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999 Quan Vietnamese Street Food

Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

In the comments section of my post on the opening of Yorimichi 2, “FOY” Elle mentioned that the supposed second location of Phuong Nga next to World Foods Supermarket was going to be a place named 999 Quan Vietnamese Street Food. And recently, when I headed up to City Heights I passed by and noticed that the place had opened, so I changed my plans and stopped to take a look.

I saw that the place was indeed open, so I changed my plans and decided to eat here.

The photos of Banh Khot and Bun Rieu caught my eye as I entered the simply adorned restaurant.

I was pointed to a table and handed a menu, I quickly noticed that Banh Khot was not available at this time.

And also…the prices….yikes!

I had thoughts on trying the Bun Rieu, but I decided to try to get the Missus here to check that out….then perhaps Bun Bo Hue? In the end, I just went with the Bun suon bo vien – which was $18!!! But there was a 20% discount because it was grand opening week.

Ina somewhat funny moment….Vietnamese Music Videos were playing when I was seated. I was the only customer at the time. When I placed my order, the gentleman seemed a bit surprised that I didn’t speak Vietnamese….a few minutes later, Blues Videos in English started playing!! You gotta love it!

A glass of cold tea was dropped off…along with a plate of garnishes. Looks at all that Ngo Gai! Something that’s a rarity these days.

The bowl soon arrived and I quickly noticed something.

Along with the suon…the beef ribs…well the noodles didn’t look like bun, more like banh pho!

Which were perfectly cooked and not in a huge clump at the bottom of the bowl. There were nice droplets of fat floating on top of the broth adding a nice tongue feel. The amount of black pepper seemed quite excessive; but the pungency of that along with the raw onions really added to the flavor. Throw in the anise tones of the cilantro and ngo gai, all of this really complemented the soup, which to me was basically a nicely beefy pho. It did have a hint of that “sweetness” that permeates most pho in San Diego, but wasn’t bad at all.

The bo vien, the meatballs were typical, tough and squeaky, not my favorite thing in the world. The thicker slices of beef were decently tender and beefy. The crowning item of this bowl was the beef rib, you know, what I call “Them Bones“.

So tender….falling off the bone, nice and beefy!

This was possibly the best bowl of pho….even though it wasn’t called that on the menu; that I’ve had in a while. I prefer it to Pho Ca Dao which shares the same parking lot.

I tried to talk that Missus into a visit, but She kept declining. So, a couple of weeks later I returned. By now, each table had a menu placed on it! And they had changed the name of the Bun suon bo vien to Pho Suon Bo Vien. And raised the price by $2 to $20! Ouch!

I had thoughts of getting the Bun Bo Hue; but decided on just getting the Banh Mi Bo Kho ($15) instead. It had been a while since I’d had a decent bowl of Bo Kho as my old favorite place for the dish had changed ownership and my last bowl there was just ok.

The banh mi looked typical, but it was light, yeasty, crusty, and warm. The bowl of beef stew was fairly large as well.

The stew, was more of a broth, being on the thinner side. That said, it was full of beefy-anise flavor, with good tomato-pepper tones, and scorching hot!

The beef was super tender, the huge slices of carrots were as well. The tendon was super hard and crunchy…I prefer a more buttery texture.

Overall, loved the flavor, the tender chunks of beef. Would have preferred more tender tendon and a more stew like soup. Still, in terms of taste, it was quite good.

Several groups of older folks came in while I ate. A group of six women sat in back of me….they all ordered the Bun Rieu. Three gentleman, also on the older side came in a bit later, but hadn’t received their order when I had finished. The guy that I think is the owner was eating as I left….he was having Bun Rieu, so perhaps I can talk the Missus into visiting?

I’d probably come back again real soon….but those prices! They also have Bo Ne, that sizzling skillet dish that I only recall seeing at Thien Huong in Mira Mesa.

Elle, have you had a chance to visit 999 Quan? And if you did, what did you think? Thanks as always for the heads up!

999 Quan Vietnamese Street Food
5237 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92115
Current Hours:
Wed – Mon 9am – 9pm
Closed on Tuesday

Circling Back to Noble Chef

Chinese Restaurants

We’ve been taking JJ on a road trip each month….as regular readers may note; I’m a bit behind on those posts. The last few have been trips to the “mountains”….so, what does the Missus want when we get back home? Well, Chinese of course!

I did take photos of two of those return to “home and get Her fix” visits. They are places I’ve posted on many, many times…… So here’s the first one.

I know I last did a post on Noble Chef in January, but we’ve mostly been doing takeout visits since we have JJ. But since the little squirt is getting a bit older now; we can head out and grab dinner on occasion. The last time we’d actually eaten in at Noble Chef was back in January of last year!

Noble Chef gets pretty busy for dinner these days and this visit was no different. We went with our “usual” items.

Like a half Roast Duck.

This was nicely flavored – five spice and all that. The skin was a bit softer than we prefer, but pretty good overall. And the leftovers did quite well.

The Missus ordered the Tofu with Salted Fish.

Nice funky-savory tones. That tofu was perfectly soft.

Of course, the Salt and Pepper Pork Chops were a must.

These were the best we’ve had in a while. Not overly thick, so ratio of crispy-crunchy to enjoyably toothsome was good. Salty-mildly spicy-peppery. Also did well in the air fryer the next day. I brushed off all the garlic and peppers so it would get that bitter burn and it was good.

And of course the Soy Sauce Chow Mien, a dish that takes me back to “small kid” time.

Shortage of green onions on this; but the noodles were a perfect al dente and evenly coated in soy sauce. Decent wok hay as well.

We really enjoyed our dinner at Noble Chef….I guess dining in is really the way to go if you have the time.

The Noble Chef
6159 Balboa Avenue
San Diego, CA 92111

Road Trip – The Secret Garden and Dinner at L’Escargot (Carmel)

Dog Friendly, French Restaurants, Memorable Meals, Monterey/Carmel/Santa Cruz - Monterey Bay/Peninsula, Road Trip, Travel

After doing the 17 Mile Drive and some shopping in Pacific Grove, we headed back to Carmel. After parking the car, we decided to take JJ down to Carmel Beach which was just a few blocks from where we were staying.

It was kind of overcast, but we enjoyed the short stroll.

We then headed back up Ocean Avenue where the Missus did a bit more shopping.

While looking at this window display, the Artist and owner of the shop, Edi Matsumoto came out. She was so nice and we had a lovely chat!

As we headed on back to the Green Lantern, I happened to look down the driveway off of San Carlos Street and I noticed something.

Hmmm…..

Ok, they really know how to get me, right? You know I just had to see what was down that path.

It was a cute little path, adorned with statuary, fountains, very serene and relaxing.

There’s a little Garden shop.

And the path leads out to Dolores Street and this bookstore.

It was a very nice community bookstore and the owners were oh so friendly and kind.

You can really tell they’re part of the community here!

And you know what; I just happened to open up this Children’s book….

And I saw all those places we’d been walking past! I loved it! I wanted to support this shop, so I bought an Autographed copy! Of course it features pooches, right? But wait, there’s more! There’s a fabulous map, and you can follow Olly’s and Lucille’s adventure using the Voicemap App – from the book’s website!

Here’s a screenshot of the map from that website:

Also, more about the Secret Garden here and here.

Pilgrims Way Community Bookstore
Dolores St. between 5th & 6th
Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA 93921

On the way back we came across this cute little park between all the art galleries on Dolores Street.

Away from the hustle and bustle, Carmel is quite charming.

We took a short break before heading out to dinner. I had made reservations at a French restaurant for our last dinner in the city. The name, L’Escargot hooked me. The restaurant was a 15 minute walk from our room. It was dinner time and all the traffic was back. Though once we got past 6th Avenue, things seemed to quiet down a bit. The restaurant had ample outdoor seating.

I walked over; peeked into the restaurant and the host seated us at one of the al fresco tables.

I got a Kir Royale and some baguette and butter was dropped off while we looked over the menu.

The butter was cold, but nicely whipped very creamy, milky, and light. The baguette was a bit damp, but the crust was very good!

As we often do; we just went with several apps. Starting with the Duck and Pork Country Pate.

Coarsely ground, but oh so rich….deep earthy-gamy flavors. Those cornichons came in handy. The mustard helped to cut the liveryness. Man, this was so good with the baguette….our Server saw us blasting thru it and brought us another basket!

Of course we had to try the Escargot, right?

Man, these were jumbo sized! Plump, great texture, toothsome, but not chewy! Oh my, that garlic butter was so rick and savory….guess who needed more baguette?

The Sweetbread and Mushroom Vol au Vent was also a big winnah!

Light, crisp puff pastry; crisp and creamy, mildly gamey-sweet sweetbreads, earthy-sweet mushrooms. That mushroom sauce was earth-buttery-perfectly seasoned.

Our Server saw how much we loved this and he brought us another piece of the Veal Sweetbreads – such great service!

Man, I wish this were in San Diego! Even though we were outside of the restaurant; we were checked on on a regular basis. And they gave us that extra sweetbread! This was a delicious meal, our favorite of the two week trip and made up for the other mediocre meals we had in Carmel!

L’Escargot
Mission At 4th Ave.
Carmel, CA 93921

Road Trip – Treehouse Café (Carmel) and the 17 Mile Drive

Dog Friendly, Fusion Cuisine, Mediterranean Restaurants, Monterey/Carmel/Santa Cruz - Monterey Bay/Peninsula, Road Trip, Travel

After checking into our room at the Green Lantern Inn we rested a bit and then decided to do some shopping before having a rather early dinner. The place I picked; because it was just a few blocks away from where we were staying…..the sidewalks are small and traffic both pedestrian and autos are pretty bad during peak times; was the Road Trip – Treehouse Café (Carmel) and the 17 Mile Drive. It’s a very cute location.

On the terrace of a charming little building. There’s a nice outdoor eating area.

Carmel claims to be the most dog friendly cities in the US. And heck, there were no less than 8 pooches hanging on the terrace. Including these two!

The pooches were so well behaved….even more so than their two-legged counterparts, many of whom seemed snooty and demanding. And I gotta say; the service here was on the abrupt side…..though that could have been because of the customers. And quite slow to boot.

Treehouse Café has an interesting menu. There are Thai, Mediterranean, and Italian dishes on the menu. A crazy mix that I would usually avoid….but because of how pooch friendly the place was, I thought we’d just have our first dinner here.

I started with an Allagash White, clean, citrus tones. Which went well with the bread and the herbaceous olive oil.

Being quite curious; I ordered the Thai Pork Sausage.

Very porky with a good amount of rice stuffed into it. Lacking in the herbaceous tones and spice I look for though.

Because I could not get enough bread…..I ordered the roasted garlic. Which was interesting as the garlic was still hard and bitter….not soft and spreadable like I prefer.

The olive oil it was soaking in was quite good though.

And for more carbs….we got the Veggie Combo Platter. Along with the overly chewy pita included…counterclockwise; Dolmas, which were too chewy and bland, some incinerated falafel….not good eats, both the hummus and baba ghanouj were good though…nicely blended, creamy, full of flavor.

And to finish off, a basic Greek Salad.

Overall, a fairly mediocre dinner, that took quite long…..and most places were closed by the time we finished.

Treehouse Café
7th & 8th San Carlos St.
Carmel, CA 93921

So, we just walked on back to our accommodations and called it a night. I did a post; while someone totally crashed out.

As for our full day in Carmel…well, we decided to do something that we had done once before, when we still lived in LA. We decided to take JJ on the 17 Mile Drive from the Carmel Gate.

But first, I took JJ to get some coffee. Carmel is a totally different city in the morning.

Peaceful and relaxing.

Though I did find that the Seagulls here feel quite entitled as well. I actually saw seagulls taking their time crossing the street, stopping traffic three times! I managed to get a photo of one of those occasions!

When you have time to relax and stroll you notice things……I hadn’t taken notice of Carmel’s City Hall before, though we walked past it twice the previous day!

I went to the Carmel Coffee House and Roasting Company to get the Missus a latte and myself a cold brew.

The Missus enjoyed Her latte; my cold brew was quite smooth and easy to drink.

Carmel Coffee House and Roasting Company
Dolores St.
Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA 93921

And then we headed out. We paid our $12.25 fee at the Carmel Gate, then headed out to see some of the sights. We made a few stops.

Of course we had to stop at that symbol of Pebble Beach, the Lone Cypress.

It is said to have started growing in the mid 1700’s and has survived so much. Even several arson attempts. A symbol of resilience it has been declared the most photographed tree in the world.

We made a stop at Crocker Grove.

There are only two Monterey Cypress Forests in existence and this is one of them.

Bird Rock Vista Point for both the view and a bathroom break.

And JJ seemed to be enjoying himself.

There was just one more stop I wanted to make. When we did our previous visit, China Rock.

Which was once the site of a Chinese Fishing Village.

For some interesting stories and history, check out these two posts.

By this time, we’d kind of had our fill and decided just to head on out to Pacific Grove. We turned on a familiar street; Lighthouse Avenue, where we enjoyed exploring the city on the self guided historic houses tour several years back. The Missus had really enjoyed shopping here and so we stopped and the Missus got some shopping in.

And then it was time to head back to Carmel….we still had the afternoon to do more exploring.

Takeout Revisits – Tenkatori and Zgara Greek Grill

Greek Food, Japanese Restaurants

Here are a couple of revisits to places that used to be on my regular rotation that I haven’t visited in a while.

Tenkatori:

Man, has it been a year-and-a-half since I last visited Tenkatori? I was craving some karaage and decided it was time to “scratch” that itch and head on over. Like I’ve said before; with regards to Tenkatori, one should call in your order – I called in my order for the Karaage Bento Box – a reasonable $12. However, if you ordered it online – even though they said it’s “no fees” guess what?

That crazy parking lot is not so bad before 11am and I easily found parking. Strode on in, paid and got my karaage.

This is what it looked like.

Unlike on previous visits, the rice was perfectly cooked; the potato salad so creamy and nicely seasoned.

This time around, it was the batter of the chicken that was weird….it was mushy, and the pieces were stuck together? Really strange.

Maybe the 20 minute drive before eating was too long? Or perhaps the oil wasn’t at the right temperature?

The chicken itself was very tasty, perfect salty-umami-soy balance and very moist and adequately tender.

I know that “FOY” ChrisR has been mentioning trying the nankotsu, the chicken cartilage..so maybe I nede to try that next time! Still, in this day and age, the prices at Tenktori has stayed fairly stable for a while.

Tenkatori Miramar
6780 Miramar Rd Suite 104
San Diego, CA 92121

Zgara Greek Grill:

Zgara is another regular stop that I hadn’t visited in a while. Perhaps it was that on my last visit, I found out that Eric had sold the place! Though my usual; the pork gyro was quite good. I had also heard from “FOY” Ron that things had gone downhill a bit in the months following. Still, a revisit was overdue.

I did notice that the Pork Gyro Sandwich was now $11.86 a dollar more than on my last visit. Though still what I consider reasonable for these days.

And of course that’s what I ordered.

Man, this was really stuffed with nicely seasoned pork. Though I think it’s a bit chewier than I recalled.

The pillowy pita held up well, though I think with all that protein, I could have used more Tzatziki and tomatoes.

Still this was fine…..though it does seem to be missing something. But, I can’t quite put my finger on it? Perhaps it’s just a figment, right?

Zgara Greek Grill
1229 Morena Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92110

Local Kine Char Siu Chicken

Cooking, Recipes

Several folks have been asking me if I still cook and stuffs….and yes I do; though it’s mostly about technique and doing stuff on the fly these days. Though I do have several recipes/”formulas” and I guess it’s past the time I should do posts on these.

Anyway, here’s an actual recipe that I created during Covid after working thru it several times. It’s become a favorite of the Missus’s coworkers (thus the trip to June Lake – which I did again this year to cook for them), our neighbor who is from the Islands, and several other folks. When I grill it at home, most of it is given away.

It’s a riff on classic flavors of my youth….like local kine teriyaki-char siu. It is kind of a pain in the butt to make; which is why I put off doing this for so long….I’m not sure folks would like to make this.

First off; the basic recipe is for about a pound-and-a-half of boneless/skinless chicken thighs. Second, I tenderize each piece of chicken with a mallet. Third, I portion out and divide the sauce…for marinating, basting, and on the side….cause people like to use it for all kines of stuffs.

The Missus likes it in salads….and also on grilled tofu, which I coat with olive oil and duck fat; then season with salt-pepper-soy sauce-five spice.

Most folks get something like this from me.

Anyway….dis’ not one tightwad recipe.

Also, it uses bottled hoisin sauce. Though it’s important to look at the ingredient list. For example.

Two Hoisin Sauces….made by the same company….turn the bottles around and check the ingredients.

I know, both get so much modified stuffs….but the one on the left uses Fermented Soybean Paste, which provides a deeper-richer flavor.

Anyway…..too much talkin’…..

Local Kine Char Siu Chicken – I usually make a double recipe of the sauce:

3/4 Cup Hoisin Sauce
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce – yes, I still use Aloha Shoyu
1/4 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Agave Syrup
3 Tb Ketchup
3 Tb Shaoxing Wine
2-3 Cloves Garlic – minced or grated
1 Tsp Ginger Juice
1/2 – 1 Tsp Five Spice
1 1/2 Pounds Boneless-Skinless Chicken Thighs

  • Trim excess fat and connective tissue off chicken thighs
  • Tenderize with a mallet until uniform in thickness.
  • In a bowl, mix together Soy Sauce, Dark Brown Sugar, Ketchup, Shaoxing. Combine.
  • Add Hoisin Sauce and half the Agave Syrup mix well.
  • Add Garlic, Five Spice, and Ginger Juice – combine.
  • Taste with the tip of a chopstick – add the rest of Agave Syrup if necessary. Add more Five Spice and adjust other ingredients to taste (i.e. more garlic).
  • Once sauce is combined divide into two half portions.
  • Use one half of the sauce to coat and marinate the chicken.
    Make sure to coat well.
  • Divide the other half of the sauce into two equal portions.
  • Marinate at least 6 hours or overnight.
  • Grill the chicken. I use hardwood charcoal for a layer of flavor. I also use oak wood chips in a foil packet for an additional layer of flavor.
  • Use half of the reserved sauce for final basting.
  • The other half of the reserved sauce is placed into containers for dipping, pouring, or whatever the person wants

I know, kind of a lot of work but folks seem to like it!

Prime Grill Revisited

Korean Restaurants

A few weeks ago, the Missus and I decided to revisit a couple of our favorite Korean restaurants. The Missus was craving the dolstop bi bim bap and I wanted some bibim naengmyun. Prime Grill has been our favorite stop for these dishes for a while now. So, we decided to stop by for lunch.

Hard to believe that it had been over a year since our last visit. My how time flies.

The place was empty when we arrived, but quickly filled up. The same group of “ajumma” were working…..all business…you don’t mess with them!

Taking a look at prices….I know that my Bibim Naengmyun was the same as on my last visit ($16.99), but I think the Dolsot Bibimbap has gone up a dollar ($19.99). We’re still reeling from the $26 Dolsot BiBimBap at Jeju in Carmel….which didn’t even have meat in it!

Soon after our order the panchan and gyeran jjim (steamed egg) arrived.

The Baechu kimchi was looked kind of mild, but had a nice fermented-acidic-sour flavor. It was the best of the bunch. The Missus didn’t care for the over-mayo’s poatato salad, and She’s never been a fan of Eomuk-bokkeum, the typical stir-fried fishcake panchan – so those ended up being all mine.

She does however, really enjoy the gyeran jjim, which was really fluffy, somewhat savory and “eggy”.

She does enjoy some sesame oil on this, but has learned from our previous experience with the Ajumma here, to not request any for this. She polished off almost all of it Herself.

This was basically enough to fill Her up. Meanwhile, Her BiBimBap was sizzling away in the dolsot.

She has the soup, and then poured the juice from the baechu kimchi on top of things and gave it a good mix. Our baechu kimchi was refilled and the Missus went and poured that into the bibimbap. It developed a nice crust…..but the Missus was pretty full by this time and most of this went home.

As for me….well, this is probably my favorite BiBim Naengmyun.

I enjoy the spicy-sourness of this version the best. There’s a hint of sweetness. Once I’ve had my fill, I can temper things with the cold soup that’s provided on the side. The endless elasticity of the naegmyun can be a challenge; but that’s part of the enjoyment. A “four cut” with shears are a must, unless you want to have that “one” endless noodle that will not break noodle splashing your shirt with sauce as you try to consume it while trying to sever it with your teeth! A good mix coats all the noodles.

I really don’t need the hot mustard nor the vinegar that’s provided.

The Asian pear, cucumbers, and the meat add textural contrast and hints of additional flavor. I find this refreshing and satisfying on a hot day.

We both really enjoyed our lunch. There was a time when I enjoyed this dish at Buga. But sadly, after the change of ownership; things just haven’t been the same. So these days, it’s Prime Grill for these dishes. Though, if you’ve got a fave; please let me know!

Prime Grill
4620 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 11am – 10pm

Sunday Sandwiches – Gourmet Island Bistro

Breakfast/Brunch, Sandwiches

Well, I haven’t done one of these in a while…..

Recently, I had an appointment in the Ruffin Road area, between the 52 and Clairemont Mesa Boulevard. I’m not super familiar with the location, but there was what seemed to be one of those mom-and-pop sandwich shops nearby, and you know how I have a weakness for those places. The name of the shop also caught my attention….Gourmet Island Bistro! Hmmm……could it be?

Doing that Google thing; it seems like the shop opens at like 6am! So, I drove on over and I arrived at just after 9am. There are several stalls reserved for the shop, which is located in a business building.

The nice woman working greeted me as I entered. There seemed to be several to-go orders ready for pick-up at the counter. Like I’ve said, these are the places that keep workers fed.

I took a gander at the menu and focused on the breakfast sandwich offerings.

I decided on the Bistro Pastrami Sandwich ($10.95). I also noticed something interesting with regards to the menu. Much like Sandwich Island sandwich shop, there were Hawaii influenced names….like the “Big Kahuna”, the “Haoli (which I think is actually supposed to be Hau’oli – happy…not Haole, which means….you know) Hero”. But the nice older woman, who seemed to be the owner did not seem like she was from the islands. Anyway, I got some water and had a seat.

And went to pick up my sandwich when ready.

The croissant of course, was nothing to add to my “Croissant Files“, which I expected. Basically Costco-ish massed produced croissants used as a bread replacement. Which did fine in this case as it added a mild sweet butteriness to the sandwich.

Overall, it was a nice breakfast sandwich. The pastrami adding a salty-savory-light smokiness. The egg was nice and runny, with no off flavors. And I could even make out the milkiness of the Swiss Cheese, which was melted adding some nice gooeyness to things.

This was pretty good!

And then it happened. The woman walked on over and dropped off a cookie for me! Such a nice gesture!

Which gave me an opportunity to ask about the name of the shop and some of the sandwiches. I came to find out that much like Sandwich Island Deli; the previous owners were from the Islands!

When this family bought the place; they added soups and hot dishes, thus adding “Bistro” to the name!

A few weeks later, I decided to make a return visit. This time to try one of their lunch sandwiches. While the Island Club called to me, I decided on the Lucky Roast Beef ($12.30)…..I guess I just wanted some horseradish sauce to clear my sinuses on this day! This time I took my order to-go.

I unpacked things at home. The bread’s crust was quite friable, flaky quite easy, the standard issue roll did fine. The Sysco-ish roast beef was decently sliced, it was lean as advertised and a bit chewy. The portion size was fine as well.

There was a combo of Ranch Dressing and Horseradish Sauce…and not enough of the latter for my taste as I wanted more pungency and too much of the former as it just overpowered everything; especially the mild milkiness of the Swiss Cheese.

Still, I can’t complain about the portion to price ratio….I may try the Club Sandwich next time. Very nice folks working here. I’m glad there are still places like this and will try to keep giving them business. To me, they are the heart and soul of our neighborhoods.

Gourmet Island Bistro
5625 Ruffin Rd. # 140
San Diego, CA 92123
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri 6am – 2pm
Closed Sat- Sun

Road Trip – Revisits to Industrial Eats (Buellton) and Alchemist Garden (Paso Robles), and Lunch at Jeju Kitchen (Carmel)

American/New American Restaurants, Cocktails, Dog Friendly, Korean Restaurants, Monterey/Carmel/Santa Cruz - Monterey Bay/Peninsula, Paso Robles/Cambria/San Luis Obispo County, Road Trip, Taco Shops

Back in April/May, we took a two week Road Trip with JJ. He’d already proven himself during our road trips to June Lake, Morro Bay/Cambria and to Scottsdale/Winslow/Lake Havasu among others. We were basically doing a road trip every month and this “two-weeker” would cover two months!

This one was more “my thing” as I’m more of a city/coast kinda guy. Our northern destination was Mendocino.

Our “first leg” was going to be to a place now familiar to us Paso Robles. We decided to go up via the 101 and stop for lunch at another place I’ve posted on twice already; Industrial Eats in Buellton.

We had the same two dishes as on our last visit; the Smoked Duck Salad and Miso Cod. Both were just as delicious as what we’d had last time.

We’re still not quite sure what that avocado is for; but the cod is so buttery and the mushrooms add a wonderful earthiness.

From Buellton, it was an easy hour-and-a-half to Paso Robles. Since we started doing so many road trips during Covid; Paso Robles has become a favorite stop for us.

This time, with JJ in tow, we decided to stay at the Paso Robles Inn, which is right across the street from the Downtown City Park.

It was fairly pricey; but the location was great, as were the grounds….JJ was fascinated by the Koi Pond.

Our room wasn’t that great, the noise from upstairs and the rooms next door were fairly loud. So, while we loved the location; we’d try and find a different place to stay at the next time…..

Paso Robles Inn
1103 Spring St.
Paso Robles, CA 93446

Of course, once we settled in we headed out.

We enjoy stopping in at the Paso Robles General Store…….which is dog friendly.

And they stock Paso Almonds which are a must buy for snacks and gifts when we get back home.

General Store Paso Robles
841 12th St.
Paso Robles, CA 93446

As for dinner….well, our favorite restaurant in Paso; Les Petites Canailles is not dog friendly; so we thought we’d just grab some eats at what is possibly my favorite Cocktail Bar in California; Alchemist Garden; which I’ve already posted on three times! Though this would be the first time we’d actually be having a full meal there. We got a table on the patio so JJ could hang out with us.

Of course the cocktails were awesome!

We were pleasantly surprised at the food as well. The Bone Marrow was very buttery and though we had doubts about the Cherry Onion Jam; the sheet-acidity really paired well with the marrow.

It was also “Taco Tuesday”….so we ordered one each of the Shrimp, Duck, Chicken, and Skirt Steak Taco. Our expectations were very low….but man; the corn tortillas were decent and held up well. And the meats; especially the skirt steak and the shrimp, with a perfectly crunchy-crisp batter and tender shrimp were very good!

The skirt steak was topped with harissa; which had an almost kimchi like sour-spiciness….surprisingly good. We could even deal with the sour cream on the tacos as well!

Such a nice surprise and meal!

The Alchemists’ Garden
1144 Pine St.
Paso Robles, CA 93446

The following morning we headed out to our next stop Carmel By the Sea. But first we decided to make a stop at Fiscalini Ranch. We had really enjoyed the easy trails and the views before, so we thought JJ might have fun. This time we did the Marine Terrace and Bluff Loop Trail.

Which JJ enjoyed!

And the views on the bluff trail are lovely.

And the wildflowers were beautiful.

And of course, there are the benches……

It was a fun time!

From here it was a two hour drive to Carmel. We’d be in early, so we decided to get some lunch. There is a Korean Restaurant in Carmel Plaza with outdoor seating…Carmel is known to be very dog friendly; we found street parking and headed on into the mall and Jeju Kitchen.

It was past noon, but it was pretty quiet. We easily found a table near the fire pit.

Serers were very friendly; even bringing JJ a bowl of water. Though the prices gave me pause.

The Missus got the Dolsot Bi Bim Bap. Which was $26 but had no meat!

The egg was fine; though we prefer crisp edges. Still the yolk was fairly soft and runny. The dolsot wasn’t hot enough, so no rice “crust” developed. The kimchi didn’t have a deep fermented flavor and was just salty and sour. And within the confines of the dolsot made this dish pretty bland.

Like I mentioned above; the panchan was pretty bland.

I ordered the Korean Fried Chicken – would you believe this cost $28?

The Mu Kimchi was overly sweet. The batter was too thick and initially crunchy, but got mushy pretty quickly. It was also pretty bland….something I’ll almost never say about “KFC”. I appreciate a bit of “lightness” in my KFC; but this was definitely not that. This one went in the “soy-garlic” direction. Though it was more drizzled sugar-soy. Overly sweet for our taste. Not enough sauce, lacking in depth of flavor….

The meat was chewy, but fine.

In the end, a shadow of Korean cuisine. I should have known better when I saw Miso Cacio de Pepe, Smashburgers, and Coconut Prawns on the menu. Lesson learned.

Jeju Kitchen (In Carmel Plaza)
106 Mission St.
Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA 93923

We took a stroll around the plaza….I think we prefer the shops in the Downtown Village/Ocean Avenue area.

We did manage to kill time before heading to our accommodations. We were staying at the Green Lantern Inn once again. Though this time for two nights, so we could spend a bit more time exploring!

Thanks for stopping by – hope you have an awesome weekend!

Lunch with JJ – The Kiko’s Place-The Seafood King Mariscos Truck (Morena)

Food Trucks, Mexican Restaurants, Seafood

I was wondering where to take JJ for lunch and then I remembered the Kiko’s Place Truck which had relocated to Morena last year. Since Cole’s has sadly closed, there would be ample parking, and the horrendous street construction had now moved further up Morena. So JJ got into the car and we were off.

We arrived around 10am and were the only customers. For some reason JJ got real excited when he heard the music blaring!

The woman working was very friendly and even waved to JJ! I thoguht that the better of the two tacos I had last time was the Tacos de Marlyn (Smoked Fish) and well; I decided to try the Gobernador – boy $16 for two tacos…..who’d have thought????

We went to one of the free standing “tables” and hung out….like I said; for some reason, JJ liked the music? What the heck?

The woman called me over and handed me some consomme and this time she also gave me some very crisp and still warm chips.

The consomme was better this time around; more savory-briny-seafood flavors. And still not overly salty.

Soon enough, my tacos were ready…good lord, these were very hefty. The Marlyn was still the better of the two; though both were overloaded with cheese. I’m thinking I’ll order them easy on the queso.

The shrimp on the Gobernador was on the tougher side; slightly fishy. Luckily the lime, pickled onions, and salsa roja handled things nicely. There was less smoked fish on the tacos de marlyn then on my last visit; but the fish seemed to have much more savory-smoky flavor, and those onions and peppers come in handy. The tortillas stood up fine and didn’t fall apart….of course having that layer of melted cheese protected the tortillas.

Kiko’s was fine; perhaps I need out a Mariscos truck I like better, but it is fairly close to home and JJ seemed to be having a good time hanging out….and listening to the music!

Kiko’s Place-The Seafood King Mariscos Truck
1170 West Morena Blvd. (In the parking lot of Coles Fine Flooring)
San Diego, CA 92110