mmm-yoso – Page 382 – 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.

Awash Market and Restaurant

July 8, 2012 mmm-yoso Ethiopian/Eritrean Restaurants

We were kind of wondering where "the restaurant" part was of Awash Market and Restaurant during a recent visit. I looked up toward the back of the market and saw the doorway. We decided to return a couple of days later to try out the food.

The dining area is bright red, quite clean, and on one of our visits, pretty darn quiet.

On our first visit however, the place was hopping. It was the European Soccer Championships and there all the tables except one was full of guys watching the game….lot's of laughter and good natured ribbing going on. Even though the conversations weren't in English, there are things that are universal.

The conversations that we couldn't understand made us feel like we were on holiday again, which was strangely comforting to us.

The guys working here are very friendly and once they saw us, menus were delivered to our table. All dishes are described quite well.

Not really knowing what the specialty here was, we both decided to order combinations plates which are $9.99. I went with the meat combo.

Though there were some similarities in the look of the various stews, each had it's own distinct flavor. The two lamb dishes were our favorites…the lamb flavor came through quite well.

Of course injera, the yeasty-spongy bread made of teff flour, made inhouse, was provided in fairly large quantities. It was quite interesting for me to watch the Missus as She's never really taken to injera, which I jokingly call "carpet padding". To my surprise She loves the version here, which I think is a bit less sour and a bit firmer in texture than others we've had. I also think the Missus's tastes have expanded…….

She did enjoy Her vegetarian combination.

She particularly loved the red lentil and stewed kale and pretty much finished everything off.

Meanwhile, I found my plate to be quite filling and had enough for another meal. Needless to say, we returned a couple of weeks later. The missus again went with the vegetarian combination, but I decided on the item I enjoyed the most the last time, Yebeg Siga Wot ($9.99), basically lamb stewed in berbere, the classic Ethiopian spice mix.

The lamb was nice and gamey, the spices came through nicely but didn't take over the dish, and heat level wasn't very high overall. It was a rather heavy dish. I managed to put away only about a third of it. When we asked the young man walking through for a box, he looked at me and said, "but you haven't eaten!" The leftovers, including the injera was enough for two more meals.

I ended my meal with a nice cup of espresso…the beans are roasted in the shop, you can see it at the front counter.

The drill for eating here is simple….you have a seat in the dining room, I just go ahead and grab our menus when we arrive. One of the guys working there will see you and take your order. When you're done, you go up front to pay…… Funny thing, it's almost like we're on the honor system. You tell the cashier what you had and they ring it up. If you need more injera, they do a brisk business of selling that stuff in the market as well.

The Missus enjoys this place the most of the Ethiopian Restaurant's we've been to in San Diego; Awash, Asmara, Harar, Bayu's, and Red Sea, so I think we'll be going back again soon. There are two types of Kitfo on the menu, and I'm interested in trying them out.

Awash Market and Restaurant
2884 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92104
Hours:
Mon 830 am – midnight
Tue-Sun 830 am – 1am

Spicy Tuna Poke

July 7, 2012 mmm-yoso Cooking, Poke, Recipes

I'm feeling quite sheepish as I type up this post……..you see I'm not a big fan of spicy tuna rolls. In fact, if you do a search on "Spicy Tuna Roll" on this blog, I don't think you'll come up with much. And yet, on our last trip home, the Missus really enjoyed the spicy ahi poke from Lana'i Ohana Poke Market and She asked me to make it. What could I do?

I felt kinda bad using such good quality maguro for this, but it's what She wanted. I also warned Her that mayonnaise is a key ingredient, the Missus claims a total aversion to it, but I've always thought She was closet mayo lover and this proves me right again. Anyway, I saw spicy poke everywhere on my last couple of trips home.

This one is easy…..the spicy tuna thing is very basic stuff. You could add something like Mad Dog Habanero Extract and really do some damage. Perhaps after finding out how easy it really is, you'll just make the stuff at home and eat the good stuff when you get sushi.

I'm really not sure what the Missus will want next.

Spicy Tuna Poke:

1/2 lb diced ahi or maguro
3-4 tb minced red or sweet onion
2 stalks scallions minced – green parts only
2 tb tobiko (flying fish roe) plus more for use as a topping
1/3 cup mayo (Hellmans or Best Foods)
2-3 tb shoyu
3-4 tb Sriracha (or more to taste)
ground chilies to taste
1 tsp sesame oil

– Combine mayo, shoyu, sriracha, and ground chilies
– Gently mix together tuna, onions, and green onions
– Add mayo mixture and tobiko, mix gently
– Add sesame oil, taste an adjust flavoring

As you can tell, I had some fun with my food and plated on a bed of finely diced cucumber. I used a Spam musubi mold to get the shape.

I made some typical shoyu poke for me. While the spicy tuna was a rectangle on a round plate….I did a circle on a rectangular plate……..

Jus' fo' fun…you know?

Tunis: Morning at the Medina, the Bardo Museum, Chez Slah, and a small dinner

July 6, 2012 mmm-yoso North African Food, Travel, Tunisia, Tunisian Food

After taking our morning walk we headed back to the hotel to have some breakfast. Not much to say, it was nourishment and the woman working there seemed much more interested in getting the television in the corner working so she could watch something on it, than making sure everything got out to the buffet station. On this morning the coffee was ok….the next day it was like mud.

We usually sat outside on the balcony……..the best place to actually get some decent wi-fi reception.

While eating and going through emails, we made some preliminary plans for the day. We try not to plan too much. For us, it's better to enjoy what we're seeing in rushing through things. We really weren't feeling in the mood for what craziness the Medina would hold once business was going full tilt. It was however, is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. We decided to check it out early before the crowds are pushing you along and the vendors are grabbing you back……

We walked back down Avenue Habib Bourgiba for what seemed like the tenth time in just under 24 hours……

I snapped this photo of the Municipal Theatre of Tunis. The facade is distinctive of the Art Nouveau movement and the building was completed in 1902. It's still a functioning theatre as a later photo would show.

Most of the shops in the Medina weren't yet open when we arrived….just as we had planned. The romantic notion of a maze of warrens and paths do add an air of intrigue…..

The Missus and I do look at things differently. She was drawn to the brightly colored doors. Each one seemed unique, though we would find that you could learn a lot about who actually owns or lives behind these later on. It seemed that the Missus couldn't help but stop at every colorful door, and there were many of them, without snapping a photo.

I, on the other hand was fascinated by what was above ground. All these buildings were multi-story, blocking out the sunlight in areas.

You got glimpses of some stunning and impressive architecture just by looking up. The combination and contrast of colors are a photographers dream…. I just wish I were a better one!

There are passages that are covered….they can seem kind of spooky at times, but most of them held coffee or shisha (hookah) shops with older men sitting around. It was here that we saw two men in a little shop prepping couscous……

He stood over two large bowls….slowly adding water until he got the right texture……

Then it was off to be steamed.

In the middle of the Medina is Zaytouna Mosque, the oldest in Tunis. It's a fairly large building and the Minaret can be seen from quite a distance.

We managed to walk completely through the Medina and out to Place de la Kasbah at what is the western entrance on the Medina. Apparently there are some government buildings here as we again saw armed soldiers and placed cordoned off with barbed wire. Still, we saw happy children being dropped off for school….teasing and laughter all around.

Here's a photo of the monument in the square.

Things were starting to pick up in the Medina so we started back the way we came. We ran into a very talkative gentleman while we were looking at Zaytouna Mosque and somehow got talked into checking out the view from on top of one of the buildings……..

Here's the minaret of the Zaytouna Mosque.

And another view from above……

So we did the requisite sit through of the carpet dude, then even went to the guys "cousin's" fragrance shop and actually bought some pure citron oil…it would come in handy in warding off mosquitoes later on. Then when we got back to the mosque we offered the guy 10 dinars(about $6.25)…I mean, we know he was getting a cut of the 30 dinars we were paying for the scented oil and all….and he had the nerve to ask for 40($25 US)?!??!! We tried to bargain, but he was adamant on getting 25 dinars($15.50)……in the end, we told him to go get his money from his "cousin". The shops were now open and much of the cobblestone was covered in stuff. It was time to beat as hasty retreat.

On the way back up Habib Bourgiba we decided to stop at the very busy…even for this time of the morning Le Grand Cafe du Theatre, right next to the Municipal Theatre for some "cafe express" (espresso). It was a good cup and the service here was quite nice. Since it was still early, the Missus and I decided to check out the Bardo National Museum. We understood that the place was still being renovated and the revolution probably leaves much up in the air, but we'd probably not be back this way again anytime soon, so why not. We asked our Server about getting to "le Bardo…metro leger". We didn't understand much French except for his pointing and the part about "Place Barcelona".

I could handle "place Barcelona" and unlike Rue de Yugouslavie, it hadn't changed its name! It was also easy to ask about. Place Barcelona is one of the major transfer points for Tunis's métro léger (tram) system. It was easy to ask for the ticket counter and find the gate for the right tram.

We had noticed something a bit earlier….young women, those that looked like high school or college aged, and dressed in more western attire seemed more likely to speak English. And even if they didn't they tended to be nicer, without some "racket" going on. We asked one young lady and when we came to the Le Bardo stop, she made sure to let us know. We actually made it across the busy street looking for the museum…..we walked its perimeter, pass the tents of folks who seemed to be demonstrating or protesting something, only to find out we had gone the wrong way! We back-tracked and made it to the dusty parking lot of the museum.

We found the ticket window and found that tickets during the renovation were only 4 dinar (about $2.50 US) and the usual 1 dinar "camera permit" was waived. It was basically half price. We really didn't expect much as we put on the shoe covers(we didn't know that you'd be walking on mosaics), but our visit surely exceeded the price of admission. There were only mosaics on display, but many of them were beautiful, like this one of Neptune and the Four Seasons from Dougga.

It's hard to put into photos, but you can see how large some of these mosaics were to the right.

One funny thing was that we asked the security person to take a photo of the both of us….he really got into it and ended up moving us form mosaic to mosaic, directing and posing us, taking photos. The Missus and I couldn't help but crack up! It was odd, yet very funny….of course we tipped well, in retrospect, I'm sure this is another source of income for him during these lean times.

One of the most striking objects was the baptismal font from Sbeitla, a site we'd be visiting in a couple of days.

In the end, it was well worth the price…though we'd be even more impressed with the mosaics at another museum a day later.

We decided to catch a taxi back to Ville Nouvelle, the area we were staying. Would you believe we'd done all of this and it was only 11am? We got back to Habib Bourgiba and decided to grab some lunch. After the last couple of meals, I wanted to go "high end"(relative in terms), and the Missus agreed. So off we were trying to find Chez Slah…the address I had was 14 bis rue Pierre de Coubertin. Now finding Rue de Courbertin was fairly easy……but finding Chez Slah took a bit of work. We finally settled on a small industrial looking side street…….

Next to what looked like an auto repair stood a pretty entrance to a courtyard…….

We saw a young man basically scrubbing down the patio area…..man, folks in Tunisia were really clean…..the restrooms of almost everywhere were so clean. Anyway, apparently it was before opening time. The gentleman who opened the door pointed at his watch….we'd have to return at noon. Well, the mall is fairly close by, we took a walk and rehydrated…..and returned at noon.

The dining area is fine, nothing really special……when the wait staff found out that we spoke no French…well, they took our drink orders, but we had to wait for the waiter who spoke English! It was both humorous, but also humbling in a way. We eventually got our orders placed….and the plate of harissa, olives, etc, arrived along with the bread.

The Missus actually loved the piece of "thon" tuna, provided. She also jumped at the chance of finally being able to try some Tunisian wine and order a half bottle of the rose(meh) and the blanc, which was fairly decent, the crispness stood up to the Tunisian influenced dishes.

The Salade Mechoua was pretty good, the best we'd had so far. The Missus; "man, what is it that I'm liking so much?" Me; "they actually have salt in this…."

While it would not hold up as the trip went along, it was the best we'd had to this point……simply because it was seasoned well.

The brik we didn't enjoy too much, the egg was overdone and it was on the greasy side.

But man, the grilled calamari was very good. The amount of salt was right on, there was a distinct flavor, smokey and nutty, that I would later find was because it was grilled over olive wood.

There was a good amount of tenderness and even that slight hint of what I call ocean sweetness, ever so rare in the calamari we have here in the states. Even though I'd have better later on, this was my favorite dish to this point.

I decided to order the mussels; the Missus isn't a big fan of mussels as most of what She's had are dry and tasteless. These were simply done, sauteed in white wine, they were also tiny, but were packed with flavor and almost melted in your mouth.

We didn't enjoy the side dishes very much. I had been excited to try the Tunisian version of shakshuka…expecting eggs poached in a harissa. tomato, and red pepper sauce. This was basically a mechouia base with tomato….eggs were added in and mixed looking like scrambled eggs…sort of like if your were supposed to temper eggs, but screwed up and they ended up scrambled. This was also surprisingly bland, considering the other dishes.

The frites….well, what can I say? How about soggy and greasy? I'd about given up on having decent potatoes here in Tunisia….after just one day!

Unfortunately, we had also ordered grilled "fresh" fish. Going though the offerings, I wa assured that the best bet was the "dourade"……which our Server, who actually knew more Japanese than English told me was "madai"……Sea Bream, which is really good stuff, I've had some awesome madai nigiri. Strangely, because I told our Server we'd be sharing the fish, they ended up chopping it in half! Giving the Missus the back half and me the head! Oh, and it was grilled to death……add to that the slightly sour and fishy taste of something that didn't seem to be real fresh.

The Missus couldn't bring herself to eat more than two bites……..

Still, the meal ended on a high note. We'd requested the seasonal fruit as our dessert. First to arrive was this rather large mixing bowl of what looked like whipped cream…..well it was whipped cream….very old school whipped cream. Ever had those dreams about having some strawberries as a garnish to awesome whipped cream? Well this was it…….

These are what I call "third world strawberries", small, but super tart-sweet and picked when perfectly ripe. I put a dollop of whipped cream on my plate, this was apparently a misstep as our waiter made that clucking noise and proceeded to grab the bowl and put three more huge serving spoonfuls of whipped cream on my plate! Man it was good, not too sweet, slightly sour and tangy….the real deal.

Our meal ended on a high note. Total cost 84.800 TND, about $53.75. To me a bargain, to the Missus maybe not. By the time we left, the place was full of French expats who seem to be their usual clientele. I'm pretty sure the regular person on the street can't really afford to eat here…….

We picked up some "eau mineral" on the eay back to the room. The Missus took a nap while I snuck down to the patio and I actually worked on a post or two. Evening rolled around and we took a walk….we passed a Zara store and found that the prices were the same as the US(She's got it memorized)! And yet, the place was packed! We weren't very hungry and stopped at one of those really cheap Pizza-Panini-Crepe-Pasta plces on the avenue to grab something small.

The Missus went with the crepe de fromage-ouef(cheese and egg crepe), which was pretty nasty but only 2 TND – $1.25:

I went with the Merguez Sandwich, which was not bad…..2.4 TND – $1.50.

The merguz were fine, the bread decent, don't know what to do with the olives since they still had pits….biting into one would have been a surpise had you not checked. The frites were standard for Tunisia. The harissa on the sandiwch worked quite well. Could have done without the guys smoking like it was going out of style, but hey, we're in their country, you gotta roll with it, you know?

Still. the Missus had already gotten Her fill of Tunis. I'd have ot think about something for the trip back!

Smoked Portobello Mushroom with Crab, Avocado, and Smoked Corn salad

July 5, 2012 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

I'm kinda behind this year………I haven't even started grilling yet. Maybe I'm just a bit lazy; who knows? What I have been using quite a bit is my Cameron Stovetop Smoker. Since I bought it over 7 years ago, I've gotten quite a bit of use out of it. Of course, there's just so much smoked corn you can make. I've made so much corn and smoked salmon, that it's gotten kind of, well, boring…..

Still, the Missus loves Her smoked corn…… So I tried to think of something I'd really never made before and decided to smoke some portobello mushrooms. Of course there's the smoked corn. I ended up making a sort of salad/salsa/relish using the smoked corn, avocado, tomato, and red onion. And what goes better with corn and avocado than some crab meat….it was a nice exercise in cleaning out what I had in the fridge and came out pretty good as well.

Actually, the one I made for the Missus had a bit more crab meat…….

Super easy as well. I took the stems off the mushrooms and using a skewer poked about 5-7 holes in the cap of the mushrooms. I covered with a couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, seasoned with some smoked salt and smoked for about an hour.

The salad is really easy:

Crab, Avocado, and Smoked Corn Salad
2 cups smoked corn
2-3 roma tomatoes seeded and finely diced
1/2 medium red onion finely diced
1-2 avocados finely diced
3 Tb minced cilantro
4 Tb extra virgin olive oil
salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar to taste.
4 ounces lump crab meat
smoked paprika and cayenne

– Gently combine first five items
– Add olive oil and gently combine
– Season to taste. Let sit at least 20 minutes in the fridge before using
– Top salad with 1 ounce of crab meat
– Sprinkle on paprika and cayenne to taste

You could make about 4 smoked portobellos with this recipe….you could probably do well with grilled mushrooms as well. Heck while you're at it, I'm thinking that celery or cucumber might be nice in this salad as well. Of course, if you have leftover salad you can eat them in lettuce cups…..or be kinda strange like me and use it as a dip for pop chips…….

Dinner at Kensington Grill

July 3, 2012 ed fromyuma American/New American Restaurants, Fine Dining, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

mmm-yoso!!! is Kirk's foodblog, and he posts about all things food in San Diego and the world; sometimes Cathy shares meals with us here too; but today, ed (from Yuma) is posting about Kensington Grill (in San Diego).

Kensington Grill has also closed. if this keeps happening, I may not be allowed in some establishments in the future.

Sometimes bad luck is good luck in disguise. Case in point – Tina and I had arrived in San Diego for a brief vacation in the latter half of June. Of course, I had a list of restaurants with locations and phone numbers etc., but we knew we would only be able to make it to a few of the places on the list. Anyway, the first place we wanted to go to didn't have its regular menu on that Monday night. The next place was closed because it was Monday, and I had not read the website carefully. By this point, we were ravenous, and only one other restaurant in the area was on my list. That is how we ended up at Kensington Grill:

The restaurant is moderately large with an attractive bar occupying the central area:

Tina and I were both impressed by the tasteful and understated dining areas. This is a view from our table:

I really had no idea what kind of food to expect, and the menu was full of various choices listed in categories like Soups and Salads, Boards, Bites/Sides, Bowls, Small Plates, Large Plates, and Hog Bar. My mind boggles pretty easily when faced with the unusual (and at my age, there is a lot of unusual in this world). So Tina and I spent some time going over the menu trying to figure out a dinner plan.

Eventually, we decided to choose a wine and then select a range of dishes that would complement the vino and show off the cuisine of the restaurant. I was intrigued by the Tangent Albariño ($36) – a white wine from Edna Valley in Santa Barbara County – so we ordered a bottle:

This was certainly a fine way to begin a meal. Albariño is the best white wine grape in Spain, but I have seen or tasted very few bottles from California. In the glass, the wine had an intriguing floral aroma, and in the mouth, the initial dryness on the palate became lush and rich and complex and fruity. Flavors exploded on the palate. Unexpectedly good. And a good value in a restaurant wine.

Our server, Edson (no relation), had described the soup of the day ($8.50) so well that Tina and I were determined to split a bowl:

The predominant ingredient in this chilled soup was ripe creamy California avocado, its natural sweetness set off with a slight sour (citrus?) note. The avocado was matched by intense fennel flavors. I had never imagined those two things combined, but like experienced lovers, they danced together beautifully. The chunks of crab added some texture and proved again that the inventor of California rolls understood flavor pairings. The fresh herbs and drizzle of chili oil completed the dish.

Our server also recommended the calamari salad – called kg calamari on the menu ($10):

The tender calamari had been lightly breaded and fried and then tossed with shredded cabbages, sliced sweet peppers, bean sprouts, chopped cilantro, crushed peanuts, and sweet chili sauce. Altogether like some Southeast Asian salad. Crisp and refreshing. A very nice contrast with the soup, and Tina and I loved it.

We felt like we should try something from the Boards category – a customer's selection of three ($14), four ($18), or five ($21) different bruschettas, each cut into three pieces and all presented on a wooden paddle:

One was somewhat Mediterranean/traditional with tomato, cucumber, artichoke, and feta cheese:

As you would expect, the taste focused on those fresh ingredients, but instead of the standard artichoke hearts I was expecting, puréed marinated artichoke was spread across the bruschetta before the chopped fresh ingredients were added.

Completely different, the crabapple and brie bruschetta with carmelized onion jam featured the smooth, rich, melted cheese contrasting with the crunchy bread and subdued sweet flavors of the fruit:

In the middle bruschetta, a sweet fig/date spread covered the crunchy bread, all of which was topped with bits of speck and lardo:

Rich intense tastes. Sweet, salty, smoky, crunchy. Reminded me of childhood, when I would dip my breakfast bacon in pancake syrup.

In retrospect, we had already eaten enough food for a normal dinner. However, we had placed our entire order at the beginning of the meal, so more food kept arriving.

Earlier that day Tina had mentioned a place in Phoenix that specializes in chicken and waffles, so when I saw shrimp waffle ($13) as a small plate on the menu, I had to have it:

Weird as it sounded, this was tasty. The waffle had standard waffle flavors enhanced with jack cheese and scallions. The shrimp were fresh, perfectly cooked, and flavorful. The buttery creole sauce, with slices of shallot and red fresno pepper, brought the whole thing together. Good and rich. More memories of childhood breakfasts – but also like no waffle dish I’d ever tasted before.

The last item was from the Bowls section of the menu – the sautéed mussels ($12):

This was a difficult dish to photograph, as is evident by the picture. The plump and fresh flavored mussels were served in a black frying pan (so little light and minimal color contrast for the mussels). The bivalves were bathing in a standout spicy green curry sauce with abundant kaffir lime and creamy coconut milk. The slices of toasted bread were perfect for soaking up sauce. Unfortunately, neither Tina nor I had much room left at this point. So we fished out the tasty mussels, appreciated the flavorful broth, and ate almost none the crispy toasted bread slices.

All in all, we got lucky and had a good time. The chef skillfully brought together techniques and flavors from around the world. The setting was pleasant, the service good, and the timing of the meal excellent. The only problem was that we ordered too much. Honestly, I am surprised that there doesn't seem to be a lot of buzz about Kensington Grill. Perhaps the menu or head chef are new. In any case, Both Tina and I are eager to eat here again.

Kensington Grill, 4055 Adams Ave., 619-281-4014. Open for dinner 5-9:30 on Monday through Thursday and from 5-10 on Friday and Saturday evenings.

E & Drink- mini Hot Pot, Tea, Coffee and More- inside the 99Ranch building

July 2, 2012 Cathy Caffeine Fix, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

E & Drink has closed

Click here to link to a more recent visit

Hi. You've found mmm-yoso!!! the food blog. Kirk, ed(from Yuma) and Cathy usually write about food and things related to food. Today's post is about food and Cathy is writing because Kirk and ed(from Yuma) are busy.

This is the Clairmont Mesa Boulevard entrance to 99Ranch Market. The 'back' parking area is closer for me, since I exit from the 52 at Convoy Street, but the other day I decided to get out of my comfort zone and did things a bit differently. The fountain, with its oxidation, is quite beautiful.

99Ranch Market has undergone renovations recently and is a regular stop for groceries (and, like most other markets The Mister and I frequent, has an eat in area-there will be an updated post soon). Once inside the building, you are in a long hallway which has several businesses along with the Market. Three of those businesses are are sit down restaurants.

Yes, three. At the North end ('my' parking lot entrance), across from Sam Woo in the former Video Store space, E & Drink has popped up.

The Mister and I had passed E & Drink several times in the past two weeks, checking out the menu at the entrance and making mental notes to stop in. They seem to specialize in Taiwanese Hot Pot and boba-like drinks and snacks. It finally was time. (See that orange rice cooker in the above photo? Tea eggs are being sold for $1 as a grab and go snack.)

Once we were seated, we were given both a beverage menu and a food menu. The lady behind this counter is making beverages. I like the idea of a dual level additional seating bar area. There are about 20 two person tables that can be reconfigured for groups in the rest of the eating area.

The decoration is modern, with one television and overhead music, which was on pretty loud until someone complained. We were here at lunch, but the menu remains the same all day with one small difference.

The Hot Pot Lunch Special includes green or black tea (hot or cold); no beverage is included with the Hot Pot Dinner. That's the black tea on the right. It is slightly sweet and has a nice tannin 'bite' to it. I did not order the Lunch Special, so no beverage came with and ordered my usual, (because I can't decide) a coffee milk tea ($3.55). The beverage selection is extensive and I have plans to try other items. Add-ins, like boba and sago are 25¢ and I think the prices are reasonable, especially for the size. The coffee milk tea tastes of all three flavors-very refreshing.

When we first sat down, two small plates of a sort of appetizer were brought out- cucumbers and cabbage, both lightly pickled. A nice salty accompaniment which we 'saved' to use with our meals; there are no condiments on the tables. Our utensils, small plate and napkin were also brought out.

We had also decided to try a tea egg appetizer ($2.50 for two)

This was really good. The egg white took on the flavors of anise/five spice and the egg yolk took on the tea flavor. (As a side note, the eggs in the rice cooker at the entrance are in there longer and have more flavor that the ones from the kitchen, at least if you come in to eat closer to opening time. In any case, all are good.)

Since The Mister had ordered a Hot pot, he was given a choice of five sauces to go with and chose the peanut and the spicy bean sauces (the ones he did not choose were soy, hot chili and bar-b-que sauce). Not knowing what was in his pot, he added on a side of cuttlefish dumplings for $2.25. Below is the menu page of add- ons for the Hot Pots.

Oh. His hot pot?

The seafood. Served in a mini wok on top of a nice stand which held a sort of sterno heat source which was lighted at the table, this didn't need any add ins and in fact, the dumplings could not be added in right away because the pot was filled. There were several pieces of a flaky white fish, some squid rings, two head on shrimp, fresh tofu, several types of mushrooms, fish cake, krab and an egg along with broccoli and bok choy. All in a very rich seafood broth which was not salty. There were also clear rice noodles on the bottom of the pot AND a choice of rice or noodles came with the pot. (The Mister chose the (very good) sticky rice) .

At first, I was going to try a few items from the "Small Dish" menu, then at the bottom, I saw the "E & Drink House Special" and had to for this first visit.

Quite a large serving of marinated pigs ears, marinated tofu, marinated seaweed and (raw) peanuts.($7.99) Wonderful! The marinade had sesame oil as well as the traditional marinade which includes cinnamon, anise, soy, pepper and garlic. This was a wonderful combination of flavors, a very large portion and in combination with the hot pot, a *lot* of food.

We will be back- to try other hot pots (there were about ten to choose from) and some of the fried items…

E & Drink 7330 Clairmont Mesa Boulevard San Diego 92111 *Cash Only* open 10:30 a.m.-midnight, seven days

COMC: Chinese Breakfast at Chin’s Miramar

July 1, 2012 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Chinese Restaurants

**** This location of Chin's has closed

I realize that my last two posts were pretty wordy, combing for almost 3000 words….a bit too much. So I decided that it was time for a COMC (Clearing out the memory card) post.

Just about all photos here. Since Ba Ren closed, this is just about the only place we go to for Chinese in San Diego. Not always the best, but I do enjoy several dishes on the breakfast menu…..not a real big fan of dinner, though. One thing that's really nice for folks who were worried about having to deal with a Chinese only menu….which for me is a non-issue since most folks here are nice and helpful. They now have a handy dandy photo based menu…….

For more info, I guess you can read my previous posts, including the stuff from way back in 2006.

Only photos from here……..

Chin's Seafood & Grill
9355 Kearny Mesa Rd
San Diego, CA 92126

Breakfast from 930am to 230pm Saturday and Sunday

Tunis: Restaurant Le Caire, what is Zgougou and does it belong in ice cream, and morning in Tunis.

June 30, 2012 mmm-yoso Ice Cream/Frozen Yogurt, North African Food, Travel, Tunisia, Tunisian Food, yoso-silly

It was quite a scene, Avenue Habib Bourgiba……the Missus was taking a rest, as I wandered back out to pick up some "eau de mineral….no gas", that would be bottled water. On the map, there are streets perpendicular to Habib Bourgiba, but many of them are almost alleyways. Right around the corner from the Hotel Carlton was one of them Rue de Caire. On these sidestreets there are tons of restaurants and one of them is Restaurant le Caire. Not in the mood for more busy places, this tiny restaurant close to the hotel, not too busy, away from the crowd on the street, was where we decided to grab something to eat.

The restaurant had a couple of tables filled, it seems by locals or Tunisian tourists…..not much French being spoken, they were ordering in Arabic. Looking at the menu, this appeared to be Sfaxian as well. The guy running the place was really friendly and as soon we sat he brought out a tray with "today's catch".

We placed our order based on what we saw…..funny thing was, later during our meal, the plate was brought out to the table next to us and it looked like exactly the same seafood, in exactly the same position on the plate was brought out. I'm guessing these were the "stunt" fish….used for ordering purposes.

Soon enough the bread and Harissa was brought out.

This was a bit better than lunch, with a mild garlic taste, but still rather monotone in taste.

The Missus had also ordered a salad, I thought it was mechouia, but She had ordered Salade Tunisienne….which kind of freaked Her out when it arrived with what looked like canned tuna topping it.

The Missus hate canned tuna. In fact, there's only one brand I eat, She must dramatically leave the room! So I knew this was going to be interesting….well, there's not only one brand of tuna I eat, I do enjoy many of the Spanish, Italian, and French labels of canned tuna, but sheesh, they cost an arm and a leg. I knew this was mediterranean tuna, so I told the Missus, "I think it's worth a try." Not the best, but the Missus thought it not bad. She did enjoy the ripe tomatoes, diced cucumbers, olives, with just some olive oil and lemon.

I also wanted to finally try some brik, basically a very thin pastry called warka, thinner than even filo, filled with a raw egg and a variation of other items, tuna, onions, harissa, capers, etc…..

Some places will even ask you how you want your egg done………

It's deep fried to a golden crispness, when done well it's wonderfully crisp and light, and the magic happens when you cut it open.

The Missus didn't care much for the tuna in this and though I enjoyed it at the time, it would pale in comparison to versions we would have later on.

My grilled fish tasted fresh, was grilled nicely, the skin nice and crisp, flesh moist, but again was lacking in salt.

It was better than what we had for lunch though. The frites were the typical soggy and dry version we had earlier. I was also served a plate of very bland and over-cooked rice. Now I'm from Hawaii where we joke that every meal should come with "three carbs"….well considering the big basket of bread, the fries, and the big plate of rice……..what can I say?

The Missus again ordered crevettes grille – grilled shrimp.

These shrimp were nice and sweet, just a tad overcooked, but not bad. The only complaint…..yeah, you got it, lacking in seasoning! Of course it came with frites as well as a huge plate of overcooked, bleh pasta. We were to find out later that folks really cooked their pasta to death because it was thought to help "digestion"!

As we left the restaurant, darkness had fallen on Tunis. The demographic on the street had changed….the young men were still drinking coffee, now joined by older men, but the women who were seen out and about shopping or eating ice cream were gone.

The Missus decided that She wanted to try some ice cream, which along with various pastries seemed to be very popular. Right next to the hotel was a little shop wher the Missus got a two scoops and we sat in the now empty table across from the shop. The top scoop was a delicious pistachio flavor. The bottom scoop tasted very odd, not necessarily sweet, but strangely familiar. Turns out the Missus had selected zgouguo as Her other flavor. Zgougou is a Tunisian dessert based on nuts from the aleppo pine.

Tunisia is a Muslim country. All the women and young women we had seen with respect to what folks wear here in San Diego dress rather modestly, from those who are covered from head to tow completely in black, with even eyes covered, to those in jeans and blouses. So we were rather shocked to see two women get out of a cab in very mini-mini skirts and walk to a blackened out and partitioned doorway next to the hotel. I could only draw one conclusion…….which the Missus didn't believe. Hmm…….

The next morning we got up bright and early. Breakfast wasn't ready yet so the Missus and I decided to take a look around. As we entered the lobby of the hotel I could hear a woman yelling at someone….now this was at 5 in the morning! The guy in the lobby saw us, sheepishly smiled and told us in English, "no worry, some friends make joke with each other!" As we stepped out of the hotel we saw one of the women from the night before, now dressed with a nice shiner around her eye in addition to her mini-skirt. Must have been one heck of a joke. I looked at the Missus and told Her, "really now….you don't believe me?" And was dismissed with a wave.

This is Rue de Caire in the morning. I walked up and took a photo of the restaurant. We'd find a multi-floor shopping mall near the end of the street with a Monoprix Supermarket in it later in the day. Great place to pick up water and other items.

The streets were empty and it made for a nice walk.

Here's another photo of the Cathedral of St Vincent de Paul.

This is Bab el Bahr also known as Porte de France.

Bab el Bahr means "sea gate" and before the French arrived this gate opened from the Medina to a path to a lagoon. The French built the European part of the city outside of it and destroyed the walls of the medina. They called this the Porte de France a dividing point between the Old and European sides of the city.

It was nice to able to walk around crossing the street without having your head on a swivel.

Tunis: The Central Market and Restaurant Abid

June 28, 2012 mmm-yoso Markets & Grocers, North African Food, Seafood, Travel, Tunisia, Tunisian Food

How did we end up in Tunis? Well, it's kind of a long story….in the beginning, during the planning stages things just happened as they always do. The Missus starts planning for our next trip just about as soon as we return from our last vacation. But this time we had a short interlude as we travelled back to Hawaii. This put our plans, at that time it was Rome/Morroco into kind of a holding pattern. By the time things started up again it was late February. I felt our time in Istanbul was basically unfinished business and the price of a round trip from San Diego was rather reasonable…so I booked it. Then one day the Missus asked me about Tunisia….she had never heard of the country, you believe that? I guess it's one of the benefits of an education in a Communist country. Thinking it over, I thought it was a great idea, there was so much history in Tunisia, after all historic Carthage was there…."home of Hannibal" I told the Missus. To which She replied, "you mean the cannibal?" Sigh…..there was much talk and planning after that, but the result was us flying from Istanbul to Carthage-Tunis airport. I'd read a good bit about the taxi cons at the airport….which turned out to be pretty true. We were met just outside the arrival hall by a nice young man who asked us if we needed a taxi. I asked him if he was the driver, he said yes and led us to a taxi, immediately grabbing the Missus' bag. We got to the taxi stand, one guy opened the trunk, he opened the door, and a third guy came out…the real driver. You can pretty much figure out what was going on here, right? Everybody had their hand out, one for leading us to the taxi, the dude for opening the trunk, and the driver wanted to charge us 40 dinars, about $25 bucks for the drive into Tunis, which would cost about 5-10 dinars. Anyway, we got him down to 10 dinars and got our ride to the center of Tunis, right smack in the middle of Avenue Habib Bourgiba, the main drag. We quickly noticed that there wasn't much English going on and the folks at the front desk of the hotel really wanted nothing to do with us. The room was cheap, the location great, the supposedly in room wi-fi was only really good from the balcony of the hotel restaurant, which only served breakfast……we snuck in whenever we wanted to check our email and stuff.

After a quick shower we headed out to crowded Habib Bourgibat o find some lunch. One thing we quickly noticed was how friendly people were…….from the touts that wanted us to have coffee at one of the many shops to groups of young men on the street, trying to guess where we were from…"konnichiwa", "ni hao"….whenever we'd answer with hello, they'd look at us funny. i'm sure many of these had some racket going on, but it was all in fun. It was warm, but there was a slight breeze, a warm breeze. Using what we'd soon find out was a pretty outdated map, I searched for the restaurant…..we were pretty bushed. All in vain….nice folks tried to help us, but I really knew only three words in French, the second language in Tunisia…well, I actually knew a bunch of stuff when it came to food, but other than that it was mostly, "bonjour", "merci" and "pardon"……I milked it for all I could. After walking all almost all the way down Habib Bourgiba past the Clock Tower….it seemed like the restaurant and the address I was looking for didn't exist?

It seemed like we were throwing our lives to the wind crossing the street….which was somewhat intimidating until we got used to things. It seems like there are no driving laws in Tunisia…..only suggestions. If you thought crossing the street in Vietnam was tough….try it with a zillion yellow cabs flying around you.

We ended up turning around and walking all the way back down in the opposite direction. We were surprised to find a large cathedral right on Habib Bourgiba….the Cathedral of St. Vincent de Paul….very photogenic. Here's a photo from the next morning.

In maps the street sure seemed long….but it was not too long of a walk. The masses of people made things seem congested and it was getting much hotter. The Missus thought the Central Market was close by and She stopped and asked a bunch of guys standing around….there were many groups of men standing about and drinking coffee at like 1 in the afternoon! None of them spoke English, but they really tried hard and we finally got pointed in the right direction when I said, "Rue de Charles de Gaulle". And after passing mobs of folks and merchants with open boxes of stuff on the street, we made it into the market……

I was rather surprised at the huge amount of seafood being sold……..

There was a booth where three guys were hacking away at a huge tuna….wasn't bluefin, though. I was later told that all the premium fishes go straight to Japan.

It was much less crowded inside the market than the streets outside. It gave us some time to figure out where we wanted to eat next.

After deciding our next attempt at finding something a place for lunch. We walked back into the now fairly hot street and the crowds. We found Habib Bourgiba again and headed back in the direction we came….we'd traveled enough and knew how disorienting things can be your first day in a large city in a foreign country..but when I almost ran smack into barbed wire and the guy holding a machine gun in front of the Interior Ministry, the Missus had starting getting a bit frazzled. Remember, Tunisia had just gone through a revolution a bit over a year ago…..folks I'd spoken to thought us a bit crazy to be coming here….unjustifiably so. So anyway, we crossed the street and crossed back, found the sign for Rue de Turque and started looking for the street parallel to Habib Bourgiba called Rue de Yougoslavie and wasn't able to find it. We kept walking unitl it just seemed too far. Spoke to a couple of folks who had no idea where Rue de Yougoslavie was. As we headed back to Habib Bourgiba I saw it. Apparently, Rue de Yougoslavie no longer exists…..the street sign on the side of the building with the name was blacked out with paint and it was now called something else! The street was actually just a block away from the main street! It was then a short walk to our destination, Restaurant Abid, which had been described to me as a place where the locals ate Sfaxian influenced dishes…seafood. Sfaxian cuisine was also supposed to be quite spicy as well.

It looked kind of as advertised, very clean, all local customers, and very inexpensive. The guy running the place…..who I think is Abid, a large jovial man, who reminded me of John Rhys Davies character in Indiana Jones spoke good English and greeted us with a booming "WELCOME, WELCOME! Thanks Gods you come here….."

We were starved and were excited to try some Tunisian dishes for the first time. We were given a small plate of the standard condiment, harissa, basically a chili paste/sauce. The version from Sfax is supposed to be really spicy and we were warned when it reached the table.

I'm guessing you're not supposed to be able to tolerate the stuff plain and the dude almost had a dyspeptic fit when the Missus and I each took a small taste……it was slightly spicy, heat, but nothing else…..other than being a bit spicy it was pretty plain. The bread we had cut it even more….

The fish soup was very fishy and the Missus couldn't handle it.

I was really excited to try mechouia, the classic "salad" of roasted peppers.

I expected smokiness, maybe some garlic and herbs….fruitiness from the olive oil, but this was pretty bland and seriously lacking in salt.

At least I really enjoyed my merguez. The sausage had been deep fried, which really crisped up the natural casing. The sausage was slightly gamey with some mild spice.

I never had frites that I enjoyed in Tunisia until the day we left. These were limp, soggy, and kinda dry…..but that's the way they were just about everywhere.

The Missus ordered the crevettes grille – grilled shrimp.

One thing you quickly notice. The shrimp aren't all the same size, which for us is a good sign….it means it's not obviously farmed raised. Unfortunately, the shrimp were cooked to death and like most everything else lacking in seasoning….it was just strangely bland.

Not quite the first meal we had planned, but hey, the place was super clean, and the meal cost us about the equivalent of $13 US!

We had regrouped during our meal and settled down. Our bearing were much better as we headed back to our room. The Missus wanted to have something sweet for dessert……since Habib Bourgiba is considered the Champs-Élysées of Tunisia, why not stop at the cafe of the same name. We managed to place our order in the crowded cafe and actually found an open table, no mean feat at that time.

It was here that I got my first taste of the coffee in Tunisia, which wasn't overly strong, but just smooth enough for my taste. This would be the first of many cups of "cafe express" (espresso) for me.

We really took notice of the crowds drinking coffee in these cafes, overwhelmingly male, aged from 18 to maybe late twenties. We'd see these guys drinking coffee all day. I really came to appreciate the Cafe Culture, but on the other hand, shouldn't all these young men be working? It really doesn't bode well for Tunis to have all of these seemingly well educated, well dressed young men who should be on their way to starting careers to be wasting their post college days in cafes all day long. Hopefully things will improve in the future…….

Midweek Meanderings: Just Open or Opening Soon – Red Moon Noodle House, Sushi Bar Kazumi is back, Kogi BBQ, Ramen Yamadaya

June 27, 2012 mmm-yoso yoso-silly

Man, I go on vacation for a month and the entire Clairemont food scene changes…..just kidding! Here are a couple of recently opened or soon to open places in the Clairemont/Convoy/Kearney Mesa area.

Red Moon Noodle House:

Man, I didn't even hear about this one! One of my favorite FOYs (Friend of Yoso), "Yummy Yummy" told me about this shop. It's in the former location of Morning Glory, next to Tofu House and Yogurt World. Hours seem kind of funny, they skip lunch and open at 3pm….maybe that's only during the grand opening period? Anyone checked this place out yet?

4646 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Remember Sushi Bar Kazumi in Hillcrest?:

I'd heard rumors that Kazumi was looking for a new spot around Convoy after closing his shop which was a fixture in Hillcrest. Did you know that the original Kazumi was on Engineer Road where Sushi Yaro is currently? Anyway, I was a bit surprised to see that he reopened located in, ahem Moby Dick Fish Market and Grill, which I mentioned here.

I've heard that pretty good things about the food being served here and I used to go to Kazumi in Hillcrest when I was doing consulting work here in the late 90's……so I guess I need to check them out soon. Being that the place is owned by the guy who used to own Convoy Sushi and Fish Market
and North Park Sushi and Fish Market, I'm pretty sure the prices will be fairly reasonable.

4805 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 9211

Is it really Kogi BBQ?:

Or does the owner have to look out for a lawsuit from Roy Choi? This one was mentioned to me by MrZ.

This is the former Suzuya location next to Mama Jamaica's and Oton. I guess since it's a Korean BBQ, the change over was pretty quick.

5447 Kearny Villa Rd
San Diego, CA 92123

Actually, I was alerted to another opening by MrsZ, but didn't have time to take photos. Apple Korean Restaurant has opened next to Chopstix on Convoy. Sorry MrsZ, i promise you equal time and billing next time!

Ramen Yamadaya opening on 07/25:

As mentioned by Dennis in his post. By the way, happy four year Bloggversary Dennis! I saw the sign when I dropped by Best Donuts for a sandwich.

I was actually surprised that Big Fish Grill lasted so long. I heard from a very reliable source that the folks took out all the fixtures and equipment in the middle of the night and just bailed on the place…….wow…. I was also told that this happens more often that folks would think.

On the good side….I can't wait to get me some good tonkotsu ramen with an extra dose of garlic from Yamadaya!

4706 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

There is another "new" place very close by…..I just haven't had the time to check them out. My friend who is an active participant on Chinese message boards say the results have not been positive.

Anyone been????