Sandwiches – Page 31

The second location of Paris Bakery opens

July 15, 2013 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

Back in April, I mentioned that Paris Bakery was taking over the old Thanh Son Tofu location. Two weeks ago, I noticed they were open. So having to work this past weekend, I decided on dropping by for a "breakfast/lunch" take-out visit.

Having not set foot in this shop in about six years, I'd forgotten just how large the place was. There seemed to be so much open space. It's a far cry from the other location. Yes, I said other location. I recognized the older woman, who was always so chatty. She and the young woman making my sandwich, her daughter, were very talkative on this morning.

Apparently, they've been in need of much more space for a while now, so this location fills the gap. I was told that the other location will still be open, which I found odd since you can literally see the other Paris Bakery if you walk out to the street. Her son will be running that location, her daughter gets the new shop. I mentioned that parking….oh boy…..that triggered a discourse about how bad the parking situation is/was at that location. "People come in to buy a bread and spend two dollars, they walk outside a minute later to find a ticket on their car….it was bad!" No wonder those little old Vietnamese ladies would rush out of the place practically running me over. You don't mess with them; they're tough. In their hands, a simple baguette becomes a deadly weapon.

I ordered two sandwiches ($3.50/each) eating half of each for breakfast than lunch.

Starting with the Dac Biet. The bread for this sandwich was decently crusty and slightly bready as is standard for their baguettes. If you've had a Banh Mi from any shop that makes their own, you've either had it from here or Le Chef Bakery. It's still a bit more dense than I prefer, but not bad.

I'd forgotten that Paris tends to be somewhat heavy handed in the application of mayo at times, which was the case with this sandwich.

With regards to that most enjoyable game of jalapeno roulette….this one was pretty spicy!

There was a good amount of pickled vegetables, which were nice and crisp, though on the mild side. The meat was decent for a banh mi, except that it as ice cold. In terms of proportion, I thought it was good.

I also ordered the Jamon, which I thought was better than the "special" for a couple of reasons.

Apparently the young lady started on a new baguette for this sandwich as the bread was still warm when I got to work. It was nice and flaky/crusty and fairly light.

The amount of "Jamon" was on the small side and it was also very cold, but the flavors of the meat, pickles, cilantro, and pate blended pretty well together. All in all, a decent banh mi.

I actually thought the sandwiches here were better than I remembered. Which means I'll be returning soon. Heck, at the least you'll know that the bread is fresh…or should be fresh. I was told that both shops have the same hours, which means opening early, like around 5am and closing in the late afternoon as well.

Paris Bakery
4616 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Now I've got to check out the Thanh Son Tofu in their new location! Stay tuned!

Belen Artisan Bakers (Escondido)

July 11, 2013 Cathy Bakery, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

Belen has moved to Valley Center; no more sandwiches.

Hello. You're reading mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog. Cathy has the reins today. Kirk and Ed(from Yuma) are merely trying to remain cool.

There are more than 50 Farmers Markets in San Diego County. The Mister and I try to stop by at least one a week, sometimes happening upon one while visiting a new (to us) neighborhood.

A good number of the Markets have a stand selling fresh bread from Belen Artisan Bakery. (Photo above is at the Santee Certified Farmers Market). We have always thought the Belen Artisan Bread is excellent; each loaf we have purchased is a hearty, flavorful bread which is still fresh the following morning.

One morning, driving North on the 15, we took the Centre City Parkway exit and one block just past the first signal light, on the right/feeder road, The Mister noticed this storefront. Of course I stopped.

Walking inside the small store, the fresh bakery smell reminded me of walking into one of the numerous corner bakeries I grew up with in Detroit. Fresh loaves of bread were on the shelves to the left, some sweet baked goods in the glass display case and up on the wall, menus of some breakfasts, crepes and sandwich choices. There is also a chalkboard advertising fresh juices available.

Yes, that's the oven behind the counter.

Those spray bottles are not cleaner- they are filled with water, which is sprayed onto the loaves, to give that crispy crust…that's the oven right next to the shelving and it's exactly the oven I remember from the corner bakery where I had my first job.

Over to the right is the area where the bread is mixed, kneed-ed, risen and prepared for baking. So many memories!

You can see some of the breads and sweets as well as the breakfast menu in this photo. On our first visit here, we purchased some rolls to use for burgers and also got an orange-cranberry scone.

There are two booths and two tables inside, and tables set up outside.

On this visit, we purchased a loaf of cheese bread ($4.50) (50¢ less than the Farmers Market price, plus we got it sliced)

On this visit, The Mister and I decided to share a sandwich ($6.50). We chose to try turkey on sunflower seed and flax bread, had the choice and asked for the bread to be toasted, which meant the Swiss cheese was nice and melted. We also asked for mayonnaise as the sauce, even though some interesting choices are available (garlic, garlic-basil and Kalamata olive spread ) and all the other toppings are standard-even the avocado (lettuce, tomatoes and sprouts are the other toppings). The turkey was fresh breast (not packaged lunchmeat) and was pan-warmed.

Since we said we were sharing, the sandwich was brought out in two containers. Nice. This was an excellent sandwich, all fresh and plentiful ingredients. I like the bread. There has been a lot of take out business both times we have been here. Another excellent local business.

Belen Artisan Bakers 2250 S. Escondido Blvd Ste 112, Escondido 92025 (760) 740-5963 Closed Sunday Open 9 am-3 pm Monday : Tues/Wed/Th 7 am-5 pm : Fri/Sat 7 am-3 pm

It turns out that friend and fellow blogger, cc visited Escondido and Belen and wrote a post about her visit today also.

Jury Duty Day: Ch-ch-chains – Breakfast at Specialty’s and Lunch at Tender Greens, Downtown

July 3, 2013 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Chains, Salads, Sandwiches

Being sort of the old fart that I am, I clearly recognize the importance of that all important civic duty that is Jury Service. Though I don't think that you'd blame me for being a bit tired of it all after having jury service scheduled 9 of my 12 years in San Diego. Heck, I never got called once in LA and only twice after 30+ years in Honolulu! I'm especially puzzled since some of my friends, many whom have lived in San Diego for most of their lives have only been called once or twice, some not at all!

After entering the Hall of Justice so many times, you could say that the "bloom is off the rose". Falling off your routine and falling behind at work doesn't help your attitude, though this year I went with the mindset of making the best of things.

It used to be that I'd park at Old Town and catch the trolley, this year I walked to the bus stop and caught the trolley, though this meant leaving a bit earlier.

After taking so many turns at jury service, I'd been to quite a few places, from Grab n' Go, Currant (10% Jury Duty discount), to the food court at Horton Plaza(what was the name of that burger place that was in Horton Plaza for a blink of an eye?) , Rei do Gado, and Lucy's Taco Shop. You'd think I'd have quite a collection of posts….well, not quite. I felt somewhat self-conscious and, well, a bit weird for having to take a camera to jury service. But this year I had my iPhone, which looked perfectly natural.

I always go a bit early for jury service, this year was no exception. I decided to stop into a place I've been to before while performing my civic duty; Specialty's.

**** This location of Specialty's has closed

This 40+ location, fast-casual type chain was founded in San Francisco in the 80's. I like the fact that it has an almost fully functional Peet's integrated in the place. I don't remember the iPad ordering kiosks the last time I visited, but that was an interesting addition. I was just going to have a coffee, which you can just step up to the counter and order, but decided on getting something to eat just because……

I ended up ordering a Classic Egg Sandwich, customized with bell peppers and red onion, topped with swiss cheese.

It did look a bit too perfect and processed, but this was hot and fresh and the ciabatta was pretty decent. Nice mild milky tones from the Swiss cheese, though it had a bit too much black pepper for me.

I ordered a small Americano, which was pretty weak. After our recent trip to Europe, it seems that coffee in the states is too large, weak, and without character. And Peet's is one of my favorite chains!

Still, this adjusted my attitude, putting me in the right frame of mind for having to sit for who knows how many hours.

Specialty's Cafe & Bakery
101 West Broadway
San Diego, CA 92101
Hours:
Mon – Fri 6am – 6pm

And though I might joke about it, the Jury Lounge and process has improved over the years with wi-fi(on the weak side) and heck, they even changed that pitiful orientation video that looked like it was from the 70's a couple of years back!

Of course, during the whole morning I was looking forward to….well, lunch of course. I had just read in Eater San Diego that the downtown location of Tender Greens had just opened.

It just seemed like a great fit and was only two blocks from the Hall of Justice. So once the lunch break was announced I was off like a bullet. After eating at the Point Loma location a couple of times (you can read Cathy's posts here and here), I figured lunch at Tender Greens downtown would be a zoo.

I got there with just a couple of people ahead of me in line.

I got a nice laugh at the side of "Pardon Peppers", which had a nice poetic tie-in to my jury service, but I think they should probably use the correct spelling for padron peppers since they do claim to sell local produce.

According to what I read on Eater, the unique menu at this Tender Greens location is the Buttermilk Fried Chicken. I decided to get this in a sandwich with a side salad of arugula ($11).

I really don't think one should mess around with fresh, crisp, peppery arugula, and decently ripe tomatoes, Tender Greens really does a nice job here.

I thought the sandwich was over-dressed as my fried chicken got soggy pretty quickly. Bread to protein ratio seemed a bit too heavy on the carb side as well. I poached a couple of pieces of chicken when I sat down. It was nicely flavored and moist. I'd recommend on a hot plate or salad.

After reading the sign, I just had to have a side of those PardonPadron Peppers ($4):

This was my favorite item. While I enjoy padron/shishito grilled, which adds a layer of smokiness while further developing the sugars, this was quite nice. Perfectly salted and tender. Not quite to the level of melt in your mouth Padrons we recently had in Lisbon, but still darn good.

I gotta say that the speed while keeping a good level of service left me impressed. When I looked up from my meal, I noticed that the line was snaking itself around the block!

And while the dining room filled up, things proceeded smoothly, never rushed, tables getting cleared and folks actually having their waters refilled!

I think Tender Greens has a great concept and good food. If things keep this way downtown, who knows….

Tender Greens
110 W Broadway
San Diego, CA 92101

To kind of give you a clue on how quick lunch service was….jury service lunch breaks are long, at almost an hour and forty-five minutes. I had so much time on my hands I didn't know what to do. So I just walked around……here's a shot from Horton Plaza:

So for those who have jury service in Downtown San Diego; what's your pick? The jury-duty discounted Currant? A sandwich, maybe the Hall of Justice Food Court (maybe not….). Perhaps you've taken your chances and run down to East Village? Where do you eat?

Sunday Sandwiches: Porchetta times two – Ariccia Market and Roseville Cozinha

February 24, 2013 mmm-yoso Italian Restaurants, Sandwiches

*** Update: Sadly, both of these places have closed.

A couple of porky sandwiches for a Sunday. I tried to make this a trio, but could never get to Bencotto on a day when they had the layered and rolled swine. I'm hoping to try it in the near future. Still, I did have two nice sandwiches recently.

Ariccia Market:

Well, being named Ariccia, the "home" of porchetta gives it away….you pretty much better have said rolled swine. There's actually a Porchetta festival in the town of about 20,000 every year in September. I had visited the market a couple of times before trying out the porchetta, I like the brand of French Harissa they sell.

Finally, a couple of months back, I had a chance to try the Porchetta Sandwich ($9):

I really enjoyed the balance of the sandwich, the moist pork worked well with the sweetness of the caramelized onions and the acid of the balsamic based sauce. The peppery-bitterness of the arugula really cleared out the richness and the lightly yeasty, almost rustically crackly bread made this a joy to eat. Nothing fancy here, just a combination of ingredients prepared properly, used in perfect context and proportion. Very nice. Consumed at 9 in the morning, it's a heck of a way to start your Sunday, I'll say that much.

Ariccia Italian Market
7441 A Girard Ave
La Jolla, CA 92037

There's one other tidbit about Ariccia you might not know. Ariccia has the distinction of being one of the places whose mention is banned by Chowhound. From what I recalled, this very sandwich was mentioned in a Chowhound post and the owner posted to thank them…and boom, any mention of the the place is removed by the moderators. I know, it's hard to believe….though CH does have a policy – noted here. I think the one thing that bothered me about the whole deal is that there's another restaurant owner, who has replied to posts on Chowhound, using his own name, defending policies, etc….. So he goes totally free while other one gets life in solitary. If you're going to have such severe policies, at least be consistent with them. 'Nuff said. CH has a way of being quite vengeful and condescending….it once called Ed from Yuma "one of those idiots and miscreants" when he questioned why a post was deleted. So I'm wondering what'll happen to me the next time I try to post on CH?

Roseville Cozinha:

About a week after the porchetta from Ariccia, we dropped by Roseville so the Missus could get Her cioppino fix. I hadn't realized that they had a version of porchetta on their menu as well. So of course I had to order it ($10):

In terms of heft and price, this was a nice deal. Even though the classic porchetta sandwich is a panini, I love the way Roseville simply salts, brushes with olive oil, then grills the wonderful breads from Con Pane. This ciabatta is no exception. The addition of fries made this a bit more than I could eat.

I can't say that the sandwich had the same harmonic balance as what Ariccia serves, but it sure did satisfy me.

Sadly, this was off the menu during our last visit….but hopefully they'll have it back on the menu periodically.

Roseville Cozinha
2750 Dewey Rd Suite 104 (Liberty Station)
San Diego, CA 92106

So there you go! Do let me know if you see more porchetta popping up elsewhere….so I can get my weekly dose of swine!

Recently Consumed

January 25, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking, Sandwiches

I haven't done one of these for almost a month…..so here's a post for a wet Friday here in San Diego.

I noticed how much was lost when we fried merguez from Whole Paycheck….so trying to get the most out of it, I first pan fried the lamb based sausages, then pan roasted potatoes in the rendered fat from the merguez. Man….this was really good.

Here's an interesting fun experiment…..pinenut crusted halibut.

Man, I wish our broiler worked….I'm sure we'd have gotten some better carmelization. As served, this was so moist….I think the Missus know understands that you can do some nice fish in the oven. The drizzle of black garlic olive oil I made was a nice touch.

Then during the middle of our coldest evenings….we had Oden.

You gotta love those portable butane stoves….I think every household should have one. If just as part of their "disaster kit".

Of course I made too much broth…..adding this to some major laziness means that I availed myself of whatever dried product I had on hand.

So wakame, dried mushroom went in………there was some tofu in the fridge…..I poached some of the Missus' dandelion greens for some pungent bitterness. But this didn't become complete until I made an omelet with Chinese preserved radish.

I've been kinda lazy the last two nights…..so while I've made stuff the Missus wanted to eat for dinner, I've stuck with making sandwiches for me.

So last night was beer braised veal bratwurst which I then wrapped in bacon and browned. This was really nice on some sauerkraut seasoned with some oregano over melted Swiss cheese and Dijon Mustard. Some sweet pickled red peppers completed the sandwich. The Missus had a bite and now wants me to have this during the weekend.

Tonight was a simple steak sandwich…after all, I need to use up those rolls.

It was the bed of peppers and onions sauteed with a touch of white balsamic that really made this tasty.

So what have you been made at home recently?

Sunday Sandwiches: Supernatural Sandwiches

January 6, 2013 mmm-yoso Sandwiches

***Update SuperNatural Sandwiches now has a brick and mortar shop. you can read an updated post here

**** SuperNatural has closed

Sometimes it can be strange……I'll get an email from and "friend of a friend of a friend"…..inviting me to drop their restaurant/coffee shop/deli….. I try to avoid being put into that position by just not going. Our not doing freebies policy works in our favor as well. It helps us to be honest when no strings are attached. It keeps things simple…."we eat, then write about it."

However, on occasion something interesting comes down the pike. As is the case with "Anthony", who knows my good friends John and PeterL. He and his partners own a stand called Supernatural Sandwiches. Anthony has commented on a couple of posts and shot me an email, which I answered, getting a very….how should I say it, enthusiastic response. Bread from Bread and Cie, fish from Catalina Offshore, produce from Suzie's Farms…all of which sounded great. Even though I haven't posted on it yet, we've been dropping by the San Diego Public Market on just about a weekly basis….so I thought what the heck? Of course there was the issue of Anthony knowing the twins….. which put me into a bit of a position. John assured me that whatever I had to say….or write would not put him or his brother into a bad position with Anthony, and heck, they didn't like him anyway (Anthony, if you're reading this, that's a joke, ok?)!

So on my next trip down to SDPM, I drop by the stand, and a really, really, friendly young man greets me and takes my order. It's got to be Anthony of course. Very nice fellow and all that. Then of course, he asks me my name for the order ticket…….. well, I'm not much of a liar, so I tell him "Kirk" and he doesn't blink an eye and writes my name down on my order. Great…..

The menu is a nice, tight, seven sandwiches….all of them named after mythical water creatures, kind of cute. So of course, all of the sandwiches are based on seafood.

On this day, we had two sandwiches:

And let me first say, I loved the bread, sort of a brioche toasted to perfection, not overly oily or buttery, with a hint of sweetness, and very light.

We started with the "Nessie" ($9), which at it's core is a white fish with a miso based glaze.

The sandwich itself was kind of wet, but the bread held up well. I wasn't too sure about this when I saw that it was halibut….we love halibut, but having made misoyaki style fish just about my entire life, I know that halibut was too dry to stand up to a miso glaze……

So what I had was a sopping sandwich with dry fish and a very mild miso based glaze at its core. It also looked like it could have spent a bit more time on the flat- top.

I'm sure other folks will like this…..I'd prefer something with a bit more oil and fat…..like black cod, which Catalina Offshore often has.

Our other sandwich was the "Hydra" ($9). This one is a blackened tuna (in this case albacore) with a spicy aioli and an acidic avocado based sauce.

After the previous sandwich, I wasn't too sure about albacore, which can be a very dry fish. But in this case I was wrong. It was nicely seared, nice crust, I loved the seasonings, the aioli had a mild "zing" and the avocado sauce tempered the heat.

I really enjoyed this sandwich. It gave me a reason to return……

Last night, John joined us for dinner, and tells me right off, "hey, my friend Anthony told me you dropped by his sandwich stand a couple of weeks ago"……. And I had to crack up. Not too many Asians with a good Scottish name like Kirk I guess….

So earlier today, we're at SDPM, and I stop by Supernatural Sandwiches….of course Anthony is there and we chat a bit. Then one of the guys in the back asks me, "didn't I see you at Catalina Offshore yesterday?" Sheesh….these guys are everywhere!

This time around I ordered the "Siren" ($8), the garlic shrimp sandwich. I know this is made with Mexican White Shrimp from Catalina Offshore, so as long as it's not overcooked it'll probably be pretty good.

And it was. The shrimp were very moist, plump, and sweet. Even the Missus was impressed. The bread was the same, except this time it was expressed in the form of a lobster roll type bun, which was just perfect.

Everything went well, perhaps too much of a good thing with the garlic aioli, but I'm sure most folks will just love that. I'm thinking a bit more acid would help as well. But overall, no complaints.

I enjoyed this last sandwich, so I'll probably be back. And though I'm not one of those preaching "farm to table", I do appreciate the fresh and local ingredients. Sadly, as far as I know, you can only get these on Wednesdays and Sundays at the San Diego Public Market….for now….

Supernatural Sandwiches (In the San Diego Public Market)
1735 National Ave
San Diego, CA 92113

Wed and Sunday 9am – 2 pm

Paris Baguette (inside H Mart)

November 28, 2012 Cathy Bakery, Desserts, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

You have navigated your way to mmm-yoso!!!, the blog about food. Today, Kirk as well as ed(from Yuma) are each doing something that requires focus. Cathy is multitasking, so here's a blog post.

I think we all know that the San Diego location of H Mart opened on November 17 -less than two weeks ago. In case anyone didn't know, I will do just about anything to avoid crowds. Therefore The Mister and I decided to wait until things slowed down to shop and check out offerings. The day after Thanksgiving was that perfect day.

Yes, there were empty parking spots at 10 a.m..

H Mart, a Korean Market, has great deals on fruits, vegetables, panchan, kim chee, meats and fish. Everything is fresh and clean. We were very happy walking around while being able to push our shopping cart and not having to navigate around and between shoppers and their carts. When we got to the far end of the store, next to the exit door, we saw the signage-

Similar to other H Marts and Korean Markets in general, you can observe the workers behind glass.

In typical Korean bakery fashion, grab a tray, top it with a paper liner, grab tongs and select your choices from behind and on top of glassed doored cases, stand in line, order beverages and pay.

On this visit, we picked out a good snack of sweets selection.

The round 'donut' ($1) was a very large rice ball/mochi, filled with smooth pumpkin and deep fried. It collapsed when we cut it, but biting into it can give you a cross section view. It was really good and quite large. The almond pastry – basically a croissant ($1.90)- was so light and flaky with crispy almond slices and had a good amount of almond paste filling. The other pastry (listed as a 'one bite' on the receipt, for $1, but on the display had $1.25 as the price) was essentially a puff pastry cup filled with delicious custard and topped with an apricot half. So good-each flavor distinguishable and the various textures made this a perfect snack item.

So, after we got home, there were daily discussions of which items at Paris Baguette we wanted to try and when we we went at around 2 p.m. on a weekday, there was zero parking in the lot in front of H Mart and only a few spaces in the back parking lot. However, hunger and curiosity won out and there were new sales inside the store and a few cart navigation incidents, but once I got to the far side of the store, Paris Baguette wasn't overly busy and I chose a good variety of items for a late lunch. The 4 box of baby chox ($2) was a perfect, soft version of choux pastry filled with real whipped cream which managed to make its way home.

The ham and cheese croissant ($2.25) was a perfect light and flaky pastry filled with just enough ham and cheese to make this sandwich an easy choice in the future. The other item in the above photo is a canele ($1.80) which I haven't seen around here. There was a nice story board on the counter telling that canele was first made in Bordeaux, where the wines are clarified with egg white, leaving yolks behind…

which are used to make the custard filling of this small, dense, caramelized cake. It is unique and wonderful.

The "Crunch Sandwich" ($5.95) which we found in the refrigerator section was very interesting. The package was heavy and ingredients listed are chicken salad, green leaf lettuce, honey mustard and pan croissant. The chicken salad was very nice, made with onion, walnuts and dried cranberries and wrapped in the 'pan croissant' which was a surprisingly nice, dense and chewy flat bread/flat croissant.

We've liked the food and service here and my only criticism is that the line where you wait to pay is along the the coffee, condiment/supplies and trash bins, which makes it awkward to get to the half and half/napkins/forks and knives or to clean your table when you leave.

Paris Baguette is a franchise and another location will be opening inside the new location of Zion Market on Clairmont Mesa and Convoy, when Zion opens (probably in January).

Paris Baguette (Inside H Mart) 9440 Mira Mesa Boulevard San Diego 92126 website

The hot beverage cups are cardboard covered in foam and don't need a cardboard 'sleeve'. I've brought both home and am going to use them for something…just pretty…

PL Bagels-(Point Loma)

October 26, 2012 Cathy Bakery, Breakfast/Brunch, Sandwiches

This is mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog. Kirk and ed (from Yuma) are out and about running errands today. Cathy was out and about running errands and this place caught her attention. She is writing about it today.

A few years ago, I was working in the Point Loma area on an Election Day. When I had time to take a break, I stopped in this parking lot on Voltaire Street, anchored by this Stumps Family Marketplace, a 'fancier' Market. The Mister and I now make regular trips here, mainly to purchase their various house made sausages, which are coarse ground and have just the right amount of spices.

It's a very nice market, selling a good variety of items and I would shop here regularly if I lived closer. On the same block, but around the taco shop and in the next parking area East (closer to Point Loma High School) I discovered this humble looking bagel shop.

It's owned and run by a very nice Asian family who make what I think are the best bagels in the County.

Eight tables inside the building. A limited menu. A limited number of bagels made daily- usually sold out before 1 p.m. (the store opens at 6:30 a.m. daily). Bialy (my favorite) are made on weekends only. Mini bagels available for 35¢ each. These are not huge, fluffy, chain store bagels; each one does have a hole in the middle. Handmade, with great chew yet soft and always fresh is what is served here. I have heard people say the bagels here are as close to New York Style as you can get on this coast.

Toasted and with butter is how I've always enjoyed a bagel. You can see the size on these smaller (6 inch?) paper plates. The Mister's (on the right) is his favorite- a salt bagel. Mine is a (wheat) everything (white everything is also available). (I order an everything as a default because I am easily overwhelmed when having to choose, and an everything has a bit of…everything… on it.)

What really sets these bagels apart from others is this- this is a photo of the bottom of each bagel. The 'toppings' are really 'surroundings' of flavor. Just perfect.

I hope everyone is have a good weekend!

PL Bagels 3704 Voltaire Street, Suite 107 San Diego 92106 (619)223-4788 Open daily 6:30-1:00

Sau Voi Deli

October 15, 2012 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Sau Voi Deli has closed.

This is probably the only Banh Mi place in the area I haven't posted on. Mostly because I'm not the biggest fan of the place. But recently, I decided to just go ahead and give it a try again. For those that don't know Sau Voi Deli; it's the little shop inside the 99 Ranch Market structure.

The place is starting to look even more worn recently and the folks who run the place seemed to have aged a bit as well. Things don't go too quickly here, you just order and kick back and wait for your sandwich.

I ordered the Dac Biet just to get some feel of how they're making banh mi nowadays.

To be fair, the sandwiches are pretty hefty for the price ($3.75), the bread seemed pretty fresh and it was perfectly toasted….not toasted to bits where it shreds your palate.

There's a ton of pickled veggies as well, though I didn't care for the flavor.

I think you can tell the problem I had with this sandwich……man, it was so D-R-Y….really. The proteins had the texture of rousong, which I guess is ok if you like the stuff. And you may well like it that way, since I've been told by Kirbie that I'm the only person she knows of who doesn't like the stuff! It's also pretty flavorless. Look, I'm the first to say when there's too much mayo or spread on my banh mi, but this was just too dry. What mayo the sandwich had was spread over one thin line near the edge of the bread. Even the cilantro looked wilted….

Of course, being the glutton for punishment I am, in the spirit of fairness, I returned to try something else. This time the pork (cha lua) and shrimp (cha tom)cake banh mi ($4).

This time along with the bread, everything else seemed a bit fresher, but the cha lua, which has almost a light smokey flavor to my palate was like rubber and the cha tom, while decent, having a mild shrimpy flavor, this still didn't satisfy me.

I'm looking for a certain proportion of ingredients and flavors….I don't want a super-stuffed sandwich, just one that fulfills my sense of balance and this really didn't do it for me. I mean, they'll do a decent job of filling you up, but to me not much more. Kind of sad actually……

Sau Voi Deli
7330 Clairemont Mesa Blvd Ste 109
San Diego, CA 92111

Oceanside: Panca Peruvian Rotisserie

October 7, 2012 mmm-yoso Peruvian Restaurants, Sandwiches

**** Panca Peruvian has closed

You didn't think that I'd drive up to see my buddy JohnL and just grab a poke bowl, right? I needed to make use of John's appetite and ability to pace himself for another stop. I'd heard about a Pollo a la Brasa joint up in Oceanside and wanted to try it out. Now in Lima, it seems you can't even walk a block without running into one of those places. The most popular chain is named Pardo's, which was good, but I happen to love the papas fritas made with papa amarilla, a yellow potato with a flavor similar to yukon gold. Along with the wonderful aji aioli it was good stuff.

Located next to a laundromat on Coast Highway, it's easy to pass the rather small sign for Panca. The design and decor is very much "fast-casual" looking, simple with colors and various paintings….love the photo of Aji Amarillo on one of the walls.

Having John here was a blessing; since in addition to the Pollo ala Brasa, we could try several of the interesting sounding sandwiches.

We started with the Lomito ($7.95), which is basically Lomo Saltado minus the papas fritas on a bun.

The meat is fairly chewy, but not unpleasantly so….this is based on lomo saltado after all. I'd have loved a bit more onions and more tangy tomatoes, but I'm sure the place wants to please the meat eaters. Nice soy flavors, this seemed to missing that wonderful anise-mint flavor delivered from Huacatay, but I'm sure that's hard to get. A bit too much bread for me, but it stood up well to whatever juices came out of the meat. I must say that the Aji sauce was pretty one-dimensional, a bit of heat and not much else.

The "fresh-cut" fries were actually quite nice….good potato flavor. And there was a ton of it…..

As you can see with the Chicharron Sandwich ($6.95) we ordered:

Geeez Louise….do you think that's enough fries??? Luckily, they have a decent potato flavor, even if they don't stay crisp for very long.

Now just the word Chicharron, in the context of Peruvian food makes my mouth water. It brings back memories of a street called Pampas de Castillo in Cusco. This was where all the Chicharronerias were located. During lunch, the restaurants would wheel out the fryers to the sidewalk and start cooking up pork and chicken, the fragrance of swine frying could be caught all the way down to Plaza de Armas!

This version was fairly mild, like a tame pulled pork.

The sweet potato chips at the bottom of the sandwich, I'm sure was there to add some sweetness (which it didn't) and a textural contrast, which it slightly did. I could have done with a bit more of the sarza criolla, the onion relish, which also could have used some aji amarilla for some umph. The pork flavor was decent, but this was a bit dry and the large amount of bread did it no favors. Still, I think this is worth the price……..

And finallywe tried the Quarter Chicken ($6.95), which also came with a huge amount of fries.

Now there are a couple of things I need to say first; the chicken was on the small side, but I'm fine with that. In many cases these smaller birds (like they'll use in Peru) have more flavor. Second, from the flavor, I don't think these were roasted over wood, so you can't even compare with Peru, or even LA.

The chicken was very moist, perhaps a bit heavy on the sodium, but with a decent overall flavor. I'm thinking perhaps a bit better than what Nazca Grill serves, who finishes their chicken over wood (or so I've been told), but I've got to get back there again to refresh my tastebuds. It's not something I'd go out of my way for, but I'm glad I tried it.

The service was good, they've got my favorite Peruvian Beer, Cristal, and I'd drop in every once in a while if I lived in the neighborhood. In terms of value, I'd say that it depends on what you order.

Panca Peruvian Rotisserie
1902 South Coast Hwy
Oceanside, CA 92054

Hours:
Tues – Thurs 11am – 9pm
Fri – Sat 11am – 10pm
Sunday 11am – 9pm
Closed on Mondays