mmm-yoso – Page 519 – 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.

The Steam Table at 99Ranch- dinner!

May 24, 2007 Cathy Chains, Chinese Restaurants, Markets & Grocers, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is the name of the blog. Welcome. Cathy is talking about food while Kirk is on vacation. I think he’ll be back tomorrow, though.

Hi. Me again. Kirk is still away. I imagine since this is the Friday before Memorial Day weekend, most of you are away and not reading this post until you are back at work. Hope it was nice for you.

It appears, through the magic of blogging, that The Mister and I pretty much wander about town with a camera and eat out a lot at sit down waiter/waitress type places. Actually, The Mister and I cook at home a lot, and Kirk and His Missus cook at home also…look at the recipe index at the bottom of the left column of this page.

Then there are the lazy days. Pick it up and bring it home…or pick it up and eat it there. 99Ranch has that steam table area of the store. We were there tonight.

Two bags of steam tray food. It is three meals for the two of us, easily.

The whole fried or soy sauce chicken is on sale this week for $3.99. They will chop it up for you. This is the fried one. The skin wasn’t as crispy as I would like, but the chicken meat is moist and flavorful and…it is only $3.99. It comes with a sauce that has 5 spice in it.

We got a two item combo($4.25) 99ranch_002 with steamed rice

The spicy salted fish and the soy sauce pork with soy sauce hard boiled eggs. The spicy salt and pepper crust is wonderful, light and crispy, as is the (mostly boneless) flaky fresh fish. The pork had a nice layer of fat on it , was soft and tender and flavorful and was not overly soy-sauce salty. The egg was nicely hard boiled and fresh and not salty either. A good, deep, rich soy flavor. I just got an email from Bill and he said it may be brown sugar sauce with fish sauce, which, upon opening the fridge and tasting it cold (at 4:40 in the morning) tastes very slightly sweet and again not salty. So it couldbe brown sugar and fish sauce. Let’s just say it is good pork and hard boiled egg in a thin brown colored sauce. The meat is tasty as is the egg and we liked it.

The combos come with soup (they gave us two- it was almost closing time). Today it was egg drop, with for some reason, one piece of corn in each bowl, and the requisite spork to use for both the soup and meal, although chopsticks are available.

We also wanted to try the chicken roll ($3)

Ground chicken and rice with light spices wrapped in fried tofu skin. Very nice here. It comes with a spicy sweet and sour sauce.

We also got the 4 piece ‘summer roll’ from the bakery area ($3.99) . Rice paper wrapped around chilled rice noodles, shrimp, lettuce and mint with a peanutty dipping sauce- always refreshing.

That’s it. Not too exciting a post, eh? Well,you know, sometimes I just like to eat some fresh food without having to cook. Not everything in my life is overly interesting, although I do share with you when it is.

There are Monday-Friday specials for $2.29 at lunch. Oh and breakfast specials also. Always fresh. There is a large eating area adjacent to the steam tray line. Across from the steam trays they sell beverages and soups. All of the 99 Ranch markets have a steam tray food area. Try it. It’s good.

Again, have a good Memorial Day weekend.

99 Ranch Market 7380 Clairmont Mesa Boulevard San Diego 92111 website

Road Trip-A long drive to eat all I could- Sunset Station Las Vegas- and visit the Pinball Hall of Fame.

May 23, 2007 Cathy Buffets, Las Vegas, Road Trip, What Cathy Eats!, yoso-silly

mmm-yoso is the blog. The bloggers are Kirk and friends. Kirk is on vacation. Cathy took a short vacation also and here is her accounting of a day in her life.

Before I start this post, I would like to take this opportunity to thank whomever thought up/invented the money losing proposition called Satellite Radio.

So, my brother (hereafter referred to as "Mr. Bally", because he asked me to) was going to be in Las Vegas for some sort of business trip two weeks ago. He told me like three days ahead of time. This has happened before.

I asked what day he would be free from business so that we could have lunch together and Tuesday was the day. I left Santee at 9 a.m. , just after traffic had cleared.

I drove. Yes. Here is the usual view when almost out of Escondido and into Temecula, just past Lawrence Welk Land.

I drove, stopped at a Starbucks someplace for coffee and then just drove.

I was alone and so I didn’t want to stop and eat. Besides, we were going to have a late lunch. Mr. Bally was staying at a company paid hotel (read: Holiday Inn Express) and I met him there.

We drove to Sunset station. It is one of the Station Casinos that are popular with the locals in Las Vegas. I do prefer the luxurious Green Valley Ranch casino out of all of the ones Station has to offer when I travel to Las Vegas and stay overnight. Then again, I don’t have an expense account and usually do not bother to stay overnight. (It was a 4 1/2 hour drive one way).

So, anyhow, we ate. Here are photos:

The buffet was $12.95 each (it was dinner time by the time we got there) and there is an option of an additional $6 for your choice of a steak, pound of crab legs or pound of chilled shrimp. We opted for the shrimp:

You will notice there are no dessert plates. I was tired, we were full and I had a long drive ahead of me.

But, there was one place we *had* to go to- Pinball Hall of Fame– It is run by one of the brothers who ran the most popular Pinball Arcades (Pinball Pete’s) in Ann Arbor and East Lansing starting back in 1970. It was very nostalgic for Mr. Bally and I. There are about 200 pinball machines in the building in a sort of run down mall just off Pecos, out of his 1200 machine collection. Photos:

There is a great article in the May 21 2007 edition of Forbes Magazine, describing the operation and its costs and that the Hall of Fame is a 501(c)3 organization (a non-profit) that donates all of the money made from the machines to The Salvation Army.

It was just a fun place to go, re-live some great memories and I got to spend time with my brother and then drive home.

There it is. Another day in my life. If some of you are taking Friday off, I hope you have a nice Memorial Day Holiday and weekend. For the rest of us, I’ll still be posting about something.

Sunset Station Casino website

Pinball Hall of Fame Museum 3330 East Tropicana at Pecos website

Tea Houses- Boba- Snacks? Why has this been kept secret?

May 22, 2007 Cathy Caffeine Fix, Dim Sum, Sandwiches, Stuff, What Cathy Eats!, yoso-silly

mmm-yoso is not on vacation. That is the name of the blog, silly. Cathy is a-blogging and Kirk is taking a much needed rest, and really is on vacation.

Oh, I am sooo the White Girl on this blog…I had no idea exactly how Caucasian I was. Sure, I had the whole "chee fee" incident, and I didn’t know sago were the same as boba and…well, I didn’t know much about boba…and, I had seen "tea houses" and "tapioca drinks" and figured ‘eh, Asian Starbucks wanna-be’s’. Really. I figured those ‘tea’ places served hot tea and those silly boba drinks. Lots of young Asian kids hang out there; I saw some drinks coming out in plastic cups and also figured well…you do know the signs say "Starbucks Coffee", right? So it must be the same- tea and those boba drinks and Starbucks makes coffee and all those frou frou drinks. No big deal.

ANYHOW…Years ago, from the place inside 99 Ranch, I got a tea and milk and ‘pearl’ drink and it was good tasting, although I thought chewing on the giant boba (tapioca pearls) was kind of like chewing on snot, albeit flavorless snot, but the boba part held not much fascination to me…I love tapioca pudding, but the actual boba in a beverage…eh. Well, I liked the tea part, then the milk and there was a lot a lot of liquid sugar…and I don’t like sweet.

Then there was an epiphany. I was having lunch with Mr. C, at Bolsa on Mira Mesa.

and we had our ‘standard’ Pho stuff:

and we started talking about boba drinks. In my mind I was thinking, ‘oh yeah, sweet stuff with snot chewies on the bottom’. However Mr. C has never steered me wrong, and he started telling me that the place in the same mall as Bolsa, Tapioca Heaven, had the *best* milk tea boba of anywhere. So, I was polite. I had the milk tea at Tapioca Heaven and it was *wonderful*. It tasted like …tea…with milk…and there was a choice of boba to put in it- regular brown, small brown, green and strawberry. You could ask for no sweetener. Who knew?

The most fascinating thing I noticed at first inside of Tapioca Heaven was that they had free wi-fi. Hello!

Then I noticed something else, much more important- they have snacks. Fried snacks. Inexpensive fried snacks. But Mr. C and I had just finished a nice lunch at Bolsa and I didn’t want to eat any more, even a snack.

and so, I wrote Kirk a note. "Why haven’t I heard of these places that sell boba drinks with snacks?" I asked. "They are wonderful- so much more fun than a Starbucks, which does fascinating high calorie coffee based beverages and sells some ‘meh’ tasting sweets and sandwiches, but by no means sell fried goodies".

The reply, from The Missus, was "Oh boba, that is so last century".

Ahem.

So anyhow, I was on a quest. Since Mr. C had told me that the boba milk tea at Tapioca Heaven was the best, I decided to make that my standard…to see if any tasted better anywhere else. Of course, I needed to try snacks also.

So The Mister and I went to Tapioca Express. See, it used to be next to Bolsaa-on Convoy. Bolsaa isn’t there any more, so you won’t be confused. It is going to become some Cajun-y place in the summer.

When you walk into Tapioca Express, the wall is lined with the menu of beverage choices. At the register, where you order and pay, were two typewritten pieces of paper with a menu. The Mister and I had to try a bit of everything.

Chicken nuggets, chicken wings, fried squid, all with a choice of no spice, medium or hot. (we tried all three,the no spice was great and the medium was good too, the hot was just a little too much in the sense that you couldn’t taste the chicken as well as with the medium spice). Steamed pork dumplings and also fried donut holes with both whipped cream and also a vanilla cream dipping sauce. Each of these snacks were less than $4 each. This is wonderful snacking- or a meal. I saw one guy with something that looked like loco moco and I will go back to try that.

Next we went to K Sandwiches, got a boba milk tea, hot milk coffee and fresh squeezed orange juice.

Also, since we were at K…I got a pate chaud; its only $1 and so flaky and fresh and filled with a wonderful pork pate mixture. A friend, who was born in France and is working out here, said it is very authentic and good.

We also got a BBQ pork Bahn Mi ( think it is Number 9 on the menu) for $3.69. Here is a cross section view of both.

Snacks, free wi fi and boba drinks. Fascination.

So, the other day The Mister and I went to the Tea Station on Clairmont Mesa. Its in the same mall as Lolita’s and Teri Cafe and that Pho place everyone says they go to.

They have sit down service inside, and a menu .

We sat down and were waited on! At the other places you would walk up and pay and wait for your drink, kind of like Starbucks.

We tried the tea flavored dumplings ($6.50)

The flavors were different between the green ones and white ones both the dumpling and the filling, but you can see in the second photo (click- all the photos enlarge) a cross section and that the dumplings were quite meaty and full, very fresh and I believe one was chicken and the other pork. They were delici-yoso!

We also had to try the fried spicy chicken ($4.50)

Lightly crispy, nice spice (you can tell them the level of spice you want). Fresh. Great. Gosh, it’s adult chicken nuggets!

Tea flavored spiced pork slices ($6.50), served with 3 side dishes, it says…either they figured we could not count because we were White, or rice is one of the sides. Whatever. Plenty of food.

Oh, and we got beverages…

Boba_011

So, anyhow, the secret is out. Tea, milk tea, boba, not Starbucks…all with free wi fi and snacks…fried snacks.

We have now gone to many of the tea places around town, not always with a camera…and we try the fried chicken at least. Nothing has been bad or disappointing.

Some of the beverages are unusual- sesame, lavender, rose, yogurt..just about everything Starbucks doesn’t have. { Snow ice, or snow bubbles are merely finely *fine* shaved ice with flavoring-kind of a Slushee®, for the White folks out there.}

Tapioca Heaven definitely had the most tea-tasting milk tea, but getting any of the beverages without sweetener helps.

Oh, and now I kind of enjoy chewing on those tapioca snot-like things….it’s part of the whole "boba experience"

Tapioca Heaven Cafe 9225 Mira Mesa Boulevard Suite 115 San Diego 92126

Tapioca Express 4646 Convoy, #106B San Diego 92111 (858) 363-9889 website

Tea Station 7315 Clairmont Mesa Boulevard San Diego 92111 (858)268-8198website

Grillions Homestyle Grilling-Healthy, Mediterranean or American Style- your choice!

May 21, 2007 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Grillions has closed.

mmm-yoso: the name of the blog. Kirk: the main guy who writes here. Cathy: one of the friends who helps out when Kirk is on vacation, or just doesn't want to write or writes when she has something to say. Today: Cathy writing because Kirk is on vacation…but she also has something to say.

Good day, and short week before the Memorial Day weekend. Hope all is going well for you. I'm fine and have a new place to tell you about. This place has only been open a week as of today, as a matter of fact. It's called "Grillions" and we like it! Saturday, when The Mister and I were having a late lunch at Wired, we walked out and saw a "Grand Opening" sign on what used to be Daily's, the heart-healthy restaurant at Renaissance Towne Centre Mall, just southeast of UTC .

Daily's had been around more than ten years, started by a UCSD Cardiologist, to give his patients and friends tasty, heart healthy meals and it was quite popular. I am not sure what happened, but it is gone, and Grillions is now here. The Mister went in, grabbed a menu and said it wasn't very crowded. Next door, Le Peep was overcrowded with large tables of people using the over-saturated Le Peep coupons for their Saturday brunches. We saw a few curious people looking into Grillions but not eating there.

So- the menu:

BBQ chicken and ribs, BBQ'd burgers, grilled veggies, chicken fish, kebabs…whoa! and side dishes that could be various single grilled veggies (tomatoes, home style potato wedges, baked potato, corn), grilled home style potatoes, home style beans, coleslaw, rice… well, heck, we could do grilled or BBQ'd chicken and/or ribs with slaw and baked beans OR have a burger, OR have a kebab served with rice, pita and grilled vegetables…the combinations are endless!..and yet seemingly quite healthy.

We went back on Sunday, the next day. It still was not busy and Le Peep and Wired were. But that was OK. We asked. They had opened last Monday. Word hasn't gotten out. I hope you are reading this. It is *good*. You walk in, pay and wait for your number to be called. They grill it up right there under that menu. We ordered simply: I got the beef kabob plate($8.95)

It is served with rice, grilled veggies topped with a tzatziki-yogurt based sauce, pita bread and served with a sauce on the side that is vinegar-garlic-cilantro and goes quite well with the beef- and on top of the rice later.

The beef was plentiful, juicy, excellent flavored, and grilled, of course. The vegetables were delightful with the grilled bits to them- broccoli, cauliflower, onions, red and green peppers. The rice was more basmati/not sticky, but fresh and good.

The Mister tried the stuffed grilled chicken breast ($8.49) that comes with two sides- he chose the Home Style beans and Garlic Grilled Tomato: Grillions_004

The garlic grilled tomato was wonderful tasting and I wish we had more. I am going to have to try to duplicate this one at home. The beans are *excellent*, very much home made- the skin on the beans was strong, not mushy, meaning this stuff was definitely not from a can, made with a nice spicy sauce. The chicken, oh the chicken! A good sized breast, stuffed with goat cheese, sun dried tomatoes and basil and grilled. So moist, tender, tasty! Quite unexpectedly good.

We were quit full, but again, knowing I was blogging and 'taking one' for all of you, well, there it was on the menu- a grilled banana split ($3.50). One of my most favorite desserts. I once got a banana split cake (not an ice cream cake, mind you, just banana cake with thick chocolate frosting, strawberries and pineapple in the frosting with whipped cream and nuts and a cherry on top) for my birthday and the *only* thing I get at Dairy Queen is the Banana Split Blizzard… um, sorry, digressing again…

This is made with frozen yogurt that does not taste like yogurt- it is creamy, vanilla without any 'tang' of yogurt. The banana is so *so* very nice when grilled…not with butter, so not quite a Banana Foster taste, but yet, that burnt carmelization…mmm-yoso good! The nice lady brought it to our table and asked if that was enough chocolate sauce! It was perfect (since I am not a choco-holic and all).

The Mediterranean foods are not quite Greek or Persian (no lamb or gyros or hummus on the menu) but are excellent, fresh and by being grilled, healthy. Next time, I will try the BBQ ribs and chicken, which we saw someone else getting, along with the cole slaw and beans, which I think would make a great combination.

Do try it. The photos on the menu correspond to the numbered menu items. The wraps look large, as do the salads. As of yesterday, the only people working were family members, although someone walked in and asked and I heard one of the owners tell the person they had retained some of the Daily's staff who were available to work .

Grillions 8915 Towne Centre Drive San Diego 92122 Phone(858) 457-1204 Fax (858)457-1179 Mon-Sat 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Sun 11 a.m.-6 p.m. website

Wired Bistro-another (good)French Cafe

May 20, 2007 Cathy European Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Wired has closed.

mmm-yoso is the blog and Cathy is writing today. Kirk is on vacation.

Hello, again and welcome back. The Mister and I decided to "slum" our way out of Santee and visit the UTC area of town yesterday and enjoy lunch where we have enjoyed lunch many times- at Wired Bistro- but this time, with camera in tow.

I was introduced to Wired by a friend, Miss C, last year when we couldn't decide where to meet for lunch. It is in the Renaissance Mall, just southeast of the UTC Mall. I had visited this mall, but had only gone to the Rubio's here. Wired is one of quite a few restaurants here. It has become a 'regular' spot for me when I dine alone.

It is basically French Bistro style, serving in house baked goods all day and omelettes and bagels for breakfast , crepes, quiches, baguette and panini sandwiches, all sorts of cafe beverages and a daily wine bar serving tapas along with on Friday nights, having a wine tasting of a large selection of French and Spanish wines.

Here is the menu:

I must say I wish I had a camera every time I have been here, because everything is just pretty when they bring it to your table.

This time, I decided to try just the soup and quiche combo ($7.50) primarily because the soup of the day was tomato basil bisque, and I have had it before and crave it every so often. made with fresh tomatoes, light cream and basil, topped with lightly toasted fococcia (herbed) croutons. it was, as always, delightful.

For the quiche, you can chose one of usually four offered per day. I chose the spinach mushroom.

Usually, during the week, I get a wedge of quiche. This time it was a small, individual quiche, which was nice. Made with a puff pastry crust and filled with a *very* nice custard and cheese filling, fresh spinach and flavorful mushrooms. The garnishes vary and this time, as you can see it was shredded carrots with some bean sprouts. Different, but colorful.

The Mister decided on a panini- the one made with roast beef, roasted eggplant and cheese ($7.95). Neither of us had ever had this one before. It is the first time we were disappointed in anything here.

The bread was excellent, as are all of the pastry/baked items. The roast beef, although plentiful and tomatoes, sliced nice and thick basically had no flavor. The cheese and eggplant relish were wonderful. It isn't anything that would make me not want to go back, it was just not as exciting as we had expected it to be. It was served with a small salad in the center, topped with a very nice house vinaigrette.

Knowing I would be blogging, well, we had to order a dessert. It was late afternoon and quite a few of the pastries were gone and, well, The Mister had a craving- so we got the Nutella crepe ($4.00).

Two freshly made crepes, stuffed with Nutella (a spread that is half hazelnut butter and half chocolate butter) and topped with real whipped cream. Of course this needed a cup of coffee ($1.50), French roast- wonderfully fresh- and we had a nice respite.

During the week, or on Fridays at 6, when the wine bar tastings start, the Tapas menu is perfect. The $9 cheese and fruit plate or the $9 antipasto plate is a meal for me. If you are at the UTC mall, just leave the Sears parking lot and go south through the one light and the Renaissance Mall is there on your left-you'll see the Rubio's.

Wired Bistro Wine Bar 8935 Town Centre Drive, Suite 110 San Diego 92122 (858)450-0880 Daily 6 a.m.-10 p.m. (closes Sundays at 8p.m.)

Cafe 67-Great, plentiful food at the end of the freeway!

May 19, 2007 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is the blog and you are looking at it. Today’s information is provided by Cathy. Kirk is on vacation.

Hello,again. Cathy here. I was talking with a friend, Mrs. L, who told me I had to try this place, located at the end of Highway 67. I was trying to think to myself ‘where does a Highway end?’…and it occurred to me that on Highway 67 in Lakeside, once you hit Mapleview Street with the Rodeo on the Northeast corner, there is a traffic signal. The Highway does indeed end, goes down to one lane for a while and then vacillates from one to two lanes up to and through Ramona and to Julian and it is all called 67. So, indeed, Highways do stop being Highways at some point.

I had seen the sign in front of the old Pernicano’s, on that Southwest corner of Mapleview at 67, one day in February and had made a mental note that I should try it out one day, when I was in the area again. I did pass it a few more times, but always was alone and not overly hungry, and it kind of looks a little too new and gimmicky and I didn’t want to go inside alone to eat. So I waited. Then Mrs. L told me about *how* good it was, and that we should go there one day, soon. She even gave me a paper menu she had taken from the restaurant (she did not know I did this blog, which made her recommendation make me take note). Well, first thing I noticed is that the entire menu is available "To Go". Shoot me now. Then I noticed they are only open from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.. Hmmm…limited cuisine. I like that.

So, this past Saturday, The Mister and I decided to head East, to the Santee Swap Meet, instead of west and Kobey’s Swap Meet. Of course, we were hungry and wanted breakfast. I decided to try the basic:

One poached egg, Monterey potatoes(shredded potatoes with Jack cheese and herbs), bacon and rye toast with coffee, of course. ($5.50)

The bread was a nice, thick marble rye- I imagine the one they use to make the lunch sandwiches. The bacon was thick and crispy, the way I like it. The egg was poached and still runny with a very fresh orange colored yolk …and, wow! those Monterey potatoes. I have had the pre-made reheated, Sysco’d Monterey cakes and I like them. These were made from freshly shredded potatoes, had evenly dispersed shredded Monterey Jack cheese and the herbs were a nice blend; perhaps Herbes De Provence, but I am not certain.

The Mister could not decide, and got "The Works" Omelet ($7.75) with the home fried potatoes (That is almost half a plate of red skinned potato quarters, topped with cheese) and a biscuit, served with either country gravy or honey.

The omelet was made with at least three eggs, filled with ham, bacon and sausage, bell peppers, tomatoes, onions and cheese (The Mister asked for no onions and it was no problem). The bacon and ham were nice and thick and cut into nice sized pieces and the breakfast sausage was crumbled and excellent. The home fried potatoes were superb. Prepared simply and were so fresh tasting and wonderful, especially with that cheese. That biscuit- oh my!. Definitely made from scratch, shortening based, baking powder. Wonderful, light, large and if I do say so, perfect!

This place seems to always be busy yet service is great, attentive and fast. I have seen buses stop here on weekdays; some sort of regular, local tour group it seems to be. There is a larger side room and I saw that the Local Rotary Club meets here also.

The only downside- I confess, I am a coffee snob. It was fresh coffee, but either Folgers or Farmer John brand and I just don’t like the flavor. It was served with real half and half though, in those cool coffee cups. That kind of made up for it all.

We saw several tables getting lunch menu items, sandwiches in particular which were *huge* and looked really good. If made with the same bread I had for toast, they were a good size and at minimum, great bread. From what I have heard, everything here is good, and I believe it. Thanks for telling me to try this, Mrs. L! If you happen to be in Lakeside,or just traveling through it, on 67, do stop in. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Cafe 67 12381 Mapleview at Highway 67 Lakeside, CA 92040 (619) 443-4100 Open daily 6 a.m.-3 p.m.

Starbucks Sandwiches- hmmm

May 17, 2007 Cathy What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso never goes on vacation. One of us is blogging at one point or another. This time, its Cathy. Kirk is somewhere, documenting for a future post,while saying he is on vacation.

Hi. Me again. Kirk isn’t around. If you live in San Diego County, you have no doubt seen in most, but not all, Starbucks locations a small yellow 3/4 circle on some of the pastry that have the words "try it warm!" and then maybe notice the small or large placard mentioning the breakfast sandwiches.

Most of the stores were retrofitted with ovens earlier this year, and the quest for serving warmed pastries and toasted sandwiches to patrons, rather than seeing them walk out and toward a bagel/bakery place, which all seem strategically placed close to every single Starbucks in the county.

So, the sandwiches. Limited and basically the same one with different toppings. I decided to try the Eggs Florentine…three times.

The bread for all of them is an English muffin, which is toasted, and topped with egg, cheese, some kind of creamy sauce and some fresh spinach leaves.

The ‘sauce’ definitely has garlic in it.

The first sandwich I got, I took home and it "aged" in the car as I drove about 18 minutes and it tasted *really* good. The bread was only a little soggy, the egg was OK, nothing bad or good about it; a cooked egg, the Havarti cheese was extremely nice for breakfast and the spinach leaves were tasty. The second sandwich I got I ate hot and the sauce was kind of weird. This is a photo of the third sandwich and it seemed to be a combination of the first two- not bad but not great. I liked the cheese and crispiness of the toasted bread as well as the fresh spinach. The egg had not much flavor. It’s the melted sauce. Kind of on the edge of sour/bitter. It is described as a ‘creamy herb spread’ and maybe it wasn’t melted or something. It isn’t bad, but if it is allowed to "age" it tasted better than eating it as soon as it is served.

All three sandwiches were purchased at different locations, but I think we all pretty much know how much Starbucks strives to be uniform throughout its system. There should not have been a variance. I think the ‘freshness factor’ was part of it.

I went to yet another Starbucks in late afternoon, saw it had the toaster oven thingy and asked if I could try the ham and egg sandwich. I had no craving for low fat turkey bacon, peppered bacon or sausage that late in the day. (Actually, I never crave low fat anything, or peppered anything at any time of the day). They will make you a sandwich whenever, I have seen a few signs just advertising about warmed sandwiches and not calling them ‘breakfast’ any more. There are no rules. let the California Egg Board push their product all day long! Eggs- not just for breakfast anymore!…(sorry, digression again). The nice young man brought out my sandwich on a "for here" plate, since I was eating in the store and also I had asked for a "for here" cup for my coffee. You can see in the photo above that I had a "for here" cup for the coffee, but a "to go" sandwich.

Here, the photo of the innards of the sandwich show the delightful experience I was about to have…aged cheddar cheese and a lot of wonderfully flavored black forest ham. Having it freshly made, still hot…and that little bit of aged cheddar that melted out and crisped onto the bottom of the plate made it oh so perfect!

As I understand it, there are a limited number of sandwiches available a day. So, this means they will always be fresh and not day old. The eggs are apparently pre-made and so are only reheated. They do have a pre-wrapped pack of fork/knife/napkin/salt and pepper available in case the flavor from the cheese and meats or sauce isn’t quite flavorful enough for you.

The other flavors are a classic sausage with aged cheddar,a peppered bacon, also with aged cheddar and a low fat turkey bacon with a cholesterol free egg and reduced fat white cheddar cheese on a multi grain English muffin (all the others are on regular, white toasted English muffins). The sandwiches are good and made when you order. Its a nice change and I like not having to smuggle in my Carl’s Jr. Breakfast Burger into the store, making an extra stop before my fresh Cup o’ Joe.

Starbucks, too many locations to list. Some have the breakfast sandwiches, which you can order all day long, some don’t. Hours vary. All are open by 6:00 a.m. in San Diego.

Mediterranean Cafe on Washington Street-walk on in!

May 16, 2007 Cathy Mediterranean Restaurants, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is the blog. It’s Cathy’s turn today. Kirk is on vacation.

Hi, it’s me again. The Mister and I were driving about Little Italy about noon on Saturday because we so enjoy trying to find a parking space and then walking many blocks. We did not feel like waiting in lines with lots of tourists, but were hungry and decided to head up Washington Street and probably going for a slice of pizza. Bronx Pizza is really close by.

Being the ever vigilant blogger, I knew that Bronx would kind of be a redundant post; a ‘wasted meal’ in a sense, and that it would probably just provide fodder for the vocal anti-Bronx crowd out there. The Mister and I both like it, and that is that. It is good pizza.

Ah, where have we also gone that we liked but I have not yet blogged about? Oh sure, Kirk did, but like a long time ago, in September of 2005. Kitty corner from Bronx-

Mediterranean Cafe! Yes, we went here about 2 years ago, -when the line for Bronx was out the door- and we *really* liked it. Besides, I sort of wanted some sort of greens and Bronx is only pizza.

Here is the menu. Pretty much standard Mediterranean fare, with a lot of vegetarian options.

There are nine small tables inside. It seems most people were getting "To Go" orders, although at all times there were at least two tables with ‘eat in’ people, even at 2 p.m. on a Saturday. You can walk up and order and pay, or sit at a table and someone will take your order and bring the food out to you.

I wanted to try the Gyros and hummus combo plate ($8.75).

Gyros, hot pita, a lot of mixed greens salad with shredded carrot, tomato, olives, feta.

In store made fresh hummus. Herbed rice (the herb was dill) with green beans mixed in. (Option of rice, fries or more salad was given). The rice is not the sticky kind, but was fresh and tasty.

The gyros meat was plentiful and good. Not the best I have ever had, but not bad. The hummus was wonderful. The side of tzatziki was also fresh and nicely sour. You make your own salad dressing with the condiments provided on the table.

The Mister, still craving pizza, tried the Cheese pizza, small (8 inch) served with a side of Greek salad ($5.95).

This was a *lot* of cheese, melted properly (i.e., some burned cheese)on top of a pocketless pita and had a mild tomato/garlic/olive oil sauce. Wow! It was heavy with cheese and we can only imagine how much they put on top of the ‘large’ (11 inch) pita bread. Excellent.

Even though we weren’t that hungry, I was curious about the sign "we proudly make our own Key Lime Pie" at the counter and decided we must try a slice.

Wow, again. Real whipped cream topping-not from a can- and the lime flavor was subtle, not sweet, texture creamy and the crust was a good crispy graham cracker crust. Definitely home made. It costs $2.50 a slice or $18 for the whole pie. Once again, I strongly urge everyone to be certain to have their children study math. {This slice is not 1/8 or even 1/7 of the whole pie-the profit margin on the whole versus sliced pie is quite high}{This phenomenon shall hereafter be dubbed the "inverse Costco effect": thanks, Hao}

I am thinking that it is even busier in here during the week, with this great deal on sandwiches that is available. (click and it will enlarge) I am trying to think of how I would be able to have the tzatziki sauce on a sandwich with any of those meats, but suppose I could just do a cheese sandwich and all the veggies and then it would work.

Anyhow, try this place; it’s been in the same location for a long time and it’s good.

Mediterranean Cafe 112 West Washington (corner of 1st and Washington) San Diego 92102 (619)98-7738 Fax (619) 298-7739

“Dude, Like Where’s All the Asian Food….”

May 15, 2007 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Dim Sum, Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants, yoso-silly

So sayeth an email I received yesterday. You gotta love those emails…… Funny thing is, the writer of the email is correct; just by coincidence it does seem that Cathy and I have done a little role-reversal! I've been doing burgers and tacos, and Cathy has been doing Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino food! How odd……

I'd just like to say, that the Missus and I are still eating up a storm, and I've got the photographic evidence to prove it. These are all revisits, so I won't bore you…I'll keep the writing to a minimum. So let's get started, shall we.

Dim Sum at China Max:

I've done posts on the Dim Sum at China Max before, just like to say, that on this visit the Dim Sum was not quite as good. As noted before, Dim Sum here is served "menu style".

The filling for the Sharkfin Dumplings was on the tough side, and the sides of the wrappers were soft and mushy, probably due to improper steaming.

The Pan Fried Shrimp and Chive Dumplings were probably the best items we had.

The contrast between the crunchy fried portion and the chewy pull of the remainder of the wrapper was excellent.

The filling of Shrimp Dumplings were fine, but the wrapper was tough and dry.

The Dried Shrimp Cheong Fun tasted a bit "off", and overly fishy, like the dried shrimp wasn't prepared properly.

We ended with simple Soy Sauce Noodles, one of my childhood favorites.

No complaints about this…so simple, but so good…..

My previous posts on China Max can be found here, here, and here. I'm pretty sure that this is just a little blip on the radar screen.

I'd also like to dedicate this post to Captain Jack, for only reasons he knows…..

China Max
4698 Convoy Street
San Diego, CA 92111

Palabok from Tita's Kitchenette:

This Missus had a craving for some Pancit Palabok, those wonderful seafood flavored noodles. Tita's Kitchenette makes Her favorite version, so I picked some up on a recent morning.

I'm not quite sure what happened, but these tasted really "flat", lacking any flavor. I dunno, any ideas?

Tita's Kitchenette
2720 East Plaza Boulevard
National City, CA 91950

Pho Dac Biet and Hu Tieu from Lucky Pho:

Every once in a while I need to recheck and verify…so when we were in the Mira Mesa area recently, I decided to grab a bowl of Pho from Lucky Pho. And I was again reminded of why I really enjoy the Pho here.

It's mostly about the broth, which is to my taste with hints of different herbs and seasonings. The Missus, not a big fan of Pho even had a taste, and said it was pretty good.

She ordered the Seafood Hu Tieu(Rice Noodles)

Nothing to write home about, really……..

My previous post on Lucky Pho can be found here. Along with a Pho retrospective.

Lucky Pho' in Lucky Seafood Supermarket
9326 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

A Quick Meal at Luong Hai Ky:

**** This location of LHK has closed

On this visit, I had the Missus in tow. I wanted Her to try the Won Ton and Dumpling Soup.

She enjoyed the broth, and agreed with me, that there was a hint of seafood flavor in it, though it's always been denied when I ask.

I tried out the Beef Sate Noodle Soup, and really didn't think much of it.

Nice bit of spice, but very weak in flavor overall. I rather have the version at Tan Ky Mi Gia. Still, as with most of these Vietnamese-Chinese Noodle Soup restaurants, the prices are very reasonable.

Here's my previous post on Luong Hai Ky.

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

You Gotta Love Filipino Parties!

A few months back we attended a party at a friend's house. It was a combination Birthday(two of us) and House Warming, Karaoke party. You can imagine the fun.

Here are some photos I took.

We brought a combination tray from Da' Kitchen half Teriyaki Chicken, half Korean Chicken.

Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings are required at these types of parties. Though this one was not from Royal Mandarin, Golden Chopsticks, or Mandarin Canton. Of course any Salt and Pepper chicken wing aficionado could tell you this by just looking at those wings.

Where is it from….stay tuned!!!

Of course you need Lumpia:

The Missus's favorite, Filipino style Empanadas. She enjoys these the best. She ate at least 5 of them….

And you must have Pancit Bihon.

There was much more food, but about that time it was my turn to sing my really, really, bad version of Love Potion Number 9. And after that, I totally forgot to take any more photos…..but you get the picture, right?

Last, but not least:

Here's something that will warm the coldest pork lover's heart:

What is it? It's a dish called Golden City Roast Pork($10.95), and it's made with Pork Belly. How can you resist?

I think I already have too many posts on Golden City, so I'll stop here.

So to answer your question Eric; "Dude, all that Asian food is like in my stomach!" LOL!

One final item(I promise). We'll be off on vacation for a few days, trying to complete our aborted vacation, I hope we make it this time. I may pop in, for a bit, but otherwise mmm-yoso is in the fine hands of our favorite "Chee-Fee" eater, Cathy. See you in a week or so!

Tacos El Gordo DE Tijuana B.C.

May 14, 2007 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

On a recent post "Dee" mentioned Tacos El Gordo, and damned if I didn’t forget about the place. So on a recent trip to Hogetsu Bakery, I managed to talk the Missus, a recent taco convert into some tacos from Tacos El Gordo. I’ll usually "hit" the H street location of ‘TEG’, since it’s right off the I-5.

Little had changed at TEG over the last few years; I believe that prices had gone up a dime. But over the last two years, much has changed in the mmm-yoso household…with regards to tacos. Where before, I’d only order the Carne Asada…and if I were feeling really brave, perhaps the Adobada(Al Pastor), nowadays, it was a whole different story. We now order the stuff that’s boiling away in the cauldrons behind the counter.

We didn’t give the Asada a glance…..we had moved on…aaah, how fickle the mind of the Asian Taco lover is! And no Sesos(Beef Brain) today…bummer!

Though we did give in to the temptation of the Trompo.

The drill is simple you order your tacos, and take it over to the cashier stand along with any drinks, she checks out your tacos(keep it clean guys), and you pay. And enter taco nirvana. We ordered all of our tacos with "everything".

The Lengua(Beef Tongue – $2) was nice and tender, though a bit smothered in Salsa Verde. It was a bit on the mild, rather than "wild" side as far as lengua was concerned. It was still quite good.

My usual favorite, Cabeza(Beef head/cheek – $1.75), was good, beefy in flavor, and very soft. Not the best I’ve had, but quite good.

I have not had Suadero before, when the Missus stepped up to the counter and asked the Gentleman what suadero was, he raised his bent arm perpendicular to his body, and moved it up and down. I told the Missus, "I know what it is…it’s meat from the wings of a cow!" She was not amused, but brightened considerably when handed a generous sample. The suardero, in this case beef shoulder, had been cooked for a long time, it had a nice rich beef flavor, and I kinda thought of it as "beef carnitas".

The favorite of the day was the Adobada(Al Pastor). Cut fresh from the trompo(verticle spit), the pork had a mild spiciness, with a hint of sweetness. The meat was slightly chewy while still moist. The Missus is not a big fan of "white sauce" on Her tacos, but loved this version as it complemented, not overpowered the tacos, by slightly buffering the spice, and balancing out the flavor.

You may wonder "why only 4 tacos?" But this stuff is quite rich, and we felt satisfied sharing the four tacos. We saw two pretty hefty guys eating six tacos each…..I’m sure that they’d be ready for a nap soon after lunch.

So the next time you’re in the mood for some Cabeza……..

Tacos El Gordo De Tijuana
689 H St
Chula Vista, CA 91910

And other locations…..