mmm-yoso – Page 216 – 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.

Montreal – Mamie Clafoutis and VIA Rail to QC

July 15, 2017 mmm-yoso Airport/Airline/Cruise/Rail Food, Bakery, Caffeine Fix, Canada, Montreal, Travel

While we had really enjoyed Montreal, the Missus was ready for our next stop; Quebec City. We'd be going by rail, which I really enjoy.

Since our train wouldn't be leaving until 1245 and we were literally 3 blocks from Gare Centrale, we decided to take a morning walk and grab some breakfast. The Missus decided on a place up Rue Saint Denis.

Of course we passed several churches on the way and really enjoyed walking up Saint Denis as it was full of semi-hipster, trendy, and plain funky businesses.

Hmmm….maybe Elvis does live?

Mamie Clafoutis is a bit of a walk up Saint Denis, which I read the street goes all the way to the North side of the island.

While the namesake of he place is the Clafouti; the Missus had read that the Pistachio Croissant here was very good. I saw a sign for a special Ficelle celebrating Montreal's 375 Anniversary (May 17, 2017) and while it was already the end of May, it was still being made and sold. So, I decided on that.

We both got some espresso for our caffeine fix. When our tray was ready, we headed upstairs to the comfortable lounge area.

The ficelle was ice cold, really chewy….I expected a bit more "crunch", but it was more hard. We really enjoyed the combination of flavors from the cornichons, mustard, and for the Missus, especially the smoked meat. This really set the stage for our return trip, where I'd been looking forward to getting some smoked meat.

The croissant was a bit drier than we prefer and lacked that touch of salt that would balance out the very sweet pistachio paste which was too sweet for me. Of course, I'm not much of a dessert person, but there didn't seem to be much pistachio flavor.

Still, the espresso was good and we enjoyed the vibe of the place. We'd notice that folks in this area seemed to speak much more French than on the west side.

Mamie Clafoutis
3660 Rue Saint-Denis
Montreal, Canada

We headed back to the hotel, going down Saint Laurent, then over to Rue Jeanne-Mance. It had started to drizzle. Even though we had umbrellas, it was also getting a bit windy. Luckily, just as it was getting particularly blustery, we reached the Complexe Desjardins. In Montreal, there's a 32 kilometer network of tunnels, passageways, shopping centers, and buildings called RESO, but it's most commonly known as the Underground City. The name evokes a bit of mystery……but for us; it looked basically like a bunch of malls which were, thankfully, interconnected.

I can imagine being able to move along downtown Montreal without being exposed to the elements must be a godsend during the dead of winter. For us wimpy San Diegans…well, we enjoyed being able to cross the street.

We got back to the hotel, freshened up, and checked out of the Courtyard. We headed over a couple of blocks to where I thought Gare Centrale was….because of all the construction, we had a difficult time finding the entrances, but finally made it.

Since we had business class tickets, we were able to use the VIA lounge in the train station. Nothing fancy, but comfortable enough….drinks and coffee provided.

Having easy access to the restrooms, a nice place to sit, and some coffee was worth paying a few bucks more. I got our fares during some kind of "special" where I paid like only $40 more for round trip tickets in business.

And while our train was not nearly as comfortable as riding the Shinkansen, it was fine.

One thing I did enjoy was the service, which was very friendly, and at times oddly funny. They also really pushed the booze! By the time the lunch cart got to us, they'd run out of everything but the vegetarian dish….shells stuffed with portabello mushroom. Which turned out to be perfectly fine.

Notice the white wine? So, I wasn't going to have any wine or drinks with lunch…but the really funny woman; with that wonderful French-Canadian accent told me, "you must…you must have some. It's from Wayne Gretzky Estates!" How could I turn that down? Wayne Gretzky Estates…… Yep this is Canada….and you don't mess with Wayne Gretzky……

Thanks for reading!

Thai Burger Company (Clairmont)

July 13, 2017 Cathy Burgers, Food Trucks, Thai Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog, written by three friends, interchangeably. Kirk has been working a lot of extra hours this week while Ed(from Yuma) is relaxing after his interesting vacation. Cathy is writing a short post.

The Mister and I shop at Carnival Supermarket about once a month. Back in February, I recalled seeing this storefront and signage and made a mental note to stop in…but things got busy. The few times since then, we had just had lunch and I kept that mental note tucked away somewhere…Finally, curiosity got the best of me…a pig as signage, the name of 'Thai Burger Company-Home of the Original Rice Burgers'. We had to stop. Walk in and there's the counter in front of you. You order from the limited menu (five appetizers, four burgers and a few interesting beverage choices), pay and find a seat at one of the three tables out front. It turns out that Thai Burger Company started as a Food Truck, originally near the Navy Exchange at the 32nd Street base. It still is a food truck, at various farmers markets around town.
This was our shared meal; we had just purchased beverages at Starbucks before deciding to stop here. The chicken pot stickers ($3.50) were wonderful, the filling of chicken and still crispy fresh cabbage was plentiful, fresh and very nice. The skewer of calamari balls($3.50) was quite large; if we had an order of three skewers ($10), I think that would be too much food. The balls were nice, I suppose a bit standard, and two were enough for me, especially with all the other food. (Other skewered choices are shrimp and imitation crab).
The classic BBQ pork rice burger ($7) was a great choice. The 'bun' of sticky rice was not too thick. The meat was marinated with the just the right amount of flavors and that charred grill flavor was the perfect touch. If this had been served on a plate, the amount of rice to meat was a perfect ratio. Eating this like a burger wasn't too messy; the rice held up and there was actually more meat than 'bun'.

Now I'm curious about the other 'burgers' available- chicken satay, curry pork and fried tofu. Also the beverages do look interesting. We'll be back.

Thai Burger Company 3520 Ashford Street (at Beagle) San Diego 92111 Open Mon-Fri 11-3 and 5-9 Sat/Sun 11-9

Guahan Grill (Midway)

July 11, 2017 mmm-yoso Guamanian/Chamorro

**** This location of Guahan Grill has closed.

Way back when, the Missus used to make me drive up to Oceanside for Kelaguen from Guahan Grill. That went on for a couple of weeks; until we had two pretty bad meals….which had me making my "Kind of Kelaguen and Fast Finadene" from that point on.

Back in January, Guahan opened a location in the Midway area and I put it on "my list" for a visit. For some reason, it took me like 6 months to finally drop by.

Sorry about the photo of the sign. There was a giant semi parked in front of the place during my entire visit.

I like the set-up here. Bright and wide open, almost looking like a "gastropub" of sorts.

I basically went with the exact thing I ordered during my first visit to Guahan…way back when. The combination Pork Ribs with Kelaguen (of course)….called "Guahan Special", this came with a salad and empanada.

Of course I had to taste the Finadine, which was pretty good. Much better than what we had during our last two visits to the Oceanside location, which was almost all soy sauce, barely a hint of sour. I do like my finadene a bit more sour and spicy. So I asked for some boonie peppers, but they were out. Bummer. There was of course red rice, nice textures, mild in flavor, livened up with finadene. The empanada was not as good as I recalled; crisp, but with hardly any filling, which was very bland. The kelaguen was also pretty bland; I taste ginger in this, no coconut, no spice, kind of dry…..it really needs the finadene. The pork ribs were as I remembered, perhaps even better, as the meat came off the bone cleanly. These were far from bland, edging on salty….but I was pleased with them.

My Server, a very friendly and pleasant young lady, Brazilian I believe, was a joy.

So yes, I'll be back. I need to try some of the items on the menu. Especially since I don't have to drive up to Oceanside any longer. I'll have to see if I can talk the Missus into coming. With the state of kelaguen in our household, that's going to be a challenge.

Speaking of a challenge….this shop is hidden behind from Rosecrans in the same building as Native Foods and Pick-up Stix, next to Yummy Buffett. Man, talk about setting the bar low in this strip mall….though I know folks who like the Gourmet Bagger.

Guahan Grill
3373 Rosecrans St
San Diego, CA 92110
Hours:
Tues – Sun 11am – 9pm

Burgundy – Driving the Vineyard Route, Meursault to Saint Romain, and Lunch at Aupres du Clocher (Pommard)

July 10, 2017 mmm-yoso Bakery, Burgundy, Croissants, Fine Dining, France, French Restaurants, Travel

I awoke as the sun rose on our first full day in Beaune. The previous day had been pretty busy, arriving in Beaune, getting settled and making reservations and finding a place for dinner. But this, well this was going to be a full day, we had a car and the Missus was rarin' to go.

But first, I headed out……

Down the quiet streets of early morning Beaune.

I recalled passing a Boulangerie the previous day as we were walking in from the train station. And it was one of the few places open this early in the morning.

Very friendly woman working. All I needed was on croissant to share with our morning coffee.

Boulangerie Pâtisserie Lapalus
1 place du docteur jorrot
Beaune, France

A decent, but not great croissant. I'd grab a baguette there before we left Beaune that was quite good though.

And then we headed out; around the ring road, finding the sign to Autun.

It was, without a doubt, beautiful.

As we kept stopping to take photos.

Imagine waking one morning, getting into your car and driving into a "postcard".

The road slowly crept upward.

Until we came upon the town of Meursault, with it's distinctive Town Hall.

It was a Friday, which turns out to be Market Day (Friday). We enjoyed walking around. Not only were food items on sale…..

But all manner of furniture and household goods as well.

From kitchenware to baskets to beds!

We took a short walk……this town is so charming.

We decided to take another break and hit up the Boulangerie.

For another croissant and espresso.

Le 7éme Péché
11 Place de L Hôtel de ville
Meursault, France

We then headed off down to Puligny-Montrachet.

Where according to many, the best white wine in the world is produced.

Because I drove, I could not partake. The Missus was free to sample whatever She wanted.

We came around the loop and took time to admire the Château de la Rochepot.

Which dates back to the 12th Century.

From here it was another climb uphill.

There was one more stop the Missus just had to make. On this trip, the Missus had grown fond of wine from the appellation of Saint Romain. And so, we just had to head downhill and stop in that town.

And stalk Her favorite producer…..

Yikes!

Luckily, there were no embarrassing moments as no one was around.

We then headed back toward Beaune. We'd made a complete loop and got back no the main road. The Missus had read about a restaurant in the town of Pommard. So decided to stop and see if they would be able to accommodate us.

Luckily, we'd arrived early and we got a table without reservations.

We were actually given a pretty nice table, with a street view. The lunch menu was basically a choice of two tasting menus. We took the more expensive option which was still a very reasonable 50 Euros…remember, we had become used to Paris prices.

The bread was interesting; it featured something the Missus would love later on; gougere….

Things started off with a nice and somewhat refreshing soup.

The thing I recalled the most was how the acidity of the cream really set off the flavors.

Of course we basically shared everything, passing dishes back and forth between us.

When the Missus's Escargot arrived, I knew that the chef was aiming for a more modern take on French cuisine, as per the "foam". There were some fairly tender grains under the delicious crème d'ail, a very smooth garlic crème. I asked what these were and was told "d'epeautre", basically spelt. It was nutty and slightly sweet. I recall on the menu that these were "escargot Bourgogne sauvage". Which I take to mean wild local snails. I thought all the ingredients were the stars rather than the escargot.

I had the Tartare de Dorade; which I believe is a type of sea bream.

This turned out to be basically a salad and I enjoyed the vinaigrette. I thought the squid was a bit tough.

Check out the Missus's main.

Yes, that is foie gras crowning a nice piece of tuna. I was kinda hesitant about the missus ordering this; but of course it had foie gras, which was decently prepared if a bit over-cooked. The tuna was actually perfectly cooked; quite rare and not dry.

To be perfectly honest, the Missus enjoyed the fennel, lima beans, and the wonderfully earthy mushrooms the best. I gotta say; the portion size on this was quite generous.

As was the portion size of the Entrecot of Veal.

Again, quite a large cut of veal, cooked perfectly for my tastes, decently tender. The mushrooms were again our favorite item on the plate.

The Mousse tiede d'epoisse was our least favorite dish. This was served separately and the flavors were so strong it as hard to enjoy.

Man, that cheese was so salty and the croutons on the bottom of the mousse; which tasted like gingerbread just added more strong flavors.

As for the rest of the desserts, well, the Missus enjoyed them.

Overall, we thought the meal was quite worth the price. The service was a bit spotty but quite pleasant and we were pleasantly surprised with our meal.

Aupres du Clocher
1 rue de Nackenheim
Pommard, France

Man, after that meal I needed to rest up. Plus we still had dinner reservations.

Circling Back to Sultan Baklava

July 9, 2017 mmm-yoso Turkish Food

Last week I performed my civic obligation; yes it was time for jury duty yet again. And while there are a few places on my list to try downtown. I decided to revisit an old favorite, Sultan Baklava. It was indeed a sad day when Sultan decided to go back to just baklava in 2013. Though we were happy to see them reopen in the Gaslamp, it's not really an area I get to very often, thus it had been over two years since I last visited.

One good thing about jury duty….you often get two hour breaks for lunch. Which meant I could take my time getting to Sultan and take a look at Horton Plaza Park, which hadn't opened yet the last time I was on jury duty.

And some other stuffs…..

As you can tell; it was a beautiful day. This was before the recent hot spell….though it was definitely warm and sunny out.

It was pretty quiet at Sultan when I arrived; just one party outside and one in.

I was seated and ordered some Turkish Tea and water…..

That's when the owner saw me and came over to shake my hand and have a nice little chat. amazing….he still remembers me and made sure to ask about the Missus.

Since I had to go back to the Hall of Justice and was using public transportation, I decided to stick with just two items.

The Antipezme (acili ezme), and old favorite of mine; served with lavas.

I'm used to a slightly pungent-spicy-tangy -mildly sweet acili ezme and this was really mild. Nice and refreshing, but not quite the version we enjoyed so much years ago at Sultan. It was not bad; but the flavors just seemed muted.

Of course I had to get the lahmacun, which was every bit as good as before.

In fact, this might be even better than before. There's more meat, nice seasoning, the lavas nice, thin, and crisp. It was quite good. It came with a simple salad; a nice dusting of sumac on it.

This ended up being more food than I thought it would be….though the really nice Server told me the record for a single individual eating lahmacun was six! Yikes!

It was nice to see that Sultan was still in business and the place was filling up as I left. After all; it was Sultan that inspired us to visit Turkey (twice). I need to get back here more often.

Sultan Baklava Mediterranean Cuisine
770 4th Ave
San Diego, CA

Returning to Tiger! Tiger!

July 8, 2017 mmm-yoso Gastropub, yoso-silly

**** Tiger! Tiger! has closed

I sure felt the heat the last couple of days. Must be getting wimpy in my old age.

Just a short post for today…..the humidity almost makes me want to head back to the office…..almost.

A few days back we just decided to get the heck out of the house and head to Tiger! Tiger!. We hadn't been back since January.

As usual the Charcuterie Plate was just what we wanted.

Though the cucumber – avocado salad was less than stellar. The cucumbers were old and the skin tough….perhaps they should have been peeled. The avocado was brown; too bad, because that dill based dressing was nice.

Still, it was a nice break.

And yes, I still haven't really ordered anything off the regular menu.

Tiger! Tiger!
3025 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92104

It's been tough heading back to Tiger! Tiger! You see the last time we were there at the end of January, was the night we lost Sammy.

It was really strange; the Missus had a rare night off; She's been working like crazy like I have this year. Sammy, who had done deaf two years ago and usually wouldn't hear us when we got home anymore, met us as we returned at the door. I'd recently gotten him some steps so he could hang out on his favorite place on the sofa and we got a kick watching him use it. But you could tell; he was getting up there. He still ate well and his enthusiasm for life was unabated.

The Missus's co-worker knitted this silly looking cap for Sammy and this is our last photo of him on that day….I guess he wasn't amused.

He seemed extra energetic when we got home, running around, bugging me to play with him and his favorite toy of the hour. He just kept going and going….we just cracked up.

I went into the room we use as an office and Sammy took his usual position right behind my chair. I heard a sighing sound, Sammy looked at me, gasped, and he was gone. We grabbed him, ran out of the house and over to the Pet Hospital, but it was for naught.

In way, I think Sammy planned it out…..his Mommy was home, he'd had a great and fun evening, enjoyed his dinner, and got to say goodbye.

Typical Sammy.

Until we meet again.

SammyK

July 5, 2002 – January 25, 2017

Strange, our visit to Tiger Tiger was on the 5th……I didn't even realize it until the Missus mentioned it later that evening…..Sammy would have been 15. Maybe???

Rest well my friend.

Ethiopian Twice in Phoenix: Gojo and Abyssinia

July 7, 2017 ed fromyuma Ethiopian/Eritrean Restaurants, Phoenix/Scottsdale/Chandler/Central AZ

Ed and Tina recently got back from their summer vacation, so today, Ed (from Yuma) wants to share a couple meals they had in Phoenix. Tomorrow, it’ll be Kirk or Cathy writing.

Instead of flying out of Yuma and spending an entire day in airports and on airplanes on the way to Oregon, we opted to drive to Phoenix, spend the night, and fly out the next day. At the end of our vacation, we did the reverse. Both times we wanted to find good places to eat dinner close to the Phoenix airport. As it turned out, the small Ethiopian community in Phoenix was nearby, and we decided to have our first vacation dinner at Gojo:

We were greeted by a warm and friendly hostess. Ethiopian music was playing in the background, and one corner of the well-lit restaurant displayed reminders of Ethiopia:

It seemed like a neighborly local place and many of the customers knew each other and the hostess:

We started off with ice water and tasty homemade lemonade:

We ordered a meat combo platter as well as a veggie combo, which showed up first:

At the 6 o’clock position, closest to the viewer, were excellent collards that had a touch of bitterness and a touch of tang. Really good. In the middle were spicy split red lentils. Excellent fiery flavor. The cabbage had a hint of sweetness and was perfectly cooked. Both the whole lentils and the green beans and carrot were mild but had nice textures. The light brown purée on the right puzzled me at first because it had the smooth creamy texture of shiro (ground chickpeas) but with a more assertive flavor than I was used to. Our server explained that yes, indeed, it was shiro but flavored with berbere (hot Ethiopian chili spice blend). Only the yellow split peas were disappointing – thick and flavorless. The injera was soft and thin with a touch of sourdough flavor.

The meat combo had three items:

The beef, closest to the viewer, had a nice complex flavor and a restrained amount of heat, though a couple of the chunks were still a little chewy. The lamb (back left) and the chicken were much spicier and more picante with a pronounced berbere taste. The lamb had sliced onions and was very tender. The chicken had some large chunks and smaller flakes of meat throughout the sauce.

Tina and I were both extremely pleased with the meal. The items were distinctly flavored and the spiciness ranged from mild to hot. The bill was reasonable:

Gojo, 3015 E Thomas Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85016, (602) 840-3411

When we returned to Phoenix after 10 days in Oregon, we just had to try another Ethiopian place, Abyssinia:

Another clean well-lighted space with minimal décor and ambience, pleasant Ethiopian music and a warm and welcoming host. When he came to take our order, I was suggesting that we would have a combination veggie plate and a combination meat plate. “Oh that’s too much food for two people,” he said, “you should order the agelgel. It has three meats and four vegetables. It’s enough and you will like.”

He was right; there was easily enough food and we liked it:

The injera was very similar in style to Gojo and tasty. The yellow split peas here were an improvement, being more flavorful and creamier. The cabbage and carrots and whole lentils were fine, and again, the collards were outstanding, flavorful and perfectly cooked. The lamb, in the middle of the injera, was nicely spicy though not quite as fiery as the lamb at Gojo. The beef (at about 1 o’clock) was mild but flavorful and very tender.

Our favorite was the item closest to the camera – yawaze yebere tibs. More like a stirfry than most Ethiopian meat dishes, the jalapenos, onion slices, and beef chunks were perfect together and offered a very different spice profile from the other dishes.

I forgot to take a picture of the bill, but the agelgel was $19.95, and we just drank water, so another reasonably priced dinner.

What seems strange to me is that we had two excellent Ethiopian meals in Phoenix, really better imho than what’s available in SD. Yet I cannot recall ever reading anything in Chowhound (back when I read Chowhound) or in any other food site that mentioned the existence of Ethiopian food in the city. Sometimes I think the Phoenix food writing is too focused on fancy high-end stuff and misses places like Gojo, Abyssinia, or even Pho 43. {my apologies to Phoenix New Times, which did a piece on Abyssina,}

Abyssinia, 842 E Indian School Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85014, (602) 795-4113

Pho 87 Noodle House

July 6, 2017 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Pho 87 has closed

I mentioned this revolving door of a location back in March. It had been Van Hoa for over a decade and Cathy and I had done mulitple posts on the place. And then overnight, they were gone; first replaced by Pho & Banh Cuon Ha Long Restaurant, which was gone in a few months, to be replaced by "Pho Huong Viet"….I saw a sign go up, but don't think the place actually opened. And now, it's Pho 87.

The name sounded familiar. After doing a quick search, I found there's a Pho 87 in LA Chinatown and Las Vegas. So perhaps?

As for this location, they've moved some things around and the place looks even more odd than before. Big gaps between tables and front register with one table on each side….at least you can't complain about things being crowded together, right?

I'm not sure what it is, but I really didn't feel comfortable eating here….and I've eaten in some pretty strange places over the years!

The menu is very straight forward; spring rolls, egg rolls, rice, hieu tieu, bun….and pho of course. Just about all the combinations had rare steak, no combination featuring both tendon and tripe, though I'm sure I could have asked….but why be a pain in a place I'd never been to before?

So, I went with the combination; in these days, $6.50 for a small bowl of pho is cheap these days. Soon enough, my basil, sprouts, and lime arrived.

At first glance, this looked fairly sparse and the sprouts were starting to brown. Then I noticed something and turned the basil over.

This was definitely not going to be used.

My bowl arrived soon after.

The broth looked low in fat; which it was, and had quite a bit of onions. And in fact, the broth had a strong, rather pungent onion flavor…not overly sweet as many bowls seem to be these days; but somewhat on the bitter side. It was scalding hot though. As for the meats; well, the tendon was decent, a bit on the hard side but not bad. The rare steak was far from "rare" by the time the bowl hit the table and it looked like beef that had scum on it that congeals when cooked; not the most appetizing looking thing. I hesitated in trying it; but as is not the norm, it was pretty tender and not dried out. It did have a bit of a metallic taste to it though.

The noodles were in a giant clump in the bottom and terribly overcooked and mushy. The worst I've had in a while.

The young man serving me was very nice as was the young lady…..but I really didn't think I'd be back or even do a post on this place.

However, a few weeks later, I went to check out a new restaurant in the area, but it was closed. After pondering my options, I recalled seeing an interesting fried rice dish as I left Pho 87. I asked the young man what it was. He told me Bo Luc Lac Fried Rice. So, I decided to give it another go.

And got the Com Chien Bo Luc Lac; a bargain at $8.95.

That's a good portion of beef for the price. The beef was surprisingly tender, though very salty and lacking in any sweet or even sour tones….very one dimensional as a whole. The stir fried vegetables looked nice, but were too raw, and not stir-fried properly. The fried rice was somewhat old school; the rice nicely separated. I didn't expect much and got just that, with the peas and carrots from the frozen food isle. The fried rice was also quite salty and I ended up chugging a good amount of water after I got home.

So what to say about Pho 87? Well, it's very inexpensive. Do you get what you pay for? Perhaps. The folks here are on the quite side but nice enough. Me, well, I think I need to move on.

Pho 87 Noodle House
4016 54th St
San Diego, CA 92105
Hours:
Mon – Sat 8am – 8pm

Emily’s Taco Shop & Birrieria (Spring Valley)

July 5, 2017 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

**** Emily's is no longer at this location and does catering only

I've gotten some great recommendations over the years. In fact, I don't think we'd still be around and heading toward 3600 posts of not for all the recommendations I receive. This one, is from "KenB" who always sends me interesting emails a couple of times a year. Last week, he shot me an email after saying: "Excellent food. Birria de chivo was fantastic." Birria de Chivo? Man, there are places I enjoy for Birria de Res; but Birria de Chivo. So, even though I needed to go into the office this past weekend…..I kinda took….the long way…yeah…that's what I did….take the long way….

To this little shop on the corner of Grand, where Jamacha Road becomes Apple Street. Cathy's done a post on the place on that corner, La Sinaloense. This one is named Emily's Taco Shop & Birrieria.

A very humble looking shop, in what looks like an apartment conversion, which shares a tiny parking lot with a laundromat. This is the kind of place you'd miss if you blinked.

And yet, it seems there's a steady flow of regulars, couples, and families. This is a real mom-and-pop operation; the nice young gentleman is named Christian and I'm assuming the very friendly young lady is his wife. I was told by the young lady that Emily is her daughter, who was busy watching a movie on one of the tables.

This is one of those order at the counter and have a seat kind of places. I pretty much knew what I wanted….birria and consommé of course, so ordering was a breeze.

I got a taco de birria de res and de chivo (beef and goat $4.25 each). Which took a while but when it arrived, I knew it was worth the wait.

The wonderful, sturdy, corn-y tortillas, were up to the task, soaked and griddled (dorado), they held up and had so much flavor. The birria de res, was tender, with a decent amount of seasoning, but seemed a bit too mild to stand up to the thick, smokey, salsa….a nice slow back of the throat burn. I think Fernandez does better. But the birria de chivo was excellent….just a perfect balance of that distinctive "flavor of the pasture" and seasonings. The texture was tender. A squeeze of lime and bit of that salsa and I could eat this everyday.

As much as I enjoyed the tacos; it was the consommé de chivo ($2) that really got my attention. First off, it was served in a wonderful cup.

The cup had both form and function as it kept the broth molten hot for the entire meal. I took a couple of sips that burned a path down my esophagus. Deep flavors, nice gamey up front, comforting, very balanced…you know you were drinking broth that came from goat….but it wasn't screaming that fact to your taste buds. Lime did a great job of smoothing out the edges. This was delici-yoso…..

There's and interesting crowd here. An older guy came in and ordered in Spanish and took a seat. I was surprised to see that he ordered Carne Asada Fries! And he looked like he was enjoying them. KenB also recommended the carnitas.

So there you go. You might find it interesting that I'm doing a post on a newer place with one single visit. Well, I know I need to take the Missus here soon or She'll kill me. So, I can't visit again without Her. I'm sure this will be soon enough. Here's hoping that consommé is just as good.

Emily's Taco Shop & Birrieria
1015 Grand Ave
Spring Valley, CA 91977
Hours:
Tues – Sat 10am – 7pm
Sunday 10am – 3pm

Thanks for the recommendation KenB!

Las Morelianas/La Bahia (revisits)

July 3, 2017 Cathy Seafood, Taco Shops, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog is writings by Kirk, Ed(from Yuma) and Cathy, each of us interspersing anecdotes about food consumed. Cathy is writing today, since Ed (from Yuma) and Kirk are just too busy this holiday eve.

I wrote about Las Morelianas/La Bahia in 2014 and The Mister and I have returned quite a few times; I just haven't posted.
In the interim, the exterior and interior have had a few improvements while the food has remained the same. (The parking lot has been paved, also!) The above seafood menu (La Bahia) is reflected in a table menu- the seafood kitchen is at the back of the restaurant.
The large shrimp coctele ($14) has more than enough plump shrimp(20 at least) in a lime/catsup sauce with cucumbers topped with avocado. Always refreshing on a hot day. The tabletop array of hot sauces to add is extensive. Similarly, the fish ceviche tostada ($5) is freshly made with lime juice, onion, tomato, cilantro and avocado and served with crunchy, dry tostada shells, separately (no sogginess).

The plates of fish (whole or filets) ($13) are served with rice, beans, fresh made tortillas (there's a lady on the patio making those around 11 a.m. daily) and, of course, a cup of seafood consommé. This was a simple garlic butter filet plate; didn't want to deal with bones.
At the front of the restaurant is the carnitas kitchen (Las Morelianas) and menu above. The paper menu prices (eat in) are in a few cases less than the wall menu (to go).
The choices of sauce here always overwhelm me and asking for both red and green is usually the only way I can order.
When I am not that hungry, the surtido (mixed carnitas) taco ($3) is always a good choice- all the parts of the animal, even a bit of liver is in here.
In the last year, a juice bar area has been added. A medium simple juice (spinach/cucumber/pineapple, which does not photograph well) is $3.

Las Morelianas/La Bahia 2121 Imperial Avenue San Diego (619)239-6284 websiteOpen Daily 7 a.m.-10 p.m.