mmm-yoso – Page 392 – 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.

Athens: The Acropolis Museum and a return to Strofi

March 8, 2012 mmm-yoso Athens, Greece, Greek Food, Travel

After a nice lunch at Strofi we took the short walk to the Acropolis Museum. This was, of course before all of the economic and civil turmoil in Greece, before the word austere was more commonly used to describe someones taste in decorating. We did though, see some signs which I'll describe in a future post.

The museum has a very modern design, though you're quickly reminded of the historic underpinnings of Greece by just simply looking down before you enter the museum as it built right over an archaeological site. You can look upon the site through the glass floors before entering the museum.

The museum consists of four floors and beyond the ubiquitous restaurant and multi-media areas, is divided into basic time periods, with the Parthenon display taking up almost all of the third floor. sorry to say no photos are allowed. But since we didn't find out until we snapped a couple….there was no clear signs….here's a couple.

We did stop as soon as we saw a sign.

Worth a visit if you're in Athens, admission is 5 Euros.

After checking out the museum we took a leisurely stroll back ot the hotel, passing the various apartments and shops along the way. We even passed "Asian Market" a small convenience stored sized shop full of Filipinos buying snacks and other food items.

We freshened up, took a short nap, and being a bit tired decided to go back ot Strofi for dinner. After all, we enjoyed lunch so much and tomorrow was going to be a full day. Arriving at the restaurant we were led back up to the top floor patio with the wonderful view of the Acropolis.

And of course, the Missus ordered a liter of the house red wine vefore we even sat down. As with most of Europe, folks eat pretty late. The Missus and I however, usually eat fairly early, which was good since the restaurant started filling up. I'll get into this a bit more later on…..

We started with some bread with herbs, which was on the very dry side.

The Missus and I quickly noticed something about the staff here. There seemed to be no sense of urgency, even as the restaurant was filling up. There seemed to be a pretty blasé attitude. After seeing this, we decided to forgo appetizers and just order our entrees. Getting our order in was a good move. The couple sitting right next ot us came in about 10 minutes after us hadn't even gotten their appetizers and worked through a whole liter of white wine by the time we had finished our meal and left. They weren't the only ones, we saw several tables complaining about the slow service. It just seemed that the kitchen and the front of house was not up to the task. And the patio dining area wasn't totally full.

The Missus ordered the Kid Goat in Parchment Paper (15.5 Euros – about $24 US at the time of our visit).

The goat was very tender, though under seasoned for our tastes. The sauce was also quite bland and the gruyere cheese melted over the potatoes really didn't add much to the whole dish.

I went with the Baked Lamb Shank with Rosemary and Potatoes (14 Euros – about $22.50 US at the time). I was really looking forward to having some lamb in Greece, but this was a disappointment.

Pictures don't lie. This was tough, dry, and lacked the flavor of lamb. It was severely under-seasoned. I'm usually not a huge fan of rosemary, but in this case I sorely wanted more…well of anything. I actually poured olive oil and used the salt shaker, something I almost never do. The potatoes were done well, but also lacked flavor.

This had us scratching our heads. Lunch was pretty good, well flavored, what happened to dinner. Plus, we seemed to be in the midst of some pretty unhappy customers as most hadn't even gotten their apps yet. We decided to cut our losses and head back to the room.

After all, we'd have to be up early in the morning to grab some breakfast then get to here……

before the masses descend upon the place.

Midweek Meanderings: Anny’s Fine Burgers coming to Clairemont and Jonathan Gold’s 99 Essential Restaurants Rap Style

March 7, 2012 mmm-yoso yoso-silly

Just a quick one for this Wednesday:

Anny's Fine Burgers coming to Clairemont:

Man, it was just a couple of months ago that I noticed Dusit Thai had replaced Mrs. Rice in the strip mall on the corner of Clairemont Mesa and Kearney Villa Road. I guess we didn't need yet another Thia Restaurant in the area……what I guess we do need is another burger joint!

The sign says Anny's Fine Burgers is opening in this spot. I recalled hearing this name before, and yes Cathy has posted on the Santee location of Anny's.

I had thought we'd hit the burger saturation point, but maybe not.

5375 Kearney Villa Rd
San Diego, CA 92123

Jonathan Gold's 99 Essential LA Restaurants, rap style:

Jonathan Gold's decision to leave LA Weekly after almost 30 off and on years was pretty big news to me. The only food critic to ever win a Pulitzer Prize, he was source of some great restaurant recommendations when we lived in LA. Haven't really been keeping up in recent years, but for me it's the end of an era. There was, at least for me, a silver lining. Someone actually did the rap version of Jonathan Gold 99 Restaurants to Jay-Z's "99 Problems." Even more amazing, this person actually ate at each of these places first.

Talk about dedication. JG has indeed earned a Pulitzer, but this dude deserves something. So check it out. My favorite lines are "Oinkster Heart Disease" and "Gorbal's of Steel". Gotta love it!

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Madison: What’s in a Name Redux – Ichiban and Fugu

March 6, 2012 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Madison, Wisconsin

I'm not sure if anyone remembers my last encounter with the rather oddly named Fugu Restaurant, which served Sichuan style cuisine in Madison. Of course, there must be explanation, perhaps the place just kept the former restaurant's name to keep the customer base, licensing issues, or perhaps something similar. But what are odds of having two restaurants with Japanese names serving Sichuan cuisine in Madison? Enter Ichiban…..yep good ol' "number 1" in Japanese. Strange thing indeed.

Ichiban:

I had the pleasure of having my Sichuan meals with two wonderful people, YZ who is from Shanghai and YHL originally from Beijing. Having eaten at Fugu the day before, they wanted to check out Ichiban. The restaurant's tables have a slight San Gabriel stickiness to them and would not be out of place in the SGV. The clientele was a bit older than what I saw at Fugu, but almost all conversations were taking place in Mandarin.

We started with Steamed White Meat Chicken with Chili Oil.

The chicken was moist and tender, but the sauce lacked depth. It was indeed fairly spicy as the chili oil and chili flakes added heat. I'm not quite sure if this was supposed to be Ma La Ji Pian, if so, it was missing the mild sweetness or perhaps this was Guai Wei Ji Si, but then it was missing the nice sesame paste and black vinegar flavor. There was also just about no Sichuan Peppercorns at all in this.

Next up was the Zi Ran Yang Rou – Cumin Lamb:

The meat was fairly tender and the dish had some mild heat. It was better than the version I previously had at Fugu, but was still lacking in cumin. Overall, the best dish of the evening.

Next up was the Spicy and Crispy Pork Intestine:

The intestines could have been fried a bit better and the flavors were really lacking.

YHL needed a break from all the spicy food and ordered the Chicken with Corn Soup:

Coming in the middle of the meal meant the soup tasted pretty bland……

We finished up with the Shui Zhu Niu Rou, called Poached Sliced Beef in Hot Sauce on the menu. More familiar to us as Water Boiled Beef.

I really missed the Sichuan Peppercorns in this one. The Chili Paste was either quite inferior or (my guess) they really didn't use enough of it as the color looked a bit off. The beef was adequately prepared. But this wasn't very spicy.

Overall, the food was ok, not a bad try, some "La" (hot), but no "Ma" (numbing). Every dish seemed to be lacking in complexity and layering of flavors. Prices were about 15-20% higher than San Diego.

Ichiban
610 S Park St
Madison, WI 53715

Fugu:

The next day we corrected and headed to Fugu. Funny story, before her last trip to Madison, I mentioned Fugu to YZ. she ended up eating here 3 times! Since there were the three of us we were able to sample a couple of dishes.

We started with the Liang Fen, which I think is on the menu as Sichuan Mung Bean Noodle. Liang Fen is basically a starch jelly which I like, but for many people it's more of an acquired texture than taste of which it doesn't have much.

Hooray, Sichuan Peppercorns! The sauce was a bit too watery, but this wasn't too bad.

Next up was my favorite dish from my previous visit, the "Hot Crispy Pork Intestine".

This didn't disappoint, the intestines were fried to a crisp. Like before, there was only the slightest offal flavor. As mentioned before, I could probably pass this as slightly gamey, weird looking, fried chicken skin. My preference would be for a bit more "ma la" (numbing heat), but I think this is still my favorite dish here. Both YZ and YHL agreed this was much better than the version at Ichiban.

Yu Xiang Qie Zi – Fish Fragrant Eggplant. I believe it's on the menu as Eggplant in Garlic Sauce. A classic dish. You've probably eaten this under the guise of Garlic Eggplant or perhaps Szechuan Eggplant…….

YZ really liked this, probably because it hit some Shanghainese flavor points as I found it a bit too sweet for me. Eggplant was cooked nicely though as it melted in your mouth. Nice vinegar touches, not a bad dish overall.

We also ordered the Pao Jiao Yu - Fish with Pickled Chilies.

My initial reaction was, "where's the Pao Jiao?" Not much pickled pepper action going on and not spicy at all. The fish had a nice, neutral flavor, but was on the mealy side. The sauce was a decent balance of spicy – sour – sweet….but where's the pickled chilies????

We ended the meal with Hui Guo Rou – Twice Cooked Pork.

This wasn't as greasy as previous versions I've had. And though I would have been happier with a bit more savory flavors, the vegetables tasted quite nice.

It was great fun sharing two meals with YZ and YHL….they found my interest in Chinese food somewhat amusing and were great company. YHL did tell me that Fugu was better than the best Sichuan Restaurant in Houston, so I guess that's saying something. If I get back to Madison, I hope to see more of these types of places. Though I hope they go with a proper Chinese name……though the thought of a restaurant named Benihana serving Hunan style food does make me chuckle.

Fugu
411 West Gilman St
Madison, WI 53703

Bolillo Tortas

March 5, 2012 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Sandwiches

*** Bollilo has closed

A couple of weeks ago, I made one of my rare trips down to the Gaslamp and decided to stop by Bolillo Tortas, which has been getting some good play on some of the local blogs. I'd heard that they made a Torta Ahogada with birote (aka bolillo) from Guadalajara, which got my interest.

The place is pretty easy to find, right across the street from the Horton Grand Theatre on 4th Avenue.

I liked the sleek and modern look of the restaurant. The gentleman behind the counter was very polite and prompt. The prices looked like it had the Gaslamp mark-up and then some…… nine bucks for a Torta Ahogada seemed a bit more than steep. Even though it was pretty early in the morning, about a half past eight, I thought why not just go ahead and get the ahogada….hot sauce be damned. When I ordered, the guy behind the counter asked me to wait for a second to make sure they had the proper bolillo for the sandwich. He then verified what I had heard, the bread did come form Guadalajara. Eventually, the birotes were tracked down, and after paying over twelve bucks for a sandwich and a drink I had a seat outside.

Soon enough my sandwich arrived. It based on the looks and texture, instead of drowning the sandwich, the chile de arbol based sauce had been poured over the sandwich. Still it looked pretty good.

Until you noticed that it took up a bit more than 50% of the plate it was on. Compare the sandwich size to the bacon wrapped jalapeno beside it…….

So either this was a snack sized sandwich or that was the jalapeno that ate the Gaslamp wrapped in a belt sized slice of bacon. I'll let you guess which one it was. Still, if this was great, there would be no complaints.

First off, the bread was kind of gummy, with a texture of the heat and eat genre. The crust was more hard than crusty. It was by no means as good as the bread that El Gallito uses. The sauce was pretty mild for my taste, but I can understand.

The pork on the other hand was moist, tender, with a mild smoke flavor. It was also nicely seasoned.

The bacon wrapped jalapeno was barely marked from the grill and both the texture and taste was raw. The bacon was barely browned and thus had a rubbery texture, which gave you the feeling you were eating raw bacon. The corn was tender and seasoned well with Tajin.

Overall, a mixed bag, but I decided to return for a follow-up a week later. This time I went with the Torta Cubana ($9.75), usually a pretty hefty sandwich, which this was.

This was probably too much stuff for me as everything got pretty much lost in a big sloppy mess. The cheese actually pretty much overwhelmed everything. If you've ever go through my posts on tortas you'll find that I'm pretty much of a single protein kind of guy. I still didn't care for the bread which seemed too doughy. Don't get the steamed vegetables which was very bland, even with the salsas provided. This time, the jalapeno and the bacon were charred and crisp, so perhaps I visited too early the last time. I don't think you'll go hungry with this sandwich.

I really need to try the milanesa, chorizo, and other sandwiches. But I'm not sure how soon that will be. The service was very nice, but the prices are on the high side. When I mentioned this place to Karina, whose family is from Guadalajara, she sounded intrested. Until I told her the prices….."a torta ahogada should not be more than about seven bucks, max, US tourist prices even….."

Bolillo Tortas
417 4th Ave
San Diego, CA 92101

Hours:
Mon-Thurs 8 am – 12 am
Fri-Sat 8 am – 3 am
Sun 8 am – 12 am

Madison – Pho Nam

March 4, 2012 mmm-yoso Madison, Wisconsin, Pho, Travel

Last week I found myself back in Madison. I'd been lucky, none of my previous trips had taken place during winter. Unfortunately, this time I couldn't avoid a February trip. I'd usually drive from Chicago, but there was no way I'd be doing that this time around. Folks, finding out I'm from San Diego seemed to take pleasure in reminding me that I was "lucky" since they were having such a balmy winter, heck it was almost like summer…….weather only hitting the single digits during those rare nights. It was a lovely, summer like 29 degrees as I walked out of the hotel. In truth, in spite of the rain, snow flurries, light rain, and once hail, I never once had to use my gloves, so I guess I should count myself as lucky……..

Being past eight, I ended up going to a restaurant about a mile from the hotel. I'd noticed it on my previous trips.

I thought a bowl of Pho might just be the right thing for a late(for me) dinner. The restaurant looks pretty generic, you could drop it most anywhere here in SoCal and it would seem to fit perfectly.

When I arrived, I kinda went, whoa……apparently Pho ain't cheap in Mad Town. The basic Pho Tai goes for $7.95. not quite sure about which beef choice would be best, I went with the Pho Dac Diet which went for $8.95.

While waiting for my bowl, I rationalized Pho in Madison. Well, beef is fairly abundant, so the Pho should be beefy. I'm thinking noodles, star anise, and some herbs would probably be harder to find and probably be a bit more expensive. My stream of thought was broken by the plate of herbs and bean sprouts arriving at my table.

There was quite a bit of basil, albeit wilted and rapidly turning brown. I was truly surprised to find Ngo Gai, old and dry, very soapy in flavor, but totally unexpected.

My almost nine dollar bowl of Pho arrived soon after:

The broth was low oil, pretty cloudy, and was just mildly beefy. It also lacked any anise flavor and I ended up using almost all the basil. There was a fairly strong onion flavor and the broth, which didn't seem very salty did make me thirsty.

As for the meat, well, most of it was mediocre. As expected, there wasn't much tripe, and the tendon (described as "soft tendon" in the menu) wasn't particularly soft.

The noodles were prepared adequately, but the portion size was on the small side.

Well, now that I've done my Pho due diligence in Madison, I think I'll just move on to something else, unless anyone has a recommendation. Being under eight bucks might be nice as well.

Pho Nam Noodle House
610 Junction Road
Madison, WI 53717

Los Pueblos Regional Cuisines of Mexico

March 3, 2012 Cathy Mexican Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Los Pueblos has closed. This fact makes me sad.

Welcome back to mmm-yoso. Cathy is writing today. Kirk and ed(from Yuma) are staring at the sky.

A funny thing happened a few days ago. Kirk started his post about Los Pueblos and so did I. We both had been going here, liking the food and wanted to share our meals with you. So, here now is my take on this really nice restaurant. (Los Pueblos is not a taco shop, but does serve tacos and burritos; it is a Mexican Food Restaurant that cooks fresh, local and sustainable with attention to the nuances of regional flavors, in a rustic manner . The food is prepared in a healthy way and tastes great.)

No lighted signage is up, yet.

There are photo slide shows of various regions of Mexico playing on the television and a nice musical accompaniment in the background.

The tortilla soup (large, $5.50) is made with a seasoned tomato broth and topped with Panela cheese. It's topped with avocado and Ancho chile. Tortilla strips are in the soup. Great -really great- flavor to this soup. It is filling and a very good vegetarian version.

The Yucatan Salad ($9). Pollo Asado Pibil (grilled chicken marinated in achiote, bitter orange and other spices). The salad has oranges, pineapple, red pepper, cilantro, onions and avocado. No dumbed down flavors here. Achiote is annatto, which has a peppery and nutmeg-y flavor to me and the bitter orange and other spices really compliment the chicken, which is very moist/not dry. This salad is quite large.

The chile relleno plate($6.99) was a chalkboard special the day we were here. It was served with the green rice (made with tomatillo, cilantro, California chile and other herbs and vegetables sauteed with the rice). Very nice flavor. The Black beans are made in a clay pot (a la olla) and vegetarian. Really good beans, lumpy and very flavorful. The relleno was filled with a very fresh Panela cheese. I want this again.

When we were almost finished and reading the menu, we noticed Cafe a la olla- coffee in a clay pot ($2.50) It's coffee made with cinnamon, clove, orange peel and piloncillo (unrefined/brown sugar; you may have seen small cone shaped brown sugar in the Produce section of your local grocery store; that's piloncillo). This was a perfect dessert. You can see it's a nicely gritty coffee, based on the sediment left on the sides of this cup…it is very good.

On another visit, we noticed $5 lunch specials. All come with fresh made chips. Again, deep corn flavor.

I ordered the two taco plate with chile poblano rajas (Poblano chile strips sauteed with onion, garlic and corn and finished with cream and cheese) as my lunch special. It came with the rice as well as the chips (for $1 more, you can order one of the house made aqua frescas; ask for a sample to decide- all the aguas are made from scratch, without corn syrup or preservatives.)

Here is what the rajas looks like. It is a good vegetarian sauce (and you can order it as a side for $3)

Here is the other taco. It didn't have tomato in it but was just as tasty. This is an example of the unevenness of food presentation Kirk mentioned in his post, but I am not complaining; I really like this kind of homemade assymetry.

The Mister ordered the carne asada plate ($11) with a side of mole Poblano ($3) and the mole coated the carne. This carne asada is marinated in Chipolte and is not at all like carne asada you can get from any taco shop around here. It is deep and smokey flavored, spicy – plays no games. The Mister wanted to try the mole which is made with over 30 ingredients and it was *good*…I could taste the chocolate, plantains, nuts and chile as well as the medley of spices. I could eat it by the spoonful without any meat…

The Cafe de la olla is now our 'regular' dessert here. We poured some into a smaller cup and added the coffee mate, which changed the flavor to make it creamier…almost a fancy ice cream flavor.

There are Hurraches (chewy soft corn masa shaped like a sandal with various toppings), Quesadillas "sincronizada"(two thick flour tortillas painted with red chile adobo and then cheese and fillings) as well as torta sandwiches on the menu. The primary meat selections are the carne asada marinated in Chipotle, the chicken pibil marinated in the bitter orange and Achiote and pork Adobado -a sun dried red chile BBQ sauce, which Kirk really liked and I have yet to taste-and soon.

Los Pueblos is a really good choice for quality, fresh, healthy cuisine. I hope it suceeds.

Los Pueblos 7081 Clairmont Mesa Boulevard San Diego 92111 (858) 834-7878

Lucky Seafood- a meal and a take home snack

March 2, 2012 Cathy Markets & Grocers, Seafood, Vietnamese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the name of the blog you are reading. A few friends write about food they eat, take photos and share meals with you. Kirk is too busy to write today and so is ed(from Yuma. That leaves Cathy, who is sharing a meal and a snack.

Hi. This is a short post. Kirk has written only one post devoted to Lucky Pho, yet Lucky is mentioned in about 24 of our mmm-yoso posts. The restaurant adjoining the grocery store is a favorite/regular spot for The Mister and I of all the pho places around this large county. This the place I recommend to anyone who asks me "where do you like to eat?"

On this cloudy, chilly morning, both of us wanted soup and we disagreed about the basic broth. So instead of messing up the kitchen, we each chose our own preference at Lucky.

The Mister chose Pho Tai ($6.50)…

and I chose the shrimp and krab ($6.50). It's made with different noodles and a very rich fish broth, which was what I was wanting. You'll notice there is mint on the plate of add ins- that's for the seafood soup, otherwise all the usual add ins of sprouts, jalapeno, basil and lime.

Of course we always get the Spring rolls here ($5.50). These are more meat than vegetable filled and always perfectly fried. Another great meal.

Since we were at a market, I started to think about the weekly shopping. There were too many people inside to take photos of the produce section, but the prices here are good and the vegetables and fruit are always fresh.

I headed over to the seafood area where most items are in open display.

Fish heads (great for soup making) are still only $1.99/lb.

The pretty parrot fish caught my eye. I've never had one and wondered how it would taste.

Then I saw the overhead sign…

I waited in line and handed the nice young man my chosen fish, which was weighed and priced and in a few minutes, my number was called.

Then I went to checkout and paid for all of my purchases…

This is my lovely fried parrot fish. It is very meaty was good while hot, but also turned out to taste very good when cold.

No photo of the resulting carcass; you've seen enough this week. I hope all of you have a good weekend! Stay warm and dry!

Lucky Seafood and Pho 9326 Mira Mesa Blvd San Diego Ca 92126

Pho Xpress: tasty, fast, food.

March 1, 2012 Cathy Pho, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome back to the blog named mmm-yoso!!! Kirk does not have time to blog today and neither does ed (from Yuma). Cathy has found some time.

Hi. Today is starting out to be another rainy and chilly day. I'm already wanting a big bowl of something hot for breakfast and think I know what I want for lunch. Located just East of the Stadium, in the Vons/Rite Aid Center, next to Longhorn Cafe at the intersection of Mission Gorge and Friars and Zion (see Kaiser Hospital in the background?) is Pho Xpress, which Kirk posted about in December 2010.

The storefront of the building is narrow, but there is seating for about 40 inside. Right at the door is a steam table filled with a variety of Chinese selections if you are in a hurry or just want something 'to go'.

The tables are set with the standard condiment and utensil selections.

On this day, The Mister and I decided to share two items. Above, the papaya salad ($6.50) is listed as an appetizer, but is quite large and the dried beef makes the combination of shredded green papaya and basil a nice balanced meal. The fish sauce/garlic/lime/chili sauce is not very sweet (not much sugar added) and I really, really like (and crave) this version.

I really enjoy each of the pho broths offered here; the beef and chicken are very rich flavored and great eaten without all the fillings; I sometimes consume all the broth first. The vegetarian pho ($6.25) that I chose this day also has a really flavorful broth-I could taste carrot and celery and onion, combined with all the fillings you see-onion, zucchini, carrot, broccoli, bok choy and fried tofu, as well as the slightly soft noodles, this soup is just as flavorful and filling as any of the meat based soups.

Hot tea does have a 75¢ per person charge, and I don't mind, since they will refill the pot if necessary. Service is very fast (probably because they know their clientele is on lunch break from the hospital, or because it is a Pho place) and they have a constant pick up/take out crowd. This is very good choice to stop if you are in this part of town.

Pho Xpress 6533 Mission Gorge Road San Diego 92120 (619)284-3268

Nahrain Fish and Chicken Grill (with a short visit to Shakira)

February 29, 2012 Cathy Bakery, Desserts, Iraqi Food and Restaurants, Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome (back) to mmm-yoso!!! the blog of food. Sharing meals with you is what we do. Today, Kirk and ed(from Yuma) are lurking while Cathy is sharing.

Hi. The Mister and I have noticed signs for Nahrain and Shakira while on Main Street, whenever we are going to Valley Foods Mediterranean Market, where we shop (and eat in the store) fairly regularly and finally decided to stop one day. This is the view from the parking lot, but from the street, while stopped at the signal light at Ballard, you may only notice "Shakira", the top sign for the mall right next to the parking lot flower stand. Shakira is a bakery.

Over there, to the right, on Main Street is Nahrain- the blue sign.

When you walk in, the fresh fish are in the counter next to the cash register. Those on the far end, next to the catfish, under the tray of shrimp are yellow pompano, which are only served fried with rice according to the menu. All the other fish are sold by the pound.

To the far left are the very large Grass Carp fish.

On the side of the dining room is…a fountain.

It's filled with even fresher fish.

Just so you know, the live catfish are $8.99/lb, the ones in the counter are $5.99/lb. The live tilapia are also $8.99/lb and the ones in the counter are $6.99/lb. Strip bass are $8.99/lb, Grass Carp are $5.99/lb and the red snapper are $7.99/lb.

On our first visit, we weren't certain what to order, asked about the tandoori chicken (because we noticed a Halal certification for the restaurant) and were told it would take 40 minutes to prepare, so we ordered this side of hummus ($3.99) was very good, fresh and not too large.

Then we each ordered a sandwich. These were served on fresh sammoon bread.

My Chicken Cream Chop sandwich ($4.99) was freshly fried and crispy. Cream chop is a chicken breast (or beef ) marinated in a seasoned cream sauce and 'chop' means then rolled in bread crumbs and fried (I've seen potato chop on menus). The rest of this sandwich was onions and tomatoes. All the flavors melded perfectly.

The Mister ordered a beef tikka kabob sandwich ($4.99). Finely ground beef mixed with onion and parsley and seasonings and grilled. This was very moist and flavorful. This sandwich was served with all those pickles, tomatoes as well as onions and flat leaf parsley.

When we were leaving, the owner came over and told us we can always call in and order a tandoori chicken, masgoof chicken or masgoof fish and it would be prepared and ready by the time we got there.

Masgoof. We had to research. Masgouf. The national dish of Iraq. The fish(or chicken) is split down the middle, leaving the back intact, sort of a large circle. Then the animal is coated in olive oil, salt, turmeric and tamarind then cooked over fire. (Masgouf was the downfall of Saddam Hussein)

We called in that Friday, telling them we were driving in and would like a tilapia, around 2-3 pounds; that there would be two of us sharing a meal inside the restaurant. We arrived pretty quickly and the food wasn't quite ready and so we decided to order a salad. We could not decide on fatoosh or Arabic salad, and since both are $3.99, we were offered half of each.

The Arabic salad, on the left, is mainly lettuce, cucumber, green pepper and tomatoes and a delightful dressing that has fresh mint. The Fatoosh salad has fried pita bread croutons and an equally delightful, fresh and different dressing. This is a large plate.

Soon, a giant flat folded wheat bread as well as plates and sides and hot tea (which was brought out early because we asked, but it is included in the meal and usually brought out at the end)

The condiments (in that cute fish shaped platter) are tomatoes, onions and pickled mango…mango chutney..salty and not too sweet and it is complimentary to the fish:

The tilapia was proudly presented to us by the chef. Beautifully cut, seasoned and cooked, this meal was wonderful, fresh, filling and..less than $20. Yes. Everything is included and the fish ($6.99/lb) was less than three pounds.

Here is (the now) obligatory photo of The Mister's fancy fish carcass cleaning work. The skin of the fish was not as tasty as other fish skin I've had, but the fins were crispy good. Also, this was tilapia, a fish with a double skeleton going on…so not as easy to eat as other fish.

So. We walked next door, to Shakira and were overwhelmed with choices. We were not hungry after that awesome meal-but knew at some point we would be hungry again.

We decided to take home one of the cheesy flatbreads. This is not as large as the bread that accompanied our meal, but more the size of a very large pita bread. It is $1. It was a fresh and soft bread topped with a soft mild cheese. There were several differently topped flatbreads, all vegetarian and all $1 each. I will be returning.

Then we exercised restraint and each of us chose one sweet piece of dessert. The top/square piece is filled with chopped pistachios and topped with shredded filo. The bottom round one has whole pistachios. Sold by weight ($8/lb) the price for these two pieces was $1.08. These were not too sweet and made with a light syrup rather than honey. The filo dough remained crispy until the next morning.

All in all, this is yet another great place to eat in El Cajon.

Nahrain Fish and Chicken Grill 1183 E. Main Street #A El Cajon, CA 92021 (619) 334-3222

Shakira Pastry 1183 E. Main Street #B El Cajon 92021 (619)440-6068

Rocky Port Grill and Fish Market-Mariscos in El Cajon

February 27, 2012 Cathy Mexican Restaurants, Seafood, What Cathy Eats!

Rocky Port has closed

Link to another visit to Rocky Port Here

Welcome back to mmm-yoso!!!. Kirk and ed (from Yuma) are just too busy to blog today, so Cathy is sharing another meal with you.

The last rainy days we had, I was craving a bowl of fish soup and The Mister and I headed to El Titanic in El Cajon, which I have posted about twice. We hadn't been to El Titanic since September (as one of my birthday week meal choices). Sadly, we saw it had closed. Happily, it seemed to have turned into another mariscos place.

The interior has been cleaned up and all the drawings of sinking ships were painted over. New tables and chairs filled the room.

The area where the pool table had been has been replaced with a fresh seafood counter, offering some pretty good prices on the seafood.

Fresh chips and salsa, along with a bowl of limes and a nice size sample of fresh fish ceviche were brought out to the table with our menus.

The bowl of fish soup ($10.95) was filled with large pieces of fish, green peppers and tomatoes and cooked in a very flavorful broth. This was quite large and very filling.

The menu offered whole fish, grilled with garlic or fried and the red snapper and snook are sold by the each for $16.95. The smaller tilapia were $10.95. Larger fish from the counter were sold by weight. This is a fresh red snapper that I chose to have fried. It came with unlimited corn tortillas (which were layered/flaky fresh and very tasty) and the salsa, rice and salad shown. This was a very good preparation and the fish was moist and really tasty.

We ate every last bit of it, and the soup.

The menu has a good variety of seafood choices, including lobster (griddled or grilled), fish plates, seafood cocktails and the other usual suspects of tacos, burritos and shrimp plates-all served with a choice of preparations and sauces. There are also daily specials and even a kid's menu. This is a bit nicer and pricier than El Titanic and a very nice addition to the neighborhood.

Rocky Port Grill and Fish Market 1771 North 2nd Street El Cajon 92021 (619)593-0637 Website