Thai Restaurants – Page 17

One Meal at Karinya Thai

June 15, 2008 ed fromyuma Seafood, Thai Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Who knows what Kirk and Cathy and the rest of the yosoers and FOYs have been doing for today? All we know is that ed (now from Yuma) is sharing his return to one of his ol' stompin' grounds.

10 years ago, when I was ed (from PB), one of my favorite restaurants was Karinya Thai, located just a couple of blocks from the beach on Garnet. While I never much liked the stirfries that ask one to match a particular meat or tofu choice with selected vegetables, I regularly enjoyed dishes like the papaya salad, some of the curries, and the whole fish.

Recently I realized that I had not eaten at this restaurant in at least five years, so I decided to try it once more for old times' sake.

As before, the fairly large multi-roomed restaurant was nicely decorated with Siamese knickknacks, creating a pleasant atmosphere that is highlighted by classical music playing in the background:

One major difference in the restaurant today compared with 10 years ago is the relative lack of business. Throughout the time that I dined, only one other table in this room was occupied, and few other tables anywhere in the restaurant had customers.

I began with the papaya salad ($6.95), and it was as good as my memory of it:

While Kirk might like a little more funkiness, a hint of fish sauce pervaded the dish. In terms of spicy hotness, I had requested it to be seven (on a scale of one to 10), and the salad did not disappoint. As you can see from this picture, the entire salad was flecked with chips of red and green Thai chilies:

My eyes watered, my nose ran, and my mouth burned. It was good.

The dressing finished with a slight note of sweetness and was a perfect match with the crunchy green papaya strips and even brought out the taste of the bits of peanut scattered throughout.

Service this evening was excellent. The helpful young man who waited on the table recommended a good selection from the modest wine list, kept refilling my water glass, and even brought me a full carafe of water. Several times during the meal he came by to make sure that everything was fine.

For my main course, I ordered whole fish with spicy three flavored sauce. On this evening, the fish was a striped bass priced at $18.95. When it arrived, it looked beautiful – in a fried and sauced dead fish sort of way:

The sauce was supposed to be spicy hot (again I had requested a seven), but very little picante fire was discernible. Instead, the primary flavors were garlic, diced bell peppers of various colors, and a sour note that contrasted with a background sweetness:

When I began eating the fish, I started with fleshy part of one side, giving me several bites of flaky moist fish:

Quickly, however, I ran out of flaky moist fish. Large parts of the fish had been fried to crunchy doneness:

As I was eating the fish, I was reminded of a recent trip to Mar Azul in Yuma, where the waitperson asked if we wanted the whole fish fried light or fried hard. At Karinya, this fish was definitely fried hard. Except for the fleshy central filets on each side, the fish was generally crunchy and not especially fishy in flavor. The following pictures illustrate the condition of most of the fish:

I have to admit that I was somewhat disappointed in Mr. Fish. I always say that I prefer whole fish preparations that yield flaky, moist, and tender morsels of fish. OK, that's what I say, but on this evening, the culinary puritanism in my brain was overwhelmed by the hedonism of all this deep fried crunchiness in my mouth. And in fact, I couldn't stop eating the fish until all that was left was head, tail, and bones:

Even with my conflicted feelings about the fish, I would happily return to Karinya. I wonder if the curries are still good.

It would be nice to finish the record of this visit to Karinya with some conclusions. Instead, like Mr Fish, this post doesn't have conclusions, just an ending.

Karinya Thai 4475 Mission Blvd San Diego (enter from Garnet), CA (858) 270-5050

Chow Noodlehouse

June 10, 2008 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Chinese Restaurants, Thai Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Chow has closed

I'd been thinking about trying out Chow Noodle House for a while, but have been hesitating. You see, when we first moved to San Diego in '01, this was the location of the reincarnated Celadon Restaurant. And the young Owner, Alex Thao, at that time still a student at San Diego State, was a thoughtful and energetic young man. His father had Owned the original Celadon, now the location of Hash House, and after deciding to retire and close the restaurant, the ambitious Alex had talked his father into reopening Celadon, and turning over the keys to him. The space that Chow now occupies once held a Thai Restaurant called Thai-phoon, or something like that. I won't go into the food at that restaurant, but I think the name more than describes it. Alex is a smart Guy, he kept the original chef on staff at Celadon, and we thought the food to be pretty good. We'd often run into Alex's Mom running the front of house, and Alex would always come by and chat. Over time the food went on a downhill slide. It seems that the original Chef, Songsri Thammasuckdi, who, I was told, once cooked for Thai Royalty, decided to retire. About the same time, Alex Thao became quite the Restaurateur, first opening Rama in the Gaslamp, then moving Celadon to newer digs, and opening Chow Noodle House in the former Celadon location. Which brings us to the here and now.

The interior is simply modern, neat and orderly, if perhaps a bit on the "cold" side.

The menu though simple in concept; noodles, salads, and other similar items, is a challenge. Chow has chosen to straddle 4 different Countries. The menu consists of everything from Pho and Bun, to Yakisoba, to Chow Fun and Pad Thai. It is hard enough doing one cuisine justice, but four?

Back in January, I decided to check out Chow for lunch. The very nice young lady ushered me to a table, and after looking over the menu, I chose the Drunken Noodles(with chicken – $8). I thought this would be a nice dish to try since I enjoyed the version that Celadon used to make. Something in the back of my mind made me order it "spicy", something I'd never do at say, Yai Restaurant. Come to think of it, they serve it to you, their way, and don't even ask you how spicy you want your food. I kinda like that.

I was first served a bowl of a pseudo, egg drop soup. I say pseudo, because the one very strong flavor in this was that of Kaffir Lime Leaf. To me this wasn't a bad thing, because at least it had flavor.

Considering that I was paying the "Hillcrest premium", this didn't look too bad. On the good side, the noodles were cooked adequately, and the chicken wasn't dry as I expected. On the bad, this was cloyingly sweet. I expect my Pad Kee Mau to be on the sweet side, but this was really much too sweet. Also, it was not spicy in the least, not at all. It was hard to make out any flavor beyond the sweetness of the dish.

Another day, I was having lunch with an acquaintance, and decided to order the "Vietnamese" Grilled Beef Salad($10):

The "lemongrass grilled beef" was adequately done, but it had no lemongrass flavor. The menu says hothouse cucumbers, but none were in sight, not a big deal, at least there were some cherry tomatoes mixed in with the shredded cabbage and carrots. The dressing was very bland, I'd have killed for some Nuoc Mam Cham. Funny thing, this was one of my first meals out after returning from vacation, and I couldn't help but think…..160,000 VND!

Recently, I decided to give Chow one more shot. This day, being a bit brighter than most, I noticed that Chow was showing some signs of wear and tear.

This time I ordered the Beef Chow Fun($11 – I just noticed that I spent more and more $'s on each visit). I didn't quite know what to expect, perhaps a nice version of Thai style thick noodles with gravy, maybe I'd get a decent Chow Fun.

Chow Fun with Gravy does not mean mushy noodles. The noodles were horribly over-cooked, and improper cooking temperature made them greasy as well. Though the fragrance of ginger wafted up from the dish, it was all I could really make out. This was very bland. At least the Gai lan tops were cooked properly. The meat was cut too thick, and didn't match the thickness of the noodles, a no-no in Chinese cooking.

At this point, unless anyone has a really stellar recommendation for Chow, I think I'll pass for a while. It seemed like everything started at mediocre, and went down hill from there. I will say this, though my Server was different on every visit, I had very accommodating service. Also, I was never charged for my Diet Cokes.

This leads me to a conversation I had with the young Alex Thao, way back in maybe 2002. Just back from a visit to Thai Town, I inquired about dishes using ingredients like Thai Eggplants, Jackfruit, or even Gapi(Thai Shrimp Paste). His response was that using the unfamiliar in San Diego is "economic suicide" and those dishes would just take up menu space and never sell. I guess he's right, after all, the Thao Empire is now so large it calls itself the "Celadon Group".

Chow Noodle House
540 University Ave
San Diego, CA

Read Alice Q Foodie's post on Chow here.

Read Gil's post from what We Dig here.

From the no good deed goes unpunished files:

So, I'm walking after lunch, and see an Older Woman using a walker, dragging a shopping basket, muttering to herself while crossing the street. I notice that a shopping bag full of "stuff" fell from the cart while she was crossing the street. So, I run into the cross walk, get honked at by some "gangsta's" in an Escalade who in addition to throwing a Big Gulp Cup at me, obviously cussed me out…luckily, they were screaming at me in "gangsta" so I really couldn't understand what they were saying. Thankfully, I managed to pick up the bag, caught up with the woman, and handed it to her. Unfortunately for me, she was grappling with whatever demons are haunting her, and proceeded to scream profanities at me. And if that wasn't enough, she started spitting at me! Needless to say, I dumped her bag into the cart, and beat a hasty retreat. Goes to show me…you never know what'll happen to you on the corner of 5th and University……..

Thai By Tara

February 14, 2008 mmm-yoso Thai Restaurants

*** Thai by Tara is now Sab-E-Lee. You can find a post here.

There are some locations that seem cursed, locations come and go, changing every year or so. This location right off the corner of Ulric and Linda Vista Road is one of them. A few years back, it was a Banh Mi, and Vietnamese shop called, Linda Vista Food to Go, less than 2 years later, under new Ownership, it became a "Mi" shop called Mi Ngoc So 1. Than, last month ago, "Noodlefan" mentioned a new restaurant in this spot in His comment under the Filiberto’s Linda Vista post. That’ll be 3 restaurant in 3 years! And a Thai Restaurant to boot……. Of course, we made sure to check it out ASAP. Funny thing was, as I was getting ready to post I realized that I could never figure out what the name of this place was….

Ummmm, can you? Finally, on our last visit we asked…..and the Owner, a very funny, energetic Lady, told me "Thai By Tara". So Thai by Tara it is….even though it has a weird ring to it, I mean it sounds almost like a nail or hair place….Nails by Tara, or Hair by Tara….

The tiny restaurant has had a bit of freshening up, but otherwise has not changed much.

What has changed…other than the menu, is the personality of this shop….Tara(I’m guessing the restaurant is her namesake) has a personality like your outgoing, bossy, generous Aunt. Twice while eating, "Tara" brought out some nice dishes, and made sure to show them to us, with an, "Hmmm, looks good, huh? Next time you order this…." To be honest, the first time I looked at the menu, I was a bit disappointed….it looked like the typical "choose your meat, choose your sauce" style of Thai Restaurant. But the prices were quite good, with regular prices starting at $5.95. And when I turned the menu over, I noticed some "house specials" that looked promising…and nothing over $7.95.

There wasn’t much else to do, but to start ordering. And soon enough, a nice tray of condiments made its way to our table. Things were looking up.

We started with the Pad See Ew with Chicken($5.95):

This was borderline terrible…the dish was on the greasy side, the noodles mushy, and overall very under flavored…it needed a bit more soy and garlic.

Luckily, the meal was rescued by the Namtok, which was priced at $7.95 on the menu, but we were charged $5.95….in fact everything we had was $5.95.

This grilled beef salad was quite good. The beef was to our surprise very tender, in fact the Missus kept eating piece after piece….later She told me; "that first piece was so tender, that I thought it was a fluke, so I had another, and it was tender, so I had another….." I enjoyed the crisp "bite" of the onion, combined with the nutty roasted rice powder. Granted, I added some pickled chilies for a bit more heat, as well as a good squeeze of lime.

The Som Tum.

We enjoyed the crisp shredded papaya, the sweetness was spot on, as was the heat. There were 3 large plump, and perfectly cooked shrimp, though I did miss the savory rehydrated and shredded dried shrimp. Overall, not bad, not enough tomato and too much shredded carrot(?), and we’d have enjoyed some long bean.

The Shrimp Fried Rice.

If there’s any reason to return, it would be this…nicely "wokked", great flavors, including lots of garlic…and 6 shrimp! For $5.95!

The Green Curry with Chicken:

Too watery and sweet, weak in the curry department.

Kai Kra Pow:

This minced chicken stir fry was on the sweet side for me, though the Missus enjoyed it. I think it was the nicely fried egg that reeled Her in.

Beef Larb:

This was a nice dish, finally a Larb with enough herbs….the roasted rice powder was a nice touch. The flavor was quite good, though the Larb was a bit on the dry side. The acid test? The Missus said this was much better than the version I make. Hmmm……

Hot Basil with Beef:

Another one of those, choose the meat, choose the sauce dishes. Beef was fairly tender, not enough basil flavor. Mediocre…..

And finally, the Pad Thai with Tofu:

The noodles were perfect in texture, just the right amount of elasticity. We would have preferred fried tofu, it has a better texture, and more flavor. This Pad Thai was very bland……

As you can see, its a mixed bag…but the prices allow you the luxury of really trying out the various dishes. And we found a few that we’d have again.

The restaurant is small, 5 tables crowded into a small space. The Owner is very nice and funny….one day She shared some really nice "Ginger Tea" with us. On one occasion, The Missus and I watched in amusement as a young Hispanic Man ate his noodle soup with wooden chopsticks….that he never broke apart! We were amazed at his ability to feed himself……he used the one piece chopstick as a glorified fork, and twirled the noodles around the chopstick like pasta.

Oh……and Buddha eats really well here!

Which made me think that there’s a lot more than what’s on the menu….next time I want some of that!

Thai By Tara
2405 Ulric St
San Diego, CA 92111
(858)650-6868

Hours – Mon-Fri 9am-8pm
Sat-Sun 10am-9pm

Thanks again for the recommendation Noodlefan!

High Way 95 Cafe – Yuma

July 6, 2007 ed fromyuma Chinese Restaurants, Thai Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

Yeh, it's ed from Yuma again. Today I decided to write about one of Yuma's Asian restaurants. Yes, you read that right – Yuma has Asian restaurants.

March 2011 update: Since this post was published, Hwy 95 opened a fancier location called Palagor, which closed after a few months. More recently, they have taken over the old Fortune Cookie locationat B and 16th, so they now have two restaurants.

This small restaurant perched at the edge of town on Hwy 95 is overall the best Asian restaurant in Yuma.

You don't know how hard it is for me to write that last sentence. First off, I am automatically suspicious of any restaurant that claims to serve "Mandarin, Thai, and Asian Cuisine." In addition, some of my first visits to the restaurant were unpleasant: The "pan-fried" dumplings were deep fried. An "Indian" noodle dish was a nasty disaster. On one of my first visits to the place with friends, they forgot one person's order – and that person was (at that time) my girlfriend (now my latest ex-girlfriend). I also have developed a long relationship with another Chinese restaurant in town that is still a personal favorite. So it has been hard for me to concede primacy to Highway 95 Cafe, but as a whole, this is the best in town in terms of quality and especially variety.

One thing I love about the place are the varieties of soup noodles. This is the Roast Pork with Wonton Noodles Soup (5.95)

A very nice-looking and generous bowl of soup. Though hard to tell from the photo, the roast pork is in chunks, not thin slices, and has a good porky flavor. It includes plenty of perfectly done noodles with some pull to them, a few leaves of napa cabbage, and several broccoli florets. On the other hand, the two wontons are pretty flavorless and filled with just a little ground mystery meat. Similarly, the broth lacks a deep savory richness, its main flavor note being a background hint of soy sauce. Nonetheless, I would gladly order this hearty soup again.

Surprisingly (considering that the owners and chefs at the restaurant are Mandarin speaking Chinese), some of the best noodle soups on the menu are versions of Thai soups. The Tom Yum soup (without noodles $4.95, with noodles $5.95) caught my attention the very first time I slurped up a spoonful of its sour and spicy broth. While the underlying stock may be as lightly flavored as in the pork noodle soup, here the Thai spices, lemon grass, and sour tang provide a depth of taste that the other soup lacked:

Yes, that soup is as spicy hot as it looks. Another Thai style noodle soup is the Coconut Curry Noodles Soup (5.95).

Here the spicy hot broth is matched by Thai red curry flavors and the creamy mouthfeel of coconut milk. I also love the array of veggies here. In addition to the red onions, cilantro, eggplant strips, and shrimp visible in the large photo, there are chunks of chicken, sizable pieces of green bean, slices of tofu, and two or three baby okras. While this may not seem amazing to those of you who live in large cities, such a range of unusual veggies is hard to find in most restaurants in Yuma, much less all put together in one soupbowl. For some reason, I had never tried this soup before I started visiting the Highway 95 Cafe to take pictures for this post. What a discovery!

Another of my favorite dishes here is the Pad Thai:

I know some of you are probably thinking, how ordinary. And yes, this classic dish, which has introduced many newbies to the wonders of Thai cuisine, is often perfunctorily bland and clumsily prepared even at good Thai restaurants. Highway 95's version, however, is as good as I've ever had – anywhere (of course, I have never been to Bangkok). The rice noodles are perfectly cooked and then stirfried with a whole scrambled egg, 5 or 6 small fresh-tasting shrimp, several chunks of chicken, a few strips of tofu, green onions, and bean sprouts. The combination provides various textures and multiple flavor notes. The Pad Thai is also supremely well-balanced. I order it extra spicy, so I get two small dried red chilies, and this background heat matches up nicely with the tang of the lime wedge, the hints of tamarind, and a touch of sweetness. I'm sitting here at my computer salivating at the thought of it.

I don't mean to imply that everything is outstanding at the cafe. In my mind, it is too difficult to do such a wide range of cuisines with uniform success. Recently, I tried the Chow Kueh Teow, a Malaysian seafood and noodle stirfry($6.95). Although I generally liked most of the mixture of seafood (shrimp, mussels, and tender squid slices), krab was the predominent element. Also, unlike the Pad Thai, this dish lacked much interplay between its various elements as soy sauce provided the primary flavor, making the end result monochromatic in taste and in looks.

Another dish that left something to be desired was the Seafood Chow Fun with Lobster Sauce ($8.95). I don't mean to imply that this item was a total failure. The three large shrimp were pristine and quite tasty. On the other hand, the rest of the seafood consisted of one small clam and a few pieces of krab. Moreover, when I look at my photo, I'm not sure if it's a bit blurry or if that's how this noodle dish actually looked in real life. Yes friends, just as it appears, this was a bowl of either gloppy goop or goopy glop – I'm not sure which. To make it worse, both the chow fun and the little bit of cabbage and carrot were overcooked, so the mouthfeel was as uninteresting texturely as this picture is boring visually. Like the photo, the flavors were monotone and understated as well.

Nonetheless, it really wouldn't be fair to end a look at Yuma's best Asian restaurant on such a down note, so I'd like to finish with two of their best items. The Kong Pao Chicken (Sm $4.25, Lg $7.25) is a good version of that classic dish:

Served with plenty of steamed rice, this is the small size portion of the Kong Pao Chicken, and it is full of flavor. The first tastes hit the mouth with both the hot spiciness of the chilies and a distinct peanut flavor. The textures contribute excellent contrasts as all the crunchy ingredients – peanuts, celery and finely diced water chestnuts (and something else I couldn't identify) – balance against the extremely tender chicken pieces. In fact, I have only two minor complaints about this fine lunch: 1) the chicken is almost too tender and lacks chickeny flavor (maybe too much parboiling?), and 2) there is a background sweet flavor that is unfortunately common in much Chinese food prepared for Americans.

Another excellent item is Homestyle Bean Curd ($6.25):

What's not to like? The tofu is perfectly cooked with a chewy skin and moist and tender interior. The tofu plays off against the crunch of the cabbage and broccoli. The chile flavor is also excellent. It is hard to see from this photo, but that chile in the foreground is not your standard Chinese restaurant chile. If you look carefully, this chile still has a dark green cap on it. According to my good friend and eating buddy, Chip, the proprietors actually grow some of their own chilies for use in special dishes at the restaurant. And this is a special dish.

Because of the good flavors, wide range of dishes, and excellent prices, Highway 95 Cafe has been voted the best Asian restaurant in Yuma by readers of the local paper. I know that these sorts of polls often select eateries about as well as American voters choose politicians, but in this case, I must admit, they got it right. Let's just hope the voters do as well in 2008.

High Way 95 Asian Cuisine, 2585 E. 16th St. , Yuma AZ, (928) 329-8882.

Portland: Pok Pok Whiskey Soda Lounge

June 20, 2007 mmm-yoso Portland, Oregon, Thai Restaurants, Travel

*** The Whiskey Soda Lounge has closed

Before our recent trip to Portland, there was not enough good things I could say about Pok Pok. And as time went by I became even more excited. You see, from the little "shed that could", the Whiskey Soda Lounge had evolved, with a more interesting and diverse menu(no worries…Pok Pok "to go" is still there). I could hardly wait. As I noted in my previous post, this was mainly a trip for my In-Laws, but the Missus and I made plans for at least one meal in each city just for us. And for us, this meant catching the #4 bus, and getting off on SE Division.

Knowing that the Whiskey Soda Lounge didn't accept reservations, we made sure to get there as early as possible. We saw the sign, and the path that traveled down a short cement path to the basement and the Whiskey Soda Lounge. It was quite interesting, the last time I visited this was just a ditch!

The tall gentleman met us at the little portable metal desk, and said simply, "this way", and walked us into the Whiskey Soda Lounge.

I liked the dark and "divey" interior which does play on the imagination, I could almost imagine being in a foreign land.

This is where we hit a bump in the road. I can understand the close proximity of the tables in the WSL. I mean, it is a basement. When we arrived, only 3 tables were occupied, and there were several booths against the back wall, each unoccupied. We were taken to what must be the second tiniest table in the restaurant, right in front of the window where you could see some of the cooking done in the yard. Because the booths were empty, the Missus asked if we could have one of the booths. The tall gentleman looked down at us, and crossing his hands said, "no, absolutely not, the booths are for parties of 3 or more." Which was fine by us…EXCEPT, that not 5 minutes later a couple walked in, and was seated. They asked to sit at the very booth that we had been denied, and the host told them, "ok, no problem!" Go figure…..the Missus, a bit perturbed told me, "okay, you got your restaurant…we're going to eat, and leave, A-S-A-P!" She obviously felt slighted, and didn't appreciate the Host's somewhat gruff attitude.

So off to the food. Of course we started with the Papaya "Pok Pok" and requested Blue Crab…oops, correction, we were told Salted Black Crab($7.50 + $2.50):

As good as I remembered, very balanced in flavor, a nice refreshing salty-sweet-sour in flavor. Still one of my favorite versions of this classic dish.

The Kung Op Woon Sen($14.00). We could watch this clay pot dish cooking over charcoal through the window.

A nice dish, at the bottom of this clay pot was a layer of pork belly, nice and slightly charred, and several very large shrimp, though very mild in flavor, cooked to perfection. The flavor of soy came through quite well.

I was very excited to see Cha Ca "La Vong" ($14.00)on the menu. This dish is one of those, "to have before I die dishes." Of course it would have to be at Cha Ca La Vong in Hanoi.

In retrospect, I should have probably ordered something else, perhaps the Pork Ribs or Chicken Wings. I did enjoy the dill and all the herbs, but I found the "tumeric scented" catfish to be very dry, and the version of nuoc mam cham tasted very weak. I had expected some Mam Tom – fermented shrimp paste to be provided, but should have known better. Some friends recently had their Mom make some Cha Ca for the Missus and I, and it is an amazingly good dish. I did notice that the Cha Ca is no longer on the menu at Pok Pok WSL.

Would I return to Pok Pok? Of course, I think the food here is quite good. Though it'll probably be a solo visit. It seems that Andy Ricker's hard work has paid off, I found out courtesy of Guilty Carnivore, that The Oregonian has named Pok Pok it's restaurant of the year.

Pok Pok
3226 SE Division St.
Portland, OR 97202

You know, I think that what happened to us at Pok Pok was magnified, simply because of how nice people were in Portland. Case in point, we were waiting for our cab to Union Station from the Embassy Suites. It was raining pretty hard, and we had been waiting for about 15 minutes. Before you knew it, the Shuttle Van for the Embassy Suites pulls up, and the nice Bellman comes out and tells me, "we're going to take you to Union Station, your cab is taking too long!" Talk about service!

Portland: More Foodcarts, Mio Gelato, and Kell’s Irish Restaurant & Pub

June 3, 2007 mmm-yoso Desserts, Indian Restaurants, Portland, Oregon, Pubs and Pub Grub, Thai Restaurants

When I asked my In-Laws where they wanted to visit on this trip to the Mainland, they said Seattle. They also said they wanted to go by train……. Which was no problem really, I've taken Amtrak's Coast Starlight several times, though my trips have always been from Seattle to LA. So what we did was send off the In-Laws on Amtrak, and leave on a flight the next morning since the Coast Starlight takes about 36 hours to reach Portland. We arrived a bit early, and got to our hotel at about 1pm. Since the standard check-in time is 3pm, I thought we'd check our luggage, get a bite to eat, and stretch our legs a bit. When we arrived I went to the Bellman and asked to check my bags. In the typical Portland manner, he told me, "that would be fine, but why don't you just check at the front desk, your room might be ready." And to my surprise our 2 bedroom suite was ready. Seems like my lucky day. After freshening up a bit, we were starved, and just wanted something quick to eat…and I knew just the place!

Yep, we headed to the food carts that line SW 5th Avenue. Now I had told the Missus about these food carts, and she saw my photos and my previous post, but there's nothing quite like being there yourself. The only problem was deciding what to get…..

The Missus settled on some Indian Food, not from the New Taste of India…

But from the "Real" Taste of India a few carts down. Talk about competition!

Now this food cart had a 9th anniversary special going on….some chicken-something or other, but the Missus was in the mood for lamb, and ordered the Lamb Saagwala, cubes of lamb cooked in a spinach, garlic, and ginger sauce/stew($7.00).

The portion size was quite large, and we weren't able to finish it. There was an abundance of well prepared and moist lamb. Didn't quite know what to expect, and this was better than what I had anticipated. I thought that the pieces of ginger were too large and disrupted my tastebuds at inopportune times, but the Missus loved it! In fact, She told me it was Her best meal in Portland….She was kidding….I think…….

In the midst of ordering paralysis, I decided to grab something from this Food Cart, called Thai Sky(????):

Since we had plans for a nice dinner, I decided on the Daily Special, Pad Kee Mao(Drunken Noodles) with Tofu($5.00):

I ordered this at medium heat, and it was a bit hotter than what I consider medium. The noodles were done well, they where a nice al dente. The flavor was interesting, I'm used to Pad Kee Mao that's had a bit of a sweet flavor, this version just had a mild soy(not fish sauce) flavor. Still, it did the job, which was to hold me over until dinner.

There's a ton of construction on 5th and 6th avenues for a new Max rail line called Green Line which will connect Portland State University to Union Station. So signs like the one on the right are on Evey corner listing the businesses. Did I mention that I love the public transportation system in Portland?

At about this time the Missus got a call from Her Mom telling Her that their train had been delayed about 2 hours. so we decided to take a walk around Portland. And after doing a bit of window shopping, the Missus told me that She needed "something sweet". Which was no problem since we were just up the street from Mio Gelato.

This coffeeshopish looking Gelato joint had always been full everytime I passed it on my last trip to Portland, so I figured it must be worth a try. The Missus did the ordering, so we don't remember the prices. But She got one scoop of Grapefruit, and one scoop of Mango.

Not being much of a "sweets" person, I found the Grapefruit to be very much to my liking ( all credit to the Missus here). Refreshing and palate cleansing, it was very nice. Both the Missus (who has a sweet tooth) and I found the mango gelato to be overly sweet and rich, which overpowered any mango flavor.

Still, I can see why this place is very popular.

**** Mio Gelato has closed

Mio Gelato
25 NW 11th Ave
Portland, OR 97209

As we made our way back to the hotel, the Missus received another call from Her Mom saying that the train is further delayed…bummer! And though the Missus's Parents were not as late as we thought, by the time we got them settled, and something to eat (they have an aversion to eating in restaurants), we were very tired. So with some reluctance we crossed Biwa off our list, and walked on over to Kell's 2 blocks away.

Having been to Kell's in Seattle, I knew more or less what to expect, and really won't go into details here. Though as always, the Missus asked if they had some rice for Her Irish Stew(maybe one of these days they will) which was pretty good. And She enjoyed the soda bread.

Everyone was ordering sandwiches and burgers, but I ordered the Fish and Chips which were pretty bad. The fish dry and flavorless, and the chips are basic "industrial" fries.

Still, that draft Boddington's was nice, not overly chilled, but a perfect "cool", nice and mildly creamy, with a sweet finish. After a sip, the Missus decided that She wanted the Boddington's, so I ordered a Harp, which I thought would be too bitter for Her, but after a sip She decided that "this" was Her beer. So I finished with a draft Guinness, which I know the Missus won't touch. Strangely, it tasted over carbonated and very dull in flavor. Oh well, we were still in Portland, and had another whole day ahead of us!

Kell's Irish Restaurant & Pub
112 Sw 2nd Ave
Portland, OR 97204

Postscript: The Kindness of Portland Part 1

You know, I've written about the sincere kindness of the people of Portland before. But still, I'm always surprised…….

We were taking a break at Pioneer Courthouse Square, just having a seat to rest our feet a bit. And we noticed amongst all the construction, there seemed to be a major "to do" being set-up.

We were wondering what this event was. Just about that time, a Police Officer happened to walk past, and the Missus decided to ask him. Now usually we'd get a gruff "I don't know", or some distracted answer…. But this Gentleman replied; "I'm just on duty, so let me find out, I'll be right back…" Which made me feel really bad, I didn't want to be taking up His time. A few minutes later, He's walking back to us, and is talking on a cellphone. As he walks up to us, we can overhear that he's asking someone our question! Now, I'm really feeling guilty, since I'm sure he has more important things to do….. By the time he reached us, I could tell that he'd made a few calls, and he explained to us, what this was. Funny thing is, neither the Missus nor I can remember what event this was. But we sure remember that police officer! As I tried to mutter an apology for taking up his precious time, he smiled and told me, "well, you may be the first person who asks me what is going on here, but you probably won't be the last. So I better know what's happening." As he left, he introduced Himself and shook our hands….. So here's to you Officer Thompson! You're a great ambassador for the City of Portland!

Episode 17.Week 3=Oishii in Santee: Japanese and Thai Cuisine and Sushi Bar

October 17, 2006 Cathy Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi, Thai Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is on vacation. The part usually played by Kirk will be played by Cathy in in the interim.

So, you are thinking to yourself "Did I read that title correctly?"…Japanese and Thai cuisine and Sushi Bar…in Santee…?!?

Yes, you did….and it is something you can’t miss. All three types of food are prepared here to excellent standards.

Located in a nondescript strip mall, across the street from the Albertsons in Santee, Oishii has been in its present location for about 3 years. Before that, it was a Thai Buffet and before that it was a kind of American Restaurant that sold some really good prime rib. It is small inside, with 10 seats at the sushi bar, 5 booths and 7 tables.

Editor’s Note: The owners of the Thai Buffet are still the owners and are family members/have worked at Lotus of Siam in Las Vegas.

This post will be long, since the Mister and I have tried all three types of foods here. First, the Japanese menu:

The sushi lunch special ($8.50), 3 vegetable rolls, 4 tuna rolls, sunomono (cucumber salad) and albacore sashimi. The albacore was soooo tender. This is served with an excellent miso soup, filled with silken tofu cubes and seaweed.

The mixed tempura appetizer ($5.00) includes one very large shrimp. The breading is very light and delicate, not oily.

The combination lunch ($9.50), in this case beef teriyaki and spicy tuna roll. The beef is cooked medium rare and is tender and flavorful. The spicy tuna is very fresh and the spice is on the edge of being overwhelming and is highly complimentary to the tuna. This is served with soup, salad and rice. The portion size is quite large for lunch.

All of the Japanese dishes on the menu are very fresh and well prepared.

The Thai menu. Most of the people working here are Thai. When the restaurant was a Thai Buffet, I really liked the foods.

The fried soybean cake appetizer ($5.00), served with a homemade sauce that was neither too sweet nor too salty. The soy cakes were nicely crispy and not too thick, so the soy was warm throughout.

The fried calamari appetizer ($5.00). Lightly breaded squid which was very tender. The accompanying sauce is nice and spicy.

The pad see ewe with beef ($7.95)…the thick noodles were very nice textured, made with a black soy sauce and broccoli and carrots, this is a mild dish and the beef was not as tender as I would have liked. Not disappointing, but not exciting. I like the Pad Thai here better. However, the chicken Panang ($7.95) was excellent. It is made with coconut milk, red peppers, basil and green beans, the amount of heat that kicked in was wonderful. This is the way Panang should be cooked. The description on the menu, mentioning onions and mushrooms, is wrong and was not prepared that way.

I enjoy the Thai food here because they ask how spicy you would like it and almost always when I order Thai, the cook comes out from the kitchen to ask how I liked t.

Now, on to the sushi menu:

Along with the Special Rolls menu:

The sushi and nigiri served here is always fresh and wonderful. There is never a night when the sushi bar has no patrons. Even on Monday or Tuesday.

We always have edamame with sushi. ($3.50). A good sized plate.

The oyster shooter ($3.50) is made with 2 oysters, ponzu sauce and topped with masago and ginger. The lime slice in the side is a nice touch. The oysters were fresh and mildly flavored, very tender.

The albacore was so very tender and wonderfully flavored, the nigiri is not served with wasabi on it. It is not needed. Dipping the fish lightly into shoyu is enough to bring out the flavor. The rice is very well made sushi rice and worth the $4.50.

The amabei (sweet shrimp) ($6.00) were served with the fried heads (atama) at the same time and with the hamachi (yellowtail) ($5.00). Excellent, all three.

The Mister an I opted to share three rolls This is the Santee Roll ($6.50) Described as "Crispy tuna, (no rice) topped with the house sauce". The tuna is wrapped in seaweed, dipped in batter and fried, so the tuna cooks. Its different and good.

The spicy crunchy albacore roll was on sale for $5.50 the night we were there. There are usually five or six specials listed on the chalkboard. The albacore was again, fresh and tender and crunchy bits of tempura were dispersed throughout the roll, which also had cucumber inside had toasted sesame seeds on the exterior.

Finally, we had to try the most popular roll sold here, the Cindy Roll, ($12), made with tempura shrimp and asparagus, topped with tuna and the special sauce and surrounded with house and ponzu sauce. Excellent crispy, still warm shrimp and the asparagus is fresh cooked crispy with beautifully brought out flavor.

All in all, no matter which cuisine you order here at Oishii, you will leave very satisfied.

Oishii Japanese and Thai Cuisine and Sushi Bar

10251 Mast Boulevard Santee 92071 (619) 596-4852

Open Monday-Sat 11:00 a.m.-9 p.m., closed Sunday

episode four/Week one-La Basil Thai

October 4, 2006 Cathy Thai Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

***UPDATE*** La Basil at this location closed in June 2007. The La Jolla location is still open. Rumor is a new location in East County is in the works. Click onto website info at bottom of post for information.

mmm-yoso is on vacation. In the interim, the part usually played by Kirk will be played by Cathy.

Hi. So, the parting words to me from Kirk were "Oh- and make sure you do Basil Thai"…and I don't want to. I don't want everyone to know about this place. Its one of the really great hole-in-the-walls, run by a Thai family. The people who go there frequently know they have a gem…and anyone who goes to K Sandwiches has been right on top of it. (click onto the photo- you can see K Sandwiches on the left and right there, at the end of the parking lot, under the setting sun-those buildings right there…go ahead, walk on over)

There they are- my two best kept secrets, right on Mesa College Drive. We will go from left to right and I will talk about La Basil today.

Here is the menu, posted outside. Basically for the lunch specials, you choose your type of noodle, type of meat and type of sauce. If you get vegetarian, chicken or pork,its $5.99; beef or duck is $6.99, shrimp or calamari is $7.99, scallop is $8.99 and mixed seafood is $10.99.

Dinners have a similar style of ordering, with the most expensive entree on the menu being $12.95.

For dinner, there are appetizers, salads, noodles & rice, house curries, specialties and fish.

The thing is, there are 18 CHAIRS for 5 tables total inside and 10 CHAIRS for 4 tables outside, and really, if you were to sit at the tables using all of those chairs, there is no space for plates for all the people. Notice there are no condiments on the tables.

We ordered, had water placed and a basket of still sizzling shrimp chips were brought out to the table. Not oily, not too hot, but still sizzling with a nice shrimp flavor and oh so light and crispy.

Then the appetizer we ordered arrived, having been freshly made, Spring rolls ($4.95): rice paper stuffed with tofu, lettuce, bean sprouts, carrot, mint, cucumber, rice noodle served with a sweet/sour/hot sauce topped with chopped peanuts on the left and warmed, fresh made peanut sauce on the right. These were very fresh, with the right amount of crunch and the sauces complimented the flavors perfectly.

Then my most absolute favorite Thai dish arrived- Larb salad…made with beef! I have looked high and low for larb made with beef anywhere else in San Diego and have yet to find it. Seems its always made with chicken. Here, you get to choose: beef, chicken or pork. Larb is made with the minced meat, lime juice, chili, rice powder (gives it crunch) and mint and also served are cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, onions and shredded carrots. I asked for medium heat..not too much: I wanted to taste the flavors. It was just right. ($7.95)

We also got the chicken pad Thai this time. The pad Thai is kind of sweet tasting here and the noodles are fresh rice noodles, with a nice "bite" to them, but at lunchtime I like to get the pad see ew noodle, made with a thicker rice noodle, that seems to hold more of the sauce on it. (I also like the green curry on rice at lunch). Bean sprouts, scallion and egg along with chopped peanuts and the chicken and noodles. ($7.95)

This little placard was on the table, and we had ordered the rice with coconut ice cream once before, remembering it took about 10 minutes to come out, because they make it fresh, and it was busy. We ordered ahead of time. They were out of ice cream, so we asked for the custard.

Which was also made fresh. The rice is made with coconut milk, was still warm and wonderfully sticky. The custard was eggy and wonderfully fresh, with a skin just beginning to form on top. The price was $4.95.

All in all, the Mister and I really like La Basil. It does a brisk take out (but you don't call it in: i never have heard a phone ring when we were in there- you walk in, order and wait…they give you some shrimp chips to munch on… and enjoy the decor):

It is going to be Halloween soon, you know.

La Basil Thai Cuisine 7530 Mesa College Drive SD 92111

Mon-Fri 11:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.

Sat 12:00 p.m.-9:00p.m.

Did anyone notice the parsley on the dessert plate?

Addendum- October 12, 2006….I was reading the morning paper and saw a coupon for La Basil Thai in La Jolla. There was a website: La Basil dot com and I went to it, looked at the menu section and it is, apparently, a chain! The La Jolla prices are a dollar more than the prices at this location on Mesa College Drive. There is nothing on the menu here to indicate they had another location. …and I just don't hang around in La Jolla enough to know that there was a La Basil there. Sorry if anyone was confused.

Sala Thai Restaurant

July 5, 2006 mmm-yoso Thai Restaurants

Recently, the Missus asked an acquaintance of Hers, who happens to be Thai, for some Thai Restaurant recommendations. She came back from work, and told me this person recommended Sala Thai. My response: "huh, are you sure?" She responded with: "Well He said first off, that the Owners and Kitchen staff are Thai"

"So what did he recommend?"

"The Pad Thai?"

"Really?"

"Yep, really….."

And so we made our way to Campus Plaza, up the street from San Diego State University. I knew exactly where Sala Thai was located.

We arrived for an early dinner, and was shown our table in the small, and simple, but very clean restaurant.

As we looked over the typical San Diego Thai Restaurant menu, with Americanized dishes such as Crab Rangoon, Shui Mai(!!!), and the usual "pick the meat, pick the sauce" stir fry options, I tried to remain positive. Finally, we found a few items and placed our order.

The Som Tum(Papaya Salad – "Papaya Pok Pok" $6.95):

The Papaya Salad was nice and crisp, but very "flat" in flavor. We ordered all our food at a medium heat level, and the spice level was adequate. But the salad was very tame, lacking in salty, sour, and sweet flavors. The shrimp were fine, but we could have done with stronger flavors, such as dried shrimp or salted blue crab. I started wondering if they make things different here for their Thai clientele?

From the "Wok" portion of the menu, we ordered the Chicken with Garlic Sauce($7.95):

This was the "pick he meat, pick the sauce" item. Slices of fairly dry white meat chicken, with a light sauce, tossed with fried garlic, and various peppers. Not very good, plus the garlic tasted burnt and bitter.

Pad Thai($6.95):

Ah yes, the recommended Pad Thai. On the positive side, this dish used the thinner style rice noodles, which were cooked to an excellent texture. The shrimp and all of the accouterments were fine. The Pad Thai had a decent salty-sweet flavor, but tasted a bit off. We requested some lime, which rounded out the flavor. In retrospect, the Pad Thai was also short on egg and bean sprouts, but was not a bad dish.

Catfish Red Curry($8.95):

I thought the chiffonade of Kaffir Lime leaf in the curry allowed this dish to be thought of as decent. The curry was thick, though not heavy in coconut milk. The heat was very mild for "medium heat", and the sprig of basil was not enough to provide flavor for the curry. The fish was over-cooked, nearly black, making it quite tough. The portion size was pretty small as well, three 1/4" cross-cut fish slices. The curry was okay, the fish not very good.

Based on this meal, I’d say that Sala Thai is your basic San Diego neighborhood Thai restaurant. Nothing wrong with that, but not worth an out of the way drive. The prices are in line with other San Diego Thai restaurants, and service is very nice as well.

Sala Thai Restaurant
6161 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Mon-Sat 11am-930pm
Sun 4pm-9pm

Portland: Pok Pok

June 22, 2006 mmm-yoso Portland, Oregon, Thai Restaurants, Travel

*** Pok Pok has Closed

What if I told you there's some really good Isaan-style Thai food to be had in Portland. And that it can be found not in Downtown, but in Southeast Portland, served out of what is either a dressed up shed or converted garage. Wait it gets better, it's a White Dude making the food! Not just any food, but Thai street food. And not just any ordinary "Chef", but an honest to God, Bass playing Rock-n-Roller! I'm sure you think that this is a product of one too many Bridgeport IPA's, but it's true, cross my Kanom Krok!

The place goes by the catchy name of Pok Pok; and is located in Southeast Portland on SE Division.

The Bass playing Chef is Andy Ricker, who plays in a local band called The Quags. According to what I gleaned from posts in Portland Food and Drink, and the message boards on Portlandfood.org, Andy was a Sous-Chef at a popular restaurant called Zefiro's, but His true love is Southeast Asian Cuisine; specifically the cuisine of Chiang Mai. So what's a Bass playing sous-chef, who loves Isaan food to do? Well, open a little hole in the wall serving Thai street food in Southeast Portland.

The story's so fascinating, that I could just stop right now, and I'm sure this post would still be interesting. But one must eat, right? In spite of the larger than life story; doubts were still swirling through my head as I made the 20 minute bus ride (#4 Division), from Downtown Portland, sitting next to an older gentleman who kept muttering "Timmy, Timmy, get over here, get over here" during the duration of my ride. I got off at my stop, well not really, I missed the stop, and got off down the street and walked a few blocks to Pok Pok. And yes, it was true, next to a house being renovated(I later learned that Andy lives there, and hopes to move Pok Pok into the basement)there was a small shed with a window.

The menu is small, just 6 items, along with a grease board with a "special" and a dessert written on it.

To term the few patio furniture tables, and covered shed with a few tables a dining area, would be a stretch. But on this mild, sunny Portland evening, it's heaven. Don't fall into the ditch, though!

I decided to order the Pok Pok Special($8.50):

It consists of a half of Charcoal Rotisserie Game Hen, called Kai Yaang. The Game Hen was flavorful, slightly garlicky, and very moist. Saffron wishes it could do it so well. I understand that Andy brought back a special rotisserie from Chiang Mai to make his game hen, which is stuffed with lemongrass and garlic for additional flavor. Andy, learned how to modify the rotisserie while "hanging out" at a Restaurant in Chiang Mai. A mild sweet chili sauce was served with the game hen, I really didn't need it though. The game hen had that much flavor. That stuff in the plastic wrap is kao neuw; sticky rice which went pretty well with chicken, though I've had better sticky rice.

The special came with a Papaya Salad. Man was this good! The best Thai style Papaya Salad I've had since our visit to the Wat Thai Temple in North Hollywood in January. The papaya was fresh and crisp, the shredded shrimp added a nice salty-oceany flavor, the green beans added a nice crunch. The sauce was a near perfect balance of sweet, sour, and salty. The heat was bit on the mild side, but of course I'm used to pretty spicy stuff. I thought there was one thing "missing" from this papaya salad.

So after devouring all of that food, I opened up my belt a notch, hiked up my pants and walked on over to the window. I had a short chat with Andy, a really nice Guy. And when I mentioned how I really enjoy my Papaya Salad with salted blue crab, and perhaps a little spicier, he said; "No problem, I'll make that".

So here's the Papaya Pok Pok with Salted Blue Crab(salad $4.95 + $1 for crab):

The best salted crab I've ever had in a papaya salad. Salty, sweet, and mildly fishy, so delici-yoso!!! In most instances I'll not order my salad with salted crab, mainly because it's a terribly fishy, gummy, off flavored mess. But in this case, an excellent Papaya Salad with perfect Salted Blue Crab.

So it's true, here on SE Division is a taste of good Isaan style Thai Street food. Pok Pok has instantly become a "must visit" restaurant for me. I'm hoping that on my next visit to Portland, that the Restaurant in the basement of the House will be ready. I know I will. Run, don't wok, to Pok Pok……..

Pok Pok
3226 SE Division St.
Portland, OR 97202

BTW, "Pok Pok" is a little play on words mimicking the sound that a mortar and pestle makes while preparing papaya salad.

So how did I work up an appetite? Earlier in the afternoon I made an abbreviated trip to Washington Park, a 129.5 acre city park that hold the Oregon Zoo, The Portland Japanese Garden, Hoyt Arboretum, World Forestry Center, and The Oregon Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I had intended spending most of the day on Friday at Washington Park, but the rain nixed that plan. So I just decided to make one stop at Washington Park.

Washington Park is also home to the Deepest Underground Transit Station in North America(260 ft):