mmm-yoso – Page 527 – 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.

Arirang House

February 5, 2007 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants

*** Arirang House has been replaced by Honey Pig, you read a post here.

I had eaten at Arirang twice several years ago, and really didn't think much of the food, it seemed fairly mediocre, though the service was always nice and friendly. So what brought me back to Arirang House all these years later? Well, a few things, first off there were a few comments on another post asking about Arirang, by Jenne and clayfu, another was that a friend of mine mentioned that Arirang was under new ownership, and the final straw was when Sam's(as in Sammy's Sushi) roommate mentioned that they serve some decent Heuk Yum So(or is it Hook Yum So? Maybe Hukyumsoo? I've seen it spelled a bunch of different ways). Black Goat? We are so there!

And yep, there it was, the "Grand Opening Sign"…funny thing is, we've been coming to Jamillah Garden and Tajima next door, and never really noticed the sign! Shows you how observant I am….

On the first evening we visited, over half the tables were occupied, and the place seemed fairly busy. Checking out the tables we saw some type of BBQ and at least one "bowl" of Kimchee Chigae(Spicy Kimchi soup) on each one.

The Servers, two very friendly and helpful ladies showed us to our table and answered any questions we had about the menu…which were many! After a while we managed to determine what we wanted, and placed our order. At which time I noticed the chopsticks on the table:

I don't know if this means anything…I just thought it was kind of interesting. Soon enough, the panchan arrived, you can check out all of the panchan on this post. But in case you need just one more photo of the panchan……

The panchan wasn't outstanding, but the portion size was generous, and everything had a good amount of flavor.

The Missus started with the Dolsot Bibimbap($9.95):

A large stone bowl(Dolsot) full of rice various vegetables, some well flavor Bulgogi, and topped with the ubiquitous fried egg. This was quite good, and tasted even better as the rice crust formed along the sides of the bowl. The Missus ended up eating most of this with a minimum of Gochujang, She really enjoyed it, saying that this was the best flavored Dolsot Bibimbap She's had in a while.

I ordered something I've never had before Chunchaon Dak Galbi($13.95). I'm guessing this is Dak Galbi (Chicken) prepared in the manner of Chuncheon?

This resembled and tasted like a mildly marinated, slightly spicy, homestyle stir fried dark meat chicken and vegetables dish. The chicken was on the dry side, and the flavor lacked depth. Edible, but not great.

Of course we got the Hukyumsoo Jungol(Goat Stew – $15.95), when the Missus ordered this, the Lady smiled and said "ooh, that is so very healthy":

A large stone bowl arrived with a generous amount of tasty goat meat, green vegetables, onions, and other goodies. Along with the garnishes, this was very delici-yoso!!! It is now our favorite version of this in San Diego. This is also much more inexpensive than other restaurants. We managed to take a good amount of food home.

As the Server helped us pack our food, She turned to the Missus and said, "oooh, this is so healthy, it will make you strong, it is good for women!" I think we got the point. It is not only very tasty, but it will "make you strong……."

As we were leaving we noticed 2 Korean business men in suits working on a large hotpot, with plates of various meats…they were really going at it. We asked and were told it was "Budae Chigae", that spicy hotpot with Spam, Hotdogs, and other meats. Ah yes, the infamous Budae Chigae, otherwise known as "Army Base Stew". We were told that it's one of the "specials" that is not on the menu.

A few days later we returned, and again had the large variety of panchan(always 8), and ordered a few things……

We started with the Haemul Pajun(Seafood Pancake – $10.95):

Other than squid, there wasn't much seafood on this pancake, though we enjoyed the way it was cooked; nice and crisp around the edges. Again, very much a homestyle type of dish…..

I had a case of major vapor lock and again ordered a chicken dish, the Dak Bukum ($11.95):

I dunno, but this tasted almost the same as the previous chicken dish I ordered…except the vegetables were different…kind of low on the flavor scale, chicken kind of dry….but to be perfectly honest, it tasted really good the next day.

The Missus wanted something hearty so she ordered the Sullung Tang(Suhllun Tang – $8.95), the milky "bone soup":

The Missus loves the smooth, rich, and velvety bone soup, and enjoyed this version. The only complaint was that only regular table salt was available, and not sea salt.

The addition of Yam Noodles was a bonus that the Missus enjoyed as well.

For some reason we found ourselves at Arirang House during a recent evening…and we were greeted with "hello, nice to see you again….." I guess we've been coming here waaay too often!

On this visit, the Missus gave me the directive, "no chicken, Ohhh-kay?" So following the directive I decided to order the Bulgogi($15.95):

This was the largest portion of Bulgogi that I can remember having in San Diego…we couldn't finish it, and were full before getting to the other dishes we ordered. Flavor-wise it was good, a nice balanced salty-sweet. The meat wasn't of the highest quality, and there were some tough and rubbery bits, but man that was alot of meat, and much cheaper than most other Korean BBQ places.

I finally got around to ordering the Kimchi Chigae($8.95) that I saw on every table:

Now I've had spicy, but this version of Kimchi Chigae was pretty darn spicy, and the next day it was even hotter! I thought that the heat overwhelmed everything, and couldn't even get a hint of the savory flavor from using "older" kimchi that sometimes accompanies the dish, nor any faint sweetness, that is sometimes found. It was fine, but lacked depth.

The Altang($12.95), in this case it was code roe and "seafood" soup:

In this dish, I've finally met my match…the broth was very spicy, and had some nice "oceany" flavor. But the cod-roe was seriously dry and rubbery, and had a strong "liver" flavor that I didn't enjoy.

The little baby octopus was very tough, as was the one mussel in the soup. I think I'll cross this dish off my list of "to try" items.

On all of our visits the service was very nice, in a nurturing, motherly sort of way. It seemed like extra care and attention was taken with us since we aren't Korean. I don't know if I'll try the Lunch Buffet ($7.95), but these folks are very nice, and the prices are very reasonable. We'll be coming back for the Goat Stew, the Missus likes the Dolsot Bibimbap here, as well as the Bone Soup…and who knows, maybe I can convince the Missus to try the Budae Chigae, and the food seems to be a good homestyle in nature. As for BBQ, Arirang House is on that second tier of Korean BBQ's, but the portion sizes are quite generous.

Arirang House Restaurant
4681 Convoy St Ste B
San Diego, CA 92111

(858) 277-8625

Giovanni’s- Good Italian food

February 3, 2007 Cathy Italian Restaurants, Pizza, What Cathy Eats!

The part usually played by Kirk is once again being played by Cathy.

Hi. You have probably seen Giovanni’s, either on Clairmont Mesa or on Balboa and hopefully you have gone in. The Mister and I used to go to one or the other location on Football Saturdays to watch Our Team play college football, but alas, both places got to be too crowded with alumni, who all seem to have moved to Southern California after having spent one too many winter/snow seasons in the Great Lake State and so now out alumni now meet here on Saturdays between September and November and, ideally on January 1st.

So, anyhow… We used to meet here. This is the Giovanni’s on Clairmont Mesa, right next to the Registrar of Voters office. The menu is fairly extensive, with pizzas, sandwiches, salads, appetizers, pastas. They also serve breakfasts on Saturday and Sunday also, which was good when a football game started at noon on the east coast….although there were many times we had pizza or a sandwich for breakfast…along with whatever beer was on special…ah, when we were young, and didn’t sometimes have to work on a weekend…

So, on this day, The Mister and I wanted just a little bit to eat. We got the calamari appetizer ($5.75)

Light and crispy, lightly seasoned breading. The calamari rings were tender and not all rubbery. We also got the small antipasti salad ($6.75). That is a low bowl it’s served in, so there is a *lot* of lettuce, (romaine and iceberg) as well as olives, tomatoes, three meats and a really good provolone. Alas, they were out of anchovies that day, but, I lived. The dressing is a standard Italian and good.

We decided to share a cheese calzone. ..Its only $4.50…kind of looks small on the plate….but… it’s got a *very* thin, delicate crust…with good, sweet and olive oil flavors…and it’s FILLED with ricotta, provolone and Parmesan, as well as a small (just right) amount of the home made (i.e. chunky with tomatoes, onions, bay leaf and olive oil) marinara.

All in all, Giovanni’s has very good to excellent food, is large enough to accommodate large parties (and does, regularly…lots of after-soccer groups of teens and pre-teens meet here; there are video games in the back room) and is informal enough for a quick ‘date’ with someone for lunch…or breakfast on the weekend.

Giovanni’s 9353 Clairmont Mesa Boulevard San Diego 92111 (858) 279-6700 and 6133 Balboa Avenue (858) 278-9191

Guess the Restaurant from the Panchan – It’s Arirang House!

February 1, 2007 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants

*** Arirang House has closed and been replaced by Honey Pig.

Update: OK – I guess this was harder than I thought! The restaurant is Arirang House:

Has this ever happened to you? You walk into a restaurant, and several people greet you, and say hello, and suddenly you realize…"man, I've coming here waaaay too much over the last several weeks". For someone who has terminal "food-photo-itis" the evidence is quite obvious, it's all in the photos…..all 30 of them!

While getting ready to do a post on a Korean Restaurant, I suddenly realized that I've got like 30 photos. There's no way I'm going to do a post with 30 photos…… So what to do with all these photos? I could do a multi-part post…nah! I haven't done a contest in a while, so let's do a really easy one.

Since I have soooo many photos of just panchan from this one restaurant, let's see if you can guess which Korean Restaurant this is, just from panchan photos. I think it's really easy. As with previous guess the "blank" contests I've had, the rules are simple. So here we go, I'll post a few photos. Email me the name of the restaurant, and I'll Email the first 7 correct answers get a free cup of Peet's. With our recent cold and wet weather, doesn't a cup of Peet's sound good? Remember Email me your guess. 1 correct guess per IP address. Make sure it's a valid Email address.

So let's get started.

First off there's a good variety of panchan, and the portion sizes are quite generous.

And though none of it is particularly mind-blowing, some of it is well made.

The variety may not be particularly inspiring…but did I mention the portion sizes?

The service has always been nice and friendly as well.

Just how much panchan can one couple eat?

Waay too much, I guess……

Here's a last hint…for some it may give it away, for others it may be a "red herring"…..

These were the chopsticks on the table…so I don't know if it was because they bought it cheap, or if there is an affiliation. Here's the other side of the chopsticks:

Oh and no one guessed right….because I feel so bad, I'll send everyone who played a Peet's cup…even you Clayfu!

I'll do a post on the food (other than the panchan) on Sunday so stay tuned!

Island Town…inside First Korean Market

January 31, 2007 Cathy Korean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is not on vacation. Cathy feels like blogging and Kirk doesn't. Thanks for reading my meal adventures.

Hi. Cold again…. If you lived in San Diego forever ago, you remember Woo Chee Chong. It was the first Asian market I ever went to. There were three locations and all of them had a small deli/hot food area where you could buy Peking Duck on Fridays and hot food to go, usually sold by the pound all week long. I remember we would buy the 5 spice BBQ pork for $3.99 a pound…

So, anyhow, they all closed in 1993 and the one on Convoy Street remained a market. Its in the same parking lot as Dumpling Inn and technically the same one as Jasmine Seafood. First Korean Market. I have no idea what the "Orient Bowl" sign is about. It is not as large as Zion, but it has a good variety of foods, fresh meats, fish and vegetables.

On the far Northernmost wall there is a large refrigerator section filled only with Kim Chee.

…and the area where the deli counter used to be is just inside to the right of the front door. There is a menu above it, with photos and also this take home one The Mister brought home for me to look at.

So, you know, I had to go.

There are six (6) CHAIRS total in front of two tabletops configured at a 90° angle from each other at that front door area.

The people working there are all family. They take great pride in making each meal, with mom bringing it around the corner and placing it in front of you, even though they could hand it to you over the counter.

So, I me The Mister here after work one evening and I had to try # 19, the shrimp tempura udon ($6.99)

Three tempura'd shrimp, nice and crispy, topped with the dried seaweed powder. A nice, rich broth and very chewy udon that remained chewy through the whole bowl. The Mister tried the #4, Galbi combo ($8.99).

A nice portion of galbi marinated beef ribs, rice, miso, 4 California rolls and 3 pieces of sashimi. The beef was excellent, and so was the rice. The miso was OK, not too watery and the California roll was with real (not fake) crab. The tuna sashimi was sliced thin and good and the shrimp was not bad. There was a lot of food. We also got hot tea from the hot pot next to the cash register.

On another day, I asked The Mister to bring home something for dinner…and, of course he did. I had a craving for # 24, the spicy tuna and vegetable bowl (Chirashi) ($7.99).

The Veggies(and there were a lot; its heavy and I imagine would be served in a large bowl, as Chirashi is at Happy Meal and Nozomi) are mostly cabbages with some sliced green onions and then it is topped with fish roe and also some tempura crunchies. Rice is sent separately in the "to go" box and there were two servings of what is probably Sriracha, although I did not see any Sriracha at the restaurant. The tuna was fresh, tasty and plentiful, and all at the bottom of the cabbage. I uncovered a bit so you could see, but there was a lot. Like pretty much the whole bottom of the box a lot…which was also part of the weight of it all.

The Mister wanted to try 9, the Shrimp Tempura Roll ($5.50) .

There were two tempura'd shrimp in here, real crab meat and lots of crunchies on the outside . It was refreshing and not as expensive at other places.

The Mister also wanted to try the Cutlet Combo (#13) ($8.99) and it came in two packages. They knew it was a 'to go' and clipped the corners on the Styrofoam box transporting the fish, shrimp and pork cutlet that were fried, so they arrived home still crispy. (If you recall, both Kirk and I complained about the soggy tempura on the "To Go" meals from Chopstix Too….this is the solution). The fried fish was excellent, as was the shrimp and the pork cutlet was juicy and had a good flavor. The combo box also came with four pieces of California Roll (real crab; not bad), shredded cabbage, rice and plenty of the various sauces necessary for a good meal.

Island Town does a lot of catering/makes trays to go. We saw some people picking up a tray of 110 California Rolls ($30) on a Friday night . (I counted: 14 by 7, plus 12 on top: I have no idea how they cut the original rolls).

As I said, its family run, and its inside the grocery store, so they kind of have access to the foods that may be either on sale or close to being thrown away anyhow. There are no lobster dishes on the menu, but they were being cooked on the grill when we walked in…

Island Town, inside First Korean Market 4625 Convoy Street, San Diego 92111 (858)571-7183

Closed Sundays. No credit cards, no checks!

Road Trip: Viendong Restaurant – Garden Grove(OC)

January 30, 2007 mmm-yoso Orange County, Road Trip, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Vien Dong has closed

The day after our aborted vacation, we decided to take a drive up to Garden Grove and check out a restaurant that was included on a list that the ever knowledgeable Wandering Chopsticks so very kindly provided for us. The name of the restaurant is Viendong, and is located on busy Brookhurst street.

The restaurant was fairly large, very bright, clean and roomy. With many large parties having a late lunch.

The menu was full of various dishes that I longed to try, from the Goi Mit(Jack fruit salad) to the Bun Bung.

We ordered some hot tea while we tried to decided what to order…now this is what I call a teapot!

We started with the Banh Tom($5.50):

We ordered this mainly because it was on almost every table…plus it looked really good. Some quick research showed that Banh Tom is "Deep Fried Sweet Potato and Shrimp Patties". Strips of sweet potato(think sweet potato fries) and shrimp are deep fried in a lacquer like batter, and served up with Nuoc Mam Cham and a generous amount of Lettuce, Mint, and Cilantro. We noticed that there were two different "schools" of eating; one set placed everything in a bowl, and ate the Banh Tom out of the bowl, another group did the "wrap" thing…so we tried a little of each. We found that the sweet potato had a very nice and delicate sweet flavor, so delicate, that it was lost when mixed or wrapped with herbs and dipped into the Nuoc Mam…though the textures were interesting. So we kinda just ate them like fries…..

The shrimp had a good crunch and flavor, though there really weren't many of them in the dish. the portion size was quite substantial…and the leftovers were still pretty good!

The Missus went according to character and ordered the Bun Rieu($4.95):

This was a nice looking bowl of Bun Rieu. The first thing we noticed was that the instead of a Crab/Shrimp "cake", the crab and shrimp were scattered about the soup. The Missus prefers the condensed flavor of a cake. The broth was very balanced, though quite mild in flavor, and needed the addition of lime and shrimp paste to bring it up. Not a bad bowl, but lacking in the depth of flavor that the Missus desired.

I ordered something I don't ever remember seeing before, Bun Gia Cay (Northern style Pig's Feet Stew – $5.50):

You can tell can't you? Man this was delici-yoso!!! Thick and rich, full of flavor, such a hearty stew. There was a generous amount of Pork Hock, and a plate of "Bun" (Vermicelli) was provided, along with a bowl on the side.

There was a mild curry flavor, and well…..it was just plain good stuff! I'll leave to someone else to describe. Let me just say, it made my day!

The service at Viendong was very good, friendly and helpful. I'm hoping to try some other items on the menu soon.

Thanks for the recommendation WC!

Viendong Restaurant
14271 Brookhurst St
Garden Grove, CA 92843

(714) 531-8253

Green Noodles, kim chee, teriyaki and, well a fusion-Nozomi

January 29, 2007 Cathy Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Japanese Restaurants, Korean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is not on vacation, and apparently never was…but I have a few posts to put up because, well, I eat daily and am now used to documenting each meal. Oh, this is Cathy, BTW.

Hi. You drove by Nozomi…either in Carlsbad, that little corner in La Jolla or probably saw the one on Convoy Street, in the same mall with Convoy Noodle House…and you thought…what??? A Japanese place inside a mall with mostly Korean restaurants (and the Vietnamese Convoy Noodle house) Yep, me too. . .well, it turns out Nozomi is Japanese-Korean.

So, the menu…its extensive…with sashimi, sushi rolls…all kinds…like about 50 different rolls. There are photos in the front window, there are photos over the sushi bar inside..but not the take out menu, which is photocopied…and besides, we didn’t get any rolls. Nope. Soft shell crab was on the menu. We had to ($6.95).

Lightly breaded, crispy, quite large; not like the frozen soft shell crabs sold…in freezer sections of various stores. This reminded The Mister and I of soft shell crabs we’d get fresh back in Virginia. Then we were brought out two bowls of Kim Chee.
The kim chee on the left was more finely chopped, had a soy/salty base…basically was pickles with some red pepper interspersed and very good. The larger bowl was mostly with bok choy and other veggies and had a nice heat. Bowls and spoons came out with it. It was our "salad". The Mister ordered the Green Noodle soup, which we were warned came in a LARGE bowl ($8.95). Oh my… the bowl was 12 inches square…as large as a BIG old floor tile!
This photo was to show you what was in the bowl, after The Mister had removed one large bowl (that was for kim chee) of broth. The broth was *very* light…barely chicken flavored…it ended up needing the kim chee to be added to it. The noodles, by themselves were nice, chewy and a good texture…they had a nice not too deep but discernible vegetable flavor flavor. The soup had 2 full shrimp, one mussel, a lot of small chopped (canned) clams, potatoes, onions, squash and mushrooms in it. Way much food. Way filling. I ordered the dinner Bento Box ($9.95) with BBQ’d pork.
Salad, rice, 4 pieces of California roll (with real crab), tempura’d vegetables, one shrimp and one piece of fish. Oh the pork. First of all, it was a *huge* portion…and the flavor was superb. Grilled just enough to get some smoke into it and a light, not too sweet of a teriyaki sauce…saltier more than sweet sauce.
Lots of food, lots of flavor if you add the kim chee, fresh food, lots of different rolls and good service. Try it.

There are donburi and curries on the menu also.

Nozomi #1 4637 Convoy #104 San Diego 92111 (858) 569-7773
Nozomi #2 4159 Regents Park Row #190 La Jolla 92037 (858) 452-7778
Nozomi #3 3050 Pio Pico Drive #A Carlsbad 92008 (760) 729-7877

Vacation Interruptus, Sushi, and some other updates

January 28, 2007 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi, Travel, yoso-silly

“ok Kirk give it up.. you’re not going to Washington” – from Andy The ABC.

I had to chuckle when I read that comment on my impending vacation post. Little did I know how close to the truth Andy was…so he can either see into the future, or he put some double voodoo hex on us.

To give just a summary of events:

First off our cab was 40 minutes late, I had to call the cab company twice. Maybe we should have just pulled the plug right then.

We manage to get to the airport, check in, and get to the gate just as our 820 Flight to Seattle is set to board. Great timing, or so we thought!

We board, and our flight never leaves….all power to the aircraft is turned off. Soon comes the announcement that there is a problem with the aircraft’s hydraulic system. First thought in my mind is, “I’m glad they caught it now”. So we sit for 45 minutes in an aircraft with no A/C, lights, etc, while technicians checked out the problem. Several minutes later we are asked to exit the aircraft, and the plane is whisked away…never to be seen again. We are asked to wait in the boarding area.

We wait……at about 10 am there is an announcement that the plane is being checked on further. At 1030, we are told that there will be an additional update at about noon, so please return to the gate then. At 1130, we are told that a part is being flown in, and it may just be a case of replacing that part….BUT, just in case, a top notch repair crew from LA is driving in!??!! We are given $6 meal vouchers…funny, but at sandwich costs $7.99, but hey the gate crew is very nice and apologetic.We check and all afternoon and early evening flights are “overbooked”, and I mean overbooked….and of course the standby list is growing. Poor folks who have connecting flights…. At 1230, we are told the part has arrived, a big cheer goes off in the boarding area. Lady next to us is calling around on her cellphone trying to find some other airline that has available seats…to no avail. I hear someone talking about driving to LAX to attempt to make the 5pm flight. It is getting surreal. At a little after 2pm, we are told the flight has been canceled, that we need to return to the ticket counter, to rebook….the mad stampede starts. In line at the ticket counter, one of the agents tells us to first go to baggage claim to pick up our luggage. The Missus and I both go “no way”…we’ll get ticketed first, if possible, than claim our luggage, which I’m pretty sure hasn’t been delivered to baggage claim yet, and return to check in. At a bit after 3pm we finally get to the counter, and the very apologetic agent tells us that the only flight available will be the 845pm flight, it will arrive in Seattle at 1130pm. I do a quick calculation…we’ll be cooped up at the Airport for another 5 hours. Get into Seattle, claim our luggage, by the time we catch the shuttle it’s be at least 1230am, get to the hotel and check in, by then it’ll be at least 130am….which means we’ll be dead tired and settled at maybe 3am…..no thanks. We’d have lost almost half of our vacation, be dead tired, and not enjoy ourselves. So we canceled. I went and waited for our luggage, which at this point still had not been delivered to baggage claim. The Missus started making phone calls, first She called Sammy and Frankie’s trainer, with whom we board Da’ Boyz. She then called the airline’s “Customer Care”, who gave Her a claim number, and basically told us, because we used an online service to book our vacation, we need to contact them. I know who’s going to get an interesting letter about things like contingency, planning, and a word called proactive…..I mean everyone is nice and apologetic, but how many times can you hear “I’m so sorry”, it starts to ring hollow after a while. We catch a cab back home, during which we make calls and manage to get refunds on the airfare and hotel. I also call the restaurants and cancel our reservations. Still, we lost out on cab fare, boarding costs, and other miscellaneous items. Not including the 8 hours of vacation I’ll never get back, at the end of the day we paid about a $100 or so for the pleasure of sitting in, and milling around Lindbergh Field for over 8 hours. Not quite the vacation I though of.

I’m just glad we didn’t need to be in Seattle. If this were a business trip, I would have just sucked it up, and soldiered along. I have done consulting work that required extensive travel in the past and have had my share of delays(it once took me 36 hours to get home), but I have never really written down a blow by blow account like this.

We picked up Da Boyz, and had to decide on dinner(this is a food blog after all, so you know I have to do something about food). After milling about with the mass of humanity, we really didn’t want to go to anywhere very crowded. The Missus wanted sushi…so we decided on Restaurant Yakata down in National City. In my previous posts on Yakata, I noted how the Itamae, Makoto told me that Friday and Saturday evenings are His slowest. So we arrived, and indeed, there was only one patron at the sushi bar, and one table occupied.

As usual, it was Omakase all the way here. We started with a nice combination sushi:

Just a quick rundown. As before the Hotategai(scallop) was fabulous, in fact the Missus requested another order. The real winner was the Albacore Belly.

So soft and rich, I thought it was Hamachi Toro. The Hamachi was good, I thought the Maguro to be on the dry and tough side.

I thought the Uni was good, but the Missus thought it was excellent, “sweet and creamy”.

The Missus and I shared a tempura appetizer(not pictured), and along with the second order of Hotategai(Makoto gave us the last of the Albacore Belly), Makoto made us this interesting gunkanmaki.

Uni and Tobiko(Flying fish roe) were put into a bowl, and mixed to a creamy consistency. Ika (squid) was sliced and combined with the Uni/Tobiko mixture. Whoa, good stuff, great combination of texture(crunchy tobiko, slightly chewy ika) and taste(sweet from the Uni, a slight briny flavor from the tobiko, some mild heat from the restrained use of wasabi).

Makoto than brought out a spring roll wrapper, moistened it, and created this:

Toro was then scraped and instead of mixing with Negi(green onion), it was combined with minced Jalapeno. Cucumber and Lettuce were added for texture, and to help “cool things down”. The sauce was a combination of Ponzu and Sriracha…a “Spicy Ponzu”. It was good, perhaps a bit too much going on, the flavor and texture of toro was kinda lost. Lot’s of flavor though. I asked Makoto what the name of this was…and he just shrugged…so we called it the “Makoto Burrito”…..

The last item was this:

In the middle of all of this was a shrimp tempura. The Missus didn’t like the combination of cool fish, with the still hot tempura. I thought the textures were interesting, but the flavor of the fish was a bit lost.

Overall, a very nice, relaxing meal. All told, which is what you see, plus the extra Hotategai, Tempura appetizer, and 2 large Sapporos was about $65.

**** Yakata has closed

Restaurant Yakata
2424 Hoover Ave
National City, CA 91950

A few updates:

Da’ Kine’s

I’d been told that Da’ Kines in Pacific Beach had closed, so I dropped by to check it out myself. And yes, they have closed:

And yes, they are closed. As I was walking away, I ran into a nice young man wearing a Da’ Kines sweater, and we struck up a short conversation. According to Daniel(I’m hoping I remembered His name correctly), Da’ Kines in National City and Mira Mesa are still open, and a new location at Liberty Station in Point Loma will be opening in the near future.

Chef Tony

“StR” left a comment on my post on Chef Tony, here’s the info:

“I just spoke with the owner on the phone. They have been closed for ~3 months (the building is going to be torn down), but they are planning to reopen at a new place (to be decided) within 1-2 months.”

I drove by ealier this afternoon, and yes, the entire mall is empty, including Chef Tony.

I’m hoping they have a successful reopening soon!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

A quick breakfast and free wifi-Panera

January 27, 2007 Cathy Breakfast/Brunch, Chains, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is vacation. Cathy is blogging away…Kirk is on a mini vacation with The Missus. Perhaps he is researching something for a more interesting post than this one…

Hi. Just thought I’d do a short post on …oh, carbs…keeping with the ‘forget about that New Years Resolution’ theme I seem to be running on. Panera is a national chain that bakes breads and sweets inside each store and sells pretty much fresh made carbs from 6 a.m. to about 10 p.m. daily, along with having free wifi available.

Many people go there for lunch to get sandwiches, soups, salads in various combinations. The Mister and I go there for breakfast…bagels, scones, mini quiches and coffee…The Mister reads the paper and I go on line.
The bagels I like here are the French Toast one…its a little softer and fluffier and has only a slight cinnamon mixed with vanilla flavor..and the Asagio Cheese bagel has just the saltiness I crave. I just get a toasted bagel and butter (89¢), no cream cheese…that doesn’t seem to add to the flavor (and costs more…I think the butter is a nice compliment to the fresh toasted bread flavor). The ham and cheese scone has a great texture and just enough herbs, small pieces of chopped ham and shredded cheese to make it satisfy the cravings I have in the morning.

The bear claws cost $1.99 and are, of course, freshly made with a nice filling…it is a sweet marzipan with more chopped almonds added….but I like the crust edges (the "claw" parts) with a little frosting and the sliced almonds that are toasted. My brother craves the bear claws from here.

Then there those little quiches. They make three types, one with spinach and bacon (shown), one with spinach and artichokes and a four cheese quiche. Each costs $3.69 and are kept on a warming tray and have the time two hours after they were taken out of the oven written on the bottom, so you will never get an old one. The crust is a delightful, light, buttery puff pastry and the filling is fluffy with eggs and cream and the fillings.

We usually buy a loaf of fresh made rye here. The small one costs $2.30 and I get it sliced. It is just wonderfully rye flavored with seeds and a nice crisp crust….and, yes, that’s my little iBook….with some very old Colorforms decorating it.

Really, we’ve never had soup or sandwiches here. Just bagels, scones, sweets, the small quiches and coffee. They have a coffee card, you buy 8 cups and get the 9th free. If you are eating in, get the coffee in a ceramic cup; it tastes better and doesn’t cost extra.

Panera, multiple locations Click here

Its cold, you know I don’t really crave sweets, but…Niederfrank’s Ice Cream

January 26, 2007 Cathy Desserts, Ice Cream/Frozen Yogurt, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is on vacation so you get to see what Cathy has been eating … in this weather.

Hi again. I know, its been, like, freezing out here in Sunny Southern California…well for 4 days in a row, last week, anyhow. I know better than to complain, but it’s something to do while the rest of the United States is having "their" Winter.

Ah, I blog about food, not weather…Oh…yes…OK. I will confess, when I was young, living in Detroit, we lived a few blocks from the Good Humor plant, and I could get all the ice cream novelties I ever wanted (toasted coconut and strawberry sundae on a stick being my favorites), Senate Sweet Shop and Sanders for banana splits with Dad…and I also went to that newfangled Baskin Robbins because they had those free cones on your birthday (always a sugar cone, always that ‘extra charge for the French Vanilla’ flavor)…and occasionally, I have a craving for one of those Original Drumsticks…but really, when it comes down to it, its the salty peanuts I want more than anything.

Today, I found myself in National City, at I-5 and Eighth Street. Go East, through the light at National City Boulevard, one more block, to "A" Avenue, make a left (north) …there it is on your left: Niederfrank’s. 100% Natural. It’s been there for 59 years, this coming May. 100% Natural. Ice Cream. The real thing. Quality. Small, unassuming, wonderful. As you know, I don’t have cravings for sweets…but gosh, I am here and I know I will like it…again…
There is a website with all the flavors also listed. This is what it looks like when you walk in.
The website has photos of the current (since 1995) owners, the founder and Al Roker…they must have shown this on one of those Food Network Shows I haven’t seen (I must confess, I only watch "Good Eats" with Alton Brown, to learn stuff…and what I like to call "The Lazy Chef Show" with Sandra Lee…good God, have you seen how she makes stuff????!!? She buys it ….and then rearranges it…. and calls it ‘semi-home made’).

ANYHOW… Niederfrank’s. Everything here is made of natural ingredients, extracts, real fruits…and all is made in the building. They also provide ice cream to a few other shops and restaurants around town. Check out the website listings before you tell me the best is from someplace else….it may actually be from Niederfrank’s.

I will admit I went a little crazy today and got two scoops (Its $2.35 for one scoop, $4 for two). Coconut and Lemon Custard. Excellent! The coconut is not too sweet, has flakes of real, not toasted, not dehydrated, coconut which are chewy and flavorful. The lemon custard has a crisp fresh lemon flavor and the custard texture that I crave. They also have sundaes on the menu, but I like the pure flavors of the ice cream. It isn’t aerated…its old fashioned, real, natural. A joy. Even for me, someone who doesn’t crave sweets.

Niederfrank’s 726 "A" Avenue National City, CA 91950 (619) 477-0828 fax (619) 477-0876 Opens at 11 a.m. daily. Click here for website.

A short weekend getaway, and an update

January 25, 2007 mmm-yoso Travel, yoso-silly

The Missus and I are getting away for a short weekend trip. It’s to one of our favorite cities that we used to visit yearly. But for some reason we have’nt been back since Thanksgiving of 2003.

Where is it? Here are some very easy clues….photos from our last trip there:

So I’ll leave you in the most capable hands of Cathy for a few days!

An update….

Just the latest on our fine furry friend that we found and turned into the Carson/Gardena Animal Shelter about 12 days ago.

I called on Tuesday for an update, and though no one has come to claim her, there is a waiting list of perspective "families" waiting for her. So it looks like everything will work out fine. We hope she is placed in a loving home with a great family. Good luck, girl!

One last thing….

I knew this was going to happen sooner or later. It seems that "possibly" the Owner of a restaurant that I didn’t care for called Bambu Bistro (see now it’s free publicity), has basically called me "gutless", over some "harsh" criticism, and says I’m "bashing" their restaurant. I really don’t think that person actually read the post, I mentioned what I enjoyed(nice attentive service) along with what I didn’t(I didn’t care for the food). Check out the comments….tell me what do you think? I call it honesty……some call it gutless. Of course, some like Jay of the Linkery have a better handle on it. Please read the comments on his post here.

"I think the food blogs are a great source of serious food writing in town, between the fact that the writers are unpaid and that they have no space limitations, as a reader I get great insights into the bloggers’ experience."

"Let me add this thought: the best possible event that could increase restaurant quality in this town would be the emergence of twenty or so popular, critical, honest, prolific food bloggers, each with unique tastes, persepectives, and budgets, blogging about all their restuarant visits. In an environment like that, all restaurants would be heavily incented to provide great quality and value at least to a certain segment of the eating-out community."

Amen, brother! Personally, I think people are smart enough to know what the difference is between a food blog and a full blown restaurant review is. And so I share my meal with you, warts and all……

Difference between blog and website here.

She also calls this "underground"…..whatever that is. I don’t know, I’m here for everyone to see.

So do you only want to see positive posts? There are blogs out there that do only positive posts. I don’t think that will be very likely, at least with me, since I don’t think I can live with myself, with fake, rose-colored cyber-glasses on.

Oh, one more thing, Bambu Bistro, if this is really you….I guess that anyone who didn’t care for your food should not say anything…but if they do they suddenly have no guts? I guess by the same token, if someone disagrees with you….they are the enemy??? It’s this way of striking out, before looking within that bothers me….sigh.