yoso-silly – Page 6

We’re Back!

November 9, 2023 mmm-yoso France, Italy, London, Milan, Paris, France, Travel, yoso-silly

Yes, we're back! And yes, I'm waaaay behind on my travel posts….the ending of our two weeks in Paris, our Taiwan trip, our Prescott – Albuquerque – Santa Fe – Taos, The Big Island and Oahu in February, and even a recent road trip to Buellton/Los Alamos! And here I go again on another trip! I know most folks come here looking for San Diego – SoCal food posts, so I save my travel stuff for weekends. Hopefully, I'll catch up soon now that we're back in town.

We were actually in Italy for Halloween, which was kinda interesting.

And even had one of the best meals of our trip! Yes, it was Chinese cuisine…in Italy!

We really enjoyed our time here and can't wait to go back!

Speaking of "going back". Of course we had to spend at least a couple of days in our favorite city.

Mainly to shop…..

And of course visit our old favorites…..

And do our favorite activities here. One of which is just "people, and pooch watch".

The more we visit; the harder it is for us to squeeze meals at our favorites in a couple of days. Though this time we found a new favorite, which was in plain sight. It seemed to be and is a kinda touristy restaurant, but we found the traditional dishes there to be quite good! Heck, we'd pass this place sometimes 4 or five times a day during our stays and never even though of eating there!

That mistake has been rectified!

One thing that we'd never done in this city is a tour. One this trip, we booked a private tour of our favorite neighborhood, from one of my favorite podcasts. And man was it fun and informative.

There was so much hidden in plain sight….stuff we had walked by so many times and never noticed! The tour was well worth the time and cost!

And of course, you'll always see something new when you visit….like this rainbow!

And then we ended up where we started. We had just one full day; but I got to see an item on my "bucket list".

And to do a bit more exploring.

Things ended on a high note as our last two meals were quite good. A Sichuan restaurant whose menu was developed in consultation with on of my favorite authors.

And a wonderful meal at the favorite restaurant in this city, of a late chef, author, and travel personality.

I know I need to catch up with all my travel posts. I'm hoping to do so soon!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Halloween

October 31, 2023 mmm-yoso London, Travel, yoso-silly

Yes, we're still travelling. And really enjoying things. Another update soon.

One interesting thing we noticed in London were all the places decorated for Halloween!

The most entertaining for us were all the "ghosts" walking around the grounds of the Tower of London.

They were really amazing and stayed in "character" in spite of the roaming public, really adding to the atmosphere!

Pretty cool eh?

Anyway, we here at mmm-yoso would like to wish you a fun, healthy, and safe Halloween!

And don't work too hard, like this person obviously did!

Happy Halloween!

Hoping that everyone is safe and well……

August 21, 2023 mmm-yoso yoso-silly

Man, I never thought I'd be doing one of these posts 2 weeks in a row.

How is everyone in San Diego doing? We're hoping that everyone made it thru Hilary unscathed with property intact.

Things really hit home when I did my Saturday shopping…places did seem a bit more busy, but then I dropped by Marukai for a couple of things and one guy had an entire shopping cart full of Gallon spring water bottles; like 20 of them! And the cashier rang him up (they are 99 cents at Marukai) without blinking an eye. I know, I should have taken a photo, but I was totally in shock. As usual my last stop was at Sprouts, I noticed there was a long line at the registers. And then when I passed the water section, oh my!

Shades of "shopping in the times of Covid"! Though it obviously wasn't as bad, my friend told me that Trader Joe's had been cleaned out.

Since I was running late, I managed to visit Gusto Market and purchase something we "just needed".

Which ended up being part of our "brunch" yesterday.

By early afternoon, Hilary had gone from a Category 4 Hurricane, to a Category 2 (here's the measurements) to a Tropical Storm.

We've been in Kyoto when Typhoon Vongfong hit and I remember Iniki as well. But this is SoCal and the last time a Tropical Storm had hit California was in 1939! I don't think we are quite as prepared for events like that!

At 345pm I opened my phone and stuff just kept on coming….

Man, with the fires in Canada and Washington state, the fire in Lahaina, now the hurricane/tropical storm.

We hope that you all made it thru Hilary unscathed! We hope all is well!

Catching up with the “Fishmonger” at TunaVille Market and Grocery

August 15, 2023 mmm-yoso Markets & Grocers, Seafood, yoso-silly

The one and only Tommy Gomes along with Mitch Conniff of Mitch’s Seafood opened up TunaVille Market and Groceries over a year ago! I have known Tommy for over a decade now and have some great memories of when he was at Catalina Offshore. I basically stopped going to Catalina after he left in 2019. And then of course Covid hit. And then Tommy Gomes got his own television show; the Fishmonger. Look him up now and he's listed as a "Television personality"…..well, at least they got the personality part right!

Anyway, a couple of months back Candice asked me if I'd like to meet her at TunaVille and I jumped at the chance! It would be great to see Tommy and interesting to see if time and "fame" had change him at all. Well, it hadn't, to me he's still the same old Tommy. I had a great time and have returned to TunaVille several more times, even when Tommy's out being a "personality"!

I'm just going to breeze thru this post since I'd like you to just drop by the place for yourself.

The shop is located on Driscoll's Wharf in Point Loma. Though getting there the first time using Google Maps was weird as I put in the address and it tried to take me into the gated Government facility there!

My best advice; if you have problems when on North Harbor Drive, just look for the vintage Driscoll's Wharf sign.

Tunaville 01

Park in the lot, you can get 1 hour of free parking from the machine in the lot. I park in Lot 'F'.

From there you head toward the water and Regatta Walk.

Tunaville 02

Tunaville 03

I like walking along the waterfront….a real "working" wharf. On Saturdays boats are selling their tuna along the wharf.

Unlike the owner, TunaVille is fairly discrete. Sometimes there's a sign outside, otherwise just look for this storefront.

Tunaville 05

On one of the days I visited, Tommy saw me coming and opened the door for me, waving me in:

Tommy: "See a television star is opening a door for you….."

Me: "Wait, I thought PeeWee Herman was dead……"

You get the picture! It's still Tommy!

The shop is spacious, clean, and wonderful…..

Tunaville 06

Tunaville 07

With lovely fresh seafood….I've gotten the wild shrimp from here a couple of times. And as always, Tommy is devoted to the local fishing community.

Tunaville 08

And prepared items as well.

Tunaville 09

But visit a couple of times and you'll see that there's a special place where Tommy likes to hold court.

Tunaville 11

It's at the table right across the dry aging cabinet.

Tunaville 10

Where Tommy will entice and ply you with wonderful samples of dry aged seafood.

Tunaville 12

And ever the showman, Tommy will extol you with the virtues of what you are tasting.

You can tell Tommye is in his element here.

Tunaville 14

And Tommy is really a proponent of what he call "seacuterie", basically charcuterie of the sea.

Tunaville 15

And strangely enough, the Missus has been into this stuff over the last couple of months too. Here's my last haul from TunaVille. BTW, the Missus loved those percebes that Tommy recommended. It brought back fun memories of Portugal.

Tunaville 16

And while perhaps his celebrity and success has changed him a bit over the years, he's still Tommy. Recently, I dropped by to get some Salt Farm Ghost Pepper Salt, but they were out. When I asked Tommy about when he was getting more in; he asked me to hang on a minute….and proceeded to call the company and order some for me! His heart is as big as his personality.

So, I'm now a regular customer, whether it's seafood, some stuff for the Missus's "seacuterie" dinner, or just to say hello (which can last up to an hour!).

Tunaville 17

It was good to see that Mister Grumpy Tommy was doing well!

TunaVille Market and Grocery
4904 N Harbor Drive Suite 102
San Diego, CA 92106
Current Hours:
Wed – Sun 10am – 5pm
Closed on Monday and Tuesday

Saturday Stuffs – Ban Lao Becoming So Saap, Boiling Passion is Now Kanpai BBQ & Shabu, Boston Market (Balboa) Becoming California Fish Grill, and Other “Stuffs”

August 5, 2023 mmm-yoso Chains, Cooking, Japanese Restaurants, Lao Restaurants, yoso-silly

Just some odds and ends for a quiet Saturday.

Ban Lao Becoming So Saap:

In my post on doing takeout from Mekong Cuisine "FOY" An mentioned if I'd heard that So Saap was taking over the Ban Lao spot in City Heights? Whoa, no I hadn't heard about that. Last I saw, Ban Lao had taken over the Que Huong space. And that was just a couple of years back! So, after doing my usual Saturday errands, I decided to head on over. And wouldn't you know it.

SS 08052023 03

I hadn't even had the chance to visit them at the "new" location! Damn you Covid! Folks that I know who've been to So Saap's Market Street location haven't been overly impressed! Ban Lao was one of the few places where they'd actually make what I consider to be Lao Style Beef Larb. That would be raw beef with beef bile.

4134 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

Thanks for letting me know about this An! I really appreciate it. I don't think our little blog would still be around all these years without thoughtful folks like you!

Boiling Passion is Now Kanpai BBQ & Shabu:

Speaking of my visit to Mekong and few years back, Boiling Passion occupied that space. They then moved to a smaller space in the strip mall. When I took a glance at the shop I noticed that it was now Kanpai BBQ & Shabu.

SS 08052023 01

First thing I wondered was if this was an offshoot of Kanpai in Chula Vista? Second thing I noticed was that they were on soft opening mode with only Shabu Shabu…."BBQ Coming Soon"? I guess this is really a very "soft….." opening?

3904 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Boston Market (Balboa) Becoming California Fish Grill:

On my way back from Nijiya and 99 Ranch Market, I decided to stop in at the Walgreens near the corner of Genesee and Balboa. When I parked, I noticed that Boston Market was gone.

SS 08052023 02 SS 08052023 02b Man, this location of Boston Market had been here forever! I decided to walk on over to see what was up….hoping that perhaps an interesting eating establishment was coming to this location. I should have known better. It's a chain swap out. At least it's California Fish Grill which claims serve only "Responsibly Sourced Seafood". You can read about Cathy's visit to one of their locations here.

5502 Balboa Ave.
San Diego, CA 92111

Other "Stuffs":

We have a ton of leftovers from various meals, especially our last short Road Trip (posts coming soon). For some reason, I've really been enjoying the leftovers.

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This past Tuesday, I was walking out of Clairemont Coffee with my cold brew when something stopped me dead in my tracks. It was a pretty rare sight in San Diego….a rainbow!

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For some reason I was so touched by this sight. It reminded me of "home", you know:

"Where I live, there are rainbows
With life in the laughter of morning and starry nights

Where I live, there are rainbows
And flowers full of colors and birds filled with song"

It just brought a smile to my face….and it just brightened my entire day!

So, here's hoping you all have a wonderful and bright weekend!

Sunday Stuffs, the Sign but “No Sign” (of life) Issue – Honeyjam Chicken & Beer, Hanzuyu Ramen, and Spicy Lao Kitchen. And Current Problems with Photos

June 11, 2023 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Lao Restaurants, Ramen, yoso-silly

Just a couple of things for a quiet Sunday.

It seems that places are taking longer than ever to open these days. I won't pretend to understand the issues, obstacles, and effort places must take to open…..and while we do appreciate great places to eat opening, sometimes….when the wait is so long; it can be somewhat discouraging.

Case in point, back in fall of 2021, there was a sign for a place named JJ Chicken that was going to open in Renaissance Towne Center. Fast forward to October of 2022, thanks to "FOYs" Patty and Rena, I found that JJ was no longer in the spot, but a place named Honeyjam Chicken was taking its place. Fast forward to June of 2023 and we're still waiting.

Patty had asked me if I knew anything….but sorry, I'm not an "insider", but perhaps a reader of our blog might know.

I'm hoping they open soon.

8895 Towne Centre Dr.
San Diego, CA 92122

And……in the same strip mall I recall seeing the sign for Hanyuzu Ramen. That was in August of 2022. This is what it looks like now.

**** Well, it now looks like this location will be Ujin Ramen?

8935 Towne Centre Drive #113
San Diego, CA 92122+

Aaaand, the one place I've gotten a couple of emails on; Spicy Lao Kitchen, well I first saw the sign in March of 2022. From what I read back in 2022 this place was supposed to open in "Early 2022". But of course, here we are in summer of 2023.

Several folks have asked me if this place is going to open. As far as I know, the folks who own the jerky shop in the strip mall are still intent on opening this place.

5375 Kearney Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123

Life sure has changed over the last 3 years. I have been told about the challenges with getting staff and supplies. I'm not sure, and hope that it is not, the how things proceed from here.

And finally…….

Are you having issues with photos displaying? Well, for several months, Typepad has been having a problem with their image server. I've tried to be very patient with the issue and have had a ticket open for weeks. But, what I've had to do was send them a link and proof every time an issue occurred. Sigh………

Anyway, I finally did the "Twitter thing" and asked about he issue. And here's the response.

So, my apologies. I understand that there's a point in which I need to consider various "options". Still, we have over 5,000 posts…….I don't want to lose that. I thank you for your patience……

Have a great week!

A Familiar Face at Izakaya Sakura

June 8, 2023 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi, yoso-silly

Recently, my good friends "XiangJiao" and "YummyYummy" told me that I needed to have dinner at Izakaya Sakura. Izakaya Sakura? My goodness, I mean, I think Sakura has the most posts on our humble little blog. I mean Cathy, the late Ed from Yuma (we miss you so much!), and I have done numerous posts on Sakura, from the "old days" to the day Sakura actually had a sign put up. I mean, what more was there for me to see there?

Still, it had been eight months since I visited, which filled a gap of of three years since I dined in at Sakura…though I did do takeout during the "days of Covid".

So, I thought why not?

Sakura Rev 01

And when I walked in, it was a surprise indeed!

But first, the food. I had always enjoyed the Chicken Karaage at Sakura, so I ordered that.

Sakura Rev 02

And got some sashimi.

Sakura Rev 03 Sakura Rev 04 Does the presentation of the sashimi look familiar? Well, it should. When I sat, I was told "Sashimi Kirk-san…." it wasn't a question, more of an affirmation.

And I got quite the sashimi plate; a great combination of what was fresh and available. And then of course the "aji-senbei" to end things.

I'm sure you figured it out by now; Sam was now working at Sakura. It's kind of funny in a way. I've known and been a customer of Sam's for over 20 years. From the days at Katzra, to Sammy Sushi, then Wal-Mi-Do, and finally Sushi Yaro. It's quite ironic and interesting to see him working at Sakura, our most posted on restaurant….side by side with Kazu.

Sam is looking happy and seems to have recovered well from previous health issues.

Sakura Rev 05

Yes, the smile is back.

And I think it's more then a bit ironic to think that the purveyor of what I thought was a great example of the neighborhood sushi bar was now at one of our most posted on restaurants.

Life is interesting, isn't it?

Sam currently works evenings on Mon, Tues, Thurs, and Fridays.

Izakaya Sakura
3904 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

mmm-yoso makes 18!

May 26, 2023 mmm-yoso yoso-silly

I was just going to start another post when I looked at the date and realized there was some significance to this day….at least for me.

On this date 18 years ago, we did our first post. Geez, 18 years, perhaps it's time to send the blog off to college, right?

Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought we'd still be around 18 years later.

And in typical fashion, I'm really not prepared for this post. So, how about some photos of neighborhood flowers from my walks?

Or maybe some utility box art?

In all seriousness, we'd like to thank each and every one of you, for the visits, comments, emails….the wonderful recommendations! We've had the honor and the privilege of "eating, then writing about it" for 5010 posts now.

Hopefully, we'll have some delici-yoso posts coming up……

The last few years have been sometimes strange and difficult….things have changed so much, but it has made me appreciate more than ever being able to keep up with the blog.

I know I'm not up to date with technology. At some point, I'll have to either get up to date or say goodbye. Hopefully, it will be the former.

Until then….we'll keep rolling along.

Thanks again for helping to keep this little blog going!

Yoso-Silly – It’s Ramen Weather

March 23, 2023 mmm-yoso Cooking, Ramen, yoso-silly

Man, has the weather been crazy or what? With more rain that I can ever remember, I just didn't want to leave home. But, it was great ramen weather, right? So ramen it was……

Which kinda hit the spot. This was not bad. So, here's where it gets interesting. This was actually from a package, albeit with some "additions". A few months back, I saw some frozen ramen on sale at Nijiya at $3.99. I thought it was expensive (it's now $5.69). And having tried the Nijiya brand and other stuffs by Sun Noodle that I thought wasn't very good….still, I couldn't help myself so I bought 5.

And this turned out not bad. Noodles by Sun Noodle, the tare has a bit of that metallic instant noodle flavor, but I tamper it down by using more water, usukuchi shoyu, grated garlic, and shaved onion. That chili crisp doesn't hurt as well. And I'll use whatever I have at my disposal, like some frozen jioazi, some frozen chashu, leftover roast duck and duck fat….it all works well.

So perhaps I've changed my tune with regards to packaged ramen….

Still, I don't think I'm willing to try this yet…..

Especially after our experience at their location in Kyoto.

Still, this has been interesting and I'm wondering what the effect of all these "atmospheric rivers" have had on your eating habits?

Yoso-Silly – A Chili Crisp Comparison: Fly by Jing, Don Don Surprise, TJ’s Chili Onion Crunch, and Home Made

March 3, 2023 mmm-yoso Cooking, Stuff, yoso-silly

I don't think I've mentioned this before, but our next door neighbor who moved in several years ago is from Hawaii! She's wonderful as is her pup Kai. Her sister, who lives in West Virginia (!!!!) is a talented cook and she recently gifted us with some Chili Crisp she made when she was visiting. Needless to say the Missus loves the stuff, especially on boiled and fried eggs. So naturally, this made the Missus have me buy a couple of different brands to see how they taste.

So, I hope you don't mind a silly post for tonight comparing the various versions I recently bought.

So, left to right:

We were shopping at Marukai….the shop that used to be Marukai Living and is now Marukai "Japanese Grocery". They were having one of their rotating regional Japanese fairs and we saw some rayu that looked like Chili Crisp. I believe it's called Don Don Surprise. While shopping at Trader Joe's we picked up the Chili Onion Crunch. And while recently shopping at Costco, I came across Fly By Jing Sichuan Chili Crisp.

The Missus had been using these to flavor different things and noticed a tremendous difference in these three. So, She wanted to do a side-by-side comparison. So I made some roasted smashed baby potatoes and we had at it.

From left to right – follows the photos of the jars. The fourth is the home made version, which we actually liked for the ma-la balance and the strong garlic tones. We'll miss this when it's gone.

As for the retail versions; here's the Missus's favorites

1 – Fly by Jing – Has the most spice, you can also make out fermented black beans. This would work well on any Sichuan style dish. Good ma-la with a savory complexity as well. It's also the most expensive. Gonna love this on cold noodles when the weather gets warmer and cucumber. Not sure about putting it on Vanilla Ice Cream though?

2 – Don Don Surprise – Mildest in terms of spice, but good amount of sesame oil. There's a mild beany flavor to things and I saw Gochujang and Miso on the ingredient list. Good topping for noodle soups.

3 – Trader Joe's Chili Onion Crunch – Had the most "crunch" of them all, but wasn't very spicy, and had the least amount of complexity. Looking at the label revealed that a host of dried vegetables (dried onion, garlic, red bell peppers) provided all the crunch. But this was really weak and I probably won't be buying it again.

I'm sure we'll be trying other versions as we find them.

Have you been checking our different versions of Chili Crisps/Oil? If so, what are your favorites!

Have a great weekend everyone!