mmm-yoso – Page 243 – 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.

Ma Noodles House

August 23, 2016 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Chinese Restaurants

A couple of weeks back, I ran into an acquaintance, it was nice catching up a bit, and of course the conversation eventually turned to food. He told me about his new favorite Chinese spot named Ma Noodles House. Now for some reason I had a slight malfunction, maybe flashing back to Mama's Lu, so I asked him what regional style of Chinese food this place made? And got the weirdest look…..mainly because he wouldn't know a "Baozi from Bao Bao".

This place did indeed make regional Chinese food, from that province 6600 or so miles east of Shanghai, "Ab-cee-dee". Yep, I should have known, Ma's is an ABCDE ("American Born Chinese Dining Establishment"). And he was more of a quantity over quality kind of guy. But he did mention enjoying the Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings here, which is a weakness of mine. So I decided to drop by and check them out.

Ma Noodles House is quite the hole-in-the-wall, quite tiny, and except for the kind of odd out of place swap meet "art" on the wall, could have easily been named something like "New Eastern Pearl Royal Golden Phoenix Panda Garden Restaurant".

The fryer and wok stoves on one side, a lowboy on the other with all the ingredients. For some reason, this place brought back memories of the "old" Noble Chef.

There's a prep area in the back, but this was a one man operation on my visit. The prices are very cheap; figures why "da guy" likes the place so much.

I went with the Pan Fried Crispy Noodle ($7.95) and an side of the Salted (Salt and Pepper) Chicken Wings ($3.50). I felt almost guilty paying so little. The gentleman working here was very nice, though they served me my food with a fork and spoon and had to go scrambling when I asked for chopsticks.

Since this was National City, I had visions of a nice Upside Down Pan Fried Noodle. But while the dish was humongous, it really didn't deliver.

The shrimp weren't bad, they dump them in the fryer briefly so it isn't over-cooked. The chicken, as is the norm with these type of places is quite dry. The "crispy noodles" were more crumbly, powdery, with a rather strong floury flavor. And let's not leave out the bland, gloppy, brown sauce.

For those who prefer large chicken wings; rejoice. I'm more about smaller wings with a great skin to meat ratio. These were pretty large wings; but the batter wasn't very good.

Thick, hard, and crumbly, it just isn't my thing. The flavor was too mild for this sort of chicken wing as well……on the bland side.

Man, I barely made a dent in those noodles. All of this for under $12. Still, I'm more of a quality over quantity kind of guy. So, in spite of the nice service and the cheap prices, this was going to be a one and done. Until one of the guys bought me lunch…..guess from where? You got it…… I got this; the Yang Chow Fried Rice ($7.95). Good god; this was basically three meals for me!

Again, the shrimp were nice, the chicken dry, and portion size huge. Unevenly cooked; the color wasn't uniform, there was no wok-hey, thank god for soy sauce.

And before folks start sending me angry emails again, we do enjoy certain ABCDE/Chinoy dishes, but it has to be done well. Though the prices are good here, there are places that just do it better. I hope they do well though…….this place would keep all those starving students out there well fed.

Ma Noodles House
3108 E Plaza Blvd
National City, CA 91950

Ceviche House

August 22, 2016 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Seafood

**** Ceviche House has closed

The combination of super hot and muggy weather and missing all the great cebiche we recently had in Lima, where we cebiche 6 times and tiradito 3 times in four days, finally gave me a chance to visit Ceviche House. Located on a quieter part of 30th street, close to Fall Brewing and the new location of Chris' Ono Grinds (I still have to check them out), the place just kind of slipped my mind.

I finally made it a point to visit Ceviche House. It was mid-afternoon and I'd had breakfast earlier, so I thought a light lunch would be great.

The shop is tiny, with a few tables outside….roasting in the hot sun on this day.

The young lady working was very nice, she did a great job with customers who had questions, and was wonderful to deal with.

I went with the Gobernador Tostada ($8), which looked nothing at all like the Gobernador tacos I enjoy, which are rustic, yet so delicious.

This was a rather small appetizer sized tostada, though the shrimp a la plancha was nicely done, very tasty, moist , and plump, though there wasn't much of it. Enjoyed the Chipotle Cream sauce which was smoky, with a light kick. The young lady also brought me some extra sauce, a very nice touch. The avocado and the micro greens added nice texture, though I wished for some pungency and perhaps some sweetness. The fire roasted cheese cubes really didn't do it for me. I kind of missed that nice layer of queso at the bottom of the tortilla shielding it from all the juices. Still, this was quite tasty.

So, I returned the next day….still the weekend, still scorching. This time I got the Ceviche, the "Acalpulco" ($6.50).

The fish, a whitefish that was nice, perhaps a bit more tender than the usual Lenguado (sole) that is the staple of the Peruvian Ceviche I enjoy so much was marinated well. It had spent the perfect amount of time in the marinade preventing it from becoming too "cooked" and mushy. Enjoyed all the ingredients, which added nice textures. My one problem was with flavor….this was really mild, with hardly any flavor. However, I was given a small container of "aguachile" sauce (mmm aguachile, another one of my favorites), which turned out to be too much too sour for this ceviche and even with the chips to temper the flavors, kind of sent things in the wrong direction for me.

Still, the service was great as always, so I decided on one more visit. I'd see one of my favorite dishes, tiradito, a product of the Nikkei Perujin, on the menu. Every version of tiradito I've had has been different, but this, the Yellowtail Tiradito ($12) might take the cake for the oddest…..not in an over-the-top way as the Tiradito at Alfresco in Miraflores was, nor even this version which we recently had in Lima at Punto Azul; the one on the right was made with a parmesan cream and was actually pretty good.

I'm used to the type with a slightly creamy aji Amarillo based sauce; like this version from Cevicheria Bam Bam in back of Surquillo Market in Lima.

No, this might be the oddest "Tiradito" I've ever encountered….because it basically looked like plain old sashimi with microgreens over bean sprouts and avocado.

The yellowtail was dry and too chewy for my taste. The sauce was a very sour-salty-spicy soy based concoction that edged on bitter and seemed oddly out of place on everything but the blanched bean sprouts……where it made it taste like a very sour namul. It really didn't do the avocado any favors. The cut was a bit too thick even for the traditional "usuzukuri" cutting technique used on yellowtail. And frankly, I prefer the more traditional thinner cut strips fish, which is sometimes then flattened a bit with the knife to tenderize, but that's just me.

I did love the Sparkling Grapefruit drink which kind of revived things for me.

Overall, very nice service, though the flavors seemed to be a bit out of synch with the food. Well, I'm not sure it's worth going out of your way for. They told me that a Peruvian style ceviche with leche de tigre was in the works….but after having that tiradito, I'm not quite sure.

Ceviche House
4594 30th St
San Diego, CA 92116

Driving across the USA (in our Chevrolet) Part 1- America’s Highways and Byways

August 21, 2016 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Road Trip, What Cathy Eats!

Follow up links:

Part Two (chains in the Detroit area)

Part 3 (local places in Detroit)

Part Four (the drive back to San Diego)

Kirk and Ed (from Yuma), mmm-yoso!!! writers, have been posting a lot about their recent vacations. Cathy has been out of California for a while also, though not primarily on a vacation. Here is a trip report of her 2016 adventure, including food.

It was not a vacation, nor was it planned. Starting out with a flurry of phone calls, while I was with cc, on another Rose Parade float road test as well as a few other stops. The spur of the moment 2400+ mile, 37 hour drive was highlighted with a start and finish at the Las Vegas airport; meeting my nephew (who flew in to assist with the drive to Michigan) and dropping my brother off for a flight back.

We drove across the prairies and flatlands, through the Eisenhower Tunnel (the longest mountain tunnel and highest point on the US Highway system; the small green sign on the wall to the left in that photo indicates the Continental Divide).

Along the way, stopping for breaks at a variety of interesting and informative 'Rest Areas'. The last photo above is called an "Oasis"- each side has a fuel station and the walkover (over the Highway) and has a variety of fast food eateries, information stands (interestingly, popcorn concessions) and importantly, rest rooms.
Other rest areas have vending machines (which take credit cards).

There are also combination Fuel/Travel Centers, Sapp Bros is one.

Known for the coffee pot/with percolator neon lighting on a small water tower symbol seen from the Highway, the coffee choices ('Awake', 'Smile' and 'Decaf') are always fresh and ready when you drop in. (Note the popcorn machine at the far left in the below photo).

There is only one location of Wings America Travel Center remaining; located in Avoca, Iowa.

It has merged with the Pilot and Flying J travel centers,

This was the first location of a Maid Rite (there were more) on this trip.

Loose meat burger, delicate seasoning-not plain, not overpowering-steamed bun with the 'standard' toppings of chopped onion, mustard and pickles. Delightful, along with the ever traditional midwest snack, cheese curds (made with Iowa cheese, of course).

An even more popular Convenience Store chain that also sells fuel is…

Yes, you are reading it correctly. Kum & Go has been around since 1959 and this location was impressive.

That milk shake machine plays your selection of music while it is preparing the shake you choose from the ice cream selections in the freezer below.

Pick a beverage, a snack or…

Yes, there's beer on tap here, along with free samples and growlers. Those Midwesterners!

There were hotels, too, some with views, most others, not so much. But those with 'breakfast included' had pancake and waffle machines, along with many choices to make a tasty breakfast.

At the end of the drive home, I stopped in Barstow for one final fill up. It was that fateful Tuesday when the Bluecut fire began. The radio informed that the I-15 was closing in both directions as the fire had grown to 1000 acres.

Driving North two exits and taking the 247, through the Lucerne Valley

and into the San Bernadino National Forest, up to 7000 feet above sea level, on winding (10 mph on curves at some points), steep (10% grade, not the usual 6% grade) roads, then back down, to

Big Bear Lake after about two hours of driving, taking a break then driving another hour and a half to get back to the 210 freeway and home. An adventure across America, Summer 2016.

Kamakura – Breakfast at Komeda’s Coffee, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, and Kenchoji

August 20, 2016 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Caffeine Fix, Japan, Tokyo, Kamakura, and the Kantō Region, Travel

After getting back to Tokyo and a good nights sleep; the Missus was ready to go fairly early in the morning. Being a short minute walk from Tokyo Station meant transportation would be a snap. The Missus had decided on a day trip to Kamakura, the former capital during the Kamakura Shogunate from 1185 – 1333. She was interested in all the temples and of course, the Daibutsu (The Great Buddha). We enjoyed Kamakura so much that we ended up returning the next day.

We arrived quite early…..during this part of the day; before hordes of tourists descend on Kamakura, the place has a relaxed, sleepy feel to. Even Komachi Street……

We decided to find a place to stop for our caffeine fix; so I kept on the look-out. I noticed the sign for Komeda's Coffee on the scond floor of one of the buildings. The place looked open so we walked up the stairs. We were cheerfully seated and handed some menus.

Looking at the menus, we were nicely surprised to see that Komeda's had a "morning special", free toast and a boiled egg with any beverage purchase. I guess the Komeda chain is well known for this special. Perfect!

The Missus and I both ordered coffee along with the "special".

Which turned out to be enough to hold us until lunch.

The young lady working was very nice……..and heck, you can't complain about free breakfast, right?

Komeda's Coffee
Komachi, 2 Chome−2−18 2F
Kamakura

After finishing up; bolstered by caffeine, it was a short walk down the street to our first stop, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu. The shrine, dedicated to Hachiman, god of war, is Kamakura's most well known and important shrine.

The backdrop and greenery makes for quite a dramatic sight.

I read that over two million people visit this shrine over the New Year holiday.

The bridges and ponds are quite lovely.

We saw this family; children in traditional garb ascending the stairs….. About halfway up; you could tell the kids were totally over the experience!

We exited via the gate on the northwest side of the temple and ended up on the road leading to our next stop.

I believe this marker is to commemorate the visit of Dogen, the famous Zen Masters' visit to Kamakura.

It was a nice walk; slightly uphill at first, then back downhill. The weather was cool, but pleasant. We had thoughts of stopping at Orindo….but decided to pass.

We also passed on a couple of other temples along the way as well.

And ended up at Kenchoji, Japan's oldest Zen Monastery, founded in 1253.

Things are set-up in the very typical Zen style with all the gates and the main buildings built in a straight line.

The Bonsho (Temple Bell) is considered a National Treasure. The Butsuden (Buddha Hall) contains a well worn statue of Jizō Bosatsu (Bodhisattva).

In direct contrast to the rather austere structures was this gate, which really stood out.

This is the Karamon (Grand Gate).

After lingering for a few minutes more, we set off…..to the next set of temples the Missus wanted to see.

Thanks for reading!

Dordogne – The Limeuil Bridge, Domme, La Roque-Gageac, Beynac, St Cyprien, and Perigueux

August 19, 2016 mmm-yoso Cheese, Dordogne, France, France, Markets & Grocers, Travel

After a wonderful stay in Sarlat, we were heading out the next morning. We loved staying in the wonderful B&B we had booked….well…except for a couple of the paintings……which strangely kind of spooked me in some strange way.

But, here we were ready to head out for the next leg of our trip in the in the "Le Gauche…..La Droite….Sortie….mobile"

If there was any doubt as to the beauty of this part of France, all you need to do is to take short pause at the Limeuil Bridge. On a day like this; with the sun shining, the water sparkling…can you see the folks fishing?

We drove along, our objective the hill town of Domme. I'd read that some of the best views of the Dordogne Valley were to be had here. Which I believe are true.

Most folks might be too young, but my Mom used to play this old album once in a while…..

"On a clear day
Rise and look around you
And you see who you are
On a clear day
How it will astound you"

Corny, I know……..but just look!

Jacques de Maleville was born and died in Dordogne and he is celebrated at the look-out.

This picturesque church is Eglise de Notre Dame de l'Assomption.

I was glad we had a rather small Peugeot when driving up, then back down the rather small streets of Domme.

Down the hill and back across the bridge, we headed west. You can't help but stop at scenic La Roque-Gageac……called "The Rock" it is far more beautiful than that simple moniker.

This village is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France ("The most beautiful villages of France") .

And it's easy to see why…..

Many of the canoe trips on the Dordogne River start here.

It's quite an amazing drive. We stopped at a little shop by the side of the road and bought some duck rillette and foie gras for Sammy….yes, for Sammy. And from the parking lot you had a dramatic view of Chateau de Castelnaud.

A few kilometers down the road from La Roque is the stunning and yet imposing village of Beynac-et-Cazenac.

Walking from the waters edge, up the charming narrow, winding, cobbled streets, it seems like you've just stepped onto a movie set.

You should park in the lots at the bottom of the hill, or you'll risk the fate of this automobile, manned by a British couple, who had gotten to the point of no return and seemed trapped on in of the narrow lanes. The poor guy seemed like he was going to have a coronary, while the woman was quite amused. They managed to get the attention of one of the locals, who kindly jumped into the car and maneuvered it down the street. I told her, "you've sure got a story to tell when you get home, don't you?" And the woman cracked up and nodded.

The rest of the walk uphill was uneventful and we just took in our surroundings. Near the top there are cafes and restaurants. You can visit the Chateau, and yes, there's even a parking lot….apparently there's an easy way up the hill.

We just walked to the look-out and took in the view. Yet another fantastic sight.

The best shots of the Chateau are taken from right above the cemetery.

The Chateau was once seized by Richard the Lionheart who used it as his base of operations in the area. You can read a nice history of the structure here.

Our destination for the day was Les Eyzies de Tayac so we passed through the village of Saint Cyprien and the road was closed. It was market day, so we decided to stop and enjoy.

There were many temptations.

But in the end, we just went with some fromage…..

And a strong double espresso…..

We got out of town via a round about way and actually got to Les Eyzies quite early……..

There wasn't much going on so we decided to just head up north, to Perigueux, the Prefecture, administrative "capitol" of the area. We parked in one of the lots alongside the river of this old Roman town and paid a visit to the TI and picked up a walking tour map, which started at the Mataguerre Tower right across the street.

There were once 28 towers forming the walls that protected the district of Puy Saint Front. Built in the 15th Century, this is the last one standing.

The walking tour took us up and down winding alleyways, past historic buildings like the Maison des Dames de la Foi. The façade dates back to the 12th century. In the 17th century, the structure was turned into a convent.

We found the streets to be eerily quiet. I guess Sunday is a very slow day in Perigueux.

Round the corners you'd find little alleyways which seemed to be protected by a metal gate….which was open.

Exiting the alleyway, we found ourselves in a square….which was very peaceful and sedate.

We were getting a bit hungry, so we found one of the few shops open, a bakery, and got espresso, water, a croissant….

And had a bit of our cheese…….

Funny thing about France….I could just about live on croissants, baguettes, cheese, charcuterie, and wine.

We finished things up by visiting the rather imposing Cathedrale Saint Front (Perigueux Cathedral). A UNESCO World Heritage Site with quite a long history. This area has been used as a place of worship since the 6th century.

The interior space is quite large and one of the most noted features is the Baroque altarpiece carved from oak and walnut.

The Bell Tower soars 200 feet over Perigueux.

We were starting to get a bit tired. It was time to head back to Les Eyzies de Tayac to check-in and freshen up….and maybe meet a Cro-Magnon or two…..

Thanks for reading!

El Portal for Breakfast and AppeThai Revisted

August 18, 2016 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Mexican Restaurants, Thai Restaurants

A couple of quick revisits for a nice Thursday.

Breakfast at El Portal:

I'm always looking for options for a weekend breakfast while performing all those "honey-doo" tasks and was recently reminded that El Portal (has it really been that long?) serves breakfast and they open at 7am. I literally pass this place daily.

It's been over a decade since I last visited, but the place looks the same. I got the basic Huevos a l Mexicana; which was pretty hefty for $7.05.

Eggs scrambled with peppers, onions, and tomato…topped with cheese. Potatoes from the fryer, a load of fairly salty beans, and tortillas. The coup de grace….a bag of chips. I covered things in pico de gallo and could not finish this. Nothing fancy, nothing amazing….but if you're looking to eat nothing until dinner this might do.

A bit too much for me…….

El Portal Fresh Mexican Grill
4101 Genesee Ave
San Diego, CA 92111

AppeThai:

**** AppeThai has closed

***

Well, it's been a good 10 months since I last visited. It had been one of those mornings; so hectic that the last thing I really wanted to think about was lunch. So I just headed down Convoy and decided to stop at AppeThai.

I did enjoy the Tod Man KhaoPod – Fried Corn Fritters on my previous visits, so I ordered that along with one of those "pick the protein, pick the prep" lunches that many Thai places serve.

The Corn Fritters are now four bucks a pop and this, while still crisp and sweet, also had a slight flavor of old oil.

Kind of fried, I just went ahead and ordered "whatever", which in this case was the Roasted Duck with Spicy Bamboo Shoots ($10.50).

Needless to say, I should have just told them to forget about the insipid soup, the smear of cream cheese in a wonton….well….the salad wasn't too bad.

When my entrée arrived, I took one look and was quite disappointed.

It looked like this wasn't even stir-fried; there was no color; the duck a sad grey, the veggies almost raw….did they put this in a microwave? It was, other than having a small stash of Thai Chilies hiding at the bottom of this fairly bland. The rubbery duck had a bit of flavor; but this wasn't quite what I signed up for.

No wok hey, it's like they made it in a non-stick pan at too low a heat…… Very disappointing.

There were no other customers during my entire meal. I'm not sure this place is going to make it.

Appethai
4813 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Midweek Meanderings – Baker and Olive, Farmers Outlet, and how does our garden grow?

August 17, 2016 mmm-yoso Markets & Grocers

Sadly, our stash of olive oil we brought back from Granada and Seville ran out a couple of months ago.

We've tried various Spanish brands here in San Diego; the Missus loves the grassy-peppery nuances of Spanish Olive Oil, and most have fallen short. So we headed back to…..

Baker and Olive:

This little shop in the Del Mar Highlands Town Center, stocks various olive oils and vinegars.

We're really not interested in the flavored one's, but just get whatever version of Arbequina Olive Oil they have. At the time of our visit, they were starting to switch from Northern Hemishere product (i.e. Spain), to Southern Hemisphere (Chile). Here are some of the bottles we have.

Nice folks working here. One of the women is from Kailua, Hawaii, though she doesn't look it. It's always great fun chatting with her. I will also get Dea Harissa Paste here once in a while; though I usually order it from Amazon.

Baker & Olive
12925 El Camino Real
San Diego, CA 92130

Back during the middle of spring; the Missus was also grumbling about how hard it was finding unshelled walnuts. She was really enjoying using the nut cracker she bought in Sarlat. So one morning I was in the Mission Gorge area and decided to stop at…..

Farmers Outlet:

We used to come here all the time when we lived in Mission Valley. Its been over a decade since I've last visited.

Still looks the same, with a nice variety of produce and other products for sale.

And yes, there were unshelled walnuts for sale.

Which got the Missus crackin' again……though that loud cracking sound scares the daylights out of Sammy!

Now, if She'd only clean up Her mess…..

Farmers Outlet
10407 Friars Rd
San Diego, CA 92120

How does our garden grow:

Because of our travels and other things, we got a late start on the garden this year. Still, we've done pretty well so far. As janfrederick commented on in a recent post, we had quite the bumper crop of cucumbers for a while. Sometimes 3-4 a day! The funny thing was; the Missus didn't want to waste, She was determined to consume every single cucumber. Which is how it was for about 3-4 weeks!

I think it's time to plant the next batch.

It looks like squirrels have eaten all our Roma Tomatoes and kale, so that's a lost cause.

Though the leeks are doing quite well this year.

As for our peppers. Again, I was kind of late, though it looks like the Trinidad 7 Pot Douglah is doing fine.

These are very hot, but not as fragrant as Ghost Peppers in my opinion.

Speaking of Ghost Peppers; they are just starting to ripen.

Though the Scorpion Peppers are a little late.

We have Serrano Pepper plants that are getting up there in age; they are starting to produce smaller and less fruit. There's a golden lining on this however. A few months back, I was weeding the plants, when I noticed a couple of little sprouts; which, after nurturing a bit, became some fairly robust plants.

Not sure what the deal is; but these are some of the biggest Serrano I've ever seen.

Sadly, our White Ghost Pepper didn't make it. But while pulling out the dead plant, I saw a couple of little shoots. So now I'm hoping these will do ok and will bear fruit this year.

Our Chili de Arbol is doing well too.

I was surprised to see a certain chili plant when I went to the nursery to pick up some fertilizer. I just had to get it.

I realize it might be a little late in the season….but I'm hoping we get some nice Carolina Reaper chili peppers from this one!

That's it for now.

How is your garden growing this year?

Café Brazil in Denver

August 16, 2016 ed fromyuma Brazilian Restaurants, Colorado, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Today Ed (from Yuma) wants to share a meal with mmm-yoso readers that he shared on a recent trip to Denver. Tomorrow if Kirk doesn't post, Cathy will. So stay tuned.

One place that Jane insisted we had to try for dinner was her longtime favorite, Café Brazil:

The several rooms were pleasant and unpretentious with a diverse clientele and pleasant Brazilian music that set the mood:

I'm sure they serve beer and probably wine, but Café Brazil has a "rum room," serves around 75 different varieties of rum, and provides list of yummy sounding rum cocktails on the menu. So I decided on a mojito:

Wow! This mojito was tasty and powerful. The sweet/sour flavors were nicely balanced with the taste of mint predominant.

Jane chose a caipirinha, a Brazilian specialty cocktail (the unofficial cocktail of the 2016 Rio Olympics, they say) made with sugar, lime, and a sizable amount of cachaça (sugarcane liquor):

It was also quite good. I guess I had expected something sweet, but the drink had a nice complexity and depth of flavor. A good start to the meal.

Since it was my first time looking over the menu, we decided to start with an appetizer; we picked fried bananas:

These little banana balls were perfectly fried and had a crunchy crisp exterior wrapped around a warm gooey banana center. Good as they were, we kind of wished we had ordered them as a dessert. They did, however, keep us from being hungry for sure.

Our server placed these salsas in the middle of the table:

On the left is a deeply flavored malaqueta pepper salsa, very tasty without being too fiery. On the right a Brazilian style pico de gallo, with red peppers and pickled onions.

Those condiments complemented our small bowls of flavorful black bean soup:

I liked the soup. While not creamy, the soup had a pleasant smokiness in the background and a bright spiciness upfront.

We also received a bread basket:

The breads were a reflection of the cuisine – these were not European-style baguettes, but breads that seemed at home in tropical and subtropical America – earthy flavored lightly sweet breads with mixed whole grains, nuts, and bits of fruit.

We had had some difficulties choosing our entrées – most of the choices looked good. I was severely tempted by the varieties of feijoada (the national dish of Brazil), but in the end we decided to focus on seafood.

I got the moqueca de peixe, a seafood stew in a coconut milk gravy over rice:
.

The shrimp were large and of excellent quality. Underneath them, on the left side of the picture, is one of the two large sea scallops in the dish. On the right side is one of the two pieces of bacalhau. The scallops were fine and I was impressed by the preparation of the salt cod. The rice underneath brought together the seafood flavors with the slightly sweet touch of creamy ginger garlic coconut milk.

Jane received La Caleña, a different seafood stew on rice:

From where I was sitting, the entrée looked like a small fortress with red pepper walls and battlements composed of carrot sticks and zucchini wedges as if to protect the large shrimp and scallops within.

So I also took a picture from above:

The spicy broth and rice had tomato and seafood flavors. The red peppers and zucchinis were perfectly cooked – tender but firm. And they took on some of the flavors of the sauce. I thought a couple of the carrots were a little underdone though.

We traded plates back and forth and generally agreed it was a good dinner. Café Brazil did well. I am obviously no expert on Brazilian cuisine, but almost everything tasted great, the ambience and service were fine, and I would love to go back and try more of the menu. I can see why this spot is a local favorite.

Great Wow – A First Look

August 15, 2016 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

**** Great Wow has closed

I'd been following the progress of Great Wow, from the first time I saw the handwritten cardboard sign in March, to actually seeing the sign go up in early July, to reading that the place was going to specialize in Northern Chinese Dumplings and Noodles. Wow. While I was somewhat excited, it was tempered a bit since the last jiaozi place that opened in san Diego was a disappointment. For some strange reason, more so than the Missus who was born and raised in Qingdao and we often joke that "dough is your destiny", I often think of jiaozi as true comfort food for me. It's important, the small things matter, it is almost a birthright. This was probably cemented by eating a ton of jiaozi while living in the SGV, having watched my MIL make it many times, even watching the Missus's Aunts make it during a family reunion in Qingdao.

So for me this means; you don't come to Great Wow for Kung Pao Chicken, nor the XLB……it's about the noodles and dumplings they make in the glass room…..

Last week Candice and I were free for lunch, so we met up at Great Wow. The interior is fairly simple, plain wooden tables, and super hard and rather uncomfortable wooden chairs.

The menus are basically paper pinned together and even though they've been open only a short time looks worn. There's a ton of marks and writing on the menu. But my basic favorites were easily found….though they were out of the pork and celery jioazi.

Candice and I started with two of the liang cai; cold dishes.

Both were a bit disappointing.

The Jellied Pork was very hard and for some reason the black vinegar based sauce seemed watered down; weak and one dimensional. Sad, because jellied pork and jellied mutton are favorites of mine.

There should be a crunch that leads to a bit of meatiness.

The Bean Curd Skin was very bland at first, until we realized that we had to mix it with the pool of sauce on the bottom.

All of this would be forgiven if the jiaozi was any good. And would you believe it; these were pretty good!

The jioazi were on the large side, if this were Beijing where you order jiaozi by batches of 25 at some places, you'd be lying on the floor after one order!

The Pork, Shrimp, and Chive came out first. The wrapper was good, quite thin, though I think the dough has been over-worked a bit as it didn't quite have the tenderness and stretch I like. But that's really splitting hairs. Lot's of meat in the filling, I mean lots of pork. The filling in these were a bit heavy handed with regards to the salt/msg, but were far from bland.

I preferred the Egg, Shrimp, and Chive, which were a bit lighter and you could make out the shrimp flavor.

You could tell that while the dough was perhaps worked by machine, that the final rolling was done by hand…the seal where the wrappers came together were as thick as the rest of the dumpling skin. Overall, these were quite good; probably the best I've had in San Diego.

Funny thing, after getting back to the office, I received a text from Xiāngjiāo….guess what she was having? Then PeterL sent out a text, he was also eating at Great Wow…but of course, in the typical PeterL way, he ordered XLB…..sigh…..

Of course, I rarely do just one visit if doing a post, so I soon returned to Great Wow. The young man working remembered me!

I placed my order and sat back. Remember how rather tattered the menu looks? Well, check out the soy sauce and vinegar dispensers? Only open a week or two and the place already looks like it's in the SGV……are sticky tables around the corner?

I started with the pork hock. The nice young man told me I could do half an order.

This was quite good, not too salty, with decent pork flavor, and rather tender. Nice on a day where the temps were peaking in the low 90's.

This time they had the pork and celery jiaozi.

The wrappers were even better this time around. The filling was nicely seasoned, edging on a bit too salty, but very plump and moist. Lot's of pork; it could have used more celery in my opinion, but hey, it's a meat eater's world these days. The jiaozi here are quite large; I was stuffed.

The free dessert is the typical White Fungus Sweet Soup (冰糖雪耳糖水) with dates. On my first visit it was way to sweet…this time around it was a nice end to a meal on a hot day.

Do you notice something missing? The first thing both "YZ" and the Missus said when they saw this was "where's the lotus seeds"?

Later that day I found out that Candice had returned the day before! Then later in the day Xiāngjiāo sent me photos….she had ended up back at Great Wow. Having spent half a year in Beijing, I think she misses a lot of these type of dishes.

I found the service, at least from the young man with glasses and the young girl working to be very nice. There are quite a few grand opening kinks to work out, but I'm sure they'll get things in line. I'm also hoping they add some additional dishes….not kung pao ji or Xiao long bao, that have true roots in the region to the menu.

Oh and I got 20% off on each of my visits too…..grand opening discount perhaps?

There are a couple of dishes that are favorites of the Missus on the menu, like Xiao Mi Zhou (小米粥 – millet porridge) on the menu. So I'm thinking we'll return when things cool down a bit.

And yes, the dumplings are good. But not as good as my MIL's….so at least we won't have her calling the place doing the "La Guan Xi" thing to find their secrets!

Great Wow
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Wow, Eater's done a post on Great Wow today too.

Vancouver – Dinner at Miku Restaurant

August 14, 2016 mmm-yoso Beer, Canada, Canada Food and Restaurants, Japanese Restaurants, Seafood, Sushi and Sashimi, Travel, Vancouver, Canada

We took a short nap after our poutine lunch. It was pretty warm in Vancouver and the sun didn't set until 9pm, so having dinner fairly late (for us) sounded like a great idea. Upon waking and freshening up, we decided to take the long way to dinner. So we headed Southeast on Robson, then down Richards, and back onto Georgia, where we came across this impressive structure.

This is the Vancouver Public Library. I loved the distinctive design. From here we took a left down Cambie Street, the neighborhood started looking a bit more gritty, though still much cleaner than Seattle.

This is the Cenotaph in Victory Square.

The main reason for walking down Cambie Street was to view the Gastown Steam Clock. I pointed to it as we headed down the street. At first the Missus said, "that's so puny, what's the big deal?" Until we walked up to it and She saw puffs of steam coming out of the top of the clock.

For some reason She was smitten as were a good number of tourists. This being "Gastown", the steam clock might seem to be a remnant of some bygone era. This was actually built in 1977. Gastown much like Pioneer Square in Seattle is the oldest neighborhood in the city. It has all of the kinds of things that these type of neighborhoods have; tourist shops, boutiques, bars, restaurants, and a good number of homeless. Still, the Missus really enjoyed the character of this neighborhood and we'd return to visit Kit and Ace and Lululemon….and even walk down Alexander to the Alibi Room. But that's for another day.

We walked to the waterfront, the views were quite nice, the air clean and crisp. Looking away from the water, here's a photo of Harbour Centre.

I had made reservations for dinner at Miku and we were trying to find the entrance. There was quite a bit of construction going on and the signs pointing to Miku lead to a locked door. A nice young man saw us and asked, "are you looking for Miku?" How the heck did he know? Anyway, he provided some directions and we found ourselves at the quite busy Miku Restaurant.

I gave my name to the hostess at the stand, who looked, frowned, and asked us to wait a second. A few minutes later, a very nice young man came up to us, and introduced himself as Kevin. I believe he was managing the front of house. He was so pleasant, shook our hands, then told us that they'd missed something on our reservations. I'd requested their kaiseki dinner when making reservations and immediately had reservations about doing so. Kevin explained that they would do the best they could to put together something for us, but I told him not to worry, we'd be perfectly happy ordering from the menu. He smiled and said, "great……I'll make sure that you both get one of the best tables we have!"

I saw this fellow waiting for his mom or dad outside Miku while we waited for our table to be prepped.

Poor guy. Folks kept taking photos or trying to comfort him, but he wanted nothing except his owners. He was adorable.

We loved the view from our table.

In case you're wondering if Miku was one of these touristy, overly fusion, pan-Asian, type restaurants…..you might be partially right. You see Miku is owned by the Tora Corporation headquartered in Miyazaki, Japan. I believe they own a number of Kaitenzushi (conveyor belt sushi) and Aburi/Oshizushi type restaurants in the Miyazaki area. I was quite intrigued by a aplce specializing in aburizushi. I've had a nigiri or two of aburi sushi at a number of places, including Urasawa, though in most American style sushi joints it's kind of a gimmick.

Anyway, we were on vacation…in Vancouver….it was time to relax and have a cocktail….or two.

There were a few interesting custom cocktails along with some standards like a Moscow Mule and Pisco Sours…which I ordered. The Missus looked at me and told me to "not be so boring…." So I relented.

The Missus ordered the Genmai's Tea, which included green tea infused vodka and cucumber. It was fine, but nothing special. I ordered the Shiso Mojito which we both love….shiso was a natural for a mojito, as this tasted so clean…..it also seemed fairly low in alcohol as well. Delish!

We started with the Aburi Beef Carpaccio, which was everything we expected and more.

The torched beef was very beefy in flavor and the texture was fantastic. The sousvide egg added a wonderful creaminess and the yolk tasted delicious. Nice, not too sour ponzu, with a mild kick. The Missus felt that the baby greens was a bit of overkill, detracting from the overall flavors of the dish; though the Asian Pear added a nice mild sweetness and crunch, like in a good Yukhoe.

The Missus had never had Tori Nanban, which I thought was kind of strange….but thinking back, I usually order the stuff for lunch. So I decided to get that.

I was surprised at how much She enjoyed the rice vinegar tones and mild sweetness in this, though She could easily leave the tartar sauce out. The chicken was light and crisp outside, very tender and moist. I was told that they get their poultry from Fraser Valley Chicken in BC. Very nice.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Oshizushi on the menu at Miku. As I've mentioned before, oshizushi is a bit of a specialty. There are three aburi versions here at Miku; Salmon, Ebi, and Saba. Now for me, Battera is the classic pressed sushi. The Missus isn't the biggest fan of saba as in most places it's oily and fishy….though for some strange reason She loves sardines and some anchovy. I convinced the Missus to try the saba version and am glad we did.

The prepared rice was pressed well, though it was rather mild in vinegar tones. The saba, which had cured inhouse and torched was really good, not too fishy, but with a nice cured-cheesy flavor to it. The torching provided a touch of pleasant smokiness. The miso sauce was nice, slightly sweet, savory, but not too salty.

By this time, I needed a drink. Kelsey, who was our Server was fantastic, efficient, pleasant, friendly, but not overly so, suggested something by a local brewery; Strange Fellows. The ale was very nice….the Missus actually loved this and we'd be getting their brews every chance we had.

We finished our meal with a foursome of aburi nigiri. Clockwise from the top left; Hotate (scallop), Wagyu, Toro, and Hirame.

All of the seafood was fantastic and the beef decadent. The one problem for us and since this is nigiri it was a major issue was the rice which was really mushy and formed with too much pressure……I'm figuring most folks wouldn't notice; but any nigiri lover would immediately pick that up. The hotate was tender and sweet, with the torching adding a wonderful touch of flavor. The hirame was very fresh, but the toro was just fantastic as it melted in your mouth as did the wagyu beef which was out of this world.

Night had settled in as we finished up our meal. We marveled at how the service and pacing here at Miku was just perfect for us. They struck the perfect balance in terms of service, friendliness, and made us feel very comfortable. Kelsey was quite knowledgeable and his recommendations, after asking us a few questions, were spot on.

And while Miku looks like one of those stylish-hip places, the food delivered, and the atmosphere was totally not stuffy.

There are times when you just have a great experience….where a place just seems like a perfect fit for you. Miku did that for us. In terms of price; our meal, including drinks came out to something like $115 US……which I thought was a bargain. I've spent more at Sushi Yaro for dinner! I'm sure we'll be back to Vancouver. And we will definitely be back to Miku.

Miku
200 Granville Street Suite 70
Vancouver, BC V6C 1S4, Canada