Sandwiches – Page 20

A Walk Around Copenhagen and Lunch at Almanak

December 21, 2017 mmm-yoso Denmark, Nordic/Scandanvian Food and Restaurants, Sandwiches, Travel

We started our first full day in Copenhagen with breakfast and then headed off. We were staying in the Nørreport area, which we enjoyed. Not as hectic as other parts of the city, but still centrally located. We decided to use the day to walk around the city. Rådhuspladsen, City Hall Square is considered to be the heart of the city by the guidebooks we read, so we headed off down Nørre Voldgade.

Taking a left on H.C. Andersens (yes, that H.C. Andersen) Boulevard coming right up to the square. As you can tell; the weather was a bit gloomy and overcast, but after having some record heat as we left San Diego, we really enjoyed the cold.

Copenhagen's City Hall is quite impressive. The tower of the city hall rises high above the square.

To the right of City Hall is a statue of Han Christian Andersen who seems to be staring wistfully at Tivoli Gardens across the street.

Interesting thing about taking a photo from this angle. The statue actually holds a cane in the left hand. From this angle though; doesn't it look like the statue is holding a knife and is perhaps not too happy about having to stare at the entrance of an amusement park for eternity?

On the otherside of city hall is the statue called "The Lure Blowers" which depicts two warriors lowing into a Lur, one of the oldest known instruments, dating back to the Bronze Age.

According to local, ahem "lure lore" the bronze statues will actually blow into the lure if a virgin walks by. For what it's worth; I've never heard of anyone actually hearing a peep coming from that horn…..

To the left of the "blowers" is the Strøget a collection of pedestrian streets that winds its way thru the center of the city.

Along the way you'll pass the University of Copenhagen, churches, and buildings that hide wonderful courtyards.

That distinctive obelisk is the Reformation Memorial. It celebrates Denmark's decision to break away from the Catholic Church, transitioning to Lutheranism in 1536.

It stands right in front of the Church of Our Lady.

We took a quick visit inside the cathedral. Which was bright, with clean lines, and is lined with statues of Jesus and his Apostles.

It was quite different from most churches we visit.

Rick Steves Copenhagen Guide recommends heading around the Holy Ghost church and thru a passage at #32 Valkendorfsgade. There you'll come across a lovely and peaceful square (Steves says its "beer-stained", but I think we were there during the off season) called Gråbrødretorv.

Nearby are the two squares known as Gammeltorv ("Old Square") and Nytorv ("New Square"). The Old Square features a distinctive fountain known as Caritas (Fountain of Charity).

This is the oldest fountain in Copenhagen and has quite an interesting story.

There was a Christmas Market on Nyhaven, so we decided to take a look.

It had all those necessities…meat in tubular form….

Traditional Viking Drinks……

And even sleeping dogs…..

Walking a bit further up the street we ended up on busy Amagertorv.

We took some time out to visit the beautiful Royal Copenhagen Store.

We then took a turn and headed down Købmagergade. I really wanted to have a hot dog from Den Økologiske Pølsemand, but the Missus refused. Suddenly, we heard some music, and wouldn't you know it, out of nowhere, a marching band came down the street!

We turned around and headed across Amagertorv and crossed the bridge to the island known as Slotsholmen ("Castle Island"). This has been the Center of Government since the Middle Ages. Many of the most impressive structures in Copenhagen reside on this island.

Christiansborg Palace.

Confederation of Danish Enterprise (Dansk Erhverv) – which I believe is sort of like the Chamber of Commerce.

And the very distinctive Børsen, the former Stock Exchange.

By now, I was getting a bit hungry. So we headed up along the waterfront until we came upon this retro looking building known as "the Standard".

I'd read about a restaurant named Almanak that took up half the building. The restaurant specialized in modern interpretations of the traditional Danish open faced sandwiches known as Smørrebrød.

The restaurant was fairly empty when we arrived. The very nice and tall (actually, just about everyone is tall here) young lady sat us; provided the one page lunch menu, and went through all the various smørrebrød, their preparation, what was more traditional and what was not. In the end we went with three sandwiches; which turned out to be enough for a light lunch.

Starting with the oh-so delici-yoso Christmas Herring.

Turns out that the Missus, who is not always fond of oilier fish loved pickled herring. And this version, pickled with the addition of beet juice, which added a tinge of sweetness to the savory-briny pickled herring. The texture was almost buttery; the dill helped cleanse the palate; the almonds added texture, the rye bread was moist and pleasantly dense.

The Smoked Salmon was equally delicious.

The sprouts added a slight and pleasant bitterness and crunch. The horseradish was just pungent enough to balance out the wonderful smoked salmon. The pickled lingonberries was also very tasty.

The only clunker was the Homemade Liver Pate.

We were somewhat puzzled when the supposed open-face sandwich arrived with bread on one side of the plate and a bowl on the other. Touching the bowl, I found it to be lukewarm. We could identify mushrooms and chunks of beets which lay on top of a grainy looking mush. This really looked like liver thrown in a food processor, brown-grey with some red bits floating around. The offal flavor was very pronounced, as was the unpleasant texture and metallic after taste. One quick note; I'm not the biggest fan of many liver dishes….my mom used to make liver for me as punishment. The Missus, who likes liver had a difficult time eating this as well. Not wanting to insult anyone; I finished the dish off. But from this point on, if we saw pate on the menu in Copenhagen; unless we saw it first, we just couldn't order it.

We did have very nice service. As for the price? Are you ready? Three open faced sandwiches (we later found out that 2-3 per person is normal) and one bottle of sparkling water…..was over $50 US. Not cheap…..

Almanak
Havnegade 44
Copenhagen, Denmark

But what the heck; we were in Copenhagen and next up….we'd be searching for the Little Mermaid.

Mémo’s Bagel Cafe (Rancho San Diego)

December 6, 2017 Cathy Breakfast/Brunch, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog you are reading, is a compilation of varied meal experiences. Today, while Kirk (and His Missus) are vacationing in another part of the world, Cathy is writing about a local place where She and Her Mister had a quick breakfast.

In late 2014, I told cc about a place with an intriguing name. It was a busy time of the year for me, but she went to the small storefront, next to a 7-11 named Pistachios, in Rancho San Diego and posted about it three times. When I had the time, late in the Summer/early Autumn of 2015, Pistachios was a monthly stop. When finally ready to post about it, I went for a final visit (to confirm current prices), it was closed.

I had heard it "was moving just across the street", but when I had the time to look, there never was a 'Pistachios' storefront anywhere. Fast forward to last week when The Mister and I were driving around with no plan except to find breakfast. We stopped here- Memo's Bagel Cafe.
The bagel display looked the same as Pistachios had.
So did the items being sold from the inside refrigerated section(although Pistachios had some of those items, notably the Middle Eastern flat breads, sold fresh and warm). There were pre-packed boxes of baklava next to the cash register- with the Pistachios label! We found it. The storefront is smaller, but one of the main draws for me-housemade bagels-were back.
Egg, cheese, sausage on an everything bagel ($4.75) was great- a good, thick, quality sausage, Swiss cheese, fluffy egg and the fresh, toasty bagel. It was perfect and as I remembered it.
"The Works" ($5.75)- egg, cheese, bacon, turkey and ham on a spinach parmesan bagel. So good, so tasty, so much (quality) meat. You can see the bagel itself has a green tinge from the spinach. By itself, this bagel is tasty.

The similarities between here and my favorite bagel place, PL Bagel are that both are family owned, the bagels are not overly large and the whole bagel is covered-
with the toppings- the bottoms aren't 'plain'.

Mémo's is a lot closer than Point Loma…so there will be further exploration of the menu.

Mémo's Bagel Cafe 2650 Jamacha Road, Suite 163 El Cajon, CA 92019 (619)660-1300 Mon-Sat 6-4, Sun 7-3

Sunday Sandwiches – The Sandwich A’Fare

November 19, 2017 mmm-yoso Sandwiches

**** The Sandwich A'Fare has closed

Recently, while checking in to see if Lai Chen was actually open (it wasn't) I noticed a sign for something called Sandwich A'Fare. It was pointing down to the rear of the strip mall we call the "Kearny Mesa restaurant refugee mall" because it houses Abbey BBQ and the Philadelphia Sandwich Company. The shop is indeed discreetly located.

There's no street signage, the interior is quite Spartan, you really wouldn't know it was there unless you really looked carefully or maybe had a appointment at one of the auto businesses on the backside of the mall.

The menu board said that this shop has been here since 1981! That's quite a run. On both my visits there was an older gentleman who sat on a table beside the counter. A few customers called him "Bud", So I'm guessing he's the owner. He seems to be a bit of a curmudgeon, in kind of a funny, grumpy way.

The sandwiches all have "names" like the Cassius Clay – pastrami and swiss; add ham and it becomes Muhammed Ali. Bill Walton is the turkey sandwich, Liberace is ham and salami. Not quite sure what the naming significance is of some of the sandwiches (other than the obvious like the Euell Gibbons - haven't heard that name in ages), but the prices are very nice at $6.25. I did find it humorous that the "club" style sandwiches were described in a more generic manner (ham, bacon & swiss) but cost you a buck more!

I went with owners namesake; Bud's Special ($6.25).

Thinly sliced hot roast beef and cheddar. While the portion size was good, I thought it had too much mayo and the protein was rolled onto one side of the roll. One bite of meat; the next was bread, shredded lettuce, and mayo. It was simple, fast, filled a need, and was nicely priced.

A few weeks later I set out for something rather quick on my way back to the office and dropped by, ordering the "Godfather".

I actually do like the way they thinly slice the meat; though it was again a bit mayo heavy and out of balance because of the way they roll the meat into the sandwich. Yet, I had no complaints about the price.

I have a soft spot for these small, unpretentious, family run neighborhood sandwich shops like Rose Canyon Deli and the Sandwich Place. Often located in a business park, industrial area, or office complex, they fill a need. While there are a ton of "chain choices" around, I prefer spending my money at places like this.

The Sandwich A'Fare
6904 Miramar Rd. Suite 107
San Diego, CA 92121
Open
Mon – Fri 1030am – 230pm

Revisits – Tim Ky Noodle and Cali Baguette Express (Mira Mesa)

November 15, 2017 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

A couple of more working during the weekend breakfasts.

Tim Ky Noodle:

It had been a while since I last visited. And even longer since I've had the Beef Sate Noodle here. So, I decided to drop before having to trudge to work on a Saturday morning.

This was better than what I've had here before.

While still fairly "light" in flavor compared to; say Minh Ky, the beef as fairly tender. The broth had just enough "edge" to it; that it went well with the beef. As you notice; I put a little broth in the spoon a piece of meat, and eat. Not bad at all. I do wish it had a bit more oomph…..and onions; but at least there was a "powdery residue" on the meat. The noodles were nicely prepared and the portion size very nice.

I left satisfied.

Tim Ky Noodle
9330 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

Cali Baguette Express:

Sunday has kind of been like the new Tuesday or Wednesday, or even Thursday recently. The days just kind of string together. Though I don't need to go in at 630 on Sundays. I get to have some breakfast. I hadn't been to the Mira Mesa location of Cali Baguette Express since we did our Mira Mesa Banh Mi challenge back in 2011. At that time the Bamh Mi at Cali Baguette tied for the favorite. Since then they've expanded a bit and have taken over the former location of Mama Testa.

Much like the City Heights location; this shop is pretty crowded with "stuff".

And keeping some of the décor from Mama Testa makes things look like a bit of a mish-mash.

I ordered the Banh Mi Thit Nguoi ($3.75).

I'm not sure what's going with all my old favorites falling by the wayside these days; from Izakaya Sakura to Pho Lucky. Amd now Cali Baguette Express? The bread was the biggest problem; pale, dry, lacking crustiness, and almost stale? Poor quality control.

With banh mi, it's all about proportion, when a key part of the sandwich fails; it drags the whole thing down. Maybe I should be happy that K sandwich is reopening.

Cali Baguette Express
9225 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92116

Sunday Sandwiches – Bistro 24

October 22, 2017 mmm-yoso Sandwiches

**** Bistro 24 has closed

Since we moved offices a few weeks ago; I've been trying to find a dependable lunch stop…..it seems the world around here is mostly about sandwiches. And the closest place is located on the first floor of One La Jolla Center, in a glassed off area of the first floor – Bistro 24.

According to Eater, Bistro 24 is a "mini-chain" of eateries which has five existing locations in OC.

There are sandwiches, burgers, salads, and even entrees on the menu. What's quite interesting is that in the short while wince we've moved up here, the menu has changed a couple of times.

Take the Steak Sandwich for example.

On my first visit; this was a short steak sandwich. It was nicely browned though a bit over-cooked and on the tough and stringy side. nice flavors though; I enjoyed the pickled onions and while there was a shortage of veggies, the crumbled feta added a nice touch. The roll was decently toasted and crisp. At almost twelve bucks, I'd say this was on the high side pricewise.

I added a pasta salad to make it a combo; which was dry and pretty bland, like stuff form the supermarket salad bar.

A couple of visits later I noticed that it had changed on the menu. So this is what it looks like now.

It has "graduated" to become a short rib sandwich on a very nice buttermilk bun. The roll really didn't hold up well on the short walk back to the office. The short ribs had quite a nice beefy flavor, but was dry and stringy. The melted gruyere was ncie as it added a light milky-saltiness to the sandwich. I would have appreciated something to cut the richness of the sandwich.

The potato salad suffered from mayo overload.

For my third visit; I went with the Green Chili Chicken ($8.45) and some fries (with a drink, and $3.45 upcharge).

In terms of overall flavor, this as decent, a slight bit of heat, nice acid from the semi-roasted tomatoes, which I could have done with more of. The aioli, pepper jack cheese, and roasted pasilla peppers gave this sandwich a bit of zip. There's a reason I usually don't order grilled chicken sandwiches; the dryness factor, which unfortunately, was the case here.

The fries were crisp, though on the dry side as well. Very routine.

Service was very courteous and efficient. The vibe and product is very "corporate". The prices on the high side. Not terrible, but every item fell short of enjoyable.

I'll probably get around to the salads and burgers one of these days. After I search around a bit more.

Bistro 24
4655 Executive Drive
San Diego, CA 92121
Hours:
Mon – Fri 7am – 4pm

Corner Bakery Cafe (return visits)

October 13, 2017 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Chains, Salads, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a long running blog about food. We write about meals and sometimes other stuff. Today, Cathy is writing about meals; Kirk is working a bunch of overtime.

I wrote about Corner Bakery Cafe in 2010 and again in 2014. A small corner bakery that began in Chicago in 1991 is now a chain of 192 locations in the USA, with five San Diego County locations.

Fast-casual breakfasts, gourmet sandwiches, homemade soups, salads and pasta along with (of course) bread and pastries are the menu. The restaurant is very similar to Panera, including free wifi in all locations.
Commuter Croissant ($5.69) Scrambled eggs, smoked bacon, cheddar and tomatoes on a toasted, flaky, fresh croissant is an easy and tasty meal. Berry Almond Swiss ($6.49) Large bowl of Chilled Swiss Oats (muesli) topped with toasted almonds and fresh strawberries & blueberries served with plain low fat yogurt/skim milk and a homemade raisin pecan sweet crisp. This is always my choice in the summer. It's tasty and refreshing. (There is a chilled Swiss oats choice made with green apple, banana, currents and dried cranberry that I also crave). The Pancake Combo ($8.29) is a simple meal made with some tasty buttermilk pancakes. The bacon here is smoky, thick and a better quality than some other places. Anaheim Scramble($7.99) with a side of fruit and Harvest toast (nutty and seedy) is simply eggs scrambled with tomatoes, green onion, cheddar and avocado. Really good.

When we stopped in for lunch one day, there was a special seasonal salad advertised on the front door poster (I forget the name; it was $8.49). Strawberries, blueberries, glazed nuts and blue cheese as well as a good portion of grilled chicken. This was served with a (sweet) strawberry vinaigrette which wasn't necessary. The blending of flavors and textures was just right. I do enjoy trying limited time offerings. The roast beef and cheddar sandwich($8.99), served on a soft sesame bread with lettuce, tomatoes and a cracked pepper balsamic mayo was unexpectedly wonderful. I asked for the side of potato chips (and took those home for later) but I could have ordered a side of raw carrots instead.

All in all, tasty and 'sensible' choices for a fast breakfast or lunch.

Corner Bakery Cafe website Multiple locations

Sunday Stuffs – Baguette Bros Closes, Pizza Coming to the Poseidon Project, and Giovanni’s (Balboa) is moving to Linda Vista

October 8, 2017 mmm-yoso Sandwiches, Thai Restaurants

Some items for a beautiful San Diego Sunday.

Baguette Bros Closes:

"Xiāng Jiāo" mentioned this to me the other day. I happened to be in the area so I drove by.

Though they created a bit of hype when they opened a few years back, I never really took to the place during my visits.

"XJ" told me this was going to be another location of IC Monster (Read Kirbie's post here).

4698 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Pizza Coming to Poseidon:

So, this sign is up and the oven has been delivered. I've been told it's a joint venture with URBN…..not my favorite pizza, so we'll see.

Still my favorite neighborhood watering hole.

Poseidon Project
4126 Napier St
San Diego, CA 92110

Giovanni's (Balboa) is moving to Linda Vista:

While taking the back way after fueling up; I noticed that this location of Giovanni's had closed.

Man, I hadn't been here in like 14-15 years! Though Cathy did a post on the Clairemont Mesa over a decade ago. Looks like this location is becoming a Mystic Grill and Bakery, which coincidentally, Cathy has also done a post on.

6133 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92111

And so, I thought that was it for this location of Giovanni's. Until I drove past the former location of Pacific Time on Linda Vista Road. This surprised me.

So, I checked around a bit and yes, according to my sources, they are reopening here.

5277 Linda Vista Rd
San Diego, CA 92110

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Nutmeg Bakery and Cafe (Scripps Ranch/Sabre Springs area)

September 18, 2017 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a San Diego based food blog, with posts usually written by Kirk, Ed(from Yuma) and Cathy. Kirk is unusually busy with work and Ed (from Yuma) is busy with so much else. Cathy is writing.

I'd been hearing about Nutmeg Bakery and Cafe for years (it's fifth anniversary was this past Friday) and The Mister and I were in the area about two weeks ago, able to stop for a quick lunch. Located at the first signal light east from the Poway Road exit off the 15, in a generic mall anchored by AAA, between a Music Store and the San Diego Bloodbank, the spacious building has both indoor and outdoor seating. Walk up, order, pay and your food is brought out to your table indicated by cleverly recycled (numbers from an old cash register) utensil tin. Condiments and water are self serve. The above chalkboard menu is only Monday-Friday; weekends have a unique (seasonal) brunch menu (another post).
For this first visit, I decided to try the half soup half salad plate($9.50). The tomato-basil bisque was the soup of the day (there is only one soup each day) and that half bowl was quite a lot (sorry the photo is deceptive; it's a deep bowl). Fresh tomatoes and light (not heavy/cheesy or cream laden) basil flavors were just right on that hot day. The salad I chose was the Neptune: organic spinach, organic quinoa, wild albacore, olives, soft boiled egg with a balsamic dressing. A really great salad. The Mister decided to order a Bombay Sandwich ($9)-brûléed ham, curry-apple chutney, cream cheese, shredded sharp white cheddar and organic greens on a (wonderful, fresh, soft) French artisan roll. Served with some house made chips, this was a wonderful version of 'ham and cheese'.

Reading the menu, I noticed many house made or local made condiment 'spreads' (local honey, garlic spread, tomato spread, carmelized pineapple spread, Bleu spread, chipotle aioli, BBQ sauce, the curry-apple chutney and more). Even though we were both satisfied with our meals, The Mister decided to walk up and check out the baked goods on display. He sat down, told me we'd have to wait six minutes for the order to be warmed…this really great berry-apple-almond bread pudding ($4.95) was brought out, accompanied by a very nice vanilla flavored whipped topping (I don't think it was cream, because it didn't have that residual 'fat' coating…and many items are vegan).

A scratch bakery, organic and local sourced products, high quality and reasonable prices. We'll be back.

Nutmeg Bakery and Cafe 12640 Sabre Springs Parkway , Ste 107 San Diego, CA 92128 (858)486-8863 Open Mon-Fri 7:30-3, Sat-Sun 8-2 Website

Arely (Again)

September 3, 2017 Cathy Breakfast/Brunch, French Restaurants, Salads, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for stopping to read mmm-yoso!!! on this sweltering day. I hope you are staying cool! Kirk and Ed (from Yuma) are busy today. Cathy is writing this post.

Beginning in 2007, I posted twice about Arely, then waited until 2014 for an update, with Kirk writing his observations in 2016 and I chimed back in most recently in June 2017. Well, here we are again…because A) We like it here, and 2. It's convenient with recent events bring us to this part of town. One morning, the Breakfast ClubSandwich ($10.50) was a choice. The fresh baked (here) whole wheat bread, in three slices, is filled with fried egg, ham, bacon, avocado and Romaine. It's a wonderful sandwich and is quite large. This Ham and Cheese Crepe ($8.20) is filled with ham, eggs and cheese. It's wonderful! "Monkey Breakfast"($7.49) {listed as a whiteboard special, behind the cash register} was priced slightly less than the 'regular' French toast (which is $7.75), so we ordered it, thinking it was just a banana sauce over regular french toasted bread- but it was the most delightful use of leftover banana bread turned into French Toast! I'm quite fond of various quick breads and to have slices dipped in egg then fried to a light crisp, with the center still being a (quite great version) of banana bread…wow! Unexpectedly wonderful. One visit here was on a Friday (when I don't eat meat) so the Brie Cheese Salad ($8.25) was my order. A quite large salad of various lettuces, fresh tomato and bell pepper, onions…a nicely tart strawberry balsamic and a split baguette, toasted and topped with melted slices of a quality Brie cheese…just a perfect accompaniment.
A visit here usually includes an appetizer; French onion soup ($3.50/cup, $4.80/bowl). It's just wonderful-the stock made with fresh herbs, the onions…the cheese…slices of French bread…
The pastry cases, seen when you walk in…leaned against while waiting to order… The almond croissant ($3). A reason to stay seated, relax and enjoy with a cup of coffee. Just delightful.

Arely French Bakery Cafe 4961-A Clairemont Drive 92117 (858)270-1910 Tues-Sat 7:00 a.m.-9 p.m. Sun-Mon 7:00 a.m.-7 p.m.

Revisits to Places I Never Posted On – The Butcher Shop

August 14, 2017 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Sandwiches

So, in need of a getaway from the craziness at work, I decided to take a trip back in time….to another place I hadn't been to in maybe 15 years.

Ah yes, The Butcher Shop……..

Once owned by the De Philippi family, it's a symbol of a nostalgic bygone era….

From the red faux leather booths to the dark wood paneling, and the photos on the wall…Frank here….Dean there……

I knew I wouldn't run into anyone from the office here.

I got the Prime Rib Sandwich….which was probably the last thing I got here way back when; though I don't think it was sixteen bucks then. But, everything costs more these days. My Server was a joy and I ordered my prime rib rare, which is how it arrived.

In a nicely toasted onion roll. The au jus just tasted mainly salty, so I let that be. The horse radish sauce was very pungent….it belonged on the sandwich, in a well measured dose. The meat was tender, but on the bland side.

As I opened up the roll to spread the horseradish on it. One side looked like it belonged on Instagram…Snapchat…or whatever the social media site du jour is these days….

While the other half of the sandwich didn't seem like it belonged on the same plate.

The fries were crisp; but everything, except the horse radish sauce seemed strangely bland.

Though there seemed to be quite a few eating on this day…..I did feel like I was the youngest person in the room. "Old School" isn't always a bad thing, but this tasted and felt dated. Though I'm sure many have great memories of this place.

The Butcher Shop
5255 Kearny Villa Rd
San Diego, CA 92123