Eddie’s Grill – New in Yuma

mmm-yoso!!! basically is Kirk's blog, but he is kind enough to allow Cathy to post here a lot and Ed (from Yuma) to post here once in a while. Today is a once in a while day.

Since Frank's and The Farmhouse, both near the south end of 4th Avenue, had shut down recently, I was kinda surprised to see that a defunct Long John Silver’s at 2970 S. 4th Ave. had been renovated and transformed into Eddie's Grill: IMG_0429

The eating area has tables and booths in the main section: IMG_0414

and in the side room: IMG_0424

At lunchtime, both areas are usually busy: IMG_0406

You order here: IMG_0413

Then pick up soft drinks, condiments, silverware, napkins, etc.: IMG_0412

These two areas being so close together sometimes makes things a bit crowded. Once you"re seated, the very friendly and helpful waitstaff brings your food to your table – and I have been impressed by the quickness of the kitchen, making this a good stop for a quick lunch.

The menu includes several different salads. Tina loved the Santa Barbara Cobb salad with grilled chicken ($8.95): IMG_0431

The chicken was nicely cooked and had grill marks. As you can see, there was also abundant avocado, bacon, crumbled cheese, diced tomatoes, and shredded carrot on top of a large bowl of fresh mixed lettuces.

Dave liked his Asian chicken salad with sesame dressing ($8.95) as well: IMG_0449

I personally have concentrated more on the sandwiches and burgers, all of which are available as combos with beverage and french fries for an additional $2.95 ($3.45 for sweet potato fries or onion rings). The fries are okay with a decent potato flavor: IMG_0452

As you can tell by the salads, grilled chicken is a big deal at Eddie's. In fact it was the chicken club sandwich ($7.25) on my first visit that convinced me that they could produce good food: IMG_0410

The chicken was both nicely grilled and still moist. The vegetables were fresh, and the bacon and avocado tasted great and added to the sandwich.

Likewise, the barbecue chicken sandwich ($7.25) worked for me: IMG_0437

The same fresh vegetables and well grilled chicken napped with just the right amount of subdued barbecue sauce. Not over the top, but very nicely balanced, the emphasis still on the flavor of the chicken.

I was delighted to see that the fish sandwich on the menu was grilled fish ($7.95), and the sandwich had many of the same virtues as their other sandwiches: IMG_0450

As you can see from this close-up, the fish was well prepared, still moist and flake apart tender: IMG_0455

However, the picture also shows one shortcoming of that sandwich. The juices of the fish, the fresh tomato slices, and the abundant tartar sauce overwhelmed the toasted sourdough so that I ended up eating the last half of the sandwich with a knife and a fork.

I had a similar problem with the very flavorful and awesome looking grilled portobello mushroom sandwich ($6.95): IMG_0447

In this case, the excellent whole-wheat bun held up fine, but the juicy giant mushroom dripped thousand-island dressing, drenched its paper wrapping, and then began slip sliding away, out of the bun – as if the table, my shirt, or my pants represented some kind of escape, some kind of sanctuary for mushrooms threatened with extinction. So I stabbed it with a fork and cut it with a knife.

The turkey burger ($6.50) looked even more gloppy goopy: IMG_0427

But here I actually appreciated the sauciness because turkey burger itself was dry. This sandwich worked, and I particularly appreciated the good quality whole-wheat bun.

In fact, every burger I've had at Eddie's has been good. Look at the Ortega and Swiss burger ($6.25): IMG_0420

The 1/3 pound charbroiled patty was fresh and flavorful, the grilled green chile and the cheese perfect complements.

Tina loved the blue and mushroom burger ($6.25): IMG_0416

Yep, that looks good enough to eat!!!

Eddie's Grill is a nice addition to Yuma and one that should have wide appeal. The prices are fair, the folks  friendly, and the food quickly prepared. I also like being able to order the burgers and sandwiches without fries when I'm watching my waistline grow or my pocketbook shrink. It's clear that the management knows what it's doing and that the staff members from cooks to servers are well-trained and skilled. I am told that this is the second Eddie's Grill – the original one in Lompoc being run by the brothers of José, the local owner. Eddie's opens at 6 a.m., and for information about closing times etc., call (928) 726-9235.

What’s My Craving? Spicy City

I've mentioned how much I crave Sichuan Liang Mian when the mercury rises many times before. So of course, I just needed my fix when it got really hot and muggy two weeks ago. My last couple of visits to Fu An haven't been that great. So where to go? I was thinking of getting some Ko Shui Ji (mouthwatering chicken) as well, so Szechuan Taste was out of the question. My last Sichuan Liang Mian from Dede's was a total fail as well. Man, was I missing Ba Ren. Then I remembered that the last version of Sichuan Liang Mian I'd had at Spicy City was barely ok, so why not give them another shot. I got there a few minutes after five and folks were already there!

Whats my Spicy City 01

Anyway, I got my order to go after the usual perfunctory service from the two women who work there, in addition to the guy who's a jerk. Before he passed me my order he asked, "what did you order….huh…huh…huh…." Without giving me a chance to answer. Meanwhile, I had already paid for my order and had been standing there for 15 minutes. One of the women told him something along the lines of "I'd already paid"…but he dismissed her and proceeded to practice some kind of interrogation technique on me. Finally, having a chance to answer I went, "Sichuan liang mian, ko shui ji….." He was shocked that I could pronounce the items in Mandarin. I added on "da fei zhu" grabbed my packages and left.

Actually, the joke was on me as the Sichuan Liang Mian was terrible.

Whats my Spicy City 02

The noodles were fine, but the sauce was horrendous. It was basically thin, salty chili oil…..no depth of flavor. Missing were the components that make the dish for me; a dash of black vinegar, a slight sweetness, a touch of sesame paste, all the umami had been sucked out of the dish. The Missus was eating Her salad, but tried a bite and all She could say to me was, "oh, man, I'm so sorry….."

The Ko Shui Ji on the other hand wasn't bad. Quite spicy, with some of the "ma", the numbing flavor of Sichuan peppercorns.

Whats my Spicy City 03

The portion size was quite large, it was missing some of the complex flavors of aromatics, like ginger, garlic, scallion, and five spice. It also lacked the sugar – sesame paste – vinegar tones as well. Still, it was passable.

So a partial fail for the food, total fail for the service………. Sadly, I don't think there's a fix to this craving in San Diego…..

Spicy City Chinese Restaurant
4690 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Izakaya Kanpai

**** Izakaya Kanpai has closed

I noticed the sign of this place back in June. They turned the renovation around pretty quickly and opened a couple of weeks ago. I decided to check them out since they're located relatively close to both home and work. One thing I quickly noticed was the removal of the "Yakitori" in the signage….I'm guessing getting that robata thing straight might have been a bit too much.

Kanpai 01

Nice wide open space……

Kanpai 02

Cathy recently mentioned that all new restaurants are required to have a wood wall (which CC also mentioned). So of course Kanpai had to have one, right?

Kanpai 03

My server on both visits was a very gracious, friendly young man, from, if I recall Latvia. He was just perfect, great timing, and for some reason, reminded me of the kind of service we received in France.

It was way too hot for ramen on my first visit, so I ordered a couple of items from the menu.

I started with the Tsukune, because I was curious as to why the "yakitori" part on the sign was removed.

Kanpai 04

This was on the tough and rubbery side. The flavor was quite mild. The tare was different, sweet with some mild spice, more like teriyaki in texture than a traditional tare.

Like that wood wall; it seems like all "New Japanese" have some kind of Pork Belly Bun on the menu.

Kanpai 05

In terms of flavor the pork was decent, on the waxy side and cold, but ok. I think heating this up a bit more, getting some caramelization on the pork would make this better. The bun was cold and dry and this seemed a bit slapped together.

I also ordered the Katsudon; you know the iconic katsu (in this case chicken katsu), egg, tsuyu, onion, scallion, and rice bowl. What I got made me laugh…….it was literally "Katsu – Don".

Kanpai 06

No egg, no tsuyu, no onions/scallions……..just overcooked chicken katsu; hard and dry….and overcooked rice….hard and dry. For some reason I just found this quite funny. Like someone figured out what "katsu" and "don" meant in Google Translate and took it literally.

Overall an interesting meal. I really liked the service, it was so very open, seemed really interested in my Kanpai 07opinions, after a while, you can usually tell if someone is sincere when they ask for your opinion of the dishes. I did find out that the owner of Kanpai also owns Fish Attack.

With that in mind, I decided to return for lunch. On the menu there was a "special combination" menu which is ramen along with a rice bowl.

So I went with Tonkotsu Ramen with Karaage Don.

Kanpai 08

Beyond the standard Sriracha-mayo, this was good. The chicken was perfectly fried, light, crisp, not too salty, with a slight savory backbone. The rice was perfect this time around. I'd easily have this again.

Kanpai 09

Kanpai 10I'd consider this, with consideration as a work in progress, as lower second tier ramen. The egg was fine; in fact much better than what I'd recently had at RakiRaki. The Chashu was decent. The noodles were typical wholesale ramen noodles and were overcooked. The broth was an uneven mixture of tonkotsu base with shoyu. It was much too thin, definitely lacking in richness, though the temperature was good.

Kanpai 11

I really liked the service, the folks here seem eager to please. I'll check back in a couple of months to see how the menu, and hopefully the food has evolved.

Izakaya Kanpai
5430 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

Saturday Stuffs: RakiRaki (Pokirrito???) Taking Over A Cafe Spot, Yu’s Garden Closes, and Other Stuffs

Haven't done one of these is a while so……

Pokirrito (RakiRaki) Taking Over A Café Spot:

Following up for "Sandy".

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And yes indeed, the Change of Ownership sign is up……

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What the heck is a Pokirrito? Some kind of Asian-Fusion burrito joint?

4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Yu's Garden is closed:

This one was more of surprise. I hadn't even heard about this one.

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Wasn't much of a fan, never lived up to the Irvine location. I was still rather surprised.

4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Lot's of stuff going on at this strip mall!

Here are some other signs of places I'm sure you heard are opening soon.

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8055 Armour Street
San Diego, CA 92111

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801 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92103

Hope your having a great weekend!
 

Ghent: The Sunday Flower Market, Brasserie Savarin, and Dulle Griet (yet again)

 We awoke to a serene Sunday morning in Ghent. After a nice cup of coffee we headed off for a nice morning walk through the formerly run down, but now gentrified neighborhood of Patershol, past where we got off the tram the previous day near Gravensteen Castle.

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We crossed back over near Groentenmarkt. That's the back of the Meat Market which I described in my earlier post to the left. Things seemed so still and peaceful.

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We just kind of wandered around following the few folks out walking in the morning…..

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We crossed over St Michael's Bridge.

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And found a small Sunday Market in the square in front of St Michael's Church.

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For some reason we were lucky enough to run into a flower market in Kouter Square.

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It was a charming market….full of bright flowers.

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And smiling folks, just taking in the flowers, the sunshine, having a nice morning coffee from one of the stands (there's even one serving oysters and champagne!). It's these little happy mistakes that makes travelling so wonderful.

We soon saw a band warming up in the bandstand.

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So we did the local thing; we had a seat on one of the benches and listened to the band.

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Apparently, the Sunday Flower Market has been going on since the 18th century!

We soon saw a family of five looking for some seats; so we waved them over and took our leave.

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While listening to the music, I had gotten an idea. Why not just stay in for dinner? So we headed back to the little market in front of St Michael's Church to do a bit of shopping. The riverfront was starting to awaken on this sleepy Sunday morning…..

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We made a few purchases and then headed back to the apartment; taking the long way, joining all the folks enjoying the river front.

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We did see one guy who had taken a pretty bad fall from a bicycle, but he looked ok, so we kept on going. Arriving back at the apartment, we took a nice little break, more coffee, a shower to freshen up…then the decision of what's for lunch….a rather early lunch (11 am). I decided that we should head down the two blocks or so to Vrijdagmarkt and see what was open.

There was a rather nice looking place; white tablecloths and all, named Brasserie Savarin that was open for service.

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Since this WAS Belgium…anytime is a good time for a beer…..

The Missus had a Tongerlo Blonde; sweet, quite foamy, fairly non-descript.

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I ordered the Ommegang Keizer Karel Charles Quint – A Belgian Strong Pale Ale.

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Mild hops, a bit different from what I had gotten used to, a bit "clovey"….quite a bit of head.

I ordered the "Gentse Stoverij"…which turned out to be Carbonnade Flamande…. which I'd had a couple of times so far.

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05312014 1305I had read that in Ghent they use thyme and the different beer creates a different flavor….not sure; this one was pretty much what I'd had before, honestly, not quite as good. The beef was on the drier side and the "gravy" not as strikingly flavorful.

The frites were just ok……I was still searching for some great frites in Belgium.

I did enjoy the salad though.

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The Missus? Well She had Waterzooi of course!

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While the presentation looked much more refined; She preferred what She had at t'Vosken the day before.

Service was ok….folks seemed to be in Sunday mode and I don't really blame them on such a beautiful day.

Brasserie Savarin
Vrijdagsmarkt 17
Ghent, Belgium

Leaving, we stared across Vrijdagsmarkt……

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And of course we headed straight back to Dulle Griet.

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Things were much quieter at this time for the day…….

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Which gave me a chance to take a good look around……

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IMG_3582The Missus got a really nice Geuze from Brouwerij Drie Fonteinen. Floral with citrus tones; with a nice funk, fairly light and very pleasant.

I got the house blonde, light, pleasant, and easy to drink.

Dulle Griet
Vrijdagmarkt 50
Ghent, Belgium

We then took a leisurely post lunch siesta……a very under-rated and appreciated event.

Before dinner, we got back out and took a walk.

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The one place I do regret not visiting in Ghent was St Bavo's Cathedral; it was under going some restoration when we were in town. I understand the artwork and altarpiece are quite stunning. But I mostly wanted to go to see the statue of someone near and dear those who know a bit about the history of Hawaii; Pater Damiaan; more commonly known as Father Damien who was born in Belgium. I'll make sure to visit next time.

Dinner was simple affair…….chicken wings and some cheese.

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We'd end up buying cheese and carrying it with us for the rest of the trip.

Taking our post dinner walk we found that even on a Sunday night the Groentenmarkt was a happening place.

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IMG_3587We really enjoyed Ghent and would miss this town. We stood and just soaked in the sounds and sights before heading back.

As we got back to Vrijdagsmarkt we were suddenly possessed and had to make a right turn back into Dulle Griet! For one last beer; the missus had Her Duchesse De Bourgogne and I a Leffe Royale. A nice end to our stay in Ghent.

The next morning we would be off, taking two different trains, in search of what some consider to be the most coveted and best beer in the world……

Stay Tuned!

Ranchwood BBQ and Catering (La Mesa)

You are here: mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog.  Kirk has been working a bit more than usual and Ed (from Yuma) has been enjoying life.  Cathy is writing this short post. 

It's still unusually humid and hot; neither The Mister nor I want to cook.  The other day we stayed close to home, driving on side streets until we got into La Mesa just looking for a small, quick bite. We didn't even use 'air conditioned comfort' as a criterion.

The old brick and mortar location of Pubcakes closed at the end of last year and Ranchwood BBQ took its place.  Ranchwood had only been a catering business  for years and this location is now the storefront as well as catering.   We parked on El Cajon Boulevard and walked in. 

(FYI, Pubcakes exists in a way; they sell craft beer cake mix, (you can make cupcakes at home using beer as the liquid). The mix is sold at specialty markets around town, including Seisels and Iowa Meat Farms {Pubcakes website}.IMG_9977IMG_9964IMG_9965The small storefront holds two picnic benches inside and some small tables out front.  There are several bar stools strewn around.  A lot of the orders are 'to go'. 

That is the entire menu above the counter in that second photo.   The meat is smoked here, behind the building.  We were here one day just after opening (11 a.m.; closed on Monday) and all of the menu was available. IMG_9968Deciding we were going to share and being unable to agree on what, we chose the Cowboy Plate ($13.99).  Two meats and two sides…and two slices of white bread.IMG_9969The sides we always choose seem to be cole slaw and baked beans.  The slaw was good: fresh, crispy, cool and just creamy enough…no real spices added.

The beans…ah the root beer baked beans. Tasty and different.  Two types of beans, onion, celery and maybe some bell pepper… and a creamy slightly tangy sauce which had a faint undertone of the sassafras, vanilla and other flavors of a good root beer.  These were different and tasty beans.  As you can see, these sides were quite large. 

There are other sides we could've chosen: fries, rings, mashed potato, veggies, regular and a chipotle potato salad and house made chips. 

IMG_9971IMG_9973Our two meats? Brisket (we would rather have fatty Brisket than lean Tri-Tip) and Pulled Pork.  Yes, that portion is large; it weighed more than a pound. 

Both meats were cooked low and slow, so the meat was very tender.  The beef was lightly covered with a mustard based sauce and the whole portion (pork and beef) with the BBQ sauce.  

I was happy trying pieces of meat without any sauce, and got only a light smoke flavor from the pork.  The sauce was complimentary to the meats, yet not needed.

We will be returning to this locally owned business to try out other meats and menu items.

Ranchwood BBQ and Catering 7229 El Cajon Blvd San Diego 92115 Website Closed Monday open Sun, Tues-Thurs 11-8:30, Fri-Sat 11-9

Trying to beat the heat. Revisits to RakiRaki and Pho Ha Noi

Don't want to bring too much attention to it….just in case you hadn't noticed. But man, it's still some kind of humid isn't it? On the good side. Well, I've been getting a nice amount of recommendations recently. Here are two of them.

あまりにも多くの誇大宣伝の家 aka RakiRaki:

That would be "Amarini mo ōku no kodai senden no ie". You can kind of figure out what I'm referring to based on my previous posts. It just seems at times that RR's biggest fan is themselves. On a good note, I think the product, while still far from great has been getting better over the last couple of years. And I received an email by "one who wants to remain anonymous" with two rec's. The first telling me that the Rikimaru Miso Tonkotsu Tsukemen was the way to go. So it's the way I went.

RakiRaki heat 01

RakiRaki heat 02First, some housekeeping items…I ordered my noodles cold, but I guess the kitchen didn't get the memo and over-cooked them instead. Maybe to teach me a lesson for being a pain and ordering them cold? That egg was tragically over cooked, dry, and quite bland to boot.

I usually avoid miso based ramen broth because it's either much too salty, or all you end up tasting is the miso base. In this case it worked out quite well. Not too salty, faint miso flavor, the broth's almost citrus like "bite" tempered a bit. Decent amount of pork in the soup. This might be the way to go for me in the future…… In spite of the $13 price tag.

RakiRaki heat 03

I heard through the grapevine that RR had purchased the lease to the A Cafe space, so it will be interesting to see what happens here.

RakiRaki Ramen and Tsukemen
4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Pho Ha Noi:

There was a second recommendation in the email. I was informed that the best item on the menu at Pho Ha Noi was not the Pho, but something called Spicy Beef Salad, which just sounded right on one sweaty day.

Pho Ha Noi Heat 01

Pho Ha Noi Heat 02Pho might not be the way to go here; but it sure didn't seem that way since the other three folks in the place were all getting pho.

The young man serving me was very nice and friendly. He also asked me twice if I could eat "spicy" when I ordered the spicy beef salad.

Pho Ha Noi Heat 03

This is an interesting riff utilizing the typical stir fry beef which has been flavored with soy and fish sauce; a little sweet of course, but a bit under flavored for me. It was adequately tender and there was a fairly generous portion of protein. The "salad" is basically cabbage (aka coleslaw) mix with some, a bit too little slices of herbs mixed in. The "spicy" wasn't very spicy at all, basically a watered down nuoc mam cham with chili paste mixed in.

Pho Ha Noi Heat 04

As a pseudo fast food dish, this wasn't bad. And I got my veggies……. Still, I'm not sure I'd have this again.

Pho Ha Noi
6904 Miramar Rd
San Diego, CA 92121 

Our "FOY" (Friend of Yoso) really wanted my opinion on these two items. So there you go! Thanks so much for taking the time out to email me!

Tasty Pizza (no pizza) (inside Parkway Plaza Mall)

Here you are, once again checking out mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog.  Kirk and Ed (from Yuma) both don't feel like writing today, but Cathy does, so here's another post about food.

The weather out here has been quite humid the past few weeks, even with the thermometer topping at 84•, it feels miserable.  The Mister and I have tried driving to the coast and have ended up inside grocery stores with air conditioning, just to feel cooler.  Fortunately Parkway Plaza, the first indoor shopping center in San Diego County, is close to home.  

I must admit that it's been years since we really stopped here for anything other than shopping for tools, appliances or parts at the Sears store, so when we walked the mall, it was all 'new' to us.  However the Food Court had quite a few of the same old chains…until we took a closer look.IMG_7019This used to be a Sbarro, where I could pick up a stromboli or calzone or pizza slice when the urge hit, so pizza ovens were in place here…but thenIMG_7004closely reading the menu, showed us so much more than pizza is on the menu here.IMG_7013The bowl of lentil soup ($3) is excellent and quite filling.  It was nice to eat something warm in the chilled air conditioned food court. IMG_8388IMG_8392Ordering the 'Spinach Pie' ($2.50) was a nice surprise.  Not a spanakopita other than being filled with fresh spinach, the home made bread was stuffed with a refreshing mix of spinach, lemon and spices.  The bread was a fresh, hearty and chewy type; the way I like bread to be.IMG_7012The tabbouleh salad ($3).  Oh my, this was so fresh and bright.  Parsley, bulgur, olive oil and lemon juice.IMG_7010IMG_8394Manakeesh, an arabic flatbread (this is a different dough than used for the $5 pizzas here; see the edges?) is $5.  The top photo is cheese topped, the above photo is topped with za'atar (a blend of sesame seeds, thyme and sumac)and olive oil.  Both of these flatbreads were excellent in their own way (and purchased on different visits; one is enough to share).IMG_7017Most of the time, we order a hot tea ($2) it's a teabag in a standard cardboard cup and a standard tea I've seen sold at local small markets but one day, I decided we should try a Turkish coffee here.  It's $3 and quite a presentation.  

So much nicer than we could ever expect.  You just never know what you'll find in a mall. 

Tasty Pizza 414 Parkway Plaza El Cajon 92020 (619)401-4400

So, a guy walks into a bar and asks, whose Al Pastor is better, JV’s Mexican Food or Lalo’s?

You've heard those arguments, right? You stop in a bar for a beer and two knuckleheads gentlemen at the bar are doing the "who is better" thing……Ryan or Koufax, Montana or Elway, Kikaida or Kamen Rider? Kikaida or Kamen Rider??? Believe it or not….two guys at my favorite watering hole "back home" almost came to blows over that one! So there I was, listening to these two guys go at each other over Al Pastor….interesting! It became a lot less interesting after I found out that they were comparing JV's and Lalo's. No offense, but there's a lot better to be had here. Still, it made for some fine entertainment and it had been a while since I'd been to either place, 8 years since JV's and a whopping 9 1/2 years since Lalo's. So why not? I started with…..

JV's Mexican Food:

JV Al Pastor 01I'd say this place is timeless. As in the sign has kind of faded and the prices have gone up, but the place looks basically the same as I recalled.

I've always had friendly service here and on this visit it was the same. What was different was that they have "street tacos".

JV Al Pastor 02

Three Al Pastor Tacos go for a wallet friendly $4.50.

JV Al Pastor 03

As before, the Al Pastor lacks that trompo crusted texture and is less sweet than I prefer….actually, it's a bit on the bland side. The tortillas are typical, not terrible, but nothing special. The salsas are decent and this all works together adequately. It's not terrible, JV's will never be the first that comes to mind, when it comes to Al Pastor…..but it's decent rather cheap easts.

JV's Mexican Food
1112 Morena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92110

Lalo's Tacos Al Pastor, Etc:

**** After many years Lalo's has closed

Lalos Al Pastor 01

It literally feels like a lifetime since I've been here.

Lalos Al Pastor 02

I think the guy here was having a bit of a bad day….he couldn't wait to get rid of me….

The same $4.50 got me this – two small Al Pastor tacos.

Lalos Al Pastor 03

Lalos Al Pastor 04Liked the guacamole, the tortillas weren't very good. The al pastor lacked color and the texture was on the mushy side and quite bland. The salsas here are pretty good, the picante is truly spicy. Yet I can't help thinking that time hasn't been real friendly to Lalo's.

Lalo’s Tacos Etc
1266 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92103

In the end, I really can't recommend either location for Al Pastor; though perhaps JV's might be a ahead.

So what about that Kikaida versus Kamen Rider argument? I guess in this case it would be Rainbowman. So how's that for a nostalgic walk back to "small kid time"? 

Yonaka – Modern Japanese in Vegas

They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas; today, however, Ed (from Yuma) will tell about a dinner that happened there anyway. Tomorrow, Kirk or Cathy will be sharing food with you.

In a previous life, when I lived in Monterey, California, Corey and I worked in the same shop. He now lives in Las Vegas, so when Tina and I were in town, we all had to get together. I remembered that sushi was one of Corey's favorite foods, so it seemed appropriate to meet up at Yonaka, a modern Japanese restaurant: IMG_0253
Not wanting to spend a lot of time going over the menu, we ordered an omakase – our server recommended the 11 course chef’s special tasting menu which he said would include a range of dishes and be enough to satisfy three hungry appetites. Corey had beer, Tina wine, and me sake.

The first course to arrive was Scottish salmon: IMG_0256The chunks of fish were accompanied by pieces of Asian pear and baby heirloom tomatoes, all topped with a sesame/ginger dressing. While this picture isn't much good, we all agreed that this was a pretty good beginning course. The pear and tomato balanced the salmon well. 

Then a large bowl of charred brussels sprouts arrived, smoky, chewy, crispy and crunchy, with a light chili lemon touch: IMG_0260This was a tasty vegetable dish that we continued to munch on between other courses until the bowl was empty.

The next item was some decent hamachi with unusual accompaniment: IMG_0262Between each slice of hamachi, there was a slice of Gala apple, all covered by a Granny Smith apple relish and accompanied by a deep-fried latticework composed of dried apples. Hamachi with apples done three ways? Again there was a light dressing accompaniment. While each item was okay, my palate did not find hamachi/apple interplay especially interesting. Your palate might well be different.

 A generous plate of tuna belly accompanied by walnuts and cranberry jelly arrived next: IMG_0266This was an attractive dish, the fish slices topped with micro greens and seaweed strips. The tuna belly itself was good, but not outstanding.

On the other hand, the sashimi plate was excellent: IMG_0267The maguro had an almost suspicious deep red color, but it was flavorful with a good texture. The flying fish sashimi was firm, a bit chewy, and mild. For me, the highlight was the golden thread sea bream – rich and fresh tasting, leading to a long creamy finish.

Also quite tasty was the moist cooked salmon accompanied by baby bok choy and sliced peppers, all bathed in a spicy coconut cream. Yep, this worked: IMG_0271The sea bream bones, deep-fried, showed up next, but they were a little too sturdy and thick for me, not nearly as pleasantly crunchy as a Spanish mackerel skeleton: IMG_0274Maine lobster and braised fennel in a spicy sauce: IMG_0278The idea of this dish was excellent; we liked the interplay of the fennel, sauce, and lobster. The lobster itself, however, was a little overcooked. Still it was okay.

Tender and flavorful wagyu beef, cooked rare, accented by a fruit salsa: IMG_0281We also enjoyed the roasted carrots that seemed to be standing guard over the plate.

The apogee of the meal had to be this: IMG_0282Perfectly prepared pork belly. Incredibly rich, fork tender, slightly sweet, and pleasantly porky. Yum. I salivate just thinking about it. That's apple kimchi in the background.

The final savory course was fried rice with broiled hamachi, uni, ikura, and baby bok choy: IMG_0284While I enjoyed the seafoods and vegetable, the rice seemed pretty ho-hum – something to fill up anyone still hungry at this point, and that was not me. Of course, the pork belly was a tough (tender?) act to follow.

The desert, on the other hand, was surprisingly good: IMG_0290Mango two ways – gelato on the left and panna cotta on the right. I believe the panna cotta was covered in a vanilla sauce, but the best touch was the panna cotta itself, stuffed with a mango center, so when you cut into it and opened it up, the yellow filling flowed out like an over easy egg yolk. Sadly, I was so amazed that I forgot to take a picture of it. Nonetheless, we all thought the desert was a nice finish.

It was great seeing Corey again, and all three of us enjoyed the meal. The extensive use of fruits throughout made our experience unique, and we all left full and happy.

Yonaka Modern Japanese, 4983 W Flamingo Rd, Suite A, Las Vegas, NV 89103, 702-685-8358