yoso-silly – Page 36

Observing Lent, Part One-Paczki Day

February 28, 2007 Cathy Desserts, Stuff, What Cathy Eats!, yoso-silly

mmm-yoso is not on vacation. Cathy is blogging about some silly stuff. Kirk is not .

Hello Again. This post is late, as my Friends in Detroit are keenly aware. I was kind of busy and didn’t get a chance to even start the post until it was too late.

This isn’t a religious post, per se. It is an introduction to an explanation of why you are seeing $1 Filet o’ Fish sandwichs at McDonald’s, $1 fish tacos at Rubio’s, a fish sandwich at Arby’s, as well as at KFC and full page ads for seafood at Ralphs. I have had a few friends remark to me about McDonald’s having its Fillet-o Fish Fridays and how that ‘seems to happen every so often’.

Lent is a Christian Observance. It starts on Ash Wednesday, 40 days before Easter. That was on February 20 this year. As you know, if you have been reading the blog, I was born and raised in Detroit and was also raised Catholic. I am not a Practicing Catholic now, but I do observe some of our rituals for a "just in case" scenario. Christians perform some type of sacrifice for the 40 days of Lent. Usually the sacrifice involves giving up a favorite food, but I also have some friends who will give up watching television, or the Internet…something that involves a sacrifice. The idea is that Christ died for our sins and He sacrificed and we should too. Christians Believe that on Easter, Christ rose from the dead and basically the sacrificing stops then and we all go back to whatever we did without for the previous 40 days.

ANYHOW, you all know about Mardi Gras…debauchery and partying in the Big Easy and all of that. That’s a giant party ends on the day before Lent. Its a major deal party in New Orleans…so, similarly…if you skew the definition of ‘similar’… mostly in the South East/Detroit area of Michigan, there is Paczki Day (its pronounced poonch-key, sort of, there is a thingy under the letter "c"; oh, never mind). One Paczek is a jelly donut Lent , the plural is Paczki. Fried donuts filled with jelly or jam and either glazed or covered in powdered sugar. I buy jelly donuts at Mary’s Donuts, in Santee.

Detroiters, and others who are not as wild and crazy as revelers in New Orleans at Mardi Gras go all out and eat up as many Paczki as they can (whoo hoo!), because once Lent happens, there are no jelly donuts to be had in any bakeries, only lowly Hot Cross Buns.

Which are not bad, but are definitely not fried (they are baked), or filled with jelly (they do have some dried fruit or raisins in them) and are part of that "sacrificing" Christians (and Detroiters) do for the 40 days.

So, that’s it. You go crazy eating jelly donuts, or partying, and then Lent begins and you begin sacrificing with lowly baked instead of fried sweets.

As a side note, this year was the first year that all the Starbucks in the Greater Detroit area had Paczek available in their stores. Everyone really gets into Paczki just before Lent. The day when the most are sold is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, though. Dozens and dozens are bought and consumed at work, grocery stores give them out…its an interesting phenomenon.

Future Lent posts will explain, via short blogging, about ‘not eating meat’ as defined by Catholics (hint- fish/seafood does not count as ‘meat’).

Mary’s Donuts 9031 Mission Gorge Road Santee 92071 (SE corner of Mission Gorge and 125) Open 24/7

Vacation Interruptus, Sushi, and some other updates

January 28, 2007 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi, Travel, yoso-silly

“ok Kirk give it up.. you’re not going to Washington” – from Andy The ABC.

I had to chuckle when I read that comment on my impending vacation post. Little did I know how close to the truth Andy was…so he can either see into the future, or he put some double voodoo hex on us.

To give just a summary of events:

First off our cab was 40 minutes late, I had to call the cab company twice. Maybe we should have just pulled the plug right then.

We manage to get to the airport, check in, and get to the gate just as our 820 Flight to Seattle is set to board. Great timing, or so we thought!

We board, and our flight never leaves….all power to the aircraft is turned off. Soon comes the announcement that there is a problem with the aircraft’s hydraulic system. First thought in my mind is, “I’m glad they caught it now”. So we sit for 45 minutes in an aircraft with no A/C, lights, etc, while technicians checked out the problem. Several minutes later we are asked to exit the aircraft, and the plane is whisked away…never to be seen again. We are asked to wait in the boarding area.

We wait……at about 10 am there is an announcement that the plane is being checked on further. At 1030, we are told that there will be an additional update at about noon, so please return to the gate then. At 1130, we are told that a part is being flown in, and it may just be a case of replacing that part….BUT, just in case, a top notch repair crew from LA is driving in!??!! We are given $6 meal vouchers…funny, but at sandwich costs $7.99, but hey the gate crew is very nice and apologetic.We check and all afternoon and early evening flights are “overbooked”, and I mean overbooked….and of course the standby list is growing. Poor folks who have connecting flights…. At 1230, we are told the part has arrived, a big cheer goes off in the boarding area. Lady next to us is calling around on her cellphone trying to find some other airline that has available seats…to no avail. I hear someone talking about driving to LAX to attempt to make the 5pm flight. It is getting surreal. At a little after 2pm, we are told the flight has been canceled, that we need to return to the ticket counter, to rebook….the mad stampede starts. In line at the ticket counter, one of the agents tells us to first go to baggage claim to pick up our luggage. The Missus and I both go “no way”…we’ll get ticketed first, if possible, than claim our luggage, which I’m pretty sure hasn’t been delivered to baggage claim yet, and return to check in. At a bit after 3pm we finally get to the counter, and the very apologetic agent tells us that the only flight available will be the 845pm flight, it will arrive in Seattle at 1130pm. I do a quick calculation…we’ll be cooped up at the Airport for another 5 hours. Get into Seattle, claim our luggage, by the time we catch the shuttle it’s be at least 1230am, get to the hotel and check in, by then it’ll be at least 130am….which means we’ll be dead tired and settled at maybe 3am…..no thanks. We’d have lost almost half of our vacation, be dead tired, and not enjoy ourselves. So we canceled. I went and waited for our luggage, which at this point still had not been delivered to baggage claim. The Missus started making phone calls, first She called Sammy and Frankie’s trainer, with whom we board Da’ Boyz. She then called the airline’s “Customer Care”, who gave Her a claim number, and basically told us, because we used an online service to book our vacation, we need to contact them. I know who’s going to get an interesting letter about things like contingency, planning, and a word called proactive…..I mean everyone is nice and apologetic, but how many times can you hear “I’m so sorry”, it starts to ring hollow after a while. We catch a cab back home, during which we make calls and manage to get refunds on the airfare and hotel. I also call the restaurants and cancel our reservations. Still, we lost out on cab fare, boarding costs, and other miscellaneous items. Not including the 8 hours of vacation I’ll never get back, at the end of the day we paid about a $100 or so for the pleasure of sitting in, and milling around Lindbergh Field for over 8 hours. Not quite the vacation I though of.

I’m just glad we didn’t need to be in Seattle. If this were a business trip, I would have just sucked it up, and soldiered along. I have done consulting work that required extensive travel in the past and have had my share of delays(it once took me 36 hours to get home), but I have never really written down a blow by blow account like this.

We picked up Da Boyz, and had to decide on dinner(this is a food blog after all, so you know I have to do something about food). After milling about with the mass of humanity, we really didn’t want to go to anywhere very crowded. The Missus wanted sushi…so we decided on Restaurant Yakata down in National City. In my previous posts on Yakata, I noted how the Itamae, Makoto told me that Friday and Saturday evenings are His slowest. So we arrived, and indeed, there was only one patron at the sushi bar, and one table occupied.

As usual, it was Omakase all the way here. We started with a nice combination sushi:

Just a quick rundown. As before the Hotategai(scallop) was fabulous, in fact the Missus requested another order. The real winner was the Albacore Belly.

So soft and rich, I thought it was Hamachi Toro. The Hamachi was good, I thought the Maguro to be on the dry and tough side.

I thought the Uni was good, but the Missus thought it was excellent, “sweet and creamy”.

The Missus and I shared a tempura appetizer(not pictured), and along with the second order of Hotategai(Makoto gave us the last of the Albacore Belly), Makoto made us this interesting gunkanmaki.

Uni and Tobiko(Flying fish roe) were put into a bowl, and mixed to a creamy consistency. Ika (squid) was sliced and combined with the Uni/Tobiko mixture. Whoa, good stuff, great combination of texture(crunchy tobiko, slightly chewy ika) and taste(sweet from the Uni, a slight briny flavor from the tobiko, some mild heat from the restrained use of wasabi).

Makoto than brought out a spring roll wrapper, moistened it, and created this:

Toro was then scraped and instead of mixing with Negi(green onion), it was combined with minced Jalapeno. Cucumber and Lettuce were added for texture, and to help “cool things down”. The sauce was a combination of Ponzu and Sriracha…a “Spicy Ponzu”. It was good, perhaps a bit too much going on, the flavor and texture of toro was kinda lost. Lot’s of flavor though. I asked Makoto what the name of this was…and he just shrugged…so we called it the “Makoto Burrito”…..

The last item was this:

In the middle of all of this was a shrimp tempura. The Missus didn’t like the combination of cool fish, with the still hot tempura. I thought the textures were interesting, but the flavor of the fish was a bit lost.

Overall, a very nice, relaxing meal. All told, which is what you see, plus the extra Hotategai, Tempura appetizer, and 2 large Sapporos was about $65.

**** Yakata has closed

Restaurant Yakata
2424 Hoover Ave
National City, CA 91950

A few updates:

Da’ Kine’s

I’d been told that Da’ Kines in Pacific Beach had closed, so I dropped by to check it out myself. And yes, they have closed:

And yes, they are closed. As I was walking away, I ran into a nice young man wearing a Da’ Kines sweater, and we struck up a short conversation. According to Daniel(I’m hoping I remembered His name correctly), Da’ Kines in National City and Mira Mesa are still open, and a new location at Liberty Station in Point Loma will be opening in the near future.

Chef Tony

“StR” left a comment on my post on Chef Tony, here’s the info:

“I just spoke with the owner on the phone. They have been closed for ~3 months (the building is going to be torn down), but they are planning to reopen at a new place (to be decided) within 1-2 months.”

I drove by ealier this afternoon, and yes, the entire mall is empty, including Chef Tony.

I’m hoping they have a successful reopening soon!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

A short weekend getaway, and an update

January 25, 2007 mmm-yoso Travel, yoso-silly

The Missus and I are getting away for a short weekend trip. It’s to one of our favorite cities that we used to visit yearly. But for some reason we have’nt been back since Thanksgiving of 2003.

Where is it? Here are some very easy clues….photos from our last trip there:

So I’ll leave you in the most capable hands of Cathy for a few days!

An update….

Just the latest on our fine furry friend that we found and turned into the Carson/Gardena Animal Shelter about 12 days ago.

I called on Tuesday for an update, and though no one has come to claim her, there is a waiting list of perspective "families" waiting for her. So it looks like everything will work out fine. We hope she is placed in a loving home with a great family. Good luck, girl!

One last thing….

I knew this was going to happen sooner or later. It seems that "possibly" the Owner of a restaurant that I didn’t care for called Bambu Bistro (see now it’s free publicity), has basically called me "gutless", over some "harsh" criticism, and says I’m "bashing" their restaurant. I really don’t think that person actually read the post, I mentioned what I enjoyed(nice attentive service) along with what I didn’t(I didn’t care for the food). Check out the comments….tell me what do you think? I call it honesty……some call it gutless. Of course, some like Jay of the Linkery have a better handle on it. Please read the comments on his post here.

"I think the food blogs are a great source of serious food writing in town, between the fact that the writers are unpaid and that they have no space limitations, as a reader I get great insights into the bloggers’ experience."

"Let me add this thought: the best possible event that could increase restaurant quality in this town would be the emergence of twenty or so popular, critical, honest, prolific food bloggers, each with unique tastes, persepectives, and budgets, blogging about all their restuarant visits. In an environment like that, all restaurants would be heavily incented to provide great quality and value at least to a certain segment of the eating-out community."

Amen, brother! Personally, I think people are smart enough to know what the difference is between a food blog and a full blown restaurant review is. And so I share my meal with you, warts and all……

Difference between blog and website here.

She also calls this "underground"…..whatever that is. I don’t know, I’m here for everyone to see.

So do you only want to see positive posts? There are blogs out there that do only positive posts. I don’t think that will be very likely, at least with me, since I don’t think I can live with myself, with fake, rose-colored cyber-glasses on.

Oh, one more thing, Bambu Bistro, if this is really you….I guess that anyone who didn’t care for your food should not say anything…but if they do they suddenly have no guts? I guess by the same token, if someone disagrees with you….they are the enemy??? It’s this way of striking out, before looking within that bothers me….sigh.

My Favorite Meal of 2006

January 7, 2007 mmm-yoso Memorable Meals, yoso-silly

This year I know better than to make resolutions I can't keep. So I think I'll leave that to those who are much more disciplined, and just do a quick post about my favorite meal of 2006. I know what you're thinking; it must be Urasawa. Well, Urasawa was probably my most memorable meal of 2006, if we're talking about a meal in a restaurant……

But if we're talking about my favorite meal of 2006….that's a different story; it's not only about the food, the restaurant, the service, the ambiance…..it's about the conversation, the laughter, in short, those that you are sharing your meal with. I have had very few experiences that have given me as much pleasure as my favorite meal of this past year.

The unfortunate thing is, in spite of food blogging for almost 2 years, this is the only photo that I took of that meal:

Sheesh what a pathetic excuse for a Food Blogger I am!!!! I case you're wondering, the restaurant is called Koshiji, and is located in Weller Court….basically a Yakitori restaurant. The food was fine, but the company was priceless!

Over the course of food blogging, I've been blessed to have been able to make the acquaintance of many other bloggers…maybe not in the person to person, face to face sense, but in that only in cyberspace way. I've had the pleasure of meeting a few food bloggers and have found them to be some of the nicest, generous, and kindest people one could imagine. From hanging out with Professor Salt, who generously shared His special tri-tip with me before the Four Q BBQ Team took Third place at the Beachside Barbecue contest in Imperial Beach, to having lunch with Jay from the Linkery, to having an extravagant dinner at Urasawa with Captain Jack, to grabbing lunch with the one and only Cathy, each one of these meals have been delightful. Who'd a thunk it could all have started with food blogs? (BTW, Jim I include you in all of this as well, though technically San Diego Sunday Brunchmaster isn't a food blog)

So my favorite meal started with a short email to the one and only Mrs. Daily Gluttony, to let Her know I'd be in the Little Tokyo area, and we could finally get together, have a meal and chat. I've always loved Daily Gluttony, from the very first post that I read…so you could say DG had me from the "Asparagus Pee". And DG sprung into action, and assembled a cast of my favorite LA Food Bloggers, who are some of my favorite people in the world. I was so very touched and flattered that everyone made such an effort to show up, and the time flew, and before we knew it Koshiji was closing…..so here's my tardy though very public thank you!

To Mr and Mrs DG – Thanks so much for setting everything up! You are such a kind and positive person, and when you smile, the whole world smiles along with you….your smile is that infectious. It's always a pleasure, and you never fail to crack me up! And Isaac, you da' man, you don't say much, but when you do, it's funny anf insightful. Talk about a dynamite couple. It was great to be able to spend some time with you both.

To BoLA and MS – BoLA, you're one of my favorite people in the world! It's funny, you always make me feel at ease…one of those people who I can just slide into a wonderful conversation with, no matter what the subject is! Thanks for coming, I know you had a very busy day, it's always a pleasure. And MS, great seeing you again, thanks for making that horrible 2 hour drive from your other function in the OC. BTW, the sake that BoLA likes is Kurosawa! And BoLA, I'll always owe you for the points scored by letting me know about Jin Patisserie!

To Diet Chili Cheese Fries – You, the great non-food blogging, food blogger! It's always a blast, you are so off the hook! I know you're working hard on your latest project…thanks for making the time, and I promise to eat some onion rings soon…though it's really hard to get past the Pho'. BTW, I'll be waiting for that Food Bloggers Mocu-mentary……

To EatDrinknbMerry – Dude, like finally! It was great meeting you….plus I feel a bit better knowing that there are those who are much more obsessed over food than I! We'll need to get together for a NRM crawl in the SGV one day…maybe just so the most uncool me, can feel cool, hanging with EDBM! (Do you think I used enough abbrevs there?)

To Miss Oishiieats – It was a pleasure to finally meet you! You have a warmth and a smile that could light up a room. You are so down to earth and funny….we still check out your future food bloggers post, and crack up…if there was a food bloggers hall of fame, that post should be there. It was so interesting when we were talking about our parents telling us "you should always try…." with regards to food. It makes us what we are as food bloggers…..

Funniest moment of the evening – As the food arrived no less than 5 ultra compact digital cameras suddenly appeared!

Best question of the evening – Miss Oishiieats; "Tell me, do you and the Missus really eat all that food?"

Best answers of the evening – All the answers to the question by CJ, "Why are there so many Asian Food Bloggers?"

A last observation….as everyone left it started raining quite hard, a part of me worried about everyone making it home safely, we just had to stagger over to the New Otani. A part of me thought about what we used to say back home…..whenever it used to rain during the most inopportune times we used to say, "ahhhh, look ,we're being blessed!"

Or to put it in other terms:

Round trip Train Fare from San Diego to Los Angeles – $58

2 day stay at the New Otani Hotel – $217

Dinner at Urasawa – $552

Hanging with the LA Food Bloggers – Priceless!

Thanks again for a great and unforgettable time!

Happy New Year!

January 1, 2007 mmm-yoso Cooking, Markets & Grocers, yoso-silly

Happy New Year!

There’s usually a pretty large amount of shopping that needs to be done around New Years eve. The Missus and I usually celebrate both the Gregorian and Lunar New Year. Japan officially accepted the Gregorian New Year in 1873, and have been celebrating New Year based on the Gregorian calendar since then.

So that would mean a few stops. First Nijiya:

Armed with my list(which turned out to be incomplete), I completed my shopping rather quickly, which gave me a nice opportunity to check out all the Osechi-ryori(Traditional Japanese New Years dishes) on display.

To me it seemed that there was a smaller variety of Osechi "Sets" this year, but that could just be me….

The industrious guy on the top in the photo below, almost made his escape after I took this photo:

The Obachan in front of me purchased $250 worth of food for New Years!

The next stop, Mitsuwa:

I noticed a smaller variety of Osechi here as well.

I found alot of "boxed" Osechi…sort of your generic, preboxed, impersonal, Costco-ized, Osechi:

Is this the future of Osechi? I hope not, it takes all of the fun out of Osechi Shopping.

So having purchased everything for our New Years meals, with only a few item omitted…well, I always forget a thing or two, it just wouldn’t be New Years without me rushing out to market. If anything, I’m consistent.

I only took a few photos, since I was busy cooking(and eating):

Of course Soba:

This year I added Wasabi Tobiko(wasabi flavored flying fish eggs), which added a nice "crunch" to the dish.

My own Osechi:

Karei Karaage(Deep fried flounder):

Lightly dusted with Katakuriko(potato starch), and lightly seasoned with sea salt and Shichimi Togarashi(Seven-spice chili pepper), and eaten with just a the lightest squeeze of lemon, and a tiny bit of Yuzu Kosho, a salty-citrusy-spicy condiment made with the rind of Yuzu, chili pepper, salt, and in this case a tiny bit of bean paste. By far the Missus’s favorite dish.

The Shishito Tempura was a close second:

I made some Matcha-Shio(Green tea powder mixed with salt) for dipping.

And some shrimp tempura:

And various Tempura(Kabocha, Satsuma-imo, Tamanegi, etc…):

Some Tofu, the Yuzu Koshu came in handy here as well.

And I haven’t been able to "retire" from making my Nishime yet, but maybe next year.

I guess we ate enough this New Year…better renew that Gym membership.

Of course, it’s always nice to settle in to watch the television after a nice meal:

Happy New Year!

Rose Parade Preview…and food at Tops

December 31, 2006 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Burgers, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!, yoso-silly

mmm-yoso is not on vacation. Cathy is blogging while Kirk rests. This one is interesting.

Hi. Its the end of the year and there are still some traditional things The Mister and I do. One of those things is going up to Pasadena, having breakfast and either helping or watching Tournament of Roses parade floats being decorated. Since I have this wrist injury and repetitive stress is out of the question, this is a year to watch.

So, we went to breakfast first at the Historic Green Street Hotel. The Hotel is now a Condominium Complex for the most part, but the building was built in 1898 and has been declared a Historical Site. …The food, its a brunch and not much selection.

Fruit, muffins, pastries, scrambled eggs, sausage and ham…as well as juice and coffee. We were not there for the food.

We ate quickly and waited to get onto the tour bus that took us about 1 mile south….this was the view, waiting to get to the top/overview area of one of the four float building company warehouses.

This is the Farmers Insurance entry for this year's parade. The little owl on Mother Nature's shoulder moves his head. They took the float out of the warehouse to make certain the mechanics were working and to do last minute touch ups before judging was to take place at about 1 p.m. today. Every square inch of the float that is visible has to be covered in something that is, or was alive.

Once you are inside you get a view of the nine floats that have been being assembled in this 'barn' for, really, the last year.

The City of Glendale float is the one with the bear, the Optimists have the one with the cat and dog being friends,

The City of Long Beach

made the one with the lighthouse and sailboats, the City of Pasadena did the birdhouse. McDonald's sponsored the one with the honeybees …

The Lutheran Hour has the one with the church, Lions Club International did the one with the cane for the blind.

Anyhow, these floats are essentially done, and beautiful. People talk about what they are made of…the living parts. But this isn't a good vantage point…HOWEVER…I have friends in High Places….oh, and I'm kinda sorta one of them….

Here is a photo from a few days before the parade last year, with a float still in the assembly stage. See the orange slices used so they look like goldfish scales?

(click on it and it will enlarge)

So, anyhow, here's some closeups..you can tell some of the materials without my help.

OK, so that was the majority of my day…but The Mister and I were tired and hungry and in Pasadena..and of course I *must* always have my camera with me.

Tops, 50 years in business, 'Voted Best Fast Food in Pasadena, Corner of Walnut and Allen'. Gotta try it.

Hmmm, similar to The Hat but with a larger menu….

So, we got what we know is good: the 1/2 pound burger ($3.89), pastrami dip($6.39) and small chili cheese fries($3.59)…

Simple, basic and pretty darn good…the burger is served with lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles and Thousand Island sauce; the pastrami was peppery, had a nice amount of fat and in a nice french roll…

OK, the burger looks, eh, smallish for 1/2 pound…here is what it looked like in my hand after I had eaten a LOT and was almost full….

Tops 1792 East Walnut Street Pasadena (626)584-0244 M-Th 7 am-11 pm; Fri/Sa am-midnight, Sun 9 am-11pm

I'll talk to you all next year, and thank you for making this one my most interesting in my lifetime! Watch football on January 1st… There's this game that is played in Pasadena….

Merry Christmas

December 25, 2006 mmm-yoso Cooking, yoso-silly

Yes, I realize I’m a bit late…..it’s been a pretty hectic couple of weeks, more so than anticipated. But things finally started slowing down at around noon on Christmas Eve, and the Missus and I managed to take in a movie, Curse of the Golden Flower, this isn’t a movie blog site, so I won’t say much except….."don’t bother"….really….

At least I managed to take my requisite Christmas photo:

After the movie, on the way home, the Missus decided that She wanted a home cooked, Japanese style dinner….say what! At 5pm on Christmas Eve!!!! Good thing Nijiya’s open. So, here are a few photos….no big deal, just some home cooked stuff. I didn’t get photos of everything, especially of stuff I’ve made before like Kabocha Nimono.

Let’s see…while at Nijiya, a young man was bringing out some nice looking Tako(Octopus), so we bought some, and I made my Mom’s Miso Sauce:

The Missus wanted Agedashi Tofu, but told me to "make it good this time; the last time you made it, it sucked."

This wasn’t too bad, the Missus enjoyed the tentsuyu, and I think She prefers this made with soft tofu, instead of silken tofu.

A Sunomono, made with whatever I could find…in this case Cucumber, Wakame, and Small Dried Shirmp.

Along with some Hijiki Nimomo, I also made some Daikon Nimono, simple simmered Daikon.

We purchased some pretty good Shiba Zuke(pickled cucumber and eggplant, maybe a tad too salty), and some really good Takana Zuke(pickled Mustard Greens), I really enjoyed the Takana, I wish I could find my Mother’s recipe for it…..

We both had Katsu Don, and today with the warm weather we’re having I made some Zaru Soba:

It was fun getting back into the kitchen, things had been so hectic, it had been a while. Plus the kitchen still smells real good! ;o)

I hope everyone is enjoying a great Holiday Season!

Some Revisits – Shanghai City, Golden City, and Other “Stuffs”

December 17, 2006 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Cooking, Niu Rou Mian, yoso-silly

Well, it’s been tough, since having that amazing dinner at Urasawa, I haven’t been able to bring myself to eat for over a week. HA, yeah, right! I’m obviously joking. I’ve got about 5 more posts regarding restaurants in the Los Angeles area, including places like Deerfield Garden, and Santouka Ramen, albiet the Torrance location. But I thought I’d return back to San Diego, and do a post on a few revisits to various restaurants.

Shanghai City

*** Update – Shanghai City has closed and is now Spicy House.

The recent cold and rainy weather was perfect for Niu Rou Mein, so we made our way to Shanghai City. Looking back at my original post, I realized how terrible my photos were, so I brought my camera along.

Every Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 3pm, Shanghai City features a Chinese Breakfast menu, and though prices have gone up a bit:

Most items are still priced at a reasonable $4.95-$5.95 range, and there is no discernable difference in portion size between the weekend specials and during other times. One thing I have noticed, is that Shanghai City is much busier during weekend mornings since we first started coming here in 2001. Also, the crowd is now a bit more diverse, with more than a few Non-Chinese customers.

I of course had my bowl of Niu Rou Mein($4.95):

Just as good as always, the broth is spicy and rich, the noodles still have a nice “pull”, and the beef is moist, and tender with a nice flavor.

In order to get me out of the Niu Rou Mein habit, the Missus decided to order a few different items, starting with the Chao Nian Gao(Stir Fried Sliced Rice Cake) with Pork($4.95):

Unlike the version we enjoy at Chin’s, this dish was totally overwhelmed with the flavor of Sesame Oil, and you couldn’t taste anything else. The rice cakes were very soft, but not mushy, almost like noodles, and I enjoy my Nian Gao a bit less cooked.

The Missus also ordered the Pickled Mustard Greens and shredded Pork Noodle Soup at Chin’s so She thought she’d order that($4.95), instead of her old standby, the Eel Noodles Soup.

And though the noodles were good as always, the mustard greens had very little in the way of flavor, ditto the pork, and the broth while it looked rich, was on the mild side.

And of course, we couldn’t leave without some Xiao Long Bao($5.95):

And though the quality of the Xiao Long Bao at Shanghai City can be wildly inconsistent, and the wrapper a bit on the thick side, we still think it’s the best in San Diego. We have also noticed that during busier periods the XLB at Shanghai City is a bit better, probably due to turnover.

Shanghai City
3860 Convoy St
San Diego,CA 92111
619-278-5883

Closed Tuesdays

*** An updated post on Shanghai City with new prices can be found here.

**** Golden City has closed

More Golden City – Yep, again! This time in the mood for some Roast Duck, we ordered a whole duck($15.95, $8.95 – 1/2 Duck):

I was surprised at how good this was! Really. Not oily, and not salty, roasted to perfection, this was much better than what I expected. Many restaurants will pour broth over the duck before serving to rehydrate the meat….no such thing here. It is not cheap, but quite good. I’ve never really ever gotten into the really sweet and lousy plum sauce that’s served with roast duck……And Duck Fried Rice made with leftover duck is always a good thing!!!

The Gailan with Dried Fish($9.95), is Chinese Broccoli stir fried with dried-roasted fish:

The first time we had this, it was sublime; the Gailan had been peeled and so was soft and tender. The crisp dried fish added a salty-sweet flavor, and the garlic added a nice punch to pull it all together. It had been stir fried to perfection. The second time we had the dish was on a Sunday evening, and it was borderline terrible, the fish was hard and almost inedible, the Gailan was not peeled and tasted bitter, and was extremely fibrous, and the garlic was burned, and worst of all the dish had not been cooked correctly and it was slightly oily. We put it down to it being Sunday, and perhaps it was the ‘B’ team cooks running the show. So third time a charm? Well this was sort of a “tweener”, the Gailan had not been peeled, but wasn’t very bitter, and had been cooked well, the fish was perfect, but only a scant amount was provided. The garlic was burnt and bitter, I don’t quite know what to say. Wildly swinging inconsistency is quite frustrating, and causes quite a dilemma…I mean, how can I recommend this dish if it’s never the same twice?

Golden City Restaurant
5375 Kearny Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123

Open Daily 11am – Midnight

I tried making the Gailan with Dried Fish, purchasing the dried fish from 99 Ranch Market.

I first toasted the fish in the toaster oven, peeled and blanched the Gailan, and thinly sliced a few cloves of garlic. I did a simple stir fry, and ended up with this:

It was okay, but I’m sure that I didn’t use the right type of fish, it didn’t taste right. Also, I should have used the Big Kahuna to cook this but was too lazy, high heat would’ve made a big difference. Still, it wasn’t too far removed…….

So stay tuned, between the various restaurants visited in the LA area, I’ll do a few posts on places like Kayaba, and even this place:

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Postscript – By request I added a photo album of Urasawa photos, and even did an album from the AKC National Championships.

Road Trip-Las Vegas (I found my thrill…)

December 8, 2006 Cathy Breakfast/Brunch, Las Vegas, Nevada, What Cathy Eats!, yoso-silly

Hi. I wrote this post a little ahead of time and Kirk and I were posting by alternating days of our road trips. I can't possibly follow the Missus' wonderful post from yesterday with anything as creative and beautiful. She truly is so talented with writing and projecting such beautiful imagery, I felt I was in China living Her life with Her. I think we all agree that She has a true gift, and look forward to seeing more of Her stories.

mmm-yoso actually is on another short vacation right now, and Cathy was on one recently, too. Both of us have been blogging, alternating days. Look and see what Cathy ate and did while she was out of town for a few days.

Hi. So, all of you know that Kirk and I blog about where we eat, and what we like … and after a while you have probably-sort of- figured out that mostly we go to places the Locals like.

So, this is Las Vegas. Its open 24/7. People have to work 24/7. It seems a lot of restaurants are open 24 hours. Where oh where is there a place that has good food that is not 'fancy schmancy"? Where do the Locals, the people who work in the casinos, eat? Who should I ask?? Ahhhh, Mr. Bally, of course (my brother, pay attention).

Well, first place Mr. Bally answers to my query is "Blueberry Hill". There are lots of locations all over town. I've seen them when driving on side streets, trying to avoid The Strip. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner anytime you want it. Its sort of a Coco's/Carrow's/Big Boy/Denny's/Jimmy's..a Family type place (Serving Las Vegas since 1987)…booths, nice waitresses who are friendly and would like to get to know you, striking up conversations. Just a good, home-like feeling.

What a menu! Two sided and detailed…

There is a list of "Side Order" prices on the table, and an explanation of why you hear a buzzer every so often (It's to remind the Employees to wash their hands-I do so love sanitation) and the Senior menu, which I find myself looking longingly at sometimes in some places where I would like to have a smaller portion.

..and pay less…I have found myself sometimes saying to The Mister "look, honey, in only x years, we'll be able to order off of this menu"… yes, this is what it comes to…from being irritated how many times I have gotten carded for "appearing to be under the age of 30" to waiting to be 55 and getting less expensive meals…

ANYHOW, I digressed. Sorry… So, we ordered some pretty neat stuff (it was an early breakfast).

Some *great* basic French Toast, crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, great flavor, with some breakfast sausages (the good ones, with skin).

The 1/2 lb 100% Angus burger, cooked medium rare, the way I like it (looks burned in photo, but was nice and juicy and tasty)and poached eggs (one egg was 'misplaced' upon delivery and promptly replaced) and oh, those pancakes…light, fluffy, buttery tasting. Although Mr. Bally had recommended the waffles, I was not disappointed with these flapjacks. The coffee was good and kept constantly refilled.

Look closely at the menu- the Chicken fried steak is made with Angus beef…the other steaks are choice..and the prices are not at all outrageous.

The food here is fresh, fast, inexpensive, and you can get whatever you want whenever you want. Technically a local chain, family owned and operated.

Blueberry Hill -Multiple Locations in Las Vegas and Henderson. Ask your Hotel Concierge for the closest location (we went to the one at Green Valley and Sunset)

Ah…so there has been a little speculation as to why I am in las Vegas-and without The Mister- well, here is a small clue.

Hmm, Santa dressed like a Cowboy, and the words "Cowboy Christmas"…"The Official Gift Show of the Wrangler National Finals..what is that??? What is Cathy doing in Las Vegas???

And…was that it…oh, "I found my Thrill on Blueberry Hill"…the song…OK, kinda lame but matching the post…or is there more???

OH…Cathy said 'Girls Weekend Out'…I get it- Cowboys! Strong, athletic, muscular…ummm….thrill…

The National Finals Rodeo is a ten day competition of the top 15 contestants from the regular season of each event (bare back riding, team roping, saddle bronc riding, calf roping, barrel racing and bull riding) competing in their event daily and the best of the best in each category after ten days walks away with some hefty prize money and the National Champion title.

Yes, the 5th day of national Finals Rodeo..on the Wrangler "Dare to Wear Pink" night. NFR and PRCA gave a check for $1 million dollars for Breast Cancer Research and the Cowboys, Cowgirls and horses all wore pink during the Competition…as did the opening act, Charlie Daniels.

Before the Rodeo started, you could mill around outside, listening to music and visiting Sponsors displays (for some reason, the Jack Daniels and Coors tents were far more crowded than the Dodge truck display) …

and for the Gentlemen out there, the Copenhagen Smokeless Tobacco Stage…

Yes, I go to National Finals Rodeo every year…and eat in Las Vegas…

The last day, when awards (the coolest belt buckles ever) (along with cash prizes) are handed out is today, Saturday (December 9)…and will be shown on ESPN2 at 6 p.m.

Road Trip-Las Vegas! (Green Valley Ranch Buffet)

December 4, 2006 Cathy Buffets, Las Vegas, Nevada, Road Trip, What Cathy Eats!, yoso-silly

Hi, Cathy here, on an iBook, in an obscure hotel in Las Vegas, with plans for something exciting tomorrow night.

I’m blogging what I ate, and then some…I left San Diego in the wind this morning..and stopped in Baker, to view the World’s largest Thermometer (and get a cup of coffee at Starbucks).

Dinner was at "Feast", the buffet inside Green Valley Ranch Casinos Resort and Spa. $17..and worth it. The Buffet was suggested by Mr. brother, hereafter referred to as "Mr. Bally"who, along with a few others, have made some suggestions as to where I should try to eat while here. Mostly photos…limited descriptions for now..I have to take a nap!…and no photo of the crab legs, chilled shrimp or Mongolian BBQ… I don’t take photos of people…smoked salmon, giant caperberries, fennel chicken salad…there is a lettuce part of the salad bar also…this was *far* more fun. My salad plate(s)..the carving station selections, well some of them anyhow…The Asian food section offered a wide variety of some great tasting food…Then the Italian section…That sauce in the back to the left (not the meatballs) was artichokes, mushrooms and olives…and soooooo goood!
The a sample of desserts:
Ah, so what am I doing here???Well, there is this competition…more tomorrow.
Green Valley Ranch www.greenvalleyranchresort.com