mmm-yoso – Page 496 – 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.

Tacos from David’s Carneceria: Yuma

April 3, 2008 ed fromyuma Taco Shops, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

This is not Kirk, not Cathy, not anybody else but ed (from Yuma) here to share some tacos with you.

About a month ago I got an e-mail from my good friends and eating buddies, Paul and Joanie, raving about the tacos from the stand located at David’s Carneceria. I was embarrassed. It is my job to try every taco stand I can find, and while I had noticed this stand, I had not yet sampled it. I had been scooped.

Since Yuma does not allow roadside taco trucks within the city limits, the taco stand sits in the parking lot of a small market on Avenue B specializing in Mexican meats:

The set up is very convenient. There is a charcoal grill behind the tree and a series of small tables running alongside the market. For a small stand, this place cranks out a whole lot of tacos. I have stood waiting for my order on more than one occasion while two overworked employees take orders (sometimes for dozens of tacos) and prepare tacos as fast as they can:

The tacos (here one carnitas, one lengua, and one pollo asado) are presented plain:

However, a wide range of salsas, condiments, pickled vegetables, and grilled vegetables are available to complete the tacos:

When finished, the plate of tacos looks like this:

Or like this:

I am very fond of the lengua, its tongue flavor lightly spiced and cooked to falling apart tenderness:

Other meats are also available. Like the lengua, the Cabeza is cooked until it shreds, and each tender bite is full of juicy beefiness:

The carnitas, not as crunchy as I would like, is plenty porky and chewy and matches well with the guacamole:

Chicharrones, or stewed pork skin, is not for the faint of heart (or the narrow of artery), but if you have always wished for mouthfuls of lightly pork flavored and smoothly textured fat (and who hasn’t?) This is the dish for you:

The carne asada here is lightly marinated, beefy, tender, and lightly charred for a perfect flavor. Here it is, along with some cheese, in a burrito:

Just a note. The pollo asado here is really outstanding also, with a nice char and moist interior. I just had no outstanding (or even acceptable) close-ups of the chicken. Hope you have enjoyed the post. I certainly have been enjoying the tacos. Thanks and a tip of the floppy hat to FOYs Paul and Joanie.

David’s Carneceria, 191 S. Ave B, Yuma, 783-7221 (phone number for market; no phone at the stand).

Chili Cheese Fries- Compare and Contrast…

April 2, 2008 Cathy Chains, What Cathy Eats!, yoso-silly

mmm-yoso!!! is a blog. About "food". Sometimes we stretch the definition of "food" and "meals" we ate. This is one of those times.

Hi. Cathy here again, with a kind of "research" food post. All done with the purpose of informing you, our dear readers, about some sort of food item…

The following are ranked in ascending order.

It seems everyone is offering chili cheese fries as a side, or as a meal lately and I thought I would give you my take on this kind of meal or side dish. So, lets start out with the "original" in a sense…Weinerschintzel. As you can see, in order to fully enjoy the meal at "Der Schnitz", we indulged in corn dogs and a chili dog (the beef one: I went crazy with my tax refund this year and decided to spring for it) topped with mustard and onions. Let’s just say the chili is…um…’meaty’, with many chunks of the same shape and size of ‘meat’ in it….very manufactured. You can see the cheese is not melted (but that eventually happened) and the fries are…skinny and not crispy. Not my favorite. But, for $1.59, what should I expect? I do love the Tastee Freeze ice cream and shakes here, though.

Del Taco has jumped into the fray and is offering a $1 off coupon to try the Chili Cheddar fries, making the final price about $1.50. I do like the Del Taco quesedillas because they are made with Cheddar…and the cheese part of this meal was indeed excellent. The fries stayed crispy. The chili was OK, not too spicy ( I ended up adding some hot sauce after a while) and the overall effect was that I thought if I was at Del Taco, I should get something a bit more ‘Mexican’ in style to eat here…although, as you can see, I got a burger to round out the flavors…

Now, the most popular ad campaign going. Carl’s Jr and the Chili Cheese Fry extravaganza. Messy, sloppy, all over your face.

The fries stayed crispy, the cheese is real and good…and the chili- it is hot dog chili, Coney Island chili…*really* good chili. I could eat a bowl of this stuff with some oyster crackers and be *very* happy.

As a side order, $2.79- and worth it. But, I saw that you can substitute for an additional charge with any Combo meal. Lovely stuff.

I could not help but mention a similar "meal" based with fries that you can purchase for a mere $2.89 at In-N-Out. It is the only reason you get the hermetically sealed fork/salt napkin packet.

Yes.

Animal Fries.

Not on the menu you look at. You must know there is a "Secret Menu", right ?(Hint: Google "In-N-Out Secret Menu")

Why do these fries taste superior? In-N-Out does not have a freezer. The potatoes are cut fresh- you can watch the people doing it before they dump them into the fryer.

The fries are topped cheese. It melts. Then topped with grilled onions. Crispy, burned grilled onions…so that sort of helps with a "chili" flavor, since onions are part of the base of chili…right??

Then all of it is topped with the sauce that is normally used on the burgers. Pretty much a nice, fresh Thousand Island-ish sauce…relish and that pinky-peachy salad dressing.

All good. Some better. Hope you are having a nice middle of the week.

Giant New York Pizza- You can get other food here too!

April 1, 2008 mmm-yoso Pizza, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is our blog. Kirk is away and the rest of us are playing. Right now, Cathy is writing about a quick meal.

Hello again. I was going to get creative for this start of April post, but am overwhelmingly busy and so am just going to show you last night’s dinner.

Giant New York Pizza. You’ve seen them around town.

You can get a 48 inch diameter pie with three items for about $28. You need a pick up truck with a gate to bring it home because the box won’t fit in the passenger door. Or you can just get a couple of giant slices. $2.25 each. This photo is in a large pizza box.

Then there is the gyros. Kind of looks small in the photo, but it is overfilled with meat and sauce, onions and tomatoes. For some reason, there was lettuce yesterday. It tasted very good, moist meat, cut fresh from the spit. The tzatziki is good and fresh.

(Remember my "there are no rules" when it comes to food mantra? There is no reason you can’t ask for your pizza to have gyros meat on it you know…I mean the meat is right there next to the pizza oven. Try it.)

This was a $5 sandwich, big enough to share. Too much food with a pizza slice.

Yep, that was our meal- hot, fresh, good. Less than $10.

I love the Greek salad here also, you know, when I want greens. Yesterday, I wanted food.

Sorry so short, more tomorrow.

Giant New York Pizza. Numerous locations in San Diego County

The Pita Pit- a new franchise out here

March 31, 2008 Cathy Chains, What Cathy Eats!

The Pita Pit is closed.

mmm-yoso!!! is a blog about food and you get to vicariously enjoy-or not- what Kirk and/or his Friends ate. Today, once more, it is Cathy talking about a small meal she had.

Yep, Cathy here. Kirk is still gone. You get me and a meal, again.

So, anyhow, if you own a home in San Diego County and don't have an escrow account, you have to pay your Real Estate Tax to the County Assessor's office. If you actually drive to the Office, this place is in the plaza right next door. It is new and a franchise. Editor's Note: There is a location on College Aveneue near SDSU and also one on Mission Boulevard in the beach area, according to the website link below. Cathy's Note: It was new to me.

The Pita Pit- "Open and Rollin' " it says on the door.

Interesting concept.

This is a copy of the fax menu.

Kind of a Subway sandwich shop with pita (white or wheat) or put all the toppings onto lettuce and make it a salad.

Standard toppings include: shredded lettuce, romaine, spinach, tomatoes, onions, green peppers, cucumbers, pickles, black olives, pineapple, pepperocini, sprouts, mushrooms and jalapenos.

Cheese choices are: Cheddar, American Swiss, Feta and Parmesan.

Sauces are: Cesar, Tzatziki, ranch, spicy vinaigrette, mayo, BBQ, sour cream, hot sauce, teriyaki, catsup, mustard (yellow, honey or Dijon), salsa, horseradish Dijon and chipotle.

The various meat pitas to choose from are: gyros, turkey, Black Forest ham, roast beef, chicken breast, bacon, chicken souvlaki and tuna . Pretty much any combination is available. Prices are around $6.25.

For an added charge you can get hummus, babaganoush, double meat or double cheese.

My only mistake was treating the pita with gyros like it was a pita with gyros.

You can see it in the white bread here, not as stuffed as the whole wheat chicken souvlaki.

I only wanted gyros with feta, onion, tomato and tzatziki and that was what I got. The meat and also the sauce was kind of dry: the pita bread had a wonderful fresh flavor though, as did the meat. I should have chosen more toppings. The meat was flavorful, but not juicy. It was pre-sliced thin and fried until warm and almost crispy, so no juiciness that sometimes happens with an unevenly cut off the spit piece of meat was evident.

The sandwich was, however, not sparse in the amount of meat on it. Very filling.

I suppose I complain because I compare.

The Mister got the chicken souvlaki with feta, lettuce, tomatoes, green pepper, cucumber and the "secret" sauce (which is a spicy vinaigrette). This was an excellent sandwich that was full, moist and tasty.

I will go back, but will more or less think of the food here as sandwiches in a bread pocket rather than a pita, per se. Despite the name above the door.

The Pita Pit 9119 G Clairmont Mesa Boulevard ( in the mall with San Diego County Credit Union) 92111 phone: (858) 560-7482 fax:(858)567-7482 M-F: 8 a.m.-8p.m, Sat/Sun 10-8

Website

Chulo’s Food Truck-Mariscos, tacos and caldos!

March 27, 2008 Cathy Seafood, Taco Shops, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the food blog. A little peek into an anonymous diary of what Kirk and some of his friends ate. Kirk is gone. Cathy is here. Today, you can read what Cathy ate. Or not.

Hi. No, Kirk is not back yet.

So anyhow, I was driving North on 54th, to meet some friends who live on Easy Street. Really. San Diego 92105. Easy Street. People live there. Not me, though.

At the signal light of 54th and Redwood, I was waiting and saw this Food Truck. I made a mental note (since I didn’t have a pen) and on my way home, I was hungry, remembered and drove to it.

Technically, it is on the feeder road on the Northeast corner. You can’t miss it, no other businesses on the other corners.

I parked and walked up and looked at the menu.

Very cool- mostly seafood, except for the menudo, Carne Asada and Chorizo.

I decided on the fish taco for 99¢ and the camaron quesedilla $5- but my total charge was $7. Exactly. So maybe the listed prices are wrong, or something else… doesn’t matter.

There was a table with three chairs under the awning attached to the truck and there were a plethora of different hot sauces to choose from, along with bottled and canned beverages in ice.

I did recall seeing a line of people waiting to order and eat here last year when I was visiting my friends . Since this truck was still here, it must be pretty good, I thought to myself while waiting.

So, I ordered, put some money in the tip jar and the nice gentleman asked me if I would like some seafood caldo (soup) while I waited…of course!

A rich tomato based broth with onions and celery and chunks of fish in my portion. Excellent, deep flavor.

I had to wait a bit for the food to be finished cooking, but did not mind.

It was fascinating to see the cocteles the other people had ordered and were eating. Not overly large, but they appeared to be fresh made.

This was my fish taco. Not great, but not bad…for 99¢. I won’t complain.

The quesedilla was the best surprise ever. There were 15 juicy fresh quite large shrimp which were sauteed with sweet red onions and green peppers, slightly burned from the pan frying, on a huge, very cheese filled tortilla. It was heavy with filling and cut into 5 pieces.

I am *so* very happy I stopped here. I was hungry and knew I needed to get something interesting for the blog.

Mental Note: Do this more often…just stop and eat.

Chulos Food Truck 54th at Redwood (North East corner) San Diego 92105

Los Palmitos- A Very Good Taco Shop-and quick lunch

March 26, 2008 Cathy Taco Shops, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog, written by Kirk and friends, about places we eat, what we eat, and what we thought of it. For a short while Kirk is on a vacation, so the friends are taking over.

Hi. Cathy here, with yet another taco shop to blog about.

Los Palmitos is in the same mall as La Playita, just more able to be seen from Clairmont Mesa Boulevard. (It is in the same mall where the Smart N Final is located).
The Mister and I have looked at it so very many times before, but always have been craving ceviche or some other type of coctel when we are in the area and never bothered stopping here. However one day, we did. There is only a menu above the cash registers-no take out menu- and I didn’t get to snap a photo of it.
The prices are no better nor worse than other taco shops, and there is a nice seafood selection- ceviche, fish tacos, burritos and seafood soups.

When you order to eat there, you get chips and can take more advantage of the salsa bar.
The chips are made here, and are thicker than prepackaged corn chips, fresh and not too greasy. There are three salsas to choose from, none so hot as to affect the taste buds and the mildest one was very tomato sauce-y flavored. The grilled chile was wonderful and the carrots and onions were nicely heat-spiced.
I did feel I needed a ceviche camaron tostada ($2.95)
the fish and shrimp tasted freshly marinated and were juicy and plump. The sauce consisted of finely chopped jalapeno and cucumber, onion, tomato and cilantro, all very fresh and crispy. It was all topped with sliced avocado and the tostada was placed on top of some sliced lettuce, so if some marinade dripped off, the tostada would stay crisp, a thoughtful, professional touch.

The Mister got the #2 Combination ($6.95)
At first, I thought the price was kind of high for a taco shop combination. But this combo consisted of:
-a chile relleno, freshly made- a California chile, stuffed with jack cheese, then dipped in egg batter and fried and then topped with a sauce just for the chile.
-a freshly made cheese enchilada, a medium sharp flavorful cheddar cheese filling a thick, very fresh tasting corn tortilla, topped with its own enchilada sauce, some really nice rice and really, really good, not watery, but very flavorful refried beans. Lots of food. Way much. We shared.

Everyone else eating here were getting soups and tacos, so we knew we would have to go back very soon to see what that was about. More about that later. You can try it now and not be disappointed.

Los Palmitos 5185 Clairmont Mesa Boulevard (at Limerick) San Diego 92117

Mimi’s Cafe, a very good ch-ch-chain!

March 25, 2008 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Chains, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog written by Kirk and Friends. As you all know, Kirk and His Missus are on vacation and Cathy is your blogger.

Hello. Hope you aren’t too traumatized that Kirk is away from San Diego for a little while. I am just trying to keep the blog going, with talks of food I ate.

The Mister and I got a gift card from a friend for Christmas and the other night we were hungry and didn’t want to spend any cash, so we ventured into "downtown" Santee and went to Mimi’s, a nationwide chain. We had never been and had not heard anything bad about it, and quite a few people had told us they liked it here. We wanted to try everything on the menu, and decided on a variety of things to share.

Almost as soon as we sat down, a basket of warm, fresh crusty white bread and some slices of warm date nut bread and a serving of butter were placed on our table. We tasted as we perused the menu.

The bread is excellent, as is the date nut loaf. Both very fresh. The date nut loaf is moist and the nuts are crispy and the dates are not sticky.

I noticed the other tables also had mismatched colors of plates, but the silverware did all match…unlike some other restaurants we have been to.

I wasn’t sure what to order and the soup and petite salad "Small Bite" looked good ($9.39) It came with a choice of freshly baked muffin, so a carrot raisin nut muffin was ordered. It came out fresh from the oven, had good, deep flavor, a crispy crust (I like crusts and edges of breads, casseroles, and just about everything I eat). It was also..um..huge.

I chose the French Onion Soup , because I could smell the cooked onions when I walked in the door of the restaurant and suddenly had a craving for it.
The broth was deep and rich and tasted as if it had been simmered for days to get every last taste of beef from a bone.

It was topped with a nutty tasting Gruyere cheese that was melted and burned so perfectly. Of course under the cheese and on top of the soup was a nicely toasted slice of bread that stayed crispy for a while until it absorbed some broth. This was an excellent soup.

We ordered the golden fried calamari "fritti" style ($ 8.49) which you will note is not on a current menu since the menu changes "seasonally", which, near as I can tell, is every six weeks or so. Fried calamari tossed with garlic butter, green onions and sliced cherry and banana peppers. It was served with a citrus based remoulade and was very, very good. If it is on the menu when you go, do try it.

The Mister got the Half Pound Burger ($7.79) with optional onion rings for an additional 50¢ as the side. He asked for it to be cooked medium rare, and it was! (There has been much frustration when we ask for medium rare and the meat is never cooked that way)

Served with lettuce,tomato, pickle and a thousand island sauce, on a fresh toasted hearty, nicely chewy white bread bun, it was excellent.

The salad I chose was the Bleu cheese and walnut salad, which had dried cranberries, bacon, tomatoes and strawberries in it. It was tossed with a balsamic vinaigrette and though it looked small, was very filling.

Last week I went to lunch with a friend (Mrs. L) and ordered the Pot Roast sandwich for lunch ($8.99). Warm pot roast served on a warm sourdough baguette simply made with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise. Excellent flavors! I opted for the 50¢ extra onion rings, which were batter fried crispy and had excellent flavor. Sweet onions…

Mrs. L is so kind and thoughtful and decided I needed dessert…but to share, you know, and she let me pick. So as soon as I saw Bananas Foster Mud Pie ($5) listed, I smiled…

Oh yes, it is as large as it looks- more than 6 inches high at its peak. Banana-vanilla swirl ice cream, with sliced bananas in it; caramelized pecans, a graham cracker crust, served with a sliced fresh banana, real whipped cream and carmel sauce. Excellent. We could not finish it all, although I did finish up the bananas and whipped cream…

All in all, the food here has been excellent, fresh and has an attention to detail. I do not consider it to be "Sysco-ised" at all and have liked everything I have tried. Many people tell me they come here for a sit down breakfast (it opens at 6 a.m.) and I do know it is a french roast coffee served. I will return and won’t be afraid.

Mimi’s Cafe website

The Fish Bucket Seafood Market and Grotto- Great Seafood in Tierrasanta

March 23, 2008 Cathy Seafood, What Cathy Eats!

Fish Bucket Grill is under new ownership: New Website

mmm-yoso is just a blog. Really. It's about food. Sometimes we tell you how we happened to stop and eat at a particular place, or why we found it, and sometimes we just write about a meal. While Kirk and His Missus are on their adventurous vacation, Cathy is writing about …you know…food.

Hello again. I am back…So, anyhow, I had occasion to be in Tierrasanta very early one morning and saw this place, on Santo Road, just off the 52, next to the Post Office. It is kind of new-opened in late December. I made a mental note to come back when the business was open.

So one day, it was lunch time. I decided to get the Fish and Chips, to go.

I only got the 1/2 order, (1/4 pound of fresh fish) with the spicy salted waffle fries for $5.95. You can substitute sweet potato fries for an additional $1.50, but I wanted to try a "basic" meal here.

As you can see, a very good serving size. Four large pieces of hand breaded with panko fresh fish, fried to a golden brown, a good serving of fries which were still crispy when I got home, a pretty large serving of cole slaw and a half slice of grilled garlic-butter bread.

As I was waiting, I snapped a photo of the fresh fish in the refrigerator. Prices are comparable to Anthony's and Point Loma Seafoods. Very fresh fish; no fishy smells in here.

I had to bring The Mister back one day and sit inside for a meal. We chose the Grilled Salmon Caesar salad ($9.95)- two salmon filets lightly charbroiled. The lettuce was Romaine and the dressing was good and garlicky and creamy, but I don't think made in house. The croutons were packaged and unnecessary and the grilled garlic bread was wonderful, crispy and fresh. A filling salad.

The Mister got the Fish and Shrimp plate ($11.95)- the panko breaded fried fresh fish and light lightly panko breaded fried shrimp, which were very large and juicy and quite flavorful. There were 6 shrimp and four pieces of fish on the plate.

All the fish served is fresh and when they are out, they are out. It is worth the stop to come here to eat.

Only seven tables inside and one outside and there was a sign on the awning about a Sunday Champagne Brunch, which I will be looking into very soon.

The Fish Bucket Seafood Market and Grotto 6030 Santo Road, Suite G, San Diego 92124 (858) 715-0221

It’s that time again……

March 22, 2008 mmm-yoso Travel

The Missus and I are headed out…….and mmm-yoso!!! is once again in the most capable hands of Cathy! I need to thank Cathy, for taking the time out, and taking care of our little blog….she’s quite busy, and is still finding time for us.

So, where are we headed?

Well, Miss Oishii Eats has been there. Wandering Chopsticks as well. So has the Gastronomer. And of course, there are those bloggers who live and blog from there as well.

I’ll be checking in when I’m able to!

See you all in a few weeks…we’ll miss ya’!

Taqueria El Chipilon 2: A World of Tacos

March 19, 2008 ed fromyuma Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

Kirk is the wonderful host and main writer here at mmm-yoso!!! , but he lets others play in his sandbox too. Today ed (from Yuma) is here to tell you that more than just vampires lurk at this Taqueria.

Just wanted to do a quick post about the huge taqueria where I found the vampire tacos in San Luis, Sonora. Usually we think of getting tacos at stands, trucks, and carts. Of course, you can also get tacos at most Mexican restaurants, but real restaurants have all kinds of other things on the menu. El Chipilon is remarkable for being a large restaurant that serves primarily just tacos.

On my last visit there, the pollo asado taco was exceptionally flavorful, though you can’t tell that from this picture:

The chicken had a wonderful flavor, a hint of char, and a moist and succulent interior. Much better than the rather undistinguished version I had had previously. A quick visit to the charcoal grill showed me why the taco was so much better that day:

That afternoon the chicken came straight off the grill and onto my taco. From this next pic, You can see that this taqueria prepares meats in vast quantities, so the quality of any item will vary depending on how long it has been on hold:

The positive side to this mass production is that the cooks can satisfy 50 to 60 tables full of hungry partiers all at once, chopping up the meats with skill and speed:

Friends tell me that the place is busiest and completely packed at 2:30 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights (more precisely, on Saturday and Sunday mornings). After all, what better way to end an evening of drinking and clubbing (and the drinking age in Mexico is 18) than to have a few great tacos?

And of course, all the tacos come with the wheel of condiments (and grilled veggies and house salsa):

Along with vampire tacos, this place does one other unique and distinctive taco – the Super Taco Chipilon:

Basically, just a cheese and carne asada soft taco (which is called a caramelo taco – see this link (thanks Alex)), this Super Taco Chipilon is loaded with moist and flavorful beef, and the white cheese lays atop a roasted green chile. What’s not to like? The combination of mild white cheese, carne asada, and green chile all enfolded by a yellow corn tortilla – with its touch of natural corn sweetness – provides a nice balance of contrastive flavors.

As good as these two types of tacos are, my favorite non-vampire at El Chipilon is their version of al pastor:

They don’t skimp on the meat. Most al pastor in Yuma is done with a dry rub, but this succulent pork flesh is carmelized and almost glazed and has a slightly sweet flavor note that surprised me the first time that I tasted it. It was only later, when I looked at this close up of the meat, that I began to speculate about the origins of this style of al pastor with its distinctive flavor:

Doesn’t this look a lot like Chinese barbecued pork – if it had been cooked over open flames? I’m not saying that al pastor estilo El Chipilon is unique, because I’ve eaten similar looking Mexican pork before, but the hints of sweetness in this meat made me wonder if there might be some Asian connection. Someone more knowledgeable than me has pointed out the profound influences that Mexican and Chinese food have had on each other along Mexico’s northern border with its large Chinese population. Some claim that Chinese cooks invented the chimichanga, so maybe it isn’t too fantastic to suggest that this shepherd style pork, which is often cooked on a Lebanese style spit, sometimes exhibits the finishing touch of some Asian pig herder (which seems appropriate considering that no one has ever shepherded pigs). Small world really.

How are the prices at El Chipilon? Well, no prices are listed on the menu, and I didn’t do any bargaining before ordering, so I suspect we paid the gringo rate. Nonetheless, 16 tacos (8 deluxe and 8 regular), 4 Pacificos, an order of beans, and a large jamaica came to $30 American. Seems fair to me.