mmm-yoso – Page 229 – 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.

Tender Greens-yet again

February 5, 2017 Cathy Salads, What Cathy Eats!

Sometimes there are other subjects, but today, mmm-yoso!!! is just about food. Kirk and Ed(from Yuma) are, again, busy; it's Cathy doing the writing.

After a week of rain, winds, gloom, cold and chilliness, along with consumption of way too much chili, stews and soup (which will be in different posts, interspersed in the coming weeks) (because I'm sure that's what most of you have been eating) a bit of 'healthy' eating for the New Year did occur.

A first post, in 2009 a short mention in 2010, another visit in 2011, Kirk wrote a post in 2013, I wrote about Tender Greens a few months later, then in 2015, even breakfast was included in a post. So, here we are, again. There are now four San Diego locations.

The drill is the same, walk in, order, follow the line, maybe watch your own order being constructed, pay and pick up your tray at the end. The 'comfort soups' are now $5 (that's a basil oil and some sunflower seeds floating on top of the wonderful, fresh squash soup). Standard/daily soups are roasted roma tomato and rustic chicken, which are each wonderful and filling for a small meal. Items we've ordered before (and fall back on) include the Tuna Nicoise Salad ($12.50) Albacore grilled rare on top of potato, capers, tomato green beans, a quail egg and olives and greens tossed in a sherry vinaigrette. The Backyard Steak Salad ($12.50) is topped with rare (or more cooked if you prefer) steak. The radishes and beets on top of red and green lettuces are tossed in a horseradish vinaigrette. This was a chicken chili soup ($5) filled with vegetables and deep tomato flavor. There were a few times we've ordered out of our 'comfort zone'- this Southern Fried Chicken salad ($11.50) is a good example. Simple greens, tossed in a dill dressing with sliced radish and cucumber all topped with fresh fried, light and crunchy breaded large chicken chunks, this was a really decadent, fully flavored meal which will be ordered again. We had never ordered anything with chicken (other than soup) here and were so happy with this salad. One of the whiteboard specials was, again, mussels ($11.50) and of course we ordered it. Steamed in a garlicky broth and served with the toasted bread slices, this was another great choice. Of course, my absolute fallback salad here is the Happy Vegan ($11.50). Tender greens in the center, topped with a (fresh!) lemon vinaigrette, surrounded by mounds of four other salads: farrow (wheat berry) with cranberry and hazelnuts; quinoa with cucumber and beets; green hummus; tabbouleh. This is the meal that satisfies and which I would eat daily if given the choice. Once again, trying something new (to me), the Chinese Chicken Salad ($11.50)was a wonderful choice. Shredded (warm, fresh) chicken and crispy wontons on top of a mix of tatsoi, mizuna, yellow pea sprouts, carrots, peanuts, cilantro and green onion tossed in a sesame dressing. We did not expect such a great tasting salad. The thesaurus doesn't have words to describe what was the freshness and flavor in every bite.

Hope your February is going well!

Tender Greens. Four San Diego locations. Website

Lima – Cevicheria Bam Bam

February 2, 2017 mmm-yoso Lima, Peru, Peruvian Restaurants, Seafood, Travel

The recent sunny, post storm(s) weather had me thinking about Lima again. And then I realized; man, I better finish up those posts.

So what to do after having sanguches de chicharron for breakfast, then walking the pork off at Mercado de Surquillo? Well, if you're with the Missus, you'd understand that She'd be wanting more cebiche. There's a shop in the back of the Mercado that I'd heard about named Bam Bam. And upon finding the little shop; it became apparent that Gaston Acurio likes the place as well.

The place was just opening when we arrived and we had no problem getting seats at one of the tables. The woman who served us was nice and professional; though the chips and the canchita tasted like they were mass produced. Still, we weren't here for those items; we wanted some cebiche and perhaps tiradito….and heck this place is known for the conchas negras, so why not get the combination?

Which is precisely what we did. Not being super hungry, we decided on splitting this; just getting a taste of four different items.

The best by far was the conchas negras; the perfect texture, toothsome, but not tough, the bitterness of the clams muted, with the brininess just perfect, nice acidity, the onions adding just enough pungency. This was very, very good.

The cebiche classico was next.

A nice rendition, we still prefer the version at El Veridico de Fidel, but this was solid; balanced acidity in the leche de tigre, the fish perhaps a bit too stringy for my taste, but a nice even flavor. And of course; the Missus can never get enough choclo.

That scallop in the cebiche mixto was delicious and the texture of the squid was amazing.

But the leche de tigre here just wasn't enough and this came off as being strangely mutes in taste. I even think it could have used some salt….more acidity. But the textures of everything except the shrimp, was fantastic.

I found the fish did much better texture-wise in the tiradito, but found the aji amarilla based sauce to be too thin.

It seemed like the basic house leche de tigre with some aji amarilla paste in it. This could have used a bit more oomph.

While we preferred this to La Mar and Punto Azul, it lagged behind El Veridico de Fidel in our minds. I'd still eat here again in a heartbeat…..man the conchas negras…I've never had them taste so good and the texture so perfect.

Cevicheria Bam Bam y Sus Conchas Negras
Jr. Luis Varela y Orbegozo 213
Lima, Peru

In he mood for taking a nice long walk before our standard afternoon nap; we walked all the way from Surquillo back to Parque de Alfredo Salazar.

And while it turned out that we preferred the newish Courtyard by Marriott to our previous favorite place to stay in Miraflores, the JW Marriott, we still enjoyed the vibe around here.

From checking out Larcomar…..

To the views of the Pacific.

It's just that Miraflores "thing" I guess…..

Thanks for reading!

Revisits – Villa Manila and the Missus’s Favorite Poke Spot (It’s Zarlitos!)

February 1, 2017 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Filipino Restaurants, Poke

A couple of revisits for you.

During the short week between Christmas and New Year, I decided to take Calvin and JohnF out for lunch. We usually eat along the rather close confines of Kearny Mesa….but this was the Holiday Season, so why not relax a bit (even though they had to stay at work even longer on this day)? John is from NorCal and Filipino…..the big joke with him is that when it comes to food, he says, I'm "more Filipino" than he is. He is also a pretty big eater, so I thought a visit to Villa Manila would be fun.

Ordering was to the point; bagoong rice (sorry no photo, though JohnF said his wife loved the leftovers), and of course Crispy Pata (a small portion).

From the looks I didn't think this was going to be as good as previous versions I've had here. But man, this was worth the "meat sweats". The skin was crisp, all that gelatinous goodness was there, the meat was moist, what more could you ask for?

I had to order the Bicol Express….which is not quite what is used to be.

There's not quite the same amount of bagoong alamang, so the flavor while still on the salty side, doesn't have as much of that savory finish. The pork is still tender, though the portion size has gotten smaller.

And then there is the Nilagang Baka, the beef shank soup. Calvin, whose Missus is Vietnamese really enjoyed the beefiness of the broth. You should have seen the look on his face when they came to refill the broth!

Overall, still a nice meal. Even though VM is not quite what it was before.

Villa Manila
500 East 8th Street
National City, CA 91950

**** Bummer; Zarlitos no longer serves poke

So, the Missus didn't believe me when I said that Zarlitos made some decent poke. But an interesting thing happened. During the nice Bitter Brothers Anniversary dinner, Candice mentioned the poke at Zarlitos to the folks sitting with us. Turns out it was Keoni Simmons (and yes, his dad is from Hawaii), who confirmed my belief that the poke Zarlitos makes is legit. And so that conversation with the Missus went on as we headed to Hogetsu Bakery. So She relented and we decided on stopping at Zarlitos.

Where she proceeded to eat a pound of poke. Now, even though I make Spicy Tuna Poke for the Missus, I'm not a big fan. The Missus enjoyed the version here.

First off, the quality of the fish is decent, no fibrous "suji". I think this would do fairly well "back home". These days, I put a bit of wasabi in my spicy tuna poke and that's what the Missus was missing….no major complaints on this though.

The Limu poke was a bit more problematic. The fish was of decent quality, but there was too much sesame oil in this…and yes, it wasn't salty enough…when was the last time I mentioned something not having enough NaCl?

Also, this version of "limu" poke used wakame….I mean, really? Even Poke Etc down the street used Limu Kohu. Still, this was much better than those "Chi-Poke" places that have sprung up everywhere.

Of course the Missus needed some rice; so I ordered the Longsilog.

Which was passable.

In the end, while it's not Tanioka's, Fresh Catch, Suisan, or Ono Seafood, it'll do until we get back home again…..hopefully soon.

Zarlitos Family Restaurant
505 East 8th St.
National City, CA 91950

Julieanna’s in Yuma

January 31, 2017 ed fromyuma Fine Dining, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

Kirk and Cathy are really busy right now. Ed (from Yuma) not so much, so you get to read about a meal he and Tina recently consumed. Hope you enjoy.

One of the numerous benefits of marriage is that you have wedding anniversaries – it's like adding an extra holiday to each calendar year. Another cause for celebration.

But Tina and I couldn't figure out where to go for dinner. In addition to dining at the Patio at Desert Hills, we had been to River City for my birthday and Crouse’s Flat Top Grill for Tina's, and currently Yuma doesn't have a lot of special occasion dining choices. So . . . I finally suggested that we try Julieanna's. After all, our last bad experience there was at least seven or eight years ago; maybe that was too long to hold a grudge.

Julieanna's (website) is a large restaurant with patio located on 25th St. among doctors’ offices and other healthcare facilities. On this cool and breezy evening, the entrance was welcoming: We arrived around 5:30 on a Tuesday evening, so there were very few patrons in the two large interior rooms: On this evening nobody sat outside, so the resident peacock stared wistfully into the room, aware that he was not going to get any table scraps:

Our meal started with three fresh warm dinner rolls (Tina grabbed one before I could take the picture):

They were pleasant and were accompanied by two little metal ramekins of soft butter, one garlic herb and one maple cinnamon.

It took us a while to figure out what we wanted, but we finally decided on a salad, an appetizer and two entrées. Our very friendly and helpful server suggested that we start with the salad, which she could bring right away, and then follow with the appetizer. That made sense, so soon she brought over two plates of pear and candied walnut salad:

It was excellent. The tangy balsamic dressing complemented the sweetness of the pear and nuts. We were also impressed by the very fresh and sturdy baby lettuces in the salad.

Then the appetizer, fried calamari, arrived:

The squid was superb. The breading was hard and crunchy and most of it stayed attached. The calamari itself was clean tasting and tender chewy. Really perfectly done. The netting on the lemon wedges keeps lemon seeds out of the food, and there was a choice of dipping sauces – a spicy marinara or honey sesame.

Since we would be eating seafood, and I wanted a meat entrée, picking a wine was difficult, but I hoped that this Château Ste Michelle Riesling would work:

The riesling, which went well with the calamari, was crisp and moderately sweet, the wine bucket was fine, but the stemware was pretty ordinary.

For an entrée, Tina had chosen the crab two ways, with a pair of crab cakes and a tempura softshell crab:

Here you can see one of the cakes and the whole crab more clearly:
Tina was pretty happy. The lightly dressed greens and perfectly cooked yellow squash went well with the crustaceans. She also enjoyed the contrast between the two styles of crab. On the other hand, I thought the crab cakes were a little fishy tasting and the deep-fried softshell too greasy. Maybe the riesling wasn't the right wine for this entrée; a drier white like a sauvignon blanc might have been a better match.

I had chosen the pork chop, which showed up looking really wonderful:

Here's another view:

I loved everything on the plate. The mashed potatoes were buttery and mixed with strips of caramelized onion. Rich, creamy, and nicely textured and flavored. The three large asparagus spears were perfectly cooked, tender but not limp. The dark paste smeared on one end of the pork was a medjool date sauce whose sweetness matched perfectly with the umami of the pork.

And the chop itself was outstanding – thick, flavorful, nicely seasoned, and perfectly cooked:

And this entrée went very well with the riesling.

The check seemed reasonable considering the quality of the food, service, and ambience:

The only odd thing on the bill was the “service charge,” an automatic 6% added to the food and beverages. I don't recall ever seeing such a thing in another restaurant.

Nonetheless, we had a great time, and maybe Tina and I should make celebrating our anniversary at Julieanna’s an annual affair.

Julieanna’s Patio Café, 1951 W. 25th St., Yuma, AZ 85364, (928) 317-1961.

Village North Restaurant Revisited

January 30, 2017 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

**** Village North has closed

Almost two months since I first visited Village North, it remains a somewhat quirky enigma. I've visited and they've been closed….seems they are closed on Tuesdays. They don't have hours formally posted…..just scribbled on the portable grease board. And what's with the "Soft Opening" sign still up? I asked if they were still in their soft opening period and got an interesting answer; seems that their permanent sign hasn't arrived yet….so they are still air quotes, in "soft opening" mode.

Still, I really like the young folks who work here….they are friendly and very nice. And the décor is no shrinking violet; though the Chinese Rap music can be a bit much and there was the time one of the guys was on the small stage trying out VR gear.

After having me pick-up the Suan Cai Hot Pot to go a couple of times, the Missus finally decided we should drop by for dinner.

Which turned out to be a nice meal. This time we ordered the Stir Fried Version of Suan Cai and Pork; simply called "Sour Cabbage" ($12.99) on the menu.

Man, this was good. The textures and seasoning; with garlic and star anise was just the way the Missus likes this dish. It was pleasantly slightly gooey and comforting. These guys really know how to stir fry. The Missus had a new second favorite.

I say second favorite because She really enjoyed the Pork Intestines in Dry Pot ($12.99).

I really hesitated in ordering any Sichuan here; but man, this was really good. Every ingredient had been nicely prepped and seasoned separately. The intestine had been expertly cleaned and even had that inner "fatty" layer. I've never had them ask me "how spicy" here; something I like and respect. This was nicely "ma-la". The Missus immediately said that this was a level above Sizzling Pot King in prep and execution. I've now had this a couple of times with other folks and they all agree; this version is quite good.

Lily and I decided to take "YZ" out for a celebratory lunch and they (as usual) let me pick. My choice….Village North. We had some of the usual suspects; but also ordered a couple of more traditional Dongbei style dishes. Starting with one of the classic dishes; Dongbei La Pi; mung bean sheets in sort of a salad, Multicolor Clear Noodle ($11.99) on the menu.

Again very nice prep; everything from the thinly sliced vegetables to the pork and egg was seasoned separately. The dressing; a sesame paste black vinegar concoction; with a touch of wasabi tasted like a lighter version of what I make at home; though without as much sesame paste. It's a nice combination of nutty-sour-sweet. Pretty good overall; this will go well during hotter weather.

We also tried something simply called "Stewed Assorted Delicacies" ($18.99 – 农家一锅鲜) on the menu.

Basically a dish of stewed/braised pork ribs; which is then stir fried with corn, potatoes, and green bell peppers. This wasn't very good; it was basically too salty; the pork ribs were on the tough side. The best items were the corn and potatoes.

Still we'd had some of the other dishes and both Lily and "YZ" really enjoyed things….especially the suan cai.

Hearing that this place had the Missus's approval; my "Food Gang" decided we should have dinner here. We ordered a bunch of stuff I'd had from previous meals; the suan cai, intestine dry pot, guo bao rou, di san Xian, and a couple of new ones. Our young server recommended something simply called "Flank Steak" ($15.99) on the menu. It arrived looking all the world like Chinese Black Pepper Beef.

The was another winner. The beef wasn't tender per se; it was toothsome without being tough, with a nice display of the stir fry skills, which in this case seems to be velveting.

We also ordered some chuan'r (skewers), which were fairly sub-par.

The lamb really needed much more cumin….the mantou….was topped with sugar…if this were Beijing; I think it would be brushed with a sweet bean sauce. I know this is what Xiāngjiāo was hoping for. Alas, it was not to be.

During one of my take-out visits; the really nice young man who works here named "Victor" told me his favorite item on the menu was the Fried Shrimp with Dried Red Pepper ($14.99). So when I recently dropped by for lunch; I ordered it.

This was pretty good; crunchy shells, the whole numbing-hot ("ma-la") thing going on. Nicely prepared….like I said…these guys do real well with a wok.

Though in terms of seasoning; the Zi Ran Yang Rou – Cumin Lamb ($14.99) left much to be desired in terms of cumin-spicy-salty tones.

So, in the end, we have a nice new option. I'm still not quite sure of everything on the menu…….but perhaps that's the fun of exploring. I think there are dishes on the menu to entice the beer-drinking, young crowd…..but then again, there's some serious cooking skills on display with some of the dishes.

Village North
4428 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Sunday Stuffs – Szechuan Taste is now Beauty Hunan Restaurant and FuAn Garden becomes Hui An Garden

January 29, 2017 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

Seems that the Kearny/Clairemont Mesa area has been a hot spot for changes recently. Here are two more switcheroo's.

Szechuan Taste is now Beauty Hunan Restaurant:

I never really had much luck with Szechuan Taste and gave up on the place after a couple of tries. So I wasn't really surprised to see a change when I went to check out what was happening in the old Do Re Mi house location. A day later "Cathy" sent me a text with a photo. I guess she passed by and noticed the change as well.

So it's now "Beauty Hunan"…..interesting……I'll report back soon.

Beauty Hunan Restaurant
8199 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

FuAn Garden becomes Hui An Garden:

I almost missed this one while driving by. I did a double take; and yes, it seems the ill fated FuAn Garden has changed yet again.

Hmmm……

Hui An Garden Restaurant
4768 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Never a dull moment on "the 'Mesas" it seems.

Peterson’s Donuts (Escondido)

January 27, 2017 Cathy Bakery, What Cathy Eats!

This is a food blog named mmm-yoyo!!! Kirk usually writes here, but is preoccupied. Ed(from Yuma) is also indisposed. Cathy is writing a short Friday post.

When we are in Escondido (most recently at Pegah's, but we've been to other places, which have been (and will be, again) posted (eventually), we try to stop at Peterson's Donut Corner, which I have posted about one time and mentioned briefly in a donut compendium post, as well as in another compendium involving ham and cheese baked into bread.

Petersons is on the corner of Ninth and Escondido Boulevard, about four cross streets (at the second signal light-East) from Pegah's.
There is a board with pricing just above the ordering windows; it's not all crazy expensive here. Besides, walking along the side windows to see what's available will probably make you not even think about price when ordering. This is the maple-bacon bar; it is $3.75, heavy and about 8 inches in length. One of the most expensive items here.
One order satisfied many cravings, with an orange frosted(with orange peel bits) cake donut($1.10), a chocolate cake donut topped with chocolate frosting and peanuts ($1.10) and a cherry filled fried tortilla/roll($2) When we returned recently, other cravings existed and One dozen donut holes(raised are 15¢ each, cake are 30¢ each), along with a cinnamon roll (with raisins, $2.10; plain is $2) were our choices. The raisins are plentiful and in all of the rolled length of the roll. So good.

A long time (since 1942), local owned, old fashioned, classic donut shop.

Peterson's Donut Corner 903 S. Escondido Boulevard, Escondido 92025 (760) 745-7774

Pegah’s Kitchen (Escondido) Breakfast and Lunch

January 26, 2017 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, What Cathy Eats!

This is a food blog named mmm-yoso!!! Cathy is writing today; things are busy in the worlds of both Kirk and Ed(from Yuma).

Not much of a story as to how we found Pegah's-driving through Escondido after a trip to the Swap Meet: World Marketplace, traffic was backed up, took a side street and passed this small restaurant, made a mental note to go back when nearby.

If you take the Ninth Street/Auto Park Way exit from the 15 (and go East, on Ninth) you'll see this restaurant at the corner of Redwood. Open from 6 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., the parking areas next to and in front seem to always be full.
There's a small counter area, booths, tables and a sort of larger area to the right with a few tables pushed together, where we saw some groups of people meeting. The tabletop condiment selection indicates both breakfast and lunch are served.
There's a White Board at the entrance, indicating daily specials. Pea Soup was available on one daily day…and you know we had to have some. This is a Bowl ($5.99) (cup is $4.99) It was a vegetarian pea soup (good, because this visit was on Friday, when I don't eat meat) and quite excellent, made with carrot and a bit of onion. The Mister had been craving fried chicken and ordered another whiteboard special plate ($9.99) perfectly fried in a light, not spiced batter, fresh and hot along with the vegetable of the day and (real) mashed potatoes with gravy, this satisfied cravings. I was more in a 'breakfast' mood so ordered a 'Sunrise Breakfast'($7.99) which came with two eggs and home-style potatoes. I substituted raisin toast ($1). The potatoes were made perfectly, as were the poached eggs. Of course, raisin toast is always my choice. When we returned, The Mister seemed to still be in a 'fried chicken' mode, but made his choice a the chicken strip salad with Blue Cheese dressing ($10.99). This was very large, filled with fresh ingredients (the chicken strips, again a simple batter fry and served hot on top of the cool, crisp salad ingredients). I liked it a lot when we traded plates. Being more in a 'comfort food' mode, the hot turkey sandwich ($9.99)was my choice. Served open face, on top of toasted, buttered, de-crusted sourdough. Thick sliced, skin on, fresh roasted turkey along with a wonderfully 'thanksgiving-seasoned' gravy, more of those real mashed potatoes and the similar vegetable of the day really hit the spot.

Taking a detour and finding local, family owned, established in 1987 with friendly servers and quality food. Such good fortune.

Pegah's Kitchen 912 S. Redwood Street (at Ninth) Escondido 92025 (760) 739-9265 Open daily: 6 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Website

Noodling Around – Revisits to Green China Grill and Pho Kitchen

January 24, 2017 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Chinese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

All this rainy weather meant…..well lots of noodle soup. Here's a short round-up of revisits.

Green China Grill:

Heavy drops were coming down and I was dodging pot holes on Convoy. I just decided to give up and turned into ever evolving Plaza del Sol (BTW Tasty Pot is now open). It had been over a year since my last visit to Green China Grill, so I decided to drop in. Looking at the dining area; this place should be called blinding green China grill. I was the first to arrive but withi minutes, the dining area started filling up. That woman sitting with a group seems really familiar too.

They now have a rather large menu with grilled items; various noodles, liang cai (cold dishes), and even yang rou pao mo? Go figure…. I went with the Beef Noodle Soup with Sour Cabbage ($9.99).

Man, that broth was blasting hot, which was good thing on a cold and rainy day. It was also deceivingly spicy and was quiet numbing (ma) as well. The amount of MSG has been toned down a bit since my previous visits; though I think it could still use a bit more beefiness. The preserved vegetable was your basic standard issue xue cai; like what you get at T&L. The noodles were nice a slippery; but is still missing that little bit of pull I enjoy in good "Lamian" (牛大碗). It has gotten better though.

The soup warmed me up and the spice had gotten the endorphin thing going and a nice sheen on my forehead. From that point of view, the noodle soup did its job. I need return more often.

Green China Grill
4688 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
Open Wed – Mon 1130am – 3pm, 5pm – 9pm

Pho Kitchen:

Last week it was raining cats and dogs….and I almost stepped into poodle! Ok, not funny….though that one is so bad the guys at work cracked up. I really didn't want to head out too far, so I decided to check into Pho Kitchen to see how they were doing.

The kids who work here are really nice. Looking over the menu I noticed they had Bun Bo Hue….hmmm….what the heck; it was pouring outside. I went with the "regular" ($8) bowl of Bun Bo Hue.

Pho shop BBH is a crapshoot and I let out a sigh when the typical pho sprouts and basil arrived…..

And just as quickly, they were removed from the table and replaced with this….ooh psych!

Purple cabbage? Not quite legit, but better than what it replaced.

So what to say? There was lots of shredded lemongrass, though not too much of that flavor in the broth. You could make out the slight, funky taste of mam nem, which added a bit of savories to things. The spice was pretty basic, all front of mouth heat. At least it was steaming hot. The noodles were done adequately, though for once there didn't seem to be enough of it in this bowl. The meat was quite good. The thick cut beef shank had excellent flavor and there was a good amount of it, the tendon was decent as well. Nice thing about the pork hock; they'd removed the bones for easy eating. Though sometimes sucking on that bone is one of the best things about a bowl of BBH.

While not terrible, in terms of spicy, sour, salty, savory, and sweet flavors this was kind of lacking. I'll stick with the Pho next time.

Pho Kitchen
5375 Napa St
San Diego, CA 92110
Open Daily 11am – 9pm

The Bitter Brothers Annversary Family Dinner

January 23, 2017 mmm-yoso Beer, Fine Dining, Pubs and Pub Grub

*** Bitter Brothers has closed

I've been asked a couple of times why I don't give "more love" to my neighborhood? To be perfectly honest, I hadn't been too inspired by places in my neck of the woods. But over the last year and a half or so; things have changed for the better…who'd have thunk that we'd go out for a New Years dinner; a tasting menu even….right down the street. So when Candice mentioned that Bitter Brothers was having an Anniversary Dinner; I decided to go for it. And I'm glad I did as it was quite an enjoyable event. I'd been to Bitter Brothers a couple of times, but always regret not visiting more often. So this was a nice way for me to get reacquainted.

There were just 50 seats available at $70 a crack, and things started fairly promptly at 5pm. Though at first it was just folks mingling. I'm not really a super social kind of guy so I just kinda took things in; perhaps a bit too hard, because I missed my chance at the amuse; a version of Lumpia Shanghai. That's ok; I did enjoy the Czech Pilsner. Crisp and refreshing, it did remind me a bit of what we had during our time visiting the Czech Republic.

What might be my favorite dish of the night was the Porcini Dusted Cauliflower, I loved how all of the flavors went together so well; from the hazelnuts, to the celeriac, to the slightly acidic, yet very tasty homage to celery a la Grecque.

The Missus surely would have loved this dish by Tim Kolanko. This was served with one of my favorites here; the Brotherly Love Dunkelweiss.

Phillip Esteban's dish was an eye catching version of the rolled and tied chicken Ballotine. Instead of forcemeat, this was stuffed with a black garlic based mixture. I'm not a big fan of items on the plate without a purpose; and those dollops of what I'm assuming is sort of a Nasturtium pesto really had no flavor. And the buttermilk leche de tigre added no real acid to the dish. The chicken itself was a bit on the salty side; but the black garlic paste added a nice amount of sweet, complex tones, which really balanced things out. This was paired with the Black Sheep Coffee Porter on Nitro.

Ami Cisneros's dish was a beautiful version of….well, Carnitas.

Pressed and nicely seared; perhaps a bit too lean for my taste, it was nicely seasoned. The kabocha puree was quite rich, creamy, and slightly sweet. To be perfectly honest, I really loved the pear with chamoy and tajin. It went so well with the Prickly Pear Family Tart Berliner Weisse, which almost tasted like a version of agua de sandia (watermelon agua fresca) paired with this dish. I even enjoyed the slice of black radish which was so crisp and had some of the pepperiness toned down….I'm thinking it must have been soaked in ice water for a bit before being dried.

My next dish was a sentimental favorite; since it was created by the one and only Travis Clifford; remember Travis likes food? Anyway, it was nice to see him cooking again….it's been a while since I've tasted his cooking. Funny thing; I've made a career out of being quite non-descript. I'd been to BB a couple of times and had actually spoken to Travis, but I'm fairly certain he doesn't remember me. I kind of like it that way.

Nicely blackened prawns; loved the "Travis made" Andouille, great texture, good smoke. The flavor of the grits, while they had hardened by the time it hit the table had a nice rich and sweet flavor from the marscapone. All of these big flavors were tempered with the Big Brother Double IPA.

I'm not a big dessert/sweets guy and was worried about the Espresso Crème Brulee made by "Bitter Bill" Warnke. I shouldn't have, this was not too sweet, but very nicely balanced with mild coffee tones.

Paired with a nice bittersweet chocolate and espresso sable, which was just perfect. Very good, grown-up flavors. This was paired with the deceptively boozy (only 5.2 abv) Barrel Aged Little Sister Russian Imperial Stout which made it a nice way to end the meal.

The Barrel Aged Little Sister Russian Imperial Stout is BB's first ever bottle release; so I bought a couple. The Missus will love it. And I'm sure to be there the next time BB has another "Family Dinner".

Bitter Brothers Brewing
4170 Morena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117