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.
After doing my Hu Tieu Nam Vang Kho comparison post, I realized that I hadn't revisited Trieu Chau in years. So I made it a point to revisit and have some noodle soup in over the last couple of weeks.
The service here is all business…..an older woman helps in the kitchen and busses, either a gentleman or a woman who I think is his wife takes orders, waits tables, cooks, and works the register.
The noodle soup menu is quite long. I soon realized that I had never had the egg noodle soup at Trieu Chau; so I decided to go ahead and get the House Won Ton Egg Noodle Soup ($7.50).
This bowl had way more than just won tons in it. It had some shrimp (nicely deveined and fairly plump); slices of pork (good flavor, but tough), ground pork, and a piece of rather tough chopped chicken, in addition to won tons, which were on the tough side; though nicely flavored.
The broth was salty and overly sweet; though it had a slight porkiness to it. It was delivered absolutely steaming hot with a decent amount of tongue coating richness. The lime came in handy.
The egg noodles were of the thinner type and prepared decently; it had a nice crunchy-chew to it.
A few weeks later, on a rather cooler and somewhat wet day, I decided to drop by on my way to Northgate Market.
I had my eye on the "Duck Soup with Egg Noodles" ($8.00). I was pleasantly surprised by this bowl.
The broth was much more fragrant and darker than my previous bowl. It became obvious that the drippings/sauce from the duck was used to help flavor the soup. While the broth was still on the saltier side; the added flavor boost did a nice job adding a bit of complexity and savory tones to the soup. It was also pleasantly rich.
There was a good amount of sliced duck; including the leg in the soup. All the bones and such made it somewhat ponderous to eat. The duck was fairly tender, the skin was soft, and the meat still had some gamey-savory tones to it.
There was a smaller portion of egg noodles in this bowl, but like my previous visit, it was prepared nicely.
This was not bad and I'd surely order it again.
So, it looks like Trieu Chau is on my noodle rotation in City Heights. There's still much to try from the menu. Like Lotus Garden, I need to try the Beef Sate Egg Noodle here.
Trieu Chau Restaurant 4653 University Ave San Diego, CA 92105 Hours: Daily 8am – 8pm
*** Not much food in this one; just a couple of "cold ones"
Revived by our coffee at Cafe Tomaselli, the Missus had one more item to check off our "list". On the cliffs above the Old Town is a pretty imposing castle.
This is Hohensalzburg Fortress; first constructed in 1077 by Archbishop Gebhard during a power struggle between the Holy Roman Emperors and the Roman Catholic Church called the Investiture Controversy. The Archbishop first built a fortress on Festungsberg as a symbol of the power of the Catholic Church, directed at Henry IV.
There's a funicular that can take you quickly to the top off the hill….but you know the Missus….we walked up. The walk isn't super long; but it's pretty steep. I was somewhat glad to see, that there were other folks, most much younger than me, huffing and puffing their way up the hill as well.
And I gotta admit, the views on the walk up weren't half bad.
And while there are a bunch of various room, tours, and such, we had really come here for the views; which were wonderful on a beautiful day like this one.
We wandered along the perimeter of the courtyard, making time to take in the fantastic view. I'll say it again; it was a beautiful day.
We then took some time to visit some of the rooms and also St George's Chapel; a little church that dates back to 1500, with marble reliefs of the Apostles that date back to 1501.
From what I read; the Chapel is named after St George, who is the Patron Saint of Horses.
The small domed ceiling and bright white colors really made the chapel come alive.
There's even an interesting sundial on the outside wall of the Chapel that you can see in this photo.
Still, for us, it was about the view.
You understand what I mean; right?
Walking across the courtyard we were rewarded with another wonderful view.
Looking off to the Berchtesgaden Alps in the distance….I got it. All together now, "The hills are alive with the sound of music ……"
Then it was time to head back down.
I had noticed a place on the way up.
The Missus doesn't drink much beer these days (though She did on this trip); but Stiegl's Grapefruit Radler is a favorite of Hers. Stiegl's Headquarters and Brewery is located in Salzburg and we just happened to be passing their "Gastgarten"……how convenient wouldn't you say?
There was some outdoor seating available; but we weren't going to be eating anything and decided to just head into the bar area. Where we both got Grapefruit Radlers.
The clean, bright citrusy grapefruit, with a hint of sweet, low ABV at 2%, it was so refreshing on a rather warm day.
And the Missus got Her Stiegl Grapefruit Radler in Salzburg.
Stiegl-Keller Festungsgasse 10 5020 Salzburg, Austria
It was time to head back to the room; freshen up and find a place for dinner.
While making my way to Northgate Market to get some pig's feet, I noticed that there was a "Pho" sign on the awning of Lotus Garden. Looks like the Lotus Garden was expanding the menu from the seafood and the typical Chinese dishes served there.
Since Lotus Garden opens at 9am, I decided to visit when finishing up my shopping in the area.
As it was fairly early in the morning; it was easy finding parking in back of the building, where it shares the lot with Minh Huong Supermarket. looking at the sign above the doorway; I guess it's now Lotus Garden Seafood and Pho.
I walked in and the friendly young man directed me to a seat. It's a pretty nice dining area and I believe they have even more space in the back dining room as well.
Man, the menu here has over 120 items on it…..and there's a second menu with pho on it as well. I was going to order the pho, but noticed all the egg noodle and hu tieu items. And seeing that this place is a (sorta) Chinese restaurant; I decided to get the BBQ Duck Egg Noodle Soup ($8.99). I really didn't expect much, but was quite pleasantly surprised at what I got.
The blanched bean sprouts was a good first move. The broth of the egg noodle soup, while being on the salty side also had some savory notes to it; with a heck of a lot of oniony-slightly pungent and a light, almost seafood like flavor. The fried shallots was also a good move aa was all that scallion.
The noodles were decently prepared, with a nice pull to them.
The most surprising thing for me was the duck.
While being perhaps a tad on the dry side; the skin of the duck had been crisped up nicely, no rubbery skin here, and there was a nice salty-sweet flavor to the skin. I also enjoyed the quite gamey flavor of the duck…perhaps not everyone's cup of tea; but I enjoyed it. This was actually not bad at all and really didn't need any sauce, or jus on it at all.
I really liked the young man working; I believe his name is "Tu", he was quite friendly and we chatted about Little Saigon….I believe he's from the OC, and he even told me he knew of a place in his 'hood that made pretty decent duck…."Lien Hoa?" I asked and he seemed surprised. And then I mentioned always getting a side of the "jus" with my duck from there….he cracked up.
I decided to return the following week to try the pho….and of course, when I first try a place's pho…it's the dac biet ($9).
The basil and sprouts arrived; even though a few of the basil leaves were starting to discolor; there was enough of it so that it didn't really matter. And of course the Ngo Gai was present, crisp, fresh, like a pungent cilantro with a hint of sweetness.
The broth however, was underwhelming. It was cloudy, severely defatted, lacking in beef flavor and….as is typical in San Diego these days, too sweet and overly salty.
The rare steak was tough and dry, the flank too chewy and flavorless, though the brisket was fine, tender with a mild beefiness, the tendon was soft and buttery, and the tripe was crisp and crunchy, without any off flavors.
The typical clump of noodles was decent as well; edging on over-cooked, but okay. Still, I don't think I'll have the pho here on future visits.
I had taken a closer look at the menu on this visit and wanted to try something I saw on the menu so I returned the following week.
This time I had the House Combination Egg Noodle Soup ($7.99), which was pretty much fishball city.
The bean sprouts weren't as well blanched on this visit. The soup was also more salty; with that annoying "sweetness" to it. I needed all of the lime to help temper it.
The noodles were prepped perfectly; nice al dente pull to them.
There were some pieces of meh shrimp in the broth, fairly muddy in flavor….the item I enjoyed the best were the pleasantly toothsome and mildly funky pork stomach.
But the item I had really come to try was the Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings ($8.99)….well, there's a "Doritos" version as well, but I stuck with the, ahem…"classic".
The wings were fried fairly well; being quite moist and tender. The batter was bit too soft and got soggy quickly. The garlic was burnt and bitter, not great eats in my book. It wasn't overly salty and could have actually used more seasoning….though no more of the bitter garlic. Not sure I'd have this again, but it wasn't terrible.
In the end, Lotus Garden was not bad….I mean, I'd eat here every so often if it was in my neighborhood as it's better than the options that I have near by. I enjoyed the young man who served me on my first visit and there are still items on the huge menu to try…..heck, I haven't even gotten to the Beef Sate Egg Noodle yet.
Lotus Garden Restaurant 4007 Euclid Ave. San Diego, CA 92105 Hours: Open Daily 9am – 10pm
What I've found over the years is that I'm a pretty loyal customer….or maybe I'm just lazy? I used to follow my barber around from place to place for years, which I mentioned at the end of this post, form Mission Valley to Serra Mesa to El Cajon to College to his uncles house (during a bad spell he was pretty much homeless) to Rolando, to Oceanside, then back to Rolando…after which he fell off the radar…not sure what's up with him. Same with my Dry Cleaning Lady, whom I've mentioned in several posts over the years. After almost 15 years, she's decided to slow things down a bit and decided to sell of the dry cleaner and is now working a couple of days a week in Tierrasanta. So, of course, that's where my dry cleaning goes now.
After getting back from Mexico City, I had a batch of dry cleaning to drop off. And then I needed a place for lunch. Fat Tuesday had just passed, which had me wondering how Bud's was doing, since it had been over two years since I last visited.
The place was fairly quiet; I kinda just wanted a sandwich, so I went with the New Orleans BBQ Shrimp Po' Boy, and subbed out some Red Beans and Rice for the fries. The staff was warm and welcoming; especially the young lady who waited on me.
The bread was light and crusty and this wasn't drenched in tartar sauce like I've had it several times before. These days they put a purple cabbage coleslaw mix in the sandwich….way too much of it; all that cabbage just overwhelms the well sautéed, moist and plump, though quite under represented shrimp. This was quite mild in flavor, so I'll definitely have to try something else next time.
The Red Beans and Rice had a great tongue coating texture, but was way too mild in flavor, I guess I've been my version at home these days and wanted to gauge how it was. It lacked smokiness and needed a lot of help…..I mainly poured in a good amount of Crystal Hot Sauce.
Perhaps I should have ordered my old fave, the Crawfish Etouffe, but my last experience with that wasn't particularly stellar. Oh well…….it's kinda sad because the Missus and I used to really enjoy Bud's way back in the early 'oughts, when they were on Kettner. Perhaps I'll have better luck next time.
Bud's Louisiana Café 4320 Viewridge Ave. San Diego, CA 92123 Hours: Mon – Tues 7am – 230pm Wed – Fri 7am – 9pm Saturday 12pm – 9pm Closed on Sundays
**** Not much food in this one. You might want to drop by for something more substantial to eat tomorrow
Our train was set to leave Vienna at 0930am, so we got up bright and early, checked out and headed off to the Vienna Train Station.
As I've mentioned several time before; I really enjoy train travel. It's much more relaxed and comfortable. A mere 2 1/2 hours later we were arriving at Salzburg Hbf. From here it was a nice walk to the "hotel" we were staying at. I use quotes, because we were staying at Gästehaus im Priesterseminar Salzburg. We really didn't want to stay in the old town, but wanted a place within walking distance to everything and I thought the New Town area would work out fine. In case you do recognize the name; this guesthouse is located in Salzburg Seminary….yep, that's right. No television, but you do get a Bible and a cross over your bed.
The beds were comfortable and we weren't going to be spending too much time in our room anyway.
Though I kept on looking up in the air and over my shoulder….the Missus asked me why and I told Her, "I'm waiting for lightening to strike us down….."
It was a beautiful day as we headed down along the Salzach River. Since we had basically one day in Salzburg, we went with the walk in Rick Steve's Guidebook for this first walk.
And crossed over to the Old Town on the Mozartsteg.
So, have you noticed the name??? Yes, Mozart was born in Salzburg and spent his younger years there, before moving permanently to Vienna when he was 25. Thus you'll "see" Mozart everywhere, along with being the setting of a famous movie.
Without these two subjects….well, I don't think all these tourists would be here…..
There was quite a bit of work occurring on the Residenzplatz, where the Salzburg Residenz, the Archbishops of Salzburg resided (thus "Residenz"), so we skipped on over to the Cathedral.
This wonderful Baroque church was built in just 14 years, replacing the original church which was damaged by fire in 1598.
We found the stark white interior to be quite striking as all the murals seemed to "pop' and come to life. It just seemed so aesthetically pleasing to the eye.
Hard to believe that in 1944, a bomb damaged the dome which wasn't repaired until 1959.
Both Mozart and Joseph Mohr, whom you might know from a little song he wrote titled Silent Night were baptized in this Cathedral.
Though, like I mentioned, it was the murals, especially those on the domes that really caught our attention.
Right around the corner is the Kapitelplatz, a spacious square dominated by this…..
A work by Stephan Balkenhol named Sphaera, a male figure standing on a golden ball…..looking off toward a female figure in a crevice up above.
As grand as this figure was; the one that made the biggest impact on us, was this ominous, scary sculpture named Die Pietà; which I was told meant "Coat of Peace"……it just looked really spooky to us.
On the far end of the square is the "Neptune Fountain" which is quite impressive, considering that it was actually built to be a horse bath….man, horses bathing here must've been something to see….
Right down the street is St Peter's Cemetery.
If you're a Sound of Music fan; this is where the Von Trapp family hid as they made their escape from the Nazis.
It was a beautiful sunny day when we visited.
There are three churches surrounding the cemetery.
We took a peek in Saint Mary's Chapel.
Which was a tiny, but quaint little Gothic chapel right in the cemetery.
We felt a strange kind of eeriness, walking thru the cemetery, even though it was a bright and sunny day.
At the rear of the cemetery, you'll notice structures carved into the mountainside.
These are the "catacombs"….I know, we usually think of catacombs being underground, but in this case they reside in Mönchsberg mountain.
We paid the small fee to climb up some steep steps and were rewarded with some pretty amazing views.
And as an amazing bonus; there was this young lady playing the piano in one of the caves.
She was amazing! When she finished, both the Missus and I gave her an ovation….which surprised her. She didn't even know we were there and sheepishly told us "I'm sorry, I'm practicing for a performance tonight…."
It definitely added to the atmosphere!
From here we walked thru Universitatsplatz (Univesity Square) and ended up facing Mönchsberg Cliff and what might be the most fancy horse trough I've ever seen before.
From here it was a quick turn at St. Blasius Church and you end up on busy Getreidegasse, a busy shopping street.
It was quite interesting walking down the street; you'd see folks dropping by places like Zara and Tommy Hilfiger….then you'd pass a place like Mozart's birthplace.
It was quite busy wo we decided to pass on this one.
We enjoyed wandering thru the passages….and at #3 Getreidegasse, there was a whale rib hanging from the roof. you can read more about that here.
I know it's getting warm when the Missus starts requesting certain places……and it's been warming up the last few days.
Thai Papaya:
**** Thai Papaya has closed
So, it goes like this. I get a text from the Missus, "can you pick up Thai on your way home tonight." It can only mean one place and She doesn't even have to tell me what to order. It's the Som Tom Khai Kem (papaya salad with salted egg), Duck Larb, and Issan Sausage.
As it always is and has been.
Thai Papaya by Sab E Lee 2405 Ulric St San Diego, CA 92111
Et Voila!:
Another favorite of the Missus is Happy Hour at Et Voila! So, with things warming up and both of us getting a home a bit earlier than usual we headed over.
And got our usual.
Sadly, that Huckleberry Bourbon, which used to be a HH favorite and used to be $7, is now $11, and tasted watered down….looking nothing like what it used to back in 2018.
Everything else seemed a bit different and we didn't enjoy it as much as we used to.
The Beignets de Champignons was nicely fried, but very salty.
And the Raviolis de Champignons way too sweet.
After not enjoying that Huckleberry Bourbon (my good FOY "YummyYummy" had warned me that the drink seemed a bit watered down over her last couple of visits), I ordered the Tequila Mockingbird, which I enjoyed; especially since it wasn't too sweet and there was a nice bit of savory heat from the Habanero Bitters.
It was quite telling as we walked to our car….the Missus told me, "I think we're done with Et Voila for a while".
I guess if you've been reading long enough you'd have noticed by now that I'm just not a pancakes and French toast for breakfast kinda guy, right? Here are a couple more weekend breakfast stops.
Barrio Donas:
One morning when the Missus had to work; I decided to head into the office to catch up on a few things. On the way up, I decided to take a short detour to see how Barrio Donas was doing. The place was pretty busy for just past 7am on a Sunday morning.
I still can't get over the rather modern; hipster-ish look of the place; such a change from when it was Best Donuts.
On the good side; the light and airy bolillo roll was still warm as I opened up the sandwich. These days; it seems that there's a lot less salsa and spice, and much more cheese. It's not quite the sandwich that I really used to enjoy….it seems a bit out of balance, a milder and tamer version.
The great thing about doing this blog for so long…..here's the A la Mexicana from Best Donuts back in March of 2017.
Nice acidity and brightness from the salsa, decent heat from the jalapenos, the earthy-nutty-savory flavor of the beans, not too much cheese, mixed with eggs. Doesn't that one look better? It was also $4.99 then; now, while it's not a big deal, it's $6.50. They gotta pay for all the renovations I guess.
Barrio Donas 4714 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. San Diego, CA 92117
Pho Hoa Huong:
On may to do my usual "rounds" on a Saturday morning, I was too early for my next set of stops; Nijiya, H Mart, and Marukai, so I decided to grab some breakfast…..my kind of breakfast. I had kind of enjoyed my last visit to the "fastest pho in the west" and decided to drop by.
Like I mentioned in my last post; the former perfunctory, hovering over you waiting for your order, has been replaced with a more relaxed…..though I can't really call it friendly, atmosphere. What hasn't changed was how quickly the pho hit my table after I ordered it. I set my stopwatch and it clocked in at an amazing 3 minutes 45 seconds…..
Being the consistent (or as the Missus calls it, "boring") person that I am. I went with #4.
Man, look at all that basil, sprouts, and ngo gai. Some of the basil was turning color, but there was so much of it that it really didn't matter.
The broth was darker than on my previous visit, slightly beefy, not overly sweet as is the norm for san Diego pho these days. Perhaps a bit too defatted, but not bad overall. I didn't need lime to cut the saltiness.
The clump of noodles still had a nice pull to them….I guess when you get the bowl to the table in less than five minutes, there's no chance of the noodles getting mushy.
The flank was better this time around; though still too tough for my liking; the tendon decent, and the tripe had a nice crunch.
And like on previous visits, in and out in less than 30 minutes.
Pho Hoa-Huong Restaurant 6921 Linda Vista Rd San Diego, CA 92111
Once the home of Maria Christina, whose husband Albert of Saxony was a collector of fine art. Built on the one of the remaining fortress walls of Vienna, this former palace, now museum not only houses a collection of art, but you also walk through grand and colorful staterooms. Like the Hall of Muses.
And the Audience Room among others…..
And there were some very familiar works; like Albrecht Dürer's Young Hare.
I cracked the Missus up when I told Her the reason I recognized this was because a friend of mine had a lawn ornament that looked exactly like this watercolor….and he probably had no idea it was based on this.
I found "Rubens's Son Nicolaas Wearing a Red Felt Cap" to be quite striking as well.
And from one of my favorite artists; Joan Miro; "Birds and Insects".
Still, it was the staterooms that really caught our attention. This is the Study of Archduke Carl.
After the visit; we headed back to our apartment and had a nice nap.
Upon awakening, we headed up Wollziele. It was still too early for our dinner reservations, so we headed to the wine bar that had been unexpectedly closed the night before. We made a couple of stops along the way to do a bit of shopping and passed this interesting mural.
The wine bar I had on my list was in a little alleyway, between some busy shopping streets in the same area as the very popular Wiener Schnitzel restaurant Figlmüller and is named Vis-à-vis. It's a cozy little shop; just 2 booth and a couple of seats. It was quite empty when we arrived, but filled up quickly.
The Missus had a nice white and when I couldn't figure out what to have; one of what seemed to be a regular customer came up and made some recommendations. He recommended an Austrian Grüner Veltliner, a very nice, dry, crisp, wine…..he even told us the name and where the winery was located; but I'm sorry to say, we can't remember.
The woman who ran the place was very kind and friendly, and that gentleman who spoke perfect English was so hospitable. Plus, we couldn't complain about the prices at €5,5 a glass.
Vis a Vis Wollzeile 5 1010 Vienna, Austria
We really hadn't wanted schnitzel for our last dinner and I was fascinated with Viennese Tafelspitz, a restaurant named Plachutta Wollzeile seemed to be quite popular, so I had made reservations.
The restaurant is quite large and as the evening progressed got really full….both tourists and quite a few Austrian families as well.
The Servers were quite professional even though the place got super slammed as the evening went by. I'm glad we got there early.
We ordered our Tafelspitz; I figured one order to share would be enough. We also got two appetizers….and I got a "cold one" and the Missus a glass of wine to start.
The first item to arrive was the "Starter Trilogy"; Jellied Beef, Goose Liver, and Steak Tartare.
The "jellied beef" was basically an aspic, very clear and beefy. The goose liver was quite nice; not overly strong in terms of funky-offal flavors; decent on the bread provided. The beef tartare was a bit too mushy for my taste; though it had a nice, clean finish, with no off flavors.
Since it was white asparagus season, we ordered the White Asparagus with the Herb and Tomato Vinaigrette and Chopped Egg. This was by far our favorite dish of the night.
The asparagus was so lovely; sweet, with just a hint of bitter, nice and crisp, the tomato relish was no biggie, but for some reason, that savory chopped boiled egg really added to the overall flavor.
The Tafelspitz….you can order different cuts, but we went with the traditional, which is boiled beef rump. Is quite a production as it is served in a pan full of very clear consommé like beef stock. And served with potatoes rosti, creamed spinach, horseradish with applesauce, bone marrow, a chive cream sauce, and bread. Whew…..
We weren't big fans of the creamed spinach, which was pretty bland……it reminded me of really bad 1960's type dishes. The applesauce with horseradish really lacked "oomph"; which might be the objective, but it was just too sweet for us.
The chive sauce was ok; it needed more pungency for my taste, but it was the best of the bunch.
I had always thought that Potatoes Rosti was kind of like a shredded potato formed into a cake, ten browned. What we had was all in pieces making it more like American hash browns. It was nicely seasoned, with a good combination of crisp and tender potato shreds.
The beef broth was nice, with a definite bovine goodness, though a bit on the salty side, it had a nice and clean finish. The Tafelspitz was perfect in texture, it held form, but was easily cut with a fork….it really didn't seem to have as much beefiness as I anticipated though. For me, the best item was the bone marrow, which looked like it wasn't going to be soft enough; but was so buttery in texture and so beefy. It was perfect on the almost rye like Viennese bread.
We left quiet full, but not stuffed. All-in-all we were glad to have tried Tafelspitz; though it's not something we'll crave. That white asparagus though……
Plachutta Wollzeile Wollzeile 38 1010 Vienna, Austria
After dinner, we strolled around for a bit. checking out some of the shops and just digesting and burning off our meal.
We stopped by a convenience store and I bought a Gösser, an Austrian label owned by Heineken.
We'd done quite a bit during a couple of days in the city and we were pooped. After the beer, to quote Ringo Starr it was "all da da down to Goodnight Vienna!"
One of the guys in the office was getting married and folks wanted to do a pot luck….so, I was asked if I could get some of "those chicken wings….you know THOSE chicken wings!" So, I headed down during lunch to put in an order…..I know it's kind of a haul, but I needed to get out of the office for a bit anyway.
After placing my order for pick-up; I was a bit hungry and decided to check out the turo-turo shop in the same mall; Lisa's.
Looking back at old posts; I swear that I've posted on this place before; but the only thing I could find was this "coming soon" post. I know I visited once when they had first opened; but I guess I never did return afterward.
The restaurant is split into two sections; a dining area on one side…..
Which transitions to the BBQ station, then the hot table….
The place was fairly busy as I got to the line where a little old Filipino Grandma walked up and pushed a couple people aside to get into the front…..she must have been pretty hungry! Seems like everyone knew her, so I guess that's the norm here.
The woman working was all business and very efficient. I saw a couple folks getting pretty much the same thing; so I followed their lead and got the Pork Barbecue and the Sisig.
The one thing the woman did that I really liked was she made sure that I got some sinigang. Most places don't even bother if you either aren't Filipino or don't actually ask. The soup had a good amount of the wonderful sourness going on which I appreciated. There was a nice super soft piece of pork and a surprisingly spicy chili. I though the broth was a bit greasy; but heck, for free…..
I did enjoy the barbecue pork which was toothsome, but not tough; the sauce used wasn't too sweet, nor salty, and the savory tones really made it pretty good.
The sisig was not bad either; a bit of spice, not overly waxy, could have used more sour tones, but this wasn't greasy, though I would have appreciated the lechon kawale a bit more crunchy. But, like the pork, this wasn't bad at all.
A couple of weekends later, I had to run some errands down in National City and it was fairly early at around 8 or so. I had earlier noted that Lisa's opens at 7am. I'd be up to Kearny Mesa after this stop to pick up a couple of things, so I decided to drop by and grab something to go.
The woman working on this day was very nice. I really didn't care for the selection on this morning and just went with the Chicken Adobo and the Bistek.
Man, that bag seemed quite hefty. I knew I'd be getting to Nijiya before they opened, so I sat at a table and decided to have breakfast.
Sadly, my favorite item was the garlic rice….while it had some bitter burnt garlic in it. most of it was edible.
The chicken adobo was nice and tender; but it was also greasy and way too salty, in need of more vinegar tones. I just didn't care for the greasiness.
If anything, the bistek was even worse. I'm used to fairly chewy bistek, so that didn't bother me. It was the bloody-metallic taste and the sodium level that did. I'm used to a touch of sour-citrus in bistek, which was lacking here; or perhaps the salty-metallic flavors just cancelled it out.
As with most of these places; the portion size was generous. I'm not sure which of my visits was more indicative of Lisa's. I'll probably stick to lunch when I revisit though. After my arteries recover.
Lisa's Filipino Cuisine 1210 E Plaza Blvd. National City, CA 91950 Hours: Daily 7am – 8pm
In looking up the address for Lisa's; I noticed that the Otay Lakes location; which CC has posted on in the past seems to have changed name and owners.
Here's an unlikely pairing….though both places are pretty much on our rotation. Tribute was our last meal before heading to Mexico City and Woomiok our first restaurant meal after returning. As with our COMC posts; verbiage is at a minimum.
Returning from our trip; the Missus needed something to fortifying. I suggested Woomiok, which did the trick.
Woomiok 3860 Convoy St San Diego, CA 92111
I understand that perhaps you drop in to see something new; bright and shiny….but in all honesty, I don't think that's how most people eat…..someplace new everyday. And I'd like to think we're pretty much normal folk. I'll have something new soon; but for now, thank you for dropping by. And……
The service here is all business…..an older woman helps in the kitchen and busses, either a gentleman or a woman who I think is his wife takes orders, waits tables, cooks, and works the register.
This bowl had way more than just won tons in it. It had some shrimp (nicely deveined and fairly plump); slices of pork (good flavor, but tough), ground pork, and a piece of rather tough chopped chicken, in addition to won tons, which were on the tough side; though nicely flavored.
The broth was much more fragrant and darker than my previous bowl. It became obvious that the drippings/sauce from the duck was used to help flavor the soup. While the broth was still on the saltier side; the added flavor boost did a nice job adding a bit of complexity and savory tones to the soup. It was also pleasantly rich.
There was a smaller portion of egg noodles in this bowl, but like my previous visit, it was prepared nicely.
