What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed! – Page 13

Monterey Peninsula: Shin La Korean Restaurant

January 3, 2010 ed fromyuma Korean Restaurants, Monterey/Carmel/Santa Cruz - Monterey Bay/Peninsula, Road Trip, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Welcome to mmm-yoso – a little foodblog hosted by Kirk, who sometimes lets his friends post here. Like today, for example, when ed (from Yuma) writes about some things he ate on his summer vacation.

Although I have not lived in the Monterey area since 1997, I am fortunate to still have friends on the peninsula. And fortunately for me, many of those friends are almost as food obsessed as I am. With their help, I am able to eat in restaurants far from the beaten paths, places with no tourists in sight (well, except for me, I guess).

Last summer, Jack, Sarah, Lance, Tina, and I descended upon one such place, Shin La Korean restaurant.:
This small restaurant is located in a little strip mall on Carmel Ave, a few blocks east of Del Monte Blvd in Marina, California. In fact, if one wanted to hide a restaurant in a location where almost nobody could possibly find it — this'd be the place. The neighborhood is mostly residential and Carmel Ave is such a secondary street that there is no stoplight for it on Del Monte Blvd.

Previously, this space and been occupied by Shinra Korean restaurant, which served me a couple excellent meals before it went downhill. I have no idea when the new owner took it over.

In some respects, this incarnation is not as good as its predecessor. In particular, the ban chan currently lacks tremendous variety and outstanding quality. At Shin La, the ban chan were pretty ordinary – though properly prepared:

On the other hand, our first dish, fried mandu ($10.99), was first rate:
Each of these giant ravioli was stuffed with lightly spiced ground beef and had been nicely grilled like a good potsticker. The spicy dipping sauce was a nice complement.

We also loved the gal bi ($17.99):
Although the short ribs were cross cut, they were tender and pleasantly marinated.

We also were impressed by the cold noodles ($9.99):
Although the basic ingredients were just typical, the noodles had a nice pull to them and the broth (does anyone know what is in the broth for Korean cold noodles??) was very good. We were also impressed by the accompanying stoneground mustard seed:
The highlight of the meal was probably the Black goat soup ($29.99), which was served in a metal bowl placed on a heating element to keep the soup warm:
All of us were impressed by the soup itself. As you can see by this picture, numerous slices of goat meat were combined with a lot of cabbage in a rich and spicy miso broth:
The five of us ate until we were stuffed like dumplings and agreed that the food overall was pretty darned good. The next time you're in the Monterey Peninsula area, stop at Shin La for a meal and say some friends recommended the place.

Shin La Korean Restaurant, 265 Carmel Ave, Marina CA (831) 384-8956

The Fishery: Eating Well, Learning Something, and Tasting 10 Fishes

December 29, 2009 ed fromyuma Seafood, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

mmm-yoso is the blog. It's based in San Diego. Of course, Kirk and Cathy post about San Diego often, but even ed (from Yuma) eats sometimes in America's Favorite City.

Coming over to San Diego from the desert, Tina and I often have a deep desire for seafood. This holiday break, we decided to go to one of my favorite seafood houses in town, The Fishery:
That picture of the restaurant's exterior shows only two things very clearly. 1. The restaurant is nearly hidden on Cass St. in Pacific Beach; and 2. I'm not an especially good photographer.

My lack of talent and training in photography was even more evident as Tina and I were enjoying first courses at the restaurant. My crab Louie (half-size, $13) was a pretty good crab salad. Although lacking any large chunks of claw meat, the crab was exceptionally fresh and had a nice Dungeness flavor. I also appreciated the mix of lettuces, romaine and frisee predominating. The Louie dressing was nicely balanced and complemented both lettuces and crustacean. My picture of that pleasant salad is, unfortunately, not very pleasant at all:
Even worse was my picture of Tina's appetizer of black mussels with linguica sausage($10):

Trust me, there really is a black mussel appetizer hiding in this photograph of what appears to be a coal mine shaft at midnight with the lights off.

At the time, this presented me a dilemma because I really wanted to post about this marvelous dish we were eating. The musssels themselves were absolutely superb. Each little critter was perfectly fresh, totally tender, and wonderfully flavored. While the sauce presented hints of fennel, the predominant tastes were mussel broth and linguica sausage. The combination was irresistible. As tasty as the shellfish themselves were, the addition of the sausage brought the whole dish, bivalves and broth both, completely over the top.

As we were eating this wonderful food, Tina had to listen to me bewailing my inability to take a good picture.

"It's not that dark in here," she said. She was right. Although not bright like Denny's, The Fishery has plenty of lighting, and one sees the food clearly. The wooden walls, beams, and tabletops were not surfaces that sucked up light, and the restaurant overall does not seem dim, dark, or dank.

"Well it's too dark for good photos," I insisted.

"What setting are you using?" She asked. At this point I should add that Tina has actually taken courses in photography and has been known to get up before dawn to get just the right light for a photo.

"Automatic, just like all my pics." She gave me one of those "men are so clueless" looks.

"It should be easy to find a better setting," she said. So as we ate away at those marvelous mussels, dipped bread into their broth, and scarfed down full soupspoons of the that heavenly liquid, I kept trying various settings.

Finally, I was finally able to locate a basic setting that allows me to actually take adequate pictures in restricted light. By then, however, the salad and the mussels were long gone, and we had already started on our main courses.

This is linguine and white clam sauce ($19):

Like this photo, the dish was adequate, but nothing spectacular. The clams were very fresh, the linguine was not overcooked, and the very light sauce did not interfere with any of the flavors. Nonetheless, I would've preferred something more creamy and/or more assertive.

Tina's order of fish (cod) and chips ($10) was, on the other hand, as good a fish and chips as I've ever had:
The three filets of cod, in particular, couldn't have been done better (yes, at one time, there were 3 pieces). The cracker crumb crust crunched with each bite, but the fish flesh inside was moist and tender. Better deep frying is simply not possible. And only truly fresh cod can retain that high level of moist fresh flavor after frying.

The thinly cut french fries were very good, if not extraordinary; the cabbagey coleslaw (no mayo) was fresh and mildly flavored. If the tartar sauce was anything special, that fact escaped my attention.

Overall, we had been pleased with the meal. Everything had been fresh, a few things had been superb, and the bottle of Four Graces Pinot Gris from Oregon's Dundee Hills ($34) was an outstanding match for the food. In fact, I was generally impressed by the reasonably priced and well-chosen selection of wines on the wine list.

So we decided a second visit was necessary. That way, we thought, we could try some different entrées and eat more of those black mussels while I could get a picture of the dish.

As Burns wrote, the best laid plans of mice and ed and Tina oft go astray. When we arrived at the fishery on December 22, we were each given an additional menu for that evening — A Feast of the Seven Fishes ($35 per, wine pairings not included).

Sometimes you just got a go with the flow and give up preconceived plans. And the four courses (plus a dessert) seemed intriguing and we could accompany each course with a suggested wine pairing (available by the glass or half glass).

Before our first course arrived, we received a few pieces of crunchy sourdough and brown bread accompanied by a ramekin of whipped butter:

The first course was called a seafood cocktail, but it looked nothing like my vision of seafood cocktails:
The poached shrimp sat atop a seaweed salad and was sauced with some sort of standard mayo/ketchup combination. Somewhere there was a hint of jalapeno that added a nice picante note to the finish:
As nice as its presentation and garnishes were, the shrimp itself was nothing special.

The next part of the first course was a chunk of grilled octopus tentacle sitting on a remoulade:
The mollusk itself was my favorite part in the combination. The chef had managed to transform any chewiness in the raw material into a pleasurably dense texture. The char from the grill added a nice smoky touch.

Tina and I agreed that the scallop was the center of the first course in more ways than just appearance:
While the light cream sauce didn't bring much to the fried piece of shellfish, the breading and frying were perfect:
In addition to the complexity of textures, the scallop here had a good fresh clean flavor. The Gruner Veltliner that accompanied the first course was crisply dry and a good pairing with the simpler presestation of the various seafoods.

Next came cider steamed clams:
Much like the clams from the previous dinner, these were fresh and had a nice flavor. What's more, Tina and I both loved the brothy sauce. It opened with the sweet flavors of the cider and the ocean flavors from the clam juice. The tastes of garlic and white wine added complexity and contributed to a long smooth finish which ended with light spicy touches of red chili. Overall, the course was almost as outstanding as the mussels from the previous visit. The wine pairing, the Four Graces Pinot Gris, was a great complement.

The next course was perhaps even better:
Well cooked linguine was topped with flakes of wonderful oak smoked salmon and leaves of cooked spinach. The menu also noted that preserved Meyer lemons were involved, but whatever subtle flavor they contributed was undetectable to either Tina or I [after reading this, Tina reminded me that we could taste the lemon, but we couldn't detect any actual lemon bits – as usual, she's right]. Nonetheless, this was an outstanding dish — the smoky flavor of the salmon pervading everywhere. The course was well matched with a creamy Russian River Chardonnay from Fritz.

The last savory course was called Stewed White Sea Bass:
The perfectly cooked piece of fish was covered in a tomato caper sauce and was served on a small pile of salt cod flavored mashed potatoes. Again, the kitchen had hit a home run. While the salt cod seemed AWOL, the other flavors of the various items went together extremely well. In addition, the Foxen Santa Maria Chenin Blanc was an ideal match. In fact, to my tongue, it is one of the best Chenin Blancs that I have ever tasted.

The menu listed tiramisu for dessert, but the apologetic waiter explained that the tiramisu just wasn't right that evening and was too heavy for the other courses. Instead, we received a couple of slices of manchego cheese, surrounded by slices of Granny Smith apples, the whole dessert being drizzled with fresh honey. I have no idea what the tiramisu would've been like, but this light dessert was a fine, if somewhat pedestrian, ending for the meal.

All in all, Tina and I were pleased with the restaurant and the meals that we had had. My only major complaint about both meals is that The Fishery could serve better bread. While the room gets a little noisy, we thought that the atmosphere was fine, particularly for a seafood house. Prices, while not cheap, seemed very fair for the quality of the fish. The service was generally good, the small wine list was excellent, and I was especially impressed by the wine pairings on our second visit. And the restaurant clearly knows how to serve fish with a range of tasty preparations.

Plus our desertified taste buds got to savor 9 or 10 different fishes in just two meals.

The Fishery, 5040 Cass St., Pacific Beach, San Diego CA 92109, (858) 272-9985

The India Palace in Yuma

December 18, 2009 ed fromyuma Indian Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

Kirk, Cathy, and Vicky have shared many of their favorites with the rest of us over the years. This post, however, is ed (from Yuma) sharing one of his.

After having a couple of way-too-salty meals, I have quit eating here. Reports are that the place has declined.

Although I am delighted to have Das Bratwurst Haus over here in the desert, for me personally, the most positive change in the Yuma dining scene in the past six months has been the establishment of a new Indian restaurant in Yuma, India Palace:
I know that one or two of you who are familiar with Yuma will think that this is not a new restaurant at all–since Yuma has had an Indian eatery at this location on 4th Ave now for several years. In fact, you have to look closely to realize that this is a different Indian restaurant — and to my taste buds at least, a much better one.

The chef was born in Nepal, but she is skilled in cooking a wide range of Indian dishes and has spent many years sharpening her culinary skills by cooking for her Indian husband. Often, in fact, when I eat at the restaurant, I feel like I can dining in somebody's home because the food is made with love and with great attention to detail.

Even though the buffet has shrunk in size, the quality of the dishes is very high, and the variety of flavors never ceases to amaze me. For example, on one visit, the buffet had both chana masala (chick peas) and rajma masala (kidney beans) as well as mixed vegetables and a dish featuring large chunks of curried zucchini:
On another visit, the star items were a chunky eggplant curry, aloo matar (peas and potatoes), and the fiery onion chutney:
One never knows what one is going to find on the buffet. I have had a standard daal maharani, a yellow daal, and most recently an herbed daal unlike any other I can recall tasting elsewhere.

Similarly, there is usually a chicken curry available as well. Most of the time, it is pretty standard (so standard I realize I've never photographed it), but recently the chicken curry was a bright yellow color:
This curry, was primarily spiced with the subtle tastes of turmeric, roasted cumin seeds, and garlic — all of which serve to accent the wonderful flavor of the chicken.

Dishes cooked to order are also prepared well. One of my favorites is bhel puri chaat, a fried patty of dough, topped with yogurt, spicy sauce, and more:
This dish featured layers of flavors, with the curry spices offset by creamy and tangy yogurt. The textures of the dish also ranged from soft through chewy to crunchy.

Another time, I tried the masala dosa, a South Indian style pancake rolled around a potato and vegetable filling. It was served with an incredible coconut chutney and a traditional shambher made with yellow daal:
Here you can see the filling in the pancake:
Every item on the plate was outstanding, and they went together perfectly. When the chef came out and asked me how I liked it, I was full of complements, because it did taste so wonderful. She then pointed out the black flecks that were across the top of the South Indian soup:
"Curry leaves," she said, "but you have to burn them to get the right taste." And you know what, she was correct. The touches of burnt flavor contributed to the overall balance of the shambher.

I have also gotten several different items off the menu for dinner. Usually Tina and I will have them for take out, matching them up with one of our favorite gewürztraminers. One of my favorite items has been the chili chicken: This is very simple. The chicken is prepared in a spicy sauce with chunks of green chilies. What's not to like? The chili lamb is equally good and filled with numerous large chunks of slightly gamy lamb:

Bhindi Masala was outstanding on another occasion, the okra being perfectly fresh and slightly crunchy. The sauce and numerous onion slices just made everything better:
We've also loved the karahi fish palak, catfish chunks swimming in creamy spinach:

On that night, we also had an outstanding bengan bhartha, the roasted egg plant adding a smoky depth of flavor to the well seasoned and deeply flavored vegetable dish:
Is everything at the restaurant perfect? Well, no. The two times I've had a biryani, the flavors and textures have been largely monochrome, the rice dish crying out for cashews, raisins, and/or various other items. A couple of times dishes were too salty for my taste (though I am very sensitive to sodium, and I suspect that the dishes were seasoned in a traditional fashion). I also wish that their take-out containers were not so plastic, though these containers do resist spilling very well, even when they turn upside down on the ride home:
My main concern with the restaurant, however, has to do with its survivability. We all know that having a skilled and creative chef is only a small part of the battle that every independent restaurant faces. I worry that too many locals and winter visitors alike associate India Palace with the defunct India House, a restaurant that was uniformly mediocre for the last few years of its existence. I also worry that some lunch diners will associate the lack of quantity and daily variety with a lack of quality. I just hope that more people appreciate the unique flavors that India Palace brings to the Yuma dining scene. I hope.

India Palace, 2071 S.4th Ave., Yuma, AZ, (928) 782-0799.

Das Bratwurst Haus – German Cuisine in Yuma

December 14, 2009 ed fromyuma European Restaurants, German Restaurants and Food, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

Luckily Kirk and Cathy and Vicky have been sharing their meals with you yosoers since ed (from Yuma) has been busy working (and eating). So today it is time for something completely different, something echt deutsch.

March 2011 update: Although this place closed for the summer, it is still going strong. It now has a liquor license and offers an excellent selection of unusual and satisfying German beers — but that means that diners cannot bring their own (weird AZ law).

I should make it clear from the start that I rarely seek out German restaurants, even though my ancestry is 50% German and my maternal grandparents emigrated to the US in 1923 and always spoke with an accent. Nonetheless, too many German restaurants in the United States are long on fake gemutlichkeit and oompah music, their food being heavy, fatty, and salty. All the better, I guess, to sell beer.

So it was not my idea for the lunch bunch to try this new German restaurant located in the same space at the corner of Second and Madison that once housed Mustard's:
It was hard to tell what to expect from the menu as it contained most of the usual suspects — sausage plates, schnitzel, rouladen, saurbraten, and sandwiches. We were all pleased to see that the entrées were available in a lunch portion that came with two sides for only $7.50.

I ordered the pork schnitzel "Weiner Art" (in the style of Vienna) with a gurkensalat (cucumber salad) and a kartoffelsalat (potato salad):
I was impressed — no make that blown away. The pork cutlet was absolutely perfect, seriously crunchy on the outside and moist and tender on the inside. The mild pork flavor was perfectly accented by a squeeze of lemon.

The sides were good as well. The potato salad, truth be told, was unlike any that I had had in my family or in Germany, but it was still very good with a mild vinegary flavor and just a hint of mustard. The thinly sliced cucumbers were spiced with dill weed and swam in a tangy sour cream sauce. It was a perfect salad, both creamy and crunchy.

At this point I need to thank my friends who are used to my peculiarities and automatically allow me a chance to photograph their meals and even let me taste them sometimes. For some reason, they still dine with me.

Here is a lunch sized serving of rouladen:

The little rolled beef roast was tasty and I was very impressed by the perfectly cooked blaukraut (red cabbage), though the cabbage was not accented by cloves or allspice the way my grandmother did it.

My family prepared sauerbraten peasant style — strongly marinated and then cooked like pot roast. At Das Bratwurst Haus, the dish is made with a better cut of beef and receives a more sophisticated treatment:

The marinade flavor, and hence the sourness, was mild, and the meat was perfectly balanced between the beefiness of the flesh and the slight sour tang of the marinade. The accompanying sauerkraut had been perfectly prepared so that it reached a degree of sweetness. I can't do it any better. This lunch made me want to return soon for dinner.

So soon Tina and I sat down in a corner table to sample some German dinners. We were pleased to see the friendly and competent server we'd enjoyed at Mustard's (he joked that he came with the property). Service at dinner was especially good that evening.

Tina ordered jaegerschnitzel, the pork schnitzel topped with mushroom gravy, red cabbage (oddly enough, called blaukraut, blue cabbage, in German), and spaetzle (sorry about the nighttime lighting in the photos):

Again the schnitzel and red cabbage were very good. Although shaped more like mini dumplings than noodles, the spaetzle were tender and flavorful, the lightly flavored mushroom gravy allowing the taste of the pasta to shine through.

That evening I opted for the rouladen:
Notice that the dinner sized portion contained two of these little rolled roasts. Each roast is like a large slice of beef round rolled around bacon, onion, and in the center, a thin slice of dill pickle. A classic German dish prepared well here.

In addition to more of the addictive cucumber salad, I chose semmelknoedel (bread dumplings) as my other side dish, getting two slices from a larger dumpling as my portion:
Although Tina thought they weren't heated through quite fully enough, we both certainly enjoyed their flavor, which is much like a savory turkey dressing.

Speaking of turkeys, we were both stuffed by this time, but we had admired the pastries coming into the restaurant and just had to have some desert (only because I wanted to do a complete post — really, that's the only reason).

So we sampled the apple strudel, which was good, but not breathtaking:

The Black Forest cake, on the other hand, was breathtaking:
The combination of dense, dark chocolate cake, sweet and fruity whole Bing cherries, and plenty of homemade Schlagsahne (whipped cream) was just about perfect. The range of sweet flavors and the overall richness were outstanding. This desert was a perfect ending to a good meal.

As we finished dining, we learned that the older gentleman at the next table (who had been listening to us critiquing the meal) was the owner/chef's husband, and he explained that his wife was from Bamberg in the far north of Bavaria (Franconia), which has its own cuisine, and that this restaurant grew out of a popular catering business she had. This explains why the food seemed so authentic, but not exactly like what I grew up eating.

The local paper recently announced that Das Bratwurst Haus has received its BYOB license, so diners may now bring a bottle of wine or up to 24 ounces of beer per customer for a five dollar set up charge. Can't beat that either. Prost!

Das Bratwurst Haus, 204 S. Madison Ave, 928-329-4777. Open 11 – 8 daily.

Just a quick reminder – The 3rd Annual Somerton Tamale Festival.

December 5, 2009 mmm-yoso What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

Ed from Yuma wanted to remind folks that the 3rd Annual Somerton Tamale Festival is taking place on December 19th, from 11am to 10pm in Somerton, on Main Street between Union Avenue and Somerton Avenue.

You can find more information on the website.

Ed has also posted on the first festival, and a two parter on last year's festival.

Sounds like a great time…..who knows, you may run into Ed!

El Viejo Loco in Yuma

August 25, 2009 ed fromyuma Mexican Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

Kirk and Cathy have both been in Yuma, but today, ed (from Yuma) wants to talk about a restaurant and restaurant owner there.

March 2011 update: Sadly, Viejo Loco has closed. I have been told that Danny is battling some health issues. I hope he recovers and finds a new location. I miss him and spinach enchiladas.

I'm not sure if the name of the restaurant means the crazy old guy or the old crazy guy, but Danny Mendoza is certainly not old — at least by my standards.

He's operated a restaurant by this name at three different locations, first outside of town on Highway 95, then hidden on the back side of a building facing Mervyn's, and now at the cursed location on east side of 4th Ave just before the Big Curve: This spot has been home to TJ's Marisqeros, Small Fries (with two separate owners), Mi Playita, and I can't remember what else in the years since I moved to town. So maybe he is crazy.

On the other hand, he is sane enough an do the Mexican restaurant standards very well: This is as good a machaca and egg breakfast burrito as I have had in town, no, make that the best I've had anywhere. There was no filler here, just fluffy egg and extremely good beef machaca. Enough onion and green peppers to provide texture and accent notes. I also appreciated that Danny (who was cooking that morning) asked if I wanted the salsa put inside. Of course I did; I can't roll a burrito as well as he and I definitely want some of his salsa.

After all, this restaurant has the best salsa in town: For all I know, there may be a bit of tomato pulp in here, but the major dominant flavor is fresh red chilies, very spicy, but not burn the skin of your tongue off fiery.

His version of most other standards is equally spot on. Look at this chile relleno plate: While he will happily spoon some excellent red or green sauce on these bad boys, if you wish, they are perfect as is, the expertly cooked green anaheims are wrapped in their eggy blanket, stuffed with creamy white cheese. Simple and tasty: Likewise, the chile verde (green chile) here is perfectly balanced and deeply flavorful, if a bit expensive for the portion size. The pork (sometimes beef is available also) is cooked until it shreds and becomes completely permeated with green chile and touches of tomatillo flavor. As good as it gets: Recently he has been experimenting with different types of tortas: That's a rib eye torta with a thin rib eye steak on the bun. Yeah, a real steak. Great beefy flavors, according to my buddy, Chip, who pronounced it as an incredible sandwich.

Similarly here's his version of a chicken torta: In most ways, a great grilled chicken breast sandwich – though the bolillo roll could have been toasted better. As was, it was a touch crumbly. I also prefer tortas with pickled jalapeno slices, but that's a matter of personal taste. Otherwise outstanding.

Both the torta de pollo and the ribeye sandwich were specials and not on the regular menu. In fact, I have learned always to look at what is written on the specials board because the specials here are often truly special, and the list of specials is always changing.

Recently I got lucky and stopped in on a day when barbacoa was the special. One could get it in a burrito, in a sandwich, as a taco plate, or as a complete barbacoa plate, which looked like this: Along with his standard rice and his frijoles (no lard), this is the best barbacoa (imho) in Yuma. As with many of his other dishes, the meat had been cooked to shreds, so that each shard of meat was full of flavor. In some ways this pot roasted beef shoulder was much like my grandmother's pot roast with the deep flavor of long cooked beef. But unlike anything my grandmother would have prepared, the main flavoring here was mild dark dried red chile with a touch of citrusy tang .

Along with excellent Mexican standards and different and interesting specials, one thing that constantly impresses me about this restaurant is Danny Mendoza himself. He is the only restauranteur that I know in Yuma who is as food obsessed as I am. On several occasions when business has been slow, Danny will pull up a chair, sit down at my table, and talk food with me.

Although he grew up in Yuma, he worked in different restaurants in California before returning to his hometown. And his skills and interests stretch beyond Mexican food alone. For example, one day he just had to share with me a couple of things he was experimenting with back in the kitchen.

So I got this little cup of soup: It was amazingly good. The the rich and flavorful chicken stock had been slightly thickened, fresh crunchy shredded lettuce and diced green onion had been stirred in, and a dollop of sour cream had been added. A perfect little soup, the sort of dish that would've fit in a multicourse tasting menu.

Why this dish? Well, Danny said that he was just playing around, trying to use leftover lettuce in some flavorful dish.

That same day, he served me a small plate of what he called etouffee, even though it was served over noodles instead of rice: But the flavors were great, or at least good enough to fool this non-Cajun diner. The blond roux contained a large shrimp, numerous fresh and tasty crawfish, celery, onions, and little bits of green pepper. The fancy restaurants in town would have been delighted to serve something this unusual and flavorful.

Over the years he has served me all sorts of different and interesting dishes - like a side of spinach and onions, or the best mantaralla I've ever tasted, or maybe just a new chipotle salsa he's experimenting with.

For example, on a recent visit, Danny brought Tina and I little bowls of his oatmeal for dessert: The texture featured bits of chewy oatmeal suspended in a wonderfully creamy liquid. It was slightly sweet and had a pronounced cinnamon flavor. While certainly not the healthiest oatmeal I have ever eaten (I could taste the cream), it was surprisingly rich and flavorful. As served, kindof a desert soup.

Another of Danny's interests is re-creating some of the simple peasant food traditional on both sides of the border in the Sonoran desert. For example, he sometimes does enchiladas del piso, thick corn tortillas (corn cakes?) covered in sauce and topped with cheese and your choice of spinach, chicken, or beef: I can imagine a meal like this — probably without any meat — being served for dinner in poor families. Rice, beans, corn masa, and chile sauce. Truly basic stuff.

A similar meal is Tomasita's Enchiladas, traditional enchiladas made with verdolagas (purslane):
Danny says that this meal was a common feature of his childhood, and to learn how to make it he tracked down a 90-year-old relative (Tomasita) whose specialty this is. Talk about true peasant cuisine. Again we have rice, beans, and tortillas. In this case the tortillas are wrapped around a simple filling made with a local weed, and the enchiladas are then topped with a unique sauce made with frijoles not chilies:
Interestingly, the purslane is also very healthy, full of vitamin A, vitamin C, magnesium, potassium, and a lot of omega 3 fatty acids, one of those few things containing the word "fatty" that's actually good for you.

In addition to all this other good stuff, my favorite meals at the restaurant are the spinach enchiladas. They can come with a deeply rich and flavorful red sauce: Cut into, the enchiladas look like this: But I think they are even better with Danny's tangy green sauce: Inside: In either case, the enchiladas are packed full of flavorful spinach and onions, making this another healthy Mexican meal. And a tasty one as well.

I know of no other Mexican restaurant in town that has enchiladas with either verdolagas or spinach filling. The uniquity of these items brings me back to El Viejo Loco again and again.

Yet I am constantly puzzled by one fact. I have never seen the spinach enchiladas (or the chicken and spinach burritos for that matter) on the menu or even written on the specials white board. Never. Yet most of the time spinach dishes are available.

Sometimes I feel like the spinach is some secret hidden ingredient that Danny wants to share only with a few cognoscenti. More secret than In 'n Out's "Secret Menu." Sort of like a sushi chef with a little bit of fugu hidden in the cooler to be served only to one or two select customers. I don't know. But, lets face it, spinach is not a possibly poisonous rarity like puffer fish. Why is it a secret? Personally, I think he could sell several spinach enchilada plates every day if he just let people know that they could order them.

Sometimes I think he doesn't want to be too busy. That would explain why he has never been open evenings. And why he's never had a liquor license. And why he has always chosen marginal locations. But it certainly would not explain why he also works during packing season as manager and short order cook at the T & A Café (no, it doesn't mean that — it's the little Café in the huge Tanimura & Antle packing plant). I guess I just don't understand him.

So maybe Danny is just a little crazy. But OMG, this Loco can really cook.

El Viejo Loco, 4th Ave, Yuma AZ, 928-726-0577

Evening Two at Artisan: Paso Robles

August 12, 2009 ed fromyuma American/New American Restaurants, Paso Robles/Cambria/San Luis Obispo County, Road Trip, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Almost everyone likes roadtrips. Cathy and Kirk both travel, but today ed (from Yuma) wants to tell you about a dinner he and Tina enjoyed on their roadtrip north.

Tina and I returned to Artisan on a Monday night after having thoroughly enjoyed our Sunday night dinner. In some ways, we might as well have come back a year later as most of the kitchen staff and waitstaff seemed different. Only the attentive manager and our hard working busser seemed familiar from the night before.

Even the bread that was placed in front of us was clearly different: While decent enough, these slices lacked the thick crunchy crust of the previous bread.

On this evening, we had decided to build a meal around a local red wine, a J Dusi Zinfandel ($40): The Dusi Vineyards have been growing some of the best Zinfandel grapes in the Paso Robles area for many years. These family Vineyards have supplied premium grapes for such outstanding wineries as Ridge. Today, Janell Dusi produces her own wines from the vineyards planted by her grandfather, Dante Dusi, over 60 years ago.

This bottle lived up to its pedigree, and both Tina and I thought it was superb — fruity, deeply flavorful, and incredibly smooth with spicy and earthy notes. It matched the meal well.

For her first course, Tina deecided to try a California Burrata ($13). This type of cheese, based upon Italian custom, is like a combination of fresh mozzarella and cream. It is rich and barely cheesy. In her appetizer, it had been drizzled with olive oil and dominated one side of her plate:
As you can see, it was accompanied by French bread toast, smoked almonds, microgreens, and fresh slices of both white and yellow peaches. Scrumptious and beautiful.

On the other side of her appetizer plate lay paperthin slices of salty old school prosciutto: Her appetizer touched all the bases. Creamy soft and crunchy. Sweet and salty. Rich and fruity.

I opted for the herbed meatballs ($12), which were served with ricotta gnocchi, heirloom tomato ragout, cooked nettles, and grated hard Italian cheese: This appetizer was more focused than Tina's. The herby meatballs were a delight, nicely complemented by the tomatoey ragout, the sautéed greens, and the mellow grated cheese. The gnocchi were light as cumulus clouds in a summer sky and matched perfectly with the other ingredients.

When it arrived, Tina's entrée, from one side, looked like a mushroom and vegetable stirfry: The chard, king trumpet mushrooms, and various pole beans contributed a range of flavors and textures. In particular, the beans were still crunchy and the trumpet mushrooms gave the palate a firm chewy mouth feel.

The main attraction on her plate, however, was the sliced Niman Ranch hanger steak ($26), cooked perfectly — seared but left rare in the center:
It was very tender and flavorful. The bordelaise sauce was a bit salty for my taste, but it was clearly a background note on her plate.

Her entrée was accompanied by a ramekin of what I would call scalloped potatoes, described on the menu as onoway potato gratin: As good as her entrée was, I liked mine even more: This was a pasture raised veal striploin lying on a bed of creamy rich asparagus risotto, topped with asparagus spears, hen of the woods mushrooms, Madeira sauce, gremolata (garlic/parsley oil), and pea shoots ($28) . This tasted so wonderful, that it deserves a second photo: The veal loin was, like Tina's steak, perfectly cooked. The exterior had been seared, but the flesh was still richly pink. The abundant Madeira sauce was sweeter and less salty than the bordelaise. I was blown away!

For dessert, we chose the three chocolate crèmes brûlées ($9): Under the crunchy caramelized skin, each brûlée featured a different flavor of chocolate. The one on the right was white chocolate, in the center Mexican chocolate with notes of cinnamon, and on the left deep dark rich chocolate. The last one was my favorite, but we used our spoons to scrape out every bit of creamy goodness from all of them.

Both Tina and I had thought that our second dinner could not possibly live up to the first. We were wrong.

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

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

Paso Robles: Lunch at Thomas Hill Organics

July 24, 2009 ed fromyuma Paso Robles/Cambria/San Luis Obispo County, Road Trip, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Kirk or Cathy will be with you tomorrow, but today ed (from Yuma) is describing another meal on his summer road trip.

On our first evening in Paso Robles, Tina and I were walking back from a great dinner, and suddenly we smelled the most delicious aromas wafting our direction on the warm nighttime air. Even though we were stuffed, both of us had to track down the origin of such savory scents. Heading up an alley, we discovered the location of Thomas Hill Organics: The next day at lunchtime, we walked around the central park in Paso, looking at menus and discovering nothing as appetizing as those aromas from the evening before. After relocating the restaurant, we were offered the choice of inside or outside seating. Although it was kind of hot (by the standards of Paso Robles, not Yuma) we opted to sit outside in a small partly covered courtyard that sits surrounded by buildings in the middle of the block: The first dish that arrived at our table was a watermelon gazpacho. And it was a thing of beauty: I can think of no soup that would have been as appealing as this summertime gem. The "broth" was red watermelon juice, with a few pools of extra virgin olive oil on top and minced mint and perhaps a squeeze of lime within. The chunks throughout the soup were sweet yellow watermelon. But as we began eating we discovered more: In addition to these halved dark grapes, we also encountered blackberries and raspberries:
The berries and grapes added touches of tartness to the sweet soup.

Soon after we finished the first course, our sandwiches arrived: Each sandwich was accompanied by a truly outstanding salad. Because the Central Coast is lettuce country, chefs have the ability to blend their own selection of various greens, rather than merely relying onlettuces already mixed. These salads contained primarily green and red oak leaf lettuce, two of the best and most flavorful salad greens available. The leaves were lightly dressed with a tomato vinaigrette, accompanied with cucumber slices, and topped with Kalamata olives, radish slices, and goat cheese. Salads don't get much better than this.

The sandwiches themselves were equally outstanding. One of them was a tuna sandwich: As you can see, this is no tuna sandwich like your mother served you. The seared albacore was topped with a slice of thick smoky bacon. Also, the slices of rich herb bread had been pressed like Paninis, so they were crunchy as well as flavorful.

The chicken sandwich may have been even better: On the same type of bread, the chicken breast slices were accompanied by bacon, melted mild cheese, and slices of green apple — the taste of the whole was flavorful and complex. An outstanding sandwich.

This restaurant has been in business about six months, but it is clear they know what they are doing. If we hadn't already made plans for dinner that evening, we would have returned here because the lunch was outstanding. I'm surprised that I had not heard of this place before my visit. I'm certainly glad that Tina and I followed our noses.

Thomas Hill Organics Wine Bar and Bistro, 1305 Park St, Paso Robles CA, 805-226-5888. Website

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