mmm-yoso – Page 107 – 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.

Circling Back to Main Chick Hot Chicken (Clairemont) and Golden City

June 20, 2022 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Chains, Chicken Wings, Chinese Restaurants

I often say that I would not still be posting if not for all the folks who comment of our posts. The same can be said for all the great emails and recommendations I get. There’s a whole group of folks who don’t comment on our posts, but are thoughtful enough to send me emails with recommendations, observations, and really great comments. One of these folks is “ChrisR” who often has some pretty interesting and sometimes funny observations and recommendations. I look forward to his emails.

Hailing from the Big Island, Chris will often have the most interesting “Subject Lines” to his emails. Here are two of them and my subsequent revisits to those places. Main Ch 01

“The last pretty good food bargain in San Diego?”

Actually, ChrisR was the reason that I visited Main Chick in the first place….I’m not one to follow fads and at that time it seemed that all these Hot Chicken shops were popping up everywhere. Having had some good Hot Chicken in Nashville during my consulting days; all of these shops fell short. Main Chick was no exception.

But, moving away from the Hot Chicken Sandwich; Chris had this to say about Main Chick:

“But there is still one bargain left: The leg-thigh quarter at Main Chick”

“Very juicy. Comes with the same spicy aioli as the dark meat sandwich. Gotten it several times in recent months.”

Well, this location of Hot Chicken is less than three miles from our house, so why not try it out, right?

The young lady working was a joy and I liked that they have outdoor seating. I ordered it “Spicy” this time, instead of “Supreme” like I did last time. My heat tolerance has gone down in my old age…..

I was asked if I needed a “fork and knife”? Huh? This is still chicken, right? And I raised up my left hand and said “fork”; then my right saying “knife”. The young lady cracked up. I did pay a small price for this as I will note later on.

I sat outside and opened my container and I have to say; in contrast to what I’d had before; chicken with burnt spots on it and such, this looked quite nice.

Main Ch 02_02 Main Ch 04 Turning things over was a different story as it was pretty greasy. The meat was very moist, tender, and it had that flavor of dark meat chicken that I prefer. The batter was quite crunchy but the seasoning dust is pretty gritty, though quite spicy; but there’s a lack of other flavors….at Hatties, I remember the chicken being very spicy, but it still had some smokiness, most likely from Paprika and even a hint of garlic tones.

Maybe I just need to order this with no spice next time? Though I recall the “naked version” being quite bland.

Main Ch 03

But, at least it was moist and tender. And at $5.75, Chris is right, these days it’s a bargain.

And the chicken had the last laugh as I had a nice thrill when I removed my contact lenses that evening.

Main Chick Hot Chicken (In Clairemont Town Square)
4705 Clairemont Dr.
San Diego, CA 92117

Subject: Did Golden City hire a chef from Royal Mandarin?

**** Golden City has closed

Whoa, let’s talk about how to get my attention!

“While I waited, a waitress (one who in the good old days automatically brought me a fork for years despite my never using it) brought out salt-and-pepper chicken wings twice that looked crisp and dry and had a good portion size for $13.

So the next weekend, I got the wings. I have had them two more times since.

As good as the Royal Mandarin, IMO“.

Okay! Sold!

GC TO 01

I went and did a takeout order from Golden City. To cover myself, I also ordered the Kwai Fei Chicken, which has been a favorite of mine for years.

It did smell quite good in the car, better than a “new car fragrance” for sure. And I made the fifteen minute drive back to the office wondering if the wings would be looking like this:

Fry-Day RM 06

Opening things up, the wings looked like this.

GC TO 02 GC TO 03 Unfortunately, the batter of the wings didn’t hold up well, much of it getting a bit mushy and flaking off. So, if you’re ordering this, it’s probably in your best interest to eat them ASAP….maybe even in the parking lot! Lot’s of burnt garlic which was on the bitter side, though I enjoyed the spice. The flesh of the wings were nice and moist.

And to be perfectly honest; these were light years better than what I’d had from Golden City years back. So it does look like the wings have improved over time.

GC TO 04

On a sad note; it seems like the Kwai Fei Chicken has gone downhill as well.

GC TO 05 GC TO 07 The chicken really just tasted boiled lacking in the mild hints of anise-wine and devoid of any salt or mild ginger tones….just plain bland. The sauce provided had brown specks in it and tasted a bit rancid and off. The chicken while cooked nicely, just didn’t taste right.

GC TO 08

Man, what a bummer……where do I get my Kwai Fei Chicken from now? Maybe I need to revisit Eastern Dynasty?

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

Regardless of my opinions, I want to make it clear that I really enjoy and treasure these emails. It gets me “out there” checking things out and keeps it “fresh”. It’s always fun hearing from all of you and I’m flattered that you would think of me when you have an interesting or enjoyable meal.

Thanks again ChrisR!

Sunday Stuffs – Flour Atelier, YikoYiko, and K-Food & Meat Coming to Kearny Mesa. The Bum Statue and Does Okeanos “Move You”?

June 19, 2022 mmm-yoso Bakery, Exploring San Diego, Markets & Grocers, yoso-silly

Here are a couple of "coming soon" places I've seen while doing errands in Kearny Mesa:

Flour Atelier Coming to Hawthorne Crossings:

Aka, the Mitsuwa Marketplace Mall. Saw this when I went to pick some stuffs up recently.

SunS 01

Not sure why this caught my eye….probably the "Atelier" in the name.

Looks like this will be a specialty bakery.

4240 Kearny Mesa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92111

YikoYiko Coming to Mercury Village Shopping Center:

On a recent takeout visit to Sizzling Pot King, I noticed a sign for something called "YikoYiko" in Mercury Village Shopping Center (aka mall with the "Sign of Doom"), next to Chaba Thai.

SunS 02

Not quite sure what this is going to be….but it sure looks like a slice of cake or perhaps cheese?

Stay tuned!

8008 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111

K-Food & Meat Replacing Dduriba:

I saw this earlier today when driving to Nijiya to do some shopping.

SunS 03

Dduriba lasted for quite a while….I'm guessing this is a small market/deli kind of thing?

4425 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

And from the "not about food files…."

Statue of Bum the Dog:

You know me and random "stuffs", right? I think things have escalated during these Covid times, though folks have called me a "Cesspool of Useless Information" for a good many years. A couple of months back, before our last trip, the Missus wanted takeout from Sovereign Thai. I had forgotten that there was a Padres game on that evening and the only parking I could find was way over on Island, near Fourth Avenue.

Well, at least it gave me a chance to check out a statue I'd been wanting to see. In the courtyard of Davis-Horton House, is the statue of Bum the Dog, who was a stow-away on a ship that arrived in San Diego in 1886. Bum became the unofficial mascot of San Diego with his exploits documented by James Edward Friend who documented many of Bum's exploits.

Bum 01

You'll notice that part of Bum's right leg is missing. During one of his explorations he was hit by a train which severed part of his leg.

This link has Bum's story. I'm posting this right now, because there's a "Edinburgh link" to it. Look for it in an upcoming post!

Getting to the Bottom of Okeanos:

**** Warning, you may not want to read this if you are eating…or even thinking about eating right now.

An acquaintance asked me where my office was located and I mentioned the area. His response was; "oh, are you located by the turd?" The turd?

And then I remembered this post by CC (hoping we get some new posts soon CC!). I decided to perform my "doo" diligence and find out where this was. And lo' and behold, it was a couple of miles from our offices, so I decided to "drop" by on my way home. And yes, there on the corner of John Jay Hopkins Drive and General Atomic Court was the sculpture that was supposed to resemble:

"a rippling curve that seems to spew out of the earth and curl up like a wave"

You be the judge.

Okeanos 01

It was commissioned in 1987 by Scripps Green Hospital for $200k from artist William Tucker. It was then completed and put into place in front of Scripps Green. Apparently, after years of ridicule and earning the nickname the "Scripps Turd", Scripps paid another $40k to have it, ahem…"moved" to location "number two". Where it was dumped stands in "relief" today. And if you want to "grab a stool" and check it out; its on the corner of John Jay Hopkins Drive and General Atomic Court.

Where you can also find this sign….

Okeanos 02

Edinburgh (2022) – A Walk Around the New Town and Dinner at Devil’s Advocate

June 16, 2022 mmm-yoso British/Irish/Scottish Restaurants/Pubs, Edinburgh, Gastropub, Scotland, Travel

Our flight from Paris to Edinburgh left and arrived on time, something that is often not the norm in this day and age. We'd be spending one evening in the city before our driver would be picking us up for a private tour. We'd be staying on York Place which was quite convenient, since the last stop of the airport tram is on St Andrew Square. From there it was a short walk to our hotel.

Once we settled in….well, the Missus was ready to do a bit of exploring, so we headed out.

The really friendly folks at the hotel suggested that we take Leith Street over to Princes Street and take a walk in the New Town.

The first thing that struck us was all the signs and "stories"….it seemed that every corner, crook, and building had one!

And there seemed to be monuments on every block.

I read that there are over 200 monuments in Edinburgh alone!

That's the statue of the Duke of Wellington below, in front of the National Archives, which was unveiled in 1852 to mark the anniversary of Wellington helping to lead the armies of the Seventh Coalition to victory over Napoleon at Waterloo.

We decided to just walk along Princes Street and the huge Princes Street Garden which was created by the draining of Nor Loch and was completed in 1820.

We could see the towering spire of the Scott Monument, the second largest monument to a writer in the world. I'm sure folks my age would have had to read one of the classics by Sir Walter Scott in school. I recall reading Ivanhoe.

It's quite amazing to see places like this….they have a way of bringing history "alive" for me.

And of course one cannot ignore all of the classic architecture, like the Jenners Building.

Which housed the Jenner Department Store, which sadly closed permanently in December 2020 partially due to the Covid lockdown. I recently read that the department store will be renovated and hopefully reopen in 2025.

The views along Princes Street of Edinburgh Castle are quite stunning.

DSC01134_02

As are those of the gardens below.

This is the Royal Scots Grey Memorial.

There was one memorial that I had on my list, so we entered the park, passing the Scottish American War Memorial.

IMG_2492_02

The inscription reads:

"The Call 1914. A Tribute From Men and Women of Scottish Blood and Sympathies In the United States of America to Scotland. A People that jeoparded their lives unto the Death in the High Places of the Field."

Right pass that was the monument I wanted to see.

DSC01137_02

This is the statue of Wojtek the Bear, whose story I read years ago. In short Wojtek was purchased as a cub in Iran by soldiers of the Polish army. He was trained to transport ammunition and other supplies. Because pets were not allowed and to make sure he got rations, he was given the rank of private in the Polish army. Eventually, he was promoted to corporal!

So, why is his statue now in Edinburgh? Well, in 1945 his Company was moved to Scotland….and so was he. In the end, he lived out his years in the Edinburgh Zoo. You know I love stuff like this, right?

DSC01138_02

Soon it was getting close to our dinner time, so I had to find the "close" where our dinner destination was located. We headed down the Mound and onto the Royal Mile and High Street. Right across St Giles' Cathedral (photo above which I'll cover in a future post), is Advocate's Close an alleyway with wonderful views. There's something somewhat dark and mysterious about these narrow streets. I'd come to learn the difference between a a Close and a Wynd during our stay in Edinburgh.

Down this narrow street is a Gastropub/Restaurant named the Devil's Advocate, which I'd made reservations at. We found the place; but then, we had to actually find the entrance….and this wasn't it.

Folks inside waved us to the actual entrance where we were greeted by a Hostess…..people in Edinburgh and Scotland for that matter, were so very friendly….really fun and nice. We were led to a table on the upper level. Where we were seated and handed menus. The place is dark and somewhat funky….but what do you expect here! After all, who knows who walked along the path in this close? It might have been the "real" Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde or perhaps even Burke and Hare! One's imagination can run wild!

The menu seemed kind of what I'd call "hipster – Scottish"….or perhaps more politically correct, modern gastropub fare? We placed our order and as is the way we do things, we went with mostly items off the 'Starters' and 'Sharing' portion of the menu. Like I've said many times before, these dishes seem to be the most interesting.

I'd been really wanting to try some Haggis….and really couldn't wait. So the first dish up was the Crispy Black Haggis (£8 – about $10 at time of visit).

It looks so "gastro-pubby" don't you think. It was perfectly fried, but was bland and doughy…….folks I know had always made so much of haggis, but this was so mild in flavor, I was sure that this wasn't what they were talking about, right?

Next up was the Confit Pork Belly (£9.5 – about $11.50)

So, I think it's time for a reality check here…..when we visited, with the exchange rate, this was like $11.50. Can you imagine that? The pork belly was a bit over-fried, though the interior was nice and buttery. Both the Missus and I loved the celeriac remoulade, which was crisp and refreshing.

And then came the dish that made the dinner. We ordered a "small portion" of the Smoked Fish Platter (£14 – about $17.50/US). Could you imagine getting this for less than twenty bucks?

Oh man, this was so delici-yoso…..and drove our decisions during our entire stay in Scotland. Salmon smoked two ways; I gotta say, both the hot smoked, more buttery and rich and the cold smoked, great texture and wonderful on bread have an appeal. The smoked mussels were wonderful, the perfect balance of smokiness, great , almost buttery texture, the brininess adds character. The capers and cornichons provided relief and refreshment….this was so good!

And of course I had to have some "chips". The variety here were with truffle and parmesan ( £5 – about $6.25 on our visit).

Ok, so let's be real about this. Twice cooked, crisp on the exterior, creamy interior………flakes of truffle……really. We loved the flavor of potatoes in Scotland; there's an inherent sweet-starchiness to it.

And our meal here was a nice start to our trip!

Devil's Advocate
9 Advocates Close
Edinburgh, Scotland

Thanks for stopping by!

El Viejon Seafood

June 15, 2022 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Seafood

Back in June of last year; I noticed that the Korean Hot Dog place in the strip mall where Dumpling Inn ummm, Shanghai Saloon is located was gone and was being replaced with what looked like a Mariscos place named El Viejon. I was quite interested after reading the Eater post. Though it did take me a while to actually visit. After finally deciding to check the place out in February, I was happy to see that they did online orders. I'm not really fond of that parking lot, especially now, with all the spaces seemingly reserved for specific shops and the other stalls, behind Jasmine now being paid parking – on one of my visits I actually saw a car being towed! And the lot was empty except for that one vehicle!

El Viejon 01

Pick up was a breeze and the folks here are quite friendly.

El Viejon 02

I had ordered two of my "go-to" items with regards to Mariscos Tacos; a Smoked Fish (Tacos de Marlyn – $7) and a Gobernador ($7). The tacos were pretty hefty.

El Viejon 03 El Viejon 03b The smoked fish taco was pretty good….I had read in the Eater post that items had a "Asian" touch….I figure in the case of these tacos, it was the sesame seeds? Anyway, the fish was nice and moist, smoky, good savory hints, no off flavors, and the tortillas held up well. The cabbage added textural contrast and a touch of sweetness.

The Gobernador on the other hand was not a favorite of mine. In fact, it was mostly fried onions….

El Viejon 04

What shrimp there was in the taco were really tough. This really needed some help, but unfortunately, perhaps it was my fault, there was no salsa in my take-out order. Maybe I should have asked?

El Viejon 05

Still, that smoked fish was quite good and while El Viejon was a Mariscos place, I had noticed something that I thought was decently priced on the menu.

The 2 Birria Tacos with Broth was $10. So, a couple of weeks later I placed another online order. Which was again ready for pick-up when I arrived. The young lady working was very nice and her little daughter was adorable.

El Viejon 06 El Viejon 07 This was actually pretty good; I mean it ain't Fernandez, but what is? The beef was much more tender than it looked, good savory beefiness, touch of tangy-sour. The tortillas held up well, this was actually better then other versions I've had recently.

The consommé was a surprise as it had a basic mirepoix in it. It was really quite substantial, beefy, mildly spicy, it made for a nice "soup" on its own with a squeeze or two of lime to cut the mild greasiness of it.

El Viejon 08

I was quite surprised and pleased.

El Viejon 09

Funny thing was, the young lady had packed salsas in my bag….even though this time it really wasn't needed!

El Viejon 10

After this visit, I had meant to do a post, but for some reason I didn't. Then February turned into March, which turned into April. During a warm spell the Missus thought it might be a good idea to get some ceviche, so I suggested a visit to El Viejon.

El Viejon 12

We decided to go at an off hour; so parking wouldn't be a hassle and there wouldn't be many customers and we hit the jackpot, we were the only ones in the place and took that table waaaay in the back by the mural.

After a look at the menu, the Missus decided on what to order; I had thought that for sure She'd want the smoked fish taco, but She decided on a surprise item.

We started off with the Shrimp Ceviche ($15).

El Viejon 13 El Viejon 14 There was a generous amount of shrimp in this; but we both thought this was a bit lacking in overall flavor and was really too salty. The texture of the shrimp was fine.

The next item up was the "surprise". The Missus seemed to be in the mood for something "fried", so we ordered the "Las Fries" ($18). Man, the portion size was huge. And for some reason, we really enjoyed this.

El Viejon 15

The fries were crisp, full of potato-ey goodness. On this palette the mildly spicy Mariscos Thousand Islandy type sauce did quite good as did the crisp fried onions, which combined with the variety of seafood in the bowl. Our favorite items were the smoked fish (of course), which was so very good with the fries and fried onions and the shrimp which were plump and perfectly cooked. The pulpo was fine and the dusting of cheese added a pleasant dimension of milky saltiness to things. Of course we couldn't finish this and the Missus had to hose me down when we got home, but the leftovers did well in a pseudo frittata the next day.

We loved the presentation of the Aguachile (half order – $15) which was served in a Molcajete whose edges were dusted with Tajin.

El Viejon 16 El Viejon 17 We got this with the "verde", the green sauce which was tangy and tart, a perfect foil for the spice. Loved the avocado which helped to quell whatever heat evolved from the dish, the cucumbers added a nice, crisp and "chlorophyllic" touch to the dish. The shrimp had spent the perfect amount of time in the sauce, being just toothsome enough. We'd have this again!

This meal was a pleasant surprise for the Missus. In fact, She started calling Les Fries, "stoner fries"….and we've actually ordered it for takeout once. We ate it in our backyard and really enjoyed it. I don't think we can have it very often…..but every once in a while it'll be a nice guilty pleasure. And they open early and straight thru so we can get in during off hours if we want to dine in.

El Viejon 18

El Viejon Seafood
4619 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours:
Mondays 9am – 3pm
Tues – Sun 9am – 9pm

Circling Back to Tu Thanh

June 13, 2022 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

A few weeks back, the Missus was craving Her favorite Bun Rieu, so I went to pick some up. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, I was told that there was at least an hour wait for the Bun Rieu. I suddenly had an idea; I placed my order and decided to push my luck and see if I could find parking near Tu Thanh. I had tried to grab my favorite Bun Mang Vit in San Diego from Tu Thanh during the previous month, but there was no parking to be found within 4-5 blocks, so I ended up at "plan B" 777 Noodle House. Still my craving for Bun Mang Vit went unabated.

Well, I guess it was my lucky day, I found parking half a block away and greedily headed to Tu Thanh.

Circling TT 01

These days Tu Thanh opens at 9 and I arrived at 930 and there were no customers in the place.

Not sure what the drill is these days; I went up to the window and placed my order.

Circling TT 02 Circling TT 03 And then went and sat at a table. I took a look around the room and quickly noticed at the pile of children's toys stacked up on a freezer. I guess Covid has meant that there had to be options in place if childcare and school is not available?

As I waited for my noodle soup my mind wandered……Tu Thanh is one of those "places" that I have been going to for ages. Well, sort of; you see, back in 2006, I used to go to A Chinese Fast-Food shop…well, sort of a Chinese Fast Food Shop named Chinese Kitchen. Along with the Fried Rice, Chow Mein, and other "standards", none of which I ever tried, there was a menu posted with Vietnamese Specialties. In fact, the other name the place was known as was "Chi Tu Thanh Nha Hang". Then nearly 7 years later, Tu Thanh's namesake restaurant opened and I've been going there ever since.

Circling TT 04

Soon enough the Nuoc Mam Gung and my eating utensils arrived. The utensils were delivered in a little basket. I'm guessing with Covid, they don't just lay out the eating implements on tables anymore.

Circling TT 06

The look and the fragrance of the Nuoc Mam Gung was comforting. Back in March of 2021 I'd done take out from Tu Thanh and the sauce was lacking in garlic and ginger and was much too sweet. This was return to what I expected and enjoyed.

Circling TT 05 Circling TT 07 My noodle soup and duck arrived. Over time, I'd resigned myself to the fact that banana blossom was no longer included with the Bun Mang Vit. Also, the quantity of dried bamboo shoot has gone down gradually over the years, reducing the amount of earthy tones in the broth. And I'm sure that ever rising costs and Covid supply chain issues have had an affect as well.

Still, on this day at least, the noodles were perfectly firm enough and slippery, the broth was nicely flavored, not overly MSG heavy. The broth does get better as the meal goes along because of the way I eat the duck with this dish. And that gingery-garlicky-savory-mildly sweet sauce was on point.

The duck was sliced to a good thinness for the dish, had a good toothsomeness, and was oh so "ducky" if you know what I mean.

Circling TT 08 Circling TT 09 As for how I eat this; well that's been that's been documented in earlier posts:

"Chi Tu Thanh taught me to eat things this way years ago. For the duck; I dip it in the broth…it warms it up a bit (a good study in temperature and flavor) and in the end adds a bit of flavor to the broth; it then gets a dunk in the sauce, which livens things up. The veggies get the same….what ever escapes adds to the flavor of the rather neutral flavored broth. A dunk in the steaming broth (as it was this day) changes the texture of the herbs a vegetables and whatever escapes adds to the flavor of the broth…those stray veggies do eventually get a dip in the sauce as well."

And over the meal, because I let the bamboo shoots steep in the hot broth, the flavor gets better and better.

Circling TT 10

And yes, it's not as amazing as it used to be; but it's still darn good!

Funny thing, the young lady who I ordered from initially spoke to me in Vietnamese and was a bit surprised that I didn't speak that language. As I paid at the register she asked me how I enjoyed my meal and then asked me how I had heard of Tu Thanh. I told her that even though I'm not a regular customer, I've been eating the Bun Mang Vit from the days of Chinese Kitchen. Which got quite a funny, surprised look from her.

Circling TT 11

And yes, I am so very thankful that places like Tu Thanh, Minh Ky, Phuong Nga, and Mien Trung are still around for us to enjoy. And hopefully will be around for many more years!

Tu Thanh
4804 University Ave. #A
San Diego, CA 92105
Current Hours:
Thurs – Tues 9am – 7pm
Closed on Wednesday

Roadtrip (During Covid) – Elote Cafe and the Devils Bridge Trail (Sedona)

June 12, 2022 mmm-yoso Flagstaff/ Sedona/Winslow/Northern AZ, Latin American Cuisine, Mexican Restaurants, Road Trip, Travel

After doing the Oak Creek Trail, the Missus and I picked up some stuffs from Whole Foods and had a simple lunch. By dinner time; well, I was ready for some "grindz". Luckily, our dinner destination was basically right around the corner from our accommodations. Even more lucky….I'd made reservations for dinner as there was already a line when we got to the place at 5pm! Our reservations were for 515! I pity the folks with no reservations.

We worked our way down the reservations line and got a nice table with some good distance from other folks. The service here was more friendly and things seemed much more laid back than dinner the night before.

The Missus really loved the chips here! In fact, She cleaned it out pretty quickly and our friendly Server quickly got us more!

After the days hike I was pretty darn hungry, so we actually ordered three apps and two mains!

And since this place is named "Elote" (corn)….well you know what our starters revolved around, right?

Things started with the Elote ($11).

There was a bit too much mayo in this, which nullified the sweet-smokiness of the fire roasted corn.

Next up the Huitlacoche Corn Soup (a small – $8).

You could really make out the corn here! Nice sweetness, the chili de arbol powder added some nice heat to the dish. Not enough huitlacoche to really make much of an impact in our opinion.

Sweet Corn Salad ($12).

We enjoyed the Chipotle Vinaigrette and this was nice and refreshing, but again it was kind of short in the elote department. But not bad overall.

We had explained that we'd like to dine "family style" and the folks here cheerfully accommodated us with separate plates and even plate changes! Great staff.

The Duck Carnitas ($29) was bit more chewy and fatty then I had anticipated.

Pasilla chilies, which have a nice fruitiness was a nice match and the guacamole really helped to refresh the palate cutting thru the richness of the dish.

The Smoked Pork Cheeks ($28) was my favorite dish of the evening.

The pork was indeed smoky and the texture was good, not falling apart but quite tender. And this part of the swine has a wonderful porkiness. I wasn't sure about the buttermilk-cumin drizzle, but it worked well in this framework, a bit of acidity, nice earthiness. I also enjoyed the cascabel chili sauce, a nice nutty-earthiness.

Overall this was an enjoyable meal, the service brought it up a notch.

Elote Cafe
350 Jordan Rd.
Sedona, AZ 86336

The next morning the Missus wanted to do one more hike on our way out of Sedona. She wanted to hike to the Devil's Bridge. During Her previous previous visit, the Devil's Bridge was packed with the "selfie crowd" and She never got to walk out onto it. And se we headed on over. Even though it was December, the parking lot was already filled when we arrived. A really nice guy in a brand new Corvette had parked….he saw us, waved and moved up to make room for us to park! What a nice guy!

The trail, other than the last portion up to the bridge is flat and easy to navigate. And you get really nice views of the Sedona "Red Rocks".

And when we arrived at the Devil's Bridge, there was only one couple ahead of us.

And that couple was the folks from that new yellow Corvette. We were just going to take a stroll on the Devil's Bridge and maybe do a selfie. But the really nice guy told me; "I'm going to rest here a while, so why don't you walk on over and I'll take a picture of you!" And he didn't take just one photo, but an entire set! You know, people like him really do make travels just so much better!

And so, our time in Sedona was up.

But there was one more stop for us left!

Stay tuned!

Roadtrip (During Covid) – Mariposa Latin Inspired Grill and the West Fork of Oak Creek Trail (Sedona)

June 11, 2022 mmm-yoso Flagstaff/ Sedona/Winslow/Northern AZ, Latin American Cuisine, Mexican Restaurants, Road Trip, Travel

After leaving Winslow, we headed west on the 40 and then down the 89 to Sedona. The Missus had really enjoyed hiking in Sedona during Her roadtrip and wanted to torture me to enjoy some of those hikes. Wow was the place crowded with tourists! And there seemed to this interesting vibe…almost like Lahaina meets New Age, that I got from the place.

I did enjoy our accommodations which was close to everything downtown, our dinner destination for the next night was just steps away. And the location while being close to everything had convenient parking and was pretty quiet.

After checking in, we headed out to do some shopping in the Uptown area….man, there were a ton of tourist traps here. After passing shop after shop of "stuffs", we finally found one where we could find some good gifts.

We enjoyed shopping here and purchased gifts for folks back home. The staff was also quite knowledgeable.

After which we headed back to the room to relax and refresh.

I had made dinner reservations at a place recommended to me by an acquaintance. It was located a bit over a mile down state highway 89A named Mariposa. Well, because the Missus thought that I hadn't had enough exercise, She decided that we needed to walk there. The walk wasn't bad, though we were the only folks actually walking. And after taking the right where 89A turns right and 179 goes straight it seemed like we were walking on the freeway. For a place that had been described to me as being "spiritual" they sure seemed to have a lot of large strip malls!

We found the restaurant, walked up past the parking lot and entered.

The place was quite busy and many parties looked like they were here to celebrate various occasions.

The menu featured "tapas" styled dishes, grilled red meat, interesting sounding Latin influenced mains, and a host of sides The service was a bit on the "cold" side, at least to us. Apparently he knew folks on his other tables and spent his time with them and barely uttered a complete sentence to us.

We chose a couple of "tapas", a main, and some side dishes for our "family style" meal.

First up was the Pulpo Parilla ($26).

We were a bit surprised at the prices, which seemed on the "high" end of things; but this was a good sized plate. The octopus was nicely cooked and hit a nice balanced texture, toothsome, but not overly chewy. In terms of flavor, it was again nicely balacned in terms of sodium. The garbanzo bean puree was nice and hearty and the shredded fennel added an interesting anise flavor to things. This was, by far, the best dish of the evening. We also enjoyed the Biquinho Peppers; which weren't overly hot, but it really brought a bit of spice to the dish.

The Gaucho Plate ($22) arrived next.

The chorizo was a bit too mild in terms of spices….it really could have used a bit more chili in it. The bread was a bit on the crumbly side for our taste. The best item on the plate were the butter beans which which had a nice, firm exterior, but were quite creamy inside.

The one main we ordered was the Veggie Nirvana ($28). After having those pretty hefty tapas, we cracked up when this arrived as it was actually smaller than the previous dishes.

This was a bit overdone in terms of having so many things going on; the Romesco Sauce, black beans, pepitas, and cheese overpowered any subtle smokiness from the roasted poblano.

We also ordered the Wood Roasted Mushrooms ($12).

This was fine, if a bit on the bland side.

The most disappointing dish was the Roasted Cauliflower with Romesco ($10).

The cauliflower had been charred, but was still quite hard and for some reason, didn't seem to be seasoned. As I mentioned previously; not a fan of the Romesco sauce as it really didn't have that "zippy", garlic-smoky-mildly spicy and tangy flavors I enjoy.

Overall, well….this felt like a meal in a very "corporate" restaurant…..for some reason it reminded me of eating, in say, a Fleming's???

I had read about the wonderful view, but it was past sundown when we arrived so I can't comment on that.

Mariposa Latin Inspired Grill
700 West Hwy 89A
Sedona, AZ 86336

We had a quiet walk back to our room. I had started noticing random items on our walk back that sometimes looked a bit out of place. Like what is this Torii doing here?

Maybe I missed something in the darkness?

The next morning the Missus wanted to show me one of Her favorite hikes in the area. It's the West Fork of Oak Creek. We got there early and found parking and paid the $11 fee.

It is a nice hike and I loved the rock formations. Now this is what I envision when I think of Sedona!

The hike was a bit over 6 1/2 miles round trip and wasn't too bad.

There were 13 river crossings though! But I managed to make it without falling into the river once….much to the Missus's disappointment. Just kidding.

Not too many people hiking on this morning; though it seemed like folks were arriving as we were leaving.

We passed some ruins as we were leaving the trail.

I was curious and walked over to the sign.

From 1926 to 1968 Mayhew Lodge stood here. The cabins saw visitors like Herbert Hoover, Jimmy Stewart, Walt Disney, and Clark Gable. You can read more about it here. In 1968 the Mayhew family sold the lodge to the U.S. Forest Service and in 1980 a fire consumed the buildings, leaving only the remains we can see today. It's interesting the things that you run across…..

As folks started arriving; we knew it was time for us to leave…….and time for me to have a break and maybe even a nap?

Thanks for stopping by!

The 2022 San Diego County Fair-Heroes Reunite! (part 1)

June 9, 2022 Cathy Festivals & Events, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is primarily a food blog. This post (written by Cathy) does have many mentions of food with photos of menus, but no criticism because nothing to be sold at the Fair has yet been tasted.

The front gate is ready! 223C5027-4A3C-4359-9893-A38D7421FA8A The 2022 San Diego County Fair Officially opened yesterday. It's been a long time since I wrote the 2019 San Diego County Fair initial post, the 'during the Fair' second post and wrap up post, because 2020 happened. DBFCBE71-8B52-4A2E-92B4-DEB18EA5AC21 The planned Theme was "Heroes Unite"; that Fair never happened. This year, the Theme is "Heroes Reunite".
F723E808-9E61-44C4-9155-9A91C72CA182 The Midway was still being set up earlier this week. (You can see the Ferris Wheel way down there at the West end).
67B5FE17-361D-4636-883C-7381C2BFF7B3 There are quite a few areas around exhibits where you can take photos with Superheroes.
68B08CD5-9D2C-4BF9-8A67-4B05F801298C Some things have changed. At the far West end of the Vendors Halls (next to Bing Crosby Hall), the new location of the Adult as well as Youth crafting, cooking and hobby exhibits has a new name- Home Made.

The "Heart of the Fair" -reasons we have State and County Fairs- has returned!
80AE847A-5DB9-421C-903C-62ECEE4AC1E4 6BAD95C0-7899-4C6C-99CB-EF1F919B499A Of course, Preserved Foods
as well as Baked Foods
and Decorated Foods had to be judged.
7ED614E1-08B8-4F15-8857-CC051B54FF7A There are some amazing collections.
A9880378-E302-42D1-957F-E1B820B3A300 The Quilt display is original.
BB734903-2CA0-4F0A-BE70-CF1117389610 There were so many needle art items entered this year- Sewing, spinning and weaving, knitting, crochet and more. The displays are great.

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Of course, the Food Booths have returned. Some photos for now; menus and things to note…

An "Express Line" if you are purchasing a turkey leg only!
The slices of 'Ten Pound Buns' are very large-the amount of avocado on that piece of toast…

Lemon mini donuts- we will definitely try those!

A 'themed' sandwich choice!

There are many other food booths and all areas have something interesting. See you at the Fair!

2022 San Diego County Fair 2260 Jimmy Durante Boulevard Del Mar. Open Wednesday-Sunday until July 3 plus Monday July 4. Gates open 11 a.m. daily, close at 10 p.m. Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday, 11 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Fair entrance and parking tickets MUST be purchased online in advance. There is free parking at Torrey Pines High School. Website

Kin Len – Thai Street Eats

June 7, 2022 mmm-yoso Thai Restaurants

Back at the end of last year, a new Thai restaurant opened on 30th street, if I recall this used to be a pizza shop? Boy has North Park evolved over the years!

Kin Len 01

For some reason, I had to work to convince the Missus to check the place out. First, parking is always an issue, second, the Missus really hasn't found anything She enjoyed eating on this strip of 30th north of University and of course prices have gone up quite a bit over the last couple of months. But we finally found some time, on a Tuesday at 530pm, eating outside.

Kin Len 01b

The only other party in the place finished up as we entered and other than a single diner who sat at the bar, we were the only folks eating here. The interior is quite charming with wood paneled walls, Thai knick knacks and vintage signs on the walls….and of course the ever present televisions; in this case two of them.

The young lady serving us on this visit was so very sweet. And though it says "Thai Street Eats" in the name of the place, you are paying a bit more than Soi 30th down the street, though I must say; the portion sizes of some of the dishes are quite large.

We must have been hungry, because we ordered quite a bit of food.

At the time of this visit we had been experiencing a bit of a warm spell, so the Missus had been craving Som Tom so we got the Issan style Papaya Salad ($11.95).

Kin Len 02

We had ordered all our dishes at a "level 3" on a scale of 1-5 in terms of heat. But this was barely spicy at all. It also had way too much shredded carrots to the actual shredded papaya, which was nice and crisp. While the sauce looked quite dark, it really wasn't very funky in terms of fermented fish/crab sauce. In fact, it was too sweet and seemed quite "Ameri-Thai" in terms of flavor.

Next to arrive was the Basil Beef (Kra Pra Neua – $14.95). Which looked quite nice with the fried basil on it.

Kin Len 03 Kin Len 03b Looks however, were deceiving as the ground beef was really hard and chewy, this was quite bland, it really needed more fish sauce-oyster sauce-anything salty and savory. The rice was a bit too wet and mushy. The egg was a wonderful sunny side up; but had that "fishy" finish we don't enjoy. This was probably our least favorite dish of the meal.

The next dish to arrive was an appetizer, I'm thinking the time for frying delayed the dish. I was looking forward to the Tom Yum Wings ($10.95).

Kin Len 04

These wings were huge! We both enjoyed the seasoning; sour-salty-savory. I do wish the exterior was a bit more crisp and these being large wings, the meat was dry and too chewy. Overall, this was the best dish of the meal.

The last dish to arrive was the Hat Yai Chicken and Curry ($18.95). The Missus loves the Hat Yai chicken from Sovereign Thai and was interested to see how this compared.

Kin Len 05 Kin Len 05b First off, that quarter chicken was huge! It was nicely fried if on the bland side; but due to the size the meat was really dry and tough. This really needed more flavor. The rice, like on the basil beef was on the mushy side. The curry was too sweet and thin for our taste. I did enjoy the roti; while a tad on the greasy side did fine dipped into the curry.

Well, while the portions were quite large and visually appealing, we found the food lacking in flavors we consider to be truly Thai and the poultry was quite dry and tough.

I really wanted to give the place another try, but the Missus was not agreeable to that, so I decided to revisit at 3pm on a Saturday. I wasn't sure how busy Kin Len was going to be since I had to park five blocks away, but the place was quite empty. So I decided to eat at the bar.

Kin Len 06

As before, the young ladies working here are so sweet and nice.

After perusing the menu; based on my last visit, I placed my orders.

On that previous visit, Kin Len seems to go a good job with deep fried items, so I started off with the Fried Enoki Mushroom ($9.95).

Kin Len 07

In spite of being in rather large "clumps" this was perfectly fried; though it really needed more seasoning. The "sweet chili sauce" seemed a bit watered down and just give this enough "umph"….just wondering how the Tom Yum Seasoning would have done on this? I hadn't expected this large a portion and it was deep fried and I had to finish it.

So most of my Gailan and Crispy Pork Belly ($15.95) was taken home, though I did eat some of everything and finished the egg. I ordered this dish at a level "4" heat.

Kin Len 08 Kin Len 09 Even though the egg wasn't sunny side up this time; the edges were crisp and it had no off flavors. The rice was perfect on this visit as well, fluffy and fragrant. The crisp pork belly was nicely crisp on the exterior; but perhaps a bit too hard and chewy It was also a bit on the mild side in terms of flavor. The gailan was chopped in somewhat ponderous chunks some of which hadn't been blanched enough and was super hard. It was nice and spicy, but lacked anything much of anything else in terms of flavor and definitely needed a salty-savory boost in my opinion. I prefer the version at Soi 30th down the street. Kin Len 10

The portion sizes are quite generous and items are fried nicely. The uneven seasoning and flavoring seems to fall short; perhaps it's bit to "Hipster Ameri-Thai" for me?

I'm hoping things will get better over time and perhaps I'll check them out again. Heck, if you've been to Kin Len and had an outstanding dish let me know and I'll head back!

Kin Len – Thai Street Eats
3934 30th St.
San Diego, CA 92104
Hours:
Mon – Wed 5pm – 9pm
Thurs Fri 5pm – 10pm
Saturday 12pm – 10pm
Sunday 12pm – 9pm

Monday Meanderings – Da Kine’s Opening in La Mesa , Paris Sandwiches Coming to Mira Mesa, and Sau Voi Deli Closes

June 6, 2022 mmm-yoso Bakery, Banh Mi, Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego, Plate Lunch

Well, this post was supposed to go up on Saturday except that I ran into all kinds of issues with uploading photos and comment notifications. Things finally seems straightened out today. And perhaps there's a silver lining on this one….read below:

Da Kine's Opening in La Mesa:

**** This location is closed and Nelson is currently only doing catering

*** You can find a post on Da Kine's here.

2022-06-06_12-21-31

KerriK has been a wonderful "FOY", keeping me updated on what's happening with Da Kine's reopening in La Mesa.

Anyway, last Friday Kerri emailed me, letting me know that "Uncle Nelson" had updated his Facebook page informing folks that Da Kine's was (finally) (re) opening sometime this week.

That's a screenshot on the right.

So, this was all ready to go…and then I suddenly couldn't upload photos! Sheesh…..

But I guess it was fate; because Kerri, via our good old "Coconut Wireless" shot me an email this afternoon with the simple line:

"Nelson has declared tomorrow, June 7th, at 11:00am, as the opening."

So perhaps the delay was meant to be?

Thanks so much Kerri, for always thinking of us, and for all the support over the years! We appreciate it so much!

Da Kine's
7436 University Ave.
La Mesa, CA 91942

Paris Sandwiches Coming to Mira Mesa:

After picking up lunch recently at R&B, I saw the sign for Paris Sandwiches while driving back to the office. I needed to run some errands on Saturday so I went to check things out. Located next to Luong Hai Ky, now known as LHK.

The place really looked like it was open already; but a quick glance as I was passing by revealed that work is still going on.

I was wondering about the place and the name; so I followed the URL posted on the sign out front and guess what? The other address listed is for Paris Bakery on El Cajon Blvd!

I guess we know where the bread is coming from, right?

10606 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126

Sau Voi Deli Closes:

I guess I haven't been to the Clairemont Mesa location of 99 Ranch Market for a while. On a recent shopping trip, I was shocked to see that Sau Voi Deli had closed!

And from what I could gather, they've been closed since the end of February!

Even though SVD was never a favorite of mine, it's sad to see such a long standing business shut down.

7330 Clairemont Mesa Blvd Ste 109
San Diego, CA 92111

Anyway, hope everyone is in good health.

Take care and have a great week!