What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed! – Page 19

Monterey Peninsula: Passionfish Introduction

July 29, 2007 ed fromyuma American/New American Restaurants, Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Monterey/Carmel/Santa Cruz - Monterey Bay/Peninsula, Seafood, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Who knows what Kirk and Cathy are up to right now, but this is ed from Yuma – just back from two weeks in Monterey – and I want to share my experiences at one of my very favorite restaurants. This post is part one. If Kirk lets me go on, I will discuss salads and appetizers in part 2 and entrees in part 3.

Kirk’s recent post about his rotation made me realize that one restaurant, Passionfish on the Monterey Peninsula, 600 miles away from where I live, is definitely on my rotation.

Some background: before I became ed from Yuma, I was once ed from Monterey, where I lived for a dozen years. These days, Monterey is my favorite vacation spot, and I still have friends in the area, including a very nice couple – obviously tolerant of eccentricity – who let me stay in the spare bedroom at their condo. For the last several years, I have enjoyed a couple of weeks escaping the searing summer weather in Yuma and savoring the beautiful scenery, the cool ocean breezes, and the wonderful restaurants in the Monterey area. While I do some cooking in their kitchen and sometimes Steve and Helen prepare meals as well, Monterey and its adjacent communities (Carmel, Pacific Grove, Seaside, Marina, among others) have numerous tempting restaurants that cater both to locals and to the innumerable tourists who flock like seagulls every summer to this beautiful part of the central California coast. Never much good at resisting temptation (which partly explains my lack of marital success), I willingly succumb to these alluring eateries and usually have 7 – 10 restaurant dinners at various spots during my stay. While I like to try new places as often as I can, every year I must have at least two dinners at Passionfish, at the corner of Congress and Lighthouse in Pacific Grove. Let me try to explain why.

One main reason is evident in this photograph:

At first glance, this picture of a glass and a bottle of wine look pretty ordinary. Of course, the stemware is fine quality crystal (fairly common in good restaurants in the area), but it is the label on the bottle that is of most interest. The grape variety, Arneis, is a relatively rare grape in the Piedmont region of northern Italy where it is originally from. Even rarer, this version comes from a California vineyard, and to be honest, I had no idea that anyone had planted this grape anywhere in California. By my standards, this is an unusual wine ($30), but such unusual wines are common on the broad and well-chosen wine list at the restaurant. As someone who grew tired of Chardonnay many years ago and someone who loves infinite variety (which also partly explains my lack of marital success), the list at Passionfish, with its pages and pages of excellent and unusual white and red wine choices, is, for me, as much fun to read as the latest issue of "Funny Times."

What makes the wine list even more special is that Passionfish sells these wines at retail prices, the same price that one would pay for the identical bottle in a wine shop, if one frequented a wine shop good enough to have such an unusual wine. For example, this bottle of Marilyn Remark 2004 Marsanne (another rare grape varietal, especially in California) is on the wine list priced at $30. I saw an identical bottle at a local specialty grocery priced at $31. Another great tasting and unusual white wine is this estate bottled Gruener Veltliner from Schloss Gobelsburg in Austria, another $30 value. The only real problem with the wine list is selecting which one or two bottles to drink.

The last two pictures also illustrate another strength of the restaurant. Soon after being seated, diners are served several warmed pieces of the very best bread that I have eaten in years – if not ever. Accompanied by whipped unsalted butter, each slice is a sheer delight. The warm bread is so fresh that it has that just baked taste and smell. Although not a sourdough, the bread has a thick and supremely crunchy crust that crackles when bitten and contrasts with the soft bready interior, which has a slightly moist, dense fine crumb. The bread’s quality can be seen in the evenness of the tiny air pockets in the bread, no empty bubbles of air in any piece. In my opinion, the San Francisco Bay area and the Monterey Bay area produce the best bread in the entire United States. Nonetheless, the bread at Passionfish stands head and shoulders above any other that I remember. My waking thought the morning after my first meal at Passionfish this year was not about the incredible entrée or the outstanding salad or even the unusual bottle of wine I had consumed the night before. No, I woke up reliving the taste and textures of this wonderful bread.

This next photo, an appetizer of seared ahi accompanied by wasabi slaw ($9), illustrates other reasons for my passion about Passionfish:

My friend Steve has long loved seared ahi and has often ordered this dish at Passionfish. Every time I have had a taste of his nearly raw tuna, I have been impressed by the freshness and quality of the fish. In addition, this dish illustrates how the chef utilizes culinary fusion – often very effectively. In this dish, for example, we have a Japanese influence in the nearly raw tuna, the use of wasabi, and the topping of seaweed salad. But the word "slaw" with its Dutch roots reminds us that various cold salads are part of the American and western European traditions as is the use of tart green apple. Similarly, the menu bristles with terms like ravioli, spaetzle, charmoula, goat cheese, lemongrass, tostadita, medjool, risotto, Kurobuta etc. The kitchen clearly enjoys playing with various flavors and culinary traditions and recognizes no boundaries or borders. Of course, such cooking is risky, but it is also intriguing and challenging.

What is equally impressive about this dish (like many others on the menu) is that it has evolved over the years. If memory serves, the first two or three times that Steve ordered the dish, the tuna was crusted with black pepper and the slaw was julienned jicama lightly coated with a wasabi flavored coleslaw dressing and topped with pea shoots. In last year’s version (as seen in the photo), the ahi was crusted with a fennel seed rub, and the jicama and pea shoots were replaced by julienned green apple topped with seaweed salad. This year, the appetizer was absent from the menu altogether. In other words, the chef is constantly experimenting. He refuses to rest on his laurels, and his menu is constantly morphing. The menu not only changes over the years, but many items change week to week, and most days additional specials are available. One of my local friends suggests that the chef must go home every night thinking about ways to change and improve the food.

The wide range of ingredients and constantly changing dishes also make this restaurant a magnet for those of us who are fascinated with and passionate about food. On my first visit this summer, my meal began with a fried oyster salad with citrus-soy dressed arugula ($8):

This wonderful salad combines the nutty flavor of arugula, the tang of the dressing, and the succulent flavors of cooked oysters, while it contrasts the textures of the greens with the crunchy exterior and the soft, moist, and tender interior of the oysters. As I was taking this photo, a woman seated at the next table asked why I was taking pictures, and I gave my usual answer that I put the pics on my computer, which allows me to savor the meal again and again. She then asked if I was a Chowhound and mentioned that she went to the site often. I confessed I was, and after chatting with her for a minute or two, I went back to enjoying the salad.

Then my entree, sturgeon with Nueske bacon, sweet corn, banana potatoes, & tomato vinaigrette ($20), arrived at the table:

While this dish may look like a busy mess, the balancing of flavors is incredible. Nueske bacon is heavily smoked with applewood, so the equivalent of one or two slices gives the whole plate a smoky flavor which balances perfectly with the sweetness of the corn which itself is balanced with the tang of the tomato vinaigrette, all the flavors centered by the firm waxiness of the banana potato slices and the mildly fishy flavor of the sturgeon. As I was savoring this wonderful concoction, the same woman from the next table leaned over and told me that there was another Chowhound at the next table over who was taking pictures of her food as well. When I went over and introduced myself, it turned out to be tokyoastrogirl (her blog is called Tuna Toast) who had ordered exactly the same meal as I did. Small world – but more evidence of the sort of restaurant Passionfish is.

While this culinary creativity sometimes works so well that it can leave a diner almost breathless with admiration; sometimes it can lead to mistakes (read the various comments, particularly Melanie’s, at this Chowhound post for evidence). Similarly, since the menu is constantly changing, a customer looking for an old favorite may well come away frustrated. I still remember a halibut dish that came with broth containing vegetables and little gnocchi. It was tasty and unusual, and I would like to try it again, but I have never seen it repeated on the menu.

The restaurant has two other failings in my mind. Sometimes, particularly on weekend evenings, Passionfish gets uncomfortably loud. There seems to be little effort at noise abatement as most of the walls and ceilings are hard surfaces. In addition, eating an excellent meal and drinking bottles of very reasonably priced wine certainly fuels conversation. And once the noise level reaches a certain threshold, everyone has to TALK VERY LOUDLY in order to be heard across the table. At this point, all the conversations in the restaurant have to rise to a higher sonic level, and the din becomes deafening.

The second major shortcoming of the restaurant is its view. Many people come to the Monterey Peninsula for the incredible natural beauty of the area, but outside of the beautiful food (and perhaps your attractive companion(s) at the table), a diner’s views at Passionfish are restricted to an office plaza or a Shell station. So I suggest one go walk in the afternoon at Point Lobos for the scenery – and eat that night at Passionfish for the food.

Passionfish, 701 Lighthouse Ave, Pacific Grove CA 93950, (831) 655-3311.

Road Trip: Green Village Restaurant SGV

July 22, 2007 ed fromyuma Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Yes, this is a road trip, but not Kirk's; instead it's ed from Yuma who just had to get out of the 115 degree desert and into some good food.

The last time I spent an evening looking for a restaurant in the San Gabriel Valley, I was like a little kid who was told he could only pick one from a gigantic box of mysterious chocolates. Complete choice overload. Which one? Which is the best? How can I choose? Smoke must have been pouring out of my ears from total systemic breakdown before I settled on the path of least resistance and had a mediocre meal at a Korean barbecue. Knowing that I would be spending another evening in the valley on my way up to Monterey, I vowed not to let that happen again, so I did what any wise individual, faced with such daunting culinary choices, should do – I asked Kirk to recommend a couple of places and mentioned that maybe a Shanghai style place would be interesting.

"You could try Green Village," he suggested, linking me to a Jonathan Gold article from 2002 and explaining that he himself had not eaten at the restaurant since it relocated many many years ago. "Oh, yeh, then you could also write a post on it for the blog." Now I understood his thinking - I'd feel obligated to write it up in return for the advice, and he'd get another post out of me. OK, that seemed like a fair deal, and it did save me from a serious brain cramp.

When I stopped by to look the place over in the afternoon, I learned that one thing had changed since Gold's review : there was now a young waitperson who could speak English, and in fact, he seemed pleased and amazed that some old pony-tailed white guy would be interested in a meal there. Talking with him made me feel welcome, and looking the menu over made me salivate. Nonetheless there were pages of choices, most of them sounding delicious or at least weird and intriguing.

Being as food obsessed as I am, I spent the rest of the afternoon, after I left the place, pondering my choices (kid with candy box syndrome again). My first thought was to duplicate a couple of Gold's favorites, braised fish tail and the yellow croaker with liver moss (as Gold notes in his later review of Green Village, this second item is now listed in two places on the menu – once under its original name and once as yellow fish with seaweed – somebody must have showed them Gold's original article). But just ordering what Gold had already discussed would be too easy. And what could I say then? "Gold was right," or, "Gold was wrong." If I write the former, I have contributed nothing; if I write the latter, who is going to believe ME?

Therefore, I decided on two different items. First I ordered wine chicken ($5.50):

Serving the chicken in a little cup in this fashion was perfect. It insured that each piece of the chicken was in contact with the complex flavor notes of the marinade. Notice also that the meatiest breast pieces lay across the top of the pile of chicken, while the bonier bits lurked underneath. What outstanding chicken it was. At first taste, the essence of cooked chicken flesh was intense. So often, we mask the flavors of chicken, drenching it in rich or spicy sauces or covering it with spiced breading and frying it. In this dish, on the contrary, the chicken flavor sang out like a rooster at dawn.

I am not implying that the wine sauce with its notes of ginger and hint of salt contributed nothing. In fact, the sauce was the perfect foil to show off the deep chicken flavors. As fast as the chopsticks brought the pieces to my mouth, I devoured them. Left with only the pile of bones, I looked through them, searching (the way one might search for a lost hiker in a forest) for missing slivers of flesh that had evaded my teeth at first. I wanted to taste every molecule I could.

For my main course, I went with the young server's recommendation of a whole fish dish. This fish was not listed on the menu and even the check contained the name only in Chinese characters with no translation, so I will call it Inside-out Fish, for reasons that will become apparent ($18.99). When it arrived at the table, it was truly a thing of culinary beauty and made me smile:

On the other hand, my dining companion for the night, Mr Fish, did not look quite as happy about his situation:

Those of you familiar with Shanghai cuisine may consider a fish prepared in this fashion pretty standard, but I had never seen anything like it. Prior to being deep fried, the fish had been deboned, the fleshy side of each fillet had been deeply scored with a crosshatch pattern, and the fish had been dusted with flour. In the deep fryer, the scored flesh had expanded while the skin did not, and then the fish had been arranged, inside out, with the meat on the outside and the skin hidden within:

Upon first tasting, I was delighted. The frying had added crunch throughout the fillets, but I could still taste the fish. The sauce was beautiful to look at and contained fresh little shrimp, peas, and cubed carrots. Coupled with the complexity of the fish preparation, it was almost a taste bud overload. The flavor of the sauce reminded me of an excellent sweet and sour sauce, making me think that this would be a whole fish dish that might get even Aunt Sadie to like whole fish – no bones, nice crunch, and a pleasant sweet sauce reminiscent of so much of the Chinese food a lot us Anglos (particularly those of us who grew up far away from places like the SGV) considered typical Chinese food.

Nonetheless, I have to admit that Mr Fish was not a perfect dish. As I was eating away, I noticed that occasionally there would be a hint of dusty flour, which I attributed to the fact some of the flour on the skin side of the fish had not been cooked:

Also, as I began the second fillet, the sweetness of the sauce began to cloy. I like candy as much as the next person, but I was approaching sugar overload. I found myself picking at the cheeks and tail of the fish to take a break from the unrelenting sweetness of the dish. Of course, the real problem was not with Mr Fish and his accompanying sauce; it was that I was eating this dish by myself. Had I been feasting with friends, and sharing braised pork, braised fish tail, stir-fried veggies, and yellow croaker with liver moss, the bites of this tasty fish would have provided a nice contrast to the other dishes. As it was, that contrast was lacking.

Overall, however, I liked the restaurant very much. Even though I was the only non-Asian of the 29 diners that evening (and probably the only one not speaking Mandarin), I was treated with respect and friendliness. The menu was full of dishes I wanted to try. I kept wishing that I could instantly clone myself half a dozen times (like in a bad B grade Sci-Fi flick) and create enough other diners for a proper feast; however, with 7 of me sitting around a table, I wouldn't have been able to get a word in edgewise, so maybe that's not such a good idea. Instead, it would be better to come back to Green Village with a group of friends and really explore what the kitchen can accomplish.

Green Village, 250 W. Valley Blvd (second floor), San Gabriel CA, (626) 576-2228.

Los Manjares de Pepe – Yuma

July 12, 2007 ed fromyuma Mexican Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

It’s just ed from Yuma again – this time writing a real long post about probably the best restaurant in town. Just in case you might someday be stuck in Yuma at mealtime, this is one place to remember.

Los Manjares de Pepe is widely recognized among the culinary cognoscenti of Yuma (well, at least among my friends and me) as the best Mexican restaurant in town – and that’s saying something considering how many good Mexican restaurants our town boasts of. It doesn’t get this acclaim because of its wonderful signage:

Or because of a beautiful building:

No, people love Pepe’s for several reasons, all of them connected with the great food served. First, Monday through Friday, the restaurant features incredible specials, all at $4.99. On Mondays, you can get a caldo de albondigas. Like all meals here, the soup comes with good chips and spicy (if somewhat thin) salsa. You also get rice, beans, and your choice of tortillas. This great bowl of soup contains a nice rich stock, filled with 4 or 5 large and flavorful meatballs and an assortment of vegetables – celery, onion, carrot, and potato. Like the other specials, this a great deal.

On Wednesday, the special is peurco en salsa chipotle. This dish may be the tastiest thing I have ever eaten in Yuma, anywhere. Chipotle is not a common flavor used in most of Yuma’s Mexican restaurants, but Pepe achieves something fantastic in this dish. The large chunks of rich and slightly fatty pork are bathed in a intensely smoky and moderately picante sauce. The balance of flavors achieved is excellent. The chipotle flavor is strong and rich enough to please the palate without drowning out the meaty flavors of the pork chunks.

Friday’s special is truly special as well. I have always liked pozole since I first had a taste of this wonderful concoction of pork, hominy, and chile flavors years ago. The version at Los Manjares is, nonetheless, far and away the best I have ever eaten: Pozole broth with its meaty richness and deep red chile flavors is basically a great taste. Plus, Pepe doesn’t short change customers in any way with this dish. This stock is as powerfully rich and as densely flavored as it looks. The bowl is full of hominy kernals and huge chunks of pork. In addition to the chips, salsa, beans, rice and tortillas, the customer also gets a selection of add-ons (the picture is of the extras for two). Each bowl is served with chopped onions, lime wedges, chopped cabbage, and a generous helping of cilantro. These can be dumped into the soup to add flavors and crunchy textures. Other people add these extras onto the tacos or burritos made with the pork and tortillas. Either way, they provide a nice addition and add to the taste and mouthfeel of the dish.

For those of you who are sure that your cholesterol has gone up twenty points just looking at the last set of pictures, I need to add that another reason why I think that Los Manjares is so outstanding is its chicken. We all have experienced lousy Mexican restaurant chicken. Take a chicken, boil it until tasteless, shred it, and then dump these wet flavorless shards of fowl into a flour or corn tortilla. But there is no boiled chicken at Pepe’s. For example, take a look at an order of Pollo Deshuesado (boneless chicken)($7.99):

Each of these chunks of chicken is a delight to the mouth – tender, well-spiced, and full of chicken flavor. But Pepe uses his flavorful grilled chicken in his whole range of chicken dishes. I recently ordered the chicken enchiladas (senior size with 2 enchiladas, $4.99) and was served this wonderfully flavoful plate:

As much as I love posting at Kirk’s wonderful blog because I can show all of you folks pictures of these wonderful things I have eaten, this picture does not do justice to this savory and succulent meal. The enchilada sauce, although it looks like most other enchilada sauces, has double the intensity of deep red chile flavor. And inside each of these rolled cylinders of tasty corn tortilla hides spicy and tasty morsels of Pepe’s flavorful grilled chicken.

A picture does begin to convey the quality of the world’s greatest chicken taco salad (no shell, $5.50):

It is hard for me to write about this salad without sprinkling superlatives over my sentences the way some of us sprinkle black pepper on scrambled eggs. On top of a smear of creamy frijoles, a mound of iceberg is surrounded by shredded pollo asado and topped with diced tomato, dollops of crema, rich fresh guacamole, shredded queso, pickled red onion slices, and chopped cilantro. Is it by chance that the colors across the top reflect the colors of la bandera – the flag of Mexico? Anyway, as beautiful as this looks, the looks don’t come close to the flavors. Each shred of chicken is full of spice and is chewy tasty. The neutral background of crunchy lettuce brings together each biteful of salad. Overall, my mouth is full of multiple contrasts of temperatures, textures, and tastes (particularly after I drizzle salsa over the whole thing).

One of my favorite meals at Los Manjares – and years ago at El Zarape when Pepe cooked there – is the pollo al carbon, bone-in, well marinated chicken grilled outside over charcoal. Sometimes, after smelling the aromas of the chicken cooking outside, it is impossible not to order it for lunch (with beans & rice – 2 pieces $4.99, 4 pieces $6.99), so I have probably eaten this meal 20 times at least. I knew I had to have a photo for this post, so on a recent dinner visit, I order the 4 piece dinner:

Sad to say, this was the sorriest version of the pollo al carbon I’d ever eaten. First, the 4 pieces were 2 legs and 2 thighs. And the pieces look bigger in the pic than they were in real life. Second, the chicken had either been overcooked on the grill or had been sitting around under heat for too long so that the crunchy exterior almost extended to the bone. In any case, this was a disappointing meal. Still, though, the chicken had an excellent flavor, and the overly crunchy meat was OK in tacos. I just missed the usual moist and chickeny interior that I have come to expect from this dish. It also reminded me that sometimes even the best places don’t always get everything right.

In addition to the daily specials and the (usually) great chicken dishes, Los Manjares also serves a wide range of wonderfully prepared Mexican restaurant standards. Since I had decided to do this post, I have been trying a few dishes that I could not remember eating before at Pepe’s. So recently, I ordered a carnitas torta ($3.99):

I was astounded by the size of the sandwich; it filled up an entire plate. I know now that I had never ordered this dish before because it was a truly memorable torta, and not just because it was so large. The bottom layer of filling was a smooth beany smear of frijoles. On top of that was a layer of porky and crunchy carnitas. The carnitas was covered with chopped lettuce. The upper half of the bolillo was spread with Pepe’s flavorful fresh guacamole, chopped cilantro, and pico de gallo, that flavorful fresh salsa of diced tomato, onion, and jalapeno. I never for a moment considered trying to pick this sandwich up with my hands and eating it. Doing that would have spilled goodies all over my shirt, and goodies this good need to be in my mouth, not on my wardrobe. So I attacked the torta with knife and fork and began devouring. Nonetheless, as good as it tasted, I could not completely finish it. Wow!

Los Manjares also prepares a number of dishes in a rich and tomatoey ranchero sauce:

This is a plate of Camerones Rancheros ($10.99), one of the most expensive dishes on the menu. The shrimp were tender and tasty, their mild flavors enhanced by the subtle ranchero sauce. Equally good is the Steak Ranchero and the Lengua, which is also served in this sauce. Unlike the deep red chile or chipotle flavors of some sauces, the ranchero with its tomato and bell pepper accent stays in the background and compliments the flavors of the shrimp or meat.

I want to end this long post by looking at one last dish done very well by Pepe, Al Pastor:

Believe it or not, this gigantic order of tender dry rubbed pork slices sells for $7.50. No, that is not a misprint. There is so much food here (and don’t forget the chips, salsa, and tortillas) that I only order this if I am really hungry, and I still often bring enough pork home for a midnight snack. I doubt if there is a vertical spit in Pepe’s kitchen, but this dish does not suffer from that in every way. The spices rubbed onto the meat before cooking add flavor to the meat. What’s more, the pieces of pork are often tastily charred:

As this picture also illustrates, my favorite way to eat the Al Pastor is folded into a taco with the pico de gallo (and sometimes the pickled onions) from the plate added to the taco. Moments after this photo was snapped, I ladled a couple of teaspoons of salsa on this homemade taco and chowed down. Chewy, spicy, meaty, tender, crunchy and corny all at once. Yum!

I do have one fear about writing this post for Kirk. I can imagine some big city restaurateur reading this blog and suddenly deciding that he could make a fortune selling Mexican food this good in New York City. Then virtually overnight, Pepe would be pulling down six figures, living in a Manhatten condo, and charging willing diners, who had lined up outside the restaurant 2 hours before it opened, $50 for a plate of Al Pastor. If that should happen, New York, as well as Pepe and the restaurateur, would be the richer, but poor old Yuma would be left with a huge culinary hole. So if you are a New York restaurant owner, just let me say, "Nah, it’d never work."

Los Manjares de Pepe, 2187 West 8th St., Yuma AZ. (928) 782-2366

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.

Borders Cafe – Yuma

July 1, 2007 ed fromyuma Mexican Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

No, Kirk has not moved to Yuma. This is just Ed from Yuma doing another post for mmm-yoso!!! Hope you all don’t mind.

Just a brief update – I dropped into Border’s last week (Jan 21, 2008) and didn’t recognize anybody there. Tried to order a couple of my favorites (fish ball soup and sting ray soup) and were told that they no longer made those. Found out that a new family was running the place. I did have a bowl of rightous, beefy albondigas de res, but this post is no longer a useful guide to the place. R.I.P.

I feel a little strange writing another post about Yuma for Kirk’s marvelous blog that generally centers on San Diego dining. I guess my justification is that in my mind Yuma is just a distant suburb of San Diego – it is thinking like this that keeps me sane when it’s 115° here. In this post, I’d like to focus on a small, family run Mexican restaurant in which the chef, the grandmother of the family, has around 30 years of experience of cooking in Cabo. The place is called Borders and located on Yuma’s main drag 4th ave.

Many of the items available here are fairly standard dishes found in many Mexican restaurants, although always done very effectively at Borders. For example, the chiles rellenos here are long and beautiful to look at:

Although the chilies themselves are not especially picante, they have a good flavor and the rellenos are not lost in a thick layer of breading, a soup of sauce, or a mound of cheese. Even the cheese stuffing is fairly thin so that the overall effect is a balanced flavor.

Another standard dish done very well here is the taco salad with carne asada:

The flavorful slices of steak were not just the topping of the salad but extended all the way through. Yum. The fish tacos are another treat:

Each taco contains two small crunchy fish fillets. These are as good as you would get in Yuma. While lengua is found in many Mexican restaurants in town, Borders serves it as lengua estofada – or lengua stew.

My friend Betsy raved about this molé after she had it, so I had to order it also and I agree with everything that she said. It is easily the best in town. Most moles are too sweet, and sometimes plain boiled chicken is just topped with sauce. In this case the mole sauce is nicely balanced, slightly spicy, and full flavored. The chicken is fall apart tender.

Borders also offers some interesting dishes that cannot be found in another Mexican restaurant in Yuma.

Caguamanta, or stingray soup, has been heretofore available only at Deliciosos del Mar, a taco truck. Borders’ version is rich and deeply flavorful, if a touch too salty for my taste.

It is full of small chunks of the stingray and various vegetables, such as potatoes, carrots, onions, tomatoes, green peppers, and olives. Another amazing dish here is albondigas de pescado. The deeply flavorful and chili infused broth is full of pale and mildly fishy meatballs along with some veggies. Unlike fishballs in Chinese cuisine, these balls have a texture more like meatballs and a taste that is enhanced by the wonderfully rich and tasty stock:

My only concern about this restaurant is that it contains only about 10 tables, and it seems like every time I come there it is busier than it was the last time. I guess that’s good for the restaurant, but I always worry that I may have to stand and wait if the customer base continues to grow and if winter visitors find out about it. Prices are very reasonable. Most medium soups (lunch size) are 4.99. I believe all the entrees are under $8. While there is minimal atmosphere, the service is efficient and caring. Another reason to visit Yuma, the great metropolis of Southwest Arizona.

OK, the only metropolis of Southwest Arizona.

Yuma Taco Truck Update

June 18, 2007 ed fromyuma Food Trucks, Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

Hello, this is Ed from Yuma. I know many of you think that I am just a fictional character who exists only in Kirk's imagination and on his blog, but on my good days, I am actually a real functioning in-the-flesh human being. In a moment of folly (or perhaps just laziness), Kirk has asked me, ed from Yuma, to write a post for this wonderful blog of his, so here goes.

Careful readers of this blog will remember that Kirk visited Yuma a while back and sampled some of our unique taco truck cuisine. Considering how much the taco truck scene can change literally overnight, it is remarkable that Kirk's posts are still very relevant in 2007 – though some trucks are closed for the summer. In this post, I will look at the best of the new taco trucks and revisit some old favorites from Kirk's trip here.

Tacos y Mariscos Juanita's

The most important new addition to Yuma taco truck choices is Juanita's. It is located in a lot just west of Avenue A on 8th St. Unlike many taco trucks, Juanita's is more than just the truck. There is a covered ramada with five small tables each offering plenty of hot sauce choices. In addition, restrooms for men and women are provided as well. Not only do these come in handy for obvious reasons, but they also provide a way to clean taco sticky hands.

During Yuma's main season, there is also an outdoor grill next to the truck, preparing meat for carne asada tacos, but seafood is the specialty of the truck. Both shrimp and fish tacos are available ($1.25 each):

The fish taco is on the left, and the shrimp is on the right.

The fish taco (taco de pescado) contains a generous portion of fresh meaty white fish. The lightly flavored white sauce adds a bit of moisture and a little tang , the diced cabbage adds crunch, and the chopped tomatoes add a nice color contrast. While numerous bottled sauces are available, I always use Juanita’s own homemade salsa, and a squirt bottle of this spicy and powerful sauce sits on every table. My only complaint about the fish taco is that its breading is not crunchy. Normally I'm not a huge fan of shrimp tacos (tacos de camerones), but Juanita's version is outstanding. Each small shrimp is individually breaded, and these have the required crunchiness that makes them a delight to eat. In this case, as you can see, I squirted too much of Juanita's great salsa over the taco so that some of the shrimpy taste was lost in picante overload. Very tasty nonetheless.

My favorite item at this truck, however, is the campechana "con todo," with everything, meaning with all the seafood choices and chopped red onions and cucumber ($11):

Juanita’s serves one of the most outstanding campechanas I have ever eaten. The mildly flavored tomato water (who knows exactly what is in it, along with tomato juice, lime juice, and perhaps a little Clamato) provides an outstanding backdrop for the fresh and tasty seafood. One or two squirts of salsa and I am ready to devour. The shrimp here are large and perfectly cooked – completely succulent, juicy, and flavorful. The octopus chunks (pulpo) are not at all tough and rubbery; instead the pieces of octopus are tender and almost soft, having just enough chew to provide some complexity in mouth feel with the other ingredients.

But there is more than just octopus and shrimp:

Yes, your eyes are not lying. This seafood cocktail also contains raw and extremely fresh bay scallops, squarish chunks of canned abalone (thanks Melanie), and three flavorful oysters. For some reason, the oysters are always my favorite as, in my mouth at least, the briny and slightly funky oyster flavor perfectly complements the tomato water while the soft texture contrasts with the crunchy onions and cukes.

If I have any complaint about Juanita's, it is that it is too popular. At peak times during the winter, there is no room at any of the tables, and I have to stand in line to order. However, the food is quickly prepared – and tastes great even when eaten in the front seat of my car.

Taco Trucks Redux

In this part of the post, I just want to add some information about three of the trucks that Kirk visited in Yuma. First, Tio Juan is still making an outstanding mixed seafood cocktail (campechana) although they are closed now for the summer – which is why I have no pictures (sorry). But twice this winter when I visited the stand, the coctele contained unusual and very flavorful black clams. While the exterior of the clam is grayish, the interior is solid black like coal. No matter how strange they looked, the firm textured flesh was clammy sweet. The young man who made my campechana told me the clams came from Los Mochis.

I also watched carefully as he made my campechana and was surprised by the complexity of the liquid. He used small amounts of ketchup, lime juice, Clamato, canned tomato sauce, and dashes of bottled hot sauce. He then ladled shrimp water (“this is the water we get from boiling the shrimp,” he said) into the mix. The liquid was much fishier tasting than in other cocteles I've eaten. My only complaint was that the shrimp were hammered, so overcooked that their texture was not ideal.

Of course, I have returned often to Mariscos el Nayarita as no one can get enough of their wonderful shrimp empanadas. There are, however, at least two other dishes that are done very well at this stand. One of them is whole fish:

This perfectly fried whole tilapia is served with corn tortillas and salsa. The outside of the fish has a nice crunch, but most of the flesh was still moist and juicy. There was no greasy aftertaste whatsoever. As you can see, we liked the fish:

We also tried a very special dish at the truck, pescado zarandeado, a traditional style of fish preparation common along the eastern shore of the Sea of Cortez. Here the whole fish is split in half, sprinkled with Mexican spices, and grilled outside over charcoal:

This type of fish is served only at the height of the winter season, and often one needs to let them know an hour or more in advance so that they can prepare the coals. Again, the fish was served with salsas and corn tortillas. The Mexican spices add a flavorful touch to the fish although this one was slightly overcooked for my taste.

Recently, I was driving along 8th St, trying to locate any new trucks and see which ones were still open. Well, okay, I was also hungry, so this wasn't purely a research exploration. Unfortunately, one of the new trucks I was looking for had vanished, and a couple others are closed for the season. So that brought me back to Deliciosos del Mar, the wonderful little truck that makes the tasty caguamanta, stingray soup. At first it looked like it was not going to be my day as the nice lady at the window finally was able to communicate to me (her English being worse than my Spanish – and that means almost no communication at all) that the soup was not ready yet.

Well, I was too hungry to look for any place else, so I ordered two tacos:

The taco on the right is a decent shrimp taco though I prefer the ones from Juanita’s. The taco on the left was the revelation. It had never before occurred to me to try a cabeza taco at a truck that seemed so focused on seafood. Now I have learned my lesson as this was the best cabeza taco I have ever had in Yuma:

Look carefully at the chunks of Cabeza here. Each one was like a tender flavor bomb, full of meaty and beefy goodness. If you look carefully, you also can see some of the fat that added so much to the richness (and, no doubt, cholesterol) in this taco. The chopped cabbage and red onions and the leaves of cilantro contributed flavors and textures and helped make each bite a true joy.

So even now, a person can find good taco truck cuisine in Yuma, and with temperatures reaching around 110°, the town has plenty of parking places and no lines at the taco trucks. Come visit.

Latin Chef Part 2

April 19, 2007 mmm-yoso Latin American Cuisine, Peruvian Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

In my waaaay too wordy first part, I think I spent too much time on "stuff", and not enough on the food, so I’m hoping to rectify that with part 2. After my very enjoyable first visit, I knew I had to convince the Missus that Latin Chef was worth a visit…it really wasn’t very hard!

So a few evenings later we found ourselves having dinner at Latin Chef.

We started with the usual Canchita, and the Missus had a glass of the Chica Morada($1.50), the very sweet drink made from Purple Maize.(Sorry no photo) We started with a bowl of Sopa a la Criolla("Creole soup" – $8.50):

This very mildly spicy, tomato and cream based broth was rich, but not heavy. The soup contained angel hair pasta, and a few pieces of shredded beef. The Missus, as is Her M.O., took ownership of the fried egg…and declared it "delici-yoso!!!"

I ordered the Aji De Gallina("Chili chicken" – $8.50):

This is one of the "standard" Peruvian dishes. The sauce is made with Aji Amarillo(yellow chile). Aji Amarillo is the most common chile in Peru, when young the chile is green, and is used in sauces. At the "ripe" stage the pepper is yellow in color, and is used in Aji de Gallina. When fully mature the chile is a deep orange-red color, and is at it’s most pungent state. Cream, bread, cheese, and usually walnuts make up the rest of the sauce, which is served with strips of chicken. The sauce was thick, and on the mild side, which I livened up a bit with some "Aji", and not as "nutty", nor a spicy as another version I had several years back. The chicken was fine, if a tad on the "dry" side.

The Missus ordered the real "winner" of the evening, the Arroz con Mariscos (The daily special, Seafood Rice – $10.00):

Beyond the nicely flavored rice, and wonderful roasted vegetables, what really impressed us was the preparation of the seafood. The calamari was soft, and very tender, as was the octopus. This was quite good, there was one request that the Missus mentioned to Freddie for the next time she orders this…she asked if next time she could get some chopped Papas Fritas(french fries). To which the always obliging Freddie said; "no problem…we’ll make one up special for you!" You gotta love these mom and pop places!

One thing did bother us on this visit, the place was totally empty the entire time we ate. We started worrying about Latin Chef surviving. But all such thoughts evaporated when we visited on a recent Sunday. On this day, the place was packed to the rafters, with no seats available in the tiny restaurant, but we decided to sit outside and enjoy the sun.

I had designs of starting our meal with some Papa a la Huacaina(Potatoes with Huacaina Sauce), after all the potato was first cultivated in the Peruvian Incas. I was over-ruled by the Missus who loves Yuca, so we ended up with Yuca a la Huacaina($6.00):

The pieces of Yuca were fried to perfection, slightly crisp on the outside, and nice and starchy, without being too dense in the interior. The Huacaina sauce, basically a cheese sauce, with Aji Amarillo and cream, was a bit too cheesy for the Missus. This version was made with Parmesan cheese, which made slightly more salty than what I’m used too.

For my entree, I went with a classic "Chifa" (Chinese-style) dish, Arroz Chaufa a la Carne ($8.50):

If you think this looks a lot like fried rice, you’d be right, that is exactly what it is. This version was a bit more simple than the Arroz Chaufa Especial that I enjoyed from El Rocoto in Gardena. While the beef was on the dry and tough side, the scrambled egg had been mixed with soy sauce, and I believe there was a hint of chile as well, making it very tasty.

On this occasion the Missus again did a fine job ordering the Pescado a lo Macho (again the daily special, Fried Fish with Mixed Seafood – $10.00):

A breaded and fried white fish fillet was smothered with a very mildly spicy tomato based sauce and mixed seafood. Like our previous meal, the seafood was cooked well, the Octopus was especially good, with an almost melt in your mouth texture, without being mushy. Whatever means of marinading and tenderizing is done, it is done well.

After this experience, I’d recommend reservations if you’re planning to have lunch on a weekend. At this time Latin Chef does not have a liquor license, so sorry, no Pisco Sours, if you want a Cerveza, you’ll be directed to the liquor store down the street. The service is very friendly and accommodating, keep in mind that this is a one chef in the kitchen restaurant, so you may have a bit of a wait for your food, but chances are it would be worth it. There are at least 2 "specials" daily that add a nice variety to the menu.

On the bottom of the sign to right it says, "Warning, Peruvian food is addictive!" At the least, the food at Latin Chef does not lack flavor.

Latin Chef
1142 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109
(858)-270-8810

Kudos to Ed from Yuma, another great find!

You can find part1, here.

Latin Chef Part 1

April 15, 2007 mmm-yoso Latin American Cuisine, Peruvian Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

During a recent dinner with Ed from Yuma, just before our panchan arrived, Ed brought out a nicely folded sheet of paper from his pocket. What he had was a menu from a new restaurant in Pacific Beach called Latin Chef. When I read the menu, I almost fell off my seat. The menu was predominantly Peruvian, with a few Brazilian dishes. One of the things I miss about living in Los Angeles are the Peruvian Restaurants. There must be over 2 dozen Peruvian Restaurants that I know about….I say at least, because if you have 5 Peruvian Newspapers, as LA does, you must have a rather large Peruvian population. Our luck with Peruvian food in San Diego had not been very positive, so needless to say I was excited.

So of course there I was the next afternoon, at about 4pm for a early dinner.

I managed to find parking on Garnet avenue, no easy task! I was greeted by a smile and hello by the very friendly young lady, and told to have a seat anywhere I wanted in this tiny restaurant.

A one page menu, similar to the one that Ed had shown me was handed to me. A though I did look over the menu, one of the dishes I had read the previous night stuck in my head. You see, one of the reasons I think we enjoy Peruvian food so much, are the almost Asian flavors and cooking techniques that are used. I had always wondered about the use of soy sauce in Peruvian food, until I saw one of the episodes of Cheuk Kwan’s wonderful documentary series, Chinese Restaurants that tells the story of the Chinese diaspora through the Chinese restaurant. During a screening of the episode called Latin Passions at the San Diego Asian Film Festival, I finally had a few answers, and also some motivation when I got home, to try and find some information for myself. If you have a chance, don’t miss screenings of this wonderful series. I’ve seen two episodes so far, and will probably purchase the whole set this year. Anyone who has read my post on Asian Noodles, and my fascination with Ma Mon Luk, or even my posts on Al Pastor and the "Trompo", understands my fascination with this subject. So, some interesting data….Chinese first arrived in Peru during the middle of the 1800’s til the mid-1870’s. These immigrants arrived to work on the sugar plantations, and to work on the guano mines. Another wave of immigrants arrived after the establishment of Communist rule in China in 1949. And though many Chinese fled Peru during the rule of Juan Velasco Alvarado, there is still an estimated 4 million Peruvians of Chinese Ancestry in Peru.

Each meal at Latin Chef starts with some Canchita.

The young lady was fairly surprised when I exclaimed "aaah canchita…" Canchita is a very popular appetizer/snack(beer food), that is corn kernals that are roasted or fried until just before popping. This version was nicely salted, crunchy and addictive.

With the influence of the Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, and Inca people, I find the eclectic cuisine of Peru to be full of fascinating flavors. Getting back to the Chinese influence in Peru. The word used for Chinese food in Peru is "Chifa", I’ve read that it is based on the Mandarin phrase to eat, "Chi Fan". Chinese restaurants in Peru are called "El Chifa", and one of the two oldest Chinatowns in Latin America is located in Lima, "Barrio Chino de Lima". I’ve read that there are over half a million Peruvians of Chinese Ancestry currently living in Lima. One of my favorite Peruvian creole dishes is Lomo Saltado, and without fail, it is usually the first item I’ll try at any Peruvian restaurant, Latin Chef was no different.

The version of Lomo Saltado at Latin Chef($8.50), was quite good. Don’t let the "papas fritas"(french fries) scare you as it did a few on Chowhound. Papas Fritas are an integral part of Lomo Saltado. Though these large crinkle cut fries are a bit distracting. I’m used to having the potatoes fried with the rest of the ingredients, and later on asked the proprietor, Freddie about them. He told me that they will do it either way, so I’ll make sure to ask for them to be fries with the Carne, and the rest of the ingredients next time. I found the beef to be pretty good, as with most versions of Lomo Saltado, I found the lean beef to be on the tough side, though in this case the slices of beef were very moist. Where this Lomo Saltado separated itself from very pedestrian versions is the very flavorful sauce, both a bit salty, slightly sweet, and tangy, this was a nice rendition.

The tomatoes were sweet and tangy, and the onions added a nice flavor to the dish. I enjoy a bit of heat, so without fail I’ll always request some "Aji"(red chili sauce) with anything I order. This version added some nice heat.

This was a very nice, and reasonably priced meal. And I knew that I’d be bringing the Missus along for the next one….

Now I realize I’ve been very wordy so I’ll stop here for now…..part 2 is coming up!

If you want to grab a meal in the meantime:

Latin Chef
1142 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109
(858)-270-8810

Closed on Mondays…the hours are a bit strange. The menu says Tues-Fri 3pm-10pm, Sat-Sun 11am-10pm. But they really don’t open until 1230pm. So I’m not quite sure.

Those that live in San Diego, and the PB area will get this joke….someone asked where this restaurant was located on Garnet, and I replied it’s right before the 7th sushi bar on Garnet after Ingraham…..sheesh! I guess there’s a local ordinance that says 1 coffee shop on every corner, and one purveyor of California Roll on every block!

Part 2 coming up!

Dae Jang Keum

April 9, 2007 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

On a recent much too short visit to San Diego, I managed to sneak in one dinner with the (in)famous Ed from Yuma. We decided to check out Dae Jang Keum, the former Boo Cho, and popular Korean Barbecue that was somewhat inconsistent, sometimes good, and on one visit very disappointing. The restaurant was now on at least it’s fourth set of Owners…and I guess a name change was made, to reverse the bad karma that this location has seems to have over the last few years.

So what was once Boo Cho, was now Dae Jang Keum.

The restaurant has been renovated, and other than the configuration of the tables, the restaurant looks totally different.

Now here’s an interesting photo….

One night at while eating at Sammy’s, someone told me that this restaurant had been named after a "K Drama", those Korean Television Soap Operas that many I know are, or were, addicted to. So after returning from dinner I did a little research…and believe it or not, there was a listing in Wikipedia for the K-Drama Dae Jang Geum, aka, "Jewel in the Palace"! Now this restaurant could actually be named for Jang Geum who was the first female Physician of the Joseon (Chosun) Dynasty, or after the K-Drama….guess which I think it is?

Okay, so much (K) drama for this post, it’s back to the food. I’ve heard some not so good things about the food at DJK, the most interesting was from a very reliable souce who calls Herself "daantat" on the Chowhound California Board. So I’d been looking forward to eating here for a while. I also checked in with Sam, who eats here once in a while, since it’s right next door, and knows the Chef quite well. Sam actually met Ed and I, and made some recommendations.

The prices seemed in line with other restaurants of this type, with prices ranging from $10.99 to over $25.

The arrival of the "greens" meant this was "bossam-style" BBQ. And soon enough the "wrappers" (radish and rice flour – dduk and mu) arrived along with the various dipping sauces and panchan.

I’d heard that the panchan at DJK was not very good, and I’m afraid I need to agree, though Ed thought I was being a bit too harsh. I think that the hallmark of panchan is the Baechu Kimchi(napa cabbage kimchi), if you can’t make this staple….well,you get the picture. The Baechu and Mu(radish) were very bland, and what I would consider to be flat in flavor, with just a touch of "heat", and had nothing else going for it.

The best items were the filefish and the fried little fish.

I’ll just stop here….except to say that the potato salad was terrible, too much Asian Pear in it, made the salad much too sweet.

And though Ed from Yuma will probably disagree, there is one observation that I thought was rather telling, the portions of panchan was fairly large, but the very nice server came by twice to see if we needed more panchan…and nary a word from the both of us. Also, this is one of the few times that I can remember where we didn’t finish the panchan. Enough of that, let move on to the main courses.

One of the things that made Boo Cho, and now Dae Jang Keum unique in San Diego, is the use of charcoal, and I’m glad to say nothing has changed. In fact, I think even more charcoal is used for the barbecue than what I could remember. I singed my hands a few times moving meat around!

We ordered the Hyuh Mit Gui(Beef Tongue – $18.99) and Tang Nyum Galbi (marinated short ribs – $20.99), and these were both good choices. The Kalbi was nicely marinated and had decent flavor, though I think the Kalbi at Buga is still the "Gold Standard" for San Diego. The Beef Tongue was the perfect vehicle for charcoal barbecue. The charcoal imparted a nice smoky flavor on the thin slices of tongue, which if you got it grilled right, would be crisp around the edges, and still moist and soft in the middle. The quality of the beef tongue was excellent as well.

Of course the drill was placing some mesclun and other "garnishes" on your plate and creating a dumpling of sort with the wrappers provided. No photos this time, but you can check out a photo on this post.

You’d think we’d be done after this meat-fest, but we decided to cleanse our palate with some Naeng Myun (Cold Buckwheat Noodles in Broth – $9.99):

The cold noodles arrived in a very large bowl, we had the noodles cut, and the very nice server helped us divvy things up. I got the egg and Ed the slice of beef which He said was excellent.

I found the broth to be very refreshing, on the tangy side, and once balanced out with the provided mustard and vinegar, was very nice. The noodles were a different matter, I found them to be tough, and brittle, rather than chewy and elastic. Still, the portion size was on the generous side.

In the end, I found the meat to be good, the Naeng Myun to be okay, and the panchan to be mediocre. At the prices we paid for dinner ($60 for two), I’d want better panchan. The service was very nice and helpful, though the place seemed rather undermanned when we left and most tables were filled. Oh, and there’s one more thing….Boo Cho had never been the most well ventilated restaurant, even with an industrial strength ventilation system. DJK is no improvement, so get ready for this:

My shirt is off to the dry cleaners………

Dae Jang Keum
7905 Engineer Rd
San Diego, CA 92111

Mid-week Meanderings: Update on Sammy’s, visit to Buga with Ed from Yuma

January 17, 2007 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Korean Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Well here’s a few hump-day revisits…not too wordy, I hope, since I’ve posted on these places before.

Update on Sammy’s:

**** Sammy’s has closed

Sam has hired on a new Itamae, originally from Yokohama, via Nashville(ask Him it’s an interesting story), and second generation Itamae named Aki. Turns Aki has some pretty good “chops”, no pun intended. On my most recent visit, all I said was “Omakase shimasu”…and here’s what came out:

It all started out with those two slices of battered and fried fish you see. As I grabbed the fish and was about to bite into it, Aki told me it was Chi-ai, otherwise known as the blood saturated maguro meat that is usually discarded…..of course I jammed on the brakes! There are only a few people I know who eat the “dark blood meat”, and I ain’t one of ’em(tho’ my Mom was…). But what the heck, I said Omakase, right? Turned out to be very tasty, not overly fishy, and for once I actually enjoyed the flavor that Kewpie Mayo added to a dish.

Some Aji(Horse Mackerel):

A very nice presentation.

Everything was quite good, I’m a big fan of the Aji-senbei(fried Aji bones), but the chopped Aji mixed with a touch of ponzu, thinly sliced ginger, and green onions, was especially delicous.

An interesting and very tasty Futomaki(fat cut roll) version of Negi-Toro(fatty tuna and green onion roll):

In addition to the thin slices of Takuwan(pickled daikon radish) and Kaiware(radish sprouts), Aki added in a generous amount of Yamaimo(mountain yam) which added a very nice mild sweet flavor to the roll. When I questioned Aki about his use of yamaimo and takuwan in his negi-toro, he simply said, “it is the way that my Father makes it!” And it was very good!

And a Oshizushi(pressed sushi) to finish off:

I enjoyed the interplay of the salty Ikura(Salmon Roe) and Uni that topped the Oshizushi. Really good stuff, that left me stuffed.

Sam is currently closed for lunch, but will reopen for lunch in the upcoming weeks. His hiring of Aki will allow for lunch service as well as allow Sam to actually work on the business end of owning a Sushi Bar.

Sammy Sushi
7905 Engineer Road
San Diego, CA 92111

Previous posts on Sammy’s:

Sammy Sushi.

Our live uni dinner at Sammy’s(sorry but the photos really suck on this one).

Oshizushi at Sammy’s.

A recent visit to Buga with Ed from Yuma:

Ed from Yuma, and His pal Greg were able to make a quick trip into town, and we met up for dinner at Buga, scene of the first known recorded sighting of Ed’s delici-yoso dance. It had been a while since I’ve been to Buga so I jumped at the chance.

We had the good service as on previous visits, though I thought the panchan were not quite as good as my previous visits.

Not that it was bad, in my opinion it’s still the best panchan around, but today the variety seemed uninspired…must just be me.

We ordered three items, starting with the Samgyeopsal(sliced pork belly):

Pork fat rules…man this was good!

And of course some Kalbi:

Great as always.

On this visit Ed decided to try the Kori Gomtang(Oxtail Soup):

Ed was a bit surprised at the look and flavor of this, but I explained to him that the long boiling process breaks down all the collagen and other items and turns the soup white. We flavored the broth with sea salt that was provided. I’ve had much better versions of this back home, and in LA.

Buga Korean BBQ Restaurant
5580 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117

Open daily 11 to 11

I’ve kept the text short on this one, much more info can be found on my previous posts:

My first Buga post.

Bibim Naengmyun at Buga.

I try the Yookwe at Buga.

And one from our good friend Clayfu at Buga.

Hope everyone is having a great week!