mmm-yoso – Page 383 – 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.

25 Forty Bistro and Bakehouse (Old Town)-revisit for lunch

May 17, 2012 Cathy Bakery, Buffets, Desserts, European Restaurants, Los Angeles County, What Cathy Eats!

25Forty has closed. It will be missed

Well, you've found mmm-yoso!!! and we'd like to welcome you to our blog about food. Kirk usually blogs here and sometimes so does ed(from Yuma). Cathy usually chimes in about meals she has enjoyed when the guys are busy. Today, it's Cathy.

Hello again. I posted about a few lunches at 25Forty Bistro last year. 25Forty has changed since then; it's still open for Brunch and dinner on weekends, closed on Mondays and now is open for lunch on Thursday and Friday only. As part of that lunch offering, one of the menu choices is an all you can eat buffet at an affordable price of $8.

A few weeks ago, The Mister and I had some time and drove to Old Town for lunch here. The seating outside is the same, as are most of the tables inside, but along the back wall is a small buffet area.

We started lunch with iced tea and water. The water, as always, is brought out in glasses and with a large chilled bottle for refills at will. The iced tea is a good, strong brew.

The Mister ordered the All You can Eat buffet. As it was crowded, I did not want to get up to take a photo of the buffet area, but it is not large and on the tables looking like a nice buffet you'd have at a friend's home over the Holidays. This is a bit of everything available: cheeses, olives, pasta salad, salad with chicken, sliced ham, plain salad ) I do like the dressing here), rigatoni with meat sauce (very nice), roast pork (excellent) and mashed potatoes (perfect). The plate is very large and The Mister's second trip to the buffet area only brought back a bit more cheese and walnuts, which he said was his dessert…

I chose the $10 lunch combination, which includes a beverage, a baked dessert and either a salad or sandwich. As in my other post, I chose the steak salad, which I crave. The meat is so tender and perfectly seasoned and placed on top of balsamic dressed mixed greens. The heirloom tomato had wonderful flavor.

The selection of desserts was slightly overwhelming. I walked over to the counter and saw a selection of cupcakes as well as pastries. I noticed that people can order a coffee beverage to go (there were 'to go' cups stacked next to the espresso machine) as well as pastries and apparently lots of people do so. After a bit of time, I chose this Nutella® filled pastry.

As you can see, the pastry was fresh and flaky and filled with the chocolate-hazelnut spread. We shared this. It was a delightful end to this pleasant lunch. We walked around Old Town and "played tourist" before returning to the car. San Diego is a very nice place where we are fortunate to live.

25Forty Bistro and Bakery 2540 Congress Street San Diego 92110 (619)294-2540 Closed Monday. Website

Tea Station-revisit

May 16, 2012 Cathy Caffeine Fix, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome (back) to mmm-yoso!!! the food blog. Right now, Kirk is relaxing. As is ed(from Yuma). Cathy is blogging in a relaxed fashion.

Hello again. I blogged about Tea Station last year and it's a semi-regular stop for The Mister and I when we want to enjoy a relaxing talk along with a snack or light lunch. Wifi is available and some people are on computers, but for the most part, people are playing board games, card games or just talking and interacting at one of the numerous indoor and outdoor tables.

Tea Station is located in the mall across the street from 99Ranch Market.

This visit, we started out with Tea Eggs ($2.75) which are pretty simple to make at home, but I enjoy trying the the versions made by 'professionals'. Eggs are hard boiled then slightly cracked and placed back into the water which has had tea, soy and spices (like anise, cinnamon, black pepper or just five spice) placed and then simmered for about 20 minutes and then the eggs and tea mixture is placed in the refrigerator to steep for a day or so.

When the egg is finally peeled before eating, the tea mixture has seeped into the cracks,leaving a beautiful marble pattern. The whites of the egg usually take on the salty, savory flavor of the spices and the tea flavor seems to hit the yolk, or somehow enhances its flavor. Anyhow, I suppose I can do a post about making these at home. I enjoy the version here because the tea used is a fermented green, pu-erh tea, which I like. It looks like it is a black tea, but that's the color after fermenting. At home I use less expensive teas to make the tea eggs..and sometimes I don't even use tea- just spices and soy…I digress. I like the tea eggs here.

As on the last visit I blogged, we ordered the squid balls ($5.25). We did so again. These are a favorite…Squid somehow formed in a way that it doesn't fall apart and is solid. The lightly fried balls are rolled in a spicy salt blend (I think the green is seaweed). They are not greasy and don't have any breading. It's different and a really tasty snack.

The fried tofu ($5.25) is also a favorite of ours. Cubed soft tofu very lightly tossed in flour, fried and rolled in the same spicy salt mix. It's served with a thick teriyaki dipping sauce…which also compliments the squid.

Once again, we ordered a pot of the rose tea ($6.50), which was expertly steeped and wonderfully flavored with a marvelous rose aroma.

There are so many beverages you can order here, hot and cold, with or without milk, boba, combinations of flavors….and a good pot of tea is what they do and they do it so well.

I hope everyone had a nice day. Do take the time to sit and talk.

Tea Station 7315 Clairmont Mesa Boulevard San Diego 92111 (858) 268-8198 Website

Rocky Port Grill and Fish Market- El Cajon- a revisit

May 15, 2012 Cathy Mexican Restaurants, Seafood, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome to mmm-yoso!!! The part usually played by Kirk or ed(from Yuma) will be played by Cathy for the next bit of time.

Hi. It seems that I disappeared for most of this year, but it's time to share some meals I've been saving up in the cameraphone. I posted about Rocky Port earlier this year, when I was beginning my whole-fish as a meal binge and it has become a regular stop even if we don't order a whole fish. The seafood here is always fresh, tasty, and tender.

On Tuesdays, all tacos are $1 off, so the fish tacos are $1.50 all day…(yes, it does open at 10 a.m. and closes at 9 p.m. week days, and 10 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday)

Always, when you sit down, corn chips (the corn tortillas here are really good -layered- and make flaky corn chips), really good fresh salsa, cut limes and a bit of fresh-fresh fish ceviche is brought to the table.

On this visit, I ordered the Campechana Cocktail ($13.50). Shrimp, squid, scallops, octopus, clams and oyster, cooked in the lime and tomato juice, with cucumber and avocado mixed in. Catsup, crackers and selection of hot sauces add to the flavors of this tasty, fresh, tender and delightful large bowl of a meal. I crave it.

You can see two spoons with the cocktail. The Mister and I shared it, as well as sharing two fish tacos and two Gobernador tacos.

The Gobernador taco, a tortilla first 'lined' with melted cheese is then filled with a buttery saute of shrimp, bell pepper, onion and tomato…always a craving and at the regular price of $3.50, worth it…even a better deal on Tuesdays…The fish taco is quite largeand, again, fresh and fried properly in a light batter.

If the windows on the building somehow look familiar to you…remember Pizza Hut? …I hope everyone is having a good week.

Rocky Port Grill and Seafood Market 1771 N. Second Street El Cajon 92021 (619) 593-0637 Website

Istanbul: Lunch, the Blue Mosque, Hippodrome, Dinner at Mozaik, and Hagia Sofia

May 14, 2012 mmm-yoso Istanbul, Travel, Turkey, Turkish Food

After a pretty mellow time in Antalya we arrived back in Istanbul, ready for the final leg of our trip. By now, we had the drill down pat. Catch the light rail from the airport, get off at the Zetinburnu stop….

Then catch the tram and get off at the Sultanahmet stop. There were times when the tram was packed….like sardines, but since we don't have much luggage; two backpacks, we did fine.

One thing we picked up on right away was to get your tokens when you have a chance, planning ahead one or two trips….this way you aren't at the mercy of crowds in front of the token dispensers while your tram arrives…then leaves without you. This will also prevent what happened to me once…we needed to catch the tram to the airport. While I was walking to the token machine I noticed our tram coming. I quickly inserted my coins into the dispenser hoping none would be rejected. Grabbed our tokens and ran full blast to the boarding station. I hadn't run so fast in years,; make that decades. The Missus was laughing so hard She almost fell over….luckily we made the tram.

We walked to the Hotel Djem, checked in, and decided to just walk the few blocks to Sultan Kosesi. The Missus wanted sahlep again and it was nice to run into our favorite Server.

The Missus combination vegetarian plate was much better than what I ordered…..

which was an Adana Kebab.

We were up and on the move fairly quickly.

The Missus wanted to check out the Blue Mosque and since it is a functioning Mosque, it would be best for us to visit between prayer times. We really didn't want to intrude……

We'd walked the courtyard early one morning, but had never gone inside.

Sultanahmet Mosque, was built by its namesake between 1609 and 1616. Sultan Ahmet's goal was to build a mosque greater than the Hagia Sofia right across the way. It's quite beautiful, especially the exterior at night. It's called the Blue Mosque because of all the blue tilework.

As we exited the Blue Mosque, I noticed a very tall fellow wearing a yellow cap. You can see him to the right in this photo.

It was Kareem Abdul Jabbar….I mean, you really can't miss him at over seven feet tall and surrounded by several bodyguards. I turned to the Missus and said, "I think the Lakers are out of the playoffs (this was last year)." She asked me, "how do you know." He wouldn't be here if they were still in it.

Anyway, a photo of the Blue Mosque.

The area right to the west of the Blue Mosque and Sultanahmet Park is the Hippodrome, yes, that kind of Hippodrome. Built when the city was still known as Byzantium, when Constatine the Great moved the capital to "Nova Roma" (New Rome), which became known as Constantinople heenlarged the seating area to hold over 100,000 people! Undergoing major renovation when we visited, it really didn't look that impressive. A large walkway, with several obelisks. The one to the right is what remians of the Serpent Column which was brought to Constantinople from Delphi. It was once the figure of three serpents intertwined supporting a golden basin.

Notice that the obelisk appears to be buried a bit? The original level of the Hippodrome is actually about 8 feet below the current pedestrian walkway, where the base of this obelisk is located.

The one to the right is called the Obelisk of Theodosius. Theodosius the Great brought this back from Egypt in 390A.D. It is carved from pink granite and is actually from the Temple of Karnak in Egypt and dates back to 1490 B.C. It was cut into three sections, the top section was mounted on a marble pedestal, just where it is now. It look good considering it's over 3500 years old!

This is called the German Fountain and was built and presented to Abdul Hamit II in 1901 to commemorate Kaiser Wilhelm's visit in 1898.

We explored the streets of Sultanahmet a bit more……..

And though the days were beginning to get longer, we decided to grab dinner, then head back to the hotel. Metin, from the Hotel Djem recommended a restaurant called Mozaik to us. Funny thing, we stayed right around the corner from the place on our first night in Istanbul.

Though the prices reflected the area….being high traffic tourist oreinted, the food was pretty good.

The Izagara Mantar Salatasi, a mixed green salad topped with grilled mushrooms was probably the weakest dish, bland, and nothing special.

The Missus enjoyed Her Patlican Musakka, tangy tomatoes, sweet roasted peppers, She told it was pretty good.

I really enjoyed my Cizz Bizz Kofte, cute name, huh? It actually means something like sizzling meatball.

I'm not quite sure about the sizzling part, but these were very well seasoned and melt in your mouth moist and tender. The simple stemed vegetables were an afterthought just to take up space on the plate.

The combination of lamb and beef was done well……it had just enough of that lamb flavor to keep you interested.

Turkey is a Muslim country, thus you won't find alcohol in every shop on every corner. Because our days seemed to be flying by, it really didn't look like we'd be able to visit a meyhane. So I decided to try some Turkish Raki, not to be confused with Cretan Raki, this was veyr much like Ouzo. In fact, when you added ice to the drink it turned milky white just like ouzo. I'm not a big fan of anise drinks, but I had to try at least one, right?

The drink set me up for a wonderful night. Right after the last call to prayer I was out. To wake up the next morning ready to go. We took our usual morning walk, then headed off to the Hagia Sofia….only to find a line already at 8am! I'll honestly say, that the Hagia Sofia doesn't really lok as dramatically impressive as the Blue Mosque from the outside.

But this structure was once considered the "Greatest Church in all of Christendom". So something fantastic must be in store. Right in front of us in line were four young people from Spain. One of the young ladies was obviously a dog lover and this one caught her attention. She called him "El Guapo" – the handsome one!

She actually went looking for something to give Mr Handsome to eat and came back with some simit, sesame bread and starting feeding him.

Unfortunately, there's just so much sesame bread a dog could eat! To which she apologized, "lo siento el guapo, nada de carne"……El Guapo seemed to understand an was just happy to be the subject of her affection.

Here's a hint if you're visiting the Hagia Sofia and have time the day before. Buy tickets for the next day the previous evening. There's another line for folks who already have tickets. Anyway, we made it in fairly quickly, before it really got clogged up.

And upon entering I could understand the words of Justinian who supposedly said upon viewing the rebuilt Hagia Sofia for the first time, "Glory to God that I have been judged worthy of such a work." It's just one of those places where photos do not do the subject justice.

Unlike the Blue Mosque, whose interior is somewhat marred by the large pillars used to brace its large domed ceiling, the gracefully beautiful Hagia Sofia is supported by ribs made of hollow bricks made in Rhodes from a special clay.

The Islamic caliphs remind you that in 1453 Sultan Mehmed II, laid seige and conquered the "Center of Christianity". Hagia Sofia became a mosque.

In Islam, images of humans are not allowed, thus all the beautiful mosiacs in the former church were covered in plaster.

In 1935, Turkey's "George Washington", the founder and first President of Turkey, Ataturk, declared Hagia Sofia a museum. And the mosiacs have been or are being restored….to see the light of day once again.

As it is, I've spent a good amount of time on the Hagia Sofia. I cuold probably spend a couple of thousand more words on it, but I'll spare you. I'll just say, that of all the places I've been, there's only one other place I want to revisit……Machu Picchu.

Light and shadows do add a great deal of atmosphere here as well. You'll be within the shadows of a hallway or stairway. perhaps under one of the beautiful stained glass windows, only to walk into the bright yellows of one of the galleries.

Ok, enough, I'll spare you. Just one more interesting thing. There's a column within the Hagia Sofia, called the "weeping column". It was supposedly brought from the Temple of Artemis.

We were told that water sometimes drips out of the column, thus it "weeps". There are supposedly miracles associated with this column. The Missus was told to stick Her thumb into the hole then spin completely around and if Her thumb comes out wet a miracle will happen.

Her thumb did come out moist, but I'm still here! So no miracle on this day! he-he-he…. also, the fact that a pagan column was being used in a Christian church just sounded a bit weird to me. But who am I to say?

Thanks for reading!

Breakfast of Champions, old school revisit edition: Lucky’s Breakfast (Golden Phenix), Perry’s Cafe

May 13, 2012 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Diner

There's something about old school, simple, American style breakfasts that I love. None of that frou-frou stuff. Just eggs, meat, potatoes, and toast…… So here are two revisits or my breakfast files:

Lucky's Golden Phenix:

**** Sadly Lucky Wong passed away at the end of 2024

I've actually been back to Lucky's a couple of times since my post back in 2008. Lucky is quite a character, quick with the dry remark, don't even think about asking for decaf, Lucky told a gentleman, "why you decaf, it's full of chemicals, you're already looking like you have too much chemicals!"

I once asked for my toast "dry" and was told "are you a health nut? You gonna be old and look like me one day, do you want to stay that way forever?" Though I later asked him why he serves both white and wheat toast, "I have to do something for health nuts like you….just drink black coffee, that's the most healthy….no cream or sugar!" Aaaah, nutrition according to Lucky!

Though the place still looks like it has come of the set of Big Trouble in Little China, which I actually went to see at the old Cinerama Theatre. Sorry, I digress, having these old school breakfasts at places like Lucky's will do that to you.

I must have not been here in a bit since the interior has been cleaned up a bit…all the Arnold Schwarzenegger stuff is gone, perhaps Lucky was a bit unhappy with his role as the "Governator"? Things are less cluttered here now, but the really cheap prices look about the same as they were almost four years ago…..

Another thing that hasn't changed……it's still a one man show at Lucky's.

On this day, I had two eggs over easy, bacon, hash browns, white toast…….$3.60….yes three dollars and sixty cents.

Man, this was better than I remembered….especially the hashbrowns which were nice and crisp on the exterior….it might be SYSCO potatoes, but if you do it right…….

It's really hard to get negative on a breakfast that's under four bucks…especially when it's pretty good.

I do recall one other thing about Lucky's….one evening, the Missus wanted something from Heaven Sent Desserts. The only parking was on Grim right across from Lucky's. It was pretty late and Lucky's is only open from 7 to noon Monday thru Saturday. It was pretty late in the evening….as we walked past Lucky's the Missus said, "look at that lonely looking old man…." She pointed into Lucky's (this was before the curtains went up). And sure enough, there was Lucky, watching a little portable television in the corner of his place. I felt quite sad…..after all Lucky probably has a story, not sure what it is, behind that somewhat curmudgeonly exterior……

Lucky's Breakfast (Golden Phenix)
3804 Grim Ave
San Diego, CA 92104

Open Monday – Saturday 7-12

Perry's Cafe:

**** Sadly Perry's has closed after 39 years

A coworker asked me if I've been back to Perry's since they reopened after the fire. I replied that I hadn't….I was then informed that they reopened back in April of '10! Seeeesh…..time sure does fly! I mean really? Two years???

Arriving in the parking lot, it looked like business as usual at Perry's. There was a line out the door waiting for a table. This being a solo breakfast, I easily snagged a seat at the counter….. Which is a pretty nice place to sit as you get to watch the Servers do their thing. You can count the plates the balance on one arm as they make their way to tables…on this day, the winner, a tall blond who looked like she was all business actually took nine plates out in one trip!

I really didn't feel like bacon or sausage, so on this day I went with two eggs, hamburger patty, hashbrowns, and toast($8):

For some reason, this just didn't do it for me. I can overlook the cooked in a ring, somewhat overdone easy over eggs, or the mass produced textured burger. But if you've read my earlier post on Perry's, you'd know that for me, it's all about the hashbrowns here. Cooked on a well seasoned flat top with liquid butter goodness……man, I'm so there! But this time around, it hadn't spent enough time on the griddle and I didn't enjoy it as much. Bummer…..maybe I needed to order some au jus to pour all over it????

Perry's Cafe
4620 Pacific Hwy
San Diego, CA 92110
(619) 291-7121

Open Daily 6am-2pm

So there you go…..perhaps not as fascinating as Stadium Club (though it's hard to beat Lucky's)….but this is breakfast old school style. Where's your favorite "old school" breakfast joint?

New Jersey’s Location in Yuma

May 12, 2012 ed fromyuma Burgers, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

ed (from Yuma) finally has some spare time and wonders, "Is it burger week yet?"

Rumors that Rumors has closed and that Jersey's truck is there no more are true. Sadly.

The last time mmm.yoso reported on Jersey's burger truck, it was out on Fortuna road in The Foothills. Around the end of January this year, it disappeared. Burger lovers throughout Yuma County began to despair. Then, almost miraculously, Jersey's reappeared parked in front of Rumors Sports Bar, the new name for Ron's Place, located on the north side of 16th St./Highway 95 on the east edge of town:

Rumors Sports Bar is a low roofed rectangular bar with a number of tables, a lot of dart boards, and friendly groups of Yumans of all ages imbibing beverages of their choice. Tina calls it "a real dive bar." It does have a couple large areas in its parking lot reserved for motorcycles:

Jersey's truck looks pretty much the same as always. However, as well as changing locations, Matthew – the owner of Jersey's – has changed other things as well. For example, here is his latest menu:

(Click on photo to enlarge)

Not only has the roster of his burgers changed and expanded – notice the deep-fried burger – he also has changed his phone number (it is now 928-750-1576). The burgers however are still really good. Look at this bacon cheddar burger that Tina got on our first visit to the new location:

The fries are fresh cut on the premises and fried in good old-fashioned lard. Yummy good. The burgers are nicely charred on a flat top grill, but wonderfully rich and moist inside. Jersey's special sauce is still simple and delicious. Toppings and prices, of course, vary.

Just to give you an idea of some of the burger choices, here is a grilled red onion burger, wonderfully sweet and flavorful, if a bit hard to eat:

The new menu has a grilled white onion and cheese burger:

Notice that he sometimes uses a melted cheese sauce on some of the burgers.

On my last visit, I ordered another new addition to the menu, the chili burger (chili size). Because this is not exactly health food, I try to limit my current intake of these wonderfully tasty memories of my childhood. But back in my youth, my mom’s restaurant made a pretty decent chili burger (with my dad's chili recipe). And I ate chili size at various truck stops and family restaurants in Oregon and elsewhere. Jersey's version is #*&#*&% good:

As you can see, the burger patty was rich and crusty. The chili was perfectly spiced Western American chili con carne with no beans, topped with creamy cheese sauce and freshly diced white onion. All served on a grilled sesame burger bun .

And it came with perfectly fried fries:

The New Jersey's location is flourishing. Part of the reason is the food. The other part is that Rumors is perfectly happy if you bring your burger order inside the cool air-conditioned bar and eat it with a beverage of your choice, which they are happy to purvey. Personally, I wish they would have a couple of Sam Adams taps (the best one could realistically hope for) though Blue Moon and Stella Artois are available. Cocktails too. Also, don't let sports bar moniker fool you; whenever I've been there only one or two flat screens (sound turned down, so people can listen to the old rock on the jukebox) are showing sporting events. This is not a loud, hyperkinetic, whooping and hollering sort of sports bar – at least at the times when I'm around.

Jersey's seems to be open from around lunchtime through dinnertime. Be sure to call for more information.

Jersey’s, outside Rumors Sports Bar, Hwy 95, East Edge of Yuma AZ, 928-750-1576

Antalya: A walk around Kaleiçi, Can Can Pide Yemek Salonu, Gul Restaurant, and Marti Borek Manti

May 10, 2012 mmm-yoso Desserts, Travel, Turkey, Turkish Food

We'd had an interesting night in Antalya and I was really enjoying the city. From the hotel, to the the people, it was working out well. After a typical no need to eat until next week Turkish breakfast, we decided to take a walk around "Old Antalya", the Kaleiçi, surrounded by city walls, it is protected from development. There are still Ottoman and Roman style homes in the area.

I was unusually touched as we walked by the Keike Minare (the broken minaret) which is part of the ruins of the Korkut Camii, which was in my previous post. An elderly gentleman, very well dressed, probably in his eighties was walking on the other side of the street. He started toward us, smiled, walked up to me and extended his hand…… I didn't quite know what to say other than to smile and shake his hand. For me, it was such a welcoming gesture……

The streets themselves varied in width, some wider than others, some quite narrow, all of them exuding character.

It was also quite nice that the streets were empty at this hour, which is why we really enjoy our morning walks.

In this day of cookie cutter construction and having seen the "condo farms", buildings sprouting like corn in China, this was quite a change. You could feel the history of the city oozing from the cracks in the walls.

The doors of various building were particularly fascinating. Each one different, they all seemed to have a story to tell.

After a bit we wandered North, then toward the direction of Ataturk Caddesi, the main street in the area, right outside the city walls where the tram runs. To get out of the walls you walk thru Hadriyanus Capisi (Hadrian's Gate) which was build to honor the Roman Emperor Hadrian for his visit to Antalya in the year 130AD.

Walking south, past all the older men drinking tea in the park, we headed down Ataturk Caddesi, past all the shops, banks, and business buildings….and even past the ATM Farm. I don't recall ever seeing a place where competing ATMs are line up in such a manner.

We walked past what looked like government buildings, had a short stop for tea, then around the edges of a very large park.

We ended up here…….

The views were quite beautiful…….

To our right was Hıdırlık Tower, built by the Romans in the first century. I guess to keep watch over the Antalya Bay.

Right to the north was the colorful Roman Harbor.

We walked down to the harbor, past all the colorful tourist boats, then back up what must have been a cliff wall way back when…….

Climbing back up those steps I recall turning around and looking and marveling at how wonderful the "strands of clouds" looked.

Sort of a like a cloud version of the aurora borealis…….

After this we just kind of wandered around and somehow ended up at the Clock Tower.

Funny thing happened as we walked past the Tekeli Mehmet Pasha Camii…..an elderly gentleman walked out and waved us into the Mosque. I pointed to the shorts I was wearing….I really didn't plan on visiting a mosque. But he just shook his head and waved us in.

Down a nearby street is the Shopping Bazaar, mostly full of tourist stuff.

We eventually made a complete circle all the way back to Hadrian's Gate. By this time I was starting to get hungry. We headed away from Kaleiçi and ended up near a shopping area. We saw this place on the street. I'd read about it somewhere, so we decided that this was the place for lunch.

This place was doing some major take-out business and the Pide looked really good!

The prices seemed right and the Missus liked the menu which offered a good variety of items.

I'd noticed that the food in Antalya seemed more aggressively spiced than what we had in Instanbul. I actually enjoyed this. I tried a pepper from the bowl on the table and it was indeed fairly spicy.

The Missus enjoyed the dolmasi…one pepper, one eggplant.

But She really enjoyed the Patlican Musakka. It's not like Greek Moussaka. This was spiced stewed lamb on a roasted eggplant.

I had the Karisik Pide, which turned out to be quite filling.

Those roasted peppers were delicious as well.

Of course, this is Turkey and there was that basket of bread available……

Of course we headed back to the hotel and immediately took a nap….awakening a couple of hours later. After just lounging around for a couple of hours we headed back out. Near the main street and traffic control gate to the old city was this little restaurant.

Folks eat fairly late here, so we had the entire restaurant to ourselves and took a small table in the very pretty tree lined back courtyard.

I'd pretty much had my fill of meat and just wanted a variety of mezes for dinner. The server, a very nice young man was quite accommodating and we just had bread (of course), lavas, and a nice variety of mezes for dinner.

It was a light, but very satisfying meal.

Of course we took an after meal walk. This time we followed the tram line away and west of the Kaleiçi. This took us to a residential/business area that looked fairly expensive.

We followed the road to the water's edge, then turned back…..

By this time the Missus wanted an "after dinner sweet" and this place looked like it would fit the bill.

I had ayran, the Missus had tea, and we settled at the outside table. It was a nice place to people watch as we shared some baklava.

Meanwhile, a gentleman with a handsome dog walked down the steps. He left the dog there while he went to get his hair cut next door. I guess the pooch is pretty well known. The owner of the shop put a napkin in front of him and placed a piece of baklava on it.

I guess it's good being king, or at least a prince. He was so well behaved and waited patiently for his owner. Meanwhile, across the street we saw a beautiful golden retriever, so proud and happy….suddenly stop, turn around, and try to drag his owner in the opposite direction. We wondered what caused this…then we noticed that the dog had stopped a two doors down from a Vet! Of course it was to no avail as the owner tugged his suddenly unhappy dog into the Vet.

One more interesting thing……..

This gentleman was the shoe guy right in front of the snack shop. One of my shoes was starting to come apart at the sole. We got him to fix my shoe, which lasted until we got back home!

It's easy to fall into the flow here, but it was back to Istanbul in the morning. We did have a relaxing two days, though…..

One last thing. For some reason, I just loved this sign…….

I'm not sure why……

Smashburger – Kearny Mesa

May 9, 2012 mmm-yoso Burgers, Hot Dogs

**** This location of Smashburger has closed

Wow, for a while there seemed to be a Smashburger opening every week in San Diego. Heck, I know that FOY (Friend of Yoso) and fellow food blogger Kirbie seemed to be going to a sneak peek event every week for a while. Cathy also did a nice post on the place. Me???? Well, I’m not one for media events and I kinda just take my sweet old time….being kinda slow and all that. For a while it seemed like Smashburger was into full court press marketing mode and they really seemed to do a good job at it. For some reason, the more hype, the less I’m inclined to really get excited about something…it’s not always true, but most of the time….. Now things have calmed down and I thought I’d really get an honest meal and see what Smashburger is all about. Hmmmm, is the bloom off the rose?

The Kearny Mesa location is fairly close, so I tohught I’d check them out.

The decor is what I now call classic “fast-casual”…it might have been the lighting, but the carpets here seemed to be kinda stained in a few places….not a bad thing. Heck, if it’s burger juice flowing on those carpets…I’m all for adding that element!

Smashburger claims 100% Angus Beef, which I think is great. They also claim to “smash” the beef onto the griddle which has been brushed with butter. Perhaps not the greatest thing, since you can squeeze the juices out of the burger. And yet, I recall the rather thin pressed patties from diners and bowling alleys of my youth which made up for that short coming with a nice crisp exterior.

I really wanted to taste the burger so I went with a Classic ($4.29). I also got some Smash Fries and a drink which totaled out at $8.80.

Now, I thought this looked kinda puny for a burger, but heck it’s Angus Beef, right? Never frozen, etc, etc, etc…. It’s great to fall in love with an idea and all. The burger didn’t really have a nice crust on it and was rather dry. The flavor was pretty weak for certified Angus. I did love the roll, which was moist, bready (in a good way), and somewhat buttery.

I also really enjoyed the fries which were still almost sizzling when the young man brought it to my table. These were seasoned with rosemary, garlic, and olive oil. I thought the flavor was nicely balanced…though I love tons of garlic, I appreciated the restrained hand of all the flavors. The crisp texture didn’t hurt either.

Love the fries….the burger, well, was ok…..

I ended up returning a couple of weeks later and wasn’t really paying attention when I ordered the Chicago Dog, which turned out to be the same price as my previous burger ($4.29)

In this case, the roll was much too bready for the dog, which had been split and griddled. Wrong relish, which also tasted wrong and lack of celery salt made this a Chicago Dog in name only. The dog was dense, it reminded me of a Bison Dog I had recently, though the flavor was very mild. At least the sport peppers were decent……

Since I love onions so much, I ordered the Haystack Onions ($1.99) which I might have really enjoyed if they weren’t cold, greasy, and slightly burnt, which made this bitter.

Well, one out of four, not that great for me. Maybe the burger just wasn’t right on my first visit…or maybe it does have to be buried in toppings? I dunno….

Smashburger – Kearny Mesa
3737 Murphy Canyon Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123

Antalya: Villa Verde Cafe and Pension and dinner at Guneyliler

May 8, 2012 mmm-yoso Travel, Turkey, Turkish Food

After a wonderful time in Chania, passing through Athens, we knew we were in the home stretch of our trip. When doing a bit of research for a side trip before returning to Istanbul, I decided on Antalya. With a population of over a million, it's a very popular resort destination on Turkey's Mediterranean shoreline. I really didn't quite know what to expect and made arrangements to stay in the town's "Old City", also known as Kaleiçi. What was really interesting was after landing we found the shuttle bus stop. No one spoke English, so I just went with "Kaleiçi?", to which one of the gentleman waved me to the front passenger seat. We were driven to the middle of the city, where the driver came out and hailed a cab for us. We then took the cab into the gated Old Town. Entrance and exit is monitored….

The place I picked was the Villa Verde Cafe and Pension and we weren't disappointed. Our room looked very neat and tastefully decorated….probably because half of the couple, Misuyo Kimura Kocaman is from Japan! Yes, here in Antalya, wouldn't you know I'd run into someone from Japan. Apparently Ali Kocaman met his wife while living in Japan and I guess the rest is history.

I wish I took more photos of the grounds, there were lots to see…parts of the ancient plumbing system and such. Ali told me it took years to get approval to build the hotel. Because of the historic nature of the property they had to hire archaeologists to see what needed to be preserved and how things could be built.

Lest you doubt me, here's the view from the window in our room:

Now I don't know about you, but I thought having ruins of a Mosque that dates back to the 2nd century A.D. right out your window sure does add an exotic vibe to your stay……

We actually took a walk around the Kaleiçi, which was small, but full of character and ended up eating lunch at a very forgettable fast-foodish joint on the busy Ataturk Caddesi. When dinner arrived I was starved and I asked Ali for a recommendation. He called a cab, told me this was the place that he takes guests too. Apparently, Guneyliler has two locations. One is fairly close by, but the one we were cabbing to was far better. The restaurant was located in a huge and fairly intimidating building.

The place was packed, maybe 2-300 people, mostly large families were chowing down on what looked like copious amounts of food! Being only two in number, we were guided to a small table in the corner by the salad station…….

Before we even ordered, stuff started arriving…….

I have no idea what this is called…be it a borek, dolmasi, or what. The exterior had the flavor of perhaps ground lentils with a bit of kick. I quickly noticed that food in Antalya had a bit more spice to it….which made it right down my alley. It was filled with a meat mixture…very nice.

Of course there was Coban Salatasi, Shephard's Salad a standard.

We placed our order and even more stuff started coming……

The procession didn't stop until the long plank with a huge lavas was delivered to our table…..

Man, if ths was the salad and bread, I didn't think I'd survive dinner!

Compared to how things started, the rest of our dinner was pretty anti-climatic. I ended up ordering the Karisik Izgara, which if you've read any of my posts on Sultan, you'd know was a mixed grill.

I don't know how I managed to finish everything…..

The Missus had the Patlican Kebab.

The ayran was light and fluffy.

I don't recall the exact price, but I remember it being very affordable.

We were sitting next to the salad station and the guy behind the counter was hilarious, giving us a big smile and a thumbs up when we sat. Before we left, he told us, "we famous chef, you take picture!" So of course I did. Man, what a hoot! And that was only part of the story for the evening.

After leaving the restaurant, we decided to walk around a bit. We would need a taxi back to the hotel and noticed what looked like a busy street a couple of blocks down. We walked past a snack shop and the Missus got some Turkish ice cream.

We walked to the main street and found a taxi parked alongside the road. The cab driver was a very stately, dignified gentleman. When we handed him the hotel's business card, he put his reading glasses on and still couldn't read the print. So he gave us a hand signal to wait and called someone. A couple of minutes later a young man in his late twenties appeared….the man's son. He told us his father didn't speak hardly any English and his eyes were so bad he couldn't read the business card. He told his dad our destination and we walked to the very nice, almost new looking taxi. And here the fun started. We noticed that the cab was pretty gaudily decorated, pom poms hanging from the roof, a model yellow cab mounted on the dashboard, little twinkly lights blinking on the roof. The man turned to us, pointed around the cab and said, "my son….my son!" I'm guessing his son had decorated the flying carpetcab. As we started driving away, the gentleman turned to me and asked, "mooo-zik?" Then pushed a button on the stereo…and holy crap, the cab had some major sub-woofers! A loud techno song started up BOOM BOOM, "do you like sexy?" BOOM BOOM "I'm so sexy?" BOOM BOOM…..the Missus was cracking up! The guy turned to me and asked, "you like?" I mean really, what could I say. Just then I noticed that he was driving like a bat out of hell, maybe about 60 miles per hour, on a surface street! So here we were, flying down the street in Antalya, Turkey, in a taxi driven by an middle aged gentleman whose vision was so bad he couldn't read the address on the hotel's business card with techno pop blasting away……it doesn't get much better than that!

Man, we were so stuffed and slept soundly. In fact, the Missus didn't want to get up and wasn't particularly hungry. So I went downstairs to breakfast.

Now remember, this is Turkey….they don't mess around with the carbs with breakfast. Remember, this was all just for me.

The Cigara Boregi were pretty good……

Then they asked me how I wanted my eggs! Yikes…..

I took some tea up for the Missus who was still full from dinner.

Of course I opened the window and took a look at the ruins right outside our window. For some reason I found it to be so, well, cool.

I usually don't plug places; but with Madonna Suites in Chania and Villa Verde, we hit on two winners. Here's Villa Verde's website (The Japanese version). You can see some better photos of the grounds.

Thanks for reading!

Revisits: Bun Mam from Thuan Kieu and Sab E Lee 2

May 7, 2012 mmm-yoso Thai Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

Com Tam Thuan Kieu (San Diego):

The dry cleaner lady told me that Thuan Kieu had changed the recipe of the Bun Mam here, probably my favorite dish at this restaurant. It made me a bit worried as I actually enjoy it….but she did say it was even better now and the cooking was more polished. So I just had to see for myself.

It’s still priced well at $7.50. The portion size is fairly large………

First thing I noticed was that this wasn’t quite as funky and the previous version. It also was a tad sweeter and more tangy. The flavor is still a “umami bomb”. I think they’ve cut back on the fermented shrimp sauce and added a bit more tomato. It was also a bit more spicy than I recalled….or perhaps my tolerance is bottoming out?

I didn’t like the way they prepared the bun, it was “water-logged”, H2O still dripping off the noodles which were also over-cooked.

There were two thinner cross slices of fish, rather than one. And a whole lot more pork belly that I recalled. The eggplant was very tender, almost buttery. This was also a bit of a change since it was usually a bit undercooked.

And I guess that whole funkiness issue is relative as well. For the two women who stopped and sniffed the air and the one kid who actually whiffed his armpits when I walked past you at Nijiya after my meal. It was just me….’ol Mam Tom breath……….

Com Tam Thuan Kieu
4712 El Cajon Blvd Ste A
San Diego, CA 92115

Sab E Lee 2:

**** This location of Sab E Lee has closed

Man, I think it’s been almost two years since I’ve eaten here. The Missus has gone with Her friends, but I’ve just been too darn lazy…..terrible excuse, I know. The weather this past weekend just seemed right for Thai and the Missus was craving the Signature Fish.

Nice to see that not much has changed.

The Signature Fish was nice and crisp…..

Though it was smaller than I remember for $15.95 and a tad overcooked. Still, the Missus wasn’t complaining.

The Shrimp Plaa was nice and refreshing. Though thinking my heat tolerance had gone down a bit I only ordered a ‘7’ which was too mild. I’ll bump it up next time.

Of course, we had garlic rice as well.

Overall, this was a nice light meal….well, perhaps my breath wasn’t that great after chowing down that rice…..hey, I guess there is a tie in between these two meals, huh? Not that I’m especially proud of noticing it…….

Sab E Lee 2
9159 Mission Gorge Road
Santee, CA 92071