mmm-yoso – Page 347 – 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.

Dinner at Tarbell’s in Phoenix

November 13, 2013 ed fromyuma Fine Dining, Phoenix/Scottsdale/Chandler/Central AZ, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Since Kirk is still really busy, and Cathy deserves a day off, Ed (from Yuma) has a post today that wraps up recent food adventures in Phoenix, Arizona. Hope you enjoy. Come back tomorrow for something completely different.

After an afternoon of enchantment and befuddlement at the Phoenix Art Museum, Tina and I were looking forward to a special meal to conclude our stay in Arizona's capital city. It was dark when we arrived at Tarbell's, located in a large strip mall at the southeast corner of 32nd and Camelback:

As soon as we were seated in a tasteful dining room with white linen clad tabletops, we were handed menus and a wine list. Slices of crunchy French baguette accompanied with a superb olive oil arrived quickly. Truly outstanding smooth, fresh and flavorful olive oil, as good as or better than any Tina and I can remember:

The wine list was very extensive – and for that matter very expensive, listing numerous bottles of French Burgundy and Bordeaux with prices of several hundred dollars apiece. The kinds of wines I’d choose after winning the lottery. Unfortunately I had not hit the Powerball jackpot, so I appreciated the range of less expensive choices, including the first page list of Tarbell's most popular wines. Our primary waitperson was great at going over the list and helping us select something that would match our menu selections without completely busting the budget. We ended up ordering a bottle of 2009 Prophet’s Rock Pinot Gris from the central Otago region of New Zealand:

Considering that I had never heard of this part of New Zealand, at around 45° south latitude at the southern end of the southern island of that nation, I was amazed at the quality of the wine. While dry, the full-bodied and well-structured wine had layers of flavors with a fruity and flowery nose. As good a white wine as I have ever drunk – and as our server had predicted – it matched seamlessly with the variety of dishes we had ordered. I should add, at $76 it was the most expensive bottle of wine that I have ever purchased in a restaurant. But well worth it.

Tina had chosen the field greens salad ($9):

Much like the wine, this was truly outstanding. The long slices of cucumber, the chips of pickled carrot, and the beautiful halfmoons of watermelon radish added crunch and flavor to the wonderfully fresh salad greens. We were also impressed by the perfect dressing for this salad; again, the olive oil was spectacular and the dressing had just a hint of salt but minimal, if any, vinegary tang.

I had wanted to see how Tarbell's would present that old warhorse, the Caesar salad ($11):

While not as out of the world spectacular as the greens, this was a fine rendition. The thin crouton slices were dry, crunchy, and still flavorful. The baby romaine leaves were fresh and crisp. The dressing was lightly applied and tasted more of Reggiano Parmesan than anchovy.

Speaking of old warhorses, we decided to have an order of fried calamari ($15):

Although some pieces of the cephalopod were a little chewy, the non-greasy tempura coating added crunch and flavor. But what truly distinguished this version of fried squid were the accompanying sauces. The green sauce on the left tasted very cool and green – cilantro and lime flavors predominating. The red sauce on the right, by contrast, was spicy hot with chilies and tomato. Our taste buds debated over which was the best, but it was one of those conflicts both sides win.

Tina's entrée was Mr. Fish of the Moment ($38), Acadian redfish:

Wow! As nice fish dish as I can recall eating. Ever. The redfish was perfectly cooked, still moist and flaky. The micro greens, sliced radishes, and shredded carrot added a beautiful chromatic and textural contrast to the two fillets. This was all served on top of cellophane noodles in a perfectly seasoned mussel broth. While this sounds like a lot going on, everything went together very nicely. It took great restraint to keep me from licking up the brothy bits left on the plate.

I chose the scallop entrée ($38), four seared scallops accompanied by rice cake cubes, napa cabbage leaves, cilantro sprigs, and mussels with a creamy curry sauce.:

On the downside, this dish seemed a mumbo-jumbo to me. While the mussels and the curry sauce were excellent, I couldn't quite understand how they were connected to the rice cakes, cabbage leaves, and scallops. The plate itself was not especially attractive.

The upside, and it was a huge upside, were the scallops themselves, perfectly seared:

Yet not overcooked:

These rare scallops were obviously fresh and redolent of scallop flavor. Like the rest of the meal, they matched the New Zealand Pinot Gris. Yum.

At this point, I need to stress how wonderful the service at Tarbell's had been throughout the entire evening. Never stuffy and formal, never chatty and intrusive, every individual who served our table in any way performed her or his job in a friendly and professional manner. The primary waitperson who took our order was exceeding patient and helpful. She returned to the table 2 or 3 times while Tina and I wrestled with our dinner choices, making important contributions to the meal’s success. In addition, the runners and bussers were equally skillful from beginning of the dinner to its conclusion. We were never bothered and never abandoned.

Usually, Tina and I will share a single dessert, if we have any at all. This evening was an exception. Warm chocolate cake covered with chocolate sauce and topped with pistachio gelato sounded irresistible to me, but our helpful waitperson said the southern bread pudding with bourbon sauce was award-winning and not to be missed. I know when to order two desserts – in this was that time:

I can't add much to that picture. The cake ($9) was warm, dense, and chocolatey, and the chocolate sauce only intensified those characteristics. The pistachio ice cream and diced pistachio nuts added a nice contrast.

The bread pudding and bourbon sauce was also excellent ($9):

Along with those two, our waitperson brought us the vanilla cheesecake with rosemary caramel sauce (no charge):

I can't imagine that we looked like people who needed 3 desserts, but it was a nice gesture. Unfortunately, we had to take the cheesecake back to the motel because neither of us had any appetite or stomach capacity left.

Overall, Tina and I tuly enjoyed our meal. The food, the wine, and especially the service were all outstanding. We'd love to return. Another dinner here would be almost as good as that winning lottery ticket. Well, almost.

Tarbell's, 3213 E. Camelback Rd., Phoenix AZ 85018, 602-955-8100. Open every evening, (except major holidays and Super Bowl Sunday) 5 PM-10 PM (9 PM Sundays). Website

Breakfast of Champions: Best Donuts Bakery & Deli

November 12, 2013 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Mexican Restaurants, Sandwiches

**** Best Donuts and Deli has become Barrio Donas

In her Ham and Cheese Baked Into a Bread post Cathy mentioned Best Donuts and Deli. Which kind of got me off my butt to actually put a post together about the place. I'd been there so many times that most of what I ate had faded into memory.

In recent years, Best Donuts looks like this when I stop by.

Remember the old saying "you don't need as much sleep when you get older…." Well, I think that's partly true. The amount of sleep I need has decreased marginally, but the hours I keep have changed. In other words, "nothing good happens after midnight", has now become "nothing good happens after 9pm"…..which means I miss out on all the late night specials….

Anyway, I often pass Best on my way to work in the morning; at about 530-545. When I'm running early and am hungry, or when I anticipate a late, or no lunch at all I'll drop by for a take-out breakfast. It's pretty slim pickins' at that time of the morning on the Mesa and I prefer spending my money at these smaller shops than at the other chain options open at that time of the morning.

Just so you can see how lazy I've been about posting on this place. When I first went, the cash register was stationed at the rear of the shop next to the soft drink cooler.

A couple of years later it moved to the side next to the pastries.

Earlier this year, it was moved back to the old location and the cold case was placed alongside of it.

A couple of months later, the menu for the sandwiches was taken off the cold case and taped to the wall.

And over the years items have been taken off the menu…simply taped over, now merely a memory…..

I'm sticking to the breakfast tortas here, since that's what I get most of the time. They're nicely priced at $3.99 and the bread has always been warm and fresh when I've gotten it in the morning. The wait time is about 10-15 minutes, not the fastest, but when I make a decision to visit, I've calculated the impact of my wait time.

My usual is the A la Mexicana and Eggs ($3.99)

Eggs, salsa, onion, tomato, cheese, jalapenos, and a smear of beans….breakfast of champions. An adequate bomb of calories to last until dinner.

The Salsa Verde and Eggs ($3.99):

Enough yeasty carbs to get you going in the morning. Eggs, nice green chili sauce (mild kick), beans, cheese, and mayo. Perhaps number two because some mornings I don't feel like mayo….I know, heresy perhaps, but the milkiness of the cheese also comes thru in this one as well…so I've got to be in the mood.

There was a Chorizo and Eggs somewhere, which I thought was ok, but I can't find the photo.

You'd think I'd enjoy the Machaca ($3.99) much more than I did.

I thought I'd enjoy this much more than I did. Perhaps because I found this surprisingly lacking in flavor. I like the chew of machaca, but this was really tough and sinewy. I felt the mayo really didn't go well with this at all. I would have probably enjoyed more beans to smooth things out and perhaps more jalapenos; even though it was breakfast, to help things out. Still, on the morning I ordered this, I had meeting through lunch and didn't have a chance to eat until (an early) dinner. I don't recall being hungry until around 3pm or so.

What about the other sandwiches which range from $5.99 – $6.99….well here's a gallery:

The Cubana.

The Pierna.

The Milanesa:

The Lomo…..

and so forth……

I'm sure there are dozens of shops like this all through San Diego county, I know I've been to a few. There are even versions that are rather mainstream and hyped up.

But for breakfast, $3.99 sounds like a right price for what I got at this little shop on Clairemont Mesa.

Best Donuts Bakery & Deli
4714 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

Neua Nam Tok

November 11, 2013 mmm-yoso Cookbooks, Cooking, Recipes

After having Kai Kaphrao Khai Dao for breakfast, the Missus thought having Nam Tok for lunch would be the perfect thing. And it was…..

Like the Kai Kaphrao Khai Dao, this recipe was based on the one in Andy Ricker's Pok Pok cookbook. And just like the previous recipe, I made some adjustments for our taste; replacing the white sugar (we still used a bit) with palm sugar, using Thai Chilies instead of just ground chilies, since we had some growing in the yard. I also replaced the shallots with thinly sliced red onion.

The Missus really loved this. I'm thinking that there were several factors involved; first, we used grassfed wagyu skirt….'nuff said. Second, the recipe in the book mentions the use of 1 tablespoon of beef stock. What did was pour all the beef drippings into the "dressing". Third, I grilled over hardwood charcoal.

I believed this was going to turn out well, but the Missus shocked me when She said "this is better than Sab E Lee….."

The recipe format might seem a bit disjointed, but I thought I'd present it in the order I did things….

Neua Nam Tok:

Salad Prep:
1/4 cup small mint leaves
1/2 cup lightly packed cilantro coarsely chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic sliced thinly lengthwise

Steak Prep:
1 Tb lemongrass thinly sliced
4-5 black peppercorns
1 clove garlic
1 Thai chili
3 tsp soy sauce
1/2 lb skirt steak

– Combine lemongrass, black peppercorns, garlic, and chili in a mortar and pound to a paste
– Scrape to a bowl, combine with soy sauce, and work into the steak.
– Marinate for an hour
– Grill the steak
– While steak is resting put together the dressing

The sauce/dressing:
3 Tb lime juice
3-4 Tb fish Sauce
2 tsp palm sugar
1 tsp white sugar
4-5 Thai Chilies thinly sliced
1 tsp ground chilies
1/3 cup thinly sliced red onion
Beef Drippings

– Combine the first six ingredients and briefly heat to dissolve the sugar
– Remove from heat and add in onion and beef drippings

Putting it together:
2 tsp toasted rice powder
lettuce or cabbage

– Slice beef thinly on a bias against the grain place on a plate and sprinkle on half the rice powder
– Top with the dressing and sprinkle on the rest of the rice powder

Eat!

I can tell I'm going to have a lot of fun with this cookbook……

Rhodes Town (Greece): Indigo

November 10, 2013 mmm-yoso Greece, Greek Food, Rhodes, Travel

We'd been enjoying our time in Rhodes Town, ut had yet to experience what I'd call a good, solid meal. For dinner we decided to head past the Hora, now quiet after the tourists and day trippers had left and head out to the area called the "New Market".

Since things had been fairly plus/minus in he Old Town, we decided to try our luck out here. The New Agora seemed a bit touristy, full of fast food and tourist fare. But a little bistro-ish ouzerie named Indigo caught our eye.

We found the super bright and loud colors a bit gaudy…and yet charming in its own way. It was so somewhat tacky that it looked quaint and interesting.

The prices weren't bad and this place just looked so different from the others that we had to stop here.

We started with a favorite of the Missus; the Fava Skordalia.

The flavor was right on, nice and beany, perfect amount of salt and seasoning. The texture however, was kind of weird and glue-like.

The Missus went with what seemed like a simple roasted eggplant salad. It turned out to be quite a bit more than that.

This was one of the more memorable dishes we had on the trip. We loved the contrasting textures, the soft roasted eggplant, with the crisp fried filo dough and crunch greens. The addition of the crisp fried "noodles" would have usually thrown us off, but in this case it worked fine. The salty feta, offset with the acid in the dressing and tomatoes.

I ordered the grilled calamari.

I loved the vegetables which were nicely seasoned and had a good combination of tangy-sweet-salty flavors. The calamari had a nice grilled flavor, but was on the tough side.

Overall, this was decent meal, perhaps the best we'd had on Rhodes to date.

Indigo
New Market 105
Rhodes Town, Greece

As we walked back to our room, we couldn't help but be impressed with the imposing and grand walls of the "Old Town" at sunset.

And yet, I was still in the dark with regards to the food here……

Recently Consumed

November 9, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking

I haven't done one of these in a while, so I thought it was time.

It's nice to be spending at least a little time in the kitchen the last couple of days. I got some cold smoked scallops from Catalina and put this together….it was quite easy.

Most of my meals over the last couple of weeks have kinda looked like this though…..

But being really busy doesn't mean you can't put together something together quickly that you enjoy…..

I've never been a big fan of Soboro, basically a crumbled ground beef dish. I grew up eating something like this and I just never took to it. The Missus on the other hand, loves it. She's been requesting it a bit over the last couple of weeks.

I'm not quite sure why She likes this so much, but at least it gave me something…along with the salmon I smoked weekly, to make ahead of time so She has something to eat while I'm busy at work.

I played around with making a bourbon-maple sugar glaze for my last smoke session before things got crazy. I made smoked some pork belly…..I should have cured it a bit longer.

I thought the chicken came out nice, but the Missus said it just wasn't smokey enough for Her.

Anyway, I hope you're all having a great weekend….a long one for some of us!

Kai Kaphrao Khai Dao and a visit to Minh Huong Market

November 8, 2013 mmm-yoso Cookbooks, Cooking, Markets & Grocers, Recipes

I finally had some time off this past weekend. It has been a busy and stressful couple of weeks and it ain't over by any stretch of the imagination. Things are starting normalize as I finally got a chance to enjoy a couple of cookbooks that arrived during that period which I hadn't had the chance to open. So during the weekend, the one I opened first was Andy Ricker's Pok Pok. I've eaten at Pok Pok in PDX a couple of times and really enjoyed the food, which really did remind me of what came out of all those wonderful street stands in Thailand.

A couple of recipes jumped out at me and I decided to start with an easy one for breakfast the next day, the Kai Kaphrao Khai Dao.

Free range ground chicken, organic eggs, and greens and peppers from our garden.

One of the main ingredients in this dish is the kaphrao…."Hot" Basil, also known as Holy Basil. So early Sundya morning I headed off to Minh Huong Market and got some Holy Basil.

The recipes are quite precise; even though I deviated to our tastes, I appreciated the gram based measurements.

I've taken to measuring things fairly well nowadays and I basically changed a couple of things to fit our tastes and what we had in our pantry. More garlic, more fish sauce, more chilies, which didn't over-power the dish at all. The long beans looked terrible so we decided not to buy any. In terms of timing; in the book, the chef cooks his eggs first and places them on the side while doing the rest of the dish, making this a basic one-wok process. I prepped and completed the stir-fry portion up to the point of adding the hot basil, then started on the eggs….I also added some coconut oil for cooking as well. Once the eggs were almost done, I put the wok back on the flame, heated and added the basil to finish.

This turned out real well though the Missus told me She prefers regular Thai Basil in this…….

Kai Kaphrao Khai Dao

12 ounces ground chicken
3 Tb Fish Sauce
2 Tb Dark Soy Sauce
3 Tsp white sugar
3 Tb grated garlic
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
6 Thai Chilies sliced
2 Red Serrano Chilies thinly sliced
3 dried chilies crumbled
2 Cups loosely packed Hot (Holy) Basil
2 Tb grapeseed oil

3 Eggs
2 Tb grapeseed oil
1 Tb coconut oil

– Combine fish sauce and sugar in a small bowl. Mix to dissolve the sugar
– Heat the wok over high heat. When the oil is smoking remove it from heat, add the garlic and stir quickly.
– When the garlic starts to brown slightly, place back on the heat and add the onions and fresh chilies. Stir until fragrant.
– Add the chicken and stir fry, breaking up the ground chicken.
– When the chicken is almost done, add the fish sauce mixture and dried chilies, and combine well
– After about 30 seconds add the dark soy sauce – 1Tb first, until the color is right.
– Stir fry until the liquid has been completely absorbed by the meat.
– Start eggs in grapeseed and coconut oil
– When eggs are almost done as desired, put wok back on heat and mix in hot basil

Serve up with Jasmine Rice…..makes about 2-3 servings

Every once in a while I'll get an email asking where to get items like Holy Basil or Cha Om.

My usual recommendation is that they check out Minh Huong Supermarket.

Even if you're not looking for anything in particular and are in the general vicinity, drop by…..

You'll see some items you won't find in your local neighborhood Chinese/Vietnamese/Korean market. On this day we saw some young women with Thanaka, the distinctive Burmese cosmetic paste applied to their faces. Something I'd never seen in San Diego.

Minh Huong Supermarket
4029 Euclid Avenue
San Diego, CA 92105

Noodling Around: Mien Trung, Pho Lucky, Santouka, and Ramen Yamadaya

November 7, 2013 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Japanese Restaurants, Ramen, Vietnamese Restaurants

I believe I've mentioned that over the last couple of years, rice has been replaced as my starch of choice by noodles. Never has it been more apparent than over the last two hectic, busy weeks at work. Sheeesh….and like I've also said before, I don't think this blog would still be in existence were it not for Cathy and Ed from Yuma. Who always come to the rescue.

Anyway, long days, meant more than my fair share of long strips of dough. Here's a round-up.

Mien Trung:

There's nothing like a spicy, sweat inducing, end to the day….and soup is good too! Mien Trung just does Bun Bo Hue right for me; spicy, salty, sour, is the formula. The soup is always hot which welcomes the shredded veggies and herbs. When the broth does edge toward salty, a touch of lime tames the sodium.

The Missus still enjoys the Bun Rieu, though She take umbrage to Mien Trung's switching of the noodles for the Bun Rieu to the wrong style.

Mien Trung Restaurant
7530 Mesa College Dr
San Diego, CA 92111

Pho Lucky:

I wanted a real bowl of Pho Bo Kho after the lack luster version at Spotted Cow, even though I had to wait a couple of weeks.

This bowl had twice the meat, twice the flavor, and was cheaper than the food court equivalent.

Oh, and there was a fire sale on tendon on this day….must have been a "Lucky" one for me.

Pho Lucky
9326 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126

Santouka Ramen:

A cold snap means that the Missus is looking forward to ramen. Her favorite is still Santouka's Shio Toroniku Ramen with Egg, not cheap, but totally comfort food. This one with Chasu Gohan added.

Ramen's popularity has spawned one good thing….folks understand ramen now. I hardy hear all that whining about how ramen is so expensive compared to pho. Well, I still hear it sometimes, perhaps I've just gotten better at ignoring it.

Santouka Ramen
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd
San Diego, CA 92111

Ramen Yamadaya:

**** Ramen Yamadaya has closed

I gotta ask….what happened here?

We ordered the Kotteri (extra rich) Tonkotsu and got this, watery and bland. A far cry from what I had just a couple of weeks ago. This was rather insipid and barely past lukewarm in temperature.

The chasu has improved and the kakuni pork was pretty good too. But the main reason we choose Yamadaya is for the broth.

This was disappointing……

Ramen Yamadaya
4706 Clairement Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

Lunch at Pane Bianco in Phoenix

November 6, 2013 ed fromyuma Phoenix/Scottsdale/Chandler/Central AZ, Sandwiches, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Kirk is still busy, Cathy needs a day off, so Ed (from Yuma) does the food blogging here today. About a lunch that he and Tina had recently in Phoenix.

Back in 2010 when I told Tina that Chris Bianco’s Pizza Bianco
had just been named the best pizza in the United States, she said, "I used
to eat at his restaurant all the time when I lived in central Phoenix."

"Huh, you stood in line for 4 hours for pizza?"

"No, his other restaurant was my neighborhood sandwich
shop." So if we were spending a weekend in central Phoenix, a visit to Pane
Bianco had to happen:

The understated exterior of the restaurant was matched by
the funky/shabby hipness of the interior. Having once aspired to being
funky/shabby hip, I felt right at home:

The lunch menu listed a few "bar bites" for around
$5, and sandwich and salad choices priced between $9 and $12. The other side of
the menu had a limited selection of sodas, beers, and wines as well as the
sparkling water we chose ($3):

I'm surprised I'd never run across Mountain Valley sparkling
water before as it was pleasant tasting and refreshing. I also enjoyed the
rustic looking tabletop.

We selected 2 sandwiches, both of which came with an
interesting potato salad composed of thinly sliced potatoes, chopped apples, cabbage,
shredded red cabbage, sliced red onion, and minced parsley. The mustard seeds,
other spices, and light dressing gave it all kind of a central European flavor.
The salad is in the foreground of this picture of the sopressata sandwich that had
been Tina's favorite back in the day:

As you can see, the excellent salumi had been sliced paper
thin:

The sopressata was wonderfully matched by the aged
provolone. This was not your standard waxy tasteless Italian cheese, but a full
flavored partner to the sausage, dry and a little bit crumbly. The woodfired
onion was a nice touch as well. My only complaint – and really my only
complaint about the whole meal – was that the homemade focaccia was a little
tough and chewy as if it had been baked the day before. Nonetheless it was
altogether a satisfying sandwich:

Our other lunch selection was the "market sandwich,"
featuring lamb that had been braised overnight:

We both thought the sandwich was unusual and interesting.
The tender meat had a pronounced lamb flavor and was topped with chopped
cabbage and roasted red pepper strips:

In both cases the sandwiches were perfectly simple and
focused – no mayo, no mustard, no catchup, no sliced tomato, no pickles; just
very good basic ingredients.

Pane Bianco, 4404 N. Central, Phoenix AZ 85012; (602)
234-2100.

Vallarta Supermarket- Eat in the store, Shop in the store.

November 5, 2013 Cathy Markets & Grocers, What Cathy Eats!

Here you are, reading mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog, again. Kirk, Ed(from Yuma) and Cathy pretty much are the writers of various who-what-where-when-why-how posts here, which are food-centric. Today, Cathy is writing.

In case you haven't noticed, just about every grocery market has an area where you can purchase ready made foods and have a seat to eat those foods inside the store.

Vallarta Supermarket is a California Chain of 42 markets which started in Van Nuys in 1985. Only two locations are in San Diego County- this location in National City and one in Escondido. This National City location (on Euclid just North of Plaza Boulevard) used to be a Ralphs.

I'm not even going to show you the various departments. The prices here are great, the items sold here are varied, fresh and the people who work here are more than helpful (and multilingual) if you have questions. Here's a link to the page where you can put in your Zip code and see the weekly specials at the location closest to you.

It's a great market with great prices. When you walk in the door, to your left is the Produce section and to your far right is the bakery and extensive prepared foods area.

The center area is what I call the 'refrigerated section', where you can choose and pay for various custards, gelatins, ceviches and have fresh juices made to order.

Along the wall -this is the far corner- is what I call the 'heated' area.

When you find a seat in the center, you can see the ice cream section as part of the 'refrigerated' area to the right, the salsa selections in the center and again, the far wall, which is filled with steam trays of prepared foods.

Again, the refrigerated area not only sells fresh juices, sodas and the aforementioned desserts and ceviches, but also various fresh made aguas.

You can order from the steam trays and pay at this cash register, as well as the register on the side of the steam trays. It's all automated; you pay, get your number and wait for your order to be called.

Here's a medium (32 ounce) spinach-pineapple blend ($2.89) agua. You can see the plethora of egg selections available in that open refrigerator section.

Of course, there is the spit of al pastor meat waiting to be shaved off for an order…

along with too many steam trays of various stews and soups to photograph.

This is a copy of the menu- note the various fresh juice combinations in the far right bottom of the page. Having seen juices made this way is why I was confused the first time I went into Jamba Juice, (only three years ago)when I was so confused as to why they had so many out of season beverages available…nothing frozen here.

This particular heated area was most fascinating to me- because I had had a pupusa at the Escondido World Marketplace earlier that week…

This is a regular size (not small) plate under the $2.69 pupusa. I asked for the cheese (chicharron filled was also a choice). The pupusas are wrapped in plastic wrap in the steam tray. I saw the lady who was preparing my order take the pupusa out of the plastic wrap and place it onto the hot grill in the back, completely warming (and crisping) the masa based crust. She placed it over the (not Americanized-nicely, hot chili spiced) generous portion of curtido and similarly (heat wise) spicy hot pepper red salsa.

Here's a cross section of the cheese filled pupusa. You can see the flecks of green chiles and melting Mexican cheese, which was a very rich (full fat) cheese.

I also ordered the salsa verde chicharron platter ($6.99). A wonderful home made green salsa (again, spicy hot as well as heated) filled with meaty fried pork skins and accompanied by Mexican fried rice, wonderful, flavorful refried beans and four thick, fresh made, hot corn tortillas.

I noticed the "Macho Banana" ($1.50) (it was listed as "Platano Frito" on my receipt) and since I had never bought one properly prepared, I ordered it also. The lady who was crisping and re-heating the pupusa on the grill, also had pulled out the plantain to re-heat and crisp on the grill and asked me if I wanted 'cream' with the plantain. I said 'oh yes', as if I knew what she meant…sweetened condensed milk-that's what she poured in the cut portion- and it made for a perfect dessert item. The plantain is more starchy and potato-y in texture, but on its own (with the carmelization) had a slight sweetness. A piece coated in the condensed milk made it really, really perfect.

Again, the grocery store is one of our regular stops because the prices and variety and freshness is great. The Eat In area is wonderful, consistently fresh and very, very organized. Here is a link of another post about Vallarta, from fellow blogger, caninecologne; it was her first visit here, and she had a different purpose for stopping by.

Vallarta Supermarket 901 Euclid Avenue National City, CA 91950 (619) 472-1683 Open 7 days 6:30-11 website

Getting our goat at Chon Ju Jip and Grandma’s Tofu & BBQ

November 4, 2013 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants

When the weather started turning a bit a couple of weeks ago, the Missus was quite happy….it's getting to be that time of the year again, ramen, stews, and hot pots galore. Her favorite time of the years for eating. One evening She was in the mood for Heukyumso Jungol, Korean Black Goat Stew. The last couple of times we've had that dish, it had been at Grandma's Tofu and BBQ, this time I thought we should check out Chon Ju Jip since it had been a while since we last visited.

The place is looking a tad worse for wear and looking over the menu we noticed that many of the dishes don't have English translations, just Korean and Romanized Korean names. In this case the dish was Romanized as Huk Yum So Jun Gol – $29.99, the same price as Grandma's. The women working here are pretty much all business and the place seems even more "old school" then I remember, with our server picking and cleaning bean sprouts between serving customers.

The panchan where is served in the Korean style, along with your food. They ranged from ok to below average….I'm not sure if my tastes have changed a whole lot, but some of this was really salty.

We were given some "sauce" on the side…the typical sesame oil based sauce and kochujung was accompanied with a smear of wasabi. This was a new one for us.

This was a hearty, very rustic version of Heukyumso Jungol. It was stick-to-your-ribs thick and full of vegetables and quite a bit of goat. The goat was very gamey and some of it on the tough side…..but no one would ever call this bland. This was a bit saltier than the version at Grandma's, where we've gotten into the (appropriate) habit of adding sea salt to our dishes.

As with Grandma's, there was enough left over to form another meal the next day. This was so thick that it formed a pretty solid block. I added more water, kochujung, sesame oil, salt, and all the other stuff (tofu, greens, enoki mushrooms, kurobuta sausage, etc…) to build another meal for us.

Chon Ju Jip is kind of hidden away on Convoy….so we always forget about the place. I'm sure we'll check them out again soon.

Chon Ju Jip
4373 Convoy Street
San Diego, CA 92111

A couple of nights later, we decided to check out the Heokyumso Jeongol at Grandma's….for comparison sake……

First off; we thought the panchan here was much better….nothing amazing, but just better overall. As for the Heokyumso Jeongol. Well, this version has less meat, but it much more tender, there's more "skin" which I just love.

While not being more thick and hearty, this has a bit more heat, but lacks a bit of the complexity in terms of savory and acidity that the version at Chon Ju Jip has….we always end up dumping the baechu kimchi into the broth to add a more savory tone. Of course adding your own salt is a must as well. The version at Grandma's is lighter, and there's more "soup"…..which also ends up being a second meal for us.

Strangely, the base flavors are the same, but when you get down to it, the two versions are quite different. Ironically, what Chon Ju Jip serves seems more like something Grandma would make, while Grandma's is much more refined, but also more subtle and refined.

Grandma's Tofu & BBQ
4425 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

As for which we prefer….well….I think I'll need to research this a few more times!