As in, yoso-silly, yoso-hungry, yoso-full, or best of all; mmm-delici-yoso!!!!! A San Diego based food and travel blog. An Ex-Pat Kama'aina and Friends explore food, restaurants, and travel from San Diego and points beyond.
During our road trips to Mammoth and Tahoe (yes, we took several), the Missus started enjoying Wedge salads. Which was news to me since She had always scoffed at the use of iceberg lettuce…but I guess time changes everything, right?
So, a couple of months ago, out of the blue (cheese), the Missus tells me She wants “a wedgie”! Say what?!? I think something definitely got lost in translation there. Shades of Sam Woo the “Killer Whale”! What’s even worse is that I knew what She was asking for…and no, it wasn’t a “wedgie” ok? She obviously wanted a wedge salad. So, over the course of about six weeks, I made over a dozen of those things. Now of course, She’s moved on, but I thought I’d better write this recipe down in case She wants a wedgie ahem, a wedge salad again one of these days.
And then of course, this is what the salad looked like at the end of two weeks…….micro greens and sliced smoked duck breast…..and even more crumbled blue cheese topping the salad.
And then of course, She needed some “extras” to make it a “complete” meal.
A couple of notes; you’ll notice that the Missus wants lardons on Her salad; so I filter out the rendered bacon fat and add that to the dressing. Also, Maldon Smoked Salt does make a difference as well. As for the blue cheese; I try to go with something on the more pungent side of the scale. The mayo, sour cream, and buttermilk are all whole fat and organic.
Blue Cheese Dressing – makes approximately 1-1/3 cup of dressing
3 ounces Blue Cheese – and more to top the salad 1/3 cup Mayonnaise 1/3 cup Sour Cream 1/3 cup Buttermilk 2 Tb rendered bacon fat 1 Tb fresh squeezed lemon juice 1 Tb Red Wine Vinegar 1 tsp grated garlic Fresh ground black pepper, granulated garlic (optional), and Maldon Smoked Salt to taste
In a mixing bowl, crumble and mash blue cheese with buttermilk until it resembles curds
Add Sour Cream and Mayonnaise and mix well
Add lemon juice, vinegar, and grated garlic and mix
Taste and add black pepper, smoked salt, and granulaed garlic (if desired)
I usually try to plan at least one memorable meal when travelling internationally. This strategy has really opened our minds…exposure to different tastes, creativity, culture. From the first time back in Lima at Astrid & Gaston, to Tamarind in Luang Prabang, and Azurmendi, Osteria Francescana, and Maido. We may not have enjoyed every dish; but it sure does open your eyes and mind. Heck, I even forgot what is our favorite restaurant, Suzunari in Tokyo, which we’ve been to three times!
When it came to Quito, I actually picked Zazu, before booking our stay at the JW Marriott. It seemed to be in walking distance. I thought having a nice meal before we flew out the next morning would be fun. And it seemed like just a 15 minute walk from the hotel.
The doorman at the hotel looked quite worried as we started to exit. He asked us where we were going and I told him. He asked if we wanted a taxi and we said we’d be walking….he looked quite concerned. He asked us to wait and brought over this serious looking young lady; turns out she is the head of security here. It became clear that they were worried about our safety, which I really appreciated. She handed me a “safety card” and we promised that we’d be taking an Uber back. I had researched visitor safety in Quito, which was relatively safe in comparison to other areas. And it was still fairly light out.
We found the restaurant with no problem; the staff were quite friendly and we were guided to our table.
As we’d often do; we went with an appetizer focused menu; 1 ceviche, 3 apps, and 1 main.
I tried the Quito Mule, which is presented deconstructed and you can adjust it to your taste. It was very refreshing with a touch of smokiness.
First up was the Ceviche Mixto. The leche de tigre for this version was made with Aji Amarillo.
This also came with camote – sweet potato, starchy, sweet, and earthy. The shrimp was the best of the seafood, plump, sweet, and tender. The leche de tigre had some complexity, not only the sour-citrusy-fruity tones, but also some smokiness. We were told that the aji amarillo was roasted in the wood fired oven before adding it to the marinating liquid.
No, this is not bone marrow….it’s actually the Beef Tartare, which is served in a bone.
Wonderful presentation; but quite ok tartare, nothing special; the beef was more chewy than I prefer. The most interesting ingredient in this was the addition of pungent, almost horseradish like Mashua.
Of course we had to have Cuy, right? After all, I do love me some cuy. Of course, this was quite fancy…..
I swear, that cuy could have passed for mild roasted duck! Loved the crisp skin and the beer jus was lovely. The cuy had been confit; so it was so tender! The mini tostadas were also delicious. What threw me off were the little pastas, which were filled with peanut cream…which tasted like peanut butter!
Next up; the Suckling Pig Taquitos; these were so tasty and the texture was fabulous as well.
The “porky pig” had been confit as well, so wonderfully tender and swiney. That dollop of avocado cream, a hit of smokey spice from chipotle, and the pico de gallo balanced out the richness. The crisp and rather light wrappers were excellent as well.
For our main to share; we went with the Catch of the Day; which in this case was Seabass.
The fish was perfectly fried; the coating crisp, very moist and tender, though the flavor nothing to write home about. It was the aji manaba, very distinct, slightly spicy, mildly fruity, good acid that really made things interesting. That black garlic aioli was a bit too sweet and overkill.
It was a fine dish; though not as interesting and tasty as the apps….which is why we’ll often have an entire meal of starters!
Service was excellent, very professional and warm.
A good example of how wonderful the folks working were happened as we were heading out. We’d gone ahead and requested an Uber….which did a strange thing. The pick-up point they set was basically half way back to the hotel? What the heck? The host came over to check on us and told us to cancel the Uber; it would be better with a taxi….they then went and called us a cab. The host even waited with us for the taxi and spoke to the driver just to “check” and make sure he knew exactly where to take us! Outstanding service!
We got back to the hotel and one of the security persons came over to check on us! Such great folks here!
We went to our room and packed a bit. We had already arranged a driver to the airport for the next morning. Our flight to San Cristóbal Airport wasn’t until 11, so we would have breakfast in the lounge before heading to our next stop! Can you figure out our next stop?
Would you believe we just got back from our 11th road trip this year? Yikes! I guess not being able to take those international trips because of the squirt really got us going huh? And yes, I’m like 6 road trips behind!
Anyway, this last one for the year was a short one, we actually went back to a familiar locale…we were just there in March.
But we thought JJ might enjoy the holiday festivities and he did.
Back in 2022, I noticed that Palomino’s “#3” was going thru a “management change” on one of my shopping trips to Nijiya. Then around September, I noticed that the name of the place had changed to something like “Super Mario’s”? I wasn’t the biggest fan of this location of Palomino’s…in fact the last time I visited was in my pre-blogging days.
And yet, something about the place caught my attention. Perhaps it was the hours. The place opens at 6am during the week! But mostly, I think I got caught up in the signage.
Not the birria….but the menudo. For some reason, I was craving Menudo and thought it would work for a nice pre-Nijiya shopping breakfast. So, on a Saturday I arrived before Nijiya opened and decied to try the Menudo.
The place looks about the same as it did when it was Palomino’s. Except for the prices. Menudo was $15.86. Anyway, the woman working was quite nice and I placed my order.
And then headed over to the salsa bar for some salsa roja. The woman kindly warned me that it was “muy picante”.
I had a seat and the woman nicely brought my Menudo to the table instead of calling me to pick up my tray! It came with the usual fixins’.
Man, those corn tortillas were hefty and held up nicely to the Menudo; I could only finish two of them.
As for the Menudo.
While not as rich and “funky” as the version at Birrieria Y Menuderia Guadalajara, this was better than what we last had at Talavera Azul. Nice kick with some salsa added; acidity from the lime. It could have used a dose of Mexican Oregano in my opinion.
Decent offaly tones and my goodness all the lovely tripe! Prepared nicely, slightly toothsome…varying textures.
With some large chunks of tendon as well.
I wasn’t able to finish all of it and ended up taking about half home with me.
I wanted to have the Missus try it….but She had Her doubts. She finally gave in and thought it was pretty good. I told Her about the other menu items and She wanted to try the Albondigas. So, on my next shopping excursion to Nijiya, I placed a takeout order of the Albondigas ($15.98) and decided to try some tacos, going with the regular size (they have mini tacos for $3.34) Lengua ($6.50) and Al Pastor ($5.98). I did find the prices of the tacos to be on the higher end in my opinion.
Once shopping was done, I got some salsa and carrots, picked up my rather hefty bag and headed home.
Like the Menudo, the portion size for the Albondigas was pretty large.
It filled up the soup bowl with a lonely meatball waiting for attention. This time, the Missus wasn’t able to finish the tortillas. The arroz wasn’t very good, quite dry, and too mild in flavor.
The Missus loved the pickled carrots and those peppers. She made good use of the limes as well.
She thought that the soup was decent, lighter on the tomato side of things than She’s used to, but decent savory and pungent tones. Not as rich as other versions, but passable. And those giant meatballs were good as well. The meatballs had some binder, but were quite tender, with nice savory tones.
She even enjoyed the slices of zucchini.
As for the tacos. Well, they were quite large and full of meat.
Sadly, I didn’t care for them….neither did the Missus. Other than the tortillas, it missed the mark.
The Lengua was strangely bland; missing that rich, bovine flavor.
And because the flavor was very mild; all that cilantro basically took over the taco.
The Al Pastor was actually an Adobada. The pork was really tough.
It lacked that touch of savory – sweetness and depth of flavor and was really in need of a bit more spice and the light smokiness of a decent Al Pastor. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting what we get in CDMX, but this just didn’t do it for us.
All in all; we’ll stick with the Menudo and Albondigas, which, to be perfectly honest, was better than expected. Good thing too, since my recent visits to newer places has been kinda depressing.
This is going to be a “one off” post. You’ll soon see why.
I was in the Poway area recently and was looking for an early lunch. I thought about checking out the new location of HFS, but it was just not poke weather, and I had already tried out Pho Tan in that strip mall. I recalled that there was a “Hawaiian BBQ” place in the mall near North Park Produce, so I parked and took a look. And yes, the place is named Ipo Hawaiian BBQ.
It was on one of those rainy days and I was just wanting a loco moco so I walked on in.
Hmmm…..looking at the menu…
Teriyaki – Garlic Shrimp…….Pineapple-Orange Chicken….Tornado Potato? Fresh Coconut? Seems like what someone “thinks” food “back home” is like?
Anyway, I ordered the Loco Moco, $18.55 from the nice young lady. She kindly gave me a cup for water. Taking a look at the cup, well, it was interesting….
And then looking at the condiments……
No Tabasco….but LKK Soy Sauce…no Aloha Shoyu or even Kikkoman!
And then the loco moco.
It just didn’t look right, that really tarry-dark-black gravy.
The best item on the plate was the mac salad, which still needed salt and had too much mayo.
Still, it was edible.
The rice had furikake sprinkled on it, a plus; but it was cold and on the chewy end of the scale.
That gravy was super thick and had a weird bitter-sweet flavor.
Even worse was the burger patty, just look at it.
While decently seasoned, it was almost burnt, super chewy, and dry.
At least the eggs looked fine, until you actually put that fork into it. It was over cooked and had that “fishiness” that I don’t care for.
There were a couple of stray eggshells in there for (not-so) good measure.
You know, I hate wasting food; but between that gravy, the leather-like burger, fishy-overdone eggs….well, I just couldn’t bring myself to finish this.
There’s a part of me that feels bad about doing this post and perhaps if Ipo was closer to home I’d give it another try. But doing a 45 mile round trip and spending about twenty bucks it’s just not worth it to me. Though perhaps “FOY” SD Julie might have a recommendation for what to get here? Or perhaps one of you out there might know what I should try?
Funny thing; if I recall correctly, “Ipo” means something like “sweetheart” in Hawaiian…based on this loco moco……
Ipo Hawaiian BBQ 12370 Poway Rd. Poway, CA 92064 Current Hours: Daily 1030am – 830pm
After my last, rather mediocre revisit to Banh Mi Hoi An, I was wondering how some of my “old favorites” were doing. A few days later I found my self driving on Clairemont Mesa near the I-15 and decided to grab something for lunch. It had been a while since I’d visited Banh Mi Express, so I decided to grab a Banh Mi.
Interesting thing about Banh Mi Express; much like Banh Mi Hoi An they’ve decided to forgo the Vietnamese names of the offerings. I guess it’s the customer base?
This had me wondering how the Pate “Meat Loaf” (aka Cha Lua), now priced at $8.49 (previously $7.75 in April) would be. The woman working was very mellow and sweet.
As for the Banh Mi?
The bread was yeasty, a bit denser than I recall, but enjoyably crusty.
Unlike my previous visit; there was a good amount of pickled veggies this time around. Unfortunately, like my previous visit; there’s still no cucumber. **** I stand corrected – the cucumber detective is correct; there is a thin slice right above the cha lua! Nice slice of jalapeno, which was kind of mellow and a decent amount of cilantro.
Unlike Banh Mi Hoi An, there was a generous amount of funky-earthy-savory pate, which really “drove” the sandwich. In fact, in this case it really got close to too much of a good thing!
Still, I’m not complaining! Still among my favorite Banh Mi in San Diego.
Banh Mi Express 9353 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. San Diego, CA 92123 Current Hours: Mon – Fri 7am – 4pm Saturday 8am – 3pm Closed on Sundays
**** No food in this one; so if you’d like to return tomorrow…..
I had another private tour scheduled for our second full day in Quito. This time we’d be heading North to Otavalo. Like on our previous day, we had a light breakfast in the Executive Lounge of the JW Marriott.
We enjoyed the view from the lounge as it seemed that the clouds and weather was constantly changing in Quito.
Our guide arrived right on time and then we were off. We took a short coffee/bathroom break in the town of San Joaquín.
Which seemed to be at the crossroads of two highways.
And then we were off to Muelle Flotante de Cachiviro on the shores of picturesque Lago San Pablo, the largest natural lake in Ecuador. The lake is resides at the base of Imbabrua Volcano.
A lovely little town with a “muelle flotante” a floating pier.
There was a curious pooch who followed us around.
The view from the pier is stunning.
We were told that even though Imbabura Volcano has not erupted for over 7,500 years, it is not considered “extinct”!
In spite of residing in the shadows of a non-extinct volcano; things were so peaceful and calm here.
Though we were told that just up the road was an area very popular with ex-pats who have started moving here.
We were given some bizcochos and Queso Ecuatoriano, basically stringcheese to snack on.
The next stop was one we really enjoyed. We parked and walked thru a city gate.
This is the village of Peguche, which is famous for weaving and the music; though there were two other things the hamlet is known for.
The Quichua (Kichwa) are the largest indigenous group in Ecuador. Those people, like the Incas whose influence spread into the area in the 15th century celebrate Inti Raymi which celebrates the Sun God (Inti). And to be able to determine dates, there’s Inti Watana; the solar calendar.
It’s pretty amazing!
There’s also some neat acoustics going on as when I stood in the middle and whispered, you could hear me clearly anywhere in the structure!
From here, it was a nice walk to our next stop.
We were told that next to the market in Otavalo, Cascada de Peguche (Peguce Waterfall) is the second most popular stop.
This is where; during Inti Raymi, one would “cleanse your soul”. In fact, it is something that is still done today and access to the falls during Inti Raymi is limited to locals.
The falls are 60 feet high. Can you imagine “cleansing your soul” here?
We returned to the village where things were very quiet on this day.
And there was a reason for this. It was a Saturday. And though Otavalo’s Plaza de los Panchos is always busy; Saturday is market day , when all the indigenous craftsmen are present. It really didn’t seem overly busy.
And the Missus enjoyed shopping.
And even bought a couple of things…..
After which we headed on back to Quito. We had decided to get a light lunch in the lounge of the hotel.
Where we could take in that ever changing view of Quito.
We had dinner reservations at a highly regarded restaurant, so we thought we’d save our appetite for dinner.
While driving on Morena, I noticed that Talitha Coffee Roasters had replaced WestBean Coffee Roasters. I made a note to drop by….of course it did take me a while….
I did finally make it, parking on Morena I walked on over. The place was not very busy at just past 8 on this Sunday morning.
The menu is broken up into three parts. Classic (latte/espresso), Trendy (with names like “Oh Snap!” and “Fallin’ For You”), and Breakfast items.
Never thought of myself as being “trendy” per se; but I did order a Nitro Cold Brew ($6) and a Spicy Avo Toast ($12).
My cold brew was ready in the blink of an eye.
And I decided to take a seat on the patio while my Avocado Toast was being prepared.
The Nitro Cold Brew was nicely chilled, fairly smooth, and had a very creamy tongue feel. It did have a decent “kick” to it.
I’d gladly have it again.
As for the “Spicy” Avocado Toast.
Well, this for twelve bucks, huh? The sourdough was barely toasted and got soggy fairly quickly. The eggs were over boiled. The “spicy” was just a drizzling of Chili Crisp. Worse of all was the avocado, can you see why?
Yep, the mashed avocado was starting to oxidize. There were a couple of bites that had hints of bitterness. The mild earth-sweetness of avocado was missing. A definite lack of “QC” here.
So, while I’ll probably return for a caffeine fix; I’ll probably stay away from the food here.
Talitha Coffee Roasters 4140 Morena Blvd Suite A San Diego, CA 92117 Current Hours: Mon – Fri 7am – 2pm Sat – Sun 8am – 2pm
TP Tea:
The Missus was excited to try TP Tea which recently opened in Clairemont Town Square. I think the full name “Taiwan Professional Tea” which brought back memories of all Her Tea Adventures in Taiwan. I did warn Her that I think this is mostly a Boba Shop….but then again, She had really enjoyed that in places like Chiayi and Taichung as well.
So, between our recent rain storms we headed on over.
The Missus was quite impressed with the prices. Very reasonable for San Diego. Since this place is named “Taiwan Professional Tea”, the Missus wanted to see just how good that tea was and ordered the Signature Black Tea ($4.95).
Man was this weak.
It really lacked the natural sweet-floral flavor we like with Taiwanese Black Tea. This tasted really watered down and weak.
I asked the Missus if She wanted to try something else, but She told me “look, the place has Professional Tea in the name. If it can’t even make black tea properly….”
So, I guess this is a one and done.
TP Tea 4711 Clairemont Dr. San Diego, CA 92117 Current Hours: Daily 1130 am – 930pm
We headed back down Church Street and headed off until the trail ended with a view of Big River Beach.
We then walked along the bluffs; where the scenery was quite beautiful.
We then took the trail into Headlands State Park.
Even more lovely views….the coastline here is beautiful.
And as I mentioned before, it’s hard to believe the town is but a few steps away.
JJ was enjoying the scenery as well.
As you head toward the rocky end of the bluffs, things get a bit more dramatic.
It’s an easy 5 mile walk.
Did you know that Miasa (Omachi) in Nagano is Mendocino’s Sister City?
After our morning walk, the Missus wanted to drive up to Fort Bragg, which we did. Though once we got there; the Missus didn’t feel like stopping anywhere, though I think the next time up there we’ll take JJ on the Skunk Train. Anyway, I turned and headed back to Mendocino.
Once back, the Missus wanted to do some shopping, so we headed on out. We came across this honor system farm stand.
Pretty cool, huh?
We zig zagged our way around, in and out of shops. This was the Missus’s favorite.
Where She actually did “Spend-o-cino” if you know what I mean.
Even though they must have to deal with many tourists; folks here were very laid back, relaxed, and friendly.
Circling around Ukiah Street we came across and honor system pottery shop.
The town was giving off major quaint small town vibes!
We decided to grab a sandwich from Mendocino Market, a small shop that sells sandwiches, deli items, snacks, and even wine.
It’s one of those places where you check off your order on one of the handy-dandy forms, pay, then pick up your order at the counter.
After our breakfast we just wanted something light; so I got the Hummus Avocado ($9) on Sourdough.
I’ve come to enjoy pesto on my avocado toast, but never thought of having hummus with it! The nutty-earthy – slightly tangy hummus actually went quite well with the creamy-rich avocado.
The lovely alfalfa sprouts and tomatoes made the sandwich complete. Not haute cuisine, but just a nice, light sandwich for lunch.
Mendocino Market 45051 Ukiah St. Mendocino, CA 95460
After which it was time for…..you know what, right?
In my last post on Woomiok, “FOY” Mar mentioned checking out the recently opened Chodang Tofu & BBQ in the Hmart Food Court. Now, what little I do know is that Chodang is an area of Gangneung that is famous for….well, their soondubu, At the time of the posting and comment, the weather was a bit too warm for that dish. But turn the page and a few weeks later, with the rain…well, things have become rather chilly…at least by San Diego terms. So, the Missus and I thought we’d go and check out Chodang.
Chodang opens at 1030 and the always busy food court in HMart was pretty mellow at a few minutes after 11.
We walked on over and took a look at the menu….and whoa; I think the prices at Chodang is the highest of any of the stands in the food court!
The prices look pretty much in line with places like Woomiok, Yuk Dae Jang, and Prime Grill….like $32 for bulgogi!
I got the Soondubu with Beef Short Rib ($21.99), the Missus was craving some Samgyetang, the Chicken Ginseng Soup ($23.99). I placed our order then we grabbed a seat. The eating area filled up pretty quickly.
After a short wait, the buzzer thingy went off and we went to get our trays.
The Samgyetang was a whole small chicken. The panchan was not good; the baechu kimchi was more pickled than fermented, the cucumber kimchi was definitely of the quick-pickle variety and was on the sweet side. There was a generous portion of rice, which was on the mushy side. The best item was the little portion of pajun…the fried pancake.
As for the Samgyetang…..well, I warned the Missus that I don’t think this would be close to what we had in Seoul….but to be honest; this was not even in the same ballpark. First off, the chicken was super tough and chewy, totally lacking in flavor.
The broth was very thin and bland, lacking in the savory-herbal-chicken flavor. This really needed the salt and pepper that was provided….but it still wasn’t enough. Where was the earthy-herbaceous-bitterness of ginseng?
The best thing about the dish was the glutinous rice that was stuffed in the chicken.
It seemed to have leeched at the poultry flavor from the dish.
As for my Soondubu….well…pretty much the same result.
That fried fish was gummy, it needed some crispness.
Two nice beef ribs; which seemed to have had all the beefiness sucked out of it, so bland! On the chewy side as well. The tofu was very soft and “buttery”, but lacking in the nice “beaniness” we enjoy in dubu.
The soup….I dare not call this thin – watery broth a “stew”, was truly lacking in rich-savory tones. I got it spicy; but that was on the mild side as well.
The egg was a travesty…..boiled to death and seemed like it had been “smushed”.
I’ll quit there…… for fifty bucks without tip…this was very disappointing.
Chodang was founded in the US (in Cerritos – though I recall seeing one of the stands in Irvine), and is rapidly expanding across the US, so it must be pretty popular, but this was not a meal the Missus and I enjoyed. Needless to say; I don’t see us returning.
Chodang Tofu & BBQ (in the Hmart Food Court) 7725 Balboa Ave. San Diego, CA 92111 Current Hours: Daily 1030am – 8pm
