mmm-yoso – Page 526 – 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 Mi Pueblo-That Mexican Place by the Home Depot in Santee

May 7, 2007 Cathy Taco Shops, What Cathy Eats!

Sadly, Tacos Mi Pueblo has closed. It is a now a taco shop, without abodaba or al pastor…

mmm-yoso is the name of the blog. Today it's Cathy a-blogging, tomorrow it will most likely be Kirk a- blogging.

Hello again. Cathy here. Yes, blogging about another taco shop- one that has been in the Santee Town Center since it opened. One that makes Al Pastor and Adobada tacos as well as some large breakfast burritos and in house chile relleños an has a fresh salsa bar and daily specials.

It's in the parking lot that has the Home Depot and Hometown Buffet in the 'heart' of Santee (our City Hall is a bunch of permanent trailers and is located in the North East corner of the City, so I suppose it isn't right to call it 'downtown', this area of town is called "Town Center"). Tacos Mi Pueblo opened when the Home Depot opened, about 9 years ago now, and it is still in the same location. That is a good thing.

The menu is pretty simple and on the wall behind the cash register and above the stove. This paper menu doesn't show breakfast, but they have it.

So, the other day the "Get1Free" book arrived in the mail and there as a coupon for the rolled tacos, and I was hungry, so off went The Mister and I…we had to go to Home Depot also, but in my mind, having something to blog about was primary; the heck with playing with copper tubing and MAPP torches; we've waited this long…

A total of 10 shredded beef rolled tacos, topped with fresh guacamole, lettuce, cheese and salsa. $2.75 total. Thick corn tortilla rolled around shredded beef. Excellent flavors.

I also tried one of the specials on the wall- a chile relleño, cheese enchilada, rice and beans plate ($5.75). Excellent chile, made in store (not the pre-made ones you can get from Smart N Final) with a sauce unique from the cheese enchilada sauce. Everything was excellent, fresh and tasty.

However, the name of the place IS "Tacos Mi Pueblo"..so I had to go back , when hungry, to try the …um…oh, yeah, the tacos. I tried three. (It's kind of funny that I am writing this as if I had never been here before…). Each costs $2.25.

The Al Pastor, cooked on a spit, was very flavorful.

They overloaded all three tacos with guacamole and salsa, which I put onto the second tortilla given for each taco and sort of had my own 'nacho feast' later.

Oddly, the carne asada meat seemed to have

the least amount of flavor, but still was very good. Perhaps because it had been cut into small chunks and cooked a second time to be sure it was heated properly.

Again, extra guacamole and salsa. But it went to good use later.

The Adobada was excellent!

Tender, juicy with just enough heat in the marinade.

All in all, great food. They have a special of 4 mini tacos for the price of three (all have to be the same meat, though) for $3.75. Its good food, and close to Home Depot. Better than the Hot Dog cart in front of HD, definitely! They have a punch card and it gets validated every time you spend more than $10. Five punches and you get either a free bean and cheese burrito or 3 rolled tacos.

Tacos Mi Pueblo, 235-H Town Center Parkway, Santee 92071 (619)449-7019 Open 7 days 9 am-8 pm

Sunday “Stuffs”

May 6, 2007 mmm-yoso yoso-silly

This past week the Missus and I were invited to dinner, along with Chubby Panda, Cat, and Elmomonster(who unfortunately couldn't make it), by the one and only Beach. We'd been looking forward to dinner with the larger than life, irrepressible Beach, ever since Chubby Panda and the other OC Foodbloggers dubbed Him the "Don of Little Saigon".

The Missus and I had an indication of how unique this evening was going to be when we ran into this caravan, a few blocks from Beach's home.

It was quite a stunning scene, watching tanks roll down the side streets of this upscale All-American residential neighborhood. The soldier was having a blast waving at all of the people staring in stunned silence as they drove down the street.

We arrived at Beach's beautiful home, and was greeted with warm smiles as we drifted into conversation, like we'd known him forever. When we had first arrived we weren't sure that we had arrived at the right place, but once we caught a whiff of the wonderful fragrances in the air, we knew we must be a the right place.

Soon the Kubota Manju started flowing, Chubby Panda and Cat arrived, and we started in on a fabulous meal. Anything I could right would pale in comparison to Cp's post, so please read it here!

I'll just share a few photos, and a few words. Just let me say that the Bun Cha Hanoi that Mr and Missus Beach made was fabulous….it has set the bar for comparisons at a very high level, which I don't think will be surpassed. Pictures speak louder than words….

See what I mean?

I'd been told many times that the best Bun Rieu can't be found in a restaurant, but in the home of a skilled cook. I now understand what was meant by that. Mrs Beach, made an awesome rendition of Bun Rieu….which also happens to be the Missus's favorite. She was in Bun Rieu nirvana.

I think I lost count after the 25th time the Missus said, "this is sooo good!" The one big revelation to me, was how soft, tender, and full of flavor the "Oc" (snail) was. We've stopped ordering Bun Rieu Oc in restaurants because of how rubbery, tough, and flavorless, the Oc usually is. This was delici-yoso!!! In fact, I mentioned that I could just eat the Oc on rice and be perfectly happy!

I found Beach to be a man of "Big"…big smile, big laugh, big portions, big voice, but most of all…big heart! Mr and Mrs Beach, we really appreciated your graciousness and generosity, and of course the food was great.

Oh wait, I think Beach and CP learned that the Missus had something "big" of Her own…. "Big Appetite"!

Thanks for everything Beach!

It was great to see you again CP, and we finally got to meet Cat. Don't forget to read CP's detailed post here.

Some updates.

What was once Osaka Kitchen, is now another outpost of Sushi Deli.

And in the strip mall on Convoy that seems to be undergoing eternal renovation, Bolsaa Vietnamese is gone, and will be replaced by Louisiana Crawfish restaurant.

Made me wonder if this will be one of those Vietnamese Cajun Shrimp/Crawfish places that have sprung up all over Little Saigon. One can always hope!

Happy’s Sushi- Good Japanese food, loud music, pretty darn good rolls

May 3, 2007 Cathy Japanese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is not on vacation. Cathy is blogging, Kirk is busy with some other project.

Hello again. I met Mr. C for lunch a couple of months ago, and He suggested we try Happy's Sushi. It's on Mira Mesa Boulevard in the mall with Silver Ark, Hollywood Video and Seafood City. It used to be a Pho place. The front looked like this-with the large yellow sign "Buy 2 get 1 free sushi roll every day from 11-2 and 5-6". So, we had to.

This is our selection of three rolls: The Happy Roll: fried shrimp, krab and cucumber inside, with spicy tuna and avocado on the outside ($8.95). Yes, I know, krab…but it tasted very good; the shrimp were sweet and fried so lightly.

We also got the soft shell crab roll ($8.50). Fried soft shell crab, krab, avocado, gobo, sprouts and cucumber. It was wonderful- those are the crab claws sticking out in the photo- they were nicely battered and fried, so tasty and crispy.

The third roll, at the top of the photo there was the Fantasy Roll ($9.50). The inside had spicy krab and cucumber and the outside had seared albacore, seaweed , ponzu and was garnished with sprouts. Here is an upside down photo so you can see a cross section of the other rolls.

I particularly liked the albacore. The cucumber was unusually fresh, crispy and tasty also. A nice, clean, complimentary taste.

The rolls were very good and fresh and quite large. It was a very filling meal. Thanks for a nice lunch, Mr. C!

So, The Mister and I decided to go back the other day( so I could finish this post). The sign from the front facade was missing, but there there was a notice at the front door, indicating that if you bought the buy two get one free roll, the free roll was the one of lesser or equal value. Apparently there were problems.

We decided to try stuff from the regular menu- The large Ahi Poki salad ($8.50), which is served on top of a seaweed salad.

The tuna was very fresh but not very spicy. I kind of wanted more spice. Slightly disappointed. There was quite a bit of tuna.

The seaweed salad was very nice and fresh, seemed to be made with 3 different types of seaweed. It was excellent.

I decided I wanted the vegetable tempura, and so had it as a plate, with salad and rice. I really liked the dressing on the salad, ginger and a little garlic and creamy. The rice is excellent. The vegetables were very nicely fried. The batter was light and airy and crispy. The slice of carrot was only slightly disappointing; the carrot was kind of soft, not crispy, although too many times I have had way too firm a tempura'd carrot. I guess I don't know what I like. There were two pieces of tempura'd asparagus which were unexpected and really nice. The onion slice was particularly nice. The dipping sauce seemed watered down.

The Mister decided to try the shrimp yakisoba ($8.75) and boy was it good!. The stir fried noodles were nicely al dente and flavorful, the veggies (onion, cabbage and carrot) were all nicely crisp-fresh and the shrimp (6) were large, grilled and sweet.

All in all, I liked Happy's. Many people seem to; the sushi bar was full both when I was there for lunch and for dinner on a Friday night.

Both times I seemed overwhelmed by the loud music. The radio station it is tuned to is most likely XM 21, 22, 25, 26, 29 or 30- newer, younger songs and the volume was way high both times. I saw a waitress sit down next to a young Caucasian couple so she could explain some menu items to them; they could not hear her otherwise.

Thanks, Mr. C for telling me and taking me to this restaurant!!! It made me happy!

Happy's Sushi 8973 Mira Mesa Boulevard San Diego 92126 (858) 536-3178

Mon-Thurs 11-9, Fri-sat 11-10, Sun 12-9 Closed every day from 3-5 website

Mexican Fiesta

May 2, 2007 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

*** Mexican Fiesta has closed

A little over a month ago I received a really nice email from "GregM". In the email Greg mentioned a little Taco Shop on India Street called Mexican Fiesta. To quote "check out Mexican Fiesta's al Pastor taco. Good enough that I carry it back to NYC for my Dad, and it was the champion in my now aborted attempt to sample every taco stand in SD." How could I resist? If it's good enough for Dad, it's probably more than "good enough" for me!

So during a recent weekday, I made it down to the South end of India Street, and amongst all the towering High Rises, and new development, I found Mexican Fiesta. I must have driven past this place many, many, times and never noticed it.

I just had to cross the street and snap this photo which shows the sharp contrast between the "little taco shop that could", and the towering buildings surrounding it. For some reason, this little scene stirred up memories of one of the first books I ever read, called The Little House, written by Virginia Lee Burton. (and no, I didn't read a first edition version in 1942 ) In the book, a little country house is overcome by the urban sprawl until it is surrounded by giant buildings.

Business at Mexican Fiesta is brisk and busy.

You order at one window, pay, and are handed a number. When your number is called, you pick up your order at the next window. When I ordered, I was number 68, as I moved out of the way number 49 was called! As you can tell, there is no dining room or eating area, all orders are to go. Though, if you need to use the "facilities" those are provided for across the street.

And though these looked a bit out of place, the porta-potties were doing almost as brisk a business(no pun intended) as Mexican Fiesta!

The customers at Mexican Fiesta was a diverse group, a slice of almost every demographic, income level, and social standing. Even though I had to wait for almost 20 customers before me, my order was ready in a relatively short amount of time. And, since I had found primo parking, I had lunch in my car parked on the side of India Street.

For some variety, I thought I'd start with a Carne Asada Taco($1.99):

To be honest, I wasn't very hungry, and only ordered two tacos. I didn't know what to expect, but my little brown paper bag was very heavy. Well, these sure weren't those little street tacos, it was quite large. The Carne Asada was decent, very soft, but dry, with a very mild flavor. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of iceberg lettuce and shredded cheese on my tacos. On a side note, the Salsa Roja was good, a balance of heat and sour, with a just a hint of sweetness.

Just when I thought that perhaps I'd made a mistake, I opened up my Al Pastor Taco($1.99):

Now this was another pretty large taco. Though I consider this to be more Adobada than Al Pastor, meaning that it doesn't look spit roasted and lacks a good amount of carmelization, the pork itself was good, probably the softest Adobada I can remember, and very juicy to boot. The seasoning of the pork had a deceptive amount of heat, and an overall good flavor. I'd have these again. If anything, I'd have wished for more onions and cilantro, and the tortilla didn't hold up too well, I almost had the pork in my lap, but that was because the pork was so moist.

Sure seems like you get your money's worth here. One day soon, I'll probably stop by for that Machaca Burrito. It's good to see this small little stand doing so well. From what I could see Mexican Fiesta opens at 8am, Greg also notes that the hours are very limited during the weekends.

Mexican Fiesta
1460 India St
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 231-9851

Thanks for the recommendation Greg, that Al Pastor was very good!

Natural Style Chicken-Low fat, healthy and delicious chicken and Korean beef at fast food prices

May 1, 2007 Cathy Japanese Restaurants, Korean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is not on vacation. Cathy has finally gotten around to pulling stuff out of her camera and putting it into the computer. Kirk is probably at home reading this.

Hi. If you go to the San Diego Sports Arena via I-8 all the way to the Sports Arena Boulevard exit, taking a left under the freeway and then before getting to that intersection where it is Sports Arena Boulevard to your left and Point Loma Boulevard to your right, you probably have seen this teensy sign on the building on the northern most end of that mall on the west side of the street . Most likely, you are stuck, waiting for that light, as I almost always am.

Well, The Mister and I have gone here for a number of years, because his office used to be in the Sports Arena area and he could walk here and we could meet for lunch. It is simple, healthy, plentiful food, cooked in a heart-healthy way with a sort of Japanese and Korean touch (and sauces). When you go in the front door, there is a menu and photographs, with the neon wording of "teriyaki chicken and beef". The photos under those neon letters show some Korean items; bulgogi and kalbi.

Of course, the pink menu that is photographed here (click onto the photo and it will enlarge) does not show bulgogi or kalbi on it, but both are served here, and are not much pricier than the chicken. (For those who don’t know, bulgogi is thinly sliced beef sirloin, marinated in a sauce made of soy, fruit puree (usually pear puree), sesame oil, garlic, onion, black pepper and wine vinegar then grilled. Kalbi, or Galbi is thinly sliced beef short ribs marinated in a slightly sweeter sauce using a rice wine vinegar and pear juice.)

The chicken is prepared on a rotisserie over a wood fire in the brick oven that is right inside the door when you walk in; you can see about 8 of them through the window in this photo.

Again, this place is not fancy; You order, pay and the nice lady from behind the counter will bring out the food to you on a plastic tray, with plastic plates and plastic cutlery.

Anyhow, the Mister and I got our "usual"- the teriyaki chicken plate ($4.49)

This is a *lot* of chicken, moist, already cut up, with no skin (hence the "healthy" description and AHA recommendation) and a sweet teriyaki sauce and served with good rice and an iceberg lettuce salad with a choice of standard dressings. If there is a glob of teriyaki I drop it onto the rice so there isn’t so much on the chicken, but it isn’t a bad teriyaki sauce, just a little sweet for my taste.

We also usually get the beef bulgogi ($5.39)- the plentiful amount of meat was grilled with some cabbage, onions and carrots.

It tasted wonderful, not sweet; more garlic-y was a lot of food and did not cost much at all.

The Mister (who despises onions)wanted onion rings, and since they were only $1.45, he got them, but we should not have…

They were the standard minced onion centers from a bag in the freezer ones…but, they were fried, and I mixed some Sriracha with soy sauce and that made them edible.

If you are in the area, stop in. Its been there forever. There is a reason. They seem to do a lot of phone in/pick up business.

While we were there on a Saturday some SDPD officers on a lunch break came in to eat. This meets my test of being good food.

Natural Style Chicken 3944 W. Point Loma Boulevard San Diego 92106

(Corner of Sports Arena Boulevard and West Point Loma Boulevard, in the Longs and Souplantation parking lot, all the way east and north in that parking lot)

Open 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. seven days (619)223-9887.

Tsuruhashi Japanese BBQ

April 29, 2007 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants

I was overjoyed a few months ago when I learned that we now have not one (Suzuya Japanese BBQ), but now 2 Yakiniku restaurants in San Diego. That would be a 200% change since this time last year. I was especially excited about the opening of Tsuruhashi. Why, you may ask? Well, if this Tsuruhashi is in any way affiliated with Tsuruhashi in Fountain Valley, I was in for a taste of pretty good Yakiniku. Yakiniku for the uninitiated, is translated to "Grilled Meat", and is basically the Japanese version of Korean BBQ. Yakiniku back home in Hawaii can mean many things, it could mean a regular Korean BBQ, or a version of a more traditional Japanese style BBQ. Tsuruhashi itself is a district of Osaka well known for the large Zainichi (ethnic Korean residents of Japan) Korean population. Tsuruhashi is also well known for….what else, Yakiniku.

I had been trying to get someone to check out Tsuruhashi with me for a few months, but to no avail. It seemed that everyone familiar with Korean BBQ, like Ed from Yuma balked at the fact that most Yakiniku meals came without the "free" Panchan. In most traditional Yakiniku restaurants, panchan is ordered off the menu, and you are charged for it. Problem number two…..a few people mentioned how "expensive" this place was….so what I’ll do, is not detail how much we paid, until the very end.

I also did a bit of "research". I knew someone whose roommate worked at Tsuruhashi, and he provided some advice, which in one case turned out to be pretty handy, and in another case might have been useful, but was not.

We arrived a bit before the usual 5pm opening time. Piece of advice #1, either get there at opening or be prepared to wait. Tsuruhashi is a fairly small restaurant.

There are only 11 tables in the restaurant, and in one section, 3 of the tables are "movable" for large groups. Since Yakiniku is a leisurely experience, and Tsuruhashi does not accept reservations, the wait for a table can be pretty long if your timing is not right.

The Manager who runs the place is a really stoic, serious Gentleman, who can come across as downright stuffy….unless you speak Japanese, or are a regular customer. This was the only time I saw him smile the entire evening, so I had to take a photo.

In some ways I don’t blame him, I’m sure he gets a variety of questions and queries from people who have no clue. There were two older women who sat across us, who obviously didn’t have a clue, asked a ton of questions, made demands, and only ordered two plates, one of which were vegetables, before hurrying out.

A quick word about the "grill". Because the two ladies hurried out post haste, we got to see the hard working Servers replace the "grate", and low and behold…the gas burners are supplemented with charcoal. I’m not quite sure if it was Binchotan, but it was without a doubt lump charcoal and not briquettes.

Piece of advice #2…get there early(sound familiar?), Tsuruhashi will often run out of what they call "top tier" meat. When you peruse the menu, the cuts of meat are divided into sections, and items like Short Ribs have several "grades", each priced differently. This piece of advice was not of any use to us on this evening, as the restaurant was out of the top two tiers of "Kobe" Short Ribs, and "Kobe" Cap Rib Eye. So we had to "settle" for USDA Prime Grade Meat (insert sarcastic "poor thing" here).

One more thing before I (finally)get on to the meat. With this style of Yakiniku, some of the best quality meats are served unmarinated(though there are many exceptions), and unsalted, unless specified. In the case of Tsuruhashi, you are provided 2 "sauces" initially, and additional dish-specific sauces are provided as necessary.

I had a notion of dividing up this post into two, since it is very long….but the Missus told me to "stop being a tease, and show them the food…o-Kay!" So here we go.

We started with some Kimchi….well since, I just had to have some.

And though I think this was fine, you can get better in most any Korean Restaurant…or even out of a bottle in some cases.

Pork Cheek.

Looks a lot like Toro(fatty tuna belly) doesn’t it? This was served with spicy bean sauce and lettuce for wrapping. The meat itself was served with only a light sprinkling of black pepper. In retrospect, we should have gotten the Pork Belly, as this was on the tough side, but still if grilled to a crisp state, it was decent. It was also the cheapest meat we had all night, so I’m not complaining much.

Prime Cap Ribeye.

This almost qualifies as food porn…. In case you’re wondering, the "cap" is the small bit of meat right at the top portion of the Rib Eye. This came unseasoned, and was very tender. It would be an absolute crime to over cook this piece of meat. Just think, this is what is considered "second tier" on the menu.

Salted Prime Tongue w/Shiso:

Four wonderful rolls of thinly cut and well marbled prime beef tongue wrapped around Shiso. This was so soft I almost thought it was thinly sliced prime rib eye! This was served with a little bowl of Ponzu sauce. The Missus would have wished that this tasted a bit more "wild"…but it’s hard to complain about beef that melts in your mouth.

Seafood Combination.

Where to start? Everything was ultra fresh. I enjoyed the Tako (Octopus), when grilled it reminded me of days at the beach, spearing Tako, turning it inside out to kill, pounding it against the lava rock to tenderize, and simply grilling over charcoal! The Ika could almost be considered entertainment, as it would "puff up" when placed on the grill. The very fresh salmon was problematic as it stuck to the grill, and tended to break apart. The shrimp were very good, fresh and sweet, we devoured it shell and all.

But the best item were the scallops.

These were sashimi grade, you could just have eaten them raw. We just barely grilled them. I did cook one a bit more to see if they shrank, a good sign that they had been injected with brine. These kept their size and shape. Good stuff!

Beef Tongue Marinated in Miso:

The Missus’s favorite of the evening. A thicker slice of beef tongue marinated in a Aka(red) Miso marinade. Nice flavors, and more of a chewy texture.

Prime Short Ribs:

To think, this is the lowest grade of Boneless Beef Rib Meat on the menu. To be honest, it was a bit tougher than I anticipated, so I’m still looking forward to the first or second tier choice.

Beef Tail(Oxtail) Soup:

To be honest the Missus was disappointed in this. She thought the broth way too salty, and the Oxtails way too tough. We had kind of ordered this as an after thought, and should have left it that way. It was a bit cheaper than similar versions at various Korean Restaurants though.

Quite a bit of food, huh? Before I reveal the bill, why don’t you take a wild guess……

Kimchi – $2.50
Pork Cheek – $5.50
Prime Short Ribs – $6.25
Prime Cap Rib Eye – $8.25
Salted Prime Tongue w/Shiso – $7.95
Beef Tongue Marinated in Miso – $5.95
Assorted Seafood – $8.95
Beef Tail(Oxtail) Soup – $7.25
Rice – $3.00 !!!
Hot Tea – Free

With tax about $60. It might seem really pricey….but come to think of it, our recent dinner at Seoul BBQ was just about $4 cheaper! That doesn’t mean that everything is very cheap…the tier 1 Kobe Short Ribs are $14.95, and the Kobe Cap Rib Eye is $16.95, and I’m assuming that the portion sizes are the same. The seafood combination is a bargain in our eyes, as are the pork offerings, most are priced at $5.50. Beef heart, tripe, liver, and intestine, are priced under $5. Chicken Leg meat, either salted or miso marinated is $4.25, and there was a large group of young men who ordered maybe 10 orders of the stuff with beer.

The service was very good, efficient(our tea and water refilled) and friendly(except for the Boss), and rather unobtrusive. This location of Tsuruhashi is affiliated with Tsuruhashi in Fountain Valley. I’d advise going early, as we left there was quite a long waiting list.

Tsuruhashi Japanese BBQ
3904 Convoy St (In the same strip mall as Sakura)
San Diego, CA 92111

Hours: Thurs-Tues 5pm-Midnight

Closed Wed.

I’m thinking we’ll be back very soon……

Thanks for hanging in there, I know this post was really quite long!

Do-Over: Rosa’s Pizza

April 28, 2007 Cathy Pizza, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is not on vacation. Kirk is somewhere around town and Cathy is doing her first re-blog of a place she didn't like the first time around.

Hi. On January 23 of this year, I blogged about Rosa's Pizza. I did not like it. At all.

First of all, Rosa's is a Pizzeria. It's ON Convoy Street,( across from Home Depot Expo), the Mecca of All Asian foods…what is an Italian based food source even *doing* down there?

I got a few comments telling me how wrong I was. In particular, Dave wrote to tell me how the pizza he had in front of him *did* have spices in the sauce, he was crunching on garlic bits and that it wasn't as bad as I spoke of it being. I remember the sauce that was on the pizza I ate tasted just like canned tomatoes, the crust was nice and crispy but flavorless and I did like the wings. Michelle had written in also, telling me how much she loved Rosa's and did not understand my comments.

In any other case (like, if I was not blogging as one of my various little hobbies in life), I would not even bother going back. But feel I must be fair, and see what it is that Michelle and Dave are talking about. Also, The Mister was reading their comments and told me I should. (I think he just was hungry for carbs).

So, off we went. A nice, chilly, after the rains of Friday -now a Saturday- jaunt to Convoy Street. The new construction of the old Olehausen Billiards place was going on: the carpenters couldn't work in the Friday rain, so they were going to get as much done on Saturday as possible.

This time we ordered a sausage pizza ($6.99)and also tried the 16 piece breadsticks ($3.99) with cheese ($1).

When we parked, a car pulled up behind me and an older gentleman ran into Rosa's to pick up two pizzas…we ordered, were told it would be about 15 minutes, so walked over to Nijiya to get some beverages. {I like getting the hot green tea in a can from the small refrigerator looking contraption on the counter in the bakery section.}

We walked back to Rosa's, to see three other people parking and running in to pick up pizzas. There was a brisk business and that was a good sign.

We sat down and the nice young man who took our order brought out the boxes of pizza, breadsticks and sauce. He asked us if we were eating outside and when we said we were, he went back in and brought us plastic cutlery and paper plates and napkins. That was very nice.

The pizza, looked, good, like the last one did. The crust was nice and layered and crispy, but, again, had no olive oil flavor. It was a nice and crisp bread. I was glad we had ordered sausage- look at the oil. I figured that'd give it some flavor. I was right. It's an excellent sausage. The cheese was plentiful, stringy and, again,had not much flavor. However the oil from the sausage helped tremendously- as did the sauce- it was a nice, spiced, herbed sauce. There was garlic in it and the melding of flavors helped the flavorless, but nicely crispy, crust.

Then there were the breadsticks, with cheese and sauce. Lots of cheese, and eating it this way is why I said the cheese had not much flavor, although it was plentiful and stringy. I think the lack of flavor may have to do with the fact that they leave the items in just long enough for the cheese to melt, but not to brown. If it were left in a little longer, the slightly burnt cheese would probably have more flavor. It isn't like it is fake cheese or anything like that.

Then I dipped one of the cheesy breadsticks into the sauce we were given- AHA! THIS was the sauce that was on the pizza we got last time. Pretty much a plain marinara. Tomato sauce, limited herbs. Plain. Needed salt. Or something.

So that was it. Last time we had gotten a switched sauce. That, in combination with no oily meat topping, the plain, non-olive oiled bread- which, again-is a great crust but flavorless. If I ate it plain, as a bread, it would need a salty butter on it…the consistency is wonderful but it is just missing something.

I grew up in Detroit, the Homeland of "pizza" (Dominoes and Little Cesar's started there). I have been to Italy and know what 'real' pizza is and I know what I like. Rosa's is not as bad as I originally blogged about, but it isn't earth shattering pizza either. It doesn't send me. I will go back again, but maybe not for pizza, I'd like to try an eggplant Parmesan sandwich. The bread will be great.

Rosa's Pizza 3860 Convoy Street, San Diego. Between the mall that has Nijiya/Curry House/Sunrise Buffet and the mall that has Wings and Things/Original Pancake House/Izakaya Sakura

Leocynn’s Lumpia- another hole in the wall

April 26, 2007 Cathy Filipino Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is never on vacation. Someone is always blogging, because one of us has most likely had something to eat. This time, its Cathy. Kirk is too busy with something else today.

Hi again. I was driving about aimlessly one day, sort of near the Spring Valley Swap Meet, just off of the 54, on the edge of San Diego and Spring Valley and saw Leocynn’s, where I remembered having a nice meal quite a long time ago. It’s still there, and the sign on the front is thanking people for patronizing for the last four years. Well, it’s lasted this long, so still must be good.

There is a steam tray and two tables inside, a menu on the wall and some handwritten ‘specials’, all of which consist of the items in the steam tray and all of which cost$5.75. The generic (ground pork/ground beef/veggie) lumpia can be purchased individually from the steam tray for 54¢ each, or certain ones can be made special for $1 each, or you can order in bulk. All are made on site. Nothing frozen here.

I opted for 2 of the freshly made ground meat/veggie ones and the pork adobo/rice/pancit meal. The total cost was $6.83.

Excellent adobo- a nice twang of vinegar. The pancit wasn’t watery and really fresh tasting, the veggies were crispy and there were plenty of pork pieces interspersed and the rice was absolutely perfect and plentiful! When I ordered, the nice lady went in back and told me I would have to wait for the rice. (Less than 3 minutes).

A cross section of the other lumpia.

You can see there is plenty of meat and a small amount of carrot. The crust was definitely fresh and crispy. It came with a home made sauce, more sour than sweet, which complimented the meat well. I would rather have sour than sweet any day. Leocynn’s has withstood the test of time and is great.

Leocynn’s Lumpia 8360 Worthington (at Paradise Valley Road- Take the Jamacha Exit from 54) San Diego 92114 (619) 267-8210.

M-F 11:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m./ Sat 11:00 am-7:00 p.m./ Sunday 11:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Midweek Miscellanea

April 25, 2007 mmm-yoso Blog

I just thought I do a quick post with some updates…and other "stuff".

Thien Thanh Closes Down:

Thien Thanh, one of my favorite Vietnamese Restaurants has closed. Last week, I decided to check out Thien Thanh, when I drove into the parking lot, the restaurant was closed, and an "opening soon" banner was posted. I guess this was inevitable. We never saw more than one table occupied on any of our many visits.

The name of the new restaurant will obviously garner many laughs….and hey, maybe Pho-King needs to check out possible trademark infringement??????

RIP Thien Thanh, we’ll miss you….especially the Bun Cha Hanoi.

Some Housekeeping:

I recently received two emails asking if I would link to all of my recipes from the main page. Apparently, scrolling through all of my recipes looking for the desired post was inefficient, and I’ve been told that the Google Search doesn’t always work right. So I’ve summarized my recipes on the bottom left hand sidebar. I hope it works okay….but who the heck want to copy what I cook?

Heck, so long that it makes you happy, I’ll do it…. we aim to please!

Not really about food, sort of….

Now for some mid week levity, it’s really not about food…..

A few years back, when we still lived in LA, we were attending a concert at a small club called The Hop in the City of Industry. The opening act was a Country Rock band playing a bunch of covers. During one of the songs, a cover of Can’t You See, by the Marshall Tucker Band, the Missus turns to me with a puzzled look on Her face and asks me,"What kind of music is this?"

"It’s Southern Rock." I answer….

A look of understanding comes across Her face, and she exclaims, "Okay, that makes sense now!"

Now I’m confused…"What do you mean?"

She responds with, "that’s why they’re singing about fried chicken!"

"Say What!!!"

It turns out that I’m hearing, "Can’t you see, can’t you see, what that woman lord done to me…."

She, on the other hand is hearing this(here’s a hint):

Yes, She’s hearing…."K-F-Ceeeee, K-F-Ceeee"

Shades of "Sam Woo the Killer Whale"……funny, I can’t help but crack up anytime I hear that darn song!

Hope your week is going well! We’ll be back with another restaurant tomorrow!

Seoul BBQ Restaurant – A Revisit. Sometimes it’s all about timing

April 24, 2007 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants

*** Seoul BBQ has closed

Sometimes it's all about timing…… The Missus was in the mood for some Korean BBQ, something that doesn't happen very often. We had thought about a visit to Buga, but decided on a revisit to Seoul BBQ.

I had thought about Seoul BBQ for a couple of reasons; first off, the marinades at Seoul tend to be on the sweeter side, which the Missus enjoys, and the wide open interior makes for good ventilation, another plus in the Missus's book.

We were seated without delay, and looked over the menu, made our choices, and soon after the panchan arrived.

Along with a small salad with a Asian Pear/Garlic/Vinegar based dressing, which was refreshing, and not short on flavor.

The panchan(8 dishes), on the other hand was very unremarkable, and other than the Oi(cucumber) was very pedestrian overall. I don't know what it is with my luck with panchan recently, but I haven't had anything I've really enjoyed for a while now…….. More panchan left unfinished, sigh……

As is standard operating procedure for Korean BBQ restaurants, in order to use the brazier you need at least two orders of meat.

We decided on the Hyuh Mit Gui(Haemit Gui on this menu – beef tongue $18.99):

Though not as marbled as the version I recently had at Dae Jang Keum, this version had a much stronger gamey flavor, which the Missus enjoyed. Nothing like crisp grilled beef tongue.

We also ordered the Bulgogi ($18.99):

Grilled, and wrapped in a lettuce leaf along with a slice of garlic, this was pretty good. As I noted before, the marinade at Seoul BBQ is a bit sweeter, which is why many of the Ex-Pat Kama'aina's I know like the Kalbi and Bulgogi at Seoul.

Another thing I noticed are that the prices at Seoul BBQ are now in the same range as Buga and Dae Jang Keum.

We also ordered the BiBimBap($9.99):

Which ended up being mostly lettuce, with very little minced, flavorless beef.

Though unlike my previous lunch visits, there was no "dump and duck" going on, there was something which was kind of bothersome. Everytime one of the ladies passed by our table, they would "fiddle" with the gas grill, turning it off a few times, leaving the meat to congeal on the grill. We had to flag down people to turn the gas back on a few times. Though we still think that Seoul BBQ is just a step below Buga, our meal did "hit the spot", it was one of those moments where we had just the perfect amount of what we were craving, at just the right time. As they say…."timing is everything".

Seoul BBQ Restaurant
4344 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111