mmm-yoso – Page 444 – 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.

Road Trip: Revisits to Giang Nan and Qing Dao Bread Food – Monterey Park (LA), and a little slice of life……

January 16, 2010 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, Xiao Long Bao

The Missus and I were still hungry after having the Shengjiang Bao at Kang Kang Food Court on Christmas Eve. The Missus wanted some Xiao Long Bao, and I was craving some Lamb Jiaozi. Driving down Garfield, I thought why not get both…… and so we did.

**** Giang Nian has closed

Our first stop was Giang Nan, tucked away in the back of one of the seemingly hundreds of strip malls in the area.

It had been a while since we were last here, but we still considered the XLB here to be among the Missus's favorites. Still being early on on Christmas Eve, the place was fairly empty, though it had filled up by the time we left.

I had recalled the Duck in Supreme Sauce from our previous visit, so we ordered it. It was as before, sticky sweet-soy in flavor, standard for Shanghainese cuisine.

We also got an order of Pork Xiao Long Bao, which we enjoyed more than the pork and crab version.

This was as good as we had recalled. Wrappers of good thickness, not too thin, good soup to meat ratio, the soup not being too sweet. The meat was not overly processed, and was just soft enough to enjoy. Still under five bucks, this was a pretty good deal….. I had two, the Missus the rest, since She was the one who really wanted some XLB.

While we were eating, and enjoying our tea, a family of six arrived; an older gentleman, along with his wife, a younger couple, and two kids in their early teens. The family dynamic was pretty interesting…. you could tell some things right away. The younger couple, and their kids were obviously from out of town, you could tell by the way they dressed and acted. It was quite apparent that the woman was the daughter of the older couple. You could tell by the way the guy pretty much didn't say a word, and just tried to fade into the background. The older man turned to his wife and said, "I wanted intestine, and spicy Sichuan food, they don't have anything I like on the menu". The older woman made a little "chin nod" in the direction of their daughter and told the older man, "but we're eating Shanghai style, so let's find something." Aaah, they had come here for their daughter. The older woman started making suggestions to her daughter; "remember how much you used to like this?" "This was one of your favorites….." "You always enjoyed this dish…." All of which the young lady replied to in a indifferent manner. "Whatever you think…" "It's ok, order what you want…." The older gentleman entered "protest mode", by closing the menu, placing it on the table, dramatically crossing his arms, and looking off into the distance. Meanwhile, "Mom" kept trying her best….. Meanwhile the son in law stared stoically straight down at his plate, and the two kids kept on playing their handheld games oblivious to the drama unfolding around them……

The Missus suddenly felt bad, and called Her Mom. There were many times that She's been that "ungrateful daughter". Sometimes, we forget that there are people in our lives that are pleased by making us happy. In this dance, it's our responsibility to enjoy…. because just as we are receiving, we are giving…….

Giang Nan
306 N Garfield Avenue
Monterey Park, CA 91755

We had considered having another order of XLB, but instead crossed the street, and headed on over to Qing Dao Bread Food. The Missus knows that I love the Lamb Jiaozi here. For the Missus, this is a little taste of Her hometown; Qing Dao. It also gives Her a chance to needle Her Mom, documented in my previous post on Qing Dao Bread Food. So of course, She was soon calling Her Mom on the phone again. While I enjoyed my lamb dumplings:

Of course the standard condiment is what I call the Missus's "little dish of memories", the pounded garlic in black vinegar. When the Missus was a child, it was always Her job to pound the garlic, a job She hated with a passion….. which now prompts a bit of nostalgia.

As I noted before, I love the lamb flavor, and there's a small amount of "soup" in these Jiaozi. The wrappers have what I call a "pillowy – pull" to them. Perhaps I'm just a little bit nuts when it comes to Jiaozi, but how can you blame me?

While we were eating, a very pregnant young lady entered carrying a toddler. It was obvious she was the daughter of the husband and wife team that runs this little shop. The Missus, overhearing their conversation had to laugh. When I inquired, the Missus told me, "the daughter told her parents that they should close up." The daughter had told the parents, "you should close up, nobody wants to eat in places like this on Christmas Eve, they all go to the big restaurants!" Well, I for one was glad that they were open on Christmas Eve.

Qing Dao Bread Food
301 North Garfield Ave.
Monterey Park, CA 91754

Your New Year Resolution does not have to mean sacrifice:macarons (from Starbucks), charcuterie and cheese plates (from Tender Greens) and a fancy waffle (from Cafe Venti)

January 14, 2010 Cathy Desserts, What Cathy Eats!, yoso-silly

mmm-yoso!!! is a blog about food. It's written by a few friends, all who have different backgrounds, cravings and locations. Today, Kirk, ed (from Yuma) and Vicky are discovering things to write about and Cathy is writing.

Hi. I hope the year is going well for you. I'm trying to stick to one of my resolutions from last year and slowing down to savor life for a short time every single day. It isn't as easy to do as you may think. Incorporating food along with slowing down. Daily.

Sometimes, this involves stopping in at Starbucks.
Where you can order a 3 cup French Press of any coffee they sell for $3.50. It is brewed and brought out to you.
I noticed in the refrigerator section these Macarons, made in France exclusively for Starbucks. $10 for 12 of them and so *very* good. Flavored in pistachio, coffee, lemon, raspberry, vanilla and chocolate…light, airy with a crunchy crust, chewy cake like piece surrounding the creamy fondant-like fillings, all rich in flavor. Decadent and delightful. (Trader Joe's is selling a pack of 6 vanilla and 6 chocolate in their freezer section – the package does not indicate where they are made, but I suspect not in the USA.) One of the Starbucks Baristas said she thought the macarons may be seasonal, so if you see them in the refrigerator, grab a box…or something else to have with your coffee.

The other day, The Mister and I ventured into Tender Greens again, and noticed they were offering a charcuterie plate for $10, so we ordered it. (The three slices at 12 o'clock are tuna, the one at 3 o'clock is a ham and the other two are some sort of wonderful house made salamis, one of them Fra'Mani- neither were too spicy) The house made meats were wonderful. We also shared a grilled vegetable salad ($10)-Lettuces topped with grilled mushrooms, cauliflower, zucchini, brussels sprouts, baby parsnips and baby carrots, red pepper and topped with Parmesan and a tomato vinaigrette. Refreshing and making a light meal.

The cheese plate ($6) was an excellent dessert. There were four cheeses, two cheddars and two Jacks. One of the Jacks was a smoked cheese, which I usually do not like, but the texture and pairing it with the apple made it pleasantly tasty. That's a spicy apple puree on the plate, served with more slices of grilled bread brushed with olive oil. We even shared a glass of Spanish white wine ($7). A nice, light, healthy-ish meal. Something we don't always enjoy.
One day, we stopped at Cafe Venti, in the same mall as the Original Tajima and ordered dessert (they also make panini sandwiches here). To share.
The Waffle-Yo: a fresh made waffle, topped with (choice of two) plain and mango yogurt, fresh kiwi, strawberries and mango as well as small mochi. (~$7). A lot of food here and we needed to share it. Very good, very fresh. The yogurt is tangy, the way I like it.A latte ($3.75) and water accompanied our snack.

We sat down and talked for each of these small interludes. We didn't take anything "to go" and did not rush. So far, I have stuck to one of my 2009 Resolutions and have added a few for 2010. It isn't easy some days, but it has been so enjoyable on other days. I hope you are finding your resolutions enjoyable and not a burden.

Starbucks-everywhere

Tender Greens-Liberty Station, 2400 Historic Decatur Road San Diego, 92106 (619)226-6254 Website

Cafe Venti-4681 Convoy (between Engineer and Opportunity) San Diego, 92123 (858) 279-8500

Road Trip: A’Float Sushi Japanese Restaurant- Pasadena

January 13, 2010 Cathy Japanese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, Sushi and Sashimi, What Cathy Eats!

Hello. You are reading mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog. The usual blogger here is Kirk. Sometimes ed (from Yuma) writes about what he ate. Sometimes it's Cathy writing. Then occasionally Vicky and a few others also write about their meals. Today, Cathy's writing about a meal she and The Mister enjoyed.

So, the other day, The Mister didn't have to go to work and we fueled up the car and drove North. We had seen this place in Pasadena for years…at the Corner of Colorado and Arroyo, a pretty central intersection in the Old Town area. We decided to pay the meter and have lunch.
Floating sushi. That's what it's about. Walk in, sit down ask for some tea and watch the boats go whizzing by.

You can see the boats are chained together. They are constantly moving. There is space for up to four plates on a boat and you just grab and stack plates. The plates are priced by design which is noted on the menu/placemat.

We grabbed the fried shrimp ($3.58) when we saw them being brought out from the kitchen and placed on the boats. Light, crispy and the shrimp with flavor. Note the placemat and prices with corresponding plate designs.

The mini lobster wrap with soybean paper was only $3.58 and that filler is real crab, not rice. To the right, the fried squid were $3.08 (see, it's on a plate with a different design). The squid pieces (rings and tentacles as well as one *really* fresh whole shrimp and one breaded and fried green bean) were very tender and lightly breaded. Again, you have to grab the fried stuff as soon as you see it or it gets cold on the trip around.
The dumplings ($2.58) were chilled. They tasted good, were filled with mostly crab.
The oysters ($3.58) were fresh and chilled and quite plump.
The cucumber salad ($3.08) was refreshing. Crispy and with good flavored tomatoes. Topped with a light rice vinegar.
At the end, I stacked the trays by design, to make it easier for our waitress to tally the bill. (Hot tea was free). (The far left plate was for a $1.98 California roll, 3 pieces. Those were fresh and with real crab) It was fun and different for us. You could ask for anything on the menu to be brought out, or for specific cuts of sushi or rolls to be made. We'll do that next time.

A Float Sushi Japanese Restaurant 87 East Colorado Boulevard Pasadena 91105 (626)792-9779

Mad Dogs Cafe

January 12, 2010 mmm-yoso Hot Dogs

*** Update Mad Dogs has closed

During the beginning on December, I received an email from "Chong" posing a question to me. The question being, "do I take recommendations?" Of course the answer is, yes….. I don't think I'd still be around doing this food blogging thing without all the recommendations I receive. At the least, it always adds a sense of adventure to my visit. In his email, Chong recommended a place called Mad Dogs Cafe which is located on emerald Street in Pacific Beach, right as you head toward the ocean from Mission.

On a recent morning I decided to check them out. PB is less crowded this time of the year, and parking is less of a hassle as well. The place has a clean, fast-casual-cafe type of vibe, and the main items featured on the menu are gelato, coffee, and what Ching had recommended, the "Mad Dogs"……. so I guess the name wasn't referring to a specific Wrestler I recall from my youth!

Now Chong's description had rung some bells…….. you see, there's this phenomena back home in Hawaii called a Puka Dog, which I recall Tony Bourdain enjoyed on his No Reservations Hawaii episode(though it seems that not everyone enjoys them) . If only for curiosities sake, I was going to check this place out. A quick walk to the counter to check out the menu, and a "Mad Dog" was quickly defined: "a sausage and sauce nestled inside a freshly baked baguette".

Ok, choose one of nine sausages, and then whatever permutations of "sauce" you desired. Having only one stomach, it was really hard work trying to decide.

The really, really, nice young man manning the counter tried to be as helpful as possible….. Of course, lacking creativity I ordered a plain old Frankfurter with Mustard($3.99), as I thought it would give me a good idea of the ingredients and how things were put together. I also decided to order something else, which made the young man tell me, "this is kinda filling……" But he also helped me by recommending the Chorizo with Mad Dog Sauce ($4.50).

The Baguette in this case was pretty much like a "heat and eat" kinda product, soft with minimum crustiness….. very bready overall. One thing was also pretty obvious, the gentleman was right, this was kinda filling……

The center of the bread was punctured and sauce (or sauces) injected, followed by the sausage of choice. I believe Puka Dog toasts the interior, which would make for much more interesting texture contrast, especially in the case of the Hot Dog, which didn't have enough "snap" or flavor to keep me interested. That ended up being way too much bread….

The young man actually ended up saving the meal for me by recommending the Chorizo, as it had enough crunch and chewiness to stand up to the "dough". The sausage had some decent heat and flavor, and the exterior had been charred to a slight crispness that worked well.

I also enjoyed the Mad Dog Sauce which adds a bit of a creamy texture to the whole affair, along with a nice tangy-sweet-mildy spicy flavor. There seemed to be a bit off fruitiness to the sauce which I thought complimented the sausage well.

If the interior had been toasted like a Puka Dog, it wouldn't have gotten quite as soggy, quite as quickly. I'm thinking that sausages other than frankfurters are the way I'd go here in the future.

I'm glad that the young man had been so helpful. So I guess I take both recommendation from readers and the folks working in the various restaurants!

Mad Dogs Cafe
746 Emerald St
San Diego, CA 92109

Thanks again for the recommendation Chong!

Hal Mu Ni (Hal Mo Ni or Halmouny) Soon Dubu aka Grandma’s Soon Tofu aka Korean BBQ & Tofu – A first (short) look.

January 11, 2010 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants

Geez quite a mouthful, huh? Well, the reason for the multiple names is that all the sign says in English is "Korean BBQ & Tofu". In Korean, the name of the place is Hal Mu Ni Soon Tofu….. which leads to the translation…. "할머니" is Grandma in Korean, thus Grandma's Soon Tofu. At least that's what my dining companion MrS told me……

One thing is for certain….. this used to be the Rice King on Convoy. A couple of weeks ago I noticed that it had changed ownership, and identity. Mentioning this to MrS, I was told that the former Owner of Arirang, the one who is well known for her panchan, son runs the place. My first response was "doesn't he own Jeong Won?" MrS replied, "no it's her other son…. oh, and by the way, the son who used to run Jeong Won doesn't any longer. He got divorced and his wife got the restaurant." Which kinda explains why my last visit to the place was pretty bad overall. All of which led us to the place last evening…….

Man was the restaurant packed! It sure seemed like everyone was checking the new place out. The interior still shows it's former fast-food bones, as the tables and seats have been kept the same. And the former steam table is still displayed prominently.

The next interesting item; even though the place has Soon Tofu and Korean BBQ in it's name, neither is really the specialty of the house. The soondae guk is tempting at 2 for $9.99. MrS told me that Soondae, Korean blood sausage is made inhouse, and that we should order that. Let me be very clear that my experiences with Soondae in San Diego have been, well, terrible. The worst Soondae I attempted to eat was so bad, that I brought it home, and tried to give it to Sammy & Frankie, and they wouldn't even touch it! You know it's bad sausage when your mutts reject it……

There were a bunch of items that interested me, and we eventually came to a compromise. After placing our order, the panchan arrived.

A variety of five arrived, good, but not great……

The portions were generous, but I was disappointed in the Baechu Kimchi…. the basic Napa Cabbage Kimchi which was missing the level of savory flavor hidden below the spice that I enjoy.

As you can see with the slices of jalapeno and garlic….. I wanted the Gul or Jokbal Bossam….. Mr S found a way to get both, along with Soondae as a "combination bossam" ($21.99):

My goodness, this was a lot of food…. there seemed to be half a head of napa cabbage, along with the soondae, gul (steamed pork), and jokbal (pork hock).

The steamed pork was not as tender as the version at Chon Ju Jip, but had better flavor. Here the raw oysters and radish kimchi garnish was mixed, and served in a pretty large bowl:

This was excellent, spicy and savory, but still refreshing. Good heat level, the radish and oysters together made for a wonderful "Ying-Yang" in textures, and when combined in a cabbage leaf with soy bean paste, garlic, some chili sauce, along with the pork of your choice, it was heavenly. Heck, I could have possibly even done without the pork…. possibly.

The pork hock was a nice combination of skin and gelatin, chewy and substantial. The bones made for some good gelatin gnawing……

What about the Soondae? Well, it was better than I've had in a while. Perhaps still a bit too mushy, and I'd prefer a more firm casing, but the sausage had a nice nuttiness to it. A dip in salt added a bit to the flavor.

Mr S wasn't through, he had also ordered the Galchi Jorim (갈치조림 – basically simmered Beltfish).

I may not have been a big fan of the overly bony Beltfish, but I thought the sauce was fantastic. Tangy, spicy, with a nice "umami" flavor hanging around in the background…. I loved just having the sauce on rice! I later found out that the Missus grew up eating Beltfish, and loves the stuff, so I may be having this again soon.

Overall, Mr S, our dining companion "U Lee", and I had a very satisfying meal….. made more enjoyable for U Lee and I was the fact the MrS doesn't eat pork hock…..

Some notes: The place was quite busy, probably since the Owner's Mother is pretty well known inthe Korean community in San Diego. Seating is pretty limited, ambiance can appropriately be called "remade fast-food". On our visit, I was the only person not of Korean heritage in the place. Service was efficient and businesslike, and we were offered refills of our panchan. The "grand opening" banner says Soondubu 2 for $9.99. My first impression is that the food is a notch above Chon Ju Jip.

Hal Mu Ni Soon Dubu
4425 Convoy St. #217
San Diego, CA 92111

*** You can find a post with even more dishes here.

Seeing Stars!! Lot’s of Stars!!!

January 10, 2010 Vicky (SF Bay Area) San Francisco and Silicon Valley, What Vicky Eats

Happy New Year's!! It's me, Vicky, blogging again about the food I put into my mouth.

One of the biggest benefits to moving away from San Diego and into the Bay Area is the endless amount of food options up here. Granted we don't have a great taqueria where I can get my carne asada fix, or that I'm still finding something to rival Din Tai Fung's dumplings, but the food up here is pretty amazing. The biggest find up here is the amount of stars up here. Now I'm not talking about Catherine Zeta Jones or Brad Pitt… but something even more coveted. Michelin Stars. Yup! The Bay Area boasts of plenty of Michelin Stars… including the only 3 star restaurant in the US. French Laundry! I'm still awaiting the day where I can eat there again… with my D300 so I can capture my meal in its wonderful photographic glory!

Last year, for my 21st birthday (yes, I'm still celebrating my 21st birthday… I think we're up to a few anniversaries of my 21st birthday… but seriously, whose counting right?) Sam arranged for a lovely get together at the wonderful One Market in San Francisco. It touts a star so now overall my star count is up to 8… They were wonderful in keeping a large round table for our dinner party and the food there was delicate and well thought out.

I started out with the pea soup, accentuated with crisp pancetta and topped with a soft boiled organic egg. Now keep in mind, I've always hated egg yolks ever since I was a kid. It still baffles me to this day; this egg-yolk hating habit. Evolution has made it so that we crave high fat and rich foods (which explains my endless love affair with butter…) but to this day, I still have a hard time eating yolks. This soup… was perfect. This was the first time I understood why people call egg yolks creamy. We gently broke the egg and mixed it into the soup to create this amazing creamy rich finish. The pancetta broke up the smoothness and added a nice textural balance along with the briny saltiness. Emulsified peas never really appealed to me but the soup was this beautiful beautiful bright green color. Nothing was overlooked here; even the croutons were crisp and well seasoned!

I recall awhile ago when I was living in San Diego, there was quite a bit of controversy about foie gras. I'm not sure if it is still served down there, but it was offered on the menu up here. (Along with at the menus at the Google cafeteria… their Kobe burger with foie gras with a side of Maine lobster tail is amazing!!) In any case, we ordered a side of the foie gras to whet our palate. Oh Mr. Goose… you did not die in vain. The foie gras was seared perfectly; I normally hate liver in any shape, way, form or preparation but I didn't turn my nose down on this one. The foie gras had a perfect creamy consistency, paired with the carmelized hazelnuts and apricot compote, it was one fab dish!

In my family, we grew up eating a lot of fish. Having Taiwanese roots, fresh whole fish is super important to my family. When we have family dinners, there's alway a whole steamed fish which then the chopstick battles ensue to claim the fish cheeks. Yes… fish cheeks. Since fish spend their whole lives bug eyed and gulping, these two highly priced muscles are extremely tender yet firm at the same time. When I saw that they had Halibut Cheeks on the menu… I squealed. I ordered the Halibut Cheeks with Root Vegetables and Fennel Foam. I didn't really quite understand the foam component but the cheeks were amazing! Tender… chewy… and very "Q!"

Sam ordered the Seared Steak on Polenta with Bok Choy and Brussel Sprouts. Again… seared perfectly, but I couldn't really tear myself away from my fish cheeks to eye his dish. When I finally sampled it, it was utter steak heaven. The meat was amazingly tender, flavorful and seared perfectly. The centers were warm and moist and the edges were still slightly crusty from the hard sear. The sauce was a wonderful reduction and the bok choy was cooked perfectly.

All in all, it really showed on how well the restaurant was run. The dishes were very well presented and thought out. The pairings were great and our server suggested great wine pairings. I was pleasantly surprised at how great the service was since they were charging a standard service charge for how large our party was. If you ever find yourself up here in SF, check out One Market.

1 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
415.777.5577

www.onemarket.com

Saturday Stuffs: What’s up with Royal Mandarin, and some Taco Truck Stuffs

January 9, 2010 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Chinese Restaurants, Food Trucks, Mexican Restaurants

Royal Mandarin update:

To follow-up on a comment made on my December 30th post by Johari, regarding the fire at Royal Mandarin. You can see a more detailed story here. I decided to take adrive down to National City myself and check out what's going on.

As you can see, the entrnaces and a couple of the plate glass windows have been boarded up.

What was really interesting was the large group of folks in the place…. lot's of chatter going on…..

To get to the point, it looks like Royal Mandarin will be reopening soon, though I think a March date is pretty ambitious.

Taco Truck Stuff:

Over the holidays, I noticed that the Mariscos German Taco Truck was gone from the lot on the corner of Balboa and Clairemont Drive. I hoped that it was only for a break over the holidays, and I was rewarded with a sighting of the truck this past week. So it looks like the truck is back.

On a sadder note, it looks like the La Princesita Taco truck is gone from the Linda Vista location for good. A sad day indeed…..

Wholesome Choice- Irvine. A Market, and then some.

January 8, 2010 Cathy Markets & Grocers, Mediterranean Restaurants, Orange County, Road Trip, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog. Just some friends writing about what they ate. Today, it's Cathy writing after she ate.

One Saturday morning, The Mister and I drove North up the 5, took the 405 a few exits, exited at Culver street, went South two lights and stopped here.
Wholesome Choice. The location used to be a Wild Oats (Henry's) Marketplace. It is quite large inside. When you first walk in, there is a line of people waiting for hot Sangak (flatbread) to come out of the oven. I don't take photos of people and so could not get a good one of the ovens. You'll have to go there and see it for yourself.

The bread is four feet long, made from mostly wheat flour, with a starter from the day before, is topped with sesame seeds, costs $2.79, is placed on a piece of brown kraft paper directly from the oven, HOT. I will show you photos later. Here is a story of Sangak .

198

It is a regular grocery store, with fruits, vegetables, Halal meats and pretty much the normal Mediterranean stuff. Good prices. Very clean.

Nuts- in all varieties and prices.
Preserved foods and olives from around the world…
Then, at the other end of the store, you notice the cheeses…and what is all that? Looks like steam trays.

Menus above each area (there are Indian, Persian, Chinese, Thai as well as soups, cold deli and bakery sections )
In the soup area, there is Haleem.(a wheat-based porridge)
There is a Gyros and Schawarma area.
A by- the-pound deli area…
So many different Feta cheeses are available…
as well as any other sides you can think of (fresh hummus is $4.49/lb)
…so much more that I haven't shown you.

These are just some of the desserts. There is a fresh baked, by the piece baklava and in house made croissant case…so much.

So anyhow. The Mister and I were hungry and bought some stuff, paid at the cash register and sat down (there are tables inside just past the cash register and also tables out in front of the store).
Here is a photo of one large styrofoam tray, filled with half a baked chicken(with *wonderful* saffron flavor) on top of what must be a pound of Addas Polo (basmati and saffron rice with lentils, currants and dates) ($7.99). The rest of the photo is the Sangak bread we picked up when we walked in. At the midpoint of the Sangak bread…see that hummus in a box…one half pound. The box is 4 inches square…wait.
Here is a photo of the hummus with a normal size plastic fork…the bread is HUGE. It is soft, slightly spongy in the areas where it is not too thin, tears easily tastes so good…the sesame seeds make it more flavorful.
We also got one Koofteh ($3) Ground beef, rice, herbs and yellow split peas in a vegetable stew.

A wonderful place, not that far from here. There is a location in Anaheim Hills also. If you have some free time, take a short drive North. Then stop, shop and eat.

Wholesome Choice Market 18040 Culver Irvine, CA 92612 Open 7-11 daily (Food Court area open 11-8 daily) website

5755 East La Palma Anaheim Hills, CA 92807 Same hours

(The Irvine location is 84 miles from our East County home and the Anaheim location is 106 miles from here. The Anaheim store is about 1/3 larger, formerly had been an Albertsons. That location has a gelato area in the food court. Really good gelato.)

Huynh Hoa Tuu part 1

January 6, 2010 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

Update: Huynh Hoa Tuu has closed.

I had been aware that O Yea! Vietnamese Restaurant had changed ownership, but the last time I recalled driving by, the place was stil named "O Yea!". Then in November mscinda posted on the now renamed restaurant; Huynh Hoa Tuu. After checking out her post, I made sure to add Huynh Hua Tuu to my "list". It quickly moved up my list when "El Grande FOY" (Friend of Yoso) Yummy-Yummy sent me a very enthusiastic email regarding Huynh Hoa Tuu. YY even recommended a couple of dishes….. which is how the Missus and I ended up at Huynh Hoa Tuu.

Walking into the place, it seemed that little had changed except for the name, as the interior hadn't changed a bit…… it's still a bright Pepto Bismol pink.

The menu was a different story, as there was a pretty wide range of dishes from the standard Cha Gio at $4.99 to various "Lau" (hot pot) ringing in at $25.

We decided to start with a favorite of the Missus, the Banh Trang Nem Bo ($8.99), the make-your-own-spring rolls dish. Things looked good as a large plate of bright and fresh herbs, veggies, and fresh pineapple arrived at our table.

The meat provided was the a slightly sour and nicely grilled "Nem" (pork sausage), and thinly sliced beef tightly rolled into cylinders, covered with peanuts.

The beef was less sweet than other places, and on the salty side, but not in a bad way. The Nem was nicely charred, but nothing special. No Bun (vermicelli) was provided, and the rice paper was the large plate sized type.

Which the Missus just couldn't keep Her hands off of……

What was problematic about the dish was that the bowl of water provided was on the small side, so you had to work a bit to moisten the rice paper. Still, this wasn't bad, but we both thought the Banh Trang at Pho King was better.

One of the dishes recommended by Yummy-Yummy was the Green Mango Salad with Shrimp(#109 – Goi Xoai Tom Nuong). At first the price, at $15 seemed a bit high. But when the dish arrived, we knew why….. there were at least ten grilled shrimp, on a huge plate of green mango.

Instead of the usual shredded green mango, this presentation had the mango in slices. The somewhat pleasant (for us) puckeriness of green mango came through… a memory from my childhood, as green mango was often eaten in Hawaii, though with soy sauce and sugar, or bagaoong. The mango was dressed with a tangy, yet spicy sauce, which we enjoyed. The shrimp was perhaps a tad overcooked, but was very fresh, and everything was topped with a good amount of Rau Ram (Vietnamese Coriander) which added it's own punch to the dish. We finished the whole plate and was stuffed.

Leaving thoroughly satisfied, we returned a couple of other dishes. This time I ordered the Braised Shrimp with Pork Belly (#69 – Tom Thit Ba Roi Ram Man):

The menu's English translation says Braised Shrimp with "Bacon", but it's pork belly that has obviously been simmered in a fish sauce based mixture. This time the shrimp had been cooked adequately, and did well paired with the fatty, though not overly soft pork belly, and the salty, and slightly sweet fish sauce mixture. We were worried because the amount of black pepper used seemed excessive, but it did well in this dish.

The other dish I wanted to order was also recommended by YY:

It was not translated into English on the menu, and was simply described to me as #102, the squid dish, Muc Mot Nang Nuong Muoi Ot($15). It was squid grilled with chilies. For some reason, when both the Missus and I were provided with a dish of sea salt mixed with red chilies and a lime wedge, we gad a premonition that this was going to be a good dish. The little plate reminded us of Vietnam.

And it did deliver:

Let me just say a couple of things about this dish. First, the salt, chilies, and lime, is not an optional item, but an integral part of the dish. Second, this was the most tender grilled squid I've had in ages, beating out anything I've had in years. It almost melted in my mouth! The Missus, not being a fan of squid really didn't want me to order this, but She ended up fighting me for the last few slices. Funny thing, Rau Ram used to be pretty rare in Vietnamese Restaurants in San Diego, but here it's everywhere!

On our next (yet another) visit, my eyes wandered down the menu, and I ordered the Bap Xao Tom Kho (Corn with Dried Shrimp – $8):

This was nothing that I couldn't make at home on the Big Kahuna. this was also a case of too much black pepper, which killed all the flavors of the dish.

We also ordered the Oc Len Xao Dua (Snails stir fried with coconut milk – $15):

This was a load of snails! At first, the Missus and I kept going, "man this is waaaay too sweet". It seemed very rich and cloying…. but in the end, we had eaten every single snail…. every one. So I'm not quite sure…. I still think this is much too sweet, with too much coconut milk, and yet we plowed through the whole thing, so I guess I'm torn.

Well I'll stop at the snails for now, but there's much more to come…. just in case you're wondering how "Deep Fried Pork Leg with Fish Sauce" tastes, stay tuned!

Huynh Hoa Tuu
4660 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

You can find part 2 of this post here.

BMH Italian- great sandwiches

January 5, 2010 Cathy Italian Restaurants, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog, written by some friends who live (or used to live) in the San Diego area. We write about whatever we eat, wherever we eat it and let you enjoy also. Vicariously. Today, Cathy is helping you be vicarious, along with Kirk, ed (from Yuma) and Vicky.

So, it is a new year and there are resolutions made that need some time before saying they have stuck. I hope you are still sticking to yours. The Mister and I were in search of lunch the other day and stopped here, on El Cajon Boulevard.
BMH Italian. It used to be Mama Lina's, and those products are still sold here.
A small Italian bakery, market and deli inside along with a small seating area next door (14 chairs, 5 tables) and a menu consisting mostly of sandwiches, but also soups, salads, pastas and desserts.
I got the BMH – a cold sandwich- Capacolla, ham and provolone on a fresh white roll. Lettuce, tomato, onions, mustard, mayonnaise and house dressing. (Regular price is $7.75, but only $6 for seniors and with student ID).
The Mister ordered a "Ba Da Bing"-a hot sandwich- turkey, ham, pastrami and Provolone. ($7.95- not all items on the menu have a student discount). The toasted bread, even though the same as mine, tasted even better.
What caught my eye when we walked in was this Saeco coffee machine. You get a token for $1.25 when you order and then can choose your coffee, hear the beans being ground and wait to take it from the machine.
I got a cappuccino. The coffee had a good fresh flavor and the milk foam was rich. Something fun to do.