Sandwiches – Page 15

Tip Top Meats (Breakfast and Lunch)(again)

September 2, 2019 Cathy Breakfast/Brunch, German Restaurants and Food, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for stopping to read this food blog, mmm-yoso!!!. Cathy is writing today, while Kirk and His Missus are 'vacationing' and celebrating the long Labor Day weekend.

The Mister and I drive to Carlsbad every so often just to enjoy a nice meal and pick up some German and/or European treats to enjoy at home. OK, we stop here a lot. This post, from two years ago, has links to my other five posts in the top paragraph. (Yes, seven posts in 13 years is a lot for one restaurant, but it is just so good). Breakfast can be glorious here. The Big John (still $7.98) includes toast, herb-y home fried potatoes, three eggs (any style) and *all you can eat meat*. Except bacon. You can only order bacon once, at the first order. People abused the privilege and now everyone must suffer. Pictured here is bacon and bratwurst. There is a house made breakfast sausage, kielbasa and ham also available as part of your meat selection. There are photos of Big John meats on the other posts; things here don't change.
The European Continental Breakfast ($8.99) is always interesting. First, I crave the bread rolls (which you can purchase in the Deli section for 50¢ each), the Swiss cheese is thick sliced (creamy/buttery soft and a slight nutty flavor) then the meats which are on the plate are always varied. This day, there were two slices of six different lunchmeats (including braunschweiger(!), two salamis, a mild headcheese, veal bologna and thick slices of Black Forest ham). To me, this is a perfect breakfast.

Eggs Benedict ($8.98) House made hollandaise (not very lemony at all) (compared to the hollandaise made at Costa's in West Covina). Perfectly poached eggs on top of a quality (thicker than usual) toasted English muffin and served with the home fries (potatoes and herbs-nice).
Meat Lovers Omelet ($8.99) Choice of two breakfast meats, three eggs.
Ham and bacon were the two chosen meats. There was more of that than egg or cheese wrapped in the eggs.

On some weekdays, we drive up for lunch. Smoked pork chops with both (sweet red and sour white) krauts, mashed potato and beef barley soup ($11.49). Thick, lean, smoked in-house chops. When we left, we purchased more in the market for an at-home feast. The soups here are, of course, house made; thick, flavorful and really wonderful. Beef steak sandwich (from the hot sandwiches menu) on marble rye toast and a side of Cole slaw ($8.99). Oh my. I've never ordered the Big John cheeseburger here; thought it would be 'average. So wrong…this was a perfect medium rare cook of wonderful flavorful beef. The other hot sandwiches as well as cold sandwiches are flavorful, fresh made, quite large and make a wonderful meal.

I hope you are having (or had) a wonderful Labor Day celebration!

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

2020 Tournament of Roses Rose Parade Float Road Test #3. Food from Cream Pan (Tustin), Portos (West Covina) and The Hat (Murietta)

August 31, 2019 Cathy Bakery, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, Orange County, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog. Still, there are so many reasons we end up eating the meals that we share here with you. Cathy is writing today.

Link to Road Test #1

Link to Road Test #2

Link to Road Test #4

Link to Road Tests # 5 and #6

The 131st Tournament of Roses Rose Parade (and 106th Rose Bowl football game) will occur on January 1, 2020; the culmination of a week of many other Tournament events. Preparation begins in mid-January, just after the prior parade is concluded. The Theme for 2020 is The Power of Hope. Some floats for the parade are built by Phoenix Decorating Company, which has monthly road tests noted on their website and Facebook page. The website also notes where you can sign up to volunteer to decorate floats. This Link to The Rose Examiner has a lot of current happenings surrounding the Tournament of Roses.

Last Saturday, a few floats were tested for mechanics and maneuverability. "Hope Keeps Us Going", the entry for the City of Alhambra looks to be ready for detailed decorating. SInce you see the artist rendition here, I thought that showing you the back of the float might be interesting.
This float, ridden by the Royal Court (who will be chosen and announced soon) will be the same float as last year, with fresh decorations.
The same is true for the 'Closing' float- the last in the parade (there's usually someone singing on it). The float reminds everyone to tune in to the Rose Bowl football game, which starts about four hours after the Parade ends. The Opening, Closing, Royal and Honda floats are never in competition for the awards given for float design and decoration.
The Huntington is celebrating its 100th year with a float in the 131st Rose Parade. This was a first Road Test. You may recall this wonderful post, written by Ed (from Yuma) about the lovely visit he and Tina had at The Huntington in 2014.
The City of Hope will enter a float for 2020. It sort of looks like a large tree, with doves, flowers, butterflies and bees randomly scattered in the tree limbs. I bet it's going to be beautiful. Hopefully there will be an artist rendition and more details next month. A quick peek inside the Decorating Barn is showing quite a progression being made on float construction.

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On to the food portion of the blogging.

We leave our home at 5 a.m., get to Cream Pan by 6:20. I have been afraid we are taking Cream Pan for granted and barely even post about our stops here. Not to fear; there was a notice inside that they are hiring for their new store in Fountain Valley! This morning, we chose a ham and cheese croissant ($2.80) (always good, meaty, cheesy and flaky), a (still warm) crispy cheese bread ($2.50) (fulfills cravings) and an 'orange chocolate' ($2)-new to us-It's almost like croissant dough in torn pieces mixed with dark chocolate bits and a great zip of orange flavor; now another favorite.

Cream Pan 602 El Camino Real Tustin, CA 92780 Open daily 6 a.m.-7 p.m. Website

Watching floats and then leaving, we were six miles away and had to stop at Portos, again. (My third ever visit, The Mister's second). Underneath that egg is a wonderful light, soft masa with whole pieces of corn, filled with shredded, slow roasted pork accompanied by a great salsa verde, the Tamal a Caballo ($4.75) is kind of a perfect breakfast.
Since we haven't tried the whole menu (yet), a Medianoche (Midnight sandwich; same fillings as a Cubano, but a different bread) ($5.99) was shared. Fillings are slow roasted pork, ham, Swiss cheese, Cuban dressing and pickles. Great flavors and another good choice any time of the day.
We also shared a ham croquette (95¢)-smoked ham and parsley in a roux, coated with a crispy layer of bread crumbs. Also one of the trademarked Potato Balls ($1.05)- mashed potato filled with a picadillo (seasoned ground beef with red bell pepper and olives).
Because we were eating in, the Porto's cortadito ($2.69) – two shots of espresso and sweetened condensed milk- was delivered to the table in this cute plastic espresso cup with its own tiny spoon (yes, I brought it home). We also shared an iced coffee ($2.25). There were also lists made of what else to try, both for us and for cc, Bert and TC.

Porto's 584 S. Sunset Ave., West Covina 91790 (626)214-3490 open Mon-Th 6:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m., Fri-Sat 6:30a.m.-9p.m., Sun 7 a.m.-8 p.m. Website

The Mister and I weren't really hungry until at the split of the 15 and 215, in Murietta. The last (or first, if you are heading North) exit is the closest location of The Hat, just East of the 215 exit. The Hat started in Los Angeles in 1951. "World Famous Pastrami Dip" is the primary food item here. But, there are a few other items on the menu.

There's a beef dip sandwich ($10.49)
There are also onion rings ($4.99) (whole onions, a nice crunchy breading and quite a large size).
But no. The Mister has begun looking at photos online. This. This is: chili fries ($6.99) (The chili here is noteworthy, the amount of fries you get in a regular 'small' order fills a paper bag) add cheddar cheese ($1.69) add pickles and tomatoes (20¢) add pastrami ($4.99). It weighed more than two pounds. After ten minutes, with both of us eating, maybe 1/4 of it was gone. We took it home. There were small bites taken for dinner, there were fried potatoes and pastrami for breakfast the next day…
The Hat 40476 Murietta Hot Springs Road Murietta, CA 92563 (951) 304-2244 open daily 10 a.m.-10p.m.Website

Sunday Sandwiches – Banh Mi From Lena’s Sandwiches & Deli

August 11, 2019 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Lena's Sandwiches & Deli has closed

It seems that I just don't get up to City Heights as much as I used to. While driving on ECB a few months back, I noticed that Kim Chan Sandwich Shop, which was once upon a time a Banh Mi staple for me and an old favorite of Ed from Yuma, was gone. It had been replaced by Lena’s Sandwiches & Deli.

So, after returning from our trip, I decided to drop by. Parking in this lot is an adventure; especially in the mornings where all the "coffee guys" hang out at Nhu Y.

In addition, the parking spaces are very small here and on both visits there were vehicles taking up more than one space. Kind of a bummer for the businesses here.

The shop does look a bit like Kim Chan; with a fresh coat of paint and modern signs. The folks here are very kind and mellow.

As is my MO at Banh Mi shops; I started with the Dac Biet ($4.50), just to see how things are put together.

The longer type of "baguette" used here was fairly yeasty; though on this trip it was heading to past its prime as it was mealy and dry.

The pickled carrots aren't very heavily pickled, though the radish is and the jalapenos were no joke! The cucumbers were crisp though the amount of cilantro was rather sparse.

Liked the ratio of Thit Ngoi, the ham to the Cha was perfect, medium-thin slices. I really enjoyed the pate as there was a pretty good amount of it; nice earthy -rich flavors.

This was a pretty good sandwich, so I returned the following weekend.

This time around I ordered the Banh Mi Nem Nuong ($4.50). The older gentleman working was so nice when he mentioned that they griddle the sausage so it would be a few minutes. I tols him no worries since it was Sunday and I'd even managed to score a nice parking space!

This time around the bread was perfeect; it held up well, nice yeastiness, a crackly crust.

I really enjoyed the salty-porkiness of the nem nuong; it was browned nicely. And those jalapenos were pretty darn spicy.

My only issue was that the cilantro was starting to turn brown.

I rather enjoyed the sandwich. Especially after having recently eaten at all these Westernized shops around town. This old school Banh Mi shop was refreshing. And it was pleasure dealing with the folks here as well.

Maybe one of these days I'll do a Banh Mi Retrospective again. Come to think of it; I think the Banh Mi Ba Chi from Cafe Dore is calling me…..

Lena’s Sandwiches & Deli
4712 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92115
Hours:
Mon – Tues 8am – 8pm
Wed 8am – 2pm
Thurs – Sat 8am – 8pm
Sunday 8am – 6pm

Sunday Sandwiches – Waters Fine Foods

July 21, 2019 mmm-yoso Sandwiches

**** Waters Fine Foods has closed

The weekend after we got back from CDMX, I had to drop off lunch for the Missus. After picking up my dry cleaning, I was driving home on Morena Boulevard and for some reason Waters Fine Foods came to mind. Sheesh, the last time we'd had anything from Waters was back in the early 2000's at the original location on West Morena which I believe is now their catering location. The Missus and I really didn't care for the sandwiches we had on that visit and we kind of just filed it away.

Waters moved their café to the strip all next to JV's Mexican Food. So, now a good 16-17 years after that visit….well, it was time to check out Waters again.

The interior is set-up sort of like a café-deli-coffee shop…..it's a bit confusing as you order not at the register, but at the counter, pay, and either have a seat or cool your heels.

Though the employees are quite pleasant.

I ordered the Smoked turkey Panini ($10) which seemed a bit "light" as I carried it home. So when I opened it….

Having just returned from Mexico City, mind automatically did the mental calculation…..man, this was 200 $MXN. Still, like I've said about Banh Mi; it's all about proportion. So, there's was barely a sliver of smoked turkey; which would not have been bad if I could actually taste the turkey, which by the way, wasn't evenly spread through the sandwich. There was just way too much pesto in comparison to the meat, few strings of roasted red pepper, and cheese. I enjoy pesto and this version was quite "pine nut" forward if you know what I mean. But that was all there was, pesto and arugula, usually two of my favorite things just overwhelmed everything. Including the nicely crusty bread.

Again, I don't mind having a "Manini panini" mind you; but in a case of a sandwich like that balance and proportion is quite important.

So, this past weekend I decided to head on back. Folks that know me understand that when it comes to places in San Diego, I usually don't let things go after a single visit, and if I do, it's because we thought the meal wasn't very good and the additional investment really wasn't worth it (i.e. Trust, Pardon My French, Juniper & Ivy, etc…). Or the meal was so terrible that I'm not willing to go myself and I can't talk the Missus into returning (Officine Buona Forchetta comes to mind). Or perhaps I've dropped the ball and my last visit was way too long ago and I'll have to start the "meter" running all over again to do a post (Hachi Ramen), or worse of all, I suffer some particular "ailment"…..

But Waters is a café and in my 'hood, so no excuses, right?

Same really nice group of folks working.

This time I went with the Roast Beef ($9.25). And while not being particularly hefty, I enjoyed this sandwich much more.

I used the dinner fork to provide a bit of "scale" for the sandwich. While the baguette was a bit on the "dry" side; the roast beef was moist, tender, and best of all, I could taste it as the horseradish sauce and aioli were used with a nice restrained hand and complemented the meat. Nice crunch from the lettuce, I wish there were more crunchy onions as it would have added even more crispness and a sweet-pungency to this. The tomato added a slight acidity, but would have been had it been more ripe.

Not bad at all.

I'm glad I returned for that second visit. And while I saw some folks eating a pretty good looking salad; I'm not sure I'll return to Waters….at least for a while. It's not quite my style.

Oh and to that couple who were discussing and dissing all the customers in the place; from the colors and skirts the women were wearing to the tattoos on one of the customers…..try not to talk so loud as I and the guy sitting at the end of the table could hear everything you said. From the guy who you (the woman) said there were "too many of their kind in the neighborhood these days."

Waters Fine Foods
1122 Morena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92110
Hours:
Mon – Fri 11am – 7pm
Sat 11am – 4pm

Sunday Sandwiches – Breakfasts from The WestBean Coffee Roasters (Morena)

July 14, 2019 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Caffeine Fix, Sandwiches

**** WestBean Coffee Roasters is now Talitha Coffee Roasters

I’m quite a creature of habit; I get into work at around the same time each day, I do things on specific days, like for instance, just about every Sunday, I head off to Costco to fill up my tank. The Missus finds it quite interesting that I’ve got all these habits and rituals; but it doesn’t affect me when we travel.

Anyway, a couple of weeks back, I passed the rather newish location of West Bean Coffee Roasters. The sign mentioned “breakfast” and I recalled CC’s post on the Banker Hill location from a couple of years ago. So, I decided to drop by for a cup of coffee and after reading the menu a breakfast sandwich.

The spot used to be Red Card Café which closed at the end of October back in 2017.

The seating area is spacious and the outdoor seating from the days of RCC is still in place.

I decided on the Breakfast Sandwich #2 on the menu and feeling a bit hungry added on the sausage patty. I did ask to see if they’d make the eggs easy over; but I guess it’s just too much to ask a Barista to make runny eggs.

This was serviceable sandwich; I enjoyed the brioche roll as it wasn’t too sweet and almost fluffy. The sausage patty was standard issue; for some reason the cheddar cheese seemed really mild. I really would have enjoyed a nice, runny egg on this.

Not terrible; somewhat corporate in appearance; but I’d rather spend my money here than at one of the chains in the area.

So, today was of course Sunday. And I headed off to fill up my tank.

On the way down South on Morena, headed to start all of my Sunday shopping, I felt in need of some caffeine and perhaps some breakfast. So, I stopped by West Bean again.

I went with the cold brew; which seemed a bit light and non-descript. I certainly prefer the cold brew from Birdrock.

This time I went with “Breakfast Sandwich #1”. Without adding any other protein to the sandwich.

I actually enjoyed this.

The Chipotle mayo added a nice bit of “zip”, the peppery and slightly bitter arugula did well with the mayo, the mild sweetness of the roll, and the acidity of the tomato. And yes; I’d prefer a runny egg…..but I didn’t dwell on that too much.

Pretty good sandwich. Very nice folks. And while this won’t become a “ritual”; I’ll probably stop by again since I drive past the place every week.

The WestBean Coffee Roasters
4140 Morena Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117
Hours:
Daily 7am – 2pm
Breakfast served 7am – 1pm

Goi Cuon Inc (Hillcrest)

July 2, 2019 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

While driving on Robinson Avenue a while back I noticed that a shop named Goi Cuon was replacing The Thai Grill, which was shut down due to some, ahem, critter issues. A few weeks later I read about the opening on Eater. Apparently this shop is an extension of booths at the Hillcrest and OB Farmers Market.

It's an interesting location; but I really liked the hours; 8am to 8pm, which made it a nice little stop on a weekend morning. You know, a little something to eat before taking care of the "Honey-do" list.

Nice shop; clean, wide open, but man, it's quite a menu, with various combinations of the namesake dish, banh mi, salads, "pho rolls", cha gio. I quickly figured out, since the entire menu was in English, and with items like Shrimp and Strawberry and Shrimp and Avocado spring rolls, and a bunch of vegan offerings that this was kind of a fusiony shop.

Still, when I saw Sugar Cane Shrimp with "crispy snack" and "Vietnamese Sausage Pork with Crispy Snack", I figured I'd start there. After all, I've always thought if you can't make the basics, well….. So, there was a very friendly young lady working the counter. She was so nice and was a bit shocked when I ordered the Nem Nuong Cuon and Chao Tom Cuon in horrible Vietnamese. She laughed and asked me if and where I'd had this before and I told her, "Brodard" and the "now closed Dat Thanh". She smiled and we had a nice little chat while I had my Vietnamese Coffee and waited for my Goi Cuon.

Eventually, I got me spring rolls all wrapped up nicely in a little brown bag.

Man, they sure use a lot of plastic wrap. I had to work pretty hard getting it off the spring rolls!

Two sauces were provided; a peanut based dipping sauce and another sauce with a sweeter coconutty flavor.

The spring rolls are not cheap at $3 each, but I was given 20% off as it was during grand opening.

So, what did I think?

The Chao Tom Cuon had a nice thick piece of shrimp paste, which was a bit more tender than I'm used to. It was fairly bland however. There was that "Brodard-like" piece of fried eggroll wrapper which added a nice crunch. There was quite a bit of lettuce in this, some bun, and no other herbs. In spite of being tightly bound in plastic wrap; the spring rolls itself was wrapped fairly loosely.

Next up, the Nem Nuong Cuon.

This was a bit better, though it was again very mild in flavor.

Both really needed the dipping sauces; the peanut version went much better with both goi cuon.

So, no this wasn't nearly as good as Brodard. Heck, it wasn't as good as Duyen Mai or even Banh Mai. But these were fresh and I guess convenient if you live in the area. The young lady was so very nice as well. I wanted to check out a few other items on the menu, so I returned a few weeks later and picked up a lunch to take back to the office.

The nice young lady was again working; I believe she is the owner?

I wanted to try a Banh Mi; there are only "Grilled" meat, tofu, and easy over egg versions available. I'd usually go with the Banh Mi Op La – the fried egg version, but I decided on the grilled pork.

This was by far the best item I've had from Goi Cuon thus far.The bread was nicely done, standard issue banh mi, but warm, crusty-flakey, and it had held up well. The pork almost seemed braised, it was very tender. The pickled carrots and the cucumber were nice and crisp. But man, this was a bit too "gringo" for me, no jalapenos, no pickled daikon, this was banh mi not to offend.

I was curious about the "Pho Rolls"; so I ordered a shrimp version ($3). And yep, this was a version of Pho Cuon, an acquaintance who recently returned from Hanoi mentioned this dish to me, a thickish rice noodle roll, rightly wrapped around beef and herbs used for pho. This is what I got here.

The rice noodle was on the thinner side and was wrapped quite loosely as it just fell apart. No herbs, just lettuce and cucumber; though the shrimp was nice and plump, well prepped. Overall, this was pretty bland and I thought some nuoc mam cham would have gone better with this than the peanut sauce.

There was one more item I was curious about. It was the shrimp and avocado spring roll ($3); so I ordered one. I mentioned how tightly these are wrapped earlier. By the time I got all the layers of plastic wrap off; the spring roll wrapper had started to peel.

The slice of avocado adds an interesting textural contrast; but very little in terms of flavor. The shrimp were thin half slices, quite bland, and having just bun and lettuce again really hurt the overall flavor of the spring roll.

And paying $12 bucks for this lunch seemed on the high side for me.

So, while the spring rolls are nice and fresh; I find the overall preparations and flavors a bit too "Westernized" for me. It's missing the herbs, seasonings, and other ingredients that make these dishes Vietnamese in my mind.

Also, I had thought that Goi Cuon was at least a nice, fresh breakfast option in the area; but at last glance they've changed their hours and are no longer open from 8 to 8. I really like the owner; she's really nice, I hope they do well, but for me, the food has lost its "soul" somewhere along the way.

Goi Cuon Inc
420 Robinson Ave.
San Diego, CA 92103
Hours
Mon – Fri 1030am – 930pm
Sat – Sun 11am – 10pm

Sunday Sandwiches – Revisits to SuperNatural (Miramar) and Sandwich Emporium (Mira Mesa and Clairemont)

June 30, 2019 mmm-yoso Sandwiches

Just some revisits for a sunny Sunday.

Supernatural Sandwiches (Miramar):

**** SuperNatural Sandwiches has closed

Always a stop on my lunch sandwich "rotation", it been nearly a year since my last post, so I thought it was a good time for one.

I know you're expecting this……

The "Siren"; from garlicky-spicy mayo; to the moist and plump shrimp, to go with the buttery-slightly sweet brioche. It's been my favorite since the days when SuperNatural had a stand in the San Diego Public Market. But on my last visit; I decided to finally go with something else.

Still sticking to the "shrimp theme", I ordered the Kirin; basically a shrimp and Chinese sausage Banh Mi.

And I thoroughly enjoyed this as well! I like the way SN does their shrimp, it is almost always plump and juicy….no deviation on this visit. I also always believe that the Siren would do well with a bit of acidity and the typical, pklced crunchy carrot and daikon did the job here. The bread was warm and crusty, a passable Banh Mi. Slices of lup cheong lined the bottom of the sandwich….so; I guess if I took a large bite I'd get a bit of the chewy, slight sweetness. Not a big fan of the way the sauce was drizzled on top of the sandwich, making it….well, like the Siren a mess….but heck, that's splitting hairs.

Of course I'm going to return.

SuperNatural Sandwiches
7094 Miramar Rd. #122
San Diego, CA 92121

Sandwich Emporium – Clairemont and Mira Mesa:

SE hold a special place in my heart as it was one of the first posts I did back in May of 2005! And, as I've noted over the years, they've also created a little empire of shops. I don't get to my neighborhood shop quite as often these days; but recently stopped by when I had to head home during lunch.

And like on that visit; I got the Spicy Julio.

It seems that this combo of roast beef, avocado, pepper jack, pickled jalapenos is a nice combination. I think there's even more filling then before. I did wish the bread had been toasted a bit more to give it a bit more crunch and the the tomatoes were more ripe, but this is a good sandwich.

A few days later; I was doing some shopping…..I did consider fighting the crowds at Menya Ultra; but it was a bit too warm. So I headed around the corner to Sandwich Emporium.

And got a Spicy Julio again. And perhaps there had been somekind of weird telepathic communication? Because this is what I got.

The nice crustiness of the bread just made it that much better.

Which has me wondering; are things made differently at the two shops? Hmmm; I'll need to visit more often.

Sandwich Emporium
3054 1/2 Clairemont Dr
San Diego, CA 92117

and

Sandwich Emporium – **** The Mira Mesa location of Sandwich Emporium has closed
8155 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

Hope you're keeping cool this rather muggy (for San Diego) and warm weekend!

Sunday Sandwiches – Running Into a “Little Frenchie” (Francesinha) at Paragon Deli Cafe

June 23, 2019 mmm-yoso Sandwiches

**** Sadly, Paragon deli has closed.

Just before we returned from vacation I received an email from (Friend of Yoso) FOY Som Tommy. He started off mentioning visiting a newish deli in the Point Loma area and running into a sandwich I'd mentioned from our travel posts. I almost fell down when he said it was a Francesinha! Apparently he remembered the sandwich from my post on Cafe Santiago in Porto. In case you don't remember what that Francesinha, called a "Little Frenchie" because it was based on a Croque-Monsieuer looked like; this might help.

I had always regretted not having another one of these while in Porto….basically, the Missus would not let me have another….under the guise of caring for my health and fortitude!

So, here I had another chance.

This tiny, but well adorned little shop….I really loved the décor from the tin ceiling tiles to fans; is located in a strip mall on Shelter Island Drive, in the same structure as Fiddler's Green. Parking is a bit of a challenge as there are only two spaces for Paragon in the lot.

The gentleman training the young lady on the register on this day was really friendly and I found my target on the lunch menu at the bottom of the "Signature Sandwiches" list….."Portuguese Francesinha". How appropriate since as the Portuguese have a long history, especially as Tuna Fisherman in Point Loma. We had a short chat at the counter talking about Porto, where the gentleman had been just last year and the Francesinha.

Which was brought to my table shortly by a very friendly older gentleman…….this was humongous.

In case your keeping score; this has ham, roast beef, Linguica Sausage, cheese, topped with a fried egg and "Francesinha sauce" and it was recommended that I have fries with it……the fried egg and fries would have made the "Francesinha a Santiago" at Café Santiago, which is what I regretted not ordering.

The sandwich had been decently toasted, so the bread held out pretty well. The Linguica garnered most of the attention the flavor stood out the most. The egg was a perfect easy over, not that all this gooeyness needed any help. Loved the fries which stayed relatively crunchy thru the whole meal…mainly because this wasn't as drenched in sauce as versions in Porto.

The usual tomato and beer based sauce was also a bit tangier, thicker, and milder than the version I had in Porto. If I had one wish; it would have been the use of a more flavor forward cheese as while it was wonderfully stringy and gooey; I'd have enjoyed more milkiness.

And yes; this was a total calorie bomb, I basically finished two thirds of it before saying "no mas"…..but if I had perished; it would have been with a smile on my face!

I'm sure regular readers would have quickly noticed that this was a single visit. I liked the folks here so much; that I'm sure to revisit. The place seems to have quite a few regulars; at least on this day. They wondered if I lived in the neighborhood and quickly made recommendations for my next visit. And, if I do have another Francesinha; I'll make sure to bring reinforcements.

Paragon Deli Café
2724 Shelter Island Drive
San Diego, CA 92106
Hours:
Mon – Sat 7am – 3pm

Sunday Sandwiches – Barrio Donas (Best Donuts Bakery & Deli Rebooted)

June 9, 2019 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Mexican Restaurants, Sandwiches

Man, it seems like I've been going pretty much non-stop since getting back from our trip. Today is my first day off and after like twelve hours of sleep last night, a nice lunch (road trip style), and a afternoon nap, I'm finally starting to feel somewhat in-synch. There really hasn't been much eating out since we got back, but here's a place I stopped at a couple of times in the last week.

We got in late Saturday evening and I had to go in for a few hours on Sunday. I got up, got dressed and headed off to work, but was kind of hungry. I recalled seeing that Best Donuts had been going thru a facelift before we left on our vacation so decided to see if they had reopened. And they had; so I stopped and walked in.

Man, they've really done quite the job on the place.

Best Donuts had reshuffled the lay-out several times during my visits over the years. I don't think they'll be moving stuff around much after this renovation.

I recognized the young lady working the register, who told me that the ownership of the shop remains the same. One thing that has changed are the prices, the breakfast tortas are now in the $5.50 – $7.50 range and the regular tortas will run you from $8.50 – $9.50. Wow, I remember getting the A la Mexicana here for $4.99 on my last visit. Well, someone has to help pay for the freshinging up, right?

Instead of ordering my usual, the A la Mexicana; I went with the La Nortena ($6.50).

The bread was still nice and warm when I got to the office. It had held up well for the 15 minute drive. It was quite yeasty and just as good as ever. I had never been a fan of the machaca here; but this time it was beefy, moist, and rather tender. The sauce had a mild spice and smokiness to it and was delicious with the eggs. The pickled jalapenos added a nice zip; though I think using something like queso asadero or cotija would improve the sandwich. The mozzarella used is gooey, but in this framework you can't really taste the cheese.

Still, it seemed that the sandwiches here had taken a step up. So, I decided to drop by on my way to work a few days later. Which is when I found out the place doesn't open at 5-530 am anymore. Rather they open at 6 during the week. Luckily, the nice young lady quickly turned on the "Open" sign when she saw me….it was 558 am.

This time, I went with my usual at Best Donuts, the A la Mexicana ($6.50).

The bread was as before; warm, yeasty, and quite good. Not quite as much eggs or beans as I recall, but with the jalapenos and salsa, this is my kind of breakfast. In this case, the light milkiness of the cheese comes thru. Would have liked a bigger smear of beans though.

On one of my days back, I had meetings thru lunch. Barrio Donas starts serving their tortas at 10am, which meant I could stop by in between meetings to grab a torta. Man, they were pretty busy at 10, with a line and several customers waiting.

I went with the Chilanga ($9.50).

When I opened my sandwich back at the office; I was pleasantly surprised to see that the sandwich had been nicely pressed. Based on the melted cheese in the breakfast sandwiches; I figure that they do some kind of heating, but this really add a pleasant crustiness to the sandwich.

I really enjoyed the beans, chorizo, onions, jalapenos, and tomatoes, all of which added layers of savory, pungent, tangy, and piquant tones. There was a thin slice of ham….more protein I guess. The milanesa, pounded breaded beef was on the tough side for my taste.

Not bad, though I'm not sure it's worth almost ten bucks.

I think I'll stick with the breakfast offerings, which are quite satisfying. It's nice to see an old favorite rebooted and doing so well. The young lady who works mornings here is so friendly as well.

Barrio Donas
4714 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117
Hours
Mon – Sat 6am – 9pm
Sunday 7am – 6pm

The UPAC Neighborhood Cafe (City Heights)

May 28, 2019 Cathy Bakery, Breakfast/Brunch, Caffeine Fix, Filipino Restaurants, Mexican Restaurants, Sandwiches, Somali Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a blog primarily about food. There are many ways we (all) encounter places to share a meal. Cathy is writing today, while Kirk and His Missus continue to enjoy their vacation.

As is our usual method, The Mister and I began driving with hunger but no destination in mind. We saw this eye-catching signage "Now open at 8 a.m., Breakfast Specials". Of course we had to stop.

I knew the location. Kirk had written about it in 2010, then The Mister and I went to Pho Tay Do a year later. The 4600 square foot restaurant now has become a Social Enterprise Center run by the non-profit organization Union of Pan Asian Communities.

A spacious area is now the Cafe, but that's only part of this Neighborhood Enterprise Center: Kitchen Creations, a Technology Hub, Product Design and Print Shop (hence, the signage) and The Community Gathering Place are each part of this building providing much needed resources and opportunities for both UPAC clients and the ethnically diverse residents and small business owners of City Heights.

It was breakfast time when The Mister and I walked in and we didn't know what to expect.

The Breakfast menu is next to the cash register. The Lunch and Global Menu as well as the Beverage menu are on the wall to the left.

The yogurt parfait ($2.50) was one choice. Looks simple and basic. Nope. The fruit mixture (various fresh berries) is prepared in the kitchen, as are the granola toppings. The yogurt is wonderful and thick.
Overnight oats ($2.50) was another choice, made with oats, chia and almond milk with cinnamon, this was also served with the granola topping. Wonderful mix of flavors and so good. Will get again.
One menu item was 'Three Injera and large Tea" ($4). The Somali thin and spongy pancakes were made to order, topped with sesame oil and sugar. We used our hands to tear and enjoy these warm and flavorful flatbreads.

The tea choices were Chai or Somali tea (or assorted bags). We were told that one had sugar and the other didn't. This tea -a mix of spices- was also made with the individual ingredients here. Oh my, what a difference in being able to taste the cardamom, cinnamon, fresh ginger, cloves, black pepper! This was a wonderful, refreshing accompaniment to our breakfast.

Of course we returned. The turkey cranberry sandwich ($5.50) was served on a croissant (croissants and bagels are not made here) and was filled with fresh ingredients. The house-made cranberry sauce was spread on both sides of the bread, the greens are spinach, the meat was of high quality. An excellent sandwich.
We also ordered a side salad ($3.50) which you can see, arrived with walnuts on top…a fancy touch. Fresh ingredients. Quality. Of course the dressing is made here.
We decided to order from the Global Menu and chose this month's Filipino offering-adobo chicken ($5.85). Wow. An excellent version of this basic Filipino cooking and marinade method. Vinegar, garlic, salt (or soy), black pepper and bay leaf are the flavors of adobo-prepared anything (I've had mushroom adobo and it's great). Even the rice was high quality. Let's go back to when we walked in and pay attention. All of the products sold on the shelves to the left are printed here. The Product Design and Print Shop is equipped with all professional machinery. The Youth who work here design and print the items (and are available to print items people order).

Now, check out the glass case to the right of the cash register. Fresh baked items daily.
On top of the glass case there is a basket with bits of day old items to sample…so you'll know what to order next time. This was a berry turnover, which was still warm. Again, the berry mixture made in house. So good.

A great addition to the neighborhood for many reasons. Wonderful food and worth the stop.

The UPAC Neighborhood Cafe 5296 University Avenue #A 92105 619-255-7644 Mon-Fri 8-5 {Kitchen closes at 3, but sandwiches, beverages and the baked fresh daily items available from 3-5}

Union of Pan Asian Communities website

This is the current menu; the Global menu changes monthly.