mmm-yoso – Page 250 – 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.

Sunday Sandwiches: Garlic Shack

June 5, 2016 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Sandwiches

**** Garlic Shack has closed

Back in February, I was just driving around and exploring one sunny weekend day when I noticed this place.

I'm pretty sure this place was fairly new……I recall it being pretty much a revolving door of eating places in the last couple of years. I am, of course, a garlic lover, so I just had to try the place out. I will say they really went with the "shack" theme here.

Nice and tight selection of craft beers and an even more interesting selection of craft sodas……looks lie Diet Coke is persona non grata here.

I was greeted by a bright smiling face when I entered; the folks here seemed very cheerful and helpful. The drill is order at the register; pay and have a seat. I really can't say the view was great, though there was a nice breeze blowing through the place and I counted two ambulances and one fire truck rushing through the neighborhood during my meal.

You know; this place IS named the Garlic Shack, so I had to try the Garlic Fires, right? It wasn't quite what I picture as garlic fries.

The fries were really nice and crisp, very hot….I really didn't care for the garlic seasoning which seemed like a bunch of granulated garlic dumped on the fries, which made the flavor somewhat bitter to my palate. That spicy ketchup was quite nice though….not super spicy, the tangy-sweet with a slight kick.

I ordered the "Spicy Porkaholic".

It was quite a hefty sandwich….which was appropriately wrapped in butcher paper. It should have had a "contents under pressure" label since it basically bursts at the seams. The bread didn't hold up for very long, the pork had a very strong paprika flavor and really didn't have a smoked flavor, at least to me. The bean sprouts were an interesting choice, which added some texture, along with the lettuce. The menu said grilled onion, but I didn't detect any of that.

There was no way that I could finish all of this….though it did seem more about portion over quality. I did enjoy the South Bay Seltzer; which wasn't overly carbonated and quite refreshing after all of this rich and hefty food.

And so things stood pat….but of course I really wouldn't have felt comfortable doing a post without another visit. Which I did a few months later.

Different folks, but the same very friendly and helpful service.

This time around I decided to stick with just a sandwich and went with the Korean Beefaholic. Which of course was quite hefty.

This was, as before, quite a messy sandwich as the bread didn't hold up for long. The generous portion of meat was kind of mushy in texture and a bit too sweet for me…..the milky flavor of the cheese just seemed to clash with the other flavors as well. The romaine lettuce saves the sandwich, but I think this needs a bit of pungency (onions) and acid (tomatoes) as this was pretty mundane in terms of flavor….but that's just me.

Perhaps if you weren't raised on teri beef sandwiches or W&M Burgers, this might seem really good. For me; not so much. Still, I enjoyed the variety of sodas, the folks who worked here are so very nice. You might want to give it a try yourself to see if it's a good fit.

Garlic Shack
549 25th St
San Diego, CA 92102

Sapporo: Dosan-Shokusai HUG Mart, Le Petite Boule Chocolatier, and Breakfast at the Hotel Monterey Sapporo

June 4, 2016 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Buffets, Chocolate, Hokkaido, Japan, Travel

After having our hybrid late lunch – early dinner at Ramen Zero, we decided to check out the Tanukikoji Shopping Arcade which is almost a kilometer long. Along the way we passed by this interesting looking market.

This shop had two parts; one side a small collection of eating establishments called "HUG Eat" and the other half a market selling Hokkaido produce, dairy, and other Hokkaido food products.

Yes, I said dairy. Hokkaido has a sizeable dairy industry and you might be surprised to find items like Hokkaido milk, yogurt, and yes, cheese are quite popular.

Some of the produce had photos of folks I'm assuming are the farmers who grew the product. It was kind of charming, even though some of the photos looked like mugshots.

I really enjoyed this shop and will definitely drop by if I'm ever back in Sapporo.

Dosan-shokusai HUG
Tanukikoji 5-chome
Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Japan

We made our way to the other end of the shopping arcade, then decided to head back to the hotel…..

Of course we got joyfully lost along the way. Finally ending up at this chocolate shop.

Where the Missus bought a couple of treats for Her mom and a few for Herself.

Le Petit Boule Chocolatier
8-2-7 Kita 1-jo Nishi
Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Japan

In spite of not having a sweet tooth; I really enjoyed the snacks in Hokkaido. New Chitose Airport was "sample heaven" and I loved this particular melon flavored corn and chocolate snack that I normally wouldn't have given a second glance to.

Darkness had fallen quickly, and even though we got turned around a couple of times, we ended up at the Daimaru located next to Sapporo Station.

Which was close to our hotel.

We finished up the evening with some snacks and another thing we picked up in Hokkaido; really flavorful black bean tea!

One of the reasons Akiko had recommended staying at the Hotel Monterey was for the buffet breakfast, which the Missus loved.

I'm usually not a big buffet fan, but this was a bird of another feather. There was a section with typical Western style breakfast items; then some typical Japanese items like chicken karaage and such. Of course there was Hokkaido dairy products and I had a chance to sample the milk and yogurt. It was the selection of more traditional items that we really took to. The Missus discovered that She loved mentaiko, shiokara, and other items She deemed "too fishy" here in the states. As an egg lover, She blissfully consumed the onsen tamago. I loved seeing the Missus enjoy eating this way.

I'd never had black bean natto before and we both found it delicious. I felt totally at home having these items for breakfast. I did notice that most of the younger folks; all Japanese went for the Western pastries and such and the older folks (I guess I'm an old fart) took to the more traditional items.

Good call Akiko! We loved the breakfast buffet!

And we needed a healthy start to the day. There were small snow flurries the night before, but it had all melted in the morning sun. Still, the temps were in the mid-30's.

And we were headed to the city where the lowest recorded temperature (think of where Celsius and Fahrenheit meet) in the history of Japan was recorded.

See you there!

Borneo Kalimantan Cuisine and Some LA Museum Eats

June 3, 2016 ed fromyuma Indonesian Restaurants & Food, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Today Ed (from Yuma) is finishing up his posts about a recent trip to LA. Tomorrow Kirk or Cathy will be posting about something different. That's what happens here at mmm-yoso!!!

Tina and I had a good time in LA. We saw interesting and sometimes amazing stuff in the museums, but this is a food blog not an art blog, so I’ll mostly focus on food. But I do want to give a brief shout out for the Mapplethorpe exhibits in both LACMA and the Getty. He was an incredibly talented photographer who took pictures of all sorts of things, even things like this:

Now let's look in a different direction:

Since we were comped two days of free breakfast buffets at the Hilton (don't ask) and had a lot of leftovers, we ate very little at the museums. But a lunch at an informal café at the Getty was pretty tasty. I had a half portion of a beef, radicchio, and horseradish sandwich with a cup of vegetable minestrone:

Really quite good. The soup was packed with vegetables and had the classic Italian flavors. I was quite taken with the sandwich – interesting combination of flavors. Tina's sandwich seemed more conventional to me, but she liked it:

The next day at the Huntington, we were feeling a bit peckish from walking around the grounds, so we went to the pavilion at the Chinese garden:

and both had a nice jasmine iced tea and a red bean paste stuffed pastry:

However, the main focus of this post is the meal we had at Borneo Kalimantan Cuisine on Garfield in Alhambra:

This small restaurant says it's the only restaurant in the entire United States featuring the cuisine of the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. It has a couple tables in the front and then a row of tables along the wall to the back of the restaurant:

The menu had a page of appetizers, a page of soups and curries, a page of rice dishes, and two pages focusing on noodles. We tried to order some variety.

Our server was exceptionally friendly and welcoming, and after we ordered, he set our utensils on the table – two small plates, two forks, two soup bowls, and two soup spoons:

Our first dish, from the rice section, was Ayam Muda Goreng Penyet, which the menu described as Indonesian spiced chicken fried Singapore style:

The fried chicken had no breading but the outside was cooked crackly crisp. Its interior was moist, and while the chicken was very hot, there was no trace of oiliness. Tina and I also enjoyed the nicely sweet and mildly hot chili sauce. A perfect match with the bird.

The steamed rice was fine, and it came in very handy with the second item to arrive at the table, Borneo Oxtail Curry Soup:

While the menu said the coconut curry was spicy, most of the spicing was of the aromatic and sweet variety – a reminder that Borneo is in the same region as the fabled Spice Islands. There was one large piece of tail and two or three smaller pieces. All very tender and mildly beefy. The soup had some scallions and cabbage pieces, but my favorite of the vegetables were the chunks of fresh tomato that provided an acidic contrast to the creamy sweetness of the soup. Of course we ladled the soup into our bowls with the rice.

One page of the menu had been devoted solely to Borneo style homemade egg noodles, which could be thin, medium, or thick and chewy. Each type of noodle could be matched up with one of three types of toppings. We decided on Mie Karet Hakka, chewy egg noodles served Hakka style with red pork, marinated egg, fish ball, and fish cake:

The eggs were tasty, a good upgrade from regular boiled eggs. The few small fish ball halves and the plentiful slices of fish cake provided a nice light seafood flavor. The red pork lacked the porkiness and richness of good char siu, but all of these things – as well as some scallions, fried shallots, bean sprouts, and a thin stalk or two of gai lan (?) – were really just flavorings for the wonderful kinky chewy toothsome egg noodles:

A great noodle dish. It was served with a small bowl of seafood flavored broth on the side:

At first, we ate the noodles dry, sometimes dipping items into the broth, but toward the end of the meal we poured all of the broth into the noodle bowl:

It was good to the last drop.

We enjoyed the meal a lot. The clean bright restaurant, the friendly server and the 90s pop playing in the background created a pleasant atmosphere. The dishes we tried were various and tasty. Though the place is cash only, you gotta like the price tag:

Lima: The “Nikkei Experience” at Maido

June 2, 2016 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Fine Dining, Japanese Restaurants, Lima, Memorable Meals, Peru, Peruvian Restaurants, Travel

We always try to plan at least one "special" meal during our trips. Lima, being one of my favorite food cities has some difficult choices, but Maido, without a doubt was the one place I just wanted to experience. The chef Maido Mitsuharu puts forward a "Nikkei" menu….inspired by Peruvian and Japanese cuisine. Mitsuharu has a pretty good resume, having attended Johnson & Wales and even trained for almost three years in a sushi restaurant in Osaka. You can read his bio here. Being a Sansei from Hawaii, where we have our own spin on Japanese cuisine, much of it based on the lack of many traditional Japanese ingredients, I've always been fascinated by Nikkei Cuisine. And was really excited about our dinner reservations at Maido.

Located on the corner of Calle Colon and Calle San Martin, Maido was quite easy to find. The building itself is quite distinctive. It was 10 minutes before opening and there were folks lining up. Considering all these folks had reservations, it seems that I wasn't the only one excited about eating here.

The interior of the restaurant is somewhat austere, with a sushi bar area and tables. The one really interesting feature are the ropes hanging from the ceiling…..kind of cool and yet kind of strange. I believe it also helps to absorb noise since most of the areas are quite hard.

We had ordered the "Nikkei Experience" when making reservations. This is a 15 course menu of dishes, none of which are revealed until you receive them. You don't even get a listing of the dishes until your meal is complete.

But first, some cocktails. The Missus, in a genius move, ordered the Pisco and Tonic, a wonderful balanced, grown up drink. It was my favorite cocktail of the trip. In fact, I ended up ordering another later on in the meal! At a loss for what to order, I went for the Sakura; a Pisco, Sake, Strawberry, and Camu Camu juice. It was light, clean, refreshing….but was more of a "chick drink".

Lucky for me, the Missus really liked this and we traded. She was especially taken with the flowers in the ice cubes.

Soon enough, dishes started arriving. Things were really paced well, our Server described the basic dish, and seemed pleased when I recognized tastes, flavors, and even knew some of the ingredients in the dish. Service was very professional with nice, friendly touches….."un-stuffy" and perfectly suited to our taste.

Things started off with an interesting "snack". The stuff in the cone was delicious pressed and fried chicken skin dusted with shichimi togarashi. It was so very nice and crisp, with that wonderful "unfowl" flavor of chicken skin.

The other part of the dish were sausages, which seemed like a cross between a bratwurst and chorizo, layered on plantain, senbei (no kidding – senbei) with a sachatomate (tamarillo) emulsion. Nice, but nothing to really get excited about.

What really got our attention was that sauce at the bottom of the photo above. We put some on the chicken skin and cracked up! Pachikay Sauce……it's scallion, ginger, soy…..this tasted like the dipping sauce for for Kwai Fei Chicken! Basically, the sauce for what we call "Cold Ginger Chicken" back home. This had a more complex flavor, the ginger seemed to have been blanched or cooked taking the edge off the flavor, some smokiness, it was also a bit on the salty side as well. Still, we really enjoyed the chicken skin.

The next dish was simply called "Churos"….no not churros, but churos, an Amazonian land snail. The snail had been simmered in a soy based broth, with perhaps some sake and mirin. It was enrobed with a very tasty foam made of dale dale root, which I believe is a type of arrowroot and garnished with "chalaca", a basic topping made of corn, tomato, and onion.

The snail was so tender and full of flavor and the foam really tempered any strong flavors and refreshed the palate.

Next up, one of my favorite items of the evening; simply called Lapas Cebiche. Lapas are "limpets". So, the folks from Hawaii will understand; this is opihi! Really good opihi, served on what was described to me as aji-cilantro-lime juice frozen by liquid nitrogen.

Good lord, this was leche de tigre sorbet! I love leche de tigre…..when our Server heard me exclaim that, he came over, smiled, and said, "yes, it is frozen leche de tigre". Amazing flavors and textures.

Next up was the Paiche Sandwich. Paiche is the legendary Arapaima from the Amazon. It has a nice texture, delicate, yet slightly firm.

The bun, like a mantou was hard, crumbly, and not up to the task. The lulo criolla, strangely didn't register much flavor.

My friends know how much I love cuy (guinea pig)…but cuy gyoza? Well, that's a new one. The wrapper was decent, crisp, not gummy. The filling was interesting, like the filling for a croquette, very soft and mushy….give me this and tell me it's pork and I'd believe you. The sauce was delish…..soy sauce, probably rice vinegar…combined with the onions and chilies, this really tasted Chinese…..as did the Pachikay Sauce. It seems the strong Chinese influence on Peruvian cuisine was in play as well.

Next up, well Sushi de Mar……An ika and hotate nigiri. Now, of course I'd never expect anything say…the level of Sushi Iwa or Urasawa….

But for me, the rice did this dish in. The gohan was hard, dry, and very cold. It really detracted from any enjoyment of the very nicely prepared seafood.

While the color of the dish screamed "bland" the "Amazonic Cebiche" was much better.

I loved the "Nikkei leche de tigre", which had some soy sauce in it. It tasted like revved up ponzu. I'm also a big fan of the shaved hearts of palm, which looked like noodles in this dish. That topping, which I was told was made of yucca flour was delish. I believe there was some garlic in here somewhere. There was also some very mild heat from aji charapita.

The next dish was also very good; Cancho con Yuca. This looked like compressed cubes of pork belly and yucca, wrapped up in some kind of dough based wrapper and topped with fried pork skin.

It was served with a "ramen reduction" which was quite salty.

Next up was another dish which just blew me away; Sacha Soba.

The noodles were made from sachapapa an Amazonian tuber. Flavor and color was added via the use of various chilies, and no, this wasn't spicy. But the texture of the soba was perfect; nice pull, that slight smokiness and mild spice from the chilies, balanced by the sweetness of the crab. My goodness, this was so delici-yoso!!!

We just had to have some drinks to celebrate! I got another Pisco and Tonic and the Missus gave in and had a Pisco Sour, which I thought was the most balanced, in terms of booze to sweetness to sour of what I had during the entire trip.

Next up were the Sushi Tierra (Earth). These fared much better than the seafood; possibly because the fat tempered the textures for me.

The A lo Pobre, a wonderfully beefy piece of meat torched, then topped with a quail egg. As a bonus, the quail egg had been injected with ponzu sauce, which added the nice salty-acid component which meant all the difference to this piece of nigiri. The mollejas (beef sweetbread) was nice and fatty which aided the texture, but this was a bit too tame in flavor compared to other piece.

The Missus really enjoyed the "Regional Beans", which had some nice flavor components, the quinoa crisps were very nutty and the Missus, who loves beans, also enjoyed them when mixed with the avocado cream.

So, the Missus has always preferred my misoyaki to everything She's ever had….even to pointing out the failings of what was served at Nobu's and Matsuhisa (!). Until tonight. On this evening, She proclaimed the Gindara to be the best She's ever had. Now I take a back seat.

I have to say, the flavor of the miso sauce/glaze was perfectly balanced; not too strong. the nuts; which I believe were cashews and bahuaja (Brazil nuts if I recall) just placed another layer of texture and flavor. I thought the potato cream was much too salty to enjoy.

The flavor and texture of the Wagyu Shortrib, which they said was cooked for 50 hours…..I'm pretty sure via sousvide, was amazingly tender and the flavor was a nice balance of salty to sweet…..and the egg yolk just added more richness (as if it were needed) to the dish. We both found the Cecina (cured pork) fried rice wrapped up like a spring roll to be kind of odd as it was on the mild side in regards to flavor.

The Missus really enjoyed both desserts. The Cacao; 70% pure, with yuzu and all the nuts…..

And I even enjoyed the "Maduro", which had the odd combination of an ice cream made with plantain and shoyu!

All that really nice tapioca balls, water jelly, and rice milk…..along with some Amazonian fruits like camu camu really made for a nice way to end the meal.

We really enjoyed our meal at Maido. In fact, the Missus told me that this is easily one of the most enjoyable meals of Her life. Me? Well, I can easily say that my favorite dining experience is Suzunari, which we actually returned to on our last visit to Tokyo (I know…I'm really behind). But this was an amazing experience in terms of food and flavors. And while certainly not on the level of Azurmendi, there was one thing they had in common. While not every dish worked to our enjoyment, the "highs" were extremely high. We could relate to the flavors….the combinations of which weren't frivolous…..the cuisine and thus the customer was respected….you could detect the "soul" of the cuisine here, it wasn't some meaningless mash-up. And while I wasn't able to wrangle a reservation at Central; we were both very happy to have the chance to dine at Maido.

Maido
399 Calle San Martin
Lima, Peru

This was a wonderful meal. We'd have to get up at 430 the next morning and get our ride to the airport. Next up….Santiago, Chile…even if it was just for a single night we were looking forward to it!

Lima: A Nice Oceanfront Walk, Lunch at La Mar, Lucuma Ice Cream from Blueberry Cafe, and a Stroll Thru the “Cat Park” (Parque Kennedy)

June 1, 2016 mmm-yoso Lima, Peru, Peruvian Restaurants, Seafood, Travel

Man, time sure does fly, doesn't it? Would you believe it's been almost 9 years since we were in Lima? It was time for the Missus's annual "'birthday trip". This year, I really didn't have much time. Plus, I've got a couple of big projects coming up and probably won't be able to take extended time off for a while. And so, like I mentioned in my previous post, we decided on knocking a couple items off the Missus's bucket list. Since this was going to be a short one, with many early mornings and late nights….almost like a giant lay-over at times; we decided to go for the gusto on several legs. Starting with our round trip to Lima, in which we flew Delta One. This meant that we'd actually manage to catch a short nap (I really have a hard time sleeping sitting up) and be able to use the lounges, both in San Diego and Atlanta.

Our flight got into Lima at 11pm, so basically our entire day was spent travelling. Taxis and such in Lima can be hit or miss and I really didn't want to have to deal with all that stuff, so I used a wonderful transfer service named Taxidatum. These guys were awesome; just $20 from/to the airport, the drivers were always on time, things were such a breeze. During our previous stay in Miraflores, the Missus loved the JW Marriott. Great service, comfy bed, all rooms had an ocean view, so this we were we stayed inbound to Lima.

We'd noticed that Lima had changed slightly since our last visit almost a decade ago. But one thing had gotten worse, the traffic……man, I thought it was bad before!

And yet, there was so much familiar in Parque Alfredo Salazar. As was Larcomar Shopping Center, built into the cliffs overlooking the Pacific.

Though there were new things that captured our attention. Like when did Paddington Bear get here?

According to Atlas Obscura, this was a gift from the UK. I guess Paddington was returning to his roots; though Miraflores is far from "Darkest Peru".

The grey and hazy skies were quite familiar and in a way comforting. We'd later learn, from our driver "Benjamin" that they call the skies in Lima, Panza de Burro, because the grey reminds them of a "donkey's belly". Such a perfect description.

We decided to walk along the 10 kilometer path along the cliffs overlooking the Pacific called "El Malecón", taking our time to enjoy the sights.

Near the Villena Bridge, which also has a path to the beach below, you'll come across two of Lima's most well known sculptures, the "Intihuatana" (The Sun Anchor) on one side and Parque del Amor (no translation needed, right?) with the sculpture known as El Beso (The Kiss) on the other side. I was told that on Saturdays, at around 7pm, you'll see many folks taking wedding photos under this iconic piece of public art.

For some reason, I've always been fascinated by the feet of this sculpture….well, TMI perhaps?

If the rest of the park looks familiar to you, I heard that it was inspired by Gaudi's Park Guell in Barcelona. Though it doesn't have the same "Tim Burtonesque – Walt Disneyfied – Dr Seussificated" (what I call Park Guell), fairytale feel to the place, it's still a nice area to stroll or even take a break.

Or perhaps even a short nap?

There's quite a bit to catch your attention along the way. Like the statue of Peru's most beloved poet.

Or perhaps a lighthouse.

Maybe you'll notice that dogs are loved in Peru, just as they are here in the states.

Or maybe you'll stop and watch some ambitious soul trying to ride his motorized unicycle thingy….

Or maybe not, as this guy drew about a half-dozen onlookers, but after about 5 failed attempts everyone pretty much lost interest…..

Still, there's a lot to see. By this point we had reached Avenida Santa Cruz and after taking our lives into our hands at several intersections, we arrived at our destination on Avenida La Mar.

During our previous time in Lima, we had a short list of cebicherias, with a final two being Gaston Acurio's La Mar, now a world wide institution, or Pescados Capitales. In the end, because we had eaten at Acurio's Astrid & Gaston the night before, we chose Pescados Capitales. So we considered a visit to La Mar to be unfinished business, which we decided to quickly address when we got to Miraflores.

When we arrived, shortly before opening, there was already a line forming. And a few minutes after being seated, the place had totally filled up. The crowd looked to be about 50-50 tourists to locals.

The crew here is very efficient and professional. One guy basically works your table, another gets drinks, and yet another goes from table to table taking orders. The plantain and sweet potato chips, crisp and light arrived quickly, along with three sauces. We enjoyed the aji rocoto the best as it had a nice "zing". We found that folks in Miraflores were really cautious about giving tourists anything spicy.

Then the wonderfully warm roasted corn kernals, cancha arrived. Oh my, how I've missed this stuff!

The Missus couldn't wait to get Her mitts on a Pisco Sour (24s/$8). This one was really boozy, quite strong, so I ended up having most of it.

As for the ordering…..well, we had things in mind, but our waiter had a problem with what we wanted as most of it seemed a bit the same. I finally acquiesced and went with some of his recommendations. The Missus was not amused. But at least we started off with what She really wanted; the Cebiche Classico – Cabrilla 59s/$20).

The camote (sweet potato) was on the dry side, but decently flavored. The fish was tender, with a slight chew, though we'd have better later on, this was a solid #3 on the cebiche list for Peru. I enjoyed the lech de tigre, though the Missus prefers something with a bit more citrus oomph. The Missus hasn't met many versions of choclo She doesn't like and this was no exception. This was on the mild side with regards to heat and we'd soon learn to ask for aji limo, chopped spicy red chilies on the side to add some zip.

We'd been talked into the Cebiche Nikei (56s/$18.75).

The Missus has come to detest overly sweet, fusion, tuna based dishes with heavy handed flavors. So this didn't make it past "go" for Her. And while I thought this was nothing special, at least they didn't just mar everything in confusing flavors like the tuna cebiche dish we had at Pescados Capitales. It wasn't too sweet, but had a bunch of flavors going on that was a bit too much for me.

We'd also been talked into the Chucuito (39s/$13). Basically a scallop based cebiche/tiradito type dish.

The scallops were very plump and sweet, but the flavors were marred with too much mayo. You really couldn't make much else out. We ended up scraping a good portion of the mayo off, so we could enjoy the flavors of the tomato, onion, and the creamy texture of the avocado, along with the scallops.

The one item I did insist on was the causa, this version is called the Miraflorina (26s/$8.75) and has shrimp and crab with an aji amarilla mayonnaise.

For me, this was the best causa I encountered during our trip. The potatoes where nice and light, the flavor of the crab came through nicely, and while this could have used a tad of acid, the tomato helped things along. A very nice causa.

Overall, we found our visit to La Mar to be a bit of a mixed bag. This ended up being our most expensive cebiche type meal (other than in Hanga Roa) and we'd have much better later on. I found that the Missus gravitated to more traditional flavoring and really didn't care for sweet flavors, other than what is provided by the seafood in Her cebiche and tiradito. And overly fusionized, somewhat unfocused versions were not appreciated. And while we'd have what I'd call one of the most fusion meals for dinner, the flavors would be focused, and the intent of the dishes were quite clear.

La Mar Cebicheria
Avenida La Mar 770
Lima, Peru

After lunch we decided to walk back to the JW Marriott (this IS the Missus, right?). The Missus had getting some Lucuma Ice Cream on Her agenda. I also wanted a nice Inka Cola. For some reason, Inka Cola tastes much better in Peru! So we stopped at the nearby Metro Express, which had the ice cream booth and I grabbed an Inka Cola while the Missus stood in line for some Lucuma Ice Cream. While I was waiting to pay for my Inka Cola, I noticed the Missus came around front sans ice cream. She told me that the folks in the booth took all the orders for the locals in line, even those behind Her and totally ignored Her, so She decided "screw them". Very sad, though this was the one and only time we were treated this way during our time in Peru.

A few blocks down the street we found this place.

And the Missus got Her Lucuma Ice Cream. In case you weren't reading all those years ago and don't know what the heck lucuma is; it is also known as "egg fruit" and is quite gritty and powdery in raw form. But made into ice ream, the custardy-sweet potato flavors come through perfectly.

Blueberry Cafe
Calle Schell 285
Lima, Peru

The Missus and I found a bench and enjoyed our ice cream chased with Inka Cola. It was so nice to be back in Lima!

There was one more place I wanted to check out on the way back to our hotel. Right along the intersection of Larco and Oscar R Benavides in Parque Kennedy. Yes, it is named after John F Kennedy, due to, from what I understand is the aid he provided Latin America during his presidency. It is a nice, relaxed green space, but there's one interesting feature of Parque Kennedy. It is home to either 80 or 100 stray cats, depending on which post/article you read.

These are not your typical stray/feral cats. They seem clean, well fed, and healthy. And also quite friendly, though the Missus is not fond of our feline friends.

According to this post, no one knows how all the cats ended up here. I had several cats as pets growing up, so I'm somewhat fond of them. There is a group of people who monitor the cats, making sure the park is clean and pet safe disinfectant is used twice a day. The cats also receive vet care and are all neutered, so who's going to complain about these, right?

And there are those somewhat eccentric characters we saw…..

And some that were so adorable…..

I think this sculpture in the park should be replaced with one of a cat, right?

We got turned around a bit and ended up walking in the wrong direction for a few blocks after Parque Kennedy, finally righting ourselves. Getting lost is half the fun anyway…so long you don't end up with trouble on your hands, which is hard to do in Miraflores….lovely Miraflores, literally to "watch flowers".

Getting back to the hotel, we showered and took a short afternoon nap. We were looking forward to dinner. It would be quite the adventure….

Thanks for reading!

2016 San Diego County Fair-Mad About the Fair- Part One: Before it opens!

May 31, 2016 Cathy Festivals & Events, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for stopping to read mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog. Kirk is resting up after his short vacation, Ed (from Yuma) is busily writing a post and Cathy has this post ready to go, so here it is.

Yes, it is that time of the year. The San Diego County Fair, (6th most attended in 2014) will open on Friday June 3 at 4 p.m. with its theme "Mad About The Fair".

The front gate and Midway are being set up. The Fair Theme will be explained in the first building to your right when you walk in the main gate. The theme is a mix of Lewis Carroll classic Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, fused with influences from steampunk, cosplay, great literature, wacky machinery, and all the fun and magic you have come to expect at the Fair.

Food booths are being set up.

Home and Hobby has had items brought in, judged and set on display.

I do usually post twice: before the fair and during, but always neglect to post after the Fair ends. The Fourth of July morning is the event that local 4H clubs wait for all year. The auctioning of the livestock they have raised is both education for the Club members and a community event. Many of our local restaurants purchase animals at the Fair for processing and use as menu items.

One place we stopped at last year was the Pan Fried Chicken booth- on the Midway. The chalkboard special $12 grilled plate was a great find (mushrooms, peppers, asparagus, green beans, peas, zucchini and a slice of pineapple) grilled properly and so tasty, this will be a regular stop for us.

There are daily contests (some require pre-registration), regular contests (like this pie- eating competition each day at noon), one day contests for adults (admission is free if you are entering one of these) and upstairs in Home and Hobby, daily demonstrations. There are also demonstrations going on in the Woodworking and Gemstone areas, a Farm to Table Dinner, a Spirit and Cocktail Festival, Wine Festival and Beer Festival (all requiring an additional fee, see the link for information). Of course, Concerts and other entertainment. Basically something for everyone and then more. There even will be a Sunday Teatime event held (additional fee, reservations need to be made).

New foods available are at the bottom of this link (Some of these don't appeal to me at all, but we'll see what I end up trying).

There is still time to purchase a "Best Pass Ever" and some other discounts, like the Costco deal for $65, before the Fair opens. That will save you some cash (as will utilizing the free parking areas and maybe entering a daily contest). There are also three days (June 3, 4 and 8) when you can get in for only $4, if you purchase your tickets at Albertsons or Vons (along with a $10 regular purchase). There are so many deals and discounts listed on the website, listing here would just be confusing.
It's going to be a great Fair again this year.

2016 San Diego County Fair Open Friday June 3 at 4 p.m. until July 4 (The Fair is closed on Mondays, except July 4, and the first two Tuesdays.) Website

Mary Etta’s Cafe (Flinn Springs/El Cajon)

May 30, 2016 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Diner, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a blog about food. Kirk is traveling today, Ed (from Yuma) is currently relaxing and Cathy is thinking about her future vacation while writing a short post.

A few weeks ago, The Mister and I were in East County and took the exit on Lake Jennings Park Road, driving past the abandoned amusement park, Marshal Scotty's (sometimes referred to as the East County Disneyland). Staying along the interstate on Olde Highway 80, passing Flinn Springs County Park, we spotted parking in front of Mary Etta's Cafe, which has been in this location since about 1935.

The small Cafe has both a high and low counter seating as well as five booths. The clientele is mostly locals.

There are specials on the white board on the far wall and the menu is uncomplicated. A cup of coffee is $2.35 and constantly refilled.

The chicken fried steak plate ($9.50) is a good choice. The breading on the meat is crispy, the sausage gravy is great. Those potatoes are so good; thinly mandolin sliced and crispy fried; not a hash brown nor a home fry.

You can order one, two or three eggs with a choice of meats with potato and toast. This two egg with a (house made!) sausage patty was my choice ($8.50). The eggs were a perfect over easy (runny orange yolks; the eggs are from a local ranch), that sausage is simply wonderful; proper spices, thick corse ground pork and fried to a light crust…and the potatoes: those are the same my mom and dad would make for us on the weekend (and also the same type as I had at the Original Tops in November 2014).

The choice of toast is only white or wheat, Mary Etta's isn't hipster; its a local, long time favorite. Hidden treasure.

Mary Etta's Cafe 14809 Olde Highway 80 El Cajon 92021 (619) 390-1973 Open 7 a.m.-2 p.m. daily

What remains of Marshal Scotty's Amusement Park

La Sinaloense- Mexican and Seafood (Spring Valley)

May 29, 2016 Cathy Mexican Restaurants, Seafood, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for taking the time to read mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog, on this long weekend, culminating in Memorial Day and its observance. Kirk is out of the Country while Ed (from Yuma) is in Yuma and Cathy is in East County, writing today's post.

Lately, I've had the chance to visit Spring Valley, which I suppose some of you might consider 'East County'. The area is neighborhoods interspersed with small businesses and parks (as well as a large and busy weekend Swap Meet).Taking the 54 to the Jamacha Road exit, heading East, the road name changes to Apple Street at Grand Avenue and La Sinaloense is at the North East corner. I think I saw it for the first time in 2012, but it may have been sooner. In any case, it is under New Management (family owned) and serves breakfast all day and has a Mexican/seafood centric menu.There is plenty of covered outdoor seating as well as a handful of indoor tables at this established location.Chips and salsa are brought out before ordering. {Breakfasts will be a separate post; served all day and fairly basic, with the unique choices including Ortega chili, chorizo, pork chops and chicken breast.}

Usually a cup of consommé and plate of limes (or lemons, depending on what is in season) is brought out after you place your order. The consommé is a slow simmered soup with a variety of vegetables.The shrimp quesadilla ($8.25) is a meal in itself. Large, plump, flavorful shrimp are used.The 'Filete al Mojo de Ajo' ($11.50) Pretty much a garlic and butter sauce on a nice thick piece of lightly floured and sautéed sea bass. This was quite amazing in size and flavors.

There is a separate, one page, two sided menu which you may receive or have to ask for. It is not written in english, has no explanations, quite a few photos and some prices.

The shrimp in culichi sauce plate ($13) was wonderful. The poblano-cream sauce and large shrimp were just perfect together.

Likewise, a culichi shrimp taco ($4) as well as a simple fish taco ($1.75) (fish tacos are $1 all day Monday) also were enough to make a meal.

On that smaller menu is a photo of some stuffed clamshells (Almeja gratinada) (one clam/two halves is $7; this plate was $14). There was minced clam, scallop, 'crab' and tender squid, topped with cheese and bacon. A wonderful, flavorful hot dish. I think one order would be enough, depending on what else you are having (various salads are on the menu).

Also on the other menu is listed a Botana for $22. Essentially an appetizer of cold mixed seafood (in this case freshly cured in lemon and lime juice/a sort of ceviche) we asked if we could have a larger order ($30). Two types of shrimp, scallops, octopus, squid, snail along with cucumber, onion, avocado and cilantro served in a giant lava stone molacajete (the mortar part of a mortar and pestle). So fresh, so flavorful, so large (we took home leftovers in a quart container) so very good. Other people in the restaurant asked to take a photo of our order, so I didn't feel self conscious of taking more photos myself.

We have returned here many times and will probably have tried out the entire menu at some point soon.

La Sinaloense Restaurant 9410 Apple Street Spring Valley CA 91977 (619)933-2992 Open Sun-Thurs 7a.m.-9 p.m., Fri & Sat 7 a.m.-10 p.m.

Where in the world are we?

May 28, 2016 mmm-yoso Chile, Easter Island, Lima, Peru, Peruvian Restaurants, Travel

In case you've noticed I've been gone for a couple of days. Only had a short time for a trip this time around. So, I thought we'd knock some items off the Missus' "bucket list". Which conveniently meant heading back to one of my favorite cities when it comes to food.

And we weren't disappointed in the least.

If anything, things have gotten even better!

Our other stops were fairly good as well.

And then there were the places. One photo tells it all.

Just a beautiful place, where every photo becomes a postcard.

And where I learned that it's ok to go down some tight, dark hole…..

Because the payoff can be amazing.

Sort of like the sunsets.

And the places are the stuff of legend.

Even the dogs (though not the cats) are chill.

It all makes for a good story over a cold one.

We were even able to take care of a second bucket list item as well.

Overall, until today, it seems like one big layover……early mornings, with so much time spent in airports, or long drives. But tonight, I have time to regroup. With a cold one and the view from our room.

We've got one more day. And hopefully a couple good meals left before heading home. So I'll be back soon.

Remember, don't take candy from strangers!

Northern Chinese Restaurant – Rosemead (LA)

May 27, 2016 ed fromyuma Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Kirk is on vacation, Cathy is doing bunches of things, so Ed (from Yuma) has today's post on an unusual eatery in San Gabriel Valley.

I had been researching restaurant possibilities for Tina and my trip to LA, and I was intrigued by a short post that Kirk had written back in August, 2009, about the Northern Chinese Restaurant. It was his second restaurant of the day, so he sampled only a few dishes, but hinted that he would be back. If he ever went back, he never told us readers about it.

Tina and I were looking for something different, something we'd never had before, so this place seemed intriguing and its location just down Valley Boulevard in Rosemead was close to our hotel:

The interior, with only about 14 tables, was clean and attractive. Of course, I wondered what a faux rococo pastoral tapestry was doing on the wall in a Chinese restaurant, but it’s certainly better than a bare wall:

We had arrived a little before 6 PM, by the time we left every one of those 14 tables had customers, sometimes large family groups. Tina and I were the only non-Asians in the place, and maybe the only people there who didn't have family ties to northern China. Nonetheless, we were treated well and the menu had clear translations for each of the over 200 dishes available. It was easy to point to what we wanted on the menu, so there was no confusion in the ordering.

The first dish to arrive was the Dried Tofu with Hot Pepper:

Talk about something different that we never had before! Those pale ribbons are not pasta, but strips of dried tofu. The light sauce had a mild pork flavor and the jalapeno slices added a nice spice and crunch to the dish.

Next was a huge bowl of Sour Napa with Pork Belly Soup:

In addition to the suan cai and pork, there were also chunks of frozen tofu and at the bottom of the bowl long transparent noodles.

For me and Tina, this was true comfort food. You can give pork and sauerkraut a different name and throw in some tofu and noodles, but it is still pork and sauerkraut, a combination that brings back memories of my childhood. The sour cabbage had been prepared perfectly so that the finished dish was sweetly sour, the mild tang cutting through the richness of the meat.

A cold dish, the Spicy Cucumber then arrived at the table:

This simple dish was a perfect palate cleanser – salty, garlicky, spicy, and crisp.

When I thought I was finished ordering, the young man wondered if we wanted rice, so I asked if there was something more typical of northern China that he would recommend, and he pointed to Smoked Meat and Pancake. So I ordered that also:

As soon as I saw it, I realized that this was a dish which Kirk had really enjoyed back in 2009. Of course he had called it by its real name, Xun Rou Da Bing, and of course we really enjoyed it in 2016.

The pancake was like a yeasty flatbread with a bit of chew and a nice crusty exterior. We happily would have eaten the bread by itself, but the dark bean paste sauce was wildly good and deeply flavored. The smoked pork was mild and okay, but if you put it and some scallion strips on top of a wedge of pancake slathered with sauce, you ended up with a very very tasty slice of Northern Chinese pizza:
But we weren't finished yet. The last dish to hit the table was the one that turned out to be our favorite overall, Cumin Toothpick Lamb:

The numerous chunks of gamy lamb were all speared with toothpicks. Some pieces were very tender and some a little bit chewy and gristly. The meat, tossed with stir fried onion, was flavored by abundant chili flakes, ginger, cilantro, sesame seeds, and especially cumin seeds. The combination was masterful.

Of course, as you have probably already figured out, we ordered way too much food even for two hungry people. We joked that we needed some starving imaginary friends to help us finish. We did eat most of the smoked meat and pancake in the restaurant, but we still had tons of leftovers. The cold lamb was still incredible two days later.

For us, this was more than just a different and interesting meal, it was a real feast.

And a reasonably priced feast:
The next day, we went to the Getty Museum and kept crossing the paths of a couple of young Chinese women. As we were leaving, we found ourselves waiting for the same elevator, and I asked if I could take their picture. Kindly, they said yes:

Afterwards, we chatted a bit and I learned that the young lady on the left was from Shanghai and the one on the right was from further north. "Beijing?" I asked.

"No, north from there." So I said that Tina and I had just eaten at a northern Chinese restaurant and had dishes like sour cabbage and pork.

"Yes," she said, "that's where I'm from."