mmm-yoso – Page 423 – 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.

Saturday Stuffs: Honey Pig is now Old Village and Silver Ark is gone(or has been for quite a while), and would you hold it against me if I ordered a Ma-ka-ka Burrito?

February 5, 2011 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants, Taco Shops, yoso-silly

Man that was quick. I first heard about it from "YY", and saw that a new business had quickly moved in. It's now a place called Old Village… and the sign says "Korea's best Chef in twenty years!"

It makes me wonder what the saturation point is for Korean Tofu Houses…. well, I guess it's much higher than the saturation point for Korean BBQ's, huh?

Silver Ark has been gone for a while:

A couple of days ago, the Missus asked if we needed to do a revisit of Silver Ark after our last not so good visit. I told Her that Silver Ark has been gone for a while, and is now a Thai Restaurant. I then displayed photographic evidence. Which made Her ask me why I hadn't mentioned anything…..

She had a good point…… so here's a mention several months after I actually took a photo of what was Silver Ark and is now Siam Nara. I've heard that they are associated with Amarin. Anybody been there yet?

And finally…….

I've been waiting months trying to figure out when to do this post. And have come to the conclusion that there really wouldn't be a perfect time. It involves Vallarta Express on Genesee, a place Cathy has posted on. I really don't eat too much taco shop fare anymore, perhaps I'm still suffering from post tramatic shock from Howie's "Battle of the 'berto's", but I just have kinda stopped eating Carne Asada and California Burritos. But to paraphrase a much more interesting man then me, "I rarely eat Carne Asada Burritos, but when I do, I prefer Vallarta Express." Well kinda…… for some reason, when the carne asada is on it's quite good, I think they use soy sauce……but I've had my share of clunkers as well. The last time I stopped in at Vallarta Express was back in October. I was tired, on my way back home from a long day at work, and a trip to Henry's, and I just decided to grab a California Burrito….. I hadn't had one in a while. I even took a photo of Vallarta Express….which I think came out pretty peachy-keen and neato-rooney….

It almost says….. "aaaah Vallarta Express at sunset", huh? But on this day, the food was really secondary…and knowing me, what I eat rarely takes a back seat. I was in the drive thru, behind a Lexus SUV. The woman sticks her head out and orders a "Cho-rye-zo burrito". The disembodied voice blares from the speaker "so that will be a chorizo burrito?" The woman, using her best "outside voice" says "ummmm yes, and one more thing, can I get a ma-ka-ka burrito?" I'm laughing so hard I almost take my foot of the brake. The Lexus doesn't move, mainly because not an utterance comes out of the little speaker box. Perhaps they're searching for some "ka-ka"? Having worked in restaurants and fast-food, I can only imagine what is currently going on in that little shack…… Yes, one could only imagine……

The woman finally moved forward, puzzled look on her face and eventually made her way out of the drive-thru….. I hope she got her "ma-ka-ka", or reasonable facsimle.

In comparison, my CAB…. that's a California Burrito, not you CAB was totally anti-climatic.

OK, so I "set-up" the burrito by taking my photo of it leaning up against a container of brown rice…. perhaps it's a Jungian duality statement….. but maybe I just needed to lean my burrito against something.

This wasn't the best burrito I've had from Vallarta….too much sour cream in this one.

But just having that moment was, at least to me, worth $5.25………

Have you ever had one of those moments?

Vallarta Express
4277 Genessee Ave.
San Diego, CA 92117

Open for "Ma-ka-ka and Cho-rye-zo" 24 hours a day.

Roadtrip: Earthen Restaurant – Hacienda Heights (Los Angeles)

February 4, 2011 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip

Over the last couple of years, we've tried to grab a meal at Earthen Restaurant in Hacienda Heights, but never seemed to have much luck, and had usually ended up somewhere else. The Missus just didn't think that much of the menu, and was sure we could get better Dan Bing and Jiaozi elsewhere, so why wait in line? Still, having read posts on Earthen by Elmo and Pam, I knew I just had to make it there someday. And on this weekend before Chinese New Year, we were in luck.

We're very familiar with the strip mall where Earthen is located. We used to shop at the Long's Drug store that used occupy a large part of the mall.

Half of the problem was that Earthen opens at 1115, not 1100, or 1130……. so we had to adjust our schedule. We arrived at 11am, and were the second set of customers in the door.

There were just two items I was really interested in. One of them is the Shandong Chicken. A room temperature roasted chicken topped with a nice sauce…..slightly sweet, assertive but refreshing vinegar tones highlight this chicken.

While not quite in the class of Dazhou Pa Ji or Dao Ko Shao Ji, the famous roasted chickens of Shandong province, this was quite good. And since we saw a plate of this on every table (we actually checked), this is obviously the restaurant's signature dish. I'd gladly have this again.

We also ordered Dan Bing…… here they are thin and slightly crisp.

These are good piping hot; but get really greasy as they get cold.

The Missus decided to order some Jiaozi. We started with the Shrimp and Chive, one of my favorites.

The filling had nice pieces of flavorful shrimp in them, if a bit on the mild side. The wrappers were decent…. they looked pillowy, but were a nit too tough for my tastes.

When the Jiaozi arrived, something interesting happened. The Missus noticed that there was only white vinegar on the table. And worse, we weren't provided with bowls for our dumplings. Very un-Shandong-like. We noticed that the service here was a bit better than many of these types of restaurants….. and when the Missus asked for bowls, the woman smiled and asked Her if She wanted black vinegar as well. Both arrived post haste.

We also ordered some Pork Jiaozi.

The wrappers on these were better than the shrimp Jiaozi; pillowy with a bit of pull. The filling wasn't that great. Some folks may enjoy fillings heavy on the meat, like these. However, there wasn't anything to cut the rich pork, which was also on the hard side. Some celery, cabbage, or something similar would have been a welcome addition.

In the end, we thought the service here was good. Unlike many of the restaurants in the SGV this place is well staffed. The chicken is quite good and the Dan Bing was good, As for the Jiaozi, I guess if we were still living here, we'd have them every so often. But when you drive a hundred miles, you really don't mind driving a bit farther for something better.

Earthen Restaurant
1639 S. Asuza Ave.
Hacienda Heights, CA 91745

Postscript: We're always curious to see how businesses that we remember are doing. Back in the mid-nineties, before the Missus met me, this was a regular stop for Her.

And while I hold no nostalgic memories of this place; I was happy to know that one of the Missus's very old favorites was still around…….

We interrupt my posts with an important word from the Missus…….

February 2, 2011 mmm-yoso Blog

After a hiatus of over fours years, the Missus has decided it was time for another post….. so here goes…..

This is a post for my husband on his birthday, Kirk, the man behind the blog…

Those of you that read the blog from the beginning know that I only posted once and it is a post about my childhood experience in China. Needless to say, I only post what is precious and dear to my heart.

First of all, I want to thank you for being my best friend. The most prominent moment was when we sitting by the shores of Mekong river after the walking tour of Vientiane designed by the "Lonely Planet" ( on this note, I appreciate you put up with my gruelling schedule during our travel. I know it is not easy to follow the city tour and end up eating at the crappy Vietnamese sandwich in near 100 degree humidity air in Laos, or landing in china at 10pm the night before and then hike the 10k Great wall the next day) all tired and drained, watching the river rolling by and the sun setting in the hazy southeast Asia sky. Sitting on the mat trying hard to get comfortable and drinking our first Beer Lao, the air filled with the smell of trash burning and falling in love with Laos. That is the moment I know that you are truly my best friend. Of course it is also about every day when I get back home from work, regardless of the time, I want to wake you up and tell you all about my day and you always listen patiently. I don't know how you do it but I dare you ever do that to me…

Second of all, I want to thank you for being so adventurous and together we enjoyed what different cultures have to offer, through food and travel. I'm always surprised and a little sad to hear that my friends have never had Peking duck or pho or dim sum or truffle oil on fries. We may not like everything we ate but we always give it a honest try. We meet so many wonderful people and through foods we understand the culture and the people just a little more… It also makes me realize that we are more alike than different. Yes, we may speak different a language and use different utensils but at the end, love always come through the foods they make. Food is life, love food, love life… and I hope I am becoming a better person because of this. I learned compassion and tolerance through the years and start to see life through a entirely different angle.

Last but not least, I want to thank you for being a great dad to our boyz and gr eat son-in-law for my parents and cousin and nephew for my family. We have no regrets with my boys. They may have been born in puppy mills but we give them the best life we know how to offer to them. And I know if they can talk they would definitely say to you " I love you daddy." My parents love you and you are deemed the golden standard son-in-law by my aunts. Even though the only chinese you know how to say is "let's eat, thank you, and I'm so full I'm going to die", they love you cause you love and appreciated the foods they made and they made everything with love… The kind of love that come through multiple generations cause cooking is passed from generation to generation. When my aunt made the Sausage it is like my grandma making it for you just like she made for us years ago.

Those of you that read this far, make no mistake of thinking our life is perfect. There are ups and downs just like everyone else. But as a whole, I would marry you all over again. Thanks again for everything.

Happy Birthday.

Suzhou: The Humble Administrator’s Garden and the best pot of tea I’ve ever had.

February 1, 2011 mmm-yoso China, Suzhou, Travel

*** My apologies, this is one of those really long posts, and there's not much food in this one. You may want to return tomorrow for more food!

After our we started walking to our first "destination". Suzhou is well known for their wonderful gardens, most were built during the Ming and Qing dynasties by retired scholar and business men. The largest garden in Suzhou is called the Humble Administrator's Garden, spanning thirteen acres it is anything but humble. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Sight, meandering on zig zag bridges and trails over and around water. I'm going to stop now, and just do pictures…… I could never do this place justice in one short post…….

Taking a close look, you soon realize that every space within the garden was carefully designed. I find the idea of creating a calculated aesthetic to match the randomness of nature somewhat fascinating.

I loved all the windows……

And for some reason, I could just sit and look out the moon gates…….

All of which seem to frame it's very own living portrait………

There are many pavilions along the way…..where you can soak in the garden view….or check your map to figure out where you were.

There are many buildings along the way, such as the "Hall of Distant Fragrance":

And the "Hall of Elegance":

But we found the tiny nooks and crannies like this quaint "couples retreat" most charming……

Another feature of the gardens are the large natural stones that represent different scenes.

It can be a bit overwhelming at times, and don't let the seemingly tranquil photos fool you. There are some pretty large crowds in the garden.

Yet, there are always those moments….. like this one, where I looked up at the ceiling of the "Listening to the Sound of Rain Pavilion".

I could almost hear the "sighing of the autumn rain" giving "great pleasure to all those who have noble sentiments".

Connected to the garden is the Suzhou Museum, designed by I.M. Pei, who drew much of his architectural inspiration from the gardens of Suzhou. For us, it was way too sleek and modern, but it also housed what was probably the cleanest public bathrooms we came across in China!

Also attached to the garden and museum is Prince Zhong House – Zhong Wang Fu. This was the orginal location of the Suzhou Museum.

Within the complex is a restored classic Chinese Opera stage.

Exiting the garden and museum, the Missus decided that "garden fatigue" hadn't set in, so why not try for another one. We headed off on foot, looking for the Couple's Garden….which took some looking for. We wandered past tiny streets that reminded us of the "hutongs" in Beijing, which turned into vast lots where the ever present modernization of China was taking place. We worked hard to find the garden……

We did find this well, though……

Which apparently is of some significance.

After going around in circles, the Missus asked for directions and we found the Couple's Garden. It was down a small side street.

This garden was built in 1874, and is located at the intersection of canals and surrounded on three sides by them.

This garden was tiny, quiet, and serene.

After about twenty minutes or so, we hit the wall. It was time for a break, and we headed out on foot, back to Guan Qian Jie.

We enjoyed walking down the residential back streets of Suzhou…….

Walking down one of the streets, we passed this building which really stood out.

It turned out to be a museum of Kunqu Opera, a form of Chinese Opera dating back to the 16th century. Having traveled quite a bit, even though we were tempted, we knew when to say when, and decided to take a pass on this one.

After a short while, we finally made it to the street that paralleled a canal on the other side of Renmin Lu.

Crossing the canal and Renmin Lu…. we were back within the hustle and bustle of Guan Qian Jie. The Missus decided to pick up some snacks….. and in spite of the heat and humidity, determined that we needed some tea, and found a tea house on the second floor of a tea shop right across the Xuanmiao Temple.

The Missus went over the list of teas, and decided we should have the Ti Kuan Yin. When I saw the price…. 70 Yuan, over ten bucks for tea! I refused….. but the Missus insisted, and eventually I gave in. And I gotta say; this was the most fragrant, wonderfully flavored tea I've ever had. Nothing before, nor since (I've had tons of tea from China) has even come close.

While the Missus had Her snacks……

I just kept pouring myself cup after cup of tea….which lasted a good long time, we went through a whole large thermos of hot water, and watched the crowds below.

This was just one of those perfect moments…….

And where I started learning the wonders of having tea…. something that I've kept up since returning home.

In our travels, there always seems to be that perfect moment, whether it's having dinner on the shores of the Mekong, drinking Chicha de Jora in a tiny dirt floored shack in Calca, or having a meal and drinks at Can Cau Market…. it's those moments that stay with us.

Thanks so much for hanging in there and reading!

Noodling Around: Santouka, Yakyudori, Izakaya Sakura, Gunco, and a special gift from Dennis.

January 31, 2011 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

Here are a couple of bowls of ramen from (fairly) recent visits…. plus what was a nice little bonus (for me) at the end. Since I've posted on most of these places before, I'll keep the verbiage to a minimum.

Santouka:

Still our favorite. The Missus likes the Miso Ramen, which I feel is much too salty. I stick with the Shio Ramen.

And as I mentioned in a previous postit has to be "toroniku", with the special fatty pork on the side.

The pork is wonderful with just a quick dip….steep it in the broth and it'll fall to pieces. This has become comfort food for the Missus, the rich pork bone based shiro seems to fix the Missus right up when She's feeling a bit under the weather. At close to ten bucks, it ain't cheap, and it's not everyday ramen….. but it sure fixes us up!

Santouka Ramen
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd(In the Mitsuwa Marketplace)
San Diego, CA 92111

Yakyudori Ramen and Yakitori:

I'm not sure if others have noticed this; but having been here six or seven times, I've found the ramen to be better when Nabe-san is in the house. My three previous visits had been a bit disappointing, but this bowl of Shio Ramen made up for it all.

The broth was nice and savory. I've been told that Yakyudori uses a special salt for this brought in from Japan. I'm not sure about that, but this was delicious. Just rich enough, the noodles done perfect for my taste; firm, but not hard. The one item that has always been perfect on my visits is the boiled egg. The chashu was tender, not too rich, but good overall. As I finished my bowl, I let out the "aaaah" of satisfaction.

Yakyudori Ramen and Yakitori
4898 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Izakaya Sakura:

Izakaya might be one of my favorites, a long time fixture on our rotation. I don't think I'll be standing in line for the Shio Ramen here however.

The noodles were a tad over-cooked for my tastes….which could be remedied by ordering it more firm. The broth however, was pretty mediocre……. I recall Dennis mentiong how thick the broth was here. I guess they've gone in the opposite direction…. this was waaaay "assari" (thin) and plain salty. It seems that you'll be playing ramen roulette here due to the inconsistency……

Izakaya Sakura
3904 Convoy St #121
San Diego, CA 92111

Gunco:

Speaking of my buddy Dennis; we recently had a bite, or should I say bites in Chula Vista. we started with fish tacos from Mariscos El Pescador, followed by a visit to Hogetsu, ending with some ramen from Gunco. I've never really had great luck with the ramen from Gunco. But this time, the Shio Ramen I had was not bad…. perhaps Dennis has some major ramen "ju-ju" going on.

The broth was a bit low on the "richness" scale for me, but the shiro was pretty good, if a bit too heavy handed with regards to ginger. The noodles were cooked perfectly. The chashu is still too tough and dry, though. I'm finding that the ramen here seems to get better on every visit…..

Gunco Ramen
305 Palomar St
Chula Vista, CA 91911

Speaking of ramen…. and the always generous Dennis. Having just returned from Okinawa and Japan (please check out his posts). Dennis had a gift for me. Being the ramen-maniac that he is is Mr Radiused Corner made sure to check out the Ramen Museum.

And ever thoughtful, Dennis had a box of various ramen from the museum for me!

It has been pretty cool in the evenings recently, so the Missus and I decided to do a sampling of the ramen.

I'm including notes Dennis gave me along with our observations about the various ramen….so here goes. From the top to the bottom.

Box 1 – Komurasaki:

According to Dennis: "I heard kumamoto style tonkotsu is usually on the lighter side compared to Hakata (cousins). As for slangs for firmness in these thinner straight noodles there's Barikata which many people get and even Harigane ("steel wire") which is firmer still. The firmest would simply be to ask for Nama (raw) where the noodles swim in the boiling water for a mere 15 seconds or so. Again these terminology for noodle firmness only applies to the Fukuoka/Hakata/Kumamoto tonkotsu ramen."

This was light alright…….. the broth was a wonderful shade of pale, but we found this bland. I only cooked the thin Hakata style noodles for only 45 seconds, and that was still too much as it really got mushy quickly.

Box 2 – Harukiya

From Dennis: "one of my favorite shoyu ramen. very old school with a good dose of dried fish. I think they're one of the permanent fixtures in the raumen museum (most shops rotate). It was too fishy for my gringo friend I took with but I personally wish more places made shoyu's like it."

Check out the fat content in that package!

Man that broth smelled really strong, like I was boiling a pot of anchovies! At first taste, the broth had a good fishy punch. But a funny thing happened along the was….. the more we sipped, the more we enjoyed. This one grew on us.

I gave the noodles a three minute cooking and it was perhaps a bit longer than needed.

Box 3 – Ideshoten

Per Dennis: " I believe it's technically a tonkotsu-shoyu. It wasn't my favorite of the day (tried it there) but has a lot of character. remember loving the noodles."

This one came with a little bag of dried green onions.

More shoyu to my tastes, I'm not a fan of the noodles which are not as firm as I enjoy.

A nice middle of the road ramen.

Box 4 – Sumire

Dennis says: " Intensely miso. They came to mitsuwa's fairs a few times. might be a bit salty for some and I think I already warned you about the amount of fat."

This was my favorite of the bunch (the Missus preferred the Harukiya).

Loved the menma….. best noodles of the bunch as well, they held up well.

As a whole, I'm not a big fan of miso ramen, but I loved the flavors and the richness of the broth. I guess I'm going the next time Sumire is at Mitsuwa!

I need to thank Dennis again for giving the Missus and I our own little ramen adventure! Yoso-generous!

Thanks so much Dennis!

There are times….

January 29, 2011 mmm-yoso Cooking, Vietnamese Restaurants

When I feel so blessed……. Recently, I was invited to a home of some good friends for a combined birthday, Tet meal…. and I do mean a meal. My good friends; Peter and JohnL's Mom, a fantastic cook invited me over for a wonderful feast…..

Not much more to say, other than feast your eyes…. everything was home made… from the sausages:

To all the pickles…

I can only say…. "man this was soooo good…."

From a tiny kitchen in a cottage off a side street in Clairemont, such wonderful dishes arrived……

And then, when all the guys settled in for the usual "games of chance"…….

And liquid refreshment…..

There was even more…….

All of it home made……

Ever had twenty year old Nuoc Mam? The flavor is so deep……

There are times when I imagine how life is for other folks…. on this night, I felt so lucky to be me; and to be surrounded by my friends who I treasure so…… life would not be the same without them!

Mission Gorge Cafe-Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner: Greek, American, Mexican

January 27, 2011 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Diner, Greek Food, Mexican Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Mission Gorge Cafe has closed.

Welcome (back) to mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog. A written record of food eaten, prepared and enjoyed by some friends. Kirk and ed (from Yuma) aren't writing any records today. Cathy is writing and recording.

Hi. A few weeks ago (as you can see by the rain soaked parking lot in this photo), The Mister and I were out and about and saw that Taste of India had changed ownership. In fact, it seems the the people who had worked here before it became Taste of India were back. (It used to be Frank's Happy Chef, which I hadn't posted on despite eating there a lot…). This location is on Mission Gorge, very close and between to the two Kaiser Hospitals, in the same mall as Souplantation.

The interior tables, chairs, and other inventory is the same (although the walls are no longer painted to match the fuchsia pink of the chairs). As always, a fresh rose on every table…

The Mister ordered the "Mighty Swiss Alps" fritatta ($7.95) Eggs, mixed with ham, mushrooms, Swiss cheese, tomatoes baked in the pan and topped with sour cream (sort of looks like snow on Swiss alps…) and chives. It was a really good blend of flavors, served with the country fried potatoes (nice and crisp) and the English muffin.

I wanted something more "Greek" and since it was still breakfast time, I ordered the gyros omelette (7.95). Gyros meat and tomatoes mixed with the egg and topped with Feta cheese and served with the tomatoes, lettuce, more Feta, tzatziki sauce and pita bread. Excellent flavors, satisfying my cravings.

A few days later, we were again in the area at lunch time and The Mister ordered the chicken and gyros Greek salad ($9.45). More than enough for two, served with hot pita bread…

The Greek salad was made of mixed greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers,onions, olives, Feta Cheese and a home made Greek dressing which did not overwhelm the flavors of anything. The gyros and chicken were fresh grilled, still warm and very complimentary.

A few days later we were again back in the area and it was lunchtime. Something Mexican was in order, and since it was still raining, a bowl of the tortilla soup sounded good. ($3.45). An excellent portion, filled with chicken and vegetables and very definitely home made. The vegetables (carrots, celery, onions, potatoes and rice) were plentiful and chopped in random shapes. The chicken had flavor on its own and the tortilla strips were fresh made and crispy.

I decided to try the 1/2 pound gyro burger ($6.95) and pulled out the gyros meat for this photo. The addition of hand breaded onion rings was $2.95 and worth it. Excellent frying technique.

The burger is a 1/2 lb steak burger ($5.95)and was char grilled ( we were not asked how we wanted it grilled, but it was just right). Good flavor, moist and went well with the soft sesame roll, topped with standard burger toppings. The amount of gyros was significant (only $1 more than the 1/2 lb steak burger) and the tzatziki sauce went with everything-together or eaten on the side).

I'm very happy Mission Gorge Cafe is here. I guess I could say it's back…it has the same owners as Miramar Cafe ,who started their business when Frank's closed. Both places are good.

Mission Gorge Cafe 6171 Mission Gorge Road San Diego 92120 (619)283-2887 Mon-Sat 7 am-9pm, Sun 7 am-8 pm

Road Trip- Shau May (Hi Pie) Restaurant, San Gabriel

January 25, 2011 Cathy Chinese Restaurants, Desserts, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog. Today, Cathy is blogging. Kirk and ed (from Yuma) are "researching" places to blog.

Well. The day was fairly mundane, chilly, the first day of the year. The Mister and I were going to Pasadena to see the Rose Parade floats after the parade ended. We drove North on the 5 instead of the 15…a bit more of a drive, but we hadn't taken that route for more than three years. It was all new and interesting for us. We missed our exit. But since we knew the general direction we were heading, had no interest in turning around. Suddenly, the freeway ended and we were in Alhambra. Then the street had a sign welcoming us to San Gabriel. I had no idea we were heading or even near the San Gabriel Kirk always talks about. We saw this:

Hi Pie Restaurant. That's what the sign says. We parked, stood out front. A nice lady opened the door and said "Happy New Year" with a heavy accent and held the door open. We went in.

Steam trays. Menu above the trays.

Menu on the wall. There are tables inside and out, including two eight person communal tables in the center.

The nice Lady, who spoke broken English, asked us what we wanted and I told her noodles with shrimp. She told one of the young girls working behind the counter what I wanted. The Mister pointed to some items and the nice Lady told us what they were.

We sat near the steam trays at one of the communal tables and saw how quickly items were replenished and replaced. Seems everything is always fresh and a brisk business was going on.

The Mister ordered a three item combination ($4.99)

Really good steamed rice, Ma Po tofu, on the bottom right, (excellent soft soft tofu, with a spicy different than I have ever had, no meat-in fact at least half the menu is vegetarian); ground pork stuffed tofu, on the bottom left, (again, nice light spices and wonderful flavor, tofu firm)and pork belly, in the front on the photo below…

Not crispy pork belly. Flavorful, wonderous, melt in your mouth pork belly…on top of heavenly chopped vegetable something sauce. Seriously good.

Still, we wondered about the name "Hi Pie". I grabbed a business card, and my order came from the kitchen.

See the upside down business card in the top corner?-"Hi Pei Corp." At the top was "Shau May Restaurant" Somebody orders signs. Somebody is dyslectic. Or maybe they got a good deal…

ANYHOW This noodle dish($5.95). Heaven. The shrimp really tasted like they were sauteed in butter. The mushrooms were soft and flavorful. The cabbage, carrots and onions were great and crispy. Oh, and the noodles- not mushy, cooked, but firm. The way I like them. The sauce was not overpowering, but complimentary.

We could get extra rice from pots against the wall, and our own soup, as much as you want…

This one was vegetarian-winter squashes in a plain broth.

This one had a very rich, meaty broth and the green vegetable was not spinach, but more of a cabbage-an older bok choy maybe…

Then, since The Mister was kind of planning on dessert of some sort, and since there would be no pie..I walked over to the other side of the cash register. These were toppings you could select, for shaved ice. Three toppings, $3.95 with tax. I was asked if I would like brown sugar and/or sweetened condensed milk on top. I only chose the milk (New Year Resolution was still in effect). I could get more shaved ice if I wanted…

Oh. My. You can see one of the lychees by the spoon there…and some black tapioca (boba) and then the green apple jelly. So delightful and refreshing.

The food here was really very good. The restaurant is definitely frequented by locals who are knowledgeable about the unlimited rice and soup options. The dessert was a bonus for us and a great start to moving forward in 2011.

Shau May Restaurant – Hi Pei Corp. 830 E. Valley Blvd. San Gabriel CA 91776 (626) 569-9600

Monday Meanderings

January 24, 2011 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi, yoso-silly

Yes, I've been hacked:

My email that is. Sorry to say that I think everyone on my contact list was sent high volume spam from my email address. I've hopefully corrected that. On the good side; it was really nice hearing from folks I hadn't heard from in a while. I just wish it was under better (and legit) circumstances. My apologies.

Meet my latest "toy":

For some reason I actually opened up and looked over the monthly adds for Marukai. I noticed that various Shichirin were on sale for the whole month. I decided that we needed a bit of an upgrade from our little Hida Konro. The one selling for forty bucks was a bit too large….

So I went with the one on sale for just under twenty bucks.

Marukai also has Binchotan on sale this month…. just be aware that the label says it's made in Myanmar. I know some folks are sensitive to that. I also thought that there were US trade sanctions against imports from Myanmar…. but maybe I'm wrong?

And just because I needed to include some food photos:

I'm including photos of our New Years Eve dinner(s). You know where, right?

Mira Mesa Banh Mi Tasting: BaLe, Tan Ky Mi Gia, Express Deli (Lucky Seafood), Cali Baguette Express, Corner Sandwich & Cafe, Baguette Up, and Sorrento European Bakery

January 23, 2011 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Memorable Meals, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

A couple of weeks ago, while having my SPAM® and Egg Banh Mi and Baguette Up I suddenly realized that perhaps Mira Mesa had the most Banh Mi shops on one single stretch of road in the greater San Diego area. I could recall at least seven places; which sounded just enough to do a super-duper crawl/comparison.

And my good friends, bless their hearts, are always game and up for something different, and have been with me on different food excursions, crawls, and meals. Since I've done a shorter rendition of this before, I pretty knew what I wanted to do. There would be two cars; we'd meet in the parking lot of Lucky Seafood. We'd order the "special" at every stop, and get it just the way the sandwich is served. We'd hit BaLe, Tan Ky Mi Gia, and Express Deli first since it's in the same parking lot. I handed out pens and sharpies to mark each restaurant with the name and prices. Of course I didn't count on PeterL writing the wrong prices down on a sandwich (it's a darn good thing he's got Angela to keep things straight), but I remembered the prices anyway. There were also some timing glitches since Express Deli seemed to have a thousand sandwich orders and took a while to make our sandwich. We headed off across the street to Cali Baguette Express, while TammyC and MrC headed off to a place I'd seem recently called Corner Sandwich & Cafe, located behind Popeyes in the same mall as Seafood City. We hit Baguette Up, while the other team headed to the finish at the other end of Mira Mesa Boulevard and Sorrento European Bakery. This was our meeting area as the food court is empty on Sundays, giving us ample room to do a tasting.

We had come prepared; disposable cutting mats, paper towels, knives, and water. And PeterL was our "cutter" and displayed great skill in cutting each Banh Mi into six pieces. In order to keep things as fair as possible, we ate the sandwiches in chronological order…. not quite FIFO, more like FIFI – first in, first in. I've been told in emails and some comments that the differences in Banh Mi are so small that it's really not worth mentioning. While I've always believed that I could make out differences in various sandwiches. And this tasting bore that out; and I was very surprised at how significant the differences were.

For the sake of time; I'll spend most of the post on the two favorite, and the two that we thought really weren't to our tastes. Strangely enough, the voting was unanimous on the two best, and the two worst.

The two favorites:

Express Deli:

Even though our sandwich took forever, and what's up with giving us mostly stems of cilantro(?), we really enjoyed Express Deli. The portion seemed on the small side, meat cut into very thin slices, but you make out the flavors of the Jamon and other meat, and the bread was toasted perfectly, making this heck of a good Banh Mi. Proportionally this was our favorite….plus the pickled carrots and daikon tasted good.

At $3.25, it's one of the more affordable sandwiches.

Express Deli
9326 Mira Mesa Blvd (inside Lucky Seafood)
San Diego, CA 92126

Cali Baguette Express:

I like the sandwiches from the El Cajon Boulevard location, but haven't tried the Mira Mesa location until today. Like Express Deli, Cali Baguette Express was either first or second on everyone's list.

At three bucks this was the cheapest sandwich. Cali Express makes their own bread, so even though we noticed that they didn't toast their banh mi, it was still slightly warm when we ate it. The bread is pretty light, and even though it's nothing close to what we had in Vietnam (what is?), the crust was flaky, and the bread to fillings ratio was good.

It was a long, but not huge sandwich, which looked the prettiest of them all when unwrapped……

Cali Baguette Express
9225 Mira Mesa Blvd #106
San Diego, CA 92126

And much like the two favorite, the two we enjoyed the least was also a unanimous vote. Sadly, the second to last was…..

Sorrento European Bakery:

**** Sorrento European Bakery has closed

I've had some pretty good sandwiches here before, but the bread on this day was especially stale……. and having had six sandwiches before this one, everyone noticed right away.

We all oohh's and aaah'd at the chunky pate, but it had no taste. The probably from a can pate on the Express Deli sandwich had more flavor. Actually, the flavor of the cucumber over-powered everything else in the sandwich.

Sorrento European Bakery
6755 Mira Mesa Blvd #117 – in the Sorrento Plaza Shopping Center
San Diego, CA 92121

The unanimous last place, and I do mean for all six of us was…….

Corner Sandwich & Cafe:

Corner Sandwich & Cafe has closed

This was a mystery place, as I've only passed it once. It looked like one of the Viet coffee places with all the older men hanging out outside. The Banh Mi here tied for the most expensive at four bucks.

The sandwich itself looked promising when opened up.

And then it happened, as we each took our first bite of the sandwich. Starting with MrC, then Angela…. an "whoa, this tastes really fishy". And yes indeed, there was fish cake in this one. The bread also seemed a bit old…… but the fishy taste pretty much overwhelmed everything.

TammyC was the last to have a bite…. she was taking notes, not fooling around, was she? We pretty much agreed with her notes on this one.

"Nuoc Mam Taste……fish cakes….bread sucks….." She never finished her slice……

Corner Sandwich & Cafe
9005 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

As for the rest? I'll just keep this short:

BaLe:

Bread was on the mealy side, kind of hard overall. PeterL and Angela said they got an "eggy" taste, probably from the spread that BaLe uses.

Ba Le French Sandwiches
9396 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

Tan Ky Mi Gia:

**** Tan Ky Mi Gia has closed

Had the most hefty sandwich of the bunch.

The crust of the banh mi was too hard and chewy….it was also a bit too bready and dry for us along with not being toasted. This Banh Mi was tied at the most expensive at four bucks. We all liked the choices of meat in this sandwich, but there was just too much bread.

Tan Ky Mi Gia
9330 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

Baguette Up:

**** Baguette Up has closed

Even though this sandwich had the nicest looking Thi Ba Chi (roasted pork belly), TammyC in her notes summed it up for us….. "bland". Nothing really there to make this sandwich stand out. I will say, that along with Cali Baguette Express, Baguette Up has the nicest service…..

Baguette Up
8155 Mia Mesa Blvd. Suite #3
San Diego, CA 92126

This was a fun time, and also an eye opening experience, especially for JohnL, PeterL, and TammyC who are Vietnamese and have grown up eating Banh Mi. We never expected such great differences, but each sandwich was very different from the other!

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I've been blessed to know folks like JohnL, PeterL, Angela (whose warmth and graciousness always keeps us going), TammyC, and MrC! So what's next guys????