mmm-yoso – Page 461 – 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.

A & D Hawaiian BBQ – National City

June 7, 2009 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego, Loco Mocos, Plate Lunch

**** A&D has closed

Well, there I was in Grove Plaza Center with the intent of grabbing a bite at Karihan. Unfortunately, there was no Kare-Kare on this morning, and for some reason, all of the food looked like it had been "sitting around" for quite a while….at 11am in the morning. So I decided to head next door to A&D Hawaiian BBQ.

I've been kinda down on the whole Hawaiian BBQ thing………most of it seems to be a bunch of folks who could care less about what they plop on a plate, who are just looking to make some $$$ (replacing Spam with Treet – heresy I say!). And frankly, after looking over the menu at A&D, full of the usual suspects, I wasn't particularly moved. But it had been so long since I've had even a borderline terrible Lau Lau, that I was willing to sell my soul, and drop my standards. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, there was no Lau Lau, only Kalua Pork available.

So I made an adjustment, and placed my order, and waited. Meanwhile, I gazed upon the borderline neon green walls. During my wait, the very nice Woman manning the counter was constantly cleaning. Now A&D isn't the most visually pleasing little place, the tables have various names, initials, and other verbiage carved into them, and it does look a bit aged for a place that's only been in this location for a year, but man this woman was really cleaning……

Unable to make a decision, I had ordered the ubiquitous "BBQ Mix" ($7.29). The nice lady brought the styrofoam container over to my table, and when I grabbed it, it felt like it must've weighed two pounds…..

And everything was hot…so hot that it steamed up my camera lens, and I had to wait for a minute or two to take photos. As with all these BBQ Mix plates, all the regulars were in attendance. The BBQ Short Ribs…please don't call them Kalbi….they are about as close to Kalbi as I am to Brad Pitt. That said, these were not bad, not as tough as the usual cross cut short ribs are, the marinade is not as sweet as many, which is fine with me.

The BBQ Beef was well marinated, pulling toward more of a ginger-shoyu flavor. It was also fairly tender, and without the usual "sugi", which is what we call nylon fishing line back home, the usual tough, and inedible tendon that is usually found.

The BBQ chicken looked on the light side, but was pretty tender. The norm would be chicken that had been marinated, pre-cooked, dumped back into a steam tray with marinade, and reheated before serving, making it really tough. I really got the feeling, based on the wait time, and how hot everything was, that these folks cook their stuff to order.

I really liked the Mac Salad, it was nice and cold, with a perfect amount of mayo, and some salt for a change. The rice was a bit hard and dry, though.

There was one more item that I had to order. On the door is a sign. That sign says "6 Piece Chicken Wing Special – $1.99". Yes, it seems that A&D is in the Salt and Pepper Chicken wing business.

The batter on these is light, and crisp, and the chicken is juicy, but it does not hold up well, and lacks the "crack-like" addictive flavor.

This way too much food for me, so I took half of it home. What I thought was interesting, was that the Missus had pretty much the same opinion. And I didn't even tell Her what I thought of the food. They say after you've been married for a while……….

A few weeks later, I was in the area, and decided to drop by A&D again. This time I paid a bit more heed to the menu, and had to chuckle at the "Healthy Meals" portion. since when is Chicken Katsu or Crispy Shrimp, considered healthy? Perhaps they mean a "healthy appetite"?

Being the predictable person I am, I of course ordered:

Yes, a Loco Moco ($6.99). I readily admit that I have a thing about the two easy over eggs, hamburger patties, gravy, over rice. It is something that I long for on a visceral level. So how does this rate on the modified "Rubio Scale", created by James Rubio of Big Island Grinds. For those not familiar with the scale, you can check out my post from waaaaay back in 2005. And in case you're wondering, why the Big Island? It is believed that the Loco Moco was created on the Big Island circa 1949. Sorry to say that I wasn't able to sample the Loco from the Lincoln Grill, but the Missus and I have had more than our share from Cafe100.

So moving right along…….

#1 – The Burger – Pure and simple pre-formed. Tough. – 2.0 points

#2 Eggs – A bite overcooked for me. But worse of all, they didn't clean the griddle before frying the eggs. Too many black, "mystery bits". – 1.0 points

#3 Rice – Perfectly cooked this time. – 3.0 points

#4 Gravy – Wow, really salty….really, really, salty. I've hardly ever left gravy to sit and congeal, but had to this time. – 1.0 points.

#5 Stuffs – In this case the Macaroni Salad, which wasn't as good as my previous visit, but still pretty good. – 3.0 points.

For a total of 13.0 points, which ranks it as being fairly mediocre, even by Hawaiian BBQ standards.

Overall, A&D serves up standard Hawaiian BBQ fare. I felt that with regards to the BBQ, you get a pretty hefty size portion of food, which was pretty good. There are also $4.99 specials such as Chicken Katsu. The service was, at least for me, a notch above the standard indifferent service at most of these places.

A&D Hawaiian BBQ
Grove Plaza Center
2220 Plaza Blvd
National City, CA 91950

Open Daily – 11am – 9pm

The 2009 San Diego County Fair- Part one- almost ready to open.

June 6, 2009 Cathy Festivals & Events, Stuff, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the food blog. Kirk, ed(from Yuma) and Cathy write about what and where they ate. You get to read and enjoy vicariously.

Hi again. The 2009 San Diego County Fair opens this Friday, June 12 at 10 a.m. I have blogged about the Fair in prior years. Last Saturday, it was just beginning to be set up.

Some vendors had placed their booths.

Some rides were being set up.

What I like to call "The Heart of the Fair"-the reason State and County Fairs exist…for farmers to show the fruits of their work, the Home Arts section of the Fair, had entries brought in and and judging has been happening.

The judges of Preserved Foods- Fruits, Vegetables, Jams, Jellies, Preserves, Conserves, Soft Spreads, Honey, Syrup, Vinegar, Pickles, Relishes and Sauces…spent a grueling four hours tasting the variations in those categories (for example, apricot, apricot-pineapple, berry (other than listed), boysenberry, low sugar, mixed fruit of two or more berries, mixed fruit of two or more non-berry, peach, plum,raspberry, strawberry and other than listed Jams) Each judge got about 45 jars of preserved something to check for proper labeling, proper preparation, taste, compare against the others in that category and then decide which entry was good enough to be awarded a First, Second or Third place ribbon, given an Honorable Mention, or not awarded any prize.

Then all the First Place winners in each category went up against each other, to determine the "Best in Show"

All so that you can walk in on Opening Day and see ribbons on everything.

This year there are many ways to save on some of the more expensive parts of the Fair, like admission, parking and food from some of the vendors.

Go to the website www.SDFair.com for details. If you enter a daily contest, you get in free. If you plan on going more than twice throughout the run (it closes July 5) you can pay $22 for a pass good every day. If you come on a Tuesday, almost every food booth has some good sized $2 samples.

The Theme of the Fair is "Music Mania" and there will be many small shows going on all day and night concerts.

Don Diego will be at the Front Gate.

And I have my work cut out for me.

See you at the Fair!

The San Diego County Fair

June 12-July 5, 2009

Sang Dao – A revisit (sort of)

June 4, 2009 mmm-yoso Lao Restaurants, Thai Restaurants

On May first, Sang Dao opened in new digs on the corner of 54th and El Cajon Boulevard. A week later, I decided to check them out. It had been a while, but now since they've a bit (just a bit) closer, I really had no excuse.

Though located next to one of the "check cashing" places, the interior of the "new digs" is much different from the Sang Dao I knew on National Avenue! Bright and shiny like a new penny…..

And since my post back in 2005, I think I've learned a little bit about Lao cuisine.

The menu at this new location, looks the same, though I decided to stray a bit, and started asking about a few items. I think it's unfortunate that dishes like Or Lam, Mok Pa, and Kaeng Nor Mai Som aren't represented on the menu. In speaking to one of the young men, I was told that items such as those would not sell, though they make them for their own family meals at home. There are a few items that aren't on the menu, one which is the Raw Beef Larb:

Though you'll often hear folks say that "Issan Food is the same as Lao Food"(though often said by folks with a political agenda), and I do believe that in general, the differentiation is one of borders, not cuisine, I do note differences. And one of the dishes where this is reflected is in the Raw Beef Larb. There's an interesting Lao saying that you'll see everywhere on the Internet, something along the lines of "sweet makes you dizzy, but bitter makes you healthy". Funny thing was, I was told just about the same thing at my cooking class in Luang Prabang. In those restaurants where you find the cook/chef is from Issan (Northeast Thailand), such as Sab E Lee, you'll find the Raw Beef Larb to be more citrusy, the dish a bit lighter.Here at Sang Dao, it is full on Lao, except in heat, I think that even though I ordered this spicy, they took it easy on me. First, was the inclusion of offal, which added an earthiness to the dish. Second, was the addition of a good amount of beef bile, which adds, at least to me, a nice bitterness to the dish. Sab E Lee and Lotus of Siam, will add it to your dish, but not in large amounts.

For me, the addition of those notes made this dish much more substantial, and along with the required sticky rice, it can be treated like a proper entree of sorts.

As I was taught in Laos, no meal is complete without a soup, which is not to be treated as a soup in Western terms, that is, as a "starter", but to be eaten along with the meal. I really didn't feel like having the recommended Tom Kroung Nai, Intestine Soup, so I went with the other recommendation, the "Jungle Curry':

A curry without coconut milk is termed a "jungle curry", though this was more of a soup. It was pleasant, and I enjoyed the eggplant and other veggies in the soup. Not overly rich, this was a nice foil to the larb. It tasted like a nice "homestyle" soup. I brought the remainder home, and though She declared it to be weak in the heat department the Missus enjoyed it.

If you visit Sang Dao, remember to spend a minute or two at the take-out counter, you'll find a good selection of Jeow (Dips). I think one of these days, I pick up a variety, along with some sticky rice. On this day, I bought the Naem Khao from the take-out counter. This may look a bit different from say, the version at Asia Cafe.

The dish is sold deconstructed, though they'll mix it for you if you want. The Missus said this was good, though She still prefers the version from Asia Cafe.

Even though the location of Sang Dao has changed, the food has not, many of the dishes are distinctly country-homestyle. And in case you're not in the mood for Raw Beef Larb, or Intestine Soup, many of the Curries and other dishes are quite good. Ed from Yuma, Howie, and I had the pleasure of sharing a meal at Sang Dao with Candice Woo, some of which is included in Her article, so please check it out.

Sang Dao Restaurant
5421 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115
(619) 263-0914

Mimi’s Café: Meals at the Faux Château (Yuma)

June 3, 2009 ed fromyuma American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Chains, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

Kirk eats at chains; Cathy eats at chains; today ed (from Yuma) will let you know that he sometimes eats at chains too.

After Mimi's Café opened a branch here in Yuma, I kept getting reports from friends who liked the food. So about a year ago, Tina and I descended on the restaurant to try a dinner.

From the outside, the place looks like a rustic châteaux (containing one or two small warehouses) plucked from the banks of the Loire and dropped into the middle of a large asphalt parking lot:

Inside, this same cultural/architectural mishmash rules. You have the parque ceiling (I believe this is the correct term) like a 19th-century French bistro in the main room: you have open beamed ceilings and a fake balcony (not shown) in the New Orleans room (a New Orleans room?): and then you have a Romanesque barrel vaulted area that would bring to mind a medieval monastery with electric lighting, if of course the bricks were real:
Nonetheless, some things about our first meal were very good. Along with rather ordinary French bread, we received two slices of savory whole-wheat nut bread: Tina's Mediterranean Chicken Fettuccine, though containing numerous ingredients, was focused and tasty:
The creamy asiago sauce, though a bit greasy, was not as heavy and rich as an Alfredo and didn't overwhelm the other flavors. There were just enough chunks of chicken, and the pasta, while not aldente, was not overcooked. Spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, and marinated artichoke hearts added complexity to the flavor and color to the presentation. A few chopped fresh tomatoes cubes and shreds of domestic Parmesan lay across the top of the noodles.

My chicken piccata was an attractive plate: As you can see, the two slices of chicken breast, showing grill marks, and four well prepared grilled and moist asparagus spears were the culinary stars of this dish. What this picture barely shows, however, is that the poultry and the veggies lay atop a large mound of mashed potatoes. Now I love mashed potatoes as much as the next person, but I really couldn't understand combining spuds with an Italian style main course. In addition, while the flavors of everything worked fine, this entrée seemed to me to be as much a product of an accountant as a chef. The mushroom was very thinly sliced, only three capers dotted the meat, and the amount of lemony piccata sauce was slightly less than would be needed to flavor the two chicken slices. No sauce for the potatoes — though to be honest, they had a nice buttery flavor.

The side salad with ranch dressing was also decent. The nice lettuce mix had shredded carrot, a couple of cucumber slices, a few bits of diced fresh tomato, and three large mass-produced croutons. The amount of dressing seemed calculated to moisten the greens and veggies with nothing left over: I selected a glass of Sauvignon Blanc from the minimalist wine list and was pleased to see that the restaurant had figured out the glass-of-wine conundrum: What I mean is that serving a single glass of wine presents a restaurant with a problem. If it uses small glasses, the wine must be filled up to the brim, which all of us winos know robs the wine of fragrance. On the other hand, large stemware is much more expensive, and some customers feel cheated if the wine doesn't fill the glass. Here the wine was served in a small carafe so that no one would feel cheated, the restaurant could use inexpensive stemware, and a customer could swirl the wine around in the glass.

The service on this (and every subsequent visit) was competent, professional, and friendly–clearly the staff is well trained.

As you can probably tell by the tone of this report so far, I was both amused and impressed by the ambiance, the businesslike way that Mimi's was managed, and by the generally competent cuisine.

On subsequent occasions, we have visited the restaurant for breakfast, mostly because my favorite local breakfast place has gone out of business (RIP Arnie's). In general, our breakfast experiences at Mimi's have been hit and miss. A good illustration of this was my recent order of waffles with sausage and egg: The two sausages were large and good, with standard breakfast sausage spicing and a firm meaty texture — no greasy mouth feel at all. The waffles, while nice looking, lacked any crispness and were dense and heavy. The over-easy eggs were well past easy: However, their fried eggs here usually have a nice crispy edge to them: On the other hand, some of the items on the breakfast menu are truly mediocre. The orange juice is generic at best, the latte substandard, and while the blueberry muffin looks good: It is a reminder that at Mimi's sometimes looks are deceiving: The bran muffin, on the other hand, was outstanding (bran must be cheaper than blueberries): When Tina ordered the Cajun sausage with scrambled eggs and potato, the whole dish didn't quite reach okay. The sausage had a peculiar taste (to my mind at least) and the home fries were flavorless and crunchless: My Monterey Omelette (with which I had "fresh fruit" instead of the potatoes) looked very pretty, but was pretty disappointing: Instead of being light and fluffy, the eggs were two dense slabs separated by a slice of flavorless jack cheese dotted with bits of real bacon. The visible part of the omelette was covered with more of the mediocre cheese, the only slice of avocado on the plate, and an additional strip of bacon (which looked better than it tasted). The best part about this breakfast was the outstanding roasted tomato salsa.

Even the attractive fruit left something to be desired: The pineapple was still in its rind, and a couple of the almost hidden grapes were rotten instead of fresh.

On the other hand, some of our breakfast experiences have been more positive. The eggs ranchero bowl, though containing some of the mediocre potatoes, has been a really a nice take on Huevos Rancheros: The beans are black beans, the tortilla is crunchy, and the two salsas (one chipotle and one tomatillo) add two good flavors.

My favorite breakfast item has been the cinnamon raisin French toast: While the toast is not especially eggy, its whole-wheat raisin bread with cinnamon is very good. Unfortunately, on my last visit, this great item was missing from the menu. Who knows why.

Obviously, if this restaurant were truly bad, I wouldn't continue to try it again. I find the ambience and the decorations to be amusing and am impressed by the consistently good service. Occasionally the ambience, which seems like what you would find in an independent eatery, is almost enough to make me forget I'm eating in a chain: And then I remember that the wine advertised on the poster is not available at the restaurant and the homey photos on the wall are just stock pictures. All is as real as the bronze fiddler. At Mimi's, there often is less than meets the eye. More surface than depth. This is a restaurant run by illusionists and bean counters — but it must be said, very competent ones.

Mimi's Cafe Yuma, 1690 South Pacific Drive, 928-783-2680

Robataya Oton – A first look

June 2, 2009 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants

I'd been following the opening of Oton fairly closely, and when FOY "Fred" emailed me informing me of the opening, the Missus and I made plans to drop by.

I really enjoy the "atmosphere" and set-up of Okan, what I'd usually call Oton's "sister" restaurant, but since Okan means "Mom"and Oton means "Dad", I guess we'll need to call it Okan's "spousal" restaurant? Part of the curiousity for us is what the Restaurant's Ownership/Management/design team would come up with. And I must say, they've done a nice job. From the stylish ingredient display, and "bar":

To the rustic Nabe ("hot pot") rooms. The restaurant is perhaps a bit claustrophobic for Western tastes.

Even though "Robataya" is prominently featured in the name, I was more interested in the the Nabe. Unfortunately, all the booths were booked solid. My first impulse was to return on another day, but the Missus was curious, and we decided to sit at the stylish bar, and have dinner. The menu was a smattering of items, including fried courses, sashimi, and of course Robatayaki. I saw several items on the menu I was interested in, and was read a list of daily specials. Again, unfortunately for us, they were out of several items and ingredients, such as Kamo (duck) and Kushikate.

We started with some Ankimo with ponzu.

This Ankimo was high on the "fishy" end of the taste spectrum. Not a bad thing, as the ponzu and the memji oroshi (grated daikon with red chili) muted the fishy flavors, and cut the richness. I've had worse.

Grilled corn was one of the specials:

The corn was nice and sweet, though the Missus wanted a nice brushing of Tare (sauce) like She had at Raku. At this point,I knew that comparisons with our meals at Raku were inevitable. I think that based on price point (Oton is a bit more expensive) it's hard not to compare. But then, Raku was a James Beard nominated aburiya and robotayaki, and this was Oton.

I wanted to try the Shiokara (fermented squid). This was the smallest dish of Shiokara I've ever had.

Flavorwise, the Shiokara was very mild and tame, the toughness of the strips of squid, along with the absence of the bitterness from the liver and innards of the squid, made me think that perhaps this hadn't been "fermented" long enough. It was no where near as deep in flavor as the version at Izakaya Sakura. It didn't help that the Missus bit down on a piece of the quill bone. If anything, if fermented long enough, this would make for a good "beginner's" Shiokara.

Next up, the Gyutan (grilled beef tongue):

The marinade was decent, and the tongue was cut to a decent thickness for grilling. I'd have preferred more of a "char" on the slices making it crisp on the edges. I didn't catch a hint of Binchōtan, which was a pity. The wonderful smoky flavor Binchōtan adds to whatever it "breaths" on and takes it to another level. I recall the scent of Bincho at Okan, why not here? Or was it that this just wasn't grilled long enough?

Next up, the best dish of the night, the Shishamo Tempura.

In what was possibly the "cutest" moment of the evening, when I ordered this, the young lady proceeded to explain to me what what Shishamo was. After a few seconds, I mentioned that I knew that Shishamo was smelt, and that I've had it many times, which gave her pause, a very short pause, at which time she completed her explanation. She was going to get that description in no matter what!

The Shishamo were fried in a light crisp batter, and wrapped in nori. Crisp, light, and wonderful.

My "go to" item at Yakitori-ya and Robatayaki-ya, Kawa (chicken skin):

What I call "crack on a stick". The portion near the top and in the middle of the skewer were grilled perfectly. The portion at the bottom, which was much too large, was barely grilled, and therefore rubbery. I think this is an illustration of what made our meal a bit frustrating. The decor is very nice, with attention to detail, detail which seems to be lacking with regards to the food we were served.

The Missus wanted to try the Saikyo Miso Black Cod.

The Missus eats this sometimes two to three times a month, and just by looking at this when it arrived, we knew this wasn't going to be very good. First, it didn't look like, nor did it taste like it had been marinated-cured-steeped, or whatever you call it long enough. There wasn't enough of the miso flavor. It also was not broiled long enough, there was very little caramelization. The middle of the slice of fish was barely lukewarm, which would be ok if this landed in a bento, provided it had been cooked through, but not in this situation. The Hajikami Ginger was a nice touch, which again outlined our frustration……attention to detail to everything but the food. As a point of measure, try the Saikyo Miso Black Cod at Sakura. In a traditional Robatayaki-ya, folks sit around a counter much like this, and items are grilled in front of you……lukewarm food is a no-no.

At this point we decided to call it a night and return some other time. Our bill came out to a shade over forty bucks.

We loved the decor, the service was maybe a bit too attentive, but was to be expected since this is a newly opened restaurant. The young folks working here are friendly, helpful, and very nice overall. We also noticed that at least one of the employees was a holdover from Osaka Kitchen which we thought was nice. It appears that they are trying very hard, but this wasn't a very satisfying meal. Of course, Oton just opened, so this may be straightened out in the future. Plus, I haven't tried the Nabe yet….but this is a Robatayaki-ya……. I'm hoping my future visit(s) are a bit more satisfying. Oh, and make reservations for the Nabe rooms.

Robataya Oton
5447 Kearny Villa Road
San Diego, CA 92123
858-277-3989

Fat Tony’s Pizza

May 31, 2009 mmm-yoso Pizza

**** Fat Tony's is now Tony's

At the end of March I received an email telling me about a new pizza shop opening in Clairemont. I glaced through it, but didn't really take note, for two reasons; first, I didn't know the sender, second the sender's "name" was "Tony", and the name of the shop was Fat Tony's. Just the way the email went, and the fact that I never got a response from the sender, sent instant S-H-I-L-L alarms. Those folks who have blogs will understand what I mean. In this case however, I was mistaken. After returning home from Guatemala, during my bi-weekly check of Chowhound, I read this thread, which instantly got my attention. Maybe "Tony" knew a thing or two.

In fact, I really had no reason not to check out Fat Tony's. The location on Diane Avenue, is right next to Ba Ren!

I love this sign…….you know who the gang at Fat Tony's is taking a shot at, don't you?

The interior is spotless, though pretty generic, with two plasma televisions going.

There's a refrigerator with the usual suspects, and four beers on tap.

From what I read on the CH post, it sounded like the thinner crust option was the way to go. So I went with the Tomato Garlic with Fresh Mozzarella ($18.00). I noticed that this pizza was cooked in a pan. Anthony, the really friendly namesake of the place, was nice and friendly, and apologized for the "pizza taking a bit longer because of the way we make it". Which really didn't seem that long!

Here's a view of the pizza that hit the table at home:

I enjoyed this pizza a bit more than the Missus, who thought it bland, and saying that the crust was indeed thin, but too much like a brittle cracker. The mozzarella added a nice mild semi-milky flavor to the pie, though I thought that more flavor could have been extracted from the tomato by roasting a bit longer. Of course, I'm not the pizza pro, and doing that may have been detrimental to the rest of the pie. Being a garlic head, I could have used a bit more garlic.

At this point, I realized I had it all wrong. I needed to start at the beginning, with the basics, just like I usually do with NY style pizza.

I returned recently, and decided to just get two cheese slices and a soda, which is priced right at 5 bucks. When my slices arrived, I took a good look at it. The first thing I noticed was that these weren't quite as greasy as those from Bronx. And though a friend of mine from "Jersey" tells me, "it ain't New Yauk style unless the oil is dripping down your arms", I thought this a good thing.

The pizza was well cheesed, which didn't overpower the pie.

I did find this crust to still be a bit too brittle. It snapped in half when I attempted "the fold". Personally, I enjoy a bit of pull (not sog, there's a difference) in my crust.

I found the sauce to be very mild. I enjoy a bit of tang, though the oregano flavor came through, it was the only thing that made this sauce distinctive. I tend toward the sauce at Luigi's…..mild spice, tanginess, and some sweetness.

Overall, I thought it to be a decent pie. It was nothing I'd really go out of my way for, but it is a great addition to the area.

I was recently having a conversation with a good FOY, when the subject of Fat Tony's came up. This FOY thought the pizza to be okay, but really didn't care for the crust, which made sense since he was a fan of Hoboken Pizza in Pacific Beach. However, when I asked the question, "name one pizza shop in the area that's better" he couldn't come up with a single one (though I used to like La Trattoria Firenze's sauce). Which in the end makes a great point. The sign in the front of Fat Tony's say "Your Neighborhood Pizzeria", which it does very well!

Fat Tony's Pizza
4973 Diane Avenue
San Diego, CA 92117
858-268-7700

Open 11am – 930 pm Daily

For more pizza insanity, please read Howie's San Diego NY Style Pizza Showdown!

From the wouldn't you know it department. On my post on Big Fish Sea Grill, I mentioned how things around the intersection of Diane Avenue and Clairemont Mesa Boulevard are looking up. Wouldn't you know that the very next day, I read about this happening at that very intersection! Geeez…… Even more funny, when I mentioned this to Cathy, her response was, "at least they weren't using guns!" Huh? So I go home, and mention this to the Missus. Her response? "Hey, could be worse, they could have guns!" Okay……I guess I really don't get it.
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Jeonbokjuk – Abalone Porridge

May 30, 2009 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

After being married for a while, you kind of develop a sixth sense when talking to your spouse. When you take a step back, and take time to think about it, sometimes it just doesn't make sense. I can understand deciphering that when the Missus said "Leo-hay-mans" She means Loehmann's, and of course there are times when I (thankfully) have no clue. But often, things just kinda click. Like when the Missus told me, out of the blue, "I want the porridge………" I don't know how I knew She was referring to Jeonbokjuk, but I just knew. It must have been fate, live abalone was on sale at Zion Market for $4.99 each.

I once asked someone how to make this, and was given the basic outline of a recipe. I also checked online, and one of my cookbooks. The recipe you see below is a mish-mash of what I gleaned. Like many recipes, there are more than few variations on the recipe. I'll list some of them in case your thinking about making this. Some recipes include chopped carrots, in the basic recipe I was given, I was told to blend the soaked rice with 5 cups of water for 10 seconds to "break the rice". One variation of Jeonbokjuk is green in color and includes the abalone innards. What's with the fish sauce, etc? I was kinda wondering the same thing when I saw the inclusion of fish sauce in a few of the recipes online. But after tasting the porridge, I knew. Farm raised Abalone, like the type I purchased is pretty mild in flavor, and need just a bit of "help". The meat has good flavor, but it just didn't impart enough of it to the porridge. Instead of fish sauce, I added a teaspoon of Dashi-no-moto to the porridge at the end. I know this is akin to adding MSG to a dish, but it really added a nice umami to the dish. If I had White Tamari, I would have tried that instead. I also used a good quality Sesame Oil, and would suggest putting that ubiquitous bottle of Kagoya away for this. Remember to scrub the abalone well, to remove all the black pigment and slimy "stuff".

Jeonbokjuk

1 – 1 1/2 Cup Fresh Abalone(approx 2) washed, cleaned, and diced
2 Cups Short Grain Rice
7 Cups water
2-3 Tb Sesame Oil
1/2 Tsp Sea Salt
3 cloves garlic minced

Fish Sauce, White Tamari, or Hondashi (optional)

Nori cut into thin strips
Scallions, green part only sliced

– Place rice in a bowl and cover with 3-4 cups water, and soak for 30 minutes.
– Drain rice in a colander
– In a pot or wok, heat sesame oil over medium-low heat. Saute garlic and abalone for about a minute.
– Add drained rice and mix with abalone for a minute or two.
– Add water, and turn heat to high, stirring occasionally.
– Bring porridge to a boil, uncovered for about 5 minutes, or until the porridge starts to thicken.
– Turn heat to low, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the desired thickness is reached. About 15 to 30 minutes.
– Taste the porridge, and add sea salt, and other flavorings if desired.
– Serve topped with Nori Strips and scallions.

It's a nice luxurious dish…..

Of course one doesn't live on Jeonbokjuk alone, do they?

Santiago Atitlan and some Ceviche

May 29, 2009 mmm-yoso Guatemala, Guatemalan Food, Latin American Cuisine, Travel

Early during our first morning on Lake Atitlan, the Missus was looking out from the balcony and decided on what She wanted to do.

Looking off to the left, She turned and said, "let's head to Santiago". At first we were going to head down the 400 steps to the Lomas de Tzununa pier, but in the end we decided to head out of the side gate and walk to the village of La Tzununa, and the pier there.

The downhill walk, and the cooler morning air made this 1 kilometer walk pleasant.

Walking down the hill we passed many of the young men and women who work at the hotel walking up the hill. We could just imagine having to make that walk everyday, rain or shine, in the summer heat! Everyone we passed gave us a pleasant "Buenos Dias". We passed two gentlemen, and asked directions to "La Tzununa muelle"…….after giving us directions, one of the gentlemen asked us, "Ha-pon-nese?" I pointed to myself, and told him "si, Ha-pon-nese"….I pointed at the Missus and said, "Chee-na….uno, uno". Which for some reason cracked him up…..

Following their instructions we found our way to La Tzununa pier, and soaked up the morning sun while waiting for what the gentleman called the "barco blanco"…..

And wouldn't you know it, the first boat of the day was a "white boat".

A short 10 minutes later we arrived at the San Pedro pier. To get to the boats headed to Santiago we had to walk to the pier to the Southeast of town, about a kilometer away. Not a far walk, but there's a "little" hill between the piers. The street is lined with all the gift shops, tourist restaurants, and hotels.

They don't tell you about the "little hill" in the guidebooks. Lucky for us, there was a strategically placed orange juice stand right at the top of the hill.

Ahhh, "Jugo de Naranja"……the pause that refreshes. Freshly squeezed, and the woman running the stand even filtered out the pulp (3 Quetzal – 45 cents):

Kinda sour, but it sure woke me up. From that point on, it was all down hill, literally.

While waiting for our boat to leave, another large boat arrived. It was packed with passengers….

And a ton of cargo…….

All of it was unloaded manually. This guy made at least five trips up and down the pier.

Arriving at Santiago Atitlan, we walked up the dock, past the craft stands and into Santiago. It turned out to be market day.

We were told by more than a few folks that Santiago Atitlan is considered the captial of the Tz'utujil MayanNation. In Santiago, folks still wear the traditional "Traje" (dress) with pride. The men still wear "calzoncillos" (short pants).

I'm guessing that these pants are very practical for folk who live around the water.

The women wear a colorful "Huipil" sometimes with wonderful embroidery, often featuring birds and flowers. You can read even more about the traditional dress here.

Out first stop was the Catholic Church.

If you walk up these stairs, and quietly take a seat inside, you'll notice a monument to the right rear of the church.

Father Stanley Rother was a priest who was assigned to the mission of Santiago Atitlan in 1968. The late 70's through the 80's were turbulent times for Central America, and Santiago was not spared. Because of his work, Father Rother's name appeared on the list of the "Death Squad". Upon hearing that his name appeared on this list, the Parish staff urged Rother to return to his home of Oklahoma City, which he did. Only to ask for permission to, and return to Santiago a few months later. On July 28th, 1981, he was killed in the rectory of the church by gunmen. Father Rother was flown back and buried in his home town in Oklahoma, however, at the request of his parishioners in Atitlan, his heart was brought back to Santiago Stitlan and buried under the floor of the church. This was not the end as things eventually reached a critical mass on the morning of December 2nd, 1990, you can follow the link, or read even more about it here.

Escaping from the persistent kids outside the church, we made our way back to the main intersection. I noticed groups of women walking up the stairs of one of the corner buildings. Our curiosity piqued the Missus and I walked up the stairs to find a pretty active market area.

The items I found the most interesting were the freshwater crabs, with the legs wrapped in strips of leaves to keep them from walking away.

This, of course, left me hungry. The Missus and I walked around a bit trying to decide were to eat. I finally decided based on one of my main eating rules; "when in doubt, eat where the police eat." And in this case, it was a tiny, very clean looking Cevicheria. We sat at one of the three tiny tables, on plastic stools, Vietnam style. Two police, or maybe security officers with shotguns were having an early lunch at on of the other tables. One of the officers was of particular interest to me, he had two bandoliers of shotgun shells criss-crossing his torso, just like the movies!

This was a two man operation with one doing the prep, the other putting together the ceviche.

Three items were served, Ceviche Camarones(shrimp), Pulpo (Octopus), or Mixto (mixed). and though the shrimp and octopus were "Pacifico" (from the Pacific), we thought the ingredients looked very fresh. The Missus ordered a Grande Mixto, easy on the pulpo. 30 Quetzales ($3.75). While we were waiting, the Missus decided some tortillas would go well with the Ceviche, instead of the usual crackers. So She headed across the street……..and to the laies making tortillas in front of (what else) one of the Pollo Frito (Fried Chicken) joints.

The tortillas being sold were "yellow" tortillas, corn-y goodness, and the best we had on the entire trip. It was also the most expensive at 3 for 1 Quetzal (12 cents).

We ended up eating a dozen with our ceviche.

And what about that Ceviche? Well, it delicious, but very different from any Ceviche I've ever had.

The marinade was very dark, but wonderful, with a nice savory flavor as a counter-point to the refreshing citrus flavor. The tomatoes were sweet, the white onion was mild and on the sweeter side, and I could taste a light touch of mint as well. When we asked about the sauce (I thought I tasted some soy as well), I thought the very nice young man said "salsa Iglesia" and I was somewhat puzzled,"Church Sauce" just didn't make much sense. But later on I purchased a small cookbook, "Favorite Recipes from Guatemala" in the airport, I found a recipe for Ceviche de Camaron. And it became quite clear, it wasn't Salsa Iglesia, it was "Salsa Ingles", Wocestershire Sauce, along with Soy Sauce that flavored the Ceviche!

I was satisfied after the Ceviche, but the Missus couldn't resist buying a tamal from the young lady wearing the coloful huipil pictured above. It was a funny thing as, the Missus kept asking "Tamale", and kept getting negative nods, "no…no tamale". She kept pointing at the corn husk wrapped tamals, going, "tamale?" And the response would be a "no-no chuchito, chuchito, no tamale!"

Chuchitos are small masa tamal, and unlike the tamals we are used to, Guatemalan tamals are dense and waxy, and tend toward the dry side. This Chuchito, at least by our tastes and preferences, was the best we had, moist, with a nice sweet-tangy-mildly spicy sauce.

The pork was very tough, but the rest was pretty good.

We had the Chuchito and some Agua Pura, while sitting on one of the raised sidewalks…..it was perfect for people…..

And pet watching.

It was starting to get crowded, which we took as a sign to get moving along. But I just wasn't ready to leave without getting a little "something small to eat"………

Big Fish Sea Grill

May 27, 2009 mmm-yoso Seafood

**** Big Fish has closed

One day while driving past Diane Village Shopping Center, on the way back from one of my many trips to Ba Ren for take-out, I noticed a sign that said "Big Fish". Big Fish……"what kind of big fish"? was the first thing that went through my head. So the next day I set out to hook myself a "Big Fish".

If I recall, this was a sushi bar of some sort in a previous life.

The menu is what I'll call classic "SoCal Fish joint"; grilled fish dishes, fried seafood, sandwiches, fish n' chips, with ceviche and fish tacos thrown in.

I didn't realize what a huge patio area this place had.

On my first visit, I decided to try out the fish n' chips. According to the menu, you can get them two ways, beer battered or panko crusted. I ordered the beer battered option, but for some reason, it wasn't available, maybe due to the fact that the place hadn't even been open for a week? So I went with the Panko Crusted Fish n Chips. According to the menu, the fish used for the fish n' chips was Cod, not Haddock or Pollock.

As I had a seat, the rather large gentleman dropped off some chips and salsa:

And soon enough my plate of Panko Crusted Fish n' Chips ($8.75), arrived. For some reason "panko crusted", and "fish n' chips" really doesn't click in my head. Undoubtedly a personal issue.

The pieces of fish were a good 3 inches in circumference, and looked bigger in real life than in photos. The panko had soaked up a bit of oil, so I'm thinking that the cooking temperature was a bit off. The flesh had a nice opaque look, and if not super moist, was decent. With regards to being able to tell the difference between cod and haddock, for me, it's mostly an appearance issue. Cod, in my opinion is much more dense, whiter in color when cooked, as this was, and has a bit more of that "fish flavor". Haddock, in my mind is a bit more delicate and perhaps a bit sweeter, with smaller flakes. I'm sure someone out there is an expert in such matters and can perhaps educate me a bit further. The quality of the fish was prefectly acceptable.

Lacking a great batter, this was fairly bland. The saving grace was the malt vinegar.

The waffle cut fries looked really pale, but stood up for the entire meal. The coleslaw was tasteless.

Overall, not great, not bad…..

A few days later, I was pretty tired, and wanted some Ceviche to perk me up. But for some reason, La Playita was closed. I decided to give the ceviche($8.95) at Big Fish a whirl.

This version came with those multi-colored mass produced tortilla chips instead of the usual crackers or tostadas. The bowl was pretty hefty in weight, but man this was bland. The shrimp seemed like they were blanched in water, and the pieces of fish though well "cooked" in texture and color, had very little flavor. As you can see, it was also pretty dry…… This was obviously no La Playita.

For some reason, a week later I found myself back at the counter of Big Fish wondering what I was doing here. I decided to march forward and ordered the fish tacos($8.75):

Geeez, it had everything but the kitchen sink on it. Again the panko crust was a bit greasy, but one thing for sure, with panko you can't hide a little pinkie sized sliver of fish in batter. The "creamy chipotle sauce" was more like a slightly, very slightly spicy, thousand island dressing, and the usual cabbage was replaced by salsa fresca. I used up the two limes and ended up going through two little cups of the salsa. Again the waffle cut fries seemed a bit pale, but held up rather well.

In the end, Big Fish provides on several levels; it is "gringo safe", un-offending food. Perhaps a bit bland to my palate, but may be perfectly fine for yours. The seafood seems to be of decent quality, and the portion sizes and prices are good. The service is unabashedly male, and ranged from friendly, to grunts and nods.

Big Fish Sea Grill
4706 Clairemont Mesa Boulevard (In the Diane Village Shopping Center)
San Diego, CA 92117

Open 10am to 9pm daily
858-490-2205

Postscript: It seems like the Clairemont Mesa, Diane Avenue area, has a few new additions:

A post is coming soon…….

Has it been four years already?

May 26, 2009 mmm-yoso yoso-silly

For some reason, I always think that May 27th is our Blogga-versary…….and luckily, every year I check, to find that "gasp!!!" it's actually May 26th. So yes, it's Spam Musubi time again:

Yes, another year, with great food, great fun, and wonderful FOYs (friends of yoso)! Hard to believe. In a world where things change so quickly, I think that for better or worse, we've kinda stayed the same. What started as a way for the Missus and I to keep track of, and share what we ate, our little food-diary of sorts has grown a bit, with FOYs like Cathy and Ed from Yuma providing much more food and color. And posts listing places ranging far and wide, not only San Diego, Yuma, and SoCal…but from Detroit and Madison, to Seattle and Portland, to Peru and Laos. But it's still a bunch of folks just eating and writing about it. It has been a great four years. I'm hoping that the next year will be a great one as well. I'd like to keep going until I run out of candle space on the musubi!!!

I'm a bit curious…… if you've been reading regularly; I'm wondering how long have you been an FOY?

A most humble thank you for reading, commenting…. and especially for taking the time out to check us out!