Road Trip – Page 43

Yuma Part 1 – The “Taco Truck” Tour

November 6, 2005 mmm-yoso Food Trucks, Mexican Restaurants, Road Trip, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

*** Ed from Yuma has an update on Yuma Taco Trucks, you can find it here.

Earlier this year Ed from Yuma, and I were having one of our dinners and I broached the subject of a possible visit. At first Ed's response was, "huh"? But after pondering this for a while, Ed had come up with an idea. Ed has enjoyed some of Yuma's best Mexican Food at various Taco Stands and Trucks, and thought we should do a "Taco Truck Crawl". Ed's been wanting to this for a while, but couldn't find any takers. This sounded really good to me, I know next to nothing about Mexican Food, other then the "something" – Berto type Taco Stands we have here in San Diego.

We scheduled the visit during an open weekend on Ed's schedule; and so here I was fulfilling a very strange fantasy. You see, I often pass the 161 miles to Yuma sign on the 8 Freeway, always tempting me to "just keep driving" until I get "there". The drive took a shade over 2 hours, and was not what I expected. I'd assumed that El Centro, and all of the points East of San Diego was just desolate desert, but was changed as I passed all the fields of green. I got to Yuma at about 1115, and Ed picked me up in the Best Western Motel parking lot at 1130, and we were off.

It seems that there is an abundance of Taco Trucks in an area down 8th street in Yuma. There are literally empty lots lined with trucks around the perimeter. Many of these "shops" don't open until after sunset. Probably because most of their clientele works during the day, whether in the fields, or other manual labor, we also joked that the Dept of Health closes at 5 as well. Not very many "Gringo's" here. Ed wanted to take me to a specific Truck. So we drove down 8th avenue, which is being repaved. I thought the rough dirt road added a definite ambiance to the whole "event".

The specialty here is Caguamanta – Stingray Soup. Ed explained that dried salted Manta ray fillets are rinsed and re-hydrated I'd imagine much like bacalao, and cooked in a tomato based broth, with onions, celery, and other vegetables. The taste is somewhat briny and oceany; Ed describes it as a sting ray Manhattan Chowder. The stingray meat is slightly dense, not as tender at a fish fillet, but much more tender then the usual piece of rubbery clam that you'd get in a chowder. There is a nice bit of spice, and the cilantro and onions equate to a somewhat bracing flavor. You get a 12oz cup of soup, and either 2 corn tortillas or tortilla chips with your soup. Actually, I'd have loved a bowl of rice with this!

While waiting, I took look around the lot. There were several other trucks; some of them looked mobile, others looked like they were towed and left on the site. All of them were painted with the "specialties of the house". I turned to Ed and told him, "I know what this is, it's a food court!"

None of these "shops" were open; some were grilling meat in preparation for the "dinner rush". We came up to a truck on the corner of Eleanor and 8th that was open:

Unfortunately, they were out of everything that Ed tried to order. So we settled for 2 carne asada tacos. These were just ho-hum, I've had better before. But the one thing I noticed was that shredded cabbage was used instead of lettuce, and everything is with corn tortillas, not flour.

As we drove up 8th Street, Ed saw this sign and made a sudden turn into the gravel lot:

In this lot was a trailer, a counter with seafood in ice alongside a concrete "pad" covered with a tarp. Ed placed his order, and in a few minutes, this was delivered:

This large chalice contained a wonderful seafood cocktail. If it's in the ocean, it was in this. Chock full of shrimp, squid, octopus, scallops, great tasting oysters, cucumbers, celery, onion, all in a refreshing clamato and tomato water broth. But the item that surprised me the most was this:

In case you're not sure. Yep, that's abalone, there were at least 5 slices of nice sweet abalone in this goblet, amazing! The broth was just mild enough to add a little taste to all of the seafood. This was fabulous! I also discovered a hot sauce that I really enjoyed, Bufalo Jalapeno Hot Sauce.

Needless to say, we left with smiles on our faces. And lunch isn't over yet! And there's still dinner! STAY TUNED.

To Be Continued…..

Road Trip – Marukai Costa Mesa & Meat Jun in the OC?

September 14, 2005 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants, Markets & Grocers, Orange County, Road Trip

Returning to San Diego from Market World, I noticed that the traffic was unusually light, so I decided to take a chance, and head on over to Marukai Costa Mesa. This was done in typical SoCal fashion, that is, via multiple freeways. So it was the 60 East to the 57 South, to the 5 South, to the 55 West, to the 405 North…..that was easy, wasn’t it!

I found Marukai Costa Mesa on busy Harbor Blvd, in a building that was obviously some other Supermarket in a previous life. The parking lot was busy, and so was the market. I just took a short trip around the perimeter, and the "Hawaiian" section caught my eye:

All of the usual suspects where in display; the Hawaii Miso, Portuguese Sausage, Zippy’s Chili, etc. The one thing that really caught my eye was the Park’s Brand Chili Pepper water, a real rarity here on the mainland.

Over in the fish department, there was very fresh Maguro and of course, Ogo!

Since the Costa Mesa location of Marukai is a little closer I may end up shopping here instead of driving to Gardena. The selection is good, and I was surprised at all of the "Local Kine" people everywhere.

After doing a bit of shopping I stored all my "Stuff" and took a walk around the Food Court. Suddenly I was caught totally off guard and surprised:

Not by that sign, but by this:

Yes, that is Meat Jun that you see on the "menu board". I’ve never seen Meat Jun on the Mainland! I was fairly surprised, after all I had always been pretty sure that Meat Jun was more or less a Hawaii thing. Meat Jun is marinated rib eye beef, coated with an egg and flour coating and fried. It is usually served with a sweet-salty dipping sauce. Reid on his site Ono Kine Grindz has a great photo of what Meat Jun should look like.

So, overcome with nostalgia, I had to order it ($5.95). And what I ended up with was this:

As you can tell the Meat Jun is totally burnt! Can you imagine how egg batter tastes burnt? Bitter, and totally gross. The Jap Chae had no flavor. The only thing edible on this plate was the egg and rice. "The Boyz" ended up with the meat; I had to scrape all the batter off before they’d eat it though! I guess they really DON’T make Meat Jun on the Mainland…..

A funny note; if you’ve ever "read" any of my other posts, you’ll notice that I try to include a picture of the store-front of all the places I visit. I tried to do this as I was leaving; but a very persistent Security Guard kept following me around. He kept looking at me and talking on his "radio". I’d stop, and he’d stop, and start talking on his radio. Never said a word, but he really creeped me out! I felt like I was at Fuddruckers again!!! So I just decided it was probably best to leave without photographing any "state secrets", geeez!

Marukai Costa Mesa
2975 Harbor Blvd
Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Korean Kitchen
Marukai Market Food Court
2975 Harbor Blvd
Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Road Trip: The Boat – Rowland Heights

September 12, 2005 mmm-yoso Los Angeles County, Road Trip, Thai Restaurants

**** The Boat has closed

In need of a “quick” lunch I decided to drop by The Boat in Diamond Plaza off of Fullerton Road. We used to live relatively close to The Boat, and ate here quite often. So I kinda just wanted to see if perhaps my tastes had changed since I last ate there.

It was 10 til 11 and Diamond Plaza was absolutely packed! Unbelievable! I managed to find a parking spot at the far end of the mall, dodged the crazy drivers honking at each other and cutting each other off, and made my way to The Boat, which was very quiet:

I was quickly seated and my order was efficiently taken. The first item I ordered was the Pad Kee Mao ($5.25):

As you can clearly see; the Pad Kee Mao doesn’t even look like it’s been cooked in a wok! Though I enjoyed the chilies and the amount of basil, that’s all I could taste. There was really no other flavor at all. Also, the chicken was dry and tough. This dish was a disappointment, I’d never order it again. I took most of it home, where the Missus asked me, “where’s the flavor?” I gave her a bottle of Soy Sauce, and said “here’s the flavor…”

I also ordered the Papaya Salad ($4.95):

This was an okay dish. Nice flavor, good spice, and the shrimp added a nice salty, briny taste along with a good texture counter-point. The sauce needed, a bit more fish sauce, there was a bit too much lime juice in this dish. But decent overall.

In comparison to our meal at Krua Thai this was a very mediocre meal.

Some notes on The Boat. The service is fast and efficient, though friendly is not in the vocabulary. Most of the clientele are Chinese, but the people working looked to be Thai. I don’t think I’ll be coming back again, I left wondering what is was about The Boat that I enjoyed so much in the past?????

A little side note. This is the Restaurant that people were literally running each other over to get into; New Capitol Seafood. When we lived here it used to be Ruby Palace (?), or something like that. Maybe Elmo or Mealcentric can tell me what the deal is with this restaurant? There was a line all the way down the stairs! At 10 til 11 in the morning!

The Boat
1390 Fullerton Rd
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
11:00 A.M. – 12:00 A.M. Sunday to Thursday
11:00 A.M. – 1:00 A.M. Friday and Saturday

Road Trip: Hannam Chain Market World – Diamond Bar

September 10, 2005 mmm-yoso Los Angeles County, Markets & Grocers, Road Trip

Had to make a quick trip to Los Angeles today. I was able to make it there in almost record time, and picked-up what I needed. Since it was still early, and I had already had a quick lunch, I decided to drive around the "old neighborhood" to see what changes have been taking place. Driving up Colima Road, to the point where it turns to Golden Springs, I noticed Market World:

I entered this huge, and packed Super Market. I immediately zeroed in on the produce department and noticed the Jujube’s:

Though not of the best quality, the price was right so I quickly "bagged" a pound.

Next up the "noodle" section, and I grabbed a package of the "instant" Naengmyun, at least that’s what I think it is:

I just went on the pictures, there were no English labeling, so we’ll see what happens. I immediately picked up a scent (Whooo-ah! ), of something being fried. Following my nose I came up to a "deli" section, and noticed a new batch of fried crab being wrapped:

This being a "solo" trip, I knew I needed "offerings" for the omnipotent deity, that is the Missus. I knew this would fill the bill.

The selection of items is staggering, you find yourself walking in circles in a complete daze forgetting what it is that you’d been thinking of getting just the minute before. Then turning the corner you come upon the shelf of Korean "pancake" mix (Pa jun).

Ohh-Kay….There were at least 9 different brands/varieties. I ended up getting the one with English instructions. This may be a mistake, but I don’t have the slightest idea how to make this, so I’ll need to start somewhere.

Of course no Market could survive without the isle of snacks:

Floor to ceiling, brand after brand. No one could possibly survive without those twenty brands of Corn Puffs Marketwor08 , right?

And of course the Panchan "bar". The selections looked good and fresh, though I did not partake.

There are also two "restaurants" within Market World. The one at the East end, was positively "rocking". Too bad I’d already had lunch. I’ll give this place a try next time, every dish I saw people eating looked good (except the sushi…)

There was a Woman rolling out dough and making Mandoo by hand. I’m definitely trying this next time!

This was an interesting and fun time, though I shudder at thought of the "damage" that Jo and Mills could do here! The crabs were a success, all gone in a few minutes, I also purchased some "Flaming File Tiles", and other items. Market World is definitely worth a visit!

Hannam Chain Market World
21080 Golden Springs Drive
Walnut, CA 91789

Road Trip: Shopping and Snackin’ in LA – Hong Kong Plaza Squared

August 27, 2005 mmm-yoso Desserts, Los Angeles County, Markets & Grocers, Road Trip

We had an appointment in Los Angeles this afternoon, so of course there would be some eating involved. And knowing our luck it would also just so happen to be the hottest day of the year. Geez! We left at a quarter after nine, and made great time getting to our first destination at about ten till eleven, too early for lunch (restaurant not open till eleven). So we decided to take a walk around, even though it was stifling hot.

Our destination – Hong Kong Plaza in West Covina. This huge mall didn’t even exist when we moved from LA 4 years ago. So it was quite a shock to see this huge mall here. This outpost of Hong Kong Supermarket was also a shock. We lived down the street from Hong Kong Market in Rowland Heights, and it was basically a Chinese Market. This branch was different and looked to be directed at the Southeast Asian population. It was fun walking down the isles and finding items like the frozen Mangosteen:

One isle was totally dedicated to various packaged seasonings and mixes, many of which I’ve never heard of:

After picking up some nice looking lychee (99 cents/lb – a great price), rejecting the jujubes (dry and looking old), and picking up some packaged snacks I went to the check out, paid and headed for our lunch destination. All the time counting my blessings – I got out spending under twenty bucks.

Hong Kong Supermarket
987 S Glendora Ave
West Covina, CA 91790

After lunch and our appointment, we headed to the "other" Hong Kong Plaza, and our "stinky tofu" destination; Shau Mei Restaurant. While waiting for our tofu, the Missus ordered a Taiwanese Shaved Ice with 3 "items" ($2.50):

Basically 3 items – in this case Lychee, sweet rice balls, and Mango Mousse, covered with a pile of shaved ice with some syrup. You can also order this with condensed milk or juice for an additional cost. In about 5 minutes it looked like this:

The mango mousse was terrible BTW. Standing in the suffocating heat, with a large bag (3 orders) of stinky tofu in my hand was a bit much for me, so I returned to the car to store the tofu while the Missus browsed through a pile of CDs and DVDs. I returned and considered myself lucky; she only bought 3 Andy Lau CDs for $3. She had spotted this sign though:

99 cent Boba – Bargain City! How can you resist a 99 cent Boba? So after a sharp right turn we headed into the snack shop and got a Taro Shake with Boba (Boba in a shake 25 cents). I’m not a Boba drinker, but took a sip. It tasted like a Taro Shake. The Missus said it was a bit sweet, but the Boba was good. So this was obviously worth $1.24.

So done with our short reprieve from the heat, we headed out into the parking lot, and suddenly realized why we like San Diego so much. We miss all of the options available to you in Los Angeles, but really don’t miss the 100 degree plus temps and the psycho drivers and traffic.

Here’s the sign of the day:

You too can go where the "Implants Hang Out"!!!

What about our lunch? That’s for tomorrow, when I’ve recovered from my heat stroke.

Road Trip – Marukai Gardena and Harry’s Aloha Chop Suey

August 1, 2005 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Markets & Grocers, Road Trip

I made my way to Marukai Gardena from the Torrance Farmer’s Market. When I got there just at opening time, it was already quite warm, seems like it was going to be a "hot one".

Almost as big as an airplane hangar, Marukai Gardena is located right on Artesia Blvd. I remember the first time I entered this place; it had almost everything I needed. I had indeed reached the Ex-Pat food "Mecca". Redondo and Purity Portuguese Sausage, S & S Saimin, frozen Zippy’s Chili, Diamond Bakery Soda & Creme crackers, and Aloha Shoyu, to name a few, can all be found here. One of the first things you’ll notice when you enter is that for a place so large, it’s really somewhat cramped.

It can really get crowded in here, so we always plan to get in and out ASAP. The "wall of snacks" here is daunting.

There’s just so much here, I won’t go into it in too much depth. Just enough to say, it was a quick stop today, no maguro, no ogo for me. Just some snacks and alot of nice memories. Marukai is a membership market, but a daily membership ($1.00) is available – it’s cheaper than Disneyland, and almost as fun! So I shopped quickly loaded up my bounty, and headed back to my hotel room for a quick rest and to check out.

Marukai
1740 West Artesia Blvd
Gardena, CA 90248
Summer: Monday – Saturday, 9:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. & Sunday, 9:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Winter: Monday – Saturday, 9:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. & Sunday, 9:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.

*** Harry’s Aloha Chop Suey has closed

I than decided to hit Harry’s Aloha Chop Suey for a quick bite before hitting the road.

The definition of "hole in the wall", with only 6 tables, Harry’s has a small menu featuring hot table combinations (beef stew, fried chicken, etc.), cooked items (chop steak), and Saimin and Won Ton Mein. Call it a case of saimin insanity, today I decided to order what’s probably the most expensive item on the menu – a large size "Super" Saimin ($9.00).

There was a ton of Char Siu, several slices of kamabuko, what probably amounts to half a head of napa cabbage, carrots, and won tons. The best thing about the dish were the noodles, perfectly cooked, saimin (not ramen) noodles. The crunchy texture triggered many a memory of bowls of saimin and teriyaki beef sticks. The broth on the other hand was nothing to write home about, weak and almost flavorless, shoyu was a necessity. The other item I was thankful for was the watery "chinese mustard", just like back home. A swirl with the chopsticks to get a bit of mustard on it, place into the spoon, grab noodles and place in the spoon, consume – delici-yoso! I finished just about everything, enough to get a comment of "you did pretty good".

So great noodles, not the best broth, great service, and everything under $9.00 (actually most items are under $6.50). Not as good as I remember from my last trip here, but still worth the culinary trip down "memory lane". Enough so that I was willing to eat this even though the weather outside was clearly "heatwave" in nature.

Harry’s Aloha Chop Suey
1721 W Redondo Beach Blvd
Gardena, CA 90247

Road Trip – Torrance Farmer’s Market

July 31, 2005 mmm-yoso Farmer's Markets/Night Market, Los Angeles County, Road Trip

I decided to break up my return trip from Mountainview, and stay overnight in Torrance. Of course I had an ulterior motive – a visit to the Torrance Saturday CFM. We used to make a 90 mile round trip from Rowland Heights to Torrance every other Saturday when we lived in LA. Our first stop would be the Torrance Farmer’s Market at around 8-830am. The farmer’s market stretches the entire length of the Wilson Park parking lot. In our time in Los Angeles we had been to just about every farmer’s market – Hollywood, Santa Monica, even the Monrovia Farmer’s market. But Torrance remains our favorite. It’s a no-frills, no people watching, no great chef’s out looking for produce, farmer’s market, but there are several vendors selling excellent Asian vegetables, and lots and lots of fruit vendors. When strawberries are in season you can smell them from a block away, even faintly (more like smoggle-berries, though) two blocks away.

Today, the star of the show were these Sugar Lady Peaches, sweet and intense in flavor; ripe and ready to eat. I also picked up some kumquats and ripe figs for the Missus. I then went hunting for vegetables and picked up some long green peppers, Asian Eggplant, and baby bok choy. Sorry no pictures; I just dived right on in and grabbed my veggies.

Once done, my usual strategy is to go back to the car, unload, and wander around and take in the sights and sounds. One of the most busiest stands is this one – they’ve been there since we first started going to this farmer’s market in the late 90’s.

There is usually a "Hawker" pushing the peaches, strawberries, or whatever; and a table of samples. After I took this picture I stepped up and had some samples (breakfast…) and a guy started sampling a bunch of nectarines. When I made the return trip he was still there, now working on the peaches! There are samples at every stand – Costcos’ got nothing on this place! So you can get a nice Saturday Brunch in as well.

On this trip I noticed alot more food vendors – in addition to the old time Sausage, Crepes, and Thai stands, there’s one with Peruvian food, a peanut roasting stand. I decided not to imbibe, but couldn’t resist, the Kettle Corn! But who can?

It was getting hot, and it was almost 9am, so I decided to jump in the car and head to stop #2 – Marukai Gardena.

Torrance Sat CFM
Wilson Park, 2200 Crenshaw
Sat, 8A-1P

Here’s a pic of Pepper at the filling station in Atascadero – ooops, not in Atascadero (inside joke) – at Atascadero.

A Big Thank You!

July 31, 2005 mmm-yoso Road Trip, San Francisco and Silicon Valley, yoso-silly

To Jo, for providing a wonderful home for Pepper, and her wonderful family. I’ll leave all of the pictures and reports for her to post on her site. Also milgwimper for the great info and conversation. Jo and Mills took me on a shopping tour of Mountainview and the surrounding area – when we left, the sun was up, we got back at 9pm! I had a blast, and there were lot’s of laughs! – Pusit….

Thanks to Mike; he makes a mean cup o’ joe. Jo I still think you need to raze the kitchen and build a coffee drive thru!

Of all of the places we visited, it was Dittmer’s that made the biggest impression. They have the "best Wurst"! Friendly Staff and great service, I’ll be back!

Dittmer’s Gourmet Meats & Wurst-Haus Inc
400 San Antonio Road
Mountain View, CA 94040

Here’s a picture of Pepper in Soledad, sorry, bad joke….at the Soledad filling station.

LA Road Trip Part 2 – Rutt’s Cafe

July 18, 2005 mmm-yoso Diner, Loco Mocos, Los Angeles County, Plate Lunch, Road Trip

*** Update – On a recent trip to the area, I noticed that Rutt’s Cafe has been replaced with another restaurant. Something along the lines of Don Carlos……

In the first part of the road trip I picked up some ogo from Marukai in West Covina, and went over the purchase of "stinky tofu" from Shau Mei Deli. I had initially, planned on picking up some "local kine grinds" from either Harry’s Aloha Chop Suey or Bruddah’s Hawaiian Food in Gardena. But since I ended up in West Covina, that was pretty much out of the question. While driving up Azusa I saw this sign:

So I drove up and did a u-turn on Azusa, and then did a right turn and went around onto Valley Blvd, under the Azusa overpass. In this no man’s land strip mall, with a Carniceria, 99 cent Chinese Food, and other businesses, stood Rutt’s Hawaiian Cafe on the corner. Now having lived a few miles from here for 4 years, I knew that this couldn’t be an optimal location – Valley Blvd, on the border of City of Industry and La Puente. This mall can be more than a little scary, especially at night.

So I went in and there were no "Hawaii kine" people to be found, but I had a seat at the counter, had a menu handed to me, and looked it over. There were a ton of "royales", that is, an omelet over rice, or over fried rice. This was definitely a "breakfast" kind of place. Many dishes came in Junior, Regular, and King sizes and ranged from$4.25 to $8.45. There was Portuguese Sausage and Kalua Pork on the menu. I went ahead and ordered a regular size Loco Moco $6.35. The waitress was apparently a bit new and had to check the menu herself to see what options there were – I chose the macaroni salad, and eggs over easy (is there any other way to serve eggs for a loco moco?). I also ordered an iced tea, which came in a very large cup. After about 10 minutes my "loco" was served:

The plate a had 2 easy over eggs over a large hamburger patty on gravy over rice, macaroni salad, and a roll (?). The gravy was country style, not what’s usually served with a loco – it’s usually a brown gravy. The gravy was lumpy and had ok flavor, though I’m used a more beefy brown gravy. The hamburger patty was tasty, with a hint of sweetness, and lots of onions and green onions – a plus in my book. The macaroni salad had a good amount of mayonnaise, but was also flavored with relish, yuck, one of my pet peeves, couldn’t finish the salad. And the roll, I really didn’t know what to do with the roll…. The eggs, well let me say this. If there was a College degree for Short Order Cooks, whomever cooked the eggs and the burger would have a Masters Degree, they were cooked to perfection. Nice and runny yolk, the whites crisp around the edges and yet soft, excellent!

The service was friendly and attentive, and a person who I think is the owner was helping to wait tables, and it seemed like it was his Daughters that were helping him out. I found out later that the owner of the original Rutt’s had sold the name and restaurant, and this location had been open for about a year, but it looks like they’re really trying hard here. Before leaving I saw a huge platter of fried rice with char siu in it, and was told it was the King Sized "Hawaiian" Royale with Portuguese Sausage and Char Siu, looked big enough to feed a family of four. So would I return? Sure, I consider this a pretty good diner, with excellent portions. The location is kind of strange, I really wouldn’t want to be around here at night, but I’d definitely return.

Rutt’s Cafe
17371 East Valley Blvd.
La Puente, CA 91714
(626) 839-6312

LA Road Trip – Marukai West Covina and Shau Mei Restaurant; Ogo and Smelly Tofu?

July 16, 2005 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Markets & Grocers, Road Trip

*** Note: Marukai West Covina is now Tokyo Central

Feeling really ambitious, I decided on a Road Trip to LA. The objective; Ogo from Marukai. I left at 715, and actually got to the Marukai in Gardena, 10 minutes before opening time (115 miles in 90 minutes – talk about making great time!). I decided to call the fish Dept and ask if they had Ogo; well they told me that they were out, and so it seems was I, out of luck that is! Well, just to follow-up I called Marukai in West Covina, and was told that they had Ogo. So I decided to go for it! What the heck, another 40 miles really wouldn't make a difference. When I drove into the parking lot of Marukai I noticed that there was alot of work going on the storefront.

I walked in, and there it was, Ogo – $7.98/lb. So basically a package of ogo cost less than 3 bucks. One really good thing about the West Covina branch of Marukai is that they are less busy and thus able to give really good service. I looked at the tuna in the fish case and none of them looked really good, plus all were less than 3/4 of a pound, and I wanted a larger quantity. So I asked the fish cutter if I could get a piece that was about a pound or more. His response "of course", and went and cut me a fresh piece. I also picked up a few goodies like One Ton Chips.

After grabbing a pretty huge lunch, I was ready to hit the road! But I decided to take a drive down Colima Road, through our old neighborhood of Rowland Heights, and there have been a ton of changes since I'd been here last. But Hong Kong Plaza was still there, and crowded and bustling as usual. You basically take your life into your hands when trying to park here on a weekend. We lived a half block away and used to walk here. In Hong Kong Plaza is the Taiwanese Deli Hsia Hsia Shau Mei Restaurant, home of the smelliest of the smelly tofu I've ever encountered!

So smelly, I can't even eat it! But the Missus loves it. This little deli/restaurant serves "hot table" dishes, has a menu of over 100 items, and also serves an array of Taiwanese "shaved ice", drinks, and snacks. Watching me place my order, was the stuff sitcoms are made of! You see I realized, that in all the times we'd been here, I had never placed an order, I let the Missus order in Mandarin. Also I don't really speak any Mandarin! So I tried to place my order for "Cho' Dofu", "huh?", "Cho' Dofu", she shakes her head and holds her nose, "No you don't want!". So I laugh and go, "than i want 2 order", and she laughs and rings it up (fried tofu w/odor, $3.50/ea). It was quite a wait, I really don't know why, everything else here is really "fast", but it must be something to do with the preparation. Come to think of it I really don't know much about Smelly Tofu at all. Here's a scientific article on "stinky tofu" courtesy of eatingchinese.org. She handed me the bag of Cho Dofu and I walked to the car and gingerly placed it far from everything. Unfortunately, some of the smell of the tofu had come off on my hand, ick! So what's the smell like? Well, if "Faces of Death" had "smell-a-vision"…. I arrived home and one order of tofu was devoured in a minutes flat, amazing! While reading the menu my wife noted, "hey look, they now have "Hot & spicy fried tofu w/odor", great, a double whammy…..

A couple of notes on Shau Mei, most of the business is conducted in Mandarin. Prices for most dishes range from $3.50-$6.00. We've received some really rude service here on occasion, especially when it's busy, most of the time it's just indifferent, today it was really nice. Don't let my story of Smelly Tofu deter you from trying this place. I've had many dishes here and some have been pretty good. I've also had smelly tofu at other restaurants, and have enjoyed it. It's only that this version is a bit much for me.

Hsin Hsin Shau Mei Deli
18438-1 East Colima Rd
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
626-964-1833

So what happened with lunch and what about the poke? Well I had the worst commute I've ever had on the '5' returning from LA – 3 hours! So I'm a bit tired, I'll post the other items in the (very) near future!