Seafood – Page 24

A quick Lunch at Anthony’s Grotto in La Mesa

September 5, 2009 Cathy Seafood, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the name of this blog. It is written by a group of friends, but mostly Kirk, ed (from Yuma) and Cathy. I am Cathy. I am writing. Because I ate.

Hello again. I got a gift card for Anthony's from some clients earlier this year and The Mister and I figured it would be air conditioned this past Saturday (when it was 104° in Santee). That seems to be our criteria these days. We have no humidity (<20%) but the dry heat is like opening an oven door and it just knocks the energy out of us. Oh. We love seafood. That was also a good reason to choose Anthony's .

When you are walking in, a small Grotto greets you.

If you are sit by the wall of window, you have a complete view of the lake out back.

We ordered and got some fresh baked Italian (soft, not crusty) bread rolls with sides of sun dried tomato butter.

We decided to share an appetizer of artichoke and shrimp dip ($6.95). There were 12 small but juicy and flavorful shrimp baked in the shell shaped dish, along with artichoke heart pieces and a lemony mayonnaise, topped with crispy breadcrumbs and accompanied by some toasted bread. A nice starter.

I chose the chowder and salad combination ($8.95). Of course, New England clam chowder.

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This was served in a fresh made sourdough bread bowl, which just helped me with my carb overload of the day. The sourdough was not very sour, but the bread was wonderfully fresh and the chowder, was, as always, creamy, rich and filled with fat clams and diced potato.

The Garden Harvest Salad that came with mine was served on a fish shaped plate. (click on the photo so it enlarges and you'll see the tail of the fish plate)

It was filled with shredded lettuces, cucumber, parboiled squash and carrots, flavorful tomatoes and topped with a light vinaigrette.

The Mister wanted to try the "Northern Combo" A choice of grilled sole, salmon or cod- any two or two of the same ($11.95) He chose cod and salmon and cole slaw as his side. Both fish were grilled and lightly seasoned, remaining moist. The cole slaw here is made with pineapple and is delightfully refreshing.

The total for this lunch was exactly $30 and there is still money left on the gift card…and our birthdays are coming up!

website

It’s Fry-day: Imperial Fish Market

August 28, 2009 mmm-yoso Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food, Seafood

**** Imperial Fish Market is no longer

Imperial Fish Market is a favorite of a FOY (Friend of Yoso), he swears by the Fried Snapper here. I arrived at the shop located on Euclid just at opening time.

When they say, “you buy – we fry” they’re not kidding! A good variety of fish and other seafood is displayed in a large case.

I placed my order with the older gentleman at the register…. he hollers out the order, one of the young men grabs the fish I ordered and passes to another young man, who asks me “plain or spicy” (need I really say how I ordered it?), dredges the fish in what looks like a cornmeal based breading.

And I go and check out the hot sauce collection…..

And for me to file away that they carry Crystal Hot Sauce and Camellia Beans for future reference. My order was ready with a pretty quick turnaround. As I grabbed my package, the gentleman pointed to the dispensers and told me to, “make sure you get some sauce and ketchup.”

Staring at the package sitting next to me on the drive home, I wondered how our lunch would stand up after the twenty minute or so drive home. Taking the package to the dining table, I opened up the paper bag, and opened up the paper covering our lunch…. and was met with two slices of wheat bread!

Wheat bread? What was this, health food????

Nah…. after pushing aside the bread I saw my Two Piece Fried Red Snapper Basket ($8.99):

The fries were straight from SYSCO-land, not that I expected otherwise. The cornmeal breading held up well from the trip home. It was on the thick side, quite gritty, but still crisp. Even though I ordered the breading spicy, it was quite mild, and needed a good dose of hot sauce. The filet itself was dry, and tasted on the fishy side, not a good sign for a usually mild flavored fish.

I also ordered a two piece basket choosing Sand Dabs as the fish:

I haven’t seen Sand Dabs much in San Diego. The Sand Dabs were much better than the snapper, moist and mildly sweet. Of course we had to contend with bones and such, but this wasn’t bad.

I also got an order of Deep Fried Okra ($3.99):

Like the other items, the breading was very thick and gritty, not necessarily a bad thing, but the okra was underseasoned and the flavor of stale oil was prominent. Not good eats.

Next time I visit Imperial Fish Market, I’ll take a good look at the fish in the case rather than just looking up at the menu and ordering. Lesson learned…..

Imperial Fish Market
494 South Euclid Ave
San Diego, CA 92114

Mariscos Los Koras

August 27, 2009 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Seafood

**** Mariscos Los Koras is now Mariscos Altata

While on one of my "drives" I was headed for the I-805 North onramp on Market Street, when this fairly large shop caught my eye.

Instead of getting directly on the freeway, a drove a bit further and made a u-turn. The place looked promising for a few reasons; first there were five vehicles in the parking lot, which means, in addition to any "prop" cars (the cars of the employees parked out front to make the place look busy), there were at least a few customers. Significant because this was 9am on a Sunday morning. And the Coat of Arms of Nayarit, one of the Coastal States of Mexico that borders the Pacific that is well known for their seafood.

A few days later, the Missus famished, and the heat getting to me (it really doesn't take much for us San Diegans), we made our way down to 43rd and Market.

The interior is packed with tables and chairs, and is very…..green, to reflect the ocean theme I guess. The young man who greeted us at the door with a big smile, wasted no time in getting us some chips.

And a nice, slightly picante, smokey, salsa.

And the inevitable standard of most Mariscos operations, a basket of saltines…….

The chips were a good thing, because it took us quite a while to navigate the menu.

I decided to start with the Aguachile Tostada, which arrived in a few minutes.

This was nice and refreshing, with a good bit of heat to it. The shrimp still retained a nice toothsome, meaty texture, without the gumminess of "over-cooked" (by citrus) camarones. I was surprised at the amount of spice that came off this. The Missus also enjoyed this as well.

The Missus "started" with the Vuelve a la Vida, the mixed seafood coctele:

When the chalice arrived, the first thing we noticed was the lack of any tomato in the cocktail. This was a first for us, as I've always had tomato water/ juice/ clamato in versions of this previously. Maybe uber Food Blogger Masa Assassin can clarify that for us. The liquid was pleasantly citrus-y, with the flavor of seafood in the background. The fruits of the sea residing in this goblet were very fresh. The Missus and I both thought the scallops and shrimp stood out. And I enjoyed the huge freshly shucked oyster. Still, the Missus missed the presence of tomato, which leads me to our next question. The young man brought out a bottle of ketchup with our plates….were we supposed to put that in the coctele? At first I thought they were just using the ketchup bottle for their own sauce, but I squeezed out a bit onto my spoon and tasted it…. it was ketchup.

I also ordered a Marlin Taco:

The taco had been deep fried, a la pescadillos, and reached the table sizzling. The taco had reached a level of sinful greasiness, that would qualify this as a guilty pleasure. The smoked marlin had a nice, not too over-powering flavor. And though this was not on the scale of Mariscos German, it was still good.

In case your thinking that the Missus was done….well She wasn't. She also ordered the Filete Los Koras:

The fish was cooked to perfection, moist without being overcooked. I loved the sauce, a green concoction with a nutty, garlicky flavor. Also of note were the beans, which had a strong smoked flavor that I enjoyed. This was our favorite of the day. The Missus wiped almost everything out, and I finished up the sauce and the beans. We had cleaned everything up, to the amazement of the young man serving us.

As we walked out, we saw three guys destroying a whole grilled fish and fixins' (Sarandeado?)…. I don't think too many folks leave here hungry…..

Mariscos Los Koras
4297 Market St
San Diego, CA 92102

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El Titanic- Mariscos in El Cajon

August 16, 2009 Cathy Mexican Restaurants, Seafood, What Cathy Eats!

El Titianic has closed. It will be missed.

mmm-yoso!!! is a blog about food. It's written almost daily by a group of friends- Kirk, ed(from Yuma), Cathy and a few others. Here's Cathy!

Hi again. So anyhow…I have driven past this corner- 2nd and Pepper Drive- in El Cajon (Maybe a mile North on 2nd from the I-8 exit) for..um.. years now. I've seen this place. From my car.

Finally one day, I drove in to the parking lot.

Which has painted walls.

As does the interior.

The menu is extensive, with Botanas (the large platters of marinated fish), Cocteles, Coco Estilo Culican (cocteles and ceviche served in a fresh coconut), whole fish, tostadas/tacos/burritos, combination plates, soups, and platters of just fish, shrimp and octopus, served with rice, beans and salad. First, we got a basket of fresh corn chips, salsa and limes and placed our order.

Medium shrimp coctele ($10) came out first. 14 whole shrimp, marinated in lime and served in a not very tomato-y, not very chilled sauce that had cucumbers and onions. Excellent, juicy, large shrimp and topped with sliced avocado. Filling all by itself.

The fish ceviche tostada ($3.50)

came out with the coctele, made just as quickly. Very fresh, with tomato, onion and cilantro, lime juice marinade of course and topped with more sliced avocado.

The Mister and I shared those items while waiting for his shrimp platter, the "Camarones al Popeye" ($12.25) was being made. Salad with a very nice dressing, excellent refried beans and rice and 17 large shrimp, sauteed in butter that was called a cream sauce, but really was butter, and sauteed onions, bell pepper and, supposedly, spinach (making it a "Popeye", which we thought would be fun to order at a place called Titanic) all topped with melted cheese.

We didn't see any spinach, except in the salad. No complaints though. Excellent, fresh flavors of everything. Lots of food.

For some reason, the waitress asked me if I wanted anything else and without thinking, I said I wanted a marlin taco ($3.25) Marinated smoked fish, sauteed and warmed with onions and placed onto a corn tortilla that had melted cheese on it, topped with cabbage and accompanied by a very appropriate hot sauce. A huge portion. A wonderful taco. I love smoked fish. This was perfect.

We did not get any beer, which every other table seemed to be ordering. Our bill came to $31.90. Including tax.

This is part of our 'regular rotation'. 99 cent fish tacos on M-T-W. Breakfast from 10 am-2 pm daily. If you are in East County, stop. Don't just drive by.

El Titianic Seafood 1771 N2nd Street El Cajon 92021 (619) 593-0637

Dining at Artisan: Paso Robles

July 28, 2009 ed fromyuma American/New American Restaurants, Paso Robles/Cambria/San Luis Obispo County, Seafood, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Cathy and Kirk continue eating, but today ed (from Yuma) is not only eating, but he's also inviting you to share a dinner.

I first visited Paso Robles nearly 25 years ago (geez, I'm getting old). Back then it was quite literally a little Cowtown. Maybe there were six or seven wineries scattered around, some of which weren't especially good, and I could find no interesting place to eat in town. Nowadays, over 230 wineries lie within a few miles of the city, and numerous eateries beckon you to sample their gourmet cuisine.

My favorite place for dining in the town had been Bistro Laurent, which features a modern California approach to traditional French cuisine. Memories of dishes like veal cheeks, roast squab, and venison shanks still make me salivate. Unfortunately we were going to be in town on a Sunday and Monday, the two days BL closes each week.

So Tina and I did some research and then walked around downtown Paso reading menus, asking about daily specials, and discussing where we wanted to go. The decision, however, was an easy one to make as soon as we got to Artisan: The dishes on the menu sounded interesting, the wine list was varied and almost affordable, and all that walking around made us hungry.

As we sat at our table looking over the menu, several slices of outstanding crunchy French bread (baked by a small bakery in Atascadero) showed up: This was the best bread on our trip. The rustic half baguette came with a generous pat of soft sweet cream butter. This was a good omen for the rest of the dinner.

We had decided on building a meal around a local white wine. The most interesting wine, at least the most interesting one I could afford, was a Vermentino from Tablas Creek ($38): One great thing about dining at restaurants like Artisan and Passionfish is that you get a chance to try wines that you might otherwise never encounter — particularly if you live in a place like Yuma, Arizona. This Vermentino is the first California grown version of that varietal that I have ever encountered on a wine list. Even in Europe, this type of grape is not common, it being the predominant white grape only on the island of Sardinia — though it is grown elsewhere. The Tablas Creek version was crisp, richly flavored, and smooth.

The appetizers soon arrived. Tina had chosen crabcakes ($16), which were perched on quarter size disks of firm potato, covered in a very tasty, lightly spicy remoulade sauce. A sprinkling of micro greens decorated the golden brown cakes: Although I don't quite understand the potatoes, which to my mind seemed out of place on the plate, the crabcakes themselves were packed with tasty crab meat: I ordered seafood chowder ($10) for my first course:
Having grown up close to the Oregon coast, I consider myself something of a chowder aficionado. This one was quite good. The broth was creamy and richly flavored. Most notably, the predominant taste was mussels, with small chunks of potatoes and halibut studding the soup and providing texture variations. Allegedly, some clams were also present, but any clams were very much in the background.

For my entrée, I had decided on the halibut, which came with lobster raviolis, grilled spring onions, micro greens, ceci beans (fresh chickpeas), and a small side of chard ($28): Halibut cannot be broiled more perfectly. Inside the crisp crust, the fish was incredibly moist and tender: The beans and greens added variety to the platter. The lobster raviolis, unfortunately, did not taste strongly of lobster, although they certainly looked right: As good as my main course was, Tina's selection was the gem of the entire evening. On the menu it was described as "Summer truffle pici, handrolled pasta, piopinni mushrooms, goat cheese toast" ($25). It looked like this: We both agreed that this was as good as a noodle dish can be. The noodles themselves, lightly golden with the faintest hint of truffle, were mimicked by the shimeji (piopinni) mushrooms, which presented the same colors and shapes: Yet the flavors and textures of the two were very different.

The noodles and mushrooms were only one of the flavorful matrices that interacted on the plate. The robust contrastive tastes of grated aged Italian cheese and absolutely fresh peas mingled with every bite of pasta. To those of us bored by standard frozen peas, these freshly shelled nuggets were a joy — and their flavor was accentuated by the pea greens strewn on top of the noodles:
If Tina's entrée had any shortcoming, it was the goat cheese toast: There was nothing wrong with it, but it was unnecessary and played a distinctly second fiddle in the orchestra of flavors set before her.

Even though one or two aspects of the dinner might have been better, we both were extremely impressed. In addition to the creative, interesting, and flavorful food, the service had been friendly and attentive throughout the meal. Just for one example, we both drank a lot of water that evening since we had been wine tasting in the afternoon and then had walked around 95 degree Paso Robles looking at menus. As soon as the waitstaff watched us slurp down our first glasses, a large carafe of iced water was placed on the table. I also enjoyed watching the manager, a young woman who seemed to miss nothing going on in the restaurant. Kitchen and waitstaff totally professional.

This dinner was, by my standards, a pretty pricey meal. It was, however, so tasty and intriguing that we decided to do something that I almost never do — come back to the same place on the next night for a second meal. Stay tuned for the results of that adventure.

Artisan, 1401 Park Street, Paso Robles, California 93446, 805-237-8084

Road Trip: Sea Harbour in Rosemead

July 21, 2009 ed fromyuma Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, Seafood, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Not a Kirk or a Cathy Road Trip - This post is part of an ed (from Yuma) Road Trip. Buckle up and enjoy!

It was time for Tina and I to head off on vacation, ultimately arriving in Monterey for a few days. San Gabriel Valley, fortunately for us, is about midway between Yuma and the cool breezes of the Monterey Peninsula. We arrived in Rosemead armed with some recommendations from Kirk for Chinese seafood. At the top of the list was Sea Harbour: (sorry about the drive-by shot)

When we arrived hungry for our 6 p.m. reservation, the stylish restaurant was largely empty, though its numerous fish tanks looked ready for customers: The first item to hit our table was a complementary seaweed salad. It was nothing spectacular, but it was a nice and refreshing way to begin the meal: When we made reservations, I had inquired about corkage fees and was told that I was welcome to bring my own wine for the modest charge of $10. I was happy to learn this as we had come over from Yuma with a special bottle in our ice chest. After I handed the Chalone Chardonnay to a server, it soon reappeared with adequate stemware and a chilled ice bucket. The servers kept our glasses properly filled throughout the meal: Unusually for a Chinese restaurant, our meal was served European style, in courses. First arrived two abalones ($15 each) taken fresh from a tank. Each was prepared in a different style. This one was covered in a slightly sweet soy-based sauce, somewhat resembling a teriyaki sauce:The shellfish was very tender and flavorful. We cut it into small enough pieces so that we could savor each bite; after all, it had been years since I had eaten cooked fresh abalone, and I wanted the maximum number of bites for $15.

As good as that abalone was, both Tina and I preferred the second one: Here the saucing was much simpler — basically just garlic. But that was really all the abalone needed in my mind. It was really good!

The next course represented the only slight glitch in the entire meal. I was hoping for some unusual vegetable, but didn't see anything especially exotic on the menu, so I asked if there was some special vegetable that evening. The waiter said that, indeed, they had a fresh seasonal vegetable, so I ordered it. Like a salad course, it arrived before the major entrée: There was nothing wrong with this order of Chinese greens ($12) at all. As the waiter said, they were incredibly fresh and arrived steaming at the table. The simple preparation showed off the their goodness and impeccable freshness. The only glitch for us was that we had had this very same choi sum at least twice in the previous two weeks at Yummy Yummy. While the vegetable in Yuma was not as fresh as it was at Sea Harbour, I had had hopes for some thing more different.

Our main dish that evening was steamed whole red cod, taken from a tank and as fresh as could be ($36 for about 1 1/2 lbs): This was a beautiful fish, steamed to perfection and presented with a light tangy soy based sauce. Unfortunately, my picture does not do justice to this outstanding entrée because the server was waiting next to our table for me to take pictures before he removed the spine and attached bones, and I felt bad for keeping him standing there.

Now is as good a time as any to mention the wonderful and attentive service. Some online postings at various websites indicate that the service at Sea Harbour is perfunctory and almost rude. Perhaps that is the case when the restaurant is serving its popular dim sum, but Tina and I were treated exceptionally well throughout our meal. While thoroughly professional, all of the servers were friendly. They answered my questions with a smile and generally provided helpful advice. I can't recall better service at another Chinese restaurant.

Now back to the food. I just want to share one close up of the fish flesh on my plate: The taste of the red cod was every bit as moist and tender as it looks in this photo. Each mildly fishy bite melted away on the tongue. It was so good that we consumed everything — cheeks, brains, eyeballs, skin, and anything else we could scrape off the bones.

We were then each brought a complementary bean porridge, which was lightly sweet and slightly savory: I thought that was going to be the conclusion of the meal, but Tina and I both were then given these two desserts: I have no expertise whatsoever with Chinese desserts, but these did taste good and provided an attractive ending for the meal. Thanks Kirk for the rec! The place is definitely yo-so delicioso!

Sea Harbour, 3939 Rosemead Blvd, Rosemead, 626-288-3939

COMC: La Playita

July 1, 2009 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Seafood

**** La Playita has closed

La Playita has been well covered in two separate posts by the one and only Cathy. But I thought, since it's getting a bit warm out, this would be a nice chance to "COMC" (Clear Out the Memory Card), and do a short post of mostly photos on La Playita.

If you've read the previous posts you'll have good description of La Playita. A little family run shop with, one table, doing most of their business off a counter with six stools.

Most discussions center around two main items served at La Playita, the Ceviche:

Which is refreshing, if a bit too heavy on the lime for me.

The other item often discussed are the various Cocktel (Seafood Cocktails), which uses the home made hot sauce concoction as part of it's base.

The Missus's favorite is the Vuelve a la Vida ("Back to Life"), She always goes with the large sized cocktail ($13).

This wonderful seafood ambrosia is topped off with freshly shucked oysters. The only problem was trying to explain to the Missus that it wasn't the seafood that was coming "back to life", but the term is meant to be the effect of this wonderful concoction on the individual. I've read that this cocktail has a history as a hangover remedy, and brought many a bleary eyed, cotton mouthed, individual back to life.

It would be quite easy to stop at this point on the menu.

But I thought you might want to see a few of the other offerings.

The Taco Gobernador ($3), does not quite hold a candle to the version at Mariscos German, but is quite acceptable.

It is a bit less heavy.

The Pescadillas ($3) is a molten fried mixed seafood taco.

The Aguachili ($14), is a large portion of raw shrimp, "cooked" with lime juice, mixed with red onions which add a nice bite. Speaking of bite, everything is covered with a good amount of sweat inducing chili, especially if you order it spicy like I did.

The Caramones a la Diabla (Shrimp Diablo – $14) is a good portion of shrimp sauteed in a spiced up chipotle based sauce.

The colorfully named Pulpo Enamorado – "Octopus in love" (Spicy Octopus – $14) is another dish utilizing a tangy-spicy chipotle based sauce.

Just in case it's a bit too cold for ceviche, one of these dishes will be sure to warm you up. After all wouldn't it be nice to meet up with an Octopus in Love? Well, maybe not……..

Of course, it may never be too cold for Ceviche…..

I've always been served seafood of good quality at La Playita.

Don't forget the tostadas and crackers…….

La Playita Seafood
5185 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117

Big Fish Sea Grill

May 27, 2009 mmm-yoso Seafood

**** Big Fish has closed

One day while driving past Diane Village Shopping Center, on the way back from one of my many trips to Ba Ren for take-out, I noticed a sign that said "Big Fish". Big Fish……"what kind of big fish"? was the first thing that went through my head. So the next day I set out to hook myself a "Big Fish".

If I recall, this was a sushi bar of some sort in a previous life.

The menu is what I'll call classic "SoCal Fish joint"; grilled fish dishes, fried seafood, sandwiches, fish n' chips, with ceviche and fish tacos thrown in.

I didn't realize what a huge patio area this place had.

On my first visit, I decided to try out the fish n' chips. According to the menu, you can get them two ways, beer battered or panko crusted. I ordered the beer battered option, but for some reason, it wasn't available, maybe due to the fact that the place hadn't even been open for a week? So I went with the Panko Crusted Fish n Chips. According to the menu, the fish used for the fish n' chips was Cod, not Haddock or Pollock.

As I had a seat, the rather large gentleman dropped off some chips and salsa:

And soon enough my plate of Panko Crusted Fish n' Chips ($8.75), arrived. For some reason "panko crusted", and "fish n' chips" really doesn't click in my head. Undoubtedly a personal issue.

The pieces of fish were a good 3 inches in circumference, and looked bigger in real life than in photos. The panko had soaked up a bit of oil, so I'm thinking that the cooking temperature was a bit off. The flesh had a nice opaque look, and if not super moist, was decent. With regards to being able to tell the difference between cod and haddock, for me, it's mostly an appearance issue. Cod, in my opinion is much more dense, whiter in color when cooked, as this was, and has a bit more of that "fish flavor". Haddock, in my mind is a bit more delicate and perhaps a bit sweeter, with smaller flakes. I'm sure someone out there is an expert in such matters and can perhaps educate me a bit further. The quality of the fish was prefectly acceptable.

Lacking a great batter, this was fairly bland. The saving grace was the malt vinegar.

The waffle cut fries looked really pale, but stood up for the entire meal. The coleslaw was tasteless.

Overall, not great, not bad…..

A few days later, I was pretty tired, and wanted some Ceviche to perk me up. But for some reason, La Playita was closed. I decided to give the ceviche($8.95) at Big Fish a whirl.

This version came with those multi-colored mass produced tortilla chips instead of the usual crackers or tostadas. The bowl was pretty hefty in weight, but man this was bland. The shrimp seemed like they were blanched in water, and the pieces of fish though well "cooked" in texture and color, had very little flavor. As you can see, it was also pretty dry…… This was obviously no La Playita.

For some reason, a week later I found myself back at the counter of Big Fish wondering what I was doing here. I decided to march forward and ordered the fish tacos($8.75):

Geeez, it had everything but the kitchen sink on it. Again the panko crust was a bit greasy, but one thing for sure, with panko you can't hide a little pinkie sized sliver of fish in batter. The "creamy chipotle sauce" was more like a slightly, very slightly spicy, thousand island dressing, and the usual cabbage was replaced by salsa fresca. I used up the two limes and ended up going through two little cups of the salsa. Again the waffle cut fries seemed a bit pale, but held up rather well.

In the end, Big Fish provides on several levels; it is "gringo safe", un-offending food. Perhaps a bit bland to my palate, but may be perfectly fine for yours. The seafood seems to be of decent quality, and the portion sizes and prices are good. The service is unabashedly male, and ranged from friendly, to grunts and nods.

Big Fish Sea Grill
4706 Clairemont Mesa Boulevard (In the Diane Village Shopping Center)
San Diego, CA 92117

Open 10am to 9pm daily
858-490-2205

Postscript: It seems like the Clairemont Mesa, Diane Avenue area, has a few new additions:

A post is coming soon…….

Just for the Hal-i-but (sort of): The Live Halibut Dinner at Wal Mi Do in photos

May 20, 2009 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants, Seafood, Sushi and Sashimi

**** Wal Mi Do has closed

I was a bit surprised when I asked the Missus what She wanted for Her Birthday dinner….She told me She wanted the Live Halibut Sashimi dinner from Wal Mi Do! We've had this a few times already, usually with friends so I've stowed the camera. There are several "sizes" of Halibut Sashimi, this one is the "small" and is "recommended for two people". Tell me what you think……..

So without further ado, it's just photos from this point on. I don't think you'll need much narrative on this one. Yes, we finished just about everything.

I just realized I forgot to take photos of one item, the rice! But I think you get the picture. FOYs (Friends of Yoso) Ed from Yuma, Howie, and Candice have shared this meal with us in the past, so maybe they'll be able to "fill" you in. Naturally some items (on this day the Abalone Rice Porridge, and the Missus loved the snails) are better than the others (I could only manage a small nibble of the deep fried sushi roll)……… And the halibut was wonderful as always. It would've taken me the better part of a week to do a post, so I hoped you enjoyed the photos.

I really do need a nap right now.

Wal Mi Do
4367 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

I hope everyone's having a great week!

An Uni – licious Saturday – Live Uni from San Diego Kelpbed Products, Little Italy Mercato

May 16, 2009 mmm-yoso Farmer's Markets/Night Market, Seafood, Sushi and Sashimi, yoso-silly

I readily admit that I don't do a good job on keeping tabs on what is the latest, or greatest "thing" going on. But on occasion, I will read something that will grab my attention. This past Friday, I was "surfing along", when I decided to check out The Readers Food and Drink section, and lo' and behold, Ed Bedford's column was on a stand selling live uni at the Saturday Little Italy Mercato. Way to go Ed….….

So this morning I headed over to Little Italy, found parking with no problem, and walked a block over to the Mercato. Traffic, both the four wheeled and two legged kind was very light, and right at the South end of the Market, I saw the booth for San Diego Kelpbed Products.

And yes, there it was…….wriggling quills moving with slow, pulsing, almost mechanical smoothness. Heidi explained that these were Red Sea Urchin, and than raised her hands showing me the red pigmentation that the urchin gave off.

The booth is manned by Heidi and her daughter Rosemary. Heidi is treasure trove of information on Sea Urchin. Stuff like sea urchins can live a very long life(100 + years), and can keep reproducing until they are very old. As such, harvesting these keeps the population in check, which in turn does our Kelp Beds a favor. And then the magic words were spoken, "would you like a taste?" Are you kidding me????

Rosemary set to work, and had a much too easy time cracking and cleaning the uni……she cracked with the skill derived from tons of practice.

These 'nads had a bright almost reddish-orange color, with a nice, mild sweetness, and rich, briney flavor…..call it the kiss of the ocean if you desire. The flesh was creamy without disintegrating, and the fragrance hinted of the sea. And at four bucks a pop, I bought two…….

When I arrived home, I placed my uni in some old pasta bowls I had and put them in the fridge. I had been told that the uni would live two to three days in my fridge. You can tell they're alive by touching them……the spines will move. Of course, every half hour or so, I'd open the fridge, and pet my uni……

After completing all of my chores, I finally set out to work on my urchin. I have had more than my share of uni, but I had never cracked a large one myself. Back home in Hawaii, I've eaten smaller seas urchin (called `ina ), but had not really eaten the bigger "wana" (vana). After watching Rosemary, I was sure that I could do at least, a third rate job. Rosemary worked with a small slotted spoon and a pair of kitchen shears. Unlike what one of my friends say….you don't need a "special tool" to remove the gonads from the urchins. Though I wish I had a small slotted spoon…..

Actually, cracking it was easy….first you remove it's "beak". I used my pairing knife to cut around the "mouth". Someone once told me that the Old Hawaiians would place salt around, and in the mouth of the "Wana", and let it sit overnight. Cracks would then form around the mouth, making the uni easy to crack. I was much too impatient to even think about trying this.

Mouth removed, the uni looked like this:

I turned the uni over and drained the kelp(and other stuff) speckled seawater into the sink. I than found two of the seams, and cut along them, splitting the uni in half. I than scooped out the orange 'nads, and placed them in a bowl of clean water. I carefully scraped all of the detritus off them. I moved the cleaned uni pieces into another bowl of clean water, just to make sure I got everything off. I dried the uni briefly on paper towels, and ate them up…..plain…..it was excellent. I won't win for style or presentation points, you can pay your extra twenty bucks for that……

As I was washing the red pigment off my fingers….I wondered why I hadn't done this before. Perhaps it was the $4 a piece price……or maybe just watching the ease with which Rosemary went about cleaning the uni…..or maybe it was just the right time.

Funny thing was, the other uni, which I had this evening was even better…the flesh was that reddish-orange hue….and it was just sublime. Folks say that San Diego has some of the best Uni in the world…..so why don't you try it out, and form your own opinion.

And while you're at it, enjoy the Little Italy Mercato, on Saturdays between 9am and 130pm, located on Date Street, between Kettner and Union.

I picked out some other stuff as well……