mmm-yoso – Page 409 – 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.

Tijuana (100%) Seafood Bar Mariscos La Cacho (Ambiente Familiar)- Chula Vista

July 12, 2011 Cathy Seafood, Taco Shops, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! It’s a Blog O’ Food. Kirk is resting today after our week or so of crazy heat. ed (from Yuma) is also relaxing with his local temperatures being ‘only’ in the 90°’s, in the evening. Cathy did manage to head South and eat, photograph, download and is now checking in with a short report.

Last week, The Mister and I happened to be in Chula Vista and we were hungry. I vaguely remembered Kirk’s visit to a Mariscos food truck that had it’s own parking space in a lot on Main Street so turned West from Third Avenue on to Main. Before the next corner, we saw this sign.

I passed by. Cars were parked in front and on the side street (Fresno). At the next corner, I turned and drove back around the block. I had to. This was the side view of the building from the crumbling parking lot:

Parking lot was full at 12:30 pm. It was a Thursday. I figured this must be good. The mariscos truck could wait.
We walked in and seated ourselves kitty corner from the front door. We had a view of both televisions (showing soccer games) and of the kitchen area across the bar. No air conditioning. We were handed two menus- one in Spanish and one in English. Great atmosphere.

A basket of crackers and tostadas, some limes and the container with spoon of hot sauce (which pretty much was Sriracha) was brought to the table.

We ordered and soon items were brought out as they were ready. The marlin taco ($4).
A fresh cooked (large) corn tortilla that had a layer of melted Mexican cheese filled with the warmed smoked fish which was sauteed with onion and mild chile. Perfect. Not too salty (as I have grown to dislike) and with a mild smokiness. We both really liked this.

The 99¢ fish taco was excellent. A large piece of fresh flaky white fish dipped in egg batter and fried to a light and perfectly crispy/not at all greasy crust. Topped with cabbage and chopped tomatoes and a bit of sauce. Our waitress seemed surprised we ordered only one. But we were trying a bit of everything.

Here’s everything else we ordered…
The fish ceviche tostadas were advertised on the walls and doors and almost every table as ‘buy one get one’, so for $2.50, we got the fresh made fish ceviche overflowing on two small tostadas. Really fresh and with just enough touch of heat in the sauce.

This was the medium shrimp coctele. ($9). Fresh made with cucumber and mild onion, topped with avocado. It was good, the shrimp were pretty large. I am spoiled by the $8 salad bowl of shrimp cocktail I can get from my local taco shop in Santee. Let’s just say there were not 23, 20 or 15 shrimp in the cup. (That Corona was $3.50)

This. $2. Looks like machaca– because it is. A manta ray machaca taco. That’s what was written on the menu. Since machaca is traditionally made with dried beef or pork, I assume this devilfish was dried then rehydrated. Or maybe it wasn’t. It was soft and had a nice ‘tooth’. Not fishy. It was stir fried up with some egg, onion and green pepper- or maybe a mild green chili. It had a really good flavor and almost pork belly texture for me.

The sign out front, the receipt below and the name listings online are all different. You’ll be able to find the place. When we left and headed West, we saw the La Prieta Mariscos truck on the left, about three blocks West. Next time…

Seafood Bar Tijuana 100% 3120 Main Street Chula Vista 91911 (619) 422-2287

Weeknight Grilling: Grilled Chicken with Ginger – Scallion Pesto – actually Cold Ginger Chicken Sauce (aka Kwai Fei Chicken Sauce)

July 11, 2011 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

Here's a quick recipe for grilling on a week night. Hawaii has its own style of Chinese food, dishes like "Cake Noodle", "oyster sauce chicken", and a big favorite "Cold Ginger Chicken", were a big part of my youth. We didn't have much money, so Chinese food was something special. As I grew older, and my income larger, I enjoyed meals from now defunct places like McCully Chop Suey (the first air conditioned Chinese restaurant in Honolulu!), Hee Hing, King Tsin, and our neighborhood Chinese restaurant Kwok's. And for special occasions like weddings, there were places like Oceania, a floating Chinese restaurant…. the first place I ever had duck, there's a really funny story, perhaps someday I'll do a post. Lau Yee Chai is still around…. though we considered it very "high maka maka" (snobby) in those days, I wonder what its like now?

Anyway, waaay back when we first moved to San Diego, I was feeling, well, kinda homesick, in a food related way. Having dinner with a friend, "Howard" who has long moved back to Oahu, he mentioned the Kwai Fei Chicken at a place called Golden City, which was then located on Convoy. I couldn't wait to try it out. Over the years, Golden City has moved, the Kwai Fei Chicken has been decent on most days, and I've even gotten the chance to introduce some of my favorite food bloggers to the dish; which may be off putting to some since it's a cold chicken dish where the chicken is an off white in color….looking very pale, and to some even perhaps close to raw?

At this point, I've pretty much taken more time typing this post than it took to get my hardwood charcoal going in the chimney, so I'll stop with the digression. The point of all this is….

Now the cold ginger chicken I make from a recipe on an old index card is chicken that is blanched in hot water with star anise until barely done, carry-over cooking will finish the job, It is then brushed with sesame oil, cooled and refrigerated overnight… and has been hit and miss for me as well. I'm pretty sure that the Kwai Fei Chicken at Golden City is rubbed with five spice and salt and steamed.

Well, it's a weeknight… and even when it's not, I really don't want to be doing the blanch chicken thing….I believe I'll try the steamed soon. So……. I bought some boneless chicken legs from Marukai. Even though the meat takes a bit of work, removing excess skin, trimming off sinew and fat, etc, etc….. the skin to meat ratio is great. If you're not on a diet. All of this can be done while the charcoal is getting lit….as can making the ginger-scallion mixture, all of which I did by hand. By the time the coals were ready, so was the chicken, which had been rubbed with sea salt, white pepper, and five-spice. Oh, and this was also done:

I didn't even use the food processor. I grated the garlic and ginger, mixed in the scallion and cilantro, added the hot (not smoking) peanut oil. By that time the coals were hot, I poured the coals out, arranged them in the typical two level grilling thingy, placed the grate on the grill to heat. Came back in….by this time the oil had cooled enough to taste…I then added sea salt and white pepper to taste…..with the understanding that the flavors will become stronger over time. I put the entire thing in the the fridge to cool (actually in the freezer for a couple of minutes, then the fridge). You could do the whole sauce thing the day before…..

When the chicken was nearly done, I brushed on a coating of sesame oil……

Not quite a work of art…….but it looked, and tasted quite good.

Cold Ginger Chicken Sauce – makes about a cup plus change
2 cloves garlic finely minced
3-4 Tb ginger finely minced
1/4 cup green onion finely minced
3 Tb cilantro finely minced
1 tsp sesame oil
salt and white pepper to taste
1/2 cup peanut oil

One item on my recipe card that I did not use was MSG. I don't keep any in the house. But just in case your sauce is missing a bit of umami……

Combine first five ingredients
Heat oil until hot, but not smoking
Remove oil from heat source and let sit for 30 seconds
Pour over the ginger mixture
When the mixture is cool enough add salt and pepper to taste
Refrigerate completely before using

Now I know all you folks are really observant…….and will notice that I'm not using a whole "cup plus" of this stuff…especially since the Missus still doesn't eat chicken. Remember that I threatened to use the sauce for Char Siu Lamb Chops on chicken? Well, I bought one of those jumbo packs of chicken and actually marinated some chicken that night.

And made Char Siu Chicken Sandwiches (on yet another weeknight – you gotta love the long days!)….which actually tasted pretty good!

So what does this have to do with the cold ginger chicken sauce? Well, the Missus loves the sauce on rice…. but geeez, rice and a sandwich? Maybe for FOY (friend of yoso) "AZ", but I can't do it. So I grilled some potato slices…..real easy…microwave first, slice, brush with canola oil, salt, and grill. The potatoes are already cooked, and pretty darn hot (be careful handling), so grilling will create a nice crust. And dipped into some of this sauce………. 'nuff said. It had the Missus seal of approval.

Don't let my over-long post scare you….. this is real easy stuff….even on a week night!

COMC: Little Sheep in photos

July 10, 2011 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, yoso-silly

A couple of months back, the Missus requested Little Sheep for Her B-Day dinner. I took some photos as always, but never posted them. A couple of days ago, I got an email from one of my favorite FOYs (friends of yoso) who kiddingly dared me to do a hot pot post….. even though I enjoy spicy food on hot days, Sichuan Liang Mian, a good Koi Soi… man, hot pot would be pretty tough, for me. What about you?

Of course I'm expecting a comment from Ed from Yuma telling what he'd go for huo guo anytime, even after walking over cactus and tangling with gila monsters in the 120 degree Arizona heat running backwards uphill both ways….. (just joking Ed!)

Me on the other hand, I'm not so sure….. even though I know folks looove hot pot in Sichuan and other areas of China during summer.

Anyway, here's to hot pot, but maybe not on a week like we just had. I hope you enjoy the photos!

Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot & Grill
4718 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

The Missus just peeked over my shoulder and told me, "why are you doing a post on Little Sheep, are you nuts???" He-he-he…maybe a bit crazy from the heat?

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Saturday Stuffs: Luong Hai Ky returns to Convoy and La Playita tries to bring me back from the dead.

July 9, 2011 mmm-yoso Cooking, Mexican Restaurants, Seafood

**** Both of these restaurants are no longer in business

Luong Hai Ky returns to Convoy:

Friend of yoso "Yummy Yummy" told me about this one. Luong Hai Ky has returned to Convoy street in their original location. I guess business just wasn't "phat" enough for Phat Restaurant. It never a good sign when a place goes from menu to buffet…..

Though I don't think the food at LHK ever reached the same heights after the original owner passed away, it still served a decent bowl of egg noodles soup. I had thoughts of dropping by, but it was just too darned hot this past week.

Luong Hai Ky Restaurant
4633 Convoy St Ste 107
San Diego, CA 92111

La Playita tries to bring me back from the dead:

Figuratively of course….. that's the Vuelve a la Vida ("Back to Life" – $13). Man did this hit the spot… and actually brought me back to life, if only for a short while. The version at La Playita is tangy and a bit sweet….I suspect from ketchup, but I'm not complaining, as there's a generous portion of seafood. It could be a bit more "picante", but I usually add a bit of hot sauce to fix that.

You can find Cathy's posts on La Playita here and here.

La Playita Seafood
5185 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117

So how'd you deal with this past weeks heat?

Frankie has his own way off letting me know he's hot….. he lies flat on his side on the floor, usually in the middle of the living room with his tongue sticking out…. quite subtle, don't you think?

Happy Hour at The Dragon’s Den

July 7, 2011 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Chinese Restaurants

**** The Dragon's Den has closed

I've been "wrassling" with my my thoughts about the Dragon's Den since going there for "happy hour" last week.

Ever since I heard that the owner of the now closed Shanghai City was opening a restaurant downtown with Dumpling Inn as one of the partners, I've been quite…. well, curious might be the right word. I wondered what the menu would look like since the word "fusion" was bandied about. Once the place opened, I checked out the menu, and yes, there was stuff that would make PF Chang's proud like Lemon Chicken and Lettuce Wraps, the inevitable seared Ahi… and even…a sushi bar! But still, the menu's soul looked very Chinese, with English translations of course…jiaozi were of course dumplings, Niu Rou Chuan was Beef Brisket and Hoisin Green Onion Wrap, and Xiao Long Bao…… were Xiao Long Bao! Looking at the menu online, I decided that perhaps happy hour might be my best bet. So, I recruited two of my favorite FOYs (friends of yoso), PeterL and his lovely wife Angela, both have been on road trips to the SGV, and and Peter just can't seem to get enough Niu Rou Chuan. There were just two conditions. Based on the location, there was no way I was going when the Padres were playing at home…. and I sure as heck wasn't having no sushi!

The location of the restaurant is fantastic….literally right across from Petco Park.

The Padres were out of town on this day, so the bar area was open when I arrived, and the bartender, a very friendly and pleasant young lady told me to just sit where ever I wanted.

There are about six beers on tap and San Diego microbrews aren't really represented, other then Karl Strauss.

I had some time to check out the menus while waiting for Peter and Angela…… so here you can see what I saw.

The Happy Hour menu is pretty sushi heavy. Pardon the jailhouse look, but based on our meal I found it somehow appropriate.

I think I need to apologize to Pete and Angela because I'd pretty much picked out what we were eating before they arrived.

I have a hard time resisting Salt and Pepper Chicken ($6 happy hour priced):

I can understand using white meat chicken….. I suppose there's a thought that the general public prefers white meat to dark. But I don't think that, if someone is going to order something battered and deep fried that they'd want a gummy coating that seemed to have been fried at a temperature too low. The seasoning, while restrained would have been passable had the chicken been fried properly.

The Xiao Long Bao ($6 – not happy hour priced) proved to be somewhat (unintentionally I believe) humorous.

These actually looked like the XLB from Shanghai City…. while the wrapper was always too thick, and the fold at the top was too hard, I always preferred them to the version at Dumpling Inn…. such is the sad state of XLB in San Diego. Don't even mention Chin's which I believe gets their XLB frozen from LA! What was really funny is that we were provided with forks and knives….. really….. I'm going to eat a Bao with soup in it with a fork and knife??? That, combined with the obvious lack of soup in the XLB (at least they weren't broken), made me wonder what folks who hadn't had XLB before would think upon eating this? No wonder they thought Dumpling Inn was so good! I asked for spoons, and after an odd look, got regular spoons. Actually, the flavor of the filling wasn't bad, slightly sweet, but there was almost no soup…. I guess maybe we didn't need spoons after all?

Next was the Shrimp and Chive dumplings ($6 – not happy hour priced). Over the years, my "enthusiasm" for jiaozi has been subject for some funny emails and comments…. I've been called the "dumpling Nazi" and parodied in some comments…..which I think are quite funny. But this time, I think the photos speak for themselves.

It's quite telling that we each had only one jiaozi a piece. I had thoughts of just posting photos…. but I think quotes from others will do just fine. Peter, "man, this is pretty bad, it's really gummy…" We took the rest with us when we left and met TammyC and YY, letting them each have a taste. TammyC said it best; "what is this, fish? The stuff in the package with the panda on it is better than this!" 'nuff said…..

The one item that looked really good was the Beef Brisket Green Onion Wrap (Niu Rou Chuan $5 – happy hour price). I can understand the less oily dan bing. it was indeed thinner and more crisp.

It was not bad overall. If I had to go with one item, this would be it. Too much hoisin, not enough bite, beef a bit too dry…..but not bad overall.

I realize that places like Dragon's Den are perhaps not designed for me. But I really don't think I ask for much and I also believe that when one is doing fusion, it doesn't mean safe and dumbed down; there are places that already do that. To me it means taking something to that next level… being creative and moving things forward. To paraphrase a very popular tune, "perhaps I'm more Atari, and this is X box", but I think it's more Commodore 64.

And yet, in the end, I do have a nice recollection of my time in the Dragon's Den. You remember that young lady with the short blond hair who was bartending? She made time to talk to everyone since it wasn't too busy, and she seem to know the regulars. But what impressed me was when she saw two dogs passing by who looked like they were overheating, she called to the woman walking them and brought the two dogs a bowl of water….. in my mind that almost made up for the jiaozi…. almost.

The Dragon's Den
315 10th Avenue
San Diego, CA 92101

Yuma Mexican Miscellany – Pollos El Correteado, Rossy’s, El Buen Taquito, and Taqueria Reyes

July 6, 2011 ed fromyuma Food Trucks, Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

Kirk is busy doing something. Cathy is busy doing something else. ed (from Yuma) has been busy putting together this post on 4 different places in Yuma (in Arizona).

Kirk calls these type of posts "Cleaning out the Memory Card." I have pictures of interesting and good Mexican food I've eaten recently at several different small eateries. No point in doing a bunch of little posts, so I'll just throw them all together here. There should be something of interest in this post for almost any Yuman being.

Pollos El Correteado

In Yuma County, there are three different locations for this restaurant chain (I have no idea how widespread the chain is in Mexico, but there are locations in San Luis, Sonora). One location is on Main Street in Somerton, one is on 3E by the base, and one is on Eighth Street next to the Subway across the street from Food City:
These folks do one thing very well:
Great Mexican roasted chicken. What Pollo Loco aspires to be:
These are special chickens that have four legs, four thighs, but no breast or wing. That anatomical peculiarity puzzled me the first time I ordered a whole chicken ($9). Must be a damn strange looking bird when alive, but it looks pretty good when served:

The macaroni salad and the mashed potatoes are pretty much meh, and the salsa and the white corn tortillas (both gratis) are far from distinguished. So I usually get the chicken to go and have it with homemade macaroni or potato salad.

Rossy's

Rossy's used to be a small truck in a small space with rather poor lighting and great corn and hotdogs. Now the same small truck (and a little hot dog cart) occupy the large lot that was most recently Tata's:

The corn (with butter, crema, and cheese) is still good, if not especially good for you:
They now serve a range of decent tacos that you can decorate with guacamole, pico de gallo, shredded cabbage, and lemon wedges. A carne asada taco with all the fixings looks like this:
For me, however, the big draw of the place are the bacon-wrapped hotdogs which they will happily accessorize for you:

Love those grilled onions, along with salsa and who knows what else.

El Buen Taquito

Getting a meal at El Buen Taquito was not easy for Tina and I. First, the truck is almost hidden toward the back of a lot on the east side of Avenue B, about a block south of the intersection with Eighth Street. Then, after we had discovered it, every time we wanted to go there, the place was closed. We realized, finally, that it opened later than most of the other taco trucks in the neighborhood and is not open every evening. However, many times we would drive by – let's say returning from San Pedro or Rossy's – it would be open and busy, much busier than the truck called "Yuma's Best" just up the street from it.

Our luck changed a few months ago when we pulled up, saw the lights, and decided to find out why this place was so popular:
The menu is extremely limited, but very reasonably priced:
We ordered a variety – crispy tacos, tostadas, rolled tacos, and sopes along with a couple of aguas frescas. However, the first thing we were brought were little cups of incredibly rich and flavorful consommé:

The only meat used by this truck is beef, and the beef has been cooked a long time so that its flavor in the tacos and flautas is fairly neutral and background. The consommé, on the other hand, is as beefy as Arnold Schwarzenegger in his glory days.

Then we received our order. The lighting, as you can tell, is far from ideal for photographs, but here is a picture of a couple of the excellent crunchy tacos:

Because the primary difference between the sope and the tostada are how thick the tortilla/patty is, it is hard from me to tell which one is which in my photographs. I think this is a tostada:
And perhaps this is a close-up of a sope:
Underneath the lettuce and cheese is a flauta:

In any case, Buen Taquita does one thing extremely well – deep frying. The tacos, flautas, sopes, and tostadas all had crunchy deep fried corn tortillas or patties. None of them was greasy; all of them were tasty. The sope was a little more chewy than the others. The soft meat and frijoles provided a flavor and texture contrast with the fried shells and abundant shredded lettuce. Everything was covered with cotija cheese.

Would I want to eat here every night? No, of course not. But sometimes you just gotta have crunch and this is the taco truck to provide it.

Taqueria Reyes

Taqueria Reyes recently opened in Palm Plaza on Avenue A, where Taqueria Jalisco had been in business for many years:
As well as providing a range of standard tacos, I am very fond of the tortas there, for example this one made with machaca:

Inside, there is a smear of frijoles, slices of avocado, chopped lettuce, tomato and mayo. I, for one, appreciate the pickled jalapeno, which I've always thought was perfect with tortas.

The other item that I love here is the Menudo ($5.99). For a dollar extra, you can get it con pata. When placed on the table, it looks like this:

It comes with a choice of bread or tortillas and is served with all kinds of condiments including lemon wedges, oregano, cilantro, menudo spices, chopped onion, and a deep and powerful salsa:

After I add some condiments and stir it up, it looks like this:
Look at all that tripe and hominy! But what I find most truly satisfying about the Menudo here is that pata, a big piece of cow hoof. And when I get lucky, the hoof is completely covered with wonderfully chewy tendon:
Sooo goood!! While the soup overall is not as complex as the incredible sopa de pata at the old Pupuseria Cabanas (I still miss that place a lot), it's the best cow hoof I can find in Yuma. And cow hoof is a good thing.

Char Siu Lamb Chops

July 4, 2011 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

Happy 4th everyone! It's been a while since I've last had the grill out. Probably February or so…..I guess I'm getting a late start this year, but that's the great thing about San Diego, you can grill year round.

I've been enjoying Alan Wong's The Blue Tomato, which operated much like Thomas Keller's cookbook, giving us insight as to how dishes are developed and put together. Browsing through the book, one of the recipes caught my attention…. first, it was quite easy, second it sounded like something I'd like to eat.…. Char Siu Lamb Chops. It's a riff on the classic Chinese BBQ Pork recipe and made on the grill. I've made Char Siu, so this wasn't much of a leap…and as a bonus, less messy than making it in the oven. This recipe uses ginger, garlic, and kecap manis. Sherry is used instead of Shaoxing wine. It was quite good. I made adjustments to taste, and since I used the very potent five-spice from QingDao I cut back a bit on that as well.

I simply mixed everything together and marinated overnight.

Of course I wasn't making 3 pounds of the stuff so that factored into everything as well. I also hedged my bets and made some simple Greek style lamb chops as well.

The most difficult part of the whole process was grilling the chops. Because of the sugar, you had to watch and move to ensure they didn't burn……..two level grilling is a must.

Char Siu Lamb Chops

Makes 1 – 1 1/2 pound of Lamb Loin Chops

1 Cup Hoisin Sauce
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Honey
3 Tb Sherry
1 Tsp ginger juice (grate ginger then squeeze pulp)
2 cloves garlic grated
2 Tb soy sauce
2 Tb kecap manis
1 Tb Chinese Five Spice

– Mix ingredients together. Set aside 1/4 cup of marinade for basting.
– Marinate lamb chops in the fridge overnight.
– Bring to room temperature before grilling

I served the chops with some grilled shiitake mushrooms and bok choy which I basted with a mixture of soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, sambal olek, chili oil(the stuff I make at home), and sesame oil. I gotta work on my bok choy grilling technique… the leaves tend to burn too quickly. And no, I'm not soaking them in water as they turn out mushy…..

The lamb chops tasted good, but much of the gamey flavors were muted. The Missus thinks the marinade will work great for chicken; so maybe I'll do that next time. The Greek style chops tasted very good and were super tender…..

It was a nice way to start up grilling again.

While driving back from the market this morning I came across this in the middle of the intersection of Balboa and Clairemont Drive….. looks like a boat decided to fall off its trailer. I'm glad no one was hurt.

Orzo, Arugula, and Feta Salad

July 3, 2011 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

Take a look at this and you can see why they call orzo "risoni" (big rice). It does look like rice doesn't it? It's actually a pasta made in the shape of rice…… and I'd never really had any desire to make something that, well…. looks like rice. But one day I was puttering in the kitchen with the television on….. there's some "food show"….. I'm not really into "Food TV" anymore, but will have it on as white noise….. minus a few shows I just can't stand. Anyway, a subliminal "Orzo Salad" recipe just stayed with me. I think the original had raspberries or something like that. This version was just the thing on a summer day……

This ended up being pretty good, the Missus really enjoyed it.

The drill went like this; rehydrate sun dried tomatoes in warm water, cook the orzo in salted boiling water, just as any pasta. While orzo is cooking, toast pine nuts in a dry pan to lightly brown. Remove to a plate to cool. Drain orzo in in colander, before it is fully cooked. After the orzo briefly drains, pour the orzo out onto a cookie sheet adding some extra virgin olive and mix well. This will ensure that the pasta doesn't stick together. I actually chilled the orzo in the fridge since I wanted a chilled salad. After draining the sun dried tomatoes, I coarsely chopped them.

Putting the salad together was a snap; orzo, two hefty handfuls of baby arugula, pine nuts, sun dried tomatoes in a metal bowl. Mix. Add a chiffonade of basil and mint….. basically two parts basil to mint. I used the best grade of Extra Virgin Olive Oil we had in the house, Liquid Gold 24, which has an acidity of less than .24%, a wonderful oil we bought during our trip to Crete. And combined the whole shebang. A mild crumbled goat feta cheese topped everything off. I served it with sliced of lemon on the side….. I wanted a bit more acid…the Missus enjoyed it just the way it was.

Love the flavors….. the pine nuts (not much, about 1/4 cup) looked very similar to the orzo and were nice flavor surprises. And of course pine nuts and basil is a great combination. The mint added a nice palate cleansing element as did the tart sun dried tomatoes. The peppery arugula added the bitter element to the dish. The fruity olive oil and mildly salty feta brought it all together….. I'm probably going to make this again soon. It's so easy…. just remember to use a good olive oil.

On this day, I served it with garlic shrimp and some bread…… a nice meal for a warm evening!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful long weekend!

Troy’s Greek Restaurant-breakfast

June 30, 2011 Cathy Breakfast/Brunch, Greek Food, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a foodblog wherein Kirk writes most of the postings here, but he can't write today because he is busy. ed(from Yuma) also writes quite a bit, but he isn't writing today, because he is lazy. Cathy writes a good part of the posts here and apparently has some free time today.

Hi. A few months ago, when I was going to Kaiser Hospital, I saw a guy spinning an arrow sign on Mission Gorge Road at Zion at the far corner of the mall. It's the same mall as Carl's Jr., Ra Ka De Ka, San Diego Brewing Company, Saigon Star, the newest Gaglione Bros location, Starbucks, Rubios and Einstein Bagels. The sign was advertising breakfast at Troys Greek Restaurant (which is not to be confused with Troy's Family Restaurant, which is in the Clairmont Square).

While The Mister and I have enjoyed several lunches and dinners at Troy's, breakfast wasn't one of those meals.

The restaurant looks 'dressed up' for breakfast, with a fresh flower on each table.

The menus are under the glass covering the table cloths. One thing I noticed was the price point. None of the breakfast choices is over $6.95.

Greek gyros and eggs ($6.95). Eggs were poached perfectly. There was a good amount of gyros. The accompanying warm pita bread, tomatoes and Feta cheese made this a nice breakfast, or early lunch.

I do realize that Kirk will be posting about his vacation in Greece and that breakfasts there are nothing like this. In fact, after having a 'sneak peek' about the Greek part of His and His Missus' vacation, I may never bother with this common restaurant gyros again. However, I do want to stress that this meal at Troy's Greek was very good, very fresh food.
The Village Omelette ($6.45). I was curious as to the description of the omelette including sausage. It was sausage links that were chopped and added along with Feta cheese, tomatoes and onions into the nicely cooked eggs. This was accompanied by home fries and a side of warm pita bread. I never have considered adding chopped sausage links in with my omelettes at home, but now I will. The sausage with Feta, onions and tomatoes was a nice blend of flavors.

Coffee was $1.95 and fresh, kept constantly refilled.

If you have occasion to be in the neighborhood, breakfast is served Monday through Saturday and there is a buffet brunch here on Sunday. Being able to get a sit down breakfast here is a nice addition to the neighborhood.

Troy's Greek Restaurant 10450 Friars Road, Suite T San Diego 92120 Website

Taco Loco- a little taco shop with Mexican food- in Santee

June 29, 2011 Cathy Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops, What Cathy Eats!

Taco Loco has closed. It's now a similar yet different taco shop.

Thanks for reading mmm-yoso!!! Cathy is blogging today. Kirk is very busy and ed (from Yuma) is busier.

In an obscure location on Fanita Drive just past the first signal light South of Mission Gorge Road (one block North from Goa Way, a private street) next to an unimaginatively named Liquor Store in Santee, this small building has always housed a taco shop. The latest incarnation, Taco Loco, is, by far, the best.

Yes, that's the building… behind the drive thru menu.

You can park and walk inside and will find five tables and 14 chairs. The tables are covered with happy colored table cloths and there are some interesting (a few Mexican) beverage selections in the cooler, although homemade aguas frescas are also available. Specials are written on a white board, there is a menu behind the cash register.
Also are some more specials on the wall to your left if you are standing at the cash register.

After seeing the sign, I had to try the cabeza and lengua tacos ($2.45 each)(cabeza is on the left, lengua is in the front in this photo). If you eat in, your items are brought out to your table on a tray with a real plate. The tacos are each served with two corn tortillas which are topped with meat, cilantro and onions. Nothing more was needed, even though a green and red hot sauce were offered and salt packets are on the table. The cabeza (meat from the head of the cow) was more game-y tasting, almost like goat. There was a nice, sticky fat on some of the diced pieces; carnitas-like fat is a good description. The meat was chewier/had more texture in comparison to the lengua (beef tongue) which was very smooth in texture and had milder hut distinct flavor. Both taco meats still were more flavorful than even carne asada/marinated meat. I suppose I should have tried a carne asada taco to compare further but these two tacos filled me up.

As mentioned in the title and signage, Taco Loco serves Authentic Mexican food. Above is Camarones Culichi ($7.99) Shrimp (plump and good tasting) served in a green sauce with cheese along with rice and refried beans (good and made with lard). Culichi is a traditional Sinaloan sauce made with poblano chilis and cheese and is a flavor I crave. The preparation here is great.

Well. This sign is on another wall. One day I had to.

This is the large Shrimp Cocktail ($7.99). It is served in a large salad bowl. Bowl.Of. Fresh. Shrimp. Cocktail. The photo is a bit perspective challenged. I counted 23 shrimp, but think I may have miscounted and probably 24 were in this large bowl which included lime juice, tomato, onion, cucumber, cilantro, avocado. Wonderfully perfect and so fresh. [The small cocktail is $6.99; I haven't bothered ordering one to see the size difference for only $1.]

Of course, Taco Loco is a taco shop and burritos are on the menu. Large burritos.

Cross section of the chile relleno burrito ($4.69). This was an excellent fried chile relleno. A fresh poblano chili filled with melty cheese, battered in an egg-flour mix and fried light and crispy. The burrito included beans, lettuce, sour cream and salsa.

The carne asada burrito ($4.69) is very good in its simplicity. The meat is tender, mildly flavored and wrapped in the giant tortilla with guacamole and pico de gallo salsa. Not as good as the other meats here, in my opinion, but not horrible.

The chile verde plate ($7.59) also is substantial and topped with a very, very good home made tomatillo sauce. The carnitas meat was tender and flavorful. This is served with tortillas, rice, beans, guacamole and some lettuce.

The shredded beef taco salad ($4.69) is a good meal. The shredded beef has an excellent stewed flavor which is complimented by the beans, cheeses, salsas, guacamole and crispy cold lettuce.

Here's a good size comparison photo of a plain cheese quesedilla ($3.19) and a chicken adobada taco ($2.59). The marinated chicken is moist, flavorful and, as you can see, a substantial serving size, simply served on two corn tortillas with guacamole.

Taco Loco is an exceptional hole in the wall that you may want to seek out if you are in the neighborhood. Try some of the items that aren't served at your regular taco shop.

Taco Loco 8667 Fanita Drive Santee 92071 (619) 562-6060 (Call ahead for faster service) Open 8 am-10 pm Mon-Thurs, 8 am-11 pm Fri-Sat and 9 am-9 pm Sunday

Website

The little note under the drive thru menu? "When ready to order, move forward please."