mmm-yoso – Page 255 – 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.

Char House Saigon Grill & Pho

April 12, 2016 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Char House has closed

This place sure took its time opening. I first noticed the place back in September of last year. Since the build out was taking so long, I got into the routine of passing the place without taking notice. Unttil one afternoon, seemingly overnight, the Grand opening sign was up.

I visited soon after….finding the place….. well, quite bright, in a very Green China Grill kind of way.

I guess orange and green is replacing wood paneling as a design preference? I do like the old style Vietnamese black and white photos on the wall though.

The menu was quite interesting. True to the name, Char House was serving up grilled items, and there were items like Banh Khot of the menu as well.

I was curious about the Fish Sauce Chicken Wings ($6.95), so I started with that.

Man, those were some pretty hefty wings. Personally, I'm more about smaller wings with a nice skin to meat ratio, but these were quite moist, and the glaze wasn't too sweet or salty. This was obviously deep fried, then sautéed, a bit too long in my opinion, which caused two of the drumettes to burn, thus making it a bit bitter….another product of taking a bit too long was that the crispness of the wings suffered a bit as well. Not bad though….I should get around to trying the butter wings in the future.

I saw Pho Filet on the menu, but went with the Dac Biet, not cheap at $8.25 for a small….we're starting to head into ramen pricing here.

The bowl was quite fragrant and the flavor of the broth was very, very, familiar. There was some nice anise, with a sweet edge to it, so I had to ask…..yep, same owners as Pho Fifth Avenue. This was actually the best pho broth I've had in Kearny Mesa in ages! Perhaps a bit too defatted; but very clear, bright flavors, and not too much MSG.

As you can see; like Pho Fifth Avenue, things were kind of light in the Sprouts and Basil area……I will say, because of the flavor of the broth, I didn't need to add any lime.

The proteins were really good; even the rare steak, while a bit overdone by the time the bowl reached the tableswas still fairly tender. The tripe was clean tasting and crunchy, the tendon adequate….nice beefy flavors from the flank and brisket as well.

There was one rather humorous instance. My bowl arrived with a regular metal spoon! I thought this was kind of odd……the thing is, it's just not the right tool for the job. So I walked on up to the counter and asked for a soup spoon. Grand opening hiccups and all that, right?

One other thing….I went to pick-up some noodles, which were in the typical clump at the bottom of the bowl and the entire bunch of noodles, in the shape of the bottom of the bowl arose! The noodles were well prepared, but it seems to have been sitting around in that bowl for a while because it wasn't very hot.

Yes, a few hiccups, and while I've been called "too picky" by some other Food Bloggers, I really did enjoy my bowl of pho as a whole. In fact, I actually took to Twitter and sent out a tweet, "The best pho in Kearny Mesa may just be at the newly opened Char House on Balboa". It seems that Sage Olson, who is nice enough to comment on our blog every so often went on over to Char House and basically agreed! Nice.

A few days later, I took two of my crew, Calvin and JohnF to lunch and thought it would be nice to try Char House again.

On my previous visit, I saw the grill set-up, so we decided to order some skewers. The nice gentleman, who I believe kind of manages the place told us that some of the items weren't quite ready for prime time. He told us since they didn't quite have what we wanted; he'd give us three filet mignon, three octopus, and four shrimp for $8! How could we say no?

The filet was tender and reminded me of Bo Luc Lac, though it was very mild in flavor. It came with a nice salty-sweet-savory dipping sauce that was a good accompaniment.

For JohnF, it didn't get much better than the grilled shrimp. It was prepped simply, but was very tasty, moist, head-sucking goodness. Very pure shrimp flavor.

Both Calvin and I enjoyed the Octopus; which were baby octopus a lot more.

Nicely grilled, great flavor, especially if you like baby octopus, toothsome without being tough. Make no mistake about it; this ain't refined and grilled over bincho like Taisho, but it's simple and good, street-side fare.

We also decided to try the Banh Xeo ($8.25).

More hard and lacquer than light and crisp, this could have used a bit more color. Not enough pork and shrimp and the bean sprouts were still slightly cold as well. Not even close to the version at Pho Ban Mai that we enjoy, though I've heard things have changed there recently. We did like the Nouc Mam Cham as it wasn't too watered down and not overly sweet.

There is the option to create your own bowl of pho here ($7.25), where you can add three proteins; so I chose Brisket, Flank, and Tendon.

This being the sister restaurant to Pho Fifth Avenue, I decided to add a plate of the filet ($5) as well. The broth was even better this time around, still quite sweet, but a bit more beefy. More sprouts and basil and the noodles, while still in a clump wasn't sticking all together.

The one nitpicky thing I experienced on this visit was that the temperature wasn't hot enough as it took quite a while to lightly "cook" the filet…which caused some scum and cloudied up my broth. Still, the beef was very tender.

I noticed something quite interesting….most of the customers were older Vietnamese folks. I guess they were trying out the new place in the 'hood. Also, we recognized the guy working the grill as formerly working at Pho T Cali. And no "pho-pas" with the spoons this time either.

The Boys enjoyed Char House so much that the both took their wives here that same weekend!

Meanwhile, I returned for lunch during the week to try the Cơm 7 Món ($12.95). My favorite part of the whole meal was the broth, which was quite flavorful.

The rice was really good, nice and fragrant, the shrimp plump and tasty, the "cha" (Steamed egg "meatloaf") moist, but quite mild in flavor, lacking the "porkiness" I enjoy. There wasn't much grilled pork or grilled chicken which were fine but nothing special, the "bi" (shredded pork skin") was under represented and bland as well, not enough rice powder and a bit dry. Was not a big fan off the shrimp paste in egg roll wrapper; I prefer the versions that use bean curd skin.

I can't really give this my seal of approval….it's kind of on the fence.

On my last two visits, I'd noticed a lot of folks getting the Banh Khot. I wasn't sure if I should check out the Banh Khot ($7.25), but what the heck. Plus the folks here are so darned nice. I decided to hedge my bets with a bowl of the Pho Filet (small – $8.95).

This really wasn't ready for prime time. And while the shrimp were really delicious, the "mini pancake cups" weren't crisp enough and the centers still doughy and gummy. I prefer versions that are more like what you get at Brodard:

Also, I think they need a bit more perilla and mint as well. The nuoc mam cham is pretty good. Nice try, but no cigar….yet it was still better than the last version of the dish I had in San Diego, which was terrifyingly bad.

The Pho Filet however, was quite good.

The broth had a bit more fat this time around; was less sweet, more anise and beef flavor. And most of all, perfectly hot…..you want just enough of a boil as to not agitate the broth making it cloudy. It got the tender beef to the desired doneness in perfect time.

So after almost 1480 words, it comes down to a simple, "I'm glad to finally have some decent pho in Kearny Mesa".

It's been really nice to see a lot of older folks checking this place out. I'm sure they're going through some growing pains here, but hope they keep getting better. I have a feeling the broth might be a tad too sweet for some. Really nice people working here, friendly and accommodating. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Char House Saigon Grill & Pho
7765 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92111

Five Course Dinner at the Wine Vault on 4/2/16

April 11, 2016 ed fromyuma Fine Dining, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Kirk kindly lets Cathy and even Ed (from Yuma) blog here, so today Ed wants to share a meal with you electronically that he shared with Tina actually.

To get to The Wine Vault, we went to the last block at the northwest end of India Street (just off Washington), looked just to the right of Saffron, the Thai roast chicken place, and climbed a bunch of steps that switch back and forth up to a nearly hidden loft. Finding it was worth the trouble.

On this evening, we were seated in the restaurant’s upper level with simple decor, plain white walls and good lighting:

As soon as we were seated, a large bottle of chilled water was placed on the table:

As well as a basket of fresh sliced salt bread:

Served with creamy unsalted butter and a small salt cellar, the bread had crunchy bits of coarse salt in its crust.

The cutlery, wrapped in a cloth napkin on the table, was perfect for a five course meal:

On this evening, the first course was halibut crudo with castelvetrano olives, deep-fried garbanzos, preserved lemon, garlic confit, and paprika oil:

The halibut tasted very fresh and was firm and mild – allowing the accent flavors of the other items to shine. The firm almost crunchy olives were a different and interesting companion to the fish. A good starter.

It was accompanied by a glass of Gerard Bertrand sparkling wine from Limoux, which is close to Carcassonne in the South of France. The wine, called Thomas Jefferson because Limoux sparklers were a special favorite of his, was dry, bubbly, and pale salmon color:

The next dish was amazingly good. It was centered on marscarpone topped creamy polenta with fresh spring peas, pea shoots, and fried shallot rings:

But there was more – wild mushroom strips and green garlic tops and bulb slices:

Amazingly complex and subtle layers of flavor and texture. Not like anything I can remember having before.

The wine pour was a Chiarlo Barbaresco, a northern Italian wine made from the same nebbiolo grape as Barolo:

Not a powerful wine like Barolo, but very smooth, so it went well with the flavors of the polenta.

The next course centered on Lebanese style chicken meatballs drizzled with piri piri sauce, accompanied by a mixed vegetable bulgur pilaf and a smear of smoked eggplant:

Here's a close-up:

The chicken balls were firm and meaty but certainly not rubbery. The Mediterranean spicing seemed fine and the bulgur pilaf was a nice touch.

Sometimes chicken is difficult to pair with wine because a lot of reds are too tannic and powerful and overwhelm the chicken and some whites come across as sharp and sour. So the chicken course was matched perfectly by the Stolpman Combe Trousseau:

This extremely rare red wine varietal results in a dry wine that looks almost like a rosé or like the rhubarb wine your cousin makes, but it has a distinct cherry/fruity flavor with some depth, a silky finish and virtually no tannins. Who knew?

Arriving next were four thick slices of sous-vide hanger steak, poached in butter and flavored with chimichurri sauce. Two slices angled toward me, two slices angled away. They topped baby purple potatoes and halves of fire roasted yellow and red tomatoes:

I liked the presentation; I could see both meat and vegetables. And that hanger steak was cooked perfect – tender, buttery, and meaty:

The wine, a malbec/syrah blend by Tikal in Argentina, was full flavored and great with the steak:

Before our dessert course showed up, we were given a mojito cocktail with its sweet/tart flavors of white rum, lime juice and mint:

Followed by a deconstructed key lime tart:

I liked it a lot. The thick and crunchy graham cracker crust was the central focus, and who doesn't like graham cracker crust? The sweet/tart lime pudding matched the flavor range of the mojito and contrasted with the texture and tastes of the crust.

It had been a couple of years since we'd been at The Wine Vault, (and my 2010 post about our first visit is here), so we were delighted to find that the restaurant had not grown stale. Our palates were challenged and pleased. At $36 for the food and $20 for the beverages, our credit card was pleased, but not challenged.

What’s My Craving? Kwai Fei Ji from Golden City

April 10, 2016 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

**** Golden City has closed

It had been a really long day and there was no way I’d be making dinner. So what to pick up on the way home? Village Kitchen and Thai Papaya come to mind, but since by the time I’d be getting home, the Missus would be off to work this one was for me….and I was craving Kwai Fei Chicken. It’s been over ten years since I mentioned getting this dish from Golden City and I still crave it a couple of times a year. And I usually get it from Golden City….even when they were located on Convoy way back when. Over the years, I’ve posted on the place 15-16 times, you can find all those posts on the Big List.

I ended up doing take-out and ordering more than I should have.

Over the years, the chicken’s gotten to be a bit drier and tougher. Still, topped with that ginger-scallion-sesame oil sauce, what I call my “cold ginger chicken sauce”, because that’s what we call the version of Kwai Fei Chicken we eat back home in Hawaii….this is comfort food to me. Especially when the weather gets warmer……savory – herbaceous flavors, with a slight pungency….I can just eat the sauce over rice!

I decided to get some Roast Duck.

Which, on this visit wasn’t very good. It wasn’t overly salty like many versions in San Diego and it was fairly tender…..it was truly lacking the beany paste and mild five spice flavors I enjoy. Overall, quite bland.

What was really delicious; I’d say even better than the Kwai Fei Chicken on this day was the Pork Intestines with Preserved Vegetable….for some reason, this isn’t on the dinner menu, but they were nice enough to make it for me.

The intestines were prepped quite well……I guess it would be even better if it were fried and crisp, but the earthy-musty flavors were nice without being too much. The salty-sour preserved vegetables, which also had just a touch of sweetness kept things in check as did the onions, which added a nice pungency to the dish. Man this was good.

With all the new places opening left and right, it’s easy to over-look the rather worn Golden City. I’m glad I didn’t on this evening.

Golden City Restaurant
5375 Kearny Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123

Roadtrip to the Old Neighborhood: L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, Tokyo Central, and Other “Stuffs” (Rowland/Hacienda Heights – West Covina)

April 9, 2016 mmm-yoso Loco Mocos, Los Angeles County, Markets & Grocers, Plate Lunch, Road Trip

A few weeks back, I had to head on up to the City of Industry to take care of some business. Because of the Missus work schedule, this was a rare solo trip….in fact, we haven't found much time to head back up to the LA or even the OC very much in the last couple of years as things have been quite busy for us. After taking care of business, I needed to grab a bite to eat. My first thought was the rather new location of Chengdu Taste in Hong Kong Plaza….but man, there was a line outside the place. So I thought about doing what had been brewing in "mi cabeza" for several years. While we lived in the Rowland/Hacienda Heights area for several years, I had never really taken to the place, that is, I never felt that "this is my home". Honolulu is where I'm from and will always be "home". I now feel that San Diego is my home. For some reason, I never felt "at home" in LA, though I have some fond memories of the place, it's where I met the Missus, (well, not really as it was on a flight, She on Her way back to LA, me headed to Fort Smith Arkansas) where we got married and initially settled down.

Anyway, I decided to head to Puente Hills Mall.

Yes, strange, I know. One of the really funny things was; the first time I passed Puente Hills Mall was at night and I instantly recognized it….it was Lone Pine Mall in Back to the Future…that Robinson's May was still there back then. These days, the mall seems even more run down and seedy than it did then. Especially the Food Court.

The Missus sent me a text asking me where I was eating. When I told Her She replied "WHAT! You can do better than that!" Which is totally true. And yet, there's a story behind this. You see, the first L&L Hawaiian Barbecue outside of Hawaii opened in this mall. No big deal now….but for an ex-pat Kama'aina back in 1999-2000 it meant a lot. Back then, L&L served up a decent plate lunch……. And for a homesick local boy, it was just down the street. So now, all these years later, I decided to see what was going on here.

**** This location of L&L has closed

Back when they first opened here, I knew the owners….I wish I could remember their names, but they really worked hard to keep up the quality. I don't think they own the place anymore. It looks a bit run down….but so does the entire food court. I decided to go with a mini locomoco. This was actually the first one of the year!

There were two things positive about this loco; the egg which was nicely sunny-side up and the mac salad, which wasn't messed with too much; had the perfect amount of mayo and was ice cold. Other than that, this wasn't very good. The gravy was pasty and had no flavor, the rice was dry, some of which was hard. Worse of all was the train wreck called a hamburger patty, which was some leathery substance that I took a bite of, then put to the side. Also….no Tabasco…..

If I recall, in his spiel; Eddie Flores talks about franchisees having to come to Hawaii to learn about food prep and the "Aloha Spirit". Maybe they do….but it looks like it's forgotten about fairly quickly. I don't think there's any quality control, nor standards of service as I was treated like that hamburger patty. In some ways this was good. I now have closure and have no reason ever to return.

L&L Hawaiian Barbecue
1600 S Azusa Avenue
City of Industry, CA 91748

This visit had me wondering, what happened to some of those places we always used to visit when we lived here. We know about places like Chicken Box, Hong Kong Fishball House, Donut King, Yi Mei Deli, Shau Mei, and TS Emporium. But there were others I had in mind, so I decided to take a trip to some of the more obscure places. I did notice that the old Albertson's is now 168 Market…..which means that there isn't a "western" supermarket in this strip of Colima Road! Taiwan Deli is still there, but it looks like the menu is some pseudo Taiwanese-Sichuan mash-up?

It was nice to see Hacienda Village Meats is still there….we used to stop by for various meats and the Missus loved the variety of Italian drinks/sodas. In the same strip mall is what used to be the Missus favorite dried beef stop, which is still there.

I then set off to check out Marukai in West Covina, only to find it was now something called Tokyo Central.

And while I understand that Tokyo Central performs under the same umbrella as Marukai, that is, now owned by Don Quijote, this was quite a shock.

Much of the store looked the same, except for the huge prepared food area, which kind of reminded me of Todai for some reason…..

There was some kind of anniversary thing going on this day….the crowd in the fish department was quite large…..

There was even a "Ninja" in attendance…….though I think just the fact I could easily find him might make him lose his membership?

I understand that Marukai is doing away with memberships this year….though it seems that Tokyo Central has memberships for discounts. Is this the future?

1420 S Azusa Avenue
West Covina, CA 91791

Revisits: 777 Noodle House and Island Style Cafe

April 8, 2016 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego, Loco Mocos, Plate Lunch

It's winter in April! At least that's what it felt like last night. A couple more revisits for your consideration.

777 Noodle House:

Another weekend, another list to take of. And another stop for a noodle soup breakfast. It seems like I drop by here every couple of months. And while Ly Heng surely tops this place in terms of Pho/Hu Tieu Nam Vang, I still like the folks working here. They are so nice and friendly…..they still call me "sir" after all these years. Looking at the dining room it struck me that 777 is just one of those places that looked worn since the day they opened.

On this day, I had my sights set on the Pork Intestine Egg Noodle Soup. Strange, but I think it's gotten better over the years, at least I believe better than the first time I had it. Or perhaps my tastes have changed. The noodles were perfect on this day a wonderful counter point to the blanched bean sprouts. The broth wasn't too salty, slightly porky, and had taken on some of the flavor from the intestine.

I've called 777 Noodle House "my neighborhood noodle shop, even though I don’t work, or live, remotely close to City Heights" and it's still true to this day. It reminds me of the neighborhood saimin shops that I grew up with.

777 Noodle House
4686 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92105

Island Style Café:

**** Island Style Cafe has moved to Santee

So I got in my loco moco fix. It kind of happened by accident. I was going to lunch with Calvin and Deanna…..due to the rainy weather, pho sounded like a good choice….but they wanted "something different". It really doesn't get much different, even in terms of loco moco's, than the Kaloko Moco.

I thought this was better than the one I had last time, though the easy over eggs were style a bit over cooked. The crepe is such an oddity, but it just goes well with this loco……. The burger was better than what I had before and the gravy wasn't too salty…and heck; there's even some veggies! Check out the carrots! Ha!

Deanna, who is from the Midwest really wasn't ready for this, so she got the teri beef and Korean chicken….she loved the mac salad here, so maybe there's hope for her.

Island Style Cafe
5950 Santo Road
San Diego, CA 92124

Granada: The Albayzin, San Nicolas Church, and Bar Alaiatar Los Caracoles

April 7, 2016 mmm-yoso Granada, Spain, Spanish Restaurants and Cuisine, Travel

Finishing dinner at almost 11pm does take a bit out of you. The following morning we weren't that early to rise. After some much needed coffee, we headed out. This was supposed to be an "easy" day. The Missus wanted to check out the famous Moorish Quarter, the Albayzin, full of twisting lanes, history, and some of the best views of Granada to boot.

There were maps of course, but we just started heading up, up, and up. There is a bus which circles the Albayzin….but you know; this is the Missus…we walked.

We arrived at a nice little café, named Café 4 Gatos and stopped for a "un café Americano". Really nice folks and a great place to stop.

You can even see the Alcazaba from here.

And take in some of the local flavor, in the form of our four legged furry friends.

Yes, the streets are narrow and winding and the walk rather steep….I wouldn't want to be running around here during a good rain. But reading the section about the Albayzin in Rick Steves book makes this sound much more difficult than it is.

In spite of not using the map, we ended up where everyone wants to be when they visit the Moorish Quarter; the Mirador San Nicolas with it's beautiful view. It would be quite a romantic stop if not for all the folks sharing the view. Though it wasn't as busy as other photos I've seen.

And to be honest, there is quite an interesting vibe to the place. Checking out the priceless view……

Listening to the Gypsy musicians…….

For an even better, and in this case more romantic experience, go into the Iglesia de San Nicolas.

Pay your 5 Euros a piece and head on up into the bell tower. If you're lucky, you'll be the only folks in the tiny bell tower, feeling a million miles away from the people below. And you'll be rewarded with even more wonderful views.

Of Granada………

And Sacromonte; the "Roma" (Gypsy) Quarter.

If you want some refreshment, there are a couple of cafes. One is right on the street below the mirador, where you can grab a drink, sit, and enjoy the view. Another is right around from the church.

After spending a good amount of time enjoying the views the Missus wanted to do more exploring, so we set out heading downhill, until we came to a pretty little plaza.

The plaza was surrounded by restaurants and I broke out laughing when I saw this place; Los Caracoles. It was the place I had marked on my map for lunch!

It was still before opening time; so the Missus and I wandered around the area, stopping in some of the small shops down Cuesta del Chapiz, doing a bit of people watching.

Then heading back up and taking a break in front of Colegiata del Salvador, a huge church that stands on the site of what was the city's main mosque during the reign of the Moors.

We relaxed for a bit than headed across the street just past noon for lunch at Los Caracoles. Even if you spoke no Spanish (or even Portuguese) and didn't understand what caracoles were; you'd know what the specialty of the house was as soon as you stepped into the place.

The woman working here was so warm and friendly, always there with a smile. We were the only folks with a table for almost our entire meal.

We saw folks, mostly older, local, and rather thirsty, buzz in and out during our meal. They came for a glass of wine or beer and a tapa…..

The Missus had a very nice red….I choose a cerveza….

While we pondered over what to order……which was kind of obvious, right?

We placed our order, then the tapa arrived, free with our drinks…..holy smokes…..it was pretty large, pan fried pork on toast. with a nice garlic olive oil brushed on it. No wonder the locals come here!

The Missus decided that She wanted the Habas con Jamon….I watched the cook slice off three slices off the pata for this dish, which was quite substantial.

The Missus loves Her eggs so it was a double bonus. Nicely flavored peppery olive oil; almost a hint of citrus, the thicker slices of jamon really added all the saltiness the dish needed.

We had initially said that we didn't need any bread…but c'mon……you needed bread…even if it was in the shape of a snail.

Especially when your next dish is a very garlicky and grassy-peppery (from the olive oil) Gambas al Ajillo. I really don't think I need to write anything more about this dish.

Do I?

And of course…..

Probably the most tender snails I've ever had as the texture was like perfectly prepared beef tendon, buttery and tender, with just the slight amount of toothsomeness to finish. The flavor was quite plain and the Missus had problems with the rather earthy flavors of the snails. I just dunked them in the sauce left over from the shrimp! Luckily, this was a media racione (a half portion).

Meanwhile, a trickle of locals kept dropping in; having a drink, a tapa, then moving on….I'd like to know where they were going! Except for one really needy American couple….good lord, do you really have all those food sensitivities? Then what the heck are you doing at a snail restaurant? I really don't want to know your business nor your opinions….just chill.

I'd love to return to Los Caracoles. The folks here are warm and friendly. I'd come for a couple of drinks and some of those tapas; or maybe some callos (tripe stew) or rabo de toro (oxtail).

Bar Aliatar Los Caracoles
Plaza Aliatar 4
Granada, Spain

I thought we'd be headed back to Plaza Nueva via Cuesta del Chapiz, but the Missus wanted to head back to Mirador San Nicolas, for yet another dose of the wonderful view.

And I don't blame Her. Life is short. Who knows what tomorrow may bring. We should enjoy the moment!

Dim Sum at Emerald

April 6, 2016 ed fromyuma Chinese Restaurants, Dim Sum, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Tina and Ed (from Yuma) just spent a weekend in wonderful San Diego. We came, we saw, and we ate. Thus, this post at mmm-yoso!!! Tomorrow, Kirk or Cathy will be blogging this blog. Stay Tuned.

Sunday morning Tina and I got together for dim sum with her college friend, CF, who moved to San Diego a few years ago. Dim sum – where in San Diego? Kirk doesn't seem to eat dim sum here anymore, so this blog wasn't much help, but I did see that Emerald had been remodeled and had switched over to menu ordering. Thus, this picture to start the post:

The interior has been extensively remodeled:

When we sat down, we were given a picture menu of the items available, and a long two-sided checklist. I felt like we were voting, not choosing brunch. After the order had been processed, the ballot with a printed list attached was returned to the table:

The system seemed to work well and the dishes arrived one or two at a time, not all at once. When we decided we were still hungry we were able to add more.

The dried shrimp rice rolls were my least favorite item:

There was very little dried shrimp flavor and the noodles, which should be the focal point, were overcooked and too soft. The Chinese broccoli was a nice touch.

We all enjoyed the steamed pork ribs with black beans, but they were generic with nothing about them special:

The barbecued pork tarts were new to me. Slightly bland so hot mustard really perked them up. Their pastry exterior had a pleasant soft crunch though I would've liked more filling:

The seafood dumplings were good with a large shrimp inside. The wrappers were thin and perfectly prepared:

Baked barbecue pork buns are an old favorite of mine, slightly sweet and done well here I thought. More bbq pork than in the tarts:

And we all loved the squid in five spices:

This has been one of my favorites at Emerald for many years. Smaller portion now, but classier presentation. The tentacles are pleasantly crunchy/chewy and a little salty. Now served with two sauces –spicy ketchup and hoisin:

We decided that the little sea-critters tasted best with a touch of each sauce together, kind of a yin yang thing.

Truly amazing to us were the pan fried leek buns:

Fresh vegetable flavors intense inside a nice thin wrapper:

The last item we ordered was another favorite, steamed bean curd roll with meat:

These wrinkly rolls proved that looks can be deceiving. Ugly outside, beautifully meaty within. A good conclusion to the meal.

As Kirk will attest, I'm nowhere near knowledgeable about dim sum (and Chinese food in general). But for my palate this was pretty solid. Certainly better than a lot of dim sum I have eaten over the years. The ordering system works well. When I needed to get someone's attention, I could get it.

While I do miss the Cantonese chaos of carts and cart ladies, I prefer a menu card system. Sometimes back in the day, we'd never see the squid. Sometimes the cart ladies didn't show me the interesting stuff, “you no like.” And sometimes the carts would arrive in the middle of conversations that got lost while we chose shu mai or har gow or turnip cake. Also the menu helps things show up fresh – sometimes even too hot to handle.

Online, some people object to being charged for tea and some thought the prices at the remodeled Emerald too high. You can judge for yourself:

While your results may differ, we left Emerald feeling happy and well fed.

Seoul: Gul Bossam Alley and Samhae Jip

April 5, 2016 mmm-yoso Korea, Korean Restaurants, Seoul, Travel

There was steady drizzle as we headed back to Myeongdong.

We had begun to notice something about the crosswalk signals in Seoul…..they seemed to take an inordinately long time to change. Miss a walk signal and you're stuck cooling your heels. Which is probably why you'll see folks sprinting to make the walk signal….I mean like 80 year old grandma's hauling it to the crosswalk!

So why did we head back to that beast called Lotte Department Store?

Well, the night before I stopped by 7-11 and picked up a bottle of Hite. attached to that bottle was a sample of honey-butter almonds…..which the Missus loved. So of course we had to hunt them down. After looking in a couple of convenience stores we decided just to head to Lotte and check out the market in the basement. And whaddya know? Almonds. So it was mission accomplished.

We headed back to the apartment for a short siesta. During this time of the year, night falls like a hammer in Seoul…it gets dark by 430pm! We were also quite hungry. Seoul is famous for their "Food Alleys". Near the Jong-no 3ga station is an alley that specializes in Gul Bossam; pork and fresh oysters wrapped in lettuce or napa cabbage…… No need to ask me twice, I'm there!

The instructions were, find exit 15 of Jong-no 3ga station and walk 20 meters down the street, take your first left down the alley to your left, then take your first right. One of the shops, Samhae Jip was the one I read about the most. I had a photo of the storefront and the Missus could read the Chinese characters. It really wasn't that hard to find….you just looked for the line!

And all the pork simmering away……

We really lucked out as all the other parties were large and we quickly snagged a small table for two. I was also quite lucky to not have to do endure the floor seating, which, if you've read some of my previous posts is a disaster waiting to happen. The possibility of me falling over and spilling hot soup on folks is not a pretty thought, though folks here were having no problem.

Lot's of folks seemed to be having a good time….and many had what we call the "Asian gene" thing going on! Half the fun was people watching. The three guys to our far left were just plain wasted….they were slapping each other….then feeding each other! On our table to our left, we noticed the girl there only eating panchan and lettuce, while her boyfriend/husband just plowed through the pork, something we had also noticed the night before.

The smells in the place were just intoxicating! All the standard sides and panchan arrived; bean paste, fermented baby shrimp, the raw garlic, a couple of chilies, ssamjang, kkandugi (radish kimchi), Sukju Namul.

The wrapping was done with either lettuce or napa cabbage. The Missus preferred the lettuce; I preferred the sturdy cabbage, which I thought kept everything together better and had MCPB – More Crunch Per Bite.

Soju is required for this type of eating….at least that's what we were told.

The Missus's favorite item was the gamjatang, the pork bone soup. It was fairly chilly and damp, so the Missus who loves Her bone soup had problem plowing through almost the entire pot! It was quite tasty. The Missus has also developed a taste for the perilla seeds.

This was a load of food for 20,000₩, about $18 US! This was for two people! I was kind of leery about the oysters, but while not great in flavor, it had a nice texture, and was fresh. The fresh radish kimchi was really good as well. The pork….well, as you can see…..it was moist, pretty tender, mild in flavor. And those fermented shrimp tasted really good!

The folks here were pretty friendly. And dinner was a bargain at 30,000₩, about $26 for food and drinks.

It might be hard finding this place….well not really if you follow the "exit 15 – take a left – take a right". It's worth the effort to check it out.

Samhae Jip – Gul Bossam Alley

We headed back out to Jong-ro. The rain had subsided and the temperature was going down.

As we watched the businessmen stagger down the side streets…..

Feeling fat and happy……

Thanks for reading!

City Tacos

April 4, 2016 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

Over the last year, I went ahead and checked out several of our "hipster" taco shops. I've already posted on ¡Salud! and will probably get around to the rest eventually. Of these taco shops, the only one I took the Missus to was City Tacos; I think Salud has better tortillas, Perla is definitely tops in the salsa department, but I think City Tacos, which I recall first hearing about from Candice and then "CC" was the overall best of the lot. It's a small, cramped space, you order at the counter, pay, are given a placard with a number…..

The salsa bar is nice in that they encourage you to try the various salsas, though not quite inspiring on jicama first. I usually just go for the rojo, though there's one that's basically chili oil…..the Missus, She needs no salsa for the tacos She enjoys.

What's quite fascinating is that the Missus treats City Tacos as an alternative to Tiger! Tiger! when She wants to grab a beer at Toronado. So I'll let you know what the Missus enjoys here first.

Numero Uno would be the Puerco Agri Dulce….basically chunks of pork tenderloin with pineapple.

Disregarding the rather strange fried noodle thingy; which I guess is added for texture, the Missus loves the "sweet-sour" flavors of this taco. It's one of Her favorites. The tortilla on this is perfect as it just adds a bit of "breadiness".

As is the Chorizo Asado, which to me is pretty plain, but the Missus loves Her chorizo and also the milkiness of the cheese.

Number three, which could have easily have been numero uno (for the Missus, not me) is the Portobello con Vegetales.

The main reason is that we've never had it the same way twice…..once there wasn't any greens on it, the next time it was amazingly good (photo above), the cheese had been griddled to a wonderful crispy texture, the next time it was just melted. Personally, I'm not sold on veggie tacos, but give me something with that cheese crisp from the comal with black beans and corn….

I usually order the "Borrego", though those tacos have wildly varied as well.

I once got it ice cold, the last time I ordered it, there were some delicious fried veggies on top. The lamb is very tasty….I just wish for some consistency.

We also like the Carnitas when they have it.

Nicely porky….In spite of questioning the addition of mangos to this……it was tasty, even with the Missus's edict of "no salsa". The corn tortilla was perfect for this.

As a whole, we're not big fans of the seafood offerings here; I had the tacos de pescado (no photo) which was really fishy and not very tasty. The El Especial really wasn't much better.

Tough and rubbery octopus and squid, overly fishy flavors, just didn't do it for us.

The Mahi Adobo wasn't much more pleasant either….

It could be that in a "previous life" I had to deal with a ton of Mahimahi and understand how quickly it "sours"……but to me, this was too fishy and "sour". You can easily get a good tacos de marlyn from a Mariscos truck that would be much better than this.

Overall, we've figured out what we (the Missus) enjoys from City Tacos and it's a nice stop for us in the area when the Missus is craving some tacos. One of the women who work here is very nice. We've even taken the tacos to go….they put them in a pastry box, you know, like when you order a dozen donuts, and ate them at Poseidon.

City Tacos
3028 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92104

Spotted Cow Viet Kitchen Revisited

April 3, 2016 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Spotted Cow has closed

Spotted Cow Viet Kitchen:

I'd had a really good bowl of Bo Kho from Pho Lucky while doing my errands for the Missus. The following weekend, I had to get something from Zion Market and was hungry. Spotted Cow opens early, it had been a while since my last visit so I thought I'd grab a bowl of the Pho Bo Kho, which was the the best thing I had during my previous visits to Spotted Cow. The drill ended up being kind of strange; I ordered, the gentleman then went to the back of the shop and carried a Styrofoam container to the kitchen area. He set the container down out of sight and about thirty seconds later I heard a "ding"….sure sounded like a microwave to me. Meanwhile, my noodles were heated fresh in front of me, the contents of the container were poured into a bowl and additional broth added. I guess they don't sell enough beef stew?

I thought this was a rather odd bowl of Pho Bo Kho. The broth was barely past lukewarm. In fact this is the first time I can ever remember having a bowl of noodle soup where the noodles were actually hotter than the broth! The broth was very mild, in need of a bit more anise tones and beefiness in my opinion. At least it wasn't too salty. The carrots were nicely done, very tender. Cilantro and onions are quite important to the bowl in my opinion….adding an additional pungency to cut the richness and in the case of the cilantro, that extra anise and almost citrus like tones of cilantro (nope, I don't have olfactory receptor genes OR6A2) really add to the flavor.

As you can see…..I think it's the cost-cutting trend these days, barely any bean sprouts and basil.

The meat was provided in nice squared off chunks. It had probably been cooked separately ahead of time, not a bad thing, then chopped into chunks for serving. It was not bad….though I was looking for some tendon, which I love with my Bo Kho, but none was to be had.

The noodles, the thinner type of Banh Pho, was perfect in texture……there was a huge amount of noodles in the bowl.

But noodles are but one component of Pho Bo Kho. I'm kind of on the fence about this one; the broth was a bit too mild and the temperature was off…..it was kind of made "not to offend", not something I enjoy when having a meal.

Spotted Cow Viet Kitchen (in the Zion Market Food Court)
7655 Clairemont Mesa Blvd