the Intestine Noodle Soup, I'll usually go with the Intestine with Preserved Vegetable.

I've noticed that they've started adding more sour vegetable over the years and making this a bit more spicy. I'm not complaining.

The place also makes a decent, old school, "count every grain" of fried rice.

I've found the beef to be tough and the chicken to be somewhat suspect, so we stick with the shrimp version.

777 Noodle House
4686 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92105

Song Long (Westminster):

Last year, FOY (Friend of Yoso) Kha, recommended Song Long to us for Cha Ca. And he wasn't kidding. We were recently in the area again and on a whim decided to drop by.

We arrived pretty early, about a quarter past 9, which made the place look like some strange, kind of kitschy VN-american diner. We only ordered one thing, the Cha Ca Thang Long ($16.95).

Man, the mam nem here is pretty heady….it's delicious, the Missus can practically drink the stuff, but man, it really is the gift that keeps on giving, as that aftertaste will stay with you for a while.

In what was a funny little vignette, a couple minutes after the greens and bun arrived, I think the guy working realized we weren't Vietnamese and brought over a bowl of nouc mam cham….we had been "gringo'ed!"

When the Cha Ca arrived I sat in awe……this looked way better than what we had last time. It was also delicious.

From the wonderful sweet and savory sauteed shallots, to the wonderful dill, moving to the moist and flavorful fish….not to mention the wilted scallions, this was quite good.

Needless to say, we're thinking about returning again soon….I hope it's always this good!

Song Long Restaurant
9361 Bolsa Ave Suite 108
Westminster, CA 92683

Nostalgic Roadtrip: The Monday Special at Chicken Box (La Habra) 12 years later…..

January 20, 2014 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Orange County, Road Trip

We were driving on the 605 earlier today. We had an appointment in the City of Industry and were deciding on what to eat. Suddenly it came to me; "it's Monday, right? How about Chicken Box?" Not knowing if the place still had the "Monday Special", 10 pieces of broasted chicken and potatoes, the Missus found the number and called….and sure enough they did. After our appointment, I placed a call and we headed over to the Chicken Box.

Located in La Habra on Whittier Boulevard, next to the bowling alley, Monday nights often meant the "Monday Special" when we lived right over the hill. We both loved the broasted chicken. After moving to San Diego, I visited just about every broasted chicken joint and none even came close.

It was nice to see not much had changed….the simple take-out set-up, the food was still cooked to order so you had to tell them when you'd be picking things up. It was usually a 20-30 minute lead time. There was still the little kitschy display with chicken-country themed knick-knacks for sale…..

As much as I've lavished praise on the Chicken Box; for some strange contradictory reason, it has to be on a Monday…..perhaps it's nostalgia, or heck, maybe we're being cheap, but we'd always get it on a Monday.

We were surprised to see the Monday Special was only $11.89….you can get it on any day, but it'll cost you $16.99. You're limited to two specials per order. Broasted chicken, made by a patented and trademarked process of pressure frying chicken, ain't cheap stuff. From what I recall, the equipment is only available to food service, so you can only get this eating out. You can read more on the Broaster website.

They were doing a pretty steady business, folks coming in and picking up, one or two trays of the special. We finally got ours……we couldn't wait and headed over to one of the outdoor tables to see if the chicken had changed over the years. We were happy to note it had not; it was still as good as ever.

Man, this was good. These folks know how to use the Broaster. Nothing I've had in San Diego; even if they all use the same equipment and possibly the same marinade and process compares. The flavor of the coating was very simple and straight forward. This wasn't greasy in the least. The skin and coating was thin and crisp and much of the fat had rendered off. Also, each piece, regardless of size was cooked perfectly. It is claimed that broasted chicken is 44% more moist than fried chicken. It's easy to believe…..

The broasted potatoes weren't nearly as good as before; I think it used to be seasoned much more aggressively. But heck; this is the Chicken Box, not the Potato Shack.

This really made our day and brought back memories of our time in Rowland Heights. There aren't many of our old haunts that are still great after over a decade. We're glad the Chicken Box still is……it's also still better than Pittsburgh Chicken and Subs in Los Alamitos as well!

Chicken Box
330 E Whittier Blvd
La Habra, CA 90631

Rose Garden Tea Room at the Huntington: Road Trip

January 15, 2014 ed fromyuma Los Angeles County, Road Trip, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Today, you can read about Tina and Ed (from Yuma) touristing and eating in the LA area. Tomorrow, it’ll probably be Kirk or Cathy writing. Things change at mmm-yoso.

The Huntington in San Marino (not far from San Gabriel) contains a wonderful Library, rooms full of Art collections, and botanical Gardens:

The estate of approximately 120 acres contains huge lawns decorated with statuary:

Asian Gardens:

Bridges:

Flowers blooming even in late December:

The major art collection in the Huntington mansion includes the largest selection of English portraits outside of London, including Gainsborough’s “Blue Boy” and Lawrence's “Pinkie:

When we were there in December, 2013, the gallery in this building below contained an extensive exhibit, called "Face to Face," that focused on how Flemish painting influenced and contributed to the great art of 15th-century Florence and presented over 30 works by Memling, van der Weyden, van Eyck, and other greats:

Of course, Tina and I were also interested in the traditional tea buffet in the Rose Garden Tea Room ($29.50). Classical chamber music played in the background perfectly accenting the understated elegance of the room itself:

Each table had basic tea condiments – lumps of brown or white sugar and a small pitcher of milk:

When seated, we were given a large basket of buttery and flaky scones, each about the diameter of an old silver dollar, all rich and flavorful:

As you can see, some had raisins and some orange peel. There was also a small tray of complements for the scones – blueberry preserves, orange marmalade (made from Seville oranges grown on the estate), fresh butter, and sweet Devonshire cream:

A large range of teas including many flower or herbal teas without caffeine were available. Since we were having tea as a Saturday brunch, we chose good, old-fashioned English breakfast, which was flavorful but not astringent or bitter:

I have to admit to being slightly disappointed in the utilitarian teapot, which was refilled when needed. For some reason, I had expected something more ornate in sterling silver.

After gorging ourselves on scones – certainly the best either of us had ever had – we filled plates with treats from the buffet in the middle of the room. Here is Tina's first plate:

My first plate:

My 2nd plate:

From a different angle emphasizing the fruit:

This was all generally good. Tina's favorite sandwich was the cucumber. I liked the chicken and tarragon, the ginger and carrot and especially the smoked salmon with dilled cream cheese. The caviar was abundant, crunchy, and not too salty or fishy. The hummus, which looked pretty ordinary, was actually extraordinarily complex and flavorful. We both thought the lightly smoked Gouda was the best of the cheeses that we tried. Some of the fruit – I remember the giant strawberry in particular – was truly excellent. Of course the salads were fresh and tasty. It took great restraint to only have 2 plates of food along with the wonderful scones. Had we scheduled The Rose Garden Tea Room in the middle of our visit to the Huntington (instead of 10:45 am), we might well have sat there for a couple of hours sipping and savoring the various treats.

If I’d spent more time, I could have even sampled the numerous brownies, cookies, and cupcakes that I forgot to photograph. But I did take some snaps of the roses outside:

In any case, we had a wonderful time at the Huntington, and we both want to thank Kirk who reminded us about the traditional English tea room on the estate.

The Rose Garden Tea Room, at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Rd San Marino, CA 91108; Tea Room hours Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: 12 noon to 4:30 p.m. (last seating at 3:30 p.m.); Sat. – Sun.: 10:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (last seating at 3:30 p.m.); Closed Tuesdays; (626) 683-8131. Link to The Huntington http://www.huntington.org/

Roadtrip: Firestone Grill – San Luis Obispo

January 11, 2014 mmm-yoso Paso Robles/Cambria/San Luis Obispo County, Road Trip, Salads, Sandwiches

**** I have an updated post on Firestone Grill here

The was a reason we dawdled around Solvang for a while. I'd really been wanting to have a tri-tip sandwich for a while. Calculating driving times and such, it was either Firestone Grill or bypassing Solvang and hoping to make it to Salinas. We decided on stopping in San Luis Obispo, driving through the downtown streets of this quaint looking college town, finding parking across the street from Firestone Grill.

Having never been here before; I really didn't know what to expect…..the place is large a cavernous, looking like part College hang-out – Sport's Bar – Chain Restaurant. You order at the counter and wait to be called.

The menu is simple; burgers, salads, pulled pork, hot dogs….smoked grilled, slapped between bread. The food, though simple, is not slapped together. The portions looked huge; which is not always a good sign…..

The Missus was ravenous and had me order the Steak Cobb Salad (Large $9.49), which is served in what looks like on of those metal mixing bowls.

The greens and vegetables were sparkling fresh….the truth of the matter is that the generous amount of bacon and blue cheese made this salad. We didn't use any dressing (on the side) at all. Basically, a solid salad.

Of course I ordered the Tri-tip Sandwich ($8.69).

I was sold after the first bite. I've never had tri-tip this moist and tender ….I still have a hard time believing it actually is a tri-tip, the bottom sirloin. The beefy flavor however, was definitely there along with a pleasant, light smokiness. The meat was tender without being mushy. The roll toasted lightly with garlic butter just heightened the experience. I took a bite and told the Missus, "you're going to love this….." Which She did. She's still talking about this sandwich. It was probably the most pleasant surprise on our road trip. I'm glad I requested the BBQ Sauce on the side. It was way too sweet and would have totally over-powered the flavor of the beef. This was probably the best sandwich I had all year.

Firestone Grill
1001 Higuera St
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

I'm guessing there are those who have issues with Firestone Grill – after Tweeting about this sandwich; FOY – MrZ, the Zompus actually mentioned that the sandwich was too tender for his taste! Go figure! Perhaps MrZ had one too many of these in his life and has become jaded? (I do miss the both of you BTW)

Melissa Good Taste, however agrees with me.

After lunch we walked around a bit and ended up getting some stuff from here.

All in all a successful stop…….

A Dinner at Giang Nan in Monterey Park: Road Trip

January 3, 2014 ed fromyuma Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Xiao Long Bao

This post isn't about a Kirk Road Trip or one by Cathy. This post is about a meal Ed (from Yuma) and Tina had on a road trip exploring a little of the culture and cuisines in the LA area.

Tina and I were staying in Montebello, just south of Monterey Park. Saturday night was going to be our last dinner in the area. Of course, we would eat Chinese food, but Tina insisted “no seafood.” We were looking for something reasonable, no frills, no stress. Thanks to some posts by Kirk, we decided to try a Shanghai style dinner at Giang Nan – if we could find the small restaurant at the backend of a small anonymous strip mall at 306 N. Garfield. Luckily for us, it was all lit up for the holidays:

We were fairly early, so there were few other customers in the small restaurant when we arrived, and the place was not full even later when we left:

The restaurant seemed clean and nicely if sparingly decorated. The service was also friendly and knowledgeable – our young female waitperson was very helpful and pleasant. The menu was extensive and offered us a lot of choices, so we found some dishes we knew we wanted, but we just guessed about others.

We began with chicken in wine sauce ($4.95):

This cold chicken appetizer tasted fresh and clean with a light background flavor of the wine sauce. Very enjoyable.

The duck in supreme sauce ($5.95) was also pleasant. The thick sauce had a pronounced 5 spice flavor and complemented the chilled leg and thigh of roast duck. Sweet spice and savory flavors matching the cool rich duck flesh:

We felt we got lucky with our order of shredded pork and bamboo shoots ($5.95). Really enjoyed the textures of the pork, bamboo shoots, and green onions. The dish was lightly sauced so that each ingredient was present and accounted for. Of course, I am a huge fan of bamboo shoots since I just love their earthy woodsy flavor and unique texture, but it is hard to imagine anyone not relishing this dish:

We wanted a purely vegetable dish and braised green beans and shredded potato sounded different and interesting:

The dish arrived at our table still steaming hot. The green beans were perfectly cooked and the sauce, dark as it looked, was not too salty or overwhelming. Only the potato strips, which tasted too soft, like they came from a package of frozen french fries, were somewhat disappointing. Still they provided a bland and soft contrast to the crispier green flavored beans.

Our helpful waitperson had suggested that we have some rice with the meal, and when I asked her to recommend a particular rice dish, she eagerly pointed to the salted pork and vegetable rice ($5.95):

Her recommendation was spot on. In some ways, this was the most impressive thing we tasted all evening. The greens, the slightly salty pork belly chunks, and the hot, almost creamy rice were well balanced and the layered flavors of the dish all worked together. We thanked her a couple of different times for the recommendation.

The last item to arrive was an order of pork xiao long bao ($4.95):

These were really good. Although a couple of them had lost some soup, every one was wonderfully juicy:

The pork flavors of the dumplings were excellent, and the wrappers neither too thick nor too tough. We also appreciated their somewhat small size. Once they cooled just a little bit, they were perfect one-bite treats. It seemed odd to receive them at the end of the meal, but we had no trouble gobbling them all up. Just like a desert, I guess.

Not only was this a very reasonably priced dinner,:

but we received so much food that it was also our Sunday brunch as well, and we still felt bad throwing some leftovers away. Giang Nan is certainly not a fancy restaurant, but we will happily return for rustic Shanghai cuisine the next time we are in the area.

Giang Nan, 306 N Garfield Ave, Monterey Park, CA 91754, (626) 573-3421; Open 11 am – 3pm, and 5pm – 10 pm daily

Roadtrip: Alpine Village Market – Torrance

December 23, 2013 mmm-yoso German Restaurants and Food, Los Angeles County, Markets & Grocers, Road Trip

**** Sadly Alpine Village Market closed in 2023

Please pardon all the roadtrip posts. I wanted to do this one, because this place just put us in the holiday mood. We decided to head up to LA to do some shopping this past weekend, mostly food stuff. On our previous roadtrip (more posts coming up), instead of visting sites and such, we just ended up hitting various markets along the way. On this roadtrip, we hit up old favorites like the Torrance Farmer's Market, which seems to get larger everytime we visit and of course, Marukai Gardena, the motherlode with regards to Marukai's. But I had my sights set on another place that I'd only recently heard about; the Alpine Village Market, located close by in Torrance.

The Market is located in a large complex, called…duh…. Alpine Village. Along with the market, a deli, and restaurant and ummm "bierhall" (of course), there's a travel agency, driving school, clock and watch repair, along with the mother of all swap meets, which made the parking lot into an insane swarm of vehicles trying to find a parking spot. We lucked out and found a tiny spot to the left of the rather kitschy looking exterior of the market.

I was totally set on being underwhelmed, but this place exceeded my expectations. The market isn't very large but they sure pack a lot into the place.

From the bakery, with stacks of wonderful smelling bread.

And all the old school type pastries. It's a good thing I don't have a sweet tooth, otherwise I'd have gone a bit crazy here. The couple in front of me at the register bought three loaves of bread and spent almost $300 bucks on groceries. Kind of tough, since the prices seem very reasonable.

There are all sorts of candies and confections, canned and jarred products.

This is a German market, so of course a third of it would be the wine and beer section.

This was all nice, but the one section that was just packed to the gills busy was the butcher shop. The line was four to five deep. Man the place was hopping.

The collection of sausages and charcuterie was impressive……

I was told that all of this was made in house. There were sausages and cuts, I'd never heard of. There was a cold case full of various "wursts", but no one was taking stuff from there….it was all happening in front of the meat counter.

One look at the selection of head cheese and we were sold; the Missus took and number and headed into the fray.

Honestly, if this were say 99 Ranch Market and a survival of the strongest type situation, we'd truly have walked away. But this crowd, though busy and intense, also had a bit of jovial, friendly nature to it. Perhaps it was the holiday season, but as nice as the crew behind the counter were (and they were very nice), the other customers were really friendly, at least to us. I guess we kind of stood out…..

Back in the line, the Missus was having a conversation with an African-American gentleman originally from Louisiana, who seemed to know everyone….he told the Missus he came here every two weeks. He had a basket full of smoked beef bones for his dogs. The Missus decided to send me off looking for these….which is how I came across this:

Grieben Schmalz, which I had heard off but never seen in a market. When you hear the term schmalz, you tend to think of the Yiddish "schmaltz" which refers to rendered fat from fowl……grieben schmalz on the other hand is rendered pork fat….think lard, that has been flavored with onion and in many cases, though not this one, with apple. How could I resist? I grabbed five beef bones and a container of schmalz and a older woman looked at what I had in my basket, smiled, and asked me, "you like schmalz?" I tols her that I'd never tried it, but seeing it, I just couldn't resist. I was told it is fantastic on toast. I mentioned that my wife is standing in line to buy head cheese. She asked me which one we chose….I told her all of them. She laughed and said we would have a fine buffet. Apparently, her daughter brings her here every two weeks to shop; "even though I live in Orange County and there are shops there, everything is twice the price and half as good as here….."

Interesting tidbit about buying deli meats…..the counter folks ask you for quantities in "slices"……though they were ok with the Missus ordering a quarter pound….of all the head cheeses.

Thus we ended up with a basket of smoked dog bones, head cheese, some candy, flavored lard, and three containers of sauekraut, purely for comparison of course……

All our stuff came out to $35, pretty cheap I think. I'm sure we'll be back again, this time for sausages, and perhaps more Grieben Schmalz.

Alpine Village Market
833 Torrance Blvd
Torrance, CA 90502
Hours:
Mon – Thurs 10am – 7pm
Fri – Sun 9am – 7pm

So we did end up having our "Kaltes Buffet" of sorts. So remember the variety of head cheese? Well here's sampling along with what seems to be cured pork belly stuffed with forcemeat….simply called "pork belly", along with a few cheeses.

My favorites are the top two; the "Norweigan" seemed to be made of shank and shoulder, with a nice pork flavor, no vinegar, with minimal aspic to hold it together. The second one down is the "Hungarian" version, which was full of various vegetables and some pickles, with a distinctive flavor that I found pleasant. The fourth item down, the "French" version had a good amount of paprika and reminded me of capacolla with a bit of pleasant sourness to it.

As for the schmalz….well, I started by tasting some of it straight from the container on a spoon, which tasted nice, but the Missus just wasn't able to eat it that way.

So what I did was toast some baguette, smear a bit of the schamlz on it and put back into the warm toaster oven to melt.

It is "betta' den butta'"…..

While this won't make me forget about duck fat; it sure will taste good with eggs or used to make brussel sprouts…or heck, even if we do cook some coleslaw……

Roadtrip: Solvang Stop – El Rancho Market and Birkholm’s Bakery

December 22, 2013 mmm-yoso Desserts, Markets & Grocers, Road Trip, Santa Barbara County

We left Hacienda Heights at 530 am, thinking that'd we'd avoid all traffic, even on a weekday….at least that's how things used to be when we lived here. I had an account in Hollywood and made a deal to come in early; leaving at about 515 so I could leave early, heck, even hit up the Zankou location in Hollywood and make it home in time! Times sure have changed….there's was a good deal of traffic at 530am on the 60 West, then on the 101. Once we got past Hollywood things got a bit better, then really cleared out until we hit Santa Barbara. Of course, it was prime time traffic by then. We'd decided on heading up this way, stopping along the drive, at places like Solvang. Right outside Solvang was our first stop…..we love markets, so dropping by El Rancho was a must…..

We loved El Rancho; good variety, the Missus got to add to Her apple collection. Prices that were reasonable, you could leave without feeling mugged. You could get local product, or if not, just to do your everyday shopping. We Also got some some organic treats for Da' Boyz….the Missus was tempted to grind Her own flour from wheat at the kiosk……

Loved the sign to the right….which was actually in the restroom!

The prepared foods section looked nice as well.

There's an attached coffee shop right outside the doors of the market where we got our "java fix". I don't drink much coffee these days so this really got me going…..

We enjoyed this as a nice little stop along the way. I thinknthey'd be great if you wanted to pick up prepared foods for a little picnic as well.

El Rancho Market
2886 Mission Dr
Solvang, CA 93463

After getting nice and "caffiened up" we headed into Solvang. We'd been to Solvang a couple of times and had never really enjoyed ourselves….too crowded, too kitschy, it just gave off that tourist trap vibe….. This time though, on a weekday morning in winter; the place seemed so charming.

It was just the perfect time for us, the half timbered structures, the quiet streets….the temperatures in the low thirties….even the locals we met were telling us how cold it was!

We enjoyed walking the streets and into the various businesses…..the folks were welcoming and relaxed.

I needed something to take back to the office, so I figured this would be the spot, right? We went to a couple of bakeries, but this one won out……

Birkholm's Bakery…..

Mainly because we were warmly welcomed….and they kept trying to give us samples! At the other places, we were basically ignored…..

The folks at work seemed to enjoy the stuff……

Birkholm's Bakery
460 Alisal Rd
Solvang, CA 93463

If we're ever back here, this is the way I'd want to do it….early morning on a weekday.

Soon enough, we'd hit our allotted time…….we needed to hit the road.